Latest / Scripture Central / Exodus 19-34 I THE FOOT OF SINAI I Handmaidens, Harems and Heroines I Lynne Hilton Wilson

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Exodus 19-34 I THE FOOT OF SINAI I Handmaidens, Harems and Heroines I Lynne Hilton Wilson · Scripture Central

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But they hardened their hearts and could not enter His rest
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while in the wilderness. And then the Lord defines what
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rest means, which rest is the fullness of His glory.
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This is a wonderful definition. Use this word throughout all
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scripture. The rest of the Lord is the
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fullness of His glory. I'm so grateful for the Joseph
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Smith translation to realize that the higher law was
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originally given and that's why he was welcoming the people to
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climb the mount and enter into his presence, but they could not
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receive it. They did not have Shalom.
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Welcome back to Scripture Central.
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I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson. I'm here to talk about Exodus 19
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through 34. Now on the Come Follow Me
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program. We only have 7 chapters, but
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there's some fabulous chapters on the women in between there.
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So I'm just going to add in a few tidbits as we look at the
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hared maidens and the harems and the heroines.
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And we're going to look at a lot more women than just those 3
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today in this brief overview of this wonderful time in the
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biblical story of the Exodus from Egypt as the children of
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Israel are making their way to Sinai.
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And this chapter talks about women becoming prepared to enter
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the presence of the Lord, women and men and children purifying
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themselves, becoming sanctified. I love these chapters.
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I think they apply to our own lives.
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Now. I feel like we again are at the
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foot of Sinai and the Lord is petitioning us, begging us,
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calling us to climb the mountain.
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We have two traditional sites for Sinai, and it may be
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someplace else entirely. 1 is clear over on the side of Midian
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by across the Red Sea, and the other is a little closer to
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Egypt down in the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula.
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I I'm not going to worry about the archaeology.
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I'm going to worry about the text.
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And then hopefully the more we dig and the more we find, the
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more information we can have to stand up and build up the
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information we have in the Bible.
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But these children of Israel arrived at Sinai about two
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months after Passover. It says that it's the first day
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of the third month. So usually we refer to the time
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when Moses goes up to Sinai and sees the Lord again after the
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Israelites are with him as a Pentecost, and that's celebrated
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as the Feast of Weeks or 7 * 7 or the 50th day after Passover.
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But God calls all the Israelites to come unto him, and I love the
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way this is set stated in Exodus 19/6.
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He says, come unto me, a Kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
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Now in the ancient world we always identified this as a
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singular male calling a Kingdom of priests.
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But in the Restoration, the whole purpose of the restoration
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is to build a Kingdom of priests and priestesses to prepare the
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way for the Lord's second coming, to gather Israel, to
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redeem Zion, and to have the nations of the world exposed to
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our Savior Jesus Christ. We are doing the same thing that
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these Israelites were trying to do, and I hope that you can feel
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a connection with them in these chapters.
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So the Lord commands Moses to tell them that they they have to
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do this purification ritual. It includes washing their
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clothes and, and being sanctified.
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And the same word for purify is in Hebrew at least, is sanctify
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or consecrate hope to become holy, to make clean.
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And so they're going for three days to go through this
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purification process. I absolutely love it.
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You know, sometimes people go through dietary cleansings and
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and things like that, but this is a spiritual cleansing.
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And on the third day, the Israelites, the men and women
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and children were to enter into the presence of the Lord.
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And Moses added, come not at your wives.
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So for some reason in this ancient general sentiment, there
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was a ceremonial uncleanliness even in a chaste marital
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relationship. But they said, let's have
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abstinence for three days. So we are completely focusing on
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our God. And this ritual purification
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then continues on. And we're told in verse 11 that
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the Lord will come down in the sight of the people upon the
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mount. And in restored Scripture it's
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repeated that Moses sought diligently to sanctify the
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people that they might behold the face of God.
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This is section 84. This is the oath and covenant of
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the priesthood. That's verse 23 that says God
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was trying to not just sanctify Moses, but all of the people
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were to enter into his presence and it didn't happen.
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And then one of my happiest verses is chapter 19, verse 8,
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when all the people, the children of Israel all responded
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together. We will do everything the Lord
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has said. We have a unified people that
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want to do this. We will do everything the Lord
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has said is the NIV translation. And that's how I hope you're
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feeling right now when I raise my hand to sustain the prophet,
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not only in general conferences, but in ward conferences and in
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weekly church services and in my temple service.
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I hope that we as a people can feel that same unity.
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I want to do everything God has commanded and I feel unity with
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those of you who can raise your voice and say the same.
