“Doubtless a spectator walking into the second act of Hamlet thinking it was the first would make very different sense of the action unfolding than the person who watched Act I, which set the stage for all that was to follow. As it stands, the Creation narrative of Genesis is a baffling story. The provocation in Eden seems illogical, the expulsion from Eden unanticipated, the coming of children and numerous posterity a random side effect, and the inherited burden of universal pain and so much suffering unjust collateral damage. In the Book of Abraham, and further expounded upon in Joseph Smith’s well–known King Follett sermon (delivered a few months before his death), we find the background to provide a coherent rationale to those events. At some moment in a distant, primeval past, ‘God found Himself in the midst of spirits and glory. Because He was greater, He saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest, who were less in intelligence, could have a privilege to advance like Himself and be exalted with Him.’”
Terryl Givens, 2nd Nephi – A Brief Theological Introduction
Advancement, or progression, can only occur when there is agency. So vital is it that there was war in heaven over it, the Adversary seeking to “destroy the agency of man” (Moses 4:3) so as to curtail any progression and assure his dominion over humankind. In this chapter, Lehi outlines the necessary conditions for agency.
The pioneering LDS scholar Sidney Sperry said that 2 Nephi 2 is “the most philosophical chapter in the Book of Mormon. The mighty Hugh Nibley commented when teaching the chapter, “We are on the second chapter of 2 Nephi, perhaps the hardest chapter in the Book of Mormon.”
1 Jacob…my first-born in days of my tribulation, interesting he calls him firstborn, as if Lehi began a new life in the wilderness. It’s no surprise that we raise each of our children differently, depending on our circumstances, maturity, and development (or lack thereof). Lehi was no exception. He was likely hardest on his oldest, Laman and Lemuel, who also grew up in his affluence (1 Ne 2:4). Jacob grew up both a refugee and, like Nephi, a victim of domestic abuse; and while he experienced a unique type of suffering, he also benefited from Lehi’s spiritual development, which will become clear later as Jacob’s own spiritual depth seems to go beyond even Nephi’s.
2 consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain, this doesn’t mean God designs our afflictions, but rather that he has the cosmic insight and power to turn the tragic into the triumphant. “All these things shall give thee experience, and [can] be for thy good” (D&C 122:7; see also 2 Cor 4:17). I believe this may be God’s greatest gift, and one I would like to cultivate. Gain is an interesting choice of words and does not necessarily mean healing. What does it mean?
3-4 thou has beheld in thy youth his glory, seems to refer to a powerful, personal revelation, perhaps even visitation, of the Savior to Jacob, who was already an adult.
thou art redeemed, contrast Nephi who just two chapters later asks, “Wilt thou redeem my soul from hell?” (2 Ne 4:31) Perhaps he heard Lehi speak thus to Jacob and wondered if he were also redeemed, “Wilt thou redeem my soul from hell?”
the fall, a non-biblical term used 15x in the Book of Mormon.
salvation is free, in what way? One idea is that the direct effects of the Fall—physical death (separation of body and spirit) and spiritual death (separation from God) were overcome unconditionally by the Savior. All will resurrect and all will be brought back into God’s presence. At that point though, we are recompensed for our own actions (“and not for Adam’s transgression” Article of Faith III). Here we also can be saved from our own sins through Christ, but on conditions of repentance.
5 by the law no flesh is justified, the foundational teaching preparatory to understanding the need for atonement. No one keeps the law perfectly, so no one can be saved by the law, but rather everyone is ultimately condemned by it. Paul teaches this amply throughout the New Testament (see footnotes).
“I like Voltaire’s story of Memnon, a man who wanted to be perfectly wise. Every morning he would get up and make a solemn resolve, a covenant, that he would never make any mistakes or do anything unwise that day…[but said] ‘Every morning I make good resolutions, and all day long I just make an a** of myself!‘ Just one blunder after another. You are not going to escape it as long as you are in the flesh. That’s what this chapter is going to tell us again. You’re not going to escape that. So here we’re stuck with it, and just by keeping the law you are not going to be justified…”
Hugh Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, 1990
6 Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah, the points Lehi makes here to his son Jacob about the Messiah and his intercession for humankind are profound. I’ll just point out two ideas I think should govern our thinking:
- Many, myself not excluded, have delved deeply into the theology of atonement, trying to wrap our heads around it. It’s a meaningful exercise (sometime his year in fact I will write a separate blog on Atonement Theory), but the reality is that we don’t comprehend it. We don’t know why the sacrifice of One can save the infinite others who believe in Him. I just think in all of our theologizing, we need to remember that. We approach an understanding through logic, metaphor, and symbol, and all of that deepens our appreciation; but in the end, what Christ did for us and how it works is a mystery.
- The engine of atonement is love—love of the Father for mankind in sending his Beloved Son, love of the Son towards the Father and towards us for offering himself to curtail our suffering and lay a path for our salvation, and love of each of us toward the Savior, born of appreciation for what He did, in following Him and keeping his commandments, which center around one primary, great commandment: TO LOVE—ourselves, mankind, and God.
for he is full of grace and truth, which ought always to be wielded together. Extending mercy and grace without the truth about our real deficiencies is cheap and unproductive. On the other hand, if we speak truth but do not extend grace, we will harm those around us whom we claim to be helping. To tell the truth does not exonerate us from cruelty if we weaponize it by withholding grace.
7 he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, the ends of the law are suffering & punishment (v10), which Christ took on for humankind, “that they might not suffer if they would repent” (D&C 19:16). Contrast the “ends of the atonement” (v10), which is happiness. As Isaiah taught, “the chastisement of our peace was upon him.” (Mosiah 14:5).
a broken heart and a contrite spirit, this is our part. It means we understand what Christ did for us (“believe in him” v9), we deeply appreciate it, and we are humble enough to enter the process of development to follow and become like Him, which is repentance.
8 how great the importance to make these things know unto the inhabitants of the earth, because I have been given much I too must give. It was apparently decreed before we came to earth that the gospel would be spread primarily, almost exclusively, through word of mouth. Why is that?
“In our pre-existent state, in the day of the great council, we made a certain agreement with the Almighty. The Lord proposed a plan, conceived by him. We accepted it. Since the plan is intended for all men (mankind), we become parties to the salvation of every person under the plan. We agreed, right then and there, to be not only saviors for ourselves, but measurably saviors for the whole human family. We went into a partnership with the Lord. The working out of the plan became then not merely the Father’s work, and Savior’s work, but also our work. The least of us, the humblest, is in partnership with the Almighty in achieving the purpose of the eternal plan of salvation.”
John A. Widtsoe, “The Worth of Souls,” Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, October 1934, p. 189.
9 firstfruits, Christ was the first to resurrect. We are the later fruits. This is the first reference in the BofM to a general resurrection, a concept that is virtually unheard of in the OT.
10 all men come unto God, through sin we are cut off from God’s presence, but Christ’s atonement brings us back where we can stand before him, then to be judged according to our works, words, thoughts, etc. In effect, Christ’s atonement buys us time in mortality to develop and become, so that when we stand before God, though we’ve sinned, we’ve also learned from our sins and developed, and we can be judged on what we’ve actually become through our process of development (and not judged for the mistakes we’ve made in that process). Later, Jacob will expound on what his father teaches him here, pointing out that without atonement, we’d never even get to the point of being able to stand before God, but would be “shut out from his presence” and thrust down to hell to “become devils, angels to a devil” (2 Ne 9:8-9).
atonement, as referring to Christ’s work, found only once in the NT (Rom 5:11) but 28x in the BofM.
