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CHAPTER 28The sons of Mosiah shall have eternal life—They go to preach to the Lamanites—Mosiah translates the Jaredite plates with the two seer stones. [About 92 B.C.] |
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1 NOW it came to pass that after the
asons of Mosiah had done all these things,
*they took a small number with them and returned to their
father, the king, and desired of him that he would grant unto them that
they might, with these whom they had bselected, go up to
the land of cNephi that they might
preacha the things which they
had heard, and that they might impart the word of God to their brethren, the
Lamanites—
2 aThat perhaps they might bring them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and convince them of the iniquity of their fathers; and that perhaps they might cure them of their bhatred towards the Nephites, that they might also be brought to rejoice in the Lord their God, that they might become friendly to one another, and that there should be no more contentions in all the land which the Lord their God had given them.
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1a desired of him that he would grant unto them that they might, with these who they had selected, go up to the land of Nephi that they might preach Since the city of Zarahemla was upon the west bank of the river Sidon midway on the course of that river in the valley thereof, it would indeed be 'going up', first to the mountainous head waters of the river near Manti and then across the upper mountains that joined the three parallel cordillera of the nation of Zarahmenla. And only after that ascension would they come to the northern borders of the land of Nephi. The cause of having to have King Mosiah's approval was 2 if not three fold. First he was their father and they would need/want their father's approval. Second Mosiah was king of the Land, and they would need the King's approval so as not to cause an 'inter-national' affair without prior approval. And third, and perhaps most important, King Mosiah at that time was still the people's prophet and seer leader, and even like Alma the Elder, they needed that religious approval of 'keys' in order to 'preach God's word'. It may be noted here that since the time of Nephi, there was a precedence of Church and state being combined in the Nephite nation's head and king. And that precedence would soon be changed to a system of religious judges. |
1a
Mosiah 27:34 * [About 92 B.C.] b Alma 17:8 c Mosiah 9:1, 3-4, 14; Alma 50:8, 11 2a Alma 17:16 b Jacob 7:24; Mosiah 1:5; Alma 26:9
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3 Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every
creature, for they could not abear that any human
bsoul should cperish; yea, even the very
thoughts that any soul should endure dendless torment did
cause them to quake and etremble.
4 And thus did the Spirit of the Lord work upon them, for they were the very avilest of sinners. And the Lord saw fit in his infinite bmercy to spare them; nevertheless they suffered much anguish of soul because of their iniquities, suffering much and fearing that they should be cast off forever.
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3a
1 Ne. 7:8;
Mosiah 25:11;
Alma 13:27-30; Alma 31:2; 3 Ne. 17:14; Moses 7:41 b TG Worth of Souls c Matt. 18:14 d Jacob 6:10; Moro. 8:21; D&C 19:12 (10-12) e 1 Cor. 2:3 4a Mosiah 27:10; Alma 26:18 (17-18) b TG God, Mercy of
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5 And it came to pass that they did plead with their father many
days that they might go up to the land of Nephi.
6 And king Mosiah went and ainquired of the Lord if he should let his sons go up among the Lamanites to preach the word. 7 And the Lord said unto Mosiah: Let them go up, for many shall believe on their words, and they shall have eternal lifea; and I will adeliver thy sons out of the hands of the Lamanites.
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7a Let them go up, for many shall believe on their words, and they shall have eternal life One of the surest avenues unto to eternal life it to be active in declaring the word of God unto the children of God. Now we have been charged that 'every member be a missionary' in sharing and declaring the gospel unto the world. But their is much fear had in stand before man and declaring the word of God. And Satan doth work to cultivate that fear in all of us that we might not speak out concerning our God. And for one very good reason does Satan work upon this reserve within us, for if we were valiant in declaring the word of God, then like Alma and the sons of Mosiah, it would be a work unto one's eternal life if such is but performed by one before the children of men. Now if we can get this message into the hearts of the members, that such actions of honestly and faithfully declaring the word of God is unto the end of one's own eternal life, them would not more be motivated into action in terms of sharing the gospel unto the world. And perhaps this in one of the foremost avenues unto salvation and eternal life. |
6a
Ex. 18:15;
Alma 43:23 7a Alma 17:35; Alma 19:23 (22-23)
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8 And it came to pass that Mosiah granted that they might go and
do according to their request.
9 And they atook their journey into the wilderness to go up to preach the word among the Lamanites; and I shall give an baccount of their proceedings hereafter.
