Come Follow Me LDS- 3 Nephi 20-26
Nov 04, 2020
"The Restoration & The Book of Mormon"
- Jesus Christ quotes Isaiah
- He talks of the Abrahamic Covenant, the Gathering of Israel and the Doctrine of Christ
- Just as Moroni quoted Isaiah and Malachi, Jesus does the same to the Nephites for a new Dispensation.
Raw Transcript
all right
all right welcome to quick media's come
follow me series we are covering
uh third nephi chapters 20 through 26.
i am way behind here uh
a couple weeks back behind and so we're
going to make these a little shorter
and i'm going to go over them a little
faster so that i can catch up here
by early next week here in chapter 20
jesus continues his visit to the
nephites slash perhaps lamanites here in
bountiful
he starts off again with the second
round of the sacrament
and i want you to consider as as we go
through this again
what what is the central message of what
he is saying
and i think a lot of it has to do with
the atonement his sacrifice
and him as our savior and
leader and our king as he continues
moving forward here
as he's touched a little bit on the
gathering
he is now going to focus more on that
abrahamic covenant
and on the gathering of israel and
fulfilling that covenant which the book
of mormon
is going to do right it's going to be
the primary tool
for this gathering around the globe just
real quick here
as we start off with chapter 20 again he
revisits the idea of the hierarchy again
he's not going to miss that
right so as he as he goes through the
sacrament again here in verse 3 he says
and it came to pass that he excuse me
that he break bread again and blessed it
and
gave to the disciples to eat right so
again
first him then to the disciples and when
they had eaten he commanded them that
they should break
bread and give to the multitude right
he's laying it out for us again here to
start off with this
this next visit here and when they had
given under the multitude he also gave
them wine to drink and commanded them
that they should give
unto the multitude right same thing same
process
same hierarchy same order and then we
get this in verse 6 where we get
something very similar to what we see in
the new testament
right he says now there had been no
bread neither wine remember this isn't
the first time you did the sacrament
this is now the second
and this time there had been no bread
neither wine
brought by the disciples neither by the
multitude
so this is important why you know i
don't know all of the answers to this
but this is something that as we read
the scriptures we should say hey
why is this happening again a critic of
the book of mormon might say something
like he's
copying here from the new testament
right with the bread and the loaves the
miracle of the bread and
loaves feeding of the four thousand and
the feeding of the five thousand
but that's not really it what we need to
look at here is
why does this happen over and over again
what about the manna from heaven same
kind of a miracle of food
like i said i don't know what the exact
answer is to this
but as we see things like this where
there are parallels
in other books of scriptures or in other
times in the book of mormon
other authors we should try and look for
conclusions here
of ritual of symbolism
and and what is the principle behind
this
something i think of for example with
this is the
stone that's rolling in daniel's dream
right or in actually it's a
nebuchadnezer stream right where where
the the stone is rolling it goes down
and
the the man is built of iron
and brass and stone and and iron and
and gold etc right
and the stone that is rolling that's
going to break it all up
which by the way joseph smith says is
not the church he actually separates it
as the kingdom of god whatever that
means
but it is a stone that is cut without
hands
right in other words it's it's showing
that this is not from man and that we
should trust in the lord
that he's in charge that he is going to
win the day
the same idea comes up in altars there
are certain altars that
can be cut by man right and cree the
stones can be cut by man and create the
altar
but there are other altars that can't be
that way they have to be
unhewn stones they they can't be made
from man
it's the same idea right the atonement
the
sacrament is like the manna from heaven
right and it's a representation of the
atonement
which is the grace and mercy the higher
law
that comes from the savior and we can't
claim
any credit for it whatsoever and in fact
what we need to do is place our faith
in him understanding that it can
only come from him that's just kind of
my thought on that
although i think that goes deeper right
i think that that parallelism
goes deeper down in verse 9 once they've
taken the sacrament the multitude has
taken the sacrament
it says now when the multitude had all
eaten and drunk
behold they were filled with a spirit
and they did cry out with
one voice and gave glory to jesus
whom they both saw and heard right
just showing that they they're
testifying that they saw and heard him
they're at that level of the hierarchy
of the of the miracle of
the source of the word they saw and hurt
him
but they all cry out with one voice
again this is a very common thing
in ancient times where you're in again a
ritual setting here with the sacrament
they're likely doing something they
already
know what to do here in some ways this
could be crying out with one voice
accepting
jesus as the king right because that
would be something common that they
would do
at a palace at a temple in their rituals
in their feasts
so when we see that people cry out with
