The name, Israel, is used to designate the descendants of Abraham through Isaac his son, and Jacob his grandson. The Lord gave the name to Jacob the father of twelve sons, the heads of the tribes of Israel. "And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padan-aram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name; and he called his name Israel;" Gen. 35. 9, 10.

Abraham was a direct descendant of Shem, the son of Noah, and his native land was Ur of the Chaldees; chap. 11. "Now the Lord said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed;" 12. 1-3.

The promise to Abram, that he should become a great nation, has been fulfilled in his chosen seed occupying the land of Palestine, as such, for fifteen hundred years. It will again be fulfilled when they become a nation on that land forever.

The history of the eastern hemisphere for the two thousand years which intervened between the calling of Abraham and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, witnesses that every nation that fought against Israel, or in any way oppressed them, passed away. Time will show the same general result, from the destruction of Jerusalem to the millennium.

The prophet Isaiah, speaking of the time when the Lord should favor Israel, said, "All they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish;" 41. 11. "I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood;" 49. 26. "I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again: but I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over;" 51. 22, 23.

The first Nephi saw the final result, as between Israel and their enemies, some six hundred years before the birth of our Savior. Speaking of the time when they should be brought out of captivity, and gathered to the lands of their inheritance, he says, "And the blood of that great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall turn upon their own heads; for they shall war among themselves, and the sword of their own hands shall fall upon their own heads, and they shall be drunken with their own blood. And every nation which shall war against thee, O house of Israel, shall be turned one against another, and they shall fall into the pit which they digged to ensnare the people of the Lord;" 1 Nephi 22. 13, 14.

The sacred and profane history of the world evidences that all people, outside of the covenant seed of Abraham, when brought into association with that seed, have exhibited an instinctive antagonism to them. As a result, there are few nations that have not oppressed them, when there has been opportunity.

The quotations made on this subject, and many more not noticed, show that Israel will rule over all these in the future. As a result the future princes of the earth will be of that lineage. Then will be fulfilled another very important promise which the Lord made to Abraham: "Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;" Gen. 22. 17.

The promise in the following, verse 18, which is also repeated in a number of places in the sacred writings, is a very important one: "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." It was through the lineage of Abraham that Jesus came in the flesh to redeem the world. It was only to the seed of Abraham that he personally ministered while in the flesh.

He was born in Bethlehem of Judea, almost under the walls of Jerusalem; Luke, chap. 2. He grew up in Nazareth, a city of Galilee; verse 39. He was baptized in Jordan, the chief river of the land of promise; Matt. 3. 13. His chosen twelve disciples were of the house of Israel. They were sent first to preach the Gospel to the house of Israel: "These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel;" Matt. 10. 5, 6.

All the labors of Christ's earthly mission were in the midst of Israel. Among them he was slain for the sins of the world; his body was laid in a tomb cut in the rock of the promised land; in the midst of those with whose fathers he had covenanted he ascended up to his Father.

After his resurrection he told his disciples that Christ must needs suffer and rise from the dead, "That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem;" Luke 24. 47.

So necessary did Jesus consider it, that the blessings and power of the Gospel should go forth to the world from the house of Israel, that just before his ascension he commanded his disciples, "Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high;" verse 49.

Jesus once said to his Jewish disciples, "Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd;" John 10. 16. While ministering among the Nephites, after his resurrection, he told them what he had said to his disciples at Jerusalem, and also that they were the other sheep which he referred to.

He further said to the Nephites, "And they (that is his disciples at Jerusalem) understood me not, for they supposed it had been the Gentiles; for they understand not that the Gentiles should be converted through their preaching; * * and they understand me not that the Gentiles should not at any time hear my voice; that I should not manifest my self unto them, save it were by the Holy Ghost. But behold, ye have both heard my voice, and seen me;" 3 Nephi 15. 22-24.

In another place the Lord told the Nephites how the promise to Abraham, "In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed," would be fulfilled. "And after that ye were blessed, then fulfilleth the Father the covenant which he made with Abraham, saying, in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed, unto the pouring out of the Holy Ghost through me upon the Gentiles;" 20. 27.

Thus we are assured that Jesus never has ministered in person to the Gentiles, and there are no promises for the future to them which involve such administration. In this dispensation, all the blessings of the everlasting Gospel have been restored to the earth, through the agency of the house of Israel. Of them a people will be prepared, and through them a kingdom will be established, over which the Savior will reign on the earth. Then Israel will be the head of nations, and the promise made to Abraham, "Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies," will fully be realized.

For further information on this subject see the following subjects in this work: Gathering of Israel, Apostacy of the Primitive Church, and Millennial Reign.

Bible.

Exo. 3. 6 I am the God of thy fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

15 this is my name forever, and my memorial unto all generations.

6. 7 will take you to me for a people, and will be to you a God.

19. 5 ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people.

6 ye shall be to me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation.

23. 22 I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

29. 45 I will dwell among the children of Israel, and be their God.

Num. 6. 27 they shall put my name upon Israel, and I will bless them.

24. 9 blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.

Deut. 7. 15 I will lay them on all them that hate thee.

26. 18, 19 to make thee high above all nations, and an holy people.

27. 9 this day thou art become the people of the Lord thy God.

2 Chron. 9. 8 because the Lord loved Israel, to establish them forever.

Psalm 105. 6 ye seed of Abraham, his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen.

135. 4 Lord hath chosen Jacob for himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.

137. 8, 9 O Babylon, happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.

Isa. 10. 5-19 Assyria to be taken and destroyed.

14. 2 they shall take them captives whose captives they were.

29. 7, 8 all the nations that fight against Ariel shall be as a dream.

41. 8 Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend. 9.

43. 10 my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen. 20.

45. 4 Israel, mine elect. I have even called thee by name.

49. 24, 25 even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away.

26 I will feed them that oppress thee on their own flesh.

54. 15 whosoever shall gather against thee shall fall. 17.

Jer. 2. 3 all that devour him shall offend; evil shall consume upon them.

10. 25 pour out thy fury on the heathen, for they have eaten up Jacob.

30. 11 though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, I will not make a full end of thee. 16, 24.

Heb. 8. 10 I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.