AN ENSIGN TO THE WORLD

 

“Every man and every person who lives in this world wields an influence, whether for good or for evil. It is not what he says alone; it is not alone what he does. It is what he is. Every man, every person radiates what he or she really is….

“It is what we are and what we radiate that affects the people around us. As individuals, we must think nobler thoughts. We must not encourage vile thoughts or low aspirations. We shall radiate them if we do. If we think noble thoughts; if we encourage and cherish noble aspirations, there will be that radiation when we meet people, especially when we associate with them.”

-          President David O. McKay, “Man May Know For Himself” p 108

I believe we are the greatest missionary tool the Church has. I know we are told it is the Book of Mormon but I see it in a deeper context. We should be living examples of what that book is.

I had a friend some years ago who was very intent on giving out the Book of Mormon to all and sundry. She carried copies of it everywhere she went, even to the movies. She would give the book out to the ushers. I knew those books would end up in trash because a lot of people are not interested in religious books.

The greatest and the most successful way to share the Book of Mormon is when people know us and who we are. When those who know us become so impressed with the value of our character, they want to know how we got to be so. That’s when we can hand out the Book of Mormon. We will get the people of the world to read it when we become the product of its’ teachings.

Now consider the responsibility we have been charged with:  “You are one of those angelic messengers called from before the foundation of the world to wave the ensign of the gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world.” (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “An Ensign to the Nations” April 2011 GC)

Our calling as the disciples of Jesus Christ is more important in the world today than it has ever been. Never before have we been as divided as we are today. There is a major religion today that seeks to extinguish Christianity. This can never happen and it will NOT happen.

Who we are needs to stand out in stark contrast to who THEY are. Whereas they seek the destruction of the believers, we have the duty to teach life everlasting through Him who has told us not to destroy but to love our enemies, bless them that curse us, do good to them that hate us and pray for them which despitefully use us and persecute us (Matthew 5:44).

We cannot just call ourselves Christians. We need to BE Christians. It’s a state of being rather than a religion. We need to know ourselves and most importantly, we need to know HIM…….

Who is the Lord and there is none else,

Who is God and there is no God beside Him,

Who has made the earth, and created man upon it,

 He is the Lord, and there is none else.

A just God and a Saviour, there is none beside Him.

Look unto Him, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: 

for He is God, and there is none else.

Unto Him every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess,

He is the Lord and there is none beside Him.

-         Isaiah 45

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Hallowed Be Thy Name by Jay Bryant Ward)

FAITH

 

“There are two kinds of faith. One of them functions ordinarily in the life of every soul. It is the kind of faith born by experience; it gives us certainty that a new day will dawn, that spring will come, that growth will take place. It is the kind of faith that relates us with confidence to that which is scheduled to happen.

“There is another kind of faith, rare indeed. This is the kind of faith that causes things to happen. It is the kind of faith that is worthy and prepared and unyielding, and it calls forth things that otherwise would not be. It is the kind of faith that moves people.

“It is the kind of faith that sometimes moves things….It comes by gradual growth. It is a marvelous, even a transcendent power, a power as real and as invisible as electricity. Direct and channeled, it has great effect….”

-          Boyd K. Packer, “What is Faith” in FAITH [1983] p 42-3

 

For now I walk unsteady steps

On this earthly soil beneath my feet

But one day I will run to You

With perfect faith in waves of deep.

 

And when in distance Your glory beckons,

When You come to take me home,

I will run into Your arms

And forever be Your own. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Focus On Me, Not the Storm by Brent Borup)

A BABY OF PROMISE

 

“Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them: lest they multiply, and it come to pass that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and get them out of the land. 

Therefore, they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens…..But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel…… and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage….. (Exodus 1:8-14)

“We fancy that God can only manage His world by big battalions….when all the while He is doing it by beautiful babies….When a wrong needs righting, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent wants opening, God sends a baby into the world to do it.”  (F.W. Boreham)

And it was a doomed baby, a beautiful baby, that was meant to be saved when a great wrong needed righting, a truth needed preaching, and people needed saving….and his name was Moses (Acts 7:20)

You mothers who have experienced the euphoria after giving birth, imagine the government of your land had decreed that the baby you were holding in your arms had to die. It doesn’t bear thinking does it? Think of Mary, Elizabeth and the mother of Moses…..

Imagine having to place that baby in a basket and set it on a river hoping someone would find it and look after it because you cannot bear to see its life extinguished. Then imagine a woman in pre-mortal life saying: send me to the Egyptian royal court and I will save that Hebrew baby that would one day float down the river…… this was the beginning of a man who was to become the greatest prototype of the Messiah.

And here is the full story. A Levite by the name of Amram, who was afraid for his whole nation and the baby his wife, Jochebed  was carrying, prayed to God one night begging Him for deliverance from the miseries his people were enduring at the hands of the Egyptian masters  who had proclaimed a death penalty on all the newborn.

God of Israel heard that prayer and ‘stood by him in his sleep’ and exhorted him not to despair for the child his wife was carrying for that very child shall deliver the Hebrew nation from the distress they were under. What’s more, “he shall be concealed from those who watch to destroy him….that his memory shall be famous while the world lasts; and this not only among the Hebrews, but foreigners also….”  (Josephus, “Jewish Antiquities” p 97)

And this answers how Moses’ preservation came about through the involvement of Him who makes all things possible and who fulfils all His promises. Amram and his wife concealed the baby boy in their home for three months after which Amram decided to trust the baby’s safety and care to God rather than to depend on his own uncertain ways of protection: “He believed that God would in some way procure the safety of the child in order to secure the truth of His own predictions”. (ibid p 98)

Hence the cradle made out of bulrushes and the infant left to God’s preservation floating down the river. Imagine the faith of that father and the longing of that mother to hold that baby against her breast….imagine the lesson learnt that when you put your trust in God, He comes up with a perfect plan because He did send that willing woman to the Egyptian court to save that baby of promise….. whom the Egyptians themselves raised to break the bands of their inflicted bondage of God’s favoured people.  

Oh the irony of the perfect plan of the perfect God whose work for the salvation of men cannot be frustrated!

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Artist Unknown)

 

GENERAL CONFERENCE

 

“A message given to a General Authority at a general conference – a message prepared under the influence of the Spirit to further the work of the Lord – is not given to be enjoyed. It is given to inspire, to edify, to challenge, or to correct. It is given to be heard under the influence of the Spirit of the Lord, with the intended result that the listener learns from the talk and from the Spirit what he or she should do about it.”

-          Dallin H. Oaks, “The Dedication of A Lifetime”, CES Fireside for Young Adults, 1 May 2005

I will add just one thing. We should not look to General Conference to teach us how to be better mothers, fathers, neighbours, citizens….or how to be successful in any of our endeavours, overcome our weaknesses, addictions and sins and ‘to further the work of the Lord’. We should look to General Conference to tell us what we need to know here and now how to develop the Christ-like attribute that we need here and now. This is all that matters…because in the process of becoming like the Saviour, one attribute at a time, we become good mothers, fathers, neighbours….we overcome our weaknesses, addictions and sins, we become a success overall and we further the work of the Lord.

This is His Church…a shelter from the storm that is seeking to swallow us, a place that seeks to embrace us and keep us under the shadow of His wings. A place that is preparing us for the day “when He shall appear and we shall be like Him” (Moroni 7:48). This is all that matters……

Thou art our everlasting God

Jehovah, our King,

Hide us under the shadow of Thy wings

That we might not cause Thee sorrow;

And help us wait for Thee

In the dawning of tomorrow. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Clouds of Glory by Greg Sargent)

MOSES, THE VOICE OF GOD

 

“The Lord’s concern for His chosen people can be seen in the call of Moses. So great was Moses that forever after the Lord and His people have used him as a standard, or model, of a prophet. Even Jesus Christ was called a prophet like unto Moses (see Acts 3:22; 7:37; Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19; 1 Nephi 22:20-21; 3 Nephi 20:23-24). Indeed, Moses was a similitude or living symbol of Jesus Christ (see Moses 1:6).”

-          The Old Testament Student Manual Genesis 2 – Samuel p 103

“The true Moses was one of the mightiest men of God in all time….. He walked and talked with God, received of divine glory while yet in mortality, was called a son of God, and was in the similitude of the Only Begotten. He saw the mysteries of the heavens and much of creation, and received laws from God beyond any other ancient man of whom we have record.”

-          Elder Mark E. Petersen, “Moses”, p 49)

“He had few equals as a general and none as a prophet, to the extend that in all his pronouncements, one seemed to hear the voice of God himself.”

-          Flavius Josephus, “The New Complete Works of Josephus” p 119

As mighty and exemplary as Moses was, he was not perfect. It seems he made a crucial mistake which cost him entrance into the promised land (Numbers 20:12; Deuteronomy 32:51-52). Some sources say, however, that other factors might have contributed also (see the Old Testament Student Manual 1 p 208).

