“Iingcinga Onokuzigcina eNgqondweni: Umnqophiso,” Uze, Undilandele—Yabantu Ngabanye kunye Neentsapho: ITestamente eNdala 2022 (2021)
“Iingcinga Onokuzigcina eNgqondweni: Umnqophiso,” Uze, Undilandele—Yabantu Ngabanye kunye Neentsapho: ITestamente eNdala 2022
Iingcinga Onokuzigcina eNgqondweni
Umnqophiso
Kuyo yonke iTestamente eNdala, uya kufunda rhoqo igama umnqophiso. Namhlanje sihlala sicinga ngeminqophiso njengezithembiso ezingcwele kunye noThixo, kodwa kwihlabathi lakudala, iminqophiso nayo yayiyinxalenye ebalulekileyo yonxibelelwano lwabantu. Kukhuseleko lwabo nasekuphileni kwabo, abantu babedinga ukubanako ukuthembana, kwaye iminqophiso yayiyindlela yokufumana ukuthembana.
Ngoko ke xa uThixo wayethetha noNowa, no-Abraham, okanye noMoses ngeminqophiso, Yena wayebamema ukuba bangene kubudlelwane bokuthembana kunye naYe. Owona mzekelo owaziwayo womnqophiso kwiTestamente eNdala ngulowo wenziwa nguThixo kunye no-Abraham noSara—emva koko wahlaziywa nenzala yabo u-Isake noYakobi (okwabizwa ngokuba nguSirayeli). Lo mthetho sihlala siwubiza ngokuba ngumnqophiso ka-Abraham, nangona kwiTestamente eNdala wawusaziwa lula nje ngokuba “ngumnqophiso.” Uya kubona ukuba iTestamente eNdala ngokusisiseko libali labantu abazibonele ngokwabo ukuba bangabaxhamli bomnqophiso—abantu bomnqophiso.
Umnqophiso ka-Abraham uyaqhubeka ubalulekile namhlanje, ngakumbi kubaNgcwele beMihla yokuGqibela. Kutheni? Kuba nathi singabantu bomnqophiso, nokuba siyiyo okanye asiyiyo inzala ngqo ka-Abraham, no-Isake, noYakobi (bona AmaGalati 3:27–29). Ngesi sizathu, kubalulekile ukuqonda ukuba uyintoni umnqophiso ka-Abraham kunye nokuba usebenza njani kuthi namhlanje.
Uyintoni uMnqophiso ka-Abraham?
UAbraham wayefuna “ukuba ngumlandeli omkhulu ngakumbi wobulungisa,” (Abraham 1:2), ngoko ke uThixo wammemela kubudlelwane bomnqophiso. U-Abraham wayengenguye owokuqala ukubanalo mnqweno, kwaye yena wayengenguye owokuqala ukufumana umnqophiso. Wakhangela “iintsikelelo zoobawo,” (Abraham 1:2)—iintsikelelo ezanikwa ngomnqophiso kuAdam noEva kwakunyeye emva koko nakwabo baye bazifuna ngenkuthalo ezi ntsikelelo.
Umnqophiso kaThixo no-Abraham wathembisa iintsikelelo ezintle: ilifa lomhlaba, inzala enkulu, ukufikelela kwimimiselo yobubingeleli, kunye negama elaliza kuzukiswa ezizukulwaneni ezilandelayo. Kodwa ukugxila kwalo mnqophiso bekungekho nje kwiintsikelelo zika-Abraham kunye nosapho lwakhe ababeya kuzamkela kodwa nakwintsikelelo abanokuyifumana ibe kwabanye abantwana bakaThixo. “Uya kuba yintsikelelo,” uThixo wabhengeza, “zisikeleleke ngawe zonke izizwe zehlabathi” (Genesis 12:2–3).
Ingaba lo mnqophiso wanika u-Abraham, noSara, kunye nabazukulwana babo ukuba babe nenqanaba elixabisekileyo phakathi kwabantwana bakaThixo? Kuphela ngengqondo yokuba lilungelo elilodwa ukusikelela abanye. Usapho luka-Abraham lwaluza “kuphatha obu bufundisi noBubingeleli kuzo zonke izizwe; besabelana” ngeentsikelelo zeVangeli, ezizintsikelelo zosindiso, nkqu ezobomi obungunaphakade. (Abraham 2:9, 11).
