Latest / Scripture Central / 3 Nephi 1-7 | Book of Mormon Insights: Revisited

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3 Nephi 1-7 | Book of Mormon Insights: Revisited · Scripture Central

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This is a difficult part of the Scripture where there's a lot
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going on as we lead into the coming of Jesus Christ to the
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Americas, which is going to be preceded by all that death and
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destruction in 35 chapters 8 and 9 and 10.
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The reality is this book is written for our day sometimes.
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Here's what happens in a gospel learning setting.
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We go through life and we face trials and tribulations and
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temptations and adversities and problems.
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And then we say, OK, I need to go to church or I need to study
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my scriptures or I need to do spiritual things.
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And it's almost like we have this mindset of I need to check
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my problems at the door, come in and relax for a minute in a
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scriptural setting or a sacrament meeting setting, or
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even in some cases in a temple setting.
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And that works. But there's nothing wrong with
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that. What we're inviting you to do
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today, however, is the total opposite of that.
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Just try it. Try an experiment.
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Try not checking your problems, your temptations, your
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tribulations, your struggles at the door.
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Try bringing them with you into this lesson, all the baggage,
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and put it with you on the the table in front of you with the
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scriptures. And as we go through the
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scriptures, keep a prayer in your heart that the Lord will
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help you make sense of this baggage, that He'll help you see
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it from an eternal perspective using principles that you learn
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on the scripture page as they apply directly to your life and
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your unique set of challenges and struggles.
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We've shared earlier in the year this concept that I learned from
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a dear sister, Cheryl Bettenson up in Brigham City years and
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years ago. This concept that she shared
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with me that sometimes when she would be reading her scriptures,
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her mind would wander and she'd feel bad and come back to the
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scripture page saying, oh, I'm sorry, my mind wandered.
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And then start reading again, but this time with the mindset
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of what did my mind wander to? What was I so concerned about
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that pulled my thoughts away from the scripture page?
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She would bring that problem front and center back into that
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same scripture page, looking for principles to help her deal with
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that thing. And that has been a huge
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blessing in my life as I've applied that.
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And we invite you to do that very thing here today as we move
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forward into this particular block of scripture.
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So whatever those struggles, those challenges that you're
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facing that you're wrestling with, whatever they may be,
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bring them. And let's see if we can find
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heaven's help as we work our way through these, through these
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principles. I also want to share a little
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quote from Neil A Maxwell. How can you and I really expect
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to glide naively through life as if to say, Lord, give me
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experience, but not grief, not sorrow, not pain, not
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opposition, not betrayal, and certainly not to be forsaken.
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Keep for me, Lord, all those experiences which made thee what
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thou art. Then let me come and dwell with
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thee and fully share thy joy. Brothers and sisters, life is a
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test. Life is a trial, and we're going
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to see that in 35 one through 7 in in an accelerated way.
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There are challenges and there are difficulties that hit us
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right out of the the chute in chapter 1.
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This incredible prophet, Nephi, the son of Nephi, is now in
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charge of, of leading and guiding these people.
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But he's in a society that has lost a great degree of religious
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freedom. Some of you have probably heard
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in the last 10 years some of our prophets and apostles speaking
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very, very openly and urgently about our need to defend
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religious freedom. And maybe some of you have
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wondered why, Why are they making such a big deal of this?
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It's it's not that that big of an issue.
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When you read the Book of Mormon, you see what happens
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when religious freedom is eroded and when it's eventually pretty
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much gone. Now in this culture, these
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people who believe the prophecies of Samuel the
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Lamanite from five years previous, notice verse 9.
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It came to pass that there was a day set apart by the unbelievers
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that all those who believed in those traditions should be put
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to death, except the sign should come to pass which had been
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given by Samuel the prophet. Human beings collectively are
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capable of great atrocities. This is one of them, where a
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group gets together and they say, if we haven't seen the
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sign, then everybody who believes that Samuel Lamanite
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was a true prophet, then we're going to put him to death.
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That's what happens when you lose religious freedom is you
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can now be killed for belief, for faith, and for hope, and for
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this religious perspective on life.
