2 Nephi 3 speaks of two seers lets look at them.
6 For Joseph truly testified, saying: A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins.This first seer here. Shall have no other work except the work which I (the Lord) shall command him to do. He will have power to bring for the word (book of mormon) and restore them to the knowledge of the covenatns which I have made with thy fathers. Which covenants? I have talked about this already. In passing at least.
7 Yea, Joseph truly said: Thus saith the Lord unto me: A choiceseer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins. 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 knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers.
8 And I will give unto him a commandment that he shall do noneother work, save the work which I shall command him. And I will make him great in mine eyes; for he shall do my work.
9 And he shall be great like unto Moses, whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel.
10 And Moses will I raise up, to deliver thy people out of the land of Egypt.
Title page of the Book of Mormon which was translated from the plates.
Which is to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever—And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations (book of Mormon title page, par 2)You see the Book of Mormon purpose is to bring us to the knowledge of the Covenants of the fathers that we are not cast off forever. WE must turn our hearts (make a covenant with) the fathers who are in heaven or be cast off when the hosts of heaven come again or be burned. Lets look at D&C for one more verse to make this point more concrete.
This shows how important the book of Mormon is in our lives. It teaches us how to return to Gods presence and see him in the flesh.
3 And I have caused you that you should enter into a covenantwith me, that you should not show them except to those persons to whom I commanded you; and you have no power over them except I grant it unto you.No other gift or work was to be given to Joseph until it was translated. Josephs work was not to bring Zion but this record, the knowledge of the covenants of the fathers. Now lets continue in 2 Nephi 3.
4 And you have a gift to translate the plates; and this is the first gift that I bestowed upon you; and I have commanded that you should pretend to no other gift until my purpose is fulfilled in this; for I will grant unto you no other gift until it is finished. (D&C 5:3-4)
11 But a seer will I raise up [A different one than Joseph] out of the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word 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, which shall have already gone forth among them.You see this seer will convince them of the word that has ALREADY gone forth. Joseph brought it forth, but this seer will not only bring it forth but convince them. This is NOT Joseph.
12 Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; 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, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord.3 Nephi 16 mentions this restoring of the house of Israel. First in Verse 10 it mentions the Gentiles (that is us right now) will reject the fulness (not if but WHEN).
13 And out of weakness he shall be made strong, in that day when my work shall commence among all my people, unto the restoring thee, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.
14 And thus prophesied Joseph, saying: Behold, that seer will the Lord bless; and they that seek to destroy him shall be confounded; 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;
10 And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them.This is a future event. Verse 13 in 3 Nephi:16 states they have a chance to repent after they have rejected and the house of israel gets the gospel. Than if they reject it AGAIN, they will be cast out. This is their second opportunity to repent. We learn here that the "remnant" will survive. The destruction most likely precedes or accompanies Israel getting the Gospel but I won't try to guess this.
11 And then will I remember my covenant which I have made unto my people, O house of Israel [O house of Israel, or back in 2 Nephi 3:13 "restoring thee, o house of Israel"], and I will bring my gospel unto them.
12 And I will show unto thee, O house of Israel, that the Gentiles shall not have power over you; but I will remember my covenant unto you, O house of Israel, and ye shall come unto the knowledge of the fulness of my gospel. (3 Nephi 16:10-12)
Than in Verse 17 states, in This day (the day verse 17 is fulfilled and the Gentiles have all accepted or rejected it, Isaiah will be fulfilled which states:
17 And then the words of the prophet Isaiah shall be fulfilled, which say:I would highly encourage you to cross reference this with Isaiah 29 and 58. If you wish to look into the Servant Isaiah 49 is a good place which may or may not be the same person here. Lets put one more scripture on this to get a bigger picture of events. 3 Nephi 21 another sermon by the savior. Then compare this with the timing of 3 Nephi 16 with the idea of this future seer in 2 nephi 3.
18 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion.
19 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. (3 Nephi 16:17-18)
20 For it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that at that daywhosoever will not repent and come unto my Beloved Son, them will I cut off from among my people, O house of Israel; (Cross Reference 3 nephi 16:10)This is a future date. The work among ALL the dispersed of the Lords people, ALL the missing tribes, and other sheep will be gathered in in THAT day. The day when Jerusalem IS built by the Remnant. This is the exact work of the second seer. As 2 Nephi 3:13 says "in that day when my work shall commence among all my people". Do you see the similarity in the language? The similarity in the words and the timing and patterns here? The second Seer will do this work among all the people, which is YET a future event.
21 And I will execute vengeance and fury upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.
22 But if they will repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance; (cf. 3 Nephi 16:14)
23 And they shall assist my people, 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 New Jerusalem.
24 And then shall they assist my people that they may be gathered in, who are scattered upon all the face of the land, in unto the New Jerusalem.
