tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14748930475605862122024-03-12T21:28:53.642-07:00In The DoghouseA few thoughts on Mormonism and LDS Doctrine and Principles.In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.comBlogger211125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-20171327009002026672013-07-24T09:00:00.000-07:002013-07-24T09:00:52.431-07:00Our Famous Family Pioneer- Susannah Stone Lloyd<h2 style="text-align: center;">
In honor of Pioneer Day... </h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Autobiography of Susannah Stone Lloyd</h2>
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I, Susanna Stone Lloyd, being impressed to make a sketch of
my early life will endeavor to do so. I was born of honest parents, in the town
of Bristle, England, December 24th, 1830. My father was William Stone, he was a
master painter, born in London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
mother was Diana Grant Stone, born in Glostershire, England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My father's people belonged to the Church of
England, mother's people to the Wesleyans. I attended the Wesleyan Sunday
School. I used to read the scriptures and wished that I had lived in the days
of Apostles and Prophets, not knowing then that the everlasting Gospel had been
restored to the earth. When I heard it preached I hailed it with joy. <a href="http://www.lds.org/?lang=eng">I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints</a> about the year 1848; this
caused my heart to rejoice. I have seen that the hand of the Lord has been over
me for good from my earliest childhood and I know that His Holy Spirit has been
my constant guide and companion. I never shall forget the many manifestations
of the Lord's goodness and blessings unto me and mine. My parents, relatives
and friends did all in their power to keep me from coming to America, but I had
the spirit of gathering and the Lord opened up my way and I came to Utah in
1856 with the Hand Cart Company. Brother Willey was our Captain, Millen Atwood
was his councilor. <i>We were almost pioneers for we had to travel through sunflowers
and sage brush for many miles.</i></div>
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The first part of our journey was pleasant, the weather
being good. We left Liverpool in May on the Ship Thornton, landed in New York
the latter part of June in a sailing vessel. While crossing the Atlantic, the
peoples' galley or cook house took fire and burned down which caused great
excitement. But through the blessings of the Lord we were saved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After we landed we came up the Hudson River
in Steam Boats and continued by railroad cars until we came to the frontiers which
were called Iowa Camp Grounds. We stayed there several weeks, while our hand
carts and tents were being finished.</div>
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Oxen drew the wagons that brought our provisions and tents,
our clothing to last the journey, which was over one thousand miles, were brought
on our hand carts. The rest was brought the next season by the Water Boys.
After we had proceeded quite a ways on our journey we lost quite a number of
our cattle which drew the provisions. Some supposed that they were stampeded by
Indians going East to war. It was in the year 1856, when Colonel Babbitt was
doing business with the United States Government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(President Brigham Young being a Governor at
that time.) He (Babbitt) and his teamsters were massacred, they were a day or
two ahead of us with a train of goods which was seized by the Indians. We met a
tribe of Indians with an interpreter, who told us all about the circumstances,
but<i> we were not discouraged. </i>We traveled on and felt that the Lord would
protect his saints and so He did, and although we passed through many trying
scenes His protecting care was over us. After we left Iowa, we traveled about
one hundred miles and came to Florence, Nebraska. By this time we had gotten
more used to traveling and we made better headway, but through losing our
cattle and having to camp on the plains for several weeks, it threw us late in
the season and made our provisions short for the latter part of our journey. We
left England, May the 2nd and got into Salt Lake Valley on November the 5th
1856.</div>
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<u><b>I am thankful that I was counted worthy to be a pioneer and
a Hand Cart Girl. It prepared me to stand hard times when I got here.</b></u></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I often think of the
songs we used to sing to encourage us on our toilsome journey. It was hard to
endure but <i>the Lord gave us strength and courage.</i> Yes, the Lord has multiplied
blessings upon my head and I praise His Holy Name and pray that I may be worthy
of the many blessings that is promised to the faithful. </div>
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After we had traveled about seven hundred miles our
provisions being short our Captain bought up all the biscuits and flour that he
could get in Laramie. We had to live on short rations and it became very cold
and a number of our older people died. Sixteen were buried at one time.
Traveling as we were with scant clothing and lack of sufficient food we
suffered greatly from the severe cold and snow. On account of the loss of
Cattle it became necessary for each hand cart to take additional load, by each
taking a share of the provisions that were left. We waded through the cold
streams many times <i>but we murmured not for our faith in God and our testimony
of His work were supreme.</i> And in the blizzards and falling snow we sat under
our hand-carts and sang, "Come, Come Ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear but
with joy wend your way, though hard to you this journey may appear, grace shall
be as your day." </div>
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Only once did my courage fail. One cold dreary afternoon my
feet having been frosted I felt I could go no farther and withdrew from the
little company and sat down to wait the end. Being somewhat in a stupor. After
a time I was aroused by a voice, which seemed as audible as anything could be
and which spoke to my very soul, of the promises and blessings I had received,
and which should surely be fulfilled and that I had a mission to perform in Zion.
<i>I received strength and was filled with the spirit of the Lord and arose and
traveled on with a light heart. </i>As I reached camp I found a searching party
ready to go back to find me dead or alive. I had no relatives but many dear and
devoted friends and we did all we could to aid and encourage each other. My
frosted feet gave me considerable trouble for many years but this was forgotten
in the contemplation of the many blessings the Gospel has brought to me and
mine.</div>
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<br /></div>
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A young man whom I had kept company with in England, but
would not promise to marry, as I wanted to be free, died enroute and was buried
on the plains with many others.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When we were within about one hundred miles from Salt Lake
Valley, our Captain had a dream that a company was coming from Salt Lake Valley
to meet us. Brigham Young ask a lot of our brethren to come and meet us with
provisions, buffalo robes and blankets. You may guess the joy that was in camp
the day they arrived. We were near Fort Bridger when they met us, and we rode
in the wagons the rest of the way, but we had walked over one thousand miles. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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When we got near the city, we tried to make ourselves as
presentable as we could to meet our friends. I had sold my little looking glass
to the Indians for Buffalo meat, so I borrowed one and I shall never forget how
I looked, some of my old friends did not know me. We were so weather beaten and
tanned. When we got near Salt Lake Valley, President Young with a company of
our brethren and sisters came out to meet us, and bade us welcome and when we
got into the city we were made very comfortable until we met our friends and
relatives. There were many things that happened on our journey that would be
interesting if I could remember them in their proper order. While we were
traveling through the United States the people tried to discourage us by
telling us there was a famine in Utah, that the grasshoppers had eaten up
everything and that there had been a grasshopper war, etc. <i>but we traveled on
trusting in God.</i></div>
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We raised good crops the next year. I had many chances to
marry in England, but were advised to wait until we got to Zion. Among others
who came to meet their friends was a handsome young man, Thomas Lloyd, who had
immigrated the previous year, in 1855, from Wolver Hampton, England. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had proven his integrity to his newly found
faith by renouncing everything offered by a wealthy maiden aunt who had raised
him, his parents having died when he was but two years old and he would have
fallen heir to her fortune, but was cut off because he would not renounce
Mormonism. He had learned a trade however, that of a saddle and harness maker
which proved a great blessing in the new country. He had settled in Farmington,
Davis County and had already a small cabin which served as home and work shop.
We were both favorably impressed at our first meeting, he having received a
very satisfactory recommendation from his Bishop and on advice of President
Young we were soon married and the fulfillment of the blessings which had been
pronounced upon my head in the generous posterity began to be realized and in
the following year our first son Thomas W, Lloyd was born. </div>
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The following year
Johnston's Army came to Utah and we had to move South under very trying
circumstances. After this scare was over we were glad to get back to our homes
again. We remained in Farmington until about 1864 when It became necessary for
us to procure more land to take care of our growing family. We lived in Forts
when Wellsville, Cache County, was first settled to protect us from the
Indians. The grasshoppers and crickets were very troublesome and ate up many of
our crops <i>but we managed by the help of the Lord </i>to take care of our growing
crops and by this time numerous family. We were blessed with ten sons and four
daughters, all of whom are healthy and all members of the faith for which their
parents had sacrificed so much, and this is a joy to me in my declining years.</div>
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As Cache Valley became more settled and the Lord blessed the
land for our sakes and although we have suffered many hardships <i>we have never
murmured or felt to regret the sacrifice we made.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>AS I read through this narrative again this morning I felt impressed to italicize the statements of faith and gratitude. May we ever look at our own trials with the same fortitude as this sweet Pioneer Woman. </i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Susanna Stone Lloyd is my husband's second great Grandmother.</div>
In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-38446575235584654182013-07-23T12:36:00.000-07:002013-07-23T12:36:01.273-07:00Mormons Having Doubts Because of the Internet<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Earlier this week a friend sent me a link to a New York
Times article called, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/us/some-mormons-search-the-web-and-find-doubt.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&">“Some Mormons Search the Web and Find Doubt.”</a> The article
is based on an interview with a gentleman named Hans Mattsson who, as an “Area
Authority” for the Church in Europe, faced a crisis of faith. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1fq4_HxnEbg/Ue7UQFPRAlI/AAAAAAAAAb0/gDOcyIcL6CU/s1600/BULLDOG-jp--MORMON-popup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="294" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1fq4_HxnEbg/Ue7UQFPRAlI/AAAAAAAAAb0/gDOcyIcL6CU/s320/BULLDOG-jp--MORMON-popup.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hans Mattsson and his wife courtesy of the New York Times</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At first I was shocked to discover that his crisis began
when he discovered that Joseph Smith had practiced polygamy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My first thought was, <i>how on earth can you be
an Area Authority and not know that basic fact? </i><span style="font-size: large;">Really?</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u><b>That </b></u>is what caused him to become confused?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I thought about <b>what we actually learn in
Church</b>, I guess not understanding doctrine, principles, the scriptures, or our
history, could happen more than one might think. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Richard Bushman is quoted in the article explaining how that
was possible:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You
would be amazed at the number of Mormons who don’t think Joseph Smith practiced
polygamy. It just wasn’t talked about. It was never mentioned in church
periodicals. That was policy.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the last 10 or 15 years, he said, “the church has come to
realize that transparency and candor and historical accuracy are really the
only way to go.” The church has released seven volumes of the papers of Joseph
Smith and published an essay on one of the most shameful events in church
history, the <a href="http://inthedoghouse.hubpages.com/hub/Mountain-Meadows-Massacre--A-Personal-Story">Mountain Meadows massacre</a>, in which church leaders plotted the
slaughter of people in a wagon train in 1857.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But the church has not actively disseminated most of these
documents, so when members come across them on Web sites or in books, Mr.
Bushman said, “it’s just excruciating.”</span></span></div>
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“Sometimes people are furious because they feel they haven’t
been told the truth growing up,” he said. “They feel like they were tricked or
betrayed.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In an apologetic fashion a great <a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/dailyfeature.aspx?feature=403">follow up article</a> was
written by John W. Welch, trying to show how the Church has not covered any of
this information up and how it is readily available if you desired to
know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <u><b> </b></u></span><u><b>This knowledge however must be
actively sought out.</b></u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Herein lies a problem, I believe our talks in Sacrament
meeting and classes at Church have become more “personal experience” based and
less scriptural. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They focus more on “feelings”,
but when the “feelings” are not based on the message of the scriptures they are
not “feelings” that last.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been to
Church more times than I care to admit when the scriptures are not even
referenced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <i> </i></span><i>I have thought about this
for a very long time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I<b> understand</b> the job of the Church is to teach the first
four principles of the gospel, which are: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>faith, repentance, baptism, and receiving the
Holy Ghost. I <b>understand</b> it is the Spirit, or Holy Ghost, who then teaches you
everything else you need to know to get back into the presence of the
Father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>I believe it is through the
scriptures that you hear the voice of the Lord and the Spirit then adds his
witness. This fulfills the law of witnesses beautifully.</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><u> </u> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Let’s face it…It annoys me to be taught about your Aunt
Jenny who baked the bread for her sick neighbors, who miraculously were healed
from the “gluten free” nourishment, who then in turn decided to join the church
because they just felt of Aunt Jenny’s love for them. Forget the scriptures!
