Israelites fall vs. Pioneers success

In Joshua’s last sermon to the Israelites, he implored the people to make a consistent effort to choose to serve the Lord every single day (Joshua 24:15), and the Israelites responded by making a covenant that they would serve and obey the God of Israel (Joshua 24: 23-25). 

In the book of Judges we watch the Israelites struggle to keep this covenant to serve the Lord. After all the miracles they’ve witnessed (and their parents witnessed), why was it so hard for them to stay faithful?

As I was on a youth pioneer trek this past week I remembered a lesson I heard recently contrasting the Israelites journey to the promised land with the pioneers westward migration:

• The Israelites had the Red Sea and Jordan River parted for them so they could walk through on dry ground. The pioneers had many river crossings-none of them on dry ground.
• The Israelites were given manna from heaven to eat. The pioneers had very little food and many starved to death.
• The Israelites clothes never wore out. The pioneers suffered greatly and often froze to death or left bloody footprints on the ground because their clothes and shoes were so worn out.
• The land of Canaan was already “flowing with milk and honey” for the children of Israel. The Salt Lake Valley was a barren desert that would need lots of work to make it “blossom as a rose.”

These two exodus stories that differed so much also resulted in two very different outcomes. The Israelites struggled to stay faithful to the covenants they had made to the Lord (see the whole book of Judges), but the pioneers remained faithful and because of their faithfulness many generations have remained faithful as well. The lesson I learned from this comparison is that the more we have to work for something, the more we're going to appreciate it (like our testimonies). Pres. Nelson recently spoke to the young adults of the church and said "I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth...As you make your testimony your highest priority, watch for miracles to happen in your life." The pioneers witnessed different miracles than the Israelites did, but the biggest miracle was their deep conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ that came through their daily effort and sacrifice to trust in the Lord and follow His chosen prophet.