3 NEPHI
CHAPTERS 17 - 25

CHAPTER 19

The people were excited to share the news with others! And so, with whatever news-bearing networks were available, they took the blessed message over the land. Multitudes who heard that Christ would again appear the next day traveled through the night to be close to the temple when this happened.

Jesus had already trained His chosen disciples in the short time He had with them—and the Holy Ghost was with them to help them remember all things they had been taught. With such a huge multitude present, they were divided into twelve big groups. Following directions they had been previously given by the Lord, a disciple took charge of each group. In every group, the conducting disciple had the people kneel in prayer. Then the disciples, also kneeling, taught the people to pray, modeling for them as Jesus had first modeled for the disciples.

Jesus Christ showed infinite service by giving Himself to obey the Father and to save us all. Through the ages, He has served us by teaching us how to get back to live with Heavenly Father. Now our Savior, who has always demonstrated service, taught His twelve new ordained disciples the importance of serving the rest of the people. After praying, “they arose and ministered unto the people”—teaching them the glorious Gospel. They taught the exact words of Jesus Christ, just as they had learned them from Him.

After the Nephites had received the word of God, the Disciples again knelt to pray, asking the Father in the name of Jesus Christ that they should receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Before we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and commit ourselves to Him—symbolizing this faith and commitment by baptism. The newly chosen Disciples did just this—and they received what they most desired.

The Lord commanded the people to be baptized in His name. Wonderful manifestations followed this sacred ordinance. The Holy Ghost fell upon them in great Power—so great that they were encircled by a holy “fire.” Sometimes we feel the Power of the Holy Ghost as He speaks to us or inspires us. The disciples were filled with this same great Power—with such intensity that it was manifest as a Heavenly fire. Next God sent angels who taught—or ministered—to them.

Then the Lord Himself stood within the circle and ministered to them.

The people were incredibly privileged to witness this great event. The Lord was very aware of all of them, and then when He had ministered to the disciples He commanded that the disciples as well as the multitude kneel down; He commanded the disciples to pray as He had taught them.

Prayer is not simply a form. It is a worshipful conversation with Deity. The disciples were worshipfully conversing with their Heavenly Friend whom they had been blessed to know on a personal basis.

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The disciples were filled with the Holy Ghost, who taught them what to say. Jesus had fulfilled all righteousness, being completely One with His Father. The Holy Ghost was also One with the Father and Son in seamless purpose and actions; the three members of the Godhead approved of and sanctioned the disciples’ faithful prayers.

Jesus’s next actions show fully that prayers are addressed to Heavenly Father. We are blessed in this chapter to have the words of two of His personal prayers to the Father. Jesus conversed with His Father, acknowledging that the disciples were praying to Him (Christ) because He was with them and that because they had the gift of the Holy Ghost, witnessing of Christ.

As these disciples were about to embark on a great mission, He then asked the Father to bless them and all those who would believe on their words—to be one with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  

There is misconception in the world of how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are “one.” This beautiful prayer certainly shows us that they are one in spirit and purpose and characteristics—not “one” in personage. Jesus would not converse with Himself. It is not logical that He would want the Disciples and all believers to be one personage. He does want all of us to be one in the way He and Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost are one—in righteousness.

After Jesus prayed to Heavenly Father, He went to His disciples who were continuing to pray to Him without stopping—words given to them from the Holy Spirit who kindled their desire for holiness.

Jesus smiled upon His disciples, blessing them as they prayed.  As He smiled on them, the holy Light of His countenance was so bright it shone upon the praying Disciples until they were as white as Jesus’s holy Face; it also shone upon Christ’s garments and “the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon Earth so white as the whiteness thereof.”

Then Jesus went apart again and kneeled to speak to Heavenly Father. After Jesus had spoken again to Heavenly Father, He turned to the disciples who were still praying. He smiled on them again with a countenance whiter than any Earthly white and they, again, were also white from His sacred reflected Light. 

