Welcome back everybody.

This is week 44 of Creative.

Come follow me for the Old Testament and this week we are jumping into Ezekiel.

So he's one of those contemporary prophets of Jeremiah's that

we spoke about last week.

So where Lehigh is heading off to the new world and Jeremiah ends

up staying in Jerusalem to watch the destruction, Ezekiel's job is.

Heading into Babylon and he will teach exclusively those Jews who are in exile.

He doesn't necessarily want to be there.

He gets hauled away and is in bondage just like all those other Jews.

And he will stay there for, for as long as we know.

It's like his whole lifetime.

I don't know exactly how his life ends, but we don't have any record

of Ezekiel coming out of Babylon.

So this will be his territory.

And it's a tough calling like every one of these prophets.

Lehigh had his version of hard.

Jeremiah has his version of heart.

Daniel will too.

All of these prophets have their own hard and Ezekiel's hard will be to

speak to a people who should be learning from their wrong choices and are not.

But what I love about Ezekiel and what I'd never realized before, I think a

big piece of his work is to motivate and excite the next generation.

Kind of like we saw with Moses.

Remember when they, they were too scared to go into the promised land, and so they

got kind of stuck in the wilderness and he had to wait till all of them died off.

I wonder if.

A little bit of that is happening here, that there are people who, that Ezekiel

is called, not just to teach those who are now in bondage up in Babylon, but to teach

the next generation and the next, because he'll be a prophet for a long time.

And his message, the visual that kept coming to my mind is, if you've ever

seen one of those Hollywood movies where a really great teacher comes

to a really hard school and over the course of the movie, they turn things

around and they motivate the students and there's an epic change in the

students hearts and in the test scores.

And that's Ezekiel to me.

He is someone who is there to motivate the next generation, cuz within

70 years they get to come back.

So I always picture Ezekiel, as you know, the planter of hope for

the revolutionary kids who will grow up and want to come home.

The Esthers, the Ezras, the Nehemiahs who go to sleep with bedtime stories

about the gathering happening and then.

Live to make it happen.

So that's what I want you to think of when you think of Ezekiel.

At least that's what helped me this week.

He is a, he is someone who speaks of truth.

He's also someone who speaks to those who are in struggle

because of their own choices.

And I think where each and every one of us oftentimes end up in

struggle because of our own choices or the choices of those around us.

We need leadership.

We need guidance.

We need to know how to get back on the road, the easier road.

And Ezekiel will do all of that for us.

So I promise you're gonna love his message.

Grab your scriptures.

Grab your notes.

You guys, let's get started.

These first few chapters of Ezekiel are all about his call.

So he's already in exile in Babylon, and he's going to have his call and

you can almost break it into two parts.

It actually sort of reminds me of a missionary's call because in this

first part it's this grand vision and it's strange, and I'll explain all

of that in a minute, but it almost reminds me of when a missionary is

opening that email, you know, in front of all the friends and family, and

everybody cheers, and it's so exciting.

And then there's phase two of the call where you actually figure

out where that place is and you realize how hard it's gonna be.

That's sort of what happens with Ezekiel in these first two chapters.

So in chapter one, it's the grand opening and he sees the Lord,

but it's in a really strange way.

So I'm just gonna warn you, when you go into chapter one,

you're gonna be a little.

Blindsided, And here's how I would help you with this.

Don't you guys remember when we were talking about the doctrine

covenants, and I taught you the analogy of the, um, electrical cord.

So you know how if you ever have like a thick, you know, construction grade

extension cord, if you grab that extension cord at a place where there is no rubber

sheets, you know, if you have one of those cords for a long time and sometimes

they're a little battered and you might grab that cord and you can feel a shock.

It's not because the electricity is bad, it's not because it

was intended to be scary.

It's because you don't have that coding to protect you from it.

For me, whenever I am reading doctrine or scripture and it's shocking to me

or even scary to me, that's how I know there must be some coding that's missing.

The coding to me is the context in the doctrine covenants.

That meant I needed to understand more about the historical setting.

I needed to know more about the personalities of the people involved.

There's always context that I'm missing.

That's what's happening in one, because basically Ezekiel is ex

describing a vision for us and we don't have the frame of reference.

He's trying to put, you know, immortal kind of eternal experiences into immortal

words, and it's hard and honestly, we just don't know enough about his.

His life situation to know what he is seeing.

So if you see or read something that you're like, What?

What is don't, don't stress or don't focus too much on the details.

Trust that if you're feeling a shock, it probably means there's

context that you're missing.

Some of that context has been revealed and we'll get pieces of it from Joseph

Smith, especially cuz a lot of this vision sounds sort of similar to

what we read with John the Revelator.

So some of the comparisons can be drawn there.

Some of it just simply isn't.

And what the Lord teaches, in fact you can see this in the notes, is you're

not accountable for things that aren't revealed . So don't, don't worry too much.

In fact, one of my favorite quotes, this is also in the notes, but it's

from Wilford Woodruff, and he said, When it comes to dreams and visions,

you don't necessarily need to worry.

I'm not quoting, this is a paraphrase, but you don't need to worry so much about

the details and what each thing means.

What you're trying to gain is the principle.

And for me, the principle of chapter one is all about how God is with his people,

whether they are in Jerusalem in a time of glory and brightness, like when David

was on the throne or in exile in Babylon, when everything's a mess and the temple

is getting destroyed, he is with them.

And let me show you why.

I think that's what it's.

Basically, you're gonna see this dream play out.

You'll see that he's up among the captives.

That's in verse one.

And then he talks about this brightness.

Like many of the prophetic sweeping visions that we've studied in

all these years, it begins with.

Brightness.

Do you remember when Joseph Smith talked about the first vision and

the brightness that he thought would catch the trees on fire?

That's the kind of brightness I think Ezekiel's trying to articulate.

And then he talks about what comes with the brightness.

So he sees creatures, they call them creatures cuz we don't know.

It almost sounds like a hybrid of men in beast.

And again, I wouldn't get too fixated on what each symbol

means cuz frankly we don't know.

Um, but I would, I would try to get the overarching message.

These creatures come, basically Ezekiel's gonna have an experience

where he encounters the throne of God, but the first thing he sees is

these, these four creatures that each have four faces and they have wings

and they move in a unity and harmony.

That is powerful to him.

It teaches him about what angel.

Beings are like, I think that's what we're supposed to learn.

He also talks about how there's an appearance of lamps and fire and coals.

Like the more I read this chapter, I started, I think

it's, I think it's because we built that printable tabernacle.

You guys, uh, you know, when we were making the printable and I had to glue

and cut each part, now I know those parts so well because I had to create them on

the printable that when I started reading these, there were so many little bits of

the tabernacle woven into these verses.

