The Why of it All

Today I read 2 Nephi 6. I honestly didn't get a whole lot out of it, but I am kind of distracted today also and that may have something to do with it. The 2 phrases that did stick out to me though are both in verse 12, they are even connected. They are "for the Lord God will fulfill his covenants which he has made unto his children; and for this cause the prophet has written these things."

I remember back when I was a missionary teaching the people of Taiwan and mainland China who had no knowledge of Jesus Christ and for sure no knowledge of what a prophet was. They couldn't even wrap their minds around it sometimes. We used to use a visual aid to help them understand as I recall. We had them picture a giant wall that they couldn't see over and they had no way to get on top of, and God was on one side and all of us were on the other. However, God has chosen certain men to be placed on top of the wall who can see both sides and to relay what God tells him back to us. But also to help us understand what God is like.

Sometimes I really think that maybe the whole point of the scriptures is to give us a clear understanding of the nature of God. For that is the main point of our existence, to be like Him. If you really think about it, what are the 10 commandments but 10 attributes of God. You could easily substitute the phrase "thou shalt not" for "I do not". Think about it, "I do not commit adultery, I do not kill" etc. And the "thou shalt" for "I" "I honor my father and my mother" etc. Jacob taught in verse 12 of 2 Nephi 6 that the reason Isaiah wrote was to show unto the children of men that the Lord fulfills His covenants with the children of men. And if you take nothing away from reading the scriptures other than that bit of truth, then your time will not have been wasted. How can we grow to be like God if we don't understand the type of being He is? Of course there are many purposes to the scriptures and this is just one of them, but it is a very important one and one we should all strive to learn well. Until tomorrow.