Jarom, Omni, Words of Mormon

Going to start with a quick recap of 1 Nephi 6, I promise it will give more meaning to Jarom, Omni and the Words of Mormon!

There are critics out there who claim the Book of Mormon is not inspired of God because it does not start out with the writers genealogy line, as does the old testament. Well Nephi was expecting that, and in Chapter 6 he writes what this book is all about.

V1-3 It is not meant to be a history book, so I think its funny when people try to attack it for a lack of historical fact checks or tangible evidence. Attacking this book for something it never intended to be, is kind of like criticizing the phone book for lack of a plot.

V4. THE PURPOSE OF THIS WHOLE BOOK:

"The fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto God".      - Nephi

V5. paraphrasing here - "and because of that, I don't write the things that are pleasing unto the world… but I do write that which is pleasing to God". 

V6. Nephi to his kids: "Do NOT waste space on these plates!"

Nephi lays down the law for how this record is to be kept.

But, we don't really get to see how well this is taken until the plates  are passed to the next writer.

So, fast-forward to Jacob 1. In the first three verses, Jacob talks about the rules that Nephi set.

Fast-forward to Jacob 7:27. Jacob passes the baton to his son Enos, and tells him of the commandment he received from Nephi.

Fast-forward to Jarom!

V1. Jarom talks about the commandment that Enos gave him regarding the plates, but in the same breath says "that our genealogy may be kept"… I can picture Nephi getting uncomfortable in his grave. (More on that later).

Jarom's words are brief, but not because he didn't receive any revelation or have any prophecies (V2).

To me, Jarom is like that person who gets up in sacrament meeting and kind of excuses him/herself for taking up time, not having anything new to say, but yet simply wanted to bear their testimony to what has been said. And sometimes those are the most powerful. No story to grab our attention, just a pure, 2nd witness.

V3. His people have hard hearts.

V5. they try to keep the sabbath day holy by filling their day with "Do not's" as opposed to "Do's". 

• Do not profane
• Do not blaspheme
• The laws were exceedingly strict

Perhaps the laws were exceedingly strict, because of the hardness of their hearts. Maybe anything softer would not penetrate.

I just want to mention another scripture that talks about the sabbath day. D&C 59:4  "And they shall be crowned with blessings and with commandments". If you can have the perspective that you are being "crowned" with commandments, you're doing something right. So let's see commandments not as cords binding us, but as avenues to greater happiness.

V11. Jarom and the prophets "taught the law of Moses, and the intent for which it was given."  They taught the what, and the why.

Can you imagine learning the law of Moses without learning the why behind? Hard pass.

The why empowers the what. One of my all time favorite quotes: "With increased vision, comes increased motivation." The more you understand about yourself and your potential, the more you understand the "why's" of the gospel.. the "what's" seem like nothing. And yet the what's are what trips people up all the time!

Actually I should rephrase that. The "what's" won't seem like nothing, because that gives a sense that they are there to trip you. Rather, as you understand the "why", the "what's" will become stepping stones for you. You will reach a greater capacity for joy. I love the thought of that! Think of the happiest moment of your life, and we'll liken that to a glass of water filled to the brim. At the moment, you're probably thinking "I literally couldn't be happier". And that's probably true! But as you climb these stepping stones, that glass of water eventually becomes a pitcher, with so much more room to feel even more joy. I'd keep going with this but I don't know what comes after a pitcher… a water barrel? A pool? Analogies aren't my strong suit…

Anyways.. V15 Jarom passes the torch to Omni.

Now I'll be honest, the Book of Omni is kind of a low point in the book of mormon in my view. But it picks up at the end.

The book of Omni looks like my journal. A few things here, some years pass, then a few more things there. Omni then passes it to his son Amaron. (V3)

Amaron writes a few things then passes the plates to his brother Chemish (V8)

Verse 9 is kind of interesting. It's the first time we don't see a successful passing of the baton. Chemish just says "I make an end."

This could have been the end of the Book of Mormon, no direction for anyone to carry on with the plates.

But, V10-11, his son Abinadom picks up the plates for a minute. He says the record of his people are being recorded on the plates held by the kings. (***Remember this, we'll come back to it at the end).

I think in Abinadom's mind, he's not sure why we have this second set of plates. He seems to have nothing to add, so he too "makes an end". Nephi certainly getting really uncomfortable at this point. His small plates of plain and precious things are being taken up by this?

The saving grace of this Amaleki. He seems to receive the plates (V12)  and stops this downward spiral of wasted space, just for genealogy's sake. Amaleki tells us of a king named Mosiah, who the Lord warned should flee into the wilderness with as many that would listen to the words of the Lord.

Sound familiar? (Lehi, Nephi, maybe even Joseph Smith, Brigham Young)

I love Amaleki because

A: He gives us two great verses of scripture in 25 & 26

B: He recognizes that Mosiah's son Benjamin, is a just man and will do with these plates that which Nephi had directed.

V25. Amaleki echoes Nephi's purpose of these plates, inviting all to come unto God and believe in prophesying, revelations, angels, gift of the spirit, etc.

V26. He invites us to come and partake. And to come and offer

To relate this to 2020. I think church is at it's best when people go to church to partake in salvation, but also come to offer what they can to others. When everyone takes, no one receives. When everyone gives, everyone is blessed.

So whenever church opens back up, I hope you keep this invitation in mind. "Offer your whole soul" unto Christ, offer up your talents in your calling, and offer up your thoughts when the Sunday school teacher is struggling. I think as you keep those words fresh in your memory, "offer your whole soul", you be able to apply that in more ways than I could write down in the blog.

OKAY. We just finished the small plates of Nephi! Congrats!

 The Words of Mormon

Remember in Omni 1:11, they talk about that other record being held by the kings? Well that refers way back to 1 Nephi 9:2-4.

Nephi started a large set of plates for an account of the reign of the kings and wars and contentions. While the small plates was only to be given an account of the ministry of the gospel.

So this whole time that we've been reading, since 1 Nephi 1, there has been another set of plates being written.

Mormon took this large set of plates (beginning when Lehi left Jerusalem, 600 years before Christ, and ending when the last of the Nephites died some 400 years after Christ) and compiled a thousand years of history down to the best of the best.

After he had done this, he was kind of going through his things, probably cleaning up shop, and he came across these "small plates of Nephi".  

V4 Mormon talks about how these small plates are filled with prophecies that he himself has seen to be fulfilled. After witnessing almost the complete destruction of his people, can you imagine how Mormon felt after reading Enos 1:13?

V6. He says "they are choice unto me; and I know they will be choice unto my brethren." So Mormon adds these small plates to his finished record.

V7. Sure there may be some redundancies with what Lehi already wrote, but Mormon does "this for a wise purpose" known only to God.

Nephi, 600 BC, "I don't know why I'm making 2 records…"

Mormon, 400 AD, "I don't know why I'm including 2 records…"

Joseph Smith and Martin Harris, 1828, "Thank you Lord for including 2 records."

Kind of cool to think that 1 Nephi through Omni was almost an after thought to these prophets, and turned out to be such a blessing to us.

I'm going to end with V11. These plates have been handed down "from generation to generation until they have fallen into my hands."

Think about the first time this book landed in your hands, if you can remember, and think about all those who worked diligently to get it there. That's a humbling thought to ponder on.

V11 "For there are great things written upon them." Mormon giving us a little teaser of more good things to come.

Large plates of Nephi coming up next!

Onward and Upward,