By Brett Breeden
Bruce H. Woolley addressed Education Week participants Thursday morning on the 10th Article of Faith and the belief that Israel will be gathered.
Woolley began by describing how the scattering of Israel took place in four parts.
He said the first part took place when Assyrians invaded the Northern Kingdom and took those tribes captive in 722 B.C.
The Lehites and Mulekites flight to the Americas followed the loss of the ten tribes around 600 B.C.
Woolley said shortly after they left, King Nebuchadnezzer invaded the Southern Kingdom and took the Jews and part of the tribe of Benjamin, of which only 10 percent returned after captivity.
He also pointed out the Romans further scattered the Jews in A.D. 70 when they destroyed Jerusalem.
Woolley said the fourth part of the scattering doesn''t have a specific date but that Ephraim dispersion took place over a long time.
'A great part of the tribe of Ephraim was interspersed throughout many of the Gentile nations,' Woolley said.
He said Moses held the keys to the scattering and gathering of Israel and understood what would happen.
'Moses, who was in charge of the destiny of Israel, the scattering and gathering of Israel, predicted all of this occurring, and said it would be a curse and a blessing. The curse being that the unity of Israel was lost...the blessing is that most nations of the earth would be blessed for having Israel within their nation,' Woolley said.
He then clarified the last part of his statement.
'That is a part of the fulfillment of that covenant with Abraham, that the nations would be blessed,' Woolley said.
He said Moses'' appearance at the Kirtland Temple to deliver the keys of the gathering of Israel to Joseph Smith, in conjunction with the Savior, Elias and Elijah''s appearances, on April 3, 1836, marked the end of the scattering of Israel.
'That is the pivotal point, the fulcrum, the change from the scattering of Israel to its gathering,' Woolley said.
Then, referring to chapter five of Jacob, he said the gathering of Israel must take place in the exact opposite order of the scattering.
'The very first step in the gathering of Israel has to be the gathering of the remnants of Ephraim, and that...is the restoration of the gospel...and that part is well under way if not almost complete,' Woolley said.
He pointed to the formation of the Israeli state and the influx of Jews since its establishment as a signifier of their continuing gathering.
Woolley then referred to the explosive growth of the church in Latin America among the descendants of Lehi and Mulek as proof the gathering is in full force.
Woolley then said he could only speculate about the ten lost tribes and how and when they will be scattered point, but said he was confident the Lord would bring it about in his own time.