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While Moses was on top of Mount Sinai with the Lord, he received Ten Commandments. Before giving them to His prophet for His people, the Lord reminded them through Moses, “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” (Exo. 20:1) His first commandment to them was “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (v. 3) The next two that followed were about making graven images and worshipping them. (v. 4-5). With these in hand, Moses returned to the people to share these with them.
Before Moses approached the Lord again on the top of Mount Sinai, God reminded him to reiterate to the children of Israel, “Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.” (Exo 20:22-23) While the people waited for Moses, they said to Aaron, “Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we [know] not what is become of him. (Exo. 32:1)
After receiving gold from them, Aaron forged a golden calf. He then exclaimed, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” (v. 4). He then built an altar for it. Early the next morning, people went and worshipped it.
Upon seeing this act of rebellion and sharing what He saw to Moses, the Lord said to him—
I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. (v. 9-10)
Because of their sins, the Lord basically tells Moses that He is about to destroy them and that He is starting over with him and his family. Instead of accepting this fate, Moses pleads on their behalf that the Lord would spare them. Hearing his pleas, the Lord answered him with this instruction—
If they will repent of the evil which they have done, I will spare them, and turn away my fierce wrath. (JST Exo 32:14)
Moses then returned to the people and instructed them as the Lord told him. They did what the Lord commanded and they were saved.
I have often wondered why the Lord told Moses what He was about to do to the children of Israel because of their sins. He didn’t need Moses’ permission to destroy them. He could have said to Moses, “There is no hurry for you to return. I saw their sins and destroyed them because of what they did. I’m starting over with you.” Also, upon hearing what the Lord was going to do, Moses could have said “Lord, yes destroy them. I gave them the commandments about not having, making, or worshipping any other gods. They deserve this. They’re hopeless.” Yet, fortunately, this isn’t how things turned out.
The Lord later told us why He waited for Moses’ response—
As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? (Eze. 33:11)
He didn’t want to destroy them. He wanted to save them. He also hoped that Moses loved them enough to plead for them. Happily, this played out as the Lord hoped.
President Gordon B Hinckley once shared the following parable.
“Years ago there was a little one-room schoolhouse in the mountains of Virginia where the boys were so rough that no teacher had been able to handle them.
“A young, inexperienced teacher applied, and the old director scanned him and asked: ‘Young fellow, do you know that you are asking for an awful beating? Every teacher that we have had here for years has had to take one.’
“‘I will risk it,’ he replied.
“The first day of school came, and the teacher appeared for duty. One big fellow named Tom whispered: ‘I won’t need any help with this one. I can lick him myself.’
“The teacher said, ‘Good morning, boys, we have come to conduct school.’ They yelled and made fun at the top of their voices. ‘Now, I want a good school, but I confess that I do not know how unless you help me. Suppose we have a few rules. You tell me, and I will write them on the blackboard.’
“One fellow yelled, ‘No stealing!’ Another yelled, ‘On time.’ Finally, ten rules appeared on the blackboard.
“‘Now,’ said the teacher, ‘a law is not good unless there is a penalty attached. What shall we do with one who breaks the rules?’
“‘Beat him across the back ten times without his coat on,’ came the response from the class.
“‘That is pretty severe, boys. Are you sure that you are ready to stand by it?’ Another yelled, ‘I second the motion,’ and the teacher said, ‘All right, we will live by them! Class, come to order!’
“In a day or so, ‘Big Tom’ found that his lunch had been stolen. The thief was located—a little hungry fellow, about ten years old. ‘We have found the thief and he must be punished according to your rule—ten stripes across the back. Jim, come up here!’ the teacher said.
“The little fellow, trembling, came up slowly with a big coat fastened up to his neck and pleaded, ‘Teacher, you can lick me as hard as you like, but please, don’t take my coat off!’
“‘Take your coat off,’ the teacher said. ‘You helped make the rules!’
“‘Oh, teacher, don’t make me!’ He began to unbutton, and what did the teacher see? The boy had no shirt on, and revealed a bony little crippled body.
“‘How can I whip this child?’ he thought. ‘But I must, I must do something if I am to keep this school.’ Everything was quiet as death.
“‘How come you aren’t wearing a shirt, Jim?’
“He replied, ‘My father died and my mother is very poor. I have only one shirt and she is washing it today, and I wore my brother’s big coat to keep me warm.’
“The teacher, with rod in hand, hesitated. Just then ‘Big Tom’ jumped to his feet and said, ‘Teacher, if you don’t object, I will take Jim’s licking for him.’
“‘Very well, there is a certain law that one can become a substitute for another. Are you all agreed?’
“Off came Tom’s coat, and after five strokes the rod broke! The teacher bowed his head in his hands and thought, ‘How can I finish this awful task?’ Then he heard the class sobbing, and what did he see? Little Jim had reached up and caught Tom with both arms around his neck. ‘Tom, I’m sorry that I stole your lunch, but I was awful hungry. Tom, I will love you till I die for taking my licking for me! Yes, I will love you forever!’”
President Hinckley continued by saying, “To lift a phrase from this simple story, Jesus, my Redeemer, has taken “my licking for me” and yours for you” (“The Wondrous and True Story of Christmas”, Liahona, December 2000)
The prophet Abinadi testified that by gaining “victory over death,” the Savior received “power to make intercession” for us. He went on to say that the Savior “ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy, being filled with compassion towards [us]” “stands [between] [us] and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself [our] iniquity and [our] transgressions, having redeemed [us], and satisfied the demands of justice. (Msh 15:8-9)
According to Merriam Webster to “intercede”, from which the word “intercession” comes from, “implies acting for an offender in begging mercy or forgiveness” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/interceding) By suffering what He did and overcoming death, the Redeemer received power to plead not only for forgiveness of our sins, but also for mercy with the trials in our lives.
Having lived, died, and lived again, the Savior stands at the right hand of God “to claim of the Father his rights of mercy” for us (Moro. 7:27). He advocates our cause and He deliberately dwells eternally in the heavens to make those good things happen for us. (v. 28).
In His own words, He tells us what He tells the Father about us-
Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—
Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;
Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren [and sisters] that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life. (D&C 45:3-4)
It is marvelous to wonder that the Savior who pleads on our behalf as our Advocate will also be our Judge in the last day.
J Reuben Clark, a former member of the First Presidency and attorney by profession, expressed the Lord’s mercy this way—
I believe that our Heavenly Father wants to save every one of his children…I believe that his juridical concept of his dealings with his children could be expressed in this way: I believe that in his justice and mercy, he will give us the maximum reward for our acts, give us all that he can give, and in the reverse, I believe that he will impose upon us the minimum penalty which it is possible for him to impose. (Conference Report, 3 Oct. 1953, p. 84.)
I find it interesting that the Lord gave us a glimpse of not only what life with Him and His Father would look like in the celestial kingdom but also life without Them in the telestial. Of the latter, the Lord told us twice that those who go there are those “who received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus.” (D&C 76:82, 101).
What is this kingdom like for those who refuse and reject what Jesus has done for them? The Prophet Joseph Smith said, “we saw, in the heavenly vision, the glory of the telestial, which surpasses all understanding.” (D&C 76:89).
How many will completely refuse to accept what the Savior did for them? President Lorenzo Snow once shared –
When the gospel is preached to the spirits in prison, the success attending that preaching will be far greater than that attending the preaching of our [missionaries] in this life. I believe there will be very few indeed of those spirits who will not gladly receive the gospel when it is carried to them. The circumstances there will be a thousand times more favorable (“Discourse by President Lorenzo Snow,” Millennial Star, Jan. 22, 1894, 50).
On Easter, as we consider what Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection mean for us individually and collectively, let us remember that two of the main reasons that He lives are to plead for us and extend mercy to us. Each time we pray to our Heavenly Father in His name for forgiveness of our sins, for blessings for our families, for help with our needs, and for the strength to overcome, He willingly grants us our petitions, according to His wisdom to what is best for us, in this life and the next because He is full of grace and truth.
What is grace? We often describe it as His power or enabling power. This is true. However, it’s more than that I believe. God uses the word “grace” instead of “power ” to denote not only what He can do for us but also why He wants to do it. Why does He want to do it? It is the good news of Easter.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:16-17)