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I hope you catch the significance of this presentation my wife gave this afternoon.
It is vital and important in the sense that as you read the Book of Mormon, some of us
take a chronological view from 1 Nephi--"I, Nephi, born of goodly parents...." to Moroni
10. And we look at it from that standpoint. As you see the message of the Book of Mormon,
the message blossoms in Nephi. And then you see another tremendous amplification of it
by the Savior. In one manner of speaking the revelations given to Nephi constitute the
key, the original, the initial key of insight to the whole thing. As it relates to our day,
the Book of Mormon, the major prophetic theme of that sacred volume, concerns an era of
warfare against Zion, in which era Zion will be sanctified and rise to be the full standard
that the Lord designs the Saints to be.
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 2
Then that program that's established among them will eventually be extended to Jerusalem
in the great winding-up scene preliminary to the second coming and associated with the
second coming. In the warfare against Zion, the great prophetic
theme of the Book of Mormon, there are two divisions to it. First of all there is the
era of warfare against the Latter-day Saints, or Zion. That's the initial thrust. The second
division is the shifting of military tactics from Zion to Jerusalem and the consummating
scene in Jerusalem. For example, and this is a key not just in
the Book of Mormon, but it's a key to the whole Biblical prophecy. You read the 2nd
chapter of Joel about the great northern army, and we'll say a little more about it tonight.
The 2nd chapter of Joel deals with Zion, the warfare against Zion. Chapter 3 in the book
of Joel focuses on the Jerusalem phase of it. So Joel in his revelation gives us first
of all a prophetic message concerning Zion, and then his prophetic message concerning
Jerusalem. So this whole era of warfare that finally consummates in the second coming of
Christ, his appearance on the Mount of Olives and his grand world appearance in glory subsequently,
shortly after that, then it has these two major divisions, the era of warfare against
Zion and the era of warfare against Jerusalem. Are we clear on that?
The Book of Mormon gives us that orientation, sets the mold and helps us to understand.
And it's a part of Nephi's vision, and it's one of Nephi's "Looks," for those of you here
this afternoon, where the angel says, "Look," and reveals things to him. Let me turn with
you now to 1 Nephi 14. Let's start right from the beginning.
"And it shall come to pass, that if the Gentiles," and note the little word "if"--"If the Gentiles
shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day that he shall manifest himself unto them
in word, and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks--
And harden not their hearts against the Lamb of God, they shall be numbered among the seed
of thy father;" and that is Lehi. "Yea, they shall be numbered among the house of Israel;
and they shall be a blessed people upon the promised land forever." That's a great promise.
"They shall be no more brought down into captivity; and the house of Israel shall no more be confounded.
And that great pit, which hath been digged for them by that great and abominable church,
which was founded by the devil and his children, that he might lead away
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 3
the souls of men down to hell--yea, that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction
of men shall be filled by those who digged it, unto their utter destruction, saith the
Lamb of God; not the destruction of the soul, save it be the casting of it into that hell
which hath no end. "For behold, this is according to the captivity
of the devil and also according to the justice of God, upon all those who will work wickedness
and abomination before him." Now, do you begin to get the picture there? He is talking about
the latter-day Gentiles and about the basic alternatives that are open to them. If they
obey the gospel, receive the kingdom, receive the Book of Mormon, repent of their sins,
they will be a blessed people on this land forever. And they'll never be brought down
into captivity. He goes on to say, "And it came to pass that
the angel spake unto me, Nephi, saying: Thou hast beheld that if the Gentiles repent it
shall be well with them; and thou also knowest concerning the covenants of the Lord unto
the house of Israel; and thou also hast heard that whoso repenteth not must perish." Now,
he's being very realistic with him. "Therefore, wo be unto the Gentiles if it
so be that they harden their hearts against the Lamb of God. 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."
Now, what he is doing is giving the Gentiles alternatives. Those alternatives are to repent,
embrace the gospel and be a blessed people upon this land forever. Then he is saying
if they don't, then there's going to come a time--and these alternatives aren't really
presented yet--let me make that point clear. In a general way, yes. But in a specific way,
no. These alternatives in a general way are presented because the church is here, the
missionary work is going forth and the Gentiles have opportunity to receive it.
But in the sense that Nephi is talking about it, the presentation of
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 4 these alternatives to the Gentiles is
still a future thing. There is a very, very valuable key of insight. We'll
come back to it a little later. Speaking of this future period when these
alternatives will be very real to the Gentiles and presented with vividness and with power,
and be of such a nature that if they refuse them they will be brought down to destruction
both temporally and spiritually. We haven't seen that situation yet. But if they then
reject the Lord's work when his Kingdom is presented to the degree that Nephi indicates,
then the consequence will be rather rapid. And they will be brought down, he says, "into
captivity and also into destruction both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity
of the devil." There is a future era that we call the warfare
against Zion. And in a sense the Gentiles have been making war against it since Joseph
Smith got out of the sacred grove. In a sense they have. But there is this future period
that the Book of Mormon speaks of, and it's in this context that these two alternatives
will be very viable and very meaningful to the people of this land.
With that introduction, let's go to verse 9: "And it came to pass that he said unto
me: Look," and here's one of Nephi's "looks." "Look, and behold that great and abominable
church, which is the mother of abominations, whose foundation is the devil. And he said
unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of
God," and let me just say parenthetically that it is not the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints in the entirety of all of its members. I'll just say that for now,
and then we'll come back. I want you to get that in your mind and be thinking about it.
"The one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil."
And then he explains what the church of the devil is, and it has no identity with a given
single organization on this earth. Note how he explains it. He says, "Wherefore, whoso
belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which
is the mother of abominations; and she is the *** of all the earth." Now, who, then,
is the church of the devil? The answer is that it is anyone who is not identified with,
supportive of, part of the program of, the Church of the Lamb.
You ask how that will be? Well, let me just put another picture in here for the present,
and we'll come back to that particularly tomorrow as we discuss it. As Nephi deals with this
prophetic theme and he
comes in the future to it here in 2 Nephi, for instance, chapter 30, verse 10, he says
this: "For the time speedily cometh that the Lord God shall cause a great division among
the people, and the wicked will he destroy; and he will spare his people, yea, even if
it so be that he must destroy the wicked by fire."
Now, there's going to come a great division. That division will be so complete and so thorough
in the forces of animosity or of righteousness--one on the one hand and one on the other--that
there will be a total division. And in that day the gospel of Christ will be talked about
worldwide as it has never been talked about before. In that day there will be a polarity
largely of world societies either for or against the Kingdom. You say, well that's a great
big idea. And it is. But let's get to the main theme and see finally how this comes
about. So he sees these two churches. And he sees
the great division. And he sees that whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb will
be in the other camp and will be a part of the great and the abominable church. That's
not one single organization, is it? That organization is not founded in external mechanisms and
systems, it is essentially a spiritual thing, whether they accept or reject the Kingdom.
He goes on and gives us a little further explanation of the picture.
He says, "And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the *** of all the earth, and
she sat upon many waters." That word "waters" is a scriptural word. It comes from Isaiah
18 and also from the book of Revelation 17:15, and it means scripturally, people. Waters
means people. She sat upon the many waters. She had dominion over all the earth, among
all nations, kindreds, tongues and people. He's not talking about just one organization,
he's talking about something that is spiritually oriented, an attitude, a mind-set, a cultural
set that is rather embracive of all the earth. Then he says, "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 *** 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 *** whom I saw." (1 Ne 14:12) Now, you begin to get the picture there.
This picture could not be fulfilled prior to World War II. Why? The
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 6
policy of the Church prior to World War II was to do what? If you got converted in Germany
or France or Italy, what did you do? You migrated to America. Then beginning with some declarations
made by George Albert Smith and put into operation rather fully by President David O. McKay,
following World War II, this Church became an international organization. President McKay
had toured the world, and that world tour wasn't just for vacation. Right after World
War II, he went down into Central and South America. I have had a neighbor friend of mine
who was on a mission at the same time I was. I was in the old East Central States Mission,
and this friend went down to Argentina right after World War II. I got out of the military
one day and was interviewed the next day for a mission and was on my way within a month.
But I went to good ole Kentucky and North Carolina.
He went to Argentina. While he was there, he spent two years clapping at doors--that's
how you knock in Argentina. He never got into one home. I don't know how discouraging that
would be. I had a great time. I don't know how to quite meet that kind of challenge.
Then President McKay went down there and dedicated the land. And everything just seemed to open
up in Central and South America. The gospel just went forward. I was in Mexico City once
and was talking with a young, about nineteen-year-old boy, who had gotten on fire with the gospel
and had baptized 400 people. And the easily 60 or so that I baptized in the East Central
States Mission seemed paltry to me in comparison with that young boy, who didn't even have
a pair of shoes on. I was ready to take off my shoes, because I thought I was standing
on holy ground. Well, the gospel opens up and then the counsel
of the Church is to do what? Stay where you are and gather to the stakes there and build
up organizations there. Then on top of that kind of program, we have Temples beginning
to dot the area. So we have them on the drawing board almost by the dozens. Maybe that's an
exaggeration, but we've seen many, many Temples in the last few years, and we see them built
in foreign lands. Yes, they are there for the convenience of the Saints, and yes they
are there for the work of the Saints in regard to their dead, but they are also there for
another reason. And I want to talk to you about that one. That's a part of this warfare
against Zion picture. So he sees this polarization. As I've said,
this polarization in Nephi's
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 7
vision could not be fulfilled until sometime subsequent to World War II. And the great
things of which he speaks in relation to this polarization are still down the road, not
very far. We won't get through the next decade before we are neck-deep in what he's talking
about here. Believe me! He goes on and says this: "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," primarily among
western culture, the peoples of western culture, "to fight against the Lamb of God." Now, that's
the warfare against Zion, and that is the major prophetic theme of this sacred book,
the Book of Mormon that President Benson wants us to understand.
He goes on verse 13 and he says this in explanation: "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." I said that the church of the Lamb isn't identically
equivalent to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The church of the Lamb
constitutes the righteous element within the Church, and that righteous element--and we
have a lot of hanger-oners, and we have a lot of social Mormons and what I call Kiwanis
Mormons, good people but they think the Church is a Kiwanis Club, and that's a compliment
to the Kiwanis Club--but they think that's about all it is, the social and the good humanitarian
organization. It's not the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit. It's not being born again
and changed and transformed, and it's not ministering the power of the Holy Spirit,
it's visiting and talking about the weather and the corn and anything else that might
be a common topic. There is a difference between ministering the gospel and visiting--something
like visiting the sick and afflicting them. That sometimes happens!
The church of the Lamb is that body of people when this pressure situation happens, who
will meet the challenge head-on spiritually, and by their faith and their righteousness
and their service and their building the Kingdom, their commitment to the Kingdom, the power
of the Lamb of God will descend upon them and also upon the covenant people of the Lord,
and that will include the Jewish people who are converted at that time. He says, "...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."
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 8
Sometimes when the wolf is at the door, just the pressure of it unites people. We've got
a lot of Latter-day Saints, more in the area of Latter-day complaints and ain'ts!, but
we've got a lot of them. Sometimes we're a part of that too much, who would rather die
for the gospel than to live for it, when a pressure situation comes where maybe you have
to die for it, and then there'll be a lot of people who will arise to its defense at
least in some way. What I'm saying is that when this situation
comes upon us, and it's not very far down the road, then those people who truly live
the gospel and who truly sanctify themselves--you don't get the power of God in great glory
just because somebody gets emotional over the Church, you don't get that! You might
get some emotion and support on the basis of righteous indignation and support in a
physical way, but we're not talking about that only. We're talking about people who
meet the challenge of being sanctified and getting the endowments of the Spirit and the
blessings of the Second Comforter, etc., etc. This power and this Spirit that will be made
manifest among them will be visibly made manifest, because it will be so intense. It will be
made manifest in a sense of defense. This takes not only faith and righteousness,
it takes the ordinances of the gospel and it takes the Temple and the blessings of the
House of the Lord. The great objective is that under adversity such as Nephi sees, Zion
will arise and be the Standard of righteousness in the world that she is designed to be. Zion
as a true Standard must be Zion endowed with glory.
