GOD WHO HEARS AND SEES ALL PART 1

 

There is a woman spoken of in the Old Testament that is not highly considered or regarded. Her name is Hagar and her life story rends my heart.  The Genesis account of the Old Testament simply states that she was Egyptian and that she was Sarah's maid but one other source gives more insight into her life. It claims that Hagar was one of the daughters of Pharaoh and that she was given to Sarah when she and Abraham left Egypt to continue their journey to Canaan (Ginzberg, “Legends of the Jews”, 1:223). Considering the riches that Pharaoh showered Abraham and Sarah with as they left Egypt (Genesis 12:16), this claim seems very plausible. In this context, Hagar's life of hardship begins at this point in history as does the triangle of trial for these three extraordinary people.

Under Sarah's tutelage, Hagar grew into spiritual maturity as she forsook the religious idols of her home and came to know the God of Israel (Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, 1:23). Imagine, however, a young girl of royal birth, sent away from her home to be the property of total strangers, therefore a slave.

But there was more. According to Bible scholars and modern-day revelation, it was the law for a woman who could not provide children for her husband, to give him another wife to ensure continuation of his family line (D&C 132:34). Sarah decided that Abraham's next wife would be Hagar. I doubt if Hagar had much choice in the matter, being in the situation she was in. I imagine Hagar was fairly young since she fell pregnant straight away, whereas Abraham was 86 years old (Genesis 16:16).

The Old Testament records that Hagar became insolent towards Sarah once she knew she was pregnant (Genesis 16:4). Inexcusable I know, but maybe for once she felt she was worth something more than being a maid. She was now a wife of a rich man and she was going to be a mother, but not really....she was only a second wife with no rights and her child would by law belong to Sarah. She was a concubine. Imagine being of such lowly station for one of royal birth.  When she couldn't take Sarah's correction of her behaviour Sarah fled in search of freedom (Genesis 16:6). Insolent but understandable.

When the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain ‘in the way to Shur’, he told Hagar "the Lord hath heard thy affliction" (Genesis 16:11); that she will not be overlooked by Him, that she will have a son and that her posterity will not be able to be numbered for multitude (Genesis 16:10). In other words, "I will make it up to you Hagar for the life you are required to live".

And then the angel asked her a crucial question: “Knowest thou that God sees thee???” (JST Genesis 16:15) and Hagar answered she knew that He sees her and that she came here looking for Him (v 16). That confirms to me Hagar’s faith. If nobody else can see her life, she knew that God does.  

This confirmation from the angel must have been what enabled her return to Sarah bearable for “God has heard” that watched over the deeds of men and assists them in their suffering (E. Couglas Clark, “The Blessings of Abraham”, p 163)

One thing I do believe: Hagar was a good woman. Ishmael and Isaac remained close as Genesis records that they buried their father together (Genesis 25:9). This is how I know Hagar was a good woman: there was no hatred or animosity between Ishmael and Isaac. The credit for that goes to two mothers who didn't teach their sons to hate but to love and who had explicit faith in the God who hears and sees all…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

 

THE NATURE OF OUR GOD

 

“There is no inconsistency in the nature of God. He is always perfectly merciful and loving, but He is also perfectly just and will not “look upon sin with the least degree of allowance” (D&C 1:31). As he said to Joseph Smith: “God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left,….his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round” (D&C 3:2).

“In the Old Testament is the same perfectly consistent God found in all scripture. In the Old Testament great richness is added to the understanding of God and how He deals with His children, blessing them according to their obedience and receptivity, or punishing them for rebellion and wickedness.

“If one would get to know Christ better, one must study the Old Testament, for in His role as Jehovah He permeates the whole record. Jesus Christ is the God of the Old Testament just as He is the God of the earth today. Keeping this important fact constantly in mind is one of the keys to understanding both the Old Testament and the nature of God.”

-          Old Testament Student Manual Book 1, p 48

 

The mighty power of His creation,

The tenderness that never parts,

The perfect balance of His glory,

The God of heaven in our hearts.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Jesus of Nazareth by Greg Olsen)

NOT YET

 

The promises that we receive through the Gospel are legitimate but many come with a caveat of “not yet”.

I reflected on Abraham again yesterday and how rich he was in cattle, gold, silver and servants yet he lived in tents his whole life never owning a piece of land. And when death came knocking on the door, he purchased a cave for his and Sarah’s burial from the sons of Heth (Genesis 25:9,10).

The land of Canaan was promised to Abraham even though he never possessed it personally (Genesis 17:7; 13:15; 17:8). This was a classic example of “not yet”:

“The Lord gave the promise to Abraham that he should have Palestine, or the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession. Yet…Abraham never received as much as a foot of it as a possession while he lived. Then what did the Lord mean in making a promise to Abraham of that kind?....

“Simply this, that the time would eventually come, after the resurrection from the dead, when Abraham and his children who have been faithful in the keeping of the commandments of the Lord, should possess that land, and they shall also spread forth as far as it is necessary for them to receive an inheritance.” (Smith, “Doctrines of Salvation”, 1:88)

So why “not yet”?  Because this life is the time for faith and not fulfilment. In his epistle to the Hebrews, Paul expounded on this perfectly. He listed in detail prophets and people of renown who led amazing lives of faith but never received the promises and “confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13)

Paul goes on to say that they through faith “subdued kingdoms, stopped the mouths of lion, quenched the violence of fire,  were tortured, scourged and imprisoned, stoned and sawn asunder, slain by the sword, were destitute, afflicted and tormented, wandered in deserts and in mountains and caves of the earth…..yet they never received their promises”……  And then he gives the reason why…..”God having provided some better things for them through their sufferings, for without sufferings they could not be made perfect……and obtain a better resurrection” (Hebrews 11:33-39; JST 40a)

“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” (Hebrews 10:35;36)

“….and in time ye shall possess the goodly land.” (D&C 103:17-20)

 

I suffer the passing of time

In this season of my discontent;

And count the moments of

Loneliness that rob me of my promises.

I am so far from home I once knew

I ache and ache

For the reality of You.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Come by David Bowman)

THE DEMISE OF LOT

 

There is a very valuable lesson one can learn from the downfall of Abraham’s nephew Lot and it goes like this…..Following their sojourn in Egypt, Abraham and Lot were blessed so abundantly that the land could not contain them and it became apparent they would have to go their separate ways in the land of Canaan (Genesis 13:7).  

 

Abraham, being the man that he was, offered Lot his choice of the land first.  Lot who was not as generous and mindful of others, chose the fertile plain along the Jordan River and left Abram the rocks of upper Canaan. There was only one problem. Lot’s land had a majestic view….of Sodom (Genesis 13:12). And so Lot began his demise by pitching his tent toward the city of wickedness while Abraham and his household found refuge and distance from it by the rocks which obscured their view (v 18).

 

The demise of Lot proves that our daily focus manifests its reality in our lives because by the time the messengers from the Lord came to do a little inspection of Sodom, Lot was no longer living toward Sodom, he was living IN it (JST Genesis 19:1).

 

When the destruction of Sodom was imminent and the time came for Lot to leave, the sons-in-law who married his daughters refused to leave and mocked Lot for suggesting so (JST Genesis 19:19-22). Lot and his wife and two unmarried daughters had to be physically dragged out of the city (Genesis 19:16).  In the process of the flight Lot lost his wife too as she turned toward Sodom, no doubt longing for the daughters she left behind (v 26).

 

From there came more wickedness as Lot was left alone with his two daughters who didn’t think twice of securing children for themselves by their father (v 30-38). Where did they learn such behaviour?  In Sodom.  In reality Lot had lost his whole family to the wickedness of the world.  Sooner or later the world sucks you in if you are looking at it longingly enough.

