As Lehi continues Jacob’s blessing, he introduces a very
significant concept, that of opposition.
For
it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first–born 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.
2 Nephi 2:11
Reviewing Lehi’s words, if there were no opposition…
- there could be no righteousness nor wickedness.
- there would be no holiness nor misery.
- there could be neither good nor bad.
- the body would remain dead, having no life or death.
- we would not experience corruption nor incorruption.
- there would be no happiness or misery.
- we would not experience sense or insensibility.
Why would Jacob receive this as a part of Lehi’s
blessing? John Tanner and Sidney Sperry
give us their insight.
Long afflictions seem to have
softened Jacob's spirit, verifying the famous Book of Mormon teaching about the
value of "opposition in all things." Significantly, that teaching
occurs as part of Jacob's patriarchal blessing (2 Nephi 2:11). We should
remember Jacob when we teach the principle that adversity can have sweet uses.
The evidence shows that the boy took Lehi's lesson to heart.[1]
In the instructions of Lehi to his
son Jacob is found an interesting variation in the Nephite solution of the
problem of good and evil. We may call it the doctrine of
opposition-in-all-things. In terms of modern philosophy it might be denominated
the theory of contrast-effect.[2]
Without opposition, the plan of salvation would not come to
pass. This is how important opposition
is in our lives. S. Kent Brown wrote:
Another significant teaching, in
Lehi's final blessing to his son Jacob, concerned "opposition in all
things." Lehi began by indicating that the judgment must lead either to
"punishment that is affixed [assigned]" or else to "happiness
which is affixed" (2 Nephi 2:10). He then reasoned: "It must needs
be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so . . . righteousness
could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery,
neither good nor bad" (2 Nephi 2:11).
Lehi taught that without choices we
are unable to be or feel righteous or unrighteous. Note the dramatic result
that Lehi said would follow: "If these things are not there is no God. And
if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no
creation" (2 Nephi 2:13). According to Lehi, all of existence would cease
and make no sense if opposition were removed. This observation led Lehi to say:
"Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his
eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of
God" (2 Nephi 2:12). Since Lehi had just previously been dealing with the
redemption to come through the Messiah (2 Nephi 2:6-10), we should probably
understand this series of passages in terms of the Redeemer's work. That is, if
there exists no opposition, there is no reason for a redeemer who can bring
about God's mercy and justice.[3]
As we read the scriptures, we see this is a common theme taught
by the prophets and our Savior.
I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge
their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.
Hosea
5:15
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which
despitefully use you, and persecute you;
That ye may be [GR may become] the children
of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil
and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matthew
5:43 - 45
Confirming the souls of the disciples, and
exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation
enter into the kingdom of God.
Acts
14:22
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in
reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake:
for when I am weak, then am I strong.
2
Corinthians 12:10
(The Lord
to Alma1, whose people were taken into bondage by the wicked priest
Amulon.)
And I will also ease the burdens which are
put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even
while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for
me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit
my people in their afflictions.
Mosiah
24:14
(Alma2,
as he prepares to preach to the Zoramite poor.)
And now when Alma heard this, he turned him
about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he
beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation
to hear the word.
Alma
32:6
Yea, they did remember how great things the
Lord had done for them, that he had delivered them from death, and from bonds,
and from prisons, and from all manner of afflictions and he had delivered them
out of the hands of their enemies.
Alma
62:50
And it must needs be that the devil should tempt
the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves; for if they
never should have bitter they could not know the sweet—
D&C
29:39
(The Lord
to Joseph Smith in the Prison Temple, Liberty Jail. This has to be one of the most powerful and
beautiful set of scriptures we have been given by the Lord.)
If thou art called to pass through tribulation;
if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among
robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea;
If thou art accused with all manner of false
accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the
society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn
sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring,
and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy
garments, and shall say, My father, my father, why can't you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do
with you? and if then he shall be thrust
from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl
around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb;
And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit,
or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if
thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if
fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the
elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell
shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these
things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.
The Son of Man hath descended below them
all. Art thou greater than he?
D&C
122:5 - 8
Three other LDS scholars share their thoughts about the
importance of the concept of opposition.
And so it is that men "are
free to choose liberty and eternal life, . . . or to choose captivity and
death"—the one through the mediation of the Messiah and the other through
the power of the devil, "for he seeketh that all men might be miserable
like unto himself" (2 Nephi 2:27). This seems to be the principal
implication of Lehi's version of the Heraclitean principle that "it must
needs be, that there is an opposition in all things" (2 Nephi 2:11).[4]
Brigham [Young] understood
perfectly the necessity of opposition in life. He referred to 2 Nephi 2:11 and
15 ("it must needs be that there is an opposition in all things") to
teach this eternal truth: "Neither you nor I would ever be prepared to be
crowned in the celestial kingdom of our Father and our God, without devils in
this world. Do you know that the Saints never could be prepared to receive the
glory that is in reserve for them, without devils to help them to get it? . . .
Some of you may think that this is a curious principle, but it is true. Refer
to the Book of Mormon, and you will find that Nephi and others taught that we
actually need evil, in order to make this a state of probation. We must know
the evil in order to know the good. There must needs be an opposition in all
things. . . . This is a true principle."[57] [5]
Why don't we just get rid of Satan?
Augustine lamented as an awful tragedy that God had not made us incapable of
sinning—o miseria necessitas, non posse non peccandi. But as Irenaeus
pointed out much earlier, without some kind of a test we could not prove
ourselves good or bad, never being obliged to choose between the two.81 If
a probation on earth is to have meaning, then there "must needs be that
there is an opposition in all things" (2 Nephi 2:11, 15). So, says Lehi,
we must take a turn at resisting various enticements (2 Nephi 2:16, 21). Lehi
knew the old literature: "That an angel . . . had fallen from heaven;
wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil before
God" and then proceeded to administer temptation, deception, and misery to
the human race (2 Nephi 2:17-18).[6]
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President Howard W. Hunter illustrates opposition by using a
story about a Samoan boat race.
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[1] Jacob and His Descendants as Authors, John S. Tanner, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed June 12, 2013.
[2] Some Universals in the Book of Mormon, Sidney B. Sperry, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed June 12, 2013.
[3] Nephi's Use of Lehi's Record, S. Kent Brown, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed June 12, 2013.
[4] Lehi As Moses, Noel B. Reynolds, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed June 12, 2013.
[5] Brigham Young and the Book of Mormon, W. Jeffrey Marsh, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed June 12, 2013.
[6] The Meaning of the Atonement, Hugh Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed June 12, 2013.
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