More than an Amazing Coat

After studying the story of Joseph these past two weeks, I was amazed at how rich it was with principles of the gospel and symbolism of Christ. Here some of the lessons that stood out most to me..

• In times of plenty we should be preparing for times of crisis, both temporally and spiritually. (Genesis 41-42)
• God makes all things work together for our good. (Genesis 45:7-8)
• Given enough time, hearts can soften and change. (Judah sells Joseph to become a slave-Genesis 37:26 but twenty years later Judah is willing to become a slave in place of Benjamin-Genesis 44:33)
• After passing through trials, can we look back and see the hand of God in our life? (Genesis 50:20)
• When Christ forgives he also forgets. When we keep bringing up past grievances that have been resolved, He weeps. (Genesis 50:17-21)

Who knew there were so many lessons to learn in the story of Joseph? I sure didn't! I love this quote by Elder Robert D. Hales: "In order to gain the greatest insights the scriptures have to offer, our study will focus not so much on places and names as on principles and doctrines. It is not simply book knowledge we are after but insights that will change the way we live and that will actually make a difference in our lives. We must see the scriptures for what they are: an instruction manual for becoming like our Savior" (The Journey of Lifelong Learning). I thought I knew the story of Joseph really well because I grew up singing all the songs to the musical. Yes, I know all the colors in his coat and all the names of his brothers🤣, but, it turns out there are a lot more important things to be learned about in this story regarding the character of Christ and His gospel. This is why the Come, Follow Me program has been so wonderful for me and my family. It is showing us how to “liken all scriptures unto us, that (they) might be for our profit and learning” (1Nephi 19:23).

Keeping the Lord with us

One of the many lessons we can learn from Joseph's story is that even through difficult trials and adversity the Lord can be with us, and wants to be with us, (Genesis 39:2,3,21,23) IF we do our part. What did Joseph do to stay close to the Lord during his trials?  As members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we hear every Sunday during the sacrament prayers what we need to be doing in order to always have the Lord with us; always remember Him and keep His commandments. Can we find examples of both of these requirements in Joseph’s story? Yes, we can! 

Keep His Commandments

• When Joseph is sold to Potiphar as a slave is says that he served him (Genesis 39: 4). 
• When Potiphar's wife tries to get Joseph to break the law of chastity, he refuses and flees from her (Genesis 39: 7-12). 
• When Joseph is in prison and is asked to take charge over the butler and the baker, he serves them and mourns with them when they are sad (Genesis 40: 2-6)

Always Remember Him

• When Joseph is confronted by Potiphar’s wife to commit sin, his ultimate reason for refusing her advances is because of his love of God (Genesis 39:9). 
• When interpreting the dreams of the butler, baker and Pharaoh, Joseph gives credit to God for his gift (Genesis 40:8, 41:16)

Joseph's obedience and loyalty to God and His commandments reveals why he was blessed with the companionship of the Lord through his trials. Rather than becoming bitter and angry, he turned to the Lord and became better. We can do the same. One of my favorite quotes of the week came from an interview with Dr. Lili Anderson on the Follow Him podcast. While talking about this principle she said: "It's because my life isn't fair, and I choose to be good, that the Lord can be with me and consecrate my afflictions for my good. That's the purpose. That's the plan." 

In this life we will all experience hardships regardless of how righteous we have been. Look at both Joseph's life and Jesus' life. Both were obedient and loyal to God and his commandments and yet both still suffered a life full of injustices and betrayals. Despite these afflictions, they stayed on the covenant path. They didn't become bitter, they turned to God and became better. We can follow their examples and do the same.

Returning Home

The reunion between twin brothers Jacob and Esau in Genesis 33 is very touching, especially considering the fall-out the two had experienced 20 years earlier (Genesis 27:41). One of the podcasts I listened to this week (Unshaken Saints) suggested that we can look at this reunion as a parallel to the future reunion we will have with our older brother Jesus Christ when we return to our heavenly home.

We can look at Esau as a type and shadow of Christ in the way he receives Jacob back home. Esau shows instant acceptance of Jacob, full of love and forgiveness for his younger brother (Genesis 33:4). In this parallel, we can also see ourselves in Jacob's shoes, returning home with some fear (Genesis 32:11) and uncertainty that we will be welcomed back into our Father's presence. 

