BOOK OF MORMON STUDY GUIDES: 3 Nephi 21-23

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

3 Nephi 21-23

3 Nephi 21-23 Study Guide: To be discussed January 8
Day 1: Read 3 Nephi 21:1-10; Isaiah 66:18-20
1. Read the chapter heading for 3 Nephi 21. Which verses in 3 Nephi 21:1-9 include the theme: “Israel shall be gathered when the Book of Mormon comes forth”? What is the “sign” mentioned in verses 1 and 7?

2. Read Isaiah 66:18-20. What “sign” of the last days is described by Isaiah?

3. According to the Savior, who will work a great and marvelous work in the latter days? What is that work?

BONUS: Read D&C 135:3. Who is the “servant” described in 3 Nephi 21:10? In what sense was he “marred” but not hurt?

Day 2: Read 3 Nephi 21:11-21; Bible Dictionary entry, “Grove”
4. List warnings to those who reject the Book of Mormon. Now list ways it is rejected.

5. Horses and chariots symbolize power, or military victory. Cities and strongholds symbolize safety. How do the warnings in 3 Nephi 21:14-19 illustrate the phrase “my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil”?

6. Look up “Grove” in the Bible Dictionary. What were “groves” and why would the Lord want to pluck them up?

Day 3: Read 3 Nephi 21:22-29; Isaiah 52:11-12
7. What does the Lord promise those who “repent and hearken” to his words?

8. What three groups of people will participate in building the New Jerusalem?

9. 3 Nephi 21 is a commentary on Isaiah 52. What do 3 Nephi 21:22-28 add to your understanding of Isaiah 52:11-12?

Day 4: Read 3 Nephi 22:1-8; Isaiah 54:1-8 with footnotes; Joel 2:26-27; Revelation 19:7-8
10. 3 Nephi 22 is a continuation of the Lord’s sermon, in which he quotes much of Isaiah 54. When is the “then” of 3 Nephi 22:1, when the once-barren Zion will sing and rejoice in her posterity?

11. List promises to Israel at that day. See also Joel 2:26-27, Revelation 19:7-8.
12. What is the great mercy and everlasting kindness of the Lord? (See also Genesis 49:26.)

Day 5: Read 3 Nephi 22:9-17; Isaiah 54:9-17 with footnotes; 2 Kings 56:15-16; 1 John 4:4; D&C 109:26
13. What visual context (object lesson?) did the Nephites have for the Lord’s promise in 3 Nephi 22:10? When nothing else is certain, on what may we depend?

BONUS: The phrase, “with fair colors” in 3 Nephi 22:11 is sometimes rendered “in hard mortar.” Read this verse with Revelation 21:19-22. What impresses you about this description of Zion?

14. According to 3 Nephi 22:14, what establishes our safety within Zion’s walls?

15. What is the heritage of the servants of the Lord? See also 2 Kings 6:15-16, 1 John 4:4, D&C 109:26.

Day 6: Read 3 Nephi 23:1-6; review 3 Nephi 20:10-15
16. According to 3 Nephi 23:2, how many subjects relating to the House of Israel did Isaiah teach about? To what other group did he speak?

17. What do you think Jesus meant when he commanded the people to “search the prophets”?

18. List similarities between 3 Nephi 23:1-5 and 3 Nephi 20:10-15 (the first and last passages in the Lord’s discourse).

Day 7: Read 3 Nephi 23:7-14
19. What fulfillment of Samuel’s prophecy had not been recorded? Why was it important to do so?

20. It is recorded that Jesus “expounded all the scriptures” to the people (vv. 6, 14). What do you think this means?

21. What was the Savior’s final commandment in 3 Nephi 23?

BONUS: Why should we study the words of Isaiah?

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HISTORICAL NOTES AND HELPS FOR 2 NEPHI

NEO-ASSYRIAN TIMELINE – year listed after each king designates beginning of his reign; dates approximate

Tiglath-pileser (Pul – Assyrian general who took power) 746
Conquered Arpad, Hamath 740
Ahaz of Judah allied with Assyria 738
Destroyed Damascus (Rezin) 732
Died 727

Shalmaneser took power 727
Invaded Syria and Samaria 3 years
Hosea allied with Egypt 725
Died 722

Sargon II seized throne 722
Wiped out Samariah 721
Conquered Carchemish 717
Died in battle 705

Sennacherib ascended to throne 705
Received tribute from Jerusalem
Babylon sacked 703
Hezekiah allied with Egypt 701
Lachish conquered
Assyria marched toward Jerusalem, destroying 46 villages in its path
185,000 Assyrians died in one night – survivors returned to Nineveh
See Isaiah 7
In conflict with Babylon opened canals and flooded outside of city
until it became a swamp, inhabitants scattered 689
Murdered by his sons 681

Esarhaddon (his name means “Ashur has given a brother to me”) succeeded his father 681
Ruled and rebuilt Babylon (including “Tower of Babel”) 681
Sacked Sidon 677
Captured Manasseh (King of Judah)
Sacked Egypt 671
Died 669

Assurbanipal (or Asnappar, Osnapper, Ezra 4:10) 669
First king of Assyria who could read and write
Established a library at Nineveh
Supported culture and art, student of mathematics
Died around 631

Ashur-etil-ilani succeeded father around 631
Reigned maybe 3-4 years
Assyria weakened by attacks from neighboring countries
Sin-shumu-lishir reigned about a year
Sinsharishkun 627-612
Ashur-uballit 612-609
Nineveh destroyed 612
Assyria ceased to exist by 609.

