GOD'S REST

"The ancient prophets speak of 'entering into God's rest'; what does it mean? To my mind, it means entering into the knowledge and love of God, having faith in His purpose and His plan, to such an extent that we know we are right,that we are not hunting for something else, we are not disturbed by every wind of doctrine....The man who has reached that degree of faith in God that all doubt and fear have been cast from him, he has entered into 'God's rest'....rest from doubt, from fear, from apprehension of danger, rest from the religious turmoil of the world....."

- President Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p 58

And when we leave this life, having honoured our second estate with valour, having endured the crosses of the world, we shall go to 'a state of rest, a state of peace, where we shall rest from all our troubles, and from all care, and sorrow" (Alma 40:12)

- Cathryne Allen

SACRAMENTAL FEAST

I have sat at my daughter's kitchen table twice as my son-in-law reverently blessed the sacrament. Each time I did so I felt extremely emotional and truly understood the spirit of this sacred occasion. And each time I sat there I was reminded of the very first Sacrament where the Saviour sat at just such an ordinary table and blessed the emblems of His sacrifice. For Him there was no chapel with cushy seats, no organ to assist the song, no  fluffy white bread to pleasure the tongue. As my son-in-law passed the sacrament to me on the kitchen plate I came to know what it means to 'eat His body' as I have eaten off that kitchen plate before. Never before have I felt so close to the Saviour during Sacrament as I have at my daughter's kitchen table.

Elder Bruce Hafen says that physical assimilation of the sacrament emblems creates 'a spiritual umbilical cord between Christ and the children of Christ' (The Belonging Heart, p 147). It is through this cord, symbolised by the Sacrament, that the fruits of the Atonement are manifest in our lives. Of course this can only happen if we sincerely covenant each Sunday that we will stay obedient to our spiritually begotten Father in keeping His commandments.

The Saviour not only instituted the Sacrament in Jerusalem prior to His death, but also during His visit to the Americas. The second time that He blessed and passed the Sacrament He did not ask His disciples to provide the bread and wine. Instead, He miraculously produced it Himself (3 Nephi 20:2-7). Some historians have speculated that He did so because the wine which the disciples provided the first time might not have been red enough to symbolise Christ's blood, as ancient American wines were produced from a number of different fruit and not necessarily grapes. In our day and age we do not use grape juice of any degree of fermentation in our Sacrament. We use water. I am glad. I was raised on water from the well in our backyard in Croatia. I couldn't do without water and no amount of juice is a substitute for me. Water is life. And in the Sacramental cup it becomes living water that only Christ can give me. When I see the the Sacramental feast before me, I know I will be as one with Him and I will live with Him forever.

As the communal restrictions tighten, I can no longer sit at my daughter's table. I sorrow, hoping the communion I received there with Christ will last until I can again sit on the chapel's seat waiting to receive my weekly feast.  At this Easter time, as we are once again reminded of the unfathomable sacrifice performed on our behalf, may we never again take for granted our weekly privilege to renew afresh our devotion and commitment to Him who has hung on the cross for us.

BE NOT AFRAID BUT BE GLAD

I have for many years now used the scriptures as God's private messages to me. Each morning after I pray I randomly open the scriptures whilst still kneeling to see what the Lord has to tell me in answer to my daily petitions. I have been amazed 99% of the time how pertinent the page that falls open has been to my heavenly communion. As my scriptures are heavily marked, my eye is usually drawn to those passages that obviously stand out. Sometimes it seems strange to me that I have marked certain scriptures years previously that seem random but they make sense when they become answers to my prayers. 

The page that my scriptures fell open to this morning was like a salve to my sagging spirits in this time of unrelenting sadness and fear that is gripping the world. The page my scriptures opened to was chapter 2 of Joel that speaks of war and desolation preceding the Second Coming. My highlighted scriptures were as follows:

" ...turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping and with mourning:
.....and rend your heart.....And repent, and turn unto the Lord your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and HE WILL TURN AWAY THE EVIL FROM YOU......Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.......Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God...And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered......And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, AND NONE ELSE.....

May we rend our hearts in fasting tomorrow to the one true and living God whose arm is not shortened when petitioned for deliverance and may we be chastened by the world's upheavals to prepare ourselves for His coming when He shall bring peace, health, prosperity and joy to the pure in heart who seek Him and await His coming.

