< Mosiah 23 >
v. 21 Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trite their patience and their faith.
Mosiah 24:14 explains how this works: “And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs… that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.”
Key point:
Hebrews 12:6: “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”
This is the same theology:
Helaman 12:3: “And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions… they will not remember him.”
Here the reason is explicit:
Job 23:10
“But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
Job is the archetype:
Mosiah 24:14 explains how this works: “And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs… that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.”
Key point:
- God does not immediately remove the affliction
- He strengthens the people within it
Hebrews 12:6: “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”
This is the same theology:
Helaman 12:3: “And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions… they will not remember him.”
Here the reason is explicit:
- Affliction prevents spiritual forgetfulness
- Ease produces pride and amnesia
Job 23:10
“But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
Job is the archetype:
- Faithfulness does not exempt from trial
- Trial is the mechanism of refinement