(One) Talk that Changed My Life

Want to know God better? This helped me (it goes back to 'God wept'):

Elder Jeffery R. Holland, October 2003 General Conference, 'The Grandeur of God'

This is a must reads/listen.

Quote from the talk: "I bear personal witness this day of a personal, living God, who knows our names, hears and answers prayers, and cherishes us eternally as children of His spirit. I testify that amidst the wondrously complex tasks inherent in the universe, He seeks our individual happiness and safety above all other godly concerns."

Amen brother, amen.

Sacred Things

"and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber; Then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel" (2 Kings 9:2-3)

When prophets have anointed kings, it has been in private, away from others. This isn't a new idea. Anointing, like any priesthood ordinance, is usually done in private. It is something godly, private, something between a man and his God.

Now, Jehu will go out and tell everyone what happened, but they weren't allowed to see the actual ordination. In this way, to the public eye it appears that by small things great things are brought to pass. It is a truth that many of the most miraculous experiences will have very few witnesses: the First Vision, restoration of the priesthood in the latter-days, patriarchal blessings, and temple ordinances. Sacred things are kept private. God is a personal God, and testimony and miracles and ordinations usually come personally.

Why so private? Because, I think, in the end, God doesn't care so much how the onlookers felt and changed, but how you personally felt and changed from the ordinance. If something is for you, from God, then He doesn't want you to be concerned about what everyone else is thinking, how they are judging you in that moment. He wants you to be in the moment, free from other outside influences, to really sink in the experience where you come closest to touching God. Sacred things are private, because in that moment, God is focusing just on you.

The Prophet Wept

"and the man of God wept" (2 Kings 8:11)

Elisha, who had seen Elijah taken into heaven by a fiery chariot, who had raised a boy from the dead, who had prophesied before evil kings and who saw the the heavenly horses and chariots of fire that surround the faithful, wept. Before him stood a man who was going to do evil to many innocents. And Elisha wept.

"And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child." (2 Kings 8:12)

This is not the first time that a prophet of God has wept. And we shouldn't be too surprised, but God Himself weeps:

"Jesus wept" (John 11:35)

"And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept" (Moses 7:28)

Christ wept for His friend Lazarus, for the mourning sisters, Mary and Martha. God wept because, as a result of their wickedness, the people would "suffer" (Moses 7:37).

From His prophet, what can I learn about God? I learn that the God who weeps is in Old and New Testaments, in all the scriptures. Why? Because He doesn't want to see us suffer. Elisha wept because the choices of one wicked man would lead to the suffering of many. Just because God does not end our suffering immediately, or always prevent suffering, He is not immune to it, He is not without feeling.

In this, I guess that God follows His own commandment to mourn with those that mourn. And He can follow that notion exactly, for the atonement gave Jesus the perfect ability to mourn with us. Now, Elisha could have killed that man, God has been known to command that from time to time. But you know what else? That man, Hazael, he heard the prophecy, he say the prophet cry, he could have changed--but didn't.

After all is said and done, I hope that I never give God cause to cry because of my choices. I hope that I never cause suffering for His children. I hope though, that I can be like God, like Elisha, and mourn for those who have cause to mourn.

Open Your Eyes, And See

"And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?

And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.

And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." (2 Kings 6: 15-17)

Open our eyes, and see.

We aren't perfect, we can't see everything. Just like we can't see ultraviolet light and any color outside of the rainbow, there are things in this universe, all around us, that we just can't see. But, that doesn't mean that they aren't there. Or, that they have power.

And if our eyes are opened? We would see that we are not alone. We would see victory. We would see the hosts of heaven at our aid. We would see the very real evidence of God's love, of just how possible it is to overcome. If we aren't seeing these things, then we need to stop closing our eyes. So many times I have heard people say that they don't want to see visions, or miracles, because they don't want the added responsibilities. But that also means that they don't get the added strength and power.

And if we want to see, then we must do like Elisha, and pray for the power and wisdom of God to open our eyes.

When I was little, playing hide-and-seek, I remember thinking that if I couldn't see them, then they couldn't see me. But, we're not children anymore. We don't have to be afraid. For they that are with us are more than they that be with them.

Elder Eyring gives us some advice on how to open our minds through the gospel of Christ in his April 1999 General Conference Talk, 'The Power of Teaching Doctrine'

The Primary Answers

"if the prophet had bid thee do some agreat thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? (2 Kings 5:13)

This is the story of Naaman, who had leprosy and was told to bathe in the Jordan river seven times to be healed. He was mad, expecting a prophet of God to do something miraculous and showy, something worthy of the high station of Naaman. Now, we all laugh at how silly Naaman was, how stiff-necked and petulant. No, we say, we would never do that. Now, let me paint a scenario for you, dear reader:

At church it's Sunday School, or the Gospel Doctrine Class, and the teacher asks: How do we receive answers to prayers? or How do we come closer to God? or How do we overcome temptation. And then there is that silence, we all know it, as everyone sits there, thinking 'Duh.' And then there is the brave soul who can't stand the quiet a second longer, raises their hand, and says, "The primary answers."

Sounding familiar?

For those who don't know, the Primary Answers are what the church (and word of God) teach starting in Primary, the children's sunday school class. The Primary Answers are usually some form of this: pray, read scriptures, go to church. Not only are they easy things to do, but they are beyond basic knowledge for those who have grown up in an LDS church. And so many times 'Primary Answer' is said with bored exasperation.

But, why are prayer, scriptures, and church the primary answers? Because they are the fundamental answers. Want to know God? Read the scriptures (that's what I'm doing ;), talk to Him in prayer, go to His house. Want to overcome weaknesses? Primary Answers. Want to know the mysteries of God? Primary Answers. Answers so easy that sometimes they actually become hard to do.

We should think ourselves better than Naaman. Sometimes I too want a big miracle, want some hard task worthy of epics. But, that's the whole news of the gospel, right, that it's easy. You come unto Christ (or the prophet Elisha), you receive instruction (bathe in a river), and become clean and like a child ("and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean" 2 Kings 5:14).

Yeah, Primary Answers are taught to children. But when will we learn, we are all children in the sight of God, our Father. All we have to do is bathe, and be clean, and believe. Then, we may stand with Naaman, and say:

"Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel...[I] will henceforth offer neither burt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD" (2 Kings 5:15, 17).

Through obedience and repentance Naaman came to "know" God. Hmm, maybe I should try that more...here I come Primary Answers.

I Will Not Leave Thee

"As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee" (2 Kings 4:30)

Does the above scripture sound familiar? It should. It was all I could write about in my last post. But, this time, it is not Elisha talking to Elijah, but a woman talking to Elisha. (For the record, this unnamed woman added a room to her and her husband's house so that the prophet could have a place to stay every time he traveled by.) This woman's child got sick and died. She traveled all the way to mount Carmel to entreat the prophet, who recognized "her afar off" (2 Kings 4:25), they were pretty close. Now, Elisha, even more than Elijah, has many recorded miracles: from feeding thousands and multiplying food, to raising the dead. Again, this should sound familiar. These were the kinds of miracles that Jesus performed durning His mortal ministry.

