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Scripture Power

In Sunday School, we were having a discussion on the scattering of the 12 tribes of Israel. The scattering was always the plan, how else would the gospel go throughout all the world? The people could have remained a righteous people and followed the guidance from the spirit to go throughout all the nations, but they were not. They had become wicked and as a result, they did not have the protection of the Lord. They were taken captive by the Assyrians and carried away captive to all the lands. They forgot who they were. They did not continue to live the gospel. They turned aside the things of the spirit and eventually became completely spiritually lost. 

On the other hand, we have the account of Lehi's family as recorded in the Book of Mormon. Under the great mercies of Heavenly Father, and under His protection, Lehi's family was prompted to leave the southern kingdom of Israel and travel across the Great Deep to eventually make it to the promised land (which we know to be the North and South American continent). 

The teacher asked, how can we make sure that we do not become spiritually lost in our day? I didn't answer, because I was still formulating my thoughts, but here is my answer.

Knowing what we know about the scattering, we know that the 10 tribes of Israel became lost not necessarily because they had become captive and scattered, but rather it was because they had forgotten who they were. They had forgotten the Lord and His customs. They forgot who Israel was meant to be. They no longer worshiped the God of Israel. 

When Lehi's family left Jerusalem, they had to go back to get the brass plates. According the Nephi, the brass plates contained a genealogy of their fathers which linked his family back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, thereby perpetuating the patriarchal covenant-- "The promises made to their fathers" in the new hemisphere. It also contained the books of Moses and the Mosiac law (1 Nephi 4:15-16, 1 Nephi 5:11). Thus, this knowledge then tied the Nephites to their Old World kinsmen in both cultural and spiritual belief and practices. According to Sidney B. Sperry, (Answers to Book of Mormon Questions, Salt Lake City; Bookcraft, 1967, pp. 43-44.) it is likely that the Brass Plates may have been the official scripture of the 10 tribes. Sidney B. Sperry says, "the prophets in both nations probably paid little attention to the political lines of division (the Northern and Southern kingdoms of Israel), but it is improbable that all of them had their words recorded in the scriptures of both nations... The brass plates may have been the official scripture of the Ten Tribes. It is probable that some prophets wrote on these plates whose writings may not have been recorded on the records kept in Judah. Were Zenos, Zenock, Neum, and Ezias among them?" We know little about these prophets, but they are prophets that testified of Christ in the writings contained on the brass plates, however these prophets are not mentioned in the bible. We know of them because they have been quoted in the Book of Mormon by Nephite leaders, they are quoted as testifying of Christ (Helamen 8:1-20, 1 Nephi 19:10, 3 Nephi 10:14-16, Alma 33:15-17). Of Zenos and Zenoch, Mormon states: "Many have testified of these things [signs of the Savior's death] at the coming of Christ, and were slain because they testified of these things. Yea, the prophet Zenos did testify of these things, and also Zenock spake concerning these things, because they testified particularly concerning us, who are a remnant of their seed." This suggests that they were of the lineage of Joseph. This link to Joseph was crucial because it tied Joseph Smith to the prophecy contained in 2 Nephi 3:5, "that out of the fruit of his loins [Joseph who was carried away captive into Egypt] the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the House of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord." In 2 Nephi 3:6-24 we are told that many of Joseph's seed would write and that a great Joseph would translate the record in the latter days, and also about Moses. See also 2 Nephi 4:2.

Many of the Nephite prophets used the words of these earlier prophets from the plates of brass (Alma 33:3-11, Jacob 5). There are other instances in which Book of Mormon prophets speak on things contained in their ancient scripture which is not contained in the Bible. Three of the most significant truths are: 1. The fall of Lucifer (2 Nephi 2: 17-18). 2. The great fall and the atonement (2 Nephi 2:22). 3. Abraham's knowledge of the Savior, the Messiah (Helamen 8:16-17).

The plates of brass were crucial to the spiritual survival of Lehi's family and his descendants. The Lord commanded Lehi's family to return to Jerusalem and obtain the plates, even by the eventual beheading of Laban, “it is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief” (1 Nephi 4:13).

Because Lehi's family returned for these scriptures, they did not become a lost people. They continued to prophesy and write, and their writings came forth in the Book of Mormon. Because they were not spiritually lost we have the Book of Mormon in our day. Through the Book of Mormon we have been given the beautiful account of Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life. We have knowledge that the Iron Rod as depicted in that account is the Word of God. By holding tightly to the Word of God, we can then press onward on that path that leads us to the Tree of Life, the Love of God, to Eternal Life in His Presence, to Exaltation. The answer to not becoming spiritually lost is this: hold onto the scriptures, seek to hear from the prophets of old and the prophets today. Stay on the path that leads home to Him, it is a path full of covenants and promises, it is a straight and narrow path that has the sure grip of the Iron Rod to guide us through the mists of darkness.  

Short answer: Plates of Brass=> Book of Mormon => key to our spiritual survival in the Last Days.