1 Nephi 13:16-19

Nephi's vision continues...

In Verse 16 he says that the Gentiles that were gone forth out of captivity had the power of the Lord with them. This is definitely something that you want on your side when you do anything.

The Gentiles were in captivity. They were controlled in everything. Here is a quote from the Book of Mormon Institute manual on this topic:

“There are expressions in this part of the prophecy that on the surface seem to have little importance but that are of great significance. For example, Nephi says these colonists fled ‘out of captivity’ as they came to the New World. Did they really ‘flee out of captivity’? How did Nephi know that?

“When it is realized how despotic the European kings were at this period, it is easily understood that the colonists did indeed flee from captivity and oppression. Under such kings as James I of England, there was hardly a semblance of freedom. He was the supreme dictator in government, in economics, in education (what there was of it), and in the state religion. He controlled the detailed lives of his people.

“France, Spain, England, and Portugal were the principal powers involved in the discovery and exploration of America, and this is significant, as we shall point out later. All were ruled by despots, and when immigrants finally were allowed to leave the ‘mother countries,’ they indeed fled from captivity. The history of the Pilgrims and Puritans gives ample evidence of this fact” (Petersen, Great Prologue, pp. 32–33).

Verse 17 said that Nephi sees that the mother Gentiles were gathered together on water and on land and gave battle against those that had gone forth out of captivity. This is referring to the Revolutionary War. In the next verse, Nephi is told that the Lord was with the new nation and His wrath was against all those who went to battle against them. In the next verse, it says that they were delivered out of the hands of all those who battled them. This is a marvelous blessing. The fact that we are free today is all due to the Lord and hard work and sacrifices of the people. It is neat to know that Nephi saw a lot of our recent history, and we were blessed to know about it. The details of some of these visions are not made known to us, but this one is, up to our day.

I wanted to finish with a thought about our freedom. There are a couple of places where the Book of Mormon admonishes us to be righteous. If we are not righteous, we will lose this freedom. In Ether 2:12, it says: "Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written." In 2 Nephi 1:5-7, it says:
"5 But, said he, notwithstanding our afflictions, we have obtained a land of promise, a land which is choice above all other lands; a land which the Lord God hath covenanted with me should be a land for the inheritance of my seed. Yea, the Lord hath covenanted this land unto me, and to my children forever, and also all those who should be led out of other countries by the hand of the Lord.

" 6 Wherefore, I, Lehi, prophesy according to the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord.

" 7 Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever."

So, this land is choice unto the Nephites and Lamanites and all those who are led to it. We were led to it at this time in the vision of Nephi. We fall under the same obligation. Let us be righteous and deserve the blessing to live on this land.

1 Nephi 13:15

Nephi sees in vision that the Gentiles that settled the Americas were white, fair, and beautiful, like his seed before they were destroyed.

What does it mean that the people were white, fair, and beautiful? I had wondered that and so I looked up the cross references to this verse. The first was 2 Nephi 5:21. In this verse, Nephi's brothers and their families are cursed with a skin of blackness. This was because of their iniquity. They had once been white because of their righteousness, which had to have been true at some point because it said that they were once fair, white, and righteous. The next scripture is 4 Nephi 1:10. Here, the people of Nephi had seen Christ. He visited them and taught them the fulfillment of the Law of Moses. The verse says that they waxed strong, multiplied exceedingly fast (which means they were good at math, right? : ) and were exceedingly fair and delightsome. Are we seeing a pattern? Perhaps one more cross-reference. In Mormon 9:6, Moroni calls the unbelievers of Christ to repentance and prayer, so that they may become spotless, pure, fair and white, which only comes by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.

As we can see from these scriptures, being fair and white is a state of righteousness perhaps more so than being fair-skinned or beautiful as in pretty people. The Lamanites were not righteous and their skin was black. I think that Moroni puts it best. If you repent, then you are made white and fair and pure before God, and you will be saved at the last day. Let's all do better to repent of the things we've done and become fair, and have that change of heart.

1 Nephi 13:13-14

Nephi's vision continues...

Next, he is shown that the Spirit of God wrought upon other Gentiles, or people from Europe and such, and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters. We can see this scripture was/is being fulfilled. There are millions of people that came to the Americas (North and South) searching for religious freedom in the 18th and 19th centuries, and even today.

The next verse tells us that the wrath of God was against the seed of his brothers and they were scattered forth before the Gentiles and were smitten. The indigenous peoples of the Americas were conquered by the Europeans. They were made slaves and killed by the thousands. Cortes caused the fall of the Aztec Empire. Pizarro defeated the Incas.

