And now, I would prophesy somewhat more concerning the Jews and the
Gentiles. For after the book of which I have spoken shall come forth, and be
written unto the Gentiles, and sealed up again unto the Lord, there shall be
many which shall believe the words which are written; and they shall carry them
forth unto the remnant of our seed. And then shall the remnant of our seed know
concerning us, how that we came out from Jerusalem, and that they are
descendants of the Jews. And the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be declared among
them; wherefore, they shall be restored unto the knowledge of their fathers,
and also to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, which was had among their fathers.
And then shall they rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them
from the hand of God; and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from
their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they
shall be a pure [1830 ed. “white”] and a delightsome people. And it shall come
to pass that the Jews which are scattered also shall begin to believe in
Christ; and they shall begin to gather in upon the face of the land; and as
many as shall believe in Christ shall also become a delightsome people. (2
Nephi 30:3-7)
Commenting on this passage, Wesley Ziegler wrote:
Much of the above prophecy could scarcely have been anticipated safely
by the average person in 1830. That Indians would rejoice when the Book of
Mormon was taken to them and would know that they were descendants of the party
who came form Jerusalem was a prediction that might have broken down the entire
Book of Mormon if it had not happened. The first Mormon missionary party journeyed
from New York State westward to present the Book of Mormon to Indians. There
were few converts on that first trip, but the red men said the Book had a
familiar voice. When Mormons were expelled from Illinois, Chief Big Elk
welcomed them to Council Bluffs, where the established winter quarters, putting
in crops to be harvested by later caravans bound for the Salt Lake valley.
During the Brigham Young era conversions of Indians were accomplished. Today the
Indian population of the Mormon Church is extensive and they have become “a
white and delightsome people.”
Probably the true fulfillment of this prophecy, however, occurred in the
south sea islands. The small plates of Nephi do not explain how Lehi’s descendants
inhabited the Pacific isles, but the plates of Mormon account for it. Attempts
to convert Hawaiians to Christianity had failed repeatedly until Mormon
missionaries visited them, but the Hawaiian natives took to Mormonism as
enthusiastically as the Irish took to Catholicism. Missionaries first arrived
in 1850, six years after Joseph Smith’s death and three years after the pioneers
entered the Salt Lake valley. Today Mormonism remains the major denomination
among natives, supported also by large white and Japanese followings. One of
the eight Mormon temples, buildings in which special ordinances are performed,
is located there. In Samoa the predominating religions are Catholicism and
Mormonism, while the Book of Mormon has been accepted as a true record of
ancestry by natives of most of the south sea islands. “And then they shall
rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them form the hand of
God; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God;
and their scales of darkness shall being to fall from their eyes; and many
generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and delightsome
people.”
The prophecy concerning the Jews beginning to believe in Christ has also
been fulfilled. In Joseph Smith’s day if the name of Jesus Christ were
mentioned in a Jewish synagogue every Jew would get up and walk out. But today
most Jews are proud that Jesus was a Jew. Note that the Book of Mormon does not
state that at the time when the Indians should accept Christ, the Jews would
accept him also. It predicts that the Jews “shall begin to believe in Christ.”
Of course, there are Jewish converts not only to Mormonism, but to Catholicism
and Protestant churches. Nephi said, “As many as shall believe in Christ
shall also become a delightsome people.”
The last phrase of the fourth verse has aroused considerable discussion. Lehi and Ishmael were not Jews, yet Nephi predicts that his posterity would know
they are descendants of the Jews. It is possible that this assertion could be
literally true. Due to intermarriages between Ephraimites and Jews between the
time of Ephraim and the time of Ishmael, the latter might have been a descendant
of Judah as well as of Ephraim. The same reasoning could apply to Lehi, especially
considering that Jerusalem was his home. If it were not the case, the wife of Lehi,
the wife of Ishmael, or the wives of the sons of Ishmael if they were married
before they joined the exodus, might have been Jews. If that were not the case,
there was a possibility of a Jewish strain among the people of Zarahemla, . . .
But it is far more probable that Nephi meant his posterity had the heritage of
the Jews, rather than that they were of Jewish blood. Note that he ties the
phrase with another point in this manner: “And then shall the remnant of our
seed know concerning us, how that we came from Jerusalem, and that they are
descendants of the Jews.” (Wesley Ziegler, An Analysis of the Book of
Mormon [Pasadena, Calif.: Wesley Ziegler, 1947], 36-37)
Further Reading: