April Book of Mormon Class Recap

In April we read Jacob, Enos, Jarom, Omni and Words of Mormon.

Even though these books had less reading material to cover, the

the volume of doctrine, principles and teachings could not be

adequately covered in our short class time. 

We spent a lot of time discussing Jacob’s desire to impress upon

his people the importance of chastity; of husbands especially,  

honoring their marriages and families.  In today’s world we can

relate to his heartbroken plea to “…not excuse [our]selves in

committing [sins]…which are abominable unto me…” 

With pornography, and the other trappings of our

day, many families can relate to the destruction that occurs

when immorality of any kind is brought into a home and a marriage. 

Jacob implored them:  “Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives,

and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad

examples before them; and the sobbings of their hearts ascend

up to God against you. And because of the strictness of the

word of God, which cometh down against you, many hearts

died, pierced with deep wounds.” (Jacob 2:35)  His counsel for them

(and for us), was to, “arouse the faculties of [our] souls; shake [our]selves

that ye may awake from [our] slumber…”  It seems the message to us

all is to “Wake Up!  Stand Up!  Come Unto Christ!”

We also spent a lot of time discussing the Allegory of the Olive Tree

in Jacob 5 (taken directly from the writings of Zenos on the Brass Plates).

This amazing account tells of the Lord’s purposes in scattering

and gathering the house of Israel.  As you read this “story”, you can

feel and see the Lord’s dealings with all of His children throughout history.

The parable is an allegory of the relationship between Jesus Christ,

the world, and men. The master of the vineyard is Jesus, the servant is (are)

His prophets, the vineyard is the world, and the olives represent the

lives and works of men. This parable is a metaphor for Israel's

relationship with Jesus Christ.  Jeffrey R Holland said of this amazing

parable:  “There is much more here than simply the unraveling of

convoluted Israelite history. Of greater significance in this allegory is

the benevolent view of God that it provides. He is portrayed here as

one who repeatedly, painstakingly, endlessly tries to save the work of

His hands and in moments of greatest disappointment holds His head

in His hands and weeps, ‘What could I have done more for my vineyard?’

(Jacob 5:41, 47, 49.) This allegory is a declaration of divine love, of God’s

unceasing effort as a father laboring on behalf of His children.”

It was a wonderful discussion of these books of scripture.

Discussing how they affect us individually, our testimonies have

been strengthened, and our love for our Savior increased.