Jacob 2:1-5
This is one of my favorite chapters in the whole Book of Mormon, I'm not sure why exactly, but I just love the way that Jacob stands up for women and makes it clear that they are important to God, very important. It's very validating for me.
1:1-3 - The IM teaches that Jacob comes to the temple to teach with "soberness... desire and anxiety for the welfare" of the souls of his people. Elder Jeffery R. Holland says "Jacob spends much of ten full verses apologizing, in effect, for the sins he must address and the language he must use in addressing them... Listen to the mournful tone of these passages-literally the grief of them- as he single-mindedly pursues what he has always been single-minded about- steadfast loyalty to God and His commandment... We are not even into the discourse per se before we sense that, quite literally, this bold and unyielding manner of preaching is almost as hard on Jacob as it is on the guilty ones in his audience. But perhaps that is as it should be always, and why Christ in his preaching was ofttimes "a man of sorrows." I think we've seen this before, and I believe that it was Jacob's "sacrament meeting" talk, when he did the whole "really guys? We have to talk about stuff like this? We can't just be obedient and be spiritually fed?" That's why I love Jacob. I didn't really understand his anxiety or fallen countenance until I remembered a Relief Society lesson from years ago. The woman who gave the lesson is a friend, and I've known her for a long long time. She also began the lesson by apologizing, and warning in advance that this was a sensitive topic and that it might seem offensive, but that she was asked to give this message and she desired to be obedient to the ward's priesthood leadership. The topic of course was pornography. I try to think about if I were the teacher, the one asked to talk to a general audience about something that would hurt people's feelings. So if we think about what Jacob is really going to have to talk about, adultery, or at least the desire to commit adultery, is so very devastating to either spouse. And really unless it's a male homosexual adulterous relationship, there is going to be both men and women involved. Interesting, I had only considered this as a man's problem, but I guess it takes 2 to tango, as they say, and yes adultery hurts spouses, male and female a like, I would to think that men's pain is just real and heart wrenching as a woman's pain. Adultery hits pretty close to home for me, not only because I experienced it extensively in my first marriage, and because I've watched it demolish the homes and spirits of my friends, but also because it's a family legacy for me. The vast majority of my male ancestors, except my dad, were adulterers. I watched my female relatives not only implode in the face of infidelity, but also come up stronger and thrive afterward. I've watched it cripple with bitterness, and I've also seen it empower with forgiveness, regardless of the outcome of the marriage. If I were asked to speak at say a stake conference, and I was told that my mission was to call the members there to repentance because of their desire to commit adultery, that would be a very humbling and grievous topic, and even I would take to it with much prayer and pondering. While cross referencing tonight I came across an Ensign article from May 1994 by President Boyd K. Packer called "The Father and the Family." In it he teaches why, even though the topic may be difficult to speak to, and the audience generalized, it is still important to teach the word of God, so that the message and commandments and will of God can be made plainly and easy to understand. He says "when we speak plainly of divorce, abuse, gender identity, contraception, abortion, parental neglect, we are thought by some to be way out of touch or to be uncaring. Some ask if we know how many we hurt when we speak plainly. Do we know of marriages in trouble, of the many who remain single, of single-parent families, of couples unable to have children, of parents with wayward children, or of those confused about gender? Do we know? Do we care?... Because we do know and because we do care, we must teach the rules of happiness without dilution, apology, or avoidance. That is our calling." He says of his own experience as one called of the Lord, and he more than most, I think, speaks to difficult and sometimes controversial topics, "you know little of the sleepless nights, of the endless hours of work, of prayer, of study, of travel- all for the happiness and redemption of mankind." I would imagine that this would be Jacob's attitude as well, I'm sure that before his meeting at the temple, he spent many sleepless nights studying, praying, making all due diligence to not only teach the word of God effectively but also sensitively. Elder Holland continues in the