Spiritual Insights...and other stuff

While studying this week, I found a peculiar passage in Helaman chapter six referring to "the Lamb," which set me on quite the mental adventure. It all started when the Lamanites were preaching vigorously to convert the wicked Nephites, which they achieved. Many Nephites became "humble followers of God and the Lamb." ¹ Who's the Lamb? I looked to the New Testament to answer that question: when Jesus went to John the Baptist to get baptized, John sees Him and says, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." ² So, Jesus is the Good Shepherd and the Lamb. In this post, I wanna focus more on His role as the Lamb and how we can more deeply understand this metaphor. Before I get into it, I found John's testimony of Jesus to be highly fascinating. He said, "Behold the Lamb of God." If we interpret that "of" to mean possession or some other association, Jesus is God's Lamb. I think we can agree on that. ...

Lately, I've been reading the Book of Mormon backwards. Moroni 10:33 to 1 Nephi 1:1. I don't know what brought me to do it, perhaps I needed to add little seasoning to my study. (I decided to read the individual verses the normal way, fyi. Reading every word backwards seemed ill-advised.) In today's reading, a few verses in Helaman 7 caught my attention. Nephi is on his tower calling Zarahemla to repentance. He bemoans their wicked state and asks, "Why has [God] forsaken you?" He subsequently answers this question himself: It is because ye have hardened your hearts; yea, ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd; yea, ye have provoked him to anger against you.¹ Nephi declares that the "good shepherd" is angry at the people of Zarahemla, who, by metaphorical implication, are His "sheep." Who is the good shepherd? Jesus Himself said, "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep ."² Diving into the metaphor, we find these...