3 Nephi 5 - I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God
5:1-6 - All the people are now either believing Nephites or imprisoned GRs, and this epic battle between the two groups had brought on major spiritual change "and now behold, there was not a living soul among all the people of the Nephites who did doubt in the least the words of all the holy prophets who had spoken; for they knew that it must needs be that they must be fulfilled. And they knew that it must be expedient that Christ had come, because of the many signs which had been given, according to the words of the prophets." I wonder if the people were so convinced of the truthfulness of the gospel and therefore obeyed the commandments because they had been delivered and because they had seen the signs. It seems possible by verses 1 and 2 which would indicate to me yet another superficial conversion, easy to fall, but at the moment "they did forsake all their sins, and their abominations, and their whoredoms, and did serve God with all diligence day and night." The IM quotes Elder John H. Groberg as teaching "If we think deeply, we realize that the first principle- faith in the Lord Jesus Christ- underlies all else; that is, it takes faith in Christ to repent or be baptized or perform any other ordinance of the gospel. Jesus made saving repentance possible and He made baptism meaningful. If we have faith in Him, we will repent and be baptized. It we do not repent, or refuse to be baptized, or are unwilling to keep His commandments, it is because we do not have sufficient faith in Him. Thus, repentance, baptism, and all other principles and ordinances are not entirely separate but are actually extensions of our faith in Christ. Without faith in Him, we do little of eternal value. With faith in Him, our lives become focused on doing things of eternal value." That's a very interesting statement there, but really if makes total sense that in the end, every choice we make comes down to faith. I go to church because I believe that Christ has commanded it and by obeying my life will improve. I keep the word of wisdom because I believe Jesus knows what he's talking about and by obeying it my life will improve. All things we do are born out of the motivation "this will improve my situation." Everything from following Christ to engaging in self-destruction, we do what we do because we think it will improve our lives, and for me, I believe that keeping the commandments will improve my life because I believe that I will be not only rewarded but also protected by staying close to the word of God. And I've proven that keeping the commandments improves my life in all aspects, and trust me I've tried the whole "paying tithing yields blessings but I don't think keeping the word of wisdom will," then I learn the hard way "oh yeah, paying tithing and keeping the word of wisdom both yield blessings. So the general population were being righteous, but there were still all the GRs who had been taken prisoner to deal with, what to do? The Nephite approach is not surprising considering the attitude of the righteous military leadership, but the approach is exceptionally unusual when compared to that of the rest of the world. The Nephite solution for their GR prisoners is to "cause the word of God to be preached unto them; and as many as would repent of their sins and enter into a covenant that they would murder no more were set at liberty," and I could have sworn that it said that they were given land to settle on, but I can't find it here, that is certainly HN's understanding. So of all the different ways to deal with prisoners of war, I wonder how many other cultures were like "hey if you promise not to kill us anymore, not only will we let you go free but we will give you land to live on." I'm guessing that that is a pretty rare occurrence, what does that tell us? What can we glean from this gesture, besides military strategy? Your enemy, especially the GRs who massacred, slaughtered, pillaged, plundered, and all types of other things were especially bad because it wasn't one crazy leader and all others following orders as soldiers like we have in most other wars, but each individual GR had actively decided to be a terrible human being to others, so that makes them each terrible. So to take them and decide to give them all another chance, anyone who is smart enough to at least lie about their intentions, that's generous, and effective apparently. This indicates that every single soul is precious to God and that no one is too far gone to repent and come back, like I said, each GR decided to reject Christ and commit evil acts, and yet they were each given the opportunity to not only repent but to be at liberty again. This is also similar to the way that we are dealt with by the laws of mercy and justice through the atonement. The GRs who were taken prisoner were worthy of death for their misdeeds, but if they repented of their sins and changed their ways, they were not only allowed to live, but to also live more abundantly through the lands that they were given. Likewise, by our misdeeds, we are worthy of spiritual death, a permanent separation from God, but if we forsake our sins and become new beings through Christ by the power of the atonement, then we can not only be allowed to be in God's presences again, live spiritually, but we can also live more abundantly, inheriting what God has. By preaching the word of God, and executing all those who refused to repent, "they did put an end to all those wicked, and secret, and abominable combinations, in the which was so much wickedness, and so many murders committed." So this is another ending to the GRs.
