35j - The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ. The Prophet King Benjamin Fortold the Mortal Mission of Jesus Christ in About 124 B.C.

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!

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In case you did not have the opportunity to read "A Special Easter Season Post" I suggest that when you have finished experiencing this post you experience that post which I have just made available for you within this paragraph.

TODAY'S THEME



King Benjamin Testified of the Coming of Jesus Christ From the Wall of the Temple (House of the Lord) in Ancient Central America (124 B.C.) -by Gary Kapp

Mosiah 3:1 AND again my brethren, I would call your attention, for I have somewhat more to speak unto you; for behold, I have things to tell you concerning that which is to come.

2 And the things which I shall tell you are made known unto me by an angel from God. And he said unto me: Awake; and I awoke, and behold he stood before me.

3 And he said unto me: Awake, and hear the words which I shall tell thee; for behold, I am come to declare unto you the glad tidings of great joy.

4 For the Lord hath heard thy prayers, and hath judged of thy righteousness, and hath sent me to declare unto thee that thou mayest rejoice; and that thou mayest declare unto thy people, that they may also be filled with joy.

5 For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases.

Christ Healing the Sick at Bethesda -by Carl Heinrich Bloch



Jesus Raising Lazarus From the Dead -by Carl Heinrich Bloch

6 And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men.

7 And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.



Jesus Prays Before Experiencing His Atonement in the Garden of Gethsemane -by Harry Anderson

The Crucifixion of Our Savior, Jesus Christ -by Harry Anderson

8 And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.

9 And lo, he cometh unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men even through faith on his name; and even after all this they shall consider him a man, and say that he hath a devil, and shall scourge him, and shall crucify him.

10 And he shall rise the third day from the dead; and behold, he standeth to judge the world; and behold, all these things are done that a righteous judgment might come upon the children of men.

11 For behold, and also his blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died not knowing the will of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned. 



The Resurrected Jesus Christ -by Harry Anderson



12 But wo, wo unto him who knoweth that he rebelleth against God! For salvation cometh to none such except it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.

13 And the Lord God hath sent his holy prophets among all the children of men, to declare these things to every kindred, nation, and tongue, that thereby whosoever should believe that Christ should come, the same might receive remission of their sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy, even as though he had already come among them.

Moses and the Tablets of Stone -by Jerry Harston



14 Yet the Lord God saw that his people were a stiffnecked people, and he appointed unto them a law, even the law of Moses.

15 And many signs, and wonders, and types, and shadows showed he unto them, concerning his coming; and also holy prophets spake unto them concerning his coming; and yet they hardened their hearts, and understood not that the law of Moses availeth nothing except it were through the atonement of his blood.



Moses Shows the Children of Israel the Brazen Serpent Which Represents Christ's Sacrifice for All of Us -by Judith Mehr



Jesus the Christ -by Del Parson

16 And even if it were possible that little children could sin they could not be saved; but I say unto you they are blessed; for behold, as in Adam, or by nature, they fall, even so the blood of Christ atoneth for their sins.

17 And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.



Jesus With Children -by Del Parson

18 For behold he judgeth, and his judgment is just; and the infant perisheth not that dieth in his infancy; but men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble themselves and become as little children, and believe that salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.

19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

20 And moreover, I say unto you, that the time shall come when the knowledge of a Savior shall spread throughout every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. (emphasis added)

Photographs and Painting: lds.org

. . .Spread throughout every Nation . . .

21 And behold, when that time cometh, none shall be found blameless before God, except it be little children, only through repentance and faith on the name of the Lord God Omnipotent.

Jesus and Angels Blessing Nephite Children -by Del Parson

TODAY'S THEME was the prophetic, inspiring speech given by King Benjamin to his people at the time he had called them together to announce that his son, Mosiah was to become their king after he would soon die. The thoughts that he expressed are so very pertinent to each of us too. Please think through everything King Benjamin taught as if it applies to you. Because it does!

One might ask why, as was reported at the end of the previous post, was the Resurrected Jesus Christ able to tell the Nephite people that they were showing much more faith than did the Jewish people among whom He taught and served during His mortal life?