You see things about wings, you see things about lamps, you see things

about brightness, even the kind of metal that it's bronze and sparkling.

And there were so many tabernacle references that I

just couldn't set it aside.

And he talks about wheels and eyes, and Joseph Smith taught us in DNC 77

that whenever you, at least when John the Revelator saw a being that had many

eyes, what it meant was it was full of knowledge and a being that had wings meant

that it had agency and the power to act.

All these scripture references are in the notes, but what I

loved about this visual is.

Basically what he's teaching us is these angelic beings who are surrounding

the throne of God are not just sheep . They're not all exactly the same.

They have individuality and power, and they have intelligence, profound

intelligence, and where they choose to be is with God and not just with

God, but in harmony with God and in harmony with those around them.

That to me is what Zion is like.

That's what I picture heaven like that we're all unique and keep our

personalities and our differences, but we.

Choose to be in harmony with God, which makes us in harmony with each other.

Not all playing the same note, but creating this beautiful harmony.

So picture that as you go into this very weird chapter, , It really

helped my brain to understand it.

But I think essentially what the Lord is trying to teach them, he,

he will, Ezekiel will see all these creatures first, and then he's gonna

see the firmament, these heavens that are sapphire like and sparkling.

And then above that he's gonna see the throne of God and he'll

actually see the likeness of a man.

That's the same critical doctrine that the Lord has taught to so many other prophets.

You know, Enoch and Noah and Moses, they see God as a man

and a likeness like themselves.

And it's glorious and and easy.

You can't capture it with words.

So if you look in 26, he talks about the likeness of the throne was the likeness

of the appearance of a man upon upon it.

And in 27, the appearance of fire roundabout within it,

like both in it and around it.

And then in 28 as the appearance of the bow or a rainbow that is in

the cloud of the day of the rain.

So like this is, he's trying to capture the beauty and the magnificence

of God, and it's a God who is in the likeness that he is in that is

profound, firsthand witness of what the character and nature of God is.

And Ezekiel is getting it right up front.

And so naturally the reaction of Ezekiel is he falls flat on his face,

Well, I think Ezekiel's reaction is entirely appropriate given

the glory he's beholding.

The Lord doesn't want him to stay there.

He invites him to stand.

And first one of chapter two, he said, and he said unto me, this being that likeness,

that Lord that he's seeing, son of man stand upon my feet and I will speak unto

the, there is such warmth and intimacy.

Even calling him the son of man.

That's a phrase that they'll use for Jesus Christ in the New Testament often.

But it, it just means in this situation with Ezekiel, the Lord

calls him that to say you were basically a mouthpiece to men.

You can go in the Bible dictionary and learn a lot more,

but it's the warmth, right?

It's a man speaking to his friend.

Like we've seen the Lord interact with so many other prophets.

He, he wants him to understand who he is, who Ezekiel is, and that's

why he has him stand and speak.

And then the spirit enters in.

This feels like Moses to me, where he has some kind of experience where he can be

in the presence of God and hear his voice.

And then in three it says, And he said unto me, Son of man, I send these to the

children of Israel to a rebellious nation.

So remember when I told you that I feel like this is the second part of opening

your call, that there's that phase where you're really excited and you're like,

Yes, my nephew, I remember him opening his call to Ghana and we were all so

excited cuz it sounded so adventurous.

And then there's the days afterwards where my sister Lisa learns all about

the malaria outbreaks and all , all the scary things that happen in Ghana.

That's what's happening to Ezekiel.

He's starting to appreciate how hard his mission is gonna be cuz

they're not gonna want to hear him.

So the Lord teaches them about their rebellion of the children of Israel,

that even though they are already in bondage and they're already suffering

the consequences of their choices, their hearts aren't gonna soften for a while.

And so he invites him not to be afraid.

For me, this is the power punch of this chapter.

It's around six, seven, and eight.

He says, And thou son of men, be not afraid of them.

Neither be afraid of their words though.

There you be among Bris and thorns and scorp feets.

Like he's, he's telling him how hard this mission is gonna be,

and he's saying, Don't be afraid.

Um, I'm, I'm with you.

He says, Speak my words unto them.

I think there is so much power in that invitation that the reason

we don't need to be afraid is not because ghana's not scary.

It's because you are going there to speak his words.

And when you speak his words, you'll be endowed with his power.

That's the promise that Ezekiel is getting.

He doesn't need to be afraid.

Um, he doesn't have to be dismayed.

He doesn't have to worry about their words or their looks.

He just needs to move forward.

And what I think is really powerful is that the very end of this chapter,

he tells you how to not be afraid and the way he teaches it is so weird

and so fun that I couldn't resist making an object lesson about this.

But he basically invites him to consume his word.

He invites him to eat a scrolled that has his word on it.

These are words of lamentation and whoa, cuz that's gonna be

a lot of Ezekiel's message.

It's gonna be a lot of you cause this with your sin.

You're in the higher straights and so he has to consume it.

The reason I think that AP applies to our missionaries is that's basically to

me, like when the Lord says, No matter how hard your mission is gonna be and

how many people convert, maybe none.

That change that will happen in your heart will be worth it if you consume my word.

If you live on these principles and these doctrines for these years and you

change, your mission will have been worth.

So that's how he sets the stage for Ezekiel.

He invites him to change.

He invites him to take God's word and to put it into his heart, into his body,

let it become part of him so that no matter what happens next, he can change.

And that's a powerful invitation.

The mission call opening continues in chapter three.

This is where you see that, that the book that he was asked to consume

this book or scroll that's full of lamentation and will actually taste sweet.

And I love this piece of Ezekiel story.

He seems surprised by it's different than what happens with John in Revelation.

This is, it tastes like honey.

In fact, it's, you see it in verse three, Then I did eat it and it was in my

mouth and it was as honey for sweetness.

He hasn't even had a chance to digest it yet.

And again, I don't know if this is literal or figurative, but I loved this piece.

As soon as he puts it in his mouth.

He tastes sweetness.

Isn't that great?

I feel like that happens with the gospel.

As soon as we take a particular doctrine, even one that we might be skeptical

about, something that the prophet has taught us, something we learn in scripture

and we let it just get in our mouth.

We just take it in.

There is an initial sweetness.

There is a, you know, that same harmony that happens with the

light of Christ that's in us.

It, it makes things taste sweet, and I think that's what

happens with missionaries.

I think it happens with us whenever we decide to take on this challenge from

God when he gives us an invitation to experiment upon the word.

That's basically what's happening with, with this tasting of the book.

As soon as we do it, there is sweetness that comes.

It doesn't mean the task is easier, but there is an initial sweetness

that I think will hold ezek.

And then the Lord boosts him up.

