What We Can Learn From Korihor

In Relief Society last month we discussed the story of Korihor, as found in Alma chapter 30.  After trials and wars, after burying their dead, and after fasting, mourning, and praying the Nephites chose to strictly observe the commandments of God and were experiencing a period of peace in the land.

Enter Korihor.

Careful to profess belief in his words, so that the law could not touch him, Korihor began to preach against the doctrine of the Church. We learn that he led away "the hearts of many, causing them to lift up their heads in wickedness" in the land of Zarahemla.

From there, Korhor decided to travel to Jershon, to preach to the people of Ammon, who were once Lamanites.  Unfortunately for him, the Ammonites had a smaller degree of tolerance for those who perverted the Gospel and he was quickly bound and carried before the leader of the Church in Jershon, Ammon, who sent him out of their land.

Still intent on his message, Korihor traveled to the land of Gideon, where he again began to preach without much success, for they also had little tolerance for those who taught against the Lord. In Gideon he was bound and taken before the leader of the Church and the chief judge of the land.

Judgment

When asked why he was teaching such perversion, interrupting the worship of the members of the church in the land, Korihor had an answer ready.

"Because I do not teach the foolish traditions of your fathers, and because I do not teach this people to bind themselves down under the foolish ordinances and performances . . . laid down by ancient priests . . . that they may not lift up their heads, but be brought down according to thy words."

He continued, "And thus ye lead away this people after the foolish traditions of your fathers . . . and ye keep them down, even as it were in bondage . . . that they durst not look up with boldness, and that they durst not enjoy their rights and privileges."

Being bound or brought down?  Unable to lift their heads?  Forsaking rights and privileges? Korihor was speaking to the carnal desire of pride.

The high priest and chief judge could see that Korihor had no intention of changing his tune, so they sent him to Alma and the governor of the land.

Alma

 Of course, Korihor continued on in the same manner, rising up in "great swelling words" and continued his false accusations against the church leaders, accusing Alma and the leaders of the church of God of leading away the people after the "silly traditions of their fathers," and of oppressing the members of the church.

Alma countered, asking Korihor, "Believest thou that we deceive this people, that causes such joy in their hearts?"  Alma knew that the gospel brings joy.  In chapter 5 of Alma, one of my favorite passages of scripture, we learn that we must humble ourselves, strip ourselves of pride and envy, repent, and come to Christ. I am sure that these teachings were very common throughout the Church at this time, and I believe Korihor was twisting these teachings to sound like something they were not.

After bearing a beautiful testimony, Alma told Korihor, "I know that thou believest, but thou art possessed with a lying spirit, and ye have put off the Spirit of God that it may have no place in you; but the devil has power over you, and he doth carry you about, working devices that he may destroy the children of God."

Korihor refused to accept the word of God as preached by Alma the prophet.  Insisting that only through a sign would he believe. 

Alma again bore testimony.

Alma asked, "Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets?  The scriptures are laid before thee . . . and yet do ye go about, leading away the hearts of this people. . . And yet will ye deny against all these witnesses?"

Of course, Korihor, wrapped up in his deception, continued to insist up on a sign.

Alma was grieved, and to his detriment, Korihor received his sign, was struck dumb, and finally acknowledged the error of his ways. He was forced to beg for food, and ended up being run upon, trodden down, and ultimately killed.

The Importance of Verse 53, or, How it All Began

This is the story of Korihor that we are familiar with.  However, a very important verse in this scriptural account is often overlooked.

How did Korihor get where he was?  What caused this man to rebel and lead so many people astray?

He received revelation. 

He was called to the work. 

He saw the form of an angel who called him to, "Go and reclaim this people, for they have all gone astray!"

The words of this being were pleasing to his carnal and prideful mind, so he taught them with great success until he ultimately started to believe them.

Until he started to believe them.  Korihor liked what he heard, but started teaching without knowing it was true.  He liked these pleasing ideas so he taught them!

Korihor confessed that he was deceived by the devil.  He confessed that the devil deceived him through the form of an angel who called him to this work.  After receiving a sign from God, Korihor finally acknowledged that his harmful teachings were not true.

From his account of how it all began, Korihor teaches us that the devil can and does share false revelation.

False Revelation?

In the Bible Dictionary we read that "One of the major techniques of the devil is to cause human beings to think they are following God’s ways, when in reality they are deceived by the devil to follow other paths."

This statement is so important, that I will share it again:

"One of the major techniques of the devil is to cause human beings to think they are following God’s ways, when in reality they are deceived by the devil to follow other paths."

I highly recommend reading the Bible Dictionary entry on the Devil in its entirety.

How can we make sure we are not deceived?

How can we guard against following false revelation?

How can we protect ourselves from the devil's deception?

What can we do to safeguard our testimonies in these perilous latter days?

