In class, there was a question and brief discussion on what was meant when the Lord indicated that even after all the punishments prophesied in Leviticus 26 that the Lord woudl remember His covenant to fulfill it.
Why would He keep a covenant with unrepentant Israel?
Frankly, He wouldn't. There are promised that He made to Abraham regarding his posterity, which the Lord will keep because Abraham continued faithful, but the covenants made with the children of Israel would be in effect only in the case of faithfulness and obendience.
However, the children of Israel would not always rebel against their Lord (see 2 Ne 30:2-8). And when they return, He will be there, waiting, right where He has always been (consider the story of the pickup truck driver and his wife).
Contrast this with any contract you may enter into with man. Can you think of anyone these days who would be willing to honor a contract in full, without significant fines/fees/repurcussions? Can you think of a contract, which can revert to its original condition after having been violated? To me, it is further evidence of the love and mercy of a loving Heavenly Father.
For those of us not familiar with it, can you relate the story of the pickup truck driver and his wife?
ReplyDeleteIt was a story that MTC companion liked to tell, which really stuck with me.
ReplyDeleteA newly-wed couple were driving their truck down the road, the man driving and the woman sitting in the middle seat, snuggled up under his arm, just as happy as can be.
Years passed as they always seem to do, and the wife started sitting in the passenger seat. One time as they were driving, she looked out the window and saw a newly-wed couple driving along, the wife snuggled up against the husband. She asked her husband if he recalled when they were like that.
"Yep" was his terse reply.
She continued to look longingly on the couple. Eventually she asked what had happened, why weren't they like that anymore.
He replied, "Well, I haven't moved."
It's a fun little story, but it does serve as a model for our relationship with the Savior, at least on some levels. The church/Israel/saints are frequently called Christ's bride. When there is distance between us, it is invariably us who have moved away from the Lord. In the in-person tellin gof the story, you can see that the husband, even after time, still drives with his right arm resting on the seat back - outstretched and waiting for the wife to return.