{"id":30310,"date":"2016-01-24T22:59:26","date_gmt":"2016-01-25T05:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=30310"},"modified":"2016-01-24T23:16:53","modified_gmt":"2016-01-25T06:16:53","slug":"bom-2-nephi-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/01\/bom-2-nephi-6.html","title":{"rendered":"BOM 2 Nephi 6"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Jewish<\/a>
\u201cAn den Wassern Babylons\u201d
(\u201cBy the Waters of Babylon\u201d)
Gebhard Fugel, ca. 1920
(Wikimedia CC public domain; click to enlarge)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

How shall we sing the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u2018s song in a strange land?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.<\/strong> \u00a0(Psalm 137:1-6)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s reading from the Book of Mormon,\u00a02 Nephi 6,<\/a>\u00a0we hear for the first time from Jacob, one of Nephi\u2019s younger brothers.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yet he\u2019s addressing topics and a text that Nephi has assigned to him (2 Nephi 6:4).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Plainly, he agrees with\u00a0Nephi\u2019s method of scriptural exegesis or interpretation<\/a>\u00a0because, just as his brother had, he speaks of \u201clikening\u201d the scriptures (and specifically Isaiah) to his own people. \u00a0The underlying notion here seems to be that the history of Israel unfolds in recurring patterns or cycles \u2014 for Jacob expressly says that it is because the Nephites are of Israel that the principle of scriptural \u201clikening\u201d can work (2 Nephi 6:5). \u00a0And this may be especially so with the prophet Isaiah, which is an important key to understanding that rich and seemingly difficult book.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jacob has learned by revelation that Jerusalem has indeed fallen by this point, as Lehi had warned that it would (in\u00a0the very first chapter\u00a0<\/a>of the Book of Mormon), and that what is commonly called the \u201cBabylonian captivity\u201d of the Jews has begun (2 Nephi 6:8). \u00a0This indicates, if Jacob\u2019s inspiration was accurate, that he\u2019s speaking in or after 586 BC.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2 Nephi 6:12, Jacob announces that the Gentiles can be heirs of salvation \u2014 but only if they\u00a0\u201cdo not unite themselves to that great\u00a0<\/span>and abominable\u00a0church\u201d (on\u00a0<\/span>which, among other passages, see\u00a01 Nephi 13<\/a>). \u00a0Which suggests to me that that infamous \u201cchurch\u201d isn\u2019t merely some specific denomination, a group of people who happen to have\u00a0fallen into honest but unfortunate doctrinal error on one or more issues. \u00a0It is, as other scattered comments about it throughout 1-2 Nephi strongly suggest (see, for example, my comment here<\/a>), a collective designation for all those who disdainfully reject God, his self-revelation, and his commandments and who live lives focused instead on pleasure, power, and\u00a0wealth in this world.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBOM 2 Nephi 6<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 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