2 Nephi 17-24

As I pondered these Isaiah sections quoted by Nephi, I asked

how come he had included these specific sections in his record - what made them so specifically relevant and significant? As I thought about the Babylon/Zion contrasts in these sections I wondered about what Nephi was not trying to do. What he was not doing was trying to emulate Enoch or Melchizedek and build a city which would be translated. He had seen what would happen to his descendants. He knew his descendants would receive the Saviour - so would his record and these sections not reflect useful counsel for them to be prepared to meet Him? By extension, as Nephi also saw our day could his writings not be of particular use to us in preparing to meet the Saviour?

If I contemplate the years which lie between us and the return of the Saviour, I wonder what counsel we can include in our journals and personal records which will be useful to our descendants, our extended families and friends as they, with us, prepare to be ready at His coming? Take a moment to ponder and visualise the second coming as being a few generations away: In that case, what records, testimony, admonitions, experiences, prayers etc could you leave in your journal which would be useful to them, to strengthen them, to encourage them to "hold to the rod" and be ready to meet the Saviour at His coming? Record that in your study journal and work towards accomplishing that goal in your personal records.

As we contemplate chapters 23 and 24 in particular, they describe circumstances which will create individual and social challenges - circumstances which will be trying and testing. It seems clear that we will not escape these circumstances and that we have been given sufficient light and knowledge and strength to remain strong of heart. Ponder 3 Nephi 9:13 and imagine how you would feel if after the circumstances of 2 Nephi 23 and 24 you have survived and then hear the words of 3 Nephi 9:13 .... record your thoughts in your study journal.

One of the ways in which we can receive strength in times of challenge and difficulty is from the words of scripture. Elder Richard G. Scott counselled

"great power can come from memorizing scriptures. To memorize a scripture is to forge a new friendship. It is like discovering a new individual who can help in time of need, give inspiration and comfort, and be a source of motivation for needed change."

In the same talk he described scripture:

"Scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our minds and give place to guidance and inspiration from on high. They can become the key to open the channel to communion with our Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ." 

 As a class we have taken up Elder Scotts' challenge to memorise scripture and during our lesson each of us spent some time selecting and memorising a scripture. Take some time now to find a scripture from the Isaiah sections of 2 Nephi which speaks about the Saviour and which resonates with your heart and memorise it ...

REFERENCE

Richard G. Scott : The Power of Scripture

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/the-power-of-scripture?lang=eng
BYU Studies : "The Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord": The Anatomy of an Expression" 

ISAIAH HELPS
BYU Insights into Isaiah : Isaiah 9 - 11 The Prince of Peace (2 Nephi 19-23)
http://www.byutv.org/watch/7c18d512-24ce-47ac-8c05-63870e91f8bd/insights-into-isaiah-the-prince-of-peace
BYU Insights into Isaiah : Isaiah 12 - 14 The Day of the Lord Cometh (2 Nephi 22-24)
http://www.byutv.org/watch/770124b0-21e3-49f3-a439-cb0507446c7b/insights-into-isaiah-the-day-of-the-lord-cometh

2 Nephi 11 - 16

What a wonderful opportunity we have to study Isaiah (again).  In thinking about understanding Isaiah's writings, I believe that there are four foundational principles, perhaps we can call them assumptions, which are required to understand Isaiah.  Firstly, we must know the Gospel of Jesus Christ (3 Nephi 27:13-21); then we must have a knowledge, perhaps even a thorough knowledge, of the plan of salvation; thirdly, we need to have a testimony of Jesus Christ (and I use that term broadly to include His mission, His Atonement, His Resurrection, His Grace and His redemptive and enabling power in our lives) and fourth, we need to be spiritually mature. (See http://ldsces.org/inst_manuals/ot-in-2/ot-in2-05-isa1.htm)

Then, when we study Isaiah I believe the further work required of us is to learn the history of the house of Israel (especially Jacob 5 and something about the election of the House of Israel) and of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah ... and the geography of the lands pertaining to that history.

