OCR Text |
Show t ' ' ' V -sV t s acs'-a3 .r S: c B,csoS ai 2c-!L5s- - (r-- sa cr ?aa ( (T i St THE DESERET NEWS, SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 1935.) Sortie (Contributions of Modern Revelation To The Understanding of The Bible : . Y B. SPERRY DR. SIDNE Brigham Young University alter the a -. SOME thro otyear dot), the Father, p- and the son to Joseph Smith, the young bog Prophet had another vlaktauoa loom the heavenly realm. on the evening ot thfe It happened ot twenty-fir- st September. 123, when he called upon God In pra.er and supplication that he might know hi state and standing before bis Maker. The earnest petition was granted and ar glorious white-robe- d Messenger appeared to him. In the words of the Prophet, "Me called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence 8 Qod to me, and that his name was Moroni, work Cor me to do , that Clod had aname should be had that my and Cor good and evil among all nations, (kindreds and tongues, or evil that it should be bath good andMorpokes of among all people." oni went on to tell the young man of a hidden record, written on gold plates, that revealed the secrets ot the history of the ancient Inhabitants of this continent. It also f contained the tallness ot the Gospel hs delivered by the Christ to then we call the i This people. Monk .'of Mprmon. The angelic visitor explained, too, that there were two atones In dil-- " Ver bows and those stones, fastened to a breastplate, constituted whet IS called the Urim and Thutftmlna deposited with the plates; and the possession and use i of these stones were what constituted "seers in ancient or form time; and that Ood had .pre- ' ' An IMnsdrotfcw When, some years later Joseph Smith was translating the gold ptatea Into English, by means at the Urim and Thonunlm, ha cams to the following remarkable portion at a conversation of two man in the Book of Most ah Chapter 1: now Ammon said unto him; "I can as- -, tell theta O at n auredly assn that oen translate Xing, the records; for he has wherewith that ha can look and tra estate all records that are of ancient date; and It ts a gift from Gad. And tha things aro called interpreters;, endno man can look into than exoept ha ho commanded, leet ha should look for that ho aught net and he should perish, aad whosoever hi commanded to look Ip them, tho seme to called see. , . . And Amman said that a - seer la a rovoMtsr and a prophet also, and gift which la greats can na man haee. except ha should possess tha power of Gad. which na naan teas; yet a men may have great , power gives Mm front Gad. Bat a , seer own know of thing that aro ' past, sad eleo at things which are ta earns, sad ov them- shall ad . things ha revealed, or Esther, shall v aarret things be mad manifest, and hidden, thing rsras to light, and f i ' ars understand Joel's predictions in the way the heavenly messenger explained them. Most of the commentators who write about the deal ot Mine prophet spend a great of his book arguing about the date and "apocand its "eschatology" without apparently comalyptic waa Joel that the (net prehending hoe given this commandment: And t give unto yss - . , a commandment that yon assemble yourselves together, and argon ins yourselves, and prepasa youraslves, and sanctify youxoetvos; yea, purify your hearts, and cleans your heads and your feet before me, that I may make yea clean; That I may testify ante your Father, and year God. and my God. that yon are clean from tha blood of thin wicked annotation; that I may fulfill this promise, this , great and last promise, which 1 have made vote you, when I will. dine, I give unto yvn a commandment that ye shall ceatinue la prayer and fasting freta this tho forth. (Doctrine and Cove- Its associated fast FASTING and I a unique Institution 1 -- thing which are not knewa shall he made known bv them, and also things shall ha made known by them which otherwise eould not he known. Thus God has provided a means that emaa, through faith, might work mighty miracle; there- fore he become th a great benefit bis fellow beings." t Tha dear gtatoment I have guot- ed v makes abundantly luminous many pa mages la the Bible relating to the functions of Urim and Thummlm and the power af the ever ot old. Some years after tha - publication of the Boon of Mormon, af Jeeph Smith translated a portion a naoyrua that .contained some " writings of-brsham. the father of the faithful, fit chapter three, verse one, af the English version tt is recorded. And I Abraham had th Urim and Thummlm. which the Lord mv God had given. unto me.. In Ur of the Chaldees " It waa probably no mere coincidence, therefore, when 0 Savior declared to ta tho Church. Thl fact t freely granted by all wia know aboet this Institution Ita nature sad purpose. Fat as where else aan this institution ha found as It exist ta tha Church af Jesus Christ at Lot. ter-da-g Batata. As found her, tt tact tea tha admiration af tha staaagnr who learns nbeut tt. Ot mwss faUng volunsory from nourUhaneat ea a reiigloiM acramnt