4 Nephi & Mormon 1-6

September 13, 2007 - Original Post

A Timeline

For the books of 4 Nephi and Mormon, I will give a timeline summary since there is so much that goes on over many years. Also, there isn’t much in doctrine in these chapters so a summary is in order.

AD 34 – The Disciples of Christ have formed a church of Christ in all the lands.
AD 36 – All the people in all the lands have been converted. Zion is established and the people live the law of consecration.
AD 37 - The Disciples perform all kinds of miracles by healing the sick.
AD 38-59 - Cities are rebuilt, the people wax strong and multiply, no contention in the land.
AD 100 - All the Disciples have died except the Three. Others ordained in their stead.
AD 110 - The first generation passes away. Nephi gives plates to his son Amos.
AD 194 - Amos gives plates to his son Amos. Amos the Elder dies.
AD 200 - The second generation passes away.
AD 201 – Pride begins to enter the hearts of some. Costly apparel and jewelry and the fine things of the world are the people’s desires. The law of consecrations ceases. They begin to deny the true church of Christ.
AD 210 – Many different churches are established in the land. These churches defile the true gospel of Christ. False churches persecute the true church. False churches seek to kill the disciples of Christ.
AD 230 – A great division occurs among the people. “-ites" re-enter into the culture. The people of God are called the Nephites, while those who do not belong to the true church of God are called Lamanites, Lemuelites, Zoramites, etc.
AD 240 – The wicked begin to outnumber the righteous.
AD 260 – The secret oaths and combinations of Gadianton re-enter among the people. Even the Nephites begin to be proud in their hearts because of their riches.
AD 305 - Amos gives plates to his brother Ammaron. Amos the Younger dies.
AD 300 – Gadianton Robbers are widespread. Both the Nephites and Lamanites are wicked.
320 AD – Ammaron hides all the sacred records. The Book of 4 Nephi ends.

About AD 320 - Ammaron instructs Mormon (age 10) to take the plates when he turns 24. He is to write all that he has seen.
About AD 322 – Mormon, age 11, is taken by his father (also named Mormon) to the land of Zarahemla. War breaks out between the Nephites and Lamanites. Wickedness prevails among the people. The Lord takes away His disciples. Miracles cease.
About AD 326 – Mormon is visited by the Lord Jesus Christ. The land is cursed and people lose what they hide. Mormon is appointed head of the Nephite army at age 16.
AD 327 – Lamanite army advances on the Nephites.
AD 330 – Nephites successfully defend themselves with 42,000 against an army of 44,000. The Nephites do not have godly sorrow for their sins. Their sorrow is the sorrow of the damned. The day of grace has passed for them.
AD 345 – Nephites flee before Lamanites to the city of Jashon which is near the land where the records are. Mormon obtains records and makes a full account of the wickedness of the people. Nephites are continually pursued and hunted.
AD 346 – Nephites defeat Lamanite army of 50,000 with an army of 30,000.
AD 350 – Nephites are given the land northward and Lamanites are given the land southward. Temporary peace is reached. Mormon cries repentance among the people, but they do not listen.
AD 360 – King of Lamanites sends epistle to Mormon stating that war is looming.
AD 361 – Lamanites come to battle at City of Desolation. The Nephites beat them
AD 362 – Nephites beat Lamanites again. Nephites are so prideful of their victories, Mormon refuses to be their leader. Mormon instructs us that we will be judged at the judgment-seat of Christ.
AD 363 – Nephites are repelled and Lamanites take possession of the City of Desolation..
AD 364 – Nephites beat back Lamanites at the City of Teancum.
AD 366 – Lamanites continue to attack. The land is one continuous scene of bloodshed.
AD 367 – Nephites repel Lamanites.
AD 375 – Lamanites come against the Nephites will all their power and the Nephites are swept off and never regain victory. Nephites hold at Boaz, but Lamanites overwhelm them on the second advance. The Nephites are slaughtered. Mormon takes all the records from the hill Shim. At some point, Mormon takes leadership of the army again
AD 380 – Another big battle ensues and Nephites flee.
AD 384 – All the Nephites are gathered for one final battle. Mormon buries all the records in Cumorah and gives the plates to Moroni. The Lamanites destroy all but 24. Over a quarter of a million Nephites die in one day’s battle.
AD 400 – Moroni finishes Mormon’s work and buries the plates. Lamanites hunt down the remainder of the Nephites and those who will not deny the Christ.

Mormon's Lament

"O ye fair ones, how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord! O ye fair ones, how could ye have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you!

"Behold, if ye had not done this, ye would not have fallen. But behold, ye are fallen, and I mourn your loss.

"O ye fair sons and daughters, ye fathers and mothers, ye husbands and wives, ye fair ones, how is it that ye could have fallen!

"But behold, ye are gone, and my sorrows cannot bring your return.

"And the day soon cometh that your mortal must put on immortality, and these bodies which are now moldering in corruption must soon become incorruptible bodies; and then ye must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, to be judged according to your works; and if it so be that ye are righteous, then are ye blessed with your fathers who have gone before you.

"O that ye had repented before this great destruction had come upon you. But behold, ye are gone, and the Father, yea, the Eternal Father of heaven, knoweth your state; and he doeth with you according to his justice and mercy." (Mormon 6:17-22)

November 15, 2012 - Addition

Doctrinal Points

In my original post, I stated there wasn't much in terms of doctrine in these chapters, but there are a few and I would like to address those.

4 Nephi 1:5 - the disciples of Christ "heal the sick, and raise the dead, and cause the lame to walk, and the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear; and all manner of miracles did they work among the children of men."  I was reading in the New Testament last week how Jesus commanded his disciples in to go out and heal the sick, etc. (see Matthew 10).  So, taking both examples of the disciples in the old world and the new world, it would seem that one of the primary directives and commandments for the Apostles is to "gather the lost sheep" and as they go about gathering sheep, they are to heal the sick, clense the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils ... to freely give.

4 Nephi 1:12 - the members of the church continued in fasting and prayer; and they met together often.  I only note this because of the reference to fasting and prayer.  Personally speaking, I feel we members should be fasting more than once a month.

3 Nephi 20

Cease Not to Pray in Your Hearts

In 3 Nephi 20:1, Jesus commands the people to cease not from praying in their hearts. We ought to pray formally every day (individually and as a family), but we also ought to keep a prayer in our hearts. What that means is that we should constantly involve our Father in Heaven in the details of our lives.

For example, a few years ago, I had a small project at work that I was assigned to do. The project was creating a database of contacts for our hundreds of servers. To me, it was somewhat of a big project and I had to learn new things. I distinctly remember sitting at my desk at the onset of my project and wondering how I was going to create the complex code and design. But I took it step by step and along the way, I said plenty of little prayers in my heart. A few weeks later I finished and was praised by many of my peers.

The New Jerusalem

3 Nephi 20:22 talks about the New Jerusalem. My patriarchal blessing says "you will be involved in the gathering of Israel and in the preparation for the building of the New Jerusalem here upon the earth." I don't know if that is a "generic" statement meaning that I (along with every other member of the Church) am involved in the missionary work or if it means something more specific with the logistics of preparation for the building of the New Jerusalem. But whenever the scriptures refer to the New Jerusalem, my ears perk up. This verse says that the powers of heaven will be with the New Jerusalem.

D&C 45:66-75 says, " And it shall be called the New Jerusalem, a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety for the saints of the Most High God;

"And the glory of the Lord shall be there, and the terror of the Lord also shall be there, insomuch that the wicked will not come unto it, and it shall be called Zion.

"And it shall come to pass among the wicked, that every man that will not take his sword against his neighbor must needs flee unto Zion for safety.

"And there shall be gathered unto it out of every nation under heaven; and it shall be the only people that shall not be at war one with another.

"And it shall be said among the wicked: Let us not go up to battle against Zion, for the inhabitants of Zion are terrible; wherefore we cannot stand.

"And it shall come to pass that the righteous shall be gathered out from among all nations, and shall come to Zion, singing with songs of everlasting joy.

"And now I say unto you, keep these things from going abroad unto the world until it is expedient in me, that ye may accomplish this work in the eyes of the people, and in the eyes of your enemies, that they may not know your works until ye have accomplished the thing which I have commanded you;

"That when they shall know it, that they may consider these things.

"For when the Lord shall appear he shall be terrible unto them, that fear may seize upon them, and they shall stand afar off and tremble.

"And all nations shall be afraid because of the terror of the Lord, and the power of his might. Even so. Amen."

Moses: Foreshadow of the Millennial Christ

In 3 Nephi 20:23, Christ declares, "I am he of whom Moses spake, saying: A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me"

Moses not only was a type of the Mortal Christ, but he was a type of the Millennial Christ in the Last Days.

The following table is from http://www.gospeldoctrine.com/3Nephi20.htm

Plagues of Egypt	Apocalyptic Destruction of Wicked
Waters of Egypt turned to blood. (Ex. 7:20)	The rivers and fountains of waters…became blood. (Rev. 16:4)
Frogs covered the land of Egypt. (Ex. 8:6)	Three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon. (Rev 16:13)
Plagues of lice and flies. (Ex. 8:17,24)	God will send forth flies and maggots. (DC 29:8)
All the cattle of Egypt died. (Ex. 9:6)	Desolation upon the cattle and sheep. (Joel 1:15-20)
Plague of boils upon man and beast. (Ex. 9:10)	There fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men hich had the mark of the beast. (Rev. 16:2)
Plague of hail and fire (Ex. 9:23)	Men scorched with fire and a plague of great hailstones. (Rev. 16:8,21)
Locusts covered the face of the whole earth. (Ex. 10:14-15)	There came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth. (Rev. 9:3-10)
A thick darkness in all the land for three days. (Ex. 10:22)	The Sun became black as sackcloth. (Rev. 6:12)
The firstborn males are killed. (Ex. 12:29-30)	The third part of men are killed by fire, smoke, and brimstone. (Rev. 9:18)
Pharaoh’s army destroyed by water. (Ex. 14:28)	Saint’s enemies destroyed by fire. (1 Ne. 22:17)

Be Ye Clean

In 3 Nephi 20:41 Jesus commands us: “be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.” This is referring to personal purity.

President Hinckley just spoke of this subject in the April 2007 General Priesthood session (Gordon B. Hinckley, “‘I Am Clean’,” Ensign, May 2007, 60–62). He related the dream Joseph F. Smith had and how in that dream he was reproved by the Prophet Joseph for being late. But Joseph F. Smith confidently responded, "Yes, but I am clean - I am clean!" He then counseled us to be clean in our language, our thoughts and our body and our dress.

His Visage Was so Marred

While in his mortal ministry, Christ suffered and was lowly in appearance. As Isaiah wrote, " He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." (Mosiah 14:3) But when He comes again, we will see Him in glory and dominion.

Bruce R. McConkie wrote, " In these words we see a triumphant millennial Christ -- one whose visage was marred and whose form was mangled when he dwelt among men -- we see him in glory and dominion, in whose presence kings remain silent and before whom their mouths are shut. We see his cleansing blood sprinkle all nations, with devout men everywhere turning to the saving truths that they have not before heard and to the words of truth that they have not theretofore considered.” (The Mortal Messiah, p. 344)"

3 Nephi 19

Christ Ministers

The chapter begins with the people preparing for the next arrival of Jesus. Christ ascended into heaven and left the people to ponder the things he had taught them. They prepared for his next arrival.

After the people had gathered, the Apostles prayed to God and then assembled the people into several groups and then taught them the same things that Jesus had taught them. The Nephite apostles did just as the modern day apostles do – they teach the same teachings of Christ.

After they ministered, they prayed for the Holy Ghost. After that, they all were baptized as Jesus had commanded them. After all the apostles were baptized, fire came down from heaven and angels ministered to them. Shortly after, Jesus himself came down and was with them. The rest of the chapter is about how Jesus and the multitude prayed. Mostly it was about how Jesus prayed for them.

They Prayed to Christ

A few key things to note – in 3 Nephi 19:22, we learn from Jesus that the people prayed to him rather than God because Christ was in their presence. As was noted earlier in the chapter, the people were praying to God as is normally the case. But we learn from this chapter that it is appropriate to pray to Christ when he is physically present.

Desire

In Christ's presence, the people prayed. As 3 Nephi 19:24 notes, "they did not multiply many words, for it was given unto them what they should pray, and they were filled with desire."

The Nephites knew what to pray for because they desired what God desired. So it is with us … we must train our desires so that they are aligned with God's desire. In other words, we must seek and do God's will.

Neal A. Maxwell gave a wonderful talk on desires (Neal A. Maxwell, “‘According to the Desire of [Our] Hearts’,” Ensign, Nov 1996, 21). There are a couple of quotes from this talk that I found insightful.

"The absence of any keen desire—merely being lukewarm—causes a terrible flattening (see Rev. 3:15). William R. May explained such sloth: 'The soul in this state is beyond mere sadness and melancholy. It has removed itself from the rise and fall of feelings; the very root of its feelings in desire is dead. … To be a man is to desire. The good man desires God and other things in God. The sinful man desires things in the place of God, but he is still recognizably human, inasmuch as he has known desire. The slothful man, however, is a dead man, an arid waste. … His desire itself has dried up' (“A Catalogue of Sins,” as quoted in Christian Century, 24 Apr. 1996, 457)."

So firstly, we must have desire … we must at least be active and we must at least be striving. If we are not, then we are apathetic and as the quote states, we are an 'arid waste.' If we are at least moving, then God can do something with us. Saul was active in his persecution of the saints. God was able to use Saul's desires and redirect them for good.

We too must channel our desires towards God's will. If we but have a desire to change - to repent, God will take that desire and help it to grow. The challenge for us, therefore, is to decide to desire righteousness.

The second quote from Neal A. Maxwell says, "It is up to us. Therein lies life’s greatest and most persistent challenge. Thus when people are described as “having lost their desire for sin,” it is they, and they only, who deliberately decided to lose those wrong desires by being willing to “give away all [their] sins” in order to know God (Alma 22:18)."

One With Christ and God

Another thing that is interesting to me, is that Jesus prayed to the father that the people might be one with him (Jesus) as he is one with God. To me, this presents a concrete image of the “chain of command” if you will. If we are to become like God, as he has intended us to be, then we must follow Christ and his example. For Christ knew God and did nothing but the will of the Father. In a very literal sense, his purpose was one and the same with God. And so our lesson from this chapter is that our purpose should be one and the same of Christ’s purpose. How do we accomplish this? We live the teachings of Christ. We do his will. We keep his commandments. As we do his will, in essence we are doing the will of the Father.

The entire chapter is a great example of how a people, in just a few days, came to a oneness with Christ. Christ came into their midst and taught them his teachings. The people loved him and desired to be more like him. After he left, they prayed for the Holy Ghost to guide them and to teach them the will of Christ. When he returned, he continued to teach them through words and example. He showed them how to pray to God and to obtain a knowledge of the will of God. By the end of the chapter, the people had become (perfectly?) one with Christ that they understood what Christ was praying for, yet they could not utter it with words. They understood with their hearts.

Helaman 6

The Nephite Cycle

The "Nephite Cycle" continues in this chapter. After repenting and then prospering for many years, the Nephites again began to be wicked. Verse 17 notes that the Lord had blessed them so long with riches that they were not stirred up to anger and they began to be prideful. In other words, they didn't have time to fight wars nor did they want to fight wars. Everyone was obsessed about lifting themselves above others. (Helaman 6:17)

How Secret Combinations are Introduced

Verse 26 has an interesting lesson. The secret combinations were not thought up by a man; rather those ideas were placed in man's heart by Satan. I remember reading in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith something about how the saint or anyone for that matter does not understand spirits. Joseph Smith said, “there always did, in every age, seem to be a lack of intelligence pertaining to this subject” (page 203). This is related to this verse, because it is through a spirit that we are influenced. I believe that all ideas are inspired. Now those inspirations may come from God or they may come from Satan. The idea of secret combinations was not new. It was placed in man's heart long before it was introduced among the Nephites. Satan simply re-introduced the idea into Gadianton's heart.

Verse 32 – "… space of not many years…" The Nephite cycle was growing ever so shorter with each passing cycle.

Hardened vs. Willing Heart

This morning, I read a blog post by my cousin's wife about her thoughts on Helaman 6:36. She had some really good insight into this verse. So I read Helaman 6:36 as well as the preceding two verses.

Mormon contrasts the hardened Nephites with the willing Lamanites. Helaman 6:34-36 says, "And thus we see that the Nephites did begin to dwindle in unbelief, and grow in wickedness and abominations, while the Lamanites began to grow exceedingly in the knowledge of their God; yea, they did begin to keep his statutes and commandments, and to walk in truth and uprightness before him.

"And thus we see that the Spirit of the Lord began to withdraw from the Nephites, because of the wickedness and the hardness of their hearts.

"And thus we see that the Lord began to pour out his Spirit upon the Lamanites, because of their easiness and willingness to believe in his words."

She cross-referenced the word "willingness" to Exodus 25:2 and 2 Corinthians 8:12. Then she noted that "willingly" in Exodus 25:2 is cross-referenced to the Topical Guide entry of Initiative. She comments, "Do I take the initiative to ask and find out what the Lord wants, rather then wait till the last minute and decide to follow him when things get difficult, or complain and make excuses? I have experienced both scenarios and I can say that I have felt the blessings of taking the initiative and being willing. Not only do I experience great blessings but my faith is strengthened."

Regarding taking the initiative in keeping the commandment and following the will of God, there are two people who are great examples of keeping this counsel … President Henry B. Eyring and our current stake president Gary Riding.

When President Eyring was called to the Apostleship, there was an article in the September 1995 Ensign that talked about his life. There are two sentences I remember from this article. In talking about his father Matthew Eyring said, "My father has told us that there are two things that he prays for every night. The first is, ‘What blessings do I have that I am not aware of?’ and the second is, ‘Whom can I help?’ And,” Matthew adds, “Dad says there has never been a day that his prayers haven’t been answered.” (Gerald N. Lund, “Elder Henry B. Eyring: Molded by ‘Defining Influences’,” Ensign, Sep 1995, 10)

I am such a laid back person that I’m afraid I feel pretty content with what I have been blessed with. But after rereading part of that quote and also what my cousin's wife said, I wonder how many blessings the Lord has for my family and me that I have not asked for. In her post she says, "I think sometimes it is easy to say, "I don't want any more or I have all that I need." I have met many people who have said this. When we have a willing mind, then I believe our minds are enlightened and the power of the Spirit is able to expand our learning and knowledge."

The other person who I think takes the initiative is our stake president Gary Riding. I have heard him speak on more than one occasion of how he prays for guidance from the Lord. Like President Eyring, he specifically asks the Lord what he needs to do that day … who he can serve. Then he would proceed to give examples of how his prayers have been answered.

One example of his that I remember is when was jogging through the park and came across a man who seemed to be in mental anguish. President Riding felt inspired to stop and talk to the man. I don't remember all the details, but I think the man was having some marital and other problems in his life. A missionary moment ensued and the man was later baptized. After President Riding finished his talk, the man stood up after President Riding and testified how his life was changed because of President Riding's prayers and his willingness to listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

So I guess the personal application here is that I need to be more earnest in my prayers, have a willing heart … be willing to accept the Lord's will and then do it, and then be diligent in seeking the Lord's will through daily and constant prayer. Then I need to recognize and heed the promptings of the Holy Ghost through the course of the day. And in order to recognize those promptings, I need to listen. In the July 2008 Ensign in another article about President Eyring, he teaches, "The key to hearing those answers and knowing that God has an interest in our lives, he says, is to develop a listening ear. “We’ve got to be quiet and listen. In my life, when I have failed to receive a clear feeling or have missed the voice of the Spirit, it is because I was too busy, too noisy inside, and too full of my own world.” (Robert D. Hales, “President Henry B. Eyring: Called of God,” Ensign, Jul 2008, 8–15)

Destroying Secret Combinations

How do you destroy secret combinations? The Lamanites had one solution. In verse 37, they hunted the band of robbers and then preached to them the word of God. The verse relates that after teaching them the word of God, the "band of robbers was utterly destroyed from among the Lamanites." This is astounding! Instead of rooting them out and killing them, the Lamanites decided to change the GR's ideologies or beliefs. Once they have different morals, they will no longer want to kill, steal, plunder and so forth. This reminds me of a verse back in Alma 31. Alma 31:5 reads, "the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just … had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword or anything else."

While the Lamanites were "destroying" the GRs with the word of God, the Nephites were uniting with the GRs. The GRs were so powerful that they eventually gained "sole management" of the Nephite government. (Helaman 6:39)

2 Nephi 32 & 33

The Tongue of Angels

What does speaking with the tongue of angels mean? In 2 Nephi 32:3, Nephi explains that angels speak the words of Christ. And angels speak the words of Christ by the power of the Holy Ghost and they know the words of Christ by feasting on his words. Just as Jesus said that we must do the things we have seen him do, so we ought to read his teachings and they too will tell us of the things which we must speak and do.

Prayer

Besides feasting on the words of Christ, we are commanded to pray. In this manner also we speak with a tongue of angels. Nephi reminds us that we must not do anything save we start with a prayer that our performance will be consecrated unto the Lord. No matter how we feel, we need to pray.

I will never forget the words of Brigham Young when he said, “It matters not whether you or I feel like praying, when the time comes to pray, pray. If we do not feel like it, we should pray till we do.” He goes on, “My doctrine is, it is your duty to pray; and when the time for prayer comes, John should say, ‘This is the place and this is the time to pray; knees bend down upon the floor, and do so at once.’ But John said, ‘I do not want to pray; I do not feel like it.’ Knees get down, I say; and down bend the knees, and he begins to think and reflect. Can you say anything? Can you not say, God have mercy on me a sinner? Yes, he can do this, if he can rise up and curse neighbor for some ill deeds. Now, John, open your mouth and say, Lord, have mercy on me. ‘But I do not feel the spirit of prayer.’ That does not excuse you, for you know what your duty is” (“Chapter 6: The Communication between God and Man,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young, 41).

Nephi taught us that we need to pray at all times and not faint. I think this means that we must not become weary or tired of praying. Repetition in our prayers begins to creep in when we do not stop and think and ponder the blessings the Lord has given us. If we do not stop and think of our true needs and desires, then we will fall into repetitious petitioning. The only way we will not faint from praying is by taking the time to pray sincerely every day. And just as Brigham Young instructed, if we don't feel like praying, then we should remain on our knees until we feel the need to pray.

Believe in Christ

In chapter 33, Nephi concludes with his simple counsel to “believe in Christ.”

I think that verses 10 and 11 serve as the other book end to Moroni's promise. Nephi tells us to believe his words. But if we don't believe his words, then we should believe in Christ. And then comes Nephi's challenge. "And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye - for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day."

I am thankful for Nephi and his great life and teachings. His life was spent entirely in the service of God. He did so much to help his family cross the seas and to establish a nation of God on this continent. I still remember reading Nephi’s teachings while I was a missionary in the MTC. I learned then, as I still understand now, that Nephi was a man of great character, courage, and charity. I hope that my children will value Nephi’s teachings very much and try their hardest to live his teachings. Nephi truly spoke with a tongue of an angel – his words were the words of Christ. Never forget his example.

2 Nephi 18

Waters of Shiloah

The metaphor used here (v. 6-8) contrasts the peaceful waters of Shiloah (Christ) to that of the destructive Euphrates (Assyrians). Instead of choosing Christ and having peace, Israel will be destroyed for choosing evil.

“Isaiah describes and then contrasts two forms of waters—the soft, rolling waters of Shiloah, located near the temple mount of Jerusalem, and the waters of the Euphrates, a great river that often floods out of control. The waters of Shiloah are controlled and inviting, whereas the Euphrates is dangerous and destructive. The waters of Shiloah bring life to those who drink them; the Euphrates brings death to those who are swept up in its flood. Isaiah's images of the two waters are symbolic: the former represents Jesus, the King of Heaven, who is likened to the waters of life; the latter is the king of Assyria, who leads his great, destructive armies and ‘cover the earth [like a flood . . . and] destroy the inhabitants thereof’ (Jer. 46:8). Inasmuch as the inhabitants of Judah had rejected Jesus, or the waters of Shiloah, the Lord set
upon them the king of Assyria, or the strong and mighty waters of the river that would overflow their banks and cover the entire land with its destruction.” (Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1998], 83 as taken from Commentaries on Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, ed. by K. Douglas Bassett, [American Fork, UT: Covenant Publishing Co., 2003], 137)

The message we are to receive from these verses is that if we choose Christ, we will be protected and blessed. We will be happy and content with the manageable and predictable waters of Shiloah. But if we choose to go down forbidden paths, then our agency is taken away and we cannot control the destructive forces that rage in our lives.

Neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid

The Lord promised Israel that he would fight their battles for them (as demonstrated in Joshua 10:10-11, 25) and that they should not form alliances with other countries … they should form an everlasting alliance with God. But they grew wicked and formed alliances with neighboring countries and were cursed.

In verse 9, the Lord warns them that if they associate themselves with these countries, they will be “broken in pieces.” He also tells Israel in verse 12, “neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.” What I find interesting about this statement is that the Lord doesn’t say, “fear not,” he says fear not their fear. Sometimes I get caught up in the worries of the world. I worry about finances; I worry about work; I worry about other things. In other words, I worry about things that a person who is not spiritually inclined worries about. Instead, what I ought to worry about is if I am doing what is right; am I keeping the commandments. If I obey the Lord, then all these other worries will take care of themselves (or the Lord will help me take care of them … he will fight my battles). I need not form an alliance with worldly ideas. The only alliance I need to make is with the Lord.

The reason this is significant to me is because as I lay in my bed this morning, I began to think of all the things I needed to do. I have some real concerns with regards to buying our new home and how will be able to meet the new financial demands. We’ve felt that buying this new home is the right thing to do. My wife has not really had any concerns, while I, on the other hand, have been worried about it. I also was thinking about my job at work and some concerns in that area. While I was worrying about these things, I was about to begin a prayer in my mind asking Heavenly Father for help with all these worries. Then these words came to my mind, “count your blessings.” I stopped and began to count my blessings. Then I knew that everything would be fine. After all that, I got up and began to read the scriptures and this chapter when I came across these verses (v. 9-13). It was so clear now … I simply need to trust in the Lord. That calm reassurance that the Lord had given me before (D&C 6:22-24) came to me again. I need not fear their fear (or the world’s fear). I simply need to trust in the Lord.

A Stone of Stumbling

I had never really thought of what a stumbling block or stone is before. This morning, after reading from gospeldoctrine.com, I had a much better understanding. This is what I read:

A man who stumbles on a rock falls on his face. He may get up again, curse, and kick the offending stone, but in doing so he only further bruises himself. The rock is never injured; the man has neither the power nor the strength to destroy the rock. His misfortune has come by looking beyond the mark, whereby he misses the rock completely, stumbles clumsily, and falls spiritually. For the Israelites, the path of righteousness was obstructed by just such a ‘stone of stumbling’ and ‘rock of offense.’

The Lord of Hosts became a stumbling block for the Jews both in the days of Isaiah and in the days of his mortal ministry. They were offended with by the wisdom, power, and authority of Jesus of Nazareth. This stumbling came because they did not understand the reason the Law of Moses was given. As Paul explained ‘Because they (the Jews) sought it (the law of righteousness) not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed’ (Rom 9:32-3).

‘But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may
stumble.’ (Jacob 4:14)

Neal A. Maxwell

“A stumbling block is defined as involving ‘something repugnant to one's prejudices’ (The Oxford English Dictionary)…A stumbling block of the Jews of Jesus' day, for instance, was their expectations about what the Messiah would do, such as emancipating them politically. To them, Jesus was not an emancipator, and his death was an unfulfilling stumbling block. This irony had been prophesied. The Greeks, on the other hand, regarded the whole idea of a resurrecting messiah as foolishness. (See Isaiah 8:14; 1 Corinthians 1:23; 1 Peter 2:8; 2 Nephi 18:14.)” (A Wonderful Flood of Light [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1990], 71.)

I will wait upon the Lord

Going back to the commentary on forming an alliance with the Lord, we learn that when we form that alliance, we must “wait upon the Lord” and the Lord will protect us. Elder Hales referred to this verse in his October 1998 General Conference talk when he said, “The Lord is the ultimate caregiver. We must surrender ourselves to the Lord. In doing so, we give up whatever is causing our pain and turn everything over to Him…When pain, tests, and trials come in life, draw near to the Savior. ‘Wait upon the Lord,…look for him’ (Isa. 8:17; 2 Ne. 18:17). ‘They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint’ (Isa. 40:31). Healing comes in the Lord’s time and the Lord’s way; be patient.

“Our Savior waits for us to come to Him through our scripture study, pondering, and prayer to our Heavenly Father….As we are strengthened and healed, we can then lift and strengthen others with our faith.” (Ensign, November, 1998).

Seek unto their God

The last part of this chapter warns Israel against seeking after “wizards that peep and mutter” (v. 19). Just as we should not seek alliances with the world to solve our troubles, neither should we seek spiritual counsel from other sources other than the Lord.

2 Nephi 9

In this chapter, there are many verses which if not meditated and passed over lightly, one will miss a tremendous amount of knowledge, not to mention the feelings one will receive from the Spirit. Many of these verses seem to contain common knowledge, but as you read them over and over again and ponder them, you will begin to see the deeper meaning. I still don’t clearly understand all of what the verses say. I pray that as I read them over again, I will understand a little more.

Hope

In verse 3, Jacob explains to the people that he is telling them these things that they may rejoice and lift up their heads. Once we realize what our fate is if Christ had not fulfilled his mission, we become very grateful for what he has done. The Nephites were grateful for the mission of Christ. They realized their position better than we do because Christ had not yet come and they had to believe that he would come. As for us, we know that he came and it now becomes our duty to find out for ourselves that what Christ taught really is true. We must gain a testimony for ourselves that the resurrection will come and that if we repent we can be forgiven of our sins and return to God’s presence. Not all is lost! We have much to hope for and look forward to.

Christ's Sacrifice

In verse 5, Jacob explains the ultimate sacrifice of Christ. Christ subjected himself to men in order that men may be subject unto him. Christ showed his charity to all men by sacrificing himself for our salvation. He provides for us an escape from the everlasting chains of hell. We no longer have to be subject to the devil and his misery. We can choose to obey Christ and live.

Our Eternity Equals the Sum of Our Actions

We will not achieve righteousness in one day, nor will we become all evil and miserable in one day. Our daily actions are the sum of our individual. Sow your thoughts, reap your actions, sow your actions, reap your habits, sow your habits, reap your character, sow your character reap your eternity. Just as verse 16 states, those who are righteous will still be righteous and those who are wicked will still be wicked for the eternities. I heard a saying that has reference to this concept. I believe I heard it from watching the movie Gladiator. It says, “What we do in this life will echo in the eternities.” It is true with all of us. What we choose to think and consequently do will eventually be the outcome of our eternity.

God is Consistent

As I have written before, one of the characteristics of God is that he does what he says he will do. This is one of the attributes I am trying to develop. Call it responsibility, honesty, discipline or whatever; doing what you say you will do is powerful. Jacob recognizes the significance of doing what you say you will do. In verse 17 he says, “O the greatness and the justice of our God! For he executeth all his words, and they have gone forth out of his mouth, and his law must be fulfilled.”

Carnally Minded vs. Spiritually Minded

Verse 39: What does it mean to be carnally minded? What does it mean to be spiritually minded? To be carnally minded is to think like the world does. At work, some people are constantly cracking jokes that are crude. Sometimes I don’t understand them and I hope that the reason I don’t understand them is because I am not thinking like they do. To be carnally minded is to have your mind in the gutter. The only way to counter act this is to be spiritually minded or in other words to constantly think of spiritual things. This is not as hard as it sounds. If you delight in the scriptures like Nephi did, then your mind will naturally be thinking of the Lord’s words. You will derive great joy from being spiritually minded and you will not fear. As you think of the scriptures and the teachings of the prophets during the day, you will become more confident in doing what is right and you will be truly happy. “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven” (D&C 121:45). This is a prime example of trying to be spiritually minded. I have memorized most of section 121. As I was writing this, I remembered that part of section 121. When we have the scriptures and teachings of the prophets written on our hearts, we will remember them and we will be spiritually minded.

Spending Time and Money

Jacob’s counsel in verse 51 is timeless. He admonishes, “do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy.” What is of true worth? Everything we buy and acquire on this earth will not come with us to the eternities. Our home, our books, our possessions – we cannot truly keep with us. The only thing that we can keep with us is our character, our testimony, our knowledge, our family relationships. Yet, why do we spend our money and time on things which we cannot keep? We need to spend our time and money on developing our character, our testimony and family and also on building up the kingdom of God on the Earth. Consequently, we need to labor on building up the kingdom of God and our family. I work to provide for my family. When I am not at work, I spend my time studying the scriptures, playing with my kids and talking with my wife. These are the things which are most important.

Remember to Pray

Lastly, Jacob counsels us to pray continually and to thank God for all that we have.

1 Nephi 2

In verses 9 and 10, Lehi names a river after Laman and a valley after Lemuel. As he gives the river and valley names he teaches Laman and Lemuel a lesson about consistency. He hopes that Laman’s acts will always be pure and “[run] into the fountain of all righteousness.” I personally like Lamuel’s lesson better. Lehi hopes that Lemuel will always be firm, steadfast and immovable (just like a valley) in keeping the commandments of the Lord. Laman and Lemuel did not live up to the characteristics of the river and valley that were named after them. But the lessons that Lehi was trying to teach his sons still remain valid. Every time we look at a river or a valley, we can think of the lessons Lehi was trying to teach his sons, but we will be different. We will learn from his lessons. As we sit and observe a river or a valley, we can contemplate their unchanging characteristics and then instill them in our lives.


Jill has a picture of a valley that she took while serving a mission in El Salvador (the picture I posted here is just a valley ... not the one Jill captured on file). At the bottom of the picture, she placed the caption of the words Lehi spoke to Lemuel over 2500 years ago. I hope our children will apply the words of Lehi as their mother did during her mission.

We can look to Nephi’s life for an example of application of the lessons of Lehi to his sons. Nephi had great desires to learn the mysteries of God. We too ought to have great desires to learn not only the mysteries of God, but also (and firstly) the word of God, namely the scriptures and teachings of the modern-day prophets. We should fuel that desire to learn what the Lord’s counsels are to us. His counsels are revealed to us through the scriptures and our prophets.

Nephi’s example also shows us that he diligently prayed. We too have been commanded to pray often. We should strive to pray every morning and evening on our knees. We need to pray in our families. We need to offer silent prayers in our hearts when we need the Lord’s assistance. We need to establish that link of communication between us and our Heavenly Father and once it has been established, we need to keep that link open by using it often.

One final commentary on this chapter – the Lord tells Nephi that he will be a teacher and a ruler over his brothers if he keeps the commandments. He also tells Nephi that his brothers will be cut off from the Lord’s presence if they are not faithful. This is yet another piece of evidence that the Lord’s prophecies are fulfilled.

1 Nephi 1

This first chapter sets a precedent for the rest of First Nephi as well as the Book of Mormon. After Nephi’s introductions, he immediately explains how his father, Lehi, received revelation.

In verse 5 we read that Lehi prayed to the Lord with all his heart. It was no half-effort. Lehi sought to know God’s will and therefore prayed with real intent … much like young Joseph did in the Sacred Grove. And, just as Joseph, Lehi received an answer to his prayers via a pillar of light. Nephi describes it as a pillar of fire, wherein he “saw and heard much” which caused him to “quake and tremble exceedingly.” Both young Joseph and Lehi resolved to do something after receiving their marvelous revelations.

A second method of receiving revelation is revealed when we read how Lehi is overcome with the Spirit as he casts himself on his bed. A vision is opened up to him and he sees God, Jesus Christ and the Twelve Disciples of Christ. The first of the Twelve (perhaps Peter) gives Lehi a book to read. This becomes the third method of receiving revelation. Lehi reads the book and is filled with the Spirit of the Lord. He sees the destruction of Jerusalem and as such, he is obligated to warn the people of the impending dangers of not repenting of sins.

How can we apply these teachings to our lives?

The modern prophets have counseled us many times regarding these teachings.

First, we must pray always. Our prayers must be meaningful and sincere. They should not be so light as to bounce off the ceiling and right back into the floor. We should truly commune with God so that we know his will concerning us.

Second, we must search and study the scriptures to gain knowledge. Mere reading of the scriptures is not wholly enough. We ought to search and ponder what the scriptures mean and think about how we can apply them to our own lives.

And lastly, we must meditate on the things we learn. We may not always receive visions as Lehi did, but in those quiet moments, we will feel the stirrings of the Holy Ghost within our hearts and we will know what we must resolve to do in order to do the Lord’s will.

If we do these things, we will not only be protected against Satan and his temptations, but we will be blessed with guidance from above and we will rejoice when we follow coucil given by the Spirit.