Comparing the story of the Children of Israel with Mankind's One Great Story

Like the ring on a table left from a sweating glass, soaked up by a paper towel, our eternal journey soaks through this veil of forgetfulness, showing up in all religions, myths, and stories around the globe.  Most stories bear testimony of mankind's One Great Story, the journey we are all actually on.  But one story, perhaps more than any other, parallels our eternal journey most accurately.  It is the story of the Children of Israel.  

THE FALL
Children of Israel
Abraham is chosen in Israel.  Then, he goes to Egypt and immediately, his posterity is enslaved for 500 years.  Jesus said to forgive 7 X 70 = 490.  There might be greater significance to this number, but, at the very least, I think the number of years Israel spent in bondage is to communicate that they were hopelessly in bondage; in much the same way 7 X 70 communicates that there is always hope of forgiveness.

One Great Story
In heaven, we were chosen.  Then, we came to earth.  Here, on earth, we are enslaved by the chains of Satan.  We are prisoners, spiritually, and all must die physically.  We CANNOT escape the grasp of Satan, or death, on our own.

THE ESCAPE
Children of Israel
Pharaoh ruled with a strong hand.  He owned all the soldiers, food, and weapons.  He had all the power.  Then Jesus Christ made bare His Holy arm.  He armed Moses with staff.  He sent plagues to overpower Pharaoh.  The children of Israel contributed nothing to their escape.  The gates of Egypt were opened by God Himself.

One Great Story
Having left a perfect place and been given Choice, our only pathway home was to make perfect choices because imperfect people can't be in perfect places without making that place imperfect.  This created a Predicament.  There was no going home.  Then, Jesus Christ suffered for everyone's bad choices, making escape from this hell-hole possible.  The gates are open.

THE EXODUS
Children of Israel
They walk out of Egypt into the lone and dreary wilderness.  They know they are going to a promised land - a land of their inheritance, but they do not know how they will get there.  They will follow God.

One Great Story
The gates are open.  Now, we must walk.  In this lone and dreary world, it is easy to want to find a hole to crawl in, anesthetize with whatever endorphin or drug we can imbibe, and wait for it to all to end.  But, we have an inheritance waiting, and to get there, we must walk.  We do not see the path ahead, but we trust God.  He will light the path before us as we walk in faith.  

THE RED SEA
Children of Israel
After they were freed by God, single-handedly, and escaped enslavement, they came to place they could not possibly pass.  In as certain a fashion as they could not escape Egypt, once again they found themselves up against an impossible task.  Pharaoh and his chariots, regretting their loss, approached them on their rear.  

One Great Story
The Atonement is wrought.  We are freed.  Still, we run up against tribulations which are over our head.  Addiction.  Abuse.  Illness.  Handicaps.  Enslavement.  Death.  Though free to walk the pathway home to heaven, we cannot make the climb.  Again and again we stumble, until we STOP...at rock bottom...and can go no further.

THE PARTING
Children of Israel
God parted the Red Sea.  The Children of Israel walked across the bottom of the sea, on dry ground.  After they were safely on the other side, God caused the waters to fall on the chariots of Pharaoh which had faithfully gone in after them.

One Great Story
God opens a way.  No matter what we've suffered in the past or what obstacle stands before us, the Great God of Heaven will clear a path for us to walk through it on dry ground.  He did not fail the Children of Israel in that frightful hour, and He will not fail us.  He has never failed me.  There is none so True and Faithful, and Might to Save.

THE WAY HOME
Children of Israel
Numerous are the recorded stories of God's dealings with the Children of Israel while wandering in the wilderness - each worthy of its own blog post.  Each is a sign for what we must do to complete our journey, and make it back home to heaven.  In no particular order (because I don't know the exact order), here are a few:

They are dead thirsty, and God makes water flow from a rock. --> Blessed are they that thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.  Jesus Christ is the living waters; those who drink from His well shall never thirst.

They are fed manna daily which falls effortlessly from Heaven.  This manna meets all of their bodily needs; they are supplied sufficiently. -->  Blessed are they that hunger after righteousness, for they shall be filled.  Jesus Christ is the bread of life; those who eat this bread shall never hunger.  What this hungering and thirsting means to me is that whenever I have a need - whether mental, emotional, spiritual, or even physical - I look to God to meet it.  Literally.  Every day.  I also look to Him for answers, validation, empathy, healing, and direction.  Seeking my worth, my safety, and my knowledge from God Himself constitutes my second birth.  

