3 Nephi 17

#3 Nephi Chapter 17

#Scripture Mastery

3 Nephi 17:4 But now I go unto the Father, and also to show myself unto the lost tribes of Israel, for they are not lost unto the Father, for he knoweth whither he hath taken them.

3 Nephi 17:23-24 And he spoke unto the multitude. and said unto them: Behold your little ones. And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.

1 Behold, now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked round about again on the multitude, and he said unto them: Behold, my time is at hand.

verse 1 “Behold, my time is at hand” The Savior’s meaning is unclear. Though he certainly knows he is coming back the following day, he almost makes it sound like he’s saying farewell, “My time to leave you is at hand.”

2 I perceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot understand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time.

verse 2 We certainly cannot conclude that these Nephites were unworthy or spiritually unprepared for their experience with the Savior. They had survived the great destruction, and they were mature in their righteousness. Yet the Lord perceived in them a weakness that was making it difficult for them to understand all his words. The Lord had been teaching of the gathering. The Nephites’ difficulty in understanding the gathering seems to have had more to do with their lack of intellectual understanding of the doctrine itself. Each of us is reminded that the gospel contains doctrines that require study, pondering, and prayer.

3 Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds for the morrow, and I come unto you again.

verse 3 “ponder upon the things which I have said” Here is a reminder that the things of God are not understood through hearing or reading alone. The Spirit must also bear witness which often occurs during a time of meditation, prayer, and pondering.

“ask of the Father, in my name” During Christ’s three-day post resurrection visit with the Nephites, he explicitly commanded them, on eight occasions, to pray to the Father in his name (see also 3 Nephi 18:19, 21, 23, 30; 20:31; 27:28; 28:30).

verses 2-3 Obviously the Nephites there gathered had had a profound experience which they did not, as yet, fully understand. Only through continued obedience and prayerful contemplation would they come to fully comprehend its deep significance.

4 But now I go unto the Father, and also to show myself unto the lost tribes of Israel, for they are not lost unto the Father, for he knoweth whither he hath taken them.

verse 4 “I go unto the Father” Again, Jesus almost makes it sound like he is leaving them for good, though we know that he will return the following day. We are not told why he is returning to the Father. Hugh Nibley even suggested that perhaps the Savior was planning to leave at this point and then changed his mind (Teachings of the Book of Mormon, lecture 96, 3 Nephi 11-19).

“also to show myself unto the lost tribes of Israel” See the commentary for 3 Nephi 16:1-3.

5 And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus spoken, he cast his eyes round about again on the multitude, and beheld they were in tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them. 6 And he said unto them: Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you.

verse 6 After asking the multitude to return to their homes, the Nephites did not, in fact return home. Rather they tarried. At this, the Savior was touched and seems to have changed his plans temporarily. Paul wrote: “We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities” (Hebrews 4:15).

Keep in mind that his empathy for human suffering was immediate and personal and based at least in part on his sufferings in Gethsemane and on the cross. There was nothing theoretical or speculative about his compassion for these Nephites or for us: “And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities” (Alma 7:11-12).

7 Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.

verse 7 Christ’s healing of the sick among the Nephites was an act of great compassion and love and was undoubtedly provided to the Nephites as a reward for their faith. More importantly, however, perhaps we ought to see in his physical healing a symbolic representation of the spiritual healing which he offers.

“Halt” means lame—that is, holding or stopping in walking.

“or leprous” There is little evidence that leprosy existed in ancient Mesoamerica. It seems likely that the term “leprous” here might refer to any number of serious skin diseases (John L. Sorenson, FARMS Update, September 1994, number 26).

8 For I perceive that ye desire that I should show unto you what I have done unto your brethren at Jerusalem, for I see that your faith is sufficient that I should heal you.

9 And it came to pass that when he had thus spoken, all the multitude, with one accord, did go forth with their sick and their afflicted, and their lame, and with their blind, and with their dumb, and with all them that were afflicted in any manner; and he did heal them every one as they were brought forth unto him. 10 And they did all, both they who had been healed and they who were whole, bow down at his feet, and did worship him; and as many as could come for the multitude did kiss his feet, insomuch that they did bathe his feet with their tears.

verse 10 Elder Bruce R. McConkie declared:

To worship the Lord is to follow after him, to seek his face, to believe his doctrine, and to think his thoughts. To worship the Lord is to put first in our lives the things of his kingdom, to live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God, to center our whole hearts upon Christ and that salvation which comes because of him. It is to walk in the light as he is in the light, to do the things that he wants done, to do what he would do under similar circumstances, to be as he is. To worship the Lord is to walk in the Spirit, to rise above the carnal things, to bridle our passions, and to overcome the world (Doctrines of the Restoration, 371).