So to me, this is when like a mom and a dad, after everyone else has left,

and after you've researched a little bit about Ghana, this is when you can

see the missionaries starting to panic.

And so your mom and your dad or whoever will come and boil you

up to say, You're ready for this.

You've been prepping for this your whole life.

Let me show you how ready you are.

That's what happens with the Lord.

It's around eight.

He says, Be.

I've made my face strong against their faces in nine as an adamant harder

than Flint have I made th forehead?

He's basically saying, You have a thick skin.

I have designed you to be able to do this work.

Remember whom the Lord calls?

He qualifies.

And that's the promise.

Is eel's gonna have to rest on that?

He's gonna make it.

I it reminded me of our study of the brother of Jared in the Book of Mormon.

Remember how I taught you about Michael Wilcox?

Taught me about being tight, like Aish and that idea of you're gonna

have to be built tight like a dish so that you can withstand the waves.

Cuz this isn't supposed to be a pleasure voyage.

It's supposed to be this raucous, you know, beast filled sea that

you're gonna turn and toss.

But he needs you to get where you need to go quickly.

So he built you tight like a dish.

That's basically what he's teaching.

Ezekiel, your forehead was made strong.

Your heart is strong.

You can withstand all the blows that are gonna come at you.

Trust me, it just sounds like a missionary parent to me.

He promises that he will be with them, thus say it.

The Lord God, for this is in verse 11.

He says, Thus say it the Lord God.

Whether they will hear or whether they will for bear meaning.

Ezekiel, it doesn't matter to me what the results are.

You're just supposed to teach.

You're just supposed to preach.

And he invite people to repent and don't worry whether they listen

or they don't listen, just speak.

And that's important to understand for when you flip the page.

So when you flip over, you can see that Ezekiel struggles a little bit, or

maybe he's just awestruck, I'm not sure.

But basically he hears a voice or a sound of great rushing like we've

heard in other visions, and then the vision closes and he's left to himself.

And that is scary.

I don't know if you've ever walked out of a bishop's office or a state

president's office with a new calling, and although you accepted it in

the room, as soon as you walk out, you're like, Whoa, . I don't know.

I dunno how this is gonna go.

That's how I picture Ezek Gill right now because he, he's.

Kind of awestruck at everything that's just happened.

Remember you guys, he's like somewhere between 25 and 30 and he's in a

foreign land and this is a lot.

And so he sits for seven days . So if you look in verse 15, it says, I sat

where they sat and I remained there astonished among them for seven days.

This to me, is the brother of Jared spending four years on the beach.

It reremember like there is.

It there, there is this time where he just doesn't quite

know how to move, how to act.

And I feel like all of us feel that when we get an invitation to

do something scary from the Lord.

But I love that the Lord doesn't leave him there the same way.

He didn't leave the brother of Jared on the beach.

He comes to Ezekiel.

So in 17 he comes to him and says, Son of man, I have made the a

watchman under the house of Israel.

He's basically saying like, Hey, hey, I gave you a job , like

your job as a watchman.

A watchman is someone who stands on a tower and their job is to tell us

if the city is gonna get destroyed.

You know, if you can see an an impending army coming, they have the same thing

in vineyards and with flocks of sheep like they are, they are on guard.

Which means if Ezekiel is sitting astonished somewhere, no one is watching

after the sheep . And so the Lord is saying, Hey, hey, you have a work to do.

And I think that's really important cuz sometimes this happens to us with our

callings or with our parenting jobs.

We're so overwhelmed that we stop moving.

We become paralyzed, and the Lord will constantly nudge you

to be like, It just gets started.

I know you're not gonna do it perfectly.

When you get on a mission and you don't know the language and you know

you're gonna botch it all up, he says, I know all of those things.

I, I've got you.

I've set you to be a watchman, which means I'm gonna give you

the tools you need to pull it off.

And so then he starts to tell him about the warnings of this calling

and this added light and intelligence will come with responsibilities.

His job will be to warn.

And if he doesn't, then the blood of those who he didn't warn will be on his hands.

That's really important doctrine because it teaches us something about the role

of a prophet that their job is to warn.

And if they choose not to warn, then the consequences fall on them.

It's the same thing that happens with parents.

If we choose not to teach our children the doctrines of the kingdom,

like we learned about in doctrine.

Those sins can fall on our heads.

It's, it's a very clear warning.

We're gonna see it further in a few more chapters.

But he invites him to step into this calling as shaky and as

uncertain as he probably feels.

He invites him to arise and go forth.

That's in verse 22, where Jeremiah had to go to a potter to learn a lesson.

In this situation, Ezekiel has to go to the planes because there isn't a temple

for him to go hear the voice of the Lord.

So he finds another spot, he finds a plane.

And in that plane he teaches Ezekiel about the risks that are at play for him.

So he talks about how there's people who are coming, they're gonna be

violent, they're gonna wanna destroy him, and so he quiets him physically.

He, he won't be able to speak for a season because the dangers are too intense.

And as a missionary mom, or I guess a former one, actually I'm a missionary mom

right now with Jack, but like where you have those moments where you're afraid

for your kids that their safety might be in jeopardy or things might not go well.

I love this piece.

Because I think the Lord does this with missionaries and he

does this with mission presidents.

He finds his ways to help them be safe, and that's critical

doctrine for Ezekiel and for every missionary mom heart out there.

So hopefully that will teach you a little bit.

Now we're gonna jump a little bit further, all the way up to 33,

you're gonna see the theme of the watchmen carry through into chapter 33.

I read this great talk from Elgan.

It's in the notes, but he basically said that a role of a prophet is to

seek after the one and take care of the 99 at the same time . And that's

sort of what you see in this guidance to Ezekiel, that in addition to warning

those who are deep in sin and that he'll be held accountable if he doesn't

warn them, he's also accountable for teaching the righteous for, for

teaching those who are doing okay.

This was interesting to me from a parenting perspective, cuz I think

in callings and in our parenting sometimes we're so fixated on the.

Kid or the troubled spot in our callings that we don't do as good of a job taking

care of those who are doing well and what, I think it's in chapter three, but

what he says basically is what happens is if the righteous stop getting taught

well then they might fall into sin.

And if they fall into sin because we neglected to teach them, then that's

on our heads too, . And it's just this profound warning to me that I

need to do both, that that doesn't mean I'm supposed to exhaust myself.

I'm supposed to, you know, use the spirit and focus where I can.

But it does mean I need to constantly be taking care of the whole flock.

And that's Ezekiel's invitation too.

There is constant warnings about don't take your eye off the ball.

It . This is ridiculous.

But it reminded me of Titanic.

You know, you know the movie Titanic when the guys who are up in the, I don't

know what they call it, like the Crow's Nest or whatever, and they're supposed

to be watching for icebergs and they're distracted by Kate and Leo that are,

or whatever their character names are, and so then they like look back at the

scene and then they see an iceberg.

That's what he's trying to warn Ezekiel about.

He's saying like, You, you need your eye on the field or on the flock.

That's what I've called you to do.

And then he has this really great guidance.

This is an 11.

He says, As I live, say at the Lord, God, I have no pleasure

in the death of the wicked.

That is something that is, it's easy to mix up in the Old Testament

because sometimes when you read about Jehovah and this God of the Old

Testament and the destruction that ensues, especially in those first

five books of the Old Testament, you sometimes start to wonder if.

If he is okay with destruction and this first, and there's another

one in chapter 18, teaches us profoundly that he gets no joy from

destruction or death of the wicked.

He wants every single soul to come home.

Every single one, and so we need to teach that as we teach this doctrine.

We need to help people understand that he doesn't take life lightly.

He doesn't take sin and destruction lightly.

He doesn't even take punishment lightly.

He wants his children.

So he will use every tool at his disposal to help them change, and that's

what you're gonna see in the verses.

So he talks about how they may not be delivered, that he can't

deliver the righteous in their sins.

In fact, one of the interesting things I learned, this is around like 13 and

14, that he's talking about the wicked.

There was this great definition for about that phrase, the wicked.

We tend to think that phrase means like you've committed really gross atrocious

sins, and I'm sure that can apply there.

But generally in the Old Testament, at least what Joseph Fielding Smith said

is that wicked just means those who have not repented or received the gospel.

So it doesn't necessarily mean that you've done anything horribly wrong or at

least turned against the light you have.

For some people, it will mean they've just never heard the gospel,

had never had a chance to come forward in, in scriptural terms.

That's what wicked means.

Don't read these two black and white, I think there's a lot of gray in the middle.

Um, but he invites them to turn and he basically says, those who have stored

up righteousness, if they then turn to wickedness, all that righteousness they

thought they stored up doesn't help them.

And I think this is really interesting, especially cuz I teach

ISAs that it's really tempting.

I think, well I served a mission and I did a lot of good works and so therefore

I might be able to take a, a, you know, sabbatical from my church attendance.

You see, especially at that age where they start to think that,

well, they've done enough good and they'll get back to it eventually and

they're just gonna take some time off.

I think we do this as adults too, and that's the warning is

it can't be stored the same way.

I can't like do all my workouts on Monday and then not do

anything the rest of the week.

It, my body doesn't work that way.

I need this daily strengthening.

And so that's what he's warning about.

What I love is that it also offers the flip side.

So this is around 14 and 15.

He says, If there is a wicked person, remember someone who hasn't heard

the gospel or hasn't repented.

If they turn, then all of their sins are not mentioned.

It, it works.

There's two sides to this coin and I love the doctrine behind it.

It's so merciful.

I even love that it says they're just not mentioned.

Cuz it reminds me of, uh, any kind of loving relationship I have, you

know, with my husband for example.

He knows all of my flaws, all of my weaknesses, all of

my bad mistakes of the past.

They're just not mentioned.

And I think that's how the Lord is.

He knows us.

He knows exactly where we've been in the mistakes we've made, but they're not

mentioned and they don't factor in to his love for us or the way he treats us.

That's what he's promising.

Those who are have repentant hearts.

Um, so he invites them.

He also warns that some of us are not gonna be happy with that.

This reminded me of the parable, of the laborers of the vineyard.

Basically he's saying, As people turn and repent, they have every blessing.

They have every opportunity because their hearts are changed.

It's kind of like what you see in the New Testament when the Lord offers someone

like the woman taking in adultery in that moment, as long as he, As long as

she turns in that moment and changes her ways, which she does, we know that

from the Joseph translation, Then she, and that moment is clean before him.

So he says, Go that way and send no more.

And there will be some of us who won't like that very much.

As we see people who turn, well, we will have a tendency to be like the

Pharisees to say, Well, what about her whole lifetime of mistakes?

Don't those count against her?

And what the Lord is saying is she turned, She is not the same person anymore.

Her heart is new.

And that's how the Lord judges, In fact, that's what he says in 20,

I will judge everyone after his.

He's the only one that can know or that woman taken in Adultery's

heart is the Pharisees Can't tell.

The scribes can't tell.

We can't tell.

That's why we have this incredible Allee judge who can tell where your heart is.

So it doesn't matter how many years of backtracking or backsliding

you've had, if your heart is in the right place, he will see it.

And the same thing goes for the opposite.

No matter how many years of righteousness you've had, if your heart right now is

hard and turned against the prophets and turned against the doctrine,

you lose all that, all that growth you, you will begin to backslide.

And I love that he teaches both.

There's this great quote in the notes that talks about, I

can't even remember who said it.

Maybe it's in my margin.

No, I didn't write it down.

But he basically says that you can't burn the bridge of mercy that

you expect to cross over yourself.

So anyone who refuses mercy to others burns that bridge that they're gonna

need to cross over into exaltation.

And that's what I think the parable of the laborers of the vineyard talks about.

It's that you're worried about the wrong things.

Don't worry about how many hours they've labored in the vineyard

and how many you've labored.

All of it is fair, and we have an ultimate judge and we need to worry

about ourselves and no one else.

So that's what you'll see in that first half of 33.

When you flip the page, it gets a little deeper.

This is where he talks about what's going to come, that there is this guy

who escaped from the destruction of Jerusalem and he comes to wherever

Ezekiel is and tells them about the destruction that's happened.

Cause remember, Ezekiel gets carried off before the temple is burned

and everything gets destroyed.

So he's in one of those earlier.

What's interesting to me is it says that Ezekiel knew about the

destruction the night before.

So he gets this vision about how bad the land is and how desolate it is the

night before this other person comes and tells everybody else about it.

So again, prophets see farther, they see clearer and they see early in the morning.

And that's what happens with Ezekiel.

He sees things in vision about what's happening in Jerusalem and then

somebody else comes as a second witness to say, I saw it with my own eyes.

And Ezekiel's, right?

He is a prophet of God.

And that's kind of what happens.

So you learn about the desolation and you learn about how they'll react.

One of my, the most interesting parts, I would say is at the very end, cuz this

is where maybe because this messenger has come and verified Ezekiel's words, but

people are gonna start to listen to Ezek.

But they're not listening for the right reasons.

It's fascinating.

It's round 31 says they'll hear they words, but they will not

do them for with their mouth.

They show much love, but their heart go with after.

After covetousness.

And then 32 and Lo Thou art unto them as a lovely song of one that

had the pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument for they hear

that words but they do them not.

There are so many great quotes in the notes about this kind of hypocrisy

that we all tend to have moments where we get casual in our discipleship,

where we maybe want to appear less devout than we maybe even are.

