Jacob 1: Small Plates, Hard Hearts, and Priesthood Stewardship
My father-in-law gave me his old hand plane a few years ago. It is a Stanley number 4, made sometime in the 1930s. The sole was pitted with rust when I got it. The blade was chipped and the lever cap was missing a screw. It looked like something you would throw away rather than restore. I spent a few evenings flattening the sole on sandpaper and a piece of granite. Sharpened the blade until it could take a full-width shaving off a scrap of pine. It works now. It is one of my favorite tools.
But if I left it in the garage for a season without wiping it down, it would rust again. Not all at once but gradually: first a little discoloration, then rough spots, then the pits come back. That is how I think about Jacob 1. The chapter describes something that happens the same way. The people do not fall into sin all at once. They start to grow hard.
Why Did Jacob Write on the Small Plates
Jacob 1 opens with Nephi giving instructions about the record. Jacob is to write on the small plates, not the large ones.
And he gave me, Jacob, a commandment that I should write upon these plates a few of the things which I considered to be most precious.
The large plates contained the full history of the people. Wars, reigns, migrations. The small plates were for something else. They were for what Nephi called the ministry and the prophecies, the plain and precious things. The stuff you could lose if you buried it under census records and battle accounts.
I keep a leather notebook on my workbench with sketches, measurements, and notes about grain direction, things I learned on a particular joint that I do not want to learn again. It is not a log of every board I have cut. It is a record of what mattered. That is what the small plates were.
This kind of record keeping shows up in other places too. In 2 Nephi 32, Nephi urges his people to feast on the word of Christ, making sure the core spiritual truths are written down and remembered. The small plates serve the same purpose.
The Meaning of the People Growing Hard in Their Hearts in Jacob 1
The hardening shows up in verse 15.
And now it came to pass that the people of Nephi, under the reign of the second king, began to grow hard in their hearts.
What triggered the hardening was not dramatic, just a slow drift. They started searching much gold and silver and wanting many wives and concubines, compared directly to David and Solomon. They were lifted up in pride. Nothing in the chapter sounds like a sudden rebellion. It sounds like people who had a little success and let it get into the cracks of their judgment.
Hardening is a process. You do not wake up one morning with a closed heart. You wake up wanting more than you had yesterday, and then a little more the next day, and somewhere along the way you stop noticing the things you used to care about. The wood does not rust in an hour. But leave it in the rain for a week and you will see what happens.
The Responsibility of Priests in the Book of Jacob
Jacob and his brother Joseph were consecrated as priests and teachers over the people. Jacob describes the weight of that responsibility in verse 19.
And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence.
I reread verse 19 a few times, and the weight of it settles slowly. The idea that a teacher's failure could bring the sins of the people onto the teacher's own head is a serious one. It means the calling is not about status. It is about what you owe the people you are responsible for. If you have the truth and you do not share it with the diligence it deserves, you share in what happens because of that silence.
I think about this when I am teaching my son to cut a dovetail. If I show him once and walk away, and he cuts his fingers off because I did not explain where to put them, that is on me. He is the one bleeding. But I am the one who did not teach well enough. Jacob understood that difference.
What Does It Mean to Magnify a Priesthood Office
Magnify is one of those words we use in church settings without thinking much about what it means. Jacob's version of magnifying is spelled out in the same verse. You take on the responsibility and teach with all diligence. You labor to persuade all men to come unto Christ.
Magnifying the office means filling the space it takes up, not making it sound more important than it is. If you have been given a teaching chair, you teach. If you have been given a stewardship, you steward. You do not coast. You do not let the calling rust.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Nephi instruct Jacob to write on the small plates instead of the large plates
Nephi wanted a separate record of the most precious spiritual teachings, separate from the general history. The small plates preserved the ministry and prophecies so they would not be lost among wars and political records. It was a deliberate effort to keep the essential things visible.
What caused the Nephites to begin hardening their hearts in Jacob 1
The decline started with the pursuit of wealth and the indulgence of personal desires. There was searching for gold and silver, wanting many wives and concubines like David and Solomon, and being lifted up in pride. The hardening was gradual, not sudden.
What does Jacob mean by their blood might not come upon our garments
This expression of priesthood accountability means Jacob believed that if he and Joseph failed to teach the word of God with diligence, the sins of the people would rest on them as teachers. They took on the responsibility for whether the people had the chance to hear and understand the truth.
How is Jacob 1 connected to 2 Nephi 32
Preserving and receiving spiritual truth is the thread between these chapters. In 2 Nephi 32, Nephi teaches that feasting on the word of Christ is how you receive guidance from the Holy Ghost. Jacob 1 shows Nephi making sure that word is preserved on the small plates so future generations can feast on it.
I put a coat of paste wax on that old plane after I finished restoring it. It keeps the rust off if I reapply it every few months. That is the thing about maintenance. It is not a one-time job. Jacob 1 is a reminder that the heart requires the same kind of care. The rust comes back if you do not keep after it.
-- D.