A Bite Size Study

I decided to take a day and listen to a Conference talk from Dieter F. Uchtdorf while taking notes on here. After we use something amazing and take advantage of it for so long, we consider it common-place. He uses the term soul-expanding doctrine which I love. The doctrine of Jesus Christ is to expand our souls. Not make it more annoying to be tied to this mortal body, but to amplify the connection. Make our bodies more in tune with our spirits. He asks us to consider and remember how we felt when we first comprehended that we were truly children of the almighty God. I don't know how well I remember that moment. I recall some instances where I knew, but the first time I realized would have been a very very long time ago. But if I describe the way I felt, there was an overwhelming sense of importance. Not in the sense that I was better than others, but I felt proud. I felt like God was proud of me and that I had unlimited potential. I felt as though I was deeply loved by someone...

"And when the Jews heard these things they were angry with him; yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had cast out, and stoned and slain; and they also sought his life, that they might take it away. But behold, I Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." Okay, so in the last post I believe I mentioned that maybe they weren't that different then people today rejecting the prophets, but since this verse is mainly about how people were seeking to kill Lehi, maybe I am wrong about that. I know that the world is supposed to get increasingly more wicked, but I have a really hard time thinking that someday the world will be seeking to kill church leaders. Hard world to imagine. It is interesting that Nephi relates him to prophets of old. Maybe Nephi felt the same way. Maybe someday when we talk about the prophets being rejected...

"And it came to pass that the Jews did mock him because of the things which he testified of them; for he truly testified of their wickedness and their abominations; and he testified that the things which he saw and heard and also the things which he read in the book, manifested plainly of the coming of a Messiah, and also the redemption of the world." This one seems deep to me, but we will see how far we get. There is a chance that I might stretch this one over two days but I will try my best to get what I can from it. So, surprise surprise, the Jews mock Lehi. Not surprising right? I know it is easy to think about people laughing, pointing fingers, or throwing things at Lehi, but I honestly don't think that is how these things happen. I know when I was younger when it talked about them mocking and rejecting the prophets, I thought it was blatant and rude. I thought it was something to indicate how wicked they were because they were openly mocking and laughing at those ...

"Therefore, I would that ye should know, that after the Lord had shown so many marvelous things unto my father, Lehi, yea, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, behold he went forth among the people, and began to prophecy and to declare unto them concerning the things which he had both seen and heard." Okay, there are some relatively harebrained ideas going on with this one so just bear with me. I think we read this story so often that we just assume that Lehi knows from the beginning that they are going to be commanded to leave. We have Lehi receiving all of these visions about the destruction of Jerusalem and at first I don't think they knew that leaving was an option. Keep in mind that leaving at that time was not like moving now. I assume that Jerusalem was the city center at the time and though you could probably get outside the blast radius, what do the suburbs of New York do without New York? So when Lehi starts declaring unto Jerusalem the things that are goi...

If you remember in the last verse Néphi talks about how he can't and won't make a full account of all the things that his father heard, saw, and said, but that he will record some. I love moments like this when you can almost imagine Néphi engraving this and making clarifications as he goes. He opens by saying that he is going to make a record of his life but then spends the rest of the verse talking about how he is going to finish the abridgment of his father's life first. It is my impression, which may or may not be accurate, that Néphi was commanded by his father to make this record. The way he talks about it seems to me like he has a duty to do and that duty has prompted a desire to make his own record of his own life.   The only other thing about this verse that really struck me is that Néphi had to make these plates by himself...by hand. That is intense! I really think this is more than just something Néphi wants to do. I believe that is confirmed later and that ...

"And now I, Nephi, do not make a full account of the things which my father hatch written, for he hath written many things which he saw in visions and in dreams; and he also hath written many things which he prophesied and spake unto his children, of which I shall not make a full account." This is an interesting verse to include because he says openly there there are several things that his father saw in vision that he is not going to write about. Very good to know, but kind of a waste of precious space when you first think about it. Of course we could always assume that there were things that his father experienced that wouldn't be written. The cool part is though that Nephi documents that his father was writing them too. The record or personal history of Lehi would be something to behold I am sure. He talks about him experiencing many things in visions and in dreams. If you look under the footnote on dreams it takes you to the scripture that goes something like "...

