And we began to be exceeding sorrowful, and my brethren were about to return unto my father in the wilderness. But behold, I said unto them that as the Lord liveth and as we live we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us. Wherefore, let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; therefore let us go down to the land of our father's inheritance, for behold, he left gold and silver and all manner of riches. And all this he hath done because of the commandments of the Lord; for he knew that Jerusalem must be destroyed because of the wickedness of the people. For behold, they have rejected the words of the prophets. Wherefore, if my father should dwell in the land after he hath been commanded to flee out of the land, behold he would also perish. Wherefore, it must needs be that he flee out of the land. And behold, it is wisdom in God that we should obtain these records that we may preserve unto our children the language of our fathers; and also that we may preserve unto them the words which have been spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets which have been delivered unto them by the Spirit and power of God since the world began, even down unto this present time. And it came to pass that after this manner of language did I persuade my brethren that they might be faithful in keeping the commandments of God.
Is it possible for one who is "favored" of the Lord to be perplexed?
Nephi, in this account, states that "...WE began to be exceeding sorrowful."
As a group we consider that this means that Nephi was just as sorrowful and perplexed as his brothers that Laban had not responded to their request through Laman.
Is this something to be expected in this life, even when someone is on the Lord's errand?
In the Book of Mosiah we read of a small group moved upon by the Lord to perform an errand.
"Now it came to pass...the sons of Mosiah...took a small number with them and returned to their father the king and desired of him that he would grant unto them that they might with those whom they had selected go up to the land of Nephi, that they might preach the things which they had heard, and that they might impart the word of God to their brethren the Lamanites, that perhaps they might bring them to a knowledge of the Lord their God and convince them of the iniquities of their fathers, and that perhaps they might cure them of their hatred towards the Nephites, that they might also be brought to rejoice in the Lord their God, that they might be friendly to one another, and that there should be no more contentions in all the land which the Lord their God had given them." (Mosiah 28:1 - 2, NC Mosiah 12 par. 1)
"King Mosiah went and inquired of the Lord if he would let his sons go up among the Lamanites to preach the word. And the Lord said unto Mosiah, Let them go up, for many shall believe on their words and they shall have Eternal life. And I will deliver thy sons out of the hands of the Lamanites." (Mosiah 28:6 - 7, NC Mosiah 12 par. 2)
Since the Lord was the author of this work then all things should have gone easy peasy lemon squeezy right?
If the Lord is in something doesn't everything just fall into place?
Wouldn't everything falling into place be a sure sign that the Lord was at least pleased with what is being done and also prospering the labor?
What was the experience of the sons of Mosiah?
"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us and said, Go amongst thy brethren the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success. And now behold, we have come and been forth amongst them, and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to house relying upon the mercies of the world, not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God." (Alma 26:27 - 28, NC Alma 14 par. 20)
Is it more common in this world to experience opposition, reversals, perplexities, etc. while trying to perform a labor, keep a commandment, from the Lord or is it more common that things go smoothly?
What do the scriptures teach us?
Right from the beginning of the Book of Mormon; Was Lehi prospered in the labor he was commanded to perform from the Lord in prophesying to the people of Jerusalem?
Did Lehi run into perplexities and obstacles trying to keep the Lord's commands to him?
When the Lord commands a work to be done and obstacles are encountered where do the obstacles come from?
Does God create the perplexing situations and the obstacles or do men?
Is God a babysitter?
Do the obstacles come from the right of all individuals to choose for themselves and act according to their own mind?
What does this say about this world and the Lord's absolute dedication to not abrogate the agency of anyone?
If the Lord allows this agency to exist even to the extent that it creates obstacles and difficulties for those who are seeking to accomplish His commands does that mean that He holds this agency to be sacred; even maybe more sacred than His commands?
The Lord, speaking to the Prophet Joseph concerning what had been commanded to be done in Missouri, stated this.
"Verily, verily I say unto you that when I give a commandment unto any of the sons of men to do a work unto my name, and those sons of men go with all their mights and with all they have to perform that work, and cease not their diligence, and their enemies come upon them and hinder them from performing that work, behold, it behooves me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept their offering. And the iniquity and transgression of my holy laws and commandments I will visit upon the heads of those who hindered my work unto the third and fourth generation, so long as they repent not and hate me, says the Lord God." (D&C 124:49 - 50, T&C 141 par.15)
If God holds the agency of all men to be that sacred, how ought we to consider that agency even if we feel that it interferes with what ought to be done?
Will allowing all men agency result in the servants of God, those who are "favored", feeling perplexed and sorrowful and even depressed as they seek to fulfill the commandments of God to them?
Is this to be expected in the work of the Lord in this world?
Would this lead to the servants of the Lord needing to be longsuffering, and willing to have mercy, and willing to suffer persecution and needing to possess the attributes in the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon at Bountiful?
Is this what the Lord experienced as he went about during His mortality here preaching and healing and performing all manner of good works?
"And now Abinadi said unto them, I would that ye should understand that God himself shall come down among the children of men and shall redeem his people...And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit or the Son to the Father, being one God, suffereth temptation and yieldeth not to the temptation, but suffereth himself to be mocked and scourged and cast out and disowned by his people. And after all this and after working many mighty miracles among the children of men, he shall be led, yea, even as Isaiah said, As a sheep before the shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth, Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain,..." (Mosiah 13:1 - 7, NC Mosiah 8 pars. 5 - 6)
God Himself came down and in His tabernacle of flesh suffered all of the obstacles, burdens, perplexities, sins and so forth from the agency of man while accomplishing what the Father had commanded Him.
