Ep 291 | 3 Nephi 20-26, Come Follow Me 2024 (October 14-20)

hey everybody Welcome to talking scripture a podcast where we illustrate relevance and application of the scriptures in come follow me we also dive into the history and cultures of the text thanks for taking the time to share and subscribe to this podcasting for show notes head over to our website talk incription welcome to talking scripture I'm Mike and I'm Bryce and today we're going to be in 3i 20 through 26 this is is the savior's favorite story isn't it clearly Jesus has a favorite story Mike it's the story of the restoration and anyone who watches

for it will recognize it because he told it to almost every Old Testament prophet and you can see elements of the story in the Old Testament especially it appears when they were discouraged that when they were downtrodden because they looked at their own people and they saw failure and Disobedience and breaking Covenants that's the moment that Jesus would tell them the story he does that exact same thing with ether in the Book of Mormon who really was an Old Testament Prophet when ether gets discouraged as he watched the jedit fall apart he gets a version

of the story uh Jesus tried to tell the story to the Jews in the New Testament but the father forbade him because they weren't quite prepared to receive it and so he comes to America and he has an righteous audience and so he finally gets to tell the full version of the story it's just fun to see him do it you can almost sense the thrill and excitement on the savior's part as he tells this story and so let me just kind of point out that he started it back in 15 and 16 so chapter

15 he introduced the idea that I told the Jews About You by saying other sheep I have but that's the only thing the father would let me say because they weren't prepared but I say unto you that you were the other sheep I was ref referring to so Jesus makes it definitive that in John 10:16 other sheep I have he's referring to the Nephites and the lamanites in America and he says to the Nephites and lamanites I was telling them about you and then he tells in chapter 16 verse one now I'm telling you Nephites

and lamanites that I have other sheep that I'm going to go visit and that now brings up the story that's kind of the setting hey I'm going to go visit the lost 10 tribes of Israel now notice some keyw words that he starts to use in verse four he uses a keyword scattered scattered forth upon the face of the Earth and then verse 15 and then I will gather them verse seven behold because of their unbelief sayith the father because of the unbelief of you oh House of Israel in the latter day shall the truth

come unto the gentille Iles that the fullness of these things shall be made known unto them that my dear friends is the savior's favorite story he's always talking about the restoration the Triumph of the one generation that will not fall into apostasy the Triumph of those in the latter days who will live the gospel that's why every Prophet wanted to see it because when they would fail when their own people would fail wouldn't you want to look to a generation that would succeed so now he gets interrupted because he's going to leave and then he's

moved by compassion so then they have the sacrament and then the calling of the 12 so now chapter 20 he once again appears this is another visit and he performs the sacrament again and then he starts back into the story chapter 20: 13 which shall be scattered so that's kind of the beginning of the story is the scattering of the House of Israel but then they will be gathered in from the East and from the west and from the south and from the north and that's what president Nelson said in conference is his favorite story

it's one that has consumed him his whole Ministry the Gathering of Israel verse 14 it involves certain lands and that's a fascinating story so verse 15 you see the word scattered and then in verse 18 gathered and then verse 20 this people will I establish in this land and then he starts talking about a city we're going to build the greatest City that Earth has ever known it shall be a New Jerusalem and so you kind of just see this story being rehearsed if you get to chapter 21 it gets pretty intense here verse 9

for in that day for my sake shall the father work a work work which shall be a great and a marvelous work tell me how many of the those words now ring a bell right in that day for my sake shall the father work a work which shall be a great and a marvelous work if we were to pinpoint this down to one individual which we don't have to but just if we were to pinpoint this down to one single person 3D Nephi 21:10 but behold the life of my servant shall be in my hand

wherefore they shall not hurt him although he shall be marred because of them yet I will heal him for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil there's a lot of key words in there that he will use specifically in the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith so first he talks about a work that is great and marvelous and then a servant who will be marred but I will heal him and then that phrase my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil is almost a word

forword quotation that he uses in section 10 to describe him thwarting Satan's plan to destroy the Book of Mormon through the loss of the 116 Pages he says that I will show that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil so clearly Jesus is referring to Joseph and the restoration but I love to look at verse 10 in terms of every vant of the Lord in the latter Days Every missionary that goes out ought to read third Nephi 21:10 to their mom because it's true of every one of the Lord's servants that he

will hold his servants in his hands in the latter days I think you can add verse 11 to that I mean look what it says there if you don't believe in my words Who Am Jesus and then skip down where it talks about the words that will give unto him power that he shall bring them forth to the Gentiles so now we're talking about the servant they shall be cut off from among my people who are of the Covenant in essence if I'm going to rail against the president of the church I'm going to cut

that thread and that's Brigham Young right in exactly Bram young in Kirtland they says don't cut the thread to the prophet that's so important yep don't cut the thread to the prophet and then verse 12 my people who are a remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles yeah in the midst of them as a lion among the beasts of the forest as a young Young Lion among the flock of the sheep now that is a reference to Old Testament Micah and all sorts of prophets in the Old Testament he has been telling this story

