I think I know what Isaiah meant, but I could still use your help

My wife and I were reading in 2 Nephi 6 – Jacob is quoting Isaiah. Usually it is very difficult to understand, but I understood at least a few parts.

One was when it says, “They that fight against Zion and the covenant people of the Lord shall lick up the dust of their feet…”

Back in Isaiah’s day, everybody wore sandals – and they lived in a very dusty, dirty, sandy environment. So everybody’s feet were dirty, dusty and sandy. It was seen as a very humble and submissive act to clean somebody else’s feet – this was an act left only to servants and slaves.

For somebody to clean your feet with their hands – and wash off the dust – was an act below most people.

But to lick dust off your feet – this was taking humility to an entirely new low – it almost seems like you can no longer be respected if you are licking the dust off somebody’s dirty feet.

The latter-day gentiles that fight against Zion will “lick up the dust of their feet,” or will be brought so low that nobody will respect them.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Click the “no comment” button below to make a comment.

How does one feast upon God’s love?

Jacob uses this phrase in Jacob 3:2, “Feast upon [God's] love.”

There are two parts to this phrase.

1. A feast is a gathering of friends and family – normally it is a group of people of means. In America this includes almost everybody. In the rest of the world this includes very few. In the developing world a feast is an occasion that never comes for some – for others they may not have a feast except once every few years.

It is a special occasion for most – a happy time, a reuniting of people who have not been seen for a long time, and most of all, a time to eat!

And eat a lot!

2. God’s love is explained through the sending of His Son. One could say that God’s love is His Son – or that through His Son we see God’s love.

What was His Son like? Sees a widow, blesses her. Sees an adulterer, forgives her. Sees the Roman soldiers, pleads with His Father to not hold them responsible, “They know not what they do..” Sees those who cannot walk – heals them. Those who cannot see – gives them sight. Sees you and me, anxiously sends help to remind us of what is important. And most of all, He suffered and died for us, so that we might overcome death and hell. His Atonement is the ultimate expression of love. He alludes to this in the testimony of John, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” John 15:13-14

So back to the question. How do you feast upon God’s love?

You gather all your loved ones around, people you love, and you partake of what Christ has done for you. You lay down your life for your friends. Not in some magnificent and glorious one-time act of greatness. But in little ways. By befriending people who are lonely, by giving a generous fast offering & a generous offering to other humanitarian causes, by paying extra attention to your spouse or your brother or sister.

And when you fall short, you repent, because you love the Savior so much that you want to be like Him and live with Him.

The Lord’s woman vs. the world’s woman – Jacob 2:7

The world would have us believe that women should be aggressive, domineering, and competitive. (In fact, the Lord does not want His sons to behave this way. Even his warriors – think sons of Helaman – were submissive, humble, willing to obey every word with exactness, full of faith. These young men were not aggressive, they fought for love of family and only in defense. They were not domineering, but worked to obey their leaders. They were not competitive, but instead worked as a unified team to fight the Lamanites)

It is interesting to contrast this “modern” view of women with the Lord’s view. In Jacob 2:7, the Lord says of His daughters “…whose feelings are exceedingly tender and chaste and delicate before God, which thing is pleasing unto God.”

I thought it would be interesting to look up these three words in the dictionary to get a better understanding of what they meant.

Tender: marked by, responding to, or expressing the softer emotions :  showing care, highly susceptible to impressions

Chaste:  pure in thought and act

Delicate: generally pleasant, marked by keen sensitivity or fine discrimination, <a more delicate syntactic analysis — R. H. Robins>

There’s a lot of false ideas in the world. False ideas about how women should be. False ideas about how men should be. It’s awesome to have the Book of Mormon – to learn the truth, and to know what God wants for us.

I’m perplexed about what Lehi said about Joseph Smith

I’ve been reading the scriptures. And I am learning a lot. But I’m perplexed about something.

In 2nd Nephi 3, Lehi quotes Joseph of Egypt, who prophesied of the latter day seer and prophet Joseph, “Yet I will not loose his tongue, that he shall speak much, for I will not make him mighty in speaking.”

This really got me thinking. This is Joseph Smith. The man who could keep audiences of thousands of people electrified and attentive for hours… Of Joseph, Elder Jay E. Jensen said this,

The Prophet Joseph Smith was a remarkable gospel teacher, in part due to his thirst to learn. He could hold the attention of thousands for hours while he preached the truths of the restored gospel. President Brigham Young (1801–77) described the Prophet’s inspired teaching ability: “He took heaven, figuratively speaking, and brought it down to earth; and he took the earth, brought it up, and opened up, in plainness and simplicity, the things of God. … Did not Joseph do the same to your understandings? Would he not take the Scriptures and make them so plain and simple that everybody could understand?”¹

Elder Parley P. Pratt (1807–57) recorded an occasion when the Prophet’s extraordinary teaching ability influenced thousands in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: “A very large church was opened for him to preach in, and about three thousand people assembled to hear him. Brother Rigdon spoke first, and dwelt on the Gospel, illustrating his doctrine by the Bible. When he was through, Brother Joseph arose like a lion about to roar; and being full of the Holy Ghost, spoke in great power, bearing testimony of the visions he had seen, the ministering of angels which he had enjoyed; and how he had found the plates of the Book of Mormon, and translated them by the gift and power of God. He commenced by saying: ‘If nobody else had the courage to testify of so glorious a message from Heaven, and of the finding of so glorious a record, he felt to do it in justice to the people, and leave the event with God.’ ”

Elder Pratt continued: “The entire congregation were astounded; electrified, as it were, and overwhelmed with the sense of the truth and power by which he spoke, and the wonders which he related. A lasting impression was made; many souls were gathered into the fold.”²

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=1ed676978ac17110VgnVCM100000176f620a____

“Not mighty in speaking?” What?? Didn’t Elder Jensen, Brigham Young, and Parley P. Pratt just get done saying that he was so mighty in speaking that he could hold thousands of people’s attention for hours without notes, and that the people described their experience as “electrifying??”

This leads me to the insight I gained from this scripture, which is found right before in 2 Nephi 3, verse 17. It says, “I will give judgment unto him in writing…” In writing, and specifically not in speaking.

What I learned from this is that Joseph’s real gifts to the world were those things which were written by him. 

The Lord makes a point to make this as clear as possible. His speeches were incredible, yes. His ability to captivate and inspire those to whom he spoke was almost unmatched. But the Lord knew that Joseph would not be able to live for 200 years. He knew that the restoration would need to touch millions of people that had never met Joseph – and would never hope to hear his words.

So the Lord gave Joseph judgment in writing – for your sake and my sake. The Book of Mormon (though not technically written by the hand of Joseph – that was done by his scribes – was nonetheless the written word) and the Doctrine and Covenants are the most important parts of Joseph Smith’s legacy to the world.

That’s the truth. The Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants are the essential gifts from Joseph Smith.

This is no doubt what led the Lord to give a rebuke to the members of the Church (which still applies). “Your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received-which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon..” Section 84:54-57

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