3 Nephi 16
3 Nephi 16:1–3
1 And verily, verily, I say unto you that I have other sheep, which are not of this land, neither of the land of Jerusalem, neither in any parts of that land round about whither I have been to minister.
2 For they of whom I speak are they who have not as yet heard my voice; neither have I at any time manifested myself unto them.
3 But I have received a commandment of the Father that I shall go unto them, and that they shall hear my voice, and shall be numbered among my sheep, that there may be one fold and one shepherd; therefore I go to show myself unto them.
Comments
Jesus told the people in Bountiful that he had not specifically told those in Jerusalem about them. What he did, was mention that he had other sheep. Now, he tells those in Bountiful the very same thing. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World, and neither those in Jerusalem nor those in Bountiful should consider themselves unique. There are yet other sheep, and those other sheep must still hear his voice.
We do not know who those other sheep were, nor how they heard his voice. What we do know is that if the Nephites had not kept their record, we would not have known that he came to them. Thus, if Christ visited others and they did not write it, or their records did not survive time, we would not know of that visit, even though it had been made.
The Gentiles and the House of Israel
3 Nephi 16:4–5
4 And I command you that ye shall write these sayings after I am gone, that if it so be that my people at Jerusalem, they who have seen me and been with me in my ministry, do not ask the Father in my name, that they may receive a knowledge of you by the Holy Ghost, and also of the other tribes whom they know not of, that these sayings which ye shall write shall be kept and shall be manifested unto the Gentiles, that through the fulness of the Gentiles, the remnant of their seed, who shall be scattered forth upon the face of the earth because of their unbelief, may be brought in, or may be brought to a knowledge of me, their Redeemer.
5 And then will I gather them in from the four quarters of the earth; and then will I fulfil the covenant which the Father hath made unto all the people of the house of Israel.
Comments
As a nation so firmly tied to records, it would have been inconceivable that they would not have written about this experience. Despite that fact, the Savior commands them to write. Since he was commanding them to do what they would naturally have done, the question is why Jesus made that request.
The purpose is intertwined with the first Nephi3’s vision of a book coming from them to the world. It was intertwined with Mormon’s record. They were to write so that it would be in the Book of Mormon, and so that when the Book of Mormon came to the word, the Gentiles and the remnant of their seed would have these words.
The purpose was part of the beginning of the end of the scattering of Israel. It was an important beginning of the process of gathering “them in from the four quarters of the earth.”
3 Nephi 16:6–7
6 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.
7 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.
Comments
Christ’s focus continues to be on the future, when the Book of Mormon would come forth to bless the Gentiles. He declares “blessed are the Gentiles.” That would be a shocking statement to the Nephites, as their experience with those that would be defined as Gentiles was typically Lamanite. Christ was reversing expectations.
That reversal is amplified when the blessing on the Gentiles for belief is contrasted with the unbelief of the house of Israel. Nevertheless, this is no more than a reiteration of lessons that had been taught since the days of Isaiah in the Old World, and since the first Nephi in the New World (see Isaiah 49:22–23 and its quotation in 1 Nephi 21:22–23, and again in 2 Nephi 6:6–7).
3 Nephi 16:8–11
8 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;
9 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—
10 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.
11 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.
Comments
More of the future is laid out. The important part of this discussion is to return to the importance of the house of Israel. There will be faithful Gentiles who are blessed, but there will also be unfaithful Gentiles who come upon this land and will scatter those native peoples that they find. Eventually, those unfaithful Gentiles will succumb to the same kinds of forces that led the house of Israel astray. They will “be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs,” among others negative traits.
It will be “in that day” that “I will remember my covenant which I have made unto my people, O house of Israel, and I will bring my gospel unto them.” When Jesus uses “in that day,” it is a general timeframe, even though it is linked to a specific beginning event. The Gentiles may have been in unbelief for a time, but there will come a time when the Lord will bring forth the gospel. The beginning of that time is the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.
3 Nephi 16:12–15
12 And I will show unto thee, O house of Israel, that the Gentiles shall not have power over you; but I will remember my covenant unto you, O house of Israel, and ye shall come unto the knowledge of the fulness of my gospel.
13 But if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel.
14 And I will not suffer my people, who are of the house of Israel, to go through among them, and tread them down, saith the Father.
15 But if they will not turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, I will suffer them, yea, I will suffer my people, O house of Israel, that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them down, and they shall be as salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of my people, O house of Israel.
Comments
Jesus lays out possibilities for the future, without choosing between them. There would come a time when the Gentiles would no more have power of the house of Israel. The righteous Gentiles will then be numbered with the house of Israel. They will be adopted into the covenant and will become part of the house of Israel. When that happens, if the Gentiles are righteous, then the house of Israel will not wreak vengeance upon them for all that has been done to them.
However, if the Gentiles to no not hearken to the voice of God, “I will suffer my people, O house of Israel, that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them down.” In that condition, the house of Israel would wreak vengeance on the Gentiles.
3 Nephi 16:16–20
16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, thus hath the Father commanded me—that I should give unto this people this land for their inheritance.
17 And then the words of the prophet Isaiah shall be fulfilled, which say:
18 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion.
19 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
20 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God.
Comments
Jesus has been speaking of the house of Israel in the future, and now brings it back, at least tangentially, to those in the congregation around him. This is the land of their inheritance. They will be preserved upon the land according to the covenant of the land. Through righteousness, they will be blessed.
The Gentiles appear to also inherit that blessing of the land, for they too will prosper only upon principles of righteousness. If the house of Israel is righteous, and the Gentiles are not, Jesus had said that the house of Israel would rise up against the Gentiles.
To punctuate the blessing of the land, and the blessing on the New World branch of the house of Israel, Jesus cites Isaiah 52:8–10. There will be redemption and reconciliation after a time of destruction visited upon the house of Israel. It will be well.
This is the end of a chapter in the 1830 edition.
