“Then shall ye, who are a remnant of the house of Jacob, go forth among them; and ye shall be in the midst of them who shall be many; and ye shall be among them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, and as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he goeth through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.”
The descendants of Christ’s audience remaining after the holocaust of gentile destruction (i.e., the “remnant of the house of Jacob”) would be used by God to deliver judgment upon the gentiles. First the descendants are to be reduced to a remnant by the gentiles, but then the fortunes would be reversed. Initially the gentiles would be the very embodiment of the “wrath of God” to “scatter” and “smite” the descendants. (1 Ne. 13: 14.) Following that, the gentiles are favored of God and “prosper.” This land becomes the temporary land of inheritance for the gentiles, as well. (1 Ne. 13: 15.)
But the gentiles would occupy the land on condition. They would need to serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ. (Ether 2: 12.)
Ultimately, they will need to repent, or they will fill the measure of their own cup of wrath by rejecting the fullness of the Gospel. The gentiles would not continue in their humility, but would be offered the fullness of the Gospel, reject it, then turn to their own pride, even more proud of themselves than any comparable people upon the earth. As Christ describes the latter-day gentiles, they will be full of mischief, lyings, deceits, hypocrisy and priestcrafts. Indeed, they will be full of all this and will also reject the fullness of the Gospel offered them by the Lord. (3 Nephi 16: 10.)
When they do, Christ will “bring the fullness of my Gospel from among them.” (3 Nephi 16: 10.) Upon removing the fullness, and the gentiles being filled with their pride, priestcrafts, deceits and hypocrisy, the Lord will use the remnant who remain to return judgment upon the gentiles in the same manner the gentiles had earlier returned judgment upon the remnant. (3 Nephi 16: 15.)
As Christ states above, using the words of Isaiah, “a remnant of the house of Jacob” will “go forth among them; and ye shall be in the midst of them who shall be many; and ye shall be among them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, and as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he goeth through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.”
We’ve discussed the “beasts of the forest” and the “flocks of sheep” before. Both categories of gentiles will be swept away. None can deliver them from this coming judgment. The remnant will be the Lord’s instrument of judgment upon the gentiles, and the gentile pride, priestcrafts, lyings, deceits will all come crashing down upon them in judgment. Their idols will be trodden down and torn in pieces, for they are their own idols imagining in their own hearts themselves to be greater than any other people. Their image of themselves as high and lifted up will be brought down low, into the dust. (Compare Isaiah 14: 12-17.) How like their master Mahon these gentiles have become. But then rejecting the fullness of the Gospel when it has been offered to a people always carries a heavy price.
The remnant will be doing the work of the Father in that day. For the judgment is the Lord’s and not the remnant’s. The remnant are only the means by which the judgment is delivered.
Cleansing precedes the blessing. And this blessed land will be Zion. But not while occupied by filthy people who idolize themselves, reject the fullness, support priestcrafts, lyings, deceit and hypocrisy calling it righteousness, truth and beauty. They cannot see their own condition, and will not trust the Lord to reveal it to them. They will say the Lord does not speak any more, and we have enough of the revelations of God. (2 Nephi 28: 27-29.) They will say God has finished His work of restoring truth, given His power to men, and now we must follow men to be saved. (2 Nephi 28: 5.)
But the Lord will prove that He had more to say when the gentiles learn, too late, they trusted in the arm of flesh rather than in the Spirit which saves. (2 Nephi 28: 31.) At that day, despite all the gentile petitions for relief from that God whose fullness they rejected, none will deliver.
The interplay between the gentiles and the remnant is a fascinating subject, with prophetic details given so as to allow us to appreciate the peril we find ourselves as gentiles in these last days. It is good we Latter-day Saints know we are safe and are part of a great, saved and favored community to be preserved against the coming judgments, isn’t it? It is good we do not need to repent much if at all to be saved, because as we hear so very often: All is well. All is well.
“And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” (Isa. 6: 9-10.)
Just got another email from my husband who works for the DOD… more photos and reports of the latest sickening violence out of Mexico. And they are coming here by the thousands…
Denver said: “They will say God has finished His work of restoring truth, given His power to men, and now we must follow men to be saved. (2 Nephi 28: 5.)”
Oh it hurts….oh it stings…. it’s so true I can’t help but quickly repent. Oh the vanity. If guilty of that, I’m probably guilty of all the rest of the accusations.
Thanks for the warnings. I’m doing something about it.
This is a SOBERING post. There is nowhere to hide except for in the arms of our Lord.
The days/years? leading up to the great and dreadful day..will undoubtebly be great for a few but dreadful for the many.. I don’t think we can even imagine what this will be like. While I have yearned for the events to speedily come… I am starting to think I hope I have enough time and enjoy each day to the fullest.
Lord help us.. we need your mercy.
I am having a hard time wondering what it is that people that want to see where the promise land was, cant see the forest for the tree’s. First of all where was it proclaimed the Garden of Eden was. It would become a land of freedom and liberty, The native people here were hunted down killed and scattered all over even hauled on trains. There was a numerous population till we got done with giving them blankets full of plagues that killed hundred of thousands extermination in almost any way. This nation had the first temple placed in it not central or South America after 400 A. D.This is where Christ come to organize his Gospel . One can go on and on seeing things that the Book of Mormon spells out. Some one seems to forget Hagoth and his shipping company. And I am quite sure he didn’t own the only one. How did the structures get in Central America telling of Christ? How did our temple and gospel get out into the world today? Is it hard to think that the American Indians cant be these people, because they are just trodden down to far.Is this not what we were told they would be like. These wonderful people so badly beaten and trodden will some day blossom as a rose and we will all hang our heads with shame. Any way that’s my two cents right or wrong. SwiftHawk
Has anyone considered Denver’s description of the judgments described in 3 Ne 20:12 on Wednesday morning’s Blog where he asked what preparations we could possibly make to prepare for these judgments and then makes reference to DC 112:24-26 and how to prepare oneself for these judgments. In reading the 112 reference I had to ask myself if there is a connection i.e. that the judgments brought about by the remnant will begin at His house, etc. Is this a possible scenario and if so how?
Just wondering!
BB
In 3 Nephi 20:16 the Lord is quoting Micah 5:8. Thus, it is likely that when He here speaks of “a remnant of the house of Jacob” He could be including more than just the Lehite remnant.
In 2 Nephi 6: 16-17 we have an interesting image that Jacob (Nephi’s brother) draws from Isaiah 49:
16 For shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
17 But thus saith the Lord: Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for the Mighty God shall deliver his covenant people. For thus saith the Lord: I will contend with them that contendeth with thee—
The image is of captives being delivered from the mighty. The Mighty God will deliver His covenant people. What is the mechanism?
Quoting from Isaiah 5 in 2 Nephi 15: 26 and 29 we have:
26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth; and behold, they shall come with speed swiftly; none shall be weary nor stumble among them.
. . .
29 They shall roar like young lions; yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry away safe, and none shall deliver.
The ensign to the nations and the young lions. These two things will deliver the covenant people from captivity. It appears, though, as Denver has described the lions may do some damage to those who are not of the covenant people.
This is an interesting line of discussion. Thanks.
After reading these posts for a while it is ASTOUNDING how little doctrine is taught pretty much across the board in the church. The media on the churches website doesn’t even resemble doctrine anymore. Feel good messages is all.
I don’t mean to distract from the post today. My point was I like reading doctrine, there is plenty here to learn and do in any persons life. Thanks for preserving the doctrine.
Nephi:
They will say the Lord does not speak any more, and we have enough of the revelations of God.
Today:
Now we don’t need a lot of continuing revelation. We have a great, basic reservoir of revelation.
and
We don’t need much revelation.
Denver said: “They will say God has finished His work of restoring truth, given His power to men, and now we must follow men to be saved. (2 Nephi 28: 5.)”
“Oh it hurts….oh it stings…. it’s so true I can’t help but quickly repent. Oh the vanity. If guilty of that, I’m probably guilty of all the rest of the accusations.
Thanks for the warnings. I’m doing something about it.”
Anonymous you’re probably going to hell – j/k. Who am I to say but I can say that Mormons are some of the most guilty people on the planet. They have a more guilty conscience than the Jews. They hold such high standards for themselves, and take themselves so seriously it’s no wonder that most of Utah mormons takes anti-depressants! Lighten up a little bit! Enjoy your journey, right?
Denver said: “They will say God has finished His work of restoring truth, given His power to men, and now we must follow men to be saved. (2 Nephi 28: 5.)”
“Oh it hurts….oh it stings…. it’s so true I can’t help but quickly repent. Oh the vanity. If guilty of that, I’m probably guilty of all the rest of the accusations.
Thanks for the warnings. I’m doing something about it.”
Anonymous you’re probably going to hell – j/k. Who am I to say but I can say that Mormons are some of the most guilty people on the planet. They have a more guilty conscience than the Jews. They hold such high standards for themselves, and take themselves so seriously it’s no wonder that most of Utah mormons takes anti-depressants! Lighten up a little bit! Enjoy your journey, right?
Nephi:
They will say the Lord does not speak any more, and we have enough of the revelations of God.
Today:
Now we don’t need a lot of continuing revelation. We have a great, basic reservoir of revelation.
and
We don’t need much revelation.
Yeah, we do live well below our privaleges (?sp)
So, do the descendants of Hagar and Abraham have any connection to any of the remnant that will destroy the gentiles?
I can not think of a single relationship that works well or is anywhere near the place of God when based upon the principles of fear. What parent wants their children to do as they say because they are afraid of them? The only ones I can think of are the ones that lack the understanding of the power of love. How can you say you have truly helped someone come to the Lord when you have only made them afraid of Him? Why is it that the Nephites time and time again turned to the Lord only to forget Him when times were good? And what exactly did the City of Enoch do that was so different? A lot of people follow a “list” compiled mostly of opinions and never come to know the Lord. Why? Because of fear. Fear that they’re doing the wrong thing (which can only make one second guess and weaken faith) and fear that they’re not doing enough (which creates distraction and a belief in unworthiness as long as there is still a list to follow). There is a calling to some to preach repentance, but why is it that repentance must be beaten into everybody with fear? The goodness of God and the message of the atonement ought to be the motivating factors in the process of repentance otherwise complacency will ALWAYS follow when blessings are had. An eye single to the glory of God can only come from a deep, sincere love of the Lord and His truths. I can not see how fear as the motivating factor will ever bring anyone to truly know the Lord as it only works as long as fear based repentance is being preached.
This is not about psychology. In fact using the tools of psychology to understand the invitation to come to Christ won’t help.
Repentance is love. It is coming to Him. But coming to Him by learning of Him. It is not fear; though approaching God is indeed fearful. That fear in the approach arises from your own inner worthiness before Him. It is unavoidable because none of us are worthy apart from Him. Therefore the dread of being before God will remain until He removes it by an act of His mercy.
The Lord and His prophets teach plainly what we all understood and all agreed upon before the world was begun. The plan we have is tried, true, and is the path by which all those who have ever ascended to heaven have made that ascent.
Focusing upon whether one’s motivation is based upon fear or love is unhelpful. Focusing upon what the Lord says, and then what is meant by what the Lord says, is helpful. The inner man must change. The change is mandatory, and comes from knowing Him and learning of Him. But until the moment of relief is granted by Him, there will always be discomfort because of our fallen state and tendency to sin. This is why He is a “Comforter”– because He removes from us the discomfort we feel from sin. But we surely do feel (ALL of us feel) dread and fear because of what we lack as we approach the throne of grace. He “Comforts” us by freeing us from that terrible burden. But such freedom comes on His terms, based upon the eternal plan for removing sin, or it does not happen at all.
A sober realization of the brutal truth gives someone the tool they need to overcome the flesh, because it becomes readily apparent that they completely need the Lord.
When the inner spirit of a person sincerely desires to repent they will allow the horror of our fallen state to sink in and refuse to ignore it until the flesh has been subdued by Christ’s gift of healing. This may need to be done in waves, as it were, like the pangs of childbirth.
Truly if we but look, we may live, and escape the venom. If we ignore the venom, it will destroy us anyway. Why not look and realize we are bitten? The bite of fiery flying serpents calls forth the Man with healing in His wings, and His response will be swifter than the poison. He cannot help but respond to such distress (unless we pretend there is no problem, then He remains in His pavilion and in His hiding place).
Some have used the realities in these scriptures to compel people to obey the arm of flesh. Just because it is sometimes used incorrectly doesn’t mean they don’t have a purpose at all. Use them to be sober. Use them to awaken. Never go back to carnal slumber again. Accept the deliverance. Those are our scriptural mandates.