They are bit by poisonous, deadly serpents and face imminent death.  God tells Moses to make a brass snake and hoist in on a pole for all of Israel to come see.  Those who look upon this brass serpent live.  Those who do not look, die. -->  In the same way that refusing to eat food or drink water kills the body, refusing to look to God for salvation likewise results in death.  This isn't the first time we've needed God - remember the Red Sea?

They are given commandments by which to live.  Those who keep the commandments dwell safely with the people.  Those who break the more serious commandments are taken without the walls of the camp and stoned. -->  The spiritual Law(s) of God constitute our walls of safety.  Within the bounds the Lord has set, we are free and safe by His protection.  Outside of The Law, there is no protection and thus, imminent death.  For example, if God says, "be faithful to and love your spouse," then those who do this are not subject to the death of their family or the heartache, disease and drama of infidelity. If God says, "don't do illicit drugs," then those who refrain from doing drugs avoid the health, social, and legal problems attendant to illicit drug use. If God says, "jump", those who jump won't be swept away; if He says, "duck", those who duck won't have their heads chopped off, and so on.

They are given a temple where they sacrifice their physical goods to please God, and they make covenants with Him. --> Because our relationship with God is just that, a relationship, it, like all relationships, is two-way.  The sacrifices we make today are donations of our time, talents, and possessions.  These show God that we are in this relationship with Him for real.  Not for fake-pretend, but for really-reals.  God can be pleased and displeased. We still make covenants with him, like baptism.

A generation passed away before entering the promised land. --> Our journey home to heaven takes a lifetime.

There are more.

It feels like wandering, but those who Follow the Light are actually being led.

ENTERING THE PROMISED LAND
Children of Israel
Since their escape from the bondage of Egypt, up until the time of their entrance into their promised land, there is a theme which persists throughout the story of the Children of Israel.  It is that they could not do it on their own.  Though they were required to walk and fight, that is all they were required to do.  God freed them. God parted the Red Sea.  God fed them daily for a lifetime.  God gave them water to drink. God healed them from sickness.  God saved them from certain death.  And then, after all that, they were afraid to claim their prize, nor could they do it.  Once again, the hand of God must do it.  God strengthens them in war to claim victory over those who would prevent them from entering.  And there, they lived happily ever after........ or would have, had they seen the spiritual realities behind their recent, temporal odyssey.  

One Great Story
From the moment we left our pre-mortal home with God, we were lost, forsaken, forgotten, blind, dead.  This was purposeful: to open our eyes.  Still, we remain that way, unless we look to God in all things.  The gates of death and hell are open.  We can exit.  It won't be a short jaunt to the celestial kingdom.  It won't be easy.  It will feel like wandering, and all throughout our mortal journey, or rather, throughout these mortal conditions of our eternal journey, it will feel like we encounter death, over and over again.  Even unto the end, when we face the illusion of death, it is clear that we must rely on God to save us.  We can't resurrect ourselves!  Neither can we live without Him now!

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Here is why the yin-yang symbol is the perfect visual for our One Great Journey.

Of What Use is Unbridled Power?

God' commandments increasingly restrict with purpose.

God's commandments teach the skill of bridling. Bridling circumscribes power, giving it bounds, containing it.  Of what use is unbridled power?  To destroy.

I know this earthly experience seems to be ruled by destruction.  But does destruction reign in the universe? The universe is ordered and destruction reigns only behind this earth's veil, for a brief period of time, with a very critical purpose? 1

Do we want destruction reigning? Let us thank God for enslaving destructive souls!

In the eternal, spiritual world, we can bridle, or be bridled.  The Choice is ours. 2

The power of righteousness is to build.

The power of sin is to destroy.

Both are required for existence. 

Life, in the scriptural sense, refers to building.

Death, in the scriptural sense, refers to destruction.

At the end of earth's story, the unrepentant will become slaves

the way a nuclear reaction is harnessed by metal and concrete

coverings, and the hands which act upon them. 3

* if anyone discovers a use other than destruction for unbridled power, please let me know.

