The fall, proper order and restoration

Warning: This is a speculative post based on scriptures but interpretations solely based on stisa-doctrine. At least, I know of no official statement from church leaders on this.

I have reflected on the conflicting commandments in the Garden of Eden: Don't partake of the fruit of the tree of life and multiply and replenish the earth. Why did God do it that way? Why not just create man mortal and fallen and provide a Savior? Then they wouldn't have to break a commandment to fulfill another one.

I think Alma-2 might have an answer. In Alma 41 he talks about the concept of restoration. It has nothing to do with the restoration of the church, priesthood or gospel truths through the prophet Joseph Smith. He uses it as a general term to describe things being brought back to their "proper order". This restoration is "requisite with the justice of God", he says (Alma 41:2). Since God is just, everything is brought back to its proper order. Alma 41:13

the meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish—good for that which is good; righteous for that which is righteous; just for that which is just; merciful for that which is merciful.

Alma spends most of this chapter explaining that what we do (send out) will eventually return to us. That is in line with the "plan of restoration" (Alma 41:2), the restroration of our works or life choices. But in the beginning of the chapter, he also talks about a restoration of the body and spirit. Alma 41:4

Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame—mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption

Since God originally created man immortal, this is the "proper order". Thus it is "requisite with the justice of God" that body and spirit will be restored to immortality. If God had originally created man mortal, that would have been the proper order and immortality could not have been given unconditionally. At least that is what I think. In Alma 42:12, Alma makes a point of death being something "man had brought upon himself". I think it had to be that way.

Because of this "plan of restoration" (Alma 41:2) it makes sense that immortality is unconditional and eternal life (exaltation) is not. It's not my fault that Adam ruined the proper order so according to God's justice I get immortality for free. But I am responsible for my actions and some of them will inevitably be bad. So since what I send out will be returned to me and restored, I need to actively apply the atonement to wipe away the bad part before it returns to me again.

Psalm 7 and "sleep[ing] in the dust"

I came across this interesting passage in Psalm 7 while studying a different topic.

Recently, I posted about "fear and darkness." The fundamental idea is that those who are unprepared for the day of judgment attempt in vain to hide within the creation. This is a deeply symbolic reference to the creation-covenant connection.  The earth was created for the specific purpose of serving as a barrier between mortal man and God and to give us space to be tested (see Abraham 3:24-25 and Alma 42:3-4).

While speaking to a group of wicked Nephites, Alma-2 phrases it like this:

14 For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence. (Alma 12)

It seems that the Nephites understood the consequences of violating their covenants on a deep level. See also Deuteronomy 28:15-50.

With that backdrop, notice the similar understanding on the part of the psalmist at offending God:

3 Lord my God, if I have done this
and there is guilt on my hands—
4 if I have repaid my ally with evil
or without cause have robbed my foe—
5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;
let him trample my life to the ground
and make me sleep in the dust. (Psalm 7, NIV)

Instead of trying in vain to hide in the dust, the psalmist understands that the consequence of violating the covenant is to be trampled into the ground and made to sleep in the dust. We're right back to that temple theme.

This also underscores the description of the Book of Mormon "as the voice of one crying from the dust" (see 2 Nephi 33:13). Moroni, as the final survivor of the Nephites, acknowledges this quite plainly in one of his farewells to us as readers. We are to strip ourselves of worldly vices (verse 28), and make and keep covenants with God (verse 29). By so doing, we can be "more wise than [the Nephites] have been":

28 Be wise in the days of your probation; strip yourselves of all uncleanness; ask not, that ye may consume it on your lusts, but ask with a firmness unshaken, that ye will yield to no temptation, but that ye will serve the true and living God.
29 See that ye are not baptized unworthily; see that ye partake not of the sacrament of Christ unworthily; but see that ye do all things in worthiness, and do it in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God; and if ye do this, and endure to the end, ye will in nowise be cast out.
30 Behold, I speak unto you as though I spake from the dead; for I know that ye shall have my words.
31 Condemn me not because of mine imperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him; but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been. (Mormon 9)

The Sun/Son of Righteousness

A well-know verse in Malachi in the last chapter of the Old Testament reads

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

The "Sun of righteousness" is a unique reading in the entire Bible. This verse is also quoted in the Book of Mormon by Jesus himself in 3 Nephi 25:2, but with "Son of righteousness" rather than "sun". I have known this for a while but decided to explore this curious little difference further.

