Mosiah 4-6

Mosiah 4

After saying this, Benjamin looked at the crowd.

They wanted to repent and so they cried aloud,

 “Oh, have mercy, Lord!  Please forgive us of our sins.

“Apply Christ’s atonement, for we believe in Him!

After this great prayer, they were filled with joy and peace. 

They felt the Spirit and their feelings of guilt ceased.

We’ll also feel this joy and peace of conscience when 

We truly repent.  It’s a sign we’re forgiven.

Then the King proceeded to continue his speech,

“Listen to the remainder of the words I teach.

“Please believe in God, and that He is omniscient.

“Believe it—ye must humble yourselves and repent. 

“But it’s not enough to believe, for,” said King Ben, 

“If you believe all these things see that ye do them!

“Don’t forget how you tasted of God’s love today.

“And live peaceably in all you do and you say.

“Take care of your children!—Be sure they’re fed and dressed. 

“Teach them all the laws of God so they don’t transgress.

“Don’t allow fighting amongst sisters or brothers.

“Teach them how, instead, to love and serve each other.

“Take care of the poor and needy!” the king implored, 

“For, aren’t we all beggars, dependent on the Lord?

“So be sure to reach out to every needy man.

“Help with food or clothes, visits, anything you can.

“But pace yourself so you’re not exhausted at length.

“God doesn’t ask us to run faster than our strength.

“If you borrow something, be sure that it’s returned

“Or the owner might get angry out of concern.

“Oh, I can’t tell you every way to avoid sin.

“You must watch your thoughts, words and deeds unto the end.”

Mosiah 5

The King then asked his people if they believed his words.

“Yes,” they told him, “We believe all that we have heard.

“Our hearts have been changed by the Spirit mightily.

“We don’t want to sin!  Let’s do good continually!

“We now covenant that we’ll follow God’s commands.”

Benjamin was thrilled; he’d hoped for this beforehand.

“Now you are the children of Christ—sons and daughters.

“This day He has become your spiritual father.

“Take His name upon you and serve Him to the end

“And after this life you will live with Him again.”

Mosiah 6

Three years after giving this speech, King Ben was dead

And his son Mosiah was reigning in his stead.

Like his father, Mosiah was a righteous king.

He was sure to keep God’s commandments in all things. 

  

© 2020 by N. Noelle Maes

Mosiah 1-3

Mosiah 1

Thanks to all his effort, the wars and fighting ceased,

So King Benjamin and his people enjoyed peace.

He taught his three sons the importance of the plates,
“Search them diligently, the profits will be great!”

This is true for us.  Reading scriptures makes us wise—

God’s commandments will always be before our eyes.

When he waxed old, Benjamin told his oldest son,

“Mosiah, I need you to gather everyone.”

Since there were so many, the task was not simple

But he managed it and they met at the temple.

Mosiah 2

All of those who came loved their just king, Benjamin.

He had taught them to obey God and love all men.

Every family’s tent faced the temple to be sure

That they all could listen to their king through the door.

There were so many!  More than they had expected. 

To help the crowd hear, a tower was erected.

Still, when the king spoke, many couldn’t hear a sound.

So King Benjamin had his message written down.

“You’ll need more than ears for the message I have planned.

“You must open your minds and hearts to understand.

“I tried, as your king, to be loving, firm and kind.

“I have served you with all my strength, my might and mind!

“But I didn’t serve you to boast or leave you awed;

“I did it because when you serve men, you serve God!

“Follow my example and serve your fellow man,

“And be sure to thank Heavenly Father for His plan!

“I will soon pass on.  My whole body’s trembling.

“Please accept my son Mosiah as your new king.

“If you follow him, as he shares the Lord’s commands

“You’ll be protected and you’ll prosper in the land.

“Remember my words!  You are now accountable.

“So, if you rebel, your state will be more awful!

“But if you’re faithful, you’ll have cause to celebrate.

“You’ll live in heaven in a blessed and happy state.”

Mosiah 3

Then King Benjamin said an angel had told him

That Jesus would come down to minister to men.

“He will raise the dead, heal the sick, the lame, the blind.

“And he will atone for the sins of all mankind.

“In this act of love, the pain felt by our Savior

“Will be so intense He will bleed from every pore.

“Afterward, the Lord will be scourged and crucified

“And will rise again the third day after he dies. 

