--- J. R. R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings
"And it came to pass that Enoch continued his cry unto the Lord, saying: I ask thee, O Lord, in the name of thine Only Begotten, even Jesus Christ, that thou wilt have mercy upon Noah and his seed, that the earth might never more be covered by the floods. And the Lord could not withhold; and he covenanted with Enoch, and sware unto him with an oath, that he would stay the floods; that he would call upon the children of Noah; And he sent forth an unalterable decree, that a remnant of his seed should always be found among all nations, while the earth should stand"
"After this the Ark rested on the top of a certain mountain in Armenia: which when Noah understood, he opened it, and seeing a small piece of land about it, he continued quiet, and conceived some chearful hopes of deliverance. But a few days afterward, when the water was decreased to a greater degree, he sent out a raven; as desirous to learn whether any other part of the earth were left dry by the water: and whether he might go out of the Ark with safety. But the raven, finding the land all still over-flowed, returned to Noah again. But after seven days he sent out a dove, to know the state of the ground, which came back to him covered with mud; and bringing an olive branch..." Book I, Chpt. 3 verse 5
-- Flavius Josephus of the Antiquities of the Jews
Moses 8:12-13 - "Noah was four hundred and fifty years old, and
from the Historical Textbook and Atlas of Biblical Geography by Lyman Coleman.
Japheth (Firstborn son) did NOT loose
the "birth right" to build ZION,
...but, his descendants did...
"... [Joseph Smith] particularly referred to the idea that the dominion of Japheth is extended over the whole earth and showed that it was destined to be transferred into the hands of Shem and his posterity..."
--- Sidney Rigdon, Council of Fifty, Minutes - Tuesday, March 19th. 1844
"Ether saw the days of Christ, and he spake concerning a New Jerusalem upon this land. And he spake also concerning the House of Israel, and the Jerusalem from whence Lehi should come—after it should be destroyed it should be built up again, a holy city unto the Lord; wherefore, it could not be a new Jerusalem for it had been in a time of old; but it should be built up again, and become a holy city of the Lord; and it should be built unto the house of Israel — And that a New Jerusalem should be built up upon this land, unto the remnant of the seed of Joseph..."
Tribe of Joseph was divided into:
Ephraim
Manasseh
Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a spring;
Its branches run over a wall.
23 The archers bitterly attacked him,
And shot at him and harassed him;
24 But his bow remained firm,
And his arms were agile,
From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
(From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel)...
26 The blessings of your father
Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors
Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills;
May they be on the head of Joseph,
Deuteronomy 33
16 And with the choice things of the earth and its fullness,
And the favor of Him who dwelt in the bush.
Let it come to the head of Joseph,
And to the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.
17 As the firstborn of his ox, majesty is his,
And his horns are the horns of the wild ox (Ibex or unicorn)
With them he will push the peoples,
All at once, to the ends of the earth.
And those are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
And those are the thousands of Manasseh.
Ephraim is represented by a bull (Jeremiah 31:18)
I have surely heard Ephraim grieving,
You have chastised me, and I was chastised,
Like an untrained calf;
Bring me back that I may be restored,
For You are the LORD my God.
Manasseh is an animal called a Ream (Deuteronomy 37:17). The identity of this beast is disputed but in the KJV of the bible is translated as a unicorn.
...the Lord God will raise up a righteous branch out of my loins; and unto thee, whom my father Jacob hath named Israel, a prophet;
a branch shall be broken off, and shall be carried into a far country; nevertheless they shall be remembered in the covenants of the Lord, when the Messiah cometh;
Thus saith the Lord God of my fathers unto me, A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins, and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give commandment that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren. And he shall bring them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers;
I will remember you from generation to generation; and his name shall be called Joseph, and it shall be after the name of his father; and he shall be like unto you; for the thing which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand shall bring my people unto salvation...
And it shall be done unto thee in the last days also, even as I have sworn.
~ 588 – 570 B.C. - Lehi's 1st Blessing - (2 Nephi 1) - And if ye will hearken unto him I leave unto you a blessing, yea, even my first blessing. But if ye will not hearken unto him I take away my first blessing, yea, even my blessing, and it shall rest upon him.
