The presence of the three Nephites had been a source of miracles and healings. However, the wickedness was so great that they are now removed from among the Nephites. After having endured the prisons, dens of wild beasts, and furnaces of fire that Mormon recorded of them, they still continued to preach. Now, however, the conditions are apparently even worse, and the Lord takes them away. This is the symbolic withdrawal of the Lord’s spirit as embodied in these three beloved disciples. When they leave, the spirit of the Lord no longer protects the Nephites. The foundational promise is no longer in effect, and they have effectively rejected the protection of the Lord.