“I Will Suffer My People O House of Israel”

Brant Gardner

Verses 14 and 15 complete another parallel. When the Gentiles had the true scriptures/gospel and the Jews did not, the Gentiles persecuted the Jews. This was a symbolic recognition that those with the gospel would be saved, and those without it destroyed. At the end, when the reversal comes and the Gentiles lose the gospel and it is reunited with covenant Israel, this destruction will also reverse. Those who have the gospel will be preserved and those who do not will be destroyed. Of course the Gentiles who believed will have become part of Israel by this point, so the destruction of the Gentiles is symbolic of the destruction of unbelievers.

It is important to note that these destructions are symbolic in their presentation, even though the persecution of the Jews at the hands of the Gentiles was sadly accurate. These verses are not predicting a future uprising of Jews against Gentiles, but rather the scene of the final entrance of the Triumphant Messiah when the righteous are preserved and the wicked destroyed.

Multidimensional Commentary on the Book of Mormon

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