Hugh Nibley said that the slogan for his class was from the Book of Mormon, Mosiah 4:11-12. In these verses, the Lord talks about the greatness of God and our own nothingness. I have read the Book Of Mormon many times but admit that is a scripture I had glossed over and did not read carefully.
As I have read Mosiah 4:-11-12 I can see why Hugh Nibley would have chosen this scripture to end his class. A powerful scripture in the Book of Mormon teaches us all some important and significant truths.
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Book of Mormon – Mosiah 4:11-12 Explored
Mosiah was a prophet in the Book Of Mormon. In fact, he was a prophet, seer, revelatory, and king who ruled the land of Zarahemla from approximately 124 BC to 91 BC.
Mosiah was named after his grandfather Mosiah, also king of Zarahemla.
Mosiah 4:11-12 eloquently says this:
“11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.
Book of Mormon – Mosiah 4:11-12
12 And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.”
In speaking specifically of this scripture, Hugh Nibley said this:
“13 Mosiah 4:11-12 We have in writing here for us a most choice document [the Book of Mormon]. It’s not like any other book in existence. It’s not like anything else. It is a standing revelation, a standing miracle, as we have it here. No one could have produced this book of a thousand years, covering every phase of the cultural, historical, intellectual, literary aspects. What a miracle of condensation, as we will see! But the point is that it’s not just written as a tour de force to show it can be done. Every word of it is significant. It’s meant for us, it’s directed to us, and it’s very urgent that we know this. “This is directed to you, ye Gentiles, that ye may learn to be wiser than we have been.” We are in a very powerless state, and this tells us what it is in the Book of Mormon. If you start to panic, grab for the Book of Mormon and it will be all right”
Nibley’s Commentary On The Book of Mormon Vol
As Hugh Nibley said, he ends his class with this scripture for a reason. I think it reminded us all that we are nothing without God. We need to learn to depend upon Him and allow him to direct our lives.
In these scriptures, the Prophet Mosiah reminds us all of a few things that we will discuss:
Come To a Knowledge Of God
In Mosiah 4:11-12 the Prophet Mosiah starts to remind us all:
“And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls,”
I feel we are being told in this scripture the following:
- Come to a knowledge of God – How do we come to an understanding of God? We come to a knowledge of God by getting to know him. We get to know him through study, prayer, and living our lives with faith.
- Know of His Goodness – To know of God’s goodness; we acknowledge him in our lives. Even those small and simple miracles that we see take place every day.
- Tasted of His Love – We can all find the love of God in our lives, even in the darkest days or moments of our lives. The Lord’s love is there for us; he is always there for us and loves us.
- Received A Remission Of Sins – I like to think of repentance as now a destination but progress. Some that we should all be doing each and every day.
- Which causes such exceedingly great joy in our souls – I love this thought that repentance and knowing God in our lives will give us happiness and joy.
Remember Our Nothingness
It is interesting to me that once Mosiah has told us to come to the knowledge of God, then he tells us to remember our “nothingness.”
Mosiah then told us:
“even so, I would say that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.”
Book of Mormon – Mosiah 4: 11
I feel like we are being told this for those scriptures:
- We Need To Remember God – We are being told that once you know God, you must constantly “retain in remembrance the greatness of God”. I love how we are being told to “always.” Remembering God is not a part-time kind of work but something we must do daily.
- Remember Your Own Nothingness – I find the word “nothingness” interesting. Some may view this as being negative, but the truth is this is a very positive thing. God does not mean we are nothing or not important; instead, he is telling us that we need to remember that with Him by our side, we can do so much more than without Him.
- God is Patient With Us – Next, we are being told about “his goodness and long-suffering towards you”. God has a lot of patience towards us, and we need to remember that – we sin, and he allows us to repent. He puts up with our imperfections.
- We Are Unworthy Creatures – I thought the words “unworthy creatures” were interesting. I realize that in my life so many times I am completely and totally unworthy of the blessings bestowed upon me. So in that sense, we are all unworthy creatures.
- We All Need Humility – King Mosiah tells us that we all need to have humility and live our lives humbly. Nothing else matters without humility and being teachable as we will not learn the lessons the Lord wants us to understand.
