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CHAPTER 7Sherem denies Christ, contends with Jacob, demands a sign, and is smitten of God—All of the prophets have spoken of Christ and his atonement—The Nephites lived out their days as wanderers, born in tribulation, and hated by the Lamanites. [Between 544 and 421 B.C.] |
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1 AND now it came to pass after some years
had passed away, there came a man among the people of Nephi, whose name was
aSherem.
2 And it came to pass that he began to preach among the people, and to declare unto them that there should be ano Christ. And he preached many things which were flattering unto the people; and this he did that he might boverthrow the doctrine of Christ. 3 And he labored diligently that he might lead away the hearts of the people, insomuch that he did lead away many hearts; and he knowing that I, Jacob, had faith in Christ who should come, he sought much opportunity that he might come unto me.
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1a
TG
False Prophets 2a Alma 21:8; Alma 30:12, 22 b TG False Doctrine
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4 And he was alearned, that he had a perfect
knowledge of the language of the people; wherefore, he could use much
bflattery, and much power of speech, according to the
cpower of the devil.
5 And he had hope to shake me from the faith, notwithstanding the many arevelations and the many things which I had seen concerning these things; for I truly had seen bangels, and they had ministered unto me. And also, I had cheard the voice of the Lord speaking unto me in very word, from time to time; wherefore, I could not be shaken.
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4a
TG
Learning b TG Flattery c TG False Priesthoods 5a 2 Ne. 10:3; 2 Ne. 11:3; Jacob 2:11 b 2 Ne. 2:4 c Ex. 19:9-13
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6 And it came to pass that he came unto me, and on this wise did he
speak unto me, saying: Brother Jacob, I have sought much opportunity that I
might speak unto you; for I have heard and also know that thou goest about
much, preaching that which ye call the agospel, or the
doctrine of Christ.
7 And ye have led away much of this people that they pervert the right way of God, and akeep not the law of Moses which is the right way; and convert the law of Moses into the worship of a being which ye say shall come many hundred years hence. And now behold, I, Sherem, declare unto you that this is bblasphemy; for no man knoweth of such things; for he cannot ctell of things to come. And after this manner did Sherem contend against me.
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6a
2 Ne. 31:2 7a Jacob 4:5 b TG Blasphemy c Alma 30:13
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8 But behold, the Lord God poured in his aSpirit
into my soul, insomuch that I did bconfound him in all his
words.
9 And I said unto him: Deniest thou the Christ who shall come? And he said: If there should be a Christ, I would not deny him; but I know that there is no Christ, neither has been, nor ever will be.
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8a
TG
God, Spirit of;
TG
Holy Ghost, Mission of;
b
Ps. 97:7;
TG
Confound
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10 And I said unto him: Believest thou the scriptures? And he
said, Yea.
11 And I said unto him: Then ye do not understand them; for they truly testify of Christ. Behold, I say unto you that none of the aprophets have written, nor bprophesied, save they have spoken concerning this Christa. 12 And this is not all—it has been made manifest unto me, for I have heard and seen; and it also has been made manifest unto me by the apower of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, I know if there should be no atonement made all mankind must be blost.
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11a none of the prophets have written, nor prophesied, save they have spoken concerning this Christ Frequently, out of their own ignorance, the critics, who do profess to know more than that which they do know, do belittle and make false accusations of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, stating 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 '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'. And almost in answer to this last quote from Bishop Eusebius, so has the Prophet Joseph so confirmed all this which Bishop Eusebius did state and write to be the case. For in the Book of Moses chapter 6 and 7, it states well that Adam was in fact not only a Christian, but knew well, understood and complied with the gospel of Jesus Christ, as did Enoch and Enoch's city which was translated. And in those chapters it is set out that the name was know whereby men would be saved, and that name was JESUS CHRIST. |
11a
1 Ne. 10:5;
3 Ne. 20:24 (23-24); TG Jesus Christ, Prophecies about b 1 Pet. 1:11; Rev. 19:10; Jacob 4:4; Mosiah 13:33-35; D&C 20:26 12a TG Holy Ghost, Gifts of b 2 Ne. 2:21 (10-30)
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13 And it came to pass that he said unto me: Show me a
asign by this power of the Holy Ghost, in the which ye know
so much.
14 And I said unto him: What am I that I should atempt God to show unto thee a sign in the thing which thou knowest to be btrue? Yet thou wilt deny it, because thou art of the cdevil. Nevertheless, not my will be done; but if God shall smite thee, let that be a dsign unto thee that he has power, both in heaven and in earth; and also, that Christ shall come. And thy will, O Lord, be done, and not mine. 15 And it came to pass that when I, Jacob, had spoken these words, the power of the Lord came upon him, insomuch that he fell to the earth. And it came to pass that he was nourished for the space of many days.
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13a
John 6:30;
Alma 30:43-60;
D&C 46:9 (8-9); TG Sign Seekers 14a TG Test, Try, Prove b Mosiah 12:30; Alma 30:42 (41-42) c Alma 30:53 d Num. 26:10; D&C 124:53 (50-53)
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16 And it came to pass that he said unto the people: Gather
together on the morrow, for I shall die; wherefore, I desire to
speak unto the people before I shall die.
17 And it came to pass that on the morrow the multitude were gathered together; and he spake plainly unto them and denied the things which he had taught them, and confessed the Christ, and the power of the Holy Ghost, and the ministering of angelsa. 18 And he spake plainly unto them, that he had been adeceived by the power of the bdevil. And he spake of hell, and of ceternity, and of eternal dpunishment.
