1 Nephi 16:26 - 32, NC 1 Nephi 5 par. 8
And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord said unto him, Look upon the ball and behold the things which are written. And it came to pass that when my father beheld the things which were written upon the ball, he did fear and tremble exceedingly, and also my brethren, and the sons of Ishmael, and our wives. And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the pointers which were in the ball, that they did work according to the faith, and diligence, and heed, which we did give unto them. And there was also written upon them a new writing which was plain to be read, which did give us understanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it. And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things. And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did go forth up into the top of the mountain, according to the directions which were given upon the ball. And it came to pass that I did slay wild beasts, insomuch that I did obtain food for our families. And it came to pass that I did return to our tents bearing the beasts which I had slain; and now when they beheld that I had obtained food, how great was their joy! And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before the Lord and did give thanks unto him.
The Stick of Judah in the Hand of Ephraim 1 Nefi 5 par. 8
things. And it came to pass that I, Nefi, did go forth up into the top of the mountain, according to the directions which were given upon the ball. And it came to pass that I did slay wild beasts, insomuch
that I did obtain food for our families. And it came to pass that I did return to our tents bearing the beasts which I had slain; and now when they beheld that I had obtained food, how great was their joy!
And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before yhwh and did give thanks unto him.
Nephi comments as follows on his coming to an understanding of how the Lord caused the Liahona to work.
And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things.
Was it a small thing to change the writing on the Liahona?
Why would such an action be considered by Nephi to be a small thing?
I would recommend an article written by Hugh Nibley in 1961 setting forth the workings of the Liahona for Lehi's group in relation to the common custom of divination of the times.
The Liahona's Cousins Author(s): Hugh Nibley Source: Improvement Era, Vol. 64, No. 2 (February 1961), pp. 87–89, 104–111
It's too long an essay to include here in this post but upon reading Nibley's research it is possible to see how such an item as the Liahona and its manner of operation was considered a "small thing."
The following is an excerpt from the essay.
Both Nephi and Alma go out of their way to insist that the Liahona did not work itself, i.e., was not a magic thing, but worked only by the power of God and only for appointed persons who had faith in that power. Moreover, while both men marvel at the wonderful workmanship of the brass ball in which the pointers were mounted, they refer to the operation of those pointers as “a very small thing,” so familiar to Lehi’s people that they hardly give it a second glance. So contemptuous were they of the “small means” by which “those miracles were worked” for their guidance and preservation that they constantly “forgot to exercise their faith” so that the compass would work. This suggests that aside from the workmanship of the mounting, there was nothing particularly strange or mystifying about the apparatus which Alma specifies as a “temporal” thing.
Here we have an instructive parallel in the ship and the bow that Nephi made. Without divine intervention those indispensable aids to survival would never have come to the rescue of Lehi’s company—their possession was a miracle. Yet what were they after all? An ordinary ship and an ordinary bow. Just so, the Liahona was “a very small thing” for all its marvelous provenience, having much the same relationship to other directing arrows that the ship and the bow did to other ships and bows. We must not forget that the ancients looked upon even ordinary azlam as a means of communication with the divine: “In view of the importance of religious sentiment in every aspect of the
activity of the Arab and of the Semite in general,” writes Fahd, “I do not believe that one can separate these practices (i.e., of arrow-divination ) from their character as a consultation of divinity . . . they always believed, however vaguely, in a direct and constant intervention in human affairs. (pg. 108)
Is it possible that this "small means" not only guided Lehi's company but also proved them and taught them as well?
Did this small means in any way violate the agency of Lehi's company during their migration?
What would have happened to Lehi's company if they had further rebelled at Shazer instead of humbling themselves?
Would they have been left to their own devices and perished in spite of their possession of the Liahona?
Is there a pattern here that I can use, along with the other patterns picked up along the way, to detect when and if the Lord is performing a work?
The great work of the migration of Lehi's company was completed using this ordinary and small means.
What other great works has the Lord accomplished by using the smallest of means?
What about Enoch?
We have discussed Enoch before and his reticence at being made a servant of the Lord because he felt that he was inadequate for such a work.
What work was accomplished through the preaching of this small individual?
Is it a great thing for a people to repent and be gathered together into a community of righteousness that has to be taken into heaven, so as not to be destroyed by the impending global flood, because the entire community has become the dwelling place of the Lord?
