My essay for Book of Mormon class. I learned a lot writing this.
The scriptural narrative of the Book of Mormon contains an account of a family delivered from the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and led to the Promised Land in the Americas. Father Lehi beheld a vision of Jerusalem’s fate and was commanded in a dream to “take his family and depart into the wilderness” (1 Nephi 2:2). Because of his obedience, Lehi’s family was protected, confirming Nephi’s introductory statement, “The tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance” (1 Nephi 1:20). In fact, the Plan of Salvation has also been called “the plan of deliverance” (Snow). That God will deliver his faithful children seems a fair, tried and true statement.
Taking a step back, however, readers recall Lehi’s contemporary Jeremiah. Jeremiah also lived in Jerusalem and cried repentance unto the people. A beloved disciple, Jeremiah knew that he was foreordained “a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). Like Lehi, Jeremiah was promised safety: “Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord” (Jeremiah 1:8). However, Jeremiah was not delivered from the physical destruction of Jerusalem. In fact, modern scholars believe he was carried captive into Egypt and brutally stoned to death (BD Jeremiah). Did God break His promise? Was Lehi more righteous than Jeremiah? Why didn’t the Lord save Jeremiah’s life? Abel, Stephen, Abinadi, Gideon, Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and the Savior himself also suffered unfair deaths at the hands of evil men despite their obedience.
From what, then does God deliver his children? From damnation. Lehi’s son Jacob exults: “O the greatness of the mercy of our God, the Holy One of Israel! For he delivereth his saints from that awful monster the devil, and death, and hell” (2 Nephi 9:19, emphasis added). To receive a glorified, resurrected body and to inherit the Celestial kingdom fulfill God’s promise of deliverance—redemption from physical death and deliverance from spiritual death. Clearly, God’s covenant people are not immune to the discomforts of mortality. Not to diminish the liberation Jesus Christ provides, an equally applicable definition of the verb to deliver is “to carry and turn over to the intended recipient” (“deliver”). The atonement of Jesus Christ delivers us, or returns us over to our Heavenly Father.
First, consider Abinadi. Standing before the wicked court of King Noah, Abinadi testified of Christ and condemned priestcraft. As Abinadi presented this message, his life was threatened more than once. Yet, he boldly stated, “Touch me not, for God shall smite you if ye lay your hands upon me, for I have not delivered the message which the Lord sent me to deliver…therefore God will not suffer that I shall be destroyed at this time” (Mosiah 13:3). However, Abinadi understood what the Lord’s promise of deliverance really meant when he said, “But I finish my message; and then it mattereth not whither I go, if it so be that I am saved” (Mosiah 13:9). He knew that deliverance from Satan was more important than deliverance from King Noah. Abinadi was burned at the stake. He was not delivered from the wicked priests of King Noah, but he certainly was delivered from sin and death. Without a doubt, Abinadi was delivered—handed over—to God—the intended recipient.
Consider also the righteous women and children whose genocide Alma and Amulek were forced to view as spectators. In charity, Amulek suggested, “Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the power of God which is in us, and save them from the flames” (Alma 14:10). Amulek wanted the Lord to deliver these innocent people. However, Alma recognized that there are worse fates than physical death. He said, “I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory” (Alma 14:11). The women and children perished, but were taken up into the glory of the Lord. They were not delivered from the flames, but they were delivered from the devil. Additionally, Alma realized that “the judgments which [God] shall exercise upon [their murderers] in his wrath” were now justified by the “blood of the innocent” (Alma 14:11). The Lord let his people suffer temporarily in order to deliver them—exalt them—and debase the wicked.
Modern-day prophet Joseph Smith received a personal knowledge of this truth while in Liberty Jail. He had cried out, “O God, where art thou?...yea O Lord, how long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful oppressions, before thine heart shall be softened toward them and thy bowels be moved with compassion toward them?” (D&C 121:1-3). In other words the prophet asked, Lord, why aren’t you delivering us? God’s answer came: “If thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep…and above all if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good” (D&C 122:7-8). And exactly how shall suffering contribute to the good of mankind? Those who are “valiant in the testimony of Jesus” in spite of suffering, pain, and death “shall come forth in the first resurrection…and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and power…then shall they be gods” (D&C 76:79; D&C 132:19). They will be delivered from physical and spiritual death through the power of Jesus Christ.
While it is true that the Lord, in his tender mercy, often delivers us from temporary pain and earthly discomfort, we must maintain an eternal perspective. Dennis E. Simmons of the Seventy makes clear, “Our God will deliver us from ridicule and persecution, but if not…Our God will deliver us from sickness and disease, but if not…He will deliver us from loneliness, depression, or fear, but if not…He will deliver us from death or impairment of loved ones, but if not…we will have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ knowing that if we do all we can do, we will, in His time and in His way, be delivered and receive all that He has” (Simmons). Deliverance means exaltation.
Returning to the original question of Jeremiah’s deliverance, one concludes that absolutely, the Lord kept his promise. In the Doctrine and Covenants we read, “And from Moses to Elijah, and from Elijah to John, who were with Christ in his resurrection, and the holy apostles, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, shall be in the presence of the Lamb” (133:55). Surely Jeremiah, along with Lehi, Abinadi, Joseph Smith, and the innocent women and children, belongs in this group.
In the course of mortality, God will often deliver the faithful from pain, illness, discomfort, sorrow, pain, and death. However, in the times that we, like Jeremiah, are left to suffer, we can still believe in Jesus Christ and His Atonement. According to Lowell M. Snow, “No unhallowed hand can stop His work in our behalf; and when wickedness, terror, disease, disaster, and death rage among the children of men, breaking our hearts and attempting to break our spirits, we must “fear … not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord” ” (“Facing the Future with Hope”). God can and may deliver the faithful “from prison and from bonds,” but he absolutely will deliver the faithful from death and hell; this is the message of The Book of Mormon (Alma 36:27).
Works Cited
"deliver." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 17 Oct. 2009.
Dennis E. Simmons, “But if Not…,” Ensign, May 2004, 73-75.
Lowell M. Snow, “Facing the Future with Hope,” Ensign, Dec 2007, 48–51.
No comments:
Post a Comment