Lamanites Grinded to Powder (2 Nephi 26)

Up yonder is a photo of a toy fort set.  I dreamed about having a set of Lincoln Logs when I was a kid, and would most definitely have built me a fort with 'em.  I was a deprived child, however, and had to make due with my beloved Tonka Trucks.

Forts were pretty common back in the old days.  In all of the old cowboys and Indians movies, the cavalry usually stayed safe inside the walls of their forts until they were called on to mount up and move out, usually to save some poor, helpless idiots trying to farm in Monument Valley, Utah and Arizona.

American Indians used to be portrayed on the big screen as murdering, barbarous savages who deserved a good butt kickin'.  We have at least a somewhat better idea of the true history nowadays (Gnadenhutten massacre).

The Book of Mormon peoples known as the Lamanites are the ancestors of the modern indigenous people of North, Central and South America.  Nephi talks about them in 2 Nephi 26.

2 Nephi 26: 14-15

14.  But behold, I prophesy unto you concerning the last days; concerning the days when The Lord God shall bring these things forth unto the children of men.

15.  After my seed and the seed of my brethren shall have dwindled in unbelief, and shall have been smitten by the Gentiles; yea after The Lord God shall have camped against them round about, and shall have laid siege against them with a mount, and raised forts against them; and after they shall have been brought down low in the dust, even that they are not, yet the words of the righteous shall be written, and the prayers of the faithful shall be heard, and all those who have dwindled in unbelief shall not be forgotten. 

I think it's interesting that Nephi used the word "forts".  Anywayz, these verses make it sound like the atrocities committed against these Native peoples was The Lord's will.  I do not.  Once again, just like back when I wrote in a blog post about the persecution of the Jews, these are prophecies of things that were to happen to his people, not God's wrath come shooting out of the sky. That's how I see it, anywayz.

Poor Nephi was shown the future of his people, and it didn't look good.  It must have been heartbreaking for him to know such beautiful truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to know that Jesus Christ Himself will visit his people shortly after he is crucified for them, and then also know that they will nearly all be destroyed within 400 years of that miracle, all because of their thick skulls.

2 Nephi 26: 1-3, 7, 9, 24

1.  And after Christ shall have risen from the dead He shall show Himself unto you, my children, and my beloved brethren; and the words which He shall speak unto you shall be the law which ye shall do.

2.  For behold, I say unto you that I have beheld that many generations shall pass away, and there shall be great wars and contentions among my people.

3.  And after the Messiah shall come there shall be signs given unto my people of His birth, and also of His death and resurrection; and great and terrible shall that day be unto the wicked, for they shall perish; and they perish because they cast out the prophets, and the saints, and stone them, and slay them; wherefore the cry of the blood of the saints shall ascend up to God from the ground against them.

And just to emphasize his point about the Nephites destruction, verse 7 is one of my favorite quotes from the BOM:

7.  And they that kill the prophets, and the saints, the depths of the earth shall swallow them up, saith The Lord of Hosts; and mountains shall cover them, and whirlwinds shall carry them away, and buildings shall fall upon them and crush them to pieces and grind them to powder.

9.  O the pain, and the anguish of my soul for the loss of the slain of my people!  For I, Nephi, have seen it, and it well nigh consumeth me before the presence of The Lord; but I must cry unto my God: Thy ways are just.

I feel bad for Nephi.  But, Nephi is blessed with Eternal Perspective, the light of the Gospel, and an understanding of The Lord's plan of salvation.

24.  He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for He loveth the world, even that He layeth down His own life that He may draw all men unto Him.  Wherefore, He commandeth none that they shall not partake of His salvation.

I actually have a friend who, about 20 years ago, told me that he thought that God wouldn't want him in His heaven.  It was a low point for the poor fella.  Good thing I knew about a nice scripture in the BOM that ridiculocized his self deprecating thoughts.  My buddy is doing great now.  You can always find answers in the scriptures, though not always so clear as that one was.

POP QUIZ

A.

B.

Have faith, and go with option B.

See you in chapter 27 where Nephi goes back to Isaiah...

(Back to Isaiah)

Peace be with you...

