Ezekiel 37:15-17 – The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Ephraim’s stick, belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.”

Is this passage of the Bible actually referring to The Book of Mormon? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) would have us think so.

The Mormon Church claims that the “sticks” mentioned in this passage refer to scrolls, which in ancient times were wrapped around sticks. They then say that the “stick of Judah” refers to the Bible, and the “stick of Joseph” refers to the Book of Mormon. The two sticks becoming one symbolizes the Bible and Book of Mormon coming together as complimentary scriptures (http://www.irr.org/mit/Ezekiel37.html).

The Hebrew word used by Ezekiel is ets, which means “wood, tree, stick” – translated in this passage as “stick” – is also used in Numbers 15:32; 1 Kings 17:10; 2 Kings 6:6, and Lamentations 4:8 to name a few places. Had God meant “scroll” or “book” here in Ezekiel He would have used the word sepher, which appears in Joshua 1:8; Isaiah 30:8; Jeremiah 36:2; Daniel 12:1, and Malachi 3:16 to cite a few examples. And Ezekiel himself uses this very word in chapter 2, verse 9 of his book, so we know he was aware of it, and therefore could have used it here in chapter 37 if God had wanted him to.

It needs to be understood that these Hebrew words are not used interchangeably in Scripture. In hermeneutics (the science of biblical interpretation) it is always proper to understand a passage of Scripture in its full context, and to interpret it in the plainest sense. In other words, we need to attempt to see how the people who received the original document in the historical setting would have understood it.

The context of a passage, and the definitions of words must be as they were at the time the text was written for it to be understood correctly. People need to be careful not to “interpret” the Bible in an attempt to make it say what they want it to say so as to advance their own teachings. To correctly approach this passage from Ezekiel one must remember, that just as the English language has different words for a book or a stick, so also does the Hebrew. And this would be true for most known languages as well.

Following the biblical admonition to “let everything be confirmed by 2 or 3 witnesses,” let’s look at just a couple of many times the word ets appears in the Bible. In 1 Kings 17:12 –

As surely as the LORD your God l lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread-only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it-and die.

We must ask ourselves, in this passage Holy Scripture, is the widow gathering scrolls or books?

How about 2 Kings 6:6 –

The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float.

Did Elisha cut down a book or a scroll and then throw it into the water? The obvious answer to both of these questions is no. So then it would only make sense to understand this passage of Scripture in Ezekiel 37 to simply mean sticks as well because this same Hebrew word ets is used in each case.

The logical conclusion is that Ezekiel 37:15-17 is to be understood literally. The Lord told Ezekiel to take one stick and carve on it “For Judah”, etc. Then to take another stick and carve into it “For Joseph”, etc. And this was all Ezeliel was to write on these sticks and then join them together, it is not referring in any way to The Book of Mormon at all.

Now God may have done a miracle and supernaturally joined the sticks as one, or Ezekiel may have simply held them together in his hand. The two sticks were to be used as a visual aid for the people Ezekiel would later be addressing. This portion of the Bible is about the Lord declaring that Judah and Israel, the two houses of His people, divided since the reign of King Rehoboam, would be brought together as one nation with one king again. The literal historical context of this Scripture becomes clear by reading through to verse 22, as this whole chapter is dealing with the restoration of Israel to her own land.

And finally, concerning Ezekiel 37:17, renowned Bible scholar Matthew Henry writes in his classic Commentary:

This emblem was to show the people, that the Lord would unite Judah and Israel. Christ is the true David, Israel’s King of old; and those whom he makes willing in the day of his power, he makes to walk in his judgments, and to keep his statutes.

And The Biblical Studies Foundation, comprised of Professors of the Bible at Dallas Theological Seminary, says that this passage of Ezekiel is a “[visual illustration that] the Lord will bring Israel and Judah to live together under the New Covenant.”

The Christian Church, along with orthodox Judaism, because of the actual historical evidence, has long considered that this passage of Ezekiel, is literally referring to sticks of wood. Following the incontrovertible laws of linguistics combined with all this historical evidence the case is too strong for the assertions of the LDS Church to stand.

Bill McKeever of Mormonism Research Ministry sums up our thesis quite well when he says:

Of course, the widow of Zarephath was not gathering books, any more than Elisha cut down a book from a tree. Neither was Ezekiel holding books (or scrolls) in his hand as Mormons all too often imply.

Ezekiel 37 has nothing to say about the Book of Mormon. By using two literal sticks, Ezekiel was illustratively predicting the coming together of two nations, Judah and Israel, which had been separated since the time of King Rehoboam, nothing more. If the Mormon would continue reading to verse 22, he would see that this is clearly explained (http://www.mrm.org/multimedia/text/ezekiel-37.html).

And in the end, the reason that the historic orthodox Christian Church has always rejected the LDS view that this passage of Holy Scripture foretells the coming of The Book Of Mormon, is that it feels a proper hermeneutic compels the reader to understand these words of Ezekiel literally.