In the Book of Mormon we read that Lehi warned them to hearken to his words and awake from the deep sleep of hell and shake off the awful chains that bound them. He said he would soon go down to his grave, but begged them to listen to him and awake and arise. Lehi bore testimony that the Lord wold redeem his soul from hell and that he would be encircled about eternally in the arms of God's love. He wanted his descendants to likewise observe the commandments of the Lord so they would not be cut off. He was weighed down with anxiety on their behalf, and it was causing him great sorrow that he feared for them because of the hardness of their hearts. Lehi's heart was breaking because he wanted so much for his children to be righteous and enjoy the blessings of the Lord. But he feared that they were hardening their hearts and would be cut off from the presence of the Lord. He begged his children to arise and awake and rebel no more, that he wouldn't have to go down to his grave in grief and sorrow because of their sins. He begged them to listen to their brother Nephi who had tried to lead them in rightousness. It was because of Nephi that they were preserved, in yet they had sought to take away his life. 2 Nephi 1:12-24 "Yea, as one generation passeth to another there shall be bloodsheds, and great visitations among them; wherefore, my sons, I would that ye would remember; yea, I would that ye would hearken unto my words. O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains 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 gulf of misery and woe. Awake! and arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling parent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveler can return; a few more days and I go the way of all the earth. But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love. And I desire that ye should remember to observe the statutes and the judgments of the Lord; behold, this hath been the anxiety of my soul from the beginning. 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 wrath upon you, that ye be cut off and destroyed forever; Or, that a cursing should come upon you for the space of many generations; and ye are visited by sword, and by famine, and are hated, and are led according to the will and captivity of the devil. O my sons, that these things might not come upon you, but that ye might be a choice and a favored people of the Lord. But behold, his will be done; for his ways are righteousness forever. And he hath said that: Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence. And now that my soul might have joy in you, and that my heart might leave this world with gladness because of you, that I might not be brought down with grief and sorrow to the grave, arise from the dust, my sons, and be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity; That ye may not be cursed with a sore cursing; and also, that ye may not incur the displeasure of a just God upon you, unto the destruction, yea, the eternal destruction of both soul and body. Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust. Rebel no more against your brother, whose views have been glorious, and who hath kept the commandments from the time that we left Jerusalem; and who hath been an instrument in the hands of God, in bringing us forth into the land of promise; for were it not for him, we must have perished with hunger in the wilderness; nevertheless, ye sought to take away his life; yea, and he hath suffered much sorrow because of you."
In the Old Testament Moses recounts how he became over burdened and weighed down with trying to bear by himself the needs of the people. So he found wise and understanding men to appoint as rulers and help him with the huge task he'd been trying to do on his own. When we find ourselves overwhelmed with trying to do everything alone, maybe it's time to find some good people to delegate some of our work to. Deuteronomy 1:12-14 "How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do."
Some verses with a thought booklet remind us that all down through the ages, the Lord had punished the wicked, but is willing to deliver the righteous welling among them who are greatly distressed by the evil deeds they see committed by those around them. No matter how wicked this world becomes, we don't have to join the crowd and become evil too. The Lord will help us overcome the temptations that surround us if we'll turn to Him and we will be able to avoid the judgments of God that will surely come to those who break His commandments. 2 Peter 2:4-9 "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:"
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