Were the people who eventually were gathered to the community of Zion proven by their response to the words Enoch was given to speak?
Were the people who were eventually gathered to the community of Zion taught by the words given to Enoch to speak?
Were the people who were eventually gathered to the community of Zion guided by the words given to Enoch to speak?
Was their agency preserved?
If they did not respond to the words of Enoch were they simply left to their own devices to live without divine direction in spite of having possession of Enoch's words?
How common and ordinary and small a matter is it to have someone mortal declare a message?
What about the deliverance of Israel at the time of Gideon from the Midianites?
How small and common and ordinary a thing is it for three hundred men to break their pitchers to expose lighted lamps, blow on their trumpets, and call out "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon" in the dark around a camp of innumerable enemies?
Was the great thing of delivering Israel out of the hand of the Midianites accomplished but just such small means?
Were the children of Israel proven by this "small means" of deliverance?
Were they guided and taught by this "small means" of deliverance?
Was agency preserved for all?
Could they have disregarded the Lord's direction thereby ignoring His "small means" of deliverance?
If they had chosen to ignore it would they simply have been left to their own devices to fight the Midianites in spite of possessing the divine guidance of the Lord?
What about the mission of the Lord when He came and dwelt here in mortality with us?
How small a thing in the world's eyes is an itinerate preacher, who's occupation is that of a carpenter, from Galilee?
Is His smallness in the eyes of the world reflected in the question of one of His faithful disciples, "Can there any good thing come out from Nazareth?"
Did Isaiah also recognize His smallness in the eyes of the world when he declared,
Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. He has no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men — a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted... (Isaiah 53:1 - 10, OC Isaiah 19 par. 2)
Was the Savior so small and ordinary as far as those in His mortal sphere of influence were concerned, except for a very small company of individuals?
Did the world at large even take notice of Him while He was in mortality?
Was an infinitely "great thing" accomplished through this small and ordinary (according to the world) means; the person of Jesus Christ?
Were all who were around Him and even us now proven and being proven by His "small" ministry and atonement?
Could we ask the very same thing about being taught and guided by His "small means" in His mortal ministry?
Is everyone's agency preserved with this "small means"?
If we are not interested in this "small means" are we simply left to our own devices to continue on without divine guidance in spite of possessing the witnesses of His mission?
Is it possible or probable that we will perish if we choose to disregard this "small means"?
How small a means is it for the Lord to begin a work to fulfill His covenants with the early Fathers on earth through a 14 year old farm boy in upstate New York?
Do all of the same elements of the "small means" pattern exist with the Prophet Joseph?
If the Lord is consistent, and I believe He is, then would I be benefitted by looking to see where this pattern exists today?
Does this pattern exist in any of the powerful, popular, and wealthy institutions and churches today?
Is that one reason Nephi was able to authoritatively declare the following concerning our day?
Yea, they have all gone out of the way, they have become corrupted; because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted, and their churches are lifted up; because of pride, they are puffed up. They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing, and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart because in their pride they are puffed up. They wear stiff necks and high heads, yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray, save it be a few who are the humble followers of Christ. Nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men. (2 Nephi 28:11 - 14, NC 2 Nephi 12 par. 2)
Does Nephi's phrase, "save it be a few who are the humble followers of Christ " fit the pattern of something being a "small means" that the Lord can work with to bring about "great things"?
As for every church, Nephi declares that they have ALL gone astray and they are ALL corrupt.
Nephi does not name any exceptions to this.
How ordinary and small was John the Baptist in the eyes of the Jewish leaders?
What did the reveal to the Prophet Joseph concerning the mission or "great thing" John was sent to accomplish?
Therefore, he took Moses out of their midst, and the Holy Priesthood also. And the lesser priesthood continued, which priesthood holds the key of the ministering of angels, and the preparatory gospel, which gospel is the gospel of repentance, and of baptism, and the remission of sins, and the law of carnal commandments, which the Lord in his wrath caused to continue with the house of Aaron, among the children of Israel, until John, whom God raised up, being filled with the holy ghost from his mother’s womb. For he was baptized while he was yet in his childhood, and was ordained by the angel of God at the time he was eight days old unto this power: to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews, and to make straight the way of the Lord before the face of his people, to prepare them for the coming of the Lord, in whose hand is given all power. (D&C 84:25 - 28, T&C 82 par. 14)
And the Prophet further expounded concerning John as follows.