25 And then shall the power of heaven come down among them; and I also will be in the midst.
26 And then shall the work of the Father commence at that day, even when this gospel shall be preached among the remnant of this 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 lost, which the Father hath led away out of Jerusalem.
27 Yea, the work shall commence among all the dispersed of my people, with the Father to prepare the way whereby they may come unto me, that they may call on the Father in my name.
28 Yea, and then shall the work commence, with the Father among all nations in preparing the way whereby his people may begathered home to the land of their inheritance. (3 Nephi 21:20-28))
O YE GENTILES! The book of Mormon is definitely a pattern for OUR day.
See JST of Genesis 50. It says the same thing here. Plenty of other verses that go into this too. Ask yourself what these covenants ARE that you need to be saved. Without them we will burn up.
2 Nephi chapter 3 is all about the Servant, and just the Servant. Joseph Smith was only a type of the Great and Marvelous work. The Great and Marvelous work is the work that the Lord would do himself when he sets his hand the second time.
ReplyDeleteSo who is the Servant?
When Moroni came to Joseph Smith he clearly identifies the Servant. But first lets review the scriptures in Acts mentioned by Moroni.
Acts 3
22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
Now Moroni identifies the Servant
JSH
40 In addition to these, he quoted the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, saying that it was about to be fulfilled. He quoted also the third chapter of Acts, twenty-second and twenty-third verses, precisely as they stand in our New Testament. HE SAID THAT THAT PROPHET WAS CHRIST ; BUT THE DAY HAD NOT YET COME when “they who would not hear his voice should be cut off from among the people,” BUT SOON WOULD COME.
Notice in the time of Joseph the day had not yet come for this prophet LIKE UNTO MOSES.
So back to 2 Nephi chapter 3
9 And HE SHALL BE LIKE UNTO MOSES, whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel.
Nephi identifies the Servant like unto Moses
1 Nephi 22
20 And the Lord will surely prepare a way for his people, unto the fulfilling of the words of Moses, which he spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that all those who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people.
21 And now I, Nephi, declare unto you, that THIS PROPHET WHOM MOSES SPAKE WAS THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL; wherefore, he shall execute judgment in righteousness.
Jesus identifies himself as the one like unto Moses.
3 Nephi
22 And behold, this people will I establish in this land, unto the fulfilling of the covenant which I made with your father Jacob; and it shall be a New Jerusalem. And the powers of heaven shall be in the midst of this people; yea, even I WILL BE IN THE MIDST OF YOU.
23 Behold, I AM HE OF WHOM MOSES SPAKE, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people.
Notice that Jesus is talking about the Servant and his ministry amongst the Gentiles, not the Jews. This is an end time context. Again this is NOT Joseph Smith
3 Nephi 21
10 But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil.
11 Therefore it shall come to pass that whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ, which the Father shall cause him to bring forth unto the Gentiles, 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 cut off from among my people who are of the covenant.
Again referring to a day to come:
D&C 1
14 And THE ARM OF THE LORD SHALL BE REVEALED; and the day cometh that they who will not hear THE VOICE OF THE LORD, neither the voice of his servants, neither give heed to the words of the prophets and apostles, shall be cut off from among the people;
D&C 133
63 And upon them that hearken not to THE VOICE OF THE LORD shall be fulfilled that which was written by the prophet Moses, that they should be cut off from among the people
Yes, the Book of Mormon is written to the Gentiles and it's filled with types of the Great and Marvelous work that will take place in our day.
You had given me much to ponder. I do not believe Christ will come again in the flesh. Joseph Smith seemed to denounce this idea in the Joseph Smith papers.
ReplyDeleteMoroni says:
He said that that prophet was Christ; but the day had not yet come when “they who would not hear his voice should be cut off from among the people,” but soon would come.
The Prophet had come, but the day when they would not hear his voice had not yet come. The voice can come through his servants, in this case this future servant which is a type of Christ. That doesn't mean Christ is coming again as a prophet. What it does mean is that Christ's voice will be heard again. And in that final voicing by Christ, those who do not have the ears to hear it will be cut off.
Tyson,
ReplyDeleteDon't cast the seed out because of unbelief. If you can have no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that you can give place for a portion of my words.
If the seed is good it'll bear fruit. The spirit will open your mind and heart to other scriptures and reveal the truth to you.
Some mysteries can only be known by great sacrifice. Here are a few other scriptures to ponder and pray about.
Moses 7
58 And again Enoch wept and cried unto the Lord, saying: When shall the earth rest?
59 And Enoch beheld the Son of Man ascend up unto the Father; and he called unto the Lord, saying: Wilt thou not come again upon the earth? Forasmuch as thou art God, and I know thee, and thou hast sworn unto me, and commanded me that I should ask in the name of thine Only Begotten; thou hast made me, and given unto me a right to thy throne, and not of myself, but through thine own grace; wherefore, I ask thee if thou wilt not come again on the earth
60 And the Lord said unto Enoch: As I LIVE, EVEN SO WILL I COME IN THE LAST DAYS, in the days of wickedness and vengeance, to fulfil the oath which I have made unto you concerning the children of Noah;
Christ will come to his temple (his body!)
