4 For it came to pass in the commencement of the afirst year of the reign of bZedekiah, king of Judah, (my father, Lehi, having dwelt at cJerusalem in all his days); and in that same year there came many dprophets, prophesying unto the people that they must erepent, or the great city fJerusalem must be destroyed.
Interesting that Nephi makes no negative comment about Zedekiah.
My father dwelt at (around about) Jerusalem. It must have been the land of his inheritance.
The prophets came to cry repentance in the same year that Zedekiah became king. Was he leading the people to do wickedly? To repent is to turn back; back to following the Lord and His ways.
Is there some significance to the fact that it was the city that was to be destroyed if the people did not repent? Is the prosperity of the people reflected in the growth and prominence of the city? Is it true that cities tend to encourage wickedness? Are materialism, immorality, the seeking for luxury and leisure, pride, and power-grabbing, all influences of living in a city?
1 comment:
I've been fascinated by the cycles that the people of the Old Testament make of righteousness to wickedness. It seems just like the pride cycle of the Book of Mormon, but maybe more closely tied to the standard set by the king at the time.
I wonder if his mention of Jerusalem is not more to specify a certain group of people? Jerusalem = Jews or the children of Judah and Benjamin. In contrast to the Israelites or other tribes of Israel.
Or another way of saying the same thing is that Jerusalem (with it's temple) represents church headquarters, a group of people that should know better. more given and more expected.
I do like the idea around cities...as economic hubs they would tend to produce affluence which in turn (without being checked) would bring about pride.
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