They felt the spirit! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I believe it is this type of careless teaching that we are receiving
within the walls of our own Church that creates the “Area Authority” who doesn’t
even know that Joseph Smith practiced polygamy. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When will we realize that we need to open up the “source”,
which are the scriptures, and have better dialog regarding them? Only when we
<b>search the scriptures</b>, <b>analyze them</b>, then internally <b>apply them</b>, will we gain
that solid faith that can conquer all doubt. And as far as doubt goes, <i>why can’t
we have conversations about that too? </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved how Brother
Mattson closed his interview.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“My hope is that the Church will grow larger in its
acceptance that you are allowed to have doubts, because I think a doubter is a
seeker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, you can go to Joseph
Smith, why did he pray? He was asking what to do. So he was a doubter, wasn’t
he?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that’s great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You find answers.”</span></span></div>
In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-76993183662747466922013-07-16T11:51:00.000-07:002013-07-16T11:51:46.296-07:00Origin<div style="text-align: center;">
I have been on a long hiatus from Blogging on this Blog. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Perhaps I was feeling somewhat confused.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
This brought me back to the right perspective.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Thank you.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-1326058077131146142011-06-21T12:53:00.000-07:002011-06-21T12:53:25.795-07:00The Gentiles- 1 Nephi 13<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">As Nephi’s vision continues I believe it is important to remember that the emphasis of the information he receives is placed on what happens to <span style="font-size: large;"><b>his</b></span> posterity.<span> </span>Everything else he sees in that vision is in some way relating to how it affected them then, and in their future.<span> </span><i>Remember, Nephi was promised way back in Chapter 2, that those of his seed would ultimately be blessed because of his obedience, similar to Abraham of old, with the promise that “inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper”</i>. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">With that thought in mind, in Chapter 13 we are introduced to a new group of people and see the role they will play regarding the Nephites, or “remnant” of them. <i>(Don’t forget we have already seen a scattering occur in both Jerusalem and the Americas in Chapter <a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2011/06/scattering-of-nephis-people-1-nephi-12.html"></a><a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2011/06/scattering-of-nephis-people-1-nephi-12.html">11 and</a> 12.)<span> </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Look for who this new group of people are:</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 13:1 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld many nations and kingdoms.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>2And the angel said unto me: What beholdest thou? And I said: I behold many nations and kingdoms.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>3And he said unto me: These are the nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Who this “Gentile” group is, is easily defined by what Nephi is shown.<span> </span>He sees right off that the<a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2011/06/great-and-abominable-church-1-nephi-13.html"> “great and abominable church”</a> is formed among the nations of the Gentiles, destroying the saints of God, and bringing them down into captivity. He also sees where the Gentiles come from.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 13: 10 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld many waters; and they divided the Gentiles from the seed of my brethren.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In my opinion it is pretty easy to see who these “Gentiles” are.<span> </span>They are the people from the European lands. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Ultimately these Gentiles are allowed to come to the America’s, or “promised land”, but it is interesting to see <b><span style="font-size: large;">why.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 13: 11 And it came to pass that the angel said unto me: Behold the wrath of God is upon the seed of thy brethren.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">12 And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>13 And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>14 And it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise; and I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my brethren; and they were scattered before the Gentiles and were smitten.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nephi is shown that because the “wrath of God” was upon his seed due to their disobedience, and the “Spirit of God wrought” upon not only one particular man, but on many other Gentiles as well, the Gentiles were led to the Americas and became a<b> tool</b> for scattering his seed.<span> </span>This concept reinforces what he was taught by the Lord back in Chapter 2 regarding the “seed of his brethren”, and how they would become a tool in hand of the Lord to “stir” his posterity up in the ways of remembrance of the covenants they had entered into.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 2:23 For behold, in that day that they (the seed of thy brethren) shall rebel against me, I will curse them (the seed of thy brethren) even with a sore curse, and they (the seed of thy brethren) shall have no power over thy seed except they (thy seed) shall rebel against me also.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>24 And if it so be that they (thy seed) rebel against me, they (the seed of thy brethren) shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in the ways of remembrance.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>SO</b></span> basically, <a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2010/08/nephis-land-of-promise.html">Nephi is promised this land as his inheritance</a>.<span> </span>The Gentiles are brought here by the Lord because they are a tool He can use to help Nephi’s seed, or “remnant” of them, remember the covenants that they made with The Father. Don't be dismayed however because you may be a descendant of a Gentile.. there is great promise for you too, even though you are a tool. You will see....</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>These simple definitions of the following terms, with regards to the Book of Mormon, are important to remember:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><ul><li><span style="font-size: large;">Remnant- Indigenous people on the American continent</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Gentiles- Those who emigrated from the European nations</span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal">For a more in depth study of the “remnant” Denver Snuffer has discussed it beautifully in a series of Blog posts on his Blog starting with this<a href="http://denversnuffer.blogspot.com/2010/09/remnant-part-i.html"> post.</a><span> </span>We will cover it here too.<span> </span>I believe it is impossible to study The Book of Mormon without understanding who we are individually and collectively and what role we are to play.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Just so you know… The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is considered the gentile church… more to come!</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Oh yeah… knowing these terms now, who do you think the man is that is mentioned in verse 12?</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-41501684095812384622011-06-20T16:05:00.000-07:002011-06-20T16:43:53.086-07:00There Are Only Two Churches- 1 Nephi 14<div class="MsoNormal">I had an interesting conversation with my number one son about the formation of the “great and abominable” church this weekend. He boldly stated that it was “Christianity”. I guess after taking into consideration the information provided by Stephen E. Robinson, from my <a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2011/06/great-and-abominable-church-1-nephi-13.html">last post,</a> my belief that <b style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“he is one smart cookie”</b> was reinforced. I, however, would add more to his definition by calling it “Historic Christianity”.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">About the same time, another friend shared a definition he found from one of my favorite authors, <a href="http://denversnuffer.blogspot.com/">Denver Snuffer</a>, for the term <span style="font-size: large;"><b>“abomination”</b></span>. Snuffer explains that <span style="font-size: large;"><b>“iniquity”</b></span> is general evil practice, but an <b><span style="font-size: large;">“abomination”</span></b> involves the religious justification of wrongdoing. My friend’s response was merely, “Interesting!” I responded with a resounding...<i>."Interesting!"</i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PMk03jcdF0g/Tf_OBI0PKDI/AAAAAAAAAMc/Ous8bKKgMLM/s1600/niceneicon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PMk03jcdF0g/Tf_OBI0PKDI/AAAAAAAAAMc/Ous8bKKgMLM/s320/niceneicon.jpg" width="235" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">So what<i> exactly</i> is a definition of <b>Historic Christianity</b>?</span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Perhaps one of the easiest, “in a nutshell”, explanations of “Historic Christianity” to be found is one given by Snuffer. Taken from his <a href="http://denversnuffer.blogspot.com/2010/07/2-nephi-28-4.html">Blog</a>, it is as follows:<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">Christianity became diverse quite early on. Almost immediately after the closing of the New Testament, the diversity began to metastasize.<br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">There were those who viewed Christ as a normal man, who had been "adopted" by the Father at the time of His baptism. These were called "Adoptionists."<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">There were those who believed that Christ was just a normal man, but that He had a divine spirit inhabit Him temporarily from the time of His baptism until the time of His crucifixion, at which time the divine spirit left. It was incomprehensible to them that God would suffer and die. Therefore, they developed a theory in which He did not.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">There were those who believed that Christ was a transcendent spirit, and never corporeal as other men were. They believed that He manifested Himself as if he were a mortal, but never truly was mortal. They did not believe it possible for God to become incarnate.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">There were those who believed that Christ taught a secret Gospel to His insiders, and that the public teachings were misleading. It was the private "gnosis" that would save you.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">There were those who believed that Christ was a separate and distinct being from God the Father, and that the result was that there were two gods and not one.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">There were those who argued that if they were separate then it violated the idea of "monotheism" and therefore, God the Father, Christ and the Holy Ghost had to be one, single person. However incomprehensible that may be, there was only one being, manifesting itself in three forms.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">There were those who believed priesthood authority was immutable, and once conferred it could not be lost no matter what the conduct of the person ordained. That is, authority was not dependent at all upon righteous behavior, and even a thoroughly wicked man, once ordained, held priesthood authority no matter what he did.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">There were those who believed that priesthood authority was entirely dependent upon faithful living, and that a failure to live according to God's will terminated the authority of that man. This movement was named after a North African priest named Arius who remained devoted during the persecutions and was blinded and crippled by those who were seeking to destroy the Christian faith.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">Well, by 324 AD the whole thing had become riddled with controversies and sects. Therefore, when King Constantine, who had battled his way into sole ownership of the Roman Emperor's seat, determined to adopt a state religion (he chose Christianity as that state religion) he presumed he was taking a harmonious, consistent faith. Upon learning that there were strong internal Christian disputes, some of which led to violence between professors of the various beliefs, he decided that he needed to put down the disputations.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">In a fit of practicality, King Constantine convened the great council at Nicea, and summoned all the Bishops of Christianity to a single gathering. At the gathering he demanded they come to an agreement on what the Christian faith believed. He could not tolerate disputes leading to violence in the newly adopted Roman state religion.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">This council at Nicea was the first attempt at correlation. The result had little to do with the truth. It had to do with peace for the Roman state. Constantine himself did not believe in the doctrine. He believed in the effectiveness of the faith as a basis for political power, domestic security and ease of ruling a diverse population scattered about on three continents. When the results were achieved, he then exiled the handful of dissenters and 'voila, Historic Christianity began. That Historic Christianity remained correlated and of a singular view until the split between Constantinople and Rome at about 1000 AD. It became further uncorrelated in the 1500's with Martin Luther.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="color: #741b47;">Once you start letting doctrinal disputes develop you wind up with a split empire, and internal loss of government. The original effort was imposed at the tip of a sword. When there were dissenters, they were exiled, or eventually made "heretic." When the final step was taken, and the intellectual buttress supplied by Bishop Ambrose's arguments, it at last became possible for "heresy" or "heretics" to be snubbed out by murder. The persecuted became the persecutors. They were justified by the change, having a correlated promise that the faith ratified the reasons that allowed you to persecute, torture and kill those who strayed from the "one true, Catholic faith." After all, if you could reclaim them merely by torture of the body, how much better than allowing them to lapse into eternal torment by being consigned to hell. An endless "Hell" also being an invention of the Historic Christian faith. So it was really good to do that burning, racking, thumb-dislocating, flaying, stuff after all. All in a day's work to convert the wayward soul back to Christ.</div><div style="color: #741b47;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8hstnvIk4bQ/Tf_OKyRfthI/AAAAAAAAAMg/gs_fxEiZ-a4/s1600/Nicene_Creed_-635x763.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8hstnvIk4bQ/Tf_OKyRfthI/AAAAAAAAAMg/gs_fxEiZ-a4/s400/Nicene_Creed_-635x763.jpg" width="332" /></a></div><div style="color: #741b47;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">I find it quite interesting that as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter –day Saints we are continually accused as not being “Christian”. The accusations lie in the fact that we do not conform to the liturgy of <b>Historic Christianity</b> which was formed by such documents as the <b>Nicene Creed</b>. We do however claim to be a restoration of <i>Primitive Christianity</i>, denouncing the “philosophies of men mingled with scripture”, while laying claim to following the original teachings of Jesus Christ, as found in the scriptures.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>With this in mind view the information the angel told Nephi during his dream:</b><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 14:10 And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.</div><div style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal">I know, this teaching is far from being <i>“politically correct”</i> but<u> correct</u> it is none the less. <br />
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<b>Notice how Joseph Smith was taught this same concept: </b><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">Joseph Smith History 1:18 My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"> 19 I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"> 20 He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, by in large, if we as Latter-day Saints, or more commonly known as "Mormons", are accused of being different, or not part of main stream <b>Historic Christianity</b>, in my opinion, that would be a good thing. The distinction has already been made. </div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-47870674868991325052011-06-09T13:50:00.000-07:002011-06-09T13:50:48.569-07:00The Great and Abominable Church -1 Nephi 13<div class="MsoNormal">As the vision given to Nephi of the destruction, or scattering, of his posterity closes, another one is open to his view. In 1 Nephi, Chapter 13, Nephi begins to be shown, by the angel, many nations and kingdoms. It is in this chapter that Nephi learns of the role that the<b> Gentiles </b>play in regards to his posterity, and how the Lord uses them for a wise purpose in fulfilling the covenants <a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2010/08/lord-tested-nephi.html">that were made with him because of his obedience. </a><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2010/08/nephis-land-of-promise.html">Just as the Lamanites were a <b>tool</b> in the hand of the Lord, used as a scourge to humble the unrighteous Nephites, to stir them up to a remembrance of their covenants which they made with the Lord, the Gentiles are used in the same way.</a><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">It is important to remember that Nephi is part of the House of Israel, and as such is entitled to the blessings of the covenants made with his fathers,<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1974679530"> the Abrahamic Covenant.</a><a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2009/02/promises-of-abrahamic-covenant.html"> </a><br />
