Some things I've learned from the Book of Revelation

I'm still working on my book about the Book of Revelation. I finished a draft about two weeks ago (yay!), and yesterday I got feedback about my Introduction in which I try to explain why that book is so important to understand. This test reader found my explanation needed some work. (Doh!)

So of course I went to work trying to improve it.  Eventually I realized I had a tangle of half-articulated reasons.  Which means I had to un-tangle and fully articulate.

 But it just wouldn't come. There was just so many ways that I realized the Book of Revelation can help us.  And as I worked away at it, adding here, moving there, over and over... I discovered a lot of the reasons interlocked with each other and led to more reasons. That made it really hard to tell how to organize my paragraphs.

So I gave up on the writing part for a while and decided to mind-map it out.  I hoped that I could at least begin to see the relationships better than I did before.

Here's what I have so far.  Hopefully you can click on this thing and read my tiny print. :-)

Naturally, not every single bubble will find its way into the particular section I'm working on. But at least I'll be able to see relationships better.

Some of Jesus’s Interesting Instructions to the Twelve about Missionary Work

In Matthew 10, Jesus gives His disciples instructions about missionary work. I found v26-28 particularly interesting this time through.

26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.

27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. (Matt. 10:26-27)

Why emphasize this thing about secrets being revealed? And how is that supposed to help them with their missionary work?

I realized this was a promise that Heavenly Father would reveal to them (the disciples) ahead of time secret things about their listeners. They were to talk about those things and teach principles about those things. That divinely-given knowledge was to be a sign to their hearers that Heavenly Father knew them intimately and that what they were hearing was the truth.

We see a specimen of this in the story of the woman at the well. Jesus told her, “thou has had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband…” (John 4:18).

How would these things be revealed?

·      “what I tell you in darkness” – This was an oblique reference to dreams. Heavenly Father can use dreams to reveal things to His disciples.

·      “what ye hear in the ear” – This is an oblique reference to the still, small voice of the Spirit, which can reveal things as well.

Heavenly Father knows all the details of our lives. He can reveal those things to His servants when He deems it will bring us closer to Him and help us repent.

Thoughts about Alternatives if Buying and Selling is Prohibited

Remember these verses?

16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:16-17)

If you’re like me, you may have read these verses and wondered how one might survive if you are prohibited from buying and selling. What alternatives can we imagine?

One alternative that comes to mind immediately is the formation of a black market (or in this case, it would be a white market that is officially deemed “black” by the powers that be.) However, black markets are demoralizing inasmuch as it forces one to live outside the law. Living in fear of discovery like that is no way to live for faithful people who are commanded not to fear but be of good cheer.

This brings us to the other alternative. An alternative economy must be formed on a legal basis, and that alternative economy must operate on principles other than buying and selling. This is hard to imagine, but what it amounts to is that of volunteering, giving and sharing. Charity becomes the legal basis by which the Zion economy must be run at this time. Workers must give their labor to the Lord, and producers must give their production to the Lord and thereby make Zion the clearinghouse for where the labor is to be bestowed and where the goods to be produced must be sent.

This will take a lot of trust, and will likely not be perfect, but it will be a better alternative than taking the mark to be part of a corrupt network or living in fear as part of a black market.

Consecration will be Zion’s protection.

Joseph’s Revelation to Take Mary to Wife & a Connection to Family History

18 ¶ Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.

20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.

22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:

25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus. (Matt. 1:18-25)

It is interesting to think about how we got this information about a very private and personal dilemma Joseph had and the significant decision he had to make and an important revelation he had—that he had planned to put Mary away privately and was reassured by an angel in a dream that Mary’s pregnancy was not because of fornication but was a miracle according to the will of God.

We know this stuff about Joseph because at some point he told others about it. Maybe he told Mary and it became a story that was part of their family culture of raising Jesus. At some point that story got around among believers, and we know about it today because Matthew recorded it.

This is so fascinating because a private part of someone’s personal history became part of a family history tradition and eventually became part of shared church history of all Christians.

Applying this to us, I think it shows how important it is to record the events surrounding our dilemmas, our decisions, and our revelations concerning the same. Those things change the course of our lives and our families, though we may not know the full extent of their impact until much later. We also don’t know how those stories will help our families in the future, or even other people. We don’t know how far those stories may travel.

Mysteries of God

A question I had recently was, "What do the scriptures call mysteries? When the scriptures talk about the mysteries of God, what topics are discussed in that context?" I felt like if I did a survey of the scriptures that referred to "mysteries of God" I might get an idea of what those things are and also how to obtain them.

