Monday, July 1, 2013

The Book of Mormon: 2 Nephi 14

Today, we’ll be studying 2 Nephi 14, which may be compared with Isaiah 4.

This entry will be necessarily short, because the chapter is only 6 verse long.  However, I will do my best to try and explain the material in as detailed a manner as possible.

In verse 1, we learn that “In that day,” seven women will grab a single man and ask to be married to him.  They will promise to support themselves, only asking the man to take their “reproach.”  The traditional definition of the word “reproach” includes words like “disgrace,” “shame,” “sin,” and “punishment.”  Merriam-Webster defines it as “an expression of rebuke or disapproval, the act or action of reproaching or disapproving, a cause or occasion of blame, discredit, or disgrace, and one subjected to censure or scorn” (this last definition is less frequently used, today).  So, these seven women will request that they all be married to one man so that they will no longer be shamed.

In verse 2, Isaiah tells us that “the branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious; the fruit of the earth excellent and comely to them that are escaped of Israel.”  I don’t know about you, but if I just escaped from somewhere that was being destroyed, I think I would feel that the branch of the Lord was beautiful and glorious and the fruit of the earth was excellent and comely.  It’s not that much of a stretch, really.

In verse 3, we are told that those who remain alive in Zion and Jerusalem will be considered as holy.  That makes me think that it will probably be pretty obvious that they were saved by miraculous means because of their righteousness.

Verse 4 tells us that the Lord will begin to purge the blood and “filth” or dirt, from Jerusalem by the spirit of judgment and burning.  That makes me think that, when the Lord returns during the Second Coming, all the people who aren’t clean will be forced from Jerusalem by the Lord himself, by one means or another.

Finally, verse 5-6 tell us that the Lord will create on every house and church in Zion “a cloud of smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night.  This is a direct reference to two separate incidents in the scriptures, one from the Bible and one from later chapters in the Book of Mormon (specifically the book of Ether) wherein the Lord led them as a cloud of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night.  This makes me think that the Lord will lead his people personally.  It also says that the glory of Zion will be defended and protected by a tabernacle which will provide them with shade from the heat and shelter from rain and storms. 

As this is a prophecy, I can’t claim to understand it all.  However, I hope I’ve explained it well enough for your purposes. 

Again, I’m sorry this entry had to be so short.  We’ll make up for it next time.  Until then.