Mormon 8-9

Mormon 8

Moroni, son of Mormon, takes over the record and informs us that all his people have been hunted and killed by the Lamanites (including his father), and he doesn’t know how long he will live until the Lamanites find him, too.

Moroni tells us he is going to “hide up this record unto the Lord” before he dies, and he will entrust it to the Lord to “bring it to light" when the time is right. He says no one will be able to have the plates unless God wants them to, for God’s own purposes. He says the man will be blessed who is chosen to bring them forth (hint hint, fast forward to the year 1830-ish when Joseph Smith is shown by an angel where the records are buried and he translates them via the power of God). (see vs. 14-16)

16 And blessed be he that shall bring this thing to light; for it shall be brought out of darkness unto light, according to the word of God; yea, it shall be brought out of the earth, and it shall shine forth out of darkness, and come unto the knowledge of the people; and it shall be done by the power of God.
22 For the eternal purposes of the Lord shall roll on, until all his promises shall be fulfilled.

Moroni has strong faith these records will come to light, because the Lord has promised it to the Nephite prophets over and over again. He also prophesies that this record will come forth in a day that looks a lot like our own… read for yourself verses 26-36.

How does Moroni know all these things that will happen in the far-distant future (our time!)?

35 Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.

The Book of Mormon was written by prophets a long, long time ago. But it is incredibly relevant to me, because it was written for me, for us, for people in our time. The writers knew that people wouldn’t have access to their writings for centuries. The people who would read them were in our time, and they wrote for us. What is the Book of Mormon trying to say to you? Or rather, what is the Lord trying to say to you through the Book of Mormon?

Mormon 9

Moroni is giving his last words in the chapter… or at least what he thinks are his last words because as you may have noticed, there are still two whole books left in the Book of Mormon (next Ether, then Moroni). So this isn’t actually the end, but it seems that Moroni thinks so while he is writing, because he covers a lot of topics and you can feel the strong passion he has for them.

1 And now, I speak also concerning those who do not believe in Christ.
2 Behold, will ye believe in the day of your visitation—behold, when the Lord shall come, yea, even that great day when the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, yea, in that great day when ye shall be brought to stand before the Lamb of God—then will ye say that there is no God?

Moroni encourages the unbelieving to repent – God will always grant an opportunity to change. That is why we are here. Each day is a new start, and God hasn’t given up on anyone. Moroni talks about this also. Many people in our day feel like God's involvement in our lives, and miracles and revelations ended back in Bible times. But I believe God is just as alive and involved in the world today.

7 And again I speak unto you who deny the revelations of God, and say that they are done away, that there are no revelations, nor prophecies, nor gifts, nor healing, nor speaking with tongues, and the interpretation of tongues;
8 Behold I say unto you, he that denieth these things knoweth not the gospel of Christ; yea, he has not read the scriptures; if so, he does not understand them.
9 For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing?

God is a God of Miracles – today and always!

Mormon 5-7

Mormon 5

Mormon changes his mind (he doesn’t say why) about refusing to help the Nephites, and they gladly give him control over their armies again. But Mormon  knows the Nephites’ situation is hopeless because they aren’t repenting or changing.

These verses summarize the chapter pretty well:

7 And it came to pass that we did again take to flight, and those whose flight was swifter than the Lamanites’ did escape, and those whose flight did not exceed the Lamanites’ were swept down and destroyed.
 8 And now behold, I, Mormon, do not desire to harrow up the souls of men in casting before them such an awful scene of blood and carnage as was laid before mine eyes; but I, knowing that these things must surely be made known, and that all things which are hid must be revealed upon the house-tops—
 9 And also that a knowledge of these things must come unto the remnant of these people...therefore I write a small abridgment, daring not to give a full account of the things which I have seen...that ye might not have too great sorrow because of the wickedness of this people.

Mormon says this awful destruction of his people will be known in the future by the “remnant of these people” – and it's true! The Native American Indians and many of the people of Central and South America are decedents of the Lamanites, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (and the spread of the Book of Mormon) are growing the fastest among these people today. They are learning about their ancestors, as prophesied.

Mormon 6

7 And it came to pass that my people, with their wives and their children, did now behold the armies of the Lamanites marching towards them; and with that awful fear of death which fills the breasts of all the wicked, did they await to receive them.

Mormon records the tragic and horrific end to the Nephite people. They gather around the Hill Cumorah (where Mormon hides up all the records and plates he has been keeping, except for a few he passes to his son Moroni to write on), and the last great battle occurs.

Mormon manages to survive this great battle, because he fell wounded and was passed over by the Lamanite army. He says that twenty-four Nephites survive, and miraculously his son Moroni is among them. Twenty-four. Wow. As you do the math of all the leaders and their armies of ten-thousand who Mormon says were wiped out, it seems there were 230,000 who were killed in this battle. Wow… I have no words.