I submit that the testimony of Jesus Christ as spoken by the Nephite King, Benjamin, long before Christ's birth in Jerusalem and His visits to the Nephites just after His resurrection, is evidence that the tradition of righteous prophets, in this case, a prophet-king, helped prepare generations of men and women who were very prepared for Christ's visit when the time came for him to come! That is just one example of many that could be given as to why the Lord could tell the Nephites He visited after His resurrection:

III Nephi 13:35 . . .So great faith have I never seen among all the Jews; wherefore I could not show unto them so great miracles, because of their unbelief.

By the way, Benjamin's words in TODAY'S THEME were the actual words that he spoke to his people. He had them recorded word for word, by hand! No ancient or modern man made them up!

There are professionals in our day who have developed the skill of determining if two different written recordings were delivered by two different persons or the same person. That takes special training to do that accurately. There are experts at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at BYU (Provo, Utah - U.S.A.) who have written about such a skill and know of those who actually have developed such.

Such experts have demonstrated very accurately that there are differences in the way or style of speaking of, for instance, the various prophets whose statements or talks are recorded throughout the Book of Mormon.

While reading recently about the "Joseph Smith Papers" projects (of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) one of the experts who is assigned to that project reported that the voice that the Prophet Joseph Smith uses in things he reports in his history by writing himself or by dictating to a scribe, is definitely not the voice which those experts "hear" while reading the revelations from the Lord Jesus Christ which are spoken through the instrumentality of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

In the case of the small plates of Nephi (I Nephi through Omni) that is particularly true, because in each of the records on those plates, Mormon nor anyone else was alleged to have edited anything in them. Each prophet, on those plates wrote his own messages which were translated, through the power of God, by Joseph Smith.

I have read a report many years ago from a written voice expert that as he read through the books of seven different writers; Enos, Jarom, Omni, Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom, and Amaleki, each wrote in those books), he detected seven unique "voices."

I want each of you to know that claims made by very misguided people (who in most every case have never really read the Book of Mormon), that Joseph Smith "made up" that which is recorded in the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, are outright undeniably wrong!

I want you each to personally know, by the Spirit of the Lord, that I know the Book of Mormon contains the words of prophets who were inspired by the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope each of you will gain that same testimony. To help yourself gain such, I urge you to prayerfully read the following verses from the Book of Moroni:

Moroni 10: 3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

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DISCLAIMER

This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.



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TO OPEN NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This BlogPost, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other BlogPost You Decide To Open), After Reading All of This Paragraph, Please Click on the Following: King Benjamin Testified of Christ. -Post 35j. When You See The Picture of Our Savior, Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy, Please Scroll Down In the Index To Your Target Item Or Use the Automatic Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed).

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"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon?" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est.2008 Neil Birch Legal /Statement.

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I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish:  Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch

A Letter to My Granddaughter, JoJo

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!

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A SPECIAL EASTER SEASON POST

Dear Blog Readers, I'm writing this post as a blog post letter to a dear twelve year old granddaughter of mine.

Dear JoJo,

You had told me in an e-mail several weeks ago that you were studying ancient Israel and similar matters in your social studies class at school. I wrote telling you that I'd like to tell you a special story about Israel. But then as you may recall, I wrote suggesting that you may not be interested in what I was planning to write. But then, when you e-mailed me telling me you really wanted me to write it, I decided to write it. Here it is:
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There is Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Jacob's other name is Israel, a Hebrew language word which means: "One who prevails with God." You may know the meaning of the word, prevail. In case you don't, it means, in this case, Israel is a person (or a people) who please God.

Actually, my story begins with Jacob's grandfather, Abraham who is called, as we learn in the Old Testament: Father of the Faithful. Abraham's father, Terah was not a very righteous man, but Abraham believed strongly in God and learned to serve Him. He became the very first leader and father of the Nation of Israel.

Abraham's wife, Sarah didn't have a baby until they were both very old. She was so old (about 100) that when Abraham told her that God had told him she was going to have a baby she laughed. She had a very hard time believing that!

The baby boy was born and Sarah and Abraham were both very glad.

Their son, Isaac, became very righteous as he grew up, as was Isaac's son, Jacob - called also, Israel. He had twelve sons. Jacob's one son that we all perhaps remember the most is Joseph Who was sold into Egypt. You may have seen the musical that tells about him and his family: "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."

Joseph, son of Jacob, is my very favorite person from the Old Testament. Here is a picture showing his jealous brothers selling him as a slave into Egypt when he was a teenager. I think you know his story.