I was thinking about these verses and there has to be a distinction given. The Lord does not condone the actions of a wicked person. However, sometimes he uses the wicked to destroy the wicked. But I must say that there were good people that came and settled the Americas and there were bad people that came, too. There were a lot of indigenous people that were killed. I don't think that all of them were bad, maybe the majority. But, those that were righteous will be saved and those that are wicked will be punished, no matter if they were killed because the majority of the group was wicked.

1 Nephi 13:10-12

After Nephi sees some things about the rise of the great and abominable church after Christ, he is shown the many waters that divide the Gentiles in the Old World from the seed of his brethren in the New World. The angel tell him that the wrath of God is upon the seed of his brethren. We know that after several generations pass away after the coming of Christ to the Nephite, they become a dark and loathsome people. This is why God is not pleased with them. They have killed off all the Nephites and anyone who will not deny Christ as stated in Moroni 1:2, "For behold, [the Lamanites] are exceedingly fierce among themselves; and because of their hatred they put to death every Nephite that will not deny the Christ."

This is important to know when we consider the next few verses. In Verse 12, the angel shows him the story about a certain man, "And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land." Any ideas on who this man is? Again, we go to the Book of Mormon Institute Manual:

“Note that Nephi says that ‘the Spirit of God came down and wrought upon the man,’ thus causing him (Columbus) to sail across ‘the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren who were in the promised land.’ . . .
“Columbus believed he could reach ‘the Indies’ by sailing westward. Although there were some people who still thought the world was flat, Columbus did not, and he was anxious to make his journey. But it was more than an urge for adventure that impelled the discoverer to undertake what he called ‘his enterprise.’
“Go to any public library, read almost any detailed biography of the discoverer, and it becomes immediately clear that he felt himself an inspired man, sent of heaven to make the voyage. For example, Columbus, Don Quixote of the Seas, written in German by Jacob Wassermann and translated into English by Eric Sutton, tells the story very well:
“‘From my first youth onward, I was a seaman and have so continued until this day. . . . Wherever on the earth a ship has been, I have been. I have spoken and treated with learned men, priests, and laymen, Latins and Greeks, Jews and Moors, and with many men of other faiths. The Lord was well disposed to my desire, and He bestowed upon me courage and understanding; knowledge of seafaring He gave me in abundance, of astrology as much as was needed, and of geometry and astronomy likewise. Further, He gave me joy and cunning in drawing maps and thereon cities, mountains, rivers, islands, and harbours, each one in its place. I have seen and truly I have studied all books—cosmographies, histories, chronicles, and philosophies, and other arts, for which our Lord unlocked my mind, sent me upon the sea, and gave me fire for the deed. Those who heard of my emprise called it foolish, mocked me, and laughed. But who can doubt but that the Holy Ghost inspired me?’
(Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1930, pp. 19–20. Italics added.)” (Mark E. Petersen, The Great
Prologue, pp. 25–26).

There are many ideas around now that Columbus was not a good person and is criticized heavily for bringing sickness and plagues to the Native Americans. Even his holiday is sparsely celebrated. I remember in 1992, 500 years after he came, there wasn't much done to commemorate it. Although there were some good people, the Lord had seen fit that these things should come upon them because of what they did to Nephi's seed. Let's remember, too, that if a righteous person dies as a result of another's actions, they will be saved. Having Columbus come to America was part of the Lord's plan to restore His gospel on the earth. There needed to be a land where religious freedom could be practiced. He could not restore His church in Europe, for example. They had to practice religion in a certain way or die, as we had discussed before with the Inquisitions.

1 Nephi 13:4-9

Nephi sees that a great church was formed among the nations of the Gentiles. This church is the most abominable of all other churches. They slay the saints of God. They torture them and bind them down under a yoke of iron and bring them down under captivity.

A possible interpretation of this verse is the Medieval, Spanish, and Portuguese Inquisitions. However, I think that it has a broader meaning as well. Many have said over the years that the great and abominable church is the Catholic church. I don't think that is necessarily true. I remember an institute class discussion on this subject. The teacher posed the thought that these people in the dream were persecuting the saints of God, or the people who followed the teachings of Christ. There are good people that go the the Catholic church, or any church. There are also people that persecute the saints that go the our church. You may profess to belong to a church, but of what church do your actions belong? In 1 Nephi 14:10, it says that there are only two churches on the earth, the church of the Lamb of God and the church of the devil. If you aren't in the church of God, you are in the church of the devil. It's that white and black.

