Mormon tells us the day will come when the Lamanites will be
scattered by the Gentile. But, the day will come when He will remember the
covenants made with Abraham and the house of Israel. “And then will I remember
my covenant which I have made unto my people, O house of Israel, and I will
bring my gospel unto them” (3 Nephi 16:11).
“It is difficult to imagine an omniscient God forgetting (in
the usual sense) something as vital as a covenant with or the prayers of his
people. Rather, in these and related passages, remember carries the connotation
of ‘restore,’ ‘renew,’ ‘revitalize,’ or ‘refresh.’ In each case, that which God
remembers is an essential part of the identity of a people whom God distinguishes
from the rest of humanity by means of a covenant and its periodic renewal.”[1]
The Lord will also remember the prayers of the righteous.
Enos’s experience is an example of this.
“And it came to pass that after I had prayed and labored
with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to
thy desires, because of thy faith.
“And now behold, this was the desire which I desired of
him—that if it should so be, that my people, the Nephites, should fall into
transgression, and by any means be destroyed, and the Lamanites should not be
destroyed, that the Lord God would preserve a record of my people, the
Nephites; even if it so be by the power of his holy arm, that it might be
brought forth at some future day unto the Lamanites, that, perhaps, they might
be brought unto salvation—
“For at the present our strugglings were vain in restoring
them to the true faith. And they swore in their wrath that, if it were
possible, they would destroy our records and us, and also all the traditions of
our fathers.
“Wherefore, I knowing that the Lord God was able to preserve
our records, I cried unto him continually, for he had said unto me: Whatsoever
thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall receive in the name of
Christ, ye shall receive it.
“And I had faith, and I did cry unto God that he would preserve
the records; and he covenanted with me that he would bring them forth unto the
Lamanites in his own due time.
“And I, Enos, knew it would be according to the covenant
which he had made; wherefore my soul did rest.
“And the Lord said unto me: Thy fathers have also required
of me this thing; and it shall be done unto them according to their faith; for their
faith was like unto thine” (Enos 1:12-18).
Addressing the Gentiles (us!), Mormon tells us we cannot stand
before God’s power unless we repent. “As to Mormon’s own people, the Lord has
reserved their blessings, which they might have received in the land, for the
Gentiles who shall possess the land (see Mormon 5:19). But they will have
another chance, for ‘after they have been driven and scattered by the Gentiles,
behold, then will the Lord remember the covenant’ (Mormon 5:20). Then it will
be our turn to be concerned: ‘And then, O ye Gentiles, how can ye stand before
the power of God, except ye shall repent and turn from your evil ways?’ (Mormon
5:22).”[2]
Mormon reminds us we are in God’s hand. He has all power.
Moroni explains this at the beginning of the Book of Ether. “And now I, Moroni,
proceed to give an account of those ancient inhabitants who were destroyed by
the hand of the Lord upon the face of this north country” (Ether 1:1).
Speaking to the Nephites, the Savior “did expound all
things, even from the beginning until the time that he should come in his
glory—yea, even all things which should come upon the face of the earth, even
until the elements should melt with fervent heat, and the earth should be wrapt
together as a scroll, and the heavens and the earth should pass away” (3 Nephi
26:3).
24 Therefore, repent ye, and humble yourselves before him,
lest he shall come out in justice against you—lest a remnant of the seed of
Jacob shall go forth among you as a lion, and tear you in pieces, and there is
none to deliver.
We must be humble and repent. Should we not, we will face
justice. “[A] remnant of the seed of Jacob shall go forth among you as a lion,
and tear you in pieces, and there is none to deliver” (Mormon 5:24).
“And I say unto you, that if the Gentiles do not repent
after the blessing which they shall receive, after they have scattered my
people—
“Then shall ye, who are a remnant of the house of Jacob, go
forth among them; and ye shall be in the midst of them who shall be many; and
ye shall be among them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, and as a young
lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he goeth through both treadeth down and
teareth in pieces, and none can deliver” (3 Nephi 20:15-16).
[1] Memory
and Identity in the Book of Mormon, Steven L. Olsen, Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 22/2
(2013): 43.
[2] The
Prophetic Book of Mormon, Chapter 21: Scriptural Perspectives on How to Survive
the Calamities of the Last Days, Hugh Nibley, Maxwell Institute website.
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