End of Nephi, beginning of Jacob

So after testifying of Christ, Nephi tells us about the future he has seen.   He starts by telling us that Christ will visit his people after he comes and is resurrected.   And then he fortells of the destruction and doom that awaits his people if they don't hearken to the words of Christ.  Then he pretty much continues the march of doom talking about the devil and all the ways that we can go to hell.   It pretty much says pride will be the downfall in one way or another.  And that not believing that there is a hell is a sure way to end up there.*   And then he fortells of the coming forth of other books of scripture.  Nephi pretty much prophecies about what will happen with the very book that he is writing and how all the people that believe in it will be reviled for believing in it, but that it is ok, because it is the beginning of the gathering in the last days.    Nephi has prophesied all this before, but since these are his dying words, it probably bears repeating.

Then Nephi takes an interesting turn and for his very last message he tells us he is going to quote his younger brother Jacob who he is about to hand over the plates to.  It is like he is cuing everyone on the authority of who will take the reigns.   The words he quotes are about Christ and his baptism and our need to follow that example and "endure to the end".   I wish endure were a nicer word.    A lot of lip service is given to getting on the path, but the enduring part really sucks eggs.  It isn't really given equal time to the amount of time it actually takes up.

* one note about the bom in general.  It tends to have a very black/white heaven/hell bent to it, while the D&C and NT are more "many kingdoms" oriented. Not sure how this fits all that well with 3 kingdoms.

The Book of Mormon is the great standard we are to use in our missionary work. It shows that Joseph Smith was a prophet. It contains the words of Christ, and its great mission is to bring us to Christ. All other things are secondary. The golden question of the Book of Mormon is “Do you want to learn more of Christ?”
The Book of Mormon is for both member and nonmember. Combined with the Spirit of the Lord, the Book of Mormon is the greatest tool which God has given us to convert the world. If we are to have the harvest of souls, we must use the instrument which God has designed for the task—the Book of Mormon.

President Ezra Taft Benson

return of the prodigal blogger

What can I say?  Things got busy and I fell off the horse.  I decided to get back on.  Hope y'all come back too!

So, I am starting up again with Nephi 25, which is back to Nephi after he has recorded Jacob and repeated excerpts from Isaiah.   Nephi explains that Isaiah is confusing, particularly to his children because Isaiah prophesied after the manner of the Jews, and he felt that the ancient Jews had become too wicked, so he shielded his "children" (I think this means all those that followed him)  from their ways.   Then he goes on to say that it doesn't matter that they are ignorant of the prophetic traditions because if you have the spirit of prophesy you will understand Isaiah anyway.    While I am sure the intent is to allay fears that Isaiah is beyond us and give us confidence to study his words, I always feel like this a double edged sword and sort of tunnels the access of information.  What if two people who feel like they have the spirit of prophesy decide it means two different things?   And to by honest,  Isaiah is much clearer to me after having studied parts of ancient Judaism and Hebrew.   I honestly don't know if I would get there just by the "spirit of prophesy".   Oh well...

After that Nephi begins to say he will communicate things in plain language about his testimony of Christ, and he does it beautifully.   Although, I have to say, like most learned men, he borrows a phrase or two that could use clarification.    For example, when he is testifying to how Christ would be crucified, lie in a sepulchre for three days, and then resurrect, he borrows the phrase "he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings".    Obviously, our Savior did not resurrect with wings.   The word for wings in Hebrew is the same as the word for hem, and refers to the tassel on the ancient temple clothes.   Hem, tassel, wings all were words used for power, i.e. priesthood.  Also, the word "to heal" also meant to complete, to make whole, or to perfect.     He will resurrect with the power to perfect us with his infinite priesthood power.    (Knowing a little can help a bit)   I do have to say though that while it can use some clarification,  I prefer the poetry of "healing in his wings".   It conjures the image of being held by the Savior, which can be powerful in itself.

Nephi continues to testify that the Jewish people will be scattered and gathered and there will be a day when they will accept Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah.    When I read this passage, the controversy of the church doing baptisms for the dead for those Jews that were victims of the Holocaust always runs through my mind.   I understand the position of those that asked the church to discontinue that practice because of some sort of implication that we were posthumously making them Mormons and desecrating the reasons they were killed.   In their eyes it looks a bit like a white wash of old practices to force christian baptism upon Jews.   I have often wondered if there was a fault in the way we talk about baptisms for the dead in this.   I don't know.   I guess the idea that we are trying to make dead people Mormons sounds ridiculous even to me.    I have often wondered if we shouldn't refrain from using that terminology ourselves.   To me the church is an earthly thing, not a construct for the next life, while the ordinances of the gospel are eternal.    Sorry- tangent. 

Nephi continues by explaining that the story of Moses and the serpent is symbolic of the way we must look to Christ for salvation.    We often use this example of how easy it is, but you know, I don't think we are being fair to those that couldn't look up.    Would you really look up??   While snakes and serpents surrounded you and your children, biting into your feet and legs, and slithering around you,  would you really look up and ignore the pains and cries immediately before you?   I believe that Christ can heal us,  but the idea that it is easy and we feel no pain in the process strikes me as overly simplistic. I mean,  faith is hard, isn't it?  Does anybody out there find faith truly easy??  I mean, I sort of have come to the conclusion that faith is really hard, but I am not sure that the alternative is so much better...

Continuing on, Nephi says that he has been promised that this record (TBOM) will be preserved to continue to give people hope and faith in Christ.  This is one of my favorite parts of the whole Book, when Nephi says "we labor diligently... and look forward with a steadfastness unto Christ... And we are made alive in Christ because of our faith... And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we prophesy of Christ... that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins... that they may look forward unto that life which is in Christ."    It is hopeful, and full of the savior's love, and of love of family and fellowman.