A Great Division

 "And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. For the time speedily cometh that the Lord God shall cause a great division among the people, and the wicked will he destroy. And he will spare his people, even if it so be that he must destroy the wicked by fire." (RE 2 Nephi 12:13 / 2 Nephi 30:10.)

"Therefore, I have come to send fire on the earth, and what is it to you if I desire that it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I constrained until it is accomplished? Do you suppose that I have come to give peace on earth? I tell you, nay, but rather division, for from henceforth there shall be five in one house, divided three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; mother against the daughter, and daughter against the mother; the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." (RE Luke 8:28 / Luke 12:51)

"In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink! He that believes on me as the scripture has said: Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water — but this spoke he of the spirit which they that believe on him should receive, for the holy ghost was promised unto them who believe, after Jesus was glorified. Many of the people, therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Truly this is the Prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Has not the scripture said that Christ comes of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem where David was? So there was a division among the people because of him. And some of them would have taken him, but no man laid hands on him." (RE John 6:8 / John 7:37-43)

"And I said unto them that our father also saw that the justice of God did also divide the wicked from the righteous, and the brightness thereof was like unto the brightness of a flaming fire which ascendeth up unto God for ever and ever and hath no end." (RE 1 Nephi 4:5 / 1Nephi 15:30)

And now it came to pass in this year, yea, in the two hundred and thirty and first year, there was a great division among the people. And it came to pass that in this year, there arose a people who were called the Nephites, and they were true believers in Christ. ...  And it came to pass that they who rejected the gospel were called Lamanites, and Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites. And they did not dwindle in unbelief, but they did willfully rebel against the gospel of Christ, and they did teach their children that they should not believe, even as their fathers from the beginning did dwindle." (RE 4 Nephi 1:7 / 4 Nephi 1:35-38)

"Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of body and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creation that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." (RE Hebrews 1:10)

I believe that God works in patterns. I believe that we can understand our current situation by understanding what has gone on before. Is there a great division in our land? What is the cause of that great division? Is it the word of God, which divides us? Is it the justice of God that divides us? What is the justice of God? Is the goal at this point to unify? Are we to be one with the world? Did Christ come to unify? Are these divisions based on irreconcilable differences? Will God's people be one with all people or just with each other? What will unify them?