Moses and Brigham Young: Exoduses

When you look at the world, what do you see first? Water, the continents, your favorite country, or the ice caps? I've started thinking and I've noticed how similar Utah, in the United States is similar to Israel in geography and climate. Both of these places have a saltwater lake connected to a fresh water lake with a river in between. Here are some pictures.






Can you tell which one is the Great Salt Lake in Utah? They look so similar. After studying for a semester in Israel, at the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, I've come to realize how simliar the regions are. Both are deserts; both receive snow; both have a salty lake.

That is what brings me to the next similarity. God led his people to both regions by a prophet. In my last post, I mentioned how Brigham Young and Moses were similar. American Historians even call Brigham Young the American Moses because he led thousands of people across the plains into the Great Salt Lake Valley and settled many place in the intermountain west. Las Vegas even started as a Mormon settlement.

Why is this important? What is the coincidence that a man in America, who claimed to be a prophet, would lead his people to a similar place as the promised land in the Bible? Either God works in patterns, or Brigham Young studied the Bible and American geography really well.

There are certain parallelisms between the two narratives that are hard to ignore. A Prophet, receiving the law on a mountain or temple, an exodus, a journey, a salt water lake, a river, a promised land.

But what does it represent? That we can be saved from our bondage or sin and led to the promised land by Christ our Savior. He lived on the earth, he died for our sins, and he was resurrected with a body. It is great to know the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Revelation of God

The story of the Children of Israel is filled with symbolism. Moses delivered the Children of Israel from Egypt and brought them to the Promised Land, literally showing that Jesus liberates those who believe in him from the captivity of sin allowing those who believe in him, his children, to reach the Promised Land or heaven. Along the way, Moses received the law of God in Mount Sinai, they traveled in the wilderness for 40 days, and then Joshua, which means Jehovah saves and the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek name Jesus, brought them across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land, just as Jesus helps us cross into heaven.

This theme is also present in the New Testament, except, prophets aren’t symbolizing Jesus, but rather He was on the Earth. But it is important to note, that fifty days after the resurrection of Christ, the Pentecost occurred just as it was represented by Moses, after he lead the Children of Israel from Egypt for fifty days.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has much of the same symbolism. After the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ, a temple was built, the modern equivalent of a mountain, and there the Lord gave his law. After this, the early saints were driven from Kirkland, Ohio then to Nauvoo and finally on to Salt Lake City. They were lead by Brigham Young who some call the American Moses.

I bring up this symbolism because section 42 of the Doctrine and Covenants is sometimes called the Law. Just as Moses received the Law on Mount Sinai, just as the Pentecost in the New Testament, section 42 of the Doctrine and Covenants was given to the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This revelation is significant because it establishes rules and commandments that Latter-Day Saints are to live by. Such as verse 22 which says, “Thou shalt love thy wife with all they heart, and cleave unto her and none else” or verse 30 that says, “thou wilt remember the poor.”

The Lord had promised this revelation earlier in section 39 of the Doctrine and Covenants. In verse 32 He says, “Wherefore, for this cause I gave unto the commandment that ye should go to the Ohio; and there I will give unto you my law; and there you shall be endowed with power from on high.” We declare that God reveals commandments and counsel concerning man through a living prophet. Section 42is the supreme example.