Watch the video presentation on YouTube at: 1 Nephi 11-15 Video
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INTRODUCTION TO 1 NEPHI 11-14
Before we dig deep into the individual chapters of this week’s study, let’s do a bit of an overview of this section of scripture first. As a teacher, I would introduce this week’s lesson with the following activity.
OBJECT
For an object, I would bring in a stack of history books and place them up at the front of my classroom. If you don’t have historical books at home, you could always pick some up from the library.
ICEBREAKER
And for an icebreaker I would ask my students what period of world history most interests them. And, to add some variety, I sometimes like to take a digital poll from my students. Now, this is a little more complicated and does require some up-front work. Plus, you need to be teaching a group of people that have cell phones with them, but nowadays, that’s probably going to be a majority of those in your class. But if they don’t, or you want to make this simpler, you could just write the options up on the board. However, I find that doing a digital poll is more engaging and a fun way to add variety to your class. I’ll walk you through this process.
You’re going to look up “Google Forms” on your web browser, which, if you already have a google account, should take you right to this page after you’ve signed in. If you don’t have a google account, I’m not going to walk you through all of that here, I’ll let you research and figure that out, but it is free and fairly simple. But once you’re here, you’re going click on the “Blank Form” tab, which will open a page that looks like this. Then, in this section, you will enter your Poll’s title. We’re going to call it, Fascinating History. Then, you’ll enter our question here. What period of world history do you find most fascinating? In this section we’re going to make sure that this says “Multiple Choice” which I believe is the default, but change it to Multiple Choice in the drop-down menu if it’s not . Then we can go down and start entering our options. Here are the ones that I selected, although, feel free to come up with your own. So I have Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, The Roman Empire, World War II, The Wild West, The Middle Ages, The Renaissance, and then, you are going select the “OTHER” option here. And what that does is that it allows your students to write in a period of history of their own choosing that they find most fascinating. But how are your students going to access the form? You might ask. Well, next you’re going to click on “Send” and then select the “hyperlink” icon option here. Then select the provided link and copy it. Now you’ll go to another website. It’s called Adobe free QR Code generator. You’ll click on “create now” and then paste your link in this box and hit enter. The page should generate a unique QR code for your poll form which you can download or screen grab and copy and paste into a slide. Now, when you’re teaching, the students can take out their phones, scan the QR code, and answer the question and submit it. Then you, as the teacher, while they are doing this, you’re going to go back to our Google Forms page, and as the owner of the form, will be able to see the results of the poll. You’re going to click on the “Responses” tab up here, which will then display the results in real time as they’re submitted. Then, it’s kind of fun, you can reveal the results of the poll and maybe have a little discussion about it. It’s also fun to reveal some of the “Other” responses that students send in. For example, in my poll, it looks like somebody wrote in American Civil War, and somebody else, Ancient China.
And after you’ve had a chance to discuss the results of the survey a little, you can ask: Why do you think it’s important to study history?
And I’m sure there are many reasons you can all think of to answer that question, but I’ll answer it with the following quote from Teddy Roosevelt.
“The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future” Theodore Roosevelt
MARKING ACTIVITY
Well, 1 Nephi 11-14 are History Lessons of a sort. In a spectacular vision, the Spirit is going to reveal to Nephi, and all of us, key elements of the spiritual histories of some of the major groupings of mankind. He’s going to specifically focus on the Jews, the Lamanite/Nephite civilization, and the Gentiles. And remember how the Title Page told us that the Book of Mormon was written to those three groups. Well, I want you to take out a pen or pencil and at the chapter heading of the following chapters I invite you to make the following labels.
1 Nephi 11 Jewish History
1 Nephi 12 Lamanite/Nephite History
1 Nephi 13 Gentile History/American History
And
1 Nephi 14 is going to be labeled World History
And of course, I realize that to Nephi, this isn’t history necessarily, this is the future, but remember, the Book of Mormon was written for our day and to us as the modern reader, we are being shown many significant spiritual events of the past.
Now as a teacher you can decide which of the following lessons you feel are most important to focus on with your students.
VIDEO
But before we start digging into those specific lessons, a quick video suggestion. The Church has produced an excellent video that dramatizes Nephi’s vision. I probably wouldn’t show the entire video, because it is long. But if there is a certain part of these lessons that you wished to emphasize or clarify, I might consider showing that portion of the video to my students with the question: What does the Spirit show Nephi and why?
LESSON #1: LOOK! (1 NEPHI 11)
OBJECT
A suggested object for this particular portion of this week’s lessons is pretty simple, but I would just want to display some artwork that focuses their attention on the Savior. I have a statue of Jesus made of olive wood that I got while visiting Jerusalem, and I would just want to display that prominently at the front of my classroom. Or, if you have a nice, framed picture of Jesus, I might set that on an easel and display it at the front. And that’s because 1 Nephi chapter 11 is mainly focused on the savior.
ICEBREAKER
And for an Icebreaker, an old Sunday School classic. Hangman. Why not? And the reason why, is because there is a word in 1 Nephi 11 that I really want my students to focus on and understand. Hangman draws particular attention to that word. So, here is the word. It has 13 letters. It’s a big word. And what is it? The word is condescension. It’s a tough one. That is going to be a key word in understanding 1 Nephi 11. If you feel that your students are going to struggle or are struggling with figuring out the word, you could give them a hint by saying that the word is found somewhere in 1 Nephi chapter 11.
Or once they discover the word, to prompt your students to open up their scriptures and turn to 1 Nephi 11, you can challenge them to be the first person to find that word in the chapter. And the word appears twice in the chapter. In verse 16 and verse 26, but let’s take a look at it in verse 16.
16 And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of God?
Now that’s going to be the big question for us here. Do we know and understand the condescension of God? And God here is referring to Jesus Christ. Well, first we need to understand what that word even means. It’s not a word we use very often, is it. But apparently, the life of Jesus Christ is an example of condescension. What is condescension? The dictionary defines it as: a voluntary descent from one's rank or dignity in relations with an inferior. (MerriamWebster.com) 1 Nephi chapter 11 is going to help us understand and appreciate Christ’s condescension.
SEARCH ACTIVITY:HANDOUT
For some context though—the chapter begins with Nephi expressing his desire to see all that his father saw.
He says in verse 1:
1 For it came to pass after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain, which I never had before seen, and upon which I never had before set my foot.
2 And the Spirit said unto me: Behold, what desirest thou?
3 And I said: I desire to behold the things which my father saw.
And the Spirit obliges his request. The cool thing about this. Not only does God show Nephi all that his Father saw, but a whole lot more. Nephi simply asks to see the dream of the tree of life, but God gives him the entire spiritual history of the earth right up to the second coming. And perhaps there’s a profound truth in that. When we diligently seek truth from God, He often gives us more than we ask for. God is very gracious with his truth, especially if we have great desires to understand it.
The first symbol the Spirit is going to concentrate on is the tree of life itself. So in verse 8-11, he shows Nephi the tree, and then asks him what he wants to know about it. Nephi’s response? What’s the interpretation of it? Now the Spirit is not just going to tell him the interpretation. He’s going to show him. He doesn’t just say, “Oh, it’s the love of God, Nephi”. No, he shows Nephi a specific visual depiction of the interpretation and then allows Nephi to define it. This is one of the ways that God apparently seems to prefer teaching his children. And if stop you think about it, where else in the Church do we get an example of him teaching this way? The temple. Right! All that wonderful imagery and symbolism without a whole lot of explanation. He simply displays the images before us, and then invites us to ponder and discover their message for ourselves. Although, in the most recent changes in the temple endowment ceremony there is a little more explanation given to us, but not a ton. There’s still plenty for us to ponder and learn by the Spirit.
So, back to Nephi and this idea of condescension. To help him understand the interpretation of the tree, he’s going to show him various scenes from the life of the Savior and emphasize how they illustrate Christ’s condescension.
Here’s our search activity then, and it has two parts. The easy part, and the harder part. See if you can do both for each reference provided here. You could have your students do this activity as a handout or just up on the screen together. But I have here a number of different pictures from the life of the Savior and some references from Nephi’s vision. The easy part is to match the reference with the picture from Christ’s life that it’s describing. The harder part is to ponder the answer to the following question for each one. How is that scene an example of Christ’s condescension? (Or his willingness to descend from his high station to a low one).
So here we go:
__ 1 Nephi 11:12-20
__ 1 Nephi 11:27
__ 1 Nephi 11:28
__ 1 Nephi 11:29
__ 1 Nephi 11:31
__ 1 Nephi 11:32-33
11:12-20 What’s the first scene shown Nephi to illustrate Christ’s condescension? He’s shown the birth of the Savior. So Nephi sees Mary give birth to Jesus Christ. So the answer to number 1 would be C. And how did Christ’s birth show his condescension? Well, how was he born? He wasn’t born as a king, but a carpenter, he wasn’t born in a palace, but a stable. He wasn’t born in a large capitol city, but in Bethlehem. He wasn’t rich, but poor. He was born under the most humble of circumstances. Now that’s condescension. He stepped down from his eternal throne of glory, to become mortal, like us. He condescended from a position of the highest authority to place himself on equal grounds with us mere mortals. I mean, He was a member of the godhead, the first begotten of our Heavenly parents, and yet he came to earth and descend below all things.
11:27
27 And I looked and beheld the Redeemer of the world, of whom my father had spoken; and I also beheld the prophet who should prepare the way before him. And the Lamb of God went forth and was baptized of him; and after he was baptized, I beheld the heavens open, and the Holy Ghost come down out of heaven and abide upon him in the form of a dove.
The match here is E. The baptism of Christ. How does Christ’s baptism show condescension? Well Jesus was perfect. He didn’t need any of his sins washed away. And yet he humbled himself to his Father’s will and was baptized. Nephi’s going to make that very point later in 2 Nephi 31. Jesus showed his Father that he would be obedient to all his commandments in order to fulfill all righteousness.
11:28
28 And I beheld that he went forth ministering unto the people, in power and great glory; and the multitudes were gathered together to hear him; and I beheld that they cast him out from among them.
The match here is A. Jesus teaching the people. How did this show condescension? Jesus lived his life as a teacher. Traveling from village to village seeking to teach and help others. He lived a meager existence. And what kind of people did he spend much of his time teaching? The poor, the so-called sinners, the outcasts, the sick and the afflicted. For one of such a high station and power, he spent most of his time in less than glorious circumstances and company.
11:29
29 And I also beheld twelve others following him. And it came to pass that they were carried away in the Spirit from before my face, and I saw them not.
The match is F. Jesus calling the twelve apostles. How does this show condescension? Jesus could have done this work alone. He could have singlehandedly led the church and accomplished his ministry, and called all the attention to himself. But he didn’t. He involved other people. He taught them, prepared them, and gave them chances to lead and grow. And what kind of people did he call to be his leaders? Pharisees? The Rich? The Educated? The important? Leaders of men? No, fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot, and other men who were not high in position or social status.
11:31
31 And he spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the Lamb of God going forth among the children of men. And I beheld multitudes of people who were sick, and who were afflicted with all manner of diseases, and with devils and unclean spirits; and the angel spake and showed all these things unto me. And they were healed by the power of the Lamb of God; and the devils and the unclean spirits were cast out.
The answer is B. The picture of Jesus healing someone. How does this show condescension? Jesus showed his authority by serving, helping, and healing others. Most people judge greatness by how many people serve them, but Christ taught that true greatness is judged by how many people you serve. It wasn’t about authority and telling people what to do, but service. That’s what Jesus’s teachings at the Last Supper were all about. And he taught his apostles that lesson by doing a very humbling, even demeaning thing. He washed their feet, even though he was the greatest of all. That’s condescension.
And finally, perhaps the greatest manifestation of Christ’s condescension. 11:32-33
32 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world; and I saw and bear record.
33 And I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world.
The final match is of course D. The atonement and crucifixion of Christ. How does that show condescension? Here’s how the Doctrine and Covenants describes the atonement:
“He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth”
Doctrine and Covenants 88:6
Jesus truly condescended below everything. He suffered more deeply than any mortal being ever. He took upon himself the sins, and pains, and afflictions, and infirmities of all mankind. He couldn’t overcome all things unless he was able to descend below all of it first. The divine paradox, by descending below all things, he was able to achieve the greatest victory of eternity. Of all the individuals in this universe, there is one that understands you on a deeper level than anyone else. Christ. He has traveled to both ends of the spectrum, and thus knows and comprehends everything in between. The image of Jesus being mocked, beaten, spit upon, judged, scourged, and crucified without showing any resistance, murmuring, or anger on his part is condescension in its highest form. He had the power to stop all of it in an instant, to call down legions of angels to fight for him, and yet, he suffered it, he allowed it to continue.
TRUTH
Therefore, what major truth is being taught here? Remember the initial question that prompted all of this. What’s the interpretation of the tree? Nephi is going to figure it out even before we get through all of the scenes from Jesus’s life. Because, the message is obvious to Nephi. Why would Jesus do all of this? Why would he condescend? What power could motivate someone to leave such a high position and glory to experience such humbling circumstances, debasement, and pain? One word, love. So what does Nephi conclude in verse 25 about the tree? He’s figured it out by then.
25 And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God.
The tree is love. Jesus loves us. He loves you. He paid the price for our salvation and paved the way for of our exaltation. To him, the condescension was worth that. We are that valuable to him. And let’s not forget the Father’s role in all of this too. The tree is also a manifestation of His love for all of us. Like John 3:16 tells us
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. We also sing a hymn entitled “God loved us, so he sent his Son”.
Our truth then. And let’s include the message taught from both the Father and the Son’s perspective: Heavenly Father loves us, so he sent us his beloved son. Jesus loves us, so he condescended below all things for us.
VIDEO
To help sink that message deeper into my students hearts, I would show the following video I found on YouTube that matches the message of this chapter really well. It shows scenes from the life of the Savior set to the song, “I Feel My Savior’s Love”. I would ask my students to reflect on the Savior’s love for them as they watched. I put a link to this video in the description below.
TAKING IT TO HEART
How can understanding God and Christ’s love help us? OR How has it helped you?
