“At That Day Shall He Rage”

Brant Gardner

The construction of this sentence is rather unusual. The events discussed come on the heels of the prophetic destruction of the temporal and other-worldly kingdom of the devil. Yet the specifics of this verse and those that immediately follow clearly describe incidents that pertain to a time prior to the destruction of the reign of Satan.

The issue is "at that day." While it would appear to mean beginning at that day, its contextual meaning is "continuing until that day."

This verse sets up one of the ways in which Satan operates on man in this world. This mode is one where he can take over the heart so that a man will refer evil over good. This is what is meant by stirring up anger against good. Symbolically it is a rejection of the good. Literarily it is descriptive of the attitude of one who has embraced evil. The effect of encountering good on such people is anger, an anger born of the spiritual necessities resulting from the soul coming to tolerate evil. There is sufficient left of the Light of Christ to remind the soul of the pull of good, but the acceptance of evil combats the painful pull of repentance by generating an anger directed towards the good. This anger serves to insulate the soul from the pain that would come with true repentance. Self-justified rejection avoids that problem.

Multidimensional Commentary on the Book of Mormon

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