Mosiah 2 & 3

Mosiah 2

Mosiah does as his father, King Benjamin, directs and gathers all the people around the temple to hear his father’s final speech. Families sit together in tents surrounding a tower King Benjamin speaks from so more people can hear him. Still, the crowd is too big for everyone to hear, and so King Benjamin’s words are written down and circulated to all the people. And it is well worth it—King Benjamin’s speech is one of the iconic sections of the Book of Mormon, full of precious gems. Here are some of my favorites:

SERVICE

17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

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?

King Benjamin taught this principle by example. It is simple but powerful, because I have often wondered how I can serve God—and then I remember this verse. The best way to serve Him is to serve His children. That is what He wants most.

GRATITUDE and OUR DEBT TO GOD

20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—

21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

22 And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

23 And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.

24 And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?

I think this principle isn’t meant to scare us or make us “give up” because we can never re-pay God, but is meant to inspire gratitude, humility, and reverence in us. Life is hard, and I can choose to focus on that… or I can choose to recognize the reality of how much God has given me, and how much He continues to give me as I choose to follow Him.

CHOICE & CONSEQUENCES

36 And now, I say unto you, my brethren, that after ye have known and have been taught all these things, if ye should transgress and go contrary to that which has been spoken, that ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom’s paths that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved—

40 O, all ye old men, and also ye young men, and you little children who can understand my words, for I have spoken plainly unto you that ye might understand, I pray that ye should awake to a remembrance of the awful situation of those that have fallen into transgression.

These scriptures have always been powerful to me. Basically I have a choice to obey what I know is right or not. But if I chose not to, the companionship of the Holy Spirit must depart from me, and has “no place in [me] to guide [me] in wisdom’s paths that [I] may be blessed, prospered, and preserved.” Why would I ever think it is worth it to forfeit that blessing?

I have always been intrigued, too, by King Benjamin’s invitation to “awake to a remembrance of the awful situation of those that have fallen into transgression.” Basically he says just look around you! Look at the people who have chosen to reject what is right and good. Are they happy? Do you really want to follow their example? The proof is in the pudding, basically. People I know who aren’t living the way they know they should are constantly battling to find an alternative way to be happy that never seems to satisfy. And on the flip side, the happiest people I know are the best people I know. Just like King Benjamin says:

41 And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

Mosiah 3

King Benjamin’s speech continues. In this chapter he shares a joyful prophecy that was given to him by an angel:

5 For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases.

 6 And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men.

 7 And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.

 8 And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.

9 And lo, he cometh unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men even through faith on his name; and even after all this they shall consider him a man, and say that he hath a devil, and shall scourge him, and shall crucify him.

 10 And he shall rise the third day from the dead; and behold, he standeth to judge the world; and behold, all these things are done that a righteous judgment might come upon the children of men.

I love these clear prophecies of the coming of Christ that were given just 125 years before his birth.

I've been asked what I believe happens to people who don’t even know about my church, or those who don’t even know about Jesus Christ. Verse 11 teaches the answer: because of Christ’s atonement, the Lord can mercifully forgive those who “sin” without knowing Him or His commandments:

11 For behold, and also his blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died not knowing the will of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned.

We also learn that the Lord’s atoning sacrifice covers all children, and they are innocent:

16 And even if it were possible that little children could sin they could not be saved [without the Atonement of Christ]; but I say unto you they are blessed; for behold, as in Adam, or by nature, they fall, even so the blood of Christ atoneth for their sins.

18 For behold he judgeth, and his judgment is just; and the infant perisheth not that dieth in his infancy;

All things are made possible by the Atonement of Christ. He is fair, merciful, and kind and will save all men who will allow him… including those who don’t know Him because they don’t know any better. But ultimately we all need Him.

17 And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.

But for any of us, in order to access the power of the atonement of Christ we must become as a child:

 19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

Words of Mormon, Mosiah 1

Words of Mormon

Don’t be confused by this little book—it is not in chronological order. It’s basically a little “historian’s commentary” inserted by Mormon about the books we’ve just read (1 Ne, 2 Ne, Jacob, Enos, Jarom, Omni). Keep in mind that the Book of Mormon is a summary of many prophets’ writings compiled by a later prophet named Mormon who took a room-full of plates (starting with Nephi and then those who followed), and condensed/abridged the most important parts down into one record. Occasionally you will see Mormon make commentary on the chapters as he puts them together, and in this case he has inserted a full chapter of commentary.

The point of this chapter is for Mormon to explain that he found a second little record written by the previously-listed prophets after he finished abridging the other larger plates of Nephi—see vs. 3-4 (remember how Nephi was told by the Lord to keep 2 separate records and he didn’t know why?). Well long story short, 1200 years later Joseph Smith ends up losing the translation of the first/larger plates of Nephi, so it was a good thing that there was a repeat available in the second/smaller plates of Nephi that Mormon chose to also include. See the commentary I wrote about 1 Nephi 9 if you want to connect the dots: http://bookofmormonwithmurff.blogspot.com/2013/01/1-nephi-9-10.html

Mormon also talks more about King Benjamin who was briefly mentioned by Amaleki at the end of the book of Omni. King Benjamin was a great king who taught his people to be good and fought for their liberty and righteousness. We will read a great speech from him in the book of Mosiah.

Mosiah 1

King Benjamin teaches his sons the importance of the scriptures (in their case, the Brass Plates they took from Laban (basically pieces of the Old Testament), and the gold plates they are currently keeping records on—which will be the Book of Mormon). He says:

5 I say unto you, my sons, were it not for these things, which have been kept and preserved by the hand of God, that we might read and understand of his mysteries, and have his commandments always before our eyes, that even our fathers would have dwindled in unbelief, and we should have been like unto our brethren, the Lamanites, who know nothing concerning these things, or even do not believe them when they are taught them, because of the traditions of their fathers, which are not correct.
7 And now, my sons, I would that ye should remember to search them diligently, that ye may profit thereby; and I would that ye should keep the commandments of God, that ye may prosper in the land according to the promises which the Lord made unto our fathers.

If devoted men of God would have “dwindled in unbelief” if it were not for the records of the scriptures, how much greater need do we have to read the scriptures regularly! I am such a firm believer is the importance and benefits of reading scriptures regularly. I don’t think anyone can have an enduring faith or a clear understanding of God and the purpose of life without them. I also don’t think I’m a very nice person when I go long periods of time without reading them…:)

King Benjamin is getting old, and the end of this chapter sets up for his final great speech that he will give to his people in the next few chapters (one of the best parts of the Book of Mormon!).

9 And it came to pass that after king Benjamin had made an end of teaching his sons, that he waxed old, and he saw that he must very soon go the way of all the earth; therefore, he thought it expedient that he should confer the kingdom upon one of his sons.
10 Therefore, he had Mosiah brought before him; and these are the words which he spake unto him, saying: My son, I would that ye should make a proclamation throughout all this land among all this people, or the people of Zarahemla, and the people of Mosiah who dwell in the land, that thereby they may be gathered together; for on the morrow I shall proclaim unto this my people out of mine own mouth that thou art a king and a ruler over this people, whom the Lord our God hath given us.

Enos, Jarom, Omni

Enos

The next few books are only 1 chapter each. In the book of Enos we learn the short story of Enos, the son of Jacob, who prayed all day and all night for forgiveness from his sins. It is worth reading his account in his own words:

 1 Behold, it came to pass that I, Enos, knowing my father that he was a just man—for he taught me in his language, and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord—and blessed be the name of my God for it—

 2 And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.

 3 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.

 4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

 5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.

 6 And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.

We don’t know what Enos needed to be forgiven of specifically. I think this is more a moment of spiritual “re-birth.” He was seeking forgiveness for being a man not very interested in God or eternal things, and this is now a turning point in his life. And it all started by “the words which [he] had often heard [his] father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, [sinking] deep into his heart.” I love that, because so often parents think their children aren’t listening. But they usually are more than they show.

If you were to pray all day and all night, what would you say?

Enos is energized by his answer from the Lord and he feels driven to pray next for his people—the Nephites. After the Lord responds to that prayer, he feels a great desire to pray for his enemies, the Lamanites. I think we can learn from this pattern. Once we feel at peace with our own standing before God and have a forgiveness of our own sins, we feel a desire to look beyond ourselves and pray for others we love. And the next step is to feel a desire to love and pray for those who are our enemies.

Jarom

Jarom is Enos’s son, and he has even less to say than Enos did! He says up-front that he feels everything has been said about the “Plan of Salvation” by his forefathers (the record-keepers before him), so he writes only to record a piece of genealogy and history of the people. I do, however, love the spiritual insights he gives in this verse:

 4 And there are many among us who have many revelations, for they are not all stiffnecked. And as many as are not stiffnecked and have faith, have communion with the Holy Spirit, which maketh manifest unto the children of men, according to their faith.