Jesus then returned again to speak to Heavenly Father. But this time His words were so sacred that they could not be recorded… “tongue cannot speak the words which He prayed, neither can be written by man the words which He prayed.” The multitude was blessed to have their hearts opened so that they could understand His words, but “nevertheless, so great and marvelous were the words which He prayed that they cannot be written, neither can they be uttered by man.”

CHAPTER 20

We are often advised to begin and end our day with prayer. Jesus spoke to His disciples and the multitude, telling them to stop praying at that time, but that they “should not cease to pray in their hearts.”

When they all arose, He again administered the sacrament to His disciples, and then He commanded them to administer it to the great multitude.This time He had not sent the disciples to get the bread or wine; instead He produced it as another miracle. Jesus reminded the Nephites of the sacred symbolic meaning of the sacrament as a similitude of Him and His atoning sacrifice as well as a commitment that the people always remember Him. This representation of devotion is also an invitation to repentance to invite the Holy Ghost back into our lives when we have strayed.

Because the Nephites had Christ’s messages from the brass plates, as well as messages from western prophets, He admonished them to “search” the scriptures. When He said “great are the words of Isaiah,” He told them the messages He had long ago given to Isaiah were of Eternal worth. Various prophets wrote the messages of God in different styles, but the essential meanings came from the Savior. In the address He was about to give to the people of Nephi, He quoted from diverse prophets. Christ, as the God Jehovah, gave the messages to the prophets in the first place.

One important reason Jesus told them to search the “words of Isaiah,” was because Isaiah prophesied of the covenants between the Lord and the House of Israel and when the covenants with the House of Israel would be accomplished --  when the “Gathering of Israel” will be complete.

The scattering and gathering of Israel was extremely personal to the Nephites. They were a “branch transplanted” in a place far from the original Promised Land which encompassed Jerusalem. They were in the western Promised Land in partial fulfillment of prophecy. The Lord reminded them that they were not only scattered throughout the Earth, but they (or their descendants) would be also be gathered.

The Lord also blessed the Gentiles, but He cautioned them to repent of the scattering.

As the Nephites gathered around the Lord, He reminded them that not only would their descendants be scattered, but because they were His chosen people, they would eventually be gathered back into His Kingdom.

The Lord expects the Israelites to live worthy of their blessings. He also expects Gentiles to live worthy of their blessings. Gentiles who do not repent of their wickedness will be conquered by the House of Israel, God’s army of righteousness, in the final battle of good versus evil.

The Lord often uses figurative language to represent things in the familiar world. In this verse He made graphic use of simile to describe the fight of good against evil in the final battle at His Coming.

Those in the House of Israel—either of Israelite blood who are converted to Jesus Christ or those not of Israelite blood, converted to Jesus Christ—are members of the Lord’s army that will battle the devil, tearing down evil and Satan’s evil forces. Jesus prophesied in graphic simile how the righteous would tear down evil, and He would gather His people.

Jesus next used to metaphors to show how strong the people in His army of followers would be comparedto the wicked who would try to fight against them.

The Earth has always been the Lord’s. He created it for us to live on and from which to receive sustenance—but it belongs to and obeys the Lord, as the winds and the waves and all natural things everywhere obey Him.  

Jesus Christ asserted to the Nephites that He is indeed the Creator and Lord of this Earth by bequest of His Father.

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have given us everything we have. They continually work for us, bless us, and agonize for us so we may go back and live with them someday. They are constantly in our service—these hallowed Beings, the Gods of the Universe! And they have sent the Holy Spirit, yet another member of the Godhead, to be with us—to guide us through the difficulties of life.  

When Israel is finally gathered under His holy Wing, the Lord will establish His people in Jerusalem in the eastern hemisphere as well as in the “New Jerusalem,” on the North American continent.

Not only will the chosen people of Earth, who have also chosen their true Lord, be established in Jerusalem—the Powers of Heaven, including the Lord Himself will dwell among them.

Jesus Christ, who truly testifies of Himself, is the greatest Prophet of all. It was He of whom Moses spoke.

