The name Jonah, in Hebrew, means "dove". It's not surprising that this fact has been almost completely lost, at least to the great majority of us. Also not surprising is the fact that his name has also come to mean "destroyer", and "he that oppresses". I have a feeling that a man named Jonah would not be allowed on the crew of a ship, since, to sailors, the name has come to mean someone who brings bad luck.
How we tend to confuse things. Usually, just as the book of Revelation has come to be the personification of the apocalyptic, we make something good and beautiful to signify something terrifying and ugly.
I can imagine God holding the book of Jonah lovingly and tenderly in his hands, then giving it a gentle push, so it could fly to us and alight on our lives in the form of a dove. It's a message of peace. Even the dead can be redeemed. Even the wicked may have a second chance. Paul speaks very briefly, but clearly, of baptism for the dead, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. The book of Jonah speaks more fully, but in a much more literary way, which can tend to make it more enigmatic, about the redemption of the dead. But if we search it, and seek, and listen, and hear, we will catch the spirit of this beautiful message.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Another Thought on Jonah and the Whale
In the final verse of the book of Jonah, we read this:
And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
I've thought about this verse a lot. I don't remember where I read this, on a website, but I can't find it now, but someone explains those who cannot discern between their right and left hand as those who are minors according to the law. He states there were 120,000 men, not including women and those who did not know their right hand from their left hand, or, in other words, minors.
It's a great explanation. It's one of the things that have kept me thinking about this verse. But instead of believing it represents minors, I believe it represents anyone who did not know right from wrong, or more particularly, the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Those who did not have the opportunity to receive and accept the gospel. Possibly even those who did not get a proper opportunity to receive and accept it. They're like children, or minors, they're innocent, because they didn't know the complete truth, so there's no way they could have obeyed it. We give preferential treatment to minors in our law. Because they don't know what we know as adults.
On another note, when Jonah is in the ship, in the first chapter of the book, and the sea rages, he sleeps. The Greek version, the Septuagint, says that he snores. He's so sound asleep. This is one of the parts of the book that I've struggled with. What does it mean. Supposedly he was the cause of the storm. So why could he sleep so soundly and the other men, innocent, could not?
I'm not sure he caused the storm after all. I'd say the storm is life. There are storms a raging all the time. Those who do not have the peace of the gospel of Jesus Christ and its ordinances, (or, those who are innocent, as discussed above) which are eternal and ever binding, do not feel peace when the storms rage. Jonah, one with the gospel, who had received eternal, binding ordinances, could sleep in the storm.
And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
I've thought about this verse a lot. I don't remember where I read this, on a website, but I can't find it now, but someone explains those who cannot discern between their right and left hand as those who are minors according to the law. He states there were 120,000 men, not including women and those who did not know their right hand from their left hand, or, in other words, minors.
It's a great explanation. It's one of the things that have kept me thinking about this verse. But instead of believing it represents minors, I believe it represents anyone who did not know right from wrong, or more particularly, the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Those who did not have the opportunity to receive and accept the gospel. Possibly even those who did not get a proper opportunity to receive and accept it. They're like children, or minors, they're innocent, because they didn't know the complete truth, so there's no way they could have obeyed it. We give preferential treatment to minors in our law. Because they don't know what we know as adults.
On another note, when Jonah is in the ship, in the first chapter of the book, and the sea rages, he sleeps. The Greek version, the Septuagint, says that he snores. He's so sound asleep. This is one of the parts of the book that I've struggled with. What does it mean. Supposedly he was the cause of the storm. So why could he sleep so soundly and the other men, innocent, could not?
I'm not sure he caused the storm after all. I'd say the storm is life. There are storms a raging all the time. Those who do not have the peace of the gospel of Jesus Christ and its ordinances, (or, those who are innocent, as discussed above) which are eternal and ever binding, do not feel peace when the storms rage. Jonah, one with the gospel, who had received eternal, binding ordinances, could sleep in the storm.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Thoughts on Jonah and the Whale
The allegory of Jonah and the whale never fails to amaze me or to provide something new, a new thought, a new insight, a new way of looking at life and our own shortcomings--and salvation, nonetheless.
Jonah, in the story, like all of us, disobeys God's commandments. He literally runs in the opposite direction from where God asked him to go. As I read a synopsis of the story, I thought about it a little differently.
Jehovah offered this allegory as revelation to some prophet in Old Testament times. Possibly one named Jonah.
