A Great and a Marvelous Work and the Marred Servant

Book of Mormon Notes - Friday, March 1, 2024, 3 Nephi 21

The time of the Gentiles is coming to a close. Jesus brought His Gospel first to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles (through Paul in particular), and in the last days, or the days in which we now live, Jesus brought His Restored Gospel first to the Gentiles (through Joseph Smith in particular), and then to the Jews. This is the most exciting time to be alive. Israel is being gathered, and the Book of Mormon itself is a sign of that gathering. The Lord blessed the Gentiles with the Gospel through the Bible and the righteous heritage of Christians who sought liberty to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience, here in the Promised Land of America, and He also blessed the Gentiles with the Restored Gospel, the fullness of the Gospel, through the Book of Mormon and the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Gentiles were established as a free people here in the United States, thanks in part to the wisdom and efforts of the wise men that the Lord raised up for this very purpose. Those Gentiles who believe, repent, and obey Christ will be saved. They will help the Remnant, or the seed of Lehi and the House of Israel, to build the New Jerusalem. The Gentiles that reject Christ and His Restored Gospel will be cut off and destroyed. This is part of the overarching story of the Lord’s work, and the work of the Father that is unfolding today.

Jesus taught the Nephites who were gathered at the Temple in Bountiful that the time of the gathering of Israel and the establishment of Zion would correspond directly to the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and especially the restoration of the Remnant, or the seed of Lehi, to the truth concerning Christ and their fathers. This is one reason why it is so exciting that the Lord’s prophet and president of the Church, Russell M. Nelson, recently met with the President of the Navajo Nation. The missionary efforts of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are all about gathering Israel in preparation for the Lord’s Second Coming.

The Lord is gathering scattered Israel in order to establish His Zion among us. At first the Gentiles whom the Lord blessed came to the Promised Land and scattered the seed of Lehi. But in the last days, now, the seed of Lehi, and the rest of the House of Israel, are being gathered and restored, and the Gentiles are invited to repent and join them, in the establishment of the Lord’s Zion once again upon the earth. There have been a few attempts to establish Zion over the millennia, some more successful than others. Enoch and his band succeeded after many years in establishing a Zion community that the Lord eventually took up into Heaven and unto Himself. The establishment of the Lord’s Church and a Zion community, a community of Christians, in the Holy Land, was temporarily thwarted after Jesus was crucified, His Apostles killed, and His followers scattered. Here in these chapters of the Book of Mormon, the Lord begins to establish a successful Zion community that lasted for approximately one hundred years. Joseph Smith and his faithful friends began to establish Zion during the early years of the Restoration, but Joseph and his brother Hyrum were killed and the Church was forced into exile for a time.

Nevertheless, the Lord is establishing Zion once again, and the seed of Lehi, along with penitent Gentiles who assist them, will build up the New Jerusalem here on the American continent, and the city of Enoch will come down from Heaven to join the New Jerusalem. This is no Benedict Option or Parallel Polis. It is the veritable city of God. But there is still much work to be done before such blessings will be made manifest.

The Book of Mormon is part of the sign that the Lord has given to mark the time of the work of the Father and the fulfilling of His covenant with the House of Israel. As the Gentiles receive the Book of Mormon, learn of Lehi and his seed, begin to understand the Lord’s teachings in the Book of Mormon, and also begin to share these things with the seed of Lehi, then the penitent Gentiles will be numbered among the House of Israel, and the seed of Lehi who come to a knowledge of Christ and their fathers will now that it is a sign that “the work of the Father hath already commenced unto the fulfilling of the covenant which he hath made unto the people who are of the house of Israel.” (3 Nephi 21:7)

The Lord prophesies to the ancient Nephites at Bountiful that when these things come forth, king shall shut their mouths because they will see that which had not been told them, and they shall ^aconsider that which they had not heard. Many of these things are in process of fulfillment and others are soon to happen:

For in that day, for my sake shall the Father ^awork a work, which shall be a great and a ^bmarvelous ^cwork among them; and there shall be among them those who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them. (3 Nephi 21:9)

What is this great and marvelous work? A traditional interpretation is that the Father’s great and marvelous work includes the First Vision, the translation and dissemination of the Book of Mormon, the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ, and the early Restoration. While this is certainly part of the Lord’s work, I think that there is much more to it, and much more to come.

In his small plates, Nephi also prophesied of these things:

And after our seed is scattered the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles, which shall be of great worth unto our seed; wherefore, it is likened unto their being nourished by the Gentiles and being carried in their arms and upon their shoulders. (1 Nephi 22:8)

Isaiah especially prophesied about these things.

But let’s take a closer look at verse 9 of 3 Nephi 21. In that day - meaning, in the day that the Lord brings forth His words and His works from the Gentiles to the seed of Lehi and the House of Israel, and in the day when Israel is gathered and the seed of Lehi comes to the knowledge of Christ and the true points of His doctrine - in that day, for Jesus’ sake, shall the Father work a work. These things are currently in process of fulfillment. The great and marvelous work, and the marvelous work and a wonder certainly have something to do with that which the Lord has already accomplished through Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the early Restoration of the fullness of the Gospel. But I believe, and the Lord’s teachings in this chapter indicate, that an even greater marvelous work is still forthcoming. What is this even greater marvelous work? What will the Father do? Pay close attention:

For in that day, for my sake shall the Father ^awork a work, which shall be a great and a ^bmarvelous ^cwork among them; and there shall be among them those who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them.

