The Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites

In D&C 3 the Lord chastised the Prophet Joseph after the loss of the 116 pages.  But He promised that the Book of Mormon would still come forth, saying, “Nevertheless, my work shall go forth, for inasmuch as the knowledge of a Savior has come unto the world, through the testimony of the Jews, even so shall the knowledge of a Savior come unto my people—And to the Nephites, and the Jacobites, and the Josephites, and the Zoramites, through the testimony of their fathers—And this testimony shall come to the knowledge of the Lamanites, and the Lemuelites, and the Ishmaelites, who dwindled in unbelief because of the iniquity of their fathers.”  He promised that “the Lamanites” would “come to the knowledge of their fathers, and that they might know the promises of the Lord, and that they may believe the gospel” (D&C 3:16-20).  It’s interesting to me that the Lord would use the different groups—more than just the Nephites and Lamanites that are most commonly mentioned in the book—suggesting that there were descendants in Joseph Smith’s time that could still be put in those different groups and the Lord was aware of them.

            The grouping listed in D&C 3 is actually very consistent with how the Book of Mormon lists the various groups of people.  I was surprised to see the exact same set of seven groups listed four times in the Book of Mormon.  In Jacob 1:13 we read, “Now the people which were not Lamanites were Nephites; nevertheless, they were called Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites.”  This is the same set of group and in the same order as the Lord listed them in the Doctrine and Covenants.  In 4 Nephi, as the people started to be wicked again, we have this description: “And it came to pass that in this year there arose a people who were called the Nephites, and they were true believers in Christ; and among them there were those who were called by the Lamanites—Jacobites, and Josephites, and Zoramites. Therefore the true believers in Christ, and the true worshipers of Christ, (among whom were the three disciples of Jesus who should tarry) were called Nephites, and Jacobites, and Josephites, and Zoramites. And it came to pass that they who rejected the gospel were called Lamanites, and Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites” (4 Nephi 1:36-37).  The same list is found in Mormon’s words nearly 1000 years after Jacob wrote, “And it came to pass in this year there began to be a war between the Nephites, who consisted of the Nephites and the Jacobites and the Josephites and the Zoramites; and this war was between the Nephites, and the Lamanites and the Lemuelites and the Ishmaelites” (Mormon 1:8).  Each of these references refers to the same set of Nephite and Lamanite group, and we can that the Lord witnessed that they did in reality exist in the Book of Mormon days and that He knows where the descendants of the Book of Mormon people are today.  Most importantly, the Book of Mormon itself has been and will continue to be a great missionary tool to bring the descendants of the Nephites and Lamanites to “the knowledge of their fathers.”