Brought into the light or perish in the dark

In 2 Nephi 32:4, we read

Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark.

This is another reminder of the two ways: Depending on whether you seek the things of God or not, you are either brought into the light or perish in the dark. Nowhere is this better illustrated, I think, than in this week's CFM assignment.

1 Nephi 11:1

For it came to pass after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me

Compare this with Laman and Lemuel's attitude in 1 Nephi 15:8-9

8 And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?

9 And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.

I think this textual connection is deliberate. The belief that that the Lord was able to make these things known, made the difference between asking and not asking. The result is that Nephi was "brought into the light" by being "carried away in the Spirit" and seeing a glorious vision. In the meantime, Laman and Lemuel "were disputing one with another" (1 Nephi 15:2) and could not understand (1 Nephi 15:7). They spiritually perished in the dark.