IM, "the commandments have to be kept, sin has to be rebuked. But even such bold positions must be taken compassionately. Even the sternest of prophets must preach from the depths of a sensitive soul." This is a very interesting stance on the Lord's prescribed formula for leadership. There's an Ensign article that I listened the other day about President George Albert Smith, and in it there was a story about him in his home one day, with construction workers in front of his house working on the road. They swore a lot and loudly. A neighbor chastised them because the prophet lives near by and they should be more respectful, this only irritated them and made the problem worse. So President Smith made some ice cold lemonade and took it out to the workers and invited them to sit and rest in the shade under his tree. This attitude of humility and kindness was what the workers needed to respect that great man. That is a good word to describe Jacob's attitude toward this whole sermon, humility. I guess if you look at it, if one was prideful and arrogant in the high calling of prophethood, then this would be an excellent chance to gloat, to demean, to preside in unrighteous dominion, "I'm in charge, you listen to me, you are wicked and I am a great leader." I wicked leader would see the opportunity to degrade and humiliate the women and children of the group and by breaking their hearts, exert control over them, and to emasculate the men into shame, not shame unto repentance, but shame into revering of the prophet. I guess I hadn't considered the magnitude of this topic in the sense that it was truly a statement to who Jacob is and what a true servant of the Lord does when presented with a situation in which you can manipulate the feelings of others. Very interesting. The great Elder Neal A. Maxwell sympathized with Jacob in an April 1987 general conference talk entitled "Overcome... Even as I Also Overcame," saying "the poet-prophet Jacob witnessed among Church members how covenant-breaking wounded 'delicate minds' and how hearts were 'pierced with deep wounds.' He was 'weighed down' and so heavy with sorrow because some members esteemed their covenants so lightly. As I witness some of today's walking wounded, I understand Jacob's feelings as never before!" So clearly, the beginning of chapter 2 is an excellent example for us to follow of the administration of proper leadership within the Church, as demonstrated by Jacob.
1:4-5 - It's interesting to me that Jacob says "ye have been obedient unto the word of the Lord, which I have given unto you" but this is sandwiched in between, "I'm upset we have to talk about this" and verse 6 "it grieveth my soul... that I must testify unto you concerning the wickedness of your hearts." I guess that makes sense, and it goes back to the basic Mosaic law. The Mosaic law was all action based, and it wasn't until the Lord came that the higher "hearts and minds" type doctrine because the commandments. For instance, in this chapter, if you don't actually have sex outside of marriage, then you are in compliance with the Mosaic law. But what Jacob is saying is that they desire to commit adultery in their hearts. So ok, it makes sense that Jacob says that they have been keeping the commandments, but the Lord has revealed that they are getting set up in their hearts to start breaking them, because lustful thoughts turn into lustful desires, and lustful desires turn into small adulterous actions, which eventually lead to major and crippling sin. So it was kind of "hey you guys are setting yourselves up for major problems, so let's listen up." Taking from verse 4, where he says that they have been obedient as of yet to the commandments, but here he reveals to them "the by the help of the... Creator... I can tell you concerning your thoughts, how that ye are beginning to labor in sin." So up until this point, I guess the doctrine of the Lord being able to look upon the heart and know your thoughts hasn't been discussed, because that's the only reason why they would be surprised to hear that new piece of information. Here Jacob is telling us how important our thoughts truly are to our spiritual growth. Another talk referenced by the CI for verse 5 is an April 1992 general conference talk by Carlos E. Asay, who I've come to really love recently, called "Be Men!" In it he says "we must not be influenced by barbarian voices in our quest to become men. We must remember that 'God created man in his own image' and that man is expected to keep that image engraven upon his countenance." Alma explains this phrase as experiencing "this mighty change in your hearts." This is why it's so important to keep our thoughts and desires so clean and pure, if we have had the righteous change of heart, we will no longer feed those small little worms of evil that try to burrow into our hearts and live there.
