And it came to pass that he called the name of the river, Laman, and it emptied into the Red Sea; and the valley was in the borders near the mouth thereof. And when my father saw that the waters of the river emptied into the fountain of the Red Sea, he spake unto Laman, saying: O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness! And he also spake unto Lemuel: O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord! Now this he spake because of the stiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel; for behold they did murmur in many things against their father, because he was a visionary man, and had led them out of the land of Jerusalem, to leave the land of their inheritance, and their gold, and their silver, and their precious things, to perish in the wilderness. And this they said he had done because of the foolish imaginations of his heart. And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their father. And they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them. Neither did they believe that Jerusalem, that great city, could be destroyed according to the words of the prophets. And they were like unto the Jews who were at Jerusalem, who sought to take away the life of my father.
I would like to acknowledge at this point that I need to repent.
Because of the intended focus on a certain audience, I initially decided to reference all scriptures to the LDS standard version of scriptures as I concluded that the newly restored scriptures would probably be completely rejected by my intended audience, even though, as a group, we have been studying the Book of Mormon from the new scriptures.
Last Sunday I was listening to a talk and in it there was reference made to the glorious work the Lord has accomplished in working with some to restore, as close as possible, the scriptures and the revelations of the Prophet Joseph; removing all the uninspired and unauthorized additions and subtractions made by Oliver Cowdery and others now found in the LDS Doctrine and Covenants, Book of Mormon and Bible.
I have seen the Lord bring this work about and I have also witnessed that the Lord has personally accepted this work.
I believe God works to bring about the salvation of all of His children on the earth and by working a work to correct His words He has created again an introductory canon of scripture that is sacred and that will give a correct understanding of His character perfections and attributes in order that any one of His children may exercise faith in Him unto salvation.
I have been wrong and ungrateful to God for not including references to the new scriptures.
From here on I will include both references.
I will include standard LDS scripture references for those who do not have the new scritpures in their possession.
For the new scriptures the referencing to the books is as follows:
Old Covenants - OC (the books of the Old Testament including the Book of Moses revealed by the Prophet Joseph)
New Covenants - NC (the books of the New Testament and the Book of Mormon with all of the Prophet Joseph's corrections)
Teachings and Commandments - TC (The History of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Doctrine and Covenants (corrected), the Book of Abraham and recent revelations and books (this is an open canon))
If a correction has been made to the text or punctuation then those using the standard LDS scriptures will note that what is referenced will read differently in their scriptures than what is put here. I will use the corrected version here.
As a group, we are aware that this point in the record is the beginning of what could be titled Nephi's walk.
If you are a sincere seeker of truth we would invite you to read the book The Second Comforter, Conversing with The Lord Through the Veil, by Denver C. Snuffer Jr. It will have a much more detailed review of this journey Nephi makes that describes principles that anyone may use to enter back into the presence of the Lord in the flesh.
We will discuss some of these principles that we have discussed together as a group in this blog, but again, what is put here is completely inadequate and meant only to possibly inspire individuals to undertake their own more indepth and exhaustive study.
In the previous post "God's Way of Teaching?" we discussed how what occurred to Lehi is a very compressed account.
We shared what the prophet Joseph taught.
"We consider that God has created man with a mind capable of instruction, and a faculty which may be enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated from heaven to the intellect; and that the nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and is caught up to dwell with Him. But we consider that this is a station to which no man ever arrived in a moment: he must have been instructed in the government and laws of that kingdom by proper degrees, until his mind is capable in some measure of comprehending the propriety, justice, equality, and consistency of the same." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 51)
We can clearly see that Lehi has arrived, "...at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and is caught up to dwell with Him."
What we are not privy to in this account is everything that details how Lehi's views became clearer, what greater enjoyments he had, how he had overcome the evils of his life and lost his desire for sin, how he was instructed in the government and laws of God's kingdom (family) by proper degrees in order for his mind to be capable in some measure of comprehending the propriety, justice, equality, and consistency of what he saw.
There is a tremendous amount that is left out here.
