Come Follow Me - 3 Nephi 20-26 (Extended Version): Jesus Teaching the Gathering

[Music] when the son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief May our testimonies be as deep and as strong as that of Jacob who when confounded by one who sought to destroy his faith declared I could not be shaken [Music] hello everybody I'm Jared Halverson this is unshaken and I'm thrilled that you're here we have passed a milestone we started this Channel 6 months ago and we just hit our 1 millionth view which is amazing to me that there are people all over the world that

are so interested in fortifying their faith that they would spend time immersed in the scriptures each week it really has been an amazing ride I've Loved reading your comments I love that there's more communication between you in the comment section and I've been making friends all over the world from Central and South America to Europe and Asia uh the Middle East Australia and the islands of the sea the British Isles all over the United States and Canada it's been incredible so thank you for being a part of this growing Community today we'll be studying third

Nephi chapter 20 through 26 and for whatever reason I think I can guess a few these are kind of the Forgotten chapters of third Nephi which is tragic because Jesus is is still the one speaking it seems that often we we gear up for chapter 11 there's that climax that Crescendo when Jesus descends Among the Nephites and begins to minister and then we were're familiar enough with the Sermon on the Mount that we enjoyed the sermon at the temple we sort of get confused in chapter 15 and 16 but 17 comes to save the day

with Jesus ministering to the Nephites in such a personal and Powerful way blessing the children Healing The Sick such a such a masterpiece in third Nephi but then we kind of I don't know lose interest might be too harsh but we definitely lose a sense of momentum or understanding and probably because in the chapters we're studying today there is so much Old Testament that was the scriptures for Jesus and so for example when he is walking on the road to Aus with those two disciples who don't yet recognize him he expounds all scriptures unto them

concerning himself and what scripture do he have to expound to them the Old Testament he's doing the same thing here he's started that earlier yeah quoting Isaiah back in chapter 16 for example but here he's going to quote Isaiah at length he's going to quote Micah he's going to quote habac uh and it seems that most of us these days don't exactly have habac at the tip of our at our fingertips or at the tip of our tongue I get that uh but the tragedy is we are missing out on the savior's teaching this is

not some minor discourse that ah take it or leave it the savior of the world has come to teach them and to teach us and we have to pay attention in spite of the difficulty and I guess generation gap would be an understatement between us and those ancient prophets in the Old Testament but it is so relevant in fact in some ways the Book of Mormon connects the ancient Old Testament world to the modern one since the Book of Mormon looked back to their scripture brass plates Old Testament back to the scriptures that Jesus quoted

Old Testament and forward to our day when we would have it all the the Bridging the Gap so to speak and in some ways in fact if you were to prioritize I know this is hard to do but we see chapters 20 through 26 as almost this Interruption of the story The Narrative chapter 17 is really where it's all about right where Jesus's blessing and healing and so on but in reality if you remember what we talked about last week it's chapter 17 and 18 that are the interruption they're the bonus chapters that shouldn't really

be there Jesus and in fact check this out the way he ends chapter 16 he quotes Isaiah 5 2 8-10 saying this is what we're looking for this is what we'll see when things are being fulfilled when the Covenant is taking place in fact that's what it gets back to in chapter 15 let's let's start over chapter 11 he descends right 12-4 he's teaching the sermon at the temple then 15 he starts explaining some things have been done away law of Moses but some overarching truths the umbrella principles are still in effect first and foremost

the Covenant of the father and my place in it as the savior of the world he then talks about other sheep and that goes through the rest of chapter 15 and chapter 16 including the other other sheep which are the Lost tribes of the House of Israel and it's in that explanation that he culminates in Isaiah 52 then chapter 17 begins and what's he saying oh you guys still don't get it that's verse 2 and three and I have to leave to go gather those other lost tribes that's verse four well maybe before I go

to help you understand what I've just taught you and to help prepare you for what I'm about to teach you when I return again that was his original plant think about these things Ponder them pray about them prepare your mind I come unto you again to do what to pick up where I left off with Isaiah and with this Prophecy of the Gathering of Israel let me practice with you for a moment let me give you a preview of coming attractions in fact it made me think of a a new word we talk about reenacting

things from the past well in some ways chapter 17 Jesus is going to preenact what he's trying to explain to them remember I'm going to go gather lost tribes to go share my voice with other other lost sheep and that's what I just talked to you about and that's what I'm going to pick up and talk to you about more but right now right here let me explain it by illustrating it let me preenact the Gathering of Israel that I am trying to teach you about from from Isaiah and Micah and habac come to me

anyone who is sick and Afflicted my bowels are filled with compassion and mercy for you you who have ears to hear and legs to walk and eyes to see bring the others that cannot come on their own I want you who know my voice to gather to me those who cannot yet come on their own that applies to the sick and The Afflicted it applies to the little children you see what's happen happening those who have heard the message before gather to Jesus those who cannot come on their own this is a pre-enactment of what

he's trying to explain the house of Israel had lost its way the gospel goes to the Gentiles and he is asking the Gentiles to go and gather scattered Israel home remember last time we talked about these concentric circles of compassion Jesus in the middle the little children around them and then the Bringers uh the the parents the family anyone that's whole and they're on the outside shepherding them in remember Jesus heals all of them both the Bringers and the brought he has compassion on both sides of this and He blesses both sides both those that

are healed and those that are whole this great Good Shepherd this gatherer of Israel cares as much about Gentiles as he does about Jews his redeeming reach spreads as broadly as the love of God and as broadly as the the reach of the church has to become we'll get to that point too but he get a sense of what he's doing it kind of flips things instead of seeing chapter 17 as this incredible moment that was always meant to be a a highlight in the Book of Mormon and then we kind of lose interest with

this Isaiah stuff and to talk about the Gathering of Israel no it was all about the Gathering of Israel that's what 15 and 16 lead up to today that's what 20 through 26 is all about and those middle chapters we talked about last week that are so f is the illustration and pre-enactment of what he's trying to explain to them in fact even in chapter 18 when he talks about the Holy Ghost and the sacrament and prayer and the church he picks up on those things in chapter 20 excuse me in chapter 19 where he

returns to them so they wouldn't really have missed and well they would have missed a ton if they missed chapter 17 but again all the things that he teaches them he's going to teach them the second day anyway when he returns as promised it's this preenact that I find fascinating and I I hope that we can read the chapters that we're studying today in that light is if chapter 17 is personally moving to you then it ought to move you and move me to participate in the Gathering of Israel as president Nelson has said repeatedly

lately it's the most important work that we can be engaged in right now Gathering Israel on both sides of the veil if you think about the three-fold mission of the church why are we perfecting the Saints at all so that we can become good gatherers that's the means to the greater end in the second and third so that we can proclaim the gospel gather Israel on this side of the veil redeem the dead gather Israel on the other side of the veil these are the purposes the church is here and as Jesus is organizing his

church Among the Nephites same purposes apply so let's see how he does it third Nephi chapter 20 begins it came to pass that he commanded the multitude that they should cease to pray remember that word came up what was it 28 times in chapter 19 they're praying constantly Jesus himself has gone back and forth and back and forth three times interrupting his own prayer to God to return to them remember this is the the flip side the the the celestial version of what his prayer in Gethsemane could and should have been from the disciples standpoint

that is but there is a sense here in chapter 20:1 that it's time to pray on our feet instead of Pray On Our Knees you can always be praying that's what he gets at in this verse He commands them that they should cease to pray and also his disciples and he commanded them that they should not cease to pray in their hearts you see there comes a time when you have to get up off your knees there's stuff to do but don't stop praying in your heart because that stuff that you have to do still

requires Heaven's help this is part of this always remembering himm that we Covenant in the sacrament this prayer in our heart engages our work with God's work his work in glory and ours need need to coincide verse two He commands them to stand up which they do again prayers on knees followed by prayers on feet and then what does he do verse three he breaks bread again and blesses it and gives to the disciples to eat and then they distribute it to the multitude verse 5 does the same thing with wine the second day in

a row after instituting the sacrament the day before he is now repeating the sacrament with them today with one incredible difference verse six there had been no bread neither wine brought by the disciples neither by the multitude but he truly gave unto them bread to eat and wine to drink this time Jesus brought the sacrament himself he provided the emblems which if you think about it is always the case here he provided them miraculously this is like multiplying the Loaves and the fishes without the Loaves and the fishes he provides them Bread and Wine miraculously

and I hope that whenever we partake of the sacrament we recognize the miraculous Nature by which it is offered us that it is Jesus himself that offers his body and his blood he miraculously brings the bread and the wine so that we can be healed and that we can be cleansed he explains more in depth in verse 8 what these emblems signify he that eateth this bread eateth of my body to his soul and he that drinketh of this wine drink drinketh of my blood to his soul this is not transubstantiation this is not the

emblem is the object this is a representation we could say that the bread and the wine or in our day the water is eaten to the body while the body and the blood as it says here is eaten and drunk to the soul physical objects to a physical body but spiritual realities being taken into the soul itself self and those that do so he says at the end of this verse his soul shall never hunger nor thirst but shall be filled sound like the Beatitudes blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness which is

what they're seeking here for they shall be filled with what with the Holy Ghost that's what he gets to in verse 9 when the multitude had all eaten and drunk behold they were filled with the spirit and they did cry out with one voice that's the unity that comes the at onement that is being provided that Jesus prayed for over and over in the previous chapter and they gave glory to Jesus whom they both saw and heard I hope that these verses represent what happens to us whenever we participate in the sacrament to hunger and

thirst after things to allow the soul to yearn for those realities and to find them and to be filled with them through the gift of the Holy Ghost to recognize the miraculous Providence of this Sacrament that Jesus himself provides the bread and the water his body and his blood that it is an opportunity for us to become one with each other we're all doing the same thing this I I love how other churches call this communion because we are trying not just to commune with God but to have communion one with another it is a

meal we are breaking bread together so a time to speak to God with one voice witnessing bearing testimony to him that we believe in the son and accept him into our lives and that we give him glory that through the sacrament we can glorify the father and the son as they are seeking to sanctify us and that through the sacrament we can say that we have both seen and heard Jesus through his emblems through his spirit this is the experience we can have every Sunday but now having participated again in the sacrament having renewed their

covenants Jesus can do what he's really been trying to do all along teach them what he's here for and what they're here for notice verse 10 it came to pass that when they had all given Glory unto Jesus he said unto them behold now I finish the Commandment which the father hath commanded me concerning this people who are a remnant of the House of Israel he keeps bringing that up you're not just leites you're not just Book of Mormon people you are part of the House of Israel take it up a couple of generations and

see where you really fit in this family tree and what is this Commandment that the father had commanded him concerning the house of Israel it's gather them home it's make sure that they don't feel forgotten which was a struggle from lehi's family on down here we are let pulled out of the promised land Israel to a new quote unquote promised land for them they've been scattered here is the gatherer verse 11 he then says remember that I spake unto you and said that when the words of Isaiah should be fulfilled behold written you have them

before you therefore search them so here's a commandment from the Lord himself you need to study Isaiah Gul we can do this okay and that's what he ended chapter 16 with so before this Interruption SL preview of Coming Attractions this pre-enactment in chapter 17 that's what he was doing at the end of chapter 16 when the Gathering takes place then the words of Isaiah will be fulfilled which talk about the Watchmen lifting up his voice the people singing together seeing eye to eye when the Lord brings again Zion that's what he's been getting at so

let's get back to that verse 12 verily verily I say unto you that when they shall be fulfilled these words that I just quoted from Isaiah then is the fulfilling of the Covenant which the father hath made unto his people oh House of Israel keep an eye out for the word covenant in these chapters that we're studying today it comes up all over the place remember how Jesus introduced himself when he first descended in chapter 11 I I have come to do the will of the father who sent me I do the will of the

father in all things I came to Earth I condescended because that was the father's plan I atoned for the sins of humanity because that was the Father's Promise I am here to gather Israel because God gave his word and I am the word of God I am here to prove to personify the fact that God keeps his promises made in portality itself who whom shall I send I sent Jesus and I keep sending him to every lost lamb until all the house of Israel and all my children in all the world are gathered home when

that happens you know that the father is fulfilling his Covenant verse 13 then there's a lot of then here also almost it's this and then and then and then this is what's happening you really get a sense of momentum as we are barreling forward to the Fulfillment of these incredible Covenants then shall the remnants which shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the Earth be gathered in from the East and from the west from the south from the north they shall be brought to the knowledge of the Lord their redeemer who hath redeemed them

whenever we look for physical Gathering keep an eye out for the spiritual Gathering that is part of that in fact it's the greatest part the physical gathering in fact May simply be a part a subhead heading of the spiritual Gathering that precedes it that precipitates it that allows these things to take place now from verse 14 through about verse 20 we see a repetition of what Jesus taught back in chapter 16 again he's trying to pick up where they left off you didn't quite get it then so go home and Ponder and pray and prepare

and I'm going to come back persist well let's get back to that lesson and it's that lesson of role reversal that we saw throughout chapter 16 with Jews and Gentiles we we saw that pre- enacted with Samuel the lonite amonites and Nephites that the house of Israel was scattered because of their wickedness and the Gentiles came in found the Americas and participated in part of that scattering but from their privileged position where the gospel was restored among them they have to share the gospel with others The Chosen have to choose everyone else the whole have

to bring the sick okay and if that doesn't happen then we get this role reversal where you fall from your privileged position you have kinked the hose and so the Lord takes the hose away from you cuz he's got to get the water to the end of the row and so those Gentiles who scattered Israel will end up being scattered by Israel unless they repent which is always the hope that if they'll repent then they join the house of Israel it's all one big happy family that's been the goal from the the beginning remember this

