1 Nephi 12:19 - 23, NC 1 Nephi 3 par. 18
And while the angel spake these words, I beheld and saw that the seed of my brethren did contend against my seed, according to the word of the angel. And because of the pride of my seed and the temptations of the Devil, I beheld that the seed of my brethren did overpower the people of my seed. And it came to pass that I beheld and saw the people of the seed of my brethren, that they had overcome my seed, and they went forth in multitudes upon the face of the land. And I saw them gathered together in multitudes; and I saw wars and rumors of wars among them, and in wars and rumors of wars I saw many generations pass away. And the angel said unto me, Behold, these shall dwindle in unbelief. And it came to pass that I beheld, after they had dwindled in unbelief, they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.
The Stick of Joseph in the Hand of Ephraim, 1 Nefi 3 par. 18
And while the angel spoke these words, I beheld and saw that the seed of my brothers did contend against my seed, according to the word of the angel. And because of the pride of my seed and the temptations of HaSatan, I beheld that the seed of my brothers did overpower the people of my seed. And it came to pass that I beheld and saw the people of the seed of my brothers, that they had overcome my seed, and they went forth in multitudes upon the face of the land. And I saw them gathered together in multitudes; and I saw wars and rumors of wars among them, and in wars and rumors of wars I saw many generations pass away. And the angel said unto me, Behold, these shall dwindle in unbelief. And it came to pass that I beheld, after they had dwindled in unbelief, they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.
Is it possible for us to pause here and consider what Nephi is feeling as he witnesses the ultimate destruction of the nation of his descendants?
Haven't we all either been in situations or seen situations or even watched situations portrayed to us where there is a battle between good and evil or wrong and right or justice and injustice?
Don't we hope in our hearts that what is right, what is good, and what is just will prevail in the end?
Don't we desire ultimate happiness for all?
I do not claim to know what was going through Nephi's mind at this moment but is it possible that what he recorded following this vision is an indication of his heart being filled with deep sorrow at such an eventuality being shown to him?
And it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had been carried away in the spirit and seen all these things, I returned to the tent of my father. And it came to pass that I beheld my brethren, and they were disputing one with another concerning the things which my father had spoken unto them; for he truly spake many great things unto them which were hard to be understood save a man should inquire of the Lord. And they being hard in their hearts, therefore they did not look unto the Lord as they ought. And now I, Nephi, was grieved because of the hardness of their hearts, and also because of the things which I had seen, and knew they must unavoidably come to pass because of the great wickedness of the children of men. And it came to pass that I was overcome because of my afflictions, for I considered that mine afflictions were great above all because of the destructions of my people, for I had beheld their fall. (1 Nephi 15, NC 1 Nephi 4 par. 1)
What is entailed in being overcome by one's afflictions?
When one possesses the knowledge that Nephi possesses how can afflictions overcome them?
We talked about this before with Enoch and the depths of his feelings concerning the destructions and waste that the wickedness of men causes.
Is it possible that anyone who comes to the same level of knowledge as what Nephi has arrived to here feels just as deeply as Nephi sorrow at the suffering of all because of wickedness?
Is it possible that one of the effects of true knowledge is sorrow for the waste and destruction among men because of wickedness?
What would an individual who possesses true knowledge be willing to sacrifice in order to right the wrongs of the wickedness of others?
When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed; he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied; by his knowledge shall my righteous Servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong — because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.(Mosiah 14:10 - 12, NC Mosiah 8 par. 5)
The above is Abinadi before the court of king Noah quoting Isaiah concerning Christ.
Is it possible that the phrase "by his knowledge shall my righteous Servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities", may also include as additional meaning to experiencing the iniquities of others the meaning of being willing to give Himself a sacrifice because of the knowledge He possesses?
The Prophet Joseph declared the following.
All the religious world is boasting of righteousness; it is the doctrine of the devil to retard the human mind, and hinder our progress, by filling us with self-righteousness. The nearer we get to our heavenly Father, the more we are disposed to look with compassion on perishing souls; we feel that we want to take them upon our shoulders, and cast their sins behind our backs.(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 241)
Is it possible that a sure sign of one who possesses true knowledge from heaven, like Nephi, is their real and unfeigned compassion, their deep feelings of sorrow, for perishing souls?
If we are to become like Christ then don't we necessarily have to progress in knowledge until we can like Christ become willing to give ourselves as infinite sacrifices because of our compassion for all others who would perish without our sacrifice; which desire to sacrifice comes it would appear from having true knowledge?
