Troubled Waters, Leaving the Boat, and Embracing the Pathway of Truth

​This week we’ll pause our review of Isaiah Decoded and consider Dr. Gileadi’s recent article – Rising above Troubled Waters in the Church – in his weekly newsletter posted in its entirety here at the end. Though Dr. Gileadi, himself, is a member, this article is specifically targeted at members of the Mormon Church but can be applied to any faith system whose leaders are failing to provide inspired leadership in the midst of Endtime events. Though Dr. Gileadi is encouraging believers not to leave their church, does that preclude believers from finding their way now. 

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​Troubled Waters
Dr. Gileadi opens his article by stating –
 
“How much confusion from a discordant society, chaotic world, and political and ecclesiastical leadership do we need to wake us up? When Isaiah points out our wickedness and abominations, we say, “That can’t be us! We attend church.” Well, so did others, until the very hour of their destruction. “Let’s hit on the messenger!” Well, that would be Isaiah, and, ultimately, God. Isaiah’s prophecy of “a path through the mighty waters” (Isaiah 43:16)—at Israel’s physical end-time exodus out of Babylon--applies also in a spiritual sense: “When you cross the waters, I will be with you; [when you traverse] the rivers, you shall not be overwhelmed. Though you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; its flame shall not consume you” (Isaiah 43:2).”
 
Much of what is promoting this confusion of troubled waters can be leveled against political and ecclesiastical leadership - the ones who are supposed to be smarter and more enlightened than most of the rest of us. The prophet Isaiah places a lot of blame on leaders both political and ecclesiastical.
 
“The ministers of Zoan are utter fools; the wisest of Pharaoh’s advisers give absurd counsel. How can you say to Pharaoh, We ourselves are as wise as the first rulers? Where are your wise men indeed? Let them please tell you, if they can discern it, what Jehovah of Hosts has in mind for Egypt! The ministers of Zoan have been foolish, the officials of Noph deluded; the heads of state have led Egypt astray. Jehovah has permeated them with a spirit of confusion; they have misled Egypt in all that it does, causing it to stagger like a drunkard into his vomit. And there shall be nothing the Egyptians can do about it, neither head nor tail, palm top or reed.” Isaiah 19:11-15
 
Isaiah sees these same problems with religious leadership.
 
“O my people, your leaders mislead you, abolishing your traditional ways” (Isaiah 3:12)
“According to Isaiah, leaders who mislead and prophets who deceive will be the order of the day (Isaiah 9:15–16; 28:7, 15; 32:6).”
 
We see these troubling waters in the Mormon Church, which maybe plaguing other faith systems. The troubling waters that we see in Mormonism include - connections with the Tim Ballard affair, the Church’s Ensign Peak Investment woes, leadership abuse, inconsistencies in the Church’s history, conflicting doctrines between the Bible and Church's, weak covenant theology, the ever changing and questionable origins of the temple endowment, oppressing the poor with the Church’s tithing policy, the Lori Vallow and Ruby Franke affairs, the constant bickering between Fundamentalists and Mainstream over polygamy – do you feel troubled yet?  How much of this do we ignore and tolerate?

By and large I have resisted tearing the Mormon Church down because it doesn't strengthen a believer's faith in God - being a better teacher of God's Word does!

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​Leaving the Boat
At some point, as in the dream in Dr. Gileadi’s article, we have to decide when to leave the boat – aka church and go it alone. Isaiah sees that it will be individuals and not groups or churches that respond to being called out of Babylon, which he compares with Abraham.
 
“Isaiah says only righteous individuals will respond to God’s call to exit Babylon: “Hear me, you followers of righteousness, seekers of Jehovah: Look to the rock from which you were cut, to the quarry out of which you were hewn; look to Abraham your father, to Sarah who bore you. He was but one when I called him, but I blessed him by making him many” (Isaiah 51:1–2).”
 
Dr. Gileadi also advises believers not to get out of the boat – the church. But this doesn’t give believers any options if they want to leave the boat and no longer be connected with the church. Moreover, his advice to stay in the church isn't really the focus of the dream. It’s obvious from the dream that the dreamer was out of the boat, which had sunk, he had to go it alone and find the right way to be “translated”. So why can't you do that now!
 
“The Lord showed Joseph Smith in a dream how such individuals may rise above troubled waters. Though not a part of LDS scriptures, his dream’s symbolism seems to reflect a perilous trend in the church. However, it doesn’t suggest a reason to leave the church. Rather, it shows how—as prophesied—God may empower end-time persons over the elements to a translated state.”

​Embracing the Pathway of Truth
The decision to leave a faith system is fraught with challenges. The most of which is where does one go to establish a relationship with God. Unfortunately, many believers end up dumping God altogether.  
 
My exit path actually started before I left the Mormon Church and began with the founding of America and her originating documents – the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution, which Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, PhD, former Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom has repeatedly compared with the Hebrew Bible referring to America as a covenant nation with God  founded on the principles of Torah law. 

"So, those early Pilgrim Fathers saw themselves absolutely as the new Moses, new Israelites, entering the new promised land, and they did so on the basis of a covenant.

Now, we have forgotten the covenant was a key concept in the emergence of the West, from the Middle Ages, into the birth of the modern in the 16th and 17th centuries. Covenant played a vital element in Calvin’s Geneva. And then, of course, in Holland and then in Scotland, and then indeed in England under Cromwell and his Puritans. But in America, that concept not merely took hold, but it has kept hold of American political rhetoric from that day to this.