Since this expression is unique in the Bible, it is also discussed in Christian and Jewish academic circles. In Hebrew, Sun of Righteousness is שֶׁ֣מֶשׁ צְדָקָ֔ה or shemesh tsedâqâh. From this article I learned that

The Hebrew word shemesh, meaning sun, comes from an unused root meaning to be brilliant. So when we combine that root with the Hebrew word esh, meaning fire, burning, fiery, flaming, hot, we get the word shem-esh, meaning literally "brilliant fire" or sun.

Interestingly, the root word shem also has various meanings like name, famous, or renown. Since everyone in the world who has ever lived has seen the sun and knows the sun, which God gave to govern the day, we may also say that shem-esh could mean the "famous fire" or the "world-renowned fire."

This makes a lot of sense when we read the Malachi verse in context. The verse before talks about the wicked burning as stubble.  Since the Hebrew word for sun also is connected to fire, Malachi is talking about two kinds of fire here. One that will burn the wicked and another that will give light and healing to the righteous. Previous blog posts about these two kinds of fire are found here and here. Both fire in general and the sun in particular are symbols for God in the Old Testament.

For the Lord God is a sun and shield (Psalms 84:11)

For the Lord your God is a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24)

At least for christians, the common interpretation of "Sun of righteousness" in Malachi is Christ. After all, he is described as someone who will arise. The KJV Bible even capitalizes Sun, because it is seen as a title for the Lord. So if this makes sense, why does the Book of Mormon change it to "Son of righteousness"? Of course, the Book of Mormon reading is an even more obvious reference to Christ. Especially due to the fact that this expression is found three times in the Book of Mormon and the other two that are not the Malachi quote are clear references to Christ.

But the Son of Righteousness shall appear unto them; and he shall heal them, and they shall have peace with him, until three generations shall have passed away, and many of the fourth generation shall have passed away in righteousness. (2 Nephi 26:9)

This is obviously a prophecy of Christ appearing to the Nephites. The third one is found in the Book of Ether:

And after he had anointed Coriantum to reign in his stead he lived four years, and he saw peace in the land; yea, and he even saw the Son of Righteousness, and did rejoice and glory in his day; and he died in peace. (Ether 9:22)

This is perhaps less obvious than the previous example but obvious enough. If this is not referring to Christ, then who?

But there is no official explanation for the difference, sun/son, in the Bible and the Book of Mormon so I will just present the possibilities.

Wrong Bible translation

The Hebrew, shemesh (sun) is very close to shamash (servant). This small change could happen over the years copying and re-copying the text and it would originally read "servant of righteousness". However, with this interpretation, the grammar is wrong too, which means that someone must have adjusted the grammar to fit sun instead of correcting the mistake. So it seems like a stretch and besides, "servant" is still not "son".

Error in the Book of Mormon

Royal Skousen who has dealt with textual variants in the Book of Mormon more than anyone believes it is an error. His reasoning is that sun and son are homophones in English, so it is an easy mistake to make, a mistake in the Bible is not as reasonable and the connection between this Book of Mormon expression and the one in Malachi is strong. 

Skousen may very well be right. What makes me unsure is that Joseph and Oliver would have to make the same mistake three times. Unfortunately, the original manuscript is not extant for any of the three passages. All we see is "son" in the printer's manuscript. 

The difference was intentional

At least I would like to consider the only other possibility, that Skousen is wrong about this and the difference son/sun was intentional. Especially in the Ether passage that is completely independent of Malachi, I think son works better than sun. If "Sun of Righteousness" were a common biblical title, it would make more sense, but the Jaredite king getting a personal visitation from the Savior is a very different setting from what we read in that particular Malachi verse. Of course, Moroni, who abridged the Jaredite record, knew this Malachi-passage from 3 Nephi, but it is still a somewhat odd connection to make. When there are so many names and titles for the Savior, why would Moroni choose this unique and particular one from Malachi? 

What complicates the matter further is that the other Book of Mormon example in 2 Nephi 26:9, does show a connection to Malachi beyond this particular expression. In 2 Nephi, he goes on to say that "he shall heal them". In Malachi he arises with "healing in his wings". Also, in the previous chapter, 2 Nephi 25:12-13, "the Only Begotten of the Father… shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings". 

If the difference was intentional, was it the Book of Mormon prophets using the word son in their language, (presumably son and sun in reformed Eqyptian were much more different than in English)?  Or was it a creative translation of the English text revealed to Joseph Smith? What would be the reason for the deviation? We can only speculate at this point.


