The wicked cities were completely crushed, burned, leveled, ravaged, and sunk. The reason for the great destruction was given by Jehovah as his voice was heard among all the people. In 3 Nephi 9:3–12, Christ listed the cities that had been destroyed and the devastating forces that had brought about the destruction to each one. He explained that this was done “to hide their iniquities and their abominations from before my face”—a very interesting expression— “that the blood of the prophets and the saints shall not come any more unto me against them” (v. 5). And so that there was no misunderstanding as to the Lord’s purposes for complete annihilation of these wicked cities, he repeated this explanation several more times throughout this chapter (vv. 7, 8, 9 and 11).
The entire long phrase—“to hide their wickedness and abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints should not come up any more unto me against them”—is precisely repeated at the end of verses 5, 7, and 8. The phrase is slightly reworded in verses 9 and 11. In ancient cultures, when something was said multiple times, it was because the speaker wanted the listener to really hear and especially understand what had been said. It was a way of highlighting verbal information.
The words “my face”deserve particular consideration. In the Israelite temple experience, when the high priest went into the presence of the Lord, he stood before the Lord and spoke face to face with deity. Moses spoke face to face with God. Jesus could not appear and have those wicked people before his face or, in other words, in his presence. They had been warned, and they had killed the prophets. It was important that if the people in 3 Nephi were going to become a temple-based community in which they would enter into covenants and ordinances, as well as live the laws and principles given in 4 Nephi, Satan had to be driven out. The ordinances and principles that they would be living after Christ’s appearance included being baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, dealing justly and honestly one with another, having no contention, marrying and living the law of chastity, and having their property consecrated and in common. Establishing that kind of a temple-based community required that Satan be banished.
Leviticus 26, a temple-related chapter, is filled with the Lord’s blessings on those who keep the commandments and also includes His curses on those who are disobedient. The Lord spoke in the first person in these Leviticus passages. I encourage you to read that chapter. The Lord delineates, in direct speech, the curses that will come upon those who do not hearken to the Lord (26:14): “I will punish you,” “I will bring a sword upon you,” “I will send the pestilence among you,” “I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation,” “I will bring the land into desolation,” and so forth (see 26:24, 25,31, 32). There are also major blessings intermixed throughout Leviticus 26.
The Lord spoke directly, out of the darkness, to the Nephites in 3 Nephi 9. This experience would have been similar to what the prophets experienced in the Holy of Holies in the presence—or before the face—of God, where He would speak in the first person directly to them. In 3 Nephi, the Lord appeared after the calamites had been abated, and he stood in their presence in a place that became like a Holy of Holies because he was present there.
Book of Mormon Central, “Is There Evidence of Sunken Cities in Ancient America? (3 Nephi 9:7),” KnoWhy 429 (May 1, 2018).
Book of Mormon Central, “Is There Evidence for Great Destruction in the Land Northward at the Death of Christ? (3 Nephi 9:9),” KnoWhy 530 (September 6, 2019).