Wisdom and Pride

As I was studying the Book of Mormon this past week, I came across a verse in 1 Nephi which lead me to ponder its meaning. In this part of the Book of Mormon, Nephi’s father Lehi had had a dream, or a vision about the tree of life. After praying, Nephi was visited by the Spirit of the Lord and was shown a vision of the tree of life. The dream represents our life and God’s plan for us. In this dream, Lehi saw various things that have metaphoric meaning. He saw a rod beside a path which lead to the tree representing Jesus Christ and His love. The rod of iron represents the word of God which we must hold onto in order to come unto Christ. He then saw a great and spacious building with people inside mocking those who were making their way to the tree. This building represents the pride of the world. It was the scripture about this building that caught my attention, 1 Nephi 11:35.

35 And the multitude of the earth was gathered together; and I beheld that they were in a large and spacious building, like unto the building which my father saw. And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again, saying: Behold the world and the wisdom thereof; yea, behold the house of Israel hath gathered together to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

It is interesting how wisdom is mentioned by the angel of the Lord as a bad thing. I looked to other scriptures for guidance and found the best explanation to be in 2 Nephi 9:28-29. It talks about how a man can learn and think he is wise to the point where he stops paying attention to the counsels of God because he thinks he knows better. The scripture also clarifies that it is good to be wise if one hearkens to the counsels of God. I also remembered the words of President Benson on this subject. He says. “The proud cannot accept the authority of God giving direction to their lives. (See Helaman 12:6.) They pit their perceptions of truth against God’s great knowledge, their abilities versus God’s priesthood power, their accomplishments against His mighty works.” We should do our best to always hearken to the counsels of God. To me this means that we read His scriptures and all the words He has spoken to us through our prophets. After we read them and ponder them we should do them. If we do, we will be happy. Sometimes it is difficult because we do not understand everything about this life or about God, but we must trust that He loves us deeply and does all things for our benefit (See 2 Nephi 26:24).

I am Able

While attending a church meeting last weekend, my wife and I enjoyed hearing from a particular speaker about missionary work. He told us about many amazing experiences he and his wife had, including answers to prayer. After the talk was given, the man who was leading the meeting added his testimony and asked us if we had thought to ourselves, “yeah, that worked for you guys.” He was implying that we tend to think we are inadequate and in order to receive divine help we need to have lived a perfect life. 

This week in Book of Mormon class, I was reminded of a great historical event where God showed us that He just wants our willing heart. He is willing to work with us even if we make mistakes. He allows us to be a part of His work here on earth. This great historical event was the restoration of the gospel that began in 1820. Joseph Smith eventually became the prophet chosen by God and was directed to translate the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God. 

This is spoken of by the Lord in 2 Nephi 27:19-20 (Book of Mormon)

19 Wherefore it shall come to pass, that the Lord God will deliver again the book and the words thereof to him that is not learned; and the man that is not learned shall say: I am not learned.

20 Then shall the Lord God say unto him: The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work; wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee.

The man being referred to is Jospeh Smith. He was not learned and had a very basic three year education in his whole life until this point. He did not begin to study and become a scholar in order to do the translation. As we can see from the scripture, it was God’s intention that he is not learned in order to show the world that He can do His own work. It is also apparent, that he can enable us to do His work if we are willing. I am grateful for the coming forth of the Book of Mormon because it is evidence that God loves His children and also that He is very patient with us. He does everything He can so that we can have peace in this life and in the next.