The Useful Warnings of Moses 5

 

Moses 5 is not a terribly happy chapter. Cain and Abel are born, Cain rebels and becomes Perdition, murder and wickedness spread, and the gospel is preached.

 

I want to point out that one useful thing about this chapter, however, is that it describes some behaviors and reactions that are psychopathic and sociopathic.

 

1)    Rejection of authority. “Cain hearkened not, saying: Who is the Lord that I should know him?” (Moses 5:16)  The only other people in scripture who say “Who is the Lord?” in this dismissive way are Pharaoh in Egypt who is forced to let Israel go out of slavery, and King Noah in the Book of Mormon. The rejection of authority sets the stage for rebellion.

2)    Disregard of rules, commandments, boundaries. Cain knew that the required offering was supposed to be a sheep, but he chose to offer the fruit of the ground instead. (Moses 5:18-29)

3)    Emotional dysregulation. “But unto Cain, and to his offering, he had not respect….And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” (Moses 5:21)  Cain’s anger at his incorrect offering not receiving divine acceptance is out of all proportion to what happened.

4)    Rejection of correction. In Moses 5:22-26, the Lord goes to the trouble of counseling Cain that if he does good he will be accepted and warns him what will happen if he persists. Here is Cain’s reaction: “Cain was wroth, and listened not any more to the voice of the Lord, neither to Abel, his brother” (Moses 5:26)

5)    Pathological lying. The Lord warns Cain, “For from this time forth thou shalt be the father of his lies” (Moses 5:24).

6)    Power-hunger, grandiosity, and excessive pride. “Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder and get gain. Wherefore Cain was called Master Mahan, and he gloried in his wickedness.” (Moses 5:31)  He thinks he is more powerful than anyone else. He also boasts in what he’s doing, even though it is pretty awful. And not only is he boasting about it, we see he is also lying to himself.

7)    Brutality. “Cain talked with Abel, his brother. And it came to pass that while they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and slew him.” (Moses 5:32)

8)    Callousness and lack of remorse. “And the Lord said unto Cain: Where is Abel, thy brother? And he said: I know not. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Moses 5:34).  This is as if people are asking Cain where his Abel is because Abel has disappeared, and not only does Cain lie about not knowing, but he doesn’t care.

9)    Manipulatively trying to make a play on others pity after horrible behavior. “And the Lord said… now thou shalt be cursed from the earth… And Cain said unto the Lord: Satan tempted me because of my brother’s flocks. And I was wroth also; for his offering thou didst accept and not mine; my punishment is greater than I can bear.”  (Moses 5:35,36,38) Notice that he’s trying to provoke pity even when he himself showed no pity. He’s trying to manipulate his way out of the consequences of his actions.

 

These characteristics are all part of “Cluster B”  personality disorder traits of psychopathy and sociopathy.  It almost as if the Lord wanted us to notice these characteristics as a pattern of behavior and 1) beware that we do not fall into them, and 2) beware of those we meet who exhibit these traits.

 

Instead cultivate:

1)    Respect for authority

2)    Regard for the commandments and boundaries

3)    Healthy emotional regulation

4)    Ability to accept correction

5)    Love for the truth

6)    Humility and a sense of equality

7)    Tenderness and gentleness

8)    Consideration for others and remorse for wrong-doing or offenses

9)    Ability to take responsibility for our actions

 

Another happier lesson we see from this chapter is that the Lord was still reaching out to Cain to try to help him, by trying to correct him after a wrong offering and trying to bring him to a sense of accountability for his actions after the murder of Abel with the question, “What hast thou done?” He’s also trying to show Cain he’d been lied to with Satan’s promise that no one would know what he’d done. He was still trying to reclaim Cain, even after Cain’s heinous act.

We see just how long-suffering and patient the Lord is, and we can trust that if he reached out to Cain, He will surely reach out to us.

It is Given unto Thee

 

 

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but, remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Moses 3:17)

 

I am intrigued by that phrase “It is given unto thee,” specifically because of that IT. What does “it” refer to?

 

The meaning that I originally ascribed to that “it” was that it referred to agency, as though it were saying, “thou mayest choose for thyself, for choice is given unto thee.” This reading reinforces the principle that the Lord gives us our agency to choose, even to choose things that He forbids.

 

Another different meaning has come to me in the last year, one that says, “thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for the tree [of knowledge of good and evil] is given unto thee.”  This reading shows us that Heavenly Father provides us with circumstances where both good and evil are present, and He warns us where the evil is so that we can make informed choices that have real consequences. Our God is a God of good gifts, powerful gifts, sometimes dangerous gifts. There is righteousness not just in choosing good, but refraining from the bad.

 

Do you see any additional ways to read it that you can share?

The Lesson for Us from the Israelites’ Battle with the Amalekites

8 ¶ Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim

9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.

10 So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

12 But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

13 And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

14 And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: (Exodus 17:8-14)

We usually make this story about the importance of sustaining our leaders. It’s a good lesson, since our good leaders have many demands on them and need help accomplishing the work they are inspired to do.

 

However, I noticed another lesson in this story today, a larger one for all of us, whether we’re leaders or not.

 

Remember, the children of Israel have already had one battle with the Amalekites and it isn’t over when the day is over. They’re going to have this battle the next day too. This is strenuous work, and they are not trained warriors. They do the best they can by choosing out men to go fight, but their chosen men were still not trained.

 

So on the second day, Moses holds up his hand—he was probably inspired to do this—and when he does it, he can see from his elevated position on top of the hill that Israel succeeds when he does that. So you do more of what works, right?  If holding up your hand brings success, then you keep doing that as long as it takes, until the job is done.

 

Think about how much endurance it takes to hold up your hand. Compare that to the amount of endurance it would take to swing a sword all day while fighting with an enemy. Those are very different kinds of activities, but they both take strength and endurance.

 

Side note story: I once was visiting with my little nieces and nephews and got two of them into a contest to see who could keep their arm up the longest while holding a 5 lb weight. It was fascinating how competitive they were and all the machinations they went through to relieve their weariness while still keeping their arms up. I think they got to 30 minutes before it was time for lunch and their mom forced a stop to the contest.

 

How long do you suppose that battle took? How long did Moses have to hold his arm up? We see in the text that he got tired after a while and that’s when his brother Aaron and this other fellow Hurr had him sit on a rock while they held his hands up.  They did this the whole day, “until the going down of the sun.”   That’s a super long time.

 

Now, here’s the two-million-dollar question: While we know who held up Moses’ hands, who held up the hands of the Israelites in the battle? 

 

It was the Lord. The Lord gave them the strength, the endurance, the energy, the determination, the perseverance, all of it, to keep swinging that sword and keep swinging that sword and dodging and darting and jabbing and running and pushing and on and on…

 

That was the miracle that we’re supposed to learn and remember from this story. While the prophet got tired and had two persons who held him up, the Lord upheld the people in battle. 

 

So when we need strength and endurance and perseverance and energy because we are just not cut out for the job in front of us, we know who we can turn to and ask for help.

Thoughts About Exodus and Why the Pharoah Wouldn’t Let Israel Go

We usually think of the Pharaoh who held the Israelites in bondage in Egypt as a bad guy (not that I’m going to argue he’s good…)  It seems odd that he would be shown all these signs and plagues, and once each one is over, he refuses to let the children of Israel go, after saying he would. Why did he keep hardening his heart?

I think it might be useful to think about what factors might have contributed to his hard heart because they may show us factors that cause us to harden our hearts.

One factor that easily comes to mind is that the Pharaoh saw that once the Israelites were gone, a very profitable source of cheap labor would be gone too. It would be logical to his self-interest and the interest of his kingdom that he would try to prevent that. He would try to intimidate or jolly Moses along in hopes of not losing control of Israelite labor.  Lesson: Loss of material advantages can often prevent us from responding to the Lord’s call if we value the advantage over obedience.

