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?Created in the cloud with Aspose.Words for Cloud. Nephi 16:25-31, “up into the top of the mountain” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 16:25-31?25 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came unto my father; and he was truly chastened because of his murmuring against the Lord, insomuch that he was brought down into the depths of sorrow.26 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord said unto him: Look upon the ball, and behold the things which are written.27 And it came to pass that when my father beheld the things which were written upon the ball, he did fear and tremble exceedingly, and also my brethren and the sons of Ishmael and our wives.28 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the pointers which were in the ball, that they did work according to the faith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them.29 And there was also written upon them a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us understanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it. And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things.30 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did go forth up into the top of the mountain, according to the directions which were given upon the ball.31 And it came to pass that I did slay wild beasts, insomuch that I did obtain food for our families.Nephi has brought us to the critical turning point in his story. We are now at the time of apparent defeat in the chiasmus we described earlier He patterned the entire book of First Nephi after the cosmic myth, that is, after the same pattern as the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama.{1}As in the cosmic myth, after reaching the point when success seems impossible, Nephi presents us with two critical elements that are the turning point toward their ultimate triumph and victory. Those two are their receiving of the Liahona and Nephi’s finding food at the mountain top to sustain his family. In the subtext, he has also brought us to the top of the cosmic mountain where we find the tree of life and can partake of its fruit. Having the assurance one receives at the tree does not portend an easy time from there, just as the food did not for Lehi’s family in the desert, but it does give the assurance that failure is no longer looming as a possible conclusion of the journey.—————————————FOOTNOTE{1} As already observed, when written as a chiasmus, a pattern of 1 Nephi looks like this:. ? ?A. Nephi and his family must leave home.?? ??? ? B. They are given a seeming impossible task. ?? ??? ??? ?C. They receive all necessary empowerment. ?? ??? ??? ??? ?D. Rebellion and starvation in the wilderness. ?? ??? ??? ?C. Liahona directs him to mountain top for food. ?? ??? ?B. They travel to Bountiful to complete their task.?? ?A. They arrive at the promised land<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 16:32-33 -- LeGrand Baker -- “they did humble themselves before the Lord” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 16:32-33 ?32 And it came to pass that I did return to our tents, bearing the beasts which I had slain; and now when they beheld that I had obtained food, how great was their joy! And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before the Lord, and did give thanks unto him.33 And it came to pass that we did again take our journey, traveling nearly the same course as in the beginning; and after we had traveled for the space of many days we did pitch our tents again, that we might tarry for the space of a time.Again the reference to his tents, this time following their acceptance to the instructions they received through the Liahona and their finding food. Nephi reported that they stayed in this new campsite ”for the space of a time.” He does not report the cause for this delay or even suggest that it was an unwelcome delay. Perhaps they stopped because they were near the city Nahom, and they sought provisions there. Perhaps it was to do missionary work among those people. Perhaps it was because Ishmael was too ill to travel. Perhaps all three reasons played into their decision.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 16:34-35 -- LeGrand Baker -- “Ishmael died” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 16:34-35 — LeGrand Baker — “Ishmael died”34. And it came to pass that Ishmael died, and was buried in the place that was called Nahom.35. And it came to pass that the daughters of Ishmael did mourn exceedingly, because of the loss of their father, and because of their afflictions in the wilderness; and they did murmur against my father, because he had brought them out of the land of Jerusalem, saying: Our father is dead; yea, and we have wandered much in the wilderness, and we have suffered much affliction, hunger, thirst, and fatigue; and after all these sufferings we must perish in the wilderness with hunger.Nahom is the only city mentioned by Nephi as he traveled from Jerusalem to Bountiful. The southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, where Nahom is located, was a hub of the ancient frankincense trails. Nahom still has the ancient name (written anciently NHM), but now the spelling is Nahm. It also has a very large and very ancient cemetery where the desert people brought their dead to bury them. It is significant that Nephi reported that Ishmael was buried at Nahom, but he does not say that he died there. If one looks at a map of the Arabian peninsula as a boot with the toe pointing toward the east, Nahom is located near the Red Sea at the indent that would be the top of the heel of the boot. If one draws a line from there almost due east (just as Nephi says), one will end the line very near the place that was likely Nephi’s Bountiful.The location of Nahom was first proposed by Ross T. Christensen, a BYU professor of archaeology, in a letter published in the Ensign in August, 1978.{1} Prof. Christensen had discovered, on a 1763 map, a place called “Nehhm” about twenty-five miles northeast of the Yemen capital Sana’a. Some years later, Warren P. Aston read the Ensign article and determined to investigate.{2} About that same time, the Hiltons, who had lived in the Near East for many years, visited the city and reported their findings.{3} Since then, several LDS scholars have pursued the question of Nahom and the trail followed by Lehi and his party.{4}When Brown and his associates visited the burial sites, they reported:We were fascinated at the way these mummies were wrapped in leather with their knees pulled up in a kind of prenatal position. Long slabs of rock were formed into a coffin for the body, and then the mound of rock was built over it. They were not small mounds, and there were thousands of them.{5}—————————————FOOTNOTES{1} Ross T. Christensen, “The Place Called Nahom,” Ensign (August 1978): 73.{2} The product of their work was: Warren P. Aston and Michaela Knoth Aston, In the Footsteps of Lehi: New Evidence for Lehi’s Journey across Arabia to Bountiful (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1994).{3} Lynn M. Hilton and Hope A. Hilton, Discovering Lehi (Springville, Utah, Cedar Fort, 1996).{4} For additional insights on the location and importance of Nahom, see: Warren P. Aston and Michaela Knoth Aston, “The Place Which Was Called Nahom,” In the Footsteps of Lehi: New Evidence for Lehi’s Journey across Arabia to Bountiful (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1994), 5, 19.See also:Eugene England, “Through the Arabian Desert to a Bountiful Land: Could Joseph Smith Have Known the Way?” in Noel B. Reynolds, ed., Book of Mormon Authorship: New Light on Ancient Origins (Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1982), 148 – 154.Mark J. Johnson, “The Exodus of Lehi Revisited.” FARMS Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, vol. 3, no. 2 (Fall 1994), 123-26.Daniel H. Ludlow, A Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1976), 92.“Book of Mormon Near Eastern Background” in Daniel H. Ludlow, ed., Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1-4 vols.,(New York: Macmillan, 1992), 187-90).Hugh Nibley, Lehi in the Desert/The World of the Jaredites/There Were Jaredites, edited by John W. Welch with Darrell L. Matthews and Stephen R. Callister (Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1988), 76.Hugh Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon–Semester 1: Transcripts of Lectures Presented to an Honors Book of Mormon Class at Brigham Young University, 1988-1990 (Provo: FARMS, 219.Daniel C. Peterson, “Shall We Not Go On in So Great a Cause?” in Susan Easton Black, ed., Expressions of Faith: Testimonies of Latter-day Saint Scholars (Salt Lake City, Deseret Book and FARMS, 1996), 127-37.John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne, eds., Rediscovering the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City, Deseret Book and FARMS, 1991), 92).Sidney B. Sperry,?Book of Mormon Compendium (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1968), 124.John W. Welch, “Lehi’s Trail and Nahom Revisited,” in John W. Welch, ed., Reexploring the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1992),47-49.S. Kent Brown and Peter Johnson, Journey of Faith, from Jerusalem to the Promised Land (Provo, Utah, The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, BYU, 2006), 19.{5} S. Kent Brown and Peter Johnson, Journey of Faith, from Jerusalem to the Promised Land (Provo, Utah, The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, BYU, 2006), 119.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 16:36-37 -- LeGrand Baker -- “they were desirous to return again to Jerusalem” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 16:36-3736 And thus they did murmur against my father, and also against me; and they were desirous to return again to Jerusalem.37 And Laman said unto Lemuel and also unto the sons of Ishmael: Behold, let us slay our father, and also our brother Nephi, who has taken it upon him to be our ruler and our teacher, who are his elder brethren.Laman’s motives may have been more complex than a simple desire to return to Jerusalem. He was the oldest son—his was the legal birthright. As long as his father lived, Laman had to obey him, and could not claim his rightful inheritance. His father listened to Nephi, and between them they had determined to go on this seemingly absurd journey. Ishmael was now dead, so his sons could also inherit if they were to return to the city and their estates. If Lehi and Nephi were dead, then Laman and the others could return and claim the wealth of which they had been deprived. The rationale seemed simple enough, and there were none to challenge either its execution or its intended outcome.Laman’s argument took into account all the miraculous things they had experienced, but claimed they were performed by “cunning arts,” and therefore were of no real consequence. However, the Lord had promised Lehi and Nephi that they would have the power to fulfill their assignments, just as he made that promise to each of us.{1} Now, as Lehi’s sons and sons-in-law plot his assassination, the Lord himself asserted his power to fulfill his covenants with his prophets and to help them fulfill theirs.—————————————FOOTNOTE{1} For a discussion of the “covenant of invulnerability” see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition, 285-89; second edition, 201-04.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 17:1-3 -- LeGrand Baker – “we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 17:1-3 ?1 And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness; and we did travel nearly eastward from that time forth. And we did travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness; and our women did bear children in the wilderness.2 And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings.3 And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness.Here is another “incidental proof” that Joseph Smith cound not be the author of the Book of Mormon. In back country New York, Joseph had no access to this information, but the author was very precise in the details of his description of this geography. After Ishmael’s burial at Nahom the travelers made a sharp turn toward the east— into the desert and away from the Red Sea. Their destination, which Lehi and his people called “Bountiful,” is directly east of Nahom. However to get there, the party had to cross the deep, unforgiving, trackless sand of the Arabian desert.{1}This desert was an horrendous place, where strangers were not welcome and where, we learn later, Lehi and his party were prohibited by the Lord from even building a fire so the light or the smoke would not be seen and expose their hiding places. Notwithstanding the difficulty of this leg of the journey, it is not the place in his story where Nephi calls attention to their hardships. Indeed, he gives this desert crossing only three verses, and those are a celebration of the goodness of God. He speaks of an unidentified sense of urgency, or else of their confidence in the Lord, that they should venture into that desert at the time they did, rather than waiting near the city until after the babies were born.—————————————FOOTNOTE{1} For descrilptions and photos of the Arabian desert through which they passed, see, S. Kent Brown and Peter Johnson, Journey of Faith, from Jerusalem to the Promised Land (Provo, Utah, The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, BYU, 2006), 124-29.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 17:4 -- LeGrand Baker -- “eight years in the wilderness” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 17:4 ?4 And we did sojourn for the space of many years, yea, even eight years in the wilderness.If we read this verse only in its immediate context, it might suggest that they remained in the desert between Nahom and Bountiful for a full eight years. However, that reading would not take into account the fact that Nephi had always used the word “wilderness” to describe the area through which they traveled.{1} So we may safely understand him to say that it had taken them eight years to travel from Jerusalem to Bountiful.Nephi’s story began during the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, that is, in 598 B. C.{2} It is reasonable to assume that they left not long after that. Zedekiah reigned only eleven years, until 587 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem. The city apparently had not yet been destroyed when Lehi’s party arrived at Nahom. At least it appears so, for their knowing nothing of the Babylonian invasion probably accounts for why the boys were so intent on returning to their homes and property. However, they may have learned of it soon after the older sons’ rebellion.Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Jerusalem began “on the tenth day of the tenth month of Zedekiah’s ninth year.”{3} In Babylon, preparations for that campaign would have taken some time, as would the army’s march toward Jerusalem. It is possible that the reason Lehi and his party left Nahom when they did, with apparently little or no resistence from the brothers who had been dissenters, was because they had learned of Nebuchadnezzar’s attack on Jerusalem—————————————FOOTNOTES{1} Nephi begins his story by writing that Lehi “left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and departed into the wilderness” (1 Nephi 2:4).{2} Here, I am using the dates given in the LDS Bible dictionary, under “chronology.”{3} The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, 1:569.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 17:5-6 -- LeGrand Baker -- “we called the place Bountiful” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 17:5-65 And we did come to the land which we called Bountiful, because of its much fruit and also wild honey; and all these things were prepared of the Lord that we might not perish. And we beheld the sea, which we called Irreantum, which, being interpreted, is many waters.6 And it came to pass that we did pitch our tents by the seashore; and notwithstanding we had suffered many afflictions and much difficulty, yea, even so much that we cannot write them all, we were exceedingly rejoiced when we came to the seashore; and we called the place Bountiful, because of its much fruit.Brown and his associates give us this description of the richness of this little spot of fertile land tucked away at the edge of that great desert.The steep mountain cliffs on either side of the alcove had natural caves etched into them where, the locals informed us, bees stored honey. The abundance of date palms, edible plants, grapes, melons, and fish further testified to why Lehi called this place Bountiful and why local herdsmen have been coming to this place for millennia. Our first view of Wadi Sayq revealed a place that would have been a great joy and blessing to Lehi’s family after their long and wearying journey through the parched and threatening heat of the Arabian desert.{1}—————————————FOOTNOTE{1} S. Kent Brown and Peter Johnson, Journey of Faith, from Jerusalem to the Promised Land (Provo, Utah, The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, BYU, 2006), 136-37.