Ark Steadying What Is It?

[mercyngrace]

Short version:

Moses complains to God that the burden of leading/caring for the Israelites is too heavy to bear alone.

God tells him to call 70 men to assist.

Moses gathers the 70 and tells them to set themselves about the tabernacle.

Two of the men, do not obey Moses and instead of going to the tabernacle, they preach throughout the camp. This they do because the Spirit called them to do so and they were answering to a higher power.

Joshua goes to Moses and tells Moses to forbid these men from prophesying as they were not heeding Moses' command.

Moses responds "Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!"

In other words, he rebukes Joshua for placing a higher value on blind obedience over being led by the Spirit, praising the men (he calls them prophets) for following their own personal revelation rather than his explicit order to go to the tabernacle.

This account is found in Numbers 11.

Edited February 18, 2012 by mercyngrace

[inquiringmind]

Thank you Cate.

[cinepro]

Uzza's story reminds me of the regular reports of some teenage kid who climbs the fence around the electric transformer station,ignoring the boldly posted signs: " Danger,do not touch fence,40,000 Volts ".They are usually killed too.

The difference is that the 40,000 volt transformer is a inanimate object. In the story of Uzza, he is killed by a being whom we believe is "merciful, kind and just" (see: the first missionary discussion circa 1987).

A better analogy would be someone who has a sign on their picket fence saying "Sacred Land - Trespassers Will Be Shot". Then, someone is walking along and sees that there is a small brush fire inside the fence and so they hop over and throw dirt on the fire to put it out. The owner of the property, seeing the person inside the fence, shoots them.

Edited February 18, 2012 by cinepro

[wenglund]

Came across these talks tonight and thought they were pertinent to the tangent of labeling:

Labels and Love Thy Neighbor

I particularly liked this quote by Elder Russell M. Nelson:

If a child, slow of speech, is declared a stammerer by others, he or she may speak with even less assurance than before. In fact, some evidence suggests that stuttering is aggravated merely by labeling one a stutterer. Unkind words exchanged between people can also injure deeply, especially if discourteous labels are applied in the process.

People tend to become what is expected of them. Labels convey those expectations. Pigeons may feel comfortable in designated pigeonholes, but people can be offended when labeled or classified.

Yet, in spite of the obvious dangers, we are prone to label one another. “Smoker,” “drinker,” “inactive,” “liberal,” “unorthodox” are but a few terms applied, as though we cannot separate the doer from the deed.

In the eyes of God, all are his children; all are brothers and sisters.

My point is simply that we can address problem behaviors by providing an example of Christlike behavior. We don't need to categorize individuals with labels that may ultimately cause an individual to actually become, as Elder Nelson suggests, what we expect of them.

With this in mind, I thought it interesting to look through the topical guide for negative labels and descriptors and their cognates so that I can eradicate them from the scriptures. Beginning with the "A's": Abominable, Accuser, Adulterer, Adversary, Agnostic, Alcoholic, Apostate, Angry, Antichrist, Apathetic, Apocrypha, Argumentative, Arrogant, Atheism, Avenger...

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

[mercyngrace]

With this in mind, I thought it interesting to look through the topical guide for negative labels and descriptors and their cognates so that I can eradicate them from the scriptures. Beginning with the "A's": Abominable, Accuser, Adulterer, Adversary, Agnostic, Alcoholic, Apostate, Angry, Antichrist, Apathetic, Apocrypha, Argumentative, Arrogant, Atheism, Avenger...

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

Interesting exercise.

Of course, since I'm not omniscient like God, I wouldn't pretend to compare His use of language to my own...

[wenglund]

Interesting exercise.

Of course, since I'm not omniscient like God, I wouldn't pretend to compare His use of language to my own...

That is certainly understandable. Even still, I think them worthy of following their example to the extent that i can. After all, isn't the point of the gospel to become like them?

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

[mercyngrace]

That is certainly understandable. Even still, I think them worthy of following their example to the extent that i can. After all, isn't the point of the gospel to become like them?

Thanks, -Wade Englund-

Do you smite villages, call forth plagues of frogs, and turn women into pillars of salt, too?

You must be fun at parties, Wade.

[KevinG]

Another great example of Ark Steadying:

Explaining away the official statements on race in order to justify past speculation on practices that the brethren say are not doctrinal?

Don't throw fuel on the fire - Ares

Edited March 2, 2012 by Ares

[BCSpace]

Hey welcome to the club DaddyG. I've been accepting LDS Newsroom statements for years and long before this recent spate of LDS conversions to their doctrinicity. Still do.

Edited March 4, 2012 by BCSpace

[wenglund]

Do you smite villages, call forth plagues of frogs, and turn women into pillars of salt, too?

You must be fun at parties, Wade.

Those activities are currently above my pay grade and outside the limited scope of my purview, and were I to engage in them it would constitute "ark steadying," a practice I frequently advise against.

But, I can still be fun at parties.

Thanks, -Wade Englund-