The prophet, Jonah, in the story, through his disobedience, represents all of us. No matter what we do we will always fall short of the demands of justice, just as Jonah fell short. When he is thrown into the ocean, it represents his death, and inevitable burial, his spiritual death. He's drowning. He has fallen short.
God, however, sends a great fish, Jesus Christ, to spare his life, his very spiritual life. Remember, Jesus is often depicted as a fish. (I can't help but think of the fish magnets placed on the backs of cars, which represent Jesus.)
While he's in the belly of the fish, Jonah says, Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. I think about those who die without knowing the gospel, or without accepting it. To me, one of the things this allegory is saying is that despite our disobedience, or falling short, we can yet look toward the Holy Temple, in the afterlife. The saving ordinances will be made available to all, even after this life.
Once Jonah is vomited out of the fish's mouth, in other words, after he is saved, or in the afterlife, he has the opportunity to preach to the wicked, or those who were wicked in this life. Jonah's preaching is successful. Maybe our preaching in the next life will be more successful than it is here. The wicked repent, completely, as fully as they can, and they accept Jesus Christ. God gladly accepts their repentance and saves them, through the atonement of Jesus Christ.
Nineveh, in Old Testament times, was an enemy to Israel. It was also a very wicked place. As such, it's the perfect place to represent wickedness in general, being the exact opposite of Israel, which represents righteousness, or God's gospel plan.
I can see how this deathbed--even later than that--repentance could displease Jonah, even to the point of wanting to be dead. (Think of the prodigal son. Or, more specifically, his brother.) What was the point of preaching in the first place when Jonah knew that God would be so kind and forgiving, even after life was over? That was Jonah's question. Chapter 4:2:
God reminds Jonah of the grouse, which grew in a night and died in a night, which gave Jonah comfort. Jonah had nothing to do with its growth, yet he's angry when it's gone. God says, aren't these people even more important than that?
Interesting that the number of people in Nineveh is 120,000. Seems like a common theme, divisible by 12, but a relatively large number, to represent all the wicked. Nineveh represents the wicked, or those who did not have the chance to accept the gospel, maybe even a second chance for those who did have the opportunity but didn't take it.
There's more to this allegory than I've ever thought. Though I've realized for some time that I'd continue to learn from it. In other words, I knew there was a lot here. It reaches even beyond the veil, or beyond this life, and, again, it looks to the Temple. It looks to saving ordinances, which, as we know, reach beyond the grave. Something no other religion can actually get from this story, though an intuitive and wise person might anyway, is that it represents God's love for all his children, which reaches beyond the bounds of this life. He loves all of us so much, and he doesn't just say it, he provides a way to show it completely, offering us all the opportunity, the true, legitimate, opportunity to accept his saving plan, with all its ordinances. Can it be that the book of Jonah says all that?
Again, another Old Testament prophet pointing us to the Temple.
Jonah, in the story, like all of us, disobeys God's commandments. He literally runs in the opposite direction from where God asked him to go. As I read a synopsis of the story, I thought about it a little differently.
Jehovah offered this allegory as revelation to some prophet in Old Testament times. Possibly one named Jonah.
The prophet, Jonah, in the story, through his disobedience, represents all of us. No matter what we do we will always fall short of the demands of justice, just as Jonah fell short. When he is thrown into the ocean, it represents his death, and inevitable burial, his spiritual death. He's drowning. He has fallen short.
God, however, sends a great fish, Jesus Christ, to spare his life, his very spiritual life. Remember, Jesus is often depicted as a fish. (I can't help but think of the fish magnets placed on the backs of cars, which represent Jesus.)
While he's in the belly of the fish, Jonah says, Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. I think about those who die without knowing the gospel, or without accepting it. To me, one of the things this allegory is saying is that despite our disobedience, or falling short, we can yet look toward the Holy Temple, in the afterlife. The saving ordinances will be made available to all, even after this life.
Once Jonah is vomited out of the fish's mouth, in other words, after he is saved, or in the afterlife, he has the opportunity to preach to the wicked, or those who were wicked in this life. Jonah's preaching is successful. Maybe our preaching in the next life will be more successful than it is here. The wicked repent, completely, as fully as they can, and they accept Jesus Christ. God gladly accepts their repentance and saves them, through the atonement of Jesus Christ.
Nineveh, in Old Testament times, was an enemy to Israel. It was also a very wicked place. As such, it's the perfect place to represent wickedness in general, being the exact opposite of Israel, which represents righteousness, or God's gospel plan.
