Meeting God Upon Mount Sinai
“And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.” -Exodus 24:17
It had only been 3 months since the people had watched in awe and fear as God smote the Egyptians–throwing down their gods with demonstrations of terrifying power. Now He was calling upon them prepare themselves so that they could “see” the Lord when planned to come down on Mount Sinai in three days to meet with them.
Yod Hei and the Priesthood
“Trust ye in the YHVH forever: for in YH, YHVH is everlasting strength.” -Isaiah 26:4
There is a two-letter name for God: YH (יה), or Yod Hei, pronounced “Yah.” There is a misunderstanding that this is a shortened form of YHVH or Yahveh, more commonly Jehovah. However, this name of God is actually the lost teaching of the Parent Gods, Elohim: Avinu (God the Father) and His wife Shekinah (the Queen of Heaven). To some this will mean the male and female portions on the one divine being. To others, it will refer to two separate Gods, equals in all things, sealed as one for eternity.
Zohar 68a-69a: Why the Animal was Destroyed by the Deluge
A translation of an exert from the Zohar.
The Everlasting Covenant
“And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.” -Genesis 17:7
When the Lord makes a covenant with is, he makes eternal covenants. For this reason, they are called an “everlasting covenant.” When God made a covenant with Noah that he wouldn’t flood the earth ever again, he made and everlasting covenant (Genesis 9:16). This means he will never break it.
Born that Way
“And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great mediation of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil.” -2 Nephi 1:120 RAV, 2:27b OPV
I was talking to someone once about a sin they were trapped in. They stated that they were “born that way,” that God had made them with that sin (think lying, stealing, etc.) and so they didn’t need to repent of it. The idea was that if God is perfect, then His creations are perfect, and there is no sin in what they were “born to do.”
Love Thy Neighbor
The following is based on a portion of a transcript from a sermon from November 21, 2015.
In the Torah, in Leviticus 19:18, the Lord says, “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the Lord” (Holy Bible, KJV). This is an interesting concept, love thy neighbor as thyself. Sure, it’s not unfamiliar to Jews, Christians, or really any religion. This statement reflects the point of all world religions.
The Internal Struggle
“Behold, that great city Zarahemla have I burned with fire, and the inhabitants thereof.” -3 Nephi 4:11 RAV, 4:28 OPV
I’ve seen a number of posts on social media basically stating that God murders children. The idea is that when Jesus was crucified, the cities in the New World that were destroyed meant that innocent children were killed as well. At one point another gentleman, a faithful Latter-day Saint, pointed out that the same thing happened with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in defense of the cities destroyed in the Book of Mormon. However, this really misses the point of the scripture.
Avoiding the Appearance of Evil
“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:21-23
Paul told the Thessalonians to “abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22). This is a very hard task indeed. Even Jesus Christ couldn’t avoid the appearance of evil. Sure, his accusers could find no fault with him, but they still saw him as evil (See John 5:8-12, 6:41-42, 7:12, & 9:16).
The Book of Avahr
The history of the Latter Day Saints, a collective of restorational Christian denominations, begins with the shared history found within the Book of Avahr.
And a Contrite Spirit
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” -Psalms 51:17
The Lord has asked us to come to him with a broken heart and contrite spirit (3 Nephi 4:49 RAV, 9:20 OPV). As we’ve already stated, a “broken heart” is a pierced heart. One open to both receiving and pouring out God’s Love, the true prayer now inscribed upon it. What then is the “contrite spirit?”
A Broken Heart
“The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” -Psalms 34:18
When teaching the people he had gathered in the Americas, Jesus did away with the sacrificing of animals. He asked for something more personal when he told them, “ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit” (3 Nephi 4:49 RAV, 9:20 OPV). But what does this mean?