A passage from the Mentinah Archives.
A commenter suggested that I should include some spiritual messages from the Archives in my posts. I have been thinking about this and I decided to include passages from a book from the archives and maybe a comment or two. I will do this from time to time in between my discussions in ancient history. So, with this said, here is a passage from the Record of Sahnepet, the son of Hagmeni who is the son of Hagoth (Volume 1).
2)Behold, I am Sahnempet, the son of Hagmeni, even the eldest of my brethren and, before his death, my father ordained me a high priest and commanded me to keep the records of my family. Now this is the custom of the Nemenhah, that each family considers their works and keeps a record of them. And these records are kept in the vaults in the mountains. Thus we preserve our good customs and traditions and are not carried away by the teachings of men.
I believe the beginning of this record is the rest of the story from 3 Nephi Chapter 1. The Prophet Nephi departed out of the land of Zarahemla and the reason no knew where he went is because he had to leave quietly and secretly, as explained in line 14:
14) Now, behold, but one lunar after my father died, the very aged prophet Nephi arrived from the Land Southward with a very small band of followers. For they had been forced to travel in secret and disguised in the Land Southward and had made their way but slowly. And when he arrived among us, he grieved to find his friend Hagmeni dead and laid to rest in the tombs.
Please read the rest of the Record of Sahnempet to better understand this story and compare it to 3 Nephi 1. They are very similar and tells the state of the Nephites in the land of Zarahemla before and after the coming of Christ.
This record has a lot of interesting information but this is one of my favorite passages:
16) Behold, Nephi, the prophet, did clarify how the Lord would come and I testify that it was just as my father had taught to me before he died. And these are the words that the prophet Nephi taught the Nemenhah concerning the sign:
17) Verily, Samuel prophesied and gave the sign whereby we might know that the time is at hand that the Lord our God is come to redeem His people. Be not troubled by this and contend not. For we know that the Son of God shall be born of a virgin fair in the land of Jerusalem, out of which our father Lehi took his journey into the wilderness. Yea, did not the Prophet Alma teach that the virgin most precious should be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost and bring forth a Son, even the Son of God? And was not Nephi of old taught by the Angel that the virgin whom he saw was the mother of the Son of God after the manner of the flesh? And again, do we not read in the Brass Plates the words of Isaiah, wherein he said,
18) Behold, a virgin shall conceive and shall bear a Son, and shall call His name Emanuel.
19) Therefore, the scriptures do teach us the manner of His coming unto the world.
20) Yea, verily I say unto you, He shall be born into the world in the meridian of time and I ask you the same question the Angel asked Nephi of old:
21) Do you know the condescension of God? For the Son was already perfect and needed no life of man, no line upon line, to become even as the Father is. Nay, He was perfect already. It is so that we may become perfect that He condescended once again to live as man lives and to take upon Him the elements of the world He had created. One life more was He willing to sacrifice, one life for all, worlds without end, so that mankind could, by the power of the Holy Ghost, take from Him dominion over earthly matter and ascend with Him into that place where the Father dwells. For He has descended all things, yea, He is in the sun and in the moon and in the stars, for they were made by Him. And He is in the earth, for it is His footstool. Yea, even all the elements of creation do obey His voice because they are His. Therefore, His sacrifice is great, that He should do so much for us. This is the condescension of God, to be born as men are born, and to live as men live, that none may say He is not justified.
22) Wherefore, marvel not and contend not. The sign for which we wait and which is nigh upon us, shall be the sign of His birth. Therefore shall there be signs in the heavens. Yea, even a new star shall show itself in the sky, one that your learned men have never yet seen. Yea, and there shall be no night, but there shall be a day, a night and a day, when the Child is born, and many other signs and wonders shall you see.
23) Verily, He shall grow up among His own, even among those whom our Fathers left behind in the land of Jerusalem. And He shall learn as we all must learn, and He shall grow from line to line and light to light, yea, precept by precept, except that He shall learn from the Father and from Angels.
24) But behold, He will be born unto His own people, and there He shall call righteous men and He shall establish His Church and His righteousness and many shall believe. But the more part of His own people in the land of Jerusalem are as the people of Zarahemlah. They are puffed up and wicked, and they shall reject their King and shall even put Him to death. So shall the Son of Man die as to the manner of men just as He was born as to the manner of men. Then shall the grave take Him into that mysterious bondage of death, just as you and I shall go down captive into the earth. And this is needful, that He may say that surely He did descend all things.
In just this one passage, we have references from the Old Testament, New Testament, and the Book of Mormon. I believe that the description of Jesus Christ on line 21 is the best description I have read in a long time. In just one line Sahnempet describes Jesus Christ as He truly is, the Son of God. There is no ambiguity or confusion of words. He is the creator of worlds and He is perfect just as His Father is perfect.
In my next post, I will continue with my discussion of Hagoth’s travels.
