[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Welcome to the weekly Deep Dive podcast on the Add On Education Network. The podcast where we explore the weekly Come follow me discussion and try to add a little insight and unique perspective. I’m your host Jason Lloyd and with me is my friend and the show’s producer, Nate Pyfer.
[00:00:25] Speaker B: What is up?
[00:00:26] Speaker A: Hey. In this episode we’re going to take a peek at how God’s word is compared to a two edged sword, wheat and tares. Along with what it means to lay up salvation to your own Saul, to your own soul. And how the. Saul, Saul. You know how it goes. At least it’s not tuberculosis. Tuberculosis.
[00:00:45] Speaker B: Back at that.
[00:00:45] Speaker A: Huh? Back at that. One of these days. Tuberculosis. How’s that?
[00:00:50] Speaker B: Whatever.
[00:00:51] Speaker A: All right. How the Lord answers prayers by speaking peace to your mind. And also the interesting history of sacred rods, not just in lds but in biblical history. So tune in. Here we go.
Let’s start with the Word of God being compared to a two edged sword.
You’ve seen that comparison in the New Testament and here in Doctrine and Covenants the Lord is saying that His Word is like a two edged sword. And my take on this maybe perhaps is a little bit different because I look at this and, and I see a key word here in how he describes the two edged sword is its ability to divide asunder, right? And this division, when I think about the word of God, I think about creation because God spoke and it was so, right. Vayiki Elohim Vayikiken. Vayomed Elohim vayikiken. And God spoke and thus it was. And so it was.
And so as God’s speaking, His Word is creating, but not just creating, but he is dividing the light from the dark, the waters from the dry land, the waters from above, the earth from the waters from below the earth. And it says even in the beginning of Genesis that the spirit or the wind or the breath of God or His Word, right? Because you are speaking, you are speaking out, the wind, the breath, your breath is speaking out. So His Word is moving upon the face of the waters and calming those waters and creating this order by dividing it.
So it’s kind of a connection that I draw with creation and his power of his wind, his breath, to be able to establish order by dividing. And another example is when Moses is pulling the people out of Egypt, his breath or wind blows upon the Red Sea and divides it so that the people can go free.
And that’s the focus I think of when I think of the word of God being quick or powerful, like a two edged sword. Or being able to divide asunder is that he can cut through and divide things, spread it out, and create a path for freedom or a path for liberation, to let the bondage, the servants, the ones that are captive, to go free, just like in Israel’s case.
And this idea of creation and the Word of God is even carried over in John in the New Testament, because John says in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. And he goes on and he talks about the creation and this idea of the Word as Christ being that word, but also creating the world. And how God uses the Word to create the world. And not just dividing. There’s light from darkness, but also think about the dividing of the sheep from the goats. The Word of God is what separates your eternal future.
If you’re following the Word of God, then you end up being on one side of the line. And if you deviate from the Word of God and decide to not follow it, then you’re being divided by that Word of God into a different, eternal perspective.
So he’s not just dividing, like he says here, the joints or the marrow. It’s not just cutting that way, but dividing even our fates, if you will. That Word of God has that power to divide or distinguish.
And as much as it makes sense, kind of talking about that from a clear point of view, I kind of wanted to wrap in. And I guess it just wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t finding some weird example to kind of tie into this deal. Right. But in Babylonian mythology, as we start talking about creation and how this works together, you’ve got the story of Marduk.
[00:04:57] Speaker B: Marmaduke.
[00:04:58] Speaker A: Not Marmaduke, just Marduk.
[00:05:01] Speaker B: Why not Marmaduke?
[00:05:02] Speaker A: Because his name was Marduk.
[00:05:04] Speaker B: Whatever, man.
Marmaduke.
[00:05:08] Speaker A: So Marduk, Yeah, he’s kind of the.
He’s the son of the Father God. El is the Father God.
Yeah, El.
[00:05:20] Speaker B: So you have the two most extreme names ever. El and Marmaduke.
[00:05:25] Speaker A: El and Marduk.
[00:05:26] Speaker B: All right, whatever.
[00:05:28] Speaker A: So you’ve got this whole assembly of gods. El is at the top. He presides over all of them. And then his son Marduk is going to become the king of gods. He’s going to be the head of all the gods, the leader of the council, if you will. But what puts him in that position?
Another great name for you, Tiamat.
[00:05:49] Speaker B: I’m not even going to try to make fun of that one.
[00:05:51] Speaker A: Sounds good. Tiamat, not Tipat. Tiamat here, she’s chaos and she represents this primordial chaotic.
In the beginning, what Needed to be organized, if you will. And she’s got a beef with the gods. Apparently they’re too noisy, they riot and party too much. And she wants the gods wiped out. So she’s raising this army to come and destroy the gods. And the gods are a little bit fearful and saying, what shall we do? And Marduk stands up and says, I’ll go, send me, I’ll stand, be the champion here and I’ll face down Tiamat. We’ll go toe to toe and we’ll see how this turns out. And so they elect Marduk to be their chosen one, if you will, to go and fight Tiamat. This chaos. And the interesting thing is you go back to that Genesis creation account when you talk about the breath of God moving upon the face of the waters or moving upon the deep. The word for Hebrew for deep is tahom. It actually is the same root, the same word for Tiamat. T’home, Tiamat, the deep, this chaotic abyss, if you will.
So this chaotic abyss or Tiamat raises this army. And this gets kind of weird in the description of these scorpion like men and whatnot. This army that she puts together to go face down Marduk and his army.
And Marduk ends up being triumphant, but the way in which he’s triumphant is by gathering these winds and shoving the wind down Tiamat’s throat. And the wind ends up tearing Tiamat apart. And he takes this chaotic waters that he’s destroyed and he organizes it and from here he organizes the earth and the heavens. And this is where creation happens and men begin to populate the earth. Got it?
So this is this Babylonian creation myth. And it’s very different from what we’re used to when we look at the creation account in Genesis, which seems very orderly and organized. But there are some similar similarities here where the God who created the heavens and the earth uses the wind or breath or spirit. Because in Hebrew ruach, which is the same word for wind, breath or spirit is what is moved upon the deep or the abyss or the Tiamat, this chaos. And the word of God is what is taking this chaos and slaying it. And by slaying chaos, what you’re doing is creating order.
So God, the word of God is establishing order by slaying chaos. And that’s how you slay chaos or that’s how the word of God divides, is really by division, as the word of God is like a two edged sword that’s dividing by dividing and separating out light from dark. And really, I mean it’s no different from when you’re cleaning your room, you’re dividing things out into the places where they’re supposed to be. So you’ve got this chaotic mess in there and you’re imposing order on it. You’re going against entropy by taking the things and moving them and dividing them up into the place where they need to be. And that creation or establishing order is made possible by the word of God, his wind or spirit, which is establishing that order. So you know, when I read that his Word, the Word of God is like a two edged sword, I go a little bit different on that and see how, how powerful it is in dividing as far as imposing order on the chaos.
And we see remnants of the creation. When they’re talking about the Lord in Isaiah and it says, are you not him who hath cut Rahab and wounded the dragon? This idea, this dragon is like Tiamat or Rahab is this primordial monster and he cut it or his, he’s wounded the dragon. It harks back to that same type of creation story of the Word of God defeating chaos and bringing order to a world that couldn’t support life in the beginning, to where you’re going to make it so it can support life. You’re going to separate the waters, you’re going to create an atmosphere, you’re going to put oxygen on here, you’re going to put plants on here, you’re going to add animals to the mix. You’re going to really just divide out and organize a world that was hostile originally to making life.
And as we impose that order on our lives, that same sword, the word of God, is able to divide us and impose order on us in a way that, as we’ve talked in previous episodes, when we measure up or we follow that we are being divided into a way that is going to work positively for us. And as we refuse and reject and rebel against that, then we are not measuring up. We are kind of making ourselves out to be the dross or cleaving ourselves away. We are being divided by that same word as the standard that is going to be separating us.
All right, in the last episode we did talk about the harvest in the last days and separating the wheat from the tares. And I said that this is something that is going to show up over and over again throughout Doctrine and Covenants. And now is the time for harvest. As they waited, when the enemy came through the night and put tares out in the field, they said, let’s not tear it out, we might destroy the wheat. You’ve got to Wait until the end when the wheat is ready to harvest. Then we’ll bundle it up and separate it up from the tares, and we’ll save the wheat, but we will burn the tares. And then you see that division again, that Word of God that’s going to be cleaving or dividing, his word is stating the wheat will be saved. It’s divided on one side, the tares will be destroyed. It’s been separated, divided on the other side. And that’s how the Word of God is acting as a sword in this case.
And as he says that we’re gathering this harvest, he points out that those who want to go and harvest are called to the work. And that by going in and harvesting the wheat, by working and gathering Israel, by. By pulling people and helping them along the way, really all you’re doing is creating salvation to your own soul.
Right? He says if you do this, in fact, let me just pull up the reference real quick so I can read this and not misquote it.
But he says in doctrine covenants, section 6, verse 3, that he may treasure up for his soul everlasting salvation in the kingdom of God, referencing whoever wants to go into the harvest, into the field and do the harvest. You’re laying up to your own soul that salvation. And how does that work?
I think ultimately salvation is offered to us by following Christ. He is the model. And he says, I am the door through which men must enter. Come, follow me.
And we follow him by doing what he would do.
As he talks about, you know, some of the images of Christ in the Scriptures, you think of the sheep, right?
He was the sheep that was sacrificed on Passover. Shepherds came when he was born because he was the Lamb of God. But not only is he the sheep or the lamb, he is also the shepherd, right? He is the good shepherd. He is the one that leaves the 90 and 9 to go find the One. So he is both the shepherd and the sheep. As we talk about other images like the tree of life, Christ is the tree of life. He is the true vine. And we will talk about that a little bit later today when we start talking about this rod of Aaron. But he is the vine or the tree, the symbol of the tree representing him. But then we will also read in the Scriptures that we are the tree. You know, you read about the parable in Jacob, chapter five, of the tree that is getting the branches grafted in and scattered. The allegory of the olive tree. We are the tree.
And the cool thing is God became man. So man might become God.
And this idea that we can go out and do the work that Christ was doing, to go to find that one, to thrust in our sickle and to harvest the wheat and to gather them into bundles, we are participating in the Savior’s work. We are becoming like the shepherd. And the shepherd became like the sheep so that we could become like the shepherd. And he says, the invitation, that important invitation, come, follow me.
He does this think about.
Think about fasting.
When we’re fasting, we’re giving up two meals to put ourselves in the situation of somebody who is suffering, who can’t eat. And we’re taking the money that we would have spent on those two meals and we’re putting it towards getting food to provide for those who are needy, to provide for those who can’t eat. We’re putting ourselves in their shoes so that they can put their selves into our shoes. And that’s what the Savior has done for us. He came down and was born as a mortal man so that we could become immortal like Him. And how beautiful upon the mountains are the. Are the feet of those who come and proclaim his gospel, right? Saviors on Mount Zion. That’s what he’s saying is, come, follow me. Be like me. Anyone who is going to thrust in your sickle and do my work is going to be like me. And you’re going to lay up salvation unto your soul. Because ultimately, salvation is being like Christ. That’s the only way we can get it, is by following him and by him laying down that example and allowing us to participate in his work and then drawing a path for us to be like him and act like Him. He is offering not salvation to everybody else per se, but salvation to us as we become like Him.
And then we offer others that opportunity to follow our example, ultimately to follow his example, because we are trying to point everything back to Him. He is the way, the path through which all men must enter to be like God.
Kind of a, you know, just an interesting story in the Bible that didn’t seem to make a lot of sense unless you look at it from that light, is the story of Jacob and Esau, right?
You wonder, why is it that the mom’s playing favorites here? Why is it that you’re trying to disguise Jacob to look like his older brother in order to get the birthright? And put all of that aside and look at it in the context of Christ, where he is the firstborn son. He is the only one that was perfect. He is the one that really should be receiving the blessing, but he is allowing us a way to receive that blessing as well as we become like him. If we imitate him, just as Jacob tried to imitate Esau, we can receive that firstborn inheritance. And in that light, that story, as weird as it might sound, kind of has some bearing or significances to that idea of following him.
And again, going back to that idea, that sword is dividing, right? Well, we’re dividing into, you follow Christ and end up the way he wants to go, or the word of God will divide you into not following Christ where ultimately you’re not ending up in the same area or the same place where Christ ends up. Right.
All right, shifting gears a little bit. Something that I noticed in these sections that really kind of stood out to me was how personal the revelation was as it was given to Joseph Smith dealing with Oliver Cowdery. He’s talking to Oliver Cowdery about thoughts and prayers that he had had in private that no one else was aware of. And it was just neat for me to see that God is paying attention even in the small details. We might think that sometimes we’re small or lost in the mix, or that God’s got more important things to do than worry about what I’m saying or what I’m thinking. But you know, he’s pulling up these thoughts through a prophet and saying, hey, you were thinking this or your prayers were like this. And I understand what you’re thinking, I understand what your thoughts are. I’m working with you and I’ve answered your prayers. And one of the coolest answers is when he says, did I not speak peace to your mind?
Right.
When I first prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true, I was half expecting. I was a kid, right? I remember I was on the top bunk of my bunk bed, my parents small three bedroom house.
And I knelt down after I finished reading the Book of Mormon for the first time. And I really half expected to hear a voice come and tell me this is true or have the heavens open or some divine manifestation. Like I was hitting for the fences on this thing and I’d read Moroni’s promise. I finished the Book of Mormon. I was excited and I prayed. And really my answer fits really well with what he says here is, did I not speak peace to your mind? I felt in my mind like you already know it’s true. It’s just more of a confirmation than any kind of answer. And I didn’t think it was all that great or all that special at that time. But as I look and I relate this.
A lot of times that’s the answer we get, is just that peace in the mind and that reassuring confidence that what we are thinking or what we are feeling is right. And I have come to recognize that a lot more later on. But it is neat to see that same answer, that same experience played out through Oliver Cowdery and mentioned in Doctrine and Covenants and published out to the Saints like, hey, this is God and this is how he talks to you.
Next.
There’s something here that I’ve noticed a lot when the Lord says, doubt not, fear not. Because this is something repeated all throughout Old Testament. I think we even mentioned something similar to this in the last podcast, where the Lord says, stand still and know that I am right. This idea and this message that don’t fear, I’m in control. Doubt not, fear not. And it’s something that he’s getting these guys ready for because there’s a lot of opposition that they’re facing as they’re translating the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith’s first vision, the opposition that he had. But as soon as this church comes to light, it’s going to get a lot worse. And the Lord’s trying to prepare them and understand, you know what? I went through a lot of bad times. Look at the Savior. I mean, he was crucified. Look at what Job went through. Look at what all the prophets have gone through. Isaiah was cut in half in a tree, for crying out loud. I mean, these guys went through some bad times. And the Lord is saying, fear not, doubt not. Right? Don’t worry, trust. It’s going to get rough.
But I am on your side. And there is nothing more comforting than to know that God is on your side, especially knowing that his plans can’t be frustrated. It will work out. And maybe that’s the biggest anxiety or worry that we have sometimes in our mind is that fear that things aren’t going to quite work out or things are not going to be worth it at the end. But this idea, this reassuring thought that, don’t worry about it, it’s going to be okay. It will work out exactly as I want. There’s nothing more reassuring than that in my mind as they’re prepared to jump into this work, Doctrine and Covenants, Section 7, is fascinating to me because this one, as Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith are translating the Book of Mormon, they have this thought come up. And this is a thought that scriptorians and scholars have debated for a while, because it talks about John the Beloved in The New Testament and says that this idea that. Did he die or was he going to remain on the earth forever? What happened to him? What is his fate? Because he talks about Peter’s fate, and then it says, if John will tarry, then don’t worry about that. Right.
And it left this question, this debate. And so Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith were kind of going at it, trying to figure out what it was. They each had their own opinion on this, and they agreed to consult the Urim and Thummim to find out the truth of the matter. Did John die or is he still alive? Or what happened to him? What is the fate of John? And what was so fascinating to me was the answer. Because it’s not like they asked the Urim and Thummim, and the Urim and Thummim said, john is still alive. No, The Urim and Thummim showed them a manuscript that John the Beloved wrote, and they translated the manuscript to read Doctrine and Covenants, Section 7. Section 7 is Scripture. It’s a writing by John the Beloved. Do you realize that? Nate, I had no idea. Yeah, I thought this was crazy. It’s not just a revelation. It’s not just God speaking. How easy would it be for God to say, yeah, he’s still alive and he’s on the earth and I got to work for him. Thanks for asking.
[00:23:41] Speaker B: I wish that’s how I pretty much got all the answers to my questions.
[00:23:44] Speaker A: But instead, I think this is way cooler. He says, here, let me show you the answer. And then there’s a translated document that John wrote down of his experience, firsthand of what happened.
I don’t know. It’s kind of cool. And we think of translated scripture, we think of the Book of Mormon, we think of Pearl a great price, but I don’t think we ever really. This fragment comes to mind that John the Beloved firsthand wrote down how he experienced this translation, that God was going to allow him to stay here on earth forever.
