4 Nephi—The second great
abbreviation
The Book of Mormon record
comes to us in three main sections. The first from 1 Nephi to Enos establishes
the beginning of the story. The next 290 years is abbreviated into two small books,
Jarom and Omni. The middle section, from Mosiah to 3 Nephi, is separated from
the ending by the abbreviated history known as 4 Nephi. While Jarom and Omni
cover 290 years in 45 verses, 4 Nephi covers 286 years in 49 verses. As these
two sections demonstrate, the point of the Book of Mormon is not to be an
exhaustive history. In only 49 verses, Mormon takes us from complete, uniform
righteousness to near complete apostasy. The many causes of this wicked
metamorphosis do not require exhaustive elaboration for they are the same
things which had previously plagued the Nephites: riches, pride, class distinctions, perverted doctrines, secret
combinations, and willful rebellion.
Spencer J. Condie
“One
question often raised about Mormon’s abridgement is, why is 4 Nephi such a
brief book, with only four pages covering a period of 285 years? A corollary
question is, if, during the first 166 years after the visit of Christ to the
Nephites, ‘there could not be a happier people’
(4 Nephi 1:16), why do we not have a much more detailed record of their recipe
for righteousness?
“A
partial answer may be found in the fact that 3 Nephi does contain this
recipe for righteousness. Fourth Nephi then records the natural consequences of
righteousness, as ‘they did walk after the
commandments which they had received from their Lord and their God,’ and
‘there was no contention in the land, because of the
love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people’ (4 Nephi 1:3,
12, 15).” (Heroes From the Book of Mormon, p. 172-3)
4 Ne 1:2 in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all
converted
Obviously, not all of the
population was present for Christ’s visit to the Nephites. Many had to be
taught the gospel, invited to repent, and were baptized (see v. 1). Presumably,
the overwhelming majority were personal witnesses of the risen Lord and helped
in the missionary work from AD 34 to AD 36 which resulted in the conversion of
every soul.
It is not by coincidence
that the Nephites were all converted and had no contentions among them prior to
them having all things common among them. Division, contention, and pride are
the collective antithesis of a Zion community. All three had to be rooted out
for Zion to prosper. The attempts to establish Zion among the early saints were
hampered by just this problem. Of the early saints, the Lord said, they…are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of
their substance as becometh saints, to the poor and afflicted among them; And
are not united according to the union required by the law of the celestial
kingdom; And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law
of the celestial kingdom (DC 105:3-5).
Marion G. Romney
“The
time will come when the joyful living which prevailed among these Nephites and
the people of Enoch will prevail upon the whole face of this earth. It will
come when people do as these people did-become ‘converted
unto the Lord.’” (BYU Speeches of the Year, 1960, p. 9)
Spencer W. Kimball
“[As
a guide to becoming a Zion Society] First, we must eliminate the individual
tendency to selfishness that snares the soul, shrinks the heart, and darkens
the mind….Second, we must cooperate completely and work in harmony one with the
other. There must be unanimity in our decisions and unity in our actions…Third,
we must lay on the altar [of] sacrifice whatever is required by the Lord. We
begin by offering a ‘broken heart and contrite
spirit.’ We follow this by giving our best effort in our assigned fields
of labor and callings. We learn our duty and execute it fully. Finally we
consecrate our time, talents, and means as called upon by our file leaders and
as prompted by the whisperings of the Spirit.” (Conference Report, Apr.
1978, p. 123
as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K.
Douglas Bassett, p. 466)
4 Ne 1:2 every man did deal justly one with another
Brigham Young
“We
need to learn, practice, study, know and understand how angels live with each
other. When this community comes to the point to be perfectly honest and
upright, you will never find a poor person; none will lack, all will have
sufficient. Every man, woman, and child will have all they need just as soon as
they all become honest. When the majority of the community are dishonest, it
maketh the honest portion poor, for the dishonest serve and enrich themselves
at their expense.” (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 232 as taken from
Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas
Bassett, p. 467)
4 Ne 1:3 they had all things common among them
Obviously, when the
scriptures speak of having ‘all things common,’
it refers to the law of consecration. Many assume that the Nephite version of
consecration and the United Order as practiced in this dispensation are
virtually the same thing. However, under the United Order, property was not
“commonly” owned. Bruce R. McConkie said, “The United order is not a
communal system; it is not one under which all things are held in common.
