32. The Temple

CHAPTER 32

THE TEMPLE

With Passover activities underway, the crowds were enormous.  People pressed and pushed against each other in a huge throng.   A constant thundering roar of voices was heard as travelers tried to enter the temple.  A lot of people shoved and bickered as they stood in long lines.  Many struggled with their belongings and carried cages of turtledoves or young pigeons as their intended offerings.

A band of Roman soldiers in full armor paraded through the street on horseback which did nothing to control the volatile crowd.  If anything, their passing through caused some people to shout more angrily and to act even more rudely than before.

On the street corner, some unwashed people clamored for money or begged for a handout.  Other people went through the crowd offering to sell items at tremendously inflated prices.  Someone was trying to sell a brazen serpent on a pole that he called Nehushtan.  This object could purportedly heal any ailments of the person who purchased it.

Nobody seemed to really care about anybody else.  For such a huge gathering of people around the temple, each individual had to fare for himself in all the commotion.

Nephi and his companions slowly pressed their way through the unruly mob.  Ahead were the tables where the exchangers of money sat and did business.  A spirit of contention existed and many heated arguments took place between the exchangers and people stopped at the gate of the temple.  Nephi could see that the officials at the temple were obviously favoring and admitting those who paid the most.

It had been a while since Nephi had observed similar corruption in Zarahemla.  His first day in Jerusalem, and he was again confronted with greed and vice displayed in full despicable glory.

          Lehi was the first in their group to reach a table for the exchanging of money.  “What do you mean that I have to first exchange this money for temple money?” asked Lehi.  “This money is good everywhere else.”

          “That may be,” was the angry reply of an unsympathetic man behind the table.  “Your money may be good everywhere else, but not here!  Here you can only use the current temple money.  You’re not from anywhere around here, are you?  Otherwise, you would already know these things.”

          Simon was next in line behind Lehi.  “Oh, we’re sorry, Lehi,” he apologized.  “Cleopas and I should have known to explain this to you.  The way the Jews control things around here takes a bit of getting used to.  May I pay for you?  It will save you a lot of money if I do.  That way you won’t have to pay the usury on the money exchange.”

          “That’s a very kind offer,” acknowledged Lehi.  “But we have been given a rather generous gift from a friend.  So I don’t think I could accept your…”

          Before Lehi could even complete his sentence, a sudden disturbance interrupted him.  And it was Nephi who appeared to be the cause of it!

Nephi pushed ahead and crashed through the tables where the changers of money were sitting.  He held a scourge made of small cords in his right hand.  Brandishing the scourge and with a look of anger on his face, he forced himself through the crowd of onlookers.  He flew past the cages where the oxen and sheep and doves were sold, knocking some of them over.

Then he climbed up upon a tower which overlooked the courtyard.  There, he bowed down and began to pray.

          Officers of the temple and many others came running when they saw that Nephi had climbed up on the tower.  Everybody stopped what they were doing and gawked, not knowing what else to do.  Everyone was curious to know what could be the cause of such outrageous behavior.  The people gathered into an even greater multitude to watch Nephi who appeared to pour out his whole soul to God in prayer upon the tower.

Who was this mad man?  What is he doing?  Why would he climb upon the tower at the temple to pray?

Little did they know that Nephi was mourning because of the great wickedness he observed among them.  They had violated the House of the Lord and made it into a house of merchandise.

          In time, Nephi arose and he beheld the multitudes of people who had gathered together to look at him.  He opened his mouth and said to them:

          “Behold, why have ye gathered yourselves together?  That I may tell you of your iniquities?  Yea, because I have got upon this tower that I might pour out my soul unto my God, because of the exceeding sorrow of my heart, which is because of your iniquities!  And because of my mourning and lamentation ye have gathered yourselves together, and do marvel; yea, and ye have great need to marvel; yea, ye ought to marvel because ye are given away that the devil has got so great hold upon your hearts.

