3 Nephi 9:1-14
9:1-12 - There has been a great destruction throughout the land and many people have been killed and many cities destroyed, and the people have realized that this is a consequence of their wickedness. They are reeling from what has happened “and it came to pass that there was a voice heard among all the inhabitants of the earth.” HN says that “President Grant used to tell a story about having a debate with somebody who made great mockery of this passage here. How could you have a voice that wasn’t loud and yet could be heard by everybody? Then President Grant would give the example of radio, which had been introduced long after that.” Interesting analogy. HN also points out that the voice has split up his topics evenly, giving exactly the first 10 verses to the explanation of the destruction and then the following 10 verses to his real purpose. The Lord continues “Wo, wo, wo u nto this people; wo unto the inhabitants of the whole earth except they shall repent; for the devil laugheth, and his angels rejoice, because of the slain of the fair sons and daughters of my people; and it is because of their iniquity and abominations that they are fallen!” When I first heard this verse, it was pretty shocking to me because we are told that the people were killed during this big disaster because they were wicked, they followed Satan, they were his servants, and because they followed him, they were killed and when they were killed, Satan was happy about it. That’s crazy to me, there is no loyalty there, he doesn’t even pretend to care when bad things happen to us, quite the contrary actually, when bad things happen to us, he’s happy about it, and when bad things happen to us because we were following him, he is even more happy about it. That’s crazy. He tries to convince us that his evil ways are good and that we will be happy, and he doesn’t do this because he truly deep down believes that to be true, he’s not trying to justify himself, rationalize his position, no, he’s only trying to make us unhappy and he knows the best way to do that because he himself has gone that way and done those things. When we know something is wrong and want to rationalize or excuse our own actions or beliefs, getting other people to believe our lies is validating to us. When Satan does this doesn’t tell us lies because it makes him feel better or validates his opinion, he does it only so that we will suffer, sick. HN points out that God takes full ownership of the destruction; he owns it and explains it. HN teaches “it’s what you call an aretalogy, when God announces what he does and what his power is. He speaks to himself. It’s a doxology when we praise God. It’s an eretology when he announces to us what his power is. Notice how many times he says I, in every verse… In all this, keep in mind the nature of their sins. This concentrates all our attention on one person, all this storm, etc. as to the culmination of everything. He did it all. How did he direct this colossal release of energy! This tells us why. They need not cry and say, ‘why did this happen to us? Where weren’t we warned?’ He is going to tell them fully later on why they weren’t. You knew perfectly well what you were doing- you brought this on yourselves (he told them)… Now look here. ‘The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away.’ God can give, and above all, he gives life. Men can’t give life. Take not the life you cannot give. But men are the great takers of life. We destroy life on a massive scale, and we’re preparing to destroy it on still more massive scales right now. This is the only nation that refuses to stop making nerve gas and advancing in biological warfare. But the fact is that God gives us all these good things, and we pervert the whole thing. We spoil it. In that case, ‘the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.’ He has a right to, but the Lord giveth and man taketh away. We can’t give life at all, but boy are we expert I destroying it. See, we’re the great destroyers. We bring these things on ourselves here… If there had been fifteen righteous, that would have been difference. They would let me visit them, so I’ll visit them now, he says. ‘… that the blood of the prophets and the saints whom I sent among them might not cry unto me from the ground against them.’ Things cannot go on just the way they are. There comes a point when future generations can’t be benefitted. I mean, they don’t have a chance growing up in such a world, so it has to be brought to a halt. We can’t go on committing atrocities indefinitely anyway.” The point to where a people are ripe for destruction comes around the time they start to kill the prophets, get rid of the righteous, either through kicking them out or killing them, and when any future generations would be set up for complete disaster. The Lord says that this is the point at which the cities that were destroyed were at, because when He takes ownership of the destruction, stating what happened to each individual city, he states at least 6 times that this was caused “that their wickedness and abominations might be hid from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints whom I sent among them might not cry unto me from the ground against them,” or some variation of that. These cities seem to have all killed the prophets, but we know from their cryings that the people who were spared recognized that they were punished and should have repented, so they weren’t the righteous, in fact in verse 13 the Lord tells them that they “are spared because ye were more righteous than they.” “Hey you weren’t great but you did better than those other guys.” So what’s the difference between the wicked who lived and the wicked who died? My guess is that it was that those who lived had not killed the prophets, and those who died did, and it would seem to me that that is a pretty big dividing line. If you have the presence of mind to say “hey that old guy is saying some stuff that I don’t want to do, I’m just going to ignore him and do whatever I want,” that’s reasonable, wrong but reasonable. There’s a big leap that comes with saying “hey that old guy is saying some stuff that I don’t want to do, I’m going to throw big frickin rocks and him until he’s been bludgeoned to death,” that’s a big difference, there’s a huge jump in the level of wickedness, I would think.
9:13-14 - I have way more audio of the HN classes then there are transcripts online so if I mess this up, forgive me but I just can't find the transcripts of what I heard. HN asks something like "After taking ownership of all this destruction, what kind of God would you expect to see after that? A savage, vengeful, tribal God, but that's not who God is at all, and the next 10 verses show us exactly who he is." By showing us who he is, he is a God of mercy and healing and peace, not death and destruction, sure he'll do it if he has to but he really really doesn't want to. HN gives the example of when God announced the flood and he wept, he didn't want to destroy the people, he was deeply hurt by it, but he did it because it got to the point of ridiculousness. Jesus asks us to return to Him "and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you." A few points here, first is that the way this is worded it would appear that the healing is an end result of repenting and conversion, it's not 'I'll heal you so that you can repent, and believe in me,' but instead "repent and believe in me because otherwise I can't heal you," and I guess that makes sense because if we give no indication that we desire to be healed, and Jesus does it anyway, it would rob us of our agency. We would be either compelled to believe because of the miracle or we would reject the miracle and be robbed of the godly sorrow that comes from unrepentant suffering. The use of the word "converted" here is also interesting because it indicates to me our need to accept that his way is the best way. In order to be healed we not only have to keep the commandments but do so willingly, changing our hearts as we do it, and as we change our hearts, we are healed, because there is not healing, only suffering, when we believe that Christ isn't the way. The IM quotes Elder Jeffrey R. Holland as teaching "'Come,' (Christ) says lovingly. 'Come, follow me.' Wherever you are going, first come and see what I do, see where and how I spend my time. Learn of me, walk with me, talk with me, believe. Listen to me pray. In turn you will find answers to your own prayers. God will bring rest to your souls. Come, follow me." I love that he promises answers, and with answers comes confidence, peace of mind, security, and freedom, and we can have all that if we will follow him, this is where the healing comes from. In the April 2011 general conference talk entitled "The Miracle of the Atonement" Elder C. Scott Grow taught "Through His atonement, He heals not only the transgressor, but He also heals the innocent who suffer because of those transgressions. As the innocent exercise faith in the Savior and in His Atonement and forgive the transgressor, they too can be healed... Because of His infinite love, Jesus Christ invites us to repent so that we will not have to suffer the full weight of our own sins... Jesus Christ is the Great Healer of our souls. With the exception os sins of perdition, there is no sin or transgression, pain or sorrow, which is outside of the healing power of His Atonement. When we sin, Satan tells us we are lost. In contrast, our Redeemer offers redemption to all -no matter what we have done wrong- even to you and to me. As you consider your own life, are there things that you need to change? Have you made mistakes that still need to be corrected? If you are suffering from feelings of guilt or remorse, bitterness or anger, or loss of faith, I invite you to seek relief. Repent and forsake your sins. Then, in prayer, ask God for forgiveness. Seek forgiveness from those you have wronged. Forgive those who have wronged you. Forgive yourself." Healing, forgiveness, eternal life, mercy, and blessings, those are what the Savior is offering for those who will accept Him as their God, who will repent and have a change of heart. Satan is offering suffering, betrayal, hatred, bitterness, and anger. If we remember throughout the Book of Mormon, we have seen many many examples of people who were the epitome of evil and they were called to repentance and Jesus accepted their conversion, their repentance, their change of heart and he healed them. The most prominent example in my mind is the conversion of the People of Ammon, hardened Lamanites, blood thirsty and hateful, they converted and their faith was among the strongest. The most recent time when the GRs were preached to then converted, Jesus wanted them back and worked with them. He wants us all back, he wants us to all be healed, he wants us all to be happy and have confidence in Him.
There's a lot more to this chapter and I just don't feel like I can do it justice tonight. Tomorrow, The Lord introduces Himself to the Nephite people!
9:13-14 - I have way more audio of the HN classes then there are transcripts online so if I mess this up, forgive me but I just can't find the transcripts of what I heard. HN asks something like "After taking ownership of all this destruction, what kind of God would you expect to see after that? A savage, vengeful, tribal God, but that's not who God is at all, and the next 10 verses show us exactly who he is." By showing us who he is, he is a God of mercy and healing and peace, not death and destruction, sure he'll do it if he has to but he really really doesn't want to. HN gives the example of when God announced the flood and he wept, he didn't want to destroy the people, he was deeply hurt by it, but he did it because it got to the point of ridiculousness. Jesus asks us to return to Him "and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you." A few points here, first is that the way this is worded it would appear that the healing is an end result of repenting and conversion, it's not 'I'll heal you so that you can repent, and believe in me,' but instead "repent and believe in me because otherwise I can't heal you," and I guess that makes sense because if we give no indication that we desire to be healed, and Jesus does it anyway, it would rob us of our agency. We would be either compelled to believe because of the miracle or we would reject the miracle and be robbed of the godly sorrow that comes from unrepentant suffering. The use of the word "converted" here is also interesting because it indicates to me our need to accept that his way is the best way. In order to be healed we not only have to keep the commandments but do so willingly, changing our hearts as we do it, and as we change our hearts, we are healed, because there is not healing, only suffering, when we believe that Christ isn't the way. The IM quotes Elder Jeffrey R. Holland as teaching "'Come,' (Christ) says lovingly. 'Come, follow me.' Wherever you are going, first come and see what I do, see where and how I spend my time. Learn of me, walk with me, talk with me, believe. Listen to me pray. In turn you will find answers to your own prayers. God will bring rest to your souls. Come, follow me." I love that he promises answers, and with answers comes confidence, peace of mind, security, and freedom, and we can have all that if we will follow him, this is where the healing comes from. In the April 2011 general conference talk entitled "The Miracle of the Atonement" Elder C. Scott Grow taught "Through His atonement, He heals not only the transgressor, but He also heals the innocent who suffer because of those transgressions. As the innocent exercise faith in the Savior and in His Atonement and forgive the transgressor, they too can be healed... Because of His infinite love, Jesus Christ invites us to repent so that we will not have to suffer the full weight of our own sins... Jesus Christ is the Great Healer of our souls. With the exception os sins of perdition, there is no sin or transgression, pain or sorrow, which is outside of the healing power of His Atonement. When we sin, Satan tells us we are lost. In contrast, our Redeemer offers redemption to all -no matter what we have done wrong- even to you and to me. As you consider your own life, are there things that you need to change? Have you made mistakes that still need to be corrected? If you are suffering from feelings of guilt or remorse, bitterness or anger, or loss of faith, I invite you to seek relief. Repent and forsake your sins. Then, in prayer, ask God for forgiveness. Seek forgiveness from those you have wronged. Forgive those who have wronged you. Forgive yourself." Healing, forgiveness, eternal life, mercy, and blessings, those are what the Savior is offering for those who will accept Him as their God, who will repent and have a change of heart. Satan is offering suffering, betrayal, hatred, bitterness, and anger. If we remember throughout the Book of Mormon, we have seen many many examples of people who were the epitome of evil and they were called to repentance and Jesus accepted their conversion, their repentance, their change of heart and he healed them. The most prominent example in my mind is the conversion of the People of Ammon, hardened Lamanites, blood thirsty and hateful, they converted and their faith was among the strongest. The most recent time when the GRs were preached to then converted, Jesus wanted them back and worked with them. He wants us all back, he wants us to all be healed, he wants us all to be happy and have confidence in Him.
There's a lot more to this chapter and I just don't feel like I can do it justice tonight. Tomorrow, The Lord introduces Himself to the Nephite people!
Comments
Post a Comment