Old Testament # 14
“Ye Shall Be a Peculiar Treasure unto Me”
Exodus 15–20; 32–34
Last week’s Challenge—think about compassion this week and how you can develop it, exercise it, and how it fits into ministering.
Introduction
This lesson covers so much that I was despairing about how to encapsulate it into 40 minutes. That’s been the case this whole year so far, but the crux of this lesson really puts into focus why we study it in the first place. There is an accompanying video by Elder Christofferson that talks about manna and the need for constant physical nourishment being a type for us to highlight the need for constant spiritual nourishment. There is a link to it and to a video by President Nelson and President Monson at the end of this post. Of course the sacrament embodies both spiritual and physical nourishment, and so do other symbols we come into contact with daily. You might look for an explanation next time you are in the temple.
1. The Lord provides water, manna, and quail for the children of Israel.
It is no secret that I love food. Pretty much every day I get up and say OK, enough, self-discipline is the name of the day. I go to the rec center and work out. And then I stop by the Bookstore for cinnamon bears. Or (and sometimes and) the Mighty Baker for Bakewell Tarts. Consequently, I am sabotaging my physical nourishment goals. It’s a problem—a thorn in my flesh. The children of Israel had plenty to eat in Egypt, but in the desert they were totally reliant on the Lord for physical sustenance as we are totally reliant on the Lord for spiritual nourishment. There was no glut of manna. In fact, if they hoarded it, it went bad, except for on the Sabbath eve when they could gather enough to stop them having to work on the Sabbath. There’s an old Allan Sherman song called “How I Got Fat” which none of you will probably know about, but my mother bought his LP, so we knew all his songs. This one attributes his getting fat to his mother coercing him to finish his plate because of all the starving children in [fill in the blank]. Our greatest ability and possibility curse is the ability to justify actions to ourselves.
What has this to do with manna? Well I think that if we had to forage for our food, we would make sure that we were putting it to good use and that if we (as in I) use food for purposes other than fulfilling our physical needs (as opposed to emotional), then that might get in the way of fulfilling our spiritual needs. Perhaps. So in a very introspective way I am coming round to our ability to receive personal revelation. Moses went to the Lord to find out how to provide water, “bread,” and meat for the children of Israel in the desert—which was obviously devoid of all three. Revelation personal to Moses provided them with their physical needs. And taught them how to be dependent on the Lord.
Here are a couple of quotes from Bruce R. McConkie on manna
“Christ is the bread which came down from heaven, the Bread of Life, the spiritual manna, of which men must eat to gain salvation. (John 6:31–58.) He is the spiritual drink, the living water, the water of life, which if men drink they shall never thirst more. (John 4:6–15.)” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 2:355.)
The “hidden manna” mentioned by John in Revelation 2:17was explained by Elder McConkie as being “the bread of life, the good word of God, the doctrines of Him who is the Bread of Life—all of which is hidden from the carnal mind. Those who eat thereof shall never hunger more; eternal life is their eventual inheritance.” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3:451.)
2. Aaron and Hur hold up Moses’ hands so Israel prevails in battle against Amalek. Moses follows Jethro’s counsel to appoint judges and delegate authority to them.Exodus 17:8–13and 18:13–26.
We just raised our hands to sustain a new First Presidency and two new Apostles, as well as a new Young Women’s Presidency and other General Authorities. In addition, there will be a new Elders Quorum Presidency in our wards, whom we sustain, and, as always, a Relief Society Presidency. OK—after so many years, I just linked Aaron and Hur holding up Moses’ hands with us doing the same. Figuratively we covenant, if you will, to sustain our leaders by sharing their burdens. And the one word for that is ministering.I talked last week about how important Jethro, Moses’s father-in-law, would become. For the first time (that we read of in the scriptures), the Lord’s Church was organized into distinct and logical levels with Jehovah at the head.