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<i>Something to ponder… when are the Gentiles allowed those same blessings? Who are the Gentiles according to the Book of Mormon?</i><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Right at first Nephi sees among the Gentiles the formation of a great church.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Look for who is the founder of that church:</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 13:5 And the angel said unto me: Behold the formation of a church which is most abominable above all other churches, which slayeth the saints of God, yea, and tortureth them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"> 6 And it came to pass that I beheld this great and abominable church; and I saw the devil that he was the founder of it.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Now notice the desires that are attached to this “church”:</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 13: 8 And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the gold, and the silver, and the silks, and the scarlets, and the fine-twined linen, and the precious clothing, and the harlots, are the desires of this great and abominable church.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="color: #990000;"> 9 And also for the praise of the world do they destroy the saints of God, and bring them down into captivity.</div><div style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal">Although this institution is first introduced here, it is also discussed in 1 Nephi Chapter 14 as well. Because it is referred to as “most abominable above all other churches”, it appears to be one institution, given in a <b>historical</b> context. Later in chapter 14 when we are given the explanation that there are really only two churches, “one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil”; the great and abominable church becomes more of a<b> type, or symbol</b>, rather than an actual institution. <br />
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A good explanation of this concept is found in an article written, in the January 1988 Ensign, by Stephen E. Robinson, titled “Warring against the Saints of God.”<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">From the article:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #674ea7;">Once we understand that the term great and abominable church has two uses, the one open (inclusive and archetypical), the other closed (exclusive and historical), the rest becomes easier.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #674ea7;">Apocalyptic literature is dualistic. Since it deals with types, everything boils down to opposing principles: love and hate, good and evil, light and dark. There are no gray areas in apocalyptic writing. In this sense, there are only two categories in the realm of religion: religion that will save and religion that won’t. The former is the church of the Lamb, and the latter, no matter how well intentioned, is a counterfeit.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #674ea7;">In the historical sense, though, only one entity can be the great and abominable church. Well-intentioned churches would thus not qualify as the mother of abominations described in 1 Nephi 13. They do not slay the saints of God nor seek to control civil governments nor pursue wealth, luxury, and sexual immorality.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #674ea7;">In either the apocalyptic sense or the historical sense, individual orientation to the Church of the Lamb or to the great and abominable church is not by membership but by loyalty. Just as there Latter-day Saints who belong to the great and abominable church because of their loyalty to Satan and his life-style, so there are members of other churches who belong to the Lamb because of their loyalty to him and his life-style. Membership is based more on who has your heart than on who has your records.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">The author further warns against assigning a specific denomination to <b>“the great and abominable church". </b>He suggests that some have speculated it to be Judiasm, or Catholicism, which he regards both as historically incorrect.<br />
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Robinson explains:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #674ea7;">Actually, no single known historical church, denomination, or set of believers meets all the requirements for the great and abominable church: it must have formed among the Gentiles; it must have edited and controlled the distribution of the scriptures; it must have slain the Saints of God, including the Apostles and prophets; it must be in league with civil governments and use their police power to enforce its religious views; it must have dominion over all the earth; it must pursue great wealth and sexual immorality; and it must last until close to the end of the world. No single denomination or system of beliefs fits the entire description. Rather, the role of Babylon has been played by many different agencies, ideologies, and churches in many different times. It should be clear that the great and abominable church that Nephi described in chapter 13 is not the same historical entity that crucified the Savior or that martyred Joseph and Hyrum.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="color: #674ea7;">It would be an error to blame some modern denomination for the activities of an ancient great and abominable church. The other error is to go too far the other way, dehistoricizing the abominable church altogether. The term then becomes merely a vague symbol for all the disassociated evil in the world. We cannot, in the face of the scriptural evidence, accept this view. For if we do, we shall not be able to recognize the categories and know who is playing the role of Babylon in our own times or in times to come. Thus, we must, on the one hand, avoid the temptation to identify the role of the great and abominable church so completely with one particular entity that we do not recognize the part when it is played by some other entity. At the same time, we must remember that the role will be played by some entity or coalition, and we must be able to tell by their characteristic fruits which is Zion and which is Babylon.</div><div style="color: #674ea7;"><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal">Robinson goes on in the article to explain that he would like to term the great and abominable church as “Hellenized Christianity”. <a href="http://lds.org/ensign/1988/01/warring-against-the-saints-of-god?lang=eng&query=great+abominable+church">Make sure to read the article here and see if you agree.</a><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">More importantly for me, this great and abominable church should still be seen as a<b> tool</b> in the Lord’s hands, <i>as was Babylon a tool in scattering the House of Israel,</i> to bring to pass his wise purpose. It is the scourging agent that is used to provoke humility and continued reliance on Him, stirring those in need to the remembrance of their covenants made with Him. It provides the opposition required to exercise agency which is needed for progression.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Seen in that context it is something that we know will not prevail.</div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-3202311798909746052011-06-01T11:45:00.000-07:002011-06-01T11:45:23.016-07:00The Scattering of Nephi's People- 1 Nephi 12<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">When the vision Lehi had was also revealed to Nephi, by his own request from the Lord, he was shown everything from the “beginning to the end” and specifically what his part in this grand scheme was to be, or what he was elected to do.<span> </span>In other words, he was shown that “his calling and election” was to<a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2010/10/nephis-job-as-record-keeper.html"> “keep the record”.</a><span> </span>This is very important for us to understand so that we can also see that this “calling” was faithfully fulfilled, making his calling and election sure.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The vision itself was recorded over the course of four chapters beginning with <a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2011/04/condescension-of-god-1-nephi-11.html">Chapter 11</a> in the first book of Nephi.<span> </span>In Chapter 11 we are shown the “Condescension of God” by viewing the life of the Savior, Jesus Christ.<span> </span>We are taught of His ministry among the inhabitants of the “Old World” or Israel, and how they would reject Him, and by so doing, become a lost and scattered people.<span> </span><span> </span>I can only imagine the pain that this vision would cause Nephi, as he saw the future destruction of his ancestors, brought about because of their pride and worldly aspirations, as they fought against the Lamb and His twelve apostles.<span> </span>I believe it was necessary to show Nephi the dismal state that they would be in so that he would recognize the importance of the work he was given to do, to make sure the record <span> </span>he was called to keep actually would be kept. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In chapter 12 Nephi is shown further destruction, only this time it was concerning his direct line, or “seed”, which would inhabit the “land of promise”, or the America’s. <span> </span>His vision includes the rapid rise of his people, in both number and greatness, as well as the growth of the “seed of his brethren” too. <span> </span>He sees conflict and contention between the two groups in the form of wars and great “slaughters with the sword”, culminating in a great “mist of darkness” with natural disasters occurring in the land.<span> </span>This view, however, was only a precursor to the event that was most central for his posterity, that of the coming of the resurrected Christ to the America’s.<span> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HdISZvFcHN4/TeaG9QpayCI/AAAAAAAAAMU/9FSQwq6ftro/s1600/lehi+dream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Nephi is also given a view of the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ during the time of the Savior’s visit to his posterity, and the calling of the twelve disciples who would lead that Church. Subtly, we are also reminded by the angels words the order of Christ’s kingdom and of the fact that Nephi is part of the remnant of the house of Israel.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 12:9And he said unto me: Thou rememberest the twelve apostles of the Lamb? Behold they are they who shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel; wherefore, the twelve ministers of thy seed shall be judged of them; for ye are of the house of Israel.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This reminder is ever present in the pages of The Book of Mormon so that we will be aware of the promises given to “the remnant” and the mission they will fulfill. <span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Also contained in the verses of Chapter 12 are the definitions of some of the symbols that Lehi told his family about concerning the<a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2011/02/section-76-lehis-dream-of-tree-of-life.html"> vision he saw.<span></span></a><a href=""> </a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HdISZvFcHN4/TeaG9QpayCI/AAAAAAAAAMU/9FSQwq6ftro/s1600/lehi+dream.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HdISZvFcHN4/TeaG9QpayCI/AAAAAAAAAMU/9FSQwq6ftro/s400/lehi+dream.jpg" width="400" /></a><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Mist of darkness:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 12:17And 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. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Fountain of filthy water, or river of filthy water:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 12:16And 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.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Large and spacious building:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 12:18And 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; yea, 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.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Finally Nephi sees the years following the appearance of the Savior, starting with four generations of love and peace, and the unfortunate evolutionary process of their downfall, resulting in a “dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In both Chapter 11, where Nephi sees his ancestry scattered, and Chapter 12, where he sees his posterity scattered as well, he is given a view of the awful state of his people and their need to be “gathered” and taught correct principles.<span> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Again, I believe it was important for him to be shown this dismal predicament, for him to understand the great importance of his calling he will be given to “keep the record”. His record would ultimately “show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever—And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations—“(as found in the title page of The Book of Mormon itself).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The Book of Mormon will be the great gathering tool needed to <a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2009/01/old-covenant-and-new-and-everlasting.html">fulfill the promise of God to Adam</a>.<span> </span>It is part of the great plan of happiness, and Nephi has a very important role to play in that plan.</div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-75701982691471865872011-04-12T12:27:00.000-07:002011-04-12T12:27:02.942-07:00The Condescension of God- 1 Nephi 11<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">When Nephi asked the Lord to “behold the things which his father saw” he was given a panoramic view of the condescension of God.<span> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal">This is what he saw:</div><ol><li>A virgin.</li>
<li>The Virgin carried away in the Spirit.</li>
<li>The Virgin bearing a child in her arms.</li>
<li>An Angel testifying that the child is the Son of the Eternal Father.</li>
<li>The Son of God going forth among the people, and many worshiping Him.</li>
<li>The Prophet who should prepare the way for the Redeemer of the World.</li>
<li>The Lamb of God baptized by that prophet.</li>
<li>The Heavens open after His baptism; the Holy Ghost come out of heaven and abide on Him in the form of a dove.</li>
<li>The Lamb of God going forth ministering to the people in power and great glory.</li>
<li>This group of people casting Him out from among them.</li>
<li>Twelve others start to follow Him.</li>
<li>The Heavens open once again and angels descend upon the people and minister unto them.</li>
<li>The Lamb of God healing the sick and casting out unclean spirits.</li>
<li>The Lamb of God being taken by the people and judged of the world.</li>
<li>He was then lifted up upon the cross, and slain for the sins of the world.</li>
<li>After his death, multitudes of the earth fighting against the apostles of the Lamb.</li>
<li>The house of Israel gathered together to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb.</li>
<li>Destruction of all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, that fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb. </li>
</ol><div class="MsoNormal">All of the above information was important for Nephi to be shown because it had not happened yet.<span> </span>He was viewing it in the perspective of a future event that would take place; <i>a future event that would be central to the salvation of not only his posterity but the whole human family.<span> </span></i><span>It was information given to help his people understand who Jesus Christ is and how he would Atone for the world. It provided a way for his posterity to recognize Him when he did come the first time. </span><i><span><br />
</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://saltlakemormontemple.com/files/2011/03/mormon-christ-doctrine1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://saltlakemormontemple.com/files/2011/03/mormon-christ-doctrine1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>For us, the perspective is different.<span> </span>We look<i> backward</i> to the events that took place in the past.<span> </span>We see this information as a fulfillment of divine prophecy.<span> </span>We view it as another testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ and his life and ministry.<span> It is given for us to recognize that He did come and Atone for us.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>Both perspectives are given to enhance our faith.<span> </span>Nephi had faith that it would happen, and we have faith that it did happen.<span> </span>That faith, when nourished, moves us to action.<span> </span>It gives us the power to apply whatever necessary means in our life to press forward with hope of an Eternal place with our Father.<span> </span>It sustains us through trials, and motivates us to change when change is needed.<span> </span>It allows us to repent and come closer to our Father, thorough the merits of Jesus Christ, and our own efforts.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I am grateful for the perspective that Nephi shared with me, the latter-day reader of his record.<span> </span>I love him for the faith he had, and that he expressed continually.<span> </span>But most of all, I love Nephi because he knew how important his record would be for me. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">He knows this because he was shown it in this vision….as it continues....</div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-77070655491639177242011-04-11T12:20:00.000-07:002011-04-11T12:20:00.581-07:00The Baptism of Jesus- 1 Nephi 11<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">I picture the vision the Lord showed to Nephi as literally a Technicolor view of the importance of the Atonement, and the central part it plays in the salvation of literally all mankind, and how we must apply it in our lives.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">First Nephi was shown how Christ came to earth, as the Son of the Eternal Father, through the process of the virgin birth.<span> </span>(Sidebar: It is interesting to note that the term “virgin” was also a term used to describe the wife of a prophet.) The birth however is just the beginning of what Nephi is shown regarding Christ.<span> </span>The vision continues to reveal the life that the Savior would lead in an effort to help him, and us, better understand the role Christ played in the redemption of the world.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next event in the life of Christ that Nephi is taught about through this glorious vision was the important step Christ would take to show us the way to gain entrance into the kingdom of His Father. <span> </span>This step was that of baptism, and most importantly the correct process of entering into a covenant with the Father by way of baptism.<span> </span><span> </span>He was shown that Christ was baptized by immersion, by one who had authority to do so.<span> </span>He was also shown that the baptism was incomplete without the ratifying effect of the Holy Ghost. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Both Lehi and Nephi were very specific in recording that the baptism of Christ was an event which was testified of by many of the prophets of old, and that one having authority would perform the task, <span> </span>for me, Isaiah is one that comes to mind. <span> </span>Isaiah recorded the exact wording used by John the Baptist as he preached about the coming of the Savior.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">Isaiah 40: 3¶The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I also find it interesting that Lehi was very specific in noticing that the prophet John would be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy because of the exactness in the wording he used.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 10: 7 And he spake also concerning a prophet who should come before the Messiah, to prepare the way of the Lord—</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>8 Yea, even he should go forth and cry in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight; for there standeth one among you whom ye know not; and he is mightier than I, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose. And much spake my father concerning this thing.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the record of John in the New Testament this exact scene is played out one more time as the priests and Levites pressed John to know who he actually was.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">John1: 23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The Joseph Smith Translation of this verse even adds more clarity to John’s words.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">John 1: 27 John answered them, saying; I baptize with water, but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>28 He it is of whom I bear record. He is that prophet, even Elias, who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose, or whose place I am not able to fill; for he shall baptize, not only with water, but with fire, and with the Holy Ghost.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and said; Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>30 And John bare record of him unto the people, saying, This is he of whom I said; After me cometh a man who is preferred before me; for he was before me, and I knew him, and that he should be made manifest to Israel; therefore am I come baptizing with water.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Finally Nephi bears record of this event in his own words.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 11: 26 And the angel said unto me again: Look and behold the condescension of God!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>27 And I looked and beheld the Redeemer of the world, of whom my father had spoken; and I also beheld the prophet who should prepare the way before him. And the Lamb of God went forth and was baptized of him; and after he was baptized, I beheld the heavens open, and the Holy Ghost come down out of heaven and abide upon him in the form of a dove.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JhkrwNpMRf8/TaNTujBg9XI/AAAAAAAAALw/p95w0VNgSqc/s1600/images-of-jesus-christ-127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JhkrwNpMRf8/TaNTujBg9XI/AAAAAAAAALw/p95w0VNgSqc/s400/images-of-jesus-christ-127.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">What a great blessing it is that we are given these testimonies of the baptism of Jesus Christ. We are taught the<i> manner in which we should be baptized</i>, after the example set by our Savior, including the need of the <i>proper authority required </i>to administer the ordinance.<span> </span>In a time when the ordinance of baptism is under question in every way, these visions shared with us from Nephi <span> </span>and Lehi solidify the process so clearly, and fulfills the law of witnesses in testifying of the necessity of it.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Later Mormon will add his testimony as well.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">Mormon 7:10 And ye will also know that ye are a remnant of the seed of Jacob; therefore ye are numbered among the people of the first covenant; and if it so be that ye believe in Christ, and are baptized, first with water, then with fire and with the Holy Ghost, following the example of our Savior, according to that which he hath commanded us, it shall be well with you in the day of judgment. Amen.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Christ condescended to be baptized because of obedience to the commands of His Father, how on earth is it possible that we can progress without doing the same?</div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-55392247502795014892011-03-30T14:35:00.000-07:002011-03-30T14:35:47.019-07:00Fountain of Living Water- 1 Nephi 11<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">We must continue on with the “tree of life” vision that Nephi saw because there is a lot more symbolism that needs to be addressed. <span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">If we were to jump ahead in our reading of the Book of Mormon we would see many times where Nephi teaches principles that he learned because of<b> this</b> vision he was shown.<span> </span><span> </span>A significant detail is revealed about Jesus Christ in 2 Nephi 25, as Nephi gives commentary on the words of Isaiah from the previous Isaiah chapters contained in that book. <i>I believe he learned this particular detail from what he was shown in this earlier vision.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Look for what Nephi specifically draws our attention to about Christ in the following verse:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">2 Nephi 25:12 But, behold, they shall have wars, and rumors of wars; and when the day cometh that<b> the Only Begotten of the Father</b>, yea, even the Father of heaven and of earth, shall manifest himself unto them in the flesh, behold, they will reject him, because of their iniquities, and the hardness of their hearts, and the stiffness of their necks.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">An important thing Nephi specifically wants us to know is that <b>Christ is the Only Begotten of the Father</b>.<span> </span><span> </span>I repeat, Christ was begotten of The Father. The definition for the word begat, or begotten, is typically that of bringing a child into existence by the process of reproduction; to procreate as the father or sire.<span> </span>I believe it is literally that. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In a talk given by President Ezra Taft Benson titled <a href="http://lds.org/new-era/1980/12/five-marks-of-the-divinity-of-jesus-christ?lang=eng&query=divinity+jesus+christ+benson"><b>“Five Marks of the Divinity of Jesus Christ”</b></a>, the same idea is discussed. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>President Benson states:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">There are those who would seek to convince you that the divine birth of Christ as proclaimed in the New Testament was not a divine birth at all—nor was Mary, the Virgin girl, a virgin at the time of Jesus’ conception. They would have you believe that Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus, was His physical father, and that Jesus was, therefore, human in all His attributes and characteristics. They appear generous in their praise of Him when they say that He was a great moral philosopher, perhaps even the greatest. But the intent of their effort is to repudiate the divine sonship of Jesus; for on that doctrine rest all other claims of Christianity.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">I am bold to say to you young people tonight: Jesus Christ is the Son of God in the most literal sense. The body in which He performed His mission in the flesh was sired by that same Holy Being we worship as God, our Eternal Father. He was not the son of Joseph, nor was He begotten by the Holy Ghost. He is the Son of the Eternal Father!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It seems very clear to me…<i> but how did Nephi know?</i><span> </span>Again, just as Nephi knew the symbolism of the divine feminine was the tree, I believe he also understood the symbolism for “living water”.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">There is something very particular about Nephi’s vision that was lacking in the retelling of Lehi’s vision. In Lehi’s vision we are told that Nephi remembered his father speaking of a fountain of water that flowed into a river.<span> </span>This fountain was located in the opposite direction of the tree. What either Lehi or Nephi neglected to mention is that this fountain and river were filthy, and that there was another fountain in the vision too.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Look for where the other fountain is.</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span></span><span style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 11:25 And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-23zCg_F5oRo/TZOhQlGa7QI/AAAAAAAAALg/G9SJeHEl-4s/s1600/fountain_tree_of_life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-23zCg_F5oRo/TZOhQlGa7QI/AAAAAAAAALg/G9SJeHEl-4s/s400/fountain_tree_of_life.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It is interesting to notice that the water, specifically the fountain or head of the waters, and the tree are in the same place, or are referred to as one thing.<span> </span>Both become a representation of <b>“the love of God”</b>. <span> </span>The fountain of living waters and the tree together produce the fruit, which is desirable above all other fruit.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">According to specific Kabbalistic traditions and early oral traditional rabbinical teachings, the “living waters”, and light for that matter, can be equated with “male sexual energy, specifically as semen”.<span> </span>It is a life force that flows among and animates the world.<span> </span>(Source: A Guide to the Zohar by Arthur Green) I believe Nephi would have understood very clearly what “living waters” would have represented. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Conversely, let us consider the other water referred to in the vision, that of the fountain of filthy water.<span> </span>It did not have a tree connected with it.<span> </span>It produced nothing.<span> </span>It became a representation of the depths of hell, or damnation.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 12:16 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.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The location of this fountain of filthy water is in the polar opposite direction of the fountain of living waters, and the tree. It has no life giving energy to it at all; in fact it took life as “many were drowned in the depths of the fountain”.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When we look at the symbolism of what living water represents it is no wonder that, according to Jewish tradition, the “font” was a feminine entity, or a receptacle for the living waters.<span> </span>Guess what…. the tabernacle, or temple itself was also considered a feminine entity.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">There is simply so much to ponder…</div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-31685578344707207472011-03-15T15:28:00.000-07:002011-03-15T15:28:10.674-07:00The Meaning of the Tree- 1 Nephi 11<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">(Forgive me for the long pause in teaching this particular process… I was bitten by the flu bug.)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In my last post I talked about the three step process of “the sign” which was given to Nephi from the Spirit of the Lord.<span> </span>He was told he would see a tree, then a man descend out of Heaven, and then witness that this man was literally the Son of the Eternal Father.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After Nephi witnessed that the Son of God was born of a Virgin, who is “the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh”, the Angel (not the Spirit of the Lord, remember different person…) proposed the following question:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">1 Nephi 11: 21…Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Why would the Angel be so concerned about the tree?<span> </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Although for us the meaning of the tree might not be very clear, Nephi, when posed with the above question, answered that he did know the meaning of the tree. <span> </span><i>How does he know?</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Daniel C. Peterson has explored this topic extensively and has explained his findings in the following:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">“How has Nephi come to this understanding? Clearly, the answer to his question about the meaning of the tree lies in the virgin mother with her child. It seems, in fact, that the virgin actually is the tree, in some sense. Even the language used to describe her echoes that used for the tree. Just as she was "exceedingly fair and white," "most beautiful and fair above all other virgins," so was the tree's beauty "far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; and the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow." Significantly, though, only when she appeared with a baby and was identified as "the mother of the Son of God" did Nephi grasp the tree's meaning.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">Why would Nephi see a connection between a tree and the virginal mother of a divine child? His vision seems to reflect a meaning of the "sacred tree" that is unique to the ancient Near East and, in Israelite history, specifically to the period before the Babylonian captivity — Nephi's era. This can only be fully appreciated when the ancient Canaanite and Israelite associations of that tree are borne in mind.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">Recent scholarship, including archaeological finds, has demonstrated that the goddess Asherah, worshipped among Israel's Canaanite neighbors as the wife of the supreme god, El, was also revered by many Israelites as the consort of El(ohim) and the (in some accounts, virginal) mother of his children. She was symbolized by a tree, and, in fact, a representation of such a tree stood within the temple at Jerusalem during the time of Lehi.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">(For a complete account of Dr. Peterson’s views you may want to read his article written for the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies called, <a href="http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/jbms/?vol=9&num=2&id=223">Nephi and His Asherah.</a> ) </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Asherah.jpg/220px-Asherah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Asherah.jpg/220px-Asherah.jpg" width="352" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nephi did not understand the condescension of God.<span> </span>Because of the perspective he had, looking to a future event, he did not know how God would come to earth, and how the Atonement would actually happen.<span> </span>It simply had not happened yet.<span> </span>The Lord answered his request to know how this loving act was to take place.<span> </span>He showed him in the most <i>simplistic</i> way so he could understand.<span> </span><b>We need that simplistic view too.</b><span> </span>We simply complicate it too much.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Go and read Daniel Peterson’s <a href="http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/jbms/?vol=9&num=2&id=223">full article</a>… digest this…and we will talk more.</div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-70665719813342933402011-02-26T12:22:00.000-08:002011-02-26T12:22:33.486-08:00A Man Descending Out of Heaven- 1 Nephi 11<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">Now that we have<b> identified the participants</b> in the experience which Nephi recalls, from my previous post, we can move on to make some interesting discoveries concerning what Nephi is<b> taught </b>through the experience.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">First, it is important to focus on the dialog between the Spirit of the Lord and Nephi.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Initially the Spirit of the Lord wanted to know exactly what Nephi desired.<span> </span>Nephi responded with his desire to behold the things his father saw.<span> </span>Next the Spirit of the Lord proposed a question:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 11:4 And the Spirit said unto me: Believest thou that thy father saw the tree of which he hath spoken?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It is interesting to me of all the things Lehi saw, the Spirit of the Lord focused solely on the<span style="font-size: large;"> tree</span>.<span> </span><i>That should be a big attention grabber for us too.</i><span> </span>It is after Nephi explains that he believes all the words of his father that the Spirit of the Lord rejoices and gives the promise to Nephi that he will behold the things that he desired because of his<b> belief in the Son of the most high God</b>.<span> <i> </i></span><i>Perhaps the tree has something to do with that?</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">What happens next is of utmost importance in understanding <span> </span>what is really taking place between the Spirit of the Lord and Nephi.<span> </span>The Spirit of the Lord tells Nephi that he will be given a<b> sign.</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Look for what the sign is:</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 11:7 And behold <span style="font-size: large;">this thing</span> shall be given unto thee for a <span style="font-size: large;">sign</span>, that <span style="font-size: large;">after thou hast beheld the tree</span> which bore the fruit which thy father tasted, <span style="font-size: large;">thou shalt also behold a man descending out of heaven</span>, and him shall ye witness; and after ye have witnessed him <span style="font-size: large;">ye shall bear record that it is the Son of God</span>.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Notice that He shows Nephi the exact process by which he will understand the things he will be shown.<span> </span>He is told that “this thing” will be given for a sign.<span> </span>The “thing” is actually a three step process.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><ul><li>1) Nephi will see a tree.<span> </span>It will be the same tree his father saw that had the fruit his father tasted.</li>
