Light of Christ as the Solution

2 Nephi 13

Judah and Jerusalem shall be punished for their disobedience—The Lord pleads for and judges his people—The daughters of Zion are cursed and tormented for their worldliness—Compare Isaiah 3. Between 559 and 545 B.C.****

Huh?? Again, I fail to understand Isaiah. I have no context or understanding of ancient Jewish culture to help me. So, I will go get my trusty Understanding Isaiah book. Also, I'm not sure I understand the flow of 2 Nephi. Sometimes, Nephi is talking, and then he's writing about what Jacob has taught. Then Isaiah. So, I'm going to go reread the summaries to better understand the timeline.

OK, I only had to go back a few chapters to understand what's going on. In chapter 11, Jacob explains how he's going to teach with the words of Isaiah. He says, "And now I write some of the words of Isaiah, that whoso of my people shall see these words may lift up their hearts and rejoice for all men. Now these are the words, and ye may liken them unto you and unto all men."

Lift up our hearts and liken them to our lives. Jacob is speaking to his people then and since we know the Book of Mormon was preserved for people in the latter-days, then these words are also for us. So, the themes of this chapter and the corresponding chapter in Isaiah, are about pride and how it will lead to misery. Rembering from BYU B.O.M. class, the pride cycle is repeated over and over throughout the Book of Mormon. The Lord's people are righteous, they prosper, they become prideful, they become wicked, they war with one another, they fall, then they become humble again. I guess pride is the most human of all emotions. How many wars and contentions and unhappinesses could be ended if people could control their pride. So, how is this cycle ended? Many times, it's the first emotion we feel, something has offended our ego . If only our first reaction were charity. When I think of the love of Christ, it's like a white light that cancels out everything else. That's what I'm going to take from this chapter, to remember the love of Christ. Not to be pestered by the little plagues of my day. But to feel His Love today.