1 Nephi 10:3

[HoosierGuy]

1 Nephi 10:3

THE FIRST BOOK OF NEPHI
HIS REIGN AND MINISTRY
CHAPTER 10

Lehi predicts the Babylonian captivity—He tells of the coming among the Jews of a Messiah, a Savior, a Redeemer—He tells also of the coming of the one who should baptize the Lamb of God—Lehi tells of the death and resurrection of the Messiah—He compares the scattering and gathering of Israel to an olive tree—Nephi speaks of the Son of God, of the gift of the Holy Ghost, and of the need for righteousness. Between 600 and 592 B.C.

1 And now I, Nephi, proceed to give an account upon these plates of my proceedings, and my reign and ministry; wherefore, to proceed with mine account, I must speak somewhat of the things of my father, and also of my brethren.

2 For behold, it came to pass after my father had made an end of speaking the words of his dream, and also of exhorting them to all diligence, he spake unto them concerning the Jews—

----

3 That after they should be destroyed, even that great city Jerusalem, and many be carried away captive into Babylon, according to the own due time of the Lord, they should return again, yea, even be brought back out of captivity; and after they should be brought back out of captivity they should possess again the land of their inheritance.

QUOTES FOR DISCUSSION

After they should be destroyed,...they should return
The destruction of the city of Jerusalem in about 587 B.C. by the Babylonians was one of the darkest of days in Jewish history, one of those somber occasions still observed as a time of mourning by Jews over 2,500 years later. Zedekiah the king was taken captive, bound, forced to witness the murder of his sons (with the exception of Mulek, who escaped and was led to America-Omni 1:15-16; Mosiah 25:2), blinded, and then taken to Babylon. In addition, this powerful army from the East "burnt the house of the Lord [the temple], and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great [prominent] man's house burnt [they] with fire. And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about. Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carry away. But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandman." (2 Kings 25:9-12.) It was only at this point that Jeremiah, a contemporary and companion prophet of Lehi, was released after being held prisoner by his rebellious countrymen (Jeremiah 39).

Lehi, like other Old Testament prophets, foretold the ultimate return of the Jews to Jerusalem. Almost a century and a half earlier, Isaiah had spoken prophetically of the coming of Cyrus the Persian, the man God would raise up among a heathen nation to allow the return and rebuilding of Jerusalem. In speaking of Cyrus, the Lord said: "He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid." Indeed, the Lord called Cyrus his "anointed," and stressed that his "right hand I have holden." (Isaiah 44:28; Isaiah 45:1.) Jeremiah, speaking in behalf of Jehovah, explained: "And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon [the Persians would garner power], and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations" (Jeremiah 25:12). Jeremiah also prophesied: "For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place" (Jeremiah 29:10). Indeed, within seventy years Cyrus the Persian would issue a decree allowing the return and reconstruction of the temple (Ezra 1:1-4).
Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 4 vols., 1:, p.63-64

[Hemidakota]

Moving into the next verse, you will find it very interesting that the year of the birth of Christ is revealed to Nephi. Ludlow stated:

1 Nephi 10:4

The Date of Lehi's Departure From Jerusalem in Relationship to the Birth of Jesus Christ

It had been revealed to Nephi in a vision that the Savior or Messiah was to be born among the Jewish people, and 1 Nephi 10:4 indicates that even the exact year in which the Savior was to be born was revealed to him. If Nephi is talking in specific rather than general terms, then Lehi left Jerusalem in 600 B.C. on the Christian calendar. That Nephi intends his time reference to be taken literally is indicated by the information contained in the following references: (1) 1 Nephi 19:8: "according to the words of the angel" the Messiah cometh "in six hundred years from the time my father left Jerusalem"; (2) 2 Nephi 25:19: "according to the words of the prophets, the Messiah cometh in six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem"; and (3) 3 Nephi 1:1, 13: "it was six hundred years from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem" and the Savior said "on the morrow come I into the world."

[Hemidakota]

Looking back on verse 3, "They should be destroyed ... carried away captive." This would indicate that, at the time this prophecy was delivered, Jerusalem had not yet been destroyed, or, if it had, that word of it had not yet reached the Valley of Lemuel. It was in the year 596 B.C., according to the calculation of scholars, that Jehoiachin and thousands of prominent citizens with him, were carried away to Babylon. Among others was the prophet Ezekiel. The temple was also plundered of its costly treasures. Zedekiah was appointed king. It was not until ten years later that Jerusalem, because of the treachery of Zedekiah, was destroyed and the temple and other public buildings were demolished by fire. (2 Kings 24 and 25 ch.) This was in the year 586 B.C.

Then the doom of the kingdom of Judah was complete. The captivity was a separation not only from house and home and the land of inheritance, but also from the worship of Jehovah, the God of their fathers, because to the faithful Jew, worship was intimately connected with the temple in Jerusalem. By the rivers of Babylon the captives wept and hung their harps upon the willows, for, "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" (Psalm 137:4) Jeremiah wrote to the captives and tried to arouse them to faith and hope by assuring them that their captivity would be ended in seventy years. (Jer. 29:1-14) Ezekiel, who was in Babylon, also promised them in the name of the Lord that they would be permitted to return and build a new temple.

Destroyed. This word does not mean "annihilated." Jerusalem was "destroyed" when its houses were laid in ashes, its walls broken down and many of its inhabitants carried away into captivity; that was destruction, but the city always remained, even if in ruins. Nephi (2 Ne. 25:9) says the Jews were "destroyed" from generation to generation, but he explains what he means (v. 16), viz., The Lord hath "scourged them from generation to generation." It is well to remember that destruction does not always mean complete extermination.