08 Book of Mormon Podcast 2012 by Mike Stroud 1 Nephi 14 (Transcribed by Carol Crisp)

Transcription

1 08 Book of Mormon Podcast 2012 by Mike Stroud 1 Nephi 14 (Transcribed by Carol Crisp) First Nephi Chapter 14: Ending up Nephi's vision. Let's start with the first verse. 1 And it shall come to pass, that if the Gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day that he shall manifest himself unto them in word, and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks The gentiles are talking about who, in the last days? The people that the church is restored to. What are the stumbling blocks, that he promises to take away, if they'll harken to the Lamb of God? What are these stumbling blocks in the latter days are? What is it that keeps people from accepting the gospel, when the restoration is presented to them? Student: One stumbling block is your lack of willingness to change what you're doing. People hate change, and they also love their vices. Another one is pride. Mike: Excellent. Also, what we talked about in Chapter 13 (vs. 29), you can see the word 'stumble' there, as a tie-in. The stumbling there is because of a loss of covenants, and the plainness that was originally in the words of the apostles. It's the perversion of the Bible. (29 And after these plain and precious things were taken away it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles; and after it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles, yea, even across the many waters which thou hast seen with the Gentiles which have gone forth out of captivity, thou seest because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book, which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men, according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, an exceedingly great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them.) See those words in vs. 29? 'An exceedingly great many do stumble and then Satan hath great power'. So, in the JST, he restores the truth, and in the coming forth of the Book of Mormon there are additional witnesses that Jesus is the Christ. That would remove those stumbling blocks, as well as the ones you mentioned, Steve, which are very real. 2 And harden not their hearts against the Lamb of God, they shall be (and here are some promises) (1) numbered among the seed of thy father; (Another part of that is, that they will enjoy the rights and privileges that belong to the fathers: Abraham back, which are the rights of the priesthood, the rights of the temple, and the rights that belong to eternal life. They'll be numbered among the House of Israel. A lot of these gentiles have the blood of Israel in them. There are some people, I assume fewer and fewer in the latter days, that don't have any of that blood. So, they are what Joseph Smith referred to them as a pure gentile. If one of those people accepts the gospel, the Holy Ghost literally causes a physical change in them, to where that old blood, so to speak, is purged out and they are adopted into the House of Israel. Now, that is if a person is a pure gentile and has none of the blood of Israel in them, that's intermixed throughout all the nations. You and I in here, we're not in that situation. We have some of the blood of Israel flowing in our veins, and when a patriarch lays his hands upon our head, he declares that lineage.) (2) yea, they shall be numbered among the house of Israel; and (3) they shall be a blessed people upon the promised land forever; (That promised land here mentioned is talking about America, but in reality, the promised land could have greater implications. Right now, the promised land for the Philippines is anywhere there is a Stake, where there are priesthood keys, and in this case, we have a temple here. So, a promised land is anywhere that you can access the promises. That just dawned on me. I've never thought of why we call somewhere a 'promised land'. And, the promises we talk about are 'exceeding great and precious promises'. They're all tied with the priesthood and the temples. So, the land that's promised, would be a land that gives you access to the covenants, or ordinances, or promises and blessings of the priesthood. So, the Philippines is really a promised land because we now have two temples, with a third one in construction. That's a kind of a way of looking at it, that I hadn't done before. That feels good to me, and I had never thought about it before regarding 'promised land'.) (4) they shall be no more brought down into captivity; (That has both physical and spiritual implications. In the USA, our blessings and being in that blessed land is, that we have never, ever been brought down into physical captivity or subjection by foreign nations. That promise is only conditional though. There is a promise in 2 Nephi that says if we don't watch our step, the Lord will allow other nations to come here and take possession of our land. Notice these promises are conditional: 'if they harden not their heart against the Son'. Maybe we should say, "Since the founding of America, and the freedom documents ie. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, we've not been attacked and subjected by foreign powers." That's a better way of putting it.) (5) and the house of Israel shall no more be confounded. What do you think that means? How have they been confounded in the past? Student: They've been led astray by their religious leaders. Mike: So, would a good word for 'confounded' be 'led into apostasy'? Here's a little promise that comes throughout the B of M. There is a trap by the great and abominable church, they call it "the great pit" in 1 Nephi 14:3. 3 And that great pit, which hath been digged for them by that great and abominable church, which was founded by the devil and his children, that he might lead away the souls of men down to hell yea, that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who digged it, unto their utter destruction, saith the Lamb of God; not the destruction of the soul, save it be the casting of it into that hell which hath no end. Later on in Chapter 22 it doesn't say "men", it says "saints". So, in that verse, it specifically targets the saints and the House of Israel. Let's go on over there to vs. 13. And the blood of that great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall turn upon their own heads; for they shall war among themselves, and the sword of their own