HISTORICAL NOTES ON 2 NEPHI 17
The Syro-Ephraimite War of 734 B.C. was one of the great crises in Isaiah’s early ministry. (For historical background, see 2 Kings 16:1-20.) It appears that Pekah, king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and Rezin of Damascus, king of Aram (Syria), desired Ahaz, king of Judah, to ally himself with them in order to resist the encroachments of Assyria. The story of what happened is told in 2 Nephi 17:1-9. Ahaz saw only the politics of the situation and preferred to maintain the friendship of Assyria rather than to enter into an alliance with Rezin and Pekah. The text of Isaiah paints a vivid picture of the dismay caused in Jerusalem by the attempt to force Ahaz into the defensive alliance. He determined to resist, and the two confederates planned to overthrow him and to place a certain Syrian, the son of Tabeal, on his throne (17:6). Apparently Jerusalem was to be invaded, and the water supply of the city seems to have caused Ahaz some concern. When the attack threatened, Ahaz determined to ask the help of Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria (2 Kings 16:7). At this juncture the Lord bade Isaiah to take his son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the conduit of the upper pool, where Ahaz seems to have been inspecting his water supply (17:3). There the prophet apparently counseled Ahaz against calling in Assyria’s help and assured him that the two insignificant kingdoms of Syria and Israel would shortly be overthrown. The great prophet urged him to have faith in God’s word or he would not succeed (17:9).
It appears Isaiah found Ahaz had little faith in God’s power to save. So the prophet, at the Lord’s behest, offered Ahaz a sign calculated to build up his faith. He could ask for a sign from the depths of Sheol (the realm of departed spirits) or from the heights above, and the Lord would give it to him. The miracle would establish the divine authority of Isaiah, whether he spoke as directed by God or spoke his own thoughts. But Ahaz rejected Isaiah’s offer, doubtless because he did not want to be bound in his actions and because he dreaded the truth (17:10-12). Isaiah, now out of patience with Ahaz, decided to leave him to his fate. So the prophet addressed Ahaz as the representative of the whole royal court. He asked whether it was too little for them to weary or exhaust men’s patience – must they also try the patience of God? (17:13)
Isaiah then told Ahaz the Lord would give him a sign, a sign to be given in spite of his obduracy. The sign is mentioned in 2 Nephi 17:14, with further comment in verses 15 and 16. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has suggested there are plural or parallel elements to this prophecy, as with so much of Isaiah’s writing. He writes, “The most immediate meaning was probably focused on Isaiah’s wife (the “prophetess” in 18:3), a pure and good woman who brought forth a son about this time, the child becoming a type and shadow of the greater, later fulfillment of the prophecy that would be realized in the birth of Jesus Christ” (Christ and the New Covenant, p.79). In 2 Nephi 18 we read that Isaiah’s wife had a baby and the Lord said to name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz, which means “To speed to the spoil, he hasteneth the prey,” or in other words, destruction is about to occur. Ahaz rejected Isaiah’s counsel and instead of God being with them, they experienced destruction at the hands of the Assyrians. Although Jerusalem was spared the fate of Israel, 120,000 men were killed in a day and 200,000 taken captive (see 2 Chronicles 28:6-15). The city of Jerusalem was preserved another 100 years, providing a way for the Jews to return to Jerusalem eventually (a remnant will return) and for Jesus to be born of the Jews in the land prophesied in scripture, thus giving greater fulfillment to the prophecy given to Ahaz by Isaiah.
Isaiah proceeds to make clear that the Lord, the great judge, will bring down his judgments upon the dynasty of David and upon his recreant people. In verses 17 and 19, the prophet describes the disaster that Ahaz brings about as comparable only to that brought about in Jeroboam’s day when the Ten Tribes revolted from the united kingdom (1 Kings 12). The king of Assyria will come (17:17). Indeed, the present text (17:18) in metaphors involving the fly and the bee, indicates that both Egypt and Assyria will be involved in Judah’s difficulties. Like flies and bees the Assyrians and Egyptians will settle down wherever the unfortunate people try to escape from invaders.
Changing his metaphor, Isaiah then compares Assyria to a hired razor (see 2 Kings 16:7-9) by which the land is shaved bare, pillaged, decimated and degraded. Cutting of the beard would be a sign of degradation to the Hebrews (2 Samuel 10:4-5). Also, slaves were shaved for humiliation, sanitation and identification. With the land heavily depopulated, Isaiah sees primitive conditions return; agriculture practically ceases, and the few people who are left eke out a precarious existence with a few animals and the wild honey they manage to find (17:21). The prophet now describes the desolate state of the land itself. Neglected vineyards and untilled land turning to wilderness; where there used to be a large vineyard containing a thousand valuable vines, there will emerge a brier and thorn patch infested with wild beasts. Once-rich hills will only be fit for the pasturage of goats and sheep. These signs also have multiple fulfillments physical and spiritual - whenever the people reject their God.
-Material taken from Book of Mormon Compendium by Sidney B. Sperry and from the Seminary Student Study Guide.

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Tuesday, December 9, 2008

3 Nephi 21-23

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HISTORICAL NOTES AND HELPS FOR 2 NEPHI

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