11 And it came to pass that he commanded that their little children should be brought.

12 So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him.

13 And it came to pass that when they had all been brought, and Jesus stood in the midst, he commanded the multitude that they should kneel down upon the ground.

verse 13 Imagine this poignant scene—Jesus standing in the midst of a large group of children with their parents kneeling around them.

Apparently, the posture which we assume as we pray is important (see also 3 Nephi 19:6, 16-17). During private formal prayers, individuals should both bow and kneel down before God. Such a posture evidences humility, submission, and meekness. Elder Bruce R. McConkie has explained that “our Father is glorified and exalted; he is an omnipotent being. We are as the dust of the earth in comparison, and yet we are his children with access, through prayer, to his presence. . . Almost by instinct, therefore, we do such things as bow our heads and close our eyes; fold our arms, or kneel, or fall on our faces” (“Why the Lord Ordained Prayer,” Ensign [January 1976] 6:12).

14 And it came to pass that when they had knelt upon the ground, Jesus groaned within himself, and said: Father, I am troubled because of the wickedness of the people of the house of Israel.

verse 14 It is notable that in the midst of all this joy, Jesus’s thoughts turned to his people, to the house of Israel much of which was apostate. Perhaps on experiencing the joy of these Nephites, his heart turned to those who were missing this type of joy. Perhaps he thus experienced remorse which caused him to groan.

15 And when he had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him.

verses 16-17 In these following verses, Mormon momentarily digresses from his account and quotes from the records written by those fortunate Nephites who were eyewitnesses of these great events.

16 And after this manner do they bear record: The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father;

17 And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.

verse 17 “And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak” The book of 3 Nephi has been called “the crown jewel of the Book of Mormon.” Andrew C. Skinner has explained, “In a way, it [3 Nephi] picks up where Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John leave off and strengthens their messages. Even more significant, Third Nephi emphasizes the most important doctrines, principles, and themes found in the other Gospels” (Andrew C. Skinner, Third

Nephi: The Fifth Gospel, Springville, UT: Cedar Fort, 2012, 2). As Jesus declared, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them” (3 Nephi 11:39).

Recognizing that this sacred text offers a unique and unparalleled account of Jesus’ ministry, many scholars and careful students of the Book of Mormon have paid special attention to its narrative, themes, and teachings. Victor L. Ludlow has noted how covenants are thematically central to Christ’s discourse in 3 Nephi (Victor L. Ludlow, “Jesus’ Covenant Teachings in Third Nephi,” in Rediscovering the Book of Mormon: Insights You May Have Missed Before, ed. John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne, Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1991, 185. See also, Victor L. Ludlow, “Covenant Teachings of the Scriptures,” devotional address delivered at Brigham Young University, October 1998, online at speeches.byui.edu; Victor L. Ludlow, “The Father’s Covenant People Sermon: 3 Nephi 20: 10–23:5,” in Third Nephi: An Incomparable Scripture, ed. Andrew C. Skinner and Gaye Strathearn, Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2012, 147–174). Gaye Strathearn and Jacob Moody have proposed that Christ’s application of Isaiah holds special significance for the Book of Mormon itself as a sign for the gathering of Israel (Gaye Strathearn and Jacob Moody, “Christ’s Interpretation of Isaiah 52‘s ‘My Servant’ in 3 Nephi,” in An Incomparable Scripture, 175–190). Robert L. Millet has emphasized the special importance of Christ’s prayers and how they demonstrate the universal need to “communicate with God—often, regularly, consistently, intensely, reverently” (Robert L. Millet, “The Praying Savior: Insights from the Gospel of 3 Nephi,” in An Incomparable Scripture, 131–146. See also, Donald W. Parry, “‘Pray Always’: Learning to Pray as Jesus Prayed,” in The Book of Mormon: 3 Nephi 9–30, This Is My Gospel, Book of Mormon Symposium Series, Volume 8, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1993, 137–148).

Charles Swift has offered a literary portrait of Jesus as the Divine Lord, remarking that this special account of His ministry allows “us to see more of Jesus as the glorified, resurrected God that he is” (Charles Swift, “‘So Great and Marvelous Things’: The Literary Portrait of Jesus as Divine Lord in 3 Nephi,” in An Incomparable Scripture, 235–260). Jerry L. Jaccard has proposed that, like music, 3 Nephi holds an “intentional tendency toward beauty, proportion, and order not only in the creation as a whole, but in the scriptural account of it as well” (Jerry L. Jaccard, “The End from the Beginning in 3 Nephi and Beyond: The Words of Christ as Musical Architecture,” in An Incomparable Scripture, 353–372).

