2 Ne 33:1 neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking
The writing style of the
Book of Mormon is sometimes awkward, but the spirit it carries and the
principles it teaches are nothing less than eloquent. Nephi is indeed mighty in writing, because of the spirit of his
message, for the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the
hearts of the children of men. His comment here is a product of his
humility and is reminiscent of the words of Moroni, Lord,
the Gentiles will mock at these things, because of our weakness in writing; for
Lord thou hast made us mighty in word by faith, but thou hast not made us
mighty in writing (Ether 12:23).
As we come to the end of
Nephi’s record, it should be underscored that the mighty writings of Nephi
contain almost every principle that will be dealt with in the rest of the Book
of Mormon. In a sense, first and second Nephi are a condensed, “Readers Digest”
version of the Book of Mormon. In the words of the Lord, the plates of Nephi…do throw greater views upon my gospel
(DC 10:45). Those familiar with the Spirit of the Lord will recognize the words
of Nephi as the words of Christ, if ye shall believe
in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ
(v. 10). Furthermore, Nephi understood that the Lord was capable of making weak things become strong (Ether 12:27), for he
said, the words which I have written in weakness
will be make strong unto them (v. 4). Thus, the words of Nephi are
mighty—they carry the Spirit of the Lord, they teach of Christ, they speak as
the voice of one crying from the dust (v.
13), and will be used to judge us at the bar of the great Jehovah (v. 15).
2 Ne 33:3 I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my
pillow by night
One of the most difficult
qualities to master is that of charity. The natural man loves only himself. It
is not much more righteous to show love for one’s family and friends for as the
Lord has said, if ye love them which love you, what
reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? (Matt 5:47). True
righteousness requires a greater love than this. The spiritual man must first
love the Lord God with all of his heart, might, mind and strength. Next, he
must love his neighbor as himself. The last crowning quality of charity is to
show love for vast groups of people—people with which you may have no
interaction. This love stems from the godlike concern for the eternal welfare
of others. This is the emotion which filled the hearts of the sons of Mosiah, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless
torment did cause them to quake and tremble (Mosiah 28:3).
Nephi’s concern for his
flock was so great that he prayed for them continually, he wept for their
eternal welfare. Nephi had charity for his people. He had that same love that
the Lord has for all of his spirit children. He will later explain that his
love extended beyond his stewardship, for he said, I
have charity for my people…I have charity for the Jew…I have charity for the
Gentiles (v. 7-9).
“When
our hearts are filled with charity, we love as Christ loved, his goals become
our goals, his work becomes our work, and ultimately his glory becomes our
glory, for we will become ‘joint-heirs with Christ’
(Romans 8:17) of ‘all that my Father hath’ (D&C
84:38).
With
this thought in mind, and thinking of charity in relationship to hope, it might
be said that hope is a hungering and thirsting after righteousness for oneself,
and charity is essentially a hungering and thirsting after righteousness for
others. Not surprisingly, therefore, we
find that Lehi, after tasting the fruit of the tree of life, ‘began to be desirous that [his] family should partake of it also’ (1 Nephi 8:12),
and that Nephi wrote, ‘I pray continually for [my
people] by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by
night, because of them’ (2 Nephi 33:3).” (Book of Mormon Symposium
Series, edited by PR Cheesman, MS
Nyman, and CD Tate, Jr., 1988, p. 147)
2 Ne 33:4 I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers for
the gain of my people
It is not hard to see that
Nephi prayed with great faith. He may not know exactly how the Lord will bless
his people but he knows that his prayer of faith will be for their overall
benefit. We need to learn to pray with the same faith that Nephi had, for the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much
(James 5:16).
2 Ne 33:5 no man will be angry at the words which I have written
save he shall be of the spirit of the devil
In Nephi’s own words, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth
them to the very center (1 Ne 16:2). Speaking to Joseph Smith of the
Book of Mormon, the Lord said, Satan will harden the
hearts of the people to stir them up to anger against you, that they will not
believe my words (DC 10:32). Therefore, if one encounters a strident
opponent to the Book of Mormon and the individual is angry with the message of
the Book of Mormon, you can know for a surety that he is of the spirit of the devil.
2 Ne 33:9 I have charity for the Gentiles
Nephi has just explained
that he has charity for three groups of people: the Nephites, the Jew, and the
Gentiles. It is interesting to note that the only group about which he makes
any qualifications are the Gentiles, for none of
these can I hope except they shall be reconciled unto Christ, etc. Nephi
saw our day and had great reason for concern. So should we.
