Book of Mormon Reading Group: 11 Sep - 17 Sep 2023 (1 Nephi 6 - 1 Nephi 18)

[askandanswer]

If that's where the choosing takes place I think I'd rather be unchosen. I suspect the furnace consumes more than it saves.

1 Nephi 20

Book of Mormon

Israel has been chosen in the furnace of affliction

 

I can't help wondering how things might have been different if God had chosen a people who were meek, submissive, easy to be entreated, like a little child. This seems to be an odd choice.

1 Nephi 20:3–4

Book of Mormon

4 And I did it because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

 

 

Is God competing with idols here?

1 Nephi 20:5

Book of Mormon

And I have even from the beginning declared to thee; before it came to pass I showed them thee; and I showed them for fear lest thou shouldst say—Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image hath commanded them.

 

Judging by the behaviour of the Israelites, perhaps the refinement was insufficient.

1 Nephi 20:10

Book of Mormon

10 For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

 

There is considerable room to question this statement. I'm thinking of Amos 3:7. Surely the Lord God shall do but He revealeth His secrets unto His servants, the prophets. First, He has secrets, and then He only reveals them, in a very private and exclusive manner to a very small group of people. The first vision was not a public event - only one person saw it. Furthermore, there were things that were revealed to Joseph, and many other prophets, that they were commanded not to reveal to the world. Those things were spoken in secret.

16  I have not spoken in ^asecret;

 

 thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.

 

Every wave I have ever seen, every single one, breaks apart shortly after its formation. Maybe that is a good description of Israelite righteousness.

 

8 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments—then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.

Mon, 18 Sept 2023

Rivers are certainly very peaceful to sit by and watch but they are a hostile environment where people die and they are totally unstable and completely unsupportive

 

 

I've known some parents whose offspring is like a pebble, or gravel, in your shoe.

1 Nephi 20:19

Book of Mormon

19 Thy seed also had been as the sand; the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.

 

 

[zil2]

@askandanswer, we are starting a new thread every week, on Mondays - so starting with Chapter 19, comments belong in this thread:

ETA: I'm creating each a few days before, so that they're already there for anyone who gets ahead on the reading - and before your Monday.

Edited September 18, 2023 by zil2

[mordorbund]

On 9/17/2023 at 3:41 PM, zil2 said:

They present their argument well.  They may well be right.  Still makes me a little sad, though.

Just curious, why sadface?

[zil2]

1 hour ago, mordorbund said:

Just curious, why sadface?

In essence, the article takes God out of it and turns it into something pretty mundane.

[zil2]

Just a reminder that this week's chapters (1 Nephi 19 - 2 Nephi 9) are in another thread:

 

[zil2]

On 9/10/2023 at 3:53 PM, zil2 said:

 @Vort, @laronius, @JohnsonJones, @pam, @Just_A_Guy

Y'all are slackers!   Jamie deserves more than just my simple take on the BofM!  We're past the Isaiah chapters, no need to despair...

 

[SilentOne]

11 hours ago, zil2 said:

Y'all are slackers!   Jamie deserves more than just my simple take on the BofM!  We're past the Isaiah chapters, no need to despair...

I actually tend to despair more at Jacob 5 than the Isaiah chapters. It's soooo looooooong.

[zil2]

43 minutes ago, SilentOne said:

I actually tend to despair more at Jacob 5 than the Isaiah chapters. It's soooo looooooong.

OK, slack 'til Saturday.  I'll cover Jacob 5.