1 Nephi 19

(All of my own thoughts are in blue type.4/20 Green 1/21 Orange 4/22 Brown 2023  )

CHAPTER 19

Nephi makes plates of ore and records the history of his people—The God of Israel shall come six hundred years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem—Nephi tells of His sufferings and crucifixion—The Jews shall be despised and scattered until the latter days, when they will return unto the Lord. Between 588 and 570 B.C.

  1 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded me, wherefore I did Oh that we could say this in our daily walk..."the Lord commanded me, and I did!" I think Nephi took every inspiration from the Spirit as a command from God. Is there really any such thing as a "suggestion" from God? The Word of Wisdom was given "not by way of commandment", yet if God says it's good, why would He not make it a commandment? I think it could be because the consequences are mostly "natural" to the body, but may not affect your eternal salvation. If you have Charity, but eat poorly and don't exercise, your body will suffer here, but "charity coverth a multitude of sins" make plates of ore that I might engraven upon them the ^arecord of my people. And upon the plates which I made I did ^bengraven the record of my ^cfather, was he keeping a record FOR Lehi? Did not Lehi keep his own? Was this a duplicate? We know the first part that Joseph Smith translated that was lost, was called "The Book of Lehi" and also our journeyings in the wilderness, and the prophecies of my father; what else, then, was included in the record of his father? and also many of mine own prophecies Do we have all these prophecies? have I engraven upon them.

  2 And I knew not at the time when I made them that I should be commanded of the Lord to make ^athese plates; wherefore, the record of my father, and the genealogy of his fathers, and the more part of all our proceedings in the wilderness are engraven upon those first plates of which I have spoken; wherefore, the things which transpired before I made ^bthese plates are, of a truth, more particularly (does 'particularly' mean in more detail?) made mention upon the first plates. Is he saying that the plates he kept as a record of his father were made more out of tradition than commandment? How is your personal record coming along?....Thinking The Book of Lehi was not a duplicate record of one Lehi made.

  3 And after I had made these plates by way of commandment, I, Nephi, received a commandment that the ministry and the prophecies, the more plain and precious parts of them, should be written upon ^athese plates; It sounds like he was commanded to make the second set of plates and then, AFTER he had made them, he was commanded what should go on them. Is this another example of being willing to obey, line upon line? and that the things which were written should be kept for the instruction of my people, who should possess the land, and also for other ^bwise purposes, which purposes are known unto the Lord. But we know what they are (116 lost pages). How did he know there were other wise purposes? Did God tell him that much, but no details or did he just assume it? This is a great thing to remember when we are told to do something but don't know why...trust it is "known unto the Lord".

  4 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did make a record upon the ^aother plates, which gives an account, or which gives a greater account of the wars and contentions and destructions of my people. And this have I done, and commanded my people what they should do after I was gone; and that these plates should be handed down from one generation to another, or from one prophet to another, until further commandments of the Lord. I don't know if the Book of Lehi was handed down with Nephi's Book...probably... We are supposed to read our history and learn why they had wars and contentions and destructions and try to not repeat them. Apparently we don't do that well, or we wouldn't have the saying "history repeats itself"...

  5 And an account of my ^amaking these plates shall be given hereafter; and then, behold, I proceed according to that which I have spoken; and this I do that the more sacred things may be ^bkept for the knowledge of my people. 

  6 Nevertheless, I do not ^awrite anything upon plates save it be that I think it be ^bsacred. Here is a video that shows that almost every page in the Book of Mormon contains a reference to God or Christ.

Truly, these are sacred writings...And now, if I do err, even did they err of old; not that I would excuse myself because of other men, but because of the ^cweakness which is in me, according to the flesh, I would excuse myself. He is saying, I think, "I am human…we ALL are human…ALL men err at some point, in that way…I am  no different." Ether 12:27 says that God gave us all "weakness" (carnal nature). It is in all of us because of our flesh. I suppose we are given a certain amount of mercy because of this weakness of the flesh. But, as Ether 12:27 says, if we "come unto Christ" with humility (broken heart/contrite spirit) then HE will make weak things strong (baptism of fire/Holy Ghost; mighty change in our weak nature)

