Approaching Zion: A Refuge from the Storm

"Refuge" From the Storm

What is a "refuge?"  How will Zion serve as a "refuge" in the last days?

   And that the gathering together
   upon the land of Zion,
   and upon her stakes,
   may be for a defense,
   and for a REFUGE from the storm,
   and from wrath
   when it shall be poured out
   without mixture
   upon the whole earth.

(D&C 115:6)

If we add an 'e', it speaks volumes; a "refuge" is someplace that harbors refugees.

  Refugee, noun, "a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster."

Zion is ― (speaking not typologically or spiritually, but temporally) ― a network of "refuges."  This is referring to specific locations that have been appointed by the Lord for the gathering of His refugees in the last days (D&C 124:36).

If I may put a finer point on it, the purpose of Zion was never for the righteous to gather and shut the gates, bunkering-down while weathering the calamity to befall humanity, eating pork-and-beans from a can and playing Uno.  No, Zion was always intended as a place to which the righteous gather with celestial supplies so as to enable them to serve as nursing fathers and nursing mothers for the wandering and wounded refugees who wish to get out of the storm.

The scriptures describe this latter-day Zion as, foremost, a Refugee Camp, for succoring the wicked who have come to their senses and who desire to beat their swords into ploughshares.  That is why it is called a "City of Peace."

Think of it as a wildlife refuge, which protects endangered and weary souls.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service maintains numerous refuges across North America to prevent the despoliation of natural habitats for at-risk animals, like the Rainwater Basin Wetland in Nebraska that harbors millions of migrating geese and other birds every year.  Zion is a waystation for those traveling East towards Eden.

So when we come to it, Zion isn't something we pat ourselves on the back for having "achieved," grateful we have been spared destruction whilst our neighbors are hewn down like dry grass ― no, Zion is a community with a mission to care for those who have lost hope during a time when men's hearts shall fail them; she is a place that welcomes soldiers who finally desire peace.

Thus Zion's commission is to minister to the wicked who come to her walls seeking safety, who in their extremity have rekindled the hope to give God another chance.

   And it shall come to pass
   among the wicked,
   that every man
   that will not take his sword
   against his neighbor
   must needs flee unto Zion
   for safety.

​(D&C 45:68)

So let's not picture Zion as an exclusive resort for the righteous, but as a M.A.S.H. unit for those who have fled their war-torn ways.

"Refuge" Has a Special Meaning

Few realize that "places of refuge" have a particular meaning in the scriptures.  It is a term of art.

Once we understand the Biblical meaning of "cities of refuge" under the Law of Moses, we will never view them the same again.

A little background: Moses promised those who were accused of murder, whose skirts were sprinkled with blood, that they could "flee" to six sanctuary cities and there be protected (while awaiting a fair trial).

You see, back then, they didn't have law enforcement or legal systems like today.  If someone killed another person, the family of the victim could seek the life of the killer (an eye for an eye).

But what if it was an accident?  How about self-defense?  Well, your life was in jeopardy, so you had to flee to one of the six appointed sanctuary cities, which were called "refuges" (like Shechem or Hebron).

   He that smiteth a man,
   so that he die . . . 
   [but who did not]
   lie in wait
   [meaning it was not cold-bloodied murder but only manslaughter]
   I will appoint thee a place
   whither he shall flee.

(Exodus 21:12-13)

If the guy didn't "flee" to one of the refuges, then his life was forfeit.

What is interesting is that all six of the cities of refuge were the inheritances of the Levites (who didn't get a land grant in Israel, but who were appointed 48 cities to dwell in).  As we know, the Levites were the stewards of God's priesthood; so this symbolized that safety was found, foremost, in the knowledge of God (for, such was the true meaning of priesthood).

   And among the cities
   which ye shall give
   unto the Levites
   there shall be 
   six cities for refuge,
   which ye shall appoint
   for the manslayer,
   that he may flee thither.

(Numbers 35:6)

Today we're told to "flee" unto Zion.  This is beginning to make sense, I think, in this context.  We must flee to a city of refuge in order to avoid the vicarious guilt of the blood and sins of this generation (D&C 88:75); if we do not, our lives may become forfeit.

   Let them, therefore,
   who are among the Gentiles,
   flee unto Zion.

(D&C 133:12)

Could this shed meaning on the cryptic saying of the Lord, who told us to "stand in holy places?"

   But my disciples shall
   stand in holy places,
   and shall not be moved;
   but among the wicked,
   men shall lift up their voices
   and curse God and die.

(D&C 45:32)

It was to Shechem, one of the refuges, that Joshua gathered all of Israel at the end of his life, bringing the Sanctuary (what we would consider a mobile temple).  It was a "holy place."

Joshua presented the people before the Lord and issued the famous challenge, "Choose you this day whom ye will serve" (Joshua 24:15; really, read the whole chapter, it is excellent).

There, in a city of refuge, upon holy ground, the people covenanted with God and (this is quite fascinating) as a sign, Joshua took a rock (yes, a rock; what does that symbolize?) to be his witness, saying:

   Behold this stone
   shall be a witness
   unto us; for it hath heard
   all the words of the Lord
   which he spake unto us
   [here].

(Joshua 24:27) 

The best part is this: a man who fled to one of the cities of refuge, and who was not worthy of death, still had to remain there until the death of the high priest who was then-in-office.  At the death of the high priest, the man was free to return home and reclaim his property.

But if the accused left the city of refuge before the High Priest died, then he could be killed (Numbers 35:24-28).

All this to say, these places of refuge prefigured Christ, as a type and shadow of the great High Priest, whose death freed us from the penalty of sin ― just as the death of the Levite high priest meant the accused could return home again; so we, too, may be liberated from wrongdoing through the death of Jesus.

Let us flee unto Zion, which is to say, flee unto Christ, and find refuge.

A Brief Message Interrupts our Regularly-Scheduled Program

I was about to begin writing about the Day of the Lord (which some call great, and others terrible), but I felt a need to pause and say something from my heart first.  I don't think this is going to be popular.

You may have noticed I am reluctant to write about end-time events because I don't want to pour fuel on the fire of all the apocalyptic-junkies out there who are champing at the bit for the world to burn.

I am also reluctant to write about the end times because they are not, in fact, the end.  They are merely a culmination of an ordained cycle that endlessly repeats, and shall go on; but they do not bring the finality our finite minds crave.

If I may, eschatological events are eternal (like we are) and should not be viewed as discrete, temporal events, but as patterns and shadows of a larger, ongoing contest between good and evil, which stretches far beyond the workings of this world.

You would think we are a closed system, here on this earth, but we are not; the earth and its inhabitants are part of a wider cosmological order we know little about.  Nothing will be more humbling than, one day, seeing as we are seen, as one member of Christ's body among countless others, and we shall fall to the earth, and bow low to the dust, and beat our chest, pouring ashes in our hair, for the day of our pride and arrogance, that we would have boasted in our greatness and own strength.

And yet, God sees every sparrow that falls, and dresses the lilies of the field in His unending love.  

Let me suggest that our spiritual senses are awakened through symbols and through the divine mystery.  We should beware the snare of putting God's prophecies into nice, neat boxes ― as if we were playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey with the Book of Revelation, trying to speculate if the mark of beast is Elon Musk's latest invention, or something.  That's a fool's errand.

Christ was not a photo-realist; His teachings and parables, His everlasting Word, are those of an Impressionist painter trying to capture the light in their brushstrokes.

Monet's waterlilies were meant to capture our imagination with color and beauty, representing a moment in time that will not come again, not in exactly the same way, for the waterlilies that Monet painted at Giverny in an evening light have long since passed away.

Prophets of old were not trying to write a history book in advance, but they were trying to teach us something about the nature of God and of human existence, and our eternal destiny.  God is constantly trying to tell us something about the unseen Kingdom of Heaven.

So be wary of end-time teachings that assume a hyper-realism that Biblical authors did not intend.  I don't know why there are so many Christians who watch the news and try to make everything part of the tapestry of Gog and Magog and end-time events.

Our focus, rather, belongs on Christ and His eternal message of faith and repentance.  That message never goes out of date, no matter how many Mayan-calendar-cycles we go through (looking at you, 2012).

For, the Lord's truth transcends the particular times and seasons we navigate in this mortal coil.  Whether it is 2000 B.C. or 2000 A.D. (or 4039 A.D.), all we need concern ourselves with is repentance (D&C 11:9).

Do you not suppose Jesus could have awed us with His understanding of the universe and the hidden ways of reality?  Could Jesus not have pulled back the curtain of existence and laid bare the arm of Jehovah?

Well, He did exactly that, by telling us to have the faith of a mustard seed; by inviting us to seek what has been lost; and by commanding us to love one another.

But Western Christianity has not warmed to the doctrine of repentance; instead, in the Church, from the very beginning, we inherited the end-time scenario of our Protestant neighbors, popularized in The Voice of Warning (written by Parley P. Pratt in 1837 and updated in numerous reprints).

And then, in the Twentieth Century, the Church matched, if not exceeded, Evangelicalism's obsession with (and poor exegesis of) Biblical end-time prophecy.

For many, "prepping" for SHTF has become an idol, an industry fueled by misguided zeal.

Yes, we should be prepared, for God promised, "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear" (D&C 38:30).  So I take seriously the charge to be prepared, as the wise virgins were, who took the Holy Spirit for their guide and were not deceived (D&C 45:56-57).

But teachings of the end-times in Christianity are generally riddled with fear, and fear always leads to being deceived.

Much of what we're taught about the Last Days is incorrect.  I do not know all things (and in fact, I know but little), but what God has shown me leads me to believe we do ourselves a great disservice by viewing our generation through the lens of exceptionalism, excusing our excesses and extortion of the earth in the belief it's all going to be over soon, thereby shirking our First Duty, given to Adam, to be wise stewards of the physical creation.  "What's the use, who cares?  God is going to blow things up soon enough."

"But Tim!" someone says, "Doesn't God want us to think He's coming soon?  Isn't this the Eleventh Hour?"

My dear friends, what does the hand of the clock do once it has reached Midnight?  Does the clock fall apart?  No, the hands move on to 12:01, and they complete another round.   God's course is one eternal round.

Let us be willing to wait upon the Lord for another 2000 years; let us not be impatient.  I do not say He delays His coming, but I say, let us live so that He may come to us today, even if He doesn't appear in the clouds for another millennium.

When we begin to understand we are gnolaum (endless beings), our mindset shifts.  That is why I study the stars and the movement of the planets, and contemplate the doings of the Lord on an astronomical scale.  The fact that it takes our sun 225 million years (!) to complete a single circuit around the Galactic Center of the Milky Way, brings me peace, and reminds me of the long-suffering of our God.

There is peace written in the heavens, in the endless cycles and movement of the stars, and in the heavenly conjunctions that span thousands of years, even eons.

Why are we in such a hurry?  Why are we in such a rush to the end?  Let us not be in a haste for the ruin of the world.

Our souls are as stars in the firmament, and our movements are measured in eternities, not years.

So let us relax; the Lord may, or may not, come in our lifetimes.  We will probably treat one another better if we took the long view.

No matter what the future holds, we can repent today, and come personally to know the Lord as we witness His handiwork upon the earth ― not to destroy it, but to save it.

The Coming Storm

Thank you for listening to that long rant.  Now back to the Day of the Lord.

Zion is a place of defense and safety, but we might wonder, from what do we need protection?  What storm does the Lord refer to when He says Zion is to be a "refuge from the storm" (D&C 115:6)?

What "calamity" (D&C 1:17) is coming?

To answer this question, let's turn to the prophet Joel, who mentions "the Day of the Lord" five times in his brief book of prophecy.  He sort of wrote the book on the subject.

Recall that Moroni quoted the words of Joel to Joseph Smith, so this text has special appeal to our times (JS-H 1:41).

In order to unlock the meaning of Joel's prophecy, we must understand the allusions and parallels used by the ancient prophets; they hearkened back to older prophecies.  Thus, almost all prophecy builds upon itself, redeveloping and recapitulating the types and shadows found in the words of God in new, novel ways.  It is glorious!

Now, the key to the Book of Joel is to know that he draws upon the imagery of Sinai and recasts Sinai in an end-time scenario.

Thus we see that Mount Zion (in the latter-days) is, in fact, Mount Sinai reborn ― and, as in former times, God shall speak and reveal His law.

   For out of Zion
   shall go forth the law,
   and the word of the Lord
   from Jerusalem.

(Isaiah 2:3)

But this time it won't be Moses coming down with stone tablets, for Joel says (and this is the part that Moroni quoted), that God

   will pour out my spirit
   upon all flesh;
   and your sons
   and your daughters
   [notice women are equal, as we return to an Edenic era]
   shall prophesy.

(Joel 2:28) 

With that backdrop, Joel describes environmental events that bear spiritual significance, mirroring Sinai:

   - A day of clouds and darkness
   - The sounding of a trumpet like thunder
   - The trembling of the people
   - Earthquakes
   - Fire

   The earth shall quake
   before them; the heavens
   shall tremble: the sun
   and the moon shall be dark,
   and the stars shall withdraw
   their shining.

(Joel 2:10) 

The rich meaning found in these words is that idols (the ancients worshipped the sun and moon and stars) would lose their luster; the glory of God would overshadow all else.

The gold (sun) of Aaron's calf; the silver (moon) of the people's earrings; the glittering jewels and sparkling stones that adorned their idols (stars) would be worthless compared to God's riches.

​How Do We Prepare for the Day of the Lord?

The burning question remains, "How do we prepare for the last days and what is to come?"  Lucky for us, Joel gives us detailed instructions on how we are to prepare for the Day of the Lord.

He describes a sevenfold list of imperatives in Joel 2:15-16.

   1.  Blow the trumpet in Zion (what does this mean?)

   2.  Sanctify a fast (what does this mean?)

   3.  Call a solemn assembly (what does this mean)?

   4.  Gather the people (what does this mean?)

   5.  Sanctify the congregation (what does this mean?)

   6.  Assemble the elders (what does this mean?)
  
   7.  Gather the children (what does this mean?)

I feel impressed to say that all those who heed the word of the Lord in doing 1 thru 7 shall be safely gathered in as wheat, and shall abide the Day of the Lord (see Malachi 3:2).

Samuel Says

As the Nephites stared-down their own version of the Day of the Lord, prior to Jesus's birth and the destructions that devastated their land at His death, a prophet stood upon the wall as a watchman on the tower, and prophesied.

Samuel the Lamanite said:

   Yea, except ye repent,
   your women shall have
   great cause to mourn
   in the day that they
   shall give suck;
   for ye shall attempt to FLEE
   and there shall be no place
   for REFUGE.

(Helaman 15:2)  

God is our refuge; those who "flee" to Him (meaning, those who repent and trust Him), shall encounter rest.

In the Book of Joel, the prophet gives three "types" of Christ in the first chapter, which provide the foundation for the rest of his prophecy; and it signals to me that no matter what may come upon us, if we are anchored in Christ, we shall endure all, and fear nothing.

The three symbols of the Messiah given by Joel are:

   - The Bridegroom (Joel 1:8) (for Christ is the Bridegroom and Zion His bride)

   - The grain and drink offering (Joel 1:9) (for Christ is the Bread and Living Wine)

   - The vine and fig tree (Joel 1:7) (for Jesus is the "true vine," even as Israel chopped Him down)

Now, I would like to leave my blessing upon you whom I consider friends, a blessing inspired by the spirit of Joel's words, it is this:

"May God bless you to be received into the family chamber of His Son, the Bridegroom, and to partake with Him the feast set before His bride, Zion, even as He takes her hand and places His garment upon her shoulder, and removes the veil from her face, to the joy of those assembled, declaring His redeeming love and tenderness to her, now and forever, Amen."

   God is our refuge
   and strength,
   a very present help
   in trouble.

​(Psalm 46:1)