THE BELOVED SON

 

(Mary and Jesus, "Swaddled by Love" by Gabriel Heaton)

“It is doubtful that ever a son was born who was more loved than Isaac. His father and mother….no doubt, rehearsed over and over again all the great promises of God that centered in him” (Morris, “The Genesis Record”, 367). And just as the angel had predicted, Abraham did teach his son to keep the way of the Lord.

“The Book of Jasher tells that Abraham taught Isaac “the way of the Lord to know the Lord, and the Lord was with him” (Jasher 22:40, in Noah, “Book of Jasher, 62).

“Or, in the words of President Spencer W. Kimball, “Abraham built a strong spiritual reservoir for his son Isaac, a reservoir that never leaked dry” (Spencer W. Kimball, “The Example of Abraham”, Ensign June 1975, 5)

“But the parental instruction of Isaac was as much a joint effort as was the mutual faith that brought about his birth in the first place; Jewish tradition remembers that Sarah “nurtured him….empowering him to become Abraham’s covenantal heir” (Tuchman and Rapoport, “Passion of the Matriarchs”, 81-82)

“In Christian tradition, the birth of Isaac is one of the clearest types of the birth of the Saviour: according to Christopher Wordsworth, Isaac’s birth is yet “another resemblance to Him….whose birth is the cause of joy to all” (Wordsworth, “Holy Bible” 1:94).

“As Isaac’s birth and name were foretold in advance; as he was conceived only by miraculous means, as his coming into the world brought great joy and rejoicing; and as it made possible the blessing of all mankind – so would the birth of Isaac’s descendant Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the world, the Beloved Son.”

-          (E. Douglas Clark, “The Blessings of Abraham”, 195)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

A LITTLE MATTER OF FAITH

 

I wrote recently about the exemplary Sarah and of her unfailing support of Abraham and his priesthood leadership within their marriage. I have never lived in her skin so I don’t know what it was like to be a wife of such a ‘visionary man’ but I trust the scriptural account which shows no evidence of her ever complaining or questioning her husband.

I want to highlight here Sarah’s unfailing faith for the God Jehovah by which she became the mother of nations through her beloved son Isaac.

Sarah didn’t question any of the revelations Abraham received from God, including the promise of Isaac. She moved from place to place, wherever he said God wanted them to go. And she ardently believed that the priesthood heir would come from her body even though she was past bearing children. The biggest way she proved this was when she gave Hagar to Abraham to wife.

The ancient custom dictated that if a married woman could not produce children for her husband, she was to give him another wife (D&C 132:34). This Sarah did out of obedience. She gave her young maid, Hagar, to Abraham for a second wife. It is significant that she chose Hagar.

Egyptians were descendants of Ham and his wife Egyptus who was a descendant of Cain. Since Hagar was an Egyptian, her offspring could not hold the priesthood (Abraham 1:21-27), therefore a son that Hagar could bear to Abraham could never become the heir of the covenant. Sarah knew this and she held onto the promise that she would be the mother of such a son. When she told Abraham to take Hagar to wife, she asked him to do so ‘that I may obtain children by her’, NOT ‘so that we might get the heir of the promise ’ (Genesis 16:2)

When the three holy men visited Abraham prior to the annihilation of Sodom, they confirmed that Sarah will have a son. Genesis records that Sarah laughed when she heard it. This was not a laugh of disbelief. It was more a joyous reaction, just as Abraham reacted when the Lord told him the same thing (Genesis 17:17; 18:12). Please see JST Genesis 21:5 which replaces ‘laugh’ with ‘rejoice’.

In Sarah’s words: “God has made me to rejoice; and also all that know me will rejoice with me” (JST Genesis 21:5). “The Hebrew word here translated as “rejoice” can also be translated as “laugh”, as most translations of Genesis do. “God has brought me laughter”, Sarah exclaims, and “everyone who hears will laugh with me.” She then adds: “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would suckle children?” (JPST Genesis 21:6-7). Why did she say “children” instead of “a child”? Because, according to Jewish interpretation, she was keenly cognizant that this was the covenant son whom God would multiply into a host of covenant people….” (E. Douglas Clark, “The Blessings of Abraham”, p 193)

When the holy men referred to Sarah’s laugh with: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (v 14), it was a confirmation of Sarah’s role in providing an heir that would be in the similitude of God’s own Son….that we might believe if “an aged woman who was sterile brought Isaac to birth according to God’s promise,  we may also believe that God has power to bring it about that even a virgin may give birth.” (Oden, “Ancient Christian Commentary” 2:91).  Isaac was in every way the prototype of Christ.

