It's been 3 years now since Mosiah was anointed king of the people of Nephi. Little is said of his tenure as king, either in these 3 years or, for that matter at all, except this: He walked in the ways of the Lord, observed the Lord's judgments and kept the Lord's commandments. We also read that he followed his father's ways; he did all he could for his own daily maintenance so he wouldn't be a burden to the people. Mosiah, like Benjamin, his father, was a great man, leading by example and inspiring those they served. We can also be inspired by their example.
Chapter 7 and 8 of Mosiah deal with concern for the people who had gone off to inhabit the land of Lehi-Nephi. This is the land where the Nephites settled after separating themselves from the Laman and Lemuel and their followers. A man named Zeniff desired to return to that area and actively enlisted others to go with him, as we read in Omni, v.27-30. The writer, Amaleki, tells us that a considerable number of people accompanied Zeniff as he returned to the land of Lehi-Nephi, including Amaleki's brother.
After Mosiah had been king for several years the people began to be anxious about the welfare of those who returned to Lehi-Nephi. Much concern expressed to the king - "...therefore, they wearied him with their teasings" (Mosiah 7:1) - and he agreed to send a party to search for the lost group. King Mosiah calls on a group of 16 men to send to the land of Lehi-Nephi to determine status of the lost people.
So the setting is placed for the next several chapters in the book of Mosiah. There are some great details to be learned from them.
Ammon, the leader of the search party and a descendant of Zarahemla, takes his men through the wilderness and wanders for 40 days. It isn't clear if the length of this trip is due to distance or if it is because they were unsure of which way to go. I believe it is probably mostly due to the distance to travel and the hard-going labor of trekking through the wilderness. They must have carefully kept a record of their journeys, since we don't really hear anything about the difficulty of the trip back to Zarahemla when they eventually return. Ammon and his party finally arrived at their destination and proceeded to determine the status of the people. Being a careful leader, he left the majority of his group nearby while he and two companions approached the people now living in the land of Lehi-Nephi.
I initially wondered why Ammon left most of his men behind, but in thinking about it, to me the reason was logical. Ammon didn't know how they would be greeted by the people they had just found and probably wanted some of his men to be able to return and relate the things that happened, should go wrong. Ammon took two others with him. Some say there is power in the number 3; in my thinking, I agree with this to the extent that no matter which of the 3 they questioned, there were two witnesses to corroborate his story. Ammon and his two companions were likely questioned carefully about their origin and their aims before the people of the land trusted him... (given the circumstances of this people, I don't really blame them for being so suspicious).
Ammon was a good representative of the people of Zarahemla. The king of the people at Nephi-Lehi, Limhi, recognized the truth of Ammon's story because of the spirit Ammon carried with him. Ammon "bowed himself before the king; and rising again he said: O king, I am very thankful before God this day that I am yet alive, and am permitted to speak; and I will endeavor to speak with boldness; For I am assured that if ye had known me ye would not have suffered that I should have worn these bands. For I am Ammon, and am a descendant of Zarahemla, and have come up out of the land of Zarahemla to inquire concerning our brethren, whom Zeniff brought up out of that land" (Mosiah 7:12-13). Ammon used boldness, yes, but it was boldness in righteous doing. King Limhi immediately knew Ammon was speaking the truth.
The appearance of Ammon and his companions brought a much sought-for commodity to the people of Limhi: Hope. They had a Lamanite problem and needed help from the Lord. It is interesting to me that at the time when Limhi was so desperate that he sent a party out, at risk of punishment by the Lamanites, to search for Zarahemla, that the people in Zarahemla were being touched by the spirit of concern for these people. The Lord knew Limhi's circumstances. Working in His miraculous way, the Lord inspired the people of Zarahemla with concern for the welfare of they who had left years earlier. The Lord inspired Mosiah to take action as his people wanted. The Lord had Mosiah choose the right person to lead the search party, one who was divinely inspired himself. When you think about it, the Lord works this way in all of our lives. Have you ever gotten a call from the one person who could relieve your burden just when you needed them? This happens time and time again. This happens because the Lord knows us, He knows our circumstances, and He wants to ease our burden and to help us to become more like him. It has always been this way.
Ammon was the right person to lead the search party and to meet with king Limhi. The king had all the people come so that Ammon could speak to them. After Limhi rehearsed to the people their present circumstances and the reasons they were in such a mess, he had Ammon talk. Ammon told them of the things that had happened in Zarahemla. He told the people about king Benjamin's last address. "And he also rehearsed unto them the last words which king Benjamin had taught them, and explained them to the people of king Limhi, so that they might understand all the words which he spake" (Mosiah 8:3). Side note: Notice that the verse says "so that they might understand all the words...". The key word there is "might". It is up to each of us, when we hear truth, to recognize and understand it. Ammon could not make the people recognize the value of the things Benjamin taught, but he presented the truth to the people for their edification; seeing and understanding the truth is up to the individual. We need to prepare ourselves to be able to recognize and act on truth as it is revealed to us.
King Limhi told Ammon about the plates that his people found when they were searching for Zarahemla and he asked if Ammon could interpret the plates. This brought a discussion about seers... Ammon indicated that his king, King Mosiah, was a seer and could translate the plates that were found. Two points to bring up about this discussion:
1) Ammon gives us further indication of the kind of man that King Mosiah was. He was living his life such that he was worthy to look into the interpreters when commanded. Mosiah, like his grandfather (see Omni v.20) and undoubtedly his father, was the prophet-leader of his people. Oh, that the priesthood leaders of each of our families would be like these men and lead their "kingdom" righteously.
2) Ammon refers to the interpreters... "And the things are called interpreters, and no man can look in them except he be commanded, lest he should look for that he ought not and he should perish" (Mosiah 8:13). These interpreters are, I believe, what we know as the Urim and Thummim. I believe these interpreters were with the plates that Joseph Smith was entrusted with and the very instruments that he used in the translation of the Book of Mormon. There appears to be more than one set of interpreters; This set was different than the set that is referred to in the Old Testament as being used by Moses (Exodus 28:30). It is possible that this set is the same that was used by the Jaredites, but that set could be different as well.
After Ammon and Limhi discuss the attributes of a Seer and Prophet, it is obvious that Limhi's mind is relieved of a great burden. In his excitement "...the king rejoiced exceedingly, and gave thanks to God, saying: Doubtless a great mystery is contained within these plates, and these interpreters were doubtless prepared for the purpose of unfolding all such mysteries to the children of men. O how marvelous are the works of the Lord, and how long doth he suffer with his people..."
May we each be excited about the Lord's workings in our lives. May we recognize the truth he offers to us and embrace His love which is offered freely.
Don
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Benjamin's Address - Mosiah 2-6
I've spent a lot of time on the first few chapters of Mosiah. It makes sense to do so, at least to me, since this is my favorite part of the Book of Mormon. What a great experience it must have been for the people to listen to the leader of their country as he gave his farewell speech and to have his farewell speech be so profound as to make them fall to the earth and cry for forgiveness. And little wonder that they did, because Benjamin had just related to them the angelic message that Christ would come to the earth and atone for the sins of the world.
Benjamin proceeded to tell them what they needed to do in order to receive the miracle of forgiveness that the atonement of Christ provided. The final words of chapter 4 were all-encompassing: "...if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not" (Mosiah 4:30).
At this point, Benjamin wanted to know if the people believed his words. He sent his ministers out among the throng to ask them this very thing. The response? "...they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. And we, ourselves, also, through the infinite goodness of God, and the manifestations of his Spirit, have great views of that which is to come... And it is the faith which we have had on the things which our king has spoken unto us that has brought us to this great knowledge, whereby we do rejoice with such exceedingly great joy. And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days..." (Mosiah 5:2-6).
This was precisely what Benjamin had hoped for. His response: 1) He revealed the new name for them that he had promised. 2) He held them to their commitment, recording the names of those present during that spiritual event.
1: New name:
Benjamin said to the people: "...the covenant which ye have made is a righteous covenant...because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters. ...this is the name that I said I should give unto you that never should be blotted out, except it be through transgression; therefore, take heed that ye do not transgress, that the name be not blotted out of your hearts. Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his..." (Mosiah 5:6,7,11,15). From that time forward, Benjamin's people (and now Mosiah's people) would be known as the Children of Christ. This is the new name that he gave them once they committed to live God's commandments. There is a lesson here for us. Many people SAY they are Christians... but do their words prove them out? I once heard this said: If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? We need to live the admonitions that Benjamin gave his people in order to be true Children of Christ. Only then are we worthy of being called that name. Have you truly committed yourself?
Here's a thought that just popped into my head: Benjamin said: "whosoever shall not take upon him the name of Christ must be called by some other name; therefore, he findeth himself on the left hand of God" (Mosiah 5:10). This reminds me the when the Lord came to the Nephites. He told the disciples, when they said there were disputations about what to call the church, " ...the Lord said unto them: Verily, verily, I say unto you, why is it that the people should murmur and dispute because of this thing? Have they not read the scriptures, which say ye must take upon you the name of Christ, which is my name? For by this name shall ye be called at the last day; therefore ye shall call the church in my name... And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses’ name then it be Moses’ church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel" (3 Nephi 27: 4-5, 7-8)
The name "Mormon" is truly a sacred name; it comes from two places in the Book of Mormon; one from the Waters of Mormon, where many of the people converted by Alma the elder were received into the fellowship of the saints of that day by baptism. The other is the great prophet/general of the conclusion of the Book of Mormon, he who abridged the Nephite records into the account we read in the Book of Mormon. It is a good name. But if we are truly disciples of Christ, perhaps we should call ourselves that. We should be people who are striving to be Children of Christ; striving to be worthy of being called members of the Church of Jesus Christ. I think my point is that whatever we call ourselves should reflect the way we live our lives, and the way we live our lives should make us worthy to be called by His name.
After thinking this through, I think that when I am asked if I am a Mormon, I am going to respond "I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". I may even say "I am trying to be the kind of person that Jesus would be happy to call His son". I don't mean to come across as a self-righteous snob or some better-than-others kind of snoot. I just think that it is better to known as a person trying to live a Christ-like life than to be known as someone who is living the culture of a group of people. Enough said...
2: Commitment:
Before everyone left the gathering, Benjamin recorded the names of everyone who had made the covenant with God, spoken of in chapter 5. It must have been very satisfying to the king to find that "...there was not one soul, except it were little children, but who had entered into the covenant and had taken upon them the name of Christ" (Mosiah 6:2). Records are kept of who enters into a covenant to take Christ's name upon themselves in this day as well. At baptismal time, these records are kept by our Church, just as in ancient times, as shown here in Mosiah. It is interesting to note that records are also kept by the angels of these things, and we are judged by the records here and in heaven.
Benjamin did one more thing for the people. He "...appointed priests to teach the people, that thereby they might hear and know the commandments of God, and to stir them up in remembrance of the oath which they had made..." (Mosiah 6:3). Why does the church have everyone participate in callings? For this very purpose: to teach us about the God's commandments and to remind us of the covenants we have made to keep them. As we serve we remind those we teach, as well as ourselves, of the things we need to do in order to be more Christ-like. We learn to be worthy of being called His children.
What a great experience Benjamin and his people had. How fortunate we are to have a record of the proceedings of this gathering! We are fortunate as well to have the proceedings of each of our modern day general conferences. We should show our appreciation by studying the words of the modern day prophets and applying them to our lives.
Don
Benjamin proceeded to tell them what they needed to do in order to receive the miracle of forgiveness that the atonement of Christ provided. The final words of chapter 4 were all-encompassing: "...if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not" (Mosiah 4:30).
At this point, Benjamin wanted to know if the people believed his words. He sent his ministers out among the throng to ask them this very thing. The response? "...they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. And we, ourselves, also, through the infinite goodness of God, and the manifestations of his Spirit, have great views of that which is to come... And it is the faith which we have had on the things which our king has spoken unto us that has brought us to this great knowledge, whereby we do rejoice with such exceedingly great joy. And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days..." (Mosiah 5:2-6).
This was precisely what Benjamin had hoped for. His response: 1) He revealed the new name for them that he had promised. 2) He held them to their commitment, recording the names of those present during that spiritual event.
