7 The Plain and Precious Book

1 Nephi 13

1 Nephi 13: 21-29

21 And the angel said unto me: Knowest thou the meaning of the book?

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.

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 fulness 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.

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.

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.

The Book of Mormon, now reveals those historical elements, that the church of the devil, would have hoped to remained hidden. Satan must take the "plain and precious things" from the scriptures if he is to gain a foothold in the hearts of the common man. The goals of Satan are, in character, patterned after his goals in the pre-earth life that caused him to be cast out of heaven. First, he must destroy the nature and glory of God and the godhead, and second, destroy the necessity of the atonement of Jesus Christ. To do this, he must take those doctrines that teach eternal truths about the nature of God, his Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost from the scriptures, and establish traditions that will control and hold captive the spiritual nature of man so that he can "carefully lead them down to hell." The "great and abominable church of the devil" will now have the power to spread throughout the earth.

The honest in heart Satan will lead away 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" (1 Nephi 13:29). Those honorable people of the earth, that do stumble because of the loss of these things, are they who will inherit the terrestrial kingdom, because they were blinded by the "craftiness of men" (D&C 76:75). By manipulating the word of God, and accomplishing to take away "many plain and precious things" from the scriptures, Satan has gained the power to control the religions, and the wealth of the world.

The "church of the devil" began to spread, without those "plain and precious things," and spread it did by blood and horror throughout the earth. Beginning with the Romans and their conquest of the civilized world, through the Islamic empire and the "people of the book" which included, the peoples and philosophies of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The Islamic world saw the raping of the riches of the earth, from Spain to China. The expansion of Babylon was propagated into northern Europe by the bloody swords of the crusaders, as they sought to liberate Jerusalem from the control of the infidel, and like the Arabic "jihad" forced religion, or death, upon the non-believers, throughout Europe and the Middle East. During this time period, the churches were owned and controlled by the governments. The clergy, consisting of the popes, priests, and pastors became puppets in the palms of the world leaders. This is the great day of Satan's power, the "woman and her child have fled from the face of the serpent" (Rev. 12:6, 13-17), the priesthood and gospel are gone, and there is none to stop the spread of Babylon, from the rivers to the ends of the earth. . . . However . . . ."

There is a plan, there will be a restoration of the gospel and the priesthood of God. This time, this restoration shall endure, and will cause the eventual fall of Babylon. The plan begins as a small groups of gentiles seek freedom from the church of the devil.

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