Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, carrying ideals and deep religious conviction landed on the shores of Cape Cod in 1620. Relying on biblical traditions, they covenanted between God and one another to establish a government, often referred to as America’s first constitution, called the Mayflower Compact. The compact itself was referred to as a covenant by those who signed it before setting foot on land: “…in the presence of God and one of another, Covenant and Combine ourselves together…by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal Laws, Ordicances, Acts, Constitutions, and Offices…”
The Mayflower Compact was the prologue to the subsequent events which led to the founding of America and the restoration of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Each step was paramount and necessary for the restoration of the gospel and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. “And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood” (D&C 101:80).
In 3 Nephi 21, we learn that the purpose was to restore the covenant to the land, but also to fulfill the promises and prophecies to a people who had once been blessed to dwell upon it, but had “[dwindled] in unbelief because of iniquity; 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, O house of Israel;” (3 Nephi 21: 5-6).
The restoration of the covenant was also in answer to the pleas of prophets past for the benefit of their brethren the Lamanites. The Book of Mormon is a tangible sign that the Lord has commenced to gather His children of covenant Israel. This book, written for our day, states as one of its purposes that “ye may know that the covenant which the Father hath made with the children of Israel . . . is already beginning to be fulfilled. . . . For behold, the Lord will remember his covenant which he hath made unto his people of the house of Israel” (3 Nephi 29: 1,3).
According to ancient scripture scholar David Lamb, the word “Mormon” (not only the name, but the land for which the prophet Mormon may have been named after), as indicated in 3 Nephi 5:12, is symbolically synonymous with the restoration of the covenant which took place by Alma in the land of Mormon. The introduction to the The Book of Mormon states that its main purpose is to restore knowledge of the covenants to the house of Israel. In this context the Book of Mormon was not named for a man, but for the place that the covenants were restored to the Nephites. “Symbolically, The Book of Mormon bears the name: Book of the Restoration of the Covenant”.
After the great destruction which changed the face of the promised land at Christ’s death (3 Nephi 8:12, 20-21), the remaining Nephites were left “marveling and wondering one with another” and “conversing about this Jesus Christ, of whom the sign had been given..” (3 Nephi 11:2). Suddenly a voice was heard, the voice of God the Father asking all those gazing upward to behold His Beloved Son and to hear him (3 Nephi 11:6). And in wonder and awe they watched the Resurrected Christ descend.
That pivotal climactic moment tells of the risen Lord administering, healing, and loving His other sheep one by one (3 Nephi 11:15). The presence of Jesus Christ changed all those who saw Him and in only 36 short years “…the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land..”(4 Nephi 1:2). Nationalism gave way to Zion.
However, 200 years later pride began to creep into their society and what started as a gradual shift soon began spiraling faster and faster away from the righteous Zion society they had once enjoyed. The warrior prophets Mormon and his son Moroni recorded and lamented the downfall of their people, while valiantly abridging and preserving the sacred record. Four-hundred years after the Son of God personally visited the Nephites their entire civilization was gone.
While we can learn so many things not to do from the sad tale of the downfall of the Nephites, there may be a pattern which can also give another perspective of hope and purpose to the record they left for us. In fact, if we look at the events of the past and, from our study so far, we know that God uses patterns to teach and reveal the mysteries of God and his dealings with His children, then we must look for the patterns.
Think of a mirror. The mirror reflects back an image that is reversed 180 degrees. The image of covenant Israel found in the Book of Mormon and Bible seem to be reflected in the Latter-days, but instead of being in the same order it is reversed. It makes me think of the promise that, “the last shall be first and the first shall be last” (Matt. 20:16). Considering this reflection of 180 degrees let’s continue.
Exactly 200 years after the Mayflower Compact, in 1820, the 14-year-old Joseph Smith entered a grove of trees and saw God the Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. And just as promised, the voices of those who cried from the dust were finally heard and the message of Christ’s restored gospel was to be taken to all the world (2 Nephi 26:16; 2 Nephi 33:13; Moroni 10:27).
