1 Nephi 20

November 13, 2006 - Original Post

For the next few chapters, Nephi records the words of Isaiah. The “Isaiah chapters” are difficult mostly because of the language … it is so different. It’s a rarity that I get much out of these chapters … but sometimes I do.

In verse 10, the Lord tells Jacob and his people that he has refined them and has chosen them in the furnace of affliction. What this means to me is that “God’s people” were chosen because their faith was put to a test and they were proven to be faithful. All sorts of trails and persecutions were thrown at them, yet they did no curse God, but endured and were even strengthened. Because they were strengthened, they were able to accomplish much for the Lord.

I guess I’m a sports nut because I always think of sports analogies when it comes to the scriptures. My uncle ran a marathon while I was on my mission. We also had a couple of friends recently run a marathon. Anyway, I’ve heard that running a long distance race and successfully enduring it is a spiritual experience. It’s a spiritual experience because you go through a type of refiner’s fire … you think that you cannot succeed … you see this almost impossible goal, yet step by step, day by day you work towards that goal. You endure heat, pain, cold, rain, fatigue and other ailments. But when you cross that finish line, you feel a wonderful sensation. I’ve never done it so I don’t know what it feels like. But I’ve done other things in my life that have been a sort of a refiner’s fire.

The MTC is one. Going on a mission is another. Any type of training regimen is a type of a refiner’s fire. But real refiners' fires are those trials that people go through. The early Saints and the persecution is another type. In summary … anything that stretches and strengthens you is a refiner’s fire … it makes you more pure at whatever you are doing. Fasting is another example.

I liked verses 12 and 13. The Lord is the first and the last. He created the earth and his hand spans the universe. He is Lord of the Universe and all that is in it. When I read this today, I felt this sense of greatness in the person I worship. I have reservations in worshiping anything … we’ve been trained our whole lives to not worship idols and riches and things or even people. But the one person and thing we can worship is God. We can give ourselves to him … wholly. If I am going to do that … give that much commitment, then that person had better be all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving. That person is God. And these two verses tell us the type of person we worship.

Verse 17 & 18 were also really good. God loves us and wants us to prosper. He wants to teach us all that he knows. But we have to be willing to accept him and his teachings. If we are obedient to him, then we will have true, lasting peace. Verse 18 says that our peace would be as the river and waves of the sea. I didn’t think a river or sea was too peaceful when I read this. So I got out the NIV translation of the bible and the footnote said that the peace would be abundant and overflowing like water is to a river and the waves of the sea. That makes complete sense. Another blessing of obedience is that our posterity will last forever.

And the last note of interest in this chapter is verse 22. The Lord simply states that there is no peace for the wicked. I am listening to some relaxing music while I type this and I feel peaceful. I don’t feel too stressed right now. I’ve enjoyed reading the Book of Mormon for a few minutes this morning. It would be nice if I had a chance to do this every day. It is peaceful. I can barely imagine what the peace the Lord can give us.

January 4, 2012 - Addition

On Suffering and Purifying

There is a mash-up quote from James Allen that I think of several times a day.  It goes like this: "The man who shrinks from self-crucifixion can never accomplish the object upon which his heart is set.  The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify; to burn out all that is useless and impure."

There is so much stuff to think about, to do, to be entertained by, to read, to study, to watch, to listen to ... it is endless.  It is easy to be overloaded with things today.  As such, I try to constantly evaluate if what I'm doing is worthwhile or if it is useless.  Also, for those things I truly desire, I try to ask myself what I would be willing to do to accomplish it?  If it really is worthwhile, am I willing to suffer for it?

Link to Isaiah Blog

1 Nephi 20 is also Isaiah 48.  See my commentary on Isaiah 48 here.

2 Nephi 15

Grapes and Olives

This chapter is very similar to Jacob 5. The main differences between Jacob 5 and 2 Nephi 15 is that chapter 15 deals with grapes rather than olives and that Jacob 5 talks about the scattering and gathering of Israel while 2 Nephi 15 discusses why Israel and Judah were left to be destroyed … because of their wickedness.

What Could Have Been Done More?

