I remember being young and learning about the end of days.
I was so scared. I learned about all the destruction and death and devastation... It was too much. I think I was about 13 or 14 - old enough to know that such things were real, but not yet mature enough to put it into any kind of proper perspective. Images of bodies hitting the ground before their bones, images of flies on rotting carcasses, images of great natural upheavals... All of this filled my mind and caused me great distress.
Two things haunted me: first, how could God, our loving and kind Heavenly Father, allow such destruction? And second, how real are these things, anyway? I mean, how literally should we take them?
The first is an almost unanswerable question. It is a paradox that has troubled philosophers and thinkers for millennia. How can one reconcile the apparent disparity between good and evil in the presence of an all powerful and benevolent God? If God is benevolent and all powerful (which He is - those are two of His essential characteristics), He would not allow evil to exist, because evil causes sorrow and pain and suffering. Therefore, He must either not be as benevolent as one would hope, or He is not as powerful as one would assume, because evil does exist. But eliminating or even reducing such characteristics causes doubt and weakness to appear in our ability to believe in God. How can one have faith in a God who is potentially malicious and/or has weakness - or at least some inability? It seems incongruous...
Like I said, this has troubled many people for many, many years. People much smarter than me have puzzled over this paradox for a long time, some coming to rash decisions (it's a spurious argument - we can't understand God anyway) and some abandoning all hope and faith.
My own pea brain is still working through these questions, but I have come to understand a couple of things:
1. It is clear from anecdotal evidence as well as a whole panoply of the history of existence that bad things happen. Evil does exist. People get hurt, suffer reverses, and ultimately die. People also deliberately do bad things to others. Most do not, but some do. God allows this to happen. The "WHY" of all of this may not be known to us, any more than the ant crawling on the elephant can know what the elephant is. Sometimes the ant is on the sunny side of the elephant, enjoying the gentle breezes and warm sunshine. Other times the ant is in or near the cloaca of the beast, with all of its negative import. At any one point, the ant is definitely experiencing the elephant, but cannot perceive the entire animal. Any attempt at explanation to the ant would be fruitless and futile, because the ant simply cannot perceive any more than what it is currently experiencing.
We are very much as ants, crawling along a time-line. Our time line is limited in scope to what is in the past and what is in the present. We cannot look forward - at least, not very far. We make plans and have dreams, but we cannot see their ultimate fruition, nor do we often get to choose the paths that will take us there. Our perspective is thus very limited. Every evil, every hurt, every sorrow, every loss feels very personal and devastating. But what we are lacking in is the big-picture understanding of eternity and its nature. We cannot see beyond the next moment. We are just so very limited. God, however, is NOT so limited. He is able to perceive all the ends of all choices, and allows things to work for the ultimate best interest of His children. That means you. And that means me.
2. Because of this lack of perspective, things may appear as malicious while in fact may be benevolent. I am not going to elaborate on that idea. I think the statement speaks for itself. Besides, any attempt to provide example or elucidation would be trite to the point of ludicrousness.
3. Faith in God centers on a complete understanding of who He is, not of everything He knows. We simply cannot know everything He knows until we get to meet Him again and ASK him... We can know some things, and insights are gained through careful study and pondering and prayer. There is knowledge that can be gleaned through consistent application and effort. But we will never have the perspective that He has. We cannot - we are limited (at very least) by the physical nature of our bodies. True understanding and acceptance cannot come until we are freed from the fetters of our own physical mental condition. Spiritually, we may soar to great heights. But we are always going to be tethered to the ground. Which is actually a good thing, because it helps us focus on what is really important. And what is really important is really quite simple - family. That's it.
So - having said all of that, and if you're still with me....
Chapter 11 of Revelation includes many of the devastations that were so frightening to me as a youngster. It still does scare the pants off me, really... Which is a scary thought in and of itself... ;-)
It appears that there will be two people - alternately referred to in the chapter as witnesses (which implication seems obvious), olive trees (olive trees are a symbol of the house of Israel, of righteousness bearing fruit, and of strength and longevity), candlesticks (the light put on a candlestick that gives light to all that are in the house - from the sermon on the mount), and as prophets (also obvious). They are given great power - power over the elements, power over the armies surrounding Jerusalem, power over plagues. This power is the power of the priesthood.
