From Fasting to Feasting

In Doctrine and Covenants 11:21 we read: "Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea the power of God unto the convincing of men." Why did the Lord say obtain here?  Why not learn?  Why not understand?  Why not study?  Why not ponder?  Why obtain?  What does obtain mean?  To make it your own, yes?  How do you make His word your own?  How do you obtain it? To obtain something you must know it, understand it, be able to replicate the principle in entirely unrelated situations.  It must become yours.  It must be, as Elder Bruce R. McConkie said in his final testimony in General Conference before he died, "In speaking of these wondrous things I shall use my own words, though you may think they are the words of scripture, words spoken by other Apostles and prophets.  True it is they were first proclaimed by ...

"And now I, Nephi, declare unto you, that this prophet of whom Moses spake was the Holy One of Israel; wherefore, he shall execute judgment in righteousness." Nephi declares the prophet to be the God of Moses and of the children of Israel.  In this one sentence we have a Jewish man interpreting Isaiah and understanding that Jehovah of his day would become Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the world.  How did Nephi understand that when so many of his contemporaries and those who came after did not?  What verses of Isaiah did he read that led him to understand that the Holy One of Israel was also the Messiah? "And the righteous need not fear for they are those who shall not be confounded.  But it is the kingdom of the devil, which shall be built up among the children of men, which kingdom is established among them which are in the flesh - For the time speedily shall come that all churches which are built up to get gain, and all those who are built up to get ...

"Wherefore, he will bring them again out of captivity, and they shall be gathered together to the lands of their inheritance; and tehy shall be brought out of obscurity and out of darkness; and they shall know that the Lord is their Savior and their Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel." This idea of bringing them out of captivity...again it is spiritual and temporal.  It is literal and physical.  There is the prophecy about the Savior coming to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and literally saving the people, for one off the top of my head.  It is also literal and spiritual in nature.  If I think of my sins or my errors are my captors, He leads me out of them by the lovely healing process that Isaiah teaches.  And after healing takes place and there is space in my heart for something other than my false beliefs, He tenderly helps us come to understanding and helps us to learn doctrine (Isaiah 29:24 "They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, an...