See Afar Off

Enoch heard a voice from heaven saying this as he journeyed in the land: “Enoch, my son, prophesy unto this people, and say unto them—Repent, for thus saith the Lord: I am angry with this people, and my fierce anger is kindled against them; for their hearts have waxed hard, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes cannot see afar off” (Moses 6:27). Dr. Kerry Muhlestein commented on this last phrase in a recent podcast: “Now I have to tell you that the last line of that is a little confusing to me. I get why God would be mad that our hearts have waxed hard. That implies we just don't want to let the word of God come into our hearts. And our ears are dull of hearing. That means that we could hear, but we're choosing not to hear. I'm sitting here as a guy who is wearing thick glasses. My eyesight is not that great, and he's upset that people can't see afar off. My inclination is to say, Well, that's not in the human ability to see far, afar off. That's just not what we're capable of.” He then referenced Jarom 1:3 which says this: “Behold, it is expedient that much should be done among this people, because of the hardness of their hearts, and the deafness of their ears, and the blindness of their minds, and the stiffness of their necks; nevertheless, God is exceedingly merciful unto them, and has not as yet swept them off from the face of the land.” He suggested that to not “see afar off” is perhaps the same as “blindness of mind,” and the next verse gives the antidote: “And there are many among us who have many revelations, for they are not all stiffnecked. And as many as are not stiffnecked and have faith, have communion with the Holy Spirit, which maketh manifest unto the children of men, according to their faith” (Jarom 1:4). Dr. Muhlstein continued, “Jarom has just told us the key to not being blind of mind or in other words, to seeing afar off, and that's revelation. I was right, I'm not capable of seeing afar off, not physically and not spiritually, but God is. So if I'm not hardhearted, if I'm not stiffnecked, if I'm not dull of hearing, then I will have the Spirit which makes it so I can see afar off.” To see afar off in our personal lives we need revelation from the Holy Ghost.

               Peter also used this phrase when he encouraged the Saints of his day to seek the attributes of the Savior. He wrote, “Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins” (2 Peter 1:5-9). This suggests that to see afar off we must be fruitful in the attributes and the knowledge of Christ. Developing temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity will all help us to see with spiritual eyes. Doing that will help us to purge ourselves from our “old sins” and come unto Him to hear the voice of the Spirit and to truly see. In the introduction to his great speech, King Benjamin said this: “My brethren, all ye that have assembled yourselves together, you that can hear my words which I shall speak unto you this day; for I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view” (Mosiah 2:9). He invited them to open their minds—to see—to the knowledge of God, and ultimately what they were led to do was to repent and purge their old sins. They declared, “Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2). They came to be sanctified and to see the truth of King Benjamin’s prophetic words at the same time. Surely as we seek to purify ourselves and to open our minds to the Savior, He will help us also to “see afar off” in the challenges we face in our lives.