Historically, these verses are the best summary of Jarom’s time. They also teach a primary spiritual theme of the Book of Mormon—“ Inasmuch as ye will keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land.”

7 And it came to pass that they came many times against us, the Nephites, to battle. But our kings and our leaders were mighty men in the faith of the Lord; and they taught the people the ways of the Lord; wherefore, we withstood the Lamanites and swept them away out of our lands, and began to fortify our cities, or whatsoever place of our inheritance.

 8 And we multiplied exceedingly, and spread upon the face of the land, and became exceedingly rich in gold, and in silver, and in precious things, and in fine workmanship of wood, in buildings, and in machinery, and also in iron and copper, and brass and steel, making all manner of tools of every kind to till the ground, and weapons of war—yea, the sharp pointed arrow, and the quiver, and the dart, and the javelin, and all preparations for war.

 9 And thus being prepared to meet the Lamanites, they did not prosper against us. But the word of the Lord was verified, which he spake unto our fathers, saying that: Inasmuch as ye will keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land.

Omni

There are 4 generations and 5 authors who write in this 1 chapter of 1 book. No other book in the Book of Mormon is quite like this. The first 4 authors—Omni, Amaron, Chemish, and Abinadom—only write a couple paragraphs and then pass it on to the next person. The main thing we learn from these men is that the Nephites have experienced a lot of war, and many of them have died. Amaron tells us the more wicked part of the Nephites were killed, which was the Lord’s way of bringing about His prophecy that the wicked would not prosper in the land.

Amaleki gives us more detail—important historical details. He tells us that the king in his day—Mosiah—is warned of the Lord to leave into the wilderness and take with him all the people who have faith in the Lord. They are led by the arm of the Lord until they discover a new people in a new land! They call them the people of Zarahemla and the land of Zarahemla. These people speak another language, but they are a peaceful people and Mosiah’s group unites with them. Mosiah becomes the king of all the people and has his language taught to the people of Zarahemla. Mosiah is also able to translate the ancient record of the people of Zarahemla and learns how they also were led to this “promised land” by the Lord from the land of Jerusalem. We will read more about these people much later in the Book of Mormon—in the book of Ether.

Amaleki also throws in another important piece of historical information. He says in v 27 that there were “a certain number who went up into the wilderness to return to the land of Nephi,” which is the land the Nephites used to be in before the Lord led Mosiah to the land of Zarahemla. He tells us a massive fight erupts among the group and everyone is killed except for 50 who return to Zarahemla. But later another group leaves to try to find the land of Nephi again, and Amaleki hasn’t heard from them since. I point this out because we will read what happened to these people in the book of Mosiah, coming up soon!

I like Amaleki’s words of farewell:

26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.

Jacob 7

Jacob 7

In Chapter 7, Jacob has an encounter with an “Anti-Christ” named Sherem who is preaching among the people and leading them away from a belief in Christ. Does this description sound familiar of some people in our day?

 2 And it came to pass that [Sherem] began to preach among the people, and to declare unto them that there should be no Christ. And he preached many things which were flattering unto the people; and this he did that he might overthrow the doctrine of Christ.

 4 And he was learned, that he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people; wherefore, he could use much flattery, and much power of speech, according to the power of the devil.

Jacob and Sherem get into a debate, initiated by Sherem. I think this exchange is one of the most interesting and important:

 10 And I said unto him: Believest thou the scriptures? And he said, Yea.

 11 And I said unto him: Then ye do not understand them; for they truly testify of Christ. Behold, I say unto you that none of the prophets have written, nor prophesied, save they have spoken concerning this Christ.

The scriptures truly do testify of Christ!
Eventually Sherem demands of Jacob a “sign” that there is a Christ. Oh boy, he was asking for it!

14 And I said unto him: What am I that I should tempt God to show unto thee a sign in the thing which thou knowest to be true? Yet thou wilt deny it, because thou art of the devil. Nevertheless, not my will be done; but if God shall smite thee, let that be a sign unto thee that he has power, both in heaven and in earth; and also, that Christ shall come. And thy will, O Lord, be done, and not mine.

Sherem is immediately overcome by the power of God and falls to the earth. He is taken care of for a few days—long enough for him to regain enough strength to proclaim to the public that he spread lies and he was wrong—and then he dies. And peace is restored to the land again.

