The Promised Land, part 1
I must admit to being more than concerned about the current direction the nation is taking right now, both politically and morally. Lest you think this is just an anti-Obama sentiment, I would have expressed these thoughts even before the election, but I will admit that the acceleration in our movement has noticeably increased since the inauguration.
A few years ago I was starting to get fed up with the mainstream political discussion, so I decided I needed to more deeply investigate my own political philosophies. I decided to explore what the Lord had so say on the subject, and found what I consider to be the main points of political direction that stood out to me in the scriptures:
- The curse of the Promised Land
- The inspired nature of the US Constitution
- The general condemnation of war
In this post, I’d like to talk a little about the Promised land.
The Book of Mormon is the main source of knowledge that we have about the nature of the promised land. In the Book of Mormon, we have the records of two different civilizations being led to this land with promises and covenants. We also have record of the failure of both people to live up to the requirements of residence on this land, and the eventual consequences.
In Ether 2, we find these promises as given to the Jaredites:
8 And he had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them.
9 And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.
10 For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off.
It is interesting to note that the blessing of the promised land is given in the form of a curse. There are 3 instances in these verses where the Lord tells us that the consequence of wickedness in this land is that the people will be “swept off” We see this fulfilled in the stories of both the Nephites and the Jaredites, both of which enjoyed many years of prosperity only to finally reach that level of iniquity that the curse of God came upon them and they were removed from the land.
We need to remember, though, that this book was given for us in our day as a witness and a warning. The next verse says:
11 And this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God—that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done.
Mormon then reiterates one more time the nature of this blessing and curse which rest upon the inhabitants of the land.
12 Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written.
This blessing is a conditional promise. When I read this verse, I see the word if as the most important. We can only claim the blessing of Lord in this land “IF we serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ.”
It is important to note that we sometimes only think of these promises as relating to the US, but the promises we are speaking of are not limited to the nation that comprises the Unites States of America, but extends throughout both North and South America. All people in the promised land are under the charge to serve and worship Christ.
Posted by Ben on Sun Jul 19th 2009 at 11:35 AM #