In these two chapters Nephi is shown the history of America to our day, the origins of the Bible and how it came to be what it is today, and an exposition on the great and abominable Church of the Devil. It ends with the tantalizing declaration that the rest of Nephi’s vision would be recorded by John the Apostle of Jesus Christ.
First a comment on that, while Nephi says no more about what he saw, he quotes a LOT of Isaiah in the rest of his record. He spoke of the future too. In my opinion, Nephi quoted Isaiah to say what he couldn't say himself. When he quotes him at length in the rest of his record, he did so with a clear recollection of what he saw in this vision. In other words, it all made sense because he saw how all the prophecies of Isaiah fit into the narrative he’d seen. So while he couldn’t say what he saw, he quoted Isaiah in a way to fit with what he’d seen. So, if you want to understand what Revelations has to say about our future, read the Isaiah passages and Nephi’s commentary on them in First and Second Nephi.
Another interesting point is the Angel’s declaration there are but two churches in the world. This struck me as odd because there are hundreds if not thousands of different churches in the world today. All preach their own brand of dogma and salvation. Yet, here in chapter fourteen, the Angel says there are but two. He then defines what God meant. All who are humble followers of Jesus Christ (note again there’s no mention of dogma or doctrine) are members of the Christ’s church. Everyone else is in the Devil’s church, the great and abominable one.
It should give members of the LDS church pause for reflection. While the only organization on the earth today where the ordinances of salvation can be authoritatively performed is the LDS church, its members of record do not have exclusive access to membership in “Christ’s church.” According to 1 Nephi 14: 10, membership in this “church” is determined by how you live, your devotion to Christ, and your commitment to being His disciple. The subtext is it’s possible to be a member of record but due to life choices not be a member of Christ’s church. That’s sobering, heavy doctrine, but I see no other way to read and understand that verse. It makes me wonder, “which church am I really in?”
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Friday, November 20, 2015
Monday, August 17, 2015
3 Nephi 15 - The Other Sheep
Before I say much more, I just want to remind you… what I write is my opinion on what the scriptures mean. The last thing I want is to set myself up as some light for others to follow. What I do want is to be obedient to a prompting to share some of my experiences as I’ve read and studied the Book of Mormon.
My desire is to let the world know in no uncertain terms that I have a burning testimony of its truthfulness. It is NOT the product of the imagination of one man or a collection of men. It is NOT a plagiarism of other books or the KJV Bible. It IS what it claims to be… the religious history of a people now lost to history and their witness of the reality and existence of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I add my voice to that of Joseph Smith, “a man can get nearer to God by abiding its precepts than by any other book.” I don’t guess, think or hope this… I know it because I’ve seen it in my own life. I’ve tasted the fruit and it is delicious.
That said, here are my observations on this chapter: Jesus spends the first part explaining the Law of Moses is fulfilled in Him and by implication, He has something new for them. (Stay tuned… ) The rest of the chapter, He speaks of the other sheep. In my opinion, the chapter ought to end at 3 Nephi 16:4 since He speaks of other sheep besides the Nephites and Lamanites He is to visit.
What struck me the most though is verse 19 where He said the Apostles and disciples in Jerusalem were not told of them because of their iniquity. Even that’s not the message I got, it’s this: He works with us where we are. He loves us all beyond our ability to comprehend, yet He also knows our strengths and weaknesses. So He gives us what we can handle and what we are humble enough to accept. Then, as we grow under His tutelage, He gives us more when He knows we’re ready for it. He does this for us all, not only individually, but collectively as a church too. It’s comforting in a way, but also a reminder that I have a long way to go…
My desire is to let the world know in no uncertain terms that I have a burning testimony of its truthfulness. It is NOT the product of the imagination of one man or a collection of men. It is NOT a plagiarism of other books or the KJV Bible. It IS what it claims to be… the religious history of a people now lost to history and their witness of the reality and existence of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I add my voice to that of Joseph Smith, “a man can get nearer to God by abiding its precepts than by any other book.” I don’t guess, think or hope this… I know it because I’ve seen it in my own life. I’ve tasted the fruit and it is delicious.
That said, here are my observations on this chapter: Jesus spends the first part explaining the Law of Moses is fulfilled in Him and by implication, He has something new for them. (Stay tuned… ) The rest of the chapter, He speaks of the other sheep. In my opinion, the chapter ought to end at 3 Nephi 16:4 since He speaks of other sheep besides the Nephites and Lamanites He is to visit.
What struck me the most though is verse 19 where He said the Apostles and disciples in Jerusalem were not told of them because of their iniquity. Even that’s not the message I got, it’s this: He works with us where we are. He loves us all beyond our ability to comprehend, yet He also knows our strengths and weaknesses. So He gives us what we can handle and what we are humble enough to accept. Then, as we grow under His tutelage, He gives us more when He knows we’re ready for it. He does this for us all, not only individually, but collectively as a church too. It’s comforting in a way, but also a reminder that I have a long way to go…
Thursday, July 30, 2015
3 Nephi 7 - Overthrow of the Nephite Government
Pop quiz: who destroyed the Nephite government three years before the sign of Jesus' death?
It's not the Gadiantons. At this time in the Nephite history, there weren't any as they'd all been executed or converted six years earlier. The correct answer is lawyers, lower judges and their friends destroyed the government.
Today's equivalents are politicians, senior government officials, the Judiciary (have to put the lawyers somewhere), and their cronies, family and friends. It should be no surprise then, to a student of the Book of Mormon, who is changing the government in radical ways that take away our rights, and liberties. I'll bet you're surprised. Not.
