Talk Table of Contents Book Of Mormon Study
Book Of Mormon
Layton 18th Ward Apr 93'

From the Life of Heber C Kimball we can read of a very moving story concerning the

Book Of Mormon.

"It was an eventful night of September 22nd, 1827. Says Heber C Kimball: "I had retired

to bed, when John P. Greene, who was living within a hundred steps of my house, came and

waked me up, calling upon me to come out and behold the scenery in the heavens, I woke up and

called my wife and sister fanny Young (Brigham Youngs sister),who was living with us, and we

went out-of-doors.

"It was one of the most beautiful starlight nights, so clear that we could see too pick up a

pin. We looked to the eastern horizon, and beheld a white smoke arise toward the heavens; as it

ascended it formed itself into a belt, and made a noise like the sound of a mighty wind, and

continued southwest, forming a regular bow dipping in the western horizon. After the bow had

formed, it began to widen out and grow clear and transparent, of a bluish cast; it grew wide enough

to contain twelve men abreast.

"In this bow an army moved, commencing from the east and marching to the west; they

continued marching until they reached the western horizon. They moved in platoons, and walked

so close that the rear ranks trod in the steps of their file leaders, until the whole bow was literally

crowded with soldiers. We could distinctly see the muskets, bayonets and knapsacks of men, who

wore caps and feathers like those used by the American soldiers in the last war with Britain; and

also saw their of officers with their swords and equipage, and the clashing and jingling of their

implements of war, and could discover the forms and features of the men. The most profound

order existed throughout the entire army; when the foremost man stepped, every man stepped at

the same time; I could hear the steps. When the front rank reached the western horizon a battle

ensued, as we could distinctly hear the report of arms and the rush.

"No man could judge of my feelings when I beheld that army of men. as plainly as ever I

saw armies of men in the flesh; it seemed as though every hair of my head was alive. This scenery

we gazed upon for hours, until it began to disappear.

"After I became acquainted with Mormonism, I learned that this took place the same

evening that Joseph Smith received the records of the Book of Mormon from the angel Moroni,

who had held those records in his possession.

Also present that night were John Young, Senior, John P Greene's wife Rhoda.

Hebers wife, "being frightened at what she saw, said 'Father Young, what does all this

mean?'

"'Why, it's one of the signs of the coming of the son of Man,' he replied, in a lively

manner.

"The next night similar scenery was beheld in the west by the neighbors, representing

armies of men who were engaged in battle."

On the same night in America the Angel Moroni delivered the plates to Joseph Smith. At

this time he gave him this charge: that he would be responsible for them; that if they should

through neglect get into evil hands that he would be cut off and that if he would use all his

endeavors to preserve them they should be protected.

Joseph soon found out the reason why he had received such strict charges to keep them

safe. For no sooner was it known that Joseph received plates, than the most strenuous exertions

were used to get them. In Josephs' words "Every stratagem that could be invented was resorted to

for that purpose. The persecution became more bitter and severe than before, and multitudes were

on the alert continually to get them from me if possible."

This continued until they were delivered back to the Angel Moroni,on the second day of

May, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.

Joseph Smith had been shot at, tarred and feathered, beaten, spit upon, driven from his

home, basically disowned by his Father-In -Law, called all manner of despicable names, and yet

despite all this persecution Joseph continued to translate the Book of Mormon.

In light of the persecution, how do you suppose that Joseph was able to gain the courage to

continue to translate? Was it because as he translated from the plates his testimony would grow

each and every day? He could see each day the benefits to mankind of having the Book of

Mormon available. Joseph was slowly beginning to see why the powers of the evil were out to

foil the purposes of heaven, the armies of Satan knew the power that the Book of Mormon would

have in the lives of those that would later read from its pages.

