Nephi’s conclusions following his review of the miracles of the exodus are thought provoking and doctrinally profound. Happiness in the final sense depends upon righteousness. Although “the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one, he that is righteous is favored of God” (v. 35). Righteousness is the precondition for receiving favored blessings. As a second witness to another biblical principle, Nephi taught that the inhabitants of Canaan were cursed and destroyed because they “had rejected every word of God, and they were ripe in iniquity” (v. 35). The Lord told Abraham that his seed would not return to the land given him until the fourth generation “for the iniquity on the Amorites was not yet full,” showing that they would be destroyed when they were ripe in iniquity (Genesis 15:13–16). Wickedness is the condition that brings the wrath of God.
The earth was created to be inhabited, and God’s children were to inhabit it (v. 36). Those who are righteous will be raised up into a blessed nation, but the wicked nations will be destroyed (v. 37). This concept is not only why the Lord destroyed the people of Canaan, but also why the Lord flooded the earth.
28 The earth was corrupt before God, and it was filled with violence. 29 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.
30 And God said unto Noah: The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence, and behold I will destroy all flesh from off the earth. [Moses 8:28–30; Genesis 6:11–13]
The wickedness of a nation also explains why the Nephites and the Jaredites were destroyed. Before the Lord destroys a nation ripened in iniquity, he leads the righteous into precious lands (v. 38). But “never hath any of them been destroyed save it were foretold them by the prophets of the Lord” (2 Nephi 25:9). The more righteous of the northern ten tribes of Israel were led into the north before they were destroyed by Assyria in about 722 B.C.
22 For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them;
23 Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day. [2 Kings 17:22–23]
Thousands of Jews were carried into Babylon before Jerusalem was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar in 589 B.C. (Book of Mormon dating).
11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it.
12 And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said.
14 And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. [2 Kings 24:11–14]
The Book of Mormon demonstrates the concept of leading out the righteous before a nation is destroyed. Lehi and his people had been led out of Jerusalem in “the first year of the reign of Zedekiah” (1 Nephi 1:4), just before Jehoiachin and his people were taken into Babylon.
After the death of Lehi, “it came to pass that not many days after his death, Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael were angry with me because of the admonitions of the Lord. For I, Nephi, was constrained to speak unto them, according to his word; for I had spoken many things unto them, and also my father” (2 Nephi 4:13–14). They had been warned by the prophets.
5 And it came to pass that the Lord did warn me, that I, Nephi, should depart from them and flee into the wilderness, and all those who would go with me.
6 Wherefore, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did take my family, and also Zoram and his family, and Sam, mine elder brother and his family, and Jacob and Joseph, my younger brethren, and also my sisters, and all those who would go with me. And all those who would go with me were those who believed in the warnings and the revelations of God; wherefore, they did hearken unto my words. [2 Nephi 5:5–6; italics added]
King Mosiah was also warned to leave the land of Zarahemla; “he being warned of the Lord that he should flee out of the land of Nephi, and as many as would hearken unto the voice of the Lord should also depart out of the land with him, into the wilderness” (Omni 1:12; italics added). “Leading away the righteous into precious lands” (v. 37) is an eternal principle.
The Lord “ruleth high in the heavens” is more than a location statement. It depicts his supreme view and thus knowledge of all that goes on upon the earth. “His throne” (v. 40) tells us that it is his place to govern the earth. His governing power is shown in the Book of Abraham:
7 For I am the Lord thy God; I dwell in heaven; the earth is my footstool; I stretch my hand over the sea, and it obeys my voice; I cause the wind and the fire to be my chariot; I say to the mountains— Depart hence—and behold, they are taken away by a whirlwind, in an instant, suddenly. [Abraham 2:7]
The “earth is his footstool” (v. 39) is another way of saying that he created or built it. That it was created for “his children” (v. 36) is again stated in the Book of Moses: “they were created and became living souls in the land upon the footstool of God” (Moses 6:9). Later in the same chapter these same concepts are emphasized. “The heavens he made; the earth is his footstool; and the foundation thereof is his. Behold, he laid it, an host of men hath he brought in upon the face thereof” (Moses 6:44). In Isaiah the Lord says: “The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool,” in questioning why a house has not been built for “the place of my rest” (Isaiah 66:1). The Book of Lamentations states that the Lord “remembers not his footstool in the day of his anger” (Lamentations 2:1), or he refuses to bless them when they reject his word (1 Nephi 17:35). A footstool is used to stand upon, and the Lord reveals that: “I have made the earth rich, and behold it is my footstool, wherefore, again I will stand upon it” (D&C 38:17).
The Lord “loveth those who will have him to be their God” (v. 40). This places a condition upon his love. As stated in the introduction, God loves all his children, but his love is only received by those who meet the conditions he has set. There are several supporting references to conditional love in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. Samuel the Lamanite said that God had hated the Lamanites “because their deeds have been evil continually, and this because of the iniquity of the traditions of their fathers.” However, he still held out salvation “unto them through the preaching of the Nephites” (Helaman 15:4). Neither they nor their fathers would “have him to be their God” (v. 40), but those who accepted the plan of salvation would have him as such. The choice to follow God always belongs to the person. “The voice of the Lord came unto [Mormon], saying: Vengeance is mine, and I will repay; and because this people repented not after I had delivered them, behold, they shall be cut off from the face of the earth” (Mormon 3:14–15). The Book of Mormon people who are described above fit the condition given to the modern-day saints:
11 Verily I say unto you, it is my will that you should build a house. If you keep my commandments you shall have power to build it.
12 If you keep not my commandments, the love of the Father shall not continue with you, therefore you shall walk in darkness. [D&C 95:11–12]
The love of the Father did not continue with the wicked Nephites, and they walked in darkness.
As quoted in the introduction: “I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise” (D&C 82:10). Another condition was given in modern revelation: “blessed is my servant Hyrum Smith; for I, the Lord, love him because of the integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is right before me, saith the Lord” (D&C 124:15). God’s love is perfect and is based on a balance of justice and mercy.
22 But there is a law given, and a punishment affixed, and a repentance granted; which repentance, mercy claimeth; otherwise, justice claimeth the creature and executeth the law, and the law inflicteth the punishment; if not so, the works of justice would be destroyed, and God would cease to be God.
23 But God ceaseth not to be God, and mercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy cometh because of the atonement; and the atonement bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead; and the resurrection of the dead bringeth back men into the presence of God; and thus they are restored into his presence, to be judged according to their works, according to the law and justice.
24 For behold, justice exerciseth all his demands, and also mercy claimeth all which is her own; and thus, none but the truly penitent are saved.
25 What, do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice? I say unto you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be God.
26 And thus God bringeth about his great and eternal purposes, which were prepared from the foundation of the world. And thus cometh about the salvation and the redemption of men, and also their destruction and misery. [Alma 42:22–26]
Nephi reminds his brothers of the covenants of God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as a token of his love for them (v. 40). That same covenant is renewed in our day through the Prophet Joseph Smith because of God’s love for his children.
58 And as I said unto Abraham concerning the kindreds of the earth, even so I say unto my servant Joseph: In thee and in thy seed shall the kindred of the earth be blessed. [D&C 124:58]
As members of the Church, we should understand and appreciate this covenant.
Moses Lifted up a Brazen Serpent in the Wilderness
5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. [Numbers 21:5–9]