2 Nephi 2-3

2 Nephi – Lesson 2: 2 Nephi 2-3 (to be discussed January 18)
Day 1: Read 2 Nephi 2:1-5; 2 Nephi 32:9
1. Why had Jacob suffered sorrow and affliction? Reading 2 Nephi 32:9, tell how we can better consecrate our afflictions for our gain.


2. Taking just 2 Nephi 2:3-4, what do we know about Jacob?



3. From 2 Nephi 2:5, which focuses on the law of justice, what would happen to us without a Savior?



Day 2: Read 2 Nephi 2:6-13; Alma 34:14-16
4. Verses 6-10 explain why we need a Savor. List (and mark?) what these verses teach about the Savior’s sacrifice and his love for us.



5. What does it mean to have a “broken heart and a contrite spirit”?



6. Why must there be opposition in all things? How does it follow that if there were no law there would be no sin?



BONUS: Use Alma 34:14-16 to explain how opposition answers “the ends of the atonement” (2 Nephi 2:10).



Day 3: Read 2 Nephi 2:14-20; Alma 42:11-17
7. What were the opposites Adam and Eve had to choose from in the Garden of Eden? Which do you think was sweet and which bitter?



8. According to Lehi, what does the devil seek? Would men still have agency if there were no opposition? if there were no Satan?



Day 4: Read 2 Nephi 21-25; Moses 5:10-11
9. Why were the days of men prolonged?


10. What would have happened if Adam and Eve had not transgressed and fallen?



Day 5: Read 2 Nephi 2:27-30
11. How can we “choose” eternal life? Who is the “Great Mediator” of all men?


12. According to 2 Nephi 2:29, what gives the devil power?


Day 6: Read 2 Nephi 3:1-16; Genesis 49:22-26
13. Compare Lehi’s blessing to Joseph with Jacob’s blessing to his son Joseph in Genesis 49:22-26. In what ways are the blessings similar?




14. List five things from 2 Nephi 3:12 which the Lord said would be accomplished as the Bible and the Book of Mormon “grow together.”




15. How were Joseph of Egypt and Joseph Smith alike?



Day 7: Read 2 Nephi 3:17-25
16. What principle of the gospel is mentioned once in 2 Nephi 3:19 and twice in 2 Nephi 3:21 as being a force in bringing forth the Book of Mormon? Does it sound as though this same principle is critical in making weak things strong?


17. What promise does Lehi repeat in 2 Nephi 3:3 and 3:23? In verse 23 he specifies that the promise is based on “this covenant.” What is “this covenant” (Hint: see Genesis 17:1-8).



18. What final counsel did Lehi give Joseph in 2 Nephi 3:25?



Quote from Ezra Taft Benson, April 1988: “The Book of Mormon teaches that ‘it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things’ (2 Ne. 2:11)—and so there is. Opposition provides choices, and choices bring consequences—good or bad. The Book of Mormon explains that men ‘are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil’ (2 Ne. 2:27).God loves us; the devil hates us. God wants us to have a fulness of joy as He has. The devil wants us to be miserable as he is. God gives us commandments to bless us. The devil would have us break these commandments to curse us. Daily, constantly, we choose by our desires, our thoughts, and our actions whether we want to be blessed or cursed, happy or miserable. One of the trials of life is that we do not usually receive immediately the full blessing for righteousness or the full cursing for wickedness. That it will come is certain, but ofttimes there is a waiting period that occurs, as was the case with Job and Joseph. The great test of life is obedience to God. The great task of life is to learn the will of the Lord and then do it. The great commandment of life is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Mark 12:30). May God bless us to put the first commandment first and, as a result, reap peace in this life and eternal life with a fulness of joy in the life to come. “