5 And they deny the power of God, the Holy One of Israel;
and they say unto the people: Hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept; for
behold there is no God today, for the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work,
and he hath given his power unto men;
6 Behold, hearken ye unto my precept; if they shall say
there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this
day he is not a God of miracles; he hath done his work.
7 Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: Eat,
drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us.
8 And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat,
drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a
little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words,
dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things,
for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with
a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.
In the last days, Nephi tells us, people will deny the power of Christ. Writing about this time, Nephi previously wrote:
“And the Gentiles are lifted up in the pride of their eyes,
and have stumbled, because of the greatness of their stumbling block, that they
have built up many churches; nevertheless, they put down the power and miracles
of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning,
that they may get gain and grind upon the face of the poor” (2 Nephi 26:20).
Paul wrote Timothy describing the conditions in the last
days.
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall
come.
“For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous,
boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
“Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false
[slanderers], [without self-control], fierce, despisers of those that are good,
“Traitors, [reckless], [puffed up], lovers of pleasures more
than lovers of God;
“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof:
from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
They will deny the existence of God. We see that today. We have seen many books written by so-called “intellectuals”
who want to convince those of us not as wise as they are there is no God.
Alma2 told Korihor:
“Yea, they durst not make use of that which is their own
lest they should offend their priests, who do yoke them according to their
desires, and have brought them to believe, by their traditions and their dreams
and their whims and their visions and their pretended mysteries, that they
should, if they did not do according to their words, offend some unknown being,
who they say is God—a being who never has been seen or known, who never was nor
ever will be” (Alma 30:28).
Those that still know of God’s existence will claim the day
of miracles has passed. He no longer
does these things. Mormon warned, “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 29:7).
Channeling his father, Moroni2 would write, “And
now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a god who can do no
miracles, I would ask of you, have all these things passed, of which I have
spoken? Has the end come yet? Behold I say unto you, Nay; and God has not
ceased to be a God of miracles” (Mormon 9:15).
Today, there are many who accept the “eat, drink, and be
merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us” (2 Nephi 28:7) philosophy. Alma2 had to deal with an
anti-Christ, Korihor. His teachings
embody what we are warned against by Nephi.
“Ye look forward and say that ye see a remission of your
sins. But behold, it is the effect of a
frenzied mind; and this derangement of your minds comes because of the
traditions of your fathers, which lead you away into a belief of things which
are not so.
“And many more such things did he say unto them, telling
them that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men, but every man
fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every
man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according
to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime” (Alma 30:16-17).
Donald Parry looks at the words of Isaiah and how they apply
to us today.
“’Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they
may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!’
(Isaiah 5:11)
“This passage indicates revelry and unholy merrymaking among
those who spend time in immoral entertainment. It warns all against making strong
drink their passion. A passage from the Book of Mormon presents a prophecy that
corresponds in some ways to this verse of Isaiah: ‘There shall be many which
shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well
with us’ (2 Nephi 28:7). But these are ‘false and vain and foolish doctrines’
(Isaiah 5:9).”[1]
Like Korihor, there are those today who believe we should
not (and will not) be held accountable for our actions. They find ways to justify actions, claiming
it’s not a person’s fault for what they do.
Isaiah prophesied,
“And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts [called for
repentance] to weeping, and to mourning,
and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
“And behold [they went on with revelry as usual] and gladness,
slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat
and drink; for to morrow we shall die.
“And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts,
Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord
GOD of hosts” (Isaiah 22:12-14).
In Malachi’s day, he faced the same problem. “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).
Moroni2 warned those of us who would read the
Book of Mormon we would face the same challenges.
“Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great
pollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and
lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when
there shall be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not,
for the Lord will uphold such at the last day. But wo unto such, for they are
in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity” (Mormon 8:31).
[1] Visualizing
Isaiah – A Warning to the Wicked, Donald W. Parry, Maxwell Institute.
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