THE WOES

Yesterday, I wrote about the O's in 2 Nephi 9.  Jacob taught the Plan of Happiness, beginning with the Creation, through the Fall, highlighting the Atonement, and concluding with the Resurrection.  He led each idea he present with O, the goodness of our God.

Fate of the Lamanites:

And it came to pass that I beheld, after they had dwindled in unbelief they became a dark

and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.( 1 Nephi 12: 23)

He followed this with the other side of the coin; these began with Woe. These are warnings to those who choose to ignore or rebel against God.  Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael had made that choice, over and over again, and in short order, had degenerated into a morally dark and lazy people.  The contrast between the two groups could not have been more pronounced. Jacob did not want his people to follow the bad example of his eldest brothers.

Jacob explained the relationship between mercy and justice. To receive the mercy of the atonement, one must have faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ; repent of his or her sins, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and be confirmed by the Spirit and endure faithfully to the end. Those who do not believe nor repent nor be baptized must be damned. (verse 24)  Since we have used the word damn as a profane oath for generations, we sometimes forget its literal meaning.  When a river is dammed, it ceases to progress on its course.  People who are damned are not able to progress to their full spiritual potential. 

Many people have a hard time reconciling Jehovah of the Old Testament with Jesus of the New. They see the first as a God of Justice and the latter as a God of Mercy.  In truth, he is both. He dispenses justice where justice is required and he extends mercy to those who repent and enter into the water of baptism and endure faithfully to the end.

In this last dispensation, the Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith that there is a law irrevocably decreed in heaven. (Doctrine and Covenants 130: 20) Jacob taught the same thing in his day. He taught that if a person is without the law, then he will not be condemned. For the atonement satisfieth the demands of justice upon all those who have not the law given to them, that they are delivered from that awful monster, death and hell, . . . and are restored to that god who gave them breath, which is the Holy One of Israel. (verse 26-27) In the book of Moroni, Mormon also applied this to little children under the age of accountability and to anyone who is unable to be held mentally accountable.

Here are the warnings to those who are accountable and make a different choice;  it doesn't matter why they make that choice, just that they made it. The anti-Christs in the Book of Mormon made a lot of excuses for their behaviors, but in the end, it didn't matter.

Woe unto him who has the law and transgresses it.

Woe unto the rich who, because of their riches, despise and mistreat the poor.  

Woe to the deaf that will not hear.

Woe to the blind that will not see.

Woe to the murderer, the liar, the adulterer, the idolater.

Jacob ended this part of his sermon by asking his brethren who had allowed sin to bind them to shake off their chains. Sometimes people feel that living the gospel restricts our freedom, but just the opposite is true.  Sinning restricts our freedom because we have given part of our agency to someone or something that is not God. 

Remember, to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritiually-minded is life eternal. (verse 39)

© February 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson