Explanation, Sort of An . . .
I began writing a daily Book of Mormon devotional book with space for the reader to write his or her thoughts as the Spirit dictates. I found out about mid-Mosiah that the internet, bookstores, and Church website are awash with enrichment books, podcasts, and videos on the topic of the Book of Mormon study for 2024 - Come Follow Me. That stopped me for awhile. Then, in January, when I decided to resurrect my blog, I thought of copying some of these pages here. I got sidetracked when my Bishop asked us to contemplate covenants and I did several posts on that topic. Now I'd like to go back to my original idea of posting Book of Mormon quotes and insights. I've skipped ahead to 2 Nephi to correlate with the current Come Follow Me lessons. I can go back later and add 1 Nephi if anyone shows an interest.
Here you go for Friday, February 23:
The Lord God hath given me the tongue of
the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season unto thee, O
house of Israel. … and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.
I gave my back to the smiter, and my
cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and
spitting. (2 Nephi 7: 4-8)[1]
I Was Not Rebellious, Nor Turned Back Away
If we want more evidence
of the indignities Jesus suffered at the hands of His enemies, we can find it
in these verses. Jesus spoke with great wisdom and power. He was without
sin. He never turned His back on His
Father. After the mockery of a trial, He
was turned over to Roman soldiers who smote Him with scourges, and He suffered
it, like a Lamb to the slaughter. The
suggestion here is that at some point in time, men spit on Him and pulled out
some of the hairs from His beard. Again,
He suffered it. When we think of Jesus’ sacrifice, we think of the cross. As important as that is, His atonement –
which began in Gethsemane – and His suffering was more acute than most men
could stand without dying. His suffering and ultimate death upon the cross was
the conclusion, not the entire story.
When Isaiah wrote: By His stripes we are healed,”[2]
he was referring to the totality of Christ’s suffering on our behalf.
Jacob, in his reverence,
must have been humbled by the extent of Jesus’ suffering. I am humbled every time I even think about
it. What is even more humbling is the knowledge that He did it for me,
personally. He atoned for the sins and
sorrows of all mankind, but He also atoned for mine – as an individual. Such
mercy, such love, and devotion, can I forget. No, no, I will praise and adore
at the mercy seat … until … I kneel at His feet. O, it is wonderful.[3]
[1] See Isaiah 50
[2] See Isaiah 53:5
[3] I Stand All
Amazed, LDS hymn number 193
Saturday, 2/24
For the Lord shall
comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her
wilderness like Eden, … I am he; yea, I am he, that comforts you. Behold,
who are you, that you should be afraid of man? … Thus saith thy Lord, the
Lord and thy God pleads the cause of his people; behold, I have taken out
of thine hand the cup of trembling, the dregs of the cup of my fury; you shall
no more drink it again. (2 Nephi 8: 3, 12, 22)[1]
I Have Taken the Bitter Cup from Your Hand
When Moses prepared the
tabernacle in the wilderness, it was set up so as to have three steps – steps
from the world to a holier place, and then to the holiest place, the place
where God dwelled. As the high priest traveled through those stages, he was
symbolically guiding Israel away from the world and back into Eden, where man could
again live in the presence of God. The temple in Jerusalem followed that same
model. I am guessing that something similar occurred in Nephite temples which
were built according to the pattern of Solomon’s temple.[2]
When I read these verses,
I was taken in memory to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed, O my
Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will
be done.[3]
This was the bitter cup that He took from our hands and He drank it, down
to the very dregs.
In a similar way, we
travel in our temples today back into the presence of our Heavenly Father. The
key difference, to me, is that any worthy member of the Church may make that
journey, whereas in ancient Israel, only the high priest could do so, even
though he did it in behalf of all of Israel.
I am so grateful that today we can enter the temple and covenant
directly with God. How blessed we are that He drank the bitter cup so that we
will not have to do so.
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