Praise be to God. Pray to Him and revive your life through seeking Him constantly. But, as your life in Him renews, remember to “declare his doings among the people” by bearing testimony of Him. That is the natural progression. When we are converted—really converted—it follows that we will want to “feed His sheep” (to borrow the Lord’s own phrase). When we care about them, we want to “warn our neighbors.” We do this because when we feel the love of God, we would like others to “come and partake” for themselves. We “declare his doings,” as we celebrate regaining what was lost. We finally come to ourselves, as a Prodigal, and return to Him. And as we do this, we find He’s been waiting all along to kill the fatted calf, clothe us in a robe, and put a ring on our finger. Our Father loves us, and welcomes us.
As the last days draw to an end, a new day arises in which there will be Millennial peace and joy. For this new day, the images Nephi gives us change the scene dramatically. 2 Nephi 22:5: “Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things; this is known in all the earth.” When our vocabulary fails to do justice to the happiness we feel, we sing to express ourselves. We declare in tones, rhythm and rhyme our worship of Him. We want a party. The Millennium looks more like a celebration than a solemn assembly. Solemn assemblies serve their purpose, but when your joy spills outside of your ability to express in words alone, you sing about it. Gladys Knight is capable of doing this now, but there’s still a glaring gap between her in front, and the Tabernacle Choir behind her. There’s an insufficiently “Pip-like” character to the Choir as Sister Knight sings with unbridled joy. Surely, during the Millennium we’ll be more enthusiastic.
As we lose our inhibitions, and relax a bit more in our own skin, we will find our voices, arms, hearts and hands cooperate in a great outpouring: “Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion; for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.” (2 Nephi 22: 6.) It’ll be nice, but won’t look so much like it does along the Wasatch Front at present. It will be a time when, instead of attempting a rigid cultural outflow, Zion will be comfortable with a more relaxed cultural in-flow. There will be a time when we will be more secure in the things that matter more, and far less insecure about things that matter less. We will not judge each other on the basis of things which don’t matter at all. It will improve our singing, dancing, celebrating, and shouting. Ephraim may be holding his position with the birthright, but Manasseh, Gad, Dan, Simeon, Asher, and others should be allowed to rejoin as a family and not abandon their heritages nor forsake their talents. They will bring song and dance, joy and celebration, and improve the worship in Zion as they do so. As it comes, it will undoubtedly be a natural progression. Already the ‘times of the Gentiles’ is ending. Europe, within two generations, will no longer be “Gentile.” The declining birthrate and importation of Arab, African and Indian populations have already reached an irreversible state. As Europe requires an imported working class to subsidize their social welfare programs, we find them voluntarily surrendering their homelands to others in fulfillment of prophecy. The Gentiles are ending their presence in most of the world, and are being displaced.
Waves of inevitable violence will follow as a resentful workingclass finds they are no longer willing to pay for an idle elderly Gentile class. We will see the measure of the Gentiles’ cup filled, as they ripen for destruction. Wrath will be poured out on those who turn from their heritage and reject Christ. The progression into violence will be inevitable, foreseeable, and natural. Until, at last, the consumption decreed will make a full end of all nations. It will be as natural, and as inevitable as all cycles of history of the past. The great power of God does not lie in forcing these events. They will happen unforced and naturally. Rather, God’s power is on display when His prophets declare them long beforehand.
The Church, too, is changing demographically. There is a declining birth rate among the European and white members of the Church. There is a dramatic fall in conversions in Europe. The five missions in Utah baptize more than the fifty missions in Europe. Many of these converts are from emigrants to Utah coming from Latin America. Conversions among the Latin-Americans remain high, and Africa is the most fertile missionary ground in the world at the moment. Gentile dominance of the Church is also ending as we approach a Millennial Day in which the Lord will bring all scattered Israel together again.
Yes, Nephi foresaw these things. But we have the privilege of living them in our day and the not-too-distant future.
The descriptions continue and enlarge our understanding of what mankind is about to experience. Nephi continues: “For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land; and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.” (2 Nephi 24: 1.) We see the mention of “Jacob,” or the natural bloodlines for whom there is “mercy.” But we see “Israel,” or the newly-named covenant holder, who is “chosen.” There is a difference between these two. The “mercy” toward the scattered bloodline descendants consists of the great latterday missionary outreach; when the Lord seeks to bring them back through declaring the Gospel message to them. But they can only be “chosen” if they accept the covenant offered to them. They must be baptized, receive the ordinances of the Gospel and return to the Lord on His terms to become “chosen” again, because mere descent from Jacob is not enough. Without conversion, they may have “mercy” but will have no part in His great latter-day redemption.
The “Gentiles” who have bloodlines which include a mixture from Jacob, are strangers whose affiliation with Jacob has long since been forgotten. But these strangers will be reclaimed as they join the Church, enter into covenants, and become again the House of Israel. When they do, they will realize they are part of the original House of Jacob, and their conversion completes the trip of these Prodigal Sons as they are grafted back in. Now, at last, they will return to their anxiously waiting and watching Father, where they will be welcomed with shoes, a ring, a robe and a banquet. There is joy in heaven over such returns.