Christ reminded the Nephites they were descendants of Abraham and part of the House of Israel. Christ Himself, who made it possible for all people of all nations of the Earth to receive Eternal Life, was born through the line of Abraham. Thus through Abraham’s seed all the nations of the Earth are blessed.

Born and raised in the eastern hemisphere, Christ first gave the Gospel to the Israelites because they were “children of the covenant”; He said, “The Father raised Me up unto you first…and sent Me to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities,” or to repent, so they could be baptized, and then sanctified with the Holy Spirit, eventually living eternally with Heavenly Father.

The nations of the Earth would further be blessed because the testimony of Christ would be brought to the Gentile nations through Israelite missionaries. Finally, the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ would come to Earth through Joseph Smith, a literal descendant of Joseph of Egypt, Abraham’s great-grandson.

Christ was of Jewish lineage, from Abraham’s seed, so everyone is thus blessed through Abraham. Another way everyone is blessed is when the early Israelite missionaries, with the witnessing Power of the Holy Ghost, successfully converted Gentile nations to Jesus Christ. 

When Gentiles settled in America, it gradually became a great and powerful nation. However, tragically and shamefully, cruel and murderous Gentiles, lacking integrity and human decency, broke many treaties and killed, persecuted, and scattered the Lamanites who then lived on the land.

The Lord allowed the scattering because by then, Israelite Lamanites, whose ancestors had received the true Gospel from Christ Himself, had rejected and corrupted Christ’s teachings.

But the Gospel of Jesus Christ would be restored to its fullness on the Promised Land through the prophet Joseph Smith. It would then be sent out to all nations of the world, calling people everywhere to repent and come to the Savior. To those who make the choice not to listen to Christ’s true message, choosing instead to follow Satan, Heavenly Father said, “I will return their iniquities upon their own heads…” meaning, “they will be responsible for their own choices.”

In preparation for the Second Coming of the Lord, the gathering of Israel has begun. The Lord has never forgotten His covenant. It is the Israelites who have forgotten. As they hear the Gospel message, many are remembering and developing faith in Jesus Christ—and are repenting and being baptized, coming back to Him. The fullness of the Gospel will be preached to all Israelites, and they will acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Jesus wants us all to be one with Him and Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost—one in faith, purpose, characteristics, and holiness. When this is fulfilled, we will all “see eye to eye.” Jesus says that when the House of Israel is again converted, watchmen—prophets and leaders—will be grateful to be under the wing of the true Lord. As they at last receive the land of their inheritance, and it becomes fertile and prosperous, they will burst into grateful song.

At the final gathering, Jerusalem will be more than a place on the map; it will be a sacred and holy land—having the sanctified spirit of a hallowed land—the land that the Lord once promised as legacy to Abraham.

The Lord then quoted Isaiah, admonishing the saved House of Israel to remember “her” covenants with God and to live up to them in righteousness.

In graphic hypostatization, the Lord called for “Jerusalem,” the “captive daughter of Zion” to “shake thyself from the dust,” evil worldly influences, and to loosen the bands of captivity—the bands created by Satan. Throughout centuries, descendants of the House of Israel, in rejecting their true God, have “sold themselves for naught,” (nothing worthwhile). But it is the Lord who has redeemed them and all people of the Earth. When the Lord comes again, they will know Him. Many scattered Israelites are now accepting the Gospel.

• After Adam and Eve were sent forth from the Garden of Eden, the Lord commissioned an angel to tell them of the Plan of Salvation. They then taught this wonderful Plan to their children.

• Many of Adam and Eve’s posterity to the time of Noah, and then after the flood, preached this Plan of Happiness. 

• Melchizedek, through the Holy Spirit, taught his people in Salem (Jerusalem) the Gospel, and changed their hearts from wickedness to righteousness.  

• Righteous Nephites were historically blessed with the missionary Spirit—through the Power of the Holy Ghost, preaching the coming of the Savior and the Plan of Salvation.

• During the Lord’s ministry in the eastern world, He taught His Gospel to His followers.

• Christ then instructed His Apostles in the eastern hemisphere to spread the Gospel throughout the known world following His death.

• He told His Nephite Disciples He had called them to devote their lives to spreading the Gospel in the western Promised Land.

• Immediately following the Restoration of the Gospel in the latter days, the Lord commanded His prophet—Joseph Smith—to send forth missionaries.  And the gathering of Israel began.

In Isaiah’s words, which the Lord quoted to the Nephites, this long history of bringing the world hope, by spreading the Gospel, was variously described as “bringing good tidings,” “publishing peace,” and “publishing Salvation.”  

The Lord reaffirmed His love for those willing to do this by quoting, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him [the him could mean “Him”—or the Lord—the ultimate Source of the “Good News” as well as other people who spread His glorious Gospel]…letting all people know that “thy God reigns”—that the devil and his evil angels will lose their evil war against goodness.

This word [vessels] refers to the sacred vessels of the temple (Ezra 1:7-11), which were borne only by those who held the Priesthood.  The Lord commands Priesthood holders to be clean (D&C 38:41-42; 133:5). These sacred vessels directly contrast with ‘that which is unclean’ ” (Parry et. al., p. 467).

The Lord would always be with His missionaries, but they may be persecuted with “marred visage.” The Lord Himself was “marred” beyond anything that could be imagined by any of us.

In spite of persecution, Christ and His followers will “sprinkle,” spread, the truth to all nations so that those who are kings and leaders of the nations will not be able to answer back. They will see and hear for themselves, allowing no room for doubt, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God the Eternal Father and the chosen God of this world.

Christ verified to the Nephites that these prophecies of Isaiah would surely come to pass. It will be at this time—when Christ comes to reign on Earth—that the covenant He and the Father made with the House of Israel will be fulfilled.

CHAPTER 21

The Savior, the Master Teacher, taught the people and gave them instructions.

Gathering is a basic concept. People have gathered together and gathered harvests since the beginning of time; the Lord wanted to “gather His people as a hen gathers her chicks…” (Matt 23:37; 3 Nephi 10:4-6). Christ, at this juncture in Book of Mormon history, spoke of the final gathering of Israel. He gave us information that we can gather about the gathering. Realizing that He gave signs signaling the finalgathering, we can further develop the final gathering 

concept.

The Final Gathering of Israel

Jesus told His listeners that signs would be precursors to the final gathering of Israel.

• The true heritage of the descendants of the Nephites made known

The Gentiles will have the Lord’s prophecies and revelations to the Nephites from The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

Then the Lord told these ancestors of Native Americans that their descendants, who would by then have been unaware of their Israelite heritage, would find it out again from the Gentiles.

• Gentiles bring The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ  to the Native Americans

In this case Gentiles means, “those who descended from immigrants of Gentile nations.” The United States was settled by descendants of Gentile nations, so it is generally referred to as a Gentile nation, although Joseph Smith was a literal descendant of Joseph of Egypt. Converted Latter-day Saint missionaries brought the restored Gospel to those then known as American Indians. Following The Book of Mormon’s publication, it was taken to the Native American tribes.

• A nation of religious freedom established on the Promised Land 

 When God helped the fledgling American nation win a fantastic victory over the powerful British, a land of religious freedom was established. Only in a free nation could the Gospel have been restored and The Book of Mormon brought forth.  

The Lord told the Nephites, these things [teachings in The Book of Mormon] would be taken to their descendants, the Native Americans, who by then would have lost faith and forgotten who they really were because of generations of past iniquity.

• Gentiles who do not “harden their hearts” revealed to be part of the final “House of Israel.”

God is God of the entire world. Christ told the Nephites that He would allow the Gentiles to be instrumental in the restoration of the Gospel, and the Gentiles who have faith in Him, not “hardening their hearts” to the Holy Spirit, who then repent and are baptized, are also part of the House of Israel and are numbered among Christ’s people.

