THE BOOK OF MORMON
1830

VIEW OF THE HEBREWS
1823 and 1825

    (10) Jerusalem: The destruction of Jerusalem, pending and actual, features largely and early in the Book of Mormon.

    Although Lehi and his colony left Jerusalem some years before its destruction, yet by vision to this prophet its destruction was known.

     "For behold, said he, I have seen a vision, in which I know that Jerusalem is destroyed; and had we remained in Jerusalem we should also have perished. (II Nephi 1:4.)

The same is repeated in II Nephi 6:8. It is a subject frequently referred to in both the First and Second Books of Nephi.

    (10) Jerusalem:

    In the View of the Hebrews the whole of Chapter 1, pages 13-46, is devoted to the destruction of Jerusalem; the historical account of it.

    Query: Would this treatise of the destruction of Jerusalem suggest the theme to the Book of Mormon author, is the legitimate query, since the View of the Hebrews was published seven to five years before the Book of Mormon.

     (11) Israel:

     The Book of Mormon has many references to both the scattering and the gathering of Israel in the last days. These references occur more abundantly in the forepart of the Book of Mormon, especially in First Nephi. Chapters 19. 20. 21, and Second Nephi. Chapter 25.

    (11) Israel:

     The View of the Hebrews has many references to both the scattering and gathering of Israel "in the last days." The second chapter of the View of the Hebrews is entitled "The Certain Restoration of Judah and Israel," and in this section is quoted nearly all the references to Isaiah that are referred to, but quoted more fully, in the Book of Mormon.

    (12) Isaiah:

     Lehi's colony brought with them from Jerusalem the Old Testament, (the whole Bible) down to the days of Jeremiah-about 600 B.C., yet about the only books extensively quoted before the coming of Christ to America is Isaiah! Jacob, brother of the First Nephi, quotes nearly all of the 49th, 50th. and 51st chapters: and the Second Nephi quotes about thirteen full chapters from Isaiah (see "Synopsis of Chapters" in current editions of the Book of Mormon, pp. 523-530.)

    The Hebrew records possessed by the Nephites on brass plates are spoken of as containing more matter than the Old Testament had among the Gentiles (I Nephi 13, 20-22.)

    Query: Then why are quotations and references to this great and rich Hebrew literature confined practically to Isaiah alone? (See opposite column.)

    (12) Isaiah:

     Ethan Smith's View of the Hebrews quotes copiously and chiefly from Isaiah in relation to the scattering and gathering of Israel. In his second chapter on "the certain restoration of Israel he quotes from six different chapters in Isaiah. IN his fourth chapter and in the few pages he devotes to a "Conclusion." he returns to the subject of the "restoration of Israel," and here he quotes from twenty chapters of Isaiah! He quotes Isaiah 18th chapter complete; but verse by verse with comments and makes of it an "Address" of Isaiah to the U.S. to save Israel.

    Query: Did the author of the Book of Mormon follow too closely the course of Ethan Smith in this use of Isaiah, would be a legitimate query. The View of the Hebrews was published seven to five years before the Book of Mormon.

    (13) A Great Gentile Nation to be Raised Up in America, the Promised Land, to Save Israel in America, in the Last Days.

     Following is the vision of Nephi on the founding of a great gentile nation in the land of promise, America; "Thou beholdest that the Gentiles who have gone forth out of captivity, and have been lifted up by the power of God above all other nations (America) . . . which is the land that the Lord God bath covenanted with thy father (Lehi) that his seed should have for the land of their inheritance; . . . thou seest the Lord God will not suffer that the Gentiles will utterly destroy the mixture of thy seed, which are among thy brethren.

    "Neither will he suffer that the Gentiles shall destroy the seed of thy brethren.

    "I will be merciful unto the Gentiles, unto the visiting of the remnant of the house of Israel in great judgment.

     "I will be merciful unto the Gentiles in that day, insomuch that I will bring forth unto them, in mine own power, much of my gospel, which shall be plain and precious, saith the Lamb." (I Nephi 13:30-34.)

