MINISTERING

Have you ever wondered why the two greatest commandments are to first to love God and second to love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40)? It is obvious that we need to love God so that this love would motivate us to obey his commandments and thus set ourselves on the course to eternal life. It is equally obvious that we need to love others so that we could become like Christ, once again to set us on the course to eternal life. There is a good reason however why these two commandments stand side by side. Consider President Benson's take on this: "The world largely ignores the first and great commandment - to love God - but talks a lot about loving their brother....But only those who know and love God can best love and serve his children, for only God fully understands his children and knows what is best for their welfare. Therefore, one needs to be in tune with God to best help his children...If you desire to help your fellowmen the most, then you must put the first commandment first. When we fail to put the love of God first, we are easily deceived by crafty men who profess a great love of humanity" (Ezra Taft Benson, CR Oct 1967, p 35)

We live in a world of political correctness where the philosophy of kindness has replaced the importance of religion and a God centered life. One such example is the teachings of Dalai Lama whose popularity and influence has grown exponentially over the recent years:
"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." (Dalai Lama)
It is not my wish to disparage any religion here but rather to elevate the importance of placing God in our lives first so that we can better serve and love one another. Kindness is well and good and obviously necessary but it is not the tool by which we can help change lives and alleviate someone's suffering by bringing them to the fountain of all healing which is Christ. Kindness is just the beginning.

I noticed through my years of being a single mother that I and the other single mothers I have known have had a different response to the same situation we found ourselves in. Why is that? Because we are all unique with different capabilities, understanding and strengths of character. Well did Dr Seus say that 'there is no one youer than you'. From this period of my life I have concluded that nobody can support and sustain me better than God Himself. And here is the important part of this. God the Father understands and knows us best not only because He knew us long before we were embodied in mortality but because of the Atonement of His Son who has felt, experienced and gained first hand insight into every being that has ever lived and ever will walk the face of this earth. I had a priesthood blessing recently in which I was told that the Father knew all that I was experiencing in my present situation because the Saviour Himself has told Him so. This is a pretty powerful foundation for one's faith in God and his watchful providence.

If we want to be under-shepherds ministering to one another as the Saviour himself would do, we need to pay close attention to what He has to tell us about those that we serve. For one simple reason: there is no depths of pain that He hasn't suffered; there is no extent of sorrow that He hasn't felt; there is no degree of difficulty that He hasn't experienced. The depths of all human suffering is known to Him and Him alone. He is the Healer, He is the Rescuer, He is the Balm of Gilead.

WHOM DO YE SAY THAT I AM?

The Sermon on the Mount offers us an interesting lesson besides the obvious one by which Jesus declared He was the Bread of Life. The Gospel of Matthew records that 5,000 men plus women and children (Matthew 14:21) had followed Christ to the mount to hear His words. When the evening drew nigh and the time of departure had come (JST Mark 6:36) all three gospels record that the Twelve came to Jesus and told Him to send the crowds away to go and buy victuals and feed themselves (Luke 9:12). However, John's version differs slightly. John recorded that Jesus said to Philip, one of the Twelve, "Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do." (John 6:5,6). It's almost as if He was saying: Ask me to feed this people out of nothing; Ask me to perform a miracle; Ask me to show you that I am the Christ. Could it be that the miracle of feeding 5,000+ was as much for the benefit of his disciples' conviction of His divinity as it was for His declaration of being the Bread of Life? If Philip's conviction was iron clad his answer would have been: "You are the Christ, You can feed these people because you can do all things". Philip answered instead that even two hundred pennyworth of bread was not enough to feed them so the problem remained unsolved, until the Saviour offered a solution.

Luke records immediately after the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus asked the Twelve the crucial question: "Whom say the people that I am?" (Luke 9:18)  They came back with various answers according to people's opinions. Then Jesus asked a more personal and direct question: "But whom say YE that I am?" And Peter straightway answered: "The Christ of God", Christ being the title of Greek translation of "The Anointed One". Thus Peter's answer was: "Thou art the Anointed One of God" (Luke 9:20).

A long time ago I heard this poignant saying: "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence?" This question of course highlights the importance of us living Christian lives. But anybody can perform acts  of Christian values out of the goodness of their hearts. Of us as members of the elect House of Israel we should ask this question: "If you were arrested for being a Christian, is there enough evidence that you know Christ?" Our lives should reflect our deep knowledge and conviction of His character and attributes which has been manifest through our faith in Him and all He can do. Have we enough proof in our personal lives that He forgives sins; that He heals our hearts; that He performs miracles; that He provides and watches over us; that He is a lamp unto our feet; that the power of His Atonement has wrought a change in our hearts; that we are encircled about in the arms of His love? If we were tested as Philip was, we should be able to answer: "You are God, you can do all things".

