(15:1-7) Remember back in chapter 8 when Lehi had a dream about a tree? Yeah,
well, it's back again. And this time it's causing trouble for Nephi's brothers.
You see, they just couldn't figure it all out. What was it, anyway? And who cares? A crazy old man dreams about a tree and they're supposed to believe it has some cosmic significance, some deep spiritual meaning?
Well, yes they are. This is the Book of Mormon after all.
(15:1) "And it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had been carried away in the spirit, and seen all these things, I returned to the tent of
my father."
(15:2) "And it came to pass that I beheld my brethren, and they were disputing one with another concerning the things my father had
spoken unto them."
(15:6) "And it came to pass that after I had received strength I spake unto my brethren, desiring to know of them the cause of their
disputations."
(15:7) "And they said: Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father hath spoken concerning the natural branches of the olive-tree,
and also concerning the Gentiles."
(15:8-9) Of course the main problem with Nephi's brothers was that they didn't inquire of the Lord enough. It's nearly impossible to
believe complete and obvious bullshit without God's help.
"And I [Nephi] said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord? And they said unto me: We have not. "
(15:10-11) Another reason they didn't believe the stuff about the tree is
that they were such evil bastards. They didn't follow the commandments and their hearts were way too hard.
"Behold, I [Nephi] said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish,
because of the hardness of your hearts? Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said? -- If ye will not harden your hearts,
and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made
known unto you."
(15:13) So Nephi explained it all to them again. The grafting of the
branches thing is all about Joseph Smith who will (2423 years later) find and translate the golden plates and thereby produce the
Book of Mormon that will bring "the fulness of the gospel" to the Gentiles. (And if that isn't perfectly obvious to you, you are
an evil bastard that hasn't inquired of the Lord.)
"The thing which our father meaneth concerning the grafting ... is, that in the latter days, when our seed shall
have dwindled in unbelief ... after the Messiah shall be manifested ...shall the fulness of the gospel of the
Messiah come unto the Gentiles, and from the Gentiles unto the remnant of our seed."
(15:14) Nephi says that someday the Native Americans (who centuries later
will become a dark, loathsome, filthy, idle, and abominable people for dwindling in unbelief) will all become Mormons and be saved.
(I suppose God will then make them fair , white, and delightsome like good Mormons are today.)
"At that day shall the remnant of our seed know that they are of
the house of Israel, and that they are the covenant people of the Lord; and ... they
shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and ... be saved."
(15:20) Nephi goes on to explain the tree, iron rod, and river to his
hard-hearted evil brothers.
"And it came to pass that I did speak many words unto my brethren, that they were pacified and did humble themselves before the Lord."
15:1And it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had been
carried away in the spirit, and seen all these things, I returned to the tent of my
father.
15:2And it came to pass that I beheld my brethren,
and they were disputing one with another concerning the things my father had spoken unto
them.
15:3 For he truly spake many great things unto them, which were hard to be
understood, save a man should inquire of the Lord; and they being hard in their hearts,
therefore they did not look unto the Lord as they ought.
15:4 And now I, Nephi, was grieved because of
the hardness of their hearts,
and also, because of the things which I had seen, and knew they must unavoidably come to
pass because of the great wickedness of the children of men.
15:5And it came to pass that I was overcome because
of my afflictions, for I considered that mine afflictions were great above all, because of
the destruction of my people, for I had beheld their fall.
15:6And it came to pass that after I had received
strength I spake unto my brethren, desiring to know of them the cause of their
disputations.
15:7And they said: Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father
hath spoken concerning the natural branches of the olive-tree, and also concerning the
Gentiles.
15:8And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?
15:9 And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing
known unto us.
15:10Behold, I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the
commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your
hearts?
15:11Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said? -- If ye
will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with
diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto
you.
15:12 Behold, I say unto you, that the house of Israel was compared unto
an olive-tree, by the Spirit of the Lord which was in our father; and behold are we not
broken off from the house of Israel, and are we not a branch of the house of Israel?
15:13 And now, the thing which our father meaneth concerning the grafting
in of the natural branches through the fulness of the Gentiles, is, that in the latter
days, when our seed shall have dwindled in unbelief, yea, for the space of many years,
and many generations after the Messiah shall be manifested in body unto the children of
men, then shall the fulness of the gospel of the Messiah come unto the Gentiles, and from
the Gentiles unto the remnant of our seed --
15:14 And at that day shall the remnant of our seed know that they are of
the house of Israel, and that they are the covenant people of the Lord; and then shall
they know and come to the knowledge of their forefathers, and also to the knowledge of the
gospel of their Redeemer, which was ministered unto their fathers by him; wherefore, they
shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of his doctrine, that
they may know how to come unto him and be saved.
15:15 And then at that day will they not rejoice and give praise unto their
everlasting God, their rock and their salvation? Yea, at that day, will they not receive
the strength and nourishment from the true vine? Yea, will they not come unto the true
fold of God?
15:16 Behold, I say unto you, Yea; they shall be remembered again among the
house of Israel; they shall be grafted in, being a natural branch of the olive-tree, into
the true olive-tree.
15:17 And this is what our father meaneth; and he meaneth that it will not
come to pass until after they are scattered by the Gentiles; and he meaneth that it shall
come by way of the Gentiles, that the Lord may show his power unto the Gentiles, for the
very cause that he shall be rejected of the Jews, or of the house of Israel.
15:18 Wherefore, our father hath not spoken of our seed alone, but also of
all the house of Israel, pointing to the covenant which should be fulfilled in the latter
days; which covenant the Lord made to our father Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all
the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
15:19And it came to pass that I, Nephi, spake much
unto them concerning these things; yea, I spake unto them concerning the restoration of
the Jews in the latter days.
15:20 And I did rehearse unto them the words of Isaiah, who spake concerning
the restoration of the Jews, or of the house of Israel; and after they were restored they
should no more be confounded, neither should they be scattered again. And
it came to pass that I did speak many words unto my brethren, that they were
pacified and did humble themselves before the Lord.
15:21And it came to pass that they did speak unto
me again, saying: What meaneth this thing which our father saw in a dream? What meaneth
the tree which he saw?
15:22 And I said unto them: It was a representation of the tree of
life.
15:23 And they said unto me: What meaneth the rod of iron which our father
saw, that led to the tree?
15:24 And I said unto them that it was the
word of God, and whose would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it,
they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the
adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction.
(15:28-34)
(15:28) There's an "awful gulf" that separates the wicked from
the saints.
"I said unto them that it was an awful gulf, which separated the wicked from the tree of life, and also from the saints of God."
(15:33) If your works are filthy, then you are filthy. And if you're filthy, you can't go to heaven because
you'd make God's kingdom filthy.
"Wherefore, if they should die in their wickedness they must be cast off also ... to be judged of their works; and
if their works have been filthiness they must needs be filthy; and if they be filthy it must needs be that they cannot
dwell in the kingdom of God; if so, the kingdom of God must be filthy also."
(15:34) But, you see, the kingdom of God isn't filthy,
so God had to make a filthy place to put filthy people after they die.
"But behold, I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy, and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God;
wherefore there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy."
(15:35) And that filthy place is hell. "And the devil is the
preparator of it."
"And there is a place prepared, yea, even that awful hell of which I have spoken, and the devil is the preparator of it."
(15:36) And thus it is and so on and so forth. Amen.
"And thus I spake unto my brethren. Amen."
(15:4) being grieved for the hardness of their hearts -- Mark 3:5
(15:24) the fiery darts of the wicked. --
Eph.6:16
(15:30) And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and
ever. -- Rev.14:11
15:25 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did exhort them to give heed unto the word of the
Lord; yea, I did exhort them with all the energies of my soul, and with all the faculty
which I possessed, that they would give heed to the word of God and remember to keep his
commandments always in all things.
15:26 And they said unto me: What meaneth the river of water which our
father saw?
15:27 And I said unto them that the water which my father
saw was filthiness; and so much was his mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld
not the filthiness of the water.
15:28 And I said unto them that it was an
awful gulf, which separated the wicked from the tree of life, and also from
the saints of God.
15:29 And I said unto them that it was a representation of
that awful hell, which the angel said unto me was
prepared for the wicked.
15:30 And I said unto them that our father also saw that the justice of God
did also divide the wicked from the righteous; and the brightness thereof was like unto
the brightness of a flaming fire, which ascendeth up unto God forever and
ever, and hath no end.
15:31 And they said unto me: Doth this thing mean the torment of the body
in the days of probation, or doth it mean the final state of the soul after the death of
the temporal body, or doth it speak of the things which are temporal?
15:32And it came to pass that I said unto them that
it was a representation of things both temporal and spiritual; for the day should come
that they must be judged of their works, yea, even the works which were done by the
temporal body in their days of probation.
15:33Wherefore, if they should die in their wickedness they must be cast
off also, as to the things which are spiritual, which are pertaining to righteousness;
wherefore, they must be brought to stand before God, to be judged of their works; and if
their works have been filthiness they must needs be filthy; and if they be filthy it must
needs be that they cannot dwell in the kingdom of God; if so, the kingdom of God must be
filthy also.
15:34But behold, I say unto you, the kingdom of God is
not filthy, and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God; wherefore
there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy.
15:35And there is a place prepared, yea, even
that awful hell of which I
have spoken, and the devil is the preparator of it; wherefore the final state of the souls
of men is to dwell in the kingdom of God, or to be cast out because of that justice of
which I have spoken.
15:36 Wherefore, the wicked are rejected from
the righteous, and also from that tree of life, whose fruit is most precious
and most desirable above all other fruits; yea, and it is the greatest of
all the gifts of God. And thus I spake unto my brethren. Amen.
Absurdities
Plagiarism
Injustice
Intolerance
Prophecy 
Cruelty and Violence
Science and History
Language
Changes in the BoM
Women
Sex
Contradictions
Family Values
Good Stuff
Boring Stuff
Get the SAB