Nephi's Ministry in the Midst of Chaos
Book of Mormon Notes - Wednesday, December 20, 2023, 3 Nephi 7
Just prior to the coming of Jesus Christ among the Nephites, most of the people had become so wicked that they were divided into tribes because secret combinations had completely destroyed the government. An antichrist named Jacob became the king of the secret combination, and the chief judge of the land was murdered. Each tribe consisted of a chief, or leader, and his family, kindred, and friends, and the tribes among the people became very great.
Even though the people rejected the prophets, yielded themselves unto the power of Satan, and became very wicked, and even though the secret combination had destroyed the government, and appointed the antichrist Jacob as king, war was kept at bay for a time. Nevertheless, there was great contention in the land, and most of the righteous people had become wicked. There were very few righteous men among them.
Because the tribes of the people were greater and more numerous than Jacob the antichrist and the members of his secret combination that had destroyed the government, and because the tribes were united in their hatred of king Jacob and his band, king Jacob and his band fled northward with dissenters in order to form a kingdom. Meanwhile, the tribes did not go to war with each other, but they were not united by their laws either. It was a kind of organized anarchy. Strict laws were established by the chiefs of the tribes in order to maintain peace between tribes, but their hearts were turned from the Lord their God, and they stoned and cast out the aprophets. It is amazing to consider that only a short time before this, the people had praised God for delivering them from the Gadianton robbers that threatened them with utter destruction.
Although the majority of the people had become very wicked, whether joining with Jacob the antichrist and his band of dissenters and members of the secret combination that had destroyed the government or joining with a particular tribe, Nephi, son of Nephi continued to fulfill his calling. Nephi had been visited by angels and the voice of the Lord. He was an eye-witness of angels and he had power given unto him that he might know concerning the ministry of Christ. He was also an eye-witness of the quick return of the people from righteousness to wickedness and abominations. Like his father before him, Nephi’s heart sickened, and he was agrieved for the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds. Like his father before him, Nephi testified boldly to the people and preached repentance and remission of sins through faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.
It seems as though Mormon wished to include more of Nephi’s preaching and prophesies, but he could not. Mormon considered that he could not write all of Nephi’s teachings, and that to write only a part of them would not suffice. Somewhere in the piles of plates and records there is the record of Nephi’s teachings, and perhaps we can read them someday. But Mormon was building up to the climax, the destruction that preceded Christ’s coming.
Nephi ministered with apower and with great authority, so much so that it was impossible for the people to disbelieve him. The wicked people were angry with Nephi because he had more power than they did. Where did Nephi’s power come from? The origin of Nephi’s power was his great faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great faith in Jesus Christ, angels ministered unto him daily, he cast out devils and aunclean spirits in the name of Jesus, and he even craised his brother (who had been stoned to death by the people) from the dead.
One would think that if a man were able to do such mighty miracles and to preach in such a way that it was impossible to disbelieve his words, then the people would repent. But so it was with Christ - who went about doing good, healing the sick, and raising the dead - and His own people rejected Him and crucified Him. It is interesting to consider that the Lord’s miraculous ministry in the Old World has a mirror image in Nephi’s miraculous ministry in the New World. Even though the people saw and witnessed the miracles that Nephi wrought in the name of Jesus, they were angry with him. Most people rejected him. Very few were converted unto the Lord, but those who were converted and healed showed - even with signs and miracles - unto the people that they had been avisited and wrought upon by the power and bSpirit of God, which was in Jesus Christ, in whom they believed.
Nephi continued to preach repentance and the remission of sins, baptizing all those who were brought unto arepentance. Nephi ordained men to baptize, which baptism was a witness and a testimony before God and unto the people that they had repented and received a bremission of their sins. Even in the midst of such great wickedness, there were many who were baptized unto repentance.
Alex Jones (and Tucker Carlson) recently predicted the assassinations of both Joe Biden and Donald Trump. There have already been assassinations of presidents by conspiracy in the United States of America, and therefore we are already deep into the Book of Mormon timeline. In 3 Nephi 7, the chief judge is assassinated, the government is destroyed, and the people divide into tribes. Assassinations… check. Government destroyed… check. People divided into tribes… check. There is much more to come.
Perhaps because Biden and Trump are still alive, there is still some semblance of Constitutional government, the tribes are not fully formed yet, and a powerful anti-Christ who forms a secret combination has not yet arisen - perhaps we haven’t quite reached the same point of corruption and wickedness in the United States of America. I don’t know. For all I know, there is already a Jacob like anti-Christ who has formed a secret combination and plans to make himself king of America.
But the important thing, as I see it, is that Mormon demonstrates how - even in the midst of such chaos, confusion, wickedness, and evil - Nephi, the son of Nephi was enabled to lead souls unto repentance and faith in Christ. The majority of the people were past feeling, wicked, and ripe for destruction, but there were also many good people who desired to repent, to be baptized, and to follow Jesus Christ. Nephi so effectively preached repentance and faith in Christ, and his preaching and miracles were done with such power from Christ, that many believed, repented, and were baptized.
This is significant because such people were being prepared to receive the Lord Jesus Christ when He descended from Heaven not too much later. Nephi’s ministry in the midst of chaos also points us to Christ’s ministry that was about to conclude in His Crucifixion and Resurrection. And just as the prophets had prophesied, before Christ’s coming among the people in ancient America, there was great destruction.