2 Nephi 4-8 Lesson Notes (Chapter 8)

 2 Nephi 4-8

Chapters 4 and 5 form a transition from the days of Lehi to the days of Nephi and include Lehi’s last blessing to his people.

Slide 2 - 2 Nephi 4:4-5

Nephi received this promise directly from the Lord shortly after his family left Jerusalem (1 Nephi 2:20-21). Then Lehi shared this promise with Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and the sons of Ishmael after arriving in the promised land (2 Nephi 1:9, 20). And now he shares the promise with their children (his grandchildren). 

This promise is repeated throughout the Book of Mormon many times, in Jarom, Omni, King Benjamin, and Alma the Younger. (Jarom 1:9, Omni 1:6, Mosiah 1:7, Mosiah 2:22, Alma 9:13, Alma 36:1, 30, Alma 38:1).

Lehi is concerned that his grandchildren won’t be brought up knowing the Lord so they won’t have the benefits of the blessings of this promise and so he makes an amazing promise to them in 2 Nephi 4:6-7.

2 Nephi 4:11 blessing to Sam.  Blessed art thou, and thy seed; for thou shalt inherit the land like unto thy brother Nephi….

Sam is a wonderful example to us as members of the church.  We all want to be like Nephi but the reality is that few of us are of that prophetic stature.  

There is a passage in 1 Nephi when Nephi had gone out and gained the strong testimony of his father’s mission of the Lord and he comes back and in 1 Nephi 2:17 the narrative simply says that he talked to Sam and Sam believed on his words.. I love this scripture.  It reminds me of the gifts of the spirit in section 46:13 of the D&C -  that to some it is given to know by the spirit that Jesus is the Son of God but then in next verse it says and to others is given to believe on their words.  

So for many of us who are Sam’s its nice to know that our spiritual gift to be able to believe in the testimony of others as we gain our own is recognized by the Lord and that if we are faithful to that like Sam is here in 2 Nephi we can be blessed with others who have strong testimonies.

After his (Lehi’s) death Laman and Lemuel are rebelling again and it seams like now that Lehi is gone there is no one to stand in the way.   That combined with the death of his father and Laman and Lemuels disapproving and angry and unrighteous acts and possibly somewhat because he knows that now it is his responsibility to lead, and not just to lead the family but actually to be the prophet.  All these feelings and emotions combine to lead Nephi into a deep self contemplation.  And almost for the 1st time in scripture Nephi doesn’t hide his vulnerability.  We can feel in his words that he is really in a heart felt place of deep emotion.  These next verses are often called (V13-V17) the Psalm of Nephi.

In some of these writings Nephi’s words are similar to those in many passages of the Old Testament.  In Psalms (34-35) and Isaiah (40-41,52) they use very similar language.  He is paraphrasing.  Nephi knows his scriptures and he is able to use those scriptures as his own words…they become part of him and he is using them in this beautiful psalm.

And he tells us I have sorrow and my soul is grieving and I’m encompassed about by sin.   I’ve got questions and challenges and doubts …

V17… O wretched man that I am … 

Basically what’s going on through the rest of this chapter  4 (17-35) is he expresses some kind of a concern or a challenge that he faces and then he shares with us how he has resolved or answered and the tender way in which the Lord has cared for him.    

Slide 3

(18) I am encompassed about because of the temptation and the sins which do easily beset me.

(19)…my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.

(20…he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.

(21) He hath filled me with his love even unto the consuming of my flesh.  

(22) He had confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me.

(23) …he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the nighttime.

(24) And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me. 

(25) And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away upon exceedingly high mountains.  And mine eyes have beheld great things….

I really think that Nephi was directed to put this in for us.  Here is this great prophet and he is saying I have these problems and challenges and he has this alternating pattern of discouragement and despair and then reverie as he is carried up with the Spirit, as he turns to the Lord.  We’ve all had times of discouragement and depression, he’s mourning for the loss of his father and the rejection of his brothers and he gives us tools to deal with these type of sorrows.  

Slide 4 & 5

Its easy to praise The Lord when things are going good but being able to praise the Lord in the midst of afflictions can be so hard but such a powerful tool.

2 Nephi 5:1-2,5-6

Slide 6

2 Nephi 5:10-18 & 27

Slide 7 & 8 & 9 

5:21- we are introduced to a skin of blackness.

