Saturday, November 6, 2010

The State of the Nephites

Today I read 3 Nephi 10, where the Lord speaks again to the Nephites for a little while and the Lord is resurrected. I had never noticed it before today but the way verse 9 makes it sound it makes it sound like they were continually having earthquakes for the entire 3 days and that there were still storms and lots and lots of noise besides the people and the noise they were making. I had never thought that was the case before today.

Just like we talked about yesterday I find myself intrigued and saddened by the fact that the prominent emotion the Savior is displaying to His people is sadness. He is not frustrated, at least I don't think so, He is not angered, He is sad that He truly wanted to help them but they did not desire the help that was offered. Just like His famous lament about Jerusalem He uses the analogy of a mother hen with her chicks and her wings are outstretched so that they can come under her protective care and feel safe.

We as a people to seem to collectively come to this point a lot. As I am getting older now, I find myself looking at the younger generation and shaking my head in sadness and wonder at the choices that they are making. I can remember being a teenager and desiring things that as I look back at them now I shake my head and ask myself what I was thinking back then. It all seemed so important then. The really sad thing is I was never your normal teenager. I never went through a rebellious stage, I almost always valued my parents advice even then, and there are STILL stuff that I look back on and just have to shake my head about. But just like an infant, then a toddler and finally a child spends most of their time exploring their world and learning all there is to learn about it, so too does a teenager, though most teenagers will never admit that is what is going on, even if they do recognize it.

A final thought before we end today, most of my life, and I think most of the people think that the Savior visited the Nephites directly after His ascension into heaven in Jerusalem. I'm not sure that is the case. I will be honest that I have no idea at all, but Mormon in verse 18 of this chapter makes the statement that at the end of the 34th year the Nephites and Lamanites did have great favors shown unto them. And based on the Nephites calendar, the Savior was crucified in the first month of their year. So that is almost a whole year between His crucifixion and His showing Himself to the Nephites. Now, of course this is not one of those things we NEED to know for our salvation of course, but it is a fun aside like we always do. We will know some day. Until tomorrow.

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