I think that the capstone (to use a term that is sometimes over-used) to an understanding of Isaiah is familiarity with imagery, metaphor, simile, figures, types, shadows - the more subtle expressions that allow for deeper understanding.

Then ... read, ponder, write, reflect, draw, illustrate, journal ... understanding, appreciating and loving Isaiah is indeed a wonderful journey of discovery!

One of the topics addressed in our reading this week (2 Nephi 11 - 16 ) - and indeed a theme of the first twelve chapters of Isaiah is that of Babylon and Zion.

The 2003 devotional by H Dennis Tolley has some fascinating facts about ancient Babylon ... how would you describe Babylon?  What makes Babylon is the antithesis of Zion? Reaching deeper, Babylon is an archetype - of what or who?  

Happy studying and journalling!  Next week we will move on to Zion - what is Zion?  How does Zion fit into the church context? What is our relationship to Zion and our responsibilities towards Zion? What imagery is used to describe Zion?

Some additional helps:

ISAIAH

BYU Scripture Discussions on 2 Nephi 11 - 16 : 

http://www.byutv.org/watch/d50a3dfa-a848-4625-9521-d05a001d2f5d/discussions-on-the-book-of-mormon-2-nephi-11-16

BYU Scripture Discussions on Isaiah:

http://www.byutv.org/show/b1bb0017-2884-41f0-8924-febe874bebb2

BABYLON

H Dennis Tolley : Doing Business in Babylon

http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=820

Elder Kim B. Clark : Buiding Zion Together

http://www2.byui.edu/Presentations/Transcripts/Devotionals/2009_09_15_Clark.htm

Journey of Faith

This week we will not have a scheduled lesson but will take a "mini-break" to watch the documentary "Journey of Faith".

The documentary was filmed in the Middle East at locations that scholars believe mark or approximate the route that took Lehi’s party across Arabia to reach the seaside location where they eventually embarked by ship to the New World.

The video can be viewed through you-tube at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_M_Faw_s3s

2 Nephi 9 - 10

These chapters are rich in doctrine and can help us focus on the eternal picture.  One of the teachings we highlighted is found in 2Ne 9:6-9 and establishes the Atonement of Christ as central to freeing our spirits from eternal captivity "and our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself:" (2Ne 9:9).

Throughout the lesson we discussed meaningful verses - which verses in 2Ne 9 and 2Ne 10 are significant to you?

As a treat, we pondered a reading of 2Ne 9:2-22 to a stellar visual background and invite you to do the same!
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nam90gorcPs for the video segment.

In your journal record what these verses teach you about Christ?  How do you feel after pondering them?  What can you do to appreciate his gifts more?

2 Nephi 4 - 8

This reading contains the admired Psalm of Nephi - and here is the version which we sang in class together ... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_Y-C0gZnsI

(and which we plan to sing at the Single Adult Book of Mormon fireside in August) ... 
(The lyrics are a paraphrase of 2 Nephi 4 by John Tanner.)

I Love the Lord
I love the Lord, in Him my soul delights.
Upon His word, I ponder day and night.
He’s heard my cry, brought visions to my sleep,
And kept me safe o’er deserts and the deep.
He’s filled my heart with His consuming love,
And borne me high on wings of His great dove.

Yet oft I groan, “O wretched man am I”
My flesh is weak and I’m encompassed by
A world of sin, which holds me in it’s thrall,
If I give in and to temptations fall.
Then strength grows slack, I waste in sorrow’s vale;
My peace destroyed, my enemies prevail.

Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin.
Rejoice, my heart! And let me praise again,
The Lord my God, who is my rock and stay
To keep me strict upon His straight, plain way.
Oh let me shake at the first sight of sin
And thus escape my foes without and in.

A curious (and useful) characteristic of the Book of Mormon is Chiasmus ...

• a rhetorical or literary figure in which words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order. 

(From Wikipedia) The ancient Hebrew and Greek texts of the Old and New Testaments are rich in chiasmus. Many of these have become lost in translation, but hundreds of others remain. The following examples are indented to show the parallel structure of the text.

A "But many that are first
B shall be last;
B1 and the last
A1 shall be first." Jesus (Bible: Matthew 19:30.)

