Nephi writes about the fate of the wicked. All those who have followed the devil will
face death and hell. They, along with
the devil, must stand before God and be judged according to their works. They will face the place that has been
prepared for them, “a lake of fire and
brimstone, which is endless torment” (2 Nephi 28:23).
In his revelation, John saw the fate of the wicked. “And
the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles
before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the
beast, and them that worshipped his image.
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone”
(Revelation 19:20). “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers,
and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their
part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death”
(Revelation 21:8).
Speaking to the Nephites, Jacob, using his brother, Nephi’s
words, warned them that, “according to
the power of justice, for justice cannot be denied, ye must go away into that lake
of fire and brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable, and whose smoke ascendeth
up forever and ever, which lake of fire and brimstone is endless torment” (Jacob
6:10)
Noel Reynolds observes:
At the end of Zenos's allegory the
bad fruit is "cast away into its own place" (Jacob 5:77). Jacob
emphasizes the magnitude of this penalty upon wicked individuals by saying,
"How cursed are they who shall be cast out into their own place"
(Jacob 6:3). He then clarifies that because "justice cannot be
denied," these offenders "must go away into that lake of fire and
brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable, and whose smoke ascendeth up forever
and ever, which lake of fire and brimstone is endless torment" (Jacob
6:10). This notion is paralleled in the revelation of John (Revelation 19:20;
20:14–15, 20) and in the writings of Nephi, who saw the same revelation (1
Nephi 14:24–27) and used the same phrase when he said of the wicked that
"they must go into the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and
brimstone, which is endless torment" (2 Nephi 28:23). Thus it may well be
that Nephi was the source of this language for Book of Mormon peoples (1 Nephi
14:24–28; cf. Jacob 3:11, Mosiah 2:37–39; Alma 12:17; 14:14).[1]
With all that is occurring in the world, we must not be “at ease in Zion” (2 Nephi 28:24). We must be vigilant against the subtle
efforts of the devil. If we fail to be watchful,
we will be in danger of falling into Satan’s trap. We must, at all cost, not listen to the
precepts of man that deny the power of God.
[1] Nephite
Uses and Interpretations of Zenos, Noel Reynolds, Maxwell institute,
accessed December 6, 2013.
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