What is the opposite of being "led ... down to destruction"?

In a recent post I asked this question and pointed out that in Alma 12:9-11, each element is presented in contrast to an opposing element, except for the eternal consequence of rejecting the word.  I hinted that this is one of the mysteries of God.

In this post, I'll be outlining other passages which present the same contrast between the fate of the righteous and the fate of the wicked. By doing so, my hope is to spell out the blessings of receiving the word with a heart that is not hardened.

What is the opposite of being "led ... down to destruction"?

Intuitively, the opposite of being led down to destruction is to be led up to salvation. The idea that we are led one way or the other fits nicely with this interpretation of Lehi's tree of life dream. 

Many other passages offer a glimpse at what this eternal reward is:

"The resurrection of everlasting life"

4 And even unto the great and last day, when all people, and all kindreds, and all nations and tongues shall stand before God, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—
5 If they be good, to the resurrection of everlasting life; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of damnation; being on a parallel, the one on the one hand and the other on the other hand, according to the mercy, and the justice, and the holiness which is in Christ, who was before the world began. (3 Nephi 26)

"The greater things shall be made manifest unto them"

8 And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken.
9 And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them.
10 And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation. (3 Nephi 26)

A reader offered these four passages as examples of what the Book of Mormon teaches us about the contrast between the fate of the wicked and righteous:

"Dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness"

38 Therefore if that man repenteth not, and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord, and doth fill his breast with guilt, and pain, and anguish, which is like an unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever.
39 And now I say unto you, that mercy hath no claim on that man; therefore his final doom is to endure a never-ending torment.
40 O, all ye old men, and also ye young men, and you little children who can understand my words, for I have spoken plainly unto you that ye might understand, I pray that ye should awake to a remembrance of the awful situation of those that have fallen into transgression.
41 And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it. (Mosiah 2)

"Have that which is good restored unto you"

30 And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free.
31 He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you. (Helaman 14)

"Peace and life eternal"

7 For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men; a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other—either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds unto their being brought down into captivity, and also into destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil, of which I have spoken. (1 Nephi 14)

"Dwell at the right hand of God, in a state of never-ending happiness"

11 And the bodies of many thousands are laid low in the earth, while the bodies of many thousands are moldering in heaps upon the face of the earth; yea, and many thousands are mourning for the loss of their kindred, because they have reason to fear, according to the promises of the Lord, that they are consigned to a state of endless wo.
12 While many thousands of others truly mourn for the loss of their kindred, yet they rejoice and exult in the hope, and even know, according to the promises of the Lord, that they are raised to dwell at the right hand of God, in a state of never-ending happiness.
13 And thus we see how great the inequality of man is because of sin and transgression, and the power of the devil, which comes by the cunning plans which he hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men.
14 And thus we see the great call of diligence of men to labor in the vineyards of the Lord; and thus we see the great reason of sorrow, and also of rejoicing—sorrow because of death and destruction among men, and joy because of the light of Christ unto life. (Alma 28)

Summary

To recap, here are the descriptions of the reward

• "The resurrection of everlasting life"
• "The greater things shall be made manifest unto them"
• "Dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness"
• "Have that which is good restored unto you"
• "Peace and life eternal"
• "Dwell at the right hand of God, in a state of never-ending happiness"

I find it very interesting how often the eternal reward (in green in the passages above) is directly contrasted with its alternative (in red above).

Lehi's dream

Getting back to elements from Lehi's dream, we see contrasting elements in the paths leading to each of two destinations:  We can enter in at the strait, narrow gate being led by the iron rod which runs along the river of living water (implying a gain in altitude as we travel), until we reach the tree of life (presumably on Mount Zion). Alternatively, we can choose the broad road which takes us down to the gulf of filthy water and then to the great and spacious building, which stands upon no foundation at all. It's powerful imagery.

Being led to Zion along the covenant path leads us to this promise:

...I am Messiah, the King of Zion, the Rock of Heaven, which is broad as eternity; whoso cometh in at the gate and climbeth up by me shall never fall; wherefore, blessed are they of whom I have spoken, for they shall come forth with songs of everlasting joy. (Moses 7:53)

Come Follow Me: October 12–18. 3 Nephi 20–26: “Ye Are the Children of the Covenant”

 This past week's Come Follow Me lesson is a great one.  Here are additional links to supplement your study.

3 Nephi 20 -- Abinadi and the first and second Moses, The tree of life and the living waters, "Cast" and "hard heart"

3 Nephi 21 -- What the Book of Mormon teaches about the relationship between the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ (and each of us), part 1, Preparing the way for the gathering of Israel, The scattering and gathering

3 Nephi 22 -- "Prolonging" and "lengthening cords", Redeemer/kinsman, God's covenant with Israel in the latter days

3 Nephi 23 -- Internal Consistency about Isaiah, What made it onto the plates

3 Nephi 24 -- Preparing a way

3 Nephi 25 -- The Sun/Son of Righteousness

3 Nephi 26 -- Mercy is associated with..., Forbidden to write, Mormon's inclusio in 3 Nephi

Mercy is associated with...

I'm studying references to "mercy" in the Book of Mormon.  In my last post, I looked at 5 references to "the arm of mercy."

In this post, I've compiled a list of attributes mentioned in association with mercy.  I've noticed that God's "mercy" is often mentioned in a list of other attributes. Before you look at this list, ask yourself which attributes you might think are most often connected with God's mercy.

In the list below, I've highlighted attributes which show up in more than one list, and italicized attributes which only show up once.

Passages containing lists about attributes of God which include mercy

"through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things" (Mosiah 5:15)
"by the mercy and power of God" (Alma 5:4)
"have you sufficiently retained in remembrance his mercy and long-suffering towards them?" (Alma 5:6)
"the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, and mercy, and truth." (Alma 5:48)
"if it had not been for his matchless power, and his mercy, and his long-suffering towards us" (Alma 9:11)
"the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, equity, and truth, full of patience, mercy, and long-suffering," (Alma 9:25)
"who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men?" (Alma 26:16)
"he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation" (Alma 26:35)
"that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also" (Alma 42:15)
"let the justice of God, and his mercy, and his long-suffering have full sway in your heart" (Alma 42:30)
"according to the mercy, and the justice, and the holiness which is in Christ" (3 Nephi 26:3)
" the mercies and the long-suffering of the Lord" (Mormon 2:12)
"his justice and mercy" (Mormon 6:22)
"may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life" (Moroni 9:25)
"thy power, and goodness, and mercy" (1 Nephi 1:14)
"through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah" (2 Nephi 2:8)
"the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God" (2 Nephi 2:12)
"O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace!" (2 Nephi 9:8)
"his greatness, and his grace and mercy" (2 Nephi 9:53)
"his justice, and power, and mercy" (2 Nephi 11:5)
"he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy" (Jacob 4:10)

Mercy is associated with...

• justice x 8
• long-suffering x 7
• grace x 5
• wisdom x 4
• power x 3
• truth x 2
• equity x 1
• patience x 1
• understanding x 1 
• goodness x 1
• greatness x 1
• holiness x 1
• hope of his glory x 1
• sufferings and death x 1
• merits x 1
• the showing his body unto our fathers x 1

Conclusions

Should we be surprised that God's mercy is most often associated with His justice? Or that long-suffering, grace, wisdom, power, and truth show up more than once on this list? I'm not sure any of those findings surprise me too much. It seems that studying each of these concepts in more detail would likely enhance my understanding of His mercy, too.  

Forbidden to write -- Part 1

We see it several times in the Book of Mormon. The prophet who is writing is about to write something, but is then forbidden. I thought I should identify all those passages and make an overview of what they were about to write when they were stopped. I'm only going to include those that say they were forbidden. There are many others where they use expressions like "cannot write" without giving the reason. For instance

And now it came to pass that Samuel, the Lamanite, did prophesy a great many more things which cannot be written. (Helaman 14:1)

We are left to wonder why it could not be written. Was Mormon forbidden, was there was too much to include in an abridged record, or another unknown reason? So we will stick to the examples of Book of Mormon prophets being explicitly forbidden to write. I hope I found all of them, but if not, please feel free to give me a hint in the comment field.

1 Nephi 14:25-28

25 But the things which thou shalt see hereafter thou shalt not write; for the Lord God hath ordained the apostle of the Lamb of God that he should write them.

26 And also others who have been, to them hath he shown all things, and they have written them; and they are sealed up to come forth in their purity, according to the truth which is in the Lamb, in the own due time of the Lord, unto the house of Israel.

27 And I, Nephi, heard and bear record, that the name of the apostle of the Lamb was John, according to the word of the angel.

