Scripture Journey

Lesson 15: “Eternally Indebted to Your Heavenly Father”, Book of Mormon Class Member Study Guide, 10

Link to Lesson

Mosiah 1:5 reads as follows:

  5 I say unto you, my sons, ^awere it not for these things, which have been kept and ^bpreserved by the hand of God, that we might ^cread and understand of his ^dmysteries, and have his ^ecommandments always before our eyes, that even our fathers would have dwindled in unbelief, and we should have been like unto our brethren, the Lamanites, who know nothing concerning these things, or even do not believe them when they are taught them, because of the ^ftraditions of their fathers, which are not correct.

A primary difference between the Nephites and the Lamanites is the absence of written records among the Lamanites.  In this verse, King Benjamin asserts that the Nephites would have dwindled in unbelief without the written records.  One interesting point not mentioned is that Laman and Lemuel actually did have access to the records prior to their "split" with Nephi and his followers.  Prior to coming to the New World, they spent some time trying to read them and understand them, although their efforts seem half-hearted or less compared to Nephi's conscientious study.  They also were key participants in the effort to retrieve them from Jerusalem as well. 

And so the issue is not so much the lack of records among the Lamanites as the lack of interest in the records, or a lack of understanding of what they contain.  To Laman and Lemuel the stories of faith and obedience and sacrifice contained in these records were apparently not compelling enough to soften their hearts or hold their interest.  They basically set the records aside by ignoring them. 

It is tempting to think that this is the sort of behavior that individuals who do not have the gospel in their lives represent.  But many of those people have never even been exposed to the scriptures, and so they are not ignoring them.  They are ignorant of them.  The people that ignore sacred records are the Saints themselves, who have the records but spend little if any time studying what is found in them.

In Mosiah 2, King Benjamin gives his famous speech that contains his discussion of us all being unprofitable servants, no matter how hard we try:

  20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the ^athanks and ^bpraise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and ^cpreserved you, and has caused that ye should ^drejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—

  21 I say unto you that if ye should ^aserve him who has created you from the beginning, and is ^bpreserving you from day to day, by lending you ^cbreath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own ^dwill, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your ^ewhole souls yet ye would be ^funprofitable servants.

Among all the sacred speeches ever given and recorded in any of the scriptures, and among all the sacred speeches I have ever heard at Church, this speech by King Benjamin has to rank among the top 5 or so.  The scriptures above are just a small excerpt from the entire speech, most of which is found in Mosiah 2. I would recommend that anyone, whether a member of the LDS Church or not, read this speech.  I can't imagine anyone reading it and concluding that it is not inspired.

It is a curious thing that God chooses to give us blessings we don't deserve and that He chooses to accept our repeated attempts to repent and follow him.  He must have the attributes of a parent, who likewise often gives ungrateful children blessings and things they don't really merit, and is always willing to forgive and forget.  I suppose that is why we call Him Father.

Lesson 14: “For a Wise Purpose”, Book of Mormon Class Member Study Guide, 9

Link to Lesson

This is an image of Jacob wrestling with either an Angel (as many interpret the scripture) or with God himself.  See Genesis 32:25.  In this scene, the struggle lasts through the night and Jacob's leg is out of joint, but he will not release the heavenly being until the being gives him a blessing.  The blessing he gets is a new name, Israel, which in the Hebrew tongue means "he will rule as God."  This wrestle comes about as Jacob is struggling with what to say when he inevitably must face Esau, his older twin brother, who remains angry with him because Jacob supposedly stole Esau's birthright.  Jacob ended up having this wrestle or struggle throughout the night before he ends up speaking with this heavenly being.

I am posting this image because Jacob's wrestle reminds me of the language that Enos uses as he describes his own efforts to gain a testimony of God and Christ:

2 And I will tell you of the ^awrestle which I had before God, before I received a ^bremission of my sins.

Enos goes on to pray throughout the day and the night until he finally receives assurance that his sins are forgiven and speaks directly with God.  These passages both describe a symbolic spiritual struggle with God or His representative that apparently needed to occur before the blessing could be conveyed: the forgiveness of sins for Enos, the new name for Jacob (Israel). 

I have never prayed as hard as Jacob or Enos.  I shouldn't expect to have the same level of spiritual enlightenment unless I too an willling to sacrifice what they did, to pray as hard as they did. 

Lesson 13: The Allegory of the Olive Trees,” Book of Mormon Class Member Study Guide, 9

Link to Lesson

Jacob 5 contains a fascinatingly detailed description of the ancient cultivation of an olive vineyard.  It is hard to imagine that Joseph Smith could have known how to describe these techniques.  See this link for a discussion of the actual ancient techniques and you will be surprised at the accuracy of the description in Jacob 5.

Putting aside for a moment the literal accuracy of the olive tree allegory, my favorite verse in Jacob 5 is this one:

  64 Wherefore, dig about them, and prune them, and dung them once more, for the last time, for the end draweth nigh. And if it be so that these last grafts shall grow, and bring forth the natural fruit, then shall ye prepare the way for them, that they may grow.

Since the trees are the modern saints, this verse makes it clear that the saints need to be cultivated further: dug about, pruned, dunged, "for the last time."  This is in order to prepare for the natural fruit.  What type of cultivation is this allegory suggesting we need?  I like to think of it at a ward level and I believe that what it is talking about is the work that must occur among the saints as they magnify their individual callings and exert themselves to strengthen those around them, to be become more Christ-like and to repent of their sins. 

Lesson 12: “Seek Ye for the Kingdom of God”, Book of Mormon Class Member Study Guide, 8

Link to Lesson

Jacob 2:35 contains one of the most concise, best and most poignant descriptions of the effects of adultery on a family in literature:

35 Behold, ye have done ^agreater iniquities than the Lamanites, our brethren. Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them; and the sobbings of their hearts ascend up to God against you. And because of the ^bstrictness of the word of God, which cometh down against you, many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds.

It is a bit difficult to imagine that Joseph Smith could have had the maturity and experience to "create" this description at the age at which he translated the Book of Mormon.  It is also a rather odd speech for a Nephite prophet to give to his people and contains such specific counsel and is related to such a specific set of facts that it rings authentic. 

I also think that Jacob 1:19 contains a very unique description of the level of commitment and responsibility that a priesthood leader should have:

19 And we did ^amagnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the ^bresponsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not ^cteach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their ^dblood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day.

As I read that scripture I begin to worry about my own commitment and it seems to me that I may have some blood on my garments, because I don't think I have consistently magnified my callings and I don't think I've consistently taught the word of God with all diligence.  It is inspiring to imagine that a young man like Jacob could have the maturity to do this.