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In Exodus chapter 19 verse 9 to 11 in the NIV it reads that the
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Lord said unto Moses, I'm going to come to you in a dense cloud
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so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will
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always put their trust in you. This is wonderful as someone who
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seeks the Spirit. It is a rare and beautiful event
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when I actually hear words, but to be able to hear the prophets
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counsel from God would have been so awesome.
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And but the Lord also instructs Moses.
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I don't want them to rush up to the cloud.
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So set a boundary around the mountain and tell the people not
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to come up. Be careful.
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That's in verse 12. And Moses then for these three
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days sanctifies the people. You know, they're they're
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washing their clothes, they're preparing to meet God.
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And then in verse 17, it says Moses brought forth the people
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out of the camp to meet with God.
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Going back to this oath and covenant of the priesthood,
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Doctrine Covenant, section 84, verse 23, this is when Moses
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sought diligently to sanctify the people.
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Skipping down a little bit, it says, But they hardened their
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hearts and could not enter His rest while in the wilderness.
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And then the Lord defines what rest means, which rest is the
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fullness of His glory. This is a wonderful definition.
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Use this word throughout all scripture.
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The rest of the Lord is the fullness of His glory.
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This is especially interesting to me as we look at our Sabbath
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worship a little bit later. But in verse 20, the Lord comes
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down upon the mount of Sinai, and the top of the mountain of
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the Lord calls Moses up. There's great signs in the
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heavens. The people are all able to see
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it. And he receives in Exodus 20 the
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10 commandments, but we're told in in the Joseph Smith
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translation that there was a lot more received.
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I'm so grateful for that Joseph Smith translation that has
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opened our eyes to this wonderful bit of information.
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You know, I had all of my children memorize the 10
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commandments when they were young, and I'm interested that
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all 10 are applicable to men, women, and children.
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I'm so grateful for the Joseph Smith translation to realize
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that the higher law was originally given and that's why
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he was welcoming the people to climb the mount and enter into
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his presence, but they could not receive it.
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They did not have this spiritual and emotional preparation that
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was required to follow through. And we read in the writings of
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the New Testament, in the book of Hebrews, where Paul or
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whoever the author is, says, you are once again at the foothills
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of Sinai. This time would you please climb
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the mount and enter into the presence of God?
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And then we have our beautiful section 84 where he again says,
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let us again climb the mount and receive these higher ordinances.
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The 10 commandments are beautiful and I appreciate them.
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In chapter 20. We're very grateful to also have
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the higher law in the Sermon at the Temple in 3rd Nephi and and
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the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 3 to 5.
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There's higher laws all over our Savior's ministry.
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Let's dive into just a few of these 10 commandments that
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specifically refer to women #5 honor your father and mother.
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This doesn't go away just for children.
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This is your entire lifelong and after their passing, we can
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honor them and be grateful for bringing into our bringing us to
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life regardless of the challenges that you have had.
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Sometimes people aren't thrilled with their parentage, and
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sometimes we're not thrilled with the way we're parents
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either. But I'd like to give people the
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benefit of the doubt and and honor that they're doing the
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best they can and strive to live this commandment more
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thoroughly. But mothers are called out,
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which I'm very grateful for. Also, we are told in the 10th
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article of faith not to covet your neighbor's wife.
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And adultery is the word that's used often in the Old Testament,
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but it informs all forms of illicit sexual behaviors.
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Pornea is the word in Greek and, and Hebrew is similar to the
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idea that it, it's not just the act of adultery, it's
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fornication, it's pornography. It's it's looking where you
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shouldn't and thinking what you shouldn't and, and, and
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indulging in what you shouldn't. And this is a powerful message
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there as well. But the other 10 commandments
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also apply to women. You know, certainly the Sabbath
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day does this day of rest. And if you go back and think
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about it, as the rest of the Lord is entering into your
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exaltation, entering into the presence of the Lord, then on
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the 7th day let us enter into His presence.
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Let us figuratively take off our shoes during the sacrament and
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enter into His presence. Let us let us purify ourselves
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and wash our clothes and become people of God who are set apart
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and sanctified to become holy. And this is the day of of that
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fine tuning. I love it.
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It's mentioned all over the Doctrine and Covenants section
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19 that you may enter into my rest.
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We already mentioned section 84 where it says we're entering
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into the rest is the fullness of God's glory.
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But also in section 121, verse 32, it's mentioned entered into
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His eternal presence and into His immortal rest.
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You know, it's very clear that there's continuity with this
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word Exodus. Chapter 21 to 23 emphasizes the
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care of females in this culture. Now in our specific Come Follow
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me chapters, some of these had to be skipped over.
