LESSON PLAN FOR JACOB 5-7

Watch the full video presentation on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/fvmwhKLE8mg

ICEBREAKER

Object lesson. Bring in a shovel, a watering can, pruners, a bag of fertilizer, some work gloves, a canning jar, and a box of matches.

Q: How could each of these objects help in growing fruit trees?

TRANSITION

There is a very famous chapter in the Book of Mormon about growing fruit trees. But the Lord’s intended purpose for that chapter is not to make us better gardeners. He has a much higher objective than that. The chapter I’m referring to is Jacob chapter 5, and the first thing you are going to notice about Jacob 5 is its length. It is really long. The longest chapter in the Book of Mormon in fact.  It’s often referred to as the allegory of the tame and wild olive trees and revolves around the imagery of a vineyard owner who is trying to bring forth good fruit from his olive trees.

What’s an allegory? The manual tells us that allegories are stories that teach spiritual truths through symbols. But to be more specific, an allegory is a type of metaphor where everything in the story represents a particular idea or real-world event. Allegories are full of parallels to actual events. That’s the case here. Each part of the story represents a group of people or an event in world history. And basically, Jacob 5 is recounting the spiritual history of the house of Israel from its earliest days all the way down to the millennium. You have the tame olive tree which represents the house of Israel and the wild olive tree that represents the Gentiles. And as you read you’ll see many different events depicted.  If you know what you’re looking for you’ll be able to point out events like the scattering of Israel, the establishing of the Nephites and the Lamanites in the New World, The Great Apostasy, The Gathering of Israel in the last days, and the millennium.

THE PARABLE

I’m going to approach Jacob 5 a little differently. I oftentimes like to read this chapter more as a parable. Now a parable is a bit different from an allegory. Its purpose isn’t so much to represent actual groups or events, but general principles and truths about life. We are going to look for principles that Jacob 5 teaches us about God and the ways he works in our lives.  And actually, I can’t think of many other places in the scriptures where I feel I get a better understanding of the character and heart of God and his connection with us, his children, than Jacob 5. So Let’s call the principles we find here “Truths from the Vineyard”.

INTERPRETING THE PARABLE

• The Vineyard: The World or mortality

• The Master of the Vineyard:  God or Jesus Christ

• The Servant: Jesus Christ or Prophets

• The Olive Trees: Me/People

• The Labor in the Vineyard: How God works with us

• Good Fruit: Righteousness and blessings

• Bad Fruit/Decay: Wickedness and consequences

• The Soil: The circumstances under which we are born or raised

Let’s see what truths we can learn about how our Heavenly Father wants to work with us as His trees.

TRUTH #1

The first truth, the goal of the gardener.  What does the master hope to accomplish with his vineyard, with us? Is it to get us to do what he says because he’s in charge. Is it to inflict suffering and pain on us so we know what it’s like. Is it to toy with us for his own amusement? Let’s see.

There is a lot of repetition in this chapter and usually, if an idea is repeated, it’s because the author is trying to communicate its importance. It’s a means of expressing emphasis.

So, find the phrase or idea that is repeated in each of the following verses that answers the above question:

:13, 18, 19, 20, 23, 29, 31, 33, 46, 54*, 60*, 61*, 71, 75, 76

“to lay up fruit against the season for himself”.

Pull out the canning jar as a visual aid.

And in other verses, he says he wishes to preserve the fruit unto himself.

What does this mean symbolically? I think it means that God's goal for us is to have us return to live with Him and to enjoy the fruits or the blessings of our righteousness together with Him. We also have some unique messages with additional detail in 54, 60 and 61. In vs. 54 he says that he wishes to have glory in the fruit of his vineyard. In vs 60, he tells us that he works with the trees so that he can have joy in the fruit of the vineyard to rejoice exceedingly with them. And in 61 he uses the word precious to describe the fruit.

What does all this mean for you and me? If we are his trees and the fruit is our righteous works, God’s major desire for us is to produce good fruit so that He can enjoy that fruit with us at some future season. I assume he means the season when the growing period is over and no more work can be done when the judgment arrives and the rest of eternity begins.  His ultimate goal is to preserve us and to bring us to where He is. Everything the Master of the vineyard does for the trees is to that end. It is the purpose of his work and the cause of his glory. It reminds me of Moses 1:39, where God says,  "For behold, this is my “work and my glory” to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. The ideas of “work" and “glory" fit really well with Jacob 5. God is working incredibly hard to help his trees produce the kind of fruit that will lead them to eternal life.

Truth #1: God’s Goal is our Good Works and Glory

It's really important that we understand this from the outset because some of his methods for producing good fruit can be a little hard to comprehend.

TRUTH #2

So this leads us to our second truth. What is the Master willing to do to help his trees to produce good fruit? There is one keyword that stands out to me as the definitive answer to that question, and then a whole list of other words that are associated with it. But see if you can find the overall keyword. It’s repeated in the following verses:

:15, :16, :32, :61, :62, :71, :72, :74, :75.

The word is labor.

Pull out the work gloves at this point.

God is willing to work in your life. For many centuries, God was depicted as either a detached, vengeful, or impersonal God. Jacob 5 proves otherwise. He’s not detached and indifferent. He is laboring to help you. He puts all his efforts into turning us into Gods. He is a loving parent working to help his children reach their full potential and receive a fullness of joy and a fullness of glory. He’s a very personal God. And, however this functions, He’s working just as hard to do that in your life as he is in mine. And not only does he work with us, look at how He works:

In verse :61 we learn that he labors diligently with his might

And in :74 we find that he labors with ALL diligence

Truth #2 God Labors Diligently for our Good Works and Glory

TRUTH #3

Well, what are some of the methods he uses to work with you. How does he labor? There are a number of different verbs that show up over and over and over again in this chapter. In fact, a great marking activity would be to go through and mark every time you see one of these words show up. First, let’s see if you can find them: And I’ll give you the first letter to help you out, but if you want a little more of a challenge, don’t look at the first letter and see if you can find the repeated word without help.

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• Nourish      :3, :4, :5, :11, :12, :20, :22, :23, :24, :25, :27, :31, :34, :47, :58, :63, :71, :75, :76

• Dig    :4, :27, :47, :63, :76

• Graft      :8, :9, :10, :17, :18, :34, :52, :54, :55, :60, :63, :67, :68

• Prune    :4, :5, :11, :27, :47, :62, :64, :69, :76

• Dung          :47, :64, :76

• Burn      :7, :9, :47, :77

That’s quite the list, isn’t it? What does that tell us about how our Heavenly Father labors for us? Overall, God uses many different methods to help us to produce good fruit. Now the fun part, what do each of these methods look like in real life? How does God Nourish us, Prune us, or Graft us?  And in a class, I wouldn’t pigeonhole any of my students into one particular interpretation of these terms. There is more than one way of looking at them. I’ll give you some suggested ways you can look at them, but if you’re teaching, just go with the flow of your students’ thoughts. Let them discover, and ponder, and share. And then you can add your own insight at times as well.

And as I teach these words, I pull out the different tools that a gardener might use. So first I pull out the watering can and ask:

Nourish. How does God nourish us? How have you been nourished by God?

Nourishing a tree is giving it the elements it needs to grow and grow well. God has sent us nourishment also to help us to grow. What is the nourishment? Jacob 6 has the answer and chapter 6 is Jacob’s commentary on what he’s just quoted from Zenos in chapter 5. And what are we nourished by? The good word of God all the day long.  He’s nourished us with his good word, the scriptures, the words of the living prophets, patriarchal blessings, the promptings of the Holy Ghost, all the day long he’s offering us nourishment. A good word that is associated with nourishment would be feasting. We have to feast in order to be nourished. Like Nephi said, feast upon the words of Christ, for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:3). So let the Lord nourish you.

Dig. How does God dig us? Have you ever been dug about by the Lord? And here I pull out my shovel.

In my mind, the digging about is all the things God provides us that allows the nourishment to go to our roots. There are many tools or instruments in his hands that he sends to break up the soil of our hearts and allow the goodness of God’s nourishment to get to our roots. So who are some of the shovels in our lives? The prophets, parents, bishops, youth leaders, teachers, good friends, grandparents, mission presidents, many, many people sent to bless us and improve our ability to be nourished. And maybe the next time you see one of these people you can thank them for being such a great shovel. But you might want to quickly explain what you mean by that lest they think it’s an insult. God has sent shovels to you also. So let the Lord dig about you.

Graft: How does God graft us? Have you ever been grafted? At this point, I pull out my pruners.

And if you’re not sure how grafting works, it’s really an amazing thing. When I first heard about this, it sounded made up to me, but this is actually possible. You can cut a branch off of one tree, then make a cut in a completely different tree, you stick the cut branch down into the notch, wrap it up with fertilizer and soil and then leave it. Eventually, miraculously the branch attaches itself to the new tree and begins to be nourished by the new tree. How are our lives like this? If the cut branch could talk, what might it say? Hey, why are you putting me over here? This isn’t my tree, this isn’t where I belong. This is foreign to me. Put me back where I’m comfortable.  Well, has your life ever put you into one of these kinds of situations? Maybe it’s a move to a new place. A new job. Sometimes you might be called to a specific calling in the church that’s not in your comfort zone or area of expertise. What do you mean the primary, I don’t even like kids. You can’t ask me to teach gospel doctrine, I don’t know enough. Bishop, you want me to serve in the Young Men’s organization, I’m too old for that, I don’t even speak their language, what language do deacon’s speak? We’ve probably all found times in our lives where we felt out of place or grafted. So let the Lord graft you.

Prune. How does God prune us? Have you ever felt like you were pruned by the Lord? I’d ask this while still holding the pruners.

Has God ever cut you back or allowed you to be cut back? Pruning involves cutting off branches that are alive and growing. There may be times when you feel like you are thriving and going in the right direction, then all of a sudden, snip, that branch is cut away. Perhaps it’s a job that you love and things are going well for you when all of a sudden, snip, you’re laid off. Perhaps it’s a relationship that you feel is moving in the right direction and then snip, the other person ends it. Perhaps it’s a calling in the church that you love and feel you are flourishing in, then snip, the Bishop releases you. Perhaps everything is going well in your life and health, then out of the blue, there’s an accident or diagnosis, and snip, your whole life is completely different from that point on. Pruning is painful, and often hard to accept. And I’m not sure that all pruning is directly under the Lord’s direction, I feel that sometimes we’re just pruned by life, but the effect is the same. But remember why we prune a tree. It helps to direct its growth, it is actually good for the tree and allows more strength and nourishment to flow to the remaining branches. A great little church video you could watch that illustrates this principle well is entitled “The Will of God” with D. Todd Cristofferson.

Watch that video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr8xvw0cgw0&t=1s

He relates a story told by a former General Authority about a gardener taking care of a currant bush. It’s very applicable here. Pruning is an important strategy for growing healthy trees. So let the Lord prune you.

Dung. How does God dung us? Have you ever felt like you were dunged by the Lord? At this time I pull out the bag of manure.

What’s dung you ask? The polite word is fertilizer or manure, but there are plenty of other more impolite words for it. But have you ever felt like life just dropped a load of dung on you? Times when everything just seemed to fall apart,  when everything goes wrong. when the kinds of things happen that make us turn heavenward and ask why? Being dunged is no fun. These are the unpleasant, smelly, and demoralizing experiences of our lives. If trees could talk, you might imagine how they would react to dunging. They might say, hey, what was that for?! Here I am just growing my little heart out, doing the best I can, everything is going fine, and you come over and dump that reeking smelly stuff all over me? Why would you do that? Ask yourself, why do you put dung on plants and trees? Because it’s full of minerals and other elements that help the tree to grow more healthy. It actually helps the tree to grow. Well, it’s the same with us, we must face opposition in things to really become the souls God intends us to become. Many times these dunging experiences, as unpleasant as they are, produce the greatest growth in us. Dunging is never welcomed in the moment, it’s very difficult to ignore the mess and the smell, but in the long run, when we see the growth when we see the strength that we gained from it, the gratitude comes. So let the Lord dung you.

Burn. Have you ever felt like the Lord burned you?

Unlike dunging and pruning, the branches the Lord burns are those things that we never should have allowed to grow in our lives in the first place. Sometimes we grow decaying branches of rebellion, addiction, laziness, casualness in our covenants, and disobedience. The master of the vineyard walks over and reminds us that these branches will never do. They will need to be cut away and cast into the fire. This too can be a painful process. Repentance should produce a godly sorrow in us that helps change our hearts. But remember that fire is a purifying element in the scriptures. The Holy Ghost is referred to as the baptism of fire. It’s not always a negative thing. We need to allow him to burn the pride out of us, the dishonesty, the addictions, the greed, the jealousy, and the selfishness. We ought to frequently ask ourselves if there are any dead branches still on our tree that need to be cut away and burned. So, as strange as it sounds, let God burn you.

Truth #3 God will Nourish, Dig, Graft, Prune, Dung, and Burn to help us grow good fruit.

TRUTH #4

Another Truth from the Vineyard. Despite all of the efforts of the master, his trees don’t always produce good fruit. What repeated phrase do you find in each of the following verses:

v.7, 11, 32, 46, 47, 51, 66.

It grieveth me that I should lose this tree

And what does he do in vs. 41? He weeps

What does this suggest about the Lord of the Vineyard? How does he feel about us?

He loves us, incredibly. He is deeply and emotionally invested in us. When we don’t produce good fruit, it pains him greatly.

It reminds me of Enoch’s vision in Moses 7 when Enoch sees both the face of Satan and the face of the Savior as they look down on the wickedness and misery of the world. Satan is laughing at their misery, but the face of the Savior is weeping. Sometimes we are a little troubled by some of the descriptions of the wrath of God sweeping people off the face of the earth, especially in the Old Testament. But we need to make sure that we put the right face to those words. It’s not an angry face or an indifferent face or a

vindictive face, it’s a face full of tears and grief. When we sin, when we stray from his path, when we don’t bring forth good fruit, he grieves for us. This is how the master feels about the trees of his vineyard. This is how he feels about you.

Truth #4 God Grieves when we Grow Bad Fruit.

TRUTH #5

Another truth. What do the following phrases teach you about the master of the vineyard?

• :41,47, 49 What could I have done more for my vineyard?

• :46 all the care which we have taken

• :47 I have stretched forth mine hand all the day long

• :50 spare it a little longer.

With all the problems and decay and bad fruit this vineyard has produced, you’d imagine that a much less devoted and patient vineyard owner would have turned it into firewood long before. But this master is different, he truly loves his trees. He’s invested everything into them and something that impresses me as I study Jacob 5 is the amount of care he takes and how many chances he gives the trees of his vineyard to grow good fruit. There is a word the scriptures often use to describe this quality that the master of the vineyard has, it’s called long-suffering. God does not give up on us. He does all he can, anything that might have a chance of working, he’ll try, he takes all the care he can and stretches forth his hand all the day long. Remember Laman and Lemuel. Think of all the things he tried with those two and how long he suffered with their rebellion, and still continued to try and bring them to righteousness. A lot of people wonder if God will give people a second chance. They’ll ask, do you think such and such a person will have a chance to repent in the next life? Do you think he’ll give so and so a chance to change later? Do you think that people who reject missionaries get another chance in the Spirit World or did they blow it at the doorstep? My response to all these questions is something C.S. Lewis once said. He said:

“I believe that if a million chances were to do any good, they would be given”.  (The Problem of Pain)

Whether God offers another chance is not the most interesting question we can ask. The more interesting question is “Will the person offered the chance take it?” I do believe that God is a God of second chances, and third chances, and 40th chances, and 500th chances.