is exclusivity in Pursuit Of inclusivity The Chosen making sure that everyone gets chosen too so again that's the sense you get from verse 14 14 through ver 20 which is kind of a synopsis of what he taught before in chapter 16 if my quick review here was confusing then go back and rewatch 1i 16 I explain it more in depth there again you get this sense in verse 15 if the Gentiles do not repent after the blessing which they shall receive then they'll be scattered as well and then he repeats that idea in verse 20

that the sword of my Justice hangs over them at that day and except they repent it shall fall upon them sayith the Lord y even upon all the nations of the Gentiles this is what God has always been after repentance returning to me I turned to the Gentiles because the house of Israel wouldn't repent and I'm turning back to the house of Israel because the Gentiles aren't repenting I'm no respector of persons if you will come unto me then I will receive you with open arms now like I said these verses are a repeat in

many ways of what he taught in chapter 16 but he does bring in an additional witness from his old test cloud of witnesses in verse 16 and 17 he quotes Micah 5: 8 and9 this is how he says it to the Nephites then shall ye who are a remnant of the House of Jacob go forth among them among the Gentiles this is part of that role reversal when the scatterers become scattered themselves and ye shall be in the midst of them who shall be many and ye shall be among them as a lion among the

beasts of the forest and as a Young Lion among the flocks of sheep who if he goeth through both treadeth down and teth in pieces and none can deliver thy hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries and all thine enemies shall be cut off now I'll admit that sounds harsh this quote from Micah and it's equally harsh in Micah itself but please remember who's the one Speaking here Jesus and what's he talking about he's talking about lions going among lambs and who is Jesus he is both The Lion and the lamb he understands both

sides he wants to bless both the sick and the whole like he did in chapter 17 and how to balance the Justice of the lion and the mercy of the Lamb how to look at both lions and Lambs in each of us and draw out the best of both to care equally for both Jew and Gentile it's like being a parent when one of your children hurts another one of your children and you care about them both both victim and perpetrator Jesus will take care of things he understands both sides he loves both sides he

is lion and lamb himself and what's the goal Verse 18 I will gather my people together as a man gathereth his sheaves into the floor and in his big picture Gathering he's Gathering both the gatherers and the gathered that's one of the reasons he sets up inequality in pursuit of equality exclusivity in pursuit of inclusivity by setting things up up with this separation the Hales and the have knots both have things to teach each other and to learn from each other and to do for one another his big goal is to gather everyone and he

engages one group of people to help him gather the other and in the process he's Gathering both didn't we all feel that who have served missions that we thought we were doing all this amazing work for everyone else and we were but really who was the one great most greatly blessed we were Jesus was using the Gathering to gather the gatherers too now if you look again at the way he says it in verse 18 I will gather my people together now back in chapter 10 he would have finished that with as a hen gathereth

her chickens under her wings but here he finishes it with as a man gathereth his sheaves into the floor so now we've shifted from a scene of danger at the Barnyard where the hen is is wildly clucking to its chicks to a Time further out in the field where now we're harvesting the field is white already to be harvested we are gathering sheaves this is the Fulfillment of the parable of the wheat and tears and notice where we're Gathering them to the floor now what's that all about to be more specific it's to the threshing

floor when you've been out in the wheat fields and you're thrusting your sickle in with your might Gathering the wheat into sheaves bundles so that you can carry carry them back to the threshing floor what's the threshing floor for it's to separate wheat from chaff you see out in the field we were trying to separate wheat from tears but as we bring it in we found the wheat but even the wheat itself has work to do didn't we see that back in chapter 8 910 you've been spared but only because you were more righteous than

they that's wheat and tears you were part of the wheat but what's the first message for you wheat repent and return unto me you still have some chaff in you when you make bread you don't put a whole wheat stock in there you put in grains you put in flour you use the kernel not the chaff and how do you separate the two when they're part of the same good wheat stock you thresh it and that takes place on a threshing floor we beat the wheat until the good and the bad come apart they separate

that's always what God does as he tries to take something without form and void and turn it into something very good he separates light from Darkness he separates land from sea he's separating wheat from chaff and that takes some of the beating that takes place in places like threshing floors now if you want to make this a little more personal for all of you fellow non-farmers out there that have never spent time threshing wheat if you go back through the Old Testament and look for what happens on on threshing floors it's incredible to see the

symbolism of this for example in 1st Chronicles CH 21 King David has sinned in numbering Israel putting his trust a little bit too much in the arm of Flesh instead of no who cares about the size of my Army God will take care of things so there's a plague that Israel suffers the destroying angel that goes through Israel but in chapter 21 of 1 Chronicles you have an angel that comes to King David and says to him set up an altar unto the Lord in the threshing floor of ornan the jebusite and when David does

that the destroying Angel sheathes his sword so what is it that stops the destroying Angel what is it that shifts the balance from Justice to Mercy in the eyes of God where does our destruction turn into our deliverance at a threshing floor an altar of sacrifice is set up there so threshing floors are a place of Separation they're also a place of sacrifice their place of Deliverance and then fast forward and in 2 Chronicles 3:1 when Solomon builds the temple guess where he does it in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor

of ornan the jebusite I think it is such a moving metaphor that the temple the house of God was built on a threshing floor you have to be wheat just to get in but as you're in the Lord is is still working on you and in you to separate wheat from chaff to help you discern between light and darkness even in more nuanced ways to work in us so that he can work out of us the last vestages of sin I think that's Elder Christopherson once called it what a lofty goal a kind of service

and sacrifice the kind of selflessness the kind of worthiness and purification the nobling of the human soul that takes place in the temple if you think back to what Ammon said after his incredible missionary Journeys behold the field was ripe and blessed are ye for ye did thrust in the sickle and did reap with your might yay all the day long did ye labor and behold the number of your sheaves they shall be gathered into the Garners that they are not wasted well that Garner is the temple too a place of Safety and Security a

covert from storm and from rain it is God's house that is the threshing floor it is God's house that is the Garner it is God's house that is the place and the purpose of the Gathering that's what Joseph Smith taught what was God's purpose in gathering his people in any age of the Earth's history to build temples the prophet said that's why they gathered to Kirland that's why they gathered to Nauvoo it's why they gathered to Salt Lake it's why we are gathering now to the stakes of Zion where temp temples are beginning to dot

the Earth threshing floors and Garners increasingly becoming only a Stones throw away the mother hen is gathering her chicks the Good Shepherd is seeking his lost Lambs the man of Holiness is gathering his sheaves into the floor now from there he quotes Micah again this time chapter 4: 12 and 13 in fact let me start quoting Micah 4:12 and see how it leads into 3D Nephi 20: 19 Micah says but they know not the thoughts of the Lord neither understand they his counsel do we sometimes scratch our head and wonder what God is doing do

we sometimes question his governance of the universe especially when it comes to feeling scattered wondering about rooll reversals and first and last and last first what is going on well in the midst of that kind of confusion here's Micah's promise He Shall Gather them as the sheaves into the floor sound like what Jesus just said in chapter 20: 18 and then Micah continues arise and thresh oh Daughter of Zion this is a threshing floor after all for I will make thine Horn Iron and then he goes on from there now see where he picks up

with this in 3i chapter 20 verse 19 for I will make my people with whom the father hath covenanted so this clarifies that all that Micah was talking about is in the context of the father's Covenant with his people yay I will make thy Horn Iron okay now we're back to Micah and I will make thy Hooves brass Thou shalt beat in pieces many people I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth and behold I am he who doeth it now again that sounds harsh maybe

even harsher than the idea of a Young Lion among the flocks of sheep treading down and tearing in pieces but remember this is the Lord as both lion and lamb and here when it talks about iron horns and Brass Hooves and beating in pieces many people this is not some kind of militaristic Call to Arms let's unpack this incredible verse as part of the Gathering which is part of God's covenant he's going to take his people and make their Horn Iron so we're trying to shift the metaphor now from a lion back in verse 16

earlier in m to some kind of an ox something with horns and think about what animals do with their horns often these are used in battle right and imagine a clash of these animals both having horns but imagine if one of them had horns made of iron an unbreakable horn now even here don't think too much about horns used in battle but that battle is simply to establish leadership of the herd so in some ways whichever animal has the strongest horns provides the leadership and the protection for the entire group now isn't that what God's

chosen are supposed to do he's giving them a stronger horn than others why so that they can Serve and Protect everyone else not to fight them it's to fight the enemy in fact here's a fascinating cross reference Deuteronomy 33 is where Moses who's about to to leave Israel as they go into the promised land and he returns to God He blesses each of the 12 tribes and notice the blessing he makes upon the tribes of Joseph he doesn't separate out Ephraim and Manasseh here as two separate ones and that's important because we see many in

the church today the majority are often from the tribe of Ephraim and yet the Book of Mormon peoples were from the tribe of Manasseh Lehi at least in his posterity both Ephraim and Manasseh are part of the tribes of Joseph and what was the blessing that Moses pronounced upon the tribes of Joseph listen to this the whole blessing is Deuteronomy 3313 through 17 but notice this phrase in verse 12 blessed of the Lord be his land see the first time Joseph received blessings was back at the end of Genesis Genesis 49 when Israel himself Jacob

lays his hands upon each of his sons and gives them kind of an an original patriarchal blessing and for Joseph it talked about a branch growing over the wall so think of this fruitfulness and going Beyond a natural barrier pi picture the leites this one of the tribes of Joseph extending themselves growing into a new land and part of the blessing for this tribe is blessing upon the land then listen to this in verse 17 his horns are like the horns of unicorns now that is an interesting translation the King James translators may have been

getting ahead of themselves wild oxen is what they meant by that but his horns are like the horns of wild oxen with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the Earth so do you get a sense from that another purpose for the horns it's not just to fight off enemies again it's leadership it's protection it's gathering with their horns they can push they can guide it's like like a cattle prod from the cattle himself that he is shepherding guiding the rest of the herd together these are oxen who use their horns

to push the people together to gather them from all over the Earth next time you go to the threshing floor to the temple and get down to floor level itself the baptistry what do you see at that lowest point of the temple you see 12 oxen facing the directions so that they can go out over all the ends of the Earth what is the burden that they bear the Covenant they're carrying it to the world upon their own back backs the blessings of the atonement of Jesus Christ cleansing through repentance and faith in the saving

grace of God and what do each of those 12 oxen have horns that they use as they spread out across the world to her the rest of the family home imagine doing that with an iron horn miraculous strength far beyond what we would naturally be able to grow ourselves that's what the Lord is offering and our hoofs brass think about why we shoe a horse to make that natural hoof into something unnaturally strong so that they can run faster work harder do more when I taught at the MTC years ago I asked the missionaries one

day we were just getting to know each other better and I thought this would be an interesting way to get to know each other spiritually and especially focused on our missions I asked the all the elders and sisters in the district I was teaching what scripture did you put on your missionary plaque I think that can often tell us what resonates with a particular elder or sister and I still remember one whose missionary plaque scripture blew me away because he chose something from Isaiah now I can't remember if he did the Isaiah version or the

second Nephi version they both say the same thing since we're in the Book of Mormon already let's stick with that one but in second ephi chapter 15 or in other words Isaiah chapter 5 he chose verses 26- 2 9 this is an amazing kid he must have loved symbolism it says he will lift up an end sign to the nations from Far plant the flag right raise the standard he will hiss unto them from the ends of the Earth that hiss is a whistle the kind that I always get jealous of that somebody else can

do because I can't you know that piercing one where they stick their fingers in their mouth it's I can't do it okay but that hiss unto the ends of the Earth and they shall come with speed swiftly they heard the cluck of the hen they heard the voice of the shepherd they heard the Roar of the lion and they're coming None Shall be weary nor stumble among them None Shall slumber nor sleep neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed nor the latchet of their shoes be broken in other words you don't trip over

your skirt you don't trip over your shoelace 28 whose arrows shall be sharp and all their bows bent you get a sense how ready they are sharpened arrows bent bows ready just let it fly their horses hooves now do we get a sense to remind us of what Jesus was talking about for Micah their horses hooves shall be counted Like Flint their wheels like a whirlwind they're roaring like a lion you get this sense of Imagine flint and steel imagine sparks flying because these horses are running so fast picture an iron horn and a brass

hoof that nothing can stand in the way or stop or slow down these Messengers that's the kind of missionary this elder wanted to be his plaque ended with 29 they shall roar like Young Lions yay they shall Roar and lay hold of the prey sound a little like the other verses from Micah that Jesus was quoting but as compared to that one about treading down and tearing in pieces what are the Lions doing here with their prey interestingly they shall carry them away safe and none shall deliver that's what we're trying to accomplish and with

brass Hooves and iron horns we'll be able to do just that now back to 3i 20: 19 when it says Thou Thou shalt beat in pieces many people again that sounds violent it sounds militaristic but what did he just talk about in the preceding verse Gathering sheaves into the floor what are you going to do with those sheaves you're going to beat them in pieces to separate good from bad within themselves we've already separated sheep from goats now we're just working on purifying the Sheep we've already separated wheat from tears now we're just working on

the wheat to get the chaff out of it that's what happens as We Gather people into the temple nothing purifies and sanctifies us more than that ennobling work the covenants that we make there with Christ as he is raising us to a higher level isn't that what he was doing in the sermon at the temple the law said but I say I've already separated you now I'm gathering you and in the process of gathering I'm still trying to help separate the good from the evil within each one of you he is beating us in pieces

in his house and it's all to purify and to sanctify us the next two phrases in that verse I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord and their substance to the lord of the whole earth if this sounds a little too much like Robin Hood where he's out stealing from the rich to be able to give to the poor no this is an idea of consecration again we're not fighting them we're not beating them up so that we can steal their stuff we are gathering them sanctifying them so that they will then consecrate to God

all that they have remember it was their privileged position that they started to Kink the hose and keep all that water for themselves that was part of the problem and so now as they are purified the hose uncs and they can consecrate all that water to God who will then make sure it gets to the end of every row and who's the one doing it who's in charge of this distribution end of verse 19 I am he who doeth it if there's anyone who knows just how strong or soft to push with the horn just

how fast or slow to run with the hoof just how much pressure to apply when threshing there's actually a whole amazing passage in Isaiah where he goes through all the different ways different plants are harvested and that some you have to beat and others you just carefully separate out the Lord knows just how hard to blow on the fire not too hard to blow it out not too soft to do it no good but to coax it into Open Flame he is he who does it and all of this with the fixed Purpose with the