2 hands shall fall upon their own heads, and they shall be drunken with their own blood. Keep your finger here and go back to 14:3. It's referencing that, because it says, "that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who digged it unto their utter destruction". See that? So now, we come back to 22:13 where it says, " they shall be drunken with their own blood", "the sword of their own hands shall fall upon their own heads". What causes this is an implosion. So what happens here is that the wicked are ending up killing themselves. So, they dig a pit, they make a war against the Saints of God, the House of Israel, and that war ends up turning on their own heads, and they fall into the pit that they digged. Student: You see that now in the world. You see the Shiites and Sunnis massacring each other, and they definitely hate Israel. You see the Catholics and the Protestants warring against each other in Ireland, for I don't know how long, now. So, yea, you're seeing these things happening now. Mike: Good point. Now, over in 1 Nephi 22, the trigger that turns them against themselves is in vs. 14. What is it that causes them to turn against themselves? And every nation which shall war against thee, O house of Israel, shall be turned one against another, and they shall fall into the pit which they digged to ensnare the people of the Lord. (So, the pit right here is not just men in general, but the people that are falling into the pit that they dig it for, are the people of God. All that fight against--and not just the House of Israel--but, now we get more specific. Zion shall be destroyed.) And all that fight against Zion shall be destroyed, and that great whore, who hath perverted the right ways of the Lord, yea, that great and abominable church, shall tumble to the dust and great shall be the fall of it. So, what's the trigger that causes the fall of the great and abominable church? What is that causes them to attack themselves, fall upon themselves, and eventually, just destroy themselves? Student: Is it because they start fighting against Zion? Mike: That's exactly right, and against the House of Israel, and against the covenant people of the Lord. So, when you see this in a general way, when warfare is declared in a general way, against the people of God, against the saints of God, against the covenant people, against the members of the church. At that point, you'll start to see an implosion. The wicked will start to destroy themselves. So, ultimately, what causes the fall of the great and abominable church is that they make war against the saints of God. Student: What do you think the pit is, that they are talking about? Mike: Good question. What do you think? Student: Well, to me, in the Philippines, it's the Catholic Church influence over people. Saying that can be no divorce is trapping people into loveless marriages, or the abandonment of families and immorality. Mike: Generally, what do you think that great pit would be, that the devil prepares, to ensnare and trap the people of the Lord? Sis. Stroud: I agree with Steve that it's going to be a little different for everybody and every person. It doesn't have to be the same thing, because the pit is the pit that entraps and ensnares you. It's just something that takes you away from the light and truth of the gospel. Mike: A little later in this chapter we see that things are divided into two areas, and maybe that will help us understand it. Let's look at 14:5. And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, Nephi, saying: Thou hast beheld that if the Gentiles repent it shall be well with them; and thou also knowest concerning the covenants of the Lord unto the house of Israel; and thou also hast heard that whoso repenteth not must perish. Let's look at what the B of M calls the great gentile nation of the earth, which is the USA. Nephi says that if we repent, it will be well with us. How are we doing on that? Not too good. Student: Someone told me that 9-11 was a call to repentance in America. Sis. Stroud: I would consider that, because a lot of people in America did change, and want to pull together, and then 6-8 months later, they were back to normal. Mike: Let's go to Ether 2:7-12. There are some great promises made concerning the land of promise, and these are probably the greatest verses given on the promises made to the United States of America for the latter days, of anywhere in scripture. 7 And the Lord would not suffer that they (the Jaredites) should stop beyond the sea in the wilderness, but he would that they should come forth even unto the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people. (There is your first key. The land is blessed and promised if the people remain righteous. I was reading the other day that the Constitution of the U.S. only functions as a freedom document, based on the morality of the people. A republican form of government with a constitutional document only blesses the people, if the people remain moral. So, if the morality of the people starts to slip, you lose the Constitution, you lose the republican form of government, and you slip into a more dictatorial, totalitarian form of control. So, there's our key right there--it's conditional.) 8 And he had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them. (A couple of key words there are, the land remains a land of promise if we serve him, the true and only God. The USA has always been, up until recently, has not been ashamed to profess that all of the foundations of the

