November 13 – Forsaking the Lord for Personal Gain. Hebrews 7:1-4; ‘For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.’
Today we’re looking at a rather complicated, not to mention messy, timing problem in the ‘most correct book on the face of the earth, otherwise known as the Book of Mormon…According to LDS.org, the Nephite nation was killed off by the Lamanites circa 385 AD.Mormon Chapter 6; “The Nephites gather to the land of Cumorah for the final battles—Mormon hides the sacred records in the hill Cumorah—The Lamanites are victorious, and the Nephite nation is destroyed—Hundreds of thousands are slain with the sword. About A.D. 385.”
Keep in mind, this also included Moroni’s dad, Mormon.
Apparently Moroni finished writing his dad’s excerpt for the Book of Mormon c. 401 AD. By this time his dad had already been dead for 15 years.
Mormon 8:3; “And my father also was killed by them, and I even remain alone to write the sad tale of the destruction of my people…” – 401-421 AD
Fast forward a chapter or so to Moroni 8:1 (c. 401-421 AD), and we find Moroni stating he received a letter from his dad, Mormon, shortly after he (Moroni) went into ministry.
Remember, this was fifteen years after his father supposedly died.
“An epistle of my father Mormon, written to me, Moroni; and it was written unto me soon after my calling to the ministry. And on this wise did he write unto me, saying…”
How did this happen?
Complicating matters further, we see another timing problem for Moroni and his dad. The following is still more of that letter where his dad is telling him (Moroni) the Nephites’ pride is what eventually killed them off.
Moroni 8:27; “Behold, my son, I will write unto you again if I go not out soon against the Lamanites. Behold, the pride of this nation, or the people of the Nephites, hath proven their destruction except they should repent.” About A.D. 401–421.
Again, how did this happen?
How could he talk if he was dead?
How would he know these things if he was already dead?
Why would he talk about the pride of the Nephite nation if they were already dead?
And last, but not least, notice three key phrases Mormon focused on in vss. 28-29 –
Moroni 8:28-29; “Pray for them, my son, that repentance may comeunto them. But behold, I fear lest the Spirit hath ceased striving with them; and in this part of the land they are also seeking to put down all power and authority which cometh from God; and they are denying the Holy Ghost. 29 And after rejecting so great a knowledge, my son, they must perish soon, unto the fulfilling of the prophecies which were spoken by the prophets, as well as the words of our Savior himself.” – c. 421 AD
The Nephites had been dead for 36 years so why would they need prayer for them to repent (v. 28)?
If they’d already been dead, why did Mormon state they must perish soon in v. 29?
