2 Nephi 3

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

CHAPTER 3

Joseph in Egypt saw the Nephites in vision—He prophesied of Joseph Smith, the latter-day seer; of Moses, who would deliver Israel; and of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. Between 588 and 570 B.C. Joseph Smith was prophesied by name. The end time servant is named "David". I think we should look for that as his literal name, and not as a title...could be wrong...

  1 And now I speak unto you, Joseph, my ^alast-born. Did he name him Joseph after Joseph, the beloved younger son of Jacob (Benjamin was youngest)? Was Lehi similar to Abraham/Jacob - a father of these "nations" that his boys would father in this new land? If there is any correlation, it seems it's more about Lehi than Joseph, since we don't hear much about him after this...Thou wast born in the wilderness of mine afflictions; yea, in the days of my greatest sorrow Lehi is admitting here that this “wilderness” experience has been hard for him…mostly, I think because of his sorrow over some of his children’s choices and the visions he’s had concerning them… did thy mother bear thee. That's quite an age span of children - from marrying age to newborn!

  2 And may the Lord consecrate also unto thee this ^aland, which is a most precious land, for thine inheritance and the inheritance of thy seed with thy brethren, for thy security forever, if it so be that ye shall keep the commandments always on this condition! of the Holy One of Israel. not the commandments of Nephi, but of Jesus Christ.

  3 And now, Joseph, my last-born, whom I have brought out of the wilderness of mine afflictions, There is always a coming out of affliction may the Lord bless thee forever, for thy ^aseed shall not utterly be ^bdestroyed. Geneology – both forward and backward seemed to carry much importance to Lehi and the people of his day. Even though the Nephite nation was destroyed, Joseph is promised that some of his literal descendants would live by intermarriage, defection, or being led away 
  4 For behold, thou art the fruit of my loins; and I am a descendant of ^aJoseph who was carried ^bcaptive into Egypt. And great were the ^ccovenants of the Lord which he made unto Joseph. My patriarchal blessing says, after declaring that I come through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, that “many and great are the blessings that have come to these great patriarchs…these then are yours if you live worthy of them.” Lehi seems to be conveying the same thing to his son. "Since I was born of Joseph...you are born of Joseph, and inherit the promises the Lord made to him and his seed forever." 

  5 Wherefore, Joseph truly ^asaw our day. Here is another evidence that the prophets of the Old Testament “saw” Lehi’s day and received and recorded scripture for their benefit. It makes sense that Nephi would see the value of laboring to make records for future generations, since they had been the recipients of the same labor of a past generation. And he obtained here is that word again, "obtained"...suggesting that Joseph may have prayed for and sought diligently until he obtained, a promise for his seed. Can we "obtain" promises for our children? At some point, as a parent, you know longer worry about your own future, but that of your children. Usually it's when we've lived enough life to realize that we are leaving a 'world' for our children and worry about what they will have to work with.  a ^bpromise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a ^crighteous ^dbranch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to be broken off, that was them… nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord that the Messiah should be made ^emanifest unto them in the latter days, that’s OUR day… in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of ^fdarkness unto light—yea, out of hidden darkness because they were a people not known to the world? and out of captivity unto freedom. Thus the amazing conversions in South America… and the conversion yet to happen among the American Indians. I still wonder if the phrase "that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the latter days" is more literal than the coming of the Book of Mormon to them... Maybe the "them" is Joseph Smith. I think he was told he was a descendant of Joseph of Egypt as well. And the Messiah was manifest to him in the latter days. And the Gentiles are considered the seed of Ephriam, the son of Joseph, and we were brought out of darkness through the Book of Mormon. And the Gentiles are "remembered" in the covenants through adoption, if they are not literal house of Israel. Just thoughts...

  6 For this word suggests that what follows is an extension of what was just said... Joseph truly testified, saying: A ^aseer shall the Lord my God raise up Joseph of Egypt saw in vision, Joseph Smith, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my ^bloins.