What follows are notes I made from investigating the scriptures. I think you'll find them illuminating.

Mysteries of the kingdom (Matt 13:11) (given to the disciples to know these)
Mysteries of God (1 Cor 4:1)
Mysteries of God (1 Nephi 2:16 (in context of Nephi wanting to know his father was right or not)
Mysteries of God (1 Nephi 10:19) in context of Nephi asking about Lehi’s dream of the tree of life
Mysteries of God (Mosiah 1:3) associated with the things already written in the scriptures
Mysteries of God (Mosiah 2:9) associated with the vision Mosiah had of an angel that gave him a message about the Messiah
Mysteries of God (Alma 10:5) associated with preserving the lives of the Nephites
Mysteries of God (Alma 12:9) about the resurrection from the dead and the judgment
Mysteries of God (Alma 26:22) associated with revealing new things and bringing people to repentance
Mysteries (Alma 37:4) in the scriptures
Mysteries (Alma 37:11) about how the hardened Nephites will be brought to repentance
Mysteries (of God) and secret works of darkness (Alma 37:21) associated with the 24 Jaredite plates
Mysteries  (Alma 40:3) concerning what happens to the soul between death and resurrection
Mysteries of God (D&C 6:7) that will make rich and give eternal life
Mysteries (D&C 6:11) great and marvelous, to bring many to know the truth, to convince others of their error.
Mysteries (D&C 28:7) given to the prophet
Mysteries (D&C 42:61 peaceable things, which bring joy, which bring life eternal
Mysteries (D&C 43:13) to be given because of charitable giving
Mysteries of my kingdom (D&C 63:23) as a well of living water, spring up unto everlasting life
Mysteries out of the scriptures (D&C 71:1)
Hidden mysteries of my will (D&C 76:7-10) from days of old, for ages to come, good pleasure of my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom. Wonders of eternity. Things to come. Things of many generations. Understanding reach to heaven. Secrets of my will. Things eye has not see, nor ear heard, nor yet entered into the heart of man.
Mysteries (D&C 77:6) associated with the book sealed with 7 seals. Revealed will, mysteries, works of god. Hidden things of his economy.
Mysteries of the kingdom (D&C 84:19) key of the knowledge of God, associated with the power of godliness in the ordinances of the church.
Mysteries of the kingdom (D&C 107:19) of heaven, having the heavens opened to them. Enjoying the presence of the Father and Jesus.
God revealeth secrets (Dan 2:28) in association with Daniel telling the dream of the king and interpreting it.  What shall come to pass (v29)
Secrets (Amos 3:7) revealed to the prophets before they happen.

Fascinating, huh?

Verses about the Last Days

 

87 For not many days hence and the earth shall tremble and reel to and fro as a drunken man; and the sun shall hide his face, and shall refuse to give light; and the moon shall be bathed in blood; and the stars shall become exceedingly angry, and shall cast themselves down as a fig that falleth from off a fig tree.

88 And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people.

89 For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand.

90 And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds.

91 And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people.

92 And angels shall fly through the midst of heaven, crying with a loud voice, sounding the trump of God, saying: Prepare ye, prepare ye, O inhabitants of the earth; for the judgment of our God is come. Behold, and lo, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

93 And immediately there shall appear a great sign in heaven, and all people shall see it together.

94 And another angel shall sound his trump, saying: That great church, the mother of abominations, that made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, that persecuteth the saints of God, that shed their blood—she who sitteth upon many waters, and upon the islands of the sea—behold, she is the tares of the earth; she is bound in bundles; her bands are made strong, no man can loose them; therefore, she is ready to be burned. And he shall sound his trump both long and loud, and all nations shall hear it.

95 And there shall be silence in heaven for the space of half an hour; and immediately after shall the curtain of heaven be unfolded, as a scroll is unfolded after it is rolled up, and the face of the Lord shall be unveiled;

96 And the saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall be quickened and be caught up to meet him.

97 And they who have slept in their graves shall come forth, for their graves shall be opened; and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of heaven—

98 They are Christ’s, the first fruits, they who shall descend with him first, and they who are on the earth and in their graves, who are first caught up to meet him; and all this by the voice of the sounding of the trump of the angel of God.

99 And after this another angel shall sound, which is the second trump; and then cometh the redemption of those who are Christ’s at his coming; who have received their part in that prison which is prepared for them, that they might receive the gospel, and be judged according to men in the flesh.

100 And again, another trump shall sound, which is the third trump; and then come the spirits of men who are to be judged, and are found under condemnation;

101 And these are the rest of the dead; and they live not again until the thousand years are ended, neither again, until the end of the earth.

102 And another trump shall sound, which is the fourth trump, saying: There are found among those who are to remain until that great and last day, even the end, who shall remain filthy still.

103 And another trump shall sound, which is the fifth trump, which is the fifth angel who committeth the everlasting gospel—flying through the midst of heaven, unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people;

104 And this shall be the sound of his trump, saying to all people, both in heaven and in earth, and that are under the earth—for every ear shall hear it, and every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess, while they hear the sound of the trump, saying: Fear God, and give glory to him who sitteth upon the throne, forever and ever; for the hour of his judgment is come.

105 And again, another angel shall sound his trump, which is the sixth angel, saying: She is fallen who made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; she is fallen, is fallen!

106 And again, another angel shall sound his trump, which is the seventh angel, saying: It is finished; it is finished! The Lamb of God hath overcome and trodden the wine-press alone, even the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God.

107 And then shall the angels be crowned with the glory of his might, and the saints shall be filled with his glory, and receive their inheritance and be made equal with him.

108 And then shall the first angel again sound his trump in the ears of all living, and reveal the secret acts of men, and the mighty works of God in the first thousand years.

109 And then shall the second angel sound his trump, and reveal the secret acts of men, and the thoughts and intents of their hearts, and the mighty works of God in the second thousand years—

110 And so on, until the seventh angel shall sound his trump; and he shall stand forth upon the land and upon the sea, and swear in the name of him who sitteth upon the throne, that there shall be time no longer; and Satan shall be bound, that old serpent, who is called the devil, and shall not be loosed for the space of a thousand years.

111 And then he shall be loosed for a little season, that he may gather together his armies.

112 And Michael, the seventh angel, even the archangel, shall gather together his armies, even the hosts of heaven.

113 And the devil shall gather together his armies; even the hosts of hell, and shall come up to battle against Michael and his armies.

114 And then cometh the battle of the great God; and the devil and his armies shall be cast away into their own place, that they shall not have power over the saints any more at all.

115 For Michael shall fight their battles, and shall overcome him who seeketh the throne of him who sitteth upon the throne, even the Lamb.

116 This is the glory of God, and the sanctified; and they shall not any more see death. (D&C 88:87-116)

In these verses are a whole bunch of prophesies about the last days, about calamities to come on the earth, and then v94-106 tells of seven angels sounding their trumpets to announce the fall of Babylon and the progressive resurrection of various parties based on their level of righteousness. After that comes v108-110 telling of another seven angels sounding their trumps to tell of the secret acts of men in the various thousand-year eras of history. Then the binding of Satan and his loosing after another thousand years, with the final fight of Michael against the devil and armies.

Before I studied the Book of Revelation in depth, it seemed like these verses were a sort of translation of Revelation into a simpler form. I thought it was supposed to overlay the top of Revelation and readers were supposed to find corresponding points.

But after having studied Revelation a lot more, I now read this and I can see it is a mishmash of a bunch of different elements of Revelation, but they are all out of order. The Book of Revelation only has one sequence of angels sounding their trumpets, but these verses have two. These verses have all the dead resurrected before the final battle when Satan is bound, but Revelation has it the other way around.  Revelation has the angel warning there will be time no longer in the sixth trumpet, but these verses have him doing that in the second set of seven trumpets, in the last trumpet, just before Satan is bound (v110).

So what are we to make of this? Unbelievers might say Joseph Smith was making it up, but we who believe he was a prophet know differently. We dare not say he didn’t know what he was doing, especially since he said the Book of Revelation is the plainest of all books. And if it is plain, then he wouldn’t have then gone and “messed it up” like this, if this is supposed to be an improvement.  I am personally forced to conclude that he was using the imagery of Revelation to reveal additional things.

V92-106 tells of a sequence of different groups of people who are resurrected at different times based on their level of righteousness. We may think this is obvious now, but it would not have been so in Joseph Smith’s day. Also, the Book of Revelation only says the righteous are raised at Christ’s coming and then the rest later after the final battle against Satan. The trumpet sequence of seven here shows us the resurrection is a sequential process.

V108-110 has yet another sequence of angelic trumpets sounding to announce the secret things of the various thousand years of history that will be revealed. This is another thing that is probably obvious to us now, but again, it may not have been obvious before. The Bible is pretty clear about the doctrine that God sees all and knows our doings, our words, our thoughts, our intents, and our desires. But it is not clear on the doctrine that all these things will eventually be revealed to everyone else as well. The Book of Revelation only says the books will be opened and everyone will be judged according to what is written in the books concerning their works. But these verses tell us all will be revealed to everyone. And if so, then we need to be especially careful about everything we do, say, think, intend, and want. Sooner or later, everyone will know all the secrets of everyone on the planet who has ever lived, whether good or bad. We will be very happy if we have repented of all our sins and if all we have done, said, or thought is beyond reproach.

God gives light

For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding. (2 Nephi 31:3)

This verse has helped me a lot in life. So often it helped me in my studies as I worked to understand things. It helped me whenever I’d run into things I couldn’t understand, helping me trust that either there would be a way to understand it if I learned more, or it was something worthless trying to cover that up with a pretense of obscurity. It has helped me value teachers for their ability to make difficult subjects clear, beautiful, and harmonious.

It also shows me just how involved revelation is in learning. Every insight, every realization, every epiphany is a gift from God and brings us closer to Him.

I think the scripture also teaches what a brilliant linguist God is. If He speaks to all of us according to our understanding, He must know all our languages. Not only does God condescend to speak, but to adapt His message to our level of understanding, meaning He knows the level we’re at. (I suspect He sometimes pitches His messages at a slightly higher level to motivate us to stretch a little bit so we can also grow spiritually.) He understands us perfectly, and how He must yearn for us to understand Him. And yet, here we are, with our limited mortal perspective hopefully widened a little with our knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. How much we must trust Him!

Putting Together the Tabernacle

My husband and I were reading through Exodus and we hit the sections that talk about how the Tabernacle was put together. (There’s also directions for how the Lord wanted it made, which are given earlier.) In the midst of all the details about taches of gold and sockets of silver and curtains and loops and boards, there’s a verse that I really liked.

And he made fifty taches of gold, and coupled the curtains one unto another with the taches: so it became one tabernacle. (Exodus 36:13)

In the midst of all the little details and all the pieces, suddenly we get a picture of the unified result—voíla! One Tabernacle!

I couldn’t help but see how that was analogous to how all the individuals of ward or branch come together and suddenly—we are one, unified in Christ through the Spirit. All those taches (and meetings that build friendship) and curtains (services to help shelter each other from major difficulties) and couplings (temple marriages) –all of that helps build our strength and unity.

Another thing I’ve observed in reading about all this detail is that it is actually presented twice—once when the Lord revealed it to Moses, and again as the Israelites are building the equipment and putting the Tabernacle together.   While it may seem repetitious, it shows this was by the Lord’s command and not something the Israelites came up with themselves. It shows they were obedient in every detail. We don’t see the Lord commanding and then no action from his people to obey. Obedience is not taken for granted here.

 I also think this is notable because it gives us an example of when the full plan was given Moses all at once, not in dribs and drabs of incremental revelation. Big loads of revelation happen from time to time. And of course, the Lord chooses what situations call for a dumptruck-load of revelation versus a teaspoon-full of revelation in increments. Our part is to make ourselves ready to receive.  Eventually we get to see the full result, the unity of all the separate little projects are working toward.

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.

Convinced of their Errors

In 3 Nephi 1 after the great sign was given of Christ’s birth, there is told of some who started to preach that they didn’t have to keep the Law of Moses anymore, and they tried to prove this with the scriptures.

24 And there were no contentions, save it were a few that began to preach, endeavoring to prove by the scriptures that it was no more expedient to observe the law of Moses. Now in this thing they did err, having not understood the scriptures.

25 But it came to pass that they soon became converted, and were convinced of the error which they were in, for it was made known unto them that the law was not yet fulfilled, and that it must be fulfilled in every whit; yea, the word came unto them that it must be fulfilled; yea, that one jot or tittle should not pass away till it should all be fulfilled; therefore in this same year were they brought to a knowledge of their error and did confess their faults. (3 Nephi 1:24-25)

I think it is very interesting how they are reclaimed from this error. It struck me recently that it isn’t very specific about who convinced them of their error and showed them the Law had to be completely fulfilled. Before, I just assumed one of the prophets told them. There’s place in Helaman 11:23 where there is much strife, but Nephi and Lehi laid down the true points of doctrine because of their many daily revelations and were able to end it. But here it doesn’t say who convinced the people who were in error.