And many wonderful things could be shared as an answer to those questions. It inspires righteousness, it brings happiness, it begets self-worth. And something quick from verse 17 here. Nephi says something really profound when asked a question by the angel that he doesn’t know the answer to. He says, “I know that he (God) loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things”. What a great answer! We may not be able to explain to others the meaning of all things. But if there is one truth that we can pin our faith on, maybe that’s it. I don’t know everything, but one thing I know for sure. God loves his children. That’s a truth that we can't forget. So when people ask things like, “If God were real, why would he allow things like the holocaust, and 911, and war, and starving children in Africa, and cancer?” OR “Why would God command early members of the church to live the law of polygamy when he knew how difficult it would be for the church?” OR “Why isn’t Heavenly Mother mentioned more often in the scriptures?” To this and many other difficult questions, I think that Nephi’s answer is a powerful one. I’m not saying it's the only answer to these questions, but it’s a good one, especially for somebody who maybe doesn’t have an extensive, deep, and comprehensive understanding of some of the more complex facets of the gospel. Sometimes all we need to say is, “You know, I don’t understand everything, I don’t have an answer for everything, but there is one thing that I do know. God loves his children. And if you truly know that, wow, that really helps to begin from that point. If I ever begin to doubt God’s love for me or all his children, the adversary has earned a great advantage.
THE TAKEAWAY
With that, I would like to bear personal witness of Heavenly Father and Jesus’s love for us. THEY . . . . LOVE . . . YOU! Why else would Jesus condescend so deeply? Why would God send and allow his Beloved Son to condescend so deeply? Their love. That’s the tree of life. I invite and encourage all of us to feast at that tree, enjoy the fruits of that tree, and never leave it.
LESSON #2: A NATION FOR RESTORATION (1 Nephi 12-13)
OBJECT
An American Flag. I would set this up at the front and let my students know that now, we’ll be moving away from Jewish history and talking about American History, and yes, I understand and believe that the history of these chapters is more than just United States History, it includes the history of the Americas, but, The United States itself does play an important role in the spiritual history of this area. We’ll see that as we study. And please, if you are a citizen of a country other than the United States, I know I have listeners from all over the world, please listen to the entire lesson, don’t be too quick to accuse me of jingoism and tune out. This lesson is not an exercise in sponsoring American national pride. Far from it.
ICEBREAKER
So for an icebreaker, I like to give my students the following picture identification challenge. Can you identify the following incomplete pictures? What or who do they depict? And a hint, keeping with the theme of history, they’re all pictures of historical figures or events.
The first? Christopher Columbus
Next. George Washington
Next. The signing of the Declaration of Independence
And finally. The First Vision
Now each of these pictures are from American History. And the moral of the story of this activity is that when something is missing or incomplete, it’s a lot harder to understand. And if you’ve ever taken an American History class, you may have sensed that something was missing from our history books in school. I’ve felt that way. And I’ve discovered that the reason why is because something IS missing. 1 Nephi chapters 12-13 are going to put it back in. They’re going to make our understanding of American History complete.
SEARCH ACTIVITY/MARKING
1 Nephi 12 Nephite/Lamanite History
So, in your average American history textbook, what is going to be the first thing you study? What’s the first unit you’re going to cover? It’s not going to be the colonists, or the Revolution. What will it be? More than likely you will study the Native Americans. Western peoples were not the first children of God on this continent. There had already been people here for hundreds of years before European explorers “discover” it. But in their depiction of Native American peoples, what’s missing?
Here, I’ll give you a hint. (Show pictures from Book of Mormon stories). Yeah. Book of Mormon stories. The account of the Jaredites, Lehi and Nephi’s journey, Alma, Moroni, and most significant, the personal visit and ministry of the Savior here in the New World. They never talk about these people and events as historical. But, are these stories a part of North American history? I say yes. I believe they are.
And, for chapter 12, I’m just going to give you a quick summary of what Nephi is shown because it’s basically a brief synopsis of the major events of the Book of Mormon. Let’s divide and label these sections as we go.
12:1-3 Nephi first sees the wars and contentions between Lamanites and Nephites that are going to plague his future posterity.
12:4-5 The great destruction and mists of darkness preceding Christ’s visit
12:6-10 The visit of the Savior
12:11-13 The Years of peace following the Savior’s visit
12:14-23 The Nephite destruction and Lamanite Apostasy. And an interesting note here. The angel uses the symbols of the filthy river, the mists of darkness, and the great and spacious building to illustrate this period of history. This is to make the point that the reason the Americas fall into apostasy and the Nephite nation destroyed was because of the temptations of the devil and the pride of men. Therefore, they spiritually drown in the depths of hell.
1 Nephi 13 American History
Now Chapter 13 is one of my favorites, and maybe that’s because I’m an American, and it’s really cool to see the history of your own nation played out in scripture, especially when I believe that this is ancient scripture, prophesying future events that I know have come to pass and these prophecies stand fulfilled. So the angel is going to show Nephi a number of scenes from history. Our job is going to be to determine which historical events he’s seeing. What are they? And as we go along, let’s label them in our margins.
1 Nephi 13:1-9
Now I’ll summarize this first group of verses, but Nephi is shown the formation of a great (meaning large) and abominable church among the Gentiles. Now that isn’t any one specific church and please don’t teach your students that it’s the Catholic Church. It’s not. But this “church” slays saints, binds them down, and brings them into the captivity. The devil is the founder of this church, and this church loves the material things of the world. What is it that Nephi is seeing here then? Nephi is seeing what we would call the Great Apostasy. The great and abominable church is apostasy in any form. It’s Satan’s kingdom, the world, Babylon—any person or organization that opposes God’s work, will, and true disciples. President Dallin H. Oaks taught this principle. He said:
"this great and abominable church must be something far more pervasive and widespread than a single “church,” as we understand that term today. It must be any philosophy or organization that opposes belief in God. And the “captivity” into which this “church” seeks to bring the saints will not be so much physical confinement as the captivity of false ideas.”
Dallin H. Oaks (“Stand as Witnesses of God,” Ensign, Mar. 2015, 32).
So, it’s a church only focused on the here and now, the what’s in it for me church, the church that encourages pride and materialism and selfishness. Therefore, Nephi has just been shown the apostasy of his own posterity, and now he is shown the apostasy of the Gentiles. The whole world is in a state of apostasy at this point. This must have been rather discouraging to Nephi. But God has a solution in the works, a plan, a remedy for this fallen world.
1 Nephi 13:10-12
What or who is Nephi seeing here?
10 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld many waters; and they divided the Gentiles from the seed of my brethren.
11 And it came to pass that the angel said unto me: Behold the wrath of God is upon the seed of thy brethren.
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 wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land.
Who is Nephi being shown here? This man who goes forth upon the many waters to the seed of Nephi’s brethren? It’s Christopher Columbus, right, and his journey across the Atlantic to the New World.
OK, Next. 1 Nephi 13:13
13 And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters.
Who is he seeing here? These other Gentiles coming out of the captivity of the Old World. This would be the Pilgrims. These people sought to escape the captivity of persecution to find religious freedom.
Next, 1 Nephi 13:14-15
14 And it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise; and I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my brethren; and they were scattered before the Gentiles and were smitten.
15 And I beheld the Spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles, and they did prosper and obtain the land for their inheritance; and I beheld that they were white, and exceedingly fair and beautiful, like unto my people before they were slain.
What’s he seeing here? The Indian wars and the subsequent colonization of America by western peoples.
And then next, 1 Nephi 13:16-19
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 with them.
17 And I beheld that their mother Gentiles 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 against them to battle.
19 And I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles that had gone out of captivity were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all other nations.
What’s he seeing here? The Mother gentiles gathering against those that had come here to battle? It’s the American Revolution, when Great Britain, the mother gentiles came against them to battle. And the colonists were delivered out of their hands.
Next, 1 Nephi 13:20-29
20 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that they did prosper in the land; and I beheld a book, and it was carried forth among them.
21 And the angel said unto me: Knowest thou the meaning of the book?
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 book that thou beholdest is a record of the Jews, 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 plates of brass, save there are not so many; 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.
Now I’m going to pause there and ask: What book is he seeing here? I often have students guess that it’s the Book of Mormon. It’s not. Wrong book. Which book contains the record of the Jews which would be of great worth in Early America? It’s the Bible. He’s seeing the coming forth of the Bible and the influence it would have here. And certainly the Bible has played an integral part in American History. And from verse 24 to verse 29 the angel explains to Nephi that the Bible has lost many plain and precious parts because of the influence of the great and abominable church, which causes many to stumble.
CLASS QUESTION
Fascinating huh? Well, I have a question for you now that we’ve been through each of these major scenes.
Did you notice what each of these events had in common? There was something similar in the description of each.
If you’re not sure let me give you a hint. I’ll pull out some of the phrases from each of the descriptions.
:12 I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man
:13 I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles
:14 I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my brethren
:16 and the power of the Lord was with them
:18 the power of God was with them, and also the wrath of God was upon all those that that were gathered together against them to battle.
:19 delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all other nations.
:23 The book . . . which contains the covenants of the Lord
So what do they all have in common? God played a major role in each of these events. He inspired or helped each of these events to take place.
So what (or better yet), who has been missing from our history books? God! His role and presence and influence has been stripped from their pages. Thank heavens we have the Book of Mormon to replace it. And this teaches us a profound and intriguing truth. God established America. He played THE pivotal role in the formation of the United States of America and its government.
Now if that truly is the case. Is there any historical evidence that the people involved in these events felt that this was the case? If God were such a part of it all, you would think the people who experienced it would have recognized that, right? Well let’s see.
Christopher Columbus said the following:
“The Lord was well disposed to my desire, and He bestowed upon me courage and understanding; knowledge of seafaring He gave me in abundance . . . .Those who heard of my enterprise called it foolish, mocked me, and laughed. But who can doubt but that the Holy Ghost inspired me?”
