Book of Mormon Summer- More 2 Nephi and Jacob

     The words of Isaiah quoted by Nephi are amazing prophecies for our day.
2 Nephi 27:11 "And the day cometh that the words of the book which were sealed shall be read upon the house tops; and they shall be read by the power of Christ; and all things shall be revealed unto the children of men which ever have been among the children of men, and which ever will be even unto the end of the earth."

      

I am curious about the number of times General Conference speakers use portions of scriptures without quoting them verbatim. These then are listed as footnotes. For example, Bro. Uchtdorf makes the statement, in his preisthood session address, " ..if you will rise up and join the chorus and allow the power of God to work through you, you will see "the windows of heaven open and will pour out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it". This is a reference to Malachi 3:10. We often think of that scripture as pertaining to tithing but really Malachi is warning the Jews who have stopped observing the laws of Jehovah and he is encouraging them to go back to observing the ordinances of the Law of Moses. The blessings of heaven are promised by the Lord through Malachi for all those who "walk in the way of the Lord". President Uchtdorf uses the language of the scriptures to draw us in because we recognize the phrase. Or is it something more subtle? Is the language of scripture the word of salvation? Nephi tells his people. after seeing their puzzled faces, 

    2 Nephi 31:13 "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism--yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel. "

   Is the tongue of angels a language? Does it consist of the words of salvation? Can we become conversant in this language as well?  

   

   If reading the scriptures tutors us to understand the tongue of angels then there is no language as beautiful as the allegory of The Vineyard.

Jacob5:41 "And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard wept, and said unto the servant: What could I have done more for my vineyard?"

   When I read this chapter in Jacob I know, deep within, the long-suffering patience and love of my Savior, Jesus Christ.
  Here are some more of my thoughts on this block of scripture.
 Here are some more 8X5 versions of my illustrations.