Nephi Explains His Father’S Prophecy

Event 11

Reference: 1 Ne. 15:2-36; 16:1-6

And it came to pass that I beheld my brethren, and theywere disputing one with another concerning the thingswhich my father had spoken unto them. 3 For he truly spakemany great things unto them, which were hard to beunderstood, save a man should inquire of the Lord; and theybeing hard in their hearts, therefore they did not look untothe Lord as they ought. 4 And now I, Nephi, was grievedbecause of the hardness of their hearts, and also, because ofthe things which I had seen, and knew they mustunavoidably come to pass because of the great wickednessof the children of men.NephiValley of Lemuelnear Red Sea600 to 593 B.C.5 And it came to pass that I was overcome because of myafflictions, for I considered that mine afflictions were greatabove all, because of the destruction of my people, for I hadbeheld their fall.6 And it came to pass that after I had received strength Ispake unto my brethren, desiring to know of them the causeof their disputations. 7 And they said:Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father hathspoken concerning the natural branches of the olive tree, and alsoconcerning the Gentiles.Nephi’s Brethren8 And I said unto them:NephiHave ye inquired of the Lord?9 And they said unto me:We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.Nephi’s Brethren10 Behold, I said unto them:NephiHow is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord?How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of yourhearts? 11 Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hathsaid?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believingthat ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping mycommandments, surely these things shall be made known untoyou.The Lord12 Behold, I say unto you, that the house of Israel wascompared unto an olive tree, by the Spirit of the Lord whichwas in our father; and behold are we not broken off fromNephi the house of Israel, and are we not a branch of the house ofIsrael? 13 And now, the thing which our father meanethconcerning the grafting in of the natural branches throughthe fulness of the Gentiles, is, that in the latter days, whenour seed shall have dwindled in unbelief, yea, for the spaceof many years, and many generations after the Messiahshall be manifested in body unto the children of men, thenshall the fulness of the gospel of the Messiah come unto theGentiles, and from the Gentiles unto the remnant of ourseed— 14 And at that day shall the remnant of our seedknow that they are of the house of Israel, and that they arethe covenant people of the Lord; and then shall they knowand come to the knowledge of their forefathers, and also tothe knowledge of the gospel of their Redeemer, which wasministered unto their fathers by him; wherefore, they shallcome to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the verypoints of his doctrine, that they may know how to comeunto him and be saved.NephiValley of Lemuelnear Red Sea600 to 593 B.C.15 And then at that day will they not rejoice and give praiseunto their everlasting God, their rock and their salvation?Yea, at that day, will they not receive the strength andnourishment from the true vine? Yea, will they not comeunto the true fold of God? 16 Behold, I say unto you, Yea;they shall be remembered again among the house of Israel;they shall be grafted in, being a natural branch of the olivetree, into the true olive tree. 17 And this is what our fathermeaneth; and he meaneth that it will not come to pass untilafter they are scattered by the Gentiles; and he meaneth thatit shall come by way of the Gentiles, that the Lord mayshow his power unto the Gentiles, for the very cause that heshall be rejected of the Jews, or of the house of Israel. 18Wherefore, our father hath not spoken of our seed alone,but also of all the house of Israel, pointing to the covenantwhich should be fulfilled in the latter days; which covenantthe Lord made to our father Abraham, saying:In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.The Lord19 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, spake much unto themconcerning these things; yea, I spake unto them concerningthe restoration of the Jews in the latter days. 20 And I didrehearse unto them the words of Isaiah, who spakeconcerning the restoration of the Jews, or of the house ofIsrael; and after they were restored they should no more beconfounded, neither should they be scattered again.Nephi And it came to pass that I did speak many words unto mybrethren, that they were pacified and did humble themselvesbefore the Lord.NephiValley of Lemuelnear Red Sea600 to 593 B.C.21 And it came to pass that they did speak unto me again,saying:What meaneth this thing which our father saw in a dream? Whatmeaneth the tree which he saw?Nephi’s Brethren22 And I said unto them:NephiIt was a representation of the tree of life.23 And they said unto me:What meaneth the rod of iron which our father saw, that led to thetree?Nephi’s Brethren24 And I said unto them that it was the word of God; andwhoso would hearken unto the word of God, and wouldhold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could thetemptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpowerthem unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction. 25Wherefore, I, Nephi, did exhort them to give heed unto theword of the Lord; yea, I did exhort them with all theenergies of my soul, and with all the faculty which Ipossessed, that they would give heed to the word of Godand remember to keep his commandments always in allthings. 26 And they said unto me:NephiWhat meaneth the river of water which our father saw?Nephi’s Brethren27 And I said unto them that the water which my father sawwas filthiness; and so much was his mind swallowed up inother things that he beheld not the filthiness of the water. 28And I said unto them that it was an awful gulf, whichseparated the wicked from the tree of life, and also from thesaints of God. 29 And I said unto them that it was arepresentation of that awful hell, which the angel said untome was prepared for the wicked. 30 And I said unto themthat our father also saw that the justice of God did alsodivide the wicked from the righteous; and the brightnessthereof was like unto the brightness of a flaming fire, whichascendeth up unto God forever and ever, and hath no end. 31And they said unto me:NephiDoth this thing mean the torment of the body in the days ofprobation, or doth it mean the final state of the soul after the deathof the temporal body, or doth it speak of the things which aretemporal?Nephi’s Brethren 32 And it came to pass that I said unto them that it was arepresentation of things both temporal and spiritual; for theday should come that they must be judged of their works,yea, even the works which were done by the temporal bodyin their days of probation. 33 Wherefore, if they should diein their wickedness they must be cast off also, as to thethings which are spiritual, which are pertaining torighteousness; wherefore, they must be brought to standbefore God, to be judged of their works; and if their workshave been filthiness they must needs be filthy; and if theybe filthy it must needs be that they cannot dwell in thekingdom of God; if so, the kingdom of God must be filthyalso.NephiValley of Lemuelnear Red Sea600 to 593 B.C.34 But behold, I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy,and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God;wherefore there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared forthat which is filthy. 35 And there is a place prepared, yea, even thatawful hell of which I have spoken, and the devil is the preparatorof it; wherefore the final state of the souls of men is to dwell in thekingdom of God, or to be cast out because of that justice of whichI have spoken. 36 Wherefore, the wicked are rejected from therighteous, and also from that tree of life, whose fruit is mostprecious and most desirable above all other fruits; yea, and it is thegreatest of all the gifts of God.And thus I spake unto my brethren. Amen.1 AND now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made anend of speaking to my brethren, behold they said unto me:Thou hast declared unto us hard things, more than we are able tobear.Nephi’s Brethren2 And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that Ihad spoken hard things against the wicked, according to thetruth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified thatthey should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the guiltytaketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the verycenter. 3 And now my brethren, if ye were righteous andwere willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it,that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye would notmurmur because of the truth, and say:NephiThou speakest hard things against us.Nephi’s Brethren4 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did exhort my brethren,with all diligence, to keep the commandments of the Lord.Nephi 5 And it came to pass that they did humble themselvesbefore the Lord; insomuch that I had joy and great hopes ofthem, that they would walk in the paths of righteousness. 6Now, all these things were said and done as my father dweltin a tent in the valley which he called Lemuel.NephiValley of Lemuelnear Red Sea600 to 593 B.C.