3 Nephi Chapter 10

There is silence in the land for many hours - The voice of Christ promises to gather his people as a hen gathereth her chickens - The more righteous part of the people had been preserved.

Christ promises to gather his people as a hen gathereth her chickens.  "How oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have nourished you.(v.4)"  "How oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not.(v.5)" "...how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart.(v.6)"  I think this goes right along with what Elise said yesterday. Isn't this exactly how we feel about our own children? Aren't we quite the mother hens and would love nothing more than for our children to just come to us and let us nourish, protect, teach and love them?! I love this analogy.

What an awful time in the scriptures. Loved ones and friends and a government have been destroyed! Without knowing what blessings will come next (which we do, because we know this story) they must feel incredibly lost! I know I would! I'm not a big fan of darkness anyhow and this would send me into some sort of confusion and possibly even incomparable fear. Do you think they are scared that the quakes and destructions aren't really over? What about being a mother during this time, trying to care for her children in impenetrate darkness! Or what about being pregnant?!  I'm sure there were women in these circumstances.

It is explained that "it was the more righteous part of the people who were saved, and it was they who received the prophets and stoned them not; and it was they who had not shed the blood of the saints, who were spared-(v12)". Doesn't sounds like it would have been that difficult to be the more righteous part of the people. I guess we may be surprised to know just how unrighteous  the people were!

Then, in verse 14 there is a message directed to the readers about these things were repeatedly prophesied of by the prophets, Zenos, Zenock, and their "father" Jacob. 

It  is also mentioned that those who had been spared, "did have great favors shown unto them, and great blessings poured out upon their heads, insomuch  that soon after the ascension of Christ into heaven he did truly manifest himself unto them-" My absolute favorite part of the Book of Mormon!  I imagine that this is what it will be like when Christ  returns! This is what it is all about!

Helaman 4

Read it HERE.

Summary: Nephite dissenters and the Lamanites join forces and take the land of Zarahemla—The Nephites’ defeats come because of their wickedness—The Church dwindles and the people become weak like the Lamanites. Between 38 and 30 B.C.

This chapter can be quite depressing and yet inspiring. Amazing how the scriptures, particularly the war chapters do that, isn't it? As I read about the Nephite dissention (in not many years) from the Church it saddened me, and yet I found how similar it is to our day. I hear of and know of so many faithful members of the Church who temporarily or permanently lose their faith and dissent from the Church. I selected several words and phrases from this chapter that paint the picture well of how and why this happens.

(Ask yourself if you don't witness these things daily among Latter-day Saints and other God-fearing people... not in a judgemental way, but in the spirit of recognizing that we all have need for the Atonement and our trials and struggles are different and come at different times and seasons. We need to love and serve each other as Christ would rather than assist in the dissention of His children.)

The Helaman 4 Dissention word/phrase list:
contention, bloodshed, rebellious, slain, driven, stir up to war, afraid, stirring up to anger, preparing for war, battle, the work of death, slaughter, wickedness, abomination, profess to belong to the church of God, pride of their hearts, exceeding riches, oppression to the poor, withholding food from the hungry, withholding clothing from the naked, smiting their humble brethren upon the cheek, making a mock of that which is sacred, denying the spirit of prophecy and revelation, murdering, plundering, lying, stealing, adultery, great contentions, deserting away into the land, boasting of their own strength, did not prosper, afflicted, smitten, lost possessions/lands, stiffnecked, set at naught the commandments of God, altered/trampled the laws, corrupted laws, withdrawl of the spirit.

Sad state of affairs, isn't it? I love the verbage of verse 23: "...and the judgements of God did stare them in the face."

Essentially all the dissention of faithful Nephites caused the church to dwindle. They eventually saw their strength matched with that of the unfaithful Lamanites and it scared them. Moronihah preached unto them and they repented and when they did they prospered again. The miracle of Christ's infinite Atonement. The Nephites recognized their weaknesses and were allowed to change and gain faith again. They began to remember the prophecies of Alma and the words of Mosiah from long long before their time.

Jacob 5

Read it HERE.

Summary: Jacob quotes Zenos relative to the allegory of the tame and wild olive trees—They are a likeness of Israel and the gentiles—The scattering and gathering of Israel are prefigured—Allusions are made to the Nephites and Lamanites and all the house of Israel—Gentiles shall be grafted into Israel—Eventually the vineyard shall be burned. Between 544 and 421 B.C.

This is that LONG allegory of the olive tree chapter. At first read/impression it can seem long and dreary, boring and confusing; but if you read with real intent and with a better understanding of the bigger metaphor and meaning, it gets very interesting. There are a lot of familiar lines in it from the Pearl of Great Price and from some of our most important church doctrine. I realized some great missionary messages, family messages, warnings, blessings, insights into the Godhead, a greater understanding of the Abrahamic Covenant, and the preparations before the Second Coming of the Savior. This is a beautiful chapter and of Jacob's most important contributions in the Book of Mormon.

