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HIDDEN
LDS/JEWISH INSIGHTS #2
Book of Mormon Gospel Doctrine Supplement by Daniel Rona
Weekly E-mail Reminder
<< ALL
THINGS ACCORDING TO HIS WILL >>
1 Nephi 1–7------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1.) KEYS TO UNDERSTANDING
SCRIPTURES:
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The first verse of the Book of Mormon reveals several keys to
understanding God’s will. (a) Honoring "goodly parents." (Exodus
20:12) (b) Going back to the "learning of the fathers." The Hebrew
word for "going back" is the same as "repent." (c) Knowing
the "mysteries" of the Lord. Understanding of the "Learning of
the Jews" and using the Spirit, then writing with learning of his fathers,
Nephi creates a "chiasmas."
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(2.) HELPFUL TO LOOK AT
OPPOSITES:
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Another typical way of Jewish learning is to consider the
"opposite" point of view. Consider the opposites in the same family.
Nephi spoke of Goodly parents, Laman/Lemuel murmured against their parents Nephi
believed his father, Laman/Lemuel didn’t believe. Nephi went to the Lord for
understanding, Laman/Lemuel knew not the dealing of God. Nephi was willing to do
what the Lord commanded, Laman/Lemuel complained. Nephi refused to return
without the records, Laman/Lemuel wanted to give up. Nephi knew the Lord was
mightier, Laman/Lemuel doubted the Lord.
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(3.) "ONE MAN SHOULD
DIE TO SAVE THE PEOPLE:"
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Nephi’s experience with Laban and the
subsequent slaying of Laban can be compared to two other occurrences. In Jesus’
day, Caiaphas the high priest called for taking Jesus’ life and then
perpetrated a scheme to have Jesus crucified. In 1995, Yigal Amir planned a
scheme and then was convicted of assassinating Yizhak Rabin, the Prime Minister
of Israel. In each case the justification of taking a life was based on the
premise that it would "save the people." Only the Prophet Nephi was
justified. There is only ONE who died to save us all.
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(4.) "LEHI" CAVE
CLOSE TO JERUSALEM:
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A display in the Israel Museum of Jerusalem shows
artifacts from a cave some twenty-three miles southwest of Jerusalem in an area
known as Lhi (Lahi or Lehi). They are dated to six hundred years before Jesus’
time and seem to connect to Lehi’s family departing the area of Jerusalem. The
oldest-known writing of the name Jerusalem and the spelling out of the name
Jehovah appears in this cave.
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(5.) THREE 600 B.C. BOOK OF
MORMON LIKE INSCRIPTIONS:
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Three sentences on the cave walls suggest that the
writer and those with him were: (1) Hiding from enemies seeking their lives, (2)
seeking forgiveness for wrong doings, and (3) hoping for a salvation of
Jerusalem. (Chapter: "Khirbet of Bet Lhi," Frank Moore Cross Jr, in a
book dedicated to Israeli Archaeologist Nelson Glueck)
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(6.) SIMILAR TO BOOK OF
MORMON NARRATIVES:
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(1) "And it came to pass that we fled into the
wilderness, and the servants of Laban did not overtake us and we hid ourselves
in the cavity of a rock . . ." (1 Nephi 3:27) (2) "Why do ye smite
your younger brother with a rod? Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be
a ruler over you, and this because of your iniquities?" (1 Nephi 3:29)
(3)". . . (my father, Lehi, having dwelt at Jerusalem in all his days); and
in that same year there came many prophets, prophesying unto the people that
they must repent, or the great city Jerusalem must be destroyed." (1 Nephi
1:4)
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