Mosiah 2

Mosiah 2:18 Behold, ye have called me your king; and if I, whom ye call your king, do labor to serve you, then ought not ye to labor to serve one another? Who in my life could say this to me? And who could I say it to? As parents, are we able to say this to our children? "Hey, kids, I have served you, so you should serve one another?" Or are we precluded from calling that revive since we created those kids, and they didn't exactly elect us to our jobs as their parents? In America, we have the mindset that we owe our kids a decent upbringing, and the best shot at success in life, since we brought them into this life. In most of Asia, however, they take a completely different view—the kids owe the parents because the parents created them and brought them into this life. Which does the scripture support? Moses said to honor thy father and thy mother. The proclamation to the world says that children have claim on their parents for support. Psalms says that children are an inheritance to the lord.

Mosiah 2

Mosiah 2:15 Yet, my brethren, I have not done these things that I might boast, neither do I tell these things that thereby I might accuse you; but I tell you these things that ye may know that I can answer a clear conscience before God this day. Mosiah is concerned that his people know that he has a clear conscience. Why is it important that others know the state of your conscience? I feel like this is not the only case where this is said. Maybe it is, though. I just retread the end of 2 Nephi and the start and finish if Jacob, and didn't see it, so maybe I'm just remembering this section.

Still, though, why do you need others to know the state of your conscience? To that end, why do you need to let others know whether you have a testimony at all? We have our sacrament meetings where we take turns sharing what we know with the other people who have come to church that Sunday, and it often includes the line, "I want you to know..."

Mosiah 2

Mosiah 2:9 I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view. King Benjamin here asks for three faculties: ears, hearts, and minds. The first to actually take in the message, the second to be prepared to feel something as you do so, and the last to think through what he says in order to have some intellectual understanding of what he is saying. I notice that this is in fair contra position to the mindset or expectation of non religious activists in the US today, who produce bumper stickers saying things like, "the more you know, the less you believe." When I was a missionary, one of the things we told ourselves was that somebody had done a study of religiosity and education that showed that religiosity decreased as education increased except in a few notable cases, Mormonism being one. Thanks to the questionable reliability of Wikipedia, I have found that educational attainment drives or is correlary to religious involvement: "Similarly, studies of Mormons in the US show that Mormons with higher education attend church more regularly than uneducated Mormons. Survey research indicated that 41% of Mormons with only elementary school education attend church regularly, compared to 76% of Mormon college graduates and 78% of Mormons who went beyond their college degrees to do graduate study attending church regularly.[19]

Mosiah 2

Mosiah 2:3 And they also took of the firstlings of their flocks, that they might offer sacrifice and burnt offerings according to the law of Moses; 4 And also that they might give thanks to the Lord their God. This idea of sacrifice as an expression of gratitude is one that I wonder whether it still exists. It was not only common in the Old Testament, but commanded. Is it still commanded? Is tithing a "sacrifice"? I haven't thought of it that way, but I feel that a significant part of the reason I pay it is gratitude. When we fulfill our callings, is that a sacrifice made to show gratitude? Should we think of it that way? I wonder how it changes the thing that you are doing if you change your mindset to be, "I am teaching this lesson to express gratitude to heavenly father for the blessings he has given to me."

Mosiah 1

Mosiah 1:16 And moreover, he also gave him charge concerning the records which were engraven on the plates of brass; and also the plates of Nephi; and also, the sword of Laban, and the ball or director, which led our fathers through the wilderness, which was prepared by the hand of the Lord that thereby they might be led, every one according to the heed and diligence which they gave unto him. This is king Benjamin to his son, king Mosiah. I know it s conspiracy theorist but wouldn't it be cool if president Monson has the sword of Laban? He may.

There's a really interesting article that explores a few things you might not have thought about in connection with the sword of Laban here.

Mosiah

Mosiah 1:11 And moreover, I shall give this people a name, that thereby they may be distinguished above all the people which the Lord God hath brought out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I do because they have been a diligent people in keeping the commandments of the Lord. The name that he is going to give them is the name of Christ. I think it is interesting that he is giving it to them because they have been diligent in keeping the commandments, I.e. you earn the name of Christ through obedience.

I remember the first time I heard this and actually heard it. I was in high school, and a newly returned missionary was giving his welcome me home talk and he focused on this idea of being called by the name of Christ and I thought it was a weird thing and it took me a while and another reading of the chapters to feel like it was correct and appropriate. It is interesting to me still. We are striving to literally become like Christ, not figuratively, but in every sense. We aspire to be called by his name, we hope to reflect his image in our countenance, we try to align our wills to him so that our behavior becomes the same thing he would do if he were here. Basically, we are trying to become exactly like him in looks, name, behavior, and even authority (throug the priesthood).

Words of Mormon

Words of Mormon 1:7 and I cannot write the hundredth part of the things of my people. Mormons abridgment of the book of Mormon reminds me a little bit of the abridged version of the Princess Bride, and Steven King's comments to the fellow who did it. I don't remember the guy's name, but apparently, he pulled out of the original only the parts he liked, or thought were interesting, and skipped over whole sections of the book that he thought were not necessary. Now, a proper abridgment doesn't give undue weight to the more interesting parts of the book but rather, gives an accurate reproduction of the entire work with all sections shortened. That's not what Mormon did with the book of Mormon. If he was giving an accurate abridgement of the whole history of his people, there's no way he would have given so much attention to the wars in Alma, and such a cursory treatment of the years after Christ visited them. Instead, he picked out the parts that he felt inspired would be the most important for us to have.

