The Savior continues teaching about the Gentiles.
They day will come when they will sin against and reject His
Gospel and “be lifted up in the pride of their hearts” (3 Nephi 16:10).
“Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye
are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your
doing.
“And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and
there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of
their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes,
and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches,
yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.
“For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your
fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and
the needy, the sick and the afflicted.
“O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell
yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of
God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not
think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which
never dies—because of the praise of the world?
“Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life,
and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the
afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?
“Yea, why do ye build up your secret abominations to get
gain, and cause that widows should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to
mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands
to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads?
“Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the
time soon cometh that he avengeth the blood of the saints upon you, for he will
not suffer their cries any longer” (Mormon 8:35-41).
They will lie, deceive, become hypocrites, and murder. Moroni
saw this day. “Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions
upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying, and
deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when there shall be
many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not, for the Lord will
uphold such at the last day. But wo unto such, for they are in the gall of
bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity? (Mormon 8:31).
Priestcrafts will again become part of their religion. “He
commandeth that there shall be no priestcrafts; for, behold, priestcrafts are
that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may
get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion” (2
Nephi 26:29).
Their sins will be done in secret. “There will come a
time—we call it the fulness of the Gentiles—when the Lord will turn, on a
preferential basis, the blessings of the gospel to those we know as the Jews.
And why will it happen? Because, as it said in 3 Nephi 16:10, the Gentiles will
sin against that gospel.”[1]
When this day comes, the gospel will be brought to the House
of Israel. “But behold, it shall come to pass that they shall be driven and
scattered by the Gentiles; and after they have been driven and scattered by the
Gentiles, behold, then will the Lord remember the covenant which he made unto
Abraham and unto all the house of Israel” (Mormon 5:20).
“We are not to sit like bags of sand but receive a
fulness—nothing left out, ‘every needful thing,’ in short, all that one is able
to receive. The Lord has much to say about fulness. If I could do more than I
am doing, or carry more than I am carrying, and learn more than I am learning,
etc., I am quite literally rejecting the fulness. This is a situation ominously
set forth in 3 Nephi 16:10—11 where, speaking of the church in our day, the
Lord says, ‘If they shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, sayeth the
Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them and I will bring
my gospel unto them’—i.e., another branch of Israel, the descendants of Lehi.
Is the phasing out or neglecting of certain temple activities a rejection of
the fulness? That is not for me to decide.”[2]
The House of Israel will be shown the Gentiles have no power
over them. He will remember His covenant with Israel and they will come to a
knowledge of the gospel. “And this is according to the prophecy, that they
shall again be brought to the true knowledge, which is the knowledge of their
Redeemer, and their great and true shepherd, and be numbered among his sheep”
(Helaman 15:13).
Should the Gentiles repent and return to the Lord, they will
be numbered among the house of Israel. “And then at that day will they rejoice
and give praise unto their everlasting God, their rock and their salvation?
Yea, at that day, will they not receive the strength and nourishment from the
true vine? Yea, will they not come unto the true fold of God” (1 Nephi 15:15).
“Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same
are the children of Abraham…
“And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and
heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:7, 29).
Those who are of the house of Israel will not “go through
among them, and tread them down” (3 Nephi 16:14).
Should the Gentiles reject Christ, the house of Israel will
go among them “and shall tread them down” (3 Nephi 16:15). “And the remnant of
Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among
the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he
go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver”
(Micah 5:8).
As for Lehi’s descendants, the Father commanded Him to give
this land to them. “And behold, this is the land of your inheritance; and the
Father hath given it unto you” (3 Nephi 15:13).
The Savior told the Nephites the words of Isaiah will be
fulfilled (see Isaiah 52:8-10).[3]
“Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice
together shall they sing, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall
bring again Zion.
“Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of
Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
“The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the
nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God” (3 Nephi
16:18-20).
Who are these “watchmen?” The
guide to the scriptures tells us the “watchmen” are “[t]o be vigilant, to
guard. A person who watches and obeys is ready and prepared. Watchmen are
leaders who are called by the Lord’s representatives to have specific
responsibility for the welfare of others. Those called as leaders have a
special responsibility to also be watchmen to the rest of the world.”
“And set watchmen round about them, and build a tower, that
one may overlook the land round about, to be a watchman upon the tower, that
mine olive trees may not be broken down when the enemy shall come to spoil and
take upon themselves the fruit of my vineyard.
“Ought ye not to have done even as I commanded you,
and—after ye had planted the vineyard, and built the hedge round about, and set
watchmen upon the walls thereof—built the tower also, and set a watchman upon
the tower, and watched for my vineyard, and not have fallen asleep, lest the
enemy should come upon you?
“And behold, the watchman upon the tower would have seen the
enemy while he was yet afar off; and then ye could have made ready and kept the
enemy from breaking down the hedge thereof, and saved my vineyard from the
hands of the destroyer” (D&C 101:45, 53-54).
“And now it came to pass that after Alma had made an end of
speaking unto the people of the church, which was established in the city of
Zarahemla, he ordained priests and elders, by laying on his hands according to
the order of God, to preside and watch over the church” (Alma 6:1).
Noah’s priests confronted Abinadi about Isaiah 52:8-10. “[One of Noah’s priests quoted the] verses in
detail later. The priest went on to quote [Isaiah 52:8-10], apparently intent
on baffling Abinadi. Perhaps the priest was suggesting that ‘watchmen’ sing and
are joyful because all is well in Zion. The text gives us no hint of the
priest’s immediate motives here except to reveal his general attempt to somehow
gather evidence that will discredit Abinadi so that the society could be rid of
him…
“What of the watchmen who see eye to eye, those whose feet
are beautiful? Abinadi: The time shall come that the salvation of the Lord
shall be declared to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. [He exults!]
Yea, Lord, thy watchmen shall lift up their voice; with the voice together
shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again
Zion. ([Mosiah] 15:28–29; v. 29 quotes Isaiah 52:8)”[4]
“Look at [Mosiah 15:]22: ‘Thy watchmen shall lift up the
voice’—they are quoting this, but if they were really aware of what they are
doing, they'd see that in Ezekiel 33:6—7, it says that the watchmen are sent to
declare a warning voice and that Abinadi is a perfect example of what that is supposed
to be. But [the priests] say, ‘No, your news is bad, and we don't like bad
news.’ It is kind of like Samuel's story in Helaman 13. If someone comes and
says everything is fine and you are all right, you accept him. But if he
testifies of your iniquities, you run him out of town.”
[1] The
Doctrine of the Risen Christ: Part 3, Robert L. Millet, Maxwell Institute
website.
[2] A
House of Glory, Hugh Nibley, Maxwell Institute website.
[3]
The wording in 3 Nephi 16:18-20 is identical to the wording in Isaiah.
[4] “What
Meaneth the Words That Are Written?” Abinadi Interprets Isaiah, Ann Madsen,
Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 10/1
(2001): 7, 12.
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