Enos – Jarom
This experience(s) of Enos took place while Jacob was still alive or else he was born late in the life of Jacob (or both). In fact, I think that what Jacob was talking about regarding the many ways devised to reclaim the Lamanites much of what he saw is also what Enos was talking about with “the people of Nephi did diligently seek to restore the Lamanites.” I am not sure if the prayers and struggles for the welfare of the Nephites and Lamanites took place at the same time as the all day prayer for his own remission of sins or if they took place afterward. I am inclined to think that the prayer for the Nephites followed on the heels of his own remission of sins, but that the prayer for the Lamanites was actually a series of prayers over an extended period of time.
The Spirit told Enos that the promised land had been given to the Nephites and would only be cursed based on their wickedness – it sounds as if the Lamanites are forgotten – to have the land blessed or cursed independent of their righteousness. They will receive rain and good harvests as the Nephites do regardless of their own waxing or waning in righteousness. I’m sure that is not entirely accurate, but it is apparent that the blessings of the Lord on the land are based primarily on the status of the Nephites (so long as they were around). It sounds almost like putting one child on the back burner to focus on teaching and correcting the other.
I wonder if the Lamanites ate raw meat because they had been taught to by their fathers who had gained a taste for it on the journey from Jerusalem when the Lord commanded that they eat their meat raw rather than make fire.
Jarom got the message that this record would eventually be for the benefit of the Lamanites more than for the benefit of the short-term future. It feels like this early in history the prophets among the Nephites (if not the people generally) did not expect the Nephites to survive for very long against the Lamanites.
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