Who Were the Nephites and the Lamanites? Part IV

Continuing with the questionable FARMS website comments about the Land of Promise and the people there, the fourth, fifth and part of the sixth point was covered in the last post and the following starts with the continuation of the sixth point.

Stated in the last post: 6. “No one, Lehi added in pronouncing his blessings, would come into his promised land unless they were "brought by the hand of the Lord" (v. 6), so "this land [would be] consecrated unto him [everybody] whom he shall bring" (v. 7).

In addition to the previous answers in the last post, the following is added.

Obviously, Lehi is concerned about his children and his future descendants. He is not concerned about some future Gentile group. He is blessing his (wayward) children and their children and warning them of what will befall them if they continue on their present path. The promise was made to him and he is telling them the promise of a land free of others and one of liberty will extend to them and their descendants, where “they shall never be brought down into captivity” (2 Nephi 1:7), as long as they are righteous!

In addition, Lehi knows that the Europeans will eventually come, because he knows his descendants will fall away and lose their promise. But in the meantime, he is telling his children that “this land should be kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations; for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance” (2 Nephi 1:8), and all they have to do to keep it so is to be righteous.

7. “This last expression refers not only to the eventual Gentile (European) settlers of the 16th through 21st centuries but also to those ancient peoples whom the Lord brought as well (see vv. 10-11).”

Again, this is not accurate. Lehi is not referring to those who came before him—we do not even know if he knew about the Jaredites. He is talking to his sons about their descendants, for if “the time cometh that they shall dwindle in unbelief” (2 Nephi 1:10) after so great a blessing they had been given, that if they fall away, “the judgments of him that is just shall rest upon them” (2 Nephi 1:10). At that time, the Lord “will bring other nations unto them, and he will give unto them power, and he will take away from them the lands of their possessions, and he will cause them to be scattered and smitten” (2 Nephi 1:11). This is all a fact borne out by history—the Spanish conquerors did exactly as Lehi and seen and warned his sons about.

Note that Lehi says “when the time cometh that they shall dwindle in unbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord…I say, if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgments of him that is just shall rest upon them. Yea, he will bring other nations unto them, and he will give unto them power, and he will take away from them the lands of their possessions, and he will cause them to be scattered and smitten” (2 Nephi 1:10-11)—not before or during, but AFTER, which would have been after 421 A.D.

8. “By the time Lehi pronounced his blessings, the vessel that brought Mulek from Jerusalem either had already landed or at least was en route to the promised land (see Omni 1:15-16), and some of that party's descendants, called "the people of Zarahemla," eventually became Nephites (Omni 1:19; Mosiah 25:13).”

Exactly. The Lord was bringing others out of Jerusalem who would unite with Nephi’s descendants and become known as Nephites—therefore, they were part of Lehi’s prophesying as to what would become of his descendants.

(See the next post, “Who Were the Nephites and the Lamanites? Part V,” for more of these comments and responses)