7 Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us. 8 And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God. 9 Yea, and there shall be many which shall teach after this manner, false and vain and foolish doctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide their counsels from the Lord; and their works shall be in the dark. 10 And the blood of the saints shall cry from the ground against them.
2 Nephi 28:7-10 (Emphasis mine)
13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.
Isaiah 22:13 (Emphasis mine)
15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
Isaiah 29:15 (Emphasis mine)
In the last days, there will be a philosophy – “[e]at, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.” That will be it. Nothing follows. Enjoy life to the fullest by partaking of sin.
Much like that philosophy we will see a new twist – “[e]at, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin … God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.” Enjoy life. Partake of sin. God will justify your committing a “little” sin. He will beat us a bit, but we will be saved in the kingdom of God.
We see this in our society today. Sin is accepted as a part of life. If you don’t partake of this lifestyle, you’re seen as odd.
A former TV critic for the Deseret News told about a time he was at a press conference with Steven Spielberg. He was asked why Hollywood puts out so much stuff that doesn’t represent life in the real world. He said that Steven Spielberg got a slightly confused look and said that it represented the lifestyle of everyone he knew. It seems he couldn’t comprehend that his lifestyle was not like the lifestyle of most of America.
Nephi(1) calls this “false and vain and foolish doctrines.” It attempts to justify something that can’t be justified. The scriptures are clear about sin. Those who follow the “eat, drink, and merry” crowd are not following Christ.
11 Yea, they have all gone out of the way; they have become corrupted. 12 Because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted, and their churches are lifted up; because of pride they are puffed up. 13 They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up. 14 They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men.
2 Nephi 28:11-14 (Emphasis mine)
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:6 (Emphasis mine)
13 ¶ Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
Isaiah 29:13 (Emphasis mine)
The churches will have become corrupted because of the pride, false teachers, and false doctrines. Not only do they turn their backs on the poor, they do this after they have robbed the poor. Then, they turn around and persecute them.
While most have gone astray, there will be a few humble followers of Christ. Sadly, many of these humble followers will be led astray by these churches because they don’t teach the gospel, they teach the principles of men in its place.
4 [Haughty eyes], and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.
Proverbs 21:4 (Emphasis mine)
25 He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made [prosperous].
Proverbs 28:25 (Emphasis mine)
Hugh Nibley explains how pride and learning can affect people.
“The two things people want are to be successful and to be smart—The Elite: ‘and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches,’ are the ones who think they are putting God in his place, while it is He who is rejecting them: "’ea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them’ (2 Nephi 9:42).” [1] (Emphasis mine)
Hugh Nibley describes the split in the church in the last days.
“Throughout the Book of Mormon the church itself regularly split into a worldly society, notably the religion of the Nehors, and another consisting of ‘few … humble followers of Christ (2 Nephi 28:14) to whom special gifts and revelations were given (Alma 12:9). ‘ “ [2] (Emphasis mine)
[1] The Way of the "Intellectuals", Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed January 6, 2012.
[2] One Eternal Round: The Hermetic Vision, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed January 6, 2012.
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