We Search the Prophets

Jacob in the Book of Mormon described his people this way: “Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea” (Jacob 4:6). They gained great spiritual power because they searched the scriptures and came to know and understand the words and revelations of the prophets. Throughout the scriptures we see this same invitation to search the words of holy writ for understanding and power. When the Savior visited the Nephites, He gave them this instruction: “And whosoever will hearken unto my words and repenteth and is baptized, the same shall be saved. Search the prophets, for many there be that testify of these things” (3 Nephi 23:5). The sons of Mosiah were among those who did search the scriptures and gained great spiritual power because of it: “They had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God” (Alma 17:2). The converted people of Ammonihah who believed on the words of Alma “began to repent, and to search the scriptures” (Alma 14:1). When Alma taught the Zoramites, he corrected their misunderstanding with this instruction: “But behold, I say unto you, if ye suppose that ye cannot worship God, ye do greatly err, and ye ought to search the scriptures; if ye suppose that they have taught you this, ye do not understand them” (Alma 33:2). We gain the knowledge and spiritual power we need from the scriptures only through searching—casual perusing is simply not enough. The Savior taught in mortality, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39).

Recently some of my children have created little treasure hunts for each other. They will write clues on a paper that lead to other clues and eventually to some prize they have hidden somewhere in the house. The little ones especially love it and find great joy in searching for the next clue and in anticipating the final prize. As I thought about Jacob’s words above, it struck me that I need to help my children find a desire to search in the scriptures just as they like to search for physical objects. But how do you instill that desire to search the word of God in others? Nephi lamented, “And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be” (2 Nephi 32:7). He wanted his people to search for knowledge in the scriptures but lamented that they did not. Perhaps one of the reasons that he labored so diligently to write down the words of Isaiah and his own testimony of the gospel was to try to cultivate in them a desire to search in the word of God. I guess the best that we can do is to try to follow his example, seeking to study the scriptures for ourselves and then sharing them with our children. We can then hope that they will feel of the truthfulness of the words of holy writ and be motivated like the people of Berea taught by Paul: “They received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).