I Already Have a Bible (2 Nephi 29)

The Bible

There are those who believe that The Bible is the Word of God, there are those who do not believe The Bible is the Word of God, and there are those who don't know and/or care if it is or ain't His Word.  Count me in as one of them believers.  I believe The Bible contains the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and is filled with historical and personal accounts of ancient prophets, apostles and believers, and their teachings and dealings with Heaven.  Well, I guess they're not all "believers".  An old Seminary Teacher I had once warned us that...

The Bible contains the words of God, men and the devil, so be sure you know who's speaking to you...

...or something like that anyway.  Good advice, I think.  There's an untrue story of a fella who needed to know what direction he should go in life, so he let his Bible fall open and looked at the first verse that his finger landed on...

And Judas went and hung himself

then flipped to another...

Go thou and do likewise

Anywayz...

I have had the opportunity to teach Seminary and Sunday School classes on The Bible, and have had my heart touched and my testimony of Jesus Christ deepened and strengthened by doing so.  I love Isaiah's messages of the coming Messiah.  I love Paul's personal insight into the mercy and love of The Savior.  I love John's understanding of the Atonement when he said, "We love Him, because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19)  And I love reading of the life and miracles of The Savior in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
  

Nowhere else can we actually walk where Jesus walked...

 

Sit with Him in His temple...

 

Listen at His feet as He teaches the Way, the Truth and the Life...

Even watch His agony while His Apostles slept...

We can be there at the tomb when it was discovered empty, and we can be there when the resurrected Christ says so affectionately to a chosen daughter of God, "Mary."

 

I do love The Bible, and I appreciate very much the sacrifices of the men and women who made it possible for me to have one, in English.  Lot of 'em died trying to get the Word of God into the hands of His people.  I watched a documentary on this subject a while back.  It was a tragic and heroic tale, and an important history to learn. It was called Fires of Faith.

This blog deals mainly with The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.  The chapter I am on today is 2 Nephi 29, which talks about whether the BOM will be accepted by a people who already have The Bible.

Some people believe The Book of Mormon to be the Word of God.  Some people do not believe the BOM is the Word of God.  Others don't know or don't care if it is or ain't.  Count me in as one of them believers.  I believe The Book of Mormon contains the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and is filled with historical and personal accounts of ancient prophets, apostles, believers and unbelievers, and their teachings and dealings with Heaven.

Both The Bible and the The Book of Mormon are recorded writings of ancient prophets, apostles and believers.  Some prophets from The Bible include Moses, Isaiah, Malachi, Peter, Matthew, Paul and Christ Himself.  Some of the prophets from the BOM include Lehi, Nephi, Mosiah, Alma, Mormon, Moroni, and Christ Himself when He visited the Nephites shortly after His death and resurrection.

Just a couple of verses from 2 Nephi 29 and I'll close up shop here.  Remember, Nephi is at death's door, and is giving a few last teachings before he buys the farm.  In speaking of the coming forth of The Book of Mormon, which he was writing this in at the time, Nephi warns that people will reject The Book of Mormon on the grounds that there can be only one book that contains the Word of God.

2 Nephi 29 

3.  And because My words shall hiss forth -many of the Gentiles shall say:  A Bible!  We have got a Bible, and there cannot be anymore Bible.

8.  Wherefore, murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of My word?  Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another?  Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another.  And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.

12.  For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the Nephites and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have led away, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto all nations of the earth and they shall write it.

13.  And it shall come to pass that the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the lost tribes of Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the Jews.

14.  ... and my word also shall be gathered in one. And I will show unto them that fight against My word and against My people, who are of the house of Israel, that I am God, and that I covenanted with Abraham that I would remember his seed forever.

The Bible and The Book of Mormon are the Word of God, and contain the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I know this through the Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Ghost, by whom The Book of Mormon testifies "we may know the truth of all things."

You can know for yourself.  Pray.  Ask Him.  Life doesn't have to be such a mystery...

The Book of Mormon; Moroni: 10: 3-5

Peace be with you...

Lamanites Cursed (2 Nephi 5)

My brudder Bob and me in 1979

Again about 2005

My own siblings and I have always been close friends.  It makes me sad when siblings don't get along.  This one guy told me once, "I really love how good of friends you and your brother (Bob) are.  I haven't spoken to my brother in 20 years."  I was totally blown away.  I guess it happens.