     In I Nephi 21st chapter, the Prophet Nephi quotes the whole of Isaiah, which relates largely to the building up and establishment of Israel in the last days. And, then in chapter 22, Nephi is questioned by his brethren as to whether the prophecies of the 49th chapter of Isaiah which he has read are to be taken literally, or are they spiritual, or is a spiritual interpretation to be had of them. Nephi replies that they pertain "to things both temporal and spiritual but, in the main, argues for a literal interpretation. In closing, he refers to the mighty nation among the Gentiles whom God will raise up to bless Israel. He says "And it meaneth that the time cometh that after all the house of Israel have been scattered and confounded, That the Lord God will raise up a mighty nation among the Gentiles, yea, even upon the face of this land; and by them shall our seed be scattered.

    "And after our seed is scattered the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles, which shall be of great worth unto our seed; wherefore, it is likened unto their being nourished by the Gentiles and their being carried in their arms and upon their shoulders.

     "And it shall also be of worth unto the Gentiles; and not only unto the Gentiles but unto all the house of Israel." (I Nephi 22:7-9.)

     Another Book of Mormon prophet, Jacob, brother of Nephi, speaking of the gathering of Israel and their restoration to their lands, is represented as saying:

     "And it shall come to pass that they shall be gathered in from their long dispersion, from the isles 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 carrying them forth to the lands of their inheritance.

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

    "But behold, this land, said God, shall be a land of thine inheritance, and the Gentiles shall be blessed upon the land. . . .

     "I will soften the hearts of the Gentiles, that they shall be like unto a father to them; wherefore the Gentiles shall be blessed and numbered among the house of Israel." (II Nephi 10:8-18.)

     From all of which it would appear that the great American nation, the Gentile nation, is to take an important part in the gathering and establishment of Israel in their promised land, America.

     See Preface on Title Page of the Book of Mormon:

     "Which is to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever-And also (the Book of Mormon was written and preserved) to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.

    This is the mission of the United States according to the Book of Mormon; but the View of the Hebrews preceded the Book of Mormon by seven years'

     (13) The American Gentile Nation (U.S.) Appealed to in the View of the Hebrews to Become the Saviour of Israel in America.

    Ethan Smith's chapter four of the View of the Hebrews is devoted to an appeal to the Christian nation of the United States to become the instrument for teaching the gospel to the American Indians and restore them to the favor and blessing of God.

     The title of the fourth chapter is "An Address of the Prophet Isaiah. Relative to the Restoration of His people. The chapter is really an exposition of Isaiah 18, which he interprets to be an appeal of the ancient prophet to this great nation of the west "away over the mouths of the Nile. (p. 228.) It will be remembered that Isaiah 18 opens with the exclamation "Woe to the land shadowing with wings," which would seem to be a denunciation. This, Ethan Smith changes to "Ho, land shadowing with wings," (p. 237) saying that the best expositors agree on this interpretation and that the salutation is a friendly calling of attention instead of a denunciation, and what follows in the chapter is an invitation to the land shadowing with wings to participate in the bringing as a present "unto the Lord of hosts of a people scattered and peeled." (pp. 229, 239 244, 247.) The whole chapter must need be read, we can only give a few excerpts. "The duty of sending them (the American Indians) the gospel, and of being at any expense to teach them Christianity and the blessings of civilized life, is great and urgent on every principle of humanity and general benevolence. And this duty peculiarly attaches to the people, who are now in possession of the former inheritance of those natives; and from too many of whom that people have received insufferable injuries." (p. 227.) "An address is found in the eighteenth chapter of the prophet Isaiah, which is apprehended to be of deep interest to America. . . . The writer . . . found it to be an address to some Christian people of the last days, just at the time of the final restoration of God's ancient people; an address to such a people beheld in vision away over the mouths of the Nile, or in some region of the west; a call and solemn divine charge to them to awake and aid that final restoration. (p. 228.)

    "The call then must be to a people of the last days; a nation now on earth; and a nation to be peculiarly instrumental in the restoration of the Hebrews in the last days. For this is the very object of the address; to go and collect the ancient people of God; because `in that time shall the present be brought unto the Lord of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, (the very people of the ancient covenant in manifest descriptions repeatedly given), to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the Mt. Zion.'" (p. 229.)

