November | 2013 | Mountaintop Mentoring

2 Nephi 6
Jacob, Nephi’s younger brother, shared the words of Isaiah with the people of Nephi so they may “learn and glorify the name of your God.” He shared with his people that “those who were at Jerusalem, from whence we came, have been slain and carried away captive.” Shortly after Lehi’s family left Jerusalem “came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it” and many of the house of Israel were carried away captive into Babylon while others escaped into Egypt (Daniel 1:1-6; see also Jeremiah 43:5-6). Jacob taught that many “should return again” to Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 2) but that after the Savior should “manifest himself unto them in the flesh…they should scourge him and crucify him” and then they would be “driven to and fro…scattered, and smitten, and hated” (2 Nephi 6:9-11).

But “the Lord will be merciful unto [scattered Israel]” in the last days. He will “set up my standard,” His gospel, among the Gentiles who “shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders” that they may “come to the knowledge of their Redeemer” and be “gathered together again to the lands of their inheritance.”

The people who accept His gospel become God’s heroes and warriors because they “repent and fight not against Zion.” They are “the people of the Lord…who wait for him; for they still wait for the coming of the Messiah.” They know that “the Messiah will set himself again the second time to recover them; wherefore, he will manifest himself unto them in power and great glory, unto the destruction of their enemies, when that day cometh when they shall believe in him” (2 Nephi 6:14).

These heroes and warriors believe in him and fight to establish Zion by obeying God’s words, by sharing God’s words, and by living God’s words of righteousness, forgiveness, and love. President Joseph F. Smith (sixth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1901-1918), outlined the role of today’s heroes and warriors in preparing for the second coming of the Messiah and His thousand year reign of peace during the Millennium.

Obedience to the Gospel will save the world from sin, abolish war, strife and litigation, and usher in the millennial reign. It will restore the earth to its rightful owner, and prepare it for the inheritance of the just. These are all principles of [the] Gospel of Christ, and the effects which will flow from their acceptance and adoption by mankind.

…the gospel teaches men to be humble, faithful, honest and righteous before the Lord and with each other, and in proportion as its principles are carried out so will peace and righteousness extend and be established on the earth, and sin, contention, bloodshed and corruption of all kinds cease to exist, and the earth become purified and be made a fit abode for heavenly beings; and for the Lord our God to come and dwell upon, which he will do during the Millennium….

The Lord … decreed a decree which He said His people should realize: That they should begin from that very hour to prevail over all their enemies and, inasmuch as they continued to be faithful in keeping His laws He had given unto them, it was decreed that they should prevail until all enemies were subdued—not subdued by violence or the spirit of contention or of warfare but subdued by the power of eternal truth, by the majesty and power of Almighty God. … The increased power of the righteous and of the upright covenanted people of God should be magnified and increased, until the world shall bow and acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, and that there is a people preparing for His coming in power and glory to the earth again [see D&C 103:5–13].

When we believe in Jesus Christ, we believe there is still good in this world. We see the good and seek the good all around us. Most importantly, we persistently try to be the good and “be a light unto the world” (D&C 103:9) so that “all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”