3 Nephi 20

Here is a chapter that confirms to me that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that the scriptures are true. There isn't space here to go into an explanation, and in truth, the explanation is there for all to read if they are willing to take the time to study the scriptures. I don't think I realized this before as fully as I do now. But briefly, there are prophesies in Isaiah that testify of our day. Isaiah saw the latter days and wrote about what he saw. For some of those things, he had no words. Suppose you had lived 600 years before Christ and had a vision where you saw a computer. You understood what you saw, but how would you explain it to the people of your day? How would you explain jet travel, television, cell phones or satellites? But one thing he explained well was the big picture of the destiny of Israel, that in our day, the Lord would establish a kingdom that would bring to people all over the world a knowledge of the Savior. It would go first to people who were not pure Israelites, and then it would go to descendants of 12 tribes. In this chapter of the Book of Mormon, the Savior explains to the Nephites how this is going to happen and quotes Isaiah. He also explains what is going to happen on the continents of this part of the world and now that is being fulfilled. Joseph Smith at age 20 or 22 would not have understood this as he translated the Book of Mormon. But it would not be long before he too would be granted a vision of the future of the church and what it would accomplish. When the church only had a few hundred members, he was trying desperately to get them to see how this little seed would grow beyond their wildest expectations. He wanted so much for the people to grasp the big picture. At one point he told the priesthood leaders that they had no conception of what the church was going to become, but he had seen it. And that's the challenge for us, to see beyond the short comings of individuals and grasp the big picture. The pieces of the puzzle fit so neatly together and if we'll just take the time to put them together, gradually a picture unfolds that causes to quickly say it's true.