Gold and the Two Ways -- part 2

This is part 2 of a series.  Part 1 is found here.

Gold and the Two Ways in the Old Testament/Book of Moses

A previous post discussing one meaning of the name Cain ("get gain") is worth mentioning in this context. The Book of Moses teaches quite clearly how Cain and Abel are archetypes for each of these two ways.  Abel brings an offering which the Lord respected (see Moses 5:20). Cain did not. "Who is the Lord that I should know him?" (Moses 5:16)

Abel's willingness to sacrifice even the fat of the firstling of his flock (a precious substance to be sure) would have led him to find this hidden wisdom, had he not been murdered by the secret combination Cain entered with Satan for the purpose of getting gain. It's a set up for the two ways: the way of life leads to hidden wisdom but requires a willingness to sacrifice riches, whereas the way of death leads one to enter a secret combination for the purpose of obtaining riches.

This seems to me to be essence of a foundational doctrine that shows up over and over again in the Old Testament.  Below is a sampling of examples in no particular order.  For each example, I'll highlight the "wisdom over worldly wealth" sections in green and the "worldly wealth over wisdom" sections in red.

Exodus 25

The Lord gives Moses specific instructions on how to build the tabernacle, stating explicitly that (1) it is to be made from the finest materials freely donated for that purpose (see verse 2; see also Exodus 35:5, 22), and (2) the tabernacle is to be made according to a heavenly pattern revealed to Moses on the mount (see verse 40).

1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.
3 And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass, ...
8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. ...
10 ¶ And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: ...
11 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, ...
13 And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. ...
17 And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: ...
18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, ...
19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.
21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.
22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
23 ¶ Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: ...
24 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold,...
28 And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, ...
29 And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them. ...
31 ¶ And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: ...
36 Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold. ...
38 And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold.
39 Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.
40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount. (Exodus 25)

Daniel 5

2 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.
3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.
4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. (Daniel 5)

Proverbs 8

10 Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.
11 For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. (Proverbs 8)

Lamentations 4

1 How the gold has grown dim,
how the pure gold is changed!
The sacred stones lie scattered
at the head of every street.
2 The precious children of Zion,
worth their weight in fine gold—
how they are reckoned as earthen pots,
the work of a potter’s hands! (Lamentations 4, NRSV))

Ezekiel 16

17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them, (Ezekiel 16; see also this post)

Isaiah 2

7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:
8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: (Isaiah 2)

Isaiah 31

6 ¶ Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.
7 For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. (Isaiah 31)

Conclusion

The final example I'll cite to conclude this section does not directly mention gold, but this pattern goes beyond gold itself. Notice how Isaiah describes "the daughters of Zion" during a period of covenant rebellion:

16 ¶ Moreover the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts.
18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,
19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,
20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,
21 The rings, and nose jewels,
22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,
23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the veils.
24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty. (Isaiah 3)

"Chaneph" (חָנֵף) -- idolatry and worldview (part 3 of 3)

28 O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish. (2 Nephi 9)

This is the third and final post in a series on the Old Testament concept of "chaneph." See part 1 here and part 2 here. We'll begin with Moroni's description of "great pollutions" in our day, summarized eloquently in two verses:

31 Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when there shall be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not, for the Lord will uphold such at the last day. But wo unto such, for they are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity.
...
38 O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world? (Mormon 8)

As a reminder, as discussed in parts 1 and 2, "chaneph" has the following meaning:

"Chaneph" (חָנֵף) -- corrupt, defile, pollute, profane

Moroni is condemning "chaneph" in several ways. Let's break this down into a short list.  Here are the items in red above describing the pollution of our day:

1. "There will be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not."  Sadly, this is a perfect description of the dominant modern mindset.
2. They "sell [them]selves for that which will canker." What an apt description of the materialism of our day. Modern conveniences and luxuries are a nice thing to experience and have easy access to, but the pursuit of them can easily become a pernicious form of idolatry. 
3. They "are ashamed to take upon [them] the name of Christ ... because of the praise of the world." There is significant social pressure to avoid publicly sharing one's deep convictions about Jesus Christ, the real purposes of life, and why it is good to humbly and regularly participate in the sacred ordinances of the priesthood.

In green above, I highlighted one of the key distinguishing features that defines and sustains faith in the heavenly order: Valuing the worth of an endless happiness over the vices which lead to misery which never dies. When we see the destination of wither path and realize one takes us back to the presence of the Father through the atonement of Jesus Christ, and the other leads to permanent separation from Him, there is simple no comparison. It reduces other worldviews to mere idolatry -- "worship[ping] the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made" (Isaiah 2:8).

The Modern Worldview as Idolatry

This essay by Christian theologian and ecclesiastical historian Carl Trueman offers an overview of how much of our modern world came to reject the ideal of a sacred, heavenly order in favor of the pursuit of personal happiness, which is now the central focus of modern life. Here are two quotes from that article.

If there is nothing beyond this world for which to strive, or by which we are held accountable, the gravitational pull toward personal happiness as the purpose of life becomes irresistibly strong, and the rationales for repression become increasingly weak.

Negotiating personal desire, and not objective moral judgments, has become the ethical order of the day.

Of course, there is a heavenly order and a specific covenantal purpose of the creation, which makes this rejection of God's word a form of idolatry of the highest order. The Book of Mormon speaks very harshly against abandoning these revealed principles, and even gives us several examples of what happens when a covenant people reject this worldview and replace it with one of their own making. The record is clear -- this is not a stable position and it does not end well.

What are the keys to sustaining the worldview which leads to eternal life?

This is a question I've been pondering for the past few weeks as I've thought about the concepts presented in this series.  I have a few suggestions:

1. We must be humble and maintain an overarching desire to learn truth directly from God. If God wants us to seek Him, and if He allows us to exercise our faith and agency in mortality, then we should place seeking Him at the very top of our "to do" list. This involves kneeling in prayer, asking to be taught. This involves searching the scriptures (not just reading) and regularly putting into action the ideas and impression that come to us as a result of our study.
2. Though we are all sinners, we should never seek to justify our sins. I would suggest that attempting to justify sin might be a more serious sin than whatever sin we seek to justify, simply because of where that thinking leads us.  If we commit a sin but maintain a humble, repentant attitude about it, it will not pose a serious threat to our continued walk along the covenant path. If, however, we commit a sin and seek to justify our choice, insisting that we 
3. Emulate the Savior. In all things, He marked the path. We should strive to follow Him. He sought to do His Father's will ore His own in all things, and we should strive for the same.

Hugh Nibley and others have written extensively about two fundamentally different worldviews, the "mantic" or prophetic worldview, and the "sophic" or intellectual worldview.  Here is a brief summary of each:

The fundamental ambivalence of western civilization consists of a permanent conflict of spiritualities derived from the human condition itself. The assumptions underlying this conflict have created the mantic world view of vertical supernaturalism, a dualistic metaphysic that includes not only the natural order but also another world order which transcends it, and the sophic world view of horizontal naturalism, a monistic metaphysic that confines all realities to the natural order. (source)

Of course there is a wide spectrum within each of these broader classes, but this is a useful distinction to make -- between those who embrace the idea of a higher, sacred, heavenly order by which messages are communicated to our minds and hearts and for which we should strive, and those who believe the material world around us is all there is.

The scriptures very clearly indicate that we must strive for and maintain a mantic worldview. Substituting our own judgment is perilous even if our judgment is in accord with the best of worldly wisdom. I'm beginning to see this concept quite clearly throughout the scriptures, and I'll touch on this set of concepts in multiple future posts.

For now, I'll end with Mormon's description of the frailty of man:

4 O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to hearken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their hearts upon the vain things of the world!

5 Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom’s paths!

6 Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide. (Helaman 12)

"...the way is prepared that whosoever will may walk therein and be saved." (Part 1)

8 Now, the decrees of God are unalterable; therefore, the way is prepared that whosoever will may walk therein and be saved. (Alma 41)

"Walk" as a covenant symbol.

I love identifying covenant symbols in the Book of Mormon.  The more I carefully study these words, the stronger I come to know how carefully prepared these words were. This two-part series of posts will cover the term "walk," which I believe most often refers to a people who are living according to the temple covenant.

To illustrate this, I'll give a few example of how this word is used in the other books of scripture in part 1, followed by a long list of examples of its use in the Book of Mormon in part 2.

Old Testament

• Enoch "walked with God." (See Genesis 5:22.)
• Noah "walked with God." (See Genesis 6:9.)
• Abraham walked "before God." (See Genesis 17:1, Genesis 48:15.)
• Leviticus 26 specifies the conditions of the covenant.  The Lord outlines conditions for what will happen in consequence of the people "walk[ing] in [His] statutes" and "walk[ing] contrary unto [Him]" (see verses 3 and 21, for example).  One of the blessings of obedience is to have the Lord's promise: "I will walk among you" (see verse 12). One of the consequences of disobedience is to have the Lord "walk contrary unto you" (see verse 24).
• 33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess. (Deuteronomy 5)
• 3 And the king (Josiah) stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. (2 Kings 23)
• 18 Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved... (Proverbs 28)

Of all of the references in the Old Testament, perhaps my favorite is found in Micah 4:

2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem...

5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.

In these verses we get a direct connection between the latter-day temple, Zion, walking in the Lord's ways, and "walk[ing] in the name of the Lord."  We also find some of these direct connections in Isaiah 2/2 Nephi 12:2-5.

New Testament

• 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6) This verse seems to clearly connect the baptismal covenant with the term "walk."
• 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2) This verse connects "good works," "walking," and the purpose of our creation in "Christ Jesus." This is a very interesting passage that I will dedicate an entire future post to.
• 6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him... (Colossians 2)
• 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1)
• 6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it. (2 John 1)
• 4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. (Revelation 3, NIV) We find some pretty striking temple imagery in these verses.

D&C

• 133 Art thou a brother or brethren? I salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in token or remembrance of the everlasting covenant, in which covenant I receive you to fellowship, in a determination that is fixed, immovable, and unchangeable, to be your friend and brother through the grace of God in the bonds of love, to walk in all the commandments of God blameless, in thanksgiving, forever and ever. Amen. (D&C 88)
• 24 Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another. (D&C 90)

In the next part, we'll look at how "walk" is used in the Book of Mormon in a covenant context.

Fear and Darkness -- A pattern in the Book of Mormon

As I was preparing this recent post, I came across many references to fear and darkness.  In some cases, the fear immediately precedes a marvelous conversion/revelation and coming to Christ.  In other cases, the fear stems from a desire to hide from divine judgement.

One point from the post is that Satan's main tool to use against us and blind us from God's light is the creation itself.  This is a really important principle. Satan's darkness is described as a veil and a chain in the same verse (see Moses 7:26). It simultaneously blinds us and takes us captive.

Those experiencing this fear draw closer to the creation -- in some cases they fall to the earth. In other cases they attempt to hide in the earth (or wish they could).

Below, I'll list the many examples I found of fear and darkness.

Fear of Judgement

10 O ye wicked ones, enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for the fear of the Lord and the glory of his majesty shall smite thee. ...19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them and the glory of his majesty shall smite them, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. ...21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them and the majesty of his glory shall smite them, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. (2 Nephi 12/Isaiah 2)

11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell. ...

14 For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence. (Alma 12)

Fear prior to a marvelous conversion/revelation

6 And it came to pass that when the brother of Jared had said these words, behold, the Lord stretched forth his hand and touched the stones one by one with his finger. And the veil was taken from off the eyes of the brother of Jared, and he saw the finger of the Lord; and it was as the finger of a man, like unto flesh and blood; and the brother of Jared fell down before the Lord, for he was struck with fear.
7 And the Lord saw that the brother of Jared had fallen to the earth; and the Lord said unto him: Arise, why hast thou fallen?
8 And he saith unto the Lord: I saw the finger of the Lord, and I feared lest he should smite me; for I knew not that the Lord had flesh and blood. (Ether 3)

5 ...Lamoni began to fear exceedingly, with fear lest he had done wrong in slaying his servants;41 And he began to cry unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, have mercy; according to thy abundant mercy which thou hast had upon the people of Nephi, have upon me, and my people.
42 And now, when he had said this, he fell unto the earth, as if he were dead.
6 ...Ammon...knew that the dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind... (Alma 18:5, 41-42; 19:6)

