THE HEIGHTS OF MERCY

 

I Would Gather Thee by Liz Lemon Swindle

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem...how often would I have gathered thy

children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens

under her wings, and ye would not!

(Matthew 23:37)

No other book of scripture highlights the mercy of Christ as does the Old Testament. Most people will challenge this thought saying that honour belongs to the New Testament due to the account of the Saviour’s Atonement.

The Old Testament is my book. It is the root of the covenant of God with His people. A covenant He has sworn He will never break (see Deuteronomy 4:31; Leviticus 26:44,46; Isaiah 49:15,16; 2 Kings 13:23). Over and over Jehovah worked with His prophets to preserve His people, to declare His undying love, and to make promises of restitution no matter how far they stray.

And stray they did and earned themselves the name of ‘backsliding Israel’ (Jeremiah 3:6,8,11,12,14,22; 31:22; 49:4; Hosea 4:16; 11:7; 14:4). Using the imagery of marriage, Israel became a ‘harlot’ who had betrayed her love for her husband, ‘upon every high mountain and under every green tree’….. (Jeremiah 3:6). For this unfaithfulness Israel paid a high price of bondage but even then only the promised mercy of her God will bring her back to His fold:

“For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.” ( Jeremiah 30:11).

And herein lies the lesson of futile idolatry for which Israel rejected the Holy One: “All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have [caused thee to be wounded] with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity…..” (Jeremiah 30:14b)

And then the sting of payment for their sin with a hope of healing : “…thy bruise is not incurable, although thy wounds are grievous. Is there none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up? Hast thou no healing medicine?.... Is thy sorrow incurable?” (JST Jeremiah 30:12,13,15)

 “….because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee….but all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity…For I WILL restore health unto thee, and I WILL heal thee of thy wounds…the whirlwind of the Lord shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked…..And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God” (Jeremiah 30:16,17,22,23)

When will this healing and restoration happen? Over two millennia after the promise….when the lessons have been learnt, the price for disobedience paid and a willingness to repent born…’when He has performed the intents of his heart….in the latter days when they shall fully understand this’ (v 23,24; see also 2 Nephi 25:8-11).

And this is the lesson that they need to understand….every disobedience carries with it consequences. Yes the mercy and deliverance will come but after many wars, captivity and sorrow…..the experience of consequences crucial towards repentance, a broken heart and a contrite spirit for the restorative power of mercy is only offered to the penitent (Alma 42:24,25). It’s something all of us need to remember.

There is a prevalent belief in Christendom today that Christ is all about love and mercy and that is true but this love and mercy is not freely given because no man can be saved in his sins. He can only be saved from them. If he was saved prematurely in them, without repentance, he would continue to sin and the mercy would be of no benefit.

The Kingdom of Judah proved that they were not ready for the Saviour’s mercy to deliver them from the dominance of their enemies. When he manifested himself to them in the flesh, they rejected him “because of their iniquities, and the hardness of their hearts, and the stiffness of their necks” and they crucified Him instead (2 Nephi 25:12,13). The  salvation was offered but the repentance was still in embryo, unborn…the lesson of bondage and the loss of freedom not yet fully learnt and so it continues to this day with the price of hatred, killing and wars.

Because they despised the Holy One of Israel they have wandered in the flesh and perished, and become a hiss and a byword and been hated among all nations…but He will remember His covenants which he made to their fathers when they no more turn their hearts against him (1 Nephi 19:14,15)

As Israel, we have trodden worldly paths

That have left us battered, scarred,

And parched in search of love.

Our lovers were many but

Our hearts were empty.

At long last

We embrace the love that lasts,

We prepare for the wedding feast

And abandon our treacherous past.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN