Latest / Scripture Central / Mosiah 7–10 | Scripture Study Insights with Tyler Griffin | A Come Follow Me Resource

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Mosiah 7–10 | Scripture Study Insights with Tyler Griffin | A Come Follow Me Resource · Scripture Central

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Hello there. My name is Tyler Griffin, and
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this is Scripture Study Insights by Scripture
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Central. Today, we're going to be covering
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Mosiah chapters 7 through 10. And
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these particular chapters can be confusing because
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what you have is two groups of people that have
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been separated for a couple of generations now coming
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back together. And so it kind of messes with
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the timeline in our mind as to what's going on, as
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well as the distance and the space and the locations
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and the map. So to be able to help us
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with today's lesson, I'm going to use an internal
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map of the Book of Mormon that I've created over many
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years with the help of some gifted artists. You
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can find this particular internal map at
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virtualscriptures .org. So here we're not going to
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engage with the various theories or proposals as to
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where the Book of Mormon actually took place in the
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New World. We're going to leave it in the
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geography neutral space. So with this particular map,
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you would have to stretch it or compress it or turn
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it or squeeze it to fit wherever the Book of Mormon
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actually took place. But we know based on the
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geography markers in the record, certain things about
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where certain cities are with reference to other
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geographic locations. And so that's what this
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particular map is portraying. So
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to begin, let me just give a quick overview of where
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we are and where we've been on this map. Let
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me zoom in a little bit here in the land southward,
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separated by a narrow strip of wilderness that runs
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from the sea west to the sea east. You
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get the land of Zarahemla and the land of Nephi. The
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land of Nephi is in the south, but the land of
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Nephi is always considered up from the land of
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Zarahemla, not because they are using up north down
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south, but because they're using elevation changes
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probably. So this is higher ground. The
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city of Nephi and the land of Nephi is always the
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high ground in the Book of Mormon. So
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what happens is you have Lehi and the group that
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lands in the land of the first inheritance, shortly
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thereafter Nephi takes the people many days journey
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into the wilderness and establishes that land of
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Nephi. And that lasts until about 200
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BC when King Mosiah the first, King Benjamin's
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father at the time of Amalekai in the Book of
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Omni is warned of the Lord to take the people and
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leave. And so they went north. And
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we find out later on here in the stories of of Limhi
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that it's about three weeks journey through the
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wilderness to get up to, or in this case, down to
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the land of Zarahemla. So it's there where they met
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the mulekites for the first time, because this can get
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so confusing. Let me let me diagram this now
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on the screen. So you have Mosiah who takes
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the group of people, all of the Nephites from the
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land of Nephi to the land of Zarahemla, and it's
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there where they meet the mulekites and they become
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one group. Once they're here and they're
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established in the land of Zarahemla for a little
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while, there's a group of men who go back to spy
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out the land of Nephi and to see how they can
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destroy the Lamanites who have taken over the land
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that they have abandoned. And
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in the process, there's a man in that group named
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Zennef who sees the good among the Lamanites and
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doesn't want to destroy them, wants to go and
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return home. They like the land of Nephi
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better than they like the land of Zarahemla. Well,
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that causes a huge conflict out here in the wilderness
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where many people in that Nephite, maybe even mulekite
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mixed in group, they fight and they contend and many
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people die. So they come back to the land
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of Zarahemla again and here Zennef spreads the word
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that, hey, we can live among those Lamanites.
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There's good among them. And
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so he gathers enough people that now he convinces them
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and they come down and they take over the land of
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Shilom and Nephi, not by force, but they come in
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and they sit down with King Laman and he agrees
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to give them those two lands. Now,
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we find out in the text that Zennef was a little
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overzealous. He tells us that himself. This
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is not a judgment that we're making on him. This
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is a label he gives to himself and he misses some
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of the warning signs. And so then after Zennef you
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get King Noah, you get Abinadi and Alma and their
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story at the waters of Mormon and then Limhi is
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the grandson of Zennef. Again,
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there are so many stories that become intertwined and
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interwoven here in the Book of Mosiah that it can be
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very confusing. So you're going to end up
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with two different groups of people in bondage.
