Nephites

“ There is one noticeable feature in the record of the Nephites which strikes one who has lived only in our northern climate and zone: it is the rapidity with which they recovered from the disastrous effects of civil and religious commotions and bloody wars. The frequent allusions through the record to the wonderfully rapid prosperity which followed the cessation of strife is apt to strike the northern reader with surprise. ”

“ The same spirit that dwelt in the breasts of the Nephites during the last battles that were fought by them on this continent, when they continued to fight until they were exterminated, is again on the earth, and is increasing. ”

“ It was on the south, near the eastern seashore, and bordered the Lamanite land. The Nephites also began to build a city named Nephihah located between the city of Moroni and the city of Aaron, which joined their borders. The construction of many cities in the north began that year. One of these cities, named Lehi, was located near the eastern seashore.
This is how 72 BC ended. During the following year, the twenty-first year of the judges' reign, the Nephites continued to be prosperous. They were a very prosperous and rich people, quickly populating and growing strong in the land. ”

“ ZERAM. One of four Nephite officers, sent, with their men, by Alma, from the valley of Gideon to watch the movements of the defeated Amlicites, the evening after the great battle fought by them and the armies of the Nephites at the hill Amnihu, on the east side of the riyer Sidon. ”

“ And it came to pass as he was pondering, -- being much cast down because of the wickedness of the people of the Nephites, their secret works of darkness, and their murderings, and their plunderings, and all manner of iniquities -- and it came to pass as he was thus pondering in his heart, behold, a voice came unto him, saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done: for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word which I have given unto thee, unto this people. ”

“ It's more important for much to be done among the Nephites because they are so hard hearted and blinded with pride. In spite of this, God is very merciful to them and has not yet swept them off the land.
Many Nephites have many revelations, for not all of us resist the Holy Spirit. Those who do not resist have communion with Him according to their faith. ”

“ Its exact boundaries are not defined; indeed, it is altogether probable that they varied considerably at different periods of Nephite history. However, it is evident that it was the most southerly of all the lands inhabited by the Nephites, in the western half of the South American continent, after they had moved from the land of Nephi. ”

“ Such a country, with such a variety of climates and products, was well adapted for the cradle of an imperial race as the Nephites proved to be. The mighty obstacles of nature, which some portions of that country presented, were such as to tax their ingenuity to the utmost. ”

“ IN THE second generation the Nephites began to grow numerous, and iniquity made its appearance among them. It was then that Jacob their priest, prophesied: The time speedily cometh, that except ye repent, they [the Lamanites] [Pg 311] shall possess the land of your inheritance, and the Lord God will lead away the righteous out from among you. This prophecy was completely fulfilled, if not on previous occasions, about 300 years or so afterwards, when Mosiah, by the command of God, led the righteous Nephites out of the land of their inheritance—the land of Nephi—down into the land of Zarahemla. ”

“ By permission of the Lamanites the Nephites assembled about the hill called by them Cumorah and prepared for the last great struggle. It took place in the year 385 A. D., and resulted in the entire destruction of the Nephite people, except, perhaps, a few who fled southward. Mormon was slain, and his son, the last of the Nephites, was preserved to record the destruction and the desolation which followed it, and hid up the records of the great race which had founded kingdoms and republics upon the western hemisphere that would vie with those of Persia, Macedonia or Greece ”

“ From his record we learn that during his days many of the Nephites were a stiff-necked and hard-hearted people, among whom the prophets and priesthood labored diligently, warning them of the great evils that must ultimately result to the nation if they did not repent. ”

“ From it we learn that he was a warrior, and had seen many wars between the Nephites and Lamanites, and that in those wars he, with his own sword, had taken the lives of many of the enemy in the defence of his brethren. These disastrous wars were undoubtedly one of the causes that led to the removal of the righteous portion of the Nephites from Nephi to Zarahemla. ”

“ They called themselves Nephites and entered into a covenant to fight for the Nephites, to protect the land with their lives and never give up their liberty. Two thousand young men made this covenant and took up their weapons to defend their country.
Before this time, Ammon's people had not been a burden to the Nephites, yet they could not help them fight. But now, at this time of Nephite dissent, they were a great help to the Nephite cause.
Their sons took up their weapons, and they asked Helaman to be their leader. They were all young men, all valiant, courageous, full of energy and strength. ”

“ In like manner to the Nephites his prophetic history was made known, and is found in the Book of Mormon in some instances in greater plainness than in the Old Testament, because, for one thing—in addition to the suggestion made that the Nephites may have lived nearer to the Lord than other branches of the house of Israel—the Nephite scriptures have not passed through the hands of an Aristobulus, a Philo and other rabbis, who by interpretation or elimination have taken away some of the plain and precious parts of the Jewish scriptures. ”

“ And they were exceedingly more numerous than were they of the Nephites; and they loved murder and would drink the blood of beasts.
7 And it came to pass that they came many times against us, the Nephites, to battle. ”

“ The Nephites who were once enlightened, had fallen from a more elevated standing as to favour and privilege before the Lord, in consequence of the righteousness of their fathers, and now falling below, for such was actually the case, were suffered to be overcome, and the land was left to the possession of the red men, who were without intelligence, only in the affairs of their wars ”

“ In this valley fell the remaining strength and pride of a once powerful people, the Nephites—once so highly favored of the Lord, but at that time in darkness, doomed to suffer extermination by the hand of their barbarous and uncivilized brethren. ”

“ And the people of Ammon did give unto the Nephites a large portion of their substance, to support their armies; and thus the Nephites were compelled, alone, to withstand against the Lamanites, which were a compound of Laman and Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael, and all those which had dissented from the Nephites, which were Amalekites, and Zoramites, and the descendants of the priests of Noah. Now those descendants were as numerous, nearly, as were the Nephites; and thus the Nephites were obliged to contend with their brethren, even unto bloodshed. ”

“ AMINADI. A Nephite, one of the progenitors of the prophet Amulek. We have no record of the time that he lived, but it must have been in the land of Nephi before the Nephites migrated to Zarahemla, as he was at least four generations separated from Amulek. ”

“ My father hath been slain in battle, and all my kinsfolk, and I have not friends nor whither to go; and how long the Lord will suffer that I may live I know not.
8:6 Behold, four hundred years have passed away since the coming of our Lord and Savior.
8:7 And behold, the Lamanites have hunted my people, the Nephites, down from city to city and from place to place, even until they are no more; and great has been their fall; yea, great and marvelous is the destruction of my people, the Nephites. ”

“ As soon as these rebellious people had made Amlici their king, he commanded them to take up arms against their brethren, for he wanted power over all the people.
The people who followed Amlici were called Amlicites, and the rest were called Nephites, or the people of God.
Aware of the Amlicites' intentions, the Nephites prepared to fight them. They armed themselves with swords, scimitars, bows, arrows, stones, slings and with every other kind of weapon. They were organized and appointed captains, higher captains and chief captains according to their numbers. ”

“ The Nephites, under the reign of their second king, started the wicked practice of desiring and indulging themselves with many wives and mistresses, like David of old and his son Solomon had done.
They also began to dig for great amounts of gold and silver, for they were beginning to become proud. ”

“ But from the dates which are given, it is very evident they lived to a great age. Correct habits of living, with pure lives and the blessing of God upon them, promoted longevity. We think it is apparent from the record that, immediately after leaving Jerusalem, there was a remarkable increase in the duration of life among those who were called Nephites.
Jacob, who was born in the wilderness of Arabia, took charge of the plates after the death of his brother Nephi, and he bequeathed them to his son Enos. ”

“ However, by 12 BC, there were many Nephite dissenters, who called themselves Lamanites. They persuaded the Lamanites to attack the Nephites. The Lamanites and the dissenters came out of their hiding places to murder and plunder, and then retreated back into the mountains, the wilderness, and secret places.
Each day their numbers grew as more Nephite dissenters joined them. In only a few years there was again a large band of robbers. They studied all the secret plans of Gadianton in order to become Gadianton robbers. These robbers brought havoc and destruction among the Nephites and Lamanites. ”

“ That which was known as the land of Nephi, comprehending an immense district of country, was so favored in climate and soil, was so abundantly blessed in all vegetables and minerals, and was generally so healthy that an industrious people like the Nephites would surround themselves with every comfort and luxury in, what would appear to the inhabitants of less favored localities, an incredibly short space of time. ”

“ Many millions on both sides were here gathered together, and when the four years had expired, hostilities were renewed, many battles were fought and the Nephites were overpowered, men, women and children being hewn down. The great and last battle, in which several hundred thousand Nephites perished was on the hill Cumorah, the same hill from which the plates were taken by Joseph Smith, the boy about whom I spoke to you the other evening. A few Nephites dissented over to the Lamanites and joined them, and a few escaped into the south country. ”

“ After their conversion they had traveled to and fro through all the land of the Nephites, seeking to undo the mischief they had done; and then performed glorious missions among the Lamanites where the power of God had been wondrously manifested to the converting of many of that people to the truth. ”

“ In other words, after they leave this present life, and the time comes for them to sit in council in the midst of the Nephites, that instead of judging according to human wisdom and imperfect knowledge, that God would give them the spirit of judgment, or the spirit of inspiration more abundantly than what they were in possession of in this life; and in order that they may be entitled to judge all people, they were required to be pure and holy.
Let me say a few words in regard to another revelation that the Lord gave in the year 1830, on this same subject. ”

“ The Nephites enjoyed continual peace and great prosperity in the church, for they had diligently obeyed God's word that had been declared to them by Alma's sons, Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton, by Ammon and his brethren, and by all who had been ordained by the holy order of God, who had been baptized unto repentance and sent forth to preach among them. ”

“ He also took along with him the plates of brass, and the ball that guided them in their former wanderings in the wilderness by the Red Sea, and was their compass to steer by across the ocean. Being thus separated they became the heads of separate tribes. The Nephites soon grew into a numerous people, and built a temple "like unto Solomon's." They, like their father Nephite, for many generations were good christians, hundreds of years before Christ was born, practising baptism and other christian usages. Nephi here accounts for the color of the aborigines. ”

“ I suppose you would like to know what became of the three Nephites. I believe they are still on the earth. They are to minister among all nations, without being known, and shall perform great and mighty works before the Lord shall come. ”

“ Then I went among the Nephites, breaking the oath I had made to no longer help them. They again gave me command of their armies and looked to me as if I could deliver them from their afflictions. But I had no hope for them, knowing that the Lord's judgments were upon them. ”

“ Through keeping the commandments of God, the Nephites became very strong and very beautiful. They married and raised families. They scattered all over the land and built up many fine cities. The farms yielded abundance of food for man and beast and the orchards were laden with fruit in the season thereof.
Every man dealt honestly with his neighbor. There was neither lying, nor stealing, nor murdering, nor any kind of wickedness known among the people. They loved the Lord and kept His commandments, and the Lord loved them and poured down His blessings upon them without measure. ”