"Oh, yeah", thought I. "About Nephi and Lehi his brother. Certainly Nephi is a type of Christ."
"No, look for the high priests."
"Oh, yeah. That part where they were the ones who actually were murdering the prophets behind the back of the governor."
So I found 3 Nephi 6. I have read this before but it's been a long time since I thought about this one particular facet of the chapter.
This chapter covers the years A.D. 26-30. There had just been serious war against the Gadianton robbers and the Lamanites, which united the members of the church and the righteous non-members against the wicked Lamanites and the actually satanic robbers.
Years 26 and 27 The righteous people won the war and repented of any wrongs they had done, and were blessed immeasurably. They preached the gospel to their prisoners and anyone who would covenant to stop fighting and preserve freedom was given some land to live on and cultivate. Not a bad deal all around.
Great order was established in all the land, and peace, and prosperity. Righteousness reigned and the law of the land was followed. All people were treated equally. Sounds like the Pledge of Allegiance.
Year 28: More of the same, the continual building of new cities, repairing of old, building of new highways ("Gosh! There's always road construction when you want to get to Zarahemla!")
Year 29: Starting to have some trouble because "...there began to be some disputings among the people; and some were lifted up unto pride and boastings because of their exceedingly great riches, yea, even unto great persecutions; For there were many merchants in the land, and also many lawyers, and many officers. And the people began to be distinguished by ranks, according to their riches and their chances for learning; yea, some were ignorant because of their poverty, and others did receive great learning because of their riches."
Notice how it ways that there were disputings, pride, boasting because of great riches, and persecutions "FOR THERE MANY MERCHANTS ...AND ALSO MANY LAWYERS, AND MANY OFFICERS." [emphasis mine]. It was because there were unscrupulous businessmen, conniving lawyers, smug academics, and self-important politicians that there was so much trouble. Just like today.
Certainly there are honest and decent such, but the lawyers go broke without crime, the politicians are lifted up in their own eyes, and the rich and lofty look down on the poor and lowly.
Year 30: It got so bad that even the church was broken up everywhere except among a few of the righteous Lamanites who were true followers of Christ.
In less than 3 years, they went from peaceful, prosperous, equal, and Christlike to apostate and abominable. In fact, if you read this chapter you will see that many of them became Satan worshippers and followed the ancient secrets of murder handed down from Satan to Cain and Kishkumen, Gadianton and so forth.
But the point is this: in the year 30, many inspired prophets came forth and testified boldly of Christ and repentance and that the people needed to either repent of their sins and return to the true church, or repent and be baptized in the name of Christ. This so ticked off the chief judges and lawyers that they sought the prophets' lives.
Only the governor of the land could sentence a person to death. But these judges and lawyers took the prophets and executed them in secret without the governor's knowledge. The governor and the one before him were righteous men.
But the bigger point is this: verse 21 is perhaps the most shocking verse in all the Book of Mormon to me. "Now there were many of the people who were exceedingly angry because of those who testified of these things; and those who were angry were chiefly the chief judges, and they who HAD BEEN HIGH PRIESTS and lawyers; yea, all those who were lawyers were angry with those who testified of these things." [emphasis mine]
In verse 27 these same people, including those who had been high priests, entered into secret satanic pacts to murder the prophets and other righteous people.
And thus we see how fast a person can turn from righteous to utter depravity when he does not continually repent and try to follow Christ. In less than two years these men went from high priests over the church to "those who had been high priests" and were now Satan worshippers murdering prophets.
I am always stunned when I read this and think "Boy, sure glad that could never happen to me" and this little voice says "You are no better or worse than those men, so don't get cocky."
OK. I'll try harder to be a good man and keep my covenants.
10 comments:
"...and the people began to be distinguished by ranks , according to their riches and their chances for learning; yea, some were ignorant because of their poverty and others did receive great learning because of their riches." I believe there is a great lesson of warning in these words. Epictetus stated, " Only the educated are free". I believe that the only way to prevent ourselves from being lost to apostasy, in a very short period of time, as well as to prevent others from becoming tyrants, is directly related to the education that we choose for ourselves and our children. Right now, I am in a precarious place, but it is the educational foundation (spiritual and secular) in my life that is keeping my head above water.
