Ho Ho From the Land of the North

Zechariah wrote these words that sound to me like a description of Santa Claus: “Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the Lord: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord” (Zechariah 2:6). He says “ho, ho, ho” and he comes from the land of the north, flying on the winds of heaven to deliver toys to boys and girls across the world. In reality, it seems that the prophet actually was speaking of the gathering of the lost ten tribes who are to come down from the north and return as the people of the Lord. Multiple other scriptures also speak about a people in the last days returning from the north. Jeremiah in particular wrote about this. He said, “In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.” He also gave us this prophecy: “Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.” The day will come when we won’t speak about the miracle of bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt because we will have seen another miracle just as impressive in our day: the Lord will bring the children of Israel down from the land of the north somewhere to be gathered again unto Him. Jeremiah also gave us these words of the Lord: “Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither” (Jeremiah 3:18, 16:14-15, 31:8; see also 23:7-8). A remnant of Israel will one day come down from some “north country” where the Lord has led and hid them to return to the land of their inheritance.

                The reality of this future event is confirmed in modern revelation. In the Book of Mormon we have this prophecy of Ether given through Moroni about the last days and the building up of Jerusalem: “And then also cometh the Jerusalem of old; and the inhabitants thereof, blessed are they, for they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who were scattered and gathered in from the four quarters of the earth, and from the north countries, and are partakers of the fulfilling of the covenant which God made with their father, Abraham” (Ether 13:11). There will be part of the house of Israel that is gathered from the north countries as they return to their God. When Joseph and Oliver received keys from Moses in the Kirtland Temple in 1836, they were given “the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north” (Doctrine and Covenants 110:11). And in perhaps the most descriptive of all scriptural references about this future event, the Lord said, “And they who are in the north countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord; and their prophets shall hear his voice, and shall no longer stay themselves; and they shall smite the rocks, and the ice shall flow down at their presence. And an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep…. And they shall bring forth their rich treasures unto the children of Ephraim, my servants. And the boundaries of the everlasting hills shall tremble at their presence. And there shall they fall down and be crowned with glory, even in Zion, by the hands of the servants of the Lord, even the children of Ephraim. And they shall be filled with songs of everlasting joy.” In some glorious future day the ten tribes will come down from the north and join the children of Ephraim in Zion to praise the Lord will songs of joy. In a future event far better than the arrival of Santa Claus, the lost tribes of Israel will come in power and glory to retake their place with the Lord’s people and obtain the “blessing of the everlasting God” upon them (Doctrine and Covenants 133:26-34). We do not know these events will take place or whether some of this is only figurative language, but it is clear that the Lord will indeed continue to gather His people in these last days and prepare them to receive their King a second time.