Come Follow Me LDS- 2 Nephi 1-5 Part 1 (Feb 3 - 9)

'Lehi The Philosopher'

-  Who will come to the Promised Land?

-  Lehi gives his treatise on being 'one' and 'opposition in all things -  He starts with the pre-mortal life

-  He parallels Heraclitus in his 'Panta Rei' and 'becoming'

-  Lehi's pure philosophy includes the Higher Law and Christ

 

 

 

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Podcast Links:

 

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in this episode we talk about Lehi the

philosopher here we go alright then in

this episode we are going to cover

second Nephi chapters 1 through 5 we

join Nephi here again after he has just

spoken at the end of first Nephi to

laman and lemuel about the savior right

he's trying again to convince them to

persuade them to trust in Jehovah as the

Redeemer so he brings out the five books

of Moses but so he says that so that he

can further persuade or more easily

persuade them about Jesus Christ he

brings out Isaiah and goes through a

couple of chapters 48 and 49

and after this now he has Lehi their

Father speaking to laman and lemuel and

saying the same thing right that he is

trying to convince them to stop their

rebellions and to rehearse is unto them

how great things the Lord has done for

them in bringing them out of Jerusalem

again where are they looking laman and

lemuel are looking back at Jerusalem

that's what the reaction here with Lehi

is he's saying look this is a great

thing that we've can't come out of

Jerusalem and their hearts are still

back there right they have a different

orthodoxy a different thing that they're

believing in and then in a vision Lehi

sees that Jerusalem has been destroyed

and so you get here right at the

beginning of 2nd defy you think well why

was there a break here between these two

books of Nephi he did he did these two

books he separated these and here we get

the destruction

of Jerusalem as something that kind of

might segment this right of course it's

also there in the land of promise and

they're starting out with their new

lives here in the Americas they learn

that Jerusalem has been destroyed and

you can just imagine laman and lemuel

hearing this

maybe not believing it or if they do

believe it understanding that these

prophecies are being fulfilled and

everything that Lehi and Nephi are

saying are coming to fruition right

they're getting through the wilderness

they're finding the food they're

building the ship as they should they

arrive at the land of promise and now

Lehi says that Jerusalem has been

destroyed

by the way historically Jerusalem is

destroyed in about 586 BC maybe 587

probably 586 BC so this is not long

after they have landed in the land of

promise but unlike what Lehi says here

right away and he's going to start here

we're gonna start getting more and more

into the doctrine of Christ throughout

2nd Nephi and also into the covenants

that the Holy One as is often used here

as a title has given the people of

Israel that they are the Lehites

are a part of and Lehi says here in

verse 5 notwithstanding our afflictions

we have obtained a land of promise

remember what that represents that

represents the oath and covenant of the

priesthood a land which is choice above

all other lands a land which the LORD

hath covenant 'add with me should be a

land for the inheritance of my seed and

we're gonna understand why Lehi has such

an intimate relationship with this idea

of him being a covenant patriarch for

the Lea Heights for both Nephi seed and

the Nephites and layman Lemuel seed with

the Lamanites but he says that this land

is a covenant land and he says this

at the end of verse five and also all

those who should be led out of other

countries by the hand of the Lord that

this will be a land of inheritance for

them so that would be from anywhere

right wherever they come from and of

course you can see especially in

Northern America you can see a melting

pot I mean this is exactly what happens

here in the United States especially at

least of all the countries in the

Americas and he gives us a very crucial

warning to us that live here in the

Americas it says we're for this land is

consecrated unto Him whom he shall bring

if it so be that they shall serve Him

according to the commandments which he

hath given it shall be a land of liberty

unto them right because whenever we move

away from the commandments what

immediately comes in is chaos and in

order to control that chaos without true

principles you end up with tyranny and

captivity but he says that they shall

never be brought down into captivity if

so which shall be because of iniquity

and in verse 9 he says wherefore I Lehi

have obtained a promise that in as much

as those whom the Lord God shall bring

out of the land of Jerusalem shall keep

his Commandments that would be them and

the mule kites they shall prosper upon

the face of this land and they shall be

kept from all other nations that they

may possess this land unto themselves or

at least dominate the land I think

that's what that means and as long as

they keep the commandments and they have

their eyes focused toward the Savior

then none others will come to take that

away of course we know that's not what

ends up happening but Lehi knows already

that the descendants what's going to

happen with the descendants of

Nephi and the descendants of laman and

lemuel but eventually they're all going

to dwindle in unbelief

and this is after they have received so

great blessings from the hand of the

Lord having a knowledge of the creation

of the earth

they've got the brass plates and all men

knowing the great and marvelous works of

the Lord from the creation of the world

be tied to the temple having power given

them to do all things by faith having

all the commandments from the beginning

and having been brought by His infinite

goodness into this precious land of

promise behold I say if they shall come

the day shall come that they will reject

the Holy One of Israel that's the key

the true Messiah their Redeemer and

their God behold the judgments of him

that is just shall rest upon them so

there's something to do with look if

you've been given all this and then you

turn away from it just like the children

of Israel right they were given the

higher law they rejected it and they

wandered for 40 years it's the same kind

of thing here if you reject the Savior

then you're going to have issues it's

there's no way to create your

civilization that it will last if you

start removing that the doctrine of

Christ and starting to follow that and

so I've talked about this before we've

had we know of the Vikings we know of

the Chinese of course Columbus comes and

the Europeans follow but there's we

don't know who exactly came and when we

don't know who mixed in with the natives

of the Americas and in different parts

we don't know how extensive the

population of the Nephites and the

Lamanites became it could be as it's

thought often now and he'll be a

scholarship that it was very isolated

into an area of say Mesoamerica others

would believe that it's North America

but what we do know is that oftentimes

if you see a few things a few parallels

there's probably a lot more and so if

you've got the Vikings and you've got

the Chinese and you've got Columbus and

you've got the Lee Heights and the mule

kites and the Jaredites all these

examples of people that have come to the

Americas you know they haven't come in

over populated the area except for the

Lamanites at least in a specific area

ultimately the Lamanites but there's

probably been others that have come and

mixed with those that were indigenous to

the Americas and he says that he will

take away the lands of the descendants

of Lehi and he will cause them to be

scattered and smitten so we oftentimes

look at this especially now it's a lot

more as we as the world become smaller

and especially in the US here as we

become more and more of a melting pot

and there are larger minority groups

here the trend right now is to go

against Columbus for example right and

say and I look at everything negative

that he had done while here in

conquering basically the Americas and

then of course we have Cortes and others

that come and conquer the lands here in

the Americas this is something that has

already been prophesied it's not excused

it's just prophesized that this is what

is going to happen and what's

fascinating for us especially here in

the Americas both in North America South

Central America is that we see ourselves

in these prophecies that we're living in

the times that Lehi and Nephi talk about

and we get even more specific here with

some prophecies from Joseph of Egypt

that we do not have in the Old Testament

but that are found on the brass plates

with Lehi and Nephi and so Lehi is about

to give his blessings to his children

kind of like Adam did right before he

died Lehi here is going to give his

blessings to his children and we're

gonna find more and more about these

prophecies and these covenants that were

made with Lehi directly and with his and

his ancestors with Jacob and Joseph and

he starts off here and says as he says

I'm going to be dying here soon he says

in 15 but behold the LORD hath redeemed

my soul from hell

he has a clear understanding of the

sacrifice of Jesus Christ

I have beheld his glory and

encircled about eternally in the arms of

his love we get a similar statement from

Nephi later on here in a few chapters

but I think this is temple imagery here

I really do I think that this is a

direct reference to an event that might

happen say that we don't know of that

would happen in Solomon's Temple right

at the veil perhaps where you are

encircled about eternally in the arms of

his love and in 17 he says my heart hath

been weighed down with sorrow from time

to time for I have feared speaking to

laman and lemuel lest for the hardness

of your hearts

the Lord God should come out in the

fullness of his wrath upon you that ye

be cut off and destroyed forever

again the hardness of the hearts as I've

spoken of before to me ultimately or at

least generally speaking we are talking

about a phrase that correlates directly

with a rejection of Christ and the new

and everlasting covenant and it's just

as we talked about in Lehigh's vision

and his dream where laman and lemuel did

not come to the tree they do not come to

Christ they do not partake of the fruit

and therefore they are cut off from the

presence of the Lord and he has a

reference here again talking about the

land and prospering we hear this a lot

in the Book of Mormon right as long as

you keep my Commandments he says in as

much as you shall keep my Commandments

you shall prosper in the land but in as

much as you will not keep my

Commandments you shall be cut off from

my presence and again this is the land

of promise so think of this as the Tree

of Life and as long as you are keeping

the commandments and you're partaking of

the fruit then you are enjoying the