one voice we should think about that we
should think about ritual
and then down in verse 11 we get to
isaiah again
isaiah is just it's everywhere in the
book of mormon
and in the new testament we get this it
says
in verse 11. you remember that i spake
unto you so there's a couple chapters
back
and said that when the words of isaiah
should be fulfilled
behold they are written ye have them
before you
therefore search them i
see that as a commandment and it's
something that i need to work on a lot
more
is studying isaiah going through it and
understanding the context
and why it applies to us today as
gentiles as members of the house of
israel
as lamanites um
as those down the isles of the sea how
do we all fit into this
right we should be able to see what the
picture is that isaiah is saying and
what does he talk about
he talks about jesus christ the
suffering servant
he talks about the covenants the
abrahamic covenant
he talks about the gathering of israel
and
jerusalem and the new jerusalem right
these are things that apply
directly to the lamanites and the
nephites
and to us today and with the whole book
of mormon being structured really from
nephi all the way to moroni
around isaiah even moroni at the very
end in chapter 10 and moroni
finishes with isaiah right
jesus brings in isaiah here nephi is
obsessed with isaiah
so i see this as therefore search them
being the words of isaiah
really is a commandment and and my guess
is the more we search isaiah
and try to understand it that doesn't
mean just reading it you're not going to
really
get it if you just read through it it's
going to be boring
we need to study it we need to
understand it and i see that somewhat as
a commandment here
and yes he's talking to the nephites
here
but mormon sure thought it was important
to include for us
so he's had the sacrament right he talks
about isaiah
the messianic prophet even though
they're all messianic
he goes on and says and verily verily i
say unto you that when they shall be
fulfilled the words of isaiah
then is the fulfilling of the covenant
which the father hath made unto this
people or house of israel
so isaiah has talked about all of the
covenant what's going to come to pass
in in fulfilling the covenant that has
been made to abraham isaac and jacob
and then he goes right back to what he's
gone through before the remnants of the
house of israel
the scattering abroad across the face of
the earth
of the house of israel right again
covenant everything is spread
out and then gathered or cut and broken
apart and then
brought back together that's how the
gospel works that's how
progress is made that's how creation
works
he says that they will be gathered in
from the east and from the west and from
the south
and from the north and they shall be
brought to the knowledge of the lord
their god who hath redeemed them
okay again what are we getting tied
together here i think this is really
important
sometimes i see that this is not covered
properly
but the the gathering of israel
the core of it as is the core of
all things is an understanding of the
redemption of god
the salvation of god it's jesus christ
so as he talks about these remnants and
the gathering in from all parts of the
globe
what's going to happen they're going to
be brought to the knowledge of the lord
their god
who hath redeemed them the redeemer
right this is crucial in understanding
what's going to happen how is that going
to happen
it's going to happen through the book of
mormon
it's going to happen through what's
being put in
has been put in print here with jesus's
words
and with nephi's words and mormons and
almas and
and moroni's etc but the core of that
is knowing jesus christ so that tells us
something
right that tells us that more than any
other book
we can get to know the savior more
even more than the new testament right
through the book of mormon
and then interestingly if we follow kind
of a formula here we've got the
gathering
we've got jesus christ and now we get
and the father hath commanded me that i
should give unto you this land for your
inheritance
a promised land right that's exactly
what the abrahamic covenant
or part of the abrahamic covenant is
about right
remember abraham sojourned and and
we get the elect let go right he he was
always walking around he was always
traveling
but he never really got to the promised
land well the real promised land
is the celestial kingdom right there are
there are manifestations of that
spiritual promised land which for
example is
israel right or palestine and for the
children of israel coming from sinai out
of egypt to sinai and then out into
finally the promised land the land of
milk and honey
that is a representation going through
baptism through the waters and
the manna from heaven the water from the
rock
right these are all symbols of going
through a journey through life and then
eventually ending up at the promised
land
at the celestial kingdom going through
the temple and arriving at the holy of
holies
so that's part of what he's covering
here right the gathering
jesus christ and a promised land these
are all part of
the abrahamic covenant and then he
touches quickly on again
the gentiles are going to be the ones
that are going to scatter the remnants
of the house of israel
and that they better repent eventually
because they're going to get wicked
and if they don't repent and they're
going to be scattered themselves
they're going to be trampled on that's
us
many of us but that the gentiles will be
the one that bring
the knowledge of the redeemer and the
gospel the book of mormon