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 17:7 -- LeGrand Baker -- “I arose and went up into the mountain” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 17:7?7. And it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had been in the land of Bountiful for the space of many days, the voice of the Lord came unto me, saying: Arise, and get thee into the mountain. And it came to pass that I arose and went up into the mountain, and cried unto the Lord.There is much one can learn from this seemingly incidental part of Nephi’s story. Its importance is emphasized by similar circumstances being repeated over and over again throughout the scriptures and sacred history. There are many examples of prophets finding seclusion on a mountain in order to speak with God. Not everyone has immediate access to the quietude of a mountain, but that is not the point. The point is this: When the Spirit says “stop what you are doing and go to the mountain” or “go for a walk” or “go to your room” or “sit quietly and listen,” then one should obey.We take the sacrament weekly as a token of the covenant that we will do our part to have the Spirit always be with us, but we sometimes get too busy to listen when he is there. That is like walking in the mountains with a friend but ceaselessly talking about a football game, or about politics, or about philosophy all the way going and coming—and never really having been on the mountain at all.We often get on our knees and expect the Lord to answer our questions just then, while we are taking the minute to talk at him. We grunt and groan inside, trying to get as “spiritual” as we can for the experience. Nothing happens and we go away disappointed, or we let our own enthusiasm get in the way of our listening and go away convinced that the Lord shares that enthusiasm and that he approves of whatever it was we tried to convince him to sanction. Then when it doesn’t work out, we respond incredulously, “But I prayed!” Or else we kneel down with our hearts so full of sorrow, or disappointment or fear that those feelings take up all the space in our heart and soul and we go away thinking that we have had “a stupor of thought,” so that must be God’s answer. Shakespeare expressed the problem clearly when he had King Claudius say,My words fly up, my thoughts remain below:Words without thoughts never to heaven go.{1}Real prayer is not a routine, night and morning recital of our usual shopping list. It is a quiet conversation, but the time for such quietude is sometimes hard to come by. There is an ancient Jewish tradition according to which Satan and one of his henchmen watched as Adam and Eve left the Garden. Satan tells his subordinate how to frustrate God’s plans— simply fill up human life with so much trivia that people will be too busy to listen to the Spirit. It concludes, “Cast men into great distractions and pains in life, so that their men should be preoccupied with life, and not have time to attend on the Holy Spirit.”{2}That is why a quiet prayer is so important. Prayer is a togetherness. It is walking in a mountain with a friend. Sometimes stopping to talk. Sometimes just needing to talk and talk and know that you are being listened to. Sometimes filling one’s mind by listening to what he has to say. Sometimes filling one’s whole soul by just knowing that you and he are together.Our world tends to crowd out such prayer, and the needs of just living can make that forever so. But when the Spirit whispers, “Arise, and get thee into the mountain,” it is time to go and to walk with a Friend.—————————————FOOTNOTES{1} Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 3.{2} Roger Aubrey Bullard, The Hypostasis of the Archons (Berlin, Walter de Gruyter & Co., 1970), 29, lines 7-11.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 17:8-10 -- LeGrand Baker -- “Thou shalt construct a ship” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 17:8-10?8 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters.9 And I said: Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?10 And it came to pass that the Lord told me whither I should go to find ore, that I might make tools.During S Kent Brown’s BYU exploration of the area that Lehi called Bountiful, he discovered not just a possible source of iron from which Nephi could have constructed his tools but a remarkable deposit of iron ore that would have enabled Nephi to pick the ore off the surface of the ground and smelt it with great ease. They report:The unique part of the iron ore discovery that we made was that the iron is actually mixed in with carbonate, which is used naturally as a flux to lower the melting point of iron. The iron ore is highly concentrated and so not only would it have been easy for Nephi to see and collect, it would have been easy for him to make a tool from these raw materials.The iron ore in only these two areas is right on the surface of the ground. We have veins of iron ore coming up through the metamorphic rock right to the surface of the ground. And so collecting it would have been no problem at all. Nephi could have collected enough iron ore in a matter of a few minutes to make all the tools he would want. And it is right by the coast. You load it into a boat, carry it wherever you want it, and process it.{1}—————————————FOOTNOTE{1} S. Kent Brown and Peter Johnson, Journey of Faith, from Jerusalem to the Promised Land (Provo, Utah, The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, BYU, 2006), 64. Statements by Ron Harris and Revell Phillips.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 17:11 -- LeGrand Baker – “a bellows wherewith to blow the fire” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 17:11?11 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did make a bellows wherewith to blow the fire, of the skins of beasts; and after I had made a bellows, that I might have wherewith to blow the fire, I did smite two stones together that I might make fire.The Hiltons gave us an interesting insight about the bellows Nephi might have made to smelt the iron ore. They wrote,The idea for a bellows was certainly not Nephi’s own invention. His contemporary, Jeremiah, mentions bellows in his own writings (Jer. 6:29).We were excited when we discovered an old skin bellows in a blacksmith’s shop in Oman. It is very probable Nephi used a similar one. It is called keer in Arabic. The bellows was hanging, blackened and neglected, on the wall of the shop. The blacksmith told us that this bellows had been used by his father, his father’s father, and so on back for many generations (an estimated six hundred years). We had never seen a bellows like this before; it did not work in accordion fashion, pressed together like a European bellows, but was worked on the ground by a pump-like motion. The neck of the tanned goatskin was tied around a wooden coupling tube that fit into an iron pipe which would, naturally, have been placed under the fire. This reminded us of a clay pipe, dated 1,000 B.C., that we had seen in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, a device that had also been used to carry air from a bellows to the fire. The four legs of the skin of this bellows of Oman had been folded back and tied off carefully. The entire back end of the goat skin was open, the skin fastened to two parallel sticks so that it looked like a woman’s large knitting bag that can snap shut. The blacksmith showed us how to grasp these two sticks in one hand, holding them open while he pulled the skin up, drawing in air, then closing them as he pushed the skin bag down, forcing the air out the neck pipe. We were impressed that it worked well, and we wondered how such bellows differed, if any, from Nephi’s.{1}—————————————FOOTNOTE{1} Lynn M. Hilton and Hope A. Hilton, Discovering Lehi (Springville, Ut., Cedar Fort, Incorporated, 1969), 159.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 17:15-16 -- LeGrand Baker -- “I did make tools of the ore” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 17:15-16?15 Wherefore, I, Nephi, did strive to keep the commandments of the Lord, and I did exhort my brethren to faithfulness and diligence.16 And it came to pass that I did make tools of the ore which I did molten out of the rock.Nephi did not have to ask the Lord for instructions about how to smelt ore or how to form it into the appropriate tools. It is apparent that he already understood those techniques. What he did not know was where to find the iron ore. The fact that he reports that he simply smelted “the rock” indicates that he did, in fact, simply pick up the iron ore off the ground, just as one would pick up other rocks.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 17:18-21 -- LeGrand Baker -- “we might have been happy” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 17:18-21?18 And thus my brethren did complain against me….21 Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance; yea, and we might have been happy.Nephi was ever the optimist. His optimism is the testimony that he threads though his entire story, assuring us again and again that he understood what he was supposed to do and that he was always disappointed when his brothers tried to change either the method or the outcome. Now their argument (which had, no doubt been an underlying motive for their earlier determination to kill their father) came to full blossom: “we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance; yea, and we might have been happy.”That argument would have struck Nephi to the heart. He knew that the “happiness” their property would have brought them would have been turned by the Babylonians into enslavement or death. But he also know that the happiness they were determined to exchange for their temporary satisfaction was only an ephemeral lure for emptiness, sorrow, and eternal aloneness. His knowledge that they sought such fleeting happiness probably hurt his soul as much as their refusal to assist him in building the boat.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 17:22 -- LeGrand Baker -- The Brothers’ Rebellion Author : lbaker1 Nephi 17:22?22. And we know that the people who were in the land of Jerusalem were a righteous people; for they kept the statutes and judgments of the Lord, and all his commandments, according to the law of Moses; wherefore, we know that they are a righteous people; and our father hath judged them, and hath led us away because we would hearken unto his words; yea, and our brother is like unto him. And after this manner of language did my brethren murmur and complain against us.This can be read two ways, but we suspect Nephi had only one in mind. The first way is to read it with disdain. The evil brothers were misusing the word “righteous” and were giving the people in Jerusalem credit they could not possibly deserve.The second, and we think the more correct, is that the brothers knew exactly what they were saying, that their argument was not only sound in their thinking, but technically correct; and that it was because of the technical correctness of their argument that Nephi chose to include this incident as part of his story. The English word “righteous” is translated from the Hebrew zedek. In the Old Testament and in the Book of Mormon, “righteousness” usually means priesthood and temple correctness, that is doing the precisely right thing at the right time, in the right place, in the right way, with the right authority, saying the right words, and dressed the right way.If Nephi’s brothers had accepted Josiah’s religious innovations, and were using the word “righteous” to mean simply following the prescribed pattern in religious ritual, then their argument would seem sound enough. They said, “And we know that the people who were in the land of Jerusalem were a righteous people; for they kept the statutes and judgments of the Lord, and all his commandments, according to the law of Moses; wherefore, we know that they are a righteous people.” Nephi’s reply does not challenge his brothers’ argument, only their definition of “righteousness.”Rather than discussing whether the king, High Priest, and their followers at Jerusalem were doing the temple sacrifices, festivals in a form that seemed to follow the rules of the Law of Moses, Nephi asked about the Canaanites who were in the land before the Israelites came. He asks if they were righteous. To us that is a relevant question, and may imply that the apostate religions of the Canaanites looked from the outside very much like the religion from which they had apostatized. We can know from the discoveries of the ancient libraries of Ras Shamra that some of the Canaanite religious practices were similar to those of the Israelites.{1}It appears that Nephi acknowledges his brothers’ contention that the people at Jerusalem seem righteous because they have perpetuated some of the works required by the Law of Moses. But by this acknowledgment he does not concede either the validity or correctness of those works or of his brothers’ conclusion that they were truly righteous as he and his father would define the word. Rather, he insists on the correct definition of “righteousness.” Nephi achieves that by recounting the story of Moses’s deliverance from Egypt (1 Nephi 17: 23-40). Nephi’s statement to his brothers may be read as simply a quick review of their ancient history, but it would seem relevant if we understood it to be his reminding them of the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama and of the covenants they made during those ceremonies.—————————————FOOTNOTE{1} For a discussion of the libraries of Ugarit and what they teach us about the Canaanite religion, see, “Part 1, The Modern Re-discovery of the Ancient Israelite Feast of Tabernacles Temple Drama in the Old Testament,” in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 17:41 -- LeGrand Baker -- “the labor which they had to perform was to look” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 17:41?41 And he did straiten them in the wilderness with his rod; for they hardened their hearts, even as ye have; and the Lord straitened them because of their iniquity. He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.The event Nephi was describing is mentioned in the Old Testament,{1} but its meaning is not discussed there (Numbers 21:4-9). To learn its meaning we have to go to the Book of Mormon where we find that the serpent symbolized the Savior as the Messiah. It was a later Nephi who explained that it represented the Atonement of “the coming of the Messiah” (Helaman 8:13-16).The Savior referred to that Old Testament event when he spoke with Nicodemus. If we read the story of Nicodemus as being the Savior’s teaching that great, good, and learned man about who he (Jesus/Jehovah/Messiah) really was, then we see his statement about Moses’s brass serpent as an explanation that Jesus is the Messiah of whom Moses testified (John 3:14-21).—————————————FOOTNOTE{1} The brass serpent, but not the incident, is mentioned again but with a negative connotation. It was worshiped as a false god, and king Hezekiah had it destroyed (2 Kings 18:4)<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 17:43-46 -- LeGrand Baker – “Ye are swift to do iniquity” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 17:43-4642 And they did harden their hearts from time to time, and they did revile against Moses, and also against God; nevertheless, ye know that they were led forth by his matchless power into the land of promise.43 And now, after all these things, the time has come that they have become wicked, yea, nearly unto ripeness; and I know not but they are at this day about to be destroyed; for I know that the day must surely come that they must be destroyed, save a few only, who shall be led away into captivity.44 Wherefore, the Lord commanded my father that he should depart into the wilderness; and the Jews also sought to take away his life; yea, and ye also have sought to take away his life; wherefore, ye are murderers in your hearts and ye are like unto them.45 Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder.46 And ye also know that by the power of his almighty word he can cause the earth that it shall pass away; yea, and ye know that by his word he can cause the rough places to be made smooth, and smooth places shall be broken up. O, then, why is it, that ye can be so hard in your hearts?Nephi was reminding his brothers of the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama and its attendant ordinances and covenants, and he has now brought them to the place of the ceremonial battle between good and evil where the king was symbolically killed before being rescued from death and hell by Jehovah. But in Nephi’s version, there was no rescue for the king and his people; rather, their destruction is made sure by their own wickedness, and the only rescue he cites is God’s leading Lehi and his family from the doomed city. In the drama, Jehovah exercises his authority over the forces of nature to defeat Israel’s enemies and restores the king.{1} But when Nephi applied those principles to his brothers, he reminded them that it was they to whom God spoke with a voice “like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder.”There is a psalm that echoes all of Nephi’s sentiments—both his own joy in the Lord and his fear for his brothers’ salvation. One cannot know whether he called on this psalm to express his feelings or whether part of it went through his mind as he spoke. The concept of righteousness had been the one with which they had first challenged him. He had used it in his response. The psalm is about the contrast between those who are and those who are not righteous. It says God will bless the one but not the other. It reads in part,17 The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit (Psalm 34:17-18).Those last words were a concluding promise of the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama..{2} Nephi’s next words were a further echo of the promise of the psalm.—————————————FOOTNOTES{1} For a discussion of the ancient Israelite temple drama see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, “Part 1.”{2} For a discussion of the that psalm as the basis for the Savior’s instruction to the Nephites in 3 Nephi 9 see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 884-91; Second edition, p. 620-25.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 17:47-48 -- LeGrand Baker -- “touch me not” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 17:47-48?47 Behold, my soul is rent with anguish because of you, and my heart is pained; I fear lest ye shall be cast off forever. Behold, I am full of the Spirit of God, insomuch that my frame has no strength.48 And now it came to pass that when I had spoken these words they were angry with me, and were desirous to throw me into the depths of the sea; and as they came forth to lay their hands upon me I spake unto them, saying: In the name of the Almighty God, I command you that ye touch me not, for I am filled with the power of God, even unto the consuming of my flesh; and whoso shall lay his hands upon me shall wither even as a dried reed; and he shall be as naught before the power of God, for God shall smite him.S. Kent Brown and his BYU group found a place where the brothers’ threat would have been more serious than just tossing him into the water. They report that there are cliffs there where the sea crashed against rocks that would have broken his body before the water drowned him and carried him away:It was a refreshing and exciting ride across the rolling ocean surface with fish visible below us and the steep escarpment rising dramatically above the seashore.As we came around a curve in the shoreline, Wadi Sayq opened to our view. It was magnificent; before us lay a beautiful alcove of teaming tropical plants framed by steep and jagged mountains with a small freshwater lagoon in the center. This place touched our hearts and imagination because it fit perfectly the description Nephi gave in his record (1 Nephi 17:5-7). On one side, steep cliffs that rose over two hundred feet had at their base sharp rocks with crashing waves. Behind them, a beautifully cone-shaped mountain rose majestically over the lagoon, inviting inspiration. The steep mountain cliffs on either side of the alcove had natural caves etched into them where, the locals informed us, bees stored honey.