The Pilgrims wrote this as part of their famous Mayflower Compact
"Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honor of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia; do, by these Presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid;"
(Mayflower Compact)
George Washington said the following about the Revolutionary War:
“The disadvantageous circumstances on our part under which the [Revolutionary] war was undertaken can never be forgotten. The singular interpositions of Providence [help from God] in our feeble condition were such as could scarcely escape the attention of the most unobserving; while the unparalleled perseverance of the armies of the United States through almost every possible suffering and discouragement or the space of eight years was little short of a standing miracle.”
So George Washington felt that God had intervened to bless the Revolutionaries and recognized it as a miracle. And I believe that this is true. I read a fascinating book a number of years ago entitled 1776 and that was my impression—that It was a miracle that the Colonists won the Revolutionary War. I see no other explanation for it. They were outnumbered, they lost more battles, they had fewer provisions, and they didn’t even have the support of all the colonists. And yet they won. There are accounts that I read in that book where you just have sit back and say, that couldn’t have been a coincidence. Even the weather seemed to work to their advantage. There is no doubt in my mind that God was responsible for the colonists’ victory.
And then who can question the fact that God inspired the coming forth of the Bible. I think we take for granted the sacrifices that were made to make it possible for the Bible to be placed in the hands of the common man in their own language. For many years it was illegal to have a translation of the Bible in English. I believe that God inspired individuals like John Wycliffe, Myles Coverdale, and William Tyndale to work and sacrifice to put the text of the Bible into the hands of the common man. William Tyndale was executed as a heretic for suggesting such an idea and for translating the Bible into English. The story of the coming forth of the Bible is too extensive to cover here, but sufficeth to say that God played a major role in making it possible.
So I think we can conclude that yes, there is ample historical evidence from the accounts of the individuals who experienced these events themselves that they felt the hand of God working with them.
DISCUSSION QUESTION
So this begs the question. Why? Why would God be so involved in the establishment of one particular country? Why America? And I can assure you that the answer is not because God loves Americans more than anybody else, or that they’re more important, or that citizens of other nations are any less in God’s eyes. No. That’s not the reason. God doesn’t love Americans any more than he loves Brazilians, or Japanese, or Nigerians, or Samoans, or Norwegians, or Mexicans. There is one reason, and one reason only, for why he was so involved in the establishment of America. And that answer is found in 1 Nephi 13:30-42—the next scene that Nephi is shown in his vision. After promising Nephi that the Lord would not allow the Gentiles to destroy the Native Americans or suffer both groups to remain in ignorance of his truth forever, he shows him this:
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 visited the remnant of the house of Israel—and this remnant of whom I speak is the seed of thy father—wherefore, after I have visited them in judgment, and smitten them by the hand of the Gentiles, and after the Gentiles do stumble exceedingly, because of the most plain and precious parts of the gospel 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 Gentiles in that day, insomuch that I will bring forth unto them, in mine own power, much of my gospel, 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; and after thy seed shall be destroyed, and dwindle in unbelief, and also the seed of thy brethren, behold, these things shall be hid up, to come forth unto the Gentiles, by the gift and power of the Lamb.
36 And in them shall be written my gospel, saith the Lamb, and my rock and my salvation.
So what event from American History is Nephi being shown here and why was God so involved in the formation of the United States? For the Restoration. God needed a place to restore his gospel. And that could only be possible under the right circumstances. And what were those circumstances? What’s the recipe for the Restoration?
God needed:
A PLACE TO DO IT
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
A NATION FORMED BY A FREE GOVERNMENT
THE BIBLE
And now, as you look at that list, do you understand why Nephi was shown those particular events? Why God was so involved in those particular circumstances?
Well,
Christopher Columbus. Why him? He made it possible for there to be a place for the restoration to occur. It couldn’t have been done anywhere really in the Old World. If Joseph Smith had tried to restore the church in Germany, or Italy, or England, it would have never survived. He would have been burnt at the stake as a heretic. The restored church would have died as soon as it was born. So there needed to be a new place, a new world, far from the influence of the deeply entrenched churches and governments of the old. Columbus made that possible.
The Pilgrims. The Pilgrims came to the new world for one reason. Religious freedom. The colonies were established on that principle. So when a government was formed here, religious freedom and the separation of church and state was a non-negotiable element.
The Revolutionary War. There needed to be a type of government that allowed for the protection and flourishing of a new church. The rights and liberties provided by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights made it possible and continue to make it possible for the church to be established and to grow, even though it did face significant opposition, at least it was allowed to be created and maintained.
And finally, the Bible. You have to have the Bible in the hands of the common man, in his own language. That’s the only way to make it possible for a 14-year-old farm boy from upstate New York to read James 1:5 which will inspire him to walk into a grove of trees to seek wisdom on which church to join.
