Reading through the Isaiah sections of 2Nephi, and Nephi's commentary has provided new insights that I should have been recording, but have neglected.
I have written in the margins some of the commentary on the passages I have thought important in the past, but in reading this time other thoughts came to mind.
First, in chapter 20 Isaiah sees that the people are gathering and hoarding wealth for the sake of wealth and then being prideful about it. He asks the rhetorical question: "Shall the ax boast itself...shall the saw magnify itself...? As if the rod should shake itself... or the staff should lift up itself." The Lord then tells Isaiah that there will be famine and fire to remind the people from whom the blessings come.
Sometimes I think we concentrate on our problems to the exclusion of remembering our blessings. We may not be guilty of the pride of accumulation, but may be guilty of the pride of our personal situations. We have healthy bodies, bright minds, pleasant personalities, families with all their quirkiness, assets sufficient for our needs and then some, shelter, food, and the list goes on. Our thoughts, however, seem to turn primarily to the problems, some of which are serious and demand our attention. Should then demand our attention, solely? Gratitude keeps us grounded. When we are grateful, the Holy Ghost is more available, we find solutions faster, and in a joyful context.
In the 25th chapter, Nephi begins his commentary and shares some of his vision regarding the coming of Christ, his teachings, suffering, death and resurrection. It is here that he writes that it is by the grace of Christ that we are saved after all we can do. (v. 23) I have expounded on that elsewhere. Here he also states that we emphasize (talk, rejoice, preach, prophesy, write of) Christ so our children may know to whom they should look for a remission of their sins. (v. 26)
In Chapter 26, he points out that the law is fulfilled in Christ. Some have assumed that means there is no law; that we go on by our best judgment or by the promptings of the Spirit for our guide. Nephi disabuses us of that notion in a simple sentence: "And after Christ shall have risen from the dead...the words which he shall speak unto you shall be the law." (v. 1) A quick reading of 3Nephi 11 and the chapters that follow show that not only do we still look to the 10 Commandments, but that our obedience should be on a much higher plane.
In the same chapter he makes the following statement: "...the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money they shall perish." (v. 31 emphasis added) In context, he is talking about priestcraft, but it is striking that those who have accepted the ordinances of the temple have also become "the Lord's annointed" who have consecrated themselves for the building up of the Kingdom of God and the establishment of Zion.
I don't know of any priesthood officer who is guilty of preaching for gain, as the Levites sometimes did, but if we consider ourselves a consecrated people (as we should) we look to our responsibilities, and our opportunities as stewards of the Lord's assets. We are laboring with our families, our wards and stakes, our jobs and professions, our lands and homes for the purpose of building up the Kingdom of God and establishing Zion.
It is, in the end, an invitation for us to repent. "None of these iniquities come of the Lord...he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him..."
A good reminder of where we are, who we are and whose we are.
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