As we begin this part of the record that describes Nephi's walk we now start to see expanded before us in greater clarity what principles must be applied by any individual, in order for our minds which are capable of instruction and which have a faculty to be enlarged according to the heed and diligence we give to the light of heaven communicated to our intellect, to have our views become clearer, have greater enjoyments, overcome evils until we lose the desire for sin, become instructed in the government and laws, propriety and justice, equality and consistency of the kingdom (family) of God until we can be wrapped in the glory of our Maker and be caught up to dwell with Him.
Having seen already what the end goal isfrom Lehi's account, we now have our minds oriented as to where Nephi's walk will lead for any individual who applies the principles Nephi has recorded here.
This section of the Book of Mormon is a "how to" section; a "Coming into the Presence of the Lord for Dummies" book so to speak. (I know I am a dummy when it come to this so I thank Nephi)
One of the principles taught by the Book of Mormon is oppostion.
"For it must needs be that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad." (2 Nephi 2:11, NC 2 Nephi 1 par. 7)
Is it more productive to look at this situation with Laman and Lemuel to pronounce condemnation upon them claiming "they are along for the journey to provide the opposition," or is it more instructive to look at the principle in play here and apply it to ourselves to see if we are suffering from the same ailment?
Did Nephi include this to poo poo his brothers or to accuse them?
Did the Lord give these words to the prophet Joseph to shame Laman and Lemuel?
We don't believe so.
We believe that the Lord would like us all to look at ourself and maybe see if we have need to repent.
What is the principle in play?
We believe it has to do with, "they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them."
It does not say that they knew "not of" the dealings of that God who had created them.
If Lehi and Sariah were devout and righteous would they have neglected to teach Laman and Lemuel of God's dealings among men?
Nephi declared at the very beginning of the record, "I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father."
Can we safely consider that Laman and Lemuel had the same experience; they were taught somewhat in all the learning of their father?
We see in the verses at the beginning of this post that Lehi sought diligently, as a loving father, to persuade Laman and Lemuel to work righteousness.
We can be sure that Lehi taught them of the things of God; His works among men.
When Nephi and his brothers were sent by an angel to make a third attempt to recover the brass plates from Laban, Nephi convinced Laman and Lemuel to be faithful by drawing their minds to the scriptural record.
"Therefore let us go up. Let us be strong like unto Moses; for he truly spake unto the waters of the Red Sea and they divided hither and thither and our fathers came through out of captivity on dry ground and the armies of Pharaoh did follow and were drowned in the waters of the Red Sea. Now behold, ye know that this is true;..." (1 Nephi 4:2 - 3, NC 1 Nephi 1 par. 15)
Just these two examples show that Laman and Lemuel were familiar with the dealings of God among men and in one instance, at least, were convinced to be faithful by an appeal to the record of God's dealings.
What then does it mean to know not the dealings of that God who had created them?
How might we find ourselves in the very same situation and in need of repentance (turning to God)?
Let's ask a question.
Were Laman and Lemuel sane, intelligent, rational human beings?
What would happen in our society if an already controversial father of a wealthy landowning family woke up one morning and declared that the Lord had instructed him in a dream that the whole family should leave their home, their real estate holdings, their IRAs, their stock portfolios, their bank accounts and safety deposit boxes, their thriving businesses, everything "precious", and take tents and supplies and flee into the wilderness because our society was about to be destroyed and the people of the United States of America were about to be subjected, killed and led away into slavery by a foreign power?
Could it be safely stated that the above scenario is similar to what Laman and Lemuel and everyone in the family faced at Jerusalem?
If any member of the above mentioned family were against such actions, as giving everything up and leaving, could they not easily have their controversial father declared incompetent and have him admitted to an institution for the mentally ill and administer to him heavy doses of mind altering drugs?
Would it be an understatement today to say such a declaration was a foolish imagination of someone's heart?
If we are to get any benefit from this account we have to ask ourselves, "What would be our reaction to something like this?"
Does this experience show that God does things, in His wisdom, that appear totally irrational and destructive, even suicidal, according to our currently held beliefs, ideas or traditions?
What is the only way we would be able to know that we were not acting in total self destructive mode by going along with such a "preposterous" proposition?
