While reading Moroni 7 this morning it occurred to me, Mormon, whom Moroni is quoting, is speaking in “Sacrament Meeting.” Moroni was old enough to take notes and remember this talk his father gave. I’ve written in previous times of the great lessons in the talk so I won’t restate them today. If you’d like to read them, here are links: Judging, and Faith, Hope and Charity.
What’s significant, is this is the time when Mormon wrote the Nephites were given over to awful depravity and wickedness. Mormon never mentions these good people and only hints at them when he recounts the awful losses at the Cumorah Massacre. So how could he speak in church in such a wicked society?
Mormon was the military commander of a nation at war. As such, he was exposed to the whole horror of a fallen people in a conflict which brought out their most wicked and vile aspects. Moroni was still at home and it's him who’s speaking now. His subjective experience of the Nephites was different. He saw and lived things which his father didn’t see. Moroni saw the righteous saints who lived in this world gone crazy with wickedness. That was the difference he needed to see this talk as important.
Because Moroni saw our day too, he felt impressed to use a lot of his precious remaining plate space to tell this story. Why? Because we would find ourselves living in a similar time. Think about it. We live in a world gone crazy where as Isaiah prophesied, “good would be called evil and evil good.” Just as those righteous few struggled to determine what was good and what wasn’t, we do too. Which is why this sermon, which touches on how to judge between good and evil, is so important.
Showing posts with label Mormon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mormon. Show all posts
Friday, November 18, 2016
Sunday, June 12, 2016
Helaman - Grandson of Alma the Younger
This entry is about Helaman, Nephi and Lehi’s father — or from a different perspective, Alma’s grandson.
Mormon doesn’t say much about him other than he escaped assassination because one of his servants discovered the plot in time to prevent it. He’s chief judge and high priest for ten years, which is twice as long as Alma served in that dual role. Unlike his grandfather or his son Nephi who served after him, he doesn't give up either role to deal with a religious crisis. Instead, he dies in office.
Despite all that time, not much is said about him nor is any mention made of his teachings. All we get is the rising wickedness of the people, the onset of the Gadiantons, and the many conversions which occur. None of his sermons are recorded. There are no exciting conversion experiences. All we get are 10 years of what must have been demoralizing work as he presided over his nation's turn from God to the Gadiantons.
What little Mormon does include is amazing. But we don’t read what he said while being chief judge. Instead we get some of his words in the form of counsel given to his son’s Lehi and Nephi. It’s mute testimony to just how severe Mormon was in editing the contents of the book. So, as we read, we need to keep in mind what we have is important for us to know. How much importance we attach to it is up to us.
Mormon doesn’t say much about him other than he escaped assassination because one of his servants discovered the plot in time to prevent it. He’s chief judge and high priest for ten years, which is twice as long as Alma served in that dual role. Unlike his grandfather or his son Nephi who served after him, he doesn't give up either role to deal with a religious crisis. Instead, he dies in office.
Despite all that time, not much is said about him nor is any mention made of his teachings. All we get is the rising wickedness of the people, the onset of the Gadiantons, and the many conversions which occur. None of his sermons are recorded. There are no exciting conversion experiences. All we get are 10 years of what must have been demoralizing work as he presided over his nation's turn from God to the Gadiantons.
What little Mormon does include is amazing. But we don’t read what he said while being chief judge. Instead we get some of his words in the form of counsel given to his son’s Lehi and Nephi. It’s mute testimony to just how severe Mormon was in editing the contents of the book. So, as we read, we need to keep in mind what we have is important for us to know. How much importance we attach to it is up to us.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Alma 43-44 - Captain Moroni
Excluding the Savior, if the number of pages dedicated to a person is a sign, then after Alma the Younger, the most important figure in Mormon’s abridgment of the Nephite record is Captain Moroni. This observation is strengthened by the fact that of all the prophets available to him, Mormon chose this man’s name for his own son. Moroni. The angel which adorns the cover of this book was named after a famous Nephite general!
As you read later in the narrative, Mormon gushes in admiration for him. So, it’s with great interest we meet this 25-year old who’s given command of all the Nephite armies. Given the structure of the Nephite culture, Moroni is of aristocratic birth, yet he’s not your typical aristocrat.
Think for a minute just upon Moroni’s actions in this part of the book. Though he’s general of the Nephite armies, he’s humble enough to ask Alma for divine help in knowing where his enemies plan to attack. To see how extraordinary this is, imagine a general today asking President Monson, what our enemies are going to do next. Imagine a general who is merciful to an army that has shown no mercy. Yet that’s what he did.
At the same time, he has a temper and it gets the better part of him. I’ve always thought it was a nice touch to show some of his humanity. It’s on much clearer display later on.
Moroni has alway been my personal hero in the Book of Mormon. He exemplified the type of military man I aspired to be: courageous, yet humble before God. A brilliant strategist, yet also willing to learn from others. It’s my opinion that many of the innovations he uses he learned from the Jaredite record. We see that in this passage in how he armed and protected his soldiers. Moroni’s army didn’t consist of mobile light infantry, but armored heavy infantry.
And he uses them to great effect. Sun Tzu would have admired how he maneuvers Zerahemna into fighting him while crossing a river. You can’t exactly move fast and avoid things being thrown at you while you’re knee deep in water. Because of these actions, choices, and fervent prayers for help, Moroni’s smaller army defeats the larger Lamanite one.
Mormon makes an observation of about war which to me shows this is not some fanciful portrayal of a conflict. Instead Mormon labels war what it is: the work of death. We read about the see-saw of battle as first the Nephites then the Lamanites have the advantage. We read of the prayers and the courageous stand and the ultimate victory by the Nephites. Then there's Moroni’s graciousness in sparing the lives of the Lamanites. We also read the onerous task of dealing with the dead. While it was a great victory for the Nephites, we also see its cost.
It’s something to think about.
As you read later in the narrative, Mormon gushes in admiration for him. So, it’s with great interest we meet this 25-year old who’s given command of all the Nephite armies. Given the structure of the Nephite culture, Moroni is of aristocratic birth, yet he’s not your typical aristocrat.
Think for a minute just upon Moroni’s actions in this part of the book. Though he’s general of the Nephite armies, he’s humble enough to ask Alma for divine help in knowing where his enemies plan to attack. To see how extraordinary this is, imagine a general today asking President Monson, what our enemies are going to do next. Imagine a general who is merciful to an army that has shown no mercy. Yet that’s what he did.
At the same time, he has a temper and it gets the better part of him. I’ve always thought it was a nice touch to show some of his humanity. It’s on much clearer display later on.
Moroni has alway been my personal hero in the Book of Mormon. He exemplified the type of military man I aspired to be: courageous, yet humble before God. A brilliant strategist, yet also willing to learn from others. It’s my opinion that many of the innovations he uses he learned from the Jaredite record. We see that in this passage in how he armed and protected his soldiers. Moroni’s army didn’t consist of mobile light infantry, but armored heavy infantry.
And he uses them to great effect. Sun Tzu would have admired how he maneuvers Zerahemna into fighting him while crossing a river. You can’t exactly move fast and avoid things being thrown at you while you’re knee deep in water. Because of these actions, choices, and fervent prayers for help, Moroni’s smaller army defeats the larger Lamanite one.
Mormon makes an observation of about war which to me shows this is not some fanciful portrayal of a conflict. Instead Mormon labels war what it is: the work of death. We read about the see-saw of battle as first the Nephites then the Lamanites have the advantage. We read of the prayers and the courageous stand and the ultimate victory by the Nephites. Then there's Moroni’s graciousness in sparing the lives of the Lamanites. We also read the onerous task of dealing with the dead. While it was a great victory for the Nephites, we also see its cost.
It’s something to think about.
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
4 Nephi and Mormon - A Fall from Grace
The most heartbreaking part of the Book of Mormon is in 4 Nephi and most of Mormon. They chronicle the Nephites’ self-inflicted fall from grace to abject apostasy and open rebellion against the Lord.
A few things that stand out to me in this section, namely how I wept for the Nephites when I first read this as a teenager. Another is Mormon 5:15 where he observes how the people became a dark, a filthy and a loathsome people, more so than existed at any time in their history prior to that. It’s a pretty clear indication the “darkness” spoken of wasn’t so much a changing of skin pigment but something more along metaphysical lines. I think you’d almost have to see it to comprehend it because there’s no easy way in our language to describe it. The closest I can come to explaining it is seeing someone who has turned away from the Gospel who once had its light in their countenance. In such cases, the best word to use is they’ve become dark. It’s quite a sad story.
