Despite (or possibly because of) Nephi’s apparent prejudice against the Lamanites, he acknowledges that they will serve a grim purpose. Lamanite persecutions will press the Nephites to remember Yahweh—and should they not remember Yahweh, they will be destroyed. While Nephi does not link this passage to his tree of life vision, he had seen his descendants’ future. Now he sees even more clearly how that foreseen future will occur.