Now, Elisha sends his servant to heal the dead child, and that is when this faithful mother says these words:

"As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her." (2 Kings 4:30)

In the last post, and in this one, I've looked at Elisha as a foreshadow of the Christ. I'm going to continue that. The woman said that she would not leave Elisha. Why? Because she knew that he had the power to bring her son back from the dead. Isn't that why we follow Christ? Because we know that physically and spiritually He will bring us back from the dead to reunite with our loved ones? He has this power. So why would we ever leave Him? Why would we ever follow anyone else? I'll let you in on a little secret. When I was younger, I had a time where I felt spiritually dead. But while in that 'grave' Jesus was always there. And He lifted me back up until I was alive again. That's when I first really started to follow Christ.

And the amazing thing in this story: Elisha followed her. There's a symmetry in all things. Christ followed us to the grave, to sin and anguish. We call that the atonement, where he descended below all things, following us so "that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities" (Alma 7:12). After that, how can we not follow Him, how could we ever leave Him? He followed us into our darkest depths, that we might be able to follow Him to the heights of heaven.

"Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life" (John 6:67-68)

The Male Ruth: Elisha

"As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee" (2 Kings 2:2)

Remember when Elijah was lonely and heard the still small voice? Part of God's comfort, and instruction, is to anoint Elisha to be a prophet. The Lord didn't just comfort Elijah with the knowledge that he wasn't alone, but actually gave him a companion: "he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him" (1 Kings 19:21). And while I don't know if they were together 100% of the time, it is apparent that they were companions and that Elisha had great respect and desire to follow Elijah.

Then, it's almost time for Elijah to be taken into heaven, and apparently all the sons of the prophets know and keep telling Elisha, who, (to paraphrase)says, I know, be quiet. Elijah himself keeps traveling to different cities, at each place telling Elisha: "Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Beth-el" (2 Kings 2:2). Elijah says this a total of three times, also being sent to Jericho and Jordan. At all three places the sons of the prophets come to tell Elisha that Elijah is going to be leaving seen, taken by the Lord. And still, each time, Elisha answers: "As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee" (2 Kings 2:2, 4, 6). It's like the story of Ruth, but with a man.

At first, thinking about this male Ruth, I thought of how I should be more like Elisha and follow God. Sometimes God is very present in my life, and in those moments there is always the though in the back of my mind: soon He will not be as involved, won't be quite so close as He is right now, He has other things to do. And I think that's true, but what is also true is that I can follow Him to where He is going next, I don't have to leave Him just because He has other things to do. He doesn't always have to be by my side, but I can always be next to Him.

And then I thought, no, that's not it at all. I've got it backwards.

The Lord is Elisha, and He refuses to leave us. How often have I said to the Lord: I have to go do this or that, you don't have to come, I can do it on my own. And how often has He answered back: no, as I live, I won't leave you. Why? Because that's the atonement. We can't be alone, because in that garden Christ already went everywhere with us, never left us for a moment. No, He is not going to leave. That's the good news of the gospel, right? That's the promise, the covenant, that He will never forsake us, and we will never leave Him. That's what it's all about.

You Are Precious 2

"This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God."

Elder Uchtdorf "You Matter to Him" General Conference October 2011

YOU are Precious

"therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight" (2 Kings 1:14)

Ahaziah, son of Ahab, gets sick. Elijah prophesies that he will die. Ahaziah sends a company of fifty to fetch Elijah down from the mountain. Fire comes down and consumes the fifty and their captain. Another company of fifty is sent, and they too are consumed.

Now, it's important to take a quick look at WHO is doing what in this interchange. The captains call Elijah a "man of God," yet commands him to "come down." Elijah says "If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty," and it was so (2 Kings 1:9-10). What is happening is that the captain is standing in for the person of Ahaziah, and Elijah is standing in for God. This is an interchange between God and the wicked king of Israel.

After these two companies are killed, something amazing happens. The third captain sent comes up the mountain and "and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him,and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight" (2 Kings 1:13). Bold and humbling, this man kneels and admits that they are servants in the eyes of God, but-but!-he recognizes that in God's eyes these humble servants are precious.

Think about this, how counter-intutivite it is. God had killed a hundred men before this man as if they were nothing, as if to chastise them for having the audacity to make commands of God's representative, and therefore as if they did it to God Himself. It would make sense then for the third captain to make the argument, 'please don't kill us, you are mighty and we are weak, spare us, apply mercy.' Instead, his argument is 'if you recognize that we are desirable and of worth, then don't kill us.' What is that? Where is this coming from?

Now, I'm going to take some liberty here, but I venture to guess that this third captain knew the Lord. He knew that in the Lord's sight, men were precious, they were worthy of mercy and salvation from political necessities and temporal destruction. This is not something that he would have learned from the other two captains, apparently he was working based off of knowledge learned somewhere, somewhen, else. He gambled that men were precious in the sight of the Lord, and he won that gamble.

The third captain was right. He was speaking to a prophet of the great Jehovah, Jesus, the God who thought that man was so precious that He was going to condescend, suffer, bleed, die and live again just for them. Yes, we are precious, and Jehovah knows that more than anyone.

Maybe when we come to God, pleading for salvation from whatever haunts us, we can fall on our knees and use this same argument: Lord, we are thy servants, but save me, am I not precious in thy sight? This plea is placing a verbal claim on the atonement of Christ, who bought us with a price, who gave us worth, because we already had worth and a precious price worthy of a God's death.

And apparently an unnamed captain in ancient Israel knew this about God, knew how God saw us-and so maybe had an idea of what God will do for us. We have no excuse then to not know how precious we are.

Don't Be A Hater

"And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him?" (1 Kings 22:7)

God uses prophets. In 1 Kings 22 there is a question about who is a real prophet of the Lord, who knows the truth. But, that is only Jehoshaphat's, king of Judah, question. Jehoshaphat and Ahab are about to do battle with Syria together, against that same king that Ahab let go free, and the king of Judah wants prophetic confirmation before they do anything. So Ahab calls all his prophets, who appear to speak in the name of the Lord, but, as Jehoshaphat right discerns, are not real prophets and asks for a prophet of the God of Israel. Why? He wants to know the truth. But, Ahab is looking for something else from his prophets:

"There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." (1 Kings 22:8)

Wow, hate, that's a strong word, but I think Ahab means it. Why are the ancient prophets killed, hunted, persecuted? Because they spoke the truth, and truth can be "hard" to the guilty, "more than we are able to bear" (1 Nephi 16:1). I get that. We are imperfect. It's hard to be living your life then have someone come and tell you that God wants you to change, or rebukes and chastises, telling you that the things you like are bad and shouldn't really like them. Change is hard. And, we don't like to think bad of ourselves or our behavior. So yes, sometimes we hate the truth, because it's trying to change our carefully constructed reality.