- Cathryne Allen

THE APPLE OF HIS EYE

There was a prophet in Israel by the name of Zenos who lived between the time of Abraham and Isaiah and who was martyred for his testimony (Helaman 8:19,20) of whom the Bible does not speak. We know of this prophet because of the brass plates which were taken to the land of the Americas with Lehi and his colony in 600 B.C. Nephi used the prophecies of Zenos extensively in his ministry among his people because Zenos testified largely concerning this broken off branch of the tribe of Joseph 'who were a remnant of his seed', meaning Zenos was of the tribe of Joseph himself (3 Nephi 10:15,16).

So important did Nephi's brother Jacob consider the prophecies of Zenos that he painstakingly engraved Zenos' allegory of the olive tree onto the small plates of Nephi even though he reiterated he could only write 'a few words' because of the difficulty of engraving upon plates  (Jacob 4:1,2). Why is this allegory with its' complexities and intricacies which makes readers skip Jacob 5 so important? Firstly, it is the greatest allegory ever recorded; secondly it, in my opinion stamps the Book of Mormon with authenticity and truth for no mortal man, without the inspiration of God, could have written it. It not only proves that Zenos was a prophet  but that Joseph Smith was one too, a prophet who translated the Book of Mormon as opposed to having written it himself. Not only would the scope of this literary work have been beyond his level of education, Joseph, even though a farmer, could not have known anything about olive trees as they are not native to America. The first seedlings of the tree were brought to South America from Spain in 1560 and planted in Lima, capital of Peru. Zenos, on the other hand, was a Hebrew prophet well indoctrinated in the agricultural practices of his time and place.

In the allegory of the olive tree, there are two principal entities, the Master of the vineyard and the servant. It has been suggested by some that the Master represents the Father and the servant is the Saviour but I tend to side with those who recognise the Master, who is repeatedly  referred to as the Lord of the vineyard, to be the Saviour who employs servants to assist with His work. This is obvious to me because this Lord of the vineyard focuses mainly on just one tree, a tame olive tree that becomes corrupted by other threes and begins to rot.  So why the obsession with this one tree? Because this tree represents the House of Israel, a group of covenant people most favoured by the God of Israel above all the nations of the world. And the God of Israel is Jesus Christ, the great Jehovah himself who has proclaimed: "I am a father to Israel and Ephraim is my firstborn" (Jeremiah 31:9). The Old Testament highlights God's favouritism of Israel as a father would of a favourite son, whom He calls 'the apple of His eye' (Deut 32:10; Zechariah 2:8)

Whilst it is not my wish to overshadow the importance of the House of Israel's lengthy history contained within this allegory, which begs thorough study, and which spans from the time of the first scattering in 721 BC to the Millenium, it is my intention to focus on the Saviour and how he relates to us who are of this House. In the allegory of the olive tree, the Lord of the vineyard sets about  plucking, pruning, digging and grafting. He also grieves, preserves, labours, watches and tends to the vineyard constantly, but in particular one tree, the tame olive tree. The central theme of this allegory is the Saviour's enduring mercy, long-suffering, loving care and his most dedicated work towards His favoured people, the House of Israel. His frantic and desperate efforts can be seen through repetitious declarations of His protective love 'for he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his eye' (Zechariah 2:8): His desire to preserve the tame olive tree is mentioned in the parable 11 times; He expresses His desire to bring us to Him at least 15 times; He shows his grief over losing 'this tree' 8 times'; and 3 times He asks with anguish, weeping, 'what could I have done more?'

It is obvious the Lord has done everything He can so perhaps the question should be, 'what can we do more'? It is simply not enough to physically be of the House of Israel. One must be spiritually so to be the favoured 'apple of His eye'. Love is a two way street. He loves us because we are the believing, the repentant, the obedient. And if not, then we should be. We are the ones who have accepted the Holy One of Israel to be our God, until the harvest is gathered home. We are important. Not only to ensure our own salvation but to save the other trees in the vineyard. It is up to us to graft the good branches into the wild olive trees of this world. The harvest is fast approaching and we must prepare for the reaping. We must honour the privilege of being 'the apple of His eye'. After he recounts the allegory of the olive tree to his people, Jacob admonishes them to repent and continue on the strait and narrow path until they obtain eternal life. And then out of desperation he says "O be wise; what can I say more?" (Jacob 6:4,11,12). What indeed?

TO OBEY UNTIL DEATH

I am constantly amazed at the way the Book of Mormon clarifies the doctrines of Christ and it amazes me equally how often we miss these clarifications. One ordinance in the Church that often gets misunderstood is baptism. I, like many others no doubt, have partaken the sacrament each Sunday with the idea that I if I do so I will walk away from the chapel 'clean' as on the day of my baptism. I don't know that this is entirely true or false but it is the idea I have lived with for the past 40 years.