When the Saviour comes again, He might ask each one of us "Who do you say that I am?" and we will not be able to rely on other people's knowledge of Him. Our own conviction will need to be such that we will be able to say:

Thou art the Christ and there is none else.....

Thou art the Redeemer and there is none else...

Thou art the Saviour and there is none else.....

Thou art the Lord and there is none else....

Thou art the Anointed One and there is none else.....

Thou art  God and there is none else.....

(Isaiah 45)

A WOMAN'S WORTH

There is a story in the Old Testament that would no doubt enrage the feminists of our day. It is the story of Esther. This story unfolds in Babylon around 478 B.C. under the rule of Persian King Ahasuerus, known in history as  Xerxes (Greek form of his name). After showing off the wealth of his kingdom to all the princes and nobles of Persia and Media in the third year of his reign, King Xerxes made a seven day feast for everyone that was found in Shushan palace, both great and small (Esther 1:5). After seven days of limitless drinking  (Esther 1:8), the King commanded that Queen Vashti present herself and show her beauty to all present. The Queen did the unthinkable, and for some unknown reason, refused. Perhaps she felt it was beneath her to parade herself in front of a bunch of unruly drunkards or maybe the feminists among us would suggest she did not support objectifying  of women. There could be another side to this story however. This King was obscenely rich, so much so that it took him 180 days to show off the riches of his kingdom (Esther 1:4). It could very well be that he valued his queen above all that he had and saved the best for last. In his mind he was probably paying her a compliment by showing her off and maybe even feeling proud that he could have a wife such as this.

Vashti's stuborness did not do her any favours. What followed next could by today's standards be deemed the worst case of suppression of women. The story goes on to say that seven princes, which sat first in the kingdom, realised that if the queen refused to obey her husband, that all the women in the kingdom would follow suit so they decided to make an example of Vashti and convinced the king to do away with her (Esther 1:15-22). By one act of assertion she became a whole new threat to the patriarchal order of life. Once the Queen was done away with and the King came to his senses he realised he no longer had a queen. His servants however, came up with a solution. They suggested that all the 'fair young virgins' be paraded before him to select another queen. Here is another case of objectifying of women, because they were chosen for their beauty. Could it be however that it was considered that a man's value increased by being married to a beautiful and pure woman? Certainly purity in women, once highly valued, is something greatly missing from our liberated society. When we read the scriptures, it is plain to see that men's worth was calculated by how many children he had, sons in particular who could carry on the paternal lineage. Would it not make sense that mothers of those children were equally valued as were the wives of those sons who could not continue the family line without them?

As we know a Jewish girl by the name of Esther was chosen for her outstanding beauty to marry King Xerxes. I doubt very much that she had any say in whether she wanted to marry this man but I dare say this opportunity would have been considered a stroke of fortune in the ancient world. Which would have been better? Being a Jewish captive in a foreign land or the queen of that land? Now here's the interesting thing....Esther was marrying outside the covenant which was a big no no for Jews. There is a heart wrenching story in Ezra 10 about the exiles who returned to Jerusalem from Babylon and who started inter-marrying with the heathen women of the land. When Ezra got there with the second party of returning exiles and discovered this he was so horrified he pulled the hair out of his head and wept and cast himself before the temple Ezra 9:3, 10:1). Why was he so distraught? Because men that married outside of their faith followed the religious convictions of their wives and Ezra knew this would lead his people back to idolatry and the God of Israel would not be pleased..... So strongly did Ezra fear this that he convinced these men to give up their heathen wives and even the children they had by them (Ezra 10). In my opinion this is one of the saddest stories of the Old Testament. Even King Solomon was not exempt from this weakness and succumbed to his wives' idol worship in his old age (1 Kings 11:1-10).

But in Esther's case, the roles were reversed. She was a God fearing woman and the man in her situation was the heathen. Esther did not seem to be at risk of abandoning her faith. She kept her religion and continued to worship the God of heaven. She did not adopt her husband's religious practices. I am not saying here that men are weak and highly impressionable and that women are stronger than them. What I am saying is this....When God gave a commandment in the beginning that a man should leave his mother and father and 'cleave unto his wife' (Genesis 2:24) I believe that somehow this became a very literal mandate for men, with women being given the advantage and privilege of influence.....as was proven by Esther who saved her entire nation from annihilation (Esther 8). And now here is the greatest lesson for us women....did Esther rely on her beauty and her womanly wiles to convince King Xerxes not to kill her people? She could have done that. The King was clearly smitten by her to the point that he would have granted her every wish and given her even half of his kingdom (Esther 5:3,6; 7:2). Instead of relying on her womanhood, Esther employed God's assistance in her influence over the king. She designated a three day fast for all the Jews in the kingdom and offered two banquets to the King and his right hand man Haman who was intent on Jewish annihilation. The 24 hours in between those two banquets was crucial because during that time the King had a sudden desire to read the records which threw a light on the situation at hand. This desire was obviously inspired from above (Esther 6). The fasting of Esther and her people brought the Lord into the situation. It's a rather lengthy story but a highly entertaining one. The whole event is celebrated even today among the Jews through the Feast of Purim all because of the power of a righteous woman.

We are enjoying freedoms today never before known to women. With this comes a great responsibility.  Our influence knows no bounds. We can tear down or build up. We can inspire or degrade. We can soften men's hearts or lead them to destruction. We can lead them away from truth or bring them to God. Such is the power of women. Mordecai, a relative who raised Esther, suggested to her that she was probably raised up at that time to save her people, that she was foreordained for such 'a time as this' (Esther 4:14). Esther in Persian tongue means 'a star'.   She honoured her name well for she was no doubt there when 'the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy' (Job 38:7). We, noble women of the covenant were there too, foreordained for such a time as this, to lift humanity to higher ground, to prepare for the great day of the Lord when He shall come in His glory to save His people Israel. We were the morning stars sent to support, love and influence our husbands, our sons and our brothers to be the sons of  God now and forever.

IT IS UP TO US

Jeremiah lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem

by Rembrandt

The biggest heroes of the scriptures are the ones that make things happen. They are workers who understand that God's will is up to His children to put into effect. When we read scriptural prophecies we tend to think that God will miraculously make things happen or that someone else will suddenly appear to fulfil the promises God has made.

Daniel of the Old Testament is a good example of making things happen. As we know he lived in Babylonian captivity in service to heathen kings for most of his life. He was very much devoted to the God of Israel and had Israel's welfare at heart. He eagerly hung onto the Lord's promise that Israel's captivity would last only 70 years (Jeremiah 29:10). It is suggested by historians that when Cyrus, the king of Persia, conquered Babylon that he found Daniel there in his governmental capacity,  and that Daniel  pointed out to him the prophecy of Isaiah that was given 140 years before the fall of Jerusalem, that the Lord would raise up a mighty king who would free the Jewish captives in Babylon and allow them to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and the holy city. Isaiah even named Cyrus by name.....210 years before he even appeared in Babylon. Astonishing isn't it? It certainly was to Cyrus because he freed the Jews and allowed 50,000 of them to return to Jerusalem. The rest chose to stay until Ezra's second party of 17,000 some years later after the construction project was completed. It is significant here to note that Daniel who so loved his homeland and his heritage did not choose to return to Jerusalem but chose to remain in Babylon to continue to serve God in a foreign land. The point is this. Daniel in all likelihood played a huge part in this historical event. This theory can be supported by another example of Daniel's doing.

When the Jews returned to Jerusalem and began rebuilding the temple, they encountered bitter opposition from Samaritans who reasoned that they should be involved in the project. Because Samaritans were not pure Israelites and had practised a variant religion of Jehovah worship heavily intermingled with pagan and other unauthorised religious practices, the Jews refused. In retaliation the Samaritans influenced the Persian kings who succeeded Cyrus to halt the rebuilding project for 17 years. In steps Daniel again. In the first year of King Darius, Daniel again petitioned the Lord about Jeremiah's prophecy. Daniel 9:17-19 shows Daniel's prayerful concern for the unfinished temple and the city of Jerusalem. The Lord answered Daniel and raised two prophets in Jerusalem: Haggai and Zechariah. You might wonder how prophets could finish construction of anything, right?? You might wonder why God didn't send someone with political clout, negotiation expertise or even military power....but instead he sent two of his servants to finish the job....and finish they did....Haggai alone showed the Jews exactly why they were not able to finish the project. He taught them that all temporal problems arise out of spiritual weakness and that if they would put God first, they would extricate themselves from abject poverty they were in which was their main problem.  It makes for compelling reading. These two prophets instructed the governor Zerubbabel, the high priest Jeshua and the Jewish people how to complete the temple in spite of persecution, poverty and governmental red tape (Haggai 1:1-5, 12-14; Zechariah 4:9, Ezra 6:14). Even though these two prophets got the job done, in reality, this began with Daniel and was his doing.

