Come Follow Me Book of Mormon with Sam Week 11 Jacob 1-4 The exhortations of Jacob
Welcome to Come Follow Me with Sam! We are now entering a period of scripture that I call the Lull - things slow down a little and its not clear either what is happening among the Nephites or how righteous they, or even the authors themselves, are.
The words of Jacob are, like Nephi, pure and sincere. Here we have a prophet and leader who knows Christ, exhorts his people to follow Him, and corrects their path in fear of God.
Jacob is careful to talk about his efforts to spiritually help his people. At a head is verse 7:
In last years mini-series on revelation, I also talk about materialism. Materialism isn't bad per se, but it is the focus that makes it bad. Jacob sees this and tells the people to stop chasing riches. Nephi spoke strongly of having a single eye to building Zion. It is with this backdrop that Jacob tells his people that they are doing the same thing that Nephi and Isaiah warned of . Jacob says this interesting phrase
O that he would show you that he can pierce you, and with one glance of his eye he can smite you to the dust!
The glory of God is not something we are particularly familiar with. I believe Jacob is using this verse to teach about the glory of God. He is saying that God can see through all your doings, and being like him is much greater than all these things.
I read recently that over half the world is now in the middle class or higher. This is the most incredible miracle of the world and extremely encouraging. I don't believe this has ever been achieved except where the order of Zion was purely established.
At the same time, I do not think that God is satisfied yet with our efforts. For many reading this blog, I believe God expects us to be giving of time and talents as much as of our money and substance. Think about what your neighbors could do with the right learning opportunities and if you came to them in an humble manner and asked how you could make their lives better. Also think about not just your next door neighbor, but your next door neighborhoods. One of the Secrets of the Salt Lake Valley is that it has a vibrant immigrant population. We could be thinking about how to help these people get on their feet and integrate. We need to be careful of prescribing what we think is the right path, but we would be wrong if we did not actively look for a place that our talents can be used by other families.
After Jacob tells them to stop chasing riches, he tells the men to stop chasing the women.
Apparently a form of polygamy was springing up among the Nephites.
God was not happy with this and poor Jacob was the one who had to bring this topic up and correct it.
Polygamy is a touchy topic in the church, and I do not want to get into a full discussion on this here. Suffice it to say that messing with chastity and fidelity is something you do at your absolute peril, and Heavenly Father is as serious as life and death on this topic. And you don't want the full consequences of messing with it.
Unlike many who address topics as touchy chastity/fidelity, Jacob paints a vision of what it should actually look like. And he does it in a unique way. He points to the Lamanites and he says 'look how they love and cherish each other'.
It is easy to paint the Nephites as good and the Lamanites as bad. The Book of Mormon prophets did not see it this way. There is no doubt that they certainly called out the wickedness among the Lamanites. There certainly wasn't kumbaya - they would regularly fight and kill each other. But As witnessed by Jacob, Zeniff, Nephi (son of Helaman), Samuel, and other prophets' words, their view was much more complex, and they never stopped calling all people to Christ where ever moved upon by the spirit.
So Jacob points to the Lamanites and tells his people to be more like them in marriage.
Chapter 4 is one of the most unique chapters of the Book of Mormon. Remember that Jacob was highly selective of what he put on the plates; he meant for us read and learn from this. Get this verse (4-5)
There are other great things in this chapter. If you would like more, please comment below and I will add some of the other unique things that Jacob does. You can also get more on the mp3 file, which will be uploaded this week.
The words of Jacob are, like Nephi, pure and sincere. Here we have a prophet and leader who knows Christ, exhorts his people to follow Him, and corrects their path in fear of God.
Enter into his Rest
Jacob is careful to talk about his efforts to spiritually help his people. At a head is verse 7:
Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of he goodness of God that they might enter into his rest, lest by any means he should swear in his wrath they should not enter in, as in the provocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the wilderness.I created a mini-series on revelation last year and I talk about this curious phrase, the rest of God, here. Besides understanding what the rest of God is, the important take-away is that Jacob was preparing his people to be in a special state as a society and as individuals. He was building Zion among them. He continues themes of focusing on Christ, following living commandments, and being accountable to God for right teaching.
Stop seeking the material
In last years mini-series on revelation, I also talk about materialism. Materialism isn't bad per se, but it is the focus that makes it bad. Jacob sees this and tells the people to stop chasing riches. Nephi spoke strongly of having a single eye to building Zion. It is with this backdrop that Jacob tells his people that they are doing the same thing that Nephi and Isaiah warned of . Jacob says this interesting phrase
O that he would show you that he can pierce you, and with one glance of his eye he can smite you to the dust!
The glory of God is not something we are particularly familiar with. I believe Jacob is using this verse to teach about the glory of God. He is saying that God can see through all your doings, and being like him is much greater than all these things.
I read recently that over half the world is now in the middle class or higher. This is the most incredible miracle of the world and extremely encouraging. I don't believe this has ever been achieved except where the order of Zion was purely established.
At the same time, I do not think that God is satisfied yet with our efforts. For many reading this blog, I believe God expects us to be giving of time and talents as much as of our money and substance. Think about what your neighbors could do with the right learning opportunities and if you came to them in an humble manner and asked how you could make their lives better. Also think about not just your next door neighbor, but your next door neighborhoods. One of the Secrets of the Salt Lake Valley is that it has a vibrant immigrant population. We could be thinking about how to help these people get on their feet and integrate. We need to be careful of prescribing what we think is the right path, but we would be wrong if we did not actively look for a place that our talents can be used by other families.
Don't seek the carnal either
After Jacob tells them to stop chasing riches, he tells the men to stop chasing the women.
Apparently a form of polygamy was springing up among the Nephites.
God was not happy with this and poor Jacob was the one who had to bring this topic up and correct it.
Polygamy is a touchy topic in the church, and I do not want to get into a full discussion on this here. Suffice it to say that messing with chastity and fidelity is something you do at your absolute peril, and Heavenly Father is as serious as life and death on this topic. And you don't want the full consequences of messing with it.
Finally, Don't seek to puff yourselves up
Unlike many who address topics as touchy chastity/fidelity, Jacob paints a vision of what it should actually look like. And he does it in a unique way. He points to the Lamanites and he says 'look how they love and cherish each other'.
It is easy to paint the Nephites as good and the Lamanites as bad. The Book of Mormon prophets did not see it this way. There is no doubt that they certainly called out the wickedness among the Lamanites. There certainly wasn't kumbaya - they would regularly fight and kill each other. But As witnessed by Jacob, Zeniff, Nephi (son of Helaman), Samuel, and other prophets' words, their view was much more complex, and they never stopped calling all people to Christ where ever moved upon by the spirit.
So Jacob points to the Lamanites and tells his people to be more like them in marriage.
We knew of Christ and had a hope of his glory
Chapter 4 is one of the most unique chapters of the Book of Mormon. Remember that Jacob was highly selective of what he put on the plates; he meant for us read and learn from this. Get this verse (4-5)
For for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us. Behold, they believed in Christ and worshiped the Father in his name, and we also worship the father in his name.in these few words, Jacob destroys so many of the accusations leveled against the history of Pre-New Testament believers. And he felt it was important to say.
There are other great things in this chapter. If you would like more, please comment below and I will add some of the other unique things that Jacob does. You can also get more on the mp3 file, which will be uploaded this week.
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