Day 3: Book of Mormon, Jacob

Nephi dies and his son, Jacob, takes the mantle of prophet. I’m noticing a pattern. There’s a good bit of prophesy in this book, but we get back to the stories. It’s amusing to me how many times the brass/golden plates are mentioned. The prophets go out of their way to make sure the reader knows why the plates are being written in such-and-such a way. Jacob even throws some shade at the plates. Apparently, he was not a fan. I’m curious how many more times the plates and the specifics around them will be mentioned. I want to sympathize with Jacob for a moment, though. Imagine writing the story of your people on METAL PLATES. Yeah, now you know why Jacob wasn’t a fan.

There’s some interesting admonitions in this book, the highlight, for me, being the support of the poor. There is a peculiar chapter (ch 5) that goes on and on about a parable of an olive tree. It is a rather laborious parable. Parables are typically not this long. They are short illustrative stories. Nonetheless, we learn a great deal about the olive tree — much of which I cannot remember. I’d have to read it a few more times to get the full meaning of it. Or I could just watch this super helpful video.

A false prophet named Sherem appears in this book as well. His story is rather sudden and not entirely satisfying. He sees proof that he was wrong and God smites him, sorta. Being smote is time delayed. After Sherem shares how he was wrong with the people, he dies — and his death serves as a further proof to the people in attendance of God’s power, etc etc. It’s an okay story.

The biggest thing I am wrestling with is not new in the Book of Mormon, but it is crystal clear in Jacob. There is a claim that the Nephites were worshipping a being has yet to come for hundreds of years (7:7). They mean Jesus Christ, of course. Now, there’s a conversation to be had about the temporality of Jesus of Nazareth in Christian theology. I’m not sure I’m the one to have it here. But the impetus for that conversation is rather clear in Latter-day Saint theology.

I know they take care of it in their official teachings and classes and so on. Maybe that’s where my questions would be satisfied. But it does stand out significantly, because outside of the Book of Mormon, there is no record of Messiah worshipping communities. Don’t take this as a “see, the Book of Mormon is wrong!” comment. No, instead, it’s a very clear noticeable difference. If I knew nothing about Christianity, perhaps I wouldn’t think it was a big deal. If I knew only the basics, I would wonder.

I can lift one thing up about this text thus far: it has me pondering. I find myself looking forward to the ways in which it will cause me to ponder with every page. This doesn’t mean I am converting, but it does mean it is invoking an interesting internal conversation. Here’s a religious text that is within Christianity that also disrupts the narrative. That is fascinating in and of itself!

Things I Noticed in the Text

1. Jacob 1:2, Too Much History! There’s always a warning each time a new prophet takes over, so far, to not add too much history to the plates. Just an observation, but it’s interesting: “Don’t add history here, add them to the other plates.” Well, I want to know the history.
2. Jacob 2:19, Woe to You, Wealthy Folks. I always like to highlight verses that favor the poor and oppressed. This one is a reminder that wealth is okay so long as it is used to help the poor.
3. Jacob 2:27, Monogamy. Curious. This verse says you are limited to one wife. I’ll keep my eyes open for when polygamy comes into the picture.
4. Jacob 4:1, Those Dang Plates! Jacob writes down that he’s pretty much had it with writing on these plates. It’s not easy, he doesn’t like it, and there’s not much room. Thanks, Jacob.
5. Jacob 4:14, Distinguished from the Jews? Now this is an interesting verse. Some could classify it as anti-semitic. That depends on how you view the historicity of the Book of Mormon. What is most interesting here is that the Nephites are identified as not being Jewish hundreds of years before Christ. And yet they are…Christians? If not Jewish, what? Former Jews that believe in a Christ not-yet-born?
6. Jacob 7:7, Worshipping Christ Already? And here they are advocating for the worship of Christ already…before his birth.
7. Jacob 7:27, Adieu! Jacob ends with “Brethren, adieu!” I’ll just leave that here. Adieu.

This post is part of a larger series where I read the entirety of Latter-day Saint scripture in 15 days. Take a look at the original post for more info, as well as links to other reflections on this journey.