Over in Isaiah 4, and this is one of the chapters that Nephi quotes in its entirety in the Book
of Mormon, and says it pertains to the last days. It is one that the angel Moroni also
quoted, by the way, to Joseph Smith and explained to him, in September of 1823, according to
Oliver Cowdery's account at least. Isaiah talks about the time where the Lord will endow
Zion, he will create upon every dwelling place in Mount Zion and upon all her assemblies
a cloud and smoke by day and the flaming of a fire by night. The Spirit and power will
be that concentrated. That doesn't come just because you exercise the zeal of indignation
over the oppression of an innocent people. That comes because people finally learn to
sanctify their lives, and in this pressure situation, when that happens, this action
will begin. And they'll look back at us with our rather lackadaisical, all-is-well-in-Zion
attitude, and wonder why we didn't awaken earlier.
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 9
So Nephi sees this era of warfare, and he sees it taking place among all the nations,
particularly of the Gentiles, so that if you have a little church organized over in Germany,
for example, or France or Italy or England or Scotland or Wales, then you are going to
see people in those whole areas gather against them. This isn't just the media and it isn't
just a few bricks and a club or two. We're talking about bona fide warfare, genuine stuff,
the good ole stuff, bona fide warfare against Zion.
Then he sees that one means of preserving them will be the manifestation of the Lord's
glory and power among them. He talks about another one here in verse 15. "And it came
to pass that I beheld that the wrath of God was poured out upon the great and abominable
church, insomuch that there were wars and rumors of wars among all the nations and kindreds
of the earth." Now, "all the nations" is how inclusive? And that will include our beloved
America. It's one of the nations, and one of the foremost. It will be the first great
nation, if we understand the Book of Mormon thoroughly, that makes warfare against Zion.
Now, as you see this picture, Nephi sees or is shown that it is in this era that the Lord
prepares, does the preparatory work--can I underscore the word "preparatory"? It's the
preparatory work, not the real work. It's getting ready. He sees that . See, the great
gathering of Israel really hasn't taken place yet. Yes, we've gathered a few of Ephraim;
it's gotten underway in that sense. But if you want to see what the gathering of Israel
is about, turn over to 3 Nephi 20 and to 3 Nephi 21, where the Savior himself explains
what the picture is. Here in 3 Nephi 20, he is talking about the
building of Zion. Then in verse 41 he says, "And then shall a cry go forth: Depart ye,
depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch not that which is unclean; go ye out of the midst
of her; be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. For ye shall not go out with
haste nor go by flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel shall
be your rearward." Then he goes on to talk about that.
He comes back to that same theme in 3 Nephi 21 where he talks about the possible judgments
on America, then the building of the New Jerusalem, and then the power of God which is developed
among them. Then, verse 25: "And then shall the power of heaven come down among them;
and I also will be in the midst." This is part of the second coming. It's a preliminary
appearance. We need to
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 10
look more closely than the grand world appearance of his coming in glory, because he will come
to Zion apparently years and years before he comes to the world in glory. This is one
of those preliminary appearances. He says, "And then shall the work of the Father
commence at that day, even when this gospel shall be preached among the remnant of this
people. Verily I say unto you, at that day shall the work of the Father commence among
all the dispersed of my people, yea, even the tribes which have been lost," and here's
the ten tribes coming in, "which the Father hath led away out of Jerusalem. Yea, the work
shall commence among all the dispersed of my people, with the Father to prepare the
way whereby they may come unto me, that they may call on the Father in my name. Yea, and
then shall the work commence, with the Father, among all nations, in preparing the way whereby
his people may be gathered home to the land of their inheritance."
Note this again now, "And they shall go out from all nations; and they shall not go out
in haste, nor go by flight, for I will go before them, saith the Father, and I will
be their rearward." (3 Ne 21:29) Now, that's the great gathering. Some of us think that
the gathering is over. No, we're in this interim period where we're building churches in foreign
lands and building temples and preparing for this time of warfare against Zion. And when
that time comes, then the gathering of Israel will take place.
Nephi is shown that here in 1 Nephi 14. Let me read with you again, beginning with verse
15: "And it came to pass that I beheld that the wrath of God was poured out upon the great
and abominable church, insomuch that there were wars and rumors of wars among all the
nations and kindreds of the earth. 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." Now, verse 17 is one of those verses in the
Book of Mormon that you need to read over and over again, and be sure that you understand
it. Let's just see if we can get to it. He gives us here in verse 17 a point of reference,
a time when something is going to take place. He says, "And when the day cometh that the
wrath of God is poured out upon the mother of harlots"--that statement indicates that
he is giving us a
point of time and of reference when something else will happen. "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 foundation is the devil, then, at that day, the work
of the Father shall commence, in preparing the way"--note that this is not doing it,
this is a preparatory work. "...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." Now, he's
going to "prepare the way". The great gathering of Israel is not just
a physical gathering, it's a gathering to Zion. It's a gathering to the gospel, to the
Temple, and it will be ultimately and finally a gathering to the endowment of glory and
power. In order to prepare for that, that gathering initially is going to be to Mount
Zion, and that's on this land. If the Lord is going to prepare them for that great gathering,
which isn't just to get their bodies physically to America, that gathering is to gather to
his law, to his doctrine, to his program, to Zion, to the spiritual renewal that the
gospel offers, to the endowment of glory, to the blessings of the house of the Lord,
to the sealing powers, and all of these things. It's that kind of gathering. It's a gathering
to the law of consecration, to the Holy Order of the Temple. It's that kind of gathering.