1: New name:
Benjamin said to the people: "...the covenant which ye have made is a righteous covenant...because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters. ...this is the name that I said I should give unto you that never should be blotted out, except it be through transgression; therefore, take heed that ye do not transgress, that the name be not blotted out of your hearts. Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his..." (Mosiah 5:6,7,11,15). From that time forward, Benjamin's people (and now Mosiah's people) would be known as the Children of Christ. This is the new name that he gave them once they committed to live God's commandments. There is a lesson here for us. Many people SAY they are Christians... but do their words prove them out? I once heard this said: If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? We need to live the admonitions that Benjamin gave his people in order to be true Children of Christ. Only then are we worthy of being called that name. Have you truly committed yourself?
Here's a thought that just popped into my head: Benjamin said: "whosoever shall not take upon him the name of Christ must be called by some other name; therefore, he findeth himself on the left hand of God" (Mosiah 5:10). This reminds me the when the Lord came to the Nephites. He told the disciples, when they said there were disputations about what to call the church, " ...the Lord said unto them: Verily, verily, I say unto you, why is it that the people should murmur and dispute because of this thing? Have they not read the scriptures, which say ye must take upon you the name of Christ, which is my name? For by this name shall ye be called at the last day; therefore ye shall call the church in my name... And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses’ name then it be Moses’ church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel" (3 Nephi 27: 4-5, 7-8)
The name "Mormon" is truly a sacred name; it comes from two places in the Book of Mormon; one from the Waters of Mormon, where many of the people converted by Alma the elder were received into the fellowship of the saints of that day by baptism. The other is the great prophet/general of the conclusion of the Book of Mormon, he who abridged the Nephite records into the account we read in the Book of Mormon. It is a good name. But if we are truly disciples of Christ, perhaps we should call ourselves that. We should be people who are striving to be Children of Christ; striving to be worthy of being called members of the Church of Jesus Christ. I think my point is that whatever we call ourselves should reflect the way we live our lives, and the way we live our lives should make us worthy to be called by His name.
After thinking this through, I think that when I am asked if I am a Mormon, I am going to respond "I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". I may even say "I am trying to be the kind of person that Jesus would be happy to call His son". I don't mean to come across as a self-righteous snob or some better-than-others kind of snoot. I just think that it is better to known as a person trying to live a Christ-like life than to be known as someone who is living the culture of a group of people. Enough said...
2: Commitment:
Before everyone left the gathering, Benjamin recorded the names of everyone who had made the covenant with God, spoken of in chapter 5. It must have been very satisfying to the king to find that "...there was not one soul, except it were little children, but who had entered into the covenant and had taken upon them the name of Christ" (Mosiah 6:2). Records are kept of who enters into a covenant to take Christ's name upon themselves in this day as well. At baptismal time, these records are kept by our Church, just as in ancient times, as shown here in Mosiah. It is interesting to note that records are also kept by the angels of these things, and we are judged by the records here and in heaven.
Benjamin did one more thing for the people. He "...appointed priests to teach the people, that thereby they might hear and know the commandments of God, and to stir them up in remembrance of the oath which they had made..." (Mosiah 6:3). Why does the church have everyone participate in callings? For this very purpose: to teach us about the God's commandments and to remind us of the covenants we have made to keep them. As we serve we remind those we teach, as well as ourselves, of the things we need to do in order to be more Christ-like. We learn to be worthy of being called His children.
What a great experience Benjamin and his people had. How fortunate we are to have a record of the proceedings of this gathering! We are fortunate as well to have the proceedings of each of our modern day general conferences. We should show our appreciation by studying the words of the modern day prophets and applying them to our lives.
Don
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Benjamin's General conference - Mosiah 2-6 Part 2
Continuing with the wonderful address that King Benjamin made to his people... Previously I talked about how much like a general conference this gathering was. In this post, I want to explore the messages that were covered in King Benjamin's address... if we are using the general conference theme, the different "talks" that were given. (Let me just say that, although I quote extensively in this post, there is much that I have not included. For a true feeling of Benjamin's address, please read Mosiah 2-6 carefully).
Benjamin prefaces this part of his remarks by telling his people the source of what he was about to tell them. "...for behold, I have things to tell you concerning that which is to come. And the things which I shall tell you are made known unto me by an angel from God..." (Mosiah 3:1,2). The angel told Benjamin of the importance of his message and emphasized that it was joyous news: "...for behold, I am come to declare unto you the glad tidings of great joy" (Mosiah 3:3).
Why did the Lord want Benjamin to know what the angel came to tell him? Benjamin probably felt that it was so he could share the glad message with his people. I believe this is correct. The angel also gave another reason: "...the Lord hath heard thy prayers, and hath judged of thy righteousness, and hath sent me to declare unto thee that thou mayst rejoice..." (Mosiah 3:4). The last part of this verse confirms what Benjamin felt was the main reason for receiving this message: "...and that thou mayest declare unto thy people, that they may also be filled with joy" (ibid).
I learned from this passage the pattern of receiving revelation from the Lord. That pattern follows these steps:
-- Pray fervently for the Lord to grant the knowledge needed for your life (calling, relationships, etc.).
-- Live your life so that you are judged of the Lord to be worthy of receiving the answer to your prayers.
-- Listen when the answer to your prayers is given; be ready to share the message; share the message as directed.
These steps are not always easy to follow; sometimes one or more of the steps may require patience, endurance and long suffering. I believe that ultimately, though, that the Lord, in His loving wisdom, will respond to us when we diligently follow this pattern.
The joyous message that Benjamin was instructed to share was this: "...the time cometh...that with power, the Lord Omnipotent ...shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay...[he] shall go forth working mighty miracles...he shall cast out devils...he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body...for behold blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish... And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God..." (Mosiah 3:5-9). The angel emphasized the purpose of Jesus' mission among men: "...he shall rise the third day from the dead; and behold he standeth to judge the world; and behold, all these things are done that a righteous judgment might com upon the children of men. For behold...His blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died not knowing the will of God...or who have ignorantly sinned." (Mosiah 3:10-11). The great, joyous message that the angel shared with Benjamin was that God the Father prepared a way for the children of the earth to be able to return to His presence. God prepared a way that involved the coming of a Savior - His Son - to the earth. Joyous is this message; we all have the opportunity to be able to be reconciled with God, in spite of any sins we have committed.
Benjamin continued with the angel's words. He emphasized the importance of understanding the need for a Savior and the effect His coming would have on mankind. "....salvation cometh to none...except it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ...whosoever should believe that Christ should come, the same might receive remission of their sins. I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ..." (Mosiah 3:12-13). The old king also admonished his people to live Godly lives: "...men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble themselves and become little children, and believe that salvation is... For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be...unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ..." (Mosiah 3:18-19). Benjamin defines Christ-like attributes as he continues: "...becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him..." (ibid).
These great verses in the book of Mosiah, uttered by the aged King Benjamin, give us hope. They give us a roadmap by which we can plan the journey of our lives, and by following these simple directions, we have the true road to our Father's kingdom.
Benjamin then indicated that this was the end of the message that the angel declared to him. Benjamin told his people: "[these words] shall stand as a bright testimony against this people, at the judgment day; whereof they shall be judged, every man according to his works..." (Mosiah 3:24). When each of us are given the message that King Benjamin gave his people, we also will each be given the opportunity to choose... whether to follow God's commandments or not. We each will be held accountable for the choices we have made in this life.
Apparently Benjamin's words - his conveyance of the angel's joyous message - overcame the people who were in attendance. "...he cast his eyes round about on the multitude and behold they had fallen to the earth...They had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins..." (Mosiah 4:1-2). Imagine hearing a conference talk that moved you so greatly that you fell to the ground, and cried out to the Lord for forgiveness. That would be one great conference talk! Benjamin heard their cries and told them: "...if the knowledge of the goodness of God has awakened you to a sense of your nothingness...if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God... and his long-suffering towards the children of men; and also, the atonement which has been prepared...this is the means whereby salvation cometh... Believe in God...Believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them...ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; if you believe all these things,see that ye do them... always retain in remembrance the greatness of God...humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come..." (Mosiah 4:5-11).
Benjamin promises his people (and us as well) that by living up to the message and admonishments he has given: "...I say unto you that if ye do this, ye shall always rejoice and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins...ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably...ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God... But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth an dsoberness...to love one another and to serve one another... and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain..." (Mosiah 4:12-16). These are the signs that follow them that believe (which are also spoken of in the New Testament). Are such signs evident in our lives? (Along these lines, I recently went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City; as I entered into the gates I was approached by a person who was asking for money. Having been there several times in the past couple months I recognized this person as having been there each time I had visited. Each time the person was begging for money from those entering into the temple grounds. I know what my response was (and I'm not inferring that I did the right thing); I am curious what others - you, the reader - would do when approached regularly at this place by a person who is constantly there begging for money each time. Please comment!)
Benjamin counsels his people to be wise in integrating their new found knowledge and faith into their lives: "See that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize..." (Mosiah 4:27). In our lives we must use wisdom in how we introduce and implement changes for good. For instance, it would do no good to vow that we will read the scriptures for 2 hours a night only to give up after only a week because it was too hard to keep up. On the other hand, we can't justify not self-improving our lives by saying that we're "easing into it". "All things must be done in order" (Mosiah 4:27). I love Benjamin's final words on the matter: "...I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them. But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds...ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not" (Mosiah 4:29).
In my next post, I will talk about the conclusion and the results of Benjamin's address. Meanwhile, let us all follow the admonitions that Benjamin gave his people. If we can do this, we will indeed be able to rejoice.
Don
Benjamin prefaces this part of his remarks by telling his people the source of what he was about to tell them. "...for behold, I have things to tell you concerning that which is to come. And the things which I shall tell you are made known unto me by an angel from God..." (Mosiah 3:1,2). The angel told Benjamin of the importance of his message and emphasized that it was joyous news: "...for behold, I am come to declare unto you the glad tidings of great joy" (Mosiah 3:3).
Why did the Lord want Benjamin to know what the angel came to tell him? Benjamin probably felt that it was so he could share the glad message with his people. I believe this is correct. The angel also gave another reason: "...the Lord hath heard thy prayers, and hath judged of thy righteousness, and hath sent me to declare unto thee that thou mayst rejoice..." (Mosiah 3:4). The last part of this verse confirms what Benjamin felt was the main reason for receiving this message: "...and that thou mayest declare unto thy people, that they may also be filled with joy" (ibid).
I learned from this passage the pattern of receiving revelation from the Lord. That pattern follows these steps:
-- Pray fervently for the Lord to grant the knowledge needed for your life (calling, relationships, etc.).
-- Live your life so that you are judged of the Lord to be worthy of receiving the answer to your prayers.
-- Listen when the answer to your prayers is given; be ready to share the message; share the message as directed.
These steps are not always easy to follow; sometimes one or more of the steps may require patience, endurance and long suffering. I believe that ultimately, though, that the Lord, in His loving wisdom, will respond to us when we diligently follow this pattern.
The joyous message that Benjamin was instructed to share was this: "...the time cometh...that with power, the Lord Omnipotent ...shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay...[he] shall go forth working mighty miracles...he shall cast out devils...he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body...for behold blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish... And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God..." (Mosiah 3:5-9). The angel emphasized the purpose of Jesus' mission among men: "...he shall rise the third day from the dead; and behold he standeth to judge the world; and behold, all these things are done that a righteous judgment might com upon the children of men. For behold...His blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died not knowing the will of God...or who have ignorantly sinned." (Mosiah 3:10-11). The great, joyous message that the angel shared with Benjamin was that God the Father prepared a way for the children of the earth to be able to return to His presence. God prepared a way that involved the coming of a Savior - His Son - to the earth. Joyous is this message; we all have the opportunity to be able to be reconciled with God, in spite of any sins we have committed.
Benjamin continued with the angel's words. He emphasized the importance of understanding the need for a Savior and the effect His coming would have on mankind. "....salvation cometh to none...except it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ...whosoever should believe that Christ should come, the same might receive remission of their sins. I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ..." (Mosiah 3:12-13). The old king also admonished his people to live Godly lives: "...men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble themselves and become little children, and believe that salvation is... For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be...unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ..." (Mosiah 3:18-19). Benjamin defines Christ-like attributes as he continues: "...becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him..." (ibid).
These great verses in the book of Mosiah, uttered by the aged King Benjamin, give us hope. They give us a roadmap by which we can plan the journey of our lives, and by following these simple directions, we have the true road to our Father's kingdom.
