In the Old Testament, an account is given of a man of God going to warn the king, Jeroboam, who tried to usurp the duties of a priest to himself -

GOD SENT A MAN TO WARN JEROBOAM ABOUT HIS EVIL PRACTICES: "And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee."

THE MAN OF GOD WARNS JEROBOAM, ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF THE LORD: 3 "And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. 4 And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. 5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of The LORD."

JEROBOAM PLEADS WITH THE MAN OF GOD: 6 "And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before."

JEROBOAM OFFERS MAN OF GOD A REWARD: 7 "And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward."

MAN OF GOD DECLINES REWARD, QUOTING GOD'S INSTRUCTION TO HIM: 8 "And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: 9 For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest. 10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel."

The man of God understood the instructions God had already given him, to the extent he was able to vocalize them to his audience, and explain the parameters of what the effect of the instructions would be on his actions.

OLD PROPHET SENT TO TEST THE MAN OF GOD: 11 "Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father. 12 And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah."

OLD PROPHET TAKES ACTION: 13 "And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon, 14 And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am. 15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread."

MAN OF GOD AGAIN DECLINES, QUOTING GOD'S INSTRUCTION TO HIM: 16 "And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: 17 For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest."

Again, the man of God knew what God had told him; quoted his instructions; explained what it meant, aknowledged the consequences of disobedience.

OLD PROPHET CLAIMS A LATTER DAY REVELATION FROM AN ANGEL: 18 "He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and AN ANGEL SPAKE UNTO ME BY THE WORD OF THE LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him."

MAN OF GOD TAKEN IN BY ANGEL WITH DIFFERENT MESSAGE: 19 "So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.

OLD PROPHET AND "GOTCHA" DOCTRINE - ANGEL CANNOT OVERRIDE GOD'S WORD: 20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back: 21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as THOU HAST DISOBEYED the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee, 22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. 23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.

PROOF OF PROPHETS CREDENCE: 24 "And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase."

RESULT OF IGNORING WORD OF GOD FOR MESSAGE OF ANGEL: 25 "And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. 26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him."

OLD PROPHET FINISHES HIS MISSION: 27 "And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him. 28 And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass. 29 And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him. 30 And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!

A PROPHETS REWARD: 31 "And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones: 32 For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass." [1 Kings 13:1-32]

PAUL MARVELS AT THOSE WHO WILL ACCEPT ANGEL'S MESSAGE OVER GOD'S WORD: "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. [Gal 1:6-9]

GOD TELLS US HOW HE WILL COMMUNICATE TO US TODAY:
"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the ages (worlds);" [Heb 1:1-2]

THE PROBLEM I HAVE WITH NEPHI: Nephi claims to be a prophet for his people, and claims to clarify the prophecies of Isaiah, for his children. He then proceeds to declare the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus; which is in direct contradistinction to Paul's writings, which, said he, "if the princes of this world had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." [1 Cor 2:8]

If Nephi knew enough of the prophecies to write them on tablets of METAL, Satan would know, because men do not keep secrets. And if the angel told Nephi, Satan would have heard him. Either way, it is a false account, and a scam. Joseph Smith read scriptures, and incorporated them into his "prophecies" of Moroni. But he slipped up, by revealing things God kept secret till over six hundred years later than they are revealed in this account. [2 Neph ch.25]

How is it he "talked about it, preached about it, wrote about it, and taught his children about it" [v.26] and Satan did not learn of it?

Do you really suppose Satan would allow Jesus to be crucified if man is to be saved by faith in his name? Yet you have here, Nephi writing, preaching, testifying, and teaching his children, those things which God kept secret from the beginning of the world, to protect his child Jesus from just such exposure as Nephi provides.

Another problem I have with Nephi, is God used prophecy to establish that he is God, by telling before the fact, things that would come to pass, and gave it to his prophets to proclaim, and ponder; knowing it was not for them, but for those who are designated as "heirs of salvation." Yet, Nephi has all these "secrets" exposed, and no one sees it for over 2400 years. That makes it suspicious. Over that length of time, someone would have quoted it, talked about it, preached it, taught it, exposed it in some fashion; but for it to just disappear for 2400 years, is unbelievable.

I believe the scriptures, and the scriptures tell me not to listen to angels who proclaim a different message than is already given in scripture.

Response?