“This message is the reason prophets have been sent:

“So that all men can learn of Jesus and repent.

“Then he offered comfort to those who’d lost children:

“Those infants are blessed!—Jesus’s blood atoned for them!

“This is true for those who have ignorantly sinned

“If they never hear the truth before their lives end.

“Last,” he warned, “Natural men are God’s enemy;

“Watch how a child acts—that’s the way that we should be!

“Children are submissive, humble, patient, and meek.

“All these traits are strengths, though the world views them as weak.”

© 2020 by N. Noelle Maes

Enos-Words of Mormon

The Book of Enos

Enos wrote about an experience he had,

Thanks to the nurturing and teachings of his dad.

One day he went hunting and thought about the words

His dad spoke of Jesus that he had often heard.

He felt his soul hunger and so he knelt to pray

And he asked the Lord to forgive him all that day.

Even when the night had come, Enos still prayed on.

God said, “You’re forgiven,” and all his guilt was gone.

Then he wanted others to feel the way he felt.

He thought of the Nephites and, yet again, he knelt.

He prayed for their welfare and so God promised him

That they would not be cursed unless they chose to sin.

Last, he prayed with long strugglings for the Lamanites.

God promised they’d get the truth when the time was right.

Afterward, Enos went about and prophesied.

But the Lamanites wouldn’t listen when he tried. 

Their hatred and their wildness had become complete;

They were so ferocious they even ate raw meat!

The Nephites continued to farm and raise their herds

And they often tried to ignore the prophets’ words.

But Enos saw that if his speech was plain or bold, 

They would listen.  So he preached until he was old.

He believed that God would say when He was in view,

“Come unto me…there is a place prepared for you.

The Book of Jarom

Enos handed the plates down to his son, Jarom.

Since the plates were small, he would not write much in them.

Though he, too, had revelations and prophesied,

He felt that his fathers’ writings more than sufficed.

He lamented that many Nephites’ hearts were hard.

God had not yet swept them off for their disregard,

Since there were still Nephites who kept the laws of God.

They observed the Sabbath day and they profaned not.

Both the Lamanites and the Nephites multiplied.

Whenever they fought, God was on the Nephites’ side.

They prospered and spread out on the face of the land

Just as God had promised if they kept His command.

But if they sinned these blessings wouldn’t be enjoyed.

If they fell into transgression, they’d be destroyed.

Jarom spent his days teaching that Jesus would come,

Then he delivered the plates to Omni, his son.

The Book of Omni

Omni was wicked and did not have much to write.

He spent much of his time fighting the Lamanites.

He saw wars and bloodshed before his time was done.

Then he gave the records to Amaron, his son.

Three hundred years had passed since Nephi’s boat landed.

By this time, few did as the Lord had commanded

And so many of the wicked Nephites had perished.

Next, the plates were given to his brother Chemish.

Chemish wrote the least.  His record’s only one verse.

He could not say much since his entry was so terse!

His words were followed by Abinadom, his son.

He’d seen many wars and had fought for his brethren. 

Then his son, Amaleki, wrote about a king. 

He was named Mosiah and followed God’s warning.

He was told to flee from the land of Nephi and

Let any who wanted to join his little band.

They would discover a land called Zarahemla.

Its inhabitants rejoiced and welcomed them all.

Their ancestors, were from Jerusalem, as well.

They left soon after Lehi, when the city fell.

Without scriptures, the people’s fall had been abrupt.

They’d forgotten God and their language was corrupt!

So Mosiah caused that they all should learn his tongue

And, with him as king, their two peoples became one.

Some would try to return to the land of Nephi

With their leader Zeniff, a very zealous guy.

But Amaleki stayed and exhorted all men,

“Come to Christ and offer your whole souls unto him!”

He had no seed, so, when he saw his life was done,

He gave the plates to Benjamin, Mosiah’s son.

The Words of Mormon

Then the book’s compiler, Mormon, added his words.

He knew God would make sure the plates would be preserved.

What we have in this record is only a start.

There was so much he couldn’t use a hundredth part. 

Pay attention to the next five books, everyone;

Mormon felt they were choice to him and his brethren.

He had felt the Spirit of God whisper to him

That, for a wise purpose, he’d need to include them.

Since the Savior’s visit, 400 years had passed.

The Nephites, as a people, were disappearing fast.

