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.