The phrase “And it came to pass” appears in the Book of
Mormon 198 times from the beginning of the book until 2 Nephi 5:30 and then it
is never used again by Nephi. Later, in the book of Ether, Moroni uses the
phrase 160 times, but he never uses it his own writings.
What has been discovered from other writings originating in
the Near East is that the phrase “And it came to pass” is used to indicate that
a period of time has elapsed. This phrase is very useful when writing history. Therefore when Nephi is
recording the story of their leaving Jerusalem that happened several decades
before he is writing he uses the phrase until he brings the record up to the
current time and then he no longer needs it. Likewise, Moroni while abridging
the Jaradite account uses it throughout the book of Ether, but when he is
telling us what is happening to him he doesn’t use it.
This is interesting to me, but I like the phrase for another
reason. “And it came to pass” are words of hope. Yes, today might be a down
day. Things might be going wrong today. Horrible things might even be happening today. But
. . . they will pass. There will be a brighter day, and eventually all days will
be bright days. God has promised it.
Remember,
"Weeping may endure for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning"
(Psalms 30:5).
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4 comments:
I love this. My 6 year old neice once said (during a time of trial), 'remember, He said it came to pass, it didn't come to stay'.
that's nice to think about since i'm in year 6 of my trial and i look forward to the day when i can say it came to pass.... :)
I really appreciated the last part of this post. Thanks for the good reminder. :)
My mom says this to me! It has been a source of comfort to me to remember that the things I struggle with today will pass. That the not-fun phase my child is in right now will pass. When I get frustrated, I remember "And it came to Pass". I love the "it didn't come to stay" addition!
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