Comments for Read Scriptures Together

Comment on 2 Nephi 21 by Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:12:03 +0000

The way Isaiah phrases it, the last days and the millennium sound like an action packed movie, with the wicked suffering destruction on every hand, the Lord with righteous judgment cutting through evil, unmarried women wailing, and so on. But what if it’s not as swift and furious and action-packed as — thanks to Hollywood — we’ve come to expect? What if it’s really quite slow to develop, and moves at the pace of an iceberg?

On another note, I like the following verse in this chapter:

“And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor…”

Literally, Isaiah says that Christ will not use his eyes or ears as a means of making judgments. I like this idea. To apply it to my own efforts, when I write and revise an essay, perhaps I should look less at the grammar, structure, coherence, and ideas and instead listen more on the inside, to the guidance of the still small voice, and write from that focal point.

Comment on 2 Nephi 17 by Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:58:51 +0000

Michaela, thanks for the insight about the butter and honey. Also, I really appreciate the comments you leave, even if I don’t respond to all of them.

Comment on 2 Nephi 20 by Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:28:07 +0000

Although for the most part Isaiah doesn’t engage me as much as other prophets, at times he is powerful. In this chapter, he reassures us that all will be okay if we keep the path.
“O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian; he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction. (24-25)

It’s comforting to read that. It does reinforce our belief that, in the end, good ultimately triumphs even if evil seems to reign and have power in the current season. Having patience to endure is certainly a good quality to develop.

Comment on 2 Nephi 19 by Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:18:59 +0000

You’re right — reading a chapter of Isaiah a day doesn’t help much for interpretation. I think it might be better to zoom through it in a few days.

Comment on 2 Nephi 19 by Michaela Stephens

Michaela Stephens — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 02:16:00 +0000

I agree that Nephi’s massive quotes of Isaiah are difficult, and I finally realized it is because most of the time we are reading through the Book of Mormon a chapter a day, rather than zooming through. It is good to zoom through every once in a while because then we get a more global view and it seems to me that when Nephi gets done quoting Isaiah he writes a lot of commentary on it. Sometimes his commentary takes some of the Isaiah text as a starter and he launches off into space led by the Spirit of prophesy and it is hard to see exactly what he’s reading deeper into.

We’ll just have to forgive Nephi, won’t we?

Comment on 2 Nephi 19 by Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:14:15 +0000

I can see how the Jewa may have been looking for something more, when the Messiah is called Mighty, a Prince of Peace, etc.

This may be a controversial point, but from a writer’s point of view, I think quoting so heavily from Isaiah is a mistake. i would much rather hear Nephi’s voice. I would rather hear Nephi’s experiences in the wilderness and the way he wrestles with God. I’m not6 so sure why he felt he had to quote 25 chapters verbatim, when really what is persuaaive is Nephi’s second account in addition to the already existing account of the Bible.

Comment on 2 Nephi 18 by Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:26:06 +0000

If it weren’t for the intro summary, I would have been lost. I know the Messiah was a stumbling block for the Jews, but he is also a stumbling block today. We look for one thing and struggle when the reality is otherwise. For example, we loook for a peaceful, fulfilling, spiritual life (perhaps) and stumble when that life in Christ turns out to be one full of turmoil and hardship.

Comment on 2 Nephi 14 by Michaela Stephens

Michaela Stephens — Mon, 25 May 2009 02:09:48 +0000

The reproach can still be heard in the church. When single women are asked, “So why aren’t you married yet?” or “When are you going to get married?” the reproach is alive and well.

(Personally, I don’t see any point in asking something like that; if the women knew why they weren’t married then they would have probably made some changes a long while before. And if it isn’t time yet, then there’s no point in asking. And if they haven’t found a man yet, then it is insulting.)

The 7 women and 1 man says something to me and that is “competition”. And it implies 1 or both of 2 things:
there is a massive war that has killed off a bunch the eligible men, or
there is a massive rash of serious sin that men have succumbed to and there are not enough worthy men to go around

Comment on 2 Nephi 13 by Michaela Stephens

Michaela Stephens — Mon, 25 May 2009 01:58:00 +0000

I think the rebuke is for the haughtiness (pride) and wanton eyes (wicked focus). I don’t see it as a rebuke of beauty, but rebuke of the attitude and the excess demonstrated by so much ornamentation. The consequences are just as fitting. Because their pride, the women are brought low to sit on the ground in mourning. They also will lose the bravery of their ornamentation (maybe their confidence?). They will lose their men in war, so they will have to sell their jewelry to live.

But you are right; the beauty is fleeting.

Comment on 2 Nephi 17 by Michaela Stephens

Michaela Stephens — Mon, 25 May 2009 01:50:25 +0000

You’re right; the butter and honey thing is a very odd phrase. I’ve heard it interpreted different ways. My teacher in my Isaiah class at BYU, Victor Ludlow, said butter and honey were foods that poor people ate and that these verses were prophesying the impoverished state of Judah.

In the book “Isaiah Speaks to Modern Times”, W. Cleon Skousen reads butter and honey as “Hebrew symbols of the common lot and frailties of mankind in the flesh” and that it was prophesying of the Messiah’s mortal life and learning to choose the good and refuse the evil (and the extraordinary way that he learned this without sinning himself).

I would venture an additional way to interpret it as well. The butter is definitely fat. The honey is sweet. Once people get used to eating high fat and high sugar stuff, it is hard to eat other stuff that isn’t, because the flavor is not so rich. Isaiah could be using the butter and honey as symbols of eating those rich and sweet doctrines in the gospel, and how once you’ve tasted that, it hard for a spiritually-oriented person to have anything less. Also, once you’ve had that, it is often easy to distinguish between right and wrong.