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 .
Jarom
Jarom 1:1 – “Now behold, I, Jarom, write a few words according to the commandment of my father, Enos, that our geneaology may be kept.” Jarom minimally narrates that he is Enos’ son and following the commandments from Nephi to him.
Jarom 1:2 – “For what could I write more than my fathers have written? For have not they revealed the plan of salvation? I say unto you, Yea; and this sufficeth me.” Jarom is content with the plan of salvation.
Jarom 1:3 – “Behold, it is expedient that much should be done among this people, because of the hardness of their hearts, and the deafness of their ears, and the blindness of their minds, the stiffness of their necks; nevertheless, God is exceedingly merciful unto them, and has not as yet swept them off from the face of the land.” These people wouldn’t pay attention to what they should do, but God keeps people who have potential.
Jarom 1:4 – “And there are many among us who have many revelations, for they are not all stiffnecked. And as many as are not stiffnecked and have faith, have communion with the Holy Spirit, which maketh manifest unto the children of men, according to their faith.” Yet there are many with revelations and communion with the Holy Spirit.
Jarom 1:5 – “And now, behold, two hundred years had passed away, and the people of Nephi had waxed strong in the land. They observed to keep the law of Moses and the sabbath day holy unto the Lord. And they profaned not; neither did they blaspheme. And the laws of the land were exceedingly strict.” How ironic that strict laws require more sacrifice and yet they prosper more. Notice that they kept the law of Moses to prosper. They obeyed the Sabbath to understand the creation. They kept to good speech. The mouth is where the law comes out of. This is true in the religion of Noah.
Jarom 1:6 – “And they were scattered upon much of the face of the land, and the Lamanites also. And they were exceedingly more numerous than were they of the Nephites; and they loved murder and would drink the blood of beasts.” They had to deal directly with the Lamanites wherever they were. The Lamanites were murderous and bloodthirsty, meaning that they were in attack mode.
Jarom 1:7 – The ways of the Lord were strong militarily as well!
Jarom 1:8 – “And we multiplied exceedingly,” By overcoming, they became numerous and prosperous, including militarily.
Jarom 1:9 – Because they kept the commandments, they prospered. We see that the commandments made them help each other to overcome.
Jarom 1:10 – However, they were warned that it wouldn’t be so if they disobeyed. When you’re prosperous it can be easy not to worry.
Jarom 1:11 – They had the Christianity aspect to the law of Moses as well.
Jarom 1:12 – “for they did prick their hearts with the word,” Preachers were necessary to keep them going. They kept them having pure hearts so they could have integrity.
Jarom 1:13 – War happened for a while.
Jarom 1:14 – More about the wars are on the other plates.
Jarom 1:15 – Omni is the next in line to continue the Book of Mormon.