The Calling of a Prophet and Savior - Second Book of Nephi, Chapter Sixteen (2 Nephi 16 and Isaiah 6)

This brief chapter has wonderful treasures of knowledge in store if you take some time to soak in the meaning of its verses. In typical Isaiah fashion, it has a dual meaning. At the surface level, Isaiah is recounting the circumstances of his own calling as a prophet, when the Lord (Jesus, appearing in spirit form prior to His birth as a representative of the Father) appears in glory to Isaiah in the temple and purifies and otherwise prepares him for the challenging task of going among a largely unbelieving people to preach the gospel of warning and repentance.

But the chapter’s heart (verses 8-13) refers not only to Isaiah’s role, but more significantly to Christ’s own acceptance of his role as the Messiah, the Savior. Take a moment to ponder. In verse 8, “Whom shall I send?” And then, “Here am I; send me.” Yes, at one level, this is Isaiah agreeing to be the mouthpiece of the Lord, similar in some ways to the calling of the boy prophet Samuel in the Old Testament account in the temple in Shiloh (1 Samuel 3). But more profoundly, this is Isaiah relating the circumstances of Jesus accepting the role of Savior directly from the Father before the creation of the world at an initial council of premortal spirits in heaven (other parts of which—including Lucifer’s rebellious role—are recounted elsewhere in the scriptures, including Isaiah 14:13, Job 38:7, Revelation 12:7, and several latter-day references). In other words, “Send me as the person to accomplish the task of sinless sacrifice amid rejection by my own people.”

In that context, Isaiah comes back to the familiar theme of the rejection of God and His message by his own covenant people—the people of Israel. This idea has occupied much of the writings of Isaiah and of Nephi to this point, and is retold in a succinct, powerful way so that we better understand the unfortunate nature of a people whose ears become “heavy” and hearts “fat” and eyes “shut” when presented with the truth (verses 9-10). To clarify, the Lord is not instructing Jesus or Isaiah to harden the hearts of the Israelites, but only to present them with a choice. The people have their agency, and therefore they alone are responsible for rejecting the opportunity given to them to draw nearer to God by changing their lives.

However, the mercy and love of God’s plan is found in the theme of scattering and regathering. In the promise that His covenant people will have another chance. Prophets, including the Messiah, will come among the Jews and other children of Israel until their cities have become desolate (verses 11-12), but a remnant will return. As Isaiah poetically writes in verse 13, it will be like the tree losing its leaves but retaining its capacity to regenerate at a later time.

Now, back to explaining a few passages that may seem difficult to understand. First, to locate the time of this prophecy, King Uzziah of Judah died around 740 B.C. (verse 1). Second, Isaiah’s vision of the Lord probably cannot be described sufficiently through words, but to have some better understanding, it appears as though the vision came to him while he was carrying out some priestly duty at the temple in Jerusalem (probably in the “holy of holies”). Seraphim are angels (or messengers) of the Lord. Since they are people (in premortal or resurrected form), the reference to wings appears to be metaphorical in describing the seraphim’s capabilities. Third, verses 4-7 describe how the Lord’s presence makes the temple shake, as well as how the Lord and His angel help Isaiah with his feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness by (probably metaphorically) putting a hot coal to his lips. Having the coal pressed to his lips is a sign of special emphasis on Isaiah being able to speak the pure words of divine truth. Many, many imperfect people chosen to act for the Lord have confessed to Him they don’t feel equal to the task, but this image is a reminder that the Lord indeed has great power to ensure that we can succeed in carrying out His work.

You can read the entire chapter at the following links: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/16?lang=eng and https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/isa/6?lang=eng

From the Desolate Vineyard to the Majestic Ensign - Second Book of Nephi, Chapter Fifteen (2 Nephi 15 and Isaiah 5)

Much of Isaiah’s writing is allegorical, which means that some of the expressions he uses might not be precisely verifiable statements of fact. Rather, these expressions make their point in a more symbolic manner. It does not take away from the truth or importance of what Isaiah says. In fact, an allegory can often be more powerful than a literal assertion of truth, as we know from the parables Jesus taught.

