1 Nephi 13:29 - 13:33

1 Nephi 13:29 And after these plain and precious things were taken away it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles; and after it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles, yea, even across the many waters which thou hast seen with the Gentiles which have gone forth out of captivity, thou seest—because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book, which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men, according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God—because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, an exceedingly great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them.

It is after the plain and precious parts have been removed from the Bible that it starts to become available to the general public. Before about 1600, only the church had access to it and they are the ones that made changes. But with the invention of the printing press, Bibles became available to everyone. This worried the church as it could see its control of the people would slip away if people could read for themselves and gain their own understanding of the scriptures.

This desire for control with the backing of the government lead to persecutions by both which in turned cause many to seek other places where they would be free from such tyranny. These individual interpretations cause much debate and conflict that no one was quite sure what was the truth. I think if there was not this searching there would not have been the desire to go to other parts of the world or being continually trying to find the right way back to God. What seems to me to be the case, is that while the church was thinking it could keep control over the people by the changes they would make to the Bible, it backfired and was the cause of the people to go looking elsewhere.

But their looking cause them to come up with all sorts of doctrines, such as Calvinism, Puritanism etc. This caused more trouble between the church and these groups which lead many to wonder who was right. But I think this was on purpose to get people to American. It is fulfillment of the doctrine that as the devil digs a hole to trap us in it, it becomes the hole that he will fall into. As the people are now looking for truth; they were not before when the truth was still in the Bible. Anyway satan seems to be in control, but in actuality, he is doing just as the Lords wants him to so as the establish this land and get things ready for Joseph Smith.

1 Nephi 13:30 Nevertheless, thou beholdest that the Gentiles who have gone forth out of captivity, and have been lifted up by the power of God above all other nations, upon the face of the land which is choice above all other lands, which is the land that the Lord God hath covenanted with thy father that his seed should have for the land of their inheritance; wherefore, thou seest that the Lord God will not suffer that the Gentiles will utterly destroy the mixture of thy seed, which are among thy brethren.

Nephi sees this fulfillment by seeing the movement of people from Europe to the Americas. Again Nephi sees it is by His power that they are able to come here. That it is by His power that they are protected from the power of other countries where these settlers come from, from being dominated by them. We must always remember that it is by His power that we enjoy this freedom from foreign domination not our own efforts. Nephi does see that these settlers will have the power to overcome the descendants of his family, but not entirely destroy them completely. It is interesting that Nephi includes his own descandents in the mix. As we will read in the end of the Book of Mormon, Nephites that do not remain faithful to the gospel will mix in with the Lamanites and they will become one group which have totally rejected the gospel and are living in total depraved conditions.

1 Nephi 13:31 Neither will he suffer that the Gentiles shall destroy the seed of thy brethren.

The Lord will also not allow the Gentiles to destroy the descendants of Laman and Lemuel who are in this mix. It is interesting that the Lord talks about Nephi’s descendants and his brother’s descendants in different verses. I guess that the Lord wanted to comfort Nephi by specifically telling him that his descendants will survive and be living at the time of the Gentiles. That they will be among the people and not become extinct.

Having descendants in the future seems to be a great desire for us. I would like to know myself that my descendants will be alive a thousand years from now. I would like to know that they will be productive and faithful as well. Nephi did not get this promise, but he at least saw they were there.

1 Nephi 13:32 Neither will the Lord God suffer that the Gentiles shall forever remain in that awful state of blindness, which thou beholdest they are in, because of the plain and most precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which have been kept back by that abominable church, whose formation thou hast seen.

The Lord will not allow the Gentiles to remain in this state of not knowing the true gospel, it laws and ordinances which were removed from the Bible by various groups and churches. That includes both Christian and Jewish officials or any others that might have been an influence on the translation or interpretation of the scriptures.

1 Nephi 13:33 Wherefore saith the Lamb of God: I will be merciful unto the Gentiles, unto the visiting of the remnant of the house of Israel in great judgment.

The Lord will in due time fix up this mess. He will not leave them on their own and will sometime in the future return knowledge of the gospel along with its laws and ordinances. He has not forgotten them or written them off as lost causes. It is all part of the plan originally conceived before the world that when it was the right time that the gospel would come forth to them.