November 11, 2020 will be 400 years since the covenant was re-established on the promised land of America with those first pilgrims. Even though it is difficult to say exactly how long a generation is, there were approximately 7 generations from the Mayflower to the first vision and another 7 generations between the restoration and the 400th anniversary.
| 7 is spiritual perfection, completeness, fullness, entirety or totality; Sabbath day. As a rule, multiples of seven carry the same spiritual or symbolic significance (ie. 14). Seven is connected with the Hebrew words for “full,” “satisfied,” or “complete.” According to one text:“The root of the Hebrew word for seven (sheva) is identical to the Hebrew verb that means ‘to take an oath,’ thus connecting the word seven to covenants and covenant making.” 14 signifies salvation and deliverance; often symbolizes a distinct societal shift for the Lord’s people (see the first chapter of Mathew). The 14th day of the first Hebrew month is Nisan (passover). Joseph Smith Jr. was the prophet from 1830-1844 (14 years), Russell M. Nelson was ordained as prophet on January 14, 2018. There are 3 sets of 14 generations between and including Abraham to Joseph (husband of Mary). 100 The hundredfold is promised to who has left all for our Lord. (Maleki 10: 30, D&C 78:17-22) To “be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more” is to have all things restored with even more blessings added to it. 100 is restoration. The power of Christ in you to accomplish a task. This can be added to or multiplied by any number to give greater significance (ie. 4×100=400). 4 Symbolizes geographic completeness or totality. In other words, if the number four is associated with an event or thing, the indication is that it will affect the entire earth and all its inhabitants. One source informs us: The number four always has reference to all that is created. It is emphatically the number of Creation. . . . The fourth day saw the material creation finished (for on the fifth and sixth days it was only the furnishing and peopling of the earth with living creatures). . . .Four is the number of the great elements—earth, air, fire, and water. Four are the regions of the earth—north, south, east, and west. . . . Four are the seasons of the year—spring, summer, autumn, and winter. . . . It is the first square number also, and therefore it marks a kind of completeness as well, which we have called material completeness. When Ezekiel sees his vision of the resurrection of the dead (Ezekiel 37:9), he speaks of the event in association with “the four winds,” representative of the fact that the Resurrection will be universal. |
The number 400 is often associated with consequential destruction of a fallen covenant society living on a covenant land of promise. This is found on both the covenant lands of the old world (Genesis 15:13; Exodus 12:40-41) and the new world (Alma 45:10; Mormon 8:6).
In Helaman 13:5-10 we read:
5 And he said unto them: Behold, I, Samuel, a Lamanite, do speak the words of the Lord which he doth put into my heart; and behold he hath put it into my heart to say unto this people that the asword of justice hangeth over this people; and four hundred years pass not away save the sword of justice falleth upon this people.
6 Yea, heavy adestruction awaiteth this people, and it surely cometh unto this people, and nothing can save this people save it be repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, who surely shall come into the world, and shall suffer many things and shall be slain for his people.
9 And afour hundred years shall not pass away before I will cause that they shall be smitten; yea, I will visit them with the sword and with famine and with pestilence.
10 Yea, I will visit them in my fierce anger, and there shall be those of the afourth generation who shall live, of your enemies, to behold your utter destruction; and this shall surely come except ye repent, saith the Lord; and those of the fourth generation shall visit your destruction.
Fourteen generations symbolically and literally point to significant events among God’s covenant people as well. In Matthew 1:1-16 the generations from Abraham to Jesus Christ are recounted, which are 3 sets of 14 generations.These generations are more aptly defined by those who have made and kept covenants and their names are found in the Book of Remembrance (D&C 85:9).
“17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.”
The last set of 14 generations began with the carrying away of those of Jerusalem into Babylon. It was just before the Babylonian conquest that Lehi and his family and presumably others whose writings we don’t have, heeded God’s command and fled to a promised land. And as prophesied Babylon overthrew the promised land of Jerusalem and took captive many. This 14 generation period was completed with the birth of Jesus Chirst.
If we consider the mirror image of these same events in the last days then we have to ask the question, how do these generations appear in the latter day reflection? We do know that just as Babylon was overthrown once before, so it will be again.
“Go we out from among the nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon” (D&C 133:14).
