Sunday, September 1, 2013

2 Nephi 9:14-16

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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