Sanctification in a Nutshell

In my scripture study yesterday morning, I came across this verse:

6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil. (Proverbs 16)

I was struck by how concise it is. Simple and elegant, but packed with meaning.

Mercy offers forgiveness of past sins, truth sheds light on any remaining sin, and a man’s continued reverence for God causes him to depart from evil.

For further study into these topics, I highly recommend the book Seek Ye This Jesus, available in print, e-book, and audiobook formats. 

How Are You Doing?

It is a common courtesy to ask people how they are doing. It’s a quick and easy way to get a conversation started while simultaneously expressing concern for another person. And sometimes, that concern is uncommonly genuine. But, let’s be honest. More often than not, it’s pretty superficial. We use that question to do a quick “check-in” with that person, but inevitably turn our attention back to other issues at hand. It is a rare thing to have someone ask you that question with both the intent of hearing everything you might have to say and the deep desire to help you in whatever way possible, even to the point where they would lay down their life for you (both literally and metaphorically).

This morning I was pondering what a deeply probing question that really is. It’s different from “what is going on?” It doesn’t ask a person to make a list of things that are happening in their life. It is even different from “how are you?” To me, that question addresses the current state of the person being asked the question.

“How are you doing” assumes that the person is actually doing something. It’s like the statement “It is well.” “Well” is an adverb. So, what is “it”?  “It” must be an action or process—something that is actually occurring, as opposed to something that is just being.

I’d be willing to bet that God doesn’t get asked this question a whole lot, even superficially. Even if all he did was just generate a list of things that he was up to, how many people would truly and honestly want to know what God is up to, much less engage themselves in his work to the point where they would lay down their life? That, by itself, is a very loaded question with a ton of implications—a question which has the potential to cause a lot of very painful self-examination, but which also has the potential to bring about a mighty change of heart.

Asking God for a list of things that he is doing can be beneficial, but perhaps rephrasing the question would yield a greater outcome. Perhaps it would be better to ask, “In what manner are you acting?” Not only do we need to know what he is doing, but we also need to know his motives, what methods he employs, and the character he possesses while doing what he is doing. This becomes an extremely valuable question to ask once we realize that what God does and how he does it—what anyone does and how they do it—is inextricably tied to the person that he is. As we are given more information about his character and come to know him better, we can contrast what we learn against ourselves and make the changes necessary to conform our character to his. 

One absolutely critical take away from this line of reasoning is the realization that our actions should, then, be more and more aligned with his. We should be better able to keep his commands. We should be more obedient to his laws. We should have a better understanding of scripture. We should have a better understanding of prophecy. We should better understand his work. We should be increasingly engaged in his work. Our engagement in his work should become as desirable and as consummate as it is for him. To the degree that that isn’t happening in your life, you either don’t have an accurate understanding of God’s character or you are unwilling to make the changes in your character that would make your character more like his. 

Matches

Anyone who knows me well knows that my opinions on a wide range of topics have shifted over the course of my life. As I look back on the events of my life that have shaped my opinions and beliefs, I’m not at all surprised at the fact that they have changed. The first hand recollection of my experiences gives me the perspective to see those changes as a process of growth and development that others, not having access to the same recollections, are unable to see. Quite often, their perspective only allows them to see what appears to be sudden, drastic, and reckless paradigm shifts. They can’t make sense of it and, if I am being completely honest, it is very difficult to explain it to them. 

Though it is difficult to convey all of the details of my changed opinions, I think that the principles that guided the shifting of my opinions are easy to understand (though, perhaps not adopted nearly as well).

When I was a child, my dad collected matchbooks. He had a job that required a lot of travel and he had quite a stash of matchbooks that were souvenirs of all of the places he had been. We had a wood-burning stove and my dad frequently used matchbooks that were not part of his collection to get a fire going. As a young child, it wasn’t difficult to think that I had figured out how to light a match just by watching him. The matchbook made it very simple—put the head of a match on the striker, fold the cover of the matchbook over on itself so that the match was in between the striker and front cover, apply some pressure to the head of the match by pinching the striker and front cover together, and then pull on the match. Light the fire. Simple. And there was a whole collection of matchbooks to tempt a curious kid to practice lighting a match herself. But, like any good father, my dad told me to never attempt to light matches (especially the ones in his collection).