Elder Bruce R McKonkie spoke at a CES devotional in 1978 just months after the official declaration 2 came out which was the declaration that restored the priesthood to all worthy males….

Slide 10 & 11 & 12

We know what the curse is…it is simple and easy to understand

2 Nephi 5: 20. The curse is that they were cut off from the presence of God, but the online Come Follow Me manual mentions that the “nature and appearance of this mark are not fully understood.  

Throughout the Book of Mormon having light means that you are closer to God, having darkness means you are further away from God.  The idea that God doesn’t restrict anyone including those that are wicked and those that are righteous, those that are slaves and those that are free and so forth really opens up how important it is for the Gospel to come to everyone whether or not we judge someone as righteous or wicked or someone that is in the church or out of the church….

Slide 13

The Gospel and the love that we show and what we give to others should be for all just as our Savior would have us do. 

Slide 14

Chapter 6. Jacob Nephi’s brother has been asked to speak.  (One of the longest Conference address and doctrinally significant discourses recorded in scripture) (Chapter 6-10)

In chapter 5:26 Nephi consecrated both Jacob and Joseph as priests and teachers so we know that they have been given authority. 

Also in 2 Nephi 6:8&9 … the Lord has show unto me…..according to the words of the angel who spake it unto me.

Jacob had this revealed knowledge or revelation from the Lord and from an angel and he is going to teach on an assigned topic from Nephi the Prophet. 

Its interesting to me to see that together Nephi and Jacob are going to record quite a large chunk of Isaiah in these and coming chapters and there are really good reasons for this.

First is of course that Isaiah was an exceptional prophet and teacher and gave us important doctrine.  I don’t want to discount that at all but also another thought was that even though Isaiah lived a long time ago in relation to Nephi it wasn’t that long.

Slide 15

Lehi and his family departed Jerusalem at 600 BC, Isaiah’s prophecy was around the time 740 BC.   Its interesting to reflect.   If there is roughly a hundred and fifty years separation between Isaiah and Nephi think about our own lifetime. 

What prophet has had the most impact to us today that lived roughly 150-160 plus years ago?  (Joseph Smith) 

If you think about the context of Isaiahs teachings to the faithful of the church during that time, then we can better understand by comparing the teachings of Joseph Smith and what they are to us today.  Its helps us to see why they put such an emphasize on him and were so drawn to his teachings.  

Slide 16

Jacob starts quoting in 2 Nephi 6:6 which is Isaiah 49:22.  He will quote a couple of versus then he talks about (explains, interprets) them then he does a couple more to finish the chapel.  To us it seams like a very odd choice, jumping from place to place, and it looks like he is pulling a sentence right out of the middle of a paragraph but the reality is that he didn’t have chapters, he didn’t even have verses.  It was just continuous words.  It wasn’t until the 1200’s that they started to divide them into chapters and not until 1560 did we have the first English Bible with Verses.

This concept is reactively new where you have a chapter and a verse. 

Jacob is pulling out an idea and he is starting where the idea starts but its important for us to understand that because a lot of times when we discuss the scriptures we pull out a particular verse and say this verse says this and means this but if you read the few versus before and a few versus after it really helps us better understand.  These breaks were put in for a purpose. They were put in for continuity and separation of ideas to help us understand.    

Also If we look at the assigned topic which are Isaiah 49:22-23 which Jacob quotes in 2 Nephi 6:6-7, its interesting that these same versus were introduced    

to Israel by Nephi about 10 years earlier in 1 Nephi (21:22-23) shortly after they had arrived in the new world. 

These versus talk about the gathering of scattered Israel.  They are reiterated because this was an important subject to Nephi and his family, who had been scattered from their homeland (Jerusalem), so these things are close to his heart.

Then in V6 he talks about the Gentiles and a standard (the true church, the gospel) being set up and how these Gentiles will bring thy sons in their arms and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders….and kings and queens will assist.

So think about where they are… This is a community that has separated from their home and their homeland, the area where the descendants of Jacob had lived for centuries and in that area of the world tribe and family and extended family is very important and here they are away from it.  They’ve had to separate from half of their community (Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ismael) and they’re probably feeling somewhat isolated.  

Because of this separation Lehi, Nephi and Jacob are drawn to Isaiahs words.   

 For them Isaiah is kind of a life line tying them back to Israel.  That’s our people and Isaiah tells us how we’re going to be brought back together.  

