“The scattering of Israel, however, is only half the story.”1 The Lord announces the scattering, and promises to gather Israel “out of all countries whither I have driven them” (Jer. 23:3). The gathering comes “one of a city, and two of a family,” it brings Israel and Judah back together, and Church sources read it as larger than the return from Babylon.
| Step | Passage | The words |
|---|---|---|
| Scattered | Jer. 9:16; Jer. 16:13 | “I will scatter them also among the heathen” |
| One of a city | Jer. 3:14 | “one of a city, and two of a family” |
| Greater than the Exodus | Jer. 16:14–15; Jer. 23:7–8 | “it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt” |
| Fishers and hunters | Jer. 16:16 | “I will send for many fishers… many hunters” |
| From where He drove them | Jer. 23:3 | “out of all countries whither I have driven them” |
| He that scattered | Jer. 31:10 | “He that scattered Israel will gather him” |
| Together | Jer. 3:18; Jer. 50:4–5 | “they and the children of Judah together” |
| The keys | D&C 110:11 | “the keys of the gathering of Israel” |
Scattered
“I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known” (Jer. 9:16). “Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not” (Jer. 16:13).
One of a city, and two of a family
“Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD… I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion” (Jer. 3:14). This is “in the last days,”2 and it is how the gathering happens: “as Isaiah said, ‘one by one’ (Isaiah 27:12) or, as Jeremiah predicted, ‘one of a city, and two of a family.’”1 Elder Rasband met “members who have come to the gospel as Jeremiah prophesied long ago.”3 See Jeremiah 3.
Greater than the Exodus
It shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them. (Jer. 16:14–15)
“The LORD liveth” is the wording of an oath: “thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth” (Jer. 4:2). The promise comes twice. Verse 16:14 returns at 23:7 word for word in Hebrew except the verb (“it shall no more be said”; “they shall no more say”), and the second half is reworded in Jer. 23:8.4 “This event of the latter days will supersede in proportion even the bringing of Israel out of Egypt by Moses.”5 For the exodus pattern in Isaiah, see the new exodus.
The next verse says how: “I will send for many fishers… and after will I send for many hunters” (Jer. 16:16). “In many nations our missionaries have searched for those of scattered Israel; they have hunted for them ‘out of the holes of the rocks’; and they have fished for them as in ancient days.”6 See Jeremiah 16 and Jeremiah 23.
From where He drove them
In Jer. 23:2 the pastors have “driven them away”; in the next verse the Lord uses the same Hebrew verb of Himself: “I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them” (Jer. 23:3).4 The clause is Jeremiah’s name for the places of exile. It stands in threats (Jer. 8:3; Jer. 29:18) and in the promise to gather (Jer. 23:8; Jer. 29:14; Jer. 32:37).4 Jeremiah 31 puts both in one line:
He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. (Jer. 31:10)
“The Lord Himself will gather Israel.”7 For the shepherd, see the shepherds and the Branch; for the north country and Ephraim in Jer. 31:8–9, see Jeremiah 31.
Israel and Judah together
“The house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north” (Jer. 3:18): “the return of the lost tribes from the north and the reuniting of the children of Judah.”8 “The children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together… Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten” (Jer. 50:4–5). The return from Babylon was not this: “Israel did not participate in the return from Babylon, but Israel and Judah will be restored together in the last days.”7
A single promise can hold both. Jer. 30:3 “has several meanings”;7 Jeremiah 30 lists them, and Jeremiah 50 takes up the perpetual covenant.
Gathered to Christ
Moses “committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north” (D&C 110:11). The Church’s footnote on “the north countries” in D&C 133:26 points to Jer. 16:15.2
The Lord who saves Israel is named: “It is the Lord Jesus Christ who saves. He is Israel’s Savior and Redeemer.”7 The gathering “consists of receiving the truth, gaining again a true knowledge of the Redeemer, and coming back into the true fold of the Good Shepherd,” and then “being ‘gathered’ and ‘established’ in various ‘lands of promise.’”7
Sources
- Thoughts to Keep in Mind: “Jesus Will Say to All Israel, ‘Come Home’”, Come, Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026. ↩ ↩
- The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. ↩ ↩
- Ronald A. Rasband, “Fulfillment of Prophecy”, general conference, Apr. 2020. ↩
- Westminster Leningrad Codex, with morphology, Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (OSHB), openscriptures/morphhb. ↩ ↩ ↩
- “Jeremiah”, Bible Dictionary. ↩
- Russell M. Nelson, “The Gathering of Scattered Israel”, general conference, Oct. 2006. ↩
- Chapter 25: Prophecies of a Latter-day Gathering (Jeremiah 23; 30–31; 33; 46–51; Obadiah), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003). ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩
- Chapter 23: As Ye Sow, So Shall Ye Reap (Jeremiah 1–19), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003). ↩