I think you see this a lot with youth.

Have you ever tried to sub for a Sunday school class and they act like they don't

know any answers and they're disengaged completely and you know, they know that

there, there's a warning in that for us, that we need to learn from those mistakes.

We need to watch our discipleship.

We need to stand on holy ground and speak what we know to be true

cuz that's where the power is.

Otherwise, like these children, we will backslide.

That takes you the end of 30.

The children of Israel didn't just stumble into this captivity.

They were basically led here by teachers who led them astray.

Remember, the big issue they were having is that they were worshiping

false gods and turning to idols that doesn't just happen on their own.

That means their leaders and their teachers were leading them astray.

And that's what you're gonna read about in 34, that this beautiful

flock of the Lord has now been scattered and damaged and torn apart.

And they're, that's because the shepherds who are supposed to be

caring for them, didn't do their job.

And just like Ezekiel just learned that he, with this prophetic calling,

has accountability to God for being a watchman and sending out warnings.

These shepherds had a duty to God to teach and to teach truth clearly and

distinctly, and they didn't do it.

And now the repercussions are the flock.

Damaged.

I mean, you can see it in verse four.

They're diseased, they're sick, they're broken, they're driven away, they're lost.

I circled all these words.

They have been ruled with force and with cruelty.

This next generation is suffering the consequences of this lack of leadership,

and the Lord is telling Ezekiel to call these people to repentance.

Basically, he talks about how they were scattered.

This is in five.

They were scattered because there is no shepherd, and they became

meat to all the beasts of the field when they were scattered.

They're in a position where they haven't been taught, so they're very

susceptible to all kinds of other things.

I think it's the reason we're supposed to focus so much on home centered learning

because my job is to fortify the sheep so that no matter what kind of teacher they

have, they know who they are and they know that the scriptures lead to truth.

That's why we can't just like, you know, pass off our kids to the

young women's program or something.

We need to, they need to know at home what is true because I am a shepherd of

my little flock and that's my calling.

Because otherwise they get pulled away.

They become meat.

Honestly, this phrase in my scriptures that the, those weak and vulnerable

ones become meat for these creatures that are out prowling around.

It felt like, it felt like social media a little bit to me, , I feel like sometimes

on social media there are people who are prowling looking for youth who have

a shallow level of testimony and they are pulling them off to scarier places.

And if I'm not there to help guide them, if I haven't taught them

truth well enough, they will be.

They will be in a place of danger because I didn't do my job.

So when I read these verses, I got all kinds of understandings from the spirit.

Little, little prompt things.

Not necessarily when I was reading the verses themselves, but as I was thinking

about them and going about my day, I got ideas about how I could do it better.

How can I help my kids better?

They're my little flock, and how can I fortify them better?

So as you read these verses, be praying about whatever it is your

flock is, whether it's your sisters you're supposed to minister to, or the

brothers you're supposed to minister, minister to, or your calling or whatever

it is, Be focused on your flock.

And then ideas will come.

Because what you're gonna see in the rest of the verses is how the Lord

basically says you didn't do your job.

So I'm taking over, uh uh.

He says in 10, I am against the shepherds and I will require my flock at their hand.

There will.

And accountability that will happen.

And in the meantime, he's gonna gather his flock.

He, he, the Lord will do his own work . And that's a profound

message of every book of scripture.

He doesn't need us to accomplish his work.

He invites us to help him accomplish this work because it will strengthen

us, because, we'll, our lives will be richly blessed in the process

of being a part of this work.

But he doesn't need us there.

And this is what those verses say.

Behold, I even I, this is 11, will both search out my

sheep and seek them out in 12.

I will seek out my sheep and I will deliver them out of all places

where they have been scattered.

13.

I'll bring them out from the people.

I will gather them out from the countries.

I will bring them to their own land and feed them.

In fact, a lot of these verses talk about bringing them to their own place.

It almost sounds like when, when we hear about refugees and how the.

Cares for refugees and invites us to care for refugees that we're supposed to bring

them to a place where they can have their own space and have their own nourishment

and their own jobs and have dignity.

That's what the Lord is promising, that his people will, again, because

of his work, have dignity and they won't have to worry anymore.

So from like 22 all the way through the end of the chapter in 31, you're gonna see

how he gives them this dignity as these spiritual refugees and physical refugees.

In this case, what he offers I in 24, I'll be the Lord their God.

It's almost like when I read these verses, I picture the Good Samaritan,

you know, it's, he doesn't just help the man on the side of the road.

He picks him up.

He takes him to a place of safety.

He offers to pay for what is needed.

He offers to check back.

And that's how we care for those who are spiritual refugees and

anyone we know who's going through a big repentance process or needs.

Bolstering in whatever way we intake these tips and apply it to

them, I'm gonna give them a place to dwell safely in the wilderness.

That's in 25.

In 26, he promises that he'll shower down blessings on those who come to him, that

the fruits will yield their increase.

So they'll have ample food to eat as they're regrouping and getting

their footing again, that they won't be subject to heat anymore,

that they will dwell as safely.

That's in 28.

They won't be afraid.

Do I think that's a huge piece of having dignity is knowing you don't

need to be afraid cuz you have this powerhouse of the Lord on your side.

He says he will plant them in a place of renowned and then ultimately in

30 and 31, they shall know that I the Lord am their God and I am with them.

Remember, that's Ezekiel's overarching message.

God is with us in exile.

He was with us in Jerusalem.

He will be with us in the wilderness or wherever we are.

God is with us and we need to be with God.

So if we take that opportunity, then we get what we have at C in 31.

And here my flock and the flock of my past are men and I am your God.

Say it the Lord God.

That's the profound promise of being part of this covenant Zion

community, that they will be one with him in a place of safety and peace.

And that's a pretty powerful message to teach.

If you're Ezekiel and you're talking to everyone who is in bondage, um,

that's a powerful vision of the future.

Ezekiel's Revolutionary Side comes out on chapter 36 because the, the same

way I picture the founding fathers, seeing all the hard parts of the

Revolutionary War, but trying to rally the troops to say like, I know we're

in a mess and it's gonna be so worth it if we act, If we do things that we're

supposed to do, we can make big changes.

And that's what Ezekiel's focusing on.

So in 36 he talks about the desolation, the derision, the shame that they're

bearing and how that will shift.

So if you look in eight, it talks about how there will be a time when the

time will come that they can change.

This is.

There will be a time when the field is white and ready to harvest.

It ties in with DNC four and he says how it's gonna happen for behold this nine

for behold, I am for you and I will turn onto you and you shall be tiled and sewn.

This is the Lord speaking.

He's saying, I am for you.

I have always been for you.

Jason says this all the time when we're talking to Jack, he's like, I'm team Jack

, especially when we have hard things to say to Jack or, you know, consequences.

We're Team Jack.

We, we don't do anything unless we think it's for your good.

That's basically what he's saying here, is, I, I'm Team Israel,

I want you to be successful.

The only way for that to happen is if I can till this ground and sow it, I need

to uproot all that hard baked in dry land and flip it over and expose it to the.

And what I love about this reference is it reminds me of Alma 32

where he says, You need to give place for a portion of my work.

You know, if you picture a pot that's got hard packed soil that's been there

all winter long, and you gotta take some of that soil out to make room

for the seed that's gonna go in there, and that's not a comfortable process.

The soil is probably nice and warm and comfortable, and then you take it out

and put in this hard, shiny, cold seed.

It's not a comfortable exchange, but he promises it's worth it because basically

what he offers is I will multiply you.

This is where you start to see the Abraham at Covenant promises coming back, that

in the last days they'll have that.

In fact, I love what it says in 11.

It says, I will do better unto you than at your beginnings, and

you shall know that I am the Lord.

There's a big promise that that Zion that will come will be even grander than what

they saw with King David in Jerusalem.

That they will, It'll be better than the glorious visions of Moses or of Noah.

It will be better trust in the miracles that are coming.

When you go a little further, you see, he talks about how they got into

this mess, just like a good parent.

He never lets the children of Israel forget how they got here, and I

don't think Ezekiel's trying to beat them over the head with their sins.

What he's trying to say is, Don't forget we've been down this road.

It's the idle worshiping and profaning, his name that got us into this mess.

So we need to be watchful of.

We do that as parents all the time.

But then he talks about why they're forgiven.

It's not necessarily because they earned it or because

they've made mighty changes.

What has happened is he's having pity on them for his holy name.

The Lord loves his people and he loves the work that they can represent

and he will have pity on them.

I think a big piece of this physically is he also needs to set the stage.

I mean, they need to go back to Jerusalem cuz that's where you know Jehovah as

Jesus Christ will eventually be born.

So I think there's some mercy and pity just.

We gotta get things moving.

There's work to be done.

And so he talks about his holy name in 23.

I will sanctify my great name, which was profane among the heathen.

He's going to purify and cleanse, especially in the latter days.

There will be a mass conversion that needs to happen.

And that's what you see when you go a little bit further down.

So he will talk about bringing them as their own land in 24 and then

cleansing them in 25, cleansing them of all their idols and their filthiness.

And then 26 is this epic, epic truth bomb verse.

It says, And a new heart.

Also, will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you?

I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I

will give you a heart of flesh.

If you remember from, there's some conference talks about this, since

we have so many heart surgeons in our general authority line, there's a great

one about having a heart transplant.

Do you guys remember that talk where we have to take care

of our transplanted hearts?

I think the same thing happens as we've been talking about missionaries

going into these foreign lands.

This mighty change of heart happens.

It happens in our callings too, but for missionaries who go to a new land and then

instantly love the people, even those who are mean, you know, like you just have.

It's not love.

Like I love them the way I love my parents.

It's love like I feel.

I feel like you're part of my flock and I want to take care of you.

I want to nourish you.

I want to heal you.

I want to feed you.

That's the new heart.

That's the new promise.

But we have to care for it.

We have to engage in the work so that our newly transplanted heart

doesn't get rejected by our body.

You can go in and see all that in the notes, but I love the promise

that you see that he, in 27, he will put my spirit within you and

cause you to walk in my statutes.

When you allow that mighty change to happen, you change, your actions

change because your heart is different.

That's why I think when we fixated our kids' attentions on for strength of the

youth and say like, Where is your heart?

Make decisions about your outward appearance based on how you feel about

God and how you know he feels about you.

It's all about this, This concept of teach them true doctrines

and they will govern themselves.

That's what 27 teaches me.

In 28, he takes a little further and he says, You shall be my

people and I will be your God.

That connection point where we are his people and he is our God happens

because we have a new heart and because we acted on the new heart,

we are now acting as he would have us act, which makes us children of God.

That's, that's the connection.

It's not that we're never his, it's that now we are covenantal his and

that's a different level of connection.

So then you see the promises lay out In 30, I will multiply the fruit of the tree.

I you'll remember your evil ways.

This is an interesting one cuz he talks about how they won't be

ashamed, they won't be confounded.

Um, they will be able to change.

I think it's interesting in their repentance process cuz sometimes we

can still remember our mistakes and the purpose of that is to invite us to change.

Anytime I bring up with my kids past mistakes, it's not to push them down,

it's to say, Hey, just a heads up, remember we know where this road goes.

And that's what happens with the children of Israel as well.

Again, in 34 he promises this desolate land will be tilled.

I love what you see in 35.

He basically says, other people will see this land and say,

Wow, is this the same place?

You know, the same way when I drove through that burned out

forest and I couldn't believe how lush and green it was.

That's what they're saying.

In 35, this land was desolate and has become like the Garden of Eden and the

waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced and inhabited.

And then 36, I have a big star next to this one, then the heath and that

are left round about You shall know that I the Lord build ruined places

and plant that which was desolate.

What I love about this is this is one of the beautiful blessings of repentance,

that it doesn't just change your whole life and you get planted and you grow

in a place that once was desolate.

It's that people around you see that change.

Those who don't believe that that's possible, see that change, and then

they say, Oh, it worked for her.

Maybe it can work for me.

That's why we have to testify to each other.

It's why we have to share our hope in change because it motivates others.

And then the resulting blessing is you become part of this holy flock that he

mentions at the very end in verse 38.

Guys, I had no idea how much I love chapter 37.

I've always loved 47, but you do not wanna miss chapter 37.

This is where Ezekiel sees the valley of dry bones, and you would think

that would not be a super inviting chapter, but it's so good you guys.

Okay?

Basically, he has kind of an object lesson play out from, He's in a vision and he

sees this big valley full of dry bones.

That's in verse one.

And then he has to go all the way around and survey it.

So he, he has to get a really good view of how bad things are.

And then in three, he's invited to answer a question.

So this is when the Lord says, son of man, can these bones live?

And I answered, Oh Lord God.

Oh no, it's, I don't know if this is Ezekiel saying like, I have no

idea, or if this is him saying like, How about you tell me the answer?

Have you ever had that with a professor where you're like,

Could you just answer that for me?

I wonder if this is one of those moments where Ezekiel wants to believe

that these bones can live again, but it's a help them an unbelief moment.

The visual that came into my mind as I was reading about these

dry bones as Peter and the Nets.

So remember when he has that long night on the water and he catches no fish and

when he meets the savior, the savior basically says, Go a little ways out

and put your net on the other side.

