For me, there is a lot going on in this chapter. In verses 2 and 4 Jacob talks about the language skills of Sherem the anti-Christ. In verse 2 Sherem uses flattery to overthrow the doctrine of Christ. And in verse 4 he is said to have a perfect knowledge of the language of the people. I never thought about these verses before but now I can’t help but wonder — what kind of excessive, insincere praises can one give in order to overthrow the doctrine of Christ? I don’t know. It would be nice if some examples were given. Or maybe I do know but I just don’t know I know. Verse 4 also says that with his language skills he was able to flatter and use ‘much power of speech’. Is power of speech persuasion skills? He must have had a very high vocabulary so that he could sound intellectual.
Whatever kind of speech mojo Sherem had it worked. This is what always gives me chills when I read about the three anti-Christs specifically mentioned in the Book of Mormon. They were successful! In verse 3 it says that he was able to lead many away from the truth. YIKES! The people were that easy? Apparently yes. But for Sherem it wasn’t enough, he wanted Jacob.
In verse 5 Jacob lists the many spiritual experiences he had had with revelations, angels, speaking with the Lord and he ends the verse by saying, “I could not be shaken.” This statement got me thinking, what experiences have I had that render my faith in God and Jesus Christ unshakeable? I’m still working on that one but one thing I do know is that the scriptures teach us how to have unshakeable faith. They teach us what we need to know, what we need to say, and what we need to do. Honestly, this statement by Jacob kind of makes me nervous. Could I ever be that easy to sway from the truth?
One thing I’ve learned from studying the scriptures is that when the devil, his demons, or his earthly servants, like Sherem, command, the faithful do not obey. When Satan tempted Christ three times after he fasted for 40 days, Christ did not obey. He could’ve turned the rocks into bread but it would have been at Satan’s tempting. When Satan tried to get Moses to worship him, Moses did not obey. When Daniel and his three amigos were told to eat the king’s meat and drink his wine and worship his pagan god, they did not obey. And when Sherem told Jacob to show him a sign of the truth of Christ’s coming and atonement, Jacob did not obey.
Here’s what cracks me up about sign seekers. They want a sign to prove to them that there is a god but due to their lack of faith they will never be able to believe the truth about anything in the gospel no matter what signs they receive. In Sherem’s case it worked because he was actually in denial about what he already knew to be true and the sign was pretty severe. But I’ve finally come to understand the phrase ‘faith precedes the miracle’. Faith opens up our minds to see possibilities that have not yet materialized and enables us to then make things come true. The other thing about sign seekers is that they want physical signs to prove spiritual truth. Hmmmmm……….