Captain Moroni

We were asked to speak in our ward today and I must say this was probably the most fun I've ever had preparing a talk. The bishopric approached us before the meetings last week and gave us the topic (the speakers they originally had lined up weren't available for some reason). I started penciling in some notes for my talk, then Brother Jensen from the high council got up and gave a great talk on faith. He covered everything I had written down already, so I had to do something that wouldn't sound like a rerun. So I decided to talk about Captain Moroni as an example of faith in Christ. Rather than post all five pages here, I thought I'd just post the link and let you download it if you're interested (you'll need a PDF reader).

Click here to download.

I had so much fun with it that I want to work on it more and fill in all the parts I had to glaze over because of time restraints. Maybe I'll do another running series here when I get all the parts put together. This could easily turn into enough content for a fireside, there was a lot of content that I couldn't put into the talk.

It was a very interesting experience this past week, because I also had to teach the Gospel Doctrine class today. I had a talk that practically fell together as fast as I could get it on paper. Then I had a lesson that I couldn't pull together to save my life. I don't know what I am supposed to learn from this yet, hopefully it'll make sense at some point in the future.

The Example of Enos, or “Why My Prayers Suck”

The lesson on Sunday (number 14, for those who may be keeping track) deals with the books of Enos, Jarom, Omni, and the Words of Mormon. As I read the account of Enos praying in the wilderness, I feel like I’ve been reading Miracle of Forgiveness and stopped before I get to the reassuring part at the end. I can’t help but compare with my own life and come up short on the balance. Enos goes off and prays all day and into the night, and if I kneel down at night there’s a good chance I’m falling asleep before I’m done.

Enos is on a hunting trip and from verse two seems to be concerned about a remission of his sins. There is a parallel here with Joseph Smith’s First Vision. One of Joseph’s first accounts (did you know there was more than one?) was in 1832 where he recounted his search for the true church from age 12 – 15. Part of his search was driven by a desire to obtain forgiveness and remission of his sins, recognizing that proper authority was necessary. (Milton V. Backman Jr., “Joseph Smith’s Recitals of the First Vision,” Ensign, Jan 1985, 8).

Anyhow, I don’t think there is any room here to assume Enos was guilty of any serious transgression. As the Prophet Joseph Smith taught:

“The nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 51)

Our friend Enos was probably a habitual jay-walker or maybe he waited until the 20th to do his hometeaching every month. Whatever it was, he was moved by the Spirit to seek forgiveness as part of his process of improvement. I’m always impressed at how he describes his experience. He only uses the word ‘prayer’ (or variants) three times in his narrative (in verses 4, 11, & 12). He uses other descriptive phrases ten times. For example:

-“wrestle … before God” (vs 2)
-“my soul hungered… and I cried unto [my Maker]” (vs 4)
-“supplication” (vs 4). Interesting side-note, ‘supplication’ comes from Latin, meaning to bend or yield.
-“did… raise my voice high” (vs 4)
-“pour out my whole soul unto God” (vs 9)
-“struggling in the spirit” (vs 10)
-“many long strugglings” (vs 11)
-“labored with all diligence” (vs 12)
-“cried unto [the Lord] continually” (vs 15)
-“did cry unto God” (vs 16)

Elder David A. Bednar in conference last week started out by saying, “Simply saying prayers is quite a different thing from engaging in meaningful prayer.”

How long do you think it had been since Enos merely “said his prayers”? Look at how he describes his prayers, he felt his prayers! He was familiar with the process, he was used to praying under the direction of the Spirit. Check out verse 13, that’s a pretty specific “what if” to just pull out of the air.

Some have used his desire for a remission of sins to claim that this was a great turning point in his life. I feel that this was simply the next logical step in his spiritual progression. One doesn’t just jump right into an all-day, all-night prayer marathon after saying routine prayers at home. Try praying for just 30 minutes, how long would it take you or me before we could pull a ‘prayer-a-thon’ like Enos did?

Elder Bednar also said “meaningful prayer requires both holy communication and consecrated work.” Well, Enos had both of those marked off. He “labored with all diligence” (vs 12) while praying, and then when he got back home, he testified “of the things which I had heard and seen” (vs 19) and “declared [the truth] in all my days” (vs 26).

On a different topic, something jumped out at me as I was reading verse 1. Enos describes his father Jacob as “a just man” who “taught me in his language, and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord…” What does it mean to be “taught… in the nurture and admonition of the Lord”? At first, I figured it must mean that Jacob taught him the gospel. But why not just say “he taught me the gospel”? Especially considering the difficulty involved with the engraving process. Enos, like his father, chose his words very carefully. So, what did he mean? May I suggest a few possibilities…

Could this be his way of saying Jacob taught him about the Lord’s nature? Our Perfect Parent nurtures us and encourages our growth and admonishes us if we start to wander off (admonish: ‘to advise, caution, to reprove in a mild and good-willed manner’).

Maybe he is describing Jacob’s parenting style? To paraphrase, ‘my father used the nurture and admonition of the Lord to teach me’. It’s not a stretch to see gentle Jacob as the nurturing type, and it’s easy to see him admonishing in his sermon at the temple (Jacob 2-4).

Anyhow, I’m not exactly sure what he meant. Just thought I’d throw that out there because it is the part that stuck with me the most over the last couple of days.

The "Isaiah Barrier" - Key 5

I'm finally getting around to the 5th and last key in the series. Then maybe I can back-track and cover a few thoughts I've had about other topics.

In 2 Nephi 25:4, Nephi describes what is possibly the most important key to understanding Isaiah's writings:

"...the words of Isaiah... are plain unto all those that are filled with the spirit of prophecy..."

Okay, if we have to have it, maybe we should figure out what it is. Revelation 19:10 tells us that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

So, does that mean if I don't understand Isaiah that I must not have a testimony? I think that might be over-simplifying things a little. I don't think Nephi is implying a direct correlation between the strength of our testimony and the degree to which we grasp Isaiah. Here's what I think: the same principles involved in gaining our testimony are required to understand any scripture, not just Isaiah.

How do we gain our testimony? Ammon and his brothers, some of the most effective and powerful missionaries we have on record, "had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God. But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting: therefore they had the spirit of prophecy,..." (Alma 17:2-3)

How did the sons of Mosiah gain the spirit of prophecy, or testimony of Christ? Through prayer, fasting, and diligent searching of the scriptures (not searching for their scriptures as we often do on Sunday mornings). How do you think they approached their scripture study? Do you think they begrudgingly read a few chapters before falling asleep so they could mark it off on their daily to-do list? Let me share an insight I had a few years ago, something which may help us with scripture study, especially Isaiah.

Ammon has always been one of my heroes. At first, I must admit the whole chopping off of the arms was the hook for me. But as I got older (I won't say 'mature' because no one will believe that), I became more interested in the other aspects of Ammon's character. I read Alma 17:2-3 several times before something jumped out. I think the phrase "that they might know the word of God" has a dualistic meaning. The first meaning is exactly what it seems on the surface, they studied the scriptures to learn the gospel.

To approach the second meaning, let me first cross-reference with Revelation 19:13. John, in speaking of Christ, wrote "...and his name is called The Word of God." Using both passages together, the sons of Mosiah "searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know [Christ]". The two meanings are complimentary and I believe as we focus on the first, we are lead to the second. We start off diligently trying to learn the things that Christ has taught in the scriptures, then we are gradually drawn towards coming to know the Author - often without even recognizing it.

That, I believe, is what Nephi is trying to tell us. Read Isaiah and "search... diligently" for the Savior. Once you learn to see Christ in Isaiah's writings, it'll be easier to understand. I was feeling ambitious during the Old Testament year in Sunday School and I made a chart listing all the references to Christ that I could find in Isaiah. If you're curious, you can download it to see what I missed. It was a great exercise for me, because when I was done I realized that Christ was everywhere in Isaiah. You can't go more than a few verses before running into another reference to the Savior.

