22 And now I make an end of
speaking unto you concerning this pride.
And were it not that I must speak unto you concerning a grosser crime,
my heart would rejoice exceedingly because of you.
23 But the word of God
burdens me because of your grosser crimes.
For behold, thus saith the Lord: This people begin to wax in iniquity;
they understand not the scriptures, for they seek to excuse themselves in
committing whoredoms, because of the things which were written concerning
David, and Solomon his son.
24 Behold, David and Solomon
truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me,
saith the Lord.
25 Wherefore, thus saith the
Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power
of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a righteous branch from the fruit of
the loins of Joseph.
26 Wherefore, I the Lord God
will not suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old.
Jacob
ends his sermon on pride, and turns to “a grosser crime.” What is this crime? They commit whoredoms “because of the things
which were written concerning David and Solomon…”
Why
were David and Solomon held up as a poor example? Because David and Solomon had multiple wives
and concubines. This was abominable in
the sight of the Lord.
The
Lord had warned against multiple wives.
“Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not
away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold”
(Deuteronomy 17:17).
Noel
Reynolds observed:
“The
most direct references to them are by Jacob, who blames David and Solomon for
their abominable practice of having many wives and concubines. In the next
verse, Jacob pointedly cites the sins of the Jews in Jerusalem as the Lord's
reason for leading Lehi out of that land so that he "might raise up
. . . a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph"
(see Jacob 2:24–5).”[1]
The
Lord led Lehi’s party to the new world “that I might raise up unto me a
righteous branch from the loins of Joseph.” The prophet Amos wrote about a
remnant of Joseph. “Hate the evil, and
love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God
of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph” (Amos 5:15).
The
Lord made it clear, He “will not suffer that this people shall do like them of
old.”
David
Rolph Seely discusses the promises made to Joseph and Abraham.
“The
patriarchal blessing given to Joseph by his father, Jacob, declared that ‘Joseph
is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over
the wall’ (Genesis 49:22). This promise was fulfilled by Lehi and his
descendants as the Lord led them to the promised land in the New World (1 Nephi
19:24; Jacob 2:25; cf. 1 Nephi 5:14, 16; 2 Nephi 3:4; Alma 10:3) and
resulted in the expansion of the covenant lands to include the Americas in the
Abrahamic covenant as the inheritance of Joseph. The resurrected Savior taught
the Nephites: ‘And behold, this people will I establish in this land, unto the
fulfilling of the covenant which I made with your father Jacob; and it shall be
a New Jerusalem’ (3 Nephi 20:22).”[2]
Hugh
Nibley writes about the expectations the Lord had for the Nephites.
“With
seeking for wealth goes a ‘grosser’ attendant vice of licentious living (see
Jacob 2:22–23). God does not bring people to the Promised Land for a repeat of
the Old World follies; here he is determined to ‘raise up unto me a righteous
branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph. Wherefore, I the Lord God will
not suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old’ (Jacob 2:25–26).
God's people may never enjoy the luxury of living after the manner of the world
(see D&C 105:3–5).”[3]
[1]
Nephite Kingship Reconsidered, Noel B. Reynolds, Maxwell Institute, accessed
March 4, 2014.
[2]
Sacred History, Covenants, and the Messiah: The Religious Background of the
World of Lehi, David Rolph Seely, Maxwell Institute.
[3]
Scriptural Perspectives on How to Survive the Calamities of the Last Days, Hugh
Nibley, Maxwell Institute.
No comments:
Post a Comment