2 Nephi 8-10

1. 2 Nephi 8-10 2 Nephi 8:1-2 “rock from whence you are hewn” “I called him alone!” (Abrahamic Covenant) “Our rock and (hole) are Abraham and Sarah, from whom we descend. Ultimately….the rock we come from is…Christ, who is called the Rock at least thirty-four times in the scriptures” (Donald W. Parry, Jay A. Parry, and Tina M. Peterson, Understanding Isaiah, 450). 2 Nephi 8:9-10 Rahab = ancient Egypt Dragon = devil (Rev. 12:1-17)

2. 2 Nephi 8:17-18 “Awake and Rise Again” Following the crucifixion of Jesus, the Romans removed the Jews from Jerusalem and scattered them abroad throughout the empire. For almost two thousand years Jerusalem was not under the political control of the Jews. She had, in fact, drunk the dregs of a bitter cup of medicine. There was not a single prophet-son to guide her during all those years. Now it is time for Jerusalem, representing the ancient Jewish nation, to awake and rise again and return to their God, the Holy One of Israel.

3. 2 Nephi 8:19-20 “These two sons” Rev. 11:1-17, D&C 77:15 2 Nephi 9 “The Heart of the Book of Mormon” Why?

4. President Joseph Fielding Smith has called chapter 9 one of the most enlightening discourses ever delivered in regard to the Atonement (ATGQ 4:57). How significant is this chapter? “This is a wonderfully explicit sermon… on Christ and his eternal covenant with the human family” (Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, 69). “Our most explicit teachings on the atonement of Christ are in 2 Nephi 2 and 9 and Alma 34” (Bruce R. McConkie, Promised Messiah, 421).

5. 2 Nephi 9:2 The gathering is not to a land of promise, but lands of promise (New Witness of Articles of Faith, B.R.M. 510-11).

6. 2 Nephi 9:4-6 “The fall came by reason of transgression” “I never speak of the part Eve took in this fall as a sin, nor do I accuse Adam of a sin… This was a transgression of the law, but not a sin” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 1:114,115). “Death… Important in the welfare of man” Death is just as important in the welfare of man as is birth. There is no greater blessing that can come than the blessing of birth. One third of the hosts of heaven, because of rebellion, were denied that privilege, and hence they have no bodies of flesh and bones, that great gift of God.

7. “But who would like to live forever in this mundane world, filled with pain, decay, sorrow, and tribulation, and grow old and infirm and yet have to remain with all the vicissitudes of morality? I think all of us would come to the conclusion, if that proposition were placed before us, that we would not like to have it. We would reject it. We would not want life of that nature. Life here in this world is short of necessity, and yet all that is required may be accomplished, but death is just as important in the plan of salvation as birth is. We have to die --- it is essential --- and death comes into the world ‘to fulfill the merciful plan of the great creator” (Joseph Fielding Smith, D. of S., 1:116).

8. President James E. Faust of the First Presidency declared the importance of our understanding the power of the Atonement. “Our salvation depends on believing in and accepting the Atonement. Such acceptance requires a continual effort to understand it more fully. The Atonement advances our mortal course of learning by making it possible for our natures to become perfect. Literally, the Atonement means to be “at one” with Him. The nature of the Atonement and its effects is so infinite, so unfathomable, and so profound that it lies beyond the knowledge and comprehension of mortal man… The overwhelming message of the Atonement is the perfect love the Savior has for each and all of us. It is love which is full of mercy, patience, grace, equity, long-suffering, and, above all, forgiving” (C.R., Oct. 2001, 19, 22).

9. 2 Nephi 9:7-12 “An Infinite Atonement” Jacob was the first in the Book of Mormon to use the phrase “infinite atonement.” 2 Nephi 9:13-14 When will our “knowledge…be perfect?” “Eventually a man will…understand all truth. Things are taught in a fragmentary way now, but we will know them in full…after the resurrection” (Joseph Fielding Smith, C.R., April 1928, 66).

10. 2 Nephi 9:18 “Endured the Crosses of the World” Elder Neal A. Maxwell suggested a meaning for the word crosses: “What are the ‘crosses of the world’? We cannot be sure, but the imagery suggests the bearing of a cross placed upon us by the world, as Jesus did; there may be persecutors and unhelpful onlookers, and the Church member is set apart (if not set upon), yet he does not flinch when accused and scoffed at by those who would make him ashamed, for he has no real reason to be ashamed” (Wherefore, Ye Must Press Forward [1977], 110).

11. 2 Nephi 9:20 “God Knoweth All Things” “There is a vast difference, therefore, between an omniscient God and the false notion that God is on some sort of post-doctoral fellowship, still searching for additional key truths and vital data. Were the latter so, God might, at any moment, discover some new truth not previously known to Him that would restructure, diminish, or undercut certain truths previously known by Him. Prophecy would be mere prediction. Planning assumptions pertaining to our redemption would need to be revised. Fortunately for us, however, His plan of salvation is constantly underway --- not constantly under revision…. In a very real sense, all we need to know is that God knows all!” (All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience [1979], 14-15, 21).

12. 2 Nephi 9:51 It’s okay to be heavy! 2 Nephi 9:8-20 The “Six O’s” 2 Nephi 9:27-38 The “Eleven Woes” 2 Nephi 9:28-29 When is learning appropriate and when is it foolish? “You should not be hesitant to pursue knowledge…Study to your heart’s content any worthy field of inquiry, just remember that all knowledge is not equal” (Boyd K. Packer, in Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr., eds., Jacob through Words of Mormon, 10). “Increasingly, the Latter-day Saints must choose between the reasoning of men and the revelations of God….(some) with their worldly wisdom, are leading some of the members astray” (Ezra Taft Benson, Teachings, 354).

13. 2 Nephi 9:29 “To Be Learned Is Good” President Gordon B. Hinckley taught, “You face great challenges that lie ahead. You are moving into a world of fierce competition. You must get all of the education you can. The Lord has instructed us concerning the importance of education. It will qualify you for greater opportunities. It will equip you to do something worthwhile in the great world of opportunity that lies ahead. If you can go to college and that is your wish, then do it. If you have no desire to attend college, than go to a vocational or business school to sharpen your skills and increase your capacity” (C.R., Apr. 1997, 70).

14. 2 Nephi 9:34 “Wo unto the Liar” Elder Maxwell taught that 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…. (C.R., Oct. 1996, 41-44).

15. 2 Nephi 9:41 Christ is the “Keeper of the Gate” Elder Maxwell explained that the self-assigned gatekeeper is Jesus Christ, who awaits us out of a divine desire to welcome us as much as to certify us; hence, He employeth no servant there. He will lovingly acknowledge and gladly admit us then!

16. 2 Nephi 9:39-52 The “Six Remembers” 2 Nephi 10:3 And there is none other nation on earth that would crucify their God (Moses 7:36).

17. This generation is as corrupt as the generation of the Jews that crucified Christ; and if He were here today, and should preach the same doctrine he did then, they would put him to death (Joseph Smith, Teachings, 328).

18. 2 Nephi 9:44-49 “Prepare for that Glorious Day…of Judgment” “Man sleeps the sleep of death, but the spirit lives where the record of his deeds is kept --- that does not die --- man cannot kill it; there is no decay associated with it, and it still retains in all its vividness the remembrance of that which transpired before the separation by death of the body and the ever-living spirit. Man sleeps for a time in the grave, and by and by he rises again from the dead and goes to judgment; and then the secret thoughts of all men are revealed before Him with whom we have to do; we cannot hide them; it would be in vain for a man to say then, I did

19. not do so and so; the command would be, Unravel and read the record which he has made of himself, and let it testify in relation to these things, and all could gaze upon it. If a man has acted fraudulently against his neighbor --- has committed murder, or adultery, or anything else, and wants to cover it up, that record will stare him in the face, he tells the story himself, and bears witness against himself…It is not because somebody has seen things, or heard anything by which a man will be judged and condemned, but it is because that record that is written by the man himself in the tablets of his own mind --- that record that cannot lie --- will in that day be unfolded before God and angels, and those who shall sit as judges” (John Taylor, JD, 11:78-79).

20. 2 Nephi 10:7-9 The Book of Mormon makes three distinctive contributions regarding the gathering of Israel: 1. It emphasized the fact that the people of Israel were scattered because they rejected the Holy One of Israel, namely Jesus Christ. 2. It is an extension of the first in that one does not accept Christ without uniting with his Church, thereby obtaining citizenship in his kingdom. 3. The Lord’s promise not to return Israel to a single land of promise, but to lands of promise.

21. Historic Successor of the Hebrew Prophets Morris Jathrow, Jr., a Jew, said: “From the historic point of view Jesus is to be regarded as a direct successor of the Hebrew prophets. His teachings are synonymous with the highest spiritual aspirations of the human race. Like the prophets, He lays the chief stress upon pure conduct and moral ideas, but He goes beyond the prophets in His absolute indifference to theological speculations and religious rites. It has been commonly said that the Jews rejected Jesus. They did so in the sense in which they rejected the teachings of the earlier prophets” (Joseph Fielding Smith, The Signs of the Times, 62).