4 And he was learned, that he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people; wherefore, he could use much flattery, and much power of speech, according to the power of the devil.
5 And he had hope to shake me from the faith, notwithstanding the many revelations and the many things which I had seen concerning these things; for I truly had seen angels, and they had ministered unto me. And also, I had heard the voice of the Lord speaking unto me in very word, from time to time; wherefore, I could not be shaken.
There is nothing wrong with being educated and with using words persuasively. But, as Jacob shows in this chapter, logic and rhetoric are no substitute for direct experience. Clever words may allow you to influence others temporarily, but it’s not sustainable. Sooner or later, your message and your reasoning must be measured against real-life experiences. If your worldview relies too heavily on logic and incorporates too little empirical evidence, it will sooner or later suffer a painful collision with reality.
I think part of the solution is to distinguish between what we know and what we deduce. It is easy to construct a tidy, internally consistent framework around our limited experience which is convenient for us but not helpful in engaging with the real world. This is particularly true of spiritual things, which we generally experience directly in our minds and in our hearts, and not through our natural senses (see D&C 8:2-3, 1 Corinthians 2:9-10). Like Jacob, if we seek out those experiences and prioritize them over temporal knowledge, we are building on a solid foundation, which can help us avoid being “shaken.”
What do you think we can do to protect ourselves and those we love from being deceived by the rhetoric of people like Sherem?
It is interesting to me that Sherem went after Jacob, “notwithstanding the many revelations and the many things which (he) had seen concerning these things”. our testimony doesn't get so strong to the point where we can't be tempted or tried. We all can and will have trials tha make us question what we know to be true. For us to “not be shaken”, it's not required that we have some miraculous experience or witness. Only that we stay true to the witness we've received from the spirit, big or small.
I think understanding how the Sherem approached the people is instructive on how we can prepare.
This chapter indicates Sherem “preached many things which were flattering unto the people”, he “labored diligently”, and “he was learned”. From the last two points. He worked hard and he prepared. We could learn something from that. I'm stuck by how he used flattery. The Lord tells us that we should be persuasive and long suffering (D&C 121:41). Persuasion is focused on the principle, whereas flattery is focused on the person. Flattery can lead us away from humility. The adversary always tries to make us be prideful so that we will not continue to heed God. When left on our own, we usually can and will fall quickly. Remaining humble is critical to keeping our testimonies burning bright and to overcome opposition and trial that will come. thanks for this reminder to be humble, labor diligently, and to prepare/study in order to overcome the flattery of the adversary.
What a great reminder of the importance of humility and the damaging effect of flattery. I like your idea that persuasion focuses on the principle while flattery focuses on the person. The next time I am flattered, I'll remind myself of the importance of humility in choosing wisely.
I think an important point in that scripture is the part where Jacob says he heard the voice of the Lord “from time to time,” which to me means frequently or continually. It reminds me of Bishop Causse's talk from conference last weekend. “Sometimes we might be tempted to think, 'I don’t need to study the scriptures today; I’ve read them all before.'” Jacob didn't just have a one-time spiritual experience, (which would have naturally faded with time,) just as reading the scriptures once will not cause your testimony to be continually firm. If we want to not cave in to the flattering, but untrue, words of others, we need to continually study the word of God and strive to have his spirit with us always.