so long it's the story of the restoration and so just notice verse 22 chapter 21:22 I will establish my church among them the establishing of the savior's Church among the Gentiles in the latter days is the Glorious restoration that he talks so frequently about and verse 22 again it it it involves a specific land and then 23 and 24 this city he keeps mentioning this city my people will build a city in fact the whole restoration is so that they can build a city which shall be called a new Jerusalem and then shall they assist

my people and they will gather into this land into the New Jerusalem so Jesus has been telling the story of the restoration from the very beginning now let me just show you what it must have been like to an O to be an Old Testament prophet and we're going to use ether in the Book of Mormon because that book didn't go through the hands of the great and abominable church and lose plain and precious parts so flip with me to Ether just for a brief moment let let me just show you this story so towards

the end of ether if you go to like 11 and 12 look at chapter 11 the chapter heading says Wars dissensions and wickedness dominate jedite life and then chapter 12 this is the prophet ether pleading and he used this is his great sermon on uh between ether and Moroni it's their sermon on faith and then chapter 13 is just kind of an odd little chapter right I wonder if ether was getting discouraged by the wickedness of his people and so the Lord told him the story notice the chapter heading and then notice verse six a

New Jerusalem would be built upon this land and listen to the description of the City verse 8 wherefore the remnant of the House of Joseph shall be built upon this land and shall be a land of their inheritance and they shall build up a holy city unto the Lord like to the Jerusalem of old and they shall no more be confounded Until the End come when the Earth shall pass away and then verse 10 speaking of this beautiful city and then cometh the New Jerusalem and blessed are they who dwell therein for it is they

whose garments are white through the blood of the lamb now why would ether get that story at that moment isn't that seem odd that why would ether need to know that and it sure seems to me that the the Lord would cheer up downtrodden prophets who were a little discouraged as they watch their own people reject the truth he would cheer them up with the story of the restoration we see the same thing in the New Testament with the dissolution of Christianity John sees the same vision and it's almost like it's going to be okay

it's going to be okay now if you think about it the Book of Mormon ends horribly The Book of Mormon would make a horrible movie right because bad guys win and good guys lose but the last chapter of the Book of Mormon is what makes the Book of Mormon such a beautiful story because the last chapter of the Book of Mormon is the restoration it's what the people will do with the Book of Mormon in our day we my dear friends we are the savior's favorite story and that should compel us to Rise Up from

the dust and shake off off the dust and be Israel Israel is a people where God has prevailed and that in the latter days God is going to Prevail one final glorious dispensation where we do not fall into apostasy and that's what Jesus is trying to do here don't get so caught up in chapter 20 and 21 don't get caught up into the details a lot of people get caught up in the details and they want to know the order in which Things Are are going to proceed in the second coming see the Glorious story

now let me share with you a quotation from Jeffrey R Halland about this marvelous story he once gave a Fireside to the youth pled with them to accept their part of the story and then said the following I have a theory about those earlier dispensations and the leaders families and people who lived then I have thought often about them and the destructive circumstances that confronted them they faced terribly difficult times and for the most part did not succeed in their dispensations apostasy and darkness eventually came to every earlier age in human history indeed the whole

point of the restoration of the Gospel in these latter days is that it was not able to survive in earlier times and therefore had to be pursued in one last triumphant age we know the challenges Abraham posterity faced and still do we know of Moses's problems with an Israelite people who left Egypt but couldn't quite get Egypt to leave them Isaiah was the prophet who saw the loss of the 10 Israelite tribes to the north Jeremiah Ezekiel Daniel were all prophets of captivity Peter James and John and Paul the great figures of the New Testament

all saw apostasy creeping into the world almost before the Savior had departed and certainly while they themselves were still living think of the prophets of the book of Mormon living in a dispensation ending in such painful communication between Mormon and Moroni about the plight they faced and the nation they loved dissolving into corruption Terror and Chaos in short apostasy and destruction of one kind or another was the ultimate fate of every General dispensation we have ever had down through time but here's my my theory my theory is that those great men and women the leaders

of those ages past were able to keep going to keep testifying to keep trying to do their best not because they knew that they would succeed but because they knew that you would I believe they took courage and hope not so much from their own circumstances as from yours a magnificent Congregation of young adults like you tonight gathered by the hundreds of thousands around the world in a determined effort to see the gospel Prevail and Triumph one way or another I think virtually all of the prophets and early Apostles had their Visionary moments of our

time a view that gave them courage in their own less successful areas those early Brethren knew an amazing amount about us prophets such as Moses Nephi and the brother of Jared saw the latter days in tremendously detailed Vision some of what they saw wasn't pleasing but surely all of those earlier Generations took heart from knowing that there would finally be one dispensation that would not fail ours not theirs was the day that gave them Heavenly and joyful anticipation and caused them to sing and prophesy of Victory ours is the day collectively speaking towards which the

prophets have been looking from the beginning of time and those earlier Brethren are over there are still cheering us on in a very real way their chance to consider themselves fully successful depends on our Victory and our faithfulness that's the story and I think every latterday saint should rise up and be what they saw us to be the Victorious Latter-Day Saints who would live the gospel when every other dispensation failed I remember having those thoughts on my mission where I was like this is a hard day and then the thought would occur to me I've

always wanted to go on a mission and I have two years to do it do I want to dwell in this is hard or am I just going to get to work and if you think about how long we're here on Earth we're not here very long are we nope so we got to maximize what we can we got to do what we can don't we I love the fact that Jesus loved our story I love the fact that he told the story of the restoration and so sometimes when I look around and I see

discouragement and despair I just think wait a minute we we ought to rise up and be the people that he saw that we would be we are part of the greatest dispensation and so it's time to shake off the dust and rise up and be Israel it it had to have been hard for Mormon to write this story and to see this I'm sure Mormon had this Vision too and it probably helped him get through the times of depression because I mean in Mormon's day when you say the good guys lost part of the problem

is that the good guys flipped sides became so corrupt when you read what those Nephites were doing in Mormon's day there is no question anyone can see why God wiped them off and I think even in today's culture where we live in this sea of chaos and everyone's fighting about things I think that we're not unlike Mormon's day I really like how you say we got to keep this Vision in our mind and know where we're going and know who we're fighting for and that is the message I really like 20 the first 10 verses

is where Jesus feeds him and gives him the sacrament right and in verse six it says there is no bread so Jesus Is providing this and anciently that's what the king would do every new year they would have this big festival and the king would provide the food and then Jesus is quoting three prophets he's going to quote Isaiah and Micah and Malachi and this is kind of a really cool thing to look at structurally but the 20th and 21st chapter is written in such a way that it's poetic that it's a chastic structure meaning

that the front end and the back end are the same and then B is the same as B Prime and so forth and then you get to What's called the apex of the kayas structure which is the center or the central message and so this starts in the 20th chapter right after he feeds them right in verse 10 and then it concludes in the end of 22 and the beginning of this is fascinating to me look in verse 10 of chapter 20 it came to pass that when they had all given glory to Jesus he

said to them behold now I finish the Commandment which the father has commanded me concerning this people who are a remnant of the House of Israel and I'm just going to call that the father and the son are working together that's the beginning and the end of this structure is the same message so go with me to third Nephi 21: 28 and look what it says yay and then shall the the work commence the work of the Gathering pretty much everything president Nelson's talking about the work will commence with the father among all nations and

preparing the way whereby his people may be gathered home to the land of their inheritance and they shall go out from All Nations and they shall not go out in haste nor by flight for I will go before them sayeth the father and I will be their rearward And So It Begins and ends with this message that there's going to be this Gathering and the father and the the sun are going to work together now we'll provide in the show notes all the details of this it's beautifully constructed that when Mormon put this together put

these teachings together he's showing you that the father and the son are working together and it's just fascinating and he talks about things like America being the land of the inheritance and that New Jerusalem will be the Lord's Covenant that he made with Moses and the prophets and that the gospel and Zion will be established and then there's some interesting things in here about the kings of the world being speechless this is a quotation right out Isaiah 52:15 but the center of this whole message is the sign the sign of the Covenant so go to

the 21st chapter and these are the three verses I would encourage you to highlight and there are verses 3 through 5 and it says verily verily I say unto you when these things shall be made known unto them so we got to we got to ask ourselves what are these things and who are them so we'll talk about that when these things are made known to them of the father and shall come forth of the father from them unto you well what's that talking about well these things are the words of the Book of Mormon

when the words of the Book of Mormon are going to come forth and they'll be made known unto them and them is going to be the Gentiles Joseph Smith and his associates and the early members of the church as they took the words of the gospel and the Book of Mormon to the people that's the sign the sign that the Gathering is taking place this story verse 4 for it is wisdom in the father that they should be established in this land and be set up as a Free People by the power of the father

that these things the words of the Book of Mormon might come forth from them unto a remnant of your seed so the people that Jesus is talking to their children are going to hear the words of the Book of Mormon that the Covenant of the father may be fulfilled which he has covenanted with his people oh House of Israel therefore when these works and and The Works which shall be wrought among you Hereafter shall come forth from the Gentiles unto your seed which shall dwindle in unbelief because of iniquity and then he goes on and

he just basically says then you know the sign's happening that's verse 7 The Works already commenced and stuff's going to happen so that's the sign and we're living in it and notice that the establishment of America that the Revolutionary War that the establishment of the Constitution is part of the story he throws that in there that they will be set up as a free people people by the power of the father so this story is a long drawn out story that involved Columbus Coming to America and pilgrims Coming to America and the United States being

established and here we are the Constitution and then Joseph Smith and the restoration and then here we are kind of coming into the scene when all of that is now passed and F other things are future yeah I I do believe this that the constitution is inspired it's in our camp canonized texts I believe that the Lord is very interested if you're a listener from the United States of America I believe that the Lord is very interested in the freedom of the Republic and the keeping of the Union together and I also think that the

adversary is very interested in dissolving the union and dissolving those principles and to me the Civil War was the adversary's attempt to break apart the seedbed of the restoration if he could rip out the soil then there's going to be no root and so our history is kind of complex but I see the history of our nation as part and parcel with the restoration I I can't separate the two God is part of this God is involved in this and so we kind of stand on this privileged position as Americans to take the gospel to