Eye Single to Bringing every lost lamb home verse 21 it shall come to pass that I will establish my people oh House of Israel 22 I'll establish them in this land that's part of the Covenant which I made with your father Jacob it shall be a New Jerusalem the powers of Heaven shall be in the midst of this people yay even I will be in the midst of you you get a sense of the 10th Article of Faith now that we believe in the literal Gathering of Israel the restoration of the 10 tribes that the

New Jerusalem that Zion the New Jerusalem will be established upon the American continent This Land part of the Covenant of the father that Christ will return and Reign personally upon the earth I will be in the midst of you and eventually the Earth itself will receive its paradisical Glory it's all here in verse 23 Jesus tells them I am he of whom Moses spake when he said that a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me that Jesus in so many symbolic ways would repeat what Moses did

in gathering out his people from a land of bondage and bringing them into a Promised Land baptizing them in the Red Sea purifying them by Holy Fire leading them to SI to give them his law providing Mana in the wilderness bringing them into the promised land Jesus will do all of those things him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you I do hope we listen to Jesus better than the Israelites listen to Moses and it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be cut

off from among the people we've cut ourselves off from God and it wasn't just Moses saying so verse 24 all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after as many as have spoken have testified of me that's who I am and do you remember who you are verse 25 behold ye are the children of those same prophets they were teaching about me but they were teaching you ye are of the House of Israel ye are of the Covenant which the father made with your fathers and what was that Covenant all about to Abraham he

said in thy seed there's the exclusivity shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed there's the inclusivity I'm choosing you to choose everyone else and you see how he kind of raises them up and expands their self-perception with each of those phrases you are the children of the prophets the ones I've been quoting they were speaking to you raise it up you're the house of Israel go higher than that you're the Seed of Abraham higher than that that's the Covenant of the father you getting big picture I don't know if that happened to you

when you received your patriarchal blessing where you realized wow God knows exactly who I am but he places me in perspective I am one of the tribes of Israel I've often had students come to me especially if they come from tribes that are less well explained in scripture if you're from a tribe of Joseph Ephraim or Manasseh or if you're from the tribe of Judah for example there's some amazing things in the scriptures again Jacob's blessings in Genesis 49 Moses's blessings in Deuteronomy 33 some great insight there but I've had students come to me and

say I'm from Benjamin any idea what I should know about myself I'm from Reuben I'm from any of these other tribes and for those For Whom the scriptures aren't very clear as as far as what that tribal inheritance entails I usually tell them if you don't know much about dad go up to Grandpa and if you don't know much about Grandpa figure out great grandpa and so on whatever tribe you happen to be you are the house of Israel so think about the blessings God promised to Jacob to Israel and from that go up another

two generations that no matter what tribe you are your house of Israel and you are Seed of Abraham and that's what the Lord is saying to them there in verse 25 and a Seed of Abraham regardless of what tribe you happen to be it's your job to make sure God can keep his word to unkink the hose through which God is trying to send the fullness of the Gospel to all the kindreds of the earth that's where we come in we are Covenant makers and Covenant Keepers but it's not just our covenant that we're trying

to keep as we keep our covenant we are actually allowing the father to keep his that's part of glorifying him as we saw in the sacrament that they just partook of again in fact the way this phrase that last one in thy seed shall all the kinds of the earth be blessed the way that's described in Abraham 2: 11 he keeps clarifying every time that seed is mentioned he ties it back into priesthood that's who I'm talking about people who have God's Authority God's sons and daughters that have been given authority to perform work in

his name remember what the Lord says in the doctrine Covenant section 84 about the oath and Covenant of the priesthood what happens when we magnify our responsibilities within the priesthood they become the sons of Moses and of Aaron we'll need to remember that for a future verse and in the process we become the Seed of Abraham and the Church and Kingdom and the elect of God see what he's doing again kind of expanding our understanding with each additional phrase here it's Children of the prophets House of Israel of the Covenant made to Abraham in the

oan Covenant sons of Moses and Aaron Seed of Abraham Church and Kingdom elect of God I've always loved that verse but as I was studying some other places where similar language is used I was blown away by this one both its content and its context this is doine covenants 103 when Z's Camp had finally arrived in Missouri ready to redeem Zion only to be told you're not going to be able to do it this way at least not now specifically they're told this the Redemption of Zion must needs come by power therefore I will raise

up unto my people a man who shall lead them like as Moses led the children of Israel I think it's fine to think of mortal prophets to whom those verses might apply but if you take it back to 1i 20 Moses spoke of the Prophet that would be raised up and Jesus says I am that Prophet he's the one that will lead us to the promised land ultimately but back to DNC 103 for ye are the children of Israel and of the Seed of Abraham seeing yourself in the big picture and ye must needs be

led out of bondage by power and with a stretched out arm the wing extended to gather us and as your fathers were LED at the first even so shall the Redemption of Zion be Not Just By Angels but also by my presence and in time ye shall possess the goodly land the Gathering is still guaranteed we just have to become Zion before we can establish Zion it has to become our lifestyle before it ever becomes our location our attitude before it's our forwarding address and a huge part of that is fully living up to our

place within the big picture Seed of Abraham Church and Kingdom elect of God chosen meant to choose all others you see there's an order even hinted at in verse 26 of 3520 the father having Raised Me Up unto you first we're getting some first last last first kind of idea you first and sent me to bless you with what in turning away every one of you from his iniquities that's the blessing of repentance the ultimate blessing I can give you and this because ye are the children of the covenant not chosen because you're sinless chosen

in spite of the fact that you are sinful but chosen to repent because it usually takes a lot of repentance to become experts enough in the subject to be able to teach it powerfully to others it takes experts in exercising Faith to be able to extend Faith to other people again that's one of the reasons we saw earlier why he's shifting to the Gentiles they had a harder time at it they had to rely upon spirit and servant rather than than voice and visitation but in the process they become experts at gaining testimonies themselves and

ready to go extend that blessing and share that witness to the house of Israel so you first repent so then you can cry repentance you first turn and return so that you can turn others back to me you first you children of the Covenant so that you can bring everyone else into the Covenant as well verse 27 and after so we got you first and now after after that you were blessed then fulfill the Father the Covenant which he made with Abraham saying repeats it again in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth

be blessed blessed with what unto the pouring out of the Holy Ghost through me upon the Gentiles which blessing upon the Gentiles shall make them Mighty above all unto the scattering of my people oh House of Israel we're back to that initial role reversal the original Last the G Iles become the first because they were open to the spirit that descended upon them they grabbed hold of that blessing with both hands and it was because of the rejection of those blessings that the first the house of Israel became last and that they were scattered verse

28 they shall be a Scourge unto the people of this land that's using horns and Hooves in the wrong way nevertheless when they shall have received the fullness of my gospel then if they shall Harden their hearts against against me I will return their iniquities upon their own heads saith the Lord this goes way back to first Nephi 17 when Layman and lemel are struggling with wait we're going to build a boat we're really going to leave the promised land at least we're only I don't know couple months Journey away from it we're really going

to ditch we're going to go all the way to some new quote unquote Promised Land I've never heard of and it's there that Nephi explains to them fascinating verse in chapter 17 of first Nei that God is no respector of persons there's the inclusivity but the righteous are favored of him there's the exclusivity righteous because they were blessed with the opportunity to repent and the call to extend that blessing to others there is no hierarchy of worth but there is a hierarchy of worthiness and if whenever we hear the word worthiness we we automatically assume

that it's worth then use a different word change the vocabulary talk about righteousness talk talk about purity not Perfection but are we repenting are we moving forward are we laying hold of these blessings are we Allowing God to thresh us to eliminate the chaff that's a part of each of us if you're working on that then he is choosing you and he's choosing you to spread those blessings to everyone else verse 29 I will remember the Covenant which I have made with my people I have covenanted with them that I would gather them together in

my know due time so be patient he plays the long game that I would give unto them again the land of their fathers for their inheritance which is the land of Jerusalem there will be two promised lands Jerusalem and New Jerusalem Old World New World Bible Book of Mormon Judah Joseph these fascinating parallels which is a Promised Land unto them forever saith the Lord how's it going to happen verse 30 it shall come to pass that the time cometh when the fullness of my gospel shall be preached unto them starting to see why we do

so much missionary work so much Temple work the gathered must become ga gatherers of everyone else verse 31 as that happens as the fullness of the Gospel is preached they shall believe in me that I am Jesus Christ the son of God and shall pray unto the father in my name the spiritual Gathering is taking place verse 32 then shall their Watchmen lift up their voice and with the voice together shall they sing for they shall see eye to eye guess what he's just pulled us back into where he left off at the end of

chapter 16 it's come full circle now the pre-enactment in chapter 17 the explanation in chapter 20 he's now brought up full circle now do you understand has the pausing and pondering and praying and preparing and persisting paid off he making sense to you yet then shall their Watchmen lift up verse 33 then will the father gather them together again and give unto them Jerusalem for the land of their inheritance 34 then shall they break forth into Joy sing together ye waste place places of Jerusalem for the Lord hath comforted his people he hath redeemed Jerusalem

he hath made bear his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations and all the ends of the Earth shall see the salvation of the father and the father and I are one he gave his word and I am the word of God he made the promise and I ensured that he could keep it we are one in that honestly it blows me way how all of this comes full circle that Jesus is quoting Isaiah 52 these verses in at the end of 356 comes back to it here in third Nephi 20 same verses

that the original Nephi asked his brother Jacob to teach the people and explain it to them back in second Nephi chapter 8 these these passages from Isaiah there is resonance throughout nephite history here Jesus is bringing it all together with this Crescendo of then you get the sense of momentum then this happens and then this will happen and then this will happen that's how 32 begins and 33 begins and 34 begins and 36 begins then shall be brought to pass that which is written and what he does now is just rewind a little bit in

Isaiah 52 he's been quoting verse 8 9 and 10 that was the one in 16 that's the one in 20 now he just rewinds starts at the beginning of Isaiah chapter 52 and begins quoting that then shall be brought to pass that which is written awake awake again put on thy strength o Zion put on thy beautiful garments oh Jerusalem the holy city for then forth there shall no more come unto thee the uncircumcised and the unclean there's no uncircumcised and unclean left the uncircumcised have all been circumcised in other words the outside the Covenant

have been brought into the Covenant that's all that circumcision was for the unclean have become clean since they've been blessed first to turn away from their iniquity and been led by others who have repented to repent themselves they have awoken and awoken again this is like King Benjamin when the angel comes to and says awake and then he's awake and now awake it's like get up physically and then get up spiritually put on your strength put on your beautiful garments garments covenants coverings coats of skins from the Garden of Eden to cover our nakedness cover

in Hebrew to atone it's all the same word that's what clothing is for symbolic Al 37 still quoting Isaiah 52 Shake thyself from the dust arise sit down oh Jerusalem loose thyself from the bands of thy neck oh captive Daughter of Zion that one actually seems a little strange at first what arise sit down first you awake twice then you stand up and then you sit back down but have you ever done that where you're sitting and you're kind of slouching and your I don't know your pants kind of right up a little bit and

so you stand up and straighten everything and then you're ready to sit back down there just seems to be this sense of getting up and getting ready of strengthening yourself of beautifying yourself of shaking off the dust of getting up sitting down now I'm ready loose yourself from the bands of thy neck take off these chains you captive daughter you're free now the deliverer Moses 2.0 is with you 38 for thus sayith the Lord ye have sold yourselves for not and ye shall be redeemed without money he's still quoting Isaiah 52 there but I love

the the irony there you sold yourself for nothing and now you're going to be redeemed for no money but there's a huge difference between the lack of money the first time and the lack of money the second the first you sold yourself and you got nothing for it the second part you'll be redeemed but this is not some kind of monetary transaction it's much deeper than that in the first in instance you sold yourself to Satan who thinks you are worthless and therefore pays nothing for you he has nothing to offer but Jesus redeems you

not with money but with his own blood because he considers you not worthless like Satan does but rather Priceless like the father feels about all of his children you see why there's no money changing in hands either time that's one thing that worthless and Priceless have in common first I would pay nothing for you and the second there is no price high enough to quantify your worth as Paul says to the Corinthians we are bought with a price but it's not a financial one it is a relational one as the Lord takes our place and

redeems us without money but not without his own redeeming blood verse 39 the Lord continues verily verily I say unto you that my people shall know my name Y in that day they shall know that I am he that doth speak that I've been the hen clucking and the lion roaring that I've been the shepherd calling you home and then verse 40 see we keep getting back to the then this happens and this and this and this there's so much momentum building up in this chapter then shall they say he's quoting Isaiah 52 again how

beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings unto them that publisheth peace that bringeth good tidings unto them of good that publisheth salvation that saith unto Zion thy God reth that is such good news too good to be true in some ways no wonder it has to be he that speaks it in verse 39 or his servants whose voice is the same we have to be reassured by him himself and we will be such beautiful verses these are the verses that King Noah's Wicked priests tried to trip up abinadi with

and the way abinadi walks you through all kinds of scripture to get to his answer it's the longest and most powerful tangent I think I've ever seen in scripture he understands our question explain this verse Oh I will in like three chapters and on the way let me explain atonement let me teach you about Jesus let me quote you just quoted Isaiah 52 let me just bump ahead just a touch and teach you Isaiah 53 the great suffering servant passage that personifies the atonement of Jesus Christ if you haven't seen that video it's it's one

of the first ones we got to back in March or April but that the message of abinadi explaining that passage is so profound and here is an echo of that as Jesus himself the most beautiful feet to ever set foot upon a mountain belong to him and he's the one explaining this now he has nothing but good news for us here 41 and then shall a cry go forth depart ye depart ye go ye out from then touch not that which is unclean go ye out of the midst of her be ye clean that bear

the vessels of the Lord again this is the Lord coming with good news Glad Tidings you can repent of your sins and then once we've repented what's our first order of business to cry to the world come join us dep part ye go out from Babylon this is Doctrine covenants 133 the great appendix to this final dispensation book of scripture that invites us repeatedly to flee Babylon to come out of the Wicked World to come to Zion and to be clean along the way we are burying the Lord's vessels this is ancient Israel in bondage

in Babylon when Babylon Falls and King Cyrus a deliverer comes and says you can go home you can return to your Promised Land you can rebuild your temple so take the temple vessels and return with them to Jerusalem so that you can reestablish the house of God on the threshing floor but be clean if you are burying those vessels if you are carrying the temple back home then be clean as you do so you've just been cleansed by the thresher himself now cleanse the rest of the world verse 4 too there's no rush because there's

no danger you shall not go out with haste nor by flight for the Lord will go with you he already said that right I will be in your midst the god of Israel shall be your rearward so whether in front or behind this is not the sense of oh no I'm surrounded by the enemy but rather the the security of I am encircled about by the arms of safety I'm under the hen's wing before behind he's all around me 43 behold my servant shall deal prudently he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high

of course he'll be prudent in the way he deals with things with both lions and Lambs with both Jews and Gentiles with the first and the last the healed and the whole how's he going to do it verse 44 as many were astonished at thee his Visage that means his face his countenance was so marred more than any man his form more than the sons of men well what do you expect with someone who Bears our griefs and Carries our sorrows what do you expect from someone who falls upon his face in Gethsemane as he

Bears the weight of the world's sins and Sorrows what do you expect from someone who condescends to be with us and like us to descend below all things for a God to become man talk about a face being marred I barely recognize you as Paul taught that Jesus pours out that Glory his Visage is marred more than any man's ever could be but it's through that condescension through that Incarnation verse 45 that he shall sprinkle many nations that's how cleanliness came in the Old Testament sprinkling the blood of the sacrifice upon the priest they need

it too upon the altar upon the people of Israel themselves sprinkled with the blood of the man who was marred for each of us and as a result 45 continues Kings shall shut their mouths at him it must take a lot for a king to shut up but he has seen things he's never imagined thinking of things he's never considered that which had not been told them shall they see that which they had not heard shall they consider kings are supposed to know everything think everything through see the big picture but not even they could

comprehend the love of God as Manifest in the sacrifice of his only begotten son they will consider the inconsiderable they will hear the unheard the news that's too good to be true but that is true God is there to gather us verse 46 he ends this chapter verily verily I say unto you all these things shall surely come even as the father hath commanded me he keeps saying I always do what the father says you can trust his word because I'm his word and then shall this Covenant which the father hath covenanted with his people

be fulfilled and then shall Jerusalem be inhabited again with my people and it shall be the land of their inheritance ah we cannot lose sight of chapter 20 it is incredible the then then then then then just this Crescendo this building momentum the to push through all of the barriers that keep God from keeping his word Jesus does all of that and he asks us to help with it and there is a sense of timing again you hopefully sense that with all the then then then then then then well when when's it going to happen

if if all of these things kind of The Dominoes start to fall when are they going to begin chapter 21 answers that question he says in verse one I give unto you a sign that you may know the time when these things shall be about to take place so right in those those moments right before the first Domino drops and then then then then then then everything follows here's the sign the sign that I Shall Gather in from their long dispersion my people oh House of Israel and shall establish again among them my Zion now

you'd think we'd be at the edge of our seat I hope that we are we be holding our breath just waiting so I want all these things to happen and you're going to give us the sign that we'll know that it's a that it's go time if you've ever had to like sing A Hymn or a song in public and and the person that's playing the piano will always let you know or the conductor when you hear these notes that's when you need to jump in or I'll raise my baton and then it's go time

or just certain signals that you give whether it's in music or in acting or in sports or in dance and I just need to know my mark and when we hit that we're often running Full Speed Ahead and yet we lose sight of it because versus 2 through five is one of the longest and in some ways kind of convoluted just repeat and flashback all these kinds of sides and tangents it's like who whoa what's the sign and he says it like four or five times in these verses but we seem to miss the forest

for the trees every time let's see if we can catch it verse two behold this is the thing which I will give unto you for a sign you ready for verily I say unto you that when these things which I declare unto you and which I shall declare unto you Hereafter of myself and by the power of the Holy Ghost which shall be given unto you of the father like uh oh see we we we kind of went on an aside there an important one to talk about the spirit and the importance of receiving it

but what were you talking about before we got there oh yeah when these things which I declare unto you now let's pick that up these things which shall be given unto you of the father when they shall be made known unto the Gentiles that they may know concerning this people who are a remnant of the House of Jacob and concerning this my people who shall be scattered by them wait wait you lost me again what are we talking about okay let me let's get back to it verse three verily verily I say unto you when

these things shall be made known unto them of the father and shall come forth of the father from them unto you for it is wisdom in the father that they should be established in this land and be set up as a Free People by the power of the father that these things might come forth from them unto the remnant of your seed wait wait wait you you lost me again well I I know I'm sorry but it's all about the Covenant this is for the Covenant so that the Covenant of the father may be fulfilled

which he hath covenanted with his people oh House of Israel wait are we are we back on on topic or we still on the tangent I the Lord is trying to pack everything into this little passage the need for the spirit trying to keep the Covenant the things that God is teaching and how he's teaching it but what's the what's the core of this whole thing verse 5 he gets back to it therefore when these works and the works which shall be wrought among you Hereafter shall come forth unto the Gentiles unto your seed which

shall dwindle in unbelief because of iniquity whoa whoa whoa wait you're losing me again he keeps going down that path in verse six for thus it behooveth the father that it should come forth from the Gentiles that he 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 oh House of Israel whoa you lost me

again well don't get lost that's important too the whole reason that I'm scattering and Gathering is so that I can involve both Jew and Gentile in the process I want some flow to happen but for flow to occur there has to be some kind of sense of inequality leading to equality High concentration moving towards low concentration exclusivity in pursuit of inclusivity I had to get the Gentiles involved and I got them involved first as scatterers and now as gatherers and the hope is the plan initially is for both groups all of my children to come

together on this and to come together to me and you see by gathering others into the Covenant they get brought into the Covenant themselves that's how the Gentiles become numbered among my people oh House of Israel verse six is a fascinating verse really important things to understand but it does confuse us because it's in the midst of all these but but what's the sign and then seven and when these things come to pass that thy seed shall begin to know these things now he finally sums it up it shall be a sign unto them that

they may know that the work of the father hath already commenced unto the fulfilling of the Covenant which he hath made unto the people who are of the House of Israel plain as day right or clear as mud but don't let yourself get lost in the weeds again there's so many things that the Lord says in these beautiful tangents about the spirit about learning about God about the Covenant about the Gentiles Gathering Israel in and thereby being gathered themselves becoming numbered among the house of Israel but what is the phrase that he keeps on saying

if verse two begins this is the thing which I will give unto you for a sign and if seven ends it shall be a sign unto them that the work of the father hath already commenced then what does he keep saying from 2 to 7 this is the sign that was the sign well what was the sign verse two when these things are made known verse three when these things shall be made known verse five when these Works shall come forth verse 7even when these things come to pass when they know these things and what

are these things it's this it's these things it's the Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is the great sign that the father has already begun his work of gathering when this book when these truths come forth to the Gentiles first and from the Gentiles onto the house of Israel it's go time the father is already doing his work the then then then then then the dominoes are starting to fall it's such an incredible time to be alive in this day of gathering and the earliest Saints when they first heard the words from Samuel Smith

on down when they first laid hold of a copy of the Book of Mormon fresh off of eie grandin's press they knew what time it was they started to gather Israel themselves they started to gather to build temples they started to write hymns about the Gathering and sing songs of the Gathering I worry that sometimes we lose sight of that president Nelson has not he is laser focused on this because he knows what time it is the sign has come forth it came forth almost 200 years ago when these things appeared and yet in some

ways it hasn't really come forth until the last generation or two when President Benson dusted off the Book of Mormon this voice from the Dust for the whole church and since then missionary work has picked up speed Temple construction has picked up speed in miraculous ways when the book really comes forth to wake us up to tell us who the Lord is and who we are and our role in the Gathering then the father's work has already begun we're we're behind we're we're we're we got to get up to speed incredible what he's saying here

miraculously the Book of Mormon is not just the sign of the Gathering it's the instrument of the Gathering it's performing its own work it's fulfilling its own promise it's it's incredible verse 9 in that day which is our day for my sake shall the father work a work some things the father delegates we see that in the creation account other things the crowning things he takes into his own hand the father shall work a work which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them he's quoting Isaiah there and there shall be among them

those who will not believe it although a man shall declare it unto them he's quoting habac there which Paul also does in the book of Acts that this is so incredible that it'll come across as unbelievable in fact that's what incredible means in not credible believable it's too good to be true remember it gets Kings to shut up things they've never considered things beyond our comprehension things too wonderful for me how's he going to perform this great and marvelous work verse 10 behold the life of my servant shall be in my hand therefore they shall

not hurt him although he shall be marred because of them yet I will heal him for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil now those words could apply to someone like Joseph Smith marred but healed persecuted but preserved martyred and yet enduring all things well and being exalted on high on a much higher level those words refer to Jesus Christ the serpent wounded his heel but in the process he crushed the Serpent's head marred but healed in each case God's wisdom greater than the cunning of the

devil every time the adversary thinks he's winning he's only kicking us upstairs as the early Saints described it now both of those servants the Mortal servant Joseph Smith and the immortal servant Jesus Christ seemed to occupy verse 11 therefore it shall come to pass that whosoever will not believe in my words Who Am Jesus Christ the ultimate servant which the father shall cause him Joseph Smith to bring forth unto the Gentiles they're my words Jesus says but he is going to bring them forth unto the Gentiles and I will give him power that he shall

bring them forth unto the Gentiles this takes you back to Second Epi chapter 3 when Joseph of Egypt prophesies of Joseph of pal having power to bring forth God's word and the power to convince people of that word but those who reject his words as he is trying to convey Christ's words end of verse 11 those are they who shall be cut off from among my people who are of the Covenant they've removed themselves from it verse 12 to 18 he then returns to Micah picking up where he left off from the chapter before and

then extending his reading of that text my people who are a remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles yay 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 teth in pieces and none can deliver he read that before their hand shall be lifted up upon their adversaries and all their enemies shall be cut off he read that before and he'll keep reading Micah but he adds this phrase in the middle of it

the first phrase of 14 yay wo be unto the Gentiles except they repent and with that phrase he clarifies what he's trying to get across In this passage from Micah he'll go through the next few verses and talk about all that apostate Israel will have to go through that you can't trust in military might that you can't trust in replacement gods or the idols that you put your trust in you can't worship The Works of your own hands like he says at the end of 17 you've got to repent because wickedness is going to be

done away like he says the end of 19 it shall be done away that's the Millennium when the the Savior returns and dwells upon the Earth and yet all of that that he's quoting from Micah can be avoided if they will repent that's why that first insertion in verse 14 is so important he gets back to that in verse 20 after he's done quoting Micah it shall come to pass sayeth the father that at that day whosoever will not repent and come unto my beloved Son then will I cut off from among my people oh

House of Israel and I will execute Vengeance and fury upon them even as upon the Heathen such as they have not heard that's the flip side of things that you've never heard and never considered you cannot imagine how merciful god is and you cannot imagine how just he is he is lion and lamb to the full extent of both sets of attributes but in 22 if they will repent and hearken unto my words and Harden not their hearts I will establish my church among them they shall come in unto the Covenant and be numbered among

this the remnant of Jacob unto to whom I have given this land for their inheritance that's always been my goal to bring you in not to shut you out that's why I called my people first and turned them away from their sins so that then they could go and call everyone else to do the same that's 23 they shall assist my people the remnant of Jacob and also as many of the House of Israel as shall come that they may build a city which shall be called the New Jerusalem no wonder the gates are open

wide as we sing in that beautiful song the holy city it's because everybody helped build those Gates of course everyone is invited to come and enter because we're all invited to come and assist in its building if anyone deserves to come through the open house it's the contractors right and that's what the Lord is asking us to all be so 22 they're repenting coming into the Covenant and the church 23 they're assisting in the construction of the New Jerusalem 24 they are assisting my people that they may be gathered in who are scattered upon all

the face of the land in unto the New Jerusalem and then we get some more thens now and then shall the work of the father commence at that day wait wait wait I thought you just talked about the the coming forth of the Book of Mormon will let you know that the work of the father has already commenced oh yeah yeah it is but you ain't seen nothing yet what you thought was Crescendo to climax that was still just Prelude you want to see the real world work buckle up and get ready for the Millennium