~ 570 B.C. Lehi's 2nd Blessing (2 Nephi 4) - I, Nephi, speak concerning the prophecies of which my father hath spoken, concerning Joseph, who was carried into Egypt. For behold, he truly prophesied concerning all his seed... after my father had made an end of speaking concerning the prophecies of Joseph, he called the children of Laman, his sons, and his daughters, and said unto them: Behold, my sons, and my daughters, who are the sons and the daughters of my firstborn... I cannot go down to my grave save I should leave a blessing upon you...I leave my blessing upon you, that the cursing may be taken from you and be answered upon the heads of your parents. Wherefore, because of my blessing the Lord God will not suffer that ye shall perish; wherefore, he will be merciful unto you and unto your seed forever.
~ 420 B.C. - Enos 1:11 & 13 (16) - I did cry unto God that he would preserve the records; and he covenanted with me that he would bring them forth unto the Lamanites in his own due time.
~ 92 B.C - Mosiah 27:8-11 & 32-35, and Mosiah 28:1-7 - [the Sons of Mosiah] took a small number with them and returned to their father, the king, and desired of him that he would grant unto them that they might, with these whom they had selected, go up to the land of Nephi that they might preach the things which they had heard, and that they might impart the word of God to their brethren, the Lamanites - Why? New Jerusalem
~ 49 to 30 B.C. - Helaman 3:20-21, Helaman 4:14 & Helaman 5 & 6 - Nevertheless Helaman did fill the judgment-seat with justice and equity; And it came to pass that he had two sons. He gave unto the eldest the name of Nephi, and unto the youngest, the name of Lehi. ...And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi did preach unto the Lamanites with such great power and authority, for they had power and authority given unto them that they might speak,
------------------- FINALLY -----------------------
and they also had what they should speak given unto them—
Therefore they did speak unto the great astonishment of the Lamanites, to the convincing them, insomuch that there were eight thousand of the Lamanites who were in the land of Zarahemla and round about baptized unto repentance, and were convinced of the wickedness of the traditions of their fathers.
And it came to pass that when, ...all these things had happened and the Lamanites had become, the more part of them, a righteous people, insomuch that their righteousness did exceed that of the Nephites, because of their firmness and their steadiness in the faith.
~ 6 B.C. - Samuel the Lamantie - Helaman 13 to 15
Yea, even if they [Lamanites] should dwindle in unbelief the Lord shall prolong their days, until the time shall come which hath been spoken of by our fathers, and also by the prophet Zenos [Jacob 5], and many other prophets, concerning the restoration of our brethren, the Lamanites, again to the knowledge of the truth—Yea, I say unto you [Nephites], that in the latter times the promises of the Lord have been extended to our brethren, the Lamanites; ... the Lord shall be merciful unto them. And this is according to the prophecy, that they shall again be brought to the true knowledge, which is the knowledge of their Redeemer, and their great and true shepherd, and be numbered among his sheep.
"Remember that I spake unto you, and said that when the words of Isaiah should be fulfilled—behold they are written, ye have them before you, therefore search them—then is the fulfilling of the covenant which the Father hath made unto his people, O house of Israel. And then shall the remnants, which shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth, be gathered in from the east and from the west, and from the south and from the north; and they shall be brought to the knowledge of the Lord their God, who hath redeemed them.
And the Father hath commanded me that I should give unto you this land, for your inheritance."
And the Lord said unto Enoch: As I live, even so will I come in the last days, in the days of wickedness and vengeance, to fulfil the oath which I have made unto you concerning the children of Noah; And the day shall come that the earth shall rest, but before that day the heavens shall be darkened, and a veil of darkness shall cover the earth; and the heavens shall shake, and also the earth; and great tribulations shall be among the children of men, but my people will I preserve; And righteousness will I send down out of heaven; and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten; his resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem. And the Lord said unto Enoch: Then shalt thou and all thy city meet them there, and we will receive them into our bosom, and they shall see us; and we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other; And there shall be mine abode, and it shall be Zion, which shall come forth out of all the creations which I have made; and for the space of a thousand years the earth shall rest.
"and they [Gentiles] shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance; And they [Gentiles] shall assist my people, the remnant of Jacob, and also as many of the house of Israel as shall come, that they may build a city, which shall be called the New Jerusalem. And then shall they [Gentiles] assist my people that they may be gathered in, who are scattered upon all the face of the land, in unto the New Jerusalem.