1
Ne 14:1 What are these stumbling blocks?
“The stumbling blocks spoken of by the
angel appeared to be of two types: (1)
the ignorance and uncertainty which came as a result of the loss of the plain
and precious truths from the Bible; and (2) the Book of Mormon and the message
of the Restoration themselves which would serve as stumbling blocks to the
impenitent and hard-hearted of the latter days. In the meridian of time Paul wrote: ‘We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and
unto the Greeks foolishness’ (1 Corinthians 1:23).” (McConkie and Millet, Doctrinal
Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 1, p. 106)
1
Ne 14:2 The Gentiles who harden not their hearts shall
be numbered among the house of Israel
Latter-day
saints who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and receive the
necessary ordinances to join the kingdom of God receive the promise that they
shall be numbered among the house of Israel. The significance of this statement
begins with the promises made to Abraham.
Because of Abraham’s great faith and obedience, even that he would offer
his son Isaac, the Lord promised him, That in
blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the
stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed
shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed (Gen 22:17-8). Those who understand the true
meaning of the promise of eternal life and
eternal increase understand that seed multiplied as the stars of the
heaven is an eternal and not merely a mortal promise. Thy
seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, means that the Lord will
bless them, prosper them, and protect them from political oppression. In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed
is fulfilled in several respects. First, the house of Israel will do the
genealogy and temple work for the dead and perform temple ordinances for the
returning ten tribes, becoming saviors on mount Zion, And
there shall they (the 10 tribes) fall down
and be crowned with glory, even in Zion, by the hands of the servants of the
Lord, even the children of Ephraim (DC 133:32). Second, the Savior of
the world and most of the prophets were to come through the lineage of Israel. Third, the gospel will be brought to
the world primarily through the house of Israel. Fourth, the world has been
blessed by the contributions to art, science, inventions, industry, philosophy,
politics, etc. made by the descendants of Abraham.
Other
promises related to the covenant made with Abraham are to be had in the temple
of God. John the Revelator explained that those who are sanctified by Jesus
Christ are made kings and priests unto God
(Rev 1:6). This phrase could be rendered kings and priests in the house of
Israel for it is through the house of Israel that the Lord establishes his
church and reigns in his kingdom, for now and for all time. All of these
promises that are part of the Abrahamic covenant are available to every member
of the church. They are promises with incredible eternal consequence which are
often under appreciated.
Joseph
Smith taught that there was an actual spiritual transformation which purges out
the old blood, “the effect of the Holy Ghost upon a Gentile, is to purge out the
old blood, and make him actually of the seed of Abraham. That man that has none
of the blood of Abraham (naturally) must have a new creation by the Holy
Ghost.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 150) See also Rom
9:6-8, DC 103:17, and the Bible Dictionary on “Adoption.”
1
Ne 14:3 that great pit, which hath been digged…by
that great and abominable church…shall be filled by those who digged it
Satan
has prepared a spiritual trap for the saints of God. Nephi sees that the Lord
will preserve and protect the saints and that the great and abominable church
will be cast into the pit. Nephi more vividly explains how this happens in
chapter 22 of 1 Nephi:
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. And all that fight against
Zion shall be destroyed, and that great whore, who hath perverted the right
ways of the Lord, yea, that great and abominable church, shall tumble to the
dust and great shall be the fall of it.
For behold, saith the prophet, the time cometh speedily that
Satan shall have no more power over the hearts of the children of men (1
Ne 22:13-15).
The secret as to how the wicked will be destroyed is said to be
because they shall war among themselves. This is interesting because John
the Revelator uses the same imagery of a pit to preface his discussion of the
wars he sees occurring in the last days. See Rev 9:1-11, 11:7, 17:8-18. Finally,
after Satan makes war with the saints, an angel casts Satan into the bottomless
pit for a thousand years, And I saw an angel come
down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his
hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and
Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit,
and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no
more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled (Rev 20:1-3).
1
Ne 14:3 not the destruction of the soul
Some
denominations teach that at death, there is no spirit. The body is placed in
the grave and the spirit of the individual does not exist until the
resurrection. This comes from the incorrect interpretation of some scriptures
in Ecclesiastes. For example, For the living know
that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any
more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten (Eccles 9:5). This
means that a dead man has no more earthly rewards and that the living will not
remember them forever. Later in the same book, the principle that the spirit
lives on after death is clearly taught, Then shall
the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God
who gave it (Eccles 12:7). The Book of Mormon teaches what should be an
obvious principle, that the spirit or soul is not destroyed but awaits the
resurrection in either spirit paradise or hell.
1
Ne 14:3 hell which hath no end
“Hell
is that portion of the postmortal spirit world wherein the wicked suffer and
repent and reconsider. It is also known
as ‘outer darkness,’ a place of ‘weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth,’
this because of the wickedness of those who have suffered themselves to be led
captive by Lucifer (see Alma 40:13-14).
The ‘lake of fire and brimstone,’ whose flames ascend up forever and
ever, is descriptive of the torment of conscience in this place (see Teachings,
pp. 310-11, 357). Both paradise and
hell have an end in the Resurrection.
Hell is the gateway to the telestial kingdom. It is endless in the sense that those who experience it are
subject to the punishment of God, whose name is Endless (D&C 19:10-12).”
(McConkie and Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol.
1, p. 108)
1
Ne 14:7 a great and marvelous work
The
“marvelous work and a wonder” doctrine comes from Isaiah, Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work
among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom
of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men
shall be hid….And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and
the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek
also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall
rejoice in the Holy One of Israel (Isa 29:14,18-19). What is marvelous
and a wonder is the work the Lord performs in the last days. Verse 18 above
shows that the Book of Mormon plays a role in the process but is not the
“marvelous work and a wonder.” The phrase means that the Lord will build a
kingdom in the latter days using the simple and meek of the earth. He will
gather the tribes of Israel by a great missionary effort that will be
successful because of the Book of Mormon and other latter-day scriptures.
LeGrand Richards explains how crucial the ministry of Joseph Smith was to this
process.
LeGrand
Richards
“Joseph Smith, or any other man, could
not have obtained all this information by reading the Bible or studying all the
books that have ever been written. It came from God. It is exactly what Isaiah
promised the Lord would do when conditions upon the earth should become as
Joseph Smith found them when he went into the woods to pray for light as to
which of all the churches he should join….
“It truly is a marvelous work and a
wonder. Can you conceive of anything that could be more marvelous or more
wonderful?
“In the face of it all, the wisdom of
wise men does perish. The world has no satisfactory explanation. In the Church
Historian’s Office in Salt Lake City are more than 20,000 volumes, large and
small, each of which says something about the Prophet Joseph Smith. There are
also some 2,000 pamphlets on the subject. Many of these publications represent
attempts on the part of non-Mormon writers to explain the conundrum of Joseph
Smith and the work he established, but all without avail. All these writings
have been accumulated since the birth of Joseph Smith in 1805. In contrast, in
the more than two centuries that have elapsed since the birth of George
Washington, it is reported, there are only some 3,000 volumes written about him
on file in the Library of Congress….
“We emphasized a statement published in
the New York Herald, which we quoted in this chapter; ‘Joseph Smith is creating
a spiritual system, combined with morals and industry that may change the
destiny of the race.’ This statement was made in 1842, and at this writing,
more than a century and a half later, it is evident, from the present
accomplishments of the Church founded under his leadership, that this
prognostication is sure to achieve a complete fulfillment.
“It is equally sure that the prediction
of Josiah Quincy, previously quoted, will find its fulfillment:
“’It is by no mans improbable that some
future textbook, for the use of generations yet unborn, will contain a question
something like this: What historical American of the nineteenth century has
exerted the most powerful influence upon the destinies of his countrymen? And it
is by no means impossible that the answer to that interrogatory may be thus
written: ‘Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet.’” (A Marvelous Work and a Wonder,
pp. 411-2)
1
Ne 14:10 there are save two churches only…the church
of the Lamb…and…the church of the devil
“Nephi had already used the expression
‘great and abominable church’ in reference to a specific organization
identified in his historical time as being more destructive and wicked than all
other churches of its day. He used that
same expression now in a broader or more general sense. In the context of his vision, the church or
kingdom of God had again been established on the earth. With the establishment of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the restoration of priesthood and its keys,
there was once again an organization on earth with the authority to preach the
gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof; it is by divine testimony the
‘only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth’ (D&C 1:30),
salvation being found in none other.” (McConkie and Millet, Doctrinal
Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 1, p. 109)
Bruce
R. McConkie
“The titles church of the devil and
great and abominable church are used to identify all churches or organizations
of whatever name or nature -- whether political, philosophical, educational,
economic social, fraternal, civic, or religious -- which are designed to take
men on a course that leads away from God and his laws and thus from salvation
in the kingdom of God….”
“Hence we find our Lord saying, ‘He
that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth
abroad.’ (Matt. 12:30.)” (Mormon Doctrine, p.138)
1
Ne 14:10 she is the whore of all the earth.
The
great and abominable church and the church of the Lamb are symbolized by women
of differing moral purity. The great and abominable church is represented by a
whore, and the church of the Lamb is represented by a bride adorned for her
husband, That thy church may come forth out of the
wilderness of darkness…And be adorned as a bride for that day when thou shalt
unveil the heavens (DC 109:74-5).
1 Ne 14:12 the church of the Lamb…its
numbers were few…the saints of God were also upon all the face of the earth
Nephi
saw our day. He saw a relatively small group on whom the power of the Lamb had
descended (v. 14) who were spread all over the earth. This great dispensation
of the fullness of times has been seen by many prophets. Moroni said, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are
not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing (Mormon
8:35). The latter days were also shown to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the
brother of Jared, Enoch, Moses, Zechariah, John the Revelator, Paul, and many
others.
1
Ne 14:14 the saints….were armed with righteousness
and with the power of God in great glory
Nephi
complements the latter-day saints in a few different passages. Here he
testifies that the saints were armed with the power of God. Elsewhere, he
explains that the members of the church would understand the words of Isaiah, for I know that they (the words of Isaiah) shall be of great worth unto them in the last days; for in
that day shall they understand them; wherefore, for their good have I written
them. The Lord will not allow the kingdom of God to fail in this
dispensation. Though individually we may not feel like we are armed with
righteousness and with the power of God, collectively we cannot fail. Though
the great mother of abominations gathers multitudes together to fight against
the Lamb of God, still the kingdom will roll on.
1
Ne 14:15 there were wars and rumors of wars among
all the nations
Joseph
Smith helps us to understand which wars this phrase refers to. In the 87th
section of the D&C, he records that the time
will come that war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at this place
(DC 87:2). This statement is made in the section in which he prophecies of the
Civil War. If the Civil War is the beginning of the wars and rumors of wars,
then certainly this phrase has reference to WWI, WWII, the Korean War, the Cold
War, and many others. It probably also refers to wars which are yet to take
place. Wars will continue until the Lord is done punishing the wicked, And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants
of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquake, and the
thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the
inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indignation and
chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed hath made a
full end of all nations; That the cry of the saints, and of the blood of the
saints, shall cease to come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, from the
earth, to be avenged of their enemies (DC 87:6-7). This is the wrath of
God spoken of in 1 Ne 14:16.
1
Ne 14:17 at that day, the work of the Father shall
commence
The
“work of the Father” referred to here has to do with fulfilling specific
covenants made with the house of Israel. They include the return of the Jews to
the land of their inheritance, the gathering of Israel (Isa 43:5-7), the
building of a temple in Jerusalem (Isa 44:28), the promise that the Gentiles shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters
shall be carried upon their shoulders (Isa 49:22). The Lord has
promised Israel, I will contend with him that
contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children (Isa 49:25), and Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of
Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem (Isa
52:9). Not much progress had been made in the fulfilling of these covenants
before the second world war. This places the timing of the events of verse 17
in the 20th century.
1
Ne 14:19-20 one of the twelve…shall see and write
the remainder of these things
Nephi
next sees the events which transpire directly preceding the Second Coming. He
is told that John will record these events in the future. Many prophets have
prophesied about the same events. In an unusual precedent, Nephi is not allowed
to describe the events he sees next. Why would this be? There are a couple of
reasons. First, apparently John was foreordained to perform this work. (By the
way, this is probably the single best scriptural example of the doctrine of
foreordination.) Secondly, the Lord in his wisdom does not give the world all
of his mysteries. The book of Revelation is not meant to be understood by the
wicked; it is written for those with the spirit of prophecy. If one does not
have the Spirit, it is impossible to make sense out of the imagery contained in
the Revelation. For those with the spirit of prophecy, it is not impossible to
understand. Joseph Smith said, “The book of Revelation is one of the plainest
books God ever caused to be written.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph
Smith, p. 290)
The
timeline here is interesting. Nephi describes events that occur in the 18th,
19th, and 20th centuries. Next he is commanded to stop
writing because the things he sees shall be written by the Apostle John. This
would suggest that the events which take place during the seventh seal are near, even at the door (JS-M 1:39).
1
Ne 14:26 others…to them hath he shown all things,
and they have written them; and they are sealed up to come forth in their
purity
The
brother of Jared was one of the “others” referred to. He was shown a vision of
the history of the world which is contained in the sealed portion of the Book
of Mormon (Ether 3:25-7). Apparently, the brother of Jared wrote in such purity
that the Lord would not allow us to have this record before some more events
transpire and before we are ready, for there never
were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the
brother of Jared (Ether 4:4).
1
Ne 14:30 now I make an end of speaking
[concerning the vision I saw]
This
marks the end of Nephi’s description of what he sees. To summarize, he sees the
vision of the tree of life, he is given the interpretation of the dream, and he
is shown a vision of the history of the world including the Savior’s ministry,
the early church, the history of the Nephites and Lamanites, the Apostasy, the
Restoration, the last days, the destructions which attend the Second Coming and
the Millenium.