"And They Shall Hear My Voice"

The following is the text of a talk that I gave in Sacrament Meeting two Sundays ago.


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As you may or may not have picked up from the wonderful talks given so far, our topic this morning is 3 Nephi 11, 12, and 13, which centers on the Savior’s visit to the Americas after His crucifixion and resurrection in the Old World.

Since we were given such broad latitude on this assignment, I decided to read through 3 Nephi 11, 12, and 13 and stop whenever I arrived at a passage that spoke to me. I started reading in Chapter 11, and made it all the way to the 1st verse before I stopped… so let me take a few minutes and just share some random musings on the next couple of verses.

Here’s the setting as we begin Chapter 11… months had passed since the three days of darkness had dispersed and the people were gathered at the temple in Bountiful. The Savior had just spent 40 days teaching his Eastern Apostles the mysteries of the Kingdom. There were 2,500 men, women, and children present, (3 Ne 17:25) and they were gathered together as families, (3 Ne 19:1) which indicates that this was probably a conference of the Church called by Nephi III.

“And now it came to pass that there were a great multitude gathered together, of the people of Nephi, round about the temple which was in the land Bountiful; and they were marveling and wondering one with another, and were showing one to another the great and marvelous change which had taken place.” (3 Ne 11:1)

The fact that they were marveling and showing each other the changes that had taken place suggests that many of them had come from a considerable distance… to get an idea of why they might be “marveling,” imagine that the entire Eastern seaboard had suddenly changed, literally, overnight. Mountains now stood over in the general direction of Orange. All the familiar landmarks that you are familiar with… gone. Hills that you remembered playing on as kids… are now hollows… and vice versa.

In the middle of these hushed conversations, they all heard a voice… but it was different than anything they had ever experienced before.

“And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven;”

It’s interesting that in both this and another account of Nephites hearing a voice from heaven, the writers draw attention to this… that the voice was “as if it came out of heaven,” and from Helaman, “from above the darkness.” You can imagine how this might have been odd to them… loudspeakers hadn’t quite been invented yet... they really had no concept of voices being heard from anywhere but someone on the ground… so the direction from whence the voice came was significant them… so significant that they felt compelled to take note of it.

“And they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard;”

Growing older has helped me understand this to a degree that I don’t think I could have in my younger days… I’ve noticed that my hearing is starting to go… I have difficulty hearing normal conversations now, and a lot of the time I’m aware that someone is talking… I can hear the sound… but sometimes I can’t make out the words. The only way I can understand them is to focus my attention, listen more intently, and really concentrate to make out what is being said… even in quiet conversations. This is what the Nephites seemed to be experiencing.

Nephi describes the unique characteristics of this voice…

“And it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.” (3 Ne 11:3)

Elijah described the voice of the Lord in a very similar way;

“And [the Lord] said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, ‘What doest thou here, Elijah?’” (1 Kings 19:11-13)

Nephi’s experience with the voice of God in the land Bountiful had happened before in the Book of Mormon as well. Earlier in the Book of Mormon, in Helaman, Helaman’s son Nephi and Lehi had been thrown into prison by the Lamanites, and starved “many days,” until the Lamanites actually showed up to kill them. Do you remember what happened? Talk about the ultimate in Special Effects. Industrial Light and Magic has nothing on the Lord.

Nephi and Lehi stood up, probably resigned to their pending execution, but instead were “encircled about by fire.” THEY didn’t know this was going to happen… they were as surprised and freaked out about it as the Lamanites were… until they realized that even though they were encircled about by fire, they weren’t being burned;

“And when they saw that they were encircled about with a pillar of fire, and that it burned them not, their hearts did take courage.” (Hel 5:20)

I love how understated the scriptures are. If that had been me, it would have said, “and the terror-stricken apoplectic seizure that he was experiencing diminished slightly.”

When it dawned on them that this was the work of God on their behalf, Lehi and Nephi then stood tall and told the Lamanites that what they had witnessed was of God… Now… not to be too irreverent, but can you imagine someone on the other side of these manifestations, in some “divine control booth,” chuckling and saying “you think THAT’S awesome.. watch THIS. Cue the earthquake.”

Sure enough… as soon as they uttered those words, as if to add a divine exclamation point, the walls shook… without falling down. Cue the darkness.

Darkness then descends upon them, and they are overcome with an “awful, solemn fear.” I would imagine most of us who have lived very long have had instances in our lives where that “awful, solemn fear” has rested on us. The Lord certainly knows how to get your attention when He really wants to, doesn’t he?

Then comes the part that I wanted to touch on…

“And it came to pass that there came a voice as if it were above the cloud of darkness…” (Hel 5:29)

Now… pay close attention to how Nephi and Lehi describe this voice, and see if it is anything similar to what the latter Nephi wrote:

“And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul—
And notwithstanding the mildness of the voice, behold the earth shook exceedingly, and the walls of the prison trembled again, as if it were about to tumble to the earth; and behold the cloud of darkness, which had overshadowed them, did not disperse— “ (Hel 5:30,31)

In both of these accounts… the writer is fascinated by how “still” and “mild” the voice was… “as if it had been a whisper”… while at the same time marveling how it caused them to quake and tremble to the very core, and that it “pierced them to their very soul.”

Why was this so significant to them? In the day these incidents occurred, the only method available to communicate to more than a few people was to shout… to be loud. The only way to hear a whisper was to be standing next to someone… surround sound and PA systems had not quite been invented yet… therefore it is no small surprise that the stillness of the voice would astound them.

Even in our day, the movies and media have largely portrayed God has having a LOUD, booming voice… like the Ten Commandments, or even Bill Cosby’s routine on Noah… yet the real voice of God is “as if it had been a whisper.”

Three times the unintelligible voice was heard by those at the Bountiful Temple… and listen to what it took to understand the voice…

“And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did open their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came. And behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it said unto them: Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him.” (3 Ne 11:5-8)

This was the voice of Elohim, of which all of those gathered were a witness.

This account contains some powerful lessons for us. The Lord is profoundly skilled at bringing us to our knees when He needs to… and places us in situations where we can only flounder and fail without His help. But He is always there to help us… We are surrounded by revelation waiting for an “open ear” and for us to turn “look steadfastly unto heaven.” The Holy Ghost attempts to speak to us constantly through a multitude of means… direct revelation, the scriptures, the counsel of the prophet and the Brethren, the tender guidance of our local leaders… but many times, we don’t hear the answers that we ache for… because our spiritual ears “are not open.” And our lives, our behavior, our actions are oftentimes not “looking steadfastly towards heaven.” We need to turn up our “spiritual hearing aid”… humility.

When we do… when we open our ears… really focus, and concentrate our spiritual ears… become more humble and teachable… when we “look steadfastly unto heaven, from whence the sound comes,” by bringing our lives into alignment with the Gospel through obedience, we finally “hear” the message the Lord has for us.

And what an amazing message it is. And how many messages have we cheated ourselves out of by not “opening our ears,” and “looking steadfastly unto heaven”? And how many can we afford to miss out on? All we have to do is to turn up our spiritual hearing aid… and be where we should be, when we should be. If we really want to hear the voice of God, we need to be where He has commanded, and not be doing “something else.”

Some of us from time to time may be tempted to be somewhat lax on that last part, especially when it comes to attending, say, Stake Conference. But imagine that THIS particular conference is one that you chose to blow off. After all, you’ve been through a lot during the last couple of months. Lost your job. The farm you were working is now… a mountain. Destruction. Mayhem. Fires. Earthquakes. And then there’s the brand new lake in your front yard that wasn’t there a couple of months ago, which, now that smoke and darkness has cleared and things have calmed down a bit, looks like it desperately needs to be explored. So you take a weekend off. After all, you made it through the destruction intact, right? You must be OK in the Lord’s sight. And after all, it’s “just conference.”

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to you, this is the Conference of All Conferences… you know… the one where the Prophet stands up and calls us all to go to Missouri, or that all those in attendance have had their calling and election made sure, etc. THAT conference. And you were doing… “something else.”

Apparently, this is not only a latter-day malady, but is precisely what happened in the land of Bountiful. “An exceedingly great number” of the Saints traded the opportunity to hear the voice of Elohim… to see the Savior of the world descend out of Heaven before their eyes… and to actually meet Him face to face… touch the prints of the nails in His hands and feet… thrust their hands into His side… look into His eyes, see His face, and hear His voice… for “something else.”

Imagine the feeling after conference when you’re standing in your driveway washing off your truck, when your neighbors, who (let’s face it) you always thought were a little too “goody-two-shoes” for you, come running up to you with the news of the incredible miracles that happened at Conference; so excited that they can hardly get the words out amidst a flood of tears and joy… Oops. Wrong weekend for a Mental Health Sunday.

For those who skipped out on conference in Bountiful, the bad news was pretty obvious… they forever lost the opportunity to witness, see, and hear what those who were faithful did on that sacred day. The good news was that they had another chance, if they repented, to stand the presence of the Savior.

“And now it came to pass that when Jesus had ascended into heaven, the multitude did disperse, and every man did take his wife and his children and did return to his own home. And it was noised abroad among the people immediately, before it was yet dark, that the multitude had seen Jesus, and that he had ministered unto them, and that he would also show himself on the morrow unto the multitude. Yea, and even all the night it was noised abroad concerning Jesus; and insomuch did they send forth unto the people that there were many, yea, an exceedingly great number, did labor exceedingly all that night, that they might be on the morrow in the place where Jesus should show himself unto the multitude.” (3 Ne 19:1-3)

You know the rest of the story… they came, they witnessed unspeakable miracles, saw their little ones encircled about by fire and blessed by the Savior Himself… and heard the same gospel taught that the Apostles in the Old World had heard in the streets and synagogues of Jerusalem and in the hills of Galilee. Talk about the ultimate General Authority visit to your Conference.

The lessons embedded in this experience are many. If we want to hear the voice of God in our lives… we need to be where we should be… when we should be there… doing the things He has commanded. We need to focus our spiritual attention and “open” our spiritual ears… and “look steadfastly unto heaven”… to understand the “unspeakable things” that God is ready to share with us.

Let us not be caught being deaf, blind, and doing “something else” when the Lord is ready to reveal Himself to us, answer our prayers, give us direction, or heal our broken hearts. And if we have been, let us change now so that we may yet experience the miracles the Lord has in store for us. We can never recover the opportunities for spiritual miracles or revelation that might have been ours in the past, but we can ensure that we don’t miss out on any in the future by likening this wonderful passage to ourselves.

That is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen.