2 Nephi 1:6

[pam]

Reference Search: 2 Nephi 1:6

6 Wherefore, I, Lehi, prophesy according to the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord.

Quotes for Discussion

….they have come and are coming and shall come, led hither by the hand of the Lord. What, you say, these undesirable elements? Well, they are permitted to be here that the people may be tried and tested and given the experience which is so necessary to make them what the Lord intends that they shall be. And so let us not fear that our nation is going to lose its identity, or is going to lose its sovereignty or is going to be overwhelmed or overpowered by other nations. It cannot be so save through iniquity? Well, you may say, are not the people of this nation iniquitous? Is it true that sin befouls and defiles the lands; but in spite of it, I know not where you will find a nation with higher ideals or with plainer purposes to uphold the institutions that God has established for the government and freedom of men.

James E. Talmage, Conference Report, Conf. 1919, pp. 97-98

None come into this land save they shall be brought by…the Lord

It would be hard to suppose that this statement applies to each individual that has come from the Old World to the New. It apparently refers to groups, not individuals. We know that the Jaredites, the Nephites, and the Mulekites were all brought to this land by the hand of the Lord, notwithstanding the fact that some of their number were unworthy of an inheritance in this promised land. More recent history affords Pilgrims and Puritans as illustrations. Of such the Lord approved in the collective sense but certainly not in the individual sense in all cases. The context of this phrase seems to sustain that conclusion. The preceding verse speaks of those led out of other countries “by the hand of the Lord.” The verse that follows states that the land was consecrated to those the Lord would bring. This does not appear to be inclusive; rather it suggests a selection or choosing on the Lord’s part as to those who will be his covenant people.

Millet & McConkie, Vol. 1 p. 184