John 2
19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
21 But he spake of the temple of his body.
3 Nephi 24
1 And it came to pass that he commanded them that they should write the words which the Father had given unto Malachi, which he should tell unto them. And it came to pass that after they were written he expounded them. And these are the words which he did tell unto them, saying: Thus said the Father unto Malachi—Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me, and THE LORD WHOM YE SEEK SHALL SUDDENLY COME TO HIS TEMPLE, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts.
First he will be a stumbling block to the Jews. The Second time he comes he will be the only foundation upon which they can build.
Jacob 4
15 And now I, Jacob, am led on by the Spirit unto prophesying; for I perceive by the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that by the stumbling of the Jews they will reject the stone upon which they might build and have safe foundation.
16 But behold, according to the scriptures, this stone shall become the great, and the last, and the only sure foundation, upon which the Jews can build.
Christ will be in our midst
2 Nephi 22
6 Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion; for GREAT IS THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL IN THE MIDST OF THEE.
3 Nephi 20
22 And behold, this people will I establish in this land, unto the fulfilling of the covenant which I made with your father Jacob; and it shall be a New Jerusalem. And the powers of heaven shall be in the midst of this people; yea, even I WILL BE IN THE MIDST OF YOU.
3 Nephi 21
25 And then shall the power of heaven come down among them; and I ALSO WILL BE IN THE MIDST.
1 Nephi 13
42 And the time cometh that he shall manifest himself unto all nations, both unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles; and after he has manifested himself unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles, then he shall manifest himself unto the Gentiles and also unto the Jews, and the last shall be first, and the first shall be last.
How did Christ manifest himself to the Jews? Wasn't it in the form of a man? He will "manifest" himself in the same way to the Gentiles.
Great scriptures. I will definitely ponder on this. let me clarify my original thought. I am going to try to track down Josephs quote in the joseph smith papers and post it when i find it.
ReplyDeleteWhen i said he would not come in the flesh, i meant being born INTO the flesh. (as he did with mary). But i do believe he will do this last work (second time) himself. For HE will "hasten his work in his time", He is the mighty and strong one that will set the house in order.
3 Nephi 24
1 And it came to pass that he commanded them that they should write the words which the Father had given unto Malachi, which he should tell unto them. And it came to pass that after they were written he expounded them. And these are the words which he did tell unto them, saying: Thus said the Father unto Malachi—Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me, and THE LORD WHOM YE SEEK SHALL SUDDENLY COME TO HIS TEMPLE, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts.
I believe it is in reference to US. When we purify our temples, he will appear unto us (come to His temple), and he will minister to US personally. This needs to occur before the entire "hosts" of heaven come down or they will burn us up. The messenger comes first (servant) than the Lord will manifest himself unto YOU.
This is shown in the oath and the covenant.
D&C 84:47 And every one that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit COMETH UNTO GOD, even the Father.
48 And the Father TEACHETH HIM of THE COVENANT which he has renewed and confirmed upon you, which is confirmed upon you for your sakes, and not for your sakes only, but for the sake of the whole
When the Lord comes in the latter days it will be in the clouds of heaven not as a man walking on the earth, or he will descend "from the presence of God". These verses seem clear. This does not mean he cannot do "work" as he did with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus when he withheld his glory. And yes there is much to what you said in your comment but that is a separate topic. I see the question as will he, not can he.
ReplyDeleteThe Joseph Smith Papers: Revelations and Translations, Vol. 2
1830 Book of Commandments
"look not for a Messiah to come which has already come." (Ch 16, vs 27.)
"they shall see me in the clouds of heaven, clothed with power and great glory, with all the holy angels." (Chapter 48, verse 37.)
"the Son of Man cometh not in the form of a woman, neither of a man travelling on the earth." (Chapter 52, verse 21.)
"were separated from the earth, and were reserved unto [God], a city reserved until a day of righteouensss shall come, a day which was sought for by all holy men, and they found it not because of wickedness and abominations." (Chapter 48, verse 14.)
"it shall be called the New Jerusalem, a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety for the saints of the most high God. And the glory of the Lord shall be there, and the terror of the Lord also shall be there, insomuch that the wicked will not come unto it: And it shall be called Zion." (Chapter 48, verses 59-61.)
"I the Lord ...will come down in heaven from the presence of God, and consume the wicked with unquenchable fire." (Chapter 64, verse 36.)
Here are two alternate sources that are similar.
http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/book-of-commandments-1833
http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/revelation-circa-summer-1829-dc-19?p=3
I have a hard copy of the 1830. Seems pretty clear to me.