President Kimball prayed and petitioned the Lord repeatedly regarding the priesthood for the black members of the Church. I am sure President Nelson did the same regarding the many changes he has brought in since his calling. They didn't sit back and think things will happen out of thin air. The state of Christ's Kingdom when we present it to Him upon His coming will depend on us. The Church as an administrative body takes care of the physical entity of the Kingdom but we, its' member body take care of its spiritual condition. We must consider this our responsibility because we will be the ones to usher in the Millenium. The scriptures state that at the beginning of the Millenium Satan will be bound and will have no power for 1,000 years. This loss of power will not be because God will bind him in chains and throw him in a dungeon but because we, God's saints and disciples of Christ, will be so spiritually strong that he will simply have no power over us and will therefore no longer have a role to play. We will simply make him irrelevant.

When the Jews returned to Jerusalem to rebuild, the first thing they built was the altar of the temple, even before the foundation of the temple was laid (Ezra 3:1-6). They knew that the altar was the heart of the temple and the temple was the heart of the Jewish religious life.  Our temples today dot the earth, and all without much sacrifice from us. Our temples set us apart from other religions, they make us a 'peculiar people' to the world and a 'peculiar treasure' to the Lord (Exodus 19:5). They provide us with spiritual backbone through our obedience to its covenants. It is in the temples of our God that we will be armed with His power to bind Satan and to become a holy people (D&C 109:22); and it is in the temples that we will find refuge from the storm that is yet to come upon the saints of God in the last days. Consider Elder Featherstone's words:

"Before the Saviour comes the world will darken. There will come a period of time where even the elect will lose hope if they do not come to the temples. The world will be so filled with evil that the righteous will only feel secure within its walls. The saints will come here not only to do vicarious work but to find a haven of peace. The covenants and ordinances will fill us with faith as a living fire. In a day of desolating sickness, scorched earth, barren wastes, sickening plagues, disease, destruction and death, we as a people will rest in the shade of trees, we will drink from the cooling fountains. We will abide in places of refuge from the storm; we will mount up as on eagles' wings; we will be lifted out of an insane and evil world. We will be as fair as the sun ad clear as the moon. When the Saviour comes He will honour His people. Those who are spared and prepared will be a temple-loving people. They will know Him. Our children will bow down at His feet and worship Him as the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. They will bathe His feet with their tears and He will weep, and bless them for having suffered through the greatest trials known to man. Let us prepare them with the faith to surmount every trial and every condition. We will do it in these holy, sacred temples." (Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone, Manti Temple, April 1987)

May we worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in our hearts, in our homes and in our temples that we may possess God's power and ever remember that "we have a labour to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay to conquor the enemy of all righteousness." (Moroni 9:6)

KING OF ALL KINGDOMS

I love history. I particularly love finding connections to people across the span of time. Many prophets of old were given to know us and our day through visions and dreams and God given revelations. One such prophet was Daniel who was taken to Babylon around 605 B.C. Daniel lived in captivity for 70 years and served 5 heathen kings. Because of his righteousness he rose to such prominence that he was made governor of all the Jews in Babylon. He prophesied and interpreted dreams of kings with boldness and worshipped the God of Israel without fear. He is mostly known for surviving the lion's den into which he was thrown, for which survival king Darius called him 'Daniel, servant of the living God' (Daniel 6:20). So in Daniel we mainly see immense power, until we read the recordings of his own dreams and visions which pertained not only to his time but to the time which we the latter-day saints live in. Then we see a man heavily burdened with knowledge which tugged at his heart for the scriptures record that Daniel was grieved in his spirit, that the visions of his head troubled him and his countenance changed in him forever (Daniel 7:15, 28).  What could have brought such grief to so great a man?