The children of Israel certainly were a whining lot and one can see how easy it was for Moses to be led to the mistake he made being driven by the frustration of their complaints. The story unfolds when they arrived to the desert of Zin and found there was no water there. They immediately accused Moses and Aaron of taking them out of Egypt and bringing them to ‘this evil place’ that they might die (Numbers 20:1-5).

The Lord told Moses to “speak” to a rock at Meribah and to strike it with a rod to bring forth water for the children of Israel. The instructions were, however, not adhered to properly. Gathering the people to witness the miracle, Moses never spoke to the rock and instead struck it in anger and suggested to the congregation that he and Aaron were responsible for the saving water that issued in response to their accusations (v 8-11).

Think for a moment what this could have meant to a people who were exposed to the idolatry and sorcery of Egypt for 430 years. Now think about it in the context of Jehovah being the living water and how this incident could have impressed this on their minds. Every miracle, every answered prayer, every conquest had to be attributed to the God who would make them “a peculiar people” that would carry the banner of the one true and living God into the land of Canaan to conquer the unbelievers and claim their inheritance.

And Moses? The merciful Jehovah took him to Mount Nebo in the land of Moab and showed him the promised land before He took him unto himself (Deuteronomy 32:49) and that in itself was a far greater land of promise (Alma 45:19).

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Be Still My Soul by Mark Missman)

A PERSPECTIVE

 

Many years ago when I was going through the darkest time of my life, I had a priesthood blessing from my Bishop during which he told me that my life was planned for me before I was born and that I agreed to that plan. Still, part of me did not fully accept that painful period or my life until a year ago when I gained a deeper perspective regarding the matter. It was revealed to me that because of the goal I had for myself in pre-earth life, an opportunity of self-sacrifice was offered to me as a means of becoming who I wanted to be and I took that choice. I agreed to a painful path for myself so that another can benefit from it.

I reflected on this yesterday because of the children of Israel who fell into Egyptian bondage  for 430 years. Before I expound on the relevance, here is how that servitude came about:

“And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.” (Exodus 1:6-8)

This new king was no doubt Egyptian and not of the Hyksos dynasty of Semitic people that Joseph governed Egypt  under (Old Testament Student Manual 1 p 103). The Egyptians hated Semitic people in their land and erased all mention of Joseph from their history, but one piece of evidence remains. Apparently, “they exaggerated their ‘successes’ and immortalized them on a stone slab of Merneptah, which in listing conquered peoples claims proudly: “Israel is laid waste and his seed is not.” (Jewish Antiquities, “The New Complete Works of Josephus” p 95)

Josephus tells us when the children of Israel came into Egypt they numbered no more than seventy souls (see also Genesis 46:27). By the time Jacob and Joseph died and the Egyptian king came to power, they numbered above 600,000. This frightened the Egyptians to the point of severe affliction of the Hebrews in an attempt to eradicate them (see Exodus 1:9-14).

Imagine 430 years of bondage. Imagine being born into it and dying in it. Imagine all you know of life is slavery, for yourself, your family, your ancestors….and you cannot see the end. One would wonder why would God allow this to go on for so long. This is where my theory of sacrifice comes in…..because there is an explanation. It would seem their servitude was a sacrifice that helped tremendously in developing and preserving their identity for the future generations:

Palestine was a battleground for warring nations…and Israel needed stable conditions to become a ‘peculiar people’ and this is how:  Firstly, the hatred that existed between the Hebrews and the Egyptians and the length of their trying servitude fused Jacob’s children into a united people; and secondly, Israel had to remain a pure race and the hatred between these two nations prevented intermarriage (otherwise the validity of the priesthood would have been compromised as the Egyptians were descendants of Cain and did not have the right to the  priesthood…see Abraham 1:21-27) (Mark Petersen, “Moses” pp 27-30, “Old Testament Student Manual” 1 p 103)

Both James Talmage and Bruce R. McConkie claimed that valiant spirits earned the privilege of being chosen before they were born to come to earth as members of the House of Israel (see “Articles of Faith” pp 193-94; “The Mortal Messiah: From Bethlehem to Calvary”, 1:23)

I wondered if those valiant early members of the House of Israel chose to be born in Egypt for the purpose of building a strong House of Israel and its destiny. I rather think they understood the principle of self-sacrifice for the greater good of others and accepted this responsibility. I imagine the resilience and the survival of Israel over the course of history had its beginning in Egypt where the task masters of bondage built the strength of the tribe that could not be broken……the tribe that gave birth to the Lion of Judah…..and we know what HIS destiny was.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Saviour and King by Greg Collins)

 

 

 

THE LION

 

I used to be sad that Christ came through the lineage of Judah. After all, Judah didn’t seem exemplary enough as a man, not like Joseph. He forfeited the birthright through immorality (see Genesis 38).

I understood Nephi’s explanation of the Saviour’s lineage in saying that ‘there is none other nation on earth that would crucify their God’ (2 Nephi 10:3) but this too left me with a negative impression of Judah. Whereas the Jews had indeed become a stiff-necked people by the time that Jesus came on the scene, it is important to see His death in a proper perspective.

Jesus gave up His life willingly. He attested to this when He said: “….I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me but I lay it down myself” (John 10:17,18). The Jews of His day might have pointed the finger and facilitated His death but in actuality, we are the ones that sent Him to the cross. He died to atone for our sins and not for any drummed- up charge that Jews could put Him to death for. No one else had the power to put Him on that cross, not the Jews and not the Romans (see Matthew 26:51-53).

Yesterday I read something about Judah that redeemed him in my eyes. I was reading the “Jewish Antiquities” by Josephus, a Jewish historian, which offers a more comprehensive outline of Joseph’s forgiveness of his brothers and I saw in him the foreshadowing of the Lion of Judah.

When Benjamin was brought before Joseph for the punishment of stealing the golden cup which was concealed in his sack, all the brothers were beside themselves but none more so than Judah. The Bible records that he offered himself to stay in Egypt as a slave to Joseph (Genesis 44:32-34) but his lengthy plea for Benjamin’s life recorded by Josephus brought me to tears. Judah ended his pleading with offer of his life for Benjamin’s:

“If, therefore, you resolve to slay him, I desire you will slay me in his stead, and send him back to his father…..”  (“Jewish Antiquities”, The New Complete Works of Josephus, p 91).

I saw in Judah the protection he offered for his brother to the point of death. I saw: “I will die instead of him, I will die so Benjamin can live”. Does this remind you of someone? I saw the foreshadowing of the redemptive power of Christ in the ancestor the Saviour came from.

There is something else I saw. Judah was determined to prevent his father’s sorrow and pain (see vs 22 and 34). This too reminded me of Christ’s biggest motivation for His sacrifice….to save us for the sake of the Father He loved and would spare the agony of His loss. The Saviour was groomed to save His siblings from the beginning.

When Jacob gave Judah his blessing, he promised him a kingly posterity until “Shiloh” come (Genesis 49:10). Shiloh is Christ ‘unto whom shall the gathering of the people be’ (v10).

Why a lion to represent the Saviour as the head of the House of Israel? Because a lion symbolizes His role as a powerful, royal, and victorious Messiah. A lion is the king of the jungle…..The Lion of Judah connects Jesus to the lineage of King David, representing his authority and protection of his people.

The Lion of Judah…..the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

 

He, in whose hand is the scepter of kings

Who spanned the heavens above

And laid the foundations of the earth below

Upon whose surface He once achingly trod

Before whom we now bow and call,

The Holy One of God.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: In God's Care by Greg Collins)

WITH JOY

 

I was reading the prophecies of Joseph in the Joseph Smith Translation yesterday and was overcome with emotion. I understood for the first time exactly why Joseph was blessed with the double portion of Jacob’s inheritance. This man was exceptional.

Chapter 50 of the JST begins with Joseph approaching death and saying to his brethren "... I go down to my grave with joy" (JST Genesis 50:24). Ever the optimist, he saw his life in balance. In “The Testament of the Patriarchs” he says this in his own words:  "My brethren hated me...they wanted to kill me.....into a cistern they lowered me....they sold me into slavery.....I was taken into captivity....I was overtaken by hunger....I was alone....I was in weakness...I was in prison.....I was in bonds....assaulted by bitter words of the Egyptians...a slave" (The Old Testament Pseudepigraha, p 819).

But then this: "....the Lord loved me....the God of my fathers preserved me...the Most High raised me up....the Lord of all set me free....the strength of His hand came to my aid....the Lord himself fed me generously....God came to help me.....the Lord showed His concern for me...the Saviour acted graciously in my behalf......He rescued me and He exalted me." (The OT Pseudepigraha, p 819)

I cried at the end of chapter 50 when I read he requested that his bones be carried out of Egypt: “So Joseph died when he was an hundred and ten years old and they embalmed him and they put him in a coffin in Egypt; and he was kept from burial by the children of Israel, that he might be carried up and laid in the sepulchre with his father….” (JST 50:37,38)

Joseph’s greatest joy before he died centered on the promises he received from the Lord regarding his posterity through his sons Ephraim and Manasseh….namely, a deliverance from bondage and ‘a righteous branch that shall be carried off into a far country’ (JST 50:24,25):

