Chapter 12
Nephi sees in vision:
the land of promise; the righteousness, iniquity, and downfall of its
inhabitants; the coming of the Lamb of God among them; how the twelve disciples
and the twelve apostles shall judge Israel; the loathsome and filthy state of
those who dwindle in unbelief. About 600–592 B.C.
1 And it came to pass that the angel said unto me: Look,
and behold thy seed, and also the seed of thy brethren. And I looked and beheld
the land of promise; and I beheld multitudes of people, yea, even as it were in
number as many as the sand of the sea.
2 And it came to pass that I beheld multitudes gathered
together to battle, one against the other; and I beheld wars, and rumors of
wars, and great slaughters with the sword among my people.
3 And it came to pass that I beheld many generations pass
away, after the manner of wars and contentions in the land; and I beheld many
cities, yea, even that I did not number them.
4 And it came to pass that I saw a mist of darkness on
the face of the land of promise; and I saw lightnings, and I heard thunderings,
and earthquakes, and all manner of tumultuous noises; and I saw the earth and
the rocks, that they rent; and I saw mountains tumbling into pieces; and I saw
the plains of the earth, that they were broken up; and I saw many cities that
they were sunk; and I saw many that they were burned with fire; and I saw many
that did tumble to the earth, because of the quaking thereof.
5 And it came to pass after I saw these things, I saw the
vapor of darkness, that it passed from off the face of the earth; and behold, I
saw multitudes who had not fallen because of the great and terrible judgments
of the Lord.
6 And I saw the heavens open, and the Lamb of God
descending out of heaven; and he came down and showed himself unto them.
7 And I also saw and bear record that the Holy Ghost fell
upon twelve others; and they were ordained of God, and chosen.
8 And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the twelve
disciples of the Lamb, who are chosen to minister unto thy seed.
9 And he said unto me: Thou rememberest the twelve
apostles of the Lamb? Behold they are they who shall judge the twelve tribes of
Israel; wherefore, the twelve ministers of thy seed shall be judged of them;
for ye are of the house of Israel.
10 And these twelve ministers whom thou beholdest shall
judge thy seed. And, behold, they are righteous forever; for because of their
faith in the Lamb of God their garments are made white in his blood.
Nephi saw that the wicked of the world would come together and fight against Christ. The angel then showed Nephi his people in the Americas. He numbered his people “as many as the sand of the sea” (1 Nephi 12:1), echoing the words of the Lord to Abraham. “That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice” (Genesis 22:17-18).
He was next shown how there would be wars, rumors of war,
and great slaughter among his people.
Enos, the son of Jacob (Nephi’s brother) would record, “And I saw wars
between the Nephites and Lamanites in the course of my days” (Enos 1:24). Considering the small number of people
involved, even during Enos’ days, what Nephi was seeing was more like what we
would call a clan feud than an actual war.
The wars come later.
Moroni, having seen the destruction of the Nephites, would
record, “And behold, the Lamanites have hunted my people, the Nephites, down
from city to city and from place to place, even until they are no more; and
great has been their fall; yea, great and marvelous is the destruction of my
people, the Nephites” (Mormon 8:7).
Corbin Volluz likens the mist of darkness to the destruction
of the Nephites.
“Nephi is shown great battles and wars among his seed and
the seed of his brethren, which last for the space of many generations (1 Nephi
12:2–3). Then Nephi sees a ‘mist of darkness’ on the face of the land of
promise. This ‘mist of darkness’ beheld by Nephi is an interpretation and
elaboration of the ‘mist of darkness’ that Lehi saw cause the destruction of
the first multitude in his dream, causing them to ‘lose their way, that they
wandered off and were lost’ (1 Nephi 8:23).”[1]
Hugh Nibley observed…
“When Lehi’s party had barely left Jerusalem, Nephi had a
vision in which he ‘looked and beheld the land of promise.’ And what did he
see? ‘A mist of darkness on the face of the land of promise,’ and horrible
destruction and desolation (1 Nephi 12:4). Obviously one is not home-free when
he has set foot upon the land of promise. Quite the opposite; from then on he
must watch his step and control the impulse to do whatever he pleases and ‘have
it all.’ For ‘God has sworn in his wrath’ that what went on in other lands
should not go on here.”[2]
Nephi was shown the destruction among his people before
Christ’s appearance. The darkness was
lifted and he saws Christ descending out of heaven and stand before those who
survived. This event was anticipated
throughout Nephite history. Nephi would
write…
“And after Christ shall have risen from the dead he shall
show himself unto you, my children, and my beloved brethren; and the words which
he shall speak unto you shall be the law which ye shall do…
“But the Son of righteousness shall appear unto them; and he
shall heal them, and they shall have peace with him, until three generations
shall have passed away, and many of the fourth generation shall have passed
away in righteousness” (2 Nephi 26:1, 9).
“Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be
no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the
flesh. And when he shall manifest
himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye
observe to do” (2 Nephi 32:6).
Alma2 taught, “And many of the people did inquire
concerning the place where the Son of God should come; and they were taught
that he would appear unto them after his resurrection; and this the people did
hear with great joy and gladness” (Alma 16:20).
Nephi then saw the Christ chose twelve his of people and
ordained them. “Behold the Twelve
Disciples of the Lamb, who are chosen to minister unto thy seed” (1 Nephi
12:8).
The angel asked Nephi if he remembered Christ’s twelve
apostles. (When they had been called by
Christ, “he gave them power [GR authority over] against unclean spirits, to
cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease”
(Matthew 10:1).) The twelve will judge
the twelve tribes of Israel. “And Jesus
said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the resurrection
when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit
upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (JST Matthew
19:28). They will also judge the Nephite
twelve.
The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith, “And again, verily,
verily, I say unto you, and it hath gone forth in a firm decree, by the will of
the Father, that mine apostles, the Twelve which were with me in my ministry at
Jerusalem, shall stand at my right hand at the day of my coming in a pillar of
fire, being clothed with robes of righteousness, with crowns upon their heads,
in glory even as I am, to judge the whole house of Israel, even as many as have
loved me and kept my commandments, and none else” (D&C 29:12).
The Nephite twelve will judge Nephi’s seed. “And know ye
that ye shall be judges of this people, according to the judgment which I shall
give unto you, which shall be just.
Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Nephi
27:27). Mormon added…
“Yea, behold, I write unto all the ends of the earth; yea,
unto you, twelve tribes of Israel, who shall be judged according to your works
by the twelve whom Jesus chose to be his disciples in the land of Jerusalem.
“And I write also unto the remnant of this people, who shall
also be judged by the twelve whom Jesus chose in this land; and they shall be
judged by the other twelve whom Jesus chose in the land of Jerusalem” (Mormon
3:18-19).
The Nephite twelve will be “righteous forever; for because
of their faith in the Lamb of God their garments are made white in his blood”
(1 Nephi 12:10).
All righteous will, through their faith in Christ, have “their
garments made with in His blood.” In his
Revelation, an elder answered John, saying, “What are these which are arrayed
in white robes? and whence came they?
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest.
And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb”
(Revelation 7:13-14).
Alma2, preaching to the people of Zarahemla after
he resigned the judgment seat, told them…
“I say unto you, ye will know at that day that ye cannot be
saved; for there can no man be saved except his garments are washed white; yea,
his garments must be purified until they are cleansed from all stain, through
the blood of him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to
redeem his people from their sins.
“And now I ask of you, my brethren, how will any of you
feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained
with blood and all manner of filthiness?
Behold, what will these things testify against you?
“Behold will they not testify that ye are murderers, yea,
and also that ye are guilty of all manner of wickedness?
“Behold, my brethren, do ye suppose that such an one can
have a place to sit down in the kingdom of God, with Abraham, with Isaac, and
with Jacob, and also all the holy prophets, whose garments are cleansed and are
spotless, pure and white?
“I say unto you, Nay; except ye make our Creator a liar from
the beginning, or suppose that he is a liar from the beginning, ye cannot
suppose that such can have place in the kingdom of heaven; but they shall be
cast out for they are the children of the kingdom of the devil.
“And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have
experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of
redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?
“Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before
God? Could ye say, if ye were called to
die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently
humble? That your garments have been
cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem
his people from their sins” (Alma 5:21-27).
When confronting Zeezrom, he would teach…
“Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were
sanctified, and their garments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb.
“Now they, after being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, having
their garments made white, being pure and spotless before God, could not look
upon sin save it were with abhorrence; and there were many, exceedingly great
many, who were made pure and entered into the rest of the Lord their God.
“And now, my brethren, I would that ye should humble
yourselves before God, and bring forth fruit meet for repentance, that ye may
also enter into that rest” (Alma 13:11-13).
[1] Lehi’s Dream of the Tree of Life: Springboard
to Prophecy, Corbin T. Volluz, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
[2] Last Call: An Apocalyptic Warning from the
Book of Mormon, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
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