Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

Jesus’s next recorded phrase seems quite contrary to gospel doctrine. It says, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” This clearly implies that God is the one who provides the temptations, not Satan. How clever of Satan to turn this around like that. The IM reminds us that this is not what Jesus said, and quotes the Joseph Smith translation as saying, “And suffer us not to be led into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” JTC comments that God does not provide the temptation, but allows mankind to be tempted, “thereby affording him opportunity of overcoming and so of gaining spiritual strength, which is the only true advancement in man’s eternal course of progress… The plan of mortality involved the certainty of temptation. The intent of the supplication appears to be that we be preserved from temptation beyond our weak powers to withstand; that we be not abandoned to temptation without the divine support that shall...

Jesus continues praying, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” I used to think that this was a command for us to pray for the second coming to hurry up and get here, but the IM indicates that it might mean more than that. It says, “Jesus Christ taught that we should pray for thekingdom of God to come. As President of the Church, President Thomas S. Monson called upon the Saints to peteition the Lord in prayer to open those areas of the world where the gospel is not currently allowed to be preached: ‘the Church is steadily growing; it has since its organization over 178 years ago… There remain, however, areas of the world where our influence is limited and where we are not allowed to share the gospel freely. As did President Spencer W. Kimball over 32 years ago, I urge you to pray for the opening of those area, that we might share with them the joy of the gospel. As we prayed then in response to President Kimball...

The Lord now gives an example of a prayer, but what I find very interesting about the Lord’s prayer is that before going into his prayer, he specifically counsels against vain repetition, teaching that prayer should be heart felt and personal. Yet other churches have come and taken this Lord’s prayer to be a recitation verbatim for their members. It’s interesting to think how these two opposite concepts are reconciled. The IM quotes Elder Russell M. Nelson as teaching, “The Lord prefaced His prayer by first asking His followers to avoid ‘vain repetitions’ and to pray ‘after this manner.’ Thus, the Lord’s Prayer serves as a pattern to follow and not as a piece to memorize and recite repetitively.” The Lord says, “After this manner therefore pray ye:” He continues, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” The IM quotes Elder Dallin H. Oaks as teaching, “When we go to worship in a t...

Jesus continues on his warnings against the hypocrites but moves his focus onto prayer. He says, “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.”  The IM gives background as to why the Savior talked about prayer in this manner, quoting Elder Bruce R. McConkie as teaching, “Devout Jews, at set times, faced Jerusalem, covered their heads, cast their eyes downward, and ostentatiously went through the ritual of prayer. If the house of prayer found them in the streets, so much the better, for all men would see their devoutness! To attract attention by saying one’s own prayers aloud in the synagogue was not uncommon. Such were amount the practices of the day.” Again, it goes back to intention, do we pray only when asked to do so at church, and do we use big flowery words and cover v...

The Lord points out the importance, not only of giving, but of doing it right. Apparently, one of the practices of the day was make a big public display whenever you do something nice for someone else so that everyone else can see it and know what a good person you are. The Lord says, “take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen o them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” I always thought that this meant that any recognition you receive for doing something nice for someone else meant that you wouldn’t receive any blessings. But I’ve learned that usually God’s reaction to your choices are more based on  what your intentions were rather than what the outcome is, especially if it is beyond your control. ...

My sister has a saying posted on her wall at home that I really like and that I feel fits in perfectly with the concepts the Savior talks about as we continue with the Sermon on the Mount. It says, “You don’t really understand an antagonist until you understand why he’s a protagonist in his own version of the world - John Rogers.) We all have antagonists in our lives, people who range from well-meaning but annoying to out-right seeking our destruction. What makes these people act the way they do? What in their lives tells them that hurting others in appropriate? We are not commanded to figure out why other people do the things that they do, but Jesus does say, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. I remember reading in the Old Testament to love our neighbors, but I don’t remember hearing that it’s ok to hate your enemies. The IM says, “The commandment ‘love thy neighbor’ in found ...

