2 Nephi 26:4-5 Wherefore, All those who are proud, and that do wickedly, the day cometh that shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, for they shall be as stubble. And they that kill the prophets, and the saints, the depths of the earth shall swallow them up, saith the Lord of Hosts; and mountains shall cover them, and whirlwinds shall carry them away, and buildings shall fall upon them and crush them to pieces and grind them to powder. This is a little odd. The reality is, the vast majority of those who actually kill a prophet also die, after living full lives; and really, not many people go around killing saints anymore. So, does it mean, that in the millennial day, those who would have qualified as participants in such a group will suffer this? Or is it referencing judgment day? An Angel will stand there with a bull-horn yelling, "all right, everybody who killed a prophet, come stand by this mountain! Saint-killers on the left, by the falling building, and the rest of you, grab your stubble suit and head to the fire!" It seems kind of lame. Words like this have been passed around to and by people who have actually lost loved ones, who want to know that the perps will be caught and punished, but if they just get the same allegorical Hell that the rest of us get for normal failings, then it becomes small comfort in the moment. Of course they should all be fine with it in the end, at judgment day itself, when their perspective should be changed and their nature (if they are saved) should actually regret that any soul should suffer.
In that vein, what is it about our existence here that makes it so hard for us to have that perspective? Obviously there are people who have it, e.g. the sons of Mosiah, some of the prophets, but there are some notably righteous people who clearly lack it, e.g Jonah (he was upset when the Lord didn't follow through on the destruction of Ninevah, even though they repented), Elisha (he had the she-bears rip up those kids for calling him baldy). Something about us feels a need for immediate and physical punishment of injustice. I have it, myself. I wonder if I need to evaluate that further, but I'm out of time.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
2 Nephi 25
2 Nephi 25:1-2 Isaiah spake many things which were hard for many of my people to understand...For I have not taught them many things concerning the manner of the Jews; for their works were works of darkness and their doings were doings of abomination. When Christ came, the Jews had a hard time believing that he was the anointed Messiah, but the Nephites did not have the same trouble. From this scripture, it would appear that the Nephite acceptance of Christ could have been the result of a deliberate and calculated move on Nephi's part to wean them off the Jewish way of thinking.
25:4 The words of Isaiah are not plain unto you, nevertheless, they are plain unto all those that have the spirit of prophesy. Nice (not very subtle) dig, Nephi. Oh, you don't get it? Well, smart people do. We know the testimony of Christ is the spirit of prophesy, so Isaiah should be plain as day to anybody who has a testimony of Christ. But it isn't. I wondery why. Part of it is definitely going to be context, and background. Joseph Smith said something fairly similar about the book of Revelation, and I think that can enlighten us a little. There's an entire section of the Doctrine and Covenants that is simply a question and answer session with the Lord about what do certain parts of the book of Revelation mean. This conversation undoubtedly took place before he said the book was plain as day and easy to understand, and maybe that's what Nephi means. Isaiah is plain as day and easy to understand after you have the opportunity to have a Q&A session with the Lord about it.
25:4 The words of Isaiah are not plain unto you, nevertheless, they are plain unto all those that have the spirit of prophesy. Nice (not very subtle) dig, Nephi. Oh, you don't get it? Well, smart people do. We know the testimony of Christ is the spirit of prophesy, so Isaiah should be plain as day to anybody who has a testimony of Christ. But it isn't. I wondery why. Part of it is definitely going to be context, and background. Joseph Smith said something fairly similar about the book of Revelation, and I think that can enlighten us a little. There's an entire section of the Doctrine and Covenants that is simply a question and answer session with the Lord about what do certain parts of the book of Revelation mean. This conversation undoubtedly took place before he said the book was plain as day and easy to understand, and maybe that's what Nephi means. Isaiah is plain as day and easy to understand after you have the opportunity to have a Q&A session with the Lord about it.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
2 Nephi 24
There is an interesting shift that happens around verse five, before which, the subjects are the actual nation of Israel and Babylon, speaking of the eventual return of Israel to their lands of promise and the demise of Babylon, thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say: How hath the oppressor ceased, the golden city ceased! and if you are not paying attention, the subsequent verses may seem to apply but by the time you get to verse 12, you'll note that the person being addressed is no longer the King of Babylon, but Lucifer. There are a number of things that will happen:
The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked staff clearly symbolizing power or authority,
He that smote the people ... is persecuted
the whole earth is at rest and a comment that the trees are rejoicing, perhaps indicating that in the millenial day, we will be better resource managers
Hell from beneath is moved to meet thee
[His] pomp is brought down to the grave - Lucifer will be cast out of the earth, and the denizens there will say, How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! and that's when you realize that even though the chapter started out talking about the King of Babylon, it switched to speaking about Luciferin the middle.
24:12-15 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! Art thou cut down to teh ground, which did weaken the nations! For thou has said in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God...I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Just as Isaiah sometimes speaks messianically, here he uses the king of Babylon to typify Lucifer. I like these verses because they are nearly identical to the verses in the book of Isaiah, and are one of the places in the Bible where you have reasonably clear support for our version of the pre-earth life, with the council in heaven and Lucifer, a son of the morning, existing in heaven, in God's presence, aspiring to ascend to the throne of God, and being cast out for his hubris until the residents of hell ask him, art thou become weak as we?
The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked staff clearly symbolizing power or authority,
He that smote the people ... is persecuted
the whole earth is at rest and a comment that the trees are rejoicing, perhaps indicating that in the millenial day, we will be better resource managers
Hell from beneath is moved to meet thee
[His] pomp is brought down to the grave - Lucifer will be cast out of the earth, and the denizens there will say, How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! and that's when you realize that even though the chapter started out talking about the King of Babylon, it switched to speaking about Luciferin the middle.