<li>2) Nephi will see a man descend out of Heaven. He will actually witness him doing this.</li>
<li>3) Nephi will “bear record” that the man who descended was the Son of God. </li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Immediately </i>we are told that the Spirit of the Lord instructs him to “look”.<span> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Notice what he sees:</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 11:8 And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me: Look! And I looked and beheld a<span style="font-size: large;"> tree</span>; and it was like unto the tree which my father had seen; and the beauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; and the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>9 And it came to pass after I had seen the tree, I said unto the Spirit: I behold thou hast shown unto me the tree which is precious above all.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The first part of the sign is given.<span> </span><i>Nephi sees the tree. </i>The Spirit of the Lord persists in asking what Nephi desires, to which he replies, <span style="color: #990000;">“to know the interpretation thereof.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next part of the sign,<span style="font-size: large;"> seeing a man descend out of Heaven</span>, is recorded with an interesting twist. Nephi records it as almost an aside.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span></span><b><span style="font-size: large;">Look for the man that descends:</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 11:11 And I said unto him: To know the interpretation thereof—<b>for I spake unto him as a man speaketh</b>; for I beheld that <b>he was in the form of a man;</b> yet nevertheless, <i>I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord;</i> and he spake unto me as<b> a man speaketh with another</b>.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>12 And it came to pass that he said unto me: Look! <b>And I looked as if to look upon him, and I saw him not; </b><i>for he had gone from before my presence.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Remember they were on an “exceedingly high mountain”.<span> </span>This leads me to believe that they are looking down at what Nephi saw next.<i> Could this be the “man descending out of heaven”?</i><span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>But… where did he go?<span> </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 11:13 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the great city of Jerusalem, and also other cities. And I beheld the city of Nazareth; and in the city of Nazareth I beheld a virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and white.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Now for the third part of the sign, Nephi will “bear witness” that<b> the man is the Son of God</b>.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 11:14 And it came to pass that I saw the heavens open; and an angel came down and stood before me; and he said unto me: Nephi, what beholdest thou?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>15 And I said unto him: A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>16 And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of God?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>18 And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>19 And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she had been carried away in the Spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me, saying: Look!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>20 And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>21 And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The sign had occurred exactly as the Spirit of the Lord said it would.<span> </span>Nephi saw the tree, he saw “the man” descend, and he witnesses that “the man is the son of God.” The man came as a baby, born of a virgin.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">It might surprise you what the Angel asks Nephi next….</span></div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-55623409529913703152011-02-25T11:24:00.000-08:002011-02-25T11:24:19.338-08:00Nephi, The Spirit of the Lord, and The Angel- 1 Nephi 11<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal"><i>(Side Bar: Right up front I must explain that in order to more fully understand the concepts that Nephi taught in this part of his record, I believe it is necessary to have groundwork laid.<span> </span>Please read the two previous posts if you have not done so, then come back and read on….)</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">According to the <b>Spirit of the Lord</b>, who is having a conversation with Nephi on an “exceedingly high mountain”, the reason that he is going to receive the desires of his heart, “to know the things his father had seen”, was because he “believest in the Son.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It is interesting to think back at the time frame in which this experience is given, and compare it to the time in which we live.<span> </span>We have been given an interesting perspective about the way he Son of God made his entrance into this world.<span> </span>We get to look back at the history of it, of the records of those who testified of His birth, namely the testimony of His apostles. <span> </span>Think about it, almost everybody on the earth has heard of Mary and Joseph, and baby Jesus being born in a stable, even if they don’t believe it themselves. We simply understand that the Son of God came into this world the same way the rest of us did.<span> </span>Perhaps we even take it for granted because of the “simpleness of the way”. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span></span>Nephi, however, has an entirely different challenge in understanding the <i>“condescension”</i> of God.<span> </span>He is looking forward, ahead, to a future place and time, to something that has not happened yet.<span> </span>It is true that he had the words of prophets like Isaiah, who alluded to the future event of Christ’s birth, but in reality it had not happened.<span> </span>Might I venture to suggest that the details regarding the process of how the Son of God would make his entrance might have been a little fuzzy for Nephi.<span> </span><span> </span>In fact Nephi reveals this detail himself as the Angel asks the question, <span style="color: #cc0000;">“Knowest thou the condescension of God?”</span> with the answer he gave, <span style="color: #cc0000;">“I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">With the introduction of the<b> Angel </b>in that last paragraph, perhaps it might be best to identify the players in this little experience.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Nephi</b></span> is the first obvious one.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Next we are introduced to the <span style="font-size: large;"><b>Spirit of the Lord</b></span>.<span> </span><span> </span>Nephi describes Him as,<span style="color: #cc0000;"> “in the form of a man; yet nevertheless, I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord; and he spake unto me as a man speaketh with another.” </span><span> </span>This Spirit of the Lord, in the form of a man, makes a quick exit at a really important time.<span> </span>Notice when he leaves the scene…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 11: 12 And it came to pass that he said unto me: Look! And I looked as if to look upon him, and I saw him not; for he had gone from before my presence.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>13 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the great city of Jerusalem, and also other cities. And I beheld the city of Nazareth; and in the city of Nazareth I beheld a virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and white.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It is interesting to me that he disappears from Nephi’s view as the vision of the virgin is shown.<span> </span>Perhaps this was done so that Nephi could truly understand the process of the actual “condescension” itself.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In fact, I believe the brother of Jared recorded this same experience in just a little different way, as Christ explained to him in the following passage:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">Ether 3: 16 Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The Lord, in his explanation of his appearance to the brother of Jared, taught that His physical body was the “sign” for His spiritual body. Nephi will also be shown the sign for Christ through the physical appearance he makes, with a body of flesh and blood, but as a tiny infant.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next player in this little dialog is the<b><span style="font-size: large;"> Angel.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 11: 14 And it came to pass that I saw the heavens open; and an angel came down and stood before me; and he said unto me: Nephi, what beholdest thou?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>15 And I said unto him: A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><span> </span>16 And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of God?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, suddenly the <span style="font-size: large;">Spirit of the Lord</span>, who I believe became part of the scene that was to play out before <span style="font-size: large;">Nephi,</span> is replaced by His messenger, the <span style="font-size: large;">Angel</span>, who teaches doctrine and adds his witness to it. <span> </span>I don’t know about you, but for me this is a very familiar process.<span> </span>I watch it unfold every time I attend the Temple. It is comfortable for me.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Ponder these things and see if they are comfortable to you.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">More tomorrow….</div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-39005800584486096822011-02-24T09:20:00.000-08:002011-02-24T18:57:58.037-08:00Seeing the Pre-Mortal Christ, Ether 3 and 1 Nephi 11<div class="MsoNormal">One of the greatest stories we have regarding the Jaredites is the story of the brother of Jared as he witnesses the pre-mortal Savior, or more commonly remembered as, sees the finger of the Lord. In studying that story we can recognize some <i>key dialog</i> that takes place between the Lord and the brother of Jared that is similar to the dialog that Nephi has when he is shown the meaning of his father’s vision.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gy5XYqgz3DA/TWaRimWu1ZI/AAAAAAAAALU/gi6FZzNN0zE/s1600/FribergBrotherJared.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gy5XYqgz3DA/TWaRimWu1ZI/AAAAAAAAALU/gi6FZzNN0zE/s400/FribergBrotherJared.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Watch for the reason the brother of Jared is allowed to see the Pre-mortal Christ in his mortal condition:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">Ether 3:9 And the Lord said unto him: Because of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast; for were it not so ye could not have seen my finger. Sawest thou more than this?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"> 10 And he answered: Nay; Lord, show thyself unto me.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"> 11 And the Lord said unto him: Believest thou the words which I shall speak?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"> 12 And he answered: Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">13 And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The reason that the brother of Jared got to witness this great thing is because he followed a process. He had a desire, he inquired of the Lord, he had faith that the Lord would answer him, the Lord softened his heart so that he believed every word the Lord spoke, and the Lord showed Himself to him. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Now… notice the similarity in the dialog in the experience that Nephi describes in 1 Nephi 11:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 For it came to pass after I had <span style="font-size: large;"><b>desired to know </b></span>the things that my father had seen, and <span style="font-size: large;"><b>believing</b></span> that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain, which I never had before seen, and upon which I never had before set my foot.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"> 2 And the Spirit said unto me: Behold, what desirest thou?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"> 3 And I said: <i>I desire to behold the things which my father saw.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"> 4 And the Spirit said unto me: <i>Believest thou that thy father saw the tree</i> of which he hath spoken?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"> 5 And I said: Yea, thou knowest that I believe all the words of my father.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"> 6 And when I had spoken these words, the Spirit cried with a loud voice, saying: Hosanna to the Lord, the most high God; for he is God over all the earth, yea, even above all. And blessed art thou, Nephi, because thou<i><b> believest in the Son</b></i> of the most high God; wherefore, thou shalt behold the things which thou hast desired.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">(Side Bar: Sometimes when the title Lord is used we get confused as to who it is referring to. Remember that one of the names for The Father is also Lord.)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It is interesting to me that in both cases, the Spirit of the Lord, <i>or perhaps another way to refer to it would be pre-mortal Messiah,</i> asks the receiver if they <span style="font-size: large;"><b>“believe”</b></span>. After they assure the Lord that they believe they are then shown what they<b><span style="font-size: large;"> desire. </span></b> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Now look back at the block of scriptures I posted above in 1 Nephi, what is it that Nephi desires? </b></div><div class="MsoNormal">Answer....To know the things his father had seen.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>What specifically does the Spirit of the Lord ask Nephi if he believes about his father’s vision?</b></div><div class="MsoNormal">Answer...He wants to know if Nephi specifically believes in the<span style="font-size: large;"><b> tree. </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It is important to understand that the subject of this conversation is centered around the tree… we will explore futher….</div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-39097058121079348572011-02-22T15:26:00.000-08:002011-02-22T15:26:47.447-08:00The Jaredites Ether 3<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">Before we look at what happens next to Nephi, after he is taken to “an exceedingly high mountain”, it is important to do some more background studying.<span> </span>I would like to look for a moment at the account in the book of Ether, of the experience that the brother of Jared had with the Lord, so that we can make some important comparisons with the process of events that are about to unfold for Nephi.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Just where did the Jaredites come from anyway?</b><span><b> </b> </span>The Jaredites are a group of people that left the Middle East at the time of the confounding of the languages at the Tower of Babel.<span> </span>The scattering that took place happened soon after the flood.<span> </span><i>Perhaps we should look at this as the first great scattering.</i> The confounding of the languages was a result of the acts of some of Noah’s descendants who had set aside true temple worship and attempted to build a “pagan temple”, or “counterfeit temple.”<span> </span><span> </span>The group of people, known as the Jaredites, was a righteous group who had cried unto the Lord requesting that their language not be confounded like the rest of the people.<span> </span>The Lord’s answer came by way of delivery from the confusion by leading them to a land of promise.<span> </span>The land of promise is the same land that Lehi was led to hundreds of years later, the American continent. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">We have the record of the Jaredites because of The Book of Mormon. <span> </span>A Jaredite prophet named Ether, who, having witnessed the last battles of his people, recorded them on 24 plates of gold. He had preserved the record of a people who had lived through many centuries on the choicest land in the world, only to perish by their own hands, all because of lack of humility and unwillingness to acknowledge their dependence on the “one true God.” </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I believe that we are given different accounts of the same story, over and over again, because that is the cycle we can see in life.<span> </span>The Jaredites become a type for the Lehites, in the land of promise.<span> </span>In the same way they become a type for study of their destruction, the experiences of their prophets can be compared to see the similarities there also.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I believe that the process, in which the brother of Jared saw the Lord,<i> is the same process in which Nephi sees the Lord. </i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Look for how Jesus showed himself to both groups:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">Ether 3:17 And now, as I, Moroni, said I could not make a full account of these things which are written, therefore it sufficeth me to say that Jesus showed himself unto this man in the spirit, even after the manner and in the likeness of the same body even as he showed himself unto the Nephites.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I picked up on the words, “<u>even as he showed himself</u>” in the above description.<span> </span>We are taught that the brother of Jared saw the pre-mortal Christ in his future mortal condition, with the body of flesh and blood.<span> </span>When Lehi, and Nephi were shown the Lord, they would have seen Him in a pre-mortal condition.<span> </span>They would have seen Him as a Spirit in the form of a body.<span> </span>They would have literally seen the Spirit of the Lord, in the form of a man.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Now, don’t get hung up on the following statement made by the Lord to the brother of Jared:</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">Ether 3: 15 And never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When the Lord explained to the brother of Jared that “never” had he shown himself to man in this manner, this was several hundred years <b>before</b> the experience that Nephi describes.<span> </span>Don’t get trapped in the word “never” because perhaps he was just illustrating that he was the <b>first of many</b>.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Digest this information, and we will explore <b>the process</b> more tomorrow….</div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-4462436347768675592011-02-19T15:04:00.000-08:002011-02-19T15:04:32.537-08:00The Process of Recieving 1 Nephi 11<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">After Lehi had given his children spiritual instruction regarding his vision, and things revealed to him by the Holy Ghost, Nephi explains to us, through his writings, that he too was desirous to know the things his father had seen.<span> </span><i>He wanted to know for himself.</i><span><i> </i> </span><span> </span>In 1 Nephi Chapter 11, Nephi gives us another amazing example of how to receive revelation.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 11:1 For it came to pass after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain, which I never had before seen, and upon which I never had before set my foot.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><ul><li>1) He had the desire to know</li>
<li>2) He believed that the Lord could make them known to him.<span> </span>AKA Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ</li>
<li>3) He pondered about what he had been taught.</li>
<li>4) He was given further light and knowledge.</li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal">It is amazing to me that this is already the second time Nephi explains this process in his record. Remember the first time was in Chapter 2:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">16 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great <b><span style="font-size: large;">desires</span><span style="font-size: large;"> to know </span></b>of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I <b><span style="font-size: large;">did cry unto the Lord</span></b>; and behold <b><span style="font-size: large;">he did visit me</span></b>, and did <b><span style="font-size: large;">soften my heart </span></b>that<b><span style="font-size: large;"> I did believe </span></b>all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: 22px;"><span class="verse" style="background-color: transparent; border-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></span><div class="MsoNormal">Nephi wants us to know the process.<span> </span>Perhaps the process itself is even more important than the information he received by following that process, which was the same dream his father saw, and the interpretation thereof. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Another important detail that Nephi records is the fact that he was<b> literally transported upwards to receive the information he sought.</b><span> </span>He describes the experience as taking place on an <i>“exceedingly high mountain”.</i><span> </span><u>We see an ascension process taking place</u>. Usually, when a mountain is referred to in the scriptures, it can be equated with a sacred experience similar to a temple experience.<span> </span>In the temple we also have an ascension experience as we move upwards toward the Father.<span> </span>We literally ascend the “Hill of the Lord.” </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">To receive the information Nephi received, I believe, an ascension process was necessary.<span> </span>As we explore it I believe you will think so too.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">More…. great stuff coming!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">To be better prepared for what is to come, please <a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2010/08/system-by-which-men-learn-mysteries-of.html">click here</a> to re-read this post. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-34882180654845689962011-02-18T11:55:00.000-08:002011-02-18T11:55:00.638-08:00Why The Jews Look For A Messiah<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">When studying the scriptures I think it is important to understand the religious and cultural beliefs of the people who are involved in them at the time they were written, and how they compare to the beliefs of those same groups today.<span> </span>One thing I find of great interest is to study the perspective of the Jewish people and their thoughts on their need for a Messiah.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Do you ever wonder why the Jews did not recognize the Messiah as Jesus Christ when he came the first time? <span> </span>I believe one of many reasons is because they did not understand the role the Messiah was to play in their personal lives, as a personal Savior.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span></span><i>Again, I am not a scholar of Jewish tenets but I have done some research into their religious beliefs and come to some conclusions on my own.<span> </span>This is what I have discovered.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The Messiah that the Jews were looking for, and still look for, is one who will redeem them from political oppression.<span> </span>The Jewish people understand that they are the “Covenant People”, which they are, and as such deserve to receive their rightful place as a leader in the world order.<span> </span>Their Messiah will be a great political leader, their rightful king and ultimate world leader, who will come among them as a blessing because of their worship of the God of Israel, who has promised them power. <span> </span>In short, they will be restored to their original land, which was given them in the Old Testament, and be a political leader among nations.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">According to <a href="http://www.chabad.org/library/moshiach/article_cdo/aid/1157486/jewish/Introduction.htm">Chabad.org:</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">“Two of the most fundamental tenets of the Jewish faith – as listed by Maimonides among the Thirteen Principles of the Jewish Faith – are the belief in the ultimate redemption, an awaited era of world peace, prosperity and wisdom, and the belief that the dead will be resurrected at that time.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">The Messianic Era will be ushered in by a Jewish leader generally referred to as the Moshiach (messiah: Hebrew for "the anointed one"), a righteous scion of King David. He will rebuild the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and gather the Jewish people from all corners of the earth and return them to the Promised Land.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">What they don’t seem to understand is that the Messiah is needed for a much greater purpose.<span> </span>They do not have a belief that the Atonement He performed was for their personal salvation.<span> </span>The Jewish belief is that one can reach perfection by <b>earning it</b>, by living the laws outlined in the Torah.<span> </span>Simply put, they are the extreme opposite to the various Christians who believe that you are saved by grace alone.<span> </span>They believe that you will be saved solely because of the works you do.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.chabad.org/library/moshiach/article_cdo/aid/1157486/jewish/Introduction.htm">As referred to before:</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;">“While Jewish belief also speaks of the soul's reward in the hereafter, <b>earned through its toil in the course of life's journey</b>, it sees the refinement of the physical and the infusion of holiness and purpose into the mundane as the paramount objective. It is the sanctification of the human body and the world at large that constitutes the very purpose of its creation.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #741b47;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">By understanding their belief system, one can see more fully why Jesus rebuked the Pharisee’s and Sadducees of His day because they relied only upon the law, preaching justice alone.<span> </span>They were furthering the mistaken idea that there was no need for a personal Savior, and the concept of mercy and grace.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I believe if we understand how the Jews perceived their progression as based on obedience to laws alone, and how they sought only for a political leader, we can see more fully the need for The Book of Mormon to correct false beliefs.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Keep this information in mind in all your studies of the scriptures and I believe you will see a greater emphasis on the correct doctrine of the fall, the Atonement, and the need for a personal Savior, to even get us to the place where we can receive the blessings of such. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This understanding has changed how I view all the teachings we are given, especially the teachings of Jesus Christ to the people in the New Testament times. </div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-38861921257303693362011-02-16T11:51:00.000-08:002011-02-16T11:51:27.777-08:00Blog Restructure<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">I have decided that my Blog is simply not efficient enough for me.<span> </span>In all reality I started writing this Blog over three years ago, <i>(my how time flies, doesn’t it?)</i> and have written quite a few of my personal thoughts down about insights I have learned through my studies of the scriptures.<span> </span>Over the years I have tried to post thoughts that corresponded with what I was studying for my Institute class.<span> </span>As a result I have a lot of "commentary" type of posts relating to specific chapters or sections, whatever the case may be, from the Standard Works.<span> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal">Long story short… even<span style="font-size: x-large;"> <b><span style="font-size: small;">I</span></b> </span>can’t find them with ease!<span> </span>I have decided to include what scriptures I am discussing in the titles of my posts.<span> </span>This will help me as I try and compare things I have already discovered through the spirit with things I am discovering still.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In case you haven’t noticed, I am currently studying The Book of Mormon.<span> </span>This Blog has become my personal journal of sorts, containing spiritual insights that I have observed.<span> </span>If anyone is reading this, please always ponder and pray about what you read, so that you can know for yourself if they are true.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I guess this Blog is really my personal spiritual journey which I hope to share with my posterity someday.<span> </span>When they are ready to know, they will seek.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Cheers, and thanks for listening to my babbling!</div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-30405398211267303662011-02-15T17:32:00.000-08:002011-02-16T16:45:06.591-08:00What Lehi Knew About The Jews- 1 Nephi 9-10<div class="MsoNormal">We interrupt this dream to interject some personal commentary. That is exactly what Chapter 9 of 1 Nephi is. It is the personal touch Nephi adds to his record to make sure we understand that it is <b>HIS</b> record, and that he was commanded to make the account according to<b> HIS</b> perspective. <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_618461612"> </a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_618461612">I know that I keep hammering that idea home, but it is a very important one to understand.</a><a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2010/10/small-plates-account-of-remembering.html"> </a> Just like <a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2010/10/small-plates-or-backup-plan.html">Mormon interjects his own personal commentary in the parts of The Book of Mormon he abridged</a>, in chapter 9 Nephi has done the same. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then beginning in<a href="http://lds.org/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/10?lang=eng"> Chapter 10</a>, as Nephi continues recording what his father saw in his vision, Nephi makes sure we understand that the need for relating the dream to us is because it effects the details of his own account which is to follow. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Part of Lehi’s visionary history that is often overlooked is the fact that he probably saw everything from the “beginning to the end” concerning his posterity, much like the other prophets of old which we study in the scriptures. This is subtly told to us as through Nephi’s account of his father’s teachings. He begins by giving Lehi’s account of what will happen to the Jews who were left behind in Jerusalem. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7CrinRDJ-FA/TVso-v7ArXI/AAAAAAAAALM/wTaKAG-bzWY/s1600/lehi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7CrinRDJ-FA/TVso-v7ArXI/AAAAAAAAALM/wTaKAG-bzWY/s320/lehi.jpg" width="277" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Lehi told them that the Jews would be scattered, and then gathered again.</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 10:3 That after they should be destroyed, even that great city Jerusalem, and many be carried away captive into Babylon, according to the own due time of the Lord, they should return again, yea, even be brought back out of captivity; and after they should be brought back out of captivity they should possess again the land of their inheritance.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Lehi explained that the Messiah would come, and when.</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">4 Yea, even six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem, a prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews—even a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the world.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Lehi explained the NEED for the Messiah, which was not truly understood by the people of Jerusalem.</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">6 Wherefore, all mankind were in a lost and in a fallen state, and ever would be save they should rely on this Redeemer.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lehi prophesied about John the Baptist and his ministry.</span></b> (vs. 7-10)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lehi explained that the Jews would not understand the gospel which the Messiah would preach and because of their unbelief they would kill the Messiah.</span></b> (vs. 11)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lehi then taught that the Messiah would rise from the dead, at which time he would manifest himself to the Gentiles by the Holy Ghost.</span></b> (vs.11)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lehi then quite possibly related the “Allegory of the Olive Tree”, which was recorded by the prophet Zenos, to his sons in an attempt to help them understand their place in all that was happening.</span></b> The language is too similar to ignore. (vs. 12-15) I believe he wanted them to understand the reason that they were brought to this “land of promise” was so that they could help the House of Israel not only come to a knowledge of the Redeemer, but <u>to help them understand their personal need for one.</u> He wanted them to know what role their posterity would play as the “righteous branch” or the <b>remnant </b>that would save the world in the last days. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Did they all fully understand exactly what Lehi was trying to teach to them about their calling in the Lord’s work? <i>Do we understand what ours is today?</i> We have been given the same information as they were given through this account which was recorded by Nephi. What must we do to understand? Is it any different for us then it was for them? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I love Nephi because he knew the process of enlightenment is the same for everybody. He works very hard to help us come to understand our <b>“calling”</b> in the same way he came to understand his. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">As we continue to study The Book of Mormon we need to be aware of what Nephi is really trying to help us understand,<b> the process of knowing.</b> </div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-8791546109454290662011-02-12T15:59:00.000-08:002011-02-12T15:59:02.059-08:00Section 76: Lehi's Dream of The Tree of Life<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal">In an effort to picture in our mind exactly what Lehi might have been shown in the “Tree of Life Vision” we have a tendency to limit our perspective to the physical items that he describes he saw.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">For example he saw a <u>large and spacious field </u>(vs. 9 & 20),<u> a tree with fruit</u> (vs. 10-11), <u>a river of water</u> (vs. 13), <u>a rod of iron</u> (vs. 14), <u>a strait and narrow path</u> (vs. 20),<u> a fountain</u> (vs. 20), and a <u>great and spacious building </u>(vs. 26).<span> </span>Many artists have given their interpretation or rendition of this scene in various types of mediums.<span> </span><span> </span>Each is only an opinion drawn by what they read in Nephi’s account.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cJYGRClYppM/TVcb8soTRoI/AAAAAAAAAKs/Sgfj9H6H6WM/s1600/tchg-pix_nfo_o_a98.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cJYGRClYppM/TVcb8soTRoI/AAAAAAAAAKs/Sgfj9H6H6WM/s400/tchg-pix_nfo_o_a98.jpg" width="322" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Looking beyond the<i> items</i> in the vision, I would like to concentrate on<i> the groups of people </i>that Nephi remembers being told about.<span> </span>In an effort to compartmentalize the groups of people that are spoken of in Lehi’s Dream I have made a comparison of Lehi’s Vision with the Vision which was recorded in Section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants.<span> </span>The similarities are stunning.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The first group of people is seen in 1 Nephi 8:21-23.<span> </span> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Look for what the people were doing:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;">21 And I saw numberless concourses of people, many of whom were pressing forward, that they might obtain the path which led unto the tree by which I stood.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;"><span> </span>22 And it came to pass that they did come forth, and commence in the path which led to the tree.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;"><span> </span>23 And it came to pass that there arose a mist of darkness; yea, even an exceedingly great mist of darkness, insomuch that they who had commenced in the path did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This group of people started on the path and moved forward.<span> </span>They did not however take hold of the “iron rod”, either because they did not know to, or they chose not to, and when the “mists of darkness” came, they wandered off and got lost.<span> </span>In my mind I compared them to the description of those who inherit terrestrial glory.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span><b style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">See if you can see any similarities:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;">Section 76: 72-75</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000;">72 Behold, these are they who died without law;</span> (no iron rod)</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;"><span></span>73 And also they who are the spirits of men kept in prison, whom the Son visited, and preached the gospel unto them, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh;</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000;">74 Who received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it.</span> (never actually partook of the fruit)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;">75 These are they who are honorable men of the earth, who were blinded by the craftiness of men.</span> (mists of darkness clouded their way)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next group of people is spoken of in 1 Nephi 8: 24-28. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Look for what this group of people is doing:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;">24 And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;"><span> </span>25 And after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;"><span> </span>26 And I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;"><span> </span>27 And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;"><span> </span>28 And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Can you guess which particular group this describes?</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;">Section 76:35-36</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000;">35 Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open shame. </span><span> </span>( remember they actually ate the fruit)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;">36 These are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and his angels—</span>(fell away to forbidden paths and were lost)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The third group described is found in 1 Nephi 8:30.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span><b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Look for what this group is doing:</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;">30 But, to be short in writing, behold, he saw other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I love how he explains that this group “fell down” before they partook of the fruit.<span> </span>In my mind I picture the position of ultimate worship being performed here.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Likewise the vision in Section 76 records:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000;">51 They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given—</span> (fell down, partook of the fruit)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">52 That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power;</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;"><span> </span>53 And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The last group described is found in 1 Nephi 8:31-32. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Look for what this group is doing:</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;">31 And he also saw other multitudes feeling their way towards that great and spacious building.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;"><span></span>32 And it came to pass that many were drowned in the depths of the fountain; and many were lost from his view, wandering in strange roads.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This group never even made it to the path at all. They were drowned in the fountain from the very beginning or lost from view, wandering strange roads.<span> </span>They only knew the great and spacious building as their goal, they didn’t even desire the fruit, or work towards the tree. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Section 76: 81-82 shows a great representation of this group of people. </b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cc0000;">81 And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, which glory is that of the lesser, even as the glory of the stars differs from that of the glory of the moon in the firmament.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #cc0000;"> 82 These are they who received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus.</span> (no path, no rod, no tree, no fruit)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Joseph Smith explained that only a small portion of what they were shown in vision, which makes up Section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants, could even be recorded.<span> </span>Likewise Nephi tells us that he “does not speak all the words” of his father.<span> </span>These two visions were so intricate that we have been given only the tip of the iceberg of what they actually were taught by the Lord regarding our post-mortal probation.<span> </span>I believe to understand it more fully we must be taught directly from the Lord, as these men illustrate is possible.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I believe that Section 76 and the “Tree of Life” Vision are literally the same thing, told in different ways. <span> </span></div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-57014203687074587752011-02-09T15:36:00.000-08:002011-02-16T11:55:50.116-08:00Lehi's Dream 1 Nephi 8<div class="MsoNormal">Probably one of the most discussed topics, when it comes to The Book of Mormon, is <b>Lehi’s Dream</b>. Since the abridgment of Lehi’s account of the Tree of Life Dream, or Vision, made by Mormon is part of the translation that was lost, the only account we have today is what Nephi felt impressed to write about regarding his father’s dream. <a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2010/10/small-plates-account-of-remembering.html">I think it is important to keep that in mind as we study what Nephi recorded, of the things he remembered, that his father told them he saw. </a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qjqVgJCxnv8/TVMjSE47SqI/AAAAAAAAAKo/YHtxQTbulIw/s1600/Lehi%2527s+Vision+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qjqVgJCxnv8/TVMjSE47SqI/AAAAAAAAAKo/YHtxQTbulIw/s400/Lehi%2527s+Vision+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Later, when Nephi desires to know for himself the meaning of the things his father saw, we discover a more in depth view of what Lehi might have really seen, but the first account we are given in 1 Nephi Chapter 8 is simply Nephi’s perspective of what transpired.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">With that in mind, can you figure out what might have weighed most heavily on Nephi’s heart and mind? </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-19435557218157499862010-11-19T10:16:00.000-08:002011-02-16T11:56:45.120-08:00An Abridgment of an Abridgment- Nephi's Teachings on Recieving the Sealing Power<div class="MsoNormal">Looking back over Nephi’s life, through his record, we discover that he deliberately “hits the mountain tops”. This means he outlines wonderfully a <span style="font-weight: bold;">pattern</span>, or path, that must be followed to gain <span style="font-weight: bold;">“power in the priesthood”. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: 130%;">Here is an “abridgment” of that path as I have observed so far.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">His father taught him and testified of God. (1 Nephi 1:1)</div><div class="MsoNormal">He had a desire to know the <a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2010/08/system-by-which-men-learn-mysteries-of.html">“mysteries of Godliness”</a> for himself. (1 Nephi 2: 16)</div><div class="MsoNormal">He “cried” unto the Lord which resulted in the Lord visiting him and he believed. <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/search?search=1+nephi+2+16&do=Search&anonymous_element_1_changed=search">(</a>1 Nephi 2:16)</div><div class="MsoNormal">He <a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2009/02/promises-of-abrahamic-covenant.html">entered into the same covenant as Abraham </a>did. (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/1_ne/2"></a>1 Nephi 2, 1 Nephi 3:15)</div><div class="MsoNormal">He testified of this truth to others in the spirit of prophecy. (1 Nephi 2:17<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/search?type=references&last=1+nephi+3:+15&help=&ro=checked&search=1+nephi+2:17%0D%0A&do=Search&show="></a>)</div><div class="MsoNormal">He cried unto the Lord on behalf of others or ministered in the office of a priest. <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/search?type=references&last=1+nephi+2:17&help=&ro=checked&search=1+nephi+2:18&do=Search&show="></a>(1 Nephi 2:18)</div><div class="MsoNormal">He learned the blessings that are given by obedience to the covenant he entered into, namely: Land inheritance (1 Nephi 2:20<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/search?type=references&last=1+nephi+2:18&help=&ro=checked&search=1+nephi+2:20&do=Search&show="></a>), prosperity in the form of posterity (1 Nephi 2:20<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/search?type=references&last=1+nephi+2:18&help=&ro=checked&search=1+nephi+2:20&do=Search&show="></a>), and priesthood power (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/search?type=references&last=1+nephi+2:20&help=&ro=checked&search=1+nephi+2:22&do=Search&show="></a>1 Nephi 2:22)</div><div class="MsoNormal">He was promised the blessing of being a “ruler and teacher”, or a <a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2010/08/nephi-prophet-priest-and-king.html">king</a>, predicated upon his faithfulness. (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/search?type=references&last=1+nephi+2:22&help=&ro=checked&search=1+nephi+2:19-22&do=Search&show="></a>1 Nephi 2:19-22)</div><div class="MsoNormal">He was given a<a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2010/08/lord-tested-nephi.html"> test</a> to prove if he would be faithful in all things. (1 Nephi 4)</div><div class="MsoNormal">He obtained <a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2010/11/power-in-priesthood.html">“power in his word”</a>, or the sealing power. (1 Nephi 7, 1 Nephi 17)</div><div class="MsoNormal"> Generally we find all of this information in the first few chapters of the Book of Mormon. <span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;">This is even before Nephi talks about the vision of the “Tree of Life”.</span> I believe Nephi is trying to show us a pattern. When we<span style="font-size: 180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> truly see</span></span> this pattern in Nephi’s life, it becomes easier to recognize it in the lives of others in the Book of Mormon, and the in other Standard Works of The Church, and even to pattern our own lives after it. </div><div class="MsoNormal">I am grateful that the Book of Mormon is a beautiful record of how to gain power in the priesthood, and seek for it individually, as Nephi and so many others did.</div><div class="MsoNormal">I know this may seem like a redundant review of my last several posts, but I believe a firm understanding of this process is needed before we can go on to “tackle” the Tree of Life vision and the meaning it has for each of us.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">Please ponder and pray about these things and ask for further light and knowledge.</span> <span style="font-size: 180%; font-weight: bold;">Remember</span> the only real difference between Laman and Lemuel, and Nephi, is this outlined process, starting most importantly with the <span style="font-weight: bold;">desire to know</span>, and the <span style="font-weight: bold;">willingness to ask</span>.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 15:3 For he truly spake many great things unto them, which were hard to be understood, save a man should inquire of the Lord; and they being hard in their hearts, therefore they did not look unto the Lord as they ought.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">8 And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?</div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-49284293490698293792010-11-17T12:31:00.000-08:002011-02-16T11:57:23.229-08:00I Did Frankly Forgive Them 1 Nephi 7My last post contained a record of my observations regarding Nephi’s character as I have observed it. It was as follows: <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">"At this point I would like to interject a possible concern. There have been times when I have wondered how the same incidence, if told in the perspective of Laman and Lemuel, might have differed. Since this record is that of Nephi, I have felt at times that he seems to make sure the record is really slanted in his favor.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> This perspective changed for me when I realized that Nephi had, I believe, already at this point in his history, progressed to the point that he had received the sealing power. </span><span style="font-style: italic;">The understanding that I have of this power allows me to now view Nephi quite differently.</span> Suddenly every word that Nephi speaks <span style="font-weight: bold;">is as if the Lord himself were speaking.</span> No longer do I view Nephi as boastful, but as a representative of God in every word and deed. This exchange between Nephi and his brothers, or the rebellious, has become a way for me to <span style="font-weight: bold;">understand the nature and character of the Lord much better,</span> as it is illustrated by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Nephi’s very words and actions.</span>"</div><div class="MsoNormal">This point of view could not be given better illustration, in my opinion, than what is seen in the closing incidents of 1 Nephi chapter 7. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Nephi, after outlining the consequences of their choice, required that his brothers choose to return to Jerusalem and perish, or return to their father Lehi and live. The information Nephi gave to his brothers regarding the choice they were to make caused them to act violently toward him. They were “exceedingly wroth” which resulted in them “laying hands on him” and “binding him with cords”. They also “sought to take his life” by “leaving him in the wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts”. An interesting comparison might even be made between Nephi and Joseph of Egypt in this case. Both were treated similarly by their brothers, and ultimately both would act as “saviors” for their entire families. <span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;">When we observe these similarities we should also remember to look for similarities in priesthood power as well.</span></div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MtLCHUpvyUU/TOQ8I7yfZ9I/AAAAAAAAAIc/gdsX0nQfzX4/s1600/Nephi%2Bbound%2B%25281%2529.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540619565758638034" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MtLCHUpvyUU/TOQ8I7yfZ9I/AAAAAAAAAIc/gdsX0nQfzX4/s320/Nephi%2Bbound%2B%25281%2529.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 309px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 416px;" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">As Nephi is bound, he prays for an interesting solution to his problem. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Look for exactly what he asks for:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 7: 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.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Instead of asking for the Lord to jump in and handle the situation, he simply asked for the strength to overcome his enemies himself. He prefaces this request with the declaration of his faith in the Lord, and his reliance on His power to save. Nephi <span style="font-style: italic;">knew</span> that because of the power in the priesthood, which had been given him by the Lord, he could do what was required to progress by simply asking for it. <span style="font-style: italic;">His words would supply the means of deliverance.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;">Notice what happens when he speaks the words of his prayer, or request:</div><div class="MsoNormal"> <span style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 7: 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.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">We are shown the <span style="font-weight: bold;">power Nephi had just by speaking the words.</span> When he spoke the word the bands were loosed. The confidence that Nephi had in his priesthood power is a lesson for all of us to learn. Nephi did not need an angel to come and loosen the cords; he gained power himself to do it. I marvel at the faith and knowledge that Nephi had to preform that simple act. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Although through the priesthood power Nephi was free from the restraints that bound him, it still took some humbling for his brothers to acknowledge their mistake in acting harshly toward him. After some persuasion, ultimately their hearts were softened and they desired, and asked, Nephi to forgive them for what they had done.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">1 Nephi 7: 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.</div><div class="MsoNormal">It is at this point I have always thought of Nephi as somewhat boastful in the manner he responded, but understanding that <span style="font-style: italic;">Nephi is speaking as if the Lord himself were speaking</span>, the perspective changes for me, when he tells us that he <span style="color: #990000;">“did frankly forgive them all that they had done.”</span> I believe that all that is required of us, for the Lord to forgive us of our sins, is a change of heart, the humble acknowledgment of Him as our Savior and Redeemer, and the request for his grace, which is the application of the Atonement in our lives. When we experience this “mighty change”, He too will “frankly forgive” us of all that we have done. <span style="font-style: italic;">Nephi becomes a beautiful illustration of the Savior himself, allowing us to come to know the Lord better by his example.</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal">Because of the act of forgiveness on the part of Nephi, they were all given the blessing of moving forward on their journey in harmony. Nephi showed us that not only is the Lord quick to forgive, but we should be likewise, quick to forgive. </div><div class="MsoNormal">For me this is a literal teaching of the term, “grace for grace”. </div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div><div class="MsoNormal"></div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-81778984804702876602010-11-09T18:48:00.000-08:002011-02-16T11:57:59.362-08:00Free to Choose, But Not the Consequences 1 Nephi 7<span style="font-family: verdana;">The next important event that</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Nephi records is the requirement, made by the Lord, for he and his brothers to return to Jerusalem to the house of Ishmael to persuade him to join them in their journey to a land of promise.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">This assignment was important for the propagation of the posterity of Lehi because Ishmael provided </span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-weight: bold;">daughters</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> for his sons to marry.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Although Nephi does not record any rebellion by his brothers concerning the charge to get the wives, he does discuss their reluctance to return back to Lehi in the wilderness and their desire instead to stay in Jerusalem, which was ripe for destruction.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<br />
</span><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MtLCHUpvyUU/TNoNdt-yzDI/AAAAAAAAAIU/SnLWpJDt2ps/s1600/daughters%2Bof%2Bishmael.jpg" style="font-family: verdana;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537753496015785010" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MtLCHUpvyUU/TNoNdt-yzDI/AAAAAAAAAIU/SnLWpJDt2ps/s320/daughters%2Bof%2Bishmael.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 228px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 225px;" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;">It is interesting to watch the interaction of Nephi with his brothers as they seek to rebel against the Lord and disobey his command. Nephi, who has<a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2010/11/power-in-priesthood.html"> power in the priesthood</a>, and displays <a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2010/08/lord-tested-nephi.html">power in his very word</a>, uses a pattern of teaching that is typical of how the Savior taught, speaking as if the Lord himself is speaking. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana; font-weight: bold;">Look for what the brothers desired.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">1 Nephi 7:6 And it came to pass that as we journeyed in the wilderness, behold Laman and Lemuel, and two of the daughters of Ishmael, and the two sons of Ishmael and their families, did rebel against us; yea, against me, Nephi, and Sam, and their father, Ishmael, and his wife, and his three other daughters.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"> 7 And it came to pass in the which rebellion, they were desirous to return unto the land of Jerusalem.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;">Laman and Lemuel wanted to exercise their agency and return to Jerusalem even though it was contrary to the command they had been given. Nephi, their younger brother, was troubled that they needed to constantly be reminded of the word of the Lord by him, as he set the example of obedience. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<span style="font-size: 130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Side Bar:<span style="color: #663300;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: #663300;">At this point I would like to interject a possible concern. There have been times when I have wondered how the same incidence, if told in the perspective of Laman and Lemuel, might have differed. Since this record is that of Nephi, I have felt at times that he seems to make sure the record is really slanted in his favor. This perspective changed for me when I realized that Nephi had, I believe, already at this point in his history, progressed to the point that he had received the sealing power. The understanding that I have of this power allows me to now view Nephi quite differently. Suddenly every word that Nephi speaks is as if the Lord himself were speaking. No longer do I view Nephi as boastful, but as a representative of God in every word and deed. This exchange between Nephi and his brothers, or the rebellious, has become a way for me to understand the nature and character of the Lord much better, as it is illustrated by Nephi’s very words and actions. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;">Nephi provides the type and shadow of the Savior himself as he councils the rebellious. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana; font-weight: bold;">By the questions Nephi asks his brothers, look for what he is trying to remind them of:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">1 Nephi 7:9 How is it that ye have not hearkened unto the word of the Lord?</div><div class="MsoNormal" face="verdana" style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"> 10 How is it that ye have forgotten that ye have seen an angel of the Lord?</div><div class="MsoNormal" face="verdana" style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"> 11 Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten what great things the Lord hath done for us, in delivering us out of the hands of Laban, and also that we should obtain the record?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"> 12 Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;">Nephi reminded his brothers of the Lord’s power unto deliverance if they would exercise faith in him. He used incidents that they were familiar with to jog their memory of what great things they had already heard and seen. He bore testimony of the power of faith, and pled with them to be faithful. He taught, and reminded them of, the first principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is faith, and tried to help their faith to grow. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana; font-weight: bold;">Nephi then recounted to his brothers the blessings that occur because of faith and obedience:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">1 Nephi 7:13 And if it so be that we are faithful to him, we shall obtain the land of promise; and ye shall know at some future period that the word of the Lord shall be fulfilled concerning the destruction of Jerusalem; for all things which the Lord hath spoken concerning the destruction of Jerusalem must be fulfilled.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"> 14 For behold, the Spirit of the Lord ceaseth soon to strive with them; for behold, they have rejected the prophets, and Jeremiah have they cast into prison. And they have sought to take away the life of my father, insomuch that they have driven him out of the land.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;">By obedience to the word of the Lord by faith, they were to receive all the promised blessings attached to the commands. They not only would obtain a land of promise, they would also know of the definite destruction of the land of Jerusalem, of which had been prophesied. Both of these great blessings were dependent upon their faithfulness. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana; font-weight: bold;">Nephi then acting as their leader and teacher warned them of the consequences of disobedience, and then boldly required them to choose.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">1 Nephi 7:15 Now behold, I say unto you that if ye will return unto Jerusalem ye shall also perish with them. And now, if ye have choice, go up to the land, and remember the words which I speak unto you, that if ye go ye will also perish; for thus the Spirit of the Lord constraineth me that I should speak.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;">This exchange between Nephi and his brothers teaches us a wonderful lesson of choice and accountability. In the Master Teacher’s way, the “rebellious” are taught about faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, His power to deliver which qualifies Him as one to have faith in, and the blessings that are attached to obedience to His word. The consequences for disobedience are then laid before them in such a way that is unmistakably clear; <span style="font-style: italic;">obedience brings life, disobedience brings death. </span> Finally, he allows them to choose for themselves. The result of their choice is crystal clear. The Lord is the one who provides the terms as shown by the statement that He “constraineth” Nephi, or required him to teach in this way. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana; font-weight: bold;">Look for the reaction that Laman and Lemuel have to the choice they are given.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">1 Nephi 7:16 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.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;">They obviously did not like the outcome of their choice if they disobey. They desired to choose for themselves, but are upset that they have no control of the consequences of their choice, which were set previous to the choice itself. They first became angry, then laid hands on their brother binding him with cords, and ultimately wished to take his life. The reaction that is displayed by these “rebellious” brothers is the same reaction that Jesus Christ himself received as he sought to teach these same truths to the rebellious of Jerusalem. The pattern is always the same.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;">The Lord loves us and <span style="font-weight: bold;">allows us to choose for ourselves.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span> He is a great parent, in that;<span style="font-style: italic;"> He does not allow us to choose the consequences.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span> He makes them clear and then lets us make a choice based on what we want to receive. This information allows us to exercise our agency properly. Some do not like this option because it makes them be accountable for their own actions. </div><div class="MsoNormal" face="verdana" style="font-family: verdana;">Nephi later teaches this principle again:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">1 Nephi 16:2 And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;">Understanding this principle as I do, I often wonder why I have such a rebellious soul at times. <span style="font-style: italic;">How about you?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: verdana;"></div><div class="MsoNormal">The next part of the lesson in Chapter 7 is really my favorite part… you will see why…. in the next post.<br />
</div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1474893047560586212.post-12582115178922981322010-11-04T18:58:00.000-07:002011-02-16T11:59:33.369-08:00Power in the Priesthood 1 Nephi 4<div class="MsoNormal">In Chapter 4 of First Nephi, in the Book of Mormon, Nephi was given <a href="http://inthedoghousenow.blogspot.com/2010/08/lord-tested-nephi.html">a task by the Lord which required him to do something that he might have felt was beyond his ability to do.</a> It was something that went against everything he had been taught concerning correct principles and doctrine; he was required to slay Laban. This test was given to him so that he could <span style="font-weight: bold;">prove</span> to the Lord that he was willing to keep the covenant he had made, to do as the Lord commanded. It allowed him to prove to the Lord that he could be trusted in all things, that he was one who the Lord could have <span style="font-weight: bold;">confidence</span> in. <span style="font-style: italic;">This confidence is eventually what is required to gain the blessing of power in the priesthood, or the sealing power. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">The sealing power is more fully discussed in the Book of Helaman. Approximately 500 years after Nephi lived, there was another prophet whose story is told, and his name is Nephi also. This second Nephi was required to do hard things just like the first one. He too, was tested by the Lord and found worthy of the Lord’s confidence.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-weight: bold;">Look for what Nephi did to gain the Lord’s blessing.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">Helaman 10:4 Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nephi had proven that he was faithful by his unwearyingness in declaring the word of the Lord to a people who were hostile and unrepentant. By doing so he proved to the Lord that he would follow the Lord’s commandments at all cost, even at the peril of his own life. He showed that he feared God more than he feared man, feared meaning loved and respected. He showed the Lord that He could have confidence in him.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-weight: bold;">Look for the blessings given to Nephi from the Lord because he had proved to the Lord that he could be trusted.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">Helaman 10:5 And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;">7 Behold, I give unto you power, that whatsoever ye shall seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven; and thus shall ye have power among this people.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"> 8 And thus, if ye shall say unto this temple it shall be rent in twain, it shall be done.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"> 9 And if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou cast down and become smooth, it shall be done.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #990000;"> 10 And behold, if ye shall say that God shall smite this people, it shall come to pass.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Nephi was given power in the priesthood wherein, literally, whatever he spoke would happen. The Lord would place His “seal” of approval on anything that Nephi said and did because Nephi had gained his trust. The Lord knew, by the tests Nephi had been given and passed, that Nephi would always submit his own will to that of the Lords will. The Lord knew that Nephi would act as He would act, and speak as He would speak, if the Lord, Himself, were present in any given situation. He knew that Nephi would not ask anything that was contrary to His will. This delegation of authority is one of complete “power in the priesthood”. It is what is referred to as the “sealing power.” It is the “power of the word”. <span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;">I believe that one could even go so far as calling it “divine investiture” of authority. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">After the Lord required the first Nephi to slay Laban, the record shows that Nephi’s very word exhibits power. Nephi literally teaches, speaks, and acts how the Father would act if He were in Nephi’s place. It is, in every essence, what Boyd K. Packer describes as<span style="color: #993399;"> “the authority and the power which God has granted to men on earth to act for Him. When priesthood authority is exercised properly, priesthood bearers do what He would do if He were present.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">It is interesting to ponder this fact as further study of the Book of Mormon continues. In your study, look for how Nephi teaches us of the “power in the priesthood” by showing us “the power of the word.” Look for Nephi as a type of the Father, and Jesus Christ. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Because Nephi has recorded the process that he followed to gain this power in the priesthood, I have come to better understand how one receives it. The process outlined is simple;</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">it requires first a desire to know, coupled with the willingness to ask in faith with a repentant and humble heart, requiring one to enter into covenants because of the knowledge given in response to the inquiry, and finally showing proof of obedience in all circumstances that the Lord sees fit to try one in.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span>Nephi also shows us, with the record he makes of his experiences, <span style="font-weight: bold;">the responsibility that attends this great power</span>, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">how to exercise it properly</span> too. I have gained a greater love and respect for Nephi, and subsequently come to understand the nature of both the Father and the Son better as I have realized that Nephi’s actions reflect those of the Father himself because he is a righteous priesthood holder with “power in the priesthood”. </div><div class="MsoNormal">It is no wonder to me that we are asked to study the Book of Mormon more deeply, looking for those patterns that teach us how to gain power in the priesthood. Boyd K. Packer taught:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #993399;">The authority of the priesthood is with us. After all that we have correlated and organized, it is now our responsibility to activate the power of the priesthood in the Church. Authority in the priesthood comes by way of ordination; power in the priesthood comes through faithful and obedient living in honoring covenants. It is increased by exercising and using the priesthood in righteousness.</div><div class="MsoNormal">This is what we learn from Nephi too. </div>In The Doghousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14168341244739209780noreply@blogger.com0