In this chapter, Isaiah begins with a parable of his own, sometimes known as the “parable of the vineyard.” The vines represent the Lord’s covenant people (Israel), and the vineyard represents the world Israel lives in. Nothing could be more true to life than what we learn almost right away. Despite the master of the vineyard (the Lord) doing everything possible to nurture his vines, providing them with the most favorable conditions, they produce wild grapes (verse 2). In other words, the “fruits” of the Lord’s people are very much flawed.

What ensues seems to be an unorthodox gardening technique. Instead of coddling his vines with even better conditions, the Lord allows the vines to experience greater adversity. He takes away protective hedges and walls, and allows thorns and drought to afflict his plants. What do the Lord’s new gardening methods accomplish? Well, we don’t precisely know from the parable itself. Strictly speaking, Isaiah’s description of the vineyard ends in verse 10 after he reports that instead of being productive of themselves, the people of Israel are left desolate because they oppress others in an attempt to steal and scavenge what these others produce.

It’s a bleak tale, and as it ends, Isaiah continues by describing the very harrowing account of the captivity that Israel has brought upon itself. In what way have the Lord’s covenant people become prisoners? We do have historical evidence of their captivity under people such as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and (later) Greeks and Romans, but the most grievous form of captivity Isaiah describes is the Israelites’ own tragic choice to become slaves to sin. Verse 18 observes that many have bound themselves with “cords of vanity and sin as it were with a cart rope.”

Even though Isaiah doesn’t specifically explain the Lord’s reasoning for subjecting Israel to greater adversity, in other scriptures it is made clear that doing so reminds people that to become better, they need to cast off their own pride and selfishness, and focus on how they can look to the Lord for his example of love and service. Ultimately, there needs to be a recognition that we need God in order for us to have true happiness and prosperity—not the counterfeit version of temporarily glorifying ourselves at others’ expense.

Isaiah’s words may seem harsh, but by laying bare our own tendencies to commit sin, he is doing us an important service. Maybe if we are forewarned, we can make an effort to avoid the traps toward which Satan wants to lead us. Two of the particularly dangerous traps that Isaiah points out in this chapter are

·       When we think we know better than others, including God, and are stubbornly unwilling to take counsel.

(This is exemplified in verse 19 when Isaiah describes people of Israel who are deluded enough to think that they are in a position to tell God what he should do.)

·       When we rationalize our evil thoughts and deeds, and in doing so unfairly demonize those things which are in fact good and virtuous.

(Verse 20 is one of Isaiah’s most compellingly poetic lines: “Wo unto them that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” It also is darkly prophetic of all ages of human civilization, including ours, when we find men, women and societies willing to encourage, legalize or even impose immoral practices by unfairly condemning bedrock, time-tested principles in a way that forces even the most stalwart defenders of righteousness to draw upon every ounce of strength and discernment they have in reserve in order not to be deceived.)

In verse 13, Isaiah reveals that, ultimately, it is lack of knowledge that leads to captivity. Knowledge, in this case, seems to focus on an understanding of how true happiness and strength comes only through living principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ—faith, hope, charity, humility and sacrifice.

At the point where Isaiah’s words have made us think that the Israelites’ situation is almost without hope, the tone shifts at the end of verse 25 with the familiar reminder that the Lord’s hand remains outstretched to his covenant people, to his children. And then Isaiah reinforces this by describing how the Lord will swiftly and powerfully “lift up an ensign to the nations from far” (verse 26).

This ensign is the restored gospel of Christ, which continues to spread across the globe and grow. In Isaiah’s telling, once the ensign is revealed, many among the nations of the earth will respond positively. These will be the Lord’s covenant people, and like the pillar of cloud and fire described by Isaiah in the previous chapter, the image of many people coming together in the Lord’s righteous cause with a “roar like young lions” (verse 29) is meant to give courage to us who want to be righteous, and pause to those who would oppose the Lord’s cause.

