Let’s be honest here, by the time you reach these last three chapters of 2 Nephi you are probably just rushing to get it over with. The exciting action of 1 Nephi is long gone. There aren’t any plates to obtain or boats to build. 2 Nephi is a bunch of sermons and a whole lot of passages from Isaiah. It’s easy to just power through these chapters to get to the finish line. 

Can I ask you to slow down? This isn’t a race. And these chapters aren’t a barren wasteland. I want to point out some interesting landmarks that you can stop and admire as you finish reading 2 Nephi. 

As always I like to start my lesson plans out with some quick questions to get us oriented.

Who wrote this? Nephi is the author of Chapters 31-33 of 2 Nephi. Which you might think is pretty obvious, it’s in 2 Nephi after all. But 2 Nephi has multiple authors and quotations. Nephi spends the first part of the book quoting his father Lehi’s final address to the family. Many of the chapters are the teachings of Nephi’s brother Jacob. And of course 2 Nephi is famous for all those long chapters from Isaiah. Nephi’s own words and narration are only found in half of chapter 4, all of chapters 5, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, and 31-33 which we are studying in this lesson plan.

When was this written? The notes in the Book of Mormon say that this time period was probably between 559 and 545 BC. More importantly this was towards the end of Nephi’s life. Chapters 31-33 are separated from chapter 30 by an unknown period of time. Chapter 30 ended with Nephi saying, “I make an end of my sayings.” So that designated the end of that particular speech or teachings. He is now teaching us something new after pausing for a while. 

Where was Nephi when he wrote it? Nephi is writing this from the Land of Nephi (also referred to as Lehi-Nephi in other parts of the Book of Mormon.) Nephi has traveled a great deal since he was a young man. He started his life in Jerusalem and then crossed a wilderness and an ocean. Even after his family arrived in the promised land he did not stay put. He was forced to flee from his brothers after the death of his father. He is writing this in the land that he and his followers fled to.  

Who is mentioned in the text? There is not a lot of story in this part of the Book of Mormon. There are a lot of teachings here, but not a lot of action or characters. Theologically you can look for each member of the Godhead in the text. God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are each mentioned multiple times. 

Why did Nephi write this? These are the last words that we will read from Nephi. He wants to teach some plain truths of the Gospel. He says that has a “few words which [he] must speak concerning the doctrine of Christ.” These are important enough that he wants to make sure we know about them before he finishes his records. 

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If you are just glancing over these chapters you might think, “Oh these are the chapters where Nephi talks about baptism.” or “This is where Nephi says that angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost.” You are right. And there is so much more. I want to point out 5 new things that I noticed while going over these chapters multiple times. Some of these were things I noticed on my own, but I was also helped out a lot by the Annotated Book of Mormon. I’ll try to give credit to things that I would not have noticed without the helpful notes in that book.

Here are 5 Things to notice in 2 Nephi Chapters 31-33

1. Plain descriptions of Jesus

Sometimes I wish there was a sound effect that played every time there was unique doctrine in the Book of Mormon. As members of the church we are so used to the teachings of the Book of Mormon that we don’t realize how unique some of the things in the book really are. 

If there was such a sound effect it would be going off constantly over these three chapters. The biggest reason is that it is very unique to have such a clear description of Christ some 500+ years before Christ’s birth. Yes, the Bible does have prophecies and revelation about Christ in the Old Testament. But they are not nearly as clear as it is in the Book of Mormon. 

Here at the end of 2nd Nephi we get 3 chapters full of clear talk about Jesus. Maybe this is what Nephi was saying when he said his soul delighted in plainness (2 Nephi 31:2) 

Here are a few of those plain things:

• We read of His baptism in 2 Nephi 31:4-8.

• We hear His words directly to Nephi in 31:12 and 14. 

• We learn how to follow Him by following His example to be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. 

• Even the fact that Nephi uses the name Jesus is very unique. 

How is your testimony and understanding of Jesus strengthened by these clear teachings about Jesus?

2. God the Father speaks directly to Nephi

In Chapter 31 verses 11, 15, and 20 there are direct words from God the Father. This is unique in scripture. Usually direct quotes come from “The LORD” or “The Lord God”  both of which LDS teachings generally attribute to Jesus Christ. 

It is very rare to see phrases like what we see in 2 Nephi 11 where we read, “And the Father said, “Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.” In the Book of Mormon, God the Father only speaks in this chapter of 2 Nephi and again in 3 Nephi 11:7. 

Take a moment to read over verses 11, 15, and 20 and think about how the impact of these verses changes when you realize this is God the Father speaking directly. 

3. Role of the Holy Ghost

Here’s a pop quiz for you. What are the roles of the Holy Ghost?

In church you will often hear stories about how the Holy Ghost warned someone of danger. Or helped them find something that was lost. Or guided them through a difficult decision. 

These are all roles of the Holy Ghost and I’m not disputing the validity of these things. But we often forget that the Holy Ghost isn’t some glorified compass. He is a member of the Godhead. His primary role is to testify of Christ.

In 2 Nephi 31 verse 13 Nephi explains that the Holy Ghost comes after you have repented and witnessed through baptism that you are willing to take on the name of Christ. Receiving the Holy Ghost is linked with a baptism of fire in verses 13 and 17. 

In verse 17 we read “then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.”

This verse in the Annotated Book of Mormon has this note written by Grant Hardy, “In the Book of Mormon baptism does not wash away sins (except at Alma 7:14) rather, it functions as a witness of covenant making . . . The actual remission of sins comes by fire and by the Holy Ghost.”

How can this expanded view of the role of the Holy Ghost help you in your relationship with the Holy Ghost and other members of the Godhead?

4. More about the Holy Ghost

Nephi teaches about another role in Chapter 32 verse 5. Here it says that the Holy Ghost will “show unto you all things what ye should do.”  Oftentimes we look at this phrase in a vacuum and assume that it means the Holy Ghost will help us solve every question we have. But let’s look at this verse a little closer. 

Chapter 32 starts with Nephi saying, “I suppose that you ponder in your hearts concerning that which ye should do after ye have entered in by the way.”

Then he admonishes the people to remember that they have the Holy Ghost and that the Holy Ghost will help them speak with the tongues of angels. And then he reminds them to feast upon the words of Christ because “the words of Christ will tell you all things that ye should do.”

Then he talks about being brought into the light and then says, “if you will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.”

Nephi isn’t telling us that the Holy Ghost will help us know how to solve every question about every aspect of our lives. He is telling us that the Holy Ghost and the words of Christ will help illuminate our lives as we follow “the way.” The way means living a Christian life by following Jesus. So the Holy Ghost will help us know what to do as we follow Jesus.

How does the Holy Ghost help you as you follow Jesus?

(And if you are still wondering what exactly you should do, you are not alone. Nephi suspected we still wouldn’t know what to do in 30:8 where he says, “I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts.” His advice is to pray. So that’s a good place to start.)

5. Nephi says he is redeemed. 

In the Annotated Book of Mormon, Grant Hardy has written beautiful and informative introductions to each book within the book. That edition is worth owning just for those introductions. The intro to 2 Nephi was very helpful to me as I prepared this lesson plan. I want to highlight one of the things he pointed out in that introduction. 

In Chapter 33 verse 6 Nephi says, “I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell.”

If you are like me you read that and think, “of course Nephi believes that. Nephi has been so full of faith his whole life. He got the plates, he built a boat, he’s been leading his people for decades. He likes to read Isaiah. This is just more of the same.”

But is it? Is this really more of the same?

I was surprised when I read Grant Hardy’s notes and discovered that this is the first place that Nephi says that he is redeemed. 

Lehi says that he was redeemed in 2 Nephi 1:15. Lehi tells Jacob that he is redeemed in 2 Nephi 2:3. But it takes Nephi until near the end of his own life to write the words about himself. Maybe he believed it earlier and just didn’t write it, but maybe it took his whole life to actually believe that he had been redeemed. 

I like the idea of this version of Nephi who isn’t quite so self assured as we always make him out to be. It makes him a little more relatable. 

Can you say that you are redeemed? How does it help you to know that even Nephi might have struggled to feel that he was redeemed?

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These are just a few of the things that you can learn from 2 Nephi 31-33. I hope that I’ve helped point out enough interesting landmarks in the text that you will want to visit it yourself. There are many more interesting things to discover. I suggest taking along a good guide like The Annotated Book of Mormon or The Book of Mormon for the Least of These series. (The Book of Mormon for the Least of These was also helpful as I read this chapter, but I didn’t feel drawn to talk about any of the things from that book in this lesson plan. I hope to cite that resource in a future lesson plan.)

What has stood out to you as you’ve read 2 Nephi 31-33?