1 Nephi 2

Christlike Attributes

verse 1:

"the Lord spake unto my father, yea, even in a dream" Blue

verse 12:

"that God who had created them" Blue

verse 16:

"mysteries of God" Green

"soften my heart" Blue

verse 17:

"the Lord had manifested unto me by his Holy Spirit" Blue

verse 19:

"the Lord spake unto me" Blue

verse 20:

"ye shall prosper" Blue

"led to a land of promise" Blue

"I have prepared for you" Blue

verse 21:

"cut off from the presence of the Lord" Red

verse 22:

"thou shalt be made a ruler and a teacher over thy brethren" Blue

verse 23:

"I will curse them even with a sore curse" Red

verse 24:

"they shall be a scourge until thy seed" Red

Commentary


This chapter had far fewer attributes, especially at the beginning.  At first this shocked me because after chapter 1 being chock full, I just expected the rest to be, too.  But turns out, when you get into stories about people, you sometimes go several verses in between attributes of Christ.

Verse 24 was a little hard for me to choose a color.  The Lamanites being a scourge unto the Nephites seems like both a good and bad thing.  In one way, he's giving a blessing to the Nephites, "If you forget me, I'll send you a reminder."  But on the other hand, it's definitely mean, too.  "If you forget me, I'll spank you."  (Ok, not really spank, but you get the idea.)  It just doesn't seem "Christlike."  I mean, that's not how we're taught to treat people.  If you catch someone not living correctly, you're not supposed to give them more trials to humble them.  It's just not traditionally what I consider Christlike, so I put it under red in the end.

Verse 22 I had similar problems with.  Is it really Christlike to put someone over someone else?  Especially if you're taking a younger brother and giving him the rights of the older brother?  But then I looked at it as Christ rewarding someone for being righteous and knowing that He often has someone younger fulfilling something we'd traditionally think is for older people.  Just look at missionaries.  When I stop to think about it, I'm amazed that so many adult, middle aged and old, people get baptized every year because they were taught by 19-year olds.  It boggles the mind.  But that is how Christ works, so ultimately put it under blue.

Maybe I should make a purple category for, "I can see this being blue or red."  And if I do mark something purple, I have to explain it in the commentary section.  :)  I'll still with red and blue for now, but if it happens often, I'll change.