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1 Nephi 1:19

"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 who were prophesying. I don't think that is the case any more. While some might, there is a different kind of mockery. You can mock someone by just treating what they say extremely lightly or ignoring it. I will be the first to say that I have probably at one time or another mocked the prophet. I sit there, I listen, and then I go about my day as if nothing happened. Lets just not assume that we are better than they were just because we are trying to go about our lives undisturbed.

Lehi was testifying to them of their wickedness and all the things that they had to change. At the same time though, he was testifying to them of the birth of a Messiah, and the redemption of the world. What an awesome message. I think it is interesting that they would come together. Sometimes I think it is better to tell people all about the greatness of the Gospel. Talk about the peace and security it brings as well as the plan of salvation and how much we learn about where we are and where we are going. Then the commandments can be slid is as an oh, by the way, if you want all of this stuff you need to keep these commandments. I'm not sure that there is a right or a wrong way but it is interesting to see that Lehi was preaching all of these things at Jerusalem.

Super interesting too that he would mention the book. I mean, you can kind of see why they called him a visionary man and thought he was crazy right? I mean, Joseph Smith got the same reaction and he wasn't even saying that he was potentially asleep or laying in bed. We are generally accustomed to revelations and the idea of a book that he can flip through things that are going to happen in the future is pretty fantastic. Long story short, the message has always been the same: The Redemption of the World. That is what this is all about. Christ came to redeem the world. Redeem as in compensate for the shortcomings or faults of all people. We have been redeemed, now we simply need to accept it and take advantage of it.

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