The Three Nephites

John the Beloved Vision of a Fiery Mountain Hitting the Ocean

You may recall that I drew John the Beloved on the Isle of Patmos a few days ago.  John the Beloved was one of Jesus' original 12 Disciples.  He was banished to the Isle of Patmos, where he saw great visions of the Last Days.

Today I drew the Three Nephites.  In our religion we believe that both John the Beloved and the Three Nephite Disciples are still alive on the Earth.  They never did nor ever will taste of death. This is from the Book of Mormon.  We believe that Jesus appeared, after his death and resurrection, to the people who lived in the Americas.  He chose 12 disciples here in the Americas and taught His Gospel of Repentance and Forgiveness of Sins.  We members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are Christians.  We just believe in both the Bible (God's dealings with His people in the Old World) AND the Book of Mormon (God's dealings with His people in the New World).

In the Book of Mormon there was peace among the Nephite and Lamanite people for 200 years.  In fact they became one people.  Then gradually some people rejected the teachings of Christ.  This led to eventually the great majority of the people rejecting the truth.  Then the three Nephite Disciples who were permitted to tarry were persecuted.  At one point the wicked people threw the three Nephite Disciples into a den of wild beasts.  The three Nephite Disciples were never to die so the wild beasts were no threat.  In fact, the Book of Mormon tells us that he three Nephite Disciples played with the beasts.  We do not know where the events in the Book of Mormon took place, but some Latter Day Saint scholars believe that it probably took place in Central or South America.  If that is where the events took place then it seemed to me that Jaguars would be an accurate choice for the wild beasts in the story.

Three Nephite Disciples in a Den of Jaguars

By the way, I liked the Jaguar drawing on the right so much that I copied it to use it in another post later.  Maybe later today, but I have a terrible cold so maybe not today.  When I do that post I will tell you all about Jaguars.  They are an awesome big cat.  The drawing is a cut-away of the den...and I should have probably made it deeper.