Latter-day Saints are fortunate to know that biblical authors prophesied of latter-day events and figures. Joseph, son of Jacob, prophesied of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Book of Moses records the Lord telling Enoch that he would send truth out of the earth to testify of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ (Moses 7:62).

Latter-day Saints have earnestly sought for other such biblical prophecies that support the message of the Restoration. Latter-day Saints claim to have found at least a few prophecies that support the Book of Mormon as a record destined to be written by God through prophets. One of these prophecies is found in Ezekiel 37:16–17. The passage reads as follows:

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. And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand

Latter-day Saints have traditionally understood “the stick of Judah” to represent the Bible and the “stick of Joseph” to be the Book of Mormon.⁴⁸ The major problem with this interpretation is that the Hebrew word es does not have scripture within its semantic range.⁴⁹ The “sticks” that Ezekiel refers to are actually the people-groups of Judah and Joseph. Ezekiel is prophesying the future reunification of Israel. 

Notwithstanding the weaknesses of the traditional interpretation of Ezekiel 37, there is another interpretation of the passage, supported by Doctrine & Covenants 27:5, that supports the Book of Mormon as part of the fulfillment of this prophecy.

In Doctrine & Covenants 27:5, the Lord informs us that he will soon come for a second time and “drink of the fruit of the vine” with us and with Moroni: a prophet to whom he has commissioned the keys of the “record of the stick of Ephraim.” Notice how the revelation says the “record” of the stick of Ephraim instead of calling the Book of Mormon “the stick of Ephraim.” This passage supports the Book of Mormon’s role in fulfilling the Ezekiel passage. But how?

Since Ezekiel is prophesying the future reunification of Israel, the Book of Mormon can be seen as required in order to bring about that reunification and thus help to fulfill this biblical prophecy. Thus, rather than the Book of Mormon being a direct fulfillment of this prophecy, the Book of Mormon can be the essential aid that brings about the direct fulfillment of this prophecy. This, in turn, is one of the Book of Mormon’s explicitly stated purposes: the gathering of Israel.⁵⁰

The Title Page of the Book of Mormon explains that the Book of Mormon exists “to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever––And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that JESUS IS THE CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD, manifesting himself unto all nations.”

Elder Russell M. Nelson declared that “[t]his doctrine of the gathering is one of the important teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints…The Book of Mormon is central to this work. It declares the doctrine of the gathering. It causes people to learn about Jesus Christ, to believe His gospel, and to join His Church. In fact, if there were no Book of Mormon, the promised gathering of Israel would not occur.”⁵¹