Mosiah 25-28 (+ Alma 36)

Mosiah 25-28, Alma 36

This block of scripture includes four powerful prayers involving two men, Alma the Elder and Alma the Younger.

FIRST PRAYER

The father Alma was a mighty man.  He was the priest who listened to Abinadi, taught the gospel and organized the Church among hundreds of followers in the Land of Nephi, went through exile and bondage for his testimony, returned to the Land of Zarahemla and organized the Church there under the instruction of King Mosiah, and was appointed by King Mosiah (who had formerly been both king and church leader) to the position of president of the Church, in a separation of church and state.  He was Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and Thomas S. Monson all rolled into one.

In this new capacity as Church president, he had a serious problem.  Many people were going apostate, and it was now his job to deal with them.  He had no previous experience with this kind of challenge and it troubled him great.  So he took his desire to the Lord in prayer.  (Mosiah 26:13-14.  Pay special attention to the word after.)  Even the president of the Church was required to “pour out his whole soul” to receive the answer to his prayer.

The answer he received was fabulous.  It surely brought great peace and joy to his soul, in addition to answering very specifically the question that he had.  It is recorded in verses 15-32.  (Mosiah 26:15-18)  Alma was told, in no uncertain terms, that he was right with God.  He was also told what to do about dissenters (Mosiah 26:29-32).  Alma’s action following this prayer is in verses 33-34.

Have you ever had a difficult question like this, and only God knew the answer?

SECOND PRAYER

Another serious problem came up that was distressing to Alma the father.  (Mosiah 27:8)  Alma’s son was not only rebelling from the Church on his own, he was leading many others astray as well.  So Alma had a great worry both as a parent and as the leader of the Church.  Alma undoubtedly had tried everything he could with his son over many years, and had prayed for him many times.  The need had become huge.  Finally this second prayer of Alma’s was answered.  (Mosiah 27:11,14,19,20)

Have you ever faced a situation like this which seemed beyond hope of repair?

THIRD PRAYER

Alma called the people together for a specific reason.  (Mosiah 27:21)  Not so they could see the judgments of God upon his wicked son, but so they could witness the mercies of God upon his wicked son.  He felt sure that this experience was going to be for his son’s benefit.  But Alma did not just sit and wait; this was not the end of the need for prayer.  Now the people combined their prayers with Alma’s, asking for three things (Mosiah 27:22):  1) that Alma might be able to speak, 2) that his paralysis might be lifted, and 3) that the eyes of the people might be opened to see God in this experience. 

The prayer was answered mightily.  (Mosiah 27:23-24)  Many people gained testimonies of the power of God, or had their testimonies strengthened, through the younger Alma’s experience at that time and afterwards, since he immediately became a mighty missionary for the truth and spent the rest of his life in that pursuit.

Alma the Younger later told the people about the fourth prayer—his own prayer that led to his conversion.

Have you ever seen the works of God in answer to the combined prayers of a family, a ward, or another group of believers?

FOURTH PRAYER

This conversion story was recorded by Alma in chiastic form, a type of poetry common in the Old Testament and designed to teach a truth.  In chiasm, each phrase leads to a central point, and then the phrases are reversed.  For example, the first point and the last point both have to do with words.  The 2nd point and the 2nd-to-last point are exactly the same.  The points can also be opposites, such as in number 22 below.  We read this beautiful Hebrew poem in Alma 36. Here is the layout of the chiasm as given in The God-Inspired Language of the Book of Mormon, by Wade Brown:

1-Give ear to my words (v.1)

 2- Inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God

       ye shall prosper in the land

  3-Ye should do as I have done (v.2)

   4-remembering

    5-the captivity of our fathers

     6-for they were in bondage

      7-none could deliver them

       8-except it was the God of Abr., Isaac & Jacob

        9-and he surely did deliver them

         10-my son (v.3)

          11-I do know

           12-whosever shall put their trust in God

            13-shall be supported in their trials

             14-I know of myself…not of the carnal mind,

                   but of God (v.4)

              15-if I had not been born of God, I could not have

                   known (v.5)

               16-God has made these things known unto me

                17-I went about seeking to destroy the Church

                     (v.6)

                 18-I arose and stood up (v.8)

                  19-neither had I the use of my limbs (v.10)

                   20-the angel spake unto me (v.11)

                    21-tormented with the pains of hell (v.13)

                     22-the pains of a damned soul (v.16)

                      23-as I was thus racked with torment (v.17)

                       24-harrowed up by the memory of my sins

                        25-I remembered

                         26-Oh Jesus, thou Son of God,

                          have mercy on me! (v.18)

                        25-I could remember (v.19)

                       24-I was harrowed up by the memory of my

                             sins no more

                      23-oh what joy, what marvelous light I beheld

                           (v.20)

                     22-joy as exceeding as was my pain

                    21-so bitter as were my pains (v.21)

                   20-numberless concourses of angels (v.22)

                  19-my limbs did received their strength again

                       (v.23)

                 18-I stood upon my feet

                17-I have labored without ceasing, that I might

                      bring souls unto repentance (v.24)

               16-because of the word which he has imparted

                     unto me (v.26)

              15-many have been born of God and know of

                    these things

             14-I do know; and the knowledge I have is of God

            13-supported under trials and troubles of every kind

                 (v. 27)

           12-I do put my trust in Him

          11-I know (v.28)

         10-our fathers

        9-he has delivered them out of bondage and

            captivity from time to time

       8-brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem

          (v.29)

      7-he has delivered them

     6-out of bondage

    5-and captivity

   4-I have always retained in remembrance

  3-ye ought to know as I do know (v.30)

 2-inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God

    ye shall prosper in the land

1-according to his word

Hopefully, we have all prayed prayers begging forgiveness, and have been blessed with "joy as exquisite as was our pain."  If not, the time is now.

THE PROCESS OF PRAYER

DESIRE.  (Alma 36:12-16)  His father’s prayers and the prayers of the Church resulted in a visit by an angel which was terrifying enough to show Alma the Younger the awful truth of his current state.  This brought an overwhelming desire into Alma’s heart to escape the agony of sin.

FAITH.  (Alma 36:17-18)  Once again, as in the case of Enos, parental teachings planted seeds of faith which laid dormant for years, but were there when needed.