But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be ^amarred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that ^bmy wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil.

Therefore it shall come to pass that whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ, which the Father shall cause ^ahim to bring forth unto the ^bGentiles, and shall give unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the Gentiles, (it shall be done even as Moses said) they shall be ^ccut off from among my people who are of the covenant.

And my people who are a remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, yea, in the midst of them as a ^alion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.

Their hand shall be lifted up upon their ^aadversaries, and all their enemies shall be cut off.

Yea, wo be unto the Gentiles except they ^arepent; for it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Father, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy ^bchariots;

And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy ^astrongholds;

And I will cut off ^awitchcrafts out of thy land, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers;

Thy ^agraven images I will also cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee, and thou shalt no more worship the works of thy hands;

And I will pluck up thy ^agroves out of the midst of thee; so will I destroy thy cities.

And it shall come to pass that all ^alyings, and deceivings, and envyings, and strifes, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, shall be done away.

For it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that at that ^aday whosoever will not repent and come unto my Beloved Son, them will I ^bcut off from among my people, O house of Israel;

And I will execute ^avengeance and ^bfury upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.

But if they will repent and hearken unto my words, and ^aharden not their hearts, I will ^bestablish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be ^cnumbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their ^dinheritance;

And they shall assist my ^apeople, the remnant of Jacob, and also as many of the house of Israel as shall come, that they may build a city, which shall be called the ^bNew Jerusalem.

And then shall ^athey assist my people that they may be gathered in, who are scattered upon all the face of the land, in unto the New Jerusalem.

And then shall the ^apower of heaven come down among them; and ^bI also will be in the midst.

And then shall the work of the Father commence at that day, even ^awhen this gospel shall be preached among the remnant of ^bthis people. Verily I say unto you, at that day shall the work of the Father commence among all the dispersed of my people, yea, even the tribes which have been ^clost, which the Father hath led away out of Jerusalem.

Yea, the work shall commence among all the ^adispersed of my people, with the Father to prepare the way whereby they may ^bcome unto me, that they may call on the Father in my name.

Yea, and then shall the work commence, with the Father among all nations in preparing the way whereby his people may be ^agathered home to the land of their inheritance.

And they shall go out from all nations; and they shall ^anot go out in ^bhaste, nor go by flight, for I will go before them, saith the Father, and I will be their rearward. (3 Nephi 21:9-29)

These are some of the most exciting and thrilling prophesies in the Book of Mormon and they correspond directly with the prophesies and teachings of Isaiah. I have many questions about these prophesies that have yet to be fulfilled. Who is the Lord’s servant whose life is in His hands who shall be ^amarred because of the Gentiles and the kings, and then healed by the Lord? It is tradition to interpret these passages as applying to Jesus Christ and to the Prophet Joseph Smith, and these interpretations are valid and not without merit. But could these passages pertain to yet another servant who is marred? What does it even mean, to be marred?

There is a lot of discussion on the interwebs about these matters. But let’s take a closer look at verse 10:

But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be ^amarred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that ^bmy wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil. (3 Nephi 21:10)

Let’s break down the different components of this prophecy:

• The life of the Lord’s servant shall be in His hand

• They (the Ephraimite Gentiles?) shall not hurt him

• He (the Lord’s servant) shall be ^amarred (to injure, wounded, deform, disfigure) because of them (the Ephraimite Gentiles?)

• The Lord will heal His servant

• The Lord will show them (the Ephraimite Gentiles?) that His wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil

Cross reference:

I will not suffer that they shall destroy my work; yea, I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil. (D&C 10:43)

There is much debate concerning the meaning of these passages. It makes sense, however, to read these passages in the context of, and in connection with, other passages that refer to the marred servant. Remember the Lord’s prophesies in the previous chapter:

Behold, my servant shall deal prudently; he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.

As many were astonished at thee—his visage was so marred, more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men—

So shall he ^asprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him, for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they ^bconsider. (3 Nephi 20:43-45)

Certainly Jesus Christ was marred in this way, and the Prophet Joseph Smith was also greatly marred. But could this refer to another future end-time servant? Whomever it is, he is first marred, and then healed by the Lord. The forces of evil attempt to destroy him, but God preserves him, heals him, and blesses him, in order to show that His wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil.

There are many varying interpretations of these passages. Some people think that the marred servant might refer to the Book of Mormon. Others consider that the marred servant may be Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, John the Revelator, a latter-day Davidic servant, or someone else. Of course, the words of Isaiah often have multiple meanings and applications. Isaiah 53, and Mosiah 14 (the suffering servant) tie into this discussion as well. Gileadi considers that it is counterproductive to try to pinpoint exactly who anyone of these end-times servants are, but he has some other interesting things to say about this topic. (see also here) Apparently Gileadi considers this end-time servant to be a mortal servant who will serve as a proxy and deliver the covenant people. I don’t think that he’s wrong about that. One person in this thread even suggests that it could be John the Baptist. That’s an interesting thought.

On the other hand, I agree with others who push back against Gileadi’s interpretations. Isaiah 11, Moroni’s message to Joseph Smith, and D&C 85 also tie into this discussion. There’s a lot to untangle. Gileadi’s books and videos are helpful for getting people to think and to search Isaiah more thoroughly. But the Lord knows who His servant is, and someday we’ll all know as well. In the meantime, these are great things to which we can look forward.

because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that ^bmy wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil.