In this chapter, Nephi and his brothers, along with Laban's servant Zoram, return to the wilderness from Jerusalem.
And it came to pass that after we had come down into the wilderness unto our father. 1 Nephi 5:1a
I guess the 400+ kilometer trip was getting routine by now, because Nephi says nothing at all about it. His parents, though, were filled with joy, exceedingly glad even, to see them.
Behold, he was filled with joy, and also my mother, Sariah, was exceedingly glad, for she truly had mourned because of us. 1 Nephi 5:1b
In fact, after the boys got back, the parents just couldn't stop talking about it. After this manner of language did they speak:
And after this manner of language had my mother complained against my father. 1 Nephi 5:3
And after this manner of language did my father, Lehi, comfort my mother. 1 Nephi 5:6
And after this manner of language did she speak. 1 Nephi 5:8
After they were done speaking in that manner of language, Lehi took a look at the brass plates. They had all kinds of cool stuff written on them: the five books of Moses, the history of the Jews, and the prophecies of Jeremiah.
Lehi ... beheld that they did contain the five books of Moses ... And also a record of the Jews from the beginning, even down to the commencement of the reign of Zedekiah ... And also the prophecies which have been spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah. 1 Nephi 5:10-13
And, most important of all, the plates had Lehi's genealogy, which showed that Lehi was a descendant of Joseph. (Joseph is a really important name in the Book of Mormon. I'm not sure why.)
And it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers. wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even that Joseph who was the son of Jacob. 1 Nephi 5:14
When Lehi found out that he was a descendant of Joseph, he was filled up with the Spirit and started to prophesy about his seed, saying the plates would never perish or dim with time. (No one has seen them since.)
When my father saw all these things, he was filled with the Spirit, and began to prophesy concerning his seed -- That these plates of brass should go forth unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people who were of his seed. Wherefore, he said that these plates of brass should never perish; neither should they be dimmed any more by time. 1 Nephi 5:17-19a
And then he prophesied some more stuff about his seed.
And he prophesied many things concerning his seed. 1 Nephi 5:19b
13 comments:
I checked twice, but this BoM is the most ridiculous scripture I've ever saw (although not the most ridiculous story, but that's another story).
"And then he prophesied some more stuff about his seed." - I thought you just skipped something to look funny. Turned out you didn't. This is absolut crap.
Tell me one thing: later this Joseph Smith gained some writing-skills, or gave up even that smallest amount he had as his followers' number incrised (as obviously if they bought crap, they'll buy maybe even crappier things)?
Joseph Smith must have been a very charismatic and perceptive guy. He knew what people wanted and he gave it to them. They wanted their scripture to sound like scripture (like the KJV); they wanted to know where the American Indians came from (one of the lost tribes of Israel would be nice); and wanted to believe there was something special about America (God really did bless America). They were poorly educated, ignorant, superstitious bigots. He gave them something they could believe in.
Great reaming of it, Steve... except the bit about the plates is 1 Nephi 5:17, not 1 Nephi 5:1. :-P
Crap! You caught me again, Matthew.
Not to worry, Steve; your points still stand strong, but you just need a proofreader for any typos before posting. ;-)
Yeah, lucky I've got you guys to proofread for me or all my mistakes would still be out there. (Joseph Smith could have used guys like you.)
Indeed, he could have; fortunately for you, though, he didn't. :-D
"Lehi was a descendant of Joseph. (Joseph is a really important name in the Book of Mormon. I'm not sure why.)"
Maybe because the prophet was JOSEPH Smith? (^_^)
Yeah, Luftritter, I think you might be on to something there!
This Joseph Smith has a lot in common with Muhammed. Both were perceptive and knew their people, both were good storytellers, and both were a little (no, make that a lot) unhinged.
I feel Smith (and his crazy-ass religion) would have gotten a lot more popular if he had a more prophet-like name, like Nehemiah Alphonso or something, rather than the garden variety "Joe Smith".
Hey, Steve, you ought to mark this occasion; today's the anniversary of the death of Joseph Smith.
Apparently, he was thrown out the window of a jail by an angry mob while trying to appeal to the possibility of Masons in the crowd, shouting, "Oh, Lord, my God--"; he died before he could get to "is there no help for the widow's son?", the completion of the traditional Masonic cry for help.
Even to the end, Smith was trying to get people on his side in the sneakiest ways possible... :-P
Lehi, a devout Jew, didn't know what tribe he was from? This seems surpassingly unlikely.
But then, they also didn't waste much time writing about all those Mosaic ordinances they were supposed to be performing -- sacrifices, offerings, and so forth. Hmm.
J. S. was the L. Ron Hubbard of his time.
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