TO LOVE A SINNER

I have heard once or twice some members of the Church express their disdain for their duty to perform temple ordinances for certain members of their deceased family who they deem unworthy to receive such. Their instinct is to withhold what they consider the greatest of all blessings, namely salvation in the kingdom of God. It has puzzled me that they would feel in such a way because that's the whole point of work for the dead, to give them an opportunity to change and become different thereby casting off the unworthiness. The temple ordinances themselves do not guarantee automatic salvation.  The saving ordinances come free to all men through the grace of our Saviour Jesus Christ but salvation comes on the condition of repentance. They are not rewards for perfection but rather the balm for spiritual wounds caused by sin and a gateway to one's journey to exaltation. The whole point of the saving ordinances is to change the natural man into a saint of God. There was once such a man who did not consider a whole nation worthy of this opportunity, a prophet of God nonetheless whose name was Jonah.

Lest we judge Jonah too harshly, it is worthwhile for us to come to understand the inclination which made him turn away from God's errand with which he was commissioned. Jonah was heavily engaged in prophetic activities and was an adviser to King Jeroboam II, king of Israel (2 Kings 14:25). He was the son of Amittai, of Gath-hepher, which was located in the territory of the tribe of Zebulun (Joshua 19:10-13). As an Israelite, Jonah was taught that he was of the chosen people and that the Gentiles were corrupt and therefore not acceptable to God. When the call came to cry repentance to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, 'Jonah was torn between his loyalty to God and the whip of his emotions. The latter were at a fever pitch and in the end determined his actions. Because he couldn't face the mission call, he determined to flee the country and get away from the unpleasant responsibility' (Old Testament Student Manual 1 Kings - Malachi, p 98). Not only did Jonah feel his race was superior to that of the heathen nations but Assyria seemed to be the last straw of his contempt. Assyria was not only a heathen nation but a highly brutal and barbaric one. It was also a bitter enemy to Israel. Jonah, therefore felt Assyria was not worthy to be saved. He was afraid that the preaching of repentance would avert Nineveh's imminent and deserved destruction.

Assyria, named for the god of warfare, Ashur, was located in the Mesopotamian plain. The area that it was located in is today primarily the nation of Iraq, 'their history one of kings and slaves, wars and conquests, bloody victories and sudden defeat' (Will Durant, Our Oriental Heritage, The Story of Civilization, 1:266). Warfare was a science to its' leaders but it wasn't just their warfare effectiveness that struck terror to the hearts of the Near Eastern world, it was their savage and brutal nature. Soldiers were rewarded for every severed head they brought in from the field. Their treatment of captives included impaling, torturing, blinding children before the eyes of their parents, flaying men alive, roasting them in kilns over a slow fire, slicing off ears, noses, hands and feet, chaining men in cages for the amusement of the populace and clubbing the survivors to death (Old Testament Student Manual, 1 Kings-Malachi, Enrichment D, p 113). The king of Assyria himself admitted to the awful 'violence that is in their hands' (Jonah 3:8). Why would God want Jonah or anyone to cry repentance to such a people? Surely they were ripe for destruction but it's not men's deeds that make them ripe for destruction but their unwillingness to repent and Nineveh had not been yet given such a choice.

The Lord took Jonah on an interesting trip in his attempt to flee to Tarshish, giving him an opportunity to rethink his actions in the belly of a whale where he spent three days and three nights. When the Jews sought for a sign of divinity from Christ, He referred to Jonah's miraculous emergence from the belly of a whale, synonymous of His emergence from the tomb after three days following his death. I think after three days inside a whale, you would pretty much want to go and preach to Assyrians. It could not be any worse than being inside a fish for the rest of your short life. Jonah repented quick smart and delivered his message to Nineveh. Not one of compassion, mercy or love if they repent, but a very simple and direct one, Nineveh would be overthrown in forty days (Jonah 3:4). To his surprise the barbaric Assyrians repented and were spared the prophesied destruction. Jonah was so upset that he wanted to die. He knew the Lord would spare this people, not because of their repentance but because of the Lord's infallible mercy, hence his unwillingness to preach in the first place: "Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness..." (Jonah 4:2).

All that the Lord does, He does with great meaning, seeking to provide us with teaching moments. The repentance call to Nineveh provides several lessons:

• People are called to repentance so that they would know they are doing something wrong. Everyone deserves an opportunity to change and work out their salvation. Jonah was told that people of Nineveh could not 'discern between their right hand and their left hand' (Jonah 4:11). Judgement cannot be passed effectively on anyone who does not possess true knowledge of right and wrong. Hence the importance of missionary work.

• The saving of Nineveh had the great potential to help Israel see that if the carnal nation, with its ungodly mind, can be saved through repentance, so can Israel be saved from its' prophetic dispersion, if they would only repent. Since Jonah lived during the reign of Jeroboam, his mission took place approximately 788 B.C. (Old Testament Student Manual, 1 Kings-Malachi, p 97). Assyria swept out of the north, captured the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and took the ten tribes into captivity in 721 B.C.

• Jonah's mission was to typify the future adoption of Gentiles, who would observe the word of God, into the chosen lineage of Abraham, by side stepping the self-righteous mind of Israel and their pride of its' own election, to come to believe in Israel's divine call to be the vehicle of salvation to all who would believe.

The greatest lesson of Jonah's mission is that divine mercy has no bounds and the reaches of Gethsemane go far and wide, that even the sins which are 'as scarlet...shall be as white as snow' (Isaiah 1:18). Surely the sins of Assyrians in Jonah's time could not be more scarlet than they were yet the Lord forgave them all. The mercy of Him who has power to forgive is beyond the understanding of our finite minds but should be emulated and sought after by every true follower of God. The Lord is eager to forgive. He seeks to make us whole. He only, can provide the balm of Gilead which can heal all wounds, especially the ones caused by sin. When Jonah acknowledged the Saviour to be a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and of great kindness (Jonah 4:2), he was also proclaiming Him to be a God of love for none of these attributes could exist without this one quality of heart. Through his reluctance to fulfill his mission call, Jonah is a symbol of humanity's lack of godly love which desires all to share in God's acceptance. May we have the perfection of this love bestowed upon us, as true followers of Christ (Moroni 7:48)  so that we can be a means of salvation to our brothers and sisters who cannot 'discern between their right hand and their left hand' (Jonah 4:11) and may we be an ensign to the nations of righteousness and saving grace of Him who we follow and whose image is in our countenance.

THE LESSONS OF JOB

In Lecture 3 of Lectures on Faith, Joseph Smith said that there are three things necessary 'in order that any rational or intelligent being may exercise faith in God unto life and salvation':

1. The idea that God actually exists;
2.  A correct idea of his character, perfections and attributes;
3.  An actual knowledge that the course of life he is pursuing is according to His will.

The Book of Job proves this teaching to be true. To exercise true faith and endure in faithfulness one must be convinced that God exists, know what He is like and be assured that his life is acceptable to Him. All three necessary attributes listed above are reflected in Job's life. When he proclaimed "I know that my Redeemer liveth" (19:25), he was basically bearing testimony of his existence. When he said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him" (13:15) he signified that he knew what God was like because you cannot trust someone who you do not know. He went on to prove this by his proclamation of God's power, greatness and strength (26:6-14).  Job also knew that the life he was living was according to God's will and this he proved by recounting his good deeds ((29:12-17) and by asserting his righteousness (27:2-6).

Job offers us many lessons for developing 'faith in God unto life and salvation'. There are many things we do not understand in this life, the whole point being that we need to live by faith. Because of modern day revelation we know the Plan of Salvation and that suffering is a part of that plan. We also know we need to suffer in order to become like the Saviour and sample a part of His suffering for us. The Book of Job in itself does not answer the question 'why does God permit suffering to come to His children' but rather 'how we should respond to that suffering'. It helps us see that faith enables us to believe in spite of our afflictions rather than because of our blessings. It is easy to believe when life is good but it takes faith to keep your head above the water when it threatens to engulf you in its' deep. Some of the lessons we can learn from Job are these:

• We can continue to be faithful to God in spite of our pain and lack of understanding thereof by adhering to these three things:  1. Integrity:  "As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul; All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.....till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live" (27:2-6);  2. Testimony: "Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth" (19:23:27); 3. Trust: "Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will. Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand? Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him" (13:13-15). Note that all these three Job had developed before his trials. It is far easier to survive in a house of brick when the winds come than in a house of straw. The stronger you are before the suffering comes upon you, the easier it will be to trust and hold on.

