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 7

Like many of the Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi, I struggle a bit to find ways to apply the scripture to my life. Most of the verses seem to deal with prophesies regarding Christ. This chapter deals with a few prophecies.

Bill of Divorcement & Shortened Hand

For some understanding of verses 1-3, I suggest reading the explanation found here. It seems to give an adequate explanation of what Isaiah is talking about.

The Tongue of the Learned

Verse 4 refers to Christ's knowledge of the scriptures. John 7:15 talks about how people "marvelled" at how much Jesus knew. Another good cross reference to this is Luke 2:46-47 in which we read how Jesus as a child listened to and asked questions of "doctors" in the temple. Verse 47 says, "And all that heard him were astonished at his understandings and answers."

I Was Not Rebellious

Once Christ's ears and understanding were opened to the Spirit, he knew his calling and chose not to rebel. Contrast this to Jonah, who when the Lord called him, he sought to hide from the Lord (Jonah chapters 1-3).

Do we prayerfully accept callings within the Church or do we seek excuses to avoid callings? Do we live as we ought to so that we are worthy to accept callings or do our un-repented sins keep us from serving? We must check ourselves for rebellion if we are called.

Face Like a Flint

Christ did not shrink before the trials that were placed upon him. He was smitten on the back and spat upon, but he did not flinch.

How do we face our trials? Do we have faith that we will be delivered or do we whine and complain about how hard life is? Do we simply try to get through the trial or do we seek the Lord's will in knowing what he would have us learn?

Sparks in Darkness

I really like the last two verse of this chapter. Verse 10 and 11 say, "Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light?

"Behold all ye that kindle fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks, walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks which ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand—ye shall lie down in sorrow."

Verse 10 seems to refer to trusting in the Lord. The Lord asks us to believe in him, to trust in him and to take those steps in the darkness.

But there are some of us who cannot accept this and think that we must have some light so that we see where we are going. And so we try to light our own fire and our own fire is small and cannot show us the complete path. If we decide to tread the path on our own with our own fire, then the Lord warns us that we will suffer.

And so the point of verses 10-11 is that we must trust in the Lord to show us the way if we are to avoid spiritual injury.

2 Nephi 2

"he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain" (v. 2)

Consecrate

to make or declare sacred; set apart or dedicate to the service of a deity: to consecrate a new church building.

to make (something) an object of honor or veneration; hallow: a custom consecrated by time.

to devote or dedicate to some purpose: a life consecrated to science.

to admit or ordain to a sacred office, esp. to the episcopate.

to change (bread and wine) into the Eucharist.

The way that "consecrate" is used in verse two seems to best fit the first definition. Jacob had experienced many hardships because of his older brothers. Heavenly Father was not going to let those experiences ruin Jacob. Also, Jacob must have decided to not let those bad experiences negatively affect him. Because of his attitude, Heavenly Father was able to turn those bad experiences into a spiritual gain for Jacob.

I tend to think that the hardships heaped on Jacob galvanized his testimony of the Gospel. Some people will become bitter about the trials they face and they collapse under the "pressure." Others confront their trials and plead with the Lord for strength to bear them. Because of the way they react to the trials, their faith increases and they see their spiritual strength increase once the trial has ended. I think this is what Lehi means when he told Jacob that God would consecrate his afflictions for his gain.

Indeed Jacob's faith was so great that he beheld God's glory in his youth (v. 3).

Broken Heart and Contrite Spirit (v. 7)

From Guide to the Scriptures, the topic “broken heart” states, “To have a broken heart is to be humble, contrite, repentant, and meek—that is, receptive to the will of God.”

Contrite - Deeply affected with grief and regret for having done wrong; penitent; as, "a contrite sinner." Contrite derives from Latin conterere "to rub away, to grind" hence "to obliterate, to abase"

There are several references in the scriptures that mention a broken heart and a contrite spirit. I tend to think that a person whose heart is not broken is a person who has a lot of pride. His attitude would be very strong and he would probably not be very receptive to change. I can see a home teacher or bishop counseling this person to come to church or to pay his tithing or to attend the temple or to repent and this person would scoff at these suggestions.