Lo mnqophiso yayiyintsikelelo awayeyilangazelela uAbraham. Emva kokuyifumana, wathi uAbraham entliziyweni yakhe, “Isicaka sakho sikufune ngokunyanisekileyo; ngoku sikufumene” (Abraham 2:12).
Oko bekungamawaka-waka eminyaka eyadlulayo, kodwa lo mnqophiso ubuyiselwe kumhla wethu (bona 1 Nifayi 22:8–12). Kwaye uyazaliseka kubomi babantu bakaThixo. Eneneni, ukuzalisekiswa komnqophiso kwakha ngamandla kwiintsuku zokugqibela njengoko umsebenzi kaThixo uqhubela phambili, ukusikelela iintsapho kwihlabathi liphela. Kwaye nabani na, njengo-Abraham, ofuna ukuba ngumlandeli omkhulu ngakumbi wobulungisa, nabani na ofuna iNkosi ngokunyaniseka, unokuba yinxalenye yayo.
Ingaba uMnqophiso ka-Abraham Uthetha ukuthini Kum?
Wena unguye umntwana wawo umnqophiso. Wenza umnqophiso noThixo xa wawubhaptizwa. Uwuhlaziya loo mnqophiso ngalo lonke ixesha uthabatha umthendeleko. Kwaye wenza iminqophiso engcwele etempileni. Ngokudibeneyo, le minqophiso ikwenza umthathi–nxaxheba kumnqophiso ka-Abraham, inzaliseko yawo ifumaneka kwimimiselo yasetempileni. Njengoko uMongameli Russell M. Nelson wafundisa, “Ekugqibeleni, kwitempile engcwele, sinokuba ziindlalifa ezimanyeneyo kwiintsikelelo zosapho lwangonaphakade, njengoko wathembisayo ku-Abraham, naku-Isaki, nakuYakobi kunye nakwinzala yabo.”1
Ngayo le minqophiso nemimiselo, siba ngabantu bakaThixo (bona Eksodus 6:7; Duteronomi 7:6; 26:18; Hezekile 11:20). Siyahluka kwihlabathi elijikeleze thina. Iminqophiso yethu yenza ukuba sikwazi ukuba ngabafundi bokwenene, bakaYesu Krestu abazinikeleyo. “Iminqophiso yethu,” uMongameli uNelson wacacisa, “isibophelela kuYe kwaye isinike amandla obuThixo”2 Kwaye xa uThixo esikelela abantu baKhe ngamandla aKhe, kukwakho isimemo kunye nolindelo lokuba basikelele nabanye—baya kuba “yintsikelelo” kuzo “zonke iintsapho zomhlaba” (Abraham 2:9, 11).
Olu lwazi luxabisekileyo esilunikiweyo ngenxa yoBuyiselo lomnqophiso ka-Abraham ngoMprofeti uJoseph Smith. Ke xa ufunda ngeminqophiso kwiTestamente eNdala, sukucinga nje malunga nobudlelwane bukaThixo no-Abraham, no-Isake, kunye noYakobi. Cinga kwakhona malunga nobudlelwano baKhe kunye nawe. Xa ufunda ngesithembiso sobutyebi obuninzi (bona Genesis 28:14), sukucinga nje malunga nezigidi namhlanje ezithi uAbraham nguyise. Cinga kwakhona ngesithembiso sikaThixo kuwe seentsapho ezingunaphakade kunye nokwanda kwasephakadeni (bona IMfundiso neMinqophiso 131:1–4; 132:20–24). Xa ufunda ngesithembiso somhlaba welifa, sukucinga malunga nomhlaba othenjiswe uAbraham. Cinga kwakhona malunga nolwazelelo lweselestiyali lomhlaba ngokwalo—ilifa elithenjiswe “ubulali” “abalindela kwiNkosi” (Mateyu 5:5; IiNdumiso 37:9, 11; bona kwakhona IMfundiso neMinqophiso 88:17–20). Kwaye xa ufunda ngesithembiso sokuba abantu bomnqophiso kaThixo baya kusikelela “zonke iintsapho zomhlaba” (Abraham 2:11), sukucinga malunga nolungiselelo luka-Abraham okanye abaprofeti ababephuma kuye. Cinga kwakhona ngento onokuyenza—njengomlandeli womnqophiso kaYesu Krestu—ukuba ube yintsikelelo kwiintsapho ezikungqongileyo.