All the ways of saving the righteous and destroying the wicked in 1 Nephi 22

In 1 Nephi 22, Nephi takes some time to give some very general reassurances about the latter-day struggle.

13 And the blood of that great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall turn upon their own heads; for they shall war among themselves, and the sword of their own hands shall fall upon their own heads, and they shall be drunken with their own blood.

14 And every nation which shall war against thee, O house of Israel, shall be turned one against another, and they shall fall into the pit which they digged to ensnare the people of the Lord. And all that fight against Zion shall be destroyed, and that great whore, who hath perverted the right ways of the Lord, yea, that great and abominable church, shall tumble to the dust and great shall be the fall of it.

15 For behold, saith the prophet, the time cometh speedily that Satan shall have no more power over the hearts of the children of men; for the day soon cometh that all the proud and they who do wickedly shall be as stubble; and the day cometh that they must be burned.

16 For the time soon cometh that the fulness of the wrath of God shall be poured out upon all the children of men; for he will not suffer that the wicked shall destroy the righteous.

17 Wherefore, he will preserve the righteous by his power, even if it so be that the fulness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore, the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire.

18 Behold, my brethren, I say unto you, that these things must shortly come; yea, even blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke must come; and it must needs be upon the face of this earth; and it cometh unto men according to the flesh if it so be that they will harden their hearts against the Holy One of Israel.

20 And the Lord will surely prepare a way for his people, unto the fulfilling of the words of Moses, which he spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that all those who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people.

21 And now I, Nephi, declare unto you, that this prophet of whom Moses spake was the Holy One of Israel; wherefore, he shall execute judgment in righteousness.

22 And the righteous need not fear, for they are those who shall not be confounded. But it is the kingdom of the devil, which shall be built up among the children of men, which kingdom is established among them which are in the flesh—

23 For the time speedily shall come that all churches which are built up to get gain, and all those who are built up to get power over the flesh, and those who are built up to become popular in the eyes of the world, and those who seek the lusts of the flesh and the things of the world, and to do all manner of iniquity; yea, in fine, all those who belong to the kingdom of the devil are they who need fear, and tremble, and quake; they are those who must be brought low in the dust; they are those who must be consumed as stubble; and this is according to the words of the prophet.

24 And the time cometh speedily that the righteous must be led up as calves of the stall, and the Holy One of Israel must reign in dominion, and might, and power, and great glory.

25 And he gathereth his children from the four quarters of the earth; and he numbereth his sheep, and they know him; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd; and he shall feed his sheep, and in him they shall find pasture.

26 And because of the righteousness of his people, Satan has no power; wherefore, he cannot be loosed for the space of many years; for he hath no power over the hearts of the people, for they dwell in righteousness, and the Holy One of Israel reigneth. (1 Nephi 22:13-26)

This section has seemed rather ambiguous to me because it is hard to pin down exactly what is meant about how the righteous would be saved from the wicked and how the wicked would be destroyed. In some places it seems the righteous will be saved by power, other places they are saved by the destruction of their enemies by fire, other places they are saved as their enemies are cut off or as Christ executes righteous judgment.

Similarly, the wicked are destroyed or tumble to the dust in a great fall, or they fall into the pit they digged for the righteous, or they fight each other and destroy each other, or they suffer the fullness of God’s wrath, or they are cut off, or they are burned as stubble with fire, or suffer with blood and vapors of smoke, or they are brought low.

In the past I have automatically assumed this all happens at the coming of Christ. But now I’m not so sure if it all happens then. Some of the events seem mutually exclusive ways of being destroyed or saved. For instance, if the wicked kill the wicked, then their destruction isn’t at the Lord’s coming; it’s earlier. And while the wicked will be burned at Christ’s coming, that doesn’t stop the wicked from burning each other earlier.

Eventually I decided this is a case when Nephi lumped it all together. One or other of these different ways will be true at some time, so ti is sort of a multi-purpose prophecy. Its not linear like the Book of Revelation. It’s sort of like saying, “The righteous will be saved by option1/ option2/ option3 /option4 /option5 while their enemies will be destroyed by optionA /optionB /optionC /optionD /optionE.”

Of course I could be wrong.  What do you think?

Nephi’s workings in the Spirit

For behold, I have workings in the spirit, which doth weary me even that all my joints are weak, for those who are at Jerusalem; for had not the Lord been merciful, to show unto me concerning them, even as he had prophets of old, I should have perished also. (1 Nephi 19:20)

The thing that impresses me about this verse is how Nephi continues to think of those people he knew and left behind at Jerusalem. It must have been a solemn thing to know the people one knows have either been killed or carried away captive.

And he doesn’t think of them with any kind of scorn here; you can tell that he sees that he might have been one of them, and it was the Lord’s mercy that saved him from suffering the same fate.  And too, he realized that if he didn’t stay faithful, he could still perish. You get a sense that he felt the precariousness of spirituality that required continual nurturing.

Some thoughts on Signs before the Second Coming from Joseph Smith--Matthew

30 And again, because iniquity shall abound, the love of men shall wax cold; but he that shall not be overcome, the same shall be saved.

31 And again, this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come, or the destruction of the wicked;

32 And again shall the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, be fulfilled.

33 And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

34 Verily, I say unto you, this generation, in which these things shall be shown forth, shall not pass away until all I have told you shall be fulfilled.

35 Although, the days will come, that heaven and earth shall pass away; yet my words shall not pass away, but all shall be fulfilled.

36 And, as I said before, after the tribulation of those days, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn; and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory;

37 And whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived, for the Son of Man shall come, and he shall send his angels before him with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together the remainder of his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.(Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:30-37)

These verses describe a sequence of events to watch for:

1)    Iniquity abounding, causing love to turn cold,

2)    The gospel preached to all nations

3)    The destruction of the wicked, the abomination of desolation

4)    The sun and moon darkened, stars falling from heaven, powers of heaven shaken

5)    All fulfilled in a generation

6)    Christ comes in heaven

One thing that would confuse me about this sequence is that I would read about the destruction of the wicked (v31-32) and automatically assume that was because Christ came and destroyed them. Then, it would puzzle me that Christ’s coming is mentioned apparently again in v36 as though it hadn’t happened yet.

I have since figured out that Christ’s coming is not at the destruction of the wicked described in v31-32. The destruction happens because the wicked will be destroying each other. This follows a pattern that is seen in history when the gospel is preached and rejected. Mormon observed the wicked Nephites in his day who rejected the truth were destroyed by wicked Lamanites. (Christ didn’t have to come to do that.) The wicked Jews were destroyed by the Romans in 70AD; Christ didn’t have to come to do that.

It’s kind of a scary thing to think about, but I think v34 gives some comfort when it says these things will happen in the space of one generation. Depending on how long a generation is defined, that is 30-60 years.

Something else I notice from these verses is that the gospel is preached to all nations, but by the time Christ comes, all the tribes of the earth mourn. So nations will have been broken down into tribes by all the destruction and tribulation, much like the Nephite government was broken into tribes.

Along with these difficult things, I think it is worthwhile to point out what we are told we need to do. I like noticing the counsel because it helps me feel less powerless and more hopeful that the tribulations can be survived and turn for our good, like a refiners fire.

Verse 30 tells us that while iniquity abounds and love waxes cold, “he that shall not be overcome, the same shall be saved.”  It is going to be a struggle for everyone, but if we don’t give up and don’t allow ourselves to be overcome, we’ll be all right.  So whatever you do, don’t give up!

Verse 31 tells us the gospel will be preached as a witness to all nations. That implies being a part of missionary work will help us. We can be good examples, stand for the right, testify to how living gospel principles has blessed us, and share the gospel.

Verse 32 seems scary because of talking about the abomination of desolation, and it doesn’t seem to have instruction about what to do there, but I notice that there is a similar prediction in v12 that does have something applicable, and it may help in the future as well.

When you, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, then you shall stand in the holy place; whoso readeth let him understand. (v12)

So when we see the abomination of desolation, stand in the holy place.  To me that means that the more uncivil and murderous people become, the more we need to resist the anger and be kind, and seek out our refuge in the temple, and make our homes sacred places, and meet with the Saints.  Countering the anger and violence with peace and kindness is not easy. Here in the United States we’ve seen lots of incivility surrounding our last election and “abomination of desolation” evokes so much worse than that. But goodness has to be counter-cultural.