All the time in Japan, when I was on my mission, I would ask the question: what if there was a God, and He is who we say He is? Honestly, most said that it wouldn't matter to them. I asked: what if there was a way you could find out that God exists? And they would say that they didn't want to know. Because then they would have to change, and change is hard. I'm not saying that it's easy. And I'm not saying that Ahab is being anything else than being extremely human.

But maybe we should expect more of ourselves. Maybe we should expect more of our lives. Ahab ignored the prophets, and was killed, his blood licked up by dogs. But, his life could have been so much more. Yes, the prophets speak hard words, but let us not hate the truth. The truth can set us free from the chains of this world, can enlighten us to higher awareness and connection, can free us with confidence of strength over the seemingly strong things of this world.

I guess that what I'm trying to say, to myself as well, is don't hide from knowledge. Knowledge, when applied, is power. And, God wants to make us powerful. I have heard, so many times, even members in the church say that they don't want to see angels or have visions, because they don't want the responsibility. I get that, responsibility is hard. But with it comes strength.

"Just give it up. Surrender your will to Him. Unconditionally. Withhold nothing. Turn it all over to Him; all of your desires, wishes, dreams and hopes. Be true and faithful in your head and in your heart, not just in your behavior. Trust in Him. Trust Him who knows all things. Trust Him who has all power. Trust Him whose love for you is perfect. Trust Him, who alone suffered, paid and atoned for your sins, and for your weaknesses as well. Trust Him that He will make of you, immeasurably more, than what you will ever, ever, in all eternity, make of yourself. He will create of you a masterpiece. You will create of you only a smudge. You will create an ordinary man. He will create a God."~'The 4th Missionary' by Lawrence E. Corbridge

God Forgives Ahab. Really?

"behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD" (1 Kings 20:13)

So I'm reading 1 Kings 20-21, and I'm just saying, the Lord has more mercy for King Ahab than I could muster. The guy is worshipping idols, his wife Jezebel is leading an active campaign against the Lord, killing his prophets, as well as providing false witnesses to kill Naboth so that Ahab can have his vineyard, because apparently the king needs more land. And, with all that, the Lord has not completely given up on Ahab and Israel. The above verse is where the Syrian army comes against Ahab, and a prophet comes to tell him that the Lord is going to deliver the enemy wholly into his hand, as a sign that God is God. Ahab wins the battle and the enemy retreats. Then again, another prophet comes and says:

"Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD" (1 Kings 20:28)

The Syrians didn't get it. And they had no special reason to understand, their understanding of gods was like the Greek pantheon, powerful but limited in geography and omniscience. The Lord was teaching Ahab who He is, the God of the whole earth, everything, the hills and valleys. This is God telling Ahab, 'I haven't completely left Israel, I'm keeping my end of the covenant, and this is who I AM. Know me.' But in the end, Ahab commits a King Saul sin, in not obeying the Lord exactly, to kill the king of Israel's enemies, when the Lord has commanded it.

Now, I know. Killing someone is awful. How could the Lord not only command this, but get disappointed when the king fails to kill the other king? Remember, this is an invading army into the land that God covenanted to Abraham's seed. God also said that He would be their protection, but He cannot protect them if they keep letting go those who will invade them again, killing even more. God is not saying that the Syrian king is sinful or evil, just that he is trying to kill Israelites and take their land, something that God covenanted would not happen if Israel was faithful. And, the Lord could have let the enemy army come in and kill Ahab and take the kingdom, which I wouldn't be surprised at, seeing how antagonistic Ahab is against the Lord, and his own people. Eventually, this Syrian king will be the death of Ahab. But the Lord is patient.

Surprisingly, it is only after the false witnesses and stoning of the innocent Naboth for his land, that Elijah is finally commanded to go to Ahab and tell his that for this sin of murder (breaking the commandments of murder, false witness, and covetness) the Lord says the kingdom will be taken from him and his posterity. The Lord described Ahab's sins this way: "because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD" (1 Kings 21:20,25). In the end, the only thing we really own is our souls, our intelligence, our ability to choose right and wrong. Ahab sold his soul for Naboth's land, for victory and wealth. Sin puts Ahab, and us, out of the protection of justice, and the covering of the atonement. He has sold himself in the sense that now Ahab is under the power of death and sin, he is not free, but is bound, damned, cannot progress, but is subject to the devil and his angels. (See Jacob 3:11) Ahab has sold himself into slavery to buy a few material things. But, there is a way out.

Believe it or not, Ahab repents. Christ has bought us all, but we cannot claim His power and mercy unless we repent. And, Ahab repents in sackcloth and ashes: "Seet how Ahab humbelth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house" (1 Kings 21:29, and fyi his son will deserve it). Honestly, I'm shocked at how quickly the Lord forgave Ahab. And, I have to trust the Lord's word that there was some true repentance, otherwise I would call it a sham. How quickly though!

If the Lord forgives Ahab this quickly, then how quickly will He forgive me? I'm not being prideful or anything, but I'm pretty certain I don't have the same mass of sins that Ahab had. How quick! God must have just been waiting to forgive this whole time. How quick the Lord was to turn away His declaration of punishment for Ahab. Now, as we will see, Ahab still has a few more things he's going to do, but wow, really, the mercy of our God! I'm just blown away that the God of the OT was so quick to forgive, and how quickly I still cannot forgive Ahab. Maybe, at the end of this all, what I've learned is not to judge others. I'm more harsh than the God of Israel. I need to work on that.

If God is God

"How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him" (1 Kings 18:21)

This is what Elijah asked before the contest with the priests of Baal, in front of many Israelites. After Baal was unable to consume the sacrifice, and the God of Israel sent fire from heaven, those there bowed down and acknowledged the Lord as God. But it is Elijah's initial question that I love.

You have to decide. If the God of the Bible is the real God-the God over all people and nations, the creator of humanity-then follow Him. If not, don't. There are two questions, two things that we as humans have to figure out, and then act upon. First, is God God?

The Book of Mormon is a tool to help figure this out. LDS doctrine would urge a seeker of truth to ask God Himself if He is God, going straight to the source. This can be intimidating. What if God answers? If He answers, then we have a responsibility, as Elijah put it, to follow Him.

And that's really the second question: if God is God, do I want to follow Him? Elijah would say that Him being God alone means YES, and I agree to that to a certain extent. But, this is an important commitment. If you don't know who God is, then find out. The scriptures are God's interactions with people. They are a record of who He is. You can also, again, ask Him. You can try the experiment, obey the commandments and see what happens.

