“Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion! Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well!”
The word “therefore” ties all that went before to this warning about “Zion.” The threat of damnation, the pronouncement of “wo’s,” and the cautions about false teachers spreading false teachings are all designed to cause unease to Zion. That would be us. Or it would be what we claim about ourselves.
It is foolish to turn Nephi’s message into a warning to some other latter-day group. The gentiles, who have received the Book of Mormon, and who claim they are better than others, puffed up with conceit about being chosen and highly favored of God, are the ones who would identify themselves as “Zion” in Nephi’s prophecy. Not others. Us.
If you have reacted to the previous discussion with the notion that the interpretation given is really just my “opinion,” and not an actual warning targeting the Latter-day Saints, you should reconsider. Although Nephi’s message has been construed to apply to other faiths, (and the language certainly permits it) this part of Nephi’s sermon makes the conclusion inevitable. He is not warning others. He is not primarily targeting the world of the last days. He is warning and attempting to save the souls of those who receive his writings and self-identify themselves as “Zion.”
This means if we are “Zion” we can never be “at ease.” We can never relent. Self-praise and assuring words that make us relax are not only false, they cheat us whenever they remove the burden of repentance we must bear.
There can be no ease. There can be no determination that “all is well” until we have repented and come to Christ. When Christ has forgiven us, we can know we are forgiven. When Christ has promised us eternal life, we can know we have eternal life. Until then, we remain at risk and in jeopardy every hour we are here. (1 Cor. 15: 30.) When, however, you know you are sealed up to eternal life, you have the more sure word of prophecy or the testimony of Jesus. (D&C 131: 5.)
When can a person know they have a part in Zion? When the Lord Himself has made them a citizen. When the description given below is the description of their lives, then they may know it will be well with them:
“They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given— That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power; And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true. They are they who are the church of the Firstborn. They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things— They are they who are priests and kings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory; And are priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of Enoch, which was after the order of the Only Begotten Son. Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God— Wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. And they shall overcome all things.” (D&C 76: 51-60.)
These are they who have been told by the voice of God from heaven that they have eternal life. They are those who have obtained a hope in Christ.
When the Gospel of Christ is taught, it is always the purpose to bring people to this point. It is not Christ’s Gospel when the teachings fall short of declaring this to the audience. Nephi was not trying to get you to improve your behavior or to become a good citizen. He was not attempting to make you a conservative, mainstream American. He was warning you to flee from this corrupt and failing society to a higher place where you can obtain communion with the Church of the Firstborn. A place where you join the household of God.
Zion is not and has never been the product of an institutional organization on this earth. It is a byproduct of there being citizens of heaven living here. Zion is the only way such persons can live with one another. First obtain a hope in Christ, and then all things will be added to you.
Why, then, should there be no ease among us? Because we have too few for the Lord to bring again Zion. Until then we do not have Zion, and our false claims to it only serve to make us at ease while there remains yet a great unfinished labor to perform.
It is Nephi’s love for us, his desire to see us saved and happy, that causes him to use such harsh words of warning. He knows what we lack. He wants us to overcome it all and join him in the chorus singing anthems of praise, because our joy cannot be expressed without such songs! (D&C 84: 98-102.)
Denver,
These last few posts have been amazing! We truely are preaching false doctrines! Because they fall short of the truth, short of the whole point that the Lord restored the gospel. I feel as if I am bursting with this understanding. I feel as Alma must have when he said he wished he could speak with the voice of an angel. The kind of voice people would be forced to listen to and consider.
How can we ever get people to understand this thing!?! We are SO weighed down by our false traditions, and are completely blind to the fact. Where do I begin with my friends and family, short of asking them straight out about it? Maybe that is the answer. We are running out of time. It is time to stop beating around the bush and just address the issue straight out. Those who want more, will ask.
I feel as though I have been seeking this information for years!, my whole life really. I’ve just never known the right questions to ask. Now they are being answered! Thank you for your role in that.
In reference to D&C 76: 51-60 DS says:
These are they who have been told by the voice of God from heaven that they have eternal life. They are those who have obtained a hope in Christ.
I beg to differ, based upon D&C 132:5 (For all who will have a blessing at my hands …), it’s not by the voice of God from heaven, but from the voice of the owner of the hands. This, to me, is a personal blessing of a very physical and priceless nature.
Now an off-point question (sorry DS): In D&C 132:13, I understand thrones, principalities, and powers are 3 of the classes of angels (seraphim, cherubim, dominions, virtues, archangels, and angels being the other classes); what exactly does “things of name” mean to you?
Well, ok, I should also indicate the classification of Cherubim and Seraphim as angels is suspect, I mean there is some evidence they are mechanizations of some kind.
Sorry for being off-point.
Last off-point. Paul mentions something similar in Eph. 1:21
“Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:”