Benjamin then indicated that this was the end of the message that the angel declared to him. Benjamin told his people: "[these words] shall stand as a bright testimony against this people, at the judgment day; whereof they shall be judged, every man according to his works..." (Mosiah 3:24). When each of us are given the message that King Benjamin gave his people, we also will each be given the opportunity to choose... whether to follow God's commandments or not. We each will be held accountable for the choices we have made in this life.
Apparently Benjamin's words - his conveyance of the angel's joyous message - overcame the people who were in attendance. "...he cast his eyes round about on the multitude and behold they had fallen to the earth...They had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins..." (Mosiah 4:1-2). Imagine hearing a conference talk that moved you so greatly that you fell to the ground, and cried out to the Lord for forgiveness. That would be one great conference talk! Benjamin heard their cries and told them: "...if the knowledge of the goodness of God has awakened you to a sense of your nothingness...if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God... and his long-suffering towards the children of men; and also, the atonement which has been prepared...this is the means whereby salvation cometh... Believe in God...Believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them...ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; if you believe all these things,see that ye do them... always retain in remembrance the greatness of God...humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come..." (Mosiah 4:5-11).
Benjamin promises his people (and us as well) that by living up to the message and admonishments he has given: "...I say unto you that if ye do this, ye shall always rejoice and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins...ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably...ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God... But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth an dsoberness...to love one another and to serve one another... and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain..." (Mosiah 4:12-16). These are the signs that follow them that believe (which are also spoken of in the New Testament). Are such signs evident in our lives? (Along these lines, I recently went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City; as I entered into the gates I was approached by a person who was asking for money. Having been there several times in the past couple months I recognized this person as having been there each time I had visited. Each time the person was begging for money from those entering into the temple grounds. I know what my response was (and I'm not inferring that I did the right thing); I am curious what others - you, the reader - would do when approached regularly at this place by a person who is constantly there begging for money each time. Please comment!)
Benjamin counsels his people to be wise in integrating their new found knowledge and faith into their lives: "See that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize..." (Mosiah 4:27). In our lives we must use wisdom in how we introduce and implement changes for good. For instance, it would do no good to vow that we will read the scriptures for 2 hours a night only to give up after only a week because it was too hard to keep up. On the other hand, we can't justify not self-improving our lives by saying that we're "easing into it". "All things must be done in order" (Mosiah 4:27). I love Benjamin's final words on the matter: "...I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them. But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds...ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not" (Mosiah 4:29).
In my next post, I will talk about the conclusion and the results of Benjamin's address. Meanwhile, let us all follow the admonitions that Benjamin gave his people. If we can do this, we will indeed be able to rejoice.
Don
Friday, May 27, 2011
Benjamin calls a general conference: Mosiah 2 - 6 (Part 1)
I spoke previously about how the gathering (in Mosiah 2-6) of King Benjamin's people reminded me of General Conference. I grouped Benjamin's talk into two related discussions and loosely "interpreted" them into two sessions of the Benjamin farewell conference.... not to be flip but I think that's a catchy name.
I've gone through these chapters several times in preparation for this post. I've decided the best way to cover the two sessions is to list and group the verses that jumped out at me... the ones that made me think of talks at a general conference.
The first session had to do with several items:
Leadership change:
The people were given official notice of the change of leadership of their society. The outgoing leader - king/prophet - took the opportunity to speak to his people.
"...I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded unto your view" (Mosiah 2:9). Mosiah wanted them to know that he wasn't going to waste their time or mince words.
"...I say unto you that I have caused that ye should assemble yourselves together, that I might declare unto you that I can no longer be your teacher, nor your king; 30For even at this time, my whole frame doth tremble exceedingly while attempting to speak unto you; but the Lord God...hath commanded me that I should declare unto you this day, that my son Mosiah is a king and a ruler over you. And now, my brethren, I would that ye should do as ye have hitherto done. As ye have kept my commandments, and also the commandments of my father, and have prospered...even so if ye shall keep the commandments of my son, or the commandments of God which shall be delivered unto you by him, ye shall prosper in the land..." (Mosiah 2:29-31). Benjamin declares to the people that the time is right to change leadership of their country, a change that is blessed by God. If only the leadership changes made in our country could so be blessed! Note the subtle indication of love for his people and for his son in his admonition to them
Benjamin gives an account of his service as king; he uses his life to teach the people:
"I have not commanded you to come up hither that ye should fear me, or that ye should think that I of myself am more than a mortal man. But I am like as yourselves, subject to all manner of infirmities in body and mind; yet I have been chosen by this people, and consecrated by my father, and was suffered by the hand of the Lord that I should be a ruler and a king over this people... I say unto you that as I have been suffered to spend my days in your service...and have not sought gold...nor any manner of riches of you; Neither have I suffered that ye should be confined in dungeons, nor...make slaves one of another, nor murder, or plunder, or steal, or commit adultery; nor ...commit any manner of wickedness, and have taught you that ye should keep the commandments of the Lord... And even I, myself, have labored with mine own hands that I might serve you... ye yourselves are witnesses this day. Yet... I tell you these things that ye may know that I can answer a clear conscience before God this day..." (Mosiah 2:10-15). Benjamin wanted to be clear that he did his best to serve his people and to lead them to be a righteous nation.
This leads up to an important truth that Benjamin taught the people:
"Behold, I say unto you that because I said that I had spent my days in your service, I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the service of God. And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God. Behold, if I, whom ye call your king, do labor to serve you, then ought not ye to labor to serve one another?" (Mosiah 2:16-18). This truth, taught by the aged king Benjamin, is an eternal truth that is eternal and must be learned by all who wish to be called God's children. Benjamin said these words in his old age; however, he lived these words throughout his whole life. What better way to teach than by example?
Benjamin admonishes his people to do righteously.
"I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning...with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants. And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land... if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you. And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him. And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?" (Mosiah 2:21-24). King Benjamin tells the people that they need to thank God in all things and serve Him willingly. He points out that God has given them all things, including the dust they are made of:
King Benjamin enjoins his people to beware of contention and apostasy:
"But, O my people, beware lest there shall arise contentions among you, and ye list to obey the evil spirit, For behold, there is a wo pronounced upon him who listeth to obey that spirit; for if he listeth to obey him, and remaineth and dieth in his sins, the same drinketh damnation to his own soul; for he receiveth for his wages an everlasting punishment, having transgressed the law of God contrary to his own knowledge. And now, I say unto you that after ye have known and have been taught all these things, if ye should transgress and go contrary to that which has been spoken, ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom’s paths... I say unto you, that the man that doeth this, the same cometh out in open rebellion against God... therefore, the Lord has no place in him... Therefore if that man repenteth not, and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord... And now I say unto you, that mercy hath no claim on that man; therefore his final doom is to endure a never-ending torment. O, all ye old men, and also ye young men, and you little children who can understand my words, I pray that ye should awake to a remembrance of the awful situation of those that have fallen into transgression." (Mosiah 2:32-40). Mosiah, true to his promise, does not trifle with his words, telling it "like it is". With his people, at least with this generation, his words worked.
Mosiah ends this session on a more hopeful note:
"...I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God...they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness" (Mosiah 2:41). This presents a stark contrast to those who have gone astray, sinned or apostatized and have not repented. It is interesting to me that the description of those unhappy souls who fall into the former category is much, much longer than the description of those who fit in the latter group. Simplicity is often elegant, as seen here.
These are nuggets of pure spiritual gold, with more to come; hopefully in the next "session" I can be more concise in my thoughts; however, as I said before, this is my favorite part of the Book of Mormon. Benjamin's address to his people - his General Conference - to me is one of the most uplifting and enlightening addresses I have ever heard, seen or read about. I hope this part of the Book of Mormon uplifts you as well.
Don
I've gone through these chapters several times in preparation for this post. I've decided the best way to cover the two sessions is to list and group the verses that jumped out at me... the ones that made me think of talks at a general conference.
The first session had to do with several items:
Leadership change:
The people were given official notice of the change of leadership of their society. The outgoing leader - king/prophet - took the opportunity to speak to his people.
"...I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded unto your view" (Mosiah 2:9). Mosiah wanted them to know that he wasn't going to waste their time or mince words.
"...I say unto you that I have caused that ye should assemble yourselves together, that I might declare unto you that I can no longer be your teacher, nor your king; 30For even at this time, my whole frame doth tremble exceedingly while attempting to speak unto you; but the Lord God...hath commanded me that I should declare unto you this day, that my son Mosiah is a king and a ruler over you. And now, my brethren, I would that ye should do as ye have hitherto done. As ye have kept my commandments, and also the commandments of my father, and have prospered...even so if ye shall keep the commandments of my son, or the commandments of God which shall be delivered unto you by him, ye shall prosper in the land..." (Mosiah 2:29-31). Benjamin declares to the people that the time is right to change leadership of their country, a change that is blessed by God. If only the leadership changes made in our country could so be blessed! Note the subtle indication of love for his people and for his son in his admonition to them
Benjamin gives an account of his service as king; he uses his life to teach the people:
"I have not commanded you to come up hither that ye should fear me, or that ye should think that I of myself am more than a mortal man. But I am like as yourselves, subject to all manner of infirmities in body and mind; yet I have been chosen by this people, and consecrated by my father, and was suffered by the hand of the Lord that I should be a ruler and a king over this people... I say unto you that as I have been suffered to spend my days in your service...and have not sought gold...nor any manner of riches of you; Neither have I suffered that ye should be confined in dungeons, nor...make slaves one of another, nor murder, or plunder, or steal, or commit adultery; nor ...commit any manner of wickedness, and have taught you that ye should keep the commandments of the Lord... And even I, myself, have labored with mine own hands that I might serve you... ye yourselves are witnesses this day. Yet... I tell you these things that ye may know that I can answer a clear conscience before God this day..." (Mosiah 2:10-15). Benjamin wanted to be clear that he did his best to serve his people and to lead them to be a righteous nation.
This leads up to an important truth that Benjamin taught the people:
"Behold, I say unto you that because I said that I had spent my days in your service, I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the service of God. And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God. Behold, if I, whom ye call your king, do labor to serve you, then ought not ye to labor to serve one another?" (Mosiah 2:16-18). This truth, taught by the aged king Benjamin, is an eternal truth that is eternal and must be learned by all who wish to be called God's children. Benjamin said these words in his old age; however, he lived these words throughout his whole life. What better way to teach than by example?
Benjamin admonishes his people to do righteously.
"I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning...with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants. And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land... if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you. And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him. And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?" (Mosiah 2:21-24). King Benjamin tells the people that they need to thank God in all things and serve Him willingly. He points out that God has given them all things, including the dust they are made of:
King Benjamin enjoins his people to beware of contention and apostasy:
"But, O my people, beware lest there shall arise contentions among you, and ye list to obey the evil spirit, For behold, there is a wo pronounced upon him who listeth to obey that spirit; for if he listeth to obey him, and remaineth and dieth in his sins, the same drinketh damnation to his own soul; for he receiveth for his wages an everlasting punishment, having transgressed the law of God contrary to his own knowledge. And now, I say unto you that after ye have known and have been taught all these things, if ye should transgress and go contrary to that which has been spoken, ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom’s paths... I say unto you, that the man that doeth this, the same cometh out in open rebellion against God... therefore, the Lord has no place in him... Therefore if that man repenteth not, and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord... And now I say unto you, that mercy hath no claim on that man; therefore his final doom is to endure a never-ending torment. O, all ye old men, and also ye young men, and you little children who can understand my words, I pray that ye should awake to a remembrance of the awful situation of those that have fallen into transgression." (Mosiah 2:32-40). Mosiah, true to his promise, does not trifle with his words, telling it "like it is". With his people, at least with this generation, his words worked.
Mosiah ends this session on a more hopeful note:
"...I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God...they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness" (Mosiah 2:41). This presents a stark contrast to those who have gone astray, sinned or apostatized and have not repented. It is interesting to me that the description of those unhappy souls who fall into the former category is much, much longer than the description of those who fit in the latter group. Simplicity is often elegant, as seen here.
These are nuggets of pure spiritual gold, with more to come; hopefully in the next "session" I can be more concise in my thoughts; however, as I said before, this is my favorite part of the Book of Mormon. Benjamin's address to his people - his General Conference - to me is one of the most uplifting and enlightening addresses I have ever heard, seen or read about. I hope this part of the Book of Mormon uplifts you as well.