28 And behold, I, Nephi, am forbidden that I should write the remainder of the things which I saw and heard

Nephi sees a vision that connects both to his father's dream but also to the Book of Revelation. However, at this point he is not allowed to continue, because the apostle John has been assigned to do so. What would be written if Nephi were allowed to continue? My guess is that we would see a plainer version of what we have in the Book of Revelation. Less symolism and more direct speech. In 2 Nephi 25, when Nephi has just finished quoting Isaiah, he rejoices in plainness and starts writing about the things he read from Isaiah but in much clearer terms. It would definitely be interesting to see Nephi continue to write here but he was forbidden for a reason I guess.

2 Nephi 32:6-7

6 Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do.

7 And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be.

Considering the quote shared in this post, it makes a lot of sense for Nephi to stop here. He has explained the way back to God and, considering the temple symbolism, brought the reader to the veil by the Holy of Holies. Just before "the Spirit stoppeth [his] utterance", he mentioned a manifestation of the Lord himself. Who knows what Nephi would have written if he was not stopped there? I bet it would be interesting indeed. Unfortunately, we are not ready for that yet as a collective unit. Nephi is left to mourn because of unbelief and wickedness instead, he says. But he leaves it open to the individual reader to "ask" and "knock" and be "brought into the light" (2 Nephi 32:4).

3 Nephi 26:10-11

10 And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.

11 Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people.

The backdrop is found a few verses earlier

3 And he did expound all things, even from the beginning until the time that he should come in his glory—yea, even all things which should come upon the face of the earth, even until the elements should melt with fervent heat, and the earth should be wrapt together as a scroll, and the heavens and the earth should pass away;

4 And even unto the great and last day, when all people, and all kindreds, and all nations and tongues shall stand before God, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil...

6 And now there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people;

7 But behold the plates of Nephi do contain the more part of the things which he taught the people.

Mormon was about to write "the more part" of what Jesus taught the people and copy directly from the plates of Nephi rather than making an abridgment. But the Lord forbade it because he wanted to try our faith. I have wondered before why God commanded Mormon to make an abridgment at all. Why not just leave the plates of Nephi to Moroni to bury them? The abridgment is just a lot of extra work and contain less information. At least one of the answers seem to be found here. The plates of Nephi contained too much for us to handle. God gives us this abridgment first to try our faith and see if we are ready for "the more part" at some later point. This also seems to be a common reason why we have all these examples of being forbidden to write.

Being only half way through I think I need to break this down. The rest of the examples will be found in part 2 in tomorrow's post.

Mormon's inclusio in 3rd Nephi

These verses at the end of 3 Nephi 26 caught my attention

17 And it came to pass that the disciples whom Jesus had chosen began from that time forth to baptize and to teach as many as did come unto them; and as many as were baptized in the name of Jesus were filled with the Holy Ghost.

18 And many of them saw and heard unspeakable things, which are not lawful to be written.

19 And they taught, and did minister one to another; and they had all things common among them, every man dealing justly, one with another.

20 And it came to pass that they did do all things even as Jesus had commanded them.

21 And they who were baptized in the name of Jesus were called the church of Christ.

I marked some key phrases that will show up later and gives us a clue about what is going on here. It seems that Mormon is basically on his way into 4 Nephi at this point, describing the time after Jesus had visited the Nephites. Compare with 4 Nephi 1-3:

And as many as did come unto them, and did truly repent of their sins, were baptized in the name of Jesus; and they did also receive the Holy Ghost.

2 And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another.

3 And they had all things common among them

Do you see that the beginning of 4 Nephi and the last verses of 3 Nephi 26 contain 4 identical phrases? In addition, there is "were filled with the Holy Ghost" and "did receive the holy Ghost". This cannot be a coincidence. Rather, this is a marker creating an inclusio. This means, Mormon is bracketing 3 Nephi 27-30 for some reason. Here is my very speculative view on what I think might have happened: Perhaps Mormon didn't originally plan on creating an inclusio. He writes his abridgment but mentions two things more or less in passing

• The church was called the church of Christ
• There were many who saw and heard unspeakable things, that were not allowed to be written

Doing so, Mormon gets a little bit ahead of himself and realizes that these two items need some more background or elaboration and decides to include them in his abridgment. First the background for the yellow part, which he gives in Chapter 27.

8 And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses’ name then it be Moses’ church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel.

