"We Lived after the Manner of Happiness": Book of Mormon Journaling 2 Nephi 1-5 (February 3-9, 2020)

First Nephi ends peacefully, with Nephi explaining the scriptures to his brothers. Second Nephi begins with Lehi announcing the destruction of Jerusalem as something that has happened. Then we have the counsel and blessings of Lehi to his posterity, which continues part of the way into chapter four. The rest of chapter four is known as the Psalm of Nephi. In chapter five the Nephites flee from the Lamanites and build a temple.

In chapter 1:5-9, Lehi prophesies about the future of the promised land. Ezra Taft Benson quoted 3 Nephi 21:4 (which I've written in blue) and then expounded it with what I wrote in red:
"'For it is wisdom in the Father that they should be established in this land, and be set up as a free people by the power of the Father, that these things might come forth,' (3 Nephi 21:4). America, the land of liberty, was to be the Lord's latter-day base of operations for his restored church," ("Our Divine Constitution," President Ezra Taft Benson, Conference, October 1987).

On the next page, I wrote 2 Nephi 1:23:
"Awake my sons; put on the armor of righteousness."
The sunrise/candelabra is not my favorite element in my scriptures, but once I added a shield and sword, it became less of a focal point.

In chapter 2, Lehi is speaking to his son Jacob. It is so sweet that he calls him his firstborn in the wilderness. In Biblical times (and Lehi, culturally speaking, is a Biblical-type prophet), being the firstborn was an honor and a responsibility. In 2 Nephi 2:8, Lehi tells his son that "no flesh can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah." In the margins, I wrote Alma's testimony (to his son Shiblon) of the same:
"There is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ" (Alma 38:9).

One of my favorite scriptures is 2 Nephi 2:25, "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." There was a time when my children were little that, if we were too tired to get out the scriptures, I would recite this verse to them at bedtime. In the next verse, Lehi explains that the Messiah comes to redeem the children of men from the fall. In the margins, I quoted from near the end of "The Living Christ:"
"He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come."

In chapter 3, Lehi speaks to his youngest son, Joseph. He tells his son about the Joseph who was sold into Egypt, as well as the Joseph who would be raised up in the latter-days. In the margins I included a quote from Genesis about our first Joseph:
"The Lord was with Joseph and shewed him mercy . . . and that which he did the Lord made it to prosper" (Genesis 39:21, 23).

On the next page (2 Nephi 3:12) Lehi quoted Joseph about the writings of his posterity and Judah's posterity growing together in the latter-days. In the margin I wrote:
"Take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: and join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand" (Ezekiel 37:16-17).

After I wrote the quote, I drew a scroll around it.

Chapter 4 begins with Lehi speaking to the sons and daughters of Laman and Lemuel. He tells that that "if ye are brought up in the way ye should go ye will not depart from it" (2 Nephi 4:5). In the margin I wrote:
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).

The rest of chapter 4 is commonly called the Psalm of Nephi, by scholars who have compared the pattern of the writing with traditional Psalms in the Bible (which were written before Lehi left Jerusalem, and therefore could theoretically have been included on the brass plates). In small print beside the verses, I wrote the breakdown of the psalm: Invocation: 16-17; Complaint: 17-19; Confession of trust: 20-30; Petition: 31-33; Vow of Praise: 34-35.
In the margins I wrote portions of Nephi's beautiful words:
"Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard" (2 Nephi 4:16).

"Upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away upon exceedingly high mountains. Why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow?
"Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul" (2 Nephi 4:25, 26, 28).

In chapter 5, the Nephites have separated from the Lamanites. Nephi teaches his people how to work with wood and metal (remember, the Lord taught him how to build a ship). Then he constructs a temple "after the manner of the temple of Solomon." My artistic interpretation of these two verses (2 Nephi 5:15-16) was a temple with architecture like Solomon's, but built out of wood and metal, using Nephi's special skills.
This reminds me a bit of President Hinckley's small temples. Those were scaled down, but still holy places.

If it isn't obvious, I relied heavily on a straight-edge to outline the temple. It is outlined with gray Mildliner highlighter (though a gray Crayola fine-tip marker might be similar). The planks and wood grain are done with a sharpened colored pencil (black, I think).

On the next page, I put a scripture in the margin:
"We lived after the manner of happiness," (2 Nephi 5:26).

What were your favorite verses this week?
For more posts, browse my blog or visit my Pinterest board Book of Mormon Journaling (it's organized!).