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CHAPTER 4All the prophets worshipped the Father in the name of Christ—Abraham's offering of Isaac was in similitude of God and his Only Begotten—Men should reconcile themselves to God through the atonement—The Jews shall reject the foundation stone. [Between 544 and 421 B.C.] |
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1 NOW behold, it came to pass that I,
Jacob, having ministered much
unto my people in word, (and I cannot write but a alittle
of my words, because of the bdifficulty of engraving our
words upon plates) and we know that the things which we write upon plates
must remain;
2 But whatsoever things we write upon anything save it be upon aplates must perish and vanish away; but we can write a few words upon plates, which will give our children, and also our beloved brethren, a small degree of knowledge concerning us, or concerning their fathers— 3 Now in this thing we do rejoice; and we labor diligently to engraven these words upon plates, hoping that our beloved brethren and our children will receive them with thankful hearts, and look upon them that they may learn with joy and not with sorrow, neither with contempt, concerning their first aparents.
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1a
1 Ne. 6:6;
Jarom 1:14;
Omni 1:30 b Ether 12:24 (23-26) 2a TG Scriptures, Preservation of 3a TG Scriptures, Value of
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4 For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may
know that we aknew of
Christ, and we had a hope of his bglory many hundred years
before his cominga; and not only
we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy
cprophets which were before
usb.
5 Behold, they believed in Christ and aworshiped the Father in his name, and also we worship the Father in his bname. And for this intent we ckeep the dlaw of Moses, it epointing our souls to him; and for this cause it is sanctified unto us for righteousness, even as it was accounted unto Abraham in the wilderness to be obedient unto the commands of God in offering up his son Isaac, which is a fsimilitude of God and his gOnly Begotten Son.
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4a we knew of Christ, and we had a hope
of his glory many hundred years before his coming While this is
a strange concept being intollerable to many traditional Christians today, it
was not such a strange or unknown concept in the early church of Jesus
Christ, for certainly those of that church had spoken of it, that indeed they
of old had know of Christ, and were Christian with a hope in Christ all the
way back to Adam. 'If any one should assert that all those who have enjoyed the testimony of righteousness, from Abraham himself back to the first man [Adam], were Christians in fact if not in name, he would not go beyond the truth.' ~ History of the Church by Bishop Eusebius of Ceaserea, Book I, Chapter 4, Paragraph 6 And through latter day revelation we know of an absolute fact that the gospel was had and preached in the days of Adam (See Moses 5:58-59). 4b all the holy prophets which were before us ... knew of Christ Frequently out of their own ignorance, the critics of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon state that this was not the case and that the prophets of the Old Testament did not speak and know of Jesus Christ. These are either men who are not learned, or they are decivers against the truth. Fot the truth is as Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea so states that 'The Name Jesus and also the Name Christ were known from the Beginning, and were honored by the Inspired Prophets.' (Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, Introduction to Chapter 3 of Book I) 'Moses knew Christ by name and bestowed that name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, as a mark of highest honor, upon Aaron as Christ and upon the son of Nun as Jesus and that all the prohets after Moses did prophesy of Christ.' (See Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, Book I, Chapter 3, Paragraphs 1-6) Further Bishop Eusebius states, "If any one should assert that all those who have enjoyed the testimony of righteousness, from Abraham himself back to the first man [Adam], were Christians in fact if not in name, he would not go beyond the truth." (See Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, Book I, Chapter 4, Paragraph 6) And so it is said in the Book of Mormon that the prophets of old, all of them, did so speak and prophesy of Christ. It was so just as those of the Early Christian Church also knew it to be so. And whether the name is spoken in Hebrew, Adamic, Aramaic, Reformed Egyptian (which was the Nephite written language of the Golden Plates), Latin, Greek or even in the common English transliteration we of the common English language are most familiar with and which Joseph Smith translated the Nephite language into, it is the same. even 'JESUS CHRIST'. |
4a
TG
Jesus Christ, Prophecies about; TG Testimony b TG Jesus Christ, Glory of c Luke 24:27; 1 Pet. 1:11; Jacob 7:11-12; Mosiah 13:33-35; D&C 20:26 5a Moses 5:8 b Gen. 4:26; Hel. 8:16-20; TG Name of the Lord c 2 Ne. 25:24; Jacob 7:7; Mosiah 13:30 d Jarom 1:11; Alma 25:15-16; TG Law of Moses e Gal. 3:24; Ether 12:19 (18-19) f TG Jesus Christ, Types of, in Anticipation g Gen. 22:2 (1-14); John 3:16-21; Heb. 11:17; TG Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship
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6 Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and
the spirit of aprophecy; and having all these
bwitnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh
unshaken, insomuch that we truly can ccommand in the
dname of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the
mountains, or the waves of the sea.
7 Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our aweakness that we may know that it is by his bgrace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things.
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6a
TG
Prophecy b TG Witnesses c 3 Ne. 28:20 (19-22); TG God, Power of d Acts 3:6-16; 3 Ne. 8:1 7a Ether 12:27; D&C 66:3 b TG Grace
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8 Behold, great and marvelous are the aworks of the
Lord. How bunsearchable are the depths of the
cmysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should
find out all his ways. And no man dknoweth of his
eways save it be revealed unto him; wherefore, brethren,
despise not the frevelations of God.