blessings of his love you're enjoying

the gospel and its principles and you

are building toward your potential but

if you go away from that right and you

ultimately we see an underlying

principle of pride in

not keeping the commandments then we're

going to fall away from the tree of life

as many did in the dream then he says

with a hopeful heart he says that I

might not be brought down with grief and

sorrow to the grave I'll rise from the

dust my sons and be men and be

determined in one mind and in one heart

United in all things that you may not

come down into captivity so those are

words and phrases that go along with the

idea of Zion right where you get to a

point of being of one heart and one mind

and he's gonna talk a little bit about

unity here in the next chapter that's

really very interesting to me because he

seems to give us in a very philosophical

manner but more direct in the time of

Lehi there is philosophy at least we

know of shortly after the time of Lehi

about this oneness and then about

plurality and about opposition and so

we're gonna get to that here in the next

chapter but he opens it up here he opens

a treatise on this philosophy which is

really the plan of salvation and in the

truth and then as much as we might think

about Nephi about him being okay this is

from his point of view and it is he's

writing all of this I do think it's

important by the way to realize that as

he's writing this again this is the

trend is a trend there is more

information and we're moving into an

idea where we're trying to be less

judgmental and we're trying to be more

open and more tolerant but laman and

lemuel are not good right and yes they

have it's not just because they're

there's a blanket evil to them it's

primarily because they're hanging on to

an orthodoxy that is not right and not

true when they are rejecting Christ and

the higher covenant but they're also

very abusive right they are they are

abusive to their younger brothers and

perhaps younger sisters and they're

abusive to their parents and here Lehi

backs up Nephi completely

least in the words of Nephi he does he

says here in verse 26 and he have

murmured because he hath been plain unto

you isn't that interesting again we get

the term murmuring and plain as in plain

and precious things that have been

removed back in knee pies in Nephi's

vision

what are those plain and precious things

I think a lot of that is centered on

Christ and so we get this coupling again

of the murmuring that goes on in kind of

this same thought of rejecting Christ

he's got them right here together he

even goes on and says and it must needs

be that the power of God must be with

him even unto his commanding you that ye

must obey right and again think about

the situation that they're in

they are fulfilling prophecy the amount

of the mantle of responsibility that

falls on Lehi and Nephi who have

accepted this mission yeah this must be

immense think of Joseph Smith once he

enters really understands who he is in

history and the incredible mantle of

responsibility that has put being put on

him if you accept that and you run with

it the amount of effort and

faith and struggle that you're gonna

have to give is beyond what you can do

on your own and Lehi is saying look we

have got a new civilization here and we

need to fulfill the covenants that have

already been prophesied of the

fulfillment of these covenants and of

this people and Nephi's the guy and so

you can just imagine what laman and

lemuel and the sons of Ishmael are

feeling about this they have been tired

of Nephi going out and being so

industrious right and being so good and

and achieving so much right there's

gotta be an immense amount of

envy there and you know that's something

that I've noticed in looking at some of

these things you know if even it's our

society today where you have you end up

with those that will accept a certain

principles that are successful that are

true that bring blessings and you might

have some that don't do that as much

some people that don't do that as much

now you have two groups there's going to

be a division between these two and what

are the dynamics going to be between

them well those that accept it more and

if they're blessed more financially

happiness family unity whatever it might

be peace etc these blessings that come

and then you become in that group you

become prideful because of it right then

then you're not going to be reaching out

a hand to those that are not following

those same principles that have not got

that in their culture perhaps which

means that you're lacking charity

because that's again that's what

covenant is all about and so if you're

able to keep that in place which is a

very difficult thing it's the whole

pride cycle in the Book of Mormon where

you repent you humble yourselves and

you have a desire to share your success

and the principles of the gospel

that we do oftentimes see in the Book of

Mormon right Enos as he prays the same

thing he wants to get this information

to the Lamanites it's crucial to him

Ammon and in the sons of Mosiah have

this great desire to do this

Nephi has had this desire to do this but

oftentimes also the Nephites fall into a

cycle of pride and so from their end

where they're more successful perhaps in

in some ways in in being let's call it

civilized right in in the sense of

industry and probably economy they have

to have a check on themselves and that's

in a way

what the Lamanites end up being to keep

