Mormon continues to explain why all the Book of Mormon
record was not included in his abridgement.
As was mentioned, things were taught that were so sacred,
they were not to be shared with all. During His ministry in Jerusalem, He told
His disciples, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them
now” (John 16:12).
Nephi, referring to Isaiah, explains why part off this
record will be sealed.
“And behold the book shall be sealed; and in the book shall
be a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending
thereof.
“Wherefore, because of the things which are sealed up, the
things which are sealed shall not be delivered in the day of the wickedness and
abominations of the people. Wherefore the book shall be kept from them.
“But the book shall be delivered unto a man, and he shall
deliver the words of the book, which are the words of those who have slumbered
in the dust, and he shall deliver these words unto another;
“But the words which are sealed he shall not deliver,
neither shall he deliver the book. For the book shall be sealed by the power of
God, and the revelation which was sealed shall be kept in the book until the
own due time of the Lord, that they may come forth; for behold, they reveal all
things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof.
“And the day cometh that the words of the book which were
sealed shall be read upon the house tops; and they shall be read by the power
of Christ; and all things shall be revealed unto the children of men which ever
have been among the children of men, and which ever will be even unto the end
of the earth…
“Touch not the things which are sealed, for I will bring
them forth in mine own due time; for I will show unto the children of men that
I am able to do mine own work” (2 Nephi 27:7-11, 21).
Faith is also an essential part of understanding the scriptures
as well as received additional records. Christ told the multitude, when “they
shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto
them” (3 Nephi 26:9).
Moroni emphasizes those who have faith will accept the truth,
in spite of faults. “And whoso receiveth this record, and shall not condemn it
because of the imperfections which are in it, the same shall know of greater
things than these. Behold, I am Moroni; and were it possible, I would make all
things known unto you” (Mormon 8:12).
Moroni gives us insight as to what is contained in the
sealed portion of the plates. This was the vision of the brother of Jared.
“Behold, I have written upon these plates the very things
which the brother of Jared saw; and there never were greater things made
manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared.
“Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me to write them; and I
have written them. And he commanded me that I should seal them up; and he also
hath commanded that I should seal up the interpretation thereof; wherefore I
have sealed up the interpreters, according to the commandment of the Lord.
“For the Lord said unto me: They shall not go forth unto the
Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become
clean before the Lord.
“And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith
the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in
me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw,
even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them
are.
“And he that will contend against the word of the Lord, let
him be accursed; and he that shall deny these things, let him be accursed; for
unto them will I show no greater things, saith Jesus Christ; for I am he who
speaketh.
“And at my command the heavens are opened and are shut; and
at my word the earth shall shake; and at my command the inhabitants thereof
shall pass away, even so as by fire.
“And he that believeth not my words believeth not my
disciples; and if it so be that I do not speak, judge ye; for ye shall know
that it is I that speaketh, at the last day” (Ether 4:4-10).
Steven Olsen gives us an interesting perspective on why things
were left out of the record. “[Mormon’s] purpose for omitting those details
from the narrative must have been greater than any value gained by including
them. Elsewhere in his abridgment, Mormon specifically references a divine
injunction in which the Lord has him omit supremely sacred contents (e.g., 3
Nephi 26:9–11). Yet he is silent as to his reasons for drastically truncating
the spiritual high point of his narrative.”[1]
Christ told them, by
excluding the greater things from the record, those who reject the Book
of Mormon, they will be condemned by having these records withheld for them.
Mormon tells us he intended to write these things, but he
was forbidden. The Lord told him not to
include this part of the record, “saying: I will try the faith of my people” (3
Nephi 26:11).
Camille Williams gives us examples where those keeping the
plates were commanded not to record certain things. “For example, Nephi is
forbidden to write part of his vision in 1 Nephi 14 (see vv. 19–28) and is told
that John, ‘the apostle of the Lamb of God[,] . . . should write them’; Nephi
is ‘bidden’ not to write things he viewed that were ‘too great for man’ (2
Nephi 4:25); Mormon was forbidden from writing all of Christ's teachings that
were engraved on the plates of Nephi (see 3 Nephi 26:11); the day after Christ
healed the multitude and ascended a second time into heaven, the words given to
children and babes, heard by the multitude, ‘were forbidden that there should
not any man write them. . . . And many of [the disciples] saw and heard
unspeakable things, which are not lawful to be written’ (3 Nephi 26:16, 18);
Christ instructs the disciples to ‘write the things which ye have seen and
heard, save it be those which are forbidden’ (3 Nephi 27:23); Mormon was
forbidden to record the names of the three Nephites who would remain upon the
earth until Christ's second coming (see 3 Nephi 28:25); and Moroni was
forbidden to write more of the prophecies of Ether (see Ether 13:13).”[2]
[1] Prophecy
and History: Structuring the Abridgment of the Nephite Records, Steven L.
Olsen. Journal of Book of Mormon Studies
15/1 (2006): 24.
[2] Women
In the Book of Mormon: Inclusion, Exclusion, and Interpretation, Camille S.
Williams, Maxwell Institute website.
No comments:
Post a Comment