2 Nephi 26:1-11
My feelings and attitude has been quite different since my experience yesterday while pondering the phrase “we rejoice in Christ.” I see that God is not this crazy, vindictive, dictatorial person that I always expected him to be, but he is actually quite pleasant. I’ve seen that he not only loves me in a gentle manner, but he loves everyone else just as much. Our blessings are different, our opportunities are different, but his heart aches for those who act badly because of their unhappiness, just as his heart broke when I did the same thing. It’s been a fast and furious change, I’ve been reflecting, about the last several months about how I’m a completely different person, so much happier now. I’ve never experienced this much spiritual growth before, especially over such a short period of time. It’s like all things that are new, I so desperately want it to take root into who I am, so badly I want all my new feelings and understandings to become who I am, and it’s scary because it’s so new, I’m afraid that one day I’ll wake up and be the person that I used to be, but then again, I can’t let fear run my life, fear is to antithesis of faith, they cannot exist together, so I think “doubt not, but be believing.” So I’m going forward and never looking back, and eventually I know that the longer I work at growing towards the Savior, it will become second nature to me, it will become who I am, and I’m anxious for that day, but I know that the only way to get to that point is to build my house on the rock right now, cement my firm foundation and that will take work and practice, so while it can be scary and frustrating, I’m excited and looking forward to the opportunity.
26:1 – In 3rd Nephi after the signs of Christ’s death, if I remember correctly, and I can’t find it now, maybe I will look harder later, the Nephites were spiritually crushed because they thought that now because Christ was dead he could come visit them. If that was the case, the first verse here would have told them that “after Christ shall have risen from the dead he shall show himself unto (them.)” So any confusion as to when Christ would come, whether before or after his death could have been cleared up here. If this is the case, the Nephites didn’t understand the scriptures even though they had them, just like the Jews didn’t understand their scriptures, and just like today we don’t understand our own scriptures. It’s just an interesting commentary on human nature to compare the pattern of scripture study across thousands of year and to see how similar and deeply rooted the “natural man” is in people regardless of their geography, lifestyle, time in human history, we are all just not really that interested in the scriptures. Another interesting point from verse 1 is that Nephi knew that once Christ had risen from the dead that the law of Moses would be done away with and a new law would be given. “And the words which (Christ) shall speak unto you shall be the law which ye shall do.” This is a stark contrast to the Jews at the time who believed that salvation came through the law of Moses, and I guess looking at it from that perspective that makes sense. Even now we are taught that salvation comes through the atonement of Jesus Christ and that can be pretty far-fetched and difficult to understand, so keeping a law that eventually became exceedingly strict and then to understand that this law was only a similitude of the actual source of salvation, I can see how that would be difficult to reconcile. Similarly, I used to think that keeping the commandments was an exercise in obedience and had little purpose other than to prove that our obedience. I’m beginning to see past that a little bit, but animal sacrifice, extensive Sabbath keeping rituals, yes that would be most difficult to put together. But yet on the other hand, Nephi, who was raised in Jerusalem, and is probably middle age at this point, has learned that the Law of Moses isn’t the end all be all of salvation, and he learned this by not only searching the same scriptures that the Jews had, but also inquiring of the Lord to learn the meaning of them. Oh so that’s an interesting point. Perhaps, Nephi and Jewish scholars studied the same scriptures, but the difference in understanding comes because Nephi sought knowledge and understanding from the Lord and the Jews did not. Hmmm…. Now that’s interesting, I had never considered that before. A serious study of the scriptures and prayer and insight from the Lord is what can make the difference between truth and error.