I can see how this deathbed--even later than that--repentance could displease Jonah, even to the point of wanting to be dead. (Think of the prodigal son. Or, more specifically, his brother.) What was the point of preaching in the first place when Jonah knew that God would be so kind and forgiving, even after life was over? That was Jonah's question. Chapter 4:2:
And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.He's basically asking, why did I work so hard to do what was right? You were willing to save all of us anyway?
God reminds Jonah of the grouse, which grew in a night and died in a night, which gave Jonah comfort. Jonah had nothing to do with its growth, yet he's angry when it's gone. God says, aren't these people even more important than that?
Interesting that the number of people in Nineveh is 120,000. Seems like a common theme, divisible by 12, but a relatively large number, to represent all the wicked. Nineveh represents the wicked, or those who did not have the chance to accept the gospel, maybe even a second chance for those who did have the opportunity but didn't take it.
There's more to this allegory than I've ever thought. Though I've realized for some time that I'd continue to learn from it. In other words, I knew there was a lot here. It reaches even beyond the veil, or beyond this life, and, again, it looks to the Temple. It looks to saving ordinances, which, as we know, reach beyond the grave. Something no other religion can actually get from this story, though an intuitive and wise person might anyway, is that it represents God's love for all his children, which reaches beyond the bounds of this life. He loves all of us so much, and he doesn't just say it, he provides a way to show it completely, offering us all the opportunity, the true, legitimate, opportunity to accept his saving plan, with all its ordinances. Can it be that the book of Jonah says all that?
Again, another Old Testament prophet pointing us to the Temple.
Monday, April 21, 2014
A Right to the Throne
Moses 7:59 -
Why was this so powerful to me? Enoch says he has been given a right to the throne of God. I don't think I've ever thought of it that way. Through the grace of Jesus Christ, Enoch had a right to the throne, and so do we all.
And Enoch beheld the Son of Man ascend up unto the Father; and he called unto the Lord, saying: Wilt thou not come again upon the earth? Forasmuch as thou art God, and I know thee, and thou hast sworn unto me, and commanded me that I should ask in the name of thine Only Begotten; thou hast made me, and given unto me a right to thy throne, and not of myself, but through thine own grace; wherefore, I ask thee if thou wilt not come again on the earth.
Why was this so powerful to me? Enoch says he has been given a right to the throne of God. I don't think I've ever thought of it that way. Through the grace of Jesus Christ, Enoch had a right to the throne, and so do we all.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
The Number of the Beast
Revelation 13:18
-The number of the beast is 666.
-The numerical value of the name Jesus (IESOUS) in Greek is 888.
-From wikipedia.com for "Number of the beast": There are several interpretations-translations for the meaning of the phrase "Here is Wisdom, Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast" where the peculiar Greek word ψηφισάτω (psefisato) is used. Possible translations include not only "to count", "to reckon" but also "to vote" or "to decide". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_the_beast
-The beast is 666; Jesus is 888. They are both decipherable, recognizable, differentiated. We can reckon between them. We can decide which one to follow. We can know which is which.
-It looks as though in the process of trying to say, "The beast has a number, it's different from Jesus', you can decipher between the two and choose which one you will serve," all of which I'm sure was meant to clarify the situation, John ended up confusing the great majority of us, which basically is our fault I think.
We ended up by making a complete mess of the 666 thing. It's not meant to be looked upon as a literal number we should avoid, or we should try with all our hearts to decipher. Like we often avoid the number 13, out of superstition. It's a symbol that differentiates the beast from the Savior. It says, "You can tell between the two, and if you're wise you'll make the right choice."
-The number of the beast is 666.
-The numerical value of the name Jesus (IESOUS) in Greek is 888.
-From wikipedia.com for "Number of the beast": There are several interpretations-translations for the meaning of the phrase "Here is Wisdom, Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast" where the peculiar Greek word ψηφισάτω (psefisato) is used. Possible translations include not only "to count", "to reckon" but also "to vote" or "to decide". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_the_beast
-The beast is 666; Jesus is 888. They are both decipherable, recognizable, differentiated. We can reckon between them. We can decide which one to follow. We can know which is which.
-It looks as though in the process of trying to say, "The beast has a number, it's different from Jesus', you can decipher between the two and choose which one you will serve," all of which I'm sure was meant to clarify the situation, John ended up confusing the great majority of us, which basically is our fault I think.
We ended up by making a complete mess of the 666 thing. It's not meant to be looked upon as a literal number we should avoid, or we should try with all our hearts to decipher. Like we often avoid the number 13, out of superstition. It's a symbol that differentiates the beast from the Savior. It says, "You can tell between the two, and if you're wise you'll make the right choice."
