Remembering the Captivity and Deliverance of Our Fathers

In Alma’s advice to his son Helaman, he starts out with this bit:

2 I would that ye should do as I have done, in remembering the captivity of our fathers; for they were in bondage, and none could deliver them except it was the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he surely did deliver them in their afflictions.

3 And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day. (Alma 36:2-3)

I’ve always thought it a little peculiar that Alma wanted Helaman to remember the deliverance of his fathers from captivity. It made me wonder why that was so important. I noticed Alma also preached to the people in Zerahemla in Alma 5, asking if they had sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of their fathers and that God had delivered them.

Eventually I realized the reason for this. Sooner or later, we will get ourselves into some sort of predicament—spiritual or temporal—in which we will be stuck and we can’t fix it ourselves, and we will need the Lord to stretch out His mighty arm and save us. And when that salvation happens, we need to remember it FOREVER, remember His mercy and power and let that motivate us to love and serve God ever after.

Alma the Younger had his own experiences with deliverance, a spiritual one from hellish torment, and a physical one from the prison of Ammonihah and the cruel leaders who mocked and abused him. In both cases, he was stuck, and only God could deliver him. This meant so much to him, but he couldn’t exactly universalize these experiences when preaching to others—“remember my captivity and that the Lord delivered me”—because it wouldn’t resonate as strongly. But exhorting his son and others to remember the captivity of their fathers would be better because the Nephites would have various family stories they handed down, stories of leaving the land of Nephi with Mosiah I, or escaping from King Noah, or escaping with Gideon and King Limhi from the Lamanites. These stories would also be added to whatever personal experiences they’d had with the Lord delivering them from physical and spiritual captivity.

How does remembering that captivity and deliverance help us? Remembering our captivity reminds us of all the difficulties we labored under, all the afflictions and so on. It strengthens our resolve to never put ourselves in that position again, to fight any tendency to slide back into that state. It causes us to remember the great mercy of God in delivering us out of that captivity and strengthens our resolve to serve Him and testify of Him.

So, take some time to remember your deliverance today and how the Lord has blessed you.

Power to deliver, to light or darkness

67 When I called again there was none of you to answer; yet my arm was not shortened at all that I could not redeem, neither my power to deliver.

68 Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea. I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish stink, and die for thirst.

69 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and make sackcloth their covering.

70 And this shall ye have of my hand—ye shall lie down in sorrow. (D&C 133:67-70)

In this section the Lord is warning what His answer will be to those who do not repent—that they will suffer the consequences of their rebellion.

The part that tells of the natural phenomena that happens at the Lord’s rebuke I used to interpret through the lens of the story of Exodus and the children of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, as though it is a promise of all the ways the Lord can manipulate nature to bring the salvation of His people. (He parted the Red Sea, parted the Jordan river, plagued the Egyptians with darkness, along with other afflictions) I interpreted it this way because a lot of it is a quotation (or a reworking of a quote) from Isaiah 50:2-3, and so many times Isaiah makes reference to the events of the Exodus to teach.

But I’ve realized there is yet another interpretation for it that is a warning. It is a warning to the Saints about the awful consequences of losing the Spirit if they sin and have to be excommunicated. The natural phenomena are used figuratively to represent the major negative spiritual changes that will happen—your sea can be dried up. Your river can become desert. Spiritual life can die. The bright sunny sky will turn very dark for you. Happiness turns to misery. At His rebuke, all of this will happen because of His great power.

That’s pretty dire, and from time to time we are reminded of accounts of a few early church members who were pretty high up in church leadership who left the church and they had this kind of experience.

So, I think when the Lord says He has power to deliver, it is a two-sided thing. He has power to deliver us from sin, but if we don’t repent, He has power to deliver us over to darkness.

None of us want that.

I’m grateful to know of the Lord’s great mercy and long-suffering and patience to us all and how many times and all the ways He invites us to come unto Him. I love verse 67 that says even though so many times we don’t answer the Lord’s call, the Lord still has power to redeem and deliver. Whether or not we believe in Christ, He still has power to save, so why not choose to believe?  We have to keep turning to Him.

God Hath Visited His People

In the story of Jesus raising the son of the widow of Nain from the dead, it is interesting to read the response of the people to this miracle.

And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people. (Luke 7:16)

For the longest time, I read that and particularly the last line—“God hath visited his people”—would resonate with me because as a Christian I know Jesus is the Son of God, and it was literally true that God had visited His people.

But I started to get the sense that the Jews didn’t attach quite that meaning to it, otherwise many more of them would have worshipped Him than actually did. So it had to have a different kind of meaning to them and evoke something we have forgotten about or never knew.

So I turned to the footnotes. Exodus 3:16 cleared things up right off, since it was about the children of Israel in bondage to the Egyptians:

Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt: (emphasis added)

It seems that expression “the Lord visited His people” was used in a context when there is a miracle showing the Lord’s compassion in delivering (or being about to deliver) His people from a situation from which they can’t extract themselves.  

In the context of the miracle of raising the widow’s son from the dead, we have to remember there was no Social Security. The woman had already lost her husband, the main provider of the family, and the burden of providing had fallen on the son. Losing this son—her only son—meant she would likely become very poor. Not only was he restoring her precious child, by raising the widow’s son from the dead, Jesus saved her from a very difficult life of poverty.  He also saved the son from death. I really like how it emphasizes this saving when the scriptures say, “And he delivered him to his mother.”

The Jews probably saw this deliverance of the son from death and the deliverance of the widow from poverty and instantly took it as an indication that God saw the afflictions of His people Israel and was about to deliver them from the Romans like He’d delivered their fathers from the Egyptians.

There are many other instances in the Old Testament of the idea of God visiting His people in their afflictions with deliverance.  There are also about five instances of it in the Book of Mormon with the same kind of context.

I also ran across instances when prophets warned the people that God would visit them in His anger because of their wickedness, so the visits aren’t all happy. 

Today let’s take some time to think about how the Lord has helped us with our troubles so we can see that He visits us in our afflictions.

A Police Officer's Experience of Spiritual Guidance

Every once in a while I run across an extraordinary story of how the Holy Ghost can guide and protect.  Stan Cronin’s story is one of these.  It’s a story of how he was guided by the Holy Ghost to where he could do some good as a Phoenix police officer and protected with specific instructions in such a way that he came through a very tricky situation, while if he had gone strictly according to his training he would most certainly have been killed.

Several features stick out to me about his story.

--He was in a habit of consistently praying for guidance as to where to go to do good.

--He was not afraid to look silly.

--He received specific promptings to do things contrary to his training, things that seemed risky and weird to him.  He anticipated becoming a statistic and a training case study of what not to do.  But he had the humility to follow these impressions, and he trusted the Lord had a good reason. 

--He had to deal not only with a potentially dangerous situation, but also with the tension of knowing he was going “off script” from standard operating procedures, yet he didn’t give up and dismiss additional impressions as they came.  He saw things through to the end, continuing to follow guidance from the Holy Ghost. 

We believe keeping the commandments will bring us safety and peace.  We know rules and standard operating procedures are very helpful for bringing order and much safety to our lives. A well-trained police officer with integrity would expected to hold to that line.  And yet, we see in the particular situation of this story, that would have gotten him killed. The only way he escaped was by following the Holy Ghost.

It strikes me that the above features can be applied in each of our lives too, no matter our field of labor.  We can cultivate a habit of praying for guidance to do good. We can practice humility and learn to trust promptings.  We can recognize the tension we might feel if we’re off-script when following the Spirit and choose to continue to trust to the end.

The Lord's Preface to Alma’s Deliverance

13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

(Mosiah 24:13-14)

This was given to the people of Alma when they were in bondage to the Amulonites and Lamanites.

Usually when the Lord gives a promise, it is conditioned upon the people acting a certain way.  Commonly there are if-then statements.  “If you do this, then I will do this.” 

This is a rare stance where the conditions are practically reversed.  Instead of promising a blessing after the people do something, the Lord promises a blessing and then requires something afterward.  He promises to deliver Alma and his people, and afterward they are to stand as witnesses (fulfilling their baptismal covenant) that the Lord visits His people and helps them in their afflictions.

I suppose that the people were so faithful already that the Lord knew He could trust them to do as He asked. 

I think this is also what the Lord requires of us in our afflictions. When we are faithful, He will help us through it and He wants us to then testify of His help so that others know they can depend on the Lord too.  Also, hearing testimonies of how the Lord has helped others gives us an idea of what kind of help we can look for.  Sometimes help is dramatic and other times it is subtle, but it is up to us to recognize it.

This last week I was got some help from the Lord. I was studying up on how to convert a book I’ve written into ebooks easily, and everything I was reading was making it a big overwhelming task.  It was tempting to get discouraged and give up. But I had faith Heavenly Father would help me somehow if I just kept searching and learning, and I ran into a place where I could get simpler instructions.  I anticipate more work ahead, but I am already thankful.

Nephites fight across the river to stop the Amlicites

27 And behold, as they were crossing the river Sidon, the Lamanites and the Amlicites, being as numerous almost, as it were, as the sands of the sea, came upon them to destroy them.

28 Nevertheless, the Nephites being strengthened by the hand of the Lord, having prayed mightily to him that he would deliver them out of the hands of their enemies, therefore the Lord did hear their cries, and did strengthen them, and the Lamanites and the Amlicites did fall before them.

29 And it came to pass that Alma fought with Amlici with the sword, face to face; and they did contend mightily, one with another.

30 And it came to pass that Alma, being a man of God, being exercised with much faith, cried, saying: O Lord, have mercy and spare my life, that I may be an instrument in thy hands to save and preserve this people.

31 Now when Alma had said these words he contended again with Amlici; and he was strengthened, insomuch that he slew Amlici with the sword.

32 And he also contended with the king of the Lamanites; but the king of the Lamanites fled back from before Alma and sent his guards to contend with Alma.

33 But Alma, with his guards, contended with the guards of the king of the Lamanites until he slew and drove them back.

34 And thus he cleared the ground, or rather the bank, which was on the west of the river Sidon, throwing the bodies of the Lamanites who had been slain into the waters of Sidon, that thereby his people might have room to cross and contend with the Lamanites and the Amlicites on the west side of the river Sidon.

35 And it came to pass that when they had all crossed the river Sidon that the Lamanites and the Amlicites began to flee before them, notwithstanding they were so numerous that they could not be numbered. (Alma 2:27-35)

In this story of when the Nephites fight the combined Amlicite and Lamanite armies, I knew there was a river involved, but I didn’t realize how it played into the Nephite difficulties in such a way as to heighten the miracle of their victory.

Verse 27 notes that as the Nephites were crossing the river, the Lamanites came upon them (most likely from the opposite side). We don’t know how deep the river was, but it would have become a significant obstacle. It is much harder to move quickly through water than air.  It sounds like the Amlicite-Lamanite army tried to keep the Nephites from getting out of the river.

So there is this battle between Alma and Amlici, and Alma finally wins after having been strengthened by God.  Then he has to fight the Lamanite king.. and then the king’s guards.  Eventually Alma and his guards are able to clear the bank at the river side so that his people could get out of the water and have an easier fight on dry ground.  So Alma and his guards seem to have been part of a preliminary thrust that was able to push the enemy back from the water’s edge.

Having to cross the river to fight was a significant obstacle the Nephites faced. And with the larger numbers of the enemy, they had no guarantee that they would succeed. But the Lord helped Alma and his guards to break down the strategic advantage the enemy had over them, and once that was done, the fight became easier, and the enemy cut and ran.

Why did the enemy run?  I think it was because seeing the Nephites overcome their strategic disadvantage made the Amlicite-Lamanite army feel like the Nephites were extra strong and that overwhelming numbers would not be enough to stop them.  So for the Nephites, overcoming a strategic disadvantage effectively demoralized their enemy.

What does this teach us?  How can we use this in our lives?

I can think of several ways it can help. 

We all have battles we have to fight, and there is always some way that we come to particular battles with a disadvantage.  It might be physical. It might be emotional.  It might be mental.  We might be at a disadvantage in forming a family because of growing up in a broken home.  We might fight addictions that others are not predisposed to suffer.  We might come from an uneducated family and be trying to rise to a more educated level. We might be a lone voice against the crowd.

Heavenly Father knows our disadvantages and He can give us the strength to overcome them.  And sometimes overcoming those disadvantages is THE battle.  After we’ve done that, the opposition cuts and runs and it’s over.

The undeserved miracle saving King Noah’s people

Around the beginning of the account of King Noah, there is a story of how the Lamanites began to come in and steal from them and destroy them.  At first King Noah didn’t send enough guards and they were killed. But the second time, he sends armies and they drive the Lamanites out.

16 And it came to pass that the Lamanites began to come in upon his people, upon small numbers, and to slay them in their fields, and while they were tending their flocks.

17 And king Noah sent guards round about the land to keep them off; but he did not send a sufficient number, and the Lamanites came upon them and killed them, and drove many of their flocks out of the land; thus the Lamanites began to destroy them, and to exercise their hatred upon them.

18 And it came to pass that king Noah sent his armies against them, and they were driven back, or they drove them back for a time; therefore, they returned rejoicing in their spoil.

19 And now, because of this great victory they were lifted up in the pride of their hearts; they did boast in their own strength, saying that their fifty could stand against thousands of the Lamanites; and thus they did boast, and did delight in blood, and the shedding of the blood of their brethren, and this because of the wickedness of their king and priests.

20 And it came to pass that there was a man among them whose name was Abinadi; and he went forth among them, and began to prophesy, saying: Behold, thus saith the Lord, and thus hath he commanded me, saying, Go forth, and say unto this people, thus saith the Lord—Wo be unto this people, for I have seen their abominations, and their wickedness, and their whoredoms; and except they repent I will visit them in mine anger.

21 And except they repent and turn to the Lord their God, behold, I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies; yea, and they shall be brought into bondage; and they shall be afflicted by the hand of their enemies.

22 And it shall come to pass that they shall know that I am the Lord their God, and am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of my people.

23 And it shall come to pass that except this people repent and turn unto the Lord their God, they shall be brought into bondage; and none shall deliver them, except it be the Lord the Almighty God.

24 Yea, and it shall come to pass that when they shall cry unto me I will be slow to hear their cries; yea, and I will suffer them that they be smitten by their enemies.

25 And except they repent in sackcloth and ashes, and cry mightily to the Lord their God, I will not hear their prayers, neither will I deliver them out of their afflictions; and thus saith the Lord, and thus hath he commanded me. (Mosiah 11:16-25)

Verse 19 gives some interesting facts about how King Noah’s people responded to their victory.  Also, I noticed there was a little chiasmus in the verse sandwiching the content of their boast inside bookends that they were boasting.

[A] And now, because of this great victory they were lifted up in the pride of their hearts; they did boast in their own strength,

[B] saying that their fifty could stand against thousands of the Lamanites;

[A] and thus they did boast, and did delight in blood, and the shedding of the blood of their brethren, and this because of the wickedness of their king and priests.

Usually the middle point of the chiasmus is something that the writer wanted to emphasize.  So why did Mormon want to highlight their boast that their small numbers could stand against thousands of the Lamanites?  They were wicked; so why were they enabled to stand?

I think this was an undeserved miracle given by God to give them extra time in which to be warned of their wickedness by Abinadi and space to choose to repent.  After all, they had not yet been warned.

Also, we might notice that the first time King Noah sent guards, it specifically says he didn’t send a sufficient number, so it implies that a lack of Nephite numbers was a real problem.  If they had really been strong enough to stand against thousands of Lamanites (as they boasted later), they should have been able to stand that first time too, and they should never have been driven at all.  If they had remembered the humiliation of that defeat, they would never have made the boast later.

I notice that when the Nephites go again with larger armies and succeed, it says they rejoiced in their spoil.  This means that they didn’t confine their army’s attention to just the enemy army. They drove the enemy through enemy territory and then plundered enemy homes. Perhaps they saw this as payback for when the Lamanites despoiled them of their flocks.

I also notice that right after they get back from their campaign, the next thing the record tells us of is the appearance of Abinadi. The Lord did not waste time after saving the Nephites; He sent them prophetic warning immediately. And the warning of consequences is directly related to their military power.  Without repentance, Abinadi says, the Lord would deliver them up to their enemies into bondage and no one except the Lord would be able to extricate them.

So the people had two recent battles they could remember—the time when the Lamanites drove them and the time they drove the Lamanites.  It was an object lesson experience of what was possible either way. 

Sadly, because their victory was so recent, they chose to believe their power was growing without any reference to the Lord’s help, and they rejected Abinadi’s message. 