Don
Monday, May 23, 2011
Mosiah 2 - The Conference
In my last post, I talked about Mosiah chapter 1. Just to reiterate, this is my favorite part of the Book of Mormon. Good King Benjamin is getting old and has Mosiah, his son, gather their people so that he can address them publicly one last time. It is a sign of the love and respect the people have for their king that they came to the meeting in droves, even on one day's notice. Come, they did.... and Benjamin did not disappoint them in his speech.
The gathering became a great spiritual event, one that had a vast effect on the people, an effect which was evident for many years after. This "general conference" of the people of Nephi can be grouped into two logical "sessions" (if not by schedule, at least in topic). I will discuss the content of both sessions at length, but first I want to comment on some things that the curious workings of my mind fixates on. The logistics of such a conference is intriguing to me (now, just to be clear, I want to remind readers of this blog that I know that the Book of Mormon is truly of God and that it truly depicts the interactions of an ancient people with their Heavenly Father and His Son.... the book is true!!).
Today, each conference weekend draws hundreds of thousands of people to the Salt Lake City area. The roads leading to the Conference Center are crowded; hotels and motels are booked and often times people of the area host out-of-town visitors who are there for conference. Just try to get into a restaurant on Friday nights! I'm thinking that the gathering for Benjamin's last words may have been very much like that. Chapter 2 of Mosiah indicates that the people were so numerous that the event could not be held in the temple grounds. It seems that they had to hold it in an open area close to the city of Zarahemla. People brought their whole family to hear the words of their king/prophet. Just think about how anyone, let alone an old man such as King Benjamin, could possibly make himself heard by such a large crowd. As it turns out, Benjamin's people appreciated the problem and King Benjamin had his words written and distributed to the people who could not hear him (this may be why we have such a good record of what he said).
It seems hard to understand, then, why at one point of his speech all of the people fell to the earth: "And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the angel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them." (Mosiah 4:1). Then they all cried out, essentially in unison: "And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men." (Mosiah 4:2). The question is: How did they all fall to the earth; how did they cry out as one voice?
Knowing that the Book of Mormon is true, the possibility of inconsistency or error in the account may be ruled out, leaving other explanations for this somewhat unusual thing. It may be that King Mosiah's words were distributed ahead of his speech and those who couldn't hear him could hear the reaction to his words as they followed along. It may be that he had the written word read aloud as he spoke. It may be that after he spoke and had his words distributed, the people read them to each other as they camped (don't these things happen today, during and after every general conference talk?). Whatever actually happened, it is clear to me that the Spirit was present. The Spirit conveyed the meaning and feeling of Benjamin's speech to all of the people at the same time. As a result, I believe that the people did prostrate themselves simultaneously and that they did cry out as one because the Spirit of the Lord acted on all of them simultaneously.
As I said, the gathering could be like a general conference in which there were two sessions, or at least two different discussions. In the first session, King Benjamin talks about his reign - how he served his people - and he talked about how they should live. He also informed them that his son Mosiah would become their king.
In the second part of his talk, or the second session, if you will, he revealed to the people what an angel told him to talk about and he bore witness to the coming of the Savior. In my next blog I will cover these two sessions in more detail.
Don
The gathering became a great spiritual event, one that had a vast effect on the people, an effect which was evident for many years after. This "general conference" of the people of Nephi can be grouped into two logical "sessions" (if not by schedule, at least in topic). I will discuss the content of both sessions at length, but first I want to comment on some things that the curious workings of my mind fixates on. The logistics of such a conference is intriguing to me (now, just to be clear, I want to remind readers of this blog that I know that the Book of Mormon is truly of God and that it truly depicts the interactions of an ancient people with their Heavenly Father and His Son.... the book is true!!).
Today, each conference weekend draws hundreds of thousands of people to the Salt Lake City area. The roads leading to the Conference Center are crowded; hotels and motels are booked and often times people of the area host out-of-town visitors who are there for conference. Just try to get into a restaurant on Friday nights! I'm thinking that the gathering for Benjamin's last words may have been very much like that. Chapter 2 of Mosiah indicates that the people were so numerous that the event could not be held in the temple grounds. It seems that they had to hold it in an open area close to the city of Zarahemla. People brought their whole family to hear the words of their king/prophet. Just think about how anyone, let alone an old man such as King Benjamin, could possibly make himself heard by such a large crowd. As it turns out, Benjamin's people appreciated the problem and King Benjamin had his words written and distributed to the people who could not hear him (this may be why we have such a good record of what he said).
It seems hard to understand, then, why at one point of his speech all of the people fell to the earth: "And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the angel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them." (Mosiah 4:1). Then they all cried out, essentially in unison: "And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men." (Mosiah 4:2). The question is: How did they all fall to the earth; how did they cry out as one voice?
Knowing that the Book of Mormon is true, the possibility of inconsistency or error in the account may be ruled out, leaving other explanations for this somewhat unusual thing. It may be that King Mosiah's words were distributed ahead of his speech and those who couldn't hear him could hear the reaction to his words as they followed along. It may be that he had the written word read aloud as he spoke. It may be that after he spoke and had his words distributed, the people read them to each other as they camped (don't these things happen today, during and after every general conference talk?). Whatever actually happened, it is clear to me that the Spirit was present. The Spirit conveyed the meaning and feeling of Benjamin's speech to all of the people at the same time. As a result, I believe that the people did prostrate themselves simultaneously and that they did cry out as one because the Spirit of the Lord acted on all of them simultaneously.
As I said, the gathering could be like a general conference in which there were two sessions, or at least two different discussions. In the first session, King Benjamin talks about his reign - how he served his people - and he talked about how they should live. He also informed them that his son Mosiah would become their king.
In the second part of his talk, or the second session, if you will, he revealed to the people what an angel told him to talk about and he bore witness to the coming of the Savior. In my next blog I will cover these two sessions in more detail.
Don
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Mosiah 1: Gather for a Meeting
I've been slacking... 12 days since my last post. I have been reading, though, so it's just getting it down "on paper", so to speak.
This is my favorite part of the Book of Mormon. Mormon has resumed his abridgment and tells about good King Benjamin. Chapter one of the book of Mosiah has always been one that I have read in order to get to the good stuff to follow. I've really thought about the content of chapter one though, and this is what came to mind.
As we start the book of Mosiah, we are told that it is about 130 B.C. We read about Benjamin's family, or rather about his sons. They are: Mosiah (presumably named for Benjamin's father), Helorum and Helaman. Speculation warning: Helaman, the son of Alma the younger (in the book of Alma) may have been named for Helaman, Benjamin's son. It seems to be common practice in Book of Mormon society to name your child after a beloved family member. Since Alma's father came from the land of Lehi-Nephi, the family name of Helaman may not have originated from his side of the family. But what about his wife's side? Is it possible that Alma the younger married one of King Mosiah's daughters and they named Helaman after a favorite uncle or grand uncle? Alma did hang out with King Mosiah's family, after all. Like I said, speculation.
Back to King Benjamin and his sons. Benjamin teaches his sons about some very important facts and truths - important enough for Mormon to include them in his abridgment. Mosiah, Helorum and Helaman were taught to be "men of understanding". What does that mean? I think that it means they were educated in the knowledge of their time and of their society. They were taught the things that had been handed down from father to son since Lehi's time - things such has reading and writing in both Hebrew and in Egyptian (how else could Mormon abridge the records of the kings of almost 1,000 years onto a compact volume?). They were taught the sciences of their day, practical knowledge, philosophy, social arts and skills, tradecrafts and probably war and weapon skills as well. Most importantly though, they were taught how to apply their knowldge to spiritual understanding. They were taught to understand how God has ordered His creations. They were taught to understand the spiritual nature of human knowledge. They became men of understanding about the world, from a spiritual perspective. Question: Are we men/women of understanding, in the way these brothers were? Can we become such? How do we go about becoming men/women of understanding? Re-read this chapter for more clues.
Benjamin taught his sons about spirituality. They learned from the scriptures, both those in the Brass Plates and those that the earlier Nephites had written. Benjamin taught them about prophecy and showed them the prophecies that had been made about them. From their father, these sons learned to search the scriptures.
Benjamin also emphasized to his sons the need for God in their lives. They were made aware of God's hand in preserving their people, and how God would continue to protect and prosper them if they kept His commandments. Benjamin had first-hand examples of God's protective hand, and he used them in teaching his sons.
Several years later - the Book of Mormon time-line shows it to be about 124 B.C. - Benjamin calls for Mosiah and tells him to gather his people to hear their King speak. He tells Mosiah that he will be declaring him their new king and that he as going to give the people a name. Benjamin told Mosiah that he was ready to pass on the kingdom to him, as he was feeling that his years were getting short. Benjamin charged Mosiah with several things:
-- To keep the records faithfully.
-- To keep and preserve the Brass plates, the Liahona, and the sword of Laban.
-- To teach his people to choose righteousness and recognize their need for the Lord.
-- To reign righteously and justly.
Benjamin reiterated to Mosiah the importance of the Lord in their lives and society and the need to live accordingly.
King Benjamin wanted the people to hear from his own mouth that Mosiah would be their new king. This is an excellent indicator of what a good King Benjamin was. He recognized the need to pass on the kingdom, instead of waiting until the last gasp of his life. Moreover, he wanted to proclaim the new king from his own mouth; he wanted no disputations to arise. He wanted a peaceful transition to his heir that would not cause any problems for his people. Not only did he recognize that the time was right, he understood the best way to announce the change. In the history of the world, the peaceful transfer of power is relatively rare; not many societies did it, and most did not do it with any regularity. It takes a great ruler to know not only who to pass the reins on to, but when to pass them on so that the transition will be peaceable.
It is interesting that Benjamin had Mosiah himself spread the word about the gathering. Benjamin probably felt that Mosiah should be the one that people received the initial word from. Mosiah was probably already well known, and people would respond favorably to his announcement.
At any rate, the people were asked to meet with their old king and hear some of his last words. In a sense, it was the assembly of a "general conference" for their day. This chapter sets the stage for the marvelous discourse by a righteous and benevolent king which appears in the next few chapters.
Don
This is my favorite part of the Book of Mormon. Mormon has resumed his abridgment and tells about good King Benjamin. Chapter one of the book of Mosiah has always been one that I have read in order to get to the good stuff to follow. I've really thought about the content of chapter one though, and this is what came to mind.
As we start the book of Mosiah, we are told that it is about 130 B.C. We read about Benjamin's family, or rather about his sons. They are: Mosiah (presumably named for Benjamin's father), Helorum and Helaman. Speculation warning: Helaman, the son of Alma the younger (in the book of Alma) may have been named for Helaman, Benjamin's son. It seems to be common practice in Book of Mormon society to name your child after a beloved family member. Since Alma's father came from the land of Lehi-Nephi, the family name of Helaman may not have originated from his side of the family. But what about his wife's side? Is it possible that Alma the younger married one of King Mosiah's daughters and they named Helaman after a favorite uncle or grand uncle? Alma did hang out with King Mosiah's family, after all. Like I said, speculation.
Back to King Benjamin and his sons. Benjamin teaches his sons about some very important facts and truths - important enough for Mormon to include them in his abridgment. Mosiah, Helorum and Helaman were taught to be "men of understanding". What does that mean? I think that it means they were educated in the knowledge of their time and of their society. They were taught the things that had been handed down from father to son since Lehi's time - things such has reading and writing in both Hebrew and in Egyptian (how else could Mormon abridge the records of the kings of almost 1,000 years onto a compact volume?). They were taught the sciences of their day, practical knowledge, philosophy, social arts and skills, tradecrafts and probably war and weapon skills as well. Most importantly though, they were taught how to apply their knowldge to spiritual understanding. They were taught to understand how God has ordered His creations. They were taught to understand the spiritual nature of human knowledge. They became men of understanding about the world, from a spiritual perspective. Question: Are we men/women of understanding, in the way these brothers were? Can we become such? How do we go about becoming men/women of understanding? Re-read this chapter for more clues.
Benjamin taught his sons about spirituality. They learned from the scriptures, both those in the Brass Plates and those that the earlier Nephites had written. Benjamin taught them about prophecy and showed them the prophecies that had been made about them. From their father, these sons learned to search the scriptures.
Benjamin also emphasized to his sons the need for God in their lives. They were made aware of God's hand in preserving their people, and how God would continue to protect and prosper them if they kept His commandments. Benjamin had first-hand examples of God's protective hand, and he used them in teaching his sons.
Several years later - the Book of Mormon time-line shows it to be about 124 B.C. - Benjamin calls for Mosiah and tells him to gather his people to hear their King speak. He tells Mosiah that he will be declaring him their new king and that he as going to give the people a name. Benjamin told Mosiah that he was ready to pass on the kingdom to him, as he was feeling that his years were getting short. Benjamin charged Mosiah with several things:
-- To keep the records faithfully.
-- To keep and preserve the Brass plates, the Liahona, and the sword of Laban.
-- To teach his people to choose righteousness and recognize their need for the Lord.
-- To reign righteously and justly.
Benjamin reiterated to Mosiah the importance of the Lord in their lives and society and the need to live accordingly.
King Benjamin wanted the people to hear from his own mouth that Mosiah would be their new king. This is an excellent indicator of what a good King Benjamin was. He recognized the need to pass on the kingdom, instead of waiting until the last gasp of his life. Moreover, he wanted to proclaim the new king from his own mouth; he wanted no disputations to arise. He wanted a peaceful transition to his heir that would not cause any problems for his people. Not only did he recognize that the time was right, he understood the best way to announce the change. In the history of the world, the peaceful transfer of power is relatively rare; not many societies did it, and most did not do it with any regularity. It takes a great ruler to know not only who to pass the reins on to, but when to pass them on so that the transition will be peaceable.
It is interesting that Benjamin had Mosiah himself spread the word about the gathering. Benjamin probably felt that Mosiah should be the one that people received the initial word from. Mosiah was probably already well known, and people would respond favorably to his announcement.
At any rate, the people were asked to meet with their old king and hear some of his last words. In a sense, it was the assembly of a "general conference" for their day. This chapter sets the stage for the marvelous discourse by a righteous and benevolent king which appears in the next few chapters.
Don
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Words of Mormon
This will be a short entry in this blog, as the book itself - Words of Mormon - is only 18 verses long, or about a page and a half of writing. (I'm writing this longhand while on the bus home; thank goodness people won't see my handwriting.)
Words of Mormon was written primarily, in my estimation, to explain the books we have just completed: 1 Nephi through Omni. Mormon says that he had just finished abridging the record from Nephi's days to King Benjamin... He tells is that he "...searched among the records which had been delivered into my hands, and I found these plates, which contained this small account of the prophets, from Jacob down to the reign of this king Benjamin, and also many of the words of Nephi." (Words of Mormon, v.3). Mormon plainly saw the worth of the records he had found: "And the things which are upon these plates pleasing me, because of the prophecies of the coming of Christ...Wherefore, I chose these things, to finish my record..." (Words of Mormon, v.4, 5).
It's interesting that Mormon inserted the complete small plates of Nephi into the record he was working on, instead of abridging them. I think that shows what value he placed on the content... He didn't want to leave any of it out. Certainly by this time he was good at distilling what was written down; he had abridged the King's records from over 400 years of recordings. He could easily have abridged these plates too, but he was moved not to.
There was another reason Mormon inserted the small plates of Nephi into his abridged record... one that the didn't know. "And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will" (Words of Mormon, v.7). Mormon didn't know why, but certainly God knew. God also knew why when he inspired Nephi to begin this record: "...I, Nephi, received a commandment that the ministry and the prophecies, the more plain and precious parts of them, should be written upon these plates ... for the instruction of my people...and also for other wise purposes, which purposes are known unto the Lord." (1 Ne. 19:3).
As it turns out, the manuscript that Joseph Smith allowed Martin Harris to take was lost. I believe that the lost manuscript was Mormon's abridgment of the Nephite history from Lehi and Nephi down to King Benjamin. How convenient it was to have a backup to use in the lost manuscript's place. Except it wasn't just a coincidence, happenstance or convenience; it was because a knowing, all-seeing God had provided for the calamity. God knows what can and will happen. He inspired Nephi to start the record on the small plates and to commit his descendants to carry it on. He inspired Mormon to make his search, finding Nephi's small plates. God knew they were there and He knew they would be needed. (On a side note, I'm sure that Mormon had no idea they were there in all the records he was abridging. Probably within a generation or two after Amelaki gave them to King Benjamin, the small plates became just a part of the entire records library and perhaps even forgotten).
Last thought: Mormon mentions that "I chose these things, to finish my record upon them, which remainder of my record I shall take from the plates of Nephi" (Words of Mormon, v.5). I wonder... did he write the book Words of Mormon on the last space available on the small plates of Nephi?
This small book, like the rest of the Book of Mormon, assures me that God knows His children. That He loves them. That He watches over them and provides for their sustenance, both temporal and spiritual. The Book of Mormon has always convinced me that this is true.
Don
Words of Mormon was written primarily, in my estimation, to explain the books we have just completed: 1 Nephi through Omni. Mormon says that he had just finished abridging the record from Nephi's days to King Benjamin... He tells is that he "...searched among the records which had been delivered into my hands, and I found these plates, which contained this small account of the prophets, from Jacob down to the reign of this king Benjamin, and also many of the words of Nephi." (Words of Mormon, v.3). Mormon plainly saw the worth of the records he had found: "And the things which are upon these plates pleasing me, because of the prophecies of the coming of Christ...Wherefore, I chose these things, to finish my record..." (Words of Mormon, v.4, 5).
It's interesting that Mormon inserted the complete small plates of Nephi into the record he was working on, instead of abridging them. I think that shows what value he placed on the content... He didn't want to leave any of it out. Certainly by this time he was good at distilling what was written down; he had abridged the King's records from over 400 years of recordings. He could easily have abridged these plates too, but he was moved not to.
There was another reason Mormon inserted the small plates of Nephi into his abridged record... one that the didn't know. "And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will" (Words of Mormon, v.7). Mormon didn't know why, but certainly God knew. God also knew why when he inspired Nephi to begin this record: "...I, Nephi, received a commandment that the ministry and the prophecies, the more plain and precious parts of them, should be written upon these plates ... for the instruction of my people...and also for other wise purposes, which purposes are known unto the Lord." (1 Ne. 19:3).
As it turns out, the manuscript that Joseph Smith allowed Martin Harris to take was lost. I believe that the lost manuscript was Mormon's abridgment of the Nephite history from Lehi and Nephi down to King Benjamin. How convenient it was to have a backup to use in the lost manuscript's place. Except it wasn't just a coincidence, happenstance or convenience; it was because a knowing, all-seeing God had provided for the calamity. God knows what can and will happen. He inspired Nephi to start the record on the small plates and to commit his descendants to carry it on. He inspired Mormon to make his search, finding Nephi's small plates. God knew they were there and He knew they would be needed. (On a side note, I'm sure that Mormon had no idea they were there in all the records he was abridging. Probably within a generation or two after Amelaki gave them to King Benjamin, the small plates became just a part of the entire records library and perhaps even forgotten).
Last thought: Mormon mentions that "I chose these things, to finish my record upon them, which remainder of my record I shall take from the plates of Nephi" (Words of Mormon, v.5). I wonder... did he write the book Words of Mormon on the last space available on the small plates of Nephi?
This small book, like the rest of the Book of Mormon, assures me that God knows His children. That He loves them. That He watches over them and provides for their sustenance, both temporal and spiritual. The Book of Mormon has always convinced me that this is true.
Don
Saturday, April 30, 2011
One more thought on the short books....
I know, I know..... I've had a lot to say about these books for as short as they are. One more entry on the little books, their authors (and their frame of minds) and about time frames, and some other comments too, then I'll move on.
I've always marveled that so much time passed with so few entries in the small plates of Nephi, particularly in Enos, Jarom and Omni. Consider this:
Book Time Frame Chapters Verses Author
1st Nephi: 600 B.C. to ~570 B.C. 22 629 Nephi
2nd Nephi: ~570 B.C. to ~545 B.C. 33 779 Nephi (Isaiah, Jacob)
Jacob: ~544 B.C. to ~500 B.C??? 7 203 Jacob
Enos: ~500 B.C. to 420 B.C. 1 27 Enos
Jarom: 420 B.C. to 361 B.C. 1 15 Jarom
Omni: 361 B.C. to 317 B.C. 1 3 Omni
317 B.C. to 279 B.C. 5 Amaron
279 B.C. 1 Chemish
279 B.C. to ~200 B.C. 2 Abinadom
~200 B.C. to ~160 B.C. 18 Amaleki
(Note that after Chemish and Abinadom mention the date they wrote in the plates, the next date that is mentioned is 130 B.C. where King Benjamin announces that his son Mosiah will be king. The dates I provide above for Abinadom and Amaleki are my guestimates... see my previous posting).
As time passes, each author writes less and less in the plates. Between 1st and 2nd Nephi, author Nephi wrote a total of 55 chapters of religious content; a whopping 1,408 verses, including several chapters quoting from the Brass Plates of Laban. Mind you, it wasn't just writing, it was actually etching characters onto gold while translating his words from Hebrew to Egyptian
As a contrast, Jacob wrote 7 chapters - 203 verses - of religious history, revelation and spiritual events, or 12-14% of what Nephi inscribed. The rest of the authors combined wrote less that half of what Jacob wrote.
Not only does the volume decline as the plates are passed on, but the number of spiritual insights decline as well. Jacob caught the spirit of the purpose of the plates from Nephi and recorded admonitions, experiences and a thought-provoking allegory from the Brass Plates. Enos provides a very spiritual recounting of his conversion but doesn't provide any other happenings from his life. Jarom indicates that the Nephites keep the law of Moses and there are many prophets but doesn't provide any accounts. Then Omni takes the plates and writes briefly that he has been a wicked man and that he has passed the plates on as he was directed. Amaron, his son, tells us of the passage of time and the destruction that went on around him and speaks of the great judgements of the Lord. (on a side-note, his words lead me to believe that he was more righteous than his father. I believe that Amaron was more righteous because of the influence of a good mother). Abinadom writes briefly and leaves us to wonder about his life; he writes "...I know of no revelation save that which has been written, neither prophecy; wherefore, that which is sufficient is written..." (Omni 11). Amaleki, Abinadom's son, then writes more extensively and tells us about the merging of Nephites and Mulekites and about the goodness of King Mosiah andn King Benjamin. I believe Amaleki had spiritual guidance which drove him to be more vociferous with the story of his time on earth.
What do I make of this? My first thought was that, as time went by, the trustees of the small plates of Nephi were getting more and more lax with the commitment made to their fathers. Perhaps this may be so. Given the difficulty in writing upon the gold plates, I can't say that I would have been any different. But then I had my point of view turned around. Maybe it wasn't that they were more and more slothful; maybe it was that Nephi was extremely driven to record the things that he did. He certainly had the same difficulty writing upon the plates that everyone else did, but he wrote what he did anyway... He was moved greatly by the spirit to make the tremendous effort he did, and his nature was to give everything to the Lord, including the difficult task of recording all that he did. To tell the truth, I think that perhaps both of these possible explanations may have been true.
What can we learn from these things? We need to be earnest in keeping our commitments to the Lord and to our families; we have been trusted with keeping the Gospel upon the earth. Time passing does not give us any excuse for not being committed and for not being enthusiastic promoters and defenders of God's Kingdom on earth. No matter how tempting it is to be lax at times, it is upon us to receive revelation, build and bear testimonies, provide spiritual opportunities for ourselves, our families, and others and to lift others who need our help. It is also our responsibility to record -write about - all of these things for our benefit and for the benefit of our posterity.
We are the Nephis, Jacobs, Enos's, and the rest of these writers, of our day. We must keep the Lord in our hearts and lives and make Him available to the world. We must leave a legacy and a record for those after us.
