THE PLAN OF OUR GOD

 

The death of Abraham basically rounded off the first 2,000 years of this earth. I reflected on how clearly the Plan of Salvation came into full swing during those years. This is obvious to me through the preservation of the patriarchal line that guaranteed the rights of the priesthood through which all the humanity stands to be blessed and another very crucial thing I didn’t understand fully before, the emphasis on propagation.

When Rebekah left her family to marry Isaac, she left with their blessing which would have been prized above all in her day: “And they blessed Rebekah and said unto her, O thou our sister, be thou blessed of thousands – of millions; and let thy seed possess the gate of those who hate them.” (JST Genesis 24:65)

When Isaac sent Jacob to Rebekah’s family in Padan-aram to secure for himself a wife, his parting blessing was this: “And God Almighty bless thee and make thee fruitful and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people.” (Genesis 28:3)

Because posterity was part of the Abrahamic covenant, such blessings given to these two people were clearly birthright blessings.

Jacob’s marital unions with Leah and Rachel and subsequent unions with their handmaids always bothered me. I felt sorry for Jacob dealing with two highly competitive wives and two handmaids given to him for the purpose of bearing children suggested to me denial of their rights. It seemed to be no way for people of the covenant to behave.

I came to understand this a little better some years ago when I was doing my degree. One of my history professors said to us: “Be careful how you judge history. Even though it is based on facts, it is written by human beings and it is written from their perspective. More so, you have no idea what it was like to live 100 years, 500 years or even 1,000 years ago. You don’t know the customs, traditions, the mentality of the people, or their struggle for survival. You know nothing because you have not experienced it. You only know what you read.”

This broadened my vision of history and helped me understand two things:

1.      “Although the early patriarchs and their wives were great and righteous men and women who eventually were exalted and perfected (see D&C 132:37), this fact does not mean that they were perfect in every respect while in mortality….their shortcomings do not lessen their later greatness and their eventual perfection.” (Old Testament Student Manual Genesis – 2 Samual” p 85)

2.      Being able to bear a male child for their husband was a great honour for women anciently because it meant the continuation of the family line. So important was this in the context of propagation that God instituted ‘levirate marriage’ in Israelite families (see Deuteronomy 25:5-10). This law protected women who were left destitute without a husband and at the same time secured continuation of his family line. It’s a fascinating subject worth the study.

Imagine this life without the blessings of the priesthood and without propagation. How could the Plan of Salvation ever survive? We are so distracted in our day and age by our ‘human rights’ that we have largely rejected God in many nations. The birth rate is down and we glory in our privileges. We know nothing about survival and our dependence on God.

I saw a young adult male in a reel the other day who claimed he did not ask to be born and therefore he does not see that it is his responsibility to provide for himself, that apparently is his parents’ duty so he refuses to work. He has rights, he says…..he knows nothing…..I fear for him and the lesson that awaits him.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Bride and Groom of the New Testament by Lyle Geddes - lds.org)

MERCIFUL REDEMPTION

 

“I once heard a child tell the parable of the lost sheep in a way that stirred fresh thoughts about who the lost sheep is. A little girl so tiny that we could barely see the top of her ponytails over the pulpit told the story in a sacrament meeting….She said:

“There was once a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. He loved his sheep, so he counted them every day. One day he counted: ‘……ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine.’ A little sheep was lost. The shepherd went to find him. The little sheep was far off in the rocks and bushes. He was frightened and lonely. The shepherd went to find him. The little sheep heard him and was glad. He said: ‘Baa-aa’. The shepherd came and found the little sheep. He picked him up and carried him on his shoulder back to his mommy. Then he counted again: ‘…..ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred.’ All the sheep were safely home.” (Bruce C.  Hafen, “The Broken Heart”, p 37-8)

Elder Hafen said that it dawned on him as he listened, that he was the lost sheep, that those he knew and loved were the lost sheep, that the people in the Church were the lost sheep, indeed he said we are all lost sheep…..because of our first parents, Adam and Eve who “were cast out of their garden of innocence into the lone and dreary world, and ‘out in the desert they wandered, hungry and helpless and cold’ (p 38).

The Atonement has so many facets that it is difficult at times to grasp it all. Perhaps the most important  would have to be Christ’s power to redeem us from The Fall. Having been removed from the Father’s presence, we are born strangers and pilgrims on this earth (D&C 45:13) but the Saviour’s Redemption means we can one day be restored to our former home.

The greatest scriptural symbol of Redemption is Ruth, a lowly woman of Moab who married an Israelite. She was a convert to the Lord, God of Israel ‘under whose wings she had come to trust’ (Ruth 2:12). When her Israelite husband died and left her with no children, Ruth became one of the lowliest of the earth, devoid of security or livelihood. When she returned to Bethlehem with her mother Naomi, she consented to a ‘levirate’ marriage with Naomi’s next of kin, as was the custom in Israel.

Through a levirate marriage, the woman was provided with children and restored to security and society and brought back to the family home. Here is where things become interesting. The Hebrew word for a man who would step up to this responsibility was GO’EL. The King James Version of the Bible translates it as simply ‘kinsman’ but the proper and literal meaning of GO’EL is ‘redeemer’ (Rasmussen, “Introduction to the Old Testament”, 1:157)

Ruth’s GO’EL was Boaz. Boaz became Ruth’s redeemer and restorer of all she had lost. Boaz and Ruth had a son whose name was Obed, who became the father of Jesse, who was the father of King David, who was the progenitor of Mary, who was the mother of Christ.

Consider for a moment how Christ redeems us from our fallen state and restores us to the presence of the Father and our eternal home. The Saviour himself affirms His role as the GO’EL when He refers to himself as the bridegroom and us, Israel, as the bride (Matthew 25:1-13; D&C 33:17; 65:3; 88:92; 133:10). He is the greatest GO’EL of all….. the Redeemer, the Restorer, the Hope of Israel, the Shepherd who leads home all that are lost.

Elder Hafen tried to imagine how he would feel if he was found unworthy on Judgment Day to return to Father’s presence. He said he didn’t think he could stand a longing for eternity that could not be fulfilled (p 88). I am of certainty that I would feel like Cain of old who said when he was banished from God’s presence to be a vagabond on this earth: “My punishment is greater than I can bear.”  (Genesis 4:13)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Guiding Them Home by Yongsung Kim)

RUTH, A SYMBOL OF REDEMPTION

 

This is a story of the beautiful life of a simple woman from Moab called Ruth.

 

It is said by oral tradition that women in ancient Israel lived with a hope that the Messiah would come through their line. Ruth from Moab had no blood of Israel running through her veins.  She was a convert to the Lord, God of Israel ‘under whose wings she had come to trust’ (Ruth 2:12). When her Israelite husband died and left her with no children, Ruth became one of the lowliest of the earth, devoid of security or livelihood. When she returned to Bethlehem with her mother Naomi, she consented to a ‘levirate’  marriage with Naomi’s next of kin, as was the custom in Israel. Through a levirate marriage, the woman was provided with children and restored to security and society. Here is where things become interesting. The Hebrew word for a man who would step up to this responsibility was GO’EL. The King James Version of the Bible translates it as simply ‘kinsman’ but the proper and literal meaning of GO’EL is ‘redeemer’ (Rasmussen, “Introduction to the Old Testament”, 1:157)

 

This is how Ruth, a lowly woman of Moab became the symbol of Christ’s redemption: Her GO’EL was Boaz, an Israelite kinsman of Naomi. Boaz became Ruth’s redeemer and restorer of all she had lost. Boaz and Ruth had a son whose name was Obed, who became the father of Jesse, who was the father of King David, who was a progenitor of Mary, who was the mother of Christ…… Consider for a moment how Christ redeems us from our fallen state and restores us to the presence of the Father, AND grants us eternal posterity through His power of exaltation. The Saviour himself affirms His role as the GO’EL when He refers to himself as the bridegroom and us, Israel, as the bride (Matthew 25:1-13; D&C 33:17; 65:3; 88:92; 133:10). He is the greatest GO’EL of all….. the Redeemer, the Restorer, the Hope of Israel, the Rock of our Salvation. 

 

I will follow Thee my God and My All

When I can see no more;

I will trust in Thee

When all hope flees;

I will praise Thy name

When I am left without ease.

I will nurture the seeds of my faith

With tears of my affliction,

Yet will I look up to heaven

And believe in Thy throne;

I will trust in the strength of Thine arms

To lift me and carry me home.

 

 

 - CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Artist Unknown)