Book of Mormon Commentary CofC - Odessa, Missouri Community ...

Book of Mormon Commentary
3 Nephi Chapter 1
They even went further and denied that the signs came from God, but maintained that they were
"wrought by men, and by the power of the devil" (39). Thus they "began to wax strong in
wickedness and. ..did not believe that there should be any more signs or wonders given" (41).
Nine years after the sign was given, the Nephites "began to reckon their time. ..from the coming of
Christ" (45).
WAR WITH GADIANTONS THREATENS UTTER DESTRUCTION, VER. 47-57
3 Ne 1:49 Therefore all the Lamanites, who had become converted unto the Lord, did unite with their
brethren, the Nephites, and were compelled, for the safety of their lives, and their women and their
children, to take up arms against those Gadianton robbers;
It was now A. D. 13, and the robbers had become so numerous and had slain so many people and
destroyed so many cities that united action became necessary. "The Nephites were threatened with
utter destruction" (51).
“Those Lamanites who had united with the Nephites, were numbered among the Nephites: and
their curse [A. 1:104, 105, 113.-115] was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto
the Nephites" (52). The records tell that the Lamanite young men and women "became exceeding
fair" (53).
In the fourteenth year the Nephites gained "some advantage of the robbers" and drove them back
into the mountains. The next year the Gadiantons regained the advantage, and the Nephites were
in danger of being "smitten down" (57).
After the birth of Christ, not much was said about the work of High Priest Nephi. There was no
direct statement of his work as a minister for God for about thirty years. Then he came back into
the history in a prominent way. It seems improbable that he was not doing the best he could to
serve God and the people in this interval. Perhaps he could achieve little of value which was
considered worth recording because of the low spiritual state of the people.