This book is by a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which I will in the future call the LDS Church or LDS.
This book is not endorsed by the LDS Church nor does it represent official viewpoints thereof.
Faith is when you realize something is wrong, you suspend believing in what is unnecessary, you look for your new concept, and you discover a better explanation. If you want to know that the Book of Mormon is true, try Book of Mormon Central or Evidence Central . Or you can just examine the Book of Mormon with me, verse by verse. (From an orthodox LDS perspective). You can follow along in the Book of Mormon at scriptures.lds.org .
Enos
Enos 1:1 – “and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” The Lord encourages and disciplines those who follow.
Enos 1:2 – “And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.” He’s going to talk about how he allowed himself to be encouraged and disciplined.
Enos 1:3 – “and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.” He had been taught about the kingdom of God and the deliciousness of the tree of life.
Enos 1:4 – “And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.” It’s not easy and Enos carried the plates! He needed to set a good example.
Enos 1:5 – It worked, but only because Enos stopped doing his sins and was willing to make up for them.
Enos 1:6 – “And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.” Since it is a commandment to not lie, and since God is all good, Enos knew that it worked and was guiltless.
Enos 1:7 – “And I said: Lord, how is it done?” Enos wanted to know how this thing worked.
Enos 1:8 – “And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen.” Faith in Jesus Christ was the answer!
Enos 1:9 – When you’re righteous, you care about others, so now he prayed for his race, the Nephites. Notice that he prayed for those closest to him first.
Enos 1:10 – The Lord couldn’t retract his covenants; but all those Nephites who were righteous would be blessed just like Enos.
Enos 1:11 – It was very hard, but then Enos prayed for the Lamanites.
Enos 1:12 – Just like it took all of calamity to convince Laman and Lemuel to release Nephi from being bound on the ship, all effort was enough for the Lord to hear Enos’ cry for the Lamanites.
Enos 1:13 – The Nephite record could save the Lamanites when they repent far into the future.
Enos 1:14 – “For at the present our strugglings were vain in restoring them to the true faith. And they swore in their wrath that, if it were possible, they would destroy our records and us, and also all the traditions of our fathers.” It wouldn’t work at that time, and they even sought to destroy the records and the traditions of their fathers.
Enos 1:15 – “Wherefore, I knowing that the Lord God was able to preserve our records, I cried unto him continually, for he had said unto me: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall receive in the name of Christ, ye shall receive it.” He cried that the records would be preserved.
Enos 1:16 – He believed it could happen.
Enos 1:17 – It was a covenant, so Enos was satisfied.
Enos 1:18 – It wasn’t just Enos that had made it so. Many of his ancestors had also had faith in Christ.
Enos 1:19 – Having received strength from the Lord, Enos went to preach to his brothers. (1 Nephi 15:6).
Enos 1:20 – It wasn’t working with the Lamanites — too much contrary behavior.
Enos 1:21 – The Nephites were industrious.
Enos 1:22 – Many prophets came to help them, but they had difficulty changing or understanding. (Jacob 6:4)
Enos 1:23 – “And there was nothing save it was exceeding harshness, preaching and prophesying of wars, and contentions, and destructions, and continually reminding them of death, and the duration of eternity, and the judgments and the power of God, and all these things—stirring them up continually to keep them in the fear of the Lord. I say there was nothing short of these things, and exceedingly great plainness of speech, would keep them from going down speedily to destruction. And after this manner do I write concerning them.” It took everything but the kitchen sink. It also seems to have taken industriousness (Enos 21). By being industrious, you do your part to not motivate people to want to fight you, so they would have courage in fighting.
Enos 1:24 – The Nephites and the Lamanites went to war. That means that the land wasn’t secure to some Nephites because of sin.
Enos 1:25 – Short narrative. It was about 421 years until Jesus Christ would come. What a long way away to have hope!
Enos 1:26 – Enos would die soon.
Enos 1:27 – Enos knew he would be reunited with his heavenly father.