Then the background for the red part which he gives in Chapter 28. Notice the textual connections in the example below:

13 And behold, the heavens were opened, and they were caught up into heaven, and saw and heard unspeakable things.

14 And it was forbidden them that they should utter

So two things that he wrote at the end of 3 Nephi 26 reminded him that he couldn't go straight to the description of the righteous Nephite society after Christ had "ascended unto the Father" (3 Nephi 26:15). He first needed to write Chapters 27 and 28 to provide some background for the statements marked with yellow and red. While he was at it, Mormon also addressed his future readers in Chapter 29 and 30 before returning to where he left off at the end of 3 Nephi 26. This is done in the beginning of 4 Nephi. But he repeats some of the phrases as an inclusio to bracket everything in between and take the reader back to where he left off.

Insights into what made it onto the plates

3 Nephi gives us a glimpse into what was recorded on the plates and what was not.  Consider these verses:

In 3 Nephi 23, Jesus gives us a commandment regarding the words of Isaiah:

1 And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.
2 For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles.

Later in the same chapter, Jesus commands the Nephites to record the prophecy and fulfillment of Samuel regarding saints being resurrected:

7 And it came to pass that he said unto Nephi: Bring forth the record which ye have kept.
8 And when Nephi had brought forth the records, and laid them before him, he cast his eyes upon them and said:
9 Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead, and should appear unto many, and should minister unto them. And he said unto them: Was it not so?
10 And his disciples answered him and said: Yea, Lord, Samuel did prophesy according to thy words, and they were all fulfilled.
11 And Jesus said unto them: How be it that ye have not written this thing, that many saints did arise and appear unto many and did minister unto them?
12 And it came to pass that Nephi remembered that this thing had not been written.
13 And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as he commanded.

In 3 Nephi 24 and 25, Jesus gives the Nephites the words of Malachi, which he later explains in 3 Nephi 26 is by way of commandment from the Father:

2 And he saith: These scriptures, which ye had not with you, the Father commanded that I should give unto you; for it was wisdom in him that they should be given unto future generations.

(Internal consistency note -- compare 3 Nephi 24:1 and 3 Nephi 26:1.  Jesus expounded these words after delivering them to the people.)

In 3 Nephi 26, Mormon tells us in an aside that he was about to write the 3 days worth of teaching Jesus gave the people, but was commanded not to write them to try our faith. And if we exercise faith in these words we will be given the greater things:

6 And now there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people;
7 But behold the plates of Nephi do contain the more part of the things which he taught the people.
8 And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken.
9 And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them.
10 And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.
11 Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people.
12 Therefore I, Mormon, do write the things which have been commanded me of the Lord. And now I, Mormon, make an end of my sayings, and proceed to write the things which have been commanded me.

Jesus tells the Nephites that the world will be judged by the words that are written in this book in 3 Nephi 27:

25 For behold, out of the books which have been written, and which shall be written, shall this people be judged, for by them shall their works be known unto men.
26 And behold, all things are written by the Father; therefore out of the books which shall be written shall the world be judged.

What can we conclude from these insights? Here are a few key lessons I learn:

1. Jesus Christ is very aware of and concerned about what is in the record.
2. This concern seems to center on a desire to show that the words of the prophets are fulfilled. (This echoes what Mormon and other prophets say repeatedly in other parts of the Book of Mormon.  See this post for example.)
3. We will be judged out of the words which are written in the scriptures.
4. In offering the Nephites words of Malachi (an Old Testament prophet who lived after Lehi left Jerusalem), Jesus does not explain the context.  This suggests to me that these words transcend time and mortal context--if the Father commands that these words be given to us, they are given, if He commands that they remain hidden from us, we don't get them. This leads to my last point...
5. Faithfully receiving the words we have been given is more important than debating whether we should have them in the form we have them or not.  

Given the amount of debate that goes on about the nature of Isaiah quotations in the Book of Mormon, KJV translation anomalies, etc., I feel like how we approach this phenomenon is critical. Our approach determines how we receive these words.  The skeptical approach is to conclude that Joseph Smith was simply filling up volume with KJV passages and that the consensus of scholars conclude there is no way Nephi would have had access to some of the the passages he quotes, and that we can therefore reject the Book of Mormon. (As an aside, I believe seeking to understand these issues is wise, but if we conclude that we know better than God and choose to reject these words as a result of our study, we've gone too far.)

On the other hand, the faithful perspective allows us to receive these words with gladness and await the greater things that He promises to send us.

President Ezra Taft Benson spoke very directly and boldly about the purpose of the Book of Mormon in this sermon in 1986.  It is worth a read.