Expanding Our Circle of Love - Book of Enos

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/enos/1?lang=eng.

We turn now to the Book of Enos. Enos is Jacob’s son and Jacob—before his death—has entrusted him both with the plates and with the charge to record sacred words and occurrences on them. It appears as though Enos has waited until later in life to summarize those things he has felt are most important and sacred to share with future generations—including us. Based on his own statement (in verse 25) that 179 years have passed from the time Enos’ grandfather Lehi left Jerusalem (599 B.C.), we calculate Enos finishes his record around 420 B.C.

Enos begins a pattern of succinctness in making his record on the small plates of Nephi that is followed by those who come after him. Why do we only get a chapter’s worth of material from Enos, and even less from those who keep the record after him? There could be a few reasons.

• No more room on the plates. We learn from Amaleki, the last keeper of these plates, in Omni 1:30, that after Enos’ record, there are only 45 more verses of material (of course the actual division into verses is a modern thing) recorded on the plates (in the books of Jarom and Omni), so it appears space was already getting pretty tight when Enos inherited the plates from Jacob. That probably ensures that Enos and those who follow him are going to only share things that are particularly compelling.

• It’s already there. Nephi already related the crucial “origin stories” of the Nephites and Lamanites, and he and Jacob also communicated key visions, principles, and teachings. So, rather than being slackers, Enos’ and his successors’ restraint may be explained by their humble recognition that the purposes of the small plates have largely been fulfilled by those who came before.

• More recorded on the other (large) plates. In fairness to Enos and his successors, we only know half the story. We don’t yet know what and how much each of them recorded in the large plates of Nephi. Those plates were meant to be more of an historical record anyway, so it stands to reason that they might contain a fuller account of post-Jacob Nephite civilization. There was apparently ample space on those large plates (or perhaps additional plates were created when the original ones were filled) because the account Mormon provides us—from the Book of Mosiah down to Mormon’s final words near the end of the book—is an abridgment of those plates, starting with the reign of King Benjamin about 300 years after the time of Enos. Many of us hope to learn more about what took place during those 300 years at some point in the future when the Lord sees fit to reveal more of these accounts. Some of it may have been translated by Joseph Smith as part of the 116-page manuscript that was lost by or stolen from his scribe Martin Harris in 1828.

Our description of the record of Enos is prelude to its amazing substance and message. After a life filled with much action—prophesying among the people, witnessing wars and contentions—the key experience Enos wants us to know about is a prayer that appears to have had a profound effect on his life and subsequent ministry.

Of the precise time in his life when the prayer occurred, we don’t know. It could be Enos relating the first serious encounter he had with repentance before the Lord as a young man. Or it could be one of many experiences that stood out in power and resonance. He speaks of having to wrestle before God in order to receive remission of his sins (verse 2).

We know that Enos was mature enough at the time of the prayer that he was intently pondering the words and mission of his father Jacob. In verse 1, he shares that he was brought up in the “nurture and admonition” of the Lord. This saying evokes Nephi’s reference (from 140-150 years before) at the very beginning of this record about being brought up by “goodly parents,” while also providing an echo (500 years before) to encouragement by Paul for parents to bring up their children in the “nurture and admonition” of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). Perhaps Enos’ prayer took place after Jacob had already left Enos the plates and he was pondering the meaning of his new responsibility as prophet and record-keeper?

Whatever the precise situation, Enos relates it in dramatic style. Apparently, he had gone into the forest to hunt, and while in these natural surroundings, he was overcome by two things: a recollection of sayings from Jacob about eternal life and joy, and an intense desire to commune with God (verses 3-4). This desire was so intense that it appears to have sustained him in prayer for many hours—from the day into the night.

The first answer Enos receives is about his own personal worthiness before God. I’m not sure there’s a more powerful and straightforward account of how our Heavenly Father can communicate forgiveness to us, and how we can feel our sins leave us, than in verses 5-6:

Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.

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

Next, Enos asks the Lord how his sins were forgiven. The answer comes back: because of Enos’ faith in Jesus Christ, who will live on earth many years after Enos’ time.

This is where things really get interesting, and one man’s prayer for forgiveness turns into a universal plea for all mankind.

The powerful feeling of purification and sanctification that has swept over Enos leads to his deep desire that the same feeling can be poured out upon others. I call how Enos responds to this desire “expanding the circle of love.” To me, it is one of the four or five most instructive moments in the entire Book of Mormon.

What does Enos do? First, in verses 9-12, something that might come naturally to any of us. He thinks of his family and friends. The focus of his prayer turns to all the Nephites, and after additional effort on his part, the Lord promises that He will “visit them” according to their righteousness, in line with the promises the previous prophets had shared regarding the covenant attached to the lands of the Nephites’ New World inheritance.

What comes next, in verses 13-18, is much more impressive. Despite the fact that Enos lives in a time of great violence and contention between the Nephites and their estranged cousins, the Lamanites, he recalls the prophecies of Lehi, Nephi and Jacob, and prays fervently to those who seem him as an enemy. The humility of spirit this requires cannot be overstated.

And significantly, Enos’ prayer for the Lamanites is very specific. He knows what the prophecies say, and my own read is that he wants to feel that prophecy leap off the gold plates of Nephi in such a way that he is able to rest easy in the sure knowledge that the Lord will extend His love to even those who seem to be most lost. Specifically, once the Nephites fall into irredeemable iniquity after many generations, and are destroyed, the record on the plates will be preserved and eventually come forth to give the very destroyers of the Nephites (the Lamanites) a chance at eternal salvation through Christ.

In his own account, Enos tells us that through this process of understanding of his heart’s own desire and then trying to align it with what he already knows the Lord has planned, his faith “began to be unshaken in the Lord” (verse 11), showing us that as we keep the two great commandments (love the Lord and love thy neighbor), the Lord’s mercy and grace are showered upon us in great abundance. We literally get closer to God by becoming a bit more like Him as we learn to love people who don’t naturally endear themselves to us.

As with any obedient disciple of the Lord, after this great spiritual experience, Enos goes back to his people (the Nephites) and shares what he has learned. He seems to inspire the Nephites to “seek diligently to restore the Lamanites unto the true faith in God” (verse 20). But that is not the Lord’s plan for Enos’ time. Instead, he and his people encounter harshness and contention, and it takes everything within Enos’ powers of inspired persuasion to prevent the Nephites themselves from “going down speedily to destruction” (verse 23).

Despite the challenges of life in a remote wilderness facing bloodthirsty adversaries while dealing with his own borderline rebellious people, Enos’ last two verses reveal how God strengthens us as we follow what we know to be true. Enos talks of rejoicing of the truth that is in Christ above that which is in the world. Then he writes with a certainty that could only come from one who has felt the comfort of sin being swept away, testifying as had his father, uncle and grandfather before him of the reality of the life beyond this one. Only Enos’ testimony is startlingly personal, about his own face-to-face encounter with Jesus.