After reminding us this land is a choice land, he speaks to
the Gentiles. His message is important to us today and we must remember his
words.
“And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, Nephi,
saying: Thou hast beheld that if the Gentiles repent it shall be well with
them; and thou also knowest concerning the covenants of the Lord unto the house
of Israel; and thou also hast heard that whoso repenteth not must perish.
“Therefore, wo be unto the Gentiles if it so be that they
harden their hearts against the Lamb of God” (1 Nephi 14:5-6).
“Wo be unto the Gentiles, saith the Lord God of Hosts! For
notwithstanding I shall lengthen out mine arm unto them from day to day, they
will deny me; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God,
if they will repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the
day long, saith the Lord God of Hosts” (2 Nephi 28:32).
If we do not repent, and continue in our iniquities, we will
suffer God’s wrath. Alma2
addressed this as he spoke his last words to his son Helaman before he
departed.
“But behold, I have somewhat to prophesy unto thee [Helaman,
son of Alma]; but what I prophesy unto thee ye shall not make known; yea, what
I prophesy unto thee shall not be made known, even until the prophecy is
fulfilled; therefore write the words which I shall say.
“And these are the words: Behold, I perceive that this very
people, the Nephites, according to the spirit of revelation which is in me, in
four hundred years from the time that Jesus Christ shall manifest himself unto
them, shall dwindle in unbelief.
“Yea, and then shall they see wars and pestilences, yea,
famines and bloodshed, even until the people of Nephi shall become extinct—
“Yea, and this because they shall dwindle in unbelief and fall
into the works of darkness, and lasciviousness, and all manner of iniquities;
yea, I say unto you, that because they shall sin against so great light and
knowledge, yea, I say unto you, that from that day, even the fourth generation
shall not all pass away before this great iniquity shall come.
“And when that great day cometh, behold, the time very soon
cometh that those who are now, or the seed of those who are now numbered among
the people of Nephi, shall no more be numbered among the people of Nephi.
“But whosoever remaineth, and is not destroyed in that great
and dreadful day, shall be numbered among the Lamanites, and shall become like
unto them, all, save it be a few who shall be called the disciples of the Lord;
and them shall the Lamanites pursue even until they shall become extinct. And
now, because of iniquity, this prophecy shall be fulfilled.
“And now it came to pass that after Alma had said these
things to Helaman, he blessed him, and also his other sons; and he also blessed
the earth for the righteous’ sake.
“And he said: Thus saith the Lord God—Cursed shall be the
land, yea, this land, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, unto
destruction, which do wickedly, when they are fully ripe; and as I have said so
shall it be; for this is the cursing and the blessing of God upon the land, for
the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance” (Alma
45:9-16).
“In the second ending the narrator commentary sets out one
of the reasons why the Jaredite record is added. “And this [the Nephite and
Jaredite records] cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, that ye may know the decrees
of God—that ye may repent, . . . that ye may not bring down the fulness of the
wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done” (Ether
2:11). The inescapable message is that the Jaredite and Nephite destructions
are historical patterns that readers risk experiencing firsthand if they do not
repent. Thus Moroni stands between the reader and the entire Book of Mormon—not
only to provide a narrative house for the reader but also to shout a prophetic
warning and exhortation to change. His focus in the first two endings is on
destruction. Passing quickly over hundreds of years and a long string of kings,
he devotes a large portion of the Jaredite record to the scene of destruction.
In fact, nearly one-third of that long history of dozens of generations is
devoted to the final Jaredite destruction. In other words, when we begin to
interpret Moroni, we soon find that he wants the book to interpret and warn us.”[1]
In this land, we will be free from bondage, captivity, and
from all nations. There is a condition, however. We must serve Christ. If we
fail, we face destruction. “For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee
shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted” (Isaiah 60:12).
We tend to think the message we receive is for us in the USA
only. “Book of Mormon prophecies indicate that the teachings concerning the
land of promise apply to all nations there, not one nation only.”[2]
[1] Moroni:
The Final Voice, Mark D. Thomas,
Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 12/1 (2003): 96.
[2] Losing
the Remnant: The New Exclusivist “Movement” and the Book of Mormon, Matthew
Roper, FARMS Review 22/2 (2010): 98.
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