the world I think that that puts us in a distinct position that we have a responsibility uh look in the 20th chapter verse 18 it talks about I will gather my people together as a man gathereth his sheaves unto the floor so I want to talk about that just for a second and then we'll get to Micah so the early threshing floor was a piece of property that David purchased now it's it's a pun if you go to 2 Samuel 24:16 And1 17 but you got to got to read the rest of 2 Samuel 24

we read in there that David purchases the threshing floor from a guy whose name is super close to the word for the Ark of the Covenant it's like so close and so what that threshing floor becomes is the center of the holy of holies there's this narrative in the Book of Ruth chapter 3 where Ruth proposes marriage to Boaz and it says that she proposed to him on the threshing floor where they separated the the chaff from the wheat that piece of property that David purchased that the holy of holies becomes becomes a symbol for

the temple itself it becomes this symbol for life that Sacred Space represents the family represents what life is and so when Jesus says I will gather my people as a man gathereth his sheaves it's multi-layered yes he's going to gather us Yes We Gather wheat but it's rich in Temple symbolism and what God is trying to say is this is more than just Gathering wheat he says I'm going to make you mine and you're going to have the seeds of life in you and so that's a really important thing now from a cultural perspective the

Greeks when they got together and they would watch these dramas played out and this is the beginning of theater the beginning of all of our movies and our theater and our drama come out of this tradition we would sit around in a circle anciently around the threshing floor and that's where the drama would be played out and the drama would be the forces of light against the forces of darkness and hopefully if it was a good story the forces of light would went out and it was all being played out on the threshing floor and

if you think about the temple this is H nibi where he says drama and in these stories they come out of the temple and then we have these symbols of kingship so now we're into the Micah passages so if you go to 3 Nephi 20:6 he says then shall ye who are the remnant of the House of Jacob go forth among them and ye shall be in the midst of them who shall be many and ye shall be among them as a lion amongst the beasts of the forest and as a young line amongst the

flocks of sheep who if he goeth through both treadeth down and tear in pieces and none can deliver he quotes Micah 5 twice look at verse 12 of chapter 21 and he says kind of the same thing and then he goes into quoting more of Micah if you go to verse 14 to verse 19 he talks about woe be unto the Gentiles verse 14 except they repent and then he says I'll cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee and I'll destroy thy chariots that's quoting Mo Micah 510 and then he says I'm

going to cut off their cities and their witchcrafts and their graven images and so forth and so we read this and we're like what is this even talking about this is a really good commentary on these verses and this is by Joseph FY mononi and Robert Millet and he says it is interesting that in 13521 the master quotes a prophecy from Micah 58-14 an oracle which uses language similar to what we just read according to the account the rending of the Gentiles this metaphor of a lying among sheep takes place in a day when such

things as witchcraft susers idolatry immorality priestcraft Etc are all destroyed when will those things happen clearly after the Lord comes and the millennial day has begun it would seem that the image of the remnant of Israel rening its Gentile enemies is symbolic of Israel's ultimate victory over its foes a victory which comes when the Savior returns and the wicked are destroyed I don't see this as some say is like a massive Rebellion or Rebellion destroying to the Gentiles I read this text as a millennial text what I mean by that is that one day the

Gathering will take place in such a way that the wicked will be destroyed and the righteous will reign now that's a really tough thing and when somebody says the wicked will be destroyed it kind of sounds kind of mean and if you think about what the miracle of the Book of Mormon I mean the Book of Mormon doesn't have a lot of miracles in it you don't see a lot of blind people healed You Don't See anyone walking on the water or parting the sea but the Book of Mormon is filled with one Miracle repeated

many times and it's the miracle of preservation Against All Odds Nephi and his Brethren abinadi against the priest of Noah Samuel the lonite against the arrows that were being shot against him the strippling Warriors outnumbered outmanned and yet preservation Against All Odds is the miracle of the Book of Mormon and I really think that is a foreshadowing of what Micah 5 really does mean preservation Against All Odds that the latterday Saints in the latter days will be a vulnerable little seed that the Earth could crush but God won't allow it to happen he won't let

the Earth crush the seed the seed is going to grow into a mighty tree that can then take care of itself and it's fun to just sit back and be part of that and recognize that at so many stages could the world have just snuffed out the restoration when we were vulnerable and we still are relatively speaking but God is with his people he will not let them fail he is going to help them succeed so that Micah prophecy is always about we're going to be a lamb in the midst of the Lions but that

will change it will flip and then eventually it will flip and Israel will be the lion and the wicked will be the lamb and I just I I love as we sit back and look at the book of Mormon's teachings of Micah it just portrays this image of Victory because God prospers us when we were vulnerable and could have been destroyed he he he delivered us the very last verse of the first chapter of the Book of Mormon is that God's Tender Mercies will be upon the faithful to deliver them there was a great speaker

who said we are getting more polarized we have have to make a decision not making a decision is it decision and this is an interesting distinction between the book of Morman in the Bible Bryce but in the Bible we have God commanding Joshua and the followers to eliminate the enemy but in the Book of Mormon over and over again the image is is the wicked will destroy the wicked and so I'm packaging Micah 5 in this context in the way I'm going to look at it is God will let it happen he will let the

wicked devour each other and the only source of truth or light as we become more polarized is going to be teachings of Jesus whether or not you're a Latter-Day Saint if you align yourself with those teachings that's the only hope we have as a people I'm reading a book right now about the founding of our country and over and over again the founding fathers said we cannot make enough laws to make people be moral there were two things two pillars they said that would make our country survive and it was the family and the church

and if we had strong families and if we were religious then we could held together as a republic and so what does Satan do that's right let's destroy the family and destroy the churches if we can attack those two and we can eliminate then then we can have chaos and so kind of my take this is my Mike day packaging of Micah 52 I could be dead wrong but the way I see it is of course the wicked will be destroyed I see it as God letting them completely wreck each other however that works I

know that there's the the scriptures in here about the elements melting with fervent heat but I just I like that reading as well now there's a couple interesting things in here Bryce I find fascinating there's these two prophets mentioned there's the one where they quote Deuteronomy and then there's the one that you've mentioned about Joseph go to the one about the Deuteronomy passage go to uh 3 IFI 20 right after the New Jerusalem passage in verse 22 look what it says in 23 behold I am he of whom Moses spake Behold a prophet shall the

Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me him shall you hear in all things and whatsoever he shall say unto you and it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be cut off from among the people so Jesus lays it out he's quoting Deuteronomy 18 verse 15-19 where Moses says there's going to be a prophet like me who's going to come up and if you don't listen to him you'll be cut off and Jesus just says guys that's me I'm that guy and then

in the next chapter we read a great work this is in 21:9 a marvelous work and a wonder and then it says a man shall declare it unto them and like Bryce said that's Joseph Smith the life of my servant shall be in my hand and that's a really cool image right that Joseph is in his hand and then he says if they don't listen if you read the end of verse 11 they shall be cut off from among my people who are of the Covenant both times two prophets and then turn the page or

if you have a phone just scroll go to the end of 22 the 22nd chapter is Jesus quoting Isaiah and it's a beautiful description of what Zion is but then go to the end look at verse 15 this is Isaiah 54 but it's also 3i 22 behold they shall surely gather together against thee not by me whosoever Shall Gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake behold I have created the Smith that bloweth the coals in the fire that bringeth forth an instrument for his work and I have created the waser to destroy no

weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper and every tongue that shall revile against thee in judgment Thou shalt condemn this is the heritage of the Servants of the Lord and their righteousness is of me sayth the Lord now I got to tell you in the context of this this can be really difficult so I want to give a couple different readings of that last passage if we throw this in the context of the two prophets we've just mentioned both of them get killed the savior is crucified Joseph is killed and yet we have this

promise that no weapon that is formed against the shall Pro prosper and then we got to look at this and say okay Isaiah 54 is really to a bigger audience than us Isaiah 54 is going to the whole world and so I want to throw a couple perspectives one of the perspectives is to the Jews as a Jewish reader of Isaiah 54 this is a tough text I mean if you think about this if you come from a Heritage of being a Jew you probably are related to a lot of people in your family tree

who got annihilated by the Holocaust and so from their perspective and I've read some good commentaries on this they say yes it's true that the enemies of the Jews tried to wipe them out but it didn't work this great Empire called the Third Reich had a window of about 10 or 15 years and they were snuffed out and Judaism continues and as I read those commentaries I thought that's a really good take if you read it from Mormon's perspective Mormon's like oh what happened to our culture and yet they bury these records in the ground

and you can see more Mormon hope and it's like Bryce said The Greatest Story Ever Told that Mormons words are going to go out and people are going to feel the spirit and they're going to follow the same principles that Mormon held and you can almost see Mormon weeping saying hallelujah and so I want to just introduce a spiritual idea to read this that Prosper meaning in this context yeah the Saints are going to go through tough times some of them are going to die but the message is going to continue and the work will

go forward and going back in time to the context of this this is Isaiah 54 and a lot of Isaiah's words were used in the first this minority religion in Israel that was wiped out through the editors the first early Israelite religion believed that Yahweh or Jehovah would come down and be a king and he would die and he would get resurrected and he would redeem his people now that's the that's the religion of the Book of Mormon that's the religion that gets edited out of the Old Testament well one of the things that would

happen was every year the king at the new year would be enthroned and he'd be washed and anointed and he and his wife would be clothed and they would get what was called the promise of invulnerability and that essentially these verses would be read to them that they would be invulnerable and we'll put this in the show notes because it doesn't make for the best podcast but there are so many Psalms where the King has promise this and this is so important because I'm getting to it hold on we're really talking about you but I

just want to read one Psalm go to The 91st Psalm and like I said there are so many of these but look at this verse one he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty I will say of the Lord he is my refuge and my Fortress my God in whom I will trust surely he shall deliver thee From The Snare of the Fowler and from the noisome pestilence and he will cover thee with his feathers than think about the hen Gathering the chicks think about

the covering of the Ark has wings on it you're in the sacred place you're in the holy of holies under his wings shalt thou trust his truth shall be thy shield and buckler Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night nor the arrow that fth by day nor the pestilence that walketh in darkness nor the destruction that wasteth at Noonday A thousand shall fall at thy side and 10,000 at thy right hand but it shall not come nigh unto thee Only With Thine Eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked

and then it goes on go to verse 10 there shall no evil befall thee verse 11 he shall give his angels charge over thee verse 13 and now we're back to Micah Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder and Adder is a snake the Young Lion and the dragon shalt thou tremle under thy feet this is a promise of invulnerability this is a promise of kingship this is the promise that was given to Jesus and Joseph and both of them died but the promise is sure now think about you there are sacred spaces

that we go to where this promise is given to us that our seed will not be lost and that we will prosper and if you think about those sacred spaces and you think about what Psalm 91 is talking about and frankly there's just a lot of things we can't say over and over again Mormons like there's just stuff I can't write this is a promise that is given this is the heritage of the followers of Jesus and it says this in here over and over again this is the heritage of those that follow the lord

this is about family but it's invulnerability and to me my testimony is the only reason it's true is because of the Resurrection clearly weapons Prosper clearly Joseph died the Savior died followers of many Christians died in the early periods of Christianity but I I read those verses and say that's a pretty cool promise and like I said it's all over in the Psalms and it's right there and I'm sure some of the people that are hearing it or their children they die but the promise is still true as symbolized by the book of because the

Book of Mormon ends with utter destruction and yet the Book of Mormon is a glorious story because the message survives and we in the latter days take that message and succeed and so I just think that's the Glorious hope of the restoration and you've got to read these chapters this is a tough block um thiri 20 through 26 is a tough block of scriptures but as you read through them hear the underlying message and that is the Glorious Triumph of God through the restoration that billions of families are going to be sealed billions of families

are going to be taught whether it's in this life or through the work of the restoration it's in the next life God will succeed in this dispensation and Jesus will come and we will Triumph and you you and I are a part of that I'm going to make up my Jewels he says yeah yeah we are a part of that the Savior quotes Isaiah in chapter 22 which is all about the victory of Israel it's Isaiah chapter 54 it's the victory of Israel then in chapter CH 23 He commands us to read the words of

Isaiah and he kind of gives a hint on how to read Isaiah too does he does he does he says all things that Isaiah spoke have been and shall be which means Isaiah is teaching by patterns and so find the pattern if you want to know what shall be look at what has been if you want to understand Isaiah as in what has been look at what shall be and so a great commentary on Isaiah and then Jesus asks Nephi to bring forth the records and he says now wait a minute didn't I command Samuel

the lonite to prophesy something and didn't it happen and how come you didn't write it whoops how come you didn't write about it so this is a big deal Jesus is drawing attention to something that he felt was very important and yet they didn't think it important enough to write it into their records and so he's saying you you missed something very important to me now that raises a red flag to me to say okay what is important to Jesus that sometimes I don't notice and the whole thing is I prophesied that during the darkness

that during the heaviness after the destruction when children are crying and people are in despair many Saints would write from the dead and would appear and Minister unto them wasn't it so how come you didn't write it you've got to write it now why would that moment be so important that Jesus would correct them and yes I think he's teaching the doctrine of the Resurrection I think he's teaching that Jesus unlocked death that his atonement unlocked death and there's a lot to that but he's just telling this story about the Latter-Day Saints treading through the

Lions and I think the point he's trying to make is wasn't I with you in the darkness didn't I comfort you in the in the darkest moment of your life in the scariest time in the whole history of the Book of Mormon If This Were the darkest moment didn't I do something miraculous and wasn't I with you didn't I bring forth the dead now you think about of all the things that would have comforted them in the darkness to all of a sudden have Grandma there or a lost spouse or a Lost Child now as

he's prophesying for the latter days as he's talking about the story there will be some scary moments as this story unfolds as the Lions tear each other apart there will be some scary moments but I think part of what we need to read is Jesus is stopping the story to emphasize I will be with you every step of the way and when it gets dark look for my help look for my comfort and my guidance and look for me and we got to remember it don't we and you've got to remember it so whether it's

hey I did something miraculous like raise the dead or to every latterday saint out there who gets discouraged he says wait didn't I do marvelous things in your past how come you're not remembering those marvelous things how come you're not anticipating that I will do marvelous things again and so seing kind of symbolically this the last part of chapter 23 is a beautiful message from the Savior to say you forgot how significant that was I need to remind you I will be with you in the darkness no matter what comes no matter where this church

is heading no matter what our future lies we can all trust that Jesus will be with us the whole way as he has been with us all throughout the past a practical application of what you're talking about reminds me of when I'm sad we all have moments right where we're just having a rough time some sometimes just talking about this stuff or just reading it the light comes in yeah there was a woman one time who came to president Ballard and she said my daughter is vexed with the evil spirit will you exercise the demons

and he handed her a copy of the Book of Mormon and he said tell her to read this and it was just so simple right and the mom was like why would you tell me that and he says CU you can't read this book and have Darkness the light will chase it out and so I think that to me is a practical application you know the Savior said if your eye be single it shall be full of light I have friends right now that are making some of them making really bad decisions and I just

think oh you we've got to get light in our eye and how do we do that right we got to remember these things don't we and again I I mentioned this earlier but I'm going to go back to that very first chapter of the Book of Mormon last verse I Nephi will show unto all of you that The Tender Mercies of the Lord are upon all of us that believe in him and have faith in him and want to do what's right to the Deliverance The Tender Mercies of the Lord will be with us in