{1}—————————————FOOTNOTE{1} S. Kent Brown and Peter Johnson, Journey of Faith, from Jerusalem to the Promised Land (Provo, Utah, The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, BYU, 2006), 136-37.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 17:49-51 -- LeGrand Baker – “If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 17:49-51?49 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto them that they should murmur no more against their father; neither should they withhold their labor from me, for God had commanded me that I should build a ship.50 And I said unto them: If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done.51 And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?Once again, Nephi finds occasion to reiterate his central theme. This time it is by telling us how his brothers tried to prevent him from building a ship. He writes that he said many things to them, but the only thing he tells us he said is that, “God had commanded me that I should build a ship. And…If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them.”In Nephi’s narrative, this is high adventure. However, in the pattern of the cosmic sacred narrative and Feast of Tabernacles temple drama, this is the final struggle before ultimate success. There is always a final struggle, but the sure promise of triumph alleviates neither the difficulty nor the dangers of that final struggle.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 17:53 -- LeGrand Baker -- “they did not wither before me” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 17:5353 And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: Stretch forth thine hand again unto thy brethren, and they shall not wither before thee, but I will shock them, saith the Lord, and this will I do, that they may know that I am the Lord their God.It is often too easy for us to let the picturesque excitement of Nephi’s stories obscure the intent of his telling them. This is an excellent example. It would make a wonderful movie scene, and the movie would probably obscure its message even more. Nephi has been telling us all along that his purpose was to show that God has the power to clear the way so that his servants can accomplish their covenantal responsibilities. That principle is a major premise on which the entire book of First Nephi has been built. While Nephi demonstrates it perfectly, he does not stop to explain why it is so. To learn that, we have to recall Paul’s explanation of our premortal covenants with our Heavenly Father in the first chapter of Ephesians and other scriptures. The promise of invulnerability does not preclude our being subject to suffering in this world, but it does preclude the possibility that any external power will prevent us from fulfilling the covenants we made while we were in the Council in Heaven.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 18:1-2 -- LeGrand Baker -- “we did work timbers of curious workmanship” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 18:1-2?1 And it came to pass that they did worship the Lord, and did go forth with me; and we did work timbers of curious workmanship. And the Lord did show me from time to time after what manner I should work the timbers of the ship.2 Now I, Nephi, did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men, neither did I build the ship after the manner of men; but I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me; wherefore, it was not after the manner of men.In the premortal world when we made covenants to come to the earth to do the Father’s will, he made a reciprocating covenant that he would remove any hindrance that would actually prevent us from fulfilling that covenant. He did not promise that it will not at times seem impossible for us to do, only that it will never actually be impossible. The whole of First Nephi has given us multiple examples that God keeps his covenants. Nephi’s account has led us through impossible challenges: times of hunger, pain, and inexplicable fatigue. Now we are about to go with him on a ship where the entire outcome of the voyage depends on God’s doing what he promised he would do—not just leading the ship to the Promised Land but also sustaining Nephi and making sure it is he who is in command.Nephi did not build his ship according to the methods he might have learned during his travels along the shore of the Red Sea. Several have wondered what those innovations might have been. Brown and members of his group have suggested that,{1}The plank ships at this time were built in what is known as the “clinker method:’ which is to suggest that the hull is constructed before the skeleton is. The planks were put together in overlapping form and nailed together or, frequently, they were put together with mortise and tenon, one on top of the other.What finally took Columbus’s ships across the Atlantic was a deep tall hull that had to be built skeleton first. This was not done regularly at the time of Nephi.Building the skeleton first would have meant that Nephi’s ship could have been taller and also deeper into the water. It could also have been multidecked, thus giving far more room below decks to house people and also to store food. This also means that the vessel did not need to be as long as it would if it had been narrow and hull construction only—clinker construction.Is this what Nephi means when he says that he did not build it after the manner of men? The manner of men was building the hull first and then adding the skeleton. That Nephi turned it around and built the skeleton first and then added the hull would be the same innovation that would ultimately take the ships across the Atlantic in the age of the sail.This might mean that Nephi made the ship round, which you can do using the skeleton construction first. That roundness might have meant that he could have shortened the ship considerably. And noting that he only had one large sail, as was conventional at the time, he would have needed to make a shorter vessel because a long ship can simply not be propelled by a single long sail. If this ship was built round and wide, it need not have been longer than 35 or 40 feet. We know that later on the Viking vessels are estimated to have had one foot per warrior designated on that vessel. That meant that for 40 people, you would need a vessel that was 20 feet long. That’s a pretty cramped style. And perhaps Nephi and his family would not have wanted to be this cramped. On the other hand, space is a modern luxury. We know that premodern peoples did not have the concerns about space that we do. And so we cannot imagine that they would have needed a very large vessel to take this utilitarian mission of traveling from one place to the next. ….{2}There were several different ancient techniques for holding a ship together. Plank vessels were often sewn with ropes. The entire vessel itself would be waterproofed. That’s always the most difficult thing, but we have good evidence that in the Arabian Peninsula shipbuilders used a bitumen substance to create the water sealing that needed to cover all of the hull. And it was very effective. Bitumen could be found locally and in abundance in that region. It was mixed together with sap and other substances to create the glue. This would make the vessel quite seaworthy.{3}The Hiltons suggested a different method. They wrote,The earliest ships of record were put together by the sewing method. For example, the sun boat of Pharaoh Cheops, who built one of the great pyramids in Egypt, was a sewed boat. It recently has been discovered and reassembled at Giza just outside Cairo (see Figure 12-2). If sewed ships were “after the manner of men,” it is possible and we advance the theory that Nephi perhaps discovered how to build a nailed ship by direct revelation. We know he had ore and a smelter and tools, so why not hammer out some nails to fasten the planks to the ribs and make his craft truly sea-worthy.While nails had been known and used at least 400 years before Nephi’s day, there is no indication they were used in ship-building. King David, about 1000 B.C., prepared among other supplies iron “nails” in abundance for Solomon to use in building the First Jerusalem Temple; specifically they were to be used “for the doors of the gates and for the joinings” of the temple (1 Ch. 22:3). But we do not know who got the inspiration to use them in a ship-building application. Perhaps Nephi?Tim Serevin, who recently built a sewed-ocean-going dhow under Omani sponsorship, reports that the stitched vessel took three times as long to build as would have been required had he built a nailed ship. He had to go to the Laccadive Islands of India to find the only men left in the world who knew how to sew a boat. He also notes that the earliest texts make it abundantly clear that early ships were sewed.{4}—————————————FOOTNOTES{1} For their discussion of ways Nephi might have built his ship see S. Kent Brown and Peter Johnson, Journey of Faith, from Jerusalem to the Promised Land (Provo, Utah, The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, BYU, 2006), 77-95{2} Kelly DeVries in S. Kent Brown and Peter Johnson, Journey of Faith, from Jerusalem to the Promised Land, 80-82.{3} Kelly DeVries in S. Kent Brown and Peter Johnson, Journey of Faith, from Jerusalem to the Promised Land,?84.{4} Lynn M. Hilton and Hope A. Hilton, Discovering Lehi (Springville, Ut., Cedar Fort, Incorporated, 1969), 114.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 18:3 -- LeGrand Baker -- “I did pray oft unto the Lord” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 18:3?3 And I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord showed unto me great things.Nephi’s purpose is not to tell us all he knows, and as a corollary, his purpose in writing is not to produce an autobiography. He knows much more than he has any intention of telling us. When we read this verse, we cannot help but reflect upon how little we know of this great prophet and of his personal relationship with the God he loved so much. But even in not telling, he fulfills the purpose for which he said he was writing. Just as he related enough about his troubles and blessings that we can better understand our own, he described to us some of his earliest experiences with revelation. He explained his vision of the tree of life and the future history of his people. But after that, he stopped giving us many details about his visions and conversations with the Lord.In a very real way, he told us all we need to know. As he led us to this mountain, he gave sufficient evidence that he is a true prophet. He bore testimony of the eternal divinity of the Savior. He demonstrated that the Lord keeps his promises to his children—and he told us how we must proceed from there. “Mountain” is code for sacred space. It is the place where one goes to meet God, and was symbolized by the ancient temple. His words, while autobiographical in their form, are invitational in their intent:<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 18:4-6 -- LeGrand Baker -- “we did go down into the ship” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 18:4-6?4 And it came to pass that after I had finished the ship, according to the word of the Lord, my brethren beheld that it was good, and that the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine; wherefore, they did humble themselves again before the Lord.5 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came unto my father, that we should arise and go down into the ship.6 And it came to pass that on the morrow, after we had prepared all things, much fruits and meat from the wilderness, and honey in abundance, and provisions according to that which the Lord had commanded us, we did go down into the ship, with all our loading and our seeds, and whatsoever thing we had brought with us, every one according to his age; wherefore, we did all go down into the ship, with our wives and our children.It is significant that Nephi, under whose direction the ship had been built, did not go aboard first and then welcome everyone else as they came on. Neither did each person just casually get on the ship when it was ready. Rather, as Eldin Ricks has pointed out, their going aboard the ship was a formal, even ceremonial event that not only gave honor to their parents but also acknowledged the older, wayward sons as having birthright superiority to Nephi and Sam. Ricks wrote:It was a sacred moment and a breathlessly exciting one. After years of overland travel they were now actually going to brave the timeless challenge of the seas. It was their final great test of faith, and they were ready for the test. For reasons not apparent to one reared in a western tradition, they seem to have sought expression for the dignity and solemnity of the occasion by forming a ceremonial procession and filing aboard their ship according to the ancient patriarchal order. Nephi’s allusion to the detail marks the outcropping of a Hebrew custom at a point in the narrative where we least expected it.{1}—————————————FOOTNOTE{1} Eldin Ricks, Book of Mormon Commentary, Volume 1, Comprising the Complete Text of The First Book of Nephi with Explanatory Notes (Salt Lake City, Deseret News Press, 1953), 217.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 18:7 -- LeGrand Baker -- “two sons in the wilderness” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 18:7?7 And now, my father had begat two sons in the wilderness; the elder was called Jacob and the younger Joseph.This casual statement, seemingly inserted just to mention that there were younger brothers who also came on board the ship, also teaches us that Lehi and his family had succeeded in living relatively normal lives, even while away from home.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 18:8-10 -- LeGrand Baker -- “ we did put forth into the sea” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 18:8-10 ?8 And it came to pass after we had all gone down into the ship, and had taken with us our provisions and things which had been commanded us, we did put forth into the sea and were driven forth before the wind towards the promised land.9 And after we had been driven forth before the wind for the space of many days, behold, my brethren and the sons of Ishmael and also their wives began to make themselves merry, insomuch that they began to dance, and to sing, and to speak with much rudeness, yea, even that they did forget by what power they had been brought thither; yea, they were lifted up unto exceeding rudeness.10 And I, Nephi, began to fear exceedingly lest the Lord should be angry with us, and smite us because of our iniquity, that we should be swallowed up in the depths of the sea; wherefore, I, Nephi, began to speak to them with much soberness; but behold they were angry with me, saying: We will not that our younger brother shall be a ruler over us.Singing and dancing were part of ancient ceremonial rejoicing rituals. While such activities may not have been a problem at first, they soon got out of hand. Nephi seems to be saying that it got progressively worse, as he reports, “and to speak with much rudeness…yea, they were lifted up unto exceeding rudeness.” Ricks quotes Sjodahl to suggest that at least some of the dancing may have been legitimate. He wrote,There is a French translation by Brasseur de Bourbourg of a Mexican tradition that runs as follows: “Here is the beginning of the accounts of the arrival of the Mexicans from the place named Aztlan. It was through the midst of the water that they made their way to this locality, being four tribes. And in coming they were rowing in their ships.” Bourbourg, who records this tradition in his Ancient Monuments of Mexico, explains that the word in the original language that he translated “rowing” actually is the native word for “dancing.” But because he could make no sense out of “dancing” in reference to ships he had translated it “rowing.”{1}However the dancing aboard ship may have begun, its eventual rudeness convinced Nephi that it had to be stopped, and he stepped in with his usual determination to stop it.Ricks suggests that their anger was more than frustration over their younger brother’s trying to ruin their party. But it was a deepseated, pent up resentment and a reminder that the angel had once told them, “Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a ruler over you, and this because of your iniquities?” (1 Nephi 3:29) Ricks wrote,Nephi had meant no offense, but the more clearly Laman and Lemuel realized that they were really headed for a new land the more they resented any reminder of the prophecy that their younger brother would one day rule over them (See also 2:22; 3:29; 16:37.)”{2}The brothers did not simply toss him into the water, but rather they tied him up and exercised complete dominance over him. Probably they taunted him as they made him watch the frolics of their rudeness.—————————————FOOTNOTES{1} Eldin Ricks, Book of Mormon Commentary, Volume 1, Comprising the Complete Text of The First Book of Nephi with Explanatory Notes (Salt Lake City, Deseret News Press, 1953), 218-19. His quote is from,Janne M. Sjodahl, “Commentary on the First Book of Nephi” (unpublished manuscript), 430.Italics in original.{2} Eldin Ricks, Book of Mormon Commentary, Volume 1, Comprising the Complete Text of The First Book of Nephi with Explanatory Notes (Salt Lake City, Deseret News Press, 1953), 219.