3 USA were based upon Judeo-Christian principles. In other words, Bible principles. We've moved away from that now. Anything Judeo or Christian in the U.S. has been largely removed and is continuing to be removed.) Sis. Stroud: I was going to say light and truth cannot exist against the evil one, so when the evil one pursues, then light recedes. Mike: Notice that in the promise, there are two words there. If we don't serve the only true and living God, those who live on the land would be swept off. That's an interesting statement. It's like a broom! Sis. Stroud: That's in the fullness of His wrath. It's like cleansing the temple. He knocks all the tables over and scatters the pigeons and the coins, he swept off the temple. Student: See, this is a portend of things that could come, but it's also them being swept of their resolutions. Mike: This has happened two times. The American Indians are an ethnic group, but the total populations being removed has already happened here. The Jaredites and the Nephites have been swept off. You have two huge civilizations that numbered in the millions of people, that are extinct. They have been swept off. 9 And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity. (Here we have the same thing. Whenever the Lord says basically the same things within the same verse or close by, it is very important! He is saying basically the same thing here. Either you serve God, or you are swept off. This one adds a little dimension. It tells you what level you need to come to in iniquity, before you are swept off. The last words in vs. 9 are when you are ripened in iniquity.) Sis. Stroud: It also says he will come in the fulness of his wrath, which is more than a 'portion of his wrath'. He says 'in the fulness of his wrath' three times. So, he is really ticked off! Mike: And we're talking now, not about the Jaredites, and we're not talking about the Nephites, because it is Moroni writing this right here. And, as Moroni writes these words here in these verses, the Nephite battles have already taken place. So, now, Moroni is editing and abridging the plates of Ether, and making commentaries between. So, this is a commentary by Moroni. The Nephites are gone, so this is for us. These verses are talking about the USA in the latter days. 10 For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off. Mike: Let's go back and look, from vs. 8 through vs. 10, the words "swept off" are mentioned four times. Other words that are mentioned: "fulness of iniquity" or "ripened in iniquity" and "fulness of the wrath of God". Sis. Stroud: And you know what else is mentioned several times? "Serve God", mentioned three times. So, if you don't serve, you're going to be swept. 11 And this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, (As we read vs. 11, we need to say, this is to me in 2012, in particular, the United States of America. This sweeping off is a cleansing. So, what we're going to see, the Lord says, 'if you don't serve me, then you will be cleansed. I'm going to clean this land. I'm afraid we're right on the cusp of this cleansing of America. So, what we're reading about here, I think, is to be fulfilled pretty soon. We're already in the beginning stages of it.) that ye may know the decrees of God that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done. (Jaredites and Nephites. Vs. 12 is the great summary of it.) 12 Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written. So, who is the God of America? Jesus Christ is. The promise there is, if we will serve Him, we will be free from bondage and captivity, and from all from all other nations on earth. I worry about that. Let's go back now, to 1 Nephi 14, and you can see the promises that are upon the land of promise, the covenants, the prophesies that have been made. Let's look at vs. 7: For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men; a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds unto their being brought down into captivity, and also into destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil, of which I have spoken. Notice "the great and marvelous work" that is mentioned. Another place in Isaiah it is referred to as "a marvelous work and a wonder". You ask yourself what that is. In the church we teach that that is the restoration of the gospel. It certainly is that. We also teach that the coming forth of the B of M is a marvelous work and a wonder, and it surely is. Ultimately, the greatest "marvelous work and a wonder" the Lord comes out here and says, is to deliver his people to peace and life eternal. I think that one of the greatest signs of the 'marvelous work and a wonder' in our day, and yet future, will be the establishment of Zion and the building up of the New Jerusalem, and the ultimate deliverance of God's people, through powers of the priesthood and the power of the doctrine of translation. Let's look at vs. 8: And it came to pass that when the angel had spoken these words, he said unto me: Rememberest thou the covenants of the Father unto the house of Israel? (We're going to talk about that today.) I said unto him, Yea.

4 9 And it came to pass that he said unto me: Look, and behold that great and abominable church, which is the mother of abominations, whose founder is the devil. Now, here's the question. Why would he say, "Rememberest thou the covenants of the Father unto the house of Israel?" Then, the next thing that he shows them is the great and abominable church. Why that sequence? Student talks about the commandments and the covenants that were made, and now look and see what's happened. Mike: Very good, excellent. Let's go to vs. 10: And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth. Let's talk about these two churches. We already talked about the great and abominable church. We decided that that is anything that keeps you from coming to Christ, entering into a covenant with Him, and enjoying all the blessings that are associated with a covenant relationship: priesthood, temple, etc. Anything that keeps you from that. What's the church that is the Lamb of God? Student: That's the Church of the Firstborn. Mike: Why did you say that, and not The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Student: Because, at this time, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not exist. Mike: He's looking into the future. Student: He's looking into the future, but it does apply to everybody who has ever existed. So, from Adam on up, it has to be that church. Mike: Okay, that's pretty good. Let's see if you are right. Let's go to vs. 11: And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the whore of all the earth, and she sat upon many waters; (What does that mean? It's a global thing. So, wherever this great Satanic, conspiracy organization is, it's everywhere.) and she had dominion over all the earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people. 12 And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw. So, let's look at: Can the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in one way, be considered the Lamb of God, in this vision, remembering that there are different levels? It can. Are the numbers of the membership of the church few in comparison with the population of the world? Yes. And, before the second coming, will they ever exceed the number of the members of the great and abominable church? No, they won't. The scripture goes on, and the reason the numbers are few is because of the wickedness and abominations of the world. People are just not going to join in masses. Look what happens, when they do join in the Philippines. We have 500,000 that joined, and left. Why? Because of the wickedness and abominations of the world. People leave because of the influence of this great whore conspiracy. Vs. 12 is interesting. And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth;(can those saints be members of the Church of the Firstborn? Absolutely.) and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw. So, we take it two levels here. Let's go to vs. 13: And it came to pass that I beheld that the great mother of abominations did gather together multitudes upon the face of all the earth, among all the nations of the Gentiles, to fight against the Lamb of God. 14 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb,(So, could we say that the power of the Lamb of God is found within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Sure. That's priesthood power. So, looking at these things at different levels, let's keep going on it. Let's say that right now we're talking about the LDS church. Keep reading.) and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory. That right there starts to be a qualifier. Notice that it says, 'looked upon the Church of the Lamb of God, and upon the covenanted people who were scattered upon all the face of the earth', so, their numbers are few, but they're everywhere. But, now we come down to where we qualify not just with the power of the Lamb of God, but they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory. I think this is covering a whole spectrum of time. I think it's covering a time from the restoration, where the power of God was held in the hands of six men at the Peter Whitmer farm in 1830, and when Joseph said, "You have no more idea of the destiny of this church than a babe in its' mothers' arms, it will fill the whole earth. So, I think what we're doing when we talk about the Church of the Lamb of God, is that it goes in levels as time goes by, but ultimately, when we get towards the time of the Second Coming, in order for a group of righteousness to be armed with the power of God in great glory, I think you're going to have to have the fulness of the Melchizedek Priesthood. That will be men and women who are called up, chosen and elected, and made sure. So, I think this whole thing is talking about a succession of events, that go bit by bit, until we come down. I also believe, from what I've read, is that in order for the members of the church to get through the wrath and fire of the latter days, that they will have to be called up, chosen, elected and made sure, just so they can be armed with that great glory. When I see that it says that they are 'armed', that tells me that it is a weapon. This weapon of righteousness and great glory and the power of God, I don't know that we see that in any great amount among the priesthood right now. The priesthood of the church, right

