Behold, They Will Crucify Him

 But, behold, they shall have wars, and rumors of wars; and when the day cometh that the Only Begotten of the Father, yea, even the Father of heaven and of earth, shall manifest himself unto them in the flesh, behold, they will reject him, because of their iniquities, and the hardness of their hearts, and the stiffness of their necks. Behold, they will crucify him;

… Wherefore, he shall bring forth His words to them, which words shall judge them at the last day, for they shall be given them for the purpose of convincing them of the true Messiah, … Messiah is he who should be rejected of the Jews. (2 Nephi 25: 12-13, 18)

 

Nephi would have been familiar with the concept of crucifixion as a method of capital punishment.  It had been practiced by the Persians and Greeks and others in that area of the world, beginning as early as 600 B. C., which is about the time when Nephi and his family left Jerusalem. So when the Holy Spirit testified to Nephi that this was what those in Jerusalem would do to the Son of God, he had a mental picture of what that would entail.

When Nephi talked about the destruction of the Jews in his day and again, after Jesus’ crucifixion, he testified that none of these calamities would have occurred unannounced. The Prophet Amos – with whose writings Nephi may well have been acquainted – wrote, Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he reveals his secrets to his servants the prophets. (Amos 6: 7)

Lehi was a prophet. He had warned Jerusalem.  Nephi also was a prophet who spoke at the direction of the Lord through the Holy Spirit of Prophecy. He reminded his people that Jerusalem had been destroyed.  He then warned his people of the dangers of hard hearts and stiff necks. The ultimate expression of a hard heart and a stiff neck was the crucifixion of the Savior. Nephi warned his people against the dangers inherit in lack of humility and hard hearts.  Just as it led to the destruction of Jerusalem, ultimately to the death of Jesus, so it would lead to the destruction of the Nephite people if they failed to heed the warnings of prophets.

Today we have living prophets to teach us the ways and will of the Lord.  The question for us is not are there prophets today, but what are they teaching us, and are we willing to listen and apply their lessons in our lives?

• Stay on the Covenant Path
• Let God Prevail
• Think Celestial

We live in a day of wars and rumors of wars.  Sometimes it seems as if our society is imploded on itself.  Rather than throwing our hands in the air in desperation, we can listen to the prophets.  What other things have our latter-day prophets taught?