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Let's talk about heavenly versus earthly perspective for just a
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moment here. In this particular context,
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let's make clear what we know and what we don't know.
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If this is a calendar, a Nephite calendar and we don't, they're
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not using a Gregorian calendar. Everybody's, everybody
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understands that they have marked a day on their calendar
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when all believers in Samuel Lamanites prophecies and in the
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tradition of their fathers, everyone who believes in all of
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that, they're going to get killed on that day.
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What we don't know clearly from the text, it doesn't tell us
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exactly is where is it that they have, How far in advance have
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they set that date on the calendar?
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Was it a month down the road? Was it a week down the road?
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Was it 5 months down there? We don't know that.
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It doesn't tell us very clearly. So we don't know where it is
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leading up to that date where Nephi goes and has this
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experience, this great prophet goes out and pours out his heart
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to God. Let me clarify here.
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Let me be clear, this theoretical date on our little
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theoretical calendar is the date that they're going to kill all
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the believers. But we don't know for sure which
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day Nephi has his prayer when he's told the on the Morrow,
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come I end of the world. It could have been here, it
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could have been there. It could have been here, it
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could have been here on the Morrow come I end of the world.
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We just don't know where those two events line up.
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But it it feels like it's clustered together.
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Now, why would that be important?
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Because from a heavenly perspective, God knows perfectly
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all things, when they're going to happen, how they're going to
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play out. But we don't, we don't have that
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view. Even Nephi, this great prophet,
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doesn't know all the details. It's not like because he's the
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prophet, this, this declaration is made.
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We're going to kill all believers.
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And by the way, if he's the prophet, he's the one who's
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going to probably witness it all and then be the final one
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killed. They're probably going to make
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the biggest deal of him. It's not as if he says, oh,
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well, I'm not even remotely. We're everybody just relax.
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It's OK. It's not going to happen.
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He didn't do that. He's, he's concerned for his
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people. Look at verse 11.
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It came to pass that he went out and bowed himself upon the earth
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and he cried mightily to his God in behalf of his people.
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By the way, you'll notice a pattern there.
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That's very Christ like. He wasn't crying in behalf of
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himself. He was crying in behalf of his
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people. There's something very Christ
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like, very mediating about that. Yeah.
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Those who are about to be destroyed because of their faith
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in the tradition of their fathers.
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And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord all
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that day. So he goes out in the in the
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morning hours and he pours out his heart to God.
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And those minutes and those hours tick by and he's pouring
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out his heart to God. And it says that he poured out
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his heart all that day until finally, at the end of the day,
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the voice comes and gives him the answer.
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Brothers and sisters, the question begs asking here, why?
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Why would God do that to such a good, faithful, righteous,
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obedient servant who who's so turned outward His heart's in
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the right place. He's a good guy.
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Why would God make him pour out his heart all day?
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Why not have him come out, kneel down initially, pour out his
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heart, and God instantly say, it's OK Nephi, you don't need to
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worry anymore. I don't need to stretch this out
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any longer. Why not upfront?
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Why make him pray all day? One more quote from Elder Neil
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Maxwell. When we are unduly impatient
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with an omniscient God's timing, we really are suggesting that we
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know what's best. Strange, isn't it?
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We who wear wristwatches seek to counsel him who overseas cosmic
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clocks and calendars. On another occasion, Ellen
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Maxwell said something along the lines of sometimes it's easier
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to say, Lord, thy will be done than it is to say, Lord, thy
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timing be done. Brothers and sisters, let's just
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let's break this down for a moment.
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What happens if God answers his prayer right there?
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If he he kneels down and initially says, Lord, what do we
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do? My people are going to be
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destroyed. And God says, peace, Nephi, it's
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done. What is the difference between
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Nephi walking away from that experience versus the Nephi
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walking home and back to his people from that experience?
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Years ago I was sitting on the couch with one of my daughter's
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and she was wrestling with something.
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She was only 12 years old at the time and she had been wrestling
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with this thing for two, 3-4 months.
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I don't remember exactly, but it was months.
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No answer had come. I was starting to get concerned
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about this 12 year old girl's faith and I asked her how are
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you feeling about your relationship with God?
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And her response was dad. I'm learning to trust him more
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because I'm having to stretch more.
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I'm having to to really evaluate what I what I really want most
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and it's causing me to trust God more.
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I love that moment being taught by my 12 year old daughter that
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just because I don't get answers when I want them how I want them
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doesn't mean that I have to throw up my hands in in
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exasperation and say we'll find be that way.
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I see if I talk to you again, which is the the spiritual
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spoiled brat part of my carnal nature that sometimes wants to
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come out as a reaction versus that quiet, reflective, deep,
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deep rooted faith and hope in Christ that says I'm going to
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keep digging. I'm going to keep searching.
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I'm going to keep pouring out my heart because I want to know
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what's true. I want to know what's right.
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I love the fact that an infinite God knows better about timing
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than a mortal like me who's bound by wristwatches and
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clocks, that sometimes God delays an answer way longer than
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we think he should. But He has good reasons.
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And this is an opportunity for us to exercise faith and trust
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in Him. And that's exactly what Nephi's
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doing. He didn't give up half at noon.
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He didn't give up at 4:00 in the afternoon.
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He kept pouring his heart out all that day.
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And by the way, I don't think this is the only time that
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Nephi's been pouring out his heart.
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I think he's got a pattern of pouring out his heart and
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trusting in the Lord. And I want to be more like that.
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Notice verse 13. Lift up your head and be of good
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cheer, for behold the time is at hand, and on this night the sign
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shall be given. And on the Morrow come I into
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the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfill all
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that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of My
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prophets. Behold, I come unto my own to
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fulfill all things which I have made known unto the children of
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men from the foundation of the world, and to do the will both
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of the Father and of the Son. I find it fascinating that the
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very first thing that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the
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Creator of the heavens and the earth, the first thing he does
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on his entrance to the world, in his great condescension from
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heaven to mortality, the first thing he does is he performs the
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miracle of a day and a night and a day with no darkness in the
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Americas. Consequently, what happens is an
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entire group of people who were sentenced to death, they are
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saved. One of our favorite titles for
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Jesus is the Savior. I love the fact that the very
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first thing he does, even just in his miraculous birth and this
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miraculous sign in the heavens, the first thing he does is he
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saves. He saves an entire group of
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people from death, and this beautiful lens through which we
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can then see what he's going to do for all of us, ultimately
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save us from not just death, but from the darkness of hell as
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well. That is his mission, and that's
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how he begins his life. Nephi shows us a beautiful
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example here. He's facing the challenges, the
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struggles of his day, of his family, of his people, and of
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his society and culture. There have been many challenges
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before him in the Book Mormon, and there are going to be some
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incredible challenges after this chapter.
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But I love the fact that he's he's taking the struggles that
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have been given to him and he's taking those to the Lord and
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working through them. One other quote to share with
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you this from JRR Tolkien in the book The Return of the King.
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Listen to this. It is not our part to master all
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the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor
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of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the
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fields that we know, so that those who live after may have
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clean earth. To till what?
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Whether they shall have is not ours to rule.
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So rather than being overwhelmed by all the questions of
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uncertainty in the future, we just do the best we can to till
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and to clean up and to produce in that little plot of earth
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that God has given us as individuals and as families to
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work on so that those who come after us will have a better
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opportunity to grow and progress in life as well.
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Now here's the grand irony. The sign is given Samuel, the
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Lamanite and all these believers, They're vindicated.
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And you would think such an astronomical sign should
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convince everybody for generations to come.
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Well, look what happens. Verse 21.
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It came to pass also that a new star did appear according to the
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Word. And it came to pass that from
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this time forth there began to be lying sent forth among the
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people by Satan to harden their hearts to the intent that they
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might not believe in those signs and wonders which they had seen.
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But notwithstanding these lying and deceiving, the more part of
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the people did believe, and were converted unto the Lord.
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So good. But there are those who aren't
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believing. Now look at this verse 26.
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Thus the 90 and 2nd year did pass away.
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So the sign was given in that 90 and 2nd year and verse 27 it
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came to pass in the 90 and 3rd year did also pass away in
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peace, save it were for the Gadiant and robbers who dwelt in
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the mountains. So these people, even the
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Gadiant and robbers had seen that sign and it has no effect
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on them beyond Wow, that was kind of cool.
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And then the lines are sent forth that somehow somebody did
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something to deceive us. And so they just move on in
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their, in their slide towards greater wickedness.
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Look at verse 29. There was also a cause of much
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sorrow among the Lamanites. For behold, they had many
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children who did grow up and began to wax strong in years.
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And then notice this phrase that they became for themselves.
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They became for themselves. And they were led away by some
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who were Zoramites by their lying and their flattering words
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to join those gadiant and robbers.
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That's what happens when we give our life over to the temptations
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of the devil we become for ourselves.
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We turn inward like Satan himself did.
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It's all about me at that point. It's no longer about the people
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or my family or about others. It's about self gratification,
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self fulfillment, self actualization.
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It's all of this me, me, me perspective that is happening
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with this rising generation in this in this culture.
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Verse 30 and thus were the Lamanites afflicted also and
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began to decrease as to their faith in righteousness because
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of the wickedness of the rising generation.
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Chapter 2 is all about watching this wickedness and abominations
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increasing and the the secret combinations growing in their
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power. So we want to address a passage
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that has been confusing to a lot of people and probably has been
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misinterpreted and misapplied. Unfortunately, we often read
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scriptures through the lens of our modern day.
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Now the the scriptures were written for our day to apply to
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us, but sometimes we want to take our present circumstances
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and apply it back into the scriptures.
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And that's actually not what the scriptures tell us to do.
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Scriptures are like they want us to learn from them to apply in
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our lives. And there's this passage here in
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3rd Nephi chapter 2 about the Lamanites joining with the
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Nephites. And we have these curious
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phrases. Let's look at verse 15.
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So Lamanites become Nephites and it says, and their curse was
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taken from them and their skin became white like under the
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Nephites. And their young men and their
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daughters became exceedingly fair and they were numbered
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among the Nephites and they were called Nephites.
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And when we look at the totality of the Book of Mormon, there are
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actually some interesting clues about what actually may be
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happening. Let's actually go back to 2nd
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Nephi chapter 4, verse four. And I've labeled it here on the
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board, and it talks about the blessings and curses that are
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associated with covenant keeping or covenant breaking in the land
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of promise. And this may help us understand
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partly what's going on, particularly around the cursing.
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For the Lord God has said that inasmuch as ye shall keep my
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commandments, ye shall prosper in the land.
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And inasmuch as you will not keep my commandments, ye shall
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be cut off from my presence. I can't think of a worse curse
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in this life than to not have God's presence with us.
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My nephew got baptized. It was this beautiful ceremony.
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And of course, we couldn't have everything in the church.
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And so we went out into his backyard afterwards and after
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the baptism and, and talked. The Spirit was so strong.
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And I reflected on how this young boy, Will Fowler, at age
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8, had been baptized and received the gift of the Holy
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Ghost. And in that prayer we say
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received the Holy Ghost. It's this ongoing presence of
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God because we've made a covenant of baptism to be joined
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with God, to take his name upon us.
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And the promise is we will always have his presence to be
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with us if we remember him, which is again renewed in the
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sacrament. If we go back into Third Nephi
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chapter 2, that is the curse that the Lamanites had had.
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They had not made covenants with God, therefore they could not
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have His presence to abide with Him.
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And when they joined in the covenant of community of the
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Nephites, they got God's presence to abide with them.
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The curse was removed of not having God's presence with them.
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So I just want us to think about how when we look at the
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Scriptures, let's find the principles to apply to us
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instead of trying to retrograde put upon ancient peoples our
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modern day problems. Now let me just make a couple of
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other points. Now we've mentioned this before,
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and these are just proposals. We don't have final
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confirmation, but it is interesting that the best
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scholarship suggests that the word Nephi is an Egyptian word
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that means beautiful, lovely, goodly, and the word fair fairs
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and beautiful. Now notice when Nephi begins his
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record. First Nephi Chapter 1 I Nephi
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having been born of Nephi or goodly or lovely beautiful fair
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parents. Notice what happens when the
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Lamanites join with the Nephites.