“I suppose Jacob saw this land as well as Moses, and he designated it a….. very distant land. He said this land was over and above, what his progenitors gave to him and he would give it to Joseph…..The precious things of heaven were to be given to Joseph on this land. Blessed of the Lord be his land for the precious things of heaven, more precious than the fullness of earth…..more precious than the gold and silver of the earth. The precious things of heaven revealed to the people of Joseph on the great land given to them unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills.” (Orson Pratt, in “Journal of Discourses”, 18:167-68; see also Genesis 49:26)

And so Lehi of the tribe of Manasseh (Alma 10:3) and Ishmael of the tribe of Ephraim (see Erastus Snow, in “Journal of Discourses”, 23:184-85), arrived in the most precious land ‘unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills’ in 600 B.C. to fulfil the promise made to Joseph about his posterity.

You who stand on the hallowed ground of America and claim it as your home….know what a privilege it is to be born and bred there. Your land belongs to Joseph, your patriarch and the prototype of Him who ultimately owns everything…..our God of Israel, who so freely gives, who guards the land of everlasting hills and all His promises faithfully fulfills…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Focus on Joy by Michael Malm)

A GOD OF ORDER

 

Did you know that there is no extra-biblical evidence that Joseph of Egypt existed? Here is why:

“Many scholars speculate that Joseph came to power in Egypt while the nation was under the domination of the Hyksos people. The ancient historian Manetho called the Hyksos the shepherd-kings and told how their conquest and dominion were bitterly hated by the Egyptians.

“The Hyksos were Semitic peoples from the lands north and east of Egypt. Since Jacob and his family were also Semitic, it is easy to understand how Joseph would be viewed with favour by the Hyksos and also how, when the Hyksos were finally overthrown and driven out of Egypt, the Israelites would suddenly fall from favour with the native Egyptians.

“Many people have wondered how Joseph could be vice-regent for so many years without having his name in any of the records or monuments of Egypt. If the theory of Hyksos domination is correct, then Joseph’s name would have been purged from records and monuments along with those of the other Hyksos rulers.” (Old Testament Student Manual Genesis – 2 Samual, p 103)

This historical theory offers two explanations. The first is how the Tribes of Israel fell into bondage in Egypt: “But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt. Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph” (Acts 7:17-19; Exodus 1:8). This new Egyptian king enslaved all of Israel for 430 years, which the Lord told Abraham would happen (Genesis 15:13; Exodus 12:40)

The second question it answers has to do with Joseph’s wife Asenath. The Old Testament tells us that Pharaoh gave Joseph to wife ‘Asenath the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On’ (Genesis 41:45). On was the popular name for Heliopolis with large houses which were the habitation of priests, philosophers, and those that studied astronomy. The history of this place is fascinating but too lengthy to engage in here.

Jewish tradition and legends claim that Potiphera and his daughter Asenath were in fact Semitic, and either Hebrew or of a similar Asiatic-Semitic people known as the Shepherd Kings. Knowing that the Pharaoh of the time was himself Semitic would make sense that he would not give an Egyptian wife to Joseph.

It is also important to note that the children of Joseph and Asenath were given Semitic names of Manasseh and Ephraim, rather than Egyptian names (Genesis 41:51,52). One text from Hellenistic Egypt (10 B.C.E.) tells a fascinating story of Joseph and Asenath (Joseph and Asenath – TheTorah.com)

Joseph’s two sons are the greatest proof that their mother was not Egyptian. If she was, it would mean that her offspring could not hold the priesthood as Egyptians were descendants of Cain through Ham and his wife Egyptus, herself a descendant of Cain (see Guide to Scriptures). Ephraim and Manasseh became the inheritors of the Covenant and the leading tribes of the House of Israel. More on that later.

This is what the stories of the Old Testament reveal to me….a perfect God, a God of order. Because of Him the Plan of Salvation runs like clock-work. The God of Israel has prepared every needful thing to ensure its success. His work and His glory to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man is flawless. There are no stumbling blocks he has not foreseen. There is no ‘ooops, I didn’t see that coming’ in His Plan. All eventualities were before His eyes when He put into place all the key people that will uphold it. And there is no contingency plan because it is not needed. The perfection of our God astounds me. He has us in the palm of His hand.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Creator by Greg Olsen)

A FAMILY RE-UNITED

 

One of the most emotional stories of the Old Testament would have to be the reunion of Joseph of Egypt and his brothers. The story usually evokes the injustice perpetrated on Joseph and his ensuing benevolent forgiveness. Very seldom do we, however, recognize the remorse and recompense of his brothers in this scenario.