Don
I've always marveled that so much time passed with so few entries in the small plates of Nephi, particularly in Enos, Jarom and Omni. Consider this:
Book Time Frame Chapters Verses Author
1st Nephi: 600 B.C. to ~570 B.C. 22 629 Nephi
2nd Nephi: ~570 B.C. to ~545 B.C. 33 779 Nephi (Isaiah, Jacob)
Jacob: ~544 B.C. to ~500 B.C??? 7 203 Jacob
Enos: ~500 B.C. to 420 B.C. 1 27 Enos
Jarom: 420 B.C. to 361 B.C. 1 15 Jarom
Omni: 361 B.C. to 317 B.C. 1 3 Omni
317 B.C. to 279 B.C. 5 Amaron
279 B.C. 1 Chemish
279 B.C. to ~200 B.C. 2 Abinadom
~200 B.C. to ~160 B.C. 18 Amaleki
(Note that after Chemish and Abinadom mention the date they wrote in the plates, the next date that is mentioned is 130 B.C. where King Benjamin announces that his son Mosiah will be king. The dates I provide above for Abinadom and Amaleki are my guestimates... see my previous posting).
As time passes, each author writes less and less in the plates. Between 1st and 2nd Nephi, author Nephi wrote a total of 55 chapters of religious content; a whopping 1,408 verses, including several chapters quoting from the Brass Plates of Laban. Mind you, it wasn't just writing, it was actually etching characters onto gold while translating his words from Hebrew to Egyptian
As a contrast, Jacob wrote 7 chapters - 203 verses - of religious history, revelation and spiritual events, or 12-14% of what Nephi inscribed. The rest of the authors combined wrote less that half of what Jacob wrote.
Not only does the volume decline as the plates are passed on, but the number of spiritual insights decline as well. Jacob caught the spirit of the purpose of the plates from Nephi and recorded admonitions, experiences and a thought-provoking allegory from the Brass Plates. Enos provides a very spiritual recounting of his conversion but doesn't provide any other happenings from his life. Jarom indicates that the Nephites keep the law of Moses and there are many prophets but doesn't provide any accounts. Then Omni takes the plates and writes briefly that he has been a wicked man and that he has passed the plates on as he was directed. Amaron, his son, tells us of the passage of time and the destruction that went on around him and speaks of the great judgements of the Lord. (on a side-note, his words lead me to believe that he was more righteous than his father. I believe that Amaron was more righteous because of the influence of a good mother). Abinadom writes briefly and leaves us to wonder about his life; he writes "...I know of no revelation save that which has been written, neither prophecy; wherefore, that which is sufficient is written..." (Omni 11). Amaleki, Abinadom's son, then writes more extensively and tells us about the merging of Nephites and Mulekites and about the goodness of King Mosiah andn King Benjamin. I believe Amaleki had spiritual guidance which drove him to be more vociferous with the story of his time on earth.
What do I make of this? My first thought was that, as time went by, the trustees of the small plates of Nephi were getting more and more lax with the commitment made to their fathers. Perhaps this may be so. Given the difficulty in writing upon the gold plates, I can't say that I would have been any different. But then I had my point of view turned around. Maybe it wasn't that they were more and more slothful; maybe it was that Nephi was extremely driven to record the things that he did. He certainly had the same difficulty writing upon the plates that everyone else did, but he wrote what he did anyway... He was moved greatly by the spirit to make the tremendous effort he did, and his nature was to give everything to the Lord, including the difficult task of recording all that he did. To tell the truth, I think that perhaps both of these possible explanations may have been true.
What can we learn from these things? We need to be earnest in keeping our commitments to the Lord and to our families; we have been trusted with keeping the Gospel upon the earth. Time passing does not give us any excuse for not being committed and for not being enthusiastic promoters and defenders of God's Kingdom on earth. No matter how tempting it is to be lax at times, it is upon us to receive revelation, build and bear testimonies, provide spiritual opportunities for ourselves, our families, and others and to lift others who need our help. It is also our responsibility to record -write about - all of these things for our benefit and for the benefit of our posterity.
We are the Nephis, Jacobs, Enos's, and the rest of these writers, of our day. We must keep the Lord in our hearts and lives and make Him available to the world. We must leave a legacy and a record for those after us.
Don
Sunday, April 24, 2011
More on Enos, Jarom and Omni
Let me first say this about the Book of Mormon: I know that the Book of Mormon was inspired of God and that He guided the hands of the prophets that recorded it. I know of a certainty that the Book of Mormon provides us with a witness of Christ's divine mission. I have learned from the Book of Mormon about how others lives were affected by their devotion to Jesus Christ and how I should live my life. There is no physical evidence, historical evidence, geographical evidence, logical evidence, or any other non-spiritual evidence that would convince me that the Book of Mormon is true more that the spiritual witness I have received through the power of the Holy Ghost (see Moroni 10:4-5).
That being said, I want to comment about the time line represented in the books of Enos, Jarom and Omni along with the books of 1st and 2nd Nephi and of the book of Jacob. As I read it, this is the time line presented in Jacob and the three short books:
~600 B.C. - Lehi and his family after the Jews persecute them.
~592 B.C. - Lehi, and family reach the land Bountiful. My guess is that Nephi is about 25 at this point. Nephi is commanded to build a ship.
~590 B.C. - Ship building is finished, they get on board and sail for the promised land. Births of Jacob and Joseph are mentioned. I think that Jacob is the older of the two and is probably 4 or 5 at this point.
~589 B.C. - The family reaches the promised land and begin building a new life. Nephi makes small plates and records in them.
569 B.C. - Lehi's death is recorded.
559 B.C. - Nephites and Lamanites have split apart, Nephites prosper.
544 B.C. - Jacob now has and writes in the small plates of Nephi. Nephi's death is recorded. If my guess is correct, this would make Nephi about 75 when he dies.
544 - 420 B.C. - Jacob lives his life and then passes the records to Enos. Neither Jacob nor Enos mentions the year this took place, so we can't be sure how old Jacob was when he died. Enos lives a life of teaching, preaching and service and hands the plates over to Jarom in 420 B.C.
361 B.C. - Jarom, after having the plates of Nephi for 61 years, passes them to Omni.
317 B.C. - Omni has possession of the plates of Nephi for about 44 years, and writes a few things on them according to his father's directive then passes them on to Amaron.
279 B.C. - Amaron writes on the plates of Nephi, passes them to his brother Chemish, who also writes in them.
279 - 130 B.C. - During this time, the plates are passed to Abinadom, Chemish's son. Abinadom gives the plates of Nephi to Amaleki. Amaleki lives his life; he talks somewhat about King Mosiah and his son Benjamin. Amaleki doesn't have any heir to bestow the plates to, so he gives them to King Benjamin.
130 B.C. - King Benjamin bestows the kingdom upon his son Mosiah.
Notice the gap in time between when Jacob takes the plates of Nephi and when Enos gives the plates to Jarom (from 544 B.C. to 420 B.C, or 124 years). Notice also the gap from 279 B.C. when Abinadom receives the plates to 130 B.C. which is when Benjamin makes his son Mosiah the king.
I'll discuss the second gap first. With some thought I have been able to understand how the seemed gap in time could be accounted for.... Mind you, this is pure speculation on my part. Amaron and Chemish write in the plates in the year 279 B.C. I am guessing that Chemish is probably Amaron's younger brother; more importantly, Chemish has heirs to pass the plates along to. At some point in time, Chemish gets old and charges his son, Abinadom, with the small plates of Nephi. Abinadom writes a small amount in them and in due time passes them to his son Amaleki. Eventually Amaleki hands them over to King Benjamin because Amaleki has no children of his own.
I believe that it is not 130 B.C. when Amaleki gives the plates to the King. Since Amaleki lived in the days of Mosiah, King Benjamin's father, the plates probably got passed to Benjamin while the king was young. This being true, then there would be no time gap to explain. My guess is that Amaleki may have given Benjamin the plates as early as 160 B.C. If this is a good guess, then the time may have looked like this: 279 B.C. Amaron and Chemish write on the plates. ~255 B.C. Chemish gives the plates to Abinadom, his son. ~200 B.C. Abinadom writes in the plates and passes them on to Amaleki. Around 160 B.C. Amaleki, who has no heirs, gives the plates to King Benjamin. 30 years later, King Benjamin, now an old man, bestows the kingdom on his son Mosiah.
Again, this is all guessing, but it feels plausible to me.
The other gap - the one between 544 and 420 B.C. is a little harder to explain. In 544 B.C. Jacob writes in the plates and tells us about Nephi's death. If my guesses are correct, Jacob would be around 45 years old at this time. The next time check we have is when Enos, Jacob's son, passes the plates on to his son Jarom. Here's the way it appears: in the 124 years of this time period, Jacob has his ministry, Enos gets his testimony, has his ministry, gets old and passes the plates along. Lets say that Jacob's and Enos's ministry last about the same length of time. That means they each served for 62 years before their lives ended. If Jacob was indeed 45 when he got the plates, that would make him about 107 years old when Enos received the plates. Enos would have to be old enough to see Jacob's ministry in action and hear his words, and it appears to me that he was a young man when he hunted in the jungle, and had his conversion experience... If he was 20 years old then, and if he served for 64 years, that would mean he was born in the year 504 B.C. Jacob would have been 93 at the time..... This doesn't logically work for me, the time lines don't seem to jive.
There may be a couple of explanations to this mystery. Detractors of the Book of Mormon might say that this is another example of implausibility and that the Book of Mormon is a fraud. I testify that this book is the word of God and is true. This is not an acceptable explanation.
Another possibility may be that yes, indeed, Jacob was that old when Enos was born. Jacob would have to have continued actively in his ministerial work for several years after that, since Enos heard Jacobs words when he (Enos) was old enough for them to sink in... They would have to have been long-livers in those days for this to be the explanation (and they may have been).
Another possible explanation, one that I think is more plausible, is perhaps there is a generation between Jacob and Enos. In the Bible we have heard people refer to their ancestors as their fathers and to their descendants their sons. I think that Enos's biological father may have been Jacob's son. I think that something may have happened to Enos's father, and so the plates were passed from Jacob to Enos instead of to Jacob's son and then to Enos. Enos heard his father teach and preach, but it was Jacob's son who he heard, not Jacob himself. This seems like a good possibility, although we don't have any record if this is the case. The time line may look more like this: 544 B.C - Jacob writes of Nephi's death. Jacob's son has already been born at this point and is maybe 5 years old by now... 504 B.C. - Enos is born. In 484 B.C. Enos hunts and has his conversion. Sometime during this time frame, but before Jacob dies, something happens to Jacob's son and Jacob passes the plates to Enos.
Pure speculation, I know. My testimony doesn't hinge on whether I'm right. It really doesn't matter and it is only something I have thought about, so I ask you to humor me in my curiosity.
As I said, I know the Book of Mormon is a true, factual, document, written by God's holy prophets. I know that it testifies of Jesus Christ and it has helped me to know Jesus better. I know this because I have felt the Holy Ghost's confirming spirit. I testify of this to you in the name of Jesus Christ.
Don
That being said, I want to comment about the time line represented in the books of Enos, Jarom and Omni along with the books of 1st and 2nd Nephi and of the book of Jacob. As I read it, this is the time line presented in Jacob and the three short books:
~600 B.C. - Lehi and his family after the Jews persecute them.
~592 B.C. - Lehi, and family reach the land Bountiful. My guess is that Nephi is about 25 at this point. Nephi is commanded to build a ship.
~590 B.C. - Ship building is finished, they get on board and sail for the promised land. Births of Jacob and Joseph are mentioned. I think that Jacob is the older of the two and is probably 4 or 5 at this point.
~589 B.C. - The family reaches the promised land and begin building a new life. Nephi makes small plates and records in them.
569 B.C. - Lehi's death is recorded.
559 B.C. - Nephites and Lamanites have split apart, Nephites prosper.
544 B.C. - Jacob now has and writes in the small plates of Nephi. Nephi's death is recorded. If my guess is correct, this would make Nephi about 75 when he dies.
544 - 420 B.C. - Jacob lives his life and then passes the records to Enos. Neither Jacob nor Enos mentions the year this took place, so we can't be sure how old Jacob was when he died. Enos lives a life of teaching, preaching and service and hands the plates over to Jarom in 420 B.C.
361 B.C. - Jarom, after having the plates of Nephi for 61 years, passes them to Omni.
317 B.C. - Omni has possession of the plates of Nephi for about 44 years, and writes a few things on them according to his father's directive then passes them on to Amaron.
279 B.C. - Amaron writes on the plates of Nephi, passes them to his brother Chemish, who also writes in them.
279 - 130 B.C. - During this time, the plates are passed to Abinadom, Chemish's son. Abinadom gives the plates of Nephi to Amaleki. Amaleki lives his life; he talks somewhat about King Mosiah and his son Benjamin. Amaleki doesn't have any heir to bestow the plates to, so he gives them to King Benjamin.