The New Testament teaches us that baptism is important but the reasons why are quite vague. The idea of purification by baptism as suggested in Acts 22:15-16 stands more as a symbol than a reason, probably because we associate water with cleanliness. The act of baptismal cleanliness is not due to immersion but the purifying power of the Holy Ghost for the redemption of sins, which follows (2 Nephi 31:17). Paul also symbolises baptism with burial and resurrection in Romans 6:4. Whether Paul's references to baptism on these occasions were recorded accurately and in their entirety or whether they were references in passing is not clear. All we get from him however, is that it is important to be baptised. Jesus told John that He needed to be baptised "to fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15, 2 Nephi 31:5). Where does righteousness spring from? From obedience. Book of Mormon is clear on this fact: baptism's first and foremost objective is to make a covenant of obedience with God.  If the act of baptising was to wash away sins, Jesus being without sin would not need to be baptised. The obvious reaction to this is: He was baptised to be an example to us. But an example of what? This is where the Book of Mormon excels in clarification. Nephi makes it clear that Jesus' willingness to 'fulfill all righteousness'  was not to exemplify washing away of sin but to make a covenant of obedience (2 Nephi 31:6,7). In other words, at the time of His baptism, Jesus was making a covenant with the Father that He would be obedient and in the process making the example for us to do the same. And indeed the renewal of this covenant is what we hear in our sacramental prayers every Sunday (Moroni 4,5).

When Alma who had fled from King Noah with a small band of followers preached to them the covenant of obedience by the waters of Mormon, the people were so overcome with joy that they comitted to baptism there and then (Mosiah 18:10,11). Alma's first baptism was a man called Helam. His words to him took the baptismal covenant to a new level. He said: Helam, I baptise thee, having authority from the Almighty God, as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead...." (Mosiah 18:13). This is serious stuff. Especially considering that anciently covenants were not broken even at the point of death. 

Nehi makes it clear that enduring to the end is an essential component of baptism, one on which the whole concept of salvation hangs (2 Nephi 31:16). But there is another reason. Nephi says we must endure "in following the example of the Son' (2 Nephi 31:16). The Saviour endured to the end in every sense of the word. Not just to the end of His life, but to the end of His 'death'. You will recall that His suffering began in the Garden of Gethsemane where His mental anguish caused Him to bleed 'at every pore' (D&C 19:18). This suffering returned to Him when He was upon the cross enduring the physical break down of His body. Did He have the power to come down from the cross? Absolutely. But He chose to endure to the end, when all the mankind was redeemed and every soul accounted for, when He could say "it is finished' (JST Matthew 27:54, John 19:30). His death was His moment of choice. All things endured, all things suffered. Obedience made possible. Until death.

THE COMPLEXITIES OF ISAIAH

Imagine being a prophet, a writer and a poet. Now imagine that your revelations and literary works are so great that Jesus Christ himself issues a command that they should be studied and understood (3 Nephi 23:1). like most people, I do not understand everything that Isaiah wrote. But I understand one thing. Isaiah wrote exclusively for the House of Israel. Hence Nephi, in his zealous attempt to keep his family in remembrance of their roots, taught Isaiah's teachings to them as they were found on the brass plates. These are the chapters of the Book of Mormon that usually get skipped. Perhaps it is the dual nature of his prophecies in which Isaiah wrote that causes us to become unstuck. Dual in nature because his prophecies for ancient Israel are equally relevant for the modern day Israel in this dispensation of time preceding the Saviour's return. If you want to understand them fully you will need 'the spirit of prophecy' which the Book of Mormon defines as: searching the scriptures, praying and fasting (Alma 17:2,3).

I am not an intellectual nor a scriptorian but the kinship I feel with the House of Israel and the love I have for its' God means I love the writings of Isaiah. Added to this is Isaiah's poetic exposition which resonates with my love of words. So eloquent and reverential was his written testament of Christ that Isaiah always referred to Him as the Holy One of Israel or the Mighty One of Jacob. These titles by themselves speak volumes of Isaiah's great understanding of the God of Israel. And this is what appeals to my sensibilities when it comes to Isaiah. The Saviour gave the Nephites an exact command to 'search' the writings of Isaiah (3 Nephi 23:1) Why did he use this word? Why didn't He say 'study'? Because when you 'search', you tend to 'find'. And in this instance, the question is not 'what to find' but 'who to find'. To me it is obvious that there is only one person to find.......In chapter 45 Isaiah reiterates that the Holy One of Israel is God and 'there is none else' 5 times.