I think this story shows how merciful the Lord is to extend the arm of His power to save those who have yet to be warned.  From time to time we may be in the position of needing warning.  Hopefully we can learn from the sad experience of King Noah’s people.

The sign of the jubilee years in Isaiah 37

In Isaiah 36, kingdom of Judah was confronted with an invasion by the Assyrians, who did their best to demoralize them with statements about how there was no way their God could save them, since no other gods saved the other nations the Assyrians destroyed.

In Isaiah 37, when King Hezekiah of Judah heard it, he took the national troubles to the Lord and prayed that the Lord would save Judah so that the Assyrians would know Judah’s God really was God.

Then, Isaiah came to tell King Hezekiah that the Lord would answer his prayer and he was to send a message back to the Assyrians with the following sense:  1) You’ve blasphemed against God, and we scorn you, 2) Our God got you where you are today, so of course the other nations were not strong enough to stand up to you, 3) God knows where you live and everything about you. (Implication: You’re in for it now!)

Then without warning, Isaiah shifts into a message for King Hezekiah, and this caught my attention:

And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. (Isaiah 37:30)

What is this?

It is nothing less than a promise from the Lord that He will feed the people of Judah for 2 years with whatever crops grow all by themselves with no cultivation.  It is essentially a proclamation of a Sabbath year and a Jubilee year, one right after the other. 

If you remember, the Sabbath year was every seventh year when the land was to rest, and the Jubilee year was the 50^th year, or after 7 Sabbath years had happened, and it was meant to be a time of deliverance from debt.  So to have these two years was a message of rest and deliverance to the whole nation in a way that would could be appreciated for days and weeks and months…  It was a also a tender mercy; after all, one can’t be planting and cultivating when one’s land is under siege from invaders.   But it would also require their faith for them to experience the rest.  They had to believe that it would be all right.

What a great blessing!  The Lord through the prophet didn’t just speak assurance to the king, He also gave assurance to the common man who would be very worried about how their livelihood was being disrupted by the invasion of the Assyrians.  In an environment of tension and worries about captivity, death, and famine, God gave a promise of sustained rest and deliverance and providence.

I think the lesson from this is that if we turn to the Lord in our troubles, He will have mercy on us and help us in miraculous ways.  Sometimes through tender mercies, sometimes through great miracles, always in ways that we need.  No trouble is to great or too small.  No station is too high or too low to be blessed, whether king or commoner.

The big lesson from all the attempts on David’s life in 1 Samuel 18

1 Samuel 18 has so much happening in it that it is really compacted.  A cursory reading makes it seem like the chapter only records two of Saul's attempts on David's life, but there are actually at least five.

Attempt #1

We know Saul tried to spearDavid while David played his harp for Saul.

Attempt #2

After Saul's failed spearing attempt, v13-16 records:

13 Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.

14 And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him.

15 Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him.

16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

What this tells us is Saul put David over a thousand men in the army and David went out on military missions set by Saul.  Can we imagine Saul giving David easy stuff to do?  No.  He would give David the dirtiest, most dangerous missions in hopes of getting him killed.

Do you think David was blind to what was being done to him?  I doubt it.  I think he had a feeling he was being treated like cannon fodder.  He could have complained, but it doesn’t seem like he did, and instead he just did his best.  That uncomplaining obedience may be what the text means when it says he behaved himself wisely.

The result was that Saul’s attempt failed.  God kept David safe, and David kept his mouth shut, and he ended up more loved by the people than before, which was the opposite of what Saul wanted.  Perhaps Saul hoped David would turn out to be an ineffective leader and was trying to “promote to discredit.”  Instead, God used it to increase David’s talents and made good come of it.

Attempt #3

In Saul’s next attempt, he tries to praise and incentive-ize David into doing something exceptionally foolish to get him killed.

And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the Lord’s battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. (v17)

Notice Saul gives this incentive—marriage to his eldest daughter—and his instructions are “only be thou valiant for me; and fight the Lord’s battles.”  That’s like saying, “Your only job is to be brave and fight.”

But… war takes more than just bravery and fighting, and in asking David to do that, Saul was attempting to discourage David from being smart about how he fought, hoping he would take stupid risks and get himself killed.  (As an aside, I’ve recently been reading a sci fi space opera series that has as a major plot point a space fleet’s tendency to suffer terrible losses because bravery was higher priority than discipline and strategy.  It gave this verse much greater significance than it would have had otherwise.)