 

Consider the opposite example in Abraham. Sometime after he and Lot first settled in Canaan, a confederation of kings attacked the cities of that valley. Lot didn't fare very well in that attack and was captured with his family and taken away together with all their possessions.  Abraham pursued the invading kings with his servants and conquered them bringing Lot and his family back. When he returned to his home he was met by the king of Sodom who offered Abraham all the booty he had captured in the war but Abraham refused to take anything from this king of wickedness for fear he would say that he, and not God, made Abraham rich (Genesis 14:8-24).

 

Not only did Abraham acknowledge the true source of his prosperity, he was careful not to be a partaker of anything that was unrighteous and unclean, that had the potential to make him a part of the world. It reminds me of Alma who said:”…come ye out from the wicked…..and touch not their unclean things…..(Alma 5:57). Because if you do, it will surely lead to destruction.

 

Our constant focus matters more than we think. If you are sitting in a tent looking longingly at the world, look the other way, change the paltry view to a majestic one…..it wears the crown of a King….the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords (Rev 19:16); The Rock of Heaven (Moses 7:53), The Rock of our Salvation (Deut 32:15)….Endless and Eternal is His name (D&C 19:10-12).

 

Who is a God like unto Thee,

Jehovah, our King?

Who protects the weak

And the broken hearted;

Who sorrows for the lost

Who paid the price of

The crucible cost. 

CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL

 

O Israel!!!

You are the apple of my eye (Deut 32:9,10; Zech 2:8; Psalm 17:8)

I will not forget you…I have graven you upon the palms of my hands… (Isaiah 49:15,16)

As the Father hath loved me, so I have loved you (John 15:9)

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends….you are my friends (John 15:13)

I am your God and you are my people and your sins I will remember no more (Hebrews 8:10,12)

I have redeemed you…you are mine….when you pass through the waters, I will be with you, when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burnt…. you are precious in my sight and I have loved you…..fear not, for I am with you  (Isaiah 43:1-4)

Be not dismayed, for I am your God….. (Isaiah 41:10)

Be faithful and keep my commandments and I will encircle you in the arms of my love (D&C 6:20)

If I dwell in your heart, you will comprehend the breadth, and length, and depth and height of my love for you which passes all knowledge (Ephesians 3:17-19)

If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love (John 15:10)

You are bought with a price for all things are for your sakes, even the eternal weight of glory...... (1 Corinthians 6:20; 2 Cor 4:15,17))..........

I love You to the deepest depth of my delicate heart,

I cherish You beyond the reason of my living.

Gather me softly into Your arms;

Show me Your love that will never change;

Hold me steady and keep me protected

In the shelter of Your eternal flame.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

A LIGHT IN THE WILDERNESS

 

This was Abraham wherever he went. He was 62 when he arrived into the land of Canaan that the Lord promised him as an inheritance, but also ‘to make of him a minister to bear His name in a strange land’ (Abraham 2:6;14). And bear His name he did for the famine in Canaan necessitated Abraham and all who came with him to end up in Egypt on a prolonged mission, possibly as long as 13 years.  

The land of Canaan was overrun by the idol worshipping descendants of Cain. Going to Egypt would have been like going from a frying pain into a fire. It was by the hand of an Egyptian priest that Abraham nearly lost his life in the land of Ur. Egypt was the hotbed of human sacrifice to false gods.

The famine of Canaan proved to be a blessing in disguise because at the end Abraham returned to Canaan richer than he was before he left on account of Sarah whom the Pharoah desired to take for his wife. Abraham’s sojourn in Egypt reads like Arabian nights. It’s a fascinating story.

What is of most importance of this part of Abraham’s life is the light that he was in this evil infested land where idolatry was blinding the children of men and the truth was obscured from their understanding.

Before Abraham left for Egypt, he had an encounter with the Lord who told him: “Abraham, I show these things unto thee before ye go into Egypt, that ye may declare all these words” (Abraham 3:15). Thus proceeded a revelation which enriched Abraham’s personal knowledge of the field of science: astronomy, the plan of salvation and organization of the world for human habitation.

