Adam Awake

Mormons are Gentiles

by Lucas Jackson · · Revised · 12 min read

I was pondering about why I believe we are qualified to be the “gentiles” who reject the fulness. “At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel…”1

The Book Comes by Way of the Gentiles

The book of Mormon was, “Sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the Lord, to come forth in due time by way of the Gentile” The Book of Mormon came forth by Joseph Smith, and Moroni calls him a Gentile here.2

“For, behold, saith the Lamb: I will manifest myself unto thy seed, that they shall write many things which I shall minister unto them, which shall be plain and precious; and after thy seed shall be destroyed, and dwindle in unbelief, and also the seed of thy brethren, behold, these things shall be hid up, to come forth unto the Gentiles, by the gift and power of the Lamb.”3

A few verses later Nephi sees where the book goes next: “I beheld the remnant of the seed of my brethren, and also the book of the Lamb of God, which had proceeded forth from the mouth of the Jew, that it came forth from the Gentiles unto the remnant of the seed of my brethren.”4 The angel adds that these last records, “seen among the Gentiles,” would establish the truth of the Bible and make known “that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved.”5

There will be a group of “believing gentiles.” They will take the Book of Mormon to the remnant of the seed of Lehi. Notice who the Book of Mormon is written unto, “And now, I would prophesy somewhat more concerning the Jews and the Gentiles. For after the book of which I have spoken shall come forth, and be written unto the Gentiles, and sealed up again unto the Lord, there shall be many which shall believe the words which are written; and they shall carry them forth unto the remnant of our seed.”6

We’ve lost the history of Joseph Smith’s efforts to locate the “remnant” of the Nephites. The first mission to locate them was called by revelation in the first 5 months after the church was organized.7 Oliver was called and later that same month Peter Whitmer was also called.8 The next month Parley P. Pratt and Ziba Peterson were sent with them “into the wilderness among the Lamanites.”9 This began an effort to locate the “remnant” that continued after the death of Joseph Smith.10

The Savior says it again and again. The works “shall come forth from the Gentiles, unto your seed”; “it behooveth the Father that it should come forth from the Gentiles,” so that the Gentiles, “if they will not harden their hearts,” may repent and “be numbered among my people, O house of Israel.”11 His words “shall go forth unto the Gentiles.”12 Mormon writes that the gospel “shall go forth unto them from the Gentiles.”13 And whoever will not believe the words that the Father causes “him to bring forth unto the Gentiles” will be cut off from the covenant people.14

They have received the lesser portion of the word, to be taken to the remnant, from the Gentiles. “And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken.”15

The Lord will do a marvelous work among the Gentiles. The language is worth studying. Has that happened? Is it happening? Do we not claim this and write books entitled, “A Marvelous Work and a Wonder?” “And after our seed is scattered the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles, which shall be of great worth unto our seed; wherefore, it is likened unto their being nourished by the Gentiles and being carried in their arms and upon their shoulders. And it shall also be of worth unto the Gentiles; and not only unto the Gentiles but unto all the house of Israel, unto the making known of the covenants of the Father of heaven unto Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.”16

The Lord will set up a standard among the Gentiles, and they will be a blessing to the remnant of the Lamanites, and the whole House of Israel. “And now, these are the words: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people; and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.”17

They have care for the House of Israel. “And now behold, this I speak unto their seed, and also to the Gentiles who have care for the house of Israel, that realize and know from whence their blessings come.”18

Identified with the Gentiles

From D&C 10919 – Prayer offered at the dedication of the temple at Kirtland, Ohio, March 27, 1836. “The prayer had been given to the Prophet and other Church leaders by revelation as they worked late the previous night to prepare it.” – “Now these words, O Lord, we have spoken before thee, concerning the revelations and commandments which thou hast given unto us, who are identified with the Gentiles.”20 The prayer was given from heaven, dictated, and transcribed. This tells us who exactly heaven views us as belonging to, the group called Gentiles. Learn more about “Groups in the Book of Mormon.”

