Latter-day Saint FAIR-Cast

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Faithful Answers, Informed Response

  1. 1d ago

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Jeremiah 31–33; 36–39; Lamentations 1; 3 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson

    Keeping Christ at the Center by Autumn Dickson One of the books we study this week is called Lamentations, and there is a really good reason it is called Lamentations. Jeremiah was a prophet who had pleaded with the people to repent. He pleaded with King Zedekiah to listen, but Zedekiah refused. Jerusalem was surrounded and sieged. The fall of Judah was…awful. It was known as one of the worst sieges and disasters in ancient history. It was brutal even by the standards of the ancient Near East. There is evidence of the horror from biblical text as well as Babylonian records. Some survivors described it as worse than what happened to Sodom. Some believe that the victims who died by the sword were more blessed than those who were left to rot away in the city that was under siege. There was no food or water. The dead were piled up in the streets, and there was no escape. Not to be irreverent, but cannibalism is even recorded. I share that with the sole purpose of highlighting the devastation. You were stuck in a city that was dying, not sure if what awaited you outside the walls was any better than what you found within. When the walls were finally breached, there was prolific assault. People were taken from their homes and banished away. Only the most desperate poor were left within the city. The city and temple were burned. The trauma lasted for generations. What a horrible time to be called as prophet. I can’t imagine being asked to plead with people to repent, learning to love them as I served them, and then having to bear witness of their fall. We read Jeremiah’s record, but Lamentations is also believed to be written by Jeremiah. Lamentations is not strictly a history; it is a collection of Hebrew poetry. Hebrew poetry has a couple of defined characteristics that help us better understand what the poet is trying to express. The first couple chapters are called acrostics. Each verse goes in the order of the alphabet. So in English, this would look like the first letter starting with “A,” the second verse starting with “B,” and so on and so forth. This helped people remember the poems better. Acrostics also had cultural significance. In the case of Lamentations, Jeremiah’s sorrow was so profound over watching Jerusalem fall that acrostics symbolized the complete and total devastation he was experiencing. You go through the entirety of the alphabet; you go through the entirety of desolation. Chapter 3 is a triple acrostic. It goes through each letter three times. Chapter 3 is also significant because of a phenomenon known as chiasmus. You say something in the beginning, your most important highlighted point is found in the middle, and then you repeat what you said in the beginning backwards. The pattern is: ABC – pinnacle – CBA. In English, you often find the point at the end of the story or poem. This is not the case in Hebrew poetry. The entire book of Lamentations also utilizes chiasmus, and chapter 3 is the pinnacle. Then you have chapter 3 as an individual chapter; it also has a mini chiasmus within the big chiasmus that is Lamentations. In other words, chapter 3 in Lamentations is a big deal. It is the pinnacle of Lamentations as a whole. It has its own chiasmus, and it is a triple acrostic. In other words, according to Hebrew poetry, Jeremiah has something important to say. So what did Jeremiah say in this pinnacle of pinnacles? What do we find at the center of the chapter that is the center of the book? What would be your center point if you were Jeremiah? What would you choose to record for future generations? What would you share? Chapter 3 in Lamentations begins and ends with the pain and devastation that Jeremiah is experiencing over Jerusalem being destroyed. This is understandable. I’m sure Lamentations was part of how Jeremiah processed some of the trauma that was occurring before his own eyes, a trauma that he had tried to prevent. I wonder if Jeremiah ever felt like he had failed. And yet, despite everything that Jeremiah must have been feeling, he didn’t put pain in the middle. I will share a couple of the verses at the center. Lamentations 3:21-23 21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 22 It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Against all odds, Jeremiah shares a message of hope and eternal persistence in reaching out to the House of Israel. The verses continue on for a little while before becoming somber again. Jeremiah had listened to the Lord and been thrown into prison for it. He had been forewarned about what Jerusalem faced. He had glimmers of hope where Zedekiah sought him out, but never actually ended up listening to Jeremiah. Then, as declared by the Lord, Jeremiah had to watch what happened in Jerusalem. What devastation are you facing? What are you putting at the center of your life? What are you focusing on? It is okay to see the devastation and work to process it. It is okay to be heartbroken and torn apart and mourn. Jeremiah did this on both sides. But what are you putting at the center of it all? I testify that putting Christ and His promises at the center of everything will bring hope even in the darkest of times. Jeremiah was sent to the earth at a painful time, but the promise of the Messiah was a light. He believed it enough to sacrifice everything, and those cries of hope at the center of his grief and trauma are evidence of that belief. Christ is what enabled him to be okay in the end, and I testify that Christ can carry you through whatever devastation you are witnessing or carrying.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Jeremiah 31–33; 36–39; Lamentations 1; 3 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

  2. 4d ago

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Jeremiah 31–33; 36–39; Lamentations 1; 3 – Jennifer Roach Lees

    Jennifer Roach Lees holds a Master in Divinity as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology. She is a licensed mental health therapist and lives in Utah. She was the 2023 recipient of the John Taylor Defender of the Faith award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Jeremiah 31–33; 36–39; Lamentations 1; 3 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.

  3. 5d ago

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Jeremiah 31–33; 36–39; Lamentations 1; 3 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson

    Jeremiah Bought Nothing; Christ Bought Us by Autumn Dickson Jeremiah was the prophet at a time when the Jews were to be conquered by Babylon. He was called to be a prophet and cry repentance. He was to warn the Jews about what was coming, and he also gave messages of hope. The Jews would one day be restored to the land. The Lord also gives Jeremiah a peculiar object lesson. Babylon had already started to take over the land of the Jews and were making a siege against Jerusalem. Then this happens. Jeremiah 32:6-7 6 And Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 7 Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it. Jeremiah has prophesied that Jerusalem would fall. He, more than anyone, knew that Jerusalem would not prevail. He, more than anyone, knew the land was worthless. Let it also be known that Babylon had already taken over Anathoth. They had not yet conquered Jerusalem completely, but they had conquered Anathoth. Jeremiah’s uncle comes, and he’s like, “Jeremiah, buy this land that isn’t really mine anymore.” And yet, the Lord tells Jeremiah to buy the land. Jeremiah does so. He pays 17 shekels for it. It is recorded and done with witnesses. Despite the fact that Jeremiah is in prison for prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem, he buys the worthless piece of land. Perhaps the Lord sent Hanameel to Jeremiah because the Lord knew that Hanameel was going to need the 17 shekels. Perhaps it was because the Lord also wanted to teach a significant lesson. Let’s talk about poignant details. In Israelite tradition, all of the land belonged to God. It was divided up as inheritances to families, but it truly all belonged to God. When you ran up debts or needed money, you had to sell the land to your family first. If that didn’t work, you would lease that land to others but then the land would be restored to the family clan during the year of Jubilee. Bottom line: the land actually already belonged to God. Because of wickedness, that land was taken over by the enemy. And though the land prices had plummeted, silver stayed precious. Silver was the currency in Babylon as well. While everything else in the economy had gone nuts, silver retained its inherent value. There is archeological evidence of people hoarding silver during turbulent times. Silver stayed precious. The land was worth nothing. But Jeremiah bought the worthless land with his precious silver. This was meant to be a radical act of faith. It was supposed to be this object lesson that the Jews would return one day. Everything seemed hopeless, and for a time, things were hopeless. However, it would not remain that way. It’s an object lesson and it’s the traditional lesson that we pull from this story. But I think it goes deeper than that. Like the land, we already belong to God. We came from Him. We are His spirit children. We are here because He brought us here. Because of sin, we found ourselves captured and conquered and separated from loved ones. We had our inheritance taken away from us. The enemy prevailed. Our Brother, our family member, had that first “right of redemption.” Jesus Christ had the right to redeem and keep us in the family. Despite the fact that we are largely worthless, He used His precious blood to pay for us. He bought us. Jeremiah paid for the land with 17 shekels. The number 17 means “overcoming the enemy” in the bible. Christ has already paid the price, and the land is bought. Unfortunately, we are still a part of Babylon for a while until everything is restored. We don’t bring much value yet, but like this land, we were bought on the hope of redemption. Christ paid for us with deep hope that we would be restored to Him. The scriptures are just really awesome, ya know? The more I study these stories, the more I see Jesus Christ. There are many good principles that we pull from these stories. There are principles of wisdom and charity and forgiveness and mercy and justice and hope and so on and so forth. There are many principles that can lead us towards good lives. But I keep finding Christ in these stories. He is everywhere. His victory is taught in all of the details of these stories. I love finding Him again and again and again. Perhaps those who recorded the words in the bible did not fully understand what they were writing about, but I testify that the Lord did. He knew what He was doing when He asked Jeremiah to buy a worthless piece of land. He knew that we needed to learn good principles to help us build happy lives, but more importantly, He knew we needed to know what He did for us in order to find happiness and peace. I testify that He bought us, as worthless and conquered as we were. I testify that He bought us based on the simple hope that we would one day be restored to the family because of how much He loves us.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Jeremiah 31–33; 36–39; Lamentations 1; 3 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

