Our Next Choice Matters, However Far Away We Seem from the Lord - Second Book of Nephi, Chapter Ten (2 Nephi 10)

After a day of pretty intense preaching, Jacob pauses, and then comes back the following day. He informs the Nephites that on the evening in between, an angel provided him additional information, including that the Savior would be known by the name of Christ. Christ, a Greek word, means “the anointed one,” and has the same meaning as the Hebrew word Messiah.

He then explains how facts surrounding the Atonement of Christ have very specific real-world consequences for the Lord’s covenant people, also known as the people of Israel. The Atonement not only has a direct effect on each individual’s spiritual destiny—his or her ability to access immortality and return to God’s presence—but it also is rooted in historical events that influence various branches of Israel and the people (often known as Gentiles) with whom the Israelites interact.

The sacrifice required to atone for human sin is the voluntary death of a sinless being. The crucifixion of Christ brings this to pass. In a way that we may have trouble fully understanding, it is necessary for Jesus to suffer and die on the cross, but it is still an ugly act that makes us mourn for those who were prideful and envious enough to bring it to pass. Probably as a result of Jacob’s study of the brass plates and the prophecies of his father and brother, combined with his own revelatory experiences and angelic visitations, Jacob reveals to the Nephites that some Israelites will be scattered as a result of the wickedness that played a part in leading the Romans to crucify Christ.

However, it is important to note that whatever consequence is to befall any particular branch of Israel, that consequence does not justify any blanket condemnation on our part. For Jacob says in verse 7 that the Lord anticipates the restoration of favor and blessings upon His covenant people, which is the same restoration Jacob referred to in the earlier chapters when he was quoting Isaiah’s poetic language.

According to Jacob’s prophecy, Isaiah’s words will be majestically fulfilled. Once again, Jacob is reminding the Nephites, who have spent a generation establishing a new civilization half a world away from Jerusalem, that their story remains intertwined with the larger story of Israel. It may take centuries, but God’s plan is still very much alive and well. Through a long process, the people of Israel will be gathered from all kinds of places around the world (the “isles of the sea” in verse 8), and the Gentiles will play a leading part in helping to restore the Israelites to a place of earthly and spiritual glory.

As part of this process, Jacob makes specific reference to this land (the Americas) as a land of liberty unto the Gentiles without any kings (verse 11). This seems to anticipate the United States and the establishment of republican—as opposed to monarchical—rule on the American continent. The Lord says that He will fortify this land against all other nations. In doing so, Jacob raises a voice of warning to those who would try to obstruct either the restoration of Israel or the system of American republicanism. It is not out of vengeful wrath, but out of a need to protect the righteous Jews and Gentiles who will form His community of Zion in the latter days. As a result, we learn that the following will perish:

• Those who fight against Zion (verse 13) 
• Those who would establish despotic rule in America (verse 14)
• Those who work “secret works of darkness” (verse 15)

What is the Lord teaching the Nephites (and us) through Jacob? Mainly that trial and affliction is not meant to be a curse for the Lord’s covenant people, but a way of strengthening them to help bring forth something glorious. He reassures this group of people, whose fathers journeyed to this far-off place, and then fled from their first settlement because of their angry brothers and cousins, that they are in fact not abandoned, but being prepared to carry out the Lord’s plan. And those who try to obstruct that plan will ultimately fail, even if they seem to temporarily gain the upper hand. Thus, doing good is not in vain, and doing evil is.

And the most important time is now. The most important choice in their (and our) lives is the next one. Jacob tells them in verse 23: “Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.” And what makes it possible for us to choose between these paths? The Atonement of Jesus Christ, which is powerful to save, and is, above all, a sign of God’s grace, his free gift of love to us (verse 24). Giving us that something extra that we just couldn’t muster by ourselves.

You can read the entire chapter at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/10?lang=eng