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
17-23 Feb 2020 - To Persuade Our Children, and Also Our Brethren, to Believe in Christ - 2 Nephi 11-25
2 Nephi 11 - That Whoso of My People Shall See These Words May Lift up Their Hearts and Rejoice I wonder why God would inspire Jacob to record the words of Isaiah, and why they would be included in the abridgment of the record that ultimately became the Book of Mormon. It seems logical that Nephite prophets would want their people to have access to Isaiah's teachings, but why would an all-knowing God as Jacob to etch them on plates, and then ensure that this duplicate copy of teachings contained in the Bible survived verbatim in the Book of Mormon. Jacob explained, " I write some of the words of Isaiah, that whoso of my people shall see these words may lift up their hearts and rejoice for all men" (2 Nephi 11:8). Jacob's main motivation was to inspire his contemporary people and fill them with joy. As I sit here with immediate access to digital copies of 2 Nephi and the book of Isaiah at my fingertips it is easy t one confused and dismissive about why there