• When trials and suffering come upon us, we should not rely on man's wisdom to make sense of our suffering. Job's well meaning friends ended up being his accusers, accusing him falsely of sins he had never committed as they tried to offer explanations for his situation. "The purpose behind many tragic experiences can be learned only by personal revelation, and this usually comes to the aggrieved party rather than to a well-intentioned, self-appointed comforter" (John S. Tanner, "Has Thou Considered My Servant Job?" Ensign, Dec. 1990, p 49). We should likewise, refrain from offering explanations to others who are suffering as we do not know God's will for them. In our extremities, we should be proactive rather than re-active and in our seeking to understand God's will for us, we should ask the right questions: What am I to learn from this? What am I to change? What am I to do? When we are willing to submit in humility to the teaching moment the Lord is putting us through, we are in the strongest position to receive the maximum help from Him (Richard G. Scott, "Trust In the Lord", Ensign, Nov. 1995, p 17). God will ensure that mortality gives us what we lack. In Job's case, it was perfect faith (Job 42:5).

• From the failure of Job's comforters, we learn that the only true comfort must come from the Comforter himself. Job doesn't need his friends to solve the mystery of his suffering, he needs renewed witness that God has not forsaken him. This is what he craves the most. It is nice to have friends offer support in your time of need but the ultimate comfort and peace can only come from God. Even people who have experienced the same situation as you cannot fully relate to your circumstances as everyone is different and therefore everyone's response to the same situation is different. Only God knows your capabilities and the extent of your endurance. He is therefore the one we should turn to most during our duress. 

• It can prove to be a calamity of great proportion if our hearts are attached to the things of this world. When Job lost all his worldly goods his response was admirable: "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither; the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (1:21). In other words, nothing here is mine, it can be taken away just as well as it is given, it is all fleeting and we can take nothing with us when we leave. Job's attitude regarding the loss of temporal things reflects his righteousness and understanding of his total dependence on God. President Harold B. Lee spoke on the importance of being 'poor in spirit': "To be poor in spirit is to feel yourselves as the spiritually needy, even dependent upon the Lord for your clothes, your food, the air you breathe, your health, your life; realizing that no day should pass without fervent prayer of thanksgiving, for guidance and forgiveness and strength sufficient for each day's need.....It is indeed a sad thing for one, because of his wealth or learning or worldly position, to think himself independent of this spiritual need. It is the opposite of pride or self-conceit. To the worldly rich it is that 'he must possess his wealth as if he possessed it not' and be willing to say without regret, if he were suddenly to meet financial disaster, as did Job, 'the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord' (Job 1:21). Thus, if in your humility you sense your spiritual need, you are made ready for adoption into the 'church of the Firstborn', and to become 'the elect of God" (Stand Ye in Holy Places: Selected Sermons and Writings of President Harold B. Lee, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1975, pp 343-344). To some of us suffering may prove to be a blessing and prosperity a trial. Suffering can lead us to salvation whereas prosperity has the power to lead us to spiritual self-destruction. When we are prosperous we can easily be tempted to get complacent and forget the fountain of our blessings. Prosperity can also lead us into worldly paths where we can easily be lost. "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Matt 16:26). We have to very clear on where our priorities lie and ensure that the power belongs to us and not to our riches.

• We live in a world of opposites and we have to accept the good and the bad. When things couldn't get any worse, Job's wife advised him to curse God and die but Job replied: "Thou speaketh as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" (Job 2:10). Job understood that this world was not only created so the opposites can exist but so that they can be experienced. Brigham Young said: "Facts are made apparent to the human mind by their opposites. We find ourselves surrounded in this mortality by an almost endless combination of opposites, through which we must pass to gain experience and information to fit us for an eternal progression" (Journal of Discourses, 11:42). Elder Jeffrey R. Holland confirmed this fact: "....we now live in a fallen world filled with opposites, a world in which God is the most powerful but decidedly not the only spiritual influence. As part of the doctrine of opposition, Satan is also at work in the world, and we knew before we came here that he would bring grief and anguish with him. Nevertheless, we (through Adam and Eve) made the conscious choice to live in and endure this mortal sphere of opposition in all things, for only through such an experience was godly progress possible" (Bruce Satterfield, "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth", Meridian Magazine). We can never know good if we do not experience evil and 'men are that they might have joy' could never be without our experience with sorrow. 

