Chapter 10
Jews shall crucify their God—They shall be scattered
until they begin to believe in him—America shall be a land of liberty where no
king shall rule—Be reconciled to God and gain salvation through his grace.
About 559–545 B.C.
1 And now I, Jacob, speak unto you again, my beloved
brethren, concerning this righteous branch of which I have spoken.
2 For behold, the promises which we have obtained are
promises unto us according to the flesh; wherefore, as it has been shown unto
me that many of our children shall perish in the flesh because of unbelief,
nevertheless, God will be merciful unto many; and our children shall be
restored, that they may come to that which will give them the true knowledge of
their Redeemer.
3 Wherefore, as I said unto you, it must needs be
expedient that Christ—for in the last night the angel spake unto me that this
should be his name—should come among the Jews, among those who are the more
wicked part of the world; and they shall crucify him—for thus it behooveth our God,
and there is none other nation on earth that would crucify their God.
4 For should the mighty miracles be wrought among other
nations they would repent, and know that he be their God.
Jacob ended his sermon for the day and began again the next
day (see 2 Nephi 10:3). He again speaks
about their relationship to Joseph and Jacob.
In this, he no doubt referred to Nephi’s words, “Behold, I say unto you,
that the house of Israel was compared unto an olive-tree, by the Spirit of the
Lord which was in our father; and behold are we not broken off from the house
of Israel, and are we not a branch of the house of Israel” (1 Nephi 15:12).
Jacob was most likely influence by the teachings of
Lehi. “Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our
day. And he obtained a promise of the
Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a
righteous branch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which
was to be broken off, nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the
Lord that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in
the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of darkness unto light—yea,
out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom” (2 Nephi 3:5).
This teaching was also used by General Moroni when he was
recruiting his army to defend the Nephites.
“Yea, let us preserve our liberty as a remnant of Joseph;
yea, let us remember the words of Jacob, before his death, for behold, he saw
that a part of the remnant of the coat of Joseph was preserved and had not
decayed. And he said—Even as this
remnant of garment of my son hath been preserved, so shall a remnant of the
seed of my son be preserved by the hand of God, and be taken unto himself,
while the remainder of the seed of Joseph shall perish, even as the remnant of
his garment.
“Now behold, this giveth my soul sorrow; nevertheless, my
soul hath joy in my son, because of that part of his seed which shall be taken
unto God” (Alma 46:24-25).
What promises they have received were received by the flesh. It had been revealed to Jacob that “many of
our children” (2 Nephi 10:2) will perish because of their lack of belief. However, many will be restored through
receiving a “true knowledge of their Redeemer” (2 Nephi 10:2).
Jacob reveals to his congregation that their Redeemer’s name
would be Christ. “[F]or in the last
night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name” (2 Nephi
10:3). Nephi testified to the
truthfulness of Jacob’s words. “And my
brother, Jacob, also has seen him as I have seen him; wherefore, I will send
their words forth unto my children to prove unto them that my words are
true. Wherefore, by the words of three,
God hath said, I will establish my word. Nevertheless, God sendeth more witnesses,
and he proveth all his words” (2 Nephi 11:3).
Mormon, writing to his son Moroni, said, “For behold, God knowing all
things, being from everlasting to everlasting, behold, he sent angels to
minister unto the children of men, to make manifest concerning the coming of
Christ; and in Christ there should come every good thing” (Moroni 7:22).
Without question, Jacob, like Nephi, paid dearly for his
faith. The text also affirms that he was beloved of the Lord, for even when
Nephi was alive, Jacob was visited by Christ and by angels. Moreover, Jacob was
first among the Nephites to learn—from an angel—that the name of the Holy One
of Israel would be Christ (see 2 Nephi 10:3). And anyone uninitiated
to Jacob's rhetorical gifts need only study in detail the sermon fragment that
Nephi elects to copy into his own chronicle.[1]
Christ would come to the Jews. He will preach to a people “who are the more
wicked part of the world” (2 Nephi 10:3).
Among all the people on Earth, the Jews were the only “nation on earth
that would crucify their God” (2 Nephi 10:3).
As he was recording his record on the small plates, Nephi
would write:
“For the things which some men esteem to be of great worth,
both to the body and soul, others set at naught and trample under their
feet. Yea, even the very God of Israel
do men trample under their feet; I say, trample under their feet but I would
speak in other words—they set him at naught, and hearken not to the voice of
his counsels…
“And the God of our fathers, who were led out of Egypt, out
of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him, yea, the God of
Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, yieldeth himself, according to the
words of the angel, as a man, into the hands of wicked men, to be lifted up,
according to the words of Zenock, and to be crucified, according to the words
of Neum, and to be buried in a sepulchre, according to the words of Zenos,
which he spake concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign
given of his death unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea, more
especially given unto those who are of the house of Israel” (1 Nephi 19:7, 10).
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