Chapter 19
Nephi makes plates of ore and records the history of his
people—The God of Israel shall come six hundred years from the time Lehi left
Jerusalem—Nephi tells of His sufferings and crucifixion—The Jews shall be
despised and scattered until the latter days, when they shall return unto the
Lord. About 588–570 B.C.
1 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded me,
wherefore I did make plates of ore that I might engraven upon them the record
of my people. And upon the plates which I made I did engraven the record of my
father, and also our journeyings in the wilderness, and the prophecies of my
father; and also many of mine own prophecies have I engraven upon them.
2 And I knew not at the time when I made them that I
should be commanded of the Lord to make these plates; wherefore, the record of
my father, and the genealogy of his fathers, and the more part of all our
proceedings in the wilderness are engraven upon those first plates of which I
have spoken; wherefore, the things which transpired before I made these plates
are, of a truth, more particularly made mention upon the first plates.
3 And after I had made these plates by way of
commandment, I, Nephi, received a commandment that the ministry and the
prophecies, the more plain and precious parts of them, should be written upon
these plates; and that the things which were written should be kept for the
instruction of my people, who should possess the land, and also for other wise
purposes, which purposes are known unto the Lord.
4 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did make a record upon the other
plates, which gives an account, or which gives a greater account of the wars
and contentions and destructions of my people. And this have I done, and
commanded my people what they should do after I was gone; and that these plates
should be handed down from one generation to another, or from one prophet to
another, until further commandments of the Lord.
5 And an account of my making these plates shall be given
hereafter; and then, behold, I proceed according to that which I have spoken;
and this I do that the more sacred things may be kept for the knowledge of my
people.
For the third (but not the last) time, Nephi explains that
the record we are reading is a record because he was commanded to do so by the
Lord. Describing this record, Jacob would write:
“And it came to pass that I, Jacob, began to be old; and the
record of this people being kept on the other plates of Nephi, wherefore, I
conclude this record, declaring that I have written according to the best of my
knowledge, by saying that the time passed away with us, and also our lives
passed away like as it were unto us a dream, we being a lonesome and a solemn
people, wanderers, cast out from Jerusalem, born in tribulation, in a
wilderness, and hated of our brethren, which caused wars and contentions;
wherefore, we did mourn out our days” (Jacob 7:26).
John Welch explains more about what would be called the
small plates of Nephi.
“Nephi wrote his small plates soon after important events
such as Lehi’s death, Nephi’s separation from his rebellious brothers, and the
establishment of the reign of kings (see last month's research update).
Recognizing when he wrote, we can better appreciate not only Nephi's s stated
reasons for writing the small plates but also subtle underlying motivations
behind his inspired selection and treatment of this material.
“We can assume that Nephi wrote his second account (the
small plates) for many good reasons and from a particular vantage point.
Although the large plates contained the prophecies of Lehi and Nephi (see 1 Nephi
19:1), that earlier record nevertheless must have been insufficient in certain
respects, thus warranting the construction of an entirely new set of plates and
the rewriting of the basic story.”[1]
He did not expect this command from the Lord. He would
write, “I knew not at the time when I made [the large plates of Nephi] that I
should be commanded of the Lord to make these plates” (1 Nephi 19:2).
Later in this record, Nephi would explain:
“And thirty years had passed away from the time we left
Jerusalem [569 B.C.].
“And I, Nephi, had kept the records upon my plates, which I
had made, of my people thus far.
“And it came to pass that the Lord God said unto me: Make
other plates; and thou shalt engraven many things upon them which are good in
my sight, for the profit of thy people.
“Wherefore, I, Nephi, to be obedient to the commandments of
the Lord, went and made these plates upon which I have engraven these things.
“And I engraved that which is pleasing unto God. And if my
people are pleased with the things of God they will be pleased with mine
engravings which are upon these plates.
“And if my people desire to know the more particular part of
the history of my people they must search mine other plates” (2 Nephi 5:28-33).
The large plates contained a record of Lehi, a family genealogy,
and a more detailed account of what occurred during the trip in the wilderness.
They contained a record of all that occurred before Nephi made this record.
Nephi made these plates after being commanded by the Lord. On
these plates, he writes about “the ministry and the prophecies, the more plain
and precious parts of them, should be written upon these plates” (1 Nephi
19:3). The information of the plates was
to be for the instruction of the people.
Nephi also demonstrates his great faith and trust in the
Lord. Telling us he was commanded to make this record, he writes they are “for
other wise purposes, which purposes are known unto the Lord” but not known by
Nephi (1 Nephi 19:3). Jacob would share with us Nephi’s charge given to him.
“FOR behold, it came to pass that fifty and five years had
passed away from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem [544 B.C.]; wherefore, Nephi
gave me, Jacob, a commandment concerning the small plates, upon which these
things are engraven.
“And he gave me, Jacob, a commandment that I should write
upon these plates a few of the things which I considered to be most precious;
that I should not touch, save it were lightly, concerning the history of this
people which are called the people of Nephi.
“For he said that the history of his people should be
engraven upon his other plates, and that I should preserve these plates and
hand them down unto my seed, from generation to generation.
“And if there were preaching which was sacred, or revelation
which was great, or prophesying, that I should engraven the heads of them upon
these plates, and touch upon them as much as it were possible, for Christ's
sake, and for the sake of our people” (Jacob 1:1-4).
Mormon would write about his discovery of the small plates.
“And now, I speak somewhat concerning that which I have
written; for after I had made an abridgment from the plates of Nephi, down to
the reign of this king Benjamin, of whom Amaleki spake, I searched among the
records which had been delivered into my hands, and I found these plates, which
contained this small account of the prophets, from Jacob down to the reign of
this king Benjamin, and also many of the words of Nephi.
“And the things which are upon these plates pleasing me,
because of the prophecies of the coming of Christ; and my fathers knowing that
many of them have been fulfilled; yea, and I also know that as many things as
have been prophesied concerning us down to this day have been fulfilled, and as
many as go beyond this day must surely come to pass—
“Wherefore, I chose these things, to finish my record upon
them, which remainder of my record I shall take from the plates of Nephi; and I
cannot write the hundredth part of the things of my people.
“But behold, I shall take these plates, which contain these
prophesyings and revelations, and put them with the remainder of my record, for
they are choice unto me; and I know they will be choice unto my brethren.
“And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth
me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And
now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to
come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will” (Words of Mormon
1:3-7).
Here again is a story of faith. Like Nephi, Mormon was
commanded to append these plates to his record. He would not abridge these
records. This is not surprising because Mormon tells us “the things which are
upon these plates pleasing me” (Words of Mormon 1:4).
Today, we know why the Lord commanded the plates be made. I
will recount the story of Martin Harris and the lost 116 pages of manuscript in
the next post.
[1] Why Nephi Wrote the Small Plates: Serving
Practical Needs, John W. Welch, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
No comments:
Post a Comment