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We are introduced to Limni, learn about Zeniff, and begin the story of Noah and Abinadi.
D&C 105:6
D&C 95:1-2
Helaman 12:1-6
D&C 87:6
Mosiah 28:13-16
D&C 101:7-9
Isaiah 42:6, 16
JST Isaiah 42:19
D&C 93 seems relevant here for two reasons, firstly it tells us who God is:
us.
12 And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace;
13 And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness;
14 And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fulness at the first.
15 And I, John, bear record, and lo, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying: This is my beloved Son.
16 And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the glory of the Father;
17 And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him.
18 And it shall come to pass, that if you are faithful you shall receive the fulness of the record of John.
19 I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness.
20 For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace.
Secondly it raises the interesting point that Christ did not receive the fullness at the first which is the presence of the Father and being a son of God. So my pondering is this, did Jesus while in the flesh know who he was the whole time? Or was his mission revealed to him grace for grace? If he had to be taught by the spirit who he was and what his mission was, then perhaps the same is true of the servants. Why are you all here right now reading my comment? What led you to this podcast? Is the spirit revealing something to you grace for grace?
To quote JST 42 again
For I will send my servant unto you who are blind; yea, a messenger to open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf; And they shall be made perfect notwithstanding their blindness, if they will hearken unto the messenger, the Lord’s servant.
We are blind and deaf, but if we will listen and open our ears the Lord will work his act his strange act among us. And much sooner than we think.
I’ve been practicing “social distancing” for years, as well. I work at home, so other than my school-aged boys being home all day now, not much has changed for me.
Great show, as always. I usually listen while I do stuff, so I often don’t remember my thoughts when I’m in a position to comment.
I do love how consistent the Book of Mormon is about the nature of God; I wish more TBMs could actually see the words on the pages of the book they read so often, that they would pay more attention to the doctrine and prophecies than spending their time honoring the fleshy arms of the characters while being warned not to trust in the arm of flesh. Some day soon, I hope.
These next few chapters are really remarkable in the way we will be able to see multiple perspectives and the individual choices of people and groups of people which eventually lead to the mass conversion of thousands of Lamanites (anti-Nephi-Lehites). However, what struck me from chapter 7 is the idea of vain strugglings and an effectual struggle. The effectual struggle is the one that eventually leads to the desired outcome, in this case being free from the Lamanites (which wasn’t really a struggle at all, once they were operating on the Lord’s timeline). However, it is interesting to note that their “vain” strugglings were not unfruitful. They led to the discovery of the record of Ether, which also included the record of the Brother of Jared. The other result of their struggle against the Lamanites was that it eventually led them to humility and repentance. I think the same can be seen in our own lives. We pray, we fight, we search for creative ways to get out of tough situations, but ultimately, trials end when God lets them end. This does not mean that the effort is wasted, there can be much gained in the process.
I also think we underestimate Zeniff. It is interesting to see him identify himself as the cause of the contention that destroyed the initial campaign into the land of Nephi (whereas Amaleki in Omni verse 28 attributes it to the stiffneckedness of the original leader). He also describes himself as being overzealous to inherit the land, but the evidence of his leadership is a very successful settlement. He negotiated with the king of the Lamanites for their land, instead of fighting. He led his people to victory in two battles, and had an additional 34 years of peace and prosperity, supported by good priests. It is also possible that he was led by the Spirit to take a group peacefully among the Lamanites, even though his own assessment of their situation at the end of his life says differently. He seems like a leader who takes ownership of his actions instead of blaming others when things don’t go as expected. He seems to be the kind of person who sees the best in others, and the reason he wasn’t prepared for the first Lamanite attack was because he could not imagine the intrigue in the hearts of others (including his own son) when there was none in his own heart.