3 Nephi 22

There is no question to me that as the Savior refers to the prophecies of Isaiah, He is referring to Israel.  But in my mind, I believe He is also referring to Zion and stakes of Zion as He says -

"Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes;
3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate cities to be inhabited."   (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 22:2 - 3)

To all of us, the Savior says -

"Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to shame; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
5 For thy maker, thy husband, the Lord of Hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel..."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 22:4 - 5)

Symbolically, referring to comfort, peace, happiness, and eternal-perspective "prosperity", He says -

"...my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.
11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted!  Behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 22:10 - 12)

Adding -

"...all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
14 In righteousness shalt thou be established; thou shalt be far from oppression for thou shalt not fear, and from terror for it shall not come near thee.
15 Behold, they shall surely gather together against thee, not by me; whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 22:13 - 15)

"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper..."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 22:17)

3 Nephi 21

To those He visited in the Americas, the Savior said -

"...I give unto you a sign, that ye may know the time when these things shall be about to take place—that I shall gather in, from their long dispersion, my people, O house of Israel, and shall establish again among them my Zion...."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 21:1)

"...this is the thing which I will give unto you for a sign—for verily I say unto you that when these things which I declare unto you, and which I shall declare unto you hereafter of myself, and by the power of the Holy Ghost which shall be given unto you of the Father, shall be made known unto the Gentiles that they may know concerning this people who are a remnant of the house of Jacob, and concerning this my people who shall be scattered by them..."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 21:2)

The coming forth of the Book of Mormon is the sign...thus Israel is presently being gathered.

Also in fulfillment of this prophesy, in 1836, in the Kirtland Temple -

"...Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north".  (Doctrine and Covenants | Section 110:11)

3 Nephi 20

As I ponder an upcoming talk in stake conference on the topic of the "powers of heaven", I read this morning -

"...that which is written: Awake, awake again, and put on thy strength, O Zion..."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 20:36)

I believe putting on "thy strength" is being worthy and righteous to receive and exercise the powers of heaven.

3 Nephi 20

Talking of the gathering of Israel, the Savior said -

"...the powers of heaven shall be in the midst of this people; yea, even I will be in the midst of you."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 20:22)

My thoughts are that there are times the powers of heaven are converted to measurable and detectible physical powers that we tend to call miracles.  We see this as the Savior again taught the doctrine of the sacrament when

"...he brake bread again and blessed it, and gave to the disciples to eat.
4 And when they had eaten he commanded them that they should break bread, and give unto the multitude.
5 And when they had given unto the multitude he also gave them wine to drink, and commanded them that they should give unto the multitude.
6 Now, there had been no bread, neither wine, brought by the disciples, neither by the multitude..."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 20:3 - 6)

3 Nephi 19

Though we may not fully understand why Jesus's disciples in the Americas -

"...did pray unto Jesus, calling him their Lord and their God..."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 19:18)

...knowing that the Savior had already instructed -

"Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name..."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 18:19)

There is no question that throughout the Savior's ministry, there were many that praised Him, asked blessings of Him, inquired of Him, expressed gratitude to Him, and so forth.  In my mind, in a sense they did all "pray" to Him and worship Him.  Thus in my mind, Mormon used the word "pray".  The Savior Himself, in prayer, explained -

"...thou seest that they believe in me because thou hearest them, and they pray unto me; and they pray unto me because I am with them."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 19:22)

If the Savior was here today, I would worship him and vocally express my feelings and desires.

3 Nephi 18

As the Savior instituted the sacrament of the saints in the Americas -

"...he took of the bread and brake and blessed it; and he gave unto the Disciples and commanded that they should eat.
4 And when they had eaten and were filled, he commanded that they should give unto the multitude."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 18:3 - 4)

The Savior set the pattern of first acknowledging those that preside and under whom the sacrament is authorized.  And then He teaches of whom the sacrament is intended -

"And this shall ye always do to those who repent and are baptized in my name..."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 18:11)

The sacrament is again for the purpose of repentance and covenant making.

