Roasted Lamb

I heard something really interesting yesterday and I liked it. It was in the context of how we interpret the Old Testament, and at one point he specifically mentioned the Passover.

At Passover, the Israelites killed a lamb and used its blood to mark their doors. The symbolism for the blood of the Lamb, which would be Jesus Christ, is apparent there, for sure. After they used the blood to mark their houses, the Israelites were specifically instructed to roast the lamb and eat it--all of it. It was not to be boiled. It had to be roasted with fire. Also, they could not leave any piece uneaten before morning.

The scholar points out that the symbolism here is that we must "partake of the gospel of Jesus Christ with the Spirit. The Spirit is symbolized in the Old Testament by fire." The symbolism for eating all of it is that we must partake of all of the gospel, not a piece here and piece there. So the lesson is that we must partake of the gospel with the Spirit, and we must eat it all.

This fits in nicely with the revelation given to Joseph Smith in D&C 50:19-20:

"He that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the Spirit of truth or some other way? If it be some other way it is not of God."

It made me think of all the ways we (myself included) try to live/teach the gospel without the Spirit. All the ways we present the Lamb boiled, microwaved, pickled, or basically any other way except roasted by the Spirit.

Some examples of boiled, unfinished mutton:

1. We rely on our own talents of persuasion or speaking to teach the gospel.
2. We rely strictly on our own understanding and knowledge.
3. We seek to entertain or excite either ourselves or others.
4. We seek out deep, speculative questions that the Spirit does not reveal the answers to yet.
5. We accept the gospel only as it fits into our own beliefs and understanding.
6. We think of the gospel as mere facts that must be learned.
7. We rely on traditions, precedent, or mindless standardized answers.
8. We engage in contentious debates.
9. We teach or live the gospel for the praise of others.
10. We accept the parts of the gospel we like, and reject the parts we don't.

I am sure there are more I could come up with.

Last Sunday, I taught a lesson to the youth on the Holy Ghost. I had some things to talk about that I thought were really great ideas. I had a great plan. About ten minutes into the lesson, things were not going well. I didn't feel right, and I could tell I wasn't reaching my students. As I got to the end of the lesson, I knew I had lost them. That's when I realized with great embarrassment that I had not prayed at all asking for the Spirit, neither when I got the lesson ready, nor before giving it. I realized I was relying on my own understanding to impress the youth. The hypocrisy was rich. There I was, trying to teach about how important the Holy Ghost is in everything we do, without even taking the time to seek it in my lesson. I am trying to repent for that.

What good is the gospel without the Spirit? It is like boiled lamb at Passover. The fire of the Holy Ghost is missing. There is no testimony, no witness, no comfort, and certainly no conversion.

This can be a hard lesson to learn.


(From Paul Hoskisson, Symbolism and the Flood in the Old Testament, http://www.ldsperspectives.com/2018/01/17/noah-flood-symbolism-bible/)