A second factor that might not be so obvious is that God’s actions may have run contrary to Pharaoh’s notions of how a god acts. Pharaoh has his gods, Moses has his God. This conflict could be seen as a cosmic battle between Pharaoh’s gods and Moses’ God. What is Pharaoh going to think of a God that says, “Let my people go”?  He’s going to think Israel’s God is weak. (“A god that asks permission for his people to leave? Right. Make me!”)  However, in the whole story, we see a God that allows people their agency—even hostile rulers—and lets them make decisions to respond to His requests or commands…or not.  And with the plagues that steadily increase in severity, we see that God is long-suffering, willing to wait for people to make the right choice, but ultimately, He can’t be frustrated and He can’t be toyed with.

Another thing we notice about Pharaoh is that when the crisis of a plague is upon him, suddenly he sees the necessity of letting Israel go, or requesting Moses to stop the plague, but as soon as the plague has stopped, he reneges and doesn’t follow through. Once the pain is gone, all thoughts of changing or acting as promised stop. There’s a nice lesson from this—when we’re going through a crisis, it is easy to make all kinds of resolutions that we’re going to change once things get back to normal, but when conditions improve, it is really easy to say, “Oh, I don’t need to do that after all; I’m okay now.” This is the same way Pharaoh hardened his heart.

Let’s review the plagues and see in what ways Pharaoh tries to put Moses off.

1) Moses’ first request is polite, with no plague. Pharaoh, in response, gets tough and makes the Israelite tasks harder by depriving them of ready straw for making bricks while not diminishing their quota they have to provide. In effect, he rewards good with evil, so the Lord has to get tougher. Ever after, Pharaoh can’t do anything to punish the Israelites because of the crisis of plagues.   Lesson: Sometimes we might consider spiritual impressions to change to be some sort of internal rebellion in ourselves or lack of discipline against a comfortable or tolerable status quo, so we tighten the screws and double down on what we’re doing instead of listening.

2) Then there is the miracle of the rods turning to snakes, the water of the river turning to blood, and the frogs. But because Pharaoh’s magicians seem to be able to do the same, Pharaoh hardens his heart. He still things his gods are just as powerful as Israel’s god. We don’t hear anything about the river and waters being healed; we only hear of the request to send away the frogs. (But you can notice that Pharaoh doesn’t actually say he’ll let the Israelites go once the frogs are gone.)  Lesson: Sometimes we refuse to listen to spiritual impressions or signs we need to change or act because we think they are coincidences or something caused by others.

3) Then there is the plague of lice, which the magicians can’t duplicate, so they tell Pharaoh it is Israel’s God at work. Still, Pharaoh hardens his heart, and we don’t see him asking for that to be removed, so maybe he thought it was a small enough problem that everyone could just deal with it.

4) Next comes the plague of flies, and Pharaoh tries to dictate the terms by which the Israelites will act. Moses’ request from the beginning has been that the Israelites be allowed to go out into the wilderness to sacrifice to God (and then not be expected to return.) The Pharaoh says at this point, “Oh, sure you can sacrifice, but do it here in Egypt.” Moses says, “No, we can’t do that, since our sacrifice is abomination to the Egyptians; they will stone us.” (see Ex. 8:26) and he says the Israelites must go at least three days journey into the wilderness. Pharaoh says “That’s fine; just don’t go very far. And pray for me.” So Moses prays for the flies to go away, which they do, and again Pharaoh hardens his heart. 

Pharaoh’s problem here was that he thought that if the intent of letting the Israelites go was sacrifice, then they should be able to do that anywhere. So why not Egypt? He forgot that the Egyptians did not approve of sacrifice, so requiring that would create a hostile, unbelieving environment for what should be a sacred, believing rite.   Lesson: Sometimes we try to dictate the terms of our obedience to the Lord. We try to choose the time and place that is most convenient, when sometimes those very inconveniences we try to ignore are what contribute to the sacredness of the experience.

