Ministering to Mormons: The Stick of Ephraim

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) are commonly known as "mormons". Its founder, Joseph Smith, began his church claiming he was led to discover and translate ancient golden plates which contain a record of North American history written by a prophet named Mormon (http://scriptures.lds.org/en/gs/b/35). This "Book of Mormon" is one of four collections recognized by mormons as scripture, including also the Bible, the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants. The more peculiar LDS beliefs do not typically find their foundation in the Book of Mormon. However, mormons point to its discovery and translation by Joseph Smith as evidence of his authority as a prophet, claiming it to be a fulfillment of prophecy contained within the pages of the Bible itself.

THE STICK OF EPHRAIM

The LDS missionary at the Christian's door will point to the writings of Ezekiel as evidence that the Book of Mormon is a fulfillment of biblical prophecy and is as authoritative as the Bible. The following is stated in the LDS "Bible Dictionary", under the topic "Ephraim, Stick of":

A prophetic reference to the Book of Mormon as a record of one portion of the tribe of Ephraim that was led from Jerusalem to America about 600 B.C. When joined with the stick of Judah (the Bible), the two records form a unified, complementary testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ, his resurrection from the grave, and his divine work among these two segments of the house of Israel. (http://scriptures.lds.org/en/bd/e/65)

The "stick of Ephraim" comes from the prophecies of Ezekiel. Here is the passage the missionary will claim foretold the coming of the Book of Mormon:

The word of the LORD came again to me saying, "And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, 'For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions'; then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.' Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. When the sons of your people speak to you saying, 'Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?' say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand."' (Ezekiel 37:15-19)

The LDS argument is that a "stick" as it is used here is the rod around which a scroll is wrapped, and that this passage foretells the future combining of the Book of Mormon--the "stick of Ephraim"--and the Bible--the "stick of Judah"--as one more complete testimony to Jesus Christ. To Christians unfamiliar with this argument, it may seem somewhat convincing. However, just a bit of research demonstrates that this is not at all what this passage teaches, and if the LDS prophets are wrong about this passage, they invalidate themselves as prophets and the entire mormon religion.

SILLY RABBIT, "EIGHTS" IS FOR TREES

The Hebrew word Ezekiel used in this passage which is rendered "stick" is 'ets, pronounced "eights". The word is defined as "tree, wood, timber, stock, plank, stalk, stick, gallows" (http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H6086&t=KJV). It appears some 328 times in the Old Testament, most often as "tree" or "trees" or "wood", and a few other places as "branch", "staff", and so forth. Never is it used to refer to a scroll, book, paper or anything of the sort.

More devastating to the LDS argument is the fact that Ezekiel tells us exactly what this prophecy foretold:

When the sons of your people speak to you saying, "Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?" say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.'" The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. Say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. (Ezekiel 37:18-22)

Unlike many prophetic symbols recorded in scripture which are not explained in advance, the explanation of this prophetic symbolism is given right here in this very passage. For some time the nation of Israel had been divided into two kingdoms: the northern kingdom of Israel, and the southern kingdom of Judah. God here tells Ezekiel that when his people ask him to explain the meaning of the sticks, he should tell them that it symbolizes the people of the northern kingdom--represented by the stick of Joseph or the stick of Ephraim--being united with the southern kingdom of Judah--represented by the stick of Judah. When the sticks would become one in Ezekiel's hand it would indicate that God would one day "make them one nation in the land," "and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms."

TEST THE SPIRITS BECAUSE MANY FALSE PROPHETS HAVE GONE OUT INTO THE WORLD
(1 John 4:1)

The mormon missionary at the Christian's door will instruct him or her pray to God to be shown the truth about the Book of Mormon, claiming that a "burning of the bosom" will indicate that the missionary's message is trustworthy. But the Bible teaches us that "the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick" (Jeremiah 17:9). Therefore, any such "burning of the bosom" cannot be trusted.

Instead, we're called to test that what we're told lines up with the Truth of the Bible. The prophets of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have taught for decades that Ezekiel's prophecy foretold something that it didn't in fact foretell. LDS leaders, thus, are and have always been false prophets, misleading their flock. Christians must hold fast to what is true and reject the false doctrines of the mormon religion, which falls like a house of cards with its false prophets.

ZEAL FOR GOD BUT NOT IN ACCORDANCE WITH KNOWLEDGE
(Romans 10:2)

However, Christians must love and pray for the average mormon who is a victim who's fallen prey to the false prophets of mormonism. Christians such as myself who have friends, family and coworkers who are mormons can "testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge" (Romans 10:2). But God desires "true worshipers [who] will worship the Father in spirit and truth" (John 4:23). Let us pray that God will open their hearts and minds to the truth of His Word, and that the grip of the LDS false prophets would loosen.