Recently my family started reading the Book of Mormon
again from the beginning. Since I have several wee ones we have only been doing
the children’s illustrated ones as a family. We had tried to read the real deal
before, but it was just too painful. I generally read it on my own at least
once a year and each time new things pop out. This is the first thing that required
my further investigation.
1 Nephi 2:24 And if it so be that they
rebel against me, they shall be a scourge unto
thy seed,
to stir them up in the ways of remembrance.
This stands as direction from the Lord to Nephi as he prays to the Lord for his hard hearted brothers, but I see some very interesting aspects to this
statement. By itself the term ‘they’ could be confusing so let’s see it in its
longer form.
19 And
it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi,
because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness
of heart.
20 And
inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led
to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea,
a land which is choice above all other lands.
21 And
inasmuch as thy brethren shall rebel against
thee, they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.
22 And
inasmuch as thou shalt keep my commandments, thou shalt be made a ruler and
a teacher over thy brethren.
23 For
behold, in that day that they shall rebel against me, I will curse them
even with a sore curse, and they shall have no power over
thy seed except they shall rebel against me
also.
24 And
if it so be that they rebel against me, they
shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in the ways of
remembrance.
So the first ‘they’ in verse 24 is talking about the seed
of Nephi or those that follow the Lord and the second ‘they’ is talking about
those that are decedents of Nephi’s rebellious brothers. So the lord uses the
rebellious to stir up the waning-righteous in the ‘ways
of remembrance.’ What are the ways of remembrance?
We see the general fulfillment of this prophecy in 2
Nephi 5
19 And behold, the words of the Lord had been fulfilled
unto my brethren, which he spake concerning them, that I should be
their ruler and their teacher. Wherefore, I had been their ruler and
their teacher, according to the commandments of the Lord, until the time
they sought to take away my life.
20 Wherefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilled
which he spake unto me, saying that: Inasmuch as they will not
hearken unto thy words they shall be cut off from the presence
of the Lord. And behold, they were cut off from his presence.
21 And he had caused the cursing to
come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For
behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like
unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome,
that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause
a skin of blackness to come upon them.
22 And thus saith the Lord God: I will cause that
they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of
their iniquities.
23 And cursed shall be the seed of him
that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the
same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.
24 And because of
their cursing which was upon them they did become
an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the
wilderness for beasts of prey.
25 And the Lord God said unto me: They shall be a
scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in remembrance of me;
and inasmuch as they will not remember me,
and hearken unto my words, they shall scourge them even unto
destruction.
26 And it came to pass that I, Nephi,
did consecrate Jacob and Joseph, that they should
be priests and teachers over the land of my people.
27 And it came to pass that we lived after the
manner of happiness.
Note verse 25 states the ways of remembrance in a slightly
different wording,
1 Nephi 2:24 . . . to stir them
up in the ways of remembrance
2 Nephi 5:25 . . . to stir them
up in remembrance of me
How do we
remember Christ? I think that verse 2 Nephi 5:26 sneakily gives us the answer
26 And it came to pass
that I, Nephi, did consecrate Jacob and Joseph, that they should
be priests and teachers over the land of my people.
Why does Nephi through
this statement in at this injunction? Why would he mention here that he
consecrated his two younger brothers? The key seems to be in regard to them
becoming Priest and Teachers. We read of the duties surrounding these two
callings in D&C 20:46-60
46 The priest’s duty
is to preach, teach, expound, exhort, and baptize,
and administer the sacrament,
47 And
visit the house of each member, and exhort them
to pray vocally and in secret and attend to all family
duties.
51 And
visit the house of each member, exhorting them to pray vocally and
in secret and attend to all family duties.
. . .
53 The teacher’s duty
is to watch over the church always,
and be with and strengthen them;
54 And
see that there is no iniquity in the church, neither
hardness with each other, neither lying, backbiting, nor
evil speaking;
55 And
see that the church meet together often, and also see that
all the members do their duty.
.
. .
59 They
are, however, to warn, expound, exhort, and teach, and invite
all to come unto Christ.
60 Every elder, priest,
teacher, or deacon is to be ordained according to the
gifts and callings of God unto him; and he is to
be ordained by the power of the Holy Ghost,
which is in the one who ordains him.
These duties of a priest and a teacher are the ways that
the lord stirs up the children of men unto the ways of remembrance of him when
they are willing to receive. We see this same thing spoken of in Moroni 6:4
4 And
after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and cleansed
by the
power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the
church of Christ; and
their names were taken, that they might be remembered and
nourished by the good word
of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them
continually watchful unto prayer,
relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who
was the author and the finisher of their
faith.
Jacob also reiterates many of the same concept of 1 Nephi
2:24 and 2 Nephi 5:25 in Jacob 3:2-3
2 O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your
heads and receive the pleasing word of God,
and feast upon his love; for ye may, if
your minds are firm, forever.
3 But,
wo, wo, unto you that are not pure in heart, that are filthy this day before
God; for except ye repent the land is cursed for your sakes;
and the Lamanites, which are not filthy like unto you, nevertheless they
are cursed with a sore cursing, shall scourge you even unto
destruction.
The statement that stands out to me is that, “the land is
cursed for your sakes”, but isn’t this the Promised Land? This pulls to my mind
the First Judgment, as Jacob calls it, or in other words, the judgment placed
on Satan, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden found in Genesis 3. In fact there
are some interesting parallels between Genesis 3 and 1 Nephi 2. Let’s consider
1 Nephi 2:19-24 again note the differences that occur with the lords dealing
with those that put aside his commandments and those that follow his
commandments.