It's one of those not so subtle proofs showing the content of the Book of Mormon is far beyond something an 1829 farm boy, school teacher or minister could ever dream up. Its insights into our day are so prescient, the contents of this chapter ought to be alarming.
Someone once said history repeats itself and if you don't learn from the past, you'll get the full brunt of its lessons the hard way. Actually, history rhymes. But the themes and lessons are no less dangerous or painful to endure when they come. It's fortunate we have the warning of 3 Nephi 7 because it gives us time to prepare.
It's not the Gadiantons. At this time in the Nephite history, there weren't any as they'd all been executed or converted six years earlier. The correct answer is lawyers, lower judges and their friends destroyed the government.
Today's equivalents are politicians, senior government officials, the Judiciary (have to put the lawyers somewhere), and their cronies, family and friends. It should be no surprise then, to a student of the Book of Mormon, who is changing the government in radical ways that take away our rights, and liberties. I'll bet you're surprised. Not.
It's one of those not so subtle proofs showing the content of the Book of Mormon is far beyond something an 1829 farm boy, school teacher or minister could ever dream up. Its insights into our day are so prescient, the contents of this chapter ought to be alarming.
Someone once said history repeats itself and if you don't learn from the past, you'll get the full brunt of its lessons the hard way. Actually, history rhymes. But the themes and lessons are no less dangerous or painful to endure when they come. It's fortunate we have the warning of 3 Nephi 7 because it gives us time to prepare.
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Helaman 7-9 - The Futility of Hiding From God
These three chapters comprise the account of Nephi warning the people of God's judgements that are coming to them because of their rejection of Christ. As proof of the truthfulness of his words, he tells them of the murder of Seezoram the Chief Judge by his brother Seantum. The remainder of the chapters describe the account of the five who are sent to prove what Nephi said, their capture and the eventual exhoneration of both them and Nephi when Seantum is caught and confesses his guilt.
The main story is evidence of God knowing all that happens. My sense from the account is God knows things in real-time, as they happen. Additionally, there are some nuggets on human nature and a peek into things the Nephites knew in their scripture, which we don't have in ours. That's what I want to delve into today...
Human nature: the wicked, in this case, the Gadiantons are cowards. Rather than confront Nephi directly and go head to head against him, they try to incite the people against him so they can use the power of their office to silence him. Their resolve is foiled because Nephi convinces enough that they dare not act out of fear of the political cost such actions would exact. We see this today in our politicians who are on the whole cowards who hide their true selves by the trappings of their office and their "leadership" just rides safely within the swells of public opinion.
Human nature: the wicked seek to control people through anger and fear, while they are controlled by fear of the loss of power. It's true for them and us: what do you see in the news today? Stories that incite fear or anger or both. By doing that, they shape and influence our thoughts and subsequently our actions. Faith in God however, gives us the power to go against this to do what is right.
Human nature: don't underestimate people's ability to forget and ignore the obivous when it doesn't server their selfish ambitions. The Nephites, who less than ten years earlier had lost half their country to the Lamanites were boasting of the might of their cities and how they coulnt' be captured.
The nugget: In the middle of the story, as Nephi testifies of how many witnesses in the scriptures there are of the coming of Christ (a lot more than what we have in our Bible, by the way) there's a comment in Helaman 9:18 where he says, "a great many thousand years before his coming," prophets testified of it. How many years do you think that means? I'd dare say, that in reality, prophets have been testifying of Christ's coming from the beginning of recorded history. While modern Bible scholars say the earliest written text of the Bible probably occurred some 1800 years BCE, about the time of the establishment of the Davidic Kingdom, the scriptures tell us these prophecies were written from the time of Adam.
The main story is evidence of God knowing all that happens. My sense from the account is God knows things in real-time, as they happen. Additionally, there are some nuggets on human nature and a peek into things the Nephites knew in their scripture, which we don't have in ours. That's what I want to delve into today...
Human nature: the wicked, in this case, the Gadiantons are cowards. Rather than confront Nephi directly and go head to head against him, they try to incite the people against him so they can use the power of their office to silence him. Their resolve is foiled because Nephi convinces enough that they dare not act out of fear of the political cost such actions would exact. We see this today in our politicians who are on the whole cowards who hide their true selves by the trappings of their office and their "leadership" just rides safely within the swells of public opinion.
Human nature: the wicked seek to control people through anger and fear, while they are controlled by fear of the loss of power. It's true for them and us: what do you see in the news today? Stories that incite fear or anger or both. By doing that, they shape and influence our thoughts and subsequently our actions. Faith in God however, gives us the power to go against this to do what is right.
Human nature: don't underestimate people's ability to forget and ignore the obivous when it doesn't server their selfish ambitions. The Nephites, who less than ten years earlier had lost half their country to the Lamanites were boasting of the might of their cities and how they coulnt' be captured.
The nugget: In the middle of the story, as Nephi testifies of how many witnesses in the scriptures there are of the coming of Christ (a lot more than what we have in our Bible, by the way) there's a comment in Helaman 9:18 where he says, "a great many thousand years before his coming," prophets testified of it. How many years do you think that means? I'd dare say, that in reality, prophets have been testifying of Christ's coming from the beginning of recorded history. While modern Bible scholars say the earliest written text of the Bible probably occurred some 1800 years BCE, about the time of the establishment of the Davidic Kingdom, the scriptures tell us these prophecies were written from the time of Adam.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)