them humble and on the other end we're

gonna see here that right from the

get-go and we've seen this already but

we're gonna see it again here that laman

and lemuel to me what I infer from this

relationship is envy they are they are

not happy that Nephi has so much success

and those that follow him have so much

success and if they're fighting against

him and they have a following behind

them and what do they need to do to keep

their followers loyal to them what do

they preach again covenant once you have

a division in two different peoples you

covenant has to come from both sides you

can't just have those that are

industrious even if they're lending a

helping hand and being charitable that

doesn't mean that it's going to be

received and those that are on the

other end what do they do they turn this

more into they can they don't always but

they can turn this more into a

victimhood type of a thing where they

are the victims and they're going to

keep that it's kind of like a certain

kind of dark comfort I think that says

no we're victims and therefore we just a

fire anger toward you and there might be

some justification in it right I mean it

could be that those that are more

industrious and more successful are not

lending a helping hand but again it's

that play between the two sides it's

like having the spiritual gifts on one

end lacking some spiritual gifts on the

other end there needs to be some love

there needs to be charity and this

is kind of this struggle that I don't

know we talk as much about between what

ends up being between the Lamanites and

the Nephites and we see a few examples

here and there of a reach out from both

sides and miraculous things happen when

we see that but I think there's a lot

that we can learn in our societies today

about covenant and where we find

ourselves within our families where we

ate a while or are we more successful in

certain things than others are they more

successful than we are in some things do

we let envy and pride enter in on either

side wherever whatever that situation

might be and in entire civilizations or

countries or people's communities do we

see this disparity and then not try to

bring those things together from both

sides because both sides have a

responsibility and then we move over to

one of my favorite chapters and all of

Scripture here and we'll spend a little

bit more time here in chapter 2 and this

to me it represents Lehi the philosopher

write this this is think about all the

visions that he's had and the knowledge

and the truth that is given to him in

those types of visions this isn't just

experience that he lives through which

he does but it is truth given to him in

typology and symbolism in these visions

that he continually has he's a lot like

his forefather Joseph and this this

chapter is just dripping in philosophy

if you will but a philosophy that cuts

straight to your soul right it is direct

to your spirit and full of truth and

it's interesting to me to take a

look at what Lehi says and compare that

with a lot of popular philosophers from

more modern times and even back in Lehi

Stein and so we'll go forward through a

couple of these things here but he opens

up the chapter now he's talked to Zoram

he's talked to Laman and Lemuel sons of

Ishmael here he's talking to Jacob who

is his firstborn in the wilderness and

so he wants to open Nephi's opening this

up and Lehi probably opened this up with

his blessing on Jacob talking about the

tribulation that he had in the

wilderness with Jacob then

adversity right that he had and so

that's what this chapter opens up with

his adversity in speaking with Jacob and

here it appears that Lehigh talks

already about Jacob perhaps seeing the

savior already here in verse three he

says wherefore I know that thou art

redeemed because of the righteousness of

thy Redeemer for thou has to be held

that in the fullness of time he cometh

to bring salvation unto men so those

could just be words saying you've

understood this you've read this you've

understood this from me and Nephi but it

seems the word beheld here has more to

do with something that he is seen right

he follows that up with again beheld

here he says and thou has to be held in

thy youth his glory wherefore thou art

blessed even as they into whom he shall

minister in the flesh so you've seen him

in vision but that is a blessing similar

to or just like those that will see him

in the flesh for the Spirit is the same

yesterday today and forever and the way

is prepared from the fall of man and

salvation is free what does he mean by

that what does he mean though first of

all the white is prepared from the fall

of man well we know this from the

counsel in heaven and the mission of the

Savior at that point we're gonna get

back to that in a minute he brings in

here the entire plan of salvation to me

this is an allusion directly to the

counsel in heaven and the premortal

life the way has been prepared from the

fall of man and salvation is free what

does that mean do I just believe and I

have salvation the more we read about

what Lehigh's words and Nephi's words

are and in the entire book of Mormon

what and Paul if you're not careful

you'll just read that out of context

something like this out of context and

say all you need is grace all you need

is the higher law and that isn't true at

all

salvation is free basically what that

means is if we're talking about

salvation as the higher law

the law of grace and mercy from God