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 18:11 -- LeGrand Baker – “Laman and Lemuel did take me and bind me” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 18:11?11 And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel did take me and bind me with cords, and they did treat me with much harshness; nevertheless, the Lord did suffer it that he might show forth his power, unto the fulfilling of his word which he had spoken concerning the wicked.There is a quality of sublime trust in Nephi’s statement. Only a short time before, if the brothers had even touched Nephi they would have sizzled. Now they no longer feel any reverence toward him, his calling as a prophet, or his God. They presume to prove their superiority over him by showing he does not have power to defend himself when they all ganged up on him together.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 18:13-15 -- LeGrand Baker -- “they knew not whither they should steer the ship” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 18:13-15 ?If all or part of First Nephi is patterned after the sequence of events of the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama, then this is the place where the king remains in the underworld for three days, confronted by the dual monsters of death and hell. He says it was on the fourth day that he was liberated by the powers of Jehovah. Here again, Nephi’s story fits the outline of that temple drama sequence.13 Wherefore, they knew not whither they should steer the ship, insomuch that there arose a great storm, yea, a great and terrible tempest, and we were driven back upon the waters for the space of three days; and they began to be frightened exceedingly lest they should be drowned in the sea; nevertheless they did not loose me.14 And on the fourth day, which we had been driven back, the tempest began to be exceedingly sore.15 And it came to pass that we were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea. And after we had been driven back upon the waters for the space of four days, my brethren began to see that the judgments of God were upon them, and that they must perish save that they should repent of their iniquities; wherefore, they came unto me, and loosed the bands which were upon my wrists, and behold they had swollen exceedingly; and also mine ankles were much swollen, and great was the soreness thereof.God always moves in natural ways to show his power. Sorenson shows that the horrific storm they encountered can easily be explained as a monsoon. Sorenson wrote:When they left the Arabian Peninsula, the land of Bountiful, if they followed the course that later Arab sailors followed, they would have gone virtually straight east across the Indian Ocean. And that required that it was during the season of the monsoon, when winds are from the south but veering over toward the Indian Peninsula.{1}That argues for the historicity of Nephi’s account, but it does not emphasize what was most meaningful to Nephi—that the compass did not work during the storm, so the brothers had no idea where they were or where they were going.—————————————FOOTNOTE{1} John Sorenson in S. Kent Brown and Peter Johnson, Journey of Faith, from Jerusalem to the Promised Land (Provo, Utah, The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, BYU, 2006),92.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 18:22 -- LeGrand Baker -- “we sailed again” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 18:22 ”22 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did guide the ship, that we sailed again towards the promised land.Walton discussed the possible routes:The normal wind movement is northward into the Indian Ocean, which includes the Arabian Sea, during the summer months, and in the opposite direction in winter, generally with periods of calm in between. Had they sailed in the early summer, they certainly could have made no progress against the summer winds, so we must assume they sailed in the early autumn. Thus, they could very easily have gone through the period of calm referred to, followed by favorable winds. …An examination of the Pilot charts of the world reveals that if the Nephites embarked in late summer, after the harvest, they would have two or three months of northerly winds, or about 100 days, and, if they floated at the normal rate of from 3 to 5 miles per hour, they would reach a south latitude of about 40 degrees in that length of time, or slightly south of the line connecting Cape Town, South Africa and Melbourne, Australia. Here they would encounter the …’Prevailing Westerlies,’ as they would here enter the ocean currents that travel eastward around the globe the year round. These currents continue their eastward course until they encounter the southern tip of South America, which extends southward to 56 degrees south latitude, where they split. Those south of 56 degrees continue on around the earth, while those striking the Chilean coast are deflected northward along the shoreline, turning seaward again at about 35 degrees south latitude during the warm months, but continuing northward to about 20 degrees during the winter.{1}Brown and his party have suggested essentially the same route.{2} However, some scholars are now suggesting that the Nephite civilization was in the northeastern United States. If that is correct, then their route might have been across the Atlantic, and the storm a hurricane.—————————————FOOTNOTES{1} Leon C. Walton, “Routes To The Promised Land,” Liahona, The Elders Journal, August 8, 1944, 101-03.{2} John Sorenson and Kelly DeVries in S. Kent Brown and Peter Johnson, Journey of Faith, from Jerusalem to the Promised Land ?(Provo, Utah, The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, BYU, 2006),92-94.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 18:23-25 -- LeGrand Baker -- “we did arrive at the promised land” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 18:23-25 ?23 And it came to pass that after we had sailed for the space of many days we did arrive at the promised land; and we went forth upon the land, and did pitch our tents; and we did call it the promised land.24 And it came to pass that we did begin to till the earth, and we began to plant seeds; yea, we did put all our seeds into the earth, which we had brought from the land of Jerusalem. And it came to pass that they did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance.25 And it came to pass that we did find upon the land of promise, as we journeyed in the wilderness, that there were beasts in the forests of every kind, both the cow and the ox, and the ass and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat, and all manner of wild animals, which were for the use of men. And we did find all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper.With those words, Nephi ends the story he began in chapter one. The concluding chapters of First Nephi are a kind of summing up of—not his story—but his intent. Their connection with the narrative can probably best be understood in light of Nephi’s “thesis statement”:And when the Jews heard these things they were angry with him; yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had cast out, and stoned, and slain; and they also sought his life, that they might take it away. But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance (1 Nephi 1:20).A corollary to that is:And I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord showed unto me great things (1 Nephi 18:3).<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 19:3 -- LeGrand Baker -- “I did make plates of ore” Author : lbaker1 Nephi 19:3 ?3 And after I had made these plates by way of commandment, I, Nephi, received a commandment that the ministry and the prophecies, the more plain and precious parts of them, should be written upon these plates; and that the things which were written should be kept for the instruction of my people, who should possess the land, and also for other wise purposes, which purposes are known unto the Lord.Nephi kept everything that was important on his original large plates. They contained “the record of my father [he mentions his father’s journal twice], and also our journeyings in the wilderness, and the prophecies of my father; and also many of mine own prophecies…and the genealogy of his fathers [so he had also copied a good deal from the Brass Plates], and the more part of all our proceedings in the wilderness.”It appears that “journeyings” were their travels, and “proceedings” were what they did when they stopped in the various places. They spent eight years to traverse the distance of a typical four month’s journey, so there would have been a lot of story to tell. His writing the information on plates indicates that Nephi believed he was doing a necessary, permanent, and probably final job of it.Before we assume that the Small Plates are just an abridgement of the Large Plates, we ought to ask, What were the Small Plates for? The answer we usually give is that when Mormon was working on his own history, he found these plates and decided that for some reason that he didn’t know, he would stick them on at the end of his own work. The Lord had known, 2,500 years before, that they would be needed because Martin Harris would lose the precious 116 page of manuscript (D&C 10:38-42).Nephi tells us the Lord instructed him that the Small Plates should contain an account of “the ministry and the prophecies, the more plain and precious parts of them, should be written upon these plates.” That can be read: “plain-and-precious” or “plain” and “precious.” If the latter, it again calls attention to the double languages in which Nephi wrote First and Second Nephi. There are some things that are so sacred that if they are lost, their loss virtually signals the closing of that dispensation of the gospel. Interestingly, those most sacred things that must not be forgotten are also the things that must not be written, except, of course, in places that are carefully guarded—guarded physically or by a code language. Nephi seems to be saying both.Nephi’s instructions to his successors were that the plates “should be handed down from one generation to another, or from one prophet to another, until further commandments of the Lord.” In ancient Israel the chief prophet was often the king (as it was with Nephi and Benjamin), but, as in Judah, the early Nephite kings apostatized, so apparently to avoid the loss or alteration of the Small Plates, they were to be kept by the descendants of Jacob until they could safely become a part of the royal regalia.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 19:7 -- LeGrand Baker -- "they set him at naught" Author : lbaker1 Nephi 19:7?7 For the things which some men esteem to be of great worth, both to the body and soul, others set at naught and trample under their feet. Yea, even the very God of Israel do men trample under their feet; I say, trample under their feet but I would speak in other words—they set him at naught, and hearken not to the voice of his counsels.Nephi mentions this important doctrine here, but it is most unequivocally expounded by Alma. In the prayer that began “O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart,” Alma bemoans the sorry condition of those who choose to do evil (Alma 29:4-5). It is always so with prophets and other righteous men. In the beatitudes, after bringing his audience through the sequence{1} that concluded “for they shall be called [new name] the children of God” Jesus explained what would happen next. He said, “And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (3 Nephi 12:10, Matthew 5:10). Later he observed, “A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house” (Mark 6:4).—————————————FOOTNOTE{1} For a discussion of the Beatitudes as sequence see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 925-97; Second edition, p. 646-91.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 19:9 -- LeGrand Baker -- Testimony of the Savior Author : lbaker1 Nephi 19:9 ?9 And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.“Lovingkindness” is usually written as one word in the Psalms, and is often found in tandem with the phrase “tender mercies.” The word translated as “lovingkindnesses” is from the Hebrew word hesed.{1} The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament shows the power of that friendship/relationship:We may venture the conjecture that even in cases where the context does not suggest such mutuality it is nevertheless implicit, because we are dealing with the closest of human bonds.”{2} An explanation and clarification of their phrase, “dealing with the closest of human bonds,” is found in a new version of Strong’s Concordance. It reads, “hesed, unfailing love, loyal love, devotion. kindness, often based on a prior relationship, especially a covenant relationship.”{3}Even though the hesed relationship described in this psalm is between the king who speaks the words and Jehovah to whom he addresses them, it must be remembered that in the Israelite temple drama the king represented every man in the congregation. Therefore, the hesed relationship described here also evokes the terms of the covenant between Jehovah and each worthy man. That being so, it follows that this same hesed relationship also exists as an eternal, fraternal bond of each man with Jehovah, perhaps with their prophet/king, and most certainly each other. Consideration of the this-worldly continuation of those fraternal relationships brings us back to Peter’s assurance that “brotherly kindness” (philadelphia) is prerequisite to making one’s calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:1-11).6 Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses [hesed, plural]; for they have been ever of old (Psalm 25:6).Here is another example of where the phrase “of old” is a reference to the Council.{4} The prayer bears testimony that he knows that his and Jehovah’s hesed relationship is now even as it was in the beginning, at the Council in Heaven, and remains forever—unchanged:The ancient Israelites and early Christians prayed with their arms lifted heavenward. Psalm 143 associates such prayer with the Lord’s hesed:6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land.7 Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness [hesed] in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee (Psalm 143:6-8).In the Psalms, that power is often associated with the Israelite king’s temple and coronation rites.{5} In the 36th Psalm it is the “fountain of life.”5 Thy mercy [hesed], O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.6 Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O Lord, thou preservest man and beast.7 How excellent is thy lovingkindness [hesed], O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.9 For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.10 O continue thy lovingkindness [hesed] unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart (Psalms 36:5-10).—————————————FOOTNOTES{1} Katherine Doob Sakenfeld of Princeton University Seminary wrote a dissertation on “hesed” in which she argued that it meant “to do what is expected of one.” With regard to the covenant, God does what is expected (keep his covenant promises); man should also maintain “hesed” (keep his covenant promises).Katherine Doob Sakenfeld, The Meaning of Hesed in the Hebrew Bible: A New Inquiry (Missoula, Montana; Scholars Press for the Harvard Semitic Museum, 1978).{2} G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, eds., trans. David E. Green, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, 15 vols. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1986), article about hesed, 5:45-48).{3} John R. Kohlenberger III and James A. Swanson, The Strongest Strong’s, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), Hebrew dictionary # 2617.{4} Examples of scriptures that use the phrase “of old” as reference to events in the Council in Heaven are: Deuteronomy 32:7-8; Psalms 25:6-7, 68:32-33, 93:1-2, 102:24-25, Micah 5:2 is another example. The most convincing modern example is D&C 76:6 “from days of old” and its parallel “from the council in Kolob” in Joseph Smith, A Vision, Times and Seasons, February 1, 1843.{5} Other psalms were hesed is translated as lovingkindness are: Psalm 17:6-8, 48:9-10, 51:1; 36:5-10; 40:2, 11; 63:3; 69:11, 16, and 103:1-4. In Psalm 25: 7, 10 hesed is also translated as mercy.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 19:10-17 -- LeGrand Baker -- Zenos and Zenock Author : lbaker1 Nephi 19:10-17?10 And the God of our fathers, who were led out of Egypt, out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him, yea, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, yieldeth himself, according to the words of the angel, as a man, into the hands of wicked men, to be lifted up, according to the words of Zenock, and to be crucified, according to the words of Neum,{1} and to be buried in a sepulchre, according to the words of Zenos,{2} which he spake concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea, more especially given unto those who are of the house of Israel.One of the tantalizing questions raised by the Book of Mormon is, Who were the Old Testament prophets quoted in the Book of Mormon, but not mentioned in the Bible? Nephi gives us some clues about who two of the prophets are whom he is quoting.Jacob, gives his source. It is the prophet Zenos, who lived long ago in Palestine, not in the new world. He is introduced in the Book of Mormon a number of times as representative of the long line of messianic prophets who suffered persecution for his messianic teachings. He was no minor prophet; he’s cited in the Book of Mormon more than any other prophet but Isaiah.{3}—————————————FOOTNOTES{1} Nibley writes that in the old world the names of Zenock and Neum have “disappeared without a trace.” Hugh Nibley, Temple and Cosmos: 245.{2} Nibley has shown that Zenos was an Israelite prophet who lived before the time of Lehi. “The Story of Zenos,” in:?Hugh Nibley, Since Cumorah, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1988), 278-82 is the most detailed account. Other statements about Zenos can be found in:Hugh Nibley, Nibley on the Timely and the Timeless (Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1978), 156.Hugh Nibley, Of All Things! Classic Quotations from Hugh Nibley, 2nd ed., rev. and expanded, compiled and edited by Gary P. Gillum (Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1993), 90.Hugh Nibley, Old Testament and Related Studies, edited by John W. Welch, Gary P. Gillum, and Don E. Norton (Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1986), 250.Hugh Nibley, The Prophetic Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1989), 252.Hugh Nibley, Ancient Documents and the Pearl of Great Price, edited by Robert Smith and Robert Smythe (n.p., n.d.), 10.{3} Nibley, Temple and Cosmos, 245.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 19:17-22 -- LeGrand Baker -- Nephi’s Testimony Author : lbaker1 Nephi 19:17-22 ?17 Yea, and all the earth shall see the salvation of the Lord, saith the prophet; every nation, kindred, tongue and people shall be blessed.18 And I, Nephi, have written these things unto my people, that perhaps I might persuade them that they would remember the Lord their Redeemer.19 Wherefore, I speak unto all the house of Israel, if it so be that they should obtain these things.20 For behold, I have workings in the spirit, which doth weary me even that all my joints are weak, for those who are at Jerusalem; for had not the Lord been merciful, to show unto me concerning them, even as he had prophets of old, I should have perished also.21 And he surely did show unto the prophets of old all things concerning them; and also he did show unto many concerning us; wherefore, it must needs be that we know concerning them for they are written upon the plates of brass.22 Now it came to pass that I, Nephi, did teach my brethren these things; and it came to pass that I did read many things to them, which were engraven upon the plates of brass, that they might know concerning the doings of the Lord in other lands, among people of old.When human history is seen in bits and pieces—an empire here, a kingdom there; a battle, the Renaissance, or a natural disaster—it is sometimes difficult to see the hand of God in it or the premortal decisions of the Council in Heaven being played out according to plan.One of the reasons we tend not to see that is that it seems difficult to square with our strong sense of the importance of free agency. For some people there is an ideological conflict between the idea that God can move through linear time and know all things as they are, were, and will be, with the doctrine that we are each free to act according to our own wills and desires. The apparent conflict between God’s knowing and our agency is not real because we do not remember who we were then, what assignments we agreed to. Neither do we remember who our friends were there nor what role they played in the Council. Because we have no memory of our past, we are free to make independent decisions in the present. Those decisions are the product of our innate integrity rather than of an actual memory of our commitments to God and our premortal friends. Therefore, we are “placed in a state to act according to [our individual] wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good” (Alma 12:31). As Jacob admonished, “ Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life” (2 Nephi 10:23).This life is a time when we can define our Selves as though we were in a vacuum of time where only the present exists. But God moves through sacred time, and because he knows, he can accommodate for human weakness and well as for human strengths.An easy example is Nephi’s being instructed to write the small plates “for a wise purpose” that God knew but that Nephi did not. About 2,400 years later someone stole the translated manuscript of 116 pages, and that material had to be replaced by the information on the small plates. That shows that God knew there would be a problem. It implies that he knew who would be responsible. There were people who had the opportunity to assist the Prophet but who chose to betray him instead. But it does not presuppose that anyone was forced or predestined to participate in the conspiracy that resulted in those pages being lost from Joseph’s possession. Mrs. Harris had the freedom to act as she chose. God knew what her choice would be and made arrangements to thwart her designs, but he did not force her nor her husband to participate in the attempt to prevent the Prophet from fulfilling his mission. God only made arrangements so that each person could act according to his or her own will but still could not upset the overall progress of the restoration of the gospel.{1}Similar stories are told throughout the scriptures. In each instance, God gives men and women their full agency, even though he knows the source and consequences of their evil designs.The scriptures also teach that it would be a mistake to believe those persons of integrity were limited to just a few who became prophets. Alma says of the people who lived in the days of Melchizedek, “there were many, exceedingly great many, who were made pure and entered into the rest of the Lord their God” (Alma 13:10-12).When we speak of foreordination, that presupposes a responsibility one has accepted and which one has been commissioned to perform. That concept also presupposes that the time, place, circumstances, obstacles and blessings associated with that foreordination were foreknown by the Father, Jehovah, and members of the Council.To understand that continuum, we must understand it as the prophets understood it. That is, not as a history of the mortal world but as a history of our whole existence including this experience in this mortal world.—————————————FOOTNOTE{1} For a discussion of the loss of the 116 pages and the probability that Mrs. Harris was involved see my Joseph and Moroni 52-74.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 20 & Isaiah 48 -- LeGrand Baker -- An Historical Introduction Author : lbaker1 Nephi 20 & Isaiah 48?After this introduction, I have divided First Nephi 20 and 21 into the following subsections: 1. The premortal apostasy, 1 Nephi 20:1-112. Joseph Smith in the Council in Heaven, 1 Nephi 20:12-173. Apostasy preceding the Restoration, 1 Nephi 20:18 to 21:1a4. Those who will help the Prophet Joseph, 1 Nephi 21:1-65. Joseph Smith restores the Temple services, 1 Nephi 21:7-116. The Gathering of Israel, 1 Nephi 21: 12-26———————————-Notwithstanding the eternal nature of the covenant that God made with the house of David, Isaiah is reported to have prophesied that God would break that covenant and give the kingship to a non-Israelite. This is the story behind Isaiah’s purported prophecy:It is almost universally accepted by Biblical scholars that the second half of Isaiah, beginning with chapter 40, was written by a different author from the first half. There are two major reasons for this belief. The first reason is that the second half, called by them “Second Isaiah,” is different in its subject and approach. While the first half deals with nations that are contemporary with Isaiah, “Second Isaiah” is heavily dependent of the Psalms and follows a pattern that begins with the events in the Council in Heaven and continues to the Millennial reign.The second reason is that most scholars believe that “Second Isaiah” was written during the Babylonian captivity. This is evinced by that fact that the part which deals with Cyrus the Persian was written with past tense verbs, indicating that the prophesied events had already happened.Cyrus is mentioned by name twice in Isaiah, in the last verse of chapter 44 and the first verse of chapter 45. In these passages God is reported to be using the same kind of covenantal phrases to describe his relationship with Cyrus as he once used to describe his covenant with the House of David, thereby passing the kingship of Judah from the House of David to the non-Israelite Cyrus and negating God’s own covenant with David. Isaiah 48 is the conclusion of that section that clearly deals with Cyrus.However, we have a version of Isaiah 48 that was on the brass plates and therefore predates the Babylonian version. That pre-Babylonian version is 1 Nephi 20 and is substantially different from the one in the Bible. It does not support the idea that what Isaiah wrote was originally even about the Persian king. We find these differences between the two versions to be compelling evidence that the name of Cyrus and references to his kingship over Israel were secondary insertions by the later Jews, and that it was not Isaiah who wrote that Jehovah intended to break his covenant with the House of David.First Nephi 20 appears at first glance to be only slightly different from Isaiah 48 in the King James Version, but upon close examination it becomes evident that the two chapters are about entirely different subjects. To understand the differences, it is helpful to place the Bible version in its historical context.In 588 B.C., not long after Lehi and his family left Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army invaded Judah. The following year they defeated the Jews; destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple; executed many of the political, military, and religious leaders; and deported others to Babylon, leaving only the poorest people behind. The political and religious elite of the Jews were now captive slaves in or near Babylon. The period of their exile was rather humane. They were permitted to live as families, farm and engage in other business pursuits. Some even became wealthy and had political influence at court.From Jerusalem, Jeremiah sent a letter to them urging that they take full advantage of their opportunities (Jeremiah 29:4-7).Because Babylonian policy permitted the Jews to retain a coherent community life, they were able to preserve some of their culture. But the ease with which they were permitted to assimilate into Babylonian society threatened the integrity of their religion. The leaders sought to preserve their Law by modifying it and rewriting their history to conform with their new views of religion and kingship. They kept the Sabbath and continued circumcision, but they had lost their temple and could no longer practice their most important ordinances—especially those connected with the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama. It was probably during that time that the books of Moses were severely edited and the historical books in the Old Testament were written.{1}Nebuchadnezzar’s son and grandson were not competent political or military leaders. The Persians defeated a Babylonian army in a battle on the Tigris River, and then, a few weeks later, they simply walked into the city of Babylon without a fight. The Persian king, Cyrus, was a Zoroastrian and one of the most enlightened monarchs of the ancient world. He commanded his army to respect the city’s inhabitants and their property, and was greeted by the people as a deliverer rather than as a conqueror. Cyrus soon began to free captives and to send the people whom the Babylonians had displaced back to their original homelands, along with their looted temple treasures. A condition of their being permitted to return home was that they acknowledge Cyrus as king and remain subservient to the their Persian rulers.The Jews wanted to return to Jerusalem, but their covenants with Jehovah virtually precluded it. Their religion insisted that Jehovah had made an eternal covenant that David and his descendants would remain on the Jewish throne “forever.”Psalm 89 celebrates and gives the conditions of the covenant between Jehovah and the house of David. It reads in part:34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.36 His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.37 It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven.Isaiah understood that covenant would never be broken, but would remain valid until the end of time. He wrote:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people (Isaiah 55:3-4).Notwithstanding the eternal nature of the covenant that God made with the house of David, Isaiah is reported to have prophesied that God would break that covenant and give the kingship to a non-Israelite. This is the story behind Isaiah’s purported prophecy:It is almost universally accepted by Biblical scholars that the second half of Isaiah, beginning with chapter 40, was written by a different author from the first half. There are two major reasons for this belief. The first reason is that the second half, called by them “Second Isaiah,” is different in its subject and approach. While the first half deals with nations that are contemporary with Isaiah, “Second Isaiah” is heavily dependent of the Psalms and follows a pattern that begins with the events in the Council in Heaven and continues to the Millennial reign.The second reason is that most scholars believe that “Second Isaiah” was written during the Babylonian captivity. This is evinced by that fact that the part which deals with Cyrus the Persian was written with past tense verbs, indicating that the prophesied events had already happened.Cyrus is mentioned by name twice in Isaiah, in the last verse of chapter 44 and the first verse of chapter 45. In these passages God is reported to be using the same kind of covenantal phrases to describe his relationship with Cyrus as he once used to describe his covenant with the House of David, thereby passing the kingship of Judah from the House of David to the non-Israelite Cyrus and negating God’s own covenant with David. Isaiah 48 is the conclusion of that section that clearly deals with Cyrus.However, we have a version of Isaiah 48 that was on the brass plates and therefore predates the Babylonian version. That pre-Babylonian version is 1 Nephi 20 and is substantially different from the one in the Bible. It does not support the idea that what Isaiah wrote was originally even about the Persian king. We find these differences between the two versions to be compelling evidence that the name of Cyrus and references to his kingship over Israel were secondary insertions by the later Jews, and that it was not Isaiah who wrote that Jehovah intended to break his covenant with the House of David.Because the covenant was so much a part of Jewish theology, it could not easily be swept away. However, political necessity required that the terms of that covenant had to be modified just enough for the Jews to acknowledge that Cyrus, who was not an Israelite, could now be their king. Fortunately for them, just when it was most needed, the Jewish leaders in Babiylon “discovered” a document that said everything they needed it to say. It was claimed to have been written almost 200 years earlier by Isaiah, one of the most renowned prophets. There is no surviving explanation about how the document remained unknown to the Jews during all the time they were at Jerusalem and then turned up two centuries later in faraway Babylon. In the document was a “secret vision.” Isaiah was said to have prophesied that God would transfer the terms of the Davidic covenant of kingship from the house of David to a non-Israelite king. It even named Cyrus by name and said he had been chosen by Jehovah in the Council in Heaven to be king and liberator of the Jews.The “secret vision” was of the utmost importance, because such an acknowledgment of Cyrus on the part of the Jews and their prophet was a necessary pre-condition for their return to Jerusalem. It also meant that there could never be another Jewish king and consequently that there could be no celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles temple coronation drama.Josephus tells how the Jews used their newly discovered manuscript to convince Cyrus to send them and their temple treasures back to Jerusalem:This [claim that Cyrus was chosen by Jehovah] was known to Cyrus by his reading the book which Isaiah left behind him of his prophecies; for this prophet said that God had spoken thus to him in a secret vision: “My will is, that Cyrus, whom I have appointed to be king over many and great nations, send back my people to their own land, and build my temple.” This was foretold by Isaiah one hundred and forty years before the temple was demolished. Accordingly, when Cyrus read this, and admired the Divine power, an earnest desire and ambition seized upon him to fulfill what was so written; so he called for the most eminent Jews that were in Babylon, and said to them, that he gave them leave to go back to their own country, and to rebuild their city Jerusalem, and the temple of God, for that he would be their assistant, and that he would write to the rulers and governors that were in the neighborhood of their country of Judea, that they should contribute to them gold and silver for the building of the temple, and besides that, beasts for their sacrifices.{2}The verse in the King James Version that introduces the Cyrus chapters reads:That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid (Isaiah 44:28).About that verse, McKenzie observes,This is the first time Cyrus is named in the prophecy. He is called “my shepherd”; shepherd is a common title of kings in the OT and in other ancient Near Eastern literature; it is also a title of Yahweh. Cyrus is thus given the title of an Israelite king.{3}The next verse reads,Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut (Isaiah 45:1).About that verse, McKenzie observes,“The anointed of Yahweh” is the title given the Israelite king from Saul and David onward, and in particular to kings of the dynasty of David. The ceremony of anointing consecrated an object or a person. The title “anointed” passes into English as Messiah, and through the Greek as Christ. Cyrus is given the place in the history of salvation which in pre-exilic Israel was given to the king.{4}Thus, the secret prophecy of Isaiah was claimed to have transferred the kingship of Israel from David and the seed of Abraham to a gentile king. This transfer presents a glaring problem, for it violates the Lord’s covenants with David and all of his successor kings and makes God’s “eternal covenants” only as tentative as it proves to be expedient.After they had lost their right to have a king, and the Jewish kingship was transferred to a non-Israelite monarch, the Jewish High Priests assumed the religious and ceremonial roles that had once been an integral part of Israelite kingship. Mowinckel explains,In the post-exilic age the High-priests became in many respects the heirs of the kings. … In the post-exilic age it was established that the cult was the exclusive privilege of the priesthood; and the High-priest claimed kingly status through his anointing and the wearing of the diadem.