Strength

This 4th of July was an interesting one for me in light of the recent supreme court decisions. It would seem as if the very thing we were celebrating was no longer in existence. Generations from now our posterity will look back on this time and scratch their heads at how we could have been so blind. How we could have been so lazy in protecting the freedoms that were fought so hard for. I'm sure the feelings will be much like when we read the scriptures and wonder at how dumb the people seemed to be. I often wonder how the people felt on the eve of WWII. Was it similar to what I am feeling inside as I sense a WWIII coming? I'm not sure, what I do know is that we are always the most blind to the things that are directly in front of us. It's the same with heeding the council of the prophet. It is so much easier to see the wisdom and listen to the council of a dead prophet than the one who is living.

So, what did a dead prophet have to say about liberty? It starts in chapter 43 in Alma. I'm going to admit something. I've been a member of the church for 22 years. I haven't paid a lot of attention to details. I just discovered that all of my favorite stories are within a couple of chapters. I've read through the Book of Mormon several times so getting the timeline of events down should have been a no-brainer. Should have been- being the key there. I studied and marked up to chapter 52 and then it gets even better in 53, but I stopped for now. Those 9 chapters are chalk full of goodness. We get introduced to Moroni and his title of liberty. We get to meet the super evil wicked Amalackiah who is a Nephite dissenter who joins up with the Lamanites and ends up taking over 1 of the Lamanite armies by talking Lahonti down off the mountain and then poisoning him by degrees and then going back to the king -killing him- blaming the king's own guards - marrying the kings wife- and taking over the kingdom.....then swearing to drink the blood of Moroni. We also get introduced to my favorite warrior, Teancum. He doesn't mess around. I think he was a bit of an impatient guy. He wanted the war over and he knew how to do it - sneak into the tent of the enemy and put a javelin in the heart of the captain while he slept. Total stud. One of the biggest lessons in the chapters is that Moroni's people leave themselves vulnerable when they start fighting amongst themselves. That's when Amalackiah makes his move and gains some ground.....until he eventually gets killed by the proven methods of Teancum....only this time he ends up losing his life as well when he is discovered in the tent. We also learn of Pahoran and his Nephite kingdom that was fighting over whether there should be king-men (people of noble birth ruling who sought power over the people) or free-man .

What was the big beef Amalackiah had? He and his people were angry at the Nephite's for their religion (hmmm there seems to be a lot of anger over religion in our day) Moroni gave them plenty of opportunity to walk away in peace if they would give over their weapons of war and make an oath to leave them alone, but they didn't want to do that. There's so much good stuff in those few chapters. I almost included a bunch here, but I realized it was too much. The only thing I will copy in is the character traits of Moroni found in chapter 48:

11 And Moroni was a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect understanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery;

 12 Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people.

 13 Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood.

Then in verse 17 we find out what the world would be like if everyone had these attributes. 

17 Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.

I don't know about anyone else, but I want to be like Moroni. I think that the times we are living in are calling for each of us to raise our title of liberty on our homes and declare what we believe and stand for. We will suffer persecution for it. We know this because we've been warned about it in the scriptures. When the world gets crazy with natural disasters, finical crisis, famine, pestilence etc....people are going to look for those who have answers. There will be plenty who will capitalize on the chaos and offer up more evil solutions- look at the tactics of Hitler in Austria for evidence. We need a shining light on the hill for a standard that people can come to for a refuge from the storm. In chapter 50 it says: 

12 Thus Moroni, with his armies, which did increase daily because of the assurance of protection which his works did bring forth unto them, did seek to cut off the strength and the power of the Lamanites from off the lands of their possessions, that they should have no power upon the lands of their possession.

