1 Nephi 6: Writing of Scriptures

A short chapter calls for a short entry. I'll be headed to church very soon. We talked about record keeping and scripture in the last entry, but here, once again, Nephi is talking about writing scripture.

When we keep records of our own lives, are we careful to write the things that are pleasing unto God? (v. 5) Do we have him in our thoughts when we write so that perhaps our words might be of worth unto the children of men? (v. 6) Perhaps we should consider that more often.

1 Nephi 5: Tying the Past to the Future

So what's so great about the brass plates anyway?

I find it amusing that Nephi and his brothers haven't actually looked at the plates before they get home, or they haven't looked at them in depth. I suppose it's true what Ezekiel says, "Much study is a weariness of the flesh" (Eccl 12:12).

Lehi, on the other hand, seems to immediately study the plates form cover to cover. And what does he find that is so exciting? Scripture . . . or, at least a record of the history of the Jews. But isn't that what scripture is, or, rather, isn't that what the Bible is, mostly a history of the Jews? There isn't all that much prophesying going on. And, he finds his genealogy.

So, why is genealogy so important? Well, for one, the fact that Lehi's family descends from Joseph is a fulfillment of prophecy. Ezekiel 37:16-19:

Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become aone in thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

We believe that the stick of Judah is the Bible (a book that comes from the descendants of Judah), and the stick of Joseph (a book that comes from the descendants of Joseph), is the Book of Mormon.

Second, genealogy is important because we are inseparably connected to the past and our ancestors. The things that they have done affect our lives. Where we are going is quite literally a function of where we have come from. We believe in baptism for the dead, and once again ancestry becomes important because our ancestors cannot be saved without us, neither can we be saved without them, or, at least, without giving them a chance to be saved.

But this discussion has brought up another good point; why is our scripture mostly a history? Is all history scripture? No, but then again the fact that I phrased that absolutely made it easier to deny. Is more history scripture than is canonized? Quite possibly. Why is scripture basically a history? Perhaps because it is in the past that we see the hand of God made manifest, and the influence of Satan on the world.

The saying goes: "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it" (George Santayana). If history can show us how to be better human beings, then perhaps is is indeed scripture. And how will our own record keeping affect our descendants. The records we leave will tie us to the future.

Definitely a thought to ponder.

Faith
No really good tie in for this, but it seemed a shame not to talk about faith when it came up as a topic since I won't really be talking about it again until I get to Enos, and that may be a while.

Faith is another thing that links us to the future. Lehi tells Sariah that he knows that the Lord will deliver Nephi and his brothers out of the hands of Laban. Now, how does he know that? He can't really, really know that until they return, can he?

Well, in a way he can. I suspect that he has had a witness from the Lord that the Lord will protect his sons, and when the Lord tells you something, when the Holy Ghost whispers something to you, you can know that it is true, whether or not it is in the future, whether or not science can prove it to be so, you can know it all the same.

1 Nephi 4: Guidance, Protection, Oaths

. . . And we're back!

"Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mighteir than Laban and his fifty, yea or even than his tens of thousands?"

Okay. I have always really liked that little jump across these two chapters. Laman and Lemuel say, how can the Lord possibly deliver Laban into our hands; he is so powerful, and Nephi's reply is: the Lord is more powerful.

So, lets talk about what the Lord can do for us when we are on his side. First of all, he will provide a way for us, as Nephi says. This whole chapter is about Nephi basically saying to the Lord, "I have exhausted all my creative resources. I have no idea how to continue this pursuit, but I will do what I have been commanded and go back to the city." And God does indeed guide him.

Now, there is a big difference between divine guidance and divine protection. In this case, Nephi gets both. But just because God is guiding us doesn't mean that things will always turn out this well. Not that God couldn't always protect us from harm if he chose to, but look at the martyrdom of Christ's prophets and apostles in all ages, and it becomes clear that God does not stand in the way of man's agency.

God does, however, protect us in other ways. Nephi is reminded of the importance of the commandments in this chapter. The Lord tells Nephi that as long as his posterity keep the commandments of God, they will prosper in the Promised Land. The commandments of God are a kind of divine protection.

Now, once again, this isn't necessarily a physical protection. Look at Job, fine upstanding child of God who had everything go wrong for him. So, no, the commandments aren't a perfect temporal protection from all ills. Although, I suspect in a perfect world they would be. No, the commandments of God are the perfect spiritual protection.

Let's imagine a world, for a moment, where everyone kept the commandments of God. Not just commandments like don't steal and don't kill, but commandments like love thy neighbor and love God. With all that love going around wouldn't the world be a better place. We wouldn't have to be worried about people stealing, killing, and coveting, because we would seek the best for both ourselves and our neighbors.Wouldn't everyone prosper if we kept the commandments of God?

Yes.

Life still wouldn't be perfect, but it would be so much better for everyone involved.