Jacob is a master teacher.  He teaches a little at a time. (Line upon line).  He quotes  a couple of verses then he talks about them and interprets them before he moves on. 

Slide 17

One example.  Verse 6 is quoted from Isaiah 49:22 and V 12 is the interpretations for this verse. 

Vs13 is the interpretation for Vs 7

Vs 16-18 are the interpretation for Vs 14-15 and are quoted from Isaiah 49:24-26.

So when your studying these chapter its fun to go back and put them side by side.

Another thing I thought was interesting is in V8 when he talks about the Jews being taken captive and Jerusalem begin destroyed that is in the now.  Its happening in another place in the world but it is happening at this same time.  And it is a  prophecy fulfilled that Lehi, Nephi and Jacob have each seen.

After teaching about the scattering and gathering of Israel, Jacob quotes a passage from Isaiah containing an important promise: God is able to free us from captivity, no matter how powerful the captor may be.

Slide 18

Isaiah begins by asking a question in two parts:

“Shall the prey be taken from the mighty?” (Isaiah 49:25)  In other words, can a person hope to escape when their captor is much more powerful than they are?

“Or the lawful captive delivered?” Sometimes, it’s not just people who oppress us. Our freedom can be diminished by institutional structures, policies, and customs.  Can we be delivered, Isaiah asks, when the very laws of the land have shattered our freedom?

His answer is a resounding, “Yes!” Don’t give up on God, he pleads with us. 

When we make covenants with God, those promises go both directions. You have not only promised to stand with Him, but He has also promised to stand with you. “I will contend with them that contendeth with thee,” He says. And he is more powerful than any captor, whether that captor be an individual, a group of people, or an entire nation.

Slide 19

2 Nephi 7—Isaiah 50. God Will Fulfill His Covenants

In this chapter, the relationship between the Lord and the House of Israel is compared to the relationship between husband (God) and wife (Church) and the relationship between master and servant (mother and child). The Lord asks the house of Israel if He is responsible for the dissolution of the relationship.

2 Nephi 7:1…Have I put thee away, have I cast thee off…Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement?…to which of my creditors have I sold you?…

Does God have creditors?

In the ancient world if you had to pay a debt sometimes people would have to sell their children or their family to pay their debt. 

God doesn’t have a debt.

V1 Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves…

We do it to ourselves.

God doesn’t move away from us. He is always there.  We move away from Him through our choices. 

In the last two versus of chapter 7 Jacob and Isaiah teach a powerful lesson.

2 Nephi 7:10 Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light?

This verse seams a little contrary. 

Isaiah asked if any who fear and obey the Lord walk in darkness. The answer is no.  

11: Behold all ye that kindle fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks, walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks which ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand—ye shall lie down in sorrow.
(2 Nephi 7:10-11, Isaiah 50:10-11)

Notice the words…Compass yourselves, light your fire, sparks ye have kindled. Isaiah is teaching us that those who “walk in the light of their own fire and in the sparks which they have kindled…shall lie down in sorrow.

The Savior is the Light of the World. It is His light not our own that will lift us. 

If you obey the voice of God, you will walk in the light.

If you try to create your own light, you will be disappointed in the outcome. 

2 Nephi 8—Spiritual Courage to Covenant Israel

Jacob continues to quote from Isaiah in this chapter (Isaiah 51-52:2), encouraging his people to remember their heritage, to remember who they are in the sight of the Lord, to remember the covenants, to practice lives of righteousness, and to look forward with steadfast faith to the redemption which God had promised. (2 Nephi 8:24-25; Isaiah 52:1-2)

Slide 20

24 Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
25 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

As I’ve pondered these verses, I’ve been thinking about how faith in God is demonstrated by action. We demonstrate our faith by acting first and only afterward receiving the power that comes through His grace.

(See 2 Nephi 25:23, Ether 12:6.)

In the passage, Isaiah urges us to:

Awake — Get up, and get moving.

Put on thy strength — Bring your “A game” to your work. Do your very best.

Put on thy beautiful garments — Prepare yourself to receive great blessings from the Lord. Dress appropriately for a significant event.

Shake thyself from the dust — Eliminate your sins. Repent. Recognize that you are better than that.

Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck — Overcome bad habits and addictions.

Slide 21

2 Nephi 4:30-35.  Nephi’s prayer.