5 And since they have been led away, these things have
been prophesied concerning them, and also concerning all those who shall
hereafter be scattered and be confounded, because of the Holy One of Israel;
for against him will they harden their hearts; wherefore, they shall be
scattered among all nations and shall be hated of all men.
6 Nevertheless, after they shall be nursed by the
Gentiles, and the Lord has lifted up his hand upon the Gentiles and set them up
for a standard, and their children have been carried in their arms, and their
daughters have been carried upon their shoulders, behold these things of which
are spoken are temporal; for thus are the covenants of the Lord with our
fathers; and it meaneth us in the days to come, and also all our brethren who
are of the house of Israel.
7 And it meaneth that the time cometh that after all the
house of Israel have been scattered and confounded, that the Lord God will
raise up a mighty nation among the Gentiles, yea, even upon the face of this
land; and by them shall our seed be scattered.
8 And after our seed is scattered the Lord God will
proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles, which shall be of great
worth unto our seed; wherefore, it is likened unto their being nourished by the
Gentiles and being carried in their arms and upon their shoulders.
Nephi continues teaching about the scattering of the Jews.
Why will the Jews be scattered? They shall be “scattered and be confounded,
because of the Holy One of Israel; for against him will they harden their
hearts; wherefore, they shall be scattered among all nations and shall be hated
of all men” (1 Nephi 22:5). Earlier, Nephi had told his brethren, “And because
they turn their hearts aside, saith the prophet, and have despised the Holy One
of Israel, they shall wander in the flesh, and perish, and become a hiss and a
byword, and be hated among all nations” (1 Nephi 19:14).
In addition to the
prophesies that had been given, the Savior warned the Jews:
“Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for
yourselves, and for your children.
“For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall
say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which
never gave suck.
“Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us;
and to the hills, Cover us.
For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be
done in the dry tree?
“This he spake, signifying the scattering of Israel,
and the desolation of the heathen, or in other words, the Gentiles” (JST
Luke 23:28–31).
Even though they will become a “hiss and a byword,” the will
be cared for by the gentile. After the
gentiles have accepted the gospel, the gospel will be taken to the Jews. Mormon would write:
“Yea, and surely shall he again bring a remnant of the seed
of Joseph to the knowledge of the Lord their God.
“And as surely as the Lord liveth, will he gather in from
the four quarters of the earth all the remnant of the seed of Jacob, who are
scattered abroad upon all the face of the earth.
“And as he hath covenanted with all the house of Jacob, even
so shall the covenant wherewith he hath covenanted with the house of Jacob be
fulfilled in his own due time, unto the restoring all the house of Jacob unto
the knowledge of the covenant that he hath covenanted with them.
“And then shall they know their Redeemer, who is Jesus
Christ, the Son of God; and then shall they be gathered in from the four
quarters of the earth unto their own lands, from whence they have been
dispersed; yea, as the Lord liveth so shall it be. Amen” (3 Nephi 5:23-26).
The Savior would teach the Nephites:
“And blessed are the Gentiles, because of their belief in
me, in and of the Holy Ghost, which witnesses unto them of me and of the
Father.
“… and because of the unbelief of you, O house of Israel, in
the latter day shall the truth come unto the Gentiles, that the fulness of
these things shall be made known unto them.
“And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you:
At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the
fulness of my gospel …
“And then will I remember my covenant which I have made unto
my people, O house of Israel, and I will bring my gospel unto them.
“And I will show unto thee, O house of Israel, that the
Gentiles shall not have power over you; but I will remember my covenant unto you,
O house of Israel, and ye shall come unto the knowledge of the fulness of my
gospel” (3 Nephi 16:6-7, 10-12).
After the gentiles have become a might nation, and the Jews
were scattered, a marvelous work will be done among the gentiles. During Nephi’s vision, he would be told,
“For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will
work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men; a work which shall
be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other—either to the convincing
of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the
hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds unto their being
brought down into captivity, and also into destruction, both temporally and
spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil, of which I have spoken” (1
Nephi 14:7).
As we read Nephi’s teachings, we “hear the language, the
echoes from Isaiah. So, what Nephi is doing is saying that anyone can
understand Isaiah if he or she reads it by the Spirit of the Lord.”[1]
In verse 8, we read the words of Nephi as saying the work “shall
be of great worth unto our seed; wherefore, it is likened unto their being nourished by the Gentiles.” Grant Hardy explains that “…Analysis of
Textual Variants in the Book of Mormon has many more corrected readings,
including 1 Nephi 22:8, where the Lamanites would be ‘nursed’ (original
manuscript) rather than ‘nourished’ (printer's manuscript and all printed
editions) by the Gentiles and restored to the lands of their ‘first’
inheritance (verse 12, though the printer's manuscript and every edition has
omitted that word). “[2]
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