I’m grateful Mormon doesn’t give many details. It’s horrific enough with the few details he gives.

Mormon laments their deaths at the end of the chapter. How can you cry enough tears about your entire nation being slain on the ground in front of you? Especially knowing they had deliberately rejected God and would have to face him on judgment day. Whenever I want to feel sorry for myself, I'll think of Mormon instead.


Mormon 7

These are Mormon’s last words, which he writes to his descendants hoping they will read them someday (and as I mentioned in my Mormon 5 summary, many of them are reading them today). And of course these words are for me and you, too. Here are the highlights:

3 Know ye that ye must come unto repentance, or ye cannot be saved.
4 Know ye that ye must lay down your weapons of war, and delight no more in the shedding of blood…
5 Know ye that ye must come to the knowledge of your fathers, and repent of all your sins and iniquities, and believe in Jesus Christ, that he is the Son of God, and that he was slain by the Jews, and by the power of the Father he hath risen again, whereby he hath gained the victory over the grave; and also in him is the sting of death swallowed up.
6 And he bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead, whereby man must be raised to stand before his judgment-seat.

Mormon speaks one more time about this record, and he also speaks of the Bible, which is “the record which shall come unto the Gentiles from the Jews.” The Bible and the Book of Mormon go hand-in-hand, and both testify of Jesus Christ! I’ll insert some labels to help clarify what Mormon is talking about.

8 Therefore repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and lay hold upon the gospel of Christ, which shall be set before you, not only in this record [The Book of Mormon!] but also in the record which shall come unto the Gentiles from the Jews [The Bible], which record shall come from the Gentiles unto you [The Native Americans and people of South America received the Bible from the Gentiles, or the Europeans].
9 For behold, this [Book of Mormon] is written for the intent that ye may believe that [Bible]; and if ye believe that [Bible] ye will believe this [Book of Mormon] also; and if ye believe this [Book of Mormon] ye will know concerning your fathers, and also the marvelous works which were wrought by the power of God among them.

Pretty cool! I am grateful for the Bible and the Book of Mormon! I am grateful to have both. They both help me to know Jesus Christ and His gospel, and each one helps to clarify the other. 

Mormon 3-4

Mormon 3

The Nephites have 10 years of peace, after which the Lord tells Mormon to give them one more chance, and to “Cry unto this people—Repent ye, and come unto me, and be ye baptized, and build up again my church, and ye shall be spared.” (vs. 2)

But Mormon’s preaching is in vain, and the people refuse to recognize God’s role in their success. Before long, the Lamanites come again to battle, and the Nephites are successful again and beat them back 2 years in a row. 

Because of the Nephites’ victories, they become proud, and boastful, and blood thirsty. They swear sacrilegiously by the throne of God that they will seek vengeance by wiping their enemies off the face of the earth.

11 And it came to pass that I, Mormon, did utterly refuse from this time forth to be a commander and a leader of this people, because of their wickedness and abomination.

12 Behold, I had led them, notwithstanding their wickedness I had led them many times to battle, and had loved them, according to the love of God which was in me, with all my heart; and my soul had been poured out in prayer unto my God all the day long for them; nevertheless, it was without faith, because of the hardness of their hearts.

13 And thrice have I delivered them out of the hands of their enemies, and they have repented not of their sins.

14 And when they had sworn by all that had been forbidden them by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that they would go up unto their enemies to battle, and avenge themselves of the blood of their brethren, behold the voice of the Lord came unto me, saying:

15 Vengeance is mine, and I will repay; and because this people repented not after I had delivered them, behold, they shall be cut off from the face of the earth.

16 And it came to pass that I utterly refused to go up against mine enemies; and I did even as the Lord had commanded me; and I did stand as an idle witness to manifest unto the world the things which I saw and heard.

Whenever I read about Mormon, it makes my life seem like a piece of cake. We live in a harsh world and frightening times, where evil is growing and faith is diminishing. It can often feel lonely and uncomfortable being a member of my church - or a member of any faith, I'm sure! - when most of the world doesn’t understand or support what I believe. But then I remember Mormon, and how he was the ONLY ONE of his people who stayed true to God. I have lots and lots of friends and neighbors who live great lives of faith. They may be small compared to the general population, but when we get together the numbers feel great. Mormon didn’t have that.

He pleads at the end of this chapter:

20 And these things doth the Spirit manifest unto me; therefore I write unto you all. And for this cause I write unto you, that ye may know that ye must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, yea, every soul who belongs to the whole human family of Adam; and ye must stand to be judged of your works, whether they be good or evil;

21 And also that ye may believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, which ye shall have among you; and also that the Jews, the covenant people of the Lord, shall have other witness…that Jesus, whom they slew, was the very Christ and the very God.

