2 Nephi 6 - Jacob's first teachings

Nephi does an interesting thing with 2 Nephi. He teaches a lot about the Savior and his role in the world and his role with individuals. He does so by drawing upon the words of his dad, Jacob, and Isaiah, then he concludes with his own thoughts. It's definitely a well thought-out approach to testifying of the Savior.

Here's a few key words from the first chapter of Jacob's teachings in Jacob 6

2 Behold, my beloved brethren, I, Jacob, having been called of God, and ordained after the manner of his holy ^aorder, and having been consecrated by my brother Nephi, unto whom ye look as a^bking or a protector, and on whom ye depend for safety, behold ye know that I have spoken unto you exceedingly many things.

The role of leader is to be a protector and provide safety. That's what Nephi tried to do for his people. Our church leaders do the same for us now.

7 And ^akings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their faces towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that ^bI am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that ^cwaitfor me.

God will take care of those who follow him. At the end of time, his followers will be blessed and happy.

12 And blessed are the ^aGentiles, they of whom the prophet has written; for behold, if it so be that they shall repent and fight not against Zion, and do not unite themselves to that great and^babominable church, they shall be saved; for the Lord God will fulfil his ^ccovenants which he has made unto his children; and for this cause the prophet has written these things.

Gentiles can receive all the blessings promised to the house of Israel on a few conditions: repent, not fight against Zion, not unite to the great and abominable church. Worth understanding what exactly Zion and the great and abominable church are - I'll have to think about that a little more: certainly the pure in heart is my favorite definition of Zion, and the great and abominable church is defined in 1 Nephi as a group that desires after bad things and focuses on itself.

13 Wherefore, they that fight against Zion and the covenant people of the Lord shall lick up the dust of their feet; and the people of the Lord shall not be ^aashamed. For the people of the Lord are they who ^bwait for him; for they still wait for the coming of the Messiah.

17 But thus saith the Lord: Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; ^aforthe ^bMighty God shall ^cdeliver his covenant people. For thus saith the Lord: I will contend with them that contendeth with thee—

Repeats - those who wait for and follow the Lord will not be ashamed. He will take care of them.

2 Nephi 5 - structuring life

2 Nephi 5 gives the account of Nephi and his followers leaving his brothers who wanted to kill him. It talks about the critical things he did in establishing their new city/civilization. Here's some thoughts:

3 Yea, they did murmur against me, saying: Our younger brother thinks to ^arule over us; and we have had much trial because of him; wherefore, now let us slay him, that we may not be afflicted more because of his words. For behold, we will not have him to be our ruler; for it belongs unto us, who are the elder brethren, to^brule over this people.

No one has "right" to rule. It's a sign of pride to think that some privilege or prestige is something automatically granted.

10 And we did observe to keep the judgments, and the ^astatutes, and the commandments of the Lord in all things, according to the^blaw of Moses.

11 And the Lord was with us; and we did ^aprosper exceedingly; for we did sow seed, and we did reap again in abundance. And we began to raise flocks, and herds, and animals of every kind.

12 And I, Nephi, had also brought the records which were engraven upon the ^aplates of brass; and also the ^bball, or ^ccompass, which was prepared for my father by the hand of the Lord, according to that which is written.

13 And it came to pass that we began to prosper exceedingly, and to multiply in the land.

14 And I, Nephi, did take the ^asword of Laban, and after the manner of it did make many ^bswords, lest by any means the people who were now called Lamanites should come upon us and destroy us; for I knew their ^chatred towards me and my children and those who were called my people.

15 And I did teach my people to ^abuild buildings, and to ^bwork in all ^cmanner of wood, and of ^diron, and of copper, and of ^ebrass, and of steel, and of ^fgold, and of silver, and of precious ores, which were in great abundance.

16 And I, Nephi, did ^abuild a ^btemple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of ^cSolomon save it were not built of so many ^dprecious things; for they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon’s ^etemple. But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of^fSolomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine.

17 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cause my people to be^aindustrious, and to ^blabor with their ^chands.

Notice that their lives were very complete. They built a temple, many buildings, farms, had the scriptures, kept the commandments, worked hard, had families, prepared for war. They had very complete lives. Notice that they established a permanent life, not a transient life. They built expensive buildings and also farmed, which is something that takes time. In some ways hunting can be a "hit or miss" proposition that farming hopefully is not. Contrast the farming of Nephi's people with the Lamanites:

24 And because of their ^acursing which was upon them they did become an ^bidle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey.

23 And cursed shall be the seed of him that ^amixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.

Verse 23 about cursing might be taken to imply something about race. It is very unlikely that Nephi is saying God cares about skin color since in 2 Nephi 26 he says this:

33 For none of these iniquities come of the Lord; for he doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he ^ainviteth them ^ballto ^ccome unto him and partake of his goodness; and he ^ddeniethnone that come unto him, black and white, ^ebond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the ^fheathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.

The curse likely involves the Lamanites not being members of the church and/or keepers of the commandments. The curse that comes with it is the curse that comes to all who do not follow the commandments of God and do not have the blessing of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

34 And it sufficeth me to say that forty years had passed away, and we had already had wars and contentions with our brethren.

Without the Spirit of the Lord, war and anger comes quickly.

27 And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of^ahappiness.

The Nephites' manner of living was a good one. :)