"And after this manner was the language of my father in the praising of his God; for his soul did rejoice, and his whole heart was filled, because of the things which he had see, yea, which the Lord had shown unto him." I think this one made more sense to be when looked at in a different order. Not that it is a hard verse to understand, but the order is backward of the way I would read it for comprehension. Because of the things which he had seen - meaning the things which the Lord had shown unto him. It is an interesting distinction that Nephi makes right there. It is subtle, but very direct. It was not Lehi that called down this vision for himself. He had only seen these things because the Lord had chosen to show them to him. On occasion I subconsciously chase a "vision" per se. Sometimes I am studying not for my edification or spiritual growth, but because in my mind I am looking for some kind of spiritual marker or badge that I can earn by completing the Boo...

"And it came to pass that when my father had read and seen may great and marvelous things, he did exclaim many things unto the Lord; such as: Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens, and they power and goodness and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; and, because thou are merciful thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish!" Despite being long and fairly dense with things, I will be honest when I say I can't find a ton to pull our of this scripture besides what is on the surface so that is where I am really trying to be open to inspiration in case there is anything else that I am missing (there usually is). So Nephi is still writing this, which I appreciate that we get reminders every now and then because it is easy to forget and picture Lehi writing all of this down. Nephi says that not after, but when Lehi had seen a read these marvelous things he starts exclaiming things to the L...

"And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord." I love that Spirit is capitalized in this verse. The uppercase letter denotes the proper noun which is really neat when you think about it. I also occasionally forget when I read this that he is still having a vision. Interestingly enough you can feel these kind of things during a vision. I know that it shouldn't surprise me because I can feel fear and joy and all sorts of emotions during a dream. I am also including the next verse in today's study because these go really well together. "And he read, saying: Wo, wo, unto Jerusalem, for I have seen thine abominations ! Yea, and many things did my father read concerning Jerusalem - that it should be destroyed, and the inhabitants thereof; many should perish by the sword, and many should be carried away captive into Babylon." Okay, so this is cool! Nephi quotes one line from the book (probably the only line that his dad re...

"And they came down and went forth upon the face of the earth; and the first came and stood before my father, and gave unto him a book, and bade him that he should read." What an exciting experience. I don't know about everyone else, but I usually dream in third person, where I am watching myself like I have a recorded movie of what is happening. Rarely if ever, do I dream in first person. So when I hear this I think of myself, as a fly on the wall watching this scene, but then "the first"comes up to not the one that I can see, but to the fly on the wall me that is watching and isn't aware that they know I am there. I don't know if that makes sense. Basically this made me think about one of them breaking the fourth wall, and addressing the viewer. I know that is super random but it is what I imagine from this one. And, correct me if I am wrong, but I don't believe Nephi and Lehi knew that the name of the Savior was to be Jesus. I remember there i...

I believe I have met my test with this one. There is one footnote and it is the word twelve...and it sends me to the topical guide on apostle. "And he also saw twelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament." So, if you read yesterday's post it is very interesting that it describes them with a different light word than they did Jesus. They have brightness, he has luster. It may not be anything like I am saying and a complete coincidence, but I think it is interesting to think about nonetheless. I thought it was interesting that it compares it to exceeding the stars in the firmament. This is where I start to think that the vision that Lehi saw was far less literal and more symbolic. If I saw something bright...bright at ALL, then I wouldn't compare it to the stars. The stars give off little to no light for us. They are beautiful, but a night without the moon is dark . The stars help a little but it is negligible. He ...

I tried something new this morning. At the beginning of my run I brought up the scripture and read it carefully a couple times and then started running. It was actually pretty successful. You know how when you run there is always something in your head that you cycle through over and over? Normally it is some stupid lyric from a song in High School, but the scripture stayed stuck in my head for most of my run which was nice. I was even able to use the "Hey Siri" function on my phone to define some interesting words. "And it came to pass that he saw One descending out of the midst of heaven, and he beheld that his luster was above the sun at noon-day." This verse is perfect. It is bite-sized and some really special things jumped out at me. The capitalized O on One didn't catch my eye until just now but how awesome is this? The word denotes that a single person stepped forward out of the multitude, but it also is Christ's title. Christ is the One. He dwell...

I'll be honest, I got a late start today so if this post seems rushed, I will try to make up for it on a different day. "And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a vision, even that he saw the heavens open, and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God." This verse is funny to me. Not funny as in ha ha lol, but rather different. Thus far in the Book of Mormon we have seen a lot of scriptures that are pretty straight forward. Yes there is a lot to read into but we haven't seen much evidence of antiquated speech, cultural differences, or anything like that. Here I would say there may be evidence of something going on that we are not sure of, whether it be on a long time ago level or on a spiritual/heavenly level. So we talked last time about him being transfigured and whatnot. Then he comes home and he is so exhausted from his spiritual encoun...