Remember His Name (2 Nephi 25, part 2)

http://deseretbook.com/His-Holy-Name-Dallin-H-Oaks/i/5092088

The Name of Jesus Christ appears in 2 Nephi 25 about 80 times.  I actually didn't really count, but it's a lot. Way back when I did my post about 1 Nephi 11, I talked about Nephi seeing a vision of the Tree of Life.  When Nephi asked for the interpretation of the tree, he was shown a vision of the birth, life, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Then the angel put the question back to Nephi, "What meaneth the tree?"

This is my Tree of Life plate that a guy made for me while I was in Japan in 1994.  When he gave it to me, it wasn't upside down, but google blogger had a different idea.  Sorry, it won't fix.

 Nephi says, "It is the Love of God, which sheddeth Itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men."

Nephi loved The Savior, and understood as only a prophet can the depth of Christ's love for him, and the [insert fancy word here that means HUGE] importance of Christ's atonement. 

2 Nephi 25: 12-13

12.  ...and when the day cometh that the Only Begotten of The Father, yea, even The Father of heaven and of earth, shall manifest Himself unto them in the flesh, behold, they will reject Him, because of their iniquities, and the hardness of their hearts, and the stiffness of their necks.

13.  Behold, they will crucify Him; and after He is laid in a sepulchre for the space of three days He shall rise from the dead, with healing in His wings; and all those who shall believe on His Name shall be saved in the kingdom of God.  Wherefore, my soul delighteth to prophesy concerning him, for I have seen His day, and my heart doth magnify His Holy Name. 

I've noticed over the years an interesting something or other about references to the saving power of Christ.  Some scriptures tell us that salvation will come to those who believe in Him, accept Him, worship Him, come unto Him, obey Him, etc.  Other scriptures tell us that it is the Name of Jesus Christ that offers salvation.  I feel like both of these are true, but find it interesting that the scriptures differentiate them.


2 Nephi 25: 19

19.  For according to the words of the prophets, The Messiah cometh in six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem; and according to the words of the prophets, and also the word of the angel of God, His name shall be Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

20.  ...Behold I say unto you, that as these things are true, and as The Lord God liveth, there is none other name given under heaven save it be this Jesus Christ, of which I have spoken, whereby man can  be saved.

What is it about the Name of Jesus Christ that offers salvation to the human family?  I looked up the name of Jesus on http://www.kabalarians.com/index.cfm to see if I could gain some insight.

It was very insightful (not).  Here's their "analysis":

• Your name of Jesus has given you the ability to handle people.  You are pleasant and diplomatic, and seem to sense how others feel.  For this reason, you could do well in public relations work.  (Definitely true so far)
• You appreciate the finer things of life, and like to have a good standard of living.  (Well, he was poor in the beginning, but is now quite well off, so that could be true)
• You feel that it is important to convey the impression that you are financially secure, and you place importance on your mode of dress, and on appearances generally.  (Um, well, He did say that the body is a temple, and that we should watch what we wear, so... maybe)
• While you could do well in certain positions of authority, you have a certain lack of initiative and a tendency to procrastinate.  (This one just cracks me up)
• Difficulty in coming to important decisions and a degree of passivity do not allow you the concentration and application required to attain positions of responsibility.  (Um, no)
• You prefer to choose the easiest way to accomplish your goals, and would probably readily admit that you dislike hard work.  (The easy way?  Um, no)
• However, your likeable personality sees you through most situations but when your emotional nature does not allow you to be strictly impersonal in your relationships, you could experience awkward, embarrassing entanglements. (Not real good at this, are they)
• Weaknesses in the health could affect the kidneys, or lower back.  (Um, well, they're kind of off the mark on that one too)

Here's my think...

A person's identity is much more than just their name, but in a way, their name represents all that they are.  Jesus Christ is perfectly kind, loving, just, merciful, powerful, giving, knowing, fair, humane, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc...........  His name represents not only Who Jesus is, but also what He believes in, what His mission is, what His duty is, what He wants for us, what He offers us, what He did for us, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc...........  To believe in the Name of Christ, is to believe in Christ Himself, and everything about Him.

When we partake of The Lord's Supper, or the Sacrament as we call it today, we covenant to take upon ourselves the Name of Jesus Christ, and always remember Him. 