We also know that their mouths will send forth fire. I believe this is not literal - it is symbolic of their testimonies and the power of their word. This would seem to hold true based on the pattern we've seen elsewhere in the scriptures where people were given very powerful words (Enoch, Moses, Isaiah, etc). They will testify for 1260 days, or about 3 1/2 years.
These guys will be killed and lie in the streets for three and a half days, after which they will be resurrected and rise up to heaven. During the three and a half days, the invading and sieging armies will party in the streets of Jerusalem, but then they will be hurt by earthquakes which will damage the tenth part of the city.
The chapter then goes on to talk about the seventh angel sounding, and declaring woe to the earth. Yet, the reaction is one of praise and joy, rather than of fear and despair. Perhaps these guys have a different perspective on things. I am reminded of Lehi's expression after he found out Jerusalem would be destroyed. It's in 1st Nephi 1 and starts in verse 13 -
13 And he read, saying: Wo, wo, unto Jerusalem, for I have seen thine abominations! Yea, and many things did my father read concerning Jerusalem—that it should be destroyed, and the inhabitants thereof; many should perish by the sword, and many should be carried away captive into Babylon.
14 And it came to pass that when my father had read and seen many great and marvelous things, he did exclaim many things unto the Lord; such as: Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens, and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; and, because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish!
15 And after this manner was the language of my father in the praising of his God; for his soul did rejoice, and his whole heart was filled, because of the things which he had seen, yea, which the Lord had shown unto him.
Do you see what I see? Lehi sees the destruction of Jerusalem, his own people and extended family, and the carrying away of many into captivity - yet he REJOICES! He goes on and on about how good and powerful and merciful God is. His whole heart is filled, it says. Hmmm... Maybe there was more to it than what we are given. Maybe there's perspective that is there that completes the picture for Lehi, where it leads him to understand more fully the mercy and goodness of God.
Maybe that's the perspective we (I) need to try to attain...
I was so scared. I learned about all the destruction and death and devastation... It was too much. I think I was about 13 or 14 - old enough to know that such things were real, but not yet mature enough to put it into any kind of proper perspective. Images of bodies hitting the ground before their bones, images of flies on rotting carcasses, images of great natural upheavals... All of this filled my mind and caused me great distress.
Two things haunted me: first, how could God, our loving and kind Heavenly Father, allow such destruction? And second, how real are these things, anyway? I mean, how literally should we take them?
The first is an almost unanswerable question. It is a paradox that has troubled philosophers and thinkers for millennia. How can one reconcile the apparent disparity between good and evil in the presence of an all powerful and benevolent God? If God is benevolent and all powerful (which He is - those are two of His essential characteristics), He would not allow evil to exist, because evil causes sorrow and pain and suffering. Therefore, He must either not be as benevolent as one would hope, or He is not as powerful as one would assume, because evil does exist. But eliminating or even reducing such characteristics causes doubt and weakness to appear in our ability to believe in God. How can one have faith in a God who is potentially malicious and/or has weakness - or at least some inability? It seems incongruous...
Like I said, this has troubled many people for many, many years. People much smarter than me have puzzled over this paradox for a long time, some coming to rash decisions (it's a spurious argument - we can't understand God anyway) and some abandoning all hope and faith.
My own pea brain is still working through these questions, but I have come to understand a couple of things:
1. It is clear from anecdotal evidence as well as a whole panoply of the history of existence that bad things happen. Evil does exist. People get hurt, suffer reverses, and ultimately die. People also deliberately do bad things to others. Most do not, but some do. God allows this to happen. The "WHY" of all of this may not be known to us, any more than the ant crawling on the elephant can know what the elephant is. Sometimes the ant is on the sunny side of the elephant, enjoying the gentle breezes and warm sunshine. Other times the ant is in or near the cloaca of the beast, with all of its negative import. At any one point, the ant is definitely experiencing the elephant, but cannot perceive the entire animal. Any attempt at explanation to the ant would be fruitless and futile, because the ant simply cannot perceive any more than what it is currently experiencing.
We are very much as ants, crawling along a time-line. Our time line is limited in scope to what is in the past and what is in the present. We cannot look forward - at least, not very far. We make plans and have dreams, but we cannot see their ultimate fruition, nor do we often get to choose the paths that will take us there. Our perspective is thus very limited. Every evil, every hurt, every sorrow, every loss feels very personal and devastating. But what we are lacking in is the big-picture understanding of eternity and its nature. We cannot see beyond the next moment. We are just so very limited. God, however, is NOT so limited. He is able to perceive all the ends of all choices, and allows things to work for the ultimate best interest of His children. That means you. And that means me.
2. Because of this lack of perspective, things may appear as malicious while in fact may be benevolent. I am not going to elaborate on that idea. I think the statement speaks for itself. Besides, any attempt to provide example or elucidation would be trite to the point of ludicrousness.
3. Faith in God centers on a complete understanding of who He is, not of everything He knows. We simply cannot know everything He knows until we get to meet Him again and ASK him... We can know some things, and insights are gained through careful study and pondering and prayer. There is knowledge that can be gleaned through consistent application and effort. But we will never have the perspective that He has. We cannot - we are limited (at very least) by the physical nature of our bodies. True understanding and acceptance cannot come until we are freed from the fetters of our own physical mental condition. Spiritually, we may soar to great heights. But we are always going to be tethered to the ground. Which is actually a good thing, because it helps us focus on what is really important. And what is really important is really quite simple - family. That's it.
So - having said all of that, and if you're still with me....
Chapter 11 of Revelation includes many of the devastations that were so frightening to me as a youngster. It still does scare the pants off me, really... Which is a scary thought in and of itself... ;-)
It appears that there will be two people - alternately referred to in the chapter as witnesses (which implication seems obvious), olive trees (olive trees are a symbol of the house of Israel, of righteousness bearing fruit, and of strength and longevity), candlesticks (the light put on a candlestick that gives light to all that are in the house - from the sermon on the mount), and as prophets (also obvious). They are given great power - power over the elements, power over the armies surrounding Jerusalem, power over plagues. This power is the power of the priesthood.
We also know that their mouths will send forth fire. I believe this is not literal - it is symbolic of their testimonies and the power of their word. This would seem to hold true based on the pattern we've seen elsewhere in the scriptures where people were given very powerful words (Enoch, Moses, Isaiah, etc). They will testify for 1260 days, or about 3 1/2 years.
These guys will be killed and lie in the streets for three and a half days, after which they will be resurrected and rise up to heaven. During the three and a half days, the invading and sieging armies will party in the streets of Jerusalem, but then they will be hurt by earthquakes which will damage the tenth part of the city.
The chapter then goes on to talk about the seventh angel sounding, and declaring woe to the earth. Yet, the reaction is one of praise and joy, rather than of fear and despair. Perhaps these guys have a different perspective on things. I am reminded of Lehi's expression after he found out Jerusalem would be destroyed. It's in 1st Nephi 1 and starts in verse 13 -
13 And he read, saying: Wo, wo, unto Jerusalem, for I have seen thine abominations! Yea, and many things did my father read concerning Jerusalem—that it should be destroyed, and the inhabitants thereof; many should perish by the sword, and many should be carried away captive into Babylon.
14 And it came to pass that when my father had read and seen many great and marvelous things, he did exclaim many things unto the Lord; such as: Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens, and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; and, because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish!
15 And after this manner was the language of my father in the praising of his God; for his soul did rejoice, and his whole heart was filled, because of the things which he had seen, yea, which the Lord had shown unto him.
Do you see what I see? Lehi sees the destruction of Jerusalem, his own people and extended family, and the carrying away of many into captivity - yet he REJOICES! He goes on and on about how good and powerful and merciful God is. His whole heart is filled, it says. Hmmm... Maybe there was more to it than what we are given. Maybe there's perspective that is there that completes the picture for Lehi, where it leads him to understand more fully the mercy and goodness of God.
Maybe that's the perspective we (I) need to try to attain...
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