“it is wisdom in God that we should obtain
these records…”
-There
was a reason for doing what they were doing.
There always is at least one reason behind the things the Lord commands
us. Understanding that reason(s) further
empowers us and drives us to be more faithful.
Besides knowing that they were engaged in a commandment of the Lord,
which Laman and Lemuel did not know –their first error-, Nephi also by this point
had discovered the reasons behind the command
(a position that Laman and Lemuel never could have come to because they
were stuck back on problem #1).
“that"
-here we
are explicitly told the reason and importance of their obtaining the plates of
scripture:
1. “preserve unto the children the language of fathers”
-this
could very easily mean much more than knowledge about the ability to speak or
write the language –such ability would be passed down (although with changes
and modifications) simply as a function of growing up, like walking. What then could it mean?
a. “language”
has a couple of meanings: one would be
what I have described above (a mechanism of social communication). A second would be a more inclusive term for
culture or learning or experience. This
would include covenants and laws, communication methods and a history of God’s
interaction of the same with man. In
light of this definition, having a record that stands as a bona fide original
record of the reality of such things would be vitally important.
b.
the phraseology has a distinct familiarity with another meaningful verse
of scripture: “turn the hearts of the
children to the fathers and the hearts of the fathers to the children.” Perhaps this situation was as important to
those of former dispensations as it is to us today.
c. ? (more…
2. “preserve the words… of all the prophets… since the world
began” (from verse 20)
-there
must be something important in reading the words of the prophets… How much
value do we put on the scriptures? The
Lord felt them valuable enough to put the lives of four of his children
(including one of the greatest prophets to walk on earth, who incidentally has
a most important role to fulfill in his future years) in jeopardy.
-CR: Omni 1:18
“unto our
children”
-at this
point Nephi nor Laman or Lemuel had children. In fact, they were not even married. Nephi’s vision and understanding of the
purpose behind this errand extended well into the future. In a sense, he, was
‘seeing’ as God sees: where the present
and future is an eternal “now”. When we
see things as they are to come, we are overcoming the limitation of time, a
component that is so central and fundamental to the mortal experience.
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