Upon All the Earth

In his vision of the future, Nephi saw that pervasive wickedness, symbolized as “the whore of all the earth,” would have “dominion over all the earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people” (1 Nephi 14:11). In contrast to this imagery, Nephi gave the following prophecy concerning the Saints in the last days:

And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw. (1 Nephi 14:12)

From a strictly secular worldview, there was little reason to believe in 1829 that the Church of Jesus Christ restored through Joseph Smith would have a global impact. At that time, Christ’s church hadn’t yet been restored, the Book of Mormon wasn’t yet published, and Joseph Smith had only a few friends and followers who believed in his prophetic calling.

Today, however, it is clear that the “saints of God” really are “upon all the face of the earth.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints now has more than 16 million members who can be found in more than 160 countries and territories, ranging from Canada to Chile, South Africa to Spain, Norway to New Zealand, and from Sweden to South Korea.¹ However, compared to the total population of the world (now numbering more than 7.7 billion²) the Church’s membership, even though it spans the globe, is still comparatively small (less than 1%), just as Nephi predicted.³

Ray M. Merrill, Arielle A. Sloan, and Brittanie A. Steele, “Growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a Global Context,” Religious Educator 16, no. 1 (2015): 17–127.

“Growth of the Church,” accessed August 11, 2021, online at newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org.

1 Nephi 14:12

1 Nephi 14:12