Jacob 1 - That We Might Persuade Them to Come Unto Christ I'm taking an online economics class right now, which prompted me to think of the definition of economics in the context of the scriptures. Economics is the study of the allocation of scarce resources. In the case of Nephi and his successor Jacob, the plates upon which they engraved their record was a scarce resource. They were costly to make and difficult to engrave, and instilling a tradition of passing them through generations was surely cumbersome. Recognizing the great importance of spiritual things and the challenge of maintaining records, Nephi instructed Jacob to prioritize religious instruction saying, " if there were preaching which was sacred, or revelation which was great, or prophesying, that I should engraven the heads of them upon these plates, and touch upon them as much as it were possible, for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of our people" (Jacob 1:4). This priority was not only reflecte
Nephi sees Christ's ministry among the people of the American continent, a
brief period of righteousness, and the eventual downfall and destruction of his
people. This revelation is intertwined with the symbols of Lehi's vision and
how they apply to Nephi's posterity. His people are destroyed "because of the pride of my seed, and
the temptations of the devil" (1 Nephi 11:19). Later (in chapters 13 and 14) Nephi also sees
the restoration of the Gospel and redemption of his people, but this portion of
the vision must have been bleak and filled with sorrow.
Nephi saw a "fountain of filthy water; ... and
the depths thereof are the depths of hell,"
"the mists of darkness [which] are the temptations of the
devil," and "the large and spacious building, which is vain imaginations and
the pride of the children of men" (1 Nephi 12:16-18). He
describes in detail how the mists of darkness, or the temptations of the devil, "blindeth the eyes, and hardeneth the hearts of the children of men,
and leadeth them away into broad roads, that they perish and are
lost" (1 Nephi 12:17).
Temptation is different than sin. Sin represents our choices and actions that are contrary to god's will. Temptations are Satan's efforts to get us to make incorrect choices. We all experience temptation, and experiencing temptation does not equate to sin. In fact, we know that the Savior himself experienced overwhelming temptations during his mortal ministry, but never succumbed to sin (Matthew 4:1-11).
How does temptation operate in our lives? How can we resists its constant influence and avoid bad thoughts and decisions?
Temptation "blindeth the eyes."
Satan would have us lose sight of our worth as individuals. He would have us blind to the eternal context of our life on earth. He would have us be ignorant of the goodness and worth of those around us. He would have us doubt the eventual reprieve from suffering and promised blessings of righteousness. He would have us filled with confusion about our choices and futures. Our perceptions about ourselves, our lives, and others drive our behavior and shape our reality. We can avoid sin by anchoring our decisions in a clear understanding of how God sees us, His plan for our lives, His love for others, and His promises for the future.
Temptation "hardeneth the heart."
Satan wants our hearts to be proud and resistant to change. He wants us to reject new information and experiences. He wants to render us incapable of being moved to pity or tenderness. We can avoid sin in the face of temptation by acknowledging that God's wisdom exceeds our own and recognizing our need for constant refinement. We can avoid bigotry by holding space to consider new ideas. And perhaps most importantly, we can avoid sin by allowing ourselves to feel deep empathy and concern for those around us. Many of our sins and wrong choices are driven by an attempt to flee emotion and escape from uncomfortable feelings.
Temptation "leadeth away into broad roads."
Broad roads stand in contrast to the strait and narrow way of the Lord (2 Nephi 31:8). Satan prompts us to be permissive and embrace relativism. Satan would have us ignore the instructions from God that relate to all His children. Satan wants us to be distracted and lose a sight of the core aspects of His doctrine: to receive essential saving ordinances and strive to become as Christ is.
Mists of darkness are a constant in our lives. In this life our spiritual eyes will always be impaired, our hearts will be inflexible, and we will wander in broad roads. Even with these imperfections and limitations we can make correct choices. That is the essence of faith--to choose what we know to be right when our eyes are blind, to (maybe even begrudgingly) do the right thing when our hearts don't want to, and reference the maps and compasses of the Gospel as we wander.
Image credit: Whitedaisy
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