A "Do not give what is holy to dogs,
B and do not throw your pearls before swine,
B1 lest they (the pigs) trample them under their feet,
A1 and (the dogs) turn and tear you to pieces." Jesus (Bible: Matthew 7:6.)

A "Make the heart of this people fat,
B and make their ears heavy,
C and shut their eyes;
C1 lest they see with their eyes,
B1 and hear with their ears,
A1 and understand with their heart, and convert [return], and be healed." (Bible: Isaiah 6:10)

Discovering and exploring chiastic (? I think that's the right form of the word) passages can be very insightful, as there is a depth of understanding of the key concept and the supporting concepts which can be developed by careful examination.

Examine this short chaism within the Psalm of Nephi:
A 2Ne 4:27
     B 2 Ne 4:28
          C 2Ne 4:29
     B 2Ne 4:30
A 2Ne 4:31

In your journal, examine: What do the verses marked A expand on? How do the verses marked B expand and broaden the topic? What is the central point in C? How do A and B help to avoid the hazards posed in C?

Further Reading on Chaismus in the Book of Mormon:
John W. Welch : Study, Faith and the Book of Mormon
http://speeches.byu.edu/index.php?act=viewitem&id=1286

1 Nephi 19 - 22

I am impressed, when I start with 1Ne 19, at those who are record keepers. I so admire their tenacity, their drive and diligence, their faithfulness. I have met, over the years, several missionaries who have access to missionary and other journals by parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and beyond and I have been impressed at the legacy which was left and the strength which those journals afforded the missionaries who read them on their mission. Being a youth during the time of President Spencer W Kimball, the words "get a notebook, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity. Begin today and write in it your goings and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies." are memorised and ingrained. Alma 37:1-12 gives a greater perspective on record keeping. How do you feel about record keeping and record keepers? How has your life been benefited by their words? How are you doing as a record keeper?

1Ne 19:8-12 are a wonderful summary of scriptural teachings about the coming of the Saviour in the meridian of time.

Chapters 21 and 22 (nice companion chapters) are reassuring to me - the Lord has a plan, we have a role to play in the plan and we have his assurance about the surety of his plan. How can these chapters help you to cope with living in the latter-days? What verses are especially useful to you?

2 Nephi 1 - 3

Chapter 2 is our focal point for this week, and specifically, the principle of Agency as being a crucial aspect of our mortal experience. "For there is a God, and he hath created all tings, both the heavens and the earth, and all tings that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon", Lehi teaches (2Ne 2:14). Following his introduction of the pivotal role which the Saviour plays in this process, Lehi concludes "and they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil" ...

So .. what is your favorite definition of Agency? One of the many I enjoy is from Elder Uchtdorf's BYU Devotional in July 2006 - "You have agency, and you are free to choose. But there is actually no free agency. Agency has its price. You have to pay the consequences of your choices."

About the term "free agency" ... "In years past, we generally used the term free agency. That is not incorrect, but more recently we have taken note that free agency does not appear as an expression in the scriptures. They talk of our being “free to choose” and “free to act” for ourselves and of our obligation to do many things of our own “free will.” But the word agency appears either by itself or, in Doctrine and Covenants, section 101, verse 78, with the modifier moral: “That every man may act in doctrine and principle . . . according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment” (emphasis added). When we use the term moral agency, then, we are appropriately emphasizing the accountability that is an essential part of the divine gift of agency. We are moral beings and agents unto ourselves, free to choose but also responsible for our choices." (Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Moral Agency, BYU Speeches 31 Jan 2006)

In a landmark talk, Elder Dallin H Oaks taught the following:
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.

And then went on to describe the difference between AGENCY and FREEDOM: -
"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."

Do you distinguish between these two concepts and can you tell the difference between them in your own life? When is your freedom restricted? How is your freedom restricted? How do people mistake agency for freedom? How can we best respond when people confuse the two?

For further reading: 

Dallin H Oaks:  Agency and Freedom

http://speeches.byu.edu/index.php?act=viewitem&id=573