2 Nephi 18

Waters of Shiloah

The metaphor used here (v. 6-8) contrasts the peaceful waters of Shiloah (Christ) to that of the destructive Euphrates (Assyrians). Instead of choosing Christ and having peace, Israel will be destroyed for choosing evil.

“Isaiah describes and then contrasts two forms of waters—the soft, rolling waters of Shiloah, located near the temple mount of Jerusalem, and the waters of the Euphrates, a great river that often floods out of control. The waters of Shiloah are controlled and inviting, whereas the Euphrates is dangerous and destructive. The waters of Shiloah bring life to those who drink them; the Euphrates brings death to those who are swept up in its flood. Isaiah's images of the two waters are symbolic: the former represents Jesus, the King of Heaven, who is likened to the waters of life; the latter is the king of Assyria, who leads his great, destructive armies and ‘cover the earth [like a flood . . . and] destroy the inhabitants thereof’ (Jer. 46:8). Inasmuch as the inhabitants of Judah had rejected Jesus, or the waters of Shiloah, the Lord set
upon them the king of Assyria, or the strong and mighty waters of the river that would overflow their banks and cover the entire land with its destruction.” (Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1998], 83 as taken from Commentaries on Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, ed. by K. Douglas Bassett, [American Fork, UT: Covenant Publishing Co., 2003], 137)

The message we are to receive from these verses is that if we choose Christ, we will be protected and blessed. We will be happy and content with the manageable and predictable waters of Shiloah. But if we choose to go down forbidden paths, then our agency is taken away and we cannot control the destructive forces that rage in our lives.

Neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid

The Lord promised Israel that he would fight their battles for them (as demonstrated in Joshua 10:10-11, 25) and that they should not form alliances with other countries … they should form an everlasting alliance with God. But they grew wicked and formed alliances with neighboring countries and were cursed.

In verse 9, the Lord warns them that if they associate themselves with these countries, they will be “broken in pieces.” He also tells Israel in verse 12, “neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.” What I find interesting about this statement is that the Lord doesn’t say, “fear not,” he says fear not their fear. Sometimes I get caught up in the worries of the world. I worry about finances; I worry about work; I worry about other things. In other words, I worry about things that a person who is not spiritually inclined worries about. Instead, what I ought to worry about is if I am doing what is right; am I keeping the commandments. If I obey the Lord, then all these other worries will take care of themselves (or the Lord will help me take care of them … he will fight my battles). I need not form an alliance with worldly ideas. The only alliance I need to make is with the Lord.

The reason this is significant to me is because as I lay in my bed this morning, I began to think of all the things I needed to do. I have some real concerns with regards to buying our new home and how will be able to meet the new financial demands. We’ve felt that buying this new home is the right thing to do. My wife has not really had any concerns, while I, on the other hand, have been worried about it. I also was thinking about my job at work and some concerns in that area. While I was worrying about these things, I was about to begin a prayer in my mind asking Heavenly Father for help with all these worries. Then these words came to my mind, “count your blessings.” I stopped and began to count my blessings. Then I knew that everything would be fine. After all that, I got up and began to read the scriptures and this chapter when I came across these verses (v. 9-13). It was so clear now … I simply need to trust in the Lord. That calm reassurance that the Lord had given me before (D&C 6:22-24) came to me again. I need not fear their fear (or the world’s fear). I simply need to trust in the Lord.

A Stone of Stumbling

I had never really thought of what a stumbling block or stone is before. This morning, after reading from gospeldoctrine.com, I had a much better understanding. This is what I read:

A man who stumbles on a rock falls on his face. He may get up again, curse, and kick the offending stone, but in doing so he only further bruises himself. The rock is never injured; the man has neither the power nor the strength to destroy the rock. His misfortune has come by looking beyond the mark, whereby he misses the rock completely, stumbles clumsily, and falls spiritually. For the Israelites, the path of righteousness was obstructed by just such a ‘stone of stumbling’ and ‘rock of offense.’

The Lord of Hosts became a stumbling block for the Jews both in the days of Isaiah and in the days of his mortal ministry. They were offended with by the wisdom, power, and authority of Jesus of Nazareth. This stumbling came because they did not understand the reason the Law of Moses was given. As Paul explained ‘Because they (the Jews) sought it (the law of righteousness) not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed’ (Rom 9:32-3).

‘But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may
stumble.’ (Jacob 4:14)

Neal A. Maxwell

“A stumbling block is defined as involving ‘something repugnant to one's prejudices’ (The Oxford English Dictionary)…A stumbling block of the Jews of Jesus' day, for instance, was their expectations about what the Messiah would do, such as emancipating them politically. To them, Jesus was not an emancipator, and his death was an unfulfilling stumbling block. This irony had been prophesied. The Greeks, on the other hand, regarded the whole idea of a resurrecting messiah as foolishness. (See Isaiah 8:14; 1 Corinthians 1:23; 1 Peter 2:8; 2 Nephi 18:14.)” (A Wonderful Flood of Light [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1990], 71.)

I will wait upon the Lord

Going back to the commentary on forming an alliance with the Lord, we learn that when we form that alliance, we must “wait upon the Lord” and the Lord will protect us. Elder Hales referred to this verse in his October 1998 General Conference talk when he said, “The Lord is the ultimate caregiver. We must surrender ourselves to the Lord. In doing so, we give up whatever is causing our pain and turn everything over to Him…When pain, tests, and trials come in life, draw near to the Savior. ‘Wait upon the Lord,…look for him’ (Isa. 8:17; 2 Ne. 18:17). ‘They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint’ (Isa. 40:31). Healing comes in the Lord’s time and the Lord’s way; be patient.

“Our Savior waits for us to come to Him through our scripture study, pondering, and prayer to our Heavenly Father….As we are strengthened and healed, we can then lift and strengthen others with our faith.” (Ensign, November, 1998).

Seek unto their God

The last part of this chapter warns Israel against seeking after “wizards that peep and mutter” (v. 19). Just as we should not seek alliances with the world to solve our troubles, neither should we seek spiritual counsel from other sources other than the Lord.

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.

1 Nephi 16

I have read these two chapters (16 & 17) over and over again. I think they are critical chapters. In them, Nephi’s testimony is strengthened and Laman and Lemuel’s testimonies are revealed to be very weak and shallow. I think these two chapters are defining chapters in the history of Nephi and his brothers.

After Nephi received the great vision of the Tree of Life, his faith was tested once again. This time, he was tested physically and spiritually. Physical suffering led to spiritual growth. His bow broke and his brother’s bows had lost their spring and they could not use them to hunt animals. Consequently, the entire family suffered hunger and pain. The whole family, including Lehi, began to complain to the Lord. Nephi rises above all the complaining and speaks to his family and tells them to not complain. After exhorting them, he makes another bow and set of arrows. Nephi understood the patriarchal order and went to his father to ask him where he should hunt for food. By now, the Lord had chastised Lehi and he had humbled himself. In fact, the voice of the Lord had come and spoken to them all and chastised them for murmuring. They were instructed to look on the Liahona, whereupon Nephi found where he should find food for his family. Nephi obeys and does indeed find food to feed his family.

How do we react to tough times in our lives? Do we shrink and murmur about our station in life or do we stand tall and strong and face our challenges like Nephi did? Nephi must have felt bad about breaking his bow. He suffered hunger just like the rest of the family, but he chose not to complain. He controlled his feelings and stood stalwart and faced the challenge. The Lord knew that they were going to be fed. He knew that they would not die. He wanted to test them, to test their faith in Him. Nephi was the only one who passed the quiz.

Just another little note from this chapter; the voice of the Lord came to them two times in this chapter alone! And when His voice came, it was not to give them a wonderful revelation or comforting words. It came to chastise them for not being humble and for sinning. They did not want to learn what the Lord wanted them to learn and consequently, the Lord had to speak to them directly in order for them to understand. How often do we have to be chastised with verbal reprehension? Are we not sufficiently humble to seek what the Lord wants us to learn?

The Liahona

The Liahona is a curious thing to think about. Why did the Lord give them the Liahona? They seemed to be getting along fine without the compass. I personally tend to think that Lord gave them the Liahona for two reasons. First, He foresaw that they would be entering a difficult stretch of their journey and they needed direct guidance from the Lord. Since the Lord is an efficient engineer of souls, he made the compass to not only guide the family, but he made it so that the ball only worked according to their faith. Secondly, I think that the Liahona was given to the family for the benefit of Laban and Lemuel. The Lord had sent an angel to warn them, he had spoken directly to them and He spoke through Nephi to them. They were given many chances to believe. And now the Lord was giving them yet another more visible reason to believe in Him. Essentially the family did not have to trust in the Lord and then hope that their feet would lead them to the promised land. Rather, if they exercised their faith, the compass would actually show then in no uncertain terms where they should take their journey.

1 Nephi 9

Chapter 9 is a short chapter and almost seems like a "housecleaning" chapter in that Nephi explains why he is maintaining two sets of records. So, what can we learn from this chapter and apply to our lives?

Record Keeping

The mere fact that Nephi informs us that he maintains records can apply to us. We've been counseled many times to keep a journal. Spencer W. Kimball wrote an article in the October 1975 New Era magazine entitled "The Angels May Quote From It." In this article, President Kimball offers many reasons for keeping a journal.

Personally, I've been able to keep a fairly active journal since I was a kid. The first few entries about snowball fights with my sister and playing softball and catch with my dad bring back lots of memories as I go back and read them.

Personal journals offer a person so much insight. A lot can be learned by going back and reading past entries. They often help me in making decisions … especially when I am trying to solve a personal problem that extends over several weeks or months or even years. Probably the biggest benefit for me is that my faith increases by keeping a journal. For example, when I was a college student, I was really concerned about what major I should choose, what career I should follow and who I should marry. I extensively wrote about these things and what I was feeling at the time and what I was doing about it. It wasn't until after the trial of my faith did I clearly see the hand of the Lord in my life. So as I go back and read those entries, my faith is strengthened and I know in whom I trust.

Trust in the Lord

In a somewhat related matter to the topic of keeping a journal, Nephi does not know why the Lord commanded him to make a 2nd set of records on which he makes an account of his ministry. But he trusts the Lord and knows that when the Lord commands, it is for a wise purpose. Just imagine if Nephi had not obeyed this commandment. We would not have had his wonderful writings and teachings.

Nephi also understands that the Lord sees all and knows all from the beginning to the end and as such, he knows how to prepare a way for the children of men to receive immortality and eternal life.