12 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, yea, I say unto you, that from that day, even the fourth
generation shall not all pass away before this great iniquity shall come. 13 And 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. 14
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, all,
save it be a few who shall be called the disciples of the Lord; and them shall
the Lamanites pursue even until they shall become extinct. And now, because of iniquity, this prophecy
shall be fulfilled.
Alma 45:12-14 (Emphasis mine)
The Nephites have been an exceptionally blessed people. They had great prophets. They had light and knowledge revealed to them
by these prophets. They had righteous
leaders. They were promised prosperity if
they were righteous. They had much going
for them throughout their history. Yet,
they day came that “they [sinned] against so great light and knowledge.” All this will occur four hundred years after
Christ’s appearance to the Nephites.
The Lord revealed to Nephi(1) “the Son of righteousness
shall appear unto them; and he shall heal them, and they shall have peace with
him, until three generations shall have passed away, and many of the fourth
generation shall have passed away in righteousness. And when these things have passed away a
speedy destruction cometh unto my people; for, notwithstanding the pains of my
soul, I have seen it; wherefore, I know that it shall come to pass; and they
sell themselves for naught; for, for the reward of their pride and their foolishness
they shall reap destruction; for because they yield unto the devil and choose
works of darkness rather than light, therefore they must go down to hell.
For the Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with
man. And when the Spirit ceaseth to
strive with man then cometh speedy destruction, and this grieveth my soul” (2
Nephi 26:9-11).
The Lord warned the Nephites “it sorroweth me because of the
fourth generation from this generation, for they are led away captive by him
even as was the son of perdition; for they will sell me for silver and for
gold, and for that which moth doth corrupt and which thieves can break through
and steal. And in that day will I visit
them, even in turning their works upon their own heads” (3 Nephi 27:32).
When that day comes, “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,”
Mormon would write to Moroni(2), telling him “many of our
brethren have deserted over unto the Lamanites, and many more will also desert
over unto them; wherefore, write somewhat a few things, if thou art spared and
I shall perish and not see thee; but I trust that I may see thee soon; for I
have sacred records that I would deliver up unto thee” (Moroni 9:24).
There would be some who would survive. “[A] few who shall be called the disciples of
the Lord; and them shall the Lamanites pursue.”
Moroni(2) was one of those disciples. After he had finished his father’s
record and abridging the Jaredites records, he did not expect to survive much
longer. The first words he records in
his own book tell us “after having made an end of abridging the account of the
people of Jared, I had supposed not to have written more, but I have not as yet
perished; and I make not myself known to the Lamanites lest they should destroy
me. For behold, their wars are
exceedingly fierce among themselves; and because of their hatred they put to
death every Nephite that will not deny the Christ. And I, Moroni, will not deny the Christ;
wherefore, I wander whithersoever I can for the safety of mine own life” (Moroni
1:1-3).
Alma(2)’s choice of words describing the fate of the
Nephites is enlightening. He doesn’t
tell us they will be destroyed or utterly destroyed. In verses 11 and 14, he tells Helaman(2) the
Nephites “shall become extinct.”
There is finality to extinction. When something becomes extinct, it is gone
forever. The dinosaurs are extinct. They will never be seen on Earth again. The dodo, passenger pigeons, and many other animals
that were, at one time, numerous, are gone forever. They will never return. Alma(2) wants Helaman(1) (and future readers
of the Book of Mormon) to understand the full and devastating consequences of
Nephite sin.
15 And now it came to pass that after Alma had said
these things to Helaman, he blessed him, and also his other sons; and he also
blessed the earth for the righteous' sake.
16 And he said: Thus saith the Lord God—Cursed
shall be the land, yea, this land, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and
people, unto destruction, which do wickedly, when they are fully ripe; and as I
have said so shall it be; for this is the cursing and the blessing of God upon
the land, for the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. 17 And now, when Alma had
said these words he blessed the church, yea, all those who should stand fast in
the faith from that time henceforth.
18 And when Alma had done this he departed out of
the land of Zarahemla, as if to go into the land of Melek. And it came to pass that he was never heard of more;
as to his death or burial we know not of.
19 Behold, this we know, that he was a righteous man;
and the saying went abroad in the church that he was taken up by the Spirit, or
buried by the hand of the Lord, even as Moses.
But behold, the scriptures saith the Lord took Moses unto himself; and
we suppose that he has also received Alma in the spirit, unto himself; therefore,
for this cause we know nothing concerning his death and burial.
Alma 45:15-19 (Emphasis mine)
This land is a blessed land.
Lehi tells us he has “obtained a promise, that inasmuch as those whom
the Lord God shall bring out of the land of Jerusalem shall keep his
commandments, they shall prosper upon the face of this land; and they shall be
kept from all other nations” (2 Nephi 1:9).
Only those whom the Lord shall bring will come to this land.
The Lord has expectations of those who inherit this
land. “[T]his 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” (2 Nephi 1:7).
We see an interesting choice of words on Lehi’s part. The land will be cursed “because of iniquity.” There will be consequences, but these cursing
of the land shall be for their sakes. These
cursings can cause the people to return to the Lord and righteousness.
Alma(2) told Helaman(1) “cursed be the land forever and ever
unto those workers of darkness and secret combinations, even unto destruction,
except they repent before they are fully ripe” (Alma 37:31).
Richard Draper writes:
“Obedience brings blessings: ‘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’ (Ether 2:12). But disobedience
brings cursings: ‘Yea, and cursed be the land forever and ever unto those
workers of darkness and secret combinations, even unto destruction, except they
repent before they are fully ripe’ (Alma 37:31).
“When iniquity ripens fully the cursings come. But what constitutes
being ripe in iniquity? The Book of Mormon gives specific conditions:
(1) when ‘the voice of this people should choose iniquity’ (Alma 10:19); (2)
when the people ‘turn aside the just for a thing of naught and revile against
that which is good, and say that it is of no worth’ (2 Nephi 28:16); (3) when
they reject ‘every word of God’ (1 Nephi 17:35); and (4) ‘when [they] shall
cast out the righteous from among [them], then shall [they] be ripe for
destruction’ (Helaman 13:14).”[1]
(Emphasis mine)
We are living in perilous spiritual times. As a nation, we are going in the wrong
direction. In daily life, more and more
people are choosing iniquity. Values we
have prized as a society are vanishing. For
example, marriage is becoming less valued within our society. More and more people are foregoing
marriage. The family is becoming less
important. Morality no longer
matters. We are seeing our society
become and “entitlement” society. The
government owes me something for free.
Recently, a member of Congress held a town meeting. At that meeting, a constituent asked, “What
will the government do for me?” We
recently saw a 30-year-old adult, still in college, testified before Congress claiming
the government owed her free birth control pills.
The unimaginable is becoming imaginable. Two so-called medical ethicists from Great
Britain argued newborns are not human beings and should not have the rights of
a human being. For example, they argued,
if a child is born with disabilities, the parents should have the right to have
the child put to death. They were
actually shocked at the outrage their proposal received.
We need to return to the Lord and become a righteous people
again.
Alma(2) then vanishes from the Book of Mormon records. He departs, heading towards Melek, and is
never heard from again. There was much
speculation. “He was taken up by the
Spirit.” He was “buried by the hand of
the Lord, even as Moses.” Alma(2) was
received in the Spirit unto the Lord.
The truth is “we know nothing concerning his death and
burial.” One of the greatest servants of
the Lord in the entire Book of Mormon is gone.
[1] Hubris and Ate: A Latter-day Warning from the Book of Mormon, Richard D. Draper, Provo, Utah:
Maxwell Institute, accessed March 24, 2012.
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