Continuing to discuss the Jews and Christ, Nephi tells us
that not only is it important that the Jews be convinced that Jesus is the
Christ, but the gentiles must be convinced as well. He would later write:
And
it shall come to pass that the Jews which are scattered also shall begin to
believe in Christ; and they shall begin to gather in upon the face of the land;
and as many as shall believe in Christ shall also become a delightsome people.
And
it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall commence his work among all
nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, to bring about the restoration of his
people upon the earth.
2 Nephi 30:7-8
Mormon would emphasize:
Now
these things are written unto the remnant of the house of Jacob; and they are
written after this manner, because it is known of God that wickedness will not
bring them forth unto them; and they are to be hid up unto the Lord that they
may come forth in his own due time.
And
this is the commandment which I have received; and behold, they shall come forth
according to the commandment of the Lord, when he shall see fit, in his wisdom.
And
behold, they shall go unto the unbelieving of the Jews; and for this intent
shall they go—that they may be persuaded that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
the living God; that the Father may bring about, through his most Beloved, his
great and eternal purpose, in restoring the Jews, or all the house of Israel,
to the land of their inheritance, which the Lord their God hath given them,
unto the fulfilling of his covenant;
Mormon 5:12-14
Christ will reveal Himself to all who believe in Him through
the power of the Holy Ghost. Miracles,
signs, and wonders will be done among all people according to their faith. When the people cry to the Lord, He will hear
their prayers.
“And now the Lord was slow
to hear their cry because of their iniquities; nevertheless the Lord did hear
their cries, and began to soften the hearts of the Lamanites that they began to
ease their burdens; yet the Lord did not see fit to deliver them out of bondage”
(Mosiah 21:15).
Nephi begins to prophesy concerning the last days. The Lord will bring forth these things to the
children of men. Those who are descended
of the Nephites and Lamanites will have dwindled in unbelief.
They will have suffered at the hands of the Gentiles. They will undergo abuse and “shall have been brought down low in the
dust” (2 Nephi 26:15). But, the
prayers of the righteous “shall be
written and the prayers of the faithful shall be heard, and all those who have
dwindle in unbelief shall not be forgotten” (2 Nephi 26:15).
The records will be those who are destroyed speaking from
the dust.
”[T]he Lord God will give unto him power, that he may whisper concerning
them, even as it were out of the ground; and their speech shall whisper out of
the dust” (2 Nephi 26:16).
Richard Rust writes about the concept of dust.
After the Nephites have been
brought "down low in the dust, . . . yet the words of the righteous shall
be written," and the Lord God shall speak concerning them "even as it
were out of the ground; and their speech shall whisper out of the dust" (2
Nephi 26:15-16). In other words, the latter-day Lamanites shall be awakened to
repentance by a voice considered dead. Life shall come out of death, words of
eternal life from the voice out of the dust.[1]
John Tvedtnes and Hugh Nibley look at records from the dust.
Among the books to come forth was
the Book of Mormon, which Nephi wrote about when likening the prophecy found in
Isaiah 29 to his own people and their records. He wrote of a sealed book that
would be "kept … until the own due time of the Lord, that they may come
forth" (2 Nephi 27:10). This book, he noted, "shall come forth, and
be written unto the Gentiles, and sealed up again unto the Lord" (2 Nephi
30:3) … Referring to Isaiah 29:4, Nephi wrote that "those who shall be
destroyed shall speak unto them out of the ground, and their speech shall be
low out of the dust, and their voice shall be as one that hath a familiar
spirit" (2 Nephi 26:16). He noted in the farewell at the end of his
record, "I speak unto you as the voice of one crying from the dust"
(2 Nephi 33:13).[2]
First of all, there is something
almost alarmingly literal about these "voices from the dust." For
these documents [Dead Sea Scrolls] were deliberately buried in the deep dust of
the cave floors and came forth in choking clouds of dust—the finders had to
wear masks: "For those who shall be destroyed shall be low out of the
dust, and their voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit; for the Lord
God will give unto him power, that he may whisper concerning them, even as it
were out of the ground; and their speech shall whisper out of the dust" (2
Nephi 26:16). They have not survived accidentally, as most other ancient
writings have, but were hidden away on purpose; nor were they simply left
behind or misplaced or forgotten by people who moved on and lived out their
lives elsewhere—the people who left these records died soon after they buried
them and died on the spot, the victims of a savage religious war. "For
those who shall be destroyed shall speak unto them out of the ground" (2
Nephi 26:16).[3]
[1] Book
of Mormon Imagery, Richard Dilworth Rust, Maxwell Institute,
accessed November 10, 2013.
[2] The
Records Come Forth, John Tvedtnes, Maxwell Institute, accessed November 10,
2013.
[3] The
Prophetic Book of Mormon, Hugh Nibley, Maxwell Institute, accessed November
10, 2013.
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