Searching the Scriptures

Searching the Scriptures

            A bright and successful missionary attended a Book of Mormon class that I had been teaching for new members and people that missionaries had been teaching.  It was obvious to me that the missionary was well-versed in the Book of Mormon as well as all the scriptures and had a strong testimony of the gospel.  As I taught the class I frequently referred to what I call red flags in the Book of Mormon that shout out to the reader to pay attention to what follows.

            The missionary approached me after the class and thanked me for teaching her how to study the Book of Mormon.  “I’ve been a member of the Church all my life and have read the Book of Mormon several times,” she confided.  “But, no one ever taught me how to study it.”

            I was taken aback by her comment especially since she was so obviously well-versed in the scriptures, had attended four years of seminary, and was now only weeks away from finishing her full-time mission.  How was it possible, I wondered, that a person with such great understanding and fervent testimony never learned how to study the Book of Mormon?  It finally occurred to me that she had been taught all the scriptures and all the doctrine since her years in Primary, in her home, in Young Women’s, and in Seminary.  It was through her dutiful study she had all those marvelous teachings confirmed in her heart by the Spirit, but she never had the experience of discovering many of the marvelous truths on her own.

            Teachers and leaders tell us what to study (the scriptures and words of living prophets) and provide us with valuable insights.  There are so many guides available to us ranging from the Topical Guide, indices, and The Bible Dictionary to commentaries of all the Standard Works and online resources.  Using those resources allows us to make in-depth study of topics in the scriptures and provide us with practical application to the doctrines that learn.  Our understanding of the scriptures can experience tremendous growth as we rely upon these inspired resources.

            Then of course there is the measure of comfort that comes from simply reading the scriptures and the light we allow into our lives by reading and pondering upon this Holy Writ.  The scriptures provide direct answers to daily problems and by opening the conduit between heaven and earth so we may receive inspiration from the Holy Ghost.  We must never underestimate the power of the scriptures in our lives.

            There are, however, other tools and means by which we can discover wonderful gospel doctrine and gain a deeper understanding of the hidden truths within the pages of the Standard Works.

            In the earlier parts of my career as a police patrol officer and later as a detective I often found myself in the process of searching motor vehicles for contraband, illegal weapons, and other evidence of crime.  I learned how to search vehicles at the police academy.  But, it was through experience that I learned where it would be within the search that I could find evidence that I was looking for.  These were places in cars where I paid extra attention because I knew that these signal locations were most likely to yield the evidence I sought.  These signal locations were generally under arm rests, inside consoles, in glove boxes, above sun visors, under floor mats, under seats, and quite often in closed containers such as film canisters, bags, or purses.  These areas were my red flags and signaled to me that there would be a higher probability I would find what I was looking for than anywhere else in the car.  Also, it did not take me long to recognize the odor of freshly cut or recently smoked marijuana from a stopped car even when I sat in my own patrol car.  Being able to “smell it out” and knowing where to look within the confines of an automobile led to several contraband seizures.

            As I have searched the Book of Mormon I have come to recognize signal locations or red flag areas that point to evidence of doctrine to follow.  Instead of arm rests, under car seats, or in consoles, the red flags in the scriptures are specific words and phrases.  Among them are phrases that include and thus we see, and inasmuch, and if…then statements.  One such example is in King Benjamin’s sermon on service.  “Behold, ye have called me your king; and if I, whom ye call your king, do labor to serve you, then ought not ye to labor to serve one another?” (Mosiah 2:18).

“Often, the if…then statements are implied or may only include the word if.  Another important red flag is the word when, which occurs over 2100 times in the scriptures and frequently points to an important doctrine.  Moroni uses both if and when  to signal and important lesson. “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, (then) he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.  And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:4 - 5).

            Everyone understands that when you see the word remember in the Book of Mormon that it signals us that an important doctrinal message is to follow.  One such example can be found in Second Nephi.  “O, my beloved brethren, remember the awfulness in transgressing against that Holy God, and also the awfulness of yielding to the enticings of that cunning one.  Remember, to be carnally–minded is death, and to be spiritually–minded is life eternal” (2 Nephi 9:39).

