The Book of the Lamb of God

Note: 
- I'm going to go ahead and publish this. I've been working on it for too long. I consider my posts always open for expansion, correction, and emphasis changes. 
- I fixed the annoying 'font-size: x-small' style attribute. Editing the HTML in this editor is difficult at best.

We'll pick it up where the angel is revealing to Nephi The Book of the Lamb of God. I have read over this dozens of times and never pickup up the beautiful detail until I removed my preconceived notions.

21 and the angel said unto me knowest thou the meaning of the book

This is the Bible that he sees carried forth among them and the angel is about to explain the origins.

22 and I said unto him I know not

23 and he said behold it proceedeth out of the mouth of a Jew and I Nephi beheld it and he said unto me the book that thou beholdest is a record of the Jews which contains the covenants of the Lord which he hath made unto the house of Israel and it also containeth many of the prophecies of the holy prophets and it is a record like unto the engravings which are upon the plates of brass save there are not so many nevertheless they contain the covenants of the Lord which he hath made unto the house of Israel wherefore, they are of great worth unto the Gentiles

After several readings of this I interpreted this as praise for the Bible, but as I read it further, it appears to be the angel beginning the discussion of The Book of the Lamb of God and not the Bible the Gentiles were carrying forth, so he has to start from the beginning before the corruption.

24 and the angel of the Lord said unto me thou hast beheld that the book proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew and when it proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew it contained the fullness of the gospel of the Lord of whom the twelve apostles bear record and they bear record according to the truth which is in the Lamb of God

Which Jew? John the Revelator? Why one? Didn't the multiple apostles write it. Maybe John had the commission of compiling and abridging like Mormon?

25 wherefore these things go forth from the Jews in purity unto the Gentiles according to the truth which is in God

26 and after they go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb from the Jews unto the Gentiles thou seest the formation of that great and abominable church which is most abominable above all other churches for behold they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away

27 and all this have they done that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men

There is a progression here. The first step is to "pervert the right ways of the Lord". I think the message has to appear to contain enough of the Lord's message for it to be used. The trick is just to change the right things as to create the illusion of completeness. The effect of this is to "blind the eyes". You don't know what you're not seeing until you see it. You believe you are seeing the full picture. The ultimate effect is to "harden the hearts". Once hearts are hardened and calcified, the chances of recognizing and accepting truth are diminished. False religion appears to be a very effective in hardening the hearts. Everyone wants to be believe they have bet on the winning horse.

This is what the Book of Mormon says about the effects of the Bible. There seems to be a choice here. How does one treat the Bible after this verse?

28 wherefore thou seest that after the book hath gone forth through the hands of the great and abominable church that there are many plain and precious things taken away from the book which is the book of the Lamb of God

29 and after these plain and precious things were taken away it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles and after it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles yea even across the many waters which thou hast seen with the Gentiles which have gone forth out of captivity thou seest because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb an exceedingly great many do stumble yea insomuch that Satan hath great power over them

30 nevertheless thou beholdest that the Gentiles who have gone forth out of captivity and have been lifted up by the power of God above all other nations upon the face of the land which is choice above all other lands which is the land that the Lord God hath covenanted with thy father that his seed should have for the land of their inheritance wherefore, thou seest that the Lord God will not suffer that the Gentiles will utterly destroy the mixture of thy seed which are among thy brethren

31 neither will he suffer that the Gentiles shall destroy the seed of thy brethren

32 neither will the Lord God suffer that the Gentiles shall forever remain in that awful state of blindness which thou beholdest they are in because of the plain and most precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which have been kept back by that abominable church whose formation thou hast seen

We are being told that the Gentiles are in an awful state of blindness because of the Bible. What? How? Really? Come on?

33 wherefore saith the Lamb of God I will be merciful unto the Gentiles unto the visiting of the remnant of the house of Israel in great judgment

34 and it came to pass that the angel of the Lord spake unto me saying behold saith the Lamb of God after I have visited the remnant of the house of Israel and this remnant of whom I speak is the seed of thy father wherefore after I have visited them in judgment and smitten them by the hand of the Gentiles and after the Gentiles do stumble exceedingly because of the most plain and precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which have been kept back by that abominable church which is the mother of harlots saith the Lamb I will be merciful unto the Gentiles in that day insomuch that I will bring forth unto them in mine own power much of my gospel, which shall be plain and precious saith the Lamb

It doesn't mention the Gentiles taking The Book of Mormon to the remnant of Lehi, like it does for The Book of the Lamb of God and the "other books". Why?

35 for behold, saith the Lamb I will manifest myself unto thy seed that they shall write many things which I shall minister unto them which shall be plain and precious and after thy seed shall be destroyed and dwindle in unbelief and also the seed of thy brethren behold these things shall be hid up to come forth unto the Gentiles by the gift and power of the Lamb

Nor is it mentioned in this verse that Gentiles shall take it to the remnant of Lehi.

I think it is pretty clear that this is referring to The Book of Mormon. It comes forth by the gift and power of the Lamb. What is the gift of the Lamb? What is the power of the Lamb?

36 and in them shall be written my gospel saith the Lamb and my rock and my salvation

37 and blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb and whoso shall publish peace yea tidings of great joy how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be

Well, this verse seems way out of place. Here you have Jacob throwing in some Isaiah about Zion. What a weird and odd place to slip this verse in. Or is it? It appears at some point after the Book of Mormon comes forth the commission will go out to build Zion and there will be laborers and they shall have "the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost". What is the difference between "the gift and power of the Lamb" and "the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost"?

38 and it came to pass that I beheld the remnant of the seed of my brethren and also the book of the Lamb of God which had proceeded forth from the mouth of the Jew that it came forth from the Gentiles unto the remnant of the seed of my brethren

Interesting that Nephi doesn't see or mention or doesn't know the means by which The Book of the Lamb of God comes forth. Why is that? He just casually mentions that he sees the remnant of the seed of my brethren and oh by the way, the book is there too. Maybe the Lord will try our faith in the manner that it comes forth? Will they be found in tact in an earthen vase?

39 and after it had come forth unto them I beheld other books which came forth by the power of the Lamb from the Gentiles unto them unto the convincing of the Gentiles and the remnant of the seed of my brethren and also the Jews who were scattered upon all the face of the earth that the records of the prophets and of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are true

We now have a third set of books mentioned. These are the other books. Why do these books come forth by the power of the Lamb and not the gift of the Lamb? This is a curious thing to me. I operate under the belief that no word is inconsequential. There may be errors, but that will have to be proven to me. I will always assume there is no error.

So we have three ways the records come forth.
1. The Book of Mormon: ...come forth by the gift and power of the Lamb.
2. The Book of the Lamb of God: ...no mention.
3. Other books: ...power of the Lamb.

All three sets of records first come forth unto the Gentiles. The Gentiles have a great role in this drama.

The combination of these records has great convincing power. It convinces the Gentiles, the remnant of Lehi and the Jews scattered upon all the face of the earth. There must be some corroborating details in them. There are some fantastic things in store. I crave reading these records. When I receive them, I will feast on them, rejoice and give deep gratitude to God.

40 and the angel spake unto me saying these last records which thou hast seen among the Gentiles shall establish the truth of the first which are of the twelve apostles of the Lamb and shall make known the plain and precious things which have been taken away from them and shall make known to all kindreds tongues and people that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father and the Savior of the world and that all men must come unto him or they cannot be saved

41 and they must come according to the words which shall be established by the mouth of the Lamb and the words of the Lamb shall be made known in the records of thy seed as well as in the records of the twelve apostles of the Lamb wherefore they both shall be established in one for there is one God and one Shepherd over all the earth

42 and the time cometh that he shall manifest himself unto all nations both unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles and after he has manifested himself unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles then he shall manifest himself unto the Gentiles and also unto the Jews and the last shall be first and the first shall be last

It is incredibly easy to read this chapter and assume the Book of the Lamb of God is the Bible in its current condition. I don't know how many times I read this chapter without noticing that it isn't. After a few careful readings it became more clear.

Summary:
My top takeaways from this section of scripture.
1. The Book of the Lamb of God will come forth to the Gentiles and from them to the remnant of the seed of Nephi's brethren.
2. The Gentiles take The Book of the Lamb of God and the "other books" to the Jews in the whole earth.
3. The Bible in its current state is a great stumbling block.
4. God will not permit the Gentiles to remain in this great state of awful blindness.
5. Verses 35 - 39 layout an order of events.
a. The Book of Mormon comes forth.
b. The foundation of Zion is established.
c. The Book of the Lamb of God comes forth.
d. "Other books" come forth.

My top list of things that aren't mentioned in this section of scripture.
1. It does not mention the Book of Mormon being taken from the Gentiles to the remnant of the seed of Nephi's brethren. - After writing this I may have received an answer in 2 Nephi 29:1, 2 ...hmm lots of possibilities in how this could be accomplished.

2 and also that I may remember the promises which I have made unto thee Nephi and also unto thy father that I would remember your seed and that the words of your seed should proceed forth out of my mouth unto your seed

My top questions asked in this blog and to the Lord.
1. Why the different modes of records coming forth?
2.