PERFECTION OF CHARACTER

 

Jesus Christ Our Lord by Edit Voros

Over and over again I come across the inexhaustible mercy of Christ in the Old Testament. I used to think His mercy was excessive and that He should have wiped people off the face of the earth more often than He did, until I realised one day if His mercy was any less than what it is, there would not be any people left … that’s how frustrating humanity is and that’s how tolerant God is.

I mentioned in one of my recent posts that I have been collecting Christ’s attributes and characteristics for many years as I find them in the scriptures. I would like to mention a few that I see in Him and why so I will start with MERCY.

I have always felt a stronger sense of justice than mercy and wondered how Christ came to be so merciful until one day during reflection I saw the Saviour in my mind on the cross and I understood that even though He possessed this attribute before He came to earth, His inexhaustible mercy was born during His earthly life and in particular on that fateful day when He bore the culmination of all pain and sorrow and He understood to the depths of His soul our humanity.

I also see the Saviour as a God of STRENGTH. Strength has to come with mercy because strength brings with it self-control. It is His strength that doesn’t allow us to be obliterated because we are weak and stumbling in the dark most of the time. But at the same time strength is needed to correct, chastise and command the children in us.  

With strength also comes power and with this POWER He does not spare the wickedness that proceeds from the enemy who seeks to destroy us. I have noticed this especially this year in the book of Ezekiel. His mercy does not rob justice but neither does justice rob His mercy. Because of this we can be assured that the balance between justice and mercy will be so perfect on Judgment Day that we will not be able to question it.

Another quality I admire in the Saviour is MEEKNESS. Meekness is not weakness but self-restraint. The Saviour never used His godly power for His own purposes whilst in mortality. It was solely used for the purpose of humanity’s salvation. There are examples of this in the scriptures.

The temptations of Christ are a perfect example to this end. When Satan came to Jesus after 40 days of fasting in the desert, following His baptism and at the onset of His ministry, he appealed to His ego by tempting Him to prove that He was the Son of God and therefore had power to assuage His, by then, overwhelming hunger (Matthew 4:3-4). Turning stones into bread was easy. The Saviour knew it and Satan knew it. What lay at stake was succumbing to the use of His power for His gain and His purpose. This Satan also knew. He knew that Christ’s power was only meant to be used for the benefit of others and not His own. And so the Saviour of mankind would not feed Himself even at the peril of His life but He would feed 5,000 others who ‘might’ have been hungry whilst listening to Him (Matthew 14:13-21).

Another example….after walking from Judea to Samaria, He was thirsty, hungry and weary. As He sat at Jacob’s well to rest while His disciples went to buy provisions, He who had power to draw food and drink from the elements, who could have transported himself at will to any location, didn’t. He chose instead to subject himself to the proper experiences of mortality and waited for food to come to Him and asked a Samaritan woman to draw water for Him to drink (John 4:6-10)

The greatest example comes from the pinnacle of the temple where He confronted Satan’s temptation to perform some dazzling feat by casting himself off the temple’s heights which would attract crowds of amazed onlookers to prove His superiority. It would have given Him public recognition and would have caused many to believe that the Messiah had indeed come. It would have been so easy for His ministry to prove who He was by such a feat.

It is one thing to study the scriptures and be informed, educated, spiritually fed and even entertained but to know the Saviour through them is the real challenge. I realised this years ago. We are meant to know HIM, not to know OF Him.

I have come to see Him differently in each book of the Holy Writ. In the Old Testament I see the Merciful Jehovah; in the New Testament I see the Loving Saviour; in the Book of Mormon I see the Resurrected Christ; in Doctrine and Covenants I see the Powerful God; in the Pearl of Great Price I see the Promised Messiah. He is all of that and more……He is everything.

Speak to me softly

What you would have me hear;

Speak to me gently

In my willing ear.

Leave nothing unsaid

Kind, good and everlastingly true;

Speak to me softly

And reveal the splendour of you.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

A WORLD OF PRIDE 1

 

He Pierces My Soul by Greg Collins

I was reading chapter 9 of Ezekiel yesterday with my mouth open. In this vision Ezekiel was shown the vengeance of God that was coming upon the kingdom of Judah in their final stage. After instructing the angels of destruction to mark in the foreheads those few who were to be spared, the Lord told them to go through the streets of Jerusalem and slay every man, woman and child with this explanation: “….mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.” (v 10)

The ‘way’ of the Israelite’s that took them to their last breath was idolatry. There is another grievous sin, however, which brings destruction upon the nations, the sin of pride. Ezekiel prophesied that this sin will be the fall of many nations and empires in the ancient world which is a warning to us in our dispensation of time as well.

I was mesmerised with the fall of Tyre as I studied Ezekiel one year, which is clear proof of Ezekiel’s predictions . This island was anciently located between Carmel in Israel and Beirut in Lebanon. In short, Tyre was a major destination for merchant ships in the eastern Mediterranean. Because of this commerce, Tyre amassed obscene wealth and became the crown jewel of the seas (Ezekiel 27:5-9). The Lord compared it to the Garden of Eden….until iniquity was found in her (Ezekiel 28:15). 

So great was Tyre that Ezekiel devoted three chapters to lament the fall of its glory (chapters 26,27,28). Chapter 26 states the reason for the fall. Tyre rejoiced in the fall of Judah but an even more serious crime becomes evident by chapter 28: “Thus saith the Lord God: Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou has said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God.” (v2).

This is the outcome of those who elevate themselves to the status of God: “I will destroy thee…I will cast thee to the ground….I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth…and never shalt thou be any more (vs 16-18). Because of its strong fortifications, nobody could conquer Tyre and so the more detailed prophecies of its destruction (in chapter 26) remained unfulfilled for nearly three hundred years….until 332 B.C. when Alexander the Great swept in and reduced this island to rubble. Today the island of Tyre is nothing more but a small peninsula jutting into the sea where the local fishermen come to spread their nets to dry. (see Old Testament Student Manual Book 2 p 280 for more descriptive end of this island)

I look at the world today and I see the pride of Tyre….even those who are not swimming in wealth are lifted up in the pride of their hearts elevating themselves and fortifying the culture of self-importance and self-identity. We are encouraged from all sides to put ourselves first so we can become our own gods and worship the father of me-ism who is Lucifer, son of the morning (Isaiah 14:12);  the author of all sin (Helaman 6:26-31); the source of ultimate pride (Moses 4:1); the thief in the night who comes to steal our spiritual identity, kill our faith in God and destroy our commitment to Christ (John 10:10).

Make no mistake about it, the Lord wants to care for us and protect us but He will not allow the enemy to win and the wickedness to prevail. He who loves God the Father without comparison has ensured the penitent will not be swallowed up in the despair of the damned. He has ensured our victory over death and sin. He has saved us and paved the way to our safety. He is the antidote to all the destruction the adversary can bring upon us. He is the light, the truth and the way. To all who want to be saved He says:

 

I wait for you to come

Into the shadow of my wings;

I have paid the price: come unto Me,

Your God and Your King.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

 

 

HE LIVES

 

The Ascension of Jesus Christ N3040 by Edit Voros

There is a certain phrase I have noticed in the scriptures where the Lord bears witness of Himself. This phrase is: “AS I LIVE”. It is mostly used in conjunction with His promises to carry out judgment on rebellious Israel, or blessings in time of gathering. This phrase can be found in Ezekiel 12 times: 5:11; 14:16; 16:6,48; 17:16,19; 18:3; 20:3,33; 33:11; 34:8; 35:6.

There is another phrase in Ezekiel that the Saviour uses often stating that He will affirm His existence to us either through His just punishment or His saving grace and that phrase is: “YE SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD”. It can be found in Ezekiel 24 times: 6:7,14; 7:4,9; 11:10,12; 12:20; 13:9,14,21,23; 14:8; 15:7; 16:62; 17:21; 20:38,42,44; 24:24,27; 25:5,7; 36:11; 37:6. This phrase is also used in conjunction with His promises to carry out His judgment upon the inhabitants of the earth where He proclaims: “and they shall know that I am the Lord” thus flooding the earth with knowledge and proof of His existence (6:14; 30:19,26; 32:15; 35:4,9,15; 38:23; 39:6).

I can bear witness to the ‘saving grace’ nature of the second phrase. Some years ago, I took a certain petition to God in prayer and, as is my custom, I retreated to the scriptures afterwards to see if He would give me an answer through His written word. The scriptures opened to a page with only one phrase highlighted: “Ye shall know that I am the Lord”……I knew in that instant that the Saviour lived, that He had heard my prayer, and that He would grant me my heart’s desire. I knew that I was kneeling in front of Him who has all power, might, mercy, wisdom and love. I knew the Lord that day because He bore witness to me of Himself.

 

How great Thy wisdom,

How great Thy mercy,

How great Thy love

That fills my joyful heart;

How very great Thou art!

 

 - CATHRYNE ALLEN 

 

THE VALUE OF COMMITMENT

 

The Ascension of Jesus Christ N3041by Edit Voros

“Those who in fright have sought to secure themselves by worshipping other gods will experience in sheer terror the effects of Yahweh’s decree of destruction.”  (The Interpreter’s Bible, 5:317, Old Testament Student Manual Book 2 p 163)

“Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God, Thus saith the Lord God to thee mountains, to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys; Behold I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places, and your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. And I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars…..” (Ezekiel 6:3-5)

The idolatry of Judah which led to the destruction of their kingdom was abominable. So total was their rejection of Jehovah who was their God from the time He delivered them from Egyptian bondage that the idolatry they practised became a complete replacement of the true law within the Jerusalem temple. In utter rejection of their God, Ezekiel was shown in a vision twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east worshipping the sun (Ezekiel 8:16).

The proclamations of destruction against those who engage in the sin of idolatry are extensive in the book of Ezekiel. One could ask why the Saviour is so outraged about this heinous sin to the point where He would destroy so many people. In his day, Isaiah, confronted the rulers of Jerusalem with the assertion that they were bringing inevitable ruin for the Jewish people (see Isaiah 28:14-15). He accused them of having made a covenant with death through the idolatry of gods other than their own, death being ‘the wages of sin’ (Romans 6:23).

Whilst in pre-mortal life, as spirit children of God, the plan of salvation was presented to us and we pledged our commitment to Christ trusting in His promise to save us. Considering the enormous and unfathomable sacrifice of this man of integrity, our commitment to Him as our God is expected of us. In return, we receive His protection, life instead of destruction and eternal salvation opposed to spiritual death which would separate us from the presence of God the Father forever. For this He has every right to expect our allegiance to Him:

“I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” (Isaiah 42:8)

In every respect He deserves all the glory and all our praise.

Idolatry is still rife in the world today, among many nations. I have a friend who visited Bali early this year and she was blown away by the kindness, thoughtfulness and goodness of the Balinese people. There is only one problem. They worship many gods and none are the right God. My friend said they were better people than some of the Christians she knows. She thought it would be unfair that they would be judged harshly.

This is where the Saviour’s mercy comes in for those heathen nations that have never known Him: “And then shall the heathen nations be redeemed, and they that knew no law shall have part in the first resurrection; and it shall be tolerable for them.” (D&C 45:54)

Is there a more merciful, just and loving Saviour than the Lord Jesus Christ??? I think not. Those of us who know the law have a responsibility to uphold our commitment to Him and those who have not known Him in this life will one day remember Him and the right hand they raised in support of His offer of salvation.

I saw You today in my heart

and I wept knowing

as more believe,

the tree that bore Your weight

keeps growing.

 

I saw the love flow from

the deepest well within Your soul –

Your salvation for us all.

 

-       CATHRYNE ALLEN 

STEADFASTNESS OF GOD

 

Crucifixion of Jesus Christ by Edit Voros

Imagine if God called you to a calling in the Church and told you your calling will yield no success in any way. The people will be not be interested in what you do, they will not listen to you and your efforts will be wasted. Yet He told you He wanted you to do it and if you didn’t do it, He would make you accountable on Judgment Day for their sins. Would you do it?

This was Ezekiel’s life in exile. Having been appointed as a ‘watchman unto the house of Israel’ in Babylonia, God made it clear to Ezekiel that if he didn’t step up to this responsibility, He would hold him responsible for Israel’s sins (Ezekiel 3:17-21).

And this is an interesting thing….Ezekiel was instructed of God to stage the predictions of the fall of Kingdom of Judah which one could say were nothing short of theatrics (see chapters 4 and 5). He wanted the exiles to know of the fate of the rebellious house of Israel and thus call them to repentance. With every instruction the Lord gave Ezekiel, He told him the people will not believe him because ‘the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted’ (Ezekiel 2:7).

Six times He called the Israelites ‘a rebellious house’ (Ezekiel 2:5,6,7,9,26,27). And not only would they not believe him but they would gather to listen to him and consider him as entertainment (Ezekiel 33:30-33). Imagine an ancient amphitheatre with eager Jews clutching buckets of popcorn in anticipation to hear ‘the latest crazy thing’  Ezekiel had to tell them and show them. My heart bleeds when I read about this man…..

I am amazed that Jehovah would even waste His time with those He knows would not repent. Because of His foreknowledge, He knew which one of us would be saved and which would be lost. You would think because of this foreknowledge the Saviour didn’t have to atone for everyone. It would certainly lessen the pain of Gethsemane. Yet He hung on the cross despite His power to end it, until every soul was accounted and atoned for, until He could say: “It is finished” (John 19:30).

Most of us would say it is because of His love and mercy. We seem to focus on these two attributes the most these days but the Saviour is a God with the full spectrum of emotions and a perfect balance of attributes. I have been collecting evidence of this through the scriptures for years. I have come across numerous scriptures too lengthy to list here where He speaks of His fury, anger and even hatred when He deals with unrepentant people and nations.

 I will mention a couple in Ezekiel: “I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury…” (35:5,6); “I will send mine anger upon thee…mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense thy ways upon thee….and all thine abominations” (7:3). In fact, the exact phrase “neither will I have pity” shows up three more times in Ezekiel – 7:9; 8:18 and 9:10. In the last three scriptures the Lord pairs it with “mine eye shall not spare”, as part of a warning of judgment on persistent wickedness.

We can be assured that God’s mercy and love has a different side to it than we think. It also manifests itself as chastisement. If we need correction and misfortune to bring us back to Him, He will bring such upon us without hesitation. I have an inactive daughter who no longer lives the Gospel. I have done everything possible for her over the years. When I came to the end of my self-sacrificial road for her and could do no more, I left her in God’s hands. I no longer even pray for her because I am aware that she might have to be brought down to her knees to repent and return. If I prayed for her protection, ease and comfort in her current state, these blessings might just be the worse thing for her so I refrain not wanting to sabotage her progress and trust God to know best what she needs for her repentance.

Why would the Lord be so steadfast in doing whatever is necessary to ensure our return? Because He is where the salvation lies. He didn’t climb up onto that cross at Calvary for fun. If he was willing to save us back then, He is willing still. And thank goodness for that because without chastening some of would never reach the heights of salvation but would end up like spoilt, insufferable children not capable of much in this life or the next. And that is just not acceptable.

I stood on holy ground of your fragile heart

And saw your tender moments

Bathed in hurtful tears.

I saw your sins that you tried in vain to hide,

And the years you lived with futile pride.

I bore your life with crimson drops

And sought forgiveness on your behalf;

To pay the price of justice

And mend your broken heart.

 

I wait for you to come

Into the shadow of my wings;

I have paid the price: come unto Me,

Your God and Your King.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

TO WATCH AND TO WARN

 

Return Unto Me by Annie Henrie Nader

“In ancient Israel walls were built around cities, and towers were erected in key places along the walls. Watchmen, or lookouts, kept watch in these towers day and night to warn the people if an enemy came. A watchman’s responsibility was great, because if he was negligent, his sloth could cost the lives of others.

“The Church today stands in a position to see the enemy and how he works, because they have living prophets who speak for God. They are therefore called by the Saviour both to warn the wicked and to protect Zion. Thus the Lord refers to His authorized servants today as watchmen upon the towers (see Isiah 62:6; Ezekiel 33:2-9; D&C Student Manual p 239-240)

In Section 101 of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord extends a warning of destruction that will come upon all nations in our dispensation but ‘all who are found upon the watch-tower shall be saved’ (v 12).

One of my favourite Old Testament prophets was Ezekiel. He was called to be ‘the watchman upon the tower unto the House of Israel’, who were the exiles in Babylonia, for a period of twenty-two years, from 592 to 570 (see Guide to the Scriptures). We are about to study this period of Israel’s captivity and the calling of Ezekiel, a prophet who can reduce you to tears. Through him, Jehovah extended the promise of forgiveness and restoration of all former blessings to Israel. He was the bearer of hope.

Ezekiel was a contemporary of Jeremiah and Daniel. Whereas Jeremiah was a prophet sent to Judah's kings and leaders soon to be conquered and Daniel, a prophet sent to preach to the conquerors, Ezekiel was called of God to be "a watchman unto the house of Israel" in captivity (Ezekiel 33:7). He was a priest of the family of Zadok and was carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar during the second siege of Jerusalem around 597 B.C.

 

As a prophet called to preach to the exiles and captives, the Lord laid upon him an immense burden of calling to repentance what He constantly referred to as "a rebellious house" and an "impudent and hardhearted people" (Ezekiel 2:4-7; 3:6-7). The house of Judah had become so wicked that the Lord told Jeremiah: “Don't pray for them or try to make intercession for them for I will not hear you." (Jeremiah 7:16-18). Considering the Saviour's immensely merciful character, it would have taken a lot for Him to say this. Judah was ready for destruction and so Jerusalem was sacked by the Chaldeans three times before Christ and by the Romans in 70 A.D. decimating the kingdom and scattering the Jews throughout the world.

 

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Chaldeans (Babylon), had hoped to subdue the kingdom of Judah twice and requested they pay him homage but the kings of Judah would not submit and instead sought political alliance with Egypt, something that Jeremiah warned them not to do. By the third siege Nebuchadnezzar had had enough. He built a wall around Jerusalem so no one could escape and no supplies could be brought in. The siege lasted 18 months. The starvation of the people was so severe they resorted to cannibalism. By the time Nebuchadnezzar had finished, Jerusalem was levelled to rubble.

 

Ezekiel was shown in visions all the perversions of the Jews and the winding up scenes of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. So horrendous were his visions that they made him weep. Following his visions the Lord instructed him to teach the people in exile of what was happening in Jerusalem through the most intricate object lessons. No internet for him to make things easier..... The first eleven chapters of Ezekiel speak of these object lessons and the horrors that befell Jerusalem. In these eleven chapters Jehovah says “ye shall know that I am the Lord” 17 times. It makes for heart wrenching reading....

 

The most fascinating lesson that lies within the chapters of Ezekiel is that the Lord did not turn His back on the house of Judah in captivity and left them alone to suffer the consequences of their sins. He ensured their exile would bring them to the point of repentance. He proved through Ezekiel that His mercy will always step in to save His chosen people and that His constant focus is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39).

 

So effective was Ezekiel’s teaching that the Jewish people never again returned to idolatry. It was in exile that Judah remembered their God and became overzealous for His laws. It was a great turning point in Israel's religious life. Unfortunately, in becoming overzealous, they also became ‘stiff-necked’ with their adherence to the convoluted law of Moses so they ‘looked beyond the mark’ and missed the Messiah when He came among them. And we all know the result of that.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

ON PERMISSIVENESS

 

“The growing permissiveness in modern society gravely concerns us. Certainly our Heavenly Father is distressed with the increasing inroads among his children of such insidious sins as adultery and fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, abortions, pornography, population control, alcoholism, domestic violence, child abuse, dishonesty,  vandalism, violence, and crime generally, including the sin of living together without marriage.

“We call upon our Church members everywhere to renew their efforts to strengthen the home and to honour their parents, and to build better communications between parent and child.

“Important as it is, building stronger homes is not enough in the fight against rising permissiveness. We therefore urge Church members as citizens to lift their voices, to join others in unceasingly combating, in their communities and beyond, the inroads of pornography and the general flaunting of permissiveness. Let us vigorously oppose the shocking developments which encourage the old sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, and which define the human body as the temple of God….

“God will not be mocked. His laws are immutable. True repentance is rewarded by forgiveness, but sin brings the sting of death….

“As we think back upon the experiences of Nineveh, Babylon, Sodom and Gomorrah, we wonder – will history repeat itself? What of our world today? Are we forgetting in our great nations the high and lofty principles which can preserve the nations?

“When the patience of the Lord with us is exhausted, shall we stand trembling while destruction comes upon us? Or shall we wisely see the handwriting on the wall and profit by the sad experience of the past and return unto the Lord and serve him?”

-          (Spencer W. Kimball, in Conference Report, October 1977, pp 5-7; or Ensign Nov 1977, pp 5-6)

This warning was given to us in 1977. Since then we have added these blatant sins, amongst others: human trafficking, organised gang rapes, butchering of our bodies through sex change, numerous sexual orientations, gender identities and sex variations,  mothers murdering their children, full term abortion, rogue judges who acquit criminals thus perpetrating further crime, government fraud, government sponsored drug inducing centres, abduction of children and most heinously an increase in murder. We have permitted it all in the name of ‘progressiveness’. We have lifted ourselves above all the laws and call ourselves civilised and progressive….when in fact we are collectively just a plain, evil society bereft of peace and a sound mind.

In 1800s the Prophet Joseph Smith prophesied of a time when no one would have peace except in Zion: “I saw men hunting the lives of their own sons, and brother murdering brother, women killing their own daughters, and daughters seeking the lives of their mother. I saw armies arrayed against armies. I saw blood, desolation, fires. The Son of Man has said that the mother shall be against the daughter and the daughter against the mother. These things are at our doors. They will follow the Saints of God from city to city. Satan will range, and the spirit of the devil is now enraged. I know not how soon these tings will take place.” (History of the Church, 3:391)

This is the true picture of our society. At one stage I was following the ‘true crimes’ Youtube channel. It was all about murder and in each instance I could predict it was either the husband or wife or one of children. It was so amazing to me and made me remember Joseph Smith’s vision. I couldn’t watch that channel for very long.

I agree with President Kimball about history. The dangerous thing about it is that history repeats itself. The destruction that came to ancient cities will one day come to us because God will indeed not be mocked. Evil will be wiped off the face of the earth together with all those who have upheld it.

When the Saviour comes again He will subdue all enemies under his feet and most of all his archenemy Lucifer, Satan, the devil, the father of all lies who so shrewdly and subtly leads us “by the neck with a flaxen cord” to do his bidding, until he binds us with “his strong cords forever” (2 Nephi 26:22).

We are here on a spiritual battle ground. How’s your armour???  (Ephesians 6:11-18)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

THE SACRED HEART

 

Jesus Christ With the Crown of Thorns by Edit Voros

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 31:31,32)

The original covenant of the Melchizedek Priesthood that ancient Israel rejected was replaced by the Aaronic Priesthood of the ‘preparatory gospel’ (see Exodus 19:5-24; D&C 84:23-27).  Having rejected the higher priesthood, the Lord caused ‘the law of carnal commandments’ to continue with the house of Aaron which included the Mosaic law’s outward performances and animal sacrifice (v 27). This Mosaic law was to point them to Christ who was to come in fulfillment of that covenant. It would seem that ancient Israel broke even that covenant with their idolatry which turned them away from preparation to meet their God.

I wondered what would make the new covenant more efficacious until I read the promise and noticed a word that intrigued me: “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel…..and I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their HEARTS….” The law of Moses was written on tablets of stone. The new covenant will be written in people’s hearts….and this will make all the difference.

Ancient Israel missed the spirit of the law when they followed the ‘carnal’ commandments written on the tablets of stone. The dictionary defines the word ‘carnal’ as: not spiritual, merely human, temporal, worldly.

It seems that when something resides in your heart, it becomes difficult to ignore because it becomes spiritual.  It is no more a commandment that needs to be followed by the letter of the law but rather the spirit of the law and the spirit makes all the difference. If you study the 630 Mosaic laws that the Jewish nation spun out of the Law of Moses and ended up following you will see what I mean. All those laws were of a physical nature.

Consider the function of the heart that does more than pump blood. I researched and found interesting definitions of it. Spiritually, the heart is the deep inner centre of your being where your true identity, emotions, and moral choices live. It represents the hidden part of you that goes deeper than surface thoughts or logic. It is where you decide your values, commitments, and the direction of your life. It acts as a bridge for empathy, compassion, and a higher power.

In the Christian view the heart is the dwelling place of God. It is the secret room where a person meets the divine. Jesus taught that both good intentions and evil actions spring from the heart. It includes your thoughts, your deep desires, and your everyday choices.

A heart set on the things of this temporal world will cause a man to act in ways detrimental to spiritual growth. Someone who lives by ‘carnal’ dictates covers his sins, gratifies his pride and vain ambitions and exercises unrighteous dominion over others (see D&C 121). Now consider how the state of the ‘heart’ influences people when it is set on the things of God: 

That person will act in ways beneficial to spiritual growth, including –

1.      Repenting of their sins;

2.      Humbling themselves;

3.      Seeking the kingdom of God first;

4.      Exercising love and charity toward others.

These actions cause-

1.      The heavens to draw near;

2.      The Spirit of the Lord to be near;

3.      An increase in power and authority.

The ‘new covenant’ is the gospel covenant that the Lord will renew with the gathered Israel through faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and the Temple covenants. It is a renewal of His relationship with Israel through an inward change. As He puts His law in their minds and writes it in their hearts, they truly come to know Him and He forgives and remembers their sins no more. In reference to the new covenant, Paul called Jesus Christ “the mediator of a better covenant” (see Hebrews 8:6-13).

And it will all start with the ‘heart’……

It is also interesting to me that the Saviour died spilling crimson drops of blood that was pumped by His heart….a connection of sorts? Just food for thought….

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

THE HEIGHTS OF MERCY

 

I Would Gather Thee by Liz Lemon Swindle

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem...how often would I have gathered thy

children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens

under her wings, and ye would not!

(Matthew 23:37)

No other book of scripture highlights the mercy of Christ as does the Old Testament. Most people will challenge this thought saying that honour belongs to the New Testament due to the account of the Saviour’s Atonement.

The Old Testament is my book. It is the root of the covenant of God with His people. A covenant He has sworn He will never break (see Deuteronomy 4:31; Leviticus 26:44,46; Isaiah 49:15,16; 2 Kings 13:23). Over and over Jehovah worked with His prophets to preserve His people, to declare His undying love, and to make promises of restitution no matter how far they stray.

And stray they did and earned themselves the name of ‘backsliding Israel’ (Jeremiah 3:6,8,11,12,14,22; 31:22; 49:4; Hosea 4:16; 11:7; 14:4). Using the imagery of marriage, Israel became a ‘harlot’ who had betrayed her love for her husband, ‘upon every high mountain and under every green tree’….. (Jeremiah 3:6). For this unfaithfulness Israel paid a high price of bondage but even then only the promised mercy of her God will bring her back to His fold:

“For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.” ( Jeremiah 30:11).

