15 O the wise, and the learned, and the rich, that are
puffed up in the pride of their hearts, and all those who preach false
doctrines, and all those who commit whoredoms, and pervert the right way of the
Lord, wo, wo, wo be unto them, saith the Lord God Almighty, for they shall be
thrust down to hell!
16 Wo unto them that turn aside the just for a thing of
naught and revile against that which is good, and say that it is of no worth!
For the day shall come that the Lord God will speedily visit the inhabitants of
the earth; and in that day that they are fully ripe in iniquity they shall
perish.
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.
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