And here is the ultimate proof of Sarah’s faith in the God of Israel. When Paul wrote to the Hebrews, he spoke of prominent men and women who achieved miraculous things by the power of faith. Amongst those that were so valiant was Sarah, the wife of Abraham and the mother of Isaac, the heir of the covenant:

“Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.” (Hebrews 11:11)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Sarah and Isaac by unknown artist)

 

 

THE GOD WHO HEARS AND SEES ALL PART 2

 

It is fair to say that Abraham is famous for the unthinkable sacrifice of his son Isaac for whom he waited for 38 years from the time of the promise. We often forget about another sacrifice that was asked of Abraham.

Yesterday I wrote about Hagar whom Sarah gave to Abraham as a second wife by whom she hoped to have children (Genesis 16:2). This was according to the law (D&C 132:34). And so began the triangle of trial for three people: Abraham, Sarah and Hagar. And herein lies a lesson. Even when we do the right thing, there is no guarantee that things will always work out…..as many people who have ended up divorced will attest.

When Abraham was ninety-nine years old and Ishmael, his son by Hagar, thirteen, the Lord appeared to Abraham and told him Sarah will bear him a son of the covenant. Abraham's first thought was Ishmael for he loved the boy. He fell on his face and asked the Lord to consider him to be the heir (Genesis 17:18). The Lord denied the request but replied, "I have heard thee" (v20). Once again, as with Hagar, he was saying: "I see you....I see the difficulties you have to live with....I will make it up to you". He said He would give Ishmael twelve sons and Ishmael would be part of the promise of endless posterity that He had made to Abraham (v20). This is mercy and this is justice of the God of Israel: 12 sons for Ishmael and 12 sons for Isaac through his son Jacob…..

And so, because we are flawed humans, this triangle of three people did not work out. When the time came for them to part ways, Genesis gives a highly abbreviated account of Hagar’s departure by stating that Abraham simply expelled Hagar and Ishmael into the desert providing them only with a little bread and a bottle of water (Genesis 21:14). Abraham has been severely criticized for this but anyone who has studied his life knows that this could not be true. Abraham was the kind of a man who sought strangers who needed help. He could not have banished the mother and the son who he loved in such a cruel way.

According to Islamic tradition, Abraham provisioned Hagar and Ishmael well and even accompanied them well into the desert of Beersheba (Knappert, “Islamic Legends”, 1:78), trusting God that He will care for them once he departed as per His promise that He will make out of Ishmael a mighty nation and acting upon God’s instruction to implement Sarah’s wish (Genesis 21:12-13). Nevertheless, having to do this would have rent his heart. This was Abraham’s first sacrifice.

Islamic tradition further states that Abraham “would return frequently for he longed for his son Ishmael” (al-Kisa’I, “Tales of the Prophets” 153). Whether the Islamic tradition is true or not, it certainly aligns well with the character of this great patriarch. The fact that Genesis claims that Ishmael and Isaac buried their father together would also be proof that the family relationships were sustained throughout the rest of their lives (Genesis 25:9).

After Sarah died, Abraham married a woman called Keturah and with her he had six more sons (Genesis 25:1-4). Before he died, he gave gifts to these sons and sent them all “unto the east country”, away from his son Isaac to whom he gave all that he had (v 5,6).

I don’t really understand the custom of the day that the first son inherits everything but in my limited female way, I can see the importance of preserving the priesthood line “after the order of the Son of God” for He too was the firstborn and He too inherited everything. It is through His priesthood that He bestows His inheritance upon all the nations of this earth and all of humanity. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Jesus by Joseph Brickey)

THE GOD WHO HEARS AND SEES ALL PART 1

 

There is a woman spoken of in the Old Testament that is not highly considered or regarded. Her name is Hagar and her life story rends my heart.  The Genesis account of the Old Testament simply states that she was Egyptian and that she was Sarah's maid but one other source gives more insight into her life. It claims that Hagar was one of the daughters of Pharaoh and that she was given to Sarah when she and Abraham left Egypt to continue their journey to Canaan (Ginzberg, “Legends of the Jews”, 1:223). Considering the riches that Pharaoh showered Abraham and Sarah with as they left Egypt (Genesis 12:16), this claim seems very plausible. In this context, Hagar's life of hardship begins at this point in history as does the triangle of trial for these three extraordinary people.

Under Sarah's tutelage, Hagar grew into spiritual maturity as she forsook the religious idols of her home and came to know the God of Israel (Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, 1:23). Imagine, however, a young girl of royal birth, sent away from her home to be the property of total strangers, therefore a slave.

But there was more. According to Bible scholars and modern-day revelation, it was the law for a woman who could not provide children for her husband, to give him another wife to ensure continuation of his family line (D&C 132:34). Sarah decided that Abraham's next wife would be Hagar. I doubt if Hagar had much choice in the matter, being in the situation she was in. I imagine Hagar was fairly young since she fell pregnant straight away, whereas Abraham was 86 years old (Genesis 16:16).

