This was a hard post to write. It is a bitter pill to swallow for someone who loves America and what it stands for. But it is important that we examine ourselves and examine what the prophets have warned us about, but we may have been too busy buying and selling to take notice. Until, perhaps, now.
There are two corollaries or themes that seem to be threaded throughout the Book of Mormon. The first is that North America is a covenant land and that any nation that possesses it does so by covenant and is under the protection of God. (2 Nephi 7:4; Ether 1:7; Ether 6:1)) Once a people or nation has been given a covenant, which involves possession of a land and receiving light and knowledge, and then turn away from the light, they become a darkened and doubly cursed people. They become more cursed than if they had never entered into a covenant. The Lord allows them to be destroyed or removed from their place. The Lord explains this eloquently in D&C 101:39-40 and 103:8-10.
Lest you wonder, when did the colonists and pilgrims enter into a covenant with the Lord for the lands of North America? It can be shown that many of these groups did knowingly covenant with God. For example, the Pilgrims arriving off the coast of Massachusetts in 1620 signed a document covenanting to each other and with God using such language as, “Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country“(1), before disembarking the Mayflower. The Puritans believed it was the hand of God that brought them to America and they felt bound to establish a community that Cotton Mather would later claim in the early 1700’s fulfilled the prophesy of Isaiah 1:26: “May these be your Cares. Then there will be fulfilled unto us, that Word; Isa. 1. 26. Thou shalt be called, The City of Righteousness, The Faithful City.”(2)
The Catholics of Maryland, the Huguenots of South Carolina, Virginia and New York, the Baptists of Rhode Island, the Quakers of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the Congregationalists from Scotland occupying Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New York, and the Mormon Pioneers, all believed that God had brought them to this land and that they had a sacred responsibility in the possession of it.(3) Even the Spaniards made declarations in part that their mission, as corrupt as it was, was to glorify God. Nephi claims that no one was brought to this country unless God led them to come. “Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring” (2 Nephi 1:1). The belief that America was special and under the protection of God was passed along to their descendants (us) who, for the most part, kept the terms of this implied covenant. It really wasn’t until the last generation or two during the later part of the 20th Century that the descendants broke with the terms of this covenant with God. Depravity is manifest in many ways, but I think the Gentile brand of iniquity, our brand of darkness, involves abortion, abandonment of the sacredness of marriage, the encouragement of gender dysphoria, failure to keep the Sabbath day holy and the mass exiting of people from the houses of worship to pursue entertainment, shopping and leisure, and the proliferation of secret combinations and cabals amongst us. Americans are increasingly turning their backs on God. In addition, unrighteous dominion use of military might to enforce American financial advantages at the expense of smaller or less developed nations is egregious to God. These all combine to attract the ire of heaven.
The second corollary that is threaded throughout the Book of Mormon, and is also a major theme in the Bible, is that any nation that becomes tyrannical, cruel, or odious to its neighbors, enslaving them and putting a yoke upon their necks, lusting after their possessions, and looting their resources with abandon, is in danger of God’s wrath. The Lord will destroy them or at the least remove their power. A few dramatic examples of that in history are the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greek City States, Persians, Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Hapsburg Spain of the 16th and 17th centuries , etc.
Where does America stand on the spectrum of tyranny? Given that the Lord has given us every advantage and a stewardship over a sacred and covenant land? Have we lived up to our side of the covenant with God? The rest of the world hates America and its policies. Even our allies just tolerate us. As a nation we are nothing like the Assyrians or Nazi Germany, but there are other methods of enslaving people that are more subtle, but just as grievous. Could American fiscal policy and military hegemony which have combined to create a standard of living beyond the wildest dreams of most other nations also contribute to its eventual fall? Creation of ruinous amounts of debt, which so far dwarfs anything that has ever been created in the history of the world is what has made America “great” and is keeping America afloat. Could it be that America is too dictatorial in its foreign policies and selfish in the way it pursues its interests abroad and at home. How long before the Lord says, “Enough!” I wonder if the “Make America Great Again” slogan doesn’t display a hubris and an arrogance , which in Greek tragedies always results in the hero’s fall.
“He that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that abaseth himself shall be exalted.” (D&C 101:42)
America suffers from the same malady that has gripped the citizens of other great nations from the past. Nations which rose to the apex only to be overrun, destroyed, or eventually reduced to backwater status. Pride is the great denominator for all of these great nations. James Thomson wrote the following in 1740, which became a motto for the British Empire for over two hundred years until they were forced to play second fiddle to America’s super power status after the Second World War.
“When Britain first, at Heaven’s command, Arose from out the azure main, This was the charter of the land, And guardian angels sung this strain: Rule, Britannia, rule the waves; Britons never will be slaves.“
This same sentiment exists among Americans when they boast, “America has never lost a war” or America is the only super power, and is the “leader of the free world”. We are only the greatest because of the great blessings that were placed on the land by God, and by His protection. It could also have to do with the fact that we are the only ones that can afford to build Aircraft Carriers and can absorb twenty trillion dollar deficits without batting an eye. History, however, has proven that no country can remain at the top indefinitely, and God has warned that his covenant people will be cursed if they do not observe his commandments.
