Jarom

Revelation and Humility

Jarom makes a few good points concerning the spiritual life of the Nephites. His first point is that there are a lot of prideful Nephites, but not all are prideful. The few who do not have stiff necks and hard hearts can and will receive revelation. In verse 4 he says, “as many as are not stiffnecked and have faith, have communion with the Holy Spirit, which maketh manifest unto the children of men, according to their faith.” One of the prerequisites of revelation is humility. If you are not humble, you cannot be guided by the Spirit.

Profanity and Blasphemy

In verse 5, Jarom comments that the people obeyed the Law of Moses, kept the Sabbath day holy and did not profane or blaspheme. I looked up the topics of profanity and blasphemy on lds.org. The two are very similar in definition. In the Guide to the Scriptures, profanity is defined as "disrespect or contempt for sacred things; especially, irreverence for the name of God." Blasphemy is defined as "speaking disrespectfully or irreverently of God or sacred things."

Mighty Men of Faith

The Nephites had wonderful leaders to guide them in difficult times. Their leaders and kings were “mighty men in the faith of the Lord; and they taught the people the ways of the Lord” (v. 7). Their leaders sound much like our Priesthood leaders today. When I took a D&C class at BYU, the theme that was repeated in every single class and discussion was "follow the prophets." Our teacher constantly pointed out the reasons for following the prophet and the consequences for not following the prophet.

The Promise

In verse 9, “The Promise” is stated again. This promise is stated very often throughout the Book of Mormon. As you read the Book of Mormon, you can see its literal fulfillment. Those who keep the commandments will be blessed and will prosper in the land. Those who do not keep the commandments, will suffer and eventually suffer in the land. Some might say, “what about those wicked people who prosper in the land?” To that I say Satan has his motivations for those who wish to follow him. Remember, he is kin to Mammon. And for those who “get away” with just about anything – meaning they are not punished for their crimes on Earth; my seminary teacher always told us that “we may pay on Earth, but they will pay in heaven.”

The Purpose of the Law of Moses

As with Lehi, Nephi, and Jacob; Jarom understood the true meaning of the law of Moses. In verse 11 he says that they were “teaching the law of Moses, and the intent for which it was given; persuading them to look forward unto the Messiah, and believe in him to come as though he already was.” The Nephites were taught to believe as we do today, only they had to keep the Law of Moses too.

Pricking Hearts

Verse 12 talks about how the prophets constantly reminded the Nephites that they would be destroyed if they did not keep the commandments. "They did prick their hearts with the word, continually stirring them up unto repentance."

Are we pricking our hearts continually? The only way we can do this is to prayerfull study the scriptures daily and constantly study the words of our modern-day prophets. Each General Conference has a life-time of information to study. I feel that this is one area that I need improvement on … studying the General Conference talks. If we do these things, our hearts will be pricked into repentance.

Conclusion

As Jarom stated at the beginning of the chapter, there is nothing new that he could reveal or teach. But we learn much about the Nephites from Jarom. They are like us today – they had to humble themselves to receive revelation, they had to keep the commandments to prosper and to be strong. They had to believe in Christ and accept his teachings. The Gospel is simple to understand, yet it can be challenging to live it in a world full of sin and persecution. But I testify that as we live the Gospel – as we pray, read the scriptures, love our family, serve others and keep all the commandments and repent, we will gain strength and we will feel the love of our Father in Heaven and He will bless us.