3 Nephi 16:6-11, a record of an eschatological prophecy from Christ
Himself, reads thusly:
And blessed are the
Gentiles, because of their belief in me, in and of the Holy Ghost, which
witnesses unto them of me and of the Father. Behold, because of their belief in
me, saith the Father, and because of the unbelief of you, O house of Israel, in
the latter day shall the truth come unto the Gentiles, that the fulness of
these things shall be made known unto them. But wo, saith the Father, unto the
unbelieving of the Gentiles-- for notwithstanding they have come forth upon the
face of this land, and have scattered my people who are of the house of Israel;
and my people who are of the house of Israel have been cast out from among
them, and have been trodden under feet by them; And because of the mercies of
the Father unto the Gentiles, and also the judgments of the Father upon my
people who are of the house of Israel, verily, verily, I say unto you, that
after all this, and I have caused my people who are of the house of Israel to
be smitten, and to be afflicted, and to be slain, and to be cast out from among
them, and to become hated by them, and to become a hiss and a byword among
them--And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day
when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of
my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all
nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with
all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of
hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret
abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the
fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my
gospel from among them. And then will I remember my covenant which I have made
unto my people, O house of Israel, and I will bring my gospel unto them.
Unlike much of the Book of Mormon, there is a lack of perspicuity contained
in this pericope. Commenting on this passage, Brant Gardner wrote:
The clarity that
typically characterizes the Book of Mormon text falters in verses 6-11. The
English sentence structure if puzzlingly convoluted. To sort out the meaning,
identifying the underlying parallelism is helpful. A hallmark of the Sermon on
the Mount has been its set of antithetical parallels. Such a parallel though al
less obvious one, underlies this text.
The first parallel
set is the blessing/cursing of the Gentiles:
And blessed are the
Gentiles because of their belief in me. (v. 6)
But so, saith the
Father, unto the unbelieving of the Gentiles. (v. 16)
The Gentiles appear
in the future history present in the scriptures as both blessed and cursed.
They will have a role in spreading the scriptures and, hence, the gospel, but
that role will consist of both good and evil functions.
The second
antithetical parallel is set up in verse 7, but not completed until verses 10
and 11:
. . . in the latter day shall the truth come
unto the Gentiles (v. 7)
. . . and if they
shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold,
saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them. And
then will I remember my covenant which I have made unto my people, O house of
Israel, and I will bring my gospel unto them. (vv. 10-11)
The first theme is
the blessing and cursing of the Gentiles relative to the scriptures. The second
antithetical parallel deals with the scriptures’ direction or movement. They
will go among the Gentiles, and then go from the Gentiles. The Gentiles are
therefore blessed because hey preserved the Old World scriptures. However, when
the Gentiles begin to reject those scriptures’ teachings, the scriptures (the
gospel) will be taken from them and given to the Jews. The movement is alto
antithetical: first, from the Jews to the Gentiles, then from the Gentiles back
to the Jews.
Another important
clarification is the larger context of the Savior’s message to the twelve. He
began with concern over divided Israel. The “other sheep” section confirms that Israel is
scattered and that its gathering lies in the future. The Nephite scriptures
will play a role in this gathering and interestingly, will first go to the
Gentiles (v. 4). Through the Gentiles (v. 6), the Nephite scriptures will teach
the gospel to remnants of the house of Israel before the gathering (v. 5). This
development is unexpected. The very definition of a Gentile at that time was an
unbeliever; thus, Gentile possession of the gospel (more specifically, the scriptures)
reverses the expected order. This future act constitutes another antithesis.
Verse 7 establishes
the directional antithesis; the scriptures go from the Jews to the Gentiles.
Verse 8 proclaims woe on the unbelieving Gentiles—the antithetical parallel to
the Gentiles’ blessing. In both clauses, the blessing and the cursing are
caused by the Gentiles’ treatment of the scriptures and the gospel. They are
blessed for preserving them and cursed or straying from their teachings.
Verse 8 introduces a
new theme—the Gentiles’ maltreatment of the Jews. These persecutions occur
after the Gentiles fail to understand the scriptures and gospel and are under
woe. The maltreatment (also v. 9) serves as an antithesis of expectation. As
the covenant people, the Jews should merit better treatment, but they have
rejected the scriptures and the gospel. While the Gentiles possess the
scriptures and gospel, they are blessed. While the Jews do not have the scriptures and the gospel, they are persecuted. However, persecuting the Jews shows that the Gentiles have departed from the scriptures and the gospel; such persecution therefore heralds another reversal.
The final reverse
begins in verse 10 when the gospel is taken from the Gentiles and given back to
the house of Israel. (Brant A. Gardner, Second
Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Volume 5: Helaman
Through Third Nephi [Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007], 480-81)