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17a the power of the Holy Ghost, and the ministering of angels It is by the power of God, the power of the Holy Ghost that angels do minister unto the earth. And as to the Doctrine of Christ which consists of the exercise of faith in Christ unto repentance and being born of Christ of water and of spirit, it is by the power of the Spirit of revelation and prophecy, yea even unto the ministering of angels, that the light which lighteth the way or path unto eternal life is shown unto man. for the gate is but the beginning and the process is the continual exercise in such faith in the Doctrine of Christ line upon line, precept upon precept, principle upon principle, law upon law, ordinance upon ordinance, commandement upon commandment is enduring in the path after entering the gate whereby man may come unto eternal life by that straight and narrow path. And the Holy Ghost does show the way in all things of truth and light unto man which they need do and follow in order to obtain that salvation. And when man rejects the Holy Ghost, when he turns from the power thereof, when he closes his soul to the enfluence of the light and revelation and prophecies and the administering of angels; when man turns his back on that communicative force which ties man and God together, then he had turn his back upon God. He has denied the very power of God, that God can and does commune with man showing him all things that he must do to obtain eternal life. And if man is not shown all things that he must do, then he is unable to do them. And he is not able to obtain that eternal reward of returning into the presence of God, for he has of himself reject the light, the true and the way, he had rejected life, even that life eternal which God would given unto him if he but responds to God and the light that God would give unto him which does show forth the way which men must go and all that man must do to return unto the presence of God. Yea, this is the work and glory of God. It is his design and purpose to bring to pass the eternal life and immortality of man. And so it is that God does do, communicating to man all things, commanding him all that he must do. But if man will not receive and listen and hear and then do, then man is lost of his own free will and agency. And thus it is when man does turn his back and reject that very communicative power of heaven, yea, the power of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Revelation, the Spirit of Prophecies and also the Prophets and the administrations of angels unto men for the very benefit of bring man unto God, unto eternal life and immortality. |
18a
Gal. 3:1-4;
Alma 30:53, 60 b TG Deceit; TG Devil c TG Eternity d TG Punishment
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19 And he said: I afear lest I have committed the
bunpardonable sin, for I have lied unto God; for I denied
the Christ, and said that I believed the scriptures; and they truly testify
of him. And because I have thus lied unto God I greatly fear lest my case
shall be cawful; but I confess unto God.
20 And it came to pass that when he had said these words he could say no more, and he agave up the bghost. 21 And when the multitude had witnessed that he spake these things as he was about to give up the ghost, they were astonished exceedingly; insomuch that the power of God came down upon them, and they were aovercome that they fell to the earth.
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19a
TG
Despair b TG Holy Ghost, Unpardonable Sin against; TG Sons of Perdition c Jacob 6:9; Mosiah 15:26 20a Jer. 28:16 (15-17); Alma 30:59 (12-60) b Gen. 49:33; Hel. 14:21 21a Alma 19:6 (1-36)
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22 Now, this thing was pleasing unto me, Jacob, for I had
requested it of my Father who was in
heavena; for he had heard my
cry and answered my prayer.
23 And it came to pass that peace and the alove of God was restored again among the people; and they bsearched the scriptures, and hearkened no more to the words of this wicked man.
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22a I had requested it of my Father who was in heaven In Jacob's modesty, it is almost missed, this great lesson, that you do not want to have the Prophet of God pray and request of God action against you. For God does hear the words of his prophets and does honor their requests if they so be correct in his eyes. And the manner of the death of 'this wicked man' was the means of solidifying the testimony of Christ among the people of Nephi. |
23a
TG
God, Love of b Alma 17:2; TG Scriptures, Study of
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24 And it came to pass that many means were devised to
areclaim and restore the Lamanites to the knowledge of the
truth; but it all was bvain, for they delighted in
cwars and dbloodshed, and they had an
eternal ehatred against us, their brethren. And they
sought by the power of their arms to destroy us continually.
25 Wherefore, the people of Nephi did fortify against them with their arms, and with all their might, trusting in the God and arock of their salvation; wherefore, they became as yet, conquerors of their enemies.
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24a
Enos 1:20 b Enos 1:14 c Mosiah 1:5; Mosiah 10:12 (11-18); Alma 3:8; Alma 9:16; D&C 93:39 d Jarom 1:6; Alma 26:24 (23-25) e 2 Ne. 5:1-3; Mosiah 28:2; TG Malice 25a TG Rock
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26 And it came to pass that I, Jacob, began to be old; and the record
of this people being kept on the aother plates of Nephi,
wherefore, I conclude this record, declaring that I have written according to
the best of my knowledge, by saying that the time passed away with us, and
also our blives passed away like as it were unto us a
cdream, we being a dlonesome and a solemn
people, ewanderers, cast out from Jerusalem, born in
tribulation, in a wilderness, and hated of our brethren, which caused wars
and contentions; wherefore, we did mourn out our days.
27 And I, Jacob, saw that I must soon go down to my grave; wherefore, I said unto my son aEnos: Take these bplates. And I told him the things which my brother Nephi had ccommanded me, and he promised obedience unto the commands. And I make an end of my writing upon these plates, which writing has been dsmall; and to the reader I bid farewell, hoping that many of my brethren may read my words. Brethren, adieu. |
26a
1 Ne. 19:1-6;
Jarom 1:14 (1 14-15) b James 4:14 c 1 Chr. 29:15; Ps. 144:4 d Alma 13:23 e Alma 26:36 27a Enos 1:1 b Omni 1:3 c Jacob 1:1-4 d 1 Ne. 6:3 (1-6); Jarom 1:2, 14
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