we're saying that you don't do anything

to receive that or at least to have that

way prepared for you right the Savior

here in this time is going to come

almost 600 years later and he is going

to perform a sacrifice and that is given

to you for free so to speak right that's

a done deal in other words that is his

covenant to us the covenant of grace the

covenant of mercy in that sense it is

free but just as Dallin a chokes would

say it's given to us and I'm

paraphrasing here

it's an equality that we have in the

sense of opportunity we are all given an

equality of opportunity from the

sacrifice of Jesus Christ but we're not

all going to have the equality of

results because that's based on us right

that's based on our decisions and how we

choose to manage our agency and that's

all about something about I'm about to

go into here which is becoming that's

about who we choose to become so

salvation is free in the sense that the

Savior is going to take on all of our

sins and there's nothing we need to do

for him to do that but then he gets into

in a sense the lower law here and what

we have to do he says in verse 5 and he

just lays this out so beautifully so

it's been prepared this act of mercy

from God has been given to us and men

are instructed sufficiently that they

know good from evil there's our agency

this is crucial to Lehi right so starts

off with the sacrifice of Jesus

Christ and then he comes back to us the

lower law and says you have agency you

know good from evil at least starting

with the light of Christ and the law the

lower portion of or the lower law so to

speak is given unto men

and by the law no flesh is justified so

in other words without that salvation

being prepared for us in the council in

heaven and without Christ going to

Gethsemane no one can be what they call

justify just to fight it's a very common

word and concept that was used

throughout the Middle East if you go

back and look at ancient Egyptian

religion they use that term all the time

the justified and basically what that

means is brought back whole in a sense

that you've been made whole you've

reached her potential but since the law

does not allow us to be justified

because we're not perfect right by the

law he says men are cut off so let's

think about the Garden of Eden here

again and with Lehigh's vision he

definitely has a very clear

understanding of the Garden of Eden but

here we have salvation is free so first

think of the Tree of Life right that

would be the Tree of Life and

partaking of the love of God well the

love of God when you narrow it all down

is the condescension of God it's Christ

coming to the earth and taking on the

sins of the world and dying and having a

mortal experience and then being

resurrected so that's given to us free

now we can't get there just by the law

however right because the law means that

we are going to fall we're going to be

cut off so what happened in the Garden

of Eden there's the tree of life Adam

and Eve are there and they go and they

partake of the tree of the Justice

Levi is paring there sufficiently no

good from evil and then he brings in the

law immediately let me read that again

starting with verse 5 and men are

instructed sufficiently that they know

good from evil

there's our agency what is the name of

the tree that they partake of the tree

of the knowledge of good

and evil and the law is given unto men

all right so one way to look at the tree

of knowledge of good and evil is to

understand that it is the law in other

words it's the commandments right we all

partake of that and sometimes in the in

the old and new testaments when they

refer to this especially the New

Testament they're oftentimes adding on

top of this another layer with the law

of Moses during that time because that's

the law they were under but in all times

there is the law of God the commandments

right

it's what the ironic priesthood

represents it is the lower law the law

is the lower law the commandments if you

will are the lower law it's what we do

with our agency so Adam and Eve partake

of the tree of the knowledge of good and

evil right it's agency and the law is

brought in and coupled with that hereby

Lehi because the tree one thing it

represents is the law of God is the

commandments and once you know the

commandments then chances are well it's

absolute you're going to sin right

you're going to fall short and you're

not going to be justified and then he

gives us our higher and lower law here

which I love he says yeah by the

temporal law that's the carnal law the

ironic law they were cut off right

that's man that's Adam and Eve and also

by the spiritual law they perish from

that which is good and become miserable

forever right so what does that mean

well there by that by the temporal law

they're cut off what that means is that

they are distanced from God and they

live in a mortal world we live in a

mortal world remember we are Adam and

Eve and so we're distanced from God and

we live in a mortal world that's the

temporal law but we're also separated

from the Tree of Life why are we

separating from the tree of life because

of cherubim so cherubim stands in the

way between us and the Tree of Life

because of the law because of the

partaking of the tree of the knowledge

of good and evil because the cherubim

are justice and we are not justified

right we are we are weak and we are

imperfect and so we cannot get by the

cherubim on our own

wherefore Lehi goes on in 6a redemption

cometh in and through the holy Messiah

for he is full of grace and truth grace

and truth is a higher law phrase you'll

see that a lot in the New Testament so

to get through and pass the cherubim we

have been given the sacrifice of Jesus

Christ the love of God behold he offered

himself a sacrifice for sin to answer

the ends of the law

so without him without that sacrifice

that law is not answered in other words

justice is not created

it has to be done by proxy for us and

that creates ultimately justice unto all

those who have a get this and do all

those who have a broken heart and a

contrite spirit and unto none else can

the ends of the law be answered right so

if we are imperfect with the law then

what we're saying here the ends of the

law can not be answered what's the

response to you sinning there is no

response without the sacrifice from

Jesus Christ but only those that have a

broken heart and a contrite spirit where

we have a heart again are you going to

be able to partake of that sacrifice so

it's an equal opportunity for all that's

free but it's not equal results and

that's how the world works right we have

a lot of talk about equality these days

and there's some important discussions

that are made but once you get to the

idea and this is being coupled here the

idea that Lehi brought up in the last

chapter of

one heart in one mind and thinking that

that is equality in other words results

equality of results now you've got a

real problem now you have tyranny that

is the goal of the adversary you cannot

have any of these things without what

Lehi has just gone through you have to

have the lower law in place which is

agency and obeying the commandments and

that has to do that has to come from

someone's broken heart in contract

spirit it can't come by force it can't

be forced into an orthodoxy you can't be

forced into an ideology and think that

you're gonna be of one heart and one

mind it doesn't exist that is a that is

an adversarial way and I mean that as in

the adversary of trying to get us to go

to a place of utopia of Zion by making a

shortcut and the shortcut is getting

around going in and producing love and

covenant with everybody one on one and

helping them have a broken heart and a

contrite spirit helping all of us have a

broken heart and a contrite spirit

so that we can use our agency to become

of one heart and one mind in other words

we're skipping the first two phases of

the priesthood right and that that is

only done by force that is not the plan

of salvation that's somebody else's plan

and in 10 he starts to explain this a

little bit more and break it down and

this starts to get a little Phyllis of

philosophical he says where for the ends

of the law which the holy one hath given

he's answered for injustice and helped

it become justice to help us to be

justified under the afflicting of the

punishment which is affixed it's

automatic which punishment that is

affixed is in opposition to that of the

happiness which is affixed to answer the

ends of the atonement so the atonement

is bringing God and man together heaven

and

earth together right there has to be

opposition and this is exactly what

you'll hear from for example Heraclitus

who came about a hundred years after

Lehi a Greek Ionian philosopher by some

people's words the first ever

philosopher at least in the West who

talked about this right he talked about

the unity of opposites that there is an

opposite opposition in everything and

nothing can be without opposition

it's exactly what Lehi goes over and so

when we talk about well how can there be

a God right in in if there is suffering

how can there be a God if there is

adversity and struggle and pain right

well it's very simple how can there not

be a God if there's those things because

that opposition of order and chaos that

opposition of happiness and misery all

must exist in order for there to be a

unity for there to be a process where we

can grow for there to be creation of any

sort that you read the creation story

it's about starting off there with

opposites there is land and water there

is light and darkness there is heaven in

there is earth and so he reiterates here

in verse 11 for it must needs be that

there is an opposition in all things if

not so my firstborn in the wilderness

righteous could not be brought to pass

neither wickedness neither holiness

neither misery neither good nor bad

wherefore all things must needs be a

compound in one that's exactly what

Heraclitus says and then you have a void

you have nothingness creation comes

everything from the creation of

something physically to the creation of

us spiritually it comes from

opposition's it comes from good and bad

it comes from being able to use our

agency in that type of an environment

it comes from taking chaos in creating

order

out of it you can't have additional

expansive growth and creation without

chaos it's impossible and if all things

are a compound in one and there is no

opposition in any way which is if you

think about the premortal life and the

plan of Lucifer his was something his

plan was something similar to this where

there would not be a struggle there

would not be adversity and therefore

there would not be growth and there

would not be creation there would not be

any of us that could become anything

take out that adversity take out faith

take out the need of a savior but of

course then you take out progress and

you completely destroy the plan of

salvation and you take out love right

you completely eliminate