“And now, the thing which our father meaneth concerning the grafting in of the natural branches through the fulness of the Gentiles, is, that in the latter days, when our seed shall have dwindled in unbelief, yea, for the space of many years, and many generations after the Messiah shall be manifested in body unto the children of men, then shall the fulness of the gospel of the Messiah come unto the Gentiles, and from the Gentiles unto the remnant of our seed—”21

So the Gentiles get the writings, and through the fulness of the Gentiles the remnant of the Lamanites will “be brought in.” “And I command you that ye shall write these sayings after I am gone, that if it so be that my people at Jerusalem, they who have seen me and been with me in my ministry, do not ask the Father in my name, that they may receive a knowledge of you by the Holy Ghost, and also of the other tribes whom they know not of, that these sayings which ye shall write shall be kept and shall be manifested unto the Gentiles, that through the fulness of the Gentiles, the remnant of their seed, who shall be scattered forth upon the face of the earth because of their unbelief, may be brought in, or may be brought to a knowledge of me, their Redeemer.”22

The term “fulness of the Gentiles” is a phrase that can be translated as “multitude of nations.”23 With this in mind, look at Jacob’s blessing on Ephraim, “And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.”24

So it was that Ephraim was lost to the world. Their identity became hidden, much as Joseph’s did when he went to Egypt. Hosea said it plainly: “Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people”25, and “now shall they be among the Gentiles.”26 Now, Ephraim, with a hidden Gentile identity will fulfill the promises in the Book of Mormon.

Offered the Fulness

Before the Savior warns the Gentiles, he blesses them: “And blessed are the Gentiles, because of their belief in me, in and of the Holy Ghost, which witnesses unto them of me and of the Father. Behold, because of their belief in me, saith the Father, and because of the unbelief of you, O house of Israel, in the latter day shall the truth come unto the Gentiles, that the fulness of these things shall be made known unto them.”27

In order to reject the fulness, it must be offered: “I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness. For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace.”28

The Lord said the same thing to the Church in 1831: “And when the times of the Gentiles is come in, a light shall break forth among them that sit in darkness, and it shall be the fulness of my gospel; but they receive it not; for they perceive not the light, and they turn their hearts from me because of the precepts of men. And in that generation shall the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”29

They won’t get more until they exercise faith and repent, “For the Lord said unto me: They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord.”30

Have we received the fulness? Have we received Grace? “And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity. And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore, thy garments shall be made clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.”31

Warned

The Savior taught this himself. In the Joseph Smith Translation of the parable of the wicked husbandmen, he tells his disciples that “the kingdom of God shall be taken from them, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof; (meaning the Gentiles.)” When the lord of the vineyard comes, he “will let again his vineyard unto other husbandmen, even in the last days, who shall render him the fruits in their seasons.” Then the disciples “understood… the parable which he spake unto them, that the Gentiles should be destroyed also, when the Lord should descend out of heaven to reign in his vineyard.”32

The Gentiles will “treat lightly” the things they receive and be condemned for their unbelief. The Lord told the Church so in 1832: “And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all. And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon… otherwise there remaineth a scourge and judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion.”33

Moroni saw our day: “Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing. And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts…. For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.”34 And he asks, “why have ye polluted the holy church of God?”35

Perhaps then, this does apply to us, “And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them.”36

If they will not turn, the Father says, “I will suffer my people, O house of Israel, that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them down, and they shall be as salt that hath lost its savor.”37

The Savior says it again in 3 Nephi 21, and notice there are two types of Gentiles. “And my people who are a remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, yea, in the midst of them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.”38

The Way Back

Nephi saw the Gentiles and warned his brethren and descendants to not think themselves better than them because of their failings. He lets them know they will not be “utterly destroyed.” “And now behold, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you; for I, Nephi, would not suffer that ye should suppose that ye are more righteous than the Gentiles shall be. For behold, except ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall all likewise perish; and because of the words which have been spoken ye need not suppose that the Gentiles are utterly destroyed.”39