This heart rendering story begins with the brothers coming to Egypt and being recognized by Joseph who is unwilling to offer forgiveness so quickly. At Joseph’s accusation of spying, the brothers immediately recognized it was pay-back time for what they did to their brother. As the thread of reconciliation began to unravel, Joseph heard their guilt and wept unseen (Genesis 42:21-24).

In his clever plot to deepen his brothers’ guilt into remorse, Joseph imprisoned Simeon and requested the brothers bring back Benjamin. This request was too much for Jacob who lamented he was bereaved of his children (Genesis 42:36-38).

So affected was Reuben by his father’s grief that he offered him to ‘slay’ two of his sons if he doesn’t bring Simeon and Benjamin back to him (42:36,37). This is the point of the story that seared my heart. I could feel Reuben’s genuine love for his father and the remorse for what his sons had put him through. What is even more heart rendering is that Reuben, the oldest of the brothers, was the one who averted the brothers’ murderous plot by persuading them to lower Joseph into a pit so he could rescue him later (37;21,22). He was the least guilty yet he offered the lives of two of his sons in recompense.

The second least guilty was Judah who suggested the brothers sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites rather than kill him (37:26,27). He too stepped forward to pay the price. He promised his father that he will remain in Egypt as collateral for Benjamin and he will ‘bear the blame for ever’ (43:9)

When Joseph saw his brothers back in Egypt and Benjamin with them, the self-restraint could only be placated with his weeping (43:30)

The straw that broke the camel’s back came through Joseph’s attempt to keep Benjamin in Egypt through deception. Judah begged to be kept behind instead so that he didn’t have to see the sorrowful demise of his father (44:32-34).

Seeing the lengths his brothers would go to in payment for what they had done, Joseph knew the time for forgiveness had come. As he revealed himself to his brothers ‘he wept so loud, the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard…..and he kissed all his brethren and wept upon them….’  (45:2,15)

The absolution came as Joseph openly gave credit to God claiming that it was He who sent him to Egypt to preserve his brothers ‘posterity in the earth and ‘to save their lives by great deliverance’’ (45:5-8).

Sometimes the path to repentance and absolution is like that....rough and unforeseen. 

Joseph paid a high price so he can physically save the House of Israel….a prototype of Christ who paid an even greater price to save the entire human family for eternity. When He comes again, the repentant shall weep at His feet in gratitude for the price He paid at Calvary’s hill while the wicked will weep for their rejection of their Saviour and their King.

Will the sinner for whom You suffered,

Who rejected and reviled Thee

Weep in the end for Thy pain and Thy sorrow?

Will his heart understand

When he kneels before Thee

The debt he owes for the existence

Of his tomorrow?

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Home by David Bowman)

INTEGRITY

There is an interesting perspective on Joseph of Egypt in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha which contains the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. These ancient writings are not approved by the Church so they are not doctrine but this story of Joseph offers a tender consideration because Joseph was a prototype of the Saviour and this story supports this doctrine.

In the Testament of Joseph, he writes this: “For my brothers know how much my father loved me, yet I was not puffed up in my thoughts. Even while I was a child I had the fear of God in my heart, for I understood that all things pass away. I did not arouse myself with evil design, but HONOURED my brothers, and out of regard for them even when they sold me I was silent rather than tell the Ishmaelites that I was the son of Jacob, a great and righteous man.” (p 822)

Joseph goes on to say that the Ishmaelites, to whom his brothers sold him, did not believe that he was a slave because of his comely and well-kept appearance but Joseph assured them he was because he did not want to bring disgrace upon his brothers for what they had done. When the Ishmaelites left him in Egypt with a trader until their return and he fell into possession of Potiphar, the third in rank of Pharaoh’s officers, Potiphar also didn’t believe that Joseph was a slave because of his cultured manner yet Joseph persisted in this erroneous story.

And here the story thickens and just blows my mind. When the Ishmaelites returned to Egypt and caught up with Joseph again they told him they discovered who he was: a son of a great man in Canaan who is mourning greatly for his son in sackcloth and ashes and demanded of him that he admit who he was,  for they feared that Jacob would avenge himself on them.

Joseph merely replied: “I know nothing, I am a slave” (p 823). Imagine his return to his father and his home within his grasp yet Joseph’s one concern was that he did not want to dishonour his brothers and bring disgrace upon them. If this story is true, Joseph’s integrity is astounding.  This seems very plausible when you consider the importance the ancients placed on family honour (Genesis 37:9,10) and Joseph telling the chief butler in prison that he was ‘STOLEN away out of the land of the Hebrews’ (Genesis 39:15).

Joseph’s integrity was such that Potiphar made him the overseer of his house and left everything in his hands without supervision (Genesis 39:5,6). When the temptation came from his master’s wife, Joseph used the trust that was placed in his integrity as a shield to the temptation (vs 7-9).

Imagine if Joseph used the Ishmaelites to get him back home and he aborted his role of saving his family when the famine came……now imagine if the Saviour backed out of His role…..

When we sustained Him as our Saviour, we had full confidence in the integrity of His character. We knew, even back then, that He could and would save us, without fail. We knew no matter how bitter the cup, He would drink it; no matter how excruciating the pain, He would suffer it; no matter how dark and wide the jaws of hell, He would deliver us from it and no matter how scarlet the sin, He would forgive it. The Atonement performed in mortality was in fact just a formality…. But even in pre-mortal life it was our reality where we benefited from its effects and could be born free from sin (see Tad R. Callister, “The Infinite Atonement” p 80-85).

A life well lived,

The price willingly paid,

A glorious victory

At His feet laid. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Love and Faithfulness by Chris Brazelton)

 

JOSEPH THE PURE IN HEART

 

"Young man, a thousand miles away from home, can you keep the standards of your mother and father?  One man changed the history of the world by taking into a foreign country these standards: He was good looking, he had personality; he was young.  Because of his physique and general carriage, he carried prestige.  She was a woman of importance….. She tempted him once - she tempted him twice - yes, and many more times.  Each time he remembered the teachings of his folk at home.  He looked sin in the face and stood like a rock….. “ (Bishop Marvin O. Ashton, Improvement Era, Vol. XIviii, December, 1945, No. 12)

 

Joseph's ultimate test of faith came in the form of a woman.  This test of faith became the crowning glory of proof that he would never stray from his faith and commitment to live God's laws.  Joseph referred to Potiphar's wife's invitation as 'great wickedness' (Genesis 39:9).  The following insight into Joseph's character helps us have appreciation of his tenacity and ability to overcome what could have been an overwhelming sense of hopelessness as his life took a turn for the worse.

 

Joseph never failed to recognise that something good always comes out of something bad.  He believed that even his unjust imprisonment was a blessing.  The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs quotes Joseph as saying: "I gave thanks to the Lord and sang praise in the house of darkness, and how I rejoiced with cheerful voice, glorifying my God, because through her trumped-up charge I was set free from this Egyptian woman".

(James H. Charlesworth, The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments)

 

Joseph felt it was better to sit in a dark dungeon for two years then to have succumbed to sin. How easy it would have been to embrace a sinful life far away from his family….nobody would have known! But God would have known and this was more important to Joseph….because God sees all and He knows all. And Joseph knew if he was faithful to the God of his fathers, he would have the right to hope for help from Him.

 

It is staggering to think of what lay on the line when Joseph was tempted by his master's wife.  Had Joseph succumbed, his destiny, the destiny of his family and the destiny of his descendants would have all been in peril. Had he chosen the life of sin, he would never have become the man that he became.  This would have had disastrous effects not only on him but on us too.

 

Just as Joseph became a saviour of his family temporally, I am convinced his morally clean life has had an impact on his progeny and their role in becoming spiritual saviours to their brethren of Israel and the rest of the Father's children:

 

"Wherefore thy brethren (the other tribes of Israel) shall bow down unto thee, from generation to generation, unto the fruit of thy loins (Ephraim and Manasseh) for ever; For thou shalt be a light unto my people, to deliver them in the days of their captivity, from bondage; and to bring salvation unto them, when they are altogether bowed down under sin". (JST Gen. 48:10-11)

 

When I consider Ephraim’s responsibility of salvation, I am convinced that the lives that we live have an impact on our generation and on the generations to come: “No one sins in isolation. We cannot say that our actions influence only ourselves for even if we do something sinful that is completely personal, our individual loss of spiritual power means a lessening of power for all mankind and contributes to the withdrawal of the Lord’s Spirit, and that is damaging to all…..” (Old Testament Student Manual Gensis – 2 Samuel p 243)

 

But there is hope…in repentance and a God who can extend mercy to the penitent….

 

Like a bird in flight

Our sins ascend to Thee;

Rising from the ashes of mortality

They seek Thy mercy to set them free. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Though Your Sins Be As Scarlet by Greg Collins)

FAVOURED IN IMPERFECTION

 

If there is one thing we can learn from the characters that grace the pages of our scriptures it is that they too were imperfect. Sometimes we tend to remember those who are deceased only for their good qualities. This is where written history helps us see things in a better light. Even those exemplary leaders in the House of Israel had their weaknesses and imperfections.