How does David respond?  He refuses to take the bait and says that he and his family are nobodies and the last people to become connected by marriage to the king.  He’s okay with not being famous or connected to the king’s family.  His humility saves him.

Attempts #4 & 5

This is a two-parter. 

20 And Michal Saul’s daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.

21 And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain….

25 And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. (v20-21, 25)

Saul intends Michal to be a snare to David and of course he also requires David to pay a dowry of 100 Philistine foreskins to marry her, and we know he hoped David would get killed trying to fulfill that requirement.

But how did Saul intend Michal to be a snare?  I had to think about this one and read more about Michal to figure this out.  I have a feeling that Saul meant it in the same sense that the Lord told the Israelites the Canaanites would be a snare to them and the same way the Moabite women were a snare in Numbers 25.  Michal may have been idolatrous.  I Samuel 19:13,16 tells that she put an image in David’s bed as a decoy so that David could escape Saul’s servants.  But what was an image doing in their house when there is that commandment in the Law of Moses to not have any graven images?  This was a full-sized statue and it was moveable.  David was a man after God’s heart, so it had to be Michal’s.  So Michal was idolatrous.

It seems Saul hoped that Michal’s idolatry would begin to pull David down once he was married to her.  Saul hoped to destroy David’s righteousness and favor with God in a manner strikingly similar to what Balaam taught the Moabites to do to the Israelites.

No, David!  Don’t marry her!  It’s a trap! 

Yet David does obtain the 100 Philistine foreskins with God’s protection.  (Note: v27 says he brought back 200 foreskins, but 2 Samuel 3:14 says it was 100.)  And he does marry Michal.   (At this point we should holding our heads and yelling “Oh noooooooo!”)

But… instead of Michal becoming a snare to David, the Lord uses Michal as a means of delivering David.  Remember when Saul sent his men to kill David, Michal warned him of his danger and helped him escape.  Then, she took the image she worshipped and put it in service as a decoy.    The very things that Saul meant to destroy David became the means by which the Lord saved him.  How’s that for showing the Lord’s great power to bring good out of evil?

It’s really a sad thing reading about all the ways Saul planned to try to get rid of David.  Yet, we get a great lesson from David.  As we see all the ways that the Lord brought good out of evil for him, we can gain greater faith that the Lord does the same thing for us today.   If we try to be as faithful to the Lord as David was (at this time in his life), the Lord can similarly take the bad things and turn them to our good.   To use an airplane analogy, if we keep our wings tilted up, the winds of opposition will lift us higher. 

David & Goliath: Factors in Goliath’s Vulnerability

When I read the story of David slaying Goliath recently I started asking myself some questions that I hadn’t thought of before:

--Was David the only slinger in the Israelite army?

--Why didn’t Goliath have anything to shield him?

--Why does Goliath so underestimate David?

I’ve read different things that say how slingers were an important part of ancient armies.  Judges 20:16 tells of 700 chosen men who could sling stones at a hairsbreadth and not miss, so they were a common part of armies.  So there would be slingers among Saul’s army already.

So why hadn’t some slinger already hit Goliath before David came?

The problem was Goliath had a shield bearer who went before him with a big shield.  The shield bearer wasn’t a glorified coat rack; he was supposed to keep Goliath safe from incoming sling stones.  And he was evidently very good at it because Goliath defied Israel for quite a while.

So how does Goliath go so wrong with David?  Why, if David goes to Goliath with his sling in his hand, does Goliath seem to completely underestimate him?  1 Samuel 17:41 tells us that as Goliath begins to come close to David, the shield bearer went before him, so his guard was still up at the beginning.  But Goliath makes a comment in v43 -- “Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves?”  This tells us that all Goliath could see at first that David had was David’s staff.   It is possible David had his sling in his hand all rolled up or folded up, or even just held in his hand with his staff, so that Goliath could only see the staff and not the sling.  To Goliath’s eyes, David looked inadequately armed, and maybe this is what gets Goliath out from behind his shield bearer so that David can get a nice clear shot.

The risk to David was that he might not be able to bring his sling into play in time before the Philistine got to him.  Nevertheless, he starts running toward Goliath and as he runs, he prepares his sling for action.  It seems that not only was David excellent with the sling, he was good at the “quick draw” and that too while on the run, with a moving target.