Truth #5 is God Does Not Give Up on His Trees

TRUTH #6

There is a fascinating symbol of this parable that we haven’t examined yet. And that is the soil. The master of the vineyard plants the trees in different kinds of soil. And, What kind of fruit would you expect to get from trees planted in good soil?  Good fruit right. And what kind of fruit would you expect to get from trees planted in poor soil? Poor fruit, right. Let’s see if that holds true in the Lord’s vineyard. In vs. 21 we find that the master had planted a tree in the poorest spot in all the land of the vineyard. The ground there is so poor that the servant questions the master’s wisdom in putting it there. The Lord responds by saying “Counsel me not, I knew that it was a poor spot of ground”. Then in vs. 23, he points out another tree in the vineyard that was planted in even poorer soil than the first. And yet, they had both produced much good fruit. On the other hand, in vs. 25 we find the master and the servant observing a tree that was planted in a good spot of ground and yet only a part of the tree is bringing forth good fruit. And later in vs. 43, we find out that that spot was not just a good spot of ground, but that it was choice above all other parts of the land of the vineyard, and at this point, none of its fruit is good, its all corrupted. So do you see an interesting conclusion we can make about the trees and the soil? Apparently, it doesn’t matter what type of soil you’re planted in, what matters is how you respond to the nourishing. I know of people out there who I would say were planted in very poor soil. Their family, socioeconomic, or physical circumstances are much less than ideal, sometimes even tragic. When I consider these precious souls, I sometimes look to the master and ask the servants question: Why would you plant somebody here? This is very poor soil? And the master looks back and says “Counsel me not, I knew it was a poor spot of ground” which is nice to know if you feel you were planted in poor soil, God is aware of that fact, he knows you and your circumstances, and will always take that into consideration as he works with you. And then he says “Wherefore, I have nourished it this long time”. So the master is there to nourish those planted in poor soil. He has not forgotten or ignored them. And I’m sure you can all think of people who have come from very disadvantageous circumstances who have produced very good fruit. Poor soil, good fruit. On the other hand, perhaps you can also think of some people who were born or planted in very ideal circumstances. Wonderful parents, incredible opportunities, abundant blessings, and yet, they have produced very wild, or poor fruit even in those most excellent of growing conditions

TRUTH #6: It really doesn’t matter what type of soil you’re planted in, what matters, is how you respond to God's nourishing.

JACOB 6

Now chapter 6 is Jacob’s short commentary on the prophecy of Zenos and adds even more to our understanding of the character of God. It seems to me that Jacob was also very impressed not just by what the allegory taught Him about the history of the House of Israel, but by what the prophecy taught him about God. And what is Jacob’s conclusion on the character of God after reading the prophecy?  I direct you to vs. 4-5.

What does that teach us about the character of God?

He is a merciful God, a remembering God, a stretching forth his hand God (or a laboring God), a saving God, a cleaving God, an extending God.

APPLY

Have you seen and felt the hand of God working in your life? How?

JACOB 7-FAITH SHAKERS

Moving on to chapter 7. Chapter 7 almost seems like an afterthought to Jacob. It seems to me that he first intended chapter 6 to be the end of his writing. He even bids us farewell and ends with an Amen in that chapter. But a couple of years later something happens among the Nephites that causes Jacob to say, “Ooh, I just have to include this story in the record, the people of the future are really going to need this.” Remember in our last video that Jacob was instructed to write only the things that would be most relevant for us. The problems we examined last week were more general societal problems, but this last one is directed specifically to members of the church. So after reading this story, you tell me if you think it’s relevant to church members. I’ll let you decide.