Rather, after a person has made his consecration, the Lord’s agent forthwith
reconveys to the donor ‘as much as is sufficient for
himself and family’ (DC 42:32).” (Mormon Doctrine, p. 813). Under
such a system, the member of the United Order is a
steward over his own property (DC 42:32).
In contrast to the stewardship
concept of the United Order, the early saints in the Old World did not claim
ownership of any property. Truly, the bed they slept on belonged to the group,
the clothes they wore belonged to the group, the furniture they used belonged
to the group, for not one of them said…that ought of
the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common
(Acts 4:32). This version of the law of consecration would require more
humility, charity, and purity than the way the United Order was practiced.
Presumably, the Nephites practiced this version of the law of consecration, for
they had all things common among them. “The
lesson of 4 Nephi suggests that…only the law of consecration will do away with
‘money and private property,’ which are the ‘insuperable obstacles to the
achievement of utopia.’” (Don Norton in Approaching Zion by Hugh Nibley,
xvii)
Marion G. Romney
“Becoming
a people which is collectively pure in heart is not an impossible dream or an
idealistic goal…When we reach the state of having the ‘pure
love of Christ,’ our desire to serve one another will have grown to the
point where we will be living fully the law of consecration. Living the law of
consecration exalts the poor and humbles the rich. In the process, both are
sanctified. The poor, released from the and humiliating limitations of poverty,
are enabled as free men to rise to their full potential, both temporally and
spiritually. The rich, by consecration and the imparting of their surplus for
the benefit of the poor, not by constraint, but willingly as an act of free
will, evidence that charity for their fellowmen characterized by Mormon as ‘the pure love of Christ.’ (Moro.
7:47.) This will bring both the giver and receiver to the
common ground on which the Spirit of God can meet them.
“It
is the mission of the Church of this last dispensation to develop another
people who shall live the gospel in its fulness. This people are to become ‘pure in heart,’ and they shall flourish and be
blessed upon the mountains and upon the high places. They shall be the Lord’s
people. They shall walk with God because they shall be of one heart and one
mind, and they shall dwell in righteousness, and there shall be no poor among
them.” (Conference Report, Nov. 1981 Ensign, “Living Welfare
Principles”)
4 Ne 1:10 the people of Nephi…did multiply exceedingly fast
Two of the biggest reasons
why population explosions remain in check are warfare and disease. Among the
Nephites and Lamanites, the former was particularly limiting. After Christ’s
ministry, the warfare and disease were both removed, for there was no contention (v. 13) and the disciples did heal the sick (v. 5). The result was a
population explosion that would have easily replaced the many slain for their
wickedness (3 Ne 8-9).
4 Ne 1:11 they were married…and were blessed according to the
multitude of promises
Those of us familiar with
the ordinance of temple marriage may wonder what kind of marriages were
performed among the Nephites after Christ’s ministry. Mormon is intentionally
silent about any new temple ordinances, but in this verse he hints that the
marriages performed were according to a new order. First, he speaks of
nondescript “promises” which could include the promises given to those entering
the covenant of eternal marriage. Second, Mormon begins the next verse with a
comment about how things were no longer done according to the Law of Moses. The
new and everlasting covenant of marriage is contrasted, in his mind, with the
old law with its performances and ordinances.
Although it is possible to read too much into the scriptures, this
interpretation seems natural and appropriate. The Book of Mormon often
references temple doctrines but does so in a very subtle way.
4 Ne 1:15 there was no contention in the land
“A
striking feature of Mormon’s description of Zion in 4 Nephi is the total lack
of contention in the land, which he mentions no less than four times (see vv.
2,13,15,18). This surely must have been due to the complete unity of a
civilization in which there were neither Nephites, Lamanites, nor any manner of
–ites, but all were one in Christ (see v. 17) because the love of God dwelt in
their hearts (see v. 15).
