Jacob 1-5

Quote of the week:

"Pride is the great stumbling block of Zion.  I repeat:  Pride is the great stumbling block of Zion."

Ezra Taft Benson, April 1989

"In a sense, pride is the original sin, for before the foundations of this earth, pride felled Lucifer, a son of the morning “who was in authority in the presence of God.” If pride can corrupt one as capable and promising as this, should we not examine our own souls as well?"

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, October 2010

Further reading:

Romans 11:17-24

Dean L. Larsen, Conference Report, 10/87

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Pride and the Priesthood," General Conference 10/10

Ezra Taft Benson, "Pride," Ensign 5/89

Handouts:

Jacob 1:15--Pride Cycle Begins

M. Russell Ballard, “Learning the Lessons of the Past,” Ensign, May 2009, 31–34

Time and again we see the cycle of righteousness followed by wickedness. Similarly, the Book of Mormon records that ancient civilizations of this continent followed exactly the same pattern: righteousness followed by prosperity, followed by material comforts, followed by greed, followed by pride, followed by wickedness and a collapse of morality until the people brought calamities upon themselves sufficient to stir them up to humility, repentance, and change.

Jacob 1:19,22--Magnifying Callings

Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, 5/06
The Prophet Joseph Smith was once asked, "Brother Joseph, you frequently urge that we magnify our callings.  What does this mean?"  He is said to have replied, "To magnify a calling is to hold it up in dignity and importance, that the light of heaven may shine through one's performance to the gaze of other men.  An elder magnifies his calling when he learns what his duties as an elder are and then performs them.

Jacob 2:17--It Grieveth Me

Jeffrey R. Holland, “Place No More for the Enemy of My Soul,” Ensign, May 2010, 44–46

With that stark introduction to my message today—one it is challenging for me to give—I feel much like Jacob of old, who said, “It grieveth me that I must use so much boldness of speech … before … many … whose feelings are exceedingly tender and chaste and delicate.”  But bold we need to be. Perhaps it was the father in me or maybe the grandfather, but the tears in those young women’s eyes brought tears to mine and Sister Holland’s, and the questions they asked left me asking, “Why is there so much moral decay around us, and why are so many individuals and families, including some in the Church, falling victim to it, being tragically scarred by it?”

Jacob 4:14--Looking Beyond the Mark

Dean L. Larsen, Ensign, 11/87
They were apparently afflicted with a pseudosophistication and a snobbishness that gave them a  false sense of superiority over those who came among them with the Lord's words of plainness. . . . The must have reveled in speculative and theoretical matters that obscured for them the fundamental spiritual truths. . . . There are other ways in which many of us often look beyond the mark.  Sometimes we focus too much of our attention and energy upon our temporal wants, not only to entertain ourselves and gratify our physical appetites, but also to gain recognition, position, and power.  We can become so consumed by the pursuit of these things that we sacrifice the sweetness and enduring peace of mind that are found in spiritual well-being, in well-nurtured family relationships, and in the love and respect of friends and associates.

Dallin H. Oaks, "Be Wise,"  BYU-I Devotional, 11/7/06
Some persons write General Authorities asking when we will be returning to Missouri or how we should plan to build up the New Jerusalem.  Others want to know details about the Celestial Kingdom, such as the position of a person who lives a good life but never ever marries.
I don't know the answers to any of these questions.  What I do know is that persons worrying about such things are probably neglecting to seek a firmer understanding and a better practice of the basic principles of the gospel that have been given to them with words of plainness by the scriptures and by the servants of the Lord.
If we neglect the words of plainness and look beyond the mark, we are starting down a path that often leads to a loss of commitment and sometimes to a loss of faith.  There is enough difficulty in following the words of plainness, without reaching out for things we have not been given and probably cannot understand.

Jacob 4:15-18--The Four Cornerstones of the Restored Gospel

Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, 2/04

. . . the chief cornerstone, whom we recognize and honor as the Lord Jesus Christ.  The second is the vision given the Prophet Joseph Smith when the Father and the Son appeared to him.  The third is the Book of Mormon, which speaks as a voice from the dust with the words of ancient prophets declaring the divinity and reality of the Savior of mankind.  The fourth is the priesthood with all of its powers and authority, whereby men act in the name of God in administering the affairs of His kingdom.

Jacob 4:18--Anxiety

Boyd K. Packer, CR, 4/78
It was meant to be that life would be a challenge.  To suffer some anxiety, some depression, some disappointment, even some failure is normal.  Teach our members that if they have a good, miserable day once in a while, or several in a row, to stand steady and face them.  Things will straighten out.

K. Douglas Bassett, The Barber's Song, p. 126
Here was a prophet, in the temple, preaching the doctrines of the kingdom, and he was concerned about losing the Spirit over something as simple as anxiety.  Even the worthy prophet Jacob could not be sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit when anxiety was a part of his life.

Jacob 5

Joseph Fielding Smith

. . .  take a few minutes at some convenient time and sit down and just read carefully every word in the fifth chapter of the Book of Jacob. . . . No greater parable was ever recorded. . . . That was written by the inspiration of the Almighty. . . . When you read that chapter through if you cannot say in your soul, "this is absolutely a revelation from God," then there is something wrong with you.

Truman G. Madsen, "The Olive Press: A Symbol of Christ," in The Allegory of the Olive Tree, p. 2
One Jewish legend identifies the tree of life as the olive tree, and with good reason.  The olive tree is an evergreen, not a deciduous tree. Its leaves do not seasonally fade nor fall.  Through scorching heat and winter cold they are continually rejuvenated.  Without cultivation the olive is a wild, unruly, easily corrupted tree.  Only after long, patient cultivating, usually eight to ten years, does it begin to yield fruit.  Long after that, new shoots often come forth from apparently dead roots. [The appearance of gnarled trunks gives] the impression of travail--of ancient life and renewing life.

Jacob 5:41,47,49--God as Parent

Jeffrey R. Holland, Heroes from the Book of Mormon, p. 37
There is much more here than simply the unraveling of convoluted Israelite history.  Of greater significance in this allegory is the benevolent view of God that it provides.  He is portrayed here as one who repeatedly, painstakingly, endlessly tries to save the work of His hands and in moments of greatest disappointment holds His head in His hands and weeps, "What could I have done more for my vineyard?"  This allegory is a declaration of divine love, of God's unceasing effort as a father laboring on behalf of His children.

This long parable does outline Israel's history, but soon enough the attentive reader senses a much more personal story coming from the printed page--the grief and the godly pain of a father anguishing over the needless destruction of His family.

Jacob 5--Roots (covenants, promises, word of God)

Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, 11/78
It seems that some [Latter-day Saints] among us have this same problem; they want bountiful harvest--both spiritual and temporal--without developing the root system that will yield them.  There are far too few who are willing to pay the price, in discipline and work, to cultivate hardy roots."