2 Nephi 5:21 - 5:25
2 Nephi 5:21 And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.
The Lord has applied a cursing upon them in the form a darkening of the skin. They were once a fair and a delightsome people. (not use what the word “delightsome means, but could refer to their becoming a wild people or maybe the way they treat their bodies such as degrading with tattoos and body piercings.) But in any case the Lamanites are now so primitive in looks and manners that they seem to have lost all desires to be a righteous people.
2 Nephi 5:22 And thus saith the Lord God: I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities.
The Lamanites are not pleasant to be with in either attitude or appearance. Repentance is the only way they will be able to become again a delightsome people. It seems that the more one removes himself from the Lord’s influence the more repugnant they become to those who want to follow the spirit.
2 Nephi 5:23 And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done.
To those who are not bothered by their looks and attitudes and unite with them either in fellowship of marriage will become like them in time. A person cannot help but become like them if they are not well grounded in the gospel.
2 Nephi 5:24 And because of their cursing which was upon them they did become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey.
Because of their rebelliousness against the gospel which teaches people to be busy improving their lot in life, the Lamanites are mostly idle because they are not raising crops or keeping livestock, but are living as hunters and whatever they can find in the wild. Because of the lack of industriousness, they are idle and always looking for a good time which means they get into trouble with those around them.
2 Nephi 5:25 And the Lord God said unto me: They shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in remembrance of me; and inasmuch as they will not remember me, and hearken unto my words, they shall scourge them even unto destruction.
The Lord tells Nephi that the Lamanites will now become troublesome to the Nephites. Because they will cause a lot of problems to the Nephi because they are looking for what they can steel so they will not have to be industrious like them, we will be continually raiding them or even trying to kill them for their property. But they will only have power of the Nephites if they are not trying to live the gospel. If the Nephites fail to keep close to the Lord they will be destroyed by the Lamanites. If they are a righteous people, the Lamanites will have no power to overcome them. This is analogues to satan having no power over a righteous person if the are truly living the gospel.
I have often wondered if there are other similar situations in other parts of the world. Could the Arabs be the irritants to the Jews in Palestine for example? It could also apply to the number of criminals in a particular society. The more criminals the more they cause the people to consider their situation and want to do something about it. Hopefully they will have to gospel to give them direction. Otherwise they will be unable to stop the scourges that the criminal element can cause.