Then Jesus said that when these things (when the Gentiles bring The Book of Mormon to descendants of the people gathered—it will be a sign that the gathering of Israel would have begun.

When the United States was founded, the major countries of the world were ruled by kings or other autocratic leaders. It was amazing to them that a new country, set up within a framework of a constitution designed to give its citizens liberty, could survive. It was unheard of—and it will be amazing to kings and the rest of the world when Jesus comes again.

• Restoration of the Gospel and true Church of Jesus Christ on Earth

       (the great and marvelous work)

Shortly after the new United States was founded, a prophet was born. He had been chosen from among many stalwart leaders fighting for Christ in the pre-mortal world. His mission included many important pre-millennial tasks, such as bringing forth The Book of Mormon and other inspirational scriptures, ushering in the Restoration of the Gospel, establishing, in the “last dispensation,” Christ’s Church and Kingdom on Earth, and setting wheels turning for the gathering of Israel.

• Life, persecution, martyrdom, and finally glorification of Joseph Smith, Prophet of the Restoration, while the Church continues to flourish on Earth

Only after Joseph had completed all that the Lord planned for him to do on his Earthly mission, did Joseph finally seal his testimony with his blood. And then, even after Joseph left this life to be healed by Jesus Christ and to continue the Lord’s work beyond the veil, the Restored Church—that “marvelous work and wonder,” continued to roll forth.

Both Gentiles and Israelites who have ever lived on Earth, and who will yet be born, chose Christ over Satan in the pre-mortal life.  Now, in the second Eternal estate, all Gentiles and Israelites will again have the prospect to embrace Jesus Christ and His Gospel, becoming part of the covenant House of Israel and the Abrahamic promise.  

If we accept Christ as our God and His doctrine rather than the devil and his lies as our values, it is time to declare in word and deed our allegiance to Him—or by our own tragic choice we will be cut off from being His sons and daughters.

Christ reviewed the power that He would give to His followers in that final day. This time “Gentiles,” refers to all who refuse to follow Christ, who is the true God of this Earth, the Lord and Redeemer. It means those who choose to indulge in wickedness with Satan as their leader.

• All wickedness destroyed at that final day

Christ was chosen and ordained by Heavenly Father to be our Savior, God, and Redeemer. Christ, who obeys the Father in all things, delivered Heavenly Father’s words.

Then the Lord said that all who do repent and come unto Him in that Day will be numbered among His people and will help build the “New Jerusalem,” which will be established in the Promised Land.

The Lord again reviewed the glorious promise that in the New Jerusalem, the holy Power of Heaven—and the Lord Himself—would eventually be present.

The gathering began with the Restoration of the Gospel, the coming forth of The Book of Mormon, and the reinstatement of missionary work.

Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father are one in purpose, acting in perfect harmony. The Father will prepare the way for all people to come unto Jesus Christ. Everyone may call upon the Father in the holy name of the Son.

Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost all spiritually surround the messengers, or missionaries, who draw close to them.  When Christ comes again, the Godhead will always surround this army of missionaries and His entire army of righteousness. Spiritually or in actuality, this blessed army will then go forward into the world with the protection of both the Father and the Son, the Father leading them with Christ being their “rearward.”

CHAPTER 22

The Savior has frequently told us to “study the words of Isaiah.”  The words of Isaiah are the Savior’s own messages, and He gave them to Isaiah for Isaiah to give them to the Israelites and ultimately to all people on Earth. 

Isaiah was proficient in literary communication, writing various prophecies and revelations in more than one style, according to the messages and according to his own personal feelings—but all within the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Savior showed His approval of the beautiful and unique forms as well as the important message, now in Chapter 54 in the Bible, by quoting Isaiah’s poetic style.

The Savior testified to the truth of Isaiah’s words.

Often hypostatization is used to make abstract things more concrete in the minds of readers or listeners. In the first few verses of this chapter, the Savior quotes Isaiah’s hypostatization of “Zion.”  Zion is compared to a barren woman who has “lost her children.” It is an encouraging poem—telling the “woman,” or “Zion,” that now she can rejoice, because, with the gathering of Israel, she will soon have even more children than the [other] married wife.

