What is generally observed from Lehi's dream about the iron rod is the fact that it led "to the tree by which [he] stood" (1 Nephi 8:19). But, what is often missed in this same verse is the fact that it "extended along the bank of the river". Two questions are germane to this important, but unpopular, fact:
Throughout the scriptures, bodies of water are often symbolic of God's judgments. For example, the Red Sea was parted so that Israel could pass through. But when Pharaoh and his armies attempted the same passage, the record states that--
1) what is the river?, and
2) why does the iron rod (sword of the spirit) extend along its bank?
Throughout the scriptures, bodies of water are often symbolic of God's judgments. For example, the Red Sea was parted so that Israel could pass through. But when Pharaoh and his armies attempted the same passage, the record states that--Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
To the wicked, the sea was the power of God's judgments--a symbol that no wicked person can enter the promised land without first passing through them. Thus, the Red Sea became a an Old Testament symbol of Hell, or God's judgments upon the wicked. In 1 Nephi 15:26, it is recorded that Nephi's brother's asked the question: "What meaneth the river of water which our father saw?" Nephi's reply supports the foregoing conclusion:And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them (Exodus 14:27-28)
And I said unto them that the water which my father saw was filthiness; and so much was his mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld not the filthiness of the water.
And I said unto them that it was an awful gulf, which separated the wicked from the tree of life, and also from the saints of God.
And I said unto them that it was a representation of that awful hell, which the angel said unto me was prepared for the wicked.
And I said unto them that our father also saw that the justice of God did also divide the wicked from the righteous; and the brightness thereof was like unto the brightness of a flaming fire, which ascendeth up unto God forever and ever, and hath no end. (1 Nephi 15:26-30)
As noted in these verses, the river of water is a representation of filthiness, an awful gulf, an awful hell, and the justice of God.
One may wonder: "How is it that God's justice, which is pure and free from all stain, is also a representation of filthiness? Nephi explained, that "the kingdom of God is not filthy, and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God; wherefore there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy" (1 Nephi 15:34). This place prepared is, according to Nephi, "that awful hell of which I have spoken." Nephi likewise identified the devil as "the preparator of it" (1 Nephi 15:35). Importantly, the devil is not the one who prepared hell, for the LORD plainly stated that He was the one who prepared hell (Moses 6:29; compare D&C 29:28, 2 Nephi 28:23). Conversely, the devil is the "preparator" of it, meaning that he is the "person who prepares a specimen" for hell (see Dictionary.com). It was the devil who prepared Pharaoh and his army to possess and make filthy the waters of the Red Sea (Note: there is some controversy as to the name of the Red Sea, see Psalms 106, footnote 7b, Exodus 23, footnote 31b, and the location where the Israelites crossed. I have seen several documentaries on the matter, even though the matter is of little importance. If seeing is believing, then I have personally accepted the view outlined in this 28-minute video entitled The Red Sea Crossing).
The brother of Jared similarly described the formidable ocean that he and his company was to pass over in small barges:
One cannot pass through God's judgments save He prepares the way--and the way that He has prepared is the atonement of Jesus Christ. It is by faith in Him and His atonement that one is able to pass through His judgments into the promised land without being destroyed by God's wrath. The apostle Paul thus wrote: "By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned" (Hebrews 11:29).
When Israel passed through the Rea Sea, they were symbolically passing through God's judgments, described as a "wall of water on their right and a wall of water on their left" (Exodus 14:21-22). Of their own accord, there was no evidence that they were worthy to pass through God's judgments without a breach in the wall (also called the gates of hell, see 2 Nephi 4:32) consuming them. Righteousness comes through Christ alone (Romans 10:1-4). But Israel had something Pharaoh and his armies did not have--they had the covenants of the LORD. They had the promise of redemption from God's judgments, DEATH and HELL, (see 2 Nephi 9:10) through the atonement of Jesus Christ. They had the Holy One of Israel to stand in the breach and hold back God's wrath and judgments! (see Psalms 106:23,; compare Ezekiel 13:5, 22:30 and Isaiah 30:13-14). But if One is to be able to stand in the breach, then He must be willing and able to suffer those punishments held back from those He redeems.
Clear fountains, great rivers, and small streams that pour into God's judgments are often viewed as the word of God. It was a fountain of water that saved Hagar, Sarah's maid (see Genesis 16:6-7). By striking the rock, Moses caused waters to flow from the rock (see Exodus 17:6) whereby Israel was saved from certain death. Such waters that flow forth of pure fountains give life to all that they touch. Speaking of such rivers, Joel wrote:
That day is often thought to have already occurred during the Dark Ages. However, the "perilous times" (see 2 Timothy 3:1) that brings about the quandary of "ever learning" was certainly not those years in which there was little or no learning at all among a world steeped in ignorance. Rather, the apostle Paul was quite precise as to the timing of this academic bankruptcy. With a clarity that only Nephi can match, the apostle expressed that this crisis would come "in the last days." Adding food for thought, President Howard W. Hunter declared that “all dispensations have had their perilous times, but our day will include genuine peril” (see An Anchor to the Souls of Men. Ensign, October 1993, p. 70). It was with this peril in mind that Paul penned his second letter to Timothy foretelling of a time when man would be “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth”—
These verses most assuredly point to our day, for Paul’s warning that “we would not endure sound doctrine” alludes to an earlier event of which Paul said was recorded “for an admonition for those upon whom the end of the world shall come" (JST 1 Corinthians 10:11). Summarizing this event, one month following their departure from Egypt, the assembly of Israel cried out in hunger. To Moses, the Lord responded: "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them" (Exodus 16:4). Although described by David as angels’ food (see Psalms 78:25), other scriptures note that the manna tasted like fresh oil (see Numbers 11:7-8). Thus, the congregation often scorned the light bread (see Numbers 21:5). During one such perilous incident, the mixt multitude cried:
In retribution for their scorn of this “bread from heaven”—an emblem of the Word of God—the Lord “brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day’s journey on [either] side . . . round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.” Eager to partake of this flesh, the congregation gathered the quails, and he that gathered least gathered ten homers. (Numbers 11:31-32). Understanding that a single homer is equivalent to 6½ bushel produces a rather ghastly perspective of an unchecked lusting after flesh. Hence, while the flesh was yet between their teeth, “the Lord smote the people with a very great plague,” and many perished. And, in simplified English, they called the place where they buried the dead, “the graveyard of those who lusted." (Numbers 11:33-34, including footnote 34a. King David wrote that the fattest were slain of the plague, see Psalms 78:31).
Just as ancient Israel did not endure the light bread but heaped to themselves flesh, Paul declared that saints of the last days would not endure sound doctrine—the bread of heaven—but instead heap to themselves philosophers espousing perilous ideals, the likes of which include "Sigmund Freud, Charles Darwin, John Dewey, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes" (see Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson,1988, p. 307). Although latter-day prophets have warned us about these specific individuals, the number that can be added to them espousing perilous “isms” of every kind is truly heaping. Because of them, Nephi wrote, all have “gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men" (2 Nephi 28:14).
With this long, preliminary instruction, I now turn to the event after which this blog is entitled: Digging Holes in the Bank.
One may wonder: "How is it that God's justice, which is pure and free from all stain, is also a representation of filthiness? Nephi explained, that "the kingdom of God is not filthy, and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God; wherefore there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy" (1 Nephi 15:34). This place prepared is, according to Nephi, "that awful hell of which I have spoken." Nephi likewise identified the devil as "the preparator of it" (1 Nephi 15:35). Importantly, the devil is not the one who prepared hell, for the LORD plainly stated that He was the one who prepared hell (Moses 6:29; compare D&C 29:28, 2 Nephi 28:23). Conversely, the devil is the "preparator" of it, meaning that he is the "person who prepares a specimen" for hell (see Dictionary.com). It was the devil who prepared Pharaoh and his army to possess and make filthy the waters of the Red Sea (Note: there is some controversy as to the name of the Red Sea, see Psalms 106, footnote 7b, Exodus 23, footnote 31b, and the location where the Israelites crossed. I have seen several documentaries on the matter, even though the matter is of little importance. If seeing is believing, then I have personally accepted the view outlined in this 28-minute video entitled The Red Sea Crossing).
The brother of Jared similarly described the formidable ocean that he and his company was to pass over in small barges:
For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth.
And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea? (Ether 2:24-25).
One cannot pass through God's judgments save He prepares the way--and the way that He has prepared is the atonement of Jesus Christ. It is by faith in Him and His atonement that one is able to pass through His judgments into the promised land without being destroyed by God's wrath. The apostle Paul thus wrote: "By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned" (Hebrews 11:29).When Israel passed through the Rea Sea, they were symbolically passing through God's judgments, described as a "wall of water on their right and a wall of water on their left" (Exodus 14:21-22). Of their own accord, there was no evidence that they were worthy to pass through God's judgments without a breach in the wall (also called the gates of hell, see 2 Nephi 4:32) consuming them. Righteousness comes through Christ alone (Romans 10:1-4). But Israel had something Pharaoh and his armies did not have--they had the covenants of the LORD. They had the promise of redemption from God's judgments, DEATH and HELL, (see 2 Nephi 9:10) through the atonement of Jesus Christ. They had the Holy One of Israel to stand in the breach and hold back God's wrath and judgments! (see Psalms 106:23,; compare Ezekiel 13:5, 22:30 and Isaiah 30:13-14). But if One is to be able to stand in the breach, then He must be willing and able to suffer those punishments held back from those He redeems.
