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As I sat waiting, with approximately 3,000 other people,
for this year’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 (Doctrine &
Covenants 110:3)
Ezekiel
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” [Ezekiel 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!
Human Droplets
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 Marah 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
people do 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).
Fountain of Living Waters
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]
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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 (Doctrine & Covenants
50:26).
3. Great civilizations have risen where water supplies
were plentiful. They 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
26:12).
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 1:18).
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Beautiful Metaphor
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
(Doctrine & Covenants 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
[5] History of the Church, Vol. 3, pg. 289–305,
Doctrine and Covenants 121:33
[8] Most of these facts came from the World Book Encyclopedia,
1990 edition, under the heading of water.
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About
the Author: |
Janet
Lisonbee, a native Arizonan, has spent most of her life in Virginia
and in Kirtland, Ohio. She is married to Dan Lisonbee and together
they are the parents of ten wonderful children. Janet has served
as early morning seminary teacher for many years and is also a
church history researcher. She is the author of Obituaries
and Life Sketches of the Early Saints Who Died in the Kirtland,
Ohio Area, and developed and presented Kirtland Temple Cemetery
tours when she and her family lived in Kirtland. She also developed
graveyard tours and Christmas tours for the Lake County Historical
Society. She and her family currently reside in Traverse City,
Michigan.
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