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"The Knowledge of the Lord," 2 Nephi 21:6-9

2 Nephi 21:6-9

These verses talk about carnivorous animals lying down along side animals that would in other circumstance be deemed their prey: wolves and lambs, lions and fatlings, cows and bears. This is offered as an example of the effect that the knowledge of God will have upon the inhabitants of the earth.
 
As a father of young children, verse 8 is of particular interest:
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’s den.
I think of the particular precautions we as parents take to protect our children from dangers, sometimes to the point of excess. I can easily see the unattended child quietly escaping the supervisory care of a loving parent and finding an asp's or a snake's hole. This would naturally intrigue the small child to the point that the child would be putting itself in great danger. Yet with the change wrought by the knowledge of God, as best as I can tell, the viper's tendencies to attack would be pacified, so that the danger that should otherwise exist, would be gone.

This reminds me of the passage of scripture found in 1 Nephi 19 that talks about Satan being bound because of the righteousness of the people of God. We also read elsewhere that the knowledge of the Lord in the last days will be abundant (see Mosiah 3:20-21, Doctrine and Covenants 3:16). So it leads me to conclude and believe that this state of knowledge does not just happen, but that it is a result of efforts to be achieved through the righteousness of the people of God. What is miraculous however, is that this prevalent knowledge of God is so evasive that even the animal kingdom is affected by its influence.

There are footnotes also found on verse 9 that further explore this topic of the knowledge of God being upon the inhabitants of the earth. These verses, such Doctrine and Covenants 88:104, talks  about a singular event wherein everyone will hear a trump from heaven and bow down to worship him at his coming. Then shall the knowledge of God be plainly manifested. It shall be as common knowledge as the rising of the morning sun.
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