pgs. 390 and 391...I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works;

15 Now, as for the murder of this man, we know not who has done it; and only this much we know, we ran and came ^aaccording as ye desired, and behold he was dead, according to the words of Nephi.

  16 And now it came to pass that the judges did expound the matter unto the people, and did cry out against Nephi, saying: Behold, we know that this Nephi must have agreed with some one to slay the judge, and then he might declare it unto us, that he might convert us unto his faith, that he might raise himself to be a great man, chosen of God, and a prophet.

  17 And now behold, we will detect this man, and he shall confess his fault and make known unto us the true murderer of this judge.

  18 And it came to pass that the five were liberated on the day of the burial. Nevertheless, they did rebuke the judges in the words which they had spoken against Nephi, and did contend with them one by one, insomuch that they did confound them.

  19 Nevertheless, they caused that Nephi should be taken and bound and brought before the multitude, and they began to question him in divers ways that they might cross him, that they might accuse him to death—

  20 Saying unto him: Thou art confederate; who is this man that hath done this murder? Now tell us, and acknowledge thy fault; saying, Behold here is ^amoney; and also we will grant unto thee thy life if thou wilt tell us, and acknowledge the agreement which thou hast made with him.

  21 But Nephi said unto them: O ye ^afools, ye uncircumcised of heart, ye blind, and ye ^bstiffnecked people, do ye know how long the Lord your God will suffer you that ye shall go on in this your way of sin?

  22 O ye ought to begin to howl and ^amourn, because of the great destruction which at this time doth await you, except ye shall repent.

  23 Behold ye say that I have agreed with a man that he should murder Seezoram, our chief judge. But behold, I say unto you, that this is because I have testified unto you that ye might know concerning this thing; yea, even for a witness unto you, that I did know of the wickedness and abominations which are among you.

  24 And because I have done this, ye say that I have agreed with a man that he should do this thing; yea, because I showed unto you this sign ye are angry with me, and seek to destroy my life.

  25 And now behold, I will show unto you another sign, and see if ye will in this thing seek to destroy me.

  26 Behold I say unto you: Go to the house of Seantum, who is the ^abrother of Seezoram, and say unto him—

  27 Has Nephi, the pretended prophet, who doth prophesy so much evil concerning this people, agreed with thee, in the which ye have murdered Seezoram, who is your brother?

  28 And behold, he shall say unto you, Nay.

  29 And ye shall say unto him: Have ye murdered your brother?

  30 And he shall stand with fear, and wist not what to say. And behold, he shall deny unto you; and he shall make as if he were astonished; nevertheless, he shall declare unto you that he is innocent.

  31 But behold, ye shall examine him, and ye shall find blood upon the skirts of his cloak.

  32 And when ye have seen this, ye shall say: From whence cometh this blood? Do we not know that it is the blood of your brother?

  33 And then shall he tremble, and shall look pale, even as if death had come upon him.

  34 And then shall ye say: Because of this fear and this paleness which has come upon your face, behold, we know that thou art guilty.

  35 And then shall greater fear come upon him; and then shall he confess unto you, and deny no more that he has done this murder.

  36 And then shall he say unto you, that I, Nephi, know nothing concerning the matter save it were given unto me by the power of God. And then shall ye know that I am an honest man, and that I am sent unto you from God.

  37 And it came to pass that they went and did, even according as Nephi had said unto them. And behold, the words which he had said were true; for according to the words he did deny; and also according to the words he did confess.

  38 And he was brought to prove that he himself was the very murderer, insomuch that the five were set at liberty, and also was Nephi.

  39 And there were some of the Nephites who believed on the words of Nephi; and there were some also, who believed because of the testimony of the five, for they had been converted while they were in prison.

  40 And now there were some among the people, who said that Nephi was a prophet.

  41 And there were others who said: Behold, he is a god, for except he was a god he could not ^aknow of all things. For behold, he has told us the thoughts of our hearts, and also has told us things; and even he has brought unto our knowledge the true murderer of our chief judge.

THE BOOK OF HELAMAN

CHAPTER 10

The Lord gives Nephi the sealing power—He is empowered to bind and loose on earth and in heaven—He commands the people to repent or perish—The Spirit carries him from congregation to congregation. Between 23 and 20 B.C.

  1 And it came to pass that there arose a division among the people, insomuch that they divided hither and thither and went their ways, leaving Nephi alone, as he was standing in the midst of them.