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1 John 16:21,22 (more about likening this earthly experience unto a woman in labor here); and Isaiah 54:7

2 "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man.  And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil." - 2 Nephi 2:27

3 "There is a God, and He hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon." 2 Nepi 2:14

The Plans of Happiness info graphic

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"Denial of Self results in illusions, while correction of the error brings release from it."  - A Course in Miracles. 1,VII,1-6.

Sustainability

Everyone wants sustainability.  The opposite of sustainability is deterioration or death.  Sustainability, therefore, is the perpetuation of life, so of course everyone wants it.  But, the desire for something and the knowledge of how to obtain it do not always emerge simultaneously.  In building our strategies for sustainability, I believe it would be helpful to understand its origin.

The origin of sustainability is The Law.  The Law of which I speak might be referred to by religions as “God’s Law” or by philosophers as “natural law”.  You may notice it in the rules of Math, and through the discoveries of science.  Whatever you call it, it is what dictates the outcome of all action.  The Law is a set of rules, an “if/then” sequence which cuts through the void, establishing things as good or evil.  The Law divides the light from the dark, positive from negative, yin from yang.  The Law brings order to our existence.  The Law is the axiom from which all of life and creation follow logically. 

Our universe is orderly.  Consider the planets and their rotation, the regularity with which the sun sets and rises, and all the laws of physics.  Consider our bodies and the predictability of their functions.  Predictability is a bi-product of The Law.  Just as it does with our bodies, The Law likewise determines our spiritual and social health.  It decides which actions tend to spiritual wellness, independence and inter-connectedness, in the same manner with which it decides which substances and activities tend to physical health.  Our needs, that propelling fountain perpetually springing up in us, get met or go unmet based on our “if” in this “if/then” sequence.  The meeting of our needs constitutes life; our needs going unmet constitute death. 

That some things operate in ways unpredictable to us is not evidence of an absence of The Law, but rather evidence of our ignorance of some part of it.  The Law doesn’t exist because we discover it; we discover it because it exists.  In all areas of life, humans are discovering more aspects of The Law.  Our discovery of and compliance with The Law constitute our development and happiness, with happiness being the object and design of our existence.  We are no more capable of knowing The Law of ourselves than a child.  Like children, we learn The Law from our Father.  We will have happiness like a child when we accept God’s will like a child accepts his parents’ will.

The sooner we learn and accept The Law, the more fully will we live life and secure its perpetuation, speaking individually and collectively.  This is sustainability.  I know both sides of The Law.  One side is life; one side is death.  Sustainability is choosing the light – the living side of The Law.

Change

Change can be enriching or dangerous, depending on the direction.

Isn't the definition of a slave this: someone who is regulated externally?  The problem with the victim mentality is this that if I believe others are responsible for my actions, the realization of that belief is that others will be responsible for my actions.

The Lake

Sex addicts call them happy endings, because they stand in direct contrast to the unhappy time between orgasms.  

Like all pleasure-seekers, "life" consists of a long, dull, dark ache, interspersed with fireworks.  "Life" is enacted mundanely while the pleasure is not popping.  Between hits, time is spent either reminiscing about the previous point of pleasure or anticipating the next, like trying to jump from one mountain peak to another.

This big bang theory purports that if one just gets enough fireworks popping, the entire scene will light up with no more darkness.  Utopia will be created, without work, just by pleasure-seeking.  But that is not what happens.  It doesn't happen here on earth, and it won't happen after earth.

What happens is the pleasure is removed.  Sex addicts become impotent.  Drug addicts become incompetent.  Love addicts become detached.  Food addicts feel starved.  Control addicts lose control.  This happens here on earth.  There are millions if not billions of examples, and we see it as plain as day.

When the day comes that our pleasures are removed, what will it feel like?  When God takes away the drugs, and the orgasm, and the ability to escape?  When we say, "I will die without another hit" and there is none?  Without the fireworks,  it is just a dark night. 

What will be left will not be a new feeling.  It will be familiar.  Only our escape from it will be removed.  It will feel like all the time between points of pleasure.  It will feel like a lake because there is no aim, no purpose, no goal, no labor.  Think about it.  When you go out on a lake, your goal is to go out on the lake - THAT IS the goal.  When the reward of being on a lake is removed, you will burn for it.  That's why it's called the Lake of Fire and Brimstone.

Your boating expedition will become a lake of thirst with nothing to quench it, of unhappiness with no ending, whose sole purpose, being removed, will be to suffer.

