A frequently repeated Book of Mormon prophecy is often called the Native apocalypse, or the prophecy that

“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…

“But if [the Gentiles] will not turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, I will suffer them, yea, I will suffer my people, O house of Israel, that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them down.” (3 Ne 16:10, 14)

I did some posts on this topic, worried what the warning suggests how we treat those of Native ancestry including Central and South Americans, and here I want to talk about the prophecy in terms of what we moderns might call anti-colonialism. In short, it looks to me like the Book of Mormon is saying with these prophecies, among other things, that it’s a moral problem for white people to take non-white’s land and subjugate those non-white peoples.

In that context, I’m want to think about how the Book of Mormon might frame European colonization elsewhere. In 3 Nephi 20, after prophesying of “the remnant of Jacob” or Natives in America, “tread[ing] down” the Gentiles here, verse 20 declares “that the sword of my justice shall hang over [the Gentiles] at that day; and except they repent it shall fall upon them, saith the Father, yea, even upon all the nations of the Gentiles.”

“All the nations of the Gentiles” is an interesting phrase, and since the Native apocalypse is about white Americans being given punitive justice for how they treated Native Americans, I do wonder about 3 Nephi 20:20 alluding to the larger issue of God’s divine justice for European colonization more widely.

DC 87 gets even more bleak after its Civil War prophecy.

“And it shall come to pass also that the remnants who are left of the land will marshal themselves, and shall become exceedingly angry, and shall vex the Gentiles with a sore vexation.

“And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations” (5-6).

Like 3 Nephi 20:20, I see DC 87:6 suggesting the divine retribution against European and American colonization and imperialism taking on global implications. I’m particularly struck by the statement in 3 Nephi 16:10: the American Gentiles “shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth.” Americans certainty have this reputation and many pundits are arguing that American arrogance is causing us and the world a lot of problems currently.

So I wonder how we ought to think about these prophecies as we make predictions about what the future of international politics may hold. I’ll likely do a few more posts about my thoughts on this topic.