  2 And it came to pass that Nephi went his way towards his own house, ^apondering upon the things which the Lord had shown unto him.

  3 And it came to pass as he was thus pondering—being much cast down because of the wickedness of the people of the Nephites, their secret works of darkness, and their murderings, and their plunderings, and all manner of iniquities—and it came to pass as he was thus pondering in his heart, behold, a ^avoice came unto him saying:

  4 ^aBlessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with ^bunwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine ^cown life, but hast sought my ^dwill, and to keep my commandments.

  5 And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that ^aall things shall be^bdone unto thee according to thy ^cword, for thou shalt ^dnot ask that which is contrary to my will.

Wow.  The Lord tells Nephi in chapter 10 verse 5 that he will bless him forever.  One of the Book of Mormon commentaries I enjoy reading entitled "Your Study of the Book of Mormon Made Easier" by David Ridges breaks down chapter 10 verse 4 into what the Lord tells Nephi he has done to earn this blessing.  It states that it was earned by:

1. things which thou hast done (actions)

2. with unwearyingness (consistently faithful)

3. hast not feared them (more concerned about what God thinks than what people think)

4. hast not sought thine own life (not made his own desires his top priority)

5. hast sought my will (subjected himself to God's will)

6. keep my commandments (strived to keep His commandments)

This is a great guideline for all of us as to how we should try to live our own lives.  Of course it isn't really anything that we haven't heard already but sometimes hearing things in a new way can change our perspective or open our minds a little.

pgs. 388 and 389...instead of laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven...ye are heaping up for yourselves wrath against the day of judgment.

19 And now I would that ye should know, that even since the days of Abraham there have been many prophets that have testified these things; yea, behold, the prophet ^aZenos did testify boldly; for the which he was slain.

  20 And behold, also ^aZenock, and also ^bEzias, and also ^cIsaiah, and ^dJeremiah, (Jeremiah being that same prophet who testified of the destruction of ^eJerusalem) and now we know that Jerusalem was destroyed according to the words of Jeremiah. O then why not the Son of God come, according to his prophecy?

  21 And now will you dispute that ^aJerusalem was destroyed? Will ye say that the ^bsons of Zedekiah were not slain, all except it were ^cMulek? Yea, and do ye not behold that the seed of Zedekiah are with us, and they were driven out of the land of Jerusalem? But behold, this is not all—

  22 Our father Lehi was driven out of Jerusalem because he ^atestified of these things. Nephi also testified of these things, and also almost all of our fathers, even down to this time; yea, they have testified of the ^bcoming of Christ, and have looked forward, and have rejoiced in his day which is to come.

  23 And behold, he is God, and he is ^awith them, and he did manifest himself unto them, that they were redeemed by him; and they gave unto him glory, because of that which is to come.

  24 And now, seeing ye know these things and cannot deny them except ye shall lie, therefore in this ye have sinned, for ye have rejected all these things, notwithstanding so many ^aevidences which ye have received; yea, even ye have received ^ball things, both things in heaven, and all things which are in the earth, as a witness that they are true.

  25 But behold, ye have rejected the truth, and ^arebelled against your holy God; and even at this time, instead of laying up for yourselves ^btreasures in heaven, where nothing doth corrupt, and where nothing can come which is unclean, ye are heaping up for yourselves wrath against the day of ^cjudgment.

  26 Yea, even at this time ye are ripening, because of your murders and your ^afornication and wickedness, for everlasting destruction; yea, and except ye repent it will come unto you soon.

  27 Yea, behold it is now even at your doors; yea, go ye in unto the judgment-seat, and search; and behold, your judge is murdered, and he ^alieth in his blood; and he hath been murdered ^bby his brother, who seeketh to sit in the judgment-seat.

  28 And behold, they both belong to your secret band, whose ^aauthor is Gadianton and the evil one who seeketh to destroy the souls of men.

THE BOOK OF HELAMAN

CHAPTER 9

Messengers find the chief judge dead at the judgment seat—They are imprisoned and later released—By inspiration Nephi identifies Seantum as the murderer—Nephi is accepted by some as a prophet. Between 23 and 20 B.C.

  1 Behold, now it came to pass that when Nephi had spoken these words, certain men who were among them ran to the judgment-seat; yea, even there were ^afive who went, and they said among themselves, as they went:

  2 Behold, now we will know of a surety whether this man be a prophet and God hath commanded him to prophesy such marvelous things unto us. Behold, we do not ^abelieve that he hath; yea, we do not believe that he is a prophet; nevertheless, if this thing which he has said concerning the chief judge be true, that he be dead, then will we believe that the other words which he has spoken are true.

