THE FIRST BOOK OF NEPHI
HIS REIGN AND MINISTRY
CHAPTER 12
Nephi sees in vision: the land of promise; the righteousness, iniquity, and downfall of its inhabitants; the coming of the Lamb of God among them; how the twelve disciples and the twelve apostles shall judge Israel; the loathsome and filthy state of those who dwindle in unbelief. [Between 600 and 592 B.C.]
[ Nephi see a practical application of the symbolism used in chapter 11. The setting for this chapter is the New World. ]
1 AND it came to pass that the angel said unto me: Look, and behold thy seed, [ Nephi is still in the old world, the Lord begins the preparation of Nephi for what he will endure over the next seven years as he listen's to and deals with the rebellion of Laman and Lemuel. As a result of this vision Nephi begins to understand the importance of what he is about to be tasked in doing. ] and also the seed of thy brethren. And I looked and beheld the land of promise; [ Remember that at about the same time Ezekiel is seen a vision going forward, however the vision that Ezekiel see's is symbolic - all of the dry bone. Here Nephi is seeing a vision of things, the people exactly as they will be, not symbolically. As a result he knew full well what was to come to the people on this contentient. The trails that would await his offspring, but was only allowed to write a part of what he knew. He was free however to quote Isaiah as much as he wanted. This is why we see so much from the writings of Isaiah in the Books that Nephi brought forward. ] and I beheld multitudes of people, yea, even as it were in number as many as the sand of the sea. [ Direct reference to previous predictions found Gen 22:17. ]
2 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.
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. [ Either he lost count or there were just
so many that he could not keep track of them - he was overwhelmed. Compare
to Lehis experience where he was overwhelmed by something else. 1 Ne
15:27. ]
4 And it came to pass that I saw a
mist of darkness [ This
time it is not figurative or symbolic but a real mist of darkness caused
by the great destruction and all of the dust and ash in the air. 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.
[ What was the cause of
such destruction? caused
by the crucifixion of the Savior. ]
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 [ "not" was
added in the 1981 edition of the BofM as a result of the LDS Church obtaining
access from the RLDS Church of the original printer's manuscript of the
BofM. It was present in the manuscript but not in the 1st Ed. BofM. ] fallen
because of the great and terrible judgments of the Lord. [ Those who
have been passed over by the judgements of God, the righteous - those
who would witness vs 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.
7 And I also saw and bear record that the Holy Ghost fell upon twelve others; and they were ordained of God, and chosen.
8 And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold
the Twelve Disciples of the Lamb, who are chosen to minister unto thy seed. [ See fulfillment in 3 Ne 12:1. ]
9 And he said unto me: Thou rememberest the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb? [ Since Nephi is being taught he is reminded that these are the same 12 whom he was who first shown in 1 Ne 11:29. ] Behold they are they who shall judge [ The word judgment may be misleading. The usual meaning of the word to us in the twentieth century is to pass sentence or determine innocence or guilt. This interpretation, however, gives only half of the broader meaning as used in the Book of Mormon concerning the judgment of Christ. It speaks of the judgment of Christ as a time of reward as well as a time of accountability for the acts of mortals. It is similar to the biblical injunction of “being weighed in the balances” (Dan. 5:27), where consideration is given to both the positive and the negative acts of the individual. It further clarifies that there will be apostles or special witnesses at the judgment seat of Christ to testify in behalf of or against the persons being judged. ] the
twelve tribes of Israel; wherefore, the twelve ministers
of thy seed shall be judged of them; [ As well
as any other apostles that the Lord might have chosen among those peoples
who are lost. see Doc of Salvation pg 158-159. ] for
ye are of the house
of Israel.
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.
11 And the angel said unto me: Look! And I looked, and
beheld three generations
pass away in righteousness; and their garments were white [ To
have white garments symbolizes that a person is clothed in purity, or
that purity is a characteristic of that individual. Such cleanliness
is made possible only through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ,
in which His blood was shed for our sins. ] even
like unto the Lamb of God. And the angel said unto me: These
are made white in the blood of the Lamb, [ See
Lev 17:11 for the source of this statement. White is the symbol of righteousness,
cleanliness and holiness. Being completely clean is necessary to be like
the Savior. To have white garments symbolizes that a person is clothed
in purity, or that purity is a characteristic of that individual. Such
cleanliness is made possible only through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus
Christ, in which His blood was shed for our sins. ] because of their
faith in him.
12 And I, Nephi, also saw many of
the fourth generation
who passed away in righteousness. [ So in summary of verse 11 & 12 all
of the third generation and many of the fourth generations which would
be approximately 3 Ne 8 - the period that contained the great destruction
all the way to 4 Ne 1:24 when thing begin to go bad again. ]
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.
