It Is Better That One Man Should Perish...

My apologies to my loyal readers for the infrequency of my posts. This last week has been quite busy with catching up on makeup work from previously missed class.

Most of you are familiar with the fact that I'm taking a Biblical Hebrew class this semester. Despite the fact that my grades are not necessarily reflecting it, it has been one of my favorite classes this semester. I have gained a greater depth of testimony by just studying the small amount of scripture that we have been translating for our class.

Though, to this point we have only translated a handful of verses from the 22nd Chapter of Genesis, the depth of these verses has offered a great deal of insight into gospel principles and especially strengthened my testimony and understanding of the Atonement.

Recently, when translating a set of verses this last week, I was brought to the recollection of the phrase "it is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief." The interesting thing is that this phrase doesn't appear in Genesis 22 in any form. In fact, those that are familiar with the chapter (the one where Isaac is prepared and offered for sacrifice) will know that in the first 10 verses, that Isaac has just barely been placed upon the altar, much less any lessons learned from it by Abraham at this point.

What an in depth analysis of this chapter will reveal however is the great similarities between the preparations and subsequent sacrifice by Jesus Christ himself in preparing the Atonement of the world and the elements of the test that Abraham was asked to endure in the 22nd chapter.

As I pondered these commonalities, I was inspired to understand the Atonement even further, and began to wonder if perhaps that the Lord was giving Nephi additional counsel through the Spirit when offering this phrase in 1 Nephi 4:13. Note that in the 14th verse, Nephi "remembered the words of the Lord which he spake unto me in the wilderness." Thus, this indicates that even though Nephi correlates this to additional counsel in the rest of the verse, he has heard these words before. This is perhaps because it is one of the fundamental principles of the Atonement - that one man (Jesus Christ) should perish so that an entire nation (the rest of God's children) should not dwindle and perish in unbelief.

As we consider this notion, we come to the realization that there are many symbolisms of the Ultimate Sacrifice throughout the scriptures, and perhaps the reason that I was brought to this inspiration as I translated only a few of the verses in Genesis 22. Though Isaac was never sacrificed in physical nature, the emotional willingness and mental anguish that Abraham endured in full willingness was enough to reward him with the covenant of a loving Father and the promise of becoming the father of many nations and over an innumerable seed later on in that chapter. Could not the Lord have offered similar counsel in teaching Abraham after this strenuous plight? Perhaps, but we can discern this counsel by studying it and applying the similarities between the rest of the standard works.

There are yet other instances in which "one man should / does / would perish" so that a "nation would not dwindle and perish in unbelief." Consider for a moment the account of Abinadi in Mosiah 11-17. Abinadi preached the word of God to a very wicked leadership of the people, harsh enough that it would result in his death by burning at the stake. Present in that audience was Alma, the future prophet, and one of the greatest missionaries of all dispensations. We don't know what might have happened had circumstances been different, but we do know that in some way, the murder of the prophet sealed with that blood a testimony that struck Alma's heart which resulted in his conversion and the conversion of an entire nation of people to the gospel of Jesus Christ which would bring them great light and life.

Moroni in his censuring of Pahorn, the Cheif Judge of the Nephites, offers additional counsel on this subject when he said: "For the Lord suffereth the righteous to be slain that his justice and judgment may come upon the wicked; therefore ye need not suppose that the righteous are lost because they are slain; but behold, they do enter into the rest of the Lord their God." (Alma 60:13).

Consider also the account from Alma 14:

8 And they brought their wives and children together, and whosoever believed or had been taught to believe in the word of God they caused that they should be cast into the fire; and they also brought forth their records which contained the holy scriptures, and cast them into the fire also, that they might be burned and destroyed by fire.
9 And it came to pass that they took Alma and Amulek, and carried them forth to the place of martyrdom, that they might witness the destruction of those who were consumed by fire.
10 And when Amulek saw the pains of the women and children who were consuming in the fire, he also was pained; and he said unto Alma: How can we witness this awful scene? Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the power of God which is in us, and save them from the flames.
11 But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day.

There are several other examples of one man perishing to save a nation in the Book of Mormon, but perhaps one that hits our hearts most in this modern era is the martyrdom of Joseph Smith the Prophet: " Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord's anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!" (Doctrine and Covenants 135:3)

The great musical orator W.W. Phelps, stated in his work "Praise to the Man":

Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!
Jesus annointed that Prophet and Seer.
Blessed to open the last dispensation,
Kings shall extol him, and nations revere.

Chorus
Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven!
Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain.
Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren;
Death cannot conquer the hero again.

Praise to his mem'ry, he died as a martyr;
Honored and blest be his ever great name!
Long shall his blood, which was shed by assasins,
Plead unto heav'n while the earth lauds his fame.

Chorus

Great is his glory and endless his priesthood.
Ever and ever the keys he will hold.
Faithful and true he will enter his kingdom,
Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old.

Chorus

Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven;
Earth must atone for the blood of that man.
Wake up the world for the conflict of justice.
Millions shall know 'Brother Joseph' again.

Chorus

(Hymns #27, Praise to the Man)

The testimony of many of these great men, sacrificing themselves such that many nations, kindreds, tongues and people would come to a further knowledge of the gospel and greater understanding of the nature of God have had a profound impact on the lives of many, but so also can we have an impact on others also. No, we will likely not be called upon to sacrifice our own lives physically such that it may one day lead to the salvation of an entire nation, but we are called upon to do so in other means.

If I could offer the following tweak to the aforementioned phrase, it will perhaps help us to understand this better: "It is better that the natural man should perish, than an entire posterity perish and dwindle in unbelief." We may not consider ourselves hugely responsible for the governance of an entire nation, but in the long run, we will each be accountable to such. Our failure to convert our own hearts fully to the gospel is to potentially curse a nation of people with a dwindling of unbelief and unrighteousness. Do we strive to live according to every word that proceeds from the mouth of God - be it through the translated works that sit dusty on many an end table only to be casually thrown into a bag on Sunday; through the mouths of modern day prophets - which are oft ignored in the pursuit of "more exciting" activities; or even through the promptings of the Spirit which may touch our hearts and minds on a daily basis, but are shrugged off and quickly cast from our minds? I invite all of you, including myself, to recommit yourselves to your personal conversion, such that you may gain the same promise Abraham was offered when he was willing to offer his only son Isaac to the Father, and so that we may look our Savior in the eyes at our final judgment and say that we did our best to bring salvation and life to many nations and posterities because of our willingness to sacrifice the natural man within and be obedient to His command.