Lecture 23 2 Nephi 32-33; Jacob 1-2
Rejecting the Word of God
[We Must Pray & Gain Knowledge From The Holy Ghost]
[Nibley on How Prayer Unblocks Us]
[The Words of Christ Tell Us All We Need to Know]
[Difference Between Nephites and Lamanites is Political]
[Nephi Bids an Everlasting Farwell if His People Do Not Repent]
Jacob Denounces the Love of Riches, Pride, Unchasity]
363,364 2 Nephi 32:1,2 “And now, behold, my beloved brethren, I suppose that ye ponder somewhat in your hearts concerning that which ye should do after ye have entered in by the way.” Notice we don’t ponder anymore; pondering is against the rules. After you’ve got on the path of salvation, what do you do next? What are you going to do for a thousand years? That is a very provocative question because you are going to be stuck with eternity whether you want it or not. We cannot die, the Book of Mormon tells us, and it’s true. “Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye [for one thing] could speak with the tongue of angels?”
364 2 Nephi 32:2,3; 1 Corinthians 2:9 Well, that means you are out of your present league. When you start speaking with the tongue of angels, it’s something else. When you start talking with the tongue of angels, you will be in another league. We’ll talk about that when we get to it, he says. Meanwhile we’ve got to fulfill our capacities here. So this is the answer, he says. “Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.” You can’t anticipate. As Paul says, “Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him [1 Corinthians 2:9].” You can’t even imagine it or guess what it is like for those who love God and are going to go on.
364 2 Nephi 32:3-5 He says here that the words of Christ will tell you all things that you have to do. You can’t anticipate until you get there, and we haven’t got there at all. Then it tells us in verse 5: “I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost [if you go about it the right way], it will show unto you all things what ye should do.” Then there won’t be anything to worry about. But there’s always more to come. But what is the trouble? Why is a question like that a poser? We should ask this question, incidentally. He says in verse 4: “Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock.” You don’t ask and you don’t knock. “Ask and you will receive; knock and it will be opened unto you,” but you have to ask first. You have to make the first move, as Abraham did. It tells us in the book of Abraham, “Thy servant hath sought thee diligently; now he hath found thee.” You have to get off dead center because that is your responsibility. That’s why you are here [on earth] now.
365 2 Nephi 32:5,6 Then enter by the right way. You have been given the commandments; you know what to do if you follow them, he says. If you receive the Holy Ghost, “it will show unto you all things what ye should do.” But there is always more to come. Notice he tells us in verse 6 that there will be no more doctrine given until after the Lord comes. So there’s enough for you to live by now. They were living by the law of Moses. But when we speak by the tongue of angels, we will no longer be limited by the ambience in which we find ourselves. As I said, we will go on to a higher math then. But, of course, we should ask questions, and that’s one thing we don’t do. People say, “Don’t ask questions; don’t rock the boat.” There are questions we should ask. Verse 6: “And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do.” You will cross that bridge when you get to it.
365 2 Nephi 32:7 Now, what’s wrong? Notice verse 7 here: “And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn [he says, ‘People can’t take any more than this; I’d not only be wasting my time, but I would be putting them in jeopardy’] because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men [this is wisdom literature; Nephi is distressed]; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be.” This is all very true, you know. The most difficult scientific problems are really elementary. It’s their simplicity that stops people cold. It’s always something extremely simple and naive that gets the Nobel Prize—it’s a surprising thing. Once it’s given to people they say, “Well, we knew that all along.” No they didn’t. You know the story of Columbus and the egg, don’t you? Well, when Columbus got back they were giving a dinner in his honor. They said, “Well, anybody could have done that. All you had to do was just go sailing. It was quite possible, no problem at all. So he said, “Can any of you make an egg stand on end?” They passed it around and tried it, but nobody could do it. Columbus took the egg and gave it a slight tap; then it stood on its end. They said, “Oh yes, anybody can do that.” He said, “Yes, anybody can do that after you have been shown what to do.” It’s the same way with discovering America; anybody can do it once it has been done.
365 2 Nephi 32:8 This is the same thing. They won’t search knowledge, not even “when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can [possibly] be. And it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing.”
367,368 This is not the real world; this is a fake. Everybody knows it’s a fraud. It’s as phony as it can be, and it’s getting more that way all the time. We are living in a TV world now where everything is imagination and make-believe.