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It says in verse 16 the young men and young women became
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exceedingly fair. If we translate this back in
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Egyptian to be they became exceedingly Nephite and we
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actually know the Nephites are this way because of covenant
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keeping, covenant making, covenant keeping their
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countenance would have been white, but white with the beauty
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of the Spirit of God. Now if you remember back in
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first Nephi chapter 8, Nephi talked about the tree of life
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and how did he describe the fruit.
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He described the fruit of the atonement of Jesus Christ using
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words that in Egyptian were just derivations of his own name.
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He must have loved writing about this.
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The fruit was beautiful, fair and desirable, and he calls it
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white. And I'm pretty confident that
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none of the Nephites looked white like the shining fruit in
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the physical sense. But there was a sense of
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spiritual engagement because of the covenant keeping.
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So Nephi is the covenant keeper, beautiful and fair because of
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covenants. Laymen, as we've talked about in
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the past, may come from the Semitic word meaning LA Aman,
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which means not believe. No covenant that we've talked in
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the past that the word believe is actually can be seen as a
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covenantal word. So when you join in covenant,
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say baptism, you become fair, desirable, lovely and beautiful
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because you are in this current relationship with the person who
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is beautiful and desirable. You become like him, fair and
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beautiful. And that is Jesus.
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He is the one who gives us the covenant.
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I hope that perspective can help us to see, perhaps in a larger
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perspective, what may be happening in the Society of
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Nephites and Lamanites at this point, that the Lamanites are
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converting into the covenant keepers, and that we can
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consider how well are we doing at making and keeping covenants
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and thereby experiencing the full beauty and fairness that
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God has to offer. And then we get to Chapter 3,
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which is where Gideon High, the leader of the Gadiant and
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Robbers, sends a letter to Laconius, the chief judge.
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Let's analyze this, because it's amazing that Mormon would give
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us the entire letter from this terrible gadiant and robber
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leader to Laconius. But I think there's beautiful
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purpose in here for having it in the Book of Mormon.
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We can learn incredible lessons from what's in that letter and
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how Laconius responds. We can learn great lessons from
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Laconius. So look at verse 2, chapter 3.
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Notice how the letter begins. Laconius, most noble and chief
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governor of the land. It's nice to start with
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flattery. It's a nice devilish technique.
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Behold, I write this epistle unto you and do give unto you
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exceedingly great praise because of your firmness and also the
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firmness of your people in maintaining that which ye
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suppose to be your right and liberty.
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So after we've flattered you, then we start casting out seeds
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of doubt to get you to to question reality and and things
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as they really are. Yet ye do stand well as if ye
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were supported by the hand of a God in the defense of your
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liberty and your property in your country or that which ye do
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call. So you can just feel it oozing
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from this letter, these, these techniques.
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Verse 3. And it seemeth a pidion to me
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most noble laconious, that you should be so foolish and so vain
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as to suppose that you can stand against so many brave men who
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are at my command, who do now at this time stand in their arms
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and do a wait with great anxiety for the word, go down upon the
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Nephites and destroy them. So you threaten and you you
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speak condescendingly, you try to overwhelm with with numbers,
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and you paint this big picture to destroy all hope.
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Look at verse 4. And I know of their
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unconquerable spirit having proved them in the field of
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battle, and knowing of their everlasting hatred towards you
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because of the many wrongs which you have done unto them.
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Therefore, if they should come down against you, they would
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visit you with utter destruction.
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So we use all these scare tactics and lies and deception
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and and blasphemy. Therefore I have written this
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epistle, sealing it with mine own hand.
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Feeling for your welfare. I really care about you and I, I
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have your best interest in mind. We'll skip down to verse 7.
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Or in other words, yield yourselves up unto us and unite
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with us and become acquainted with our secret works and become
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our brethren, that ye may be like unto us, not our slaves,
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but our brethren and partners of all of our substance.
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Let's not be enemies anymore. Let's just combine.
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Let's become one. We'll, we'll become buddies,
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we'll be brothers and we'll we'll be gadiant and robbers
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together. If everybody becomes a gadiant
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and robber, who do we rob from? Who does the work?
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Brothers and sisters? Here's one of the the ironies of
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eternity. Evil is not self-sufficient.
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Evil is a parasite. It feeds off of other people
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doing the work, putting the effort in to to produce and grow
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things. This is an absolute lie.
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Join with us, we'll make you partners in all of our
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substance. Because at that point there is
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no more substance because nobody's doing the work.
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We're all just robbing. An evil society cannot exist
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long term. It will implode.
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It will destroy itself. He talks about how good his
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society is in verse 9 because it's of ancient date and it's
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been handed down to us. And then in verse 10, he says
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that his people are going to recover their rights and
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government. They've descended away from you
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because of your wickedness in retaining from them their rights
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of government. And except you do this.
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I will avenge their wrongs. I am Gideon high.
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Rather than put tons of emphasis here and and stopping here,
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let's look at how to respond to devilish threats and these
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efforts to try to destroy society.
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Let's watch Laconius and as we watch him, let's learn latter
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day lessons from him. What does he do as you turn the
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page over at the very top? Speaking of Laconius being, the
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governor describes him as a just man and he could not be
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frightened by the demands and the threatenings of a robber.
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Brothers and sisters, God does not want us looking down in fear
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and outward in fear. He wants us looking upward in
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faith. It doesn't mean that there
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aren't bad things, doesn't mean that there aren't threatenings
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and and lyings and and violence going on around us.
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It just means don't focus on that exclusively.
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Look up in faith and trust that God knows what He's doing after
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starting this pattern of faith, not fear.
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Look at verse 13. Yeah, He sent a proclamation
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among all the people that they should gather together unto one
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place. So there's this gathering.
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You bring people in either physically or in our world
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today, virtually. We gather in verse 14.
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He caused the fortification should be built round about
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them, and the strength thereof should be exceedingly great.
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You build the fences, and in this battle that we're fighting
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today against the forces of darkness and temptation and sin,
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we can build those fortifications of faith by doing
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things like gathering our family around us and opening the
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Scriptures and tuning our ears to God's prophets and building
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up this fortification of faith. He sets guards round about them,
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verse 15. He invites them to repent of all
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their iniquities, and cry unto the Lord.
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Verse 16. So great and marvelous were the
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words and prophecies of Laconius, that they did cause
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fear to come upon all the people, and they did exert
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themselves in their might to do according to the words of
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Laconius. They jump into action verse 21,
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in the center of their lands. If you look at the map, the
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lands of Bountiful down through the capital city of Zaraheml in
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that center striped area of the land, that's where these people
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are gathering from the outer parts into the center parts of
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the land. And they fortified themselves
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and they get all their food and everything ready for seven years
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to be able to subsist. As you're looking at these
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stories with these Nephite Gadiant and robbers and the
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Nephite leaders, we have some interesting names.
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For example, we have Gid the Anhi, and then you have Gid
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Gaddoni. There's a word in Hebrew you've
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probably heard of Megiddo. It actually shows up in the word
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Armageddon, a derivation of the Hebrew word Megiddo.
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Megiddo was a fortress city in northern Israel that often got
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attacked because if you wanted to go in and and fight in
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Israel, you actually had to destroy the city 1st.
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And so it became a symbol of destruction.
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And today we use that symbolically to talk about
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destruction. Notice that this word, GID, and
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it's often the doubling of the D.
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Often any word in Hebrew that has that deals with battles and
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destructions. And I just find it kind of
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interesting here that the farm boy, Joseph Smith, some people
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think that he wrote the Book of Mormon.
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I think I've spent 25 years studying Hebrew.
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I would have a hard time coming up with this.
