I
will look for Thee my God
When
I am oppressed;
I
will look for Thee
When
I am unloved;
I
will look for Thee
When
I am wronged;
I
will look for Thee
When
I can walk no more;
I
will look for Thee
And
I will find Thee
Who
waits for those who call
To
mount them up with wings as eagles,
To
renew their strength
To
save them from their fall.
-
CATHRYNE
ALLEN
We are about to study Isaiah. Most people don’t. They
consider his writings a hefty challenge but there is a way to understand the
beauty of his revelations and his testimony of Christ.
Imagine
being a prophet, a writer and a poet. Now imagine that your revelations and
literary works are so great that Jesus Christ himself issues a command that
they should be studied and understood. Jesus quoted Isaiah more frequently than
any other prophet. He issued the following edict to all who would be his true
disciples: ".....a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things
diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah" (3 Nephi 23:1). The
operative word in this commandment is to 'search'. To search something means
having the intent to find and discover. This takes reading Isaiah to another
level.
Nephi
loved Isaiah and referred to him simply as ‘the prophet’. He quoted him
extensively to his people, for one reason, that they may have hope (1 Nephi
19:24)…..and hope is something we desperately need in this, what has become, a complex
and disturbing world.
“Isaiah
is everywhere known as the messianic prophet because of the abundance, beauty,
and perfection of his prophetic utterances foretelling the first coming of our
Lord. And truly such he is. No old world prophet, whose inspired sayings have
come down to us, can compare with him in this respect. Moreover, the first
coming of the Messiah is past, and so even those among us who are not overly endowed
with spiritual insight can look back and see in the birth, ministry, and death
of our Lord the fulfilment of Isaiah’s forecasts.
“But
if we are to truly comprehend the writings of Isaiah, we cannot overstate or
overstress the plain, blunt reality that he is in fact the prophet of the
restoration, the mighty seer of Jacob’s seed who foresaw our day and who
encouraged our Israelite fathers in their spiritually weary and disconsolate
state, with assurances of glory and triumph ahead for those of their
descendants who would dreturn to the Lord in the last days and at that time
serve him in truth and righteousness.” (Elder
Bruce R. McConkie, Ten Keys to Understanding Isaiah, Special Issue: Old
Testament, Exodus to Malachi)
Before
studying Isaiah, one needs to know and remember that his writings are meant for
the converted. It is imperative that we already have at least the basic
knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and that we have a testimony of the Lord
Jesus Christ, that through Him only salvation comes and “that faith,
repentance, baptism the gift of the Holy Ghost, and righteous works are
essential to an inheritance in His Father’s kingdom. To illustrate, it takes a
prior knowledge of pre-existence and the war in heaven to recognise in Isaiah
14 the account of Lucifer and his hosts being cast down to earth without ever
gaining mortal bodies” (ibid).
Isaiah’s
writings basically focus on these themes: 1. The everlasting Covenant; 2.
Restoration; 3. Christ’s Return; 4. Millenium; hence the reason for basic
conversion. However, Isaiah’s role was to take the basic to another level, the
level of spiritual maturity:
“Many
of the people of Jesus’ time were spiritually immature and unprepared to
receive the doctrines He taught. Through parables He was able to teach the more
spiritually mature and at the same time veil His teachings from those who were
not prepared to understand or follow them. In that manner He kept many from
being condemned for having a knowledge of principles they were unable to live
(see Alma 12:9-11)” [this is the mercy of Christ]…..”Spiritually speaking,
Isaiah’s writings are meat; not milk (see 1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Hebrews 5:13-14;
Isaiah 28:9).” (Understanding Isaiah,
Enrichment E, Old Testament Student Manual)
If
you are already spiritually mature and want to enrich that maturity, study Isaiah.
If you are not spiritually mature yet, there is one way to become so….pay the
price in study and effort….and have the desire to understand and know the
weightier matters of doctrine by the power of the Holy Ghost which will reveal
all things to you…..”for behold, there are many that harden their hearts
against the Holy Spirit, that it hath no place in them; wherefore, they cast
many things away which are written and esteem them as things of naught” (2
Nephi 33:2)
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
My soul is rent with anguish
In this vale of sorrow and tears;
I dim, I dim like a candle,
hoping the wind will set me free.
My pleas ascend to Thee,
Seeking Thy mercy to rescue me.
-
CATHRYNE ALLEN
“An
anonymous text from the Tradition says that, in life, each person can take one
of two attitudes: to build or to plant. The builders might take years over
their tasks, but one day they finish what they are doing. Then they find they’re
hemmed in by their own walls. Life loses its meaning when the building stops.
“Then
there are those who plant. They endure storms and all the many vicissitudes of
the seasons, and they rarely rest. But, unlike a building, a garden never stops
growing. And while it requires the gardener’s constant attention, it also
allows life for the gardener to be a great adventure. Gardeners always
recognise each other because they know that in the history of each plant lies
the growth of the whole world.” (Paulo
Coelho, Brida)
For
centuries men have been found on scaffolds of buildings but women were found in
gardens. With their inherent qualities women have put into motion chains of
goodness that outlast generations. They did this primarily through giving birth
and raising children but mostly through those qualities that befit only their
gender, the sensitivities that men do not possess.
