1 Nephi 13 Final Summary

[pam]

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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Ezra Taft Benson:

Every member of the priesthood should understand the divine plan designed by the Lord to raise up the first free people in modern times. Here is how scripture says it was achieved:

First: Prophecy is abundant that God deliberately kept the American continent hidden until after the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on">Holy Roman Empire</st1:place> had been broken up and the various nations had established themselves as independent kingdoms. Keeping <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> hidden until this time was no accident (2 Nephi 1:6, 8).

Second: At the proper time, God inspired <st1:City w:st="on">Columbus</st1:City> to overcome almost insurmountable odds to discover <st1:country-region w:st="on">America</st1:country-region> and bring this rich new land to the attention of the gentiles in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place> (1 Nephi 13:12).

Third: God revealed to his ancient American prophets that shortly after the discovery of America there would be peoples in Europe who would desire to escape the persecution and tyranny of the Old World and flee to America (1 Nephi 13:13-16).

Fourth: God told his prophets that the kingdoms in Europe would try to exercise dominion over the people who had fled to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>, but that in the wars for independence the American settlers would win. (This is a remarkable prophecy in that 2,300 years before the Revolutionary War was fought, God through his prophets predicted who would win it.) (1 Nephi 13:16-19).

Fifth: The prophets were told that in the latter days when the Gentiles came to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>, they would establish it as a land of liberty on which there would be no kings. The Lord declared that he would protect the land, and whosoever would try to establish kings either from within or without would perish (2 Nephi 10:8-14).

Sixth: Having declared <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">America</st1:country-region></st1:place> to be a land of liberty, God undertook to raise up a band of inspired and intelligent leaders who could write a constitution of liberty and establish the first free people in modern times. The hand of God in this undertaking is clearly indicated by the Lord himself in a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith in these words: “…I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose…” (D&C 101:80).

Seventh: God declared that the United States Constitution was divinely inspired for the specific purpose of eliminating bondage and the violation of the rights and protection which belong to “all flesh” (See D&C 101:77-80).

Eighth: God placed a mandate upon his people to befriend and defend the constitutional laws of the land and see that the rights and privileges of all mankind are protected. He verified the declaration of the founding fathers, that God created all men free. He also warned against those who would enact laws encroaching upon the sacred rights and privileges of free men. He urged the election of honest and wise leaders and said that evil men and laws were of Satan. (Ibid., 98:5-10.)

Ninth: God predicted through his prophets that this great gentile nation, raised up on the American continent in the last days, would become the richest and most powerful nation on the face of the earth; even "above all other nations." (See 1 Nephi 13:15, 30; Ether 2:12.)

Tenth: Concerning the United States, the Lord revealed to his prophets that its greatest threat would be a vast, worldwide "secret combination" which would not only threaten the United States but also seek to "overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, (Ether 8:25.)

Eleventh: In connection with attack on the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>, the Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith there would be an attempt to overthrow the country by destroying the Constitution. Joseph Smith predicted that the time would come when the Constitution would hang, as it were, by a thread, and at that time "this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction." (Journal History, Brigham Young's Speech, July 4, 1854.) It is my conviction that the elders of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>, widely spread over the nation will at that crucial time successfully rally the righteous of our country and provide the necessary balance of strength to save the institutions of constitutional government.

Twelfth: The Lord revealed to the Prophet Nephi that he established the gentiles on this land to be a free people forever, that if they were a righteous nation and overcame the wickedness and secret abominations which would arise in their midst, they would inherit the land forever. (1 Nephi 14:1-2.)

Thirteenth: But on the other hand, if the gentiles on this land reject the word of God and conspire to overthrow liberty and the Constitution, then their doom is fixed, and they ". . . shall be cut off from among my people who are of the covenant." (1 Nephi 14:6; 3 Nephi 21:11, 14, 21; D&C 84:114-115, 117.)

Fourteenth: The great destructive force which was to be turned loose on the earth and which the prophets for centuries have been calling the "abomination of desolation" is vividly described by those who saw it in vision. Ours is the first generation to realize how literally these prophecies can be fulfilled now that God, through science, has unlocked the secret to thermonuclear reaction.

Elder Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, October 1961, Afternoon Meeting, p.69-70<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

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[Hemidakota]

Pam, thanks for taking this up as part of your collective duties. I do appreciate it.

[Heather]

So do I. I don't know what I would do without Pam.

[prospectmom]

Joseph Smith predicted that the time would come when the Constitution would hang, as it were, by a thread, and at that time "this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction." (Journal History, Brigham Young's Speech, July 4, 1854.)

I was looking for this reference the other day... Thank you