Now let me offer some background. The Book of Mormon, even the marvelous work and a wonder, of which Isaiah prophesied generations before Lehi left Jerusalem, was prepared to come forth from the foundation of the world. Gaining an understanding of the allegory of the tame and wild olive trees in Jacob 5 is a huge plus and will give perspective regarding its timeline, the various phases of the scattering and gathering, the role of the Nephites/Lamanites as the remnant of Joseph and their importance in the ushering in of the restoration of the fullness of the gospel and Christ's church. A part of this happened as far back as the time of the tower of Babel where a small group of people led by Jared and his brother, who spoke face to face with Jesus Christ:D&C 84
49 And the whole world lieth in sin, and groaneth under darkness and under the bondage of sin.
50 And by this you may know they are under the bondage of sin, because they come not unto me.
51 For whoso cometh not unto me is under the bondage of sin.
52 And whoso receiveth not my voice is not acquainted with my voice, and is not of me.
53 And by this you may know the righteous from the wicked, and that the whole world groaneth under sin and darkness even now.
54 And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—
55 Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.
56 And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.
57 And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written...
So the brother of Jared saw everything from the beginning to the end but was forbidden to write it all down for us because Jesus Christ knew that we as a church would take this gift lightly. Even Nephi saw everything from beginning to end but was forbidden to write it down because of the condemnation that we, today, would be under because of our pride, vanity and unbelief:Ether 4
1 And the Lord commanded the brother of Jared to go down out of the mount from the presence of the Lord, and write the things which he had seen; and they were forbidden to come unto the children of men until after that he should be lifted up upon the cross; and for this cause did king Mosiah keep them, that they should not come unto the world until after Christ should show himself unto his people.
2 And after Christ truly had showed himself unto his people he commanded that they should be made manifest.
3 And now, after that, they have all dwindled in unbelief; and there is none save it be the Lamanites, and they have rejected the gospel of Christ; therefore I am commanded that I should hide them up again in the earth.
4 Behold, I have written upon these plates the very things which the brother of Jared saw; and there never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared.
5 Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me to write them; and I have written them. And he commanded me that I should seal them up; and he also hath commanded that I should seal up the interpretation thereof; wherefore I have sealed up the interpreters, according to the commandment of the Lord.
6 For the Lord said unto me: They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord.
7 And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are.
So both the brother of Jared and Nephi did not write down all that was given them while in the flesh and so God's people had to wait until He manifested Himself unto them. And so He did. And He appeared to them in the land of Bountiful and taught them many great things.2 Nephi 32
6 Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do.
7 And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be.
So Joseph Smith was commanded to translate the Book of Mormon, but he was also commanded NOT to touch the sealed portion. And so begins the mission of the Gentiles to bring the gospel to the house of Israel, to gather in the covenant people, both of birth and adoption (ALL OF US).3 Nephi 26
3 And he did expound all things, even from the beginning until the time that he should come in his glory—yea, even all things which should come upon the face of the earth, even until the elements should melt with fervent heat, and the earth should be wrapt together as a scroll, and the heavens and the earth should pass away;
4 And even unto the great and last day, when all people, and all kindreds, and all nations and tongues shall stand before God, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—
5 If they be good, to the resurrection of everlasting life; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of damnation; being on a parallel, the one on the one hand and the other on the other hand, according to the mercy, and the justice, and the holiness which is in Christ, who was before the world began.
6 And now there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people;
7 But behold the plates of Nephi do contain the more part of the things which he taught the people.
8 And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken.
9 And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them.
10 And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.
It has been stated in other threads that our church is no longer under condemnation. Well if that is so, then it must also needs be that we have received all the remainder of the revelations that Jesus Christ promised us. Do we have them? Is the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon available to all the members of the church and to the world? Has any prophet, apostle or any general authority declared that our condemnation has been lifted and we have cause to rejoice? What did President Ezra Taft Benson have to say about this back in 1986?
He goes on to tell us why we need to take the Book of Mormon seriously. Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave a fireside talk, which originated at BYU on June 6, 1993. Some of his words:President Ezra Taft Benson:
My beloved brethren and sisters, today I would like to speak about one of the most significant gifts given to the world in modern times. The gift I am thinking of is more important than any of the inventions that have come out of the industrial and technological revolutions. This is a gift of greater value to mankind than even the many wonderful advances we have seen in modern medicine. It is of greater worth to mankind than the development of flight or space travel. I speak of the gift of the Book of Mormon, given to mankind 156 years ago...
This gift was prepared by the hand of the Lord over a period of more than a thousand years, then hidden up by Him so that it would be preserved in its purity for our generation. Perhaps there is nothing that testifies more clearly of the importance of this modern book of scripture than what the Lord Himself has said about it...
Think of that in terms of what it implies. The coming forth of the Book of Mormon preceded the restoration of the priesthood. It was published just a few days before the Church was organized. The Saints were given the Book of Mormon to read before they were given the revelations outlining such great doctrines as the three degrees of glory, celestial marriage, or work for the dead. It came before priesthood quorums and Church organization. Doesn’t this tell us something about how the Lord views this sacred work?...
In 1832, as some early missionaries returned from their fields of labor, the Lord reproved them for treating the Book of Mormon lightly. As a result of that attitude, he said, their minds had been darkened. Not only had treating this sacred book lightly brought a loss of light to themselves, it had also brought the whole Church under condemnation, even all the children of Zion. And then the Lord said, “And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon...
If the early Saints were rebuked for treating the Book of Mormon lightly, are we under any less condemnation if we do the same? The Lord Himself bears testimony that it is of eternal significance. Can a small number of us bring the whole Church under condemnation because we trifle with sacred things? What will we say at the Judgment when we stand before Him and meet His probing gaze if we are among those described as forgetting the new covenant?...
The Book of Mormon: Keystone of our Religion
Again, I ask, has any prophet since Ezra Taft Benson declared that we are no longer under condemnation? My answer to that is NO. Not one prophet, apostle, president, or any general authority has revealed such. There are many layers of truth in the Book of Mormon, which DOES contain the fullness of the gospel:Dallin H. Oaks
Along with other General Authorities, I have a clear recollection of the General Authority temple meeting on 5 March 1987. For a year, President Benson had been stressing the reading of the Book of Mormon. Repeatedly he had quoted these verses from the Doctrine and Covenants, including the Lord’s statement that the Saints’ conduct had “brought the whole church under condemnation” (D&C 84:55).
In that temple meeting, President Benson reread those statements and declared, “This condemnation has not been lifted, nor will it be until we repent.” He also repeated his declaration of a year earlier that “in our day the Lord has inspired His servant to reemphasize the Book of Mormon to get the Church out from under condemnation.”
Another Testament of Jesus Christ
D&C 20
8 And gave him power from on high, by the means which were before prepared, to translate the Book of Mormon;
9 Which contains a record of a fallen people, and the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles and to the Jews also;
Two thousand, five hundred Nephites and Lamanites had their calling and election made sure and received the Second Comforter. They brought forth fruit meet for repentance and they gained their salvation:
3 Nephi 27
30 And now, behold, my joy is great, even unto fulness, because of you, and also this generation; yea, and even the Father rejoiceth, and also all the holy angels, because of you and this generation; for none of them are lost.
This brings me back full circle to what Nephi, the brother of Jared, these Nephites and Lamanites and many others in the Book of Mormon all witnessed. And we can have the same thing today. This is what some people like Denver Snuffer, Amonhi, John Pontius and more and more members of the church are testifying about. I should hope that everyone say, "I know Jesus Christ lives. I have seen him." Should our general authorities be the only ones who can make such a claim? I should hope to hear them even say it. Each and every one of us can have the condemnation removed from us by seeking the Lord, by coming unto Jesus Christ, that He may tell us that our names are written in heaven, never to be blotted out again. This is what Zenos was telling us in Jacob 5. The Lord of the vineyard labors diligently even today to grown and bring forth fruit unto Himself. This fruit is all of us. We are the olives of this allegory. It's up to us to decide whether we will be laid up against the season as good fruit or to be cast into the fire as evil fruit. The last thought I leave to the reader is what Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ have both testified:
"Then I would exhort you to go on and continue to call upon God until you make your calling and election sure for yourselves; by obtaining this more sure word of prophecy, and wait patiently for the promise until you obtain it." --Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 299.
Why procrastinate the day of our repentance and HOPE that when we stand to be judged, we have done enough, when we can start NOW and seek the Lord NOW. Who would NOT want to visit with Jesus Christ in THIS life and know that He has accepted our sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit and given us the greatest gift that can be given? This is the whole point of the creation and His atonement!D&C 93
1 Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am;
Moses 1:39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.