America is the only country in the West, the only country in the world that talks about covenant in this way." - Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, PhD, The Promise of American Renewal

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​This understanding led me to biblical law and finally, I was introduced to the Book of Isaiah, which provided a functional framework  and a process approach to organize many of the concepts in the Bible into a unified whole.

​Founding of America  >	​Biblical Law  >	​Book of Isaiah
​Covenant Nation Torah Law	Full-blown Theocratic Society	​Framework and process to organize a comprehensive view of the Gospel

​From this initial journey, my view of the pathway to God’s truth matured into a comprehensive view that included the Light of Messiah to the Law to the Spirit to the Son and to the Father, which we saw in last week’s post. 
 
A Covenant Relationship with God
So where do we begin to establish a covenant relationship with the God of Israel and live His Law on our own? We can follow the pattern that God used when he restored His relationship with Israel the first time only this time we can integrate the Messiah, the Son of God, in with our observance. In fact, since God is unchanging, why should we expect something different.

Establishing a Covenant Relationship with God in the Fullness of Messiah

​Spring Feasts/Sabbaths	​Summer Feasts/Sabbaths	​Fall Feasts/Sabbaths
​Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits	Shavuot ​(Pentecost)	Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles, Last Great Day
​Messianic Covenant Threshold Covenant Abrahamic Covenant Baptism (passing through the Red Sea)	Priesthood Covenant (Melchizedek Oath) Sinai Covenant (Law of the Spirit)**	​Davidic Covenant Enochic Covenant(sealing power)

** The law of the Spirit is to obey the code of law that Jehovah gave to Israel and not break it or be subject to the law of punishments and judgments, which is the law of the flesh.

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Rising above Troubled Waters in the Church
Avraham Gileadi, PhD

 
How much confusion from a discordant society, chaotic world, and political and ecclesiastical leadership do we need to wake us up? When Isaiah points out our wickedness and abominations, we say, “That can’t be us! We attend church.” Well, so did others, until the very hour of their destruction. “Let’s hit on the messenger!” Well, that would be Isaiah, and, ultimately, God.
 
Isaiah’s prophecy of “a path through the mighty waters” (Isaiah 43:16)—at Israel’s physical end-time exodus out of Babylon—applies also in a spiritual sense: “When you cross the waters, I will be with you; [when you traverse] the rivers, you shall not be overwhelmed. Though you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; its flame shall not consume you” (Isaiah 43:2).
 
Isaiah says only righteous individuals will respond to God’s call to exit Babylon: “Hear me, you followers of righteousness, seekers of Jehovah: Look to the rock from which you were cut, to the quarry out of which you were hewn; look to Abraham your father, to Sarah who bore you. He was but one when I called him, but I blessed him by making him many” (Isaiah 51:1–2).
 
The Lord showed Joseph Smith in a dream how such individuals may rise above troubled waters. Though not a part of LDS scriptures, his dream’s symbolism seems to reflect a perilous trend in the church. However, it doesn’t suggest a reason to leave the church. Rather, it shows how—as prophesied—God may empower end-time persons over the elements to a translated state.
 
“Riverboat Dream” by Joseph Smith—History of the Church 6:194–195
 
I was standing on a peninsula, in the midst of a vast body of water where there appeared to be a large harbor or pier built out for boats to come to. I was surrounded by my friends, and while looking at this harbor I saw a steamboat approaching the harbor. There were bridges on the pier for persons to cross, and there came up a wind and drove the steamboat under one of the bridges and upset it.
 
I ran up to the boat, expecting the persons would all drown; and wishing to do something to assist them, I put my hand against the side of the boat, and with one surge I shoved it under the bridge and righted it up, and then told them to take care of themselves. But it was not long before I saw them starting out into the channel or main body of the water again. The storms were raging and the waters rough. I said to my friends that if they did not understand the signs of the times and the spirit of prophecy, they would be apt to be lost.
 
It was but a few moments after when we saw the waves break over the boat, and she soon foundered and went down with all on board. The storm and waters were still very rough; yet I told my friends around me that I believed I could stem those waves and that storm, and swim in the waters better than the steamboat did; at any rate I was determined to try it. But my friends laughed at me, and told me I could not stand at all, but would be drowned. The waters looked clear and beautiful, though exceedingly rough; and I said I believed I could swim, and I would try it anyhow. They said I would drown. I said I would have a frolic in the water first, if I did; and I drove off in the raging waves.
 
I had swam but a short distance when a towering wave overwhelmed me for a time; but I soon found myself on the top of it, and soon I met the second wave in the same way; and for a while I struggled hard to live in the midst of the storm and waves, and soon found I gained upon every wave, and skimmed the torrent better; and I soon had power to swim with my head out of water: so the waves did not break over me at all, and I found that I had swam a great distance; and in looking about, I saw my brother Samuel by my side.
 
I asked him how he liked it. He said, "First rate," and I thought so too. I was soon enabled to swim with my head and shoulders out of water, and I could swim as fast as any steamboat. In a little time it became calm, and I could rush through the water, and only go in to my loins, and soon I only went in to my knees, and finally could tread on the top of the water, and went almost with the speed of an arrow. I said to Samuel, See how swift I can go! I thought it was great sport and pleasure to travel with such speed, and I awoke.