salvation a gift to all—god's covenant with abraham—proselytes—the dispersion—conclusion.

before proceeding further we wish to remark that we trust no one will imagine, from reading these chapters, that we believe that the literal descendants of abraham will be the only ones saved in the kingdom of god. to the contrary we are fully aware that god has made of one blood all the nations of the earth, and realize that all men of every clime and age, may be partakers of the priceless blessings resulting to fallen humanity from the infinite sacrifice on calvary. we also firmly believe that within the scope of the gospel covenant are provisions, and ways and means, by which the obedient of all races become the recognized children of abraham, and heirs, by adoption, to all the god-given promises to that patriarch. john the baptist told the degenerate jews of his day who were boasting of their abrahamic descent, that of the very stones in the roadway, if it so pleased him, god could raise up children unto abraham. all we claim for israel, no more, no less, is the fulfillment of god's covenant with the father of the faithful, which covenant modern revelation lays before us in the following language:

"my name is jehovah, and i know the end from beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee [abraham] and i will make of thee a great nation, and i will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and priesthood unto all nations, and i will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this gospel, shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father; and i will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and in thee (that is in thy priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy priesthood), for i give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal." (book of abraham.)

from this we learn that it has been covenanted by the eternal one, that abraham's seed shall bear the message and ministry of god's grace to all nations, and that through him and his seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed with the blessings of the gospel which, through obedience, brings salvation and eternal lives; also as many as receive the gospel shall be called after his (abraham's) name, shall be accounted his seed, and shall rise up and bless him as their father.

this last mentioned portion of the covenant was well understood by the jews and acted upon by them, even though they had cringed from obedience to the fullness of the gospel, and were living under a lesser law of bondage and carnal commandments. the manner in which the israelites received and treated proselytes is certainly not one of the least interesting features of their policy and history, and may here be glanced at, without wandering far from the question under consideration.

there appears to have been two classes of proselytes recognized among the ancient jews. the first, known as proselytes of righteousness, or proselytes of the covenant, became perfect israelites, and, according to the talmud, were admitted to the household of abraham by circumcision and baptism. the other class were termed proselytes of the gate ("the stranger that is within thy gate.") it is said converts of this class were not bound by circumcision and the other special laws of the mosaic code. it was enough for such to observe the precepts against idolatry, blasphemy, bloodshed, uncleanness and theft, and of obedience, also, to that precept against eating "flesh with the blood thereof." of this latter class were converts who embraced judaism for other than the purest motives; for instance, for the sake of a lover, a husband or a wife, to court favor and promotion, or in dread of some calamity or threatened judgment. such converts were regarded by the jews of old very much in the same manner as their counterparts are regarded among the latter-day saints. again, the jews sometimes spread their faith with the same weapons as those with which they had defended it. the idumeans, after their conquest by john hyrcanus, had the alternative of death, exile or circumcision offered to them. they chose the latter. the iturians were converted (?) in the same way by aristobolus. in the days of jesus, when the light of truth shone but dimly in the jewish creed, and the vices of the degenerate jews had been engrafted on those of the profligate heathen, the savior cried, "woe unto you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him two-fold more the child of hell than yourselves." (matt. xxiii: 13.)

there is one factor that tended greatly to the diffusion of israelitish blood, that we have scarcely noticed, as it relates far more largely to judah than to ephraim. we refer to those who remained settled in foreign countries after the return of the jews from the babylonian captivity, and during the period of the second temple. at the beginning of the christian era the dispersed were divided into three great sections, the babylonian, the syrian, and the egyptian. from babylon the jews spread through persia, media and parthia. the greek conquests in asia extended the limits of this dispersion. large settlements of the children of judah were established in cyprus, and on the western coast of asia minor. these latter, to a very unfortunate extent, adopted the greek language and greek ideas. in africa, alexander and ptolemy i. established large colonies of jews at alexandria, not far from which place a temple was erected to jehovah after the order of that at jerusalem. from alexandria the jews spread out over the coasts of northern and eastern africa. how greatly the jews had become scattered in the time of christ, may be judged from the devout men who came up to worship and keep the passover at jerusalem, and who listened to the preaching of peter on the day of pentecost. they are stated to have been parthians, medes, elamites (persians), dwellers in mesopotamia, judea, cappadocia, pontus, asia, phrygia, pamphilia, egypt, cyrene (tripoli), cretes, arabians, romans, jews and proselytes.

there is also another view of the subject, which we are not prepared to enlarge upon in this article, but which bears the weight of abundant proof. it is, that the latter-day saints have been, and are today, fulfilling the work that it has been oft foretold ephraim and his fellows should do. then, if we are doing the work, and claim that we are they who should do it, and it being impossible to invalidate our assumption, is not our claim worthy of thoughtful consideration and average respect? god has declared that he will make of his latter-day israel a nation of kings and priests. in former dispensations (except that lesser authority among the jews given to the house of aaron) the priesthood was conferred upon the few, it was an honor of the highest kind; but in the dispensation of the fullness of times, the whole people are to be a race of kings and priests, and not less honorable because of the multitude. to our mind this is a great proof that that people will be of ephraim. there is a cause for all god's promises—there is one for this. in the order of the higher law, the priesthood belongs to the first-born. ephraim is god's adopted first-born in all the races of mankind, therefore, by right of that adoption, they are a nation of priests—priests of god after the order of melchisedek, under jesus our redeemer, the savior of the world.

to conclude, we believe that there is scarcely a people or nation under heaven in which is not to be found some of the blood of abraham, leavening with the promised seed all the families of the earth. and this chosen generation will, by right of kindred, administer to all people the word of god, and as saviors will they stand upon mount zion, drawing all men unto the great savior of our race, who will stand in their midst, on the right hand of the father, crowned and exalted as king of kings, and lord of lords, the great apostle and high priest of our salvation. truly the lord is fulfilling his promises, israel has blossomed and budded and filled the earth with fruit, but in the great future he will do it yet more abundantly and gloriously.