the future that I think is part of the Glorious story it's not just what God is doing in the world it's what God is doing in your life what's he doing for me what is he doing for you that's what makes this such a great glorious story is that God will prosper in your life I also believe Bry all those promises about the prophets about Joseph and about Jesus on a very small level you know that image of where he says that Prophet I hold in my hand I believe every time that I'm trying to

serve the Lord It's the Lord saying that about me Mike I have you in my hand yeah and it's funny that we reference the loss of the 116 Pages because Jesus specifically says I will show that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil and yet the loss of the 116 pages is a marvelous symbol for all of us Heavenly Father knew 24 100 years in advance that Martin Harris would lose the 116 pages and put a backup copy in the Book of Mormon he told Nephi to make two sets of plates clearly

back in 600 BC and he told Mormon throw that small set in we're going to need it even though it's a duplicate so if the Lord knew 2400 years in advance that we would need a backup copy of the first part of the Book of Mormon then clear clearly he has been putting all the pieces in place in your life to help you succeed it's the same message I will not let Satan defeat you it doesn't mean Joseph that wasn't that was a very painful experience for Joseph one of the worst he'd ever had and

yet I'm prepared there's a plan here and every single person needs to know that I am in the Lord's hands and that just like he prepared a way for Joseph to escape he has prepared a way for me to escape the Tender Mercies of God are upon all of us that's the story of the restoration we can't forget it I think there's another message too that's so important it's that no matter how far you've come off the path the Lord's ability and his power is greater than whatever it is you may have done Joseph assumed

he'd ruined the restoration All Is Lost he say All Is Lost One of Satan's lies is you know what Bryce you've gone too far you're irredeemable come you can't fix what you've broke that's a lie and Joseph didn't he honestly thought there's no way I I've lost the translation I've ruined this and the Lord just smiled and said no you haven't yeah and that symbolically applies to all of us not just to Joseph yeah so we got to do Malachi so then in the next two chapters he quotes two chapters of Malachi now this is

kind of odd you would say why does Jesus quote Malachi what's the thread that weaves This Together Mike and they don't have Mali Mali is after Lehi left long before Malachi was a prophet and so clearly you could say well this is good scripture that Jesus wanted to have in the Book of Mormon but remember the Book of Mormon was written for us so why would Mormon include Malachi for us knowing that we would have Malachi and so there's a thread that weaves throughout here Mike right what's the thread why Malachi notice the very first

verse go to 3i 24 in the first verse it says it came to pass that he command commanded them that they should write The Words which the father gave to Malachi which he should tell them so Jesus like okay I'm going to give you this stuff you guys don't have this material and it came to pass that after they were written he expounded them and it kind of says it a few times where he expounds what Malachi is talking about so go to the 25th chapter and the 25th chapter is more of Malachi it's Malachi

4 but then notice verse one of chapter 26 and it says it came to pass when Jesus had told these things he expounded them unto the multitude and he did expound all the things unto them both great and small and then in verse three he expounded the things unto them and notice verse six where Mormon says I can't even tell you a 100th part but here's my take I think the whole point of this is he's talking about family look in the fourth chapter of Malachi or look in 3i 25 behold the day cometh verse

one that shall burn as an oven and all the proud and all they that do wickedly shall be a stubble and the day cometh that shall burn them up sayith the Lord of hosts that it leave them neither root nor Branch we're back to this tree imagery and the son of righteousness will arise with healing of in his wings and he's going to verse Six turn the heart of the fathers to the children this is going to be explained to Joseph Smith by an Angel and Joseph is 17 years old when he gets this so

so just think about this for a minute at the very beginning of the restoration one of the very first Revelations that we have canonized chronologically is to a 17-year-old boy I'm going to read the whole section all of section two this is Moroni to Joseph he says behold I will reveal unto you the pried by the hand of Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and Dreadful day of the Lord and He Shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers and the hearts of the children shall turn

to their fathers and if it were not so the whole Earth would be utterly wasted at his coming that to me is about family so Malachi prophesies Jesus quotes that Prophecy in the Book of Mormon Joseph Smith is quoted that prophecy in section two we find that prophecy again quoted in section 128 it's all over the scriptures is it safe to say as we culminate this great story as you study the savior's favorite story about the story of the restoration it's almost as if he says that the whole point of the restoration and I'm going

to go out on a limb here the whole point of the founding of America so that we could restore the gospel the whole point of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon of the priesthood coming the whole point of missionary work is so that families can be sealed for time and all eternity that's it the family otherwise says Moroni to Joseph me the whole Earth would not have lived up to its purpose the whole Earth would have been a waste and if I'm the adversary what's my whole objective the family I've got to destroy

it that's right and I've got to rip the Republic apart I've got to rip the principles of Freedom apart and I've got to attack it and never stop and redefine what marriage is and I've got to attack the family and so I just think this is so significant that we end with Malachi and Malachi's Prophecy of the coming of Elijah and the keys that Elijah would bring and the work that Elijah would bring so L we get caught up in the fact that the restoration is a cause in and of itself the restoration is the