Moroni's armies increased daily because they were that light on the hill and people recognized it. We need to be ready too. As I have been preparing myself to teach the Old Testament in the fall, I have been searching for a vision scripture like we had last year. I like it to be from the book of scripture we are studying and I also like for it not to be a scripture mastery verse. It needs to be able to capture the goal of the year. It's a pretty overwhelming task- especially because the OT is such a large book. I don't have lots of favorite scriptures off the top of my head like I do with some of the others. I started by reading some talks about how to teach the OT and some recent conference talks that had OT scriptures in them. I started making a list to talk over with my companion and pray about- she did the same. I just wasn't feeling any of them and asked for a little help while sitting in the celestial room of the temple a couple of weeks ago. After some thought and a prayer I decided to just open the bible up randomly and see where I landed. It was this verse in Psalms 18:

1 I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.

 2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

 3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

I am in love with these verses right now. In a world full of turmoil, there is only 1 thing you need to know - where does strength come from. The Lord is definitely worthy to be praised in my book. He is my rock, my deliverer, my strength, and in whom I trust. The more my testimony grows the more trust I have in my Heavenly Father. I trust that while I don't understand all things, I know that he loves his children and only wants the best for them, therefore all things will work together for a purpose that will ultimately bring me the most joy.

As my companion and I went over our list of possible vision scriptures this one seemed to stand out. It seemed to fit the expectation and goal for the year. I also love that it's positive and powerful. I'm hoping that it stirs a yearning within the students to want that feeling for themselves. We decided that it was probably the scripture, but that we both needed to pray about it and then discuss again the next time we meet. 

What is really wonderful about a loving Heavenly Father is that he lets us ask for fleece moments. Fleece moments come from the book of Judges and Gideon (thanks to S Michael Wilcox for making me aware of this application). Gideon needed to save Israel from it's enemies and he didn't feel like he could do it. He was unsure of his abilities even though he had been called by the Lord. This is the story where he put a fleece of wool on the floor and asked for it to be wet and the ground to be dry so that he could know that he was called and he had the ability to do it.  He awoke in the morning to see the very thing he asked for. Well, he got nervous again about his abilities and asked for a second fleece (second witness) this time it was that the fleece was dry and the ground was wet. Gideon needed some confidence in the Lord and in himself and the Lord gave it to him.  

I was thinking about fleece moments while sitting in the temple for a second time wondering if the vision scripture I had found really was the one that I was supposed to use. I sat there thinking that it would be nice to get a second fleece, but that if I didn't it would be alright because I already knew the answer. I put my thumb on the closed pages and picked a spot to open the bible (there are no tabs). Where did it open? To Psalms 18. I got my second fleece. Why do I believe this particular set of verses is so important to my potential students? Because I want each and every one of them to be able to walk away from their year of seminary studying the Old Testament to be able to say those words as if they were their own. To feel the power and truthfulness of that statement and believe it to their very core. 

This all leads me back now to Moroni and the covenant he had his people enter into which is found in Alma 46:

20 Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.

 21 And it came to pass that when Moroni had proclaimed these words, behold, the people came running together with their armor girded about their loins, rending their garments in token, or as a covenant, that they would not forsake the Lord their God; or, in other words, if they should transgress the commandments of God, or fall into transgression, and be ashamed to take upon them the name of Christ, the Lord should rend them even as they had rent their garments.

 22 Now this was the covenant which they made, and they cast their garments at the feet of Moroni, saying: We covenant with our God, that we shall be destroyed, even as our brethren in the land northward, if we shall fall into transgression; yea, he may cast us at the feet of our enemies, even as we have cast our garments at thy feet to be trodden under foot, if we shall fall into transgression.

We need to know where to look for strength in whom to rely on deliverance from our enemies. We must enter into covenants with God and then keep them and keep ourselves unspotted from the sins of the world. We have an opportunity each and every week to become unspotted by partaking of the sacrament. I no longer take that renewal lightly. It is as if I am rending my garments as a token each week. The enemies abound and are combining against us, but we have nothing to fear so long as we are not ashamed to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ. We also have to prepare ourselves. The people came running with their armor girded about their loins and rending their garments. The people had to then go around fortifying their cities and raising a standard of liberty on all their homes. They didn't just sit idly by waiting for protection, and neither can we. 

I am so grateful for the scriptures and how they are so applicable to our day. I draw strength and confidence from reading and learning from them. We have not been left here dangling from a cliff as Elder Holland put it in last general conference. We've got brotherly arms reached out and grabbing us pulling us up and out from the abyss.  We have not been left alone. We have not been left defenseless. We have not been left without access to the power and strength of the Lord and when we need it we can ask for a fleece moment, or two, reassuring us that He is there and in control and that everything will work for our good.