Chapter 7 of Daniel is a record of a dream that Daniel had of four major ancient empires: Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman. We know from Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a great image in chapter 2 that the Roman empire was destroyed and replaced by a powerful European group of ten nations. This dream was about the latter days in which a 'stone was cut out of the mountain without hands' (Daniel 2:45) which consumed all the other kingdoms of the earth. We know of course that this stone is the Kingdom of God on earth, meaning the Church. The visions of Daniel as opposed to kings' dreams should, however, hold a particular interest for us because they go further than the establishment of the Church. The first recorded dream which Daniel had talks about a beast with ten horns, meaning the Roman empire which becomes replaced by ten powerful European nations, as already mentioned. What is particularly interesting is that Daniel saw another horn come up on this beast. This horn is described as a 'little horn' (Daniel 7:8) and does not seem to represent an earthly government or nation so it does not seem to have any political or secular power. However, it does have a terrible power of its own.  This is the  power of an anti-Christ that would rise up and that would make war with the saints of God util the time of Christ's Second Coming (Daniel 7:20-27). What must have pointedly struck at the heart of Daniel is in verse 21 which states that this power prevailed against the saints....until the Ancient of Days, meaning Adam, shall come to Adam-ondi-Ahman to hand over the kingdom to the King of all kings, to Him to whom the kingdom rightly belongs. Why is this a sad story if Christ triumphs in the end? Because when the anti-Christ power wages war against the Saints, many of us will be lost (Daniel 11:32-34). With the latest changes, the Church is placing the responsibility of our testimonies upon our own shoulders, attempting to prepare us for a worse time to come when the saints will be persecuted and many of us will not stand. We will not stand if we do not take this responsibility to heart and center ourselves on the Saviour of the world and His Kingdom. This can already be seen by many who have recently left the Church, whose testimonies were not able to survive the subtle manipulations of the anti-Christ power of our day.
There is another important reason why we need to spiritually invest in ourselves. Without us, there is no kingdom. We, the saints of latter-days are preparing the kingdom in which Christ will reign. Consider Elder LeGrand Richards' take on this:

"When I was president of the Southern States Mission, one of our missionaries preached on that dream of Nebuchadnezzar in one of our meetings where we had some investigators, and I stood at the door to greet them as they went out. A man came up and introduced himself as a minister and he said, 'You don't mean to tell me that you think the Mormon Church is that kingdom, do you?' And I said, 'Yes sir, why not?'. He said, 'It couldn't be.' I said, 'Why couldn't it?' And he said, 'You can't have a kingdom without a king, and you don't have a king, so you don't have a kingdom'. 'Oh', I said, 'my friend, you didn't read far enough. You just read the seventh chapter of Daniel, where Daniel saw one like the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, "and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him" (Daniel 7:14). 'Now', I said, 'my friend, tell me how can the kingdom be given to him when he comes in the clouds of heaven if there is no kingdom prepared for him? That is what we Latter-day Saints are doing." (In CR Oct 1975, pp 76-77 or Ensign Nov 1975, p 51)

When the heavens opened and John the Beloved saw the Saviour appearing on a white horse whose eyes were as a flame of fire, he also saw that upon His head sat many crowns (Revelation 19:12). These crowns no doubt will represent that He is the King of all kingdoms. And these crowns will be adorned with valuables without price, meaning those who have overcome and endured with faith, those who will welcome Him as their King, those of which the Saviour has said "they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels......." (Malachi 3:17). We shall be His  and He will be ours, the begotten Father of our spirits, the Saviour of our souls, the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.....

FORERUNNER

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). 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. When Zacharias refused to disclose his hiding place he was slain by Herod's order, between the temple and the altar as he performed his temple duties (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. His father Zacharias would have been the high priest had that office not been corrupted earlier in Jews' history by making it a political appointment reserved primarily for those of wealth and prominence. Upon his death, John would have been the next reigning high priest. The leadership in Jerusalem, including the Pharisees, scribes, Sadducees and the Sanhedrin knew who John was and what his lineage was. Therefore, his teaching of the Saviour's coming, the gospel, the performing of miracles and baptising would have created a fertile environment for Jesus as He began his ministry. If there was no John beforehand to vouch for and testify of Him, the leadership in Jerusalem and indeed the Jewish population would not have recognized Jesus as having any authority or position as He was a carpenter without any acknowledged political or religious standing. John's ministry also provided a nucleus of faithful baptised believers from whom he 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).

And here is an interesting fact. Even though Jesus and John were cousins and John testified of Him unrelentessly, it can be assumed that he didn't really know Him directly. The only time prior to the baptism that they would have been in close contact would be in Bethleham before they were 3 years old and before Herod's death decree. After that Jesus grew up in Nazareth and John was raised in Perea, on the east side of Jordan. In JST of John chapter 1, John says that he knew Him but was told by 'Him' who sent him to baptise that he shall know the Messiah when he sees the spirit descending upon Him following baptism (John 1:33, 34). He might have been told prior to baptism that it was his cousin but he might not have recognized Him when he saw Him without divine assistance. The Holy Ghost descending upon Jesus like a dove was both a confirmation to John of the Saviour's identity and a spiritual witness of His Sonship.

Here is the crux of this story. 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 this 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 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. If we are sincerely striving to accomplish our life's mission, our guardian angels will ensure that obstacles of any kind will not be keep us from accomplishing the purposes of our second estate. And one day when we look back on our lives we will plainly see just how much these guardian angels have helped us and we will be compelled to say as 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

I attribute and credit some insight and phraseology in this blog post to my friend Larry Keeler who has enlarged my understanding of the scriptures many times.

IN HIS PROTECTIVE ARMS

The lessons I am learning from ancient Israel continue to enthral me. My latest admiration is for the prophet Ezekiel who was a contemporary of Jeremiah and Daniel. Whereas Jeremiah was a prophet sent to Judah's kings and leaders soon to be conquered and Daniel, a prophet sent to preach to the conquerors, Ezekiel was called of God to be "a watchman unto the house of Israel" (Ezekiel 33:7). Ezekiel was of priestly lineage and was carried away to Babylon during the first siege of Jerusalem in 601 BC. As a prophet called to preach to the exiles and captives, the Lord laid upon him an immense burden of calling to repentance what He constantly referred to "a rebellious house" and an "impudent and hardhearted people" (Ezekiel 2:4-7; 3:6-7). The house of Judah had become so wicked that the Lord asked Jeremiah,  "do you not see what they are doing in the streets of Jerusalem? The children are gathering wood, the fathers are kindling fire and the women make cakes for offerings to other gods. Don't pray for them or try to make intercession for them for I will not hear you." (Jeremiah 7:16-18). Considering the Saviour's immensely merciful character, it would have taken a lot for Him to say this. This is a good indication that Judah had reached the point of no return as far as repentance was concerned and they were ripe for destruction. As a result Jerusalem was sacked by the Chaldeans three times before Christ and by the Romans in 70 A.D. 

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Chaldeans (Babylon), had hoped to subdue the kingdom of Judah twice and requested they pay him homage but the kings of Judah would not submit and instead sought political alliance with Egypt, something that Jeremiah warned them not to do. By the third siege Nebuchadnezzar had had enough. He built a wall around Jerusalem so no one could escape and no supplies could be brought in. The siege lasted 18 months. The starvation of the people was so severe they resorted to cannibalism. By the time Nebuchadnezzar had finished, Jerusalem was levelled to rubble. Ezekiel was shown in visions all the perversions of the Jews and the winding up scenes of the total destruction of Jerusalem. So horrendous were his visions that they made him weep. Following his visions the Lord instructed him to teach the people in exile of what was happening in Jerusalem through the most intricate object lessons. No internet for him to make things easier..... The first eleven chapters of Ezekiel speak of these object lessons and the horrors that befell Jerusalem. In these eleven chapters Jehovah says “ye shall know that I am the Lord” 17 times. It makes for heart wrenching reading....

Why did the Lord bother to let those in exile, who had been saved because they were less wicked, know what was happening in Jerusalem? The answer is obvious: to teach them to repent. The most fascinating lesson that lies within the chapters of Ezekiel is that the Lord did not turn His back on the house of Judah in captivity and left them to suffer the consequences of their sins. He ensured their exile would bring them to the point of repentance. He proved through Ezekiel that His mercy will always step in to save His chosen people and that His constant focus is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). So effective was His teaching that the Jewish people never again returned to idolatry. It was in exile that Judah remembered their God and became over zealous for His laws. It was a great turning point in Israel's religious life. Their repentance was complete, the lesson learnt.

The lesson from this period of history is clear: it is best not to sin for as sure as we do, we will suffer. However, there will be a way back, if we do not reach the point of no return, the Lord in His mercy will turn our suffering into a learning curve to assist us to repent and return to the embrace of His protective arms.  He will not forsake His chosen people. He will always do His part to bring us back. The rest will be up to us. He is our God and we are His people.

I have a list of ancient prophets I admire which keeps getting longer the more I study the scriptures. With each prophet I recognise the burdens of their calling. These I admire the most:

Abraham for his utter devotion to God;

Joseph for his powerful leadership and success;

Jeremiah for his suffering and persistent ministry despite it all;

Lehi for being a dreamer;

John the Beloved for being the Beloved;

and now Ezekiel for being a watchman to the house of Israel.....

The burdens they carried,

the hardships they endured,

I am in awe.....