John, at that time, was the only legal administrator in the affairs of the kingdom there was then on the earth, and holding the keys of power. The Jews had to obey his instructions or be damned, by their own law; and Christ Himself fulfilled all righteousness in becoming obedient to the law which he had given to Moses on the mount, and thereby magnified it and made it honorable, instead of destroying it. The son of Zacharias wrested the keys, the kingdom, the power, the glory from the Jews, by the holy anointing and decree of heaven, and these three reasons constitute him the greatest prophet born of a woman. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 276)
If I understand correctly what the Prophet Joseph taught, the great thing John was sent to accomplish was to free up the Lord's hands to begin something new.
By rejecting John's message, the Jewish leaders (the heads of the Jewish kingdom) cut themselves off, allowing the Lord to change directions from what had been established with Moses and fulfilling what had been set forth in the law of Moses.
How ordinary and small a means was it for the Lord to send a mortal with an authorized message to the Jews?
Were the Jews proven by the words given to John to speak?
Were the Jews given the opportunity to be taught and guided by the words given to John to speak?
Was the agency of everyone involved kept in tact?
By there rejection were the Jewish leaders left to there own devices to wander about and perish in spite of possessing the law of Moses which pointed to Christ?
Did the Jewish leaders know that a "great thing" had come to pass?
Could this same pattern happen again?
Is it possible that it has?
When Christ came the first time, God took down a previously established hierarchy using an orderly
process, informing us about His house of order. He ordained John to bring it to an end, which put him on a collision course with the hierarchy. John the Baptist was “ordained by the angel of God at the time he was eight days old unto this power, to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews, and to make straight the way of the Lord before the face of his people, to prepare them for the coming of the Lord…” Joseph Smith elaborated, “The son of Zacharias wrested the keys, the kingdom, the power, the glory from the Jews, by the holy anointing and decree of heaven.”
For His return, we should expect something similar to His first coming. That is, an orderly take down of a competing hierarchy using someone ordained to accomplish that end that is put by God on a collision
course with the targeted power structure. John’s mission required them to reject the truth and testimony
he offered. It was orderly, public and required a conflict followed by rejection. In any modern take
down of the LDS hierarchy the Lord will allow those involved to act freely. The hierarchy must
voluntarily and clearly violate God’s standard. It must be orderly, public and the result of a conflict
ordained by God’s will. This is how a house of order operates anciently and again today. (Forty Years In Mormonism, "#10 - Preserving the Restoration," Denver Snuffer, 9/Sept/2014, pgs. 313 - 314)
Continuing...
in these last days, in purity; for if Zion will not purify herself, so as to be approved in all things, in His
sight, He will seek another people; for His work will go on until Israel is gathered, and they who will not hear His voice, must expect to feel His wrath.” We should expect God’s house to be ordered around
only one principle: repentance. When the pride of a great organization replaces repentance, the heavens
withdraw, and when they do, “Amen” to that portion of God’s house. But the restoration through Joseph
will always remain, even if God chooses to order it differently before His return. It is His to do with as He determines best.
At the time I was excommunicated, I was in good standing with the Lord. I had nothing amiss in my personal life. There was no sin warranting church discipline. As a former member of the High Council for years, every church disciplinary proceeding I attended that resulted in excommunication, always involved serious moral transgression, betrayal of marriage covenants, and in some cases criminal wrongdoing. In contrast, the reason for my discipline was a book I had written about church history, in which I attempted to align the events of the Restoration to the prophecies of the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. The stake president admitted to me and my wife before the Council began, that I was then worthy of a temple recommend. By any standard of moral conduct, I was an innocent man, whose only offense was believing the scriptures revealed our condition before God. On the evening of May 1, 2014, the Lord gave me further light and knowledge about His work in His vineyard. The Lord is in control over the church, men, and all things. When He undertakes to accomplish something, “there is nothing that the Lord God shall take in His heart to do, but what He will do it.” (Abr. 3:17.) Often the means used by the Lord to accomplish His “strange act,” and to perform His “strange work”(D&C 101: 95), are very small indeed. "Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls." (Alma 37: 6-7.)