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Limhi's people in bondage here in
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Nephi and Shilom and you're going to have Alma's people
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in bondage in the city of Helum that they've
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established, which is further north. And
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then after a series of events, Limhi's people
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finally, after about 24 years of bondage and
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slavery and loss of life, they finally are going to
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turn to the Lord and plead for deliverance and plead
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for help. And that's not going to happen
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until we get over to chapters 21 and 22 of
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Mosiah. But the irony here is finally
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when they turn to the Lord, that's when King
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Mosiah, the second up in Zarahemla, is going to
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assemble 16 strong men led by Ammon. So
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it's Ammon with 15 other strong men and he's going
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to send them down to find these people that they
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haven't seen for multiple two generations and see how
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they're doing because we've heard nothing from them.
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And that's where we pick up
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our story today is in Mosiah chapter 7 with Ammon
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and those 15 strong men going south or going up,
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if you will, to the land of and city of Nephi and
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Shalom, where they find the people of Limhi in a
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pretty precarious situation in slavery. So
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let's jump in. It starts in chapter 7 verse
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2. It says Mosiah granted that 16
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of their strong men should go up to the land of Lehi
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Nephi to inquire concerning their brethren. Let's
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see how they're doing. Now there's an interesting
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detail that it gives you in verse 3. It
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says, came to pass that on the morrow they started to
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go up having with them one Ammon. He
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being a strong and a mighty man and a descendant
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of Zarahemla and he was also their leader. So
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if he's a descendant of Zarahemla, that means he's
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a mulekite, but these adults have all been
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united, the mulekites and the Nephites under King
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Benjamin's reign after his speech. They've
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all entered into that covenant. They've
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come unto the Lord through that covenant. And
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so here's this mulekite descendant of Zarahemla
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who's never lived in the land of Nephi, who's
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willing to put his own life on the line to build
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up the kingdom at that time. It's
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a beautiful, beautiful example of how these
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covenants can change people. He's
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willing to go to great lengths to help reach out
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and deliver these people if need be, or at least see
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how they're doing. So it says, verse 4, they
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knew not the course they should travel in the
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wilderness to go up to the land of Lehi Nephi.
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Remember we're going south, but
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again everything between Zarahemla in the direction
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headed towards Nephi is always going to be up, so
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you're going to be increasing in elevation. And
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they wandered in the wilderness for 40 days,
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trying to find their way. So
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then they finally come into the land and their
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welcoming party arrests them. These
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guards of King Limhai, who was outside of the walls
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of the city himself, they arrest these four people
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because Ammon brings three of his brothers with him,
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leaves the rest camped on a hill near Shilohn, and
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comes into the city and the four of them get
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arrested, thrown in prison, because King Limhai's guards
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assume that these four are Amulon and or from the
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priests of King Noah who have caused all kinds of
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problems for the people over the course of the
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story here. So they have a mistaken
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identity, they're thrown in jail, then they're brought
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out of prison, they're permitted to speak, or
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rather commanded to speak, to share why they with
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boldness came back, because again the people are
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assuming they're Amulon and the wicked priests, or some
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of the wicked priests from Amulon's group. And
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here's where Ammon shares with them the reality of
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who he is, where they've come from, and what the
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purpose of their mission is. Obviously
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their bans are loosed, and then King Limhai starts
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sharing the story of this people, the story that is
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fraught with poor decisions and turning away from God
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and breaking covenants and even killing the prophet
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Abinadi in the process, and the consequences that have
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come for all of those series of poor decisions.
