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...
Faced with the horrors of war and the imminent destruction of his people, Coriantumr "began to remember the words which Ether had spoken unto him" had a slight change of heart (Ether 15:1). When obliteration approached and he saw that millions of people including women and children had been killed in this civil war, "He began to repent of the evil which he had done" (Ether 15:3).
He recalled the prophecies of the prophet Ether and "he saw them that they were fulfilled thus far, every whit; and his soul mourned and refused to be comforted" (Ether 15:3). I would be curious to know if this sorrow was what the scriptures calls "godly sorrow" or what is sometimes referred to as the "sorrow of the damned." Because his sorrow motivated him to try to salvage what was left of his people, even at great personal sacrifice, I'm inclined to think that this sorrow was a sincere desire to stop the damage of what he had done. He even "wrote an epistle unto Shiz, desiring him that he would spare the people, and he would give up the kingdom for the sake of the lives of the people" (Ether 15:4).
Perhaps if Shiz had been a more rational or less vengeful adversary, perhaps the story of the Jaredites could have ended differently. But Shiz demanded Coriantumr's life to agree to this bargain, and Coriantumr balked at giving his life to save the people. and so the war raged on; "the people who were for Coriantumr were gathered together to the army of Coriantumr; and the people who were for Shiz were gathered together to the army of Shiz" (Ether 15:13). As the battle continued over days the numbers on each side dwindled into the dozens, and yet each night "after they had retired to their camps they took up a howling and a lamentation for the loss of the slain of their people; and so great were their cries, their howlings and lamentations, that they did rend the air exceedingly" (Ether 15:16).
This sorrow, however, was different that the sense of regret that Coriantumr had experienced earlier. This time"the Spirit of the Lord had ceased striving with them, and Satan had full power over the hearts of the people; for they were given up unto the hardness of their hearts, and the blindness of their minds that they might be destroyed; wherefore they went again to battle" (Ether 15:19). Their sorrow did not motivate them to repent. This sorrow of the damned fueled their hatred and resolve to destroy their enemies. As a resulted, the ensured the mutual destruction of both armies.
As unimaginable as it may seem, they literally fought to the last man. Coriantumr finally killed Shiz in dramatic and graphic fashion. I can only imagine the thoughts and feelings that must have filled the prophet Ether's heart as he was summoned by the Lord to witness and record what had happened to the people. "The Lord spake unto Ether, and said unto him: Go forth. And he went forth, and beheld that the words of the Lord had all been fulfilled; and he finished his record" (Ether 15:33).
What was the purpose of Ether going forth to witness the destruction of the people and making a record. Cleary God felt that this information was important enough to preserve his prophet, to command him to make an account of the atrocities of this war, and then to preserve the record for over a millennium. He wants us to know, and offers an extreme example to emphasize the point, that wickedness only brings sorrow and destruction. There is an additional warning in the phrase. "the Spirit of the Lord had ceased striving with them" (Ether 15:19).
Given the power of Jesus Christ and the efficacy of His atonement, I don't generally believe that it is ever too late for anyone to repent. At least not in the context of the people and situations that I have encountered in my life. I believe that there is always some hope, and that the Lord will never abandon even the most grievous sinners among us. Even Coriantumr, at the pinnacle of his murderous lust, was able to see the ramifications of his wickedness and pause. He even considered a course correction and authored an epistle to Shiz to try to end the war.
Even when we make repeated, conscious mistakes, the Spirit may still strive with us to prompt us to stop, to change, and to come back. Even in the grievous case of the Jaredites when the Spirit's tolerance for sin reaches its limit, the withdrawal of the Sprit is not the end of God's love, but a manifestation of it.
Application Questions
When you regret your mistakes, does it feel like shame and despair that halts you? How can you use your sorrow for sin to encourage and motivate you to improve?
What sorrow and regret could you remove from your life through repentance?
Image Credit: futureoflife.org
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