Remembering The Covenant: The Gentiles

The following post has been a labor of love over several years. By the time I finished it was 17 pages in a Google Doc. With no real way to cut it down and an acknowledgement that no one is likely to read a 17 page blog post I'm cutting it up to publish it in several parts (7 in total) in order to make it more likely that you'll reach the end. 😉

Part 1 can be read here: Remembering the Covenant: The Prophecy

This is Part 2: The Gentiles.

The Gentiles

So. Who are these Gentiles who are meant to have such an impact on the scattered remnant of the Jews that they accept Jesus as their Redeemer and their God? Let’s keep reading.

And 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.

Behold because of their belief in me, saith the Father, and because of the unbelief of you, O house of Israel, in the latter day shall the truth come unto the Gentiles, that the fulness of these things shall be made known unto them.

3 Nephi 16:6-7

According to this, the Gentiles are those who are not considered descendent from Israel to whom God will reveal truth “in the latter day[s]” because of their belief in Jesus Christ through the ministering of the Holy Ghost. Though vague and rather unspecific this may sound, if we continue reading we will gain more clues into who specifically these Gentiles are. Given the two notions we already have (that they are those who are not descendent from Israel and they believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior of mankind) we can already fairly accurately narrow our attention to the peoples of western Europe: those nations conquered by Rome who accepted and embraced the doctrines of salvation when they received them.

To Fulfill the Covenant

There is a key element in Jesus’ statement in verse 7 above that we should consider a bit closer as it relates to identifying the Gentiles and understanding their role in restoring the Jews to a belief in Jesus Christ. In order for God to fulfill His covenant with the house of Israel He must first reveal truth – or a set of truths – to mankind which we were somehow previously missing, either because we lost it or because we never had it in the first place. This truth, according to Jesus, is meant to come first to the Gentiles and not His covenant people.

According to this passage, it is because of their belief in Jesus Christ as the Savior of mankind that makes the Gentiles the chosen candidates to receive the future revealed truth instead of to the Jews. Since the covenant is with the house of Israel and not the Gentiles, that truth will then be delivered by the Gentiles who have that new truth to the house of Israel who are scattered throughout the world, a fulfillment of the promise that the first shall be last and the last shall be first (see Matthew 19:30, Matthew 20:16, Mark 10:31, Luke 13:30, 1 Nephi 13:42, Ether 13:12). This sharing of revealed truth will then be the catalyst for inaugurating the return of the house of Israel to a belief in Jesus Christ that is necessary – even required – for them to be gathered back in to their places of inheritance and for Jesus to begin the fulfillment of the Father’s covenant with the Patriarchs.

Getting More Specific

But there’s more to understand about these Gentiles than just their belief in Jesus Christ and a future revelation of truth to them:

But wo, saith the Father, unto the unbelieving of the Gentiles—for notwithstanding they have come forth upon the face of this land, and have scattered my people who are of the house of Israel; and my people who are of the house of Israel have been cast out from among them, and have been trodden under feet by them;

And because of the mercies of the Father unto the Gentiles, and also the judgments of the Father upon my people who are of the house of Israel, verily, verily, I say unto you, that after all this, and I have caused my people who are of the house of Israel to be smitten, and to be afflicted, and to be slain, and to be cast out from among them, and to become hated by them, and to become a hiss and a byword among them—

3 Nephi 16:8-9

This makes it actually quite clear who Jesus is speaking of when He refers to the Gentiles in this prophecy.

“This land,” refers to the American continents. Even a cursory understanding of the Book of Mormon makes that much clear.

The “people who are of the house of Israel” who lived upon this land are those of the native American peoples who are descendent from Lehi and Mulek and those who came with them.

And those who have “come forth upon the face of this land, and have scattered my people who are of the house of Israel” are the peoples of western Europe – whose nations predominantly identified themselves at the time as Christian of one denomination or another – who came across the ocean to settle and colonize this land. When they came they by and large fought, abused, slaughtered, and pushed the native peoples in the Americas until those native peoples no longer had place in or right to their own lands and homes – and sometimes even ways of life – in a way that “scattering” is the best word to describe what took place. All too accurate was the prophecy of Lehi, that if other nations knew of this land they “would overrun [it], that there would be no place for an inheritance.” (2 Nephi 1:8) In the years since those native peoples were “trodden under [foot]” by the people of western Europe and the newly founded United States of America those native people have sadly become “a hiss and a byword” indeed among those who scattered them. And all this because the Lord allowed – indeed He says He “caused” – it to happen.

A Pause To Sum Up

So, to sum up, the Gentiles in this prophecy are:

• The people not descendant from Israel in faith or lineage who:
  • Colonize the Americas
  • Scatter the native peoples living there and otherwise mistreat them
  • Some of whom will believe in Jesus Christ because of the influence of the Holy Ghost
  • Some of whom will not

These are the Gentiles to whom God will reveal truth so important it has the power to convert the house of Israel back to a belief and faith in Jesus Christ as their promised Messiah and King.

To be continued in Part 3: Modern Prophets . . .

This is the end of Part 2: The Gentiles.