11 And the angel said unto me: Look! And I looked, and
beheld three generations pass away in righteousness; and their garments were
white even like unto the Lamb of God. And the angel said unto me: These are
made white in the blood of the Lamb, because of their faith in him.
12 And I, Nephi, also saw many of the fourth generation
who passed away in righteousness.
13 And it came to pass that I saw the multitudes of the
earth gathered together.
14 And the angel said unto me: Behold thy seed, and also
the seed of thy brethren.
15 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the
people of my seed gathered together in multitudes against the seed of my
brethren; and they were gathered together to battle.
16 And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the
fountain of filthy water which thy father saw; yea, even the river of which he
spake; and the depths thereof are the depths of hell.
17 And the mists of darkness are the temptations of the
devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of
men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost.
18 And the large and spacious building, which thy father
saw, is vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men. And a great and
a terrible gulf divideth them; yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal
God, and the Messiah who is the Lamb of God, of whom the Holy Ghost beareth
record, from the beginning of the world until this time, and from this time
henceforth and forever.
19 And while the angel spake these words, I beheld and
saw that the seed of my brethren did contend against my seed, according to the
word of the angel; and because of the pride of my seed, and the temptations of
the devil, I beheld that the seed of my brethren did overpower the people of my
seed.
20 And it came to pass that I beheld, and saw the people
of the seed of my brethren that they had overcome my seed; and they went forth
in multitudes upon the face of the land.
21 And I saw them gathered together in multitudes; and I
saw wars and rumors of wars among them; and in wars and rumors of wars I saw
many generations pass away.
22 And the angel said unto me: Behold these shall dwindle
in unbelief.
23 And it came to pass that I beheld, after they had
dwindled in unbelief they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people,
full of idleness and all manner of abominations.
After having seen Christ’s visit to his people, he looks and sees that there will be righteousness for three generations. “[T]heir garments were white even like unto the Lamb of God. And the angel said unto me: These are made white in the blood of the Lamb, because of their faith in him” (1 Nephi 12:11). Many of the fourth generation also lived in righteousness.
Then, Nephi saw the second multitude in his vision. Corbin Volluz writes about the two multitudes
Nephi saw in his vision.
“In Nephi’s vision, he is shown the prophetic meaning behind
the symbolic imagery of Lehi’s dream: ‘And it came to pass that I saw the
multitudes of the earth gathered together’ (1 Nephi 12:13). Whereas the first
gathering together of multitudes was a representation of the house of Israel
assembling in order to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb, this
second gathering of multitudes represents the seed of Nephi and his brethren
who gather together for their final great battle, which would result in the
virtual annihilation of the Nephite society (1 Nephi 12:14–15). Once again the
phrase multitudes gathering together is being used to interpret the
symbol of the great and spacious building of Lehi’s dream.”[1]
The multitude Nephi saw consisted of the Nephite and
Lamanite armies, ready to do battle.
Towards the end of his life, Mormon would record, “And it came to pass
that my people, with their wives and their children, did now behold the armies
of the Lamanites marching towards them; and with that awful fear of death which
fills the breasts of all the wicked, did they await to receive them” (Mormon
6:7).
The angel spoke to Nephi, explaining the fountain of filthy
water. “The ‘fountain [river] of filthy
water,’ the interpretation of which the angel gives as ‘the depths of hell’ (1
Nephi 12:16). This is the destination of the descendants of Nephi, who died in
their wicked and rebellious state.”[2]
The mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil. They “blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the
hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that
they perish and are lost” (Proverbs 4:14-15).
The savior taught, “Strive to enter in at the strait [GR narrow] gate:
for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke
13:24).
The great and spacious building “is vain imaginations and
the pride of the children of men” (1 Nephi 12:18). “The ‘great and spacious building,’ the interpretation
of which the angel gives as ‘the vain imaginations and the pride of the
children of men’ (1 Nephi 12:18). This pride is the inner force that
caused the Nephites’ overthrow.”[3]
Jeremiah twice warned against vain imaginations. “But they hearkened not, nor inclined their
ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and
went backward, and not forward” (Jeremiah 7:24). “And the LORD saith, Because they have
forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither
walked therein; But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and
after Baalim, which their fathers taught them” (Jeremiah 9:13 - 14).
In the parable of the richman and Lazarus, the Savior taught
there was a gulf between the righteous and wicked.
“And [the richman] cried and said, Father Abraham, have
mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water,
and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
“But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime
receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is
comforted, and thou art tormented.
“And beside all this, between us and you there is a great
gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can
they pass to us, that would come from thence” (Luke 16:24-26).
“In light of Nephi’s vision, which came to him after he
asked to see what his father, Lehi, had seen, Lehi’s dream of the tree of life
can be seen as much more than the journey of one man who is concerned for his
two rebellious sons. The vision is of cosmic significance, entailing the rise
and fall of a great civilization and extending from Lehi’s camp to the entire
world and its ultimate future. Above all, the vision reveals the Son of God—his
birth, life, and death.”[4]
There is a great gulf dividing the righteous and the
wicked. Hugh Nibley explains how this is
an appropriate metaphor for someone who lived in a desert environment.
“To symbolize what is utterly inaccessible, Lehi is shown “a
great and a terrible gulf” (1 Nephi 12:18), ‘an awful gulf’ (1 Nephi 15:28), a
tremendous chasm with one’s objective (the tree of life) maddeningly visible on
the other side; all who have traveled in the desert know the feeling of utter
helplessness and frustration at finding one’s way suddenly cut off by one of
those appalling canyons with perpendicular sides-nothing could be more abrupt,
more absolute, more baffling to one’s plans, and so will it be with the wicked
in a day of reckoning. Hariri describes death as ‘a chasm drear’ which sooner
or later confronts all mortals. Many recent photographs show us that
Burton was not exaggerating when he described the ‘titanic walls, lofty
donjons, huge projecting bastions, and moats full of deep shade’ that are a
characteristic of Lehi’s desert. It is very much like the ‘red rock’
country of our own Southwest.”[5]
When the Nephites and Lamanites met in the great battle,
Mormon would describe his situation. “[B]ehold
I have witnessed almost all the destruction of my people, the Nephites. And it is many hundred years after the coming
of Christ *that I deliver these records into the hands of my son;
and it supposeth me that he will witness the entire destruction of my
people. But may God grant that he may
survive them, that he may write somewhat concerning them, and somewhat
concerning Christ, that perhaps some day it may profit them” (Words of Mormon
1:1-2).
Many generations of the Nephites lived with wars and rumors
of war. Moroni would comment on the
Nephite situation. “And behold, it is
the hand of the Lord which hath done it.
And behold also, the Lamanites are at war one with another; and the
whole face of this land is one continual round of murder and bloodshed; and no
one knoweth the end of the war” (Mormon 8:8).
“For behold, their wars are exceedingly fierce among themselves; and
because of their hatred they put to death every Nephite that will not deny the
Christ” (Moroni 1:2).
The Lamanites will dwindle in unbelief and become a “dark,
and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of
abominations” (1 Nephi 12:23).
[1] Lehi's Dream of the Tree of Life: Springboard
to Prophecy, Corbin T. Volluz, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
[4] Lehi's Vision of the Tree of Life:
Understanding the Dream as Visionary Literature, Charles Swift, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute.
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