JS Matthew 1, Omni 1

I was thinking that the scriptures I've been testing for have been small, not very much and I felt like I wanted to read more and today you can see that has happened! These are long passages.

Written while listening to Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes (We wish you a Merry Christmas)

11 But he that remaineth steadfast and is not overcome, the same shall be saved.
12 When you, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, then you shall stand in the holy place; whoso readeth let him understand.
13 Then let them who are in Judea flee into the mountains;
14 Let him who is on the housetop flee, and not return to take anything out of his house;

This would be really hard. Like Sodom and Gomorrah. I may have been a pillar of salt. That would have been really hard.

15 Neither let him who is in the field return back to take his clothes;
16 And wo unto them that are with child, and unto them that give suck in those days;

Hmm... Didn't I just read these in a different section? I keep doing this lately. Ok, I just looked it up, these were written about the second coming.

17 Therefore, pray ye the Lord that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day;
18 For then, in those days, shall be great tribulation on the Jews, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, such as was not before sent upon Israel, of God, since the beginning of their kingdom until this time; no, nor ever shall be sent again upon Israel.

Worse tribulation than they have already had? Wow, that's going to be something, and not good either. If I lived in Jerusalem I would be praying for those things.

19 All things which have befallen them are only the beginning of the sorrows which shall come upon them.

Yikes. I don't even want to think about how it will be worse. Moving on.

20 And except those days should be shortened, there should none of their flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake, according to the covenant, those days shall be shortened.
21 Behold, these things I have spoken unto you concerning the Jews; and again, after the tribulation of those days which shall come upon Jerusalem, if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe him not;
22 For in those days there shall also arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch, that, if possible, they shall deceive the very elect, who are the elect according to the covenant.

This is kind of scary, but I am so glad we have the church who will guide us. I have much family who is not in the church and I hope they do well in this time. It would be so sad to see them going the wrong direction.

23 Behold, I speak these things unto you for the elect’s sake; and you also shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled, for all I have told you must come to pass; but the end is not yet.

Be not troubled about war. That's a tough one. I know it means that it's going to happen, and it has to happen and there's nothing I can do about it. But it's sad anyway. And scary for those of us married to the army.

24 Behold, I have told you before;
25 Wherefore, if they shall say unto you: Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: Behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not;
26 For as the light of the morning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, and covereth the whole earth, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.

So just be patient and not believe people who pretend to be Christ, or actually think they are because we will see him and know he is coming.

Omni 1

13 And it came to pass that he did according as the Lord had commanded him. And they departed out of the land into the wilderness, as many as would hearken unto the voice of the Lord; and they were led by many preachings and prophesyings. And they were admonished continually by the word of God; and they were led by the power of his arm, through the wilderness until they came down into the land which is called the land of Zarahemla.
14 And they discovered a people, who were called the people of Zarahemla. Now, there was great rejoicing among the people of Zarahemla; and also Zarahemla did rejoice exceedingly, because the Lord had sent the people of Mosiah with the plates of brass which contained the record of the Jews.

This would be amazing. People came and found them with scriptures.

15 Behold, it came to pass that Mosiah discovered that the people of Zarahemla came out from Jerusalem at the time that Zedekiah, king of Judah, was carried away captive into Babylon.
16 And they journeyed in the wilderness, and were brought by the hand of the Lord across the great waters, into the land where Mosiah discovered them; and they had dwelt there from that time forth.

The Lord has lead many people out already and more will be lead out later.

17 And at the time that Mosiah discovered them, they had become exceedingly numerous. Nevertheless, they had had many wars and serious contentions, and had fallen by the sword from time to time; and their language had become corrupted; and they had brought no records with them; and they denied the being of their Creator; and Mosiah, nor the people of Mosiah, could understand them.

They had nothing solid guiding them, so this makes sense. Before I read these verses I had wondered if there were many wars about what the right way to live and do things. Having scriptures and prophets haven't saved many many people from having wars, but it helps. Our church hasn't had civil wars like they did in biblical times and book of Mormon times.

18 But it came to pass that Mosiah caused that they should be taught in his language. And it came to pass that after they were taught in the language of Mosiah, Zarahemla gave a genealogy of his fathers, according to his memory; and they are written, but not in these plates.

It must have taken a while to get this far. I know what it's like trying to communicate in Spanish, which I know quite a bit. I couldn't give a geneology though and that's after years of training in the language. (and years of barely using it though...)