God's preliminary work has been going on for the last 200 years and will yet continue until these things take place and then shall the work of the father really begin then shall it commence at that day even when this gospel shall be preached among the remnant of this people verily I say unto you at that day shall the work of the father commence he keeps talking about it's it's starting it's starting it's start well I thought it already did start well again that's just warm up then shall the at that day shall the work of

the father commence among all the dispersed of my people y even the tribes which have been lost which the father hath LED away out of Jerusalem why do you think I went to my sheep first and then my other sheep second and now my other other sheep third the ripples are spreading yay verse 27 the work shall commence third time he said it in the last two verses the work shall commence among all the dispersed of my people with the father to prepare the way again active involvement by God himself whereby they may come unto

me that they may call on the father in my name yay and then shall the work commence with the father among all nations in preparing the way whereby his people may be gathered home to the land of their inheritance and just like before they will go out from All Nations but shall not go out in haste nor go by flight for I will go before them sayith the father I will be their rearward wow do you understand what he's what he's promising to participate in it's already begun and it's yet to begin and then then

then then then and it will commence commence commence the father himself involved the Lord going before and behind no wonder Jeremiah said what he said way back in chapter 16 of his book speaking to an Israel who was just being scattered and carried captive into Babylon he's the one that prophesied of a day when God would call for many hunters and many Fishers in other words many gatherers who would go everywhere not just casting the net into easy Waters or pulling down loow hanging fruit but going hunting in every mountain and every hill and in

the holes of the Rocks seeking lost Lambs wherever they might be hiding and then he says if you thought the Exodus was epic and it is ask Charlton hon I mean how many movies have they made The Prince of Egypt and the Ten Commandments and Moses and all these other these Exodus epics but as Jeremiah says behold the days come sayeth the Lord that it shall no more be said the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt he'll have more incredible credentials by then to talk about so

instead of introducing him as oh this is the god of the Exodus what could be that verse 15 he answers it this is what they'll say instead the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands with he had driven them and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers that's what the hunters and Fishers are for but you see what he's saying there that The Exodus will be eclipsed by the Gathering that the god of deliverance from Egypt

will change his title Elevate his credentials from the god of the Exodus to the god of the Gathering and as the Lord liveth it will be done and we get to do it with him what an honor what a privilege to live in such a time as this to gather Israel home so to you of the iron horn and of the brass hoof to you of the sharpened arrow and the bent bow to you on the threshing floor fly serve love lift gather it is the Father's work and the Book of Mormons sits before us

as proof that it's already begun welcome back everybody glad you come back for more by the time you've made it through thi chapter 21 you just finished Isaiah chapter 52 but you're only about halfway done with Isaiah chapters here in third Nephi we usually associate the Isaiah chapters with second Nephi but there's some at the end of first Nephi there's some earlier on in second Nephi before you get that massive Chunk from chapter 12- 24 there's the Isaiah chapter that iined teaches and his message to the wicked priest of King Noah and then there's a

whole lot of Isa that Jesus himself quotes here in third Nephi what's amazing about it all though is if you pull out that big chunk in second Nephi which is historical from Isaiah 2-4 everybody else's Isaiah gets woven together and everything from Isaiah 48-54 is presented somewhere in the Book of Mormon over the centuries it is one of the most intricate and incredible things that I've seen as far as how the Book of Mormon was all assembled those that just want to say oh Joseph Smith just made up The Book of Mormon out of his

head I just want to say then he was the greatest Isaiah scholar that the 19th century ever produced it's incredible how complicated it is let me run through it real quick with you Isaiah chapter 48 is quoted in first Nephi 20 that's Nephi speaking about 600 years before Christ then 49 appears in 1 Nephi 21 that's still Nephi but it's repeated again in second Nephi 6 a generation later with Jacob that's now about 550 BC fast forward now Isaiah 50 appears in second ephi 7 still Jacob 51 appears in second Epi 8 still Jacob 52

appears in second Nephi 8 with Jacob and is repeated in 3D Nephi 20 by Jesus then 53 is the chapter that ained quotes to the priests of Noah and then that's mosiah 14 150 years before Christ and then Isaiah 54 is quoted here now in 3D Nei chapter 22 that's Jesus around 34 ad so you follow that from Isaiah 48-54 the big Isaiah chunk is a historical kind of preview of what the scattering and Gathering of Israel is all about these chapters 48-54 is more of the theological explanation of the scattering and Gathering of Israel

same topic basically but different approaches and it's amazing that from a Nephi to a Jacob to an abinadi to A Jesus it's like they're passing the Baton over the course of 600 years basically just picking up where the last one left off and moving things forward through these incredible Isaiah chapters it's amazing to me in fact check this out if third Nei chapter 20 is the Lord's quotation and explanation of Isaiah 52 chapter 22 of third Nephi and you can see it right there in the chapter heading is a repetition of Isaiah chap 54 so

Jesus is teaching them Isaiah 52 and then teaching them Isaiah 54 what does he skipped he skipped Isaiah 53 now abinadi didn't we still have it in the Book of Mormon thanks to abinadi but it's amazing to me the fact that Jesus omits that chapter because Isaiah 53 is the one that is most centrally focused upon him and what he did personally in the atonement to make it possible for any scattered soul to be brought back home to God to me that is such a profound example of the savior's humility not to talk about what

he did to make all of this possible simply to move from Isaiah 52 to Isaiah 54 leaving his role in the atonement unspoken even though it's his atoning role that is the most important part that makes it all possible in fact I would say this and I don't think I'm overstating the case the message of Isaiah in the Book of Mormon throughout the entire thing is the scattering and Gathering of Israel scattering because of Israel's wickedness and Gathering because of God's covenant with Israel in spite of their wickedness he will not give up on them

this is a Relentless Redemption now we could say but it's already right there in Isaiah why not just leave it there but I think what the Book of Mormon gives us in its presentation of Isaiah's explanation of the scattering and Gathering of Israel is it elevates the role of the atonement of Jesus Christ and of the restored church and Gospel of Jesus Christ in that Gathering of Israel in other words The Book of Mormon takes Isaiah's message about Gathering and infuses it with Jesus Christ and his church and gospel that Christ has a role in

all of this and that his church does too and we're the ones playing the part now in chapter 22 of third Nephi he will begin quoting Isaiah 54 you remember what he led up to at the end of 21 there's this this Crescendo the dominoes are beginning to fall then then then then then all of these incredible things will happen the work of the father is commencing it commenced before and it's just picking up speed that was just the beginning and now we're running Full Speed Ahead and how does 22 begin and then shall that

which is written come to pass so when all of that work is done and the Gathering is underway then Isaiah 54 will begin to be fulfilled and what's he prophesying in this chapter it's beautiful sing Oh Barren thou that did not bear Break Forth into singing and cry aloud thou that did not travail with child for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife saith the Lord you see who he's speaking to Isaiah is poetry and the simplest way to approach Hebrew poetry is a repetition of ideas it's ideas

that rhyme not words and sounds that do and so it's often this repetition so sing obey Barren that did not bear here's a woman who cannot have children say it again different words Break Forth into singing and cry aloud thou that did not travail with child so someone that was that cannot have children someone that never bore children in the Old Testament time period that was the ultimate curse the ultimate trial and struggle you see that in Sarah and Rachel and Hannah in the New Testament you see that in Elizabeth I mean these women that

cannot have children in a culture that rightfully so prioritizes family over anything else if you think about the abrahamic Covenant it all boils down to seed and these women could not have it and yet what is the Lord saying to them sing people that never feel like singing people that have nothing good to sing about well now you do because now you have more children than the married wife you see the reversal of things the scattered are being gathered those that only have things to lament and mourn over now have cause to Rejoice you got

more kids now than people that never suffered the things that you've suffered in fact as Isaiah said a few chapters prior to this you got more kids than you know what to do with there's a beautiful verse in Isaiah 49 Jesus doesn't quote it here but Nephi quoted it way back in first Nephi as Isaiah says on behalf of these Barren women that have now been blessed beyond their imagination he says who hath begotten me these and then he even complains on their behalf that it is too narrow by reason of the inhabitants it's like

in other words we've outgrown our accommodations we got more kids than we know what to do with this is the old woman who lived in the shoe right I love that verse because it reminds me of my wife when we were first married it didn't look like we were going to be able to have children and that was her biggest worry as a little girl growing up fearing that she wouldn't be able to have children of her own and it looked like that nightmare were becoming a reality for her and month after month passed she

was the Rel Society president in a married student Ward at BYU where everybody was getting pregnant there were children constantly right or at least announcement oh we're pregnant and people would even start saying oh it must be in the water and my wife would be like give me the water how how is this happening and why isn't it happening to me and it was a hard thing for us both well after seeing Specialists and surgery even the miracle started happening for us and now we have five children in fact when we lived in Tennessee our

house was relatively small at least for a family of seven I remember some people commenting on it like wow all of you fit into that place now by then we were it felt palatial compared to what we' had one year before moving I was teaching a year at BYU and we moved down to Provo and just lived in a basement apartment because we knew it was just going to be one year before we moved East and I remember we had two bedrooms in this little basement apartment for a part of that Year my brother-in-law needed

a place to stay and so we had to move in with us originally he was in the living room and then we thought ah he needs a he needs a place to call his own needs some privacy so we gave him the second bedroom and just moved everybody in with us all the kids by the time we left oldest was five second was four third was two and we had a brand new newborn it was crazy so six of us in that little room we had to set up the pack and pl in the closet

and that's where the 2-year-old would sleep at night was the only place that she would fit I used to joke that oh she has an amazing mobile it's all my white shirt and ties that you're just hanging over her that she can fall asleep at night it was Tiny but we got used to it and then when we moved to Tennessee it was like whoa three bedrooms this is amazing and we lived there for eight years as the kids grew up and the number five came aboard and it started to feel a little cramped to

the point that my wife would say ah we just we just need more space she wasn't complaining she was just recognizing our family is much bigger than it used to be and I loved those complaints because it made me think of Isaiah 49 and years before hearing her lament will I ever have children of my own and fast forward and here she is someone who thought she was a barren woman now saying who hath begotten me these in other words where did all these kids come from our habitation is too narrow because of all the

inhabitants it's exactly how we were feeling and and what a blessing to feel it you understand how scattered Israel will feel when it is gathered home people that felt forsaken nothing to sing about now have songs of joy and praise in chapter 22:2 again the sense if we need more space then make it enlarge the place of thy tent this is the growth of the kingdom of God upon the Earth as people are being drawn in coming like doves to the windows as it says so enlarge the place of thy tent how are you going

to do that well stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations spare not just open it up now in a tent how are you going to do that you're going to lengthen the cords that are holding up the material and with these longer cords holding down more weight of the tent itself you're going to need to strengthen thy Stakes as well beautiful imagery from Isaiah and so when we talk about Stakes of Zion this is the tent imagery and the bigger the tent grows the longer the cords will need to be stretched and the stronger the

tent Stakes will have to be to keep it from falling in on itself this is a good problem to have but we do need strong Stakes for the growth and not just the growth of the Kingdom remember this is placed in a family context mothers and children the promise is theirs in verse three Thou shalt Break Forth for on the right hand and on the left thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate cities to be inhabited breaking forth expanding where they will be verse four fear not for Thou shalt not be ashamed

neither be thou confounded for Thou shalt not be put to shame Thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth shame keeps being brought up what third time and then a fourth with a different word and shal not remember the reproach of thy Youth and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood anymore again he's using family imagery here back in verse one it was a woman that could not have children in verse four it's a woman whose husband has died and is now a widow or if we add in the shame and reproach of thy

youth this could be an unmarried woman either way this is someone almost at the mercy of someone offering to take them in in the ancient world women were put in a precarious position at thec mer of the men in their lives and so to be a widow to be an unmarried woman to be a woman that could not have children where's their hope even that word reproach the way Isaiah 4 begins suggests that anciently being unmarried was a reproach a disgrace a shame a curse here in Isaiah 54:4 being a widow was considered a reproach

in Genesis 30 and in Luke chapter 1 this is Rachel and Elizabeth being childless was considered a reproach that's the word that keeps coming up in these verses and yet here in 22:4 they are being reassured that you have nothing to be ashamed of there's no reproach about your condition why verse five for thy maker and not just thy maker thy husband the Lord of hosts is his name thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel the god of the whole Earth shall he be called You're not single you're not widowed you're not unwanted you're not

abandoned the Lord of hosts is your husband he is the bridegroom we are the bride and he loves us he has betrothed us to him he has sealed himself this is a covenant relationship now do you understand where all these children are coming from who hath begotten me these your husband the Lord of hosts the god of the whole Earth Is His name who cares if you were once scorned or forgotten who are you married to now to me it's an amazing thing a beautiful thing that two of the three members of the first presidency

both of whom are widowers that when they remarried their wife in both cases was someone that was never married before now I don't want to minimize at all the heartache of living a long life as a single person I know a lot of people in that condition I'm related to some I teach others and my heart goes out to them because their heart yearns Longs for companionship but I have faith that the day will come where they too will break forth into singing wondering where all these blessings came from that seemed to be so far

