2 Nephi 15:13
These verses are so very rich in descriptions as they relate to the conditions under which the House of Israel crumbled. We continue in this verse to build on the "Wo" pronounced upon Israel in verse 11, where we learn that the resources that were allocated to Israel (in the form of blessings) for the purpose of advancing the Lord's work were wasted on luxury.
Verse 13 begins, "Therefore, my people are gone into captivity..." I've been with the notion of blessings being abused for several days. Now, as I consider it, I don't know that I've ever really considered in my own life the proper use of blessings. I acknowledge to the best of my ability the blessings that I do receive from God, yet I've never thought that there is a reason for receiving them. In other words, blessings are not the end, but as we are observing here, they are a means received because of our righteousness to enable us to achieve even greater ends. Israel's failure to realize this later point is what then brought them down into condemnation.
"Because they have no knowledge;" - So building on the point, the blessings that should have been obtained from their abundance was knowledge. Knowledge is the result of faith in action and the substance of what constitutes personal conviction and testimony. Israel lacked that testimony of God's work, because as we're reminded in verse 12, they had no interest it.
"And their honorable men are famished," - Feasting upon the words of Christ would remedy this spiritual malnourishment. I'm also reading this as being in reference to the leaders and teachers among the house of Israel. This I feel is in part the cause of the final observation in this verse.
"And their multitude dried up with thirst." - If the honorable men, those whom are charged with the responsibilities to teach and lead the body of Christ, are not able to feast upon Christ's words and drink deeply from the well of Life, how can they ever begin to hope to impart any living water to the multitude? Hence, the leadership suffers from hunger, and the congregation is "dried up with thirst."
The accusations are pointed and clear, and ever bit as applicable in our day as it was in the time of Isaiah.
These verses are so very rich in descriptions as they relate to the conditions under which the House of Israel crumbled. We continue in this verse to build on the "Wo" pronounced upon Israel in verse 11, where we learn that the resources that were allocated to Israel (in the form of blessings) for the purpose of advancing the Lord's work were wasted on luxury.
Verse 13 begins, "Therefore, my people are gone into captivity..." I've been with the notion of blessings being abused for several days. Now, as I consider it, I don't know that I've ever really considered in my own life the proper use of blessings. I acknowledge to the best of my ability the blessings that I do receive from God, yet I've never thought that there is a reason for receiving them. In other words, blessings are not the end, but as we are observing here, they are a means received because of our righteousness to enable us to achieve even greater ends. Israel's failure to realize this later point is what then brought them down into condemnation.
"Because they have no knowledge;" - So building on the point, the blessings that should have been obtained from their abundance was knowledge. Knowledge is the result of faith in action and the substance of what constitutes personal conviction and testimony. Israel lacked that testimony of God's work, because as we're reminded in verse 12, they had no interest it.
"And their honorable men are famished," - Feasting upon the words of Christ would remedy this spiritual malnourishment. I'm also reading this as being in reference to the leaders and teachers among the house of Israel. This I feel is in part the cause of the final observation in this verse.
"And their multitude dried up with thirst." - If the honorable men, those whom are charged with the responsibilities to teach and lead the body of Christ, are not able to feast upon Christ's words and drink deeply from the well of Life, how can they ever begin to hope to impart any living water to the multitude? Hence, the leadership suffers from hunger, and the congregation is "dried up with thirst."
The accusations are pointed and clear, and ever bit as applicable in our day as it was in the time of Isaiah.
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