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"Our Father Also Saw... The Justice of God", 1 Nephi 15: 26-36

1 Nephi 15: 26-36

This has stuck out as something almost new to me in this reading. After describing the gulf of misery which separates the wicked from the tree of life, symbolized by the river of filthy water which Lehi saw, Nephi uses this as a springboard to make one final observation.

Nephi states that his father also saw the justice of God in his vision, though nowhere else is there an account of it. He describes it as a bright flame that ascends up to God (the image of a flaming pillar is depicted in my mind), which is a divider between the righteous and the wicked (see vs. 30). This "flaming fire" of justice is the topic of their conversation for the remainder of the chapter.

Nephi declares that it is the justice of God that divides the righteous from the wicked. In studying the justice of God, close to it is the concept that God is no respecter of persons. I love this truth. In Isaiah 26, it talks about the gates of the city of Judah being opened for the righteous nation. It also says that the poor and the needy will tread down the lofty. In 2 Peter 2:4, Peter notes that God did not even spare the angels who sinned, but according to His justice cast them down to hell until a time of judgment.

Nephi's final thoughts at the end of this chapter clearly divide the wicked from the righteous. Where the devil would have us to believe in a reality that is gray, God has distinctions. The righteous dwell with God. The wicked are consigned to a state of damnation. The kingdom of God is pure and holy, the realms of hell are awful and filthy. The wicked in the end will be rejected from among the righteous, and from that fruit which is precious, sweet, and eternal.
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