I love this quote from William Tyndale, uttered to the stubborn powers that opposed him. “If God spare my life, ere many years pass, I will cause that the boy that driveth the plough to know more of the scriptures than thou dost.” Well, it would be a boy that driveth the plough that would read his translated words and restore the true Church of God.
TRUTH
So, our big, overarching truth behind all of this. God established America for the Restoration—for the purpose of restoring the fullness of his gospel.
LIKEN THE SCRIPTURES
Now I believe there is one more question that 1 Nephi 13 is going to answer for us. This is where we are being invited to liken the scriptures to ourselves. And the question is: What is my part in this history? God never intended the Restoration to take place and then just sit here only influencing and blessing the lives of Americans. I say again, citizens of the United States are no more important, better, or more valuable to God than any of his other children.
So our part is found in vs. 37. If we are members of the church, what is our responsibility?
37 And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be.
We need to spread that message to all the world. Our job is to “bring forth his Zion” all over the world, “unto all nations”. To “publish peace” everywhere. Yes, the Restoration happened in America, but God never intended it to stay here. He needed a starting line, a base to work from. It just so happens that the United States was it. I mean, he had to choose somewhere. But now, it behooves every member of the church to spread that message throughout the world. And we have! That message has traveled far beyond the shores of the United States. And I might add that the blessings of our form of government have also spread throughout much of the world-God intended those values to bless more than just Americans too. The influence of the principles upon which the United States was founded have inspired and shaped the governments of many nations. The fact of the matter is that Zion is not an American establishment. It’s worldwide. What started in a grove of trees in upstate New York with one 14-year-old boy seeking truth, has become millions of disciples all over the world who have also sought and found truth. We, as members of the restored Church of Jesus Christ around the globe are a part of something very, very special.
I WILL GO AND DO
Therefore what? What’s our action plan now? How can we let the message of these chapters change us? The personal question then, is: Am I fulfilling my role in the great spiritual history of the world? What will you do to bring forth Zion and publish peace throughout the world. Maybe that means serving a full-time mission. Maybe that means seeking to be a better member missionary. Maybe that means publishing peace through social media rather than discord and contention. Maybe that means serving others, donating time and means to humanitarian aid, temple and family history work, paying tithing, giving away a Book of Mormon. There are many, many things we can do to help bring forth Zion in the latter-days.
THE TAKEAWAY
Well, I just love that chapter and its message. It gives me a deep sense of appreciation for the people that helped to prepare the way for the Restoration and a gratitude for a loving God that made it possible. I think we all owe a debt a gratitude to those that made incredible sacrifices to bring us the Church and gospel that we enjoy so freely. I don’t think it matters where you’re from in the world to be grateful for the contents and message of 1 Nephi 13. I hope that we can all appreciate the establishment of a nation for Restoration.
LESSON #3 THE TWO CHURCHES (1 NEPHI 14-15)
Now for the final two chapters of this week’s study, I’m not going to do the full lesson treatment for. Although, you very well could. There are a lot of wonderful, inspiring truths in these two chapters as well. But if I had limited time, I would spend it on the two previous lessons we just covered, since they’re quite unique in scripture. The message of these chapters is very similar to the principles we’ve recently learned in the Book of Revelation. In fact, Revelation is even referred to in chapter 14. But remember that we labeled chapter 14, World History. It’s kind of the big picture chapter, where Nephi is shown the great conflict between the two churches in the last days. The Church of the Lamb and the Church of the devil. And he leads Nephi right up to the days of the Second Coming but says, John is going to write those prophecies for us. He shows Nephi those things, but forbids him to write about them. So Nephi basically sees the history of the world. And then his vision closes. Chapter 15 describes a conversation Nephi has with Laman and Lemuel following his vision. They have a question about some of Lehi’s prophecies that they don’t understand. Nephi comes along and explains it to them as well as a number of the symbols from Lehi’s vision of the tree of life. Specifically, it deals with the future of Laman and Lemuel’s posterity, that they would eventually receive the fullness of the gospel following the restoration, and have the opportunity to be grafted back into the house of Israel.
SEARCH ACTIVITY-TRASHKETBALL
To cover some of the truths taught in these two chapters, I might play a little game with my students or my family. Now, granted, this is going to be more geared towards children and youth. But, you could always have a good discussion with an adult class by just asking the questions, and having them search for the answers, and then using their answers as a discussion starter. But I like this game, and it’s really simple. It’s called trashketball. All you need is a trash can, some masking tape, and a ball of some sort. And even if you don’t have a ball, you could always just crumple up some pieces of paper. But the way you set this up is to place a trashcan against a wall and then tape three pieces of masking tape on the floor at varying distances from the trashcan. Then with a marker, on the piece of tape closest to the trashcan, I would write 1 point. On the second further away, I would write 2 points. Then on the third piece, farthest away, I would write 3 points. And you know, sometimes, just for fun, I might even put a fourth piece of tape, really far away, like almost impossible to make it, and write 10 points on it. But the way the game works is to divide your students up into teams, I find teams of four works well, and ask questions from the chapters. The first team to raise their hands and give you the correct answer gets a chance to shoot the ball and earn points for their team. Also, about every 3 or 4 questions, I’ll do a shooting round only. Where, there is no scripture question, but every team gets a chance to take a shot and earn points. Team with the most points at the end of the game, wins. Simple, but effective.
