Tuesday, July 28, 2009

1 Nephi 22:10-11

"10 And I would, my brethren, that ye should know that all the kindreds of the earth cannot be blessed unless he shall make abare his arm in the eyes of the nations.
"11 Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to make bare his arm in the eyes of all the anations, in bringing about his covenants and his gospel unto those who are of the house of Israel."

The last part of verses 8 and 9 says that the marvelous work that will be done will be of great worth unto all the house of Israel because it brings them to the knowledge of the covenants that the Lord made to their forefathers, which one part says that all the kindreds of the earth shall be blessed. Verse 10 says that this cannot happen unless the Lord makes bare his arm in the eyes of the nations. I wondered what this phrase meant. It is not a usual phrase. The word "bare" has a footnote to Isaiah 52:10, which says:

"10 The Lord hath made abare his holy barm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall csee the dsalvation of our God."

It seems that a result of the Lord making bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations is that they see the salvation of our God. So, I believe that a prerequisite to being blessed is that the people have to gain a testimony of the atonement. I think that this is discussed in the next few verses, which we will discuss over the next few days.

I believe that verse 11 is also a consequence (perhaps even more direct) of the Lord making bare His holy arm. And this consequence is to bring His covenants and His gospel to the house of Israel. This is the missionary work that we see today. Missionaries teach of faith, repentance, the atonement, baptism, and the Holy Ghost. These are just the beginning covenants. Missionaries hope to see their families and converts go to the temple where further covenants can be made. Then perhaps the phrase, "Make bare His holy arm," means to roll up your sleeves and get to work, which is what the Lord does and will do. I end by quoting the relevant scripture of what the work and the glory of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is (Moses 1:39):

"39 For behold, this is my awork and my bglory—to bring to pass the cimmortality and deternal elife of man."

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