The Old Testament records that Hagar became insolent towards Sarah once she knew she was pregnant (Genesis 16:4). Inexcusable I know, but maybe for once she felt she was worth something more than being a maid. She was now a wife of a rich man and she was going to be a mother, but not really....she was only a second wife with no rights and her child would by law belong to Sarah. She was a concubine. Imagine being of such lowly station for one of royal birth.  When she couldn't take Sarah's correction of her behaviour Sarah fled in search of freedom (Genesis 16:6). Insolent but understandable.

When the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain ‘in the way to Shur’, he told Hagar "the Lord hath heard thy affliction" (Genesis 16:11); that she will not be overlooked by Him, that she will have a son and that her posterity will not be able to be numbered for multitude (Genesis 16:10). In other words, "I will make it up to you Hagar for the life you are required to live".

And then the angel asked her a crucial question: “Knowest thou that God sees thee???” (JST Genesis 16:15) and Hagar answered she knew that He sees her and that she came here looking for Him (v 16). That confirms to me Hagar’s faith. If nobody else can see her life, she knew that God does.  

This confirmation from the angel must have been what enabled her return to Sarah bearable for “God has heard” that watched over the deeds of men and assists them in their suffering (E. Couglas Clark, “The Blessings of Abraham”, p 163)

One thing I do believe: Hagar was a good woman. Ishmael and Isaac remained close as Genesis records that they buried their father together (Genesis 25:9). This is how I know Hagar was a good woman: there was no hatred or animosity between Ishmael and Isaac. The credit for that goes to two mothers who didn't teach their sons to hate but to love and who had explicit faith in the God who hears and sees all…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

 

THE NATURE OF OUR GOD

 

“There is no inconsistency in the nature of God. He is always perfectly merciful and loving, but He is also perfectly just and will not “look upon sin with the least degree of allowance” (D&C 1:31). As he said to Joseph Smith: “God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left,….his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round” (D&C 3:2).

“In the Old Testament is the same perfectly consistent God found in all scripture. In the Old Testament great richness is added to the understanding of God and how He deals with His children, blessing them according to their obedience and receptivity, or punishing them for rebellion and wickedness.

“If one would get to know Christ better, one must study the Old Testament, for in His role as Jehovah He permeates the whole record. Jesus Christ is the God of the Old Testament just as He is the God of the earth today. Keeping this important fact constantly in mind is one of the keys to understanding both the Old Testament and the nature of God.”

-          Old Testament Student Manual Book 1, p 48

 

The mighty power of His creation,

The tenderness that never parts,

The perfect balance of His glory,

The God of heaven in our hearts.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Jesus of Nazareth by Greg Olsen)

NOT YET

 

The promises that we receive through the Gospel are legitimate but many come with a caveat of “not yet”.

I reflected on Abraham again yesterday and how rich he was in cattle, gold, silver and servants yet he lived in tents his whole life never owning a piece of land. And when death came knocking on the door, he purchased a cave for his and Sarah’s burial from the sons of Heth (Genesis 25:9,10).

The land of Canaan was promised to Abraham even though he never possessed it personally (Genesis 17:7; 13:15; 17:8). This was a classic example of “not yet”:

“The Lord gave the promise to Abraham that he should have Palestine, or the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession. Yet…Abraham never received as much as a foot of it as a possession while he lived. Then what did the Lord mean in making a promise to Abraham of that kind?....

“Simply this, that the time would eventually come, after the resurrection from the dead, when Abraham and his children who have been faithful in the keeping of the commandments of the Lord, should possess that land, and they shall also spread forth as far as it is necessary for them to receive an inheritance.” (Smith, “Doctrines of Salvation”, 1:88)

So why “not yet”?  Because this life is the time for faith and not fulfilment. In his epistle to the Hebrews, Paul expounded on this perfectly. He listed in detail prophets and people of renown who led amazing lives of faith but never received the promises and “confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13)

Paul goes on to say that they through faith “subdued kingdoms, stopped the mouths of lion, quenched the violence of fire,  were tortured, scourged and imprisoned, stoned and sawn asunder, slain by the sword, were destitute, afflicted and tormented, wandered in deserts and in mountains and caves of the earth…..yet they never received their promises”……  And then he gives the reason why…..”God having provided some better things for them through their sufferings, for without sufferings they could not be made perfect……and obtain a better resurrection” (Hebrews 11:33-39; JST 40a)

“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” (Hebrews 10:35;36)

“….and in time ye shall possess the goodly land.” (D&C 103:17-20)

 

I suffer the passing of time

In this season of my discontent;

And count the moments of

Loneliness that rob me of my promises.

I am so far from home I once knew

I ache and ache

For the reality of You.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Come by David Bowman)

THE DEMISE OF LOT

 

There is a very valuable lesson one can learn from the downfall of Abraham’s nephew Lot and it goes like this…..Following their sojourn in Egypt, Abraham and Lot were blessed so abundantly that the land could not contain them and it became apparent they would have to go their separate ways in the land of Canaan (Genesis 13:7).  

 

Abraham, being the man that he was, offered Lot his choice of the land first.  Lot who was not as generous and mindful of others, chose the fertile plain along the Jordan River and left Abram the rocks of upper Canaan. There was only one problem. Lot’s land had a majestic view….of Sodom (Genesis 13:12). And so Lot began his demise by pitching his tent toward the city of wickedness while Abraham and his household found refuge and distance from it by the rocks which obscured their view (v 18).

 

The demise of Lot proves that our daily focus manifests its reality in our lives because by the time the messengers from the Lord came to do a little inspection of Sodom, Lot was no longer living toward Sodom, he was living IN it (JST Genesis 19:1).

 

When the destruction of Sodom was imminent and the time came for Lot to leave, the sons-in-law who married his daughters refused to leave and mocked Lot for suggesting so (JST Genesis 19:19-22). Lot and his wife and two unmarried daughters had to be physically dragged out of the city (Genesis 19:16).  In the process of the flight Lot lost his wife too as she turned toward Sodom, no doubt longing for the daughters she left behind (v 26).

 

From there came more wickedness as Lot was left alone with his two daughters who didn’t think twice of securing children for themselves by their father (v 30-38). Where did they learn such behaviour?  In Sodom.  In reality Lot had lost his whole family to the wickedness of the world.  Sooner or later the world sucks you in if you are looking at it longingly enough.

 

Consider the opposite example in Abraham. Sometime after he and Lot first settled in Canaan, a confederation of kings attacked the cities of that valley. Lot didn't fare very well in that attack and was captured with his family and taken away together with all their possessions.  Abraham pursued the invading kings with his servants and conquered them bringing Lot and his family back. When he returned to his home he was met by the king of Sodom who offered Abraham all the booty he had captured in the war but Abraham refused to take anything from this king of wickedness for fear he would say that he, and not God, made Abraham rich (Genesis 14:8-24).

 

Not only did Abraham acknowledge the true source of his prosperity, he was careful not to be a partaker of anything that was unrighteous and unclean, that had the potential to make him a part of the world. It reminds me of Alma who said:”…come ye out from the wicked…..and touch not their unclean things…..(Alma 5:57). Because if you do, it will surely lead to destruction.

 

Our constant focus matters more than we think. If you are sitting in a tent looking longingly at the world, look the other way, change the paltry view to a majestic one…..it wears the crown of a King….the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords (Rev 19:16); The Rock of Heaven (Moses 7:53), The Rock of our Salvation (Deut 32:15)….Endless and Eternal is His name (D&C 19:10-12).

 

Who is a God like unto Thee,

Jehovah, our King?

Who protects the weak

And the broken hearted;

Who sorrows for the lost

Who paid the price of

The crucible cost. 

CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL

 

O Israel!!!

You are the apple of my eye (Deut 32:9,10; Zech 2:8; Psalm 17:8)

I will not forget you…I have graven you upon the palms of my hands… (Isaiah 49:15,16)

As the Father hath loved me, so I have loved you (John 15:9)

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends….you are my friends (John 15:13)

I am your God and you are my people and your sins I will remember no more (Hebrews 8:10,12)

I have redeemed you…you are mine….when you pass through the waters, I will be with you, when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burnt…. you are precious in my sight and I have loved you…..fear not, for I am with you  (Isaiah 43:1-4)

Be not dismayed, for I am your God….. (Isaiah 41:10)

Be faithful and keep my commandments and I will encircle you in the arms of my love (D&C 6:20)

If I dwell in your heart, you will comprehend the breadth, and length, and depth and height of my love for you which passes all knowledge (Ephesians 3:17-19)

If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love (John 15:10)

You are bought with a price for all things are for your sakes, even the eternal weight of glory...... (1 Corinthians 6:20; 2 Cor 4:15,17))..........

I love You to the deepest depth of my delicate heart,

I cherish You beyond the reason of my living.

Gather me softly into Your arms;

Show me Your love that will never change;

Hold me steady and keep me protected

In the shelter of Your eternal flame.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

A LIGHT IN THE WILDERNESS

 

This was Abraham wherever he went. He was 62 when he arrived into the land of Canaan that the Lord promised him as an inheritance, but also ‘to make of him a minister to bear His name in a strange land’ (Abraham 2:6;14). And bear His name he did for the famine in Canaan necessitated Abraham and all who came with him to end up in Egypt on a prolonged mission, possibly as long as 13 years.  

The land of Canaan was overrun by the idol worshipping descendants of Cain. Going to Egypt would have been like going from a frying pain into a fire. It was by the hand of an Egyptian priest that Abraham nearly lost his life in the land of Ur. Egypt was the hotbed of human sacrifice to false gods.

The famine of Canaan proved to be a blessing in disguise because at the end Abraham returned to Canaan richer than he was before he left on account of Sarah whom the Pharoah desired to take for his wife. Abraham’s sojourn in Egypt reads like Arabian nights. It’s a fascinating story.

What is of most importance of this part of Abraham’s life is the light that he was in this evil infested land where idolatry was blinding the children of men and the truth was obscured from their understanding.

Before Abraham left for Egypt, he had an encounter with the Lord who told him: “Abraham, I show these things unto thee before ye go into Egypt, that ye may declare all these words” (Abraham 3:15). Thus proceeded a revelation which enriched Abraham’s personal knowledge of the field of science: astronomy, the plan of salvation and organization of the world for human habitation.

“The great truths shown to Abraham were not for him alone. He was to declare “all these words” to the Egyptians. The Lord knew that some of the learning of the Egyptians would be passed on to the Greeks and that the Greeks in turn would teach the Romans. He also knew that through Rome this knowledge would spread to other parts of the world as a blessing to humanity. During these transitions many precious truths were lost but some of them survived and became the foundation for modern science.”  (W. Cleon Skousen, The First 2,000 Years, p 285)

“In the Egyptian Alphabet compiled by Joseph Smith at the time he translated the Book of Abraham, we are given the added information that Abraham was called as a missionary of Christ to go into Egypt and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Egyptians.” (Clark, James R., “Before Ye Go Into Egypt”, Vol 2, p 2)

I think of the recent mandate of the leaders to the membership of the Church to flood the earth with the gospel. We need to be well informed of the doctrine, convinced of its efficacy, bold and unafraid of the opposition. The light needs to shine from us as bright as the sun.  

I stand in awe of Abraham and his fortitude in spreading the light in a darkened world. He is the prototype of Christ who came to enlighten our understanding of the truth. Without His light we would be lost in this world of darkness which seeks to engulf us in its misery and woe. He is the light that shines, the light we must follow. He is the light of the world, the only light…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: A Light in the Wilderness by Rose Datoc Dall)

UNION OF THE HEARTS

 

“Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock from whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit when ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you……”  (Isaiah 51:1,2)

There is no greater exemplary marriage in the scriptures than that of Abraham and Sarah. She honoured his priesthood in every way and he honoured God in every way. This is true marriage. God taught us this in the beginning. After Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, God knew it was Eve who instigated the disobedience, nevertheless, He called on Adam to account for what they had done because Adam shouldered the responsibility for his union with his wife.  

This was Abraham and Sarah. He led and she supported that role. Marriage is one of the greatest responsibilities of the priesthood and both Sarah and Abraham understood that well. The more I read about Abraham’s life, the more I become amazed at their union and how well they enacted the mission that was given them to bless the nations of the earth.

Abraham’s life was fraught with trial but “in every test to which the Lord subjected him, he had been found faithful, and he was not impatient, nor was he slow to act, for he….loved the Lord” (Judean Antiquities 1.223-24, in Feldman, “Josephus”, 85-87). In my mind, Abraham could have never led the life he did and been the man he was if he did not have an equally committed wife by his side. This was Sarah.

One example of their united commitment that has had an impression on me is their arrival in Canaan, the promised land. After two years in Haran and the prosperity that they enjoyed there and the ‘souls they won’ there through missionary work, they arrived in a land that was no picnic. It was a land seeped in idolatry and overrun with heathen-worshipping sons of Cain. It was obvious the land which Jehovah promised Abraham for an inheritance was first and foremost a mission. Not only that, he encountered something unexplainable, a famine that was ravaging the land.

Imagine Abraham’s concern for bringing his wife and his converts to such a place. No doubt they all expected something much better. It is my opinion that Sarah helped him bear this burden because Sarah’s lack of criticism and complaint in the scriptures speaks volumes:

“She above anyone else had cause – even the right – to protest, for if Abraham had been told to come here by the Lord, she had been told only by Abraham. She might easily have complained also of the fact that, despite Abraham’s report of God’s promise of posterity, she yet continued childless. But her love for her husband was too great, her commitment to her covenants too strong, her faith in the Almighty too unyielding, to allow her to criticize or complain. In the words of the learned Muslim scholar al-Tabari, Sarah “was one of the best human beings that ever existed”. She would not disobey Abraham in any way, for which God honoured her.” (E Douglas Cleark, “The Blessings of Abraham” p 106,107)

I am pretty sure that Sarah’s first concern was for the feelings of her husband and the responsibility that rested on him for the welfare of their family. This is true marriage, when you put your spouse before yourself. That is a win-win situation.

Sarah’s support of her husband rested on one thing: his commitment to God and his priesthood. This means he was a righteous man and therefore all his actions aligned with God’s will. Men, this is the true sign of your right to bear the priesthood after the Order of the Son of God. And this is the ultimate safety for any woman in the covenant.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

THE LOVE

 

“According to John Taylor, the Melchizedek Priesthood conferred upon Abraham “would be the means of introducing him into the presence of God” and “some of the greatest and most sublime truths that ever were made known to man……

“Since John Taylor’s day, a number of ancient sources have emerged that describe in striking detail an occasion when Abraham was indeed introduced into the presence of God in heaven, who taught him and showed him his posterity as they would exist through the ages.” (E. Douglas Clark, “The Blessings of Abraham” 143)

This ascension to God’s throne is not recorded in Genesis and Abraham does not mention it in his book in the Pearl of Great Price, but I have often wondered if this was the occasion when he was shown the stars of heaven and the pre-mortal life of man he speaks of therein.

The account of this ascension is amazing and too long to expound here but this is the tenderness of Christ I gleaned from the account of this event in Abraham’s life: “Rising from his throne, the Lord “revealed Himself to Abraham, and took him in His bosom” and “kissed him on his head, and He called him, Abraham my beloved”! (Sefer Yetzira 6:7 in Kaplan; see also Ginzberg, “Legends of the Jews”, 5:210 n.13)

“Jewish tradition insists that Abraham was the epitome of the love of God, and that Abraham summoned mankind to believe in God out of his own great love for Him” and served Him out of love by showing loving-kindness” (hesed) to mankind and thus ‘doing the same work as God – a pattern that would be followed by Joseph Smith, who “because of his love for his fellowmen, never missed an opportunity to preach the gospel” (Joseph B. Wirthlin, “The Example of Joseph Smith” in “The Prophet and His Work”, 92) – (E. Douglas Clark, “The Blessings of Abraham”, 100)

“The divine attribute of love “was incarnate in Abraham. Not by control or compulsion would Abraham change the world or win the hearts of mankind, but rather by the principles of righteousness and love upon which the rights of the priesthood are always based (see D&C 121:41-42)”  (ibid, p 101)

This love, this “hesed”, is what made Abraham the greatest patriarch of all time. It is because of this love that he was chosen to bless the nations of the earth through his posterity.

The Hebrew word “hesed” is difficult to render in English. It is usually translated as ‘steadfast love’. It is a covenant word that refers to the faithfulness or loyal love that binds two people together in covenant.

This love is motivated by an inner loyalty which arises out of the relationship itself and not by legal obligation. Such covenant love has the quality of constancy, firmness and steadfastness. It is a love you have for another that you would never break because of deep loyalty you feel towards them.

This is the love that Abraham had for Jehovah and Jehovah in turn had for him. I am rather certain that this love began when Abraham stood in the midst of the noble and great ones and was chosen before he was born, when  ‘the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy’ (Job 38:7).

This is when the covenant of ‘hesed’ was born for all of us. We covenanted to come to earth, to be proven, to be used as instruments of God to spread the truth and the love of God to all mankind. This is ‘hesed’, the eternal and undying love of God who had covenanted with us that we will have eternal life.

 

How can I contain You

In the chambers of my overflowing heart?

Your greatness, Your mercy, Your love,

Are far too vast.

 

All that I am, I give to you:

My heart, my soul, my all,

I lay at your feet forever more.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Eternal Love for You by B. Laura Wilson)

ABRAHAM, GATHERER OF SOULS

 

 

The moment young Abraham faced death on the sacrificial table of the priest of Elkenah is the moment he learnt that it pays to worship the one true and living God. It is the moment he heard his voice saying: “Abraham, Abraham, I am Jehovah and I have come to deliver you….” (Abraham 1:16)

After his rescue, Abraham became a relentless missionary and a Zionist at heart. His study of the Book of Remembrance gave him a glimpse of Enoch and Melchizedek and the Zion communities they established and he longed to do the same (Abraham 1:31). As he was led by the Lord on his way to Canaan, he wasted no time in this endeavour. He comments in the Book of Abraham that he left Haran where they temporarily resided enroute with all their substance that they gathered ‘and the souls that they had won in Haran’ (Abraham 2:15).  

Abraham’s humane spirit and his piety attracted people to him so he could teach them in a large-scale missionary effort wherever he went. He extended hospitality to all and considered  his temporal blessings from God were opportunities to bless the lives of others.

According to the Qur’an, Abraham was an elegant speaker blessed with a gift of teaching and power to convey the truth unto others, and according to the Jewish tradition, “he called out in a mighty voice to all the world and he led them to righteousness” by speaking persuasively as their hearts were changed and they felt to declare the “the Lord, He is God in the heavens above the earth below, and you are Abraham, His prophet”. “Thus was Abraham fulfilling his baptismal covenant to stand as a witness of God “at all times and in all things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9). (E. Douglas Clark, “The Blessings of Abraham, Becoming a Zion People” 86)

“The Jewish tradition claims that Abraham’s converts came to be numbered into the thousands and tens of thousands. If this seems exaggerated, one need only remember the remarkably rapid growth of the Church restored by Joseph Smith, who, like his forefather Abraham, was also a missionary par excellence…..According to Hugh Nibley, “Abraham founded his Zion, and those who wished to follow became the followers of Abraham. By special rites and ordinances they were adopted into the family….