A little later in the record Laman and Lemuel ask Nehi a question concerning some things that their father had declared and Nephi asked them a question.
"And I said unto them, Have ye inquired of the Lord? (1 Nephi 15:8, NC 1 Nephi 4 par. 2)
Laman and Lemuel's answer is very telling.
"We have not, for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us." (1 Nephi 15:9, NC 1 Nephi 4 par. 2)
Nephi responded,
"How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish because of the hardness of your hearts? Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said, If ye will not harden your hearts and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you?" (1 Nephi 15:10 - 11, NC 1 Nephi 4 par. 2)
Does it mean that we have not personally experienced or sought to experience the act of asking the Lord for answers and receiving them from Him?
By not inquiring of the Lord are we breaking His commandments?
Is it ok for anyone to be skeptical of anything that is put forth as something that comes from God?
We believe so. We believe that is healthy.
Does it then become our responsibility to look into a matter, to study it out and then go to God and ask if our conlusions are correct?
the Prophet Joseph taught,
"President Joseph Smith read the 14th chapter of Ezekiel - said the Lord had declared by the Prophet, that the people should each one stand for himself, and depend on no man or men in that state of corruption of the Jewish church - that righteous persons could only deliver their own souls- applied it to the present state of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints- said if the people departed from the Lord, they must fall- that they were depending on the Prophet, hence were darkened in their minds, in consequence of neglecting the duties devolving upon themselves..." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pgs. 237 - 238)
Are we darkened in our minds if we depend on any man or men and do not perform the duty devolving upon ourself to find truth from God by asking Him?
Are we departing from the Lord if we rely on others instead of asking God?
By going to God and asking, do we have any assurances that God will respond to us personally?
"If any of you lack wisdom, ask God, who gives to all liberally and upbraids not, and it shall be given you;" (James 1:5, NC Jacob 1 par. 1)
This is a sure promise. God will speak to each and every one of us.
As a group, we believe God will speak to each and every one of us about any matter. There are no limitations to what we are allowed to ask.
If we are not prepared to receive the answer God will set about to prepare us to receive it according to our diligence and heed to His commandments to us individually.
When the Father and the Son appeared to the Prophet Joseph they declared concerning the creeds that they had, "...a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof." (Joseph Smith History verse 19, T&C 1, JSH Part 2 par. 5)
We believe that to "deny the power of godliness" is to "know not the dealings of that God who created us". It is to say "He maketh no such things known unto us".
Nephi declared,
"And now my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts, and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray, for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray. But behold I say unto you that ye must pray always and not faint, that ye must not perform anything unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of they soul." (2 Nephi 32:8 - 9, NC 2 Nephi 14 par. 3)
We believe that the opposing priciples the Lord is displaying here are the opposition between,
Pray and ask always and by that means come to know personally, by experience, the dealings of that God who has created us on the one hand.
and
The Lord maketh no such things known unto us therefore we will not pray and so we know not personally the dealing of that God who has created us on the other hand.
The power of godliness is manifest on the one hand versus the denying the power of godliness manifest on the other hand.
The one in opposition to the other.
As we consider our walk before God, or we consider beginning our walk before God, would it be good to look inward and sicerely ask ourselves,
"Do I believe that no matter how irrational or ludicrous a work may seem to me, if I ask in faith believing, God will talk to me personally to either soften my heart to believe in the work or to warn me that it is not His work?"
or
"Do I believe that God has already made all His will known therefore I will not ask for He will make no such thing known unto me?"
We believe that the accounts of Laman and Lemuel are not included to allow us to condemn and accuse them. That would be wrong. That would be acting in the role of Satan the accuser of the brethren for surely Laman and Lemuel are our brethren.
Their accounts are included to show us what Alma taught in order that we may avoid a similar fate.
"...he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word...And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and they are taken captive by the Devil and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell." (Alma 12:10 - 11, NC Alma 9 par. 3)
Seeing now, in stark contrast, the opposing principle to the beginning of Nephi's walk we can better look at ourselves and see if we are truly following the same path as Nephi or if we are in an opposing path; All of this so we can repent.
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