Trying to Remember

I had memorized Section 121:34 - 46.  It is referenced so often in conference, by my stake president, and has so much meaning to me that I feel like it is time to start rehearsing it again.  I did pretty well but struggled with the first few verses.  I'll keep rehearsing those day to day until I have them down.  I would like to recite it quickly each day to remember all of the important points in it.  It will help me to more consistently repent and improve, avoid pitfalls and help me to allow virtue to garnish my thoughts.

I am enjoying reading Jeremiah, and today as I was reading in chapter 30 a few things came together for me.  Here is the basic thought...the people of Jerusalem or Jeremiah's people are being conquered by Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar.  This is for us a type of the Second Coming.  In recent chapters Jeremiah has had to deal with false prophets, we will deal with the same.  One of these false prophets prophesied that the captivity would be short. Jeremiah corrected him and said it would be many years.  Our trials in the last days are our captivity and eventually Israel will be gathered and Christ will reign personally. We must prepare our hearts and minds for that time.  Jeremiah, like other prophets surely saw our day and wanted to see how it would end for their people.  I think it became clear that much would happen to fulfill the promises and prophesies of the Lord in a special day, our day, that has the FULLNESS of the gospel.  We take for granted what the fullness really is.  I hope to gain more appreciate and gratitude for it as I learn more.

When I get a chance I plan to review President Monson's opening comments from Oct Conference. I do remember that he reported on temples and then challenged us all to prepare for missions and reminded the young men that it is their duty!

Ecclesiastes 3 - 5

Ecclesiastes 3 is the chapter that has the famous line, "To everything there is a season,..."  These words seemed fresh because I hadn't heard the other maxims that follow, but they are relevant.  It is so important to think about how you are going to act and to remember that sometimes its good to speak your mind and sometimes its not.  Sometimes we need this as a reminder that one phase of life may have lots of suffering and it will pass and we will experience another season.

Esther

I really enjoyed reading the book of Esther. It was very easy to read. I read the first 8 chapters as soon as I reached the book. I really don't remember this story. Esther is the adopted daughter of Mordecai a Jew. The Jews are a conquered people and are under King Ahasuerus' rule. The king is extremely powerful and seems to dominate the entire region. The story continues that his wife offends him and he divorces her. In searching for a new queen Esther is brought forward. The king loves Esther and makes him very happy. After a time a man named Haman who is also favored of the king is offended by Mordecai and asks of the king to have all the Jews killed. The king gives authorization for him to do as he pleases. Mordecai informs Esther of what is happening and asks her to petition the king to reverse the decree. Esther reveals that she is a Jew and the king comes to understand more fully what Haman has asked to be done and is angry with him. Haman is killed, his 10 sons are hanged, Mordecai gets put in charge of all of Haman's responsibilities. In chapter 10 it says that "Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews..."

I love Esther and Mordecai for their honesty and courage.

Ezra

I finished reading Ezra today. I have two comments about this book. (And by the way, I realized today that I'm more than half way through the book).

1. Ezra recounts a miraculous story about Kings that are not of Israelite descent that have conquered the entire region and are allowing the Jews (and Israel) rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. The temple had been burned by Nebuchadnezzar when he carried the people captive into Babylon. Kings Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes have been generous and allowed the people to return to worshiping God as they please, and have even provided great means to rebuild the temple.

2. At the end of the book, the people are returning to worship and sacrifice and really to repent. One of the things they are asked to do to repent is to put away the wives that are of foreign lands. I believe they are from Babylon. What does this mean though? En masse they are supposed divorce all these women and leave them to care for their fatherless children? I wish I understood what this meant because it seems pretty crazy to me.

2 Chronicles 26 - 27

These two chapters are about Uzziah and Jotham respectively. They were both generally righteous, but what kills me is that Uzziah again let the prosperity he received from God (for keeping his commandments) corrupt him. He went in and burned incense when it wasn't his privilege to do so. They asked him to leave and when he didn't and got angry he was cursed with leprosy. Idiot!

He suffered the rest of his days alone because of it.

2 Chronicles 21 - 24

This section includes some wicked leaders. There is one situation that interests me more than some of the others. Jehoiada the priest makes Joash the king live righteously. As soon as Jehoiada has died Joash goes bad. Very disappointing. It reminds me of a phrase that I read in these chapters about a person's heart NOT being perfect before the Lord.

This situation also makes me wonder if some of the other wicked leaders would have done better under different situations, as in they had a priest that was more influential.

Although what we do read is that the kings of the covenant people of the Lord almost always get a prophet or a priest to warn them that their wickedness is going to bring about destruction or disease of some sort upon them. The Lord's word is always fulfilled.

