Helaman 8 - If He did it then, why not now?

Appalled by the people’s wickedness after his return from a mission to the northern lands, Nephi, son of Helaman II prays on his garden tower. More a lament than a prayer, it attracts a lot of attention. Soon a crowd of people is listening which gives him an opening to begin preaching to them. While I won’t go into the story’s details, a device he uses to persuade the people to believe him struck me. I want to talk about it.

In Helaman chapter eight, he recounts the prophecies of the destruction of Jerusalem and compares them with his own. He knew unless they repented, a similar fate awaited them. He uses argument, if God warns people and then follows through on that warning in once instance, why do you think He can’t do it in another?

Likening this passage to my own life and time, I come up with this observation: if God promised to help you in the past and He did, why do you think He won’t help you again according to those same promises? There is substance to the expression, “God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.”

As I face my dragons, my personal Gethsemane’s and all the other trials that come with living in mortality, I need to remember in whom I have trusted. God hasn’t changed. He is ever ready to help as promised. But just as Nephi, Lehi’s son, had trials and challenges as he sought to do God’s will, I will too. The promises were never that life would be easy only that it wouldn’t overcome us. With this assurance we can face them without fear.

That’s a great blessing.

2 Nephi 17-18 - Trust God

If you ever face a trial or adversity that seems certain to overwhelm and destroy you, then you’ll want to remember the lesson of 2 Nephi 17 and 18. Syria and Ephriam, the Northern Kingdom, combined forces to attack Judah, the Southern Kingdom. Ahaz was the king of Judah at the time. Egypt was the other super-power of the day. Under the conditions, Ahaz felt a lot of pressure to ally with Egypt to protect the country from the pending war with Syria.

Acting on inspiration from God, Isaiah went to Ahaz and said, in effect, don’t worry about them, they won’t hurt you. They have problems of their own and are no real threat to Judah.

Then God inspired Isaiah to offer Ahaz a sign that this would be. I don’t know that much about him, but to his credit he demurred, saying, “I will not ask nor tempt the Lord.” So, instead He offers a sign, the birth of the Messiah.

I thought, how odd, that the sign of proof that these two nations were no threat, is a future event. So why bother? Then it occurred, Isaiah wasn’t writing this for Ahaz, but for us.

He then warns that allying with Egypt would lead to ruin.

The lesson for us… We will in this life face difficult trials and times of such adversity, we’re certain we’ll be overwhelmed by them. But as Isaiah says in 2 Nephi 18:14, let the Lord be your fear… turn to Him for help. As proof that things will work out, consider the Savior’s birth and life, the offered sign of God’s mercy and love for you.

Don’t turn to Egypt, the “thinking man’s” rational thing to do for that will only lead to ruin. Turn to God instead and have faith. That has been, is, and always will be the only safe way through the trials of this life.

Ether 3 - The Lord Speaks to the Brother of Jared

Heavenly Father used the need for light as a way to prepare Jared's brother to see the pre-mortal Savior. As I commented in the previous posting, God knew exactly what He was doing when He pushed the question back on him.

One take away from this is God doesn’t always telegraph His intentions. So our best attitude when interacting with Him is one of gratitude, faith, patience, and trust.

Another take away is when you ask for anything from God, you just never know what it is you’re going to get in reply. In this case Jared’s brother, not only saw the Lord’s finger, he saw His entire spirit body and then the whole history of man on the Earth. He’s then told to write it down but to tell no one what he saw. As a result, the Jaredites never knew of this remarkable encounter.

My guess is only trusted prophets, who kept the records knew, if anyone did, of what they contained. I say that because Ether had to know what was in them to include them in the twenty-four plates which Limhi’s party found. Not to mention, Alma warned Helaman about their contents and that it should not go to the people. Then again, there’s nothing to state the 24 plates were all the same nor that they were made at the same time. The only known transposing of the record is when Moroni wrote the account into the Book of Mormon. We do know in 3 Nephi, Mormon says he’s told not to write all that he knows because our faith needs to be tested. Surely some of what he withheld is the rest of this revelation.

Who's to say the history of mankind upon the earth is what’s in the sealed part? I think it is, but we’re not in a position nor frame of mind to deal with it. As I’ve said before, mercy is the motivation behind us not knowing as much as anything. So, we move forward in faith, grateful for what we’ve been shown and looking to the day when we no longer see through the glass darkly.