Behold, my brethren,
he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men; for the
Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not.
Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as
they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly,
for the salvation of our souls. But
behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them
unto prophets of old.
But behold, the Jews
were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed
the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which
blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath
taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which
they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it,
that they may stumble.
And now I, Jacob, am
led on by the Spirit unto prophesying; for I perceive by the workings of the
Spirit which is in me, that by the stumbling of the Jews they will reject the
stone upon which they might build and have safe foundation.
Jacob 4:13-15
Continuing his discussion of prophecy, Jacob explains that
the “Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not.”
The Spirit speaks “of things as they really are and of things as they
really will be.” The Lord told Joseph
Smith, “And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as
they are to come” (D&C 93:24).
Once again, we are reminded that the word of God is given to
us plainly so we will understand. Jacob
had said earlier, “Wherefore, I must tell you the truth according to the
plainness of the word of God. For behold,
as I inquired of the Lord, thus came the word unto me, saying: Jacob, get thou
up into the temple on the morrow, and declare the word which I shall give thee
unto this people” (Jacob 2:11). Alma2
taught, “And [the glad tidings] are made known unto us in plain terms, that we
may understand, that we cannot err; and this because of our being wanderers in
a strange land; therefore, we are thus highly favored, for we have these glad
tidings declared unto us in all parts of our vineyard” (Alma 13:23).
Robert Millet observed:
“[T]he more I encounter men's approximations to what is, the
more I treasure those absolute truths that make known ‘things as they really
are, and . . . things as they really will be’ (Jacob 4:13; see also D&C
93:24). In fact, the more we learn, the more we begin to realize what we do not
know, the more we feel the need to consider ourselves ‘fools before God’ (2
Nephi 9:42).”[1]
Richard Rust wrote:
“It is as though writers of great literature give widening
circles of response to truths about man and God, and the gospel provides the
circumference. Put another way, the gospel provides a center for my life and
allows means for proving all things and holding fast that which is good (1
Thessalonians 5:21). These answers, found through study and faith, have been
confirmed to me by the power of the Holy Ghost. It is possible, as Jacob says,
to know by means of the Spirit ‘of things as they really are’ (Jacob 4:13).”[2]
The Jews “despised the words of plainness and killed the
prophets.” They looked for things they
couldn’t understand. They were blind to
the truth and because of this blindness; they “looked beyond the mark and must
fall.” This is an interesting statement
by Jacob. What is meant by looking
“beyond the mark?” Paul Hoskisson addresses this question.
“In teaching Book of Mormon at Brigham Young University over
the past quarter century, I have rarely found a student, whether true freshman
or returned missionary, who knows what the word mark means
in Jacob 4:14. Most of them know that the mark symbolizes Christ in this
verse, but they do not know what a mark is. That is, if
a mark symbolizes Christ, then mark must be something in
real life other than Christ…”
At the time the Book of Mormon was published in
1830, mark still meant something to aim at and would have been easily
understood by 19th-century readers, though target was beginning to be
used. Thus, throughout 19th-century Latter-day Saint writings mark is
still used for target.
“In Jacob 4:14 Jacob said that the spiritual blindness
of the Jews came by ‘looking beyond the mark.’ When it is realized that mark means target in
this verse, then the blindness of the Jews is explained: The Jews were not
generally blind. They were looking beyond the target and therefore were blind
only with respect to the target. If you are going to hit a target, you had
better look at the target, and not beyond it. And what does the target
symbolize in this verse? As most of my students can say, within the context of
this chapter it is clear that the target the Jews should have been focusing on
was Christ. Because they were not looking at Christ, they could not see Him and
were thus blind to Him. Therefore they stumbled spiritually.”[3]
Because of the stiffneckedness of the Jews, they lost the
plainness and the Lord “delivered unto them many things which they cannot
understand.” Because of this, the Jews,
in the words of Paul Hoskisson, “stumbled spiritually.”
Hugh Nibley comments:
Alma took up the scriptures "to explain things
beyond" (Alma 12:1). Having come this far, I ask myself with Alma, "O
then, is not this real?" (Alma 32:35). And I find the answer in Jacob, who
faces the issue fairly and squarely by placing the two conflicting views of
reality side by side. First he speaks of prophecy: "For the Spirit
speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they
really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are
manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls" (Jacob 4:13).
But most people will have none of this. "They despised the words of
plainness," refusing to take the world literally. They are always missing
the point "by looking beyond the mark." They want to explore"
many things which they cannot understand," and God permits them to go
their way, "that they may stumble" (Jacob 4:14), which they are bound
to do if they insist on finding definitive final answers to the Terrible
Questions in learned debate or even in the laboratory.[4]
[1]
Knowledge by Faith, Robert L. Millet, Maxwell Institute.
[2]
Questions Answered – My Study and Teaching of American Literature and the Book
of Mormon, Richard Dilworth Rust, Maxwell Institute.
[3]
Missing the Mark, Paul Y. Hoskisson, Maxwell Institute.
[4]The
Meaning of the Atonement, Hugh Nibley, Maxwell Institute.
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