He felt certain that his own life would soon be done,

So he’d pass the plates on to Moroni his son.

But before he did so, he wrote a little more

About how King Benjamin led his men in war.

He fought with his own arm against the Lamanites

And worked to restore peace with all his body’s might.

They defeated thousands under his brave command

And, thanks to his labors, they had peace in the land.

© 2020 by N. Noelle Maes

Jacob 5-7

Jacob 5

Jacob 5 is long.  It’s not for the faint of heart!

But the read is well worth the message it imparts.

A tame olive tree’s owner learned, to his dismay,

That, despite his work, it had started to decay.

He removed branches and replaced them with wild ones

And grafted tame branches elsewhere in his garden.

After time had passed, he saw that, beyond dispute, 

The wild branches on the tame tree had born good fruit. 

The tame branches also bore fruit, the gardener found—

Even though their new trees were planted in poor ground.

But the one branch that had been planted in good soil

Only bore some good fruit, but some of it was spoiled.

Though the owner wanted to burn every bad branch

His servant convinced him, “Give it a second chance!”

Still more time passed by and they went to check the trees.

All of them bore wild fruit that nobody could eat.

When he saw it, the owner wept; he was undone,

He said to his servant, “What more could I have done?”

Notwithstanding all of their care and their desires

He felt he should cast all the trees into the fire.

But his servant begged him; he felt even stronger

That they should spare the vineyard a little longer.

Then they took the branches they’d removed formerly

And, once more, connected them to their mother tree.

To accomplish this, the owner had to recruit

More servants to help his trees bear this precious fruit

They worked with their might, since the end was drawing nigh.

As they labored, the bad branches were cast aside.

Though shorthanded, the servants did all that they could.

And the vineyard, once again, bore fruit that was good.

There’s a deeper meaning hidden in this story. 

This type of writing is called an allegory.

First, we have the vineyard which represents the world.

And the vineyard’s owner symbolizes the Lord.

Next, the House of Israel is the tame olive tree.

It was due to sin that the tree was decaying.

So God grafted wild branches to the tree with care

And He scattered branches of the tame tree elsewhere.

All the wild branches represent non-Israelites

And the scattered branches were groups like the Nephites.

At first, almost all bore good fruit or righteousness,

But then they grew sinful; the world became a mess!

When the Lord saw such wickedness in all His lands

He gathered the Israelites, helped by His hired hands.

All these servants symbolize disciples of the Lord.

Though they’re few in number, they’ve pledged to spread His word. 

What’s the final lesson that Jacob hoped we’d learn? Those who are wicked, like bad branches, will be burned!

Jacob 6

Jacob testified that this parable was true 

And that it applies to us all, including you!

We’ll be blessed if we’re diligent in God’s vineyard.

And for sinners His arm of mercy is offered.

But if we don’t repent we are, without a doubt, 

Bearing fruit that’s wild and so we will be cast out.

He kept warning sinners what they would have in store.

Then he urged us, “O be wise; what can I say more?”

Jacob 7

Sherem was an antichrist.  This means that he preached

Against Jesus Christ and he used powerful speech.

Many people were flattered and were led away.

Even faithful believers had begun to stray.

He sought to trick Jacob but that was a mistake.

Jacob’s faith was too strong for anyone to shake!

Sherem said that teaching about Christ was absurd.

The Spirit helped Jacob confound him in his words.

Sherem denied Jesus and said He wouldn’t come.

Jacob’s swift reply revealed Sherem’s real problem.

“Do you read the scriptures?” he asked.  Sherem said, “Yea.”

“Then you do not understand anything they say!

“Every prophet spoke of Christ,” Jacob testified.

Sherem remained unconvinced and asked for a sign.

So God struck him down.  When Sherem knew he would die,

He wanted to confess to the people of his lies.

After his confession, Sherem died then and there.

Jacob was relieved.  The Lord had answered his prayer.

Once again, the people had peace and loved the Lord.

They resolved from then on to only read God’s word!

At one point they tried to convert the Lamanites

But it was in vain, they only wanted to fight.

When he was dying, Jacob said unto his son,

“Enos, take these plates.  Promise you’ll get the work done.”

Jacob hoped that his people would read his words through.

He concluded his writing with, “Brethren, adieu.”

© 2020 by N. Noelle Maes