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Nephi 12:11 And it came to pass that the angel said unto me: Look, and behold thy seed, and also the seed of thy brethren. And I looked and beheld the land of promise; and I beheld multitudes of people, yea, even as it were in number as many as the sand of the sea. The prophetic scene
shifts from a discussion of Christ to a discussion of the seed of Nephi and his brethren. In Lehi's vision, there
is little indication that this part of the prophecy was included. However, since Lehi's vision does deal with his
desires that his family partake of the fruit of the tree of life, and this prophecy deals with the future of Lehi's
posterity, there is a link which ties this prophetic expansion to the original vision.1
Nephi 12:22 And it came to pass that I beheld multitudes gathered together to battle, one against the other; and I beheld wars, and rumors of wars, and great slaughters with the sword among my people. 1 Nephi 12:3 3 And it came to pass that I beheld many generations pass away, after the manner of wars and contentions in the land; and I beheld many cities, yea, even that I did not number them. Nephi sees that the
future of his posterity lies in wars and rumors of wars. He sees that it will not always go well for his people,
as in verse 2 he notes that there would be "great slaughters with the sword among my people". With so
much prediction of violence, confirmed by later books in the Book of Mormon, it is remarkable that in the small
plate record there is so little record of it. The reason lies in the charter of the small plates, and the division
between them and the large plates of Nephi. The wars and rumors of wars are the stuff of the larger plates, with
the small plates being reserved for a very different type of story.It is also worth noting that there is no indication that these future events would be taking place on a different continent, in a new world. Whether or not that information was available to Nephi cannot be determined from this vision. Remember that the vision occurs in the travel away from Jerusalem, and perhaps not yet on a known path to a new distination. Verse 3 contains an interesting juxtaposition of phrases. In the first phrase Nephi records that many generations pass. In the second clause he states "after the manner of wars and contentions in the land". The pairing of these phrases suggests that Nephi could tell the passage of generations due to the nature of wars among his people. What might this mean? While not directly related to generations, it is possible that the wars are directly correlated to the passage of the years. John L. Sorenson examined the times for warfare in the Book of Mormon, and finds that wars were seasonal, and tended to be fought at a time when the agrarian soldiers were not needed in their fields (Sorenson, John L. "Seasons of War, Seasons of Peace in the Book of Mormon" Rediscovering the Book of Mormon. Provo:FARMS, 1991, 249-255.) Of course the "after the manner of wars..." could also refer to the wars only, and indicate that they were typical, rather than attempting to tie them to a marking of the generations. 1
Nephi 12:44 And it came to pass that I saw a mist of darkness on the face of the land of promise; and I saw lightnings, and I heard thunderings, and earthquakes, and all manner of tumultuous noises; and I saw the earth and the rocks, that they rent; and I saw mountains tumbling into pieces; and I saw the plains of the earth, that they were broken up; and I saw many cities that they were sunk; and I saw many that they were burned with fire; and I saw many that did tumble to the earth, because of the quaking thereof. 1 Nephi 12:5 5 And it came to pass after I saw these things, I saw the vapor of darkness, that it passed from off the face of the earth; and behold, I saw multitudes who had not fallen because of the great and terrible judgments of the Lord. 1 Nephi 12:6 6 And I saw the heavens open, and the Lamb of God descending out of heaven; and he came down and showed himself unto them. This is very clearly
a prophecy of the events of 3 Nephi. That such events were obviously not part of the expectations of the people
who survived the great calamity is perhaps an indication that the content of the small plates of Nephi slipped
from the mainstream of Nephite historical/religious tradition by that time.1
Nephi 12:77 And I also saw and bear record that the Holy Ghost fell upon twelve others; and they were ordained of God, and chosen. 1 Nephi 12:8 8 And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the twelve disciples of the Lamb, who are chosen to minister unto thy seed. 1 Nephi 12:9 9 And he said unto me: Thou rememberest the twelve apostles of the Lamb? Behold they are they who shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel; wherefore, the twelve ministers of thy seed shall be judged of them; for ye are of the house of Israel. 1 Nephi 12:10 10 And these twelve ministers whom thou beholdest shall judge thy seed. And, behold, they are righteous forever; for because of their faith in the Lamb of God their garments are made white in his blood. In these verses the
visions of the two continents are once again tied together, this time on the presence of the twelve apostles. Nephi
is reminded of the original twelve from the vision, and shown the twelve in the New World. For Nephi, this would
immediately make the connection between the two, with the presumptions of power and authority from the original
twelve imputed to the twelve of the New World. Recalling, however, that there is no clear indication of where Nephi's
seed might be, Nephi could only assume (presuming that he did not have previous prophetic knowledge of their ultimate
destination in the New World) that his people would not be in the same location as where the Savior would be born
and would live to call the first twelve.1
Nephi 12:1111 And the angel said unto me: Look! And I looked, and beheld three generations pass away in righteousness; and their garments were white even like unto the Lamb of God. And the angel said unto me: These are made white in the blood of the Lamb, because of their faith in him. 1 Nephi 12:12 12 And I, Nephi, also saw many of the fourth generation who passed away in righteousness. The repetition of the
generation phrases in both verses 11 and 12 are entered for the parallel of the generations and the faith. However,
the fourth generation in verse 12 does not subsume all of the characteristics of the three mentioned in verse 11.