“Such were the fervent efforts to build the kingdom of God by the man who, as he himself said, had left Ur seeking “peace, happiness and rest” – not by looking forward to retirement, or by building his dream house away from humanity, but by living among them and serving them tirelessly. The “rest that Abraham sought was not a life of affluent ease. He was striving to “enter into the rest of the Lord”, obtainable only by serving Him with all of one’s heart, might, mind, and strength.” (E. Douglas Clark, “The Blessings of Abraham, p 87)

Abraham was exceptional even before the beginning of his mortal life. When he was shown the great spirits that resided in pre-existence, he was told that he was one of them and that he was ‘chosen before he was born’ (Abraham 3:23). When Jehovah came to rescue Abraham from imminent death, He came not just to prolong his life but to ensure Abraham would be able to embrace his divine destiny.

Abraham is known by more than one name, the most known being ‘the father of the faithful’ (D&C 138:41) and ‘the friend of God’ (James 2:23). I personally love ‘the gatherer of souls’ because he gathered them unto God wherever he went. This in my mind made him the prototype of Christ who gathered souls unto Him through His infinite sacrifice and who commanded Abraham: “walk before me,and be thou perfect” (Genesis 17:1). And walk he did…..following Him all the way to his exaltation (D&C 132:37)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(ART: Follow Me by Liz Lemon Swindle)

FATHER ABRAHAM

 

I could write pages about Abraham. He is my favourite patriarch. And so he should be to everyone who receives the Gospel as by virtue of the Abrahamic covenant we are counted as his children (Abraham 2:10). He is the father of the faithful who obey the mandate to ‘do the works of Abraham’ (D&C 138:41; 132:32). In this respect it should be our quest to know him.

Right at the beginning of his record in the Pearl of Great Price, Abraham tells us who he is. A man is as good as his desires for desire is the catalyst of all good and bad works. These are the desires that Abraham had from the very beginning of his life:

To have the blessings of the priesthood; to possess great knowledge; to be a greater follower of righteousness; to be a father of many nations; to be a prince of peace; to receive instructions from on high; to keep the commandments of God. (Abraham 1:2)

The fact that he harboured these righteous desires in an apostate family that turned away from God through idolatry blows my mind. And here is one hint how these desires could have been born….Abraham was reading scriptures. Whilst still in the land of Ur he had somehow obtained the Book of Remembrance wherein wrote the earlier patriarchs and all inspired people called of God such as the people of Enoch (Moses 6:5; 46; Abraham 1:31). A good proof that we become what we invest ourselves in.

Another important factor in his quest for righteousness is the fact that he rubbed shoulders with the right crowd. Through modern revelation we learn that Abraham received his priesthood from Melchizedek. Most students of scripture assume that this ordination happened when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek in Palestine (Genesis 14:19-20).

Abraham however clarifies this by saying that he became a High Priest in the land of Chaldeans, at the residence of his father (Abraham 1:1-2). Nowhere else in scripture do we find details of that ordination but considering the apostate condition of the land of Chaldeans, it is easy to assume that Abraham had contact with Melchizedek during his early manhood and that Melchizedek had strong influence upon Abraham. One clue is the fact that one of his desires was to become a ‘prince of peace’, as we know Melchizedek was known to be (Alma 13:18).

All of Abraham’s righteous desires were granted by God. These desires took him to a life of such righteousness that he has already been granted his exaltation (D&C 132:28-37). And this is where we want to be. Whereas I appreciate the generations of my family that went before me, I give thanks for one exemplary progenitor, the true father of my heart, Father Abraham.

 

When in heaven we meet

Knit together under the covenant

Of your name

Will you consider us your children

Will we in your heart forever remain?

 

Will you gather us in your arms

And kiss us each as

Your long-awaited son?

Will your heart then rest

When at last we are one?

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

MIGHTY MELCHIZEDEK

 

Following the disastrous Babel and confounding of tongues, God proceeded to preserve His ways among the people by establishing communities of righteous groups in various parts of the earth who held the Priesthood:

“One of the most important colonies raised up by the members of the Priesthood during the life time of Noah was in Palestine. Most of this territory was dominated by the seed of Ham. The land was even named after Ham’s oldest son, Canaan. But the seed of Seth had carved out a mountainous kingdom over toward the northern end of the Dead Sea called Salem. This is the territory which surrounds the modern city of Jerusalem (Jeru-salem) (Bible Dictionary under “Salem”). (W. Cleon Skousen, “The First 2,000 Years” p 253)

The kingdom of Salem was governed by the prophet-king called Melchizedek. This amazing, righteous ruler had an effective tool for counteracting wickedness and apostasy that was engulfing his land and this was it: “But Melchizedek, having exercised mighty faith, and having received the office of the high priesthood according to the holy order of God, did preach repentance unto his people. And behold, they did repent; and Melchizedek did establish peace in the land in his days; therefore he was called the prince of peace ….” (Alma 13:17)

Throughout history it has been proven by people who have embraced the gospel that peace is one of its by-products. Permanent peace to every soul only comes through repentance, righteousness and saving ordinances of the priesthood.

This is what fascinates me and it should fascinate every member of the Church. Perhaps the most familiar mention of Melchizedek is in connection with Abraham who paid tithes to him following his battle with the kings who took his nephew Lot (JST Genesis 14:36-39; Genesis 14:18-20). There is no more mention of him in the Old Testament. Melchizedek did not remain in existence for long. What we do know of him comes from latter-day revelation and the Book of Mormon.

By the time Abraham needed to find a wife for Isaac of proper lineage, there were none of the righteous people of Melchizedek left in the land of Canaan.  Therefore, he had to send a servant all the way to Mesopotamia to get a wife for Isaac.

And this is what happened to the people of Salem: “Melchizedek and his people had been allowed to enjoy the blessings of Enoch….and were translated and taken up into heaven. And his people wrought righteousness and obtained heaven, and sought for the city of Enoch which God had before taken….” (JST 14:32-34).  

My point is this. We now have two groups of saints who have given us the pattern of becoming a Zion people…..the followers of the mighty Enoch and the mighty Melchizedek. Both of them achieved the state of Zion amongst the greatest wickedness of their time. Our time is no different but there is hope for us too, given through repentance, righteousness, and purity of heart: all fruits of the gospel of peace of our Saviour Jesus Christ, our God and our King.

A river of peace floods my mortal being;

I struggle to contain such a merciful gift.

With grace You enlarge

the sparse capacity of my heart

And righteousness moves within me

as the waves of the sea.

I love You more dearly;

I serve you more freely;

I become what I alone could never be.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Christ and the Dove of Peace by Doc Christensen)

UNSPOTTED FROM THE WORLD

 

“The scripture says Noah lived 350 years after the Flood (Genesis 9:28). He lived to see Abraham’s day – Abraham being among the tenth generation of Noah’s descendants! During those ten generations extending over 350 years Noah saw many of his descendants re-establish the wicked abominations of the pre-flood period.” (W. Clen Skousen, “The First 2,000 Years” p 241)

It always seems to start with someone who seeks for power and in Noah’s day it was his great-grandson Nimrod. His message to the people he sought to control was not denial of God but rejection of God as he proclaimed: “Depart from the religion of Shem, and cleave to the institutes of Nimrod! (ibid)

It’s worth noting what these institutes were because some of them persist to this day:

1.      Placing man above God: Nimrod did this well by making a seat for himself in imitation of the seat of God in the tower of Babel…and as he sat upon it, all nations came and paid him divine homage. (Ginzberg, L., “The Legends of the Jews”, Vol. 1, p 1788)

2.      Elevating animals above humanity: “In many cases animal life was made more sacred than human life, and humans were sacrificed to animal gods. The curse of animal worship and the false philosophy associated with it survive to this day among large segments of humanity.” (“The First 2,000 Years” p 243) One such nation is India which considers cows sacred and links them to various gods, including Shiva (whose steed is Nandi, a bull) and Krishna, a cowherd.

3.      Astrology and Zodiac signs: The idea that human beings are somehow influenced in their daily actions by the sun, moon and stars destroys the concept of free agency and their horoscope predictions reflect divination and sorcery. Astrology crept into Israel’s idolatry and played a big part in replacing the worship of Jehovah in Jeremiah’s day (Jeremiah 10:2).

Heathen religions were popular because they were devoted to the stimulating and satisfying of human passion. They institutionalized immorality. Heathen’s religious practices, namely sexual perversions, mutilation of bodies and child sacrifices were so satanic in nature that they are too confronting to human sensibilities to be mentioned here in detail.

This is the most interesting part. Modern day historians attribute these degenerate religious practices to the ‘primitive minds’ of yesteryear and seek to excuse idolatry with its perversions to be an ‘upward reach of man’ and a means of expressing the ‘instinctive desire to worship’. (“The First 2,000 Years” p 246).

The truth is these heathen religions were promoted in contradiction of God’s truth which was already upon the earth. They were the means for man’s ‘instinctive desire to grasp for power’. We all know who is behind this power.

So much in our world is designed to addict us to ‘the natural man’ through the ways of the world which promote power, greed, self-gratification and self-promotion. The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us to keep ourselves unspotted from the world and to ‘come out from the wicked, to be separate and touch not their unclean things’  (Alma 5:57; 2 Cor 6:17; James 1:27; D&C 59:9).

It’s a gospel of love….for God, for our fellowman, for the eternal within us and for everything that is true, noble and good….

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: The Gospel of Light by B. Laura Wilson)