He Flatterth Away

2 Nephi 28:21-32

In 2 Nephi 27, Nephi gives the time setting for what he is to say thereafter, quoting from Isaiah 29 and then his words which are recorded in 2 Nephi 28. It is the "last days, or the day of the Gentiles" (2 Nephi 27:1), meaning that we are in the day of the Gentiles. Nephi had many negative things to say about the Gentiles, and if we think of them as bad guys and us as good guys we will miss the mark. As long as we continually think of ourselves as the good guys we will not get very much out of the scriptures, and we can test ourselves with what Nephi had to say about the Gentiles, with whom we are identified (D&C 109:60). Using Nephi's description of us, Mormon Gentiles, or more accurately, Ephraimite Gentiles, is a good name for us. 

As you read Nephi's words in 2 Nephi 28:21-32 do not make the mistake of thinking they are not speaking to you and of you. Nephi is saying that in the day of the Gentiles Satan will rage in the hearts of the children of men and cause some to be stirred up in anger against that which is good. 

21. And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well--and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.

Note the words and phrases, pacify, lull them away, carnal security, cheateth, leadeth them away, and carefully down to hell. The idea of being pacified and put to sleep so as not to be aware of being led away is the work of the master magician. He uses illusions and vain imagination to keep the people from awakening to their awful state. In fact, he makes them think they are in the right way. He causes the people to put their trust in their prosperity and the desires of their hearts to the point that they actually think that Zion prospereth because of their industry and their goodness. Why does Nephi refer to Zion in this verse and again in verse 24? He is showing us just how effective Satan can be in making us think that we are in Zion when we are actually in Babylon, which is the antithesis of Zion. Zion cannot be mixed with Babylon. They cannot and do not exist together.

22. And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none--and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.

Flattery is one of the 'shalt nots' in the Book of Mormon and a tool of Satan to lead the people away from Christ. Sherem "preached many things which were flattering unto the people; and this he did that he might overthrow the doctrine of Christ" (Jacob 7:2;4). The people subject to King Noah "...were deceived by the vain and flattering words of the king and priests; for they did speak flattering things unto them" (Mosiah 11:7). Unbelievers in the days after King Benjamin "did deceive many with their flattering words" (Mosiah 26:6). Even Ammon, in order to get the king's men to follow him and gather the king's flocks "flattered them by his words" (Alma 17:31). Korihor attempted to bring many "souls down to destruction, by...lying and by...flattering words" (Alma 30:47). Many in the church "believed in the flattering words of Amalickiah" (Alma 46:7;10). The people of Morianton were so stubborn and proud "being inspired by his wickedness and his flattering words" (Alma 50:35). See also Helaman 13:28; 3 Nephi 1:29; and Ether 8:2.

In other words, Satan can be so subtle that we don't even know we are "grasped with his awful chains" until it is too late. In fact life can go on as it always has for us with little or no discernible change from our perspective, and that is because Satan has deflected and caused you to see what he wants you to see and hear what he wants you to hear. He limits your perception and your awareness. He can distort the truth just enough to make it so we do not see that it is distorted. An example is the focus on the family whereby he can lead us away from Christ if our focus does not include teaching them as commanded in D&C 68:25; Moses 6:58-59; and D&C 93:40.

His words can even be pleasing to you, focusing you on what you want or what you are doing, and are intended to keep you from the one thing that is necessary for you to be released from the grasps of his awful chains. Alma tells us what that is. Satan has influenced you to harden your heart against the word of God, and those that do harden their hearts against the word of God "are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell" (Alma 12:9-11). Don't let the word 'harden' cause you to say, "but my heart is not hard." To harden one's heart is to set your heart on other things. Just as cement hardens, so does your heart as it becomes set upon the your worldly family activities, your worldly possessions, your idols, your values, yourself, and/or those things which give no life.

Alma called the Zoramites the most wicked people, after Alma and others went to the Zoramites to "preach unto them the word" (Alma 31:7; cf. Alma 31:5). He described them as industrious and hard-working, and described their manner of worship, for they were also religious people. But this is what Alma described as their wickedness: "they cry unto thee (O God), and yet their hearts are swallowed up in their pride. ...they cry unto thee with their mouths, while they are puffed up, even to greatness; with the vain things of the world. ...their costly apparel, and their ringlets, and their bracelets, and their ornaments of gold, and all their precious things which they are ornamented with; and behold, their hearts are set upon them, and yet they cry unto thee and say--We thank thee, O God, for we are a chosen people unto thee, while others shall perish" (Alma 31:27-28 emphasis added).

23. Yea, they are grasped with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the devil, and all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God, and be judged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.