5) Then there is the plague on the Egyptian cattle, and the boils on man and beast, but Pharaoh’s heart is still hardened. And he doesn’t seem to ask for any reprieve from these. He must have felt that was another thing people could just handle. Lesson: Sometimes we think we can deal with a problem instead of fixing it as we’re prompted to, and it just causes pain for everybody.

6) Then there is the hail, which is mixed with fire. (This may be ball lightning, which still hasn’t been studied much.) It so happens that the Egyptians who believed Moses could save their cattle and servants by bringing them into the house, but apparently Pharaoh didn’t care enough. Still, he asks Moses to stop the hail. Here he tries confession. “I have sinned this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.” (Ex. 9:27) He promises to let the Israelites go afterward, but when the Lord stops the hail, Pharaoh hardens his heart again. So his confession was fake. You can also see that because he says, “I have sinned this time” (emphasis added). He doesn’t admit that his previous refusals to let them go are also sins. Lesson: Confessing a sin doesn’t do any good unless there is a commitment to act differently and follow-through.

7) The next one is an interesting case. Moses tells Pharaoh that there will be a plague of locusts if the Israelites aren’t let go. Pharaoh responds by telling them that only the men can go (see Ex 10:8-11) and then kicks Moses out so he can’t protest. Pharaoh is trying to hold the Israelite families hostage to ensure the return of the men. Also, he is trying to stop the conversation there so that there is no time for Moses to protest and announce the plague. I notice his servants figuring it out; they know Egypt is in trouble, but Pharaoh doesn’t realize it or refuses to see it.  Lesson: Censoring the Lord’s messenger doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. Also, sometimes it becomes obvious to others around us that we are ignoring the Lord and on the wrong track, while we flail around trying to avoid the inevitable.

Anyway, Moses is in a tricky spot here. Do they take what Pharaoh offers, or do they stick to their guns? The Lord tells Moses to stretch out his hand over Egypt and bring the locusts. And they come.  Lesson: Partial obedience doesn’t fool the Lord. He knows when full obedience is being held back.

After the locusts come, Pharaoh says, “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and entreat the LORD your God, that he may take away from me this death only.” (Ex. 10:16-17)

Interesting that now Pharaoh admits he sinned against the Lord and against Moses. He has to up his contrition rhetoric to try to get Moses to believe him. (We only see this is rhetoric in hindsight, though, in the moment it could have been sincere, so he has to be believed.) But there are things he says which make us question his sincerity, especially since he says, “Forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once.” Even though Pharaoh has seen the Lord remove FIVE plagues, he has this idea that he only has to repent once and then everything will be okay after that. (What? Does he think no more plagues are possible and he’s seen the worst?) He doesn’t realize the principle that believers know-- all of us keep transgressing in ways we hadn’t anticipated, so we continue to need repentance. Also there’s another principle that Pharaoh depended upon, but which we sometimes forget (to our torment)—the Lord continues pardon as often as we repent. If the Lord removed plagues at Pharaoh’s request (knowing how hard-hearted Pharaoh was), how much more merciful will He be our complete sincerity and humility? So much more.

The Lord removes the locusts. But then Pharaoh hardens his heart again.

8) The next plague, Moses brings without going to Pharaoh. It is three days of darkness. This time Pharaoh says he will let the Israelites go, but they must leave their cattle in Egypt. He’s still trying to keep hostages, still only trying to get by with 2/3rds obedience.  But since the effect of leaving the cattle means the Israelites would have to go back to Egypt to keep them or stay in the wilderness impoverished, Pharaoh’s agreement is actually not obedience at all, just a complete sham. Lesson: Hypocrisy doesn’t cut it with the Lord either.

Moses holds the line—everyone and everything they own is going with them. Pharaoh does not agree to that and says the next time Moses sees him, Moses will die.

So it has come to threats. Pharaoh seems to think that Moses is the problem and if Moses is gotten rid of, then everything will be okay. The problem is, this has just raised the stakes. Those who dig a pit for others will fall into said pit themselves. So, the Egyptians get the plague of the death of the firstborn.  Lesson:  Getting rid of the leader who transmits the commands of the Lord does not let you off the hook of following those commands.