And what constitutes the real difference between a saved person and one not saved is the difference in the degree of their faith — one’s faith has become perfect enough to lay hold upon eternal life and the other’s has not. But to be a little more particular, let us ask: Where shall we find a prototype into whose likeness we may be assimilated, in order that we may be made partakers of life and salvation? Or in other words, where shall we find a saved being? For if we can find a saved being, we may ascertain without much difficulty what all others must be in order to be saved — they must be like that individual or they cannot be saved. We think that it will not be a matter of dispute that two beings who are unlike each other cannot both be saved, for whatever constitutes the salvation of one will constitute the salvation of every creature which will be saved. And if we find one saved being in all existence, we may see what all others must be or else not be saved. We ask, then: Where is the prototype? Or where is the saved being? We conclude as to the answer of this question there will be no dispute among those who believe the Bible that it is Christ. All will agree in this, that he is the prototype or standard of salvation, or in other words, that he is a saved being. And if we should continue our interrogation, and ask how it is that he is saved, the answer would be, because he is a just and holy being. And if he were anything different from what he is he would not be saved, for his salvation depends on his being precisely what he is and nothing else. For if it were possible for him to change in the least degree, so sure he would fail of salvation and lose all his dominion, power, authority, and glory, which constitutes salvation. For salvation consists in the glory, authority, majesty, power, and dominion which Jehovah possesses, and in nothing else, and no being can possess it but himself or one like him. Thus says John in his first epistle, 3:2,3 [1 John 1:13]: Behold, now we are the sons of God, and it doth not appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And any man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure. Why purify himself as he is pure? Because if they do not, they cannot be like him. (Teachings and Commandments, Section 110, Lectures on Faith, Lecture 7th par. 9)
If what the Prophet Joseph taught in Lectures on Faith is true, that to be a saved being is to be precisely what Christ is and nothing different, how is that achieved?
How long did it take Christ to come to possess the knowledge He possessed in order to be ready and willing to offer an infinite sacrifice to justify many?
Is such knowledge to be gained in a lifetime? In two lifetimes?
What does the Prophet Joseph say?
Here, then, is eternal life—to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings, and to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power.(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith pgs.346 - 347)
When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the Gospel—you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave.(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 348)
If we look at what Joseph declared then did Christ "learn" how to become God by going from grace to grace, a small degree and capacity to a great one, and from exaltation to exaltation, until he had climbed up the ladder to His sacrifice?
Is the offering of oneself as an infinite sacrifice for all others a principle of exaltation?
If it is not all to be comprehended in this world then where beyond the grave and how long will it take to perform the great work and learn our salvation and exaltation?
Is it a sign that we are advancing in learning the principles of exaltation when we demonstrate true compassion on perishing souls as Nephi did?
What did Jesus say? (Mark it, Elder Rigdon!) The Scriptures inform us that Jesus said, As the Father hath power in Himself, even so hath the Son power—to do what? Why, what the Father did. The answer is obvious—in a manner to lay down His body and take it up again. Jesus, what are you going to do? To lay down my life as my Father did, and take it up again. Do we believe it? If you do not believe it, you do not believe the Bible. The Scriptures say it, and I defy all the learning and wisdom and all the combined powers of earth and hell together to refute it. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 346)
Is this the pattern of salvation and exaltation?
The Prophet Joseph said the following.
Knowledge saves a man; and in the world of spirits no man can be exalted but by knowledge. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 357)
If an individual must be precisely like Christ in order to be saved or in other words to be exalted and they can only be exalted or saved by knowledge then doesn't that mean that anyone who really gets knowledge will be humbled by it and filled with compassion by the possession of it until they arrive, through the eons of time, at the point that Christ arrived at, through the eons of time, where they are able to declare as Christ declared that they will lay down their life as their Father did and take it up again?
Can we see in this a way to test if we are in possession of true knowledge?
Does true knowledge exalt a person because it humbles them?
What did Moses declare after he had seen his vision in the mount?
And it came to pass that Moses looked and beheld the world upon which he was created. And as Moses beheld the world, and the ends thereof, and all the children of men who are and who were created, of the same he greatly marveled and wondered. And the presence of God withdrew from Moses, that his glory was not upon him, and Moses was left unto himself. And as he was left unto himself, he fell unto the earth. And it came to pass that it was for the space of many hours before he did again receive his natural strength like unto man. And he said unto himself, Now for this once I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed. (Moses 1:8 - 11, OC Genesis 1 par.2)
If it is true that true knowledge humbles us and instills compassion in us then how should we consider the following?
No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood; only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned, by kindness and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul; without hypocrisy and without guile; ...(D&C 121:41 - 46, Teachings and Commandments, 139 par. 6)
If someone declares that they hold priesthood and what they declare causes us to feel pride or self righteousness then are they imparting true or pure knowledge?
If they are not imparting pure knowledge then do they really hold any priesthood at all?
There are some tremendous things to consider as we consider Nephi's reaction to seeing the destruction of the nation of his descendants.
There is another consideration as we look at what Nephi is recording here in this part of the vision.
If I understand correctly Nephi possesses sealing power which means that what he inscribed here on the plates was binding because it was done by the power of the Holy Ghost.
Again, our little study group believes that Nephi did not record anything on the plates he was not commanded to record.
How hard would it be for Nephi, feeling the affliction of the loss of his people, to inscribe those words on the plates knowing that they were binding words of prophecy?
We have an example in Enos of just how carefully one who holds sealing power speaks or records anything so as not to bind the Lord to something that would injure others.
