1 Nephi 13

(All of my own thoughts are in blue type. red 4/20  Green 1/21orange 4/22 Brown 2023)

CHAPTER 13

Nephi sees in vision: the church of the devil the devils counterfeits everything Jesus does set up among the Gentiles; notice the church is set up among the Gentiles. That means it's Europe or America the discovery and colonizing of America; the loss of many plain and precious parts of the Bible; the resultant state of gentile apostasy; the restoration of the gospel, the coming forth of latter-day scripture, and the building up of Zion. Between 600 and 592 B.C.

  1 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld many nations and kingdoms.

  2 And the angel said unto me: What beholdest thou? I wonder if he asks this to be certain they are “seeing” the same thing, since it is a “vision”. Were there many things to look at so he needed his attention directed to a particular thing?  I wonder “how” that works when you are “seeing” the future. Or maybe the command to "look" opened some kind of portal...Another thought is the importance of teaching with questions. Check and see where the student is in their ability to see; their understanding. Teach where they are at. Keep them engaged. And I said: I behold many ^anations and kingdoms.

  3 And he said unto me: These are the nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles.

  4 And it came to pass that I saw among the nations More than one nation of the ^aGentiles the formation of a ^bgreat church.

  5 And the angel said unto me: Behold the formation of a ^achurch which is most abominable above all other churches, what “churches” would qualify as “other” churches? How is he defining "church"? Is it an organized gathering? Does it have to be directed towards the worship of God? (If it doesn't specifically say the church of the devil)  which ^bslayeth the saints of God, Notice the church of the devil wants to literally kill the saints of God. The saints of God believe people can worship how, where, or what they may...even the devil. But the devil cannot allow freedom of worship. He wants to be the one and only God (counterfeit) by force. yea, and tortureth them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a ^cyoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity. Is this literal? Sounds like it is. I just read a few things about the Crusades and the torture was beyond horrendous. It is hard to believe people can be so cruel to other people and in the name of God. Many of those tortured were given the choice to convert to Christianity or die. How is death by torture Christian? Unbelievable! I fear greatly when I read things like this and the hear Elder McConkie saying "All of the sorrows of the past are yet a foretaste of what is to come". How do we go through that or anything like that? I cannot bear the thought. God help us all! 

  6 And it came to pass that I beheld this ^agreat and ^babominable church; and I saw the ^cdevil that he was the founder of it. Clearly.

  7 And I also saw ^agold, and silver, and silks, and scarlets, and fine-twined ^blinen, and all manner of precious clothing; I will draw attention to this phrase throughout the Book of Mormon to show the correlation between dress and unrighteousness and I saw many harlots. Somehow, sexual sin is a mark of the devil's kingdom. Since he can never create life, and it is the greatest godly power we are given, he seeks to pervert it and mock it and let his demons possess the bodies of those engaged to try to "feel" something. (my guess)

  8 And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the gold, and the silver, and the silks, and the scarlets, and the fine-twined linen, and the precious clothing, and the harlots, are the ^adesires of this great and abominable church  A desire for none of these can be associated with a true church of God. Put in categories you would have: money, fine clothes (to set you apart as "better than"), lusts of the flesh, (next verse will add) praise and the power and influence that comes with it.
  9 And also for the ^apraise of the world do they ^bdestroy the saints of God, and bring them down into captivity. How is it that the world praises destroying others? Maybe these are the desires that qualify a church to be labeled “the church of the devil”

 10 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld many waters; Are these the waters they will cross themselves? and they divided the Gentiles from the seed of my brethren. This seems to place the Gentiles where this church of the devil is formed in Europe.

 11 And it came to pass that the angel said unto me: Behold the wrath of God is upon the seed of thy brethren. The American Indians

 12 And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and ^awrought upon the man; Columbus…and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land. America. Just did a quick search and it seems there's some debate about where he actually landed. But the general consensus is he never set foot on any lands that are considered the present day United States of America. He is presumed to have only gone to South America. Is that what Nephi saw? I believe the promised land is considered all of North and South America, but it also seems that the promises and curses associated with the promised land seem only to apply to the United States, because we have the most free form of democracy. The South Americans have democracies too, but haven't prospered like the US.

 13 And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; Pilgrims… and they went forth out of captivity, I am not a history scholar, but I don't think the Pilgrims were slaves, but they did not have religious freedom, so in that respect they were in captivity. There are many forms of "captivity". All sin makes us captive upon the many waters.

 14 And it came to pass that I beheld many ^amultitudes Settling of America…. of the Gentiles upon the ^bland of promise; and I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my brethren; and they were ^cscattered before the Gentiles and were smitten. What was going on with the Indian people that the wrath of God was still upon them? Could be an example of the sins of the fathers being visited upon the children for generations is at play here...

