Bring to Light Their Marvelous Works

The Lord said this to the Prophet Joseph Smith concerning the people of the Book of Mormon: “And I will show unto this people that I had other sheep, and that they were a branch of the house of Jacob; And I will bring to light their marvelous works, which they did in my name; Yea, and I will also bring to light my gospel which was ministered unto them” (Doctrine and Covenants 10:60-62). The fact that the Savior brought to light the gospel which He gave unto the Nephites is clear from the fact that we have His teachings to them as recorded in 3 Nephi. Specifically in 3 Nephi 27:13-21 He defined the key points of His gospel, including how He was “lifted up upon the cross,” how we will be “judged of [our] works,” how “whoso repenteth and is baptized in [His] name” and “endureth to the end” will be “guiltless before [the] Father,” and our opportunity to be “sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost” after we have “washed [our] garments in [His] blood.” So it is easy to understand from this and many other passages in the Book of Mormon how the text brings to light His gospel. But how does the book “bring to light their marvelous works” that were done in the name of the Savior?

                Nephi is one example of a prophet who did marvelous works in the Book of Mormon in the name of the Savior. He recorded one incident with his brothers this way: “They did bind me with cords, for they sought to take away my life, that they might leave me in the wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts. But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound. And it came to pass that when I had said these words, behold, the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet, and I stood before my brethren” (1 Nephi 7:16-18). Through his faith in the Lord he miraculously broke the bands by which he was bound. Later when he had to chasten his brethren again in Bountiful, he recorded this marvelous work: “And it came to pass that I stretched forth my hand unto my brethren, and they did not wither before me; but the Lord did shake them, even according to the word which he had spoken.” By faith and obedience to the Lord he was able to so shake his brethren that they fell down before him declaring, “We know of a surety that the Lord is with thee, for we know that it is the power of the Lord that has shaken us” (1 Nephi 17:54-55). At that time he also led his people to build a ship “after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me,” a marvelous work indeed (1 Nephi 18:2). Other incredible feats which he accomplished through faith in the Savior included obtaining the plates from Laban, finding food in the wilderness when they were on the point of starvation, and steering his family to the promised land through the Liahona on the ship. Surely Nephi was one prophet that the Savior was referring to when He spoke of the “marvelous works” of the Nephites, and how blessed we are that his story was brought to light.

We see many other examples in the Book of Mormon where the prophets did mighty works in the name of the Savior. Because of His faith “the brother of Jared said unto the mountain Zerin, Remove—and it was removed” (Ether 12:30). Mormon described Nephi at the time shortly before the sign of the Savior’s death in these words: “And in the name of Jesus did he cast out devils and unclean spirits; and even his brother did he raise from the dead, after he had been stoned and suffered death by the people…. And he did also do many more miracles, in the sight of the people, in the name of Jesus” (3 Nephi 7:19-20). His father Nephi similarly performed miracles among his people: “Nephi was baptizing, and prophesying, and preaching, crying repentance unto the people, showing signs and wonders, working miracles among the people, that they might know that the Christ must shortly come” (Helaman 16:4). After the Savior left the Nephites, “There were great and marvelous works wrought by the disciples of Jesus, insomuch that they did heal the sick, and raise the dead, and cause the lame to walk, and the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear; and all manner of miracles did they work among the children of men; and in nothing did they work miracles save it were in the name of Jesus” (4 Nephi 1:5). We also have recorded Captain Moroni’s brilliant defense of the Nephites in their great war—done with “those who were true believers in Christ”—and the miraculous preservation of the stripling warriors in multiple battles in that contest (Alma 46:15). We could similarly name many other stories, such as the incredible missionary success of the sons of Mosiah or the tumbling of the prison walls at Ammonihah to free Alma and Amulek or Nephi and Lehi’s miracles in a different prison among the Lamanites. The Book of Mormon is indeed full of marvelous works by those who had faith in Jesus Christ, and we are so blessed that the Lord brought these stories to light in our day.