“And the Lord is near” 2 Nephi 7 Isaiah 50

 

"The Lord is at hand"

My daughter keeps a blog about her families activities and lessons they share with one another. Recently she posted on the importance of faith and doubt. She commented how doubt is a part of being human. President Uchtdorf spoke on this subject last fall in General Conference and taught how we should “doubt our doubts” before we doubt the Lord.

"the Lord is nigh"

Doubts seem to come when trials darken our paths, when strength weakens or social acquaintances thin, or when clouds of gloom block our eternal perspective. But we must remember that we do have light if we will but open our eyes and cast them upward.  We can find God's light and spark our own light by learning “set our face like a flint.” (v7)(Isaiah 50:7) Isaiah’s reference means that we can be determined to see God’s love and to follow through on our commitment to God as God has followed through on his commitment to us.

Living for the Lord requires strength and determination. The views of the world infuse every aspect of our lives; they don’t have to be sought out, for they come to us in a myriad of ways. The Lord’s love, however, no matter how subtle and constant its influence may be, must be answered by a welcoming heart. For those who have sense to perceive, it grows in the trees, rides in the breeze, sings on the bird’s song and finds passage to our heart through the gift of service or the familiar echo of truth’s testament.

Isaiah spoke of the Lord’s willingness to find presence in our lives.(2Nephi 7). As I read this chapter and reread Isaiah’s words that spoke of the Messiah, I began to think of how our doubts creep into our daily lives and rob us of our access to the Lord’s redemptive power. 

"the Lord is nigh"

Isaiah conveys to us, to Israel, the power of God’s love for us. He helps us to see that when we do not feel God in our life, it is not because he is not there, for he “came,” and “there was no man,” he “called” and “there was none to answer,” (2), and if we are not redeemed it is not because he “has no power to deliver.”

The Lord’s power is omnipotent and omniscient.  As I thought about this I realized that the veil between God and man is only as thin as it needs to be. Not as thick, but as thin. God does not want to keep us apart from Him; he wants to draw us as near to him as he possibly can. By keeping the veil as thin as possible, as thin as it can be, we are able to reach for and call upon the redemptive powers of the Lord. We are able, if we believe and live a life that puts belief before doubt.

I have a dear friend who is going through some very rough times. She has a strong faith in the goodness of man and of God. But this has not availed her in the times of her trial. She is learning of God’s love for her. She is learning that God's love is there to help her discover the strength within.

When I read verse 7 I had to share it with her. I wanted her to believe that the power of God’s love lies within each of us. And that is the beauty of faith; faith builds strength, personal strength that Isaiah speaks of, the kind that helps us overcome our own trials through the redemptive power of the atonement.

When “the Lord is near” and I seek to be near him, I am justified. I am measured full and my shortcomings are forgotten. For the Lord God will help me.  He helps all who seek him, who feel his presence, who understand truth.

But, what about the doubt? What about the world that will condemn me for my faith? Well faith is an eternal gift, for the eternal soul. Those that condemn me for my eternal view and faith in an eternal God who will stand beside me, will wax old and be eaten by the moth. (v9)

 

Sometimes when I walk with nature I feel close to God.. I suppose it's because
I am in the midst of his creations. It's hard to feel alone when you are in awe. 

I think of doubt differently now. It’s purpose is to derail my journey of joy.  I am learning how to doubt my doubts first… before I doubt my faith in the Lord.  I want to be there when he calls, to open my heart to him when he knocks and above all to kindle the sparks of the fire of my testimony upon “my face .. that is .. like a flint.” It is my hope that when darkness comes, and it will come, that I may have the sense to remember that “the Lord is near,” and that it is I that must turn to him to spark the light that will guide me through so that I might feel and know without a doubt of the strength of his love.

Abrahamic Covenant Genesis 17

     My earliest remembrance of learning about the Abrahamic Covenant came in Sunday School. Sister Price prepared each lesson with hand outs, visual aids, and treats. Her classroom table always had a table clothe on it upon which a vase of flowers sat. I loved her lessons.
     This one particular lesson was no less worthy of her effort. She gave us all a laminated list of what the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant meant to me. Although I had keen interest in her lesson there was much that I did not fully understand. Through the years I have always wanted to gain a deeper understanding. I got that the covenant was for Abraham, but not until recently did I understand the covenant was also meant for me. When I enter into a covenant with God he will take care of me - just as he did Abraham.
     Today I understand that Abraham's covenants started with his baptism, then his marriage, then his priesthood powers. As he and the Lord established a bond of trust and integrity with one another, God blessed Abraham and entrusted him with sacred powers of the priesthood. He taught him sacred truths.

About the Abrahamic Covenant, Elder Bruce R. McConkie had this to say:

Abraham first received the gospel by baptism (which is the covenant of salvation); then he had conferred upon him the higher priesthood, and he entered into celestrial marriage (which is the covenant of exhaltation), gaining assurance thereby that he would have eternal increase; finally he received a promise that all of these blessings would be offered to all of his mortal posterity. (Abra. 2: 6-11, D & C 132:29-50) Included in the mortal divine promises to Abraham was the assurance that Christ would come through his lineage, and the assurance that Abraham's posterity would receive certain choice, promised lands as an eternal inheritance. (Abra. 2: Gen 17: 22: 15-18, Gal 3)
All of these promises lumped together are called the Abrahamic covenant. This covenant was renewed with Isaac (Gen 24:60; 26: 1-4), 24) and again with Jacob. (Gen 28; 35: 9-13) ; 48:3-4) Those portions of it which pertain to personal exaltation and eternal increase are renewed with each member of the house of Israel who enters the order of celestial marriage; through that order the participating parties become inheritors of all the blessing of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (D&C 132: Rom 9:4 Gal 3:4) 

            Bruce R. McConkie Mormon Doctrine 1966 Salt Lake City BookCraft 

Once I understood the importance of the covenant in my life I was able to go back and do a reread through Chapter 17.

God Says:

• I will make my covenant ... will multiply thee exceedingly  vs 2 
• I will make thee exceedingly fruitful  v. 6
• I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed v. 7 
• I will give unto thee and unto thy seed after, the land v. 8 
• I will be their God v. 8 
• I will bless her and give her a son v. 16 
• I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him v. 19 
• I will establish my covenant with Isaac v. 21 

What a strong friendship. A strong promise. Who can go wrong with the God of Abraham? 

I am grateful for my baptismal covenant, for my marriage covenant, and for the reliability of the promises God made unto Abraham... and unto me. 

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"between me and thee," Integrity Genesis 17:2

      INTEGRITY: honesty, probity, rectitude, honor, good character, principle(s), ethics, morals, righteousness, morality, virtue, decency, fairness, scrupulousness, sincerity, truthfulness, trustworthiness. Unity, unification, coherence, cohesion, togetherness, solidarity. soundness, strength, sturdiness, solidity, durability, stability, stoutness, toughness

"Between me and thee"

              I once met an older woman who talked of her life with bitter regret. She believed that by the time she reached a certain age, (she was over 75) she would have wisdom to share with those who would gather around as she recalled her life story.  She had hoped that others would see her as kind and humorous -revered. Instead- she believed – her aged body, lack of popularity and accumulated failures had earned her sarcastic disdain and disrespect. Her sarcasm tainted her. Although she was acclaimed, intelligent, witty, and insightful in her field, these talents did not bring her closer to a sense of spiritual wholeness. Integrity comes from what we give not what we gain. How we serve not how we are served. The good that we see in others not the good that we gain from others. 

        There is a misconception in life that if life is good enough to allow us the privilege of longevity we will automatically gain the respect of our peers. Integrity however, as Abraham learned, walks hand in hand with respect for life's higher power. Those who do not understand the reality, the love, and the power of God spend much of their life chasing after life's mirages of hope: youth, wealth, popularity, political power, intellect, beauty, etc. To befriend God is to learn the meaning of integrity.

       Abraham understood that in order to gain the respect, one had to give respect. Not only to God but also to family, to self, and to all those that serve you. Respect represents the beginning of friendship. Friendship can bring the sacredness of covenants. Covenants exist because two parties of integrity agree to uphold their promises toward one another.

       Who was Abraham that God should choose him to share the blessings of a covenant? Who am I that I too can enter into a covenant with my God and expect his blessings in my life? And how to I learn to repay God's blessings with sincere gratitude?  As I read these verses and considered Abram - at the age of 99- I wondered about my own relationship with God? I wonder about Abram and what he did to be called of God as one who would establish God's covenant with man. 

          Consider who Abram was and how he had proved himself to his God:

•  Obedient/ Humble - When told to leave the land of his inheritance he does 12:5
• Respectful/Grateful/ prayerful - Pious, He built altars for prayer  12:7 13:18 16:10-11
• Humble/ Trusting  Asks Sarai for help with the Egyptians 12:11 
• Peaceful/ family peace  – Abram did not want strife with Lot's servants 13:8
• Fair – gives Lot the good land and divides it 13: 11
• Honorable & dutiful – returns Lot from captivity 14: 16
• Sober – refused to take spoils of war or to make any situation that would take the credit from God, the possessor of heaven and earth 14: 23
• Truthful – gives God credit for battle victory 14: 22
• Believer/ faithful- he believed the Lord 15:6 17:3
• Ethics/ Moral Abram had Sarai deal with her servant in her own manner. 16:6

How God proves his love to Abraham: Gifts given to help him

• Visionary/ seer/ revelation  – The Lord appeared to Abram and he saw him in a vision talked with God.   12:7 15:1 15:13-16   17:3
• Protected/ Blessed - God will bless and curse those that bless or curse him 12:3
• Watched Over- God protects Abram and his family from the famine, his family, and other unseen threats. Tells him to leave/ Protects him from Egyptians 12:11
• Family/ Trusting - God promises that in Abram all families of the earth will be blessed. Will land unto Abram’s seed. Shows himself to Abram 12:2 13:15, 16

Other Qualities

• Family – Abram takes Sarai, and his brothers son Lot with him

• Aged -found his wisdom in the Lord’s guidance - 75 years old when asked to leave We are not told of his first 75 years. 12:4 

The amazing thing to consider about Abram, is that before his covenant with God 17:4 , he had almost everything that man could ever want: power, wealth,success, fame,  a wife, (two), land, political respect, security, servants, etc. He lived by his faith. But still he was missing something eternal -something bigger than life itself. This infinite part of Abraham's life, and our own life, can be found when we understand the power of integrity as they pertain to sacred covenants.  When we partake of the blessings of God's covenants: baptismal,  marriage, or others  we find eternal perspective. We begin to understand the shortness of our time, the scale of our existence, and the greatness of God's love and glory. 

No matter the success that life brings, man will always need to remember there exists a higher power. Protection, love, wholeness, and perspective are promised to those who learn that this power of God's love exists to bind us with our God.  It is the power that we call integrity and a power God said is "between me and thee." 

Genesis 17: 1 Be ye perfect

Perfect: absolute, complete, a perfect circle, highly suitable for someone or something. exactly right. Math: of a number where equal to the sum of its divisors.
Grammar: a completed action.or a state of a habitual action that began in the past
Botany: of flower having both stamens and carpils present stage ro state of fungus in which sexually produced spores are formed. entomology: fully adult winged. 

 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
Genesis 17:1

I believe there is a misconception that to be perfect means to be flawless. I have studied this scripture and thought about it a good deal, mostly because it has caused me to reconsider my fear and intimidation of the concept of perfection.

As a young child I might have thought I needed to be perfect at the piano by not making any mistakes. Of course the mere thought of not making a mistake made me unconsciously make more than a few mistakes. Only when I practiced a piece repeatedly and committed my fingers to muscle memory did I begin to approach the skill level where I was flawless. As I grew to understand music with its great complexities, I began to realize how far from perfect in my musical abilities I truly was. Even if I could play but one song perfectly there were so many variations in rhythm and such that I knew nothing about that the idea of me being complete in my piano and music abilities remained distant.

This is important because the Lord God did not tell Abraham to be flawless, without mistakes, without errors. I believe the word perfect has been purposefully misconstrued to cast discouragement and hopelessness in our way. We are not asked, nor ever have been asked to be flawless. We have been asked to show integrity, to repent, to work with God, to make covenants and to try our best. God knows that in our mortal state it is impossible for us to become perfect.

He did say to Abraham.. in his 99th year, to walk before God, and be thou perfect. I saw two things in this commandment. The first being that God will never ask us to be perfect alone. He asked Abraham to first walk before him. and then be perfect. This is significant because Abraham had to make the effort to walk before God and with God. In doing so God would make Abraham complete.

My husband and I have a inside joke about weather God is a mathematician or a biologist or an artist, etc. It's like asking which came first the chicken or the egg. It turns out that the definition of perfect attends to these different fields of study.
In studying the definitions of perfect, I found that you can have a perfect circle, (a complete circle) or an absolute circle. If you had an imperfect circle it would merely mean it was not complete... it would need to be connected. God is our connection. He makes us whole. When Abraham was asked to walk before God, God was asking him to become absolute in his faith with God. I do not believe God expected Abraham to become perfect (whole or complete) without Him. God's love is meant to make us whole.

In mathematics the idea of a perfect number meant that a numbers divisors could add up to the sum of the number (excluding the number itself). 6 is a perfect number because the divisors of 6 are 1, 2, 3 and 6. You can make an equation (excluding 6 itself) 1+2+3= 6. The equation is balanced, complete, whole and absolute.  Perfect numbers are rare. The first four know are 6, 28, 496, and 8128. Later 33, 550, 336 and 8, 589,869,056 were discovered. The connection between God asking Abraham to be perfect  could be equated to that of a perfect number. He needed to balance out the equation and be complete. God would provide the boost to make him reach and find the integrity needed to balance his life equation.

In grammar something is only considered perfect once it is completed. This definition takes me back to my piano practice; for to be perfect (in grammar terms) you must complete an action or be in the state of an habitual action that began in the past. So when Abraham was asked to walk before God and be perfect, God was asking him to practice habitual actions or to complete himself with a set of habits.

I love nature. And I loved this definition as it pertained to Abraham. In Botany a perfect flower is considered perfect only when it has both a stamen and a carpi. Because it has both reproductive organs it can reproduce. I may be going out on a limb here and I doubt seriously that this would ever be discussed in Sunday School class, but if you were to consider that at the age of 99 years old Abraham had not yet conceived and born children with his wife Sarah, if he were a flower he was not perfect.

And if you consider that the Lord is making a covenant with Abraham. He is about to promise him a family. For 99 years Abraham has not been able to bear fruit with Sarah, his wife. Now the Lord says to him, walk before me and be perfect. Covenant with me and be perfect. Include me in your daily life and have faith that includes me, and be perfect. Abraham, after his covenant, was able to have a child with Sarah. What does this say about his ability to conceive? If perfect flowers are considered complete because they have both stamen and carpils, and are able to reproduce, was God also making a statement to Abraham about his ability to reproduce?

Lastly, in the world of entomology insects are only considered perfect when they have wings. They must go through many different stages of metamorphosis in order to be considered complete. The different stages they pass through give them what they need in order to make it to their final and complete stage where they can fly. Once they have wings they are considered perfect. When we are perfect with God we have wings to fly above our temptations, wings to realize that perfection may not mean go through life without flaw.

Abraham becomes perfect not because he practiced habits that made him flawless. Abraham walks with God and finds perfection in the circle of God's love that gives him the needed spiritual wings to lift him higher and to balance out his own imperfections with God's own equations.

So now when I hear the scripture, "be ye therefore perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect," I won't allow mounds of guilt waylay me into depression. In stead I will imagine my own imperfections being made whole while I allow myself to continue to learn of God and his ways, and to practice the many different habits that will eventually make me complete with the love of God lifting me.