love and charity because there's no

reason for at that point for God to have

a given offering of love a sacrifice

that's what love is right there there's

no there's no manifestation needed from

the Savior and if you don't have that

relationship where your Father in heaven

and your Savior have actually in reality

gone through the suffering and actually

made the sacrifice then that's not the

same love it's not the same thing and

your relationship now of God has

completely changed and if we don't have

the opportunity through covenant as well

to both offer charity and love to those

that are downtrodden or need help or

support in a family situation even for

example where we are loving our brothers

or sisters or children or parents and

supporting them through their adversity

through a mortal world where we can get

knocked down at any time or we don't

receive that from someone in our family

or a community or another people like we

hear about here about the about Ephraim

and Manasseh

and the Gentiles and the Jews in the

house of Israel if that doesn't exist

then charity doesn't exist and

without love and charity in the plan

you've again you've destroyed everything

so you've destroyed faith in the

sacrifice of Jesus Christ you've

destroyed charity and love from God and

you've destroyed love and charity

amongst ourselves not a good plan but

maybe an easy one and then he goes right

back and backs up what I'm saying here

in verse 15 he says and to bring about

his eternal purposes in the end of man

after he had created our first parents

got this on his mind here the Garden of

Eden and the beasts of the field and the

fowls of the air all things which are

created it must needs be that there was

an opposition so the situation for man

from the very beginning has to do with

opposites even the forbidden fruit in

opposition to the Tree of Life the one

being sweet and the other bitter and so

this produces for all of us the love and

charity and the ability of agency to

have agency and therefore we can become

and that's another thing that Heraclitus

used to say right he believed in

becoming in other words everything is in

always in a constant flux he used he's

famous for the idea that you can never

step in the same river twice right

because there's a stream or a flow it's

called Ponte Ray in in Greek and so it's

it's always moving because there's

always creation and nothing isn't as a

status of being so to speak he had as

someone else that was Parmenides I

think it is that was we just talked

about being it's just there's being but

Heraclitus would say no everything is

always becoming one thing or another and

that's who we are

right we're always becoming Delanie

jokes fears back said the following you

said in contrast to the institutions of

the world which teach

just to know something the gospel of

Jesus Christ challenges us to become

something and so Lehi here in giving us

this little treatise as philosophical

treatise of truth and the plan of

salvation in the Garden of Eden brings

in becoming because without this we

cannot become and this is just the

opposite of what we hear from most

philosophers they'll agree many times

about what Heraclitus says about

opposition in all things and this

oneness you know the Platonists

and the Neo-Platonists love this kind of

thing during the Greco-Roman period the

Hellenistic period and ultimately it's

what ends up kind of becoming the

doctrine of the Christian Church as the

Apostles are killed off and it mixes in

very heavily into what becomes

Christianity but what they lack there

and especially more contemporary

philosophers like Nietzsche and

Schopenhauer is they don't have the

higher law they leave it just to a lower

law issue and the higher law is focused

on the doctrine of Christ and that

produces a love and that produces faith

and you remove those things and you have

a philosophy an ideology a way of being

without becoming and having an ultimate

goal of becoming then you know what we

know what happens when you get rid of

the higher law right the lower law eats

itself you are going to be void of love

you're going to be void of faith and

therefore you are going to be void of a

pursuit of who you can become

and a void of helping others become who

they can become and then he says here in

16 wherefore the Lord God gave and a man

that he should act for himself right

again he's bringing us back into the

formula agency is everything you gotta

have opposition

we're four-man could not act for himself

save it should be that he was enticed by

one or the other you've got to have

suffering you've got to have adversity

you've got to have consequences to help

you in developing that agency developing

responsibility then he says something

really interesting it says and I Lehi

according to the things which I have

read so this was in the brass plates

must need suppose that an angel of God

according to that which is written had

fallen from heaven wherefore he became a

devil having sought that which was evil

before God so why is he bringing this in

here again what he's starting off with

to me as he as you look at this treatise

here as he started off with an allusion

to the premortal life and here we are

again coming back to the counsel of

heaven in the pre-existence and again

here I think the word that is used here

is very interesting that joseph smith

was given I suppose he says wherefore he

became a devil now devil is from

Diablo right Diablo's which means the

same thing as accuser or slanderer

so accuser is the word you will

typically read in an English version of

the book of Revelation when they talk

about Lucifer falling from heaven and

bringing a third of the hosts of heaven

with him the term they use the title

they give him is the accuser and that's

what the devil is and isn't that an

interesting title you can think of a

court of law and being at the judgment

bar and who's there accusing you hey

so-and-so you did not fulfill the entire

law you did not answer the law yourself

you do not deserve the greatest rewards

and then the Advocate that would be

there the defender would be Jesus Christ

right the one who paid for

or sin for your debts so it very

interesting that he uses the word devil

right there and again when we bring in

that pre mortal life and that the

counsel in heaven with what Lucifer was

saying he's going against everything

that Lehi just said that's why he's got

it right here right that's why he's

putting it right here

he doesn't just put in this little

insert about the premortal life he's

talking about captivity he's talking

about tyranny he's talking about not

being able to be act for yourself and

having your agency he's talking about

not being able to have a redeemer and to

be able to develop faith and love that

was the plan of the devil that was the

plan of the accuser and then we get this

little bit of LDS theology that is so

crucial and that is this understanding

about the process and the plan of God

that the fall of Adam and Eve was not a

horrible thing yes Eve was enticed she

was tempted and she made a decision

based off of that temptation and Adam

made the same decision but it was all

part of a plan and Adam and Eve end up

effectuating and launching the plan of

salvation that we had all been waiting

for and so in a world especially this is

starting to change in the Christian

world as a whole but for the most part

of Christian history their theology is

is that Adam fell and this was a you

know now we have original sin and this

was a horrible thing we know it wasn't

we know that we had to each fall we all

have to fall we all have to be we all

have to try and answer to the law and we

all have to learn to rely on the

sacrifice of Jesus Christ and in 25 this

is 2nd defy 225 we've all heard this

before Adam fell this is why they fell

Adam fell that men might be right

because he had just said

you can't they couldn't have children

they were stayed in the same state in

the Garden of Eden they would have never

had children so they initiate the plan

here the mortal plan the mortal

portion of the plan Adam fell that man

might be and men are that they might

have joy it's a chiasmus right it is

the vision of the tree of life it is the

second half of that anyway men are that

they might have joy and the Garden of

Eden story is the first half Adam fell

that man might be and then we get

something I think is really crucial to

understand here says and the Messiah

cometh from the fullness of time that he

may redeem the children of men from the

fall and because that they are redeemed

from the fall they have become free

forever knowing good from evil to act

for themselves and not to be acted upon

save it be for the punishment of the law

so there's consequences that are going

to act upon you but this is key to

understand that I think in our lives

this is something I remember reflecting

a lot on when I was on my mission is

kind of who I wanted this is part of

becoming this is part of using that

agency are you someone who acts or are

you someone that is acted upon right am

I more in a mentality of creation as

an actor or being created by my

environment do I create my environment

or does my environment create me and of

course ultimately what he's talking

about is spiritual things that are the

things that act and carnal temporal

things being the things that we can act

be there acted upon but we ourselves can

choose to be acted upon and to live a

life that is more about being you know

dust in the wind so to speak so what

he's saying here I think is learn to use

and own your agency and so he concludes

here starting in 27 all things are given

them which are expedient unto man and

they are free to choose liberty and eat

colonel life we choose it through the

great mediator of all men because of him

or to choose captivity and death what

are our choices we own the consequences

because we own the decisions because

what we have been given is that

opportunity to choose and of course some

of his last words here are and now my

sons he starts off speaking to Jacob and

then ultimately he's talking to all of

them now he says I would that she should

look to the great mediator put Christ up

at the top of your values hierarchy and

hearken unto his great commandments and

be faithful unto his words and choose

eternal life according to the will of

the Holy Spirit and so Lehi a much

greater philosopher in my mind to

Heraclitus and Pythagoras and Plato and

Socrates and all of the more modern

philosophers who have really a focused

more on a lower law gives us the entire

truth of the plan of salvation and an

understanding that we own our own agency

and we've been giving a blueprint of

what to do and how to become more like

him and to grow through this opposition

in all things that we live in and that

love and faith are a big part of this

plan all because of the sacrifice of

Jesus Christ and the agency that has

been given to us I'll talk to you next

time