“Mormon
was something of an expert on contention or civil strife, having read much
about it in the records of Alma, Helaman, and Nephi, and having experienced it
firsthand during his lifetime. The complete harmony and total unity of the
people living in the society which had witnessed the Savior’s visitation surely
must have been a stunning development in Mormon’s panoramic view of Nephite
history.” (Andrew Skinner, Ensign, Sept. 2000, p. 59)
Dallin H. Oaks
“In
those brilliant generations that followed the appearance of the resurrected
Christ in the New World, ‘there were no contentions
and disputations among [the people], and
every man did deal justly one with another’ (4 Ne. 1:2).
Fourth Nephi records: ‘Surely there could not be a
happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God’ (4 Ne. 1:16).
We should be striving to regain that condition. As modern revelation declares:
‘Zion must increase in beauty, and in holiness’ (D&C 82:14).
One of the ways prescribed to achieve that increase is ‘every man seeking the
interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory
of God’ (D&C 82:19).”
(Conference Report, Nov. 1986 Ensign, “Brother’s Keeper”)
4 Ne 1:16 surely there could not be a happier people
If man is that he might have
joy, then the goal of society should be the same. Society’s very existence
should serve the purpose of producing a collective joy and happiness. How is
this attainable? It is the natural result of uniform obedience to the laws of
God. The Lord would love for us to be this happy all the time if we would just
be obedient. He doesn’t play favorites.
If the Nephites were that happy and blessed, it was because they
deserved it. If we are not, we know who to blame. Elder Theodore Tuttle
stated, “Now, this blessed condition is attainable today, but it is attainable
only upon the basis of accepting God as Father and all men as brothers and
living the plan of salvation…This plan is bringing about a true brotherhood in
this day and it is up to you and me to make it function even more perfectly.” (Conference
Report, Apr. 1959, p. 48)
Joseph
Fielding Smith
“What
a glorious time that must have been when everybody was happy, when everybody
was at peace, when everyone loved his neighbor as himself, and above all he
loved God, because we are informed here that the thing which brought about this
condition of happiness was the fact that the love of God was in the hearts of
the people. There never will be a time of peace, happiness, justice tempered by
mercy, when all men will receive that which is their right and privilege to
receive, until they get in their hearts the love of God.” (Doctrines of
Salvation, 3:320)
Neal A. Maxwell
“Thus
the relevancy of ‘love thy neighbor,’ if
practiced ‘here and now,’ one day will
demonstrate how it will be applied in the coming ‘there
and then’-in a neighborhood as wide as the universe!” (If Thou Endure
It Well, p. 98)
Neal A. Maxwell
“Insofar
as a family can become a little Zion, it must stretch toward these same
dimensions in its life.” (That My Family Should Partake, p. 107)
The First Presidency
“Happiness
in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and
maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect,
love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.” (“The Family: A
Proclamation to the World”)
4 Ne 1:17 neither were there…any manner of –ites; but they were in
one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God
Russell M. Nelson
“Throughout
the world…strident voices are engaged in divisive disputation and name-calling.
Often demeaning nicknames are added to—or even substituted for—given names.
Unfortunately, terms of derision obscure the true identity of children of the
covenant…When the Nephites were truly righteous, they avoided divisive
nicknames….’There were no…Lamanites, nor any manner
of –ites; but they were one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom
of God’ (4 ne 1:17). That lesson from history suggests that we also
delete from our personal vocabularies names that segregate…” (Ensign,
May 1995, p. 34 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon
compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 468-9)
Elder Anthony W. Ivins
“We
have not succeeded, during the past century, in accomplishing that which was
accomplished by the Nephites, notwithstanding the great results which have come
from our efforts. The people have not yet all been converted to the Lord. We
have not reached that condition, which I sincerely believe that we must some
time reach, when we are united in temporal things, as were the Nephites. We
have not reached a condition where there is no envy, nor strife, nor malice,
nor whoredoms, nor any manner of lasciviousness among the people. We have not
reached a condition that we are in one the children of Christ, as the Lord
would have us to be.” (Conference Report, Apr. 1920, p. 113)
4 Ne 1:19 Nephi, he that kept this last record, died, and his son Amos
kept it in his stead
“The
above-named Nephi (son of the Nephi of the Twelve) died A. D. 110, having kept
the record seventy-six years. His son,
Amos, kept it in his stead, for the long period of eighty-four years. It is evident that through righteousness the
lives of these men were greatly prolonged.
