Come Follow Me Insights (Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 11-15, Jan 20-26)
This week, we're going to be focusing on 1 Nephi chapters 11 through 15, and I'm going to be
focusing on one small aspect of that. Nephi goes up onto “an exceedingly high mountain,” and he's
going to have one of the most incredible panoptic visions of all time where God shows him all kinds
of things past, present, and future. And he comes down off of this mountain of revelation,
and the first thing that he's introduced to when he gets back to camp is Laman and Lemuel standing
there arguing, contending with one another concerning what their father had taught. And
Nephi's simple question of them was, “Have you inquired of the Lord?” And their answer
reveals a whole lot about their character and about their faith and where they are in
their discipleship. They say “We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.”
Now, that's an interesting contrast from chapter 15. If we go back to chapter 11 where Nephi,
sitting in the very same audience with Laman and Lemuel, listening to their dad give the
account of the dream of Lehi that he had -- for Nephi, it wasn't enough to listen
to dad share his experiences. Nephi wanted to see it himself, so he had faith in the Lord,
he went to the Lord, and he sought an answer to this question: can I see what my dad saw?
In chapter 11, you'll notice, in verse 1, the process of what he went through to receive
revelation. So, step one when seeking revelation: he first desired to know. It's something he really
wanted. He “...desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord
was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering”. Now notice that he didn't just say,
as I was pondering. He “sat pondering”. That one simple word implies that he wasn't just out in
the field working while he was pondering, or falling asleep while he was pondering,
or working on some other project pondering. He “sat pondering” implies that he set aside
specific time. I'm going to devote my full energy and attention to this. Notice where
he was doing his pondering: in his heart, which tells you the depth of the pondering,
and then it says, “...I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord”.
Isn't it interesting? We desire to know the truth, we believe that God can reveal things to us,
and as we sit pondering the words of prophets -- in Nephi's case, it was the words of his dad,
his father Lehi, but for us it's the same pattern, whether it be sitting in front,
or sitting down with the scriptures in front of us, pondering the words of these prophets,
or sitting at the feet of prophets today that are alive speaking to us today. It invites
revelation. So, all three of these things add up to him receiving one of the most incredible
revelations ever. Now, this doesn't mean that we're going to have the same vision,
but revelation will flow as we follow this same pattern.
Now, it's interesting. If you pay attention, what is it that he really wanted to see? Verse 4:
“...the Spirit said unto me: Believest thou that thy father saw the tree of which he [spake,
or of which he] hath spoken? And I said: Yea, thou knowest that I believe all
the words of my father.” And then the Spirit asks him what he wants to see,
and he wanted to see the tree, so verse 7: “behold this thing shall be given unto thee for a sign,
that after thou hast beheld the tree which bore the fruit which thy father tasted,
thou shalt also behold a man descending out of heaven, and him shall ye witness;
and after [you've] witnessed him ye shall bear record that it is the Son of God.”
There are two ways that “it” can be interpreted. The “it” could be pointing back to the man
descending out of heaven, or it could also be pointing back to the tree. And I love the
symbolism of the Spirit of the Lord comparing these two things, saying Nephi, I'm going to
show you a tree, then I'm going to show you a man descending out of heaven, and you're
going to bear witness that it's the Son of God. As you turn this page over, look what happens after
he sees the tree. Then, he wants to know the interpretation thereof, but look at the bottom
of verse 8. Look at the descriptors. It says that “...the beauty of the tree was far beyond,
[exceeding all] beauty; and the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow.”
Think about that for a minute. He saw this tree. He's never seen anything this white.
The only comparison Nephi can make is something he would have been familiar with in Jerusalem,
which is snow. It was so white, it was so pure, it was so beautiful,
and the grand irony is that right after he sees the tree, he asks the Spirit to show him, then,
the interpretation. What does it mean? This is how revelations work. We sometimes go in
seeking one thing. Once we get that, then the Lord is willing to reveal much more to us,
if we're willing to ask, and if we're willing to seek it out. And this is a beautiful example
of line upon line upon line of revelations that just keep coming for Nephi because he seeks them.
And the very first thing he's shown when he asked for the interpretation is a vision of
the future. He sees Nazareth, he sees Mary, and interestingly, the descriptions of Mary
in this next section are the exact same as the descriptors for the tree. Notice he says,
in the bottom of verse 13, “...in the city of Nazareth I beheld a virgin, and she was
exceedingly fair and white.” As you read your Book of Mormon, sometimes we make a really big
deal of skin color, and of race. Mary would have been a Jewess, a Jew, and she would have probably
been very olive complected, and it would be very strange for Nephi to see a woman, Mary,
and say she's exceedingly white. She would have probably had that olive complexion, thus implying,
perhaps, that when the Book of Mormon mentions things like color, that it might be referring to
a lot more than just skin pigmentation. It might be referring to the state of the person's spirit
and soul. After he sees this beautiful virgin, who was “exceedingly fair and white”, you have to stop
and analyze: wow, there's this tree that was the first thing that was seen, and then he sees a man,
and then he sees the mother of that man, and both of them have these attributes that are beautifully
symbolized by a tree that gives light, life, a tree that bears fruit. And, in both cases,
there are a lot of symbolisms that tie Jesus with his mother bringing him into this life, the fruit
that she bears for us. She is going to shed her blood, so to speak, to give life to Jesus,
mortal life to Jesus. He's going to shed his blood to give eternal life to her, and all of us,
as well. Beautiful symbolisms for you to consider as you go through this revelation. Chapters 11,
12, 13, 14, especially paying attention to eleven, all of the “looks”, there are going to be eight
of them in this chapter, scene changes, where Nephi is going to see different elements of the
Savior's life, culminating with his infinite Atonement, his death, and his resurrection.
