8 And behold, it is wisdom that this land should be akept as yet from the knowledge of other bnations; for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance.
9 Wherefore, I, Lehi, have obtained a apromise, that binasmuch as those whom the Lord God shall bring out of the land of Jerusalem shall keep his commandments, they shall cprosper upon the face of this land; and they shall be kept from all other nations, that they may possess this land unto themselves. And if it so be that they shall dkeep his commandments they shall be blessed upon the face of this land, and there shall be none to molest them, nor to take away the land of their einheritance; and they shall dwell safely forever.
10 But behold, when the time cometh that they shall dwindle in aunbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord—having a knowledge of the creation of the earth, and all men, knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the world; having power given them to do all things by faith; having all the commandments from the beginning, and having been brought by his infinite goodness into this precious land of promise—behold, I say, if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true bMessiah, their Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgments of him that is cjust shall rest upon them.
11 Yea, he will bring aother nations unto them, and he will give unto them power, and he will take away from them the lands of their possessions, and he will cause them to be bscattered and smitten.
12 Yea, as one generation passeth to another there shall be abloodsheds, and great visitations among them; wherefore, my sons, I would that ye would remember; yea, I would that ye would hearken unto my words.
13 O that ye would awake; awake from a deep asleep, yea, even from the sleep of bhell, and shake off the awful cchains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal dgulf of misery and woe.
14 Awake! and arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling aparent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent bgrave, from whence no traveler can creturn; a few more ddays and I go the eway of all the earth.
15 But behold, the Lord hath aredeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld hisbglory, and I am encircled about eternally in the carms of his dlove.
16 And I desire that ye should remember to observe the astatutes and the judgments of the Lord; behold, this hath been the anxiety of my soul from the beginning.
17 My heart hath been weighed down with sorrow from time to time, for I have feared, lest for the hardness of your hearts the Lord your God should come out in the fulness of his awrath upon you, that ye be bcut off and destroyed forever;
18 Or, that a acursing should come upon you for the space of bmany generations; and ye are visited by sword, and by famine, and are hated, and are led according to the will and captivity of the cdevil.
It is really hard to read how desperate this guy is for his kids to listen. You can tell he knows deep down inside that his words are falling on deaf ears and they are going to fall back into the same routine. I can't imagine the pain he is feeling at knowing his kids are lost and there is nothing he can do but trying anyway. No parent would be able to take this situation and not fall apart. I know the pain I felt leaving Cookeville was pretty bad but it is nothing compared to this. I at least know She loves Jesus and I can hope God will take care of her. I know she has a chance at a good life even though I will not be a part of it. This parent is about to die and know and fears his children are not going to follow God and are heading for self-destruction.
I have known a few people who had children that were on drugs or were making other poor life choices. The peon they go though knowing that someone they love is basically killing themselves slowly is brutal. And this is worse. Not only are this boys going to destroy themselves in this life, their self-destructive choices are going to end up cutting them off from heaven. There is no worst pain seeing this happen to someone you love. And there is nothing this parent can do but uselessly talk to them one last time before he's gone.
I wish that this man's relationship with God had comforted him in this situation. I know once this guy is in heaven at the end of the age (assuming this book is real) he will be comforted and his pain eased. But during this point I think it just made the pain more acute.
If I had left Cookeville with the rejection from the girl and she was not pursing God. Experiencing this level of closeness with God would just make the pain more acute I think. Because now, not only is there someone I deeply love throwing happiness in this life away with both hands, but I am holding the experience of happiness in the next life in my hands as well. I know and can see everything that could be and will not because she inexplicable refuses. It is like that for this parent. He sees all the blessings and love God has to give the children in this life and the next and he is left helpless as they throw happiness and love and God away every single day in exchange for darkness, evil and self destruction. I hope I am never in this guys position. Death would be preferable.
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