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
King Zeniff concerned the kingdom on his son, King Noah, who ruled in wickedness and brought destruction to his people. "For behold, he did not keep the commandments of God, but he did walk after the desires of his own heart. And he had many wives and concubines. And he did cause his people to commit sin, and do that which was abominable in the sight of the Lord. Yea, and they did commit whoredoms and all manner of wickedness" (Mosiah 11:2). Here we learn that leaders, and I would argue those with privilege in general, bear greater responsibility for their actions based on the number of people they impact. The effects of King Noah's sin and pride were not limited to his own life, and spread throughout his entire kingdom. Each individual is ultimately responsible for their own behavior, and we cannot blame our mistakes on poor leaders, bad parents, failed societies, or unfair circumstances. But we are accountable for what we do with the positions of power, influence, responsibility, and stewardship we hold.
For example, the Lord revealed through Joseph Smith that "inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents" (D&C 68:25). When we fail as Noah did to provide righteous leadership in our areas of responsibility we are held accountable, not those we lead.
In response to the wickedness of the people, God sent a prophet named Abinidi to command the people to repent. He relayed a message from the Lord, "Wo be unto this people, for I have seen their abominations, and their wickedness, and their whoredoms; and except they repent I will visit them in mine anger. And except they repent and turn to the Lord their God, behold, I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies; yea, and they shall be brought into bondage; and they shall be afflicted by the hand of their enemies" (Mosiah 11:20-21). In the same way we can be instruments of God to bless those around us, God uses the wicked to dole out punishment for unrighteousness. God's anger at the people's wickedness prompted Him to allow the negative consequences of their choices to afflict them. It is rare that God personally punishes unrighteousness. Instead he "delivers [the wicked] into the hands of their enemies" (Mosiah 11:20).
Without the Lord's help and protection we are not equal to the evil influences of the world. He preserves and delivers us from Satan when we try to follow him. When we reject God and choose not to follow His instructions for our lives, we fall into the bondage of our bad choices. As Abinidi prophesies to the people of Noah, "except this people repent and turn unto the Lord their God, they shall be brought into bondage; and none shall deliver them, except it be the Lord the Almighty God" (Mosiah 11:23). Abinidi prophesied about literal slavery to the Lamanites, but his words apply to us spiritually.
Noah committed sins because he lived "after the desires of his own heart" (Mosiah 11:2). While we all come to this world with the light of Christ within us and a basic compass for right and wrong, we also live in a fallen state with imperfect natures. Our instinctive tendencies and natural inclinations are not all good, and can hinder or derail our process of becoming more like God. "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father" (Mosiah 3:19). If we hope to grow and progress we will frequently have to deny the base "desires of our own hearts" and instead act according to our values and God's instruction.
King Noah was also unwilling to change because he did not recognize a moral authority outside of himself. He declared, "Who is Abinadi, that I and my people should be judged of him, or who is the Lord, that shall bring upon my people such great affliction?" (Mosiah 11:27). By definition, pride is adversarial and breeds conflict between us and God, and us and others. It is an unwillingness to change because we esteem ourselves and our beliefs as better (or worse) than someone else. Pride is corrosive and undermines our ability to progress because it locks out important feedback we need to grow. Only when we are humble and willing to acknowledge when we are wrong can we take action to improve.
Application Questions
What are your most important roles/responsibilities? How can you exercise righteous influence in them to bless others?
Whose opinions should you dismiss and whose should you listen to?
How can you tell the difference between your base inclinations and your higher nature?
What can you do this week to be more humble?
Image Credit: Alexandr Moroz
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