368 2 Nephi 32:8,9 We get this very strong with Nephi on this downbeat here. He’s distressed and feeling the same way about it. Then he tells you what to do. They will not search knowledge; now what are you supposed to do? Verse 8: “I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray.” There’s nothing more destructive, as you know, than a mental block—a block of any kind in which you grind to a halt. [It could be] caused by drugs. It’s guilt feelings that cause those mental blocks, and that’s what keeps you from praying. It’s a block just like the heavens are brass. There’s nothing more destructive than these mental blocks because of the guilt that’s in us. By praying, this frees us up. This frees the mind and thaws it out. Jacob uses the word hardened a lot. But this causes a thaw and causes things to flow again when you once start praying, maybe with a flow of tears. In public prayer, congregational prayer, we concentrate our minds on a single object. We are all thinking together there, and this concentration is a very important thing. But in private prayer when you are alone, that frees the mind and lets you go. You’re not putting anything over on the Lord. Verse 9: “I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul [which is the optimum voice].” If you don’t do these things, what do you do? If you are not interested in this, there are comfortable clichés and platitudes, routine sermons, and superficial research. We can have those things.
368,369 2 Nephi 33:1 In the next chapter he says, “Neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking; for when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost, the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men.” Should we have speech writers if we claim to be inspired? Brigham Young never wrote a note, nothing. It was all strictly “from the cuff.” He just swung from the shoulder and delivered. Although he’d had only had eleven days of school, he delivered in this marvelous, vigorous, forthright, direct, and powerful prose. He was a great master of prose style, but he never took a note or anticipated what he was going to say.
369 2 Nephi 33:2-5 “They cast many things away which are written and esteem them as things of naught.” People aren’t going to take them seriously. These things are written, but people don’t really pay much attention to them. We read fast. We go through and we’re not very careful about it. Notice verse 3: You may not think it is important, “but I, Nephi, have written what I have written, and I esteem it as of great worth, and especially unto my people, For I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them.” These idiots—they won’t pay any attention at all. He can’t sleep. The poor man is sick about it. This is his farewell, and it’s not a happy one. “And the words which I have written in weakness will be made strong unto them.” Notice he lists five things he wishes to achieve in his writings in verses 4 and 5: “For it persuadeth them to do good; it maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal.” That’s what we want, you see. You wouldn’t have anything to endure at all if this was the kind of world people wanted God to make it, the perfect world—a thing that upset St. Augustine so much. “And it speaketh harshly against sin, according to the plainness of the truth; wherefore, no man [who’s against sin] will be angry at the words which I have written save he shall be of the spirit of the devil.”
369 2 Nephi 33:7-9 Then he ends on a charitable note. He wants to end on an upbeat here, but he is having an awfully hard time doing it. Verse 7: “I have charity for my people, and great faith in Christ that I shall meet many souls spotless at his judgment-seat. [Secondly] I have charity for the Jew [because I am a Jew, too].... I mean them from whence I came. I also have charity for the Gentiles. But behold, for none of these can I hope except they shall be reconciled unto Christ, and enter into the narrow gate, and walk in the strait path which leads to life” and endure to the end. This is one of the objections people always have: It’s always so narrow-minded and so demeaning. Why is it so narrow? Why do so few get through the door? Why is it so limited? Well, to be on target. Here in this world we are on a vast, wide, almost endless plain. We can wander anywhere we want here, and we are prone to wander and go into all sorts of things. With this field to wander in, we can show whether [or not] we have the sense to go in the right direction. You will choose what your heart desires when it’s left entirely up to you. You will gravitate in the direction in which you really want to go. It will expose you as you really are.
370 2 Nephi 33:11 So here we are, and he says you must keep on the strait and narrow; you must go that way. This will answer all your questions. Of course they are terrible; we tell you that all the time. You can get out of it by going straight ahead. Keep in mind, as Mosiah says ... (We haven’t come to Mosiah yet, so we won’t quote that—that’s illegal). But Nephi says in verse 11: “and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar [and I think that is true—I have reason for believing that’s literally so]. ... I speak unto you as the voice of one crying from the dust: Farewell until that great day shall come. And you that will not partake of the goodness of God [he ends on a negative note after all], and respect the words of the Jews [the scriptures], and also my words, and the words which shall proceed forth out of the mouth of the Lamb of God, behold, I bid you an everlasting farewell [these words are all joined into one], for these words shall condemn you at the last day. For what I seal on earth, shall be brought against you at the judgment bar; for thus hath the Lord commanded me, and I must obey.” Can you imagine a sadder ending than that? He was of a cheerful disposition—terribly optimistic, as you know. He was always dragging the family through dirty situations. But here he says, “For thus hath the Lord commanded me, and I must obey. Amen.”
