Folly Made Manifest

I ran across some scriptures about how folly would be made manifest, and that intrigued me, so I did a search to see what else I could find with that language and what I could learn about it.

8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. (2 Tim. 3:8-9)

So the folly of rebellion is something that will be made manifest to all around the person who rebels. That’s usually the opposite of what the rebelling person wants; they want to be respected and be a leader, but they get the opposite.

And it shall come to pass that there shall be a great work in the land, even among the Gentiles, for their folly and their abominations shall be made manifest in the eyes of all people. (D&C 35:7)

This tells us we should not be surprised that people know the faults of society or the evils of apostate religion. The folly and abominations will be obvious.

14 There were among you adulterers and adulteresses; some of whom have turned away from you, and others remain with you that hereafter shall be revealed.

15 Let such beware and repent speedily, lest judgment shall come upon them as a snare, and their folly shall be made manifest, and their works shall follow them in the eyes of the people.

16 And verily I say unto you, as I have said before, he that looketh on a woman to lust after her, or if any shall commit adultery in their hearts, they shall not have the Spirit, but shall deny the faith and shall fear. (D&C 63:14-16)

Adultery is another sin, the folly of which shall be manifest to all. I get the sense that it is the kind of thing that the person committing it is so given over to it that they are completely blind to the awfulness and wrongness of it, while everyone else shakes their head, wondering how the person could be so foolish.

And if any man shall seek to build up himself, and seeketh not my counsel, he shall have no power, and his folly shall be made manifest. (D&C 136:19)

Selfishness and attempts to self-aggrandize are other faults that are made obvious to othrs, and it especially would be in this context of the Saints moving west, when resources were scare and the Saints needed to help each other.

To sum up, it seems rebellion, abominations, adultery, and self-aggrandizement are sins that the person committing them will be blind to the folly of it, while to everyone else the folly is obvious.