  4. 6d ago

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20 – Jennifer Roach Lees

    Jennifer Roach Lees holds a Master in Divinity as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology. She is a licensed mental health therapist and lives in Utah. She was the 2023 recipient of the John Taylor Defender of the Faith award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.

  5. Oct 23

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson

    Why You Can’t Just Repent Later by Autumn Dickson Why can’t we just repent on the other side? Why can’t we do what we want here and then change when we enter the spirit world? Do we believe in deathbed repentance? There is a verse in Isaiah that sparked some of these thoughts today. Jeremiah 17:1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars; Judah’s sins are written with a diamond-pointed iron pen. Their hearts have been engraved with this sin. In other words, the sin is extremely entrenched in their nature. First and foremost, it’s important to understand that Christ’s atonement can cover that entrenchment. The price of that sin is not the problem. Christ’s grace can cover it. He is willing to cover it; He wants to cover it. When we read this in Jeremiah, it’s not to make us believe that Christ is incapable of taking care of these things. Rather, it teaches an important principle: we become what we repeatedly choose. The payment is not the problem; who we are is potentially a problem or a blessing depending on what you’re repeatedly choosing. I’m going to use a dramatic example to show my point. If you have spent the majority of your life in a violent gang before being introduced to the gospel of Jesus Christ, you can be washed and cleansed through the atonement of Jesus Christ. It is undeniably important to emphasize the fact that Christ can continually take care of our flaws and sins as we’re working through them. I testify to that. It’s a real thing. It is also true that overcoming your anger and violent tendencies doesn’t just happen overnight. Even when you are sincerely sorry and feel horrible about your past mistakes, you will still be experiencing lingering effects of sin especially when they’ve been etched in your heart with a diamond-pointed iron pen. Wickedness never was happiness which means our salvation is limited due to our own naturally unhappy state of being. Let’s explore the gang member example a bit further. You have faced a lot of violence in your life. You repent and change and get permission to be baptized and you’re washed clean. The next day, someone makes you mad and you immediately punch them in the face to cover your insecurity and hold on to social hierarchies. Why didn’t the baptism get rid of your angry tendencies? Why didn’t it heal your insecurity? Christ can pay for your sins, but are you actually feeling saved when you’re continuously suffering from these horrible feelings? There is a lot of modern Christian tradition that says yes. If you have accepted Christ, it doesn’t matter what you do. You’re saved. I would argue that Christ can put you in a beautiful kingdom, and you would still feel the effects of trauma you’ve experienced as well as trauma you’ve inflicted on others. Christ can forgive you immediately, but I have not known Him to completely erase the effects of sin at the drop of a hat. In my experience, Christ works with you to change your nature over time. He works with you to heal the sinful engravings on your heart, but He takes His time doing it. Let’s use a slightly less dramatic example. Let’s say that I am super judgmental in my heart. I hold on to these feelings, and I don’t feel like it’s a big deal. When I die, I’ll just repent, and then it’ll all be good. Obviously, I don’t know how the spirit world plays out, but this is what I picture. You pass away, and guess what? Those judgmental feelings follow you. You run into one of your old friends from high school on the other side, and immediately, you have a mean thought fill your mind about this old friend. Sure, you’ve said sorry, but are you happy? Are you actually experiencing salvation? I would argue no. Your misery follows you. People who are constantly critical of others aren’t happy. It takes time to practice schooling your thoughts to naturally be kind and loving and wholesome and wise. It takes a lot of time to consistently choose uplifting thoughts before those become your natural state of being. Now, how do we apply this principle? I’ll tell you how we don’t apply it. You’re not going to look in the mirror and agonize over your flaws. You’re not going to let Satan beat you up. You’re not going to beat yourself up. You are going to rejoice in the principles I just taught. You are going to rejoice that Christ already took care of your debts. You’re going to rejoice that He is going to fight these battles right alongside you. You are going to rejoice that you are capable of change. Satan likes to put mean thoughts in your head. You are going to have flaws. BUT. Repeatedly choosing goodness will eventually overcome the natural man. Do not be discouraged when this takes a while. Do not be discouraged for two reasons: Reason one. You weren’t meant to overcome flaws immediately. There is a lot of growth that occurs in the interim between recognizing your sins, developing a desire to be rid of them, and actually overcoming them. There is growth in between those milestones that God doesn’t want to rob from us. Reason two. You no longer have a debt to justice. Justice is not hanging over your head, prepared to drag you down to hell. Christ’s grace can cover a multitude of sins. If you’re working on it, He is working with you. You don’t have to completely overcome flaws in order to find the peace you’re searching for. Acknowledgment and trust in Christ are going to go a long way in helping you feel salvation in the meantime. Rejoice because Christ is King. You can turn your life around. You can overcome persistent flaws. You can be at peace and feel saved in the meantime while you persistently choose good things. I testify that you can feel Christ’s presence without becoming perfect. You can feel salvation because of His atonement.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

  6. Oct 19

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson

    Your Own Wickedness Will Correct You by Autumn Dickson My family watched Treasure Planet last night. It was one of my favorite movies as a kid, and it was awesome sharing it with my kids last night. In the movie, we see Jim, a rebellious and angry teenager. His mom is trying to take care of him on her own because his father abandoned them, but Jim makes it pretty difficult. He is remarkably intelligent, but in the beginning, the image is formed that he has repeatedly gotten into trouble. His mother has no idea how to handle the situation because she can’t protect him by forcing him to choose a life that’s good for him. I don’t know about Jim’s mom, but I feel like I would be yelling at my child, “Why can’t you see?! Why can’t you see that there is a whole life out there worth building? There is so much happiness to take hold of! Please don’t do this. Please don’t throw away your life and enter a cycle that is very difficult to crawl out of.” The movie goes on and Jim has an awesome character arc and figures out his life and ends up taking care of his mother, but I can’t help but think about beginning-of-the-movie Jim. It doesn’t matter that he’s smart. It doesn’t matter that he has a home and food. It doesn’t matter that his mom loves him. It doesn’t matter that he has everything he needs to build a life worth living. Jim is headed towards his own destruction. He’s a step away from Juvenile Hall, and that doesn’t bother him. He’s too angry to make the kinds of choices that will build a worthwhile life. And in real life, we often find that kids who are choosing trouble have a hard time getting out of it later. Their life becomes plagued with addiction or past legal records that prevent them from moving on even when they want to. Needless to say, it was a very different experience watching this movie as a child in comparison to watching it as an adult. As a child, I empathized with Jim. As an adult, I obviously empathize with the mother. As I read the chapters for this week, my mind circled back to Jim and his mom again. I realized that Heavenly Father empathizes with Jim’s mother as well. In many ways, Israel is a rebellious teenager. They’re bent on choosing a path towards their own destruction, and Heavenly Father won’t force them to choose what’s right. Rather, He gets to sit and watch while His children reject the home, food, love, and blessings He has offered to them. Here is something He asks Jeremiah to tell them. Jeremiah 2:19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts. Your wickedness will correct you. My fear is not in you. Let’s talk about those phrases in reverse order. The fact that they don’t have the fear of God in them once again reminds me of Jim’s mother. Jim did not see the wisdom of his mother’s words. He didn’t see her sacrifices. He didn’t see how hard she was working to take care of him and how his choices were deeply affecting her. He didn’t fear her. In modern language, he didn’t respect her. I think he loved his mom, but that awe and attunement to her wisdom was absent. And because he didn’t respect her, he didn’t listen. Movies are movies, and they often turn out differently than real life and so I will probably stop using Jim as an example at this point. In real life, that lack of respect means that we ignore God and His warnings, and eventually, that lack of respect is going to lead us into choices that will punish us. It will lead us to choices that will bring about our own destruction. Our wickedness will teach those difficult lessons. We see this with Israel, and more relevantly, we see this in our own society. There are a million examples of how ignoring the words of the Lord can lead to heartbreak, and yet, we don’t fear Him. We think we know what we’re doing. We think we can handle it. Everyone who is pushing for the Lord’s words is just judgy, and the world suffers for it. I give one example. I went to a wedding that had alcohol a few years ago. The wedding was nice. Everything was fine. The reception started afterwards. And at first, it was still all fine. I absolutely LOVE dancing, and I got to dance like crazy. It was a ton of fun. But by the end of the night, I started to see some weird things happening. Married spouses were dancing a little too friendly with each other. One of those married spouses tried dancing a little too close to me, and I dipped out. I didn’t see anything happen that would likely break up a marriage in a night. But I did see very skewed boundaries. I saw a lot of people making decisions that they wouldn’t make otherwise. I saw behaviors that would breed worry and distrust. I honestly haven’t been around alcohol much in my life despite growing up in Texas, and so this was really the first time that I saw how alcohol can affect a person firsthand. I understand that there are a million marriages out there that are fine despite two adults drinking alcohol. I also know that a majority of my personal friends (I suppose I can’t speak for every single one of those friends) have had at least one deeply difficult experience happen to them under the influence of alcohol. And dare I say it… they were destructive experiences. There were stupid situations that would have never happened without alcohol. Despite the fact that they didn’t enter their evening with malicious intent and despite the fact that they’re wonderful, incredible human beings, and despite the fact that those experiences shouldn’t have happened, those destructive experiences did happen. Surely we should be able to go out into the world 100% vulnerable, but that is not the world that we live in. The Lord is wise. He knows this. He knows the danger. He tries to protect us. When we don’t recognize His love and omnipotence, when we don’t respect Him and all that He has to offer in our lives, when we ignore His warnings and protective barriers, then it is more likely that we will find difficult and destructive experiences. That is not to victim-blame. If you’ve had alcohol and found yourself in that kind of destructive experience, you didn’t deserve what was coming to you. I sincerely believe that. You’re not morally abhorrent. You didn’t ask for it. Rather, I use these principles to warn those who come after. Listen to the Lord. He knows what He’s talking about. You can do everything right, and bad things can still happen, but those protective barriers keep out much of the harm. I will preach what could potentially prevent harm. Listen to Him! He’s not trying to boss you around for fun. He’s not bossing you around because He’s a narcissist. He doesn’t punish you because you offended His ego by not listening. He is trying to protect you against very real, negative influences in the world. He’s trying to prevent pain that isn’t necessary to your growth. I testify that the Lord loves you. He is watching you. He is watching the situation of the world around you. He seeks to protect you. Following Him has been nothing but a blessing in my life. I am so, so grateful for His wise counsel.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Jeremiah 1–3; 7; 16–18; 20 – Part 1 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

  7. Oct 16

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Isaiah 58–66 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson

    What is the “acceptable year of the Lord?” by Autumn Dickson In Isaiah 61, we find a mission statement for Jesus Christ. In those verses, Christ talks about the reason His Father sent Him here to the earth. There are many prophecies about Jesus Christ, but He chose this prophecy specifically when the time came for Him to announce His divine Sonship and mission during His mortal life. Isaiah 61:1-2 1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; There is one phrase in particular that I want to talk about: “to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” I did not understand what this specific phrase meant until this study. The year is not a calendar 365 day year. Rather it is a word to describe a season of God’s grace, redemption, and favor. It is acceptable because it aligns with God’s merciful will for His children. Christ’s life was that season of grace. It also holds allusions to a very specific ritual in the Law of Moses: the year of Jubilee. This was a radical social and economic practice that is detailed in Leviticus 25. Essentially, every 7th year was a Sabbath year where the land would rest and not be farmed, and debts and slaves were given relief. After 7 cycles of 7 years (the 50th year) on the 10th day of the 7th month, a ram’s horn would blow. With that blow of the ram’s horn, some incredible things would happen. Any land that had been sold or leased or lost due to debt or poverty would revert back to the original family owners. The land belonged to God, not individuals. This prevented permanent loss of family inheritance and cycles of generational poverty. Individuals could not actually sell their land permanently because they believed the land belonged to God; they could only lease the land and the right to harvest the crops. The year of Jubilee would end all leases so when people were leasing out the land to cover financial hardship, they would agree on a price depending on how many harvests were left before the Jubilee. Going along with the land debt reversion, Hebrew indentured servants (people who had to sell themselves in order to service to pay debts) were set free and returned to families and ancestral lands. You couldn’t lose your inheritance or yourself. There was also a land reset. The land would rest for a second year (the normal 7th year cycle and then the 50th year); there was no sowing, reaping, or harvesting. This signalled deep trust in God’s provision. People ate what naturally grew from the fields, and there was a promise of bountiful harvest in the sixth year to cover the needs of the people. First of all, what a cool concept. What incredible protections for His people. They could work hard and keep their dignity and take care of their debts, but they couldn’t permanently lose everything. That is definitely a year of Jubilee, an acceptable year of the Lord. Unfortunately, the people didn’t really follow this part of the Law of Moses. It was never regularly or successfully implemented in ancient Israel. However, Jubilee can be applied on the most important level whenever we desire. It can happen spiritually. When we observe the mortal life and mission of Jesus Christ, we can see why the announcement of the beginning of the Lord’s ministry would also be called an acceptable year of the Lord. Because of Jesus Christ, we do not have to permanently lose our ancestral inheritance for ourselves or for future family members. We are given new opportunities to live lives that are as rich as anyone else’s. Permanent loss was completely prevented even if there were seasons of hardship and servitude and repentance; you can’t permanently lose everything. And because of the atonement of Jesus Christ, our families are protected as well. We see spiritual poverty amongst families all the time. The children suffer because of what their parents lost. In a world without Christ’s atonement, justice would still take everything from these children despite the fact that they were set up for failure. The atonement allows Christ to judge mercifully and circumstances into account rather than holding hard, fast lines of justice. Indentured servants were freed. Not only could you not lose your inheritance, you didn’t have to lose yourself. You could be your own steward again. No one could keep racking up debts against and keep you indentured forever. Think about what that meant for a person who went through these celebrations of Jubilee. You walk away from that indentured servitude, hopefully grateful to God for setting up a society that prevented you from being a slave forever. Hopefully, you walked away with the understanding that God’s foresight and planning allowed for you to come home. Hopefully, you recognize His grace, rejoice in His goodness, and work to be a good steward. You look at your freedom compared with your servitude, and you choose to do something worthwhile with that freedom. And then, of course, the land reset. We rejoice in the freedom offered to us. Every Jubilee year, the poor would theoretically (since it wasn’t really fully implemented) be given this deep sense of awe and gratitude at the Lord’s mercy. However, it’s not just the poor who rely on the Lord. Even the rich need the Lord, and the land reset would have given them an opportunity to learn that same lesson: their deep dependence on the mercy of the Lord. In a year of no sowing, reaping, or harvesting, they had to trust that the Lord would do exactly as He promised. He would provide for them. I testify that the acceptable year of the Lord has come. Because of Christ’s mortal ministry, servants are freed, inheritances are restored, and none of us need be in permanent poverty. We have a deep dependence on the Lord regardless of whether we spend entire sabbatical Sabbath years allowing the land to rest. Recognizing that deep dependence is a blessing for us. It gives a safety net in a world that can take everything. I am so grateful for what Christ paid to bring about this Jubilee.   Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Isaiah 58–66 – Part 2 – Autumn Dickson appeared first on FAIR.

  8. Oct 13

    Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Isaiah 58–66 – Jennifer Roach Lees

    Jennifer Roach Lees holds a Master in Divinity as well as a Masters in Counseling Psychology. She is a licensed mental health therapist and lives in Utah. She was the 2023 recipient of the John Taylor Defender of the Faith award. The post Come, Follow Me with FAIR – Isaiah 58–66 – Jennifer Roach Lees appeared first on FAIR.

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Faithful Answers, Informed Response

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