Painting: Ted Henninger

JOSEPH IS SOLD INTO EGYPT BY HIS BROTHERS

Here is a second picture of Joseph, son of Jacob (Israel). After Joseph, as a grown man, had saved his father and all of his family from starvation as the second in command in Egypt just under Pharaoh, King of Egypt, Jacob gave him a father's blessing.

Painting: Harry Anderson

JACOB (ISRAEL) BLESSING JOSEPH

Now that you have been given an overview of the family of Israel, I will tell you of something exceedingly difficult that Father Abraham was asked to do by Heavenly Father that Abraham consented to do. Abraham's showing that he would actually do this terribly difficult thing, caused Heavenly Father to love him very much. I'll give you the details of that a little later.

In the meantime, JoJo, I need to prepare you by explaining something that Abraham and his people did that is not done in our day, at least, not in the USA, that I know of.

Ever Since Adam and Eve's time, Heavenly Father had commanded His children here on earth to make animal sacrifices that were very symbolic of something important that was to happen in the future.

Do you know what the word, symbolic means? You could look it up in your dictionary, but let me just say that the ordinance of animal sacrifice about which I'll be telling you, was somewhat similar to, or can remind us of, something exceedingly important which would happen in the middle of the world's history, which would tremendously effect all people who would ever live on the earth: the sacrifice of the Son of God.

So, the practice of animal sacrifice was given by God through His prophets to prepare the minds and hearts of people who believed in him, like Abraham, Isaac and Joseph, for the coming of the day, in the distant future, when God's perfectly righteous Only Son, who would be named, Jesus Christ, would give up his life voluntarily to pay the price for our sins so we wouldn't have to suffer for them ourselves if we fully accept His sacrifice for us by living the way He and His prophets teach us to live.

His sacrifice would also bring about the eventual resurrection of everyone who has ever lived on the earth!

This next picture is a drawing showing an Israelite priest, (maybe during the prophet, Moses' time), offering an animal (usually it was a lamb) sacrifice to remind his people of the sacrifice of the Son of God which was to be a very great blessing to all of us, especially as we live according to God's commandments!

Painting: Unknown Artist

JoJo, in case you can't read the small writing at the bottom of the sacrificial alter picture, it says: Altar of Burnt Offerings.

Abraham had offered burnt animal offerings throughout his life, but on one very challenging occasion, God told Abraham, by the means of His Holy Spirit or by an angel, the following:

Genesis 22: 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

JoJo, I want you to notice in that scripture the words, "thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest." Those words of Heavenly Father to Abraham, just now made me weep silently for Abraham. What was asked of Abraham would be so very difficult, even for obedient Abraham, Father of the Faithful. Abraham was to: offer him (Isaac, Abraham and Sarah's only son) in Moriah as a burnt offering !

We should remember that both Abraham and Sarah were close to one hundred years of age when Isaac was born. How could they both allow him to be killed like a sacrificial lamb after waiting so long for him to be born?

And how could Father Abraham be the one to offer such a sacrifice? Let's remember, Abraham was the Father of the Faithful. Faithful to whom? To God our Heavenly Father!

Father Abraham obeyed. He loved God. He took his son, Isaac with him to the exact place where God had commanded him to go to sacrifice him. Abraham trusted in God but oh how difficult it must have been for The Father of the Faithful that day. He so loved God, but he so much loved his and Sarah's only son too!

Painting: Del Parson

Abraham and Isaac With a Load of Wood for the Sacrifice

Here is what is written in Genesis 22: 5 -13

5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram (a male sheep) caught in a thicket (a thickly branched bunch of small trees) by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. (emphasis and clarification added)

Now please read and feel glad for these words of the Lord found in Genesis 22: 15-18

15 ¶ And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 

16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

So, Abraham the Father of the Faithful who was the leader of the ancient nation of Israel, remained faithful. He passed the test the Lord gave him and was promised great blessings, which we learn from the holy scriptures, were given him!

JoJo, you might ask, why would Heavenly Father want to have Abraham go through such a great test? I suggest that one reason why, is that He wanted Abraham to fully understand how difficult it would be for Himself, Heavenly Father, when He would be going through a similar trial, the future sacrifice of His Only Mortal Son.

