This is my gratitude for the Church…..it goes way back to ancient Israel and a very important lesson I learnt from them. In 721 B.C. Assyria was a thorn in their side. Assyria was a war machine. The main god they worshipped was Mars, the god of war. They believed the more people they killed the more joy they brought to their gods. They were not only masters of war but of also of brutality. They not only killed but oppressed, maimed and tortured all the people they conquered. Just to be real, here are some examples: they blinded children in front of their parents; routinely cut off hands and feet of prisoners; flayed men alive roasting them in kilns; chained prisoners in cages for the amusement of the populace and then sent survivors off to execution (OT Student Manual, p 113). Their reputation of evil was huge and well known far and wide.
This is what amazes me. The nation of Israel knew all this. Prophets were sent routinely to call them to repentance. At the peak of their idolatry and wickedness, Isaiah came and specifically warned them that the Lord will send Assyria to punish them for their sins (Isaiah 10:5). We all know the outcome….the warning went unheeded and Israel fell into Assyrian’s hands.
We have prophets among us today. We have an Isaiah at the head of our Church. He is issuing a warning to us today. The warning came in a simple way to Hear Him through a scripture study programme called Come Follow Me. The scriptures testify of Christ, they point to Christ, they prophesy of Christ. They speak of Him who will return and when He does, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is the Christ (D&C 76:110; 88:104). The warning is to listen, obey and cleave unto Christ….the source of our protection from the calamities of the world that are coming upon us, and the source of our salvation from evil that surrounds us. Let us put away our idols of this world and prepare for that glorious day when He will appear in the clouds of heaven to save His people Israel.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Parting the Veil by Jon McNaughton)
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