• Job showed great fortitude in his loyalty to God not only by his actions but words: "As God liveth, who had taken away my judgment; and the Almighty who hath vexed my soul; All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit" (Job 27:2-4). Early in Church history, Joseph Smith warned the Quorum of the Twelve that they and the rest of the Church membership will be called upon to undergo tests of loyalty and if they passed these tests they would receive great blessings. He said: "After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsty after righteousness. and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, "Son, thou shalt be exalted". When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and his election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other Comforter, which the Lord hath promised the Saints" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p 150)

• By enduring suffering and trial Job has shown us that all who do so are always rewarded and blessed for their faithfulness. Under duress and extreme despair Job started wishing that he would die.In fact, he started wishing he was never born (Job 2:3). Undoubtedly he couldn't see the end of his suffering and might have presumed that he would continue to suffer until death. What Job did not foresee is that his life would take a turn for the better. This turn did come where 'the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning' (Job 42:12). Job lived another 140 years in prosperity and wellness after the trial of his faith. It is so with us. The end of the tunnel can never be seen when you are standing in it in darkness but the end is nevertheless there and we must endure the darkness before we can see the light. The challenge is to remain faithful at all cost, to trust and have faith that 'this too shall pass' and the dawn will come. In the meantime, we can lay claim to the only reward for righteousness that the Lord gives unfailingly and unreservedly and that is 'peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come' (D&C 59:23). "But even this peace must be found amid persecutions, not in their absence (John 14:27, John 15:20).

THE SUFFERING OF JOB

"I am the law and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life."  (3 Nephi 15:9)


There has been some dispute among the scholars regarding the real existence of Job. If his existence was fiction, it would make The Book of Job the greatest literary work of the Old Testament and perhaps of all scripture. Because of latter-day revelation, we know that Job was indeed a real person. When Joseph Smith cried out in anguish: "Oh God, where art though? Where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?" (D&C 121:1), the Lord responded with: "My son peace be to thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high.....Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgressions, as they did Job (D&C 121:7-10). If Job was not a real person, the comparison between Joseph's and his sufferings would have been intolerable, since one cannot compare real with unreal things (Old Testament Manual, 1 Kings-Malachi, p 29). Perhaps the question of Job's valid existence could be attributed to the unusual conversation between God and Satan which provides a poetic setting of the stage for Job's test in mortality. Whether the conversation was real or not, we do know that God is not in cahoots with the devil, nor does he bargain with him or agree to his evil deeds. This conversation, however, and the whole story of Job is consistent with the concept that God allows Satan to afflict and torment man to test and prove him according to the purpose of mortality.

Job was an exceptionally righteous and upright man. He lived in the Land of Uz (Job 1:1), which was a large region east of the Jordan River. To understand why his trials were so great one needs to understand the greatness of the man who experienced them. Job is a perfect example of the principle that the trial has to equal the stature of the man. Just any trial would not do for a man who the Biblical account describes in the following manner:

He was upright (1:1)
He feared God (1:1)
He avoided evil (1:1)
He instructed many (4:3)
He strengthened weak hands (4:3)
He supported those who were falling (4:4)
He strengthened the feeble knees (4:4)
He walked in the Lord's ways (23:10)
He did not turn away from the commandments (23:11)
He loved the Lord's words more than food (23:12)
He delivered the poor (29:12)
He cared for the orphans (29:12)
He helped those whom no one else would help (29:12)
He gave the widow cause to sing with joy (29:13)
He was eyes to the blind (29:15)
He was feet to the lame (29:15)
He was father to the poor (29:16)
He searched for people in need of his assistance (29:16)
He never found joy in the suffering of his enemies (31:29)
He never wished evil on his enemies (31:30)
He opened his home to strangers (31:32)
He did not try to hide his sins (31:33)
He would not follow a multitude to do evil (31:34)
He refused to be silent because of the disapproval of others (31:34)

So Job was righteous, did good continually, was incredibly respected in the community and he was fabulously wealthy. You could say, his life was perfect. Hence the whole argument that Satan presented. When the Lord held Job up as an example of perfection, Satan challenged with something to this effect: "Of course he is good when you are blessing him left, right and center. It's easy to be good when you have a perfect life, but take all that away and see how much he is going to love you and believe in you." So Job went from the pinnacle of society to living in rags on the outskirts of the city, in constant pain, not understanding what has happened to him. Basically he went from the picture of perfection to this:

"From the symptoms, some have said that it appears that he had elephantiasis. Sore boils, one of the symptoms of this disease, had attacked Job's body, forming large pustules which itched so greatly that a piece of pottery was used to scrape them. Job's face was so disfigured that his friends could not recognise him. Worms or maggots were bred in the sores (7:5). His breath became so foul and his body emitted such an odor, that even his friends abhorred him (19:17ff), and he sought refuge outside the city on the refuse heap where outcasts and lepers lived. Pain was his constant companion (30:17,30) as were also terrifying nightmares (7:14). Whereas, formerly old, young, princes and nobles alike honored Job, he now felt abused by those whom society itself rejects; who live on the outskirts of town, among the bushes, along the ditchbanks or in caves" (Keith H. Meservy, "Job: 'Yet Will I Trust In Him'", Sixth Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium, BYU, January 1978)

"For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God" (Job 19:25)

The greatest lesson we can take away from Job's example of tenacity and endurance is his testimony of the Saviour of the world. It is this testimony that enabled him to rise above each wave of his suffering. Even though he sunk to the depths of despair wishing to die, not understanding the reason for his suffering, he remained true to his conviction of God's wisdom and power. He was also convinced of his integrity as a person. When his friends suggested that his misfortunes had befallen him because of his past sins, Job bore his testimony by replying, "I know that my Redeemer liveth". Job knew that even though he was a sinner like all men, he was a repentant sinner and that because he had accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour he was forgiven of his sins and what is forgiven is forgotten of the Lord: "Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more" (D&C 58:42). This is a good indication of his understanding of the Atonement: "It is important to remember that Job was 'perfect' not because he had never committed sin - he concedes that there were 'youthful iniquities' in his life - but because the Redeemer makes him, as a repentant sinner, perfect through His own blood. We too can be perfect in this sense" (Breck England, "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth" Lesson 32, Meridian Magazine)

If Job was not required to suffer for his sins, why was he required to suffer at all if he was such a good and righteous person? And what of us? Why are good people allowed and even called to suffer in this life? This answer is twofold. Firstly, all those who desire to come unto Christ have to experience a portion of his suffering to properly know Him. Job knew of God prior to his suffering but at the end he came to know God: "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee" (Job 42:5). In other words, before his suffering, Job knew God theoretically but through his suffering he came to know Him experientially. Not only did his suffering draw him closer to God so that his faith could be perfected, but he came to understand what it was like to be Him because in reality Jesus suffered above us all. To receive His glory, we need to become like Him and be partners in some small measure in His sufferings and walk the path He walked.

Secondly, the fiery darts that we suffer in mortality are designed to fit us for exaltation. Jesus himself had to learn obedience 'by the things which he suffered' (Heb 5:8,9). Suffering is meant to educate us, mould us and refine us. President Kimball said:  "Is there not wisdom in his giving us trials that we might rise above them, responsibilities that we might achieve, work to harden our muscles, sorrows to try our souls? Are we not exposed to temptations to test our strength, sickness that we might learn patience, death that we might be immortalized and glorified? If all the sick for whom we pray were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the gospel, free agency, would be ended. No man would have to live by faith. If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no evil - all would do good but not because of the rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency, only satanic controls. Should all prayers be immediately answered according to our selfish desires and our limited understanding, then there would be little or no suffering, sorrow, disappointment, or even death, and if these were not, there would also be no joy, success, resurrection, nor eternal life and godhood" (Faith Precedes the Miracle, p. 97). In other words, there would be no point in being here.

Our eternal welfare is God's main concern. He would have us become like Him so we can in the end be a mirror image of all that He is and all that He has. For this reason He will allow us to suffer in the refiner's fire that we might come out purified and have His image in our countenance. This is illustrated well in the following story:  "Some time ago, a few women met in a certain city to study the scriptures. While reading the 3rd Chapter of Malachi, they came upon a remarkable expression in the 3rd Verse: "And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver". One woman proposed to visit a silversmith and report to them on what he said about the subject. She went accordingly, and without telling the object of her errand begged the silversmith to tell her about the process of refining silver. After he had fully described it to her, she asked, "But sir, do you sit while the work of refining is going on?". "Oh yes, Madam", replied the silversmith, "I must sit with my eye steadily fixed on the furnace, for if the time necessary for refining be exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured". The woman at once saw the beauty, and comfort of the expression, "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver". God sees it needful to put His children into a furnace; His eye is steadily intent on the work of purifying, and His wisdom and love are both engaged in the best manner for us. Our trials do not come at random, and He will not let us be tested beyond what we can endure. Before she left, the woman asked one final question, "When do you know the process is complete?" "Why, that is quite simple", replied the silversmith. "When I can see my own image in the silver, the refining process is finished".

