CFM BOM with Sam week 6 - deep doctrine and deep emotion of Lehi and Nephi
Welcome to another fantastic week of Come Follow Me Book of Mormon with Sam. We finished 1 Nephi and are now onto 2 Nephi which I like to call 'The Teachings' because they are almost exclusively teachings that Lehi, Nephi, or Jacob, a young brother of Nephi, give to a variety of audiences. This week, I will divide my comments chapter by chapter since the content is so unique.
Also, for those listening to the audio files, I have not uploaded this week's yet, but should have it published late Monday. Currently you need to download an listen to the files, but my plan is to have an rss feed and podcast subscriber ability by end of week.
In my first post, I broke down the Book of Mormon into my own set of parts that helps me make sense of it. 1 Nephi is all about Nephi, the follower, his family of believers, and his dad, the prophet Lehi. It walks us through how to be converted.
This next part, 2 Nephi, is what I call The Teachings, because it is made up of Lehi's last teachings and Nephi's psalm (2 Nephi 1-4), Jacob's teachings to the people of Nephi (2 Nephi 6-10) Nephi's copying of Isaiah (2 Nephi 12-24), and Nephi's commentary on it (2 Nephi 25-33)
The gospel is laid plainer here than anywhere else I can think of. These teachings are some of the most powerful and filling that I could think to recommend to anyone. It also has the highest number of seminary scripture mastery scriptures of any book. Some commentators have said if we only had the first 2 books of Nephi and nothing else, it would have been enough, and I can't help agreeing with them.
Sometimes it is difficult to get through these chapters, especially the Isaiah chapters. Consider turning to my last blog post where I take some time to talk about how tackle Isaiah. Remember that Isaiah was given spiritually is meant to be understood through the spirit. There is no substitute. I will also be walking through those chapters to the best of my ability so please use this blog as a resource!
the first chapter is Lehi's words to his older sons Laman and Lemuel. Lehi tells them to wake up, and rise up! Until we can get past our stumbling blocks, we in modern days stand in Laman and Lemuel's place.
Lehi also mentions the promise of the land, that it will be a land of liberty, and the the people will recognize the Lord or be captive on the land.
Lehi then turns to Jacob. Jacob is really tuned into the spirit; apparently he already had spiritual manifestations early on. Lehi goes into an incredibly deep account of the plan of salvation, of which, I am quite sure we only have parts and pieces.
Lehi talks of a middle place where opposition needs to exist together. this is how I see it.
1. Evil cannot exist in heaven or near God in his Glory
2. To become like God, we must act like God which means we need to have the chance to do something evil and turn away from it, whatever the circumstances
3. That means we need a 'middle earth'. A place away from heaven where good and bad can both exist. Voila opposition in all things.
You can keep going down the rabbit hole on this one. It is one of the deepest concepts of the gospel. Lehi pursues it a little further. He compares this not only to opposition on earth, but to its necessity in creation itself. That is heady stuff. I think that Terry Pratchett, of all people, comes the closest to understanding Lehi. Read his discworld books on Death in this order: Mort, Reaper Man, Soul music (extra credit), Hogfather (extra credit), Thief of Time. Terry Pratchett's view on the matter can be spelled out thus:
1. There has to be a form of justice in the world or it will unravel (tp mort, bom 2n2 v13)
2. Creation itself cannot survive without justice, yet cries out for mercy (tp mort, reaper man, soul music, bom 2n2 v12)
3. The duality justice/mercy of creation causes, or is caused by terrible suffering and sin, possibly injustice, and by it being in this middle place (tp reaper man, soul music, hogfather, bom 2n2 v11-13)
3.5 another way of saying this is that to truly live requires walking through consequences good and bad. there is no substitute.
4. There is a unifying or redeeming principle that cares and draws all things to itself, justifies not only creation and the consequences of life, but equally those who will align with its principles. (tp all of them, bom 2n2 v9,10,14,15,16)
Incidentally, his book, good omens, also walks through this scenario with a focus on Adam and Eve. Which is also what Lehi focuses on next. Lehi says this insane thing at the end. Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.
Crazy huh? But I still believe it.
Lehi's liberty is not like our liberty. he says we are free according to the flesh, but that we need to choose liberty and eternal life, not captivity and death. Other prophets ask us to choose 'that liberty wherewith God hath made you free'. The point is that you have the freedom to not be free, and the liberty to not liberate yourself, so be careful of that. Do what Lehi says. choose liberty and eternal life through the great mediator, Jesus Christ, that thing that draws all things to Him by way of the redeeming principle that He carried out on earth through the Atonement.
Lehi knew about the happenings of the dispensation of the fullness of times, which is happening now! He knew the words would go out to everyone. He knew that his words, and the words of the bible would come together as a testimony to the world of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He knew about Joseph Smith. So cool.
Whitaker Chambers, in Witness, said that there was once a dedicated communist who would do anything for the communist U.S.S.R. Then 'one night he heard screams.' In a simple moment described by 5 words, his entire universe unraveled and changed.
This is soul cry. It wasn't the screams. It was a soul speaking to a soul that made this happen. Well, in chapter 4, we have Nephi's soul cry. The words of his soul speaking directly to ours. He is really hurting. He writes this to let us know how he overcame that hurt.
My favorite verse is v32:
Nephi describes some interesting things in his society, the biggest of which is probably that he built a temple patterned after Solomon's temple, but not as fancy. This raises the question: under what authority did Nephi, his dad, and others, perform ordinances? 2 Nephi 6 v2 hints that it is the Melchezidek Priesthood. This is the answer that President Joseph Fielding Smith gives in Answers to Gospel Questions.
Nephi also says a fascinating line -
Also, for those listening to the audio files, I have not uploaded this week's yet, but should have it published late Monday. Currently you need to download an listen to the files, but my plan is to have an rss feed and podcast subscriber ability by end of week.
An Introduction into The Teachings
In my first post, I broke down the Book of Mormon into my own set of parts that helps me make sense of it. 1 Nephi is all about Nephi, the follower, his family of believers, and his dad, the prophet Lehi. It walks us through how to be converted.
This next part, 2 Nephi, is what I call The Teachings, because it is made up of Lehi's last teachings and Nephi's psalm (2 Nephi 1-4), Jacob's teachings to the people of Nephi (2 Nephi 6-10) Nephi's copying of Isaiah (2 Nephi 12-24), and Nephi's commentary on it (2 Nephi 25-33)
The gospel is laid plainer here than anywhere else I can think of. These teachings are some of the most powerful and filling that I could think to recommend to anyone. It also has the highest number of seminary scripture mastery scriptures of any book. Some commentators have said if we only had the first 2 books of Nephi and nothing else, it would have been enough, and I can't help agreeing with them.
Sometimes it is difficult to get through these chapters, especially the Isaiah chapters. Consider turning to my last blog post where I take some time to talk about how tackle Isaiah. Remember that Isaiah was given spiritually is meant to be understood through the spirit. There is no substitute. I will also be walking through those chapters to the best of my ability so please use this blog as a resource!
2 Nephi 1 - Lehi begs his older sons to wake up!!!
the first chapter is Lehi's words to his older sons Laman and Lemuel. Lehi tells them to wake up, and rise up! Until we can get past our stumbling blocks, we in modern days stand in Laman and Lemuel's place.
Lehi also mentions the promise of the land, that it will be a land of liberty, and the the people will recognize the Lord or be captive on the land.
2 Nephi 2 - Deep doctrine and the plan of salvation
Lehi then turns to Jacob. Jacob is really tuned into the spirit; apparently he already had spiritual manifestations early on. Lehi goes into an incredibly deep account of the plan of salvation, of which, I am quite sure we only have parts and pieces.
Lehi talks of a middle place where opposition needs to exist together. this is how I see it.
1. Evil cannot exist in heaven or near God in his Glory
2. To become like God, we must act like God which means we need to have the chance to do something evil and turn away from it, whatever the circumstances
3. That means we need a 'middle earth'. A place away from heaven where good and bad can both exist. Voila opposition in all things.
You can keep going down the rabbit hole on this one. It is one of the deepest concepts of the gospel. Lehi pursues it a little further. He compares this not only to opposition on earth, but to its necessity in creation itself. That is heady stuff. I think that Terry Pratchett, of all people, comes the closest to understanding Lehi. Read his discworld books on Death in this order: Mort, Reaper Man, Soul music (extra credit), Hogfather (extra credit), Thief of Time. Terry Pratchett's view on the matter can be spelled out thus:
1. There has to be a form of justice in the world or it will unravel (tp mort, bom 2n2 v13)
2. Creation itself cannot survive without justice, yet cries out for mercy (tp mort, reaper man, soul music, bom 2n2 v12)
3. The duality justice/mercy of creation causes, or is caused by terrible suffering and sin, possibly injustice, and by it being in this middle place (tp reaper man, soul music, hogfather, bom 2n2 v11-13)
3.5 another way of saying this is that to truly live requires walking through consequences good and bad. there is no substitute.
4. There is a unifying or redeeming principle that cares and draws all things to itself, justifies not only creation and the consequences of life, but equally those who will align with its principles. (tp all of them, bom 2n2 v9,10,14,15,16)
Incidentally, his book, good omens, also walks through this scenario with a focus on Adam and Eve. Which is also what Lehi focuses on next. Lehi says this insane thing at the end. Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.
Crazy huh? But I still believe it.
Lehi's liberty is not like our liberty. he says we are free according to the flesh, but that we need to choose liberty and eternal life, not captivity and death. Other prophets ask us to choose 'that liberty wherewith God hath made you free'. The point is that you have the freedom to not be free, and the liberty to not liberate yourself, so be careful of that. Do what Lehi says. choose liberty and eternal life through the great mediator, Jesus Christ, that thing that draws all things to Him by way of the redeeming principle that He carried out on earth through the Atonement.
2 Nephi 3 - Lehi looked forward to our day with eager expectation!!!
Lehi knew about the happenings of the dispensation of the fullness of times, which is happening now! He knew the words would go out to everyone. He knew that his words, and the words of the bible would come together as a testimony to the world of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He knew about Joseph Smith. So cool.
2 Nephi 4 - Nephi's soul cry.
Whitaker Chambers, in Witness, said that there was once a dedicated communist who would do anything for the communist U.S.S.R. Then 'one night he heard screams.' In a simple moment described by 5 words, his entire universe unraveled and changed.
This is soul cry. It wasn't the screams. It was a soul speaking to a soul that made this happen. Well, in chapter 4, we have Nephi's soul cry. The words of his soul speaking directly to ours. He is really hurting. He writes this to let us know how he overcame that hurt.
My favorite verse is v32:
May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my aheart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may bwalk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road!
2 Nephi 5 - The manner of happiness
Nephi describes some interesting things in his society, the biggest of which is probably that he built a temple patterned after Solomon's temple, but not as fancy. This raises the question: under what authority did Nephi, his dad, and others, perform ordinances? 2 Nephi 6 v2 hints that it is the Melchezidek Priesthood. This is the answer that President Joseph Fielding Smith gives in Answers to Gospel Questions.
Nephi also says a fascinating line -
And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of ahappiness.This is really something. I think it ties all of lehi's teachings and Nephi's cry together. It doesn't mean that Nephi's problems went away, but it means he was still able to surmount them. Do you think he would say his existence was justified and that he had joy? I think he would answer yes.
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