A Great Quote

I heard this quote while I was working out yesterday morning and found it so valuable and so easily and so generally applicable that I thought I would share. :) 

“How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself and in no instance bypass the discriminations of reason? You have been given the principles that you ought to endorse, and you have endorsed them. What kind of teacher, then, are you still waiting for in order to refer your self-improvement to him? You are no longer a boy, but a full-grown man. If you are careless and lazy now and keep putting things off and always deferring the day after which you will attend to yourself, you will not notice that you are making no progress, but you will live and die as someone quite ordinary.

From now on, then, resolve to live as a grown-up who is making progress, and make whatever you think best a law that you never set aside. And whenever you encounter anything that is difficult or pleasurable, or highly or lowly regarded, remember that the contest is now: you are at the Olympic Games, you cannot wait any longer, and that your progress is wrecked or preserved by a single day and a single event.”  —Epictetus

Zechariah 8:9-17

9 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.

10 For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour.

11 But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the Lord of hosts.

12 For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.

13 And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.

14 For thus saith the Lord of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts, and I repented not:

15 So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.

16 These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:

17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord. (Zechariah 8)

 

Several chapters in the book of Zechariah were part of my scripture study this morning, and these verses were especially beautiful to me.

The reasons why this passage is so beautiful to me are deeply rooted in my heart, and I find my thoughts on these verses to be a very nice follow-up to my recent blogpost on Ezekiel 8. In Hebrew, "Zechariah" means "the LORD remembers," and that sentiment permeates these verses. The Lord, knowing that Israel was rebellious, that they would reject his word at the outset of his dealings with them, and that they would degenerate into a nation that committed abominations before him, always had in mind to raise up and use a remnant of Israel for his purposes. These scriptures and the charges in them are very applicable to modern-day Israel.

 

Conversations at 3 AM

What great love the Lord has for each of his creations! In pondering all of the Lord’s creations, man is easily be overtaken by his own insignificance. A comprehension of the greatness of God, and all that he is and does, lends itself to that.

8 And it came to pass that Moses looked, and beheld the world upon which he was created; and Moses beheld the world and the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are, and which were created; of the same he greatly marveled and wondered.

9 And the presence of God withdrew from Moses, that his glory was not upon Moses; and Moses was left unto himself. And as he was left unto himself, he fell unto the earth.

10 And it came to pass that it was for the space of many hours before Moses did again receive his natural strength like unto man; and he said unto himself: Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.

37 And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine.

38 And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words. (Moses 1)

And then, the Lord says:

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

What greater work can there be than making known the love of God to the children of men! 

Ezekiel 8 (cont.)

A couple of days ago, I posted the entirety of Ezekiel, chapter 8. It’s a chapter that kicks off a multi-chapter recounting of one of the Lord’s interactions with Ezekiel (passages definitely worthy of in-depth study) and whose theme and underlying message pops into my head from time to time. A coalescing of recent events in my life has caused that to happen quite frequently lately, but not for the same exact reasons it has in the past.

Without going into many of the finer details of chapter 8, I will just summarize the chapter by saying that Ezekiel is taken, in the spirit, to Jerusalem and shown a number of abominations happening in the temple there. Israel’s wickedness doesn’t seem to be new knowledge to Ezekiel. Much of the chapters previous to chapter 8 tell of Israel’s wickedness and its impending consequences. It is interesting, however, to think about what this information, specifically, might have meant to Ezekiel. Could he have ever imagined that the wickedness found in Israel would run so deep as to be found within inner rooms of the temple and that the people perpetrating that wickedness were the priests themselves? Is it possible that one of the reasons why this account is included in our canon of scripture is to warn us of something similar that might happen in our day?

I think it would be foolish to rule out the possibility.

God’s word isn’t limited to “religion,” and, as of late, I have been shown how God will, eventually, bring to light the darkness of any institution—even those deemed to be “secular”—that does not act in accordance with good, moral, and righteous principles. How much more so an institution charged to bear his gospel to the world?

To my LDS family and acquaintances, I have often said that, if the principle that the President and other leaders of the church can’t lead you astray was correct, we should all be Jewish. Actually, the idea would be as equally applicable to the time of the Patriarchs, but it still makes the point. How could God be an unchanging God and no respecter of persons, and yet privilege us with infallible church leadership when he has never done so with any other group of people in history? It is undeniably true that a significant portion of the teachings of Jesus during his mortal ministry is a testament to the fact that Israel had deviated from the teachings of Moses. He holds nothing back in speaking out against the wickedness of the priests of his day. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that many of the passages in the Joseph Smith Translation of the New Testament give the reader greater insight about the dangers of following “leaven of the Pharisees.” Why would that be? It is obviously too late for his translation to be a warning the the ancient Israelites. Perhaps Joseph knew that, because he was “a prophet like unto Moses,” the people who claimed to follow his teachings would do exactly as those who claimed to follow Moses’ teachings anciently and that the leadership of the church he established would do likewise—even priests performing abominations in the inner rooms of the temple.

Yesterday morning, my mind and heart were flooded with a great love for “the strength of [the Lord’s] house.” (D&C 101:55-59) The need for “the residue of [his] servants” and for his “warriors” is great. Just as Ezekiel was told to dig through a wall, the Lord’s warriors are told to break down the walls of his enemies by exposing all of their lies and falsehoods that they have erected to provide their presumed safety and secrecy. Where does this happen? In the nobleman’s own vineyard.

Did the abominations of the ancient Israelite priests somehow void what Moses taught? No. In fact, the law of Moses, being a schoolmaster, was an important stepping stone for those not yet prepared to receive Jesus and what he eventually taught.

Can the abominations of any modern-day priests somehow void what Joseph Smith taught? No. Joseph’s teachings were an important stepping stone for what was yet to come and for what is yet to come.

There is so much yet to come.

As institutions crumble, remember that the Lord cannot put new wine into old bottles. Take his light for a guide and be renewed in him, that you may stand ready and willing to receive what he is giving.

Ezekiel 8

1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.

2 Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.

3 And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.

4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.

5 Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

6 He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.

7 And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.

8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.

9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.

10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about.

11 And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.

12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth.

13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.

14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.

15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.

16 And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.

18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.