2 things about that....

# One.  We covenant to take upon ourselves His Name:  In taking His Name upon us, we take upon us all that His Name represents, that is to say, His gospel, His mercy, His kindness, His everything, or at least to make an effort to come as close as we can to these things, we being so not perfect as He is and all that.  We also take upon us His sacrifice, or in other words, accept His sacrifice, His atonement, His forgiveness.

Number 2:  We covenant to always remember Him:  Please remember to not forget to remember His atoning sacrifice.  It's great to be obedient, but it's vital to remember Him, because we will always fall short.  Don't forget to remember all He has done for you, and seek His mercy again and again and again and again, as many times as it takes, even if it's 491 times.  He will never forget about you.  He has "graven you on the palms of His hands," another great Isaiah reference.

2 Nephi 25: 23-26

23.  For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.

24.  And, notwithstanding we believe in Christ, we keep the law of Moses, and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law shall be fulfilled.

25.  For, for this end was the law given; wherefore the law hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith; yet we keep the law because of the commandments.

26.  And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look forward for a remission of their sins.

Nephi knew and understood that the laws given through Moses to the house of Israel were still in effect, but would be fulfilled at Christ's atonement, and would then be replaced by Christ's higher law.  This higher law is found, at least in part, in The Bible and the Book of Mormon, where Jesus Christ delivered His Sermon on the Mount.  And Nephi understood that it was not obedience to the law that would bring salvation, but the atonement of Christ.  Obedience to the commandments of God shows our commitment to and love for The Savior, and increases our faith in Him and our love for Him.  And it is that belief in, faith in, and love for The Savior that leads us to repent & take upon ourselves His Name, which brings about His amazing grace in our behalf, despite all we do, or all we can do. 

I know this blog post is getting long, but I want to say something about the ending phrase in vs. 23: "We know that we are saved by grace, after all we can do."

The part that says "after all we can do" has caused some to think that we have to measure up to some standard before we can have a hope for salvation.  I clearly remember being a member of this misguided group.  I spent more than 1/2 of my life thinking that I have too many flaws, fall far too short of "all I can do," whatever that means, and ain't never gonna be "worthy enough," whatever that means, to go to heaven.  And why not?  Because I need the Savior's love a little too much?  Sounds silly, doesn't it?  

There's a part later in the BOM that throws some light on the phrase "after all we can do."  It's in Alma 24: 10-11, and is spoken by the King of a people who came to know Christ, ask His forgiveness, and believe in His ability and willingness to save them.

10.  And I also thank my God, yea, my great God, that He hath granted unto us that we might repent of these things. and also that He hath forgiven us of those our many sins and murders which we have committed, and taken away the guilt from our hearts, through the merits of His Son.

11.  And now behold, my brethren, since it has been all that we could do (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent of all our sins and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to take them away from our hearts, for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before God that He would take away our stain.

Mosiah 4: 30

30.  ...And now, O man, remember, and perish not.

Peace be with you...

Back to the plain words of Nephi (2 Nephi 25, part 1)

With 2nd Nephi 25, we leave Nephi's Isaiah obsession and come back to Nephi's own words.  Nephi is much plainer, and easier to comprendo than Isaiah.  So Welcome back to...

Right off the bat, Nephi admits that Isaiah is a tough cookie to understand...

2nd Nephi 25: 1

1.  ...for behold, Isaiah spoke many things which were hard for many of my people to understand; for they know not concerning the manner of prophesying among the Jews.

&then down at the bottom of this same column, Nephi says that, even though he loves the words of Isaiah (vs. 5), his soul delights in plainness unto his people, that they may learn (vs. 4).  

Any questions about that?

Then why in the name of Jonathon Livingston Seagull did Nephi just spend 12 chapters of precious room on the Plates of Nephi quoting Isaiah, when he knew his people wouldn't really understand it?  And if it is more for our day than Nephi's day that he quotes Isaiah, didn't he know that we would have all of those chapters in our Old Testament?

2 Nephi 25: 8

8.  Wherefore, they [the words of Isaiah] are of worth unto the children of men, and he that supposeth that they are not, unto them will I speak particularly, and confine the words unto mine own people; for I know that they shall be of great worth unto them the last days; for in that day shall they understand them; wherefore, for their good I have written them.

Mine own people:  Who's Nephi's own people?  I got 2 possible answers... The Jews that Nephi knows will be scattered and smitten for generations to come, and his own descendants, the Nephites and Lamanites.  And here's the horcrux of the matter...

2 Nephi 25: 16-17

16.  And after they have been scattered, and The Lord God hath scourged them by other nations for the space of many generations, yea, even down from generation to generation until they shall be persuaded to believe in Christ, the Son of God, and the atonement, which is infinite for all mankind -and when that day shall come that they shall believe in Christ, and worship The Father in His Name, with pure hearts and clean hands, and look not forward any more for another Messiah, then, at that time, the day will come that it must needs be expedient that they should believe these things.

17.  And The Lord will set His hand again the second time to restore His people from their lost and fallen state.  Wherefore, He will proceed to do a marvelous work and a wonder among the children of men.

Ya see, kids... 

The restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon through the Prophet Joseph Smith is the marvelous work and a wonder Nephi is talking about.  The Book of Mormon is the means by which the gathering of Israel will be accomplished in the last days.  The Isaiah chapters in the BOM have a GREAT deal to do with that, at least that's my take on it.

And now...

And so I face...

So this concludes our show for today.  2 Nephi 25 is a significant chapter in the BOM.  I'm going to do 2 posts on it.  Tune in next time when we talk of Christ, rejoice in Christ, preach of Christ, prophesy of Christ and discuss what worshiping Christ with all of our mind, might, strength and whole souls means.  I'm not sure, but I think it has something to do with having clean hands and a pure heart.

Peace be with you....

Isaiah: A Great Feller (2 Nephi 24)

Today we're on 2nd Nephi 24 (compare Isaiah 14).  First thing I do when I blog a BOM chapter is read the chapter clear through once, and look and listen and sense for impressions or ideas or whatever.  These are my notes...

So, I looked through it again.  This time I really put on my thinker...

But...

So, I'll sum the chapter up for ya, and we'll color it good.

2 Nephi 24: 1

1.  For The Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land; and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.

After this, past, and future scatterings, Israel will become a chosen people once again, and be gathered in as He promised from the beginning.


Strangers shall be joined with Israel.  Hopefully, when we meet them, we'll know who not to talk to.  You know, 'cause we ain't supposed to talk to strangers.  Never mind.  Ok, we're the strangers.  You know, Gentiles.  Anywayz...

2 Nephi 24: 3

3.  And it shall come to pass in that day that The Lord shall give thee rest, from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve.

Those who beat up on Israel won't bug 'em anymore.

2 Nephi 24: 8

8.  Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and also the cedars of Lebannon, saying:  Since thou art laid down no feller is come up against us.

Ha, no feller.  That's awesome.  Bad news for that cool feller, Paul Bunyan...

Then it says some stuff about a couple of fellers who were serious losers.  Isaiah is a smart feller who is real good at speaking about multiple people and times at once.  Verses 12 through 16 is about the king of Babylon on the surface, but it is widely believed that it's really about Satan.  This is where Satan gets the name Lucifer, which actually means "light bearer" or "morning star".  Satan was a nice feller at one time in the pre-mortal realm, but then got greedy, and was thrown outta there.

 
Since then he has sought that "man might be miserable like unto himself." (-2 Nephi 2: 27). 

2 Nephi 24: 12

12.  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!  Art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations!

13.  For thou hast said in thy heart:  I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north;

14.  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.

15.  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

It's a sad story, really.  But it's important to know that we know who the winner will be, we know who the loser will be, and we can decide to be a winner or a loser by joining one or t'other.  As for me and my house, we will serve The Lord. (-Joshua 24: 15)

That's the end of the Isaiahs, at least the tough ones.  There's a few more, but they don't scare me.  It's taken me months and months to get from 2 Nephi 11 to 2 Nephi 25.  I'm sorry to see him go.  I'm going to miss Isaiah.

I hope you know that I'm kidding about not liking the Isaiah chapters.  Jesus Christ said, "Yea, a commandment I give unto you, that ye search these things diligently, for Great are the words of Isaiah," and I believe Him. (-3 Nephi 23: 1) He's just a hard feller to blog about that many times in a row.  I seriously can't wait to get to Mosiah something or other when Abinadi quotes Isaiah 53 (-Mosiah 14) before he is burned alive. 

Let's celebrate our completion of the Isaiahs by figuring up some way to sum it all up.  How do you sum up Isaiah? 

Isaiah 9: 6

6.  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 50: 6

6.  I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair:  I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

2 Nephi 24: 7

7.  The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet; they break forth into singing.

Great are the words of Isaiah.

Peace be with you...

Farewell to Babylon (2 Nephi 23)

The preamble of 2 Nephi 23 (compare Isaiah 13) says that the destruction of Babylon is a type of the destruction that will happen at The Lord's 2nd Coming.  Therefore, today I will talk about
Last of the Mohicans...

Doesn't look like Babylon lasted very long.  I guess Isaiah was right about them...

2 Nephi 23: 19

19.  And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

20.  It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.

Here's Babylon today

What was so awful about Babylon?  There were lots of places around the world whose people weren't models of obedience to The Lord.  Why pick on the Babylonians as the standard in wicked behavior, always to be referred to in a negative context?

Me & Gerry Lindley in Vincennes, Indiana; circa 1988

Pictured up yonder is me as a missionary and my mission companion, Gerry Lindley.  It may seem like we're rocking out, but actually we're singing along with Bring the World His Truth, and are on the "Weeeee are as the Army of Helaman, we have been born in our youth" part of the song.

In my mission, the rules restricted our listening pleasure to Mormon Tabernacle Choir songs and Church Hymns.  Though this song is in the LDS Primary songbook, the version we listened to was technically against our rules.  Anything we missionaries had which was outside the rules was called Babylon.  This song was Babylon, and so was the stereo I was playing it on, much as I tried to justify myself by listening to our Gospel Study tapes on it.  I finally ended up bringing my stereo thing into the Mission Office and leaving it until I finished my mission and went home.

Most of the tribes of Israel were already scattered and lost.  The Babylonians conquered what was left, The tribe of Judah, and carried them away captive to Babylon, where they remained for about 70 years, long enough for God's people to pick up some bad habits.  When Judah returned from Babylon, they brought much of its influence with them, and this caused some major apostasy.  In order to cleave unto God and the covenants they had made with Him, the people of Judah were commanded to leave Babylon behind, not just physically, but spiritually too, even more so.  Those who were able to leave Babylon behind were able to remain steadfast in their faith.  If they kept some souvenirs, they had a much harder time, and many were lost.

How does this connect to me? 

The reason missionaries attached the name Babylon to stuff against the rules is because the same principle applies to them.  Those who are able to let go of the world (in our case it was TV, good music, going to movies, dating, etc.) could become missionaries of great faith and influence, wielding the sword of the spirit like the Army of Helaman.  Those who hold on to the world (my stereo), are much less effective.  And in some cases, this has led to apostasy as well.

Screenshot of Babylon from "Age of Empires" computer game

In my 30's I was quite the gamer.  As a lonely bachelor, I found computer games to be a welcome distraction from my otherwise dull life.  I used to say stuff like, "My life sucks anyway, might as well buy this $2000 computer."  Now, computer and video games ain't a bad thing.  It ain't a sin to play Age of Empires or whatever.  That is, until it distracts you from what is really important.  Sometimes I'd play for hours, late into the night.  This usually exhausted me for the next day's activities, be they work or family or church, or just productive living.  Then I'd be back at it that night, and so on.

She finally found me in 2008

Whether it was because marrying Emilie filled the emptiness in me that caused me to lose interest in my computer games or the fact that we are so broke that I can't even afford a decent computer, let alone the 50-buck games I'd want to play, either way I'm grateful.

I heard a scary statistic the other day.  An LDS Bishop in Orem, Utah stated that over 60% of the divorces in his area were related to video/ computer gaming. 

What a jerk.  C'mon man, it's her turn.