Friday, April 11, 2014
Revelation 13 and 14
Revelation
13:1 - the beast is almost like the church, seven heads--a heavenly number, 10 horns, 10 crowns, not quite the 12 crowns representing the church, but similar, like enough to be deceptive, enough truth to be deceptive.
13:3 - one of the beast's heads is wounded as it were to death. The gospel in the meridian of time wounds the beast as though to death, but the beast recovers and gains power and overcomes the saints, then the beast's influence covers the earth. The great apostasy.
13:11 - another beast had two horns like a lamb, and spoke as a dragon. Again enough similarities to good to be deceptive. It's not blatantly bad.
The beast: he is an evolving creature, or the dragons associated with him are evolving, ever changing, ever becoming more sly and deceptive.
14:1-5 - The 144,000: a number signifying, or representing the faithful followers of Christ. They will be redeemed in the first resurrection, the first fruits unto God and the Lamb. Maybe the number is what it is to represent how small the actual faithful to the Savior will be? 144,000 in relation to many numbers used in the scriptures, or mainly in relation to numbers in general, now, seems very small. I want to say it's a generic number, but I'm not sure that's exactly what I mean. It has no literal significance in my opinion.
14:13 - And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write,a Blessed are the b dead which c die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may d rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
The works of the righteous follow them because they are done with authority, being acceptable to God. They can rest from their labours, because they are complete. All the work has been finished, and accepted.
14:14-20 - the true second coming of Jesus Christ, after all the work has been done, all the work that can be done has been done, and has been accepted. Those who follow the Savior are taken to their rest and then the Savior sends those who are proud and unrighteous to their just place. The final scriptures compare it to a wine press and blood. The wicked being required to pay for their sins on their own. Since they did not accept the blood of Christ to cleanse them.
13:1 - the beast is almost like the church, seven heads--a heavenly number, 10 horns, 10 crowns, not quite the 12 crowns representing the church, but similar, like enough to be deceptive, enough truth to be deceptive.
13:3 - one of the beast's heads is wounded as it were to death. The gospel in the meridian of time wounds the beast as though to death, but the beast recovers and gains power and overcomes the saints, then the beast's influence covers the earth. The great apostasy.
13:11 - another beast had two horns like a lamb, and spoke as a dragon. Again enough similarities to good to be deceptive. It's not blatantly bad.
The beast: he is an evolving creature, or the dragons associated with him are evolving, ever changing, ever becoming more sly and deceptive.
14:1-5 - The 144,000: a number signifying, or representing the faithful followers of Christ. They will be redeemed in the first resurrection, the first fruits unto God and the Lamb. Maybe the number is what it is to represent how small the actual faithful to the Savior will be? 144,000 in relation to many numbers used in the scriptures, or mainly in relation to numbers in general, now, seems very small. I want to say it's a generic number, but I'm not sure that's exactly what I mean. It has no literal significance in my opinion.
14:13 - And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write,
The works of the righteous follow them because they are done with authority, being acceptable to God. They can rest from their labours, because they are complete. All the work has been finished, and accepted.
14:14-20 - the true second coming of Jesus Christ, after all the work has been done, all the work that can be done has been done, and has been accepted. Those who follow the Savior are taken to their rest and then the Savior sends those who are proud and unrighteous to their just place. The final scriptures compare it to a wine press and blood. The wicked being required to pay for their sins on their own. Since they did not accept the blood of Christ to cleanse them.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Roots and Branches and Burning
This is the post I should have started with, since deciphering the symbolism in this revelation is what started me on the path to a growing sense that scripture is more likely symbolic than not. I've since looked at scripture as symbol, or metaphor, or parable, or allegory, first. Then, as literal, second.
I was in an Elder's Quorum meeting a couple years ago. We were separated into groups of two or three at some point in the meeting. We were asked to research a particular sign of the times, I believe. That part I can't really remember clearly. Anyway, at some point in the discuss with the two men I was paired with, I mentioned my belief that the burning of the wicked at the last days was not literal. Both of these men were friends, so we were able to speak fairly openly. One of them saw some merit in what I was saying, or at least tried to, or at least acted like he did. He's a deep thinker. I think he really thought about it. The other disagreed openly and found a scripture where it mentions the burning and said, See, it's a literal burning. I still disagreed. No big deal. We had a difference of opinion.
