Four years ago, I wrote an analysis of the Lord’s promises and the prophecies of Book of Mormon prophets regarding the remnant of Joseph in the last days and about the building of New Jerusalem:
To the Lamanites
To the Lamanites, Part 2
Over the years, I have read commentaries and watched videos of people attempting to discredit the Book of Mormon and rationalize and reason to themselves why Native Americans cannot be Lamanites or whether there were any Lamanites “among” the Native Americans. One of the biggest arguments deals with the various DNA tests that have been conducted in order to determine whether any candidates exist whose markers can be traced back to Jewish ancestry. And while there may exist a substantial collection of data to make an argument, a substantial collection is not the same as a complete collection. To put it simply, ALL indigenous peoples of the Americas have not been tested. There does not exist a complete and total collection of data.
The Lord keeps His promises. He does and will vindicate His prophets. The world will not pass away before all His words are fulfilled. In the New Testament, we read:
John 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
It is traditionally believed that Jesus referred to the Gentiles to whom the gospel would be preached after His ministry to the Jews. But in the Book of Mormon, Jesus vindicates His words:
3 Nephi 15:12 Ye are my disciples; and ye are a light unto this people, who are a remnant of the house of Joseph.
13 And behold, this is the land of your inheritance; and the Father hath given it unto you.
14 And not at any time hath the Father given me commandment that I should tell it unto your brethren at Jerusalem.
15 Neither at any time hath the Father given me commandment that I should tell unto them concerning the other tribes of the house of Israel, whom the Father hath led away out of the land.
16 This much did the Father command me, that I should tell unto them:
17 That other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
18 And now, because of stiffneckedness and unbelief they understood not my word; therefore I was commanded to say no more of the Father concerning this thing unto them.
19 But, verily, I say unto you that the Father hath commanded me, and I tell it unto you, that ye were separated from among them because of their iniquity; therefore it is because of their iniquity that they know not of you.
20 And verily, I say unto you again that the other tribes hath the Father separated from them; and it is because of their iniquity that they know not of them.
21 And verily I say unto you, that ye are they of whom I said: Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
22 And they understood me not, for they supposed it had been the Gentiles; for they understood not that the Gentiles should be converted through their preaching.
The lost and dispersed tribes of Israel may be lost and unknown to the world, but they were never lost or unknown to the Lord. And He repeatedly declared in the Book of Ezekiel that He would again gather them up.
God needs only one seed and a generous amount of patience and time in order to produce a vast harvest of good fruit. He only needed Adam and Eve to multiply and replenish the Earth. He only needed one man and his family of eight to preserve humankind from the flood. He only needed to promise one very elderly Abraham and his barren wife that a nation would spring forth from them and that his descendants would be as many as the stars that Abraham might be able to count. God only needed one man and his family to preserve brass plates that his posterity might have the commandments of the Lord when they were sent to inherit a new promised land in America. And God needs at least one man and his family to preserve the blood of Lehi to fulfill His promise and blessing that in due time, Jacob will flourish in the wilderness and the Lamanites will blossom as the rose (D&C 49:24)!
Until the learned men of the world test every last American person for the correct DNA markers, they cannot unequivocally say that no posterity of Lehi exists. They would need a sample of Lehi’s DNA to make a conclusive statement anyway. The Lord is never too late in His doings. He is always right on time, according to His own wisdom and timing.
Do Christians need archeological evidence of the Bible to believe in Jesus Christ? Then why do they need genetic evidence to believe that before the great day of the Lord, Lamanites will once again flourish? How often has God vindicated His own words and yet people doubt and walk away?
Latter-day Lamanite 