In my recent study of Exodus, I’ve focused on the symbols of Jesus Christ in the Passover, Moses’ ministry, and the means by which the Lord redeemed the children of Israel,
Providing huge miracles and wonders,
Supplying daily bread,
Making water sweet,
Leading them to an oasis for rest,
Raising up a prophet to point them to the Lord,
etc.
This morning I had the idea to place our small Covid-era sacrament trays in my scripture study area. Symbols of Christ surround us in all His creations, and I’m not sure where this visual reminder will lead my thoughts and feelings this week, but we’ll see.
Exodus= from Greek, meaning, “the road out”.
Spiritually, it connotes an escape from bondage to freedom through transformation.
Until this year, I’d never “given up something” for Lent. I’m not going to tell you what I walked away from and I’m not hinting anything with the above photo. Initially, it was a difficult change, until just a few days went by and I experienced positive results.
The effects of this life change have been the quieting of my mind and the softening of my heart.
I see people in my faith working to have a more holy approach to Easter. Looking back over my first year of taking 40 days to prepare for Easter, I’m glad I made the effort. I’m a river of emotion about Jesus this week.
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
In Exodus 1, we read about two Hebrew midwives who defied the order of Pharaoh to kill all male children born to Hebrew women. Their names were Shiphrah and Puah (Exodus 1:15) and they have spectacular meanings*:
Shiphrah🌟: “Brilliant,” from the Hebrew word that means “to shine”. It also connotes “pleasing, calm, composed, beauty or loveliness; a canopy under which peace and stability may be achieved.”
Puah 🪩: “To glitter,” also, “splendid, radiant.”
These women were lights in a dark time because they feared God more than Pharaoh.
Therefore God dwelt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
And it came to pass, because the midwives feared [revered] God, that he made them houses [households].
-Exodus 1:20-21
Here are two takeaways,
God dwells with those who love Him and serve Him. He blesses them well, along with the people they love.
Be a light to somebody today! Like Shiphrah, your light can be a place of peace and stability to a friend. Like glitter (Puah’s name meaning), your trail of righteous influence can remain long after you leave the room.
*Name meanings taken from the Abarim publications website. Emily Belle Freeman also contributed to my appreciation of this passage of scripture.
This was my Austin seminary class on the last day that I taught them in May 2001. Our house was their classroom for 3 years, from 6:00-7 am each school day.
As I study the Old Testament, a few of these kids come to mind like a reflex as I read the “scripture mastery” verses we rapped and sang together to help with memorization.
My heart aches for a few of them. If I could teach them all over again, knowing the things they would face in the future, we would sing even more. I’d have them share their impressions and testimonies more often. I wouldn’t lose touch with them during their adult years.
Even if I had been a better teacher, it was never my job to save them. It’s a comfort to know that the true Savior is still reaching out to them and helping them. I trust Him.
Grief lurks beneath the routines of life and finds its way out from time to time. This week I experienced a resurgence of some grief for Richard’s sister and my grandmother who both passed away 5 years ago, one day apart, during the first week of March.
As I studied Jacob’s dream recently, the detail of the angels stood out to me, perhaps because I have been living with these memories of loved ones. I like the imagery of the Lord directing and overseeing the comings and goings of angels.
Perhaps this dream is my reminder that the spirits of loved ones are busy, still progressing, and are allowed to minister to us from time to time, according to our needs and their life experiences, all under the direction of the Lord.
Jacob is experiencing a rough time. I like in this painting that more angels are coming toward Jacob than are walking away. He has a long path ahead, but it’s an ascent that leads to the Lord.
Maybe you’re discouraged about a loved one’s path and this image could be helpful to you.
Or, you might be the one in a wilderness, sleeping on a rock, looking for personal hope. I have seen that keeping my covenants with God really helps during these times.
As we keep our covenants with God, He promises great things,
I am with thee.
I will keep [protect] thee in all places whither though goest.
I serve as a Sunday school teacher right now and I’m reading this excellent book as a supplement to my study of the Old Testament.
Also, this is very good. The hard cover, coffee table book, color edition is out of print, so I bought it used. Deseret Book will print a black and white paperback copy for around $30 but it isn’t the same experience as the original version.
I realize that my life and ideas don’t have the Sirens’ call of a TikTok video. As I read books like this, I grow less trendy, and more like those old men in the ward of my youth who couldn’t stop talking about the Abrahamic Covenant. I’m more aligned with them these days than any other mentors in my life, and I like that about myself.
We know the story of the Flood and the covenant that God made with Enoch and Noah. In the Bible, the rainbow is the token of that covenant. We know it so well that we might consider it a great story to tell children, but find little meaning in it for ourselves.
When I read a little deeper, though, I find a beautiful lesson about God,
The Lord’s tears for the wicked who will suffer are as the rain upon the mountains.
Likewise, when Enoch sees in vision the suffering of the wicked in the flood, he weeps and thinks that he will never be comforted.
The Lord weeps for the wicked, but He doesn’t want us to weep, but look to the atonement of His Son and rejoice. Will we allow Jesus Christ to carry the burdens of our sadness, fear, weakness, and sin?
Heaven’s tears are as the rain, and the Savior is the sunlight that can cut through our darkness.
A rainbow reminds me of the Lord’s covenant. It also reminds me of a God who weeps, who is just, merciful, and sends light to shine through the tears.
Tears + Light = 🌈
A just, merciful and loving God who weeps + the Light of Hope in Christ = A Fulness of Joy 🌈
Mark’s photo of the Northern Lights from Bornholm, Denmark
Rejection is one of the greatest teachers in life. Mark is experiencing it as a missionary, and you can probably recall a time when you’ve been rejected. I think of a small rejection I faced just last week and ouch, it still hurts.
Rejection makes us see that we aren’t going to be chosen every time; we can’t all be the favorite; the gifts we prepare won’t always be appreciated; and sometimes, the precious things we share with people will be ignored.
Let’s remember that poor reception from others can’t obliterate our efforts. We haven’t failed if we have loved, sacrificed, and shown the courage to share. And if we are unable to accomplish the big things we hoped, let’s remember that our identity and our worth in God’s eyes have never been a matter of popularity, outward measures, or appearance.
…for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7
What can we do when we experience rejection? It’s tempting to get discouraged, feel like a victim, or become angry. But Jesus knows a lot about rejection, and he met it with love and truth, whatever the personal cost.
Today, I am going to keep facing the winds of possible rejection and keep loving, serving, and sharing. I also take comfort that in some things, such as temple work, we see things as they really are:
There is value in giving, even if we don’t see an immediate result.
In my personal study of the Creation, I looked at each day and pondered what the Lord was revealing about himself.
For instance, on day 2, He created the heavens. Here were some of my thoughts,
God is aware of our specific temperature and oxygen requirements. The atmosphere protects, insulates, provides rain. = He doesn’t intend for our lives to be uncomfortable all the time. God is our protector and aids our every breath.
He prepared the atmosphere to sustain life. He prepared Jesus Christ to give life.
He provides a Comforter to be with us. During mortality, we are engulfed in heavenly help, just as we are encircled by the heavens.
Perhaps this exercise would be helpful to you. What is the Lord revealing to you about Himself through His creations?
When I want to understand my relationship with God, forged by covenant, my go-to article is by President Nelson. A key point revolves around the Hebrew word, hesed. This week, this paragraph stood out to me,
Hesed is a special kind of love and mercy that God feels for and extends to those who have made a covenant with Him. And we reciprocate with hesed for Him.
The Everlasting Covenant by President Russell M. Nelson, Liahona, October 2022.
Wait, I can reciprocate hesed (loving kindness) to God?
In other words, hesed isn’t just Heavenly Father’s role in the covenant relationship? He truly wants my love?
How, then, can I show that love?
in gratitude for God’s merciful love (hesed), we show our loyal love (emunah) by keeping His commandments.
Faith: A Bond of Trust and Loyalty by Elder Sandino Roman
So, keeping commandments is the way I show loving kindness/devotion to God. That seems obvious, now that I write it.
Elder Roman used a different Hebrew word, emunah, rather than hesed, to describe our role in the covenant relationship. What does the word, emunah mean?
The short answer is faith, but like all Hebrew words, it is rich in meaning.
From website Chabad.org
So, I am to practice, hone, and create a lifestyle of action to show my love for God.
By doing, I come to know God. This is how I build a loving relationship with Him.
The process isn’t, “know then do.” The process is “do in order to know.” This is faith. This is love.
And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.
Exodus 24:7
15 ¶ If ye love me, keep my commandments.
John 14:15
So, I can show love for God through obedience, crafting a life of faithful action.
If all of this is true, a key question is, What is the most important faithful/loving/obedient act that I can do right now?
Maybe it is to apologize to someone.
Or, it could be to share my faith with others.
Perhaps it is to praise God more and whine less.
It’s often going to be temple work.
Always, it is to acknowledge that the Savior makes a relationship with God possible.
Whatever the Spirit inspires us to do to show love for Heavenly Father today, may we do it and find rest in Him.