Let’s sum up what we’ve learned, in a more organized fashion.

Sometimes we have troubles accepting messages from God because:

·      It forces us to sacrifice material advantages

·      It runs counter to our notions of what we think God would tell us.

·      We think it is just self-generated or foolish dissatisfaction.

·      We think it is coincidence or easily duplicated by others.

·      Or we think we can deal with the pain instead of changing.

Once it becomes clear the message really is from God, we still might drag our feet in the following ways:

·      The end of a crisis causes our urgency to fade and our motivation to drop.

·      We might confess our sins of disobedience, but still not change.

·      We might think we can get away with a show of obedience while not actually obeying.

·      We might think we can dictate the terms of the obedience, choosing what’s most convenient.

·      Or we might think that partial obedience is acceptable.

·      We might shorten, edit, re-interpret away the message.

·      Or (the unthinkable) threaten the messenger.

I bet these types of reasons look pretty familiar. But if we recognize ourselves here, recognizing there’s a problem is the first step to fixing it.

What I keep coming back to in this story is how long-suffering and merciful the Lord was with Pharaoh and how that means we can absolutely count on the mercy of the Lord if we repent sincerely and obey completely.

Meditations on the Creation of the Sun and the Moon

16 And I, God, made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the greater light was the sun, and the lesser light was the moon; and the stars also were made even according to my word.

17 And I, God, set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 And the sun to rule over the day, and the moon to rule over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and I, God, saw that all things which I had made were good; (Moses 2:16-18)

I read this recently and I found myself asking what it meant for a light to rule over a particular portion of the 24-hours—day or night. On the surface it means that one of those lights will be the dominant light over that particular 12-hour period.

And yet the astronomical reality is a lot more complex than this. Happily, we can say that the sun always rules over the day. Where the sun shines, there is light, there is day.

But the moon is different. In some parts of the month the moon does shine at night, but there are other parts of the month—during new moons—when there is no light from the moon. Does the moon really rule then? Not really. It is as if the moon temporarily abdicates its authority and takes a vacation. And only on full moons is its light all the way there. At other times it’s waxing or waning.

It may be this gives us a little insight as to the differences between celestial and terrestial obedience. (I’ve probably talked about this before, but I’m going to talk about it again.) Celestial obedience is like the sun—always there doing its duty, shining at full strength, radiating the light within. But terrestial obedience is rarely at its brightest, shines only reflected light from others more bright, and periodically abdicates its duty.

Something else caught my attention here too. It was this idea of dividing the light from the darkness. What is it that really divides the light from the dark astronomically?  Because if you have light, there is no dark. Light chases the dark away. 

Astronomically, darkness comes from distance from the light, if you’re Pluto out on the margins of the solar system.  And we have darkness on earth because of the earth itself. The earth gets in the way and creates shadow.  If we’re on the part of the earth turned away from the sun, we’re in the darkness.  Applying that to spiritual things, that teaches that in a certain sense we create spiritual darkness in our lives either by our distance from the light, or by turning away from it.

The idea of a lesser or greater light also makes me think of the quality of leader we choose to follow and the type of example we choose for ourselves. If we didn’t have the sun, we might be happy with the moon’s light. But having the sun, we see the moon is not so great after all. Do we choose the best examples to follow? Do we seek for greater light? If we don’t we may be one of those people the Lord describes as “walking in darkness at noonday,” which would be tragic.

What do you think? Are there any additional principles you draw from these verses about the creation of the sun and the moon?

Enoch sees God weeping like rain upon the mountains

27 And Enoch beheld angels descending out of heaven, bearing testimony of the Father and Son; and the Holy Ghost fell on many, and they were caught up by the powers of heaven into Zion.

28 And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept; and Enoch bore record of it, saying: How is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains? (Moses 7:27-28)

When I was reading this, the phrase “tears as rain upon the mountains” suddenly stuck out to me, and I wondered about it.  Why compare God’s tears to rain upon the mountains?  Why not rain on the plains or rain on the coast?  And what are we to learn from this?