“…he shall bless in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself,…if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways. And all people of the earth… shall be afraid of the thee. And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods…The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure…and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail” (Deuteronomy 28:9-12)
“But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.
The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation…” (Deuteronomy 28:15, 20-22)
Interesting that he should mention “a fever and with an inflammation”.
Nephi describes a vision he received, a prophecy of the Nephite, Lamanite, and Gentile peoples that will inhabit the land of America (4) ( 2 Nephi 25-30). He is only mirroring the works of Isaiah that he just quoted in 2 Nephi chapters 7 through 24, which he explains are a little hard for the Gentile to understand. So he interprets Isaiah using plain language and using his own visions and prophesies. If there was any question that Isaiah 10 (2 Nephi 20) where Isaiah foretells the destruction of Assyria, is not talking about America, guess again. He warns of conditions that will occur in our day by highlighting the parts in Isaiah that have a special relevance to the Gentile people today.
It is important to note here that Joseph Smith always believed and taught that the heartland of the Nephites was located in the Central part of the United States. It wasn’t until the 1920’s that Mormon archaeologists suggested that the Nephite nation was in Central America because of the evidences of great stone cities there. The problem with that belief is that Joseph Smith never considered Central or South America as the Nephite Home land. The prophesies of Christ, Nephi, Ether, and Moroni don’t make any sense unless you consider that the Gentile nation is the United States, located on the same covenant land that was given to the Jaradites, Nephites, and Lamanites.
After quoting fifteen chapters of Isaiah, all of which pertain to the last days, Nephi explains Isaiah’s prophesies by relating in “plainness” his own visions and prophesies about the “last days, or in the days of the Gentiles” (2 Nephi 27:1). 2 Nephi 26-30 is all about the destruction of the Gentile nation that will possess the lands once covenanted to the Nephites and Lamanites. In this section of his writings he foretells the eventual destruction of the Nephite nation and the destruction of the Lamanites at the hands of the Gentiles. And then he prophesies about the destruction of the Gentiles. He writes:
“But, behold in the last days, or in the days of the Gentiles– yea, behold all the nations of the Gentiles and also the Jews, … behold, they will be drunken with iniquity and all manner of abominations–And when that day shall come they shall be visited of the Lord of Hosts, with thunder and with earthquake , and with a great noise, and with tempest, and with the flame of devouring fire.” (2 Nephi 27:1-2)
This is very much the same language that Nephi uses to describe the destructions that comes upon the Nephites. He explains that “those who have been destroyed have been destroyed speedily…yea, thus saith the Lord God: It shall be at an instant, suddenly–“ (2 Nephi 26:18). I believe that when the Lord says “suddenly” or “instantly” he is referring to the idea that when wicked people become aware of their dangerous predicament it is all of the sudden. They have ignored the signs that have been sent them for years until suddenly they realize destruction is upon them, but it is too late. Kind of like, “Oh my gosh, I need to go to the grocery store and stock up on food”, but it is too late, the food shelves are empty. I wonder if that day isn’t speedily coming upon us, and we are being given a last warning. I pray everyday that we have more time to prepare ourselves, to be filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit that will arm us against the evil day. Only by being sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit will you be able to survive when the time comes. My hope is that we have years still ahead of us. But my fear is that we don’t.
The fate of the Gentiles is the same as that of the Jaradites, Nephites, and Lamanites who all inhabited this land and broke all of the covenants they made with the Lord. Because the Gentiles destroyed the Lamanite nations that existed in North America, the Lord will destroy them. “For behold the same that judgeth rashly shall be judged rashly again; for according to his works shall his wages be; therefore, he that smiteth shall be smitten again, of the Lord.”(Mormon 8:19) Nephi warns the Gentiles that they will receive the same treatment that they have meted out to the Jews, and by extension the Native American descendant Lamanites, “Behold I will return all these things upon your own heads;” (2 Nephi 29:5). Indeed, Nephi threatens the Nephites with total destruction as he has seen happen in vision to the Gentiles! “ye should (not) suppose that ye are more righteous than the Gentiles shall be. For behold, except ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall all likewise perish;” (2 Nephi 30:1) He compares the blood thirsty, wicked, apostate Nephites of Mormon’s day with the Gentiles!
Why this ranting polemic against the Gentile people? Nephi describes how he sees the Gentile culture:
And the Gentiles are lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and have stumbled, because of the greatness of their stumbling block, that they have built up many churches; nevertheless, they put down the power and miracles of God, and preach unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain and grind upon the face of the poor (foreign and domestic)…and there are also secret combinations…“. (2 Nephi 26:20 & 22)
This was very much the same accusation the Lord had with the Assyrians in Isaiah 10 and 13 and again in 2 Nephi 20 and 23. The Lord tells the Israelites not to worry; don’t worry about the Assyrians because, “For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.” (Isaiah 10:25) or as Gileadi translates it: “For my anger will very soon come to an end; my wrath will become their undoing.”