Notice the parallelisms in verse 1; one is a synonym phrase, one is a contrast phrase, and one is a repetition.

Finally, the House of Israel will be so large that the “tent” will need to be enlarged and the cords and stakes will have to be made longer and stronger. In the latter days, “stakes” have an additional meaning.  They are part of the organization of the Church that will hold up the “tent” to house the Lord’s people.

The term, “Gentiles,” in verse 3 refers to those who choose to stand with Satan rather than the Lord in the last days. In Chapter 20:19, we were reminded that the Earth is the Lord’s and that as the wicked are destroyed in the last days, “their gain,” or the riches of the Lord’s Earth that they have accumulated, will again be consecrated to the Lord. The cities, deserted and then left desolate by the Gentiles, will return to the Lord for Him to give to His people, the faithful of the House of Israel.

Next the Lord demonstrated the great principle of forgiveness.  He has told us over and over that if we repent and return to Him that we will not be held accountable for past sins—He has paid the punishment for them, effective if we repent and do all we can do. 

Again using hypostatization, the Lord told repentant Israel not to worry about “her” past shame. The Lord, “her” true “husband” would no longer forsake her, but gather her in with great mercy. With His infinite goodness, although He was rejected and killed by “His own,” He is yet “her” Redeemer and will gather “her” back to Himself.

Note:

In verses 7 and 8, the Savior quoted the phrases, “for a small moment” and “for a moment.” When we think of the centuries that Israel has wandered in sin and ignorance of “her” true God, it does not seem like “a small moment.” But the Lord showed Isaiah the future of the Earth so that he could look at the “whole picture.” The Savior knows the entire destiny of the Earth and its inhabitants. Is it any wonder then, that to the Savior and His prophet, Isaiah, the time from the scattering to the complete gathering is “a small moment.”

The Lord promised Noah that the waters would never again cover the Earth in a complete flood. Likewise He swore that after that Last Day He would not be “wroth,” or angry, with Israel again.

Mountains and hills are often represented as being strong and steadfast, yet they can be moved by earthquakes and other natural disasters as well as by man-made dynamite and other devises—But the Lord’s “kindness”—“steadfast love” will never be removed.

After centuries of affliction, enslavement, and torture of all kinds, displacement, imprisonment, and individual and mass murder, the House of Israel will at last join the Lord in building the beautiful New Jerusalem.

When taught of Him and His righteousness, the Lord will reign—and His people will live in Millennial peace and safety. Imagine the blessing of raising children who are constantly surrounded by love, goodness, and beauty—rather than echoes of and actual violence as exits in today’s world.

Although there will be a battle against the wicked as they try to stop the inevitable surge of righteousness, the Lord, who is in charge of all the elements and created all people, can make lethal weapons and nefarious people harmless to his followers.

CHAPTER 23

After the Savior had quoted from Isaiah’s prophecies, He again admonished the Nephites to study scriptures already available to them —especially Isaiah’s words. Isaiah spoke both to the House of Israel and to Gentiles—in other words, to everyone.

Then Christ again testified to the people that all the prophecies Isaiah made either had come to pass or would yet come to pass.

The Savior commanded that the things they saw and heard Him say and do be written as scripture—as He commanded Isaiah to write centuries earlier. Christ said that the things they would write would eventually go forth to the Israelites and to the Gentiles.

The gateway into God’s Kingdom is faith in Jesus Christ, then   repenting, being baptized as a symbol of His death and Resurrection and of the covenant we make to follow Him—and then receiving the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end—staying true to the covenants. Jesus said that many prophets had testified of these things.

Jesus again taught the Nephites, using the scriptures.  

Because God is the same “yesterday, today, and forever,” the messages He gave His former prophets to share were as important to the Nephites as they were to the Earth’s earlier people—and they are as important to us as they were to the Nephites. Just because the Nephites already had scriptures from the Brass Plates—did not mean those were the only scriptures they would ever have.

