Book of Mormon |
Annotations |
Chapter 10
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1 And it came to pass that there arose a division among
the people, insomuch that they divided hither and thither and went their
ways, leaving Nephi alone, as he was standing in the midst of them.
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2 And it came to pass that Nephi went his way towards his
own house, pondering upon the things which the Lord had shown unto him.
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3 And it came to pass as he was thus pondering—being much
cast down because of the wickedness of the people of the Nephites, their secret
works of darkness, and their murderings, and their plunderings, and all
manner of iniquities—and it came to pass as he was thus pondering in his
heart, behold, a voice came unto him saying:
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4 Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast
done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word,
which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared
them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to
keep my commandments.
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5 And now, because thou hast done this with such
unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee
mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things
shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that
which is contrary to my will.
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6 Behold, thou art Nephi, and I am God. Behold, I
declare it unto thee in the presence of mine angels, that ye shall have
power over this people, and shall smite the earth with famine, and with
pestilence, and destruction, according to the wickedness of this people.
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Helaman 10:6-10
Doesn’t the belief that God’s power causes such horrific
destruction of human life and dignity lead to thinking like this statement
from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, KS, regarding the tsunami in the
Indian Ocean that killed about 1/4 million men, women, and children in 2004?
“It is now widely reported that at
least 5,000 Swedes are dead as a result of the tsunamis which ravaged
Thailand and the other lush resorts of that region, and thousands more are
unaccounted for. … Scarcely a family in Sweden has been untouched by the
devastation. Bible preachers say, THANK GOD for it all! We pray for all
20,000 Swedes in the tsunami’s wake to be declared dead”
(“Free to Hate: An American Church Rejoices in Swedish Tsunami Victims”).
Understanding that God is supposed to be the same
yesterday, today, and always, is this power given to modern day prophets? If
so, what calamities have they called down on the children of men?
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7 Behold, I give unto you power, that whatsoever ye shall
seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven; and thus shall ye have power among this
people.
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Annotation for Helaman 10:6-10 above
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8 And thus, if ye shall say unto this temple it shall
be rent in twain, it shall be done.
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Annotation for Helaman 10:6-10 above
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9 And if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou cast
down and become smooth, it shall be done.
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Annotation for Helaman 10:6-10 above
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10 And behold, if ye shall say that God shall smite
this people, it shall come to pass.
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Annotation for Helaman 10:6-10 above
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11 And now behold, I command you, that ye shall go and
declare unto this people, that thus saith the Lord God, who is the Almighty:
Except ye repent ye shall be smitten, even unto destruction.
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12 And behold, now it came to pass that when the Lord had
spoken these words unto Nephi, he did stop and did not go unto his own house,
but did return unto the multitudes who were scattered about upon the face of
the land, and began to declare unto them the word of the Lord which had been
spoken unto him, concerning their destruction if they did not repent.
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13 Now behold, notwithstanding that great miracle which
Nephi had done in telling them concerning the death of the chief judge, they
did harden their hearts and did not hearken unto the words of the Lord.
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14 Therefore Nephi did declare unto them the word of the
Lord, saying: Except ye repent, thus saith the Lord, ye shall be smitten even
unto destruction.
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15 And it came to pass that when Nephi had declared unto
them the word, behold, they did still harden their hearts and would not
hearken unto his words; therefore they did revile against him, and did seek
to lay their hands upon him that they might cast him into prison.
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16 But behold, the power of God was with him, and they
could not take him to cast him into prison, for he was taken by the Spirit
and conveyed away out of the midst of them.
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17 And it came to pass that thus he did go forth in the
Spirit, from multitude to multitude, declaring the word of God, even until he
had declared it unto them all, or sent it forth among all the people.
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18 And it came to pass that they would not hearken unto
his words; and there began to be contentions, insomuch that they were divided
against themselves and began to slay one another with the sword.
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The only pre-Columbian weapon I can find that was similar
to a sword was the macuahuitl which was made with a plank of wood similar in
shape to a cricket bat with obsidian blades mounted on the edges. It is
similar enough to a sword that it is often referred to as the Aztec sword.
However, the macuahuitl does not seem to fit the Book of
Mormon time frame. “Some groups of Central Mexico, principally in the
transition between the Early and the Late Post-Classic, probably
developed this weapon” (emphasis added, Dr. Marco Antonio Cervera Obregón,
“The macuahuitl: an innovative weapon of the Late Post-Classic in
Mesoamerica”, Arms & Armour, Vol.3, Nov. 2, 2006, p. 146, article from a research journal).
The Post-Classic period is between 900 CE and the Spanish conquest.
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19 And thus ended the seventy and first year of the reign
of the judges over the people of Nephi.
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