{"id":46243,"date":"2023-12-29T04:00:37","date_gmt":"2023-12-29T11:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=46243"},"modified":"2023-12-29T05:02:02","modified_gmt":"2023-12-29T12:02:02","slug":"prosper-in-the-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2023\/12\/prosper-in-the-land\/","title":{"rendered":"Prosper in the Land"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a long-ago post, John Fowles<\/a> referred to a Book of Mormon couplet as the book\u2019s thesis:<\/p>\n

Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land;
\nbut inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence (2 Nephi 1:20<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The same couplet occurs at least 14 times in whole or part in the Book of Mormon, spoken by prophets from Nephi to Mormon (see notes on a prior post for the philological details<\/a>). In its first occurrence<\/a>, Nephi recalls it as something the Lord had already revealed to him in the wilderness, although that event isn\u2019t recorded. In its last occurrence, Mormon cites it<\/a> as something revealed to Lehi (perhaps referring to 2 Nephi 1:20). The couplet wraps around Alma\u2019s words to his son Helaman in Alma 36<\/a>, with half the couplet found in verse one and the whole couplet at the end of the chapter in verse 30, and it occurs again in the next chapter<\/a> as Alma confers the plates and other artifacts on Helaman. Curiously, there is another allusion to it in a second scene of a final encounter between Alma and Helaman<\/a>, where it is the culmination of a three-part catechism:<\/p>\n

Believest thou the words which I spake unto thee concerning those records which have been kept?
\nBelievest thou in Jesus Christ, who shall come?
\nWill ye keep my commandments?<\/p>\n

After Helaman responds affirmatively each time, Alma tells him:<\/p>\n

Blessed art thou; and the Lord shall prosper thee in this land. (Alma 45:2-8)<\/p>\n

Alma gives a final prophecy, and then departs from the land, never to be seen again.<\/p>\n

To affirm what John Fowles wrote: this seems to be a central message of the Book of Mormon, repeated over a dozen times, including in some high-profile passages. While studying the Book of Mormon this year, we\u2019ll miss something important if we\u2019re not aware of the couplet, and as a central teaching of a work of scripture, we need to think seriously about it.<\/p>\n

But as scriptural teachings go, \u201cinasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land\u201d is also deeply unfashionable. Specifically:<\/p>\n