Richard Lloyd Anderson has suggested that Book of Mormon “is a guidebook for our age because it collects foundational doctrines, and these are bound together in the central practice of partaking of the sacrament,” as portrayed in 3 Nephi (Richard Lloyd

Anderson, “Religious Validity: The Sacrament Covenant in Third Nephi,” in By Study and Also by Faith: Essays in Honor of Hugh W. Nibley, 2 vols., ed. John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks, Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1990, 2:1–51). John W. Welch concluded that Christ’s sermon at the temple in Bountiful “restores covenantal and sacred meaning to the Sermon on the Mount” (John W. Welch, The Sermon at the Temple and the Sermon on the Mount, Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1990, 87–88), and that in numerous ways 3 Nephi can be seen as opening to all people the blessings previously afforded only to the High Priest in the Holy of Holies (John W. Welch, “Seeing Third Nephi as the Holy of Holies of the Book of Mormon,” Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 19, no. 1, 2010: 36–55). Many more enlightening studies have brought forth an abundance of noteworthy insights (See Nyman and Tate, eds., The Book of Mormon: 3 Nephi 9–30; Skinner and Strathearn, eds., Third Nephi: An Incomparable Scripture).

As the crown jewel of the Book of Mormon, the accounts in 3 Nephi are of greatest worth and value. President Ezra Taft Benson taught that Third Nephi “contains some of the most moving and powerful passages in all scripture” and that it “is a book that should be read and read again” (Ezra Taft Benson, “The Savior’s Visit to America,” Ensign, May 1987, online at lds.org). Part of its immediate relevance and worth to modern readers is that the “record of the Nephite history just prior to the Savior’s visit reveals many parallels to our own day” (Benson, “The Savior’s Visit to America,” online at lds.org) and thus serves as a precious “pattern for preparing for the Second Coming” (Ezra Taft Benson, “The Book of Mormon—Keystone of Our Religion,” Ensign, November 1986, online at lds.org).

Jewels, such as diamonds, are formed and purified under extraordinary pressures. Concerning Mormon’s editorial approach in selecting and organizing the overall narrative in 3 Nephi, Grant Hardy has noted, “The argument he is setting up seems to equate the signs among the Nephites of Christ’s birth with the sign of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. [In both cases] these [signs] are preliminary warnings, which will be followed by a brief probationary period and then the destructions accompanying Jesus’ death will have their counterpart in the devastation that will take place at the Second Coming” (Grant Hardy, Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2010, 317 n. 50).

Though terrifying and tremendous, these upheavals herald the dawning of a clearer, brighter, and lustrous day. During the final scenes leading up to the Savior’s visitation at the temple in Bountiful, the “people began to look with great earnestness for the sign which had been given by the prophet Samuel, the Lamanite” (3 Nephi 8:3). In modern times, prophets and apostles have similarly encouraged people to study the signs of the Lord’s coming and to anxiously prepare for His exquisite arrival.

Elder Neil L. Andersen remarked, “The thought of His coming stirs my soul. It will be breathtaking! The scope and grandeur, the vastness and magnificence, will exceed anything mortal eyes have ever seen or experienced.” Elder Andersen further invited, “May we prepare for His coming by rehearsing these glorious events over and over in our own minds” (Neil L. Andersen, “Thy Kingdom Come,” Ensign, May 2015, 122, online at lds.org). Christ’s resplendent visitation at the temple in Bountiful can help readers better understand and anticipate what it means for Him to come again.

Yet 3 Nephi is far more than a key to discerning the signs of the times. It was written to help individuals, communities, and nations prepare themselves and to be refined, cut, and polished, to enter into the presence of the Lord. Elder Dallin H. Oaks has stated that “the faithful are taught to study the signs of [the Second Coming] and to be prepared for it” (emphasis added) (Dallin H. Oaks, “Preparation for the Second Coming,” Ensign, May 2004, online at lds.org).

3 Nephi, as a spiritual gem and model of purifying preparation, “contains those matters that the Savior himself felt were and are most important to the functioning of his church and absolutely essential for sons and daughters of God to internalize if they want to be exalted” (Skinner, Fifth Gospel, 2). Welch concluded, “The book of 3 Nephi lays forth a holy template for how one may dwell forever in the house of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the great and eternal High Priest of all mankind” (Welch, “Seeing Third Nephi as the Holy of Holies,” 53).

