D&C 1:3
D&C 1:3
And the rebellious shall be pierced with much sorrow; for their iniquities shall be spoken upon the housetops, and their secret acts shall be revealed.
And: Also, adding to the fact that the Lord just explained that everyone will know, he now goes on to explain what will happen to those who know His will, but don’t do it - the disobedient souls.
the rebellious: Those who are not keeping the commandments, who are not listening, or who will not hearken or obey the word of God. They will know. They will see. They will hear, and will understand with their hearts, but will not obey. Some people are wicked because of disobedience out of ignorance, but these are not ignorant, they know, their hearts have been penetrated, but they rebel against what they know, because of pride.
shall be: There is no ambiguity, there is no softening of the blow, those who are rebellious will all be pierced.
pierced: The word used here is almost synonymous with the previous declaration that every heart shall be penetrated. Penetrated means the word gets in, whereas pierced refers to a sharp penetration, like a sword. This is not a soft penetration, but a violent one. It’s painful, and hurtful.
with much sorrow: When the Lord says “much” it means a lot; this is not a small amount. As Nephi explains, there is a heresy among Christians that are rebellious who believe they can get away with sin, that they will be punished a little, and still go to Heaven:
And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.
2 Nephi 28:7-8
These are people who believe in God, but rebel against His word, refusing to repent. But they are wrong, their suffering is not just “a few stripes” like a parent with a belt, it is “much” sorrow. The Lord is the only one who could tell us the extent of it:
Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.
For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;
Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—
D&C 19:15-18
The same sorrow that the Lord suffered, so hard to bear that it caused God to tremble because of pain, will pierce the guilty to the very center.
for: The Lord is going to explain why they will have such sorrow.
their iniquities: Those things they have done for which they have not repented, including all that was against the voice of the Lord, that they knew was wrong. They didn’t hearken to His voice and change their ways according to the truth. They didn’t follow their conscience. They didn’t become straight, but remained crooked.
shall be: This is not equivocal, it will happen to all. There is no mercy for those who have not sought for mercy -- nor given mercy. It’s going to happen; it’s incontrovertible.
spoken upon the housetops: This metaphor indicates exposure of their sin. Their sins aren’t whispered, nor are they in the house, but rather out loud from the top of the house is their rebellion revealed. One need not be in their presence to know what crimes they committed. This might be equivalent to projecting from television, radio, or the internet. They will be fully aware of their rebellion, as will everyone else.
and their secret acts shall be revealed: They will not be able to hide anything. What they have done, thought, and said -- all the injury they have caused will be so glaringly obvious to all who are near them that they will want to hide, shrink, find darkness, and suffer misery, rather than be so roofless. They would cease to exist, if it were possible, but it’s not. When we are on the Earth, and feel like we can hide what we are and what we have done, we can pretend to be good and pious even though inside we are evil.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Matthew 23:25-27
Imagine the horror of such people who are accustomed to the accolades of men, who are revered and respected on the Earth, to be exposed in such a manner. When all can see inside, when there is no covering, when all the damage we have done is exposed to the world for all to see, and there is no place to hide, and nothing to clothe us or cover us, it will fill the rebellious with remorse, regret, suffering... and sorrow.
And the rebellious shall be pierced with much sorrow; for their iniquities shall be spoken upon the housetops, and their secret acts shall be revealed.
And: Also, adding to the fact that the Lord just explained that everyone will know, he now goes on to explain what will happen to those who know His will, but don’t do it - the disobedient souls.
the rebellious: Those who are not keeping the commandments, who are not listening, or who will not hearken or obey the word of God. They will know. They will see. They will hear, and will understand with their hearts, but will not obey. Some people are wicked because of disobedience out of ignorance, but these are not ignorant, they know, their hearts have been penetrated, but they rebel against what they know, because of pride.
shall be: There is no ambiguity, there is no softening of the blow, those who are rebellious will all be pierced.
pierced: The word used here is almost synonymous with the previous declaration that every heart shall be penetrated. Penetrated means the word gets in, whereas pierced refers to a sharp penetration, like a sword. This is not a soft penetration, but a violent one. It’s painful, and hurtful.
with much sorrow: When the Lord says “much” it means a lot; this is not a small amount. As Nephi explains, there is a heresy among Christians that are rebellious who believe they can get away with sin, that they will be punished a little, and still go to Heaven:
And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.
2 Nephi 28:7-8
These are people who believe in God, but rebel against His word, refusing to repent. But they are wrong, their suffering is not just “a few stripes” like a parent with a belt, it is “much” sorrow. The Lord is the only one who could tell us the extent of it:
Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.
For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;
Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—
D&C 19:15-18
The same sorrow that the Lord suffered, so hard to bear that it caused God to tremble because of pain, will pierce the guilty to the very center.
for: The Lord is going to explain why they will have such sorrow.
their iniquities: Those things they have done for which they have not repented, including all that was against the voice of the Lord, that they knew was wrong. They didn’t hearken to His voice and change their ways according to the truth. They didn’t follow their conscience. They didn’t become straight, but remained crooked.
shall be: This is not equivocal, it will happen to all. There is no mercy for those who have not sought for mercy -- nor given mercy. It’s going to happen; it’s incontrovertible.
spoken upon the housetops: This metaphor indicates exposure of their sin. Their sins aren’t whispered, nor are they in the house, but rather out loud from the top of the house is their rebellion revealed. One need not be in their presence to know what crimes they committed. This might be equivalent to projecting from television, radio, or the internet. They will be fully aware of their rebellion, as will everyone else.
and their secret acts shall be revealed: They will not be able to hide anything. What they have done, thought, and said -- all the injury they have caused will be so glaringly obvious to all who are near them that they will want to hide, shrink, find darkness, and suffer misery, rather than be so roofless. They would cease to exist, if it were possible, but it’s not. When we are on the Earth, and feel like we can hide what we are and what we have done, we can pretend to be good and pious even though inside we are evil.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Matthew 23:25-27
Imagine the horror of such people who are accustomed to the accolades of men, who are revered and respected on the Earth, to be exposed in such a manner. When all can see inside, when there is no covering, when all the damage we have done is exposed to the world for all to see, and there is no place to hide, and nothing to clothe us or cover us, it will fill the rebellious with remorse, regret, suffering... and sorrow.
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