So, it hit me that it must have been Heavenly Father who revealed to these people that the Law still needed to be fulfilled. And that’s pretty extraordinary because usually when there are dissenters, they go off on their own and nothing but a difficult preaching mission can reclaim the most humble and open of them.

What is different about these people that they could realize their error through revelation?

I don’t’ know; maybe it was that they were still receptive and humble enough that revelation would reach them.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could always be so humble that all our errors could be corrected solely through revelation? Let’s make it a goal to strive for that humility.

Two Harvests in Revelation 14

14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.

19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. (Revelation 14:14-20)

What we have here is a big gathering of two separate groups. We don’t know what the 1^st group is at first, but we are told the second group is gathered to be cast into the winepress of the wrath of God, so that tells us the grapes represent the wicked. So, the first group must be the righteous who are gathered together for safety. This is consistent with the message of Jesus’s parable of the wheat and the tares in which both the righteous and the wicked are allowed to mix and grow together until the end when the wheat (righteous) are gathered into the garner and the chaff (the wicked) remain to be burned.

It appears that at some point the Saints will need to physically gather for safety and security. I imagine the prophets will tell us when that time comes.

Various scriptures about “inasmuch”

I ran across a verse that had “inasmuch” in it, and it seemed to me that it expressed proportionality—the bigger one thing is, the bigger another thing is.  So I decided to search for scriptures to see how often I could find this and what I could learn from it.

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matt. 25:40)

To the extent we are charitable to the least of humanity, we are charitable to Christ.

…inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. (Phillippians 1:7)

This one is a little tricky to follow, but I think it is staying Paul seems to have noticed that to the extent he was confined but continued to defend and confirm the gospel, he was given grace from God to strengthen others.  That gives some encouragement about our effectiveness for when we feel like we’re hampered by persecution, doesn’t it?

But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. (1 Peter 4:13)

So to the extent that we suffer as Christ did, we will be joyful when His glory is revealed. That gives a good reason to be valiant, doesn’t it?

And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands. (1 Nephi 2:20)

So to the extent we keep the commandments, we will prosper. This theme is repeated throughout the Book of Mormon. (1 Nephi 4:14; 2 Ne. 1:9; 2 Ne. 1:20; 2 Ne. 4:4; Jarom 1:9; Alma 9:13; Alma 36:1; Alma 38: 1; Alma 50:20)

And inasmuch as thou shalt keep my commandments, thou shalt be made a ruler and a teacher over thy brethren. (1 Nephi 2:22)

This was definitely true of Nephi, and it may very well be true in general—to the extent one keeps the commandments, one is made a ruler and a teacher.

And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led. (1 Ne. 17:13)

Maybe we are not seeking out a promised land like Nephi, but it is still true that to the extent that we keep the Lord’s commandments we will be led and we will know we are led by God.

And inasmuch as thy brethren shall rebel against thee, they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. (1 Nephi 2: 21)

To the extent that we rebel, we are cut off from the Lord’s presence.  Pretty simple.

And the Lord God said unto me: They shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in remembrance of me; and inasmuch as they will not remember me, and hearken unto my words, they shall scourge them even unto destruction. (2 Ne 5:25)

So to the extent that we don’t remember God, we will be scourged to destruction. The use of “scourge” here is interesting. A scourge is a whip. It’s not meant to be an execution device, but if it keeps hitting and doesn’t stop, then it becomes one. This scourge is stopped by remembering God and listening to His words. (Oh, look!  Remembering God is part of what we promise to do in the sacrament!)

And it came to pass that they did repent, and inasmuch as they did repent they did begin to prosper. (Helaman 4:15, see also Ether 11:8)

So to the extent that we repent, we prosper.

I’m going to end this post with a triple-packed scripture of inasmuches. 

25 And inasmuch as they erred it might be made known;

26 And inasmuch as they sought wisdom they might be instructed;

27 And inasmuch as they sinned they might be chastened, that they might repent; (D&C 1:25-28)

This tells me I should expect exposure and chastening to the same extent that I err and sin.  There’s fairness in that.  The Lord doesn’t work like the world and overdo it on the chastening. And I love that the Lord tells us that we can be instructed to the extent we seek wisdom.  Doesn’t that just make you want to learn all you can and pray hard for wisdom?