Who stands in danger before the Lord? Those that pretend to preach but are wise,
smart and teach false doctrine. Solomon
counseled, “Trust in the LORD with all
thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge
him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the
LORD, and depart from evil” (Proverbs
3:5-7).
Mormon gives us an outstanding example of a man who fits
this description. Upon his death, Zeniff
appointed his son, Noah, king. We know
nothing about him until after he was made king.
Mormon gives us this description, “For
behold, he did not keep the commandments of God, but he did walk after the
desires of his own heart. And he had
many wives and concubines. And he did cause
his people to commit sin, and do that which was abominable in the sight of the
Lord. Yea, and they did commit whoredoms
and all manner of wickedness” (Mosiah 11:2).
In spite of his wickedness, he, along with his corrupt
priests, would deny they were wicked and not following the Law of Moses when
challenged by Abinadi. We know this
because, after fleeing the king, Alma1
wrote down his words. Remember, they
were addressed to Alma1 as well as the king and the other
priests. Only Alma1 took them
to heart and repented.
Leaders like Noah perverted the way of the Lord. What will be the consequences of their
choices? “[T]hey shall be thrust down to hell” (2 Nephi 28:15).
As Mormon ended his record of the Savior’s ministry among
the Nephites, he wrote:
And
when ye shall see these sayings coming forth among you, then ye need not any
longer spurn at the doings of the Lord, for the sword of his justice is in his
right hand; and behold, at that day, if ye shall spurn at his doings he will
cause that it shall soon overtake you.
Wo
unto him that spurneth at the doings of the Lord; yea, wo unto him that shall deny
the Christ and his works!
Yea,
wo unto him that shall deny the revelations of the Lord, and that shall say the
Lord no longer worketh by revelation, or by prophecy, or by gifts, or by
tongues, or by healings, or by the power of the Holy Ghost!
Yea,
and wo unto him that shall say at that day, to get gain, that there can be no
miracle wrought by Jesus Christ; for he that doeth this shall become like unto
the son of perdition, for whom there was no mercy, according to the word of
Christ!
3 Nephi 29:4-7
Moroni2, as he finished his father’s book, wrote, “[W]ho can stand against the works of the
Lord? Who can deny his sayings? Who will rise up against the almighty power
of the Lord? Who will despise the works
of the Lord? Who will despise the
children of Christ? Behold, all ye who
are despisers of the works of the Lord, for ye shall wonder and perish” (Mormon
9:26).
These false priests and church leaders will turn away the
just, scorn against the good, and say these things are of no worth. Ignore them, they say. Malachi faced this with problem with the Jews. “Ye
have wearied the LORD with your words.
Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him?
When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD,
and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment” (Malachi 2:17).
When that day comes, the Lord will deal with the
wicked. They will be full ripe for
destruction. The Lord told the Brother
of Jared,
And
[The Lord] had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should
possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve
him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his
wrath should come upon them.
And
now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land
of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they
shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them
when they are ripened in iniquity.
For
behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that
doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the
everlasting decree of God. And it is not
until the fulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept
off.
And
this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God—that
ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that
ye may not bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon you as the
inhabitants of the land have hitherto done.
Ether 2:8-11
When does wicked become “fully ripe?” Richard Draper explains?
When iniquity ripens fully the
cursings come. But what constitutes being ripe in iniquity? The Book of Mormon
gives specific conditions: (1) when "the voice of this people should
choose iniquity" (Alma 10:19); (2) when the people "turn aside the
just for a thing of naught and revile against that which is good, and say that
it is of no worth" (2 Nephi 28:16); (3) when they reject "every word
of God" (1 Nephi 17:35); and (4) "when [they] shall cast out the
righteous from among [them], then shall [they] be ripe for destruction"
(Helaman 13:14).[1]
[1] Hubris and Atē: A Latter-day Warning from the Book of Mormon, Richard D. Draper, Maxwell Institute,
accessed November 30, 2013.
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