“the Lord
slayeth the wicked”
-some
mortals burdened with a limited view of our place in the heavenly family and
the nature of eternal existence will declare God to be a cruel tyrant. They forget to recognize that we came into
being by his declaration and only continue to exist by his selfless
charity. Neither do they understand that
mortal death is such an insignificant pause in the eternal time line of
personality. It was his will that gave
us life and it is his will (whenever and wherever) to usher us into the next
stage of that life. Furthermore He has
ordained directions by which we must follow to insure our continued sojourn in
mortality. When we decided to depart
from such laws it is with the recognition that we no longer enjoy the
guarantees of his protecting and prospering hand. If we then work to impede his work by
opposing His designs to ensure the immortality and eternal life of man, how can
we assume any possible pardon from his hand removing us from the way that
others must travel to the celestial city?
The commandments He has given to man are to lead them to that eternal
destination. If one of the those
commandments impedes rather than facilitates that goal it may and must be
stepped over. The commandments are not
ends unto themselves but means to an end and if, like the law of Moses, they
are viewed as simply ends, we are in danger of going astray.
“to bring about his righteous purposes…”
-we know
that God has the right and authority to slay the wicked and here we find out
why he will slay the wicked: He does not
do it out of anger or for trivial/petty matters. He will remove his children from this life,
as with all things he does, for the sake of righteousness to “bring to pass the
immortality and eternal life of man.”
“it is better
that… than…”
-this is
a weighting out of celestial matters (which are inseparably connected to
earthly matters) where one less fortune/desirable, even otherwise prohibited
act is permitted for a greater benefit.
-this
phrase reveals one of the difficult truths of life. There are some things that are clearly black
and white, some things that are very straightforward but there are many
decisions, circumstances and situations of degrees. This is clearly illustrated by many who have
discussed the concept of “good, better, best”.
Some of the more advanced decisions of life follow the logic of “it is
better than __(insert action here)____ than ___(insert consequence of inaction
here)___. Nephi faces such a situation here.
Adam and Eve faced a similar situation in the Garden of Eden. The Savior faced a very consequential
decision in the garden of Gethseomane. In these situations we are forced to reveal
not only the measure of our discipleship but also the depth of our spiritual
understanding. The things/values of
mortality come directly ino conflict with the things/values of eternity.
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