1 Nephi 2
19 And
it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi,
because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness
of heart.
20 And
inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments,
ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise;
yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a
land which is choice above all other lands.
Genesis 3
17 And
unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife,
and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee,
saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake;
in sorrow shalt thou eat of it
all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also
and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat
the herb of the field;
19 In
the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return
unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and
unto dust shalt thou return.
1 Nephi 2
21 And
inasmuch as thy
brethren shall rebel against thee, they shall be cut
off from the presence of the Lord.
22 And
inasmuch as thou shalt keep my commandments, thou shalt be made a ruler and
a teacher over thy brethren.
Genesis 3
16 Unto
the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou
shalt bring forth children; and
thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
1 Nephi 2
23 For
behold, in that day that they shall rebel against me, I will curse them
even with a sore curse, and they shall have no power over thy seed except
they shall rebel against me also.
24 And
if it so be that be that
shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them
up in the ways of remembrance.
Genesis 3
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and
between thy seed and her
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
How does he stir them up when they are NOT willing to
receive or to follow the commandments?
After Jacob I don’t really see this teaching of the ‘ways
of remembrance’ directly, but we do see it abundantly practiced. Considering
the availability of the small plats of Nephi was restricted and possibly
forgotten about after they came into the hands of King Benjamin until Morori’s
day that is not unexpected. It is interesting to note that most occurrences of
the word ‘remember’ found latter in the Book of Mormon are referring to
something undesirable. Enos tries to turn the hearts of the Laminates to the
ways of remembrance through the teaching of the word of god, but fails because
they are unwilling to receive. But latter on the Sons of Mosiah succeed, why.
What was the difference.
We see this same thing when Alma
followed this same pattern with the Zoramites in Alma 31 bringing with him
teachers and priest to spread the word of God to bring the people back to the
remembrance of the Lord their god.
5 And
now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency
to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more
powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else,
which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they
should try the virtue of the word of God.
6 Therefore
he took Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner; and Himni he did leave in the church in Zarahemla;
but the former three he took with him, and also Amulek and Zeezrom,
who were at Melek; and he also took two of his sons.
This works for those that
were willing to receive but not those who would not. How does the Lord bring
those that are hard in heart back to the ways of remembrance, or back to a
state where they are willing to receive?
The pivotal component that
changed the Laminates was the introduction of the Amulonites, or the priest of
Noah into the Lamanites. They taught them as we see in Mosiah 24.
1 And it came to pass that Amulon did gain favor in the eyes of
the king of the Lamanites;
therefore, the king of the Lamanites granted unto
him and his brethren that they should be
appointed teachers over his people,
yea, even over the people who were in the land of
Shemlon, and in the land of
Shilom, and in the land of
Amulon.
4 And
he appointed teachers of the brethren of Amulon in every
land which was possessed by his people; and thus the language of
Nephi began to be taught among all the people of the Lamanites.
5 And
they were a people friendly one with another;
nevertheless they knew not God; neither did the brethren of Amulon teach them
anything concerning the Lord their God, neither the law of Moses; nor did they
teach them the words of Abinadi;
6 But
they taught them that they should keep their record, and that they might write
one to another.
Wait, they were friendly! That seems
very different then the statements made about the Lamanites in 2 Nephi 5:24
24 And because of
their cursing which was upon them they did become
an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the
wilderness for beasts of prey.
or in Enos 1:20
20 And
I bear record that the people of Nephi did seek diligently to restore the
Lamanites unto the true faith in God. But our labors were
vain; their hatred was fixed, and
they were led by their evil nature that they became wild, and ferocious, and a blood-thirsty people, full of idolatry and filthiness; feeding upon
beasts of prey; dwelling in tents, and wandering
about in the wilderness with a short skin girdle about their loins and their
heads shaven; and their skill was in the bow, and in the
cimeter, and the ax. And many of them did eat nothing save it was raw meat; and
they were continually seeking to destroy us.
The Lamanites changed, but
that change only occurred because they were willing to receive something from
those that rebelled against god, so that they could be prepared to receive the
word of god.
We don’t know how the Zoramites
came back, but we know they became Lamanites for a time (Alma 43:4) and were
among the righteous after Christ came (4 Nephi 1:36) and we see them again in
Mormon’s day as being counted among the Nephites (Mormon 1:8).
I’m still looking for more
clues about the rebellious being used to stir the righteous up in the ways of remembrance.
I know the Chaldeans were often used to scourge the Israelites into remembrance.
A point about the importance
of remembering:
I would like to focus on two
last items. Moroni had the words of the small plates and he makes the practice
of remembering an important part of what he teaches. Even in Moroni’s promise
we see he has a great understanding for the importance of remembering. Often
Missionaries and Members alike only focus on verses 4-5 but here I will focus
on the whole thing Moroni 10:3-5
3 (RECEIVE)
Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things,
if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, (REMEMBER)
that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been
unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time
that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
4 And
when ye shall receive these things, (ASK) I
would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the
name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere
heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of
it unto you, (RECEIVE) by the power of the
Holy Ghost.
5 And
by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all
things.
Moroni 4:3
3 O God, the Eternal Father, (ASK) we ask
thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who (RECEIVE) partake of it; (REMEMBER) that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness
unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, (ASK) that
they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, (REMEMBER) and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath
given them, (RECEIVE) that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.
