1 Nephi 19:8 - 19:12

1 Nephi 19:8 And behold he cometh, according to the words of the angel, in six hundred years from the time my father left Jerusalem.

The Messiah will come in 600 years from the time of his father’s departure from Jerusalem. I think therefore that Lehi left during Passover or thereabouts.

1 Nephi 19:9 And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.

Nephi tells us that because of the wickedness of the people, they will not recognize Him for who He is and think of Him other than what He portrays Himself to be. They will beat Him, spit on Him and suffering all kinds of indignities. The reason He will allow this all to happen is His great love for all mankind and knowing that what He is suffering is for their benefit.

1 Nephi 19:10 And the God of our fathers, who were led out of Egypt, out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him, yea, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, yieldeth himself, according to the words of the angel, as a man, into the hands of wicked men, to be lifted up, according to the words of Zenock, and to be crucified, according to the words of Neum, and to be buried in a sepulchre, according to the words of Zenos, which he spake concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea, more especially given unto those who are of the house of Israel.

This Messiah is the very same person that lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. He is the very one that preserved them in their sojourn in the wilderness. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

In spite of His great power, He will yield Himself to the indignities and humiliation of being crucified even thought He was innocence of any crime. These events would be found in the writings of Zenock, Neum and Zenos.

The knowledge of His death and the three days of darkness which accompany it shall be known in other parts of the world as foretold by the prophets. The signs signifying this even taking place will be especially recognized by the outcasts of the house of Israel who are living other parts of the world.

It is interesting to me that many cultures when to sacrifice to a god or gods for favors. They sacrifice all sorts of things and in times pass, even other humans. This sacrifice is so very different. Here we have God sacrificing Himself for us, hoping that it will increase His favor in the eyes of His people. It is not God wanting the people to do something to curry His favor.

1 Nephi 19:11 For thus spake the prophet: The Lord God surely shall visit all the house of Israel at that day, some with his voice, because of their righteousness, unto their great joy and salvation, and others with the thunderings and the lightnings of his power, by tempest, by fire, and by smoke, and vapor of darkness, and by the opening of the earth, and by mountains which shall be carried up.

The event will be made manifest to some by voice and others by terrible natural catastrophes in the form of lightnings, thunder, earthquakes, fire, and darkness like unto a great volcanic eruption. Some places will be filled over by mud slides and other place by being pushed up and become hills and mountains.

So some will receive the news of this great event in the history and salvation of the world with joy. Others will suffer death and destruction because of their wickedness. It will be heralded by the those who are waiting for it, while others will morn because they now recognize they wasted their time in evil and now it is too late.

1 Nephi 19:12 And all these things must surely come, saith the prophet Zenos. And the rocks of the earth must rend; and because of the groanings of the earth, many of the kings of the isles of the sea shall be wrought upon by the Spirit of God, to exclaim: The God of nature suffers.

Because of all this destruction and death, the leaders of countries will tell their people that it is all because the God of nature suffers and these manifestations are signs of that suffering.