REMISSION OF SINS/PEACE.  (Alma 36:19)  The cleansing of his sins through the Atonement of Jesus Christ made Alma worthy to house the Holy Ghost.  (3 Nephi 12:6) 

JOY/LOVE.  (Alma 36:20-21) The presence of the Holy Ghost always brings joy and love.  (Alma 36:24) Immediately this great love made Alma focus on bringing the joyous news of the gospel to others.

THE ELEMENT OF DESIRE IN PRAYER

Desire is essential in order to pray sincerely and receive an answer to prayer, but the size of the answer generally meets the size of the desire.

Perhaps as a child we want to know if the Church is true, but we’re not really worried about it; we love Primary, we love Family Home Evening, we know the scriptures, we believe our parents and teachers, and so we offer a prayer with only a Dixie cup full of desire. 

It is a sincere prayer, and subject to the promise of the Lord given in Moroni 10:4, but the answer need only be a quiet feeling of peace, a sense that what we are doing is right.  Dixie cup prayers are great as long as we don’t expect the Lord to fill them with Niagara Falls.  Just a cupful of Living Water will do.

At other times when we are meeting terrible challenges, when our hearts are breaking, when our sin seems unbearable, we meet the Lord in prayer having dug a huge pit of desire. 

In this case, the Lord can fill that void with the ocean of his mighty power.  The greatest latter-day example is found in the story of the First Vision. 

For months Joseph Smith had researched church after church, asked questions of ministers, watched different family members join different churches or refuse to join any, discussed religion around the fireplace, and read the Bible.  His desire had grown and grown until finally he read James 1:5 and determined to pray for an answer.  His prayer was not only sincere, but his desire was enormous, and therefore the Lord answered that prayer with a personal appearance, an answer to prayer that changed the world.  (See Joseph Smith—History)

Old Testament Lesson #45 "If I Perish, I Perish"

Daniel 1; 3; 6; Esther 3-5; 7-8

This lesson discusses four of the most powerful stories in the Old Testament of triumph over great adversity and oppression in a foriegn court.  In each story, the hero is a Hebrew slave, a person in a position nearly powerless by earthly standards.  An evil figure seeks to obliterate the hero because of his religious beliefs.  In the end, the righteous hero gains equivalent or greater political power than his nemesis.  Mighty retribution is meted out upon the evildoers.

DANIEL

“The responsibility of showing to the world that the gospel of Jesus Christ will solve its problems rests upon the men who make the claim" (President David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, Salt Lake City: Improvement Era, 1953, p. 5).

"I found a classic example in the Old Testament of one who lived “in the world” and influenced it through his righteous living. The birth of this young man came at a time in history when it was improbable that anyone from Israel could make much of a contribution in the world.

"After the death of King Solomon in 975 b.c., the Ten Tribes revolted and separated themselves from the Tribe of Judah. A divided Israel was not able to hold its own against the other powers of that region. Egypt and Assyria would take turns overrunning the land of Israel. In the year 607 b.c., Assyria proper and the northern provinces fell into the hands of the Medes, while Syria lay open to be seized by the Babylonians.

"While this struggle was going on, it seemed an appropriate time for Egypt to attack Palestine. The king of the Babylonians sent his son, Nebuchadnezzar, to drive the Egyptians back. While the battle raged against the Egyptians, the king passed away and Nebuchadnezzar became the ruler of Babylon. He was successful against the Egyptians and became ruler over all of Syria to the Egyptian border. He ruled by terror, crushing his enemies by fire and sword, and weakening them with deportations to other parts of his empire.

"It was in the midst of this battle-torn era that Daniel was born. As a youth, he and certain other Hebrews were taken into the court of Nebuchadnezzar for service. They were chosen because of their wisdom and knowledge and ability to learn. Thus, Daniel was brought into a strange land with strange customs, a strange environment, and a very different religious heritage.

"Daniel’s first test in being 'in the world' came when the servant of Nebuchadnezzar ordered him to drink of his wine and eat of the 'king’s meat.' Daniel 'purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank.'

"The servant argued that the king had made him responsible for training these young men, and had commanded they should eat and drink the same as the others. If they did not, the king would see that they were growing weak and thin, and would surely have the servant killed. Then Daniel begged that he and his friends be allowed to follow the health habits that had been given to them. His request was that they be proved for ten days—for ten days they would feed upon grains and drink water, to see if they were not healthier than all the rest.

"Daniel’s strategy was most interesting. He did not challenge the beliefs of the Babylonians. Instead, he volunteered to conduct a test as to which way was best. The servant agreed to the test. For the next ten days, Daniel and those who were with him ate and drank only of the things that they knew they should. At the end of the tenth day, Daniel and his friends were found to be healthier and stronger than all the rest. Daniel soon found that he did not have to adopt a different standard of values when he was 'in the world...'

"Not only did Daniel’s service benefit the king, but because of the faith that Daniel had in the Lord, it affected an entire land. The king sent forth a proclamation that all the people of the kingdom should worship the true and living God, the God that Daniel worshiped. How mighty was the power of the service of one righteous man, affecting so many, as he served 'in the world' in which he lived! How effective will be the results of our service if we will continue to serve in our own personal way 'in the world' in which we live!  (L. Tom Perry, "In the World," Ensign, May 1998)

Daniel was tested again in his later life.  By now, he was a high-ranking government official.  For political rather than religious reasons, others desired to have him deposed.  They knew that they could not "dig up any dirt" about him, because there was none.  So instead, knowing that he was true to his faith, they determined to use that faith for his political demise.  They convinced King Darius to enact a law forbidding prayer to Jehovah.  Daniel's behavior did not change in the slightest because of the threat.  He prayed three times a day, "as he did aforetime" (6:10).  This was almost a more faith-promoting experience for King Darius than it was for Daniel.  Darius clearly had a budding faith in Jehovah, as he said hopefully to Daniel while throwing him in the lion's den, "Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee" (6:16).  In the morning when he returned to the den, he called, "O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?" (6:20).  The answer was yes.

King Darius was then a believer.  He issued a proclamation, publicly stating his faith, "I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.  He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions" (6:26-27).

SHADRACH, MESHACH AND ABED-NEGO

"As a young man, I returned home from an eighth-grade basketball tournament dejected, disappointed, and confused. I blurted out to my mother, 'I don’t know why we lost—I had faith we’d win!'

"I now realize that I did not then know what faith is...