There was still peace in the land, save that in later years a small
number of people revolted from the church, and resumed the name of Lamanites. Amos died A.D. 194.” (A Book of Mormon
Treasury, p. 111)
4 Ne 1:20 a small part of the people…had revolted from the church
Jeffrey R. Holland
“But
then, in the 184th year after Christ's birth, exactly 150 years after his
ministry in the New World, ‘a small part of the
people . . . revolted from the church.’ That was the beginning of the
end of Nephite society. It took several years to happen, and several pages of
Book of Mormon history to record it, but those words marked the end of the
great Christian epoch in the New World of which so many prophets had dreamed
and prophesied and for which so many had died. With that phrase, the saga we
know as the Book of Mormon began drawing to a close.
“After
two hundred years, the movement away from the Zionlike principles of Christ's
teachings was inexorable.” (Christ And The New Covenant, p. 315)
4 Ne 1:20 there began to be Lamanites again in the land
“A
few that were weary of the uninterrupted bliss, the perfect harmony, the
universal love, that everywhere prevailed, seceded from the Church and took
upon themselves the title of Lamanite, which ill-boding name had only been
known to the Nephites in tradition for more than 100 years.
“It
may be asked, ‘How was it possible that men and women should withdraw from such
a holy order or society where all was perfect peace; where every man dealt
justly with his neighbors; where none afflicted wrongs and none suffered from
injustice done them; where angels ministered to the children of mortality, and
heavenly revelations were their constant guides?’
“If
the inquirer will answer why Lucifer, the Son of the Morning, in Heaven itself,
rebelled against the Almighty Father and led astray one-third of the angelic
hosts, we will reply by saying that he, Satan, tempted the dissenting Nephites
with the same spirit of rebellion to the Divine Power and that he succeeded in
ensnaring them and leading them away captive to his will.“ (Reynolds and
Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 7, p. 249-50)
4 Ne 1:24 in this two hundred and first year there began to be…pride
“Here
the insidious nature of pride is laid bare, and its destructive effects on Zion
are seen in an unmistakable way. Pride destroys unity and promotes selfishness.
‘Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it
than the next man.’ Pride seeks to create divisions among people purely for the
sake of self-interest, that some may place themselves above others and exploit
them. President Ezra Taft Benson stated: ‘It was essentially the sin of
pride that kept us from establishing Zion in the days of the Prophet Joseph
Smith. It was the same sin of pride that brought consecration to an end among
the Nephites.
“’Pride
is the great stumbling block to Zion.’” (Andrew Skinner, Ensign, Sept.
2000, p. 60)
4 Ne 1:27 many churches …did receive all manner of wickedness
Certainly, there is a
latter-day parallel. We currently see a trend among many churches to loosen
their standards in an attempt to appeal to a larger audience. Homosexuality is no
longer condemned because that might drive away some homosexuals. Other sexual
sin must be allowed so as not to offend those in the congregation who may be
guilty of serious sin. Sometimes, these churches have received all manner of wickedness as if in a popularity
contest. However, such “open-minded” doctrine amounts to nothing more than
flattery with a flaxen cord (2 Ne 26:22). Inevitably, their attempts to loosen
standards only allow Satan to tighten his grip.
On the other hand, the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continues to take a hard line
against sin. One would think that such “closed-mindedness” would drive people
away. Yet, while condemning all manner of wickedness,
this church is not losing its members, but gaining them by the thousands. The
congregations steadily enlarge and the baptisms continue. Such success is
dependent not on the loosening of standards but to holding fast to standards of
righteousness, hereby proving that the only kind of popularity we should seek
is popularity with God.
4 Ne 1:32 they did cast them into furnaces of fire
See commentary for 3 Ne
28:21-22.
4 Ne 1:34 the people did harden their hearts
“What
should these people have done when they witnessed the miracles? They should have done the same thing their
ancestors did in reaction to the miracle of Jesus' visit, the same thing we
should do in response to a miracle—repent. But these people did not repent;
instead, they despised the righteous because of the miracles that were wrought
among them. The record states that ‘the people did
harden their hearts, for they were led by many priests and false prophets to
build up many churches, and to do all manner of iniquity’ (4 Nephi
1:34). Mormon emphasized, ‘they did not dwindle in
unbelief, but they did willfully rebel against the gospel of Christ’ (v
38). He further states that even ‘the people who
were called the people of Nephi began to be proud in their hearts, because of
their exceeding riches, and become vain like unto their brethren, the
Lamanites’ (v 43). Thus we can trace the sad consequences of failure to
repent and to stay close to the Lord. The Nephites lost the Spirit that had
provided them with unity and glorious feelings of charity.” (Alvin C.
Rencher, Book of Mormon Symposium Series, 4 Nephi - Moroni, edited by PR
Cheesman, MS Nyman, and CD Tate, Jr., 1988, p. 272)
4 Ne 1:38 they did willfully rebel…and they did teach their children
that they should not believe
Bruce R. McConkie
“Thus,
apostasy, rebellion, wickedness, and great abominations of every manner and
form overran the Nephite people and became part of their worship. Satan, in
other words, was setting up his church again among them. And he did the same
thing, in manner and form, in the Old World when the descendants of the saints
of Jesus' day began to depart from the revealed moorings.
“With
apostasy comes war and destruction; and so, continuing the divine chronology,
Nephi was shown the destruction of the people who bore his name, and the
dwindling in unbelief of his Lamanite kin, until they became ‘a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of
abominations.’ (1 Ne. 12:13-23.)” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary,
3:550)
4 Ne 1:42 the people began again to build up the secret oaths and
combinations
“Without
question Satan was at the very heart of the secret combinations which destroyed
once and for all, without hope of recovery, the Zion society of the Nephites.
He alone inspires the hearts of wicked men to secretly combine against
righteousness (Helaman 6:26). And he concocts and administers the oaths and
covenants of his kingdom. However, Satan could not have made any inroads
without the initial overtures of the people themselves. Joseph Smith taught
that ‘the moment we revolt at anything which comes from God, the devil
takes power’ (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 181). The
people of 4 Nephi, guilty of this revolt or rebellion, consciously rejected
light and truth.” (Andrew Skinner, Book of
Mormon Symposium Series, 4 Nephi - Moroni, edited by PR Cheesman, MS Nyman,
and CD Tate, Jr., 1988, p. 299)
4 Ne 1:46 there were none that were righteous save it were the
disciples of Jesus
Hugh Nibley
“From
the first, according to the apocalyptic concept of history, men have chosen the
darkness rather than the light. This teaching receives great emphasis in the
Book of Mormon, where a constantly recurring event is the apostasy of God's
church from the way of righteousness. Such general apostasies are described in
Alma 62:44-46; Helaman 4:11-12, 21-23; 3 Nephi 7:7; 4 Nephi 1:27-31, 38-46.
Behind this is the general weakness of the human race and ‘the nothingness of the children of men’ (Helaman
12:4-7), which make this world inevitably the kingdom of darkness and the
dominion of Satan, ‘which comes by the cunning plans
which he hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men’ (Alma 28:13).” (An
Approach to the Book of Mormon, p. 205)
4 Ne 1:46 they…did traffic in all manner of traffic
Hugh Nibley
“Such
an economic order in which everyone was busy trafficking and getting rich was not,
according to 4 Nephi, a free society. It was only under the old system, he
tells us, that ‘they had all things common among
them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all
made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift’ (4 Nephi 1:3).” (An
Approach to the Book of Mormon, p. 398)