Verse 35 assures us that Christ’s words will all be fulfilled, so we will have much to look forward to, watching for those signs and events to take place.

Verse 37 tells us that whoso treasures up Christ’s word will not be deceived, so reading and cleaving to the principles and doctrines found in the scriptures will save us from being beguiled by the ways of the world that would flatter us away to destruction.

So our safety comes from:

·      Not giving up

·      Participating in missionary work

·      Stand in the holy place

·      Watch for the signs of Christ’s coming

·      Treasure up Christ’s word

Selective destruction

It is interesting to think about how the righteous may have escaped the destruction in the Americas at the death of Christ.

12 And it was the more righteous part of the people who were saved, and it was they who received the prophets and stoned them not; and it was they who had not shed the blood of the saints, who were spared—

13 And they were spared and were not sunk and buried up in the earth; and they were not drowned in the depths of the sea; and they were not burned by fire, neither were they fallen upon and crushed to death; and they were not carried away in the whirlwind; neither were they overpowered by the vapor of smoke and of darkness.

14 And now, whoso readeth, let him understand; he that hath the scriptures, let him search them, and see and behold if all these deaths and destructions by fire, and by smoke, and by tempests, and by whirlwinds, and by the opening of the earth to receive them, and all these things are not unto the fulfilling of the prophecies of many of the holy prophets. (3 Nephi 10:12-14)

First, I have to say that I feel rather cheated that we don’t have Zenos and Zenock and Jacob-Israel’s words about these things, since Mormon cites them particularly in following verses as prophets who testified of these destructions. The way Mormon challenges the reader to search the scriptures and see for ourselves, it is evident he thought we would have those particular prophecies.

However, at least we have a different source that prophesied of those destructions—Nephi saw it all in his sweeping visions of world history. While some would dismiss that as too easy for the Book of Mormon to be self-referential this way, I think it is an instance where we are presented with a choice to believe the account or not. 

Another thing that fascinates me about these verses is how clear-cut the division is between the righteous who survived and the wicked who didn’t. I wonder if the righteous were gathered out of the most dangerous areas, or whether disasters were so precision-targeted to the wicked that no righteous people nearby were killed along with them.

Really, it could be either way. The Book of Mormon has a number of instances when the righteous were led out from among the wicked before the wicked were destroyed. Also, before the destruction at Christ’s death, the tribes were already stoning the prophets and casting them out, so to a certain degree they were self-sorting.

But some disasters can be so isolated as to seem selective.  For example, who has not seen aerial photos of the path of a tornado that demolishes the houses in its path, yet leaves other houses next door still standing?  I also recently watched a Nova TV program on sinkholes, and there was a story of a family who had a sink hole open up just under one bedroom and swallow up the brother or brother-in-law of the owner such that he died. The owner was conflicted because on one hand that room had previously been that of his young child, but the child had been moved to a different bedroom. So one of his family was saved, and another perished.

I am not giving these examples to suggest that people who suffer these disasters are wicked and are being punished. (I’m sure we have people tested like Job at the same time there are Sodoms and Gomorrahs.)  I’m using them to illustrate the precision these disasters can have.    But I think if the Lord chooses, He can use them to weed out the wicked. I also imagine that if/when in the future the Lord uses disasters this way, the inhabitants of each place will know it.  Also, Christ announced to the righteous people that the destruction among them happened because of wickedness, and they also had prophecies to refer to that told them such a thing would happen, and when it did, they realized the prophecies had been fulfilled. The Lord didn’t want them to have any doubt on that score.

I notice that Mormon doesn’t look at it as selective destruction, but actually points out instead who was saved.  To me the story underlines how physical salvation is strongly linked to spiritual salvation. It is yet another way of expressing the message, “Repent and be saved.”

The Survival of Coriantumr As a Type

I was thinking about Ether’s prophecy that the Jaredite king Coriantumr would survive all his people and witness their entire destruction, and I realized it was a type of Christ. Except it is sort of a what-if type that reveals the eternal consequences of not repenting.