And it came to pass that after I had prayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me, I will grant unto thee according to thy desires because of thy faith. And now behold, this was the desire which I desired of him: that if it should so be that my people the Nephites should fall into transgression, and by any means be destroyed, and the Lamanites should not be destroyed, that the Lord God would preserve a record of my people the Nephites, even if it so be by the power of his holy arm, that it might be brought forth some future day unto the Lamanites, that perhaps they might be brought unto salvation. For at the present, our strugglings were vain in restoring them to the true faith. And they swore in their wrath that if it were possible, they would destroy our records, and us, and also all the traditions of our fathers.(Enos 1:12 - 14, Enos 1 par. 3)
Enos ,who had been given the promise by the Lord that whatever he asked would be granted, after laboring long to arrive at what he wanted, carefully worded his request to the Lord; "if it should so be that my people the Nephites should fall into transgression, and by any means be destroyed, and the Lamanites should not be destroyed, that the Lord God would preserve a record of my people the Nephites, even if it so be by the power of his holy arm, that it might be brought forth some future day unto the Lamanites, that perhaps they might be brought unto salvation."
Enos was righteous and was most certainly acquainted with the prophecies and writings of Nephi and he knew that the Nephites would be destroyed eventually from the very records he was asking the Lord to preserve but in his request he carefully states, if it should be... and by any means... which does not bind the Lord to perform anything upon the people in the request except for preserving the records.
Would Nephi be any less careful with the sealing power than Enos?
Do we think that Nephi would have inscribed a binding prophecy concerning the destruction of his people on the plates unless he was commanded to by the Holy Ghost?
Would it be good to look seriously at what is going on here?
Is it not also important to consider what is going on with the Nephites at the time Nephi is viewing in his vision?
There is a podcast I would recommend to everyone; on the website denversnuffer.com in the podcast section.
It is Podcast 123, "Numbered Among".
In the podcast the following is shared concerning the events Nephi saw here in his vision.
Then in Alma, there's a prophecy that Alma gives explaining what he knows is going to happen to the Nephites and his descendants. He says,
Then shall they see wars and pestilences, yea, famine and bloodshed, even until the people of Nephi shall become extinct. Yea, and this because they shall dwindle in unbelief and fall into the works of darkness, and lasciviousness, and all manner of iniquities. Yea, I say unto you that because they shall sin against so great light and knowledge, ...I say unto you that from that day, even into the fourth generation shall not all pass away before this great iniquity shall come. ...when that great day cometh, behold, the time very soon cometh that those who are now, or the seed of those who are now numbered among the people of Nephi, shall no more be numbered among the people of Nephi. But whosoever remaineth and is not destroyed in that great and dreadful day shall be numbered among the Lamanites, and shall become like unto them. (Alma 21:2 RE)
So, the prophecy that Alma gives says that whatever remnant there may have been of Nephi that will exist after the great apostasy following four generations after Christ's visit among the Nephites, whoever's left is no longer a Nephite, but they are numbered among the Lamanites, even if they are descendants of Nephi.
So, we get to Helaman, and in Helaman, the theme picks up again. He's describing where things are going to be headed, and as he says,
...from one generation to another by the Nephites, even until they have fallen into transgression and have been murdered, plundered, and hunted, and driven forth, and slain, and scattered upon the face of the earth, and mixed with the Lamanites until they are no more called the Nephites, becoming wicked, and wild, and ferocious, yea, even becoming Lamanites. (Helaman 2:4 RE, emphasis added)
So, you can change your identity. You can change your identity from being a Nephite into becoming a Lamanite. You can change your identity from being a Lamanite to being a Nephite. But more importantly, you can change your identity from being a Gentile into being of the house of Israel.
Then we get to Christ and the events that occur at His visit with the Nephites, immediately preceding that. In the 30th year that they're reckoning time from in Third Nephi,
It came to pass that those Lamanites who had [been] united with the Nephites were numbered among the Nephites, and their curse was taken from them (3 Nephi 1:11 RE).
They were numbered among the Nephites and were called Nephites.
Why is this important for this conversation?
Doesn't this show that our actions really do matter in determining our status before the Lord?
The Pharisees considered that their status before God was determined because they were "children of Abraham" by blood.
John declared to them,
Then said John to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, crying against them with a loud voice, saying, O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come! Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, Abraham is our father, we have kept the commandments of God and none can inherit the promises but the children of Abraham; for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees. Every tree therefore which brings not forth good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire.(Luke 3:7 - 9, NC Luke 3 par. 5)
God today by covenant has established a way whereby we as Gentiles can be adopted into the House of Israel and therefore change our status before God by participating in authorized ordinances and performing godly works.
What Nephi saw concerning his seed and how he felt about what would befall them has so very much to do with things and events that are happening here and now to us.
My ability to communicate things that are so important from scripture is so weak.
I don't possess knowledge at this point in the journey to clearly declare truth and knowledge with power like Nephi did.
As I have mentioned before, I hope that others' skepticism of my present understanding of things from scripture will impart to anyone reading these things a desire to look into these matters for themselves in order to get their own understanding and be willing to show me the error of my ways.
I can only see good in sharing ideas, understanding, and insight from scripture with each other even if or maybe especially if they are differing ideas, understandings, and insights.
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