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Monday, October 27, 2008

This is Awesome

I know a little better now, how Samuel the Lamanite felt. Only I'm not a prophet and instead of arrows I've got profanities and obscene gestures being aimed at me. Doesn't matter - sticks and stones.... I'll obey no matter what.



For those of you who may not know who Samuel the Lamanite is or what is so fantastic about this version of this painting, here's the scoop. Samuel the Lamanite was a prophet of the Lord in the Americas. He preached repentance and prophesied of Christ's birth across the ocean. In Helaman chapter 16, verses 1-8, it reads:

1 And now, it came to pass that there were many who heard the words of Samuel, the Lamanite, which he spake upon the walls of the city. And as many as believed on his word went forth and sought for Nephi [another prophet]; and when they had come forth and found him they confessed unto him their sins and denied not, desiring that they might be baptized unto the Lord.

2 But as many as there were who did not believe in the words of Samuel were angry with him; and they cast stones at him upon the wall, and also many shot arrows at him as he stood upon the wall; but the Spirit of the Lord was with him, insomuch that they could not hit him with their stones neither with their arrows.

3 Now when they saw that they could not hit him, there were many more who did believe on his words, insomuch that they went away unto Nephi to be baptized.

4 For behold, Nephi was baptizing, and prophesying, and preaching, crying repentance unto the people showing signs and wonders, working miracles among the people, that they might know that the Christ must shortly come -

5 Telling them of things which must shortly come, that they might know and remember at the time of their coming that they had been made known unto them beforehand to the intent that they might believe; therefore as many as believed on the words of Samuel went forth unto him to be baptized, for they came repenting and confessing their sins.

6 But the more part of them did not believe in the words of Samuel; therefore when they saw that they could not hit him with their stones and their arrows, they cried unto their captains, saying: Take this fellow and bind him, for behold he hath a devil; and because of the power of the devil which is in him we cannot hit him with our stones and our arrows; therefore take him and bind him, and away with him.

7 And as they went forth to lay their hands on him, behold, he did cast himself down from the wall, and did flee out of their lands, yea, even unto his own country, and began to preach and to prophesy among his own people.

8 And behold, he was never heard of more among the Nephites; and thus were the affairs of the people.

6 comments:

Tiffany J said...

Funny, when I emailed you the picture I didn't realize he was holding a Prop 8 sign...cool.

Jolene said...

I love it. Great parallel.

Liz said...

Ha! That is funny, Teej. :) Why did you send it along then? I thought it was because of the Prop 8 sign. :)

Tiffany J said...

I knew what the connection was...it wasn't hard to imagine that being an avid supporter of Prop 8 would feel like Samuel the Lamanite on the wall. I glanced at the picture and assumed it was the regular picture you find in the Gospel Art Kit. He didn't need to be holding the sign to understand what the symbolism was. Adding the sign just made it that much better.

Freckles said...

That's awesome, keep going Liz! You are doing such a great thing, I admire your courage and determination!

Lisa/Scott said...

You gotta do what you gotta do! I actually got into a pretty heavy debate with a friend of mine who's gay over this whole shindig. People think that the Mormon church will eventually cave on gay marriage the way some think they "Caved" on the priesthood...anyone who truly understands the Mormon church knows it's about the traditional family. Mother, Father, Children. If we can't obtain that in this life, we remain faithful and obtain it in the next. Until that happens, we just have to let people throw their arguments and anger at us. Honestly...if they're so convinced they're right and we're wrong, why are they being so immature with the name calling? Sheesh.