5:7-20 - We now get a little interjection here from Mormon in which he tells us a little bit more about himself. He tells us that the record that we have "cannot contain even a hundredth part of what was done among so many people," I don't know if he knew we wouldn't have access to all the record. He gives us his name and where his name was derived from, and then he bears very powerful testimony as to his purpose "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." This is incredibly power and I'm telling myself over here "I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." The other part, I don't think really applies to me, but the first part does. The IM defines "Disciple" very well teaching "while Mormon's personal call was that of an Apostle, the term disciple can also have a more general definition. A disciple is also 'a follower of Jesus Christ who lives according to Christ's teachings." I like this because there is some room for personal growth there, it's not a commitment "yes I am a devote, perfect, holier than thou lover of Christ," there's more "yes I am a student of the Savior and I work as hard as I can to live like He did, I'm not perfect by a long shot, but I'm still trying." I think one thing for me is that by putting my devotion to Jesus out there, when I mess up or make mistakes, then it reflects poorly on the Savior and can taint the people who I offend or wrong against Jesus, thinking that they don't want to believe in anyone who would have me as a follower. I'm probably going to have to get over that though. The IM continues to quote Elder L. Tom Perry as teaching "The following has been written about discipleship: 'The word disciple comes from the Latin (meaning) a learner. A disciple of Christ is one who is learning to be like Christ- learning to think, to feel, and to act as he does. To be a true disciple, to fulfill that learning task, is the most demanding regimen known to man. No other discipline compares... in either requirements or rewards. It involves the total transformation of a person from the state of the natural man to that of (a) saint, one who loves the Lord and serves with all this heart, might, mind, and strength." Much more room for improvement in this definition, learner, student of Christ and his ways. The correlation between the words "disciple" and his use of the word "discipline" here, I'd never connected the two and so when he called learning to be like Jesus a "discipline" I found meaning hidden in there that I hadn't expected. We can think of every other thing we learn as a "discipline" like a profession or a lifestyle, etc. I really thought it profound when he said that the discipline of learning to be like the Savior was the most demanding one but also the most profitable as far as rewards, and that is as it should be I think. Most endeavors that are difficult to undertake and master usually turn out to be the ones that are the most worth it, oh my gosh I just taught myself something, very applicable to me right now. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mormon continues with a couple of interesting points, the first being "there are many things which, according to our language, we are not able to write." Maybe it's because I don't speak any other languages but let's take it from HN who does when he says "How is it possible that there could be something you couldn't write because of your language- that your language wouldn't lend itself to writing like this? I don't think English would lend itself to writing like that at all." Interesting. The second point is that he states that he is "a pure descendant of Lehi," living 1,000 years after Lehi left Jerusalem, that is a pretty strong claim. I wonder if by pure he means that there has been no mixing with any other blood, very very interesting, HN also comments "Well, I thought everybody was a descendant of Lehi. Oh no, not by any means. It is something to boast about, to be a pure descendant of Lehi. The blood of dozens of stocks is all mixed up by now. So when he says he's a pure descendant of Lehi, there's a reason for saying that. It's a kind of boast; he is proud of that." Why would he be proud of that? What difference would it make in who he is as a person? As we've just seen with the forgiving of the GRs, all souls are precious to God regardless of their heritage, and it just so happened that I heard something in the "Articles of Faith" today when James E. Talmage was discussing the offices of the priesthood leadership in the church, and everything was going along just fine until I heard something that was very interesting to me. While explaining how the Presiding Bishopric was organized he taught "The oldest living representative among the sons of Aaron is entitled to this office of presidency, provided he be in all respects worthy and qualified; he must be designated and ordained by the First Presidency of the Church. If such a literal descendant of Aaron be found and ordained, he may act without counselors... But in the absence of any direct descendant of Aaron properly qualified, a High Priest of the Melchizedek Priesthood may be called and set apart by the First Presidency of the Church to the office of Presiding Bishop; he is to be assisted by two other High Priests properly ordained as his counselors." This also is stated to be the case for ward Bishoprics. I didn't think anything of it until right now when I read that and thought "why would Mormon want to declare his pure descent from Lehi?" I don't have a complete answer, but I'm venturing to guess that it has something to do with him being a disciple of Christ and being "called to declare his word among his people," as some sort of missionary leadership authorization. Like we learned from the IM, Mormon was an apostle, and I'm not sure if he was alone in the church leadership or not, but if he was or if the office that he held he did without help, then it's possible that by stating his direct descent he might be justifying his position, just a thought. The last point is that Mormon tells us that when they left Jerusalem "no one knew it save it were himself and those whom he brought out of that land," or as HN explains "He said many have sneaked out of Jerusalem, including Rabbi Akiba, without anyone knowing. He said, we got out of Jerusalem, and you won't find any record of it back there, because nobody knew about it when we left." Makes sense, especially when chapter 16 comes around and the Lord tells the Nephites that the Jews don't know about them, that's the chapter that we read today as a family.