ICEBREAKER

Begin by displaying some pictures or videos of earthquake damage.

Q: Have you Ever Been in an Earthquake? What was it like?

Q: What makes earthquakes so dangerous?  Things crumble and topple and collapse in earthquakes.

Q: Can you find the earthquake verse in Jacob 7:1-6

A: The answer is vs. 5. "And he had hope to shake me from the faith."

TRANSITION

So we have a different kind of earthquake going on here amongst the Nephites and this earthquake has a name. What is it in vs. 1? Let’s call this earthquake Sherem and he has been successful in toppling the faith of many of the Nephites at this time. He’s the first antichrist of the Book of Mormon. There are 4 major antichrists in the Book of Mormon. If I were to ask a group of members of the church if they had ever met an Anti-Christ, there may not be a lot of hands that go up. But what is an Anti-Christ? An antichrist is any person or organization that seeks to turn you away from following Christ and his gospel. I prefer a different term for these kinds of people and it comes from Jacob 7. I like to call them faith shakers. Now if I ask a group of members if they have ever met a faith-shaker, or if they’ve ever had something happen to them that was a faith shaking experience, every hand goes up.

EXAMPLES OF FAITH SHAKERS

There are a lot of faith shakers and faith shaking experiences out there. Sometimes they are people, people on social media, celebrities, teachers or college professors, intellectuals, maybe even family and friends may seek to turn us away from the faith. Perhaps we come across anti-church literature online or something from church history bothers us, a policy or announcement from church leaders that we find challenging. Trials can shake faith, the unfairness of life, being offended by a church leader or another member, and sometimes the adversary himself can plant doubts and questions in our minds. All of these things can be faith shakers.

STRATEGIES OF FAITH SHAKERS

Many of these faith shakers share a lot in common with Sherem and the techniques he used. He used flattering words, he labored diligently (just like God labors diligently for our salvation in chapter 5, faith shakers also labor diligently to draw us away from him).  Sherem was learned and he had much power of speech. Oftentimes these faith shakers are very charismatic, intelligent, and articulate. They often use mocking words, disdain, and cynicism in an effort to make faith look silly, old fashioned, or fictitious. You can see these jibes all over Sherem’s conversation with Jacob. Some examples, in vs. 6 he says “I have heard and also know that thou goest about much, preaching that which ye call the gospel or the doctrine of Christ. You can almost see him putting air quotes around those terms.  In vs. 13 he says “Show me a sign by this power of the Holy Ghost, in which ye know so much”.

Some advice to any faith shakers out there, don’t ever ask for a sign, because you might just get one. God almost never uses miracles and signs to create faith, only to confirm it. If he ever does give a sign to an unbeliever, it’s usually for the benefit of those around them and not the person themselves. And they're often bad ones. Signs you don’t want to experience.

READERS THEATER

Divide up the parts into a reader’s theater. Choose three volunteers from the class and give each person a “script” directly from the scriptures and highlight the words to their part, and then invite them to voice act their part.

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The three parts I have are the narrator (or Jacob’s voice as narrator), Jacob’s voice, and Sherem. And those three readers can go back and forth through the story which will give you a good sense of the narrative.

EARTHQUAKE PROOF YOUR TESTIMONY

So, is this idea of faith shakers a relevant one for our day? I think we could all agree that it definitely is. Our faith is constantly under attack. The invention of the internet has given faith shakers a much louder voice and an ability to reach anyone, anywhere. And we’ve never lived in a more skeptical, cynical, and secular society than now, and it will only get worse. There are many in the church who are struggling with their faith or who have lost it because of these faith shakers. Now the problem is not that we have doubts or questions. Those are going to come and should come. It’s ok to have doubts and questions. It’s what we do about them that matters most. How do we approach them when they come. Jacob is going to help us with that.

