Prophecies about the future of Israel in the New World now come to the forefront. Jacob’s listeners probably agree that the prediction of affliction for the Nephites has been fulfilled. Isaiah’s (and Jacob’s) promise that the Gentiles will be moved to join with Zion is in the process of being fulfilled. Affliction by the internal “Gentiles” obviously comes to a head after Nephi’s death, resulting in Mosiah1 leading his people from the city of Nephi to Zarahemla.
In fact, the encounter with the Mulekites and “Gentiles” of Zarahemla may well have been seen as a partial fulfillment of this promise. Even though the Mulekites are genetically Israelites, they have been so assimilated to the New World that they have lost their language, culture, and religion. Obviously, they had little in common with the gospel as the Nephites understood it. Of course, it is also possible that salvation had occurred (or was occurring) in more subtle ways during the first decade of colonization and that Nephi may not have recorded its fulfillment on the small plates. When Jacob makes his own record, he is more concerned about internal apostasy than any other problem of assimilating a Gentile population.