     Dealing with the prophecies of Isaiah 49, and other chapters of Isaiah and Jeremiah, Ethan Smith argues as Nephi did on the 48th and 49th chapters of Isaiah that the prophecies are to be literally fulfilled and not treated as mystical passages and that the restoration spoken of "is to be in the latter days.'" (p. 230.) As to the land shadowing with wings, he holds to be America, "The continent of those two great wings shall be found at last most interesting in relation to your Hebrew brethren (addressing the people of those continents). And those two great wings shall prove but an emblem of a great nation then on that continent (i.e., in the last days); far sequestered from the seat of anti-Christ, and of tyranny and blood; and whose asylum for equal rights, liberty, and religion. shall be well represented by such a national coat of arms-the protecting wings of a great eagle; which nation in yonder setting of the sun, (when in the last days. judgments shall be thundering through the nations of the eastern continent), shall be found a realm of peaceful protection to all who fly from the abodes of despotism to its peaceful retreat; even as an eagle protects her nest from all harm. Yea, a land that, when all other lands shall be found to have trampled on the Jews, shall be found to have protecting wings for them, tree from such cruelty and ready to aid them. (pp. 238-239).

     "Ye friends of God in the land addressed (the land shadowing with wings-America); can you read this prophetic direction of the ancient prophet Isaiah. without having your hearts burn within you? Surely you cannot, if you can view it as an address of the Most High to you. God here exalts you, in the last days the age of terror and blood, as high as the standard to be raised for the collection of the seed of Abraham; `on the mountains' . . . If these views be correct, Christians in our land may well bless God that it is their happy lot to live in this land shadowing with wings; this protecting realm, an asylum of liberty and religion; a land so distant from the seat of anti-Christ and of the judgments to be thundered down on old corrupt establishments in the last days. And their devout gratitude to Heaven ought to rise, for the blessing of having their existence so near the period alluded to in this sublime prediction, when this land of liberty is beginning to feel her distinguishing immunities compared with the establishments of tyranny and corruption in the old continent." (p. 245.)

    "Ho thou nation of the last days, shadowing with thy wings of liberty and peace; pity, instruct, and save my ancient people and brethren: especially that outcast branch of them, who were the natives of your soil. (p. 247.) Much more to the same effect-but this in conclusion-and still addressing the Gentile nation:

    "Tell them (the Indians) what their ancient fathers the prophets were inspired to predict in their behalf: and the charge here given for their restoration. Assure them this talk of an ancient prophet, is for them, and they must listen to it and obey it. That the Great Spirit above the clouds now calls them by you to come and receive his grace by Christ the true star from Jacob, the Shiloh who has come, and to whom the people must be gathered. Inform them that by embracing this true seed of Abraham, you and multitudes of other Gentiles, have become the children of that ancient patriarch; and now they must come back as your brothers in the Lord . . . that `as touching this election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes;' that they were for their sins excluded for this long period, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in, and so all Israel shall be saved.

    "Go thou nation (U.S.) highly distinguished in the last days; save the remnant of my people.-Bring me a present of them to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the Mount Zion.' " (pp. 249-250.)

    This is the mission of the United States, according to the View of the Hebrews.

    (14) Love of Riches Among Nephites-Pride:

    Jacob, son of Lehi, says of the Nephites: "Yea, and they also began to search much gold and silver, and began to be lifted up somewhat in pride." (Jacob 1:16.)

     And, again, to the Nephites:

    "Many of you have begun to search for gold. . . . that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in pride of your hearts, do ye suppose that God justifieth you in this thing? . . . Nay . . . the one being is as precious in his sight as the other." (Jacob 2:12, 13, 14, 21.)

    (14) Love of Riches-Pride:

    A chief of the Delaware Indians said he knew it to be wrong if a poor man came to his door hungry and naked, to turn him away empty. He believed God loved the poorest of men better than he did proud rich men. (View of the Hebrews, p. 104).

     (15) Polygamy:

    "The people of Nephi, . . . began to grow hard in their hearts, and indulge themselves somewhat in wicked practices, such as like unto David of old desiring many wives and concubines, and also Solomon, his son." (Jacob 1:15.)

     Jacob to the Nephites: "This people begin to wax in iniquity: they understand not the scriptures, for they seek to excuse themselves in committing whoredoms, because of the things which were written concerning David, and Solomon. . . David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord. . . . Wherefore, my brethren, hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none; for I the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. (Jacob 2:23-28.)

    (15) Polygamy:

    "Longtime ago" the Delaware Chief said, "it was a good custom among his people to take but one wife, and that for life. But now they (the Indians) had become so foolish, and so wicked, that they would take a number of wives at a time; and turn them away at pleasure." (View of the Hebrews, p. 104.)

