Chapter 9
In the darkness the
voice of Christ proclaims the destruction of many people and cities for their
wickedness—He also proclaims his divinity, announces that the law of Moses is
fulfilled, and invites men to come unto him and be saved. About A.D. 34
It’s still dark in the land.
The cries and mourning of the people filled the land. Then, the voice of Christ was heard
throughout the land. Nephi had seen this
event. “For thus spake the prophet: The Lord God surely shall visit all the
house of Israel at that day, some with his voice, because of their
righteousness, unto their great joy and salvation, and others with the thunderings
and the lightnings of his power, by tempest, by fire, and by smoke, and vapor
of darkness, and by the opening of the earth, and by mountains which shall be
carried up” (1 Nephi 19:11).
“Wo, wo, wo unto this
people; wo unto the inhabitants of the whole earth except they shall repent;
for the devil laugheth, and his angels rejoice” (3 Nephi 9:2). Enoch saw how, when people are destroyed by
the devil, he would respond. “And he beheld Satan; and he had a great chain
in his hand, and it veiled the whole face of the earth with darkness; and he
looked up and laughed, and his angels rejoiced” (Moses 7:26).
Christ began to list the destruction. Zarahemla and its inhabitants had been burned
with fire. Samuel the Lamanite warned
that Zarahemla would be destroyed. “Yea, wo unto this great city of Zarahemla;
for behold, it is because of those who are righteous that it is saved; yea, wo
unto this great city, for I perceive, saith the Lord, that there are many, yea,
even the more part of this great city, that will harden their hearts against
me, saith the Lord” (Helaman 13:12).
The city of Moroni had been sunk and the inhabitants
drowned. The city of Moronihah and the
inhabitants had been covered by the earth to hide their iniquities and
abominations from before His face. The blood
of the prophets and saints would cry unto Him against them no more.
The cities of Gilgal, Onihah, Mocum,, and Jerusalem [“NOW when Ammon and his brethren separated
themselves in the borders of the land of the Lamanites, behold Aaron took his
journey towards the land which was called by the Lamanites, Jerusalem, calling
it after the land of their fathers' nativity; and it was away joining the
borders of Mormon” (Alma 21:1)] were sunk and the inhabitants buried. Where there were cities, water now hid the
wickedness and abominations of the people.
“For thus saith the Lord GOD; When
I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when
I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee” (Ezekiel
26:19).
The cities of Gadiandi, Gadiomnah, Jacob, and Gimgimno had
been sunk and hills and valleys were made in their place. The cities and residents had been buried to
hide their wickedness and abominations from the face of the Lord.
Hugh Nibley writes:
The Book of Mormon also mentions
the rising and sinking of the land, forming new "hills and valleys"
(3 Nephi 9:5–8)—with no mention of major mountain ranges! In the New Madrid
earthquake of 1811, "over an area of 30,000 square miles the land surface
was lowered by amounts of 6 to 15 feet and over a much smaller area was raised
by similar amounts." Hydrographic surveys after the Japanese quake of
1923 showed that over an area of 500 square miles some "areas were
. . . lowered as much as 689 feet and other . . . areas
raised 820 feet"—a difference of over 1,500 feet.[1]
The city of Jacobugath, inhabited by the people of king
Jacob was burned with fire. This was
because “their sins and their wickedness,
which was above all the wickedness of the whole earth, because of their secret
murders and combinations; for it was they that did destroy the peace of my
people and the government of the land” (3 Nephi 9:9).
Recall the actions of king Jacob and his followers:
Now
this secret combination, which had brought so great iniquity upon the people,
did gather themselves together, and did place at their head a man whom they did
call Jacob;
And
they did call him their king; therefore he became a king over this wicked band;
and he was one of the chiefest who had given his voice against the prophets who
testified of Jesus.
And
it came to pass that they were not so strong in number as the tribes of the
people, who were united together save it were their leaders did establish their
laws, every one according to his tribe; nevertheless they were enemies;
notwithstanding they were not a righteous people, yet they were united in the
hatred of those who had entered into a covenant to destroy the government.
Therefore,
Jacob seeing that their enemies were more numerous than they, he being the king
of the band, therefore he commanded his people that they should take their
flight into the northernmost part of the land, and there build up unto
themselves a kingdom, until they were joined by dissenters, (for he flattered
them that there would be many dissenters) and they become sufficiently strong
to contend with the tribes of the people; and they did so.
And
so speedy was their march that it could not be impeded until they had gone
forth out of the reach of the people.
And thus ended the thirtieth year; and thus were the affairs of the
people of Nephi.
3 Nephi 7:9 - 13
Abinadi had warned king Noah and his priests the
consequences of not repenting. “And it shall come to pass that except they
repent I will utterly destroy them from off the face of the earth; yet they
shall leave a record behind them, and I will preserve them for other nations
which shall possess the land; yea, even this will I do that I may discover the
abominations of this people to other nations.
And many things did Abinadi prophesy against this people” (Mosiah
12:8).
[1] Some
Fairly Foolproof Tests, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute,
accessed November 19, 2012.
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