22 And there were
exceedingly many prophets among us. And
the people were a stiffnecked people, hard to understand.
23 And there was
nothing save it was exceeding harshness, preaching and prophesying of wars, and
contentions, and destructions, and continually reminding them of death, and the
duration of eternity, and the judgments and the power of God, and all these
things—stirring them up continually to keep them in the fear of the Lord. I say there was nothing short of these
things, and exceedingly great plainness of speech, would keep them from going
down speedily to destruction. And after
this manner do I write concerning them.
24 And I saw wars
between the Nephites and Lamanites in the course of my days.
25 And it came to pass
that I began to be old, and an hundred and seventy and nine years had passed
away from the time that our father Lehi left Jerusalem.
26 And I saw that I must
soon go down to my grave, having been wrought upon by the power of God that I
must preach and prophesy unto this people, and declare the word according to
the truth which is in Christ. And I have
declared it in all my days, and have rejoiced in it above that of the world.
27 And I soon go to
the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall
rest. And I rejoice in the day when my mortal
shall put on immortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face
with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a
place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father. Amen.
Enos 1:22-27
Prophets were sent among the Nephites. The reason was the Nephites were “a stiffnecked people, hard to understand.” Jarom, Enos’s son, will write about this
as well. “Behold, it is expedient that much should be done among this people,
because of the hardness of their hearts, and the deafness of their ears, and
the blindness of their minds, and the stiffness of their necks; nevertheless,
God is exceedingly merciful unto them, and has not as yet swept them off from
the face of the land” (Jarom 1:3)
As a side note, this is another indication that there were
others living in the New World when Lehi’s part arrived. Gregory Smith explains,
Nephi also doesn't seem to think
that it is incongruous—not to mention slightly ridiculous—that a few dozen of
his people want him to be their king (2 Nephi 5:18). Enos describes
"exceedingly many prophets among us" (Enos 1:22). How many prophets
can a population of under a hundred produce, much less require?[1]
Jared Ludlow explains the presence of prophets among the
Nephites.
In recounting their history shortly
after breaking off from the Lamanites, some early Nephite writers mentioned the
presence of prophets in their midst (see Enos 1:22). One of the prophets'
major tasks was calling people to repentance and warning them they would be
destroyed if they did not keep the commandments (see Jarom 1:10).[2]
We’re only in the 2nd and 3rd generation
of Nephites. Yet, they’re already
turning away from God. Enos tells us
that only thing that was effective was preaching that was exceedingly
harsh. Nephi warned Laman and Lemuel.
1
AND now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of speaking to my
brethren, behold they said unto me: Thou hast declared unto us hard things,
more than we are able to bear.
2
And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard
things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I
justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day;
wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the
very center.
3
And now my brethren, if ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the
truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might walk uprightly before God, then ye
would not murmur because of the truth, and say: Thou speakest hard things
against us.
1 Nephi 16:1-3
Nephi’s closing words include this about the Holy Ghost. “And it
speaketh harshly against sin, according to the plainness of the truth;
wherefore, no man will be angry at the words which I have written save he shall
be of the spirit of the devil” (2 Nephi 33:5). Mormon tells us that King Benjamin, on
occasion, preached with sharpness because of the stiffneckedness of the people
(Words of Mormon 1:17).
Mormon wrote, “And
thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions,
yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and
with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him” (Helaman 12:3).
Wealth and prosperity is destructive to the Nephites. Hugh Nibley writes:
In the Book of Mormon, the
destructive power of wealth is pervasive and inescapable, since, as Helaman
discovered, we can always count on humanity to do foolish things. The question
is, what economic system would suit such people? The Book of Mormon answer is
clear: None that they could devise. The Nephites willfully and
repeatedly rejected the way that is shown them "with exceedingly great
plainness" (Enos 1:23); have we any assurance that we, whom the book is
designed to warn against that very folly, are doing any better?[3]
The preaching was, on occasion, effective. Jarom would explain, “And it came to pass that by so doing they kept them from being destroyed
upon the face of the land; for they did prick their hearts with the word, continually
stirring them up unto repentance” (Jarom 1:12). After Alma2 gave
up the judgment seat, “he did … go forth
among his people, or among the people of Nephi, that he might preach the word
of God unto them, to stir them up in remembrance of their duty, and that he
might pull down, by the word of God, all the pride and craftiness and all the
contentions which were among his people, seeing no way that he might reclaim
them save it were in bearing down in pure testimony against them” (Alma 4:19).
Preaching to the Zoramites, Alma2 tells us, “And now, as the preaching of the word had a
great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had
more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything
else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that
they should try the virtue of the word of God” (Alma 31:5).
As we approach the end of Enos’s book, John Tanner gives us
insight to why the plates were written in this manner.
After passing into Jacob's hands,
the small plates became increasingly focused on the history of Jacob's family
rather than on the history of the whole Nephite group. Understanding this is
critical. Many distinctive features of the text can be explained by the fact
that the record became primarily genealogical. From Jacob on, the plates were
no longer kept by the rulers (see Jacob 1:9). Jacob and his descendants were
not kings. From all we can tell, they did not play a leading role in political
or military matters. This has major consequences for the record they left.
After Nephi, never again do the authors of the small plates occupy a central
position in the government. Of course, the small plates were always set aside
for spiritual things rather than secular matters (see 1 Nephi 19:1-6; Jacob
1:2), but, from Jacob on, the small plates were written increasingly from a
perspective outside the community's official life (see, for example, Enos
1:24).[4]
Enos tells us he is getting old. He tells us that it has been 179 years since
Lehi left Jerusalem. This raises some
problems. Brant Gardner looks at this
issue.
One of the most difficult
chronological issues in the Book of Mormon concerns Enos, who nears the end of
his life 179 years after the departure from Jerusalem (see Enos 1:25).
Into that 179 years we must fit the life of Enos and the life of his father,
Jacob. Either we have only two people spanning 179 years, or we must posit a missing
generation in which Jacob the father of Enos was Jacob the son of Jacob, or
perhaps Enos the son of Jacob was the father of Jacob the father of Enos. Each
of these suggestions would be a difficult situation to justify, though either
is possible. To make the numbers work at all, the most favorable scenario would
be to have Jacob, and his younger brother, Joseph, as young as possible prior
to the voyage across the ocean (allowing us to shave up to 8 years from the 179
since they were born during the family's sojourn in the wilderness, not by the time
the party left Jerusalem) …
One possibility [is] that … they
could have been twins … No direct evidence exists for this hypothesis, but some
details suggest this is more than simple wishful thinking. The line of evidence
lies in the nature of the names and the fact that we know that Jacob precedes
Joseph. Both of these sons were born after the retrieval of the brass plates
from Jerusalem. It is important to remember the value of these plates to Lehi …
Clearly, the discovery of Lehi's ancestry was a transcendent event for him ... When
Lehi had sons born after the plates were in his possession, it was no surprise
that he would name those sons Jacob and Joseph for the two important names in
his lineage. I suggest that the order in which the names are given is
important. Of course, had they been born a year or two apart Lehi might still
have used the names in that order, but I propose that the promises made through
the lineage of Joseph were so strong that Lehi would have used that name first unless he
knew that another son could receive that name. In other words, we would expect Joseph to
be the most important name and that Jacob would be second.
Given Lehi's age and circumstances, this is best answered if the two were
twins, since it would not be assured that he would have any more children, let
alone that any future child would be male.[5]
Enos is approaching his death. Through the power of God, Enos had to preach
and prophesy to his people. He declared
the “word according to the truth which is
in Christ.” He did this all his day
and “rejoiced in it above that of the
world.”
He is ready to go to “the
place of rest, which is with my Redeemer, for I know that in him I shall rest.” Nephi expressed similar feelings. “I glory
in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my
soul from hell” (2 Nephi 33:6).
The Savior taught, “In
my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told
you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be
also” (John 14:2-3).
Moroni would also write similar words.
32
And I also remember that thou hast said that thou hast prepared a house for
man, yea, even among the mansions of thy Father, in which man might have a more
excellent hope; wherefore man must hope, or he cannot receive an inheritance in
the place which thou hast prepared.
33
And again, I remember that thou hast said that thou hast loved the world, even
unto the laying down of thy life for the world, that thou mightest take it
again to prepare a place for the children of men.
34
And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is
charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that
place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.
Ether 12:32-34
Having lived the good life, Enos was ready to meet
Christ.
After his wrestle with God, Enos
expressed the hope that, at the resurrection, he would “stand before him; then
shall I see his face with pleasure” (Enos 1:27). This passage is also
reminiscent of Jacob’s reunion and reconciliation with his brother Esau the day
after his nightlong wrestle. Jacob said to his brother, “I have seen thy face,
as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me” (Genesis
33:10). Just as Esau was “pleased” when Jacob saw his face, Enos hoped to see
the face of God “with pleasure.”[6]
[1] Often
in Error, Seldom in Doubt: Rod Meldrum and Book of Mormon DNA, Reviewed by
Gregory L. Smith, Maxwell Institute, accessed May 28, 2014.
[2] A
Tale of Three Communities: Jerusalem, Elephantine, and Lehi-Nephi, Jared W.
Ludlow, Maxwell Institute, accessed May 28, 2014.
[3] The
Book of Mormon: Forty Years After, Hugh W. Nibley, Maxwell Institute,
accessed May 28, 2014.
[4] Jacob
and His Descendants as Authors, John S. Tanner, Maxwell Institute, accessed
May 28, 2014.
[5] The
Other Stuff: Reading the Book of Mormon for Cultural Information, reviewed
by Brant A. Gardner, Maxwell Institute, accessed May 28, 2014.
[6] Jacob
and Enos: Wrestling before God, Maxwell Institute, accessed May 28, 2014.
No comments:
Post a Comment