The Lord also declared: “When men are called unto mine everlasting gospel, and covenant with an everlasting covenant, they are accounted as the salt of the earth and the savor of men; They are called to be the savor of men; therefore, if that salt of the earth lose its savor, behold, it is thenceforth good for nothing only to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men.” (D&C 101:39-40)
The Gentiles will all wonder, “Who is Nephi talking about? America is the land of the Free. We are the good guys who keep the rest of the world from destroying themselves. I go to church, I am one of the righteous ones, after all, I pay my tithing!” Nephi answers them with a parable:
“…it shall be as a dream of a night vision; yea, it shall be unto them, even as a hungry man which dreameth, and behold he eateth but he awaketh and his soul is empty; or like unto a thirsty man which dreameth, and behold he drinketh but he awaketh and behold he is faint, and his soul hath appetite;…”
“For behold, all ye that doeth iniquity, stay yourselves and wonder, for ye shall cry out, and cry; yea, ye shall be drunken but not with wine, ye shall stagger but not with strong drink.”
“For behold, the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep. For behold, ye have closed your eyes, and ye have rejected the prophets; and rulers, and the seers hath he covered because of your iniquity.” (2 Nephi 27:3-5)
Nephi is describing people who think they are filled with the Holy Ghost and are righteous. They dream that they are fulfilling the commandments and are a “saved” people; they are God’s special and elect people who will be saved from the calamitous reactions of God’s indignation, which they helped to precipitate by the way. But when they awake they find their soul is unsatisfied (unsaved). Lest you think Nephi is describing someone else consider what Nephi said about all the churches that the Gentiles will build up:
“Yea, they have all gone out of the way; they have become corrupted“. (2 Nephi 28:11)
“There are two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.” (1 Nephi 14:10)
Nephi describes the members of the Church of the Lamb to be very few in number. They are the covenant holders and keepers and the world wars against them. (1 Nephi 3:8) But, even the very few who are humble followers of Christ are still following the ways of Babylon. (2 Nephi 28:14)
So, what can be done? How do you survive what the Lord has proscribed for the Gentile Nation(s)?
After Nephi’s vision of the destruction of the Gentile people, which he gives in plainness, he describes the Doctrine of Christ and how to become a humble follower of Christ (2 Nephi 31-32). The vast majority of the Gentiles will be destroyed (just as the Jaradites and Nephites were destroyed, and the Lamanite civilizations destroyed by the Gentiles) but Christ will save a few of His people. 2 Nephi 31 and 32 is a description of how to save yourself and your family. It is a detailed description of Lehi’s dream and how to get on the straight and narrow path. Baptism does not get you access to the straight and narrow path it only presents you at the gate. Joseph Smith said that you might as well baptize a bag of sand without the baptism of fire. Nephi says that only after you have been baptized by fire and received the gift of the Holy Ghost, which can only be conferred by Christ himself at the behest of the Father, can you then be admitted to the straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life. (2 Nephi 31:17-18) It is only after you have been baptized by fire and the Holy Ghost that you become a member of the Church of the Lamb. Remember, there are only two churches.
In His prophesy on the War between the Northern and Southern states of America, Joseph Smith describes how violence will completely inundate the world and all nations will cease to be, “until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations” (D&C 87:6). The Lord offers comfort to the followers of Christ, “Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come;”(D&C 87:8) Nephi offers a way to be protected and to call down the powers of heaven to survive what is coming suddenly. In his final words he offers this hope to the Gentiles:
“I also have charity for the Gentiles. But behold, for none of these can I hope except they shall be reconciled unto Christ, and enter into the narrow gate, and walk in the strait path which leads to life, and continue in the path until the day of probation.”
In my next post I will be discussing what Nephi writes about entering the narrow gate and walking the strait path leading to eternal life.
God Bless.
Notes:
(1) The Mayflower Compact (1620)
(2)Theopolis Americana: An Essay on the Golden Street of the Holy City (1710), Cotton Mather; Ed. by Reiner Smolinsky. Mather was voicing the well known belief among the people of New England, at that time, that God had brought the Pilgrims and Puritans to America to establish a more righteous country in the image of God’s kingdom of Israel. The Lord had given them the country as a covenant in the pattern of the Israelites at the time of Moses, as described in Deuteronomy. Like the Israelites, the Puritans had to cleanse the country of its native inhabitants before they could fully possess the land and leave God’s law in peace.
(3) Thomas Jefferson included this statement in the Declaration of Independence, recognizing God’s hand in the development of the events leading up to 1776. “We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; ….And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.“