Elder J. Devn Cornish gave a talk in October 2016 titled Am I Good Enough? Will I Make It? that addressed this concern that many of us have; how will I be welcomed home? Elder Cornish says "I witness to you that if you will really try and will not rationalize or rebel—repenting often and pleading for the grace, or help, of Christ—you positively are going to be “good enough,” that is, acceptable before the Lord; you are going to make it to the celestial kingdom, being perfect in Christ; and you are going to receive the blessings and glory and joy that God desires for each of His precious children." This quote gives me great comfort when I have these same fears that Jacob had about returning home.

Even though Jacob had made covenants with the Lord (Genesis 28:12-22), it did not preclude him from having to endure hardships and struggles in his life. But as he tried his best to keep his covenants the Lord kept his promise to Jacob and brought him into his land, into his home (Genesis 28:15), where he was received with open arms (Genesis 33:4).

Lessons from Rebekah

In Genesis 24-27 we learn about the next covenant couple that will have the Abrahamic covenant bestowed upon them—Isaac and Rebekah. As I started my Come, Follow Me studies this week I liked the suggestion in the manual to “look for qualities of Rebekah that you want to emulate.” But in one of the podcasts I listened to this week (Follow Him) the weekly guest, Camille F. Olson, suggested looking at Rebekah’s qualities in a different way. She suggested that if Isaac is a parallel to Jesus Christ, then Rebekah-the bridegroom of Isaac- can symbolize the Church (Ephesians 5:23-25). With that symbolism in mind, what attributes does Rebekah have that can represent what members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints should strive for?

• Genesis 24:16-virtuous people
• Genesis 24:18-generous, service-oriented people 
• Genesis 24:19-hard-working, selfless, go-the-extra-mile kind of people
• Genesis 24:20-people with lots of energy to do good things
• Genesis 24:25-hospitable people
• Genesis 24:58-submissive and obedient people with faith and trust in God’s servants

As other people observe members of the Church exhibiting these types of characteristics, maybe we would be an answer to their prayers like Rebekah was an answer to the prayers of Abraham’s servant, who after observing her actions asks her “whose daughter are you and is there room in your fathers house for me?” (Genesis 24:23)

Lot vs Abraham

It takes faith, trust, and the submission of one’s will to obey God when it’s difficult or when we don’t understand why we must obey His will. In Genesis 19, Lot was told by heavenly messengers that he needed to gather his family, get out of Sodom and Gomorrah, and head to the mountain. Even though he was told that the city was going to be destroyed, it says he had to be awakened by the heavenly messengers who helped hasten his departure and that he "lingered" long enough that they had to take him by the hand and escort him out of the city! Basically, Lot was told he needed to sacrifice his way of life, leave behind his current lifestyle and follow God's messengers, but he didn't seem ready or very willing to do it. His response seems to indicate that either he wasn't convinced of the danger he was in and/or he didn't trust the promise that he would find safety in the mountain. (Genesis 19: 12-19)

Contrast this story of Lot with what Abraham was asked to do and how he responded to God's request. In Genesis 22:1-3 we read about Abraham being commanded by God to head to the mountain where he would sacrifice his son Isaac. Not only did God not give Abraham an explanation for this, but Abraham doesn't even ask for an explanation of "why." His decision to leave early the next morning demonstrates his willingness to obey God's commandment immediately.

I can't think of any "Abraham-like" sacrifices that the Lord has asked me to make, but I can think of plenty of "Lot-like" sacrifices that I can make using "Abraham-like" obedience. As a family we talked about what some of these sacrifices might be; keeping the Sabbath Day holy, paying tithing, serving a mission, accepting callings, serving others and putting off the natural man. Elder Neal A. Maxwell has said that "many of us have sufficient faith to avoid the major sins of commission, but not enough faith to sacrifice our distracting obsessions or to focus on our omissions...such as encouragement, kindness and commendation." (Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father). It's good to remember that not only are keeping the Sabbath Day holy and paying tithing sacrifices, but being kind to others is also a form of sacrifice.

We need to hasten to listen to God's heavenly messengers that are telling us that it is time to sacrifice some of our lifestyle choices for something that can lead us to greater safety and security. They know that as we do this that we will be more willing to head toward the temple (the mountain of the Lord), a place where we will grow closer to Jesus Christ.