- Pray Daily – King Mosiah urges us to call on the Lord daily through prayer, study, and worship. That each day of our lives we need to call on his daily in our lives. I love how he tells us this needs to do something daily – not weekly or monthly.
- Steadfast in Faith – We are reminded to be steadfast in our faith. The word steadfast is also interesting as the dictionary defines steadfast as “firm in purpose, resolution, faith, attachment,”. https://www.dictionary.com/ That to be steadfast means that we need to be firm in our resolve to have faith.
- Faith of That What Is To Come – I love the way this verse ends. To have faith in that what is to come. That we may have faith in whatever happens in life. No matter what life throws or throws at us, we can be steadfast in our faith and our resolve to not forget God and his goodness and love.
- “As Spoken by mouth of angels” – The Book of Mormon came through angels. The angels testified of the truth of the Book of Mormon. We should remain true to all spoken and taught int he scriptures.
I love how Hugh Nibley reminds us that if there are problems or issues in life we should grab hold of the Book of Mormon, not just the Book of Mormon but the Teachings of Christ in our lives. We need to remember Him, and when we do, and live our lives with a steadfast faith that all things will work out.
Always Rejoice and Be Filled With The Love Of God
In Verse 12, there is a new tone that is taken on when we are told
“And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins, and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.’
Book of Mormon – Mosiah 4: 12
In these verses of scriptures, the Lord is telling us:
- Rejoice And Be Filled With Love of God – The Lord is telling us to rejoice and be filled with the love of God. I love this as even though in the previous verses we were being told of our dependence upon God, in these verses, were are being told to Rejoice in God’s love.
- Always Retain a Remission of Our Sins – Again, we are told that we must repent. That repentance is acknowledging our sins and wrongdoings and then becoming better. I see this as the Lord telling us “look, improve your life, become better, do better.”
- Grow in Knowledge of Christ – Finally, we are being told to grow in the knowledge of Christ, which means to learn of him and to seek truth and understanding. I feel there is nothing better than trying to seek after Christ and truth and light in our lives.
I agree with Hugh Nibley these two verses in the Book of Mormon are very powerful. King Mosiah has given us what we need to live a Christ-centered life in these two verses. We need to do those things to repent, look to Christ and become better every day.
I love how Hugh Nibley also said this about these scriptures:
“13,14 You will have nothing to worry about if you realize God’s greatness, his intentions, and his power to carry out those intentions. And don’t worry about yourself— your career and all that sort of rot. Remember, we should always hold in remembrance our own nothingness. I remember my nothingness, so I don’t have anything to worry about. And then I remember God’s goodness and have something to cheer about. So it’s quite marvelous, this Book of Mormon. It has everything in it which we hope to find out.
Nibley’s Commentary On The Book of Mormon Vol 1
Where is Zarahelma In The Book of Mormon?
When many people first hear about the Book of Mormon, they hear and learn about new places. Some want to know exactly where these ancient cities, towns and even nations are located as proof that the Book Of Mormon is true.
In a Book of Mormon Conference in 1903, the then prophet President Joseph F. Smith said this about Zarahelma:
“President Joseph F Smith “expressed the idea that the question of the city (of Zarahemla) was one of interest certainly, but if it could not be located, the matter was not of vital importance, and if there were differences of opinion on the question it would not affect the salvation of the people; and he advised against students considering it of such vital importance as the principles of the Gospel.”
Deseret News
What Pres Joseph F Smith said that the exact location where Zarahelma is not what is important, instead what is important is what transpired there. We do not need to know exactly where things took place in the Book of Mormon, but we need to focus on the teachings in the Book of Mormon.
The Nibleys Commentary website is dedicated to the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the scriptures, including The Bible, The Book of Mormon, the Doctrine of Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. To review these gospel teachings and scriptures, we will use many of the teachings of Hugh Nibley and refer to the book Nibley’s Commentary Volume 1 and 2 that Sharman B Hummel edited.
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This website is not an official publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you want to know more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we recommend you go directly to their website by clicking here.
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