Nephi prefaced his reference to Isaiah by saying:

"Behold, my soul delighteth in proving ... the truth of the coming of Christ... And my soul delighteth in proving... that save Christ should come all men must perish." (2 Nephi 11:4,6)

What does Nephi write after his Isaiah marathon? In 2 Nephi 25, he talks about how Christ shall come in the flesh and be crucified (vs 12-13) and then resurrected (vs 14). He speaks of the restoration and how the Jews will be convinced of Christ's role as Messiah (vs 18), how Christ's is the only name by which men can be saved (vs 20), Nephi's labors to persuade others to believe and be reconciled to Christ (vs 23), how they are made alive in Christ because of their faith (vs 25), how they "talk of Christ, ... rejoice in Christ, ... preach of Christ, ... prophesy of Christ" (vs 26). He says "the right way is to believe in Christ...and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul" (vs 28, 29).

Are you starting to see a trend? To Nephi, the Book of Isaiah was about his Savior. He delights in the promises that Christ will again gather the scattered branches of Israel. I really believe that as we tune ourselves to the Spirit, we will see how Christ is the central theme in all of Isaiah's writings. Like the principle of sympathetic resonance. Huh? Lemme 'splain... no, there is too much. Lemme sum up... If you have two tuning forks that are tuned to the same pitch and frequency (eg. Middle C), striking one will cause the other to vibrate as well. Nephi's 5th key to understanding Isaiah is (and I'm grossly simplifying here) to make sure our tuning fork is on the same pitch with the Spirit so we can use our testimony of Christ to recognize Isaiah's testimony in his writings.

The "Isaiah Barrier" - Key 4

This could be arguably the most difficult of the five keys. In 2 Nephi 25:6, Nephi said because he lived at Jerusalem, he knew "concerning the regions round about", which gives us another key into understanding Isaiah. Granted, this one probably won't make the Isaiah sections jump out and start singing, but it helps a little when you know where he's talking about. Your best friend on this one will be the Bible maps.

Isaiah speaks of the "end of the conduit of the upper pool" in 2 Nephi 17:3, which doesn't mean anything to most of us. Once we learn that the Pool of Shiloah was also called the upper pool, then we know exactly where Isaiah is referring, and the conduit or aqueduct is Hezekiah's tunnel that was constructed to bring in water into the seiged city of Jerusalem from the nearby Gihon Spring.

In 2 Nephi 20:9 when the Assyrian king is boasting about Calno, Carchemish, Hamath, and Arpad, it's helpful to know that those are the names of cities (not people as I had assumed) that had been conquored by the Assyrian armies (738 BC, 717 BC, 720 BC, and 738 BC, respectively).

2 Nephi 21/ Isaiah 11 speaks a lot about the conditions in the Millennium and the gathering of Israel. Verse 11 indicates that the "remnant of his people" will be gathered from "Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea." Egypt I can pick out of that line-up and even find on a map, but the rest is a little fuzzy. After a little research, I found that Assyria is comparable to present-day Iran/ Iraq. Pathros is Upper Egypt, Cush is Ethiopia, Elam is Persia, Shinar is the city of Babel, and Hamath is Upper Syria. Now it's a little easier to get the scope of this specific gathering. The Islands of the sea were pretty much anywhere you couldn't get to on land, which would include the Americas, England, etc.

So there we go, the fourth key is knowing a little about the geography of Israel and the surrounding areas. Part of what makes this one so difficult is the fact that some of the places Isaiah names have been renamed or don't exist anymore. Don't let that trip you up though, there's enough information available to get the general idea.

The "Isaiah Barrier" - Key 3

Time for the third key to our understanding of Isaiah (almost seems like a contridiction in terms, doesn't it). After Nephi finished quoting from Isaiah, he mentioned a couple of things his people would need to know in order to understand these chapters (and presumably the rest of Isaiah). He said he taught his people "concerning the judgments of God, which hath come to pass among the Jews" (2 Nephi 25:6).

How is that going to help us with Isaiah?? There are a couple of answers which may help. First, if we see that Isaiah's prophecies concerning his day came true, then we can be confident his prophecies concerning our day will also come true (and some already have). Also, as if he wasn't hard enough to understand already, Isaiah made several dualistic prophecies which can apply to our day and his day at the same time. Understanding what happened in his day can help us figure out things that will happen in ours. For example, 2 Nephi 23/ Isaiah 13 uses the destruction of Babylon as a symbol of the destruction that will accompany the Second Coming.

So, where exactly do we start? One thing I found helpful was to make two lists as I went through 2 Nephi 12 - 24. The first list was God's judgement for the righteous. The second list was God's judgement upon the wicked. This helped me put things into perspective and sort out some of the tricky parts.Let's take a look at a few passages to see if they make more sense.

2 Nephi 12:6

Therefore, O Lord, thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and hearken unto soothsayers like the Philistines...

I wondered for a long time what it meant to be "replenished from the east". I should've checked the footnotes. The corresponding verse in Isaiah 2 has a footnote which explains that 'replenished' is an Idiomatic Expression meaning 'are filled, supplied with teachings' (Isaiah 2:6a). So Israel was getting a time-out for turning to other philosophies and beliefs, rather than turning to God for direction.

Another example is in 2 Nephi 13:16-24. I have read this passage several times in the past and have heard it discussed in Sunday School classes as being judgements against Babylon. Take a moment to read verse 16 again:

Moreover, the Lord saith: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched-forth necks and wanton eyes...

Whoa, Isaiah is saying that this is judgement upon the Lord's own chosen people. Those of the Lord's church are being chastized for following the world's extremes in fashion and for being proud while they're doing it. The word wanton means "sexually lawless or unrestrained; loose; lascivious", and these are the daughters of Zion... I don't need to know what a caul, wimple, or crisping pin is to know these girls are in trouble.

Let's shift gears and look at something a bit more uplifting.

2 Nephi 15:25:
"...For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still."

Some commentators interpret this as saying the Lord is just waiting to strike Israel again. I see it as the dual roles of justice and mercy. On one side, justice demands that we receive "the fruit of [our] doings" (2 Nephi 13:10), whether good or evil. On the other side, mercy seeks to lift us up as much as we will allow. I read that scripture and I see God's hand reaching out to pull us up if we will only grab hold.

Anyhow, go through and make your own list so you can see how Isaiah refers to God's judgements on Israel and other nations. I found the corresponding footnotes in Isaiah really help to understand the same passages in 2 Nephi, especially in the context of God's judgements.

The "Isaiah Barrier" - Key 2

As I finished my last post, I started to wonder what I got myself into. I can’t rightly just wander off onto other tangents now that I have started. When you start a 5-part series, people will most likely expect all five parts. And, unless you’re George Lucas, people will expect those parts to be in sequential order (maybe I could run a prequel series after this is done).

So why am I doing this? I’d like to say that my motives are purely altruistic and I have nothing but your best interest in mind. Honestly, this is more of an enforced personal study program for me. I had to cover in about 35-40 minutes of class time what could easily spill into hours of study. I guess this is my way of covering all the ground I couldn’t do in class…

So, now that we’re all practiced up on likening the scriptures to ourselves, we can venture out into the second key to unlocking Isaiah.

Key 2: 2 Nephi 25:1
“Know … concerning the manner of prophesying among the Jews”.

Wait a minute, Elder Eyring said that Nephi selected these chapters from Isaiah because he knew we could get through them without having to be proficient in Hebrew. Now you’re telling me that I need to know how the Jews prophesied? I’m confused.

Yes, Isaiah’s prophecies are written in a style that the Jews were accustomed to reading and hearing. He used imagery and symbolism that would have been familiar to Jewish people in his time, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re out of luck either. Nephi wouldn’t have included those passages if he didn’t think we would catch the important parts. I have to keep reminding myself during the tough parts that Nephi saw our day and picked things he thought would be relevant to us.

So let’s look at a few passages to see if we can make sense out of the imagery.

Let’s start with an easy one, 2 Nephi 12:2–3.
2. And it shall come to pass in the last days, when the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it.

I picked this one to start because most of us already know that Isaiah is talking about temples (especially if we read the chapter heading). This is a good exercise in “reverse engineering” the symbolism. Why would Isaiah choose a mountain to represent the temple? Think of the physical effort it takes to get to the top of a mountain compared to the spiritual effort required to reach the House of the Lord. From the mountain, you can see as far as the physical limitation of your vision will allow. From the temple, you can see as much of eternity as your mortal, finite mind can grasp. How much of the daily distraction do you hear from the top of a mountain?

If the temple is compared to a mountain, then what would be symbolic of the hills, above which the mountain is exalted?

Another example: 2 Nephi 14:5-6.
5. And the Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for upon all the glory of Zion shall be a defence.

Huh? So all the houses will be on fire? That doesn’t sound good, but those who read the story of Moses should see something a little familiar here. The footnote in verse 5 refers to Exodus 13:21:

And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night;

During Israel’s camping trip in the desert, the presence of the Lord was a literal protection for them in the day and guidance and light for them in the night. So when Isaiah uses the same imagery to describe the millennial conditions, what does it really mean? If it was the Lord’s presence for Moses, then it’ll be the Lord’s presence again in the Millennium. That defense is sounding a whole lot better now.

As an interesting side note, early manuscripts of Joseph Smith's account of his First Vision experience show that he often crossed out the word 'fire' and used 'light' or 'glory' to describe the appearance of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Orson Pratt wrote in his book 'Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Vision' that Joseph expected to see "the leaves and boughs of the trees consumed" (pg 5).

We can use Key #1 to liken this to ourselves now that we have a better understanding of the imagery. To what extent do we allow the Lord to be our cloud by day and fire by night? Do we walk in darkness when the Lord offers noon-day illumination to our souls and lives? Is our “dwelling-place of mount Zion” entrusted to the Lord’s protective care?

Sometimes other scriptures can help us understand the symbolism used. Compare 2 Nephi 15:1-7 with Zenos’ allegory of the olive trees in Jacob 5. Imagine, using Isaiah to help another scripture passage make sense. Never thought you'd be doing that, did you?

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “I make this broad declaration, that whenever God gives a vision of an image, or beast, or figure of any kind, He always holds Himself responsible to give a revelation or interpretation of the meaning thereof, otherwise we are not responsible or accountable for our belief in it. Don’t be afraid of being damned for not knowing the meaning of a vision or figure, if God has not given a revelation or interpretation of the subject.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., p. 291.)

If you run into symbolism you don't understand, check the footnotes to see if/how other scriptures refer to the passage. I've found it helpful to compare the Isaiah footnotes from the Book of Mormon chapters with those in the Old Testament.

The second key boils down to understanding the symbolism and imagery used by Isaiah. Keep an open mind and heart as you read and you'll find that you understand more than you think you do. Just remember that the Lord wants you to understand what you're reading and will help if you put the effort in.

The "Isaiah Barrier" - The First Key

Why is Isaiah so hard to understand? You'd think if it were so important (and it is...), it would be written in a way we could grasp. I'm offering this as purely my own opinion, but here's what makes sense to me. First, let me refer to part of a talk by Elder Richard G. Scott from October General Conference, 1989. In speaking of prayer he said,

"I have discovered that what sometimes seems an impenetrable barrier to communication is a giant step to be taken in trust."

Huh? Where am I going with this? Lemme 'splain... God gives us weaknesses "that [we] may be humble; and [His] grace is sufficient for all ... that humble themselves before [him]..." (Ether 12:27). I believe that Isaiah is intentionally difficult to help us become humble enough to go to the Lord for help. To paraphrase Elder Scott, 'what sometimes seesms an impenetrable barrier to understanding the scriptures is a giant step to be taken in trusting the Lord'. It seems impassable, but with the Lord's help we'll make it through Isaiah...

The Gospel Doctrine manual lists five 'keys' to help understand Isaiah. Those of you in the advanced class might skip ahead to Elder Bruce R. McConkie's "Ten Keys to Understanding Isaiah". While I am a huge fan of Elder McConkie, it might be a little much for most of us right now. I want to deal with the keys listed in the manual and see if they can be expanded upon. This is going to turn into one of those "tune in next week" series because I'll probably only be able to deal with one key at a time.

Key #1: 1 Nephi 19:23

This verse was brought up as one of the reasons why Nephi quoted Isaiah so often, "that [he] might more fully persuade [his brothers] to believe in the Lord their Redeemer". It also has the first key in how to make sense out of not only Isaiah, but all scriptures. We, like Nephi, need to "liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning."

If you're like me (which would be a scary thought), you're asking yourself, "How do I liken something I don't understand?"

In the February 2004 Ensign, Elder Henry B. Eyring said, "I have worried about the barrier of Isaiah. In fact, I have pondered this thought: 'Why did Nephi put the barrier there?'"

See... even Elder Eyring calls it a barrier. Now I don't feel so bad. After referring to 1 Nephi 19:23, he continues:

"I have thought perhaps what Nephi is trying to tell us is that he recognized the barrier of Isaiah. He knew that the book of Isaiah is full of imagery. Of all the scriptures, few have as many images; therefore, Isaiah can be very difficult. I believe what Nephi meant by “liken all scriptures unto us” was that they could be directly applied.

"Many are more skilled than I am at putting scriptures in their historic context. There are wonderful techniques of understanding metaphor, simile, and allegory in the scriptures, and I hope you will learn as much about that as you can. But I hope you will learn one more thing. As you read Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, try to believe that Nephi knew Isaiah and he knew imagery. Nephi said to liken Isaiah directly unto you. So I tried it. I read Isaiah’s words again, assuming Nephi picked the parts of Isaiah that I, without worrying about the imagery, could take directly to my heart as if the Lord were speaking to me…" (Henry B. Eyring, “The Book of Mormon Will Change Your Life”, Ensign, Feb 2004, 9)

Elder Eyring seems to be saying that Nephi picked out passages that we would be able to apply to ourselves without being fluent in Hebrew or knowing anything about the culture. Sounds great, but does it work? Let's look at a few passages and test it out.

1 Nephi 21:14-16

14 But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me—but he will show that he hath not.

Who hasn't felt forgotten or forsaken in this life? I think it's safe to say we all pass through that at one point, wondering if God is aware of what we're doing or going through.

15 For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel.

The Lord says a woman would forget her nursing child before He ever forgot about us. That's a comforting thought to me.

16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

When I was in high school (before the wonder of Palm Pilots and electronic organizers), when I needed to remember important items like homework assignments or a girl's phone number, the only way for me to be assured of remembering it later was to write it on my hands. I had to be careful, because if I wrote it on my palm the writing would wear off or smudge so I couldn't read what I had written. Isaiah says that the Lord has a more reliable method of remembering us. We are written on the "palms of [His] hands", but not with ink. The nails of the cross are His reminders of us, "continually before [Him]."

Another example: 2 Nephi 15:18:

Wo unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope

Imagine someone pulling their sins behind them, tied to the cart by their own vanity. How often do we let our own pride prevent us from letting go of our "favorite" sins? So we often keep hauling them around with us, making our own progress more difficult.

So there's the first key, likening Isaiah to ourselves. Sounds easy enough, right? While it may not seem straight-forward to start out, but with practice and application it becomes easier. Eventually...