to those remnants of the house of israel
that's their job
the first shall be last and the last
shall be first
and he goes right back to himself here
right and this is an important uh link
in the scriptures in 23 he says behold
i am i am
just like uh on sinai right what is the
name
what is your name god i am that i am
right that's
jehovah basically he says i am
he of whom moses spakes it's from
deuteronomy
saying a prophet shall the lord your god
raise up praise and serpent
un raise up unto you of your brethren
like unto me him shall ye hear in all
things whatsoever ye shall say unto you
and it shall come to pass that every
soul who will not hear that prophet
shall be cut off from among the people
so
this is important to understand so again
let's say that i am a jew
or a remnant of the house of israel and
i have the old testament
and i've got the words of moses but i
have not made the connection
because my religion tells me it's not
there is no connection but i have not
made the connection that
the prophet of moses that moses speaks
of is jesus christ
right this is another testament to those
people
telling them another witness telling
them that
this is who moses was talking about it
is
jesus christ again the book of mormon
is the tool to learn about jesus christ
and about the gathering
and then as is often said along with
that he says
all the prophets from samuel and those
that follow after
as many as have spoken right that's what
the prophet is he's someone who
prophesies of christ
have testified of me
we don't ever want to lose that
perspective
isaiah testified of
jesus christ he is the suffering
servant he is
who is spoken of in isaiah 11.
all right so in the middle of talking
about the abrahamic covenant and the
gathering
he's again going back to saying i am at
the center of this
he is who is going to gather everyone
right just as a hen
gathereth her chicks right he
is the gatherer and he's going to gather
based on
the knowledge that those around the
globe have of him
and of accepting him as the savior
now in verse 29 we get
something that is just masterful from
jesus christ here from the savior
surprise surprise
he takes isaiah's words
in chapter 52 which
really is the crux of the entire book of
mormon
uh 52 is quoted all over the place in
the book of mormon
especially narrowing that down to verses
7 through 10.
but he's going to take different parts
of chapter 52
and he doesn't go through them in the
same order that we find in isaiah
he kind of moves them around referencing
them
and kind of putting together a narration
as he inserts these verses here and
there so let's just start off with verse
29 here he says
and i will remember the covenant which i
have made with my people
and i have covenanted with them that i
would gather them together
in mine own due time that i would give
unto them again
the land of their fathers okay so he's
kind of going through all these things
and saying
this all ties back to what isaiah said
gathering the land of their fathers for
their inheritance which is the land of
jerusalem
which is the promised land unto them
forever saith the father all right we
can see
what all this is this is there's a
promised land physically but there's
you know geographically but there's also
a celestial kingdom
and then he says and it shall come to
pass that the time cometh
when the fullness of my gospel shall be
preached
unto them okay that is the remnants of
the house of
israel okay now we're going to go
through a couple more verses here that
he that he pulls from in in
isaiah 52 but he's going to insert this
here again which is
not in isaiah 52. who knows maybe it was
at some point
in verse 31 and they shall believe in me
right so when the gospel is the fullness
of the gospel is preached to the
through the children of israel to the
remnants of israel he says
and they shall believe in me right
that's the key
that's the key to gathering israel is
knowing
who jesus christ is really understanding
who he is
they shall believe in me that
i am jesus christ the son of god
and they shall pray and shall pray unto
the father
in my name well we've been seeing that
going along here
since jesus first started to visit the
the nephites
right going through the proper way to
pray
and you're going to pray to the father
and it's going to be in my name and you
know he's bringing all these things
together here
so they're going to do exactly what he
just did with a portion of the remnant
of the house of israel
here at bountiful and then back to
isaiah 52 he says
then shall their watchmen lift up their
voice
and with a voice together shall they
sing for they shall see
eye to eye the watchmen
are those that would stand up on the on
the walls of a city
and see messengers that would be coming
to them right they would they would
watch for enemies of course as well but
they would also see
messengers that would be coming to the
walls to the gates
of the city well what is the message
the message that they're looking for is
the message of jesus christ
the message of his sacrifice
the message of the fullness of the
gospel the message
of the book of mormon so when they start
accepting him
then he says what will happen is that
the father will gather them together
again
and given to them jerusalem for the land
of their inheritance
right again that this is all tied
together what's tied together
accepting jesus christ and the gathering
now we see already
certainly a large gathering in israel
right in jerusalem now
and almost all of the jews there for
example
are not believers in jesus christ so
there is a