Out Of Reach or so long in coming and that in the meantime the Lord can fill in that hole ultimately he will fill in every hole we just need faith in the meantime in verse six the Lord hath called thee as a woman Forsaken and grieved in spirit a wife of Youth when thou was refused saith thy God so I recognize where you've been you were a woman Forsaken and grieved but he married you in verse 7 for a small moment have I forsaken thee but with great mercies will I gather thee eight he repeats

the idea in a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment that's all it was but with Everlasting kindness will I have mercy on Thee sayith the Lord thy Redeemer you see the difference between small and great in seven a small moment of feeling forsaken but great Mercies in the end you see the difference in eight between a moment and everlasting a short period where it felt that God had turned away but an everlasting kindness as we recognize his Mercy For Us verse 9 he Compares it to the flood of Noah when

a seemingly forsaken world was reassured by a god of Mercy that he would prolong Humanity's days and provide us a rainbow light in the midst of storm a reassurance that God does look down and reach down to us that as Zion was caught up to heaven so to it would return someday the scattered would be gathered verse 10 you can Bank on it for the mountains shall depart the hills be removed but my kindness shall not depart from thee neither shall the Covenant of my peace be removed sayith the Lord that hath Mercy on thee

notice what he's centering this in the Covenant in 10 gathering in seven bringing them into an enlarged tent in verse two expanding the family of the faithful verse one in verse 11 oh thou Afflicted tossed with Tempest not comforted well look around you now I will lay thy stones with Fair colors and lay thy foundations with sapphires I will make thy Windows of agots thy Gates of carbuncles all thy borders of pleasant Stones this doesn't sound like a tent anymore does it this sounds so much more substantial so much more permanent what are we building

now we've moved from tent to Temple wandering Nomads to the city of God itself to Zion with precious stones Paving the streets better than anything we could possibly imagine and best of all back to the family idea verse 13 all thy children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the Peace of thy children you not only have them giving birth to them but you're keeping them safe they're learning of the Lord they have peace how's it possible verse 14 in righteousness shalt thou be established Thou shalt be far from oppression Thou shalt

not fear and you'll be far from Terror for it shall not come near thee we live in a world today that as you look at the world your children are growing up into it's hard not to feel fear in some parts of the world we worry about even oppression and Terror peace for our children seems tough to come by and yet this is the promise of the Lord as he gathers us into Zion he acknowledges that those dangers exist in 15 there's a different kind of gathering taking place they shall surely gather together against thee

not by me whosoever Shall Gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake I will protect you I'll keep you from this oppression and Terror and fear and how will I do it verse 16 by providing the right weapons behold I have created the Smith that bloweth the coals in the fire and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work and I have created the waster to destroy now on the one hand it's easy to look at verse 16 and realize oh wow he did create a Smith Joseph Smith himself and many I'm sure would

just chock that up to coincidence that Smith just happens to be the most common English last name imaginable but think about that why is that the case because there are so many smiths in the world that are trying to make instruments for people whether it's a black Smith or a silver smith Smiths make things they make instruments to perform work and Joseph Smith would be included in that but so would each of us as we fashion ourselves into instruments in the Lord's hands God is behind all of that work blowing the coals in the fire

Jesus is working the Bellows so that we can make the instruments of his gathering in fact so that we can become those instruments ourselves in verse 17 as for those others that are gathering against us no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper every tongue that shall revile against thee in judgment Thou shalt condemn this is the heritage of the Servants of the Lord and their righteousness is of me saith the Lord I've got your back because you're following me I'll go before you I'll be your rearward you are encircled about in the arms

of safety no weapon against you will prosper I have all my Smiths hard at work the forge is bright we are burning out the impurities God is creating instruments for his hands chapter 23 then continues the story as Jesus reminds them once again you've got to study these things what I started teaching in 16 before you got confused and then I came back and picked up in 20 and taught through 21 and 22 in 23:1 Now Behold I say unto you that ye ought to search these things and in fact if my gentle invitation isn't

enough let me strengthen the language a little bit yay a commandment I give unto you that you search these things diligently for Great Are the words of Isaiah I don't know if there's another book of scripture that gets that kind of recommendation from the Lord himself often you see on the back of novels or books you'll see oh gripping or page Turner and they'll say who said it well if you had a paperback copy of the book of Isaiah on the back it would say in big print great Jesus the Lord is vouching for the

greatness of the words of Isaiah and commanding us to not just peruse them but to search them and to do so diligently I love the adjective I love the verb I love the adverb there and I love The Source behind all of this grammar Jesus Christ himself the adjective great the verb search the adverb diligently Isaiah deserves our effort he explains more as to why in verse two for surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the House of Israel you want to read about yourself then read Isaiah therefore it

must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles since it's going to be those Gentiles that are going to need to bring the fullness of the Gospel back to the Jews when all of this role reversal takes place verse three all things that he spake have been and shall be even according to the words which he spake again High Commendation that his prophecies have been and yet will be fulfilled in verse four don't just leave Isaiah alone here's another added second witness give heed to my words write the things which I have told

you and according to the time and the will of the father they shall go forth unto the Gentiles again that's the sign it's go time when the Book of Mormon comes forth we have early on in the Book of Mormon it was Nephi Jacob and Isaiah as the three witnesses to convey these truths by the end it becomes a new set of three Witnesses Jesus Isaiah and Mormon as he compiles all of these things together what's their Collective message come unto Christ the great gather of Israel in verse 5 whosoever will hearken unto my words

and repenteth and is baptized the same shall be saved search the prophets all of them not just Isaiah for many there be that testify of these things there's a whole cloud of witnesses throughout the Bible search them verse six Jesus himself isn't done search in he first expounds all the scriptures which they had received this would be a mind-blowing experience kind of like what the disciples on the road to Emmas had in Luke chapter 24 when Jesus Takes all their scripture and points out throughout it all these are the things that are testifying of me

well here expounding all the scripture and then adding at the end of six behold other scriptures I would that you should write that ye have not you see if Lehi left about 600 BC then that's the natural cut off for the brass plates and I have taught my people some amazing things since then some things that you need in fact come to think of it I've taught you more directly some amazing things and I'm not sure if you took the time to record those either so in verse seven he turns to Nephi and says bring

forth the record which you've kept Nephi brings it and lays it before the Lord and Jesus begins to look at it can you imagine the pressure you'd feel if Jesus asked to see your scriptures would he flipped through the pages and would he Wonder have have you do you ever read any of this is there any evidence that you have treasured and cherished my words I wonder if he'd look at mine and go wait I see a lot marked but why didn't you mark this that's one of the best things I ever said and I

I want him to see that I have valued treasured his words but here he looks at Nephi's copy and then it says in verse 9 wait I told Samuel the lonite to testify that others would rise from the grave when I did didn't he prophesy of that was it not so he says we saw these verses when we studied Sam Lite a few weeks ago but here Nephi is having that moment and going uh uhoh uh yes it's exactly so verse 10 Samuel prophesied just as you said and those words were fulfilled just like he

said and then the Lord's more searching question verse 11 how be it that ye have not written this thing you'd think that Saints arising from the grave would be a journal entry you'd think that such a miraculous prophecy and such an incredible fulfillment would be noteworthy why didn't you write it down I'm not much of a journal keeper my wife's amazing I think she's second only to Wilfred Woodruff I've sometimes asked her can you please write something about me as you're recording things just so that our posterity knows that you were married that's an area

I do need to be better at to record to give us a chance to remember the experiences we've had with god well in verse 12 Nephi remembers that this was never written and so Jesus commands him to rectify that write it down and so it was and then in 14 when Jesus had expounded all the scriptures in one and that one focal point of all scripture the burden of all scripture is Jesus himself so to expound all of this in one his role in the father's plan he then commanded them that they should teach the

things which he had expounded unto them he's multiplied their Loaves and Fishes he now wants them to start spreading the word or like the sacrament He blesses it and gives it to them they partake and are filled now make sure everyone else gets the same blessing and then chapter 24 as he promised there are some scriptures that you have not yet received let me give them to you now he's been quoting Isaiah he's been quoting Micah he's been quoting habac what he's going to do now at length Malachi these are the last two chapters in

the Old Testament as we have it compiled today words that Malachi recorded after Lehi had already left Jerusalem and it's interesting of all the post Jeremiah things that Jesus could have quoted he wants the Nephites to have these two chapters why let's try to figure it out 24:1 he commanded them that they should write The Words which the father had given unto Malachi which he should tell unto them it came to pass that after they were written he expounded them I wish we had more of that what was Jesus's explanation of these chapters I guess

that's left to us to figure out not with the second member of the godhead but with the third trying to find the holy ghost's guidance on understanding these passages but here's how Malachi 3 begins thus said the father unto Malachi behold I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his Temple even the messenger of the Covenant whom ye Delight in behold he shall come sayith the Lord of hosts what's he getting at in this chapter I'll send my messenger by the

way you know how to say My Messenger in Hebrew Malachi it's a play on The Prophet's own name I want my messenger Malachi to prophesy of the coming of my messenger who will prepare the way before me in the New Testament that could be John the Baptist in this final dispensation that could be Joseph Smith and all the other Smiths last name regardless that are preparing the way for Jesus Christ we are all among those Messengers preparing the way before for him making straight the ways of the Lord casting up a highway in the desert

why because the Lord whom we seek will suddenly come and where will he come to the threshing floor to the Garner to the temple we are seeking him there and who does he claim to be as he comes suddenly I am the Messenger I had a messenger come before me but I too am a messenger myself and I'm the messenger of the Covenant you Delight in me I Delight in you in fact it's the father that Delights in you which is why he's sending me with a reminder of his Covenant his word I am that

word now what will it take for us to be prepared for that great Covenant keeping Day verse two who may abide the day of his coming he's coming suddenly right who shall stand when he appear amidst a day of earthquakes and diverse places and peoples whose faith is being shaken all around us who will abide who will stand the Book of Revelation asks similar questions the answer is suggested by the next few phrases for he this messenger of the Covenant is like a Refiner's Fire he's like Fuller's Soap H so who will abide who will

be able to stand well evidently people in need of cleansing he's coming to burn away the dross no wonder he's using Smiths and working the Bellows himself he is Fuller's Soap we have stains that need to be lifted verse three he shall sit as a refiner as a purifier of silver he shall purify the sons of Levi he will purge them as gold and silver these are gold Smiths silver Smiths purging the sons of Levi that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness now who are these sons of Levi what is their

offering in righteousness is this animal sacrifice being renewed well an answer comes much later in Joseph Smith's Ministry in the doctrine of covenants as he is learning from the Lord about the Redemption of the Dead near the end of section 128 in the doctrine covenants which is a revelatory letter that Joseph Smith writes to the Saints he quotes this passage from Malachi about the great day of the Lord at hand about Fuller soap and refiner fire about purifying the sons of Levi purging them so they can offer an offering in righteousness all of that is

straight out of Malachi but then the Lord explains it through the prophet on the heels of quoting it again Joseph then writes let us therefore so therefore consequently because of the Lord's promise that he would purify and Purge the sons of Levi therefore as a church and a people and as Latter-day Saints let us offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness we're the ones to do it let us present in his holy Temple when it is finished a book containing the records of our dead which shall be worthy of all acceptation you see there

are other passage in Scripture that speak of gathered Israel as a gift we present to God well here that gift includes those on the other side of the veil the records of are dead that is the offering in righteousness that we can present to the Lord at least it is one of them I find it fascinating that whenever a head of state comes and visits the first presidency in Salt Lake City what is the gift they typically give them their genealogy a book containing the records of their family tree and in a beautiful parallel way

when the King of Kings returns we'll give him a similar gift remember what Jesus says to the father none of those whom thou Hast given me have I lost well we need to be able to say the same thing to Christ here's the book here's the family and everyone can come home that is an offering of righteousness worthy of the Lord's acceptation but it takes purified Sons and Daughters of Levi to be able to offer it to the Lord who are these sons of Levi I quoted last time the oath and Covenant of the priesthood

and it talks about those who obtain and receive these priesthoods become the sons of Moses and of Aaron what tribe was that sons of Levi and the Seed of Abraham and the Church and Kingdom and the elect of God again he said that earlier in these chapters this is who you are you are the sons of Levi allow the Lord to come into your life and refine you purify you wash you clean so that you can participate in the Gathering of Israel on both sides of the veil verse four then shall the offering of Judah

and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord as in the days of old as in former years good times have returned verse five I will come near to you in judgment and then he makes a long list of things and people and sins that he is coming down in judgment upon it's interesting that it doesn't just seem to be a generalized wickedness or Disobedience so much of what he says are sins against other people that's where adulterers and false swearers come in or elements of social justice oppressing the hireling in his wages oppressing the Widow and

the fatherless remember there's no more widows I'm their husband I will raise up seed you'll rejoice and sing so how dare you oppress them you who turn aside The Stranger I will come down in judgment upon you these tend to be sins against the Second Great commandment even more than sins against the first and if anything will keep us from Gathering Israel it might be those lapses of second commandment compassion if we don't have an eye to see the suffering of the poor the oppressed the Widow the fatherless the stranger the marginalized behold your little

ones Jesus said back in chapter 17 where he was trying to preenact the Gathering of Israel bring the poor bring the suffering bring the weak and the wounded bring the little children and behold them help them come to me we have to be purified of our neglect of others that's the fourth of the four-fold missions of the church the one president Monson elevated to car for them temporally physically in order to prepare to provide for them spiritually with the gospel as it's been restored I think this sets up puts in context what he's about to

shift to now now in verse seven he he chastises them gently even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from my ordinances you have not kept them return unto me he pleads I will return unto you but notice what they say in in response end of verse 7 but ye say wherein shall we return it almost becomes laughable when you actually read the entire Book of Malachi how many times the Lord will say something and then kind of speak on behalf of them and say oh but you say it's like I say