Omni

More on Zedekiah

Jeremiah 37:1 And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.
2 But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the Lord, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah.

Zedekiah was a wicked king, who was also a weak king. His city was besieged by the Chaldeans, who ran away when pharaoh's army showed up, and at that point, they ran away. This was problematic for the prophet Jeremiah, because. He had prophesied that the Chaldeans would burn jerusalem, so when they turned tail, the Israelites told Jeremiah he was wrong.

When he says that the Chaldeans will still burn the city, the other nobles ask the king if they can throw him in prison and he replies, 5 Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you.

So they throw Jeremiah into prison and the king kind of freaks out, because he is scared so he pulls him out to talk to him and is told, Thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:

He again reveals his weakness of character when he says, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.

He doesn't go, and then, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon...against Jerusalem, and they besieged it...And the city was broken up. And it came to pass, that...Zedekiah...and all the men of war fled. But the Chaldeans’ army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah... and they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon...Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes...Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.

They go on to burn Israel, according to the prophesy of Jeremiah. And in all that, somehow, one of his sons, Mulek, escaped with a group of people to America.

Omni

Omni 1:15 Behold, it came to pass that Mosiah discovered that the people of Zarahemla came out from Jerusalem at the time that Zedekiah, king of Judah, was carried away captive into Babylon.

The people of Zarahemla were descendants of Mulek, the son of Zedekiah, and the people he brought with him. We don't know who they were, and this introduces an interesting element to the book of Mormon: were there any priests or Levites with Mulek? Without any, the Nephites had only the melchezidick priesthood. With some, it is possible that thy had levitical priests. I don't think that it matters, ultimately. The king, Zarahemla himself had no written record of his genealogy, but gave a genealogy of his fathers, according to his memory

On to Zedekiah. We learn about him in Jeremiah 37 1 And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.
2 But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the Lord, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah. So basically, a wicked king. Also, he was a ak king. The princes hated Jeremiah because he was constantly calling them out on being wicked.

I'd like to revisit this more tomorrow.

Omni

Omni 1:13 And it came to pass that he did according as the Lord had commanded him. And they departed out of the land into the wilderness, as many as would hearken unto the voice of the Lord; and they were led by many preachings and prophesyings. And they were admonished continually by the word of God; and they were led by the power of his arm, through the wilderness until they came down into the land which is called the land of Zarahemla. They seem to have been in the wilderness for quite some time. I wonder how long this was.

Omni

Omni 1:1 Behold, it came to pass that I, Omni, being commanded by my father, Jarom, that I should write somewhat upon these plates, to preserve our genealogy— Again, leading with preserving genealogy, which is a bit different than leading with to teach about Christ. Of course my own motivation for keeping this journal is "to document which days I actually read the scriptures," followe closely by a "to record my incredibly valuable thoughts for my progeny," neither of which is "to teach about Christ.

Omni 1:9 Now I, Chemish, write what few things I write, in the same book with my brother; for behold, I saw the last which he wrote, that he wrote it with his own hand; and he wrote it in the day that he delivered them unto me. And after this manner we keep the records, for it is according to the commandments of our fathers. And I make an end. Chemish is an interesting one—he makes a point of stating that he saw his brother make his final entry, says that doing that is the manner they follow, which implies that he may not have read this whole record before putting down his one comment and passing it on. He is followed by his son, who says that he doesn't know of any revelations or prophesies other than those that are already written, which, to me, implies that he at least read the book. He also makes an interesting update on the genealogy thread—in his mind, it is supposed to be the genealogy of the kings, which they're keeping. He almost implies that he doesn't get the value of the plates he is keeping or why he is doing so.

Jarom

I like the book of Jarom. He's fairly humble, with his, what could I say more comments and his brevity. He gives us a picture of the Nephites when nothing dramatic enough for Mormon to decide to copy it is happening. Th Nephites are living, by and large, righteously. They're having wars, but not being overcome. They're working and prospering, becoming rich. And they keep the law of Moses, the sabbath day, and they don't profane or blaspheme. It's interesting to me that he called out specifically profaning and blaspheming. The first is to speak Of sacred things irreverently or disrespectfully and the second is to speak of God irreverently or disrespectfully. The two are very connected, and when Jarom is making his list of how to describe the Nephites, he includes those two forms of respect for holiness.

Jarom

Jarom 1:1 Now behold, I, Jarom, write a few words according to the commandment of my father, Enos, that our genealogy may be kept. Enos grew up to be a grown man who was old enough to go into the forest to hunt by himself before he decided to pray to understand the truthfulness of the gospel and ask for a remission of his sins. His son, Jarom, kept the record according to his father's commandment for the specific purpose of preserving their genealogy. Not to record the things of Christ, the way that Jacob, Nephi, and to a lesser extent, Enos did. What happened during this time that resulted in what appears to be a decline in spiritual confidence? Because it's not that he didn't have revelations, prophecies, etc. He tells us in verse two that he had them, but that they were not worth recording.

Are everyone's spiritual experiences worth recording? I'm keeping this blog, to talk about thoughts I have while I read the scriptures, but is this something that is worth the digital storage space it takes up? I believe so. Sometimes more than others, but I think it has value—for me if for no one else. But, perhaps, my children will read it after I die, and maybe one or two of their children will also read it, and hopefully, they will find it valuable, and it will help someone one of my descendants to know that their father believed in Christ enough to read his word and write down my thoughts about the scriptures.