"Centuries ago, Daniel and his young associates were suddenly thrust from security into the world—a world foreign and intimidating. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego refused to bow down and worship a golden image set up by the king, a furious Nebuchadnezzar told them that if they would not worship as commanded, they would immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. 'And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?'

"The three young men quickly and confidently responded, 'If it be so [if you cast us into the furnace], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand.' That sounds like my eighth-grade kind of faith. But then they demonstrated that they fully understood what faith is. They continued, 'But if not, … we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.'  That is a statement of true faith.

"They knew that they could trust God—even if things didn’t turn out the way they hoped. They knew that faith is more than mental assent, more than an acknowledgment that God lives. Faith is total trust in Him...

"We must have the same faith as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

"Our God will deliver us from ridicule and persecution, but if not. … Our God will deliver us from sickness and disease, but if not … . He will deliver us from loneliness, depression, or fear, but if not. … Our God will deliver us from threats, accusations, and insecurity, but if not. … He will deliver us from death or impairment of loved ones, but if not, … we will trust in the Lord.

"Our God will see that we receive justice and fairness, but if not. … He will make sure that we are loved and recognized, but if not. … We will receive a perfect companion and righteous and obedient children, but if not, … we will have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that if we do all we can do, we will, in His time and in His way, be delivered and receive all that He has.  (Dennis E. Simmons, "But If Not...", Ensign, May 2004)

ESTHER

Esther is one of the Five Scrolls, books that were originally grouped together in the Hebrew Bible, called "The Writings," and read (and many Jewish communities still read them) at key annual festivals. 

The Five Scrolls and their Festivals

1. The Song of Songs (Song of Solomon in the KJV), read at Passover, commemorating the passing over of the angel of death when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt
2. The Book of Ruth, read at the Feast of Weeks, also called Shavout, or Pentecost in the New Testament, a celebration of the harvest
3. Lamentations, read on the 9th of Av (a month in the Jewish calendar), commemorating the sadness and oppression that has happened to the Jews, beginning with the destruction of the temple
4. Ecclesiastes, read at Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths (refering to tents), a 7-day festival in which the 40 years camping in the wilderness is commemorated and somewhat reenacted
5. The Book of Esther, read at Purim, a name derived from the word pur which refered to the casting of lots done by Haman in the story of Esther to determine the day of the destruction of the Jews

(Sources:  Bible Dictionary entry for "Feasts," Harper-Collins Study Bible, and Wikipedia.)

A Chiastic Pattern for the Book of Esther

Chiasmus (pronounced "ky-AS-mus") is a Hebrew literary tool in which all the lines of a poem lead to the main point, after which they all repeat in reverse order with slight variation.  The central point of the broad chiasmus of the book of Esther would be that the Jews, represented here by Mordecai, get the honor they deserve for their righteousness and good works.  This is the point of all four stories discussed in this lesson: the faithful Hebrew figure puts his/her neck on the block, with faith in Jehovah, and not only is the executioner's hand stayed, but glory is awarded to them by the worldly powers.

A   King Xerxes’ banquet and the rise of Queen Esther 1:1-2:23

 B   Haman’s plot to exterminate the Jews 3:1-15

 C   Mordecai’s plea to Esther and Esther’s request 4:1-17

  D   Esther’s first banquet 5:1-8

    E   Haman’s family plot to hang Mordecai 5:9-14

      F   Mordecai honored 6:1-12a

    E’   Haman’s family predicts his downfall 6:12b-14

   D’   Esther’s second banquet and Haman’s death 7:1-10

  C’   Esther’s plea to King Xerxes to save the Jews 8:1-15

B’   The Jews destroy their enemies 9:1-17

A’   Feast of Purim and Mordecai’s rise to power 9:18-10:3

(Source:  Tyndale University College and Seminary website.  Sorry; I can't seem to form a direct link.)

COMMENTS FROM THE HARPER-COLLINS STUDY BIBLE

• 1:21-22  All official resources and protocol of state are needed to deal with the danger posed to men by one willful woman!  This is the first in a series of letters and decrees sent by means of the famed Persian courier service.
• 1:3; 2:16  It took four years to find a new queen.
• 2:19 "Sitting in the king's gate:"  Mordecai is an official of undetermined rank.
• 3:9  10,000 talents of silver is a huge bribe.  Inflated figures like this one, the height of Haman's gallows, which was the equivalent of 75 feet (5:14), and numbers slain by the Jews (9:5-16) give the story an air of the fantastic.  (All numbers used in the Old Testament must be taken with a grain of salt--often they are figurative and not literal.)
• 7:7-8 The king's exit allows Haman one last plea for his life, ironically from the one whom he unknowingly sought to destroy.  His attempt seals his fate, as the king mistakes his posture of supplication before the reclining Esther as an assault upon the queen.
• 8:11-12  The wording recalls what Haman wrote (3:13) in an exact and vengeful manner...The effect is to reverse in every detail what Haman planned for the Jews.
• 9:10, 15-16 That the Jews did not touch the plunder although they were allowed to do so (8:11) suggests they were fighting for survival and not increased wealth.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DANIEL AND ESTHER

(This section is on the fringe of the purpose of the lesson, so I wouldn't include it as a part of a lesson being taught in Sunday School, but it is an interesting aside to personal scripture study.  Should questions come up from class members on this topic, this information may be helpful.)

In the present Hebrew Bible, the books of Daniel and Esther are placed together.  The contrast between the stories, though, are great enough that they have bothered scholars, particularly Jewish scholars, for thousands of years.  Daniel and Esther were both offered the king's food (Daniel 1:5; Esther 2:9).  Esther 2:9 in the King James Version only covertly mentions food, "such things as belonged to her," but it is clearly food in the New Revised Standard Version, "her portion of food".  The word portion is from an Old Persian word meaning "government-supplied food ration" (Harper-Collins Study Bible, p. 1304).  While Daniel and his friends refused the food and stuck to their strict Hebrew diet, Esther ate what was was given her.  Daniel and his three friends prayed in open defiance of the worship of idolatry.  Prayer is never mentioned in the book of Esther.  Daniel and his friends profess faith in God and publicly give Him credit and glory for the miracles that save them in the book of Daniel.  God is never mentioned in the story of Esther.  Curious.

In The Septuagint (the earliest translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek), the translators (pious Jewish scholars) tried to correct this problem by making six additions to the book of Esther, four of which make God's presence very clear throughout the story.  (These are included in the Appocrypha which is readily available from many publishers. The Septuagint version of Esther is printed in the Approcrypha section of the Harper-Collins Study Bible, p. 1481-1496.)

