Pathway Lesson 5: 2 Nephi 9-16

I just completed lesson 5 of Pathway.  I’m halfway done with my first semester.  Its pretty exciting.  I think my favorite thing about Pathway has been my studies of the Book of Mormon.  Our weekly study was 2 Nephi 9-16. I had a bit harder time this week because we got into Isaiah, but I pushed through and tried to understand as much as I could!  I kind of was getting a bad attitude about Isaiah, but then I read this by Boyd K Packer from the Book of Mormon Student Manual:

“Most [readers] readily understand the narrative of the Book of Mormon.

“Then, just as you settle in to move comfortably along, you will meet a barrier. … Interspersed in the narrative, are chapters reciting the prophecies of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. They loom as a barrier, like a roadblock or a checkpoint beyond which the casual reader, one with idle curiosity, generally will not go.

“You, too, may be tempted to stop there, but do not do it! Do not stop reading! Move forward through those difficult-to-understand chapters of Old Testament prophecy, even if you understand very little of it. Move on, if all you do is skim and merely glean an impression here and there. Move on, if all you do is look at the words” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1986, 76; or Ensign, May 1986, 61).

I felt like it was written for me!  Even while I read through Isaiah, I had a tough time understanding what I was reading, but I moved forward, I did read it and tried my best to understand.  Something I did that helped me get through Isaiah, was I listened to those chapters (Did you know you could do that with the Gospel Library app?) and read along with scriptures.  I felt like it helped my mind not to wander. 

I thought I’d share a couple of my favorite verses.  In the first couple chapters Jacob is talking and I really enjoyed his testimony.

2 Nephi 9:14 “Wherefore, we shall have a perfect knowledge of all our guilt, and our uncleanness, and our nakedness; and the righteous shall have a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment, and their righteousness, being clothed with purity, yea, even with the robe of righteousness.”  What struck me about this verse was we will have a perfect knowledge of our uncleanliness AND our righteousness.  I’ve never thought about it that way before, I always thought about judgment being told everything I did wrong or right, but this says we will KNOW.   Definitely made me want to make sure I have a perfect knowledge of the good I did, not the bad!

2 Nephi 9: 20 “O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it.”  This gave me a lot to think about.  It took me a day or two to wrap my head around it.  Here’s my thought process: We have agency and we can make our own decisions…but God knows all.  How does he know what we will choose?  I’ve come to the realization that Heavenly Father knows us well enough to know how we would choose.  

2 Nephi 9:49 “Behold, my soul abhorreth sin, and my heart delighteth in righteousness; and I will praise the holy name of my God.”  This has turned into a new goal for me.  I love this verse and want to feel this way about all things in my life.

2 Nephi 10:7 “For if there be no Christ there be no God; and if there be no God we are not, for there could have been no creation. But there is a God, and he is Christ, and he cometh in the fulness of his own time.”  I love how simple this makes it.  Sometimes we make things complicated and it doesn’t have to be.  We believe in Christ, so we know there is a God because we are all here. 

2 Nephi 11:5 “And also my soul delighteth in the covenants of the Lord which he hath made to our fathers; yea, my soul delighteth in his grace, and in his justice, and power, and mercy in the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death.”  If I were to use “substitution” on this verse, what does my heart delighteth in?  There are lots of things I delight in, my children, my family, spending time with my family, my testimony, cooking/baking, watching movies etc.  Am I on the same level as Jacob?   No, I’m not there yet, but working on it.

Again, I’m grateful for this class, to be able to really study the words in the Book of Mormon.  I really enjoyed reading Jacobs testimony.  I'm noticing a change in myself while I'm reading the Book of Mormon, its no longer a chore.  I'm enjoying it and maybe even understanding it more.  Made me think of an athlete.  As they work out, they build up endurance and muscles.  Over time they become better at their sport.  I'm hoping the same is happening to me.  I'm working on my scriptural skills and over time I will have more knowledge and understanding.  

Pathway Lesson 3: Nephi 15-22

Can I just stay how much I'm enjoying the Pathway program??  Its been 4 weeks and I've already seen so many blessings come because of this program.  I am completely enjoying studying the Book of Mormon.  This week’s reading assignment was 1 Nephi 15-22.  So much happened in these verses, they wandered in the wilderness, they had the liahona, Nephi built a ship, they sailed to the Promised Land, they had children, etc. 

I think what struck me the most in these chapters was the stark difference between Nephi and his brother’s Laman and Lemuel.  And truthfully, I’m getting sick of hearing the same things from Laman and Lemuel.  I want to shout: QUIT COMPLAINING!   But I guess there are lessons to be learned here.  They both traveled the same steps, the same distance, yet their attitudes and faith were completely different.  

Let’s talk about Nephi first, he continued to count his blessings and was faithful through all of their struggles.  Elder Richard G Scott said: “When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more.  He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding and compassion, which polish you for your everlasting benefit.  To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching and that generally entails discomfort and pain.”  When Nephi’s bow broke, everyone started to murmur, even Lehi got discouraged, and they were all very hangry! (angry because your so hungry!) Nephi tried to talk to everyone about their hard hearts (Nephi 16:22) and then he got to work.  He didn’t sit around complaining or waiting for the Lord to provide.  He built another bow and then talked to his father about where to go.  The Lord then blessed them.   Nephi says “and thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things.”  (Nephi 16:29)  This experience teaches a great lesson on relying on the Lord, he will provide even when the outcome looks bleak.  BUT we can’t sit around waiting for the blessings, we need to continue to work for it. 

Nephi also was commanded to build a ship.  He didn’t know how to build a ship, but he trusted in the Lord and the Lord told him how to do it.  His brothers of course, murmured against him, calling him a fool.   He tries to teach them faith, but they won’t listen.   Nephi continues on and after he finishes the ship, they sail away on it.  After they had been sailing for a few days, Laman and Lemuel start to party and are getting a bit out of hand (Nephi 18:9).  Nephi is afraid the Lord won’t be happy with them because of their behavior and tells them they need to stop.  Laman and Lemuel get upset with him again tie him up.  The storms come in and they are afraid they might be swallowed up in the sea.  Nephi was bound for 4 days, the sea wasn’t calm, I’m sure he didn’t sleep during that time, his wife and children were crying and I’m sure sick for his safety.  They finally untie Nephi and this is what Nephi says “I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions.” (Nephi 18:16)  Such an example of not just enduring, but enduring well! 

Now, lets talk about Laman and Lemuel.  In Nephi 17:45 it says, “Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder.”  Laman and Lemuel were “past feeling” which means they were so far gone they couldn’t feel the words of the Holy Ghost.  They hardened their hearts and would rather complain than turn to the Lord.  How many of us chose to do this?  I know I’ve done this in some parts of my life.  Its hard to be Nephi all the time; being acting like Laman and Lemuel is much easier!  But if we stay close to the spirit, we will be doing what we should. 

I want to share another difference from Nephi and his brothers, In Nephi 17:20 Laman and Lemuel said “we have wandered in the wilderness for these many years; and our women have toiled, being big with child; and they have borne children in the wilderness and suffered all things, save it were death; and it would have been better they died before they came out of Jerusalem to have suffered these afflictions.”  Yikes, that is harsh.  I wonder how their wives would have felt hearing those words.   But Nephi responds with these words: “If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done.” (Nephi 17:50) 

I find it interesting that these brothers were all given the same chances, the same experiences, the same upbringing, yet because Nephi had faith and trusted in the Lord he chose not to complain every second and I’m sure he was happier because of his decisions.  He knew everything would work out and he never lost trust that the Lord would provide for him.  I hope I can always have the outlook Nephi does.  He is an amazing example for how to act in our trials.  If we trust in the Lord we’ll be ok, no matter the outcome.