KNOWING HIM

 

When Moses ascended Mt Sinai for the second time, Jehovah descended in a cloud before him and passing by him, He proclaimed:

“ The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”  (Exodus 34:6,7)

This is so significant. This was not someone stroking his ego by listing His amazing qualities. This is a proclamation of someone who knows who He is and what His purpose is. Take notice of the attributes and qualities the Saviour listed: mercy, grace, longsuffering, goodness, truth, forgiveness….these are all qualities that benefit the human family. The proclamation was and still is: “I am your God and I am here to save you.”

But make no mistake, He is also a judge, as he indicates at the end of His statement, and He seeks accountability for the sins we commit and pass on to our children for generations to come. In other words, He is also a God of power, truth and justice. There is no fault in Him, only balance.

Moses wrote down how Jehovah described himself and no doubt He shared that description with the Hebrews he presided over because it was imperative that they knew who the source of their salvation was and what He was like.

“We live in a day of restoration when we know that God exists. However, the knowledge of his existence is only preliminary to our knowing his characteristics and attributes. When the challenges and traumas of life arise – and they are a natural part of this mortal experience – though we know there is a God, the issue will depend more critically on what He is like.

“The questions in those difficult times will center on whether I can depend on and trust in Him implicitly. Does He, for instance, have knowledge and power sufficient to save me? And for that matter, does he have the mercy and desire to do so?” (Jerry A. Wilson, “The Great Plan of Happiness – Insights From The Lectures on Faith” p 27)

Some years ago I determined that I would get to know what the Saviour is like through the Book of Mormon. I noted all His attributes and qualities I could see in the margins of my book. Mercy was the most prevalent attribute and it was just about on every page. I don’t know where I would be today if I didn’t know that He would be merciful towards my blunders, my imperfections and my humanity.

 

Aside from the scriptures, our convictions of who the Saviour is and what He is like, born from personal interactions with the spirit would have to be our greatest knowledge. Consider this tender image President Heber C. Kimball had of God:

 

“I am perfectly satisfied that my Father and my God is a cheerful, pleasant, lively, and good-natured Being. Why? Because I am cheerful, pleasant, lively and good-natured when I have His Spirit. That is one reason why I know and another is – the Lord said, through Joseph Smith, “I delight in a glad heart and a cheerful countenance.” That arises from the perfection of His attributes. He is a jovial, lively person, and a beautiful man. (“Journal of Discourses” 4:222)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Jesus Loves Me by Chris Brazelton)

 

THE WAITING ROOM

 

“God can provide miracles instantaneously, but sooner or later we learn that the times and seasons of our mortal journey are His and His alone to direct. He administers that calendar to every one of us individually. For every infirm man healed instantly, as he waits to enter the Pool of Bethesda, someone else will spend 40 years in the desert waiting to enter the promised land.

“For every Nephi and Lehi divinely protected by an encircling flame of fire for their faith, we have an Abinadi burned at a stake of flaming fire for his. And we remember that the same Elijah who in an instant called down fire from heaven to bear witness against the priests of Baal is the same Elijah who endured a period when there was no rain for years…one’s life cannot be both faith-filled and stress-free. It simply will not work…..

“Christianity is comforting, but it is often not comfortable. The path to holiness and happiness here and hereafter is a long and sometimes rocky one. It takes time and tenacity to walk it…..

“The point is that faith means trusting God in good times and bad, even if that includes some suffering until we see His arm revealed in our behalf. That can be difficult in our modern world when many have come to believe that the highest good in life is to avoid all suffering, that no one should ever anguish over anything. But that belief will never lead us to “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”

-          Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “Waiting On the Lord” GC October 2020

 

You tell me I must

stay and conquer

Like You conquered

Your turbulent sea;

I understand,

But oh how I long to see

The shores of eternity.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Deep Calls to Deep by Aeron Brown)

RICHES

 

Your truth pierces my soul

And binds me to Your loving heart.

Your teaching moments

Find my hungry mind

And feed me like a bird in flight

Searching for a morsel

That gladdens its hungry heart.

Your mysteries are laid at my feet

And I, when I come home, will be

Clutching these riches that are mine to keep.

- CATRYNE ALLEN

(Artist Unknown)

 

TO REMEMBER HIM

 

I love symbolism in the Old Testament. Reading about the ritualistic administration of the priesthood in the wilderness of the Israelites’ journey toward the promised land convinces me how essential that was to keep them focused on the God who led them because every minute detail was highly symbolic of Him. Consider just a few such symbols:

-          EPHOD: sacred garment akin to an apron that was worn by the high priest had gold settings on each shoulder where onyx stones engraved with the names of 12 tribes of Israel were placed. These stones fastened the ephod on the priest’s shoulders symbolizing that he as a representative of the Lord, carried Israel on his shoulders (see Exodus 28:12);

-          THE BREASTPLATE: made of fabric and attached to the ephod with golden chains and fasteners, it served as a pocket in which were placed precious stones inscribed with the names of each of the tribes of Israel. “Thus, the high priest bore ‘the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart….for a memorial before the Lord continually’ (ibid v 29).

-          THE GOLDEN DIADEM AND THE MITRE: The mitre (or hat) was made of fine linen and each priest wore one. The high priest wore a golden band on the front of his mitre on the forehead. Engraved on the band were the words “Holiness to the Lord” (ibid v 36-38)

-          THE ALTAR OF INCENSE: “Hot coals were placed on the altar and each morning and evening the high priest would burn incense. This ritual seems to signify that one can approach the presence of God only through prayer, for scriptures elsewhere indicate that incense is a symbol of prayer” (see Revelation 5:8; 8:3-4; Psalm 141:2; The Old Testament Student Manual Book 1 p 153)

We also have a place designated which symbolically points to the foundation of our salvation. It also reminds us that holiness belongs to the Lord and that He leads us to OUR promised land. The more we can enter its doors the more symbolism of the power of His salvation will become imbedded in our minds and hearts.

Consider this privilege that the rest of the world has no access to. Our temples are beacons of hope, knowledge and endowment of His grace for His spiritually begotten children, the ‘apple of His eye’ (Deut 32:9,10), the rubies in His diadem (Exodus 28:17-21; Malachi 3:17; D&C 60:4; 101:3)….His people Israel.

How great our God of Israel

Who carries us on His shoulders

And in His godly heart;

We are the rubies in His diadem

We are Israel, children of light.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Holy One of Israel by LDS Art)

FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

 

I used to skim over the four chapters of highly detailed instructions given to Moses regarding the building of the tabernacle and priestly robes during Israel’s journeying. I didn’t think it was so relevant to us in our day. I was amazed though at the workmanship required of ancient Israel and wondered how did they know how to accomplish what was commanded them to do without highly skilled labour. This is what happens when you skim…..you miss something important.

Last time we studied the Old Testament I read the abovementioned chapters in depth and I was given not only understanding but an insight I was sorry I had missed in the years past. After four chapters of explicit instructions, Jehovah tells Moses the names of the men and what tribe they are in Israel’s congregation that can do the work needed and adds that HE has ‘filled’ them with wisdom and knowledge and understanding ‘in all manner of workmanship……that they may make all that He has commanded’ (Exodus 31:1-6).

No doubt these men were inspired from birth to have an interest in specific skills that were needed for an important work they would one day do. Such is the wisdom, power and foreknowledge of our God.

This has made me reflect on two things. Firstly, God’s house is a house of order. We are all born in appointed time that is best suited for what we can achieve in this life: “When we say God has a plan, he truly has a plan – not simply a grand scale, but for each of us as individuals, allocating some special talent to this dispensation and some to another.

“I regard God as the perfect personnel manager, even though He must work with and through all of us who are so imperfect. I assume, gladly, that in the allocation to America of remarkable leaders like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln, the Lord was just as careful. After all, if you’ve got only one Abraham Lincoln, you’d better put him in that part of history when he’s most needed….” (Neal A. Maxwell, “Deposition of a Disciple”, p 46)

Secondly, we who are of the house of Israel, particularly us Ephraimites who are responsible for blessing the nations of the earth with the truth, are harnessed with the Saviour in the work of salvation. Like Esther of old who saved her people from extinction, we were born ‘for such a time as this’ (Esther 4:14).

And like the ancient men of Israel’s camp, we have been imbued with wisdom, understanding and knowledge to achieve what is expected of us. In God’s great wisdom He has reserved His most valiant, the strongest, the most dependable servants to be born when evil abounds upon the earth in unequalled measure. We are the ones who can withstand the onslaught and who have covenanted long before this earth began that we would uphold the ensign of truth and proclaim to the earth that the God of our fathers is with us still.

Do you know how important you are in ‘such a time as this’???

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Jehovah Shalom by LDS Art)

GUIDING LIGHT

Should the stars fall

from heaven,

And the sun refuse

to give its light;

Should the earth become

the darkest night,

You will ever be

My only guiding light.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Guiding Light by Annie Henrie Nader)

 

CHOICES

 

My life is a bag of choices I dare to make,

A dream of perfection eluding me still.

I grope in darkness

Hoping my choices are pleasing to Thee;

And when I leave this weak and mortal shell

And kneel on hallowed ground at Thy feet,

Then will I cry, my Lord and my God,

Forgive my reckless sins a thousand tears deep.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Divine Faith by Greg Collins)