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If you look at starting in
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verse 18, he says, it came to pass when they had
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gathered themselves together that he spake unto them in
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this wise. So King Limhai has gathered
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all the people at the temple in verse 17 and all
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of the rescue party that has come from the land of
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Zarahemla, they're at the temple, and then he says,
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Oh ye my people, lift up your heads and be
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comforted. For behold, the time is at
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hand, or is not far distant when we shall no
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longer be in subjection to our enemies, notwithstanding
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our many strugglings which have been in vain, yet I
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trust there remain an effectual struggle to be
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made. I love this story, it's a
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story of redemption, it's a story of hope. Ultimately,
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it's a story of accessing the atonement of Jesus
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Christ, the love of Christ through his infinite
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atonement, that power of deliverance. So
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here are these people who are still fully enslaved,
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their condition hasn't changed, but because of
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these messengers that have come from Zarahemla, they
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now have hope, and have something to hold on to,
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they have something to strive towards, that they
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realize that their efforts from this point moving
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forward are not going to be in vain. Can
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you see the beautiful symbolic power of this
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story? If we take a few steps away
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from the page and look at the overarching elements of
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this story, you have, if we were to you have a
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land where it's safe for the Nephites, the land of
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Zarahemla, you're not among your enemies, and then you
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have this land where it isn't exactly safe, where
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the Lamanites have enslaved you, it's terribly
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difficult. Well, this is kind of like
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leaving heaven and coming down for life on earth, a
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place where spirit sons and daughters of heavenly
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parents, where they leave the safe area of heaven,
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come down to earth, fall into bondage because of
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poor use of agency and bad decisions and poor choices,
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and they need to be delivered. But
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the problem is, is they've tried to deliver themselves
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again and again and again three times, and it didn't
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work. In fact, it just made their
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bondage worse. So they needed outside help to
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come in to help deliver them and bring them back
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safely to the land where they won't be surrounded by
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their enemies. There's something beautiful about
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seeing the symbol of Jesus Christ coming, condescending
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from heaven, coming to earth to deliver us who
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are in bondage, and can you see now reflected in
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those words in verse 18 one more time through that
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lens? There's symbolic power for every
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one of us. Now, I doubt that any of you
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watching or listening to this are currently
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surrounded by Lamanites who have you in bondage or
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slavery, but we're experiencing other kinds of
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bondages. We're experiencing other kinds of
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challenges that mortality throws at us, and sometimes
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by our own choice we bring upon ourselves in certain
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instances. But now those words again, lift
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up your heads and be comforted for behold, the
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time is at hand and is not far distant that when
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we shall no longer be in subjection to our enemies.
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There's hope in the gospel of
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Jesus Christ, and I love the number that is used
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here, and I don't know that King Mosiah II, the
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son of King Benjamin, who sent Ammon down. I
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don't know that he paid close attention to the
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number, but boy, if we liken that scripture to us
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in the latter days, it's powerful. When
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Ammon takes on this symbolic role of Jesus
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Christ, the leader of the group, with 15 other
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strong, mighty men who have come down to help in this
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mission of deliverance, we can see the imagery of
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Jesus Christ directing the efforts of the First
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Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and
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their whole mission is to help unlock those chains of
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bondage that the world has placed upon us and that we
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have maybe brought upon ourselves. So
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he says in verse 19, therefore lift up your
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heads and rejoice and put your trust in God, in that
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God who was the God of Abraham and Isaac and
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Jacob, and also that God who brought the children of
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Israel out of the land of Egypt and caused that they
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should walk through the Red Sea on dry ground and fed
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them with manner and led them through all these
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amazing examples from the past, he's showing them to
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say it's that same God, the same being up in
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heaven, that powerful God who did those incredible
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miracles for those people back then in those
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locations, he's going to do it for us as well in our
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bondage today. And I suspect that if King
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Limhai were standing right here in our day, I think
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he might be able to say the exact same thing to
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us. It's the same God who delivered
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all those people in the Old Testament, it's the
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same God who delivers Limhai's people here, and
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he's going to deliver you if you turn to him, if
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you trust him. It doesn't matter how long the
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bondage has been, it doesn't matter how deep the
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bondage has been, it doesn't matter even what
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caused that bondage necessarily. The
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infinite atonement of Jesus Christ, his power, his
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mercy, his grace, his love, it's bigger than anything
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the world can throw at us. He
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can help us overcome all those things. So
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this is a beautiful message, an overlay message
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of hope for deliverance from any kind of bondage.
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So then he goes in and he
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describes the self -inflicted problems, the afflictions
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that they received, and he explains why they received
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them, and most of the reasons were, yeah, it was
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our fault. We didn't do the things that
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we should have done. And so then, if you come over
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to verse 25, he starts describing if this people
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had not fallen into transgression. There's
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a question on the covenant connection with God, then
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the Lord would not have suffered that this great
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evil should come upon them. But
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behold, they would not hearken unto his words, but
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there arose contensions among them, even so much
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that they did shed blood among themselves. And
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then he clarifies even further, yes, and a prophet
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of the Lord have they slain, a chosen man of
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God, a person that God sent to this people to
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deliver us from the pending destruction and bondage that
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was knocking on our door. And
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instead of giving heed to that prophet, we killed
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him. He was slain, which brought
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the bondage even worse and quicker upon us. And
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then he describes the beautiful condescension of
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Jesus Christ that we can see kind of as a 30 ,000
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foot overview of this story, looking at the even
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the map can teach this lesson, verse 27. And
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because Abinadi had said unto them that Christ was
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the God, the father of all things, and said that he
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should take upon him the image of man, and it
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should be the image after which man was created in
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the beginning, or in other words, he said that man
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was created after the image of God, and that God
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should come down among the children of men and take
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upon him flesh and blood, and go forth upon the face
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of the earth. Because Abinadi taught the
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condescension of Christ, that he would come down
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from heaven, leaving behind all of that glory and
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majesty and might and power, and ability, and
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come down and become like us, and take upon him
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flesh. Because he said this, they put him
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to death, and many more things did they do which
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brought down the wrath of God upon them. So
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he then tells basically, we deserved what we received.
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And then he finishes in verse
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33, not on a low note, but on a high note of
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hope, once again bringing a full circle back to the
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promise of deliverance. But if ye will turn, did you
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notice the condition again? If,
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so we had a condition that he listed before, if only
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they hadn't rejected the prophet, if they hadn't
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slain him, then these bad things wouldn't have
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happened. Well, they did. Now
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he's speaking to the group at the temple in his day,
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saying, if you will now turn to the Lord, it's
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that Hebrew meaning to repent, to turn, make that
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adjustment, turn to the Lord now with full purpose
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of heart, and put your trust in him. Notice
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these verbs, turn, put your trust, and serve him with
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all diligence of mind. And if ye do this, he will,
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according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you
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out of bondage. So the promise is sure, as we
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turn to and return to those covenant connections
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with Christ, he will be our God, and we will be
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his people, and he will deliver us. That
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promise is sure. Now as we open up chapter 8,
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Lim Hai tells Ammon, and these 15 strong men, how
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they've tried to deliver themselves. They
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sent a whole group of men in chapter 8 up to try to
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find the land of Zarahemla to get this reinforcement
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to come and deliver them from bondage. Somehow
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they missed Zarahemla, and we don't know which
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direction they went, but they ended up in the land
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of desolation. So there must be enough going
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on in the geography to make it very difficult to
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navigate and to see the various parts of the
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civilization, and they missed the mulekites and
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the Nephites, and they ended up among the ruins
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of the Jaredites, and they assume, oh no, the Nephites
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have been destroyed, they're dead, we're all that's left
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of the Nephite nation, and they find swords and
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shields and breast plates, and they find plates or a
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record of the people, which turns out to be the record
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of the Jaredites that will become part of our Book of
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Ether down the road, and they bring those home, but
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the problem is, the plates are written in a language
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none of them understand. So he asks Ammon, do you know
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how to read various languages like these? And
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Ammon looks at that, and he says, no, but verse 13,
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I can assuredly tell the okking of a man that can
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translate the records, for he has wherewith that he
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can look and translate all records that are of ancient
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date, and it is a gift from God, and the things
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are called interpreters, and no man can look in them
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except he be commanded, lest he should look for
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that he ought not, and he should perish. And
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whosoever is commanded to look in them the same is
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called seer. This is a beautiful now
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introduction into what is a seer and what difference
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does it make? Why should we care in the
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first place? This is amazing, as he describes
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that a seer in verse 15 is greater than a prophet,
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and he goes on to describe in verse 16, a seer is a
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revelator and a prophet also, and a gift which is
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greater can no man have except he should possess
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the power of God, which no man can, yet a man may
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have great power given him from God, and then he
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describes why a seer is such a great gift to have
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among your people. A seer can know of things
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which are past and also of things which are to come,
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and by them shall all things be revealed, or
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rather shall secret things be made manifest, and
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hidden things shall come to light, and things which are
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not known shall be made known by them, and also
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things shall be made known by them which otherwise
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could not be known. Now let's bring this forward
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into our day and age today. Here's
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Limhain as people. They want to know the story of
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this entire civilization that they saw had been
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destroyed, and they've got these records, but they
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can't read them. Now you consider what it's like
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for us living in this day and age. I
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love the series of a couple of temple recman
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questions back to back. The first that says, do you
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sustain the president of the church of Jesus Christ
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of Latter -day Saints as a prophet, seer, and
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revelator, and as the only person on the earth who
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has authorized to exercise all priesthood keys? Such
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a powerful question, followed up by, and do you
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sustain the members of the first presidency and the
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quorum of the twelve apostles as prophets, seers,
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and revelators? Embedded in that list of three
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things, prophets, seers, and revelators, you keep getting
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this word seer that based on Ammon's words here, this
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is amazing. We have fifteen men, fifteen
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strong men spiritually, who have this incredible gift
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to bring things to light that are otherwise hidden
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from the world, both past and in the future, as well
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as present things that otherwise couldn't be made
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known. What a privilege it is to sit
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at the feet of seers who can share with us things
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that otherwise we're never going to be able to figure
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out by our own study or by our own efforts or our
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own desires to deliver ourselves or discover truth.
