1:2, 15
What does it take for a young person to grow up into a wise person? I think Ammaron knew. “And about the time that Ammaron hid up the records unto the Lord, he came unto me, (I being about ten years of age, and I began to be learned somewhat after the manner of the learning of my people) and Ammaron said unto me: I perceive that thou art a sober child, and art quick to observe.”
What makes a child, or anyone else, sober and quick to observe. First, to be sober is to be serious and sensible. Most children are playful. Children like to be entertained and are easily bored. Most children would rather goof off than be serious. The fact that Mormon was sober would make him stand out.
What does it mean to be “quick to observe?” The most basic understanding is that someone with this quality is able to notice what is happening around them quickly. They are observant, obviously. They are aware. They aren’t wrapped up in their own thoughts. They notice - but even further, they comprehend and understand quickly and correctly. They can assess what’s going on and make good decisions. Also, here are those who are so settled in their personal biases that they can be almost completely oblivious to what is happening around them. They cannot even see a different point of view. Those who are quick to observe are not limited by their personal biases.
You could say that a child who is sober and quick to observe is very responsible. To teach someone to be responsible is very difficult. It’s almost part of their character. They grow up that way. Ammaron understood Mormon’s potential and that he possessed talents and gifts that would make him uniquely qualified to protect the sacred records.
As members of the church with an understanding of the plan of salvation, we ought to be sober. We should take our lives seriously and act as if daily progress towards to becoming Christlike is the center of our lives. We have the birthright. With that birthright comes responsibilities that we should be sober about.
When Mormon was fifteen and “being somewhat of a sober mind,” he was “visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus.” Mormon’s soberness led to a visit from the Savior. That ought to motivate all of us to be more sober.
1:13-14
Wickedness and righteousness are always at odds. They are two opposing forces. It is a battle. The U.S. is at a turning point in this battle. Currently, there is more righteousness than wickedness. But that gap is closing.
Understanding that 50 year olds in every generation has said the same thing, this is different than the wickedness of the problems of the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, etc. I’m not saying that there was wickedness during that time - of course there was. The racism of those decades was terrible. But, never in our country’s history were we fighting over the definition of gender. Never did we approve of and even champion same sex marriage. Never were we debating whether transgender drag queens should read books to our children. Never was there more shows containing profanity and nudity than shows that weren’t. We are reaching that point where wickedness will prevail.
The same thing was happening with the Nephites a few hundred years after Christ appeared. “But wickedness did prevail upon the face of the whole land, insomuch that the Lord did take away his beloved disciples, and the work of miracles and of healing did cease because of the iniquity of the people. And there were no gifts from the Lord, and the Holy Ghost did not come upon any, because of their wickedness and unbelief.”
We know that, at some point before the second coming, the missionaries will be called home. That will be when the “Time of the Gentiles” will end. Western culture will reject the gospel and those who preach it. When that happens, hold on.
2:8
The fate of the Nephites is our own fate. We can read their history and recognize the same pattern happening again. “But behold, the land was filled with robbers and with Lamanites; and notwithstanding the great destruction which hung over my people, they did not repent of their evil doings; therefore there was blood and carnage spread throughout all the face of the land, both on the part of the Nephites and also on the part of the Lamanites; and it was one complete revolution throughout all the face of the land.” In the U.S., we will experience this more and more. We will see wickedness grow greater and greater.
Blood and carnage has yet to spread throughout the face of the land. But, we are seeing a degradation of values. We are seeing crime grow. Stores in big cities are closing down or locking up lipstick because the theft is so rampant.
I read stories about this a lot. I read that the solution is more law enforcement or turning to politicians to solve this problem. Of course, the solution is to strengthen the families and reinstate the Judeo-Christian principles that built this country. The population isn’t recognizing the source of the problem. As a result, it is unlikely that anyone is going to “repent of their evil doings.”
2:12-15
“And it came to pass that when I, Mormon, saw their lamentation and their mourning and their sorrow before the Lord, my heart did begin to rejoice within me, knowing the mercies and the long-suffering of the Lord, therefore supposing that he would be merciful unto them that they would again become a righteous people. But behold this my joy was vain, for their sorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God; but it was rather the sorrowing of the damned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin. And they did not come unto Jesus with broken hearts and contrite spirits, but they did curse God, and wish to die. Nevertheless they would struggle with the sword for their lives.” It will be this way for our country.
Often, cursings are “for our sakes.” The earth was cursed for Adam and Eve’s sakes so that they would learn about opposition. It is this way for us. We receive blessings when we are righteous and those blessings are taken away when we sin. It is a way for us to recognize what’s happening and change our behavior. It is consequences. Consequences are good because they can lead to repentance. Mormon was joyful initially because he thought repentance would happen and he knew that Jesus “would be merciful unto them that they would again become a righteous people.”
But it doesn’t always happen that way. It’s possible to experience the consequences of bad behavior and not use that as a stepping stone for repentance. Sometimes, it makes us more cynical and hardened. Instead of repenting, we blame someone. We get angry about the consequences rather than learn from them.
The ultimate goal of this worldly experience is to finally come to Jesus with “broken hearts and contrite spirits.” We are supposed to understand our dependence on Jesus and feel sorrow for the bad things that we are doing. Consequences are meant to lead us that way. But some people can just get into a downward spiral of disgruntled-ness. Repentance and mercy don’t come into the picture.
“And it came to pass that my sorrow did return unto me again, and I saw that the day of grace was passed with them, both temporally and spiritually.” Was Jesus’s grace withdrawn? Of course not. Jesus’s arms are always outstretched. But, their willingness to embrace God’s grace had long left them. Their lives were without mercy or grace - because of their own choices. Jesus will never force grace upon someone!
2:23, 26
These verses describe Mormon attempting to motivate his soldiers. “And it came to pass that I did speak unto my people, and did urge them with great energy, that they would stand boldly before the Lamanites and fight for their wives, and their children, and their houses, and their homes.” He attempts to motivate them with a reminder of what they were fighting for.
I can’t help but notice the difference between this pledge and what Captain Moroni had written on the Title of Liberty. He wrote, “In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children.” The key differences is the removal of God and religion - not because Mormon wanted it that way but those words wouldn’t have resonated or motivated his troops.
The consequences of removing God from their lives and battles were obvious. “And it came to pass that when they had fled we did pursue them with our armies, and did meet them again, and did beat them; nevertheless the strength of the Lord was not with us; yea, we were left to ourselves, that the Spirit of the Lord did not abide in us; therefore we had become weak like unto our brethren.”
If we are fighting to unite our families or country or heal our wickedness without involving God, we will be left to ourselves. We will not enjoy the added strength of the Lord. The Spirit will not abide in us and we’ll become weak.
For anyone who has experienced a “sinful stage” of their lives, they know what I’m describing. When the Spirit isn’t abiding with you and you’re left to yourself, it’s very different than when you’re living life with the companionship of the Spirit. Your brain and spirit don’t work as well. Your vision gets smaller. You certainly aren’t quick to observe.
3:2-3, 9
“And it came to pass that the Lord did say unto me: Cry unto this people—Repent ye, and come unto me, and be ye baptized, and build up again my church, and ye shall be spared.” It’s interesting that the Lord wanted Mormon to preach to the people. Obviously, the Lord knew that they would reject Mormon’s message. But, I think the Lord wanted them to have the choice.
“And I did cry unto this people, but it was in vain; and they did not realize that it was the Lord that had spared them, and granted unto them a chance for repentance. And behold they did harden their hearts against the Lord their God.” I don’t think “did not realize” accurately describes what happened. It wasn’t that they simply didn’t realize. It was more that they were not grateful. They didn’t look up to heaven with gratitude.
Instead, “they began to boast in their own strength.” They experienced some success and immediately patted each other on the back with congratulations in their strength. They sound so silly but how many times do we miss the opportunity to look heavenward? How many times do we accomplish something great and we don’t give credit and thanks to God? How often do we just look in the mirror and think about how awesome we are!
4:5
“But, behold, the judgments of God will overtake the wicked; and it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished; for it is the wicked that stir up the hearts of the children of men unto bloodshed.” What does it mean that the judgments of God will overtake the wicked? In this case, it is simply stating that the consequences of sin are ALWAYS there. They don’t ever miss. They don’t stay in the “consequence container” without landing on your head.
Judgments of God and natural consequences are the same thing. We shouldn’t view punishment as a tool that God uses to make us suffer. The consequence of sin will always happen regardless of God’s involvement. This is how the universe is organized. There’s always a reaction for every action. The consequences will always show up! God himself cannot restrain the judgments of our actions from happening. As we read in Alma 42:22: “But there is a law given, and a punishment affixed, and a repentance granted; which repentance, mercy claimeth; otherwise, justice claimeth the creature and executeth the law, and the law inflicteth the punishment; if not so, the works of justice would be destroyed, and God would cease to be God.”
5:16-18
Mormon prophecies that the wicked Nephites and their descendants will be scattered by the Gentiles. “For behold, the Spirit of the Lord hath already ceased to strive with their fathers; and they are without Christ and God in the world; and they are driven about as chaff before the wind. They were once a delightsome people, and they had Christ for their shepherd; yea, they were led even by God the Father. But now, behold, they are led about by Satan, even as chaff is driven before the wind, or as a vessel is tossed about upon the waves, without sail or anchor, or without anything wherewith to steer her; and even as she is, so are they.” Our connection and faith in Jesus Christ is our North Star. He is our destination on the map. He is the anchor for our souls.
Knowing the plan of salvation and Christ’s role is what keeps us on course. If we drop Christ from our lives, we are then led about by the world. This is Satan’s world. Satan, and the world, do not care about us. We are not led to a destination. There isn’t a goal. There isn’t a big picture. We are literally tossed about by the random experiences that may happen to us here. We are led about by a being that couldn’t care less about us. He doesn’t care about our growth. He doesn’t care about what the condition of our lives will be. He isn’t our shepherd. He is both a distraction and a temptation. He doesn’t want us on any journey. He just wants us spinning around in the whirlwind of this world.
5:23; 6:22
If we could just see things clearly! “Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that he hath all power, and at his great command the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll?” This is so important to keep this perspective. All that this world is can be changed with a swipe of God’s hand. All of the governments and business and nations and armies can be set aside in a moment. This world can be shaken to it’s core at a single command of God.
The mountains will turn into valleys, deserts will turn into seas. Every worldly thing will be taken from us. It can happen in a minute. At some point, this will happen and people’s perspective about what life is about will also change in that same minute. It is sad that, for most of the world, it will take that to be finally convinced that there is a God and he is truly all-powerful.
Instead, there will be a lot of regret and sadness. We will hear this from our prophet in that day: “O that ye had repented before this great destruction had come upon you. But behold, ye are gone, and the Father, yea, the Eternal Father of heaven, knoweth your state; and he doeth with you according to his justice and mercy.”
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