Knowing Good From Evil

Years ago while studying what had become one of my favorite chapters of scripture, 2 Nephi 2, a precept was opened to my mind that has had a profound effect on my discipleship and my efforts to strengthen others in their discipleship. My purpose is to share what I am learning and invite you to consider making this precept a part of your discipleship.

In the midst of explaining agency, opposition, and the Fall of Adam, Lehi teaches:

And because [Satan] had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind. Wherefore, he said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent, who is the devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he said: Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil” (2 Nephi 2:18).

After explaining the implications of the Fall of Adam, Lehi teaches his young son:

...the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given (2 Nephi 2:26).

I had read these verses literally hundreds of times in my studies over the years, but this particular morning it seems I was prepared to start learning something that had been staring me in the face for decades, every time I studied 2 Nephi 2. I do not have the words to adequately describe the power and peace of that morning. It is a treasured and deeply personal moment.

In verse 18 we are taught the archetype temptation of the adversary - “Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil” (2 Nephi 2:18). We might translate this verse today as “go ahead, partake of the forbidden fruit, whatever that forbidden fruit may be - sexual permissiveness, immodesty, swearing, anger, stealing, gossip, unhealthy and habit forming substances, dishonesty, unkindness, lies, or a million other forms of forbidden fruits (Mosiah 5:29). Go ahead, you won’t die. In fact, you will be even better because you will know good and evil.” Even more simply, “go ahead and enjoy the ‘forbidden fruit’ (often said with a cynical and taunting ‘ooh aaaah’), it won’t hurt you, in fact it will make you stronger because you will know good and evil!” This is the pattern of virtually every temptation - go ahead, partake of (fill in the blank)! It will not hurt you, it will make you better because you will know more - good and evil. There are a variety of succinct renditions of this pattern: ah, go ahead, its no big deal; everyone is doing it; are you too good to join in; what are you afraid of; why can't you just go along; come on, enjoy life...

In contrast, in verse 26, Nephi explains that “the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given” (2 Nephi 2:26). 

I remember feeling that I had missed something that morning as I read verse 26. My eyes wandered back over the prior verses until I reached verse 18. I scanned forward through the verses until 26, and then back and forth for several minutes. Again, I sensed I was missing something.

Then, like a lightening bolt, it jumped out at me - and versus from! Satan’s temptation was to know good AND evil, Christ’s invitation is to know good FROM evil! All of a sudden I started to think of times when I had allowed the Adversary and others to convince me to partake of whatever flavor of forbidden fruit he had offered. At the same time, I recognized the many times when the Savior had invited me to act for myself and know good from evil - warning me of the looming danger of a particular choice. The difference between the temptation of the Adversary and the invitation of Christ could not be more stark - know good AND evil versus know good FROM evil.

I have since learn that Lehi had actually introduced the precept of knowing good from evil at the very beginning of his instruction to Jacob:

And men are instructed sufficiently that they know good from evil. And the law is given unto men. And by the law no flesh is justified; or, by the law men are cut off. Yea, by the temporal law they were cut off; and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that which is good, and become miserable forever (2 Nephi 2:5 italics added).

Then, and ever since, I began to notice that every admonition from prophets throughout the Book of Mormon that referred to the issue of choosing good or evil were that the people would know good FROM evil - not good and evil. Consider the following. Samuel calling the Nephites to repentance:

...remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free. He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you (Helaman 14:31 italics added).

Samuel is teaching the causal relationship between our freedom to choose good or evil and the resurrected state we will be awarded. While we are free to choose, choosing evil is choosing death, spiritual death - we distance ourselves from God. How much better to know good from evil.

Another example. Alma testifying of the goodness of God:

Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men; he that knoweth not good from evil is blameless; but he that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires, whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience (Alma 29:5 italics added).

