2 Nephi 1:10

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Reference Search: 2 Nephi 1:10

10 But behold, when the time cometh that they shall dwindle in unbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord—having a knowledge of the creation of the earth, and all men, knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the world; having power given them to do all things by faith; having all the commandments from the beginning, and having been brought by his infinite goodness into this precious land of promise—behold, I say, if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgments of him that is just shall rest upon them.

Quotes for Discussion

Power…to do all things by faith

Anciently, it was understood that those who held the priesthood “should have power, by faith, to break mountains, to divide the seas, to dry up waters, to turn them out of their course; to put at defiance the armies of nations, to divide the earth, to break every band, to stand in the presence of God; to do all things according to his will, according to his command, subdue principalities and powers; and this by the will of the Son of God which was from before the foundation of the world” (JST, Genesis 14:30-31). This statement restored to us in the Joseph Smith Translation was undoubtedly in the brass plates.

The fulfillment of this prophecy turned out to be rather fantastic. In the 1500’s Hernando Cortez (with only 11 ships, 400 Europeans, 200 natives, 16 horses and 14 guns) attacked, plundered and massacred into subjugation the whole Aztec empire of several million natives. Francisco Pizarro’s experience in South America was equally amazing. With a starved and desperate band of 168 Spaniards, he subverted and conquered the entire domain of several million Incas. The conquest of both the Aztecs and Incas was largely the result of their confusion in thinking that the Spaniards might be the returning Fair God who had visited their ancestors in ancient times, established a golden age of prosperity and peace, and then said he would come again at a later time. The expectation of a coming Messiah who would be fair-skinned and have a beard was one of the most universal cultural characteristics to be found among the millions of Indians whom the Spanish conquered. Unfortunately, these benighted descendants of Lehi had lost the records which we are now reading, so they did not know that before their Fair God returned to earth, the Gentiles would come and scatter them to the four winds. They also did not know that after they were conquered it would be another group of GENTILES who would bring them the Gospel and prepare them for the return of the Fair God, Jesus Christ. All this the descendants of Lehi were going to have to find out the hard way.

Cleon Skousen, Treasure From the Book of Mormon, 1:1186-1187