As a Hen Gathereth her Chickens
Book of Mormon Notes - Thursday, December 28, 2023, 3 Nephi 10
As you can imagine, after all of the destruction and chaos, after the voice of the Lord declaring the destruction and proclaiming His divinity, and after His invitation to come unto Him, the people were so astonished that they ceased lamenting and howling for the loss of their kindred which had been slain. There was silence for many hours.
Only a few days earlier, the people had been bustling about, carrying on with their lives. The more righteous had been preparing themselves for Christ’s coming, whereas the robbers had been busy robbing, and the murderers had been busy murdering. The power and pervasiveness of the devastation and destruction were so great, and the voice of the Lord was so piercingly clear, that astonishment and silence were the only possible responses of the survivors.
These things remind me of the story of Jesus Christ and His disciples on the Sea of Galilee:
And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, aPeace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great bcalm.
And he said unto them, Why are ye so afearful? how is it that ye have no bfaith?
And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? (Mark 4:35-41)
The great storm on the Sea of Galilee reminds me of the upheavals in all of nature and the calamities that preceded Christ’s coming. The Lord had power over the elements during His mortal ministry, and He had power over the elements that were convulsed following His crucifixion. The storm on the Sea of Galilee and the convulsions of nature in the Promised Land are symbolic of trials in our own lives, trials that prepare us to embrace the teachings of Jesus Christ. The story of Christ and His disciples on the Sea of Galilee has been shared repeatedly in General Conference even in recent years. (See, e.g. “Peace, Be Still” By Lisa L. Harkness, First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency and “The Power of Jesus Christ in Our Lives Every Day,” By Elder Joaquin E. Costa Of the Seventy).
In ancient America, the Lord rebuked the elements and caused a great silence and stillness to emerge from the disasters. In both of the stories, in the New Testament and in the Book of Mormon, I consider that the Lord had been trying to get the attention of his disciples in order to increase their faith in Him. In the Book of Mormon, the Lord had sent prophet after prophet, message after message, and revelation after revelation in order to teach and prepare the people for His coming. But finally nothing but great calamities could get the attention of the people and cause them to be still and listen.
In the New Testament, the disciples had been busy moving about and following Jesus Christ wherever He went. But they still lacked faith in and understanding of who He was. They asked themselves what manner of man Jesus was, that even the wind and the sea obey Him. They did not understand or have sufficient faith to know that Jesus Christ is not just any man, or any manner of man, but the very Son of God, Creator of all things, and Savior of the world.
In ancient America, after having been shaken to the core, and after days of darkness and lamentation, the voice of the Lord came unto the people again, promising to gather His people as a hen gathers her chickens. Four times in only three verses, the Lord compares Himself to a mother hen who gathers her chickens under her wings. What does this analogy mean? Why a mother hen? What does this symbolize?
This is a symbol worth pondering. One possible answer to these questions is that Jesus Christ is gathering scattered Israel. He is gathering them to the safety of Zion, under the wings of His Church and His Gospel. When I think of wings, I think of power and protection. I also think of the outstretched arms of Jesus Christ upon the cross, and His outstretched arms to receive us as we come unto Him. I found a couple of videos that help us to understand how a hen gathers her chickens under here wings (see here and here). Notice how the mother hen completely covers and protects her chickens. Jesus Christ invites us to come unto Him like these little chickens come unto and rest under the protection of her wings.
When Jesus rebuked His disciples for their fearfulness and lack of faith, he also calmed the storm and gathered them under his wings. They were like little chickens. The people in ancient America were also like little chickens, completely afraid and astonished by the destruction and chaos. We are all like little chickens sometimes. And it won’t do us any good to scamper around in the storm by ourselves. We each need the protection, power, and healing of the Savior’s wings. (See Malachi 4:2, 3 Nephi 25:2, and 2 Nephi 25:13)
This was the voice of the Lord to His people who had been spared:
O ye people of these agreat cities which have fallen, who are descendants of Jacob, yea, who are of the house of Israel, how oft have I bgathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have cnourished you.
And again, ahow 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.
O ye house of Israel whom I have aspared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and breturn unto me with full purpose of cheart. (3 Nephi 10:4-6)
When we picture little chickens scuttling under the wings of a mother hen, even with frightened and frantic little steps, maybe we get a better sense of what it means to repent and breturn unto the Lord with full purpose of cheart.
Notice too that the Lord doesn’t just gather to protect, but He gathers to nourish. I know that when we gather together - as families, as branches and wards, as stakes, in Temples, and in General Conference - in the name of the Lord, He nourishes us with His Word and His Spirit. We each need the Lord’s protection and nourishment, like little chickens under the wings of a mother hen.
