2 Nephi 2: So what? Why do bad things happen?

So What? What are we supposed to learn from some father lecturing his kid?

Our parents love us very much, and they want the best for us, so they try to teach their children all that they have learned.

With the story of Adam and Eve, we can learn how we gained our agency, how important opposition is, and how much God wants us to have the ability to choose.  God will never restrict someone's agency.

But I want to hear what you think! Go read the chapter, 2 Nephi 2, or go read the blog post, Adam Fell So Now We Choose, and tell me what you think! What are your thoughts? Why did Adam fall? Why is there opposition in the world?

Adam Fell So Now We Choose

The Second Book of Nephi

Chapter 2

"Redemption comes through the Holy Messiah--Freedom of choice (agency) is essential to existence and progression--Adam fell that men might be--Men are free to choose liberty and eternal life. About 588–570 B.C."

So, in this chapter, Lehi knows he is getting old and is going to die soon, so he gives each of his children a father's blessing. This is to his first son born after they left Jerusalem, named Jacob.

• Lehi blesses Jacob.
• Lehi tells of how he has been blessed, such as having see Jesus Christ, thus Jacob being as blessed as those who will be on Earth when Christ is on the earth.
• The Spirit is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
• A way to be saved from the Fall was prepared from the before the Fall of Adam.
• Salvation is free.
• We have been taught to know the difference between good and evil.
• Redemption comes through the Messiah and His sacrifice.
• There is opposition in all things.
• Talks about what couldn't exist if there was no opposition.
• Specifically:

Adam and Eve teaching their children.

If there was no law, there would be no sin.

If there was no sin, there would be no righteousness.

If there is no righteousness, there would be no happiness.

If there was no sin, there would be no punishment.

If there was no happiness, there would be no miserey.

If none of these things existed, then there would be no God.

If there was no God, there would be no Earth, no creation.

There would be nothing.

• So, God gave us our agency, or our freedom to choose.
• He let Adam and Eve be tempted so that they could use their agency, and He allows that same thing to happen today.
• Adam and Eve partaking of the fruit allowed them to:

Have children.
Experience joy and sorrow.
Learn from their experiences.

• If Adam had not have fallen, he would have stayed in the Garden of Eden.
• If Adam had stayed in the Garden of Eden, they wouldn't have had children.
• Verse 25: "Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they might have joy."
• Everyone is now free to make their own decisions.

To read the actual scriptures, and I highly suggest to on this chapter, go to 2 Nephi 2. So why do I care? check out So What? 

2 Nephi 3 : So What?

To read the scripture story, go to 2 Nephi 3, and to read the summary blog post, go to Joseph, Joseph, wherefore art thou Joseph?

So What? What are we supposed to learn from some father lecturing his kid?

Father's blessings are important, showing how much our father loves us, and even more how much our Heavenly Father loves us.

So, Lehi is telling his son Joseph about the Prophet Joseph who was sold into Egypt and how he prophesied about a prophet that would be raised up in the last days who would also be named Joseph, who was also named after his father, Joseph. So Joseph was told about Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat telling about Joseph Smith Jr. being named after his father Joseph Smith Sr.

Why is this important? It shows that

1. Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7)

2. God loves all His children and He wants all of them to be saved, not just the Jews, not just the people at the time of Christ, not just the Born Again Christians, not just the Mormons, but ALL OF HIS CHILDREN.

3. God fulfills his promises. Not always suddenly or all at once, but they will always be fulfilled.


I know that God is our Heavenly Father, and that He is literally the father of our Spirits. He cares about us so much that He let people know thousands of years ago about what would be going on today so that we could learn and prepare for the things that we would face.

Joseph, Joseph, wherefore art thou Joseph?

The Second Book of Nephi

Chapter 3

Skipping around a little bit, filling a request. But Second Nephi has some of my most favorite chapters, and we'll be looking at the others after this post. From now on, things are going to be taking a bit more of a summary type of an approach, as it's easier to keep the weekly updates.

What's going on in this chapter?
Lehi is going to die soon and so he is giving advice, wisdom, and prophecies to his children. He is now speaking to his youngest, Joseph.

1 Nephi 11: So What?

To read the scripture story, go to 1 Nephi 11, and to read the blog post, go to But What Does It Mean?

So What? Why do we care about trees and iron rods?

First off, the importance of getting your own answers.

There are very few places in this world where you are going to get spoon fed all your answers, so it is very important to learn how to

find your own.

How? Just like Nephi, you ponder, you pray, you ask God. Some other ways that can really help are reading the scriptures for an answer, but it must be coupled with prayer. You may ask a trusted friend, like a parent, a teacher, the missionaries, and they may be able to answer for you and they may even be able to lead you to resources that can help you to find answers for yourself.

Secondly

While there are universal answers for everything, where this is the right answer 100% of the time for all people, like you are a child of God, there are also answers for your own personal life, like what do I need to do for college or how do I get closer to God? The same is for finding answers in the scriptures. There are the basic interpretations, like how the tree of life is the love of God, but then there are things you need to learn from it, like maybe you needed to know that God's love is the sweetest thing in the world and that
you don't just want it for yourself, you want everyone to taste it. When studying the scriptures, keep a question in mind, and God will answer it through the scriptures.

Third

Look! Jesus!

Tue Spirit of The Lord repeatedly told Nephi to look. You have to put in effort.

And Jesus has been prophesied about from the beginning of the Earth.

It is so important that everything in the Old Testament was symbolic of Christ and His Atonement.

He died for You Personally. He took on all of your pains and sicknesses and griefs and sins so that you could be happy, so at you know that there is someone out there who knows EXACTLY what you're going through, so that no matter what happens in your life, you can return to live with Him, because He loves you more than that fruit is white and sweeter than that fruit is sweet. He died for you so you will live again, just as He lives now.

I know that Christ lives.  I know that as you read the Book of Mormon, that you will come to know for yourself that He lived and died and lived again just for you.  I can promise that you will know this is true if you  read and pray about the Book of Mormon.

But What Does It Mean?

The First Book of Nephi

Chapter 11


After my father had told us of his dream, I had a desire to know for myself. I pondered on the dream, and while I was, I was overcome by the Holy Ghost and brought up to a high mountain. The Spirit asked me what I wanted and I told him about wanting to know what my father's dream meant.

He blessed me for my belief and told me I would see Jesus Christ.

He showed me my father's dream. The tree was the most beautiful and whitest things I have ever seen. I asked him what the tree meant.

He showed me the city of Nazareth where a beautiful virgin was. "Do you know the condescension of God?" He asked me.

"I don't know what you mean, I don't know all things, but I know that God loves His children." I told him.

He showed me the virgin again, but she was holding a baby in her arms.
"This is the Lamb of God, the Son of the Eternal Father. Do you know what the tree represents?"

I understood now that it symbolized the love of God.

I was shown Him going among the children of men and many people worshipping Him. I understood that the iron rod was the word of God and that it led people to the tree of life, or the love of God.

The Spirit of The Lord continued to tell me to look over and over, and I saw the scenes from the life of the Lamb of God, how He was baptized and received the Holy Ghost, how He performed miracles and healed many people, and how He was judged and put on the cross by the people, and He was slain for the sins of the world.

After, I saw many people fight against the twelve apostles. These who fought against them were in the great and spacious building.

"Behold, the world, and its wisdom, and how the house of Israel fights against the twelve who were called," the Holy Spirit told me.

I knew that the great and spacious building was the pride of the world, and its fall would be great, and there would be so much destruction against those who fight against the twelve apostles.

To read the actual scripture verses, go to 1 Nephi 11

So What? There's a tree?

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A Light in the Darkness

The First Book of Nephi

Chapter 8


As we dwelt in the wilderness, gathering all sorts of seeds, our father came to us and told us of a dream he had had.

A man dressed in a white robe came to Lehi and told him to follow him. They travelled for a long time in a dreary wasteland, and Lehi prayed that The Lord would have mercy on him. They came to a large open field, and he saw a tree.

Lehi knew that the fruit would make a person happy, and he picked a fruit and tasted it. It was sweeter than anything that he had ever tasted, and it was whiter than any whiteness he had ever seen. It filled his soul with joy, and he wanted his family to taste it too.

As he searched for his family, he saw a river, and as he looked up it, he saw my mother, Sariah, and me, and my brother Sam. We looked as if we didn't know where to go. Lehi called to us, telling us to come to the tree and taste the fruit, and we did. Father also wanted Laman and Lemuel to taste it, but they would not come.

Father then saw an iron rod along the river bank that led to the tree, with a strait and narrow path along the iron rod. The path and rod started at the head of a fountain through the large and spacious field.

People were pressing forward, trying to get to the path to come to the tree, but a dark mist fell upon everything, and many were lost. There were others who took a hold of the rod, and they made it to the tree and tasted of the fruit, but after, they turned away, looking ashamed.

Lehi looked for why they would be so ashamed about tasting something so wonderful, and as he looked, he saw a great and spacious building floating in the air, and the people were dressed vainly and were mocking the people who had tasted of the fruit. Those who listened were ashamed and they fell away and were lost.

Lehi saw many others. Some pushed forward on the rod and tasted the fruit and stayed. Others made their way to the building. There were many that were drowned in the fountain, and there were many more that were lost on strange roads. And others joined those in the building, mocking those who tasted of the fruit.


To read the actual story go to 1 Nephi 8

The next part of the story is Nephi asking about what the dream means and seeing a vision of his own.  Before we jump into that, what do you think everything in the dream means?  What does the tree symbolize?  The iron rod?  The river? The great and spacious building? The strait and narrow path?  What do you think these things mean?  I want to hear what you're thinking?  Any questions?