Covenant Relationships

Since my youth I've been taught that a covenant is a promise that we make between us and the Lord. As I studied this week in Abraham 1-2, and Genesis 12-17, I gained a deeper understanding about how the covenants we make, starting with baptismal covenants, are not solely promises we make to God, but they also allow us to enter into a relationship with Him where He can teach us how to trust Him and how to live our lives with greater integrity. 

We start down the covenant path with the ordinance of baptism and we begin to learn how to be in a relationship with God. We learn that we are expected to keep the promises that we have made and we also learn to trust that God will keep His promises as we keep ours. We begin to understand the power of integrity in our lives and how living with integrity will enhance our relationship with God.

As we advance further down on the covenant path, our level of trust with God can increase in a way that we feel ready to enter into a deeper relationship with Him by accepting temple covenants. Temple covenants add another layer of responsibility and trust between us and the Lord as we strive "to be greater follower(s) of righteousness" (Abraham 1:2).

As we enter into the highest order of the Priesthood, by accepting the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, we are now prepared to enter into a relationship with a spouse. This spouse has also been walking the covenant path and learning how to have a relationship with God. As both marriage partners have moved along the covenant path, practicing trust and integrity with their Heavenly Father, their covenant paths now connect and they enter into the same kind of relationship with their spouse that they have had with their Father in Heaven-a relationship based on trust and integrity.

As marriage partners they continue down that covenant path together, and as they each continue to keep their individual baptismal and temple covenants with the Lord, their relationship with each other will be strengthened and blessed through integrity and greater trust one with another.

Sister Joy D. Jones, Primary General President has said: "A succession of small, successfully kept promises leads to integrity. This consistent practice of promise keeping is spiritual preparation...to receive the first covenant of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost, wherein [we] covenant to serve God and keep His commandments. Promises and covenants are inseparable." (A Sin-Resistant Generation). I'm grateful to understand better that some  of the blessings that come from living our covenants are the blessings of greater personal integrity and trust in the Lord.

Arks and Temples

I started a little project this week where I wanted to read through all the conference talks given by President Nelson during the last four years as the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I was looking for the things that he has asked (pled and urged) us to do and I started highlighting the council he repeated. Even though I’m only halfway through his 32 talks, I have already noticed that one of the most prevalent themes in his discourses is the importance of getting to the temple. As I studied the Come, Follow Me chapters this week (Genesis 6-9 and Moses 8), I started noticing right away the connections we can make between the temple and the ark. I'm sure there are a lot more, but here are the parallels I came away with...

• Architecturally, both the ark and temples are massive structures built to hold a lot of people. Both are/were built to save people. Both are/were built to protect the righteous from a flood of wickedness. 
• Both take lots of hard work to prepare to be ready to enter. It took Noah years of physical labor to build the ark and it takes us years of spiritual preparation to be prepared to enter the temple. 
• Being in the ark was the safest place for Noah and his family, President Nelson has said that living within our temple covenants is the safest place we can be. (The Temple and your Spiritual Foundation)
• The ark saved Noah’s family so that the earth could have a second chance of bringing forth a righteous posterity. Through temple work we are able to save people by giving them a second chance to be with their ancestors and posterity forever.
• Noah was continually inviting people to repent so they could join him on the ark. Our prophet continually asks us to repent, come to the temple and invite others to join us there.
• Both the ark and the temple offer safety and refuge to all who are willing to obey God's commandments.
• Both the ark and the temple are associated with covenants. God covenanted with Noah that if he entered the ark that his posterity would continue. When we go to the temple we make covenants with God that allow us to be with our posterity for all eternity. 
• As the flood waters rose, the ark continually rose to stay above the water. As wickedness increases in the world,  the temple is a place of higher ground that helps us rise above the wickedness in the world.

President Nelson is the Noah of our day, pleading with us to get into the ark (temple) so that we can be safe from destruction. As the earth becomes more and more wicked, the Lord is providing more and more places of refuge for His righteous people. The Lord has commanded the prophets of our day, including President Nelson, to dot the earth with more and more temples in order to help His people rise above the wickedness that is flooding the earth. May we learn a lesson from this ancient scriptural account: heed the words of the prophet and we will be saved.