Numbered Among/Included With the House of Israel

The description of covenantal status of different groups with the House of Israel. Nephi describes the extension of the covenant status from the descendants of Nephi to the Gentiles in the last days by writing: As a result, the Gentiles will be blessed and included with the house of Israel. I’ll dedicate this land to your descendants forever — and to those who are included with them — as their inherited land; because it’s a choice land to Me, more than all other lands (2 Nephi 7:4 CE). Wherefore, the Gentiles shall be blessed and numbered among the house of Israel. Wherefore, I will consecrate this land unto thy seed, and they who shallbe numbered among thy seed, for ever, for the land of their inheritance; for it is a choice land, saith God unto me, above all other lands (2 Nephi 7:4). It adds All the Gentiles who repentarethe Lord’s covenant people, and all the Jews who refuse to repent will be rejected. The Lord only covenants with those who repent and believe in His Son, who is the Holy One of Israel (2 Nephi 12:11 CE).

The book of Alma records the history of a group of Lamanite people who had repented, been converted, and lived among the Nephites. They were identified by that name from then on. They were recognized as Nephites and included among the people who belonged to God’s congregation (Alma 15:9 CE). These people — who were clearly, as a matter of blood descent, Lamanites — were numbered among the people of Nephi and numbered among the people who were of the church of God. Their genealogical status ceased to matter because of their covenantal status. They changed from being Lamanites to being “numbered among the people of Nephi.” Man can change his identity: He can change from being a Nephite to being a Lamanite or from being a Lamanite to being a Nephite; but more importantly, he can change his identity from being a Gentile into being of the house of Israel.

Immediately preceding Christ’s visit with the Nephites, the Lamanites who had joined with the Nephites were included as part of the Nephites. Their curse was removed… (3 Nephi 1:11 CE). These descendants of Laman were numbered among the Nephites, were called Nephites, and were included within the group who was spared to whom Christ came to visit at the House of the Lord in Bountiful. Christ then explained this very same subject to them, and clarified some things: I’ll keep My covenant with you, O house of Israel, and you’ll understand the fullness of My gospel. But if the Gentiles repent and return to Me, says the Father, they’ll be included with My people of the house of Israel. (3 Nephi 7:5 CE). Christ (speaking to the Nephites, quoting His Father) says that it is the Father’s determination that the Gentiles who repent and return unto Christ are going to be numbered among the people of the house of Israel. Then Christ, still speaking to the Nephites, says, Then the Gentiles, provided they don’t harden their hearts, will be able to repent and come to Me and be baptized in My name and know the true points of My doctrine, so they can be included with My people, the house of Israel….But if the Gentiles repent and hearken to My words and don’t harden their hearts, I’ll establish My congregation among them. And they will enter the covenant and be included with the remnant of Jacob, to whom I’ve given this land as their inheritance. They will join with My people, the remnant of Jacob, and all those of the house of Israel who come, so they can build a city that will be called the New Jerusalem. Then they will join with My people who are scattered throughout the land so they can be brought in together to the New Jerusalem. Then the Powers of heaven will come down among them, and I will be with them as well (3 Nephi 9:11-10:1 CE). This building of the New Jerusalem by the Gentiles is actually going to be done by the remnant of Jacob, which includes the Gentiles who come unto Him and repent and are numbered among the house of Jacob.

One of the primary messages of the Book of Mormon is the restoration of the covenant status and the reclamation into the house of Israel of those who are called Gentiles — in their lost and forsaken condition — who know nothing concerning a covenant with God reclaiming them, converting them, and (after they repent) turning them into the house of Israel. But if the Jews reject the message or if the remnant of Nephi — the remnant on this land — reject the message, then they’re cast off, meaning they lose their covenant status. The obligation of those last days’ Gentiles who repent and accept the covenant and come in unto the Lord is (1) to recognize their status and (2) to take the message out. It changes the interpretation as soon as a Gentile becomes numbered among the house of Israel (numbered among the people of Jacob). The prophecy about the people of Jacob and the descendants of Jacob building the New Jerusalem means that the interpretation — correctly — is that it’s “covenant Gentiles numbered among that house” who will do so. If “Gentiles” are going to assist them, then they are those that have yet to enter into the covenant.¹

Gentiles become numbered with the house of Israel based upon their willingness to accept the covenant Book of Mormon that was sustained and approved by God and was adopted by a group of people in Boise, Idaho in September of 2017. One should not trifle with these things. If the Gentiles are willing to accept the Book of Mormon because their hearts are soft, they get numbered among Israel, and they inherit the land. That’s the status that people achieve when they accept the Book of Mormon or Covenant of Christ as a covenant.²