Daily Thoughts

In the Book of Mormon I read that the destruction of Assyria is a type of destruction of the wicked at the Second Coming.  Few people will be left after the Lord comes again.  2 Nephi 20:5-18 "O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is their indignation.  I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but in his heart it is to destroy and cut off nations not a few.  For he saith: Are not my princes altogether kings? Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus? As my hand hath founded the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and to her idols?  Wherefore it shall come to pass that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon Mount Zion and upon Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. For he saith: By the strength of my hand and by my wisdom I have done these things; for I am prudent; and I have moved the borders of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man;  And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people; and as one gathereth eggs that are left have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.  Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? As if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself as if it were no wood! Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, send among his fat ones, leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.  And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame, and shall burn and shall devour his thorns and his briers in one day; And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body; and they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth."

In the Old Testament we read that Saul was pursuing David to kill him when the Lord delivered Saul into David's hands.  David had every opportunity to kill Saul while he slept, but he did not want to raise his hand against the Lord's anointed   Saul realized that David was more righteous then he was and that David would become king.  1 Samuel 24:2-12, 17-20 "Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.  And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe privily. And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt.  And he said unto his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord's anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord. So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.  David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself. And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the Lord had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the Lord's anointed.  Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it.  The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.  And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the Lord had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not.  For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the Lord reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day.  And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand."

Some verses with a thought booklet warn us not to judge others, because we'll be judged with the same judgment we mete out to those around us.  Sometimes people try to remove a tiny speck from the eye of someone else but they can't see it clearly because of the beam in their own eye.  The story is told of someone who was trying to shred some papers at work, but the shredder jammed.  They looked inside and saw a big mass jamming it and spent an hour digging it out, all the time angry at the idiot who had put something plastic in the shredder, causing it to jam.  They kept thinking if they could find the culprit they were going to give him a piece of their mind!  When they finally dislodged what was jamming the shredder they found it was a piece of x-ray film that they themselves had tried to shred!  What a reminder that we should not be so quick to blame somebody else and criticize them for things that we do ourselves.  Matthew 7:1-5 "Judge not, that ye be not judged.  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?  Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."