From Fasting to Feasting

The last verse of 1 Nephi 1 and the first two verses of 1 Nephi 2 read: "But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender  c mercies  of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of  d deliverance . "For behold, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto my father, yea, even in a dream, and said unto him: Blessed art thou Lehi, because of the things which thou hast done; and because thou hast been faithful and declared unto this people the things which I commanded thee, behold, they seek to  a take away  thy  b life . "And it came to pass that the Lord  a commanded  my father, even in a  b dream , that he should  c take  his family and depart into the wilderness." We again see that God often communicates in dreams. This is a very normal way for us to begin to see and understand the revelations God has for us. Most nights I find myself praying to have revela...

We learn in the next few verses of chapter 1 that Lehi was not accustomed to Spiritually intense manifestations. He came home exhausted and fell to his bed. Here is the next truth we learn…often the initial revelation is only the tip of the iceberg.  There is another beautiful truth we gain here - God is aware of our human bodies and the limitations they have when we are beginning our interactions with the Spirit in very powerful ways. Again and again the doctrines, instructions, truths, and mysteries are revealed in dreams. This is incredibly efficient as the body can rest and the conscious mind doesn’t fight the message that is coming. God is able to do things like that and He does them for us often. But the big takeaway for me in verses 6-14 is that there was SO much more the Lord desired to reveal to Lehi than what was revealed in the very beginning. Lehi could have panicked after that first pillar revelation and fought through his exhaustion to talk with his family about it al...

 Over the years, as I’ve talked with people about the Book of Mormon and especially about Nephi, I always hear the same things. It goes something along the lines of, “The stories are good, but those Isaiah chapter…” And that seems to be what people get from 1 and 2 Nephi.  At one point I thought to write a book about how I see and understand those pages of scripture. But let’s face it, I’m me. Writing a book takes organization and that is something I really do not do well. So instead I’m going to try to pull things together here.  To me, the first 117 pages of the Book of Mormon are the manual for how to enter into the presence of Christ, not when I die, but here in this mortal world in this mortal body. But to convince you of this, I need to first explain what I feel it means to follow Jesus Christ. For as long as I can remember I was told to follow Jesus, to do as He did. As a little girl I wondered how in the world I was going to be able to walk on water, or cause the ...

 We live in a society that is focused on perfection - either a person is a perfectionist or they shun perfectionism. Our definition of perfection is toxic and painful and harmful. In Hebrew, where we read that Abraham was commanded to be perfect, or that Noah was a “perfect man in his generation” the word “perfect” means something different than our modern definition of that word. When reading in Hebrew, you have to take each word one letter at a time because each letter is so full of meaning. After studying that word for a very long time, I began to see it form into something different than I expected. I had often heard people refer to the number “7” in Hebrew as the definition of perfect - meaning whole and complete. But even this misses the mark. It is only a portion of the definition and it gives the wrong impression of the word. The word “perfect” is hard to articulate, because I don’t know if you understand each word I use in the way I use it or if you are defining it differe...

  “Whom shall he teach a knowledge ? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are b weaned from the c milk , and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, a precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little…” Isaiah 28:9-10 God, from the beginning of the fall of Adam and Eve, instituted the eternal laws of progression; a pattern for learning. There is an order to progression. It comes the same way for every one of us, from the least to the greatest. We are taught that even Jesus Christ, our Savior and Mediator, learned in this fashion. He did not have a fullness at first, but learned line upon line. (Luke 2:40, Doctrine and Covenants 93:12-14) Thus the pattern was established that we should grow into our gifts, our purposes for being on this earth, and our eternal progressions. Understanding that this is the way our Father in Heaven works, I have always struggled with the idea that Joseph Smith was a pro...

Continuing where we left off. Verse 6 "And it came to pass that after many days it began to put forth somewhat a little, young and tender branches; but behold, the main top thereof began to perish." As we go through this allegory, it is important to note that what is wild, or perishes, or is spoken of in a negative way is pointing toward our hearts moving away from God. Verse 7 "And it came to pass that the master of the vineyard saw it, and he said unto his servant: It grieveth me that I should lose this tree; wherefore, go and pluck the branches from a wild olive-tree, and bring them hither unto me; and we will pluck off those main branches which are beginning to with away, and we will cast them into the fire that they may be burned." First, the master of the vineyard saw it.  In other words, the Lord know us intimately and deeply and personally.  We are not lost from His view or from His knowing.  He eye is ever on us. Isaiah 49:16 - this is what come...

The Olive Tree is symbolic of each one of us.  You are the tree.  And all of this connects back to the symbolism from the Tree of Life we talked about in a previous post.   But that will not be discussed here.  Let's just talk about this allegory for now. Verses 1-3 "Behold, my brethren, do ye not remember to have read the words of the prophet Zenos, which he spake unto the house of Israel, saying: Hearken, O ye house of Israel, and hear the words of me, a prophet of the Lord.  For behold, thus saith the Lord, I will liken thee, O house of Israel, like unto a tame olive-tree, which a man took and nourished in his vineyard; and it grew, and waxed old, and began to decay." Here Jacob tells us that they have already been taught this at least once by saying, "...do ye not remember...the words of the prophet Zenos..."  And we know they have been taught because we are told in 1 Nephi 10:12 that Lehi spoke "much" about this prophecy.  Wow.  With Jac...

As we continue on with the conversation of Jacob in preparing us to understand the Olive Tree Allegory, he begins to tell us the real purpose for the truths he is going to make known to us. In verses 11, Jacob is telling us to reconciled to Christ, that we might obtain a resurrection in Christ, "...and be presented as the first-fruits of Christ unto God, having faith, and obtained a good hope of glory in him before he manifesteth himself in the flesh."  In other words, we are to be reconciled to God through Christ, by way of the Atonement of the Savior.  What do these words mean?  Application and personal receiving of the Atonement into our hearts for sure.  But there is more to it than that.  Jacob goes from speaking of reconciliation to the stumbling of the Jews to being filled with the spirit of prophecy to teaching the parable of the olive tree.  This, it would seem, is the answer to what it means to be reconciled to Christ and to God through the Ato...

In Mosiah chapter four, we find the people of King Benjamin just after he has taught them great truths about the Savior, His Atonement, the natural man, and many other notable and important doctrines.  They were understanding them with their hearts (whether or not they understood with their heads) for perhaps the first time in their lives.  And their reaction was one of true repentance.  "And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth.  And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth and all things; who shall come down among the children of men.  And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their...