It is almost always the case that the Lord uses simple things to confound the mighty. I can think of nothing smaller or simpler or less important than myself. Inside the great church to which I once belonged, I was obscure. However, I lived my religion, attended faithfully, served to the best of my ability, upheld church leaders with my prayers, paid tithes, fasted, observed the Word of Wisdom, and helped answer questions for those needing assistance with troubling issues. There was no reason to regard me as a rebel who should be singled out for discipline. Nevertheless, the Lord chose to use a faithful and believing member to accomplish His design. Only someone who is devoted to His will could accomplish what the Lord had in His heart. Now He has accomplished it.
The Church has Doctrine and Covenants 121, verses 36 to 40, to warn it about abusing His authority. There is an "amen" or end to authority when control, compulsion, and dominion are exercised in any degree of unrighteousness. Therefore, when using authority, great care must be taken. In any case, the church was careless. Therefore, those involved, are now left to kick against the pricks, to persecute the Saints and to fight against God.
Section 121 is a warning to church leaders. It is addressing the powerful, not the powerless. It is addressing those who occupy the seats of authority over others. Only those who claim the right to control, compel, and exercise dominion, are warned against persecuting the saints, who believe the religion and practice it as I did from the time of my conversion. My excommunication was an abuse of authority. Therefore, as soon as the decision was made, the Lord terminated the priesthood authority of the stake presidency and every member of the High Council who sustained this decision, which was unanimous. Thereafter, I appealed to the First Presidency, outlining the involvement of the 12 and the 70. The appeal gave notice to them all.20 The appeal was summarily denied.
Last general conference, the entire First Presidency, the 12, the 70, and all other general authorities and auxiliaries, voted to sustain those who abused their authority in casting me out of the church. At that moment, the Lord ended all claims of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to claim it is led by the priesthood. They have not practiced what He requires. The Lord has brought about His purposes. This has been in His heart all along. He has chosen to use small means to accomplish it, but He always
uses the smallest of means to fulfill His purposes.
None of this was my doing. The Lord's strange act, was not, could not, be planned by me. Was not, could not, have been controlled by me. It was not anticipated by me, or even understood by me, until after the Lord had accomplished His will, and made it apparent to me on the evening of May 1, 2014. He alone has done this. He is the author of all of this.(Forty Years In Mormonism, "#10 - Preserving the Restoration," Denver Snuffer, 9/Sept/2014, pgs. 314 - 316)
Is it possible to see the pattern revealed here in this event?
If the Lord is going about doing a work to vindicate His promises to the early Fathers (a "great thing"), which I believe He is doing right now, then wouldn't we expect that whatever is being accomplished follows this exact pattern of being "small" in the eyes of the world?
What did Nephi see in his vision?
And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the whore of all the earth, and she sat upon many waters, and she had dominion over all the earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people. And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters. Nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw. And it came to pass that I beheld that the great mother of abominations did gather together in multitudes upon the face of all the earth, among all the nations of the gentiles, to fight against the Lamb of God. And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth. And they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory. (1 Nephi 14:11 - 14, NC 1 Nephi 3 par. 28)
Nephi even declares that the dominions of the church of the Lamb are "small" upon the entire earth in the last days.
According to Nephi, does the Lord perform a "great thing" using His church that possesses only "small" dominions upon the earth?
In the last few weeks a great alarm has been raised about a viral pandemic. It illustrates something about all nations and institutions: Although they may seem durable, they are all vulnerable and easily destroyed by very simple means. Like locusts destroying crops of Egypt in the story of Exodus, great societies are shaken through the smallest of means. We know there will come “an overflowing scourge, for a desolating sickness shall cover the land” for the Lord has told us beforehand, so that when it comes we will not be overtaken. This current unrest illustrates what will happen one day soon. Being forewarned gives us the opportunity to prepare. ("The Heavens Are Open (And Therefore We Have Work To Do)," Denver Snuffer, 22/March/2020, pg. 1)
As before, I testify, because of my living experience, that the Lord is going about at present using the smallest of means to complete His restoration in order to vindicate His promises to the early Fathers.
If those who constitute this group, which is the smallest of means, use their agency to prove themselves faithful and are taught and guided by the words that the Lord is sending, they will be the means the Lord uses to complete His work now underway.
This group (I am one of this group), just like Lehi's company, at any time can choose to rebel against the small means (words) the Lord is sending and they will find themselves left to their own devices to wander about and to perish in spite of being in possession of the Lord's words.
I believe what Nephi is presenting here to be a true pattern. I give thanks that it is recorded for me to learn wisdom.
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