As I sat waiting, with approximately
3,000 other people, for my daughter Caitlin’s high school graduation ceremony
to begin, I noticed that most folks were visiting with one another. As I listened, I found it interesting that
the accumulative effect of these many voices had the sound of rushing
waters. This took me by surprise because
I remembered that Joseph Smith described the Lord’s voice as rushing waters
when He appeared in the Kirtland Temple on April 3, 1836:
“…and
his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah”. --Doc. & Cov. 110:3
Ezekial also
described the Lord’s voice, “And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came
from the way of the east: and his voice was like the noise of many waters”
[Ezekial 43:2]. John the Revelator
likewise says the voice of the Lord was “as the sound of many waters”
[Revelations 1:15, 14:12].
After my
experience in truly hearing this sound at the graduation ceremony, I decided to
see if there were any scriptural references that compared the voices of people
with rushing waters. Even though
Isaiah speaks of this in a negative way, he made this comparison in chapter 17.
“Woe to the multitude of many
people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make
a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!” [verse12]
John the
Revelator, however, puts it in a much more positive light. In chapter 19 of Revelations, regarding the
Marriage Supper of the Lamb, a voice from under the throne of God says,
“Praise
our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I
heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many
waters…saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice,
and give honor to him: for the marriage
supper of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath
made herself ready” [verses 5-7].
On July 24,
1876 at a grand Sunday School celebration held in the Tabernacle in Salt Lake
City in honor of the 27th anniversary of entrance of the pioneers
into the valley, a similar comparison of
many voices was recorded.
It
was a most pleasing and meritorious celebration, and will be ever remembered by
those who participated in it. …The
singing exercises concluded with “Praise God From Whom All Blessing Flow”, in
which the whole assemblage, including spectators, joined, making the sound like
the rushing of many waters. The benediction was pronounced by President George
A. Smith.
[1]
Why would the
Lord’s voice and the voices of mankind be described in similar terms? It is interesting that right after the
description of the Lord’s voice as “rushing waters” in the Kirtland Temple, the
Lord introduces Himself with,
“I am the first and the last; I am
he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father.” --Doctrine and Covenants 110:4
Perhaps the
depiction of the Lord’s voice as rushing waters is symbolic, not literal. As the advocate for the people, His voice
represents the people or the “voices” of mankind! Symbolically, each of us represent a
“droplet”, thus mankind as a whole, represents “many waters”. Therefore the voice of Christ is as the voice
of rushing waters as He pleads for us before the Father.
Rushing water
is also symbolic of purity and the ability to make clean. Yet rivers can become
impure because of pollutants and muddy when storms arise. Water can become
stagnant when sitting for a long period of time. After the children of Israel passed through
the Red Sea, they traveled three days in the wilderness and found no
water. They finally found water in Mariah
but were unable to drink the waters there because they were bitter. The Lord instructed Moses to cast a tree into
the waters and the waters were healed.[2]
Later, after the miracle of the manna, the children of Israel again
complained of thirst. The Lord commanded
Moses to smite the rock in Horeb and water gushed forth from the rock for them
to drink.[3]
Both the tree and the rock are symbolic of Jesus Christ and through His
atonement for sin, “bitter waters” can be healed.
Ironically,
in order to heal us, to make us clean, Jesus Christ had to drink the bitter cup
of mankind’s sins in Gethsemane and was also “…smitten of God, and
afflicted. But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities…and with his stripes we are
healed” [Isaiah 53:4-5]. Jesus was “smitten”
like the rock in Horeb, in order to bring forth the healing, thirst quenching
waters of the atonement.
When a person
does not repent and receive the cleansing, healing “waters” of the atonement,
they must drink their own bitter cup “for they are unclean…and consigned to
partake of the fruits of their labors or their works, which have been evil; and
they drink the dregs of a bitter cup” [Alma 40:26].