9 For behold, by the power of his aword bman came upon the face of the earth, which earth was ccreated by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, O then, why not able to command the dearth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure?
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8a
Ps. 106:2 b Rom. 11:34 (33-36); Mosiah 4:9 c D&C 19:10; D&C 76:114-116; TG Mysteries of Godliness d Dan. 1:17; 1 Cor. 2:11 (9-16); Alma 26:21-22; TG God, Knowledge about e Isa. 55:8-9 f D&C 3:7 9a Morm. 9:17; Moses 1:32 b TG Man, Physical Creation of c TG Creation; TG God, Creator; TG Jesus Christ, Creator d Hel. 12:16 (8-17)
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10 Wherefore, brethren, seek not to acounsel the
Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that
he counseleth in bwisdom, and in justice, and in great
mercy, over all his works.
11 Wherefore, beloved brethren, be areconciled unto him through the batonement of Christ, his cOnly Begotten Son, and ye may obtain a dresurrection, according to the epower of the resurrection which is in Christ, and be presented as the ffirst-fruits of Christ unto God, having faith, and obtained a good hope of glory in him before he manifesteth himself in the flesh.
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10a
Josh. 9:14;
Prov. 15:22;
Isa. 45:9; 2 Ne. 9:28-29; Alma 37:12, 37; D&C 3:4, 13; D&C 22:4 b TG God, Justice of; TG God, Wisdom of 11a Lev. 6:30; TG Jesus Christ, Mission of; TG Reconciliation b TG Jesus Christ, Atonement through c TG Jesus Christ, Divine Sonship d TG Resurrection e TG God, Power of f Mosiah 15:21-23; Mosiah 18:9; Alma 40:16-21
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12 And now, beloved, marvel not that I tell you these things; for why
not aspeak of the atonement of Christ, and attain to a
perfect knowledge of him, as to attain to the knowledge of a resurrection and
the world to come?
13 Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men; for the aSpirit speaketh the btruth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really care, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us dplainly, for the salvation of our souls. But behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also espake them unto prophets of old.
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12a
2 Ne. 25:26 13a TG Holy Ghost, Mission of; b John 17:17; TG Honesty c D&C 93:24 d Neh. 8:8; Jacob 2:11; Alma 13:23 e TG Witness of the Father
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14 But behold, the Jews were a astiffnecked people;
and they bdespised the words of
cplainness, and dkilled the
prophetsa, and
sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of
their eblindness, which fblindness came
by looking beyond the gmark, they must needs fall; for God
hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things
which they hcannot understand, because they desired it.
And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may
istumble.
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14a they despised the words of plainness,
and killed the prophets Like Lehi's testimony and Moses' plainness
in the book of Moses or the JST, the prophets of old spoke plainly concerning
Jesus Christ. But the Jews in their hard heartedness and stiffneckedness, did
reject the words of the prophets concerning such doctrine of Christ, that
Jehovah would condescend to come in the flesh to redeem his people, and that
he in so doing would be the Only Begotten Son of God, 'the LORD or our Lord'
as taught and understood by the spirit according to the words of David (Psalms
110:1), which were readily quoted by Jesus and his disciples. It was not just the position of the Jews of Jesus' day, but they had been steeped in the rejection of Christ, the Son of God, and the murdering of the prophets from the Old Testament times and day. And though the true traditions of the people did look to the coming of the Son of God, the Jewish leadership did still heavily reject such and did murder Jesus, declaring that he did blaspheme by claim that God would have a Son and that in fact he was that Son of God so promised by the prophets who had been rejected and murdered. |
14a
Deut. 9:13;
Neh. 9:16;
2 Ne. 25:2; TG Stiffneckedness b Num. 15:31 (30-31); Ezek. 20:13-16; 1 Ne. 17:30-31; 1 Ne. 19:7; 2 Ne. 33:2; D&C 3:7 (4-13) c 1 Cor. 11:3 d Zech. 1:4 (2-5) e Isa. 44:18 f Rom. 11:25; TG Spiritual Blindness g John 7:47 (45-53) h 2 Ne. 25:1 i Isa. 57:14
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15 And now I, Jacob, am led on by the Spirit unto prophesying; for I
perceive by the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that by the
astumbling of the bJews they will
creject the dstone upon which they might
build and have safe foundation.
16 But behold, according to the scriptures, this astone shall become the great, and the last, and the only sure bfoundation, upon which the Jews can build.
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15a
Isa. 8:14 (13-15);
1 Cor. 1:23; 2 Ne. 18:14 (13-15) b TG Israel, Judah, People of c Rom. 11:1, 20 (1-36); 1 Ne. 10:11; Morm. 5:14-20 d TG Cornerstone; TG Jesus Christ, Prophecies about; TG Rock 16a Ps. 118:22-23 b Isa. 28:16 (14-17); Hel. 5:12
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17 And now, my beloved, how is it possible that these, after having
rejected the sure foundation, can aever build upon it, that
it may become the head of their corner?
18 Behold, my beloved brethren, I will unfold this mystery unto you; if I do not, by any means, get shaken from my firmness in the Spirit, and stumble because of my over anxiety for you. |
17a
Matt. 19:30;
Jacob 5:63 (62-64);
D&C 29:30
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