I grew up in the plains in Illinois, and rain there is pretty steady. Usually it starts and goes pretty steadily throughout the day.     Then I came out to Utah to college at BYU, and I noticed rain in Utah had a different pattern. It would drip for maybe 10 minutes or so, and then start raining in earnest. (The dripping time was like a warning to run for the rain gear.) It would rain for a while, and then stop. And I’d think it was over, and then maybe an hour later it would rain again. It might rain several times in a day.  To me that was very peculiar.

It is possible that Enoch was referring to this kind of rain-in-the-mountains pattern—rain…[stop]…rain….[stop]….rain…[stop]—to convey the idea that as God watched the residue of the people—those who hadn’t accepted the gospel—He was moved to weep multiple times.  Like sometimes they are…okay…and other times they do such terrible things that God just cries over them.

Let’s not be the kind of people that God cries over like this. Instead let’s be the kind that He can watch and be pleased with for the whole day.

Living by the Word of God

This is Moses speaking to the children of Israel about their experiences in the wilderness:

And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. (Deuteronomy 8:3)

We recognize that the Savior paraphrased this verse when tempted by the devil to turn stones into bread after He fasted 40 days. It is possible Christ took the first part “he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger” as instruction that He had to endure hunger like other people and be humbled.  Satan probably wanted Christ to focus more on the part, “he…fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not” in order to tempt Christ to turn the stones into bread.

But returning to the children of Israel, how was the miracle of manna supposed to teach them to live by the word of God and not just by bread?

I think it was because of the instructions and commandments associated with gathering the manna.  There were instructions about how much they should gather and when to gather it. There were instructions about not saving it beyond one day. There were even instructions about when they should not expect to gather it—during the Sabbath—and how to compensate for that.

To eat every day, they had to follow those instructions. If they didn’t, they would start to starve. If they persisted in disobedience, they would die. Every instruction had a purpose, and not a single instruction could be neglected without consequences.   I suppose it is always so with the commandments.

Addressing the question of a God who apparently commanded genocide in the Old Testament

One of the arguments I’ve heard from people who object to Christianity is that they question the Old Testament stories that depict a God who commanded the Israelites to kill the inhabitants of the promised land in order to take possession.  They point to those stories and say, “I can’t believe in a God who commanded genocide.”  They essentially frame him as a cosmic Hitler.

I admit that when looked at in this light, the stories are disturbing.

However, there are two things I think need to be taken into account.

First, if one charges God with crimes against humanity and essentially put Him on trial, then along with our modern definitions of crime, one has to use modern standards of justice.  In order to be just in this trial, one has to consider the evidence for and against the thing God did. If God had good reason for using His people to wipe out the inhabitants of Palestine at the time of Moses/Joshua, then God was justified. But if the inhabitants were not evil, then God was not justified.

The tricky thing is, there is not much documentary evidence in the Bible about what kind of people the inhabitants were.  And there is some evidence in God's favor, but it is scarce.  Because of this scarcity, it is tempting to acquit the inhabitants and condemn God, but actually our court standards require us to presume innocence until proven guilty. So one must withhold judgment against both the inhabitants that were killed and against God who commanded their killing.

And that leads to an interesting point where one presumes innocence of both the inhabitants and the God who had them destroyed.  But this might lead one to ask oneself, “Who is likely to be more innocent—man or God?”

Second, it might be useful to imagine ourselves in God’s position at that time and consider the particular situation God was in and the goals He might have been working toward and the cultural situation of the peoples He had to work with.

So, imagine you are God.

Ready?

You have a group of people who believe in you, and they have been slaves for perhaps a generation, maybe two. You’ve delivered them from bondage so that they can serve you and become a better people. They have practically nothing. They know how to work hard, but their greatest labors have been coerced, so you’ll need to teach them about being internally motivated.  They also have a sad but understandable tendency toward disobedience and complaining that you’ve been trying to train out of them with 40 years in the wilderness.