Everyone on this earth is confronted with good and evil. There are some who do not know good from evil, who are not provided the capacity to do so. These, include children and those who do not yet know the gospel or are prevented from knowing or accepting it. For the rest of us, we receive of God according to our desires, whether for good or evil, which is the same as choosing life or death, or of remorse of conscience.

It is interesting to note Alma’s description of Adam’s and Eve’s state following their partaking of the fruit:

Now, we see that the man had become as God, knowing good and evil; and lest he should put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever, the Lord God placed cherubim and the flaming sword, that he should not partake of the fruit (Alma 42:3).

We would be wrong to believe that this verse suggests that Adam and Eve were godlike once they had partaken of the forbidden fruit. Quite the opposite. They definitely knew good and evil. However, they had not yet learned to choose good from evil. That takes time. Therefore, they were prevented from partaking of the fruit of the tree of life, and thereby living forever, so they could have the time to learn to choose good from evil and to repent when they choose evil. Through this process they would prepare to meet God once again and enjoy his life.

Mormon summarizes The Book of Mormon instruction on this issue perfectly:

...it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night. For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God...Wherefore, I beseech of you...that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ (Moroni 7:15,16, and 19 italics added).

We are given the ability, right, and responsibility to judge good from evil. The way to judge good from evil is plain, we can know with a perfect knowledge as well as we know daylight from night. Why? We each have the Spirit (or Light) of Christ to know good from evil. My experience is we get in trouble when we fall for the deception, “it’s not that bad.” This is actually a form of Satan’s prototypical temptation - go ahead, partake; it won’t hurt you; in fact you will be better off. When we are rationalizing something is “not that bad” we are on a very slippery slope toward choosing evil, not good. I am finding it is much better to ask, "Is it good?" I find that when I can't answer the question regarding a choice with a simple, "yes, its good," I should be careful and think a little more deeply about the choice, asking God for guidance.

The Book of Mormon precept is we can recognize good from evil and partake of the good, avoiding all evil choices. We follow Christ when we increasingly know good from evil. We follow the Adversary when we increasingly know good and evil. This has become one of the most important precepts I am learning from the Book of Mormon. As I abide by this precept I draw closer to God.

The course of the Lord is one eternal round

Lehi’s recounting of his dream of the tree and fruit seems to be a demarcation point in the Book of Mormon. It concludes Nephi’s summary of his father’s ministry and the start of his own - “And now I, Nephi, proceed to give an account upon these plates of my proceedings, and my reign and ministry” (1 Nephi 10:1.)

Interestingly, he begins by recounting some details about Lehi’s sweeping prophecies regarding Jerusalem’s destruction, the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, the need for and advent of the Savior, the Savior’s crucifixion, the scattering of Israel, and their eventual gathering. Nephi then continues, “I, Nephi, was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost” (1 Nephi 10:17.)

Note that Nephi includes seeing, hearing, and knowing. Unless sense of sight and sound are compromised in some way, or we deliberately close or cover our eyes and ears, seeing and hearing are automatic physiological functions. I am learning, however, that seeing and hearing do not automatically result in knowing. Knowing requires effort. We must choose to receive such knowledge into our souls and then align ourselves with it. In a gospel sense, the ultimate knowing is when the truths we see and hear are applied and shape all that we desire, think, say, and do. This is true gospel knowing.

Elder Maxwell taught:

Truth includes, but is not limited to, knowledge that corresponds to reality—things as they were, things as they are, and things as they will be (Jacob 4:13; D&C 93:24). Gospel truth is ‘morally richer,’ therefore, than the world’s definition of truth, as Terry Warner has written (Encyclopedia of Mormonism, vol. 4 [New York: Macmillan Co., 1992], p. 1490). Jesus is ‘the way, the truth, and the life’ (John 14:6). He has ‘received a fulness of truth’ (D&C 93:26). Hence, we are to seek to have ‘the mind of Christ’ (1 Corinthians 2:16). Furthermore, as to the ‘manner’ of people we are to become, it is clear we are to strive to become ‘even as’ Jesus is (3 Nephi 27:27; see also 2 Peter 3:11). If we keep the commandments, the promise is that we will receive ‘truth and light’ until we are ‘glorified in truth and knoweth all things’ (D&C 93:28).  Therefore, gaining knowledge and becoming more Christlike ‘are two aspects of a single process’ (Warner, Encyclopedia of Mormonism, vol. 4, p. 1490). This process is part of being ‘valiant’ in our testimony of Jesus. Thus, while we are saved no faster than we gain a certain type of knowledge, it is also the case, as Richard Bushman has observed, that we will gain knowledge no faster than we are saved (Teachings, p. 217). So we have a fundamentally different understanding of knowledge and truth—behaving and knowing are inseparably linked.  “So defined, the gospel is inexhaustible because there is not only so much to know, but also so much to become! The vital truths are not merely accumulated in the mind but are expressed in life as well.  Intelligence is ‘the glory of God,’ as we all know. It is defined as ‘light and truth’ (D&C 93:36). The revelations also inform us that if we have ‘more knowledge and intelligence in this life,’ we will have ‘so much the advantage in the world to come’ (D&C 130:18–19). I do not pretend to be able to be definitive with regard to this last verse, but, clearly, what we carry forward, brothers and sisters, involves developing our capacity for cognition as well as application. This sets us apart from the world. I hope we understand some of the implications of all these things. Certainly, what we will carry forward is more than what we now term as IQ or databases. It is the entire being of the individual. Hence our approach to knowledge, truth, and wisdom is markedly different (“The Inexhaustible Gospel,” BYU Speeches, Neal A. Maxwell, 18 August 1992).

Why did Nephi have such desires to see, hear, and know? Nephi explains that the power of the Holy Ghost “is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek him, as well in times of old as in the time that he should manifest himself unto the children of men.” Why? Nephi knew that “[God] is the same yesterday, today, and forever; and the way is prepared for all men from the foundation of the world, if it so be that they repent and come unto him. For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round” (1 Nephi 10:17-19.)

This succinct statement contains some wonderful truths:

• [God] is the same yesterday, today, and forever - this is the constant, stabilizing fact on which we can place our faith. We need not wonder if tomorrow or some time in the distant future God will decide to desire, think, say, do, or be something different. Because of this, we can put our faith in him. This point is reinforced by Moroni toward the end of the Book of Mormon. He taught:

“For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing? And now, if ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles. But behold, I will show unto you a God of miracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same God who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are” (Morm. 9:9–11.)

• The way is prepared for all men if they repent and come unto him - God has mercifully prepared a way - the great plan of happiness - which is made possible through the gift of His Son. Since we are not perfect, like God, we must repent, or turn to Him. There is no shadow of changing in Him, but there must be for us.
• He that diligently seeketh shall find - God is not playing hide and seek. When we sincerely seek him, His promise is we will find him.
• The mysteries of the kingdom shall be unfolded by the power of the Holy Ghost - the mysteries of the kingdom are essential truths that must be revealed from God. These essential truths are mysteries to many because they do not seek or qualify for the required revelation to know them. Not only can we come to know God’s truths cognitively, they can be manifest in all of our desires, thought, actions, and words. In other words, they help us to overcome the natural man. This is truly mysterious to the natural man.

The summary truth Nephi offers is “the course of the Lord is one eternal round.” This has long been an intriguing expression for me. Does this expression suggest that God is on an eternal merry-go-round or stuck in an infinite do-loop? I think not. God’s course is as eternal and unchanging as he is. He knows how to help his children be happy. We don't need to worry that the plan or associated commandments will change at some point. We should also not worry that he will grow tired of this work. As Elder Maxwell observed, “Even though His course is’one eternal round’ (1 Ne. 10:19; D&C 3:2), as the plan of salvation is executed and re-executed, again and again, in realms beyond our purview, His love is constant and personal” (https://www.lds.org/ensign/1994/06/wisdom-and-order?lang=eng.)