Now, my dad was the type to always have his children watch him demonstrate something over and over again before we did anything ourselves. That was as true for making an omelette as it was for lighting a match. He wanted to make sure that we understood why he did what he did the way he did. As I grew older, my dad explained to me the ins and outs of, what I thought was, an easy process. For a little kid with no match-lighting experience, it proved to be more difficult than I thought it was going to be. Turns out that the amount of pressure when you pinch the matchbook has to be just right. Too little pressure and the match just slips right out. Too much pressure and the head of the match rips off. Once he explained to me how to light the match, he taught me how to hold it, how to build up the stack of fuel for the fire in such a way that lighting the fire would be easy with a thin, 1 1/2”-long piece of rapidly-burning paper in your hands. When the flame got too close to his fingers, he would drop the match in the stove and shake his hand back and forth. The danger of being burned became an obvious reality and he was humble enough to admit when he knew he could have done something better and pointed it out to me so that I wouldn’t make the same mistake.

And, of course, the day finally came when I was allowed to try my hand at lighting a match and starting a fire on my own. 

Now, what would have happened at that moment if I had dug in my heels and told my dad that I would absolutely not attempt to light the match simply because he had previously told me that I was never to attempt lighting a match? That would have been ridiculous, right? What good would have all of his instruction been to me? Some, perhaps, but not nearly as much as it could have been. Holding on to lower levels of truth has the inevitable result of lower levels of existence. 

My dad gave instructions to me based on both the level of understanding I had and the degree to which I could advance that understanding. Having never been taught how to light a match or start a fire, his rule to never light a match was completely appropriate at that point. But once I understood the process involved and the potential dangers at play, asking me to light a match and start a fire was just as appropriate. In fact, it was necessary in order for me to experience that what he was teaching me truly aligned with reality.  Void of my own experience, I would never know, for sure, to what degree his teachings were actually true and correct.

What led to massive shifts in my beliefs and actions was my understanding that God does the same thing with us. He carefully leads us into new truth as soon as we are able to benefit from it and we shouldn’t be surprised that our introduction to new truth might require us to abandon presently-held truth. We are supposed to grow in truth and Godly character. If we really believe that we have the potential to inherit all that God has, does that not include his truth? Does that not include his character? Shouldn’t we be anticipating paradigm shifts? Shouldn’t we be expecting changes to our thoughts and beliefs and, consequently, our actions? 

Ask yourself if your religion today looks any different than your religion did ten years ago. And by “religion” I mean your own personal interaction with and understanding of God, not a system or institution of organized religion to which you belong.  Religious institutions will often change things up in order to conceal the lack of progress had by individual members. Look for rebranding (e.g., logos, fonts, public image). Look for renaming (e.g., dropping “Mormon”, changing “Ensign” to “Liahona”, changing “Home/Visiting Teaching” to “Ministering” (which, I might add, is a complete travesty when one understands what it means to “minister” as laid out in the scriptures)). Individuals who see these things as weighty evidence of progress do so because they are likely devoid of any progress with God themselves.

We shouldn’t be happy to stay at one level of truth. We shouldn’t expect God to keep us at the same level of understanding we are at right now (or that we have been at for years). We should believe that progress with God will enable us to understand and apply more of his truth. We should expect him to require more of us as he introduces us to new principles.  We should expect those principles to undergird our future decisions so that we can test them and learn for ourselves that they are true and correct. He can teach us how to safely build and light a fire for ourselves or we can choose to sit and stare at a matchbook for the rest of our lives. 

Serpents

Serpents can be venomous or non-venomous. Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of snakes, but it is, at the very least, helpful to recognize the difference between these two groups. A non-venomous snake can actually be pretty beneficial to have around as it is a natural predator of rodents and other animals that can be nuisances to man. A venomous snake can likewise be beneficial, but caution is necessary as it can swiftly administer a deadly bite to further its purposes or to protect itself. 

Yesterday morning, while I was thinking about some things on my to-do list and some of the people with whom I knew I would associate, the image of a serpent popped into my head. I thought about how cunning serpents are. Recent interactions with people around me have taught me that people can be very cunning and so I looked up the definition in Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary:

CUNNING, a. [G. See Can.]

1. Knowing; skillful; experienced; well-instructed. It is applied to all kinds of knowledge, but generally and appropriately, to the skill and dexterity of artificers, or the knowledge acquired by experience.

2. Wrought with skill; curious; ingenious.

3. Artful; shrewd; sly; crafty; astute; designing; as a cunning fellow.

4. Deceitful; trickish; employing stratagems for a bad purpose.

5. Assumed with subtilty; artful.

Interestingly, only one of these definitions has specifically negative connotations. As definition 4 suggests, “cunning” is a negative quality when the motivation behind it is bad, but none of the other definitions suggest that it is inherently bad. In fact, definitions 1, 2, 3, and 5 can be accurate descriptors of God and his works. Marvelously so, at that.