And Peter's basic response is, There are no fish . I've had

this experience many times.

I gave a talk on this once at church, but I felt this way with, Come follow me.

Uh, when the prophet came out, we went to two hour church and he said, We're

gonna shift to home centered learning.

And my basic response was, You don't understand.

I've been fishing here all night.

There are no fish here, , because that's how I felt about our family's scripture.

Like it wasn't that it was bad, I just kind of felt like I wasn't reaping

any rewards from it, and I couldn't, I couldn't quite get behind it.

So when he was like, The Sabbath is gonna be a delight and you're gonna have all

this joy, I, to me it was this valley of dry bones or this empty knit and an

empty sea, and I just didn't believe.

But I love this invitation where the Lord.

Do you believe this can happen?

And as soon as you shift?

So for me, 2019, that first year of come follow me was terrible.

I didn't do very well.

The kids didn't do very well.

And then 2020 is when I shifted, is when this course started, when I was like,

Okay, I believe that this can happen.

I believe it can be better.

I want to let that desire work in me.

So I'm going to try, And this is Peter throwing his net on the other side.

And this is Ezekiel speaking prophecy to a valley of bones.

I mean, they can, it's, he's literally talking to no one.

But that's what the Lord invites him to do.

He says, Prophesy onto these bones, Talk to the bones and tell them

that they can be brought back.

That breath will enter you.

This is in five, and ye shall live.

In fact, say that their sys are gonna come, their flesh is gonna come.

All these, these bones are gonna come back to life.

Teach it to them.

So Ezekiel has.

Speak to a valley of bones.

It's Peter throwing his net out into a water that he knows is empty

of fish and he is invited to act.

It's this pivotal moment, so it's in verse seven, he says, So I

prophesied as I was commanded.

He speaks to a valley full of bones who will have no even ability to hear

because the Lord commanded him to.

It probably makes no sense to Ezekiel's mind.

Like so many great moments in all of scripture where there's no rational

reason, mortally, why this makes sense.

And then something happens.

I loved this piece.

So in the middle of seven and there was a noise, behold, a shaking, and the

bones came together, bone to his bone.

This is.

You know that moment where like a Jedi finally figures out how

to move things with his mind.

This is that moment for Peter.

It's like he puts the nets down and then he can feel the boat creak.

This happened for me with Come Follow me, you guys.

Within the first like month, I could feel the boat creaking.

I didn't see a boat full of fish yet that that took a long time, but I could

feel something happening in a sea that I would've guaranteed was empty, and that's

the promise of this value of dry bones.

Then the Lord invites him to act again, and he says, Okay, now build on that.

Invite the winds to come and breathe the breath of life into these

bodies that have been created.

And so he does that.

He commands and prophesies to the winds that they will come, and then the result.

They, they arise.

This army of people stands up and arises.

Remember, this is a vision.

This is not literally happening, but it's this promise of, well, one, I think it's

an incredible prophecy about resurrection and what the resurrection will be

like that that is actually possible and can happen to those who believe.

But more profoundly, I think it's all about that the Lord loves to

bring life to desolate places.

This is a valley of bones that could not, no one had ever done

anything like this before to this size of group, and it can happen.

If he can bring life back to a valley of bones, he can bring

life to any of my valleys.

That's what the spirit taught me this week, and I've seen it, you guys,

There's been times when I looked at my temple attendance and it felt like

a valley of bones where I'm like, I'm getting nothing out of this.

I don't understand it.

I felt the same with family history, where I was like, I, it's not for me.

It's a valley of bones.

And the moment you engage you, it's what Elma taught.

If you let that desire work in you, even just, it gives a hope to desire

to believe, and you let it work in you.

He will come and he will help you, and there will be a noise, there will be

a shaking, and it will be a profound change, but you have to act the same way

Ezekiel did, and I just love that message.

So you see that all throughout that first half, that it's the

Lord's hand that does this miracle.

But because he invited Ezekiel to be part of it, Ezekiel gets to see

it happen and be there first hand.

That's what he invites us to do in our lives too, and I just love it.

To make this chapter even better, there's an object lesson that's built

right into the verses starting around 15, you see, see the gear shift.

So this is after the vision of the dry bones, and now he's on

the street and he's invited to teach in this really peculiar way.

So the Lord invites him to take two sticks.

This is what we read about in the Book of Mormon.

There's gonna be a stick of Judah and a stick of Joseph, and he's

supposed to write those names on these sticks or scrolls or books

or whatever they might be, and then he's gonna combine them into one.

The part I loved about this, you guys, is in chapter 18, it says, And when

the children of the people shall speak unto these saying, Will they not show

us what th meanest by these, This is the the whole reason I teach an object

lessons you guys, so that I can be doing something crazy with fire in my

kitchen and my kids will wander over and be like, Mom, what are you doing

And then I can answer.

And when I answer, I teach.

I teach them the doctrine.

So it's not like most of my object lessons, at least in our family,

are happening in some fancy way.

In fact, they never are.

They happen to be, When my kids wander into the room and say, Mom, why are you

exploding things in our kitchen sink?

That's why I do the weird object lessons.

And that's what's working for Ezekiel too.

Cuz it's not that first generation who's asking him, they haven't responded, but

the children of that first generation.

I love this piece of this story because they want to know, Tell me more.

Why are you combining those two sticks?

And he, because he knows the doctrine and can teach.

It says, Let me tell you, at some point in the future, these two sticks,

these, this is not just about the Bible and the Book of Mormon, like we

learn about it in the Book of Mormon.

It's also the tribes coming back together.

The stick of Joseph or stick of Judah, and the stick of Joseph used to be one

big children of Israel under Jacob, right?

They used to be one group and then there was the division of the

tribes after the three kings, and they've never been reunited again.

So what Ezekiel is telling this next generation of young revolutionary.

Thinking people is that the Lord has promised that all of it will

be gathered back together again.

They will all be one.

And in the Book of Mormon we learned this is fulfilled through the Book of Mormon

and the Bible coming together as one.

We'll talk about this in the object lessons too, but I'd love that he teaches

in this object lesson hoping to catch their eye cuz I feel like that's what I do

all the time and it just jumped out at me.

But he promises they'll be gathered and then he tells them all the

promises that come with the gathering.

They'll have one king that they'll have their own nation if you live in 23, that

they'll, they won't have idols anymore.

They can set aside all the false traditions of their fathers and

they can be a new generation.

Remember if you're talking to teenagers or you know, younger kids who are, have

been in bondage their whole lifetimes to preach to them on the streets

with this cool object lesson and.

I believe there will be a change.

I believe you guys will help make that change happen.

There will be a time when you'll have your own land.

You won't be stuck under these kings.

There will be a time when there will be cleansing and you'll have true doctrine,

and you can set aside all the false teachings of the other generations.

He invites them that they will have a prince forever, that once

they get back to their lands, they will never be taken away again.

That the biggest one is in 26, that they will have an

everlasting covenant of peace.

These generations that probably worried about losing because the

temples destroyed, the arc is gone.

Everything, all those remnants of their past life are gone.

They're probably worried about their connection to God and what Ezekiel can

teach, anyone who will listen, is that Everlasting Covenant traveled with us.

If you will embrace the truth, if you will come to God, that covenant can be yours.

Those promises came with us if we would just hold onto them.

That's his big message, and it carries all the way through chapter 30.

I think it's powerful that almost every conference, the last message

from the prophet is about the temple.

In this latest conference, he spoke about power of the temple, bringing

families together and then announced all these new temples, especially all

the ones in Mexico City, You, you just wonder what's gonna happen to that city

cuz they have all these temples coming.

And the reason I wonder that is because of what I studied in Ezekiel 47,

this is where he has another vision.

And this time the vision is of a river.

So it's a river that comes from under the threshold.

So they have the temple doors, and then under those doors between the doors and

that little narrow passage where like the stone would be a river comes out.

Now I don't know how wide those temple doors could possibly be, but

you can't have a big surging river coming out of such a small space.

But what happens in this vision is the river gets bigger and

deeper as it goes out from the.

There are so many cool spiritual parallels in this object lesson that he's seeing.

And so he talks about the distance.

So there's another person in this vision, and they measure out a thousand qubits

or about 17, 1800 feet, and then they have him test the depth of the waters,

and the first test, it's up to his ankles, and then he goes another thousand

qubits, and then it's up to his knees.

Remember this skinny passage of water that came out from under this tiny window of

a threshold is now deep and it's coming up to his knees and then to his loins,

and then he gets to the point where it's so deep and so broad that he can't pass.

It has to be, you have to swim across it.

In fact, I love the words, it's in five afterward.

He measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass

over for the waters were risen.

Waters to swim.

I've loved this verse for 20 years because of what I learned

from Michael Wilcox in Israel.

He took us to Masada where you can see nothing but desert forever.

And on the side of Masada there is this big sea and it looks

beautiful and blue, but it's the dead Sea and has absolutely no life.

And you can tell that cuz there's literally no green in any direction.

And he talked about how this is the place where this, that's what's gonna be healed.

In fact, if you look further down in the verses, you can see

an eight that he talks about.

That river is gonna end up at the Dead Sea and it's gonna heal the

Dead Sea, which is powerful cuz you guys, the Dead Sea is like the

lowest place literally on the planet.

It's worse than the great Salt Lake.

It has no life whatsoever.

You can float in it.

We did, and it's this, there's no life there.

But he promises that, that this river that gets deeper and deeper will bring life.

The way he taught it at the time was talking about our temple attendance.

That as we continue to go to the temple, our own.

Enjoyment of it.

And what we gain from, it gets deeper as we go.

That at first you go and the the goodness is to the ankles and you have enough to

keep you going and then you keep going.

And the goodness is to the knees and eventually they become waters that

can't pass over waters to swim in.

And I love that visual cuz I think it's really helped me to be

persistent in my temple attendance as my own testimony has grown.

I was able to go with one of my ysa to the temple just this last

week and answer her questions.

And I can't tell you what a sweet thing that was for me to stand in the celest

room with someone and answer questions.

Cuz for a long time I didn't have those answers.

But they came over the course of my, you know, 20 years of temple attendance

as I continued to wade in those waters and let the waters rise in my heart.

I just think there's so much power in that understanding.

But the beauty is it doesn't end there.

So the person who's with him says, Have you seen this?

And he directs his attention to something else.

So this is around verse six.

, this is when he gives him a focus and he says, Look at the banks of the river.

What's happening on the banks?

And this is where Ezekiel sees trees, big lush burden, fruit trees that are growing

up in this desert place along the banks of the river, and a multitude of fish.

Remember, it's coming from the temple.

It's ending in a sea that is dead, and there's this multitude of fish and there's

so many cool ways to interpret that.

The rasp bands have a great video that we'll watch in the object lessons

to talk about this idea of the fish coming and the blessings that come.

I do love what you read in the verses.

We've, we've studied a lot of this in previous things.

I even in Jeremiah, you know that chapter that I taught you guys?

It's um, Oh, I didn't write down, but it's in the notes where he spoke about

trees that are planted by water and how I need, I needed to know that I could still

produce fruit even in a time of drought.

That's what he's promising here as well, that if you stay right along

the edges of those banks and you let your roots sink deep down into that,

Beautiful celestia water that the temple offers, that you will yield fruit.

And it's this epic promise cuz you can see in 12 the blessings that you'll have

meat, you'll have food that you can eat.

In fact, I love at the end where it talks about there's this gonna

be this new fruit and it says, and the fruit thereof shall be for meat

and the leaf thereof for medicine.

This what we gain from attending the temple and planting ourselves right

next to that living water is that we produce fruit that can never run out.

It's not seasonal.

There's no end to its bounty.

That's the promise of the temple.

And I think it invited me, the spirit as I was studying.

Brought to mind these different blessings that my family has

experienced because I've kept myself planted the temple, especially times

when I didn't necessarily feel like I understood the temple very well.

By staying planted there, I found incredible blessings that bless not

just my life but those around me, and that's what he is offering here, that

you'll see all of those things and I just think the visuals are so good.

The idea of having waters to swim in.

I also think it's really powerful.

If you look at 11, he says, But the my place is thereof and the marshes shall not

be healed and they shall be given to salt.

I, to me, this was like a, you can't live on borrowed like you need

to plant yourself at the temple.

You can't trust, in my testimony, the temple, you have to make your own.

You need to go, you need to participate so that you can get

this nourishment for yourself.

And then the end of the chapter wraps up with an understanding about when,

in those latter days when they get the promise line back, how they'll need

to divide it and how they'll need to be open armed to all the strangers who

want to live among them, that those who want to be part of the covenant will

need to be welcomed in and given an inheritance just like everyone else.

And there's so much power in tying the visuals of the temple to the visuals here.

But I just feel like the biggest message I got outta 37 is this

promise that everything that the river touches will live.

It's around verse eight and nine, and it shall come to pass that everything

that liveth, which moth with, or however the river shall come, shall live.

And there should be a very great multitude of.

That's a promise.

You can rest on that as you come closer to the temple.

As you participate in the ordinances, as you take the strength you get and

take it out of the temple, that that nourishment will feed more than just

you and more than just your family.

It will spread, it will deepen.

It will change the whole landscape of your life, I feel like.

So that's what President Nelson taught, and it's what the