28 And it came to pass that they were overshadowed with a cloud of darkness, and an awful solemn fear came upon them. ...
34 And it came to pass that the Lamanites could not flee because of the cloud of darkness which did overshadow them; yea, and also they were immovable because of the fear which did come upon them. (Helaman 5)

20 And it came to pass that there was thick darkness upon all the face of the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof who had not fallen could feel the vapor of darkness; ...22 And there was not any light seen, neither fire, nor glimmer, neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars, for so great were the mists of darkness which were upon the face of the land.23 And it came to pass that it did last for the space of three days that there was no light seen; and there was great mourning and howling and weeping among all the people continually; yea, great were the groanings of the people, because of the darkness and the great destruction which had come upon them. (3 Nephi 8)

11 And as I said unto you, as they were going about rebelling against God, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto them; and he descended as it were in a cloud; and he spake as it were with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which they stood;
12 And so great was their astonishment, that they fell to the earth, and understood not the words which he spake unto them. ...
18 And now Alma and those that were with him fell again to the earth, for great was their astonishment; ...
19 And now the astonishment of Alma was so great that he became dumb, that he could not open his mouth; yea, and he became weak, even that he could not move his hands; therefore he was taken by those that were with him, and carried helpless, even until he was laid before his father. ...
29 My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more. (Mosiah 27)

The lofty branches in Zenos' allegory

There are numerous possibilities to dig deep and learn important principles in Jacob 5. One verse that stood out to me

And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master: Is it not the loftiness of thy vineyard—have not the branches thereof overcome the roots which are good? And because the branches have overcome the roots thereof, behold they grew faster than the strength of the roots, taking strength unto themselves. Behold, I say, is not this the cause that the trees of thy vineyard have become corrupted? (Jacob 5:48)

The message in this verse is that the branches (people, nations) are too lofty (lifted up in pride) and thereby overcome the roots (covenants) which are good. With the symbolism given in the brackets in place, consider this sentence: "They grow faster than the strength of the roots, taking strength unto themselves". People are lifted up in pride and thereby taking strength unto themselves rather than acquiring spiritual strength from the covenants of the Lord.The loftiness removes them too far from the roots/covenants so they don't get the spiritual nourishment from them that they otherwise could have received. A profound description of pride and its effects. I find it amazing how Zenos can teach such principles by an allegory without compromising the factual descriptions of how olive trees are cultivated.

I researched a bit about "lofty". I think the most likely candidate in the Nephite language comes from the Hebrew root, רָ֣ם "ram", typically translated as lofty, high or exalted in the Bible. The reason I believe this is

1. It is the most common Hebrew word in Old Testament with this meaning. It is believed that the Nephite's reformed Egyptian was based on Egyptian script but the Hebrew spoken language.
2. The root, "ram" definitely existed in the language on the plates, most likely with the Hebrew meaning of "lofty". Rameumptom is described as "holy stand" and "a place of standing, which was high above the head" (Alma 31:13,21). In Ether 15:11, "Ramah" is the name of a hill.

It seems we're back at the lifted up in pride/lifted up by God theme yet again. Repeating one of the scriptures that have been quoted in this context before on this blog

12 For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:

13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,

14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up (Isaiah 2)

All the uses of the Hebrew root, "ram", are marked with bold. Again we find parallels between Zenos and Isaiah. Verse 13 is even about trees that are "ram"/lofty/high. Just like Zenos, they are symbolic of people. Avraham Gileadi comments

While the preceding passage depicts the idolatry and pride of Jehovah’s people (vv 6-12), this passage portrays Jehovah’s Day of Judgment coming on a series of geo-physical objects. That disparity is resolved when we discern the objects’ metaphorical meaning: they, too, represent peoples and their transitory human establishment: “Mountains” and “hills” represent large and small nations (cf. vv 2-3); “cedars” and “oaks” designate people (Isaiah 14:8; 61:3; Psalm 92:12)

Thus, both Zenos and Isaiah talk about lofty trees that symbolize people who have lifted themselves in pride, removing themselves too far from the covenants. Because of that, they will be brought down. Zenos describes it as "hewn down and cast into the fire" (Jacob 5:42, 46, 66). Isaiah describes it as being "humbled", "bowed down" and "brought low" (Isaiah 2:11-12).