Before Joseph actually started the translation he spent many hours studying the engraved

characters using the Urim and Thummim. As he studied the plates he learned of what a great gift

he had in his possession. In his possession was 2 sets of plates; the small plates of Nephi and the

plates of Mormon, from which he translated. These two sets of plates in Josephs" hands came

from earlier abridgements of 5 sets of plates. Those plates in chronological order are the plates of

Either, the brass plates of Laban, the large plates of Nephi, the small plates of Nephi and the plates

of Mormon. As Joseph studied the 2 sets of plates in his possession he discovered the names of

the authors of the 5 sets of plates from which they came, they are as follows:

First; the plates of Ether, which in our current Book of Mormon refers to 24 plates

of Either; but it most likely is 24 sets of plates that cover nearly 2000 years. All that we have of

these plates is the abridgement that was done by Moroni. These plates primarily contain the story

of the people that we know of as the Jaridites. About 31 pages long. As far as we know Joseph

Smith never had the plates of Ether in his possession.

The second set of plates are referenced as the Plates of Brass of Laban.

The plates of brass as you recall were written in Egyptian. Nehi was able to read them as

he had been taught to read Egyptian by his father. These plates primarily deal with the descendants

of that Joseph who was sold into Egypt. Therefore in a sense the plates of brass might be

considered as part of stick of Joseph, as well as the stick of Ephriam mentioned in the Old

Testament in Ezekiel 37. These plates were obtain by Nephi and his brothers from Laban, as

commanded by their father. These plates contain the 5 books of Moses, and many other books

found in our present day Old Testament including Isaiah.

Nephi was personally acquainted with the plates of brass and saw our present old

testament in vision he said: many plain and precious truths had been taken from the records that

now appear as our present day bible. Also the words of many others prophets are contained on the

plates of brass which including the prophets Zenos, Zenock, and Ezias. Joseph Smith did not

translate directly from the plates of brass and we have no evidence that he ever had them. The only

records from the Plates of Brass are those that are quoted directly by those prophets in the Book

Of Mormon that had them in their possession.

The third set of Plates are the Large plates of Nephi. These plates were started just after

Lehi and his family left Jerusalem. They are both a religious and a secular history of Lehi and his

descendants. They contain a series of books that were named after the authors who wrote on these

plates originally. These plates cover the people that are descendants of Lehi and his group (

Ishmeal and Labans' servant who also went with them) from the time 600 years before the time of

Christ to 400 years after the time of Christ. These plates were abridged by Mormon around 400

AD. We have a few parts from the Large Plates of Nephi through Mormons abridgement.

However the unabridged Large plates of Nephi contain many things not contained in our present

day Book of Mormon. Including "a full account of the history of Nephis' people" "the genealogy

of Lehi" and "the more part of the Teachings of the resurrected Christ to the Nephite nation".

Again we have no indication the Joseph Smith ever had the large plates of Nephi in his possession

or that he ever translated from them.

The fourth set of plates and the first set that Joseph Smith had in his possession and

from which he translated was the small plates of Nephi. These plates were started about 570 before

Christ and primarily contain the religious history of the Lehite colony for the 470 years of its

existence. some of the religious teaching of the brass plates were copied onto these plates. The

translation of these plates comprise the first 143 pages of the current book of mormon. Included

in this translation are the books 1st Nephi, 2nd Nephi, Jacob, Enos, Jarom and Omni. They are

written in the first person account in other words these plates have not been abridged by any

person at any time. The prophet Joseph Smith had the Small plates of Nephi in his possession and

translated directly from them.

The 5th set of plates and the second set that Joseph had in his possession were the

plates of Mormon. Essentially these plates are an abridgement by Mormon of that initially

recorded on the large plates of Nephi. Together with some first person accounts by Mormon in the

Words of Mormon, some first person accounts of Moroni and Moroni's abridgement of the plates

of Ether. A portion of the plates of Mormon were sealed and have not been translated. We are not

certain what they contain but Moroni was the writer and therefore may have been the major

engraver of the plates of Mormon. The books that were contained in this set of plates are as

follows the Words of Mormon, Mormons abridgment of the Large plates of Nephi which includes

Mosiah, Alma, Heleman, 3rd Nephi 4th Nephi and the 1st 7 chapters of the small Book of

Mormon. Out of 530 pages in the Book of Mormon, 340 pages came from the Mormon himself

as he abridged them from the large plates of Nephi. Also from the plates of Mormon we have the

abridgements and writings of Moroni which contain chapters 8 and 9 in the small Book of

Mormon, Moroni's abridgement of the book of Ether, and Book of Moroni.