On the other hand, a person with a broken heart and a contrite spirit would be very receptive to suggestions from his bishop, wife or home teacher. Either out of his own meekness or out of compulsion, he sees that his own way is not the best way and he acknowledges that the Lord can better lead him to happiness.

If you dissect the definition of contrite, you can get a pretty good idea about what we should do to our spirits. We must rub away all the pride in our hearts. We must grind our rock-solid egos to sand so that at the Savior’s breath our spirits are swayed. We must obliterate our spirits so that the Lord can build them up to his standard.

Often to correct a mis-aligned bone in a person’s body, the doctor must break it then set it and then let it heal. Jill’s brother had his nose broken many times and it healed incorrectly. To remedy this problem, the doctors broke his nose, corrected it and then let it heal. It looks and feels much better for him now. We must do the same with our hearts … not our physical hearts, but our spiritual hearts … our desires. We must break them so that they have no will. Then we must let the Master Healer take our heart and heal it. Then our desires will be the Lord’s desires.

“How great the importance … “

I still remember watching a video in the MTC depicting the death and resurrection of Christ and then at the end of the video 2 Nephi 2:8 is flashed up on the screen. It was a very moving and motivating video.

I think the reason that video was so motivating and the reason why this verse is so beautiful is because they encapsulate the essences of the Gospel of Christ. Simply put, we cannot return to live with God in the state we are in. The only way we can return to His presence is through the mercy of Christ. Without Christ, we would not even have a chance at redemption.

Verse 10 further explains that because of Christ, we can be brought before God to be judged. The verse also explains a universal truth … there must be a standard in order for happiness and misery to exist.

Everything has its opposite. We cannot be happy without misery. Every deed has either a punishment or reward attached to it. Without that “motivation” what would be our purpose? And if we have no purpose, then God has no purpose. Verse 12 has a very insightful comment, “there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation.” In other words, if no standard existed, then none of God’s creations would have had a purpose.

Verse 13 explains a very important principal in the Mormon doctrine. Some (those who want “freedom” in everything) would say that there should be no laws … no rules. If there were no laws, then there would be no law-breakers and no sinners. And if there are no sinners, then righteousness does not exist. And if there is no righteousness then there is no happiness.

I believe there are two general points of view in the world … those who would have anarchy (only power exists) and those who believe in order. I personally think those civilizations who have prescribed to the order belief (rule of law and morality) have lingered longer and have brought more peace and prosperity to the world than those tribes who want anarchy. God’s kingdom is the ultimate order of peace and prosperity. Satan would have the whole world degrade itself to a sphere of blood-thirsty rapists.

Thankfully there is a God and He is the Standard. Our happiness depends upon Him. He has not left us alone. He has given us His Son and he has given us prophets to teach us the way of happiness so that we might find joy in this life and for eternity.

As verse 25 states, “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” This life is not about suffering. It is about finding lasting happiness.

Lastly, we are reminded that we have a choice. We can either choose liberty and happiness or captivity and misery (v. 27).

2 Nephi 2 is a wonderful chapter. It has the plain and precious truths that our world so desperately needs. If you are reading this, please take the time to re-read 2 Nephi 2 and to study it. Think about it and ask Heavenly Father if it is true. I am confident that you will find that the principals in this chapter will help you build a foundation for understanding why God does the things he does.

1 Nephi 18

Nephi is a great prophet. He is the prime example of obedience, courage, discipline and faithfulness. After all the trials and tribulations he and his family went through to get to the ocean, you would think that Laman and Lemuel would be more supportive and believing. Despite their criticism of Nephi building a ship, the task was accomplished. Now that they were on the boat, they began to celebrate rudely.

