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TODAY'S THEME
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| The Resurrected Jesus and His Angels Bless Nephite Children -by Del Parson |
In this present series I have not yet provided you with testimonies that Jesus Christ gave of Himself to the Nephite people, by both the spoken word and by the actions He performed. I will now begin to include those testimonies with the testimonies of others, His Book of Mormon prophets.
In my opinion this is a very striking, to the point, statement by our resurrected Savior indicating his continuing role with us:
III Nephi 27:13-1713 Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.
14 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—
15 And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.
16 And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.
17 And he that endureth not unto the end, the same is he that is also hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence they can no more return, because of the justice of the Father.Upon further reflection, I realized that Jesus' statements to various Nephites beginning with one to the Prophet Nephi just before His birth on earth and then during His personal ministry among the Nephites after His resurrection, provide us with equally cogent and convincing evidence of His divine role.
I have decided to extend this present series of posts, (This is Part XII) - The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ to include a number of posts, which will cover primarily the statements and actions of our Savior among the Nephites that testify to His being the Son of God.
STATEMENTS MADE BY JESUS CHRIST TO THE NEPHITES
To the Nephite prophet, Nephi, son of Nephi A.D. 1:
III Nephi 1:10 Now it came to pass that when Nephi, the son of Nephi, saw this wickedness of his people, his heart was exceedingly sorrowful.
11 And it came to pass that he went out and bowed himself down upon the earth, and cried mightily to his God in behalf of his people, yea, those who were about to be destroyed because of their faith in the tradition of their fathers.
12 And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord all that day; and behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying:
13 Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold,
the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets. (emphasis added)
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Jesus Christ Was Born to Mary -by Carl Heinrich Bloch |
Just as Jesus, while still in his pre-mortal state, had told Nephi, son of Nephi, Jesus was born in Bethlehem the following day. Nephi and his people knew it because the signs that had been foretold by the prophet, Samuel the Lamanite, were seen by all, both the wicked and the righteous.
III Nephi 1:15 And it came to pass that the words which came unto Nephi were fulfilled, according as they had been spoken; for behold, at the going down of the sun there was no darkness; and the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came.
16 And there were many, who had not believed the words of the prophets, who fell to the earth and became as if they were dead, for they knew that the great plan of destruction which they had laid for those who believed in the words of the prophets had been frustrated; for the sign which had been given was already at hand.
To me, and perhaps to you who have read the Book of III Nephi before, it appears that the Savior had a special love for the Nephites.
I think He manifested that special love when He, despite being on the verge of being born and taking on a mortal body and and being a member of the Godhead already, paid attention to the urgent need the Nephites had for hope, by manifesting to Nephi as shown in the scripture above that the signs would be shown that night, thus making it so their enemies would not be able to carry out their plans to kill all of those who believed in the coming of Christ.
I'm sure that He doesn't favor one group of followers over another, even though it perhaps may seem so to some of us when we read of His praising the Nephite's exceptional faith when He first arrived in Central America soon after His resurrection.
However, as you may remember, He told the Nephites after coming among them that He had not seen such faith as theirs, shown by the Jews among whom He had ministered during His mortal life. He, the judge of all mankind knows that true faith and the actions that follow make a big difference.
I'll be back in five days with more evidence of the realities of the eternal love of our Savior, Jesus the Christ.
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In my just previous post, 41f, I gave you an electronic link for the John Welch Article found in the April 1985 Ensign Magazine about Gospel Scholar, Hugh Nibley, regarding his research about the Book of Mormon's obvious connections with the Near Eastern World of Father Lehi's day (600 B.C.). I promised to repeat that link for you at least in my next post, which is this one. For your convenience here is that link if you desire to read it for the first time or to review it:
Hugh Nibley and the Book of Mormon
Or if you prefer I have a very interesting quote from Hugh Nibley that, as usual for him, proves the connections between The Book of Mormon and the customs and ways of the Near Eastern people: (From the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol.5, Part.1, Ch.2)
Strange Names: The stamp of Egypt on Lehi's people may be clearly discerned in the names those people and their descendants. Hebrew and Egyptian names together make up the overwhelming majority and occur in about equal strength, which is exactly what one would expect from Mormon's claim that both languages were used among them (and which would certainly not be the case were Hebrew the only spoken language), but Hittite, Arabic, and Ionian elements are not missing. First, consider a few Egyptian names, setting off the Book of Mormon names (BM) against their Old World equivalents (OW). (Emphasis Added by Neil)
Aha (BM), son of the Nephite commander in chief. Aha (OW), a name of the first Pharaoh; it means "warrior" and is a common word.
Aminadab (BM), Nephite missionary in the time of the judges. Amanathabi (OW), chief of a Canaanite city under Egyptian
domination. This name is "reformed" Egyptian.
Ammon (BM), the commonest name in the Book of Mormon. Ammon (Amon, Amun) (OW), the commonest name in the Egyptian Empire: the great universal God of the Empire.
Ammoni-hah (BM), name of a country and city. Ammuni-ra (OW), prince of Beyrut under Egyptian rule.
The above might stand the same relationship to this name as Cameni-hah (BM), a Nephite general Khamuni-ra (OW), Amarna personal name, perhaps equivalent of Ammuni-ra.
Cezoram (BM), Nephite chief judge. Chiziri (OW), Egyptian governor of a Syrian city.
Giddonah (BM), a) high priest who judged Korihor, b) father of Amulek. Dji-dw-na (OW), the Egyptian name for Sidon.
Gidgiddoni and Gidgiddonah (BM), Nephite generals. Djed-djhwt-iw-f and Djed-djhwti-iw-s plus ankh (OW), Egyptian proper name meaning "Thoth hath said: he shall live," and "Thoth hath said: she shall live," respectively. On this pattern the two Nephite names mean "Thoth hath said I shall live," and "Thoth hath said: we shall live," respectively.
Giddianhi (BM), robber chief and general. Djhwti-ankhi (OW), "Thoth is my life"; see above.
Gimgim-no (BM), city of Gimgim, compare Biblical No-Amon, "City of Amon." Kenkeme (OW), Egyptian city, cf. Kipkip, seat of the Egyptian dynasty in Nubia.
Hem (BM), brother of the earlier Ammon. Hem (OW), means "servant," specifically of Ammon, as in the title Hem tp n 'Imn, "chief servant of Ammon" held by the high priest of Thebes.
Helaman (BM), great Nephite prophet. Her-amon (OW), "in the presence of Amon," as in the Egyptian proper name Heri-i-her-imn. Semitic "l" is always written "r" in Egyptian, which has no "l." Conversely, e Egyptian "r" is often written "l" in Semitic languages.
Himni (BM), a son of King Mosiah. Hmn (OW), a name of the Egyptian hawk-god, symbol of the emperor.
Korihor (BM), a political agitator who was seized by the people of Ammon. Kherihor (also written Khurhor, etc.) (OW), great high priest of Ammon who seized the throne of Egypt at Thebes, cir. 1085 b.c.
Manti (BM), the name of a Nephite soldier, a land, a city, and a hill. Manti (OW), Semitic form of an Egyptian proper name,
e.g., Manti-mankhi, prince in Upper Egypt cir. 650 b.c. It is a late form of Month, god of Hermonthis.
Mathoni (BM), a Nephite disciple. Maitena, Mattenos, etc. (OW), two judges of Tyre, who at different times made themselves
king, possibly under the Egyptian auspices.
Morianton (BM), the name of a Nephite city and its founder, cf. the Nephite province Moriantum. Meriaton and Meriamon (OW), names of Egyptian princes, "Beloved of Aton" and "Beloved of Amon" respectively.
Nephi (BM), founder of the Nephite nation. Nehi, Nehri (OW), famous Egyptian noblemen. Nfy was the name of an Egyptian captain. Since BM insists on "ph," Nephi is closer to Nihpi, original name of the god Pa-nepi, which may even have been Nephi.
Paanchi (BM), son of Pahoran, Sr., and pretender to the chief-judgeship. Paanchi (OW), son of Kherihor, a) chief high priest of Amon, b) ruler of the south who conquered all of Egypt and was high priest of Amon at Thebes.
Pahoran (BM), a) great chief judge, b) son of the same. Pa-her-an (OW), ambassador of Egypt in Palestine, where his name has the
"Reformed" reading Pahura; in Egyptian as Pa-her-y it means "the Syrian" or Asiatic.
Pacumeni (BM), son of Pahoran. Pakamen (OW), Egyptian proper name meaning "blind man"; also Pamenches (Gk. Pachomios), commander of the south and high priest of Horus.
Pachus (BM), revolutionary leader and usurper of the throne. Pa-ks and Pach-qs (OW), Egyptian proper name. Compare Pa-ches-i, "he is praised."
Sam (BM), brother of Nephi. Sam Tawi (OW), Egyptian "uniter of the lands," title taken by the brother of Nehri upon mounting the throne.
Seezor-am and Zeezr-om (BM), a depraved judge, and a lawyer, resp., the latter also the name of a city. Zoser, Zeser, etc. (OW), Third Dynasty ruler, one of the greatest Pharaohs.
Zemna-ri-hah (BM), robber chief. Zmn-ha-re (OW), Egyptian proper name: the same elements as the above in different order--a
common Egyptian practice.
Zeniff (BM), ruler of Nephite colony. Znb, Snb (OW), very common elements in Egyptian proper names, cf. Senep-ta.
Zenoch (BM), according to various Nephite writers, an ancient Hebrew prophet. Zenekh (OW), Egyptian proper name; once a serpent-god.__________
After having not provided you with a Mormon Message Video with the past two posts, I have provided you now with the most recent one available:
Mormon Message: "The Missing Piece"
Before returning to this blog post you may want to consider viewing some of the other related videos listed on that lds.org page. Click on any others you choose to also view.
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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: Jesus Christ Testifies of His Own Eternal Role Personally To the Nephites in Ancient America- Post 41g. 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 Alphabetic Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed.)
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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.
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