But then there is another point: I have previously argued that these apparent connections to Malachi in fact are connections to the prophet, Zenos. If Zenos is the original source of the "Sun/son of righteousness", then both Malachi and the Book of Mormon prophets are using his phrase, perhaps in slightly different ways since it ends up differently in Hebrew and English. In that case, the process where something might get lost in translation or copying of manuscripts is more complex.

We are not going to get to the bottom of this. Whether it is Sun or Son of Righteousness, it is a beautiful title for the Savior. He arose with healing in his wings on this very day, Easter Sunday, and offers healing from both physical and spiritual death.

A final note about wings: We know the "Son" does not have wings. The sun doesn't either. The Hebrew word for wings can also mean edge but most biblical scholars understand the wings of the sun to mean rays. This is how it works for the sun analogy. However, in the Book of Mormon, the sun as symbol of the divine is not common. To my knowledge, the Book of Mormon does not contain any passage like the one I quoted in Psalms ("God is a sun…"). But it does contain this passage

O ye people of these great cities which have fallen, who are descendants of Jacob, yea, who are of the house of Israel, how oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have nourished you. (3 Nephi 10:4)

Here, Christ is a hen with wings in his own analogy. In the previous chapter he is offering to heal the people he is speaking to (see 3 Nephi 9:13). Healing, wings... I don't know if there is an intentional connection to the Son of Righteousness but this is right before he visits the Nephites, just like Nephi prophecied in 2 Nephi 25-26, where this expression was used. In this context, Son of Righteousness with healing in his wings perhaps works better than Sun of Righteousness with healing in its rays.

This was a long post with very few actual answers to the questions posed, but a fun learning process nonetheless, at least for me. I appreciate any comment with further thoughts or insight to this.

Psalms in the Book of Mormon, Helaman - Moroni

This post will conclude our series looking at each example of Psalm-language in the Book of Mormon. It's been really interesting looking at each example.  I will post one or two additional posts in the near future illustrating a pattern I've seen in how these Psalms are used.

In truth and uprightness

8 They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness. (Psalm 111)



34 And thus we see that the Nephites did begin to dwindle in unbelief, and grow in wickedness and abominations, while the Lamanites began to grow exceedingly in the knowledge of their God; yea, they did begin to keep his statutes and commandments, and to walk in truth and uprightness before him. (Helaman 6)

1 Kings 3:6 contains similar language.

See that the Lord . . . good . . . bless . . . trust in him

8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. (Psalm 34)



1 And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him. (Helaman 12)

Light of . . . countenance

6 There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. (Psalms 4)



3 For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them. (Psalm 44)



15 Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. (Psalm 89)



8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. (Psalm 90)



25 And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto him; and his countenance did smile upon them, and the light of his countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof. (3 Nephi 19)

See also Job 29:24, Proverbs 16:15, and D&C 88:56, 58

Counted unto him for righteousness

31 And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore. (Psalm 106)


7 For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness. (Moroni 7)

See also Romans 4:3.

From everlasting to everlasting

2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. (Psalm 90)



17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; (Psalm 103)



48 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the Lord. (Psalm 106)



22 For behold, God knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting, behold, he sent angels to minister unto the children of men, to make manifest concerning the coming of Christ; and in Christ there should come every good thing. (Moroni 7)

See also D&C 20:17; 61:1; 109:77; 132:20

None that doeth good . . . no not one

3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Psalms 14)



3 Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Psalm 53)


25 And wo be unto the children of men if this be the case; for there shall be none that doeth good among you, no not one. For if there be one among you that doeth good, he shall work by the power and gifts of God. (Moroni 10)

See also Romans 3:12.

Forbidden to write -- Part 2

In part 1, we started looking at examples in the Book of Mormon where the author is forbidden to write certain things. We saw two examples from Nephi and one from Mormon. In this part we will look at one more example from Mormon and two from Moroni. That gives two examples each for the three main Book of Mormon authors.

3 Nephi 28:13-14, 25

13 And behold, the heavens were opened, and they were caught up into heaven, and saw and heard unspeakable things.

14 And it was forbidden them that they should utter; neither was it given unto them power that they could utter the things which they saw and heard...

25 Behold, I was about to write the names of those who were never to taste of death, but the Lord forbade; therefore I write them not, for they are hid from the world.

I can understand the one in verse 14. We are not going to get a full description of what they saw in heaven. It wasn't possible for them to express in words anyway. But it makes me think. How many times do we speculate about the afterlife, try to describe or imagine conditions there, the nature of the Godhead, etc. When we learn that power from God is required to enable us to utter those things, we should be humble and realize that a detailed knowledge of the heavens is beyond our comprehension at the moment.

Regarding verse 25, Mormon was forbidden to write the names of the "3 Nephites". They were to be "hid from the world". I don't know why knowing their names would make much of a difference. We already know the names of the 12 disciples from 3 Nephi 19:4, so it would have to be 3 of them I would suppose? But the Lord forbade it for a reason. Perhaps it is just to avoid needless speculations like this? I really don't know.

Ether 4:4-7

4 Behold, I have written upon these plates the very things which the brother of Jared saw; and there never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared.

5 Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me to write them; and I have written them. And he commanded me that I should seal them up; and he also hath commanded that I should seal up the interpretation thereof; wherefore I have sealed up the interpreters, according to the commandment of the Lord.

6 For the Lord said unto me: They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord.

7 And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are.

The brother of Jared is one of a few people in the scriptures that are described as seeing everything. In the case of the brother of Jared

25 And when the Lord had said these words, he showed unto the brother of Jared all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be; and he withheld them not from his sight, even unto the ends of the earth.

26 For he had said unto him in times before, that if he would believe in him that he could show unto him all things—it should be shown unto him; therefore the Lord could not withhold anything from him, for he knew that the Lord could show him all things. (Ether 3)

The brother of Jared was commanded to write it down and Moroni was commanded to seal the translation of it. We learn that we will not get it until we repent and show the same kind of faith that the brother of Jared had. My guess is that we will have to wait for the millennium. We learn from Ether 4:2 that the people had access to it after Christ had visited them and they lived in a righteous Zion-like society for many years. When wickedness started prevailing again, we read

yea, there were many churches which professed to know the Christ, and yet they did deny the more parts of his gospel, insomuch that they did receive all manner of wickedness, and did administer that which was sacred unto him to whom it had been forbidden because of unworthiness. (4 Nephi 1:27)

I wonder if at least part of "that which was sacred" could be the record of Jared's brother?

Ether 13:13

And I was about to write more, but I am forbidden; but great and marvelous were the prophecies of Ether

Another case of Moroni being forbidden to write while abridging the Book of Ether. Right before Moroni gets this message, he writes about Ether's prophecies concerning the gathering of Israel, the New Jerusalem and related end-time events. Why is he not allowed to write more? Here is my theory: Remember the first example in part 1, where Nephi is not allowed to continue because that is John the revelator's domain? The last thing Nephi wrote before that was the wrath of God poured out upon the "mother of harlots" (1 Nephi 14:17). This is something we read about in Revelation 17-18 too. In the remaining chapters of Revelation, we read about the gathering of the Lord's elect, his second coming, the millenium and the New Jerusalem, just what Ether was talking about. But because that is John's territory, Moroni gets the same commandment as Nephi to not write it down.

Excellent example of the poetic Hebrew embedded in the Book of Mormon

This paper from Loren Spendlove, published at the Interpreter, outlines several different ways Ammon uses Hebrew wordplay to refute his brother Aaron's accusation of boasting in himself at the success the brothers had in their missionary labors among the Lamanites.

The whole paper is well worth your time, as it unfolds the rhetorical reasons why Ammon seems to repeat himself so many times on the topic of "boast/praise/glory" (הָלַל- "h-l-l") and "joy/rejoicing" (שָׂמַח - "s-m-ch").

Intentional repetition is at the heart of ancient Hebrew rhetoric, even though it doesn't play as big a role in our modern day thinking. If this topic interests you, see this post, this post, and this post for additional examples.

In Alma 26, Spendlove expertly points out a distinct pattern that makes sense in the context of ancient Hebrew, but is barely noticeable in English. This is because words derived from the same root in Hebrew can have several different meanings in English. The common root is easily identified in the Hebrew, but not necessarily in English.

To illustrate this point, I'll post the relevant passages below with words derived from the root "h-l-l" in green and the words derived from "s-m-ch" in blue. I'll be following the tables from the paper as I do this.

First Aaron's rebuke:

10 And it came to pass that when Ammon had said these words, his brother Aaron rebuked him, saying: Ammon, I fear that thy joy doth carry thee away unto boasting. (Alma 26)

Then the first part of Ammon's response:

11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.
12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.
13 Behold, how many thousands of our brethren has he loosed from the pains of hell; and they are brought to sing redeeming love, and this because of the power of his word which is in us, therefore have we not great reason to rejoice?
14 Yea, we have reason to praise him forever, for he is the Most High God, and has loosed our brethren from the chains of hell.
15 Yea, they were encircled about with everlasting darkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting light, yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love; yea, and we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work.
16 Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel. (Alma 26)

Finally, here is the end of Ammon's response:

35 Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name.
36 Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land.
37 Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen. (Alma 26)

It is interesting to note that outside of these two sections, the only time any word derived from either root is used in the word "joy" in verse 30. Essentially, Ammon takes two words from Aaron's rebuke and builds an entire repetitive structure out of those two words demonstrating all the reasons he has to boast in God and rejoice in their success. The the first part of his response (verses 11-16) is quite similar to the end (verses 35-37). The middle section (verses 17-34) gives us the details.

