Mosiah 8:13-21
I'm super short on time tonight, but I have been thinking about the difference between prophet, seer and revelator all afternoon.
8:13 - The "Interpreters" talked about in verse 13 is referenced my the IM and there are some interesting points here that I had never considered. The first point is that the "two stones" that Mosiah used to translate the large stone and then the Jaredite plates where in fact the same two stones that were given to the Brother of Jared. The IM quotes President Joseph F. Smith as teaching "how Mosiah came into possession of these 'two stones' our Urim and Thummim, the record does not tell us, more than to say that it was a 'gift from God.'" But he also goes on to say that "the Urim and Thummim, or two stones, given to the brother of Jared were those in the possession of Mosiah," and goes on to quote Ether 3:21-28, which I don't really understand as relating, but I am unlearned and tired. So the Urim and Thummim was given to the Brother of Jared by the Lord, then Mosiah had them, and then "Joseph Smith received with the 'breastplate' and the plates of the Book of Mormon, the Urim and Thummim, which were hid up by Moroni to come forth in the last days as a means by which the ancient record might be translated, which Urim and Thummim were given to the brother of Jared." This is amazing, I had never considered the line of handing down to get to Joseph Smith from the Brother of Jared, that is pretty amazing and deep stuff.
8:14-18 - Here is where the definition of prophet, seer, and revelator becomes important. The IM has much to say on the topic of seer, and begins by quoting President Howard W. Hunter as teaching "a seer is one who sees." Seems simple enough, but sees what? "This does not mean that he sees through his natural eyes but rather through spiritual eyes. The seeric gift is a supernatural endowment." The IM continues with teachings from Elder John A. Widtsoe describing "a seer as one who 'perceives the meaning of that which seems obscure to others; therefore he is an interpreter and clarifier of eternal truth. He foresees the future from the past and the present. This he does by the power of the Lord operating through him directly, or indirectly with the aid of divine instruments such as the Urim and Thummim. In short, he is one who sees, who walks in the Lord's light with open eyes." This is all very symbolic, I guess this is one of those things that the Lord is telling me that I will come to understand later, and to move forward. So I will talk about what I listened to on the way to work today, in my quest for understanding. I pulled up an October 2004 general conference talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland entitled "Prophets, Seers, and Revelators." It was a very powerful talk and even though it didn't give me the definitions like I wanted, I came away from it feeling very comforted, and my testimony strengthened. I learned this weekend that my testimony, though growing out of the seed, is still very small and delicate. I had a very difficult conversation with someone who I thought was rock solid in the gospel, and it turns out not so much. We both suffer from the "analysis paralysis" and over think things to the extreme, and this person has thought themselves out of the safe fold of the Savior. Maybe when he comes back he will help me with this blog, because his insight would be most profitable, here's to hoping. But when I listened to this talk, what Elder Holland said rang true to me because continuous revelation, a highly organized church structure, and church leadership that communes with God is so vital to my testimony of the church, logically, I loved what he had to say. I don't have time to go through it right now, like I would really like to do, but please go back and read it, listen to it, it's very powerful. The next talk that came on was called "The Power of God's Love" by Elder John H. Groberg. The synopsis at the beginning says "Filled with His love, we can endure pain, quell fear, forgive freely, avoid contention, renew strength, and bless and help others." As I was listening to this, I was remembering my "Lost" moment when I truly realized who God is and felt his love for the first time. I've found myself slipping back into my cynicism and negativity for the last few days and it's uncomfortable. I never thought that I would get to the point in my life where I would say something sarcastic and then feel yucky afterward. But today while listening to this talk, I decided that I would try to treat everyone today like I loved them. I'm getting so much better at not having a hard heart toward everyone, and this weekend I was amazed at how far I'd come, that nit picking others or feeling animosity toward anyone especially strangers was painful for me. I'm grateful for that gift. And then leading into my reflection of how much I've changed and how much I look forward to further changing to become more Christ-like here comes the next talk (I have a long commute) by Elder Dale E. Miller entitled "Bringing Peace and Healing to Your Soul." In it, Elder Miller talks about conversion and what true conversion is and the change of heart that comes with it. It was at this moment that I realized how far I had come, how much my heart had changed, and how much happier and at peace I was. In the talk he quoted C.S. Lewis as saying "(God) has infinite attention to spare for each one of us. He does not have to deal with us in the mass. You are as much alone with Him as if you were the only being He had ever created. When Christ died, He died for you individually just as much as if you had been the only man (or woman) in the world." And then I felt whole. So what started out as a quest for definitions and answers, came instead peace and comfort and testimony strengthening that I needed. I am excited to start with the story of Zeniff tomorrow, I really like this one and feel as though I can relate to him on many levels.
