After reading from Isaiah, Jacob continues his sermon. The portion of the sermon in Chapter 9 is one
of the most powerful sermons in the Book of Mormon.
Chapter 9
Jews shall be gathered
in all their lands of promise—Atonement ransoms man from the fall—The bodies of
the dead shall come forth from the grave, and their spirits from hell and from
paradise—They shall be judged—Atonement saves from death, hell, the devil, and
endless torment—The righteous to be saved in the kingdom of God—Penalties for sins
set forth—The Holy One of Israel is the keeper of the gate. About 559–545 B.C.
1 And now, my beloved
brethren, I have read these things that ye might know concerning the covenants
of the Lord that he has covenanted with all the house of Israel—
2 That he has spoken
unto the Jews, by the mouth of his holy prophets, even from the beginning down,
from generation to generation, until the time comes that they shall be restored
to the true church and fold of God; when they shall be gathered home to the
lands of their inheritance, and shall be established in all their lands of
promise.
3 Behold, my beloved
brethren, I speak unto you these things that ye may rejoice, and lift up your
heads forever, because of the blessings which the Lord God shall bestow upon
your children.
4 For I know that ye
have searched much, many of you, to know of things to come; wherefore I know
that ye know that our flesh must waste away and die; nevertheless, in our
bodies we shall see God.
Jacob read from Isaiah so the Nephites would know about the covenants the Lord made with the house of Israel. They needed to understand that, even though they were separated from the main body, they were still a branch of the house.
John Lindquist and John Welch explain the purpose of Jacob’s
sermon.
“Jacob's ensuing speech is a covenant speech: "I have
read these things that ye might know concerning the covenants of the Lord"
(2 Nephi 9:1). Jacob's purpose was to purify the people, to shake his garments
of all iniquities and have his people turn away from sin (see 2 Nephi 9:44-45),
to motivate them to act for themselves – 'to choose the way of everlasting
death or the way of eternal life’ (2 Nephi 10:23). His words compare closely
with the covenant text of Joshua 24, where the Israelites were given the same
choice as they established their new religious and social order under Joshua.”[1]
The Lord spoke to the Jews through his prophets throughout
history. This will continue until they day
they are “restored to the true church and fold of God” (2 Nephi 9:2). At that day, they will again be gathered and
establish their lands of promise.
Hugh Nibley explains Jacob’s role and contribution to the
words of the Lord.
“Since all the prophets tell the same story (2 Nephi 9:2),
any prophet is free to contribute anything to the written record that will make
that message clear and intelligible. The principle is illustrated throughout
the Book of Mormon and indeed by the very existence of the book itself—a book
that shocked the world with its revolutionary concept of scripture as an
open-ended production susceptible to the errors of men and amenable to
correction by the spirit of prophecy.”[2]
Why does Jacob speak the words? That they may rejoice because of the
blessings their children will receive from the Lord. In Psalms, David wrote:
“Lift up your
heads, O ye generations of Jacob;
and be ye lifted up; and the Lord strong and mighty; the Lord mighty in battle,
who is the king of glory, shall
establish you forever.
“And he will roll away the heavens; and will come down to redeem his
people; to make you an everlasting name; to establish you upon his everlasting
rock.
“Lift up your
heads, O ye generations of Jacob;
lift up your heads, ye everlasting generations, and the Lord of hosts, the king of kings;
“Even the king of
glory shall come unto you; and shall
redeem his people, and shall establish them in righteousness.” (Psalms
24:7-10) (Joseph Smith Translation in bold)
The day will come, Jacob says, when our flesh will decay and
die; yet, in our bodies we will see God.
In spite of all that happened to him, Job would testify, “And though
after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God” (Job
19:26).
When confronting Zeezrom, Amulek would tell him:
“Therefore the wicked remain as though there had been no
redemption made, except it be the loosing of the bands of death; for behold,
the day cometh that ball shall rise from the dead and stand before
God, and be judged according to their works.
“Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and
the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all
shall be raised from this temporal death.
“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.
“Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and
young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the
righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but
every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the
body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son,
and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged
according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.
“Now, behold, I have spoken unto you concerning the death of
the mortal body, and also concerning the resurrection of the mortal body. I say unto you that this mortal body is
raised to an immortal body, that is from death, even from the first death unto
life, that they can die no more; their spirits uniting with their bodies, never
to be divided; thus the whole becoming spiritual and immortal, that they can no
more see corruption” (Alma 11:41-45).
Samuel the Lamanite taught that Christ must die for there to
be salvation. His death would bring
forth the resurrection and bring us into the presence of God. The resurrection saves all mankind from the
spiritual death we suffered through the fall of Adam. Christ will bring all men back into the
presence of God. Whoever does not
repent, however, will suffer a second death, a spiritual death. They will be forever cutoff from God (see
Helaman 14:15-18).
[1] Kingship and Temple in 2 Nephi 5-10, John M. Lundquist, and John W. Welch,
Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute
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