The Lord's Admonition Pt. 2

Continuing on with the admonition to study other texts that might be useful to us...

One big part of the scripture project is updating archaic language. This has been on the agenda since late June (see here). In the recent answer the Lord gave in response a prayer offered for acceptance of the scriptures the Lord said:

"...I accept your clarifications and you are permitted to proceed to the end with your plan to update language to select a current vocabulary, but take care not to change meaning—" (Answer p. 2)

Two of the first scrolls discovered in caves at Qumran (the Dead Sea scrolls) are known to us as "1QIsaiahA" and "1QIsaiahB" (I'll just refer to them as "A" and "B" in this post).  "B" is remarkably similar to what we have currently in our bibles and predates "A" in language use. "A" is essentially the same text, but with language that better reflects the vocabulary used when these scrolls were written down. In other words, "A" is an updates the archaic language used in "B".

As far as I am aware, this was not known to the scriptures committee, but this information combined with the admonition from the Lord is one more witness among many that this project has been directed by the Lord.

You can learn all about this from the lecture series called "The Great Courses: The Dead Sea Scrolls" which can be downloaded on audible or bought in book form from Amazon. 

Such Love As This

In the answer the Lord recently provided to us as a result of the prayer for acceptance of the scriptures, He said,

"Study to learn how to respect your brothers and sisters"

On the first page of the Book of Mormon, you have Lehi praying "with all his heart" on behalf of the wicked people at Jerusalem. A pillar of fire appears before him, where he then sees and hears "much". He goes home after this experience, lays down, and, being filled with the Spirit because of the things he had seen, is caught up to the throne of God. Because of some things that happen while being caught up, he declares:

"Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens, and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; and, because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish!"

This rhetoric is common enough throughout scripture that it is largely ignored. But look closely here. What is being said? Whatever Lehi saw, it caused him to realize that God's works are "great and marvelous" making Him "Almighty". To further emphasize God's lofty position, Lehi declares that "[His] throne is high in the heavens".

Think about that for a minute. Who is the most powerful person on Earth? What effect do they have? What are their works? How far is their influence spread? How do they act? How do they view themselves? How do they treat others?

Compare that person with this being who has a position "high in the heavens". The "heavens" is a big place. If you look at our galaxy alone, you'll find that there are BILLIONS of stars and planets. An example is in RE Genesis 4 when Enoch, while in the presence of God, states:

"[...]were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, and millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations[...]"

High in the heavens indeed... whatever power we think we have here is small potatoes compared with this God who is Almighty.

Then, Lehi shows us that these observances are only preliminary information for the message he wants to convey about the being he is praising. He says:

"[...]thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth[...]"

What a humbling realization. Consider this particular earth on which we live. In that same chapter in Genesis that is referenced above, in response to comments by Enoch, the Lord responds by saying,

"[...]among all the workmanship of my hands there has not been so great wickedness as among thy brethren[...]"(RE Genesis 4)

We live on the most wicked planet of any that this great God has created, and Lehi is telling us that God still has mercy on "all the inhabitants" and that His "goodness and power are over [us]".

Who among us has such love as this? We are left without excuse. We have no reason to not be good, merciful, and loving toward one another in our tiny spheres of influence.

Keeping the Covenant

RE Deuteronomy 8-9 (LE Deut. 28-30)  has some pertinent info when considering the coming covenant.

The people are gathered together to hear Moses read a covenant from the Lord. In the second paragraph, the Lord says that "this day thou art become the people of the Lord the God". They are now His people and he proceeds to say something like "here are the blessings you'll receive if you obey my commands, here are the cursing you'll receive if you disobey, and if that happens, I'll scatter and destroy you."

Really the whole thing needs to be read, but I think that's a good synopsis.

Let's not be scattered, destroyed, and give up our opportunity to another people, deal?