2.231 I, the Lord, Give Unto Them a Promise

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth, a bold reminder that our lives are meant to carry his flavor, his truth, and his love to the world. Join me each day to explore one verse of scripture and one thought, striving to stay full of savor and truly live as savory salt. Hello, my friends.

It's great to have you with me. Today, let's be anxiously engaged in a good cause and bring to pass much righteousness. Lots of blessings in Doctrine and Covenants 89, lots of blessings, but let's talk about my favorite one.

We're reading this week Doctrine and Covenants sections 89 through 92, as well as Alma chapters 53 through 56. I mentioned yesterday that we're not going to get into the do's and don'ts of the Word of Wisdom. And instead, stay at a principle level here.

I gave you some resources yesterday in terms of a conference talk by Elder Packer. There's also plenty of resources in Come, Follow Me. Another talk entitled "Principles and Promises" by President Monson inside of there.

So I'd encourage you to spend some time in there. But we get on the tail end of Doctrine and Covenants 89, and we see there that there are blessings that come from following the principles that are given inside of Doctrine and Covenants 89. Most of us are typically familiar with kind of the health, and the navel, and the wisdom, and the treasures of knowledge, run and not be weary—those types of ones.

I'm not going to read any of them for the sake of our single verse. But this year, it was the last one that caught for me this time. And that's what we're going to dive into for our verse for today.

It's Doctrine and Covenants section 89, verse 21. Verse 21 says this: "And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them as the children of Israel, and not slay them." Amen. Now, talk about a call back to a scriptural event.

The Lord here, through Joseph Smith, is calling back to an event that's been celebrated for over 3,000 years in an unbroken lineage of celebration. The story begins in the first-ever celebration of the Passover. This goes back to somewhere between the 13th or 15th century B.C., sometime around the time of Moses.

Depending on biblical accuracy, we're back to about 1500 B.C., when the children of Israel paint their doorways and the destroying angel literally comes through. And the people of—the Bible says that the people of Israel are saved because of their obedience. Now, there's a point at which we pause inside of here and say, "Is that just a symbolic event, or did that really happen?

Do we see that as historically real?" And the reason that I kind of pause inside of that one is because if it's a real event, then the Lord here in verse 21 is promising that we will experience the same thing, and we can be protected in the same way as the children of Israel. So the Word of Wisdom is more than just advice here. The Word of Wisdom is us and our opportunity to show the Lord obedience so that we are passed by as the destroying angel comes.

Now, if you are a betting person—now, I don't know if that already just becomes kind of paradoxical inside of our gospel conversations. The Word of Wisdom is more than just advice on coffee or tea, or it's more than just advice on drink this, partake of that, don't partake of that. It's more than wheat versus barley versus plants of the vine.

Like it's more than that, my friends. This is an opportunity to do our best to follow the promptings that we receive, follow the principles given in Doctrine and Covenants 89. So that the promise—ultimately, yes, the other promises are cool, but in my opinion, the ultimate promise here is that we can stand and be passed over as the destroying angel comes through.

I am so grateful that the Lord has given us an opportunity to show our obedience, to do our best with what we have, and ultimately to be passed by the destroying angel through the protection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That event, 3,000 plus years ago, is an event I believe truly happened. And I believe the Lord, when he says, "I'm going to give you a promise," I want to test the Lord on his promise.

I want to stand able to say, "I've done everything I can that you've suggested me to do." That's the power behind Doctrine and Covenants section 89. And I am grateful to the Lord for revealing it to Joseph Smith. That's all for today, my friends.

Lift up your hearts and rejoice. Cleave to the covenants you have made and together we will be savory salt.