Book of Mormon Prophets Looking Back

In King Benjamin’s teachings to his sons recorded in Mosiah 1 he included this counsel: “O my sons, I would that ye should remember that these sayings are true, and also that [the plates of brass] are true. And behold, also the plates of Nephi, which contain the records and the sayings of our fathers from the time they left Jerusalem until now, and they are true; and we can know of their surety because we have them before our eyes” (Mosiah 1:6).  He continued in the next verse by inviting his sons to “remember to search them diligently.”  What’s interesting to me is that he was encouraging them to read the records that had been written from Lehi to the present time.  We don’t have a lot of references in the Book of Mormon to previous teachings of Nephite prophets, but there are several places where that happens and I think it shows our own need to remember the teachings given by previous prophets in our own dispensation. 

                When King Benjamin’s grandson Ammon taught King Lamoni he used the Nephite records to help teach.  We read, “Now when Ammon had said these words, he began at the creation of the world, and also the creation of Adam, and told him all the things concerning the fall of man, and rehearsed and laid before him the records and the holy scriptures of the people, which had been spoken by the prophets, even down to the time that their father, Lehi, left Jerusalem….   And he expounded unto them all the records and scriptures from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem down to the present time” (Alma 18:36, 38).  So Ammon used both the teachings on the plates of brass as well as the Nephite record to teach the gospel to King Lamoni.  Another place where the Nephites looked back to previous teachings was in the words of Helaman to his sons.  He said this to Nephi and Lehi, “O remember, remember, my sons, the words which king Benjamin spake unto his people; yea, remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh to redeem the world.  And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, in the city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins” (Helaman 5:9-10).  So he used both the teachings of King Benjamin as well as Amulek, showing that he had studied and been taught by the records of previous Nephite prophets.  Helaman’s son learned from his father and he was clearly inspired by the teachings about Christ of the Nephite record keepers.  He said to his people: “Our father Lehi was driven out of Jerusalem because he testified of these things. Nephi also testified of these things, and also almost all of our fathers, even down to this time; yea, they have testified of the coming of Christ, and have looked forward, and have rejoiced in his day which is to come” (Helaman 8:22).  Moroni was another who was inspired by the words and actions of previous Nephite prophets.  This is clearly evident in his commentary on faith found in Ether 12.  He referred to the experience and faith of Alma and Amulek in causing the prison in Ammonihah to come down, he spoke of the faith of Nephi and Lehi--the sons of Helaman just mentioned—who were able to convert so many Lamanites, and he praised the “faith of Ammon and his brethren” for the missionary work they did (Ether 12:13-15).

                One of the lessons perhaps that we can take from these references to earlier prophetic teachings by the Nephite prophets is our own need to study the words of modern day prophets.  We have much to learn from the lessons and teachings of the prophets since Joseph Smith as well as the revelations of the Doctrine and Covenants themselves.  Just as the Nephite prophets placed emphasis on ancient scriptures—the plates of brass—as well as contemporary scriptures—the Nephite record—so we too should "search diligently" both the words of the standard works as well as the teachings of our modern prophets.