Farther Along We’ll Know All About It

Dear Readers,

The title of today’s post comes from one of my favorite old-timey gospel songs, Farther Along. Here’s a beautiful version of the song here.

I was reading the scriptures this morning and thought I would share a few of my thoughts on cyberspace.

For believers, the scriptures are a record of the way God has interacted with humans in the past. The scriptures also serve as a guidebook for personal modern inspiration. The scriptures point away from themselves, to the real Author, God, as the ultimate source of doctrinal authority and salvation. The great lesson of the scriptures is, “Look at what all these ancient prophets had: dreams, visions, prophecies, miracles, healings, victories in battle, understandings of eternal doctrines, priesthood authorities, temple ordinances, and the mysteries of God. You can have all that too!” I find that great lesson taught in the following scriptures:

Moses wishes that all the house of Israel could be prophets in Numbers 11:29. “Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets!”

In James 1: 5, the apostle writes, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.”

Moroni, the last Book of Mormon prophet, writes in Moroni 10:4, “And when ye shall receive these things, [the Book of Mormon] I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto, by the power of the Holy Ghost.”

In more modern times, Joseph Smith wanted more people to see what he had seen, and felt relieved when the Lord permitted there to be more witnesses to the Book of Mormon.

Our purpose of studying the scriptures should be to get to know God better. Our purpose of studying the scriptures should not be to merely learn about ancient civilizations or histories, or to learn a bunch of neat stories, or to impress people with our scriptural knowledge.

One of God’s behaviors we learn from scripture stories is that God withholds information from people. In his wisdom, he chooses to withdraw himself, at times, from the affairs of men. Or that’s what it looks like to us mortals, anyway. But the followers of God don’t have to know everything thing to be followers of God. (Often the followers of God know very little. Ha ha ha.) Even the ancient Apostles, who you would think would be the most enlightened of anyone, were chided by Jesus for not understanding certain things.

We walk by faith, and not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5: 7)

I wonder if maybe Mormons these days have gotten spoiled with so much doctrine readily available. I like this verse:

Ether 2: 5 “And it came to pass that the Lord did go before them, and did talk with them as he stood in a cloud, and gave directions whither they should travel.”

Many people would think, “If the Lord talked to me from a cloud, I would want to know so much more than where to travel. I would want to know how the universe was created, why there is evil in the world, if there is one true church, and if so, which one is right. I would want to know deep doctrine and deep mysteries.”

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints know more doctrine than many of the ancient saints did. The brother of Jared, for example, after being a loyal follower of Chirst for years, did not know the nature of God’s psychical makeup, which seems like a pretty basic doctrinal thing to me.

In Ether chapter 3, the brother of Jared is asking God to light stones to put in their windowless barges so they can cross an ocean and get to the Promised Land. God, the pre-mortal Jesus Christ, touches the stones, and at that moment, the veil is parted, and the brother of Jared sees Jesus’ finger, upon which sight the brother of Jared collapses in fear. The Lord asks him, “Why hast thou fallen?” and the brother of Jared answers, “I feared lest he should smite me; for I knew not that the Lord had flesh and blood.”

That verse really surprised me. The prophet of the Lord, leading a band of the faithful through the wilderness for several years, “being directed continually by the hand of the Lord,” didn’t know that God had a body.

There were probably a lot of other things that the righteous Jaredites didn’t know, like baptism for the dead (1 Corinintians 15:29; Doctrine and Covenants 128) But Jared, the brother of Jared, and their faithful followers knew enough to get to the Promised Land and prosper. They knew enough to get the revelations of God, and then to follow his divine directions.

My point here is that God doesn’t reveal everything to us all at once. I know that’s frustrating to hear for those of us who want all the answers right away. I know that’s frustrating to the skeptics among us. But that’s the way it is. We need to have faith that this scripture is true:

“Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.”

Sincerely,
Telemoonfa