And herein lies the lesson of futile idolatry for which Israel rejected the Holy One: “All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have [caused thee to be wounded] with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity…..” (Jeremiah 30:14b)

And then the sting of payment for their sin with a hope of healing : “…thy bruise is not incurable, although thy wounds are grievous. Is there none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up? Hast thou no healing medicine?.... Is thy sorrow incurable?” (JST Jeremiah 30:12,13,15)

 “….because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee….but all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity…For I WILL restore health unto thee, and I WILL heal thee of thy wounds…the whirlwind of the Lord shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked…..And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God” (Jeremiah 30:16,17,22,23)

When will this healing and restoration happen? Over two millennia after the promise….when the lessons have been learnt, the price for disobedience paid and a willingness to repent born…’when He has performed the intents of his heart….in the latter days when they shall fully understand this’ (v 23,24; see also 2 Nephi 25:8-11).

And this is the lesson that they need to understand….every disobedience carries with it consequences. Yes the mercy and deliverance will come but after many wars, captivity and sorrow…..the experience of consequences crucial towards repentance, a broken heart and a contrite spirit for the restorative power of mercy is only offered to the penitent (Alma 42:24,25). It’s something all of us need to remember.

There is a prevalent belief in Christendom today that Christ is all about love and mercy and that is true but this love and mercy is not freely given because no man can be saved in his sins. He can only be saved from them. If he was saved prematurely in them, without repentance, he would continue to sin and the mercy would be of no benefit.

The Kingdom of Judah proved that they were not ready for the Saviour’s mercy to deliver them from the dominance of their enemies. When he manifested himself to them in the flesh, they rejected him “because of their iniquities, and the hardness of their hearts, and the stiffness of their necks” and they crucified Him instead (2 Nephi 25:12,13). The  salvation was offered but the repentance was still in embryo, unborn…the lesson of bondage and the loss of freedom not yet fully learnt and so it continues to this day with the price of hatred, killing and wars.

Because they despised the Holy One of Israel they have wandered in the flesh and perished, and become a hiss and a byword and been hated among all nations…but He will remember His covenants which he made to their fathers when they no more turn their hearts against him (1 Nephi 19:14,15)

As Israel, we have trodden worldly paths

That have left us battered, scarred,

And parched in search of love.

Our lovers were many but

Our hearts were empty.

At long last

We embrace the love that lasts,

We prepare for the wedding feast

And abandon our treacherous past.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

THE LONG SUFFERING OF GOD

 

Jesus Christ in the Light by Edit Voros

Perhaps equal to Jeremiah’s personal suffering at the hands of his enemies and tormentors was his burden of living amongst continual wickedness which was indescribable but people prospered and there was peace, until Jehovah saw fit to send Babylon....and the kingdom of Judah was devoured before Jeremiah’s eyes in 587 B.C.

What caught my eye one day as I was studying Jeremiah was this: Jeremiah became so oppressed by wickedness around him that he complained to the Lord and asked how much longer will he allow this wickedness to persist and the unrighteous to prosper (Jeremiah 12:1-4). It reminded me of Jonah who attempted to escape his calling to preach to wicked Nineveh. So incensed was he at their wickedness which surpassed any of the ancient world, that he felt they did not deserve a second chance, which he knew God’s mercy would afford them should they repent (Jonah 4:2).

In short, the wicked Nineveh did repent and was given almost 100 years more to prove their repentance. That repentance didn’t last. What it proved instead is that God is a God of long-suffering but long-suffering does not mean ‘never’. The destruction of Nineveh was colossal. We will visit that chapter when we study the book of Nahum. Nineveh and the destruction of the Assyrian empire is also a lesson in God’s justice. A huge lesson…..

Our world is getting insanely wicked. Many of us have wondered how much worse it has to get before the Saviour comes and puts an end to the madness. Like to Jeremiah, to some of us our present world seems unbearable. And here is where the similarity between Jeremiah's world and ours lies....the Lord replied to Jeremiah's impatience by asking him if he can't bear it whilst there was relative peace, how will he ever survive when things got worse (Jeremiah 12:1-4)? Like Jeremiah's world, our world will get worse....until He comes. And when He comes, it will not be pretty:

1.       Mountains will flow down at His presence (D&C 133:40; Micah 1:4)

2.       The waters on the earth will boil (D&C 133:41)

3.       All nations will tremble at His presence (D&C 133:42)

4.       The sun will hide, the moon will withhold its light, and the stars will be hurled from their places (D&C 133:49)

5.       The wicked will be burned by the brightness of fire of the glory of the Lord (Malachi 4:1-3; 2 Thessalonians 2:8)

It is now time to become people of valour so that we can endure whatever more is to come....and more will come until the Saviour deems we are ripe for destruction. Now more than ever we need to strengthen our faith in God to be able to endure the oppression, the persecution, the lack of freedoms, increased wickedness and injustice, all of which is coming our way.