  7 Yea, Joseph truly said: Thus saith the Lord unto me: A choice ^aseer will I ^braise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and Here are ten things prophesied about Joseph Smith and his mission he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins. One… Is Joseph Smith "esteemed highly" among the Lamanites today? The fruit of Joseph's loins also means the children of Ephraim And unto him will I give commandment that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren, which shall be of great worth unto them, even to the bringing of them to the ^cknowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers. As recorded in the Book of Mormon. Two…

  8 And I will give unto him a commandment that he shall do ^anone other work, save the work which I shall command him. And I will make him great in mine eyes; Three… for he shall do my work.

  9 And he shall be great like unto ^aMoses, whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to ^bdeliver my ^cpeople, O house of Israel.

  10 And ^aMoses will I raise up, to deliver thy people out of the land of Egypt.

  11 But a ^aseer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; so Joseph Smith is a descendant of Joseph of Egypt too? and unto him will I give ^bpower to ^cbring forth my word The Book of Mormon. Four… unto the seed of thy loins—and not to the bringing forth my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word Five… through missionary work, which shall have already gone forth among them. Is this the Bible? How successful was Joseph Smith in bringing the Book of Mormon to the American Indians? Does he still have a future work? Some think so...

  12 Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall ^awrite; The Book of Mormon… and the fruit of the loins of ^bJudah shall ^cwrite; The Bible and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, "grow" suggests a process, not a one time event unto the ^dconfounding of ^efalse doctrines This is so needed in our day, since false doctrines abound! The Scriptures are our Iron Rod and doctrines have to line up with them or they should be rejected! Six...and laying down of contentions, over false doctrines Seven...and  establishing ^fpeace Eight... among the fruit of thy loins, if they follow the teachings in these writings and ^gbringing them to the ^hknowledge of their fathers Nine...in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, what covenants do the scriptures contain? Are they the covenants of the Father to the children of Lehi/Joseph and not so much the covenants we make with Him? Ten... saith the Lord.

  13 And out of weakness he shall be made strong, He was only 14 when called. To any who are called to labor that feel small and unimportant and weak, remember this, from 1 Cornithians 1: 26-29 "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the ^aflesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are ^bcalled: But God hath chosen the ^afoolish things of the world to ^bconfound the wise; and God hath chosen the ^cweak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty: And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence." Most of our leaders today are considered 'wise men after the flesh'. We should remember that Isaiah says the end time servant will be marred and rejected at first, probably because he isn't seen as from among the 'wise, mighty, noble', the same as Jesus of whom they said, 'Can anything good come from Nazareth? and, 'Isn't this the son of Joseph, the carpenter?" in that day when my work shall commence among all my people, unto the restoring thee, O house of Israel, saith the Lord. Has this "great and marvelous work" commenced yet? I think it started with the Book of Mormon, but I don't think it was that "day". I think that "day" is still coming. 

  14 And thus prophesied Joseph, saying: Behold, that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; to those who feel their life has been one relentless round of trial and persecution, you will find comfort in the words of this prophet, of whom Joseph of Egypt and Lehi of old both foretold. He said of himself: (D&C 127:2) "And as for the ^aperils which I am called to pass through, they seem but a small thing to me, as the ^benvy and wrath of man have been my common lot all the days of my life; and for what cause it seems mysterious, unless I was ^cordained from before the foundation of the world for some good end, or bad, as you may choose to call it. Judge ye for yourselves. God ^dknoweth all these things, whether it be good or bad. But nevertheless, deep water is what I am wont to swim in. It all has become a second nature to me; and I feel, like Paul, to glory in ^etribulation; for to this day has the God of my fathers delivered me out of them all, and will deliver me from henceforth; for behold, and lo, I shall triumph over all my enemies, for the Lord God hath spoken it." The promise Joseph received from the angel Moroni was that he would be preserved to accomplish his work, even though people would tell lies about him and try to kill him. I guess that's all any of us can hope for...that we'll be preserved on this earth, in spite of trial or hardship, as long as it takes to accomplish what we came here to do and then have peace in the knowledge that life continues on the other side of the veil. We have the promise that death is sweet unto those that die in the Lord. Nothing to fear...I don't know why being martyred is considered being "delivered out of them all". Does Joseph Smith triumph over all his enemies because he returns before the Second Coming? Some think he does. (see josephsmithfoundation.org - 

Are Joseph & Hyrum Smith the two prophets in Revelation 11? New documentary!) I had a dream the other night that the primary children were singing an impromptu song about Joseph Smith in fast and testimony meeting where the chorus repeated over and over the words, "we know he's coming again". I thought that was so interesting! 

for this promise, which I have obtained of the Lord, of the fruit of my loins, shall be fulfilled. Behold, I am sure of the fulfilling of this promise; And so it was…will be...

  15 And his ^aname shall be called after me; So Lehi knew his name would be “Joseph” and it shall be after the ^bname of his father Joseph Sr. . And he shall be ^clike unto me; for the thing, Book of Mormon which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring ^dmy people unto ^esalvation. This is what the Book of Mormon offers people as it brings them to Christ...the author of Salvation.

  16 Yea, thus prophesied Joseph: I am sure of this thing, even as I am sure of the promise of Moses; for the Lord hath said unto me, I will ^apreserve thy seed forever.

  17 And the Lord hath said: I will raise up a Moses; Remember, this is a prophecy of the ancient Joseph...long before Moses. Here we learn that the brass plates contained the names of Moses and Joseph (Smith) and his father (Joseph Smith Sr.) that has been lost or left out of the translation that we now have...and I will give power unto him in a rod; and I will give judgment unto him in writing. Yet I will not loose his tongue, that he shall speak much, for I will not make him mighty in speaking. But I will ^awrite unto him my law, by the finger of mine own hand; and I will make a ^bspokesman for him. This is the first "Moses". He almost makes the name Moses a title, saying 'a' moses...
  18 And the Lord said unto me also: I will raise up unto the fruit of thy loins; and I will make for him a spokesman. And I, behold, I will give unto him that he shall write the writing of the fruit of thy loins, unto the fruit of thy loins; and the spokesman of thy loins shall declare it.

  19 And the words which he shall write shall be the words which are expedient in my wisdom should go forth unto the ^afruit of thy loins. And it shall be as if the fruit of thy loins had cried unto them ^bfrom the dust; buried in the ground for I know their faith.

  20 And they shall ^acry from the ^bdust; yea, even repentance unto their brethren, even after many generations have gone by them. And it shall come to pass that their cry shall go, even according to the simpleness of their words.

  21 Because of their faith faith works beyond the grave… their ^awords shall proceed forth out of my mouth unto their brethren who are the fruit of thy loins; and the weakness of their words will I make strong in their faith, faith truly matters...unto the remembering of my covenant which I made unto thy fathers.

  22 And now, behold, my son Joseph, after this manner did my father of old ^aprophesy. Notice how much emphasis is given to the covenants the Lord has made with his people!

  23 Wherefore, because of this covenant thou art ^ablessed; for thy seed shall not be destroyed, for they shall ^bhearken unto the words of the book. Great promise to their descendants…and so many have!

  24 And there shall rise up ^aone mighty among them Is this Joseph Smith still? The footnote says it is, but the question is was it "then" Joseph or will he return to do this work?, who shall do much good, both in word and in deed, being an instrument in the hands of God, with exceeding faith, to work mighty wonders, and do that thing which is great in the sight of God, unto the bringing to pass much ^brestoration unto the house of Israel, and unto the seed of thy brethren. This doesn't seem to have happened yet...is this the end-time servant?

  25 And now, blessed art thou, Joseph. Behold, thou art little; wherefore hearken unto the words of thy brother, Nephi, and it shall be done unto thee even according to the words which I have spoken. Remember the words of thy dying father. Having just lost my mother (11/13)...how I wish we could have had time for her to share with us her "dying words"...yet even as I say that I know in my heart that she had spoken them over and over throughout her life. It is enough. Amen.

In a recent interview, Elder Bednar said, "We would not choose this present set of circumstances,” he said. “But given that they are upon us, it will help us have eyes to see things we have never seen before and ears to hear things that we have never heard before" I don't know why, but as I read the Book of Mormon, I feel like I am seeing things I've never seen before. This whole prophecy by Joseph of Egypt seems like that.  We need to consider that this statement means that we might have to let go of some traditional beliefs and traditions (ie all vaccines are safe, effective, or what we think they are...)