In a previous post (2 Nephi 10:11, 13-14 as an Example of a Book of Mormon Prophecy Fulfilled After 1830), I discussed how the prophecy in 2 Nephi 10 about there being no kings upon the promised land is to be interpreted, not as there being no kings ever raised up, but that no king who was raised up against God would have a lengthy reign, something affirmed and discussed by Nephi Lowell Morris in his popular Prophecies of Joseph Smith and their Fulfillment.
Another witness to this interpretation
comes from Gilbert Charles Orme and his 1948 The Four Estates of Men:
Some wonder why God
took a special interest in this land o America. It was because He favored it
from the very beginning of man’s earthly existence. Having first placed Adam
and Eve here to be father and mother of the human family, He next led Jared and
his brother from the tower of Babel with the promise of establishing the world’s
mightiest nation. By leading Lehi and the colony of Mulek from Jerusalem to
plant the seed of Joseph on their inheritance and later establishing “the
constitution of this land by wise men whom He raised up unto this very purpose,”
He showed how He favored the Americas. To give free speech, free worship, and a
free press to all men who sought the safety and freedom under the stars and
stripes was a foundation structure laid down by God.
The Lord has a
special destiny for this good land as told by the last prophet of the
Jaredites:
And it was the place
of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven, and the holy
sanctuary of the Lord.
Behold, Ether saw the days of Christ, and he spake concerning a New Jerusalem
upon this land. (Ether 13:3-4.)
The English, French,
Spanish and Russian flags as well as those of other nations flew over this land
of promise, but not for long. Either by treaty, purchase or the
shedding of blood, the various self-governing nations as of today have been
established, each fulfilling its destiny in this dispensation. (Gilbert Charles
Orme, The Four Estates of Man [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1948], 120, emphasis in bold added)
