I realize this is late. However, what with my son’s birthday and preparing for Easter, I’ve been one busy Mormon mommy. Anyway, better late than not at all. So, let us get on with our study of 2 Nephi 2.
Before we delve into the meat of this chapter, I want to point out a few things that have slight bearing on the chapter. I did a little bit of research trying to understand the meaning and etymology of the word “patriarch.” As a Mormon, I was raised with an understanding that a Patriarch is the Melchizedek Priesthood holder who gives people special blessings and that everyone is supposed to have one. However, Merriam-Webster defines patriarch, among other things, as “a man who is father or founder.” The Online Etymology Dictionary definition tells us that the word originally comes from Greek roots. “Patria” means family or clan, “pater” means father, “arkhein” means to rule. Thus “patriarkhes,” patriarch. So, each father is patriarch of his own family. The eldest member of a clan or tribe (Lehi in this case) is also patriarch. Finally, as you kind of get something of a sense of the ultimate in the word patriarch where it pertains to Patriarchal Blessings, our Heavenly Father is our ultimate patriarch.
Okay, now that that’s out of the way, we can proceed. First off, 2 Nephi 2 is Lehi’s Patriarchal Blessing to his second to youngest son, Jacob. This is a tradition well known among the Hebrews, as Jacob/Israel blessed each of his twelve sons shortly before he died. I imagine Nephi, as the group’s record keeper, feverishly writing every word on a piece of paper as it fell from his father’s lips.
Speaking to his son, Jacob, Lehi commends his young son for the steadfastness with which he has borne his afflictions in the wilderness, many of which were the result of what Lehi terms “the rudeness of thy brethren.” Still, like his brother Nephi, Jacob is already acquainted with the greatness of God and is promised that he is redeemed and will live safely with Nephi and serve the Lord all his life. Since Jacob understood this important concept while he was still young, Lehi promised that he would be blessed just as the people who followed Jesus himself were blessed, because God is always the same, forever.
From here, Lehi goes off into a kind of description of the basic tenets of the gospel, which I find interesting given that this is a blessing given to a boy who isn’t probably much older than sixteen or so, if that. However, since he already stated that Jacob would serve the Lord his whole life, I’m sure the Spirit told him it was necessary. I’m sure glad Nephi included it, though, because there’s a lot of important information here. Since this chapter is pretty long, however, I will endeavor to just hit the highlights in this entry.
First off, by the Law (both temporal and spiritual) we are all cut off from the presence of the Lord. So, if all we had was the Law, we would be doomed to eternal misery. However, thanks to the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we all have the option to be redeemed. The Lord’s sacrifice takes care of the demands of the Law, provided we are humble and repentant. That’s why this message is repeated so often in the Scriptures, because the sacrifice of the Savior isn’t available any other way. We have to let go of our pride and our sins, not just once but every day, and try to live as close to the Law as we can.
Second, there is opposition in all things; justice and mercy, wickedness and righteousness, holiness and misery, good and bad, etc. If we couldn’t experience the negative aspects of life, how could we learn to appreciate the positive, and endure our daily afflictions in happiness as we’ve been commanded? Without opposition, we would all be as good as dead, because we couldn’t learn and there would be no purpose to our creation.
Third, to people who say that there’s no law and no sin, Lehi makes the following logical progression. No sin=no righteousness. No righteousness=no happiness. No righteousness/happiness=No punishment/misery. No righteousness/happiness/punishment/misery=No God. No God=No anything.
Since there is a God, and we know he created the earth, because we live in it day after day, then we also know that there is a law and sin and all those other things. We have been given the ability to choose for ourselves, a power essential to the success of the plan of salvation.
Lehi discusses the expulsion of Lucifer and the fall of Adam, pointing out that Adam and Eve would never have had children had they not fallen. Therefore, their fall was a necessity of a sort. Then, later, they are promised that Christ will come to redeem us all from the effects of the fall, freeing us from unmerciful punishment, so that we have the freedom to act for ourselves rather than just be acted on. We have the right to choose righteousness and salvation, or wickedness and damnation (I note, here, that Lehi points out that consequences are chosen as well as behavior). As any loving parent would, Lehi implores all his sons to choose righteousness over wickedness, so that the devil won’t have any power over them.
If you made it this far without losing interest, I both thank and commend you. Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below. Like Sunday School, this blog is more interesting when you participate.
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