After the death of dear old Lehi and Sariah, Laman & Lemuel wouldn't stop being butt-heads, so The Lord warned Nephi to get out of Dodge.

2 Nephi 5: 5-6

5.  And it came to pass that The Lord did warn me, that I, Nephi, should depart from them and flee into the wilderness, and all those who would go with me.

6.  Wherefore, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did take my family, and also Zoram and his family, and Sam, mine elder brother and his family, and Jacob and Joseph, my younger brethren, and also my sisters, and all those who would go with me.  And all those who would go with me were those who believed in the warnings and the revelations of God; wherefore, they did hearken unto my words.  

• I'm glad Nephi mentioned his sisters.  Women didn't get a lot of mentions in the old days.
• Jacob and Joseph didn't have families yet, apparently.
• There were others besides the known good guys who followed Nephi.  I wonder if this included any of the children of Laman, Lemuel or the sons of Ishmael.  

Can a principle be applied to us from this little story?  Yup, I reckon it can.  See, back at the beginning of this chapter Nephi tells us why the move was necessary.

2 Nephi 5: 1-2

1.  Behold, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cry much unto The Lord my God, because of the anger of my brethren.

2.  But behold, their anger did increase against me, insomuch that they did seek to take away my life.

I think it's worth noting that Nephi had some major challenges in his life, brought on him through no fault of his own.  He prayed to his Heavenly Father for this challenge to be removed.  Specifically, that his brothers would stop behaving so badly toward him, and stop threatening him with death day in and day out.  Was it in The Lord's power to answer this prayer the way Nephi wanted it?  Yup. Did He?  Nope.

Instead, "their anger did increase against me."  Why wasn't Nephi's prayer answered?  Well, it was, just not the way he wanted.  Not the way he wanted, but in a way that would not only benefit his posterity for many generations, but you and me as well.

Ya see, kids, in this case, it was absolutely vital that the 2 groups, Nephites and Lamanites, one obedient and the other not so much, separate, and then the more righteous group would have to lean on The Lord almost constantly in order to not get destructed by the udder group.  That's how The Lord saves them, by giving them trials that encourage them to call upon Him for His blessings.  If not for the trials of life, they [we] would have gotten too complacent, & felt like they didn't need Him so much, and slowly drifted away toward the world.

Wherefore, we can pray about our own challenges, and sometimes those challenges will be decreased or removed, while other times, we will be blessed to be able to handle them.  In any case, The Lord's answer will ALWAYS play into the bigger picture, which means the answers may not come in the way we wanted.

It took some searching to find the following scripture, but I knew it was there somewheres.  Anywayz, it kind of illustrates my point.  Sorry if I overcomplicated a small principle, but that was where my thinks took me.  So, read this Alma thing, and then let's move on....

Alma 48: 15

15.  And this was their faith, that by so doing God would prosper them in the land, or in other words, if they were faithful in keeping the commandments of God that he would prosper them in the land; yea, warn them to flee, or to prepare for war, according to their danger.

So, they moved from the land of Lehi north to the land of Nephi.

In their new home, Nephi and the newly dubbed "people of Nephi" prospered exceedingly in the land.  They worked hard and kept the commandments of The Lord, according to the Law of Moses.  Nephi constructed a temple after the pattern of the Temple of Solomon.

A few chapters back, when Lehi was talking to his posterity, he told his grand kids that if they ended up being cursed, that the cursing would be answered on the heads of their parents, and that in the latter days, they would be brought back into the light.  Here's the curse... 

2 Nephi 5: 21-23

21.  And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity.  For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto to my people The Lord did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.

22.  And thus saith The Lord God:  I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities.

23.  And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing.  And The Lord spake it, and it was done.

Raise your hand if you were offended by anything in those verses...

Yeah, taken at face value, without an understanding of the whole picture, I can see how this would make people stop and wonder what this was about.  Even a lot of devout believers in the BOM hurry over this part, I'd imagine.  This is something that's hard for me to write about because I don't have a clear understanding of it myself. 

But I'll tell you some of my thinks...

• I think there were other peoples living here in the Americas who were a darker skinned people, possibly even from the Orient and had crossed over the land bridge of Alaska during the ice age as science suggests.  I think that while Nephi and his followers kept their covenants of chastity and keeping their relations within the house of Israel, the Lamanites mixed and mingled with the natives, causing their offspring to inherit the darker skin.  Did Heavenly Father snap his fingers and these people's skin just turned dark in an instant.  I just have a hard time believing that.  Though it is important to make note of the fact that I DON'T KNOW.

• I think that the real cursing was being cut off from The Lord, cut off from the Holy Spirit.  In verse 24 it says that, because of the cursing, they did become idle and full of mischief and subtlety.  I don't think that the color of someone's skin causes them to be idle, mischievous or subtle (devious).  I think it is the absence of God and His direction in a person's life that does these things.

• I think the darker skin was to keep the 2 groups separate so that they wouldn't mix together and make one big semi-righteous group.  This would have caused the righteousness in them to slowly dwindle away to nothing.  You've just gotta have a Lamanite Army always trying to kill you to keep you on your toes, and on your knees.  

• I think this was the best strategy for The Lord to use in order to save the greater number of His children.  It really is the reason that the Book of Mormon was able to be written in the first place, and it will serve in the end to bless this ancient situation greatly.  

• I think that the reference in verse 21 to the Lamanites before the cursing being "white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome," refers to them having the Spirit with them.  And afterwards when they're called "loathsome", this refers to them losing that Spirit, and it showed in their countenance.  Those who have the Spirit of God with them have a certain thing about them, a spark, a radiance.  Those who don't, don't.  In Jacob 3: 8, Jacob tells the Nephites that, due to their iniquities, at the judgment bar the skins of the Lamanites would be more white than theirs, if they didn't repent.  And in Alma 23:18, speaking of the thousands of Lamanites who were converted to The Lord, "...and the curse of God did no more follow them."  Much later in 3rd Nephi 2: 15, it says of the righteous Lamanites, "And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites."   

Anyone still offended?

Oh. 

Well, I just don't think that the transformation spoken of that came over these people was a sudden and physical change from dark skin to light skin.  I just believe that it was the light in their eyes, in their countenance that signified that God was a part of their lives, and that they had been enlightened by the Spirit of God. 

Consider this...

Alma 5: 21

21.  I say unto you, ye will know at that day that ye cannot be saved; for there can no man be saved except his garments are washed white; yea, his garments must be purified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of Him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem His people from their sins.

Isaiah 1: 18

18.  Come now, and let us reason together, saith The Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

3 Nephi 19: 25 (When The Savior Himself appears to the people of the Book of Mormon)

25.  And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto Him; and His countenance did smile upon them, and the light of His countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof.

White is a symbol of purity and cleanliness according to the cultures of those who kept these records.  Is that a racist statement?  Well, sort of, at least, pretty politically incorrect according to today's standards, but I don't think it was meant that way.

My final argument is this:  I know that The Bible and The Book of Mormon are truly the words of Christ, our Lord.  I echo the words of Nephi back in...

1 Nephi 11: 17

17.  And I said unto him:  I know that He loveth His children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

That's about the best I can do.  If you are troubled by any of these things, please seek The Lord in prayer.  He said,

"Ask, and ye shall receive.  Knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

Peace be with you...

Journeyings without murmurings (1 Nephi 17)

How do you like your steak?

I guess a lot of people like their steak rare.  Me, I can maybe do a medium, but prefer medium well.  Just a slight touch of pink.

Lehi's family didn't eat their meat rare, they ate it raw.  Can you imagine?  I'd rather not, it grosses me out.  They did this for the same reason Nephi had to kill Laban and Zoram had to come with them into the wilderness:  Nobody's supposed to know where they went.  Eating cooked meat requires fire, and fire attracts attention. Eating raw meat requires Faith in God.

1 Nephi17: 1-4

1.  And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness; and we did travel nearly eastward from that time forth. And we did travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness; and our women did bear children in the wilderness.

2.  And so great were the blessings of The Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings.

3.  And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness.

4.  And we did sojourn for the space of many years, yea, even eight years in the wilderness.

Journeyings without murmurings. I'm so proud of Laman and Lemuel; they've come such a long way.  I mean look at this:

1 Nephi 17: 5-6

5.  And we did come to the land which we called Bountiful, because of its much fruit and also wild honey; and all these things were prepared of The Lord that we might not perish. And we beheld the sea, which we called Irreantum, which, being interpreted, is many waters.

6.  And it came to pass that we did pitch our tents by the seashore; and notwithstanding we had suffered many afflictions and much difficulty, yea, even so much that we cannot write them all, we were exceedingly rejoiced when we came to the seashore; and we called the place Bountiful, because of its much fruit.

Yup, no more trouble from Mr. Lame, er.. Laman.

Irreantum

This map does NOT represent any position The LDS Church has taken on the actual path Lehi took through Saudi Arabia, Yemen or Oman, and is NOT doctrine.  It is merely the educated guessings of people who like to spend time doing such things.  All we know is that Lehi's family went south by southeast for a while, and then East for a while, and the whole thing took 8 years, and they arrived at a seashore.  Since it matters NOT, this map suits me just fine.

1 Nephi 17: 8-9

8.  And it came to pass that The Lord spake unto me, saying: Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters.

9.  And I said: Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown me?

My level of Faith:

The Lord:  John Barney, thou shalt construct a ship.

John Barney:  What?  I can't do that; I don't know how.

Nephi's level of Faith:

The Lord:  Nephi, thou shalt construct a ship

Nephi:  OK, but where can I find the materials I need?

Replace "construct a ship" with pretty much anything and there's your lesson. "Teach a class", "give a talk", "be Elders' Quorum President", "pay your tithing"...etc. 

The good news is, Nephi has lots of willing helpers to aid him in this daunting task.  Well, I'm sure Zoram and brother Sam were willing to help.  Laman & Lemuel, and probably the Ishmael brothers too, refused to help, and ridiculed Nephi for even thinking that he could do it. 

Well, Nephi knows he can do it (faith), and I know he can do it (I've read it), and you know he can do it (testimony), and, interestingly enough, Laman and Lemuel know he can do it (experience)...

1 Nephi 17: 19

19.  And now it came to pass that I, Nephi, was exceedingly sorrowful because of the hardness of their hearts; and now when they saw that I began to be sorrowful they were glad in their hearts, insomuch that they did rejoice over me, saying: We knew that ye could not construct a ship for we knew that ye were lacking in judgment; wherefore, thou canst not accomplish so great a work.

This reminds me of that song in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" when the brothers, referring to Joseph's dreams that he will one day rule over them, sing:

His dreams of course will not come true
That is we think they won't come true
That is we hope they won't come true
What if he's right all along?

Anywayz, to enlist their help, Nephi gets on a soapbox for a couple of pages here, bearing a powerful testimony of The Lord's dealings with the House of Israel.  Always a favorite reference is the story of how The Lord parted the Red Sea hither and thither (I love that!! "Hither and Thither") and the children of Israel passed through on dry ground (they always mention the dry ground part).  Nephi also reminds Laman & Lemuel that they themselves have seen miracles:

1 Nephi 17: 45

45.  Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember The Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard His voice from time to time; and He hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel His words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder.

Notice the lesson on how The Lord often communicates with us: A still, small voice that we feel, as opposed to hear. Would you rather have that one or the thunder?

As Nephi speaks, the Spirit of The Lord comes upon him and he becomes a lion.  Have you ever seen someone become a righteous lion? I saw the bishop of my ward become a lion once. There's a huge difference between The Spirit transforming someone into a lion for a righteous purpose and a person getting worked up and yelling stuff. I would have loved to see this in person.

1 Nephi 17: 47-48

47.  Behold, my soul is rent with anguish because of you, and my heart is pained; I fear lest ye shall be cast off forever. Behold, I am full of the Spirit of God, insomuch that my frame has no strength.

48.  And now it came to pass that when I had spoken these words they were angry with me, and were desirous to throw me into the depths of the sea; and as they came forth to lay their hands upon me I spake unto them, saying: In the name of The Almighty God, I command you that ye touch me not, for I am filled with the power of God, even unto the consuming of my flesh; and whoso shall lay his hands upon me shall wither even as a dried reed; and he shall be as naught before the power of God, for God shall smite him.

Let's keep going.  I really love this part of the BOM

49-51

49.  And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto them that they should murmur no more against their father; neither should they withhold their labor from me, for God had commanded me that I should build a ship.

50.  And I said unto them: If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done.

51.  And now, if The Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?

And...1 Nephi 17: 54-55

54.  And it came to pass that I stretched forth my hand unto my brethren, and they did not wither before me; but The Lord did shake them, even according to the word which he had spoken.

55.  And now, they said: We know of a surety that The Lord is with thee, for we know that it is the power of The Lord that has shaken us. And they fell down before me, and were about to worship me, but I would not suffer them, saying: I am thy brother, yeah, even thy younger brother; wherefore, worship The Lord thy God, and honor they father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which The Lord thy God shall give thee.

One last strain of praise:  It must have been awesome to have to build a fire to make the tools to make the ship.  The Lord didn't want them building fires too much; that's why they had to eat their meat without cooking it.

1 Nephi 17: 12-13

12.  ...I will make they food become sweet, that ye cook it not;

That's pretty cool.  Still, I bet they took advantage of this fire to roast a hot dog or two, & maybe make s'mores. 

And one of my faves:

13.  And I will be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by Me that ye are led.

Having traversed a small part of my journey through the wilderness that is my life, and having experienced what I have experienced, and being where I am now, I know that it has been by Him that I have been led.  There may have been questions, doubtings and seeming coincidences along the way, but now I see the view more clearly, and it's beautiful.  I really like the idea that, when we get there, we will know that it was He who led (or was trying to lead) us. I'll hit this again in Ether 6: 12. 

Em's brother Parker took this at Cedar Breaks

Peace be with you...

I open at the close (1 Nephi 12)

When the movie "Titanic" came out a few years ago, my niece Annie was just a young girl of 9 years.  My sister Susie wanted desperately to see Titanic (who didn't?), but her daughter Annie beat her to it.  Annie came home from Titanic having seen the most wonderfulest movie of all time, and wanted so much to share it with her Mom.  Susie insisted that she didn't want to know anything about it, that she wanted to see it for herself.  Annie argued that she just wanted to tell her this one little part.  Susie continued to try and convince her that she didn't want to know, but Annie persisted.  Susie gave her permission to hear just one little insignificant part of the movie.  Annie says, "Leonardo dies!" and then burst into tears.  To this day, whenever someone from my family goes to a movie and someone else wants to know if it was good, the reply is always the same:  "Leonardo dies!"

Spoiler Alert!!!  If this is your 1st time reading the BOM and you don't want to know the ending yet, don't read 1st Nephi chapter 12 or this post.  Nephi is about to be shown 3rd Nephi, 4th Nephi, Mormon and Moroni in his continuing vision, and, like Titanic, it doesn't end well.  Leonardo does, indeed, die.

There are some good things, however.  Nephi witnesses what happens in the Americas when Christ is crucified in Jerusalem.  He witnesses The Savior's resurrection and appearance to his and many of his brothers' descendants.  And, he sees that for the majority of the next 1000 years, many of his people will choose righteousness.  It's just that one little part about all of them being slaughtered in battle that must have been hard to for Nephi to see.

dwin·dle

ˈdwɪndl/ Show Spelled [dwin-dl] Show IPA verb, -dled, -dling.

verb (used without object)

1. to become smaller and smaller; shrink; waste away: His vast fortune has dwindled away.

2. to fall away, as in quality; degenerate.

verb (used with object)

3. to make smaller and smaller; cause to shrink: Failing health dwindles ambition.

It's gotta be pretty depressing to see all of your posterity dead on a battlefield, but to Nephi, a spiritual giant with eternal perspective, it must have been devastating to see them dwindle and perish in unbelief.  After all, that was why he killed Laban, wasn't it?  The angel told him to kill Laban because it's better that he perish than a whole nation dwindles and perishes in unbelief (1st Nephi 4: 13).  Maybe the angel wasn't talking about just the Nephites.  Maybe he was talking about the whole House of Israel.  That's us, man.

