"Lord, to whom shall we go?" Charting the Course of the Church from Here to the Second Coming: Part 12

Pop Quiz Time

   1.  Was the creation of Krispy Kreme Donuts a work of God, or of the devil?

   2.  In the Book of Mormon, who were the more righteous people: the Nephites or the Lamanites?

Answer Key

   1.  Answer:  Yes.

   2.  Answer:  the Lamanites.

Now, before we dive in, I know we're taking our sweet time to investigate the prophetic promises about Zion in scripture. 

​Remember, one of the important things we're trying to figure out is WHO builds Zion.  

Why?  Because we want to be part of that group.

Why Were the Lamanites Preserved?

Why did the Lord preserve a remnant of the Lamanites for a latter-day work, but not Nephites?

Disclaimer: Who Are the Lamanites?

Before we go any further, I need to make a disclaimer.  I am not a geneticist.  I don't know anything about DNA.  And I don't know who the modern day Lamanites are.

I don't know whether they are a lineal seed or a spiritual one, etc., or where they are, or what they call themselves today, or what they look like.

I use the term "Lamanite" since the Lord uses the term in the Doctrine and Covenants, without making any claim as to who the Lamanites are. 

But I do use the term "Lamanite" as a synonym for "the remnant of the House of Israel," since Christ does in 3rd Nephi.

From what the scriptures teach, it appears the "Lamanites" (whoever they are) compose a substantial portion of the remnant, but not exclusively (more on that later). 

I am saying all of this so no one gets offended.  I do not use the term "Lamanite" in the parlance of the modern Church to refer to specific ethnic or racial groups.  

Are we good?  Then let's go!

Weren't the Lamanites the Bad Guys in the Book of Mormon?

Weren't the Lamanites the "bad guys" in the Book of Mormon?  

   Well, no.  No they were not.

​This is easy.  The Book of Mormon makes painstaking efforts to reveal who the real villains were.

Will the Real Villain Please Stand Up!

   1.  Korihor
   2.  Shem
   3.  Nehor
   4.  Amlicites
   5.  Kingmen
   6.  Amalikiah 
   7.  Ammoron
   8.  Zoramites
   9.  Jacobites
   10. People of Ammonihah
   11.  Kishkuman
   12.  Giddianhi
   13.  Amulonites

Well, guess what?!  What do all these characters have in common?

    They weren't Lamanites.  

No, they were power-hungry, popularity-craving, money-grubbing, religious and political leaders.

A Stroll Down Memory Lane

From start to finish, the Lamanites were the good guys.  (Sure, they had their false traditions . . . but so do we.) 

I want to show you.  Let's look at the following verses:

​544 - 421 B.C. (Jacob 3:5, 7)

The Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate . . . are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father—that they should have save it were one wife.

Behold, their husbands love their wives, and their wives love their husbands; and their husbands and their wives love their children.

29 B.C. (Helaman 6:1)​

​​The Lamanites had become, the more part of them, a righteous people, insomuch that their righteousness did exceed that of the Nephites.
​
21 B.C. (Helaman 7:23-24)

It shall be better for the Lamanites than for you except ye shall repent.  For behold, they are more righteous than you.

401 A.D. (Moroni 9:20)

Thou knowest the wickedness of this people; thou knowest that they are without principle, and past feeling; and their wickedness doth exceed that of the Lamanites.

Convinced?

Next time we'll look at what the Lord's promises to the Lamanites in the last days. 

. . . to be continued