 15 And I beheld the Spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles, and they did prosper and ^aobtain the ^bland for their inheritance; This fulfills the prophecy that none should come to this land, save the Lord should lead them here.  Since the Lord brought them here, it becomes their land of inheritance. Makes me wonder how the Indians/Lamanites could stay on the land if they were not worshiping God. It seems like most Indian tribes worship a Great Spirit, so maybe that was enough and I beheld that they were white, and exceedingly fair and ^cbeautiful, like unto my people before they were ^dslain....Nephi remembers, sadly...footnotes to 'beautiful' suggest that he is talking about the whiteness that comes from being cleansed from sin. I am not convinced that the curse wasn't a literal dark skin. Skin color doesn't "make" you sinful, but children can carry the curses of their fathers. I think the church has softened this because of racial tensions from the left and the spirit of 'wokeness' that is spreading its poisen.

 16 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles who had gone forth out of captivity did humble themselves before the Lord; and the power of the Lord was ^awith them.  Humility…the key to accessing the power of the Lord. These were the founders of America. Truly this is the answer to all of our woes now in America. The power still lies in the individual lives of the citizens. If we would all return to God, his protection would return.

 17 And I beheld that their mother Gentiles England were gathered together upon the waters, and upon the land also, to battle against them.

 18 And I beheld that the power of God was with them, and also that the wrath of God was upon all those that were gathered together ^aagainst them to battle.

 19 And I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles that had gone out of captivity were ^adelivered by the power of God “In God We Trust”…and they did! And so should we! Do you trust God? If you do, then you will trust the words of his prophets that come from Christ, and follow them. out of the hands of all other nations. This nation was established by power of God, just as promised.

 20 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that they did prosper in the land; and I beheld a ^abook, Bible..and it was carried forth among them.

 21 And the angel said unto me: Knowest thou the meaning of the book? Nephi had only known "plates" not paper books...or not. In the new Book of Mormon videos, they show prophets writing on paper-like things to duplicate the word of God to share with others.

 22 And I said unto him: I know not.

 23 And he said: Behold it proceedeth out of the mouth of a Jew. And I, Nephi, beheld it; and he said unto me: The ^abook that thou beholdest is a ^brecord of the ^cJews, which contains the covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the house of Israel; and it also containeth many of the prophecies of the holy prophets; and it is a record like unto the engravings which are upon the ^dplates of brass, save there are not so many;  So the Bible is smaller than the plates of brass were, even though they only contained the Bible up to 600 BC…Or perhaps the reference is to the plates of brass not being as many as the 'book'. nevertheless, they contain the covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the house of Israel; wherefore, they are of great worth unto the Gentiles. Study the Bible as well…search the covenants God made to the House of Israel; they are important! But why are they important to the Gentiles? They are not part of the house of Israel…Perhaps the greatest covenant is the one that leads us to a remission of sins - IF we come before the Lord with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, THEN Christ will redeem us and baptize us with fire and with the Holy Ghost and we will become His children. The scriptures testify of this all the way back to Adam. 

 24 And the angel of the Lord said unto me: Thou hast beheld that the ^abook proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew; and when it proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew it contained the fulness of the gospel of the Lord, of whom the twelve apostles bear record; This is what apostles do and they bear record according to the truth which is in the Lamb of God. Jesus Christ is the source of truth.

 25 Wherefore, these things go forth from the ^aJews in purity unto the ^bGentiles, according to the truth which is in God. The New Testament contained the fullness of the Gospel when written. Before the apostasy, were the current NT writings taught to the Jews in book form? Just wondering when that all was put together into a book. We know that some of the NT is made of letters to the early saints by the apostles, but whether they were copied and distributed I don't know. But the angel is saying that the teachings of Jesus were taught to the Gentiles by the 12 apostles.

 26 And after they go forth by the ^ahand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews ^bunto the Gentiles, thou seest the formation of that ^cgreat and abominable ^dchurch, how can this not be the Catholic church?  They were the ones that had the Bible passed down to them and it was in their control…maybe it's not a church like we know it, but just the formation of the secret combination church of the devil which is most abominable above all other churches; for behold, they have ^etaken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are ^fplain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away. Still think it's the Catholics. A 'secret combination church' could not have changed the records and then the Pope innocently accept the secret changes?

 27 And all this have they done that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord, that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men. Why would they want to do this?  

 28 Wherefore, thou seest that after the book hath gone forth through the hands of the great and abominable church, that there are many plain and ^aprecious things taken away from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God. We begin to see the need for a restoration and for another book that would contain the fullness of the gospel.

 29 And after these plain and precious things were ^ataken away it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles; and after it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles, yea, even across the many waters which thou hast seen with the Gentiles which have gone forth out of captivity, thou seest—because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book, which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men, according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God—because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, an exceedingly great many do stumble, This is why we need the Book of Mormon AND the Bible yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them. Satan can do much damage with half-truths or the teaching of man mixed with some true scripture. We can be in Satan's power when we lose or ignore precious truths. What greater stumbling block could there be than to remove the plain and precious truth that leads to the love of God and redemption from the fall? The desire and need to be born again?

 30 Nevertheless, thou beholdest that the Gentiles who have gone forth out of captivity, and have been lifted up by the power of God above all other nations, upon the face of the land which is choice above all other lands, which is the land that the Lord God hath covenanted with thy father that his seed should have the Lamanites for the ^aland of their inheritance; wherefore, thou seest that the Lord God will not suffer that the Gentiles will utterly destroy the ^bmixture of thy ^cseed, by this time the Lamanites have mixed with "others" or is he referring to the mixture of Lamanites and Nephites? which are among thy brethren.