How can we make sure that we remain firm in the faith? Answering these questions was my purpose in writing Perilous Times Shall Come.

Perilous Times Shall Come

How we can remain firm in the faith

In 2 Timothy, Paul taught us that, "In the last days perilous times shall come."  His discourse in chapter three is something that all of us should become familiar with.  As we look around the world today, many of God's truths are not only being rejected, but are being trodden underfoot.

Isaiah said in chapter 5, "Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!"  In our world today those who cleave to the word of God and God's commands to his children are persecuted and called intolerant, bigots, discriminators, and just plain wrong.

However, these outward ills are nothing compared to the teachings of those who seek to destroy the Church from within.

How can we make sure that we remain firm in the faith?

Pride

I think the first thing we can do is study Ezra Taft Benson's talk on pride.  Why?  Well, because unless we ponder his talk, we cannot fully understand what pride is.  After all, President Benson said, "Pride is a very misunderstood sin, and many are sinning in ignorance."

I was.

Pride is when "we pit our will against God's."  We are proud when we "pit [our] perceptions of truth against God's great knowledge, [our] abilities versus God's priesthood power, [our] accomplishments against His mighty works."  President Benson continues, "The proud wish God would agree with them.  They aren't interested in changing their opinions to agree with God's."

"Pride is the great stumbling block to Zion," so to remain firm in the faith, we must humble ourselves.  Read his talk on pride.  Understanding and combating our personal pride is essential to our salvation in these latter days.

Order in Revelation

In chapter one of Joseph Smith's translation of Matthew, we are warned against false Christs and false prophets in the last days who, "if possible, . . . shall deceive the very elect."

How can we protect ourselves?

One important way is to remember the order of revelation. 

In October 1994, President Boyd K. Packer gave a wonderful talk entitled, "Personal Revelation: The Gift, the Test, and the Promise."  In this talk, we can find great spiritual protection.

He warned, "Before I say another word about personal revelation, I must tell you so that you cannot possibly misunderstand: 'There are many spirits which are false spirits.' There can be counterfeit revelations, promptings from the devil, temptations! As long as you live, in one way or another the adversary will try to lead you astray."  Later clarifying, "The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that 'it is contrary to the economy of God for any member of the Church, or any one [else], to receive instruction for those in authority, higher than themselves.'"  (Another great resource to study is "Keys for Avoiding Deception" in the Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual.)

President Wilford Woodruff taught, "I say to Israel, the Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as president of the Church to lead you astray. It is not in the program. It is not in the mind of God."

If we follow the living Prophet, we will not be led astray in the latter days.

The First Commandment

The first of the Ten Commandments found in Exodus is, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."  In Mark we read how Jesus Christ stated the first commandment to be, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength."

Why is it important to remember these commandments? 

There is a growing belief among some members of the church that they may pray to others, perhaps those ancestors who have passed on to the other side of the veil, or to their Mother in Heaven.  Yet in the October 1991 General Conference, as a living prophet who cannot lead the Church astray, President Gordon B. Hinckley shared, "I give it to all, in this forum, because of the activities of a few who evidently are seeking to lead others in the paths which they are following. I speak of those who advocate the offering of prayers to our Mother in Heaven. . . . [I]n light of the instruction we have received from the Lord Himself, I regard it as inappropriate for anyone in the Church to pray to our Mother in Heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ set the pattern for our prayers." He then proceeded to share example after example of this doctrine throughout the scriptures.

We must pray to God, our Heavenly Father through his Son, Jesus Christ and to no one else.

Patterning Ourselves After Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Creator of Heaven and Earth, Savior and Redeemer of all mankind, Alpha and Omega, the Great I AM, chose to come to earth as a helpless and homeless baby.  His earthly father was a carpenter, yet the infant Lord was laid in a crudely constructed manger.

The God of this earth, who in Exodus proclaimed that, "[A]ll the earth is mine," expressed complete humility throughout his earthly life.  He was willing to submit.

Are we?

Jesus Christ could have justly taken over the political and religious organizations of His day.

Did he?

Not only did he choose to remain with the people, teaching and healing, but he forsake everything.  He was homeless, dependent upon the kindness of others for his very sustenance. In Matthew we read, "And Jesus saith unto them, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head."

When a principle of the gospel, such as paying a full tithe, seems too much to bear, we can remember the pioneers who gave all, as Jesus Christ did.  They left their homes, their families, their possessions and property to follow the call of the Prophet to cross the oceans and plains to Zion.  Along the way, many gave their very lives.

Are we willing to make a similar sacrifice in our latter day of plenty?

Can we say, as Christ did, "Father, if thou be willing [allow my will to be done]: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done," and be willing to accept the answer?

Can we allow, as Christ did, our will to be "swallowed up in the will of the Father?"