“Babylon the great” or “spiritual Babylon” symbolizes wickedness and evil and “the world” of sin that surrounds us in the latter days. However, Christ has already overcome Babylon through his infinite atonement and resurrection. He has overcome death and hell. “O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also
the death of the spirit” (2 Nephi 9:10). Christ has overcome the wicked nature in each of us whenever we choose to accept His grace and “bring forth fruit meet for repentance”(Alma 13:13). But He will also overcome Babylon, or the wicked, when He comes in the clouds of glory and ushers in His millennial reign.
The once scattered of Israel will also one day return, and they are. We are part of this great gathering. As President Nelson calls it, “the greatest challenge, the greatest cause, and the greatest work on the earth today” (2018 Worldwide Devotional for Youth).
Samuel the Lamanite stood upon the city wall and declared this 400-year period that would culminate in the destruction of the wicked Nephites approximately 40 years before Christ’s death and resurrected ministry to the American content. But, if we backtrack to the beginning of the book of Helaman, in chapter one, it begins with a contentious election. We read of what author David Ridges calls “the anatomy of the downfall of a nation”. The downfall comes not because of the fringe groups, but because those who profess to follow Christ fall into transgression and become divided.
- It begins with internal strife which leads to apostasy and a falling away from belief in Christ.
- This weakening of the saints and falling away would not happen “had it not been for their wickedness and abomination” (Hel. 4:11). What do “abominations” or extreme wickedness look like? Hel. 4:12-13 describes the scene and it vividly parallels our own day:
- prideful hearts
- exceeding riches
- oppressing the poor
- withholding food and clothing
- ridiculing members who try to live the gospel
- making a mock of sacred things
- denying the spirit of prophecy and revelation
- murdering (abortion)
- plunder (violent and dishonest acquisition of property)
- lying
- stealing
- committing adultery
- great contentions
- becoming like the world in fashion, speech, priorities, etc.
- boasting in one’s own strength
Satan’s favorite tool isn’t a weapon of immediate mass destruction, it’s a simple wedge. A wedge placed in the smallest of fractures, with repeated force can split even a giant sturdy tree. In Ezekiel 31, the prophet compares the worldly glory and fall of Pharaoh to the Assyrians. The wicked are often seen as flourishing like “a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a
shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs” (Ezekiel 31:3).
Ezekiel wasn’t the only one to make such a comparison. Daniel sees a vision of our day in which he describes a similar destruction of worldly nations and empires, “I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.”(Daniel 7:9, emphasis added). The prophet Joseph Smith tells us that this “Ancient of days” is in fact the father Adam who will come to Adam-ondi-Ahman.
The unfolding of the Nephite downfall following Christ’s appearance to them may be repeating in the latter days, but in reverse order, until He appears to His people at His Second Coming.
- Christ comes to the Nephites following the great destruction on the American continent after His Crucifixion and resurrection. Remember, this is when Jesus teaches the fulfillment of the Mosaic law and gives the heart of the covenant, including the laws of baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, repentance, and exhalation (3 Ne. 11:32-33). About 40 years later every heart had been softened and every soul converted to the Lord Jesus Christ (4 Nephi 1:1-2) “…and their garments were white even like unto the Lamb of God. And the angel said unto me: These are made white in the blood of the Lamb, because of their faith in him” (1 Nephi 12:11).
- 200 years after Christ’s coming, the Nephites began to become prideful, fall into great wickedness, separate into classes, and turn away from the light of the Christ (4 Nephi 1:24-35).Perhaps it is no coincidental pattern that it took almost 40 years for the people’s hearts to be hardened and a great division to set in between believers and unbelievers (4 Nephi 1:35).
- 400 years after Christ’s coming, the Nephite civilization has lost their covenant blessings on the promised land and are destroyed (Moroni 8:6-7).
- In 1620 the covenant was reestablished on the promised land when the Puritans came ashore after writing the Mayflower Compact.
- In 1820, 200 years after the covenant was returned to the land the times of the Gentiles had come in and the light once again began to, “… break forth among them that sit in darkness, and it shall be the fulness of my gospel” (D&C 45:28). God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to 14 year old Joseph Smith. This moment ushered in the “last days” and the restoration of the gospel. About 30 years later in 1853 the ground was dedicated for the Salt Lake temple (though it would not be completed until 1893).