11 it must needs be that there is an opposition in all things, one of my favorite verses in the Book of Mormon. It used to be a seminary scripture mastery verse when I was young and we had 40/year instead of the later 25/year (now “Doctrinal Mastery”). Apart from what I think is one of the most profound theological ideas, Lehi seems to be using the idea to explain why punishment has to exist (see previous verse 10). As Lehi’s entire family seems to be gathered together right now for the children’s blessings, though Lehi is addressing Jacob, he may be indirectly addressing Laman and Lemuel (see v28, 30 “my sons”). They had been concerned about the filthy river, about hell, and the negative consequences of sin (1 Ne 15). Alma’s son Corianton will later have the same concern (Alma 42:1). In short, Lehi teaches that blessings and happiness cannot exist without punishment and misery. This may be why later in the chapter he segways into teaching about the Fall, where Adam & Eve had “no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin” (v23).
12-13 no purpose…no righteousness…no happiness…no God…no [us], the symbol of this reality is the yin yang. The yin and yang symbol (or taijitu) shows a balance between two opposites with a portion of the opposite element in each section. In Taoist metaphysics, distinctions between good and bad, along with other dichotomous moral judgments, are perceptual, not real; so, the duality of yin and yang is an indivisible whole. Existence is predicated on dualities. The bottom line for Laman and Lemuel is that consequences and punishment must exist if we want their opposite—blessings.
14-16 God hath created all things…both things to act and things to be acted upon…and man that he should act, to be able to act is agency, but agency must have certain conditions to be viable and profitable. Two of them Lehi has already emphasized—there must be opposing choices (opposition) and there must be real consequences to our actions. A third he mentions in v16—there must be enticement from both opposing choices. He set up all of these in Eden to give Adam & Even their agency:
- Opposing trees/choices
- Enticement through commands from both him and Lucifer
- Real consequences of being expelled from the Garden (v19)
The endgame of course is growth and development—the whole purpose of the plan; and there can be no growth without agency (thus the war in heaven over it).
bitter, the only place in scripture where the fruit is described as such; it likely refers to the fruit’s consequences since, contrarily, Eve “saw that the tree was good for food” (Gen 3:6).
17 I have read…angel of God…fallen from heaven, likely he learned this from Isaiah 14:12-17 (quoted in 2 Nephi 24), “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” etc.
18 ye shall not die, but ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil, half-truths, and spoken to deceive rather than enlighten. They would not die immediately at least, but they would eventually die. And they would become like God in one sense, seeing more clearly, “knowing good and evil” (a 4th requirement for agency), but they would certainly not yet be like God.
19 driven out of the garden, driven out is strong, as is the cherubim and flaming sword guarding the way back (Alma 12:21). But they were not yet prepared to stand before God—they needed time to repent and prepare (see vs 21 comments below). So being driven out and prevented from returning was as protective as it was punitive.
20 they brought forth children; yea, even the family of all the earth, see v23. Wow, what a phrase, the “family of all the earth.” It can be found nowhere else in scripture.
21 days…were prolonged…their time was lengthened…that they might repent…a state of probation, see Alma 34:32-33, “this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God…to repent…to prepare for eternity.” Also Alma 12:24, “there was a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God.” So here’s the idea: if Adam and Eve had returned to God’s presence immediately, in their sins, they would have been cast out forever. So a space was granted that they might repent and develop and become something different, something more developed. Alma says this is why a cherubim and flaming sword were placed at the garden’s entrance, to prevent them from returning to God’s presence unclean.
he showed unto all men that they were lost, Lehi begins with this Calvinist idea to show why the Fall was necessary. We too need to understand it.
22-24 if Adam had not transgressed, Lehi then establishes the idea of a felix culpa, or a “Fortunate Fall,” for without it, nothing would have changed—they would have had no children; had no joy, doing no good; and there would have been “no end” or no purpose in their creation as the plan would have been frustrated. Variations of felix culpa were advocated by early church father Ambrose, the reformer Wycliffe, and the poet Milton.
“Here, we get the foundational Latter-day Saint theology of Eve. These verses probably offer Eve the most redemptive light in Christianity. Rather than the classical portrayal of the wicked temptress, we see her here as a wise and thoughtful woman. These verses place Eve as a key part of the plan of salvation and as someone who used her heart and her brain to choose the better part. This better understanding of Eve is one of the most feminist pillars of Latter-day Saint doctrine.”
Salleh & Hemming, For The Least of These
25 Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy, God created humankind for joy, why else? Joy, however, has certain conditions to exist, as we’ve discussed above. Again, this whole discourse may go back to Lehi trying to indirectly teach Laman and Lemuel and any other rebellious children why things are the way they are, and in particular, why there must be real punishment for sin (c/w Moses 1:39; 5:11). Without it, there can be no joy.
The doctrine of Korihor, the Anti-Christ, is a case in point. He said there was no God who created and sustains the universe (Alma 30:28, 37-40, 48) and who gives prophecy or revelation (laws) to his children (Alma 30:13-15, 24). Hence, there cannot be any such thing as a breaking of God’s laws, so there could be no Fall (Alma 30:25) or sin (Alma 30:16-18). Since there is no such thing as breaking God’s laws, there is no need for an atonement (Alma 30:17, 26-27) and therefore there is no Christ (Alma 30:12, 22.). But we know where that teaching got him.
The truth is that God authors laws for our benefit, to lead us to happiness. He is the author of natural law, though there seem to be principles that exist independent of God. With his infinite wisdom and knowledge he formulates laws and gives them to man which, if obeyed, will raise him to the level of God to enjoy a fulness of joy.
26 in the fulness of time, i.e. when the prophesied time is fulfilled.
because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, Christ’s atonement overcomes two falls, one unconditionally and one conditionally. He unconditionally overcomes the consequences of the Fall of Adam & Eve—(1) death (all will be resurrected) and (2) our being cast out of God’s presence (all will be brought back into His presence). He conditionally overcomes our own falls (because of our own sins), by giving us the time and space to repent and prepare to meet God in a better condition so we can remain in his presence, forever. But that is up to us. These concepts are revisited and fleshed out throughout the Book of Mormon, so we don’t need to grasp it here all at once ;).
Many of the reformers, including Calvin and Luther, believed essentially that man had no free will because of being so stained with sin. Unfortunately, they didn’t have 2 Nephi 2:26-27!
27 free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, this choice is only available because of Jesus. That is why the redemption makes us “free forever” (v26). Jacob expounds this idea in greater depth in 2 Ne 9, and later Book of Mormon prophets build upon the foundation Lehi here sets (Alma 12, 34, 41-42; Hel 14:30-31; etc.)
he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself, v18 as well, “he sought also the misery of all mankind.” Sad.
28-29 my sons, ah, so he is addressing not only Jacob but his other sons, presumably Laman and Lemuel in particular. It’s interesting to me how the fathers in the Book of Mormon seek to encourage their wayward sons by teaching them doctrine (Alma does the same with Corianton).
choose eternal life…and not eternal death, note this is an expansion of Deut 30:19, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” Here, however, it is transformed into a choice with implications for the eternities. The phrase eternal life is never used in the OT, but 26x in the NT and 25x in the BofM. Eternal death is an obvious antonym appearing only this once in scripture.
great commandments, a sweet description of God’s commands. Why are they great? Because they lead us to joy.
30 I have chosen the good part, according to the words of the prophet, Isaiah or Zenos? And by good part, does he mean the most important, sacred things? No wonder Nephi includes this blessing, as it aligns with his purpose for the small plates (1 Ne 6:3; 9:3; 19:3).
Just two additional ideas:
- The scriptural account, or story, of the Fall is a metaphor, plain and simple. Too many forget that. What we read in the story is not what actually happened in Eden, if there was an Eden.
- The glaring absence of Eve in most of Lehi’s discourse is stunning, if unsurprising given the patriarchal nature of scripture. Should we not quote v25 more as “Eve fell that humans might be, and humans are that they might have joy.”
Holy Envy 