this oh and then you respond and so I'll respond to that but then you say and I'll say and then you say it it's really fascinating the way he does it here's the first one here I say return and you say what do you mean return well we've never left wherein shall we return what do you mean come back to you and he specifies in verse 8 will a man rob God yet ye have robbed me but ye say so there they answer again wait wait what where wherein have we robbed thee you see this

back and forth and the Lord responds to that where have you robbed me in tithes and offerings this is a really famous passage missionaries always teach this when we teach about tithing and fast offerings but you see the context of it among people who who have forgotten the poor who have oppressed the hirling that have turned aside strangers and in as much as ye have not done it unto the one of the least of these my brethren ye have not done it unto me this is a sin against the Second Great Commandment that does constitute

a sin against the first so return come back to me this is like the the wealthy that were casting in their of their abundance into the treasury when the Widow could only give her might and yet they probably thought oh we're we're connecting vertically just beautifully look how righteous we are but neglecting the poor that's something you have to repent of that's something that has driven you away from me and that you can return to me if you'll simply change change what quit robbing me what do you mean rob you quit robbing from the poor

quit turn a blind eye to those in desperate need give upward there's tithing give outward there's offerings allow the Lord to do his work remember we saw that verse a little earlier when he was quoting was it was it uh Micah about everything being consecrated to the Lord that it all becomes his so that he can distribute so that he can lift so he can bless the world it's exactly what is being done with tithes and offerings in our day and notice the robbery is not just tithing it's a robbery in offerings too we usually

associate tithing with the strict one well there's 10% but offerings are much more well just do whatever you feel so you can be generous but he Associates them both with robbery he then says in nine you are cursed with a curse youve brought it upon yourself that's the way curses always work for ye have robbed me even this whole nation so what's the solution verse 10 famous verses we're all familiar with bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse why to make the church richer no that there may be meat in my house what's God

going to do with meat he doesn't need it but he knows we do no wonder he calls it his Storehouse not just his house my Storehouse so there's a place for you to come the way the law of consecration is taught in the doctrine of covenants is magnificent as it's scattered throughout so many different chapters we keep coming back to it and as we just read the doctrine covenants and see it pop up over and over and over again to develop our own talents to multiply our blessings so that we can contribute more to the

storehouse that it might become the common property of all what keeps us from doing it what tempts us to Rob God I don't know sometimes it's a matter of but I need it I need it more than he does I'll never make it without that 10% without that generous fast offering well the Lord turns that on its head with the next phrase where he says and prove me now herewith sayith the Lord of hosts prove me we always think of tithing as a test for us that's not the way the Lord explains it he considers

tithing a test yes but a test of him where we get to prove him not him proving us what wait we're putting the Lord to the test oh yeah to see if he can help us survive on 90% or less to see if we can survive based on faith instead of putting all our trust in the arm of Flesh that's what he says prove me now herewith sayith the Lord of hosts to see if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough

to receive it test me try me prove me see if I will let you starve missionaries should feel no fear in teaching the law of tithing because God is true to his word and it is God that is being tested not the poor person you happen to be teaching it to now how will the Lord open the windows of Heaven I wouldn't presume to limit the possibilities he can do it in so many ways sometimes it is an increase sometimes all of a sudden we get a better job or a raise or just something comes

into our lives and we find ourselves prospering financially more after we paid our tithing than ever we prospered before sometimes it's not an increase of credits but a decrease of debits that's often how it's been in my family in verse 11 I will rebuke the Devourer for your sake he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground your Vine will not cast her fruit before the time in the fields sayith the Lord of hosts so for some there may be more gain for others there may be less loss Lo I'm amazed sometimes at how long

my beater car will just keep running are things that just to stretch a dollar where it seems like it's to The Ripping point and yet it covers our needs prove him he's as good as his word I remember teaching an investigator on my mission about the law of tithing and they weren't so sure about it but they came to church the next Sunday and our elders cor president who was an incredible humble person he worked for the sewage company pumping backed up sewer drains just salt of the earth wonderful man convert to the church himself

it was fast and testimony mean and he stood up and bore his testimony of the law of tithing said it was a hard month we didn't have the Devourer rebuked for our sake this past month my wife was sick and all the money that we were going to use on food went on Dr bills and medicine instead and all I had left at the end of the month was my tithing money and I prayed thought well surely Heavenly Father you wouldn't expect me to pay tithing so I mean you could have rebuked the devour for

my sake you could have blessed us and my wife didn't have to get sick and then we would have had money to pay for food instead of for medical and then we could have given tithing money for the church like normal but this wonderful humble convert said but I remember what the missionaries taught me when I joined the church and I trusted and so I took my tithing money and allowed it to remain tithing money I gave it to God I proved him and God passed the test he didn't use all this scriptural language but

this is exactly what he was saying that because he said out of the blue my mom came to visit she just showed up from the United States flew down to Puerto Rico to pay us a visit and she had a massive suitcase I thought how long you staying mom how many clothes do you need and she opened it no it's not clothes it was food who packs a suitcase full of food in New York and then flies to San Juan well she did not knowing that her children and grandchildren would be living off of that

suitcase full of food for the rest of the month it's exactly what he said he was just up there laughing going we're still eating out of the suitcase I remember my investigator turning to me and just nodding agreement with the blessings that flow into our lives when we sacrifice and put God and our neighbor first it is a visible blessing that will cause verse 12 to occur when all nations will call you blessed for ye shall be a delightsome land sayth the Lord of hosts now he's not done there that's one issue but then he

says in verse 13 your words have been Stout against me sayith the Lord and of course as usual they object every time he says something oh objection says something oh objection notice the end of 13 yet ye say so I've just gently said you know what you've said some hard things against me and you Chim back in and object and say well what do you mean what have we spoken against thee just like they said what do you mean we've robbed you where how well here's the hard Stout words you've said verse 14 ye have

said it is vain to serve God what does it profit that we have kept his ordinances and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts now we call the proud happy yay they that work wickedness are set up yay they that tempt God are even delivered you see these Stout words that they're complaining against God why are we even trying to do what's right it never pays off it's vanity to serve what's the point of keeping the Commandments there's no profit there but look around the proud seem to be doing great they're they're

happy those that are working W wickedness they're set up why do the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer why do bad things happen to good people and good things happen to the bad you get a sense why the Lord would take this personally are we questioning his judgment are we questioning his awareness of us are we starting to second guess do you really open the windows of Heaven I don't know and if you do is it just kind of scatter the blessings willy-nilly and half the time they happen to land on the on the wicked

more than the righteous well notice the Lord's response in 16 and 17 he says then they that feared the Lord those that obeyed him those that trusted in spite of the difficulty they spake often one to another and the Lord hearkened and he heard and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name you see this chapter begins by hinting at one book of remebrance the records of our dead it ends speaking of another one more directly this one the Lord keeps this is The

Book of Life this is his memory of those that have been suffering remember what we started with there are people that feel forsaken that's Isaiah 54 he remembers you haven't been you're not a widow you're not an orphan you haven't been forsaken you're not Barren it's a little season I've turned away but Everlasting kindness is yours because I remember you I've written it all down you are not forgotten and so your sufferings and the prosperity of the wicked those are temporary conditions I do play the long game trust the ending we're not there yet in

verse 17 they shall be mine saith the Lord of hosts in that day that future day wait for it when I make up my jewels and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son son that serveth him that's the relationship I'm recording in my book of remembrance you my sons and daughters you who are serving me at times when it seems like I am completely unaware I do notice I never forget even those who feel forgotten Verse 18 the final promise in this chapter then shall ye return and discern between the righteous

and the wicked between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not right now it's hard to tell tough to tell the difference between wheat and tears tough to gauge who's the righteous and who's the wicked just when you look at the size of somebody's house or bank account but someday someday you will know and discern between those who remembered God and are remembered of him compared to those that rejected him what we can't do in the meantime is forget God or forget get our neighbor that seems to be what chapter 3 of Malachi

is all about and it leads in beautifully to chapter four of Malachi which is 3525 for behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven and all the proud yay and all that do wickedly shall be stubble and the day that cometh shall burn them up sayeth the Lord of hosts that it shall leave them neither root nor Branch remember what Joseph Smith said Noah came before the flood I have come before the fire Jesus in the New Testament talked about a fire that was already kindled that would spread across the Earth the spirit

of God like a fire is burning the Earth cleansed as if by fire at the second coming this purging of the dross this Refiner's Fire that is purifying us so this fire bespeaks purification sanctification it also bespeaks Harvest Time the great verses in the doctrine covenants early on for the field is white already to harvest is how we end that and yet in section 31 of the doctrine covenants there's a surprise he says to preach from this time forth reap in the field which is white already to be burned wow are we accelerating towards Harvest

Time that quickly and notice what's being burned the stubble that's what's left in a field after harvest time I my youngest daughter loves stubble on my face she wants me to grow out my beard sorry Monae that's not much of an option for me but stubble on the earth the wheat has been gathered into sheaves to be taken to the threshing floor and from then into the Garner the tears are gathered in bundles also and what is left of the field is just the stubble and everything else has been cut off and it's just the

the base of all of these stocks of grain and it's ready to be burned that's how the allegory of the Olive Tree ends in Jacob chapter 5 now that burning that scorched Earth is what happens to the proud and wicked but in verse two unto you that fear my name shall the son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves in the stall that's a great mental image a calf growing up in the stall cared for provided for nourished protected you're not out in the wild

on your own the Lord is carrying for you the son of righteousness is rising with healing in his wings he's spread them forth he's trying to gather us under those wings the wicked in three are the ones trotten Down Under the soles of his feet whereas the righteous get a different view of those feet beautiful upon the mountains verse four remember the law of Moses my servant which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel with the statutes and judgments obedience is still key verse 5 behold I will send you Elijah the Prophet this

is where we perk up these are famous famous verses Malachi 4 3i 25 Doctrine covenants 2 Pearl great price Joseph Smith history all of our standard Works include this promise this is one of the passages that the angel Moroni quoted to Joseph Smith that night when he first let him know that God had a mission for him to perform and it would be part of this Mission the way that Moroni quotes it is different than what we have in Malachi for that version study section two of the doctrine in covenants it's incredible those changes are

magnificent an emphasis on priesthood and the promises of God we'll have to study that next year in the doctrine of covenants but here I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of that great and Dreadful day of the Lord yet another messenger I will send before my face as I come suddenly to my temple it's exactly what happened at the Kurland temple in 1836 that Moses came there's verse four Elijah came there's verse 5 Jesus came that's chapter three of Malachi the Lord whom we seek coming suddenly to his Temple and what's the

purpose of Elijah's return verse 6 he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the Heart of the children to their fathers lest I come and smite the Earth with a curse now do you see why all this family imagery in Isaiah 54 of the barren and the abandoned the single the Widow The Forsaken the ashamed rejoicing singing with joy over the children that they have hearts are turning mothers and fathers to Sons and Daughters turning all because of the promises that have been given to our fathers and the Fulfillment of those

promises that are happening in our day without it the Earth is cursed it's utterly wasted is the moroni's version or as we might say what an utter waste of an earth if one of the main purpose of even coming here was to establish families that could then become Eternal now do you see at the end of verse one the kind of tree that is being left in this burned out field it leaves them neither root nor Branch well in the context of Hearts of fathers and children turning what kind of tree is that this is

a family tree which is meant to reach down through our ancestors and up Beyond into our descendants that's the purpose of the earth that is God's covenant that is the Gathering of all the family home there's the offering in righteousness King of Kings here's the book the record of our dead our offering in righteousness without it what was meant to be a forest of family trees becomes a scorched Earth of nothing but burned out logs single individual isolated no roots no branches no fulfilling the measure of their creation on this Earth what a waste of

an earth we have that opportunity we can take advantage of it to turn Hearts to bind on Earth and have it Bound in heaven to seal the family of humanity so that we can all come home you understand what the Lord is saying here it's not just a matter of oh you got to love the ending of the Old Testament real Cliffhanger promised that Elijah is going to return and you missed it you left a little too early so let me just I'll just kind of cut to the Chase and I'll give you the last

two chapters the rest H Minor Prophets who cares no these are things that the father commanded Malachi to write and that I need you to record as well I care about the most important things that's why I'm commanding you to search Isaiah because he talked about you House of Israel the role that you would play it's why I called Micah and habac to the stand so they could bear additional witness of the Gathering that I'm a part of why do you think I wanted Samy and the lonit prophecy recorded here so that You' never forget

that I keep my word and I vindicate the prophets and Resurrection atonement is part of that that Gathering is part of it that caring for people on this side of the veil temporally and spiritually and Gathering those on the other side of the veil all of of this is part of the Great Gathering of Israel and we are doing it now it's go time The Book of Mormons come forth that was the sign right I think it's also worth pointing out that what does the Lord know what has been the cause of so much Devastation

and destruction throughout nephite history and what will yet prove the ultimate demise of the nephite civilization Pride materialism robbing God and robbing neighbor one to see the fruits of our righteousness pay dividends right now instead of trusting in the ultimate blessings that will come from God it's this Pride cycle that leads them to neglect the poor and to abandon God and what's the solution be obedient to God be generous to others turn your hearts upward and outward become one all my children that's the message in Malachi 3 and 4 that they needed and I think

it's also important to realize that Lots has changed right remember that's their big concern in 3515 what do we do with the law of Moses is the entire Old Testament now Obsolete and the Lord here is saying you know what some things I need to make crystal clear Bridge The Divide they weren't just Mosaic things this isn't something that's old and done and passed away and you don't need to worry about it anymore remember the Covenant is one one of those things obedience to my Commandments is one of those things now we even know that