The imagery of serpents is found in the scriptures. The most obvious one (probably because we are introduced to it first) is found in the Adam and Eve story. The serpent cunningly tempts mankind to partake of something of which he was forbidden to partake. The intention was bad as it led to sin and death.

But another serpent story that we have in the scriptures is the one found in Numbers 21:

4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.

5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

Now there is a lot that could be said about this passage, but here we find the second of two kinds of serpents that represent forces that are diametrically opposed to each other—one resulting in death and the other resulting in life. Applying definitions 1, 2, 3, and 5 above, is either one less cunning? No. 

God is every bit as cunning. There is so much imagery in the details of this short story found in Numbers, but arguably the most important conveys the idea that everything God does is calculated to bring life to others—even the death of his Son. The placement of the serpent on top of a stick was not arbitrary. It was a type and shadow of a future sacrifice. It was calculated. It was cunning. That sacrifice was foreordained from the foundations of the world. It was designed to lay the foundation of a process that could save those who were unable to save themselves.

So how do you tell the difference between two things that, for all intents and purposes, look identical?

So much of discernment lies in understanding (1) God’s character, (2) God’s purposes, and (3) the degree to which any person has acquired God’s character and shares his purposes. If you cannot recognize any one of these three things, you will not be able to discern what circumstances and individuals are working to your favor or to your detriment. And this is critically important—it’s like not being able to tell the difference between a garter snake and a black mamba. These really are matters of life and death. There are forces at work who are constantly, consistently, and ever-lastingly working for your betterment and improvement, there are forces at work who are hellbent on your destruction, and it is in your best interest to be able to discern which is which. 

A Culture of Death

I have had this post on the back burner of my brain for quite some time. While it purposefully comes in advance of Halloween, the reader should not assume that it was Halloween, itself, that spurred the thoughts found in this post.

We live in a world of opposition. One of the main purposes of this life is to discover what opposites exist, the consequences of each, and the appropriate application of each that would bring the most benefit in any given situation. Once correctly understood, the application of these discoveries can help us sort the decisions we make into two groups—good and bad.  For the purposes of this post, I am going to relabel these groups “life” and “death”, respectively. 

It is important to understand some of the nuances in the definitions of these words in order to better understand the contents of these two categories.  Anything that we put into the “life” category should be prosperous, uplifting, inspiring, edifying, life-giving, life-sustaining, strengthening, and nourishing.  Anything that we put into the “death” category will be, by definition, the opposite—impoverishing, degrading, demoralizing, destructive, deadly, insalubrious (new vocabulary word for me 😉 ), weakening, and unwholesome.  God knows and understands how every decision in this world fits into either category at any given time and his will is constantly motivated by the desire he has to bring about outcomes that fall into the “life” category—in quantity, in quality, and in duration.  This should come as no surprise to any student of the scriptures. 

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3)

 

39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (Moses 1)

**I feel it important to mention here that, even if you don’t believe in God, it is undeniable that we can observe forces at work in the world that fall into these two categories. You can look around yourself and you can see “life” at work and you can also look around and see “death” at work. Their existence should be compelling enough to motivate a person to find out about what (or who) sets those forces into motion.**

The degree to which we choose to reconcile ourselves to God’s will is the degree to which we “choose the way of eternal life”:

23 Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life. 

24 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved. (2 Nephi 10)

Once we recognize and understand the relationship between the decisions we make and their inevitable outcomes, we are held accountable to God for the outcomes we affect through our subsequent decisions.

5 Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men; he that knoweth not good from evil is blameless; but he that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires, whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience. (Alma 29)

With every increase in our understanding of what fits into these categories, we become truly free to choose life or death, knowing full-well that our decisions will lead to the consequences that the Lord has shown us.

30 And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free.

31 He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you.  (Helaman 14)

And now, I’m going to interrupt this post for just a few minutes and talk about math. :)

When I was in high-school, I tutored other students in algebra.  I found it to be quite typical that, as soon as a good number of students started studying algebra, their level of enthusiasm about math dropped considerably.  They were easily frustrated by the application of mathematical basics to more complex problems. This made no sense to me. I loved math and I couldn’t fathom what made it difficult for others. 