Clear fountains, great rivers, and small streams that pour into God's judgments are often viewed as the word of God. It was a fountain of water that saved Hagar, Sarah's maid (see Genesis 16:6-7). By striking the rock, Moses caused waters to flow from the rock (see Exodus 17:6) whereby Israel was saved from certain death. Such waters that flow forth of pure fountains give life to all that they touch. Speaking of such rivers, Joel wrote:
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. (Joel 3:18).The fact that a fountain flows from the house of the Lord is instructive. In His house, waters are pure. In His house, the covenants and word of the Lord flow unsullied . . . free from the philosophies of men . . . and the repetitive words of instruction given therein contain a unique message to every listening ear . . . every time, no matter how frequent, they are heard. With beauty that only God can devise, Ezekiel described the life-giving waters that come forth of the house of the Lord:
And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.Unfortunately, Satan seeks to make filthy all that is clean. Referring to one of the devil's senior advocates, Ezekiel said of Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt . . . that he "camest forth with [his] rivers and troubledst the waters with [his] feet, and fouledst [the clean] rivers" (Ezekiel 32:2). John likewise saw a day when this leviathan would cast from its mouth "water as a flood after the [Church of God], that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood" (JST, Revelation 12:15). Of that day, the apostle Paul foresaw that men would be "ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of truth" (see 2 Timothy 3:7).
And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine (Ezekiel 47:9, 12).
That day is often thought to have already occurred during the Dark Ages. However, the "perilous times" (see 2 Timothy 3:1) that brings about the quandary of "ever learning" was certainly not those years in which there was little or no learning at all among a world steeped in ignorance. Rather, the apostle Paul was quite precise as to the timing of this academic bankruptcy. With a clarity that only Nephi can match, the apostle expressed that this crisis would come "in the last days." Adding food for thought, President Howard W. Hunter declared that “all dispensations have had their perilous times, but our day will include genuine peril” (see An Anchor to the Souls of Men. Ensign, October 1993, p. 70). It was with this peril in mind that Paul penned his second letter to Timothy foretelling of a time when man would be “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth”—
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
These verses most assuredly point to our day, for Paul’s warning that “we would not endure sound doctrine” alludes to an earlier event of which Paul said was recorded “for an admonition for those upon whom the end of the world shall come" (JST 1 Corinthians 10:11). Summarizing this event, one month following their departure from Egypt, the assembly of Israel cried out in hunger. To Moses, the Lord responded: "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them" (Exodus 16:4). Although described by David as angels’ food (see Psalms 78:25), other scriptures note that the manna tasted like fresh oil (see Numbers 11:7-8). Thus, the congregation often scorned the light bread (see Numbers 21:5). During one such perilous incident, the mixt multitude cried:Why came we forth out of Egypt?
Who shall give us flesh to eat?
We remember the fish . . . the cucumbers, and the melons . . ..
But now our soul [is] dried away: [there is] nothing at all, beside this manna, [before] our eyes (Numbers 11:4-6).
In retribution for their scorn of this “bread from heaven”—an emblem of the Word of God—the Lord “brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day’s journey on [either] side . . . round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.” Eager to partake of this flesh, the congregation gathered the quails, and he that gathered least gathered ten homers. (Numbers 11:31-32). Understanding that a single homer is equivalent to 6½ bushel produces a rather ghastly perspective of an unchecked lusting after flesh. Hence, while the flesh was yet between their teeth, “the Lord smote the people with a very great plague,” and many perished. And, in simplified English, they called the place where they buried the dead, “the graveyard of those who lusted." (Numbers 11:33-34, including footnote 34a. King David wrote that the fattest were slain of the plague, see Psalms 78:31).Just as ancient Israel did not endure the light bread but heaped to themselves flesh, Paul declared that saints of the last days would not endure sound doctrine—the bread of heaven—but instead heap to themselves philosophers espousing perilous ideals, the likes of which include "Sigmund Freud, Charles Darwin, John Dewey, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes" (see Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson,1988, p. 307). Although latter-day prophets have warned us about these specific individuals, the number that can be added to them espousing perilous “isms” of every kind is truly heaping. Because of them, Nephi wrote, all have “gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men" (2 Nephi 28:14).
With this long, preliminary instruction, I now turn to the event after which this blog is entitled: Digging Holes in the Bank.