5 now, in 2012, even though it is 'awakening', I believe that Satan has been, and according to President Benson, he says Satan has been very very successful in neutralizing the priesthood of the church. That's the word he used. So, if that's from President Benson's statement, when he was speaking in the late 80's, and we're talking about a group of people here who are armed with righteousness, the power of God in great glory. We go from, basically, a neutralized group of priesthood bearers in the late '80's, to where we're talking about here, and we can see a succession of events. I don't think that being armed with the power of righteousness and power of God and great glory comes, unless you're called up, elected and made sure, sealed by the Father in your forehead. Student talked about the levels in the church, being worthy to serve a mission, and on up. Let's skip to vs. 17. Again, it's talking about what we talked about in the beginning of the lesson. And when the day cometh that the wrath of God is poured out upon the mother of harlots, which is the great and abominable church of all the earth, whose founder is the devil, then, at that day, the work of the Father shall commence, in preparing the way for the fulfilling of his covenants, which he hath made to his people who are of the house of Israel. Now, let's go to the Book of Revelations for a minute, and find out how quickly this great global organization implodes. Chapter 18:8: Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. Now, there is an angel in charge of the destruction of the great and abominable church. One of the things he will do is to send plagues. What do you see there about how quickly this implosion takes place? One day! Because it will happen so quickly, those who have merchandise and make money with it, through this global organization, look what it says. 9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication (That's symbolic of interacting with this.) and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, (These are the people who have been a part of the system and became wealthy through it.) that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. 11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: 15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! Does that sound like something Nephi said, over there in Chapter 13, the great and abominable, gold and silver, linen, harlots? 17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, Let's skip to vs. 19: And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. That's the fall of the great and abominable church. Now, whether or not it will happen in one sixty minute period, or in one twenty four hour period, the point is, that when it starts to go, it will go quickly. An interesting thing is, this system that we see to this point in Revelation, has been in the making for years! In our day it is called "The New World Order". In reality, what it is, is an ancient, satanic, Canaanite, bael worshipping, false god orders of the past, with a new name. But it's the same thing. But, never before in history, has Satan been as successful in organizing this global secret combination, as he has in our day. It's larger. It's more inclusive. It controls and enslaves more people than ever before. How many times have you heard the term "and great shall be the fall thereof"? The reason it's called 'great' is, it's so huge, and it took so many millennia to put together. And, a second thing is, it's going to go down quick years to build, and it will disappear relatively overnight. Let's go to 1 Nephi 14:18 and finish up. 18 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, saying: Look! 19 And I looked and beheld a man, and he was dressed in a white robe. 20 And the angel said unto me: Behold one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Remember the vision that Nephi is seeing here. Nephi wanted to write more of what he saw, but he was told, "no". Why? Look at vs. 21: Behold, he shall see and write the remainder of these things; yea, and also many things which have been. 22 And he shall also write concerning the end of the world. What book were we just reading from? The Book of Revelation, which was written by John the Revelator, and the Book of Revelation, especially in Chapter 18, is talking about events at the end of the world. That's just pre-millennial. Verse 23: Wherefore, the things which he shall write are just and true; and behold they are written in the book which thou beheld proceeding out of the mouth of the Jew; (And, what is that book? The Bible.) and at the time they proceeded out of the mouth of the Jew, or, at the time the book proceeded out of the mouth of the Jew, the things which were written were plain and pure, and most precious and easy to the understanding of all men. So, we know what's happened. Those things have been altered and changed. Plainness has been replaced with confusion. Many of the covenants of the Lord are taken away. Many of the prophesies are taken away. All this causes many many people in the latter-days to stumble, because of the plainness that was removed. Vs. 25: But the things which thou shalt see hereafter thou shalt not write; (Nephi is going to see a bunch of things here that we don't have. Why?) for the Lord God hath ordained the apostle of the Lamb of God that he should write them. Isn't it interesting that if all we had was the BOM, we wouldn't have the record of what was written here in Revelation, because Nephi was commanded not to write it. So with these two books, which have the same vision talked about by two different people, you can put it all together, and get a pretty good idea of what is coming. And,

6 Nephi used the same vision that was also seen by Isaiah, which is the same vision that John saw. And, Ezekiel saw the same vision. And Daniel saw the same vision! So, if we pull these out, even though they recorded them from different perspectives, depending on where they lived and what their experience was at that time, if we pull them together, you can get a pretty good picture of what's coming. Sis. Stroud: Well, I'm thinking that if they can see it, we can see it, so why don't we get our own version of it, so we know where we fit, exactly? Where's our faith? Student: I think that the Lord might grant us that, on an individual basis, but he usually does it through 2-3 witnesses. Mike: She's talking about on an individual basis. Just for herself. We can be like Nephi and say, 'I want to see the dream my dad saw'. So, we can say, 'I want to see what Nephi saw', or what our ancestors saw. So, if God is the same yesterday, today and forever, is it a possibility? Sure. Verse 27: And I, Nephi, heard and bear record, that the name of the apostle of the Lamb was John, according to the word of the angel. Look at the date at the bottom of the page. 600 b.c. Here's a man that knew about John the Revelator, 600 years before he was ever born! I think that's good for today.