Skip to main content

1 Nephi 22:10-11

"And I would, my brethren, that ye should know that all the kindreds of the earth cannot be blessed unless he shall make bare his arm in the eyes of the nations.  Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to make bare his arm in the eyes of all the nations, in bringing about his covenants and his gospel unto those who are of the house of Israel."

The Lord will make bare His holy arm in the eyes of the nations...to me this phrase speaks of the visibility of His power.  It will be clear that the Lord is leading his people.  It will be clear that His protecting, guiding, all-powerful arm is in control and that He is in the midst of the people - invested in the daily moments as well as the eternal plan.  To those who believe in Him and call on His name, His arm being made bare will be glorious and joyful.  To those who fight against Zion, it will be an awesome and terrible thing - one that fills with fear, dread, and trembling.  

There is only truth and everything else.  Pride leads to everything else.  I see His arm being made bare all around me.  As Isaiah tells us, the Lord will make war against His people.  He will lay siege against them and distress them until they are humbled and brought down to the dust.  The they will see the tenderness and the mercy of it all.  As I see the trials and troubles around me, I cannot help but rejoice that I am watching God make bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations.  The distressing of Ariel is glorious and beautiful when viewed through an eternal eye.

I don't know why, but these two verses really make me think of Isaiah 29 and the symbolism found there about how we heal and come to really have God in our hearts and not just on our outward parts.  Ariel is all a part of it.  Ariel (another name for Jerusalem which is symbolic of Zion which is symbolic of every person who takes upon them the name of Christ) is everything.  To Him, we are everything.  And He will distress us until we are brought down to the dust so that we can finally find that eternal voice within each of us that gives knowledge and understanding that is beyond human comprehension.  He distresses us until we find our Knowing. 

We go through these things that we may find Him.  That His arm may be revealed...or in other words, that we can see and understand things as they truly are - understanding truth from error and understanding doctrine.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My life ended 10 days ago and then it started again.

Cory. The first time I met him and he told me his name, five minutes later I called him "Cody." And that is how we began, with me hurting his feelings because I remembered the wrong name. Twenty years and 3 months and one day after that first meeting, he died. I can hardly believe the life I've lived in those 20 years...it seems we packed an eternity of experiences - both good and awful - into those two decades. We were engaged the day we met. Four months later we were married. Thirteen years later we divorced. Two years after that, we were married again. Four years (plus a little) later, divorced again. Ten months, three weeks, and five days later, he was dead. The first divorce, I didn't know it was mental illness. One moment he was loving and the best man I'd ever known. The next moment he was scary and someone I was afraid to be around. He would apologize and I would believe him when he told me he would not do it again. I would immediately extend trust
7 comments
Read more

Shifting the Blog

Hi friends.  Up to today, the blog has just been writing some of the thoughts I've written in the margins of my scriptures as I studied them.  This morning, however, I am feeling pulled to change this blog in a different direction. All of us have baggage from life.  Maybe we were abused.  Maybe we thought of ourselves  as abused.  Maybe we didn't have the kind of parents our friends had.  Maybe we had the perfect parents and still felt sad.  Maybe we were struggling with fitting in so much that we completely changed who we were and now have no idea how to find ourselves again.  Maybe we were so popular that we felt constant pressure to perform and live up to the expectations of those around us.  Maybe life is lovely and we feel ungrateful because there is this nagging feeling that something is missing - but life is good and all of our needs are met.  Maybe we feel like our best isn't enough no matter what we do.  Maybe we feel lonely.  Maybe we feel neglected.  Maybe we f
3 comments
Read more

Masculine and Feminine

Having experienced much of what could be termed abuse in my life, I have sought deeply to understand the truth of man and woman that I might heal and have whole relationships.  There are some truths which are hard to hear and some truths which cause rejoicing when heard.  The particular truths I desire to share here, if a person is not ready to hear them, will sound very wrong and hard to hear.  So before you read further, I ask that you pause and consider whether or not you are willing and ready to read my words as I intend them, giving them my meaning and not adding your own on top of them.  If you are not in a healthy space with masculine and feminine truths, if there is bitterness or anger in you, please pause and consider coming back to this post another time.  Otherwise, this post may incite you and cause anger to rise in your heart because you won't be ready to understand the true meaning of these words. That very long disclaimer said, if you choose to continue to read, I
1 comment
Read more