Junior Ganymede
Servants to folly, creation, and the Lord JESUS CHRIST. We endeavor to give satisfaction

The Chasm of Justice

January 23rd, 2020 by G.

Tree of Life: Lehi’s Dream—A Shared Vision

We sang that song about the iron rod at church on Sunday.  “The iron rod is the word of God!  Twill safely guide us through.”

But there are actually two different symbols for the word of God in Lehi’s dream.

Historias Del Libro De Mormón Capítulo 6: El sueño de Lehi

The obvious symbol is the iron rod, claro.

Lehi:

And I beheld a rod of iron, and it extended along the bank of the river, and led to the tree by which I stood.

Nephi:

And they said unto me: What meaneth the rod of iron which our father saw, that led to the tree?

And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish

There is also something like a chasm.  In the terrible mists of darkness, some who wander fall into it and are lost.  It divides the tree from the building.  Here is Nephi again, 1 Ne. 12:18:

And the large and spacious building, which thy father saw, is vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men. And a great and a terrible gulf divideth them; yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God, and the Messiah who is the Lamb of God, of whom the Holy Ghost beareth record, from the beginning of the world until this time, and from this time henceforth and forever.

We talked about these two symbols.  Seems significant that the word of God is both a safety net and a danger.  We talked about direction.  Maybe it makes sense that for those who are trying to find God, his Word is a comfort and a guide.  Whereas for those who are trying to shun Him, his word is dangerous.

Maybe also it is significant that the word of God that is a chasm is described as the word of the justice of God.  Maybe the iron rod is the word of the repentance and mercy of God–but it is only available to those who will grab it.  Whereas his word of justice is for all.

The lovely one said in a way it reminds her of some of the strange juxtapositions of scriptures.  Satan is a devouring lion, but Christ is also the lion of Judah.  Satan is the old serpent, but Moses also raised up the brass serpent as a symbol of Christ.

Comments (9)
Filed under: Deseret Review | Tags:
Tags:
January 23rd, 2020 07:05:21
9 comments

Eric
January 23, 2020

It’s clear from Nephi’s writings that the iron rod is the word of God, which I always equated with the scriptures. But a couple weeks ago the occurred to me: who is the Word? I like both answers regarding the Word’s identity.


Marilyn
January 23, 2020

Neil Peart (RIP, Neil) wrote in his autobiography about being “driven to the edge of a deep, dark hole” after the death of his wife and daughter. He felt it as a real, palpable thing. I thought, reading that, “we’re all at the edge of that hole, without the Savior.”


William James Tychonievich
January 24, 2020

In the Bible a “rod of iron” (as in Psalm 2:9 and the allusions thereto in Revelation) certainly has more to do with the terrible justice of God than with safety and guidance.


G.
January 24, 2020

This is true


Zen
January 24, 2020

I am going to need to think about this one. I never noticed that before.

However, I still think it is interesting to apply the Word of God meaning to Ps 2:9 and verses like Ps. 13:24 (the verse that inspires Spare the Rod, Spoil the child)

It appears we have a two edged metaphor.


EComer
January 24, 2020

Perhaps also worth noting is that according to Royal Skousen, in the original manuscript for the Book of Mormon, this phrase was rendered as “yea even the sword of the justice of the eternal God”, with sword in place of word as we have it now. It looks like the s in sword was dropped when the printer’s manuscript was copied from the original. (https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/atv/p1/ , page 264)


Mahonri Moriancumr
January 24, 2020

Now behold, O Lord, and do not be angry with thy servant because of his weakness before thee; for we know that thou art holy and dwellest in the heavens, and that we are unworthy before thee; because of the fall our natures have become evil continually; nevertheless, O Lord, thou hast given us a commandment that we must call upon thee, that from thee we may receive according to our desires.

Behold, O Lord, thou hast smitten us because of our iniquity, and hast driven us forth, and for these many years we have been in the wilderness; nevertheless, thou hast been merciful unto us.


The Word
January 24, 2020

“Behold, I am God; give heed unto my word, which is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, to the dividing asunder of both joints and marrow; therefore give heed unto my words.”


Paul
January 24, 2020

“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.