Pilot Lesson: God Remembers His Promises

Scriptures to study: Genesis 6-7;17; 20; Moses 6-7
Articles/Talks: "An High Priest of Good Things to Come" by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Video: Good Things to Come (based on the above talk by Elder Holland)

I love this lesson! I have come to know that God always honors His promises. I've had some very difficult years, but through it all, I've come to trust God. And that is a gift.

• Trusting God means you can say, "Thy will be done" when your son has a near-drowning accident and with every traumatized and grieving cell in your body, you just want him back to that adorable toddler he was the day before. But you say, "Thy will be done." (This one took me some time to achieve.)
• Trusting God means that when a loved one is diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer, at the end of your prayers, you say, "Thy will be done." (From the start!)
• It means you know God loves you.
• It means you know He'll bless you with what you need.

Enoch, Noah and Abraham all trusted God. They were all promised blessings, but did not see the realization of those blessings right away.

Here's a nifty chart to help you compare the promises made and the promises fulfilled.( The links are not active here, but they are for those members who have access to the pilot lesson website.)

Enoch

Enoch is living in a wicked society and God calls him to prophesy and warn his people of the hell they are headed towards.
What's Enoch's reply? He's a bit freaked out. Why me, Lord?

31 And when Enoch had heard these words, he bowed himself to the earth, before the Lord, and spake before the Lord, saying: Why is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant?

But here come God's promises:

32 And the Lord said unto Enoch: Go forth and do as I have commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good...
34 Behold my Spirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify; and the mountains shall flee before you, and the rivers shall turn from their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore walk with me.

So what happened?
Enoch offends people. He gets on high places, like hills, and he cries with a loud voice and he makes people feel uncomfortable about their bad choices. In a word, they think he's a "wild man."

38 And they came forth to hear him, upon the high places, saying unto the tent-keepers: Tarry ye here and keep the tents, while we go yonder to behold the seer, for he prophesieth, and there is a strange thing in the land; a wild man hath come among us.

He obviously wasn't "slow of speech" when he was preaching the gospel!
We can surmise that some people wanted to get rid of him, shut him up. But for some reason not made clear, they were afraid to harm him. This is another promise clearly fulfilled: "No man shall pierce thee."

39 And it came to pass when they heard him, no man laid hands on him; for fear came on all them that heard him; for he walked with God.

In fact, the people apparently could listen to him preach the word of God, but from a distance:

47 And as Enoch spake forth the words of God, the people trembled, and could not stand in his presence.

As Enoch continued to exercise his great faith, he became a leader among his people. When their enemies came to battle against them, he used a unique military strategy (my husband came up with this one!):

TROD: Terrain Reconfiguration for Optimal Defense

13 And so great was the faith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them; and he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the rivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him.

14 There also came up a land out of the depth of the sea, and so great was the fear of the enemies of the people of God, that they fled and stood afar off and went upon the land which came up out of the depth of the sea.

In these verses we get the fulfillment of the promises made before that "the mountains shall flee before you, and the rivers shall turn from their course."
We learn that while all the surrounding nations were at war, the people of Enoch lived in peace, and they were blessed to flourish "upon the high places" because the "fear of the Lord was upon all nations, so great was the glory of the Lord, which was upon his people." And in fact, the Lord lived with them. (see Moses 7:17) This fulfills the promise made earlier in Moses 6:34 : "and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you".

Noah

Noah was promised that he would have a covenant with God. And furthermore, that he and his family would be saved from the destruction that the Lord would bring upon all flesh. (Genesis 6: 13-22)
And this was accomplished through the Arc.(Genesis 7: 15-24)
Note the important symbolic parallel between the Arc and the covenant. The Arc symbolizes the covenant's power to save us from the chaos of sin, as represented by the uncontrolled water (floods are chaos motifs--think tsunami!) We have to enter into the covenant as Noah and his family entered into the Arc.
Note also that "the LORD shut him in" which symbolizes the Lord sealing into his covenant to save us.

Noah was also promised that the Lord would never again destroy all flesh by a flood.

 And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. (Gen 9:11)

So far, this promise has been fulfilled! None of the prophecies of the last days talks about large scale destruction by flood. (Fire, hail, plague--yes, but flood, no.)
It's also interesting to note that the Children of Israel carried around the tablets of the covenant in an "arc" referred to as the "arc of the covenant." Another instance where "arc" and "covenant" are tied together. Ponder on that.

Abraham

Abraham used to be Abram. And in Genesis 15: 1-6, the Lord promises Abram that he would have "seed" or progeny that numbered greater than the number of visible stars.

5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
 6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

In perfect dark sky conditions, with no modern light pollution and on a moonless night, it's estimated that the naked eye could see about 45,000 stars. So that's a lot of great grandkids!

In Genesis 13: 16 the Lord promises Abraham that his seed with be as "the dust of the earth "so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall they seed also be numbered."
In other words, he'll have to wait until computers are invented to actually number his earthly seed. But I digress...
In Genesis 17: 4, Abram is promised to be a "father of many nations." His name is changed to Abraham in verse 5 as a result. He is also promised that "kings shall come out of thee."
In verse 7, God promises to establish his covenant with Abraham and his seed. He is given a "promised land" of Canaan.
Abraham's wife's name is also changed...which is interesting. She goes from Sarai to Sarah. She is promised to become a very fruitful mother.

16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.

We all know that, in Sarah's old age, she bore Isaac. And from him came a lot of people!
Abraham was 75 years old when he left Haran. At that point, God was promising him lots of "seed" but it hadn't happened yet. He had to wait decades before Isaac was born. 
If someone as faithful as Abraham had to patiently and faithfully wait for promised blessings, why not us?

I love this testimony from Elder Holland:

"Some blessings come soon, and some come late, and some don't come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come."


Throughout the scriptures, we find records of promises made and promises kept by the Lord. We just need to remember that pattern when we're looking for blessings to show up on our own doorstep.

Challenge 

Consider these questions:

• What promises have I made to the Lord?
• What has He promised in return?
• How have I been blessed by these promises?

Your thoughtful answers would make a great family discussion or journal entry!