How Oft

This week, in my Book of Mormon class, I learned something very interesting as we studied from 3rd Nephi that I would like to share with you. 3rd Nephi has always been one of my favorite sections of the Book of Mormon, especially the coming of Jesus Christ starting in Chapter 11. The scriptures that I found very interesting, however, happen in the chapter previous to that: 3 Nephi 10. In this chapter, there is silence for many hours throughout all of the land. After this silence, the people here the voice of Christ. In the verses that I'm going to share, the voice of Christ is speaking. As you read these, notice which tenses (past, present, future, etc) he uses to talk about when he gathers them.

4 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.

5 And again, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, who have fallen; yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, ye that dwell at Jerusalem, as ye that have fallen; yea, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not.

6 O ye house of Israel whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart.

If you look for the tenses, you come to find that Christ uses the past tense in verse 4 (how oft have I), the present tense or a tense close to that in verse 5 (how oft would I have), and the future tense in verse 6 (how oft will I). To me, this is a way for Christ to say that him and the Father are the same "yesterday, today, and forever." We find this pattern throughout the Book of Mormon and Bible, but it is interesting to see it in this way. These verses show me that Christ will always and always has watched over us.

Now what does that mean for us? It means that we need to make sure we are aware of all of the things Christ has done for us, that he is now doing for us, and that he is yet to do for us. Perhaps these people had forgotten the blessings they had or the opportunities they had been given in life. Perhaps Christ felt as if they would forget if they were not reminded. Regardless, it is our duty to know that Christ is the same now and always will be and that he will always gather us "as a hen gathereth her chickens."