God is so many things.
He is an understanding and compassionate God.
And He is also a God of order and eternal laws.
There’s this beautiful tension that exists there.
And two pretty dramatic instances of this jumped out to me in this week’s reading.
First, we have the Lord talking about baptisms for the dead.
The saints had heard Joseph preach about this idea, and immediately went to the river to get started!
The Lord shows these two tensions of understanding but still following eternal principles here:
“I grant unto you a sufficient time to build a house unto me; and during this time your baptisms shall be acceptable unto me.
“But behold, at the end of this appointment your baptisms for your dead shall not be acceptable unto me”. (D&C 124:31-32)
Can you see both sides of God there?
An understanding of the saints’ condition:
Without a dedicated temple, and with a strong desire to perform proxy baptisms.
He didn’t tell them they weren’t allowed to do them anymore, or that none of them counted.
But then we also see the rule: the absolute minute a temple baptismal font is dedicated, they have to be done there.
Fascinating, right?!
Okay but just a few verses later, we get ANOTHER example of this tension!
In D&C 124:49, the Lord tells the saints that He is going to revoke His earlier commandment to build a temple in Far West, because wicked men had prevented it.
… and then He commands them to build a temple in Nauvoo right away.
He didn’t make them stick to this previous commandment, and promise the saints that they would be protected while they went back to finish the Far West temple.
He saw that it was no longer reasonable, but then immediately commanded them to get to work on a Nauvoo temple, with no excuse for weariness or financial distress.
I see both sides in God.
I know there are eternal laws, commandments, and principles to follow.
And I know that He perfectly understands my personal situation.
But I don’t ever want to use His compassion as permissiveness.
And I sincerely pray that I will never misinterpret that balance.
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