As you sit in the furnace of your affliction, remember His watchful eye is over you. He does not love you less because He has allowed misfortune to befall you. In fact, He loves you more because of what you will become and what you will have endured. He knows your sorrow and your anguish. He has seen your tears and He longs to encircle you in the arms of his love. You were bought with a price and you are cherished. You are his sheep and He is your Shepherd. Have strength as you trust in His promises and His work to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of His most valuable possession which is you.

HE WHO HAS WISDOM

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
-  Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
She looketh well to the ways of the her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.
-  Proverbs 31:10-30 

"The books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are sometimes called the 'wisdom literature'. The sages of the ancient Near East realised the superiority of wisdom over knowledge, for wisdom encompasses knowledge and includes understanding and moral conduct. One was not wise, regardless of his vast learning, if his actions did not comply with his righteous beliefs". (Old Testament Student Manual, 1 Kings - Malachi, p. 13)

Quoted above are my two favourite sections of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. It is impossible to come away from these books with one major or common theme for they deal with application of wisdom in so many facets of life. One can, however, always walk away from them having found something of vast importance particular to them to correspond with their 'time and season'. Wisdom is not wisdom if it lacks application and application of all things cannot happen all at once. Progression to godhood is a journey which requires patience and repentance when the heart is ready.

It is of importance to consider three practical things when studying these gems of wisdom: 1. The wisdom given in these books of scripture is wisdom that is applicable to this life, it is wisdom from a worldly perspective meant to aid us in earthly life. When Ecclesiastes repeatedly says 'under the sun', he is meaning he is intentionally restricting his point of view to this world; 2. The reason we need to apply wisdom 'under the sun' is because everything is 'vanity'. 'Vanity' in Ecclesiastes means transitory or fleeting, thus the repeated and frequent use of this word denotes that he who applies wisdom in his life is wise, for this life is fleeting and will one day come to an end (Bible Dictionary, s.v. "Ecclesiastes"); 3. Wisdom in these two books of scripture is allegorized as a woman because the word 'wisdom' is feminine in gender thus an adulterous woman in Proverbs is a metaphor for foolishness as foolishness is the opposite of wisdom.

The most valuable lesson we can take away from Proverbs and Ecclesiastes is the admonition 'to trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding' (Prov. 3:5). This is true wisdom.  The italic preface to the chapter 8 of Proverbs tells us that 'the Lord and the sons of men possessed wisdom in premortal life'. 'Sons of men' refers to anyone who has been born in mortality, in other words, earthly beings. It is wisdom which enabled us to choose the Firstborn as our Saviour in our premortal state and to fight the forces of evil opposed to the Father's plan. Now that we are living on the other side of the veil, wisdom is once again needed to enable us to trust the choice we made so long ago. In this respect wisdom and trust go hand in hand. One day when this fleeting existence is ended we will have to account for our use of wisdom by which we conducted our mortal lives.

The other side of our trust in the Lord is His trust in us: "The Lord wants us to trust in him, but he also wants to be able to trust in us. One of our great prophet leaders said, 'To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved' (David O. Mckay, "Character", True To The Faith, Bookcraft, 1966, p. 274). One of the principal purposes of this life is to find out if the Lord can trust us. One of our familiar scriptures says, 'And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them' (Abraham 3:25). We are destined to be tried, tested, and proven during our sojourn on earth to see if we are trustworthy' (Robert E Wells, "The Cs of Spirituality", Ensign Nov 1978, p 24).