Anywayz...

Photo by Victor Lucas

Chapter 12 continues Lehi's dream with the interpretation of the mists of darkness and the large and spacious building.  The photo above makes my hairs stand up just looking at it.  I would never try it, especially in foggy weather. 

1 Nephi 12: 16-18

16.  And the angel spake unto me, saying:  Behold the fountain of filthy water which thy father saw; yea, even the river of which he spake; and the depths thereof are the depths of hell.
17.  And the mists of darkness are the temptations of the devil, which blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men, and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are lost.

18.  And the large and spacious building, which thy father saw, is vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men.  And a great and a terrible gulf divideth them; yeah, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God, and the Messiah who is the Lamb of God, of whom the Holy Ghost beareth record, from the beginning of the world until this time, and from this time henceforth and forever.

The Holy Ghost conveys the Word of God to us, encouraging, teaching, guiding us along the narrow path to Christ and the fruit of His tree of love.  The call of the world can be loud and attractive, and its roads can be wide and seemingly easy to travel upon. They ain't easy, though, and continued traveling on them may end in disaster.  Eventually, there is ALWAYS an iceberg.  It's too late for Leonardo, but fortunately for us, there are plenty of lifeboats for all.



Forgiven -by Greg Olsen


Peace be with you...

Visions of Sugar Plums (1 Nephi 7-8)



We left off in chapter 7 where Nephi was lecturing Laman and them guys again because they were, once again, arguing about abandoning their cause and returning to live in Jerusalem.  Nephi's high and mighty lectures to his older brothers were often done at great peril to his own safety.  This time, Laman and those that listened to him decided to kill Nephi (again, yawn). 

1 Nephi 7: 16-20.

16.  And it came to pass that when I, Nephi, had spoken these words unto my brethren, they were angry with me.  And it came to pass that they did lay their hands upon me, for behold, they were exceedingly wroth, and they did bind me with cords, for they sought to take away my life, that they might leave me in the wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts.

17.  But it came to pass that I prayed unto The Lord, saying:  O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound.

18.  And it came to pass that when I had said these words, behold, the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet, and I stood before my brethren, and I spake unto them again.

19.  And it came to pass that they were angry with with me again, and sought to lay hands upon me; but behold, one of the daughters of Ishmael, yea, and also her mother and one of the sons of Ishmael, did plead with my brethren, insomuch that they did soften their hearts; and they did cease striving to take away my life.

You might remember a few posts back where I gave an opinion on the mental stability of Nephi's brother Laman.  I said something to the effect that, in my opinion, Laman may have been bi-polar or schizophrenic.  It's in verse 20 of chapter 7 that the idea first occurred to me.

20.  And it came to pass that they were sorrowful, because of their wickedness, insomuch that they did bow down before me, and did plead with me that I would forgive them of the thing that they had done against me.

This behavior may seem nice and not so nuts as I'm sayin', but Jiminy Cricket, is it normal to go from calm to angry to murderous to begging Nephi for forgiveness, only to repeat this pattern again and again.  "Do calm and murder go together?  Calm and murder!?  Murder!?" (That's a movie quote from Don Knotts in "The Ghost & Mr. Chicken")  Well, I'm kidding about the mental illness stuff, of course, but how flip floppy can you be and not be a politician?

 

But, Nephi's no fool, no sirree.  He's gonna live to be 103.  Well, maybe not 103, but he's no fool.  Did you see that faith?  "According to my faith in Thee, give me strength to burst these bands with which I am bound."  Is there a principle there?  Yup, and it's a meaty one:  If we have faith in The Lord, He will strengthen us so that we can have power over those things that bind us down, and be able to stand before any opposition.  Whatchya think?

Chapter 8 is Lehi's dream of the Tree of Life.  I was having a good dream this morning when my alarm went off at 7:35, blowing the characters to smitherines and grinding the details into powder.  I rarely remember my dreams.  I'm glad Lehi remembered this one, and wrote it down for us.  And, I'm glad that Nephi wrote it down again (for a reason he knew not). 

 LEHI'S DREAM

Lehi's dream has been talked about, told about, taught about, written about, thought about, read about, even dreamed about 6 billion times (give or take a few hundred).  I've been wondering how I should approach it.  What keeps coming to my mind is the fact that if you take a look at my life at some random moment of my past, you will find me in different places within this dream, taking part in the plot sometimes as one type of character, and other times as anudder.  The dream isn't divided merely into those who make it to the tree of life and those who don't.  I have said that I hope that I can be a Nephi and not a Laman, but there are many levels in between these two.  Maybe I should have said that I hope that I can be a man who is more like Nephi than Laman (a lot more), and I am.  I punched my brother in the chin once 'cause he was teasing me, but I've never bound him with strong cords and left him in the wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts.

I guess I'll talk about where I am (or have been) on the path, and you can think about where you are.  Also try to remember where you were 5 years ago, and where you are determined to be 5 years from now.

Lehi talked of several different types of people in his dream, some walking on the path, others wandering away from it.  I used to question where I was on this path & how close was I getting to the tree, thinking in terms of FINALLY arriving at the goal of partaking of the fruit.  That was dumb.  I have already partaken of the fruit, and have done so many times, which is both a good thing and a bad thing.  But, let's discuss the players in the story...

Lehi:  He didn't see the path.  He was walking aimlessly through a dark and dreary wasteland.  Getting a little worried, he prayed for mercy.  After he prayed he found himself in a big field with a tree in it.  He went to the tree and picked some fruit and ate it.  It was delicious, and filled his entire soul (body and spirit -D & C 88: 15) with exceedingly great joy.  Wow!  That's a lot o' joy. 

Nephi, Sam & Sariah:  They were, as my brother Bob likes to say from his Navy days, milling about smartly, not knowing which way to go.  The Prophet of The Lord called to them and told them the way.  They followed him to the tree and ate 'em some yummy fruit.  And there was much rejoicing.

Laman and Lemuel:  Like their brothers and Mom, they didn't know where to go either.  The Prophet of The Lord called to them and told them the way.  They didn't follow.

I took this photo after Emilie and I had driven the very steep road (16% grade) out of Black Canyon National Park in the fog.  Scary.

Others A:  These came to the path and started following it toward the tree, but then it got all foggy and they lost their way.  When you get lost, you should stop where you are and call out for help.  They didn't do that.  They just kept walking into the fog and got more loster.

Others B:  These more savvy folks started following the path, but when it got foggy, they grabbed the handy guard rail that ran along the length of the path, and found the tree.  After tasting the fruit, however, because the world made fun of them, they got embarrassed and walked away.  It says they went into forbidden paths.  That seems to be a bigger deal to me, over just being lost.  The difference may be that they tasted the fruit, and so they knew what it was and where it was, and chose to leave it.  Having read and understood the scriptures (handy guard rail, or Iron Rod as Lehi likes to call it) they decided to follow forbidden paths knowing where they led.  Man, I don't ever want to be an Others B.  But, of course, I have, in a way.

Fine dressed people in the building:  Lehi noticed a huge building sort of near the tree, but floating up in the air.  It was filled with men, women, both old and young.  They pointed and laughed at people having a sweet lunch of fruit snacks under a nice tree.  Others B, for some reason, felt shame from being ridiculed, and up and left.  I wonder what the fruit tasted like to Others B?  Was it sweet above all that was sweet, and filled their souls with exceedingly great joy?  Was it easy for them to walk away because it didn't do much for them?  In my opinion, to those who tasted the fruit, it was sweet, it was delicious, and it made them happy.  Whatever influence it was that made them decide to leave, they most likely suffered from the dreaded syndrome I talked about in my last post (I forget the title).

Others C:   These guys followed much the same pattern as Others B did.  They held fast to the Iron Rod and followed it along the true path all the way to the tree.  Having made it, they fell down and had 'em some fruit.  What made Others C fare better than Others B?  Why did they stay?  It says they fell down and then ate the fruit.  I've always thought this was a metaphor for humility, and it is, but I was talking to my wife's son McKay last night about this stuff and he offered an insight that I feel good about.  His thought ran along this line.  Others C, after following the path, holding fast to the Iron Rod, all the way to the tree, recognized The Savior and his atoning sacrifice for them, and their falling down was, in effect, prayer.  I can totally see the truth in that.  Of course, the Spirit teaches different things to each of us according to The Lord's knowledge of us.  He knows our needs, and He knows that I need to pray more.  Definitely need to pray more.

