2 Nephi 26

Nephi continues with his interpretations of Isaiah as they relate to his own people through verse 11. Much of what he tells them is also typical of what will happen in the last days. He tells his people that Christ will appear to them. But there will be wars and those who believe in Christ will be ridiculed and persecuted for their beliefs. They will kill the prophets and because of their wickedness and denial of Christ, they will be destroyed and the land will face great destruction. Nephi states that he has seen this in vision and it almost overwhelmed and consumed him. The righteous will not perish, but Nephi warns the wicked that the Lord will only strive with them so long. You have to wonder how long he's going to put up with the wickedness in our time.

The remainder of his interpretation of Isaiah is directed to the gentiles in the last days and this begins with verse 12 and continues through chapter 30. It's as if Nephi is saying, we can apply this to the Jews and to ourselves, but the message will be most important to the gentiles or us. And the main thrust of what he tells us is in verse 12, we must become "convinced that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God." Most churches believe that Christ didn't become the Savior until he was born and that he was only one of three possible manifestations of God. Nephi is saying he was a God before his earthly birth, he was a God on the earth, and he is a God now, not a temporary manifestation, but an eternal God. Here is some of what He prophecies to the gentiles in this chapter. There is too much to write about:

1. Verse 13. The Savior will manifest himself through the Holy Ghost to everyone who believes in him.
2. Verse 15. The descendants of Lehi's family will be driven and smitten by the Gentiles.
3. Verses 16. The Nephites will write about their people and seal this up and the Book of Mormon will come forth out of the ground and speak to them. It will sound familiar and have a familiar spirit. When I was on my mission, a Lamanite woman told me that the grandmothers in their tribe used to pass on their history to the grandchildren. They did this by telling them stories of their people. When she read the Book of Mormon the first time, she recognized the same stories in it that her grandmother had told her as a child.
4. Verse 20. The gentiles become built up in their pride (great and spacious building sound familiar?) and they become a great stumbling block to the church. They rely on their own wisdom, do not take care of the poor and dismiss the powers and miracles of God as nothing.
5. Verse 23-28, 30. The Lord will not turn anyone away. Everything he does is done because of his love for everyone and no one is privileged above another. No one will be denied his love regardless of their race, gender or religion.
6. Verses 29-30. To church members, he says that instead of doing everything for their own gain and power, priestcraft, he commands that everything should be done out of charity or love