Throughout His writings Isaiah enumerates all the sins of Israel, both ancient and modern. But in every instance he concludes "for all this his anger is not turned away BUT His hand is stretched out still" (Isaiah 1:18; 5:25;, 9:12,17,21; 10:4). He portrays the Saviour as ever beckoning, every inviting, ever wanting us to come to Him. He then attempts to convince us.....they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength (40:31)....fear not, I will help thee (41:10,13; 43:5).....I will not forget thee....I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands (49:15,16)....O thou afflicted....my kindness shall not depart from thee....I will lay thy foundations with sapphires (54:10,11)....the Lord shall guide thee continually and thou shalt be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not (58:11). 

Why did the Saviour want us to 'find' such references of Him in Isaiah's writing? Because of His inexhaustable mercy towards the House of Israel. More important than understanding the prophecies is how we feel about Christ when we walk away from Isaiah. And equally important is that we discover how He feels about us. Not the world, but the House of Israel; the preserved, the atoned, the redeemed, they who would have Him be their God (1 Nephi 17:40) Because He himself has said:  "I am the father to Israel; and Ephraim is my firstborn" (Jeremiah 31:9).

So search and find because "great are the words of Isaiah" (3 Nephi 23:1)

- Cathryne Allen

NEPHI ON THE BANKS OF THE RED SEA

You will recall how Lehi had another one of his dreams, this time on the banks of the Red Sea, in which he was commanded to send his sons back to Jerusalem to obtain the brass plates from a man called Laban. After a failed attempt and losing all their precious things in the process thereof, Nephi's brothers were more than ready to abandon the mission. But not Nephi. In his final attempt to rustle up some enthusiasm, Nephi used a surprisingly high standard of achievement to motivate his brothers to press on. He reminded them of the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea, and asked them to 'be strong like unto Moses'. He then assured them that the Lord is able to deliver them as He did the Israelites of old and to destroy Laban like He destroyed the Egyptians (1 Nephi 4:1-3). But his brothers were not convinced, in fact, they were even more discouraged (1 Nephi 4:4). You can just hear them saying: "This is ridiculous! How can you compare Moses leading 2 million Israelites out of Egypt to this dinky, arduous task we have received from our father?" But it wasn't ridiculous to Nephi. For Nephi getting the plates from Laban was akin to Moses crossing the Red Sea with 2 million people. Why? Because it was beyond his capacity but not beyond God's. And he knew if he couldn't achieve it, that meant that God would. Unlike his brothers who believed that parting the Red Sea was possible for God to do but not possible to deliver into their hands Laban and his fifty (1 Nephi 3:31). Quite a paradox.  Nephi didn't know how he was going to get those plates but he went anyway. The rest of the story we know.

It is the start of a new year. Everyone is setting New Year Resolutions. The statistics to this end are bleak. One study revealed out of 159 people followed, 29% gave up just two weeks into the new year; at 1 month mark, 36%,  and six months into the year, 54% were no longer on course. Is there something dear to your heart that keeps popping up on your list, the achievement of which has eluded you thus far? Something that is crucial to your spiritual or temporal wellbeing? Something akin to some ancient brass plates?

When you are standing on some precipice of life facing something that is beyond your capacity to achieve, do not back down, only believe. Do not look to your left or to your right but forge straight ahead expecting the God of all might to intervene on your behalf. Nephi moved forward wading waist deep into his Red Sea until it parted. I am certain he never expected Laban to be dished up to him on a silver platter (1 Nephi 4:7,8). All he did was trust the spirit by which he was led (1 Nephi 4:6). The God of miracles did the rest. The God who cares, the God who wants to help us, at every turn, at every corner, on every bank of the Red Sea. To him no challenge is too big or too small. All that matters to you, matters to Him. He is at our front and at our back. When we call, shall He not answer and say, "Here I am" (Isaiah 58:9)? He is our forerunner who prepares the way and our rearward in case we should fall (D&C 49:27; Isaiah 52:12; 3 Nephi 21:29). Can you not rejoice and have hope when you hear:

"For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee....I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight...for I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.....Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no fathoming of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall; but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint."
(Isaiah 41:13; 45:2; 54:10; 40:28-31).

- Cathryne Allen