Herein is the mercy of God. He favours even the imperfect and makes them His chosen people. We are perfect examples of that. We were chosen as the elect of God and assigned to the tribes of the House of Israel before we were even born (see James Talmage, “Articles of Faith” pp 193-94). We were elected based on our capacities, our willingness, our faith and our thirst for the truth:

“…the House of Israel is composed of the spirits from pre-mortal life who there developed a talent for spirituality, and who are therefore entitled to the blessing of heaven in this life on a preferential basis.” (Bruce R. McConkie, “Mortal Messiah Book 3” p 11)

On Judgment Day, our desires, our faith and our love of God and the truth will be considered as much as our good deeds. In writing to Romans, Paul told them that Abraham’s faith was accounted to him for righteousness and that man is justified by faith, righteous works, and grace (see Romans 4).

The Church has given us some guidelines to follow when we study about the House of Israel and consider the covenant people we belong to:

1.      Is there any evidence in the scriptural record that imperfect behaviour was in any way overlooked, condoned, or excused by the Lord?

2.      Can we learn from the faults and failings of our ancestors as well as from their strengths and successes?

3.      Do you see any evidences of growth, development, repentance, and commitment in the record of the earliest covenant people?

4.      Do the human interest details, such as the rivalry between Rachel and Leah, make it easier or harder for you to believe that God is a loving and patient Father, and that you, too, in spite of your own failings, may become a covenant person?

-          Old Testament Student Manual Genesis – 2 Samuel p 90

These guidelines suggest one thing very clearly. God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Mormon 9:9). He cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance so He holds us all to the same standard in that respect (D&C 1:31). As for the human condition of weakness, there is grace.

I marvel that you would love

Such an imperfect being like me.

With thankfulness, You remember the me

That once walked the clouds with Thee;

That You see who I once used to be,

And value me despite my humanity.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Compassionate Christ by Greg Sargent)

THE POWER OF PREPARATION

 

Joseph, the son of Jacob, would have to be the greatest example of the importance of preparation. Joseph started off as somewhat of an insufferable teenager. Not that he was unrighteous but because his advantages in early life were leading him to a possible path of pride. Here’s what I mean by that:

1.       He was favoured and most loved of all of his father’s children. He was the only one who was honoured with a coat of many colours which symbolized not only favouritism but high status in the ancient world  (Genesis 37:3). This alone had the potential of going to his head;

2.       He policed his brothers and reported their evil doings to his father (v 2);

3.       He bragged about his dreams of the prosperous future and leadership that they promised (v 5-10). This earned him the derision of his brothers who named him ‘the dreamer’ (v 19).

The favouritism, the self-righteousness, the revelations, all point to a teenage lack of humility and a slippery slide in the opposite direction. Joseph was 17 when his brothers cut him off from his home and sold him into servitude in Egypt but by the time he was 30 he was Egypt’s ruler (Genesis 37:2; 41:46). When his brothers arrived in Egypt to buy food, we see a different Joseph, a Joseph with a tender heart willing to forgive and yearning to embrace his brothers and re-unite with his family (Genesis 42:24; 43:24-31). This story alone is worth the weeping.

There was something wonderful about Joseph….besides his integrity and righteousness, he had an uncanny ability to make lemonade out of lemons. He possessed a positive attitude and God used this attribute to refine and teach him. Through his optimism Joseph could see and understand that his servitude in Egypt had a higher purpose, that of saving the entire House of Israel (Genesis 45:5-8). There was no pride in this admission, only credit and honour to God.

This was the preparation of Joseph, a prolific figure in the patriarchal line and a prototype of the promised Messiah. His life heralds the exciting and complicated history of the House of Israel that we belong to. Knowing the patriarchs and the people who shaped this history is a privilege we should consider to be of immense worth.

Sometimes God is preparing us for something great when it least seems like it…. “He has the ability to turn everything into something good. This is a godly characteristic. Everything, no matter how dire, becomes a victory to the Lord” (Hartman Rector Jr., “Live Above the Law To Be Free”, Ensign Jan 1973, p 130). It reminds me of this poem by Benjamin Malachi Franklin:

My life is but a weaving between my God and me,

I cannot choose the colours, He weaveth skillfully.

Oft times He weaveth sorrow; And I in foolish pride

Forget He sees the upper and I the underside.

Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly

Will God unroll the canvas and reveal the reason why

The dark threads are as needful in the weaver’s skillful hand

As the threads of gold and silver

In the pattern He has planned.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Joseph of Egypt by Michael T. Malm)