pgs. 78 and 79...it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved.

CHAPTER 10

Jews shall crucify their God—They shall be scattered until they begin to believe in him—America shall be a land of liberty where no king shall rule—Be reconciled to God and gain salvation through his grace. Between 559 and 545 B.C.

1 And now I, Jacob, speak unto you again, my beloved brethren, concerning this righteous ^abranch of which I have spoken.

2 For behold, the ^apromises which we have obtained are promises unto us according to the flesh; wherefore, as it has been shown unto me that many of our children shall perish in the flesh because of ^bunbelief, nevertheless, God will be merciful unto many; and our children shall be ^crestored, that they may come to that which will give them the true knowledge of their Redeemer.

3 Wherefore, as I said unto you, it must needs be expedient that Christ—for in the last night the ^aangel spake unto me that this should be his name—should ^bcome among the ^cJews, among those who are the more wicked part of the world; and they shall ^dcrucify him—for thus it behooveth our God, and there is none other nation on earth that would ^ecrucify their ^fGod.

4 For should the mighty ^amiracles be wrought among other nations they would repent, and know that he be their God.

5 But because of ^apriestcrafts and iniquities, they at Jerusalem will ^bstiffen their necks against him, that he be ^ccrucified.

6 Wherefore, because of their iniquities, destructions, famines, ^apestilences, and bloodshed shall come upon them; and they who shall not be destroyed shall be ^bscattered among all nations.

7 But behold, thus saith the ^aLord God: ^bWhen the day cometh that they shall believe in me, that I am Christ, then have I covenanted with their fathers that they shall be ^crestored in the flesh, upon the earth, unto the ^dlands of their inheritance.

8 And it shall come to pass that they shall be ^agathered in from their long dispersion, from the ^bisles of the sea, and from the four parts of the earth; and the nations of the Gentiles shall be great in the eyes of me, saith God, in ^ccarrying them forth to the lands of their inheritance.

9 ^aYea, the kings of the Gentiles shall be nursing fathers unto them, and their queens shall become nursing mothers; wherefore, the ^bpromises of the Lord are great unto the Gentiles, for he hath spoken it, and who can dispute?

10 But behold, this land, said God, shall be a land of thine inheritance, and the ^aGentiles shall be blessed upon the land.

11 And this land shall be a land of ^aliberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no ^bkings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles.

12 And I will fortify this land ^aagainst all other nations.

13 And he that ^afighteth against Zion shall ^bperish, saith God.

14 For he that raiseth up a ^aking against me shall perish, for I, the Lord, the ^bking of heaven, will be their king, and I will be a ^clight unto them forever, that hear my words.

15 Wherefore, for this cause, that my ^acovenants may be fulfilled which I have made unto the children of men, that I will do unto them while they are in the flesh, I must needs destroy the ^bsecret works of ^cdarkness, and of murders, and of abominations.

16 Wherefore, he that ^afighteth against ^bZion, both Jew and Gentile, both bond and free, both male and female, ^cshall perish; for ^dthey are they who are the ^ewhore of all the earth; for ^fthey who are ^gnot for me are ^hagainst me, saith our God.

17 For I will ^afulfil my ^bpromises which I have made unto the children of men, that I will do unto them while they are in the flesh—

18 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, thus saith our God: I will afflict thy seed by the hand of the Gentiles; nevertheless, I will ^asoften the hearts of the ^bGentiles, that they shall be like unto a father to them; wherefore, the Gentiles shall be ^cblessed and ^dnumbered among the house of Israel.

19 Wherefore, I will ^aconsecrate this land unto thy seed, and them who shall be numbered among thy seed, forever, for the land of their inheritance; for it is a choice land, saith God unto me, above all other lands, wherefore I will have all men that dwell thereon that they shall worship me, saith God.

20 And now, my beloved brethren, seeing that our merciful God has given us so great knowledge concerning these things, let us remember him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for we are not cast off; nevertheless, we have been ^adriven out of the land of our inheritance; but we have been led to a ^bbetter land, for the Lord has made the sea our ^cpath, and we are upon an ^disle of the sea.

21 But great are the promises of the Lord unto them who are upon the ^aisles of the sea; wherefore as it says isles, there must needs be more than this, and they are inhabited also by our brethren.

22 For behold, the Lord God has ^aled away from time to time from the house of Israel, according to his will and pleasure. And now behold, the Lord remembereth all them who have been broken off, wherefore he remembereth us also.

23 Therefore, ^acheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are ^bfree to ^cact for yourselves—to ^dchoose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.

24 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, ^areconcile yourselves to the ^bwill of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the ^cgrace of God that ye are ^dsaved.

25 Wherefore, may God ^araise you from death by the power of the resurrection, and also from everlasting death by the power of the ^batonement, that ye may be received into the ^ceternal kingdom of God, that ye may praise him through grace divine. Amen.


Two things popped out to me from this chapter:

1. Verse 11 - Jacob prophesies that this land will have no kings. That prophesy has been true so far and that seems so miraculous. Is there any other place on earth that hasn't had a king as their political leader?

2. Verse 24 - Jacob asks his brethren (which, on a side note makes me wonder, was this a "priesthood session"?) to reconcile themselves with the will of God. I learned that the Latin translation of the word reconcile is: "re" - "again", "con" - "with", "cile" - "sit" so that means sit with again. So Jacob is basically admonishing them to make good choices so that they can sit with God again.

I also feel like I have to include this quote about verse 3. It is very humbling.

“This generation is as corrupt as the generation of the Jews that crucified Christ; and if He were here to-day, and should preach the same doctrine He did then, they would put Him to death” (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 328).