Book of Mormon Day-Five
Thought- The Book of Mormon was written for us today. God is the author of the book. It is a record of a fallen people, compiled by inspired men for our blessing today. Those people never had the book-it was meant for us. Mormon, the ancient prophet after whom the book is named, abridged centuries of records, God, who knows the end from the beginning, told him what to include in his abridgement that we would need for our day. (ET Benson Apr. 75 Gen Conf. p. 94)
1. Outside Reading - Book of Mormon Reference Companion, Dennis Largey
2. The coming forth of the Book of Mormon - Published in 6 months. Should have taken 17 1/2. ("Miracle on Palmyra's Main Street" Gordon L. Weight, May 2003)
3. Gary's Green Verses
2-9-12 | 2 Nephi 18 | 10 | When we counsel together with the Spirit, our side will always win. |
2-10-12 | 2 Nephi 19 | 6 | Handel's Messiah's tribute to Jesus, using the words of Isaiah. |
2-11-12 | 2 Nephi 20 | 15 | When God uses us to do his work, of what have we to boast? |
2-12-12 | 2 Nephi 21 | 3 | How grateful we should be that God's judgment is not after the manner of men! |
2-13-12 | 2 Nephi 22 | 1 | My love and trust for God needs to be independent of my own obedience. |
2-14-12 | 2 Nephi 23 | 3 | Another reminder that God will protect & bless us when we follow Him. |
2-15-12 | 2 Nephi 24 | 27 | If you insist on worrying- Worry about something other than if God will fulfill his promises. |
2-16-12 | 2 Nephi 25 | 23 | Grace kicks in after my best efforts. My best efforts will never be enough without it. |
4. 20 Things I love in 2 Nephi
1. No story line except in Chapters 1 & 5.
2. 2 Nephi 1:6 - How do you get to America? "Israel, Israel, God is calling"
3. 2 Nephi 1:8 - "Had the knowledge of the Americas been made known even a century earlier, the religion transplanted to the Western World would have been that of the church of Europe at its lowest stage of decadence. The period closing with the 15th century was that of the dense darkness that goes before the dawn. Nephi gave us a prophetic description of the status of Christianity in that day and the dominance of a great and abominable church with its obsession for gold, silver, silks, scarlets, fine-twined linen, precious clothing, and harlots. Indeed, it was to escape the chains of bandage and the darkness of religious oppression that people of spiritual nobility emigrated to the new land." (DCBM p. 185)
4. 2 Nephi 1:13, 23 - Satan's chains and the cucumber in a bottle. Bad habits
5. 2 Nephi 1:30 - A true friend- "Be careful of your friends. They can make you or break you. Be generous in helping the unfortunate and those in distress. But bind to you friends of your own kind, friends who will encourage you, stand with you, live as you desire to live; who will enjoy the same kind of entertainment; and who will resist the evil that you determine to resist." (GBH-Ensign, May 2004, p. 113-114)
6. 2 Nephi 2:4-6 - 6 Fundamentals 1) The Spirit is always the same. 2)The way is prepared. 3) Salvation is free (2 Nephi 9:50-51) 4) Man knows good from evil (Moroni 7:16) 5) By the Law, no flesh is justified. 6) Redemption is through Christ.
7. 2 Nephi 2:9 - The Law of Moses required that Israel take their firstfruits and dedicate them to God in the temple. Those who dedicate themselves to God are the 1st fruits. Christ is the 1st fruits because of His dedication-not just because he was 1st to rise.
8. 2 Nephi 2:11 - Lucifer provides nothing. He just takes away. Darkness=absence of light; death=absence of life; falsehood=absence of truth; evil=absence of good; misery=absence of joy
9. 2 Nephi 2:19 - The events associated w/ the Garden of Eden make it an archetype of our temples. Here they received the Priesthood, walked & talked w/ God, were married & taught the law of sacrifice, clothed in garments & from here they entered into the lone & dreary world that they & their descendents could prove themselves worthy to return. (Gospel Symbolism p. 258)
10. 2 Nephi 2:25 -Humpty Dumpty by Mother Goose and Sheldon Cheshire
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the King’s horses and all the King’s men, Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
BUT THE KING COULD
The King, full of grace appeared at the scene And put back the egg like had never ‘fore been;
On the shell, not a crack &the egg looked like new, But inside, still scrambled, Humpty asked what to do.
“Oh Master,” he said, “On the outside I’m well, But the insides an omelet, I’m sorry I fell.
Is there something to do that would restore my yolk? ‘Cause I don’t feel quite whole if my insides are broke.
“My child,” said the King, “That’s just what I do, But not by myself-I also need you.
You must be sincere, your heart be contrite Just don’t fall again-please try with your might.”
“I won’t,” said the egg. “I’ll try not to fall.” Then Humpty was whole-insides and all.
So if you ever fall and your insides feel broke, Just remember our fellow and his scrambled up yolk.
Most - Remember the King & how he heals the fall. Passed below all mankind - then he rose above all.
11. 2 Nephi 2:27 Free Agency and Freedom DALLIN H. OAKS, BYU 11 October 1987.
1. Before the world was created, we existed in the presence of God. 2. Free agency is a gift of God. 3. We had free agency in the premortal existence. 4. There Satan presented a plan that would have taken away our free agency. 5. When God rejected Satan's plan, Satan and those who followed him rebelled and were cast out of heaven. 6. Pursuant to God's plan, Adam and Eve made the choice that caused the Fall, making mankind subject to mortality and sin in the world. 7. We are here to be tested, and this cannot occur without opposition in all things. 8. To provide that opposition, Satan is permitted to try to persuade us to use our free agency to choose evil. 9. If we choose evil and do not repent, we can ultimately become captives of Satan.
First, because free agency is a God-given precondition to the purpose of mortal life, no person or organization can take away our free agency in mortality.
Second, what can be taken away or reduced by the conditions of mortality is our freedom, the power to act upon our choices. Free agency is absolute, but in the circumstances of mortality freedom is always qualified. Freedom may be qualified or taken away (1) by physical laws, including the physical limitations with which we are born, (2) by our own action, and (3) by the action of others, including governments.
1.Lehi taught his son Jacob that "men are free [have freedom] according to the flesh" (2 Nephi 2:27). For example, in the flesh we are subject to the physical law of gravity. If I should hang from the catwalk here in the Marriott Center and release my grip, I would not be free to will myself into a soft landing. And I cannot choose to run through a brick wall. A loss of freedom reduces the extent to which we can act upon our choices, but it does not deprive us of our God-given free agency. A woman who has spent much of her life confined to a wheelchair expressed that thought in verse. Annie Johnson Flint writes:
I cannot walk, but I can fly; No roof can house me from the stars No dwelling pen me in its bounds, Nor keep me fast with locks and bars. No narrow room my thoughts can cage, No fetters hold my roving mind; From these four walls that shut me in, My soaring soul a way can find. . . . And when the long, long day is done, I clasp the dearest book of all, And through the dim, sweet silences, I hear my Father's accents fall. Then, though, in chains, yet I am free; "My Wants" by Annie Johnson Flint. See also Dt. 30:15,16,19
12. 2 Nephi 3 - In this chapter Lehi quotes to his son Joseph promises made to Joseph of Egypt which were contained on the plates of brass and not contained in the Book of Genesis as it was passed down in the Judeo-Christian world. Many of these were restored in the JST. They talk about covenants of the Lord with Joseph of Egypt (3:4) The loss of these covenants from the biblical record has caused the Gentile world to stumble over truths restored through Joseph Smith. Neither does the world know that the Lord raised up Moses to deliver the children of Israel from Egypt because of a covenant he made with Joseph of Egypt. (3:10, 17) Joseph, Lehi's son was promised that part of his posterity would be preserved. (3:3) The most significant doctrine is the prophecy of Joseph Smith being raised up, as a descendent of Joseph of old to do this great latter-day work.
13. 2 Nephi 5 is a great answer to an important question of when dividing a family is appropriate. The answer is when the physical and/or spiritual health of the family is endangered.
14. 2 Nephi 9 - Joseph Fielding Smith called 2 Nephi 9 one of the most enlightening discourses ever delivered in regard to the Atonement. (ATGQ 4:57) 2 Nephi 9:7. The Infinite Atonement
• Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the
Twelve Apostles explained several ways in which the Atonement is infinite:“His Atonement is infinite—without an end. It was also infinite in that all humankind would be saved from never-ending death. It was
infinite in terms of His immense suffering. It was infinite in time, putting an end to the preceding prototype of animal sacrifice. It was infinite in scope—it was to be done once for all. And the mercy of the atonement extends not only to an infinite number of people, but also to an infinite number of worlds created by Him. It was infinite beyond any human scale of measurement or mortal comprehension. “Jesus was the only one who could offer such an infinite atonement, since He was born of a mortal mother and an immortal Father. Because of that unique birthright, Jesus was an infinite Being” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1996, 46; or Ensign, Nov. 1996, 35).
15.
15. 2 Nephi 9:20 "In a very real sense, all we need to know is that God knows all. (NAM ISM p. 67)
16. 2 Nephi 9:25 - Two things we can be sure of: ?
17. 2 Nephi 9:28-29 "Among the LDS, the preaching of false doctrines disguised as truths of the gospel, may be expected from people of 2 classes, they are; 1st the hopelessly ignorant, whose lack of intelligence is due to their indolence and sloth, who make but feeble effort.... to better themselves by reading and study; those afflicted with laziness. 2nd, The proud and self-vaunting ones who read by the lamp of their own conceit; who interpret rules of their own contriving, who have become a law unto themselves, and so prose as the sole judges of their own doings. More dangerously ignorant than the 1st." (JFS Gospel Doctrine p. 373)
18. • Second Nephi 9:34 and several other scriptures teach the seriousness of the sin of lying (see Proverbs 6:16–19; D&C 63:17–18; 76:98, 103). President James E. Faust (1920–2007)
“There are different shades of truth telling. When we tell little white lies, we become progressively color-blind. It is better to remain silent than to mislead. The degree to which each of us tells the whole truth and nothing but the truth depends on our conscience. . . .“. . . As President Gordon B. Hinckley has said, ‘Let the truth be taught by example and precept—that to steal is evil, that to cheat is wrong, that to lie is a reproach to anyone who indulges in it” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1996, 57–61; or Ensign, Nov. 1996, 41–44 - Student Manual
19. 2 Nephi 10:3 - TPJS p. 328
20. 2 Nephi 10:16 - This verse teaches us that we join the Great and Abominable Church with our actions rather than our affiliation with a particular organization.
21. 2 Nephi 9:6 - "The phrase 'the government shall be upon his should' is traditionally understood to be from one of two ceremonies. During the ancient Semitic wedding ceremony, the one performing the rite would remove the veil from the face of the bride, placing in on the shoulder of the groom, while reciting this line, Also, as part of ancient royal vesting rites, a king who was being crowned and enthroned would receive upon his shoulders the robe of regal authority as an indication of his right to rule and reign. Both of these images apply well to Christ and serve to highlight the burden, responsibility, and labor associated with the shoulders. (Gaskil, The Lost Language of Symbolism" p. 55)