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It's it's too long to go through all of these, but I am thrilled
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to see in this section from chapters 21 to 23 that female
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slaves are talked about. That women who are abused,
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mothers who are abused, the punishments that are going to be
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given to those who abuse a woman, especially a woman who is
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expecting another child. We're the females who act as
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sorcerers or witches are condemned.
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And we have information on women who are barren.
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And I just am thrilled to see this messages from God, not just
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about his his priesthood leadership.
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You know, this is not just a leadership manual here.
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This is a text for families, for organizations, for humans,
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individuals, women, men and children who need to draw closer
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to God and how that's defined. And we'll talk a little bit more
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in the future about what it meant to be a Hebrew servant or
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a Hebrew slave. You know, they've just come from
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Egypt where there were slaves. And the idea that the Lord says
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I don't want you becoming servants and slaves.
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But if you are in such a situation that you absolutely
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have to sell yourself into slavery rather than being a
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street person, that's better. And you can only do it then for
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seven years and then you're released if you're a male.
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But if you're a female, it says that you have the opportunity to
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stay in that family and to become a concubine or a wife to
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your master or your master's son.
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It's a little bit different in in Deuteronomy, it sounds as if
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the women had a little bit of the choice in that matter.
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But if you are sold to a master to raise his seed, you will
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become his, his, his marital partner.
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And, and even that lasted through the New Testament times.
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We have lots of statements by the rabbi's about that it they
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had different roles as male and female servants and that's why
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if you were the master's wife or concubine, you were not let free
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after seven years and you stayed and you raised those children
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and you and you helped in the home as either a secondary wife.
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I assume in some situations the concubine secondary wife had had
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a good relationship, but it sounds as if that would have
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been difficult at the best. Very, very difficult.
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But the husbands and the fathers were allowed to sell their
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children into servitude if if necessary.
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And because marriages were often begun as soon as a woman could
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procreate, only very young children who were sold into
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servitude did not have to enter into some sort of a marriage if
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they were a girl in the age of childbearing.
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I'm really grateful though, that this idea of servitude, even
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though we're in a time period of slavery, the laws are different.
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It's more like an indentured servant, and Exodus chapter 21
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and 22 give some good guidelines.
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These are really quite radical for the ancient world.
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Now for our world, we think this is awful.
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A father can sell his daughter into a marriage with a master,
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but the truth of it is, compared to the other things that were
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opted for these ancient women, this is a gift.
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I'm also very, very grateful that we have examples in Exodus
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chapter 22 about widows and orphans and the extra care that
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they need. Verses 22 to 24 talks about that
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and it's it's beautiful. We'll talk a little bit more
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about the setting up of the Tabernacle next week.
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But as early as Exodus 26, they start giving us these hints that
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there's a pattern that was shown Moses up on the mountain of how
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to establish a House of God. And so there's a sneak preview
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for next week, even though it's in chapter 26.
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Now, I think one reason why it's saved is because it'll be the
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main topic next week. Let's now jump back into the
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Come Follow me chapters with Exodus chapter 31.
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And the Lord talks about the Sabbath being a sign.
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He says in verse 13, my Sabbaths are a sign between me and you
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throughout your generation that you may know that I am the Lord
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that does sanctify you. This beautiful idea of being
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sanctified, of being pure, of becoming holy on this day of
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rest is repeated many, many times in the Book of Mormon.
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The the theme of holiness, of becoming a people who are
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sanctified for the Lord is beautifully displayed there in
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the Restoration as well in the Doctrine Covenants.
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But I want to talk just for a minute about this idea of the
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Sabbath as a sign. If you looked at your weeks, are
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the things you're doing on the Sabbath a sign to God of your
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commitment to Him? Can you honestly say you are
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entering into his presence on this day?
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As I look at my own life, can I say I am more purified and
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sanctified through the things I'm doing on the Sabbath?
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Well, the first thing I think of is the sacrament and you better
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believe we are more sanctified as we have been repenting all
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week long and we come to the table and plead before the Lord
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for mercy. I believe that we can become
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more holy just in and of that one act, but the whole day long
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needs to represent this sanctity.
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And the Israelites were called, but as we learn later in the
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restoration as Joseph's in Liberty Jail, many are called,
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but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen?
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Joseph goes on to learn that they are not chosen because they
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think too much about the things of this world.
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Are our Sabbath's filled with things of this world or are they
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a sign a of our covenant with God?
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And is it a time period of sanctification?
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I love that phrase. Sanctus is holiness.
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Are we doing things that are holy before God?
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And it's hard with kids. I remember getting out the
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costumes and acting out scriptures.