Thus all those who accept the reality of Jesus Christ’s visitation in 3 Nephi and follow His teachings delivered at the temple in Bountiful will be prepared to enter into His presence when the “curtain of heaven [will] be unfolded” and the beautifully radiant “face of the Lord shall be unveiled” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:95). As Strathearn has described, “While 3 Nephi may not be at the physical center of the Book of Mormon, it clearly serves as its crowning jewel” (Gaye Strathearn, “Nephi, third book of,” in Book of Mormon Reference Companion, ed. Dennis L. Largey, Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2003, 597). Similarly, Skinner declared that 3 Nephi is “an anchor to our faith and a crown jewel of inestimable worth in our precious treasury of scripture” (Skinner, Fifth Gospel, 2).

18 And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying unto the Father, he arose; but so great was the joy of the multitude that they were overcome.

19 And it came to pass that Jesus spake unto them, and bade them arise.

20 And they arose from the earth, and he said unto them: Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full.

verse 20 What a remarkable gift these faithful Nephites had given to the Savior of the world! They were so humble and responsive that he, the Man of Sorrows who had wept so often for the sins of the world, could now weep because his joy was full.

21 And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.

verse 21 “he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them” When Jesus ministered to individuals among the Jews, His blessings were often accompanied by acts of physical contact. For instance, “when He healed Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever, Jesus ‘touched her hand’ . . . Jesus again ‘put forth his hand, and touched’ a man with leprosy to make him whole . . . He touched the eyes of two blind men as He healed them . . . He healed deafness and a speech impediment when He put His fingers ‘into’ a man’s ears . . . He ‘put his hands upon’ a blind man . . . He healed a demoniac child when He ‘took him by the hand and lifted him up’ . . . [and He] healed Jarius’ daughter when He ‘took her by the hand’ and raised her from the dead” (Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, “One by One: The Fifth Gospel’s Model of Service,” in A Book of Mormon Treasury: Gospel Insights from General Authorities and Religious Educators, Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2003, 378).

Richard Holzapfel has explained, “Third Nephi, sometimes referred to as the fifth Gospel in Latter-day Saint circles, describes Christ’s post-Resurrection ministry to the Nephites in terms similar to those used in the four New Testament Gospels. It emphasizes the individual experiences of the Nephite people with the resurrected Messiah, noting their direct physical contact with as well as His laying on of hands as the symbolic act of transmitting authority and power” (Holzapfel, “One by One,” 379– 380). For example, when Christ first appeared to the people at the temple in the land of Bountiful, He invited them to feel His side, as well as His hands and feet, “and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth” (3 Nephi 11:15, emphasis added). Later Jesus asked the people to bring forth any who were sick or afflicted, “and he did heal them every one” (3 Nephi 17:9, emphasis added). In this verse Jesus prayed for the people and then “took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them” (emphasis added). Jesus “touched with his hand the disciples whom he had chosen, one by one” and “gave them power to give the Holy Ghost” (3 Nephi 18:36–37). And in his parting blessing, Jesus “spake unto his disciples, one by one,” asking them what they desired of him after he would be gone back to the Father (3 Nephi 28:1, emphasis added). The Savior’s personal touch was a strong and memorable part of his presence and loving ministry.

Concerning Christ’s pattern of intimately ministering to individuals, Holzapfel noted, “According to the Book of Mormon model, ministering often occurs ‘one by one’ as disciples come in contact with the Savior and with one another. In many cases a personal ‘touch’ is a symbolic means of transmitting God’s love and power to an individual” (Holzapfel, “One by One,” 387).

The transmission of priesthood authority and the performance of priesthood ordinances are particularly symbolic of Christ’s concern for individuals (See Holzapfel, “One by One,” 381–384). Paul the Apostle taught that every person must individually “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). Elder Russell M. Nelson similarly affirmed, “Only as an individual can one be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost. Each of us is born individually; likewise, each of us is ‘born again’ individually” (Russell M. Nelson, “Salvation and Exaltation,” Ensign, May 2008, 8, online at lds.org). It is thus through the ordinances of the priesthood, administered one by one to every child of God who is willing to accept them, that Jesus Christ is able to “draw all men unto [Him]” (3 Nephi 27:15).