    (16) Lamanite Virtues:

    Jacob contrasts the Nephites with the Lamanites to the Nephite's disadvantage with respect to chastity and single marriages; and says of the Lamanites: "Behold, their husbands love their wives, and their wives love their husbands: and their husbands and their wives love their children." (Jacob 3:7.)

    (16) Indian Virtues:

     "They are just, honest, liberal, hospitable to strangers, considerate, loving and affectionate to their wives and relations, fond of their children, frugal, and preserving: charitable living in love, peace, and friendship. (View of the Hebrew, p. 175.)

    Query: "Were the passages in this column sufficient to suggest what appears in the left hand column?

    (17) Civilization in America:

     Broadly, the Book of Mormon represents the Nephites and Jaredites as being civilized people, with national governments, kingdoms, republics; with trade, and commerce; navigation, education, written culture, religion; settled orders of living, cities, connected with highways; military establishment, etc., etc.

    The idea of all this, however, is best obtained from general and incidental statements in the Book of Mormon, rather than from any formal and elaborate and definite description of what their civilization consisted.

    The first allusion to the civilized status occurs at about thirty years after Lehi's colony left Jerusalem. The first Nephi says: "I did teach my people to build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores, which were of great abundance. . . . And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cause my people . . . to labor with their hands, And it came to pass that they would that I should be their king. And he reluctantly accepted this office. (II Nephi 5:l-l8.)

    Similar descriptions are given several times in The Book of Mormon.

    (17) Civilization in America:

     In the View of the Hebrews quite an elaborate account is given of the civilization that must have existed in Mexico and Central America in ancient times. This is summarized largely from Baron Humboldt's New Spain . published first in Germany, 1808-9 and translated into English by John Black in 1811. and quoted copiously by Ethan Smith in his second edition of the View of the Hebrews, 1825.

    In these excerpts from Humboldt are descriptions of pyramids, temples, ruined cities, highways; with some speculations as to the resemblance between the Mexican and the Egyptian pyramids. Ethan Smith quotes extensively from the Archaeologia Americana , published at Worcester, Mass., 1820.

     On these authorities Ethan Smith says:

     "The people, however, who traversed Mexico, left behind them traces of cultivation and civilization. . . . The Taultees introduced the cultivation of maize and cotton; they built cities, made roads, and constructed those great pyramids, which are yet admired. and of which the faces are very accurately laid out." (p 183)

     Some twenty pages are devoted to describing civilization traits as seen in temples, pyramids, and ruined cities.

    (18) The Messiah on the Western Continent:

    It may be said that the chief event, the greatest and most important of all events in the Book of Mormon. is the appearance of the Christ --the Hebrew Messiah-in the western world. He was anticipated in prophecy, and spoken of in expectation of His coming, and the purpose of that coming. Finally in the Third Nephi, a magnificent description of His appearing to the Nephites is given, and an account of His ministry among the Nephites. His stay was comparatively brief, and when He departed in light and glory. He promised at some future time to return. (See III Nephi ch. 11 et seq.)

    (18) Quetzalcoatl; (So Often Called In Literature "The Mexican Messiah ):

    The legends of Quetzalcoatl are stated in the View of the Hebrews at some length; I greatly abbreviate.

    "On the pyramid of Cholula was an altar dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, or the serpent of green feathers; as the name imports. . . . This is the most mysterious being of the whole Mexican mythology." He is said to have been "a white bearded man." He was high priest of Tula, legislator, chief of a religious sect who inflicted on themselves the most cruel penance. . . . He appeased by his penance divine wrath (in other words, atonement). . . . The reign of Quetzalcoatl was a golden age of the people of Anahuac. . . . He dwelt twenty years among them . . . ordered fasts, and regulated the Taltic year. . . . He preached peace to man. . .He disappeared, after he had declared to the Cholulans that he would return and govern them again, and renew their happiness." (pp. 204 et seq)

     Ethan Smith speaks of him, saying:

     "His appeasing divine wrath, may have a striking allusion to the system of the Mosaic sacrifices, including also the mediation of Moses as a type of Christ, and God's turning away his fierce wrath from Israel at his intercession, as was repeatedly the case. (p. 207.)

     The legitimate query: Did this character spoken of in the View of the Hebrews, published seven years before the Book of Mormon, furnish the suggestion of the Christ on the western continent?