Thou
art our everlasting God
Jehovah,
our King,
Who
has loved us and chosen us as Thine own;
Keep
us as the apple of Thine eye,
Hide
us under the shadow of Thy wings
That
we might never stray
And
cause Thee sorrow;
And
help us wait for Thee
In
the dawning of tomorrow.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
The prophet
Jeremiah preached to the Kingdom of Judah for 40 years attempting to avert the
impending captivity that eventually left Judah's land desolate. So steeped in
sin and idolatry, Judah, like Ephraim and the 10 tribes, lost sight of the God
they once promised to worship and serve.
It would
seem they needed the experience of captivity to awaken them to their true God.
The 10 tribes came to their senses quickly and were led by the hand of the
Father into obscurity until such time that He would bring them back (3 Nephi
17:4). Judah on the other hand became a very zealous nation for its God whilst
in captivity to Babylon. They realised that the prophets were right all along
and that they needed to abandon image worship and return to the one true and
living God.
So zealous were
they in their devotion to Jehovah's law that they became slaves to the numerous
rules of conduct that went beyond the law itself. Out of this zeal different
religious factions were born such as Pharisees and Sadducees which ensured
strict observance to the overwhelming number of laws and rules that were
invented. Up until the Babylonian captivity, scriptures were only read on
special occasions and on the sabbath. Once Judah was taken into captivity this
changed and scriptures began to be taught to the general public on regular
basis by another factious group called scribes.
Over time
the Jews in Babylon began to adopt the language and culture of the Chaldeans
forgetting the Hebrew language. This necessitated the assistance of scribes who
read and interpreted the scriptures to them. "Through the years, each
religious group - scribes, Pharisses, Sadducees and others referred to the
written word, quoted it, enlarged upon it, interpreted it, and in other ways
continued to add to what their fathers had established. The commentaries,
explanations, interpretations, and inferences became known as ‘oral tradition’.
In time,
these traditions, written and oral, took on so much importance that they often
overshadowed the law and became a stumbling block for the Jews" (Old
Testament Student Manual, 1 Kings - Malachi, p. 262). This is the condition in
which the Saviour found the Jews when He made His appearance as the awaited and
promised Messiah.
Ezra, a scribe
and a captive in Babylon, was charged by the Persian king, following the
completion of the second temple, to teach the Jewish people in Jerusalem of the
law and then set up a judgment system for the lawbreakers (see Ezra 7:25-26).
Under King Artaxerxes
I (465-424 B.C.), Ezra and Nehemiah led the second wave of Jewish exiles back
to Jerusalem. Nehemiah, a royal cup bearer to the King, and a man of unselfish
patriotism and personal integrity assumed the position of Jerusalem’s governor.
Together with Ezra, a righteous and dedicated priest, they succeeded in
restoring and reviving a Jewish community in Jerusalem and effected great
reforms amongst the congregation.
The
spiritual reformation of Jerusalem became the first and greatest importance. During
the span of three generations between the first and second group of returned
exiles, many of the people including the priests and the Levites had
intermarried with people of different cultures and religions (Ezra 9:1,2). Ezra
was devastated to say the least when he learnt of this and offered a heart
rendering prayer to God for forgiveness of the direct violation of God’s
command against inter-marriage at the time of the entry into the promised land
(Ezra 9:6-15).
Inter-marriage carried a serious risk of idolatry and spiritual decay for God’s chosen people. So acute was Ezra’s awareness of this that in his grief he refused to eat, tore his clothes and cast himself down before the temple. Makes you want to weep and weep the people did before him acknowledging that they had trespassed against God and were willing to renew their covenant with Him by promising to put away their ‘strange’ wives (Ezra 10:1-16). As a woman who was a single mother for 20 years, I don’t know how I feel about this. I have always wondered what happened to those poor women and their children who were left husbandless in the worst time and place to be so.
The situation does make twos things obvious here: 1.There is a consequence
to pay for every sin and 2. Repentance comes at a high price. Either way, disobedience
is not worth it…..
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Artist Unknown)
Long ago,
When you lived in my arms
You wanted to fly
In the vast expanse of the skies.
I gifted you wings,
And promised I would
Teach you to fly.
Just remember, I am here, but
It is your turn now,
To rise.
-
Cathryne
Allen
I don’t think we understand how important we are in making the Plan of Salvation work to everyone’s advantage. When we read scriptural prophecies we tend to think that God will miraculously make things happen or that someone else will suddenly appear to fulfil the promises God has made when in fact it is the ordinary people like us who are ‘the doers of the word’ that are instrumental in God’s hands of making marvellous things come to pass.
Daniel of the
Old Testament is a good example of making things happen. Daniel lived in
Babylonian captivity in service to heathen kings for most of his life. He was
very much devoted to the God of Israel and had Israel's welfare at heart. He
eagerly hung onto the Lord's promise that Israel's captivity would last only 70
years (Jeremiah 29:10).
I mentioned in my previous post on Cyrus that historians attribute Daniel with the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy (Isaiah 44:28-45:1-5). Imagine this man who loved God, being so familiar with the scriptures and knowing of a man called Cyrus who would free the Jewish nation, see him walk through Babylon’s gates! How could he not use his position in government to tell him of the prophecy that contained his name?
When Cyrus
sent the first wave of the Jews to Jerusalem and they began rebuilding the
temple, they encountered bitter opposition from the Samaritans who reasoned
that they should be involved in the project. Samaritans were Assyrians who
intermarried with left-over Israelites in Samaria, following the conquest of
the Ten Tribes. Because they were not pure Israelites and had practiced a
variant religion of Jehovah worship heavily intermingled with pagan and other
unauthorized religious practices, the Jews refused.
In
retaliation the Samaritans influenced the Persian kings who succeeded Cyrus to
halt the rebuilding project for 17 years. In steps Daniel again. In the first
year of King Darius, Daniel again petitioned the Lord about Jeremiah's
prophecy. Daniel 9:17-19 shows Daniel's prayerful concern for the unfinished
temple and the city of Jerusalem. The Lord answered Daniel and raised two
prophets in Jerusalem: Haggai and Zechariah.
You might
wonder how prophets could finish construction of anything. You might wonder why
God didn't send someone with political clout, negotiation expertise or even
military power....but instead he sent two of his servants to finish the
job....and finish they did....Haggai alone showed the Jews exactly why they
were not able to finish the project. He taught them that all temporal problems
arise out of spiritual weakness and that if they would put God first, they
would extricate themselves from abject poverty they were in which was their
main problem. It makes for compelling reading.
These two
prophets instructed the governor Zerubbabel, the high priest Jeshua and the
Jewish people how to complete the temple in spite of persecution, poverty and
governmental red tape (Haggai 1:1-5, 12-14; Zechariah 4:9, Ezra 6:14). Even
though these two prophets got the job done, in reality, this began with Daniel,
the doer of the word.
“By small
and simple things are great things brought to pass……[and] by very small means
the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.” (Alma 37:6,7)
We might be
the small and simple things but He is the mighty one who fulfils……
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
In the beginning,
When the worlds came to be
I created everything needful
For you to become like Me.
I planned, I considered,
I knew each of you separately,
And I hoped against hope
You would want to become like Me.
Now I hear each plea
And answer it carefully,
Leading you gently to
Your own Gethsemane,
To become like Me.
-
Cathryne
Allen
“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 AbrahamLincoln, you’d better put him in that part in history when
he’s most needed – much as some of us might like to have him now.”
-
Neal
A. Maxwell, Deposition of a Disciple, p 46
God uses people with talents and skills that He
needs to accomplish His purposes and whom He can trust to do so, whether they
be His followers or not: “God the father of us all, uses the men of the earth,
especially good men, to accomplish his purposes. It has been true in the past,
as it is true today, it will be true in the future.” (Elder Ezra Taft Benson,
In Conference Report, April 1972, pp 48-49)
Cyrus, the King of Persia, who conquered
Babylon in 539 B.C., and inherited the exiled Jews, whom the Saviour called ‘my
shepherd’ and ‘my anointed’ was one such person whose destiny was planned by
God of Israel himself and who has used him for His purpose. Cyrus was born
between 580-590 B.C. The destruction of Solomon’s temple and the final wave of Judah’s
exile into Babylon happened in 586 B.C. One hundred and forty years before the
exile and before Cyrus was born, prophet Isaiah prophesied of his specific
earthly mission for which God would raise him up, to liberate the captive
Israel after 70 years of servitude (Isaiah 44:28-45:1-5).
“To trace the life of Cyrus from his birth to
his death, whether he knew it or not, it looked as he lived by inspiration in
all his movements. He began with that temperance and virtue which would sustain
any Christian country or any Christian king….Many of these principles followed
him, and I have thought many of them were worthy, in many respects, the
attention of men who have the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” (Wilford Woodruff, Journal
of Discourses, vol 22, p 207)
The military conquests of Cyrus were nothing
short of remarkable. Empires virtually fell into his hands and by the time he
reached Babylon, he was considered a liberator and not a conqueror. The
citizens of Babylon welcomed him with open arms because of his intended reforms
that would make life better and easier for the common man. Babylon that was a
fortress to be reckoned with was overthrown in one night as the city opened its
gates to him without a battle and this is why:
“Cyrus was a born ruler of men. He inaugurated
a new policy in the treatment of conquered peoples. Instead of tyrannizing over
them and holding them in subjection by brute force, he treated his subjects
with consideration and won them as hie friends. He was particularly considerate
of the religions of conquered peoples. The effect of this policy was to weld
his subjects to him in a loyalty which made his reign an era of peace.” (Elmer
W.K. Mould, Essentials of Bible History, pp 348-49)
Numerous commentators have denied that Isaiah
named Cyrus as the liberator of the Jews so many years before he appeared. They
have argued that his name was added to Isaiah’s prophecy after his conquest of
Babylon and the help he gave to the Jewish nation. Josephus, the Jewish
historian, recognized Isaiah’s prophecy to be valid by quoting letters from
Cyrus confirming the prophet’s predictions (see Josephus, Antiquities,
XI, 1,2).
Cyrus not only had respect for the people he
governed but he had respect for God whom he acknowledged as the fountain of his
success. The God of Israel worked with this man to ensure he fulfilled his
purpose:
“…the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king
of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it
also in writing, saying: Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, the Lord God of
heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to
build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of
all his people? His God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in
Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, HE IS THE GOD……” (Ezra 1:2,3)
If only all of us were so willing to obey and
to acknowledge God as the fountain of our blessings…..
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Cyrus the Great by Unknown)
Like Israel of old
I foolishly sought man’s protection
And trusted in the arm of flesh
Until you showed me the strength
Of Your invincible arm
And how much easier You can make
My journey’s difficult path.
How foolish I was to trust in man’s might,
How foolish to seek mortal comfort
And settle for feeble sentries of the
heart.
- Cathryne Allen
(Art by LDS Bookstore)