  7 For the things which some men esteem to be of great worth, both to the body and soul, Notice he separates body from soul. How often do you think about the physical effects of keeping the commandments? I think we have no idea how much our bodies are affected by sin or righteousness...others set at ^anaught and trample under their feet. Yea, even the very God of Israel do men ^btrample under their feet; I say, trample under their feet but I would speak in other words—they set him at naught, and ^chearken not to the voice of his counsels. When you choose to NOT follow the commandments or listen to the voice of the prophets…do you think of it as “trampling God under your very feet?” Nephi does…

  8 And behold he ^acometh, according to the words of the angel, in ^bsix hundred years from the time my father left Jerusalem. I’ve said this before, but I find it interesting that they got a date, at least the year, for his first coming. I have heard one thought that the reason we don't have a date for his second coming is that it is dependent on the righteousness of the people required to build Zion. I also read that an apostle recently stated that the world is already wicked enough for Christ to come, but the righteous are not righteous enough. In effect... we determine how soon he will come? If you don't want the world to get even more wicked, then step up your righteousness and try to influence the righteousness of those around you. I believe that is a great part of this Time of Hastening. A recent talk, however, by Pres. Eyring states that God's timing is firm. "He is firm in the timing and the sequence of His intentions, yet He ensures that sacrifice often brings continuing blessings that we did not foresee." So, maybe it's not fluid after all...
  9 And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; we judge him to be a thing of naught when we take lightly or set aside his commandments i.e. scriptures, conference talks, promptings....wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they ^aspit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving ^bkindness and his ^clong-suffering towards the children of men. What is it about kindness and long-suffering that allows you to suffer abuse? How do you feel kindness and compassion towards your abusers? How do you align this example with the idea that we should not stay in abusive relationships? The things listed in this verse seem to reference specifically his crucifixion, which he allowed so that he could perform the Atonement. Other times in his life he fled out of the presence of those who would do him harm. Maybe we have to live by the Spirit on this one. The most important lesson, perhaps, is that no matter the circumstance or your action or inaction in response, your goal is to keep your heart right towards that person. You must figure out how to maintain a feeling of loving kindness and be willing to  be longsuffering with their weakness and their agency.

  10 And the ^aGod of our fathers, Jesus was the God of the Old Testament who were ^bled out of Egypt, out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him, yea, the ^cGod of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, Did they know about God the Father? They only seemed to acknowledge Jesus Christ ^dyieldeth himself, an example we must learn to follow…to yield ourselves to the will of God according to the words of the angel, what does this phrase mean? Is he talking about what he learned from an angel or that Christ learned what he must do from an angel? as a man, for he was also a God and could have escaped his fate into the hands of ^ewicked men, to be ^flifted up, according to the words of ^gZenock, and to be ^hcrucified, according to the words of Neum, and to be buried in a ⁱsepulchre, according to the words of ^jZenos, which he spake concerning the three days of ^kdarkness, which should be a sign given of his death unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea, more especially given unto those who are of the ^lhouse of Israel.

  11 For thus spake the prophet: Nephi makes a point here of listing by name, three specific prophets who testified of Christ. Is he just establishing the word with three witnesses or making the point that these are not his own words or prophecies? He is teaching us to listen to and believe the prophets and to believe that God has made His words known to more than one. The Lord God surely shall ^avisit all the house of Israel at that day, some with his ^bvoice, because of their righteousness, unto their great joy and salvation, and others with the ^cthunderings and the lightnings of his power, by tempest, by fire, and by ^dsmoke, and ^evapor of ^fdarkness, and by the opening of the ^gearth, and by ^hmountains which shall be carried up. They were taught hundreds of years before Christ came that He would visit them with great physical signs of destruction for three days. Surely this teaching was handed down so they weren't surprised when it happened. Well...they were probably surprised in that they may have done what many of us do and keep kicking the prophecy down the road, not thinking it will happen in our day, since the prophecy was given hundreds of years ago. So it will be at his second coming as well. Which "camp" do you want to be in? We must be careful to correctly define righteousness. Read D&C 84 carefully. It defines wickedness as not yielding to the voice of the Lord, which begins as the Light of Christ, which we call our conscience. I recommend again, Following the Light of Christ by John Pontius for more insight on this topic.

