9 Know ye not that if
ye will do these things, that the power of the redemption and the resurrection,
which is in Christ, will bring you to stand with shame and awful guilt before
the bar of God?
10 And 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.
11 O then, my beloved
brethren, repent ye, and enter in at the strait gate, and continue in the way
which is narrow, until ye shall obtain eternal life.
12 O be wise; what can
I say more?
13 Finally, I bid you
farewell, until I shall meet you before the pleasing bar of God, which bar
striketh the wicked with awful dread and fear.
Amen.
Jacob 6:9-13
After having reviewed the Allegory, Jacob discussed the
consequences of not following God’s commandments. He told them if they fail to keep this
commandment, “the resurrection, which is in Christ,” means the day will come
when the will “stand with shame and awful guilt” before God.
When preaching to King Noah and his priests, Abinadi told
them, “But behold, and fear, and tremble before God, for ye ought to tremble;
for the Lord redeemeth none such that rebel against him and die in their sins;
yea, even all those that have perished in their sins ever since the world
began, that have wilfully rebelled against God, that have known the
commandments of God, and would not keep them; these are they that have no part
in the first resurrection” (Mosiah 15:26).
Why will they face this torment? “[J]ustice cannot be denied.” They will be sent to “a lake of fire and
brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable … which lake of fire and brimstone is
endless torment.”
This imagery is not uncommon in scriptures. John the Revelator wrote, “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). Nephi would write, “Yea, they are grasped
with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the devil, and all that have
been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God, and be judged
according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for
them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment” (2 Nephi
28:23). King Benjamin would preach, “And
their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are
unquenchable, and whose smoke ascendeth up forever and ever. Thus hath the Lord commanded me. Amen” (Mosiah 3:27).
“The last part of this verse ‘endless torment’ finds a
parallel in Mosiah 2:39, ‘never-ending torment.’ The description of ‘endless
torment’ as ‘fire and brimstone’ was also used by Jacob twice in 2 Ne. 9:19 and
26 and by Nephi in 2 Ne. 28:23. In D&C 76:44 the phrase is ‘and the fire is
not quenched,’ which is their torment. The idea of never-ending torment is also
found in Rev. 14:10–11; 20:10; D&C 19:6. The curse of wrath and torment is
also found in 1Q22 II, ‘[Be] very [careful], for your lives, [to keep them,
lest] the wrath [of your God] against you be enkindled and reach you, and it
closes the skies above, which make rain fall upon you, and [the water] from
under[neath the earth which gives you [the harv]est.’”[1]
We have seen that Jacob was influenced by the teachings of
his father, Lehi. We will see that
future Book of Mormon prophets and teachers will refer to Jacob.
“Jacob taught, speaking of the wicked, that ‘their torment
is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and
ever and has no end’ (2 Nephi 9:16). He also wrote regarding
unrepentant sinners, ‘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) … Jacob uses
the concept of God’s justice to explain why the wicked will receive endless
torment. Unlike other instances in which King Benjamin uses Jacob’s
phrases in differing contexts, in this case he employs them exactly as Jacob
does (see Mosiah 3:26). This demonstrates that King Benjamin was not simply
trying to be creative in his use of Jacob’s material. Rather, he was willing to
accept the content, wording, and intent of Jacob’s words. We, as readers, are
thereby treated to an interesting textual and doctrinal cohesion, even though
these discourses are separated by centuries.”[2]
Jacob encourages his brethren to repent and “enter in at the
strait gate, and continue in the way which is narrow, until ye shall obtain
eternal life.”
Jacob used similar language in an earlier sermon. “O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the
Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his
paths are righteous. Behold, the way for
man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of
the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and
there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for
the Lord God is his name” (2 Nephi 9:41).
Writing towards the end of his life, Nephi would write, “And I heard a
voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and
faithful. He that endureth to the end,
the same shall be saved” (2 Nephi 31:15).
Jacob gives the Nephites basic advice. “O be wise; what can I say more?”
Christ advised His disciples, “Behold, I send you forth as
sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless
[GR guileless] as doves” (Matthew 10:16).
Moroni2 advised us, “Be wise in the days of your probation;
strip yourselves of all uncleanness; ask not, that ye may consume it on your
lusts, but ask with a firmness unshaken, that ye will yield to no temptation,
but that ye will serve the true and living God” (Mormon 9:28).
“It is a human temptation to despair in the face of what
seem overwhelming odds, in this case, when faced with the sinfulness of the
covenant people. Human despair is often exacerbated by our demand for a clear
and rational explanation of how such odds are to be overcome and of our failure
to find any answer to that demand. But Jacob reminds his readers of the power
of God (Jacob 4:9) and warns them, ‘Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel
the Lord’ (Jacob 4:10). And, after giving the parable, he says, ‘O be wise;
what can I say more?’ (Jacob 6:12).”[3]
It seems Jacob intended Chapter 6 to be the end of his
book. Here he gives us his last
farewell; he will meet us “before the pleasing bar of God, which bar striketh
the wicked with awful dread and fear.” Talking
to his son, Corianton, Alma2 told him about the state of the
wicked. “Now this is the state of the
souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking
for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in
this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their
resurrection” (Alma 40:14),
“Jacob’s words [of farewell] are no less moving [than Nephi’s
words of farewell,] but in a very different way. Jacob, too, felt assured of
personal salvation. He looked forward to meeting the reader at the ‘pleasing’
judgment bar of God (Jacob 6:13). But his farewell seems much less optimistic
about the salvation of others: ‘O then, my beloved brethren, repent ye, and
enter in at the strait gate, and continue in the way which is narrow, until ye
shall obtain eternal life. O be wise; what can I say more? Finally, I bid you
farewell, until I shall meet you before the pleasing bar of God, which bar
striketh the wicked with awful dread and fear. Amen’ (Jacob 6:11-13). No other Book of Mormon author uses the
term dread. No one else uses lonesome, nor can I imagine
any other Book of Mormon author writing ‘our lives passed away like as it were
unto us a dream,’ or ‘we did mourn out our days.’ None is so open about
anxiety, none so poetic. No wonder Neal Maxwell called Jacob a prophet-poet.
Jacob is a poet whose voice I’ve learned to love and whom someday I hope to
meet.”[4]
[1]
Appendix: Complete Text of Benjamin’s Speech with Notes and Comments, Maxwell
Institute.
[2]
Jacob’s Textual Legacy, John Hilton III, Maxwell Institute.
[3]
The Olive Tree and the Work of God: Jacob 5 and Romans 11, James E. Faulconer,
Maxwell Institute.
[4]
Jacob and His Descendants as Authors, John S. Tanner, Maxwell Institute.
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