370 Jacob 1:2,3 His brother Jacob carries on at this point, and then proceeds to take a real plunge. He goes down [in his warnings]. Jacob doesn’t have very much hope for what is going on here. This is very sad. This is an important point in verse 2: “And he [Nephi] gave me, Jacob, a commandment that I should write upon these plates [the small plates] a few of the things which I considered to be most precious,” and touch just lightly on historical things. So the Book of Mormon is not a history. Don’t expect the book to explain the New World in ancient times; that’s not its purpose. It’s no handbook of archaeology. You can find out an immense lot reading between the lines when we get to the battles and migrations. Meanwhile, this is what you look for. He says he is just supposed to write these things. The history is in other books which are to be had, but not at this time. This is what he’s supposed to put in. This is a tractate; he is not going to write a history, but a tractate.
370,371 Jacob 1:4,8 “And if there were preaching which was sacred, or revelation which was great, or prophesying, that I should engraven the heads [just the principle parts; heads is the right word—the RA SHIM, the KEPHALAIA; that means the ‘main points’ of a chapter; in Hebrew, Greek, and other languages, the word for that was head, it’s the principal themes of preaching, revelation, and prophecy—just the most important things] of them upon these plates ... for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of our people. For because of faith and great anxiety, it truly had been made manifest unto us concerning our people, what things should happen unto them [so it is prophetic too, but he is full of anxiety]. And we also had many revelations, and the spirit of much prophecy [the authors are also directed] ... we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ.” This is his writing. It’s PROTREPTIC, it’s a SUASORIA. That’s a type of writing that’s devoted to persuading somebody to do something. PROTREPTIC is to enjoin somebody; a SUASORIA is to change your way of life, your behavior. It’s an appeal, and that’s what Jacob is here. He said, Our situation is the same as the children of Israel in the wilderness; we are always that way too. Notice: “... as in the provocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the wilderness.” It’s admonitory, it’s warning—and we are still in the wilderness. We are not out of the woods, so to speak. “Wherefore, we would to God that we could persuade all men not to rebel against God [that’s the least you can ask for; that’s the dominant theme; so why so negative?] ... but that all men would believe in Christ, and view his death, and suffer his cross and bear the shame of the world.”
372,373 Jacob 1:13,14 Now notice in verses 13 and 14 that the difference between Lamanites and Nephites is a purely political one, purely political. “Now the people which were not Lamanites were Nephites; nevertheless, they were called Nephites.” That’s what they really were. Notice the seven tribes; anciently, the pattern of seven tribes is a very well established one. I think you will find it in Sombart and others where they talk about the seven tribes and why they are. You can see various connections, seven planets and things like that. Anciently, the established pattern was seven tribes. Here they had seven tribes really within the Nephites. “They were called Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites.” They kept some of their ethnic marks, I suppose. This is a very complicated racial picture, you see. Who was called a “Nephite” or a “Lamanite” depended entirely on his politics. Now he says, “But I, Jacob, shall not hereafter distinguish them by these names, but I shall call them Lamanites that seek to destroy the people of Nephi [whose policy was anti-Nephite—they were Lamanites. There was plenty of Nephite blood among them, but they were the same family, after all. What do we mean by “Nephite blood?” They were brothers], and those who are friendly to Nephi I shall call Nephites, or the people of Nephi [those reigning in his stead] according to the reigns of the kings.” That’s what they were. Those who are friendly to Nephi are Nephites and vice versa; it’s a complicated picture from here on.
373 Jacob 1:15; 7:26 Already in the reign of the second Nephi people began to grow hard in their hearts. Well, according to the first Nephi, they were hard in their hearts already. But here [in verse 15] he says they began to grow hard in their hearts. Now see what the situation is. Here we have people rattling around like peas in a bag. We have histories of people who went into vast, empty spaces, but they weren’t necessarily empty. There are continual hints of the former inhabitants of the land and other people around. But as Jacob told us, My brother told me to pay no attention to that sort of thing; that’s not the history we are interested in [paraphrased]. And in the same way, he is not interested in political issues; he just grouped them all under two names and let it go at that, Nephites and Lamanites, not making any distinctions. It’s the same way here. He doesn’t go into any of the political or military complications of the wandering. He closes his book with a very eloquent statement: “We being a lonesome and a solemn people ... we did mourn out our days.”