Some will repent and remain, “For behold, I say unto you that as many of the Gentiles as will repent are the covenant people of the Lord; and as many of the Jews as will not repent shall be cast off; for the Lord covenanteth with none save it be with them that repent and believe in his Son, who is the Holy One of Israel.”40

The Savior makes the same promise: “But if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel.”41 And if they will “harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob… And they shall assist my people, the remnant of Jacob… that they may build a city, which shall be called the New Jerusalem.”42

The invitation still stands: “Come unto me, O ye Gentiles, and I will show unto you the greater things, the knowledge which is hid up because of unbelief.”43

When we change our paradigm and realize how heaven views us, and how the Nephite prophets viewed us, we can finally take a sobering look at where we stand. There is hope, however. There is still the invitation to come unto Christ for the greater things.

Notes

  1. 3 Nephi 16:10. ↩
  2. Title Page. ↩
  3. 1 Nephi 13:35. ↩
  4. 1 Nephi 13:38. ↩
  5. 1 Nephi 13:39–41. ↩
  6. 2 Nephi 30:3. ↩
  7. D&C 28:8–9. ↩
  8. D&C 30:5–6. ↩
  9. D&C 32:1–3. ↩
  10. Denver Snuffer, “3 Nephi 21:7”, blog post, July 2010. ↩
  11. 3 Nephi 21:5–6. ↩
  12. 3 Nephi 23:4. ↩
  13. Mormon 5:15. ↩
  14. 3 Nephi 21:11. ↩
  15. 3 Nephi 26:8. ↩
  16. 1 Nephi 22:8–9. ↩
  17. 2 Nephi 6:6. ↩
  18. Mormon 5:10. ↩
  19. D&C 109, section heading. ↩
  20. D&C 109:60. ↩
  21. 1 Nephi 15:13. ↩
  22. 3 Nephi 16:4. ↩
  23. In Genesis 48:19 the Hebrew is melo ha-goyim, literally “the fulness of the nations” (goyim is the word translated “Gentiles” elsewhere). Paul uses the same phrase in Greek: “blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” (Romans 11:25) ↩
  24. Genesis 48:19. ↩
  25. Hosea 7:8. ↩
  26. Hosea 8:8. ↩
  27. 3 Nephi 16:6–7. ↩
  28. D&C 93:19–20. ↩
  29. D&C 45:28–30. ↩
  30. Ether 4:6. ↩
  31. Ether 12:36–37. ↩
  32. JST, Matthew 21:53–56; the full passage in context is Matthew 10:14 RE. See Kent P. Jackson, Joseph Smith’s Translation of the Bible (Matthew 21). The JST adds a similar line at Luke 23:31: “This he spake signifying the scattering of Israel and the desolation of the heathen, or in other words, the Gentiles.” (Luke 13:19 RE). This addition is not in the Church’s JST appendix; see Kent P. Jackson, Joseph Smith’s Translation of the Bible (Luke 23), or the manuscript, New Testament Revision 2, at the Joseph Smith Papers. ↩
  33. D&C 84:54–58. ↩
  34. Mormon 8:35–37. ↩
  35. Mormon 8:38. ↩
  36. 3 Nephi 16:10. ↩
  37. 3 Nephi 16:15. ↩
  38. 3 Nephi 21:12. ↩
  39. 2 Nephi 30:1. ↩
  40. 2 Nephi 30:2. ↩
  41. 3 Nephi 16:13. ↩
  42. 3 Nephi 21:22–23. ↩
  43. Ether 4:13. ↩

Revised September 30, 2026. Regrouped into sections. Added 1 Nephi 13:38–41, D&C 32, 45 and 84, Hosea 7–8, 3 Nephi 16 and 21, Mormon 8:35–38, and the Joseph Smith Translation of Matthew 21. Every quote was checked against the scriptures.

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