24:12-15 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! Art thou cut down to teh ground, which did weaken the nations! For thou has said in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God...I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Just as Isaiah sometimes speaks messianically, here he uses the king of Babylon to typify Lucifer. I like these verses because they are nearly identical to the verses in the book of Isaiah, and are one of the places in the Bible where you have reasonably clear support for our version of the pre-earth life, with the council in heaven and Lucifer, a son of the morning, existing in heaven, in God's presence, aspiring to ascend to the throne of God, and being cast out for his hubris until the residents of hell ask him, art thou become weak as we?
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
2 Nephi 23
2 Nephi 23:9-10 Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; and the sun shall be darkened in his going forth and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. Couple of quick thoughts here: a day that is cruel and fierce to lay the land desolate and destroy the sinners. So will the righteous also suffer? The way I read it, I have to say this seems to imply yes. There are others that don't seem to imply that the righteous will suffer, but I can't think of them right now. The celestial bodies being darkened may refer to them being obscured by dark clouds from a storm or ash clouds from volcanic eruptions, or perhaps as a byproduct of a war fought with terrible weapons.
23:11 I will punish the world for evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. Does this mean that they wicked men will still be alive while all these calamities are being poured out? I sure hope so, or the rest of the world is bearing the brunt of their temporal punishment. But that's the crux of it, isn't it? Does what happens to us temporally count as a punishment? Remembering that the goal of life is to gain a body and learn obedience through faith, is there any trial here that is not a blessing? Any calamity that does not allow us to demonstrate our commitment to God? It is interesting that it goes on to talk about how rare a man will be, implying that of the people who get burned up will be more likely to be men than women.
23:15-16 Every one that is proud shall be thrust through; yea, and every on that is joined to the wicked shall fall by the sword. Their children shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled and their wives revished. So at least some of the wicked will die, while others will watch terrible things happen to their families. I hope that those terrible things don't happen to my familiy, whether I qualify for destruction or not. That would be an awful thing to have to see.
23:21-22 But wild bests of the desert shall lie there...and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild bests of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces. HAH! Biblical proof of Satyrs and Dragons. After Babylon is destroyed, mythical creatures will show up there and we can go see them.
23:22 For I will be merciful unto my people, but The wicked shall perish. I do like the almost subtle reminder that the Lord will not treat his covenant people the same as he treats the wicked. The only problem is that the Lord is often talking about eternal destruction when we tend to focus on physical destruction. He may mean that he'll destroy them by sending them to Hell and his merciful treatment of his people is forgiving their sins and allowing them to join him in Heaven, and whatever happens to them while they are alive is not worth mentioning, for the reasons I gave above. Whichever it is, I still hope none of the terrible things discussed in this chapter happen to my family, and I hope that if they do, I will have the Lord's help in keeping an eternal perspective.
Marshall told me about a fellow who had spoken in church a few weeks ago whose 18 month old daughter had drowned and he was crying tears of gratitude that he was able to be a part of her life for those 18 months. From an eternal perspective, what matters is that she had a chance to come to earth, gain a physical body, and return to God in Heaven, and to her parents, it is an opportunity to understand (very slightly) some of the pain that Christ suffered for us as he took our sins and iniquities and infirmities upon himself. But I'm sure it's not easy and hope that I don't have to go through it.
23:11 I will punish the world for evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. Does this mean that they wicked men will still be alive while all these calamities are being poured out? I sure hope so, or the rest of the world is bearing the brunt of their temporal punishment. But that's the crux of it, isn't it? Does what happens to us temporally count as a punishment? Remembering that the goal of life is to gain a body and learn obedience through faith, is there any trial here that is not a blessing? Any calamity that does not allow us to demonstrate our commitment to God? It is interesting that it goes on to talk about how rare a man will be, implying that of the people who get burned up will be more likely to be men than women.
23:15-16 Every one that is proud shall be thrust through; yea, and every on that is joined to the wicked shall fall by the sword. Their children shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled and their wives revished. So at least some of the wicked will die, while others will watch terrible things happen to their families. I hope that those terrible things don't happen to my familiy, whether I qualify for destruction or not. That would be an awful thing to have to see.
23:21-22 But wild bests of the desert shall lie there...and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild bests of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces. HAH! Biblical proof of Satyrs and Dragons. After Babylon is destroyed, mythical creatures will show up there and we can go see them.
23:22 For I will be merciful unto my people, but The wicked shall perish. I do like the almost subtle reminder that the Lord will not treat his covenant people the same as he treats the wicked. The only problem is that the Lord is often talking about eternal destruction when we tend to focus on physical destruction. He may mean that he'll destroy them by sending them to Hell and his merciful treatment of his people is forgiving their sins and allowing them to join him in Heaven, and whatever happens to them while they are alive is not worth mentioning, for the reasons I gave above. Whichever it is, I still hope none of the terrible things discussed in this chapter happen to my family, and I hope that if they do, I will have the Lord's help in keeping an eternal perspective.
Marshall told me about a fellow who had spoken in church a few weeks ago whose 18 month old daughter had drowned and he was crying tears of gratitude that he was able to be a part of her life for those 18 months. From an eternal perspective, what matters is that she had a chance to come to earth, gain a physical body, and return to God in Heaven, and to her parents, it is an opportunity to understand (very slightly) some of the pain that Christ suffered for us as he took our sins and iniquities and infirmities upon himself. But I'm sure it's not easy and hope that I don't have to go through it.
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