Others D:  These idiots are feeling their way towards the building.  Things that stimulate the senses, like alcohol, drugs, exercise, movies, making out, food, soda, video games, pornography, fishing, reading, music, etc, etc, can be good, bad, great or horrible, or even a combination of good & bad when not moderated.  If the sensory input you seek after comes out of the big building, or what Nephi later calls "the pride of the world", then, as my Dad used to say, "you in a heap o' trouble, boy."  Some of these sight-impaired beloved children of God made it all the way into the building and started laughing at the people at the tree.  Others fell into a dirty river and were drowned, or wandered down "strange roads" with a downward slope of 16% grade. 

I like this:  1 Nephi 8: 33

33.  And great was the multitude that did enter into that strange building.  And after they did enter into that building they did point the finger of scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also; but we heeded them not.

Have you ever had someone in the building point their finger of scorn at you?  I have.  And, I love it.  It means I'm doing something right for a change.  This brings me to how I have personalized this story.  I told you before that at certain times of my life I have fit into different character types in this vision.  I'll tell you a little more about the talk I had last night with McKay.  We were talking about the gospel, and I was telling him how I like scriptural references to light and darkness.  Like, "[Jesus is] the light and the life of the world, a light that shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not." (-D & C 34: 2)

Here goes one of my famous Bus Stories

I used to drive a city bus.  Many of our routes went through BYU campus.  This was the only connection for bus riders who lived in south Utah County.  I remember a kid coming out of the BYU Wilkinson center and getting on my bus.  It was my last trip of the night.  He had nails that had been hammered all over his head in place of hair.  He had piercings in many and divers places, and smelled like a chimney.  His shirt looked like a black t-shirt, but when he went by me after paying his fare, on the back of it in large print was, in the words of Ralph on "A Christmas Story", the queen mother of dirty words.  I didn't have the energy for throwing him off the bus for profanity, I just wanted to go home.  So, anywayz, I listened to his conversation with another guy.  He was going on and on about how much he hates BYU.  He hates being on BYU campus so much because of the way people look at him.  They stare at him, and they judge him, he says.  I heard that lots of times, people hating to be on BYU campus.  Besides the obvious "people look at you because you're begging them to" reply that I was thinking, I also thought, that's what that means:  "A light that shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not."  For some reason, this guy feels uncomfortable in a place that, ideally at least, is centered in the Gospel.  He doesn't like to stand directly in the light. 

So how does that relate to me and Lehi's Dream?  I have struggled my whole 45-year life to live the gospel principles that I believe in, and to be worthy to have the Spirit with me.  Many's the time I have failed at that.  Many's the time; that's why I use the word "struggle".  If I were to place myself in Lehi's Dream during a time when my struggle was getting the better of me, you might find me in the big building.  You might find me sitting down on the path, taking a break.  You might find me wandering out into the mists of darkness a little, just to see what's out there, thinking it will be easy to get back if I keep one eye on the trail.  Sometimes I have been on the trail holding onto the Iron Rod with both hands, making steady progress.  Other times I have been on the path, but maybe only having a finger or two on the Iron Rod, and my attention is directed away from the tree, and toward the misty underbrush, or toward the building.  I have made it to the tree and partaken of the fruit, and really felt that joy that Lehi talks about, only to walk away from it for a minute and lose my way.  But, I have always returned to the path and the Iron Rod, as many times as it has taken, and returned to the tree to eat once again of the joyous fruit. 

I like standing in the light.  I feel at home there.  I like feeling the Spirit of The Lord.  When I walk away from that light into the darkness that surrounds on all sides, I feel uncomfortable.  I feel and know that it's not the place I want to be, and my greatest desire becomes trying to get back into that light, to get back home.

I guess that's enough for today.  Nephi is going to go on for several chapters talking about his Dad's vision, his own vision, and the interpretation of his Dad's dream. 

Tune in next time when we try to reap what he sowed.

Peace be with you...