{5}While Cyrus accepted the manuscript as the legitimate writings of the Prophet Isaiah, modern scholars do not. The Cyrus passages, more than anything else, are the bases for the scholars’ dividing the book of Isaiah into at least two, and often four, separate parts, each with their own author, and only the first part being written by the original Isaiah.Because the Book of Mormon quotes from the second half of Isaiah as it was written on the brass plates, we can be sure that those parts really were written by the prophet Isaiah. However, because of differences between the biblical version and the Book of Mormon version, we can be equally sure that part of that second half was written after Lehi left Jerusalem and was subsequently added to the original text.Most Bible scholars believe that the dividing line between First and Second Isaiah is chapters 36-39 that deal with Hezekiah. That seems reasonable because the subject matter, and in places the writing style, of the second half is different from the first. In the view of these scholars, an “anonymous author” called Second Isaiah, is credited with writing chapters 40-55, and is believed to have written his work sometime after the fall of Jerusalem, that is, during the Babylonian captivity.{6} Some scholars attribute the remaining chapters, 56-66, to a third and even a fourth Isaiah. Even though scholars insist such authors lived and wrote, they acknowledge that they know nothing about them, as North wrote:Nothing is known of the author, who is generally referred to as Second Isaiah, or Deutero-Isaiah, occasionally the “Babylonian Isaiah.” It is probable that he lived in Babylonia, though Palestine, and even Lebanon or Egypt, have been suggested.{7}A quick review of the last half of Isaiah shows how it was so easy to insert the Cyrus chapters. Isaiah 40 clearly takes place in the premortal Council in Heaven. Its first two verses are instructions by Elohim to the members of the Council, and that is immediately followed by the assignment given to John the Baptist to prepare the way of the Lord. With that context already established, the Cyrus chapters seem to fit very nicely.In the Bible, Isaiah 44:28 through chapter 48 deals with the foreordination of Cyrus, king of Persia, identifying him by name and outlining his mission to free the Jews from Babylon and permit them to return to Jerusalem to build the temple. But in the Book of Mormon, where Nephi quotes the Brass Plates version of Isaiah 48, that chapter is not about Cyrus but is about something else altogether.For example, in addition to the transfer of kingship to a non-Israelite king, there are some other very troubling aspects to the Bible’s Cyrus chapters. One of the most obvious is in chapter 48 which reads:I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly [“Suddenly” means without hesitation, rather than quickly], and they came to pass (Isaiah 48:3).This verse is one of the many passages that is used to support the proposition that there was a “Second Isaiah” who wrote the latter half of the book of Isaiah sometime during the Babylonian captivity. In this and similar passages, the action is described in the past tense, meaning that it had already been accomplished before or during the lifetime of the author. The implication is that the author had already watched it happen and that it is a report of a past event rather than a prophecy of the future. The Book of Mormon rendition of that verse does not present that problem. It reads,Behold, I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them. I did show them suddenly (1 Nephi 20:3).This rendition really is a prophecy. It says that an event was foretold—declared and shown in “the beginning.” There is no indication that the action had already been accomplished.The fact that Isaiah 48 was on the brass plates and quoted by Nephi is sufficient evidence that at least that portion of the Cyrus chapters was not written during the Babylonian captivity. However, the differences between the two posit that after Lehi and the brass plates left Jerusalem that chapter was altered just enough to make it be about Cyrus.{8} Still, LDS scholars have treated 1 Nephi 20 as though it were about Cyrus.Our approach will be to make a careful comparison between Isaiah 48 and 1 Nephi 20 to show how different they are, but also to demonstrate that version in the in the Book of Mormon is not the foreordination of Cyrus but rather the premortal role of the Prophet Joseph Smith.In the following analysis we will examine 1 Nephi 20 as it is. However, in the footnotes we will compare the wording of the Book of Mormon with translations of the Hebrew version in the Bible.{9}———————————–FOOTNOTES{1} For a discussion of that Jewish apostasy see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 45-74; Second edition, p. 47-65.{2} Flavious Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book XI, Chapter 1.{3} John L. McKenzie, The Anchor Bible, Second Isaiah (Garden City, New York, Doubleday, 1968), 72.{4} McKenzie, Second Isaiah, 76.{5} Sigmund Mowinckel, He that Cometh, 5.{6} McKenzie, Second Isaiah, xxiv-xxv.{7} C. R. North, “Isaiah” in The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (2:738-39).{8} The fact that L.D.S. Bible scholars recognize that the Bible’s Cyrus chapters are continued into Isaiah 48 is evidenced by footnote 14a in the L.D.S. Bible which explains, “Cyrus will do his desire, or wish.”Some LDS scholars who have addressed the question of Second Isaiah are:John Bytheway, Isaiah for Airheads (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006); Kent P. Jackson, ed., Studies in Scripture, Vol. 4, 1 Kings to Malachi (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1993), 80-85; Victor L. Ludlow, Isaiah, Prophet, Seer, and Poet (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1982), 97, 375-389, 541-548; Hugh Nibley, Since Cumorah, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah: Deseret Book, FARMS, 1988), 121-125, 198-201; Glenn L. Pearson and Reid E. Bankhead, Building Faith with the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City, Bookcraft, 1986), 41; Mark E. Petersen, Isaiah for Today (Salt Lake City, Deseret Book, 1981), 140-42; Sidney B. Sperry, Book of Mormon Compendium (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1968), 493-512; James E. Talmage, Conference Report, April 1929, Afternoon Meeting 45-47; Monte S. Nyman, Great are the Words of Isaiah (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1980), 253-57; Brigham H. Roberts, “Higher Criticism and the Book of Mormon,” Improvement Era, 1911, Vol. XIV. June, 1911. No. 8; Andrew C. Skinner, “Nephi’s Lessons to His People, The Messiah, the Land, and Isaiah 48-49 in 1 Nephi 19-22″ in Donald W. Parry and John W. Welch, eds., Isaiah in the Book of Mormon (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1998), 95-122.{9} In the following footnotes, the words in bold italics are different in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon. To show that the differences are between the brass plates and the work of the ancient editors, rather than just between the brass plates and the King James translators, we will sometimes also include translations from the Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures (Philadelphia and Jerusalem: The Jewish Publication Society, 1985); and from John L. McKenzie, The Anchor Bible, Second Isaiah, Introduction, Translation, and Notes (Garden City, New York: Doubleday,1981), 99-100.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 20:1-11 & Isaiah 48 -- LeGrand Baker -- The premortal apostasy Author : lbakerNephi 20:1-11 & Isaiah 48 ?In this discussion I have divided First Nephi 20 and 21 into the following subsections: 1. The premortal apostasy, 1 Nephi 20:1-112. Joseph Smith in the Council in Heaven, 1 Nephi 20:12-173. Apostasy preceding the Restoration, 1 Nephi 20:18 to 21:1a4. Those who will help the Prophet Joseph, 1 Nephi 21:1-65. Joseph Smith restores the Temple services, 1 Nephi 21:7-116. The Gathering of Israel, 1 Nephi 21: 12-26———————————-?1 Hearken and hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, or out of the waters of baptism, who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness.?The King James Version reads:1 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. (Isaiah 48:1-22)The speaker in this chapter is Jehovah himself. That is made clear by a number of passages.Examples are: “Behold, I have declared the former things from the beginning” (v. 3) ; “For mine own sake, yea, for mine own sake will I do this, for I will not suffer my name to be polluted, and I will not give my glory unto another” (v. 11) ; “And thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I have sent him” (v. 17). Thus, it is Jehovah who commands, “Hearken and hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel.”“Called” denotes a new covenant name.{1} There is always a new name with a new covenant. Moses explained that the covenant name of Israel was first established in the Council in Heaven.7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.8 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel (Deuteronomy 32:7-8).The name and the covenant associated with it are an eternal identity of those who serve the Lord. The covenants are eternal and apparently so are the ordinances associated with them. Nephi used the phrase “one eternal round” to explain the consistency in the way God teaches us. He wrote,19 For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times [Nephi’s present] as in times of old [at the Council], and as well in times of old as in times to come [from the beginning to the end]; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round (1 Nephi 10:19).Nibley understood that “one eternal round” is “typified by the Sun in its course. But instead of an eternal return to the starting point, the course is depicted as an ever-mounting spiral—eternal progression.”{2}Another way of visualizing it is as a series of ever-expanding concentric circles with oneself at the center, and where the ordinances and covenants are not repeated but made again and again—each the same yet different, because each time they are specifically relevant to the circumstances in which we then find ourselves. In this world, for example, we are inclosed in a veil of forgetfulness. Our memories are obscured but not obliterated. In the ordinances and covenants we make anew with God, we re-commit to keeping the commandments that have brought us this far so that we may progress yet further. Imbedded deeply at the root of all those covenants, ordinances, and commandments is the understanding that eternal growth comes from the giving and receiving the triad of truth, light, and love. That is, as we attain more truth, we exude more light, and the light we exude is love. If this ever ceases to be so, then we cease to grow. Eternal progression is an eternal assimilation of more and more truth that thereby we may be more and more “a light to this people.” But that light is not and can never be a self-aggrandizing symbol of self. Rather it must be a union with others, an acceleration of light with light, an embrace of love. A function of the commandments, ordinances, and covenants is to help us to be empowered to do that.The dominant theme of 1 Nephi 20 is the covenants we made with God and he made with us while we were in the spirit world, while we could still remember and in preparation to our coming to this physical earth. Interwoven into that theme are some important details about the “war in heaven”{3} and more specifically about the part the Prophet Joseph Smith played in that struggle. Then, as now, the contest between good and evil was not so much a battle of power and will as it was of faithfulness, integrity, and testimonies of those who kept their covenants.{4}Every child in Seminary knows the basic details of the story of the war in heaven, and as adults, we still know little more than those basic details. The scriptures tell that there was a war, who the main players were, what principles were at stake, and what the outcome was, but other than that, they say very little.God explained to Moses that there were two major principles. One was the agency of man and the other was who would get the glory.1 And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.2 But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me—Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.3 Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;4 And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice (Moses 4:1-4).To Abraham, the Lord explained that Satan tried to negate the efficacy of the Atonement:27 And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first.28 And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate; and, at that day, many followed after him (Abraham 3:27-28).In Doctrine and Covenants 76, the Prophet Joseph wrote that the ultimate principle was who should rule. It says Satan “rebelled against God, and sought to take the kingdom of our God and his Christ.”25 And this we saw also, and bear record, that an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the Only Begotten Son whom the Father loved and who was in the bosom of the Father, was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son,26 And was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him—he was Lucifer, a son of the morning.{5}27 And we beheld, and lo, he is fallen! is fallen, even a son of the morning!28 And while we were yet in the Spirit, the Lord commanded us that we should write the vision; for we beheld Satan, that old serpent, even the devil, who rebelled against God, and sought to take the kingdom of our God and his Christ—29 Wherefore, he maketh war with the saints of God, and encompasseth them round about (D&C 76:25-48).In his poem, A Vision, the Prophet Joseph said it a little differently:And I saw and bear record of warfare in heaven;For an angel of light, in authority great,Rebcll’d against Jesus and sought for his power,But was thrust down to woe from his godified state.And the heavens all wept, and the tears dropp’d like dew,That Lucifer, son of the morning, had fell!Yea, is fallen! is fallen and become, oh, alas!The son of perdition, the devil of hell!{6}John describes Satan as a great red dragon,{7} and gives us much information about the conflict.3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth….7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death (Revelation 12:1-17, emphasis added).When the seventy returned from their mission,18 And he [the Savior] said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven (Luke 10:18).From Jude we learn:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day (Jude 1:1-25).The Lord described the sons of perdition at the time of judgment as those who will suffer the same fate. He said:27 And the righteous shall be gathered on my right hand unto eternal life; and the wicked on my left hand will I be ashamed to own before the Father;28 Wherefore I will say unto them—Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.29 And now, behold, I say unto you, never at any time have I declared from mine own mouth that they should return, for where I am they cannot come, for they have no power (D& C 29:27-29).Isaiah described Satan’s final fate as that of a total failure:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! Art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations!13 For thou hast said in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north;14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and shall consider thee, and shall say: Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms?17 And made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof, and opened not the house of his prisoners?18 All the kings of the nations, yea, all of them, lie in glory, every one of them in his own house.19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and the remnant of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcass trodden under feet.20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land and slain thy people; the seed of evil-doers shall never be renowned (Isaiah 14:12-20 as recorded in 2 Nephi 24:12-20).The description of the principles behind the war in heaven that is described in 1 Nephi 20 are different from those described elsewhere. In this version the confrontation is not directly between God and Satan; rather, it is between the premortal prophets and Satan’s followers. The major issue is that they do not keep their covenants they have made with God, but that they do keep the covenants the rebellious have made with Satan in the name of God!{8}That theme in 1 Nephi 20 begins with the question of the validity of covenant names. There it is apparent, as it is in other places, that Isaiah is making an important distinction between the name designations “Jacob” and “Israel.” The key to understanding that distinction seems to be this: Jacob’s name was Jacob before he covenanted to be the servant of the Lord; then, as an evidence of the covenant, the Lord changed his name to Israel.Even though the context of Isaiah’s words in this chapter is our premortal world, it is useful, in order to learn what Isaiah is talking about, to read how Jacob’s name was changed in this world. There are two accounts in the Old Testament. The first is a story filled with symbolism. It begins,And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day (Genesis 32:24).But it concludes by identifying the “man” as God.And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved (Genesis 32:30).The story that is bracketed by those two verses is about names and covenants.27 And he [God] said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved Genesis 32:27-30).Those verses do not say that covenant names were exchanged, only that Jacob told God his name. However, when it happened a second time, Jacob’s name was changed and he was also told God’s name-title: “God Almighty.” Along with his new name, Jacob was also given the priesthood birthright blessings of Abraham.9 And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padan-aram, and blessed him.10 And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;12 And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land (Genesis 35:8-12).Psalm 105 makes an interesting distinction between the blessings given to “Jacob” and those given to “Israel.” The implication seems to be that to Jacob he gave a law which needed to be followed, then to Israel was given a covenant of its fulfillment. However, this may only be an example of synonymus parallism.6 O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen.7 He is the Lord our God: his judgments are in all the earth.8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.9 Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac;10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant (Psalm 105:6-10).Psalm 135 suggests the same thing.4 For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.5 For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods (Psalm 135:4-5).Isaiah explains the symbolism of that relationship.He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit (Isaiah 27:6).That symbolism is further explained by Isaiah in his magnificent Messianic prophecy.6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel (Isaiah 9:6-8).The meaning of the word “Israel” is best understood from Genesis 32 where it says, “For as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” But probably the full meaning would include all the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant in chapter 35.In addition to covenants in the premortal world, we know that there were ordinances performed: foreordinations (Alma 13), and the Savior was anointed (D&C 138:42). President Joseph Fielding Smith quoted Paul to show that there was also a church there, with all the implications that “church” implies. Of the premortal church, President Smith wrote,It is reasonable to believe that there was a Church organization there. The heavenly beings were living in a perfectly arranged society. Every person knew his place. Priesthood, without any question, had been conferred and the leaders were chosen to officiate. Ordinances pertaining to that pre-existence were required and the love of God prevailed. Under such conditions it was natural for our Father to discern and choose those who were most worthy and evaluate the talents of each individual. He knew not only what each of us could do, but also what each of us would do when put to the test and when responsibility was given us. Then, when the time came for our habitation on mortal earth, all things were prepared and the servants of the Lord chosen and ordained to their respective missions. Paul said to the Ephesian Saints:Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. –Eph. 1:3-4.{9}We probably learn the name of that church from Paul, who wrote,22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect (Hebrews 12:22-23).The Prophet Joseph, in his description of the three degrees of glory, also wrote of the church of the firstborn. And, like Paul, his description is a projection into the future eternities. However, he describes it in much the same way Paul describes the premortal ordinances of the church. Paul wrote,3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).”D&C 76 reads,54 They are they who are the church of the Firstborn.55 They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things … all are theirs and they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s (D&C 76: 54-59).Paul wrote, “ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,” and explains that the sealing was an “earnest of our inheritance (Ephesians 113-14).” An earnest is a conditional contract. But the D&C says they have “overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise (v 53)” .The D&C goes on to explain,94 They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace;95 And he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion (D&C 76:94-95).In the context of John’s testimony which is about the premortal Savior (John 1:1-13 and D&C 93:1-18), the Lord promised,3 Wherefore, I now send upon you another Comforter, even upon you my friends, that it may abide in your hearts, even the Holy Spirit of promise; which other Comforter is the same that I promised unto my disciples, as is recorded in the testimony of John.4 This Comforter is the promise which I give unto you of eternal life, even the glory of the celestial kingdom;5 Which glory is that of the church of the Firstborn, even of God, the holiest of all, through Jesus Christ his Son (D&C 88:3-5).Further confirmation of that is found in Section 78, which reads,2 And listen to the counsel of him who has ordained you from on high, [then instructions are given and the Savior concludes,]….20 Wherefore, do the things which I have commanded you, saith your Redeemer, even the Son Ahman, who prepareth all things before he taketh you;21 For ye are the church of the Firstborn, and he will take you up in a cloud, and appoint every man his portion.22 And he that is a faithful and wise steward shall inherit all things. Amen (D&C 78:2, 20-22 ).Thus it appears that “they who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn (D&C 76:94), whether they are there before or after this earth life—or both. The conformation of that is found in Doctrine and Covenants 93 which reads,21 And now, verily I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn;22 And all those who are begotten through me are partakers of the glory of the same, and are the church of the Firstborn.23 Ye were also in the beginning with the Father; that which is Spirit, even the Spirit of truth (D&C 93:21-23).As Alma 13 makes it clear that the foreordinations included the High Priesthood, we can know that the members of the premortal church had the Melchizedek Priesthood. That fact also makes this statement in Section 107 relevant to church members in all stages of our existence.18 The power and authority of the higher, or Melchizedek Priesthood, is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church—19 To have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to have the heavens opened unto them, to commune with the general assembly and church of the Firstborn, and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant (D&C 107:1-37).{10}Knowing that there was a fully organized church in the spirit world, it now becomes very reasonable to believe that spirit people living on a premortal spirit earth should make covenants in order to avail themselves of the blessings of the Atonement. Therefore, the next statement in 1 Nephi 20 is more understandable:and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, or out of the waters of baptism, who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness (1 Nephi 20:1).The words “or out of the waters of baptism” seem not to have been written by Isaiah and, accordingly, were probably not on the Brass Plates. They did not appear in the first (1830), second (1837), or the first European (1841) editions of the Book of Mormon. (The 1841 European edition was based on the 1837 rather than on the 1840 American edition.) However, in 1840, when the third American edition was published, and more than two years after the Saints in Nauvoo had been doing vicarious baptisms for their dead, Joseph added these words, “or out of the waters of baptism,” in parenthesis.{11} Thereby making it clear that these people about whom Isaiah was speaking had actually been baptized. That phrase, “or out of the waters of baptism,” remain in the present edition of the Book of Mormon, but the parenthesis which were around it have been removed.The idea of pre-earth spirit people being baptized in the waters of their “pre-existence” spirit world might cause some eyebrows to be lifted. “Can spirit people be baptized in spirit water?” is the question. The answer in the first instance is “yes,” but in the second instance is “no.” The problem is that the question itself is muddled by a correct understanding of the need for proxy baptism being performed on this physical earth for those who have died and are now in a post-mortal world of spirits. We understand that even though a person dies and leaves this mortal life, if he was “accountable” here, his physical body must still be baptized by proxy in the physical waters of this world, and there can be no “acceptable” baptism in lieu of that. The “dead” spirit person cannot be baptized in the waters of the spirit world to which he goes when he lives on this mortal earth. The principle, as far as we understand it, is this: If in this life we are “accountable,” then before our physical bodies can be raised to eternal glory, they must first have been baptized (either in fact or by proxy) in the physical waters of this world upon which they were born. As far as we can tell, the revelations from the Lord leave no question about that point.The question of baptism in the premortal spirit world is different from that. The premortal spirit world was like this one. “For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth. [Moses 3:5]” It seems reasonable that people who lived on that spirit world should be baptized in the water of that spirit world. Our verse, 1 Nephi 20:1, as the Prophet Joseph modified it, seems to insist that is so.President Joseph Fielding Smith apparently concurred. He wrote that ordinances in the premortal existence were important, just as they are here.During the ages in which we dwelt in the premortal state we not only developed our various characteristics and showed our worthiness and ability, or the lack of it, but we were also where such progress could be observed. It is reasonable to believe that there was a Church organization there….Priesthood, without any question, had been conferred and the leaders were chosen to officiate. Ordinances pertaining to that pre-existence were required and the love of God prevailed.{12}Does “baptism” actually mean “baptism”? We suspect so. Joseph Smith said the ordinances of the priesthood are as unchanging as the priesthood itself.Ordinances instituted in the heavens before the foundation of the world, in the priesthood, for the salvation of men, are not to be altered or changed. All must be saved on the same principles.It is for the same purpose that God gathers together His people in the last days, to build unto the Lord a house to prepare them for the ordinances and endowments, washings and anointings, etc. One of the ordinances of the house of the Lord is baptism for the dead. God decreed before the foundation of the world that the ordinances should be administered in a font prepared for the purpose in the house of the Lord….If a man gets a fullness of the priesthood of God he has to get it in the same way that Jesus Christ obtained it, and that was by keeping all the commandments and obeying all the ordinances of the house of the Lord.Where there is no change of priesthood, there is no change of ordinances, says Paul.{13}Isaiah understood that the spirit bodies we had before we came to this physical earth also had to be “redeemed” through appropriate ordinances. And that one of those ordinances was baptism in the waters of the spiritual earth on which it was created. That idea seems to be perfectly consistent with other scriptures which refer to ordinances and ordinations during our pre-earth life. In the scriptures we not only find mention of a premortal church (D&C 93:21-25), but also of ordination to the priesthood (Alma 13:1-3), anointing (Isaiah 61:1-3, with Luke 4:16-30 and D&C 138:42), gatherings or meetings, some with singing (Isaiah 6, 1 Nephi 1:8), receiving a calling and being “sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians chapter 1) and temples (Isaiah 6:1; Alma 13:1 with Alma 12:29-35; see also Hebrews 8:2; 9:11-12, 24; Revelation 7:15. These latter references to temples are not necessarily premortal, but they do suggest the temples are a permanent fixture of the heavens.). All this suggests that when we were in that premortal spirit world, and before we could be born into this present world as clean and innocent babies, free from any past sin or transgression, we had to “trust in Christ,” and formally accept the blessings of the Atonement{14} through covenants and ordinances, just as we do here.Then, as now, the ordinances were both an evidence of the covenants and a method of instruction. The Prophet Joseph explained:The organization of the spiritual and heavenly worlds, and of spiritual and heavenly beings, was agreeable to the most perfect order and harmony: their limits and bounds were fixed irrevocably, and voluntarily subscribed to in their heavenly estate by themselves, and were by our first parents subscribed to upon the earth. Hence the importance of embracing and subscribing to principles of eternal truth by all men upon the earth that expect eternal life.. ? ? ? ?I assure the Saints that truth, in reference to these matters, can and may be known through the revelations of God in the way of His ordinances, and in answer to prayer.{15}To “swear” means to take an oath, or to participate in making a covenant. To swear by the name of the Lord is to make a sacred oath. Isaiah accuses these people of mentioning “the God of Israel” (a very important name-title here) yet the oath they take is neither an act of truth nor of righteousness (zedek)—they are not only being deceitful about it, but they are not even doing it in the right way or with the right authority.2 Nevertheless, they call themselves of the holy city, but they do not stay themselves upon the God of Israel, who is the Lord of Hosts; yea, the Lord of Hosts is his name.?The King James Version reads:2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The Lord of hosts is his name. (Isaiah 48:1-22)?The holy city is Zion. Notwithstanding the apostasy described in verse one, these people are still claiming to be Zion. That is typical. Apostate people usually claim it is not themselves, but the church leaders who have strayed from the truth.Even though they wish to identify themselves as those who made and honored their covenants, these people do not stay/anchor/secure themselves upon the God with whom they have made their covenants.The ancient Jewish editors removed the words “do not” from the text—and that tells us a good deal about the spiritual condition of the editors.The words “do not” in the second verse indicates that these same people had already broken the covenants they had made, but were still using their sacred oaths as a mask behind which they hoped to hide their deception.The name, knowing the name, living true to the name, are all code for keeping the covenants that are represented by the name. Alma explained to the people of Zarahemla,38 Behold, I say unto you, that the good shepherd doth call you; yea, and in his own name he doth call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd, to the name by which ye are called, behold, ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd.39 And now if ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd, of what fold are ye? Behold, I say unto you, that the devil is your shepherd, and ye are of his fold; and now, who can deny this? Behold, I say unto you, whosoever denieth this is a liar and a child of the devil.40 For I say unto you that whatsoever is good cometh from God, and whatsoever is evil cometh from the devil.41 Therefore, if a man bringeth forth good works he hearkeneth unto the voice of the good shepherd, and he doth follow him; but whosoever bringeth forth evil works, the same becometh a child of the devil, for he hearkeneth unto his voice, and doth follow him.42 And whosoever doeth this must receive his wages of him; therefore, for his wages he receiveth death, as to things pertaining unto righteousness, being dead unto all good works (Alma 5:38-42).Here, Isaiah makes a double point of saying that Jehovah’s name is “Lord of Hosts.” It is his covenant name and the one most relevant to the context of this story. The covenant names are very significant here. In the name “Lord of Hosts,” “Lord” is Jehovah who was anointed at the Council in Heaven as King of premortal as well as mortal Israel.{16} The word “hosts” is translated from the Hebrew word that means armies, either preparing for or engaging in war. We were told in the previous verse that the people were “called by the name of Israel.” So we know both covenant names and from that we can deduce the terms of the covenant.The exact meaning of Israel is uncertain. In various sources we find that Israel means “One who prevails with{17} God or God prevails”;{18} “he shall rule as God.{19} The sense of all the definitions is the same, that is, Israel is one who acts in God’s behalf so that God may prevail. Given the other covenant name, Lord of Hosts, it apparently implies that Israel will support God in battle. Another definition of Israel is simply “God fighteth.”