Unfortunately,
in our world today many of us women have lost the desire to garden. We are too
busy climbing the scaffolds to prove ourselves capable and invincible. When the
mother of King Lemuel asked that famous question: ”Who can find a virtuous
woman? For her price is far above rubies” (Proverbs 31:1, 10), women were very
much valued. They were valued for their virtue and their gardening skills…..their
willingness to bear future generations was their crowning glory. They produced
kings, leaders, philosophers, educators, conquerors, inventors, and more
gardeners who sow plants that multiply, adapt, and give back more than they
take. Today women kill their children before they can even draw breath, they
neglect, abuse and destroy.
Now
here is something interesting about rubies: Even though they vary in colour,
the most valued rubies are bright red....The Mogok Valley in Upper Burma
was for centuries the world's main source for rubies and has produced some of
the finest rubies ever mined. However, in recent years very few good rubies
have been found there…..…. just as a virtuous woman, as valued as a bright
red ruby, is fast becoming a rare possession in today's world.
The
dictionary defines virtue as: moral excellence, goodness, righteousness,
uprightness, effective force, power or potency. Instead of becoming a force for
good that can change the course of this world through this one meaning of the
word, we have made it all about us. We have become dissatisfied with our inherent gardening skills and we have
acquired an insatiable need for want of power, recognition, praise, wealth and
prominence.
The
freedoms we enjoy today as women have no precedence. We have, however, abused
our rights to these freedoms. Instead of building upon our true natures to
yield an influence in the world that would combat evil and change the course of
our imminent destruction, we have joined those very forces which cause
immorality, destroy families and bring emotional and physical distress. We are
sick, unhappy and discontented.
Yet
there is hope in those women in the world who are yet true to their womanhood
and their gardening skills. These are the virtuous, the devoted, the believers,
the rubies who will one day be the jewels in Christ’s crown when He appears
(Malachi 3:17).
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
There is none like Thee,
My Saviour and my King
With power and glory in Thy wings.
There is none like Thee,
Showing mercy and kindness
To someone insignificant like me.
Who can compare and who can equal Thee
In Thy unfailing care of me?
Let me worship Thee
With my lips and my heart
And let me be steadfast
From Thy favour never to part.
- CATHRYNE
ALLEN
There were
once two women whose sons were to change the history of the world. Two women
who shine as the brightest rubies because of their submissiveness to God’s
purposes for the good of all mankind. One was a young virgin called Mary and
the other her cousin, advanced in years and past the bearing age, called Elisabeth.
They together proved that with God nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37).
Elisabeth
and her husband Zacharias walked blamelessly before the Lord and even though
they prayed many years that Elisabeth would bear a son they arrived at the
autumn of their lives childless. It was in the year of his appointed priestly
service that Zacharias travelled to the temple in Jerusalem from their village
of Hebron to perform sacred rites and ordinances.
Just as
Zacharias was burning incense inside the temple, the multitude were outside praying
for redemption of Israel from the Gentile yoke (Luke 1:10). As the timely prayers
ascended, angel Gabriel stood on the right side of the altar of incense and
spoke: “Fear not Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard: and thy wife Elisabeth
shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John” (Luke 1:11,13).
Six months
later the same angel appeared to young Mary advising her she too will bear a
son, also of a miraculous birth (Luke 1:30-33). No doubt a young girl like Mary
was amazed to receive angel Gabriel's announcement that she shall be the mother
of the Son of God. Every woman in Israel hoped for the privilege of becoming the
mother of the expected Messiah.
Gabriel explained
to Mary how the baby would be conceived and no doubt perceiving the alarm that
must have arisen within her, he quickly told her about her cousin Elisabeth who
also was a recipient of a miraculous conception. What comfort that would have
been to such a young girl to know she did not stand alone in the realm of hard
to explain miracles. But there was another, her cousin Elisabeth, who had
conceived by a miracle so this too was possible.
Both of
these women rose to the greatest challenge of their lives. Elisabeth did bear a
son who became the forerunner of the Messiah. I think she understood her
responsibility well. As Herod’s murder edict reared its ugly head and her
husband lost his life unwilling to disclose the whereabouts of his son (Matthew
23:35; Luke 11:51), Elisabeth took baby John into the mountains and hid him
from the impending doom. This narrative does not appear in the New Testament
but it comes from the early Christian tradition such as the Infancy Gospel of
James, a text written around the second century A.D. It does, however,
correspond with the New Testament narrative of John’s upbringing in the deserts
and being raised on locusts and wild honey (Luke 1:80; Matt 3:4; Mark 1:6). It
doesn’t bear thinking that John, as an infant, would have been taken into the
mountains and left there alone without his mother.
According to
historical custom of marriage in the meridian of time, it has been estimated
that Mary had Jesus when she was around 15 years of age. Imagine a young girl
such as that submitting herself to the will of God which would ruin her
reputation as a chaste Israelite girl betrothed to another man. This was
brought to Jesus’ attention by the Jews who accused Him of being born of
fornication (John 8:41).
This young
girl grew up to be an adult woman who cried at the cross of her son’s crucible.
Did she at such a momentous time reflect back on the famous words she uttered: “Behold
the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” or did she
remember Elisabeth’s words to her: “Blessed art thou among women and blessed is
the fruit of thy womb” (Luke 1:42). Blessed indeed…..
ODE
TO MARY AND ELIZABETH
Among valiant sons of God
Who were chosen rulers to be
Stood the daughters so fair
They echoed throughout eternity.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
I pleaded with you on bended knee
My fears to dissolve.
You sat in silence
Hoping I would give You
what You yearned the most to own:
My self-will,
My hesitance to relinquish control.
In the end I gave it up
And found solace to my soul.
Yes, You said,
Now you understand.
I paved the way
In Gethsemane long ago.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
