1 Nephi 14

Chapter 14 is the last chapter where Nephi is learning from an angel the meaning of Lehi's words. It seems to me that it just for us in these last days.

In this chapter it tells us exactly how those who do evil will perish. They'll perish and be destroyed by their own works (1 Nephi 14:3-4). As they try to bury the saints of God, they are only tripping up their own selves.

Nephi is told that if we are to be blessed and saved, we are to harken to the Lord, not harden our hearts against Him, and repent (1-2, 5-6). The saints of God would be few, yet everywhere on the Earth (12). Even though multitudes would be gathered together to fight against the Lord, the saints and the covenant people will be blessed by the power of the Lord and will be armed with righteousness (13-14). There will be wars and rumors of wars among all the nations and people on earth, and the wrath of God will be poured out among the wicked; that day is when the "work of the Father shall commence, in preparing the ay for the fulfilling of his covenants, which he hath made to his people who are of the house of Israel" (15-17).


Elder Neal A. Maxwell explained a bit about being armed with righteousness:

“So let us look at ourselves. For the Church, the scriptures suggest both an accelerated sifting and accelerated spiritual numerical growth—with all this preceding the time when the people of God will be ‘armed with righteousness’—not weapons—and when the Lord’s glory will be poured out upon them (1 Nephi 14:14; see also 1 Peter 4:17; D&C 112:25). The Lord is determined to have a tried, pure, and proven people (see D&C 100:16; 101:4; 136:31), and ‘there is nothing that the Lord thy God shall take in his heart to do but what he will do it’ (Abraham 3:17)” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1988, 8; or Ensign, May 1988, 8).

Nephi then saw John the Revelator who wrote concerning the end of the world (18-24, 27-30). Nephi was then told to stop writing of what was shown to him because it was John the Revelator's job to write them and all the other words which were written by others are sealed to come forth in the time of the Lord (25-26).


Some of the lessons I plan on taking from this chapter is that those who do evil are only harming themselves and we should be righteous as it is our defense against the world. Those are pretty powerful lessons. Doing good defends you; doing bad destroys you.