Last thought, why are the kings so tempted to worship other gods? I just don't understand this. Why does wealth or success cause them to leave the worship of the Lord. I have wondered if this is the only sin that they could really commit. There was fornication but most of these kings had wives (plural) and concubines and were still considered righteous. Could they have committed "Word of Wisdom" sins? I assume not since I think that drinking wine was not forbidden. Of course if they were tempted to commit murder they had plenty of enemies that the Lord would let them do battle with. So I guess they were left only committing sins of idol worship.

2 Chronicles 17 - 20

We now learn about Jehoshaphat who did righteously before the Lord. He has the priests travel to teach the word of the Lord and the people prosper. "And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord:"

He didn't always make the best decisions though, because he joined Ahab of Israel in fighting Syria and wass rebuked for helping ungodly Ahab. But he keeps the people directed towards doing what's right.

The best is in chapter 2o when he is faced with fighting the Ammonites. He is fearful of fighting them and so he causes his people to fast and pray for the Lord's help. He gives it. They never even had to fight the Ammonites.

So for the most part Jehoshaphat lives righteously. In the end he partners with the wicked Ahaziah to make ships to go to Tarshish that get destroyed. Even with this I think he is recognized as one that completes his life in righteousness.

2 Chronicles 14 -16

So now we read of Asa. His story is again one of those that is initially happy, and ends very discouragingly.

Asa rebuilds the cities and fights of enemies and he puts off false worship. The people and the king find that they are blessed when they keep the commandments (as prophesied by Azariah the prophet).

This is the pride cycle just like we learn about in the Book of Mormon. In chapter 16 we learn about how Asa doesn't trust the Lord even after all of his blessings and enlists a wicked peole to help fight battles. He should have gone to the Lord.

He dies from diseases.

2 Chronicles 12 - 13

It's been a while now since I actually read these chapters but there is a common theme through many of these chapters and those that follow. Here are some of the general themes I've seen.

The focus is on the leaders of Judah and Israel. For the most part Israel is corrupt and the focus stays more on Judah. Judah toggles between descendants of David that act righteously and wickedly. To me the saddest of these stories are those that begin righteously and end wickedly.

Those that act wickedly inevitably acting in a way that gets them killed or are spoiled by nearby enemies.

Chapter 12 is about Rehoboam and his wickedness and the Egyptians come and spoil Judah. I can't even imagine how devastated I would be if some other country came and after successful battle desecrated one of our temples.

2 Chronicles 10 - 11

Solomon has died and his son is taking over the kingdom. This is a sad story of peer pressure. Rehoboam decides to listen to his friends instead of King Solomon's advisers and taxes the people even more than his father. What an idiot. It's not like he was hurting for money. The sad part is that this is where he loses Israel, the half of the kingdom that is not Judah and Benjamin (centered in Jerusalem). He could have continued to lead the greatest nation on earth and gave it up to follow his stupid friend's counsel.

2 Chronicles 7 - 9

Solomon truly was blessed with wisdom and was honored for it. His wealth seems unbelievable. I can't help but think, "what did his people feel towards him". As I understand it his taxing was really heavy.

I seek wisdom like Solomon but I only want it to extend as far as my family. I want wisdom to raise my family in righteousness to the end that we might be happy. I seek the wisdom that will allow me to provide for my family well. I want to help my children through high school, college, and becoming settled as new families. I don't ever want to be a burden on them.

2 Chronicles 3 & 4

Solomon finishes the temple, and moves the ark of the covenant to the Holy of Holies of the temple. He also offers a prayer of dedication. It strikes me that one of the focuses of his prayer adn their belief is that the Temple was truly a house for God to dwell in. And that the people could pray to God as if he were there. You can tell that they were grateful for their temple and it is sad to think that in such a short time they would take it for granted, be a divided people and lose the faith completely.

The Lord truly loves his children and what patience!

2 Chronicles 1 - 5

The focus of Chronicles has now shifted to Solomon, his wisdom and his temple.

Solomon seeks 'wisdom and knowledge' of God. God is so pleased that he would not seek honor and riches that he bestows these gifts and tells him that the other things would follow.

For the temple, Solomon seems humble about it and goes to work. The last set of verses discuss the dimensions of the temple. I hadn't remembered that they discuss the baptismal fonts, but the Temple of Solomon seemed more real to me because I could easily picture a baptismal font with 12 oxen since I see it in our temples today. I like understanding what ordinances they had as well. Sometimes it is hard to see and understand how they religious life they lived matches ours. Baptism definitely ties us together.

