From the Dust: Forthcoming Records

Before I start into this post I want to apologize for the lack of a Week in Fath for November 17, 2010. My daughter was sick and awake until 3AM. We weren’t able to make it to church. So sorry about that everyone.

The scriptures we now posses contain the words of the Lord. But they are not all that we will receive. There are many sacred record spoken of in the Book of Mormon which are to come forward. Most often we look forward to the Sealed Portion. And many of us look forward to the Brass Plate. But there are many more records besides these which were prophesied to come forth.

I will just give a brief summary of each of these records here. I will talk about each of these in more depth later.

Records of Other Nations

 

To start us off we will talk about the records of other nations.

2 Nephi 29:11

 11 For I command all men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written.

 12 For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the Nephites and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have led away, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto all nations of the earth and they shall write it.

 

The Lord says that he speaks to all nations. And out of the words which these nations shall write He shall judge the world.

In verse 13 he speaks about the Nephites, Jews, and Ten tribes all having the records of each other. It is reasonable to assume they will also have the records of all the nations.

The reason why I put these records at the top of the list is because I think that these records will come forth at various points in time. Some will come before the brass plates, some will come after.

The Greater Things

 

3 Nephi 26:6

 6 And now there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people;

 7 But behold the plates of Nephi do contain the more part of the things which he taught the people.

 8 And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken.

 9 And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them.

 10 And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.

 11 Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people.

 

Here we read that there are two parts to the record of Christ’s dealings with the Nephites. The Lesser Part, and the Greater Part.

The record which is contained in 3^rd Nephi was written to be brought to the world through the Gentiles. But this small portion was given as a test. If we believe in the things that we have then a greater portion which is contained on the Plates of Nephi will be given. Can we really say we believe the word of the Book fo Mormon? Do we really understand what is being taught? Not only that do we apply what is taught in our lives. I can say that I don’t. It’s no wonder these Greater Things have not been revealed.

I personally believe that these Greater things will come before the Brass Plates. Which is why I have included the Brass Plates next on the list.

The Brass Plates

 

The Brass Plates were recovered by Nephi from a treasury in Jerusalem. They were used as the basis for teaching the word of God amongst the Nephites.

1 Nephi 5:18

 18 That these plates of brass should go forth unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people who were of his seed.

 19 Wherefore, he said that these plates of brass should never perish; neither should they be dimmed any more by time. And he prophesied many things concerning his seed.

 

Now I wonder why it says the plates will not be dimmed anymore by time. But they are not available to us today. Of course portions of the Brass Plates are contain in the Book of Mormon.

Also James Strang claimed to have translated the Book of the Law of the Lord from the Brass Plates. I’ll be talking more about the Book of the Law of the Lord in another post.

It is certainly possible that they will come forth before the Greater Things. But we don’t have the greater things yet. And we don’t have the brass plates yet either.

The Records of the Ten Tribes

 

2 Nephi 29:13

 13 And it shall come to pass that the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the

lost tribes of Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the Jews.

 14 And it shall come to pass that my people, which are of the house of Israel, shall be gathered home unto the lands of their possessions; and my word also shall be gathered in one. And I will show unto them that fight against my word and against my people, who are of the house of Israel, that I am God, and that I covenanted with Abraham that I would remember his seed forever.

 

These scriptures speak of a time when the Lost Ten Tribes will be gathered out of their lands. They will bring with them records of their people. These records will go forth to the world.

The reason I have put these record to come forth after the Brass Plates is because the gathering of the Ten Tribes is very near to the return of the Savior. I think we will receive the Brass Plates many years before the Savior returns.

The Sealed Portion

 

One of the last records to come forth will be the Sealed Portion of the golden plates.

Ether 4:4

 4 Behold, I have written upon these plates the very things which the brother of Jared saw; and there never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared.

 5 Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me to write them; and I have written them. And he commanded me that I should seal them up; and he also hath commanded that I should seal up the interpretation thereof; wherefore I have sealed up the interpreters, according to the commandment of the Lord.

 6 For the Lord said unto me: They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord.

 7 And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are.

 

The Sealed portion will only come after we as a people have faith like the brother of Jared. This is why I believe this will be one of the last records to come forth. The Greater things require us to simply(haha, “simply,” that’s an understatement) believe in the Book of Mormon.

But also along with the Sealed Portion we will receive “all [His] revelations.” We will receive everything the Lord desires to communicate to us. It makes me wonder if this will happen during the Millenium.

So here is the list of records we have to look forward to:

– Records of Other Nations

– Greater Things

– Brass Plates

– Records of the Ten Tribes

– Sealed Portion

Aside from the records of other nations we cannot simply wait for these records to come forth. We must actively work to develop our belief in the Book of Mormon. We must also develop our faith in Christ.

The promise of these records was made known unto us in the 1800s. Yet over 180 years later we still have not yet received even the Greater Things of Christ. We have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time left.