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I remember having the Legos and saying we're building different
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temples. You know, I mean, you did
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everything you could to keep kids focused on the Sabbath, But
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it's, it's, it's difficult. And I hope the Lord will inspire
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you in your lives on how we can keep the Sabbath day more holy
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so that we can become a people who are sanctified by the Lord
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for His great work. I believe that Miriam and a lot
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of other women were part of the challenge of giving their
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earrings, their gold bracelets, their nose rings to Aaron to
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build this golden calf. And Aaron sounds like I couldn't
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do anything about it. They were going to kill me.
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I don't know about that. I'm not going to throw any rocks
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at Aaron. But I hope that a few of them
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rebuild. I hope a few of them walked
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away, and I hope a few of us will walk away from the golden
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calves in our day and age. You know, shortly before this,
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God had just asked them to become a Kingdom of priests and
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priestesses, a holy nation. And here we are within days of
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making that covenant. They have become so distracted
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that they are making a golden calf.
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Now I know there's lots of stories that say, oh, maybe the
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calf represented Jehovah, etcetera, etcetera.
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It's wrong. Now they don't have the 10
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commandments yet supposedly, but they had the law of Abraham,
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they had the law of Isaac and Jacob being passed down.
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So it's, it's a difficult thing, but we have golden calves in our
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lives. You know, we have many things
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that we spend our time, talents and energy on.
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And that is how you know what you're worshipping is where
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you're spending your time, talents and energy, where your
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heart goes. So instead of remembering the
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Lord's miraculous enabling power during those 40 days that Moses
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is up in being purified and taught by God, Aaron agreed to
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make this a God to go be for them.
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And it's Exodus 32, one through 4 when he fashioned A molten
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calf. When Moses comes down, you know,
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he's furious. He, he, he has the higher law.
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He destroys those tablets that were made by the Lord.
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And we learn in restored Scripture, he has to go back up
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and make his own now. And the Lord gives this lower
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law, which we now read in Exodus 20 as the 10 commandments.
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But as Moses wants to purify the people, again, there are 3000
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people who refuse to turn to the Lord, and they are cut down
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because this has got to be a holy people.
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I want to encourage you as you're doing your study this
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week to open up to the Joseph Smith translation and look at
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some of these wonderful editions.
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I love chapter 32, verse 14 when the Lord says to Moses only in
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the Joseph Smith translation, if they will repent of that evil
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which they have done, I will spare them.
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I'll turn away my first wrath. But behold, thou sought execute
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judgment upon all those that will not repent.
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And then of course we have the the those 3000 that choose not
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to not to follow Also in chapter 33 verse 20, we have a great
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Joseph Smith translation edition that says at this time, lest
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mine anger be kindled against you also, I will destroy thee
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and thy people. And then he skips down a little
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bit. And then the Joe Smith
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translation adds in again at this time, for they are
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exceeding sinful. And no sinful man hath at any
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time, neither shall there be any sinful man at any time that
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shall see my face and live. And I do not believe this is
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just a gift for males. I believe this is for females as
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well. The last Joseph Smith
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translation in chapter 34, verse one through 2 in our reading
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that I'd like to emphasize today, talks about how there was
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a higher law and a lower law. And here it reads, It shall not
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be according to the first. For I will take away the
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priesthood out of the midst of them, My holy order, and the
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ordinances thereof. For My presence shall not go up
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in their midst, lest I destroy them.
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But I will give unto them the law at the 1st and it shall be
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after the law of a carnal commandments.
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And the Lord goes on to talks about that they will not enter
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his presence under this law in the days of their pilgrimage.
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But we know that Enoch's people, Adam's people, the people of the
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time of Christ did enter into this higher law.
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And when Joseph Smith was organizing the Relief Society,
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he said, I want to organize you as a Kingdom of priestesses as
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in the time of Enoch and is in the time of Paul.
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And I feel like there could have been an opportunity for these
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people here to have done that, but their hearts were not ready.
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And so I plead to you that we make ourselves a holy nation as
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God has asked and as He has chosen you as his sons and
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daughters, that you will be able to lead your community in
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righteousness and that we too can be examples for goodness,
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that we too can be examples be doing the most important things.
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The last thing that we have in our scheme 34 is when they line
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up the importance of marrying within the covenant.
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And it's repeated in Joshua, it's repeated in Judges, It's
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repeated over and over throughout the Old Testament.
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Make sure your marriages are firmly grounded in the covenant.
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And those of you who are currently not married, may you
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ground your lives in our Savior Jesus Christ and find
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fulfillment in serving Him and in His Kingdom.
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And I pray that we can each do our part to build this Kingdom
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of priests and priestesses and climb that mountain and enter
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into His presence in the name of Jesus Christ.
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Amen.