We humans are all sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, but He is the father of our spirit bodies in our previous life and He gave us the great privilege of coming in our spirit bodies prepared by Him and our Heavenly mother, into mortal bodies prepared for us by our parents here on earth. However, in the case of Jesus, Heavenly Father was not only the father of Jesus' spirit, but also was the father of Jesus' mortal body.

Jesus was Heavenly Father's only mortal son. This is how Jesus' apostle, John referred to this great truth:

John 3:16 ¶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (emphasis added.)

Here is the meaning of the word, begotten, JoJo, according to the dictionary: "generated by procreation" (came by birth as all babies come); "naturally begotten child";  and in Jesus' case, God, (Our Heavenly Father) is His father.)

Now in this post, we will shift from Abraham's Isaac to that other Only Son whose actual Father, our Heavenly Father, knew was to be sacrificed to pay for the sins of all people who have ever lived on the earth. As you will soon see from several of the pictures in this next section, Heavenly Father was not, as was Abraham, to be spared from allowing His Only Son, Jesus Christ to be sacrificed.

A Prayer: Our Dear Heavenly Father, I, J. Neil Birch, and whomsoever of the readers of this blog post desire to join with me in this prayer (hopefully this will include my dear granddaughter, JoJo), we thank Thee from the bottoms of our hearts for the supreme sacrifice You allowed to be made, of your only mortal son, Jesus Christ, so that He could fully be our Savior and Redeemer.

We are grateful for that which He (your Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ) did to allow us to be forgiven of all our sins (inasmuch as we truly believe in You and in Your son, Jesus and strive with all our hearts to keep all of Your commandments), that we will be blessed in this life and eventually be blessed with Eternal Life.

We pray for all of this in the Sacred and Holy Name of Thy Son, Jesus Christ. AMEN!

Abraham, you were a great man. You were willing to do that which Heavenly Father asked you to do! We love and honor you for the great example of faithfulness you set for us! We have our own trials to pass through, but are glad they are not as difficult to face as your great trial.

JoJo, as you know, at this Easter Season the Christian World celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Only actual mortal Son of Heavenly Father to ever live on the earth. You may not have known this, but Jesus, through His mortal mother, Mary, is descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel). Jesus, therefore, is an Israelite.

One other thing that might be interesting to you. It appears that the place, Mount Moriah, where Abraham was told by God to go to sacrifice his son, Isaac, is in the same area, where is located: Gethsemane, where the Son of God, Jesus Christ, suffered for our sins and Golgotha, where He died on the cross. These were in the Land (or District) of Moriah. Also, Mount Moriah is where Solomon's Temple (God's House) was located.
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Dear JoJo, in this second part of this post I'm going to give you and all of the other viewers of this special Easter version of my blog which is my letter to you, by the use of some special pictures, an Overview of the life of our Savior, Jesus Christ including some in which His great sacrifice and resurrection are shown.

I'm so grateful for these particularly great events which took place in the history of this world! (I'm also grateful for the wonderful artists that created these paintings and for their having been made available to us through lds.org.) I'll also use four more pictures in a final section of this blog which will follow this one I'm now starting.

Painting: Carl Heinrich Bloch

The Birth of Jesus

Painting: Greg K. Olsen

Simeon Reverencing the Christ Child

Painting: Simon Dewey

Jesus Prays With His Mother

Painting: Heinrich Hofmann

Twelve Year Old Jesus in the Temple at Jerusalem

Painting: Harry AndersonJohn Baptizes Jesus

Painting: Carl Heinrich Bloch

The Sermon on the Mount

Painting: Carl Heinrich BlochChrist Raising the Daughter of Jairus

Painting: Carl Heinrich Bloch

Christ Healing the Sick at Bethesda

Painting: Gary Kapp

Jesus Walking on Water

Painting: Carl Heinrich Bloch

The Raising of Lazarus From the Dead

Painting: Harry Anderson

Christ in Gethsemane

Painting: Harry Anderson

The Sacrifice of the Son of God

Painting: Carl Heinrich Bloch

The Burial of Jesus

At this very point in the depiction of the greatest of all epics in the history of this world, I give you, my Dear JoJo, and all others who may be viewing this special Easter Season Blog, the opportunity of hearing the witness of one of the living apostles of our day regarding the greatness and neccessity of the atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (The apostle is Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)

Painting: Author Unknown

The Resurrected Lord Jesus

Painting: Simon Dewey

Why Weepest Thou?