Jesus has taught some profoundly deep principles that are a far cry from what was currently being practiced in ancient Hebrew times, and he doesn’t stop at anger and lust, He continues, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” Yesterday I was talking to some of my family members about the different types of government around the world, and Paraguay came up, and my cousin was saying that back in the 70’s and 80’s Paraguay was incredibly safe and clean and efficient. Why? Because the people who transgressed the law would be executed on the spot without trial. That’s a police state. While watching the recent version of the movie “Ben-Hur,” there is a scene where someone has apparently done something wrong and everyone in the square starts to throw rocks at him. Not the type of rocks to scare him away, but the type to kill him, and Jesus throws himself on top of that man, protecting him, yelling ...

Let’s look at the way that Jesus has introduced his new doctrine to the people. He first reminds them of the current law, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time…” and then he introduces the new law, “but I say unto you…” and explains. He has covered anger, lust, and now he focuses on a subject that can be a little bit more ambiguous, how we speak to each other. It’s a complicated issue that I don’t fully understand because of the way that it’s described in the scriptures. Jesus says, “Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all… But let your communication be, Yea, yea, Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” I don’t understand what the original law was about forswearing, but in a BYU Hawaii devotional entitled, “Let your ‘Ye...

Jesus has just said, “that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Instead of the physical act of adultery, Jesus is condemning the very thought. Since he said, “looketh” he continues, “and if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of them members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.” That is pretty intense, and we have to consider that they didn’t have the modern medicine that we do today, the loss of an eye or a hand can mean that you are no longer an asset to your family. Let’s think about all the people who beg and who Jesus heals, they are all physically infirm, that includes the blind, a...

I haven’t been to the temple in months, which is shameful because since living in Utah I’ve had 7 temples less than an hour drive and even in California, the Redlands Temple was only 45 minutes away. I honestly have no excuse except that I didn’t make it a priority, and I’m going to work on that. Anyway, since I live in Utah now and have a temple 2 blocks from my work, I decided to wake up early and hit up a 6am session, which I didn’t even know that they did because usually in CA the first session is at like 7:30am. I expect the morning to go smoothly, few people in the session, hopefully I don’t fall asleep but I usually do, and get on my way to work no problem. However, when I get there at 5:40am the parking lot is almost full and the temple is swarming with people. I change my clothes, then ask what time the session gets out. Spoiler alert, it wouldn’t get out until 7:50am and I would probably be late for work, but they offer to let me go d...

I haven’t been to the temple in months, which is shameful because since living in Utah I’ve had 7 temples less than an hour drive and even in California, the Redlands Temple was only 45 minutes away. I honestly have no excuse except that I didn’t make it a priority, and I’m going to work on that. Anyway, since I live in Utah now and have a temple 2 blocks from my work, I decided to wake up early and hit up a 6am session, which I didn’t even know that they did because usually in CA the first session is at like 7:30am. I expect the morning to go smoothly, few people in the session, hopefully I don’t fall asleep but I usually do, and get on my way to work no problem. However, when I get there at 5:40am the parking lot is almost full and the temple is swarming with people. I change my clothes, then ask what time the session gets out. Spoiler alert, it wouldn’t get out until 7:50am and I would probably be late for work, but they offer to let me go d...

I had a really great entry all typed out and ready to go, then the computer crashed and I haven’t been able to get it back. It was quite insightful for me and I’ll try to recreate it as much as possible, though much of the emotion that drove the entry has passed. I think I wrote the entry last Wednesday and the night before, my basement flooded, even though I’ve only been there for 3 weeks and I found out that I have a $10k deductible for my insurance policy. I was not doing too well that day and the Lord really walked me through my upset through the scriptures and I’m grateful for that. The Lord is teaching that while murder is wrong, the feelings of anger are wrong, in that they can lead up to murder. He gives a really interesting illustration to demonstrate the seriousness of anger. He says, “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that they brother hath ought against thee; leave thy gift before the altar, and go thy way;...