"And it came to pass that he returned to his own house at Jerusalem, and he cast himself upon his bed, being overcome with the Spirit and the things which he had seen." I will admit that there doesn't seem to be a lot to be mined from this scripture, but we mine nonetheless. I have to wonder where Lehi was going to or coming from. I always assumed that Lehi and his family lived outside Jerusalem, if only slightly. That could just be because they have left Jerusalem by the time Nephi and his brothers are sent back for the plates...so when I visualize them going to the city it is always from outside the city walls. The way this verse says at Jerusalem makes me wonder but it really isn't a huge deal in the end. Then Lehi casts himself upon his bed. I have always loved little demonstrations of great men's weakness. I think it makes them more relatable to me. Now I know that Lehi was definitely older than I am, but it is good to see Lehi get exhausted at things like ...

"And it came to pass as he prayed unto the Lord, there came a pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before him; and he saw and heard much; and because of the things which he saw and heard he did quake and tremble exceedingly." I like to picture this not as Lehi kneeling next to a large rock asking God for help, but rather Lehi walking to or from Jerusalem about his business and his mind is really caught up in all of these emotions. I don't really have any proof of that, other than it is what makes the most sense in my mind as I have been doing this. The pillar of fire seems a little odd to me at first, but lets see what we can make of it. The pillar of fire pops up over and over again in the bible, but not that often in the Book of Mormon. Let's be honest though, there are a LOT of strange things that are in the Bible. I feel like the Book of Mormon keeps it on a fairly conservative level in comparison. So, why a pillar of fire? I have thought for a long time on thi...

"Wherefore it came to pass that my father, Lehi, as he went forth prayed unto the Lard, yea, even with all his heart, in behalf of his people." There is something about living in the gospel that I have yet to experience consistently. I think it comes back to being in the world but not of the world. Doing the everyday things is a surprisingly spiritual way. From yesterday we understand that there was new management un Jerusalem and there was great prophesying of the city's destruction. I felt kind of embarrassed about it, but I actually looked up the word "wherefore." I just wasn't really sure if it was an actual 'because of this that this' kind of a thing and it turns out that it is! Makes this verse so much better to know that what comes next is actually in response to what he understands to be happening. The verse goes on to say that " as he went forth prayed unto the Lord." I think I always put another 'and' in there unneces...

Suit up friends, this one is taking me WAY outside my comfort zone. "For it came to pass in the commencement of the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah..." Now I know this is really documenting the timing and what not but there are a couple things that tell me there is something more to this verse than just setting the scene. The word "first" has a footnote that I can't seem to understand. Maybe as I ramble a little the answer will bubble to the top. The references are 1 Nephi 2:4 and Mosiah 6:4. In the 1 Nephi reference it simple talks about Lehi packing up and leaving the land of his inheritance with all of his family...that's it. The Mosiah reference is a date reference. Saying that when Mosiah started his reign it had been four hundred and seventy-six years since Lehi left Jerusalem. So I guess the only commonality between those two is that Lehi left Jerusalem. First of all, talk about a spoiler! Ha ha, just kidding. So here's my offic...

"And I know that the record which I make is true ; and I make it with mine own hand; and I make it according to my knowledge." Pretty short verse, right? I sometimes get caught up in individual verses and don't really realize that it probably wasn't laid out like that in the beginning. Actually, I am almost positive the original Book of Mormon didn't have chapters, verses, and such. Okay, I checked and surely enough, the verses and chapters were added later. Something that is really interesting that we won't be able to compare each time, are paragraph breaks. Verse 3 is the end of the first paragraph in the Book of Mormon as it was originally laid out. Pretty cool eh? So everything through verse 3 is kind of a single idea, a set-up if you will. Lets water it down into what Nephi actually does with the verses. Verse one Nephi introduces himself, why he is qualified (the mandate from God), and a declaration of purpose. Verse 2 confuses me a little bit becau...

Not gonna lie, this one is a stretch so I will apologize in advance. I sincerely do believe that there has to be something that is really worth having in every verse of the Book of Mormon though, so lets get right into it. 2. Yea, I make a record in the language of my father,  which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians. This verse gets super interesting when you dig a little deeper into it. Obviously the main thing to study here is language. Luckily the first time language is mentioned in this verse it comes with a footnote. Mosiah 1:4 is far down the road when King Benjamin is addressing his people. He talks about it being impossible that Lehi could have remembered all of the things that were on the plates of brass. King Benjamin also states that Lehi was taught the language of the Egyptians so he is able to read the plates. So it seems like people learned Egyptian but it was not a common thing. We have to remember that this is Nephi talking t...