“The great truths shown to Abraham were not for him alone. He was to declare “all these words” to the Egyptians. The Lord knew that some of the learning of the Egyptians would be passed on to the Greeks and that the Greeks in turn would teach the Romans. He also knew that through Rome this knowledge would spread to other parts of the world as a blessing to humanity. During these transitions many precious truths were lost but some of them survived and became the foundation for modern science.”  (W. Cleon Skousen, The First 2,000 Years, p 285)

“In the Egyptian Alphabet compiled by Joseph Smith at the time he translated the Book of Abraham, we are given the added information that Abraham was called as a missionary of Christ to go into Egypt and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Egyptians.” (Clark, James R., “Before Ye Go Into Egypt”, Vol 2, p 2)

I think of the recent mandate of the leaders to the membership of the Church to flood the earth with the gospel. We need to be well informed of the doctrine, convinced of its efficacy, bold and unafraid of the opposition. The light needs to shine from us as bright as the sun.  

I stand in awe of Abraham and his fortitude in spreading the light in a darkened world. He is the prototype of Christ who came to enlighten our understanding of the truth. Without His light we would be lost in this world of darkness which seeks to engulf us in its misery and woe. He is the light that shines, the light we must follow. He is the light of the world, the only light…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: A Light in the Wilderness by Rose Datoc Dall)

UNION OF THE HEARTS

 

“Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock from whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit when ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you……”  (Isaiah 51:1,2)

There is no greater exemplary marriage in the scriptures than that of Abraham and Sarah. She honoured his priesthood in every way and he honoured God in every way. This is true marriage. God taught us this in the beginning. After Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, God knew it was Eve who instigated the disobedience, nevertheless, He called on Adam to account for what they had done because Adam shouldered the responsibility for his union with his wife.  

This was Abraham and Sarah. He led and she supported that role. Marriage is one of the greatest responsibilities of the priesthood and both Sarah and Abraham understood that well. The more I read about Abraham’s life, the more I become amazed at their union and how well they enacted the mission that was given them to bless the nations of the earth.

Abraham’s life was fraught with trial but “in every test to which the Lord subjected him, he had been found faithful, and he was not impatient, nor was he slow to act, for he….loved the Lord” (Judean Antiquities 1.223-24, in Feldman, “Josephus”, 85-87). In my mind, Abraham could have never led the life he did and been the man he was if he did not have an equally committed wife by his side. This was Sarah.

One example of their united commitment that has had an impression on me is their arrival in Canaan, the promised land. After two years in Haran and the prosperity that they enjoyed there and the ‘souls they won’ there through missionary work, they arrived in a land that was no picnic. It was a land seeped in idolatry and overrun with heathen-worshipping sons of Cain. It was obvious the land which Jehovah promised Abraham for an inheritance was first and foremost a mission. Not only that, he encountered something unexplainable, a famine that was ravaging the land.

Imagine Abraham’s concern for bringing his wife and his converts to such a place. No doubt they all expected something much better. It is my opinion that Sarah helped him bear this burden because Sarah’s lack of criticism and complaint in the scriptures speaks volumes:

“She above anyone else had cause – even the right – to protest, for if Abraham had been told to come here by the Lord, she had been told only by Abraham. She might easily have complained also of the fact that, despite Abraham’s report of God’s promise of posterity, she yet continued childless. But her love for her husband was too great, her commitment to her covenants too strong, her faith in the Almighty too unyielding, to allow her to criticize or complain. In the words of the learned Muslim scholar al-Tabari, Sarah “was one of the best human beings that ever existed”. She would not disobey Abraham in any way, for which God honoured her.” (E Douglas Cleark, “The Blessings of Abraham” p 106,107)

I am pretty sure that Sarah’s first concern was for the feelings of her husband and the responsibility that rested on him for the welfare of their family. This is true marriage, when you put your spouse before yourself. That is a win-win situation.

Sarah’s support of her husband rested on one thing: his commitment to God and his priesthood. This means he was a righteous man and therefore all his actions aligned with God’s will. Men, this is the true sign of your right to bear the priesthood after the Order of the Son of God. And this is the ultimate safety for any woman in the covenant.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)