Jacob talks about the judgment day.
When we stand before God at the judgment day, there will be
those who will have a perfect knowledge of our sins and wickedness. The righteous, on the other hand, will have a
perfect knowledge of the righteousness.
The wicked will stand before God in their nakedness while the righteous
will be clothed in the robe of righteousness.
David Belnap discusses the use of clothing in the
scriptures.
Eternal life is also described in
terms of clothing and investiture … [I]n the Book of Mormon, Jacob describes
judgment in which the righteous "shall have a perfect knowledge of their
enjoyment, and their righteousness, being clothed with purity, yea, even with
the robe of righteousness" (2 Nephi 9:14). Like the verse that precedes
it, exaltation is exemplified not only in the clothing worn but also in the
investiture. Moreover, Jacob associates the investiture with the acquisition of
knowledge as well. In other words, being clothed in the robe of righteousness,
the righteous now possess a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment. The clothing
acts as communication, providing one the means of knowing
"enjoyment."[1]
In this teaching, he was referring back to Isaiah. “For
our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us:
for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them” (Isaiah
59:12).
King Benjamin, speaking of the judgment, told his people:
And
thus saith the Lord: [My words] shall stand as a bright testimony against this
people, at the judgment day; whereof they shall be judged, every man according
to his works, whether they be good, or whether they be evil.
And
if they be evil they are consigned to an awful view of their own guilt and
abominations, which doth cause them to shrink from the presence of the Lord
into a state of misery and endless torment, from whence they can no more
return; therefore they have drunk damnation to their own souls.
Mosiah 3:24-25
Alma2 taught the people of Zarahemla:
I
say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord,
saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works
have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?
Or
do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say—Lord,
our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth—and that he will
save you?
Or
otherwise, can ye imagine yourselves brought before the tribunal of God with
your souls filled with guilt and remorse, having a remembrance of all your
guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness, yea, a remembrance
that ye have set at defiance the commandments of God?
Alma 5:16-18
Amulek, confronting Zeezrom and his false teachings told
him:
The
spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and
joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time;
and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and
have a bright recollection of all our guilt.
Alma 11:43
Jacob affirms this is the word of the Lord. “[I]t
is his eternal word, which cannot pass away” (2 Nephi 9:16). When we stand before God, those that were
righteous will stand before him in righteousness. The wicked will stand before him in their
filthiness. Jacob assures us the word of
the Lord will be fulfilled.
In the Preface to the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord said:
Search
these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises
which are in them shall all be fulfilled.
What
I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the
heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled,
whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.
For
behold, and lo, the Lord is God, and the Spirit beareth record, and the record
is true, and the truth abideth forever and ever. Amen.
Section 1:37-39
The Lord would later reaffirm His words. “And
though the heaven and the earth pass away, these words shall not pass away, but
shall be fulfilled” (D&C 56:11).
What will happen to the wicked and why will that
happen? It was revealed to Nephi is his
great vision.
Wherefore,
if they should die in their wickedness they must be cast off also, as to the
things which are spiritual, which are pertaining to righteousness; wherefore,
they must be brought to stand before God, to be judged of their works; and if
their works have been filthiness they must needs be filthy; and if they be
filthy it must needs be that they cannot dwell in the kingdom of God; if so,
the kingdom of God must be filthy also.
But
behold, I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy, and there cannot any
unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God; wherefore there must needs be a
place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy.
And
there is a place prepared, yea, even that awful hell of which I have spoken,
and the devil is the preparator of it; wherefore the final state of the souls
of men is to dwell in the kingdom of God, or to be cast out because of that justice
of which I have spoken.
1 Nephi 15:33-35
Preaching to the people of Gideon, Alma 2 taught, “And he doth not dwell in unholy temples;
neither can filthiness or anything which is unclean be received into the
kingdom of God; therefore I say unto you the time shall come, yea, and it shall
be at the last day, that he who is filthy shall remain in his filthiness” (Alma
7:21)
Finishing his father’s book, Moroni2 wrote: “And then cometh the judgment of the Holy
One upon them; and then cometh the time that he that is filthy shall be filthy
still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is happy
shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still” (Mormon
9:14).
[1] Clothed
with Salvation: The Garden, the Veil, Tabitha, and Christ, Daniel Belnap,
Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed September 1, 2013.
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