A Ruler and A Teacher

1 Nephi 2:21 - 42, NC 1 Nephi 1 par. 9

And inasmuch as thy brethren shall rebel against thee they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.  And inasmuch as thou shalt keep my commandments thou shalt be made a ruler and a teacher over thy brethren.  For behold in that day that they shall rebel against me I will curse them with a sore curse and they shall have no power over thy seed except they shall rebel against me also.  And if it so be that they rebel against me they shall be a scourge unto thy seed to stir them up in the ways of remembrance.

The first question that comes to mind is why does the Lord tell Nephi that if Laman and Lemuel rebel against Nephi they will be cut off from the presence of the Lord?

Is this similar to what was told to Abraham?

"And I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee." (Abraham 2:11, T&C 145, Abraham 3 par. 1)

Is this in any way related to what was told to the Prophet Joseph by the Lord in Liberty Jail?

"Cursed are all those that shall lift up the heel against mine anointed, says the Lord, and cry, They have sinned, when they have not sinned before me, says the Lord, but have done that which was meet in mine eyes, and which I commanded them.  But those who cry transgression do it because they are the servants of sin, and are the children of disobedience themselves, and those who swear false against my servants, that they might bring them unto bondage and death, woe unto them because they have offended my little ones.  They shall be severed from the ordinances of my house, their basket shall not be full, their Houses and their barns shall famish, and they themselves shall be despised by those that flattered them.  They shall not have right to the Priesthood, nor their posterity after them, from generation to generation.  It had been better for them that a millstone had been hanged about their necks and they drowned in the depth of the sea." (D&C 121:16 -22, T&C 138 pars. 13 - 14)

By what we looked at before in the post "There Came Many Prophets" we touched on priesthood being an association or fellowship with angels, The Lord and ultimately The Father.

By the Lord telling Nephi that if his brothers rebel against Nephi they will be cut of from the presence of the Lord is the Lord telling Nephi that He will bless Nephi's brothers if they bless Nephi and He will curse Nephi's brothers if they curse Nephi?

Is the Lord indicating in the Book of Mormon that Nephi has now become one of His anointed and that if Laman and Lemuel rebel and say that Nephi has transgressed or sinned when Nephi hasn't that they, Laman and Lemuel, and their posterity from generation to generation, will not have priesthood, or in other words an association with the Lord because of their rebellion?

As we look at the Book of Mormon is this what occurred?

How many generations passed before the descendants of Laman and Lemuel were brought back into association with the Lord?

Now the question that really hurts.

Is it possible for me to rebel against one of the Lord's anointed?

What would that look like?

If the Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever, and I am found rebelling like Laman and Lemuel what cursing or condemnation would come down upon me and my posterity for generations to come?

This seems like a very serious matter.

To me, it seems that for the Lord to declare such a fate upon individuals and their posterities this must be super serious for Him.

Is it because of the message that the Lord's annointed bring that this is such a serious matter?

Is it because one who is the Lord's anointed is not on their own errand but meekly completing the Lord's errand that it is so serious to rebel against them?

Nephi is further told that if he keeps the Lord's commandments that he will be made a ruler and a teacher over his brethren.

There are two things that come to my mind with this statement.

1) Nephi was chosen before he was born.  He was one of the souls who condescended to come down to save others.

"Now the Lord had shewn unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was, and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones.  And God saw these souls, that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them and he said, These I will make my rulers." (Abraham 3:22 - 23, T&C 145 Abraham 6 par. 1)

Our understanding of a ruler in God's terms is a teacher seeking to persuade all men to work righteousness before God.

"And I would that ye should remember that the Lord God ordained priests after his holy order, which was after the order of his Son, to teach these things unto the people.  And those priests were ordained after the order of his Son in a manner that thereby the people might know in what manner to look forward to his Son for redemption.  And this is the manner after which they were ordained:  Being called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works; in the first place being left to choose good or evil, therefore they having chosen good and exercising exceeding great faith are called with a holy calling, yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with and according to a preparatory redemption for such...And thus being called by this holy calling and ordained unto the high priesthood of the holy order of God to teach his commandments unto the children of men, that they also might enter into his rest,..." (Alma 13:1 - 3, NC Alma 9 par. 10)

2) Those who are priests after this order, teachers of righteousness, His rulers, have dominion.

This is how God interprets dominion.

"...the word "dominion" in the understanding of the gentile can convey the impression of a prison warden exercising control over captives.  I think the word "dominion" should be understood instead to convey the idea of a gardener who is responsible for making the garden thrive, grow and bear fruit.  To be clear, the three greatest examples of wielding "dominion" in the correct manner as we should understand it are, first: Christ, who is probably without any peer, unquestionably the greatest example of one holding the greatest dominion, and who also likewise showed the greatest example of how to wield dominion.  He beseeched people to believe.  He pled with them for their own good.  He knelt to serve them.  He denied that He had a kingdom of this world. (John 18:36)  He tried to prepare people for a better one.  But He was more intelligent than they all and He was the greatest of them all. (Abr. 3:19)  Unquestionably holding the greatest dominion and He wore it as a light thing.  His yoke was easy. (Matt. 11:30)
In this world, Adam, after Christ held the greatest dominion. (Gen. 1:26 -28)  But Adam taught and pled and instructed (Moses 5:12) but did not abridge the agency of his children, even when one of his sons killed another of his sons.  Adam did not execute Cain.  Cain was sent away.  Adam held dominion, but he exercised it like our Lord, pleading for the interest of others.  Adam invited and solicited all to obey God, hoping for their best interests.
The third great example of holding dominion in a godly way was Moses.  He is called in scripture "meek above all men which were upon the face of the earth." (Num. 12:3) and yet gentiles depict him as a bully and strongman.  Moses saw no reason to be jealous when others were out prophesying.  "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them." (Num. 11:26 - 29)  Moses, like Adam and Christ, is an example of how the word dominion should be understood.
All three were gardeners responsible for trying to make their garden thrive, grow and bear fruit.  In reality, those who have held the greatest dominion given by God have invariably lived lives of meekness and service.  They were opposite of what gentiles regard as a strongman.  They were the opposite of a dictator or boss.  They were more like loving grandfathers, gentle gardeners, and encouraging friends -- trying to get the best from those who would allow them to teach." (Things to Keep Us Awake at Night, Denver Snuffer, St George Conference, Mar. 2017, pg. 19)

The Lord further told Nephi that in that day that Laman and Lemuel should rebel against Him, the Lord, that He, the Lord would curse them with a sore cursing.

This eventually took place and the Lord's words were fulfilled every whit.

"And behold, the words of the Lord had been fulfilled unto my brethren which he spake concerning them that I should be their ruler and their teacher according to the commandments of the Lorduntil the time they sought to take away my life.  Wherefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilledwhich he spake unto me, saying that inasmuch as they will not hearken to thy words they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And behold, they were cut off from his presence. 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 exceeding fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.  and thus saith the Lord God, I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people save they shall repent of their iniquities.  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 and it was done.  And because of their cursing which was upon them they did become an idle people full of mischief and subtlety and did seek in the wilderness for bests of prey.  And the Lord God said unto me, They shall be a scourge unto thy seed to stir them up in remembrance of me, and inasmuch as they willnot remember me and hearken unto my words they shall scourge them even unto destruction." (2 Nephi 5:19 - 25, NC 2 Nephi 4 par. 4)


Alma, speaking to the people of Amonihah exhorted them to remember what had taken place so that they would not befall the same fate.

"Behold, do ye not remember the words which he spake unto Lehi, saying that inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land?  And again it is said that inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments, ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.  Now I would that ye should remember that inasmuch as the Lamanites have not kept the commandments fo God, they have been cut off from the presence of the Lord.  Now we see that the word of the Lord has been verified in this thing, and the Lamanites have been cut off from his presence from the beginning of their transgressions in the land." (Alma 9:13 - 14, NC Alma 7 par. 3)

We see again that being prospered in the land involves an association or enjoyment of the presence of the Lord.

We are either propered or cut off from His presence.

The curse and being cut off had the effect of the Lamanites becoming idle and full of mischief and subtlety.

They are later described as an indolent people who delight in bloodshed.

Is it possible for this very cursing and cutting off to happen to me?

I believe so.

I believe this is why it is so very important for me to look at a message that is claimed to be from the Lord and determine if it really is from God.

As unlikely as the source of the message may be, what are the consequences of hardening my heart and not hearkening to the words that have been deliveredby one who is anointed of the Lord?

Isn't the above a terrible fate?

Would the Lord be any less serious today about a message He sends through one of His anointed than He was with Laman and Lemuel?

Finally we see as well that the Book of Mormon bears out that the Lord's words were fulfilled every whit about the Lamanites being a scourge to the Nephites.

"And it came to pass that they came many times against us, the Nephites, to battle.  But our kings and our leaders were mighty men in the faith of the Lord, and they taught the people the ways of the Lord.  Wherefore, we withstood the Lamanites, and swept them away out of our lands, and began to fortify our cities, or whatsoever place of our inheritance.  And we multiplied exceedingly, and spread upon the face of the land, and became exceeding rich in gold, and in silver, and in precious things, and in fine workmanship of wood, in buildings, and in machinery, and also in iron, and copper, and brass, and steel, making all manner of tools of every kind to till the ground, and weapons of war, yea, the sharp pointed arrow, and the quiver, and the dart, and the javelin, and all preparations for war.  And thus being prepared to meet the Lamanites, they did not prosper against us.  But the word of the Lord was verified which he spake unto our fathers, saying that inasmuch as ye will keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land." (Jarom 1:7 - 9, NC Jarom 1 par. 4)

"Behold, it came to pass that three hundred and twenty years had passed away, and the more wicked part of the Nephites were destroyed.  For the Lord would not suffer, after he had led them out of theland of Jerusalem, and kept and preserved them from falling into the hands of their enemies, ye, he would not suffer that the words should not be verified which he spake unto our fathers, saying that inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments, ye shall not prosper in the land.  Wherefore, the Lord did visit them in great judgement; nevertheless he did spare the righteous, that they should not perish, but did deliver them out of the hands of their enemies." (Omni 1:5 - 7, NC Omni 1 par. 3)

Is the account of Nephi speaking with the Lord included in the Book of Mormon to show a pattern that has existed from the beginning of how the Lord calls someone to His holy ministry?

Are the details of the cursings to warn us not to reject the words of one of the Lord's anointed?

If we reject the words of one of the Lord's anointed can we expect to become dark and loathsome and filthy and idle even to the point of eventually delighting in bloodshed?

Does this account show as well as all of the other scriptural accounts that the Lord Himself, in person, calls an individual to His ministry?

Is this how one would enter in through the gate?

We are told that the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; the Lord Himself.

If someone claims to have a word from God and they have not entered through this gate are they a thief and a robber?

If I exercise faith and seek the Lord diligently with lowliness of heart can this likewise happen to me?

What a remarkable experience.