gathering that is happening but i think
we're talking about something that is at
a much
grander scale than what we've seen so
far especially since the 1940s since
world war ii
another part of the the verses 7 to 10
in 52
isaiah 52 is here in verse 35 the father
hath made bear his holy arm in the eyes
of all the nations
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of the father
and the father and i are one
i i want to go to the end of that verse
there and say
it sure seems to me like what he's
saying here is that the salvation of the
father that they will see the salvation
of the father
is jesus christ why do i say that
right because a couple things number one
at the end of this
verse here in 35 it says and the father
and
i are one that is not in isaiah
so that either was removed or jesus is
just adding it here himself
but why would that be here now why is
that added what what is the emphasis on
this well the emphasis
is look the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of the father that's jesus
christ i think
right what does salvation mean that's
the other point i was going to make
salvation is in hebrew
basically it's yeshua joshua
or jesus through the greek
that doesn't mean that that's calling
out his name specifically
but that is what his name means he
is salvation that's what the word jesus
means the name jesus means
they shall see the salvation of the
father
and the father and i as if he had
already referenced himself
the father and i are one
then we get more and more isaiah wake
awake and put on thy strength o zion put
on by beautiful garments joseph smith
says that this is the priesthood
shake thyself from the dust arise sit
down o jerusalem
loose thyself from the bands of thy neck
ye have sold yourselves for naught and
ye shall be
redeemed without money
in other words that's the unhewn stone
we can't pay for it that's the miracle
of
the manna that's the miracle of the
water that's the miracle of
perhaps the bread and the loaves the
miracle of the sacrament here in this
setting
redeem redeemed redeemer
is that that word
or a variation of it is used all the
time
in isaiah and then in isaiah the very
familiar
52 7 right chapter 52 verse 7.
and then shall they say referencing
isaiah here
how beautiful upon the mountains are the
feet of him
that bringeth good tidings unto them who
is that
remember look at look at the look at the
context what can we learn about
chapter 52 of isaiah from jesus's
uh sermon here what context is it's in
this isn't the context of the sacrament
this is this is in the context of
knowing who jesus
is of his redemption his atonement
his sacrifice that's what chapter 52
is is is about
how beautiful upon the mountains are the
feet of him that bringeth good tidings
unto them
in a bit with reading abinadi and what
he says to king noah and his priests
he makes very clear that those who are
on the mountains whose feet are
beautiful and bring good tidings
are first jesus christ himself second
the prophets
and third us right it's really all three
of them
that publisheth peace that bringeth good
tidings unto them
of good that's the gospel that's the
fullness of the gospel
that's the atoning sacrifice that
publishes salvation
that saith unto zion thy god reigneth
and then down at the bottom here he goes
down to the
more toward the end of chapter 52
and he where we get the the the
beginning of the
suffering servant song so again
referencing right back to the savior
here
behold my servant who is the servant
many will say it is the people of israel
you can see it that way
secondarily just like we see there's a
there's a different interpretation
a few different interpretations of the
feet on the mountains that
bring good tidings right the messengers
that come to the watchmen on the walls
can be a few different interpretations
but the primary
the primary interpretation the primary
understanding the primary
symbolism is jesus christ
who is the servant the servant is
first and foremost jesus christ we are
all
asked to be suffering servants the
prophets many of them who have been
killed stoned right ridiculed
in scripture have been suffering
servants
but the suffering servant
the servant is jesus right jesus christ
remember in remember in aramaic
the words servant and lamb
are the same talia right
jesus is the servant jesus is
the lamb john the baptist speaking
probably aramaic
at the river jordan could be saying
behold the lamb of god he could
very well also have been saying
in aramaic behold the servant
of god right those could have very much
the same
connotation the same idea the same
meaning and he goes through
a little bit about that suffering
servant my servant shall deal prudently
he shall be exalted and extolled and be
very high
as many were astonished at thee his
visage was
so marred more than any man and his form
more than the sons of men so shall he
sprinkle many nations
the kings shall shut their mouths at him
for that which had not been told them
shall they see
and they that which they had not heard
they shall consider
then shall this covenant which the
father hath covenanted with his people
be
fulfilled and then shall jerusalem
be inhabited again with my people and it
shall be the land of their inheritance
so again
he takes all this and he ties it all
together and i think we need to study
that and rehearse that more and more
the gathering of israel the sacrament
the atoning sacrifice of jesus christ
knowing who he
is and the abrahamic covenant
right he's pulling all of these things
together and working those verses from
isaiah 52 around here in third nephi
chapter 20.
