1 Nephi 13:33–34

33 Wherefore saith the Lamb of God: I will be merciful unto the Gentiles, unto the visiting of the remnant of the house of Israel in great judgment.

34 And it came to pass that the angel of the Lord spake unto me, saying: Behold, saith the Lamb of God, after I have visited the remnant of the house of Israel—and this remnant of whom I speak is the seed of thy father—wherefore, after I have visited them in judgment, and smitten them by the hand of the Gentiles, and after the Gentiles do stumble exceedingly, because of the most plain and precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which have been kept back by that abominable church, which is the mother of harlots, saith the Lamb—I will be merciful unto the Gentiles in that day, insomuch that I will bring forth unto them, in mine own power, much of my gospel, which shall be plain and precious, saith the Lamb.

I suppose if the Gentiles had the fullness of the gospel from the beginning, things may have been much different. In other words, instead of smiting the remnant of Lehi’s seed they might have tried to gather them in. The gospel has that effect on people—they seem to be more peaceable. However, the Lord needed them to smite the Lamanites, so he used these gentiles who were on a land quest to do the smiting. The gentiles, who were unaware that they acted out of ignorance, couldn’t really be punished for playing that role. When they were done and the Lord’s purpose was accomplished, then He revealed much of His gospel to the Lamanites through the gentiles in His mercy.

• 1 Nephi 14:1 (1–3)
• 2 Nephi 26:20