Now, don't take my word for it, try it out yourself. But, I will say that God is the epitome of charity and love and tender mercy towards all humanity. And, there is power in that. Love made a God condescend to suffer for our sins, to die, and the power of that love overcame death and hell. It overcomes darkness and loneliness, it creates hope and confidence. God is God, and Jesus saved me, pulled me back from the edge, and is taking me home to my Father. Yes, God is God, and I follow Him. And since I've made that decision I've never looked back. It hasn't always been easy, or fun. But it's true, and I can't deny that on a whim.

So, if anyone is out there waiting, stuck between "two opinions," I urge you to become unstuck. Study it out, ask, meditate, earnestly seek out the true answer, not just the answer you want. This God is Love, but He's no walk in the park. He is a God that changes you, and change can be uncomfortable sometimes. He will raise you up. And, if you find out that God is God, don't hesitate, follow Him. Fire will come down from heaven. A still small voice will whisper comfort, bringing you out of the cave to stand upon a mountain: You are not alone, I have work for you.

A Hundred Prophets

"Now, Obadiah feared the LORD greatly: For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water" (1 Kings 18:3-4)

I could spend this post talking about how great a guy Obadiah was, and I probably should. He worked for Ahab, but feared the Lord more than the king and Jezebel. He recognized Elijah and his authority, and even though he recognized the great peril in Elijah's request of him, also recognized that in the end he would obey the Lord despite it all. I could talk about how we are the same, living in the world but not of the world. That not all of Israel had fallen, that great government leaders were still faithful, that there were a hundred prophets, men of God, still at work. I could talk about prophets, that there is not one, but many at a time. But, I'm not going to. I'm tempted, but I'm not going to. Instead, I'm going to talk about loneliness.

In the next several chapters, Elijah is going to make the statement: "I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD" (1 Kings 18:22; 19:10, 14). Elijah feels alone. After the face-off with the priests of Baal where God consumes Elijah's sacrifice with fire from heaven, Elijah goes out into the wilderness, and "he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life" (1 Kings 19: 4).

Elijah had just talked to Obadiah, a man of faith in a wicked government. A man who saved alive 100 other prophets. But, maybe Elijah felt that these prophets were nothing, for he was commanded to go about publicly, while they hid in caves. Elijah held to contest with the priests of Baal, saw fire from heaven consume the sacrifice, turn the hearts of all the people there back to the Lord, killed the pagan priests, and was touched by an angel of the Lord. And he felt alone. Sometimes, despite experiences to the contrary, we also feel alone. We feel that we do more than others, that the Lord has asked enough of us. And prophets are not perfect, they feel the same.

In this spirit of loneliness, desiring even death, an angel comes to give food and strength to Elijah, "because the journey is too great for thee," alone, I would add (1 Kings 19:7). And so, with divine aid, Elijah journeys to mount Horeb, or mount Sinai.

When Elijah gets to the mountain of the Lord, he is in a cave when the Lord asks: "What does thou here, Elijah?" And Elijah answers, paraphrasing, "I have been a faithful servant of thee, Lord, in this time of idolatry. Israel has not kept the covenant, has destroyed thy alters and thy prophets, and seek to kill me. I am alone." (1 Kings 19:9-10)

God then asks Elijah to come out of the cave and stand upon the mountainside. Then came wind, and an earthquake, and a fire, but the Lord was not in those. But after all these, the Lord came in a still small voice. And, hearing the voice, Elijah come out of the cave, and God asks the same quesiton again. And Elijah answers in the same way.

Again, the Lord's question: what are you doing here? Elijah's answer: I am alone, faithful servant of thee. Same question, same answer, so why does God go through the whole fire thing?

The Lord had just accomplished a powerful miracle of fire from heaven. Now, it is a still small miracle. The Lord is a God of power, and a God of the small things of the soul, and emotional help. Elijah needed time for meditation. To be reminded of the different facets of God. To go to the mountain of the Lord. There, God answers Elijah by giving him more responsibility, as well as answering his qustion of loneliness: "Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal" (1 Kings 19:18). There are seven thousand faithful in Israel, 100 of them prophets. No Elijah, you are not alone.

In doing the work of the Lord we are never alone. The only one who was ever alone was Christ while performing the atonement: "And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered, that there was none to uphold" (Isaiah 63:5). But, when we look, there are those who uphold. We have parents and friends and church leaders and home teachers, prophets and apostles, Christ Himself as our attendant. If any of those fail, there are backups. And at least Jesus will never fail us. But, there are moments when we feel that we have had enough, that we are alone. Then, I pray that we may do like Elijah, and go to the holy places of the Lord, and there be wrapped in the still small voice. And that voice, no matter what it says, is proof that we are not alone. Never, ever, alone.

God took the time to reassure Elijah in his moment of weakness, He will do the same for us. He did do the same for us. In the atonement, where Christ was alone, He made it so that we would never be alone. His voice whispers to our souls with power and comfort: Never, ever, alone.

Faith, Round 2

"And he [Jesus] said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias [Elijah], when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow" (Luke 4:24-26)

The story of Elijah and the widow of Sidon is a beautiful story of faith and obedience, at least, at first. Soon it turns into sorrow and questioning. But I can't blame the widow her sorrow and test of faith, for I know that my spiritual health is in constant flux. I have more in common with her than not.

Elijah, and all the prophets of the Lord, are having a hard time in both Judah and Israel, where the kings have followed after other gods. Elijah is then commanded to go to a gentile city, to a gentile woman and her son. Sometimes we wonder why Israel was so special, that they got the law and the prophets. We forget these times of Elijah, and Jonah, when the prophets of Israel go out and find great faith. So, Elijah meets the woman and asks for food. Her response: "I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die" (1 Kings 17:12). She was preparing for death.

But Elijah asks her to give him the food anyways, and for her obedience she barrel of meal and oil would remain until the end of the famine. And it was so. What faith of this widow! She only had enough food to make a last meal, and she gave it to a stranger. She must have been preparing for this day, when she and her son would eat their last food, and die, for a long time. She must have planned and thought and prayed about it for a while, agonizing, but able to do nothing else. And when asked, she obeyed. If she was wrong, they would die like planned, but if she was right, they would have life.

Quick, notice the conditions of the miracle: the meal and oil would only last until it started to rain again, signaling the end of the famine. The miracle was a blessing with a time limit-think Cinderella and midnight. I have been blessed so many times, with the gift of tongues, or confidence, or peace, or understanding, but only for a time. When the immediate needs are fulfilled, the gifts and miracles often go away. But, that does not make them any less of a miracles; that does not make them any less worthy of trying to obtain them. But yes, these things do not last forever. Only Christ Jesus is the bread of life. Obtain faith in Christ, not in a miracle.

Elder Holland, "A Handful of Meal and a Little Oil," General Conference April 1996: Elder Holland speaks for the widow

Then, came round 2 of faith for the widow, and for Elijah. Now that they had been temporarily saved, the widow's son got sick, and died. Was God going to save them, only to allow them to die the next moment? Trials do not come alone, but in pairs, and threesome, in hordes. But so does the grace of God, if we allow it. The widow, when her son is dead, asks "What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?" (1 Kings 17:18) We don't know what sin the widow had committed. But I understand what she meant. I have never remembered my sins more than when I was in the 2011 Sendai earthquake, and I had never repented more. I felt my own mortality, and couldn't help but wonder if the end of my life would be because of my mistakes and sins. And I worked so hard in Sendai. Why would the Lord have granted me all those miracles, all those moments of growth and revelation, if He was going to send a tsunami, and so send me somewhere else.

