NEXT WEEK—LAST CLASS
Exodus 18-20 (21-23)
SYMBOL OF THE CROSS
“In contrast to the unchanging doctrinal importance of Christ’s Crucifixion, how Christians generally, and Latter-day Saints specifically, have viewed the image of the cross has varied over time. In other words, the meaning of the visual symbol of the cross is more cultural than doctrinal. Historically, some have viewed the cross as a symbol of death to be avoided. Others have seen it as a representation of Christ’s triumph over death, a symbol of love, or an image of suffering that comforts us in pain.”
“As Christians throughout America embraced the cross as a symbol of Christianity, the restored Church was largely isolated in the Intermountain West and did not participate in this near-universal adoption of the cross. However, the image of the cross was not forbidden among early Latter-day Saints. Although not as common as in other Christian traditions, Latter-day Saint marriage certificates, quilts, and funeral programs sometimes featured crosses, as did the 1852 European edition of the Doctrine and Covenants.”
“[Presiding] Bishop Joseph L. Wirthlin called me by telephone and asked me the Church’s position on the following question: He stated that he had been asked today if it would be proper for L.D.S. girls to purchase crosses to wear. It is Bishop Wirthlin’s understanding that there is a company downtown which is pushing the selling of these crosses to girls. I told Bishop Wirthlin that this is purely Catholic and Latter-day Saint girls should not purchase and wear them. I stated further that this was a Catholic form of worship. They use images, crosses, etc. Our worship should be in our hearts.”
“I do not wish to give offense to any of my Christian brethren who use the cross on the steeples of their cathedrals and at the altars of their chapels, who wear it on their vestments, and imprint it on their books and other literature. But for us, the cross is the symbol of the dying Christ, while our message is a declaration of the living Christ. . . . The lives of our people must become the only meaningful expression of our faith and, in fact, therefore, the symbol of our worship.”
Hilton III, John. Considering the Cross: How Calvary Connects Us with Christ (p. 13). Deseret Book Co. Kindle Edition.
Y RELIGION PODCAST WITH JOHN HILTON III
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/y-religion/id1497439581?i=1000464341960
THE RESTORED GOSPEL’S RADICAL PERSPECTIVE ON ATONEMENT AND GRACE
“One does not come to a belief in Christ’s atonement because of any logical argumentation about agency, justice, or scriptural assertions of sin and salvation. We come, if we arrive at all, because of a felt need about our own deep insufficiency. The poet George Herbert prayed that “if goodness lead me not, yet weariness may toss me to thy breast.”
Even from the valleys of uncertainty, I am profoundly and deeply moved by the specter of a young, itinerant Galilean rabbi who two thousand years ago willingly offered himself up to barbaric execution, enduring unspeakable torment, because he believed that by so doing he was offering me, personally, respite from the pains and humiliations and failures and wounds of my life, whether inflicted by others or by my own deliberate, foolish choices. As the Book of Mormon testified would happen, I find myself “drawn” to this unparalleled act of grace and kindness to me. (2 Nephi: 26:24)
When I contemplate that this was no deluded Jewish peasant making this generous sacrifice, but a being of premortal glory and divinity, that sacrifice assumes a transformative power. If, as Augustine held, absolute love is the only irresistible force in the universe, the atonement of Christ is its most perfect manifestation.”
Terryl Givens, Faith Matters, March 2019
THE MULTITUDE ESCAPING EGYPT
“Evidence suggests that those who made up the Israelite host were not all direct descendants of Jacob’s twelve sons. The narrative reads, ‘A mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.’ (Exodus 12:38) In addition to the Israelites, the slaves conscripted by the Egyptians likely included other Semitic people from Canaan who came to Egypt at various times for numerous reasons such as famine and greater opportunities available under the Hyksos’ regime. Egyptian texts and art portray a variety of Semitic people among their enslaved groups.
Surprisingly, some Egyptians also appear to have been included in the Israelite camp. For example, Asenath, wife of Joseph, was likely an Egyptian though she may have been of Semite lineage. Undoubtedly, many converts to the camp of Israel were picked up after they encounter Moses’ people in the wilderness. Disenfranchised people, attracted by the stability, unity, religion and leadership in the Israelite camp would have contributed to the diversity and potential strength of the ‘mixed multitude.’ Lacking unifying beliefs and a strong tribal identity, this host of people began the transformation from a conglomeration of slaves to an organized covenant community led by Moses.”
