1 Nephi 20: 10

10 For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

Afflictions are an important part of this life, and they serve several different purposes. This verse suggests that afflictions imposed on a people will separate out or remove any impurities, just as in the refining process where impurities are removed from precious metals, such as gold and silver. The pure metal can withstand the intense heat of the furnace, whereas the elements that make these precious metals impure, or of less value, cannot withstand the heat, and they are separated out and removed. In fact, through this process the impurities separate themselves so they are more easily identified and removed. When the furnace of affliction is fired up, those who are not converted or committed become committed one way or the other. They either strengthen their testimonies, thereby adding to the quality of the people, or they remove themselves from the body, which also serves to improve or enhance the quality of the people in general simply by their not being part of the covenant anymore. Either way, the Lord’s people are chosen through affliction. They are tested, tried, and found to be either useable or not.

On a smaller, individual basis the same thing happens. After all, a group or society is made up of individuals. As individuals we are either purified or cast off (usually through self-separation) through afflictions. Almost paradoxically the thing about affliction that determines our quality or strength is how willing we are to depend on the Savior. On the surface this seems somehow wrong. Show your own strength by leaning on another person’s strength? However, when you consider that a major purpose of mortal life is to develop faith, it makes perfect sense. If we want to be like our Heavenly Father, we not only need a physical body (one reason for coming to this life), but we also must learn to live and act by faith, which is a major attribute of Heavenly Father. For example, He doesn’t create worlds with His physical strength; He does it with the strength of His word, or in other words, faith. (See the Lectures on Faith for a more detailed discussion about God’s faith.) If we are to have that kind of absolute faith in our own power and abilities, we must first practice and strengthen our faith by making the object of our faith someone else: Jesus Christ. Just like exercising muscles makes them stronger, exercising faith in Christ makes our faith stronger. So affliction not only separates the strong from the weak (speaking spiritually), it is also a vehicle that strengthens the strong, or weakens the weak. Affliction purifies the pure, and it does all this by making us realize that we can’t handle this furnace by ourselves, so we rely on the Lord. This is how the Lord refines us individually, or as a people, as suggested in this verse, through the furnace of affliction.

• Mosiah 23: 21
• D&C 136: 31

1 Nephi 20: 9

9 Nevertheless, for my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain from thee, that I cut thee not off.

In spite of the fact that the house of Israel has been trouble since the very beginning, the Lord made a promise to the patriarchs of the people, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He promised, among other things, that his covenant with Abraham would be, “between…thy (Abraham’s) seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant…” (Genesis 17:7, my emphasis). The covenant was continued through Isaac (Genesis 21:12), then to Jacob, who took the birthright from Esau (Genesis 25:29–34; 27:6–40). So to preserve this covenant, and to keep His word and His good name as being true to His covenants, the Lord will not break the covenants He made with the patriarchs. He will defer his anger and not cut off the children of Israel from the covenant.

1 Nephi 20: 8

 8 Yea, and thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time thine ear was not opened; for I knew that thou wouldst deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.

Among all the prophecies the Lord has given to the house of Israel is this one, the reason He gave all the other prophecies. He knew they would try to credit some other source for events, and He gave prophecies to testify that He is the only true and living God. So another thing the Lord knew beforehand was that Israel would “deal treacherously.” He knew that Israel would reject Him, so he revealed all these events to his prophets, and here he tells them he knew they would apostatize. The Lord is definitely in a position to say he knew about these events, and one of the things He knew about was Israel’s apostasy. As great as the patriarchs of this family were (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob), and among the flashes of greatness, as in the prophets, they really have caused the Lord a lot of trouble “from the womb.” And while there were times of great faith, the Lord saw the seeds of apostasy from the beginning, so He provided prophecies from the beginning as a testimony of His divinity.

1 Nephi 20: 7

7 They are created now, and not from the beginning, even before the day when thou heardest them not they were declared unto thee, lest thou shouldst say—Behold I knew them.