130 B.C. - King Benjamin bestows the kingdom upon his son Mosiah.
Notice the gap in time between when Jacob takes the plates of Nephi and when Enos gives the plates to Jarom (from 544 B.C. to 420 B.C, or 124 years). Notice also the gap from 279 B.C. when Abinadom receives the plates to 130 B.C. which is when Benjamin makes his son Mosiah the king.
I'll discuss the second gap first. With some thought I have been able to understand how the seemed gap in time could be accounted for.... Mind you, this is pure speculation on my part. Amaron and Chemish write in the plates in the year 279 B.C. I am guessing that Chemish is probably Amaron's younger brother; more importantly, Chemish has heirs to pass the plates along to. At some point in time, Chemish gets old and charges his son, Abinadom, with the small plates of Nephi. Abinadom writes a small amount in them and in due time passes them to his son Amaleki. Eventually Amaleki hands them over to King Benjamin because Amaleki has no children of his own.
I believe that it is not 130 B.C. when Amaleki gives the plates to the King. Since Amaleki lived in the days of Mosiah, King Benjamin's father, the plates probably got passed to Benjamin while the king was young. This being true, then there would be no time gap to explain. My guess is that Amaleki may have given Benjamin the plates as early as 160 B.C. If this is a good guess, then the time may have looked like this: 279 B.C. Amaron and Chemish write on the plates. ~255 B.C. Chemish gives the plates to Abinadom, his son. ~200 B.C. Abinadom writes in the plates and passes them on to Amaleki. Around 160 B.C. Amaleki, who has no heirs, gives the plates to King Benjamin. 30 years later, King Benjamin, now an old man, bestows the kingdom on his son Mosiah.
Again, this is all guessing, but it feels plausible to me.
The other gap - the one between 544 and 420 B.C. is a little harder to explain. In 544 B.C. Jacob writes in the plates and tells us about Nephi's death. If my guesses are correct, Jacob would be around 45 years old at this time. The next time check we have is when Enos, Jacob's son, passes the plates on to his son Jarom. Here's the way it appears: in the 124 years of this time period, Jacob has his ministry, Enos gets his testimony, has his ministry, gets old and passes the plates along. Lets say that Jacob's and Enos's ministry last about the same length of time. That means they each served for 62 years before their lives ended. If Jacob was indeed 45 when he got the plates, that would make him about 107 years old when Enos received the plates. Enos would have to be old enough to see Jacob's ministry in action and hear his words, and it appears to me that he was a young man when he hunted in the jungle, and had his conversion experience... If he was 20 years old then, and if he served for 64 years, that would mean he was born in the year 504 B.C. Jacob would have been 93 at the time..... This doesn't logically work for me, the time lines don't seem to jive.
There may be a couple of explanations to this mystery. Detractors of the Book of Mormon might say that this is another example of implausibility and that the Book of Mormon is a fraud. I testify that this book is the word of God and is true. This is not an acceptable explanation.
Another possibility may be that yes, indeed, Jacob was that old when Enos was born. Jacob would have to have continued actively in his ministerial work for several years after that, since Enos heard Jacobs words when he (Enos) was old enough for them to sink in... They would have to have been long-livers in those days for this to be the explanation (and they may have been).
Another possible explanation, one that I think is more plausible, is perhaps there is a generation between Jacob and Enos. In the Bible we have heard people refer to their ancestors as their fathers and to their descendants their sons. I think that Enos's biological father may have been Jacob's son. I think that something may have happened to Enos's father, and so the plates were passed from Jacob to Enos instead of to Jacob's son and then to Enos. Enos heard his father teach and preach, but it was Jacob's son who he heard, not Jacob himself. This seems like a good possibility, although we don't have any record if this is the case. The time line may look more like this: 544 B.C - Jacob writes of Nephi's death. Jacob's son has already been born at this point and is maybe 5 years old by now... 504 B.C. - Enos is born. In 484 B.C. Enos hunts and has his conversion. Sometime during this time frame, but before Jacob dies, something happens to Jacob's son and Jacob passes the plates to Enos.
Pure speculation, I know. My testimony doesn't hinge on whether I'm right. It really doesn't matter and it is only something I have thought about, so I ask you to humor me in my curiosity.
As I said, I know the Book of Mormon is a true, factual, document, written by God's holy prophets. I know that it testifies of Jesus Christ and it has helped me to know Jesus better. I know this because I have felt the Holy Ghost's confirming spirit. I testify of this to you in the name of Jesus Christ.
Don
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
The Short Books: Enos, Jarom, Omni
These books are fascinating in a number of ways and the things I learned as I really poked through them are invaluable. The testimonies in these books really support and strengthen my own. The time lines are curious and, for me, raise some interesting questions. These books also provide an interesting insight to the nature of human beings. First, getting a testimony:
Enos, Jacob's son, takes charge of the plates that Nephi created and that Jacob, Enos' father continued to write in. It's interesting to me that in 2 Nephi 4 we read of Lehi's death and in Jacob 1 we read of Nephi's death, but Enos doesn't record when Jacob died. We know that the plates were handed down from Jacob to Enos, because Enos records the marvelous story of his conversion and a brief description of his ministry. I have two thoughts on why this is. It could be that Enos didn't mention Jacob's death because he was doing what his father charged him to do: record sacred things and touch only lightly on the happenings of the people (although we don't read of this instruction in these books, I have to believe that Jacob charged Enos with this direction, just as Nephi charged Jacob). It could also be that due to the difficulty in writing in the plates, that Jacob simply didn't include this detail. More on this thought later.
Enos had the kind of conversion that we all wish for. His father taught him well, both in academic and in spiritual things. He is out hunting and is pricked by the words he heard his father teach. He is motivated to pray for spiritual confirmation, eventually converses with the Lord and his faith is made sure.
Here are the action words he uses to describe the experience: the wrestle I had; heard my father speak; sunk deep into my heart; soul hungered; kneeled; cried in mighty prayer; raise my voice; feel a desire; pour out my whole soul (Enos 2 - 9). These words, even without the context given them in the verses they come from, are powerful examples of what it takes to have a true testimony of God's love.
In the context of the verses they come from, they tell of a man who was wholly converted. They also tell of a means - a method - by which each of us can be totally converted to the Lord's Gospel.
It is my testimony that if each of us can follow the pattern that Enos has shared with us, the spiritual witness we receive will be as sure and steady as a great rock. It is my hope that we each will put this method to the test.
Don
P.S. More on these books.....
Enos, Jacob's son, takes charge of the plates that Nephi created and that Jacob, Enos' father continued to write in. It's interesting to me that in 2 Nephi 4 we read of Lehi's death and in Jacob 1 we read of Nephi's death, but Enos doesn't record when Jacob died. We know that the plates were handed down from Jacob to Enos, because Enos records the marvelous story of his conversion and a brief description of his ministry. I have two thoughts on why this is. It could be that Enos didn't mention Jacob's death because he was doing what his father charged him to do: record sacred things and touch only lightly on the happenings of the people (although we don't read of this instruction in these books, I have to believe that Jacob charged Enos with this direction, just as Nephi charged Jacob). It could also be that due to the difficulty in writing in the plates, that Jacob simply didn't include this detail. More on this thought later.
Enos had the kind of conversion that we all wish for. His father taught him well, both in academic and in spiritual things. He is out hunting and is pricked by the words he heard his father teach. He is motivated to pray for spiritual confirmation, eventually converses with the Lord and his faith is made sure.
Here are the action words he uses to describe the experience: the wrestle I had; heard my father speak; sunk deep into my heart; soul hungered; kneeled; cried in mighty prayer; raise my voice; feel a desire; pour out my whole soul (Enos 2 - 9). These words, even without the context given them in the verses they come from, are powerful examples of what it takes to have a true testimony of God's love.
In the context of the verses they come from, they tell of a man who was wholly converted. They also tell of a means - a method - by which each of us can be totally converted to the Lord's Gospel.
- Hear or listen to the gospel and recognize the goodness of the people who are sharing it with you (this is true of both the spoken words of testimony or the written testaments that we can read).
- Embrace the ideas of a God in Heaven who loves His children and longs for them to come to Him.
- Feel the desire grow inside of you, just your body hungers for nourishment.
- Seek for a confirmation to the things you have begun to believe through prayer.
- Be earnest in your prayer, putting your whole soul into the prayer, even to the point of raising your voice to the skies.
- Continue in this prayer until you receive the witness you desire.
It is my testimony that if each of us can follow the pattern that Enos has shared with us, the spiritual witness we receive will be as sure and steady as a great rock. It is my hope that we each will put this method to the test.
Don
P.S. More on these books.....
Monday, April 11, 2011
Zenos Allegory, Part 2
I felt somewhat unfinished after completing my last blog entry, then I understood that I hadn't reported any of my analysis. Jacob chapter 5 provides a lot of insight to the children of Israel, including Lehi's posterity, and including the human race as well. Here are my thoughts:
I mentioned that there are repeating phrases in chapter 5. In reviewing them I found that the phrases fall into a few categories, as shown below.
Care of the tree / vineyard:
Benefits or reasons:
End:
This is good instruction for us, as children of our Heavenly Father. We can learn from the phrases and the number of times they are repeated. Look at the number of times that care is given to the Lord's vineyard.
Care comes in several ways - some of the ways are pleasant and loving: nourishing, for instance. We receive boons from our Father in Heaven constantly and more so when we live His laws.
Care comes sometimes in more drastic ways; we sometimes get plucked out of a comfortable situation and grafted into somewhere that will cause us to grow differently. I think of the men who were just called to be the stake presidency of my stake. One was a bishop of one of the wards here... he got plucked off and grafted in! Think of missionaries who leave their homes and families and are grafted into a different place, society or location.
Sometimes the care comes in ways that are painful yet necessary, when comfortable things in our lives are burned away. I think we can all think of a real-life analogy here. Certainly we can learn from painful experiences if we face them with the Holy Spirit as our guide.
The allegory uses phrases that give insight to the Lord's motivation to care for His vineyard. He cares for us in the ways the allegory shows because it grieves Him if we are lost to Him. He wants to preserve us so that we will dwell with Him in the eternities, and so he wants to lay up our souls to Himself. I'm positive that He weeps for us at times. I'm certain that I've made Him weep, much to my dismay. Is there any question that the Lord loves his vineyard? Is there any question that the Lord loves each one of us individually, just as the lord of the vineyard loved the tree?
Finally, there is a timetable involved: The end does draw near, and at that time the Lord's entire vineyard will face Him and be judged. Some will be cast out of His presence - burned, so to speak. Others, although saved into His kingdom, will face a stringent, burning examination.
I think that Jacob chapter 6 bears out my evaluation: "...this is my prophecy - the the things which this prophet Zenos spake, concerning the house of Israel, in the which he likened them unto a tame olive-tree, must surely come to pass" (Jacob 6:1). "...the servants of the Lord shall go forth in his power, to nourish and prune His vineyard; and after that the end soon cometh. And how blessed are they who have labored diligently... and how cursed are they who shall be cast out... And the world shall be burned with fire" (Jacob 6:2-3).
Jacob pleads with us: "I beseech of you...that ye would repent and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you." (Jacob 6:5). "...after ye have been nourished by the good word of God all the day log, will ye bring forth evil fruit, that ye must be hewn down and cast into the fire?" (Jacob 6:7).
He offers two of the most quotable phrases in the Book of Mormon: "Yea, today, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts; for why will ye die?" (Jacob 6:7). "O then, my beloved brethren, repent ye, and enter in at the strait gate, and continue in the way which is narrow, until ye shall obtain eternal life. O be wise; what can I say more?" (Jacob 6:11-12).
I pray that I can be grafted in by my favoring Lord. I pray that we may all be productive to Him who cares for His vineyard.
Don
I mentioned that there are repeating phrases in chapter 5. In reviewing them I found that the phrases fall into a few categories, as shown below.
Care of the tree / vineyard:
- Nourish (dung) - 14 times
- Prune / dig - 4 times
- Planted / grafted - 9 times
- Pluck - 17 times
- Burn - 17 times
- Labor, follow commandments - 13 times
Benefits or reasons:
- Lay up , lay up unto myself - 10 times
- Preserve, preserve unto myself - 14 times
- Grieveth - 6 times
- Wept - 1 time
End:
- End draweth near - 3 times
- Vineyard burned - 1 time.