“Logistical issues suggest that the number of people involved would have been closer to a few thousand men, women, and children rather than the six hundred thousand men of fighting age, plus women and children, noted in the biblical narrative (Exodus 12:37). It is difficult to imagine the area of Goshen and later Sinai supporting a population in the millions. Furthermore, an army of six hundred thousand could have overthrown any opposing force in that day, including the Egyptians. Instead of standing up to Pharaoh’s army, we see the Israelites cringe before them. Similarly, a caravan of two to three million people with their flocks and herds and other beings would extend over a greater distance than the miles between their starting place and the Red Sea, and yet the entire multitude crossed the Red Sea in one night, all the while staying out of the reach of an army of speeding chariots. More likely the recorded number of six hundred thousand men of fighting age is hyperbole, a scribal error, or an indication of Israel’s future numbers when they would become the great empire of the ancient Near East.”
Camille Fronk-Olsen, Women of the Old Testament, pg. 96
DR. KERRY MUHLESTEIN VIDEO ON EXODUS ROUTE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP0AwqZejcA&list=PL_oQcvVR477wAsp1XsOO-Ubyx8IC4y36T&index=13
THE DIVINE WARRIOR
“A savior is someone who saves you when you need saving and you cannot save yourself. And for Israel and many situations that means a man of war or a divine warrior, someone who will fight your battles for you. That gives us so much confidence and so much peace. We live in a society of anxiety and fear when we only have faith in a loving God, but not a saving God. We need a God who loves us enough to want to save us and who is powerful enough and willing to save us. Saving us sometimes means delivering us from oppression. We should be grateful that we have a God who will fight for us and will conquer.
If we don’t have faith in that kind of a God, we can’t have faith in salvation. We won’t find peace in this life; instead we will find fear. [If we do not have faith in a loving and divine warrior God] we find comfort from being loved and yet, fear because we aren’t sure of deliverance.”
Dr. Kerry Muhlestein, The Scriptures are Real Podcast, Episode #47
PROPHET
“Authors of the accounts in the Bible often use prophet in a more general sense that easily includes women. Biblical prophets and prophetesses poses the gift of prophecy, one of the numerous gifts of the Spirit, but are not authorized with keys to direct the affairs of God’s church. Prophetesses and prophets are endowed with the spiritual knowledge that Jesus is the Christ; they then bear that witness by the same Spirit. More than predicting future events, prophets and prophetesses deliver God’s message of warning or direction pertaining to current situations, a message that can have a profound effect on an entire population.
All Israelite women were not given the title of prophetess, nor was the title assigned because a woman was married to a prophet or other important man in society. Only one of the seven biblical women called ‘prophetess’ in the Bible was married to a prophet, as we use the term today. That woman was Isaiah’s wife. She must have received a personal witness of the Savior and may have been given a confirming witness to that of her husband’s. Thus the title of prophetess speaks more about the woman herself. Women were qualified as true prophetesses by their faith in the Savior’s atonement rather than by marriage to a righteous man.”
Camille Fronk-Olsen, Women of the Old Testament, pg. 83-85
MIRIAM
“The future is unknown. The wounds of slavery were still fresh, the journey to this moment had been filled with crushed hopes.
On the cusp of this new season in the life of the people of Israel, she leads her people in worship. Her song sits at the moment from being enslaved people to being a people of the covenant. Her song ushers in a new identity for the people of God. No longer bound by oppressive powers they would now be known as a people of a God of liberation.
Miriam’s leadership was birthed out of liminal moments. The in-between moments of life and death. Oppression and deliverance. From being silenced by a system to breaking out in song. She was also a witness to God’s covenantal love and provision, the ways in which God whispered affirmations of God’s love over the people of God.
She was a prophetic voice who was part of God’s plan for deliverance.
Jennifer Geurra-Aldana, She Is...Biblical Reflections on Vocation, Fuller De Pree Center
ELDER D. TODD CHRISTOFFERSON VIDEO
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