The process described in the prior sentences of repenting, seeking, and unfolding never ends. It is as eternal as God’s nature - an eternal round. Abiding by this precept draws me closer to God.

Which purpose I know not

Throughout the Book of Mormon we get wonderful “one liners” regarding the faith of various disciples. The brevity of these ancient succinct sermons should not result in our minimizing their applicability to us as latter-day disciples. One of these one-liners is at the end of 1 Nephi 9. Earlier in the chapter Nephi states the purpose of his record and explains that he was actually keeping two records - one record was for the political history of his people and the other to record the ministry of his people. The Book of Mormon we read today is this ministerial record Nephi began over 2,500 years ago. After noting the two records and their purposes, Nephi writes, “the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not. But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning” (1 Nephi 9:5-6.)

It is worthwhile to ponder the implications of this command for Nephi. Creating this record required the creation of metallic, gold in this case, plates on which to write. They had to be both durable and mobile - remember, he was on a journey of unknown distance and duration and these plates were to last for thousands of years. Obeying the Lord required Nephi mine gold ore, refine the gold, and then fashion thin plates on which a record could be engraven. Lastly, Nephi had to actually write on the plates. This was a tedious and painstaking process.

Nephi had no mobile computer by which he could quickly create a “My Ministry” folder, create new files in which he could quickly type out his thoughts, correcting typos or rewriting with ease - thank goodness for backspace and delete keys! There was no convenient blog site to which he could post his files that would be automatically backed up and made available to anyone who could access his blog. Furthermore, there was no network or cloud backup storage, no mobile device or wifi. No, Nephi would have had to spend literally months and maybe years of his life creating, recording, and preserving his record to be passed on to, and amended by, future generations. We should all be particularly grateful for such sacrifice and determined obedience that required so much persistence and sacrifice throughout his life.

Back to Nephi’s brief description of, and reaction to, the Lord’s command - “the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not. But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning” (1 Nephi 9:5-6.) There are at least two powerful precepts packed into this brief description by Nephi.

First, Nephi notes that the Lord commanded him to make the plates to record the ministry of the people and he was being obedient to that command. Nephi’s obedience was manifest many times in the Book of Mormon. Nothing new to this point. Nephi then shares that he did not know why he was making the record, but he knew God had a wise purpose in the command to make the record. Nephi had learned to recognize God’s command and to obey, even though he did not understand why. Remember, he entered Jerusalem, “not knowing beforehand the things which [he] should do” (1 Nephi 4:6.) Some may call this blind obedience - acting like a robot instead of an intelligent being with agency instead of insisting on knowing exactly why something is being asked. That might be a defensible position were it not for the second precept in Nephi’s explanation.

Second, Nephi provided the reason for such explicit faith, “But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning.” Nephi’s obedience was born of confidence in the Lord’s omniscience. God knew, and Nephi knew that God knew, and that was good enough for Nephi. This same faith was manifest years later in the Book of Mormon when Alma was explaining the doctrine of resurrection to his wayward son Corianton. He taught, “whether there shall be one time, or a second time, or a third time, that men shall come forth from the dead, it mattereth not; for God knoweth all these things; and it sufficeth me to know that this is the case” (Alma 40:5.) Inspired obedience is born of confidence in God’s omniscience.

Our disobedience is typically a manifestation of not knowing this fundamental characteristic of God’s omniscience. It is born of confidence that he knows what he is doing and is not on some post graduate fellowship still figuring out how everything works. Knowing of, and having confidence in, God’s omniscience and active engagement in our lives is fundamental to discipleship in every age. This is the opposite of Laman’s and Lemuel’s not knowing the dealings of that God who had created them, which fueled their murmuring and disobedience (1 Nephi 2:11.) In contrast, Nephi demonstrated confidence that God knows what he is doing, and being content that His knowing is good enough. This precept is illustrated throughout the Book of Mormon as faithful disciples allow the Lord to guide them throughout their lives, not knowing both what was going to be expected of them or why they were doing it.