now being that i need to keep this
somewhat reasonable in time
and in order to try and catch up and
because of
some things i'm dealing with right now
i'm going to try and keep this short
but chapter 21
just goes through an emphasis of the
book of mormon as the tool that is going
to gather israel
the tool that is going to bring us to
the knowledge of the redeemer
right here in the chapter summary
of chapter 21 it starts off with israel
will be
gathered when the book of mormon comes
forth that's what it's for
imagine back with ezra taft benson right
when he
brought up uh i think it's section 84
and told the entire church
in the 80s that we are under
condemnation
because we have not been reading and and
keeping the new covenant which is the
book of mormon
right that's part of what has to be done
as a church
we have to focus more and more on the
book of mormon
understanding it as the tool of the
gathering
now one thing that jesus does go through
here in chapter 21
that i just want to quickly touch on
as he as he reiterates the gathering and
the abrahamic covenant and the
fulfillment of that covenant
and jesus here in verse 20 for those
that will not repent
and come unto my beloved son then will i
cut off from among my
people o house of israel that's both the
gentiles
and the remnants of the house of israel
but as he's talking about how the
gentiles better repent
keeps coming back to that as he talks
about the scattering of israel
and gathering them back he says here
that the gentiles will
assist my people the remnant of jacob
and also as many of the house of israel
as shall come
that they may build a city which shall
be called the new jerusalem
so the same idea of a gathering
in palestine right in jerusalem
is the same thing here in the americas
right there is a promised land
there is a city that is going to be set
as a gathering point
the new jerusalem in the americas
and he says that many of those who are
his people
right the remnants of of jacob
will be gathered to the new jerusalem
right so there's a gathering of the
house of israel
not just in the old world but also in
the new
and he does also mention here the lost
tribes as the remnants of not just the
jews from
that were scattered by the romans right
it's it's
all of the house of israel that was
scattered at the time that the assyrians
conquered the northern kingdom of israel
and every other scattering right there
was a scattering at the time of the
babylonian exile
right not everybody was taken there were
many that were left behind and then
scattered there were many that came back
and then were later scattered by the
romans there were many that were in
in babylon that remained in babylon
wanted to remain in babylon and then
were scattered
now primarily looks like they might be
talking about those that were conquered
by assyria from the northern tribes
but they also are included in this
and the book of mormon is going to find
them and gather them and be the tool
that brings them to the knowledge of
jesus christ
it would be nice for us to know this
tool really well
to know how we can know the savior
better
through the book of mormon that we can
know how
this tool is going to gather israel
i think we're supposed to try and find
that out that's what it seems like to me
now in chapter 22 we're gonna get
basically isaiah 54 so where he was
really
working through isaiah 52 before back to
isaiah it's put
back in here this is jesus talking he's
basically quoting
isaiah 54. we need to know
what these things say now in 23
verse 1 again and now behold i say unto
you that ye
ought to search these things what things
isaiah yea a commandment
i give unto you that ye search these
things diligently
for great are the words of isaiah
again you can look at that and say well
that was for the nephites at bountiful
why is it here for us
how much have we searched the words of
isaiah
and how might we better search the words
of isaiah
looking going back and forth from the
two different styx
the stick of joseph and the stick of
judah and getting a better context and
understanding of what isaiah is trying
to say
now remember that this is a new
dispensation
that jesus is launching here again
remember we've gone through the
hierarchy of the reinstitution
of the ordinances the reordination
and and and giving of the priesthood
right this is all a new dispensation
it's a new start it's a new creation
well this happened also with joseph
smith so he's going through isaiah here