You can read the entire chapter at these links: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/15?lang=eng and https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/isa/5?lang=eng.

Picking Up the Pieces - Second Book of Nephi, Chapter Fourteen (2 Nephi 14 and Isaiah 4)

With this brief chapter, the Lord (through Isaiah’s words) begins to pivot away from describing the harsh consequences his covenant people will endure as a result of their pride, and toward a description of their redemption.

Where we left Israel in the prophecy from the previous chapter, it was decimated. Jerusalem and Judah had fallen, and even the flower of its virtue (its young women) were corrupted. Now, we learn something of the aftermath, as the stunned Israelites try to pick up the pieces from the destruction they’ve experienced, and reestablish their civilization and their righteousness.

It appears as though the process of destruction and rebirth is to some extent a way for the Lord to purge or cleanse his people. It is hard to fully understand how this process works, because historical experience teaches that virtuous people often endure terrible things, and those with little or no virtue may find themselves with the advantage. In short, life can be unfair. But in writing about a moral cleansing of the people who claim to be followers of the Lord, Isaiah may be pointing to the spiritual consequences of our actions, which will reflect perfect justice and help us to recognize the need to take advantage of the redeeming power of Christ’s Atonement. Isaiah may also be referring to a future day on earth when the physical consequences of our actions may more closely mirror the moral qualities we demonstrate.

Isaiah gives us a few observations to ponder. One is that the survivors among the “branch of the Lord” will be “beautiful and glorious” and they will be able to enjoy the beautiful fruits of the earth. Another is a somewhat pitiful image of a society ravaged by death and captivity, where so few men remain that the women are desperate for their companionship. Verse 1 says that every man will have seven women competing for his companionship and his name.

Maybe this signifies those temporary situations where a nation needs time to recover from a traumatic event. But I tend to see the image as indicative of a tragic trend that recurs in history and may be at its worst in today’s world. This trend is the rapid decline in the number of men who are truly willing to accept responsibility for themselves and others. The women in verse 1 seem so starved for even the smallest sign of a man’s willingness to engage in family life that they insist they don’t even need the man to provide them the daily essentials of food and clothing. If men can’t be trusted to provide such basic things, how can a society expect them to become proactive partners in marriages and families with the purpose of leading their wives and children closer to God in their thoughts, words and actions?

But Isaiah provides us with some hope in the form of a third observation. This observation foresees a time when the people of Zion (Israel) will be protected by a “cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night.” This hearkens back to Exodus 13, where the Lord provides a cloud by day and fire by night to both guide and protect Moses and the Israelites in their flight from Egypt.

There are two important aspects to note about this observation. The first is that the Lord will help reestablish and even glorify those of his imperfect people who humble themselves and seek His strength. It can be a great source of hope to us and really to anyone who would like to become better and feel like they can still make a difference.

The second important aspect is that the cloud and fire are not only a source of protection and guidance to those who follow the Lord, but also a sign to all other people of where to look for good in the world, more than any flag, banner or building. Those who seek to unite themselves with what radiates light and warmth will be able to find it if they are truly looking. Likewise, those who seek the darkness of the world will be reminded of what they lack when they confront the places where the Lord’s followers dwell. They will think twice before trying to disturb this haven, knowing that the Lord’s protection is over it. Maybe some will even reconsider their path in life.

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/14?lang=eng

Humility Before Salvation - Second Book of Nephi, Chapter Thirteen (2 Nephi 13 and Isaiah 3)

In the previous chapter, Isaiah begins by emphasizing the glories that will attend the days leading up to and following the Lord’s Second Coming. But as the chapter continues, we learn that as wonderful as this may sound for the Lord’s covenant people (the Israelites), they don’t automatically share in these glories unless they are able to humble themselves.

