"Yea, why will he not show himself in this land as well as in the land of Jerusalem?
But behold, we know that this is a wicked tradition, which has been handed down unto us by our fathers, to cause us that we shall believe in some great and marvelous thing which should come to pass, but not among us, but in a land which is far distant, a land which we know not; therefore they can keep us in ignorance, for we cannot witness with our own eyes that they are true.
And many more things did the people imagine up in their hearts, which were foolish and vain; and they were much disturbed, for Satan did stir them up to do iniquity continually; yea, he did go about spreading rumors and contentions upon all the face of the land, that he might harden the hearts of the people against that which was good and against that which should come."
What really struck me was how the people that didn't believe in Christ spoke as if it was a fact and true that Christ wouldn't appear to them. They had already worked up in their minds that it was a convenient lie his followers told, because there was no way it could be proven when he came because they wouldn't see it.
Instead what this absolutely shows is they did not know the scriptures. For it had been prophesied among them that Christ would appear. In 1 Nephi 12 it tells of Nephi's vision of the land of promise and Christ appearing to them. He even tells of the mist of darkness, lightening, thundering, earthquakes, cities sunk and burned because of the great and terrible judgments that will come upon them when he came.
"And I saw the heavens open, and the Lamb of God descending out of heaven; and he came down and showed himself unto them." (1 Nephi 12:6)
So the disbelievers were upset because they understood a lie that someone told them. They didn't search the scriptures for themselves. They only listened to the interpretations of others. They were the ones that believed rumors and spread them, causing contention in the land. You can see how they "imagine up in their hearts...many foolish and vain things". Satan was the author of all these rumors that spread contention in the land, and they were his helpers. Wow, are there lessons for our day in this. It emphases the need to read and understand the scriptures for ourselves so we are not deceived. We must research what others tell us to prevent the spreading of rumors that cause contention. We need to not just take the word of someone else, but know as a fact that something is true. I think one of the biggest take away's is asking ourselves what rumors may I be spreading that help to cause contention in the land. Healing cannot begin unless contention stops. The biggest issue with participating in the spreading of lies is the spirit soon ceases to remain with you. Those that participate and don't repent are destroyed at the Savior's coming.
Day 1937
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