means to do what we really need to do the greatest story of them all is that Heavenly father's purposes are to bind families for eternity that everything else the so many people call the church the the scaffolding that it is building the Eternal building and the only thing that really matters is the building of the family sometimes the critics of Joseph Smith say that the concept of Eternal Marriage was a navu invention that you know he's in his late 30s and he just kind of comes up with this plan but I can't read section two

and it's right there in those three verses it's plain as a nose on my face yep the whole whole point the whole point of the restoration I just love that we culminate this week's reading with Malachi of Jesus telling about the restoration the New Jerusalem Joseph Smith the missionary work is so that we understand the significance of the new and Everlasting Covenant of marriage that that is the whole point of the Gospel finding a companion Bruce armakuni said the two most important things that any latterday s ever does in this world are marry the right

person in the right place by the right Authority and then number two keep that Covenant this is the culmination of the restoration of the Gospel it is the cealing of the family and so we end right there now go back to chapter 26 let me just throw something out a challenge out there that the Savior gives us so clearly the Nephites were taught things that Mormon doesn't include in the portion of the gold placeat that Joseph Smith was going to translate I can only give you like 1% it's nothing but there is so much more

there's a whole sealed portion of the gold plates and there's so much more and so Mormon says in verse 8 I'm back in chapter 26 these things I have written which are the Lesser part of the things which he taught the people so what we have in third Nephi what we have in the translated portion of the Book of Mormon is the Lesser part and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again to this people now listen to verse n and when they shall receive this which is expedient that they

should have first to try their faith and if it so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them but if you won't believe the portion of the Book of Mormon that we have you'll never get the greater things verse 11 Mormon was about to write them on the plates that we that would be translated Mormon was about to write some of the truths that Jesus taught that are for that are part of part two I was about to write them all which were engraven upon the plates

of Nephi but the Lord forbade it saying I will try the faith of my people we need to understand that the Book of Mormon that we have been given is a test it is a key that unlocks a door that just flows with more information now this is both literal and figurative passing the test of the Book of Mormon will unlock added scripture we still have a whole seal portion of the Book of Mormon to get we still have the whole record of the lost 10 tribes Jesus went to visit the lost 10 tribes and

they wrote about it we have a lot of scripture coming but we won't get that scripture until we pass the test of the Book of Mormon it has been given to us as a test then the second part I believe that so many prophets have taught that that is a symbolic that individually if you are faithful to the scriptures that you have it doesn't matter if the rest of the church isn't ready to receive them you can receive Revelation for you that what unlocks Revelation is passing the test of the Revelation that we receive now

let me just give you an example of the early day Saints and I I worry that we're still under this condemnation if you'll turn to Doctrine Covenant section 84 the Lord mentions that the early Saints starting in verse 54 had treated something lightly their minds had been darkened because they had treated something lightly and that treating it lightly brought the whole church under condemnation and this condemnation resteth upon Zion even upon all and they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the New Covenant even here's what they treated lightly The Book of

Mormon and the former Commandments I think he's including the Bible in that as well we had forgotten we have treated lightly The Book of Mormon and the former Commandments have you ever had this happen Bryce where you read something and it was like you've read it a 100 times and then you read it and and your mind just opens and you're like how did I miss that how did I miss that have you ever been frustrated that your past self didn't catch what you're catching now to me that's also getting new scripture meaning I can

read the same words on the page but I'm getting new scripture Y and notice how he finishes verse 57 passing the test of the Book of Mormon is done in two ways that we need to repent and remember the New Covenant even the Book of Mormon and the former Commandments which I have given them not only to say but to do I think passing the test of the Book of Mormon is done by what we say we need to use it more we need to use it in our sermons we need to use it in

our Sacrament talks we need to use it in family home evening we need to use it often we need to use the teachings of the Book of Mormon we need to say them more often we need to testify of the Book of Mormon more frequently but more than that we need to live the Book of Mormon we will unlock new scripture when we live the teachings of the Book of Mormon that we have if you want more scripture live the truths of the Book of Mormon live what we're being taught use it more often use

it more in your families use it more in Family Home Evening use the Book of Mormon to solve your personal problems find answers in the Book of Mormon and when we do that we unlock other Revelation but we have to do it by what we say say and by what we do and so the Book of Mormon is a test it's a test Neil a Maxwell said the following regarding that test and this pains me to read this but I wonder how if if we as a church are still not passing the test if we're

still treating lightly The Book of Mormon both to say and to do NE Maxwell said thus the Book of Mormon is like a vast mansion with Gardens Towers courtyards and wings there are rooms yet to be entered with flaming fireplaces waiting to warm us yet we as church members sometimes behave like hurried tourists scarcely venturing beyond the entry hall we've got to get to the upper rooms of the Book of Mormon we've got to get to the closets and the basements and the backyard The Book of Mormon should be a lifetime Pursuit something that we

never put down of that book I testify with everything I live for everything that I am but I also testify that the whole point of that book is to make Eternal families make the family last for eternity and with that we thank you for listening and we'll see you next week talking scripture is not an official production of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the opinions expressed in this podcast are Mike and Bryce's opinions only we refer you to official Church sources and the church website to clarify any doctrinal questions