Thus, we can see where David’s courage and faith were.  He knew it was risky to get close to Goliath, but he trusted in God that he would be delivered.  He had previous experience because of the time he trusted in God to help him deliver a lamb out of the mouth of a lion and a bear in a close-up struggle.

Sometimes in our fight against evil we have to get up-close-and-personal in situations with great risk.   David’s story shows us that when we have to, we can depend on God to protect us and then use the skills and training we have. 

The Different Ways the Lord Delivered Israel in 1 Samuel 7

After the Lord helped Israel win against the Philistines by thundering and confusing the enemy, the text also includes a list of other ways the Lord helped deliver Israel.

13 ¶So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel: and the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

14 And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even unto Gath; and the coasts thereof did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

15 And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. (1 Samuel 7:13-15)

1. The Philistines were subdued.  They didn’t want to fight as much as they had in the past.

2. They came no more into the coasts of Israel.  Incursions across borders, which must have been a source of irritation and trouble, stopped.

3. The hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.  This sounds like the Philistines discovered they had a bunch of their own problems they had to worry about that kept them busy so there wasn’t time or energy or resources to spare on fighting the Israelites.

4. The cities the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored.  This sounds like voluntary concession of territory, which would be pretty amazing.

5. The coasts thereof did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistines.  This sounds like Israel had a few more successful battles with the Philistines and liberated some of their own people.

6. There was peace between Israel and the Amorites.  This is kind of unspecific, but at its most basic sense, it is an end to hostilities and violence with the other Canaanites living around them.  It may not have included accord and treaties and trading… or it may have. 

I love that all those different conditions were described so carefully and briefly.  I think this block of verses teaches the principle that when we are repentant and righteous as a people, the Lord gives the whole nation peace among our neighbors.  These verses give us a sense of what that looks like.

When a man’s ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. (Proverbs 16:7)

Israel’s Repentance Process After Regaining the Ark

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After regaining the ark of the covenant, Israel lamented for something like 20 years and Samuel preached repentance.  It is cool to see the effect he was able to have on Israel.

3 ¶And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

4 Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only.

5 And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the Lord.

6 And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the Lord, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh. (1 Sam. 7:3-6)

This tells about one of those few times in Israel when the people had a mass revival of devotion to God and went through the repentance process.

You can see what they did to repent.

They put away the strange gods and the Ashtaroth.  The immoral fertility rites associated with those gods were a spiritual plague that they had to get rid of.  As always repentance is about stopping the sin and getting rid of the things that facilitate the sin.

They prepared their hearts to serve the Lord only.  When sin has been persistent and deep, it takes a lot of work to redirect one’s thoughts toward the desired change.  You have to keep reminding yourself, “Yes, I’m going to do the right thing.  No, I’m not going to go back to that sin.”  New neural pathways have to be built and old ones have to be avoided.

Samuel gathered the people to pray for them to the Lord.  Here Samuel was a type of Christ by advocating to the Father for them.  Also, by gathering together, Israel could draw strength and support from others going through the repentance process and get help from leaders.

Next it says they did something that sounds unrelated.  “they…drew water, and poured it out before the Lord” (v6).  What does this drawing water have to do with repentance?  I think it describes how they drew water so they could ceremonially cleanse themselves as part of following the Law of Moses.  It could have been baptisms, it could have been ritual washings.  If all Israel was there, a lot of people would need water to wash in.  And they couldn’t do it all one at a time, they had to make a way for some serious through-put, and that would require a lot of water.  So it could have been a big collective effort to fetch water for all that to happen.  (Just imagine what if would be like if everyone going to general conference had to take a bath before going into the building.) 

Another possibility of interpretation comes from the fact that in the text, in the phrase “poured it out before the LORD” the “it” is italicized, meaning it was one of the words that translators added to help the text make sense.  This may be a case when the “it” narrows the meaning when it shouldn’t.  Without it, the phrase says “poured out before the LORD.”  What else could be poured out before the Lord besides water?  How about pouring out hearts in prayer?  Prayer is definitely an important part of repentance—praying and telling the Lord all about our problems and sins and why and how and our desires to change and asking for help.

The people also fasted on that day.  Fasting helps build spirituality for repentance.  It is a form of sacrifice, which is an important principle of the gospel.  It builds self-discipline, which helps build up moral momentum for forsaking sins.

They also said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.”  They admitted their sins.

Also, Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.  This sounds like Samuel went through a lot of interviews that were the equivalent of people confessing to the bishop.  The Israelites were willing to confess their sins to the spiritual authority and receive judgment, working towards getting right with the Lord.

You have to be impressed by the brevity of those verses and how they condense the repentance process down so well.  Those verses are a valuable record, much like the recorded response King Benjamin’s speech in the Book of Mormon is for us today.  These verses also show us that the repentance process was essentially the same in ancient times as it is today, even though animal sacrifice was involved in worship then and no longer is today.

This isn’t the end of the story, however.  

7 And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines.

8 And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.

9 ¶And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it for a burnt offering wholly unto the Lord: and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel; and the Lord heard him.

10 And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.

11 And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Beth-car.

12 Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. (1 Samuel 7:7-12)

  When the Philistines heard the Israelites were gathered at Mizpeh, they gathered their armies together to fight.

Why did the Philistines do this?  Mizpeh was a place of significance.  It was the place where the Israelites gathered to fight the Ammonites before Jepthah was chosen to be king over them.  It was the place where Jepthah had his house as king.  It was the place where the Israelites gathered themselves together before avenging the atrocities committed by the Benjaminites in Judges 20.  They made vows to the Lord there.  With this history, the Philistines saw the Israelite gathering at Mizpeh as a sign the Israelites were about to rise in rebellion against them, so they hastened to nip it in the bud.

This sudden threat naturally alarmed the Israelites and they turned to the Lord for help, as they should.  They asked Samuel to not stop praying for them, and Samuel also offered a sacrifice of a lamb. 

What happened?  As the Philistines drew near, “the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel” (1 Samuel 7:10).

What is “discomfited?”  It means confused.  Why were the Philistines discomfited by thunder?  I think it goes back to the Philistine pantheon.  One of their gods was Baal, a god of storms.  What are the Philistines going to think is happening when sudden lightning strikes in the middle of their army and great claps of thunder resound around them?  They’re going to think their god is there and doesn’t approve of their invasion!   Further, consider the Philistines had previously beaten the Israelites and taken the ark, so they had thought their god had beaten Israel’s God and now it seemed Baal was against them for trying to beat the Israelites again.  From their perspective that’s a very confusing message. 

Many storms happen without giving indication that they are peculiarly acts of God, but this storm in particular came at the right time and right place.   Divine timing and intensity. 

I have to add here that thunderstorms can always teach about the nature of God’s power.  I remember an experience my husband and I had going into our duplex in Austin, Texas one day back in 2003.  A storm was starting.  We were right at the door on our front porch when a sudden flash and a deafening crash of thunder happened seemingly next to us.  Our tree just 10 feet away had been struck by lightning.  It was so loud and so surprising that we instinctively cowered and covered our heads.  We felt the heat. As we went in, we couldn’t help but say to ourselves that was a sample of the kind of power God has.

Back to the Israelites and the discomfited Philistines..

The Israelites were spiritually prepared for battle, having repented according to the instructions of Samuel, so the Lord blessed them.  I think it is neat that the Lord was so merciful as to immediately deliver the Israelites after their repentance.  He didn’t put them on a probation to see whether they would act better for a few months before He saved them.  They had an immediate national crisis and the Lord immediately helped them.  The Lord wants to restore our spiritual and temporal blessings as soon as possible when we repent and will help us immediately.

To help Israel remember the way the Lord helped them, Samuel set a stone up in between Mizpeh and Shen and called its name Eben-ezer, which means “stone of help.”  It would add to the number of monuments meant to represent instances when the Lord’s miracles saved Israel.  (This monument is what is referred to in the hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” when the lyrics say “Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I’ve come.”)  

This gets me thinking about what monuments I have in my life of the Lord’s help.  I have a keychain that is tricky to put keys on that reminds me of how the Lord helped me figure it out.  My husband is a living monument to how the Lord blessed me for sacrifice when I was a single college student.  Mostly, I write in my journals how the Lord has blessed and saved me so that I can remember.  

What monuments do you have in your life to remember times when the Lord has saved you?