“But thus saith the Lord God: Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another?  Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another.  And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.  And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure.  And now I speak unto you in Jerusalem the very same words I preached to my brethren earlier in the land of Zarahemla.

“Yea, how could you have given way to the enticing of him who is seeking to hurl away your souls down to everlasting misery and endless wo?  O repent ye, repent ye!  Why will ye die?  Turn ye, turn ye unto the Lord your God.  Why has he forsaken you?  It is because you have hardened your hearts; yea, ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd; yea, ye have provoked him to anger against you.  And behold, instead of gathering you, except ye will repent, behold, he shall scatter you forth that ye shall become meat for dogs and wild beasts. 

“O, how could you have forgotten your God in the very day that he has delivered you?  But behold, it is to get gain, to be praised of men, yea, and that ye might get gold and silver.  And ye have set your hearts upon the riches and the vain things of this world, for the which ye do murder, and plunder, and steal, and bear false witness against your neighbor, and do all manner of iniquity.  And for this cause wo shall come unto you except ye shall repent.  For if ye will not repent, behold, this great city, and also all those great cities which are round about, which are in the land of your possession, shall be taken away that ye shall have no place in them; for behold, the Lord will not grant unto you strength, as he has hitherto done, to withstand against your enemies. 

“For behold, thus saith the Lord: I will not show unto the wicked of my strength, to one more than the other, save it be unto those who repent of their sins, and hearken unto my words.  Now therefore, I would that ye should behold, my brethren, that it shall be better for the Gentiles than for you except ye shall repent.  For behold, they are more righteous than you, for they have not sinned against that great knowledge which ye have received; therefore the Lord will be merciful unto them; yea, he will lengthen out their days and increase their seed, even when thou shalt be utterly destroyed except thou shalt repent. 

“Yea, wo be unto you because of that great abomination which has come among you; and ye have united yourselves unto it, yea, to that secret band which was established by Satan!  Yea, wo shall come unto you because of that pride which ye have suffered to enter your hearts, which has lifted you up beyond that which is good because of your exceedingly great riches!  Yea, wo be unto you because of your wickedness and abominations!  And except ye repent ye shall perish; yea, even your lands shall be taken from you, and ye shall be destroyed from off the face of the earth.

“Behold now, I do not say that these things shall be, of myself, because it is not of myself that I know these things; but behold, I know that these things are true because the Lord God has made them known unto me, therefore I testify that they shall be.”

          Now, when Nephi said these words, the men who were the officers at the temple took offense.  They knew that Nephi was speaking the truth.  They knew that they set their hearts upon the riches and the vain things of this world, and that they sought for gain, for gold, and for silver, and to be praised of men.  Therefore, they were very angry with Nephi.  And they cried out against him to others in the crowd, saying;

          “Why do ye not seize upon this man and bring him forth, that he may be condemned according to the crime which he has done?  Why seest thou this man, and hearest him revile against this people and against our law?”

          The officers and leaders of the temple were angry with Nephi because he had spoken plainly to them concerning their secret works of darkness.  Nevertheless, they dared not lay their own hands upon him, because they feared that by doing so, the people would cry out against them instead.  Therefore, they petitioned the people all the more, saying;

          “Why do you suffer this man to revile against us?  For behold he doth condemn all this people, even unto destruction; yea, and also that these our great cities shall be taken from us, that we shall have no place in them.  And now we know that this is impossible, for behold, we are powerful, and our cities are great, therefore our enemies can have no power over us.”

          The cries of the officers and the leaders of the temple only succeeded in stirring up the anger of all the people in the crowd and raised mighty contentions among them, particularly among those who considered Rome to their enemy.  For there were some in the crowd who cried out for Nephi, shouting;

          “Let this man alone, for he is a good man, and those things which he saith will surely come to pass except we repent; yea, behold, all the judgments will come upon us which he has testified unto us; for we know that he has testified aright unto us concerning our iniquities.  And behold they are many, and he knoweth as well all things which shall befall us as he knoweth of our iniquities; yea, and behold, if he had not been a prophet he could not have testified concerning those things.”

          When Nephi heard the shouts of those who supported him, he turned to them and said:

          “My father Lehi was driven out of Jerusalem because he testified of these things.  Nephi also testified of these things, and also almost all of our fathers, even down to this time; yea, they have testified of the coming of Christ, and have looked forward, and have rejoiced in His day which is to come.

          “And behold, I would have you know that these prophecies about the coming of the Messiah among you are fulfilled this day.  Yea, even from the days of Abraham who saw His coming and was filled with gladness and did rejoice, so we also have reason to rejoice this day.  Did not Moses bear record that the Son of God should come?  Yea, and Moses did not only testify of these things, but also all the holy prophets, from his days even to the days of Abraham.  And besides Abraham, and Moses, the prophet Zenos did testify boldly; for the which he was slain.  Zenock, and Ezias, and also Isaiah and Jeremiah have testified.  Therefore, why dispute ye amongst yourselves?  O then why not the Son of God come, according to these prophecies?”

          At this point, the entire crowd erupted in anger.  Many contentions were raised and many fiery arguments were shouted among those who held different opinions about what Nephi had said to them.  Those people who sought to destroy Nephi feared to lay their hands upon him, seeing that he had gained favor in the eyes of some.  And the remainder of them did also fear, because of the contentions raised by the officers of the temple and the general confusion among the leaders of the people.

Nephi made his way back down off the tower.  No one dared come forward to stop him, so he walked untouched and unharmed through the quarreling mob.  He approached Lehi who had witnessed the whole amazing scene along with Hantuman, Simon, and Cleopas.

“We can go now,” Nephi solemnly stated to his companions.

          As they left the temple, people stood by and watched as Nephi and his company departed.  They pointed their fingers at Nephi and continued to argue violently among themselves.  They all wondered --- who would dare do and say such things?  Who is he?  Does he speak for the Zealots?

But a certain group of seven men did not merely stand by and watch.  This group of men worked their way through the crowd and approached Nephi and the others with eager looks on their faces.

          “Watch out for that bunch!” cautioned Hantuman.  “They look like they might have a reason to have taken special interest in Nephi’s recent speech.”

          The seven men caught up with Nephi outside the temple grounds.  These men were not like the other Jews at the temple.  They were each dressed in very fine apparel.  Some wore turbans on their heads.  Some had elaborate jewelry.  The first man made a motion for Nephi and his companions to stop.  Nephi stopped, and so the others did as well.

          “Good Master,” the first stranger bowed when he began to speak to Nephi, “we see that thou art a man of God.  May we ask of thee a great favor?  We have traveled far to come to this place and have not been given help from the people here for what we seek.  Nevertheless, we see that thou art perhaps the person to help us in our searchings.”

          “What favor may I grant you?” responded Nephi.  And he returned the stranger’s bow.  “My name is Nephi.  My friends and I also come from distant lands and find the people here contentious.  But we are willing to do whatever we can to help you.”

          “Thank you.  That is most generous of thee,” said the man dressed in rich clothing as he bowed again.  “Please allow me to introduce ourselves.  My name is Zenos, the same as someone you referenced a moment ago and said was a prophet.  And my companions here are Zenoch, Ezias, Zedek, Lumech, Noah, and Jared.”  As each man’s name was called, he bowed with respect.

          “I am Lehi,” said Lehi bowing to the others in the same manner he had seen them do.

          “And I am Hantuman,” added Hantuman, bowing in turn.

          “Simon is my name, and this is Cleopas,” said Simon as the introductions were completed.

          The man who had introduced himself as Zenos continued speaking.  “The great favor that we ask of thee, and for which we would be most grateful of thy acceptance, is for thee and thy companions to come with us to meet king Herod.  We have purchased an interview with him at this time tomorrow.  Thy attendance with us would be most welcome.”

          Nephi again bowed respectfully and answered affirmatively, “We will be here again tomorrow at this time.  And we will go with you gladly.”