Hardening our hearts against the word of God will cause that His words will not be found in us, and then will our state "be awful, for then we shall be condemned" (Alma 12:13). It is either the whisperings of Satan that we hear or the word of God. The Lord told Joseph Smith that the "mainspring of all corruption" is everything but the word of God (why?) because Satan's creeds have been "so strongly riveted...upon the hearts of the children, and filled the world with confusion, and ha(ve) been growing stronger and stronger, and (are) now the very mainspring of all corruption, and the whole earth groans under the weight of its iniquity. It is an iron yoke, it is a strong band: they are the very handcuffs, and chains, and shackles, and fetters of hell" (D&C 123:7-8 emphasis added)

Satan wants us to be at ease and feel secure that all is well. He blinds us to the reality of our true condition causing us to put our trust in things that are more immediately at hand. He presents His world as the "real world" and most of our preparations are to live in his world, while God's world is what we should want--where all are equal, all are pure in heart, and where there are no poor among us. We have lost sight of Zion because we are so comfortable in Babylon. As President Spencer W. Kimball said, "Few men have ever knowingly and deliberately chosen to reject God and his blessings. Rather, we learn from the scriptures that because the exercise of faith has always appeared to be more difficult than relying on things more immediately at hand, carnal man has tended to transfer his trust in God to material things. Many people spend most of their time working in the service of a self-image that includes sufficient money, stocks, bonds, investment portfolios, credit cards, furnishings, automobiles, and the like to guarantee carnal security throughout, it is hoped, a long and happy life" (The False Gods We Worship, Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, June 1976).

24. Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!

President Kimball was right on! Our purpose in this life is not to have a more comfortable life, but Satan makes it so inviting and enticing that all of us fall in his trap. And this is exactly the trap that Nephi is warning us about, and make note that when a prophet uses the word 'wo' we should know that he is speaking unto those who have entered into the covenant because the word 'wo' is associated with a covenant curse, meaning we better repent or suffer the curse and God's justice. Satan knows that it does not take much to get us to put our energy into activities and things which deflect us away from Him. He is content to see us working and industrious as long as we are working for the wrong things. Nephi, said, afterall, that "the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money they shall perish" (2 Nephi 26:31). Being at ease in Zion was the sin of Sodom. "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness" (Ezekiel 16:49 emphasis add).

25. Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well!

And Ezekiel says that Israel was "corrupted more than they (Sodom and Samaria) in all their ways" (Ezekiel 16:47 emphasis added). The cry that "all is well" is a confirmation that being at ease is what constitutes being well. This is an indication of "the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men. We may see that at the very time he doth prosper his people...then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One--yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity" (Helaman 12:2 emphasis added).

26. Yea, wo be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost!

Nephi then adds another 'wo' unto those that hearken unto the precepts of men, because by doing so they deny the power of God and the gift of the Holy Ghost. It is not just Satan that can lead the hearts of the people astray. Men can also do the same, and can even do so while meaning well. The necessity of hearkening only to the words of God is so crucial in getting us in the right way and keeping us there, that the Lord has told us to not hearken unto the precepts of men, no matter if those precepts are mingled with scriptures or quotes from other men. The idea of precepts of men mingled with scripture is another example of opposition in all things. In other words we cannot hearken unto the precepts of men and/or the whisperings of Satan, and at the same time hearken unto the voice of God. It is one or the other, and we are enticed by one or the other. Nephi makes this clear when he says that even the humble followers of Christ "are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men" (2 Nephi 28:14). He decries those "who preach false doctrines...and pervert the right way of the Lord" (2 Nephi 28:15). To "transfigure the holy word of God" is to bring damnation upon our souls. (Mormon 8:33).

Moroni's last words before his death were exhortations, exhorting us to deny not the gifts and power of God. He warns "that if the day cometh that the power and gifts of God shall be done away among you, it shall be because of unbelief. And wo (links to Nephi's wo) be unto the children of men if this be the case; for there shall be none that doeth good among you, no not one. For if there be one among you that doeth good, he shall work by the power and gifts of God" (Moroni 10:24-25 emphasis added). 

27. Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more!

Our attitude toward the word of God can be measured by our reaction to what words we have and whether we desire more of the word of God. To those who say we have enough, Nephi says wo unto them. Isaiah asks the question: "Whom shall he (God) teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts" (Isaiah 28:9)? He asks this question after describing the method of learning among God's people. He says that our tablets are full of vomit, or in other words we simply regurgitate what we have heard. To these God cannot teach knowledge. They are satisfied with "precept upon precept; line upon line; here a little, and there a little" (Isaiah 28:10; See verse 30 below). "Forasmuch as this people draw near unto me with their mouth, but have removed their hearts from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the precepts of men" (2 Nephi 27:25 emphasis added).