The message carries over into this chapter that those who persist in pride will be brought down. Isaiah’s images are meant to provide a vivid warning both to the Jews of his day and to the faithful of future ages of the calamities that can result from putting one’s trust more in other sources than in the Lord. Isaiah wants to shake them (and us) out of the complacency that most people are tempted to lapse into when they have possessions and privileges. He’s making sure that we understand that today’s order can be gone tomorrow, and that the only true safety and security is through the Lord.

The first verses of the chapter show that things can change very suddenly. We may seem on top of the world now, but that reality can be upended very quickly and find us in desperate straits before we know it. It doesn’t matter how physically strong or learned or accomplished we are. And when things fall apart, it will partly be because no one wants to take responsibility for a failing society. They’ll say, “No, not me,” virtually ensuring that things will get even worse.

Why will the Lord bring the prideful low? Because he cannot abide when those who themselves have been given much “beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor” (verse 15). If the leading classes are unable to take care of the needy, it speaks to a want of virtue on their part. Maintaining the appearance of virtue is not sufficient. And in order to teach His people about what they need to aspire to if they are eventually to be happier and more like Him, sometimes the Lord has to expose the lie of false virtue. Isaiah very aptly uses the image of the “daughters of Zion” (verses 16-24) to show us that the very people who make an effort of showing how superior they are will in fact lose all their appeal, and the unimportant, superficial things they depended on for their status and feeling of self-worth will turn out to have had no lasting value.

Ultimately, Jerusalem and all of Judah will have to fall before they can pick themselves back up. After Isaiah’s prophecy, Jerusalem is literally sacked twice. First, when the Babylonians conquer Jerusalem and carry many away in captivity in 589 B.C. And second, when the Romans destroy the temple and force the Jews of the area into the inconspicuous corners of the world over a period of time roughly stretching from 70 to 120 A.D. Of course, the fall of Jerusalem is more significant in a spiritual sense, showing that the Lord’s covenant people periodically lose their focus. Temporal struggles are the only way to remind them that they need to turn back to the Lord. Although these struggles seem very harsh, and have very real consequences, in them are also the seeds of renewal. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation it is a part of, the Lord will give his people another chance to follow Him and take part in the glorious world order He promises to establish.

You can read the entire chapter at the following links: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/13?lang=eng and https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/isa/3?lang=eng. 

The Mountain of the Lord's House, Zion and Jerusalem - Second Book of Nephi, Chapter Twelve (2 Nephi 12 and Isaiah 2)

Nephi begins his transcription of 14 consecutive Isaiah chapters from the brass plates to his small plates with Isaiah 2. Not all prophets are seers, but Isaiah was. Much of his prophecy is shared in the form of descriptive visions. The first image he shares is of something called the “mountain of the Lord’s house” (verse 2). Now, just as with the Apostle John’s Book of Revelation, it’s an interesting exercise to think about what Isaiah might be describing in his day when he is seeing ours, without the modern vocabulary available to describe what’s before his eyes.

Most Latter-day Saint leaders and scholars have concluded that the phrase “mountain of the Lord’s house” refers to temples. Isaiah’s prophecy says that these temples will be established in the last days in the top of the mountains, and “all nations shall flow unto it.” In these last days, we have witnessed the construction of many temples around the world that have attracted people who want to know more about them and the people who worship there. Some of these people ultimately become baptized and are able to make sacred covenants within the temple. Many observers remark that this passage seems especially applicable to the Salt Lake City temple, viewed by many as the flagship temple of the Church. Of course, it was built in an area of high elevation (“in the tops of the mountains”). Many members of the Church from around the world come to visit the temple and worship there, and more still outside of the Church come to admire the temple’s exterior and the visitors center and surrounding complex (“all nations shall flow unto it”).