Christ is
known as the fountain of living waters[4] and it is through Him that the bitter
and polluted rivers of humanity can be transformed into clear, pure streams of
water. Even though Joseph Smith was speaking about the persecutions and
troubles of the early Church, this statement could also apply symbolically to
mankind. He said,
Like
the torrent of rain from the mountains, that floods the most pure and crystal
stream with mire, and dirt, and filthiness, and obscures everything that was
clear before, and all rushes along in one general deluge; but time weathers
tide; and notwithstanding we are rolled in the more of the flood for the time
being, the next surge peradventure, as time rolls on, may bring to us the fountain
as clear as crystal (Jesus Christ), and as pure as snow; while the filthiness,
flood-wood and rubbish is left and purged out by the way. How long can rolling waters remain impure?[5]
(parenthesis added)
Jesus purposely
used the metaphor of water to represent what He can do for each of us if we
will come unto Him and “drink”. Jesus stood and cried, “If any man thirst, let
him come unto me, and drink”[6]
and, as he told the woman at the well, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I
shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be
in him a well of water springing up into eternal life”.[7] There are several facts about water that
beautifully correlate with Jesus Christ, the “living water”.[8]
1.
Without water, there can be no life.
“But these things are
written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ,
The Son of God; and that
believing ye might have life through his name.”
---John
20:31
2.
Throughout history, water has been people’s slave and their master.
“Ye call me Master and
Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.” --John 13:16
“He that is ordained of
God and sent forth, the same is appointed to be the greatest,
notwithstanding he is the least and the servant of all.” ---Doc.
& Cov. 50:2
3.
Great civilizations have risen where water supplies were plentiful. The have fallen where these supplies failed.
“Inasmuch as ye will
keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land.”--Jarom 1:9
“Inasmuch as ye will not
keep my commandments, ye shall not prosper in the land.” --Omni 1:6
4.
Water is used and reused over and over again. It is never used up.
“Jesus is the Christ,
the eternal God.” --2 Nephi 26:1
5.
Some regions have a water shortage because the people have managed their supply poorly.
“When heaven is shut up,
and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee.” --1 Kings
8:35
“If ye will cast out the
righteous from among you, then…ye shall be smitten by famine…”
--Alma 10:23
6. Water is known as the universal solvent. Over time, water can dissolve almost anything.
“Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be
white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they
shall be as wool.” --Isaiah 1:1
Water is a
beautiful metaphor for Jesus Christ. As
our Creator, it is through Him that life began and it is through Him that we
can have eternal life. It is fitting that John the Revelator saw in vision
water associated with God:
“And he shewed me a pure river of
life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lamb” which
watered the tree of life [Rev. 22:1-2].
As we turn
our lives over to Him and keep His commandments, our lives will be enriched and
we will be like a goodly tree planted by a river of water.
“Verily
I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are
broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants
by sacrifice--yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord shall command--they are
accepted of me. For I, the Lord, will
cause them to bring forth as a very fruitful tree which is planted in a goodly
land, by a pure stream [running water!], that yieldeth much precious
fruit”. --Doc. & Cov. 97:9
“Blessed
is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the
way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord;
and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water, that bringeth
forth his fruit in his season; his leaf shall not wither; and whatsoever he
doeth shall prosper”. --Psalms 1:3
Isaiah used
water to describe the millennial peace, “Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad
with her, all ye that love her…For thus saith the Lord, Behold I will extend
peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing
stream…” [Isaiah 66:10-12]
In
conclusion, water is used a metaphor for Jesus Christ and also mankind and it
is appropriate how both voices have the sound of rushing water. To fulfill His role as advocate, Jesus Christ
“drank the bitter cup” of mankind’s fallen nature, and mankind must partake of
the “living water” that only Jesus Christ can offer in order to become clean,
to be healed, and to have eternal life.
[1] Our Pioneer Heritage,
Vol. 16, p.66 – 67
[2]
Exodus 15:22-25
[3]
Exodus 17:3-6
[4]
Jeremiah 17:3
[5]
History of the
Church, Vol. 3, pg. 289–305, Doctrine and Covenants 121:33
[6]
John 7:37
[7]
John 4:14
[8]
Most of these facts came from the World Book Encyclopedia, 1990 edition, under
the heading of water.
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