Jesus' Second Prophecy

Jesus’ Second Prophecy

3 Nephi 21:1-29

Of course these two prophecies are not literally Jesus' first two prophecies, but for purposes of this discussion, I have identified them as such because of how they interact with each other.

Before we get into Jesus' second prophecy, let me give credit to Avraham Gileadi for discovering these structures. I have searched these prophecies diligently, and can say that I know of myself that they are true, as are the prophecies of Nephi and Jacob concerning these last day events. This is true also of the Old Testament prophets, particularly Isaiah, and of other prophecies of Jesus. 

As I wrote in the preface of this blog, "Nothing I have written or will write in this blog is original. I take from many sources, the most important of which is the standard works. I do not give my interpretation of any scripture, but rely on the Lord to use the same terms and definitions consistently. My experience has been that the more I search, ponder, learn and receive of His words, the more likely I am to learn as His words speak to me.

The Savior is the sole source of truth and light in my life. I listen to what others say, but rely on His words and the Holy Ghost to tell me if what others say is consistent with what He has said."

His words become my words no matter who says or writes them, and when it comes to the word of God, I have no problem putting forth as my words, the words of others. Also I do not put forth anything until I come to know for myself by virtue of His words and the Holy Ghost.

As I discussed in the first post concerning Jesus' first prophecy, in Nephi's sequence the great and marvelous work leads to an irrevocable division between those found on the one hand or the other (1 Nephi 14:7). This gains significance as we compare Jesus' second prophecy with the first. The second prophecy refers directly to the Lord's great and marvelous work. It equates the great and marvelous work with the mission of the Lord's servant.

A summary of the second prophecy (3 Nephi 21:1-29) follows. 

 

a—The dispersed house of Israel gathers together and is established in Zion (21:1)

 

  b—The Book of Mormon comes forth from the Gentiles to the house of Israel (21:2-5)

 

    c—The Gentiles are established in America as a free people—after the house of Israel defaults—by the power of the Father (21:4-6a)

 

      d—Some Gentiles, who do not harden their hearts, repent and come unto Christ; they are numbered among the house of Israel (21:6b)

 

        e—The Father fulfills his covenant with the house of Israel (21:7)

 

          f—The kings of the Gentiles shut their mouths when new things are preached to them (21:8)

 

            g—The Father performs a great and marvelous work among the Gentiles (21:9a)

 

              h—Many among the Gentiles do not believe the great and marvelous work when it is declared to them (21:9b)

 

            g—The Lord heals his servant after he is marred by the Gentiles (21:10)

 

          f—The Lord’s servant brings forth the words of Christ to the Gentiles by the Father’s power (21:11a-c)

 

        e—The Gentiles are cut off from the Lord’s covenant with the house of Israel and are trodden down by them (21:11d-21)

 

      d—Some Gentiles who do not harden their hearts repent and hearken to the words of Christ; they are numbered among the house of Israel (21:22)

 

    c—The house of Israel is established; they gather to the New Jerusalem; the power of heaven and the Lord abide in their midst (21:23-25)

 

   b—The gospel comes forth from the Gentiles to the house of Israel (21:26a)

 

a—The Lord’s dispersed people gather home to the land of their inheritance (21:26b-29)

Jesus’ second prophecy emphasizes what happens to the Gentiles, of which we are identified. Although the Gentiles (us) receive an opportunity to be blessed under the Lord’s covenant with the house of Israel, in the end many Gentiles (us) do not repent (3 Ne. 21:6, 14). These are cut off from the covenant because they refuse to believe the words of Christ (3 Ne. 21:11). At that point the house of Israel treads them down (3 Ne. 21:12–21). 

These things repeat essentially the same scenario we find in Jesus’ first prophecy. In Jesus’ second prophecy, however, the Lord’s servant conveys the words of Christ to the Gentiles and to the kings of the Gentiles (3 Ne. 21:8–11). As the structure’s centerpiece shows (see h), many do not believe the great and marvelous work, or do not believe the words of Christ (see h in Jesus' first prophecy). From the context of the prophecy, we learn that these disbelievers make up a majority of the Gentiles, including a majority of the Ephraimite Gentiles. While at first the gospel and the Book of Mormon go from the Gentiles to the house of Israel (3 Ne. 21:4–5), in the end the Gentiles themselves by and large reject the mission of the Lord’s servant (3 Ne. 21:10–12). 

On the other hand, the Father reestablishes his covenant with the house of Israel (3 Ne. 21:4, 7). This action implies that the house of Israel accepts the words of Christ, which the Lord’s servant brings forth. To the house of Israel, the words of Christ come as “good tidings” (3 Ne. 20:40; compare Isa. 52:7). 

As the house of Israel accepts the gospel, they gather from exile and build the New Jerusalem; Christ himself and the power of heaven dwell in their midst (3 Ne. 21:24–29). 

Those Gentiles who repent are numbered among the house of Israel, and with the house of Israel, they inherit the land of America (3 Ne. 21:22). At the center of the chiasm appear the prophecies of Isaiah about the great and marvelous work (3 Ne. 21:8–10; compare Isa. 29:14; 52:13–15). 

Jesus’ two prophecies are thus similar. Things they have in common are the Lord’s rejection of many Gentiles (us) and his reacceptance of the house of Israel, the Lord’s fulfillment of his covenant with the house of Israel, their gathering to the lands of their inheritance, the house of Israel’s treading down the Gentiles, and the house of Israel’s being permanently established, with the powers of heaven and the Lord in their midst. 

Both prophecies also refer to the Lord’s servant, who brings forth to the world the words of Christ (3 Ne. 20:43–45; 21:8–11). In addition, both prophecies center on the prophecies of Isaiah. Descriptions of the mission the Lord’s servant fulfills to the kings of the nations, and the Father’s baring his arm to all nations, originate in the same passage in the book of Isaiah (see Isa. 52:10, 13–15). The physical marring of the Lord’s servant, which the Lord counters by a miracle of healing (3 Ne. 20:44; 21:10), is similarly prophesied in this Isaiah passage (Isa. 52:14). The same passage in Isaiah speaks of the exodus of the house of Israel out of Babylon (see Isa. 52:11–12), an event that appears in both prophecies (3 Ne. 20:41–42; 21:29). Both prophecies also rely on the prophecies of Micah to portray the treading down of the Gentiles by the house of Israel (3 Ne. 20:16–19; 21:12–18, 21). 

Such dependence on the Hebrew prophets, particularly Isaiah, shows a relationship with Nephi’s prophetic sequence. Whereas Nephi quotes from Isaiah 48–49 about the Lord’s servant and the new exodus out of Babylon, Jesus quotes these things from Isaiah 52. That Jesus ends his first prophecy by quoting most of Isaiah 52 (see 3 Ne. 20:32–45) and his second prophecy by quoting all of Isaiah 54 (see 3 Ne. 22:1–17) raises a further point. Such structuring leads us to look for at least a reference to Isaiah 53 somewhere between the two. That reference we find in 3 Nephi 21:9 and 11. There we read that some Gentiles “will not believe” the great and marvelous work nor the words of Christ that the servant brings forth. Of course, this statement implies that some Gentiles will believe.

More importantly, when we compare the two centerpieces of the structures (see h/h), we see that the great and marvelous work has to do with the Lord’s servant bringing forth the words of Christ. Connected with the words of Christ are the testimonies of Moses, Samuel, and others, and of the Lord’s latter-day servant himself (3 Ne. 20:23–24, 40–45; 21:8–11). 

The belief or disbelief that people show toward the words of Christ constitutes a grand key to the structures. People’s opposite reactions to the words of Christ set the stage for the Lord’s rejection of the Gentiles and reacceptance of the house of Israel. Notably, those Gentiles who retain their standing with the Lord repent of the same evils that condemn those who do not repent (compare 3 Ne. 16:10, 13). 

These things suggest that the words of Christ condemn wickedness among the Gentiles. They may also explain why the unrepentant Gentiles would express hostility toward the Lord’s servant. Jesus’ reference to Moses in both prophecies reflects this reversal between the Gentiles and the house of Israel. In the first prophecy, Jesus says that he himself is the prophet like unto Moses of whom Moses spoke (3 Ne. 20:23). All who would not hear the words of that prophet would be “cut off” from among the Lord’s people (compare Deut. 18:15–19). In the second prophecy, Jesus says that his servant will bring forth His words to the Gentiles (3 Ne. 21:11). This includes words we have not yet received. And because the Gentiles reject these words the gospel is taken from them and given to the house of Israel (3 Nephi 16:11-12). 

All who will not believe the words of Christ given through the servant will suffer the punishment Moses predicted: they will be “cut off” from among the Lord’s people (3 Ne. 21:11). This analogy means that those who reject the servant, in effect, reject Christ (compare 3 Ne. 28:34). This analogy also means that, although Jesus is the prophet of whom Moses spoke, the Lord’s servant too is a prophet like Moses. (In the book of Isaiah, the Lord’s servant initiates the exodus out of Babylon and the wandering in the wilderness to the promised land, as we have noted; compare 2 Ne. 20:40–43.) The idea of a prophet like Moses applies as well to Joseph Smith (compare 2 Ne. 3:9–19). The mission that the Lord’s servant performs, however, builds on that of the Prophet Joseph. 

The servant undertakes his mission at the end of the latter days, just before the Lord comes to the earth. The servant’s mission results in the whole house of Israel returning to permanent lands of inheritance. It also results in the Gentiles being largely destroyed.

Hopefully you can see more clearly the need to believe the words of Christ no matter the messenger. This requires that we search them, believe them and make them our own, so that we are found on the one hand (those who believe His words) and not on the other (those who do not believe His words). Its importance cannot be emphasized more than by Jesus himself giving us these prophecies.