Post by Helem –
As we prepare to help the people of Lemhi return to the Land of Zarahemla, I have reflected on deliverance as a tool utilized by our Father in Heaven to instruct and prepare His children to return to live with Him. He delivered the children of Israel from bondage, He delivered Lehi and Nephi from Jerusalem and brought them to this promised land. He delivered Mosiah from this land and now He is about to deliver Lemhi and his people again. How many more deliveries have there been and will there be?
The prophet Nephi said:
Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ . . . ; and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him. [2 Nephi 11:4]
Think for a minute how Israel’s journey typifies our life’s journey toward eternal life. Israel left Canaan, went to Egypt, and fell into bondage. (Lemhi’s people left Jerusalem, came here to the Land of Nephi and fell into bondage.) Israel was led from bondage by Moses, were purified in the desert, and then returned to their home in Canaan. Likewise, we leave God’s presence, enter this fallen telestial world, are delivered from spiritual bondage by Jesus, pass through a purifying mortal life, and return to God’s celestial presence.
Let’s look at Moses as a symbol or type of Christ and compare the two deliverers. Moses was Israel’s physical deliverer. Jesus is our spiritual deliverer. I am not necessarily saying that Ammon and my other brothers are trying to be like Moses or Jesus but look at what has happened to the people of Lemhi as I describe the story of Moses and the children of Israel.
Moses’s first plague to get Israel out of Egypt was turning water into blood. Jesus’s first miracle in His ministry will be to turning water into wine.
Moses’s last plague was the death of the firstborn. Jesus’s last miracle will be the resurrection of the Firstborn.
How did Moses free Israel from Egyptian bondage? He had the Israelites take a lamb—male, unblemished, firstborn, with no broken bones—and sacrifice this lamb by shedding its blood. The Israelites then put the blood of the lamb on the lintel and the two side posts of each of their doors. When they did that, the destroyer passed over them. The blood of the lamb saved them from physical death. In our lives we have to accept the Lamb of God—Jesus Christ—and symbolically put the blood of His Atonement on the door frames of our lives. The blood of the Lamb of God will save us from spiritual death.
After Israel left Egyptian bondage, they went to the borders of the Red Sea where there appeared to be no retreat.
Moses went there on purpose. Why? Because they had to go through the Red Sea. Israel passing through the Red Sea was a symbol of a baptism by water and a baptism by fire. Israel was saved by water. That is why there had to be a wall of water on each side. Israel was “baptized by immersion” in the Red Sea. The fire held the Egyptians back. Hence Israel was also saved by fire. It is the same with each of us. We need to be saved through a baptism of water and a baptism of fire.
In the wilderness there was a considerable time for purification. In our mortal lives, we are given a time for purification.
When Israel went into the promised land, they went through the Jordan River. Why go through a river? You have to be “born again”. Who led them through the river? It was Joshua. Joshua is the Hebrew name for the Greek word Jesus. It was “Jesus” who caused them to be born again and led them through the Jordan River back home to the land of their fathers. All things testify of Christ.
I don’t yet know what will happen as we help to deliver this people from bondage to the Lamanites. But I do know God loves His children and He guided us here to be instruments in His hands.
1 Corinthians 10:1–2
John 3:1–5
