Sacred Support

In this verse, Captain Moroni commands Zerahemnah to surrender in the name of God and by a list of other things that are important to the Nephites.

And now, Zerahemnah, I command you, in the name of that all-powerful God, who has strengthened our arms that we have gained power over you, by our faith, by our religion, and by our rites of worship, and by our church, and by the sacred support which we owe to our wives and our children, by that liberty which binds us to our lands and our country; yea, and also by the maintenance of the sacred word of God, to which we owe all our happiness; and by all that is most dear unto us— (Alma 44:5)

One of these things mentioned is “by that sacred support which we owe to our wives and our children.”

I love that term “sacred support.” To me it doesn’t just mean the psychological support and commitment to wife and children, but all the hard work that is done to provide for one’s family. I love that Captain Moroni calls it sacred, and it really is. That support is a sacrifice that good, able-bodied men make every working day for their families.

As a wife who benefits from this sacred support, when I see it as sacred, I realize it would be terribly disrespectful and ungrateful of me to then turn around and waste that. It puts a responsibility on me to use it wisely for the benefit of our family. It also means that the tithing that is paid out of that sacred support is doubly sacred, since it is essentially a second sacrifice.

Knowing that support of my husband is sacred gives yet another good reason for budgeting, to make sure that none of that sacrifice is wasted or for naught. Because it would be awful if our choices make that sacrifice meaningless.

The Lord sees our labors

D&C 126 is a very short section of revelation for Brigham Young in which Brigham Young was told it wasn’t required for him to travel and leave his family any more.

1 Dear and well-beloved brother, Brigham Young, verily thus saith the Lord unto you: My servant Brigham, it is no more required at your hand to leave your family as in times past, for your offering is acceptable to me.

2 I have seen your labor and toil in journeyings for my name. (D&C 126:1-2)

The part that strikes me as touching is that the Lord tells Brigham, “your offering is acceptable to me” and “I have seen your labor and toil in journeyings for my name.” How precious it is to know that the Lord sees and knows the hard work His servants do in their callings and to build the kingdom.  If the Lord saw Brigham Young’s labors, then the Lord sees the labors of each of us. 

I also love that the Lord speaks of Brigham’s work as an “offering,” which makes me think of it almost in terms of animal sacrifice. Our work for the Lord a sacrifice too.  Some of my recent callings are requiring me to kill some animal, beastly part of my natural woman that I previously didn’t know about and offer it to the Lord to consume it in my labor.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could serve so as to merit the Lord telling us as He told Brigham Young that our offering is acceptable to Him?

Some might quibble with the word “acceptable” on the grounds that it sounds as if the offering is barely adequate, but I think I’d rather give an offering deemed acceptable than one that was rejected. 

I will have mercy and not sacrifice

10 ¶And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.

11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?

12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.

13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Matthew 9:10-13)

I knew that Jesus said he was sent to heal the spiritual sick, but I was a bit confused about that part in verse 13. I had this idea Jesus was saying the Pharisees should be merciful to the sinners, or else saying He as the Son of God wanted to have mercy for his disciples rather than their sacrifices.

This time when I read it, I noticed a footnote to Hosea 6:6, which I went and looked at, including its context. I got a different impression from the meaning than I had before.

4 ¶O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.

5 Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.

6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:4-6)

Hosea called attention to how transitory Israel’s righteousness was, and how quickly they wandered from God. The words of the prophets, since they spoke the Law of Moses, taught them the right way, but also revealed how lost and fallen they were.

Therefore, the proper attitude of worship when making sacrifices was to seek for God’s mercy with faith in the Messiah’s sacrifice, rather than exulting in one’s own obedience. If they approached their sacrifices with an attitude of, “Look at me; I’m so obedient to offer sacrifices,” then they totally missed the point. But if they approached it from the perspective of, “I need to be redeemed; I need the mercy from the Messiah’s atonement, which my sacrifice is meant to remind me of,” then they would be prepared for the Lord’s redeeming power to work on them.

So when Jesus told the Pharisees to learn what Hosea meant about wanting mercy more than sacrifice, He meant they needed to learn their need for His mercy.  They hadn’t realized that yet. They thought they were enough by themselves.

Every once in a while, you hear people spouting that affirming line, “You are enough,” in order to encourage people who feel inadequate.  No, we are not enough. We need the Lord’s mercy.  We are not enough, but His grace is sufficient.

Painting and life lessons

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Recently I got an idea to use a paint program called Procreate on my ipad to try to duplicate what Bob Ross painted on some of his videos, which are posted to Youtube. I thought if I could watch his videos and pause them from time to time I might have a chance of copying his technique.  

Truthfully, I went into it with pretty low expectations. I'd played with the program before, but I didn't know enough to do anything good.

Imagine my utter astonishment when I end up with something like this..

Or this...

Or this..

There are some neat things about painting on this ipad program that remind me of life lessons and the gospel.

First of all, I love that there is an Undo button.  Being able to undo mistakes on a painting means that I can learn and do a little experimenting when I’m not sure what will work best.  It reminds me how wonderful repentance is.  Just think what a mess our lives would be without repentance!

Second, it is so much easier to learn to paint when watching an example and trying to duplicate what the expert does. (Likely some particularly skilled painters will argue with my labeling Bob Ross and expert, but to my ignorance, he is.)  I feel like I picked up a whole bunch of skills that I never would have learned if I hadn’t been able to see them used and hear them explained.  The power of his example reinforces to me how neat it is that we have Christ’s example in the scriptures and the example of so many prophets explaining principles for us to live our lives better. 

When I’m watching an instructional video for a painting, I like to stop the video every few minutes to give me time to try to duplicate what was done in the example.  This reminds me a lot of that principle of line-upon-line, precept-upon-precept.  If I was trying to do it all perfectly, all at once, I would get overwhelmed. 

Paintings start out so rough and plain, but they gradually get more and more detailed.  They start with large sweeping strokes, and get smaller and gentler as time goes on.  That teaches me about gradual refinement. 

Another thing I’ve noticed is that when I have done an awesome job on a mountain in the background, frequently the next stage of the project requires me to be brave and paint something over part of what I’ve just worked so hard to do.  This has taught me something about sacrifice.  There are points in life when we have to sacrifice something we’ve worked hard on in order to progress. Sometimes it seems like the thing we’re sacrificing for is not going to be that great.  (The beginnings of my trees that I paint over my backgrounds don’t look nice to begin with.) But total commitment will eventually make something beautiful and wonderful of our lives.

I’ve done a few paintings that started with nearly black backgrounds and then had colors put on them.  The light colors show up so well, and the whites really zing.  This reminds me of how brightly good people can stand out in a dark world. 

Well, that’s enough for now. I imagine I’ll probably think of more points of similarity as I get better. 

Lessons from how the JST illuminates the parable of the laborers in the vineyard

The verses I want to blog about today (Matthew 19:16 – 20:16) have three different stories all linked together and which I think need to be read together so that they can be fully understood.  First the rich young man who declines to sell all he has to give to the poor and follow Jesus at Jesus’s invitation.  Second, the clarification to the disciples of how difficult conversion is for the rich and an explanation of the heavenly reward for difficult sacrifices.  Third, the parable of the laborers in the vineyard who are all paid equally even though they were hired at different times of the day.

I think the key to it all starts with the JST of Matt. 19:26 as Jesus explains who can be saved if it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God:

KJV	JST
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.	But Jesus beheld their thoughts, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but if they will forsake all things for my sake, with God whatsoever things I speak are possible.

So Jesus puts the spotlight on how the sacrifice of all things for Christ’s sake is an important principle of salvation, and of course we are to understand that the rich are very reluctant to sacrifice, which keeps them out of the kingdom.

So then the disciples ask what the reward of their sacrifice will be, since they have given everything up to follow Jesus, and Jesus tells them how they will be given a hundredfold of what good things they had to give up, and receive eternal life.  But then He adds a caveat that the first will be last and the last will be first, and He tells the parable of the laborers in the vineyard to illustrate what He means.

The parable shows laborers who were called to work latest getting their wages first, and the first laborers becoming miffed that working all day didn’t give them a bigger reward.  If we only focus on the time factor, we only get part of the message.  We are meant to understand that the length of time we are part of the kingdom doesn’t matter as much as something else.

There is something the first laborers say in their complaint—“Thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.” (Matt 20:12)  They are complaining, but if they could only see from the master’s perspective, a more optimistic view, this could become a cry of triumph and praise—“Thou hast made them equal spiritually unto us!”  A certain thing has made them equal, worthy of the same reward, but the first laborers don’t understand what it is.

This factor is SACRIFICE, as Jesus mentioned earlier.  We don’t get this from the parable very well because the laborers were standing idle before they were hired, but we can easily see it if we think about what it takes to be converted earlier in life versus later in life.  For those converted early in life, the sacrifice happens as they remain faithful all their lives.  For those converted late in life, they sacrifice all they have been and done previously, all the life they previously built for themselves, as well as their sacrifices to remain faithful afterward.  If we are inclined to dismiss someone else’s sacrifice, we will certainly find ourselves among those complaining laborers, thinking someone else is not worthy of the reward the Lord gives and expecting more ourselves.

I also believe that when the day of judgment comes and the rewards are given out, they will be given out in the order described in that parable.  Those who converted latest in life will be rewarded first and those of us who have grown up in the church will receive our rewards last.

Why will it be done like this?  I think Heavenly Father and Jesus understand how anxious will be those who converted late in life, and it is done this way to reassure them. 

Just imagine if you had converted at age 86 and you saw that the “lifers” were rewarded first?  You’d really worry you’d be found unworthy of glory in the highest degree, wouldn’t you?  You’d worry you’d only end up with a lower degree of glory, wouldn’t you?  Now imagine you (still an 86-year-old convert) watch someone in front of you who was converted at age 96 getting their full reward of glory in the highest degree.  You’d then be completely reassured and be able to wait with joyful anticipation, wouldn’t you?   You can also see that while the rewards are given out this way it will be so easy to fall into the error of thinking the reward would be greater the longer you’ve been in the church.  This is why we have to be aware that the important principle that makes us equal is sacrificing all things for the Lord’s sake.

And again, this is why the parable ends with the words “So the last will be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen” (Matt 20:16).  Indeed, many are called to sacrifice, but few have chosen to sacrifice all things for the Lord’s sake.  And we don’t know what others have sacrificed to join the church, but the neat thing is that God makes us all equal as we sacrifice all for Him.

Quest to get David some Bethlehem water

14 And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Beth-lehem.

15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate!

16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord.

17 And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men. (2 Sam. 23:14-17)

Think how devoted to David these men were, who wanted to get him a little drink of water from the Bethlehem well just to make him happy.  And too, consider how brave they were that they would attempt this risky mission against a host of the enemy, to break through and then to hold them off while one of them drew water from the well.  Consider that they had to make their escape and defend themselves while one must hold the water pot. (Or maybe they concocted a way to carry it hands-free so all three could fight.)

David was right to refuse to drink the water, touching as his men’s devotion was.  He would not want to be responsible for starting a precedent of rulers demanding men to sacrifice their lives just to obtain some trivial thing for the ruler to consume on his lusts.

So, David poured out the water before the Lord, and this language suggests it was it was done as a sort of sacrifice, suggesting an important lesson.  Though it isn’t fit to embark on risky missions to gratify a mortal leader’s trivial desires, certainly it would be great if we were to risk everything to gratify our God’s will.  In that respect, the three brave men are well worth emulating.

I find this story helps me see my own struggles with clearer perspective.  I can tell myself, “Okay, Michaela, so you’re having troubles contacting people as part of your calling?  Are you in any physical danger as you’re doing this?  No?  Then don’t you think you could do a little more with a cheerful heart?” 

Okay, yes, I think I could.

Malachi Rebukes the Priest’s Polluted Offerings

6 ¶A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?

7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible.

8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts.

9 And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the Lord of hosts.

10 Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.  (Malachi 1:6-10)

This block of verses describes a number of ways the priests of Malachi’s day were polluting their service at the temple.

Their contempt for the service they did was the main problem because it led to them giving low quality offerings instead of their best.  Malachi challenged them on whether they thought low quality gifts to a human ruler would receive commendation, and it should have been obvious that if the governor were insulted, God certainly would be.

These comparisons are still useful today.  Do we have contempt for our callings or priesthood service?  If we were to go to our temporal jobs where we make a living and have a bad attitude there, can we imagine our employers being pleased?  Is God any different?  We may think He will not mind, but His greatness and mercy is worthy of our finest and purest devotions.

Malachi reminds the priests that they are the ones who are supposed to intercede for the people and he asks whether God will listen to their prayers if they have polluted their service.  Good question..

