2 Nephi 27

Isaiah promised with the forth coming of the Book of Mormon that -

"...in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
30 And the meek also shall increase, and their joy shall be in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel."  (2 Nephi 27:29–30)

And -

"They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine."  (2 Nephi 27:35)

Is it any wonder we are counseled to read the book every day?

2 Nephi 26

Nephi taught -

"...wherefore, the Lord God hath given a commandment that all men should have charity, which charity is love. And except they should have charity they were nothing. Wherefore, if they should have charity they would not suffer the laborer in Zion to perish.
31 But the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money they shall perish."  (2 Nephi 26:30–31)

As a temple worker, I can testify this is true!  Every effort there is for the patron.

2 Nephi 25

As Nephi explained the words of Isaiah, teaching that the law of Moses does not save, but salvation is in Christ, He says -

"...behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out."  (2 Nephi 25:29)

Nephi previously stated that he was striving to keep the commandments, but here he emphatically says "ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul".  I found this very touching.

2 Nephi 24

As Isaiah seems to interchange Babylon with Satan and his minions, he states -

"...How hath the oppressor ceased?..."  (2 Nephi 24:4)

"All they shall speak and say unto thee: Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us?"  (2 Nephi 24:10)

"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!..."  (2 Nephi 24:12)

"For thou hast said in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High."  (2 Nephi 24:13–14)

Obviously, Satan lived before he came to earth.  God did not create him for we are all eternal with our own attributes and personalities before we were born as spirits.

2 Nephi 21

Writing the words of Isaiah, he prophesied in the last days two significant events.  First -

"The envy of Ephraim also shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim."  (2 Nephi 21:13)

Obviously, anciently in Isaiah's day, they hated each other.  But that would change and seems so in our day.

And second -

"...they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines towards the west; they shall spoil them of the east together; they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them."  (2 Nephi 21:14)

With recent events it also seems that this prophecy is being fulfilled as the state of Israel's borders have increased and relationships have seemed to being developed with local Arab nations.

2 Nephi 19

A thought this morning...maybe one of the reasons Nephi may have included the prophesies of Isaiah was for Laman and Lemuel.  Though Isaiah prophesied concerning the destruction of wicked Israel, the Lord repeated three times in one chapter and in the next -

"...For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still."  (2 Nephi 19:17)

If his brethren will repent they too will not be destroyed.  The Lord's hand is continually stretched out to those that will repent.

2 Nephi 18

As Isaiah speaks of his day, one cannot help but see similarities to our day.  Where wicked Israel relied upon "confederacy" and "familiar spirits and unto wizards that peep and mutter", Isaiah wrote -
"...for God is with us.
11 For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people"  (2 Nephi 18:10–11)

"Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
14 And he shall be for a sanctuary..."  (2 Nephi 18:13–14)

2 Nephi 15

The Lord sang -

"And then will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved, touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill.
2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a wine-press therein; and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes."  (2 Nephi 15:1–2)

I believe that this is reference to both Isaiah's day and ours.  He then proceeds to tell what he will do.

2 Nephi 13

The Lord condemns particularly a society when it reaches the point that when -

"...the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched-forth necks and wanton eyes..."  (2 Nephi 13:16)

It seems to becoming more prevalent in our day.

2 Nephi 12

Writing the words of Isaiah for the brass plates, Nephi writes -

"And the mean man boweth not down, and the great man humbleth himself not, therefore, forgive him not."  (2 Nephi 12:9)

Obviously opposingly different from the Bible -

"And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not."  (Isaiah 2:9)

A review of this chapter reflects the word of the Lord is about humility and the destruction of the proud.

2 Nephi 11

Nephi shared what made him the happiest -

"...my soul delighteth in the covenants of the Lord which he hath made to our fathers; yea, my soul delighteth in his grace, and in his justice, and power, and mercy in the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death.
6 And my soul delighteth in proving unto my people that save Christ should come all men must perish."  (2 Nephi 11:5–6)

2 Nephi 9

As Jacob teaches the consequence of the righteous and the wicked, he also teaches the Lord -

"...commandeth all men that they must repent, and be baptized in his name, having perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God.
24 And if they will not repent and believe in his name, and be baptized in his name, and endure to the end, they must be damned..."   (Nephi 9:23–24)

I don't believe that those that will be damned are those that -

"...shall go away into everlasting fire..."  (2 Nephi 9:16)

I believe that those that will be damned are those that are stopped in eternal progression.

2 Nephi 8

I was touched with the declaration of the "Lord thy God" and "Lord of Hosts" -

"...I have put my words in thy mouth..."  (2 Nephi 8:16)

For those striving to serve the Lord and receive the Holy Ghost, this brings great comfort!

2 Nephi 7

The Savior teaches us how He learned in mortality -

"The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season unto thee, O house of Israel. When ye are weary he waketh morning by morning. He waketh mine ear to hear as the learned.
5 The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back."  (2 Nephi 7:4–5)

We to can be taught from above if we also are "not rebellious, neither turned away back".

2 Nephi 5

Nephi acknowledged that after departing from his family that would not repent and moved to a new place they called Nephi, that -

"...I, Nephi, did take the sword of Laban, and after the manner of it did make many swords, lest by any means the people who were now called Lamanites should come upon us and destroy us; for I knew their hatred towards me and my children and those who were called my people."  (2 Nephi 5:14)

Obviously, the Lord would have us prepare for war and conflict and defend ourselves and family should it arise.

2 Nephi 4

The faith of Lehi becomes even more apparent as he states to his grandchildren -

"Wherefore, because of my blessing the Lord God will not suffer that ye shall perish; wherefore, he will be merciful unto you and unto your seed forever."  (2 Nephi 4:7)

"Because of my blessing" suggests his faith in priesthood power, the Lord would be merciful to their posterity.