“I Was Forbidden That I Should Preach Unto Them”

Joseph F. McConkie, Robert L. Millet

During his mortal ministry, Jesus taught his disciples, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you” (Matthew 7:6). What the disciples, both ancient and modern, are allowed by the Spirit to teach is determined by the spiritual readiness of the listeners.

The Lord has cautioned against presenting more than the listeners are prepared to hear and heed. Mormon was forbidden to preach the gospel not only because of the people’s spiritual unpreparedness but also perhaps because the hardness of their hearts would have prompted them to “turn again and rend” Mormon. They were not neutral nor passive when it came to hearing the truths of the gospel.

They were wilfully rebellious and were spiritually trampling under foot the prophets of God, the words of God—even the very God of Israel himself (see 1 Nephi 19:7; D&C 3:13, 15). When men’s hearts become so hardened with the scar tissue of sin that they are “past feeling” (see 1 Nephi 17:45), even the preaching of the word—which can be “more powerful ... than the sword” (see Alma 31:5)-cannot pierce them to their souls.

Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 4

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