Jacob 1

(All of my own thoughts are in red type.5/20 green 2/21 Orange 5/22 Brown 2023)

The Book of Jacob the Brother of Nephi

The words of his preaching unto his brethren. He confoundeth a man who seeketh to overthrow the doctrine of Christ. A few words concerning the history of the people of Nephi.

Chapter 1

Jacob and Joseph seek to persuade men to believe in Christ and keep His commandments—Nephi dies—Wickedness prevails among the Nephites. About 544–421 B.C.

  1 For behold, it came to pass that fifty and five years had passed away from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem; wherefore, Nephi gave me, Jacob, a ^acommandment concerning the ^bsmall plates, upon which these things are engraven.
  2 And he gave me, Jacob, a commandment that I should ^awrite upon ^bthese plates a few of the things which I considered to be most precious; that I should not touch, save it were lightly, concerning the history of this people which are called the people of Nephi.
  3 For he said that the history of his people should be engraven upon his ^aother plates, and that I should ^bpreserve these plates and hand them down unto my seed, from generation to generation.
  4 And if there were preaching which was ^asacred, or revelation which was great, or prophesying, that I should engraven the ^bheads Hebrew for: "the best, foremost, uniquely finest" of them upon these plates, and touch upon them as much as it were possible, for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of our people.
  5 For because of faith and great anxiety, it truly had been made manifest unto us concerning our people, what things should ^ahappen unto them. ”Because of faith and great anxiety”... we can be worried about something and God can show us what is to come, but we must have faith as well... I have "faith and great anxiety" over the future of me and my children as well...what is going to happen to us? Will the Lord make that known to us? Right now I'm privy to two different "camps"...one thinks things are winding up very soon and another thinks there is going to be a great revival and a period of prosperity before it all comes down. I'm trying to prepare for the first possibility, but my heart prays for the latter. I just feel people have to have more knowledge before people can really choose to follow Jesus or rebel against Him to have  the final destruction of the wicked.
  6 And we also had many revelations, and the spirit of much prophecy; wherefore, we knew of ^aChrist and his kingdom, which should come. He said “we” so there must have been others besides Nephi and Jacob that had these revelations and the spirit of prophecy and were shown Christ and his kingdom.
  7 Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to ^acome unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his ^brest, lest by any means he should swear in his wrath they should not ^center in, as in the ^dprovocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the ^ewilderness. This is found in Psalm 95 What does his “rest” mean? D&C 59:10 says it is “the fullness of His glory”. It is something we “enter”? Is it His presence? the Second Comforter? Great article here: "Alma enlarged the implications still further in speaking of the first provocation, or man’s first spiritual death at Adam’s fall, and the second provocation, or man’s continuing spiritual death that comes through rejecting the Lord: “If ye will harden your hearts ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord . . . as in the first provocation, yea, according to his word in the last provocation. . . . Let us repent, and harden not our hearts, that we provoke not the Lord our God . . . but let us enter into the rest of God, which is prepared according to his word” (Alma 12:36–37; emphasis added).

The Provocation, then, seems to encompass a preference for spiritual death—a preference for a return to Egypt—rather than the demanding trek through repentance to sanctification. The Provocation, in all its manifestations, implies a refusal to come to Christ to exercise faith in the face of such a daunting call, a refusal to partake of the goodness of God, a refusal to accept the restoration to God’s presence or rest, a refusal to allow the Savior to work His mighty power in one’s life, a refusal to enter into the at-one-ment for which He suffered and died, a refusal to be “clasped in the arms of Jesus” (Mormon 5:11). The Provocation is anti-Atonement and anti-Christ. Abinadi laments over men and women who have “gone according to their own carnal wills and desires; having never called upon the Lord while the arms of mercy were extended towards them; for the arms of mercy were extended towards them, and they would not” (Mosiah 16:12).