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They're going to give us things
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that God wants us to receive. It's
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such a powerful reminder of what a great opportunity it
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is for us to live on the earth in this, the
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dispensation of the fullness of times. Now,
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he describes something amazing here about the
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human condition compared to what God is offering to us
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in our fallen state in verse 20. Oh,
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how marvelous are the works of the Lord, and how long
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does he suffer with his people? Did
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you catch that? He suffers with his people.
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Part of the condescension of
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Jesus Christ wasn't just to come down and live aloof
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among us, but to walk among us, to take upon him
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our sins, our transgressions, our weakness,
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our pains, our sicknesses, our sorrows, our
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temptations, all of it. He suffered among us. And
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how blind and impenetrable are the understandings of
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the children of men. So we get God's goodness
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contrasted with mankind's frailty and weakness and
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hard -heartedness. He says, for they will not
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seek wisdom. Neither do they desire that she
28:45
should rule over them, wisdom being this feminine
28:49
attribute that she, wisdom, they don't want her to
28:53
rule over them. They want to make their own
28:58
choices. They don't want to accept God's
29:00
wisdom that he gives to them. I
29:03
think it's fascinating how often the scriptures
29:06
highlight our absolute dependence upon Jesus Christ
29:12
for deliverance. And it's always either in right
29:17
before or right after, somewhere in those same
29:20
stories, where you get this emphasis on God's chosen
29:24
servants, and it's always prophets, seers in this
29:29
case, or revelators. It's never the rich or the wise
29:34
after the world's learning or the learned. It's
29:38
the prophets who are going to give us those things
29:43
that we need to know in order to access the
29:47
Savior's power of deliverance. I
29:49
think that's a beautiful pattern to remember. So
29:52
now we shift gears. Now you're going to go back in
29:56
time, two generations. Mormon
30:02
interrupts the telling of the story with Ammon and
30:05
Limhai at the temple, and now we jump into a first
30:09
-person account of Xenoph, or Xenoph, however you want
30:14
to pronounce his name. We're
30:16
going back those two generations, and Mormon is
30:19
simply doing a copy -paste job into the plates from
30:24
whatever Xenoph recorded on his records that now are
30:28
part of Mormon's repository. So
30:32
you'll notice there's not a ton of editing being done
30:36
or abridgment taking place by Mormon. It
30:41
starts, I, Xenoph, you're in the first person, which
30:44
signals that we're going to be getting this story
30:47
directly from him, which is ironic because the moment
30:51
Xenoph's son, King Noah, takes over, Mormon shifts
30:56
out of first person and goes back into third
30:59
person. Mormon is, it's as if he's
31:02
saying, no, I'm not going to let Noah talk directly
31:04
to you. That was a bad king, but he
31:08
does let Xenoph have a voice speaking directly to
31:11
us. It's kind of fascinating to
31:13
watch throughout the telling of the story throughout the
31:16
Book of Mormon when Mormon will shift back and forth
31:20
between first and third person. So
31:23
in this case, he tells, Xenoph tells his own story
31:27
about coming among the Lamanites, seeing that which
31:31
was good among them in verse one, not wanting to
31:33
destroy them, and then in verse three talking about
31:37
how he was a bit overzealous, and he
31:40
overlooked some of the intent of King Laman,
31:45
moving his people out of the land of Nephi and
31:50
Shilom here in the center of the Lamanite
31:56
civilization. And what happens, they come in
32:02
and verse eight says, we began to build buildings
32:05
and repair the walls of the city, even the walls
32:09
of the city of Lehi, Nephi, and the city of
32:11
Shilom. And we began to till the
32:13
ground, yet even with all manner of seeds, with seeds
32:16
of corn and of wheat and of barley and with neos
32:20
and with sheum, and with seeds of all manner of
32:23
fruits, and we did begin to multiply and prosper in
32:25
the land. Now I just read through that
32:27
list very quickly, and many of you probably just zoned
32:30
out as I read this long list of seeds and things
32:33
that they put in the ground, and then what else
32:35
happened, because that's human nature. You'll
32:38
notice that there's a beautiful cause and effect
32:43
here. When people are in a covenant
32:46
with God saying, I want you to be my God, and I
32:50
want to be thy people, then there are blessings
32:54
that naturally flow from that covenant to be able
32:58
to do his work and to spread the covenant goodness
33:03
that he is granted to you. But
33:06
one of the other beautiful promises is that you will
33:10
have posterity. And there at the end it says,
33:15
we did begin to multiply and prosper in the land,
33:20
which sometimes goes contrary to the world's
33:24
wisdom that would say, no, no, no, no, you don't want
33:28
to have children, or you want to have very few
33:32
children because they're expensive and they get in
33:35
the way and they prevent you from accomplishing your
33:39
own self -fulfillment from doing the things that you
33:43
want to do in life. I love the fact that the
33:47
scriptures always use words along these lines of they
33:52
did multiply. We did begin to multiply and
33:56
prosper in the land. With each child that is born,
34:03
that child doesn't come into a family and then
34:08
divide the family's love one person further. So
34:13
if you have one child and you have a second child,
34:16
all of a sudden mom and dad's love is now divided
34:20
into the miracle of covenant family is that
34:28
that child brings from heaven its own package of
34:33
love. That adds to that family. It
34:38
doesn't subtract love from that family or divide that
34:42
family's love. It actually multiplies love.
