1 Nephi 12:17 - 12:21

1 Nephi 12:17 And the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost.

The “mists of darkness” represent the temptations of the devil. It is an attempt by satan to get people’s minds off the things of God and what really makes people truly happy to activities which will make them miserable in the which they don’t realize that. Satan makes them think they are having fun and they begin to forget our Heavenly Father because they are enjoying things that seems to bring contentment to them without the effort it takes to stay close to Him.

But since they seem to be restless they are really not content and are always looking for other stimuli. And since satan has a vast store of ‘philosophies of men’ at his disposal, he can keep people looking all their lives. And since there are so many and they lead in so many directions, it is described as ‘broad roads, that get them nowhere. It reminds me of the saying that if you are not on the road Heavenly Father has created for you, it does not matter what other road you take.

1 Nephi 12:18 And the large and spacious building, which thy father saw, is vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men. And a great and a terrible gulf divideth them; yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God, and the Messiah who is the Lamb of God, of whom the Holy Ghost beareth record, from the beginning of the world until this time, and from this time henceforth and forever.

The large and spacious building represented the pride of men. I assume that the building being off the ground and suspended in the air is equivalent to being lifted up in one’s pride.

The people being in this building represents, their separation from being open to hear the word of God and being influenced by the words of Christ or even having the Holy Ghost in their lives to help them recognized the love of God for them. They have cut themselves off even from the start of this mortal world.

I would assume that our Heavenly Father knew this would happen to his children when they came to this existence and had made plans to help them get through this. For that reason I think the main action will be in the spirit world where satan's influence is not there and people will be less blinded by him in this sphere. However, I can only think how the behavior of his children on this planet has made Him to little sad and disappointed.

1 Nephi 12:19 And while the angel spake these words, I beheld and saw that the seed of my brethren did contend against my seed, according to the word of the angel; and because of the pride of my seed, and the temptations of the devil, I beheld that the seed of my brethren did overpower the people of my seed.

These last two verses give us the reason for the war between the Nephites and the Lamanites as spoken of in this verse. The reason for these war of extermination is pride that the Nephites were riddled with. The Lord would have saved them if they would have just relied on him for direction instead of thinking they could do as they pleased and could take care of themselves.

Anyway it cost them their lives, their civilization, and progression in this life. They are now in spirit prison waiting for help to get out and also the judgment's of God. They can not be happy right now, now knowing what is in store for them. They will get through all this character adjustments but it will be hard, but they know they could have avoided all this if they would have listened to the prophets and read their scriptures as we have been counseled to do.

1 Nephi 12:20 And it came to pass that I beheld, and saw the people of the seed of my brethren that they had overcome my seed; and they went forth in multitudes upon the face of the land.

Nephi sees the complete destruction of the Nephites and that the Lamanites begin to inhabit all parts of this continent. They will spread from the bottom of South America to the northern parts of North America. They will be in various tribes and clans. Much like that which was written about just before the time of the Savior’s coming as recorded in 3 Nephi.

1 Nephi 12:21 And I saw them gathered together in multitudes; and I saw wars and rumors of wars among them; and in wars and rumors of wars I saw many generations pass away.

Nephi sees their cultural history that the early explorers found. Continuous warfare exists among the tribes or clans. Either in warfare or to planning to attach their enemies. This had been going on for generations.