I can't believe this has only gone in 5 verses, but I don't want to just glaze over more to make it in time. So I'm going to stop and continue on tomorrow.
1:1-3 - The IM teaches that Jacob comes to the temple to teach with "soberness... desire and anxiety for the welfare" of the souls of his people. Elder Jeffery R. Holland says "Jacob spends much of ten full verses apologizing, in effect, for the sins he must address and the language he must use in addressing them... Listen to the mournful tone of these passages-literally the grief of them- as he single-mindedly pursues what he has always been single-minded about- steadfast loyalty to God and His commandment... We are not even into the discourse per se before we sense that, quite literally, this bold and unyielding manner of preaching is almost as hard on Jacob as it is on the guilty ones in his audience. But perhaps that is as it should be always, and why Christ in his preaching was ofttimes "a man of sorrows." I think we've seen this before, and I believe that it was Jacob's "sacrament meeting" talk, when he did the whole "really guys? We have to talk about stuff like this? We can't just be obedient and be spiritually fed?" That's why I love Jacob. I didn't really understand his anxiety or fallen countenance until I remembered a Relief Society lesson from years ago. The woman who gave the lesson is a friend, and I've known her for a long long time. She also began the lesson by apologizing, and warning in advance that this was a sensitive topic and that it might seem offensive, but that she was asked to give this message and she desired to be obedient to the ward's priesthood leadership. The topic of course was pornography. I try to think about if I were the teacher, the one asked to talk to a general audience about something that would hurt people's feelings. So if we think about what Jacob is really going to have to talk about, adultery, or at least the desire to commit adultery, is so very devastating to either spouse. And really unless it's a male homosexual adulterous relationship, there is going to be both men and women involved. Interesting, I had only considered this as a man's problem, but I guess it takes 2 to tango, as they say, and yes adultery hurts spouses, male and female a like, I would to think that men's pain is just real and heart wrenching as a woman's pain. Adultery hits pretty close to home for me, not only because I experienced it extensively in my first marriage, and because I've watched it demolish the homes and spirits of my friends, but also because it's a family legacy for me. The vast majority of my male ancestors, except my dad, were adulterers. I watched my female relatives not only implode in the face of infidelity, but also come up stronger and thrive afterward. I've watched it cripple with bitterness, and I've also seen it empower with forgiveness, regardless of the outcome of the marriage. If I were asked to speak at say a stake conference, and I was told that my mission was to call the members there to repentance because of their desire to commit adultery, that would be a very humbling and grievous topic, and even I would take to it with much prayer and pondering. While cross referencing tonight I came across an Ensign article from May 1994 by President Boyd K. Packer called "The Father and the Family." In it he teaches why, even though the topic may be difficult to speak to, and the audience generalized, it is still important to teach the word of God, so that the message and commandments and will of God can be made plainly and easy to understand. He says "when we speak plainly of divorce, abuse, gender identity, contraception, abortion, parental neglect, we are thought by some to be way out of touch or to be uncaring. Some ask if we know how many we hurt when we speak plainly. Do we know of marriages in trouble, of the many who remain single, of single-parent families, of couples unable to have children, of parents with wayward children, or of those confused about gender? Do we know? Do we care?... Because we do know and because we do care, we must teach the rules of happiness without dilution, apology, or avoidance. That is our calling." He says of his own experience as one called of the Lord, and he more than most, I think, speaks to difficult and sometimes controversial topics, "you know little of the sleepless nights, of the endless hours of work, of prayer, of study, of travel- all for the happiness and redemption of mankind." I would imagine that this would be Jacob's attitude as well, I'm sure that before his meeting at the temple, he spent many sleepless nights studying, praying, making all due diligence to not only teach the word of God effectively but also sensitively. Elder Holland continues in the IM, "the commandments have to be kept, sin has to be rebuked. But even such bold positions must be taken compassionately. Even the sternest of prophets must