Holding
Sunday, 30 April 2017
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Tuesday, 18 April 2017
Zipporah: trials of a wife to a Prophet
Dear friend
What would it be like to be married to a prophet? Perhaps we imagine a life of diligent faithfulness, of unstinting service, of miracles and of blessed happiness. This may be so in some cases, but the example of Zipporah the wife of Moses provides a salutary lesson about the assumed domestic bliss of a man of God.
It all started well. An immigrant, Moses, stepped in to help some young women who appeared to be victims of bullying, if not worse than that. The women's father wanted to meet the man who had been so helpful to his daughters in their time of need, and the rest as they say is history. The culmination of this otherwise chance situation is recorded in the Old Testament, Exodus 2:21.
21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.
How romantic; a chivalrous foreigner impresses your father and you end up married to him. Then, after a few years living with your family, he takes you back to his homeland, as described in Exodus 4:19, 20.
19 And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.
20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt ...
So far this is not very out of the ordinary for the times. But the scriptures also record a particular issue related to Moses' seemingly strange religious practices. It caused Zipporah to do something drastic out of desperation. The motivations for her actions are disputed by theologians but Exodus 4:25 graphically describes the scene.
25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.
This incident certainly does not paint a picture of demure domesticity. Zipporah felt she had to do something. It was drastic but it did resolve a very difficult family situation (in a typically Old Testament way).
Moses had a full and eventful life, that's for sure. Zipporah would be at his side, but rarely even mentioned. Eventually, after a period back with her father in Midian while Moses led the wandering Israelites, the family was happily reunited. I wonder how Zipporah looked back on her life with Moses? They went through a lot together, much of it no doubt pleasing, but not all.
I hope we take time occasionally to appreciate the sacrifices of the families of God's chosen servants; Church leaders and others who are called on to dedicate their lives to doing God's work. These families often have to endure more than we know to allow their spouse to serve. I pray for God to bless and support them as they allow and help their beloved partners to support us.
Samuel.
Monday, 17 April 2017
Yesterday, today and forever
Dear friend
God is not bound by time the way we are. There is a hint as to His prolonged perspective in various verses of scripture. For example, He has a very different view of what constitutes "yesterday". This is illustrated in the Old Testament, Psalm 90:2, 4.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
...
4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past ...
We simply cannot look back on a millennium in the way He does. To us who are currently bound by earthly rotations a thousand years past is a huge piece of history. To him it is "as yesterday". Think how much we could achieve if our yesterday lasted a thousand years.
Of course for a Being who operates "from everlasting to everlasting", that ratio of one day to 365,250 days, is a trifling order of magnitude when compared to forever. And this is only the beginning of the Lord's use of yesterdays to teach us of His eternal nature. A common concept of His continuation is typified by a verse in the Book of Mormon, Mormon 9:9.
9 For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing?
I draw great comfort and confidence from the thought that God is perfectly consistent, completely reliable, unchangingly amazing. He is the same person without variableness; no mood swings, no bad days. We find Him always loving, always patient, always ready to bless us, always open armed. From such an One we can be assured of His unwavering commitment to our happiness and wellbeing.
He is without doubt a Being not restricted by temporal terra firma. This is majestically confirmed in Doctrine and Covenants 35:1, 2.
1 Listen to the voice of the Lord your God, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, whose course is one eternal round, the same today as yesterday, and forever.
2 I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was crucified for the sins of the world, even as many as will believe on my name, that they may become the sons of God, even one in me as I am one in the Father, as the Father is one in me, that we may be one.
I hope we will always retain in remembrance the eternal greatness of God. He is as wonderful today as he was yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that, ad infinitum.
Samuel.
Sunday, 16 April 2017
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