Category: Scripture Notes
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Sampson’s father
We would do well to emulate the father of Sampson when he heard need that his wife would bare a son—his response was to pray for directions in receiving the promised blessing.
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Gideon’s 300
The host of Midian should never have been frightened of 300 but when 300 men with lamps and trumpets appeared out of the darkness how many men did they think they were facing? How many men would normally be attached to a single trumpeter? It’s no wonder they were confused and frightened.
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Centuries of oscillation
If we ever think that Israel has a smooth path of relative obedience after Moses it can only because their centuries of oscillating between calling upon the Lord for deliverance and serving the gods of the nations who possessed the land before them are covered quickly.
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Proactive va Reactive
While Alma was serving as chief judge for 8 years he was largely confined to a reactive role where he could teach relative the the cars that came before him but he did not have the time to go out and proactively address the wickedness if various people in various places. That is what he…
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How we mark ourselves
The Amlicites marked themselves for war but i realized that people naturally tend to mark themselves in various ways—often not conscious of the full significance of what they are doing just as the Amlicites we’re not aware of the full significance—and it made me consider how we mark ourselves, how I mark myself, and how…
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Once upon a time
Earlier in my life the concept of our nation breaking apart politically was unthinkable but now a rational person would have to conclude that we are capable of doing that. I would not say that it was either imminent or inevitable but it is no longer inconceivable in my lifetime.
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Enforcing the law
A key to peace and prosperity among the Nephites was that they enforced the law. If they did not enforce the law anarchy would grow no matter how good the laws were. We need to be careful not to enact laws that we are unwilling or unable to enforce.
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By persuasion
Modish changed the minds if his people so that they no longer desired a king. He did this not by declaring that it would be so but by exposing why it was desirable—that is how to make change in a free society. If course that was only possible because the people were willing to listen…
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Families and households
When the Lord distinguishes between families and households it makes me think. Families are those bonded by their relationships and households are the beginnings of families – they are the individual units of a family who live together under a shared roof. As we begin to split up and no longer love under a shared…
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Covenant renewed
I had forgotten that children is Israel resumed the p of circumcision as soon as they entered the promised land after having ceased the practice during their years in the wilderness. I actually wonder if that beard any similarity out the years when the church leaned into the term “Mormon” before more recently making the…