Jacob 5-6

Jacob 5

This chapter is the “Allegory of the Olive Tree.” To help explain this chapter and its abundant symbolism, I am drawing primarily upon the Book of Mormon Student Manual.

“An allegory is a story that uses symbols to explain important truths. The allegory of the olive tree in Jacob 5 teaches us about the Lord’s purposes in the scattering and gathering of the house of Israel. In chapter 6, the prophet Jacob summarized the major points of the allegory.”

Jacob 5:1—Who Was the Prophet Zenos?

Zenos, along with Zenock and Neum, were prophets during Old Testament times whose writings are not found in the Bible but were found on the plates of brass (see 1 Nephi 19:10).

Jacob 5—Understanding Zenos’s Allegory

Every item in an allegory is not necessarily meant as a symbol for something else, but certain major symbols must be understood in order to understand the allegory. The following symbols are important in understanding the allegory of the olive tree:

Symbol	What It Might Represent
The vineyard	The world
Master of the vineyard; Lord of the vineyard	God
Servants	The Lord’s prophets
Tame olive tree	The house of Israel, the Lord’s covenant people
Wild olive tree	Gentiles, or non-Israelites (later in the allegory the wild branches are the people of Israel who have forsaken God)
Branches	Groups of people
The roots of the tame olive tree	The covenants the Lord makes with His children, a constant source of strength and life to the faithful
The fruit	The lives or works of men
Digging, pruning, fertilizing	The work the Lord does for His children to help them be obedient and fruitful
Transplanting the branches	Scattering groups of people throughout the world, or restoring them to where they came from
Grafting	The joining of one group of people to another; referring to scattered Israel, it also means to “come to the knowledge of the true Messiah” (see 1 Nephi 10:14)
Decaying branches	People dying spiritually from sin and apostasy
Casting branches into the fire	God’s judgments

Jacob 5:8–10—What Does It Mean to “Graft” Branches?

To graft branches, healthy, living branches are cut from a tree or plant and inserted into another place (see accompanying illustration). The branches in this allegory represent groups of people that the Lord takes from one place and plants them in another. In the scriptural sense, grafting means to “come to the knowledge of the true Messiah” (1 Nephi 10:14).

Jacob 5:8, 13–14, 19–25—The “Young and Tender” Branches of the House of Israel

The “young and tender branches” seem to be those people who responded to the “pruning and fertilizing” by God and His prophets. They were more teachable than the old established branches, or the groups of Israelites who had to be removed and destroyed.

President Joseph Fielding Smith taught: “In that parable the olive tree is the House of Israel. … In its native land it began to die. So the Lord took branches like the Nephites, like the lost tribes, and like others that the Lord led off that we do not know anything about, to other parts of the earth. He planted them all over his vineyard, which is the world” (Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., 5 vols. [1957–66], 4:204).

Zenos’s allegory helps us understand that the scattering of branches of Israel all over the world was a blessing both to Israel and to the rest of Heavenly Father’s children, the Gentiles.

And last but not least, I think vs. 46-48 are the most important verses of the allegory. The Lord asks why the trees are not bringing forth good fruit, despite his every effort to nourish them and help them. The answer is PRIDE. Pride is the universal sin, and leads to the downfall of so many.

46 And now, behold, notwithstanding all the care which we have taken of my vineyard, the trees thereof have become corrupted, that they bring forth no good fruit…

47 But what could I have done more in my vineyard? Have I slackened mine hand, that I have not nourished it? Nay, I have nourished it, and I have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and I have dunged it; and I have stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long, and the end draweth nigh. And it grieveth me that I should hew down all the trees of my vineyard, and cast them into the fire that they should be burned. Who is it that has corrupted my vineyard?

48 And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master: Is it not the loftiness of thy vineyard—have not the branches thereof overcome the roots which are good? And because the branches have overcome the roots thereof, behold they grew faster than the strength of the roots, taking strength unto themselves. Behold, I say, is not this the cause that the trees of thy vineyard have become corrupted?

Jacob 6

 "O be wise; what can I say more?"

The moral of the story of the Olive Tree:

 5 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts.

 7 For behold, after ye have been nourished by the good word of God all the day long, will ye bring forth evil fruit, that ye must be hewn down and cast into the fire?

 8 Behold, will ye reject these words? Will ye reject the words of the prophets; and will ye reject all the words which have been spoken concerning Christ, after so many have spoken concerning him; and deny the good word of Christ, and the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and quench the Holy Spirit, and make a mock of the great plan of redemption, which hath been laid for you?