1. The book opens with the story of a dream which Mordecai has in which God reveals, in symbolism, all that is going to happen.
2. The king's edict is written out expressly.
3. A prayer in which Mordecai calls mightily upon the Lord for aid is inserted, and the addition concludes, "And all Israel cried out mightily, for their death was before their eyes."
4. A sweet and tender version of Esther's appearance before the king, and the softening of his heart toward her is added.
5. The second edict of the king is inserted.
6. There is a little post at the end of the book in which Mordecai relates the interpretation of his dream, and notes that everything God promised has been fulfilled.

Hmm.  It makes one think.  Did these translators just make up these additions to fit their own agenda?  It's possible. 

It's also possible they didn't make them up.

Josephus, the most important early Jewish historian whose works are still available today and are widely considered a very trustworthy source, believed that the translators of the Septuagint were inspired of God.  Could they have been acting under inspiration as Joseph Smith did when he studied and re-translated the Bible, inserting details that were important but had been left out?  It's possible that they received aid from God in the form of revelation about what the actual circumstances had been and restored the true story. 

There is no way to know. 

Why ask questions for which we have no known answer?  Because it expands our thinking, and exposes the possibilities to us.  If we can't find the answer, we place the question on our "shelf" of questions to be answered later.  At another time, we may take them down again, see if more information or revelation is now providing the answer.  If it is, great.  If it is not, back on the shelf it goes.  It may stay there until the next life, when all questions will be answered.  As long as we don't demand an answer immediately, our faith remains intact.

We can ask another question for which there is no known answer:  Who wrote the book of Esther, and why would he leave these important details out of the story, if they were true?  Josephus claims Mordecai wrote it, and he is generally a pretty good source.  Another possibility is Nehemiah.  For a good but simple discussion on the authorship possibilities, see Bible.org.

If Mordecai were the author, here are my personal thoughts--my personal thoughts--about why he may have written without expressly referring to God, prayer, and Jewish practices:  Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel's king) ruled from 605-562 BC.   Ahasuerus (Esther's king) is usually identified as Xerxes I, who ruled in 486-465 BC (Harper-Collins Study Bible).  So the story of Daniel took place well over 100 hundred years before the story of Esther, and immediately after the exile.  Daniel and his friends were fresh out of Hebrew communities steeped with their religious culture.  Mordecai and Esther and their people, 100+ years later, may have suffered a gradual loss of Jewish influence in their new environment.  They seemed to not be as openly practicing their religion as Daniel did, since Esther was living in the king's court completely undetected as a Jew.  The king himself seemed to be unaware of the entire culture of Jews until Haman pointed them out. 

Could years of keeping their religion quietly have caused the author to also keep it as an unstated undercurrent in his writing? Was the account written at such a time or situation or context in which it was inappropriate or dangerous to expressly include deeply religious experiences?  Or was the author someone we don't have any record of at all, and was he not a religious person, but simply a recorder or historian?

Regardless of the reason for the way the account is written, it is clear to me that God and prayer were key parts of the story.  When Mordecai said to Esther, "Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" there was clearly an implication in his words that he believed a greater Power was enacting a plan to save the Jews, and that Esther was part of that plan.  Esther called upon the Jews to fast for three days and nights (Esther 4:16).  What purpose would there be to fasting without prayer?  This is the only instance in the scriptures of which I'm aware in which fasting is mentioned when it is not directly connected to prayer.  It was a practice used in no other way.

Their story as well as Daniel's teaches that God loves His children and is merciful, ever seeking to aid them in adversity, responding faithfully when they exercise their faith.  Their righteous influence blesses their entire community, and spreads the gospel.  "The city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.  The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour.  And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day.  And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of [respect for?] the Jews fell upon them" (Esther 8:15-17).

Old Testament Lesson #40 "Enlarge the Place of Thy Tent"

Isaiah 54-56; 63-65

CHAPTER 54

"Isaiah 54 and 55 are beautiful chapters of encouragement; chapter 54 portrays the glory of Zion in the last days, and chapter 55 extends an invitation to all people to partake of the gospel.  Building upon the prophecy of the Messiah (chapter 53), these two chapters promise special blessings from the Savior's mission...

"[Chapters 54-58 lay] a foundation for the following eight chapters concerning the great blessings of a Zion society, a millenial reign, and a new heaven and new earth in the last days (chapters 59-66)"  (Victore Ludlow, Isaiah: Prophet, Seer and Poet, p. 458).

This chapter was quoted by Christ to the Nephites (3 Ne. 22).

v. 1 The places and peoples that were previously unfruitful in the gospel will produce a great harvest:  "More are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife." 

v. 2-3 "In the last days, or the time in which we now live, the Lord will bring many people to Zion.  They will be so many that they cannot all fit in one place.  Rather than there being only one land of Zion, she will be established in many stakes" (Parry, et.al, p. 479).  The stakes will spread all over the earth, "on the right hand and on the left," and cities that previously had no Latter-day Saints ("the desolate cities") will now be inhabited with them.

v.4-10 Although the House of Israel suffered a temporary "widowhood," or being abandoned by the Lord because of their sins, the Lord is still her "husband" and will not permanently forsake her.  It is just as with the flood at the time of Noah: the Lord promised he would never drown the earth again, and he did not.  So also he has promised that he will not be angry with the House of Israel forever, and he will not.  His love and "the covenant of his peace" are more solid than the very mountains.

v.11-14  Despite the troubles the people have been through, partly because of their wickedness, the Lord will prepare an astonishingly beautiful city for them, in which their children can be taught of the Lord--"taught by the Lord" and/or "taught about the Lord."  (New Revised Standard Version and New International Version both translate this as "taught by the Lord.")  The result of this teaching is great peace for the children.

v.14-17 Evil people will still conspire, but it will not affect those who are near the Lord, who fall under his protection.  The Lord is in total control.

v. 17  President Ezra Taft Benson carried this verse in his wallet (Ensign, July 1994, p. 32).

CHAPTER 55

According to Victor Ludlow (p. 463), this chapter is in chiastic form.  (For more on chiasm, see Should I Not Spare Ninevah? in a previous entry.)

v. 1-3 Invites all to receive the everlasting gospel.
          v. 4-5 Promises help.
                    v. 6-7 Requests a turning back to the Lord.
                               v. 8 States that God's plans and ways are not
                               man's plans and ways.
                                         v. 9 Testifies that the heavens (spiritual
                                         plans) are above the earth (mortal
                                         designs).
                              v. 9 States again that God's plans and ways are
                              not like man's.
                    v.10-11 Declares that some things have already returned
                    back to God.
          v. 12 Promises that we can be led back to God's presence.
v. 13 Invites us to become God's everlasting sign.

CHAPTER 56

v. 1-2 Blessings to those who are obedient to the Lord.
v. 3-8 This is a beautiful passage about how the Lord desires to gather "the outcasts of Israel".  Those who have previously been excluded from the church, eunuchs (castrated slaves) and strangers (foreigners or Gentiles) (see Deut. 23:1-3) are now welcomed and afforded every privilege, even temple privileges, if they will keep the Sabbath and "take hold" of their covenants. Much more detail is available about keeping the Sabbath in chapter 58.
v. 5-8 "Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people," the Lord says.  Note the many, many references to temples in this passage:  "mine house," "within my walls," "a place (sometimes translated 'hand') and a name better than of sons and daughters," "an everlasting name," "my holy mountain," "my house of prayer," "burnt offerings and sacrifices," and "mine altar."  (If you have access to pictures of temples, or can print them off the Internet (see link later in this entry), each time one of these temple phrases is read in the passage, post a picture of one of our latter-day temples, so that the board will be covered with pictures of 8 or 10 temples as you read this verse.  If you plan to do the "Stakes of Zion ABCs" game, you may want to post the pictures of the temples refered to in the game.)
v. 9-12 "A short rebuke to the wicked of the time" (footnote 9a).

CHAPTER 63

v. 1 A question is asked:  "Who is this that cometh from Edom [symbolic of the wicked nations, according to Harper-Collins Study Bible], with dyed garments from Bozrah [a major city of Edom, also according to Harper-Collins]? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength?"  Who is the conquering hero?  Jesus Christ gives the answer:  "I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save."
v. 2 A second question is asked:  "[Why] art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?"  There is something very striking, very unnatural, about his clothing that draws the attention of the questioner.
v. 3-6 Christ answers again: "I have trodden the winepress alone..their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment."  It is the symbol of the great suffering of the Atonement.  Not coincidentally, geth means "garden" and "semane" means "a press for liquids" (Victor Ludlow, p. 514).
v. 4 Throughout the book of Isaiah, alternating prophecies are found regarding Jehovah's anger towards the wicked (which includes all of us at some time or another), and his mercy towards them when they repent.  In this verse, "The phrases 'day of vengeance' and 'year of redemption' show the ratio of the Lord's vegeance and redemption:  he will execute vengeance for only a day, but his redemption lasts for a year.  In other words, his punishments will be temporary, but his blessings permanent" (Victor Ludlow, p. 519).

The rest of the chapter is a prayer of praise for the Lord.  Some beautiful passages lie here.

v. 9 "In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried tham all the days of old.
v. 10 The people rebelled, however, and offended the Spirit, so that he had no choice but to be at enmity with them.
v. 11-13 Note the footnotes which greatly clarify who is speaking and about what.  The people remembered the previous great works of the Lord.
v. 14 As a result of their repentance, the Spirit of the Lord brought rest to them (see footnote 14c), just as a cow naturally heads into the furtile lands of the valley (see footnote 14a).
v. 15-19 The people offer a prayer to the Lord to "look down from heaven" upon them.  Even if they were not connected to their great fathers, Abraham and Israel, they know that God is their Father, and he will care for them forever and ask him to help them regain their inheritance from their enemies.  (Note footnote 17a.)

CHAPTER 64

v. 1-4 The prayer continues, glorifying God and his mighty works, which are beyond the understanding of men. 
v. 5-7 The people, admittedly, have sinned and departed from the Lord's ways.
v. 8 But now they acknowledge that they are nothing more than clay in the hands of the potter.  They are willing to let him shape their lives.
v. 9-12 They acknowledge that they have abandoned Zion and the temple, but they hope the Lord will be merciful to them.

CHAPTER 65

Here is the answer to the prayer.
v. 1-5 The Lord has "spread out [his] hands all the day unto a rebellious people."  They continue in their idolatrous ways, and they reject the Lord, saying they are holier than he is.  Sacrificing in groves of trees was an idolatrous practice.  Brick altars were idolatrous altars.  (The Lord instructed his people to sacrifice on altars of unhewn stone (Exo. 34:1-3).  Trying to communicate with ghosts, and eating pork were also against the commandments.
v. 6-10 So the Lord must mete out judgment.  He will not destroy them all.  A few people shall be "inheritors of [his] mountains (temples)."  Places that were previously troubled (Sharon, the valley of Achor) will now be peaceful pastures.
v. 11-12 The Lord again rebukes the wicked, those that forget "my holy mountain," that feed the idols of fortune and fate (see footnotes 11a and 11b).
v.13-15 Blessings will be given to the righteous, while the wicked will suffer.
v. 16 The sealing power will be available (see footnotes 16a and 16b).
v. 17-25 There will be a new heaven and earth, filled with joy.  No infants will live a life of only days, but will completely fill the life of an old man.  Fairness and justice will reign; people will be blessed in proportion to what they have done.  The Lord will answer their prayers before they are even spoken.  There will be no more predators or carnivores on the earth, but all animals shall live in peace with each other.  "There shall not [anything] hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain," suggesting that the entire earth will be as a temple, and all people will dwell in the presence of the Lord.

Here is a chiasm identified in Victor Ludlow's book, p. 528:

v. 8 "Thus saith the Lord...I may not destroy them all" because
some good is still present.
     v. 9-10 Servants and animals dwell in the land.
          v. 11 The wicked warned
               v. 12 War
                    v. 13 The righteous vs. the wicked
                         v. 14 Shouting, crying, howling
                              v. 15 Cursing
                                   v. 16 Former troubles forgotten
                                        v. 17 The Lord will create a  new
                                        heaven and earth
                                   v. 17 Former things not remembered
                              v. 18 Blessing
                         v. 19 Rejoicing, no weeping and wailing
                    v. 20 JST The innocent vs. the sinners
               v. 21 Peace
          v. 22 Chosen ones blessed
     v. 23-25 People and animals at peace on the earth
v. 26 Every being on the earth will do only good, "saith the Lord."

