"With Joy Shall Ye Draw Water"

When Nephi writes some of the words of Isaiah, he does so with the intent that his people "may lift up their hearts and rejoice" (2 Nephi 11: 8). Certainly, as I have watched General Conference this morning and yesterday with my dear wife, son, and daughter, I have felt joy on this special occasion. I really don't know when I have enjoyed a session of conference more than the one this morning.

One of these Isaiah chapters is written as a psalm. You may have noticed the style of enallage used often in the psalms, and also in Nephi's psalm in 2 Nephi 4. This psalm of praise begins, "O Lord, I will praise thee; though thou wast angry with me thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me" (2 Nephi 22: 1; Isaiah 12: 1).  The Lord is addressed in petition in the second person (you, your, thou, thine, etc.). The next verse changes to third person with the pronouncement, "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation. Here the Lord is addressed in the third person (God, he). 

In the Isaiah text, the footnote explains, "This is one of the four times only that the name Jehovah is written out in full in the King James English Bible." The name of the Lord was reserved for sacred occasions, so all other references have Lord in small caps. Only on Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement, would the high priest enter into the Holy of Holies alone and say aloud the Divine Name. You can click here to read more about this and Yom Kippur. You may also notice "whenever the High Priest would say the Divine Name, the people would respond with this line." This was an antiphonal technique as words and phrases were repeated. These are led by the high priest in the temple.

By the way, Yom Kippur begins this year at sundown on Oct.11.

The next verse states, "Therefore, with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation" (2 Nephi 22: 3). These verses probably have reference to the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, when water is poured over the altar creating a river going down the steps of the temple, similar to Ezekiel 47. This water libation is associated with great joy as described in the Bible Dictionary: " The drawing of water from Siloam and its libation on the altar (of this it was said that he who has not seen the joy of the drawing of water at the Feast of Tabernacles does not know what joy is)" (Bible Dictionary, "Feasts").

The water drawn from the well of salvation would be the "living water" the Savior provides to all of us, just as He did for the woman at the well when He said, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But 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 everlasting life" (John 4: 13-14).

President Nelson's talk this morning focused on joy, and I felt great joy listening as the Spirit touched my heart. I know everyone in our little family was affected in a similar way. The next several talks also mentioned joy as a fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5: 22-23). Joy is listed right after love. Actually all of these fruits were well expounded in conference this weekend. I started this post between the two sessions of conference and had no idea Elder Renlund was going to quote it in the final talk. Talk about joy!

By the way, Feast of Tabernacles begins this year in two weeks from tonight, Oct. 16 at sunset.

General Conference is a time, as spoken today, to assess where we are, refocus, and recommit to deepening our discipleship, as we draw nearer to the Savior. We resolve to improve our lives. Usually at New Year's I make new resolutions. Somehow by October, which I can't believe is already here, I have basically broken and forgot about most of them. But if you (like me) are looking for an excuse to make new resolutions, and to apply those wonderful concepts learned in conference, you can always fall back on the Hebrew Old Testament calendar for another New Year.

The Old Testament Feast of Trumpets falls on the first day of the seventh month of Tishri. It is a memorial blowing of a ram's horn possibly symbolizing the power of the Lamb of God (see Leviticus 23: 24). It is Rosh Hashanah on our calendars and in Hebrew it means "head of the year." It's actually the Jewish New Year.

You can click here for more information on the connection between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. You may notice it's on Rosh Hashana "when, it is believed, the books are opened in heaven. The object of this period is to be properly inscribed, for on Yom Kippur it is believed that the books are closed, and thus the person is sealed for the next year."

You can click here to see a calendar on a date that might be familiar to you. It was when a book from heaven, but actually out of the ground, was delivered (or opened) by Moroni to Joseph Smith. It happened on Rosh Hashanah 5588, or September 22, 1827 on the Gregorian Calendar. The book of course is the Book of Mormon, another recurring topic of General Conference.

By the way, Rosh Hashanah begins tonight at sunset, so resolve quickly.

Happy Rosh Hashanah and happiness studying and practicing Conference.