#14. See Enos, Jarom, Omni and Words of Mormon

Ponder Enos 1:7-8 “And I said: Lord, how is it done? And He said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. . . thy faith hath made thee whole.”

Jacob 7:27) Who was Enos's father?  (... uncle?  ... grandpa?)

What verses in Enos have especially impressed you?

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Re: Enos 1:1, “President Hinckley counseled parents to be righteous examples for their children, as Enos’s father was for him: ‘Treat your children as sons and daughters of God. Be kind. Love them. Respect them. Counsel with them. Teach them. Pray for them. Guide them and God will bless them and you.’(1 Nov 1997 Church News, 2.)” (Book of Mormon Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual [BMGDTM], 62.)

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Enos 1:2, 4, 10) What can we learn from Enos about prayer?

Enos 1:2 says Enos wrestled before God in prayer. “Such wrestling is the struggle to find and express one’s real desires under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.  Praying in this manner requires that a person eliminate vain, trite, or insincere repetitions and pour the deepest desires of his or her heart into words.” (See Book of Mormon Student Manual [BMSM], 130.)

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Regarding Enos 1:5, 10, Elder Boyd K. Packer said, “The scriptures generally use the word voice” but “it is a voice that one feels, more than one hears” since revelations often “are not seen with our eyes, nor heard with our ears” (Jan 1983 Ensign, 51).  “Some answers will come from reading the scriptures, some from hearing speakers [and] some will come by very direct and powerful inspiration [which] comes more as a feeling than as a sound” (Oct 1979 Conference Report [CR]; quoted in BMSM, 132).

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Re: Enos 1:9, Elder Robert D. Hales has said: “The scriptures confirm that the truly converted do more than just forsake the enticements of the world. They love God and their fellowmen.” (Oct 2000 Conference Report, 6; quoted in BMSM, 131.) 

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Regarding Enos 1:22, Elder Bruce R. McConkie said, “Every member of the Church should be a prophet”(Mormon Doctrine, 606).  Elder Dallin H. Oaks has said, “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy’ (Rev. 19:10). This was what Moses meant when he expressed the wish ‘that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them’ (Num. 11:29)!” (October 1990 CR).
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Enos 1:27) In concluding his account, of what did Enos testify?


           How did Enos know that?

See D&C 131:5, 2 Peter 1:17-19. Although Peter, James and John "heard an audible voice from heaven bearing testimony that Jesus was the Son of God [on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:5), Peter subsequently] says 'we have a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light shining in a dark place.' Now, wherein could they have a more sure word of prophecy than to hear the voice of God saying, 'This is my beloved Son'? …. Though they might hear the voice of God and know that Jesus was the Son of God, this would be no evidence that they had the promise of eternal life in the kingdom of God. [T]his promise ... was an anchor to the soul, sure and steadfast…. [T]his hope and knowledge would support the soul in every hour of trial, trouble and tribulation." (See Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 298.)

See also Ether 12:4. "Hope: The confident expectation of and longing for the promised blessings of righteousness" (The Guide to the Scriptures, www.lds.org). "In the language of the gospel ... hope is sure ... Hope is a gift of the Spirit... that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the power of His Resurrection, [a person] shall be raised unto life eternal." (President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Oct 2008 CR.)

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Jarom 1:4-5)  How was the Nephite society able to grow strong?

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Jarom 1:5) What have latter-day prophets said about “strict … laws of the land”?

 Elder Dallin H. Oaks has said: “Few concepts have more potential to mislead us than the idea that choice, or agency, is an ultimate goal…. To secure our agency in mortality we fought a mighty contest the book of Revelation calls a ‘war in heaven.’ …. But our war to secure agency was won….

“…. It will not do to pretend that our agency has been taken away when we are not free to exercise it without unwelcome consequences. If we say we are anti-[this or that] in our personal life but pro-choice in public policy, we are saying that we will not use our influence to establish public policies that encourage righteous choices….

“Those who reach the pro-choice position by saying we should not legislate morality should realize that the law of crimes legislates nothing but morality. Should we repeal all laws so that our government will not punish any choices some persons [do not] consider immoral? Such an action would wipe out virtually all of the laws against crimes.” (See January 2001 Ensign.)

… President Brigham Young said “[T]here are rules regulating all good societies and the business intercourse of men with each other … the violation of which cannot be countenanced either by civil or religious [authorities]….  Men should be abridged in doing wrong.” (Journal of Discourses 12:152-53.)

… President Benson said, “It is not a denial of liberty to forbid the sale of narcotics or alcohol, nor is it a denial of liberty to ban the distribution of character-destroying materials” (See Oct 1959 CR). 

… President Kimball said, “One of the saddest days in all of Utah's history was when the people, including the Latter-day Saints (for it could not have been done without them), rejected the counsel and urging of the Lord's prophet, Heber J. Grant, and repealed Prohibition … yet many of those voters had sung numerous times, ‘We Thank Thee, O God, For A Prophet.’”

“We urge Latter-day Saints to get involved as citizens [to support] tougher local laws against vice…. Important as it is, building stronger homes is not enough ... We therefore urge Church members to join others in unceasingly combating, in their communities and beyond … the permissiveness in modern society.” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball; Oct 1975 and 1977 Conference Report [CR].) 

… President Hinckley said, “Legal restraints are eroding in the name of ‘freedom’” and “the bitter fruit of these so-called freedoms has been enslavement to debauching habits and behavior.” (See Oct 1975 Conference Report.) 

 … Elder Boyd K. Packer said, “Regardless of how lofty and moral the ‘pro-choice’ argument sounds, it is badly flawed. With that same logic one could argue that all traffic signs and barriers which keep the careless from danger should be pulled down … as infringing upon liberty, agency, freedom, the right to choose….  People who are otherwise sensible say, ‘I do not intend to indulge, but I vote for freedom of choice for those who do.’” (April 1992 Conference Report.)

… Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, “To assume that because all things cannot be legislated, therefore nothing can be legislated is a dangerous delusion” (Deposition of a Disciple, 20-22).  “Cultural decline is accelerated when [members] of society become indifferent to general values... This drift is facilitated by the indifferent or the indulgent [who] step aside when they might have constrained as is their representative right.” (April 1999 Conference Report.)

… Elder Robert L. Simpson said, “Is there some legislation that needs to be encouraged? God gave us a democratic process for a reason.” (See January 1973 Ensign, 112.)

Are latter-day prophets for or against “strict laws of the land”?

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How can we apply the counsel in Jarom 1:11 to ourselves as we prepare for the Savior's 2nd Coming? (See also Mosiah 3:13.)

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What would you say is the main message of the Book of Omni?



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Regarding Omni 1:17, while struggling to put the light and knowledge he had been given into words, the Prophet Joseph Smith once said: “Lord, deliver us … from the little, narrow prison” of  “a crooked, broken, scattered and imperfect language” (History of the Church 1: 299).                What might we learn from this?

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What can we learn from Amaleki in Omni 1:26?

Regarding Omni 1:26, Elder Neal A. Maxwell said: “As we submit our wills to God, we are giving Him the only thing we can actually give Him that is really ours to give” (April 2004 CR, 48; Book of Mormon Student Manual, 134).

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Regarding Words of Mormon 1:17, 
in the scriptures . . . 

..."holy men" often refers to called or presiding prophets (see, e.g., 2 Peter 1:20-21). 

... "sharpness” of speech (see also D&C 121:43) does not suggest angry, bitter or cutting communication. Rather, it “refers to the need to give clear, well-defined instructions” (Teaching, No Greater Call, 84).