has bean pracmere ar lose from tha vary tised earliest af time. Ancient Israal seel; understood the principle af tha Jsns ef a fasting. And na did later date Tha observe sate, however. anew oft time tv have become an lnlneer formality, practiced as a shew, as wit as what Jesus said ta hta dleetpl: When ye fast, ha net. a tho hypocrites. of a sad countenance; faces; that far they disfigure their men ta fast may appear unto they . . . Bat thou- - when thou fastest. Mint thine head, and. wash thy that than appear net vote face; men ts fast, bet unto thy Father, which hi la secret; and thy Fath- ar, which aeeth la secret, shat) re- : ward the apenlr. ' (Matthew The purpose ef fasting la ancient Israel tn Indicated by these words ef th Prophet-Joe- l: Therefore also now. saith the lard, tiro ye evenwithto me with all your heart, and fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning-Anrend your heart, and not your garment, and turnla unto th Lord your God; for he gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and et great kindness and he will turn away the evil from you. (Joel 2 2 ) In this dispensation tho laird , .. , have proclaims these prophecies only in part been fulfilled since Moroni a appearance, but that still greater Inevents are shortly to take complete fulfillment of place Isatahs predictions. 1 shall refer to another passage of Scripture that-- was explained by the angelic visitor Joseph Smith states. "He also quoted tho second of Joel, from the twenty-eiaht- h chapter verse to the last. He also said that this was not yet fulfilled but was soon to be." Note that Moroni evidently knew the events mentioned tn the verses he quoted were to take place prior to the terto use an rible day of the Lord expression of Joels The latter ts doubtless a reference to the second advent of the Messiah. It is Interesting to note that few schol- of the most fasrin-aiin- g writing of some themes of the gospel, via tha troubles of the house of Israel its advent redemption, the coming of the Lord tn gtory. and certain events to precede it, a time of judgimnt and seventual peaee. Tho that sngel Moroni explanation the above mention-passages were soon to be fulfilled makes the Book ef Joel a book of warning to this and Judgment generation. A Orest Contribution I From what have already said It must be apparent that one of the greatest contributions of modern revelation to the understanding of the Bible is the teaching that the gospel- - Christianity if yon please waa tn the world from the days of the great patriarchs. All the great prophets of the told Testament understood the plan of sal. vntion and looked forward to the advent of the Savior lit Thd flesh and his sacrifice for the sins of the A number of them looked world aeen, forward, as we have already to events far beyond our own day. When Joseph Smith, translated the of Mormon this teaching Book was made very clear Thus a certain prophet by the name of Jacob, after explaining he waa writing for the benefit of cotn'-- g generationa aays For, for this intent have we written these things, that we may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of hta glory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope ef hts glory hut also all the holy prophets which were before us. Behold believed In they t 'Print and worshiped the Father la hta name .and fha we worship the Father In his name And for this intent we keep the law of Moses It pointing our souls to him; and for this cause it la sanctified unto us for righteousness, even a It was accounted unto Abraham tn the wilderness to be obedient unto the commands of God in offering up his eon Isaac, which la a similitude of God and hts only Begotten Bon." (Jacob 4. The Book of Mormon points out the reason such teaching la not more clehrly given in our Btbto of is that, following the death meet ef the Apostles in the fird century A.U., many parts of tla scriptures at first easy to under d -- Continued On Page Seven) Fasting and The Church i . Events of the Latter Bays careful reading of tha eleventh Isaiah tn the Ught ot chapter ofbeen said, will show that what has Moroni waa trying to Impress on the young prophet the Importance ot certain great events to take place tn the relatively near future. The dispersed of Israel were to be and there was to be ushgathered ered In that golden age ter which prophets and seers have looked, the Millennial era. when peace and righteousness shall abound on the The part the Prophet earth the Joseph Smith was to play In waa unfolding of this great drama The Church doubtless explained. A ' pared them for the purpose ot translating the look." The atten tton of the Bible student la Immediately riveted on this statement,Bible scholars have never fully understeod the exact functiea and use of the Urim and Thununtra as n- -. tloned la the sacred text. Moroni's explanation la enlightening and ot the greatest Interest. of the Stem of Jessed 4 Behold, thusfh saith the lord" the heads of It Is a servant Christ, who Is partly a descendant of Jesse as well as of Kphraira or of the house ot Joseph, on whom there Is laid Irnui h power. 5 the toot of Jesse What spoken of in the 10th verse et' the 11th chapter? I, Behold, thus saith the It ia a descendant of Jesse, as well as of Joseph, unto whom rightly belongs the priesthood, and the key of the kingdom, for an ensign, and for the gathering of my people In the hta days. let. t6 -- or , the Jews, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it. and was glad." (John 5) As seer, Abraham was given power 'a -- to discern the ministry of the Savior centuries be fobs His earthly advent. Make Scriptures d Moroni, the heavenly teacher, made many important scripture plain to the mind ot Joseph Smith. Among others he Quoted a number of prophecies from the Old Testament. The Prophet says he quoted of Maipart of the third ne h i and also the chapter fourth "chapter with some variation from the way It read in our present Bibles Modern revelation make clear that these Chapters refer to the future advent in the glory of yet Christ, the deliverance of Israel and the Of Elijah the Prophet to derouting liver the keys of the powera of the Priesthood, sosealing for the redemption of thenecessary and living the dead Indeed Moroni made manifest to Joseph Smith the extrema Importance of tlio laat chapters of Malachl. From this inforpiation we Infer that most scholars have not understood Malachls message. fully The great Hebrew prophet waa thoroughly conversant with the greatest themes of the goapel, as Moroni , explained. lsatah Explained The fact that Moroni also quoted , the - eleventh chapter of Isaiah ought to call our attention to It, Joseph Smith was told it was about, to be fulfilled. In March. 133. the prophet explained certain matters pertalnidg to this chapter. Hta explanations arel- -, published In Section 113. verses of the Doctrine and Covenants, one of the standard books of aertptura of tha Church ot Jesus Christ of tatter-da- y Saints We quote the portion mentioned which la given In the form of question and answers, I. Who Is the. Stem of Jesse In the let, 2d, 3d, ttk spekea of and sUt verse ot the lltb chapter ot Isaiah T 2. Verity thus saith the Lord; It t Uhrtnt. 3. What H the rod a pokes of In the first versa of the 11th chapter of Isaiah, that should become RADIO ADDRESS SUNDAY, M U. 18, 135 KAL. :M P. M. ,i Cburcla Department - ld-is- .1 d , 12-1- . nants Ik 7 Thus fastteg. properly done. Is a factor la bringing about a condition ot repentance and humility and a aoftealag of feelings toward fellow men. It la a means therefore, of subjecting tha flash to tho developing spirit of spiritual power; heaee tha reason why the Lord ha commanded us to observe the fast. i New. associated with the fast la the requirement to gtv an offering to the ward ar branch ot a value equal to the cost of the two meals passed aver by the fast. And, as ia well known, according to th Church pattern, tha acceptable fast ot the regular monthly fast day is complete abstinence from the morning and noon meats fasting from Baturday evening until late Sunday afternoon. The monetary value ol the two meals thus passed ever constitutes the fas offering, which to help is given to the branch maintain th worthy poor of the This method of gthtlng Church means to support the poor works a hardship an no one And all who have foot! can afford th offering, for it eoste them nothing they give what they have saved tn cost ot food.. And, tn normnl times, where the members faithfully give their faat offerings there t enough to feed the poor. This system ef means to support the poor getting ia simple, and. where futly observed, is usually ample. It is therefor unique. To get an offering that all ta tho Church can afford to make is ana purpose et the fast day. But it is not the chtef purpose, for lasting was commanded many yearn before th offering was made 4 regshtr the spiritual requirement. Hence value of fasting tn the proper way tn even of greater worth then the offering. It must be remembered, however, that there Is much spiritual value In giving sn offering In n willing and cheerful sy. Further, fasting should always be nccompanierd by sincere, humble prayer by an offering ot self unto the Lord Fasting is a method of developing a feeling; ef humility of nearness to the Lord, of repentence from wrong doing, ot overcoming selfishness and ill feeling toward others The spirit of fasting is therefore the spirit ef humility. ef forgiveness and of love. Sharing giving an offering Is on manifestation of the spirit of true Ihe value of genfasting Hence uine fasting Is so great that th Lord has commanded all the members of His Church to observe the regular monthly fast day. Special fast days are alo ooasionally named. when occasions stem to require To engage in a proper last them wuh the right motives and a prayerful spir.l la to do a saint-lik- e and spiritu illy helpful a t Let all saints remember to fa t pray and Joseph give an offering tnonthlv ar F Meirlll, In the Millennial rrXs |