Mormon 4

The Nephites wage war against the Lamanites to seek revenge, and this is the “final straw” that leads to their downfall. Throughout the Book of Mormon, the Lord makes it clear that it’s OK to defend yourself against your enemies, but He will not help out when you aggressively initiate an attack on an enemy, no matter how just revenge may seem. 

4 And it was because the armies of the Nephites went up unto the Lamanites that they began to be smitten; for were it not for that, the Lamanites could have had no power over them.

5 But, behold, the judgments of God will overtake the wicked; and it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished; for it is the wicked that stir up the hearts of the children of men unto bloodshed.

And from here, things get ugly. Awful. Unimaginable. These all seem like understatements. Here, let’s just read Mormon’s own words:

11 And it is impossible for the tongue to describe, or for man to write a perfect description of the horrible scene of the blood and carnage which was among the people, both of the Nephites and of the Lamanites; and every heart was hardened, so that they delighted in the shedding of blood continually.

12 And there never had been so great wickedness among all the children of Lehi, nor even among all the house of Israel, according to the words of the Lord, as was among this people.

Gratefully, Mormon spares us most of the details, but you can learn a little more if you read the chapter. Mormon also says that “from this time forth the Nephites did gain no power over the Lamanites, but began to be swept off by them even as a dew before the sun.”(vs. 18)

Sorry. I told you this was not going to be a happy book.

Mormon 1-2

Mormon 1

And now I, Mormon, make a record of the things which I have both seen and heard, and call it the Book of Mormon. (vs 1) 

Mormon takes the stage! You already know Mormon because he is basically the narrator, or abridger, of the entire Book of Mormon up to this point. But don’t confuse the entire Book of Mormon with this little sub-book he calls the Book of Mormon. This is his own little book, written about his own time and people, now that he has finished compiling and summarizing the records of his people that were written before his lifetime (starting with Nephi).

Mormon tells us how he got this job. Ammaron was the previous keeper of the records and hid all the records in a cave because he could see that the state of the Nephites and Lamanites was getting really, really bad. But he also noticed the young boy Mormon, who was only 10 years old, was good and responsible. So he tells young Mormon where the records are, but tells him not to get them until he is 24 years old (14 years later)! (see verses 2-4)

So now that Mormon has the plates and is writing in them, he is looking back and writing about the past 14 years before he got the plates. 

Mormons recalls a war between the Nephites and the Lamanites, and a few years of peace that followed. Everyone in the land besides Mormon, as far as we know, is very wicked and faithless. But because of Mormon’s faith he “was visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus” at the age of 15 (see vs. 15).

Mormon wants to preach to the people to encourage them to repent, but he is forbidden by God because the people “had willfully rebelled against their God” and “because of the hardness of their hearts.” (vs. 16-17) Witchcrafts, and sorceries, and the Gadianton Robbers are taking over the land.

Mormon 2

When Mormon was 16 years old a war broke out again, and Mormon was appointed as the head of the Nephite armies - at age 16! I’ve always been shocked by this. He says he was “large in stature” and the people must have recognized that he had a good head on his shoulders even though they didn’t believe anything he believed. I wish I knew more of the story behind this!

Mormon describes that his Nephite army is driven back by the Lamanites. These armies are huge – it says 44,000 Lamanites and 42,000 Nephites in ONE battle. “Therefore there was blood and carnage spread throughout all the face of the land, both on the part of the Nephites and also on the part of the Lamanites.” (vs. 8)

The Nephites begin to mourn over their awful situation, and Mormon momentarily gets excited, hoping this is the first step to the people repenting and turning to God. 

“But behold this my joy was vain, for their sorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God; but it was rather the sorrowing of the damned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin. And they did not come unto Jesus with broken hearts and contrite spirits, but they did curse God, and wish to die. Nevertheless they would struggle with the sword for their lives.” (vs. 13-14)

The Nephites continue to be driven back for a time, but then Mormon is successful in leading his army to regain their lands and even to sign a truce for a time with the Lamanites and Gadianton Robbers. Enjoy it while it lasts…(hint: not long).

4 Nephi

4 Nephi 1

The book of 4 Nephi is only one chapter long, but it covers the space of 286 years. It’s already pretty abbreviated, but here is my summary of these incredibly beautiful and then incredibly tragic years.

All the people in the land are converted to Jesus Christ and baptized into his church. Everyone is equal and happy and kind, and no one is poor. “There was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people… and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God (vs. 15-16).” Paradise on earth!

A generation passes, and another generation. The people are very rich and prosperous… and that leads to pride, which leads to trouble.  “And now, in this two hundred and first year there began to be among them those who were lifted up in pride, such as the wearing of costly apparel, and all manner of fine pearls, and of the fine things of the world. And from that time forth they did have their goods and their substance no more common among them. And they began to be divided into classes; and they began to build up churches unto themselves to get gain, and began to deny the true church of Christ (vs. 24-26).”

And this is where the bubble bursts. And the downward-spiral begins. By 231 years after Christ came, there is a clear divide between the Nephites (who still follow Jesus), and the Lamanites who actively rebel against Jesus and teach their children not to believe and to hate the Nephites. And within another 13 years, the non-believers had become “exceedingly more numerous than the people of God (v. 40).”

 

But then the worst two developments of all: First, the Lamanites begin to build up the secret oaths of

Gadianton (if you remember from the book of Helaman, which almost destroyed everyone), and second, the Nephites (who are supposed to be the followers of Christ) begin to be proud and vain and focused on their riches. That always leads to downfall and destruction.

This is the point at which “the disciples (the 3 Nephites who are still alive) began to sorrow for the sins of the world (v. 44).”

By the time 300 years has passed since Jesus came, there is pretty much no one left who follows Jesus, and the Gadianton robbers have spread all over the land. In a handful of generations, the people have gone from ultimate peace, happiness, and faith, to complete rebellion and corruption. 

And on that happy note, the “keeper of the records,” whose name is Ammoron, hides the gold plates so they won’t get destroyed during this time of total wickedness.

I’ll be honest – I usually just like to read the first half of 4 Nephi and stop there, so I’m inspired and uplifted, and don’t end depressed and upset. But Mormon included all this depressing stuff for a reason. The Book of Mormon was written and saved for our days, and there are important lessons and parallels we are supposed to learn from them. Are there any that stand out to you?

3 Nephi 28-30

3 Nephi 28

If Jesus granted you one wish, what would you wish for? When Jesus asks his 12 Disciples in the Americas, all of them except for 3 say they want to have a good long life serving God, and then quickly return to live with Him in heaven. Jesus grants this desire, saying “after that ye are seventy and two years old ye shall come unto me in my kingdom; and with me ye shall find rest.” (vs. 3)

The other 3 are embarrassed to say their wish, but Jesus can read their minds. He says they wish for the same thing that John the Beloved, in the New Testament, wished for. They wanted to not die, and stay on the earth to continue to serve Jesus and share His gospel and see everything that has been prophesied be fulfilled until He comes to earth again.

Jesus also grants this desire. And so, we believe that John the Beloved, as well as “The 3 Nephites” (as we call them) are still alive on the earth today, and will continue serving Jesus – anonymously— until He comes again. Pretty cool! There are some folklore-tales in the church about people being helped in miraculous ways in time of dire need by 3 unknown men, and they think it was The 3 Nephites. Who knows if it really was… but it could be! They are busy somewhere…

3 Nephi 29-30

Mormon is writing in these two chapters, and he basically says that when these writings are made available to the Gentiles (cough – me and you!) then you can know the Lord has started to fulfill many of His promises and prophecies made through the prophets of old.  You can know that Jesus Christ IS going to come again, and He hasn’t forgotten His children.

He uses the word spurn a lot: “When ye shall see these sayings coming forth among you, then ye need not any longer spurn at the doings of the Lord (vs. 4)” or “Wo unto him that spurneth at the doings of the Lord (vs. 5).” The dictionary gives these 3 definitions for the word Spurn:

1. to reject with disdain; scorn.

2. to treat with contempt; despise.

3. to kick or trample with the foot.

So, what would it look like to reject the doings of the Lord? Do you do any spurning? Mormon gets a little more specific by saying, “Wo unto him that shall deny the revelations of the Lord, and that shall say the Lord no longer worketh by revelation, or by prophecy, or by gifts, or by tongues, or by healings, or by the power of the Holy Ghost!” (vs. 5-6)

The word "Wo!" kind-of sounds like preaching hell, fire, and damnation, which I'm not all about. But I think it’s fair to say that the word means “warning!” It probably doesn't mean that everyone who denies the hand of the Lord will be struck down by fire, but more practically they will miss out on blessings, and emotional healing, and help from the Lord.

In Chapter 30, Mormon ends the Book of 3 Nephi by warning the Gentiles (us!) – as he has been commanded to do by Jesus Christ -- to turn from our wicked ways and be baptized. Those who do will “receive a remission of your sins, and be filled with the Holy Ghost, [and] be numbered with my people who are of the house of Israel.” (vs. 2) What beautiful blessings that are offered to everyone who will accept them, and recognize and believe the “doings of the Lord” in these Latter-Days.