Friday, March 16, 2012
Pondering Nephi's Brothers
I was thinking how I wrote that reading the scriptures 15 or 20 pages really helped me to learn more. It is odd that the reverse is also true. Pondering on one chapter or verse for a few days also helps me learn more. I have been thinking about Laman and Lemuel and how they saw an angel multiple times, yet they still couldn't muster the faith to keep the commandments. Why?
My husband said something the other day that I think is true. He said that Laman and Lemuel were so mad about leaving Jerusalem and all their stuff it blinded them from things. Anger can do that to people. It can blind us and make it so we don't see truth that is standing right in front of us. Pride, too, is dangerous that way. Laman and Lemuel were too proud to accept their younger brother, Nephi, as a leader.
This brings me to Sam. He was also Nephi's older brother and yet in 1 Nephi 2:17 Nephi says that when he told Sam what the Spirit had told him, Sam "believed in my words." We are not all prophets and it is good and necessary to have faith enough to believe in the words of those who are our leaders.
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ReplyDeleteIn my own study this morning I read this verse in 2 Nephi 4:11 "...[Lehi] spake unto Sam, saying: Blessed art thou, and thy seed; for thou shalt inherit the land like unto thy brother Nephi. And thy seed shall be numbered with his seed; and thou shalt be even like unto thy brother, and thy seed like unto his seed: and thou shalt be blessed in all thy days." I have wondered why the records went to Jacob, and not to one of Nephi's sons. It doesn't really matter, but I've wondered. I think that someday, when we have the more historical record, we'll know more about the family as a whole. I look forward to that!
ReplyDeleteElaine--I agree that it would be very interesting to know more about the family and why the plates passed down the way they did. Maybe because Jacob was so much younger than Nephi? Almost young enough to be his son?
DeleteWhen I wrote about Sam I was thinking of D&C 46. The "gifts" section of the Doctrine and Covenants:
" 11 For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.
12 To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby.
13 To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world.
14 To others it is given to believe on their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful...
...22 And to others it is given to prophesy;
23 And to others the discerning of spirits.
24 And again, it is given to some to speak with tongues;
25 And to another is given the interpretation of tongues.
26 And all these gifts come from God, for the benefit of the children of God."
Interesting thought about why Jacob was the inheritor of the plates! Someday....
DeleteThanks for sharing that scripture in D&C. Isn't there a place in the scriptures that teaches us that any of us can have any of the gifts that we desire if we ask and seek for it? I need to read up on that. I remember being taught that each one of us has been given at least ONE gift, but we can seek them all. Of course, with the intent to bless God's children. Anyway, yes, Sam was one benefactor of Nephi's gift of prophesy. :)
Sort of off-topic, but today I was reading C.S. Lewis' paper called "Transposition". It discussed the gift of tongues, aka glossolalia (cool word, right?). It's in "Weight of Glory". Very interesting thoughts about that gift. He says, "It is, to be frank, an embarrassing phenomenon." HAHAHAAA. I laughed out loud. True dat. Never have understood it, even slightly (other than in the missionaries-learning-another-language scenario), but Lewis gives a really, really cool suggestion that clicked for me and perhaps I won't think of speaking in tongues as such a weird, almost devilish sort of thing anymore.
Elaine--
DeleteGlossolalia is a very cool word. I have never heard it before. CS Lewis sure has some great lessons to teach.
You are absolutly right about the scriptures saying that we can prayerfully seek all gifts, but sometimes, when I'm feeling overwhelmed, the thought of Sam comforts me. I stop worrying that maybe there is too much Laman in me for me to be exactly like Nephi. I think that maybe I can be like Sam and believe on Nephi's words. I can be a faithful follower and maybe that will be enough.
Wise words. I'll have to think of Sam more often. I am over-passionate, and thus overwhelmed much of the time. Line upon Line.
ReplyDeleteLine upon line is exactly what I tell myself so very often. :)
ReplyDelete