3 Nephi 16

Today is the last full day of a 10-stake priesthood encampment.  Our stake theme has been recognizing the influences of the Holy Ghost.  The Savior said to his disciples in the Americas –

“…blessed are the Gentiles, because of their belief in me, in and of the Holy Ghost, which witnesses unto them of me and of the Father.  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 16:6)


It is by the Holy Ghost that I know Jesus is the Christ,  Joseph Smith is the prophet of the restoration, and the Book of Mormon is the word of God.

3 Nephi 15

After the Savior shared that he had taught the Jews that he had other sheep that was not of the present fold, he told his disciples -

“…now, because of stiffneckedness and unbelief they understood not my word; therefore I was commanded to say no more of the Father concerning this thing unto them.”  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 15:18)

I find this a great example of the Savior being led by the Holy Ghost in what He should do and say.

3 Nephi 14

After teaching His doctrine and gospel, the Savior commanded –

“Enter ye in at the strait gate…”  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 14:13)

Adding –


“Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 14:14)


After describing those that choose their own gate and way, the Savior warns –


“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22  Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23  And then will I profess unto them: I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 14:21 - 23)


The Prophet Joseph Smith translated the New Testament to “ye never knew me”.

3 Nephi 13

The Savior taught in the Americas –

 “…when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.’  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 13:7)

I don’t believe the Savior is saying that we do not repeat much in our prayers.  Many of those things are our sincere desires.  I believe vain means emptiness, no thought of meaning or generousness.

3 Nephi 17

I find it ironic this morning that no sooner had I read -

"I perceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot understand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time.
3 Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds for the morrow, and I come unto you again."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 17:2 - 3)

This morning, shortly after I had read several verses, my mind seemed to wander to the doctrine of a message I shared in a week-long "Priesthood Encampment" I participated in all last week.

I think that this time at home, pondering the words of Christ leads us to personal revelation.

3 Nephi 12

Having now fulfilled the law of Moses, the Savior instructs -

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets.  I am not come to destroy but to fulfil;
18 For verily I say unto you, one jot nor one tittle hath not passed away from the law, but in me it hath all been fulfilled.
19 And behold, I have given you the law and the commandments of my Father, that ye shall believe in me, and that ye shall repent of your sins, and come unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit.  Behold, ye have the commandments before you, and the law is fulfilled."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 12:17 - 19)

In my mind, not destroying the law but fulfilling the law is all the righteous commandments are still in place, but those portion of the law pointing to the atonement are now fulfilled.  Meaning, for example, the ten commandments are still valid.

Amulek explained -

"...this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal."  (Book of Mormon | Alma 34:14)

3 Nephi 12

I read this morning -

"...blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 12:6)

I don't know why this touched me this morning.  I kept asking myself "do I hunger and thirst after righteousness"?  I know I greatly desire righteousness, but do I literally spiritually hunger and thirst for it.

Good question.  That is something I need to ponder and improve on.

3 Nephi 11

Referring back to just before the crucifixion of the Savior and the terrible day never known in all the land -

"...because of the wickedness of the people of Nephi, and their many contentions and dissensions..."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 2:18)

And as a result -

"...they did cause a great contention in the land, insomuch that the more righteous part of the people had nearly all become wicked; yea, there were but few righteous men among them."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 7:7)

Thus contention led to the fall and apostasy of many saints.  When the Savior came, the first principle He taught was that -

"...there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been.
29 For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.
30 Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away."  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 11:28 - 30)

Another sound warning.

3 Nephi 10

This morning, my thoughts are more of an observation.  As Mormon seems about ready to write about the Savior visiting the Americas, he abruptly writes -

"...Therefore for this time I make an end of my sayings."   (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 10:19)

I wonder what event suddenly seemed to arise that for some reason he had to make that statement and postpone his writings.

3 Nephi 8

Mormon takes a brief moment to teach an important doctrine...speaking of Nephi -

"....for he truly did many miracles in the name of Jesus; and there was not any man who could do a miracle in the name of Jesus save he were cleansed every whit from his iniquity—"  (Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 8:1)

In modern day, the Lord revealed -

"...the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness."  (Doctrine and Covenants | Section 121:36)

There is a direct correlation between miracles, the powers of heaven, and righteousness.