THE LAW OF OBEDIENCE

 

I have heard it said that the most important of the Ten Commandments is the one you are struggling with the most. There is a lot of wisdom in that. In reality though, there are only two real commandments because they underlie all others.

The Saviour was asked during His earthly ministry which is the greatest of all the commandments. The Saviour replied: to love God and to love your neighbour….on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:37-40). If we obeyed these two commandments, there would be no need for any other and here is why:

“Any person who truly understands the implications for daily living that are part of the commandment to love God with all his heart, might, mind, and strength and to love his neighbour as himself, can function well with no additional laws. One does not need to warn a person who loves God properly about idolatry, for any act of worship not devoted to God would be naturally offensive to him.

“The prohibitions against stealing, adultery, murder, and so on are not required if a person truly loves his neighbour as himself, for to injure his neighbour in such ways would be unthinkable. But, of course, the vast majority of men fail to understand and keep these two commandments, and so the Lord has revealed many additional laws and rules to show specifically what the commandments require……. all such commandmnets do nothing more than define and support the two basic principles: all the law and the prophets are summarized in the two great commandments.”  (The Old Testament Student Manul p 186)

Moses spent 40 days on Mt Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments. Before he went he entered the children of Israel into a covenant of obedience. The covenant bound God to support, defend, and save them and the people were bound to God to fear, love, and serve him.

This covenant was written in the book of the covenant, a sacrifice was offered, half the blood was sprinkled on the people and the other half on the altar. The covenant was binding when the people proclaimed: “All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient” (Exodus 24:1-7).

You can only imagine the outrage Moses felt when he descended the mountain 40 days later to find the Israelites breaking the very first command by worshipping a golden calf. It is no wonder he broke the tablets of stone containing the commandments written by the finger of the Lord (Exodus 32:19).

Historians have speculated why the people turned away from the covenant so quickly. There is no scriptural explanation for this or Aaron’s seemingly unobjected fulfilment of the camp’s request for other gods to worship (ibid v 1-5). Their idolatry was a metaphorical ‘return’ to Egypt by worshipping an Egyptian highly revered idol of a cow but their greatest sin was giving the golden calf credit for bringing them out of Egypt (ibid v 4).

The Israelites paid a heavy price for breaking the covenant. Jehovah’s punishment caused 3,000 men to be slain (ibid v 27,28). Aaron also was nearly destroyed and was saved only through Moses’ intercession in his behalf (see Deuteronomy 9:20).

And Moses? He proved he truly was a prototype of Christ. He returned to the Lord and begged for Israel’s forgiveness, and if the forgiveness was not granted, he asked the Lord to blot out his name from the book of the covenant instead as intercession for the people’s sin (ibid v 31,32). The weight this man carried on his shoulders is astounding. But not nearly as heavy as the weight of the God of Israel.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Artist Unknown)

 

THE POWER OF PREPARATION

 

Joseph, the son of Jacob, would have to be the greatest example of the importance of preparation. Joseph started off as somewhat of an insufferable teenager. Not that he was unrighteous but because his advantages in early life were leading him to a possible path of pride. Here’s what I mean by that:

1.       He was favoured and most loved of all of his father’s children. He was the only one who was honoured with a coat of many colours which symbolized not only favouritism but high status in the ancient world  (Genesis 37:3). This alone had the potential of going to his head;

2.       He policed his brothers and reported their evil doings to his father (v 2);

3.       He bragged about his dreams of the prosperous future and leadership that they promised (v 5-10). This earned him the derision of his brothers who named him ‘the dreamer’ (v 19).

The favouritism, the self-righteousness, the revelations, all point to a teenage lack of humility and a slippery slide in the opposite direction. Joseph was 17 when his brothers cut him off from his home and sold him into servitude in Egypt but by the time he was 30 he was Egypt’s ruler (Genesis 37:2; 41:46). When his brothers arrived in Egypt to buy food, we see a different Joseph, a Joseph with a tender heart willing to forgive and yearning to embrace his brothers and re-unite with his family (Genesis 42:24; 43:24-31). This story alone is worth the weeping.

There was something wonderful about Joseph….besides his integrity and righteousness, he had an uncanny ability to make lemonade out of lemons. He possessed a positive attitude and God used this attribute to refine and teach him. Through his optimism Joseph could see and understand that his servitude in Egypt had a higher purpose, that of saving the entire House of Israel (Genesis 45:5-8). There was no pride in this admission, only credit and honour to God.

This was the preparation of Joseph, a prolific figure in the patriarchal line and a prototype of the promised Messiah. His life heralds the exciting and complicated history of the House of Israel that we belong to. Knowing the patriarchs and the people who shaped this history is a privilege we should consider to be of immense worth.

Sometimes God is preparing us for something great when it least seems like it…. “He has the ability to turn everything into something good. This is a godly characteristic. Everything, no matter how dire, becomes a victory to the Lord” (Hartman Rector Jr., “Live Above the Law To Be Free”, Ensign Jan 1973, p 130). It reminds me of this poem by Benjamin Malachi Franklin:

My life is but a weaving between my God and me,

I cannot choose the colours, He weaveth skillfully.

Oft times He weaveth sorrow; And I in foolish pride

Forget He sees the upper and I the underside.

Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly

Will God unroll the canvas and reveal the reason why

The dark threads are as needful in the weaver’s skillful hand

As the threads of gold and silver

In the pattern He has planned.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Joseph of Egypt by Michael T. Malm)

SACRIFICE OF THE HEART

 

“A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation….” (Joseph Smith, “Lectures On Faith”, N.B. Lundwall, pp 57-59)

“He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and follows not after me, is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37,38)

In the still of the night, God called on Abraham and asked of him a supreme sacrifice which became the crowning event of his life: “Abraham, take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of” (Genesis 22:1,2)

”God bids him sacrifice his only son, the one link which there was between himself and the promise that his posterity should be as the dust of the ground and the stars of heaven in number: He bids him sacrifice Isaac whom he loved, towards whom his heart yearned with infinite tenderness, who had made his home bright and joyous, and to lose him who would be the darkening of all the days he had yet to live.” (Goldman, “In the Beginning”, 792, quoting J.H. Blunt)

Joseph Smith has said that “if God had known any other way whereby he could have touched Abraham’s feelings more acutely and more deeply He would have done so.” (“Journal of Discourses” 14:360)

And so Abraham rose early, and without murmuring or complaining, and taking his son Isaac, began a three-day journey to the hill country of Moriah carrying a secret in the deepest recesses of his heart which demanded numerous explanations he could not provide.

But the explanation did come….after proof that Abraham would sacrifice his heart for the God he loved: “By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore….and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:16-18)

So it was God’s design to bless Abraham through the greatest trial known to man and the greatest lesson He can teach us…..He will ask for the highest in us….our heart. The sacrifice has to equal the greatness of the reward. Abraham now sits on his throne having received that greatest reward from the God of heaven, his exaltation (D&C 132:29).

The prototype of the Saviour in this story is not to be overlooked. Genesis does not mention any struggle of Isaac against his father whom he believed impeccably that his sacrifice was God’s wish and command. This was not obedience by a young child, as some early sources claim that Isaac was well into adulthood (E. Douglas Clark, “Blessings of Abraham” p 207).

This was a reconciliation to death born out of perfect and complete love for the father. Isaac was the prototype of Him who long ago possessed such a love and promised without ever recanting: “Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever” (Moses 4:2).

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: The King by David Bowman)

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)

 

 

JOSEPH THE PROTOTYPE

 

There is an interesting perspective on Joseph of Egypt in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha which contains the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. These ancient writings are not approved by the Church so they are not doctrine but this story of Joseph offers some tender considerations. 

 

In the Testament of Joseph, he writes this: “For my brothers know how much my father loved me, yet I was not puffed up in my thoughts. Even while I was a child I had the fear of God in my heart, for I understood that all things pass away. I did not arouse myself with evil design, but HONOURED my brothers, and out of regard for them even when they sold me I was silent rather than tell the Ishmaelites that I was the son of Jacob, a great and righteous man.” (p 822) 

 

Joseph goes on to say that the Ishmaelites, who his brothers sold him to, did not believe that he was a slave because of his comely and well-kept appearance but Joseph assured them he was because he did not want to bring disgrace upon his brothers for what they had done. When the Ishmaelites left him in Egypt with a trader until their return and he fell into possession of Pentephris, the third in rank of Pharaoh’s officers, Pentephris also didn’t believe that Joseph was a slave yet Joseph persisted in this erroneous story. And here the story thickens and just blows my mind. When the Ishmaelites returned to Egypt and caught up with Joseph again they told him they discovered who he was: a son of a great man in Canaan who is mourning greatly for his son in sackcloth and ashes and demanded of him that he admit who he was,  for they feared that Jacob would avenge himself on them. Joseph merely replied: “I know nothing, I am a slave” (p 823). Imagine his return to his father and his home within his grasp yet Joseph’s one concern was that he did not want to dishonour his brothers and bring disgrace upon them. This seems very plausible when you consider the importance the  ancients placed on honour (Genesis 37:9,10). If this story is true, Joseph’s integrity is astounding. 

 

Because of his integrity, at great personal cost , Joseph saved the rest of his father’s children and thus became a great prototype of the Saviour. This prototype is also seen in his willingness to forgive his brothers for the suffering they had caused him, as is his acceptance of that suffering which was for a greater good (Genesis 45:5-8). 

 

When we sustained the Father’s Firstborn as our Saviour, we had full confidence in the integrity of His character. We knew without a shadow of a doubt that He could and would save us, without fail. We knew no matter how bitter the cup, He would drink it;  no matter how excruciating the pain, He would suffer it; no matter how dark and wide the jaws of hell, He would deliver us from it and no matter how scarlet the sin, He would forgive it. This Easter, may our hearts turn to Him in repentance for the suffering we had caused Him and may we in return, consecrate our hearts to Him now and forever. 

 

I stand all amazed

That You would offer Your sinless heart

For every sinful soul.

That You would deem us worthy 

And still suffer so.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

Art: Finding The One by Matthew Warren