Painting: Harry Anderson

Jesus Shows His Wounds

Painting: Harry Anderson Go Ye Therefore Into All the World

Painting: Harry Anderson

The Ascension of Jesus Into Heaven

Painting: Harry Anderson

The (Future) Second Coming of Our Savior, Jesus Christ

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JoJo, I hope you enjoyed those pictures and the message they give us. Here is Part 3 of this letter to you.

After the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ according to His and Heavenly Father's divine plan, He visited for a number of days in Ancient Central America where an Israelitish people had been living since coming there under the guidance of Heavenly Father about 600 years before Jesus' birth in Jerusalem.

They were in large measure, descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through Jacob's son, Joseph. Joseph had been promised by the Lord, possibly in the blessing given him by his father Jacob in the picture shown in the first portion of this letter to you, that there would be members of his posterity (his descendants, if that is a better word for you) on the earth all the way to the Second Coming of Messiah (Jesus Christ).

Much of the Nephite Nation had been destroyed by a great cataclysm of nature that occured just before the resurrected Jesus visited them. The more righteous of that nation had been saved from that tremendous destruction, which had come by earthquakes, whirlwinds, floods and fire.

After having become aware of all the destruction which killed many relatives of theirs, these Israelites were emotionally and spiritually ready (without fully realizing it) for the great spiritual experiences they were soon to have with their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The righteous prophets among this Israelitish people had kept good records which eventually were edited to provide what is in the Book of Mormon, which stands right alongside the New Testament as Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

There is an entire, large sub-book in the Book of Mormon entitled Third Nephi which describes the experiences of these Nephites at the time of His several visits to them. I have chosen just four pictures of events that took place then to help you understand something of what Jesus Christ did there in ancient Central America not long after His resurrection. Jesus told the people there, after He began visiting with them, that they had much more faith than the people He grew up and taught among (in Palestine).

Painting: John Scott

Jesus Teaches the Nephites

When Jesus first began His visit to these descendants of Joseph (who was sold into Egypt) He allowed each one of the about 2,000 people gathered there to touch the wounds that were still in His hands, side and feet. That allowed them to know that He had been crucified (Sacrificed) as all of their prophets had been telling them and their ancestors for 600 years that he would be, in order to pay for their and all mankind's sins.

These Nephites learned first hand about His having a resurrected body, realizing that He had come to America both from Jerusalem and at another time, from Heaven where He had visited with His Father, in a resurrected body that helped Him do miraculous things. (Jesus didn't need an airplane to get there.) They had witnessed Him descending out of the sky when they first saw Him.

Painting: Gary Kapp Jesus Heals the Sick

Painting: Del ParsonAngels Join Jesus and Nephite Children

Jesus had a number of special meetings in Ancient Central America where he blessed the children. One miracle that happened several times during His visits there, was that even little babies who hadn't yet learned to talk were able to speak marvelous things under the influence of their Savior, Jesus Christ.

Painting: Robert T. Barrett

Jesus Asks For Records

Jesus asked the Nephites for some of their own records which He knew they had temporarily misplaced. They then found them for Him and then included them with their other records.

Jesus also shared with them some records of a prophet named Malachi which are in our Old Testament, but hadn't been included with the records which their ancestors, 600 years earlier had brought with them from Jerusalem to America. (because Malachi's record had been written after their departure.) Jesus knew they needed the teachings found in that book.

In just a few short words, JoJo I want you to know that this Grandpa of yours really knows that Jesus is your and my Savior and the Savior of all of our loved-ones and everyone else who has lived on this earth or will have lived on it, who will live the way He teaches us all to live.

I'm grateful to Him for all the wonderful people that are in my family. That includes your Mom and Sister. I'm glad you have such a good Dad too. Also, I especially appreciate the special blessing I have of being a member of Jesus's church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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HAPPY EASTER, To my dear Granddaughter, JoJo and also to all of you others who may have viewed this post!

Grandpa Birch (J. Neil Birch) 

If you have just viewed this post, "A Letter to My Granddaughter, JoJo, in connection with having originally logged into my (Neil Birch's) Post 42d, a Spiritual Bridge Between Christmas (2010) and Easter (2011), Please enjoy the Video featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah!

When you are back in my original post, 42d You will find the Tabernacle Choir video link right under a larger version of this painting of Jesus. Scroll down to the picture of our Savior, Jesus Christ which is somewhat larger than this one: 

Jesus Christ - Painting: Hofmann

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DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.


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TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other Blog Post You Desire To Access), After You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Scroll Back Up And Click on the Following: JoJo a Granddaughter of Neil Birch Received an Easter Post From Him That Draws on Many Sacred Testimonies of Christ, Including a Video Including a Testimony of Christ by a Latter-day Apostle. No Post Number! When The Picture of Our Savior, Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy Comes Onto Your Screen, Please Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target Item Or Use the Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed).
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"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon?" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est.2008 Neil Birch Legal /Statement.
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To my Blog readers: I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish:  Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch

35i - The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ. The Strong Testimony of Enos, Grandson or Great grandson of Lehi.

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!

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TODAY'S THEME

  Enos Prays -by Robert T. Barrett

Have you or anyone you have ever known or heard of, ever offered a prayer that lasted all day long? Whatever answer you just gave, you can now say, at least that: "I have read in the Book of Enos, one of the books within the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, that Enos, the son or grandson of the prophet Jacob, son of Father Lehi, did that very thing. Enos' prayer lasted all day long! All - day - long!!

Enos 1: 1 BEHOLD, it came to pass that I, Enos, knowing my father that he was a just man—for he taught me in his language, and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord—and blessed be the name of my God for it—

2 And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before
God, before I received a remission of my sins.

3 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.

4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.

6 And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.

7 And I said: Lord, how is it done?

8 And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole.

You have read all the verses above so you should know that the end result of Enos' prayer more than justified the time and effort that went into it, isn't that so? To help each of you, and me too, to learn to pray as devotedly as Brother Enos, I suggest that we come to understand better the various elements of his prayer.

With your patience, I'm going to ask you a number of specific questions in order to assist you to really learn from the Book of Mormon, special and very helpful passages that make up TODAY'S THEME. You can obtain each answer to my questions listed below by re-reading the scripture used in that Theme above as I guide you through it. Please find a pen or pencil and a 8 1/2 by 11 inch piece of paper to use, and something to lay it on. It won't take long and may really help you. The specific instructions I give you will ease your answering. Do it!

1. The memory of whose words? (in verse 3) caused that Enos' "soul hungered" so much so that he knelt down before his maker (God) thus giving up the hunting he obviously had planned for at least part of the day, to pray all day long? Just write your answer to this question down on your piece of paper. Your notes will be just for your own use.
2. What was the subject of the words Enos had heard his father speak; words so powerful that they "sunk deep into my heart?" Please write on your note paper the exact eight words Enos mentioned. The answer is found in verse 3 of the scripture. They follow the word, "concerning".
3. Please also read verse 5 of the scripture above to learn what the outcome of Enos' day-long prayer was. Please write that down on your note paper you have been using. There are eleven words, the first of which is: Enos,
4. In the Lord's words to Enos, what was it that brought about the answer He gave to Enos' prayer? A clue: this answer can be found at the beginning of verse 8. There are four words, with the first of them being: thy. Again, please write that down on your piece of paper.
5. You have just learned about the result of Enos' faith. Look at your answer just above in paragraph#4 to review that. What two reasons did the Lord give Enos for that belief being a challenging act of faith? There are 21 words in verse 8 telling us that, beginning with the word, whom and ending with the word flesh; Please write out on your paper this very important answer to that question.
6. What action word does Enos use to describe his prayer? This action noun starts with a,"w". It is the eighth word in verse 2. Again, please write down your answer on your paper!
7. What is your opinion as to why Enos used that word that began with a "w" to describe his prayer? First, think that question through. Please then, write down your answer!
8. Have you ever prayed in a way so that word that begins with a "w" would apply to your prayer? It should be easy for you to answer this question because you know how you pray. Please write your answer on your paper.
9. One final question for you to answer on your piece of paper. Consider listing, for your own use only, the changes you now plan to make in your personal style of praying. I wouldn't expect you to list - "Day-long" or even - "long" prayers." I think that the length of Enos's prayer came from the intensity of the deep-set feelings he was experiencing.