Malachi is meant to bridge the gap that it applies post atonement just as much as it did pre that it's not just some Mosaic thing that we pay tithing and give offerings no caring for others and making sacrifices for God is something that precedes the law of Moses and postdates its fulfillment in Christ I've even had some people contact me who left the church over tithing saying oh it's Old Testament stuff we don't need to do that anymore well the Lord's invocation of Malachi post fulfillment of the law of Moses I would say refutes that

this remains one way for us to prove the Lord to sacrifice to open the windows of Heaven to prove to ourselves that the things of the world do not have such a hold upon us that we can let them go and lay hold of the things of God now last chapter for the week is chapter 26 and I love what the Lord does to begin it when Jesus had told these things he expounded them you notice how many times that word has come up already every time he's quoting Isaiah or other scriptures and expounding scripture

deserves explanation that's why I love the chance to not just read these verses but to talk about them to take them apart and put them back together to cross reference and analyze and synthesize and try to make sense of what are you saying here scripture deserves to be expounded and no one does it better than Jesus himself he expounded all things unto them both great and small I love that too as one who has sometimes been accused of spending too much time on little details well I have it on good authority that it's not just

the great things that deserve to be expounded but the small things too big picture it like the scattering and Gathering of Israel but tiny details like the placement of a jot or tit there's power in both the big and the small verse two he saith these scriptures which he had not with you the father commanded that I should give unto you it was wisdom in him that they should be given unto future Generations again some things need to bridge the gap it's not just a matter of well we were going to get the Bible someday

even Nephi saw that that the book would come forth well no some things need to be reproduced on both continents in both sets of scripture second witness that certain principles apply across the board in verse three the expounding continues he expounded all things even from the beginning until the time that he should come in his glory so this is not just looking back this is looking forward and he's explaining it all y even all things which should come upon the face of the Earth even until the elements should melt with fervent Heat and the Earth

should be wrapped together as a scroll and the heavens and the Earth should pass away man I wish I could have been there for that Institute class as the Lord is expounding everything from creation until the Earth receives its paradisical glory and Beyond even that verse four even unto the great and last day when all people and all kindreds and all nations and tongues shall stand before God to be judged of their Works whether they be good or whether they be evil five he says a little bit more about that good go resurrection of eternal

life evil to the resurrection of damnation it's a parallel based on mercy and Justice and Holiness in Christ but you see what he's saying I want to give you the whole thing the big picture explain it all start to finish see where you are God's love his Covenant my grace my role in that Covenant goes from start to finish please trust that we know what we're doing I can explain it all now that is so much more than the explanation we got in the Book of Mormon and Mormon apologizes for that verse six there cannot

be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people I wish I had more than 1% but what we have is incredible in fact what we have might be sufficient that at least to serve some of its purposes because notice what he says in verse 8 these things have I written which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people just the 1% and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people from the Gentiles according

to the words which Jesus has spoken now he's channeling what he's been talking about already right that the gospel role reversal first last last first this is going to go to the Gentiles now it's go time and the Gentiles are going to bring it back to the house of Israel that's what going to affect the Gathering then the father's work really commences and we're often running towards the Millennium Full Speed Ahead but there's more to it not just a matter of this is what you need to preserve so you can get it to them but

this is what you need to keep out and there's a purpose for that too verse n when they shall have received this which is expedient that they should have first to try their faith and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things things be made manifest unto them on the other hand if you will not believe these things then shall the greater things be withheld from them unto their condemnation this is something that Nephi the first Nephi realized way back in second Nephi 28 that God gives line

upon line and precept upon precept why partly it's not just the gradual dissemination of truth it's not just drink from the fire hose and consume it all right now but it's a test of faith what will you do with what you already have in that pass passage secondi 28:30 if you're open to receive more then I'll give you more but if you're not open to more then I'll actually take away what you have there's no standing still there's no static you're either progressing or you're sliding back remember we talked about that back in Elma chapter

12 that those with a soft heart receive the greater portion of the word until they know it in full and those with a hardened heart receive the Lesser portion until they know nothing this is all Christian or decrescendo based on what we do with whatever small portion we have you see verse 11 Mormon himself was about to give us more I wish he could have gotten away with some of it I was about to write them all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi there's records of that somewhere but the Lord forbade it saying

I will try the faith of my people that's third shelf patience required I'll try your faith I'll keep some things up on the top not just so that I can have things to move down later but to allow you to develop faith that that movement will occur you see God wants our faith in some ways even more than he wants our absolute knowledge because it's faith that really develops something within us and so God himself I'm amazed at his restraint that he can walk this Razor's Edge of giving us just enough evidence visiting us with

assurances as the war chapters say just enough to conf confirm our faith but not so much evidence to obviate our faith to obviate means to make obsolete it's like it it's no longer needed and if God gives us too much evidence we saw this at the beginning of third Nephi when the signs came and all of a sudden well now you can't believe your opportunity for faith has ended as it has been absorbed in this perfect knowledge that has come upon you take advantage of your days of doubt it's what allows you to develop Faith

eventually you won't have that opportunity it'll just be too obvious you will only know and so here the Lord is wait wait wait explain this much 1% that'll be just enough for them to see the big picture my role in it their role in it see what they're supposed to be doing with the Gathering of Israel the Turning of hearts and then leave it yes there's so much more that I want to share and I will line upon line precept upon precept as they exercise Faith but in the meantime give them a chance to develop

it makes me so grateful for what I do know and in a weed way grateful for the things that I don't the first bundle fortifies my faith the second bundle the absent one is what allows me to have faith in the first place and that's good enough for me now verse 12 I Mormon do write the things which have been commanded me of the Lord then I'll make an end of my sayings and write other things that have been commanded he says in 13 that Jesus truly taught the people for the space of three days

after that he continued to show himself unto them often and when he did what did he do he did break bread off and bless it and give it unto them every time we get to be with Jesus through his word through his servants through service in his name it's a chance for us to renew our covenants to find communion in Christ in verse 14 he taught he ministered unto the children of the multitude of whom hath been spoken you see chapter 17 was to bless them now in 26 he's continuing to teach them to minister

to them and then notice what he does and he did loose their tongues and they did speak unto their fathers great and marvelous things even greater than he had revealed unto the people he loosed their tongues that they could utter yet one more example of Christ's great humility I will allow you to teach each other even better things greater things than I've ever taught remember what he said to his Apostles in John 14 he that believeth on me the works that I do shall he do also and Greater Works than these shall he do because

I go unto my father it's similar to what he said about the Holy Ghost I must leave so the spirit may come well I also need to leave so that you can begin to flourish outside of my shadow I want you to be able to teach each other to participate all I've been doing here is blowing the coals I'm trying to make instruments out of you I will loose your tongue open your mouth and you will teach even greater things than I did verse 15 then after he ascended into heaven the second time that he

had showed himself unto them after he had gone unto the father after having healed all their sick and their lame and Open the Eyes of their blind and unstopped the ears of the deaf and even had done all manner of cures among them raised a man from the dead shown forth his power unto them he ascended unto the father remember not everyone was there in chapter 17 chapter 19 describes them all night long nois ing abroad the news so that they can all labor exceedingly all night long to be in the place where Jesus would

come well he came and he taught and he taught and he taught and he keeps coming and going and teaching and ministering and Performing the sacrament but also he healed them every last one of them he healed all their sick that same beautiful possessive pronoun we saw in chapter 17 and then in 16 on the tomorrow Jesus is gone now but he has left them with little Replacements the multitude gathered themselves together and they both saw and heard these children yay even babes did open their mouths and utter marvelous things things so marvelous that they

were forbidden that they should not any man write them didn't we see that back in chapter 17 also things too wonderful for us eye hath not seen ear hath not heard neither hath entered into the heart heart of man well those kinds of profound unutterable truths are now being shared by babies children amazing what happens when God opens a mouth especially if we'll simply have ears to hear now in 17 those 12 disciples that Jesus had chosen from that time forth they baptize they teach as many as will come they grant them the gift of

the Holy Ghost they're filled with it and 18 many of them saw and heard unspeakable things which are not lawful to be written 19 they taught and ministered one to another they had all things common among them every man dealing justly one with another sounds like they took Malachi's words seriously not robbing God and not robbing from one another Hearts turning becoming one isn't that what the at one mon is for isn't this what Zion is supposed to be add 20 to the mix they did do all things even as Jesus had commanded them I

think they qualify remember Eno's definition of Zion in Moses chapter 7 the Lord called his people Zion why what had they done to qualify themselves for that incredible title for they were of one heart and one mind and dwelt in righteousness and there was no poor among them don't you see all of that in verse 19 and 20 their Oneness their obedience their care for one another physically as well as spiritually verse 21 that's who Jesus considers his church those who are thus baptized in his name are called The Church of Christ and for us

to truly qualify for that name as we're doing all this extra work to try to reclaim it are we doing likewise are we teaching and ministering are we becoming one are we consecrating so that there is enough and to spare for all of our brothers and sisters are we obeying the Commandments of God are we participating in the work of gathering on both sides of the veil it's go time The Book of Mormon is exhibit a that it is Full Speed Ahead until the coming of Christ and even Beyond it Millennial Reign paradisal Glory Celestial

Kingdom it's all spelled out I remember going on splits with the missionaries when I was lived in Tennessee amazing wonderful Bible beleving this was the Bible Belt after all Evangelical Christians and we met a man his name was Eddie and he was awesome he knew the scriptures like nobody's business especially the Old Testament which surprised me he loved it and the missionaries were kind of taken back by him and I just was soaking it in I said Eddie forget Eddie I should call you Apollos he's like really said yeah you remember in the book of

Acts that Apollos knew the scriptures so well he just needed to see how they all connected to Jesus Christ and that's what Paul provided the rest of the story the continuation the New Testament that everything the Old Testament was pointing to and leading up to has come the Messiah has been Among Us and I just felt to testify to this wonderful man it's happening all the anticipation is now into fulfillment the L it's it's happening the Lord is doing his work he is gathering Israel and you can be a part of it Apollos it was

a beautiful experience it just seemed to to capture our imagination or the attention of us both it reminds me section 113 Joseph Smith is asking a bunch of questions about Isaiah that's comforting even he had some confusion there wondered what things meant and in section 113 he asks the Lord for some clarification on a few interesting passages some of which by the way would have been on his mind since as a 17-year-old boy his sleep was interrupted by an Angel now in section 113 verse 7 Elias Higby chimes in and I love this it's like

he's seen Joseph have this conversation with god like wait God's willing to do Q&A over scripture whoa Joseph um can I slide one in C can you sneak this question in I've always wondered about it and his came from chapter 52 which we just studied with the help of Jesus Christ his question was what does it mean in Isaiah 52:1 where the Lord says put on thy strength o Zion what people had Isaiah reference to who's this talking about and the Lord's answer is profound and personal he had reference to Those whom God should call

in the last days who should hold the power of priesthood to bring again Zion and the Redemption of Israel and to put on her strength is to put on the authority of the priesthood which she Zion has a right to by lineage also to return to that power which he has lost so what's it all about it's the Gathering of Israel it's the Redemption of Zion so live up to your privileges exercise God's power in verse 9 he asks another question well then what does it mean that Zion should loose herself from the bands of

her neck again from Isaiah 52 and the Lord response we are to understand that the scattered remnants are exhorted to return to the Lord from when they have fallen which if they do the promise of the Lord is that he will speak to them or give them Revelation the bands of her neck are the curses of God upon her or the remnant of Israel in their scattered condition among the Gentiles from bondage to deliverance from scattering to Gathering that's what the Lord's been talking about through this entire Ministry in third Nephi it's what Isaiah taught

throughout his entire book it's what every Book of Mormon prophet who claimed and grabbed hold of Isaiah's words we trying to convey God has not abandoned us we have not been forsaken he is bringing us home one last relevant passage from section 82 of the doctrine in covenants for Zion must increase in Beauty and in Holiness her borders must be enlarged her Stakes must be strengthened yay verily I say unto you Z must arise and put on her beautiful garments are we doing that some of my favorite hymns are the earliest ones in the hym

book for me architecture and music were two things that escaped the apostasy there is such power in some of the oldest hymns we have things from St Francis of aisi and Bernard de clairo amazing things fast forward a little bit and but still keep it old and Charles Wesley a great Methodist hymnist gives gives us some beautiful beautiful things well including the earliest Saints the hymns that they wrote it was go time for them and they sensed it it was the the sign had come forth The Book of Mormon was now in their hands hot

off the presses and God's work had begun the Gathering was underway listen to this from Edward Partridge First bishop of the church included in the first LDS hm book imagine this first generation of gathered Saints singing this song remember that from Isaiah lifting up their voice and sing when they see I to eye as the Lord is gathering Zion listen to this song Let Zion in her beauty rise her light begins to shine air long her King will Rend the skies Majestic and divine the gospel spreading through the land a people to prepare to meet

the Lord and Enoch's band triumphant in the air ye Heralds sound the golden Trump to Earth's remotest bound go spread the news from pole to pole in all the nations round that Jesus in the clouds above with hosts of angels too will soon appear his Saints to save his enemies subdue that glorious rest will then commence which prophets did foretell when Saints will reign with Christ on Earth and in his presence dwell A Thousand Years years oh glorious day dear Lord prepare my heart to stand with thee on Zion's Mount and never more to part

that is the Gathering of Israel and this is the message that the great gatherer himself is extending to each of us it's happening right there in third Nephi it's happening right here right now search the scriptures bound them great and small and what will you find you will find a loving father in Heaven and a redeeming Savior Jesus Christ that are doing everything in their power and asking us to do everything in ours to keep their promises to gather us home [Music]