Imagine that you must journey into a wilderness where you
have never been and that has not been mapped.
What would your preparation include?
One vital preparation would be to secure a guide to lead you. Think about the qualifications you’d want in
such a guide. You’d want he/she to know the area well and be completely
trustworthy. After fleeing Egypt, Moses
and the children of Israel had the Lord as a guide. Today we will review some of their experiences while in the
wilderness to see what we can learn about our journey through
mortality. The first lesson we should
learn is to choose God as our guide through “the mists of darkness” in this
telestial wilderness.
After passing through the Red Sea to safety, Moses was to
lead them to the Promised Land. The Lord, however, wanted to test their
faithfulness before giving them an inheritance. Unfortunately, many of them lacked faith and chose to complain to
the Lord rather than seeking his counsel.
In spite of their faithlessness, the Lord provided water for their
thirst and manna and quail for food.
·
Exodus 15:22-24; 17:1-7 records
the first challenge—lack of water. In response, the people blamed Moses and he
feared they would stone him. He turned
to the Lord and received help.
·
1 Corthinians 10:4 - The Lord provided
physical and spiritual water for the children of Israel—physical water from a
rock Moses smote and “spiritual water” from the “spiritual Rock”, which is Christ.
· 1 Nephi 11:25 teaches that the water represents the love of God.
·
John 4:14 teaches that we will never thirst
if we drink of that water.
·
Exodus 16:2-4, 11-15 shows the
second problem and its divine solution. In addition to satisfying their hunger,
other purposes of the manna included a) Giving the Lord an opportunity
to see if his people would obey him (Exodus 16:4, 16-31), b)
The people would have a daily reminder of the Lord’s power and love (Exodus
16:12), c) The people would be taught that they do not live
“by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord”
(Deuteronomy
8:3), d) The people would be humbled and be helped to receive
salvation (Deuteronomy 8:16).
·
John 6:35, 48-51 - the manna is a representation of Christ, the “bread of life”. But if we make Christ a part of us, we will
never hunger and will have everlasting life.
·
Just as the Israelites needed to gather manna daily for
physical strength, we cannot expect to have the necessary spiritual strength
unless we pray sincerely daily, not just occasionally or in an hour of
tribulation.
·
Exodus 16:19-20, 22-25 shows
that stored manna became wormy, but when it was saved for the Sabbath, as the
Lord directed, it was wholesome and pure.
We too should prepare for the Sabbath such that the homemaker is not
required to spend the day in the kitchen preparing large, elaborate meals.
·
The Israelites would have been completely lost in the
wilderness without their guide, the Lord.
There are obvious parallels in our journey through mortality—we will be
lost without the Lord.
Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ hands so Israel could prevail
in the battle against Amalek.
The Amalekites warred against the Israelites for many years.
In Exodus 17:8-13, the Israelites were victorious as Aaron and Hur sustained
Moses by supporting his arms. In our
battles against sin, we too need the support of the prophet to prevail. President Ezra Taft Benson said: “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 (Exodus 17:12). So will we be victorious as we hold up the
arms of the Lord’s anointed servants” (Ensign, May 1986,
77).
We can hold up the hands of our prophet and ease the burdens
of the general authorities and local leaders by speaking well of them, serving
diligently in our callings, and being committed home and visiting teachers.
Exodus 18:13-23 tells us of Jethro’s concerns as
he saw the people seek out Moses daily. His counsel helped Moses deal with the
daily responsibility for the people.
Exodus 18:16-20 mentions some responsibilities of
a prophet: - Be a judge for the people
(16), Represent the people before God (19), “Teach them ordinances and laws” (20), “[Show] them the way
wherein they must walk” (20), and “[Show] them…the work that they must do” (20)
Within the first 90 days of Israel’s freedom, the Lord wanted to establish a covenant with them. The Ten Commandments were revealed as part of this covenant.
Exodus 19:3-6 – While they were encamped at
Mount Sinai, the Lord promised that if the Israelites were obedient, he would
make them “a
peculiar treasure, …a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” These promises mean that Israel would become
the Lord’s covenant people being favored above all others, chosen to bear the
priesthood, and chosen to spread the gospel to all the world. In this context, the word “peculiar” means special
or treasured rather than “odd”.
Exodus 19:9, 11, 16-17; D&C 84:23 records that the Lord wanted to meet with and speak to his people, so he instructed Moses to sanctify them so that they would be ready for this opportunity. Just as Mount Sinai was a holy place at that time, we have holy places wherein we seek to communicate with the Lord and have spiritual experiences including feeling the presence of the Lord. Our temples give us this opportunity if we prepare ourselves for it.
Exodus 20:3-11 – The first four commandments
teach the proper relationship between us and our God. The commandment to worship God and have no other gods before him
is still relevant today since some people choose to set up false gods that they
worship (see D&C 1:15-16). President Spencer W. Kimball said: “ Idolatry is among the
most serious of sins…Modern idols or false gods can take such forms as clothes,
homes, businesses, machines, automobiles, pleasure boats, and numerous other
material deflectors from the path to godhood…Intangibles things make just as
ready gods. Degrees and letters and
titles can become idols… Many people build and furnish a home and buy the
automobile first—and then they ‘cannot afford’ to pay tithing. Whom do they
worship? Certainly not the Lord of heaven and earth… Many worship the hunt, the fishing trip, the vacation, the
weekend picnics and outings. Others have as their idols the games of sport,
baseball, football, the bullfight, or golf…
Still another image men worship is that of power and prestige…These gods
of power, wealth, and influence are most demanding and are quite as real as the
golden calves of the children of Israel in the wilderness“ (The
Miracle of Forgiveness [1969], 40-42).
The Golden Calf
(Exodus 32)
Numerous principles can be drawn from the story of the building and worshipping of the golden calf. Two principles are: 1. Old habits and patterns of belief are very hard to break. While no longer resident in Israel, they were far from spiritually free from Egyptian influences and behavior. After hearing the voice of God proclaim the Ten Commandments from Sinai, they proceeded to immediately break the first two commandments. 2. It is important to resist and overcome peer pressure. Aaron gave in to the unrighteous desires of the newly-freed Israelites. As a leader, he should have said “no”, even though he might have offended those under his stewardship.
D&C 84:19-23 – On Mount Sinai, the Lord revealed a law including the ordinances of the Melchizedek priesthood. However, the Israelites’ idolatrous behavior showed that they were not ready to live that law and the fullness of the gospel, so he withdrew the Melchizedek priesthood and gave the Mosiac law.
The Law of Moses did not replace the commandments or
covenants of the gospel, but it did provide a law of performances and of
ordinances. It taught people to confess their sins and make amends, follow
strict rules of animal sacrifices, keep their bodies healthy, support the
Lord’s work, give thanks, and be reconciled to God.
Elder M. Russell Ballard taught: “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 at CES
Symposium, 13 Aug. 1996], 5).
These
lessons are posted on the Internet at http://www.neumanninstitute.org/