John W. Welch has noted that “under the old law, entrance into the Holy of Holies and into the presence of the Lord was the unique privilege of the High Priest” (John W. Welch, “Seeing Third Nephi as the Holy of Holies of the Book of Mormon,” Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 19, no. 1, 2010: 45), which stands in sharp contrast to the individual immediacy of the Savior’s contact with people in 3 Nephi. Jesus Christ’s resurrected visitation to nearly “two thousand and five hundred souls” at the temple in Bountiful signified a dramatic expansion of the availability of His presence (3 Nephi 17:25). Welch explained that the High Priest’s “privilege of entering into the presence of God foreshadowed or typified the same honor that will come to all of God’s righteous children” and that Christ’s Sermon at the Temple “extended the covenantal promise of this sacred privilege to all worthy men and women, who will stand someday in the literal presence of God (Welch, “Seeing Third Nephi,” 45. For a presentation on the importance of temples after periods of sorrow and destruction, see Jasmin Gimenez, “Temples Rising from Destruction,” Book of Mormon Temples Fireside, March 2016, online at bookofmormoncentral.org). Holzapfel similarly concluded, “As disciples of Jesus Christ, we should recognize that Jesus swept away the legalistic regulations of the Mosaic code and touched those who had been considered ‘untouchable’ under the law” (Holzapfel, “One by One,” 387).

Christ’s visitation to the people in Bountiful thus sends a very personal message to every reader of the Book of Mormon: Jesus Christ is a living, resurrected, and glorified being, and He has made Himself personally available to all those who are willing to come fully unto Him. This pattern continues into the Latter-days, as the Lord has invited, “seek the face of the Lord always” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:38), and has promised, “the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:68; cf. 93:1). These invitations are evidence that in His own time and way, Christ will personally visit all who come unto Him.

Significantly, it was in the Holy of Holies of the temple or tabernacle that Jehovah had revealed his presence to the High Priest in ancient Israel, just as it was at the temple that Jesus revealed Himself to the people at Bountiful. It was at the temple that

He taught them and ministered unto them one by one, and it was at the temple that He administered sacred priesthood ordinances.

Temples continue to be sacred spaces where the Lord or his authorized servants personally and individually minister to God’s children. President Howard W. Hunter taught, “Temples are sacred for the closest communion between the Lord and those receiving the highest and most sacred ordinances of the holy priesthood” (Howard W. Hunter, “The Great Symbol of Our Membership,” Ensign, October 1994, online at lds.org). Concerning His temples in modern times, the Lord has declared, “my presence shall be there, for I will come into it, and all the pure in heart that shall come into it shall see God” (Doctrine and Covenants 97:16).

Jesus Christ’s pattern of ministering one by one to all of God’s children— especially in the precincts of holy temples and through the ordinances of the holy priesthood—ultimately shows His boundless love for every individual. Concerning Christ’s visitation to the Nephites, Hugh Nibley remarked, “He appears entirely to individuals. He always appears to individuals. That’s what atonement is. He greets them one by one, he gives them the signs and tokens one by one, he converses with them one by one, he blesses the children one by one” (Hugh Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, 4 vols., American Fork and Provo, UT: Covenant Communications and FARMS, 2004, 4:88, lecture 94:3 3 Nephi 9–13). Elder Ronald A. Rasband concluded, “Certainly, there is a very profound and tender personal message here. Jesus Christ ministers to, and loves us all, one by one” (“One by One,” Ensign, November 2000, online at lds.org).

#22 And when he had done this he wept again;

23 And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones.

verses 23 “Behold your little ones” Is Jesus simply inviting the parents to look at their children and admire them? Or is more implied here? It has been suggested that perhaps the children now belonged to their parents in a way that they had not belonged before. Perhaps they had been sealed to them for eternity (John W. Welch, Illuminating the Sermon at the Temple & Sermon on the Mount, Copublished by FARMS: Provo, Utah and Deseret Book: Salt Lake City, Utah, 98-99).

24 And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.

verse 24 “they were encircled about by fire” For a discussion of the possible significance of this remarkable event, see the commentary for 3 Nephi 19:13-14. It is likely that this encircling about by fire was a sign of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Compare this experience with that of Nephi and Lehi in Helaman 5:23-49 or with that of the saints on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).

25 And the multitude did see and hear and bear record; and they know that their record is true for they all of them did see and hear, every man for himself; and they were in number about two thousand and five hundred souls; and they did consist of men, women, and children.

verse 25 “the multitude did see and hear” The “multitudes” of Book of Mormon peoples are inevitably smaller groups than we may intuitively envision in our mind’s eye. Here, for example, the “multitude” in Bountiful who received Christ were in number only about 700 families—2,500 people.