"President Joseph Fielding Smith repeatedly stressed that this chapter of Isaiah does not refer to a celestialized earth.  Instead, the new heavens and earth prophesied by Isaiah will come at the beginning of the Millennium." (Ludlow, p. 529. He gives four references.)

"Verse 20 shows that two characteristics of all people during the Millennium will be a long life and the retention of agency and the capacity to sin."  Most people, in this righteous environment, would choose to come to Christ, but agency still exists.  Sinners (meaning those who sin and do not repent--no one will be perfect yet) living to be 100 years old will be cursed because they will not enjoy the post-earthly period of spirit prison in which to pay for their sins, but will have to suffer for them on the earth before their own resurrections (Ludlow, p. 531).

Isaiah 65 and 66 are in striking contrast to Isaiah 1 and 2, indicating the highly structured form of Isaiah.

Stakes of Zion ABCs
Here is a fun little game to play to emphasize the spread of the Church, and the growth still to come as the gathering of Israel takes place.  I have chosen some countries that were interesting to me, but if you would like to choose others (for example, those in which you have ward members serving missions, or those in which class members have ancestry or special interest), go to cumorah.com, choose "International LDS Database," and then "LDS Country Database."  Click on your country or type it into the "search" bar, and then scroll down through the country's article until you find "Official LDS Statistics."  Or look down below in the first comment where reader CarlH has left a link to the statistics on the Church's website.)


For large classes:  Print up the list of countries, cut them apart, and pass them out among class members.  Have them simply stand up and read them in alphabetical order.


For smaller classes:  Print up the list of countries and keep it to yourself.  Say the letter of the alphabet and have the class members guess which country is on your list.  Toss a small treat to the student who guesses the country.  If no one guesses it within 10 seconds, give the name.  Then have the class members guess how many saints might be in that country.  The class member who guesses the closest gets a small treat.  Tell them the real number, as well as how many congregations, and how many missions and temples are in the country.  Keep the game moving fast.


For competitive classes:  Divide the class into two teams, and play as above, taking turns between the classes, and giving a point to the team who guesses each item correctly.


If you would like to print up photographs of the temples included, you can find them at lds.org.  As you read each country's data, you can have them guess which temple pictured is in that country, if you posted the pictures earlier while reading through Isiaah 56:5-8.  If not, you can post them now as they are mentioned.


A--Albania:  1,730 saints in 10 congregations, 1 mission
B--Botswana:  1,302 saints in 4 congregations
C--Cuba:  50 saints
D--Domican Republic:  98,268 saints in 183 congregations, 3 missions, 1 temple
E--Egypt:  less than 100 saints in 1 branch
F--Fiji:  14,120 saints in 44 congregations, 1 mission, 1 temple
G--Guatemala:  200,537 saints in 428 congregations, 4 missions, 1 temple
H--Hong Kong:  22,939 saints in 42 congregations, 1 mission, 1 temple
I--India:  1,752 saints in 26 congregations, 1 mission
J--Japan:  122,422 saints in 294 congregations, 7 missions, 2 temples
K--Kazakhstan:  125 members in 1 congregation
L--Lebanon:  139 members in 1 congregation
M--Malaysia:  4,626 saints in 19 congregations
N--New Zealand:  96,027 saints in 201 congregations, 2 missions, 1 temple
O--Oman:  no Latter-day Saints
P--Pakistan:  200 saints in 4 congregations
R--Russia:  15,615 saints in 102 congregations, 8 missions
S--South Korea:  80,420 saints in 143 congregations, 4 missions, 1 temple
T--Taiwan:  47,034 saints in 97 congregations, 3 missions, 1 temple
U--Ukraine:  10,394 saints in 49 congregations, 2 missions, 1 temple
V--Vietnam:  100 saints in 2 congregations
W--Western Sahara:  no Latter-day Saints
Y--Yemen:  no Latter-day Saints
Z--Zimbabwe:  16,969 saints in 45 congregations, 1 mission

CONCLUSION

Isaiah 60 offers a glorious call to missionary work, to hasten the coming of the Lord.

"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.  For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.  And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.  (These verses are also found in the Messiah oratorio.)  (Isaiah 60:1-3)

How many of us have seen the Light of Christ manifest in the face of another?  Those who are seeking the truth often recognize a light about the members of the Church, and they are drawn to it.

People of other faiths are also attracted to the light of the temples.  "For years now, they've been flocking to the Freiberg Germany Temple, the LDS Church milestone that 25 years ago became the first Mormon temple operating inside the Iron Curtain. They come to stroll the walkways in solitude or sit on the outside benches to ponder and pray. They gather on the lawns for bridal photos and wedding-party snapshots. They call it 'our temple' — one leader recently boasted that 'Freiberg has become world-famous because of the temple.' Oh, and 'they' are the non-Mormons living in and around Freiberg. And the leader? The current mayor of Freiberg, who joined past and present civic dignitaries and local leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a silver-anniversary celebration..."  (Deseret News, Sept. 6, 2010)

"Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

"Then thou shalt see, and [be radiant], and thine heart shall [reverence the Lord], and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea [great multitudes] shall be converted unto thee, the [wealth] of the Gentiles shall come unto thee...

"And the sons of strangers [converts] shall build up thy walls [the city of Zion, and the temples], and their kings shall minister unto thee...Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought...

"The glory of Lebanon [the most beautiful building materials available] shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box [tree] together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary [the temple], and I will make the place of my feet [the temple] glorious...

"Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the [earth] forever, the branch of my planting, the word of my hands, that I may be glorified."  (Isaiah 60:4-5, 10-13, 21)

End class with a challenge for each class member to focus on what he could do to participate in this joyous expansion of missionary work and temple-building, and to increase the Light of Christ in his own countenance that it may be recognized by those seeking it.

Old Testament Lesson #33: Sharing the Gospel With the World

Jonah 1-4; Micah 2; 4-7

The book of Jonah is another beautiful piece of Hebrew poetry, that delivers multiple lessons through its langauge and symbolism.  If you were to ask a class, "What is the major message of the book of Jonah?" you could get many answers that could all be right.  Of course, the title of the lesson involves missionary work.  This blog entry, however, will focus on two different but related themes of the book of Jonah:  being temple-oriented, and receiving peace by forgiving our enemies.