To make it easier to find the answers to the questions, I would divide the chapter up and tell them that the answers to these first questions are found in verses 1-10 of chapter 14.
Q1: According to 1 Nephi 14, how many churches are there in the world today?
A1: Two (Verse 10) The church of the Lamb of God and the church of the devil.
Q2: Find at least 2 blessings in these verses for choosing to be a part of the church of the Lamb of God.
A2: There are a few here.
:2 They shall be a blessed people upon the promised land forever
:2 They shall no more be confounded.
:5 it shall be well with them
:7 peace and life eternal
Q3: Find at least 2 consequences in these verses for choosing to be a part of the church of the devil.
A3: There are a few to choose from here as well.
:3 lead away down to hell
:3 That great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who digged it. So, their plan will backfire, and they themselves will be trapped.
:3 casting of the soul into that hell which hath no end
:4 captivity
:5 perish
:7 deliverance to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds.
:7 They are brought down into temporal and spiritual captivity and destruction
The answers to these next questions come from verses 11-17
Q4: What two words describe the size of the Church of the Lamb of God?
Few, and small. So it shouldn’t surprise us that the church is small compared with the rest of the world. It’s been prophesied that way.
Q5: 1 Nephi 14 tells of a great battle between the two churches in the last days. What two specific weapons are used to defeat the church of the devil?
A5: Verse :14 tells us that the saints are armed with righteousness, and the power of God (another name for the power of God, priesthood) the church of the devil will be defeated by righteousness and priesthood power.
Q6: In the last days, God will prepare a way for the fulfilling of THESE that he’s made with the people of the house of Israel?
A6: In verse 17. His covenants. God always keeps his covenants, and they will be fulfilled in the last days.
Now some questions for the last verses of chapter 14. Verses 18-30
Q7: In verses 18-20, Nephi is shown a man. What is the name of that man?
A7: That man is John, John the Beloved, or John the Revelator. We’re told that outright in verse 27.
Q8: What book of scripture is the angel referring to in verses 21-27? Hint: It's not the Bible, but a book within the Bible.
A8: The book of Revelation. The book of Revelation contains an account of the remainder of the spiritual history of the world.
Q9: How much of Nephi’s vision did he write about to us?
A9: Verse 28. A small part. Nephi saw a lot more in his vision than he’s given to us. God truly blessed Nephi that day because of his desire to understand the things of God.
Which leads us to chapter 15. The answers to these questions are found in verse 1-11
Q10: Why was it hard for Laman and Lemuel to understand the words which Lehi had taught them?
A10: From either verse 3 or 8. Because they wouldn’t inquire of the Lord. They could also answer from verse 3, that they were hard in their hearts, and did not look unto the Lord as they ought.
Q11: According to Nephi, what three things must we do if we want God to “make things known unto us”?
A11: The answer is in verse 11 We must 1. Not harden our hearts. 2. Ask God in faith believing that we shall receive, and 3. Be diligent in keeping God’s commandments. Then, surely these things shall be made known unto you.
Now verses 12-20
Q12: Lehi compared the house of Israel to what kind of tree?
A12: You can see this in verses 12 and 16. An olive tree. The posterity of Lehi’s family is compared to a branch of that tree that is broken off for a time, planted in the Americas, but eventually grafted back in, in the last days.
Q13: Name three bits of knowledge that the Book of Mormon will restore in the latter days.
A13: There’s quite a few, and they’re all in verse 14. The knowledge that Lehi’s seed is of the house of Israel. That they are a covenant people. They’ll come to a knowledge of their forefathers. A knowledge of the gospel of their Redeemer. The knowledge of their Redeemer, the very points of his doctrine, and how to come unto him and be saved.
That’s a great description of what the Book of Mormon will do for us. It restores the very points of his doctrine and helps us to know our Redeemer better. We should be watching for those things as we study the Book of Mormon this year.
Now questions for verses 21-36 to finish out the chapter.
Q14: What blessings come from holding to the iron rod?
A14: In vs. 24. We will never perish. We will not be overcome by the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary. We will not be blinded. And we will not be led away to destruction.
Q15: The last 10 verses of 1 Nephi 15 describe the final state of the wicked. What word is repeated 9 times to describe them in 15:27, 33 and 34? Filthy, or filthiness. God must have a pure kingdom. Those that become filthy in the things of the world, that refuse to clean themselves through repentance must remain in a state of filthiness. Therefore, it behooves us to seek to be purified through baptism, the sacrament, repentance and the blood of the lamb.
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