God's Great Men: Jacob and Benjamin

JACOB AND BENJAMIN.

My dear young brethren and sisters,— If you notice carefully the second book of Nephi, you will find that a large portion of it consists of the teachings of his younger brother Jacob. Jacob was born in the days of trouble and hardship as the family journeyed through the wilderness of Arabia; and he was a sharer in the afflictions brought about, not only by the perils of the journey, but by the obstinate and rebellious disposition of Lehi’s elder sons. A great portion of Lehi’s dying testimony was addressed to Jacob and Joseph (see Nephi, book 2, chap. 3, 4); and we find them ever after faithfully laboring in the inter­ests of their brethren, in their youth they were ordained by Nephi to offices in the priesthood; and Jacob, while very young, obtained the glorious privilege of beholding the Redeemer. He had reached the age of about fifty years when Nephi died, leaving the small plates in Jacob’s care, with in­structions to engrave upon them the most precious things, such as pro­phecies, remarkable dreams, visions, etc. In chapters 2-4 of his book we have a specimen of his teachings; and discover that the people had a ten­dency to run after evil; to indulge in vice, and to justify themselves for so doing because others had done wick­edly. Jacob rebuked them; exhorted them to be pure; told them they were becoming worse than the Lamanites, and that unless they repented, they should be destroyed.

If you notice the leading papers of this age, and the prayers offered in churches, you will see there is much flattery of princes and worship of royalty; but men of God, such as Elijah, Nathan, Isaiah, and many others in ancient times, rebuked evil, and princes trembled before them. From these things we learn the lesson that if we do the will of God, we never need fear the vengeance of man. True, earthly princes may kill the body, but the Savior teaches us to “fear Him who is able to cast both soul and body into hell.” If we truly love God, all fear will be overcome; for “perfect love casteth out fear.’’

Jacob next gives us a prophecy of Zenos; one of the ancients whose prophecies are not recorded in the Bibie. This man of God seems to have had perfect information respect­ing the founding of Israelitish colonies in various parts of the world; and he uses the figure of the tame and the wild olive trees to illustrate it He agrees with Isaiah and the other pro­phets concerning the restoration of the gospel, and of the kingdom to the chosen seed of Abraham. The power of God which was with Jacob, and his reluctance to use it to any man’s in­jury are spoken of in the seventh chapter of his book we are not in­formed how long Jacob lived after Nephi's death; but we have 124 years to divide between him and his son Enos; from which we may justly infer that both lived to be aged men.

A period of nearly 300 years passed away during which the history of the Nephites is very meager; we are told, however, they had many wars with their sworn foes the Lamanites; and Jacob's prophecy that the latter should possess their inheritance was fulfilled. The Nephites traveled northward; found a colony of Jews in the land of Zarahemla; mixed with them, and here, in their chief city on the river Sidon,—or what is now called the Magdalena in the United States of Colombia, South America—Mormon introduces us to King Ben­jamin, about 125 B.C., and 475 years after Lehi left Jerusalem.

King Benjamin was an able warrior, and led his people against their ene­mies until the latter were overcome, and peace was established in the land. He sought diligently to promote in­dustry among his people. He set an example that all kings, who desire to live in the affections of their people, would do well to follow. He labored to support himself: endeavored to serve his people, and to ease the bur­dens of taxation among them; but, best of all, he sought by humility to learn the will of God; and, having done so, he wound up his career by calling the people together and earn­estly teaching them about the coming of Christ, and the necessity of serving God with all their hearts. So earnest were his words; so eloquent his speech; so powerful his appeals, and so noble his example, that no one could resist; and the assembled thou­sands immediately entered into a covenant with God, and the Church of Christ was established in the land of Zarahemla, 125 years before the Savior appeared on the Western Hemisphere.

In Benjamin, as well as in Nephi, we see the power for good that a wise leader has over his people. If a na­tion should always have men of God to rule over it, doubtless it would be a blessing to have kings, or other per­sons, in authority whose power should be very great; but while we can point to Moses and others among the Israelites; to Nephi, Benjamin, and Mosiah among the Nephites; Alfred the Great in England, and to many others by way of illustration, on the other hand, we have the wicked examples of Jeroboam and Ahab among the Israelites; Noah among the Nephites, and many rulers of modern times,—men who have encouraged the shed­ding of blood, and all manner of wick­edness among the people.

It appears that before the days of King Benjamin, the Nephites had wandered far from the doctrines taught by Lehi, Nephi, Jacob, and others and, because of their dissen­tions, they had greatly suffered; hence he taught them as though they were little children who were taking first lessons. Can you not picture the aged man standing on the tower of the temple high above the assembled thousands who had come with their tents and encamped around it? So great was their confidence in their be­loved leader, that every one wished to hear him, and they pressed together for that purpose. How eloquently he portrayed to them the consequence of the fall of man, and the matchless love of God made manifest by the atonement! With what fervor he pleaded with his people to believe, and to make manifest their belief by repentance! He showed them that it is necessary not only to obtain a re­mission of sins; but that purity of life, and obedience to God’s command­ments are required in order to retain that remission. I have met persons who seemed to think that if they once had their sins remitted, it was suffici­ent; but such persons should study the Scriptures, and learn that the promise of salvation is made to those only who endure to the end. How beautifully, too, did this aged servant of God show that members of Christ’s Church must watch over their child­ren and strive to keep them from evil, and because we are all beggars in the sight of God, we should never turn the needy and hungry from our doors! The principles which relate to individ­ual judgment and forgiveness were, perhaps, never more clearly expounded than by this aged veteran on that oc­casion.

That you, my young friends, may be led to study what is written in that holy book concerning the subjects of this sketch, and thereby be brought to feel more interest in the welfare of your own souls, is the earnest desire of yours truly,

Uncle James.