The gathering of Israel sounds like a massive family reunion, but it's actually something quite different. Israel was scattered thousands of years ago. They have intermarried with other nations, and their descendants are everywhere. Furthermore, as Nephi clarified, "As many of the Gentiles as will repent are the covenant people of the Lord" (2 Nephi... Continue Reading →
Glory
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.Psalm 24:9-10 What is glory? The word appears 225 times in the King James Version of the Old Testament,... Continue Reading →
Angels
An angel is a messenger. The Greek word aggelos (ἄγγελος) is probably derived from the verb agó (ἄγω) which means "to bring," so an angel is someone who brings a message from God. Near the beginning of the Book of Mormon, Nephi sees an expansive vision narrated by an angel. (See 1 Nephi 11-14.) Jacob... Continue Reading →
Endowed with Power
The Greek word enduo (ἐνδύω) means "to clothe." In the New Testament it is sometimes used literally (Mark 1:6: "John was clothed with camel's hair." ) and sometimes figuratively (Galatians 3:27: "As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.") In the King James Version of the Bible, the word... Continue Reading →
“Armed with Righteousness” – 1 Nephi 14:14
In an 1831 revelation, the Lord reminds us of the city of Enoch, a group of people who were "separated from the earth," and lifted up to heaven, because of their purity, charity, and unity (Doctrine and Covenants 45:11, see also Moses 7:21). He said that they would remain in heaven until "a day of... Continue Reading →
The Work, the Sword, the Sickle, and the Prayer
In the first half of 1829, Joseph Smith received a number of revelations on behalf of other people. Four of those revelations begin almost identically, with a set of four biblical concepts, all of which also appear in the Book of Mormon. Why did those four concepts warrant such frequent repetition, and why did the... Continue Reading →
“I Know My Sheep, and They Are Numbered” – 3 Nephi 18:31
The Hebrew word paqad (פְקַד) has multiple meanings. It means "to count" or "to number," and the word appears many times in conjunction with the Israelite census recorded in the Book of Numbers. It also means "to visit" or "to attend to." After promising Abraham that his wife Sarah would bear a son, "the Lord... Continue Reading →
Hearken
When King Benjamin called his people together near the end of his life, he began his sermon by urging them to listen carefully to what he had to say: I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me, and... Continue Reading →
Nephi’s Vision
The prophet Nephi was so impressed with his father's dream and his father's prophecies that he prayed to see what his father had seen. As a result, he saw a sweeping vision in which an angel showed him many future events and used them to explain the symbols from his father's dream. Today, I summarized the... Continue Reading →
“Armed with Righteousness” – 1 Nephi 14:14
Nephi saw a future day in which the forces of evil in the world ("the church of the devil") would fight against the followers of Jesus Christ ("the church of the Lamb"). Statistically, there would be no contest. The forces of evil would be numerous, with "dominion over all the earth." The disciples of Christ... Continue Reading →
Book of Mormon Study Notes 