In verse 4, the Lord laments over the outcome of his vineyard. After all his work, the grapes turn out to be wild and all that work is wasted. In Jacob 5:41, the Lord laments likewise. I will never forget Elder Holland's October 2003 talk in General Conference. He was teaching us of the nature of God and used Jacob 5:41 to illustrate his point. If you really want to feel the Spirit and power of his talk, I suggest you listen to the entire talk. The climax of the talk references Jacob 5:41 and by extension, 2 Nephi 15:4. Elder Holland said,

"Looking out on the events of almost any day, God replies: 'Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands. … I gave unto them … [a]commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood. … Wherefore should not the heavens weep, seeing these shall suffer?' (Moses 7:29-33, 37). That single, riveting scene does more to teach the true nature of God than any theological treatise could ever convey. It also helps us understand much more emphatically that vivid moment in the Book of Mormon allegory of the olive tree, when after digging and dunging, watering and weeding, trimming, pruning, transplanting, and grafting, the great Lord of the vineyard throws down his spade and his pruning shears and weeps, crying out to any who would listen, 'What could I have done more for my vineyard?' (Jacob 5:41)."

Nothing pleases me more in my home than to see my children happy, loving each other and choosing the right. But there are days when we try and try to get them to listen, to obey and to choose the right. Thankfully, those times of disobedience are not frequent. But can you imagine the anguish of our Heavenly Father when he sees the discord among his children? After all that he has done and is doing for us, we still follow our own hearts rather than His will.

I think it is in understanding and sympathizing that we desire to be more obedient. There are times when my wife and I are at our wits end in dealing with our children and they don't listen to a word we say … even though we've repeated it many, many times … we simply want to sit down and cry. Sometimes it is too much and we do sit down and put our faces in our hands to try and get a grip. It is then when one of our kids will come up to us and give us a hug and maybe say they are sorry and want to choose to listen to us.

Wo unto them that call evil good, and good evil

It is so frustrating to see good and evil turned up-side-down. Satan would have us believe that there are no laws … that there is no good and evil. If he can change that premise in people's minds, then nothing is evil and it can even be called good.

The three biggest problems in our society today are abortion, homosexuality and pornography. Various lawyers, interest groups, politicians and people will go to great lengths to defend these three things. There was a time when these things were considered evil … they were sins and vices. Now, they are socially acceptable and even embraced.

Ensign to the Nations

Thankfully the Gospel has been restored in its fullness to combat the pervasive evil that is filling our world. The Gospel has the power to change people's hearts and minds. As more and more hearts and minds are changed toward Christ, then evil will have less dominion on the earth.

2 Nephi 12

For these Isaiah chapters, I am drawing a lot of my ideas from a site named gospeldoctrine.com. The author has a lot of quotes from modern-day prophets as well as religious commentators that shed a lot of light on the topics of the chapter.

Prophetic Dualism

Simply put, prophetic dualism means a prophecy is fulfilled in more than one event or manner. The term "mountain of the Lord's house" is one of these phrases that is fulfilled in more than one way.

It is a common belief that the mountain of the Lord's house is the Salt Lake Temple. The Salt Lake Temple stands in the valley of the Rocky Mountains and many people from all over the world have gathered to Salt Lake during General Conference and have been taught.

The prophecy also deals with the fact that sacred places were on tops of mountains. Eventually, the temples in the New Jerusalem and the Old Jerusalem will be built on tops of mountains and people from all over the world will attend those temples to learn of God.

Temples

The principal is there … we are to regularly attend the temple and learn from God. One of our goals, as a couple, this year is to attend the temple once a month. We have set up a time every month with a friend of ours so that one of us tends to the other's children while the other couple goes to the temple.

I will never forget one day during finals week my freshman year at college. I had just gone through the temple in March (along with my cousin and roommate). Finals week was at the end of April. We lived in a dorm that housed returned missionaries. One day in the middle of finals, one of the RM's came over to our room and asked us if we wanted to go do a session that day. My cousin and I looked at each other … we were put in a tough spot. If we said no, it made it look like our faith was lacking. If we said yes, then our study time for finals would be cut short by a few hours. We decided to go. Nothing really special happened at the temple, but to me it left a lasting impression of the importance of attending the temple.

Majesty and Glory

The rest of the chapter deals with the pride of the world and the warning the Lord gives. The pride of the world will be humbled. The one thing that struck me was that not only would the Lord tear down the world's pride, but that his majesty and glory would far outshine any pride the world has to offer. In verse 19 it says, "for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them and the glory of his majesty shall smite them." In my mind's eye, the coming of the Lord will be glorious beyond description. Any attempt by the world or man to look glorious and powerful will be far overshadowed by the Lord's glory and majesty.