Sacrifice

It is difficult to stand for the right in these latter days.  But, as Bruce R. McConkie reminded us, "We have covenanted in the waters of baptism to love and serve him, to keep his commandments, and to put first in our lives the things of his kingdom." His April 1975 General Conference talk entitled, "Obedience, Consecration, and Sacrifice" is something that we should all read and study.

Why?

Elder McConkie put it best when he said, "I shall now set forth some of the principles of sacrifice and consecration to which the true saints must conform if they are ever to go where God and Christ are and have an inheritance with the faithful saints of ages past."

Remember, this life is not the final act of the play.  It is not the end!

We are promised in the Doctrine and Covenants section 76, that if we remain true and faithful in this life, "Great shall be [our] reward and eternal shall be [our] glory."  Again in 1 Corinthians we read that "Eye hath not seen, no ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

All Will Be Made Right

Whatever pains, struggles, fears, sorrows, disappointments, and hardships we endure in this life, they all give us experience and are ALL for our good.  In the Doctrine and Covenants section 122 we read, "The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?"

We can choose to seek after the glory of men in this life.

We can seek after our rewards, our power, our glory while we remain on this earth.

However, as we are taught in Matthew, if we do, "[We] have our reward."

Very few of us will ever experience more tribulation than Joseph Smith did in this life.  He was promised, "[I]f thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high." Likewise, as we liken this scripture to ourselves we know that if we remain faithful, we will receive great blessings in the next life!

This life is a test.

Will we endure it well?

All things to your remembrance

My whole life I've been familiar with the scripture in John 14:26 which states:

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

As a youth, I took that scripture to mean that if I studied material or paid attention in class, when it was time to take the test I would be able to recall the information.  That was pretty much how I viewed this scripture for a large part of my life.

Recently, however, it's come to mean so much more to me.

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe that this life on Earth is the middle of a three-act play [See Boyd K. Packer, “The Play and the Plan” (Church Educational System fireside for young adults, May 7, 1995), 3].  As President Packer says:

"As part of the eternal plan, the memory of our premortal life, Act I, is covered with a veil.  Since you enter mortality at the beginning of Act II with no recollection of Act I, it is little wonder that it is difficult to understand what is going on."

So what was Act I?  We call it our Premortal Life.  Here we lived and learned and grew as spirit children of God, our Heavenly Father.  When we had progressed to our full potential as spirits, we were presented with the Plan of Salvation, which each of us accepted in our pre-earth life.

Why did I bring up our premortal existence?

Recently, there have been times in my life when I needed to do something that I had never done before, and had no idea how to approach.  Yet very clearly in my mind an idea came to me that made perfect sense.  While I had no earthly experience in this particular subject, I knew exactly what to do and how to do it.

After pondering this experience, which has been repeated in my life a couple of times, a very tender doctrine was taught to me.  The scripture which I referenced above doesn't just apply to things I've learned on earth.  It works through the veil.  While I may not have learned things in this life, the Holy Ghost can help me remember things through the veil. 

What a wonderful and glorious promise and gift we have been given!  While the veil will not be lifted while we are in mortality, if we have a need for remembrance, the Holy Ghost will aid us in our righteous endeavors.

The faith to NOT

I've been through the ringer these past six or seven months.

Acting on a very clear, very precise, very powerful prompting, my husband and family and I did all in our power to follow this prompting and to make it happen.  It was hard.  It cost money.  It required sacrifice.  It required having our children 100% on board.

Our faith grew.  We took many steps into the darkness, and every step allowed just enough light to continue on our journey of faith.  I knew exactly how the pioneers could leave their homes and embark on a journey to an unknown destination.  I "got" it.  I was following the same path.

Until I wasn't.

Things didn't work out the way we knew they would.

The very clear, precise, and powerful prompting did not materialize.

We are now back, practically, at square one, where we were before we started this long, difficult, exhausting journey.  And we know it's the Lord's will.  And it's hard!

A month-and-a-half ago Elder Bednar spoke at a CES devotional which I watched on TV.  At the time I was in the thick of our journey-that-wasn't, and enjoyed the fireside very much. It spoke to me and to my faith. However, now the phrase, “If it is the will of our Heavenly Father, do you have the faith not to be healed?” has been going through my head.  I had the faith to leave my home and pack up my large family, not knowing where we were going.  I had the faith to give up everything, save my family.  Yet now I'm struggling NOT to.

Why is it so much harder for me, and for many of us, to NOT.  We sing, "I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord," yet we don't do our visiting or home teaching.  Or we murmur about our calling.  Or we don't take the time to serve others.  The big things seem easy to do. Yet the small things are the hardest.

I'm having a really hard time NOT.  I wanted to embark on this wonderful, hard, unknown journey, because I knew it was what I was being called to do.  I was excited for the change.

But was it just a test? 

The prompting was undeniable.

Now It's taking me a long time to have the faith NOT to go, but to stay.

Why was this my journey?  Why did I have just an undeniable, unmistakable prompting to follow the course of the last seven months of our lives?

I don't know, but I know without a doubt it is Heavenly Father's plan.  Now I need to learn to align my will to His and to have the faith to NOT.

Humility

As I was teaching my oldest daughter precious doctrine last night, she said she didn't really understand what humility was. We read some scriptures together and looked up the definition, and I came up with my personal definition of humility.

Humility has two parts:

1. Recognition: Recognizing that no matter how accomplished or wonderful we may be, how much we may have grown, or even how much we are struggling, we aren't everything our Heavenly Father wants us to be...YET.

2. Turning to Him: Taking that knowledge and turning to our Father in prayer so that He can guide us through this mortal life and help shape us and our gifts through this mortal life into the exalted person He wants us to become.

See things for what they are

I've heard it said that even worse than not believing in God, is not believing in the Devil.

In preparing for a stake event, I've experienced more trials and roadblocks than I can even remember. It seems EVERYTHING that I do is extremely difficult. Everywhere I turn things are going wrong. I just want to give up. I feel like I shouldn't even be trying.

Today I told my husband that I should just cancel it; that obviously what I'm doing isn't right. My husband remarked that it must be a very good thing because the Adversary is working so hard to prevent it from happening, and to prevent people from knowing about it.

All of a sudden things became more clear. I recognized the obstacles for what they were, and they immediately shrunk. These huge, looming problems now pale in comparison with what this event can and will be.

Sometimes, just recognizing the source of our problems allows us to conquer them.

No man knoweth the hour...

After reading this article about the missionaries in Japan who were unexpectedly sent home early from their missions after the devastating earthquake, tsunami,and radiation issues, it caused me some reflection.

"Two days ago we got a call from our mission president, and he just got off a conference call and was told that all missionaries scheduled to go home in April or May were coming home on Friday," said Elder Brett Warner.

They had just a few days' notice.

"[It's a] ‘still more I've got to do' kind of feeling," said Elder Matt Palmer.

My heart really goes out to these young men who have to suddenly return home. They don't get to "finish" their missions the way they had hoped.

We can liken their experience to our lives. We don't know when our time on earth will be done. We need to live every day to the fullest, serving and living the Gospel. One day we may be called home, just as these missionaries were. Will we have done enough?

Our offerings

My children like to give me little trinkets or handmade items all the time. To them, these hand-picked weed flowers, beautiful rocks, or quarter-machine toys are of value and worth. However, to me, they lack the attraction that so captivates young children. I see weed flowers as potential weed seeds in my yard--I see past the little bit of flashy beauty to the nuisance these weeds truly are.

I do appreciate the gifts from my children. I know that they believe these objects to have worth. However, in reality the only worth is that which the children affix to them. Many times I have asked my children to complete a task, but they instead choose to make me a gift. Sometimes the gift consists of a bit of string or yarn tied into a necklace with a paper charm. Sometimes the gift is a handwritten card. Yet these gifts are not what I've asked them to present to me. In creating their "valuable" presents for me, they ultimately neglect the one thing I've asked them to do--something that they don't see the value in. I ask them to clean their room, and I'm presented with a paper crown. I ask them to fold their clothes and instead I receive a crochet-chain necklace.

Today I couldn't help but ponder on my Heavenly Father. Is He in heaven shaking his head, saying: "I understand these offerings of yours have worth to you, but you are neglecting the very things I have asked of you."

How often do we set aside His commandments in order to make our own offerings? Are we neglecting the essential for the good? Maybe it's time to take a good look around and see which of our treasures are nothing more than paper and string.

Why is it so hard?

Something to remember:

D&C 58
2 For verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithful in tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven.
3 Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.
4 For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand.
5 Remember this, which I tell you before, that you may lay it to heart, and receive that which is to follow.
6 Behold, verily I say unto you, for this cause I have sent you—that you might be obedient, and that your hearts might be prepared to bear testimony of the things which are to come;

I will carry you

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My current Old Testament progress:
I did finish it in 2006!
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When my three-year-old says her prayers, she always wants help. I know she knows how to say a complete prayer, but she doesn't know, or won't admit to herself, that she can do it. I adopted a strategy: when she asks for my help, I tell her, "You start, and do all that you can. When you need help, I will step in and help you finish."

It struck me that this is what the Savior does. When we are facing trials and challenges and ask for Him to please take them from us, his response is, "You start. Do all that you can. Learn and grow. Stretch yourself and learn how much more you can do than you realize. When you truly need the help, I will step in and carry you the rest of the way."