18 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion.
19 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
20 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God.
(3 Nephi 16:18-20)
After teaching the people how to make good decisions in their daily lives, the Savior began to discuss God’s work on a much larger scale. He informed His audience that they were the “other sheep” He had mentioned to His disciples in Israel during His mortal ministry. He described a future day when the Gentiles would share the gospel with the children of Israel. Then, He began to describe some potential future scenarios:
- If the Gentiles fall away from the gospel because of pride, then God will bring the fullness of the gospel to the house of Israel (3 Nephi 16:10-12).
- If the Gentiles then repent and return to the Savior, they will be adopted into the house of Israel (3 Nephi 16:13-14).
- If they do not repent, they will be destroyed, and Israel will inherit the promised land (3 Nephi 16:15-16).
In conclusion, the Savior quoted the passage above from Isaiah, which is the same passage Abinadi had previously explained to the priests of King Noah (Mosiah 12-16). This passage describes a future day when everyone will be unified, when the wrongs of the past will be made right, and when everyone will clearly see the hand of God in their deliverance.
“The Lord hath made bare his holy arm,” said Isaiah. His arm may be covered today, but it will one day be visible to us all. We may have a hard time seeing His hand in our lives at a given point in time. Like Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail, we may sometimes feel as though a pavilion separates us from Him. (See D&C 121:1-3.) But His arm is always there, and in the end, we will all see it.
Today, I will trust in the time when I will fully see the arm of God in my life and in the world. I will remember that, even as God honors our agency by giving us space to make choices, He remains in power. He will honor His promises, and He will correct every wrong. I will move forward in faith, knowing that His purposes will be fulfilled in the end.
Hey Paul,
I was just talking about this very thing with Jessica the other night. We all go through peaks and valleys during the course of our lives; where our faith is tested and may even sometimes waver. I am not sure where I heard this one time, but it was something close to “when your faith fails you, obedience will get you through.” I believe that. Staying true to the principles of the gospel, regardless of your circumstance gives you strength. I think it has to do with the fact that we have had spiritual experiences that have helped our testimony grow, and by following the example of the Savior, allows us easier access to those memories and experiences. “Remember, Remember” so that when it gets tough we have a bank to pull from to keep our heart and mind in the game. Obedience helps us stay focused even when the natural man sneaks in and tries to take over…You are a software guy right?…I think obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel are our firewall to committing grievous sins…We can’t always leave it to our faith, we have all had the Peter complex, and denied the hand of the Lord in our lives, but obedience is an outward expression to ourselves, the world, and to our Father in heaven of an inward commitment and testimony that we have felt the Spirit of God and know the truth.
I really like that idea of obedience being a firewall for our faith. Thanks for sharing your insights!