34:47
You see, love is one of those
34:50
interesting elements of life, of existence, that is
34:58
so strange because the more of it you give, the more
35:02
of it you have. I don't know that there's a
35:06
mathematical formula to describe how that works. I
35:10
don't know how it works, but having been the
35:15
beneficiary of having many children born into our
35:19
family, I know what it's like each time a new child
35:23
was born and to feel the love in our home actually
35:27
increase, not decrease. And yet we live in a world
35:31
that is preaching the doctrine of don't get
35:34
married and if you do, don't have children and if
35:36
you do, not many. And so we see across many of
35:40
the cultures in our modern age the birth rates
35:44
dropping significantly. And yet it's one of the
35:49
greatest promises of the Abrahamic covenant or of
35:53
the covenant of God is that I will multiply your
35:57
posterity. So here we are. We've
36:02
been in the land of Nephi, Lehi, Lehi Nephi and Shilom
36:06
for 12 years and then King Lehmann starts to get
36:12
uneasy, it says in verse 11, the time has come,
36:15
they've rebuilt, they're prospering, it's time to
36:18
now enslave them. That was his plan all along. He
36:21
allowed them to do their work, to get things
36:24
underway and then to be able to bring them into
36:28
bondage. Well, these people are living in
36:32
that covenant with God, so he delivers them and in
36:36
verse 16 it says, and it came to pass that I did
36:38
arm them with bows and with arrows, with swords
36:42
and with simeters and with clubs and with slings and
36:45
with all manner of weapons which we could invent and
36:48
I and my people would go forth against sling nights
36:49
to battle. Once again, just a little side
36:52
note here, it's amazing to watch every time there's a
36:56
long list in the Book of Mormon. It's
36:59
always separated with the word and, and of or and
37:04
with or and and and. It's not the best English
37:09
grammar, but it's incredible when you consider that this
37:14
book was translated from Hebrew -speaking people who
37:19
were writing in Egyptian where there was no
37:21
punctuation on the plates, no punctuation on the
37:24
original or the printer's manuscript until the
37:27
typesetter, John Gilbert, put with his pencil all
37:31
the punctuation in. When you don't have punctuation,
37:35
you have to use words to separate items in lists and
37:39
you see it throughout the Book of Mormon, but here
37:41
you got it in verse 9, you got it in verse 15,
37:45
you're going to get it again over in chapter 10
37:48
verse 8. It comes up repeatedly,
37:50
separating lists with and and and. It's
37:56
one of those beautiful signatures from the past
38:00
from these ancient people who are Hebrew and writing
38:05
in Egyptian without punctuation. So
38:09
verse 17, why did they win this battle? When
38:12
they're totally surrounded by Lamanites, they're
38:14
completely outnumbered. There's
38:16
no reason they should have won, but they did. Why?