Verse 3 expands upon the idea of the temple as “mountain of the Lord” and “house of the God of Jacob” by describing some of its functions. It is a place where the Lord can teach us of His ways and we can walk in His paths. Then a very significant passage says that “out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” We can read this symbolically. Many of us know in the Bible that Zion and Jerusalem are names for each other, so once again we can conclude that instruction and commandments for our daily lives can come from holy places (such as the temple) that remind us of the Holy Land.

But there’s a literal interpretation as well. According to Joseph Smith and other latter-day prophets, Zion is actually the name of a place separate from Jerusalem, sometimes known as the New Jerusalem. It actually represents the American continent. If we think of Zion as America, it seems appropriate that the reference to it is made at this point in the Book of Mormon, because Nephi has showed us in his story how the American continent is a promised land for some of the Lord’s covenant people in a similar way that the land of Israel and Jerusalem are for others.

The Church teaches that verse 3 prophesies directly about the state of ultimate order that will exist on the earth after the time of Christ’s Second Coming, during the thousand-year period known as the Millennium where the influence of evil will be banished. During that time, Jesus will personally reign upon the earth and will send forth his word from Jerusalem, the same place he lived, taught, died and was resurrected. He will have another “capital” in Zion (America) from which the law will go forth. What is the law? Perhaps it is synonymous with the word of the Lord, since we know that whatever the Lord says is true and generally can be seen as a type of law. But there is another meaning as well. America has a special significance that will apparently persist to some extent even after Jesus comes to reign as the place where the best, most inspired system of law was established under the Constitution of the United States.

Isaiah goes on in verse 4 to very succinctly refer to the judgment Jesus will exercise over the people when He comes. One thing he will do is help the people understand the undesirability and futility of violence. In this beautifully poetic passage, they beat their swords into plow-shares, with nations learning how to grow and cultivate things instead of destroying them.

As the chapter continues, a familiar theme emerges from Isaiah’s words that is in line with Jacob’s sermon to the people that Nephi recorded in 2 Nephi 9-10. This theme is that all people go astray from God and His commandments in one way or another, and thus need saving. As Isaiah continues, he tells his audience to avoid false saviors (soothsayers and idols) and warns against pride, or those that “boweth not down.”

Isaiah uses repetition to drive home that the day of the Lord will affect everyone everywhere. It’s not something to be avoided, but to be prepared for, as the Lord is good and wants us to be able to prepare. That’s precisely why Isaiah and Nephi are making sure we know to be ready.

As Nephi transcribes Isaiah’s words, we observe something truly amazing. Verse 16 contains three clauses linked by commas: “And upon all the ships of the sea, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.” The verse is saying that the great day of the Lord will extend everywhere, even to the ships carrying goods around the known world and those docked in far distant lands such as Tarshish (thought to be Spain or perhaps somewhere in India). Keep in mind that Joseph Smith translated Nephi’s transcription into English as we now have it. If you look at the corresponding verse in the Book of Isaiah in the King James version of the Old Testament, you will find the second and third clauses, but not the first. And if you refer to the old Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament, the corresponding verse has the first and third clauses but not the second. So what? So Joseph Smith’s translation somehow managed to incorporate a clause that had somehow been lost between the time the Septuagint was copied and the King James version of the Bible was published. It’s been said that there was no way that the young Joseph Smith had access to a Septuagint. If that is true, his ability to translate a clause he had no reason to know had been missing from English-language Bibles reinforces the genuine nature of his visions, translations, and prophetic calling. It reinforces everything he did and claimed to be.

The chapter ends with a very provocative question: “Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?” Isaiah is saying, “Don’t look to man as your point of reference. He’s nothing special. He’s not God, and you don’t answer to him.” This thought carries over into the next chapter.

You can read the entire chapter, and the corresponding chapter from Isaiah, at the following links: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/12?lang=eng and https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/isa/2?lang=eng.

Proving the Coming of Christ - Second Book of Nephi, Chapter Eleven (2 Nephi 11)

After having recorded some of his younger brother Jacob’s teachings over the previous five chapters (2 Nephi 6-10), Nephi tells us that even though Jacob shared many other things with his people (the Nephites), what Nephi has recorded is enough for now.