373,374 Jacob 1:15-19 The people were having a hard time, but aah, they discovered gold and silver and they went crazy. They had a gold rush here, [back to verse 15] “The people of Nephi... began to grow hard in their hearts, and indulge themselves somewhat in wicked practices.” He said that they were already desiring many wives and concubines. They felt like kids out of school, I suppose; they can do anything they want now. Verse 16: “Yea, and they also began to search much gold and silver, and began to be lifted up somewhat in pride. Wherefore I, Jacob, gave unto them these words as I taught them in the temple, having first obtained mine errand from the Lord. For I, Jacob, and my brother Joseph had been consecrated priests and teachers of this people, by the hand of Nephi [so they weren’t to be the kings. Second Nephi was the king, but they were priests and teachers and had been consecrated by their brother Nephi]. And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility [that’s what the priests had to do to rid themselves of the blood on their garments; we are getting back to the Atonement rites of ancient Israel], answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise ... we would not be found spotless at the last day.” (On the great day of Yom Kippur when everybody’s garments were to turn white.)
374 Jacob 2:2-8 These are teachings in terms of the rite of the Atonement which was familiar to these people. He talks about it in the next chapter: “I, Jacob, according to the responsibility which I am under to God, to magnify mine office with soberness, and that I might rid my garments of your sins, I come up into the temple.” Well, in the temple on Yom Kippur that’s what the priest did. You had to rid your garments. Now here he is feeling terrible, he says. Verse 3: “I have hitherto been diligent in the office of my calling; but I this day am weighed down with much more desire and anxiety for the welfare of your souls than I have hitherto been [things are getting worse than they have been]. For behold, as yet, ye have been obedient unto the word of the Lord, which I have given unto you.” But your thoughts “are beginning to labor in sins. [And this] causeth me to shrink with shame before the presence of my Maker, that I must testify unto you concerning the wickedness of your hearts. And also it grieveth me that I must use so much boldness of speech concerning you, before your wives and your children, many of whose feelings are exceedingly tender and chaste and delicate before God [the word we would use today is sensitive’, in Joseph Smith’s day they’d say delicate; they are very sensitive to these things]; . . . they have come up hither to hear the pleasing word of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul.”
375 Jacob 2:9,10 A CONSOLATIO, a consolation; they wanted to be cheered up. We find out pretty soon that the women were overworked. They were practically captives and were under strain while their-husbands gallivanted around collecting the gold, etc. Their children suffered accordingly, and they came to the temple to hear the consoling word of God and to be comforted. But what do they have to hear? he says. They have to hear this talk that is terrible. He said that it made him ashamed of himself. But he said that he had received from God a “strict commandment.” It was not his idea. This meant that things were very bad. It’s more than mere folly that’s going on here. He received a strict commandment from God “to admonish you according to your crimes [he doesn’t call them sins and follies’, he says your crimes], to enlarge the wounds of those who are already wounded, instead of consoling and healing their wounds ... to pierce their souls and wound their delicate [sensitive] minds. But, notwithstanding the greatness of the task, I must do according to the strict commands of God, and tell you concerning your wickedness and abominations.” I must tell you what God commanded me to tell you; I have no choice, he says, because I am “under the glance of the piercing eye of the Almighty God.” I can’t get away from it; I must carry this out.
375 Jacob 2:12-15 This is like pulling teeth; he hates it. Boy, does he hate it, but he has to go through with it here. He must declare the word. Verse 12: “And now behold, my brethren, this is the word which I declare unto you [he starts out with the number one sin in the Book of Mormon], that many of you have begun to search for gold [there has been a gold rush], and for silver ... in the which this land, which is a land of promise unto you and to your seed, doth abound most plentifully [they found rich mineral deposits, and when that happens the community goes mad; that’s what happened here]. And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches.”. Anyway, this is the word. “And because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they [this is a strange thing. God doesn’t justify that; he condemns you].... He can pierce you, and with one glance of his eye he can smite you to the dust! O that he would rid you from this iniquity and abomination. Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you.” To be rich is all right; you can all be rich together. But the rich don’t like that, you see.
