“Frankly, there’s nothing that I have read or listened to from you which would invite a well-reasoned dispute with you” Part 1
One of the most bizarre teachings in Mormonism is the teaching that the Book of Mormon is the “Stick of Ephraim” that Ezekiel spoke of in Ezekiel 37.
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
In this post I will show why I believe the Stick of Ephraim represents a canon of scripture which is written primarily to the tribe of Joseph, and secondly for the benefit of “all the House of Israel, his companions“. In other words, I will show why I believe the Stick of Ephraim is the Doctrine and Covenants, not the Book of Mormon.
Clearly, this is my speculation. Everyone should do their own prayerful research.
I have a reader of this blog that claims there is no historical evidence to suggest that the word “stick” is ever used to refer to a “book” or “canon of scripture”.
I agree with him.
However, since he cannot show more a more plausible interpretation of what the word stick refers to in Ezekial 37, and since Joseph claimed to be unfolding a mystery when he made the claim that the word stick refers to a canon of scripture, I have chosen to accept Joseph Smith’s interpretation until further light can overturn the interpretation.
From the very early days of my journey in studying the gospel and the history of the church, I would have a visceral reaction and a feeling of uncomfortableness whenever the Book of Mormon was referred to as the Stick of Ephraim.
This made no sense; it was a conundrum to me.
It seemed like a contradiction in terms. Why would the Book of Mormon which is a record of the descendants of Joseph and Manasseh be called the stick of Ephraim?
Could the Book of Mormon be called the Stick of Joseph?
Yes.
Could the Book of Mormon be called the Stick, or Record of Manassah?
Yes.
Does it make sense to call the Book of Mormon the Stick, or Record of Ephraim.
No!
I realize that this teaching about the Book of Mormon being the stick of Ephraim took root very early in the restoration movement, primarily because of a passage in Section 27.
Some might argue that it was endorsed and promoted by Joseph Smith in statements he made.
However, I have attempted to research the places where Joseph Smith supposedly referred to the Book of Mormon as the Stick of Ephraim and I can not find anything authoritative and definitive.
I did find a statement in the history of the church that was made in the first person of Joseph Smith even though it was someone else making the statement. Apparently, this was a common practice by some of the early historians, in an effort to provide historical continuity and credibility when speaking of historical events and doctrinal pronouncements. I find it repugnant.
I feel so strongly about this issue, that even if Joseph Smith had taught it, I would still take issue with it.
Why?
Because I always go with the established word of God over the words of living or dead prophets if they contradict scripture.
The standard works that have been sustained by the Law of Common Consent and by the Lord Himself in revelation, always trump all other conflicting commentators regardless of what their real or imagined position of authority is.
The hard fact is that human beings who are divinely inspired can make mistakes and sometimes have personal opinions that are wrong.
I realize that this concept makes some Mormons very uncomfortable. Although they give lip-service to the doctrine of fallibility publicly, secretly, they believe in infallibility of the Lord’s “prophets”.
Unwavering faith in human priesthood authority is largely why the modern church is in the state of apostasy it is in right now.
The Doctrine and Covenants Contains Sealed Mysteries
In this series I have pointed out that God has locked up many mysteries in the Doctrine and Covenants. Some have already been revealed by those that search the scriptures. Others will ultimately be revealed when the “first Laborers of the Last Kingdom” return to unfold and expound upon the remaining mysteries.
Some of the meanings behind some of the mysteries in the Doctrine and Covenants are locked up because of what seems like cryptic and confusing wording.
I bring this point up because one of the grand mysteries that we are covering in this series, is the final role of the of the Doctrine and Covenants and how it influences our interpretation and understanding of the prophecies and doctrines found in the Bible and Book of Mormon.
In this post I am suggesting that even the Doctrine and Covenants itself is shrouded in mystery, and intentionally hard to identify in ancient scripture.
The true identity of the stick of Ephraim has been a mystery that has been kept secret from most Latter day Saints.
Let us begin our investigation of this topic by reviewing the ancient passages in Ezekiel that speak of the Stick of Ephraim and then we will deconstruct what is being said:
15 ¶ The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 ¶ And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 ¶ And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
Here are some questions to ask and things to ponder as you parse the above passages.
Is the text speaking of two sticks or three sticks?
I would submit that three sticks are mentioned.
- The Stick of Judah
- The Stick of Joseph
- The stick of Ephraim
The modern church and virtually all other branches of the LDS restoration teach that the terms “Stick of Joseph” and “Stick of Ephraim” in the above passages are synonymous.
But are they?
I suppose it could be interpreted that way but is there anything in the text the definitively declares that they are synonymous?
I don’t think so.
Is there a reason to believe they are not synonymous and that the Stick of Joseph and the Stick of Ephraim represent two different and distinct sticks, or canons of scripture?
Yes.
Common sense tells you that the stick of Joseph could be identifying a larger demographic within Israel while the Stick of Ephriam would be identifying a smaller sub-demographic within Israel.
Another more powerful evidence is provided by visiting other ancient texts that are addressing the same topic.
2nd Nephi 29 in the Book of Mormon clearly explains that there are at least three canons of scripture .
Here are the passages from that text with interpretive clarifications that I inserted from a blog post article I wrote about 13 years ago.
“For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews and they shall write it; [Bible]
and I shall also speak unto the Nephites and they shall write it; [Book of Mormon]
and I shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have led away, [Gentile Church of the Restoration from the Kirtland period, descending from Pilgrims who were Ephraimites] and they shall write it; [The revelations Joseph Smith brought forth ]
and I shall also speak unto all nations of the earth [converts coming into Nauvoo from the establishment of foreign missions who were the outcasts of Israel and the dispersed of Judah] and they shall write it. [The revelations that Joseph Smith brought forth]
13 And it shall come to pass that the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the lost tribes of Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the Jews.”
In the above text, the Book of Commandments and the Doctrine and Covenants could be considered to be one record
or two, depending on how you interpret the passages.
The summary of what was being said in the above passages lists three tribal demographics associated with three books of scripture; the book of the Jews, the Book of the Nephites, and the Book of the Lost Tribes of Israel (saints of the restoration).
I realize that many readers of this blog are going to reject the notion that the believing gentiles that became Latter day Saints during the Kirtland era of the restoration, and the other remnants of Israel that began gathering into the church during the Nauvoo era, are classed from among the “lost tribes”.
But frankly, those remnants had been mingled among the gentiles and had clearly lost their tribal identity until the Lord revealed by revelation that they were of the tribe of Israel.
Is that not the personification of what lost tribes are?
In section 103 the Lord told the saints of the restoration that these believing gentiles were of the House of Israel:
17 For ye are the children of Israel, and of the seed of Abraham, and ye must needs be led out of bondage by power, and with a stretched-out arm.
In section 109 He informs the saints that they are of the tribe of Jacob, but are identified
among the Gentiles.
60 Now these words, O Lord, we have spoken before thee, concerning the revelations and commandments which thou hast given unto us, who are identified with the Gentiles.
61 But thou knowest that thou hast a great love for the children of Jacob, who have been scattered upon the mountains for a long time, in a cloudy and dark day.
For the purposes of this discussion, the point is that the above clarification from 2nd Nephi 29, appears to be speaking about the same topic as Ezekiel 37 and it provides evidence that Ezekiel was speaking about three canons of scripture, not just two.
He was identifying the Stick of Judah, the stick of Joseph and the stick of Ephraim as separate and distinct canons of scripture.
2nd Nephi 29 is one of several reasons why I believe that the Ezekiel is identifying three canons of scripture, not two.
The Joseph the Seer Prophecy
Yet another prophetic witness that Ezekiel is referring to three canons of scripture, is found in the Joseph the Seer narrative in 2nd Nephi 3.
In it, once again we find at least three canons of scripture being mentioned as an outgrowth of Joseph Smith’s work.
Again I am taking the liberty of inserting clarifying text:
11 But a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins (The revelations Joseph Smith received)—and not to the bringing forth my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them. (referring to when the revelations Joseph Smith initially brought forth will become relevant and understood at a later time. )
12 Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write (The Book of Mormon and revelations Joseph Smith brought forth)
; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; (The Bible) and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord.
