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TODAY'S THEME
Jacob 1:7 Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest, lest by any means he should swear in his wrath they should not enter in, as in the provocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the wilderness. *
8 Wherefore, we would to God that we could persuade all men not to rebel against God, to provoke him to anger, but that all men would believe in Christ, and view his death, and suffer his cross and bear the shame of the world; wherefore, I, Jacob, take it upon me to fulfil the commandment of my brother Nephi. (emphasis added)
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Moses Ask the Children of Israel to Gaze at the Brazen Serpent -by Judith Mehr |
You may remember my using the picture above at the beginning of post 35e. I would like you to focus specifically on something in it that I didn't point out in that post.
Please notice that just beyond Moses there are members of the House of Israel who have turned and are walking away from him and the others who have fixed their eyes upon the brazen serpent toward which Moses is raising his right arm.
We must remember that those who were following Moses' instructions by staring at the brazen serpent which represented the sacrifice of Jesus Christ the Son of God, were healed from the effects of the bites of the poisonous serpents while those who refused to follow Moses' instructions were walking away only to soon die from the poisonous bites they had suffered.
Here is an important question I would like each of us, you and me, to ask ourselves: By what we have now been doing regarding keeping the commandments of our Savior, Jesus Christ, to which of the two groups of people depicted in the picture above do we belong? We owe it to ourselves and to our family members who love us, to be completely honest. Then we each need to live as we know we should live, without hesitating!
The following is additional testimony regarding Jesus Christ along with teachings about His gospel, by Jacob, the fifth son of Lehi and younger brother to Nephi. He certainly was one of Lehi's righteous and believing sons:
II Nephi 9:40 O, my beloved brethren, give ear to my words. Remember the greatness of the Holy One of Israel. Do not say that I have spoken hard things against you; for if ye do, ye will revile against the truth; for I have spoken the words of your Maker. I know that the words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken.
41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.
42 And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches—yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them.
43 But the things of the wise and the prudent shall be hid from them forever—yea, that happiness which is prepared for the saints.There again was Jacob's strong witness of the Son of God, Jesus Christ and of the importance of following Him. Now here is the last quote of Jacob's testifying I will give you in this post. Please feel the power and truthfulness of his testimony. Please also note the accuracy of his prophecy.
II Nephi 10:1 AND now I, Jacob, speak unto you again, my beloved brethren, concerning this righteous branch of which I have spoken.
2 For behold, the promises which we have obtained are promises unto us according to the flesh; wherefore, as it has been shown unto me that many of our children shall perish in the flesh because of unbelief, nevertheless, God will be merciful unto many; and our children shall be restored, that they may come to that which will give them the true knowledge of their Redeemer.
3 Wherefore, as I said unto you, it must needs be expedient that Christ—for in the last night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name—should come among the Jews, among those who are the more wicked part of the world; and they shall crucify him—for thus it behooveth our God, and there is none other nation on earth that would crucify their God.
4 For should the mighty miracles be wrought among other nations they would repent, and know that he be their God.
5 But because of priestcrafts and iniquities, they at Jerusalem will stiffen their necks against him, that he be crucified.Thank you Jacob! Thank you dear readers for trusting me to review correctly, important teachings of a prophet of the Lord Jesus Christ which will benefit both you and me.
Here is the Mormon Messages Gallery from which you can select a video which appears to meet your particular needs.
Following the asterisk * I inserted in TODAY'S THEME down to the asterisk you have just seen in this sentence, you will learn some additional key information if you have time now or perhaps you might return later.
I inserted the asterisk in TODAY'S THEME where Jacob had referred to: "as in the provocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the wilderness." Now if you were wondering how Father Lehi's family could know about such Old Testament information, long before the Old Testament had been put together as a book, I would like you to know that Jacob and all of his father, Lehi's family possessed many of the same books which are in our Old Testament along with a significant number of additional books we know not of. These scriptures had a significant influence on Lehi, his believing children and on their posterity.
Lehi and his family were able to bring that set of scriptures with them to their promised land in Ancient America only by the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord. They were even assisted by a holy angel. The key to their eventual success was the faith and determination of Nephi, Lehi's fourth son along with the support of his brother, just older than him, Sam. The four brothers endured incredible difficulties by going back to Jerusalem where they finally, through much tribulation, were able to obtain the Plates of Brass on which the inspired records where engraven.
You may want to come back to these scriptural links later. You may already be familiar with them, but if not, here are the three scriptures to read I Nephi, chapters 3, 4 and 5. If you haven't read them before you will be surprised how fascinating is Nephi's account of this challenging task he and his brother, Sam faced bravely.
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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 An Item Which Refers To Any Other Blog Post You May Desire To Access): After Reading All of This Paragraph Please Click on the Following: Jacob, Brother of Nephi and Son of Lehi, Testified Powerfully of Christ. Post 35h. 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 Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed.)
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Neil Birch