The Lord instructed Nephi, who was entrusted with the records, to go and get the records they had.

As the records were laid before the Lord, He quickly cast His eyes over them. Of course the Savior knew what was in the records, but it was an important learning experience for Nephi and all future readers.

Christ mentioned that he had commanded Samuel the Lamanite to testify to the Nephites—and He asked the Nephites if the prophecies had come to pass The disciples quickly responded that the prophecy had been fulfilled according to Samuel’s words.

When Nephi realized that these wonderful experiences had not been recorded, the Lord then commanded them to be written.

When the new scriptures were included with the record, they were all as “one,” because they all testified of Jesus Christ, of His redeeming Sacrifice, and told what we need to do to follow Him and return to God. Jesus expounded them to the people and then commanded them to carefully teach them to others.

CHAPTER 24

The prophet Malachi lived and wrote about 200 years after Lehi left the land of Jerusalem; accordingly, his words were not on the Brass Plates. Jesus gave the Nephites the important communication that Heavenly Father had given to Malachi. Commanding them to write these additional scriptures, Jesus delivered Malachi’s words; then He expounded on the meanings of the messages.

Malachi was commanded to prophecy of the coming of Jesus Christ in the last days.  

Malachi prophesied of John the Baptist and his ordination as a forerunner—to prepare the way for Jesus Christ—when the Savior was about to begin His Earthly ministry. John again performed the call as messenger and “preparer of the way” when he appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to restore the Aaronic Priesthood on Earth. This was a prerequisite to Peter, James, and John restoring the keys of the MelchizedekPriesthood. The Priesthood Power and keys—for the Kingdom of God on Earth (the Church) to operate in its fullness—are also needed before the Second Coming of Christ can occur.

John the Baptist was chosen to be forerunner on at least two occasions; Isaiah often prophesied of things that will occur more than once. It is thought that when Malachi prophesied the “Lord shall suddenly come to His temple,” he was attributing that momentous appearance to at least two times:

(1)when Christ visited the temple in Kirtland, Ohio on April 3,

1836 (D & C 110:2-10) 

(2) when, at His Second Coming, Christ will suddenly come to

      the temple [perhaps the temple in the “New Jerusalem”]

Malachi beautifully referred to Jesus Christ as “the Messenger of the covenant, who ye delight in. Compare this with KJV Malachi 3:1. 

Quoting Malachi’s words, Christ again asked a two-part question that was—and is—as relevant as when Malachi asked it thousands of years ago of the Israelites. This is a question that both listeners and readers would do well to ask as we reflect on our individual lives, determining if we are making ourselves pure enoughto withstand the holy Presence of our Savior. Compare with Malachi 3: 2 & 3.

At that last day, when the faithful of the House of Israel stand for the Lord, and the “sons of Levi,” or worthy Priesthood holders, make an offering, the Lord will be pleased with His people.

Israel stopped worshipping God—but God has always remained faithful. He will not tolerate evil within His Kingdom, but He will keep His covenant to faithful Israel. Compare with Malachi 3: 5 & 6.

Malachi spoke from the Lord’s vantage point. The Lord Himself repeated the words to the people. He reminded them that for a long time the Israelites had betrayed the trust He that had put in them as His covenant people. 

The words, applicable to Israelites also applied to straying Nephites and today to any of us who forget our covenants with God. Compare with Malachi 3:7.

Malachi reminded the Israelites of old, and Christ reminded the Nephites and all readers of the scriptures of the sacred importance of giving tithes and offerings to God. Using comparison and contrast, He told thecurse of not paying them and bounteous blessings received when they are paid. Compare with Malachi 3: 7-10.

Christ quoted Malachi’s words, promising blessings on nations as well as on individuals if full tithes and offerings are paid. Compare with Malachi 3: 11 & 12.

Malachi contrasted between selfish 

wicked people who refused to serve the Lord and humble servants the Lord would both claim and reward. He challenged listeners to make this same discernment as the Lord would make.