2 Nephi 9

(July 29, 2014)

                My thoughts, as I read through this chapter, were focused on the Gathering of Israel – which seemed a bit odd to me, as there is very little in the text that would seem to push that idea to the front of my mind.  But nevertheless, that is where my mind went and where it remained as I read.

                I had long understood that the Gathering was both a temporal and a spiritual Gathering, but I didn’t (until today) realize how literal the spiritual Gathering was.  After all, we who are of Israel have been carried away into Babylon.  There, we are tempted to fall astray – to go native, so to speak – as were the people of Israel.  Ultimately, though, we will be physically gathered back to the Lord if we maintain our loyalty to Him despite our current circumstances.

                C. S. Lewis used the phrase frequently that we are behind enemy lines or in enemy territory.  I always thought that was appropriate, but now I think that I would change it.  Instead of merely saying that we are behind enemy lines, it is appropriate to say that we are currently prisoners of war – held by the enemy in his prison camps of Babylon as prisoners of the War in Heaven.  Some (many, perhaps) will go native and will side with the enemy in order to gain extra privileges.  Others will become passive – not making waves so the enemy won’t notice them and hoping to get out alive.  But the third group will actively be involved in trying whatever is within their power to damage the enemy to assist the Kingdom to return.

                Like saboteurs held in enemy camps, sometimes those who fight in this way find themselves confronted and badly damaged by their captors.  Some may even be killed.  But when the Kingdom arrives, they too will be gathered in and none will be lost.  We know the day of our liberation is coming – may it come quickly and may we be found on the correct side.