Some years ago whilst we were studying the Old Testament in Sunday School, a friend of mine called me quite distressed and asked me to explain how the Lord could command the children of Israel to slaughter so many people as they took possession of the promised land. She reasoned they were His children too and surely he loved them as much as the Israelites so how could He possibly have so many people including women and children killed so mercilessly just so the Israelites could move into their land. I tried to explain about the heathen nations but my argument wasn't gelling with her. In the end I said that the Saviour of all mankind who bled at every pore for our sins had the right to demand our utmost allegiance and as the creator of this earth He had all things in His hand and could do as He pleased.
The more I reflect on the Israelites taking possession of the promised land, the more I realise the destruction of the idolatrous Canaanites is a great lesson in reaping what you sow. Israel had to have the land of their fathers back and the evil practices which polluted the land had to be eradicated for worship of the true and living God to take place. In essence, it was Canaanites who were responsible for their downfall at the hands of the Israelites. This is evident from the scriptures: "...for the wickedness of these nations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee, that he may perform the word which the Lord sware unto thy fathers..." (Deut. 9:4).
The scriptures constantly affirm that if we are faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord we will prosper in the land. The opposite to prospering in the land is being removed from the land and the opposite to being blessed through obedience is being destroyed, spiritually and at times physically. The destruction of the heathen nations that possessed Canaan was a matter of time. I wonder how many of us take the scriptural warnings seriously. I am never surprised to hear of calamities that befall different parts of the world. More often than not, these calamities happen in non-Christian countries where false gods are worshipped. Sometimes they even happen in heathen pockets of Christian countries for God will not be mocked. Consider the poor countries in the third world. Most of them do not worship the one true and living God.
I love the story of how Israelites conquered Jericho . The ingenious strategy to overpower this city was clearly the plan through which God would show forth his power over the inhabitants of the earth and any false gods that they turn to. I would love to travel back in time to witness this majestic display of His power. I get emotional just thinking about it. Instead of complicated strategies, all it took was a shout to bring the walls down, shout from God's chosen people bearing the ark of the covenant in their midst. Why would anyone choose to worship anything other than the God of glory and power? But worship we do in so many ways and so many things other than the God who can give us all. The Lord said of our day: "They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own God, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall" (D&C 1:16).
President Spencer W. Kimball cites a modern day example of false god worship through this story:
"One man I know of was called to a position of service in the Church, but he felt that he couldn't accept because his investments required more attention and more of his time than he could spare for the Lord's work. He left the service of the Lord in search of Mammon, and he is a millionaire today. But I recently learned an interesting fact: If a man owns a million dollars worth of gold at today's prices, he possesses approximately one 27-billion of all the gold that is present in the earth's thin crust alone. This is an amount so small in proportion as to be inconceivable to the mind of man. But there is more to this: The Lord who created and has power over all the earth created many other earths as well, even 'worlds without number' (Moses 1:33); and when this man received the oath and covenant of the priesthood (D&C 84:33-44), he received a promise from the Lord of 'all that my Father hath' (D&C 84:38). To set aside all these great promises in favour of a chest of gold and a sense of carnal security is a mistake in perspective of colossal proportions. To think that he has settled for so little is a saddening and pitiful prospect indeed; the souls of men are far more precious than this." (The False Gods We Worship, Ensign June 1976)
I wonder when the Saviour comes again, what will we be clutching in our hands? What treasure will we consider to be worth more than eternal life? When the expanse of eternity spreads before us, will we want the splendor of celestial life or will we be dragging our treasure chests behind us content to own that for all eternity? I fear that some of us may get there with closed fists resembling the monkeys in the following story:
"I am reminded of an article I read some years ago about a group of men who had gone to the jungles to capture monkeys. They tried a number of different things to catch the monkeys, including nets. But finding that the nets could injure such small creatures, they finally came upon an ingenious solution. They built a large number of small boxes, and in the top of each they bored a hole just large enough for the monkey to get his hand into. They then set these boxes out under the trees and in each one they put a nut that the monkeys were particularly fond of.
When the men left, the monkeys began to come down from the trees and examine the boxes. Finding that there were nuts to be had, they reached into the boxes to get them. But when a monkey would try to withdraw his hand with the nut, he could not get his hand out of the box because his little fist, with the nut inside, was now too large.
At about this time, the men would come out of the underbrush and converge on the monkeys. And here is the curious thing: When the monkeys saw the men coming, they would shriek and scramble about with the thought of escaping; but as easy as it would have been, they would not let go of the nut so that they could withdraw their hands from the boxes and thus escape. The men captured them easily.
And so it often seems to be with people, having such a firm grasp on things of the world - that which is telestial - that no amount of urging and no degree of emergency can persuade them to let go in favour of that which is celestial. Satan gets them in his grip easily. If we insist on spending all our time and resources building up for ourselves a worldly kingdom, that is exactly what we will inherit." (Spencer W. Kimball, The False Gods We Worship, Ensign, June 1976)
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