Priesthood session: Divine protection available to all
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Throughout the scriptures, messages are given by the inspiration of God, providing "case studies of the results of keeping or breaking the commandments of God," said Elder Dallin H. Oaks.
Elder Oaks of the Council of the Twelve spoke to the young men of the priesthood in his Saturday evening address as he recounted several scripture stories.After telling the experience of Abraham and Isaac, Elder Oaks commented: "This story shows the goodness of God in protecting Isaac and in providing a substitute so he [IsaacT would not have to die. Because of our sins and our mortality, we, like Isaac, are condemned to death. When all other hope is gone, our Father in Heaven provides the Lamb of God, and we are saved by His sacrifice."
Elder Oaks then told the story of Joseph who was sold into Egypt, and how the Lord protected him.
"In later readings in the scriptures, I found this kind of protection is available to all."
In the story of David and Goliath, he said, the Lord's protection is again evident. "We cannot count the number of young people who have been inspired by this marvelous instruction in righteousness," said Elder Oaks. "At times all of us must stand against those who mock and revile.
"Some of us, sometime, will face some earthly power as mighty as Goliath. When that happens, we should emulate the courage of David, who was mighty because he had faith and he went forth in a righteous cause in the name of the Lord of Hosts."
Elder Oaks told a personal experience he had in which he was protected. Years ago on the streets of Chicago, he was accosted by a young man with a gun.
He explained that he considered fighting the weapon away from the young man, but felt prompted not to. Instead, he spoke to his assailant in fatherly tones, and eventually the youth fled without harming him or his wife.
"We drove off, uttering a prayer of thanks," he concluded. "We had experienced the kind of miraculous protection illustrated in the Bible stories I had read as a boy."