Malachi also asks the priests who among them would be so devoted to the service of God that they would “shut the doors” of the temple or “kindle fire” on the altar for nothing (not receiving any part of the offering).  If they would do it even if they didn’t partake in the offerings, then their hearts would be where they should be and their service would be devoted. 

Today our service is without charge, but we still need to be sure that the gift of our service is done with a willing heart, otherwise it is as polluted as Malachi spoke of.

Also, there is the principle Mormon shared in Moroni 7:

6 For behold, God hath said a man being evil cannot do that which is good; for if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing.

7 For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness.

8 For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God. (Moroni 7:6-8)

I noticed about a month or two ago that my service was starting to get a little robotic, just going through the motions.  I’m trying to better at that, to think of it as an offering and to go into it whole-heartedly, rather than with apathy.  It’s taking some effort, I can tell you.  But I try because I anticipate that great spiritual blessings will come from it, and I want those blessings, particularly greater closeness to God.

Gideon’s Debate with an Angel and the Sacrificial Sign

11 ¶And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abi-ezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

12 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

14 And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.

16 And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

17 And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.

18 Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.

19 ¶And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.

20 And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.

21 ¶Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.

22 And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God! for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face.

23 And the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.

24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.  (Judges 6:11-24)

This is a really interesting story to me, especially because Gideon has these miraculous things happen in his life and on the surface, he seems to be reluctant to believe them.  It demands our examination.

Gideon’s request for a sign is often called unbelief, but if you look carefully, he has a good reason for it.  He says, “If now I have found favor in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me.” (v17)

This strikes us as strange because we think, “The angel is right there.  It should be obvious he’s talking to Gideon.”  But Gideon wanted to know this was from the Lord and not a false prophet or false spirit.  Apostate religion and idolatry was rampant in the land, and Gideon’s caution marks him as one who wants to be spiritually discerning and cautious.  I think he would like to believe that he could make a difference and be an instrument of the Lord in effecting the deliverance of Israel from the Midianites (who were ravaged the land and destroyed their crops), but he recognizes that this might be a false guide gratifying his vanity and vain ambition.

Gideon does not only ask for a sign.  He also brings an offering, a sacrifice of cakes made from an ephah of flour (about a bushel) and the flesh of a kid (a young goat).  Considering the people were greatly impoverished by the attacks of the Midianites, this sacrifice was very generous.  It is also somewhat similar to what Gideon would bring if he went to the tabernacle.  To me it seems to indicate that Gideon was living the principle “faith precedes the miracle.”

The angel tells him to put the cakes and flesh on a nearby rock and pour out the broth, possibly over the whole to soak it.  Then the angel touched the flesh and bread with his staff and fire “rose up…out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes.  Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.” (v21)  While it says fire came out of the rock, I think what really happened was the touch of the angel’s staff caused the meat and cakes to catch fire and burn, which means the angel was a person of such intense glory that even the touch of his accessories incinerated things. 

Gideon’s subsequent terror is understandably like Ether’s.  He automatically thinks he has been presumptuous, talking and questioning the glorious personage as if he were a normal person when the being was clearly capable of great destructive power.

22 And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God! for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face.

23 And the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.

The neat thing about this is even with this show of power, the angel of the Lord, which we must suspect is Jehovah Himself, did not threaten Gideon in any way to get him to take this job of delivering Israel.  Instead, He worked to show Gideon his potential, and He issued the call and promised His presence and support all along, using all edifying building methods.  There was no coercion, or threatening, or condemning.

This experience with the power of God builds Gideon’s testimony.  He had perceived before that the Lord had delivered the Israelites into the hands of the Midianites, and he saw his sacrifice was accepted.  Even though the angel was not there, Gideon felt the voice of the Lord through the Spirit saying, “Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.” (v23)  This peace taught him that following Jehovah and sacrificing brought peace.  So he built an altar as a memorial to remind himself of that and next was willing to obey the Lord’s instructions to destroy the idolatrous worship facilities—the altar to Baal and the Asherah grove—and build up an altar to Jehovah and offer a sacrifice there.

It is also neat to see the conversation that Gideon had with this angel of the Lord before the sign.  Gideon asks some very good questions that go right to the heart of his concerns.

First the angel says, “The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.” (v12)

Gideon doesn’t feel very valiant or mighty at this point, though.  There he is, threshing in the wine press to hide the grain from the Midianites.  He probably thought, “If I’m so brave, why do I have to hide my food like this?”  He says to the angel, “if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites” (v13)

His question, “Where are the miracles?” is an excellent question and you have to give him credit that he sees the ascendency the Midianites have gained over Israel not as a sign of Baal’s power as an idolater might, but as a sign of God’s leaving Israel to themselves.  Previous to this conversation, a prophet had declared to Israel that they had not obeyed the Lord’s command to not fear the gods of the people around them, so he should have known that Israel’s idolatry was instrumental in Israel’s defeats.

The answer given to Gideon’s question is very interesting.  “Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?” (v14)  You wonder where the miracles are, Gideon?  You are the miracle.  Sending you is the beginning of more miracles.

You can tell Gideon is really thinking about that, and he is very aware of his limitations.  He asks another good question.  “Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” (v15)  Save Israel with what?!  I’m poor!  I don’t have much to fight with!

The answer comes, “Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.” (v16)  I the Lord am your weapon, Gideon.  With me, you’ll hit them as easily as you could hit a single person.

Of course, this is where Gideon wants the sign that this is really the Lord talking.  But the Lord’s promise that He will be Gideon’s weapon is fulfilled.  We see it as he breaks down his father’s altar to Baal and cuts down the grove and his father declares Baal must avenge himself and nothing happens.  We see it also in the battle cry, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!”

Here are some important principles I notice:

Idolatry and sin brings defeat. – The miracles disappear when commandments are broken.  They may disappear so gradually that we don’t notice.

Sometimes God calls us to be the miracle. – These are the kinds of miracles that happen not because we are capable and competent but because we are inadequate.  If we were capable, it wouldn’t be a miracle.

God calls, encourages, promises to be with us, and gives us an idea of what we can become with His help. – His stretching is edifying and challenging and may even be chastising, but not in a way that will take away our hope.

It is okay to turn to the Lord with questions about how we are to overcome our inadequacies for the callings He gives us. – We have to have some awareness of the problem before we can ever be open to getting it fixed.  Honest questions asked with faith open us up to revelation.

Seeking discernment in what guides we listen to is a good thing. – Discernment is a safety measure because an ego desperate for validation can be fooled, as can a frustrated, chafing, impatient soul.

Sacrifice comes before signs are given. – You have to meet God halfway.

It is God who gives peace. – God’s peace transcends what seems logical.  It defies understanding and is out of all proportion to the acts that brought it. 

Many church callings I was given I have gone into them feeling very inadequate.  I could say with Gideon, “Wherewith shall I…?” But I have seen the Lord opening the way, making me equal to the task that I couldn’t do before.  The Lord has helped me through callings of being ward organist, bear den leader, Sunday school teacher for 16-17 year olds, and primary chorister.

I am sure you have seen that in your life too.  Will you share with me some ways you’ve seen this happen? 

Scripture Marking Exercise: Revelation given to Gideon in Judges

 Sometimes we don’t know what to mark or how to mark it as we study scriptures. It came to me that it might be interesting to you readers to have posts that suggest simple scripture marking exercises.  If I post something, it will be because I have done it myself and derived benefit from it.

These exercises will help you recognize patterns in the text and can be a starting point for inquiry in your scripture study.

The story of Gideon stretches from Judges 6 to 8 and includes a surprising amount of revelatory experience.

Open your scriptures and in Judges 6-8 highlight every instance where the Lord, or an angel talks to Gideon, or when the spirit of God comes upon Gideon. 

Look for the following types of phrases:

·      “there came an angel of the Lord”

·      “the angel of the Lord appeared unto him”

·      “the Lord…said”

·      “the Lord said”

·      “the angel of the Lord said”

·      “the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon”

You might also mark instances where Gideon speaks to God.

Now what?

Some questions to think about after you survey your markings:

·      How much revelation does Gideon receive and what does this say about his spiritual sensitivity?

·      How might the things Gideon is doing relate to whether revelation comes or not?

·      What do Gideon’s experiences teach us about having or developing a relationship with God?

·      How are revelation and miracles related in the life of Gideon?

·      How is obedience and sacrifice related to miracles in the life of Gideon?

·      How much revelation does Gideon receive at the beginning versus the end of these chapters? 

·      Can you think of any explanations for what you see?

Finally, what principles can you formulate to capture what you learn?