And then that little manuscript got lost somewhere, and the Urim and Thummim dug it up, showed them this manuscript that was translated so they could write it in Doctrine and Covenants.
Yeah, I was impressed with that story.
And. And I am also impressed with.
[00:24:31] Speaker B: Wait, but what did it say, though?
[00:24:34] Speaker A: Oh, the Doctrine Covenant, Section seven.
[00:24:36] Speaker B: Right, I know, but that’s what I’m saying. It’s like, what? What’s the answer?
[00:24:39] Speaker A: He’s still alive. He’s alive and kicking.
Says, and the Lord said unto John, my beloved, what desirest Thou. For if you will, if. If you shall ask, what will I should be granted unto you. Right.
And. And he talks about his desire. Well, it’s kind of cool because it fits in with what we were just talking about in Section 6. His desire was to thrust in his sickle and reap. He wanted to harvest and bring as many souls as he could to Christ. And then Peter’s desire was to return right back to God. Right. And this desire to go and labor and be like Christ. And ultimately that’s how you get your salvation. As we were just talking. Right.
The Lord said, that’s even more blessed and you shall remain until I. Until I come again.
[00:25:25] Speaker B: Very cool.
[00:25:27] Speaker A: Yeah, it’s a cool little story.
And it’s something that, you know, I’ve been familiar with doctrine and Covenant 7, but it wasn’t until I was reading this Come follow me lesson that I realized this was a translated document, not just something that.
Well, I guess it even says it right here in Doctrine and Covenants 7. But I never even paid attention to it.
But while we are on the topic, I just have to say I am super impressed with the Come Follow Me manual, at least for Doctrine and Covenants and the resources that the Church puts in for historical context and setting and what is going on.
It has been very amazing, very interesting to see how much detail the Church has put into it. You look at Saints Volume 1, Saints Volume 2. In the last few years, the Church has really kind of dug deep to be more transparent about the history. And this is one area of focus, particularly Doctrine and Covenants, where I think the Church shines in bringing about voices of the restoration and historical context and providing the manual with a lot of interesting information.
Speaking of information.
[00:26:39] Speaker B: Speaking of information.
Now you’ve got me.
[00:26:43] Speaker A: Speaking of information. The.
The interesting thing to me is how we talk about the gift of Oliver Cowdery as this gift of Revelation. But later in section nine, we talk about a different gift. And they call it the gift of Aaron.
And originally in the Doctrine and Covenants, it wasn’t gift, but it was rod. And they said, and this is your gift, which is the rod of Aaron. And when you hold it in your hands, you will receive an answer from the Lord. You can ask the Lord, almost like a Urim and Thummim anything while holding this rod, and he will reveal the truth to you.
It’s kind of interesting that you have this idea of a rod.
And it’s not unique with Aaron. Excuse me, it’s not unique with Oliver Cowdery. This Rod of aaron. Cool story.
Two of the 12 apostles, President Young and Heber C. Kimball, were the only two that did not apostatize or turn against Joseph Smith, reject him.
And later on in life, Joseph Smith gave him a gift because of it. So in a book about Heber C. Kimball, the account is told later, Joseph did give him and Brigham Young rods, real rods, because they were the only ones of the original 12 who had not lifted up their hearts against the prophet. All he had to do, speaking of Heber C. Kimball, was to kneel down with the rod in his hand. And sometimes the Lord would answer his question before he had time to ask it.
And it reminds me of the story, you know, we talk about this being a rod of Aaron. And do you know the context of the rod of Aaron, what the rod of Aaron was, or any of the background history there?
[00:28:43] Speaker B: I mean, I’d like to think that I would have some idea, and I have no idea.
[00:28:49] Speaker A: You know, it seems like a familiar term, Rod of Aaron. Right. And we know about the rod of Moses because. Because Moses.
[00:28:55] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, it’s a rod I’m familiar with.
[00:28:58] Speaker A: Moses goes in and taps the rock and water comes out of it, parts the sea, throws it down, it becomes a snake and whatnot.
[00:29:04] Speaker B: Snake. It’s my favorite part of that story.
[00:29:07] Speaker A: Picks it back up and it turns back into a rod. Oh, yeah.
[00:29:10] Speaker B: And all of the medical symbolism, these.
[00:29:13] Speaker A: Guys see the serpent that he lifts up.
[00:29:16] Speaker B: See, I know everything about Moses rod.
[00:29:18] Speaker A: Yeah, Moses rod makes a little more sense. Right. But here it’s referencing Aaron’s rod.
[00:29:22] Speaker B: I have no idea about Aaron’s rod.
[00:29:23] Speaker A: So let me fill you in. What happens is Moses is taking the people out into the wilderness. And as you know, the priesthood is going to be bestowed on the Levites. The Levites have the priesthood and Levi, Moses and Aaron come from Levi. Levi is okay. If we get a little quick history. You got Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Jacob has 12 sons. One of the 12 sons is Levi. And Levi’s line all the way down to Moses and Aaron, who are brothers. And Aaron is this line through which the priesthood is going to be carried. And you have Aaron’s line specifically, which are priests. But then you also have any Levites in general through, you know, this family line can have the priesthood, but the rest of Israel, they don’t have the priesthood. They receive heritage in the land of Israel. So you have a tribe or you have a tribe of Judah. So you have a piece of land, a nation that’s cut out for Judah, a nation that’s cut out for Joseph, a nation that’s cut out for Dan and Naphtali and all the twelve sons.
[00:30:28] Speaker B: Wait, is there one that’s like Shem or Sham or something? Or is that. What’s. Who am I thinking of from the multicolored dream coat Musical. Greatest musical ever. Shout out Donny Osmond. All right, sorry. Keep going. Okay, so they get land.
[00:30:43] Speaker A: They get land. All of them get land except for the Levites. They don’t get land because they get the priesthood instead. That whole line is dedicated to priesthood.
[00:30:52] Speaker B: So where do they live?
[00:30:53] Speaker A: So. Excellent question.
[00:30:55] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:30:56] Speaker A: They are interspersed throughout all of the other territories. They live in Dan. They live in Dan.
[00:31:03] Speaker B: Dan was the one that I was thinking of.
[00:31:05] Speaker A: They live with Dan. Do they really? They live with Dan. They live with Naphtali. They live with Judah. They live. Because they’re the priests.
[00:31:12] Speaker B: Dan who I was thinking of. All right.
[00:31:13] Speaker A: Yeah, they’re the priests. So their job is to officiate the ordinances and to serve all of Israel as priests. So you would have a priest that could come live with your family, and that priest would. Would administer to your family in Dan land. Yeah. So there’s no Levi land. The Levites are scattered through all of Israel to administer to all of them because that was their inheritance. Was the priesthood, not land? Right. Well, anyways, were they upset about this?
[00:31:39] Speaker B: Because, again, like, I don’t. You might not know the answer to this. But here’s the thing.
All that I really get out of.
[00:31:46] Speaker A: Not all.
[00:31:46] Speaker B: A lot of what I get out of the children of Israel is that they’re always upset about something. Right. Well, I’m just thinking to myself, like, I don’t know, like, was Dan or was. Was Levi’s like, people upset, like, oh, we don’t get land? Or did they realize the gravity of, like, the gift that they were actually given?
[00:32:05] Speaker A: Yeah, it’s a great question, because someone does get upset, in fact, gets very upset with this. And it’s not Levi. It’s. Well, Levi’s long gone at this point. Right? Yeah, there’s another. There’s another tribe at the time of Aaron and Moses that say, aren’t we just as good as Aaron? Why don’t we have the priesthood? Why doesn’t God give us the priesthood? So it’s not that they’re jealous at this point, at least about land as much as the priesthood. And so this guy in his house said, they came to Moses and said, hey, we feel that we are the ones that should be having this gift. And I think this is the important distinction here. As we talk about the gift of Aaron, we should note that Oliver Cowdery, who has the gift of Aaron or the rod of Aaron, isn’t because Oliver Cowdery went and peeled off a branch of a tree and said, hey, I want this and this is now mine. This is something that God is giving him. This is a gift that comes from God. And that’s an important distinction. It’s not we that bestow ourselves with God’s gifts, it’s God that bestows us with these gifts. So Moses said, okay, I see what you’re saying.
And this isn’t a gift that I have to give you. It’s not my decision, it’s God’s decision. And to prove that this is what God wants, we’re going to have all of these tribes out here, all these families, heads of families. You’re going to take a rod and you’re going to put it out on the ground. And we’re just going to leave the rods alone and see what happens. Right? And Aaron’s rod sprouts, buds and grows and all of these other rods, don’t they stagnant? Right. And this goes in the New Testament when Christ says, I am the vine. If you want to produce fruit, it’s through me, right? He is the life. He is the branch through which living fruit can be grown from. He is that source. He is that rod. And so he is saying, I chose them. This is the rod. And as that rod grows and lives and produces greenery, that is like the gift of Aaron, right here. This is God’s source. He is going to be giving him. And it is cool that they associate this revelation.
