Sunday, April 27, 2008

Love and Mercy: 3 Nephi 22:4-10


4 Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to shame; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
5 For thy maker, thy husband, the Lord of Hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel—the God of the whole earth shall he be called.
6 For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee.
8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.
9 For this, the waters of Noah unto me, for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee.
10 For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.

(Book of Mormon | 3 Nephi 22:4 - 10)

The House of Israel will not be put to shame in the last days, and she will no longer remember the reproach of her youth or widowhood. This is talking about how the children of Israel turned away from the Lord, and were subsequently brought into bondage by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. The reproach of her widowhood is in reference to how the Jews did not accept the Savior when he lived among them. Jesus Christ is their maker, their husband, the Holy One of Israel.

He will remember the covenant that He made with Abraham, and though the Israelites rejected their God, and by doing so, put themselves into bondage, still He will be merciful to them and fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant. He will redeem His chosen people with everlasting kindness and mercy.

2 comments:

Tristi Pinkston said...

I had this very picture of Christ on a little card when I was a child. It was one of my favorite possessions. Thanks for the good memory.

Dan Olsen said...

Tristi - you're welcome. I went to Google images and typed in the Savior, and then looked for the picture that I think best showed "Love and Mercy." This picture was it.

Speaking of taking pictures from other people's websites...I downloaded to my hard drive the picture you took of me at the ANWA conference.

I'm currently on a diet, and I'm using that photo as my "before" image. I'm hoping that the "after" image looks much better. I'm down about 30 lbs. from the time your picture was taken, but I still have a ways to go.