Nephi then lets us know that he is going back to the words of Isaiah. Why? Because Nephi’s soul delights in Isaiah’s words (verse 2). One very important reason for this is that Isaiah saw the Redeemer (Jesus Christ), just as both Nephi and Jacob have seen Jesus in visions. This brings us back to the law of witnesses (verse 3). By sharing the words of two men who have had these experiences in addition to himself, Nephi magnifies the power and credibility of what he shares. And Nephi assures us that many more than three have been or will be able to testify of the reality and power of Jesus Christ. Based on this explanation, we understand better why Nephi features some of Jacob’s preachings referencing Isaiah in the record Nephi keeps, intermingled with some of Nephi’s own words, extracts from other prophecies of Isaiah, and his father Lehi’s final testimony and blessings to his posterity.

To this point, Nephi has included material from Isaiah—again, presumably taken from the brass plates Nephi took from Laban in Jerusalem and brought with his family to the Promised Land—comprising about four full chapters (according to how Isaiah’s words were organized into chapters and verses in the King James Bible). Now, Nephi will copy 13 consecutive chapters of Isaiah’s teachings onto the limited space Nephi has on the smaller plates, as a statement to us of (1) the sacredness and importance of Isaiah’s teachings in understanding the mission of Jesus Christ at the core of the Lord’s plan of salvation for us, and (2) Nephi’s conviction that what Isaiah wrote accurately represents Nephi’s own understanding both of specific events that will take place regarding Christ and of these events’ greater meaning.

Nephi clearly wants us to liken the words of Isaiah unto ourselves and our own circumstances (verses 2 and 8). These words were relevant in the centuries before Christ’s mortal birth when they were first revealed, and are perhaps even more relevant in our day as we look forward to Christ’s Second Coming and are both witnesses of and participants in the great work of the gathering of the Lord’s covenant people—the house of Israel.

In the final verses of the chapter (4-7), Nephi seems to adopt a directness in addressing his audience that we haven’t seen from him to this point. It’s in the spirit of the words of Jacob he just shared with us. Previously, Nephi has written much about the things he has seen and how they were explained to him by Lehi or by angels or the Spirit of the Lord. But now he is finding his own voice in relaying to us the significance of what he has seen, heard, and felt first-hand. As he sees it, his ultimate responsibility, and joy, is “proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ” (verse 4), and “that save Christ should come all men must perish” (verse 6).

Nephi goes on to testify, much like Paul in his letter to the Galatians about 600 years later (in Galatians 3:21-29), that the law of Moses instituted hundreds of years earlier among the Israelites, along with all other things God has revealed from the time of creation, points to the coming of Christ, for the purpose that we might be able to recognize Him when He comes for our own salvation.

The centerpiece of this newly direct approach to telling us the bottom line of what Christ’s reality means for us is Nephi’s statement in verse 7:

“For if there be no Christ there be no God; and if there be no God we are not, for there could have been no creation. But there is a God, and he is Christ, and he cometh in the fulness of his own time.”

According to this statement, the existence of Christ is absolutely essential for there to be a God. To my understanding, Nephi is saying that God’s whole purpose is to give his people a pathway to salvation and to progress in knowledge, virtue, and righteous power. In other words, to provide a Savior. To be a Savior. Otherwise what’s the point? Someone who simply is there to provide an ecosystem and then presides and observes at a distance without an active concern and plan for the individuals inhabiting his creation is more like a zookeeper or a kid with an aquarium than a serious Supreme Being. As the Lord states in another fundamentally important scripture from our Church, which comes from an inspired translation of the books of Moses in the Old Testament, “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).

Thankfully, through the accounts of Nephi and the other witnesses, we know that God is not detached, arbitrary, or imaginary. Heavenly Father in fact is real, and has a son, Jesus Christ, who resembles and represents Him perfectly—in fact is God Himself—and intervenes in the right places and right times to unlock the door to us to eternal life, salvation, and happiness, which can be fully realized in God’s presence.