2 Ne 33:10 if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these
words, for they are the words of Christ
One missionary used to use
this scripture in his door approach. When he was rejected by someone who said
that they were already Christian, he would ask if they believed in Christ. They
would answer, “yes”, then he would open his Book of Mormon and read 2 Ne 33:10.
He would say, “If you believe in Christ, you will believe in this book. It is
another testament of Jesus Christ and I have been sent to bring it to you.” I
don’t know if this bold approach was successful or not, but it was certainly
doctrinally accurate. If any Christian in the world really believes in Jesus
Christ and has a sincere desire to follow him, they will feel of the spirit of
the Book of Mormon. They will recognize that the words of Nephi are the words
of Christ, and they will have no choice but to accept the truth or have it
stand as a witness against them at the last day.
“The
Book of Mormon is the most Christ-centered scriptural record ever
published. Every doctrine within its
covers is but an appendage to as central theme- the testimony that Jesus is the
Christ. All who believe in Christ will
believe the words of this book. One
cannot truly believe in the Bible and at the same time not believe in the Book
of Mormon. ‘There is not that person on
the face of the earth,’ Brigham Young said, ‘who has had the privilege
of learning the Gospel of Jesus Christ from these two books [the Bible and the
Book of Mormon], that can say that one is true, and the other is false. No Latter-day Saint, no man or woman, can
say the Book of Mormon is true, and at the same time say that the Bible is
untrue. If one be true, both are; and
if one be false, both are false.’ (JD 1:38.) To believe the words of one is to
believe the words of both (see Mormon 7:9).” (McConkie and Millet, Doctrinal
Commentary on the Book of Mormon, vol. 1, p. 375)
Elder Hartmann Rector Jr. tells his conversion story in the book, No More Strangers.
He was a minister at the time he read the Book of Mormon and explains the great
impact that the words of 2 Ne 33 had upon his thinking at this important time:
“[Nephi]
said: ‘And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will
believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given
them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good.’
“And
that is true; that is what these words do. You can't argue that they teach
anything bad. Nevertheless, to say that they're the words of Christ and ‘he gave them to me’ is the most daring, dangerous,
damning kind of a thing to say if it's not true. You just don't serve the cause
of Christ in the world by writing fictions about Jesus Christ. I couldn't
believe that any honest, responsible group or church or people would put a
thing like this across on the world while trying honestly to serve Jesus
Christ.
“In
the next verse the writer of those words goes on to indicate that he
understands exactly how serious it is. He says: ‘And
if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye-for Christ will show unto you,
with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you
and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have
been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness.’
“That
is about the strongest thing I'd ever read in my life, because I knew there was
going to be a "last day" before I ever heard of this Book of Mormon.
But then in the next verse the writer said the most touching thing I'd ever
read: ‘And I pray the Father in the name of Christ
that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his kingdom at the great and last
day.’ (2 Nephi 33:10-11.)
“That
struck me as wonderful! I thought: ‘What's wrong with that? That's absolutely
right. He doesn't want me to join any ‘Mormon’ Church-no mention of it. Just
entrance into the Father's kingdom by believing in Jesus Christ! If that isn't
true the Bible's not true either, because that's all that the Bible is about.’
And yet, if what I had now read was true, why in heaven's name hadn't we heard
about it before? I just didn't know what to make of it!
“…So
I just put my doubts on the shelf as fast as they came to mind and tried to
deal with what the book seemed to say. By the time I had finished reading the
book I was really in turmoil about the whole thing. If it were true, I couldn't
understand why all this had been kept from the world in general for so long.
Yet, if it wasn't true, I didn't know what I believed. I knew that if I went to
any of my colleagues in the ministry for counsel, with the best of intentions
they could only say one thing…
“…The
next day [after a meeting with the missionaries] I went into the little chapel
next door to our house, took the Bible and Book of Mormon with me, closed the
door, and went up front and knelt down. Then I poured it all out to the
Lord-everything that was churning inside me about the mess that I was in now,
for I knew what would happen if I went ahead and was baptized. I knew it would
be the end of my ministry, but I could take that. I was afraid, however, that
it might also be the end of my marriage, for my wife was already extremely
upset about what I'd been doing all week long…I also worried about my friends,
my fellow colleagues in the ministry, and the people who believed in me….
“I
poured all this out to the Lord. Then I left it with him and went back and sat
down to try to think through things again. I opened up the Book of Mormon and
reread the things I had underlined the first time through it to see if they
still impressed me now as they did then. They did. I concluded that this book
had to be true even though I couldn't explain where it came from and why we
hadn't had it before. But then fear would just sweep me off my feet again…
“Round
and round it went like that all day long from about 7:00 A.M. until toward 6:00
P.M. Then suddenly I realized what was happening. Here I was asking God for the
answers and was being turned to the scriptures. Comparing the Book of Mormon
with the Bible, I concluded that it had to be true even though I couldn't
explain it. Then just when I was ready to move out in faith, fear and doubt
would sweep over me again and block everything. Finally it dawned upon me that
my fears and doubts were not coming from God in answer to my prayers, so I knew
where they were coming from.
