The Three Days Nephi Saw Before He Was Told to Stop Writing

Nephi saw all the way to our day. Then an angel told him to stop writing. Right before his pen stopped, he gave us three days, in order. Here they are, and here’s what he did instead of writing the rest.

Start with #4 if you haven’t: Nephi asked to see his father’s dream, and was shown the history of the world →. This picks up at the end of that vision, 1 Nephi 14.

The three days

Read 1 Nephi 14:10–17 slowly. Nephi isn’t describing a blur of end-times. He’s describing three specific days, and the text spells them out.

Day one · The Day of Power (1 Nephi 14:10–14)

First, the line is drawn: “there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil” (14:10). The great church “sat upon many waters” with dominion over all the earth (14:11). The church of the Lamb was few, and “their dominions upon the face of the earth were small”, but they were “upon all the face of the earth” (14:12). The great church gathers multitudes “to fight against the Lamb of God” (14:13).

Then:

“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.” — 1 Nephi 14:14

Ken’s reading: this is the Day of Power, when the fulness of the priesthood is showered upon the Latter-day Saints who have qualified themselves to receive the power of the Lamb.

Two witnesses for the name and the reading: – The Psalm. “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power“ (Psalm 110:3). The very next verse: “Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek” (110:4). The day of power and the higher priesthood sit side by side. – The awakes. Isaiah tells Zion to “put on thy strength” (52:1), and the Lord told Joseph that means “to put on the authority of the priesthood” (D&C 113:8). Isaiah says the Lord Himself “put on righteousness as a breastplate” (59:17). In 1 Nephi 14:14 the saints are armed with righteousness. (Our reading) Put on, armed with: the Day of Power is the day Zion finally puts on what she was told to.

And notice who receives it: the saints and the covenant people, few and scattered, but everywhere. Not a nation. A people, all over the earth, ready. Ready is the key, and readiness can’t be borrowed. When the foolish asked the wise, “Give us of your oil,” the answer was “Not so” (Matthew 25:8–9). Oil can’t be lent.

Day two · The day of wrath (1 Nephi 14:15–17)

“And it came to pass that I beheld that the wrath of God was poured out upon the great and abominable church, insomuch that there were wars and rumors of wars among all the nations and kindreds of the earth.” — 1 Nephi 14:15

“And as there began to be wars and rumors of wars among all the nations which belonged to the mother of abominations…” (14:16).

Ken’s reading: the day coming when all nations go to war. A world war is a trigger point. (Ken’s reading, labeled. The text gives no date, and neither do we.)

Notice whom the wrath is aimed at: the great church. And notice how it falls: wars among the nations that belonged to her. Her own nations fight each other. It’s the pattern the Book of Mormon names plainly: “it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished” (Mormon 4:5). God’s left arm, at work .

Day three · “At that day” (1 Nephi 14:17)

And then the verse that ties it together:

“And when the day cometh that the wrath of God is poured out upon the mother of harlots, which is the great and abominable church of all the earth, whose founder is the devil, then, at that day, the work of the Father shall commence, in preparing the way for the fulfilling of his covenants, which he hath made to his people who are of the house of Israel.” — 1 Nephi 14:17

Ken: “it is very clear, we don’t need to guess.” The text says it: when the day cometh… then, at that day. The work of the Father commences.

Which work? The one the Lamb promised ten verses earlier: “a great and a marvelous work among the children of men” (14:7), the work that divides, bringing some “unto peace and life eternal” and hardening others →. The Father’s work: gathering His covenant people home.

(A small edition note: today’s text says the great church’s founder is the devil. That’s what the 1830 printing said. The 1837 through 1920 editions changed it to foundation, and the 1981 edition restored founder.)

Then: “Look!”

Right after the third day, the angel says one word: “Look!” (14:18). Nephi sees “one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” (14:20): – “he shall see and write the remainder of these things” (14:21). – “the things which this apostle of the Lamb shall write are many things which thou hast seen; and behold, the remainder shalt thou see“ (14:24). – “But the things which thou shalt see hereafter thou shalt not write; for the Lord God hath ordained the apostle of the Lamb of God that he should write them” (14:25). – “And also others who have been, to them hath he shown all things, and they have written them; and they are sealed up to come forth in their purity… in the own due time of the Lord, unto the house of Israel” (14:26). – “the name of the apostle of the Lamb was John“ (14:27).

And the pen stops:

“And behold, I, Nephi, am forbidden that I should write the remainder of the things which I saw and heard; wherefore the things which I have written sufficeth me; and I have written but a small part of the things which I saw.” — 1 Nephi 14:28

He saw the rest. He wasn’t allowed to write it. John would. “Others who have been” already had, and their records are sealed, waiting.

What Nephi did instead

Five chapters later, Nephi reaches the last days in his own record. He can’t write what he saw. So he does the one thing he’s allowed to do: he quotes someone who saw it too. “That I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah” (1 Nephi 19:23), because Isaiah “verily saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him” (2 Nephi 11:2).

That’s why Isaiah is in the Book of Mormon. It’s the part of the vision Nephi was allowed to hand us, in another prophet’s words. And Isaiah isn’t something you read once. You have to search it.

Six times, the Book of Mormon says search

People sometimes say the Book of Mormon commands searching in four places. It’s at least six:

Benjamin says them. Alma and Mormon say the scriptures. Only the Savior names a book: Isaiah. And He names it after the three days had been shown to Nephi and sealed from his pen. The commandment to search Isaiah is how He hands us back what Nephi couldn’t write. (Our reading)

This week

1. Read 1 Nephi 14:10–17 and mark the three days: the power of the Lamb descended · the wrath of God was poured out · at that day, the work of the Father.
2. Read 14:24–28. What did Nephi see that he couldn’t write?
3. And the question the first day asks: If the power of the Lamb descended today, would it find me armed, or borrowing oil?

THE GREATER PORTION · “to him is given the greater portion of the word” (Alma 12:10). Back to the chapters themselves: 1 Nephi 20 and 21 (Ancillaries #6 and #7), the Isaiah Nephi chose instead.