Sunday, March 22, 2020

March 16-22 Jacob 5-7

This lesson includes Jacob 5, the parable of the olive trees. The graphic in the lesson helps explain the parable. You should refer to it as you read the chapter.

Chapter 6 includes a verse that has become important in the discussion about whether Joseph Smith translated the plates with the Urim and Thummim or merely read words that appeared on a stone in the hat (SITH):

Jacob 6:13 Finally, I bid you farewell, until I shall meet you before the pleasing bar of God, which bar striketh the wicked with awful dread and fear. Amen.

Brother Royal Skousen thinks this should read "pleading bar" instead of "pleasing bar." He claims this is evidence that the text originated in Early Modern English, that Joseph Smith did not really translate the plates, that the words of the text appeared on the seer stone and Joseph merely read them to his scribes, etc.

It's an interesting theory but I disagree.

The first appearance of this phrase is actually in Moroni 10 (which Joseph translated in Harmony before he traveled to Fayette to translate the plates of Nephi, including the Book of Jacob).

Moroni 10:34 And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.

The "bar" of judgment or of God is not mentioned in the Bible, but it is referred to 12 times in the Book of Mormon. In Joseph Smith's day, the concept was well known both in religious and secular society. Criminals were brought to the bar of justice to plead their cases, while ministers described the "bar of God" and the "bar of Judgment" as a warning to their listeners and readers.

Consequently, this phrase constitutes evidence that Joseph Smith actually did translate the Book of Mormon, using his own mental language bank that arose from the books he read, the people he listened to, and his general social environment.

Here's an example from commentary on Hervey's works: Therefore we say, that those in this Life, who have used well the Grace that is given them, and conformed to the Terms of the Gospel, God doth justify : That is, were he to call them to the Bar of Judgment and try them, he would acquit, or pronounce them not guilty.— 

A few examples from among many more:

 Thomas Spencer (4) p. 229. Let such remember the worth of souls—the guilt of becoming accessary to their ruin—and the solemn account all must render at the bar of God, who have taken upon themselves the responsibility of seeking, by every possible method, to promote their eternal interests. 
p. 234. “You, my dear young brother, must die, and stand at the bar of God.
p. 249. “assuring them, that very soon he should meet them at the bar of God, and that there he should be a swift witness against them.”
p. 300. “on the last Sabbath evening of his life, he addressed to the: “I shall soon meet you at the bar of God; I shall be there!”—O that they were wise, that they knew these things—that they would consider their latter end.”

That final example reminds us of Jacob's admonition in the verse immediately preceding the "pleasing bar of God" comment:

Jacob 6:12 O be wise; what can I say more?

As for "pleasing," the modifier is used more frequently in the Book of Mormon than in other scriptures.







In the Book of Mormon, Jacob uses it 6 times, which is as much as all other Book of Mormon authors combined. We should not be surprised that Jacob would use the word to modify "bar of God" especially when he was emphasizing how intolerable the situation would be for the wicked.
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Chapter 7 discusses Sherem, an important warning for many reasons. Consider Sherem's background, credentials, and techniques when you are faced with a decision of whether to follow the teachings of the prophets or the teachings of intellectuals, whether inside or outside of the Church.

Jacob 7:4 And he was learned, that he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people; wherefore, he could use much flattery, and much power of speech...





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