16 And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the fountain [ The beginning, the head, the source. ] of filthy water which thy father saw; [ The record that we have of Lehi's dream is that he see's a river; but there is no reference to it being filthy - Why? Referring to 1 Ne 8. What reasons are there that Lehi would have not recognized that the river was dirty? Lehi was spending his energy in looking more at who was where (Sariah, Sam and Nephi at the head what they were doing - and where were the others?) , that he simply overlooked the condition of the water. It was not as important to him at the time. Is the same vision different for each Lehi and Nephi? Why? See 1 Ne 15: 27 for what Lehi see's and mentions as important. ] yea, even the river of which he spake; and the depths thereof are the depths of hell. [ So there is no mistake as to the filthy river and its purpose, the source is equivalent to the depths of hell - So who would the source then be? How is it at all possible that the waters are the same things as the tree of life and the filthy waters of hell? (1 Ne. 11:25) The answer is that where the Tree is the waters are sweet, where it is not they are filthy. ]
17 And the mists of
darkness are the temptations of the devil, [ Not
only is Satan the source of the river, but he also try's to deceive using the
following means 1) Blind eyes; 2) Hardened hearts; 3) Broad roads. ] which blindeth
the eyes, [ How
does Satan blind our eyes?,
It is ok once, no one will know, helps us justify whatever we want to
do. The more we do it the less we see, the farther we move from the truth
the less we see See 2 Peter 1:9 the opposite of blindness is the ability
to see; as we acquire the attributes of God we see things, spiritual
things And
the less blindness exists in their lives. The Prophet Joseph Smith explained
that not only could Laman and Lemuel have known and seen the things Nephi
and his father knew, but that this principle applies to us as well: “Could
we all come together with one heart and one mind in perfect faith the
veil might as well be rent today as next week, or any other time” (Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, see. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 9). “God
hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what He will make known unto
the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he
is able to bear them” (History of the Church, 3:380). so
what is the consequence of blind eyes in relation to God? We
cannot have the revelations that God would entrust to use. ] and
hardeneth the hearts [ The
heart Symbolic representation? typifying
our conduct, our desires, emotions, spiritual capacity - the place were
real conversion takes place. “If we harden our hearts, reject continuing
revelation, and limit our learning to what we can obtain by study and
reason on the precise language of the present canon of scriptures, our
understanding will be limited to what Alma called ‘the lesser portion
of the word’ (Alma 12:11). If we seek and accept revelation and inspiration
to enlarge our understanding of the scriptures, we will realize a fulfillment
of Nephi’s inspired promise that those who diligently seek will have
‘the mysteries of God . . . unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy
Ghost’ (1 Ne. 10:19)” (“Scripture Reading and Revelation,” Ensign, Jan.
1995, 7). ] of the
children of men, and leadeth
them away into broad roads,
[ Wide, denotes the ability to stay on the road but wander
from side to side, room to experiment, you can do whatever you want,
you are your own judge, eat drink and be marry, as opposed to the straight
and narrow road that leads back to the Father. ] that
they perish and are lost.
18 And the large and spacious building,
which thy father saw, is vain imaginations [
Conjured up ideas that are simply not true, things like there is no God,
There is no need to keep commandments and ordinances of God, eat drink
and be marry... ] 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, [there was a large gulf that divided them, it was caused
by the justice or judgement of God] and
the Messiah who is the Lamb of God,
[ 1st Edition BofM reads "and Jesus Christ which
is the Lamb of God".
I have not been able to determine why the change was made or who made
it. If this would have stood then this would have been the first mention of the name
Jesus Christ and not the mention found in 2 Ne.10:3 So just because it
is not written here then as Christ does not mean that Nephi did not know
the name of Christ, but that he just never mentioned or used it. Jesus Christ appears at 1 Nephi 12:18 in both the original and printer’s manuscripts as well as the 1830 edition. It was not until 1837 that Joseph Smith edited it to say Messiah, a reading that has continued to the present in the official editions of the Book of Mormon. Significantly, as Skousen pointed out, 1 Nephi 12:18 provides “a direct quote of the angel’s words to Nephi.” It is uncertain why Joseph Smith amended 1 Nephi 12:18 to say “the Messiah” instead of Jesus Christ.[13] Clearly, it makes no substantive difference in the meaning of the passage—both Messiah and Jesus Christ refer to the same person, who is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. So neither reading is a mistake or incorrect. Yet this change illustrates that even when variant readings make no difference in meaning, they can answer some questions, and being aware of them can be helpful.
There are over 100 name-titles used for Christ in the Book of Mormon.[14] With such a variety of epithets for the Savior at their disposal, different Nephite writers showed preferences for different name-titles.[15] Understanding what these preferences were, as well as the meaning of each of Christ’s names, often sheds light on the specific ways individual authors related to and understood the Savior.[16] This requires knowing what name-titles the original authors used, as can best be determined through the English translation. ] of
whom the Holy Ghost beareth record, from the beginning of the world until
this time, and from this time henceforth and forever.
19 And while the angel spake these
words, [ While the angel presented Nephi with the
symbolism outlined above; Nephi see the practical side or what they mean
to his brethren. ] I beheld and saw that the seed
of my brethren did contend against my seed, [the
practical application of his brethren being blinded and having hardened
hearts leads to war against each other] according
to the word of the angel; [and now he is specifically
told the consequences by 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. [ The Nephite nation is destroyed. ]
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.