When the viles of this life press upon us do we lean to our own understanding or do we trust in God's wisdom embodied in the commandments He has given us to lead us through this fleeting life and on to eternal glory? God's wisdom would tell us that the sacrifice of the moment is worth the blessings of eternity. Trusting in God means trusting in our eternal destiny to which we were committed from the beginning, to become as He is, gods with all honour and glory. It means knowing who we are and using wisdom to honour that spiritual identity. It means standing firm in our convictions at all cost as this story about the son of King Louis XVI of France illustrates:

"King Louis had been taken from his throne and imprisoned. His young son, the prince, was taken by those who dethroned the king. They thought that inasmuch as the king's son was heir to the throne, if they could destroy him morally, he would never realise the great and grand destiny that life had bestowed upon him. They took him to a community far away, and there they exposed the lad to every filthy and vile thing that life could offer. They exposed him to foods the richness of which would quickly make him a slave to appetite. They used vile language around him constantly. They exposed him to lewd and lusting women. They exposed him to dishonour and distrust. He was surrounded twenty-four hours a day by everything that could drag the soul of a man as low as one could slip. For over six months he had this treatment - but not once did the young lad buckle under pressure. Finally, after intensive temptation, they questioned him. Why had he not submitted himself to these things - why had he not partaken? These things would provide pleasure, satisfy his lusts, and were desirable: they were all his. The boy said, "I cannot do what you ask for I was born to be a king".

IN HIS HOLY HOUSE

"When I was doing missionary work with some of our brethren, laboring among the Indians, seeking the Lord for light to decide certain matters pertaining to our work there, and receiving a witness from Him that we were doing things according to His will, I found myself one evening in the dreams of the night, in that sacred building, the Temple. After a season of prayer and rejoicing, I was informed that I should have the privilege of entering into one of those rooms, to meet a glorious Personage, and as I entered the door, I saw, seated on a raised platform, the most glorious Being my eyes have ever beheld, or that I even conceived existed in all the eternal worlds. As I approached to be introduced, He arose and stepped towards me with extended arms, and He smiled as He softly spoke my name. If I shall live to be a million years old, I shall never forget that smile. He took me into His arms and kissed me, pressed me to His bosom, and blessed me, until the marrow of my bones seemed to melt! When He had finished, I fell at His feet, and as I bathed them with my tears and kisses, I saw the prints of the nails in the feet of the Redeemer of the world. The feeling that I had in the presence of Him who hath all things in His hands, to have His love, His affection, and His blessings was such that if I ever can receive that of which I had but a foretaste, I would give all that I am, all that I hope to be, to feel what I then felt!"  
-  Apostle Melvin J. Ballard (Joseph Heinerman, Temple Manifestations, p. 152)

A careful study of the Old Testament's reign of the kings reveals to us a continual battle between those who sought to worship Jehovah and those who sought to worship false gods which competed for the time, resources and affection of the Israelites. "This ongoing battle produced a cycle of wickedness, decline, repentance, prosperity and then a return to wickedness again" (Taylor D. Halverson, Come to the House of the Lord, Lesson 30, Meridian Magazine, Aug 2006). Because they chose kings to rule over them, the children of Israel were left at the mercy of these kings and their choice of the god they would follow. Some of these kings laboured fervently to rid the land of idol worship of their fathers and return the people to the true god. There is only so much a king can do though, despite the cleansing of the land through tearing down of the altars and groves. With only one temple located in Jerusalem, it had become more convenient to visit the local grove and there engage in lustful fertility worship to ensure your crops would grow, rather than travel for days to Jerusalem and there give your best animals for slaughter. With such corrupted mentality, Israelites lost the understanding of sacrifice and the spirit of temple worship which pointed them towards the Saviour. King Ahaz did the greatest disservice to the Kingdom of Judah, not only because he placed his trust in the gods of Syria to help him (2 Chronicles 28:23) but he 'shut up the doors of the house of the Lord' (2 Chronicles 28:24). These two things, the scriptures record were 'the ruin of him and of all Israel' (2 Chronicles 28:23).

King Ahaz' son, Hezekiah, who reigned in righteousness after him, 'opened the doors of the house of the Lord' (2 Chronicles 29:3), re-instituted animal sacrifice and called the people to repentance. He made Isaiah his private council and trusted in the advice the prophet gave him. With this trust the Lord defeated the Assyrian army that had ravaged the Northern Kingdom of Israel and spared Judah. Hezekiah was blessed with honour and riches for his righteous reign but his pride got the better of him and he showed all the royal treasures and armaments to the son of the king of Babylon which was a great mistake for it initiated a Babylonian lust for Judah's possessions. Isaiah condemned Hezekiah's action and prophesied that all the treasures of the kingdom would be taken and 'carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left' and that Judah's royal family would be forced into exile in Babylon (Isaiah 39:6-8). Thus the Kingdom of Judah would be dispersed by the Babylonians as the Kingdom of Israel was dispersed by the hand of Assyrians. Despite Hezekiah's good works during his reign he showed a lack of closeness and love for the Lord when he contracted a fatal disease and became 'sick unto death' (Isaiah 38:1). The Lord told him through Isaiah to set his house in order and prepare to die but Hezekiah could not reconcile himself to death and wept bitterly and prayed incessantly for the Lord to extend his life. He reasoned he was a good person and therefore didn't deserve to die, that he was in the prime of his life and that he would miss his family. He took to counseling the Lord and became so obsessed with his desire to live that he lost an eternal perspective. He even asked for a sign to believe the Lord was speaking the truth when He promised him an additional 15 years of life (Isaiah 38).

Hezekiah got what he wanted but it did not prove beneficial to others: "During Hezekiah's extra 15 years, his wife bore him a son, Manasseh, the heir to the throne. Manasseh began to reign at age 12 and ruled for 55 horrible years. He had the prophet Isaiah murdered and reversed all of the religious reforms of his father. He erected altars to Baal, installed idols in the temple, and burned his sons to death on these altars. He appealed to wizards for spiritual direction and hid the scriptures. His evil influence was a principal cause of the eventual destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians (2 Kings 24:3-4). We do not know what would have happened to Judah had Hezekiah died as prophesied by Isaiah. But Bishop John H. Vandenberg (1904-92) has said: "There have been some noble men who unwittingly sought to counsel the Lord. One such man was Hezekiah...As one reviews his life, one wonders, would it not have been better for Hezekiah to have submissively accepted the Lord's first decree...'Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die'." (Charles A. Muldowney, "Hezekiah's Tunnel Vision", Ensign, Sept. 2002, p 30)

The worst aspect of Israel's idolatry was not the fact that they put their trust in wrong gods and did not worship the right one but that their idolatry led to neglect of temple worship. As the consistent practice of animal sacrifices ceased so did their understanding of the atonement. Animal sacrifice served the purpose of pointing God's children to the ultimate sacrifice of the Saviour who would with his blood atone for their sins. Had the proper temple worship endured throughout Israel's history, the messianic hope would not have been lost in the political overtones.  As they chose to worship other gods, the Lord no longer protected them from the control of foreign nations. By the time the Saviour was born they no longer looked for a Messiah who would atone for their sins but for a Messiah who would rescue them from the Roman rule. In other words, they wanted a Moses to deliver them from yet another Egypt. Instead of a warrior, they got a carpenter who claimed his kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36). Because of their blindness, 'which blindness came by looking beyond the mark' (Jacob 4:14) they missed the Saviour of the world for "the 'mark' beyond which they looked was Christ. When he did not come in the manner they anticipated, they looked beyond Him for another who should come. Thus, 'they still wait for the coming of the Messiah' (2 Nephi 6:13)" (Old Testament Manual, 1 Kings - Malachi, p 67). No doubt the Jewish nation today are expecting a Messiah who will deliver them from the affliction of the Palestinians.

It is in temples and temple worship that we find the Saviour of the world, his purpose and his work and his glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man (Moses 1:39). Will we recognise and know the Saviour when He comes if we do not engage in temple worship and regularly renew our covenants with Him? It is not required of us to travel on foot for days to reach a temple, nor is it required of us to slaughter our best animals or pay for our visit there in any form. We are merely invited to 'come buy milk and honey, without money and without price' (2 Nephi 26:25) for the temple ordinances are the stay of eternal life.

"Without God we are nothing. We have no meaningful, purposeful identity when God does not exist in our lives. Temples are essential, for there we learn more fully of God's true nature, of his plan for our lives and the covenants that He lovingly offers to us that we might bind ourselves to Him in an unbreakable relationship that defies death and time. May we return to the House of the Lord. May we find ourselves there as we find Him" (Taylor D. Halverson, Come to the House of the Lord, Lesson 30, Meridian Magazine, August 2006)