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.

Helaman 11

July 31, 2007 - Original Post

Famine and Fasting

Nephi pleads with the Lord that the people don’t die by the sword rather that they die by hunger. In essence, Nephi is forcing the people to collectively fast. Whenever I truly fast, I am greatly humbled. I have found that I am more passive and willing to submit myself to the will of God when I fast. Not only am I more submissive, but I grow closer to the Spirit. My mind is quieter.

As we fast and grow closer to the Savior, we must strive to always remember His sacrifice. After spiritual experiences, we must be wary of temptations. We must avoid what the Nephites did time and time again. They humbled themselves and then studied the scriptures, only to fall away again. Why did they fall away? They fell because they did not follow the counsels of the prophets.

Contentions Concerning Doctrine

In Helaman 11:22, it says they contended over some points of the doctrine which had been laid down by the prophets.

What does this mean? It means that at some point in time before, the prophets clarified some points of the doctrine. Even today we will hear prophets counsel us again and again about points of the doctrine. Many times they are explicit about what we are to understand. They explain to us how we are to interpret the doctrine. They are the living oracles who see further and clearer than we.

The prophets then, as the prophet today, can settle contentions because they receive revelation. During this time in the Nephite history, the prophets were "having many revelations daily." (Helaman 11:23)

How different the Book of Mormon would have been if the Nephites would have followed the prophets!

Regarding contention, Elder Dallin H. Oaks said this, "It is noteworthy that the Savior did not limit his teaching about disputations and contention to those who had wrong ideas about doctrine or procedure. He forbade disputations and contention by everyone. The commandment to avoid contention applies to those who are right as well as to those who are wrong.” (Book of Mormon Symposium Series, 4 Nephi – Moroni, p. 177)

The Nephite Cycle in a Chapter

One time while reading this chapter, I noted what went on in the Nephite history in one decade. Chapter 11 is a perfect example of the Nephite cycle in one decade. The chapter begins in the Nephite year 72.

In year 73, Nephi asks the Lord to bring a famine to the land. Note that it only took one verse for Nephi to ask this of the Lord. Then for the next two years the Nephites suffer. Finally in year 75 the people ask Nephi to ask the Lord to stop the famine. This time, it takes Nephi seven verses to ask the Lord to stop the famine. In year 76, the famine ends.

For four years, the Nephites prosper and have peace. Then in year 80 the dissentions begin again and the GR are reborn. Basically, the GRs are terrorists as verse 32 points out. The Nephites and Lamanites send their armies to destroy the GRs twice, but fail both times. The chapter ends in year 85 with the people “ripening again for destruction.”
So in the space of 13 years (from year 72 to year 85) we see in this one chapter the Nephites go from being wicked, to being humbled, to having prosperity and peace, to dissentions, to war and finally to wickedness again. It took the Nephites thirteen years for one complete cycle.

September 13, 2012 - Addition

A curious thought crossed my mind this morning while reading Helaman 11:10.

The person speaking is Nephi - a prophet of God.  A few years earlier, he was granted the sealing power of the priesthood - whatever he sealed on earth would be sealed in heaven.  He then used that power, after seeing the desctruction of the war, to plead with God to not let the people be destroyed by war, but by famine.  The famine came; the people repented.

In Helaman 10:10, Nephi begins his plea to God to save them from the famine.  He tells God that the band of Gadianton has been swept away and has become extinct.  This is crucial - there are no Gadianton robbers anymore - they have been wiped out ... as verse 10 states, "they have become extinct."  Now comes the curious statement: "they have concealed their secret plans in the earth."  Nephi knows they (the people who wiped out the Gadianton robbers) concealed the robbers' plans.  But my question is: why did the people or Nephi allow the secret plans to be buried?  Why not destroy the plans too?

As we find out in Helman 11:26, the band of robbers is resurrected and then goes on to "search out all the secret plans of Gadianton."

2 Nephi 23

I suggest the reader go to the gospeldoctrine.com entry for 2 Nephi 23 and read all that the author has written there. You will find it very useful and helpful. Then comeback and read the rest of this entry.

I was a furniture delivery boy in a small town. The owner of the store sold his furniture out of this old, old building downtown. All of the furniture was on the street level floor of the store. The building had a 2nd level too. The only way you could access it was via a staircase from the back of the building. The owner usually kept it locked and we hardly ever went up there. One time my delivery partner and I needed to go up there for some reason that I can't recall right now. It was a fall afternoon and as we climbed up the stairs, we could see the sunlight streaming into the windows. When we reached the top, it was as if we had stepped back 80 years in time. We saw old, dusty desks and shelves with mail and papers scattered all over the place. Some of the letters were unopened and undelivered. In my mind's eye I could see people hustling and bustling around the office. But on that present day, all was quite. There was a depressing, sorrowful feeling about the room.

A few years later, I found myself in the jungles of Guatemala at the popular tourist attraction El Tikal. I was in awe as I walked among the ruins of the ancient Mayan civilization. As I contemplated what could have become of the people who used to live there hundreds of years ago, I got the same sorrowful feeling as I had back in that old office. How could something so robust and glorious be found in such a dilapidated condition? How could it have "fallen"? I think of Mormon's plea when he rhetorically said, "how is it that ye could have fallen?" (Mormon 6:19). Of course we know the answer to Mormon's question … they fell because of sin. They did not keep the commandments and the Lord destroyed them.

The same will happen in the last days. The people will become increasingly wicked and the fall of the World will be similar to the fall of Babylon. Babylon was powerful and glorious too. But because of wickedness, it was destroyed. Because of wickedness, the people of this world who do not repent will be destroyed too.

1 Nephi 13

What Chapter 13 is About

In essence, this chapter discusses the reasons for why we need the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is God’s answer to Satan’s great and abominable church (GAAC). The goal of the GAAC is to slay the saints of God, torture them, bind them down, yoke them and bring them into captivity (v. 5). How does the GAAC do that? Obviously this slaying and torture is spiritual … Satan seeks to kill our very souls. The only way our souls can be killed is if we give into the temptations of the Devil and in turn end up living a life full of sin and never repenting. And the way the Devil gets us to sin is to teach us false doctrines. False doctrines are as numerous and various as the paths that are not “straight and narrow.” Some doctrines can be completely false while other doctrines can contain an element of truth yet be mixed with false principals. The only way to defend against false doctrines is to teach and apply true and pure doctrines.

Originally the true doctrines of the Gospel were found in the unaltered version of the modern-day Bible. It was written by the Jews (probably not in the strict sense, rather in a broad context). From the Jews, this book went to the Gentiles. After it went to the Gentiles, the GAAC was formed and the book fell into that church’s possession. While in the GAAC’s possession, “many plain and precious things [were] taken away from the book” (v. 28). From the GAAC the book went “forth unto all nations of the Gentiles” (v. 29) including America.

And here is where the problem begins … “because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, an exceedingly great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them” (v. 29). Because correct principals are missing from the Bible, many people develop an un-pure understanding of the true gospel of Christ. And therefore, they err and stumble in sin.

In response to Satan’s subtle plan, God instructed Lehi and his posterity to keep records. Since Lehi’s posterity keeps this commandment, the Lord is able to restore much of the plan and precious parts of his Gospel to the earth. In verse 35 he says, “I will manifest myself unto thy seed, that they shall write many things which I shall minister unto them … these things shall be hid up, to come forth unto the Gentiles, by the gift and power of the Lamb.”

As we know, the records of Lehi’s posterity are contained in the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith, by the power of God, translated these records and now the world has another testament of Jesus Christ. Many will not believe any of the Bible. Therefore the purpose of the Book of Mormon is twofold … to prove that the Bible is indeed true (or that what it is trying to teach is true) and to restore the many plain and precious parts of the Gospel.

Besides the Book of Mormon, “other books” came forth by the power of God (v. 39). These other books are probably the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. There are also the records of the Lost Tribes of Israel that are yet to come forth too. Doubtless these records will yet again prove that Christ’s gospel is universal and is the same among all people.

And what is the main message of the Bible, the Book of Mormon and the other books? “That the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved” (v. 40).

Misc. Verses

13:37 – “And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be.” For some reason, when I read this scripture, I felt this is our mission as latter-day Saints. All that we should do should help build up the kingdom of God.

13:41 - In this verse, Nephi talks about how the Bible and the Book of Mormon testify of Christ and his Apostles. The part that I really enjoy is where it says, “They both shall be established in one.” My inlaws and I were talking about the Church and Church policies over the years. One of the things my father-in-law talked about was how the Book of Mormon was still called the Mormon Bible or the Gold Bible when he was a missionary. Then he talked about how when President Benson prophesied that the Book of Mormon would flood the Earth. My father-in-law said that he thought the prophet was really stepping out on a limb when he said that. But now, the Book of Mormon is being widely accepted by people and other religions. The Book of Mormon is no longer being referred to as the Gold Bible or the Mormon bible, rather it is being accepted as scripture, just like the Bible. The Bible and the Book of Mormon are beginning to be accepted as one.