If the Master had to run up against all of these things should the servants of the Master consider that they would face anything less?
Is the real test in this experience Nephi and his brothers are having of retrieving the brass plates from Laban, to go to with all their mights to perform the work they have been commanded and cease not in their diligence to perform that work?
It is interesting that Nephi uses an oath or he covenants in the name of the Lord that they will accomplish the task or die trying.
"...as the Lord liveth, and as we live we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us."
This is a powerful statement to make.
In essence Nephi is swaring an oath that as long as the Lord lives and as long as we live we will not return to our father unless we accomplish the command to get the brass plates.
How can Nephi make such an oath without invoking the Lord's name in vain?
Was it revealed to Nephi by the Lord to speak such an oath?
Even though he is perplexed as well as his brothers, does this oath demonstrate faith?
Does this oath show that the Lord is giving Nephi assurance that they will succeed even though they have run into a brick wall?
Is it something that ought to be considered that at this point Laman and Lemuel and Sam are all ok with Nephi binding them with him by this oath?
Does Nephi's expression of this oath, in addition to the other things he spoke to them,
give courage to Nephi's brothers?
In all of these things Nephi is seeking to "persuade" his brothers to keep this commandment from the Lord.
We believe that Nephi's use of persuasion is a sign that Nephi is a true servant of God; that he possesses priesthood or a relationship with the Lord.
"No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the Priesthood. Ony by persuasion, by long suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned, by kindness and pure knowledge." (D&C 121:, T&C 139 pars. 6 - 7)
We believe that if Nephi were to act in any other way to try to compel his brothers to keep the Lord's command to them that Nephi would lose his priesthood.
"...when we undertake to cover our sins or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control, or dominion, or compulsion, upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the Heavens withdraw themselves, the Spirit of the Lord is grieved, and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the Priesthood of the authority of that man." (D&C 121:, T&C 139 par. 5)
In this experience Nephi is reasoning with his brothers to encourage and persuade them.
We do not see any claim to his "favored" status as a bonafides that they should listen to him.
As a group we see in the scriptures that all who are truly sent from God with a labor do likewise.
They plead with, they reason with, they implore and they invite those who they are sent to labor among to be faithful in keeping the commandments of God.
They never cite their authority as a reason for people to obey.
They are longsuffering and merciful with those they are sent to work among because those to whom they are sent will most often reject, persecute and abuse them.
It would seem, from the scriptures, that those who truly hold the greatest power from Heaven over this earth have the invariable attribute of seeking to do no more than persuade others to keep the commandments of God.
If I would desire to do a work for the Lord, to labor in His vineyard with Him laboring beside me, must I also possess these attributes?
Must I also be willing to go to with all my might and cease not to be diligent in performing whatever labor the Lord may give me?
We do not have room in this post to talk about one of the things Nephi mentioned as he was reasoning with his brothers; that it was wisdom in God that they should get the record.
We will talk about that in one of the next posts as well as Nephi's "favored" status.
We are sure there is much much more to be gained from this experience with Nephi and his brothers than what is contained in this blog.
Hopefully what we are doing here is encouraging more indepth study of the Book of Mormon.
Isn't it interesting that the command to get the plates of brass was given to all of Lehi's sons together?
Is the Lord interested in groups of people working together to accomplish a labor?
Is Nephi in any way trying to separate himself out of the group to try and get things done or is he remaining with the group and lending encouragement and physical assistance?
What can I or we learn from this example?
We as a group were part of a labor recently assigned by the Lord to an entire movement of people.
During the labor there was much contention and people from the movement divided themselves out into separate groups seeking to perform the labor in differing ways.
I personally must confess that I was involved in dividing myself out and holding onto foolish feelings of accusation and seeking to "correct" my brothers and sisters who did not see things my way.
The labor, after much division and foolishness, was eventually completed and an almost unanimous voice of the people in the movement accepted the outcome and then petitioned the Lord to know if He, the Lord, accepted the labor as complete.
The Lord responded with a revelation which can be found in T&C section 176.
It was a parable in which the Lord showed to us, the entire movement of people, how foolish it was for us to divide ourselves out to try to accomplish the labor He commanded because we did not see eye to eye on how the labor should be performed.
At the end of the revelation the Lord declared as follows.
"...there was honor in the labor of others. Whereas I look upon the heart and see faithful service, many among you do not look at, nor see, nor value what I, the Lord, love in the hearts of my people. As I have said before, I say again: Love one another, labor willingly alongside each other. Learn what you ought, and when I ask you to labor, do so wisely, even if you know not beforehand what you will find. I do not ask what you cannot do. Trust my words and proceed always in faith, believing that with me all things are possible. All who are faithful are mine." (T&C 176 par. 13)
Nephi's example shows me and us that Nephi loved and valued what his brothers were doing in working beside him.
Shouldn't I do likewise?
Nephi's example shows that he loved his brothers and willingly worked alongside them.
Shouldn't I do likewise?
Nephi's example showed that when asked to labor Nephi was willing to do so wisely even though he did not know before hand what he should do.
Shouldn't I do likewise?
Nephi's example showed that he trusted the Lord's words and proceeded in faith believing that with the Lord all things are possible.
Shouldn't I do likewise?
Is it possible that one reason the Lord required the recording of this experience with Nephi and his brothers is so that in our own unique situation when commanded by the Lord to perform a labor together we can look at this experience and consider what attributes we ought to possess ourselves as we willingly work alongside each other?
No comments:
Post a Comment