Lastly in verse 22 it says, "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils." I found this a rather odd verse, so I looked it up in the NIV to see if it would shed any light and it reads, "Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils." After reading this, the KJV/BOM version made much more sense. We ought not to trust in man or the flesh. Rather we must trust in the Lord and obey his words. Man will die and his knowledge is limited. God is immortal and his knowledge is unlimited.

2 Nephi 9

In this chapter, there are many verses which if not meditated and passed over lightly, one will miss a tremendous amount of knowledge, not to mention the feelings one will receive from the Spirit. Many of these verses seem to contain common knowledge, but as you read them over and over again and ponder them, you will begin to see the deeper meaning. I still don’t clearly understand all of what the verses say. I pray that as I read them over again, I will understand a little more.

Hope

In verse 3, Jacob explains to the people that he is telling them these things that they may rejoice and lift up their heads. Once we realize what our fate is if Christ had not fulfilled his mission, we become very grateful for what he has done. The Nephites were grateful for the mission of Christ. They realized their position better than we do because Christ had not yet come and they had to believe that he would come. As for us, we know that he came and it now becomes our duty to find out for ourselves that what Christ taught really is true. We must gain a testimony for ourselves that the resurrection will come and that if we repent we can be forgiven of our sins and return to God’s presence. Not all is lost! We have much to hope for and look forward to.

Christ's Sacrifice

In verse 5, Jacob explains the ultimate sacrifice of Christ. Christ subjected himself to men in order that men may be subject unto him. Christ showed his charity to all men by sacrificing himself for our salvation. He provides for us an escape from the everlasting chains of hell. We no longer have to be subject to the devil and his misery. We can choose to obey Christ and live.

Our Eternity Equals the Sum of Our Actions

We will not achieve righteousness in one day, nor will we become all evil and miserable in one day. Our daily actions are the sum of our individual. Sow your thoughts, reap your actions, sow your actions, reap your habits, sow your habits, reap your character, sow your character reap your eternity. Just as verse 16 states, those who are righteous will still be righteous and those who are wicked will still be wicked for the eternities. I heard a saying that has reference to this concept. I believe I heard it from watching the movie Gladiator. It says, “What we do in this life will echo in the eternities.” It is true with all of us. What we choose to think and consequently do will eventually be the outcome of our eternity.

God is Consistent

As I have written before, one of the characteristics of God is that he does what he says he will do. This is one of the attributes I am trying to develop. Call it responsibility, honesty, discipline or whatever; doing what you say you will do is powerful. Jacob recognizes the significance of doing what you say you will do. In verse 17 he says, “O the greatness and the justice of our God! For he executeth all his words, and they have gone forth out of his mouth, and his law must be fulfilled.”

Carnally Minded vs. Spiritually Minded

Verse 39: What does it mean to be carnally minded? What does it mean to be spiritually minded? To be carnally minded is to think like the world does. At work, some people are constantly cracking jokes that are crude. Sometimes I don’t understand them and I hope that the reason I don’t understand them is because I am not thinking like they do. To be carnally minded is to have your mind in the gutter. The only way to counter act this is to be spiritually minded or in other words to constantly think of spiritual things. This is not as hard as it sounds. If you delight in the scriptures like Nephi did, then your mind will naturally be thinking of the Lord’s words. You will derive great joy from being spiritually minded and you will not fear. As you think of the scriptures and the teachings of the prophets during the day, you will become more confident in doing what is right and you will be truly happy. “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven” (D&C 121:45). This is a prime example of trying to be spiritually minded. I have memorized most of section 121. As I was writing this, I remembered that part of section 121. When we have the scriptures and teachings of the prophets written on our hearts, we will remember them and we will be spiritually minded.

Spending Time and Money

Jacob’s counsel in verse 51 is timeless. He admonishes, “do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy.” What is of true worth? Everything we buy and acquire on this earth will not come with us to the eternities. Our home, our books, our possessions – we cannot truly keep with us. The only thing that we can keep with us is our character, our testimony, our knowledge, our family relationships. Yet, why do we spend our money and time on things which we cannot keep? We need to spend our time and money on developing our character, our testimony and family and also on building up the kingdom of God on the Earth. Consequently, we need to labor on building up the kingdom of God and our family. I work to provide for my family. When I am not at work, I spend my time studying the scriptures, playing with my kids and talking with my wife. These are the things which are most important.

Remember to Pray

Lastly, Jacob counsels us to pray continually and to thank God for all that we have.