S2 E6 (Feb 3-9) “We Lived after the Manner of Happiness”
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We've reached 2 Nephi! This week we talk about the law of opposition, Adam and Eve in the Garden, Nephi's a poet, and the curse of the Lamanites. The Come Follow Me print manual is different from the online version of the manual for the section 2 Nephi 5:20-21 "What was the curse that came upon the Lamanites". I recommend that you read the online version as the most up to date commentary on this section.
February 3–9
2 Nephi 1–5
“We Lived after the Manner of Happiness”
If you knew your life was coming to an end, what final messages would you want to share with those you love most?
- That I loved them
- That Jesus Christ is the Savior and to turn to Him
- That there is goodness and magic in the world...even if sometimes YOU have to be the goodness and magic
- Be grateful for your freedom and those who have sacrificed to give it to you
- Reading is important
2 Nephi 2
I am free to choose eternal life.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson said:
“God intends that His children should act according to the moral agency He has given them, “that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.”2 It is His plan and His will that we have the principal decision-making role in our own life’s drama. God will not live our lives for us nor control us as if we were His puppets, as Lucifer once proposed to do. Nor will His prophets accept the role of “puppet master” in God’s place. Brigham Young stated: “I do not wish any Latter Day Saint in this world, nor in heaven, to be satisfied with anything I do, unless the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ,—the spirit of revelation, makes them satisfied. I wish them to know for themselves and understand for themselves.”3 (“Free Forever, to Act for Themselves,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2014, 16).
In his teachings about agency, Lehi identified essential conditions that make agency possible and enable us to reach our divine potential, including the following:
A knowledge of good and evil (2 Nephi 2:5)
A law given to mankind (2 Nephi 2:5)
5 And men are instructed sufficiently that they aknow good from evil. And the blaw is given unto men. And by the law no flesh is cjustified; or, by the law men are dcut off. Yea, by the temporal law they were cut off; and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that which is good, and become miserable forever.
Opposing, enticing choices (2 Nephi 2:11)
11 For it must needs be, that there is an aopposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.
Power to act (2 Nephi 2:16)
16 Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should aact for himself. Wherefore, man could not bact for himself save it should be that he was centiced by the one or the other.
As you read 2 Nephi 2, what do you learn about each of these conditions of agency and their relationship to each other? What would happen to our agency if one or more of these conditions were missing? What else do you learn about agency from Lehi’s words?
James E Faust, Oct 1995 Priesthood Session: Each of us must take the responsibility for the moral decisions we make in life about how close we live to the edge. Lehi states: “And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon.”3 Being acted upon means somebody else is pulling the strings.
We live in a time when many want to avoid the responsibility for their acts. When I was a young lawyer, I was appointed by the judges to defend persons who were charged with infractions of the law. From these experiences, I learned that some individuals did not think they were responsible or guilty in any way even though they had violated a law. They felt they were not to be blamed. They had abdicated their consciences. They may have committed the wrongful act, but they felt it was really their parents’ fault because they were not properly taught, or it was society’s fault because they were never given a chance in life. So often they had some reason or excuse for blaming their actions on someone or something else rather than accepting the responsibility for their own actions. They did not act for themselves but were acted upon.”
2 Nephi 2:24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.
25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.
2 Nephi 2:22–29
The Fall and the Atonement of Jesus Christ are essential parts of Heavenly Father’s plan.
Many people see the Fall of Adam and Eve as a tragic event. However, Lehi’s teachings about the Fall reveal why it was a necessary part of the Father’s plan for our eternal progression. As you read these verses, look for why the Fall needed to happen in order for us—Heavenly Father’s children—to progress. How did the Savior’s atoning sacrifice redeem us from the Fall?
See also Moses 5:9–12; 6:51–62; “Fall of Adam and Eve,” Gospel Topics, topics.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
“If Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.
“And [Adam and Eve] would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.
“But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.
“Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.
“And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall” (2 Nephi 2:22–26; see also 2 Nephi 2:19–21, 27).
From Gospel Topics, “Fall of Adam and Eve” - “Just as we do not really desire food until we are hungry, we will not fully desire eternal salvation until we recognize our need for the Savior. This recognition comes as we grow in our understanding of the Fall. As the prophet Lehi taught, “All mankind were in a lost and in a fallen state, and ever would be save they should rely on this Redeemer” (1 Nephi 10:6).”
2 Nephi 4:15–35
I can turn to God in my weakness.
Nephi had recently lost his father. The responsibility for leading his family now rested on him. He felt surrounded by temptation and was discouraged because of his sins. Even if your circumstances are different from Nephi’s, you may relate to some of his thoughts and emotions recorded in 2 Nephi 4:15–35.
What helped Nephi in his afflictions? How can Nephi’s response to his challenges help you face your struggles?
2 Nephi 5
Happiness is found in living the gospel.
How would you define happiness? Nephi wrote that his people lived “after the manner of happiness” (2 Nephi 5:27). You might look for choices Nephi and his people made that led to happiness—ways they supported each other and their families, what they valued in their community, and so on. What do you learn that can help you build a life of happiness, as the people of Nephi did?
2 Nephi 5:20–21
What was the curse that came upon the Lamanites?
In Nephi’s day the curse of the Lamanites was that they were “cut off from [the Lord’s] presence … because of their iniquity” (2 Nephi 5:20–21). This meant the Spirit of the Lord was withdrawn from their lives. When Lamanites later embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ, “the curse of God did no more follow them” (Alma 23:18).
The Book of Mormon also states that a mark of dark skin came upon the Lamanites after the Nephites separated from them. The nature and appearance of this mark are not fully understood. The mark initially distinguished the Lamanites from the Nephites. Later, as both the Nephites and Lamanites each went through periods of wickedness and righteousness, the mark became irrelevant as an indicator of the Lamanites’ standing before God.
Prophets affirm in our day that dark skin is not a sign of divine disfavor or cursing. The Church embraces Nephi’s teaching that the Lord “denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female” (2 Nephi 26:33). President Russell M. Nelson declared: “The Lord has stressed His essential doctrine of equal opportunity for His children. … Differences in culture, language, gender, race, and nationality fade into insignificance as the faithful enter the covenant path and come unto our beloved Redeemer” (“President Nelson Remarks at Worldwide Priesthood Celebration” [June 1, 2018], newsroom.ChurchofJesusChrist.org).
See also “Till We All Come in the Unity of the Faith” (video, ChurchofJesusChrist.org).
Couple of things: I said “YES, exactly!” out loud when you were talking about being amazed that the trees had leaves when you got glasses for the first time. I had the same experience.
ReplyDeleteSecond: there was an a capella group in Utah, I think, that did a version of the Psalm of Nephi set to the music of Be Still My Soul. https://youtu.be/ISXBRTW2mQ4
Awesome!!! Thanks so much- I'll check it out!
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