1 Nephi Chapter 10 - May 10, 2017

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4 . . . a prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews—even a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the world. . .
6 Wherefore, all mankind were in a lost and in a fallen state, and ever would be save they should rely on this Redeemer.
8 . . . And much spake my father concerning this thing.

This chapter reads as though Nephi had never heard such a doctrine until this point in time.  Based on the phraseology, it seems that Lehi may not have been aware either, until after reading the brass plates.  Imagine hearing this information for the very first time, and knowing it is coming from a true source.  Imagine being Lehi, and reading from the scriptures for the first time, knowing you are reading the word of God as spoken/written by His prophets, and receiving the revelation about the gospel and the provision of a Savior.  What a glorious doctrine!  Salvation from death and from sin through the atonement.  Without this knowledge, I presume many of the Jews in that time may have simply speculated about how sacrifices work to cleanse sin and other similar questions, just as we speculate about various things in our time.  To Laman and Lemuel, as to many in our day, this concept seemed like a crazy fairy tale.  To Nephi he thirsted for more and 'was desirous also that [he] might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost'.

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11 . . . the Messiah, who should come. . . should make himself manifest, by the Holy Ghost. . .

This chapter refers to the witness of the Holy Ghost many times (5 to be exact).  It is reflected, therefore, that the witness of the Holy Ghost is the paramount experience in ones testimony of Christ, of His gospel, and of all truth.  As Nephi reflects on his experience when writing this, he chose to mention the witness of the Holy Ghost with that frequency and stress its importance in his own conversion, and his own experiences.  It was by the Holy Ghost that he was able to see, hear, and know these truth's.  Without the witness of the Spirit, he may have seen, he may have heard, but he would not know.  Additionally, the Spirit would have opened his mind and understanding to see and hear more than the spoken or written word.  Christ, having this knowledge often said, 'he who hath ears to hear, let him hear'.  If the Holy Ghost can enable so much, is it any wonder that denying the direct witness of the Holy Ghost is the one truly unpardonable sin?  Even the very appearance of Christ could seem of little consequence without the revelation of the Spirit, therefore, Christ should manifest Himself, by the Spirit.  By His power, is revealed the truth of all things.

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22 And the Holy Ghost giveth authority that I should speak these things, and deny them not.

At the end of the day, the only way to know if something or someone is truly authorized of God is to receive the witness of the Holy Ghost for ones self.  If the Holy Ghost is the one who gives the authority in the first place, how could you know of the truthfulness of said authority by any other means?

I also found it interesting that we can tell from the text that Lehi had read the allegory of the olive tree, written by Zenos.  Nephi did not feel it necessary to expound further.  The Spirit would have prompted such, knowing that Jacob would later be called to present it on the record.  This could be seen as a temporal evidence of the fact that the Book of Mormon is not a fabrication.  Jacob did not refer back to this experience with His father when he presented the words of Zenos.  It would be unlikely and rare that an author of even 'realistic' fiction would not have referred the reader to reflect back on the previously foreshadowed moment in some way.  However, if Jacob were carving on the plates, I doubt he would think it necessary to make such a connection within the record itself.  He would not have seen it as a foreshadowing, but merely two people testifying of the same thing (two witnesses!).

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In doing some additional reading on this chapter it helped me to clear up some things in my mind.  I had always had it in my mind that the actual gathering of Israel would only be bringing the Jews to their country and birthright.  But yet the gathering of Israel is much more than that.  All of us should be involved in this.

Bruce R. McConkie had this to say:

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“Why was Israel scattered? The answer is clear; it is plain; of it there is no doubt. Our Israelite forebears were scattered because they rejected the gospel, defiled the priesthood, forsook the church, and departed from the kingdom. They were scattered because they turned from the Lord, worshipped false gods, and walked in all the ways of the heathen nations. … Israel was scattered for apostasy. The Lord in his wrath, because of their wickedness and rebellion, scattered them among the heathen in all the nations of the earth.

“What, then, is involved in the gathering of Israel? The gathering of Israel consists in believing and accepting and living in harmony with all that the Lord once offered his ancient chosen people. It consists of having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, of repenting, of being baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and of keeping the commandments of God. It consists of believing the gospel, joining the Church, and coming into the kingdom. It consists of receiving the holy priesthood, being endowed in holy places with power from on high, and receiving all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, through the ordinance of celestial marriage. And it may also consist of assembling to an appointed place or land of worship.

“Having this concept of the scattering and gathering of the chosen seed, we are able to understand the prophetic word relative thereto” (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [1985], 515).

 

 

Also in the gospel principles manual what I found interesting was that we are taught that the tribes of Ephraim and Manesseh would be gathered in the Americas.  The tribe of Judah would return to the city of Jerusalem and the areas surrounding it.

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The physical gathering of Israel means that the covenant people will be “gathered home to the lands of their inheritance, and shall be established in all their lands of promise” (2 Nephi 9:2). The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh will be gathered in the Americas. The tribe of Judah will return to the city of Jerusalem and the area surrounding it. The ten lost tribes will receive from the tribe of Ephraim their promised blessings (see D&C 133:26–34).