Even Elijah appears to have these questions. He takes the boy into his own room, into his own bed, asks why this evil has happened, and "stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again" (1 Kings 17:21). And the child's soul came back, and he lived, and Elijah took him down to his mother, saying, "See, thy son liveth". And she answered, "Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth" (1 Kings 17:23-24).

The barrel of unending meal was not enough to convert her. We are the same. We have miracles that should convince us of the truth, and power, of God. But, we're waiting for something bigger. No, God must deliver us from a bigger crisis before we will believe with full heart. But, He already has. Like Elijah, Christ has saved us all from death. We will die, and our mothers will cry, but Jesus will come to our mothers and say, "See, thy son liveth." He has already done this. The greatest miracle of our lives has already been accomplished. The atonement, for us, a preemptive miracle. And we will live.

Now, I maybe criticized the widow unfairly. At the end of the day, faith, either hers or Elijah's, was sufficient that the dead son was made alive again. And, it produced a spiritual rebirth in the woman. Yes, we should all have greater faith. But if I learned anything from Elijah and the widow and the son, it's this: God doesn't expect our faith to be perfect, 100% of the time. He knows that we are imperfect. And, despite our imperfections and moments of weakness and doubt, He still provides miracles. He still saves us. Wether or not we accept Christ, Christ still took upon Himself our sins, and afflictions, and pains. He does it anyway. And we live.

God Respects YOU

Have you ever heard the question, if there is a God, why does He allow evil to hurt and maim the innocent? Have you ever asked that question yourself? It is a hard question, one that probably has a hard answer. But, even being hard, they are true. Jesus asked his disciples after many were offended at His doctrine and followed Him no more, "Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life" (John 6:67-68). I only mention that scripture so we keep it in mind as we read the OT, and as we come closer to God, to learn more about Him, who He is. Because, at the end of the day, God has eternal life, no other has it.

Now, back to the question. There are many answers of why bad things happen, or why God allows bad things to happen. Here I am only proposing one idea among the many answers that I believe are right. How about this answer: God respects you. He respects you, He respects me, He respects every person who has been or ever will be born on this planet. The scriptures usually describe this as, God is no respecter of persons (meaning that all are equal, and none are above another in the sight of the Lord). I would amend this to God respects every person. God gave us agency, the right to choose for ourselves.

To Adam and Eve, after giving commandments in the garden of Eden said: "nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee" (Moses 3:17). Yes, this life is a time of proving, to prove that we will choose God every time. But He gave us that choice. Why? So that we could fail? Yes. If we choose something other than God, that is our right, it has been given to us. Now, agency does not eliminate the consequences. The only way to obtain eternal life is through Christ, so if you don't choose Jesus, then we are not choosing eternal life. But, that is our choice.

God would not send a soul to earth if they did not have the ability to be exalted, through Christ Jesus. We all have potential. We proved it in heaven, before we came here. And we may a choice there too, and we choose God, now we just have to choose Him again. Why doesn't God take away our agency, that the wicked can have no power to hurt the good and innocent and righteous? Because even God loves the wicked. And part of having love for someone means having respect. God will accept their decision at the end of the day. If they did not choose Him, ok, but He is not going to choose them either.

God knows the future, He knows what we are going to choose. So why prove us? Maybe, this is an opportunity to prove ourselves. Growing up I always fancied myself as strong, unmovable, a pillar. But, there have been times, especailly after the earthquake in Japan, when I realized that I wasn't. I was weak. I found out that I wasn't the giant I thought I was. I proved myself wrong. And so I decided to change. I proved that I wasn't strong, but I knew that God was, He was the strongest thing ever. And I could hold on to Him. I found out that I may fail myself, but God wouldn't fail me. Face it, we are here to prove if we really are all that we claim to be. To prove that we have what it takes for exaltation. And if we don't (and none of us do) then we can prove that God has what it takes. We just need to choose Him.

God respects us enough to let us make our own decisions. Maybe He respects us too much. He is trying to turn His children into adults. And it makes me sad, to think that I fail His respect so often. But then, maybe that should give me strength. For some reason, and I have no idea why, God respects me. I must have done something. All of us must have done something. He loves us all, and there is respect in that.

Now, you're asking yourself, what does this have to do with the OT and bickering between the kings of Israel and Judah? God didn't want kings in the first place. But, not that He gave in to Israel's request, He respected their decision, even if it was the wrong one. The consequences are always there. But, the freedom to choose has been given to to us. Remember, that freedom was given because God respects you. We are children of the Most High, and our potential is as wide as eternity. We are no better than Israel and Judah, going back and forth between righteousness and wickedness. But, God loved them and respected them just as He does me and you. Do we allow for that same respect to each other? To our Father?

And if all that I have said has a grain of truth in it, what does that tell us about God, who He is?

The Beginning of the End

"And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done" (1 Kings 14:22)

Both Rehoboam and Jeroboam sinned, and made Israel and Judah sin in building up idols (see 1 Kings 14:15-24). And perhaps Judah did even worse, for their sins were "above all that their fathers had done," and "they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel" (1 Kings 14:24). Leviticus 20:23-24 makes it clear that the sins of those nations included a host of sexual sins, from incest to beastality. Yes, God did want His covenant people casting Him aside for false gods, but in those days the "high places" and "groves" were accompanied by sexual sin as part of the pagan rites. I'm not going to go into it, but believe me, they just weren't worshipping trees. And, those were the religions that didn't do human sacrifice. And here Judah was, doing it all.

It has been what, a only a few generations since David and Solomon, since the temple, the glory of the God of Israel? How quick they were to fall. But then, I do that too. I'll have a spiritual experience, a real coming-to-Jesus-moment, and for a few months I'll be higher than I ever have been. But then I get caught up in shopping, and the love of material things. Of career and culture. And, if only for a short time, I forget my God. Or, at least, I don't remember Him as I should. That is why repentance is such a vital part of God's plan, and why God loves a repentant man.

Again, David is mentioned in this chapter: "And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to thee [Jeroboam]: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do only that which was right in mine eyes" (1 Kings 14:8). God is going to take away Jeroboam's kingdom from his son the way that David's kingdom was taken from his grandson, yet Jeroboam is nothing like David. David "followed [God] with all his heart," while Jeroboam "hast cast [God] behind [his] back" (1 Kings 14:9). Just another example that we cannot assume that what when the same bad things happen to two people it is because they committed the same sin, or even had sin at all. Now, Jeroboam's son dies much like David and Bathsheba's first son dies. Here, it is made very clear that the son was already sick and unlikely that God struck him down. Ahijah the prophet makes it clear that while Jeroboam's son will not be miraculously healed, "in him [the son] there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam" (1 Kings 14:13).