26:2-6 - Again, as I've said many times, Nephi's writing style is difficult for me. This example isn't as dramatic as some from the past have been but he goes from talking about "Christ will give you a new law" to "I have seen lots of wars among my people." But I guess he might be illustrating that his people spiral downward into fighting and death, and they will kill the prophets, and the righteous among them and "the cry of the blood of the saints shall ascend up to God from the ground against them." It would be interesting to me to hear how and to what end God ends people's lives here on earth because of disobedience. I'm not questioning whether or not he's right because clearly he is and the God that I know and love now would hate to do such things but does to uphold his righteous purposes. I would just be curious to know what the point of "ripeness" is for destruction, or if the people were wicked enough to be destroyed the day Jesus died, why not destroy them a few years or even days before that? I guess I want to know, why then? How bad did they have to be? I had heard once that people are motivated by fear of punishment more than the desire for reward. This is the "fire and brimstone" that people are afraid of, this is what is supposed to put the fear into them that makes them reconsider their lives. For me personally, I think that I'm more a motivated by reward person. I guess that's one of the positive aspects of growing up the way that I did is that when pain and punishment are doled out not based on your behavior but how someone else feels about themselves at that moment, it kind of disconnects you from the "bad behavior = punishment" conditioning that everyone else goes through. I guess I look at many situations and say "it won't be that bad" or "it's going to suck at that point anyway, so what's one more thing?" If that makes sense. And I think that's why punishment isn't really that big of a detractor or me. But I am hugely motivated by rewards, betterment, personal fulfillment. I cling to the hope that something better will come or that eventually I will be benefitted in someway for my behavior. For instance, I think I've mentioned here before that I'm also going through a physical transformation right now, choosing a healthy lifestyle and working out what that really means because I've never really learned before, I even hired a personal trainer for the first time ever, and even though I'm sure that he's frustrated because of my super slow progress, I'm building a foundation right now, and I'm not ever looking back. But what's my motivation? Honestly, it's not dying early from disease, it's not being unattractive (like that could ever happen!) it's not being a bad example to my kids, I'm motivated by the prospect of endless energy, healthy skin, I want to build a strong, healthy body, I want to fit into cute clothes (that I will buy at the thrift store because I don't pay retail for anything) I want to "find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures" promised by the Lord to those who care for their bodies in the manner prescribed by the Lord here in verse 19, and finally for the first time in over 30 years I know that I can do it, it will take work, but I know that I can get there are live that lifestyle that's amazing. Anyway, I think that I went off on a tangent there, but I just wanted to illustrate that we are all motivated by different thing, and sometimes the Lord must resort to fire and brimstone as motivation, but hey, whatever it takes, right?
26:7-10 - Oh so I hadn't noticed, even though I read these verses earlier, that there's the fire and brimstone part, but then there's the "motivation by rewards" part. It would be understandable to see God as a hateful war monger if we only read the "fire and brimstone" parts, but here he says that "the Son of Righteousness shall appear unto (the righteous); and he shall heal them, and they shall have peace with him." So in the preceding verses he specifies that the wicked not only disregard the counsel of God through the prophets but they murder the prophets and saints in a most horrific manner (stoning.) That is pretty extreme, I think that most reasonable people can look at murdering another person, especially in that manner, as being unacceptable behavior. But then the Lord specifies what constitutes a righteous person, they listen to and don't murder the prophets but look forward to his coming even if they are persecuted. I think that that's a big gap. Kind of like we talked about yesterday about how the Lord desires to reward us as much as possible for even the smallest amount of obedience, which I can testify that that it true, and he also desires to punish us as little as the law allows for our poor behavior. It would seem like here we are seeing that it takes really evil acts to summon the destruction of God, but even a little bit of righteousness is enough to slowly and steadily grow into sainthood. "For because they yield unto the devil and choose works of darkness rather than light, therefore they must go down to hell." It must take a lot of indoctrination of darkness to get past the point of no return on this side of the veil.
26:11 - "For the Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with man. And when the Spirit ceaseth to strive with man then cometh speedy destruction." The wording here was a little bit confusing for me at first, when it says that "the Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with man" it conjures up memories of Mary Poppins saying "I'll only be here until the wind changes." To me, the way this is phrased implies that the Spirit will be leaving on conditions that is out of the control of the people, and this isn't the case. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin taught, as quoted by the IM, "when priesthood hands were laid upon your head to confirm you a member of the Church, you heard the words, 'Receive the Holy Ghost.' This did not mean that the Holy Ghost unconditionally became your constant companion... When we are confirmed, we are given the right to the companionship of the Holy Ghost, but it is a right that we must continue to earn through obedience and worthiness. We cannot take this gift for granted." It would seem that just like God won't usually intrude where he is not wanted or welcomed, the Spirit does not impose his presence where he is not wanted. So instead of imaging the Holy Ghost flying away on a magical umbrella when the weather changes, instead he leaves after every last attempt is made to reconcile the people to God and when it is clear that his comfort and guidance are not appreciated or desired anymore. I sounds like a point of agency to allow people to make their own choices, and also to reap the consequences of those choices. If they are screaming to the Holy Ghost to get out by their choices and behavior, then he won't force us to let him stay. And once the Holy Ghost is gone, the buffer between the people and satan is gone and then satan's real mission come to full light, a "speedy destruction" of all his followers.
26:1 – In 3rd Nephi after the signs of Christ’s death, if I remember correctly, and I can’t find it now, maybe I will look harder later, the Nephites were spiritually crushed because they thought that now because Christ was dead he could come visit them. If that was the case, the first verse here would have told them that “after Christ shall have risen from the dead he shall show himself unto (them.)” So any confusion as to when Christ would come, whether before or after his death could have been cleared up here. If this is the case, the Nephites didn’t understand the scriptures even though they had them, just like the Jews didn’t understand their scriptures, and just like today we don’t understand our own scriptures. It’s just an interesting commentary on human nature to compare the pattern of scripture study across thousands of year and to see how similar and deeply rooted the “natural man” is in people regardless of their geography, lifestyle, time in human history, we are all just not really that interested in the scriptures. Another interesting point from verse 1 is that Nephi knew that once Christ had risen from the dead that the law of Moses would be done away with and a new law would be given. “And the words which (Christ) shall speak unto you shall be the law which ye shall do.” This is a stark contrast to the Jews at the time who believed that salvation came through the law of Moses, and I guess looking at it from that perspective that makes sense. Even now we are taught that salvation comes through the atonement of Jesus Christ and that can be pretty far-fetched and difficult to understand, so keeping a law that eventually became exceedingly strict and then to understand that this law was only a similitude of the actual source of salvation, I can see how that would be difficult to reconcile. Similarly, I used to think that keeping the commandments was an exercise in obedience and had little purpose other than to prove that our obedience. I’m beginning to see past that a little bit, but animal sacrifice, extensive Sabbath keeping rituals, yes that would be most difficult to put together. But yet on the other hand, Nephi, who was raised in Jerusalem, and is probably middle age at this point, has learned that the Law of Moses isn’t the end all be all of salvation, and he learned this by not only searching the same scriptures that the Jews had, but also inquiring of the Lord to learn the meaning of them. Oh so that’s an interesting point. Perhaps, Nephi and Jewish scholars studied the same scriptures, but the difference in understanding comes because Nephi sought knowledge and understanding from the Lord and the Jews did not. Hmmm…. Now that’s interesting, I had never considered that before. A serious study of the scriptures and prayer and insight from the Lord is what can make the difference between truth and error.
26:2-6 - Again, as I've said many times, Nephi's writing style is difficult for me. This example isn't as dramatic as some from the past have been but he goes from talking about "Christ will give you a new law" to "I have seen lots of wars among my people." But I guess he might be illustrating that his people spiral downward into fighting and death, and they will kill the prophets, and the righteous among them and "the cry of the blood of the saints shall ascend up to God from the ground against them." It would be interesting to me to hear how and to what end God ends people's lives here on earth because of disobedience. I'm not questioning whether or not he's right because clearly he is and the God that I know and love now would hate to do such things but does to uphold his righteous purposes. I would just be curious to know what the point of "ripeness" is for destruction, or if the people were wicked enough to be destroyed the day Jesus died, why not destroy them a few years or even days before that? I guess I want to know, why then? How bad did they have to be? I had heard once that people are motivated by fear of punishment more than the desire for reward. This is the "fire and brimstone" that people are afraid of, this is what is supposed to put the fear into them that makes them reconsider their lives. For me personally, I think that I'm more a motivated by reward person. I guess that's one of the positive aspects of growing up the way that I did is that when pain and punishment are doled out not based on your behavior but how someone else feels about themselves at that moment, it kind of disconnects you from the "bad behavior = punishment" conditioning that everyone else goes through. I guess I look at many situations and say "it won't be that bad" or "it's going to suck at that point anyway, so what's one more thing?" If that makes sense. And I think that's why punishment isn't really that big of a detractor or me. But I am hugely motivated by rewards, betterment, personal fulfillment. I cling to the hope that something better will come or that eventually I will be benefitted in someway for my behavior. For instance, I think I've mentioned here before that I'm also going through a physical transformation right now, choosing a healthy lifestyle and working out what that really means because I've never really learned before, I even hired a personal trainer for the first time ever, and even though I'm sure that he's frustrated because of my super slow progress, I'm building a foundation right now, and I'm not ever looking back. But what's my motivation? Honestly, it's not dying early from disease, it's not being unattractive (like that could ever happen!) it's not being a bad example to my kids, I'm motivated by the prospect of endless energy, healthy skin, I want to build a strong, healthy body, I want to fit into cute clothes (that I will buy at the thrift store because I don't pay retail for anything) I want to "find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures" promised by the Lord to those who care for their bodies in the manner prescribed by the Lord here in verse 19, and finally for the first time in over 30 years I know that I can do it, it will take work, but I know that I can get there are live that lifestyle that's amazing. Anyway, I think that I went off on a tangent there, but I just wanted to illustrate that we are all motivated by different thing, and sometimes the Lord must resort to fire and brimstone as motivation, but hey, whatever it takes, right?
26:7-10 - Oh so I hadn't noticed, even though I read these verses earlier, that there's the fire and brimstone part, but then there's the "motivation by rewards" part. It would be understandable to see God as a hateful war monger if we only read the "fire and brimstone" parts, but here he says that "the Son of Righteousness shall appear unto (the righteous); and he shall heal them, and they shall have peace with him." So in the preceding verses he specifies that the wicked not only disregard the counsel of God through the prophets but they murder the prophets and saints in a most horrific manner (stoning.) That is pretty extreme, I think that most reasonable people can look at murdering another person, especially in that manner, as being unacceptable behavior. But then the Lord specifies what constitutes a righteous person, they listen to and don't murder the prophets but look forward to his coming even if they are persecuted. I think that that's a big gap. Kind of like we talked about yesterday about how the Lord desires to reward us as much as possible for even the smallest amount of obedience, which I can testify that that it true, and he also desires to punish us as little as the law allows for our poor behavior. It would seem like here we are seeing that it takes really evil acts to summon the destruction of God, but even a little bit of righteousness is enough to slowly and steadily grow into sainthood. "For because they yield unto the devil and choose works of darkness rather than light, therefore they must go down to hell." It must take a lot of indoctrination of darkness to get past the point of no return on this side of the veil.
26:11 - "For the Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with man. And when the Spirit ceaseth to strive with man then cometh speedy destruction." The wording here was a little bit confusing for me at first, when it says that "the Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with man" it conjures up memories of Mary Poppins saying "I'll only be here until the wind changes." To me, the way this is phrased implies that the Spirit will be leaving on conditions that is out of the control of the people, and this isn't the case. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin taught, as quoted by the IM, "when priesthood hands were laid upon your head to confirm you a member of the Church, you heard the words, 'Receive the Holy Ghost.' This did not mean that the Holy Ghost unconditionally became your constant companion... When we are confirmed, we are given the right to the companionship of the Holy Ghost, but it is a right that we must continue to earn through obedience and worthiness. We cannot take this gift for granted." It would seem that just like God won't usually intrude where he is not wanted or welcomed, the Spirit does not impose his presence where he is not wanted. So instead of imaging the Holy Ghost flying away on a magical umbrella when the weather changes, instead he leaves after every last attempt is made to reconcile the people to God and when it is clear that his comfort and guidance are not appreciated or desired anymore. I sounds like a point of agency to allow people to make their own choices, and also to reap the consequences of those choices. If they are screaming to the Holy Ghost to get out by their choices and behavior, then he won't force us to let him stay. And once the Holy Ghost is gone, the buffer between the people and satan is gone and then satan's real mission come to full light, a "speedy destruction" of all his followers.
Comments
Post a Comment