8:13 - The "Interpreters" talked about in verse 13 is referenced my the IM and there are some interesting points here that I had never considered. The first point is that the "two stones" that Mosiah used to translate the large stone and then the Jaredite plates where in fact the same two stones that were given to the Brother of Jared. The IM quotes President Joseph F. Smith as teaching "how Mosiah came into possession of these 'two stones' our Urim and Thummim, the record does not tell us, more than to say that it was a 'gift from God.'" But he also goes on to say that "the Urim and Thummim, or two stones, given to the brother of Jared were those in the possession of Mosiah," and goes on to quote Ether 3:21-28, which I don't really understand as relating, but I am unlearned and tired. So the Urim and Thummim was given to the Brother of Jared by the Lord, then Mosiah had them, and then "Joseph Smith received with the 'breastplate' and the plates of the Book of Mormon, the Urim and Thummim, which were hid up by Moroni to come forth in the last days as a means by which the ancient record might be translated, which Urim and Thummim were given to the brother of Jared." This is amazing, I had never considered the line of handing down to get to Joseph Smith from the Brother of Jared, that is pretty amazing and deep stuff.
8:14-18 - Here is where the definition of prophet, seer, and revelator becomes important. The IM has much to say on the topic of seer, and begins by quoting President Howard W. Hunter as teaching "a seer is one who sees." Seems simple enough, but sees what? "This does not mean that he sees through his natural eyes but rather through spiritual eyes. The seeric gift is a supernatural endowment." The IM continues with teachings from Elder John A. Widtsoe describing "a seer as one who 'perceives the meaning of that which seems obscure to others; therefore he is an interpreter and clarifier of eternal truth. He foresees the future from the past and the present. This he does by the power of the Lord operating through him directly, or indirectly with the aid of divine instruments such as the Urim and Thummim. In short, he is one who sees, who walks in the Lord's light with open eyes." This is all very symbolic, I guess this is one of those things that the Lord is telling me that I will come to understand later, and to move forward. So I will talk about what I listened to on the way to work today, in my quest for understanding. I pulled up an October 2004 general conference talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland entitled "Prophets, Seers, and Revelators." It was a very powerful talk and even though it didn't give me the definitions like I wanted, I came away from it feeling very comforted, and my testimony strengthened. I learned this weekend that my testimony, though growing out of the seed, is still very small and delicate. I had a very difficult conversation with someone who I thought was rock solid in the gospel, and it turns out not so much. We both suffer from the "analysis paralysis" and over think things to the extreme, and this person has thought themselves out of the safe fold of the Savior. Maybe when he comes back he will help me with this blog, because his insight would be most profitable, here's to hoping. But when I listened to this talk, what Elder Holland said rang true to me because continuous revelation, a highly organized church structure, and church leadership that communes with God is so vital to my testimony of the church, logically, I loved what he had to say. I don't have time to go through it right now, like I would really like to do, but please go back and read it, listen to it, it's very powerful. The next talk that came on was called "The Power of God's Love" by Elder John H. Groberg. The synopsis at the beginning says "Filled with His love, we can endure pain, quell fear, forgive freely, avoid contention, renew strength, and bless and help others." As I was listening to this, I was remembering my "Lost" moment when I truly realized who God is and felt his love for the first time. I've found myself slipping back into my cynicism and negativity for the last few days and it's uncomfortable. I never thought that I would get to the point in my life where I would say something sarcastic and then feel yucky afterward. But today while listening to this talk, I decided that I would try to treat everyone today like I loved them. I'm getting so much better at not having a hard heart toward everyone, and this weekend I was amazed at how far I'd come, that nit picking others or feeling animosity toward anyone especially strangers was painful for me. I'm grateful for that gift. And then leading into my reflection of how much I've changed and how much I look forward to further changing to become more Christ-like here comes the next talk (I have a long commute) by Elder Dale E. Miller entitled "Bringing Peace and Healing to Your Soul." In it, Elder Miller talks about conversion and what true conversion is and the change of heart that comes with it. It was at this moment that I realized how far I had come, how much my heart had changed, and how much happier and at peace I was. In the talk he quoted C.S. Lewis as saying "(God) has infinite attention to spare for each one of us. He does not have to deal with us in the mass. You are as much alone with Him as if you were the only being He had ever created. When Christ died, He died for you individually just as much as if you had been the only man (or woman) in the world." And then I felt whole. So what started out as a quest for definitions and answers, came instead peace and comfort and testimony strengthening that I needed. I am excited to start with the story of Zeniff tomorrow, I really like this one and feel as though I can relate to him on many levels.
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