12 And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the
Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and
abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that
the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face
of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small,
because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw.
13 And it came to pass that I beheld that the great
mother of abominations did gather together multitudes upon the face of all the
earth, among all the nations of the Gentiles, to fight against the Lamb of God.
14 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of
the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb,
and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face
of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God
in great glory.
15 And it came to pass that I beheld that the wrath of
God was poured out upon that great and abominable church, insomuch that there
were wars and rumors of wars among all the nations and kindreds of the earth.
16 And as there began to be wars and rumors of wars among
all the nations which belonged to the mother of abominations, the angel spake
unto me, saying: Behold, the wrath of God is upon the mother of harlots; and
behold, thou seest all these things—
17 And when the day cometh that the wrath of God is
poured out upon the mother of harlots, which is the great and abominable church
of all the earth, whose founder is the devil, then, at that day, the work of
the Father shall commence, in preparing the way for the fulfilling of his
covenants, which he hath made to his people who are of the house of Israel.
18 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me,
saying: Look!
19 And I looked and beheld a man, and he was dressed in a
white robe.
20 And the angel said unto me: Behold one of the twelve
apostles of the Lamb.
21 Behold, he shall see and write the remainder of these
things; yea, and also many things which have been.
22 And he shall also write concerning the end of the
world.
23 Wherefore, the things which he shall write are just
and true; and behold they are written in the book which thou beheld proceeding
out of the mouth of the Jew; and at the time they proceeded out of the mouth of
the Jew, or, at the time the book proceeded out of the mouth of the Jew, the
things which were written were plain and pure, and most precious and easy to
the understanding of all men.
24 And behold, the things which this apostle of the Lamb
shall write are many things which thou hast seen; and behold, the remainder
shalt thou see.
25 But the things which thou shalt see hereafter thou
shalt not write; for the Lord God hath ordained the apostle of the Lamb of God
that he should write them.
26 And also others who have been, to them hath he shown
all things, and they have written them; and they are sealed up to come forth in
their purity, according to the truth which is in the Lamb, in the own due time
of the Lord, unto the house of Israel.
27 And I, Nephi, heard and bear record, that the name of
the apostle of the Lamb was John, according to the word of the angel.
28 And behold, I, Nephi, am forbidden that I should write
the remainder of the things which I saw and heard; wherefore the things which I
have written sufficeth me; and I have written but a small part of the things
which I saw.
29 And I bear record that I saw the things which my
father saw, and the angel of the Lord did make them known unto me.
30 And now I make an end of speaking concerning the
things which I saw while I was carried away in the Spirit; and if all the
things which I saw are not written, the things which I have written are true.
And thus it is. Amen.
Nephi, having seen the wicked on the earth, next saw the church of the Lamb of God. Compared to the wicked, its numbers were much smaller. The wickedness of the great and abominable church had become widespread upon the land.
It’s not surprising to see that wickedness was so
widespread. “Because strait is the gate,
and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew
7:14). Quoting Zenos, Jacob wrote, “And
it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard sent his servant; and the servant
went and did as the Lord had commanded him, and brought other servants; and
they were few” (Jacob 5:70). In his
vision, President Joseph F. Smith saw, “notwithstanding his mighty works, and
miracles, and proclamation of the truth, in great power and authority, there
were but few who hearkened to his voice, and rejoiced in his presence, and received
salvation at his hands” (D&C 138:26).
Though they were few, the righteous were spread across all the world.
Nephi saw the great and abominable church organized
multitudes throughout the world to fight against Christ. Though they were numerous, the power of God
descended upon the saints and they were “were armed with righteousness and with
the power of God in great glory” (1 Nephi 14:14). Prior to His ascension, Christ told his
apostles, “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye
in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued [OR clothed, invested] with power
from on high” (Luke 24:49).