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It's I find it amazing that Joe Smith would have come up with
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these names that actually have to do with fighting and
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destruction. Then in Chapter 4, the gadiant
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and robbers come. There's no way for them to
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subsist out there because there aren't any people to rob
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anymore. All the people have left those
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cities. So it doesn't do them any good
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to move into the cities because nobody's working out in the
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fields and working the the flocks and the herds.
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Notice verse five came to pass in the 19th year.
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Gideon High found that it was expedient that he should go up
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to battle against the Nephites for there was no way that they
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could subsist save it were to plunder and rob and murder.
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What an existence to have to rely on murdering, robbing and
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plundering other people in order to survive and live.
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So these Gideon robbers in the sixth month, verse 7, they come
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up and look how Mormon describes it.
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Behold, great and terrible was the day that they did come up to
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battle. And they were girded about after
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the manner of robbers. And they had a lambskin about
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their noise, and they were dyed in blood.
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And their heads were shorn, and they had head plates upon them.
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And great and terrible was the appearance of the armies of
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Gideon High because of their armor and because of their being
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dyed in blood. So this huge army in this show
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of force coming up against these fortified cities, these people.
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And this battle is so bad. It describes it in verse 11.
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The battle commenced in the sixth month.
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And great and terrible was the battle thereof.
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Yeah, great and terrible was the slaughter thereof, insomuch that
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there never was known so great a slaughter among all the people
33:34
of Lehigh since he left Jerusalem.
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This is the worst battle in the history of the book up to this
33:38
point. They beat them, they kill Gideon
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High the robber, and then Zemnaraiha takes over.
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An interesting character in the book.
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Zemnaraiha, this Gadiantin robber who ends up dying.
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And it's the only story that I know of in the Book of Mormon
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where somebody gets hung from a tree and then they chop it down
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and there's this beautiful thing.
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Third Nephi chapter 4, verse 30. And all the people rejoice and
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cry again with one voice saying, may the God of Abraham, the God
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of Isaac, and the God of Jacob protect this people in
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righteousness, so long as they shall call on the name of their
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God for protection. And I will point out that phrase
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we've talked about in past lessons, the God of Abraham,
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Isaac, and Jacob, is a phrase to call forth the memory that God
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will preserve his people and he will keep his covenants as long
34:30
as they're faithful. After we've we've gotten rid of
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this threat of the Ghadian robbers under Zemnaraya going
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north and and taking possession of the land northward.
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You'll notice that the people in verse 31 praised God.
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Verse 32, they cry, Hosanna, blessed be the name of the Lord
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God Almighty, the Most High God. Verse 33, their hearts were
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swollen with joy. Can you see where they are on
34:57
the pride cycle in your mind's eye?
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Then you turn over in chapter 5, verse one, there was not a
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living soul among all the people of the Nephites who did doubt in
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the least the words of all the holy prophets who had spoken.
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So verse three, they forsook their sins and their
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abominations and their whoredoms, and they served God
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with diligence day and night. And you're thinking, this is
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wonderful. How long does it last?
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Well, he gives you the this beautiful description in chapter
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5, in the second-half of chapter 5, about how the House of Israel
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will ultimately be gathered. Now you and I get to live in the
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time frame when that prophecy is being fulfilled and will
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continue to be fulfilled and accelerate.
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Look at chapter 6. The Nephites all left that
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center part of land and they return to their own lands and
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they begin to farm and to get their crops and their flocks
35:51
going. And they, they get green of
35:52
every kind and their gold and their silver and their precious
35:54
things, the north and the South that they're spreading out and
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everything's great and they're laboring.
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And you're thinking, this is wonderful.
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How long does it last? Verse 10.
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It came to pass in the 20 and 9th year.
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There began to be some disputings among the people, and
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some were lifted up unto pride and boastings because of their
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exceedingly great riches, even into great persecutions.
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For there were many merchants in the lands and lawyers and many
36:19
officers, and they started to distinguish themselves by ranks.
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Verse 14. In the 30th year, then the
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church is broken up in all the land, except for the Lamanites,
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who were converted because they didn't fall away.
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I love that description there in verse 14.