            Frequently we see the repetition of a word in a verse or within a few verses in a chapter or two.  King Benjamin in telling us the importance of remaining “steadfast and immovable” (Mosiah 5: 15) uses the word name no less than a dozen times before he tells us to be steadfast and immovable.  In those verses we learn that we need to have faith on His name, that there is no other name by which salvation may be obtained, and that we should always have His name written in our hearts.  We also learn that the name is Christ (Mosiah 5: 7 – 14).

            Another example of the repetition of a word can be found in Third Nephi.  The word pray or prayed is used nearly 40 times from 3 Nephi 18: 15 through 3 Nephi 19: 36.  In those verses He tells us to pray to avoid temptation, to pray in our families, to pray for those who don’t attend our meetings, to pray for the world, to pray without ceasing, and to pray to the Father and then minister to those we pray for.

            Sometimes an important word does not appear several times within a verse or within a chapter, but may appear several times throughout the scriptures as if to punctuate a principle.  The word flattery appears several times throughout the Book of Mormon and describes the means by which followers of Satan attempt to lead the faithful away.  Sherem, who denied the existence of Christ, used flattery to shake the faith of believers (Jacob 7: 4 – 5).  Alma, before his conversion used flattery to lead people away (Mosiah 27: 8).  Korihor, the antichrist used flattering words to bring souls to destruction (Alma 30: 47).  Amalickiah used flattering words to get members of the church dissent (Alma 46: 7, 10).  Clearly, the message here is that we need to recognize flattery when we hear it and distance ourselves from temptation that may follow.

Other important signs are the inclusions of lists of actions, attributes, behaviors, and events.  Two such lists are in Amulek’s discourse found in Alma.  Amulek teaches about prayer and says that we must (1) “cry unto him”, (2) humble ourselves, (3) pray in our fields and flocks, (4) pray in our houses, (5) pray for our households, (6) pray morning, noon, and night, (7) pray against the power of our enemies, (8) pray against the devil, (9) pray in secret, (10) pray in our hearts, and (11) pray continually for our welfare and the welfare of those around us (Alma 34: 18 – 27).  Amulek provides another list in Alma 34: 37 – 41.

Important gospel truths frequently follow the word except.  This word occurs over 100 times in the Book of Mormon.  For sure, not every except in the Book of Mormon precedes an important message, but when seen it is worth sniffing out.  As examples, consider “For behold, except ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall all likewise perish…” (2 Nephi 30:1), “Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are faithful unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith” (Alma 44:4), or “And it came to pass that in the days of Ethem there came many prophets, and prophesied again unto the people; yea, they did prophesy that the Lord would utterly destroy them from off the face of the earth except they repented of their iniquities” (Ether 11:12).  The message of except ye or they repent occurs four times in the eleventh chapter of Ether alone!

And thus we see appears over a dozen times in the Book of Mormon and generally occurs at the conclusion of a story line or event.  When this phrase appears it often signals an important lesson that we should learn from the story.  “And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things” (1 Nephi 16:29), “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), or “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).  Note also the inclusion of the word except  in Helaman 12: 3.

Not every except, and thus we see, if…then, or when signals and important doctrine.  Not every list of events or actions or every because, but behold, I know, and inasmuch, wherefore, therefore, and if it so be will have a message that will resonate with you.  But, by ignoring these red flags we risk missing important gospel principles.  And when one considers the fact that Mormon was dealing with limited space to make his abridgement he probably carefully chose every word that he inscribed on the plates.

As you continue to study the scriptures you will find other red flags or signals of important gospel doctrines to follow.  The list provided here is by no means complete nor is it the only means of coming to discover gospel principles.  However, these signal clues or red flags that pop up in the course of your search of the scriptures coupled with sincere prayer and using other study resources such as the Topical Guide, LDS Hymns, the teachings of latter-day prophets and apostles, and General Conference talks can help in the discovery of important doctrines within the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon.