Are Modern LDS Falling to the Mistakes of Ancient Israel?

I had an experience last week that troubled me at the time and still troubled me the following day. As is often the case, I decided to ask the Lord if I should be concerned about the topic, and I felt that the answer was positive: I should be troubled and concerned about the situation.

The situation was a gathering of a few members of my family, and the topic of discussion was a change in the style of the sacred temple garment.

When members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints enter the temple and receive the temple endowment, they make certain covenants with God. One of those covenants is to wear the temple garment as instructed. The instructions are to wear the garment throughout life and to wear it without any modification. Wearing the garment appropriately requires us to dress modestly.

Part of the temple endowment ceremony tells patrons that the temple garment is a reminder of the veil of the temple and is meant to remind us of the covenants made in the temple. The ceremony also teaches us that the veil represents Jesus Christ. This means that as we put on the temple garment, we take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. T

All the temple ordinances are sacred, and the Lord requires us to keep the covenants that we make in order to receive certain blessings. For those who do not keep their temple covenants, they lose those blessings.

Change in Style

At this point I would like to return to the change in the style of the temple garment. The previous style – still available – has a slight covering of the shoulder and a modest neckline for women. The new style still has a modest neckline but is sleeveless. This style is only available in nations that are extremely hot, such as the African nations. However, members in other areas of the world learned about the new style and are purchasing them while on vacation while in the hot areas or receiving them from family members or friends who live in the hot areas.

The change in style is not great, but the situation prompts some questions. One question has to do with having different standards of dress in various areas of the world. I believe that God has the same standards of living for all the children of men, so why are sleeveless garments available in some areas of the world and not in others?

A second question is much more serious. Was the change in garment style brought about because members of the Church rebelled about wearing the previous style and going without the applicable blessings? I was told that only 36% of the young adult generation wear the temple garment as instructed. Did the Church lower the standard because of this rebellion?

Examples from the Old Testament

As I pondered my new knowledge and discussed my concerns with God in prayer, I was reminded of a couple of times when the ancient Israelites rebelled against God.

The first example took place in the time of Moses who was instructed by God to prepare the Israelites to meet God. (See Exodus 19-20.) The people prepared for three days to sanctify themselves for the presence of God. However, the people became afraid then they saw “thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking,” and they moved away from the mountain. They “said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die” (Exodus 20:19).

The people missed the blessing of being taught by God because they did not trust God. They missed the opportunity of having the higher priesthood and were given the Law of Moses with the lower priesthood to guide them.

The second example took place during the time of the prophet Samuel. Samuel was old, and his sons were behaving unrighteously. The people did not want Samuel’s sons to rule over them. They said to Samuel, “make us a king to judge us like all the nations” (1 Samuel 8:5).

The people’s request did not please Samuel, and he took the problem to God. The Lord told Samuel, “Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:7).

The ancient Israelites wanted to be like all other nations, and they rejected God. Therefore, they missed numerous blessings because they wanted to be like the people around them.

I wonder if the change in garment style is a lower standard given to Latter-day Saints because a sizable portion of members were not able to live the higher standard.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

After I considered the two examples discussed above, my mind went to the Parable of the Ten Virgins. Latter-day prophets and apostles teach that the ten virgins represent members of the Church of Jesus Christ. All ten of the virgins received an invitation to the wedding. Therefore, they knew the approximate date and time of the wedding. However, only five of the virgins brought sufficient oil to keep their lamps burning.

When the Bridegroom came at about midnight, the virgins trimmed their lamps. Five wise virgins added their extra oil to their lamps, but they did not have enough oil to share with the five foolish virgins. Therefore, the five foolish virgins had to go buy oil. When they returned to wedding venue, the door was closed, and they were not able to participate in the wedding.

Prophets and apostles have shared what the “oil” represents for us in the latter-days. President Spencer W. Kimball taught the following about the Ten Virgins: 

I believe that the Ten Virgins represent the people of the Church of Jesus Christ and not the rank and file of the world. All of the virgins, wise and foolish, had accepted the invitation to the wedding supper….

They had the saving, exalting gospel, but it had not been made the center of their lives. They knew the way but gave only a small measure of loyalty and devotion….

Rushing for their lamps to light their way through the blackness, half of them found them empty. They had cheated themselves….

Hundreds of thousands of us today are in this position. Confidence has been dulled and patience worn thin. It is so hard to wait and be prepared always….

At midnight, the vital cry was made, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” Then all the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. Even the foolish ones trimmed their lamps, but their oil was used up and they had none to refill the lamps….

At midnight! Precisely at the darkest hour, when least expected, the bridegroom came. When the world is full of tribulation and help is needed, but it seems the time must be past and hope is vain, then Christ will come…. In the daytime, wise and unwise seemed alike; midnight is the time of test and judgment – and of offered gladness….

The foolish asked the others to share their oil, but spiritual preparedness cannot be shared in an instant. The wise had to go, else the bridegroom would have gone unwelcomed. They needed all their oil for themselves; they could not save the foolish. The responsibility was each for himself.

This was not selfishness or unkindness. The kind of oil that is needed to illuminate the way and light up the darkness is not shareable. How can one share obedience to the principle of tithing; a mind at peace from righteous living; an accumulation of knowledge? How can one share faith or testimony? How can one share attitudes or chastity, or the experience of a mission? How can one share temple privileges? Each must obtain that kind of oil for himself.

The foolish virgins were not averse to buying oil. They knew they should have oil. They merely procrastinated, not knowing when the bridegroom would come.

In the parable, oil can be purchased at the market. In our lives the oil of preparedness is accumulated drop by drop in righteous living. Attendance at sacrament meetings adds oil to our lamps, drop by drop over the years. Fasting, family prayer, home teaching, control of bodily appetites, preaching the gospel, studying the scriptures – each act of dedication and obedience is a drop added to our store. Deeds of kindness, payment of offerings and tithes, chaste thoughts and actions, marriage in the covenant for eternity – these, too, contribute importantly to the oil with which we can at midnight refuel our exhausted lamps.

Conclusion

The ”drops of oil” listed by President Kimball can be summarized by the word converted or conversion. Doing the acts (attending sacrament meeting and temple, wearing the temple garment, fasting and prayer, etc.) are good. It is good to be obedient to the commandments. However, the reason for why we do them is also important.

Do we attend sacrament meetings merely to be obedient and out of duty? Do we attend to be with our friends? Do we go because we love God and want to renew our covenants with Him? The same can be said about temple attendance or doing service or fulfilling callings. Are we doing them to be seen of other people, or do we do them because we love God and want to help Him to accomplish His work? Do we wear our temple garments as instructed, or do we alter them or not wear them at all?

Our attitudes and feelings are important. Are we merely going through steps, or are we becoming the type of person who will be qualified to be in the presence of Jesus Christ? Doing is good, but becoming is best. As for the temple, it is important to go through the temple and to make covenants with God, but it is more important for us to allow the temple to go through us and help us to become like Jesus Christ.