- 400 years after Christ’s coming, the Nephite civilization has lost their covenant blessings on the promised land and are destroyed (Moroni 8:6-7).
- 2020 is the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower Compact. (What is the status of the covenant upon the promised land today?) What we do today will be the building blocks to form a “more perfect union” of all those who are pure in heart, willing to fully live the laws and ordinances of the gospel. It has been approximately 14 generations from the covenant being restored until this day. 2020 is also the 200th anniversary of the First Vision – 200 years after Christ’s first appearance of His second coming. We are seeing a division taking place among people today, those who are turning to Christ and those who are turning away. (Will it take nearly 40 years for hearts to be softened and a people prepared for Him?)
- 200 years after Christ’s coming, the Nephites began to become prideful, fall into great wickedness, separate into classes, and turn away from the light of the Christ (4 Nephi 1:24-35).Perhaps it is no coincidental pattern that it took almost 40 years for the people’s hearts to be hardened and a great division to set in between believers and unbelievers (4 Nephi 1:35).
- In a coming day, Jesus Christ will come to His people who have gathered at the temple in New Jerusalem following great destruction of all kinds on this continent and across the world. There He will show that prophecies foretold centuries before have been fulfilled and teach of those imminently to be fulfilled. He will add to our understanding, heal our wounds, pray with us, and pray for us.”Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life” (3 Ne. 15:9) Christ will come again to rule and reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords on the earth for a thousand years. And then shall their garments be “made white in the blood of the Lamb, because of their faith in him”
“But many that are first shall be last; and the last first” (Mark 10:31). This entire pattern is chiasmic in nature and can also be described as the pattern through which Jesus Christ will reveal Himself and His gospel. We can recognize the same repeating pattern which mimics in reverse order the pattern began during the Meridian of time. Christ first came to the nation of Judah. He was born of them, taught them, healed them, and was crucified by them. It was to His Jewish disciples He came to first after His resurrection.
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). That preaching began with the Jews and next to one of African descent as Philip came upon an Etheopian eunuch, who was searching the words of the prophet Esaias. His searching was answered as Philip “…preached unto him Jesus” (Acts 8:35).
36…and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
37 And Philip said, If thou abelievest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he abaptized him.
As the apostles and disciples went on their various missions to preach, Peter learns through a vision that when Jesus instructed them to bring the gospel to “every creature” He truly meant everyone – both the Jew and Gentile. Cornilius, a righteous man who was a Roman Gentile also had a vision and sent for Peter to teach and ultimately baptise him (Acts 10).
“The significance of Cornelius’s baptism is that he was probably the first Gentile to come into the Church not having previously become a proselyte to Judaism. Other Gentiles had joined the Church, but they had been converted to Judaism before becoming Christians, which caused no great commotion among Jewish Christians who thought of Christianity as having some ties with Judaism…The baptism of Cornelius and his family marked a new dimension in the work of the Church in the New Testament times, since it opened the way for the gospel to be preached to the Gentiles directly, without going by way of Judaism. It is notable that this major event in
the missionary activity of the Church was done through the ministry of Peter, the chief Apostle, who held the keys of the Kingdom of God at that time on the earth” (Bible Dictionary, Cornelius).
On March 10, 2019 the Rome, Italy temple was dedicated and a historic gathering of all the apostles and the first presidency together outside of the United States. As President Nelson was leaving the world capitol of Christianity he said, “This is a hinge point in the history of the church. Things are going to move forward at an accelerated pace, of which this is a part.” He later added, “The church is going to have an unprecedented future, unparallelled; we’re just building up to what’s ahead now.”
Sister Wendy Nelson said, “There is always an urgency associated with the work. That is what I feel when I am spiritually in tune with heaven. It is exactly as Elder Scott said ‘This is a spiritual work.’
However, since the dedication of the temple in Rome, something new has been added to that feeling of urgency. I would almost call it a clamoring. This is a new experience for me” (Wendy Watson Nelson, The Heavens are Open pg. 134).
There certainly is an anticipatory clamoring and urgency on both sides of the veil! And perhaps an experience I share in the next chapter will help our understanding of this “hinge point in history.”
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