The Conditional Nature of Book of
Mormon Warnings
Many important warnings to last
day inhabitants of America are recorded in the Book of Mormon. These warnings
are usually given in conditional prophecies concerning future events. The
Lord’s promises made concerning this choice land are often based on alternatives—they
contain an all-important IF. Implicit in each warning is a specific
principle. The prophetic warnings describe what will happen if the
people of America obey the principle in righteousness, they also warn what will
transpire if the people choose to disobey that principle and work
iniquity. (Duane S. Crowther, Inspired Prophetic Warnings [Bountiful,
Utah: Horizon Publishers, 1987], 27)
. . .
And behold, according to the words
of the prophet, the Messiah will set himself again the second time to recover them
[Zion and the covenant people of the Lord]; wherefore, he will manifest himself
unto them in power and great glory, unto the destruction of their enemies,
when that day cometh when they shall believe in him; and none will he destroy
that believe in him.
And they that believe not in him shall be destroyed, both by fire and
by tempest, and by earthquakes, and by bloodsheds, and by pestilence,
and by famine. And they shall know ath the Lord is God, the Holy One of
Israel.
For shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
But thus saith the Lord: Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away,
and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for the mighty God shall
deliver his covenant people. For thus saith the Lord: I will contend
with them that contendeth with thee—
And I will feed them that oppress thee, with their own flesh; and they shall
be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine; and all flesh shall
know that I the Lord am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
(2 Ne. 6: 14-18)
Note that his prophecy is
conditional: men will be able to escape destruction if they believe in
God, but they will be destroyed by a series of judgments if they fail to
meet the condition of belief in God.
Note also that the prophecy has a
specific time of fulfillment: the unbelievers will be destroyed in the period
when God moves to fulfill His covenants with Israel (2 Ne. 6:12) by gathering
and recovering her (2 Ne. 6:11). This event is clearly placed in the future in
a chronological order of last days events set forth by the Savior Himself, . .
. (Ibid. 28)
. . .
The Savior’s Warning: Unbelieving
Gentiles Will Be Cut Off By a Remnant of Jacob (3 Ne. 21:1-14)
The Lord presents a similar
prophecy in a different context, but again sets belief in God as the criterion
which will allow some to escape destruction in America in the last days. Christ
is speaking of the same time and place as in His former prophetic warning: He
speaks of an event in connection with the future gathering of Israel (3 Ne.
21:1) which takes place “in this land” where the Gentiles are “set up
as a free people by the power of the Father” (3 Ne. 21:4). He describes,
once again, two groups who are differentiated by the belief in God. He tells of
the righteous portion of the Gentiles, who are willing to believe in God, that
the Father
. . . may show forth his power
unto the Gentiles, for this cause that the Gentiles, if they will not harden
their hearts, that they may repent and come unto me and be baptized in my
name and know of the true points of my doctrine, that they may be numbered
among my people, O house of Israel; . . . (3 Ne. 21:6)
These believing Gentiles are
contrasted with the unbelieving who will reap destruction as the Savior gives
His prophetic warning. According to the Master, the unbelieving Gentiles will
be destroyed by a remnant of Jacob which will cut them off:
Therefore it shall come to pass
that whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ, which
the Father shall cause him to bring forth unto the Gentiles, and shall give
unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the Gentiles, (it shall be
done even as Moses said) they shall be cut off from among my people who are
of the covenant.
And my people who are a remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, yea, in
the midst of them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion
among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through both treadeth down and teareth
in pieces, and none can deliver.
Their hand shall be lifted up upon their adversaries, and all their enemies
shall be cut off.
Yea, woe be unto the Gentiles except they repent; . . . (3 Ne. 21:11-14. His
prophecy continues in detail, describing the great destruction which will be
brought upon the Gentiles.) (Ibid., 30-31; cf. Parley
P. Pratt's Prophecy Concerning the "Unbelieving Gentile" in Mormonism
Unveiled (1838))