This is another example of a passage of scripture in the Book of Mormon that makes far more sense in the context of ancient Hebrew rhetoric than relatively modern English. For me, this example needs to be added to a long and growing list of items one would need to plausibly refute in order to convince me that Joseph Smith (or any other 19th century figure) authored this book.

Forbidden to write -- Part 1

We see it several times in the Book of Mormon. The prophet who is writing is about to write something, but is then forbidden. I thought I should identify all those passages and make an overview of what they were about to write when they were stopped. I'm only going to include those that say they were forbidden. There are many others where they use expressions like "cannot write" without giving the reason. For instance

And now it came to pass that Samuel, the Lamanite, did prophesy a great many more things which cannot be written. (Helaman 14:1)

We are left to wonder why it could not be written. Was Mormon forbidden, was there was too much to include in an abridged record, or another unknown reason? So we will stick to the examples of Book of Mormon prophets being explicitly forbidden to write. I hope I found all of them, but if not, please feel free to give me a hint in the comment field.

1 Nephi 14:25-28

25 But the things which thou shalt see hereafter thou shalt not write; for the Lord God hath ordained the apostle of the Lamb of God that he should write them.

26 And also others who have been, to them hath he shown all things, and they have written them; and they are sealed up to come forth in their purity, according to the truth which is in the Lamb, in the own due time of the Lord, unto the house of Israel.

27 And I, Nephi, heard and bear record, that the name of the apostle of the Lamb was John, according to the word of the angel.

28 And behold, I, Nephi, am forbidden that I should write the remainder of the things which I saw and heard

Nephi sees a vision that connects both to his father's dream but also to the Book of Revelation. However, at this point he is not allowed to continue, because the apostle John has been assigned to do so. What would be written if Nephi were allowed to continue? My guess is that we would see a plainer version of what we have in the Book of Revelation. Less symolism and more direct speech. In 2 Nephi 25, when Nephi has just finished quoting Isaiah, he rejoices in plainness and starts writing about the things he read from Isaiah but in much clearer terms. It would definitely be interesting to see Nephi continue to write here but he was forbidden for a reason I guess.

2 Nephi 32:6-7

6 Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do.

7 And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be.

Considering the quote shared in this post, it makes a lot of sense for Nephi to stop here. He has explained the way back to God and, considering the temple symbolism, brought the reader to the veil by the Holy of Holies. Just before "the Spirit stoppeth [his] utterance", he mentioned a manifestation of the Lord himself. Who knows what Nephi would have written if he was not stopped there? I bet it would be interesting indeed. Unfortunately, we are not ready for that yet as a collective unit. Nephi is left to mourn because of unbelief and wickedness instead, he says. But he leaves it open to the individual reader to "ask" and "knock" and be "brought into the light" (2 Nephi 32:4).

3 Nephi 26:10-11

10 And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.

11 Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people.

The backdrop is found a few verses earlier

3 And he did expound all things, even from the beginning until the time that he should come in his glory—yea, even all things which should come upon the face of the earth, even until the elements should melt with fervent heat, and the earth should be wrapt together as a scroll, and the heavens and the earth should pass away;

4 And even unto the great and last day, when all people, and all kindreds, and all nations and tongues shall stand before God, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil...

6 And now there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people;

7 But behold the plates of Nephi do contain the more part of the things which he taught the people.

Mormon was about to write "the more part" of what Jesus taught the people and copy directly from the plates of Nephi rather than making an abridgment. But the Lord forbade it because he wanted to try our faith. I have wondered before why God commanded Mormon to make an abridgment at all. Why not just leave the plates of Nephi to Moroni to bury them? The abridgment is just a lot of extra work and contain less information. At least one of the answers seem to be found here. The plates of Nephi contained too much for us to handle. God gives us this abridgment first to try our faith and see if we are ready for "the more part" at some later point. This also seems to be a common reason why we have all these examples of being forbidden to write.

Being only half way through I think I need to break this down. The rest of the examples will be found in part 2 in tomorrow's post.