Only many remained faithful in the fourth generation. Thus, while emphasizing the good, Nephi is prepared
for the bad to come.1
Nephi 12:1313 And it came to pass that I saw the multitudes of the earth gathered together. 1 Nephi 12:14 14 And the angel said unto me: Behold thy seed, and also the seed of thy brethren. 1 Nephi 12:15 15 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the people of my seed gathered together in multitudes against the seed of my brethren; and they were gathered together to battle. 1 Nephi 12:16 16 And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the fountain of filthy water which thy father saw; yea, even the river of which he spake; and the depths thereof are the depths of hell. Once again the vision's
explicit scenes of the future are tied to the symbols of Lehi's dream. In this case, it is not specifically the
people or generations which are the filthy water, but the people are examples of the end result of that which the
filthy water represent, explained in the following verses.1
Nephi 12:1717 And the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost. The mists are reiterated
because Nephi's posterity fall prey to them. At the end of the fourth generation, they are the ones walking away
into the "broad roads, that they perish and are lost."1
Nephi 12:1818 And the large and spacious building, which thy father saw, is vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men. And a great and a terrible gulf divideth them; yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God, and the Messiah who is the Lamb of God, of whom the Holy Ghost beareth record, from the beginning of the world until this time, and from this time henceforth and forever. This fourth generation
has heard the call of the people of the spacious building, and followed after them. While not explicitly mentioned,
Lehi's dream showed that many who tasted of the fruit would eventually be ashamed due to the tauntings of the people
of the spacious building. While it cannot be said of each individual Nephite, as a people they fall into the category
of those who taste and fall away.1
Nephi 12:1919 And while the angel spake these words, I beheld and saw that the seed of my brethren did contend against my seed, according to the word of the angel; and because of the pride of my seed, and the temptations of the devil, I beheld that the seed of my brethren did overpower the people of my seed. 1 Nephi 12:20 20 And it came to pass that I beheld, and saw the people of the seed of my brethren that they had overcome my seed; and they went forth in multitudes upon the face of the land. Nephi sees the termination
of his seed, and notes that the cause is their pride and the temptations of the devil. Nephi also sees that the
seed of his brethren will continue and be capable of being defined as "multitudes." It is interesting
that this is still not placed "on the map." It is entirely unclear is Nephi knows where these
multitudes will be.1
Nephi 12:2121 And I saw them gathered together in multitudes; and I saw wars and rumors of wars among them; and in wars and rumors of wars I saw many generations pass away. 1 Nephi 12:22 22 And the angel said unto me: Behold these shall dwindle in unbelief. 1 Nephi 12:23 23 And it came to pass that I beheld, after they had dwindled in unbelief they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations. Verse 23 is fascinating
in the disparate time frame of the "dark, and loathsome" in this verse and the "skin of blackness"
mentioned in 2 Nephi 5:21. The curse of the "skin of blackness" comes very soon after Lehi's death in
the New World, and yet in the prophecy, the remains of the seed of his brethren are not "dark, and loathsome"
until many generations after the demise of the Nephites, and the total withering and unbelief of the remnant.It would appear that verse 23's "dark, and loathsome" does not refer to skin color, where the "skin of blackness" is clearly related to pigmentation. The extreme pejorative descriptions of 1 Nephi 12:23 are not associated with skin color, but with a spiritual state. |
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| by Brant Gardner. Copyright 1998 |
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