Reminding the Nephites of Zenos’ words, Jacob taught, “And
the day that he shall set his hand again the second time to recover his people,
is the day, yea, even the last time, that the servants of the Lord shall go
forth in his power, to nourish and prune his vineyard; and after that the end
soon cometh. And how blessed are they
who have labored diligently in his vineyard; and how cursed are they who shall
be cast out into their own place! And
the world shall be burned with fire” (Jacob
6:2-3).
Because of the wickedness of the people, the wrath of God
was poured out upon them and the church of the devil. There arose wars and rumors of wars. “And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours
of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall
not be yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:
and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and
troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows” (Mark 13:7-8).
When the wrath of God is poured out on the wicked, this will
mark the beginning of the Lord the fulfilling His covenants with the house of
Israel.
Nephi next saw a man dressed in a white robe. The angel announced he was one of the twelve
apostles of Christ. He will write the things
that Nephi had seen. “The Revelation of John, a servant of God,
which was given unto him of Jesus Christ, to show unto
his servants things which must shortly come to pass, that he sent and signified by his angel unto his servant
John, Who bore record of the
word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he
saw. Blessed are they who
read, and they who hear and
understand the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are
written therein, for the time of the
coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (JST Revelation 1:1-3).
The things seen by John will become a part of the
Bible. Plain and precious things that
were in John’s revelation will also be lost along with others in the Bible.
Nephi was commanded not to write these things, for God had
ordained John to write them.
“And then shall my revelations which I have caused to be
written by my servant John be unfolded in the eyes of all the people. Remember, when ye see these things, ye shall
know that the time is at hand that they shall be made manifest in very deed” (Ether
4:16).
“And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his
disciples, which are not written in this book:
“But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his
name” (John 20:30-31).
“And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the
which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world
itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen” (John 21:25).
Having seen the revelation that would be written by Christ’s
apostle, Nephi was shown others who had written records. They will be sealed to ensure their purity
and will be released in the Lord’s own due time.
The Lord told Daniel, “And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for
the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end” (Daniel
12:9). After seeing his vision, the Lord
commanded the brother of Jared:
“And it came to pass that the Lord said unto the brother of
Jared: Behold, thou shalt not suffer these things which ye have seen and heard
to go forth unto the world, until the time cometh that I shall glorify my name
in the flesh; wherefore, ye shall treasure up the things which ye have seen and
heard, and show it to no man.
“And behold, when ye shall come unto me, ye shall write them
and shall seal them up, that no one can interpret them; for ye shall write them
in a language that they cannot be read.
“And behold, these two stones will I give unto thee, and ye
shall seal them up also with the things which ye shall write.
“For behold, the language which ye shall write I have
confounded; wherefore I will cause in my own due time that these stones shall
magnify to the eyes of men these things which ye shall write.
“And when the Lord had said these words, he showed unto the
brother of Jared all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all
that would be; and he withheld them not from his sight, even unto the ends of
the earth.
“For he had said unto him in times before, that if he would
believe in him that he could show unto him all things—it should be shown unto
him; therefore the Lord could not withhold anything from him, for he knew that
the Lord could show him all things.
“And the Lord said unto him: Write these things and seal
them up; and I will show them in mine own due time unto the children of men” (Ether
3:21-27).
The Lord will preserve His important works from those who
will take away from their purity. Hugh
Nibley explains, “[T]he safest way to preserve a book from destruction, and
the only way to protect it from the inevitable corruption of contents
that comes with copying and handling, is simply to bury it.”[1]
Nephi gives us the name of the apostle who will write the
things he saw in his vision. The apostle
of the Lamb is John. Nephi then was
forbidden to write anything further than what he has written. “[T]he things which I have written sufficeth
me; and I have written but a small part of the things which I saw” (1 Nephi
14:28).
Nephi ends his account by bearing record the he saw things
Lehi saw “and the angel of the Lord did make them know unto me” (1 Nephi
14:29). He closes his account by
testifying “the things which I have written are true” (1 Nephi 14:30).
[1] A
Strange Thing in the Land: The Return of the Book of Enoch—Part 1, Hugh W.
Nibley Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
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