I am the kind of guy who enjoys to ramble (You'll hopefully notice that the word 'ramble' is cleverly hidden in the web address of this here blog). Get me started on a subject I love to talk about, and I'll ramble for hours. A prime example of that: Steak. Just thinking about it almost makes my mouth water. Yum. Steak is delicious, exquisite, and delightful to eat...but it is a food that can only be appreciated by those who are physically able to eat it. A baby would find steak far less appealing than the other foods that are necessary for its growth (e.g. milk and Gerbers).
In the LDS faith this example of 'milk v. meat' can have many spiritual parallels, the chiefest being this: The 'milk' of the Gospel - otherwise known as the basic principles and teachings of the Church - is what we as youth and younglings in the Church must consume at first, and continue doing so throughout the rest of our lives. The 'meat' of the Gospel is the weightier, sometimes harder-to-understand doctrines and principles of the Church that are studied, pondered, and understood alongside the 'milk' once the individual or collective are spiritually mature enough for it.
An example of this 'meat' is the book of Isaiah, found in the Old Testament. Whether or not you are a member of the LDS faith, the writings of Isaiah are beautiful, profound, and often extremely difficult to understand. Because of our modern-day lifestyles and misunderstanding of historical contexts, the book of Isaiah becomes one of those sections of scripture that many faithful members of many religious sects choose to skip over or merely skim through.
When the Savior Jesus Christ was preaching amongst the ancient inhabitants of the Americas, He gave them an interesting commandment:
"And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah" (3 Nephi 23:1).
The words of Isaiah are great in the sight of God - the One Who gave those words to that prophet! If the Lord puts such great emphasis on this particular example of 'meat' to be had in the scriptures, we should indeed do more than merely speed through Isaiah's words. We need to take a close, in-depth, personal study of this prophet in order to come to know our Savior and Redeemer, even Jesus Christ, as well as ourselves, even better.
For time's sake, I shall examine but a single verse from Isaiah's writings, and hope that, after we've read through it, we all will have a greater desire to undertake the task of studying Isaiah and coming closer to our Lord and Savior through his words.
"Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still" (JST Isaiah 9:17).
There is not much context to explain behind this verse, other than this: The House of Israel has sinned against her God, and He must punish her for breaking the covenants and commandments that He has given to that chosen nation. The Lord must chasten the children of Israel, and their chastening must be severe. Israel has left the sight of God; now God must punish it.
The last sentence of this verse is particularly intriguing: "For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." Most of the scholarly world interprets this scripture to mean that the Lord will punish Israel, and His almighty hand is held up still, prepared to 'beat more sense' into the rebellious nation of His covenant. This interpretation does illustrate the justice of God, a force that I will not discredit nor disregard; but, if I may, I would like to share the classic LDS view of this scripture.
"For all this his anger is not turned away" - The Lord will have justice and recompense for the sins of Israel. They must repent; their hearts have become so hardened, though, that it seems unlikely that they will repent by themselves. God must chasten them and bring hard trials upon and against them in the hopes that they will remember Him.
"But his hand is stretched out still" - Here we can find great comfort. This phrase illustrates not God's justice, but God's mercy. The Lord is one who demands recompense for sins, but offers complete forgiveness for those sins. At first, such a principle as this would be considered confusing and complicated, but in reality it is far from such.
When we repent and return to the Lord in the sincerity of our hearts, forsaking the wrong things that we've done, we are given the opportunity to accept and receive this divine mercy. When we leave behind the quiet invitations of our loving God and follow after the false gods and idols that likewise ensnared the Israel of Isaiah's day, we only invoke the judgment and justice of God.
The turning point of this whole equation, the one variable that makes the laws of justice and mercy coincide and cooperate so perfectly, is not of mortal origin; rather, that one piece of the puzzle that makes the principles of justice and mercy function properly is a Being of ultimate power. He is Jesus Christ, our Mediator with God the Father. Christ suffered on Golgotha and in Gethsemane the wrath of Almighty God. He endured the justice of God that we but partially feel when we are chastened and afflicted.
Christ suffered the justice of God so that He might be able to extend that divine mercy to those who will accept it. He took upon Himself that justice so that, if we will turn to Him and follow in His ways, fulfilling the commandments and ordinances He has set before us in mortality, we may lay claim to His mercy and become like Him. If we forsake Him, then we must inevitably suffer the justice of God that Christ Himself suffered, the horrors of which cannot be imagined by the human mind.
My friends, this divine and magnificent truth that we've just discussed has been analyzed from a single verse of scripture from the book of Isaiah. A single verse! There are sixty-six chapters in this marvelous book, and almost every single verse within all of these chapters has something to offer that will testify of Christ, and strengthen our testimony in Him through such a concise but poignant study as the one that we have just made.
I encourage each and every one of us - myself included - to take a more serious study of the writings of Isaiah to heart. His words, the words inspired by God Himself, will bring us happiness, joy, and the desire to live righteously and worthy of the mercy of the Lord.
May God be with you till we meet again, my friends.
Sam
No comments:
Post a Comment