O Ye Gentiles

        For 20 years as a Marine officer I took great pride in defending this remarkable Constitution against enemies foreign and domestic. My fellow warriors were equally as valiant in its defense as I. However, I had knowledge that most of them did not have. I knew the truth that America is a Promised Land and a choice land to the Lord above all others. I understood, thanks to a most remarkable ancient record made by the inhabitants of this land, that the unalterable decree of the Lord is that we who possess this land will be free from bondage if we believe in and serve the God who had so graciously made us free. Thus, the trust and confidence reposed in me by the people of the United States became even more special, and my determination to defend the Constitution was not merely loyalty to a man-made document or to people, but evermore to a God who long before Pilgrims landed on its shores declared this land choice above all other lands, and decreed that all who dwelt thereon would serve the Lord God or be swept off.
       Ample historical precedence exists of God's seriousness on his promise. At least two nations have lived upon this American continent prior to countries that now possess it, and both were completely swept away because of wickedness. As long ago as the Tower of Babel after the flood of Noah (more than 2000 B.C.), the Lord God brought a people out of Babel to the Americas where they became a mighty nation. His promise was that he would lead them into a land that was choice above all other lands, and there he would make of them a mighty nation and none would be greater as long as they served the Lord. They were destroyed through civil war caused by wickedness and turning away from their God.
       In 600 B.C. another group fled Jerusalem prior to its destruction by Babylon and came to America. The visions and prophecies given to their leader, Nephi, found in the Book of Mormon, especially 1 Nephi chapters 10 through 15 are beautiful and clear as to the history and importance of this land. This group grew into two nations, one righteous and one wicked. Eventually, the righteous also became wicked, and they were swept off to extinction by the wicked. 
       Each of these nations occupied this land for 1000 years or more before they fell. Each had the rich blessings of the Lord and were great nations. Each gave away those blessings by pride and wickedness. They were led astray by voices of those demanding things that God abhors. And when they were "ripe in iniquity," that is, they achieved a level of abhorrence that God no longer would tolerate them, they were removed in great slaughters. The USA has only existed for 241 years. Only 396 years have passed since the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. I wonder about our ripeness.

       This land was promised to the seed of Joseph, and the Gentiles are privileged to live here if they will keep God's commandments. History bears witness that the Gentiles were guided to find this land, and that they brought with them the book of the Jews (Bible), which Nephi saw had been stripped by men of many of its plain and precious truths of the gospel of the Lamb of God. Nephi saw that this became a great stumbling block for the Gentiles because they had not the full truth and were left in darkness in many things most important to their salvation. Nephi saw the formation of this nation and even the Revolutionary war, and that they were freed by the power of God from English dominance. The Lord promised Nephi that through the Gentiles he would bring forth in his own power (not men's power) much of his gospel that would restore the plain and precious parts.
     This truth was restored by revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith not many years after the establishment of this United States of America. Moroni, one of the final authors of the Book of Mormon, revealed the ancient record of both these extinct nations which had been kept hidden for 1400 years. By the power of God it was translated, and it became a second witness for Jesus Christ. 
It is sweeping the earth today and preparing a people to finish the work and prepare for the second coming of Christ.  Oh how I wish people would take the blinders from their eyes and unstop their ears from hearing the truth, and would read the Book of Mormon with real intent. Then, they would know the truth and the philosophies of the wicked would no longer become a stumbling block to them. America's only hope as far as the Gentiles goes lies in God, not in man, politicians, military might, or financial wealth. People who come to this land, regardless of religious persuasion, must learn to honor, respect, and serve the God of this land. His name is Jesus Christ.