Golden Wedge of Ophir

I hear the word, "wedge" a lot.  Practically every night.  When I hear the word "wedge", my brain automatically goes to "the golden wedge of Ophir".  It's a strong association.   Every time I hear, "wedge", I think "the golden wedge of Ophir."

Before you start thinking I've lost my marbles, let me explain.

I listen to the Book of Mormon every morning.  Several hours every morning.  As soon as I wake up, whether it's 2 AM, 5 AM or somewhere in between, I start listening to The Book of Mormon.  And continue listening while I'm getting ready until around 7:30 AM.  So, I listen to it a lot!

The Prophet Nephi thought that the writings of Isaiah were important for us in the last days before the Second Coming of Christ.  So, Nephi quotes much of Isaiah's writings verbatim.  Isaiah talks about the destruction of Babylon -- the world and its wickedness -- before the Second Coming of our Savior.

Here is the quote from Isaiah found in both the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon, that I've heard many times during my morning scripture study:

Isaiah 13:12 and 2 Nephi 23:12

"I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir."

Now, Isaiah is notorious for being difficult to understand.  So I will explain what this scripture means.

In the last days (now), righteous men and women will be more difficult to find than fine gold.  I looked it up and Ophir was a rich gold producing province of India known for its wealth, as mentioned in the Bible.

Not only will righteous men and women be more difficult to find than fine gold in the last days prior to the Second Coming of Christ, but they will be worth more than the golden wedge of Ophir.  Now, I'm not certain how big or fancy or expensive the golden wedge of Ophir is or was.  But I imagine it was the most precious thing Isaiah could think of to reference in that scripture.

Basically the prophet Isaiah was trying to emphasize the point that, in the last days, righteous people will be extremely rare and hard-to-find and more precious than the finest gold. 

In these last days, wicked people are a dime a dozen.  They are everywhere.  But the truly righteous are few and far between.  And the chasm is getting bigger every day.

To be more precious than the golden wedge of Ophir requires daily effort to stay spiritually strong.  So many people are dropping like flies, due to the efforts of the adversary (Satan).  He and his "angels" are working overtime to drag the righteous into Babylon.  We need to work just as hard to counteract his efforts and remain righteous.

Don't be among the weak multitudes in Babylon who will be destroyed at the last day. Rise above the dross.

I hope that at the last day when our Savior returns that we are all counted among those who remain righteous and are more precious than the golden wedge of Ophir.

That's my two cents.