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Now look at verse 15. Now this cause of this iniquity
36:39
of the people was this Satan had great power under the string up
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of the people to do all manner of iniquity, and to the puffing
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them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power and
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authority and riches and the vain things of the world.
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So verse 18 is where Mormon jumps in and gives you some
36:56
description. Now they did not sin ignorantly,
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for they knew the will of God concerning them, for it had been
37:03
taught unto them. Therefore they did willfully
37:06
rebel against God. This is a perfect description of
37:10
apostasy. The Greek word apostasia doesn't
37:14
mean a falling away like it's this external.
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Oh no, things are falling away. The way we often talk about it,
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an apostasia is more of an internal hostile takeover.
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It's more of a willful rebellion against the truth.
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And that's exactly what we see going on here among these
37:32
Nephites. It's only been a few years, and
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we've been through these incredible experiences where God
37:39
has delivered us, and we're totally disregarding that at
37:42
this point. So now look at verse 23.
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Now there were many of those who testified of these things
37:50
pertaining to Christ, who testified boldly, who were taken
37:54
and put to death secretly by the judges.
37:57
So you still have prophets teaching, but now people are
38:00
secretly killing them. That's where the societies has
38:04
started to go. And then in verse 28, the old
38:08
covenants of the devil, those secret combinations start coming
38:13
out again. And then in Chapter 7, the chief
38:17
judge is murdered. And verse 2, the people are
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divided one against another, and they separate one from another
38:23
into tribes. They've overthrown the
38:25
government, They now go into their own family tribes, their
38:31
own little units, and every tribe appointed a chief real
38:36
leader. And verse 7 tells us there were
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but few righteous men among them.
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Verse 8. And thus six years had not
38:45
passed away since the more part of the people had turned from
38:48
their righteousness like the dog to his vomit, or like the sow to
38:53
her wallowing in the mire. Nephi continues to teach in this
38:59
really, really awful environment.
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Look at verse 18. It came to pass that they were
39:04
angry with him even because he had greater power than they.
39:07
For it were not possible that they could disbelieve his words.
39:11
For so great was his faith on the Lord Jesus Christ that
39:14
angels did minister unto him daily.
39:16
So he's going around and they can't disbelieve his words, but
39:20
they hate him. They hate what he's teaching
39:24
because they want what they want, but they don't want the
39:27
consequences that go with the decisions that they're making.
39:31
So consequently, only a few people in verse 21 are converted
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unto the Lord. Brothers and sisters, as we
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finish up Chapter 7, the stage is now set for the greatest
39:46
destruction this world has ever known.
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When Jesus is going to be crucified in the Holy Land over
39:54
here in America, those those upheavals and those disasters,
39:58
natural disasters that are going to occur and the destruction is
40:03
brought upon them by themselves. It's not like God is doing this
40:08
to them. These people are setting
40:10
themselves up for this incredible destruction.
40:14
Now we started this lesson inviting you to bring all of
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your problems and concerns and temptations and frustrations and
40:22
put them on the desk, so to speak, side by side with your
40:25
scriptures as we turn to the Lord and plead for guidance and
40:29
direction and help and inspiration.
40:33
Even if we've been pleading for hours, for years, for decades,
40:38
and still haven't gotten what we want, brothers and sisters, know
40:42
that there's a God in heaven who hears every prayer.
40:46
He may not answer them the the same way as we want them to be
40:49
answered, but He hears them. It's one thing to know you're
40:53
being heard. It's another thing to to
40:58
question and wonder if you're being totally ignored.
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Just know you're not being ignored.
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Know that God knows what you're going through, and if you're
41:06
faithful and you keep turning to Him in that faith, He will give
41:12
you whatever is in your best interest from His eternal
41:16
perspective according to His eternal timetables, not our
41:21
watches and calendars. I love the Lord and I I want to
41:25
finish by saying something we've mentioned before from the Bible.
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When you face the army of adversities and temptations that
41:34
come at you, don't ever forget that if you have faith, they
41:39
that be with us are far more than they that be with them.
41:43
Thank you for your love and goodness, and we so appreciate
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who you are and your time with us today.
41:49
Know that you're loved.