Okay, so now I would invite you, as you go through this week's material for Come Follow Me,
that you analyze, where are you on this scale that Nephi showed us? And it's interesting,
Nephi showed you an example. Laman and Lemuel showed you a non-example. They didn't believe.
They desired to know, but they didn't believe that God would reveal these things to them. Therefore,
they didn't act. They didn't step in, and so they didn't sit pondering. They
stood arguing with each other. So, as you go through the scriptures,
analyze how you can improve in all of those three areas in seeking revelation. President
Russell M Nelson has told us repeatedly that the Lord is willing, and ready,
and able to reveal much more to us than we're currently receiving, if we'll just seek it.
The Book of Mormon is such a fascinating, engaging text. We've been talking about the covenantal
context of the Book of Mormon. We talked about in the Bible, there are two major covenants,
represented by two different mountains: the Abrahamic covenant at Mount Moriah,
or Mount Zion, and the Mosaic Covenant at Mount Sinai. The Abrahamic covenant is what
God has promised to do for us, and the Mosaic Covenant is what we promised to do for God,
and to show covenantal loyalty. And the whole point of these covenants is to bring us into
covenantal relationship. And the scriptures are, essentially, the instructional manual
for how to show covenantal loyalty and the Book of Mormon is one of the most brilliantly constructed
covenantal instruction manuals. So, let's talk about how Nephi's vision is evoked by his
faithfulness in the covenant. Particularly, how he demonstrates faithfulness in the Mosaic Covenant,
and therefore is provided from God this grand vision of truth. That's what God wants to offer
us. I've written down the two major covenants here. Jesus is the covenant path; he basically
creates these two covenant mountains, creates the borders for the pathway for us to follow Jesus.
So, one of the major terms that shows up in the Mosaic Covenant is the word “believe”. Now,
we all think we know what the word “believe” means, and what we know is true,
but there's also a covenantal context that the word “belief”, or “believe”,
evokes, and it literally means “to be within the covenant”. So, when you believe, or if actually,
we hear somebody in scriptures “believing”, it means that they have trusted God, that he will
provide, and they are doing deeds of loyalty back to God. They are showing, I'm in the covenant. So,
it's more than just saying, I believe in Jesus. It's, I'm actually demonstrating,
by my life and my deeds, that I trust God, that I'm within the covenantal context.
Now, there are some really fascinating things here about the word “believe” in English I want
to point out. In 1 Nephi chapter 11, verse 1, it says “For it came to pass after I desired
to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them
known unto me, ...” Now, that's interesting. Nephi says, I believed, meaning I had covenantal trust
that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob could provide a way for me to have access to larger
truth. And because I'm within the covenant, God is under covenantal obligation to provide those
things for me. So that's the context that's going on in the background. And Nephi doesn't pause,
as we're doing here, to talk through that all. He just lives in this covenantal context,
and so when he talks in these ways, he's not explaining everything that's going on in his
heart and mind. And so, of course, he says that he believes, and he has this experience: “...I
sat pondering in my heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high
mountain, which I [had never] before seen, and upon which I [had never] set my foot.”
He has this exchange with the Spirit. The Spirit asks him, what do you desire? Nephi
says, “I desire to behold the things that my father saw.” And the Spirit said unto Nephi,
“Believest thou that thy father saw the tree of which he hath spoken?” So, the Spirit asks him,
do you believe what your father saw? And Nephi, this is his opportunity to declare,
yes, I'm within the covenant. I trust that God delivers truth. And because
he's in that covenantal context and commitment, a committed relationship,
God can now reveal further truth to him, and it's actually about the covenant path, about Jesus,
alright? It's about the tree of life, but that's Jesus. And if you think about it,
the tree of life, you get there by following a path with a rod of iron. The rod of iron is the
word of God that leads you on the covenant path to Jesus. So, this is how it's all tied together.
Let's talk briefly about the English word “believe”. I talked kind of about
the covenantal context in Nephi's time, but in modern-day English, people don't realize this,
but the word “believe” is very powerful. It comes from two words: “be”. “Be” literally means fully,
a hundred percent, complete. And the “-lieve” of “believe” comes from the word “love”. So,
when you believe something, it's because you fully love it. So, if I believe God,
it's because I fully love him. And remember, “love” is a covenantal
term that means we are loyal to God, and we're in the covenant with him.
If you think about a married relationship, love is about being in a committed relationship. It's
not about being perfect. So, Nephi begins his vision by expressing belief that he's
in the covenant. He's committed to God. Therefore, God has more truth to reveal
about the covenant path. When the vision ends, it's very interesting. 1 Nephi chapter 14,
verse 30: “And now I make an end of speaking concerning the things which I saw while I was
carried away in the Spirit; and if all the things which I saw are not written, the things which I
have written are true.” You can trust me, that I'm delivering truth. “And thus it is. Amen.”
So, he uses this word “amen”. Now the word “amen”, in Hebrew, means “belief”. Really what Nephi is
doing here is making a covenantal statement, like, I've been true to the covenant. God revealed all
this truth to me that reveals the covenant path. And to convince you that I have delivered that
truth, I'm going to use the covenantal term “amen”. That means that I am committed to God
in covenant, and these words I've delivered will reveal God's covenants to you. And that's why he
says “amen”. He actually says “amen”, also, in the next chapter when he talks to his brothers. Again,
trying to signal this is faithful. What I've shared with you are faithful words that you can
trust. So, as you're reading the Book of Mormon, look for those key words, like “belief”, and
“faith”, and “amen”. And now you can see these are covenantal terms where we are invited to show our
loving loyalty to God, who has demonstrated his love to us, by offering the Abrahamic promises.