The Book of Mormon, it's the BOM: Lamanites Grinded to Powder (2 Nephi 26)

Up yonder is a photo of a toy fort set. I dreamed about having a set of Lincoln Logs when I was a kid, and would most definitely have built me a fort with 'em. I was a deprived child, however, and had to make due with my beloved Tonka Trucks.

Forts were pretty common back in the old days. In all of the old cowboys and Indians movies, the cavalry usually stayed safe inside the walls of their forts until they were called on to mount up and move out, usually to save some poor, helpless idiots trying to farm in Monument Valley, Utah and Arizona.

American Indians used to be portrayed on the big screen as murdering, barbarous savages who deserved a good butt kickin'. We have at least a somewhat better idea of the true history nowadays (Gnadenhutten massacre).

The Book of Mormon peoples known as the Lamanites are the ancestors of the modern indigenous people of North, Central and South America. Nephi talks about them in 2 Nephi 26.

2 Nephi 26: 14-15

14. But behold, I prophesy unto you concerning the last days; concerning the days when The Lord God shall bring these things forth unto the children of men.

15. After my seed and the seed of my brethren shall have dwindled in unbelief, and shall have been smitten by the Gentiles; yea after The Lord God shall have camped against them round about, and shall have laid siege against them with a mount, and raised forts against them; and after they shall have been brought down low in the dust, even that they are not, yet the words of the righteous shall be written, and the prayers of the faithful shall be heard, and all those who have dwindled in unbelief shall not be forgotten.

I think it's interesting that Nephi used the word "forts". Anywayz, these verses make it sound like the atrocities committed against these Native peoples was The Lord's will. I do not. Once again, just like back when I wrote in a blog post about the persecution of the Jews, these are prophecies of things that were to happen to his people, not God's wrath come shooting out of the sky. That's how I see it, anywayz.

Poor Nephi was shown the future of his people, and it didn't look good. It must have been heartbreaking for him to know such beautiful truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to know that Jesus Christ Himself will visit his people shortly after he is crucified for them, and then also know that they will nearly all be destroyed within 400 years of that miracle, all because of their thick skulls.

2 Nephi 26: 1-3, 7, 9, 24

1. And after Christ shall have risen from the dead He shall show Himself unto you, my children, and my beloved brethren; and the words which He shall speak unto you shall be the law which ye shall do.

2. For behold, I say unto you that I have beheld that many generations shall pass away, and there shall be great wars and contentions among my people.

3. And after the Messiah shall come there shall be signs given unto my people of His birth, and also of His death and resurrection; and great and terrible shall that day be unto the wicked, for they shall perish; and they perish because they cast out the prophets, and the saints, and stone them, and slay them; wherefore the cry of the blood of the saints shall ascend up to God from the ground against them.

And just to emphasize his point about the Nephites destruction, verse 7 is one of my favorite quotes from the BOM:

7. And they that kill the prophets, and the saints, the depths of the earth shall swallow them up, saith The Lord of Hosts; and mountains shall cover them, and whirlwinds shall carry them away, and buildings shall fall upon them and crush them to pieces and grind them to powder.

9. O the pain, and the anguish of my soul for the loss of the slain of my people! For I, Nephi, have seen it, and it well nigh consumeth me before the presence of The Lord; but I must cry unto my God: Thy ways are just.

I feel bad for Nephi. But, Nephi is blessed with Eternal Perspective, the light of the Gospel, and an understanding of The Lord's plan of salvation.

24. He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for He loveth the world, even that He layeth down His own life that He may draw all men unto Him. Wherefore, He commandeth none that they shall not partake of His salvation.

I actually have a friend who, about 20 years ago, told me that he thought that God wouldn't want him in His heaven. It was a low point for the poor fella. Good thing I knew about a nice scripture in the BOM that ridiculocized his self deprecating thoughts. My buddy is doing great now. You can always find answers in the scriptures, though not always so clear as that one was.

POP QUIZ