The son of Jeroboam was a "good thing" in the sight of the Lord. This is mortality, and it ends, for everybody. And, it is really sad. Beyond grief. But, it does not mean that someone sinned, that they were not good or accepted in the Lord's sight. In fact, Jeroboam's son teaches us that God sees death a different than we do. Death is not always a punishment. Jeroboam's son was counted unto his father as a "good thing towards the Lord." So, as the next chapters reveal wicked kings and idolatrous people, and death and destruction come, we need not assume that all are bad. Or that the Lord kills indiscriminately. He knows who He is taking home.

It is the beginning of the end for Israel. But for the individual citizens, for those who are a "good thing" in the Lord, death and civil unrest is only the beginning of their eternity. Just because Jeroboam makes "high places" do not mean that everyone worshipped there. There is individual agency. And yes, apparently a nation can commit a crime as a whole, but it does not mean that every person is stained with the blood of that generation. Keeping that in mind, let's have mercy in our judgement towards the ancient Israelites as we read further.

OT Good Samaritans

"And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!" (1 Kings 13:30)

This is a chapter about two men, a man of God and a prophet, who both do very Christ-like things. The man of God prophesies that the alters of King Jeroboam will be destroyed, and when Jeroboam points at the man that he might be taken and killed, his hand dries up. Now, the king asks the man of God: "Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again" (1 Kings 13:6). The man of God does, and the king's hand is restored. Not only is this a sign that God has not utterly forsaken Jeroboam, that he has time to repent, but doesn't, but it reminds me of Gethsemane. When Judas and the guards come to arrest Jesus, Peter cuts off the ear of one of the men. And Jesus heals him. Like that healing, this healing in the OT is not a sign of the injured person's faith, but a sign of the mercy of God. The man of God could have laughed at the king's request, for he had no right to the mercy of God. But, he prayed for him anyways, and God was merciful.

Jeroboam was quick to abandon the Lord God, but God was not so quick to abandon Jeroboam. And if the Lord is that patient with such a man, then imagine His patience with us.

In the end, the man of God is tested, and ultimately disobeys the commandment that he was given not to turn back, or to eat or drink. He is killed by a lion, his body cast to the wayside. The prophet goes and finds the man's body, even though the lion is still there. "And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came into the city, to mourn and to bury him"(1 Kings 13:29). Compare this with the story of the Good Samaritan, finding a man half dead, placing him upon his own beast to take him to an inn, to care for him. The man of God is fully dead, consequences of disobedience. Yet, the prophet takes care of his body, mourning him, being buried with him, because the man of God did prophesy, and did do good in his life. Even if we make mistakes unto our own destruction, our good deeds will not be forgotten.

Let's take another look. Suppose the prophet is Christ, and we are the man of God. Christ proves us (see JST 1 Kings 13:18, footnote b), and because we are imperfect sinners, we will ultimately die. But, Christ will take our bodies upon His own beast, and will bury us in His own sepulcher, will cry over us, "Alas, my brother!" This is the OT, Christ has not yet been resurrected. But, if the righteous lay down in Christ's sepulcher, to "lay my bones beside his bones,"(1 Kings 13:31) then when Christ rises they will rise with Him.

The man of God, who was from Judah, was coming back down from "the high places which are in the cities of Samaria" (1 Kings 13:32).

That Was Quick

"Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them...behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt" (1 Kings 12:28)

To take away 10 tribes from Rehoboam, son of Solomon, the Lord didn't have to do anything. When the people complained, Rehoboam sought the counsel of young men and placed even heavier burdens upon the people. (Also, apparently had daddy issues, see 1 Kings 12:10)He was responsible himself for his kingdom being divided. Which begs the question, did the Lord punish Solomon, or was God just prophesying the natural consequences of being separated from His Spirit? Face it, we just can't succeed without Him. Nothing is forever without the Eternal God. If we are to build any lasting foundation, it truly has to be upon Christ.

Quick comment about oxen again. Israel asks Rehoboam to take away the "heavy yoke" (1 Kings 12:4). And the 'old men' counsel, "If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever" (1 Kings 12:7). Didn't Christ say something like that? (See Luke 22:25-27) Here is some good Christian wisdom, from Solomon's time. The old men counseled not just to make the yoke lighter, but suggested that Rehoboam also take up that yoke, to serve them, that they might be his servants forever. That is what Christ does, and we are His servants forever.

But, the big thing I see in this chapter is, boy oh boy, that was quick. The Lord wasn't joking when he says, "how quick the children of men do forget the Lord their God, yea, how quick to do iniquity, and to be led away by the evil one" (Alma 46:8). Here's the interesting thing though, things don't go the way we'd think: Rehoboam puts together an army, but when the prophet Shemaiah tells Rehoboam that he shouldn't go to war, "they harkened unto the word of the LORD, and returned to depart" (1 Kings 12:24). Wow, God was silent when the 10 tribes left the King. But, when God did speak, apparently he listened, and obeyed. And this is the guy we don't like. He is foolish and arrogant, yet he listened. Oh then, how quick are WE to judge!

But look at Jeroboam. God gave him a kingdom, where he had had no previous right to one. And he turned Israel to idolatry. Jeroboam feared that while a military attack wouldn't sway Israel back to King Rehoboam, the temple in Jerusalem would. So he built alters for golden calfs, and made false priests "which were not of the sons of Levi" (1 Kings 12:31). He was afraid that by worshiping in the temple, their hearts would be turned (1 Kings 12:27). Jeroboam did not believe in the Lord's promise. He accepted the gifts of the Lord, but turned away from responsibility and counsel.

It says that both Rehoboam and Jeroboam took counsel for their problems, and were counseled to make burdens heavier, and to make golden calves. But neither of them counseled the Lord. Not one thought to ask the Lord what he thought, or to even ask the prophets. This is something I need to be better at, including the Lord in all my decisions, that I may dedicate all my actions unto Him, and not be so quick to be led astray.

David Is Amazing, again

"for David my servant's sake" (1 Kings 11:13)

This last chapter of Solomon's life, the Lord is comparing the son to the father. Now, without the JST (Joseph Smith Translation) it would appear that the Lord is holding up David on a pedestal, a high place that Solomon was just unable to reach. But, the JST makes it clear that David also transgressed in the Lord's sight, and also broke the commandments, for a time. Why is there a difference in the two translations? Remember, this is a Jewish text, with the interests of Judah being chosen. The Southern Kingdom claims their rights through the accomplishments of David, as well as that the messiah is supposed to come from his line. Without the importance of David, we wouldn't even have a book of Ruth, a story about David's ancestry. So, the JST lowers David a little, but there is still a great distance between David and his son Solomon.