  3 And it came to pass that they ran in their might, and came in unto the judgment-seat; and behold, the chief judge had fallen to the earth, and did ^alie in his blood.

  4 And now behold, when they saw this they were astonished exceedingly, insomuch that they fell to the earth; for they had not believed the words which Nephi had spoken concerning the chief judge.

  5 But now, when they saw they believed, and fear came upon them lest all the judgments which Nephi had spoken ^ashould come upon the people; therefore they did quake, and had fallen to the earth.

  6 Now, immediately when the judge had been murdered—he being stabbed by his brother by a garb of secrecy, and he fled, and the servants ran and told the people, raising the cry of murder among them;

  7 And behold the people did gather themselves together unto the place of the judgment-seat—and behold, to their astonishment they saw those ^afive men who had fallen to the earth.

  8 And now behold, the people knew nothing concerning the multitude who had gathered together at the ^agarden of Nephi; therefore they said among themselves: These men are they who have murdered the judge, and God has smitten them that they could not flee from us.

  9 And it came to pass that they laid hold on them, and bound them and cast them into prison. And there was a proclamation sent abroad that the judge was slain, and that the murderers had been taken and were cast into prison.

  10 And it came to pass that on the morrow the people did assemble themselves together to ^amourn and to ^bfast, at the burial of the great chief judge who had been slain.

  11 And thus also those judges who were at the garden of Nephi, and heard his words, were also gathered together at the burial.

  12 And it came to pass that they inquired among the people, saying: Where are the five who were sent to inquire concerning the chief judge whether he was dead? And they answered and said: Concerning this five whom ye say ye have sent, we know not; but there are five who are the murderers, whom we have cast into prison.

  13 And it came to pass that the judges desired that they should be brought; and they were brought, and behold they were the five who were sent; and behold the judges inquired of them to know concerning the matter, and they told them all that they had done, saying:

  14 We ran and came to the place of the judgment-seat, and when we saw all things even as Nephi had testified, we were astonished insomuch that we fell to the earth; and when we were recovered from our astonishment, behold they cast us into ^aprison.

One of the main blessings that comes from reading the Book of Mormon is an eternal perspective.  Whether we realize it or not, the way we live our lives is always a product of what we truly want most.  Those who do not have an eternal perspective may only desire worldly gifts such as fame, fortune, or pleasure and strive for those things.  Those with an eternal perspective hopefully desire eternal gifts such as covenants, families, and spiritual growth and focus on obtaining them. 

 

Years ago I had a visiting teacher who joined the church late in life and a short time later found out that she was dying of cancer.  One day, not long before she died, she told me about the years of her life when she was married to a successful, handsome doctor and raising her children.  She thought she had it all.  She lived across the street from an LDS family and thought they were nice but strange.  Eventually she lost her husband to infidelity and divorce and the money ran out.  Now she looked back on that family and said, "I can see that they were not strange but different, because they wanted completely opposite things from life than I did.  They wanted things that really matter.  Members of the church are so lucky because they are walking around with a completely different perspective on life than the rest of us."  

I've thought about that conversation so many times since. Reading this passage today brought it to mind again because Nephi is trying to teach the people to live for eternal treasure, not earthly treasure.  If we can follow Nephi's teachings we will be so blessed. It seems like a relatively simple lesson in theory but in reality it is so often forgotten.   

pgs. 386 and 387...Moses did not only testify of these things, but also all the holy prophets, from his days even to the days of Abraham.

23 For behold, thus saith the Lord: I will not show unto the wicked of my strength, to one more than the other, save it be unto those who repent of their sins, and hearken unto my words. Now therefore, I would that ye should behold, my brethren, that it shall be ^abetter for the Lamanites than for you except ye shall repent.

  24 For behold, they are more righteous than you, for they have not sinned against that great knowledge which ye have received; therefore the Lord will be merciful unto them; yea, he will ^alengthen out their days and increase their seed, even when thou shalt be utterly ^bdestroyed except thou shalt repent.

  25 Yea, wo be unto you because of that great abomination which has come among you; and ye have united yourselves unto it, yea, to that ^asecret band which was established by Gadianton!