1 Chronicles 15 - 26

I have enjoyed more these chapters that talk about some of the things David did. Foremost was his bringing the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem. He built a tent for it there. I very much enjoyed the psalm of thanksgiving that is in ch. 16. There must have been a lot of joy and gratitude felt to have the ark close at home, to feel something of stability.

In ch. 21 we read about how David sins in numbering the people. I understand this to mean that he did a census. In v. 3 Joab challenges David and says there are too many people. I have wanted to understand why this is a sin. I have to assume that it was a herculean task to try to number the people and it wasn't for anything more than to gratify his pride. As such he suffered for this sin.

It's hard for me to read of David's sins. So many other things he has done and are recorded show him to be somebody to be greatly admired and respected. I feel something special for him. and then I feel so disappointed when I hear of him sinning, especially with Bathsheba.

In ch 22 we are provided with the reason why David was not permitted to build the temple. He explains that it is because he has been apart of so much bloodshed. It surprises me that that is the reason when so much of it has been supported by the Lord. I don't know if David was upset by this but regardless he was humble enough to turn around and prepare all of the materials for the building of the temple. It makes me love him again.

ch 22 v. 12-13 we read the promise we hear so often in the Book of Mormon. Keep the commandments and the Lord will prosper you in the land.

ch 22 v. 19 Seek the Temple. I thought this was a great verse for showing the devotion of David and his people towards the temple. We know it won't last but we should have that spirit in our hearts today.

I'll finish 1 Chronicles today and start into 2 Chronicles tomorrow.

1 Chronicles Overview

I found a new feature in LDS.org that I was not familiar with, it's called the Guide to the Scriptures. Here is an outline of 1 Chronicles:

First Chronicles: Chapters 1-9 list genealogies from Adam to Saul. Chapter 10 chronicles the death of Saul. Chapters 11-22 trace the events associated with the reign of David. Chapters 23-27 explain that Solomon was made king and the Levites were set in order. Chapter 28 explains that David commanded Solomon to build a temple. Chapter 29 records David’s death.

1 Chronicles 12 - 15

This section had lists but there was actually some prose as well including a story that has always fascinated me. Uzza steadies the Arch of the Covenant. Apparently they were transporting the Arch to find a more permanent home for it. I believe it has moved because of battle with surrounding enemies. David is having it moved to some particular location. At the point of crossing some river the Arch appears to tip and Uzza reaches out to steady it and is struck dead by the Lord in that instant. Did he doubt the Lord? Why was he killed over so small a matter? I can't help but wonder if it wasn't specifically a test for someone who has had a strong testimony but never reached the place the Lord wanted him too. Now he needed to be tried one last time.

Laman and Lemuel has so many opportunities to see the hand of the Lord and change, be better, be truly converted. I can't imagine that Uzza had one opportunity and blew it. That would cause anyone to fear the Lord and it makes you think that he is not a "God of Love" which we know he is.

I guess it is about Obedience, I found this:

Let us for a moment look at some examples of disobedience, even men who had righteous intent but nevertheless disobeyed. One example would be Uzza in 1 Chr. 13:7–10. The people had been warned not to touch the ark, the symbol of the covenant. But when the oxen stumbled and the ark appeared to be falling, Uzza stretched forth his hand to steady it and was immediately killed by the Lord. Uzza seemed justified and today we think his punishment was very severe, but as President David O. McKay stated, this incident conveys a lesson of life: obedience—full obedience.

Elder Ted E. Brewerton, Ensign May 1981

At least this is more interesting than the first 11 chapters.

Struggling through 1 Chronicles

This entry will have to be a series of random thoughts. Which fits with what I'm experiencing as I read through 1 Chronicles. I never knew this before, not having ever read the Old Testament cover to cover, but Chronicles appears to be solely a genealogy from Adam on down. There are some descriptions of armed forces, and levites and descendants of Aaron that work in the Temple, and other staff like people of the major leaders - like Saul and David. So lots of lists. Lots of lines like [weird name] son of [weird name].

I've thought lots of times that maybe I should come back and read Chronicles before choosing a name for my next child.

More seriously, I do think that this does represent a work that was important to them and that is important to us. Family history is more than just being able to draw a family tree. Knowing the temple ordinances reminds us that we want to have children that are faithful in the gospel, and hold worthily the Melchizedek priesthood. As we read through the names listed in Chronicles I recognized many of the names as those who lead Judah or Israel in wickedness. But we also know that the missionary work continues on the other side and we can be hopeful that they have accepted the gospel at some point in the last few thousand years. Thus, hopefully these lists are chains of faithful priesthood holders.

Just thoughts that have occurred as I have read.