So, quick summery: in his old age Solomon gives into his gentile wives (women that Israelite men were not supposed to marry) and builds alters to other gods, and even starts to worship Ashtoreth and Milcom, "and his wives turned away his heart" (1 Kings 11: 3).But, to be clear, the Lord did not blame Solomon's wives, they were not part of the covenant, He blamed Solomon. Besides being angry because Solomon did not keep the commandments, the Lord was upset because Solomon's "heart was not perfect with the LORD his God," "went not fully after the LORD," "his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice," "because that they have forsaken me" (1 Kings 11:4,6,9,33). These are words of physical and emotional abandonment. The Lord did more for Solomon than He did for David. David got military victory. Solomon got riches and wealth, endowed with wisdom from on high, got to build the temple that David so desired for the Lord, and even had two "appearances" from the Lord. David only heard the voice of God through the prophets Samuel and Nathan. Above all, making a covenant with the Lord is making a relationship, one we promise never to abandon.

Also, when the Lord told Solomon that the kingdom was to be taken from him, but not during his lifetime for the sake of David, and only 10 kingdoms of the 12 would be taken, for David's sake, and be given to Jeroboam, "Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam" (1 Kings 11:40). That is exactly what King Saul tried to do to David, when he found out that the kingdom was to be taken away from his household. But David, when usurpers like his son Absalom came around, David tried not to kill them, just defeat them. And those ones weren't even sanctioned by God.

I guess what I'm trying to get at here is, even though David sinned greatly, why is the Lord having such mercy towards Solomon for 'David's sake'? Even though the JST doesn't let David off the hook, it also gives us the verification of David that we all knew to be true: "and he repented not as did David his father, that I may forgive him" (JST 1 Kings 11:33, click on footnote c). David repented. His heart was turned away, but it turned it right back. He went after the Lord fully, with whole body and mind and spirit. We have the psalms, we have his acts recorded in Samuel-that man repented harder than I think that I have ever done. Yes, David sinned with serious consequences, but he repented. And even more beautifully, God forgave.

We have no record of Solomon repenting, or even trying to, just seeking to kill his rival Jeroboam. But the JST makes it clear that if Solomon had repented with full heart, the Lord would have forgiven him.

Maybe the Lord loved David because even when he made a mistake, even when the consequences were heavy, even when he was rebuked, David turned to the Lord and repented. Repentance, it's not easy, but it's something I can do. We can all do it. We can all come to Christ, like David did. Oh, how the Lord loves the man who repentant, who turns fully to their Father, seeking the covenant to bind themselves to Him forever, and Him to us!

Queen of Sheba

Solomon was a missionary. Not in the normal LDS understanding of going out preaching the word: instead, Solomon let his fame go out and gather people unto him, and there he preached. Now, Solomon’s fame (“the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD 1 Kings 10:1) is like which Christ tells his disciples to have in the New Testament-“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

Now, there is much gossip concerning King Solomon and Queen Sheba (or the unnamed Queen OF Sheba). Some have suggested that she is one of the women speaking in Song of Solomon. Many Ethiopian Jews claim her contact with Solomon has the starting point of their religious origins.

What caught my eye in this reading, was how Queen Sheba talked about the God of Israel, what her understanding of God was, and His covenant relationship with Israel.

"because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgement and justice" (1 Kings 10:9). Queen Sheba recognized the wisdom of Solomon, his great treasures and the happiness of his servants and citizens-"Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants" (1 Kings 10:8). And she recognized that it was because the Lord loved Israel that He made Solomon king. Which is funny, because God said that He didn't want a king in the first place (1 Sam. 8), and Solomon was the son of David and Bathsheba, an affair that the Lord said made David fall from his exaltation (D&C 132:39). Yet, because God loved Israel, He made Solomon king.

Now, I don't know if Queen Sheba knew the whole story, because I think she was completely right. Even though Israel rejected the Lord by wanting a king, they repented, and the Lord did not reject THEM. David sinned in the case of Uriah, but repented, and his son was given audience of God Himself and divine wisdom. Queen Sheba may not have known everything, but she knew that the Lord loved Israel. And if He loved Israel, then He must be a forgiving God. And if He can forgive them, then why in the world not us?

If God could remember His covenant with ancient Israel, then we need not fear that He forgets us, doesn't forgive us, doesn't love us. If God could change Israel's and David's mistakes into the golden age of Israel, then He can make more of our mistakes than we can make of even our greatest successes. We are not forsaken. And even Queen Sheba figured that out after a brief visit.

"Love Your Enemies" Sermon in OT

"Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people" (1 Kings 8:34,36,39)

I'm here to debunk the myth. You know, the one where everyone says that the God of the Old Testament is a meanie? We hear these rumors and then when we open to Genesis and read a few chapters up to the flood (for a closer view on how God felt about this read Moses 7 about the God who weeps), we shake our heads, saying, "yep, they were right, what a meanie," close their Bibles and open the Book of Mormon. But what if someone told us that the God of the Old Testament was a sweetie? Then we wouldn't have to read but 3 chapters into Genesis to find that God Himself made clothes and "clothed them," both of them, covering them literally and symbolically, not leaving man or woman to face the world alone (Genesis 3:21). Sometimes we make pre-made decisions, and then see nothing else. But I want to say that there is no such thing as "the God of the Old Testament," because He is the same as the God of all scriptures, and is the same today, tomorrow, and forever.

King Solomon's dedication prayer for the temple shows that maybe our perspective has been skewed, concerning the Old Testament and the law of Moses. Maybe the ancient Israelites see God the same way we do, as the loving author of our salvation. This prayer can be compared to Joseph Smith's revealed dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland temple (D&C 109), and any sermon of Jesus' in the New Testament.

What we learn about the "God of the Old Testament" from 1 Kings 8 (Solomon's Dedication):

1. God had not allowed a permanent temple to be built until David, because it wasn't until David that there existed such a strong desire to build a house for the Lord (1 Kings 8:16-19). This goes back to God's word that more than a house, which He could build Himself, He wants a "poor and of a contrite spirit" (Isaiah 66:1-2).It would follow then, that God only wants a house if it is going to produce men of poor and contrite spirits.

2. Prayer. Solomon's dedicatory prayer has the word "prayer" 6 times, in the KJV. How often do we think of Solomon's temple as a place of prayer, and yet, Solomon says that prayer is one of the main reasons for the temple: "that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place"(1 Kings 8:29). Solomon mainly talks about people who are far away from the temple, unable to come, and yet through prayer can receive the blessings. And he gives two reasons for prayer: for God's forgiveness, and for God's help.

3. Forgiveness. The word forgive appears 10 times. Here, Solomon connects prayer with forgiveness, and asks that the Lord will accept the people's prayers that they may be forgiven. He also asks the Lord to hear the prayers of gentiles, "that is not of thy people Israel," but who also come to worship the the Lord (1 Kings 8:41-43). Solomon's understanding of the Lord is a God of forgiveness, to those who love Him, Israel and Gentile. Usually we think of the ancient temples as a place of sacrifice, which they were. But why did they make sacrifices? For forgiveness of sins through the blood of the lamb.

4. Repentance. Solomon gives the formula, several times, how to gain access to God's forgiveness: "because they have sinned against thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house: Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people" (1 Kings 8:33-34). Solomon gives several examples for times of repentance, but they are all the same: pray, confess God's name, make supplication, turn again to God. Christ says the same in the NT.

5.God knows our hearts. He knows hearts like David's, who had righteous desires, but God also knows "everyman the plague of his own heart" or our temptations and weakness, our desires versus our abilities. And, since only God "knowest the hearts of all the children of men," He can judge and forgive accordingly (1 Kings 8:38-39). Here, Solomon never mentions the law, and we can only assume that he understands the ordinances of the temple and tabernacle, that they point to the atonement (where God fully understands our hearts) and the grace of forgiveness that comes only through the Messiah Christ. Solomon got it.

6. Love your enemies. Solomon mentions that sin leaves us without God's protection, and that then the people can be carried away captive. Here (think of the parable of the prodigal son), in a strange land, if they "bethink themselves" (or come unto themselves, remember), and "repent," and "return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies" then God will "forgive" them and "maintain their cause". But, Solomon says that by "maintaing their cause" he doesn't mean military victory, but that God "give them [Israel]compassion before them who carried them captive[enemies], that they may have compassion on them [enemies]" (1 Kings 8:46-50). Is this not turning the other cheek? Being given charity from God, that our enemies might also become infected with the charity of Christ?

7. Be one with God. After his prayer, Solomon tells all of the elders and priests and princes of Israel: "Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day" (1 Kings 8:61). Doesn't Christ tell us to be perfect like our Father in Heaven, to become one with Him? I like Solomon's words though. Sometimes I think of the commandment to be perfect, and I hyperventilate. But Solomon makes it clear, that our hearts need to be perfect WITH the Lord, for they cannot be perfect alone. And if our hearts are in the right place, and we keep the commandments, then there is no reason why we can't be perfect with God "this day."

So, this is a long chapter, and it still has so many wonderful things in it. Please read, and I know that you'll find more pearls of great price. In Solomon's prayer in the temple, we really only see the 'God of the New Testament', as people like to say. I'll put this forward then: God has always been a God of mercy and justice, who knows us, loves us, and forgives us, that we might be able to enter that holy of holies, His presence. Ancient Israel saw God the same way that we do today. Maybe we need to stop judging God, dividing up His personality and attributes like slices of pie, and just try to come to know Him like He knows us.

Is God an Ox, or Are We?

"And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea" (1 Kings 7:44)

Before stoning me for my slightly sacrilegious title, let me explain myself.

The Israelites made a golden calf below Sinai. It has been suggested that the calf was a pagan method of worship for Jehovah, that the calf was supposed to represent the God of Israel. Of course, that is just shows how incorrectly some of Israel understood the Lord. But, we also see an echo of this in Solomon's temple, where the only figures, besides engravings of flowers, were "lions, oxen, and cherubim" (1 Kings 7:29). And the great "molten sea" was carried on the backs of twelve oxen. I'm just trying to point out that there is a connection somewhere, somehow, between God and oxen.

Let me suggest something. Perhaps one of the most beautiful scriptures is Christ's invitation:

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matt. 11:28-30)

Christ has a yoke, so do oxen. We are told to come unto Christ, that we might be like Him, and also share His yoke. His yoke is easy, because when you have God Himself pulling with you, all things are possible. But, we know what His yoke is, a cross. It is the yoke of salvation, the cross, the suffering, of salvation. As Elder Holland said, "Salvation is not a cheap experience...it was not easy for the Christ, so tell me why it should be for you--the road to salvation always goes through Gethsemane" (taken from my notes of Elder Holland's August 24, 2010 devotional at the MTC).

Now, the oxen in Solomon's temple were held up by a giant basin of water. This could have been an ancient baptismal font, it could have been for ritual washings, either way, it would have been associated with waters used for cleaning and purification from sin and uncleanliness. Is that not Jesus, the Savior of mankind? The oxen's burden was to hold purification water that would make priests clean to enter the temple, the symbolic presence of God; Christ's cross would see the blood flow that would wash men clean from their sins, allowing them into the presence of God.

And we are to share this yoke. According to the Abrahamic covenant, in his "seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 26:4). This points not only to Christ, but that Israel will be responsible to take the word of redemption to the world. They are saviors with lowercase 's' (Obadiah 1:21). Israel is responsible to take the yoke of Christ, to take the cleansing power of Christ's atonement, to the four corners of the world.

"It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above them" (1 Kings 7:25)

God, our Neighbor

"And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel" (1 Kings 6:13)

That's a cool promise, that God will dwell with us (not just visit from time to time), but do we really believe that? I was in a gospel doctrine class one time and we were talking about Zion, specifically the city of Enoch. And a woman made a comment something like this: "Well, it was easier for them, Enoch was walking and talking with God, and I bet that some of the normal people were too. If Christ lived here now, if this was the Millennium, then we could do it too." I get what she's saying, if Christ was our constant companion, then it would be easier to choose the right. But wait, didn't He already promise that? Then why do we feel so alone?

Now, I'm not going to talk about the gift of the Holy Ghost and how God's spirit is always with us if we are worthy of it--which is true--but I'm going to talk about the literal promise stated above. But, to really understand what God is saying to Solomon, you need the previous verse: "Concerning this house [Solomon's temple] which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in my statues, and execute my judgements, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my words with thee, which I spake unto David thy father:

And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel" (1 Kings 6:12-13)

Translation: in the temple, if you keep all the commandments=God will dwell and not forsake His covenant people. Now, remember, the usual covenant is: we promise to be God's people, and He promises to be our God. This is why is called a 'covenant relationship'. But, the temple is special. It is God's house. A house is where someone dwells.

The Lord promised the same when He taught Moses how to build the tabernacle: "And there I will meet the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory...And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God"(Exodus 29:43, 45). In Doctrine and Covenants 124:27 it says: "and build a house to my name, for the Most High to dwell therein."

So, yeah, in a very spiritual sense, God is with us through the administrations of the Holy Ghost. We can have visions and visitations. But, we also have God as our next door neighbor. Those close to the temple, and especially those in Utah, are so blessed that we have no excuse. When someone moves into the neighborhood, it is customary to at least go over and say hi, maybe make a treat or bring over a welcome gift. How often do we go to God's house and say hi? How often do we make something special to lay on His alter? He's right there, living next door.

And so I guess that what I wanted to say to that woman was, "We have no excuse. God is living among us." If we need extra strength, extra power, then great, we can go to the temple, that is what it is for, to endow us with power from on high. If we go to the temple not expecting to talk to the Lord, then I think we're missing something. We are the most blessed of people, we just need to be a little more neighborly.