As I was reading my scriptures today, I was reminded of various friends of mine who have had very clear, definite answers to prayer that later changed. Most importantly, the prayers were about whom to marry, though sometimes it was about where to move, a job to pursue, someone to reach out to. They got very clear confirmations that their choice was a good one. Only then it didn't work out. The Yes became No. Why?
I don't pretend to have the answers, but I saw an odd example of Yes becoming No in the scriptures this week. In Numbers 21, the Israelites were attacked by fiery serpents who poisoned them and made many of them die. To save Israel, God told Moses to make a brazen serpent. Anyone who looked to the serpent of brass would live. The Book of Mormon references this story several times (1 Ne. 17:412 Ne. 25:20Alma 33:19–2237:4–6) and it made an appearance in a wonderful article in this August's Ensign.
In all cases, the point was to look to Jesus and be saved. The brass serpent was a symbol of the crucifixion, but many refused to look to the Savior to be saved. The brass serpent is a very big YES!
Until we get to 2nd Kings, that is. The people who had lost sight of what they were supposed to be looking to had started worshiping the symbol instead of what it symbolized. The righteous King Hezekiah had the brass serpent broken in pieces. We need ongoing revelation in our day and in our lives.
Yes became No because the circumstances of the people changed. There was a new problem and a new answer.
Yes became No because someone's heart changed.
Yes became No because that Yes was never The Point. It was a path to get where they needed to be.
Yes became No because a stepping stone had become a stumbling block.
I don't pretend to have the answers, but I saw an odd example of Yes becoming No in the scriptures this week. In Numbers 21, the Israelites were attacked by fiery serpents who poisoned them and made many of them die. To save Israel, God told Moses to make a brazen serpent. Anyone who looked to the serpent of brass would live. The Book of Mormon references this story several times (1 Ne. 17:412 Ne. 25:20Alma 33:19–2237:4–6) and it made an appearance in a wonderful article in this August's Ensign.In all cases, the point was to look to Jesus and be saved. The brass serpent was a symbol of the crucifixion, but many refused to look to the Savior to be saved. The brass serpent is a very big YES!
Until we get to 2nd Kings, that is. The people who had lost sight of what they were supposed to be looking to had started worshiping the symbol instead of what it symbolized. The righteous King Hezekiah had the brass serpent broken in pieces. We need ongoing revelation in our day and in our lives.
Yes became No because the circumstances of the people changed. There was a new problem and a new answer.
Yes became No because someone's heart changed.
Yes became No because that Yes was never The Point. It was a path to get where they needed to be.
Yes became No because a stepping stone had become a stumbling block.
I think sometimes a yes becomes a no because the reason we got someplace was not the reason we need to be there just a reason to get us there. That's what it was like for us in ithaca. We came there for school but the reason we were there was not for the school but for the people and for the support system we had when were first becoming parents.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up an interesting example of the "Yes" of the brass serpent becoming a "No" down the road. I have often contemplated on the "No" before the brass serpent became a "Yes", and wondered whether it had anything to do with the Israelites struggling to accept the serpent. Specifically, the Golden Calf comes to mind, forged while Moses was away on the mountain top. Rather distinct "No" there. Then Moses goes and raises a Brass Serpent and says look on it and you will be saved. How many said, "Nope, this has to be a test, I learned my lesson with the Golden Calf, and I definitely won't look."
ReplyDeleteSo how much is "Look past the Brass Serpent and see the Savior"? I've heard reference made to the symbol used regularly for the medical profession of the winged serpent on a staff for healing, as inspired by the Brass Serpent raised up, and that the Savior is the one who was raised up with healing in his wings. How much of it is "When the Lord says this is the way he has for salvation, don't question but go with it" and how much is "Stay humble and look for the guidance of the Spirit, because just because the answer was 'Yes' or 'No' previously, now it is this"?
I also try to balance those paths of change with the concept of "If the answer was right when you first prayed about it, when the trials come and it seems difficult, don't give up, as the answer is still right."
And all that reminds me of the phrasing "true and living", where something living is flexible and adaptable and can make adjustments as needed.
Thanks for the post Derrill!