THE PLAN OF OUR GOD

 

The death of Abraham basically rounded off the first 2,000 years of this earth. I reflected on how clearly the Plan of Salvation came into full swing during those years. This is obvious to me through the preservation of the patriarchal line that guaranteed the rights of the priesthood through which all the humanity stands to be blessed and another very crucial thing I didn’t understand fully before, the emphasis on propagation.

When Rebekah left her family to marry Isaac, she left with their blessing which would have been prized above all in her day: “And they blessed Rebekah and said unto her, O thou our sister, be thou blessed of thousands – of millions; and let thy seed possess the gate of those who hate them.” (JST Genesis 24:65)

When Isaac sent Jacob to Rebekah’s family in Padan-aram to secure for himself a wife, his parting blessing was this: “And God Almighty bless thee and make thee fruitful and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people.” (Genesis 28:3)

Because posterity was part of the Abrahamic covenant, such blessings given to these two people were clearly birthright blessings.

Jacob’s marital unions with Leah and Rachel and subsequent unions with their handmaids always bothered me. I felt sorry for Jacob dealing with two highly competitive wives and two handmaids given to him for the purpose of bearing children suggested to me denial of their rights. It seemed to be no way for people of the covenant to behave.

I came to understand this a little better some years ago when I was doing my degree. One of my history professors said to us: “Be careful how you judge history. Even though it is based on facts, it is written by human beings and it is written from their perspective. More so, you have no idea what it was like to live 100 years, 500 years or even 1,000 years ago. You don’t know the customs, traditions, the mentality of the people, or their struggle for survival. You know nothing because you have not experienced it. You only know what you read.”

This broadened my vision of history and helped me understand two things:

1.      “Although the early patriarchs and their wives were great and righteous men and women who eventually were exalted and perfected (see D&C 132:37), this fact does not mean that they were perfect in every respect while in mortality….their shortcomings do not lessen their later greatness and their eventual perfection.” (Old Testament Student Manual Genesis – 2 Samual” p 85)

2.      Being able to bear a male child for their husband was a great honour for women anciently because it meant the continuation of the family line. So important was this in the context of propagation that God instituted ‘levirate marriage’ in Israelite families (see Deuteronomy 25:5-10). This law protected women who were left destitute without a husband and at the same time secured continuation of his family line. It’s a fascinating subject worth the study.

Imagine this life without the blessings of the priesthood and without propagation. How could the Plan of Salvation ever survive? We are so distracted in our day and age by our ‘human rights’ that we have largely rejected God in many nations. The birth rate is down and we glory in our privileges. We know nothing about survival and our dependence on God.

I saw a young adult male in a reel the other day who claimed he did not ask to be born and therefore he does not see that it is his responsibility to provide for himself, that apparently is his parents’ duty so he refuses to work. He has rights, he says…..he knows nothing…..I fear for him and the lesson that awaits him.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Bride and Groom of the New Testament by Lyle Geddes - lds.org)