Jacob's Sermon: 2 Nephi 9

 In 2 Nephi 6-10 Jacob, Nephi's younger brother, gives a sermon based on the writings of Isaiah which were found on the plates of brass. In this sermon, Jacob takes passages from Isaiah usually associated with the scattering and gathering of Israel and relates them to the mission and atonement of Christ. His teaching in 2 Nephi 9 sounds very Christian.  In many ways it could have been attributed to Paul or another New Testament theologian. I know I have said this before, but this is way earlier than anything known in the Old World. From the establishment of the Law under Moses until the Babylonian Captivity, the religion of Jehovah was that if Israel as a group were righteous, they, as a group, would be safe from other nations.  When the fall of the Northern Tribes began to seem imminent, Isaiah, Jeremiah and others began to talk about the Messiah who would come and free Israel from captivity.  There were hints in Isaiah that this was a spiritual redemption instead of a physical redemption, but this is all hidden in mists of symbolism.  Jesus was able to point out these ideas to his disciples later, and they didn't even really get it before his death and resurrection. 

It was a mercy from God that Nephi and even to a greater extent Jacob were given an understanding that the covenants of God didn't only pertain to the safety of a nation and its ownership of a land of inheritance.  Nephi left all that seemed to be promised by the Abrahamic Covenant when he left Jerusalem: the temple, inheritance in the promised land (i.e. Israel), and membership in the family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  After arriving in the new Promised Land, Nephi and Jacob were gradually taught that the salvation of the Lord wasn't a physical group salvation from political captivity, but a spiritual salvation from Death and Sin.  They were made to understand that they hadn't left the God of Israel and all his covenants behind when they left Jerusalem, but instead had even greater understanding and hope of his eternal covenants than the people in Jerusalem had. It would have been a comfort, after all they had lost, to know that God's promises were sure and eternal.

So what are the main point of Jacob's sermon?

v. 1-3  Reassurance of God's Covenant with scattered Israel

v. 4-5 Christ will suffer to overcome Death and Sin

v. 6    The Fall brings about Death and Sin

v.7-13  The atonement overcomes Death and Sin

v.14-22 Final Judgement 

v. 23-24 Need for ordinances and obedience

v. 25-27 Those who don't have the law are not condemned

v. 28-39 Condemnation of the prideful and wicked

v. 40-53 Exhortation to righteousness

Clearly, by the time of Jacob's ministry, the Nephites had a fairly complete understanding of the doctrine of Christ.  They are missing a few things that were clarified later, but they had as much as the New Testament people had. It wasn't until Joseph Smith that the last few details were added in, like assignment to different degrees of glory after judgement, the eternal nature of families and necessity of eternal marriage, the universal access to priesthood power et alii.