1 Nephi 19: 14

14 And because they turn their hearts aside, saith the prophet, and have despised the Holy One of Israel, they shall wander in the flesh, and perish, and become a hiss and a byword, and be hated among all nations.

Matthew records the Savior teaching that the first and great commandment is to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37). Today we might say devotion, strength and effort, and thought in place of heart, soul, and mind. Soul and mind have to do with keeping the commandments, or in other words, controlling our thoughts and actions. (According to D&C 88:15, “the spirit and the body are the soul of man,” and I believe that is the sense of the word “soul” used in Matthew.) The heart has to do with our devotion, controlling our thoughts and actions for the right reasons. Even if we do the right things, if it is for the wrong reason, such as personal gain, or out of compulsion it does us no good, and doesn’t count (see 1 Corinthians 13:1–3, and D&C 58:26–29, and D&C 64:34).

So the Jews, by turning their hearts aside, in other words, their devotion to the Lord, could have kept every single point of the Law of Moses for the wrong reason. And it would have gotten them exactly nowhere. The scriptures, and particularly the New Testament, are full of verses relating to the relationship between faith and works. In my mind faith has to do with the heart. So when we perform even noble works without faith, with a heart that is turned away like the Jews in Jerusalem that Nephi is talking about, we run the danger of those works not being counted for righteousness. Because they turned their devotion away from their God, such that they killed Him, there were bound to be consequences. Their consequence was that they would “wander in the flesh,” which could have to do with not having a country of their own, but I take to mean that they would live in a state of apostasy while here on earth. They would perish. Everyone dies, but the term “perish” carries with it a violent connotation. They wouldn’t simply die, but they would be destroyed or die a violent death. Nephi also prophesied that they would “become a hiss and a byword, and be hated among all nations.” This ridicule and hatred has certainly been evident down through the ages. And they brought it all on themselves by turning their hearts aside. I will take that as a lesson for my own life, so that I will strive to keep my heart true to the Lord, and not turn it aside.

• 1 Kings 9:7 (6–7)
• 1 Nephi 22:5
• Mosiah 14:3 (3–6)

1 Nephi 19: 13

13 And as for those who are at Jerusalem, saith the prophet, they shall be scourged by all people, because they crucify the God of Israel, and turn their hearts aside, rejecting signs and wonders, and the power and glory of the God of Israel.

This is certainly a prophecy that has been, and is still being fulfilled. I doubt there has been, any group of people that has been more hated and persecuted down the generations than the Jews, unless it is people with dark skin of just about any race. It all goes back to this prophecy and others like it, along with the fact that the Jews crucified their God, the God of Israel. Some people might dispute that they are the most persecuted, and claim instead that black people of African descent have been more hated. One could make a strong argument to that point; certainly there has been plenty of hate for both groups. There are similarities between them as well. For example, the Jews have maintained their unique identity just as surely as black people of African descent have. However, a major difference between black people and Jews is that Jews the ancestors of today’s Jews chose this persecution, while black people are born with their distinguishing skin color.

When the Jews had Christ crucified, they sealed their fate, and prophecies about them being singled out for persecution were set in motion by their own choice. Surely they were aware of these prophecies. They had to have known, as much as they studied their scriptures, what the consequences would be for this crucifixion. In fact, there is some hint that they did know, and did it anyway. Matthew records that when Pilate washed his hands of the whole thing, all the people said, “His blood be on us, and on our children” (Matthew 27:25 emphasis added). They knowingly sealed their own fate, and actually requested this punishment for their children after them. What kind of person does it take to knowingly and willingly pass responsibility for this kind of thing to their children? And they didn’t crucify him ignorantly. They knew exactly whom they were murdering. The Joseph Smith Translation of the Matthew 23:36 specifically makes a distinction between the ancient Jews persecuting the prophets and those of Christ’s generation. He said the ancients “did it through ignorance, but ye do not.” So, ignoring the signs and wonders, ignoring the displays of their God’s power and glory, they crucified him, but it was not out of ignorance. So, as they requested, they and their generations after them, paid the price for their wickedness.

• Matthew 23:38 (37–39) also JST vs. 36
• Matthew 27:25

1 Nephi 19: 12

12 And all these things must surely come, saith the prophet Zenos. And the rocks of the earth must rend; and because of the groanings of the earth, many of the kings of the isles of the sea shall be wrought upon by the Spirit of God, to exclaim: The God of nature suffers.

In following the cross references printed in my Book of Mormon for this and the last few verses, I get the feeling that prophesies about, and records of the destructions at the time of Christ’s crucifixion are all throughout the canon of scriptures. I have not made a formal study of this, but I’m sure that events and doctrines surrounding the Atonement of Christ, including these destructions at His crucifixion, are the most recorded of single topics found in the scriptures. After all, the purpose of all scripture is to testify of Christ and His mission.

I find fascinating the statement in this verse that “because of the groanings of the earth, many of the kings of the isles of the sea shall be wrought upon by the Spirit of God, to exclaim: The God of nature suffers.” This is interesting because the kings got it. They understood that it was a divine cause making all the destructions. It could just as easily be that they got it from superstition. The scriptures we have are a record of God’s dealings with Israel, but surely there were others in the world worshipping God the best they knew how in sincerity who were not Israelites. The fact that this verse exclaims that the God of nature suffers is interesting. The word “God” is capitalized the way references to the God of Israel usually is, but He is not referred to as the God of Israel, etc. So it’s a bit unclear who these people on the isles of the sea worshipped.

• Matthew 27:51 (51–54)
• 3 Nephi 10:11
• Moses 7:56 (48–56)

1 Nephi 19: 11

11 For thus spake the prophet: The Lord God surely shall visit all the house of Israel at that day, some with his voice, because of their righteousness, unto their great joy and salvation, and others with the thunderings and the lightnings of his power, by tempest, by fire, and by smoke, and vapor of darkness, and by the opening of the earth, and by mountains which shall be carried up.

Nephi quotes one of those prophets, Zenos (see vs. 12), of whom we don’t have any other record. So we get a taste of just how plain his prophecies are of the Savior. This is very clear and plain to understand. All of these forms of testimony came to pass at the Lord’s crucifixion. All of them are recorded as happening in the Americas, so I assume they all happened to others of the tribe of Israel who had been scattered.

The Lord will communicate (testify) with you in whatever form will get your attention. Some hear his voice “because of their righteousness,” probably because they will listen and hear it. For those who will not listen to that, He has the forces of nature at his disposal to get their attention. That doesn’t mean that every natural disaster is evidence that the Lord is trying to get your attention, but it certainly testifies that He controls these elements, and he could use them. Laman and Lemuel found that out while they had Nephi tied up during the sea crossing. If the Lord has to resort to violent natural phenomena to get your attention, you may be too late to get your life in order. I think He would much rather talk with His voice than with a storm. It reminds me of when the prophet Elijah was hiding out in a cave, and when the Lord wanted to talk to him. He used a still, small voice instead of the wind, earthquake, or fire (1 Kings 19:11–12). I suspect that He would much rather use the still, small voice with us as well. We just need to also be still and quiet so we can hear it.

• Helaman 14:21 (20–27)
• 3 Nephi 8:6 (5–23)
• 3 Nephi 9:1 (1–22)
• 3 Nephi 10:13 (13–14)

1 Nephi 19: 10

10 And the God of our fathers, who were led out of Egypt, out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him, yea, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, yieldeth himself, according to the words of the angel, as a man, into the hands of wicked men, to be lifted up, according to the words of Zenock, and to be crucified, according to the words of Neum, and to be buried in a sepulchre, according to the words of Zenos, which he spake concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea, more especially given unto those who are of the house of Israel.

Clearly we are missing some pretty plain and precious prophecies about the Savior in the Bible. There are writings of prophets mentioned there that are not found in our Bible. Which makes me wonder about those who claim the Bible to be a complete, perfect and/or infallible document. Doesn’t make sense to me. Anyway, it doesn’t seem to me that this accounts for all of the prophets mentioned in this verse. So I wonder if the prophets Zenock and Zenos were prophets sent specifically to the Northern Kingdom, and were only recorded in the brass plates, which could possibly have been the official record just for them, not for the tribe of Judah. Maybe their prophecies never made it to the Jews’ record because these prophets were never sent to the Jews in Jerusalem, only to the tribes of the Northern Kingdom.

• Matthew 27:60
• Luke 23:53
• 1 Nephi 12:4 (4–5)
• 2 Nephi 6:9
• 2 Nephi 9:5
• 2 Nephi 10:3
• 2 Nephi 25:13
• 2 Nephi 26:12
• Mosiah 3:9
• Mosiah 7:19
• Alma 33:15
• Alma 34:7
• Helaman 8:20 (19–20)
• Helaman 14:27 (20, 27)
• 3 Nephi 8:19 (3, 19–23)
• 3 Nephi 10:9
• 3 Nephi 10:16 (15–16)
• 3 Nephi 11:14 (14–15)
• 3 Nephi 27:14

1 Nephi 19: 9

9 And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.

My comments here, on the surface, may seem to contradict Nephi’s statement that “the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge [the Lord] to be a thing of naught.” However, what I would like to do is draw a distinction between different kinds of disdain, as expressed by the world’s wicked. A thing of naught would be something with no value, or worthless. If something is truly of no value to someone, whether righteous or wicked, it is merely discarded. That’s why we get rid of trash. But just because trash has no value to us (not even touching on the subject of what one person decides is trash, another finds to be of value), does not mean that we complain or abuse it. We don’t get angry at the trash; we simply remove it without a lot of emotional investment or drama.

That’s all well and good for things, but it’s a bit different when it comes to people. A person who is judged as a “thing of naught” is usually ignored. This can be seen in the case of homeless people or beggars. Most people ignore them until they become a threat of some sort to safety or comfort, etc. This is when you start to see a division in how things of naught are treated. Those on the Lord’s side are more likely to deal with the situation in a loving and respectful way. Those on Satan’s side (those committing iniquity) are more likely to be abusive, whether physically or emotionally, but the same level of respect will less likely be shown.

In Christ’s case, even though the world doesn’t value His teachings, they can’t ignore the threat He is to their way of life. So the level of abuse goes up. The wicked will never be able to stop the gospel message; the best they can do is stop the messengers. That’s why so many prophets die a martyr’s death. For the Savior, just killing him wasn’t enough. They had to abuse him first by scourging him, smiting him, and spitting upon him. If He were truly a thing of no value to them, they probably would have simply ignored him, being beneath them. But Christ represents the biggest threat that ever lived to Satan and those who do iniquity. That’s why I say that the gospel message may have been of no value to them, but Christ himself needed to be dealt with. He was a threat, not a thing of naught.

1 Nephi 19: 8

8 And behold he cometh, according to the words of the angel, in six hundred years from the time my father left Jerusalem.

One of the differences between the Lord’s first and second coming is the nature of the prophecies about it. Nephi says here that the angel told him that Christ would come 600 years after Lehi left Jerusalem. Later, in 2 Nephi, he gives the same timetable, but this was “according to the words of the prophets” (2 Nephi 25:19). So in the First Coming, the Lord gave a fairly precise time that people cold look to for His coming into the world. It appears that the scribes and Pharisees, who gave Christ such a hard time during His mortal ministry, were not the sincere students of scripture as they considered themselves to be, or at least tried to convince people they were. Clearly there were some at the time who knew Christ had come (Simeon and Anna—Luke 2: 25–32, 36–38). Yet even though the scholars knew where (Matthew 2: 4–6), and the wise men confirmed when (Matthew 2: 7, 16), they still crucified him. So the First Coming was well documented, or prophesied as to when it would occur.

The Second Coming, however, is much less precise. Thanks to John’s book of Revelations, we have the general time (opening of the 7^th seal—Revelation chapter 8), but that’s about as close as we come to a time frame for the Second Coming. In fact, we are told several times that nobody knows the time of His Coming (see D&C 49: 7 for an example). So why the difference in the type of information given? It’s tempting to simply say that we live in a time different from any other, and for some reason that makes the difference. But they obviously needed faith to accept Christ during His mortal ministry, just as we accept His Second Coming by faith. I’m not sure I have the answer to this right now.

• 1 Nephi 10: 4 (4–11)
• 2 Nephi 25: 19
• 3 Nephi 1:1 (1–21)