2020 Study Summary 13: He Works In Me To Do His Will

Enos–Words of Mormon

“He Works In Me To Do His Will”

Enos – Enos prays mightily and gains a remission of his sins—The voice of the Lord comes into his mind promising salvation for the Lamanites in a future day—Nephites sought to reclaim the Lamanites in their day—Enos rejoices in his Redeemer. [Between 544 and 420 B.C.]

Jarom – The Nephites keep the law of Moses, look forward to the coming of Christ, and prosper in the land—Many prophets labor to keep them in the way of truth. [Between 420 and 361 B.C.]

Omni – Omni, Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom, and Amaleki, each in turn, keep the records—Mosiah discovers the people of Zarahemla who came from Jerusalem in the days of Zedekiah—He is made king over them—The Mulekites had discovered Coriantumr, the last of the Jaredites—King Benjamin succeeds Mosiah—Men should offer their souls as an offering to Christ. [Between 361 and 130 B.C.]

Words of Mormon – Mormon abridges their history onto the plates of Mormon—He inserts the plates of Nephi into the abridgement—King Benjamin establishes peace in the land. [About A.D. 385]

How important is it to understand the language of my fathers?
The late Daniel Ludlow taught that history is always prejudiced, however, prophecy has no prejudice – it hasn’t happened yet! Enos used the same expression as Nephi in saying that he was taught in the language of his father. He expressed his faith in the Lord that his sins would be forgiven. Like other Apostles and Prophets, Enos also taught “When thou art converted, convert thy brother.” “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” (Luke 22:32) “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” (James 5:20) “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” (1 Timothy 4:16) “And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! “And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!” (D&C 18:15-16) As a harmonic or echo of the allegory of the olive tree, Enos reminds us that records can help future generations, even if the future generations descend from present unbelievers. Again, in a lesson of faith in the Lord, he knows that the records of the Nephites and the Lamanites would be saved.

How do I envision, “Returning Home?”
In closing his account, Enos reaches back to his roots to where his forefathers came from, Jerusalem, the City of the Lord. Then in a fitting conclusion, he anticipates entering into the mansions of his Heavenly Father. “As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever.” (Psalms 48:8) “The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 60:14) “And he spake also concerning the house of Israel, and the Jerusalem from whence Lehi should come–after it should be destroyed it should be built up again, a holy city unto the Lord; wherefore, it could not be a new Jerusalem for it had been in a time of old; but it should be built up again, and become a holy city of the Lord; and it should be built unto the house of Israel.” (Ether 13:5)

How merciful is my God?
In Jarom, written by Enos’ son, I find an interesting parallel to modern Israel. Jarom’s reminder that, notwithstanding the “hardness of their hearts,” the Lord is exceedingly merciful. Israel’s people do not remember who their Lord Jehovah is (even so, they keep the Sabbath day better than most peoples I know). They are surrounded by proclaimed enemies, yet they are protected. They are becoming prosperous and definitely fine in their workmanship (and weaponry). At the same time, a growing society of “believers” is apparent with an estimated thirty-thousand “Messianic” Jews among the almost ten-million inhabitants in Israel. For both, the believers and others, a growing expectance of the Messiah is also evident.

How valiant should I be in preserving my country?
The words of Omni, Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom and Amaleki also seem to be echoed in Israel’s modern times. These are men who have valiantly fought to preserve Israel’s independence and freedom. These officers unabashedly say that they are not “observant” in keeping religious laws yet, like Omni, they keep connected to “God’s line.” They, as these Book of Mormon writers, may be more religious than they openly express. A case in point is a story of General Moshe Dayan. When asked if he believed in miracles, he responded, “No, we just count on them!”

How important are the of “gatherings” the family and their records?
Israel’s high interest in its scattered relatives is another parallel to Mosiah finding a lost part of those who left Jerusalem. There are close to one-hundred-ninety-thousand Ethiopian (black) Jews who did not know of the existence of other Jews (white) in the world. A great part of them have been brought to Israel in the last two decades. An effort to have them “catch up” with Jewish history is similar to the discovery of the people of Zarahemla. The discovery of the “plates” and their subsequent reading reveals something of the technology used to prepare them. As mentioned in a previous lesson, plates of various metals, preferably gold, were prepared by pounding them into book-like sheets. They were fastened and their blank sides waited for some future use. There was only a certain amount of capacity in the “book.” On the other hand, scrolls, like the forefathers of the Nephites and Lamanites used, were prepared from skins of animals. If one needed more space to continue an account, another skin would simply be sewn onto the existing scroll. This became obvious in the Dead Sea Scrolls where one document was about twenty-seven feet long and another was twenty-one feet in length. Some of the plates that Mormon was editing had sufficient space that he could add other writings to those that had been passed on to him from the past.

How can I better understand the scriptures?
As mentioned at the beginning of this lesson supplement, scripture is not intended to be a running history. Scriptures contain historical pictures and accounts that make a lesson or doctrine more “viable” and more understandable. The wisdom of God, as shown by his prophets, is eternal and has a wonderful way of connecting the past with the present in order for us to prepare for the future.