River of water and lake of fire

The Book of Mormon and especially Jacob keep mentioning a lake of fire and brimstone, as Lord Wilmore also just posted about. Not a very pleasant topic, perhaps, but I find it interesting nonetheless. I came across this article on the Book of Mormon central. Fire and brimstone are common symbols both in the Old and New Testament. But it was interesting to learn that the Egyptians specifically have this idea of a lake consisting of fire instead of water, prepared for those who are to suffer the "second death" in the afterlife. This imagery in the Book of Mormon is clearly rooted in ancient Israelite and Egyptian culture and language.

In addition to the connections to ancient Israelite and Egyptian thought, there is another interesting internal Book of Mormon connection. Lord Wilmore has previously written about the justice of God as a flaming fire in Nephi's vision. In 1 Nephi 12:18, we read

And a great and a terrible gulf divideth them; yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God

The 's' is added to make it "sword" rather than "word" as it was in the original manuscript. When Nephi's brothers question him later, he expands on this in 1 Nephi 15:26-30

26 And they said unto me: What meaneth the river of water which our father saw?

27 And I said unto them that the water which my father saw was filthiness; and so much was his mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld not the filthiness of the water.

28 And I said unto them that it was an awful gulf, which separated the wicked from the tree of life, and also from the saints of God.

29 And I said unto them that it was a representation of that awful hell, which the angel said unto me was prepared for the wicked.

30 And I said unto them that our father also saw that the justice of God did also divide the wicked from the righteous; and the brightness thereof was like unto the brightness of a flaming fire, which ascendeth up unto God forever and ever, and hath no end.

In his dream, Lehi actually saw two waters. One was a fountain of living waters representing the love of God (1 Nephi 11:25). But there was also a river of filthy water, that Nephi explains in these verses. It is a bit hard to tell if Nephi is changing the topic in verse 28 or not, but I imagine that the filthy river is running in the bottom of that "awful gulf" in verse 28, that prevents the wicked to get to the tree of life. This in turn, is a representation of the justice of God. But Nephi now turns to a different image. Instead of filthy water, there is a "flaming fire, which ascendeth up unto God forever and ever". I wonder if perhaps Nephi's brothers were familiar with this image. As Nephi turns the river of filthy water into a flaming fire, perhaps that actually helped his brothers understand?

In any case, this imagery is associated with "filthiness", God's justice and eternity.

Now compare with Jacob's description of the river of fire in 2 Nephi 9:16

16 And assuredly, as the Lord liveth, for the Lord God hath spoken it, and it is his eternal word, which cannot pass away, that they who are righteous shall be righteous still, and they who are filthy shall be filthy still; wherefore, they who are filthy are the devil and his angels; and they shall go away into everlasting fire, prepared for them; and their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever and has no end.

This is an interesting link to 1 Nephi 15. Even though 1 Nephi 15 discussed a river of filthy water, Nephi ended up using the image of a flaming fire. And even though 2 Nephi 9:16 discusses a river of fire, it is associated with those who are filthy. Several other "river of fire and brimstone" descriptions are linked to God's justice as well, another topic in 1 Nephi 15. See for instance Jacob 6:10

10 And according to the power of justice, for justice cannot be denied, ye must go away into that lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable, and whose smoke ascendeth up forever and ever, which lake of fire and brimstone is endless torment.

Yet another topic from 1 Nephi 15 is associated with the lake of fire and brimstone. 2 Nephi 9:26

they are delivered from that awful monster, death and hell, and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone

That is a lot of quotes and color coded phrases, but let's try to summarize: In 1 Nephi 15, Nephi explains that the river of water is associated with:

• Filth, 
• "awful hell" 
• God's justice 
• a flaming fire.

When Jacob later talks about a sea of fire and brimstone, we see those exact same recurring topics.

What I take from this: Whether it is a river of filthy water or a river of fire, they stand in contrast to the fountain of living waters and mean essentially the same thing. They are rooted in both ancient Israelite and Egyptian imagery. The contrast looks something like this

Fountain of living water	River of filthy water / River of fire and brimstone
Christ	“Monster” / The Devil
Salvation	“Awful hell”
Mercy	Justice
Cleansing	Filth
Tree of life / Eternal life	Second death / Eternal death