Where are you going to settle these people of yours? Is there an empty land that is reasonably easy to cultivate? How will they survive in the time it takes to cultivate a season of crops if they have nothing? (You’ve been feeding them with manna all this time.) Where will they get the tools and seed to use, if they have practically nothing? How far will they need to travel to get to this land?

Is there a culture nearby who has enough charity and care for humanity that they will be willing to give relief to your people? Will they be able to tolerate the religious duties you have set your people?

Suppose, for argument’s sake, that there was such a people. Would there be any need to give your people the command to destroy?  No, of course not.  Your people would likely find refuge there and over a period of years find places to settle.

Now, suppose that the other cultures are hostile to everything you’re trying to teach your people.  Suppose there are serious problems with moral corruption, perversion, violence, and injustice.  (Suppose you tried all kinds of ways to reach these people before and they don’t listen.)  You understand the pressures to culturally assimilate, and the last thing you want is for your people to start learning those nasty practices. 

Destroying the inhabitants starts to look like a viable option.  (Naturally, there are a lot of additional factors that God would probably take into consideration, along with a large dose of mercy and forbearance, but I think we get the idea.)

But does it have to be your people who destroy the inhabitants?  Wouldn’t it be better to let the inhabitants destroy one another?  There’s a small problem with this.  Nature abhors a vacuum, and as soon as one culture destroys another, the land will be taken over by the victorious side, so it would still be occupied. 

Why not destroy the inhabitants with massive natural disaster, like Sodom and Gomorrah?  There’s a problem with that too. If the inhabitants get wiped off the map with natural disaster, it is likely their possessions and tools would be too, and you need to preserve that stuff to help your people get a leg up.

Why not hit the inhabitants with a deadly disease then?  Problem is, it’ll leave all their stuff covered in germs, and while your people are instructed in cleanliness and washing as part of the law you’ve given them, all it takes is one person carrying it and you’ve got a pandemic on your hands.

Commanding your people to destroy the inhabitants starts to look more viable..

But why not try to use lots of big miracles to convince the inhabitants to receive the Israelites?  Well, actually God did that.  The news of the Exodus miracles and all the subsequent miracles spread to the Palestine peoples, but instead of deciding to help the Israelites, the inhabitants were frightened and most preferred to fight.  One king (Balaak) even tried to have Israel cursed.

Ultimately, these considerations still may not be convincing to some, but as a person who believes in the God of the Old Testament, they help me remember several things:

--A decision of the kind God made is an incredibly heavy responsibility and would require full and complete knowledge. In a word, omniscience. 

--I don’t know all the factors leading to this particular command, but the ones I can imagine give me a hint of how God worked with the conditions of the time.

--The Bible doesn’t tell the full story. But I have faith that ultimately there will come a day when all the whys and wherefores of God’s doings will be explained.

Probably the most worrisome aspect of this discussion may be the implication that such a command might be given again.  But I think that unlikely.  That particular command was instruction customized to a particular set of conditions, much like God’s command to Noah to build an ark was customized to circumstances in his day.   

Since God is omniscient, no doubt He knew that future generations would not have a full record of the conditions that would make conquest by His people necessary. He knew He would be painted in black colors as an angry tribal God, but since He intended to bear the blame and fault for all mankind to give us all a chance to repent, He was not deterred by that. 

When Jesus taught the people during His mortal ministry, He declared Himself as Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament. Since He bore the sins of the Palestine inhabitants, He certainly had authority to say when their time was up. It is possible that He intended our sparse Biblical record to be a test to see if people could muster the faith to believe He was good even though it might look like He did something that would appear unjustified.

Moses’ pattern for what to tell children about the meaning of the commandments

I like these verses because they have a nice answer to the question “Why do we do these commandments?”  Actually, there are several answers, only implied and three stated.

20 And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded you?

21 Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand:

22 And the Lord shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:

23 And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.

24 And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.

25 And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us. (Deut. 6:20-25)

The first one is implied.  Because the Lord brought us out of Egypt miraculously and to a promised land [we owe Him allegiance and fealty.]

The next are stated. 

2) “for our good always” – The commandments are for our good.

3) “that he might preserve us alive” – The commandments continue the Lord’s work of salvation in our lives, both temporally and spiritually. They restrict us from harmful acts and require us to do things that help us grow.

4) “it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments” – Obedience leads to a change for the better when coupled with faith in Christ’s atonement.

It is always interesting to see how different people explain the necessity of keeping the commandments of God.  There are so many ways the commandments bless us that keeping them always seems like an adventure.  It's a cheerful thing to live obediently in hope of seeing how the Lord will bless us even if we’re not sure how.

Three signs the Lord gives Moses for the Israelites

After Moses was called by God to deliver Israel from bondage in Egypt, Moses has some doubts that Israel will believe that he is the one to do this great work.  The Lord gives him three signs to use to help convince the Israelites of his qualifications.

1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.

2 And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.

3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.

4 And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:

5 That they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.

6 ¶And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.

7 And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.

8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land. (Exodus 4:1-9)

The signs are interesting, not only for their miraculous nature, but because of the messages they send.  They have a teaching function, and it can tell us something about God and the power He gives to prophets if we understand them better.

The first sign is throwing down the rod and it becomes a snake, then taking it up again and it becomes a rod again.  The second sign is putting his hand in his bosom, and it becomes leprous, then repeating the gesture and his hand is healed.  The third sign is taking some water from the river and pouring it out on the land where it would become blood.

The question these signs were meant to answer was that of doubt that the Lord really had appeared to Moses.  How were these signs to dissolve those doubts?

At its most basic level, these signs communicate Moses has acquired a miraculous power to change things.  He can change things because he has been changed by his encounter with God.  If he has the power to change things, then he can certainly help change their situation.

Moses has gained through God the power of life.  This power can make a dead rod alive and change it into an animal.  And it can change it back the way it was before.  With our scientific knowledge, we know how profound this change is.  It happened on the molecular level, changing wood fibers into bones, flesh, blood, muscles, scales, and all the DNA change with that, the creation of a brain and maybe even putting a snake’s spirit into it, all in the time it took the rod to fall from Moses’ hand to the earth.  And then changing it back again in the time he picked it up by the tail.  It implies that Moses has been given keys to spiritual life as well.

The signs also teach that Moses can now do what God can do.  Or rather, he does what God tells him to do and then miracles happen.  This message is an important one for us to learn about our church leaders and to trust the Lord ourselves.  It teaches how important obedience is and how blessed we may be when we obey without hesitation. 

The miracle of the leprosy coming and going teaches about God’s power of healing and power over the human body.  In the time it took for Moses to put his hand into his bosom and pull it out again, God formed the virus or bacteria in Moses’ hand and caused it to multiply and spread in his skin until it was visible.  And then, in the time it took for Moses to repeat that motion, the Lord removed the disease or changed it into healthy tissue.  We should have no doubt that whatever our physical afflictions or handicaps or medical issues, the Lord has the power to fix them immediately.  It is also to suggest the Lord’s power to heal the wounded soul and remove sin.

The miracle of drawing some water from the river and pouring it out on land and having it turn into blood teaches about the Lord’s power to change what the Moses sets apart.  To take the water out of the river was to separate it from the other waters, essentially setting it apart.  By this, the Lord hoped to teach that He had given Moses the power to take the Israelites from among the people and set them apart, and that they would be changed by that. 

This can help us today as we consider that we members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are set apart from the world.  We are also called and set apart for different church callings and we are changed by that. 

It is neat to me to know that we have a prophet on the earth today who has the same priesthood power that Moses had.  If President Monson were commanded by the Lord, he could do the same miracles Moses did.  It is also neat to me that we have these stories preserved for us so that we can learn the lessons the Lord wanted to teach through the miracles he had Moses do.

How have miracles in your life taught you?