The Lord rewarded the fidelity of the Church members by granting to them a sufficient portion of worldly riches. They neither wanted for the necessities of life, nor the enjoyment of many of its luxuries. They gradually became rich in the material things of the world and in heavenly treasures. They sought the Lord, and mingled joy in His praise. They caused His great name to be hallowed, and in all their doings invoked His blessings. They ceased not to call on Him in mighty prayer, and with united hearts they besought His grace. They prayed for those by whom they were abused, and asked the Eternal Father “to hasten the day when His Name should be worshiped in all the world, when unbelief and error be no more.” They were a happy, holy people; they remembered the teachings of their youth, “Happy is every one that feareth the Lord, that walketh in His ways.”
In these verses the historian of the Sacred Record noted the deeply-felt fellowship that abounded amongst them, and united the members of the Church in the true spirit of the Gospel. To them, nothing was so important as was Christ, the promised Messiah. Both the priests and the people left their labors, the one to impart the Word of God, the other, joyously to receive it. Engraved upon the Smaller Plates of Nephi, they read what Jacob, the son of Lehi, said regarding worldly store: “But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.” (Jacob 2:18) Those who tilled the soil left their plows in the field; they left their flocks and herds unattended that they might hear God’s Holy Word. In all their joys and sorrows, they felt that the rewards of righteousness were more to be desired than all the riches the earth can produce. With renewed hope and fresh courage, after hearing God’s inspired teachers, they returned to their many tasks, unashamed of the coming Redeemer in whom they believed, and determined to serve Him, whom they had never seen.
“And Thus They Did Prosper”
Here the Sacred Record bears testimony that the riches of the earth come to them that unitedly seek, first, God’s Kingdom. The Prophet of the Lord, Jacob, who was the brother of Nephi, after exhorting his brethren of the Church to seek for the Kingdom of God before they sought for silver and gold and other of the earth’s riches, promised them:
And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.
And now, my brethren, I have spoken unto you concerning pride; and those of you which have afflicted your neighbor, and persecuted him because ye were proud in your hearts, of the things which God hath given you, what say ye of it?
Do ye not suppose that such things are abominable unto Him who created all flesh? And the one being is as precious in His sight as the other. And all flesh is of the dust; and for the selfsame end hath He created them, that they should keep His commandments and glorify Him forever. (Jacob 2:19-21; also See COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF MORMON, Volume I, pp. 458-459)
It is related in this verse that because of the “steadiness of the Church” its members became “far more wealthy than those who did not belong to their” organization.
We read much about the wicked who prosper in the world, of robbers whose tabernacles prosper, and how “they who provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.” (See Job 12:6) But where there is one mention of the wicked who prosper, there are many which declare their destruction.
The Psalmist, David, the Sweet Singer of Israel, rejoiced that after temptation he prevailed against the wicked who promised him great riches and an abundance of the fat of the land. He says, “For I was jealous of the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked,” but, he further said, “These are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.” Then in triumphal voice he praised the great Name of the Lord:
So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before Thee.
Nevertheless I am continually with Thee: Thou hast holden me by my right hand.
Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee.
My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
For, lo, they that are far from Thee shall perish: Thou hast destroyed all them that go whoring from Thee.
But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all His works. (See Psalm 73)
How often do we find recorded in the Holy Scriptures, both Hebrew and Nephite, the Bible and the Book of Mormon, the story of man’s faithfulness being rewarded with the treasures of heaven and the riches of the earth. We impatiently wait to tell you more of these wonderful times. In fact the whole history of the Book of Mormon is written with God‘s promise to Lehi’s children in view; it was fulfilled.
Inasmuch as ye shall keep My commandments ye shall prosper in the land. (III Nephi 1:20)