“They Shall Be Numbered Among the Seed of Thy Father”
Most of those designated as Gentiles in the Book of Mormon are, indeed, members of the house of Israel by lineal descent. Many of them, however, have not entered into the covenant, for they have not taken upon them the name of the Mediator of that covenant and entered into the covenant gospel through an authorized baptism in his name. “For behold, I say unto you,” Nephi later testified, “that as many of the Gentiles as will repent are the covenant people of the Lord; and as many of the Jews [or anyone from the house of Israel, for that matter] as will not repent shall be cast off; for the Lord covenanteth with none save it be with them that repent and believe in his Son, who is the Holy One of Israel” (2 Nephi 30:2). Through the glad tidings of the Restoration-and specifically through the message to Israel contained in the Book of Mormon-descendants of Jacob discover who they are and come to know, once again, the voice of their Shepherd.
References