There were many other plates but these are the only four plates that deal either directly or

indirectly with the Book of Mormon and the latter 2 plates the only ones from which Joseph Smith

translated and make up the present day Book of Mormon.

The are only 11 engravers for the entire present day Book of Mormon. There are 9

engravers for the small plates of Nephi and they are as follows:

Nephi writing the 1 st and 2nd Books of Nephi;

Jacob Book of Jacob;

Enos the son of Jacob writing the book of Enos;

Jarom the Book of Jarom;

Omni the 1st 3 verses of Book of Omni;

Amoron verses 4- 8 of Book of Omni;

Chemish vs. 9 of the Book of Omni;

Abinadim son of Chemish who writes verses 10- 11 in the Book of Omni;

and finally Abinadi son of Abinadum verses 12-30 of Book of Omni.

 

 

The rest of the engraving of the book of mormon was part of the father and son

combination of Mormon and his son Moroni. Mormon engraves Words of Mormon, Mosiah,

Alma, Helaman, 3rd Nephi, 4th Nephi 1 st 7 chapters of the smaller Book of Mormon with-in the

greater Book of Mormon. Mormon abridged his own extensive record of the Book of Mormon

which is the smaller Book of Mormon. 2nd engraver was Moroni 8 and 9th chapters of smaller

Book of Mormon, Book of Either which is an abridgement of the plates of Ether, and also the

Book of Moroni.

Except then, for the relatively brief contributions of Enos, Jarom, Omni, Chemish,

Abinidum and Amalichi which comprise only about 7 pages. The rest was engraved by one of

only four prophets namely Nephi, Jacob, Mormon and Moroni.

It is interesting to note the experiences of these four prophets and the remarkable things that

they all shared in common. Their shared experiences include:

1) Each was a personal witness of Jesus Christ. Nephi and his brother Jacob saw the

premortal Christ and were visited by and talked with him. Mormon and his son Moroni who lived

after Christs death; saw the resurrected Christ and were visited by and talked with him.

2) Each was personal tutored by Christ as to what they should write. Indeed Jesus Christ is

the author.

3) Each were visited by angels and or translated beings & were instructed by these beings.

Nephi and Jacob were visited by the spirit of the Lord as we read in 1 Ne. 11:11

 

"for I spake unto him as a man speaketh; for I beheld that he was in the form of a

man; yet nevertheless, I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord; and he spake unto

me as a man speaketh with another."

 

Mormon and Moroni were taught by translated beings including the three Nephi disciples.

3 Nephi 28:26

26 But behold, I have seen them, and they have ministered unto me.

and Moroni says in: Mormon 8:11.

11 But behold, my father and I have seen them, and they have ministered unto us.

4) All bore strong testimonies of Jesus Christ, and that Jesus Christ is the Christ and the

divine son of God.

5) All engravers warn that we will be accountable for what has been written. an example is

found in 2 Nephi 33:14

 

14 And you that will not partake of the goodness of God, and respect the words of

the Jews, and also my words, and the words which shall proceed forth out of the

mouth of the Lamb of God, behold, I bid you an everlasting farewell, for these

words shall condemn you at the last day.

 

In Addition: Moroni has forewarned us that he and all the other writers and prophets who

recorded the word will be there at the final judgment.

 

 

And in my opinion perhaps the most significant share experience of these four prophets are

 

 

6) Each saw our days and challenges and they wrote for us not the people of their time.

The records of these prophets were not even published during their lifetime. The best example is

when Moroni writes in chapter 8 of Mormon. Remember that Mormon writes the first 7 Chapters

then Moroni finishes Mormon. In Chapter 8 Mormon starts to prove to us that he has seen our day

starting in verse 23 then in verse 35 he says:

Mormon chapter 8:35

 

"35 Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold,

Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing."

 

 

Mormon only wrote one hundredth part he said of what was available to him. In a rough

calculation that would equal approximately 57000 pages that would be available today (alot to read

each year).

When Joseph got the plates, the angel instructed him to carry them back to the Hill

Cummorah when translation was completed, which he did. Oliver says "that when Joseph and

Oliver went there they walked into a cave, in which there was a large and spacious room. He says

he did not think, at the time, whether they had the light of the sun, or artificial light; but it was just

as light as day. They laid the plates on a table; it was a large table that stood in the room. Under this

table there was a pile of plates as much as two feet high, and there were altogether in this room

more plates than probably, many wagon loads; they were piled up in the corners and around the

walls."

Mormon took from all the volumes that he had and sifted through them and gave to us

what he thought was the very most important. If you want a thrill go home today and re-read the

last 50 pages that Moroni wrote then ask what did Moroni see in our day that prompted him to

write this down?

 

 

And finally:

7) All of these prophets were faithful to the lord as they abridged the records. They knew

more than the Lord allowed them to record.

as is illustrated in 3 Nephi 26:16,18

 

16 ...yea, even babes did open their mouths and utter marvelous things; and the

things which they did utter were forbidden that there should not any man write

them.

18 And many of them saw and heard unspeakable things, which are not

lawful to be written.

 

 

Because, a portion of the Book of Mormon is still sealed there is still much for us to learn.

But as the Lord has suggested to use time and time again that we learn line upon line, precept

upon precept, and that is why it is important that we read the scriptures each day.

Mormon who was the major abridger of the Book of Mormon, explains as he ends his

writing in the 7th chapter Mormon. Here Mormon tells us why he wrote what he wrote. In verses

8 and 9 of that chapter these are his words.

 

8 Therefore repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and lay hold

upon the gospel of Christ, which shall be set before you, not only in this record but

also in the record which shall come unto the Gentiles from the Jews, which record

shall come from the Gentiles unto you.

9 For behold, this is written (the Book of Mormon) for the intent

that ye may believe that; (the Bible) and if ye b believe that; (the Bible)

ye will believe this (the Book of Mormon) also; and if ye believe this

(the Book of Mormon) ye will know concerning your fathers, and also the

marvelous works which were wrought by the power of God among them.

 

 

Not only did Mormon expound on the fact that we should read the scriptures, but so did

his son, Moroni. Moroni also encourages us to read the scriptures.In Moroni 10:2-5 we find some

of the most often quoted verses in the Book of Mormon.

 

 

Moroni 10:2-5

2 And I seal up these records (the Book Of Mormon), after l have

spoken a few words by way of exhortation unto you.

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things. (the

Book of Mormon) if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye

would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from

the creation of Adam even down unto the time (The Book of Mormon does

not start until @ 600 BC already a few thousand years of history of

dealings with the Lord that are not recorded in the Book of Mormon.

so obviously Moroni is talking here about the bible.) that ye shall

receive these things, and ponder it (all the events that have taken place) in

your hearts.

 

 

3 things he is asking us to do 1 Read the Book of Mormon, 2) Read the account of the

creation of the earth from Adam and all things that have transpired since that time by the hand of

God 3)Ponder it, the way god deals with men the same yesterday today and forever. ponder that in

your heart (This is essentially verse 3)

Then in verse 4 Moroni says:

 

4 And when ye shall receive these things (Accept them, believe them

to be true, this is how the Lord Answers prayers we must make the

decision first then ask if it is correct), I would exhort you that ye would ask

God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things (everything that

Moroni has said we need to read not only the Book of Mormon but

the Bible too) are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real

intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you. (the Book

of Mormon but how do we get our testimony of the truth of the

Book of Mormon through our belief in the Bible they stand as one,

they testify of each other.) by the power of the Holy Ghost.

 

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

 

 

 

And in modern days, latter-day prophets have instructed us that "we can get closer to the

lord by reading the Book of Mormon than by reading any other book"

A modern day blessing is given to those that read the Book of Mormon from President

Benson "Now, in the authority of the sacred priesthood in me vested, I invoke my blessing upon

the latter-day Saints and upon good people everywhere.

I bless you with increased discernment to judge between Christ and anti-Christ. I bless you

with increased power to do good and to resist evil. I bless you with increased understanding of the

Book of Mormon. I promise you that from this moment forward, if we will daily sup from its

pages and abide its precepts, God will pour out upon each child of Zion and the church a blessing

hitherto unknown- and we will plead to the Lord that He will begin to lift the condemnation --the

scourge and judgment. Of this I bear solemn witness."