Nations as Witnesses - Second Book of Nephi, Chapter Twenty-Nine (2 Nephi 29)

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/29?lang=eng

In this chapter, Nephi describes in even greater detail how the coming of the Book of Mormon will affect humanity and the course of God’s plan for it. And, by speaking in the first person on behalf of the Lord, the power of his words are magnified.

As many accept the Book of Mormon and come to know of its divine origins, the process begins whereby the Lord is setting “his hand again the second time to recover my people, which are of the house of Israel” (verse 1). God does not forget or act against the covenants he has made, and it is important for Nephi to be able to demonstrate this to his people so that they are better able to understand the greater purpose of their religion and civilization. Verse 2 tells us that the record of the Nephites will “hiss forth unto the ends of the earth” through those in the latter days who accept the Book of Mormon and spread its message abroad.

What should be a glorious opportunity to spread eternal truth to others—giving them access to joy, salvation, and sanctification—ends up being met with opposition. Nephi tells us that many in the latter days will reject the Book of Mormon because they already have the Bible. As mentioned in the previous chapter, those who are not open to the idea that God reveals His will through many sources ultimately hurt themselves the most. But, as we remember from how those in the great and spacious building from Lehi’s dream (described in verses 24-28 of 1 Nephi 8) helped turn some of the partakers of the fruit from the tree of life away from truth and goodness through their skeptical mocking, the closed-minded can infect others with their cynicism. The lesson for us is to beware of our own actions in this regard.

Nephi points out the hypocrisy that people have engaged in over generations by insisting on the Bible as the only possible source of God’s truth. History has shown that some of these people have treated those whose ancestors were responsible for the Bible—the Jews—as outcasts at best, and as targets of horrendous persecution and violence at worst.

And what thank they the Jews for the Bible which they receive from them?.... O ye Gentiles, have ye remembered the Jews, mine ancient covenant people? Nay; but ye have cursed them, and have hated them, and have not sought to recover them. (verses 4-5)

Nephi goes on to remind us that the Lord is the creator and ruler of all peoples on the earth, and that He is the ultimate judge of who and how many of his peoples should be privileged to bring forth records containing His words. And, by the evidence of the Book of Mormon together with the Bible (and probably other records that will come forth from other peoples in the future), the Lord has determined to prove His existence, His attributes, His plan for our salvation through Christ’s atonement, and—most important—His love for all mankind.

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. (verse 12)

Nephi not only teaches the truth that God’s word is revealed through many different sources, but he also prophesies that the bringing together of the different records is a sign of the bringing together of the Lord’s covenant people. Why is it so wonderful that the records come together? Because that means the Lord and His servants on earth are gathering scattered people from Israel, reminding them of their divine potential and shared heritage, and helping them right their course back in His direction. Combined, the records have a power that they would not have on their own.

This prophecy closely mirrors something taught by the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel, whose ministry among the exiled Jews in Babylon began around 590 B.C. as Nephi and his family made their journey through the wilderness and to the Americas. In his account (verses 15-24 of Ezekiel 37), Ezekiel teaches that the Lord will command the families of Judah and Joseph (the sons of Jacob, also known as Israel, through whom the covenant promises flow) to each make a record on a “stick” (a wooden writing tablet). 

The stick of Judah (or the Jews) is the Bible, and the stick of Joseph is the Book of Mormon, as the Nephites come from Joseph’s ancestral line. 

Indeed, just as there is a principle that having more than one person as a witness for a specific evidentiary claim greatly validates that claim, the Lord—through Nephi—applies a similar principle to the idea of using more than one nation as a way to bolster the case for His existence and His faithfulness to the everlasting covenant He made with Abraham. 

Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also. (verse 8)