At the end of vs 5 he says “wherefore, I could not be shaken”. That’s the point we want to get to. We want to have a faith like Jacob’s so that when the faith shakers come, and they will, we will be unshakeable and unbreakable. We need to build testimonies that can withstand the earthquakes of doubt and skepticism without collapsing them. How do we earthquake-proof our testimony and reinforce our faith?

I invite you to look in the following verses for that answer.

• Jacob 7:5

• Jacob 7:12

• Jacob 7:23

• Enos 1:11

• Jacob 4:6

POSSIBLE ANSWERS

7:5

So, revelation, many things which I had seen concerning these things, he had seen angels, and heard  the voice of the Lord. I would maybe lump all of these together and say remembering all our previous spiritual experiences can help make our faith unshakeable. We have all had experiences with the Spirit and God, even if they are small. Don’t forget these things. Your answered prayers, your promptings, the times you felt the spirit, the good feelings you’ve had in gospel settings, perhaps even miracles. Sometimes I’m baffled by the people that will throw all of that away because some stranger on the internet wrote something about the church they didn’t know how to answer. Don’t do that. Now we don’t have to ignore those things or be afraid of them. Oftentimes there are issues that arise that need to be examined and wrestled with. But don’t abandon or forget all those other experiences you’ve had with the truth. Let them serve as a strong foundation for your belief.

7:12

Be sure to have a strong relationship with the Holy Ghost. Keep your life clean and free from serious sin. Be open and responsive to its promptings. Do those things that you know will keep that light of the Spirit on in your life.

7:23

It’s apparent that after the whole Sherem debacle, the Nephites under Jacob’s leadership got the message. They realized where they had been faltering. They decided to search the scriptures. Not just read them, but search them. If we wish to earthquake-proof our testimonies, scripture study is like rebar. Is it any wonder why the prophets constantly encourage us to feast daily on the scriptures. They help us to stay firm. They have the answers, they have the guidance, they have the strength built right into them. Search them, and that strength will flow from their pages right into your heart and mind.

Enos 1:11

I had to throw this verse in from Enos, Jacob’s son, who also uses that phrase “unshaken” in his book. I’m sure he got that idea from his father.  And what it is that helps him to have unshakeable faith. Prayer, and receiving answers to prayer.

Jacob 4:6

And finally, if you go back to Jacob 4 we see the phrase “our faith becometh unshaken” again. And here, it’s the searching of the prophets and their revelations and prophecy that lends the strength. And having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken.   Another source of strength we get comes from the words of the living prophets and their revelations. We find strength in their witness. We believe in the authority of those that have been called. So, I’ve never seen God or Jesus Christ, but I believe in the authority of those that say they have. I’ve never received revelation on behalf of the entire church, but I believe in the authority of those that say they do. And I gain that confidence in them by examining their character, their conviction, the way their words make me feel, and the results I get by following their counsel.

And I don’t know about you, but when I hear the testimonies and the counsel of men like Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H. Oaks, David A. Bednar, or Jeffrey R. Holland, I don’t get the sense that they are trying to deceive me, control me, or manipulate me. They are sincere, humble, and powerful witnesses of Christ and his Gospel. And when I follow that counsel, I am happy and blessed. What greater witness of their divine calling do I need that?

PRIMARY ANSWERS

And these are simple things aren’t they. Primary answers almost. Read your scriptures, say your prayers, follow the prophet, but they work! There aren’t many people out there who lose their faith that are sincerely doing these things on a consistent basis. It’s when we neglect our scripture study, when our prayers become rote or non-existent when we stop listening to the prophets or ignore their counsel, that’s when our faith begins to suffer.

APPLY

Q:  Have any of these things helped you in your own faith shaking moments? and How?

CONCLUSION

I’ll conclude with something that Jacob says in chapter 6:12. He simply says:  O be wise; what can I say more? I hope and pray that you will be wise when you encounter the Sherem’s or the faith shakers of life. Remember these reinforcing principles and I can promise you that you too will be able to say with Jacob “Wherefore, I could not be shaken”. You’ll become Unshakeable!