In my personal study I was in the book of Jacob reading chapter
6 and came across a little gem, just a small phrase that I hadn’t previously
noted in any study of the scriptures previously. Immediately preceding Jacob 6
is Zenos great allegory of the tame and wild olive trees which Jacob recounts
in chapter 5.
There is a lot to Jacob 5. It is an allegory about the house
of Israel over the expanse of the world’s history and its future. As we read
there is a lot of minutiae in Jacob 5. Plucking, digging, grafting, sending
servants, etc But I think the point of Jacob 5 is to show the house of Israel,
all of us, that the Lord doesn’t give up on his people. On his children. He “stretches
forth his hands unto them all the day long” (
Jacob
6:4) Or, in the context of the allegory, ALL THE WORLD LONG.
In Jacob 6:5 after the allegory, Jacob is explaining a
bit about what he has just taught in Jacob 5 and here, his explanation is the little gem that caught my attention.
Jacob 6:5 “cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you”
In this sense of course the word cleave means to stick fast to
or to adhere strongly to. We are all making efforts to cleave unto God. In our
lives we try to keep the commandments, study the scriptures, attend the temple and
follow the example of the Savior to cleave unto God, to stay close to Him. But
sometimes we may forget that our Heavenly Father is also cleaving unto us.
We know that God our Father is a God of justice, but he is
also a God of mercy. He stands in perfect unison with the Savior in
declarations such as:
Behold, this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the
immortality and eternal life of man (Moses 1:39).
Learn of me and listen to my words, walk in the meekness of
my spirit and you shall have peace in me (D&C 19:23).
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Begotten Son
(John 3:16)
In
our most recent general conference, Elder Taylor gave a talk called “Am I a
Child of God?” and in it he quoted Brigham Young saying:
When
you … see our Father, you will see a being with whom you have long been
acquainted, and he will receive you into his arms, and you will be ready to
fall into his embrace and kiss him.”
We love him because he first loved us. (John 4:19)
He is our father. That is the title that He chooses for us
to use in prayer and in reference to Him. He is our Father, a perfect Father
with perfect love.
“Cleave unto God as He cleaveth unto you.”
I have a 9 year old boy and an 8 year old boy and as I was putting
them to bed last night they were talking about eternity and what happens after
this life. My older son said, with real fear in his voice, “But mom, what if I
don’t make it? I’m scared.” And as I thought through my response, I was grateful
to be able to teach them what Jacob had taught me.
I told them, "I’m not afraid and you don’t have to be afraid
either. We are not perfect but Heavenly Father loves us and has a perfect plan
for us. He knew we wouldn’t be perfect, so He sent a perfect Son to help us
and save us. As long as we continue to do our
best and repent when we don’t, it will be ok. Heavenly Father loves you and He will do and has done everything possible to hold on to you."
I know as we Cleave unto God we can feel incredible peace and love because He is already cleaving unto us.