Samuel the Lamanite emphasized that he had been commanded to say: "Because of the hardness of the hearts of the people of the Nephites, except they repent I will take away my word from them, and I will withdraw my Spirit from them" (Hel 13:8)

28. And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble and are angry because of the truth of God! For behold, he that is built upon the rock receiveth it (the truth) with gladness; and he that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth lest he shall fall.

Nephi then adds another dimension by describing how some people respond to the word of God, and shows again the polarization between those who are built upon the Savior and receive the truth with gladness and those built upon a sandy foundation. The precepts of men and the whisperings of Satan contribute to the sandy foundation because they remove the hearts of the people from the Lord.

29. Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!

Many Latter-day Saints use this scripture to separate them from their Christian brothers and sisters who say all we need is the Bible. Those who say that fail the test, because Nephi is speaking to us (notice the 'wo' again) who say we have enough and don't need more. We are under condemnation for having "treated lightly" the words we have received (D&C 84:54). But we have only been given a 100th part of all the words the Savior taught to "try our faith" and see if we will desire more. "And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it so be that they shall believe these things (these words) then shall greater things (greater words) be made manifest unto them. And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation" (3 Nephi 26:11-10 emphasis added).

30. I will give...line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear to my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say: We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.

Nephi explains that line upon line, precept upon precept, is not the end, but only the means to receiving more. Many of the Lord's people are content with what they have and believe that the idea of precept upon precept is all there is. But the Lord says "unto him that receiveth I will give more" and to those who desire more they shall receive more. Those who don't will not just receive less, but will have that which they have "taken away" from them. The fact that this applies to us is even more compelling when we realize it was the same thing that Christ prophesied would happen to those who failed the test of faith mentioned in 3 Nephi 26:10-11.

31. Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost. 

Nephi uses the phrase "cursed is he" in place of "wo be unto" which he used in verse 26 to describe what happens to those who put their trust in man. Nephi expounds upon verse 26 by adding the descriptive phrases "putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm as curses associated with hearkening unto the precepts of men.  Nephi describes us as we are today.

Nephi does add a qualifier to not hearkening unto the precepts of men when he says "save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost." And who decides that? We do, of course, or at least those who can discern the difference between the words of men and the words of God. This puts the burden directly on us to treasure up in our minds continually the words of life so that we will know whether what is said is given by the power of the Holy Ghost. (D&C 84:85) 

See also D&C 42:15-16, where the Lord says: "And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach. And as ye shall lift up your voices by the Comforter, ye shall speak and prophesy as seemeth me good." To love the Lord with all our mind is to look to Christ as the sole source of truth and light in our lives. We do listen to what others have to say, but measure everything against the sole source of truth and light. This is not an option, but a choice with consequences: either hearken unto the precepts of men or hearken unto the voice of God! 

32. Wo be unto the Gentiles, saith the Lord God of Hosts! For notwithstanding I shall lengthen out mine arm unto them from day to day, they will deny me; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God, if they repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long, saith the Lord God of Hosts.

Joseph Smith told us that we are identified with the Gentiles (D&C 109:60) and therefore Nephi again makes it clear that he is talking to the Lord's people in the last days, as well as the Gentiles (nations) of the earth. The 'wo' is used to speak only of those under the covenant, and is a reminder to us that if we do not repent we face the justice of God. He is constantly extending His arms to us, wanting us to choose Him and His mercy. As long as we can repent it is never too late. 

What is it with which the Lord has blessed the Gentiles? He has poured out the Holy Ghost upon the Gentiles, and if we do not repent after the blessing which we have received, we reject the blessing of the Holy Ghost (3 Nephi 20:15;27), and therefore our ability to distinguish between the precepts of men and the word of God. Nephi is telling us there are two choices. Which one are you choosing?

The only bad guys in the Book of Mormon are those who are not repenting, and the only good guys are those who are repenting. Put another way, if you are wicked you are not repenting, but if you are repenting you are righteous. And this because you have turned to His righteousness. Alma, after teaching his son Corianton, said to him: "And now, O my son, ye are called of God to preach the word unto this people. And now, my son, go thy way, declare the word with truth and soberness, (why?) that thou mayest bring souls unto repentance, (why?) that the great plan of mercy may have claim upon them" (Alma 42:31 emphasis added). Not only has our Father in Heaven commanded that we hearken unto His voice through His words, but He has also called us to preach His words, because it is only through His words that others will be brought unto repentance and lay claim to the great plan of redemption. This is another measure of whether we have received His words--do we desire that others taste as we have tasted?