2 Nephi 13-14

(August 1, 2013)
There are a couple of things that cause my (metaphorical) ears to perk up when I am reading the scriptures.  One of those things in the word “because,” as this means that whomever is speaking is defining a cause and effect relationship that offers insight into why the world works the way that it works.  In these chapters, just such a cause and effect relationship is demonstrated.  While describing the calamities that will afflict Israel, the cause is give that they arrive “because their tongues and their doings have been against the Lord.”

Now I think we can all easily understand why, when our doings are against the Lord, that we can expect the calamities to befall us.  But what about our tongues?  It isn’t an accident that Isaiah included this language in his writings.  I dare say that we can learn from this that we cannot hope to escape the punishments of Israel unless we bring both our tongues and our actions in line with the Lord.

My other thought was on the hope that we have as believers.  Many people in today’s world and today’s economy seem despondent about the way the world is going.  They see collapse all around them, and they wonder whether they will survive the catastrophe that is surely coming.  My take on this has always been that history says that we will be fine.  Look at the progress of the monasteries even during the Dark Ages – a deeply religious subsociety can find peace, security, and prosperity even when the remainder of humanity is degenerating.  But I don’t need to look to history, when I can instead point to scripture.  All of the calamities the Lord is speaking of through Isaiah are occurring, but at that time “the branch of the Lord [will] be glorious.”  We have the Lord’s promise that we can be prosperous (perhaps only spiritually, but more likely both temporally and spiritually) if we focus on Him and wait for His aid.