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9a
Alma 17:6-9;
Alma 26:1 b IE in Alma, chapters 17- 26
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10 Now king Mosiah had no one to confer the kingdom upon, for there
was not any of his sons who awould accept of the kingdom.
11 Therefore he took the records which were engraven on the plates of abrass, and also the plates of bNephi, and all the things which he had kept and preserved according to the commandments of God, after having translated and caused to be written the records which were on the cplates of gold which had been found by the people of Limhi, which were delivered to him by the hand of Limhi; 12 And this he did because of the great anxiety of his people; for they were desirous beyond measure to know concerning those people awho had been destroyed.
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10a
Mosiah 29:3 (1-3) 11a Mosiah 10:16 b W of M 1:10 c Mosiah 21:27; Alma 37:21-31 12a Mosiah 8:8
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13 And now he translated them by the means of those two
astones which were fastened into the two rims of a
bowa.
14 Now these things were prepared from the beginning, and were handed down from generation to generation, for the purpose of interpreting languages; 15 And they have been kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he should discover to every creature who should possess the land the iniquities and abominations of his people; 16 And whosoever has these things is called aseer, after the manner of old times.
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13a those two stones which were fastened into two rims of a bow This is the Urim and Thummim. The Jaredites did have a set which may be the set which came forth with the Book of Mormon. But it does seem that Mosiah has an independant source of obtaining these stones. Whether they were a part of the brass plates package which may will have included engraving tools to write upon the plates as they were an ongoing recorde containing even many of the words of the contempory Jeremiah. And those plates where written in Egpytian, which may have intelled why a Urim and Thummin may have accompanied them. Another source of these to Mosiah may have been by the hand of the Lord through the administration of angels. It would not likely be what Corniantumr would have brought, as they would be more likely in the hands of Ether that a wicked warlord. |
13a
Ex. 28:30;
Mosiah 21:28 (27-28);
Abr. 3:1; JS-H 1:35 16a Mosiah 8:13-18; TG Seer
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17 Now after Mosiah had finished atranslating these
brecords, behold, it gave an account of the people who were
cdestroyed, from the time that they were destroyed back to
the building of the dgreat tower, at the time the Lord
econfounded the language of the people and they were
scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth, yea, and even from that time
back until the creation of Adam.
18 Now this account did cause the people of Mosiah to mourn exceedingly, yea, they were filled with sorrow; nevertheless it gave them much knowledge, in the which they did rejoice.
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17a
Omni 1:20;
Alma 9:21 b TG Scriptures, Writing of c Mosiah 8:8 (7-12); Alma 22:30 d Ether 1:3 (1-5) e Gen. 11:7 (6-9); Omni 1:22
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19 And this account shall be awritten
hereaftera;
for behold, it is expedient that all people should know the things which are
written in this account.
20 And now, as I said unto you, that after king Mosiah had done these things, he took the plates of abrass, and all the things which he had kept, and bconferred them upon Alma, who was the son of Alma; yea, all the records, and also the cinterpretersa, and conferred them upon him, and commanded him that he should keep and dpreserve them, and also keep a record of the people, handing them down from one generation to another, even as they had been handed down from the time that Lehi left Jerusalema.
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19a this account shall be written
hereafter This is Mormon stating that he will include the record
of Ether later in his record. Now we know that the 'sealed' portion of the
Book of Mormon did include the actual writings of Ether. Perhaps it also
included Mosiah's translation of it as well. But it is actually Moroni's
short abridgment of Ether's record which we do have in the Book of Mormon
today. Whether Mormon also so wrote an account of Ether's record is not known,
that Mormon intended that 'this account shall be written' whether by him or
by some other such as his son Moroni is an area of some speculation.
20a also the interpreters ... even as they had been handed down from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem Now in one sense it would seem that the interpreters, the Urim and Thummim was brought with Lehi from Jerusalem. Not depending on whehter this was a generalization applied to every particular or not is to be yet understood. But the Urim and Thummim had disappeared from the hands of the Jews as they were made and had at the time of Moses (Exodus 28:30; Mosiah 8:13). And they were not had when the Jews returned from Babylon (Ezra 2:63). Thus one must consider if that Urim and Thummim which Mosiah had did come from and was one in the same as was had among the Jews. Perhaps the plates of brass came with them and also engraving tools to boot. Yet the brother of Jared also had a Urim and Thummim prepared for him (Ether 3:23, 28). |
19a
Ether 1:1 20a Mosiah 1:3-4; Alma 37:3-12 b Alma 37:1 c TG Urim and Thummim d TG Scriptures, Preservation of
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| * Verse 1 [About 92 B.C.] |
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