The prophetic narrative in 2nd Nephi 3 reveals the coming forth of three books of scripture.
My words: The revelations Joseph brought forth which is written by the fruits of the loins of Joseph
The Book of Mormon: Written also by the fruit of the loins of Joseph
The Bible: Written by the fruit of the loins of Judah
Once again, we have ancient scripture detailing three separate and distinct canons of scripture. And it reminds us that that both the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants were written by two separate strands of the loins of Joseph.
The prophetic narratives in 2nd Nephi 3 and 2nd Nephi 29 represent two independent scriptural witnesses that Ezekiel is speaking of three canons of scripture.
2nd Nephi 3 informs us that Joseph Smith is a type of Moses. This means that he not only was a seer who translated ancient plates, such as the Book of Mormon and the Inspired translation of the Bible, he was also acting as the mouth piece of God,
bringing forth new scripture to latter day Israel, just as Moses did to ancient Israel .
Please remember that it is the bringing forth of “my word” that will have previously gone forth among the people when the servants return back into the vineyard, that Joseph Smith and his fellows will use to CONVINCE the fruit of Joseph’s loins of the gospel and the gathering.
Confounding of False Doctrines
The Joseph the Seer narrative reminds us that ultimately all of the canons of scripture will “grow together unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord.” 2nd Nephi 3:12-13)
Did that ever take place during Joseph’s ministry?
Obviously not.
If anything, his ministry created even more confusion, contention, and controversy and the restoration movement, after falling into apostasy, scattered the remnants that he had begun trying to restore to the knowledge of their fathers and gather.
Now that we have the testimony from other ancient scripture that Ezekiel was referencing three different and distinct Sticks, or “books”, we must ask the question, what exactly did Joseph Smith actually teach about this prophecy in Ezekiel?
I have actually found a credible historical document that can legitimately be attributed to Joseph and Sidney Rigdon which I believe sheds much light on this topic.
The Gentile Saints were from Ephraim
The Seed of Lehi are from Menasseh
The following transcript is taken from a letter that Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon sent to Stephen Post on September 17, 1838.
It appears from the content of the letter that Post had been in communication with the prophet and was asking Joseph to reveal what Ezekiel was speaking about regarding the Stick of Joseph in the hand of Ephraim.
This was Joseph’s response:
“As to the Stick of Joseph in the hand of Ephraim, I will merely say suppose yourself to be an Ephraimite, and suppose all this church to be, of the blood of Ephraim and the book of Mormon to be a record of Manasseh which would of course [be a re]cord of Joseph, Then suppose you being an Ephraimite, Should take the record of Joseph in your hand, would not then the stick of Joseph of Joseph be in the hand of Ephraim. solve this mistery and se[e].“
Joseph Smith was solving a great mystery having to do with the interpretation of the Stick of Joseph in the hand of Ephraim, mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel.
Joseph once made the following comment in a sermon he gave in Nauvoo:
“..it has always been my province to dig up hidden mysteries, new things, for my hearers..” (JosephSmithPapers)
Truly Joseph did reveal many mysteries, however he also kept many of them secret. He also made the following declaration:
“The reason we do not have the secrets of the Lord revealed unto us, is because we do not keep them, but reveal them; we do not keep our own secrets, but reveal our difficulties to the world, even to our enemies, then how would we keep the secrets of the Lord? ‘I can keep a secret till Doomsday’”
[Editorial Note: My biggest regret with this blog is that I have talked about secrets that have been plagiarized and bastardized by many of the false teachers and false prophets that are currently arising in this generation.
I feel that I have been inspired to share my findings, but I must confess, it is disconcerting to see what conspiring men are doing with some of the information I have shared. Nevertheless, it was prophesied that this very thing would happen and that the deception would be so great that the very elect would be deceived is possible.
There is a delusional person in Utah Valley that is teaching many of the concepts about doctrine, history and prophecy that he acquired from my body of work. Some of the concepts he teaches correctly and some of them he bastardizes to fit his agenda. He leads people to think that the information he speaks about has been revealed to him via his revelatory experiences rather than from plagiarism]
I agree with the grand secrets Joseph Smith shared with Stephen Post.