This is good instruction for us, as children of our Heavenly Father. We can learn from the phrases and the number of times they are repeated. Look at the number of times that care is given to the Lord's vineyard.
Care comes in several ways - some of the ways are pleasant and loving: nourishing, for instance. We receive boons from our Father in Heaven constantly and more so when we live His laws.
Care comes sometimes in more drastic ways; we sometimes get plucked out of a comfortable situation and grafted into somewhere that will cause us to grow differently. I think of the men who were just called to be the stake presidency of my stake. One was a bishop of one of the wards here... he got plucked off and grafted in! Think of missionaries who leave their homes and families and are grafted into a different place, society or location.
Sometimes the care comes in ways that are painful yet necessary, when comfortable things in our lives are burned away. I think we can all think of a real-life analogy here. Certainly we can learn from painful experiences if we face them with the Holy Spirit as our guide.
The allegory uses phrases that give insight to the Lord's motivation to care for His vineyard. He cares for us in the ways the allegory shows because it grieves Him if we are lost to Him. He wants to preserve us so that we will dwell with Him in the eternities, and so he wants to lay up our souls to Himself. I'm positive that He weeps for us at times. I'm certain that I've made Him weep, much to my dismay. Is there any question that the Lord loves his vineyard? Is there any question that the Lord loves each one of us individually, just as the lord of the vineyard loved the tree?
Finally, there is a timetable involved: The end does draw near, and at that time the Lord's entire vineyard will face Him and be judged. Some will be cast out of His presence - burned, so to speak. Others, although saved into His kingdom, will face a stringent, burning examination.
I think that Jacob chapter 6 bears out my evaluation: "...this is my prophecy - the the things which this prophet Zenos spake, concerning the house of Israel, in the which he likened them unto a tame olive-tree, must surely come to pass" (Jacob 6:1). "...the servants of the Lord shall go forth in his power, to nourish and prune His vineyard; and after that the end soon cometh. And how blessed are they who have labored diligently... and how cursed are they who shall be cast out... And the world shall be burned with fire" (Jacob 6:2-3).
Jacob pleads with us: "I beseech of you...that ye would repent and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you." (Jacob 6:5). "...after ye have been nourished by the good word of God all the day log, will ye bring forth evil fruit, that ye must be hewn down and cast into the fire?" (Jacob 6:7).
He offers two of the most quotable phrases in the Book of Mormon: "Yea, today, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts; for why will ye die?" (Jacob 6:7). "O then, my beloved brethren, repent ye, and enter in at the strait gate, and continue in the way which is narrow, until ye shall obtain eternal life. O be wise; what can I say more?" (Jacob 6:11-12).
I pray that I can be grafted in by my favoring Lord. I pray that we may all be productive to Him who cares for His vineyard.
Don
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The Allegory: Jacob 5 - 6
I wanted to devote a post to these chapters, thinking that if I didn't I would not be able to adequately cover the topic. The result, though, was that I had a little longer to think about chapter 5 and the prophet Zenos' allegory of the tame and wild olive trees. The story is this: A rich man - known here as the lord of the vineyard - has an olive tree that he loves. It must have been productive and been around for some time for him to like it so much. The tree begans to decay and die, even after extra care is give to it, so the lord trims branches from the tree and grafts them into wild olive trees. The lord grafts wild olive branches onto the tree itself as well. This meets with success for awhile and produces good fruit initially, but then the wild branches or roots take over and the fruit becomes bad. Eventually the natural branches of the tame olive tree are grafted back onto the natural tree and good fruit is again produced.
That's a thimble sized summary of chapter 5, which has almost 7 pages - 77 verses. I have always skimmed through this chapter, getting distracted by the nourishes, pluckings and grafts of the chapter. In closely examining the chapter, though, I found some really good insights. One thing I realized is that to truly understand the allegory I had to think of the host of Israel; not just them but of all humanity as well.
I should note that in reflecting on chapter 5 I realized that there were phrases that appeared continually, such as: "Lay up the fruit", "preserve the tree", "it grieveth me to lose this tree", "nourish round about it", "pluck off the branches", "burn", "planted" or "grafted", "end draweth nigh", "go down and labor". Each of these concepts were repeated multiple times.
First thought was on the value of the tree. The lord loved the tree. It was valuable to him for several times it is mentioned that the lord would "...lay up fruit thereof against the season, unto myself" (Jacob 5:13). The lord continues, showing that he was loved the tree for more than it's food stuff value: "...it grieveth me that I should lose this tree and the fruit thereof." (ibid). Indeed, the lord, at the point that he felt nothing more could be done to save the tree and it's value, becomes emotional: "And it came to pass that the lord of the vineyard wept, and said unto the servant: What could I have done more for my vineyard?" (Jacob 5:41). If we think of the lord of the vineyard as God, and Israel (or us all) as the tree in the vineyard, it's easy to see: The Lord loves us. He blesses us because He loves us. He wants our lives to produce good things and return our fruit of love back to Him. He goes to great lengths to put us into growing circumstances. The Lord is grieved and weeps when he loses one of His children to the decay of Satan's deceit.
With this in mind, the lord of the vineyard took steps to preserve the tree. Each time the lord and his servants labored, they first dug about it and nourished it (sometimes they dunged it, which a gardener knows is the same thing, although it is funny to think of the word dung being in the Book of Mormon). The lord of the vineyard talks about the labor that is involved; he has his servants doing the labor, but not without him. Now think about our Savior and His servants. I believe that he is constantly laboring for our welfare, not just mystically wishing good fortune and happiness on us, but physically laboring for our welfare. He always has made efforts for our benefit, probably in ways we can't even understand. Think about the culmination of His life on earth: Truly a great and terrible labor for us. I believe that he not only sends His servants (the angels both of His realm and His earthly angels) to lead us, guide us, and to care for us. Leadership in itself is a great deal of labor. He intercedes on our behalf as well; kind of an ambassadorship to our Father in Heaven on our behalf. Diplomacy can be hard labor as well. I also believe that there are other labors He performs on our behalf that we don't understand or even know about, too (ok, that's not church doctrine, just Don speculating, alright?).
We need to relieve the Lord's efforts by being His good servants in taking care of our part of the vineyard - a.k.a His kingdom on earth. To do otherwise increases His burdens as He performs His labors to bring His children back to him. We need to respond to the care He gives us by growing in righteousness continually. To do otherwise increases His burdens as He performs His labors on our behalf.
A few words about plucking and grafting. The lord of the vineyard tries to save his tree by taking branches off of it and grafting it onto another tree and by taking branches from other olive trees and grafting them into the natural tree. Think about how Israel's troubled history - at times they have been righteous, at other times, not so much (as we read in the Old Testament). Israel has been scattered throughout the world and can be found in almost every society. According to this story, the scattering was done to preserve the good of Israel. If Israel had remained a righteous people, would they have been scattered? Think about the people of the City of Enoch; they didn't get scattered, right? For us personally, sometimes we get "scattered" as well. Things happen in our lives that seem bad or scary at the time. In the end, though, we learn, grow, and adapt if we cling to the Lord. The Lord certainly knows what we are capable of and allows things to happen that would shape us into better beings if we keep our testimonys sharp and our knees bent.
Finally, it struck me that the lord of the vineyard plucked off the bad branches and threw them into the fire to be burned. I hardly have to make any comment on that, do I? But is that always the case? Do people who sin always get burned? Sometimes it doesn't seem like it, but we must remember that the Lord has His own timetable and isn't governed by our clocks. The point is, eventually the Lord will reconcile all of our books and will reward accordingly. An interesting side-note to this: The lord of the vineyard indicates that the end draws near... end of what? The chapter doesn't say; perhaps the end of the lord's life? Maybe his creditors are catching up to him? Not sure, but the chapter says that in the end all will be burned - good and bad. I think we should learn from this that eventually we all will have to settle our spiritual debts. We would do well to live so that our spiritual accounts are in favor of the Lord.
Don
That's a thimble sized summary of chapter 5, which has almost 7 pages - 77 verses. I have always skimmed through this chapter, getting distracted by the nourishes, pluckings and grafts of the chapter. In closely examining the chapter, though, I found some really good insights. One thing I realized is that to truly understand the allegory I had to think of the host of Israel; not just them but of all humanity as well.
I should note that in reflecting on chapter 5 I realized that there were phrases that appeared continually, such as: "Lay up the fruit", "preserve the tree", "it grieveth me to lose this tree", "nourish round about it", "pluck off the branches", "burn", "planted" or "grafted", "end draweth nigh", "go down and labor". Each of these concepts were repeated multiple times.
First thought was on the value of the tree. The lord loved the tree. It was valuable to him for several times it is mentioned that the lord would "...lay up fruit thereof against the season, unto myself" (Jacob 5:13). The lord continues, showing that he was loved the tree for more than it's food stuff value: "...it grieveth me that I should lose this tree and the fruit thereof." (ibid). Indeed, the lord, at the point that he felt nothing more could be done to save the tree and it's value, becomes emotional: "And it came to pass that the lord of the vineyard wept, and said unto the servant: What could I have done more for my vineyard?" (Jacob 5:41). If we think of the lord of the vineyard as God, and Israel (or us all) as the tree in the vineyard, it's easy to see: The Lord loves us. He blesses us because He loves us. He wants our lives to produce good things and return our fruit of love back to Him. He goes to great lengths to put us into growing circumstances. The Lord is grieved and weeps when he loses one of His children to the decay of Satan's deceit.
With this in mind, the lord of the vineyard took steps to preserve the tree. Each time the lord and his servants labored, they first dug about it and nourished it (sometimes they dunged it, which a gardener knows is the same thing, although it is funny to think of the word dung being in the Book of Mormon). The lord of the vineyard talks about the labor that is involved; he has his servants doing the labor, but not without him. Now think about our Savior and His servants. I believe that he is constantly laboring for our welfare, not just mystically wishing good fortune and happiness on us, but physically laboring for our welfare. He always has made efforts for our benefit, probably in ways we can't even understand. Think about the culmination of His life on earth: Truly a great and terrible labor for us. I believe that he not only sends His servants (the angels both of His realm and His earthly angels) to lead us, guide us, and to care for us. Leadership in itself is a great deal of labor. He intercedes on our behalf as well; kind of an ambassadorship to our Father in Heaven on our behalf. Diplomacy can be hard labor as well. I also believe that there are other labors He performs on our behalf that we don't understand or even know about, too (ok, that's not church doctrine, just Don speculating, alright?).
We need to relieve the Lord's efforts by being His good servants in taking care of our part of the vineyard - a.k.a His kingdom on earth. To do otherwise increases His burdens as He performs His labors to bring His children back to him. We need to respond to the care He gives us by growing in righteousness continually. To do otherwise increases His burdens as He performs His labors on our behalf.
A few words about plucking and grafting. The lord of the vineyard tries to save his tree by taking branches off of it and grafting it onto another tree and by taking branches from other olive trees and grafting them into the natural tree. Think about how Israel's troubled history - at times they have been righteous, at other times, not so much (as we read in the Old Testament). Israel has been scattered throughout the world and can be found in almost every society. According to this story, the scattering was done to preserve the good of Israel. If Israel had remained a righteous people, would they have been scattered? Think about the people of the City of Enoch; they didn't get scattered, right? For us personally, sometimes we get "scattered" as well. Things happen in our lives that seem bad or scary at the time. In the end, though, we learn, grow, and adapt if we cling to the Lord. The Lord certainly knows what we are capable of and allows things to happen that would shape us into better beings if we keep our testimonys sharp and our knees bent.
Finally, it struck me that the lord of the vineyard plucked off the bad branches and threw them into the fire to be burned. I hardly have to make any comment on that, do I? But is that always the case? Do people who sin always get burned? Sometimes it doesn't seem like it, but we must remember that the Lord has His own timetable and isn't governed by our clocks. The point is, eventually the Lord will reconcile all of our books and will reward accordingly. An interesting side-note to this: The lord of the vineyard indicates that the end draws near... end of what? The chapter doesn't say; perhaps the end of the lord's life? Maybe his creditors are catching up to him? Not sure, but the chapter says that in the end all will be burned - good and bad. I think we should learn from this that eventually we all will have to settle our spiritual debts. We would do well to live so that our spiritual accounts are in favor of the Lord.
Don
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