"And the truth shall make you free." So I agree with education being one of the pillars of freedom. Even the prophet has said that we should be debt free except perhaps in the case of a home and an education. Still, today, the poor get a free education for signing the form, and the rich write a check. The middle have to qualify for loans and grants and usually don't. So we are stratified into classes based on our chances for education.
For all this, the library is free and anyone who wants can read books and get educated and better themselves.
What you are referring to in your first paragraph is not an education. At least not as I was speaking of an education. Sorry I was not more clear. Yes, this is what can be bought today and what can make those lawyers and such that the scripture speaks of. But the education that makes us free is the one that you begin to address in your second paragraph. The education that we choose and therefore, the education that we own. Does this make sense?
Nope. It does not. Elaborate.
Okay...you asked for it. When a nation creates a public school system, it is primarily not for pure learning purposes. It is essentially job training. Let me be very clear. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS. And it is a valuable system that serves many, even most people well, when it is allowed to function properly. But it is not true learning. I love the Einstein quote, "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education." I feel strongly that we have allowed our education system to foster a complacency for true learning and that is why we frankly are not longer free. That is why the lawyers and officers and judges and merchants that are referenced in the scriptures that you quoted were able to rule so easily in such a rapid amount of time in the story that you reference.
It is my strong testimony that in order to be truly learned, you must seek this out for yourself. There is no doubt that we live in a free nation because of the learning that our founding fathers chose to embrace for themselves. They did not have a public school system. They utilized parents and other relatives and local teachers and found mentors and with each passing learning opportunity they engaged more fully in their education. It was mentored and personal and empowering and TOTALLY liberating. It was the education of leaders. They owned it.
Now we have a system that has moved from being job training to what I frankly consider to be a propaganda machine. So, it is our responsibility to find our own way to education and learning and to mentor others around us to do the same. And by this I mean learning what follows our spiritual gifts and talents and mission and purpose. Einstein also said, "It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." Sadly, today it is VERY rare that such curiosity survives. I beg, constantly, that more will find their way back to being curious, to being childlike and to being teachable. Understand that I beg this for myself as well, not just others.
In scripture, we are commanded to seek wisdom, to study His word, to learn of Him, to listen to Him, to gain knowledge, to be instructed in theory, to obtain a knowledge of history and of countries, to learn our duty, to gather intelligence, and to shun ignorance. These are ALL action words, we all have work to do.
In the scripture that you referenced and that I quoted, ignorance was blamed on poverty. There are a lot of excuses for ignorance and many of them are valid. But there is always an excuse for ignorance and captivity. Satan and the governments that he sets up or influences is banking on this, I can show you clearly, historically, when we stopped bein learned as a nation and allowed the changes to happen that began a path towards a consistent eroding of freedom. We must not allow ourselves to remain in ignorance. It is time for us all to seek a true learning, a true education. And we still live in the most free and prosperous nation that has ever existed and so we TRULY DO HAVE THE TIME AND RESOURCES FOR ACHIEVING THE BEST EDUCATION THAT HAS EVER BEEN AVAILABLE TO ANY PERSON.
I would (and do) encourage everyone out there to find a mentor to answer to and to begin, in whatever small way that they can to re-engage their natural curiosity and start to learn what is real and applicable to them and their purpose and I PROMISE that the wonders and blessings that open up will not only bring freedom, but the love of God and empowerment and strength and in my case, something to cling to as I struggle towards salvation. Amen.
(I likely just muddied things, I seem to do that lately, let me know if you have any further questions. And thank you.)
SHEESH! It looks like I wrote it. I've been busy with storms all week. Let me look at it tonight if it calms down. Sheesh! I did ask.
Two sheeshes. One in all caps. If it is that big an issue, for heaven's sake, just walk away. But you did ask. Sheesh.
Another quote of interest that I found in my studies yesterday to add to my too long comment.
"Education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living." ~~ John Dewey
I find this very interesting, due to the fact that we have exactly the propaganda machine that we have today because of John Dewey. And yet even he could see the need for real education...
I like reading both of your thoughts. I don't have much to add, except that if we truly love God the most and put Him first, we will not fall into the traps that the High Priests found.
Thanks for commenting, Melinda. It's nice to hear from you.
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