2 Nephi 15:13

[pam]

Reference Search: 2 Nephi 15:13

13 Therefore, my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

Quotes for Discussion

No knowledge, famished, dried up

A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity….[We need] revelation to assist us, and give us knowledge of the things of God.

Joseph Smith, TPJS, 217

Satan gains power over people because they lack gospel knowledge…(2 Ne. 32:7). Without the gospel individuals are deprived of the “bread of life” and the “living water” (John 6:48, 4:10). Thus, they are spiritually “famished” and “dried up with thirst.”…Today individuals in the Church deceive others by their smooth words and scholarly language…Some are led into inactivity and even apostasy because they do not search and understand the scriptures as they are illuminated by the light of the Spirit.

Clyde J. Williams, Doctrines of the Book of Mormon, ed. Bruce A. Van Orden and Brent L. Top [salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1992], 245-46

A person who has “no knowledge” is one who lacks intelligence or revelation. This is consistent with the statement that their honorable men are famished and their multitude dried up with thirst….Without the constant rain from the heavens there is famine and thirst.

Loren D. Martin, Isaiah: An Ensign to the Nations [salt Lake City: Valiant Publications, 1982], 127

[a mustard seed]

I have been leaning heavily upon my study guides for these past 4-5 chapters of 2 Nephi that deal with Isaiah's teachings and I really liked the quote that went along with this one. Just to expound on the whole famished and spiritually thirsty aspect.

It referred to people choosing to sin as a futile attempt to satisfy a spiritual hunger with worldly things. There was a quote by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland that also made a comparison to "spiritual anorexia" that I found poignant.

I was just really struck by this, particularly the way I know I was searching for something in my time away from the church. I was into horoscopes and gemstones for a while, until it got to the point where I had pants pockets full of these rocks; after a while, it'd begun to feel like a prison, a burden, literally weighing me down with these tokens of safety. Like I was really anxious about having them with me and/or not losing them, because they were easy to lose track of. I was literally filling this hole with precious stones with a distorted view of myself to the point where at the time, I didn't realize how anxious I sounded. The way that vanity is based upon a deeper insecurity, I was proud of these things yet they were never enough no matter how many I had.

Nothing has brought me greater comfort than owning my place as a daughter of our Heavenly Father and seeking to be close to Him. I originally went back to church because of a dire situation that had humbled me and prompted me to pray about it. I never intended to go back and I never really intended to dip more than a toe back in. It's been hard to stop, every new thing I learn, every personal revelation, feeling home, feeling comforted, and the steps back I've taken when I've sinned harshly contrasted, like actually abrasive feeling. I even started reading the scriptures every night with my young siblings and I've been surprised how willing these rambunctious kids were when I suggested it; they were right on board, even though this is not something our family has ever engaged in. And how smart they are, spouting off about stories and answering questions, so eager to learn and understand. Thirsty was the word I used to describe it long before I read this scripture. I can truly attest that the Lord's teachings and guidance is something the soul hungers for.