You
can read the entire chapter at the following link https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/w-of-m/1?lang=eng.
We
fast forward to about 385 A.D. Lehi, Nephi and Jacob have prophesied about the
destruction of the Nephites if they fall into iniquity, and now we learn that
the prophecy is in the last stages of being fulfilled.
The
voice of Mormon, the namesake of the entire record, appears for the first time.
We will get to know him well. From this point forward, until near the end of
the record when he turns the plates over to his son Moroni, Mormon’s point of
view dominates what we read. He abridges the records that were made and handed
down through the generations from the time of King Benjamin (about 130 B.C.) to
that of the record-keeper (and probable Nephite leader) Ammaron (about 321
A.D.). Then Mormon supplies his own record (running from about 321 A.D. to 385
A.D.). This comprises the heart of the book, and 338 of the book’s total 531
pages, spanning about 515 years. At various points throughout, Mormon takes the
narrator’s prerogative to add inspired words of clarification and emphasis.
When he does that, it’s a good sign that the Lord wants us to pay special
attention to something.
So
what does the Lord want us to pay attention to at this point in the book? Maybe
first what is mentioned above about the fulfillment of the prophecy of the
Nephites’ destruction. As we get into the heart of the book, we will be able to
follow the cyclical course of the Nephites’ prosperity, and how often they use
their favorable material circumstances as false justification to disengage from
the Lord and—through ingratitude and pride—hurt each other and ultimately
themselves. Mormon’s casual reference to the destruction as a done deal in the
first two verses points up for us the ruinous path of earthly prosperity
without regard for the Lord—the true source of all good things.
Secondly,
it seems the Lord wants us to recognize—once again—the great miracle that is
the unbroken chain of custody over the sacred record. Somehow, each of the men
who kept the plates was able to pass it on to someone else who remained
faithful to his task and was able to keep alive the promise that eventually it
would resurface and awaken future generations to the unrealized promises made
to their fathers and still on offer to them (verses 10-11). This is the
overarching continuity of the Book of Mormon. Through all the ups and downs,
the faithfulness and faithlessness, that record remains intact and in good
hands for a thousand years.
And
we are reminded that the Lord is very particular in how the record would be
received by future generations. Just as Nephi was told by the Lord to make small
plates alongside a larger historical record as a way of preserving and
transmitting the most precious of his people’s prophecies and teachings, for a
“wise purpose” unto the Lord (1 Nephi 19 and 2 Nephi 5), the “workings of the
Spirit” whisper to Mormon to organize the small plates with the portion of his
abridgment of the larger historical record (with the abridgment on plates made
by Mormon himself) in such a way that where the small plates end
chronologically, he has inserted this “chapter” to provide us a bridge from the
small plates to his abridgment of the larger ones (verses 5-7).
In
the last third of this chapter, Mormon returns to the narrative. If you
remember from Amaleki’s record in Omni, the Nephite king Mosiah was warned by
the Lord to flee the land of Nephi to a new land called Zarahemla. Mosiah died
and his son Benjamin inherited the kingdom. Mormon tells us that the Lamanites
threaten the Nephites in their new dwelling place, but that Benjamin and his
people repel the Lamanites in the “strength of the Lord” (verse 14).
It’s
not absolutely clear, but it is possible that the Nephites’ contentions among
themselves (verse 12) had made them vulnerable to the Lamanites. Mormon refers
to false Christs and false prophets and teachers among the people who
instigated the contentions and even dissensions unto the Lamanites. This will
be a common pattern we see as the book continues, where the Nephites are their
own worst enemies. Those who are raised as Nephites, with the true record of
their covenant relationship with the Lord and their family’s heritage of faith,
often end up as the most implacable foes of their people—willfully rebelling
from that heritage and inciting the Lamanites to come against the Nephites as
means of revenge or the acquisition of power or wealth.
Mormon
tells us that King Benjamin countered the negative effects of the false
prophets and teachers on his people in two main ways. Those propagating
falsehoods and blasphemy were punished under the Nephites’ laws. But recourse
to law and force only stopped the active spread of error, it did not reverse
it. We learn that—as is always the case—the only truly effective way to
disabuse the people of their false notions and to bring about true peace in the
land was to preach the gospel. In verses 16-18, we find out that Benjamin
relies on holy men (prophets and those operating under their authority) to
“speak the word of God with power and authority” with “sharpness” to counteract
the “stiffneckedness of the people.” With labor, love, the Spirit of God and
hope that the people will respond of their own free will and choice, this is
the only truly time-tested remedy to roll back spiritual darkness in a society.
