2 Nephi 19-23 - The Lesson Continues

In these chapters Isaiah hammers home the point that we need to trust God, to have faith in Him rather than in the wisdom of men and our pride. There is too much going on in these chapters to review them in any comprehensive way. Doing so requires books worth of ink and paper and a lifetime of pondering.

There’s a lot about the last days here. There’s the destruction of “Babylon” which is a type of the wicked and oppressive governments that exist in our day. There’s also mention of the purging wars waged by the wicked which hearken to Jacob 5’s references of the pruning of the orchard to clear out the evil branches to make room for the righteous. Revelations references to the dragon making war against the woman and the great destructions caused by the evil beasts also speak to this.

In the end, God delivers His people and they experience great peace.

On a personal level, which for me is where all this matters, is the lesson that all will go through adversity and faith challenging trials. The righteous will humble themselves and turn to God. Then, in the midst of great adversity, they will experience a peace which will cary them through these times. The wicked will turn to their own wisdom and suffer a different fate.

There repeats a series of punishments which end with the warning, “for this his hand is stretched out still.” I used to think this meant that despite these punishments, God’s hand of mercy was still extended if the people would repent. I can see how this is a correct interpretation. But I’ve also come to believe this interpretation, that despite all He’s done to get them to repent, He’s prepared to smite them again because they won’t.

The bottom line: everyone is going to experience trials. The great question is: how will we handle it? Will we take faith, turn to God for help and in the end enjoy great peace? Or will we ignore God and follow our own reason to spiritual death and destruction?