 31 Neither will he suffer that the Gentiles shall ^adestroy the seed of thy brethren. See, he first says the mixture of THY seed (Nephi) and the seed of they brethren (Lamanites)

 32 Neither will the Lord God suffer that the Gentiles shall forever remain in that awful state of blindness, until we have a fullness of the truth and understand it and embrace it, we too, are in an 'awful state of blindness' which thou beholdest they are in, because of the plain and most precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which have been kept back by that ^aabominable church, whose formation thou hast seen.

 33 Wherefore saith the Lamb of God: I will be ^amerciful unto the Gentiles, because it's not their fault they don't have the fullness of the Bible unto the visiting of the remnant of the house of Israel in great judgment. What does this mean? Mercy unto the Gentiles "unto" visiting of the remnant of the house of Israel (who is this?) in great judgment? Does this mean the Gentiles mercy is their being given the promised land by them taking it from the Indians?

 34 And it came to pass that the angel of the Lord spake unto me, saying: Behold, saith the Lamb of God, after I have ^avisited the ^bremnant of the house of Israel—and this remnant of whom I speak is the seed of thy father Lehi (mixture of Lamanites/Nephites among American Indains—wherefore, after I have visited them in judgment, and smitten them by the hand of the Gentiles, and after the Gentiles do ^cstumble exceedingly, because of the most plain and precious parts of the ^dgospel of the Lamb which have been kept back by that abominable church, which is the mother of harlots, saith the Lamb—I will be merciful unto the ^eGentiles in that day, insomuch that I will ^fbring forth unto them, in mine own power, much of my ^ggospel, not all? which shall be plain and precious, saith the Lamb.

 35 For, behold, saith the Lamb: I will manifest myself unto thy seed, that they shall write many things which I shall minister unto them, which shall be plain and precious;  The engravings of the Book of Mormon writers Do we recognize these "plain and precious" parts? What are they? and after thy seed shall be destroyed, and dwindle in unbelief, and also the seed of thy brethren, behold, ^athese things shall be hid up, to come forth unto the Gentiles, by the gift and power of the Lamb. The Book of Mormon was given to Joseph Smith by the gift and power of God.

  36 And in them shall be written my ^agospel, saith the Lamb, and my ^brock and my salvation.The "rock" are the doctrines of the gospel, that if followed will lead to salvation.

 37 And ^ablessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my ^bZion at that day, for they shall have the ^cgift and the ^dpower of the Holy Ghost; Is this the early saints? and if they ^eendure unto the end they shall be ^flifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting ^gkingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall ^hpublish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be. Missionaries, and ALL who share the gospel are offering everyone peace and joy! How do you say "no" to that? What does it mean to be "beautiful upon the mountains"? Mountains represent where we commune with God. This life is about making our way back from the Fall to the presence of God - in this life. Are we preaching the fulness of the gospel?

 38 And it came to pass that I beheld the remnant of the seed of my brethren, and also the ^abook of the Lamb of God, which had proceeded forth from the mouth of the Jew, that it came forth from the Gentiles ^bunto the remnant of the seed of my brethren. The Bible was shared with the American Indians.

 39 And after it had come forth unto them I beheld ^aother ^bbooks, what are these? Is he referring to the “books” of the Book of Mormon? Or the Doctrine & Covenants? Pearl of Great Price? which came forth by the power of the Lamb, from the Gentiles unto them, unto the ^cconvincing of the Gentiles and the remnant of the seed of my brethren, and also the Jews who were scattered upon all the face of the earth, that the records of the prophets and of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are ^dtrue. One of the purposes of the Book of Mormon is to be another witness that the Bible is true. Is he talking about both groups of apostles or just the American ones recorded in the the Book of Mormon?

 40 And the angel spake unto me, saying: These ^alast records Book of Mormon, which thou hast seen among the Gentiles, shall ^bestablish the truth of the ^cfirst, Bible which are of the ^dtwelve apostles of the Lamb, and shall make known the plain and precious things which have been taken away from them; We need both and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the ^eSavior of the world; and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved. This is the bottom line message of ALL scripture! The question is, what does it mean to come unto Him? Is it just believing in Him and obeying the commandments? We must be born again!

 41 And they must come according to the words which shall be established by the mouth of the Lamb; There is no other way...and the words of the Lamb shall be made known in the records of thy seed, as well as in the ^arecords of the twelve apostles of the Lamb; wherefore they both shall be established in ^bone; for there is ^cone God and one ^dShepherd over all the earth. One truth...one way...one church...one Shepherd

 42 And the time cometh Second Coming that he shall manifest himself unto all nations, both unto the ^aJews and also unto the Gentiles; First coming? And appearance to Joseph Smith? and after he has manifested himself unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles, then he shall manifest himself unto the Gentiles and also unto the Jews, Second Coming? and the ^blast shall be first, and the ^cfirst shall be last.