This is reiterating that the Lord has revealed what would occur in the future through His prophets. He revealed them long before anyone could have predicted these events without divine aid, when Israel “heardest them not they were declared unto [them].” Again, the Lord wants no mistake as to who is really in charge, and he wants to remove any excuse the people might have to worship someone or something besides Him. So in verse five He points out that dumb idols could not predict the events that were unfolding, and in this verse he points out that nobody had the right to say, “I told you so,” except His prophets. Nobody could have known what would happen on his or her own. Now that the prophecies are being fulfilled, they need to recognize them as being foretold by the Lord’s prophets.

We are in the same situation today. Events are unfolding today that are creating conditions prophesied about in the scriptures, long before anyone could have predicted them on their own. Yet how many people worldwide recognize these prophecies as being from God? Although God may not be starting wars, or climate change, or [fill in the blank with your favorite world problem], He certainly revealed to His prophets thousands of years ago that they would occur. He knew about them long before anyone could have known they would occur.

1 Nephi 20: 6

6 Thou hast seen and heard all this; and will ye not declare them? And that I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.

In this verse the Lord seems to be saying, “After all the prophetic evidence that you have seen and  heard, why aren’t you testifying that I am your God? Yet even now, I have shown you new evidence and prophecies, things you couldn’t know on  your own, and yet you ignore me.” Moses told Joshua, “…would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!” (Numbers 11:29). In the sense that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (see Revelation 19:10), we are all prophets by covenant, along with Israel. We should testify of Christ. And yet, here is Isaiah talking to those people of Israel who have taken this covenant and rejected it. Not only are they not testifying, they are not even acknowledging the Lord.

So, in the spirit of likening all scriptures unto me, that it might be for my profit and learning (see 1 Nephi 19: 23), do I declare that Jesus is the Christ? Well, I certainly don’t think I ignore that fact. I may not knock doors too much like the full-time missionaries do, but I do try to testify of Him whenever the opportunity presents itself. And sometimes I even make an effort to create the opportunity to talk about and testify of Him. While I have many flaws, I have at least kept this part of my covenant with the Lord. I do testify of Him.

• Numbers 11: 29
• 1 Corinthians 9:16

1 Nephi 20: 5

5 And I have even from the beginning declared to thee; before it came to pass I showed them thee; and I showed them for fear lest thou shouldst say—Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image hath commanded them.

At first this looks like God just wants the credit for what happens in the world. It looks like He’s saying, “I gave you prophets to tell you of things to come so that when those things actually came to pass you would give credit where it was due: to me instead of your idols.” We need to remember, however, what His real purpose is. His revealed job, and the way He grows (growth=life) is to “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). All of a sudden this verse is not about jealously taking credit for being so smart; it’s about giving His children (Israel, or more personally, us) every opportunity to recognize Him (the Lord) as the only real way to gain exaltation, to return to Heavenly Father. Dumb idols don’t have that power. They don’t prophesy. The people still have a choice to make as to whom they should follow, but if they don’t follow the Lord they need to account for the evidence He has provided via prophets that He is the only true and living God.

1 Nephi 20: 4

4 And I did it because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;

Verses like this make me wonder sometimes why the Lord chose the people of Israel to be His elect. He knew that they would not be humble and teachable, so why did he bother with them? I know He made a covenant with Abraham and Jacob, but did it really have to extend to all their posterity, relatively few of which would truly appreciate it? The only answer I can come up with is that Heavenly Father needed a people who would eventually crucify His son. It’s possible that any race would have developed the pride necessary to do that terrible, and at the same time, necessary thing (leading to wonderful results) of sacrificing their God, just as Israel did in spite of the chosen status with Him that they enjoyed. Somebody had to do it, or there would be no Atonement, and the Plan of Happiness would be foiled. So it had to be done, but what a terrible thing to be the one responsible for doing it! (see Matthew 26:24)

When someone’s “neck is in an iron sinew” they are stiff-necked, and they can’t bow their heads in humility. When their brow is brass, they are hardheaded. You can’t teach them anything, because no idea from the outside can penetrate to the inside of their thick sculls. In short: pride. The Lord knew of His people’s pride, so He needed to give evidence that He knew more than they did. So he had his prophets prophesy, then the prophecies were fulfilled. Then He could say after the fact, “See, I told you so. Now listen to me, because I know more about what’s really going on than you do.”