After the children of Israel came upon the promised land,
they saw others lived there. The Lord
made “them mighty unto the driving out of
the children of the land, yea, unto the scattering them to destruction” (1
Nephi 17:32). The Lord commanded the children
of Israel, “Observe thou that which I
command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the
Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite”
(Exodus 34:11). “Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before
you, and destroy all their pictures [HEB stone figures], and destroy all their
molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places [OR hill shrines]: And
ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have
given you the land to possess it” (Numbers 33:52 - 53).
Nephi then teaches important truths, truths we often miss
when reading the Book of Mormon. Why, he
asks, were the people driven out of the promised land? Were they righteous? No. And
this is the key to an essential gospel principle. “Forget that pious cant about
Chosen People, Nephi tells his brothers. If the Canaanites had been righteous
they would have been as ‘choice’ to God as the Hebrews (1 Nephi 17:34).”[1]
Hugh Nibley continues:
[T]he Israelites are not to get the
idea that because the Lord has turned out other people to give them the land,
it is because of their righteousness, or that victory in the field has come to
them as a reward of virtue: "Speak not thou in thine heart saying: For my
righteousness the Lord hath brought me to possess the land: but rather for the
wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out"
(Deuteronomy 9:4). This is exactly the lesson of Nephi to his brothers as they
pass through those same lands. Whether or not these people were more or less
wicked than Israel is for the Lord alone to decide. But here he tells them that
it was not because they are righteous, but because the others were wicked; he
had a score to settle with them and would have smitten them whether Israel had
been anywhere around or not (1 Nephi 17:33-38).[2]
Had the peoples residing in the promised land been
righteous, they would have been “as ‘choice’ to God as the Hebrews.” What is important to the Lord is not the
people, it is the righteousness of the people.
Another principle is that ”the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one” (1 Nephi 17:35). After receiving his vision commanding him to
preach the gospel to the gentiles, Peter said, “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34).
Paul, writing to the Romans, wrote, “For
there is no respect [GR partiality] of persons with God” (Romans 2:11). The Lord has said, “For I am no respecter of persons, and will that all men shall know
that the day speedily cometh; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace
shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own
dominion” (D&C 1:35) and “for
your salvation I give unto you a commandment, for I have heard your prayers,
and the poor have complained before me, and the rich have I made, and all flesh
is mine, and I am no respecter of persons” (D&C 38:16). The righteous are favored of God. “The text explains that the redemption of
Israel was made possible because the patriarchs loved the Lord and chose to
accept his covenants.”[3]
Sidney Sperry observes:
Here is courageously expressed the
principle that, everything else being equal, all mankind stands in the same
relation to God. There is no favoritism. The only thing that can change that
relationship is sin and unrighteousness; God definitely favors the righteous.[4]
Because they had rejected the word of God, they were living
in iniquity. The Lord cursed the land
and blessed the children of Israel.
Their iniquity led to their destruction and removal from the land; the
children of Israel, through the power of God, obtained it. “Cast
thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous
to be moved” (Psalms 55:22); “If ye keep
my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's
commandments, and abide in his love” (John 15:10).
Hugh Nibley sums up this principle.
It is convenient to imagine all the
righteous in one camp and the wicked in another, and this has been the usual
and comfortable interpretation of the Book of Mormon—it is the good guys versus
the bad guys. But this is exactly what the Book of Mormon tells us to avoid.
God plays no favorites. Nephi rebukes his brothers for believing that because
they are Jews they are righteous; God does not judge by party, he tells them; a
good man is good and a bad one is bad, according to his own behavior:
"Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one; he that is righteous is
favored of God" (1 Nephi 17:35). Family and race and nationality account
for nothing; "God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be
in; yea, he numbereth his people" (Alma 26:37).[5]
[1] The
Way of the Wicked, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell
Institute, accessed April 6, 2013.
[2] How
to Get Rich, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute,
accessed April 6, 2013.
[3] The
Lord Will Redeem His People: Adoptive Covenant and Redemption in the Old
Testament and Book of Mormon, Jennifer Clark Lane, , Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed April 6, 2013.
[4] Some
Universals in the Book of Mormon, Sidney B. Sperry. Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed April 6, 2013.
[5] Last
Call: An Apocalyptic Warning from the Book of Mormon, Hugh Nibley, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed April 6, 2013.
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