“I
put the two books together, walked back over to the elders' quarters and
knocked on the door again. This time I said to the elder who opened the door,
‘I'm ready now. I've got a lot of fears yet, but no more doubts.’ He invited me
in and they all gathered around. One of them had a big grin on his face as he
said, ‘We've been having a great spirit here, fasting and praying for you all
day.’ Of course I didn't know they did that kind of thing and they didn't know
what I was doing. But God knew, and together we won.” (Hartmann and Connie
Rector, No More Strangers, pp. 50-56)
2 Ne 33:11 you and I shall stand face to face before his bar
We
always imagine that Christ will be our judge. However, He is not the only one
who will judge us at the judgment-seat. Nephi declared, I shall meet many souls spotless at his judgment-seat…and you and I
shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been
commanded of him to write these things (2 Ne 33:7,11). Moroni also will
be at the judgment-seat, we shall meet before the
judgment-seat of Christ, where all men shall know that my garments are not
spotted with your blood (Ether 12:38). The Savior gave the
responsibility of judging the twelve tribes of Israel to his apostles (Matt
19:28) and the responsibility of judging the descendants of Lehi to the
disciples of the Americas (3 Ne 27:27). Therefore, the Savior and his servants,
who wrote the scriptures we have today, will judge us according to our
faithfulness to the light we had received in mortality.
2
Ne 33:14 these words shall condemn you at the last
day
John the Revelator recorded, I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the
books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of
life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the
books, according to their works (Rev 20:12). Nephi explains that the
Book of Mormon is one of those books out of which the dead were judged. If you
have read the Book of Mormon, you will be held responsible for living by all
the principles contained therein, And the words which I have spoken shall stand as a testimony
against you; for they are sufficient to teach any man the right way (2
Ne 25:28).
Ezra Taft
Benson
“Do eternal
consequences rest upon our response to this book? Yes, either to our blessing
or our condemnation. Every Latter-day Saint should make the study of this book
a lifetime pursuit. Otherwise he is placing his soul in jeopardy and neglecting
that which could give spiritual and intellectual unity to his whole life. There
is a difference between a convert who is built on the rock of Christ through
the Book of Mormon and stays hold of that iron rod, and one who is not.” (A
Witness and a warning, pp. 7-8 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on
the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 152)
Marion G.
Romney
“For me there
could be no more impelling reason for reading the Book of Mormon than this
statement of the Lord that we shall be judged by what is written in it.” (Conference
Report, Apr. 1960, pp. 110-111 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on
the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 152)
Ezra Taft
Benson
“What is the
major purpose of the Book of Mormon? To bring men to Christ and to be
reconciled to him…[It] helps us draw nearer to God. Is there not something deep
in our hearts that longs to draw nearer to God, to be more like Him in our
daily walk, to feel His presence with us constantly? If so, then the Book of
Mormon teaches us truth, though it indeed does that. It is not just that the
Book of Mormon bears testimony of Christ, though it indeed does that, too. But
there is something more. There is a power in the book which will begin to flow
into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find
greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception.
You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path…When you begin to
hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater
abundance.” (Ensign, Nov. 1984, pp. 6-7 as taken from Latter-day
Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 171)
2 Ne 33:15 I must obey
Russell M.
Nelson
“Nephi was a
multifaceted genius. Endowed with great physical stature, he was a prophet,
teacher, ruler, colonizer, builder, craftsman, scholar, writer, poet, military
leader, and father of nations. Nephi had a sincere desire to know the mysteries
of God. He became a special witness and trusted prophet of the Lord.
“Nephi lived
an adventurous life and faced numerous difficulties. Some of the challenges he
faced included fleeing Jerusalem, building a ship, crossing the waters to the
promised land, colonizing, withstanding persecution, fulfilling family and
leadership responsibilities, and keeping records. Toward the end of his
inspiring life Nephi wrote his concluding testimony and bore witness of the
doctrine of Christ, the power of the Holy Ghost, and the truthfulness of the
words he had written. Appropriately, his final testimony closed with the words
that could be known as his signature: ‘I must obey.’
“Few have
spoken so profoundly in behalf of one generation to another. Indeed, Nephi’s
life and mission were destined to bless us and all people of our day.” (Heroes
from the Book of Mormon, p. 16)