2 Nephi 30

(All of my own thoughts are in red type.5/20 green 2/21 Orange 5/22 Brown 2023)

Chapter 30

Converted Gentiles will be numbered with the covenant people—Many Lamanites and Jews will believe the word and become delightsome—Israel will be restored and the wicked destroyed. About 559–545 B.C.

  1 And now behold, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you; for I, Nephi, would not suffer that ye should suppose that ye are more righteous than the Gentiles shall be. For behold, except ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall all likewise ^aperish; and because of the words which have been spoken ye need not suppose that the Gentiles are utterly destroyed.
  2 For behold, I say unto you that as many of the Gentiles as will repent are the ^acovenant people of the Lord; and as many of the ^bJews as will not repent shall be ^ccast off; for the Lord ^dcovenanteth with none save it be with them that ^erepent and believe in his Son, who is the Holy One of Israel. Interesting here that to be a “covenant” people you just have to repent. Does this include “repent and be baptized”? How can you be a covenant people if you do not make covenants with God? And He makes covenants through ordinances. But we also know that many Christians “covenant” to obey Christ without authorized baptism. Does this promise include them? Maybe the "covenant" is premortal and that designation means you will be one that ends up repenting because you are a premortal covenant person. Just a thought...
  3 And now, I would prophesy somewhat more concerning the Jews and the Gentiles. For after the book of which I have spoken shall come forth, and be written unto the Gentiles, and sealed up again unto the Lord, there shall be many which shall ^abelieve the words which are written; and ^bthey shall carry them forth unto the ^cremnant of our seed. Began in 1830 and continues today...
  4 And then shall the remnant of our seed know concerning us, how that we came out from Jerusalem, and that they are descendants of the Jews. This article supports this: Geneticists at an Israeli hospital said they have found a unique Jewish genetic mutation among an American Indian tribe, indicating that they are descendants of Jews expelled from Spain 600 years ago, local Haaretz daily reported on Wednesday.
  5 And the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be declared among ^athem; wherefore, ^bthey shall be restored unto the ^cknowledge of their fathers, and also to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, which was had among their fathers. This has happened in large numbers in Latin America, but has not yet been fulfilled among the American Indians. This promise applies to them as well and they will yet be gathered in. Brett served on the Navajo reservation. It seems that there are large groups of Indians on these reservations that have been very slow to convert. They are largely ignored and forgotten to Americans. They aren't in in the news and don't seem to be contributing much. I think they suffer from many cultural problems with alcohol and abuse. There is a great work yet to be done among the Indians here.
  6 And then shall they rejoice; for they shall ^aknow that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their ^bscales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and a ^cdelightsome people. footnote on 'delightsome': Doctrine and Covenants 49:24 But before the great day of the Lord shall come, Jacob shall flourish in the wilderness, and the Lamanites shall blossom as the rose. I don't think this has happened in America. Doctrine and Covenants 109: 65 And cause that the remnants of Jacob, who have been cursed and smitten because of their transgression, be converted from their wild and savage condition to the fulness of the everlasting gospel; I think this applies expressly to the American Indians....Are there any remnants of Jacob that are still considered “wild and savage”? 
  7 And it shall come to pass that the ^aJews which are scattered also shall ^bbegin to believe in Christ; This is starting to happen and they shall begin to gather in upon the face of the land; and as many as shall believe in Christ shall also become a delightsome people.
  8 And it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall commence his work among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, to bring about the ^arestoration of his people upon the earth. This could be the coming of the BOM, but it could also be a coming work. I believe it's the latter because Pres. Nelson said the gathering of Israel is the most important thing happening right now. Satan thinks he's shut down God's work, but God will use it to springboard His work like never before! This also sounds like it is something God does to open His work to everyone, not just those who are lucky enough to have a missionary knock on their door. 
  9 And with righteousness shall the ^aLord God ^bjudge the poor, and reprove with equity for the ^cmeek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. Nephi already quoted this from Isaiah in a previous chapter. He must think it important to repeat it. We must have faith that God will slay the wicked, because the wicked control us through fear. Remember 'rod' and 'breath' are code names for the 'King of Assyria' who may be Russia or China or the antichrist.
  10 For the ^atime speedily cometh meaning when it comes, it will happen speedily that the Lord God shall cause a great ^bdivision among the people, Pres. Nelson just sited this verse when he said, "The time is coming when those who do not obey the Lord will be separated from those who do."  That was followed by "our safest insurance of not being separated out is to continue to be worthy of admission to His holy house. The greatest gift you could give to the Lord is to keep yourself unspotted from the world, think "honor the Sabbath" worthy to attend His holy house.  His gift to you will be the peace and security of knowing that you are worthy to meet Him, whenever that time comes." This is how we live without fearing evil. Be worthy to meet the Lord at all times. This life or after this life makes no difference. Also, I’m thinking the term “unspotted from the world” is often used with the Sabbath Day. Did we spend 3 years trying to learn how important that is and what it means for a time such as this when we are left pretty much to ourselves to “keep” the Sabbath Day holy? Today is Sunday, April 2, 2023. All the talks have been very Christ-centered and every speaker seems to make a point of quoting either scripture or Pres. Nelson. Yesterday the prophet did not speak, though he was present. Is he being silent because we have not listened and followed what we have been given? Elder Gong said that we have not been ministering in the 'higher and holier' way that God has asked; we are doing less, not more. And also that we are not gathering Israel as we should. We'll see what today brings.  and the wicked will he ^cdestroy; and he will ^dspare his people, in life and in death yea, even if it so be that he must ^edestroy the wicked by fire.
  11 And ^arighteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
  12 ^aAnd then shall the wolf dwell with the lamb; and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling, together; and a little child shall lead them.
  13 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
  14 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’s den.
  15 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy ^amountain; for the earth shall be full of the ^bknowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. This is easily applied to the Millennium. But could it also apply to Zion before the Millennium? Either the whole earth is his 'holy mountain' or he's just talking about Zion. And the earth being 'full of the knowledge of the Lord' doesn't necessarily mean all will truly 'know' Him, but that all will know about Him.
  16 Wherefore, the things of ^aall nations shall be made known; yea, all things shall be made ^bknown unto the children of men. I think this opens the way for the whole earth to know of the Lord.
  17 There is nothing which is secret save it shall be ^arevealed; there is no work of darkness save it shall be made manifest in the light; and there is nothing which is sealed upon the earth save it shall be loosed. This great unveiling of knowledge will bring GREAT accountability, and thus the righteous judgment that will come upon those who openly rebel. I just had the thought...Satan is working very hard to know everything about everyone. There is no privacy. All is being recorded and tracked and put into computers with "artificial intelligence" so that nothing we do is secret or hidden. But God is going to turn that on Satan, who thinks he can keep all his works in secret and in the dark. God will reveal all that Satan is doing and no work of darkness will remain hidden. What does it mean that "nothing which is sealed upon the earth save it shall be loosed" mean? 
  18 Wherefore, all things which have been revealed unto the children of men shall at that ^aday be revealed; and Satan shall have power over the hearts of the children of men ^bno more, for a long time. This last sentence seems to reference the millennium, when we know Satan is bound. But the revealing of all things must come at the beginning. It also shows that knowledge of secret works help us to choose to not let Satan deceive us anymore. That may be part of the coming conversion as the secret combinations are revealed. And now, my beloved brethren, I make an end of my sayings.