Ralph E. Swiss, director of physical facilities and real estate in the Church Educational System wrote a great explanatory and insightful article, The Tame and Wild Olive Trees--An Allegory of Our Savior's Love. In this article Swiss points out,

"Most of Christianity has yet to learn of Zenos’s allegory of the olive trees. Indeed, if it hadn’t been for the combined efforts of four prophets, separated by thousands of years, the allegory might have been lost entirely. The prophet Zenos wrote it in Israel, Nephi’s younger brother Jacob retold it to the Nephites, Mormon preserved it for latter-day readers, and Joseph Smith translated it into English" (Swiss, 1988, p.50).

Swiss continues to explain the symbolism and the use of 7 scenes (historic periods of time), and 5 locations in the vineyard (places in the world):

Tame olive tree = House of Israel
Wild olive tree = Gentiles
Lord of the vineyard = Jesus Christ (or God the Father in some interpretations)
Lord of the vineyard's servants = Christ's disciples, the prophets
Good fruit = those people bringing forth good works
Bad fruit = those people bringing forth evil works
Grafting in = baptism

Scene 1 = Time of growing decay, or "...the period following the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon when the glory of Israel was greatly lessened by growing wickedness and evil" (Swiss, 1988, p. 50).

Scene 2 = The master grieves for the tree and has His servants pluck of the decayed branches to be burned in the fire, or "...the Assyrian and Babylonian conquests of Israel" (Swiss, 1988, p. 50). At this point I think the Savior's love for his people is manifest when he has some of the branches carried off to other parts of the vineyard to be grafted in and preserved (the beginning of the great explorations across the sea.)

Scene 3 = After a long time, the Master returns to inspect the vineyard only to find the tame olive tree has borne tame fruit despite the wild branches that were grafted in from its trunk. "Perhaps this corresponds to the tremendous growth of the Church during and after the Savior’s mortal ministry. A great many among the Gentiles, including numerous Samaritans, were converted and lived the gospel as though they had been born of Israel" (Swiss, 1988, p. 50).

Scene 4 = Master returns, finds entire vineyard in decay, none of the fruit is good, or the time period of the Great Apostasy. I love how the Master asks, What could I have done more for my vineyard? Showing his great love and concern for all people.

Scene 5 = Master's decides to spare the vineyard a little longer, "...he and his servant begin to restore the natural branches to their parent trees, destroying the worst of the branches to make room" (Swiss, 1988, p. 50).

Scene 6 = Master finally reviews the vineyard he finds the fruit good and no more corrupt. "Such a period of peace and bounteous harvest could correspond to the Millennium" (Swiss, 1988, p. 50).

Scene 7 = Master refers to time when evil will come into the vineyard again.... and he will separate the good from the evil, "...like the final cleansing of the earth" (Swiss, 1988, p. 50).

Just as Swiss discovered as he researched the allegory, it is "...not so much a story about trees, branches, grafting, and fruit as a wonderful witness of the messiahship of Christ and his love for mankind" (Swiss, 1998, p. 50).

So, what did you learn? What stood out to you? Don't all these insights make you want to go back and read it again to gleam some more. I'm so grateful for Zenos, Jacob, Mormon, and Joseph Smith for their efforts in writing and preserving and translating this allegory as beautiful way of teaching about our history, the need for our current righteousness, and for what's to come.

2 Nephi 26

Read it HERE.

Summary: Christ shall minister to the Nephites—Nephi foresees the destruction of his people—They shall speak from the dust—The gentiles shall build up false churches and secret combinations—The Lord forbids men to practice priestcrafts. Between 559 and 545 B.C.

Nephi speaks of the destruction of his evil and prideful people and it pangs his soul... but I love verse 7:
7 ^aO the pain, and the anguish of my soul for the loss of the slain of my people! For I, Nephi, have seen it, and it well nigh consumeth me before the presence of the Lord; but I must cry unto my God: Thy ways are ^bjust.

The part that scares me perhaps the most is verse 11:
11 For the Spirit of the Lord will not always ^astrive with man. And when the Spirit ^bceaseth to strive with man then cometh speedy destruction, and this grieveth my soul.
I think being separated from the spirit might be more intolerable than any physical destruction. Sin separates us from the spirit and we must constantly be setting ourselves back "at-one" with Him through repentance and the sacrament.

This makes me grateful for the Book of Mormon as another witness of Jesus Christ and of a people who experienced similar physical and spiritual burdens that we now face in the last days. It is our generation that Nephi is speaking of and for... and verse 16 provides some insightful comfort:
16 For those who shall be destroyed shall ^aspeak unto them out of the ground, and their speech shall be low out of the dust, and their voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit; for the Lord God will give unto him power, that he may whisper concerning them, even as it were out of the ground; and their speech shall whisper out of the dust.
This verse helps provide one logical rationale (although none is necessary beyond my testimony and spiritual witness) as to why I read and study the Book of Mormon... because those who lived in it and who recorded it are a voice speaking to me to remind me and warn me daily to do and be better so as not to be destroyed at His Second Coming.

In closing Nephi gives an account of the faults/temptations of all people, both righteous and wicked and then reminds us of the goodness of God, of Jesus Christ's love and redemption and salvation; and that we must spread the truth of all things to all men, keep the commandments, come unto Him, and labor in Zion. I love his farewell comment in the last verse; a fitting reminder for our day:
...and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he ^ainviteth them ^ball to ^ccome unto him and partake of his goodness; and he ^ddenieth none that come unto him, black and white, ^ebond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the ^fheathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile (v. 33).

What did you learn?