President Benson tells us:
I am reminded how Moses up on the hill raised his arms for the victory of the armies of Israel. As long as his arms were raised, Israel prevailed, but when they dropped from weariness, then the enemy prevailed. And so Aaron and Hur “stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side,” and Israel was victorious. (Ex. 17:12.) So will we be victorious as we hold up the arms of the Lord’s anointed servants.[1]
3. The Lord meets with Moses on Mount Sinai and gives Israel the Ten Commandments.
As I am sure you know, the first four commandments cover our relationship with God, and the last six our relationship with others—ministering! The additional material has a video from President Monson’s relating the story of Clayton Christiansen who forewent his opportunity to be on a winning basketball team because the final was played on a Sunday. President Kimball once said
“When I was young, I made up my mind unalterably that I would never taste tea, coffee, tobacco, or liquor. I found that this rigid determination saved me many times throughout my varied experiences. There were many occasions when I could have sipped or touched or sampled, but the unalterable determination firmly established gave me good reason and good strength to resist” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball,ed. Edward L. Kimball [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982], p. 164). .[2]
Once you have made a decision to keep a commandment, there should be no need to revisit that decision.
Here is President Oaks:
For Latter-day Saints, God’s commandments are based on and inseparable from God’s plan for His children—the great plan of salvation. This plan, sometimes called the “great plan of happiness” (Alma 42:8), explains our origin and destiny as children of God—where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. The plan of salvation explains the purpose of creation and the conditions of mortality, including God’s commandments, the need for a Savior, and the vital role of mortal and eternal families. If we Latter-day Saints, who have been given this knowledge, do not establish our priorities in accord with this plan, we are in danger of serving other gods.[3]
4. The Lord introduces the law of Moses.Exodus 32–34.
The children of Israel have been over two months in the wilderness when Moses goes up on Mount Sinai, receives verbally the Ten Commandments, which the assembled people at the base of the mountain may or may not hear, but whatever goes on, they are too scared to take part. Then he goes back up and receives many laws and practices. Meanwhile, notwithstanding the many miracles and lessons on how to have faith in, and rely on the Lord and His prophet, what do the children of Israel do? Revert to idol worship, and, what must have seemed like the worst betrayal, Aaron, Moses’s brother and spokesman, gives in to them. Seemingly everyone, except for Caleb and Joshua, turned away from Moses and the Lord. As a consequence, the tabernacle—the temple—was moved away from them. And the original tablets of stone were broken. As I seem to say each week, we are indebted to the Joseph Smith Translation for clarification. Here is JST for Exodus 34:1–2, 14.
1 And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two othertables of stone, like unto the first, and I will write upon them also,the words of the law, according as they were written at thefirst on thetables which thou brakest; but it shall not be according to the first, for I will take away the priesthood out of their midst; therefore my holy order, and the ordinances thereof, shall not go before them; for my presence shall not go up in their midst, lest I destroy them.
2 But I will give unto them the law as at the first, but it shall be after the law of a carnal commandment; for I have sworn in my wrath, that they shall not enter into my presence, into my rest, in the days of their pilgrimage. Therefore do as I have commanded thee,and be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me, in the top of the mount.
Jehovah is one name by which the Old Testament people know the Lord Jesus Christ.
14 For thou shalt worship no other god; for the Lord, whose name is Jehovah,is a jealous God.
And finally a quote from Elder Ballard:
Although the law of Moses was fulfilled, the principles of the law of sacrifice continue to be a part of the doctrine of the Church. While the primary purpose of the law of sacrifice continued to be that of testing and assisting us to come unto Christ, two adjustments were made after Christ’s ultimate sacrifice. First, the ordinance of the sacrament replaced the ordinance of [animal] sacrifice; and second, this change moved the focus of the sacrifice from a person’s animal to the person himself. In a sense, the sacrifice changed from the offering to the offerer. … After his mortal ministry, Christ elevated the law of sacrifice to a new level. … Instead of the Lord requiring a person’s animal or grain, now the Lord wants us to give up all that is ungodly. This is a higher practice of the law of sacrifice; it reaches into the inner soul of a person” (The Law of Sacrifice[address delivered at the Church Educational System Symposium, 13 Aug. 1996], 5).
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