It is worth noting that Christ himself was surprised and confused by what was expected of him. As He approached the apex of his atoning life in the garden and on the cross there are two moments of surprise and confusion amidst his suffering and perfect obedience. In Mark we read, “he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy” (Mark 14:33.) The Greek for the expression “sore amazed” is amazed, awestruck, astonished. With his unexcelled brilliance, Christ himself was surprised, even astonished, by what was being asked of him. No doubt he was fully aware cognitively when he agreed to be the Savior, but the arrival of what accompanied the actual experience astonished him. Additionally, as he hung on the cross we read his soul cry to the Father, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34; Matthew 27:46.) Why, in this moment of supreme suffering, when he was doing exactly what the Father asked of him, would the Father withdraw his presence?  As Elder Maxwell taught, “As one’s will is increasingly submissive to the will of God, he can receive inspiration and revelation so much needed to help meet the trials of life. In the trying and very defining Isaac episode, faithful Abraham ‘staggered not … through unbelief’ (Rom. 4:20). Of that episode John Taylor observed that ‘nothing but the spirit of revelation could have given him this confidence, and … sustained him under these peculiar circumstances’ (in Journal of Discourses,14:361). Will we too trust the Lord amid a perplexing trial for which we have no easy explanation? Do we understand—really comprehend—that Jesus knows and understands when we are stressed and perplexed? The complete consecration which effected the Atonement ensured Jesus’ perfect empathy; He felt our very pains and afflictions before we did and knows how to succor us (see Alma 7:11–12; 2 Ne. 9:21). Since the Most Innocent suffered the most, our own cries of ‘Why?’ cannot match His. But we can utter the same submissive word ‘nevertheless…’ (Matt. 26:39).” (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1995/10/swallowed-up-in-the-will-of-the-father?lang=eng ).

When I abide by there these two precepts, obeying even when I don’t completely understand the why, and having confidence that God knows what he is doing and asking of me, I draw closer to God. I have never experienced an exception to this experience. Unfortunately, I have also experienced not obeying because of my questioning what God was asking or whether he knew what he was doing. These experiences have distanced me from God.

50 Years Preceding Christ's Visit to the America's

In April, 1987 President Ezra Taft Benson said the following:

Recently I have been reading again the marvelous account in the Book of Mormon of the visit of the resurrected Savior to the American continent.  As Easter approaches, I have been deeply impressed with the beauty and power of this scriptural account in 3 Nephi, and with its great value for our time and our generation.  The record of the Nephite history just prior to the Savior’s visit reveals many parallels to our own day as we anticipate the Savior’s second coming - https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1987/04/the-saviors-visit-to-america?lang=eng

He re-emphasized his earlier statement in April 1992 when he gave his seminal talk “The Keystone of our Religion:”

If they saw our day, and chose those things which would be of greatest worth to us, is not that how we should study the Book of Mormon? We should constantly ask ourselves, “Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (or Moroni or Alma) to include that in his record? What lesson can I learn from that to help me live in this day and age?”

And there is example after example of how that question will be answered. For example, in the Book of Mormon we find a pattern for preparing for the Second Coming. A major portion of the book centers on the few decades just prior to Christ’s coming to America. By careful study of that time period, we can determine why some were destroyed in the terrible judgments that preceded His coming and what brought others to stand at the temple in the land of Bountiful and thrust their hands into the wounds of His hands and feet - https://www.lds.org/ensign/1992/01/the-keystone-of-our-religion?lang=eng.

With these references in mind I have compiled a brief summary of the major events of the 50 years prior to Christ’s birth until the time of destruction at the time of his death prior, to his visit to the Americas.  This time frame is covered in Helaman 1 through 3 Nephi 7.  As this period begins peace has been restored to the Nephites after many years of war as described in the book of Alma.