preach from the depths of a sensitive soul." This is a very interesting stance on the Lord's prescribed formula for leadership. There's an Ensign article that I listened the other day about President George Albert Smith, and in it there was a story about him in his home one day, with construction workers in front of his house working on the road. They swore a lot and loudly. A neighbor chastised them because the prophet lives near by and they should be more respectful, this only irritated them and made the problem worse. So President Smith made some ice cold lemonade and took it out to the workers and invited them to sit and rest in the shade under his tree. This attitude of humility and kindness was what the workers needed to respect that great man. That is a good word to describe Jacob's attitude toward this whole sermon, humility. I guess if you look at it, if one was prideful and arrogant in the high calling of prophethood, then this would be an excellent chance to gloat, to demean, to preside in unrighteous dominion, "I'm in charge, you listen to me, you are wicked and I am a great leader." I wicked leader would see the opportunity to degrade and humiliate the women and children of the group and by breaking their hearts, exert control over them, and to emasculate the men into shame, not shame unto repentance, but shame into revering of the prophet. I guess I hadn't considered the magnitude of this topic in the sense that it was truly a statement to who Jacob is and what a true servant of the Lord does when presented with a situation in which you can manipulate the feelings of others. Very interesting. The great Elder Neal A. Maxwell sympathized with Jacob in an April 1987 general conference talk entitled "Overcome... Even as I Also Overcame," saying "the poet-prophet Jacob witnessed among Church members how covenant-breaking wounded 'delicate minds' and how hearts were 'pierced with deep wounds.' He was 'weighed down' and so heavy with sorrow because some members esteemed their covenants so lightly. As I witness some of today's walking wounded, I understand Jacob's feelings as never before!" So clearly, the beginning of chapter 2 is an excellent example for us to follow of the administration of proper leadership within the Church, as demonstrated by Jacob.
1:4-5 - It's interesting to me that Jacob says "ye have been obedient unto the word of the Lord, which I have given unto you" but this is sandwiched in between, "I'm upset we have to talk about this" and verse 6 "it grieveth my soul... that I must testify unto you concerning the wickedness of your hearts." I guess that makes sense, and it goes back to the basic Mosaic law. The Mosaic law was all action based, and it wasn't until the Lord came that the higher "hearts and minds" type doctrine because the commandments. For instance, in this chapter, if you don't actually have sex outside of marriage, then you are in compliance with the Mosaic law. But what Jacob is saying is that they desire to commit adultery in their hearts. So ok, it makes sense that Jacob says that they have been keeping the commandments, but the Lord has revealed that they are getting set up in their hearts to start breaking them, because lustful thoughts turn into lustful desires, and lustful desires turn into small adulterous actions, which eventually lead to major and crippling sin. So it was kind of "hey you guys are setting yourselves up for major problems, so let's listen up." Taking from verse 4, where he says that they have been obedient as of yet to the commandments, but here he reveals to them "the by the help of the... Creator... I can tell you concerning your thoughts, how that ye are beginning to labor in sin." So up until this point, I guess the doctrine of the Lord being able to look upon the heart and know your thoughts hasn't been discussed, because that's the only reason why they would be surprised to hear that new piece of information. Here Jacob is telling us how important our thoughts truly are to our spiritual growth. Another talk referenced by the CI for verse 5 is an April 1992 general conference talk by Carlos E. Asay, who I've come to really love recently, called "Be Men!" In it he says "we must not be influenced by barbarian voices in our quest to become men. We must remember that 'God created man in his own image' and that man is expected to keep that image engraven upon his countenance." Alma explains this phrase as experiencing "this mighty change in your hearts." This is why it's so important to keep our thoughts and desires so clean and pure, if we have had the righteous change of heart, we will no longer feed those small little worms of evil that try to burrow into our hearts and live there.
I can't believe this has only gone in 5 verses, but I don't want to just glaze over more to make it in time. So I'm going to stop and continue on tomorrow.
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