Ether requires the king to repent to save the whole kingdom, so it is as if the king is responsible for all the sins of his people.  We know personal responsibility is not like that, so it should tip us off that it is a type of how Christ was required to take all the sins of the world upon himself to save them from destruction.

In the Jaredite story, Coriantumr chooses to not repent, so everyone else ends up dead except for him, and this shows us that if Christ had not taken our sins upon him, He would be the only alive one and everyone else would be dead forever.  (That's where the what-if part comes in. It's a "What if Christ hadn't died for us?" type that shows us what would have happened.)

On the way to Jaredite destruction, there is another incident where Coriantumr’s enemy Shiz offers him a chance to save the people if he will only give up his own life. (Coriantumr again refuses.) The type represented in Shiz’s offer is a little more obvious.

I think the type in the Jaredite destruction helps increase our gratitude for the Atonement of Christ.

 

Thank goodness for it!

The Remnant of Israel as a Lion or a Bull

15 And I say unto you, that if the Gentiles do not repent after the blessing which they shall receive, after they have scattered my people—

16 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.

17 Thy hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.

18 And I will gather my people together as a man gathereth his sheaves into the floor.

19 For I will make my people with whom the Father hath covenanted, yea, I will make thy horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass. And thou shalt beat in pieces many people; and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth. And behold, I am he who doeth it.

20 And it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that the sword of my justice shall hang over them at that day; and except they repent it shall fall upon them, saith the Father, yea, even upon all the nations of the Gentiles.

21 And it shall come to pass that I will establish my people, O house of Israel. (3 Nephi 20:15-21)

I’ve puzzled over these verses a long time and I feel like I’m beginning to understand it better, so I want to share what I’ve learned. But I recognize that I still have a lot to learn, so my understanding may change over time.

There are two different images used here to represent remnants of the house of Israel. One is of a lion that tears beasts of the forest and flocks of sheep in pieces.  The other is of a raging bull with iron horns and brass hooves that beats many people in pieces.

I previously thought that they were meant to represent the same group of people, but I have recently started to realize that they actually represent two different groups, which is a bit of a relief to me.

The first key for understanding is in the nature of the creatures represented.  We have a lion and we have a bull.  The lion is a wild predatory animal.  But the bull is a domesticated animal. The bull is still dangerous, but he has an owner who has given him iron horns and has fitted him with brass hooves.

This suggests to me that we have two different remnants of Israel. There is a wild remnant and the tame remnant.

Evidently the wild remnant does not even know it is a remnant of Israel. Among all the beasts of the forest (who are also wild) this “lion” remnant is the scariest of the scary.  It fascinates me that the Lord doesn’t disavow this remnant.  Even though it is wild and violent, it is still part of Jacob.

The domesticated remnant is referred to as “my people with whom the Father hath covenanted,” which suggests members of the church.  But we have all this violent imagery of trampling (and probably goring too) with iron horns and brass hooves.  What are we to make of that?

I suspect that the iron horn and brass hooves are to represent the spiritual power that the Lord gives His covenant people.  Horns are many times representative of power. They are everywhere used in the Old Testament to symbolize and suggest power. 

What about the trampling and beating in pieces?  I think this is supposed to be connected with wheat harvest imagery, since the verse before it (v18) says the Lord would gather his people like sheaves into the floor.  Once the sheaves are gathered, the grain has to be separated from the chaff, and the trampling is part of that.  To me, this suggests the processes of missionary work, calls to repentance, spiritual refinement, and the making of choices that will either prove the salvation or damnation of those who make them.  The preaching of the Word has a tendency to divide people on one side or the other. Either people accept it, or they reject it and fight it. This might be said to “beat many people in pieces.”

Let’s go back to the lion imagery of the other remnant.  The lion goes among the beasts of the forest and tears them in pieces. These forest beasts might be interpreted as people who are not spiritually domesticated, yet less wild than the lions. The forest beasts have no protection, and they also don’t seek it.  So they simply suffer, which is sad.  The lion also is among flocks of sheep, which are domesticated.. but we have to ask ourselves, “Where is these flocks’ shepherd?”  Based on their destruction, we have to conclude that they either have no shepherd, or their shepherd does not protect them (which means they have the wrong shepherd).

So in these verses, the Lord is trying to tell us that he will use His covenant people to preach the gospel, but He will also use fierce, spiritually ignorant remnants of his people to 1) try to bring the Gentiles to repentance, and to 2) destroy the wicked.

So we members are not meant to be lions. We never were. (Thank goodness!)  We supposed to be the servant bull--doing the harvest and threshing tasks of missionary work (which some people disapprove of and consider mean and violent, but that’s their problem, not ours.)

I personally think the lions sound a lot like terrorists and their attacks, but time may suggest additional interpretations that fit better.

If we’re told there will be lions that tear people in pieces, do we just stand by and watch?  No, the lions must be destroyed when they appear because after all, they are the worst. They can’t be allowed to run amok when they emerge.  But I think the Lord means their periodic appearance to be a reminder that life can be ended unexpectedly and immediate repentance is necessary. 

These scriptures demonstrate the Lord’s foreknowledge of these things. Some might argue, “If the Lord knew these things ahead of time, why doesn’t He stop them?”  He can do that, but that’s not the only way He can save.  He can also allow the evil to happen (letting evil people have their choice) and then He can make good come out it anyway.  He can take evil and turn it into a victory for good, and save people from the evil that has happened to them.  He can do that because He suffered for all those who are killed or torn in pieces by the lions. 

Isaiah 23 and the prophecy against Tyre

Isaiah 23 is a prophecy against the city of Tyre, which was a rich commercial port.  I’m going to point out a few interesting things and puzzling things about this chapter.

1 The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.

2 Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.

3 And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.

4 Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins.

5 As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre.

6 Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle.

7 Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.  (Isaiah 23:1-7)

If the prophecy is about Tyre, why are all these other places mentioned—Tarshish, Chittim, Zidon, and Sihor?  I suppose those other places had ports that depended upon Tyre to buy their goods, or received the goods they needed from Tyre. You can imagine that if your market for your goods disappeared, you’d be distressed. Likewise, if your main supplier disappeared, you would be very worried.

“she is a mart of nations” – Tyre was like a Wal-mart for countries. 

Verse 4 is very interesting to me. It implies that some of these people needed a reminder that the sea—the way they transported or received their goods—was not as important as their families.  The sea might provide a living, but wasn’t the entity that birthed their children, or taught them, or nurtured them. They might have been so focused on making money, that they forgot their families were the important thing.  This is like an ancient wake-up call for workaholics, isn’t it?

The next section tells us who decided this destruction should happen and why.

8 Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?

9 The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.

10 Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.

11 He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the Lord hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof.

12 And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.

13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.

14 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste. (Isaiah 23:8-14)

The Lord decided to bring that destruction in order to humble the proud and the rich. Humbled people are more likely to repent, and the Lord wanted to save them, but their riches had created a feeling of self-sufficiency that precluded that kind of humility.  Sudden destruction and financial set-backs would humble them.

The principles still apply today. Too comfortable circumstances tend to make us more hard-hearted and deaf to the Lord’s appeals.  Financial set-backs tend to humble us.  How much better is it to humble ourselves regardless of our circumstances!

The next part has some puzzling elements:

15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.

16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.

17 ¶And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.

18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing. (Isaiah 23:15-18)

The puzzling thing here is the idea that Tyre would sing as a harlot, turn to her hire, and commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world—all of which has a very negative connotation—but at the same time the Lord would visit Tyre and her merchandise would be holiness to the Lord (consecrated), and her merchandise would be for them that dwell before the Lord—all of which as a very positive connotation and implies following the law of consecration.

What are we to make of this?  The question we might ask ourselves is, is it possible for people committing fornication to follow the law of consecration?  Probably not.  Even the early Saints of this dispensation had a hard time with consecration, so it doesn’t make sense for people committing sins of immorality to succeed at it.