The last observation is Mormon getting the plates from Ammoron. There are two reasons why he got them: Ammoron had no sons worthy of the role or the Lord told him to give them to someone else. Given the Nephite tradition, my guess is the former. It represents the end of a dynasty of prophets from Alma the Elder, down through seven intervening generations to Ammaron. For what it’s worth, the Book of Mormon is recorded by twenty generations of prophet-record keepers over a 1000 year period. In three generations, one brother gave the record to another brother, who then gave it to a son or nephew or in the case of Benjamin, the prophet-King.
By the end of Mormon 7, the Nephites are gone and Mormon and his son Moroni speak to generations of unborn people they know only through prophetic vision: us.
A few things that stand out to me in this section, namely how I wept for the Nephites when I first read this as a teenager. Another is Mormon 5:15 where he observes how the people became a dark, a filthy and a loathsome people, more so than existed at any time in their history prior to that. It’s a pretty clear indication the “darkness” spoken of wasn’t so much a changing of skin pigment but something more along metaphysical lines. I think you’d almost have to see it to comprehend it because there’s no easy way in our language to describe it. The closest I can come to explaining it is seeing someone who has turned away from the Gospel who once had its light in their countenance. In such cases, the best word to use is they’ve become dark. It’s quite a sad story.
The last observation is Mormon getting the plates from Ammoron. There are two reasons why he got them: Ammoron had no sons worthy of the role or the Lord told him to give them to someone else. Given the Nephite tradition, my guess is the former. It represents the end of a dynasty of prophets from Alma the Elder, down through seven intervening generations to Ammaron. For what it’s worth, the Book of Mormon is recorded by twenty generations of prophet-record keepers over a 1000 year period. In three generations, one brother gave the record to another brother, who then gave it to a son or nephew or in the case of Benjamin, the prophet-King.
By the end of Mormon 7, the Nephites are gone and Mormon and his son Moroni speak to generations of unborn people they know only through prophetic vision: us.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
3 Nephi 10 - The Voice from Heaven pt. 2
In the previous post, I comment on the first time the Savior speaks to the survivors. He spoke to them one more time in this chapter. These are my observations on that.
1. Did you ever wonder how He spoke to them all? Was it a voice in their heads which everyone heard or was it an audible voice like a cosmic PA system? I don't know. In the grand scheme of things, it's not important, but it does show that if God thought it necessary to speak to all the inhabitants of the Earth at one time, He could. Instead, He gives us that opportunity to speak one on one to our family and friends.
2. Three times, the Savior makes the lament, "how many times have I gathered you..." Each is different. The first time He says, "how many times have I gathered you..." talking about how he has done so many times. The second, He says, "how many times would I have gathered you..." observing He would have done it even more... if the people would have answered. And then for our benefit he says at last, "how many times will I gather you..." He leaves us with a binary promise... if we allow Him to gather us, He will and will safely guide and protect us, but if we don't then our houses will be left desolate.
3. The last thing I thought interesting is the timing of events as listed in the narrative. If you go back to Chapter eight verse five, you read the destruction occurs in the first month, fourth day of the thirty fourth year. Since the Savior was crucified at the Passover and best astronomical data places that on April 6* 34AD, then the Nephite New Year Day was actually about March 8. Then in the end of chapter 10, we read that it wasn't until the end of the 34th year when He actually appeared to the Nephites. Mormon does observe He didn't come until after His ascension into heaven. It implies He spent quite more than just forty days with the Apostolic fathers. Keep in mind, the expression "forty days" is an idiom meaning a long time, it doesn't mean forty calendar days.
Then in an expression you don't see much in the Book of Mormon, Mormon ends the narrative with the promise to resume it. For us as readers of the text, we just go to the next chapter, but Mormon probably didn't come back to writing it for some time. Why, no one knows, but it's a fingerprint on the text showing, this was not written in one setting. It was likely the work of years, decades even on Mormon's part.
Up next, THE most important section of the Book of Mormon, Christ's appearance to the Nephites.
1. Did you ever wonder how He spoke to them all? Was it a voice in their heads which everyone heard or was it an audible voice like a cosmic PA system? I don't know. In the grand scheme of things, it's not important, but it does show that if God thought it necessary to speak to all the inhabitants of the Earth at one time, He could. Instead, He gives us that opportunity to speak one on one to our family and friends.
2. Three times, the Savior makes the lament, "how many times have I gathered you..." Each is different. The first time He says, "how many times have I gathered you..." talking about how he has done so many times. The second, He says, "how many times would I have gathered you..." observing He would have done it even more... if the people would have answered. And then for our benefit he says at last, "how many times will I gather you..." He leaves us with a binary promise... if we allow Him to gather us, He will and will safely guide and protect us, but if we don't then our houses will be left desolate.
3. The last thing I thought interesting is the timing of events as listed in the narrative. If you go back to Chapter eight verse five, you read the destruction occurs in the first month, fourth day of the thirty fourth year. Since the Savior was crucified at the Passover and best astronomical data places that on April 6* 34AD, then the Nephite New Year Day was actually about March 8. Then in the end of chapter 10, we read that it wasn't until the end of the 34th year when He actually appeared to the Nephites. Mormon does observe He didn't come until after His ascension into heaven. It implies He spent quite more than just forty days with the Apostolic fathers. Keep in mind, the expression "forty days" is an idiom meaning a long time, it doesn't mean forty calendar days.
Then in an expression you don't see much in the Book of Mormon, Mormon ends the narrative with the promise to resume it. For us as readers of the text, we just go to the next chapter, but Mormon probably didn't come back to writing it for some time. Why, no one knows, but it's a fingerprint on the text showing, this was not written in one setting. It was likely the work of years, decades even on Mormon's part.
Up next, THE most important section of the Book of Mormon, Christ's appearance to the Nephites.
Monday, July 27, 2015
3 Nephi 4-5 The Great Siege
These chapters finish one of the better known and interesting "battle" stories of the Book of Mormon. The one where the Nephites and Lamanites retreat to the center of their land, hunker down behind their fortress walls and outlast the Gadiantons. Since the story is well known, I wont spend a lot of time on retelling it, but I am going to comment on some of its "interesting" aspects.
First off is the letter from Giddianhi to Lachoneous. In the Book of Mormon, Mormon includes two letters from two different bad guys. The first is from Amoron where he agrees to swap prisoners with Captain Moroni. The other is this letter where Giddianhi demands the unconditional surrender of Nephites. What's common between the two is how they show the best way to get people to follow you is convince them they're victims. Once you do that, then you promise to redress their wrongs if they do what you say.
I've wondered why Mormon included these letters and stories. The best answer I can think of is this stratagem will be used on us. For us to recognize it and see it for the evil it is, he included these letters. Once you recognize the pattern, it's easy to spot it in just about any political movement. It goes like this: for your money, I will fix <fill in the blank for the fear du jour> for you. Gullible sheep that we are, enough fall for this that con men of all flavors continue doing it.
The other tidbit I find interesting is Mormon's comment about who he is: a "pure" descendant of Lehi. Imagine having a thousand year long bloodline where both mother and father come from the same person. I can only guess, but the number who could make that claim by Mormon's day was probably pretty limited and put him, so far as lineage is concerned in a very elite group. Remember the aristocracy of their culture? By birth, Mormon was an elite of the elite.
To his credit, it didn't go to his head, but it was probably his geneology as much as anything that got him the position of commander of all Nephite armies. It's something to think about. He sets a great example, one that is stressed over and over again: listen to and follow the spirit. That I would do as well.
First off is the letter from Giddianhi to Lachoneous. In the Book of Mormon, Mormon includes two letters from two different bad guys. The first is from Amoron where he agrees to swap prisoners with Captain Moroni. The other is this letter where Giddianhi demands the unconditional surrender of Nephites. What's common between the two is how they show the best way to get people to follow you is convince them they're victims. Once you do that, then you promise to redress their wrongs if they do what you say.
I've wondered why Mormon included these letters and stories. The best answer I can think of is this stratagem will be used on us. For us to recognize it and see it for the evil it is, he included these letters. Once you recognize the pattern, it's easy to spot it in just about any political movement. It goes like this: for your money, I will fix <fill in the blank for the fear du jour> for you. Gullible sheep that we are, enough fall for this that con men of all flavors continue doing it.
The other tidbit I find interesting is Mormon's comment about who he is: a "pure" descendant of Lehi. Imagine having a thousand year long bloodline where both mother and father come from the same person. I can only guess, but the number who could make that claim by Mormon's day was probably pretty limited and put him, so far as lineage is concerned in a very elite group. Remember the aristocracy of their culture? By birth, Mormon was an elite of the elite.
To his credit, it didn't go to his head, but it was probably his geneology as much as anything that got him the position of commander of all Nephite armies. It's something to think about. He sets a great example, one that is stressed over and over again: listen to and follow the spirit. That I would do as well.
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