We see in Israel’s provocations a key to understanding nearly every interaction between God and Israel recorded in the pages of the Bible. On the one hand, God’s whole efforts are bent toward helping the covenant people to prosper through His grace; on the other hand, Israel strives to be self-prospering. In the midst of abundant miracles and divine gifts, the persistent rejection of God’s grace is Israel’s Provocation."

  8 Wherefore, we would to God that we could persuade all men ^anot to rebel against God, to ^bprovoke him to anger, but that all men would believe in Christ, and view his death, and suffer his ^ccross and bear the shame of the world; wherefore, I, Jacob, take it upon me to fulfil the commandment of my brother Nephi.
  9 Now Nephi began to be old, and he saw that he must soon ^adie; wherefore, he ^banointed a man to be a king and a ruler over his people now, according to the reigns of the ^ckings. This article suggests that Jacob was writing later so he would have perspective to judge what was most precious so there may have been several kings "according to the reigns of kings" if they were called at about age 30.
  10 The people having loved Nephi exceedingly, he having been a great protector for them, having wielded the ^asword of Laban in their defence, and having labored in all his days for their welfare—
  11 Wherefore, the people were desirous to retain in remembrance his name. And whoso should reign in his stead were called by the people, second Nephi, third Nephi, and so forth, according to the reigns of the kings; and thus they were called by the people, let them be of whatever name they would. "in biblical thought a change of name signifies a change of nature or essence. The dictionary observes: "It could also be said soberly of anyone that his name is his very self. Thus, when a radical change in a person’s character took place so that he became a new man, he was given a new name."  Thus, a king receives a new name on his ascending the throne."
  12 And it came to pass that Nephi died.
  13 Now the people which were not ^aLamanites were Nephites; nevertheless, they were called Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, ^bZoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites.
  14 But I, Jacob, shall not hereafter distinguish ^athem by these names, but I shall ^bcall them Lamanites that seek to destroy the people of Nephi, and those who are friendly to Nephi I shall call ^cNephites, or the ^dpeople of Nephi, according to the reigns of the kings. Notice he did not make the distinction by skin color, but by the desires of the heart. 
  15 And now it came to pass that the people of Nephi, under the reign of the second king, began to grow hard in their hearts, and indulge themselves somewhat in wicked practices, such as like unto David of old desiring many ^awives and ^bconcubines, and also Solomon, his son. It is thought by some, that for there to be as many people at this point in time from just Nephi's group that split from Laman and Lemuel's ( in only 40 years) that there must have been other 'peoples' that joined with them, although I don't know why they wouldn't mention this in the record, but if you do the 'math' it makes sense...
  16 Yea, and they also began to search much ^agold and silver, and began to be lifted up somewhat in pride.
  17 Wherefore I, Jacob, gave unto them these words as I taught them in the ^atemple, having first obtained mine ^berrand from the Lord. Notice Jacob only taught them after He "obtained" it from the Lord and he only taught what he was given.  And they had a temple. 
  18 For I, Jacob, and my brother Joseph had been ^aconsecrated priests and ^bteachers of this people, by the hand of Nephi. "According to Robert Matthews, there were no descendants of Levi or Aaron among the Nephites because Lehi’s family was of Joseph (1 Nephi 6:2), rather than Levi. Therefore, the Nephites could not be regularly called to officiate in the ordinances of the law of Moses and the Aaronic Priesthood. However, since the Melchizedek Priesthood encompasses all the powers and authority of the Aaronic, worthy men among the Nephites, such as Jacob and Joseph, could be consecrated as priests and teachers and could function in the ordinances of the law of Moses, as well as the gospel, by virtue of the Melchizedek Priesthood (see D&C 68:18-20)."
  19 And we did ^amagnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the ^bresponsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not ^cteach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their ^dblood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day. This is a true principle. The sins of the people are answered upon the heads of their leaders if they are not taught the word of God with all diligence. I want to say, "wow, so glad I'm not a leader like that!" and yet...I am a parent and perhaps I have the same duty and accountability. Will the sins of my children by upon my head if I don't teach them the word of God with all diligence? Does that responsibility end when they are adults?