pgs. 162 and 163...I will not succor my people in the way of their transgression; but I will hedge up their ways that they prosper not.

26 And a ^aprophet of the Lord have they ^bslain; yea, a chosen man of God, who told them of their wickedness and abominations, and prophesied of many things which are to come, yea, even the coming of Christ.

27 And because he said unto them that Christ was the ^aGod, the Father of all things, and said that he should take upon him the ^bimage of man, and it should be the ^cimage after which man was created in the beginning; or in other words, he said that man was created after the image of ^dGod, and that God should come down among the children of men, and take upon him flesh and blood, and go forth upon the face of the earth—

28 And now, because he said this, they did ^aput him to death; and many more things did they do which brought down the wrath of God upon them. Therefore, who wondereth that they are in bondage, and that they are smitten with sore afflictions?

29 For behold, the Lord hath said: I will not ^asuccor my people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up their ways that they prosper not; and their doings shall be as a ^bstumbling block before them.

30 And again, he saith: If my people shall sow ^afilthiness they shall ^breap the ^cchaff thereof in the whirlwind; and the effect thereof is poison.

31 And again he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the ^aeast wind, which bringeth immediate destruction.

32 And now, behold, the promise of the Lord is fulfilled, and ye are smitten and afflicted.

33 But if ye will ^aturn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all ^bdiligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage.

THE BOOK OF MOSIAH

CHAPTER 8

Ammon teaches the people of Limhi—He learns of the twenty-four Jaredite plates—Ancient records can be translated by seers—The gift of seership exceeds all others. About 121 B.C.

1 And it came to pass that after king Limhi had made an end of ^aspeaking to his people, for he spake many things unto them and only a few of them have I written in this book, he told his people all the things concerning their brethren who were in the land of Zarahemla.

2 And he caused that Ammon should stand up before the multitude, and rehearse unto them all that had happened unto their brethren from the time that ^aZeniff went up out of the land even until the time that he ^bhimself came up out of the land.

3 And he also rehearsed unto them the last words which king Benjamin had ^ataught them, and explained them to the people of king Limhi, so that they might understand all the words which he spake.

4 And it came to pass that after he had done all this, that king Limhi dismissed the multitude, and caused that they should return every one unto his own house.

5 And it came to pass that he caused that the ^aplates which contained the ^brecord of his people from the time that they left the ^cland of Zarahemla, should be brought before Ammon, that he might read them.

6 Now, as soon as Ammon had read the record, the king inquired of him to know if he could ^ainterpret languages, and Ammon told him that he could not.

7 And the king said unto him: Being grieved for the afflictions of my people, I caused that ^aforty and three of my people should take a journey into the wilderness, that thereby they might find the land of Zarahemla, that we might appeal unto our brethren to deliver us out of bondage.

8 And they were lost in the wilderness for the space of ^amany days, yet they were diligent, and found not the land of Zarahemla but returned to this land, having traveled in a land among many waters, having discovered a land which was covered with ^bbones of men, and of beasts, and was also covered with ruins of buildings of every kind, having discovered a land which had been peopled with a people who were as numerous as the hosts of Israel.

9 And for a testimony that the things that they had said are true they have brought ^atwenty-four plates which are filled with engravings, and they are of pure gold.

10 And behold, also, they have brought ^abreastplates, which are large, and they are of ^bbrass and of copper, and are perfectly sound.

11 And again, they have brought swords, the hilts thereof have perished, and the blades thereof were cankered with rust; and there is no one in the land that is able to interpret the language or the engravings that are on the plates. Therefore I said unto thee: Canst thou translate?

12 And I say unto thee again: Knowest thou of any one that can translate? For I am desirous that these records should be translated into our language; for, perhaps, they will give us a knowledge of a remnant of the people who have been destroyed, from whence these records came; or, perhaps, they will give us a knowledge of this very people who have been destroyed; and I am desirous to know the cause of their destruction.

13 Now Ammon said unto him: I can assuredly tell thee, O king, of a man that can ^atranslate the records; for he has wherewith that he can look, and translate all records that are of ancient date; and it is a gift from God. And the things are called ^binterpreters, and no man can look in them except he be commanded, lest he should look for that he ought not and he should perish. And whosoever is commanded to look in them, the same is called ^cseer.

14 And behold, the king of the people who are in the land of Zarahemla is the man that is commanded to do these things, and who has this high gift from God.

15 And the king said that a ^aseer is greater than a prophet.

16 And Ammon said that a seer is a revelator and a prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no man have, except he should possess the power of God, which no man can; yet a man may have great power given him from God.


In Moses 6:63 it reads: "all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath; all things bear record of me." From this scripture we know that there is eternal symbolism in common, every day events. One of these events is the harvest of crops. This is basically what Limhi teaches his people in verse 30. He wants them to know that if you plant righteousness you will reap righteous consequences and vice versa. One of my missionary companions used to say "you can't plant corn and harvest wheat." I've found that to be true in more than just missionary work!

By the way, the "east wind" in verse 31 refers to the hot, dry wind that blows from the east into the Holy Land and was known to ruin many crops overnight. Having spent time in the summer in Israel I can absolutely vouch for the fact that those are hot winds...you definitely would not want them near any of your crops!