This means there is an alternate meaning for fornication in this instance.  I suspect Isaiah uses it as a particularly crude way of referring to “doing business” because of the way business contracts and agreements tend to be temporary and continue only so long as both parties want them to.  Kind of a gross comparison, but that makes it a little easier to see what Isaiah is trying to say here.  

So, I think Isaiah’s message is that though Tyre would be forgotten for a generation or two after destruction, eventually Tyre would rebuild itself and regain its commercial status.  It would sing as an harlot (advertise enticingly to get business) and regain status as a center of commerce.  And the Lord would visit it.  This might mean the Lord would favor the city, or it might mean that the Lord would have many believers there.  At any rate, the people of Tyre would have learned an important lesson, and instead of hoarding their wealth, they would consecrate it to the Lord, and that wealth would be used to help the poor.

The overall lesson from this chapter for us today is that financial crashes and destruction are a wake-up call, an opportunity to humble ourselves, reexamine our priorities, and repent.  Then, in the rebuild, if we can keep from setting our hearts on riches and instead consecrate, we will be part of bringing Zion again.

Survivor’s guilt versus the Lord’s assessment on sin in 3 Nephi 8-9

When the destruction among the Nephites happens at Christ’s death, there is a curious contradiction between the people’s cries of mourning and regret and the Lord’s words about where the fault lay.

The people say one thing and Christ says another.

24 And in one place they were heard to cry, saying: O that we had repented before this great and terrible day, and then would our brethren have been spared, and they would not have been burned in that great city Zarahemla.

25 And in another place they were heard to cry and mourn, saying: O that we had repented before this great and terrible day, and had not killed and stoned the prophets, and cast them out; then would our mothers and our fair daughters, and our children have been spared, and not have been buried up in that great city Moronihah. And thus were the howlings of the people great and terrible. (3 Nephi 8:24-25)

The people exclaim that if they had repented and not stoned the prophets, their brethren and families would have been spared.  It is as if they claim it is their fault and that innocent others were destroyed in punishment for that guilt.

Christ has something different to say.

2 Wo, wo, wo unto this people; wo unto the inhabitants of the whole earth except they shall repent; for the devil laugheth, and his angels rejoice, because of the slain of the fair sons and daughters of my people; and it is because of their iniquity and abominations that they are fallen!

3 Behold, that great city Zarahemla have I burned with fire, and the inhabitants thereof. . . .

5 And behold, that great city Moronihah have I covered with earth, and the inhabitants thereof, to hide their iniquities and their abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints shall not come any more unto me against them. . . .

12 And many great destructions have I caused to come upon this land, and upon this people, because of their wickedness and their abominations.

13 O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you? (3 Nephi 9:2-3, 5, 12-13)

Christ, on the other hand, tells them the people slain had been wicked and those who were spared were more righteous, although they still needed to repent.

I think this shows us several things.  First, people tend to attribute responsibility to themselves for the destruction of their family members, even if those who were destroyed were wicked.  (“If we would have repented, these family members would have been spared.”)  We know from the D&C that parents are responsible for the guilt of the children if the children are not taught right, but when those who sin do it in full knowledge of their rebellion, it is another story.  To the survivors it can feel like a punishment when it is actually more of a deliverance.  So when Jesus says those who had been spared had been more righteous, He absolves them of the guilt they don’t deserve to feel, though He still tells them they need to turn to Him and repent.

I think Satan would love people to feel responsible for sins they didn’t commit because then he can destroy their peace. Jesus, on the other hand, wants us to be free from guilt. He put the responsibility where it really belonged so they could be free of undeserved guilt, and He also extended the invitation to repent of their sins so they could become free from deserved guilt.  

It is also interesting to see who is mourned in the city of Moronihah and who is left out.  They mourn for their mothers, fair daughters, and their children, but there is no mention of fathers, wives, or fair sons, so it is possible those were saved. 

It is peculiar that mothers, fair daughters, and children were killed because usually we’d think of these groups as being some of the tender and innocent.  But because of Christ’s statement about the destruction falling on the iniquitous and abominable, we must conclude that He was just and they were corrupted.  I could speculate a good long time on why the families were divided along those particular lines, and I can think of at least three plausible scenarios about how this happened, but ultimately it’s not terribly important.  The important thing was that it shows us that the Lord has the power to save or destroy very specifically, even with large disasters.

Other observations can be made about what Christ told the people about the destruction.  A lot of cities are listed that were destroyed, but there were also a lot of cities we’ve heard of in the Book of Mormon in other places that were not mentioned in the list, so we can probably assume that the damage to them wasn’t so horrific that all the people died in them too.

There is also a range of severity in the destruction and condemnation. Zerahemla and Moronihah had great destruction, but they also had people associated with them that remained alive to mourn the loss of those who died there.  There is no such thing recorded of the other cities – Moroni, Gilgal, Onihah, Mocum, Jerusalem, Gadiandi, Gadiomnah, Jacob, Gimgimno, Jacobugath, Laman, Josh, Gad, and Kishkumen.

Also, all of the cities mentioned have it noted of them that the inhabitants were slain “that the blood of the prophets and saints shall not come any more unto me against them,” but the cities of Laman, Josh, Gad, and Kishkumen come in for especial condemnation for 1) casting out and stoning the prophets and those sent by God to declare unto them concerning their wickedness and abominations (3 Nephi 9:10) and 2) casting ALL of them out so there were no righteous among them (v11) and they were destroyed so that the blood of the prophets and saints “might not cry unto me from the ground against them.” (v11)

So, some cities just had the righteous blood come up to God, but the extra wicked cities had righteous blood crying to God against them. To me this implies degrees of violence, one perhaps being abuse and injury, but the other implying murder, much like Abel’s blood cried to God against Cain.  It also seems like most of the cities still allowed the righteous to stay among them, but the extra wicked cities kicked them all out.

The Lord mentions that prophets and others had been sent to those cities Laman, Josh, Gad, and Kishkumen to declare their wickedness to them, which makes me think those cities had no local people to tell them. They needed imported prophets and warnings. I wonder if those were cities formed by Gadianton robbers for the purpose of having their own special enclave, or whether the robbers had just taken over a place and gradually got rid of everyone who dared to warn them of their perfidy.  Kishkumen  could easily be a city of just Gadianton robbers, since it is stated elsewhere that cities were named after their first founder.

Jacobugath also comes in for special condemnation because in addition to the blood of prophets and saints, they also 1) committed murders, 2) had secret combinations, and 3) destroyed the peace of the people and the government of the land. It is very significant that He calls their wickedness “above all the wickedness of the whole earth” (v9).   This is probably because the secret combination created such a synergy of coordinated, corporatized evil greater than just individuals and it affected the whole land by destroying the credibility of government and causing the government to be destroyed. (Yet another reason to avoid secret combinations or group-organized evil…) 

The way the Lord says multiple times that He destroyed these places “to hide their iniquities and abominations from before my face” is a great reminder that even if we think our sins are secret, the Lord can still see them.  We can’t hide them from the Lord; apparently only death does that.  And even if they are hidden from the Lord for His relief, they still exist and have to be repented of and had to be atoned for.  And it reminds me that as Christ is the one who atoned for all of our sins and even the worst of what these people did, He would not let them continue to go on in it indefinitely. He removed them from life to stop them.  And we see that He had warned them all, even the worst of them.

After all the tale of destruction has been told, I love that Christ says to those who remain, “Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.” (3 Nephi 9:14)  Maybe they didn’t feel like they had more chance to repent and all this destruction was a punishment, but Christ still extended mercy in the middle of it.  Their lives were extended and that was a mercy. The invitation to repent and return was given, and that was extended mercy. They were not beyond help.

I’ve noticed and Elder Bednar pointed out in the recent Christmas devotional that Christ saved a bunch of Christians among the Nephites simply by being born, but I think it could also be said that He saved a bunch of Christians through the signs of His death as well.  We don’t have the accounts of all the circumstances whereby those who were saved were guiding to remove them from danger in those natural cataclysms while the wicked from the same families were destroyed. But it is evident that His death saved many, not just spiritually, but temporally.  With every major event of His life, Christ was the means of saving those who believed in Him, and His second coming will be another event of salvation for the righteous.