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/11?lang=eng

Our Next Choice Matters, However Far Away We Seem from the Lord - Second Book of Nephi, Chapter Ten (2 Nephi 10)

After a day of pretty intense preaching, Jacob pauses, and then comes back the following day. He informs the Nephites that on the evening in between, an angel provided him additional information, including that the Savior would be known by the name of Christ. Christ, a Greek word, means “the anointed one,” and has the same meaning as the Hebrew word Messiah.

He then explains how facts surrounding the Atonement of Christ have very specific real-world consequences for the Lord’s covenant people, also known as the people of Israel. The Atonement not only has a direct effect on each individual’s spiritual destiny—his or her ability to access immortality and return to God’s presence—but it also is rooted in historical events that influence various branches of Israel and the people (often known as Gentiles) with whom the Israelites interact.

The sacrifice required to atone for human sin is the voluntary death of a sinless being. The crucifixion of Christ brings this to pass. In a way that we may have trouble fully understanding, it is necessary for Jesus to suffer and die on the cross, but it is still an ugly act that makes us mourn for those who were prideful and envious enough to bring it to pass. Probably as a result of Jacob’s study of the brass plates and the prophecies of his father and brother, combined with his own revelatory experiences and angelic visitations, Jacob reveals to the Nephites that some Israelites will be scattered as a result of the wickedness that played a part in leading the Romans to crucify Christ.

However, it is important to note that whatever consequence is to befall any particular branch of Israel, that consequence does not justify any blanket condemnation on our part. For Jacob says in verse 7 that the Lord anticipates the restoration of favor and blessings upon His covenant people, which is the same restoration Jacob referred to in the earlier chapters when he was quoting Isaiah’s poetic language.

According to Jacob’s prophecy, Isaiah’s words will be majestically fulfilled. Once again, Jacob is reminding the Nephites, who have spent a generation establishing a new civilization half a world away from Jerusalem, that their story remains intertwined with the larger story of Israel. It may take centuries, but God’s plan is still very much alive and well. Through a long process, the people of Israel will be gathered from all kinds of places around the world (the “isles of the sea” in verse 8), and the Gentiles will play a leading part in helping to restore the Israelites to a place of earthly and spiritual glory.

As part of this process, Jacob makes specific reference to this land (the Americas) as a land of liberty unto the Gentiles without any kings (verse 11). This seems to anticipate the United States and the establishment of republican—as opposed to monarchical—rule on the American continent. The Lord says that He will fortify this land against all other nations. In doing so, Jacob raises a voice of warning to those who would try to obstruct either the restoration of Israel or the system of American republicanism. It is not out of vengeful wrath, but out of a need to protect the righteous Jews and Gentiles who will form His community of Zion in the latter days. As a result, we learn that the following will perish:

• Those who fight against Zion (verse 13) 
• Those who would establish despotic rule in America (verse 14)
• Those who work “secret works of darkness” (verse 15)

What is the Lord teaching the Nephites (and us) through Jacob? Mainly that trial and affliction is not meant to be a curse for the Lord’s covenant people, but a way of strengthening them to help bring forth something glorious. He reassures this group of people, whose fathers journeyed to this far-off place, and then fled from their first settlement because of their angry brothers and cousins, that they are in fact not abandoned, but being prepared to carry out the Lord’s plan. And those who try to obstruct that plan will ultimately fail, even if they seem to temporarily gain the upper hand. Thus, doing good is not in vain, and doing evil is.

And the most important time is now. The most important choice in their (and our) lives is the next one. Jacob tells them in verse 23: “Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.” And what makes it possible for us to choose between these paths? The Atonement of Jesus Christ, which is powerful to save, and is, above all, a sign of God’s grace, his free gift of love to us (verse 24). Giving us that something extra that we just couldn’t muster by ourselves.

You can read the entire chapter at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/10?lang=eng