The next couple of verses goes into more of what church do your actions belong to. This is kind of a hard thing. The angel shows Nephi that gold, silver, silks, scarlets, fine-twined linen, all manner of precious clothing, and harlots were the desires of this great and abominable church. They also desire the praise of the world. So, do we desire those things above all? I think that a great connection is to Jacob 2:18-19, which says:

"18 But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.

19 And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted"

It is all based on your desires and actions. Do good with the things the Lord has blessed you with. This is why He has blessed you with them, to be instruments in His hands.

1 Nephi 13:1-3

We are now getting into one of my favorite chapters of the Book of Mormon. Nephi sees many things of our day and the history of the United States and America.

The chapter begins with Nephi seeing many nations and kingdoms or the lands of the Gentiles. Since what comes forth in the next few verses pertains the these Gentiles, it was helpful for me to know who exactly were the people called the Gentiles in the scriptures.

This is from the Book of Mormon Institute Manual:

"Elder Bruce R. McConkie said: 'Various meanings have been attached to the name Gentiles in different ages, depending on the historical setting or the doctrinal teachings involved. Literally the meaning is, 'of the same clan or race,' and Biblical revisions frequently substitute the word nations in its place. 'The descendants of Noah’s son Japheth were called Gentiles (Gen. 10:1–5), and in this sense the descendants of Shem . . . and of Ham . . . would not be Gentiles. In the days of Abraham, the term was used to refer to those nations and peoples who had not descended from him, with the added assurance that all Gentiles who should receive the gospel would be adopted into the lineage of Abraham and be accounted his seed. (Abra. 2:9–11.) The Prophet [Joseph Smith] taught that those so adopted became literally of the blood of Abraham.' (Teachings, pp. 149–150.) In the days of ancient Israel, those not of the lineage of Jacob were considered to be Gentiles, although the Arabs and other races of Semitic origin who traced their lineage back to Abraham would not have been Gentiles in the strict Abrahamic use of the word. 'After the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed and the Ten Tribes were led away into Assyrian captivity, those of the Kingdom of Judah called themselves Jews and designated all others as Gentiles. It is this concept that would have been taught to Lehi, Mulek and the other Jews who came to the Western Hemisphere to found the great Nephite and Lamanite civilizations. It is not surprising, therefore, to find the Book of Mormon repeatedly speaking of Jew and Gentile as though this phrase marked a division between all men; to find the United States described as a Gentile Nation (1 Ne. 13; 3 Ne. 21); and to find the promise that the Book of Mormon would come forth 'by way of the Gentile.' (Title page of Book of Mormon; D. & C. 20:9.)' (Mormon Doctrine, pp. 310–11)."

I think that the Gentiles referred to in this part are Europeans perhaps even down to those from the Middle East. We shall see why here soon.

1 Nephi 12:19-EoC

As Nephi was hearing the words of the angel talk about the large and spacious building, he saw, again, his future posterity and the future posterity of his brothers. He saw that because of the pride and temptations of the devil, that his seed had, they were overpowered by the see of his brothers. He saw that the seed of his brothers did so with multitudes. Many generations pass away with wars and rumors of wars plaguing the people. I'm not sure at this point if the Nephites have been killed off. But it says that the people, not specifying who exactly, became a dark and loathsome people, full of idleness and abominations. Perhaps at this point he is referring to the Lamanites, but the Nephites did become dark and loathsome, too. Well, it really doesn't matter because anyone that did not denounce God was killed.

The word idle stuck out to me. I did a quick search for the word forms of idle in the scriptures. Here are some interesting results:

1. In Proverbs 19:15 it says: "Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger."
2. In Proverbs 31:27 it says: " She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness."
3. In Ezekial 16:49 it says: "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."
4. In 1 Timothy 5:13 it says: "And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not."
5. In 2 Nephi 5:24 it says: "And because of their cursing which was upon them they did become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey."
6. In Alma 1:32 it says: "For those who did not belong to their church did indulge themselves in sorceries, and in idolatry or idleness, and in babblings, and in envyings, and in strife; wearing costly apparel; being lifted up in the pride of their own eyes; persecuting, lying, thieving, robbing, committing whoredoms, and murdering, and all manner of wickedness; nevertheless, the law was put in force upon all those who did transgress it, inasmuch as it was possible."

Well, I think that you get the idea. We cannot be idle. Everywhere there is idleness in the scriptures, there is sadness and wickedness. So, be anxiously engaged in a good cause (see Doctrine and Covenants 58:27)!