7 And it came to pass that those rulers who were the remnant of the children of Amulon caused that they should be put to death, yea, all those that believed in these things.
8 Now this martyrdom caused that many of their brethren should be stirred up to anger; and there began to be contention in the wilderness; and the Lamanites began to hunt the seed of Amulon and his brethren and began to slay them; and they fled into the east wilderness. 9 And behold they are hunted at this day by the Lamanites. Thus the words of Abinadi were brought to pass, which he said concerning the seed of the priests who caused that he should suffer death by fire. 10 For he said unto them: What ye shall do unto me shall be a type of things to come. 11 And now Abinadi was the first that suffered death by fire because of his belief in God; now this is what he meant, that many should suffer death by fire, according as he had suffered. 12 And he said unto the priests of Noah that their seed should cause many to be put to death, in the like manner as he was, and that they should be scattered abroad and slain, even as a sheep having no shepherd is driven and slain by wild beasts; and now behold, these words were verified, for they were driven by the Lamanites, and they were hunted, and they were smitten.
What more can be said? The word of the Lord, through his prophets was fulfilled. Not as a sign, as if in the form of an “I told you so!” to rub salt in a wound. But simply because a warning was given by the Lord as to what would happen if the wicked priests of Noah did not repent, and it was fulfilled. God takes no joy in being right when his children are suffering. Everything he does is out of love for his children, even when they suffer the consequences of sin and disobedience. Such suffering is designed to turn our hearts to him, as it did the many Lamanites who were humbled by their afflictions and were converted to the Lord.
In addition, there are laws— eternal laws that are similar to the laws of nature— that govern all things. And when we receive any blessing from God, it is by obedience to the laws upon which those blessings are predicated. And when we receive the negative consequences of disobedience to law, or cursing, it is by disobedience to the laws upon which those consequences are predicated.
It’s not complicated. Do you want joy, peace and happiness? Follow the laws upon which they are predicated. Since wickedness is not nor ever will be happiness, than happiness is righteousness. Meaning, keeping the commandments of a loving Father in Heaven who, more than anything else, wants our happiness.
Men are that they might have joy. His work and his glory is to being to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. And what is that? Immortality is the resurrection of the body. What does that have to do with anything, having a body and being resurrected after death? We are told that we cannot have a fullness of joy without our spirit and body being united. So that part is to bring us joy. And what is eternal life? It is the life that God lives. We tend to think of that life as ruling on a throne over the universe, creating galaxies and solar systems and so forth. But to what end does he do those things? To be inhabited by his children. And why? So they, we, can learn to live the life he lives. And what is that life? Being an all powerful mogul of the universe? Or is it to be filled with the love, joy and peace that is that the core of his being?
All of these impressive creations were designed for one thing, and one thing only. To propagate joy in our Father’s posterity! So you see, eternal life is eternal love. Eternal life is eternal joy. Eternal life is eternal peace. And eternal life is providing all of those things for our future posterity, throughout all eternity, with no end, just as it is with our Fathwr.
So, the immortality and eternal life of man is nothing more than our immortal
and eternal happiness. That which any loving father would want for his children.
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