1 Nephi 20-22 (9/26)

Reading Assignment for class on 9/27: 1 NEPHI 20-22

Please be aware there is a lot of material in the four chapters we will cover on Wednesday and we won't be able to cover it all in class so it is critical that you read it at home and come with favorite verses, truths you have found, and questions to help us understand these chapters.

Point to Ponder:

1. What verses from the Isaiah chapters (1 Nephi 20-21) did you find that have meaning in your own life?
2. What does 1 Nephi 21:15-16 have to do with you?
3. What verses in 1 Nephi 22 give you hope (esp. as it relates to the events in the last days)?

Enjoy these quotes and consider adding them to your scriptures:

1 Nephi 21:15. “Can a woman forget her sucking child?”

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles commented on Isaiah’s likening of the love a mother has for her child to the love Jesus Christ has for His people:

“No love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child. When Isaiah, speaking messianically, wanted to convey Jehovah’s love, he invoked the image of a mother’s devotion. ‘Can a woman forget her sucking child?’ he asks. How absurd, he implies, though not as absurd as thinking Christ will ever forget us” (Jeffrey R. Holland, “Behold Thy Mother,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2015, 48).

1 Nephi 22:6–9. “A mighty nation” and “a marvelous work”

Elder Mark E. Petersen (1900–1984) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that in 1 Nephi 22:7, the phrase “mighty nation among the Gentiles” is a reference to the United States of America (see “The Great Prologue” [Brigham Young University fireside, Sept. 29, 1974], 4, speeches.byu.edu).

In 1 Nephi 22:8, Nephi refers to “a marvelous work among the Gentiles” in the latter days. This great work includes the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the priesthood keys necessary to bring the covenants of God to “all the kindreds of the earth” (1 Nephi 22:9).

The events described in 1 Nephi 22:7 had to precede those described in 1 Nephi 22:8–9. In the early 1800s, most countries in the world had forced state religions. The gospel could be restored only in a country where freedom of religion was established by law and freely practiced. The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States includes a proclamation of freedom of religion. This amendment and others were ratified on December 15, 1791, allowing freedom of religion to take root in the modern world. Joseph Smith was born in December 1805, just 14 years after the ratification of these amendments to the United States Constitution.

1 Nephi 22:26. “Because of the righteousness of his people, Satan has no power”

Elder Paul V. Johnson of the Seventy taught that we can overcome Satan’s power in our lives by choosing to live righteously:

“When we are righteous, Satan has no power over us. A prophecy about the Millennium teaches us that ‘because of the righteousness of his people, Satan has no power; wherefore, he cannot be loosed for the space of many years; for he hath no power over the hearts of the people, for they dwell in righteousness’ (1 Nephi 22:26). This scripture is speaking about the condition that will exist in the world when the people as a whole live in righteousness, but the principle can be true today for us individually. … Individually we can be free from any power the adversary would like to have over us by living righteously. He only gains power as we allow it by our choices” (Paul V. Johnson, “Free to Choose Liberty or Captivity” [Brigham Young University devotional, Nov. 6, 2012], 5–6, speeches.byu.edu).

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