Mormon's Prophetic Commentary

As Mormon abridged the plates of Nephi and summarized what he saw as the most important events and teachings from Nephite and Lamanite history, he often commented on what the history he described should teach us or what consequence it led to.  Using his prophetic vision and insight, he wrote not just what happened but also what it meant.  For example, in Helaman 6 he described the awful state of the Nephites who did “grow in their iniquities” while the Lamanites were growing “exceedingly in the knowledge of their God” (v33-34).  After describing their state, he used the phrase “and thus we see” four times to help us see the effect of the choices of the Nephites and Lamanites.  “And thus we see that the Spirit of the Lord began to withdraw from the Nephites, because of the wickedness and the hardness of their hearts.”  The Holy Ghost simply can’t remain with us if we choose to live wickedly.  On the other hand, the Holy Ghost will come to us in abundance when we do live as the Lord commands: “And thus we see that the Lord began to pour out his Spirit upon the Lamanites, because of their easiness and willingness to believe in his words.”  If we want to have the Spirit of the Lord in our lives, we must have believing hearts.  After describing the Nephites’ lack of caring for the poor, Mormon added, “And thus we see that they were in an awful state, and ripening for an everlasting destruction” (v35-36, 40).  Mormon didn’t just want us to know that the Nephites were wicked and the Lamanites were righteous, but he wanted us to see that wickedness takes the Spirit from our lives and leaves us “ripening for an everlasting destruction.”

               Mormon used the phrase “and thus we see” in several other instances to ensure that we understood the right lesson from the Nephite history he recounted.  For example, after telling the story of Korihor and his ultimate demise as he was trampled to death by the Zoramites, he wrote this: “And thus we see the end of him who perverteth the ways of the Lord; and thus we see that the devil will not support his children at the last day, but doth speedily drag them down to hell” (Alma 30:60).  Korihor had been led by the devil to deceive the people, and Mormon wanted us to see not only that his teachings were false but that trusting in the devil would leave us completely forsaken.  Later in Nephite history as they were in the midst of a terrible war with the Lamanites because of Amalickiah, Mormon described how the Nephites prepared and were living righteously such that the Lord blessed them greatly.  “And thus we see how merciful and just are all the dealings of the Lord, to the fulfilling of all his words unto the children of men; yea, we can behold that his words are verified, even at this time, which he spake unto Lehi, saying: Blessed art thou and thy children; and they shall be blessed, inasmuch as they shall keep my commandments they shall prosper in the land” (Alma 50:19-20).  Mormon knew the effects of wickedness and of righteousness on a society and wanted to make sure his readers saw the great blessings of the Lord that would come to those who kept the commandments.  Unfortunately, those blessings often led the Nephites to forget the Lord, and Mormon also wanted to make we saw what God had to do when His people forgot Him: “And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him” (Helaman 12:3).   Often for the Nephites their difficult trials were given by the Lord so that they would repent and remember Him.

                Those are just a few of the lessons that Mormon wanted to make sure we learn as we read the Book of Mormon stories.  The Book of Mormon is not really a book of history; it is a book about God’s dealings with His people.  As we pay attention to Mormon’s prophetic commentary, we can learn how God will bless and chastise us as we choose whether or not to keep His commandments.