After the multitude glorified Jesus, He spoke to them again.
He tells them He will now finish giving them the commandments He was given by
the Father.
“The Father’s Covenant People teachings begin in 3 Nephi
20:10 when Jesus states that he is going to finish the Father’s commanded
instructions concerning this remnant of the house of Israel. The previous day,
Jesus had begun to fulfill the Father’s commandment by telling the people why
their ancestors were separated from their original lands of inheritance near
Jerusalem. He had also told them of the Father’s covenant to bring the fulness
of the gospel to their descendants through the Gentiles. He had concluded his
teachings that day by quoting some of Isaiah. Jesus continues his teachings the
second day with an admonition to study Isaiah’s words and a promise that when
the prophecies of Isaiah are fulfilled, Heavenly Father’s covenant with Israel
will be fulfilled (vv. 10–12).”[1]
He reminded them of what He had said about Isaiah.
“And then the words of the prophet Isaiah shall be
fulfilled, which say:
“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
16:17-21).
Nephi had emphasized the importance of Isaiah’s words. “Yea,
and my soul delighteth in the words of Isaiah, for I came out from Jerusalem,
and mine eyes hath beheld the things of the Jews, and I know that the Jews do
understand the things of the prophets, and there is none other people that
understand the things which were spoken unto the Jews like unto them, save it
be that they are taught after the manner of the things of the Jews” (2 Nephi
25:5).
Moroni, writing what he thought may well be his last words
wrote, “Search the prophecies of Isaiah. Behold, I cannot write them. Yea,
behold I say unto you, that those saints who have gone before me, who have
possessed this land, shall cry, yea, even from the dust will they cry unto the
Lord; and as the Lord liveth he will remember the covenant which he hath made
with them” (Mormon 8:23).
“The narrative high point of the book is the ministry of the
resurrected Savior. While discoursing to both the Lamanites and Nephites before
him, Jesus as well speaks to their descendants, saying that the Book of Mormon ‘shall
come forth of the Father, from [the Gentiles] unto you’ (3 Nephi 21:3). He
confirms the prophecies of Isaiah that in the last days the children of Lehi
will be gathered both physically and spiritually. ‘Then is the fulfilling,’ he
says, ‘of the covenant which the Father hath made unto his people, O house of
Israel’ (3 Nephi 20:12).”[2]
The day will come when the remnants of Israel, scattered
throughout the earth, shall be gathered and brought to a knowledge of the Lord
who redeemed. “But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O
Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land
of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and
none shall make him afraid” (Jeremiah 46:27).
“Here on earth, missionary work is crucial to the gathering
of Israel. The gospel was to be taken first to the ‘lost sheep of the house of
Israel.’ Consequently, servants of the Lord have gone forth proclaiming the
Restoration. In many nations our missionaries have searched for those of
scattered Israel; they have hunted for them ‘out of the holes of the rocks’;
and they have fished for them as in ancient days.”[3]
He had been commanded by the Father He should give them this
land as their land of inheritance.
The Gentiles have been warned they should not repent, after
they have received blessings, they know they have been warned. “And thus
commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles
shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and
shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all
the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings,
and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and
priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do
all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the
Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them” (3 Nephi 16:10).
[1]The
Father's Covenant People Sermon: 3 Nephi 20:10–23:5, Victor L. Ludlow,
Maxwell Institute website.
[2]The
Book of Mormon, Designed for Our Day, Annual FARMS Lecture, 27 February
1990, Richard Dilworth Rust, Maxwell Institute website.
[3]The
Gathering of Scattered Israel, President Russell M. Nelson, October 2006
General Conference.
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