I hope that this set of questions I just assigned you to answer in the first part of this blog post, proves to be a help and a blessing to you. You can thank the Prophet Enos for that and also our Lord Jesus Christ for providing, through His prophets, the The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, for us to use in learning to live in His ways.

The remaining eighteen verses of this account written by the Prophet, Enos, are very significant and so I will comment briefly on each of the points that he makes in that portion of his book. You will see strong evidence that Enos was functioning with the Gift of Prophecy and Revelation.

It is my opinion that it was only after the forgiveness of Enos' sins that he possessed the Spirit of God sufficiently to possess and use the Gift of Prophecy and Revelation as do all prophets and worthy members of Jesus' Church who have the necessary confidence and faith.

Before I help you analyze the last 18 verses of the Book of Enos, please read and listen to all 27 verses of this very short book all together in one reading. Enos 1:1-27


Now, please read through my following outline of what you just read and listened to in the final 18 verses of this short book.

1. After Enos' sins had been forgiven and he felt an imcomparable love for his (and our) Savior Jesus Christ, he plead to Him for the welfare of his brethren, the Nephites. (in verse 9)
2. Then, beginning in verse 11 he plead for the welfare of the Lamanites, his unbelieving relatives.
3. In verse 13 Enos makes an inspired special request of the Lord: "if it should so be, that my people, the Nephites, should fall into transgression, and by any means be destroyed, and the Lamanites should not be destroyed, that the Lord God would would preserve a record of my people, (The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ These highlighted words are my words of clarification.) which would perhaps bring the Lamanites unto salvation." Please note Enos' word, perhaps. You blog readers who are already members of His church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, may have had, already, along with me, opportunities to reach out to the Lamanites of our day. I suggest that the word, perhaps, would be the best word to use. After all, it is a matter of free-agency for someone to believe in and accept the Lord's truth when it is presented to them. However, here is a very favorite quote of mine from the Doctrine and Covenants.

   D. and C.49:24 But before the great day of the Lord shall come, Jacob shall flourish in the wilderness, and the Lamanites shall blossom as the rose.

   In verse 18 the Lord tells Enos that his request (regarding the Book of Mormon being brought to the Lamanites in the Latter-days) was something Enos' fathers "also have required of me." Prophetic inspiration for sure on Enos' part!
4. Enos summarized all of the difficulties he and his people experienced for the rest of his life with their relatives, the Lamanites.

In the last verse of his book, Enos rejoices "in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality," (through the resurrection brought about for all of us by Jesus Christ)

". . .and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me; Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father. Amen."



Jesus Christ the Son of God -by Heinrich Hoffman



Now, after having studied all of this wonderful scripture from the Book of Enos, I feel the strong impulse to allow you to read once again the cockeyed opinion of Professor Alex Caldiero of Utah Valley University regarding the source of the Book of Mormon. I use the words, "cockeyed opinion" because that is what it is to claim that which he claims in the quote below. As I have written before, I derived the title of this blog (Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon?) from that incorrect opinion of that poet and scholar from right here in Utah. It is quoted from a PBS Video, "The Mormons" shown in May of 2007 on prime-time television. I have quoted it a number of times in this blog, the last time being in my post 35f.

Professor Alex Caldiero

"I hear Joseph Smith's voice every time I read it (The Book of Mormon). He was a farmer. He was young. He was unlettered and he put this all together. So you have this rough hewn kind of text ..." Alex Caldiero, poet and scholar, Utah Valley University. (clarification added)

The Book of Enos is an example of a spiritual historic account of a true experience of an ancient Hebrew transplant in Ancient America, who truly testified of Jesus Christ!

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DISCLAIMER This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.

  

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TO OPEN NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This BlogPost, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other BlogPost You Decide To Open), When You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Click on Either One of the Following: Enos, The Grandson of Father Lehi Testifies of Jesus Christ; - Post 35b; Post 35i; When You See The Picture of Our Savior, Jesus Christ Sitting Next to a Little Boy, Please Scroll Down To Your Target Item Or Use the Automatic Alphabetical Finding Device (When It Has Been Installed).

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"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon?" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est.2008 Neil Birch Legal /Statement.
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I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.
I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish: http://varsinaisella.blogspot.com/ Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch