In studying Nephi’s vision, it seemed to me that I should
mark which parts were vision and which parts were angelic exposition.
In doing so, I noticed that the angel put a lot of effort
into describing the Bible and the scriptures among the Gentiles. I wondered, why was all that
needed? I looked at what Nephi had
seen prior to it, and I realized he had seen something very odd from a
spiritual standpoint. He had seen
the formation of a great and abominable church, and then he had seen gentile
nations conquering the promised land while carrying a book and that they had
the Lord’s spirit! This would be
puzzling. Nephi would ask himself
how a people with a great and abominable church among them could be permitted
to prosper so and be favored over his own people who had dwindled in unbelief.
The answer was that the book (the Bible) had influenced the
gentiles for good, even after it had been corrupted by the great and abominable
church, and even though the corruptions caused lots of mistakes. The book was more powerful than the
great and abominable church. The
angel wanted Nephi to understand the exact nature of the book and where the
gentiles’ blessings came from.
2 comments:
As a missionary in the South (Bible Belt) I came across people who would say (I kid you not) "A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible and there cannot be any more Bible." Those people could not be taught. Thanks for sharing your insights.
I've heard that too.
My dad was a missionary in South Africa and he learned Africaans. He used to recite that scripture in Africaans and it sounded so funny to us kids that we eventually learned to say it ourselves.
Isn't it interesting that the Book of Mormon prophesied of its own reception?
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