Chapter 13
Nephi sees in vision:
the church of the devil set up among the Gentiles; the discovery and colonizing
of America; the loss of many plain and precious parts of the Bible; the
resultant state of gentile apostasy; the restoration of the gospel, the coming
forth of Latter-day scripture, and the building up of Zion. About 600–592 B.C.
1 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me,
saying: Look! And I looked and beheld many nations and kingdoms.
2 And the angel said unto me: What beholdest thou? And I
said: I behold many nations and kingdoms.
3 And he said unto me: These are the nations and kingdoms
of the Gentiles.
4 And it came to pass that I saw among the nations of the
Gentiles the formation of a great church.
5 And the angel said unto me: Behold the formation of a
church which is most abominable above all other churches, which slayeth the
saints of God, yea, and tortureth them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them
with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity.
6 And it came to pass that I beheld this great and
abominable church; and I saw the devil that he was the founder of it.
7 And I also saw gold, and silver, and silks, and
scarlets, and fine-twined linen, and all manner of precious clothing; and I saw
many harlots.
8 And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the gold,
and the silver, and the silks, and the scarlets, and the fine-twined linen, and
the precious clothing, and the harlots, are the desires of this great and
abominable church.
9 And also for the praise of the world do they destroy
the saints of God, and bring them down into captivity.
10 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld many
waters; and they divided the Gentiles from the seed of my brethren.
11 And it came to pass that the angel said unto me:
Behold the wrath of God is upon the seed of thy brethren.
12 And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who
was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the
Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth
upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the
promised land.
13 And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God,
that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon
the many waters.
Having seen the destruction of his people, Nephi was shown
many nations and kingdoms. These, the angel told him are the nations of the
gentiles. Among the gentiles, Nephi saw the formation of a church. The angel
described this church as being “most abominable above all other churches” (1
Nephi 13:5).
The church tortures and kills the saints of god. They are
bound with a yoke of iron that brings them into captivity. Jacob would tell the
Nephites, “Wherefore, he that fighteth against Zion, both Jew and Gentile, both
bond and free, both male and female, shall perish; for they are they who are
the whore of all the earth; for they who are not for me are against me, saith
our God” (2 Nephi 10:16).
Nephi saw the great and abominable church and the devil was its
founder. “And another angel shall sound his trump, saying: That great church,
the mother of abominations, that made all nations drink of the wine of the
wrath of her fornication, that persecuteth the saints of God, that shed their
blood—she who sitteth upon many waters, and upon the islands of the sea—behold,
she is the tares of the earth; she is bound in bundles; her bands are made
strong, no man can loose them; therefore, she is ready to be burned. And he
shall sound his trump both long and loud, and all nations shall hear it.”
(D&C 88:94).
What and who is the great and abominable church? Noel
Reynolds examines a myth.
“Myth 3: The Roman Catholic Church specifically is the
great and abominable church spoken of in Nephi’s vision.
“Given the dependence of the early LDS writers on Protestant
historians, who were themselves often anti-Catholic in orientation, it is not
surprising that Latter-day Saints tended to interpret Nephi’s vision in this
way. The Protestant focus on the corruption in medieval Christianity
naturally suggested the Catholic Church as the ‘church of the devil’ described
by Nephi in his vision. But if we look more closely at these scriptures, we
will see that the church of the devil arose centuries before the Catholic
Church was established with Rome as its acknowledged head, and we will see that
it includes much more than just one such organization. There is much more to
it.”[1]
The great and abominable church is made up of those who
oppose Christ. Those who oppose Christ may claim to be believers or may reject
the existence of God. What they share in common is their opposition to the
gospel and church of Christ. They are fighting righteousness and serve their
master, the devil.
These people have set their hearts on the things of the
world. They want riches and fine clothing. They are struck with the Nephite
disease, pride. Mormon wrote to us, seeing our day…
“Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye
are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your
doing.
“And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and
there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of
their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes,
and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches,
yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.
“For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your
fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and
the needy, the sick and the afflicted.
“O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell
yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of
God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not
think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which
never dies—because of the praise of the world?
“Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life,
and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the
afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?
“Yea, why do ye build up your secret abominations to get
gain, and cause that widows should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to
mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands
to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads?
“Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the
time soon cometh that he avengeth the blood of the saints” (Mormon 8:35-41).
For the praise of the world, the great and abominable church
will “destroy the saints of God, and bring them down into captivity” (1 Nephi
13:9).
“And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the
beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who
is able to make war with him?
“And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things
and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
“And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to
blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
“And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and
to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and
nations” (Revelation 13:4-7).
[1] Introduction: What Went Wrong for the Early
Christians? Noel B. Reynolds, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
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