It is life, it is new, right? It is hearing the word of God. It is not being dead, it is being livened. Because you are able to hear and be quickened by the Lord. That revelation, the story doesn’t end so well for the branches or the rods that don’t sprout any branches because not only do they not get the priesthood, but then the earth opens up and swallows them whole. Right? Yeah. You remember this story.
[00:34:41] Speaker B: Now we are talking about the stuff I love in the Old Testament.
[00:34:43] Speaker A: It is just a little refresher course.
[00:34:45] Speaker B: That is right now I remember.
[00:34:46] Speaker A: But it is cool that you have these tie ins in modern day Latter Day Saint church history as well. You have got this branch and it is living and not living necessarily in that it is sprouting as much as living in that. It is revelatory that this is connected to Christ. When holding it, and you’re founded on Christ and God, he will give you truth. And it’s much of a gift that we all have. When we’re holding the iron rod, which is a source of truth, the word of God, we are open and able to receive that revelation.
And I think it’s cool. You read about Heber C. Kimball and his rod and Brigham Young and their rod, and it fits into that same idea. You’ve got 12 apostles. And as soon as the 12 apostles, as soon as 10 of them had rejected Joseph Smith, they had decided to separate themselves from the vine, from Christ, from being able to receive revelation. And because these other two had remained true and faithful, they were given a symbol of that obedience.
Because of that, they would be able to have their prayers answered. The Lord would hear them, would be giving them revelation. Their rods were alive.
[00:36:02] Speaker B: Awesome.
[00:36:04] Speaker A: And despite having these rods or this source where you can always just receive the answer, God still wants to remind us that just because we can doesn’t mean that God is just going to give us everything. It is like trying to hatch a bird by pulling the shell off the egg, and the bird doesn’t get strong enough to even survive. There’s some work that we have to do on our end. So to counterbalance these gifts of revelation and these tokens from God saying, this is what it symbolizes, and I’ll be there and ask, and you shall receive. We have this story in section nine, when Oliver Cowdery asked for the ability to translate. And so he’s going to translate these plates, and he’s looking and it’s just not going as he thought. And God answers this question, this quandary of why he can’t translate, even though it’s his gift, and God says, you took no thought save it, were to ask me only.
And going back to Joseph Smith’s first vision, even though we have access to God, and he says, ask and you shall receive. Knock and it shall be opened. Even though it says, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God. Still, let’s not forget that Joseph Smith spent a lot of time trying to attend every meeting as occasion would permit, trying to study the Scriptures, trying to find out on his own. Even this revelation about John the Beloved, and whether he stayed or whether he died or what his fate was, didn’t come without first having a discussion until they get to the point where they are going to turn to that right. So even if we have access to God, and even if he is there willing to answer our questions and answer our prayers. A lot of times what the Lord wants to see from us first is to take effort into trying to come to our own conclusion. Figure out what it is, find out. Like the scientific method. You can’t just go testing if you don’t even have a hypothesis you are testing. Figure out what that hypothesis is first. Find out what you think it is. Find out what you think the answer to your prayer is. And then when you have come to a decision, bring that decision to the Lord and ask if that is right. Because the Lord says you must first do everything in your power and then can you stand still with the utmost assurance to know that the Lord will deliver you, but he is not going to sit there and deliver you ever you time without you putting in that work first. So it is kind of a cool reminder to just counterbalance that gift that he has given him of revelation.
[00:38:32] Speaker B: Awesome.
[00:38:34] Speaker A: All right, thanks for listening. Next week we are going to be diving into February’s lesson, which is going to be dealing with the cunning of the adversary to try to destroy this work even before it begins and the wisdom of the Lord being even more powerful than that, knowing what was going to happen. Kind of how we talked about in a few episodes ago about how the ways of the Lord are not going to come to naught. They won’t be frustrated. And we’re going to talk about how that works with us as we prepare ourselves for whatever work we have and some of the frustrations or things that might lie in our way and how the Lord prepares us to help overcome those and deal with those challenges.
[00:39:11] Speaker B: All right, until next time.
[00:39:13] Speaker A: See you sa.
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