In order to prepare for that as we look at it from this vantage point, two things are
necessary. Number one, there has to be a cleansing of the Saints. Why? Because we're just not
cutting it, that's why. And it isn't just because we're a little lackadaisical. Isaiah
says that Zion shall be redeemed with judgment and her converts with righteousness. The Prophet
Joseph Smith says that a man cannot come to Mount Zion except by suffering; there has
to be a refiner's fire. In the Book of Mormon, for example, the Savior
quotes Malachi, 3rd and 4th chapters. I don't know why he'd quote it there because we have
it in the Bible, and he knew we would have it in the Bible. So you ask why he put Malachi
3 and 4 in there. They are prophetic about our day. But I think if you will study the
Book of Mormon carefully, you'll find out why. In 3 Nephi he plants the gospel and talks
about the last days, he talks about the building of the New Jerusalem and about the establishment
of his church and his government and his kingdom here upon this land, and then he wants us
to be very sure that we know how this is going to take place.
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 12
In Malachi 3:1-2, Malachi says, "I will send my messenger...and the Lord whom ye seek shall
suddenly come to his temple." That coming to the temple, according to Section 42 is
the Jackson County Temple. Then he asks the question, "But who shall abide the day of
his coming and who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like refiner's fire and like fuller's
soap, and he will purify and purge the sons of Levi, that they may offer unto the Lord
an offering in righteousness." In order to build Zion, the righteous Latter-day
Saints need to be refined, not just the inactives, but the righteous. And one thing the Lord
is going to accomplish in this era of warfare is the refinement of his people so that they
become not only totally obedient, but to the extent that they can feel as he wants them
to feel and be pure as he wants them to be pure. So he's talking about a preparation,
verse 17 again: "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...when that day cometh
shall the work of the Father commence in preparing the way for the fulfilling of his covenants."
That preparation, as I've said, is twofold. Number one, it's a cleansing of the Saints,
a purifying of the Saints. I'm not talking about the inactives only, I'm talking about
the righteous who will be subjected to the refiner's fire so that they can get the greater
endowments of the Spirit that the Lord has for them and that Nephi sees is poured out
upon the Saints when warfare is made against them, and which is necessary, finally, for
Zion to come up and be the standard that the scriptures speak of, with the cloud by day
and the pillar of fire by night. That's one thing that has to be done.
The second thing that has to be done is the cleansing of America. Why the cleansing of
America? Because this is the land of Zion, and if the Gentiles after due season will
not repent so as to make the transition and build up the Kingdom and spread the Kingdom
abroad peacefully on the basis of the gospel of peace and love and unity, then the Lord
is going to come out in judgment. When he does, this cesspoolism that we are in the
midst of today and which our young people particularly are subjected to, is going to
be cleansed away. As the Savior himself says, "All lyings and deceivings and envyings and
priestcrafts and whoredoms shall be done away on this land." (3 Ne 21:19) People who think
they are riding in the saddle on this
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 13 floodgate of dissipation are going to
be sadly mistaken. The Lord has said he is going to do that,
and unless he wants to offer an apology to *** and Gomorrah, he's going to have to
do it. So there's got to be a cleansing of this land. When the Saints are refined and
purified and when this land is cleansed and purified, then the Kingdom of God is established.
Then Zion will be endowed with glory. Then we will have an order of things on this land.
Then the gathering of Israel will take place, and they'll go out from among all nations,
and they'll not go in haste, but they will go peacefully, slowly, bringing as many people
with them as they can, and they will have the endowments of the Spirit like ancient
Israel had as they left Egypt, the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. And they
will come to Zion singing songs of everlasting joy. Now, that is the prophetic picture of
the Book of Mormon. We are on the very threshold of the beginning
of that tremendous era of time. Having seen this, then, the whole scene shifts. He says,
1 Nephi 14:18: "And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, saying: Look!" And here's
another one of those "looks." "And I looked and beheld a man, and he was dressed in a
white robe. And the angel said unto me: Behold one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Behold,
he shall see and write the remainder of these things; yea, and also many things which have
been. And he shall also write concerning the end of the world. 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." That is the Bible.
"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. And behold, the things which this
apostle of the Lamb shall write are many things which thou hast seen," talking to Nephi. "And
behold, the remainder shalt thou see." So Nephi saw in his vision clear on down everything
that John the Revelator saw. "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," particularly the brother of Jared. And this is a part of the great
content of the sealed portion. And he says, "And I, Nephi, heard and bear record, that
the name of the apostle of the Lamb was
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 14 John, according to the word of the angel."
Now, what has Nephi's vision to do with the book of Revelation? They are talking about
the same thing. Nephi couldn't write it all, but what he wrote here in 1 Nephi 14 and his
commentaries in 1 Nephi 22, Jacob's commentary in 2 Nephi 6, the Savior's explanations in
3 Nephi 16, 20 and 21, all of these help us and give us foundation to understand the book
of Revelation, which, by the way, Joseph said is one of the plainest books God ever caused
to be written. [Teachings, p. 290] And that's true. I bear you my testimony that's true.
And you can say it yourself. We want to talk about the Nephi vision tonight,
we want to talk about the Isaiah aspects. Every time most of us go through the Book
of Mormon and hit an Isaiah passage, what do you do? You skip it or else if you are
really religious, you'll just get your eyeballs over it, and when you get through you won't
know much more than when you started. But you will have had the satisfaction of wrestling
through and knowing that you read every word! And that's the way it is, right?
Let me tell you something. The Isaiah passages contain some of the most sacred, meaningful,
relevant things that the Lord has given to us in the Book of Mormon.
...In the latter-day, and we'll take John since John the Revelator has seen the things
that Nephi saw, there are two major powers that will finally make war against Zion and
the House of Israel--two major powers. Let me turn with you, and we'll get a little sneak
preview here on the book of Revelation. We won't take time to discuss this because we're
going to run out of time before we get through here, believe me. Turn to Revelation 13.
Here we have a spotlight given to us on the two major powers that oppose the Kingdom of
God in the latter-day. John writes as follows: He says, verse 1: "And I saw another sign,
in the likeness of the kingdoms of the earth; a beast rise up out of the sea, and he stood
upon the sand of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns;
and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." If you study those terms and those symbols
in other places of the book of Revelation, you find that they have to do with latter-day
Babylon, with those forces that are generally associated with what we call western civilization,
or with modern-day Christendom and the nations of modern-day Christendom.
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 15
As he sees this beast, and it's the figure of a beast, it's a symbol showing them the
kind of character of these powers, he says, "And the beast which I saw was like unto a
leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion;
and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of
his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed; and all the world
wondered after the beast." He goes on and talks about him. Verse 7: "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." We'll talk a little bit more
about this symbolism just a little bit later. I want to show you their meaning and how they
relate. In verse 11, having seen this first beast,
then he says this: "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two
horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first
beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first
beast"--see, these two beasts are correlated and related--"whose deadly wound was healed.
And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in
the sight of men." There's power in respect to the adversary that is made manifest.
Let me just add this point of clarification. When Zion begins to arise with glory and power
so that there is visible power made manifest and the glory begins to be made manifest as
a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, then the Lord will permit Satan to manifest
an equivalent opposing force. And this is the day when that takes place.
He goes on and speaks of this latter-day beast, indicating that he will cause both the small
and the great, rich and poor, bond and free, to receive a mark in their right hand or in
their foreheads, that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark or the name
of the beast. Now, that's not talking about America. They
may make an effort to do that kind of thing in America, but this is talking about a situation
that prevails in the great and abominable church vicinity or area or domain, and it'll
be after the redemption of Zion. It's that period.
But the point I want to make right at this time is that there are two beasts that are
spoken of, that John describes. Now let's turn to Daniel 7. What's Daniel 7 all about?
What's the significance of Daniel 7? What great message does Daniel 7 contain? Well,
it's in
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 16
Daniel 7 that Daniel was shown the great council of Adam-ondi- Ahman in the last days. That's
the significance of Daniel 7. In addition to that great council, he is also shown the
world situation and the forces of corruption and of evil in that day that will be making
war against Zion. So the Daniel 7 picture isn't merely about the council, it's also
about the situation that prevails within the earth.
That council is important. Here's what the Prophet Joseph said about it, Teachings, p.
157: "Daniel in his seventh chapter speaks of the Ancient of Days; he means the oldest
man, our Father Adam, Michael, he will call his children together and hold a council with
them to prepare them for the coming of the Son of Man." Now, this is a preparatory council.
We'll get to that a little later in the week, of the meaning of Adam-ondi-Ahman.
He goes on to talk about some of the things that take place in respect to the delivering
of keys, the judgment, and the preparations that are necessary.
But let's turn to Daniel 7 itself and talk a little bit about it. Again, we said there
are two major powers in the last days that oppose Zion. This picture again comes out
and is made evident or manifest very clearly in the book of Daniel. Daniel begins with
this statement: "In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions
of his head upon his bed; then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters.
"Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the
heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts"--these beasts are symbols, figures.
Joseph Smith makes it clear in his discourse on the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation
that they should be translated "figures of a beast," and they represent beastly systems
or degenerate systems that are carnal, systems that are opposed to God. So he sees four great
beasts "come out of the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion," and then
he goes on--for brevity's sake you can read the rest of it. The second was "like a bear."
The third was "like a leopard." And the fourth "was terrible and had much power," and it
had ten horns, etc. Daniel 7 deals with the same subject in general
that Daniel 2 deals with. We are all familiar, are we not, with Daniel's vision of the great
image with a head of gold, the chest and arms of silver, the belly and
thighs of brass, the legs of iron, and then representing the downward flow of things from
the upper to the lower legs, from the Roman Empire to the so-called Holy Roman Empire,
which Voltaire said was neither holy nor Roman nor an empire, till you finally get to the
feet and the toes. The head of gold is Babylon. The chest and
arms are the medio- Persian empire. The belly and thighs of brass, Greco-Macedonian ushered
in by Alexander the Great who conquered the world of his day and died with snakes in his
boots at the tender age of 33. Then the Roman Empire, which divides Constantinople and Rome
as the body divides downward, and then passing from there to the so-called Holy Roman Empire,
which, by the way, was brought to a conclusion in 1806, finally terminated in 1806. And he
sees out of this system the latter-day national states which emerged. And he says, "In the
days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed,"
and he talks about it being like a rock that's cut out of the mountain without hands, indicating
that the Lord is going to do his work. And it's going to roll forth and fill the earth.
Now, Daniel 7 is dealing with the same thing. These four beasts represent the four major
powers of the image. The first beast like unto a lion, representative of Babylon. The
second, like unto a bear, representative of the Medes and Persians. The third, the leopard,
represents Greece. The fourth beast, dreadful and terrible--as the Roman Empire was--and
strong exceedingly, and it had great iron teeth and devoured and brake in pieces and
stamped the residue with the feet of it, and it was diverse from all the beasts that were
before it, and it had ten horns. The word "horns" scripturally is a symbol
of power. It had ten horns. Verse 8, "I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among
them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by
the roots; and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking
great things." Now, let me come back to these four beasts, and let's turn again to revelation
13. This first beast in the last days that John
sees is given certain characteristic marks. He says, as he speaks of it, verse 2, "The
beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and
his moth as the mouth of a lion." These are the same figures that Daniel uses, except
what? They are reversed. He
mentions the leopard first, Daniel mentions the leopard last. He mentions the feet which
is like the bear and the mouth which is like a lion.
This latter-day beast, Babylon, culturally is a composite of past civilizations. It's
a composite of Rome, of Greece, of the Persians, Babylon. All of these things go into the melting
pot of this latter-day system that we call Babylon. And so far as we are concerned now,
the most pervasive influence in Babylon is what? I mean latter-day Babylon, it's not
the ancient Babylon, it's not the Medes and the Persians. It's Greek culture. So he lists
the Greeks first. For example, if you get yourself a PhD in
modern history, you will see how prominently emphasis is given, how much emphasis is given
to Greece and to Rome. We have some people who try to say that essentially American democracy
comes from those sources. Granted, there was a Greece and a Rome, granted the founding
fathers knew all about them and studied them. But American freedom came from Christ. But
Babylon's great ideal is Greco- Roman philosophy. So this latter-day beast, which is Babylon,
the one that rises up and makes war against Zion, is a composite of Greece, of the Persians,
of Babylon. And he so depicted it. That's the one beast. There is a second beast.
And he sees that. He says, Daniel 7:8: "I considered the horns, and another little horn
before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots; and, behold,
in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. I beheld
till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit." Then he gives us a little
interlude and tells us about the Adam-ondi-Ahman council, from verse 9 through verse 14. And
he tells us about that council being held, and when it is held and its work is in its
final stages, then Christ will make his appearance in that council, and there he will be crowned
by the priesthood of all ages, all dispensations united by this great council into the latter-day
dispensation of the fulness of times, to make in fact the dispensation of the fulness of
times, in its fulness. Then Christ will come. It says, verse 14, "And there was given him
dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve
him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away." So in that council,
Christ comes and by the priesthood of all ages, in that sacred valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman,
he is accepted, he is
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 19
sustained by the vote of that council as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Now, has the second
coming taken place yet? No. But they are prepared for it.
Daniel sees this thing, and he wants to know about it. So he asks one of the angels standing
nearby, "What are these four beasts all about?" The angel answers, verse 19: "Then I would
know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse." Well, the angel tells him that
these four beasts are four kingdoms that are going to arise in the earth. Then the fourth
beast, he says he wants to know about him. He says this fourth beast is going to be exceedingly
dreadful, "whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces,
and stamped the residue with his feet; And of the ten horns that were in his head, and
of the other which came up, and before whom three fell, even of that horn that had eyes,
and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.
I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until
the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High."
"Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be
diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth...And the ten horns out of
this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise; and another shall rise after them; and he
shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings."
Now, let me see if we can just sort that out. He sees Babylon, he sees the Persians, he
sees Greece, he sees Rome. He sees that out of Rome comes ten kingdoms, and they are the
same kingdoms of the feet and toes that the image of Daniel typify. That's just simple.
Then he sees in that situation, right nearby but separate from it, the rise of what he
calls a "little horn." This little horn is not little in the sense of power, because
he immediately trounces the socks off of three of these other guys. So he's not little in
the sense of power, he is little in the sense of duration in comparison with this other
system which goes way back. And he rises up and subdues three of the kingdoms of these
ten horns that come out of Babylon. The Prophet Joseph Smith makes the statement,
let me read it to you, concerning an interesting event that happens in the future. This is
a report coming from President John Taylor's father. In the fall of 1842, because of opposition
to him, the Prophet withdrew from the
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 20
public. He would stay in the evenings in the Taylor home. Then in the daytime he would
knock around out in the woods and keep out of sight. In the evening he would go back
and have his evening meal, and they'd sit around and talk about the great things of
the Kingdom. The Prophet would retire to bed, and bright and early he'd be up and out of
the way in order to keep away from the mob. One of those evening conversations is what
we're talking about. He says, "The old gentleman said that one time the Prophet was in his
house conversing about the battle of Waterloo, in which father Taylor had taken part. Suddenly
the Prophet turned and said, "Father Taylor, you will live to see, though I will not, greater
battles than that of Waterloo. The United States, for example, will go to war with Mexico
and thus will gain an increase of territory." You know, the Mormon Battalion was involved
in that one. "The slave question will cause a division between the north and the south,
and in these wars greater battles than Waterloo will occur"--in the Civil War, Gettysburg,
for example. "But," he continued with emphasis, "when the
great Russian bear lays his paw on the English lion, the winding up scene is not far off."
In this setting, you are talking about the setting for the Adam-ondi- Ahman council.
Even today we're making preparations at Adam- ondi-Ahman, aren't we? They are beautifying
the place and fixing it up. How soon that's going to take place, I don't know. But the
brethren are working quietly, inoffensively, in that direction.
When that council is held, there will be two great world powers. One will be Babylon, and
the other will be a little thing called "the little horn." It will be a mighty system and
it will be called the "little horn." It will subdue three of the kingdoms of the Babylon
order, one of which will be England. So who is the little horn? The Russian bear.
He goes on and he sees this, and we need to see this picture because the Book of Mormon
opens this whole thing up, really it does. He sees that this little horn makes war with
the Saints and prevails against them, "Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was
given to the saints of the Most High." Then he goes on and sees that the ten horns are
these ten kingdoms. He sees the little horn, but then the clarification is made, "But the
judgment shall sit," and that judgment is at Adam-ondi-Ahman, "and they shall take away
his dominion," the dominion of the little horn who will have dominated
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 21
Babylon. That's the picture of the 13th chapter of Revelation, that the second power dominates
the first and causes people to worship the first. He says, "But the judgment shall sit,
and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And
the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall
be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey him." And that's the Millennial system.
Now, can you see how he's talking about the beginning of that? Let me turn to a couple
of other areas. One is the book of Joel. Remember that the angel Moroni when he came to the
Prophet Joseph Smith quoted part of the book of Joel. Here is the Prophet's record of it
in his history in the Pearl of Great Price. Verse 41: "He also quoted the second chapter
of Joel, from the twenty-eighth verse to the last." Now, that's important. "From the 28th
verse to the last. He also said that this was not yet fulfilled, but was soon to be."
It was in the agenda for the latter-day. As you turn to Joel 2, Joel talks about the
pouring out of the Spirit upon all flesh, and he begins this at verse 28. Let me read
with you what he is saying: "And it shall come to pass afterward," put an underscore under that word afterward,
because this is a key. "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my
spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall
dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids
in those days will I pour out my Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in
the earth, blood, and fire and pillars of smoke," etc.