376 Jacob 2 18 Then Jacob goes on here in verse 18. This is a favorite passage. Latter-day Saints love this, because this gives you a hand. This frees you up to seek for riches all you want to: “But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.” [People say,] “Well, I’ve gone on my mission that takes care of that; now I can seek for riches.” I’ve heard that plenty of times. It’s idealistic at first but not after. “And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches if ye seek them [you’re not supposed to seek them, but if you insist on doing it you can seek them under one condition]; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.” That’s the justification. Is this the profit motive? Either stop with verses 13-16 or do it this way. The others are unacceptable. But he says if you must seek [for riches] this is the way you do it. It’s a very interesting thing here. As I said, this is a favorite. Notice he says it shall be “for the intent to do good.” A person might say, “Yes, I intend when I get my second million to do that.” There was something in here about a doctor whose brother is fabulously rich. He asked him, “When do think you’ll have enough? Do you think you have enough?”
377,378 Jacob 2:20,21; Moses 1:39 “Ye were proud in your hearts, of the things which God hath given you.” Isn’t it a funny thing that people become proud of getting gold? That’s a surprising thing. Why is finding metal something to make you proud? Or something to make you rich? It’s not useful for many things. Gold is used industrially, and silver is used in a number of things. Then he goes on speaking of this greed in verse 20: “Ye were proud in your hearts, of the things which God hath given you, what say ye of it?” Incidentally, he gave them this advice: If you seek wealth, you shall do it for this purpose. Does anybody in the Book of Mormon seek it for that purpose at all? Amulek, a very good man, didn’t—not for a minute. So that’s the way this goes. Did anybody take this advice? They did not. I see all these passages in the Book of Mormon I marked where the people couldn’t do it. They immediately turned to the other way. They would hang on so long. Verse 21: “Do ye not suppose that such things are abominable unto him who created all flesh? [he hasn’t mentioned chastity yet; he’s going to get to that now]. And the one being is as precious in his sight as the other [this is impossible for us to get through our heads; it’s hard to take that any other person is just as important to God as you are. That’s one of the hardest things in the world to swallow, especially when you have an authoritarian structure; it’s harder to swallow, isn’t it?] . . . and for the selfsame end hath he created them, that they should keep his commandments and glorify him forever.” To glorify him is to share in his glory. Remember Moses 1:39: “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” To get us in it with him. That’s the atonement to bring us back to him. That is his work and his glory and what he gives to others. The Son glories with him the same way. So you are able to glorify him forever. How can you glorify God? By doing what he tells you and sharing the glory with him. He wants you there.
378,379 Jacob 2:23-33 Now he must speak unto them concerning “a grosser crime.” GROSS is a good word because it is gross. You see, he is talking about sex here. Verse 23: “For they seek to excuse themselves in committing whoredoms, because of the things which were written concerning David and Solomon his son.” The scriptures give people excuses for all sorts of things. Verse 24: “Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord.” He doesn’t like the concubine system at all. Then the Lord says that he hasn’t led them out of Jerusalem to go on with that same sort of thing. Verse 25: “Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph.” I took you away from all that, and “I the Lord God will not suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old.” Being taken off that track is one of the blessings of the promised land. Now what’s going to happen because of these whoredoms and abominations he talks about? The Lord will curse the land [verse 29]; the promised land will be cursed for their sakes. Immorality cancels all promises here. Notice the male chauvinism in verses 30 and 31. “For behold, I, the Lord, have seen the sorrow, and heard the mourning of the daughters of [Israel] ... because of the wickedness and abominations of their husbands.... For they shall not lead away captive the daughters of my people [the women are practically prisoners; they have a very male oriented, chauvinistic society; the women have to do all the cooking and set up the tepee and everything else] ... for they shall not commit whoredoms, like unto them of old, saith the Lord of Hosts.”
379 Jacob 2:35 That’s a verse I like. It’s very appropriate this morning, so I can use it. Verse 35: “Behold, ye have done greater iniquities than the Lamanites, our brethren. Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children [they had wrecked the family], because of your bad examples before them;... And because of the strictness of the word of God, which cometh down against you, many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds.” Notice that the word of God had specifically forbidden it, and because of that it was even more painful on the women and the children. The gospel had always taught them that you shouldn’t do those things. The disruption of LDS families is doubly tragic, and it does happen too. “Many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds” knowing of these lusts. The word of God is strict, and breaking it compounds the disaster. The time is up now. Are we going to get anything cheerful out of Jacob? We shall see what we have to expect here. But I wish it wasn’t so close to home. It’s beginning to make me uncomfortable. I think it’s time we changed to the Doctrine and Covenants, isn’t it? So we can get out of these things and feel better.