A Study of the Book of Mormon

Alma 17:18-39 In these verse, we read about the deaths of seven who opposed a servant of the Lord. I have witnessed similar before, though not to the same degree. Yet, it is only because of my own personal, first-hand experiences with the Lord's work that I have perspective enough to appreciate what is happening here among the Lamanites. Those that would oppose the Lord's servants or directly oppose the work of the Lord, are removed from mortality when they rub too close to the truth, choose not to give heed, and stand in open opposition to the work that was about to transpire. This is what is happening in these verses. At first it seems that this is just Ammon who is slaying these wicked men, but the footnote on verse 38 shows that if not Ammon, then the Lord himself is able to intervene as well in the taking of life. (Conversely, I've also seen more recently how death of a worthy servant has also been used to advance the Lord's work. In either case, it is a tool o...

2 Nephi 25:9-20 Nephi earlier in this chapter set out his intentions to be plain spoken and direct, and these verses are the evidence of his subsequent effort to do such. In very simple terms, Nephi explains why the Jews had been carried away into Babylon, and the cause of all their subsequent afflictions. Nephi states, "Behold, they will reject [Jesus Christ], because of their iniquities, and the hardness of their hearts, and the stiffness of their necks," ( vs. 12 ). It is a sobering thought that the answer is just that simple. Verse 16 talks about the elongation of this curse, "And after they have been scattered, and the Lord God hath scourged them by other nations for the space of many generations, yea, even down from generation to generation, until they shall be persuaded to believe in Christ, the Son of God, and the atonement which is infinite for all mankind--" Furthermore, there is a standard that Nephi describes in this same verse that must be met for the ...

2 Nephi 16:1-5 This is an account of when Isaiah sees the Lord on His heavenly throne. I've already spent a handful of days on these verses in Spanish. There my emphasis was on the declaration found in verse 3, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." When I started studying in English, I discovered a footnote found in verse 1, for where Isaiah says, "I saw also the Lord." The footnote on "saw" leads to a verse in John 12:41 which reads: "These things said Esaias(Isaiah), when he saw his glory, and spake of him." Being in the Lord's presence, and in the presence of these beings called seraphim that declare to each other the holiness of the Lord, causes Isaiah to cry out in anguish, "Wo is unto me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips; and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts." In other words, being in the presen...

2 Nephi 11 As a qualifier, Nephi states that both Isaiah and his brother Jacob had seen his Redeemer ( see vs 2-3 ). There is not clarification in these verse as far as whether this is seeing with the natural eyes or with the spiritual eyes. I submit that in these cases, each is developed enough spiritually, or at least purified enough personally to see with their spiritual eyes. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God," ( Matt 5:8 ). While in the flesh, the Lord was daily before the people, working great miracles, and the people believed him not to be the Lord their God. ( see John 12:37-41 ) This is my second day on this topic. When I reread the post title, Joseph Smith's personal testimony of the Savior came to mind, "For we saw him , even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father— " ( Doctrine and Covenants 76:21 ). A second thought came to me. Why would we trust the witness of...