I was reading the
prophecies of Joseph of Egypt regarding the Lord's promise to him that He would
raise up a righteous branch of the House of Israel through his children and I
came across these words which impressed me the most: "...and I go down to
my grave with joy" (JST Genesis 50:24). As we know Joseph had a terribly
hard life. In his own words: "My brethren hated me...they
wanted to kill me.....into a cistern they lowered me....they sold me into
slavery.....I was taken into captivity....I was overtaken by hunger....I was
alone....I was in weakness...I was in prison.....I was in bonds....assaulted by
bitter words of the Egyptians...a slave" (The Old Testament Pseudepigraha,
p 819) This is not to mention being cut off from his family whilst in his youth
and suffering isolation and spiritual peril in a heathen land. Upon reflection
I thought that Joseph was most likely happy to go to his grave to rest from all
the challenges and labour he performed in his life time but then a thought
struck me that only a man who had lived a good and righteous life and was at
peace with God could afford to say such a thing. And this is definitely true of
Joseph for he also wrote: "....the Lord loved me....the God of my fathers
preserved me...the Most High raised me up....the Lord of all set me free....the
strength of His hand came to my aid....the Lord himself fed me
generously....God came to help me.....the Lord showed His concern for me...the
Saviour acted graciously in my behalf......He rescued me and He exalted
me." (The OT Pseudepigraha, p 819)
The scriptures
highlight one very important thing through people that have gone on before
us....we do not come here to a bed of roses, but more often than not, to a bed
of thorns. Even the most noble do not escape. Consider the story of Lehi. He
did everything he was commanded of the Lord to do. For that he was forced to
flee into a desert "so compelling that even the hardened Bedouins avoid
like the plague...detestable certainly describes the place in the eyes of
Lehi's people, who 'murmured' bitterly at being led into such a hell."
(Hugh Nibley, Lehi In the Desert, p 51). It is in this
'wilderness' of his life that Lehi watched his family suffer constant hunger,
being the rule of the desert; danger from encounter with ever warring Arab
tribes; loneliness from isolation; taxing marches down the Arabian
Peninsula; fear from possible camp raiders; and constant recurring
rebellion of his children. And this was Lehi's life and the life of his family
for 8 years. Add on top of this, crossing the Indian Ocean and starting from
ground zero in a foreign land. And what did Lehi say about it all
when his time came to cross the bar? No complaints. He recounted how great
things the Lord had done for his family in bringing them out of the land of
Jerusalem and how merciful He had been (2 Nephi 1:1,4). And then this glorious
summation of his life: "...the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I
have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his
love" (2 N 1:15). I think like his forefather Joseph, Lehi was 'happy to
go down to his grave', not to rest from his labours but to meet his God.
When our time
comes will we be just happy to be rid of this life or will we eagerly rush to
meet the God who has loved us, preserved us, led us, blessed us, sustained us
and redeemed us? When our time comes, may we be able to say:
"Twilight and
evening bell and after that the dark!
And may there be
no sadness of farewell when I embark;
For tho' from out
our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me
far,
I hope to see my
Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar."
(Lord Alfred Tennyson)
- Cathryne Allen
(Art: Come Unto Me by Yongsung Kim)
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