38:20
Verse 17, yea, in the strength of the Lord did
38:23
we go forth to battle against the Lamanites, for
38:25
I and my people did cry mightily to the Lord that
38:28
he would deliver us out of the hands of our enemies,
38:30
for we were awakened to a remembrance of the
38:32
deliverance of our fathers. So
38:36
they're drawing upon past memories to give them power
38:41
and hope for deliverance in their current struggles. And
38:45
I think if Xenophore's standing here, he might
38:48
look at each of us with whatever struggle we're
38:52
facing or whatever potential destruction might be
38:56
knocking on our door, and he might remind us that if
39:01
you go forward in the strength of the Lord,
39:04
you'll put your effort in, but it's really the
39:07
strength of the Lord that's going to be the deciding
39:10
factor in that effort to defend yourself. So
39:17
God heard their cries and they were able to kill 3
39:20
,043 of the Lamanites. 3 ,043 compared to only 279
39:27
of the people of King Xenoph that died, and we
39:31
say, wow, that's a great victory, but there were 279
39:36
who died on the Nephite side, and there were over
39:40
3 ,000 who died on the Lamanite side. War
39:43
is not pleasant. That's why I think the farther we
39:50
go into time, the more important it is to hear
39:54
messages like President Nelson shared, peacemakers
39:58
needed. We need more peace because
40:02
it's so easy to give the natural man response to
40:05
conflict and to disagreement or to cultural clashes. We
40:10
need more peacemaking, not just collectively, but in
40:14
our individual relationships, and that talk, peacemakers
40:18
needed, is worth reading again and again and again
40:22
for our time today. And now we come to chapter 10
40:27
where Xenoph, he says they've won, they've
40:33
repelled the Lamanite efforts to bring them into
40:36
bondage, but then in verse 6, King Laman died, and
40:40
his son begins to reign in his stead, and his son
40:43
stirs the people up to come to battle again, at
40:48
which point King Xenoph says, let me pause here
40:51
and explain from my perspective what we're
40:54
facing. He's trying to teach us what
40:57
the tradition of the Lamanites has been and why
41:03
they're doing what they're doing. Verse
41:05
11, Now the Lamanites knew nothing concerning the Lord
41:08
nor the strength of the Lord, therefore they
41:10
depended upon their own strength, ye they were a
41:12
strong people as to the strength of men. So
41:16
they're really capable physically, but they don't
41:19
know anything about God. They
41:22
were a wild and a ferocious and a bloodthirsty
41:25
people, believing in the tradition of their fathers,
41:28
which is this, and now he's going to go on to
41:30
give us the tradition of the Lamanites, what he's
41:33
perceived or heard or witnessed himself to one
41:36
degree or another. And he says, they believe that
41:40
they were driven out of the land of Jerusalem
41:41
because of the iniquities of their fathers, and that
41:44
they were wronged in the wilderness by their
41:46
brethren, and they were also wronged while crossing
41:48
the sea. And so they're telling this
41:51
story from their perspective of Nephi treated us badly.
41:57
And verse 14, And his brethren
41:58
were wroth with him, because they understood not
42:02
the dealings of the Lord. They
42:04
were also wroth with him upon the waters, because
42:06
they hardened their hearts against the Lord. So
42:08
Zenef's giving his commentary, that because
42:11
they felt wronged, they then became wrathful. They
42:18
were filled with wroth. And verse 15 says, again, they
42:23
were wroth with him when they had arrived in the
42:25
Promised Land, because they said he had taken the
42:27
ruling of the people out of their hands, and they
42:30
sought to kill him. And again, they were wroth with
42:33
him because he departed into the wilderness, and he
42:35
took the records which were engraved on the plates of
42:37
brass, for they said that he robbed them. Nephi
42:41
took the brass plates from us, to whom they rightly
42:43
belonged as the oldest brother, or oldest brothers.
42:47
He stole the brass plates. He
42:50
robbed them. And so they're filled with this
42:52
wrath. I think once again, if King
42:57
Zenef were standing here, he might say, this process
43:02
all begins with allowing yourself to feel wronged,
43:07
or offended, or to take offense as something, even
43:13
if it's just perceived wrong, even if it's not
43:16
even really a wrong, it doesn't matter if you allow
43:21
that feeling of offense, or feeling wronged to fester
43:25
long enough, it will lead to this intense anger, or
43:29
this wrath. And then it leads to verse 17,
43:34
and thus they have taught their children that they
43:36
should hate them, them being the Nephites, that
43:40
they should murder them, rob and plunder them, and
43:44
do all they could to destroy them. Therefore
43:46
they have an eternal hatred towards the children of
43:50
Nephi. So there's the contrast of
43:54
what we're seeking to do now with what you see the
43:58
opposite. Being offended leads to a feeling
44:02
of wrath, if we let that offense fester and grow and
44:06
deepen and broaden in our heart, it will canker our
44:09
soul, until that anger eventually leads to hatred.
44:15
Now that looks like the path
44:17
that Lucifer and those that followed him chose. Now
44:22
in contrast, Jesus, who suffered infinite wrongs,
44:28
didn't choose, he didn't choose rather to be angry
44:33
and upset and wrathful, he chose to be merciful and
44:39
gracious and compassionate and kind and forgiving,
44:43
which leads to an eternal love and infinite charity,
44:48
which is the opposite. So again, I think one of the
44:55
lessons from this story here in chapter 10 is we
44:59
have lots of opportunities to practice this principle
45:02
of the gospel. Lots of times when people are
45:05
going to say or do things that could offend us, and
45:10
if we read that talk peacemakers needed and pay
45:14
close attention, we realize that we don't have to be
45:18
reactionary to people's negativity, we can choose
45:23
to respond as peacemakers. That
45:27
doesn't mean that we leave ourselves in a position
45:29
where we're going to be abused or we're going to
45:31
allow other people to be abused. That
45:33
is not what President Nelson was talking about.
45:35
You protect life and you defend
45:39
those who are being abused and you prevent further
45:43
abuse from happening, but once that happens, now you
45:47
begin that process of working through love and
45:52
forgiveness, which helps us to become more like the
45:57
Savior now to finish. I want to share a story that
46:02
I found just inspiring that I had never really known
46:07
about before until I read this book Heart of the
46:11
Matter. It's what 100 years of living
46:14
have taught me from President Russell M. Nelson,
46:18
and he tells this story, several times in my life I
46:22
have come face to face with death. One
46:25
of those occurred in Maputo, Mozambique in late
46:29
May 2009. While dining at the mission home,
46:33
there with elder William W. Parmley,
46:36
the Africa Southeast Area President and his wife
46:39
Shanna, and with Mozambique Maputo Mission President
46:42
Blair J. Packard and his wife Cindy, three
46:45
men armed with automatic weapons burst into the
46:48
room. In the melee that followed,
46:51
one robber put a gun to my head, announced they
46:54
were there to kill me and abduct my wife, and then
46:57
pulled the trigger. The gun made a clicking sound
47:01
but did not fire. The misfire infuriated the
47:05
robber who then kicked me in the face and knocked me
47:07
to the floor. I was certain that this was
47:10
the end for me. I remember thinking, I'm about
47:12
to pass out of this life and going to the next.
47:15
This is going to be a very
47:16
interesting experience. I love President and Sister
47:20
Nelson for being able to have such poise, such depth
47:29
of character in the face of such incredibly difficult
47:35
circumstances like this. His life's on the line, and
47:40
instead of being angry and wrathful at this abuse
47:45
that's being put on them, he's focused on the Lord
47:49
and on the next life. He says, at the same time,
47:54
another robber shoved a pistol into Wendy's back
47:56
and began rocking her chair in an attempt to pull her
47:58
from it, saying, you are coming with us. You
48:01
are coming with us. Through a series of miraculous
48:05
events and things in no small part to the heroic
48:08
actions of Sister Cindy Packard, our lives were
48:12
spared. However, as I have had on several
48:16
previous frightening occasions, I realized how
48:19
fragile life is and how relatively few things there
48:23
are in this world that have eternal significance.
48:26
As those robbers threatened our
48:28
lives, I was not thinking about awards or educational
48:32
degrees or commendations. I was thinking about my
48:36
family and the covenants I had made with the Lord.
48:42
Brothers and sisters, that is one
48:44
example of how we can face a world of opposition and
48:51
intense at times adversity and still have those
48:55
experiences deepen our connection with Christ
48:59
rather than sever or separate that connection
49:03
with the Lord as we move forward, striving to become
49:07
more like him as we allow his saving efforts to bring
49:12
us safely home to the into the arms of his safety. So
49:20
in closing, as you read and study these chapters
49:24
this week, my prayer is that you'll be able to see
49:27
your own story of deliverance, that you'll be
49:31
able to lift up your heads and rejoice in the promise
49:35
deliverance that Jesus Christ offers to everyone
49:38
regardless of what the bondage may, what form the
49:42
bondage may take in your life. Jesus
49:44
Christ is mighty and willing to save us and is
49:49
doing everything he can. If we'll let him and turn to
49:53
him, he will do that and I leave that with you in
49:56
the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Know
49:59
that you're loved.