GOING DOWN

The story of Jonah is a katabasis: a journey down.  Jonah went down, down, down: down from Joppa, down into the ship (1:3), down into the bottom of the ship (1:5).  We consider the bottom of the earth to be the ground, but you can get even deeper if you go to the bottom of the sea, which is what Jonah did (2:3-6).  But what's interesting is that Jonah chose to say he went "down to the bottoms of the mountains" (2:6), when clearly he was describing the bottom of the sea ("the waters compassed me about...the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head") (2:5).  Of course, the ocean floor has mountains, but there is a particular reason that Jonah chose to refer to it this way.  Jonah's story is about a journey down from "the presence of the Lord" (1:3, 10) (David Bokovoy).

In the stories of Moses receiving the Law, or Abraham sacrificing Isaac, everything is "up."  They go up to the mountain, which is where they can visit the Lord in a temple-like environment.  The word "mountain" in the scriptures often indicates an outdoor holy place or temple. 

The word for "temple" in Hebrew means literally "the presence of the Lord" (David Bokovoy). Which, of course, makes perfect sense. So you can substitute "temple" for "the presence of the Lord" or for "mountain" in this story and in most of the Old Testament.

Also, the Lord comes to his children "from the east" in scripture (Matt. 24:27; Zech. 14:4-5; Ezek. 43:1).  Moses' tabernacle and Soloman's temple both faced the east (Bible Dictionary "Tabernacle") for that reason.  The garden of the Lord was "eastward in Eden."  Which direction was Jonah running?  West, of course.  The temple and Jerusalem were on the east end of the Mediterranean Sea.  Tarshish, where Jonah was going, is presumed to be in present-day Spain (see Bible Dictionary), on the very far west side of the Mediterranean, as far west as you could go in Jonah's world.  Tarshish was also a worldly place, the center of commerce on the sea, materialistic--once again, the opposite of the temple.

So Jonah was not only running away from his mission, he was running away from the temple and his covenants.

Of course, you can't run away from the Lord, since he controls the elements, and there was a tempest on the sea, which threatened the lives of the sailors.  Jonah confessed to be the fault and the sailors threw him overboard (1:12).  The Lord had prepared a whale to swallow Jonah.  It is no coincidence that Jonah was inside the whale for three days and three nights: the space between the Atonement and the Resurrection (1:17).  Jonah's story is an obvious type of the resurrection of Christ and the power of the Atonement (Matt. 12:39-41), and also a type of baptism.  Jonah was completely immersed in the water, and after the whale spit him out, he had the chance to start over, to become a new man, and to join the Lord's purpose, to preach repentance to Ninevah.

THE PSALM OF JONAH

Jonah's psalm is representative of anyone who has left their covenants, suffered because of their sins, and had the opportunity to return, through the Atonement, to the presence of the Lord.  (Jonah uses the Hebrew poetic form, enallage [en-ALL-uh-gee] in which he begins by referring to the Lord in third person, and ends by referring to the Lord in second person, indicating that their relationship changed during the story, and he drew closer to the Lord.)

"Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly, and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.  For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.  Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.

"The waters compassed me about, even to the soul [to the death]: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.  I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.  When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple" (2:1-7).

Perfection is a process, though, and Jonah didn't allow God's perfect love to cast out his fear (1 John 4:18).

FORGIVING OUR ENEMIES

Why did Jonah go to such great lengths to purposely run away from the presence of the Lord, from his calling as a prophet, and from his covenants?  Why was he so unhappy about sharing the gospel in Ninevah?

Well, Ninevah was the capitol of Assyria.  The story of Jonah is unique in the Old Testament in that Jonah was called to preach the gospel to enemies of the House of Israel.  Israelites had always been counseled to stay away from the heathen nations, definitely not to marry them, and even, in the time of Joshua, to kill them all before entering the Land of Canaan so that their idolatry would not seep into the culture of the Israelites.  Prophets previous to Jonah had all been charged with calling only Israel to repentance; this was a different thing altogether.  And not only was Jonah called to idolatrous non-Israelites, but to THE great enemy, Assyria!  They were powerful, and they were ruthless and they had caused a great deal of sorrow in Israel over a long period of time.

Jonah's calling to carry the gospel to the enemy has parallels in the New Testament and the Book of Mormon.  In Acts 10, the prophet Peter had a dream about a great tablecloth that came down from heaven with non-kosher foods on it, and he was commanded to eat them.  Then messengers arrived from Cornelius, a Roman who was seeking the truth of the gospel.  The Romans, of course, were ruling over the Jews and oppressing them: enemies!  Peter realized that the Lord was telling him that Cornelius, a Roman and a non-Jew, could be baptized, and a wonderful harvest of Roman souls was reaped that Cornelius had gathered and prepared.

In the Book of Mormon, the sons of Mosiah went on a 14-year mission to the Lamanites, at great peril of their lives (Mosiah 28; Alma 17-26).  They were not the first to try a mission to the Lamanites (see Jacob 7:24), but they were the first to succeed.  A great number of Lamanites joined the Church and became among its most stalwart members.  All of the "sons of Helaman" were a product of this harvest.

Jonah, likewise, had tremendous success, once he decided to go.  120,000 Assyrians repented (if the number is literal and correct) and accepted the gospel (Jonah 4:11).  But Jonah was different than Paul and Ammon: He did not rejoice in his harvest.

THE SAVING OF NINEVAH

Jonah's message was that destruction would be coming after the symbolic 40 days, the Biblical trial period.  Ninevah was such a huge city that it took three days to walk across it (3:4).  Yet even though Jonah only walked a third of the way into the city delivering his message (he was a little half-hearted), word quickly reached the King of Ninevah (3:7-9; note the JST footnotes).  Jonah, undoubtedly, was shocked when the King of Ninevah believed him!  The king took off his royal robe, and repented in sackcloth and ashes, in the Hebrew manner (3:6)!  He required everyone in the land, even the animals!, to do likewise, to pray to the Lord, to fast, and to beg forgiveness.  Where else in the Bible do you find anyone, even the Israelites, going so far as to have the animals fast and sit in sackcloth and ashes?  Remarkable!  This man was sincere!  "Who can tell," he said to his people, "if we will repent, and turn unto God, but he will turn away from us his fierce anger, that we perish not?" (3:9 JST)

God saw their sincere repentance, and forgave them (3:10 JST).

Jonah, however, did not.  Disappointed and angry, he went and made himself a little shelter outside the city, where he could sit in the shadow [away from The Light], with the hope that he would still get to view the destruction of Ninevah (4:1-5).  Perhaps he didn't trust the Assyrians to remain sincere, and was afraid they would change back to their old ways and threaten the Israelites.  If they were all destroyed, the threat would be completely gone.

How long he sat there we don't know, but it was apparently long enough for the little shanty to fall apart so that he was unsheltered.  The Lord, always reaching out, even when we create our own misery, grew a castor bean plant (see footnote for "gourd") over Jonah's head, to shelter him, "to deliver him from his grief."  Castor bean plants can reach 40 feet in height, growing up to 10 feet in one season.  The leaves alone can be 3 feet long.   A caster bean plant would make a quick and excellent shade from the sun.  It had come as a free gift of God's love to him, which he did not have to qualify for on his own merits (4:10).  Perhaps it was even a type of the Atonement, which will comfort us and free us of the bitter abuses others have brought upon us, if we will let it.

But Jonah refused be delivered of his grief, prefering to sulk and stew about Ninevah and hope for vengeance.  So the Lord sent a worm to destroy the plant.  With his shelter removed, Jonah was subject to the "vehement east wind" and the hot sun (both symbols of God), and ironically Jonah, who had been saved from death while running from the Lord's errand, now having completed it with huge success, wished for death to return.  He could not relent and love his enemies as God did.  He could not recognize that the Assyrians could not "discern between their right hand and their left hand" (4:11), or to say it another way, were "only kept from the truth because they [knew] not where to find it" (D&C 123:12).

SHOULD I NOT SPARE NINEVAH?

Jonah seems so hardhearted, refusing the offer of the Lord for freedom from grief through forgiveness. But maybe if we look a little closer, we will see that Jonah was just exactly like us.

James Ferrell has interpreted the book of Jonah to be a rather broad chiasmus (pronounced "ky-AS-mus"), the Hebrew literary tool in which all the lines of the poem lead to the main point, after which they all repeat in reverse order with slight variation.  The central point of the chiasmus, according to Brother Ferrell, is found in Jonah 2:8:  "They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy."  What does this mean?

Jonah, being of the House of Israel, as we also are, had a feeling of superiority over the wicked, wicked Assyrians.  Of course!  He was more righteous, right?  He had kept the commandments, he had observed the covenants, he was a prophet or missionary of God.  Jonah and the entire Hebrew nation had been greatly wronged by Assyria.  It was a huge part of their history for many, many years. Likewise, we have each been wronged by some person, or even by some nation. We all have, or we all will; it is a part of the test of life.  Sometimes it is a major part of our life's history.

Jonah's story, and often ours, is a little bit like two parables of Jesus's: the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), and the laborers in the vineyard (Matt. 20:1-16).  In both of these parables, one person or group of people feels that they are more righteous, more deserving than another, because they have been in the household of the Lord longer.  They resent the Lord offering his Atonement to those who did less or who came later.  This is the "lying vanity" central to the book of Jonah.  If Jonah despises Ninevah and considers it to be unworthy of salvation, Jonah makes himself unworthy, and "forsakes his own mercy."  The greater sin is always the sin of being unforgiving (D&C 64:9).

The truth is, we all have fallen short of grace.  "What then? Are we better than they?  No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; as it is written, There is none righteous, no not one" (Rom. 3:9-10).  Even one sin casts us out of the presence of God, and we are completely dependant upon the grace of God to sanctify us so that we may return.  Relative righteousness is irrelevant!  "Love and salvation are gifts offered to us, not because we deserve them, but even though we do not...[We] have no cause to feel entitled; [we] only have cause to feel grateful" (James Ferrell).

So Brother Ferrell's chiasmus of the book of Jonah is as follows:

1. The Lord issues a command to Jonah: Preach in
     Ninevah (1:1-2)
     2. Jonah sins by not wanting Ninevah to be saved (1:3-17)
          3. Jonah repents; the Lord saves Jonah (2:1-7; 9-10)
               4. "They that observe lying vanities forsake their
                    own mercy" (2:8)
          3. Ninevah repents; the Lord saves Ninevah (3:1-10)
     2. Jonah sins by not wanting Ninevah to be saved (4:1-3)
1. The Lord asks Jonah a question, "Should I not spare
     Ninevah?" (4:11)

COME TO THE MOUNTAIN OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD

Immediately following the book of Jonah, in which the evil Assyrians repent, the book of Micah begins abruptly with a call to repentance--to the Jews, and their mixed-race relatives, the Samaritans! (Micah 1:1-2)  The book of Micah also makes the call to us, the members of the latter-day church, the House of Israel.  Here is the beautiful promise if we repent and turn back to "the presence of the Lord:"

"But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills [now we are really going up!] and people shall flow unto it.

"And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

"And he shall judge among many people [maybe our personal enemies], and rebuke strong nations afar off [maybe our national enemies]; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

"But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts [armies] hath spoken it.

"For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever" (Micah 4:1-5).

Today we go up to the mountain of the house of the Lord to participate in the temple ceremonies.  It doesn't matter if we are brand new to the church, life-timers, or returning after repentance, we are all alike there.  It doesn't matter if we are old or young, fat or thin, dark or pale.  It doesn't even matter what language we speak.  Only one thing matters: if we have "unkind feelings" we are "invited to withdraw."

The question at the end of the book of Jonah is not answered by Jonah, in order that we may answer for ourselves. Our answer determines our salvation, as well as our peace and happiness in this life. Will we join with the Lord and rejoice in the sparing of Ninevah (our relative, our ex, our neighbor, our national enemy: that person or people who has caused affliction in our lives)?  Will we free ourselves from the grief and abuse of the past and enjoy the comfort and peace the Atonement brings and sit under the castor bean plant?  Or will we be found with Jonah, on the hill, overlooking the city, suffering in the heat and the wind, refusing to be comforted by the Lord, as we watch hopefully for vengeance to fall?

ADD-ON, JUST FOR FUN

Check out the cutest telling of the story of Jonah that I have ever seen, done by a tiny little girl at the Corinth Baptist Church, at this link.  It's eight minutes long, but absolutely wonderful.


Sources: 

David Bokovoy, Know Your Religion Lecture, Logan, Utah, February 15, 2002, and BYU Education Week Lecture, August 2001.

James Ferrell, The Peacegiver, p. 91-114.