1 Nephi 22:1-4

Chapter 22

Israel shall be scattered upon all the face of the earth—The gentiles shall nurse and nourish Israel with the gospel in the last days—Israel shall be gathered and saved, and the wicked shall burn as stubble—The kingdom of the devil shall be destroyed, and Satan shall be bound. About 588–570 B.C.

After preaching to his brethren, Nephi, reading from the brass plates, read Isaiah 48 & 49 to them.  After he finished, they asked him to explain what these things mean.  Are they understood spiritually or what?  Hugh Nibley comments on their questions.

Let's come to chapter 22, when the brethren ask him what these things mean that Isaiah talks about. Notice they say in 1 Nephi 22:1, "What meaneth these things which ye have read?" Aren't they just spiritual? We're not going to be bound by them; these are just spiritual. This is always the way to weasel out of a situation. This is just spiritual. I'll just pay a spiritual tithe; that's the important thing. He says, No, they're both.[1]

These things were given to the prophets through the voice of the Spirit.  It is only through the Spirit that these things are made known to the prophets and then to us.  In his general epistle, Peter would write:

 [JST We have therefore a more sure knowledge of the word of prophecy, to which word of prophecy ye do well that ye take heed]  We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Knowing this first, that [JST no prophecy of the scriptures is given of any private will of man.] no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

2 Peter 1:19 - 21

To what to the words Nephi read pertain?  To both the temporal and spiritual.  The Lord would tell Joseph Smith,

For by the power of my Spirit created I them; yea, all things both spiritual and temporal—

First spiritual, secondly temporal, which is the beginning of my work; and again, first temporal, and secondly spiritual, which is the last of my work—

Speaking unto you that you may naturally understand; but unto myself my works have no end, neither beginning; but it is given unto you that ye may understand, because ye have asked it of me and are agreed.

Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither any man, nor the children of men; neither Adam, your father, whom I created.

D&C 29:31 - 34

Eventually, the Jews will be scattered through all nations on Earth.  Later in life, Nephi would write:

And behold it shall come to pass that after the Messiah hath risen from the dead, and hath manifested himself unto his people, unto as many as will believe on his name, behold, Jerusalem shall be destroyed again; for wo unto them that fight against God and the people of his church.

Wherefore, the Jews shall be scattered among all nations; yea, and also Babylon shall be destroyed; wherefore, the Jews shall be scattered by other nations.

And after they have been scattered, and the Lord God hath scourged them by other nations for the space of many generations, yea, even down from generation to generation until they shall be persuaded to believe in Christ, the Son of God, and the atonement, which is infinite for all mankind—and when that day shall come that they shall believe in Christ, and worship the Father in his name, with pure hearts and clean hands, and look not forward any more for another Messiah, then, at that time, the day will come that it must needs be expedient that they should believe these things.

2 Nephi 25:14 - 16

Nephi tells them “there are many who are already lost from the knowledge of those who are Jerusalem” (1 Nephi 22:4).  Hugh Nibley wrote:

The scattering was to be not only more widespread than one supposed, embracing "all the face of the earth" even to the unknown "isles of the sea" (1 Nephi 22:3—4), but it goes on in installments, some of the migrations going back into early times and many of them being unknown to history: "And behold, there are many who are already lost from the knowledge of those who are at Jerusalem, . . . and whither they are none of us knoweth" (1 Nephi 22:4). The Dead Sea Scrolls and other documents now attest the reality of such emigrations from Jerusalem.[2]

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[1] Lecture 15: 1 Nephi 17-19, 22, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed May 1, 2013.

[2] Prophecy in the Book of Mormon: The Three Periods, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed May 1, 2013.