The Lord promised protection, nourishment, and healing to those who would repent and return unto Him with full purpose of heart, and He also warned of the consequences for refusing or rejecting that invitation, namely, that the places of the dwellings of the people should become adesolate until the time of the fulfilling of the bcovenant to their fathers. Protection or desolation? It seems like a very easy choice. But after hearing these words, the people, like frightened little chickens, burst out in tears and lamentations again. They began to weep and howl aagain because of the loss of their kindred and friends.
After three days, the adarkness dispersed from off the face of the land, the earth ceased to tremble, the brocks ceased to rend, the dreadful groanings ceased, all the tumultuous noises passed away, the earth cleaved together again, and the amourning, weeping, and wailing of the people who were spared alive also ceased. The Lord turned mourning into joy, and He transformed lamentations into bpraise and thanksgiving.
In the rest of his commentary on these events, Mormon makes sure to point out that thus far the ascriptures were bfulfilled which had been spoken by the prophets, and the amore righteous part of the people were saved. Those who were spared were those who received the prophets and did not stone them or shed the blood of the Saints. Honestly, that sounds like a very low bar for righteousness, and a very merciful criterion for being spared from destruction. It gives hope to those of us who struggle because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone, even when we put forth what may seem like a very minimal amount of effort. This is a message that we each need to hear often. Elder Holland put it best:
First of all, if in the days ahead you not only see limitations in those around you but also find elements in your own life that don’t yet measure up to the messages you have heard this weekend, please don’t be cast down in spirit and don’t give up. The gospel, the Church, and these wonderful semiannual gatherings are intended to give hope and inspiration. They are not intended to discourage you. Only the adversary, the enemy of us all, would try to convince us that the ideals outlined in general conference are depressing and unrealistic, that people don’t really improve, that no one really progresses. And why does Lucifer give that speech? Because he knows he can’t improve, he can’t progress, that worlds without end he will never have a bright tomorrow. He is a miserable man bound by eternal limitations, and he wants you to be miserable too. Well, don’t fall for that. With the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the strength of heaven to help us, we can improve, and the great thing about the gospel is we get credit for trying, even if we don’t always succeed.
When there was a controversy in the early Church regarding who was entitled to heaven’s blessings and who wasn’t, the Lord declared to the Prophet Joseph Smith, “Verily I say unto you, [the gifts of God] are given for the benefit of those who love me and keep … my commandments, and [for them] that seeketh so to do.”6 Boy, aren’t we all thankful for that added provision “and … seeketh so to do”! That has been a lifesaver because sometimes that is all we can offer! We take some solace in the fact that if God were to reward only the perfectly faithful, He wouldn’t have much of a distribution list.
Please remember tomorrow, and all the days after that, that the Lord blesses those who want to improve, who accept the need for commandments and try to keep them, who cherish Christlike virtues and strive to the best of their ability to acquire them. If you stumble in that pursuit, so does everyone; the Savior is there to help you keep going. If you fall, summon His strength. Call out like Alma, “O Jesus, … have mercy on me.”7 He will help you get back up. He will help you repent, repair, fix whatever you have to fix, and keep going. Soon enough you will have the success you seek.
The Lord spared and blessed the people of ancient America who were trying. They were not sunk or buried in the earth, or drowned in the depths of the sea, or burned by fire, or crushed to death, or carried away in the whirlwind, or overpowered by the vapor of smoke and darkness. Thank goodness. I admit that when I read this verse about the various calamities that the people avoided, I am reminded of Brave Sir Robin in Monte Python’s immortal Holy Grail. “He was not at all afraid to be killed in nasty ways…” LOL.
As I mentioned in a previous post, Mormon wanted to makes sure that whoever read this account would understand that all of these events were the fulfillment of prophesy, especially the prophesies of aZenos and Zenock who testified particularly concerning Lehi’s seed, and of Jacob who also testified concerning a aremnant of the seed of Joseph. Mormon reminds us that he and his people were a remnant of the seed of Joseph, and that these things that testified of them were written upon the plates of brass which their father Lehi brought out of Jerusalem. Someday when we have a translation of the brass plates we will see more clearly how the events in the Book of Mormon are a fulfillment of the brass plates prophecies.
Most importantly, Mormon records the fulfillment of prophecy regarding the Lord’s appearance to and ministry among the people who had been spared. Mormon’s abridgment of the record of Nephi, son of Nephi, shows that the people of Nephi who were spared, and also those who had been called aLamanites, who had been spared, had great favors shown unto them, and great bblessings poured out upon their heads. After His cascension into Heaven following His Resurrection, Jesus Christ manifested himself unto these people. He ashowed his body unto them, ministering unto them, healed them, blessed them, taught them, organized His Church among them, and worked miracles among them. The rest of Third Nephi contains an account of and a commentary about these events.