The Climax and the Whore

As man and woman keep The Law respecting sexuality, they climb a mountain.  We all want to conquer.  It is a need we have as children of God.  We, in attempting to meet that need, often “conquer” in a damaging way.  

Men coax, then have sex with women.  He then feels that he has achieved some feat.  That he has “conquered” a woman.  That he is strong.  He has power over her.  Women offer or lure, then have sex with men.  She then feels that she has value.  That she has “conquered” a man.  That she is needed.  She has power over him. 

As sons and daughters of God, we are designed to conquer and have power over (1).  Men are designed to be strong.  Women are designed to be needed.  But, to conquer all, we must keep The Law.  Climbing a mountain is a metaphor often used by spiritual leaders.  Getting on top is a culmination of adventure and the accomplishment of a difficult challenge.  There, we find that we are strong and that we are needed, for a lifetime.  Promiscuity is the exact counterfeit to this, where the adventure and accomplishment of "getting on top" and the accompanying sense of strength and importance last only for a moment.

Keeping The Law respecting sexuality takes work.  Breaking The Law respecting sexuality is effortless.  As we stay on the light side of The Law, we acquire all the light the mountain has to offer.  We acquire respect, security, dignity, self-control, satisfaction, we get to know one another’s insides, spirits, or personalities; we obtain vision, knowledge, and the pleasures of spiritual, emotional, and intellectual intimacy; our hearts are knit together by light.  We then own the light trod beneath our feet, and conquer.  We reach the top.  We climax.  We have conquered the mountain together, rather than conquering each other.  But, that’s just the beginning.

When we reach the top, something counter intuitive happens.  

A new world of never ending pleasure opens up.  Once married, we are not only permitted, but encouraged to explore each other’s bodies intimately.  The physical bonding is now added to the recipe of spiritual, emotional, and intellectual intimacy which was forged in climbing the mountain.  We might call this the icing on the cake, but it is so much more than a wimpy, missionary style, mostly in the dark, candle on top of a cake. 

It is a portal to, literally, unending happiness.  The possibilities for pleasure through sexual exploration are grand.  Does anyone disagree?  This includes non-physical dimensions of sex as well.  Of course, The Law still exists after marriage, even if no ecclesiastical leader will tell you what to do behind closed doors (please no!).  In other words, it doesn't look like this:

This kind of thinking is a classic error of poor expectations, and it can ruin a wedding night, or a decade full of good behavior, with severe disappointment.  But, the sexual possibilities do continue to expand and increase eternally. You might even call it a second climax - a climax which never ends.

However, the benefits of this second climax are not limited to just physical pleasure.  We also experience the pleasure of posterity.  Children are born and we enjoy the pleasure of watching them grow.  We can experience all of our own pleasures again vicariously, over and over and over again.  Additionally, the other intimacies developed by climbing the mountain augment with sex and time.  This will not happen for breakers of The Law because those other intimacies were never established.  Between the first and second climax, keepers of The Law gain everything.

This post is about sex, because the issue of sex most profoundly affects our happiness 2, and I like the play on words.  But, this idea of a first and second climax is applicable in all cases where The Law is kept.  The place where the mountain peaks and meets the beginning of the second climax is a place of end and beginning.  It is a place of death and life.  Concerning the duality of man, it is the death of our devilish self and the birth of our godly self.  It is being born again.  This point also symbolizes the Atonement of Christ, performed in the meridian of time, of which act Christ said, "now shall the prince of this world be cast out."  

It was the moment of His death.  It was also the moment of Christ's victory, accomplished through the crucifying of His flesh.  The Law leads us all, in like manner, to crucify our flesh, or devilish self.  What looks like defeat to the rest of the world is a moment of victory for each of us, each time we die, or crucify the devil in us.  After we die, we can be born again.  

I believe this image can represent the beginning of our human story (birth), the climax (the Atonement), the end (final judgment), and the present moment.  At Christ’s birth, He exited God’s presence and came to earth – from the Glory of Heaven to the dark, small manger; look what has grown from that!  Of the Atonement, Christ said, "Now is the judgment of this world."  But, He also said, "I came not to judge the world, but to save the world."  It's a play on words.  I love Jesus' duplicity!  The Atonement enabled judgment because without the Atonement, all was lost.  The Atonement brought some hope, and hope for some brought judgment for all.  Ultimately, The Law executes judgment or justice.  But, the effects of justice will be no different on Judgment Day than they are on This Day.  Our final destination and our manner of arrival there look the same. 

In 2D, this image is an hourglass and the point of climax represents the present.  In Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, this image in 3D is called the light cone, where the climax represents the Present, the cone above is called the future light cone and represents all possible results from a present action, the cone beneath is called the past light cone and represents all possible occurrences leading up to the Present, and the black sides are called “elsewhere”.  The size of the angle maxes-out at the speed of light  3.  Christ being light, all of our past, through His Atonement, can lead to a happy present, and our choice this very moment, through the Atonement, can maximize the width and breadth of the future light we might enjoy. 

This symbol declares that NOW is the time to repent!  Or in other words, now is the time to substitute my will and path for God’s.  Albert Camus said, "Do not wait for the last judgment.  It comes every day." 4  In fact, it comes every moment.  Every moment we have the opportunity to sacrifice our will (death), and then accept God's will (birth) 5.  Eternal life is to truly live each moment, eternally.  

Back to sex.  As men and women break The Law respecting sexuality, they lose.  The lure to break The Law is that all of the pleasure from the first and second climax can be had by doing nothing.  We can just sit there, be attractive, and conquer.  We can satisfy our Godly need to conquer and own everything the mountain has to offer, simply by sitting there and being attractive.  It is a lure. 

Consider physical exercise.  It is obvious that when we don’t exercise our physical bodies, our muscles atrophy.  People who climb mountains maximize their muscular potential through exertion.  People who don’t climb spiritual mountains atrophy in similar way.  They do not acquire respect, security, dignity, self-control, or satisfaction; they do not get to know one another’s insides, spirits, or personalities; they lose vision and knowledge of the pleasures of spiritual, emotional, and intellectual intimacy; their hearts are severed.  Where there is no work, there is entropy.  Heaven is the everlasting flame, fueled by work.

Yet, we market our shame and glorify our pain.  We must, or our behavior won't make sense.  Because The Law stipulates that sin will bring remorse of conscience 6, we tell The Lawgiver, “I can sin and be happy.  Watch me.  Yeah, it’s painful.  And no, it doesn't get me what I want.  But, man! It’s awesome!”  But, it isn't.  We are lying.  We are regurgitating the lie we've swallowed, which is that we can eat fruit without labor.  We try to say it ain't so, but the devil's love is a heartbreaker, a life-taker.  We cannot have everything by doing nothing.

The author of this lie is a whore.  God himself refers to this lie as the whore of the earth 7.  What is the defining characteristic of a whore?  For the receipt of that which is most valuable, they require nothing of us, except a token.

What a counterfeit!  Can you see her legs spread out before you? Promising every satisfaction, the fulfillment of every need, for only a token.  She promises that every human need and longing will be satiated endlessly, without work, making lure into a virtue.

When a man keeps The Law regarding sexuality, he helps his woman fulfill her roles and reach her potential.  When a woman keeps The law regarding sexuality, she helps her man fulfill his roles and reach his potential.  When they do this, they become valuable to each other.  God does for us all what women and men can do for each other.  He encourages us to keep The Law by blessing us after we keep it, and not before.  He also respects our space, never trespassing without our consent.  In so doing, our performance is enhanced, and we feel safe and valued. 

 

When we fail to keep The Law of chastity we miss out on the growth which comes through exercise.  The result is a loss of strength.  In taking and giving our greatest gift and our greatest pleasure without work, we eventually become impotent. 

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(update: expanded uses of these symbols here and here)

1 Genesis 1:26

2 "How we feel about and use [sex] will determine in large measure our happiness...and our destiny"
3 A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, p.24-28.

4 "Do not wait for the last judgment.  It comes every day." - Albert Camus

5 Whosoever shall save his life shall lose it; but whosever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it - Luke 9:24

6 Alma 42:18   

7 1 Nephi 14:10, 2 Nephi 10:16, 1 Nephi 14:11, 1 Nephi 22:14, Doctrine and Covenants 29:21, Doctrine and Covenants 86:3,

1 Nephi 22:13, Revelation 19:2, Psalms 106:39, Revelation 17:15, Proverbs 23:27, Ezekiel 16:28