I guess I should really start long before this incident. As a young man I was taught on a regular basis the signs of the times and how things would supposedly play out at the end. And how the Savior's second coming would likely take place, and even when. The descriptions and explanations never felt right to me. They never fully made sense. What was the worst part about many of these descriptions and explanations was that they made me feel like I had no real purpose or motivation to improve myself, to prepare for a productive life, here and now. Why would I go get a college education when the world would be ending soon? What's the purpose of a secular education when the near future holds only a spiritual lifestyle, lived in the presence of Jesus Christ?
Plus, the event, the second coming itself, and life after the second coming were such mysteries to me. I believe they were mysteries to everyone trying to explain them too. I didn't understand the need for such mystery. But, think about it, we're often motivated by the lowest common denominator towards motivation: fear. Human beings often are most motivated by fear. What's scarier than being told "the great and terrible day of the Lord is near." And by the way, the wicked will be burned. I didn't even know if I was wicked or not. Often I felt I was. Burning sounds like a terrible way to die. Especially, when following the excruciating pain of burning, you're cast into hell.
When I saw that the scriptures relating to the wicked being burned were also more often than not paired with roots and branches, I realized there was more to this revelation. It lead me on a new path. One where scriptural imagery was just that.
In the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, last weekend, Elder Quentin L. Cook said this about roots and branches and burning:
Our Father’s plan is about families. Several of our most poignant scriptures use the concept of the tree with its roots and branches as an analogy.In the closing chapter of the Old Testament, Malachi, in describing the Second Coming of the Savior, vividly uses this analogy. Speaking of the proud and wicked, he notes that they shall be burned as stubble and “that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” Malachi closes this chapter with the Lord’s reassuring promise:“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:“And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
Yes, our Heavenly Father's plan is about families. When we talk of families we talk of roots and branches and trees. As do the scriptures talking of the burning of the proud and wicked.
Burning is a terrible way to die, I'm sure. But being without the ones you love would be worse.
There's a couple of things to consider when we think about a literal burning and an analogy of burning. In the first case, it would seem to me that God would have to take part in some way in literally lighting his children on fire. I don't know how it would happen, but it seems he would have to do something, or enact something that would set his children alight.
In the second case, God has asked us to follow the laws of heaven, by accepting the gospel of Jesus Christ, and receiving the ordinances, or ceremonies, or performances, that save us. One of those ordinances is being married, or sealed, to our spouse, in the holy temple of God. Along with that, we're sealed to our parents, our grandparents, and on and on (our roots), and to our children, our grandchildren, and on and on (our branches). What the revelations are saying is that those who choose not to receive these ordinances, those who do not believe in the laws of God, or who choose to rebel against them, will pay natural consequences. They will not be linked with those they love in the next life. Their relationships will not be recognized or accepted. It takes no further action by God. He's set up his law and we can choose to accept it and obey it or not. Our rewards and consequences will naturally follow.
I can imagine that the pain, or the hell, of not having your spouse, your companion, your children, etc. linked to you in the next life will be something similar to the way gay people feel now, who seek to have the government and people recognize their bonds. I'm not in their position, so I cannot speak definitively about this, but I can imagine they feel they are in limbo. If they live in a place where their relationship is not recognized, I can imagine it occupies their mind daily. They feel it's mean, it's unjust, and it's painful.
I've battled minor injustices in my life against bodies that were much larger and more powerful than I. I always feel my angriest, my most out of control, my most revengeful, when I'm fighting against someone or something that is bigger than I am, who has the final say on my fate in that particular situation. I always feel like what they're doing is unjust. That makes my anger and pain so much more potent. I'm being treated unjustly and I have no control over correcting the wrong. They have all the control.
In this life, gay people have a supreme court and legislatures that are becoming more and more compassionate to their cause. There's hope for them. They may see their relationships sanctioned by most governments in the near future. In many places they already have. But imagine fighting this battle in the next life, where there is no supreme court, no legislature. Where there is no recourse. God has decided that families consist of mothers and fathers and children, etc. And those families are only sanctioned through ordinances approved by him, which take place in holy temples, where the ceremonies are performed by people who have the direct authority from God to perform them. All others will be fighting to have their relationships sanctioned by God, or will relent and accept their fate, or, I hope, will have and take the opportunity to finally follow God's laws.
I believe we might be surprised just how similar the next life will be to this one. People who believe God is unjust will still believe it there. People who don't want to live God's law but want many of the benefits of doing so, will still want those things there. People who want to fight perceived injustices here, will want to fight them there. Hell is feeling like you've been dealt with unjustly and knowing no matter how hard you fight it won't be overturned. Hell is wanting something so badly it's all you can think about, and knowing you'll never be able to have it. Hell is not burning to death or sitting in a fiery place for eternity.
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