Isaiah, idolatry, and the Great and Spacious Building

Stisa recently pointed out the connections between the great and abominable church and the great and spacious building in Nephi's writing.  I completely agree.

After reading that post, I noticed similar elements in Isaiah 2 (also 2 Nephi 12), in a passage condemning idolatry and pride. The basic message is that those who lift themselves up in pride will be brought low by the Lord in the day of judgment.  Their idols will not save them in that day, in fact, they'll desperately strive to hide their idols from the Lord in that day (by throwing them to blind animals that live underground). Their haughtiness will be replaced by fear and trembling. It's a powerful message.

Notice the repeated themes, (idolatry, pride, fear of the Lord, being humbled, the earth will shake), which I've color coded:

8 Their land is also full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made.9 And the mean man boweth not down, and the great man humbleth himself not, therefore, forgive him not.10 O ye wicked ones, enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for the fear of the Lord and the glory of his majesty shall smite thee.11 And it shall come to pass that the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.12 For the day of the Lord of Hosts soon cometh upon all nations, yea, upon every one; yea, upon the proud and lofty, and upon every one who is lifted up, and he shall be brought low....17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish.19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them and the glory of his majesty shall smite them, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.20 In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which he hath made for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them and the majesty of his glory shall smite them, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

Notice how the great and spacious building is directly connected to the pride of the world in Nephi's vision:

35 And the multitude of the earth was gathered together; and I beheld that they were in a large and spacious building, like unto the building which my father saw. And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again, saying: Behold the world and the wisdom thereof; yea, behold the house of Israel hath gathered together to fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
36 And it came to pass that I saw and bear record, that the great and spacious building was the pride of the world; and it fell, and the fall thereof was exceedingly great. And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again, saying: Thus shall be the destruction of all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, that shall fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb. (1 Nephi 11)

I feel like in our day, pride gets talked about a lot more than idolatry. I'm beginning to understand how far-reaching the modern-day practice of idolatry is, and how expertly Satan has succeeded in disguising blatant idolatry as something that is good.

What is idolatry?  

In a June 1976 Ensign article titled "The False Gods We Worship," President Spencer W. Kimball said the following about idolatry and its widespread practice in the church in modern times:

Whatever thing a man sets his heart and his trust in most is his god; and if his god doesn’t also happen to be the true and living God of Israel, that man is laboring in idolatry. 

He continues:

The Lord has blessed us as a people with a prosperity unequaled in times past. The resources that have been placed in our power are good, and necessary to our work here on the earth. But I am afraid that many of us have been surfeited with flocks and herds and acres and barns and wealth and have begun to worship them as false gods, and they have power over us. 

These are powerful words. We might be hesitant to label our efforts for financial security as idolatry, but if we aren't careful, and those effort end up consuming our time, our talents, and our resources, rather than building up Zion, what should we call it?

One last excerpt:

In spite of our delight in defining ourselves as modern, and our tendency to think we possess a sophistication that no people in the past ever had—in spite of these things, we are, on the whole, an idolatrous people—a condition most repugnant to the Lord.

I'll end this post with the words of Jacob:

12 And now behold, my brethren, this is the word which I declare unto you, that many of you have begun to search for gold, and for silver, and for all manner of precious ores, in the which this land, which is a land of promise unto you and to your seed, doth abound most plentifully.
13 And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they.
14 And now, my brethren, do ye suppose that God justifieth you in this thing? Behold, I say unto you, Nay. But he condemneth you, and if ye persist in these things his judgments must speedily come unto you.
15 O that he would show you that he can pierce you, and with one glance of his eye he can smite you to the dust!
16 O that he would rid you from this iniquity and abomination. And, O that ye would listen unto the word of his commands, and let not this pride of your hearts destroy your souls!
17 Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you.
18 But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. (Jacob 2)