It shall come to pass "afterward"--after what? What do the first 27 verses deal with? They
deal with the coming of a great northern power to Zion to subdue Zion. The record says, "Blow
ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants
of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord cometh and is nigh at hand." Now, he characterizes
this great northern power first of all as a "northern army," verse 20. He speaks of
it as a heathen power, it's not Christian. It's a heathen power, verse 17. And he also
speaks of it in these words, that it will be such a power "as hath not been ever the
like, neither (v. 2) shall be anymore after it, even to the years of many generations."
It's the greatest assembly of military might on the earth that has been or that will be
till you get to the end
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 22 of the Millennial period.
What do those signs indicate? It's a northern army, and it's a heathen army, it's non-Christian,
and it's the greatest military might of all time. Now, what are we talking about? We're
talking about the little horn. Now, another point here. After this period
of time, after this takes place, then the Lord says this in verse 32: "And it shall
come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered; for
in mount Zion," number one, "and in Jerusalem," the second place, "shall be deliverance, as
the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call." There is a third place
where there will be security. On one occasion the Prophet Joseph took the
2nd chapter of Joel and read the whole thing, and then explained it. Let me read here basically
what he said, in Teachings, page 70 and 71. He said he read the 2nd chapter, and then
he explains it. Just to be brief, he says that in the last day, God will call a remnant
in which is to be deliverance, "as well as in Jerusalem and Zion." There are three places
where there will be some semblance of peace and of deliverance, temporally. He says, "Now
if God should give no more revelations, where will we find Zion and this remnant?" If we
don't have any more than what's in the Bible, where are we going to find this? "The time
is near when desolation is to cover the earth, and then God will have a place of deliverance
in his remnant, and in Zion," and Jerusalem. He says, "the remnant whom the Lord shall
call," which I take to mean that he hasn't called them yet. But he will.
Now, when these judgments come to America and there is a disruption critically of our
whole land, of our whole policy and economy, when that is over with there will be only
three places of deliverance. One of those will be Mount Zion. This will be among the
Saints who will, during that period of warfare, get themselves sanctified, hopefully. The
second will be the Jews, temporally. They'll establish themselves. The Jewish kingdom
is only in its beginning stages. I mean, we've got more Jews in America than over there,
but the time will come when, I suspect, they might be glad to leave, not because I'm going
to help them out but because circumstances will. They'll gather to Jerusalem in far greater
�� Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days
#1 23 numbers. And then when this situation happens with
America and the American system is broken, the Indian people, the Lord will call them.
They'll gather together and they will form some semblance of peace and order. And this
order of things will prevail for a time. One other prophecy, then we've got to quit
for the time being. This is from the Book of Mormon and from some of its statements
in the Isaiah prophecies, which most of us, as we all admit, hastily read over and kind
of leave. We all know that the word Babylon has two
connotations. We know that it has to do with an ancient kingdom way back when? In the days
of Daniel, the days of ancient Israel. It was an actual force on the earth, a mighty
kingdom--walls 300 feet high around the city, wide enough at the top so you could drive
a couple of chariots across. This was a mighty building--the gardens of
Babylon, one of the wonders of the world. We all know about that.
But we also know that when we read the word Babylon, that we have to go through a kind
of a mental process and ask ourselves, Is that talking about anciently, or modernly?
And we know that Babylon refers to the latter-days, that there is a latter-day Babylon. And it
takes its character from the symbol of the early Babylon--splendor, glory, worldliness,
all of that. And there is a latter-day Babylon. So when we talk about Babylon in the latter-day,
we have no problem with that. We know that there is such a thing. How many of us know
that there is such a thing as the "Assyrian"? Assyria, anciently, consisted of a militaristic
people up north of Israel. It was Shalmaneser, who subdued the northern kingdom of Israel,
and took them captive and destroyed that whole northern kingdom, took them captive for a
time until finally Ninevah, the capitol of ancient Assyria, fell. When Ninevah fell,
then those captive Israelites took advantage of that and fled out of there. They moved
up between the Black and the Caspian Sea, through the Caucasus Mountains, and they dumped
off into the southern part of Europe, and that's how we get to be the blood of Israel.
Then there was apparently a group of them who said, "We want to live the covenants like
we've never done before," and they took off somewhere into the north land. And as the
Book of Mormon indicates, they still existed as a group. Assyria, then, was a
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 24
militaristic power. How many of us know, though, that there is a latter-day Assyrian? Isaiah
talks about him. Let me turn to 2 Nephi 18, and let's get just a few things on this in
relation to it. Keep in mind that when Nephi puts these chapters of Isaiah in there, he's
not putting a history lesson in here. He's saying, and he says it clearly, these chapters
pertain to the last days, and I'm putting them in here so that you can read them--and
we'll talk about this tomorrow--so that you can read and understand that they relate to
the last days. So here they are, and understand them. This is not the book of Isaiah, now,
this is what Nephi selects and puts in. Note what he says:
Talking about people being somewhat obstinate: "Therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth upon
them the waters of the river," verse 7, and "waters" means what? People. "The Lord bringeth
up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria and all
his glory; and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks. And he
shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck."
We'll clarify tomorrow evening that Judah has more than one meaning, and here it applies
to a country. "And the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land,
O Immanuel." So he is talking about a power that's going to come up.
In chapter 20 of 2 Nephi, beginning with verse 5: "O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and
the staff in their hand is their indignation. I will send him against a hypocritical nation,
and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil, and to
take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit he meaneth
not so," he doesn't think he's doing my will, "neither doth his heart think so; but in his
heart it is to destroy and cut off nations not a few."
Then he talks about that again. Now, turn over to verse 24: "Therefore, thus saith the
Lord God of Hosts; O my people that dwellest in Zion." So he is talking about us. "Be not
afraid of the Assyrian; he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against
thee after the manner of Egypt." In other words, he will do to you like Pharaoh did
to the ancient Israelites. He will lift up his staff against us after the manner of Egypt.
"For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.
And the Lord of Hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian
at the rock of Oreb." You go back into the Old
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 25 Testament and read about that.
"And as his rod was upon the sea so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt. And
it shall come to pass in that day that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder,"
speaking of Zion, "and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because
of the anointing." And then he finally, going back here to pick up a further statement in
the same chapter, verses 12 to 15: "Wherefore it shall come to pass that when the Lord hath
performed his whole work upon Mount Zion and upon Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of
the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. For he saith:
By the strength of my hand and by my wisdom I have done these things; for I am prudent;
and I have moved the borders of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have
put down the inhabitants like a valiant man; And my hand hath found as a nest the riches
of the people," etc. Then the Lord says, "Don't you know that I have all things under my control?"
When he says that after he has completed his whole work upon Mount Zion, what is his work
upon Mount Zion? And Jerusalem? When the Lord has completed the full program of latter-day
events that relate to Zion and Jerusalem, then and not until then will he punish the
fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria. The Assyrian is this mighty northern power,
this militaristic power that comes to Zion. The Lord says, "I will send him against a
hypocritical nation," and you don't have to look very far today in our beloved America
to know who he's talking about there. Then he talks about the Saints. Fear not the
Assyrian. He's going to handle you like Pharaoh handled ancient Israel. But don't be so concerned
about it, because I'm going to break his power in relation to you. But then he says, about
the total and ultimate thing, that only after he has performed his whole work upon Mount
Zion and Jerusalem, that he will finally destroy the Assyrian. As you read the Jerusalem theme,
read Ezekiel 38 and 39, where he talks about the great battle at Jerusalem, Armageddon
and the Valley of Jehoshaphat, that whole theme, he talks about a power that comes from
the north called Gog and Magog. It comes against Israel. It is combined in its opposition to
Israel with the powers of Babylon which come in from the other direction. And all nations
are gathered against Jerusalem. There are two major powers, one of them being
Babylon. The other
is spoken of under various symbols, the great northern army, the little horn, the Assyrian.
I want to come back after we've had a little breather, and get into the Savior's explanation,
because he even gets more detailed. And it is by understanding the prophecies that the
Savior quotes that you finally get the full picture. We've given you the general picture
now, so let me take a drink of water and terminate this, while you pass your questions in to
this point--or would you rather wait, Brother Flake, until the end, because we'll just be
continuing on. It may be that we just ought to take a break and then just wait till the
end and get back into it, because I want to show you that the Savior is saying the same
thing to the Nephites. Then tomorrow night we'll get into the Isaiah prophecies, which
really open it up. They really open it up. Then you can get into the book of Revelation,
and we'll try to do that Saturday. Let's take a breather.
____________________________ Also at the end of the tape:
...do not repent and embrace the Kingdom or support it, that they will be brought down
into captivity and destruction both temporally and spiritually. People of the world have
rejected the gospel for how many years since the restoration? And this hasn't come to them.
They haven't really--they've had wars and that kind of thing, but it hasn't really come
to them. But when you get to this situation where warfare against Zion gets underway and
the Lord ceases to sustain the people of this land, then under those circumstances, as the
Saints are refined and purified so they can partake of and enjoy the endowments of his
Spirit or glory to a greater degree, then the true ensign of Zion will begin to be raised.
That ensign is a spiritual ensign. It will also be an ensign or a standard in relation
to righteousness in general, in relation to social happiness and justice, economic prosperity
and a lot of these things that are associated with the latter-day ensign. But at the center
of the whole thing will be the endowment of glory. And if people reject that, they reject
that manifestation of the Lord, then the end result will be his judgments upon them both
spiritually and temporally. Let me turn, for example, to another of Nephi's
commentaries. Nephi gives this information in 1 Nephi 14. But then he ends up with John
the Revelator and says, "Now, John is going to see all this and he's going to write it,
and it's going to be in your Bible. And I can't write it.
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 27
The Lord has told me that John has been foreordained to write it." Yet, Nephi comes around and
over and over again comes back to that same theme. One such statement is 1 Nephi 22, a
clarification. He has this to say as he speaks of this marvelous work among the Gentiles,
verse 8, "...which shall be of great worth unto our seed...And it shall also be of worth
unto the Gentiles; and not only unto the Gentiles but unto all the house of Israel, unto the
making known of the covenants of the Father of heaven unto Abraham." Again, the Father
of heaven in the sense that we've talked about it, is Christ. But let's not disassociate
Christ--Christ is not our Lord, our God or the Father of heaven, except as he is the
Executive of the Man of Holiness, the embodiment of his truth and his power and the revelation
of his truth and power. You don't separate the two in that sense.
But when he's talking about the house of Israel and making known the covenants of the Father
of heaven, he's talking about Jehovah, or Christ. "...unto Abraham, saying: In thy seed
shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed." Note what he says in verse 10: "And I would,
my brethren, that ye should know that all the kindreds of the earth cannot be blessed
unless he shall make bare his arm in the eyes of the nations. Wherefore, the Lord God will
proceed to make bare his arm in the eyes of all the nations, in bringing about his covenants
and his gospel unto those who are of the house of Israel."
Let's stop right there. What does it mean to make bare his arm in the eyes of all nations?
Over and over again, that statement is made. Let me just give you a few references: Mosiah
12. We're talking about Abinadi and his prophecies of the last days, and he says here in verse
24: "The Lord hath made bare his arm in the eyes of all nations, and all the ends of the
earth shall see the salvation of our God." This thing isn't going to take place in a
corner! This is something that every nation is going to see, and they are going to make
a choice, and there is going to be a great division. You are either on one side or on
the other. He says this in relation to Zion. Verse 22: "Thy watchmen shall lift up the
voice; with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye when the
Lord shall bring again Zion." He's talking about bringing again Zion, and in order to
do it he's got to make bare his arm in the eyes of all nations.
Another statement, and this from chapter 15, verse 28: "And now I say unto you that the time shall come that the salvation of
the Lord
Lecture 7 Nephi's Prophecy of the Last Days #1 28
shall be declared to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Yea, Lord, thy watchmen
shall lift up their voice; with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see
eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion." His truth is going to be such that
we'll have a unity, hopefully. He goes on to say, "Break forth into joy,
sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he
hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God."