  12 And ^aall these things must surely come, Never doubt that prophecies will come to pass. One of the reasons to expound past prophecy is to show the reader that they came to pass. This should give us increased faith in the prophecies yet to be fulfilled. Sometimes when I read Matthew 24 I wonder how we can all go about our lives acting like these things will never come to pass. We have been told that we are in those days, and those things are at our door. There is much to fear there...unless... as promised, you are prepared.  Do you know what that means? Are you?  saith the prophet ^bZenos. And the ^crocks of the earth must rend; and because of the ^dgroanings of the earth, many of the kings of the isles of the sea shall be wrought upon by the Spirit of God, to exclaim: The God of nature suffers. Sounds like the people in the isles of the sea don't know about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob...only attribute life to the "God of nature"

  13 And as for those who are at Jerusalem, saith the prophet, they shall be ^ascourged by all people, and so they were…because they crucify the God of Israel, and turn their hearts aside, rejecting signs and wonders, and the power and glory of the God of Israel.

  14 And because they turn their hearts aside, saith the prophet, and have ^adespised the Holy One of Israel, they shall wander in the flesh, and perish, and become a ^bhiss and a ^cbyword, and be ^dhated among all nations.

  15 Nevertheless, when that day cometh, it is coming! saith the prophet, that they ^ano more ^bturn aside their hearts against the Holy One of Israel, then will he remember the ^ccovenants which he made to their fathers. There is a great revival in Jerusalem and many Jews are turning to Christ and actively proselyting to other Jews! https://www.oneforisrael.org/about/

  16 Yea, then will he remember the ^aisles of the sea; I find it interesting that he keeps including "the isles of the sea". If there ever was a group of people that might feel forgotten, it would be those on the isles of the sea...so isolated from the rest of the world... I think America is considered an isle of the sea by them? yea, and all the people who are of the house of Israel, will I ^bgather in, saith the Lord, according to the words of the prophet Zenos, from the four quarters of the earth.

  17 Yea, and all the earth shall ^asee the salvation of the Lord, saith the prophet; every nation, kindred, tongue and people shall be blessed.

  18 And I, Nephi, have written these things unto my people, that perhaps I might persuade them that they would ^aremember the Lord their Redeemer. Remember…remember…remember…and why?  Ask yourself…

  19 Wherefore, I speak unto all the house of Israel, if it so be that they should obtain ^athese things. They will/are!

  20 For behold, I have workings in the spirit, which doth ^aweary me even that all my joints are weak, for those who are at Jerusalem; talk about being “filled” with compassion and charity for someone… for had not the Lord been merciful, to show unto me concerning them, future even as he had prophets of old, and so why not prophets of today as well…. I should have perished also. Why does he say this? Is he saying it would be hard to leave if he hadn’t seen it?

  21 And he surely did show unto the ^aprophets of old all things ^bconcerning them; the Jews and also he did show unto many concerning us; Lehi and his family…wherefore, it must needs be that we know concerning them for they are written upon the plates of brass. Ok…it sounds to me like he is saying that the prophets of the old testament “saw” Lehi and Nephi’s day and that they felt like they needed the brass plates for the same reason we need the Book of Mormon - the prophets saw their day and included things that THEY would need. Can we see that in the Old Testament anywhere?

  22 Now it came to pass that I, Nephi, did teach my brethren these things; and it came to pass that I did read many things to them, which were engraven upon the ^aplates of brass, that they might know concerning the doings of the Lord in other lands, among people of old. Do you understand the value of knowing the doings of the Lord in other lands?

  23 And I did read many things unto them which were written in the ^abooks of Moses; but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet ^bIsaiah; So we read Isaiah to believe in Christ for I did ^cliken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our ^dprofit and learning. Meaning…if you don’t liken the scriptures to yourself, you won’t profit and learn from them like you could.

  24 Wherefore I spake unto them, saying: Hear ye the words of the prophet, ye who are a ^aremnant of the house of Israel, This is important because of the covenants that were made with the house of Israel. a ^bbranch who have been broken off; ^chear ye the words of the prophet, Second time said. This was the message of the opening talk by Elder Hales in Oct 2013 Conference. Remember to hear includes doing. which were written unto all the house of Israel, and liken them unto yourselves, that ye may have hope hope of what? Hope that the Lord will remember the covenant he has made with the house of Israel? of eternal life? salvation? It is this hope that motivates you to act. as well as your brethren from whom ye have been broken off; for after this manner has the prophet written.