  26 Yea, ^awo shall come unto you because of that pride which ye have suffered to enter your hearts, which has lifted you up beyond that which is good because of your exceedingly great riches!

  27 Yea, wo be unto you because of your wickedness and abominations!

  28 And except ye repent ye shall perish; yea, even your lands shall be taken from you, and ye shall be destroyed from off the face of the earth.

  29 Behold now, I do not say that these things shall be, of myself, because it is not of myself that I ^aknow these things; but behold, I ^bknow that these things are true because the Lord God has made them known unto me, therefore I testify that they shall be.

THE BOOK OF HELAMAN

CHAPTER 8

Corrupt judges seek to incite the people against Nephi—Abraham, Moses, Zenos, Zenock, Ezias, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lehi, and Nephi all testified of Christ—By inspiration Nephi announces the murder of the chief judge. Between 23 and 20 B.C.

  1 And now it came to pass that when Nephi had said these words, behold, there were men who were judges, who also belonged to the secret band of Gadianton, and they were angry, and they cried out against him, saying unto the people: Why do ye not seize upon this man and bring him forth, that he may be condemned according to the crime which he has done?

  2 Why seest thou this man, and hearest him revile against this people and against our law?

  3 For behold, Nephi had spoken unto them concerning the corruptness of their law; yea, many things did Nephi speak which cannot be written; and nothing did he speak which was contrary to the commandments of God.

  4 And those judges were angry with him because he ^aspake plainly unto them concerning their secret works of darkness; nevertheless, they durst not lay their own hands upon him, for they feared the people lest they should cry out against them.

  5 Therefore they did cry unto the people, saying: Why do you suffer this man to revile against us? For behold he doth condemn all this people, even unto destruction; yea, and also that these our ^agreat cities shall be taken from us, that we shall have no place in them.

  6 And now we know that this is impossible, for behold, we are ^apowerful, and our cities great, therefore our enemies can have no power over us.

  7 And it came to pass that thus they did ^astir up the people to anger against Nephi, and raised contentions among them; for there were some who did cry out: ^bLet this man alone, for he is a good man, and those things which he saith will surely come to pass except we repent;

  8 Yea, behold, all the judgments will come upon us which he has testified unto us; for we know that he has testified aright unto us concerning our iniquities. And behold they are many, and he ^aknoweth as well all things which shall befall us as he knoweth of our iniquities;

  9 Yea, and behold, if he had not been a prophet he could not have ^atestified concerning those things.

  10 And it came to pass that those people who sought to destroy Nephi were compelled because of their fear, that they did not lay their hands on him; therefore he began again to speak unto them, seeing that he had gained favor in the eyes of some, insomuch that the remainder of them did fear.

  11 Therefore he was constrained to speak more unto them saying: Behold, my brethren, have ye not read that God gave power unto one man, even Moses, to smite upon the waters of the Red ^aSea, and they parted hither and thither, insomuch that the Israelites, who were our fathers, came through upon dry ground, and the waters closed upon the armies of the Egyptians and swallowed them up?

  12 And now behold, if God gave unto this man such power, then why should ye dispute among yourselves, and say that he hath given unto me no power whereby I may ^aknow concerning the judgments that shall come upon you except ye repent?

  13 But, behold, ye not only deny my words, but ye also deny all the words which have been spoken by our fathers, and also the words which were spoken by this man, Moses, who had such great power given unto him, yea, the words which he hath spoken concerning the coming of the Messiah.

  14 Yea, did he not bear record that the Son of God should come? And as he ^alifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so shall he be lifted up who should come.

  15 And as many as should look upon that serpent should ^alive, even so as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might ^blive, even unto that life which is eternal.

  16 And now behold, Moses did not only testify of these things, but also ^aall the holy prophets, from his days even to the days of Abraham.

  17 Yea, and behold, ^aAbraham saw of his coming, and was filled with gladness and did rejoice.

  18 Yea, and behold I say unto you, that Abraham not only knew of these things, but there were ^amany before the days of Abraham who were called by the ^border of God; yea, even after the order of his Son; and this that it should be shown unto the people, a great many thousand years before his coming, that even redemption should come unto them.

In the last few verses of this reading Nephi is explaining to his contemporaries (and to us readers) that Heavenly Father has spoken to many prophets throughout time and that they have all testified of the Son of God.  This ties in so well with the latest Mormon Message on you tube that I just have to post it here.  It's definitely worth watching!