9 Wherefore, it burdeneth my soul that I should be constrained, because of the strict commandment which I have received from God, to aadmonish you according to your crimes, to enlarge the wounds of those who are already wounded, instead of consoling and healing their wounds; and those who have not been wounded, instead of feasting upon the pleasing word of God have daggers placed to pierce their souls and wound their delicate minds.
13 And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are alifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they.
14 And now, my brethren, do ye suppose that God justifieth you in this thing? Behold, I say unto you, Nay. But he condemneth you, and if ye persist in these things his judgments must speedily come unto you.
15 O that he would show you that he can pierce you, and with one glance of his aeye he can smite you to the dust!
16 O that he would rid you from this iniquity and abomination. And, O that ye would listen unto the word of his commands, and let not this apride of your hearts destroy your souls!
19 And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to ado good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.
20 And now, my brethren, I have spoken unto you concerning pride; and those of you which have afflicted your neighbor, and persecuted him because ye were proud in your hearts, of the things which God hath given you, what say ye of it?
21 Do ye not suppose that such things are abominable unto him who created all flesh? And the one being is as precious in his sight as the other. And all flesh is of the dust; and for the selfsame end hath he created them, that they should keep his acommandments and glorify him forever.
22 And now I make an end of speaking unto you concerning this pride. And were it not that I must speak unto you concerning a grosser crime, my heart would rejoice exceedingly because of you.
23 But the word of God burdens me because of your grosser crimes. For behold, thus saith the Lord: This people begin to wax in iniquity; they understand not the scriptures, for they seek to excuse themselves in committing awhoredoms, because of the things which were written concerning David, and Solomon his son.
24 Behold, David and aSolomon truly had many bwives and concubines, which thing was cabominable before me, saith the Lord.
25 Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a arighteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph.
29 Wherefore, this people shall keep my commandments, saith the Lord of Hosts, or acursed be the land for their sakes.
30 For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up aseed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things.
31 For behold, I, the Lord, have seen the sorrow, and heard the mourning of the daughters of my people in the land of Jerusalem, yea, and in all the lands of my people, because of the wickedness and aabominations of their bhusbands.
32 And I will not suffer, saith the Lord of Hosts, that the cries of the fair daughters of this people, which I have led out of the land of Jerusalem, shall come up unto me against the men of my people, saith the Lord of Hosts.
33 For they shall not lead away captive the daughters of my people because of their tenderness, save I shall visit them with a sore curse, even unto destruction; for they shall not commit awhoredoms, like unto them of old, saith the Lord of Hosts.
34 And now behold, my brethren, ye know that these commandments were given to our afather, Lehi; wherefore, ye have known them before; and ye have come unto great condemnation; for ye have done these things which ye ought not to have done.
35 Behold, ye have done agreater iniquities than the Lamanites, our brethren. Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them; and the sobbings of their hearts ascend up to God against you. And because of the bstrictness of the word of God, which cometh down against you, many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds.
I've heard a lot of debate about whether or not it is a sin to be wealthy. (Does the "eye of the needle" quote from the Bible ring a bell?) I think verses 17 and 18 teach us volumes about the subject. The way I interpret this message is that wealth itself is not evil but the way individuals handle wealth and the way they value it in their hearts and minds is what matters. The key for all of us, whether we are wealthy or not (and that is relative...aren't all of us who have computers wealthy when compared to residents of 3rd world countries?) is to refrain from PRIDE!
If there is one topic that I've heard debated more than wealth, it's polygamy. (I guess we should give Jacob a pat on the back for having the courage to teach the Lord's will on both hard subjects!) To me the crux of the matter lies in verses 27, 30, 33 and 34. In verse 27 Jacob explains the Lords law is one wife for one husband. In verse 30 he explains that if the Lord has the need to raise up a seed he will command his people "otherwise" for a time. That's it. Not too bad, right? Especially for us because we are not living in a time when the Lord needs to raise up a seed. But that is where the fear/controversy comes in. What if we are asked to live the "otherwise" law at some point in our eternal existence? My answer to that is in verses 32 and 33 where the Lord says,
I've heard a lot of debate about whether or not it is a sin to be wealthy. (Does the "eye of the needle" quote from the Bible ring a bell?) I think verses 17 and 18 teach us volumes about the subject. The way I interpret this message is that wealth itself is not evil but the way individuals handle wealth and the way they value it in their hearts and minds is what matters. The key for all of us, whether we are wealthy or not (and that is relative...aren't all of us who have computers wealthy when compared to residents of 3rd world countries?) is to refrain from PRIDE!
If there is one topic that I've heard debated more than wealth, it's polygamy. (I guess we should give Jacob a pat on the back for having the courage to teach the Lord's will on both hard subjects!) To me the crux of the matter lies in verses 27, 30, 33 and 34. In verse 27 Jacob explains the Lords law is one wife for one husband. In verse 30 he explains that if the Lord has the need to raise up a seed he will command his people "otherwise" for a time. That's it. Not too bad, right? Especially for us because we are not living in a time when the Lord needs to raise up a seed. But that is where the fear/controversy comes in. What if we are asked to live the "otherwise" law at some point in our eternal existence? My answer to that is in verses 32 and 33 where the Lord says,
"I will not suffer that the cries of the fair daughters of this people...shall come up unto me against the men...they shall not lead away captive the daughters of my people because of their tenderness, save I shall visit then with a sore curse, even unto destruction."Sounds like the Lord will listen to His daughters' prayers, don't you think? I'm pretty sure if any woman is being held "captive" and she tells the Lord in prayer that she feels that way, the Lord will hold her captor accountable. I hope that brings you the peace of mind it brings me. If you have any other insights, please add them in the comments!
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