what did moroni tell
joseph smith before he ever even saw the
golden plates
when he was visited by moroni in his
room
what did he quote he quoted isaiah
and then what did he quote he quoted
malachi 3
and malachi 4 right which has to do with
the second coming
and which has to do with the spirit of
elijah and the turning of the hearts
to the children and from the children to
the to the fathers right
this is all about the temple before
the book of mormon was even known about
before he had ever seen anything the
restoration of these
truths are being given to joseph smith
with that trumpet so to speak
symbolically
of moroni to joseph smith
well jesus does the exact same thing
here right he's quoting
malachi 3 in chapter 24 and malachi 4
in chapter 25. he does the same thing
it's a restoration of the gospel
why does moroni know these things so
well
well okay fine he's been gone in heaven
for a while so to speak he could have
studied all these things
but i guarantee you he had studied what
jesus had spoken
in his visit to start off the new
dispensation
and tying it together with the gathering
of israel and tying it together with the
abrahamic covenant
and tying it together with sacrament and
ordinances
and priesthood and with a knowledge of
the sacrifice of
the savior a knowledge of him right
that's what moroni was doing and
what is the tool that he gives to joseph
smith for all of this
it's the book of mormon this is how we
are going to launch this new
dispensation this last dispensation so
to speak
it's fascinating how all those puzzle
pieces
fit together now we're told finally in
chapter 26 as we as we
finish off here that basically jesus
expounded
all things to the people and many of
those things could not be written down
some of those things were forbidden from
being written down
but he stayed with them those three days
and then he came back
often and broke bread and had
wine likely with them as well right he
did the sacrament often with him
and then of course also from isaiah he
heals the sick
the lame open the eyes of the blind and
then stop the years of the death these
are all from isaiah
and in 17 verse 17 and it came to pass
that the disciples
whom jesus had chosen began from that
time forth
to baptize and to teach as many as did
come unto them
and as many as were baptized in the name
of jesus were filled
with the holy ghost the higher and lower
laws right
so just as he had opened up this
dispensation this visit with
an understanding of baptism and
understanding of the doctrine of christ
the sacrament giving the priesthood
we end up here in 26 finishing those
things off again coming right back to
them
he broke bread with him often and the
disciples now take what they have
learned right that's how that
dbr works right that order that word
that hierarchy they take all of that
and they turn around from what they've
received from christ
and they're going to give it to the
multitude the power of the priesthood
the sacrament the fullness of the gospel
baptism the holy ghost and
everything that comes with the fullness
of the gospel to me
as i read these few chapters here that
we've just gone over there
there's there's three things that that i
glean from this that i think are
primary in in the message of jesus
number one
is isaiah we have got to learn more
from isaiah we've got to understand it
better i i need to do a much better job
of this
number two putting isaiah and what
isaiah covered into context
within the abrahamic covenant a
knowledge of jesus christ and his
atoning sacrifice
the gathering of israel and the
fulfillment of that abrahamic covenant
those all go together and understanding
that with all of that
the gathering the fulfillment of the
covenant the knowledge
about jesus christ and his sacrifice
a knowledge of what the abrahamic
covenant really means
is to be brought to the ends of the
earth through the book of mormon
so that's the second thing right is an
understanding of bringing all those
things together into the same context
under the abrahamic covenant
understanding what that is and how it's
going to be fulfilled
and the third thing i i already spilled
the beans right the third thing is
that the book of mormon is the tool to
do that
that's what we have that's what joseph
smith was given the tool
for the gathering of israel
i'll talk to you next time
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Book of Mormon 3 Nephi
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