It is really no stretch of the imagination that Laman and Lemuel and the others began to sing and dance and speak with "much rudeness" because they were bored. Plus, after laboring in the wilderness for several years, sitting idly on a ship must have been very difficult. How many times have we heard the saying "idle hands are the devil's workshop?" I remember my dad telling that to me a lot when I was a kid, especially when I said, "I'm bored." Instead of doing something constructive (such as reading the brass plates), they began to sing and dance and speak very rudely.

When Nephi exhorted them to be humble, they tied him up with cords. For three days and nights, in the violent storm, being tossed about, soaking wet and most likely without food, Nephi endured the torture. Not until on the forth day when they were about to capsize did Laman and Lemuel untie Nephi. Here is the lesson – Nephi looked unto God and praised him all day long. He did not even utter a word of complaint. After he prayed, the storm stopped and there was a great calm. Nephi doesn’t say what happened after the storm, but I imagine there was a lot of silence aboard the ship. I think that Laman and Lemuel had their tails between their legs.

What I learned from this whole chapter was that there are hard ways of doing things and easy way of doing things. Nephi could have easily scolded or even thrown Laman and Lemuel off board for tying up the “captain.” But he did not. Instead, he did what was most difficult – not complain and humbly supplicate the Lord for help. As I thought of this event, I began to think back to other chapters when Nephi could have taken the easy way out. He could have chosen not to return to Jerusalem twice. He could have given into his instincts and not killed Laban. Instead, he chose to do what the Lord commanded him and almost always, what the Lord commands is not easy. To do the ‘hard’ thing requires courage and discipline. It requires restraint when passion could easily be displayed. It requires determination when forward action needs to be taken.

As I thought of these qualities, I remembered the saying in the Notre Dame football locker room – “Play like a champion today.” A champion does not take the easy way out. He courageously disciplines himself to do what is right, to do it correctly, and to do it well.

Consistency is another attribute Nephi possesses.

Nephi consistently chose the right. He consistently listened to and obeyed the Lord. He never wavered (or at least we're not told when he wavered). Nephi wasn't remembered because he did ONE great thing. He is remembered for keeping the steady course and being an anchor.

I've been thinking about this idea a lot lately. Two little inspirational stories come to mind. First, I was reading a gentleman's blog a few months ago. He documented his failures and successes in following a chess tactics training regimen. He successfully finished that program. After that, he started another blog to document his plan to lose weight and to exercise more. In one of those posts, he talks about how anyone can run for an hour or bike for two hours or go to the gym for 4 hours, but the true test lies in being able to exercise day-in and day-out over a long period of time … a year or a lifetime. That has always stuck with me. I fall into the category of showing flashy brilliance for a day and then fade away for an entire week!

The other story comes from the movie Rocky. Rocky gets this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to box the champion Apollo Creed. There's practically no way Rocky can win. He trains his best, but deep down he knows that Apollo could knock the head right off him. The night before the fight, Rocky goes to The Spectrum and looks around. He goes home and gets in bed.

Rocky: I can't do it.
Adrian: What?
Rocky: I can't beat him.
Adrian: Apollo?
Rocky: Yeah. I been out there walkin' around, thinkin'. I mean, who am I kiddin'? I ain't even in the guy's league.
Adrian: What are we gonna do?
Rocky: I don't know.
Adrian: You worked so hard.
Rocky: Yeah, that don't matter. 'Cause I was nobody before.
Adrian: Don't say that.
Rocky: Ah come on, Adrian, it's true. I was nobody. But that don't matter either, you know? 'Cause I was thinkin', it really don't matter if I lose this fight. It really don't matter if this guy opens my head, either. 'Cause all I wanna do is go the distance. Nobody's ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I'm still standin', I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren't just another bum from the neighborhood.

It is such a great scene. That is what we have to do in life in all that we do … go the distance. We don't need or have to go for the knockout. But the real challenge is whether we can go the distance or not … whether we can endure to the end or not; whether we can obey, study, pray day in and day out.

This is what Nephi did. He consistently kept on the road and endured.

ps ... I am pretty amazed that I can fit a reference to football, chess and Rocky in a single Book of Mormon commentary post.