"2 And it came to pass that he began to preach among the people, and to declare unto them that there should be no Christ. And he preached many things which were flattering unto the people; and this he did that he might overthrow the doctrine of Christ.
3 And he labored diligently that he might lead away the hearts of the people, insomuch that he did lead away many hearts; and he knowing that I, Jacob, had faith in Christ who should come, he sought much opportunity that he might come unto me.
4 And he was learned, that he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people; wherefore, he could use much flattery, and much power of speech, according to the power of the devil." (Jacob 7:2-4)
The first thing I noticed about Sherem is that "he preached many things which were flattering unto the people". This possibly was spreading messages like "God is good, He won't give you eternal punishment", or as it is put elsewhere in the scriptures, "Eat, drink, and be merry". One thing about living the Gospel is that there are restrictions and guidelines that must be followed. I can see how it would be tempting to hear someone tell you that you didn't have to live by those rules.Something else I noticed about Sherem is that he "labored diligently that he might lead away the hearts of the people". This is saying that the reason for his hard work, or his purpose, was to lead away the hearts of the people.
The last thing I noticed about Sherem was that he was learned and knew the language very well, so he could convince people of the things that he was teaching them. I think that this is a pretty key point. The people were being led away by an "expert". I'm sure it would have been easy to believe the things that Sherem was teaching, because they sounded logical, and intelligent.
Jacob knew better, though. When Sherem came to try to lead him away, this is how the conversation went:
"But behold, the Lord God poured in his Spirit into my soul, insomuch that I did confound him in all his words." (Jacob 7:8)
I think that this probably surprised Sherem. He was probably used to doing the convincing, winning the arguments, and all of that when he was teaching his message. However, I think it's worth noting that the way that Jacob confounded Sherem was by the Spirit. Too often, we rely on our own intellect, our own knowledge, and our own experience, to ward off these kinds of very real attacks on our beliefs.
I can see why Jacob shared this story in his relatively brief writings. Sherem is representative of the world here. So often, there are many things that try to lead us away from Christ. They vary greatly, from religious people trying to tear down our beliefs ("Mormons aren't Christians"), to what is popular in the world in the media, as well as attempts to destroy good family values. As in the account told by Jacob, where Sherem did all that he did according to the power of the devil, this is the same instigator now. The one who goes about trying to thwart the plan of God. We need to recognize those for what they are, and choose instead to follow Christ.
In the end, Sherem recognized what he had done, and it literally killed him. He was able to share with the people that he had been led astray, and had led them astray, but then he died. I think this is something that is important to recognize, that the devil will never support his followers in their time of need. Not only that, but there are real consequences to following him. This is not unlike the world of today. In keeping with the analogy, where Sherem represents the world and Satan's attempts to lead us away, we need to remember that God will always win. God's plans cannot be thwarted. God will support and sustain His people. And even at times, when it seems like there is no way that good will triumph over evil, it will. Because God side always wins. Yet sometimes, we don't stick to His side the way we should. I am reminded of a quote by Jeffrey R. Holland:
"The future of this world has long been declared; the final outcome between good and evil is already known. There is absolutely no question as to who wins because the victory has already been posted on the scoreboard. The only really strange thing in all of this is that we are still down on the field trying to decide which team's jersey we want to wear!"
I love this, because the sooner we decide which "team" we will be on, or which side to follow, whether it be good or evil, the more firm and steadfast we will be. The more we follow Christ, the more we will strengthen ourselves, and we will have more spiritual experiences to draw from. Eventually we, like Jacob, can say this about ourselves (what I want to say about myself):
"...wherefore, I could not be shaken." (Jacob 7:5)
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