What he said makes sense and it squares with scripture.
He revealed that the Book of Mormon is the record of Manasseh one of the sons of Joseph.
Since Manasseh is a descendent of Joseph, the Book of Mormon would also be a record of Joseph.
However in the letter to Stephen Post, Joseph reveals that the believing Gentiles of the Kirtland era were of Ephraim!
That is a fact that is not clearly revealed in the scriptures Joseph brought forth. In fact, it was rarely ever spoken about among the saints. It is one of the many mysteries of the latter day saint restoration movement.
After revealing that the Gentiles saints were of Ephraim, Joseph Smith says nothing about the Book of Mormon being the stick of Ephraim, rather, he clarifies that the seed of Lehi was from Manassah, not Ephraim!
Ezekiel was speaking about three separates “Sticks” or canons of scripture.
Since the Gentile Saints of the restoration represented Ephraim, holding the Stick of Joseph (book of Mormon) in their hands, then it stands to reason that the stick or record of Ephraim would we a separate record having to do with the Ephraimite saints of the restoration!
It would obviously be the canonized revelations Joseph Smith received about Ephraimite Gentiles Saints of the restoration.
A record, or history of the Ephraimite saints of the restored church is canonized in the scriptures that Joseph Smith brought forth.
Joseph was revealing the grand mystery that the first laborers of the last kingdom and their brethren of the restoration represented the tribe of Ephraim and that they were using the Book of Mormon which is a record of Joseph to use in missionary work to further God’s work.
Notice the amazing narrative in section 133 which addresses the interrelationship of Judah, the lost tribes, and Ephraim
25 And the Lord, even the Savior, shall stand in the midst of his people, and shall reign over all flesh.
26 And they who are in the north countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord; and their prophets shall hear his voice, and shall no longer stay themselves; and they shall smite the rocks, and the ice shall flow down at their presence.
27 And an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep.
28 Their enemies shall become a prey unto them,
29 And in the barren deserts there shall come forth pools of living water; and the parched ground shall no longer be a thirsty land.
30 And they shall bring forth their rich treasures unto the children of Ephraim, my servants.
31 And the boundaries of the everlasting hills shall tremble at their presence.
32 And there shall they fall down and be crowned with glory, even in Zion, by the hands of the servants of the Lord, even the children of Ephraim.
33 And they shall be filled with songs of everlasting joy.
34 Behold, this is the blessing of the everlasting God upon the tribes of Israel, and the richer blessing upon the head of Ephraim and his fellows.
35 And they also of the tribe of Judah, after their pain, shall be sanctified in holiness before the Lord, to dwell in his presence day and night, forever and ever.
All of the various tribes of Israel will be crowned by the servants of the Lord who are of Ephraim.
The true identity of God’s end times Ephraimite servants has largely been kept secret. Joseph Smith was told by God that his lineage had been kept secret from the world:
8 Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you, with whom the priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers—
9 For ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid
from the world with Christ in God—
10 Therefore your life and the priesthood have remained, and must needs remain through you and your lineage until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began.
11 Therefore, blessed are ye if ye continue in my goodness, a light unto the Gentiles, and through this priesthood, a savior unto my people Israel. The Lord hath said it. Amen.
The Holy Ephraimite seed has been hid from the world.
The Lord has also mysteriously low-keyed the role of the revelations Joseph brought forth through cryptic wording in the scriptures, and yet, if you search deep enough, knowing what you are looking for, you can easily substantiate this narrative.
Notice how Hosea prophetically identifies the “law of God” as being written to Ephraim during their time of apostasy in both ancient times as well as during the Kirtland era:
11 Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.
12 I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.
13 They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it; but the LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt.
14 For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples; and Judah hath multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
Incredible.
During Ephraim’s apostasy and their altars to sin, the great things of the law were given. But they were counted a strange thing. They were taken lightly. This observation is repeated in modern revelation:
5 And all they who receive the oracles of God, let them beware how they hold them lest they are accounted as a light thing, and are brought under condemnation thereby, and stumble and fall when the storms descend, and the winds blow, and the rains descend, and beat upon their house.
Notwithstanding the apostasy they were in, the Ephraimite laborers just kept on seeking out Israel and growing the latter day kingdom… and in their apostate condition Hosea informs us that latter day Israel simply “buildeth temples“.
Building Temples has become the poster child of the latter day apostate church!
The idolatry of temple building and temple worship fueled by a false masonic endowment is how the modern church preaches another gospel and retains it’s members.
The Book of Jeremiah warns how God’s ancient and latter day apostate people always make temple worship an idolatrous undertaking:
3 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.
Ok, having made my case for why the Stick of Ephraim refers to the canonized revelations that Joseph Smith brought forth rather than the Book of Mormon, lets now parse through the modern revelation that has caused all of the confusion.
It is found in section 27 of the Doctrine and Covenants.
To set the stage, I want to show one of the many ways that I believe God conceals his secrets in scripture, from those that take the scriptures lightly.
For lack of better terminology, I believe God inserts textual sub-narratives within textual primary narratives to disguise the primary point. The sub-texts or sub-narratives usually distract the reader from noticing the conclusion of the primary topic.
Here is a textbook example of this principle out of section 85. The sub-narrative is highlighted in yellow:
It is contrary to the will and commandment of God that those who receive not their inheritance by consecration, agreeable to his law, which he has given, that he may tithe his people, to prepare them against the day of vengeance and burning, should have their names enrolled with the people of God. Neither is their genealogy to be kept, or to be had where it may be found on any of the records or history of the church. D&C 85:3-4
This is what the passage looks like with the sub-narrative removed:
It is contrary to the will and commandment of God that those who receive not their inheritance by consecration agreeable to his law, which he has given, should have their names enrolled with the people of God. Neither is their genealogy to be kept, or to be had where it may be found on any of the records or history of the church. D&C 85:3-4
If latter day Saints knew how to read the above passages, they would realize that they have been forbidden from doing genealogy work until they have received their inheritance by consecration.
Sadly there are no people living today in the modern church who have received their inheritance by consecration. For that reason, there are no people on the earth who currently have their names enrolled with the people of God on the earth, as of yet. Further, no one is justified in doing work for the dead.
Those types of passages that mingle sub-narratives within primary narratives are all over in the scriptures, concealing mysteries.
Another great example of this principle is narratives within narratives is found in section 84. Verse 3 begins speaking about the temple lot in the state of Missouri. However a sneaky topic change takes place beginning in verse 4 through part of verse 6 which begins to prophesy of the rearing of the Kirtland Temple in that generation that Joseph Smith was living in. If you are not paying attention, you miss the fact that the Kirtland Temple is being prophesied of in verses 4-6.
During verse 6, a new subtext then takes the mind of the reader off of the topic of the Kirtland Temple by providing critical information about priesthood. Finally, verse 31 picks up where verse 6 left off and the topic of the Kirtland Temple is once again addressed:
4 Verily this is the word of the Lord, that the city New Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of the saints, beginning at this place, [Kirtland Ohio] even the place of the temple, which temple [the Kirtland Temple] shall be reared in this generation.
5 For verily this generation shall not all pass away until an house shall be built unto the Lord, and a cloud shall rest upon it, which cloud shall be even the glory of the Lord, which shall fill the house.
6 And the sons of Moses, according to the Holy Priesthood..
31 Therefore, as I said concerning the sons of Moses—for the sons of Moses and also the sons of Aaron shall offer an acceptable offering and sacrifice in the house of the Lord, which house shall be built unto the Lord in this generation, upon the consecrated spot as I have appointed—
32 And the sons of Moses and of Aaron shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, upon Mount Zion in the Lord’s house, whose sons are ye; and also many whom I have called and sent forth to build up my church.
As you can see, the Lord is revealing that the building of the Kirtland Temple and an offering that would be made in it by the Sons of Moses and Aaron, represents the “acceptable offering” that would be made in that generation.
Was the Kirtland Temple completed in that generation?
Yes.
Did the Sons of Moses and Aaron offer up an offering that was accepted by the Lord?
Yes.
You can read about visitation behind the veil in which Joseph and Oliver petitioned the Lord and had His glory rest upon them, as their offering was accepted by the Lord.
It is in section 110
7 For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house.
8 Yea, I will appear unto my servants, and speak unto them with mine own voice, if my people will keep my commandments, and do not pollute this holy house.
9 Yea the hearts of thousands and tens of thousands shall greatly rejoice in consequence of the blessings which shall be poured out, and the endowment with which my servants have been endowed in this house.
10 And the fame of this house shall spread to foreign lands; and this is the beginning of the blessing which shall be poured out upon the heads of my people. Even so. Amen.
Clearly the offering was accepted and the blessings pertaining to the offering were to be primarily poured out in the future. IN the third watch.
What about the SACRIFICE that was to be offered up in the Kirtland Temple?
Yes.
It is a little known fact that an animal blood sacrifice was offered up in the Kirtland Temple. At least this is according to the journal entry of Wandle Mase. Others believe this blood sacrifice will be a future event.
But I digress.
I simply wanted to show how passages of scripture can cryptically embed truths using subtexts that distract the mind from the primary text.
With this realization, lets now review the passages in section 27 which conceal a great secret by using a sub-narrative in the text to distract.
Again, the sub-narrative will be highlighted:
5 Behold, this is wisdom in me; wherefore, marvel not, for the hour cometh that I will drink of the fruit of the vine with you on the earth, and with Moroni, whom I have sent unto you to reveal the Book of Mormon, containing the fulness of my everlasting gospel, to whom I have committed the keys of the record of the stick of Ephraim;
Ok, now lets delete the sub-narrative:
5 Behold, this is wisdom in me; wherefore, marvel not, for the hour cometh that I will drink of the fruit of the vine with you on the earth, to whom I have committed the keys of the record of the stick of Ephraim;
Bingo.
Although it is Moroni that revealed the Book of Mormon containing the fulness of the Gospel. It is Joseph Smith that holds the keys of the record of the Stick of Ephraim!
This is consistent with the other passages in the section which associate each person with a role they have played.
Notice how the holding of the keys of the Stick of Ephraim match up with other passages that identify Joseph as holding the keys to the revelations given to the Gentile Ephraimite Saints:
6 And thou shalt not command him [Joseph Smith] who is at thy head, and at the head of the church;
7 For I have given him the keys of the mysteries, and the revelations which are sealed, until I shall appoint unto them another in his stead. (D&C 28:6-7 See also D&C
Once a person interprets what is being said in those passages, the veiled message in section 27 is totally congruent with all of the other supporting evidence and everything falls into place.
Before we leave this topic, and the notion that the Book of Mormon is the Stick of Ephraim, there is another elephant in the room to take into consideration.
The Book of Mormon Virtually Never Speaks of Ephraim
The Book of Mormon NEVER refers to itself as the Stick or Book of Ephraim, nor does it even appear to imply that the seed of Lehi were from the tribe of Ephraim!
As Joseph Smith pointed out, the Book of Mormon identifies the seed of Lehi as being from Manasseh.
A keyword search of the word Ephraim in the Book of Mormon brings up a grand total of 9 times that the word shows up.
8 of those references simply come from Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon.
The only other reference is to a hill named the “hill Ephraim“. (see Ether 7:9)
It is pretty unremarkable how prolific the term Ephraim is in the Book of Mormon.
There is absolutely no hint of a reference in the Book of Mormon as to why the Book of Mormon would be called the Stick of Ephraim.
As you can see, the Doctrine and Covenants not only contains words with sealed meanings, even the Book itself is cleverly hidden in scripture as the Stick of Ephraim.
In the last episode I mentioned that Joseph Smith withheld the Doctrine and Covenants from the world. I meant to cover that topic in this post but felt I should address the Stick of Ephraim topic.
Is there any evidence to support my claim that Joseph withheld the Doctrine and Covenants from the World?
We will address this issue in the next episode
Because I am Watching 