52 BC  Political strife over the successor to Pahoran

The first successor is assassinated by Kishkuman in a secret pact

51 BC  The Lamanites invade Zarahemla by surprise and kill the chief judge

The Lamanites are defeated and driven out of the land

50 BC  Heleman becomes the new chief judge

Gadianton leads a murderous band into the wilderness

49 BC  Great migration, industry, and prosperity

Nephi, son of Heleman is the new chief judge

38 BC  Apostasy from the Church and Nephite political dissensions

35 BC  Dissenters with Lamanites take much of the Nephite lands

30 BC  Nephites lose 1/2 their land

Nephi steps down from his judgment seat to preach the word

Nephi and Lehi preach with so much power they convert many, including some Nephite dissenters

            Converted Lamanites give the land they had taken back to the Nephites

29 BC  The Lamanites begin to preach to the Nephites

25 BC  Great prosperity without war leads to hearts being set on riches

            People turn to secret combinations to have an advantage over others

            Lamanites drive the robbers out of their land

23 BC  Great corruption in the Nephite government  robbers hold most of the government offices

            Nephi prophesies of destruction and reveals the death and killer of the chief judge

            Some believe in Nephi's teachings

20 BC  Nephi calls for a famine, many die

16 BC  The people repent, Nephi asks for the famine to cease

12 BC  Gadianton robbers entrench themselves

            More dissent from the Nephites

7 BC    People are very wicked again

6 BC    Samuel the Lamanite preaches to the Nephites

            Some believe and are baptized by Nephi

2 BC    Very few believers

1 BC    Nephi leaves the ministry to his son Nephi and leaves the land

            People set a date for Christ's birth  if the sign does not appear by the date, all believers will be killed

            The sign of Christ's birth is given on the day set by the nonbelievers

            The majority of the people are converted

            The rising generation proves very wicked and begins to decrease the faith and righteousness of the people

15 AD  People begin to not respond to the preaching of the word

16 AD  Under threat of destruction from the Gadianton robbers, the righteous Nephites and Lamanites gather in one place with all their food to defend themselves

22 AD  After the Gadianton robbers attempt to lay siege multiple times the people are delivered

30 AD  The people prosper and succumb to pride

            Prophets are secretly killed by those of the secret combinations

            The chief judge is murdered and the government dissolves into various family tribes

32 AD  Nephi preaches with great power and gathers only a few while others are angry because of his priesthood power

33 AD  A great storm of destruction appears at the beginning of the year

33 AD  Christ appears at the end of the year to people who had gathered at the temple.

Among the themes that emerge with this summary are the following:

• Tremendous wealth and comfort for the majority
• Political strife and increasing instability resulting in the dissolution of democratic government and people dividing themselves into political “tribes”
• Several cycles of increasing righteousness, prosperity, wickedness, and destruction/suffering
• Lamanite righteousness and Nephite wickedness
• A backdrop of mounting terrorist strength due to Nephite dissension
• Remarkable priesthood leaders who demonstrate great priesthood power

It seems there are striking parallels between the Book of Mormon and these latter-days, just as President Benson explained. For me, the precept to be derived is that the Book of Mormon is for our day. The precepts derived therefrom are timeless in their application to aid in any person’s effort to draw closer to God. They help us hold fast continually to God’s word and press forward so we can feast on the fruit of God’s love and give no heed to those who would invite us to do otherwise.

All the feeling of a tender parent

Family is a recurring theme throughout the Book of Mormon. There are two particular precepts regarding the family to emphasize in this writing. First, in the Book of Mormon the family encompasses the past, present, and future. Second, righteous parents do not give up on their children, no matter how rebellious, lost, or likely their future rebellion.