Switching gears. I don't know exactly how an oath works, but people in old days obviously took them seriously. I guess in some ways we take them seriously today as well. We have the oath of office for the president and the Hippocratic Oath that doctors must take, but we don't use oaths very often in day-to-day life. Why?

I suppose I could reference Jesus's statement that we should let our speech be "yea, yea" or "nay, nay," meaning that our word should be enough to bind us. But back in the day, oaths were very powerful nonetheless. Later in the Book of Mormon we will see that oaths could be either good or bad, just like anything else. Secret combinations are built on oaths.

Whether or not we should use oaths today is a moot point. However, our word ought to be our bond. When we commit to something, we should darn well commit. People should feel very at peace with our commitment, just as Nephi feels about Zoram's commitment after he gives his oath.

1 Nephi 3: Dreams, Schemes, Establishing Character Themes

This is the second time that Lehi has had a vision, or, I suppose in this case a dream. However, Lehi basically equates dreams and visions in 1 Nephi 8:2 where he says, "Behold, I have dreamed a dream; or, in other words, I have seen a vision" (Which should also tip you off that this isn't the last dream that Lehi is going to have). So what is a prophetic dream like? How do they know that it's prophetic and not just a regular dream?

Frankly, I have no idea. I don't find that God talks to me through dreams and visions.

So, what's the point of talking about dreams? Well, it shows us that God can relate with us in different ways. In the last chapter, Nephi prays to God to soften his heart, and he feels his heart being softened. He also says the Lord "visited him." Does that mean that Nephi saw God at that time? Possibly. But it could mean that
Nephi was feeling of the presence of the Holy Ghost. God has never appeared to me, but I know for a fact that he has "visited" me (or, at least, I wouldn't be loathe to describe it that way); I've felt him touch my life and change my heart, give me direction, and so on.

Also, it is interesting to note that while the dreams described by prophets in the Book of Mormon are decidedly metaphorical/allegorical, they also come with very distinct meanings and instructions attached. God commands in his dream that Lehi's sons be sent back to retrieve the plates. My dreams are usually nebulous, with no particular obvious meaning; Lehi's dreams are apparently much more clear.

This dream leads to one of the most well-known stories in Book-of-Mormon-dom. Nephi and his brothers going back to get the plates. We don't finish the story in this chapter, but it has some fun story-telling things going for it, like the fact that it takes three tries to get the plates.

This chapter is all about trying to do what the Lord says. First, Laman goes and tries to talk it out with Laban. Then they try to, basically, bribe Laban. Then Laman and Lemuel want to give up. Of course, they wanted to give up from the very beginning, so not much has changed in their attitude. Come to think of it, not much has changed in Nephi's attitude either. In fact, the brothers are starting to really polarize themselves here.

It is starting in this chapter that Laman and Lemuel will come to be characterized by one word: murmuring. They are the kings of murmuring. They even murmur after an angel of the Lord appears to them and tells them the Lord will deliver Laban into their hands. I mean, an angel of the Lord! I can see doubting what your father said, but you're really going to argue with a being of light? Anyway, that's Laman and Lemuel for you.

On the other hand you have Nephi, whose attitude can be summed up either by his most famous quote ever, vs. 7--I will go and do . . . or, my personal favorite in this chapter in vs. 15, "As the Lord liveth, and as we live, we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord commanded us." This statement is a blueprint we can follow when responding to the Lord.

"As the Lord liveth"--Because We know that the Lord lives and we know the nature of the Lord--he prepares a way for us, we trust him, we know he loves us,

"and as we live"--and because we exist and always have the agency to choose

we won't give up until we accomplish what the Lord commands.

This is the definition of commitment. If we trust the Lord, we can be this committed instead of murmuring. Murmuring cuts down on our power. When we doubt God, we have to start trusting in our own strength to get us through, and our own strength is not enough.

As a final note, this chapter ends with one of the finest dramatic breaks in the Book of Mormon. "How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold he can command fifty, yea, he can slay fifty; then why not us?"

To Be Continued . . .

1 Nephi 2: Families in Commandment, Authority

There are actually only two verses in this chapter that deal with the subjects we are going to talk about today. The first is verse 16:

And it came to pass that I, Nephi being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.

That one's about love within families and about honoring father and mother. The next one's about authority. Verse 22:

And inasmuch as thou shalt keep my commandments, thou shalt be made a ruler and a teacher over they brethren.

So, what is it about Nephi's response to his father that makes him so much more willing to listen? Remember that in this chapter Lehi named a river and a valley after his oldest sons, Laman and Lemuel, and they just kept on murmuring until Lehi was so filled with the power of the spirit that Laman and Lemuel's bodies literally shook(vs. 14).

So what did Nephi do different? He wanted to believe his father, so instead of immediately complaining, he sucked it up for a little while, and when he got a chance, he prayed to his Heavenly Father about what his earthly father was doing. And his heart was softened.

Sometimes we talk about the fact that the Lord won't take our agency from us, and he won't. But he will change out attitude if we ask him to and if we sincerely desire it, because sometimes changing our thoughts and attitudes is something we cannot do ourselves.

Laman and Lemuel are an amazing contrast to Nephi. Laman and Lemuel don't even try to honor their parents. Sure, they eventually come around and do what he says, usually because of threat of physical violence, but really, this story shows us the difference between being obedient and actually honoring. Honoring is much harder. It is the softness of the heart rather than just outward action.

Finally, I want to talk a little bit about authority. I have never noticed verse 22 before in all the times I have read the Book of Mormon, but I love it now that I notice it. To receive authority from God, Nephi has to keep the commandments. Now, of course, Laman and Lemuel aren't happy about the idea of anyone but them being a ruler, but think about it in your life. If someone was going to rule over you, wouldn't you want it to be somebody who kept the commandments? What a fair, kind, just, hard-working ruler you would have!

Another interesting point this verse presents is that teaching goes along with ruling. Perhaps by example mostly, but maybe also by word. Knowing that, I wonder if that is not the reason that Moses was so afraid of his slowness of speech. He knew that authority brought with it the responsibility to teach, and he didn't feel up to the challenge.

1 Nephi 1: Prophets and Scripture

It is interesting that the Book of Mormon starts out with a discussion of the role of prophets and scriptures because these two topics are central to the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and are a big part of what makes it a unique church.

The Mission of Prophets:

The mission of prophets, as described in the first chapter of 1 Nephi, is to gain revelation, prophesy of those revelations to the people for whom they have stewardship, and, specifically, to preach repentance. (vs. 4, 18)

Latter-day Saints believe in continuing revelation. That is, we believe that God speaks to man today just as he spoke to man in ages past. Many other churches believe that revelation has ceased. But if you believe that one of the main purposes of prophets was to preach repentance, you can understand why we still need prophets today. Everyone has a need to repent. We're not any more perfect than early man was, and therefore, we still need people to tell us to repent.

Also, prophets receive other revelation. We (Latter-day Saints) believe in personal revelation, that God can give us direction in our personal lives. But we also believe in a larger organization, a church. To keep order in the church, we (and God) need someone who is designated as the person to receive revelation for the entire church. This is another important function of prophets today.

It is interesting to note that in Nephi's time, at least in Jerusalem, there seem to have been multiple prophets. I don't know if this means the prophets were consecutive, or, not really preaching at the same time, or if they were there at the same time. If they were there at the same time, it could have been something like the organization of the modern church. The quorum of the twelve apostles and the first presidency are all sustained as prophets, seers, and revelators. So, it is possible to have more than one prophet at a time. Only one can preside though.

Also, with the technology revolution, it's possible for the words of one man to reach the entire world. In the ancient world, this wasn't really a possibility. There were definitely prophets prophesying to different groups, e.g. Nephi in the Americas and Isaiah in the Holy Land.

The Rejection of Prophets:

The rejection of prophets is a lot easier to explain. Prophets don't always have really feel-good things to say. Now, they do say the best things in the end, that Jesus Christ redeemed us, and that we have reason to hope for eternal life with the ones we love. But they also tell us other truths (like the need to repent that we talked about earlier). Is it any wonder then that prophets have been rejected since the beginning?

We are lucky to live in a day and in a place where, although the prophets are rejected by many, they are not persecuted and killed like they have been anciently. It's not easy to be a prophet even today, I'm sure, but it might be a little bit of a relief to know that they probably won't have to die for their beliefs and the things they say. For Lehi, death was a distinct possibility.

On the other hand, the Lord looks out for his prophets today, just as he looked out for his prophets in the past, and whether or not they died in the end, he was aware of them.

The Writing of Scriptures:

In many ways, the writing of scriptures ties into revelation much as prophets do. The words of prophets, when they are inspired by the Holy Ghost (known sometimes as the Holy Spirit), are considered scripture. The Lord can also, inspire someone to keep records of things that will be important to future generations.

In Christianity, there is the metaphor of the Word of God become flesh in Christ. In Islam, their is the idea of the Word of God become book in the Qur'an. In Islam, then, the idea is that scripture as found in the Qur'an is perfection. In Christianity, on the other hand, Christ is perfection, and the word of scripture, while it is the word of God, is the word of God as it is, in many cases, translated or filtered by prophets.

Now that doesn't make it any less important. It just shows how God uses man to accomplish his purposes.

And in the end that's why God has prophets, men he trusts to do his will. We can be profoundly blessed by the power of God as it reaches us through the words of prophets, ancient prophets in the scriptures, and modern prophets still alive today.

Intro

I've decided to recommit to this blog, but take it in kind of a new direction. I noticed in my earlier posts that I refer a lot to the same experts over and over. I still want to refer to experts, but I want to put some more of my ideas in. And I want to be more focused in my topics.

So, after my stint with the Old Testament (I know, I know. I didn't even get through Genesis). I want to move to modern scripture, or at least uniquely LDS scripture. So I'll begin with 1 Nephi.