In answer to Jeremiah's lament about the situation of his day, the Lord clearly shows how long-suffering He is in the midst of human corruption. It would seem He allows us to get to the utmost worst until the day of reckoning to give as many as possible the chance to repent and turn to Him. May we recognise and acknowledge His mercy, His patience, His love, His tolerance, His long-suffering and most importantly, His saving power trailing from the cross of Calvary, sealed with His hour of agony….

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

THE GATHERING

 

The Good Shepherd by Eva Koleva Timothy

The tragic dispersion of the House of Israel is also a message of love. It stands as a monument of God's infinite mercy towards His children and his undying love for even the vilest sinner who He longs to see return to Him. Even though the Kingdom of Judah got what it deserved, they are not forever abandoned for the Lord made them a promise through Jeremiah that He will visit them after seventy years of bondage and cause them to return to Jerusalem (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

This promise was fulfilled by Cyrus, the Great….the King of Persia, who conquered Babylon in 539 B.C., and inherited the exiled Jews. He was raised for such a purpose by Jehovah himself, who called him ‘my shepherd’ and ‘my anointed’ (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1-4).

The God of Israel worked with this man to ensure he fulfilled his purpose and this was it….not to free the captive Israel for the sake of freedom but to send them back to Jerusalem to build His temple (Isaiah 44:28).  Jehovah was calling His people to return to Him….it is in the temple that they would once again raise their right hand to the covenant they had forsaken and would receive a second chance (Isaiah 44:20).

That second chance didn’t last. The second temple was built and lasted until 70 A.D. when Titus, the Roman Emperor, sacked Jerusalem and dispersed Judah into all the nations of the earth. But before that tragedy, the Messiah himself appeared and prophesied of this fall in his Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:1-2; Mark 13:1-2; Luke 21:20-21). Yet another chance for salvation in vain. But Messiah’s mercy endures forever….

On 22 February 1879, Elder Wilford Woodruff, issued an epistle to the world and addressed himself to the dispersed of Judah in this dispensation:

“For the fulness of the Gentiles has come in, and the Lord has decreed that the Jews should be gathered from all the Gentile nations where they have been driven, into their own land, in fulfilment of the words of Moses their lawgiver. And this is the will of our great Eloheim, O house of Judah, and whenever you shall be called upon to perform this work, the God of Israel will help you.

“You have a great future and destiny before you and you cannot avoid fulfilling it; you are the royal chosen seed, and the God of your father’s house has kept you distinct as a nation for eighteen hundred years, under all the oppression of the whole Gentile world. You may not wait until you believe on Jesus of Nazareth, but when you meet with Shiloh your king, you will know him; your destiny is marked out, you cannot avoid it.

“It is true that after you return and gather your nation home, and rebuild your City and Temple, that the Gentiles may gather together their armies to go against you to battle, to take you a prey and to take you as a spoil, which they will do, for the words of your prophets must be fulfilled, but when this affliction comes, the living God, that led Moses through the wilderness, will deliver you, and your Shiloh will come and stand in your midst and will fight your battles; and you will know him, and the afflictions of the Jews will be at an end…..and all will be fulfilled, according to the sayings of Ezekiel, Zechariah, and other prophets. Though the heavens and the earth pass away, not one jot or tittle will fall unfulfilled.”  (in Matthias F. Cowley, Wilford Woodruff, pp 509-10)

The gathering of Israel has begun in earnest and the mighty promise by Ezekiel is being fulfilled. The fulfilment of this promise began when the Saviour saw His people with compassion ‘because they were as sheep not having a shepherd’ and He fed them with loaves and fishes in symbolism of their return to the mountains of Israel where they will be fed forevermore:

“For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

“And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.

“I will feel them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel…..I will seek that which was lost and bring again that which was driven away….” (Ezekiel 34:11-16)

 

Compassion rent His godly heart

When He saw His scattered sheep,

Upon the high mountains of Israel

Running to His shelter,

His promise for Him to keep.

 

A promise He would honour

That His lost sheep He would find,

Upon the high mountains of Israel

That heartless shepherds left behind.

 

So His promise He valiantly fulfilled

As His sheep sat hungry on Bethsaida’s hill,

And fed upon the loaves and fishes

That multiplied upon His will.

 

(Mark 6:33-44)

 

-       CATHRYNE ALLEN