The constant concern for past, present, and future family is evidenced from the very start of the book. Following the successful retrieval of the plates of brass from Laban:

Lehi, did discover the genealogy of his fathers. And Laban also was a descendant of Joseph, wherefore he and his fathers had kept the records. And now when my father saw all these things, he was filled with the Spirit, and began to prophesy concerning his seed— That these plates of brass should go forth unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people who were of his seed. Wherefore, he said that these plates of brass should never perish; neither should they be dimmed any more by time. And he prophesied many things concerning his seed (1 Nephi 5:16-19.)

Notice how Lehi’s newly found knowledge about his family past resulted in his prophesying about his family future - “his seed.” No doubt this newfound knowledge caused reflection on Lehi’s part as he realized that the only seed he had with him in the wilderness was four sons and the servant Laban, Zoram. The only female in the group was Lehi’s wife, Sariah - nt a formula for a large posterity. It seems reasonable to assume that the obvious limitations on the future of his family worked upon his mind after prophesying about his seed.

Meanwhile, Nephi seems to have had similar feelings for the future of the family. Nephi already knew that his posterity could not be expected to keep the commandments without the scriptures (see 1 Nephi 4:14-17.) Knowing this, following he and his father’s searching of the plates of brass, Nephi writes about his own efforts to write:

For the fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved. Wherefore, the things which are pleasing unto the world I do not write, but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto those who are not of the world. Wherefore, I shall give commandment unto my seed, that they shall not occupy these plates with things which are not of worth unto the children of men (1 Nephi 6:4-6.)

This same multigenerational interest is evidenced in virtually every other account of a Book of Mormon disciple Lehi and Nephi to Mormon and Moroni.

Lehi’s prophesying regarding his seed and subsequent pondering seems to have prepared him for further instruction from the Lord:

after my father, Lehi, had made an end of prophesying concerning his seed, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto him again, saying that it was not meet for him, Lehi, that he should take his family into the wilderness alone; but that his sons should take daughters to wife, that they might raise up seed unto the Lord in the land of promise. And it came to pass that the Lord commanded him that I, Nephi, and my brethren, should again return unto the land of Jerusalem, and bring down Ishmael and his family into the wilderness (1 Nephi 7:1-2.)

For the Lord’s purposes to be fulfilled Lehi’s family had to persist far into the future. Therefore, the Lord provided a complementary family with the same number of daughters as Lehi had sons, and one to spare with whom Zoram be a companion. No surprise then that soon these daughters were married and a viable multigenerational family was begun. Interestingly, there is no mention of Lehi’s daughters until after Ishmael’s family joined Lehi’s (see 2 Nephi 5:6.) Could it be that there was already a familial tie between the two families with the daughters of Lehi having married the sons of Ishmael?

Another precept to be derived from the Book of Mormon regarding family is how faithful parents do not give up on wayward children, even when revelation suggests a bleak future for the child. During his dream Lehi was shown that Laman and Lemuel did not partake of the fruit of the tree. However, there is no hint of his giving up on his wayward sons. Instead, we read:

And it came to pass after my father had spoken all the words of his dream or vision, which were many, he said unto us, because of these things which he saw in a vision, he exceedingly feared for Laman and Lemuel; yea, he feared lest they should be cast off from the presence of the Lord. And he did exhort them then with all the feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words, that perhaps the Lord would be merciful to them, and not cast them off; yea, my father did preach unto them. And after he had preached unto them, and also prophesied unto them of many things, he bade them to keep the commandments of the Lord; and he did cease speaking unto them (1 Nephi 8:35-38.)

How easy it would have been for Lehi to have said to himself, “Well, no need to try and help Laman and Lemuel. The Lord has shown me their future, and the battle will be lost.” Instead, “he did exhort them when with all the feeling of a tender parent.” What an example to every parent! Again, this same concern for a wayward child is manifest throughout the Book of Mormon.

The precepts for each latter-day disciple are that we have an eternal view of family - past, present, and future - and that we never give up on our children. As I have sought to abide by these precepts they have proven to help me draw closer to God.