Nephi tells us that more than one generation of the Jews has
been destroyed because of their iniquities.
Shortly before His crucifixion, the Savior said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest
them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered [GR have I
desired to gather] thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens
under her wings, and ye would not!” (Matthew 23:37).
Hugh Nibley explains further.
When the Chosen People do wickedly,
according to a doctrine often stated in the Talmud, all nature suffers, and to
save the world and restore the balance of good and evil, God destroys the old
generation and raises up a new people in righteousness. Lehi's people were
neither the first nor the last to be led into the wilderness to escape the
wrath to come.[1]
Lehi’s party left Jerusalem, having been warned by the Lord
to flee because it was to be destroyed.
The Lord had revealed to Lehi that Jerusalem had been destroyed shortly
before his death. The people of Nephi were
reminded of this. For example, shortly
after the family separated, Jacob reminded them that “the Lord has shown me that those who were at Jerusalem, from whence we
came, have been slain and carried away captive” (2 Nephi 6:8).
Nearly 600 hundred years late, Nephi2 would
remind the Nephites:
And
behold, also Zenock, and also Ezias, and also Isaiah, and Jeremiah, (Jeremiah
being that same prophet who testified of the destruction of Jerusalem) and now
we know that Jerusalem was destroyed according to the words of Jeremiah. O then why not the Son of God come, according
to his prophecy?
And
now will you dispute that Jerusalem was destroyed? Will ye say that the sons of Zedekiah were
not slain, all except it were Mulek?
Yea, and do ye not behold that the seed of Zedekiah are with us, and
they were driven out of the land of Jerusalem?
Helaman 8:20 - 21
Even though Jerusalem had been destroyed and the Jews carried
away a captive, the Lord will again return them to the land of their
inheritance. After prophesying of their
destruction, Jeremiah had prophesied of their return.
Thus
saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge
them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place
into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
For
I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land:
and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not
pluck them up.
And
I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my
people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole
heart.
Jeremiah 24:5 – 7
[1] The
Flight into the Wilderness, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah:
Maxwell Institute, accessed October 15, 2013.
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