WHEN THE ANGELS COME

 

There was a time in Joseph’s life when happiness outweighed the sorrows. Those were the Kirtland years. Joseph wrote that the saints 'patronised all the institutions of heaven' as they participated in weddings and such like joyful festivities (Donna Hill, "Joseph Smith, The First Mormon", p 194). The apex of their content was the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in March of 1836. It was the time when the angels came.

“A noise was heard like the sound of a rushing mighty wind, which filled the Temple, and all the congregation simultaneously arose, being moved upon by an invisible power; many began to speak in tongues and prophesy….and the Temple was filled with angels….The people of the neighbourhood came running together (hearing an unusual sound within, and seeing a bright light like a pillar of fire resting upon the Temple) and were astonished at what was taking place.

“The Saviour made his appearance to some, while angels ministered to others, and it was a Pentacost and an endowment indeed, long to be remembered, for the sound shall go forth from this place into all the world, and occurrences of this day shall be handed down upon the pages of sacred history, to all generations.” (“History of the Church”, 2:427-33)

Less than ten years later, the Church was under a cloud of darkness, dissension and apostasy with the dark spirit of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum hovering over Nauvoo while the saints were frantically attempting to finish the building of the Nauvoo temple. At the same time they were preparing their wagons for their trek into the westward unknown. They were poverty stricken, sick and desperate for the exodus. Despite the conditions of that period of darkness, the saints built a beautiful white sandstone edifice, towering over the countryside and visible for miles up and down the Mississippi.

“Part of the Nauvoo Temple was dedicated in October 1845, even before it was finished; and in December of that year, Brigham Young began to administer the temple ordinances day and night. Within a mere two months, the first company of wagons started across the frozen Mississippi, never to return.

"Within three years, the temple was burned by an arsonist, and two years later a tornado demolished what was left of it.” (Bruce C. Hafen, “The Believing Heart”, p 110-1). No angels came to the Nauvoo temple.

When the Saviour faced the moment of His crucible in the Garden of Gethsemane, an angel came to strengthen Him (Luke 22:43). And when He hung on the cross during the last three hours of that agonizing ordeal, all the pains and suffering of Gethsemane returned (see Bruce R. McConkie, “A New Witness for the Articles of Faith”, p 109). And no angel came.

Sometimes the angels will not come and you will have to go it alone. The heavens will be silent even though God is still watching and hoping this moment will be the making of you.

I am still unraveling the mystery of endurance….

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Artist Unknown)

FORERUNNERS

 

 

In the ancient world there were men who held an important job. They were required to go ahead of a travelling party to clear the path of fallen trees, rocks, undesirable persons or any obstacles that would prevent the travelling party from finishing their journey. They prepared the way. They were called 'forerunners'.

 

The most famous 'forerunner' to whom this title was applied symbolically was John the Baptist. Not much is known of John's personal life besides the role he played in the accomplishment of Christ's mission, but this much we do know. He was born to two elderly people according to God's promise to be 'the voice crying in the wilderness' to herald the arrival of one greater than he, as prophesied by Isaiah (40:3) and Malachi (3:1). Like Mary and Joseph, he was another noble son of God entrusted with an important earthly mission long before the world began.

 

When John the Baptist was two and a half years old a decree went out from Herod the king that all boy children two years and younger should be slain. John escaped this deadly fate because of the selfless courage of his father Zacharias who caused his wife Elizabeth to take him to the desert where he was raised to manhood. This move cost Zacharias his life.  (See Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p 261; Matthew 23:35).

 

So apart from his miraculous birth and a rough upbringing what we know most from the scriptures is that John's life was solely focused on being the 'forerunner' of the long-awaited Messiah. One might ask why the Son of God would need anyone to prepare the way before Him?

 

We know that first and foremost there needed to be a person with proper priesthood authority that could baptise Jesus, even though He needed no baptism. John had this priesthood power and authority from his righteous father who was a priest.

 

John's ministry also provided a nucleus of faithful baptised believers from whom Jesus could call His apostles. These were men already converted and ready to serve, hence their ability to walk away from their professions and families the instant the Saviour called them. Such was the power of John the Baptist, a martyr, who valiantly testified, taught and prepared the way and whom Jesus characterized as "a burning and a shining light" (John 5:35).

 

In my patriarchal blessing there is an interesting sentence that goes like this: "As you remain faithful to your trust, your guardian angels will never forsake you. They will go before you to 'prepare the way' and will be close to you and give you strength to resist evil."

 

As I studied about John the Baptist one year my thoughts were cast upon this sentence and I realised I had 'forerunners' in my life. I wondered how much harder I would have struggled in my life had not an obstacle been removed from my path here and there, a temptation repressed, a disaster averted, a hurtful incident prevented. I realised that I could very well have come this far more on the merits of my forerunners than on my own strength.

 

I believe we all have forerunners; those who have gone on before us who are invested in our success, our ancestors, who cry when we cry and rejoice when we rejoice, who are whispering to us when the jaws of hell try to destroy us, what Elisha of old said to his servant who trembled at the sight of the approaching Syrians:

 

"Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they 

that be with them"

 

And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee,

open his eyes, that he may see.

And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man;

and he saw:

and behold, the mountain was full of horses and

chariots of fire....."

 

2 Kings 6:16,17

 

Next time life overwhelms you, open your eyes and see your chariots of fire…..

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Ministering Angels by Wendy Keller)