12
And also a arecord
of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of
Zedekiah, king of Judah;
13
And also the prophecies of the holy prophets, from the beginning, even
down to the commencement of the reign of aZedekiah;
and also many prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of bJeremiah.
14 And it came to
pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the aplates of brass a bgenealogy
of his cfathers; wherefore
he knew that he was a descendant of dJoseph;
yea, even that Joseph who was the son of eJacob,
who was fsold into Egypt,
and who was gpreserved by
the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father, Jacob, and all his
household from perishing with famine.
15
And they were also aled
out of captivity and out of the land of Egypt, by that same God who had
preserved them.
16
And thus my father, Lehi, did discover the genealogy of his
fathers. And Laban also was a descendant
of aJoseph, wherefore he
and his fathers had kept the brecords.
17
And now when my father saw all these things, he was filled with the
Spirit, and began to prophesy concerning his seed—
18
That these aplates
of brass should go forth unto all bnations,
kindreds, tongues, and people who were of his seed.
"these plates should go forth unto all
nations, kindreds, tongues, and people..."
-Lehi is
assuming an awful lot here. He is
speaking of countless posterity that will speak different languages, form
various political organizations and –in short- be so numerous that a common
ancestry will not be readily recognizable.
At the point of this prophecy Lehi only has a handful of children.
-it took 2 millennia to happen,
but it is fulfilled.
-footnote b (JSH 1:33): the footnote establishes a parallel between
the brass plates and the work that Joseph Smith would do as both going "unto all nations". The long range effects of good works (and
bad) are almost impossible to put bounds on.
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