So that's my speech about Babylon.  People have different things which, to them, is a 'hanging on to Babylon' issue.  My advice is to bid farewell to Babylon, whatever that may be to you, and remember who you are, where you're headed, and what is important.

It's actually quite a battle to keep your head in the game of life these days.  There are zillions of distractions around us all the time, and the effects of The Fall of man are such that our "natural man" wants to be distracted.  To do battle against our "natural" desire for Babylon, The Lord has blest us with power from on High, if we only ask for it, reach for it.  If you personally are able to live a life that balances spiritual joys and temporal fun, that's groovy.  Nothing wrong with playing a game, watching a movie, hangin' with friends, etc.  Ain't nobody said we need to read the BOM all day long.  It's when the distractions take a more weighted role in our lives than the important stuff that could cause us trouble.

As Colonel Munro said in Last of the Mohicans,

"There's a terrible feature of war here in the Americas, Major Heyward; best we keep our eye fixed on our duty:  To defeat France (or Babylon)."

Here's Ye Elders of Israel if you'd care to listen to a verse or two 
(at least listen to 1:05 to 1:22)...

So, this is my spiel for today:

• Recognize if you are hanging on to any part of Babylon
• If it's a problem, and you'll know if it's a problem, make a decision to leave your Babylon behind, whatever it is
• If you find it difficult to defeat Babylon or France, call upon your good buddy Hawkeye to help you...

He will "let Killdeer take part in the conversation; for at this distance, he will touch the life 2 out of 3 times."

Great Spirit and Maker of all life

A warrior comes to you straight and true as an arrow shot into the sun

Welcome him, and make a place for him at the council fire of my people

He is Uncas, my son

Teach him to be patient, as he has death for speed

For they are all there, but one:  I, Chingachgook, Last of the Mohicans

Good luck, and

Peace be with you...

Judgement of a Righteous King (2 Nephi 21 & 22)

Time to sweep the dust bunnies off my keyboard and corntinue my blog.  Yes, Christmas + lots of visitors + new schedule and duties at work + wedding anniversary + Isaiah is difficult + too much stuff in this office and a messy desk + I'm a lazy no-account by nature = It's been a struggle to get back to this blog.  But, I ain't getting any younger, so...

At the end of the day you're another day older
And that's all you can say for the life of poor John
It's a struggle, it's a war
And there's nothing that anyone's giving
One more day standing about, what is it for?
One day less to be blogging.

I left off in November (for goodness sakes) with 2 Nephi 20.  Today we'll continue on with  
2 Nephi 21, and maybe even go into 22, since it's a shorty.

2 Nephi 21: 1

1.  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

2.  And the Spirit of The Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of The Lord;

3.  And shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of The Lord; and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears.

4.  But with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth; and He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall he slay the wicked.

So, Jesse was David's dad, and Jesus Christ was a direct descendant of David, King of Israel.  That means that, if the Romans hadn't conquered Israel and brought them into subjugation, Jesus Christ would have been born the King of Israel.

It also says up there in verse 4 that Jesus will judge the poor and the meek with righteousness and equity.  Now that's my kind of justice system.

Ain't gonna be no botched DNA tests, biased witnesses, or nonesuch like that in Heaven.  Ain't nobody gonna spend 23 years in outer darkness before new evidence comes to light, and overturns his conviction. 

Anywayz,

2 Nephi 21: 6 is a famous one:

6.  The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

9.  They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of The Lord, as the waters cover the sea.  

I would assume that this prophecy is talking of a day as yet to come, probably after the 2nd coming of The Savior, when there will be peace on earth.  Like real peace.  Like the bitterest of enemies, like goats and wolves and lions and sheeps and stuff, will hang out together and not fight, or eat one another.

Won't that be an amazing thing to see?  Imagine turning on the news and having nothing but goodness and kindness abounding everywhere.  In fact, the news programs would probably be canceled due to low ratings.

That'll be nice, huh?

I find verse 9 interesting... It says that peace will come because the whole world will be full of the knowledge of The Lord.  What a day that will be.

2 Nephi 22 is a short one.  Let's do a couple verses, shall we?

Verse 2 & 3:

2.  Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for The Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; He also has become my salvation.

3.  Therefore, with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

And a little child shall lead them...

Peace be with you...