Question: If the scriptures define the restoration of the gospel as the “beginning,” “commencement,” or “foundation” of the Lord’s great and marvelous work (I have wondered about this for a long time), is current missionary work and temple building, which were instituted by the prophet Joseph Smith, still a part of that beginning of gathering of Gentile members of the church? What is its purpose? I have been taught my whole life that we are gathering Israel. What should we be doing different right now? Have we neglected to take the gospel and Book of Mormon to the remnants of the Lamanites and Jews, etc.? I believe you are helping me figure out what Isaiah is saying but I’m confused and want to understand.
Answer: As you get deeper into searching the scriptures and start connecting the dots based on what Isaiah and Book of Mormon prophets actually say—not on precepts of men or what people say they say—you will find (1) that the church has indeed been operating in the beginning phase until this time; (2) that it is mainly Ephraimites who assimilated into the Gentiles, and who have become “identified with the Gentiles” (Doctrine & Covenants 109:60), who have gathered thus far; (3) that as Ephraim is the birthright tribe—the one with the responsibility to be a savior of Israel’s other tribes as Joseph was a savior of his brothers in Egypt—it has been necessary that Ephraim becomes sufficiently strong in numbers to perform this task; (4) that the gathering and restoration of all of Israel’s tribes starts substantially with the mission of God’s end-time servant who has been hidden from the world; (5) that the servant prepares the way for the Lord’s coming in glory by establishing Zion among the house of Israel, building the temple from which the Lord reigns, etc.; (6) that these things constitute the Lord’s “hastening of his work”—that is, his great and marvelous “work,” or the “restitution” or “restoration of all things”; and (7) that this turn of events leads to a great division among the Ephraimite Gentiles—when many harden their hearts and end up fighting against Zion—while his loyal servants, the spiritual kings and queens of the Gentiles, are persecuted but succeed in gathering Israel in God’s Day of Judgment on the world.