I recall from my mission when I was on splits up in Senahu, the missionaries stayed with this family who was Nazarene. The family was so used to being around Mormons that they believed in the Book of Mormon. In fact, the father who was a pastor for the same, often used the Book of Mormon in his sermons and would frequently ask the missionaries for help when he read out of the Book of Mormon.

1 Nephi 11

Belief

In this chapter, Nephi discusses faith and belief, something Laman and Lemuel did not have! In verse 4, the Spirit asked Nephi if he believed the things his father saw. Nephi’s response was that he did in fact believe all of his father’s teachings. Contrast this with Laman and Lemuel’s beliefs. In chapter 15 verse 9 they told Nephi that the Lord does not reveal things to them or in other words, they did not believe that the Lord could reveal things unto them. They simply did not believe that it could be done. Nephi, however, believed.

Belief is not only central to understanding the Gospel and the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is also vital when striving to obtain other desires. As I am typing up my commentary that I wrote as a missionary, I see that many of the things that I desired as a missionary have been fulfilled. I can testify that belief is central to obtaining any blessing that one hopes to receive.

This is what I wrote as a missionary a number of years ago: “Now a little personal commentary. I feel I need to build my faith up as far as baptizing and finding people. I believe that Elder Edwards and I will baptize. Some things are going. We found a lady (Mirium Garcia) the other day and we hope to baptize her in January. But mostly my faith right now is hoping and praying that some inactive members we are working with will come back and be active.

“Last night I talked to my brother Richard on the phone about my housing and schooling. Getting an education and job and doing well puts a lot of stress on me. But I have a lot of faith that I can reach my goals. I believe in myself that I will reach my goals.

“I also have faith that my brother Gary will come back and be with us as a family again. I also believe in my friend Crissy that she will continue to go strong and be faithful in the Church the rest of her life.

Today, as I read this commentary that I wrote as a missionary, I can testify that most of those things have been fulfilled. I graduated from college and got a job with with a large company. Elder Edwards and I did not baptize while together, but one of the people we found, Claudia Leal Garcia, was baptized after I left Coban. The first Christmas I was home from my mission, Gary miraculously and unexpectedly came back into the family. Crissy, the last I heard of her, fulfilled an honorable mission to Germany. I believed that all of those things would happen, and most of them have happened.

Belief is a very strong force.

General Notes Regarding This Chapter

In Lehi’s dream, we read about all the symbolism. Nephi, who sees the same dream as his father, fills in some details. He gives us the meaning of the symbols and he goes into greater detail about the mortal life of Christ.

Nephi sees Mary. He sees Christ’s birth. He sees Christ’s ministry. He sees John the Baptist baptize Jesus. He sees the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove. He sees the Twelve Apostles of Christ. He sees angels minister to men. He sees Christ heal many people. He sees the crucifixion. Lastly he sees the world gather together to fight against the apostles of the Lamb as well as the destruction of the world and its pride.

What does each symbol represent?
The Tree of Life = the love of God
The Fountain of Living Waters = the love of God
The Iron Rod = the word of God
The Large and Spacious Building = the world and the wisdom and pride thereof

Verse 35 caused me a little confusion. It says, “behold the house of Israel hath gathered together to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” When I read that, I was puzzled. Isn’t the house of Israel supposed to defend and help the apostles of the Lamb? I found the following quote that helps explain the verse:

“The world is still fighting the apostles of the Lamb because they represent the truth and the world rejects the truth. Even those of the house of Israel at times will gather to fight against the twelve: ‘And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again saying: Behold the world and the wisdom thereof; yea, behold the house of Israel hath gathered together to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb’ (v 35). This verse describes the apostasy following Christ's ministry in Jerusalem. The Apostasy was caused by the pride and wisdom of the world, but it will not stand forever: ‘And it came to pass that I saw and bear record, that the great and spacious building was the pride of the world; and it fell, and the fall thereof was exceedingly great. And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again, saying: Thus shall be the destruction of all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, that shall fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb’ (v 36). The world still fights the Twelve Apostles and their teaching with its own wisdom, but it will eventually fall, and the pride that motivates the fight will be the cause of that fall.” (Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr., eds., Fourth Nephi through Moroni: From Zion to Destruction [Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1995], 210.]

So this verse really foreshadows the Apostasy.