3 Ne 8:1-10:19

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Home > The Book of Mormon > Third Nephi > Chapters 8-10
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Summary[edit]

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Relationship to Third Nephi. The relationship of Chapters 8-10 to the rest of Third Nephi is discussed at Third Nephi.

Story. Chapters 8-10 consists of ____ major sections:

Message. Themes, symbols, and doctrinal points emphasized in Chapters 8-10 include:

Discussion[edit]

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  • 3 Ne 8:1-2. It appears that there may have been some uncertainty as to what year Christ was born. But they assume that since a righteous individual recorded 33 years, that that must be correct.
  • 3 Ne 8:25. As in verse 25, today we are not physically stoning the prophets, but we are symbolically stoning them when we neglect and do not heed unto their words. Yet in Chapter 10:12 it states that "it was they who received the prophets and stoned them not" that were spared. Perhaps, they were speaking for their city as a whole...
  • 3 Ne 9:2. The Lord tells the people that the devil and his angels laughed when the Lord destroyed the wicked people. We might have thought that in the battle between good and evil when the Lord destroys the wicked, the Lord gets ahead and the devil takes a set back. This isn't the case. The devil rejoices when the Lord punishes the wicked. If we rejoice in the punishment of the wicked, we take the same position the devil does.
  • 3 Ne 9:9-11: Destruction of the wicked. These verses explain how the Lord intervenes to destroy the wicked when they kill or cast out the righteous. This concept is addressed at length in the discussion of Hel 13:14. The statement in 3 Ne 9:11 that there were none righteous among the people recalls the conversation between Abraham and the Lord in Gen 18:23-33 in which Abraham asked "Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" and Alma 62:40 in which Mormon, as narrator, explains that the Nephites were not at that time destroyed for the sake of the righteous who were among them.
  • 3 Ne 9:11-12: Silence. I'm thinking a little bit about the point of this pause for several hours between what the Lord says to the people in chapter 9 and what he says to the people in chapter 10. I'm guessing the purpose of the pause was to give them some time to think about what he says. It is interesting that before the Lord speaks in chapter 9 the people are mourning. Then they are so amazed that they are quiet. After the Lord speaks a second time the people begin mourning again. Just comparing the two, the first speech is more angry (it certainly starts that way). The second is more mourning. The first speech ends with a promise: if they will repent they will be saved (3 Ne 9:13-21). The second speech has the same promise near the end too (if they will repent they will be saved) but ultimately ends with a warning: they will be wiped out if they don't repent (3 Ne 10:7).
  • 3 Ne 10:4-6. The Lord addresses three groups of people. First he addresses "ye people of these great cities which have fallen." The fallen are those the Lord has killed because of their wickedness (see 3 Ne 9:3-12). In verse 5 he addresses "ye that dwell at Jerusalem." Then in verse 6 he addresses those of the hose of Israel whom I have spared. The first two groups are, of course, not present to hear what is being said. So why is he addressing them? Part of what seems to be going on is the Lord mourning for his people (similar to Moses 7:32-41). Here the Lord specifically seems to be mourning how easy it would have been for them to repent--and yet they did not.
  • 3 Ne 10:4: As ye that have fallen. This phrase compares those at Jerusalem who the Lord has not destroyed with those in the great cities of the Nephites and Lamanites that he has destroyed. With the phrase "as ye that have fallen" the Lord is comparing them to the wicked Nephites and Lamanites which teh Lord wanted to gather, but they would not.
  • 3 Ne 10:7: Covenant of their fathers. In verse 7 the covenant of their fathers is associated with the covenant Enos made with God in Enos 1:12-18. This covenant says that God will preserve the record of the Nephites and even after they are destroyed and bring forth the record in a future day unto the Lamanites that they will be brought unto salvation. It seems that this is the future day when there are so many missionaries in Central and South America and they are converting many people.

Unanswered questions[edit]

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Prompts for life application[edit]

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Prompts for further study[edit]

This section is for prompts that invite us to think about a passage more deeply or in a new way. These are not necessarily questions that beg for answers, but rather prompts along the lines of "Have you ever thought about ..." Prompts are most helpful when they are developed individually, thoughtfully, and with enough background information to clearly indicate a particular direction for further study or thought. Click the link above and to the right to edit or add content to this heading. →

  • 3 Ne 8:3: People began to look for the sign that Samuel gave of Christ's death. How was this instance similar to the way people acted at the time of Christ's birth?
  • 3 Ne 8:3: How did they know that the sign of his death would come after 33 years? I can't find any place where Samuel specified when the Savior would die, only that it would be accompanied by a sign.
  • 3 Ne 8:5ff: Is there any way to know how much permanent destruction was caused to the "face of the land" during these events?
  • 3 Ne 9:1: To what group of people is Mormon referring when he says "among all the inhabitants of the earth"?
  • 3 Ne 9:13: The Lord compares the survivors' righteousness with that of those who were slain. How should we read this? Should we assume that every person still alive was more righteous than each person who died? What is the purpose of this comparison? Is it ever helpful for us to compare individual's righteousness or worthiness with others'?
  • 3 Ne 9:15: Is Christ's introduction in this verse a considerably literal fulfillment of the prophecy in Mosiah 3:8?
  • 3 Ne 9:15: "was with." Is this subtle use of past tense Christ's way of indicating that, up until the time of his earthly ministry, he and Heavenly Father were pretty much inseparable?
  • 3 Ne 9:15: "from the beginning." Is Christ saying this because he was the firstborn and therefore he has spent more time with Heavenly Father than any of the rest of us?
  • 3 Ne 9:15: What does it mean when Christ says "I am in the Father and the Father in me?"
  • 3 Ne 9:15: Glorified his name." Is Christ saying that Heavenly principally or exclusively achieves glory through his firstborn son? Doesn't God receive glory when the rest of his children follow his ways? Or is it all still through Christ because all of the rest of us can only bring glory to God insofar as we partake of the atonement?
  • 3 Ne 9:20: The Lamanites were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and "they knew it not." What does that mean? Why wouldn't they know if they had such faith, and why would the Savior make mention of it in this context just before appearing to the Nephites for the first time?
  • 3 Ne 10:7: In verse 7, what is the covenant of their fathers?
  • 3 Ne 10:16: So was Lehi a descendant of Zenos and Zenock?

Resources[edit]

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"I once had an opportunity to accompany President Spencer W. Kimball to a distant land. We were given a tour of the various sites in the area, including underground catacombs—burial grounds for people who had been persecuted by Christian zealots. As we came up the dark, narrow stairs of that place, President Kimball taught me an unforgettable lesson. He pulled my coattail and said, 'It has always troubled me what the adversary does using the name of our Savior.' He then said, 'Robert, the adversary can never have joy unless you and I sin.'"
  • 3 Ne 9:14. Anne C. Pingree, "To Look, Reach, and Come unto Christ," Ensign, Nov 2006, pp. 113–15. Sister Pingree said: "His promise invites us not only to reach towards Him but also to take the all-important next step: to 'come unto' Him."

Notes[edit]

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