What I eventually discovered was that, for every student I tutored, their frustration with and inability to understand algebra stemmed from a misunderstanding about how basic equations worked.  Functionally, many children translate “2 plus 2 equals 4” to “2 plus 2 makes 4”.  Young children naturally take in information from an “outcome-based” point of view. They learn that when you flip a light switch, a light turns on; when you touch a hot stove, your hand is burned; when you move in certain ways, you can walk, run, jump, etc. This is obviously valuable information and it is, rightly so, one way to look at basic math problems. (The word “problem” even implies that there is something that needs to be solved). But this can cause serious problems in higher math. Higher math is driven by the understanding of equalities.  I found that it was much easier for students to understand algebra once they realized that it would be better to say “2 plus 2 is the same as 4”.  Once they understood that equations were not declarations of outcomes, but rather a way to express numbers that were equal to each other, the student could then easily solve for variables by acting upon an equation as long as you did the same thing to each side of the equal sign in order to maintain the integrity of the original equation. It also made it easier to understand why “2+2=4” means the same thing as “4=2+2”. Saying “4 makes 2+2” doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but saying “4 is the same as 2+2” makes total sense.

So, what does this have to do with life and death? So happy you asked. 😎

It turns out that many truths can be gleaned from the scriptures using both the “outcome-based” and the “same as” thought processes.

39 O, my beloved brethren, remember the awfulness in transgressing against that Holy God, and also the awfulness of yielding to the enticings of that cunning one. Remember, to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritually-minded is life eternal. (2 Nephi 9)

Did you spot the equation there? From an outcome-based perspective, to be carnally-minded makes, or yields, death. To be spiritually-minded makes, or yields, life (eternal life, at that). I think that Christians relate to this way of thinking the most because they view religion as an outcome-based endeavor. Believe in God and live his gospel here—>live in heaven after you die. Don’t believe in God and don’t live his gospel here—>live in hell after you die. Process—>outcome. And there is definitely truth to that, don’t get me wrong.

But let’s take another look at that verse from a “same as” perspective. Being carnally-minded equals, or is the same as, death. Being spiritually-minded equals, or is the same as, life eternal. Did you notice what happens when we take that perspective? Now we can talk about this in present tense. It puts the facts right before us in both space and time, which urges us to consider information in the here and now. From an outcome-based perspective, it would be tempting to put off trying to affect life or death because we don’t see those things as immediately before us. However, from an “equals” perspective, we easily see the immediate opportunity and necessity of affecting life and death because they are the same as the present conditions of being spiritually- or carnally-minded. Because they are the same, we can also reverse the equation and say that life eternal is the same as being spiritually-minded and that death is the same as being carnally-minded. “Life” and “death” are right before us—right now.

Now perhaps you are wondering what all of this has to do with Halloween (or anything else for that matter). Well, ask yourself how we, as individuals and societies, regard death.  Or, to be more specific, is death something that we celebrate? If we celebrate death, and if death is the same as being carnally-minded, aren’t we actually celebrating our current state of being carnally-minded? I would suggest that this is the case. I would suggest that we celebrate death and being carnally-minded more than we realize. Our celebration of death is a sure sign that we have adopted carnally-minded ideas and beliefs, whether we recognize them or not.  And so, it would be worthwhile to (1) cease celebrating death and (2) analyze our ideas and beliefs in order to determine which ones cause us to think it appropriate to celebrate death in the first place and then change those, too. (Hmm, kind of sounds like repentance, doesn’t it? 😏)

Halloween is an obvious example of a celebration of death, but, upon very close inspection, one will find that almost every major “holiday” either teaches, promotes, symbolizes, or depicts death—both temporal and physical. In contrast, the days set apart by the Lord in scripture as Holy Days do not celebrate death. While they address death as a necessary opposite, they teach, promote, symbolize, and depict life. They are NOT ends in and of themselves. Rather, they point our minds to the way of life eternal.

There are also less obvious ways in which people celebrate death. These ways appear to be so “normal” that it can be difficult to see just how harmful and abundant they are.  They are increasingly being accepted by people in our society.  It will be their undoing unless they repent. Only through repentance can the Lord teach people what truly leads to life and what truly leads to death in any given situation.

27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.