5:21-26 - Mormon now tells us about the covenants that the Lord has promised, such as the gathering of Israel. HN says that "this includes far, far more people than you ever dreamed of. We see now how Abraham's descendants multiplied and filled the earth at a time when the population had sunk almost to nothing. It had been a time of great extermination." I don't know a whole lot about the gathering of Israel, but the IM quotes Elder Dallin H. Oaks as teaching "Another sign of the times is the gathering of the faithful. In the early years of this last dispensation, a gathering to Zion involved various locations in the United States: to Kirtland, to Missouri, to Nauvoo, and to the tops of the mountains. Always these were gatherings to prospective temples. With the creation of stakes and the construction of temples in most nations with sizable populations of the faithful, the current commandment is not to gather to one place but to gather in stakes in our own homelands. There the faithful can enjoy the full blessings of eternity in a house of the Lord. There, in their homelands, they can obey the Lord's command to enlarge the borders of His people and strengthen her stakes. In this way the stakes of Zion are 'for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth.'" Again I don't know a whole lot about the gathering of Israel, but I find it interesting. One last note comes courtesy of HN when he says "Look at this: Joseph has been writing the Book of Mormon, and he has gone 410 pages. He has kept up a pretty good pace with every idea you could think of- all sorts of preaching, sins, and everything. He has given us a pageant of a civilization. What can de do to top this? This is a hard act to follow. What can he possibly say after that? Well, now comes the real climax. Now it really builds up to something absolutely colossal! How could you hand that if you were writing the Book of Mormon at the age of 23 to play a practical joke on your family." Little bit of sarcasm there that I thought was pretty accurate. Here we have highly intelligent, highly educated people who are backing the validity of the Book of Mormon through not only personal testimony but facts, ancient knowledge, and correlations that are incredible.
5:7-20 - We now get a little interjection here from Mormon in which he tells us a little bit more about himself. He tells us that the record that we have "cannot contain even a hundredth part of what was done among so many people," I don't know if he knew we wouldn't have access to all the record. He gives us his name and where his name was derived from, and then he bears very powerful testimony as to his purpose "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." This is incredibly power and I'm telling myself over here "I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." The other part, I don't think really applies to me, but the first part does. The IM defines "Disciple" very well teaching "while Mormon's personal call was that of an Apostle, the term disciple can also have a more general definition. A disciple is also 'a follower of Jesus Christ who lives according to Christ's teachings." I like this because there is some room for personal growth there, it's not a commitment "yes I am a devote, perfect, holier than thou lover of Christ," there's more "yes I am a student of the Savior and I work as hard as I can to live like He did, I'm not perfect by a long shot, but I'm still trying." I think one thing for me is that by putting my devotion to Jesus out there, when I mess up or make mistakes, then it reflects poorly on the Savior and can taint the people who I offend or wrong against Jesus, thinking that they don't want to believe in anyone who would have me as a follower. I'm probably going to have to get over that though. The IM continues to quote Elder L. Tom Perry as teaching "The following has been written about discipleship: 'The word disciple comes from the Latin (meaning) a learner. A disciple of Christ is one who is learning to be like Christ- learning to think, to feel, and to act as he does. To be a true disciple, to fulfill that learning task, is the most demanding regimen known to man. No other discipline compares... in either requirements or rewards. It involves the total transformation of a person from the state of the natural man to that of (a) saint, one who loves the Lord and serves with all this heart, might, mind, and strength." Much more room for improvement in this definition, learner, student of Christ and his ways. The correlation between the words "disciple" and his use of the word "discipline" here, I'd never connected the two and so when he called learning to be like Jesus a "discipline" I found meaning hidden in there that I hadn't expected. We can think of every other thing we learn as a "discipline" like a profession or a lifestyle, etc. I really thought it profound when he said that the discipline of learning to be like the Savior was the most demanding one but also the most profitable as far as rewards, and that is as it should be I think. Most endeavors that are difficult to undertake and master usually turn out to be the ones that are the most worth it, oh my gosh I just taught myself something, very applicable to me right now. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mormon continues with a couple of interesting points, the first being "there are many things which, according to our language, we are not able to write." Maybe it's because I don't speak any other languages but let's take it from HN who does when he says "How is it possible that there could be something you couldn't write because of your language- that your language wouldn't lend itself to writing like this? I don't think English would lend itself to writing like that at all." Interesting. The second point is that he states that he is "a pure descendant of Lehi," living 1,000 years after Lehi left Jerusalem, that is a pretty strong claim. I wonder if by pure he means that there has been no mixing with any other blood, very very interesting, HN also comments "Well, I thought everybody was a descendant of Lehi. Oh no, not by any means. It is something to boast about, to be a pure descendant of Lehi. The blood of dozens of stocks is all mixed up by now. So when he says he's a pure descendant of Lehi, there's a reason for saying that. It's a kind of boast; he is proud of that." Why would he be proud of that? What difference would it make in who he is as a person? As we've just seen with the forgiving of the GRs, all souls are precious to God regardless of their heritage, and it just so happened that I heard something in the "Articles of Faith" today when James E. Talmage was discussing the offices of the priesthood leadership in the church, and everything was going along just fine until I heard something that was very interesting to me. While explaining how the Presiding Bishopric was organized he taught "The oldest living representative among the sons of Aaron is entitled to this office of presidency, provided he be in all respects worthy and qualified; he must be designated and ordained by the First Presidency of the Church. If such a literal descendant of Aaron be found and ordained, he may act without counselors... But in the absence of any direct descendant of Aaron properly qualified, a High Priest of the Melchizedek Priesthood may be called and set apart by the First Presidency of the Church to the office of Presiding Bishop; he is to be assisted by two other High Priests properly ordained as his counselors." This also is stated to be the case for ward Bishoprics. I didn't think anything of it until right now when I read that and thought "why would Mormon want to declare his pure descent from Lehi?" I don't have a complete answer, but I'm venturing to guess that it has something to do with him being a disciple of Christ and being "called to declare his word among his people," as some sort of missionary leadership authorization. Like we learned from the IM, Mormon was an apostle, and I'm not sure if he was alone in the church leadership or not, but if he was or if the office that he held he did without help, then it's possible that by stating his direct descent he might be justifying his position, just a thought. The last point is that Mormon tells us that when they left Jerusalem "no one knew it save it were himself and those whom he brought out of that land," or as HN explains "He said many have sneaked out of Jerusalem, including Rabbi Akiba, without anyone knowing. He said, we got out of Jerusalem, and you won't find any record of it back there, because nobody knew about it when we left." Makes sense, especially when chapter 16 comes around and the Lord tells the Nephites that the Jews don't know about them, that's the chapter that we read today as a family.
5:21-26 - Mormon now tells us about the covenants that the Lord has promised, such as the gathering of Israel. HN says that "this includes far, far more people than you ever dreamed of. We see now how Abraham's descendants multiplied and filled the earth at a time when the population had sunk almost to nothing. It had been a time of great extermination." I don't know a whole lot about the gathering of Israel, but the IM quotes Elder Dallin H. Oaks as teaching "Another sign of the times is the gathering of the faithful. In the early years of this last dispensation, a gathering to Zion involved various locations in the United States: to Kirtland, to Missouri, to Nauvoo, and to the tops of the mountains. Always these were gatherings to prospective temples. With the creation of stakes and the construction of temples in most nations with sizable populations of the faithful, the current commandment is not to gather to one place but to gather in stakes in our own homelands. There the faithful can enjoy the full blessings of eternity in a house of the Lord. There, in their homelands, they can obey the Lord's command to enlarge the borders of His people and strengthen her stakes. In this way the stakes of Zion are 'for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth.'" Again I don't know a whole lot about the gathering of Israel, but I find it interesting. One last note comes courtesy of HN when he says "Look at this: Joseph has been writing the Book of Mormon, and he has gone 410 pages. He has kept up a pretty good pace with every idea you could think of- all sorts of preaching, sins, and everything. He has given us a pageant of a civilization. What can de do to top this? This is a hard act to follow. What can he possibly say after that? Well, now comes the real climax. Now it really builds up to something absolutely colossal! How could you hand that if you were writing the Book of Mormon at the age of 23 to play a practical joke on your family." Little bit of sarcasm there that I thought was pretty accurate. Here we have highly intelligent, highly educated people who are backing the validity of the Book of Mormon through not only personal testimony but facts, ancient knowledge, and correlations that are incredible.
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