One in Thine Hand
In the manual: Come, Follow Me lesson 45, “A New Spirit Will I Put within You,” on Gospel Library
Start
The Lord told Ezekiel to take two sticks, write a name on each, and join them so they would “become one in thine hand” (Ezekiel 37:17).
Read Together
After King Solomon died, Israel split into two kingdoms (1 Kings 12:16–20). Judah ruled the south. The north was often called Ephraim, after its leading tribe, which came from Joseph’s son Ephraim (Genesis 48:19–20).
16Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: 17And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
19Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
What It Teaches
The first meaning is a divided people made whole. “They shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all” (Ezekiel 37:22). The Lord gathers scattered Israel into one family under one king.
In a revelation to Joseph Smith, the Lord called the Book of Mormon the record of the stick of Ephraim (Doctrine and Covenants 27:5). Much of the Bible was written by the house of Judah. The Book of Mormon was written by Lehi’s family, who descended from Joseph through his son Manasseh (Alma 10:3). Joseph of Egypt was promised that the writings of his descendants and the writings of Judah would grow together (2 Nephi 3:12).
The Bible tells of the Savior’s birth, ministry, death, and Resurrection. In the Book of Mormon, the risen Christ visits a people on the other side of the world. He takes their little children one by one and blesses them (3 Nephi 17:21). Together they are two witnesses of the same Savior.
The chapter ends with “a covenant of peace” and the Lord’s sanctuary “in the midst of them for evermore” (Ezekiel 37:26). The scriptures gather people to Christ, and the gathering leads to his temple.
Talk About It
What is one story from the Bible and one from the Book of Mormon that help you know Jesus Christ? What does each book add that the other does not have?
Take to Church
Ezekiel held two sticks as one in his hand. The Bible and the Book of Mormon work the same way, two witnesses that gather us to Jesus Christ.