Now, we investigate what we must do to seek him with all our heart.
When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (for the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
God was absolutely aware that we would get ourselves into this mess. Note His confidence: Not "If thou art in tribulation," but "when thou art in tribulation!" God knew the calamities that would befall us in this generation! Perhaps I am also taking some free license with the language here, but there is another striking detail pointing to its application today; "even in the latter days." Those are some unique words that God chose to use; I personally feel that He wanted us in this day to realize that not only did this apply to the Israelites, but it applies to us. This is not coincidence. While the closeness of the Second Coming is debatable, it is undeniable we are in the last days.
Observe the promise in this verse. Covenant is actually a better word, for it is a two-way promise between man and God.
If we...
-turn to the Lord our God, and
-be obedient unto His voice,
He will...
-not forsake us,
-not destroy us,
-nor forget the covenant of our fathers which He sware unto them,
"for the Lord [our] God is a merciful God."
Respecting our agency and what is needed to learn and grow, God allows us to grow in a world like this. However, God obviously wants us to overcome our environment, overpower evil, and become His sons and daughters. We are His children, and those of us with the Gospel are especially blessed! Sometimes, especially if we were raised in our religion rather than converting into it, we may take this for granted. We may forget who we are and the potential we have. We do not remember our divine purpose and mission.
We may forget, but God is quick to remind us of how chosen we really are.
For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?
Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?
Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
Has there ever been a people as blessed and guided as we are today? I daresay, at least for Latter-day Saint Christians, we enjoy more divine guidance in a more direct manner now than anyone in any country has ever enjoyed before, except for maybe when Christ was on the Earth (even then, while His ministry was most powerful, His audience was far more limited due to the hardness of the people's hearts)! We have Prophets and Apostles on the Earth, and there are very few that do not have access to any means to hear their words (via the many pieces of technology we enjoy today, such as the Internet). We hear from them often. We are blessed to have the Lord's will made known to us! We have the Priesthood, the holy power of God! We each are blessed with the Holy Spirit to guide us in a way that confounds the secularist and the scholar to the point where they mock for lack of understanding!
What's more, we have the Scriptures, which is a huge miracle that they are here in the first place! And while America may be degenerating now, it has enjoyed the protection of the Almighty; just look at the Revolution! It defied the power of the world in their time, the British Empire, to form this country of liberty! Here, Christians could worship according to their conscience! Not even 60 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed, angels began to minister to the children of men, more scripture was brought forth, in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine & Covenants in particular, and even Christ came to establish His Truth! This is unheard of! None other people, no other country, no other religion can profess to see the hand of God as we have seen. This is not even considering the personal miracles that go unrecorded to the public eye, the private encounters each has with their loving Father, the cleansing power of Christ's Atonement in light of our sinful ways, and the empowering, enabling strength we have in our Redeemer. Indeed, we live in a powerful day!
Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him.
God then concludes, asking us to ponder why He does what He does. Why does He preserve us? Why does He give us commandments? Why do we have the scriptures? After reflecting on these things, after realizing He is the Way, the Truth and the Light, we are then brought to consider our commitment to Him. Do we wish to leave Babylon? Will we sacrifice our safety and cheap thrills for a higher life? Will we depart from the world, utterly exposed to the buffetings of the Devil's servants, to cleave unto our Rock?
Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him.
Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.
And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;
To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.
Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is aGod in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
Thou shalt keep
therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this
day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee,
and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever.
We are shown these miracles, that we might know God is real. He has shouted to the ends of the earth, both publicly through His servants the prophets and privately into our hearts, that we might know how to overcome the World. He loved those that have gone before enough to fulfill His promises to them. He has raised up a choice generation. He has driven out mighty empires in our defense, that we might be a light unto the World for Him.
Know this day in your mind and in your heart that God is real and He is Lord "in heaven above and upon the earth beneath: there is none else."
God concludes with a final invitation of covenant. If we will keep His statutes and His commandments, if we do nothing more than trust in what He says, it will be well with us. It will be well with our children. Our days will be prolonged, and one day, when Christ comes again as the King of kings, He will gives us this Earth forever, to live in peace.
God bless you all. I pray that as you read these verses, God may speak to you in words of instruction and hope. I pray that you will be confident that, while much evil abounds, God guides and preserves "even in the latter days" with His Almighty Hand.
Patrick
 |
| The beginning of Moses' Ministry. Art by Arnold Friberg |
When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger:
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you.
And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;
(For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?
Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?
Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him.
Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.
And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;
To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.
Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
Thou shalt keep
therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this
day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee,
and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever.
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