Saturday, May 19, 2001

JST Hebrews 11:40 -- On Suffering and Perfection

"God having provided some better things for them through their sufferings, for without sufferings they could not be made perfect."
JST Hebrews 11:40


How interesting.  The Joseph Smith translation fascinates me here.  The chapter (which is *excellent* by the way... I recommend it) talks about faith and a bunch of prophets who went through a lot for God... and then, here at the end, the JST tells us that these sufferings were necessary for their perfection.  So, that means that ours are as well, right? 

I think about some of the people that I know that have been through a lot... abuse, extreme poverty, death, and extreme illness in their families... and those people are the strongest people that I know.  Not that suffering is enjoyable, but linked with faith, nothing can teach us more... nothing else can make us perfect.  I think also of sincere repentance... which takes a lot of suffering sometimes, and I can almost see it happening. 

We have to suffer sometimes to realize how important things are.  We never realize exactly how much we are attached to family or friends until that attachment is severed or threatened.  I think it is the same with God.  Sometimes we learn how important God is in our lives through suffering without him... and then fighting our way back.  Abraham loved his son already, but I wonder how that relationship changed when they went through what they did.  I think our bodies need to learn as much as our spirits... and sometimes physical suffering teaches our bodies that they are strong, and that they can do much more than they thought possible.  Maybe even walk on water someday. :) 

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for your wise words. I hope you still use this blog. Yesterday I watched the movie „The Shack“ from 2017. (They walked on water;-) It showed how suffering can be transformed into a something great. God takes our sufferings and our mistakes and everything else that is bad on this planet and transforms it into something better and bigger. Our part is to trust and have faith and learn to love and forgive. So the Joseph Smith Translation actually teaches us here a principle that is most important for living a happy and successful life. How great is the wisdom that can be found in such short verses.
    (I wonder, why often this scripture is still interpreted in terms of our responsibility for the salvation of the dead as stated in D&C 128:15. My explanation for this is simple after giving it some thought: Either JS translated Hebrews 11:40 after he gave the talk in D&C 128 in 1842 and learned the original meaning of the vers later while working on the translation until he died or the footnote c for Hebrews 11:40 is wrong and JS didn’t have this vers in mind when he stated D&C128, or finally, the original vers contained both messages and only one has been left after many centuries. But I prefer my first explanation. What do you think?
    Frank Huonker
    Bühlertann, Germany

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  2. Interesting. I think that probably the meaning doesn't have to be one or the other. Both interpretations are true, and help people, and if Shakespeare can layer many meanings in one line, then God certainly can as well. :)

    Thanks so much for your comments and insight. :)

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