28 And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;

29 And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom. (2 Nephi 2)

I have been completely flabbergasted by the fact that people will lament death when it happens—by disease, by war, by murder, by natural disasters, by suicide, or whatever—but they can’t wait to return to celebrating death and living principles that lead to death as soon as their lamentations wane. Please realize that, not only does this lead to death, it is death! They are the same! We live in a culture of death because we have strayed from God and the principles that he tries to teach us that give us life. The culture of death that surrounds us now is a sure sign that our ideas and beliefs do not align with God’s. Life, in the fullest sense of the word, can only be obtained through “...our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:” (2 Timothy 1)

 

Ether 4

I LOVE it when the Lord takes me down a path of seemingly unrelated thoughts and ideas and then just blows my mind with a download of information that I was totally not expecting! :)

I wouldn’t be surprised if there ends up being a part two (or more) to this post. 

1 And the Lord commanded the brother of Jared to go down out of the mount from the presence of the Lord, and write the things which he had seen; and they were forbidden to come unto the children of men until after that he should be lifted up upon the cross; and for this cause did king Mosiah keep them, that they should not come unto the world until after Christ should show himself unto his people.

2 And after Christ truly had showed himself unto his people he commanded that they should be made manifest.

3 And now, after that, they have all dwindled in unbelief; and there is none save it be the Lamanites, and they have rejected the gospel of Christ; therefore I am commanded that I should hide them up again in the earth.

4 Behold, I have written upon these plates the very things which the brother of Jared saw; and there never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared.

5 Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me to write them; and I have written them. And he commanded me that I should seal them up; and he also hath commanded that I should seal up the interpretation thereof; wherefore I have sealed up the interpreters, according to the commandment of the Lord.

6 For the Lord said unto me: They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord.

7 And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are.

8 And he that will contend against the word of the Lord, let him be accursed; and he that shall deny these things, let him be accursed; for unto them will I show no greater things, saith Jesus Christ; for I am he who speaketh.

9 And at my command the heavens are opened and are shut; and at my word the earth shall shake; and at my command the inhabitants thereof shall pass away, even so as by fire.

10 And he that believeth not my words believeth not my disciples; and if it so be that I do not speak, judge ye; for ye shall know that it is I that speaketh, at the last day.

11 But he that believeth these things which I have spoken, him will I visit with the manifestations of my Spirit, and he shall know and bear record. For because of my Spirit he shall know that these things are true; for it persuadeth men to do good.

12 And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me. I am the same that leadeth men to all good; he that will not believe my words will not believe me—that I am; and he that will not believe me will not believe the Father who sent me. For behold, I am the Father, I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world.

13 Come unto me, O ye Gentiles, and I will show unto you the greater things, the knowledge which is hid up because of unbelief.

14 Come unto me, O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation of the world; and it hath not come unto you, because of unbelief.

15 Behold, when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world from you—yea, when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel.

16 And then shall my revelations which I have caused to be written by my servant John be unfolded in the eyes of all the people. Remember, when ye see these things, ye shall know that the time is at hand that they shall be made manifest in very deed.

17 Therefore, when ye shall receive this record ye may know that the work of the Father has commenced upon all the face of the land.

18 Therefore, repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and believe in my gospel, and be baptized in my name; for he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned; and signs shall follow them that believe in my name.

19 And blessed is he that is found faithful unto my name at the last day, for he shall be lifted up to dwell in the kingdom prepared for him from the foundation of the world. And behold it is I that hath spoken it. Amen.

God’s Word is Rich

Here are some of the definitions you will find in Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary for the word “rich”:

2. Splendid; costly; valuable; precious; sumptuous; as a rich dress; a rich border; a rich silk; rich furniture; a rich present.

3. Abundant in materials; yielding great quantities of any thing valuable; as a rich mine; rich ore.

4. Abounding in valuable ingredients or qualities; as a rich odor or flavor; rich spices.

5. Full of valuable achievements or works.

6. Fertile; fruitful; capable of producing large crops or quantities; as a rich soil; rich land; rich mold.

7. Abundant; large; as a rich crop.

8. Abundant; affording abundance; plentiful.

9. Full of beautiful scenery; as a rich landscape; a rich prospect.

10. Abounding with elegant colors; as a rich picture.

11. Plentifully stocked; as pastures rich in flocks.

12. Strong; vivid; perfect; as a rich color.

13. Having something precious; as a grove of rich trees.

14. Abounding with nutritious qualities; as a rich diet.

15. Highly seasoned; as rich paste; a rich dish of food.

16. Abounding with a variety of delicious food; as a rich table or entertainment.

17. Containing abundance beyond wants; as a rich treasury.

18. In music, full of sweet or harmonious sounds.

19. In Scripture, abounding; highly endowed with spiritual gifts; as rich in faith. James 2.

God’s word is rich.