{20}If that is correct, then in these two new names it is easy to identify the nature of the covenant. God is master of the armies, the people will assist him in securing his objective. In this “War in Heaven” setting, God’s covenant name, Lord of Hosts (Commander of the armies) has an obvious relationship with their name, Israel, “God prevails.”The meanings of these names suggest that the covenant in question has to do with war, specifically, with that war which is a struggle against Satan for the souls of men, which was waged in the spirit world before we came to this earth, and continues here.3 Behold, I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them. I did show them suddenly.The King James Version reads:3 I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass (Isaiah?48:1-22).Because verse 3 in the Bible is clearly in past tense, it is seen by scholars as a major evidence that “Second Isaiah” was written during or after the Babylonian captivity.Since verses 1 and 2 deal with ordinances, specifically baptism and covenant names, it seems logical that the “former things” are the ordinances and covenants he has referred to.These ordinances and covenants were “declared…from the beginning.The context leaves little question about which “beginning” it is talking about. Except for the actual creation story in Genesis, even the 48th chapter of Isaiah has a greater concentration of phrases like “the beginning” than in almost any other place in the Bible. Examples include: v. 3, 5, 7, 16 “from the beginning;” v. 13 “the foundation of the earth;” v. 8, “a transgressor from the womb;” v. 11, “and I will not give my glory unto another [a clear reference to the same event as Moses 4:1-4];” and in v. 1, 12, 15, and 21:1 “called” meaning fore-ordained.The phrase “the beginning” has a meaning that is consistent throughout much of the scriptures. For example: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” Genesis 1:1; “In the beginning was the Word…and without him was not any thing made that was made,” John 1:1-3; “from the beginning…before the world was,” Abraham 3:21-2; and “I saw his glory, that he was in the beginning, before the world was,” in Doctrine and Covenants 93:7. Thus “the beginning” appears to designate a place in time (or if not in time at least in the sequence of events of our “age”) which is clearly defined and consistently used in the scriptures. It means “before the foundation of the earth.” Its foundation was the spirit world which was first created under the direction of Jehovah. This physical earth was created after the pattern of that spirit world. So in this kind of context, “before the foundation” means at the Council held in Kolob.{21} before either the spiritual or physical earth was created. It may go back even further, as in D&C 76: “those things which were from the beginning before the world was, which were ordained of the Father, through his Only Begotten Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, even from the beginning (D&C 76:13 see also 93:7).Some of the proceedings of that Council are described in Abraham 3:22-28. During those meetings the Plan was finalized and Satan was expelled. Thereafter, “they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth.” (Abraham 4:1).and they [instructions about the ordinances and covenants] went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them. I did show them suddenly.The Hebrew translated “suddenly” does not mean quickly, it means without hesitation. The way “these commandments” were “shown” is described in Alma 12:29-35.4 And I did it [I revealed the ordinances] because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;The King James Version reads:4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; (Isaiah 48:1-22)The words, “And I did it” are a reference to showing the ordinances and covenants. Those words are removed from the Bible just as “show” is removed from v. 3.The people about whom Isaiah was complaining are exceedingly proud. He just described them as having a neck which is an iron sinew, and brow of brass. That is, they will neither bow the head nor be delighted with the truth.5 And I have even from the beginning declared to thee; before it came to pass I showed them thee; and I showed them for fear lest thou shouldst say—Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image hath commanded them.{26}?The King James Version reads:5 I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. (Isaiah 48:1-22)The referent for “them” is the true ordinances and covenants from which they have apostatized.{22} Our knowing that puts this and the next verses in their proper context and makes them much easier to understand.“Even from the beginning” the plan was “declared.” Here, as elsewhere, “the beginning” refers to the beginning of this system’s creation by the Savior and the Council held in Kolob,{23} as detailed in the Book of Abraham 3:22-5:7. “Declared” is a stronger word than “taught.” It suggests both teaching and bearing testimony. This message was also “showed.” There are several examples in the Book of Mormon of how the principles of the gospel might be both taught and shown. One is in Alma where he reminds Zeezrom of the covenants he had made (Alma 12:1-35). Another is when the Savior appeared in 3 Nephi. A third is in Moroni 10:28-31.Isaiah writes that this instruction was declared and shown “from the beginning,” so those who refused to obey would be without excuse. They could not attribute either the Plan or the ordinances and covenants associated with it to the false god whom they had chosen to worship. Isaiah continues to quote God,and I showed them for fear lest thou shouldst say–mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image hath commanded them.The idea that these people in the premortal world worshiped a false god is an amazing one, yet it must be true, for “his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth” (Revelation 12:4). The struggle continues even now. As Paul wrote, “the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:4).The extended power of that false god is known by Jude who says that some of his followers were “ordained” to come to this earth to become part of the true church with the object of trying to destroy it from the inside (Jude 1:1-6, John 8:43-45, Moses 5:22-24).6 Thou hast seen and heard all this; and will ye not declare them? And that I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things,{24} and thou didst not know them.The King James Version reads:6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. (Isaiah 48:1-22)The “hidden things” are, of course, the ordinances and covenants associated with the premortal temple services. There is ample evidence that before we came here we not only were foreordained to the priesthood and to fulfill certain responsibilities while in this world, but we also made covenants and ordinances relating to the enabling powers of the Atonement. Examples are:The Savior was anointed at the Council in Heaven. Psalm 45:7-8,{25} Isaiah 61:1, D&C 138:42.Baptism in the premortal spirit world: 1 Nephi 20:1.King and queen foreordained at the Council: Psalm 45:3-5, 10-12.{26}The covenant of the law of consecration at the Council: Psalm 82.{27}Isaiah receives an assignment at the Council: Isaiah 6:8-12 and 2 Nephi 16:8-12.{28}Premortal priesthood in Alma 13.{29}The meek are those who keep their premortal covenants in Psalm 25.{30}Premortal temple services in Psalm 23:3.{31}“And that I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things.” In this context it appears that the hidden things have to do with the ordinances he has been discussion. These are things that have been hidden from the foundation of the world. They were hidden then, they are hidden now, and will always be—but they are only hidden from those who do not obey God’s commandments. Then he adds that he has “shown you” the mysteries of godliness, which are the key to understanding all else, and you have chosen not to understand—“and thou didst not know them.” After one is shown hidden things, to choose not to know them is very dangerous, as Alma warned Zeezrom, “Now this [choosing to not know the mysteries] is what is meant by the chains of hell (Alma 12:10-13).6. Thou hast seen and heard all this [all the things that had been taught from the beginning] ; and will ye not declare them?{32}The Lord’s accusation against these people is severe: You have seen and heard all these magnificent things from the beginning, even hidden things; you have covenants regarding your deportment toward them, yet you will not acknowledge/testify/teach/declare them, even though you have covenanted to do so.7 They are created now, and not from the beginning, even before the day when thou heardest them not they were declared unto thee, lest thou shouldst say— Behold I knew them.The King James Version reads:7 They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. (Isaiah 48:7)Since “they” were not created from the beginning, the referent must be to the false ordinances of the false god. In the next phrase, “even before the day when thou heardest them not they were declared unto thee,” the referent to “them” returns to the true ordinances. So the verse reads:7 They [the counterfeit ordinances and covenants] are created now, and not from the beginning, even before the day when thou heardest them [the true ordinances and covenants] not they were declared unto thee, lest thou shouldst say—Behold I knew them.This depicts a situation that is not at all unlike those in this world. The Lord knows how people will respond to his teachings, but his knowing that does not preclude his giving them a full opportunity to make that decision in their own time and own environment. Here he tells them, “I told you the true ordinances and covenants before you even heard about the false ones.”They were declared unto thee, lest thou shouldst say— Behold I knew them.”8 Yea, and thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time thine ear was not opened; for I knew that thou wouldst deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.The King James Version reads the same way.“I knew (past tense) that thou wouldst (future tense) deal very treacherously, and wast (past tense) called a transgressor from the womb.” The Lord knew what they would do because of what they had done before they were born. Which born? is a very interesting question. Given the context in which this statement is made and the fact that their birth onto our physical earth had not happened yet, the conclusion must be that they were “called a transgressor” from before their birth as spirits—that is, they were rebellious even as intelligences.{33}The Lord’s accusation to those rebellious men and women in the premortal spirit world, “for I knew that thou wouldst deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb,” was based on his knowledge of their past as well as his foreknowledge of their attitudes in their own futures. But God never stops anyone from progressing. The decision to follow his commandments or not follow them must be their own. Even though he knows the outcome, he always gives each of us the absolute opportunity to choose.9 Nevertheless, for my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain from thee, that I cut thee not off.{41}The King James Version Reads:9 For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. (Isaiah 48:1-22).The conjunction “nevertheless” in the Book of Mormon continues the chain of ideas that is not found in the Old Testament.“Nevertheless, for my name’s sake”: There is always a new name associated with a new covenant or a change in status. As at the beginning of this chapter, Jehovah identified himself as “Lord of Hosts” and those with whom he made the covenant as “Israel.”“For my name’s sake” means for the sake of the covenant with which the name is associated. It is almost always true that when one finds the word “name” used like this in a temple setting, one can substitute the word “covenant” for the word “name” without changing the meaning of the sentence. Thus, it could read “for my covenant’s sake will I defer mine anger.”“And for my praise will I refrain from thee, that I cut thee not off.” The Hebrew word translated “praise” means to give praise or adoration,{34} and in the psalms is often used in conjunction with music and singing.{35}In 1 Nephi 20, even though the word hesed may also be written as chesed) is not used there, it is evident from the context that we are still in the chapter’s covenant/temple context. Therefore, the Lord said: “for my praise will I refrain from thee, that I cut thee not off.”10 For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.{44}?The King James Version reads:10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction (Isaiah 48:1-22).Once again, the “for” in the Book of Mormon continues the chain of ideas. In the Old Testament, the “not with silver” pulls our minds away from the Atonement and makes it be our refining with physical burdens.From the Bible version in the Cyrus context, we get the clear message that the refining is our earthly problems that will ultimately be good for us. That is a good interpretation because what it asserts is often true. In the version that was on the brass plates, this was about the issues of the people in the premortal spirit world. Nevertheless, ultimately it is the furnace of Christ’s affliction, not of our own, in which we are refined. The Atonement happened in sacred and in linear time. In sacred time because it is infinite and eternal; in linear time because the event happened on this earth, in Gethsemane and on the cross. We get glimpses of the fire of that furnace in the scriptures:38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me (Matthew 26:38-39).35 And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.36 And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt (Mark 14:35-36).44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground (Luke 22:42-44)18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—19 Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men (D&C 19:18-19).11 For mine own sake, yea, for mine own sake will I do this, for I will not suffer my name to be polluted, and I will not give my glory unto another.{45}?The King James Version reads:11 For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another. (Isaiah 48:1-22)Here again, the word “name” can be read “covenant” without changing the meaning. It would read: “I will not suffer my covenant to be polluted.”Even though this chapter is virtually peppered with phrases like “in the beginning,” it is this verse and the declaration, “I will not give my glory unto another” that most firmly plants the chapter’s context in the war in the heaven. It speaks to the same event as the book of Moses.1 And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor (Moses 4:1).The rebelliousness that was characteristic of some people in the premortal world continued into this world. In the time of Lehi, Jeremiah quoted the Lord, expressing his sorrow that his people had turned their backs on their own spiritual potential. He wrote,For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the Lord; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear (Jeremiah 13:9-11).———————————–FOOTNOTES{1} Examples are 3 Nephi 12:9 and Isaiah 61:3. For a discussion of the importance of new covenant names, and that a new name changes a person by giving him a new identity, see Bruce H. Porter, and Stephen D. Ricks. “Names in Antiquity: Old. New, and Hidden.” In By Study and Also by Faith: Essays in Honor of Hugh W Nibley on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, 2 vols., edited by John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks. 1 :501-22. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book & FARMS, 1990.{2} Hugh Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1975), 184.{3} For a discussion of the pre-mortal war in heaven, see Neil Forsyth, The Old Enemy, Satan and the Combat Myth (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1987).{4} That is shown by John the Beloved:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death (Revelation 12:10-11).{5} In both verses 26 and 27, Lucifer is called “a son of the morning.” In Isaiah 14:12 and 2 Nephi 24:12, he is called simply “son of the morning.” But nowhere in the scriptures is he called “the son of the morning.”{6} Joseph Smith, A Vision, published in Times and Seasons, February 1, 1843.{7} Enoch also describes him as “very red.” Secrets of Enoch 26:2.{8} We are told they “swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness” (1 Nephi 20:1).It is a time-honored tactic of Satan to represent himself as an emissary from God. He teaches men that it is God’s will that they should do evil. An example is: “And Cain loved Satan more than God. And Satan commanded him, saying: Make an offering unto the Lord” (Moses 5:18). In that example, Satan did not deny God or ask Cain to do so; rather, he simply told Cain there was an alternative way of keeping God’s commandments. We see that tactic used with great success all around us. Indeed, we see it used all over the world among many religions and in many nations.{9} Joseph Fielding Smith, Way to Perfection, 50-51.{10} For additional information about the Church of the Firstborn, see:Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr., eds., Alma, the Testimony of the Word (Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1992), 74.James E. Talmage, Articles of Faith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981), 83.Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 8:154. “The ordinances of the house of God are expressly for the Church of the Firstborn.”Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1976), 237. “….so on to the highest order of the Melchizedek Priesthood, setting forth the order pertaining to the Ancient of Days, and all those plans and principles by which any one is enabled to secure the fullness of those blessings which have been prepared for the Church of the Firstborn, and come up and abide in the presence of the Eloheim in the eternal worlds.”{11} The phrase “or the waters of baptism” was first added to the text in the Nauvoo 1840 edition (Royal Skousen, ed., The Book of Mormon, The Earliest Text [New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 2009], 752.)Nibley says that it is reported that Parley P. Pratt made the suggestion to add the phrase. Since Cumorah, 133.{12} Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection, Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1963, 50-51.{13} Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 308{14} The Lord told the Prophet Joseph:38 Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning; and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God (Doctrine and Covenants 93:38).{15} Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith 325. Italics added.{16} The name-titles Messiah and Jesus both mean “The Anointed One.” The Savior’s premortal anointing as King is is acknowledge in Psalm 45, where the earthly king does obeisance to Jehovah and says his garments are still fragrant with the perfumes of the anointing oil. Isaiah 61:1 mentions the anointing and D&C 138:42 quotes that verse and clarifies that it was Jehovah who was anointed.{17} The “with” is ambiguous. It could mean “against God” or “beside God in God’s behalf.” The Strongest Strong suggests the same ambiguity “he struggles with God.”{18} Dictionary in 1983 LDS Bible.{19} Strong # 3478.{20} Dictionary in 1953 LDS Bible. Neither the Anchor Bible Dictionary nor the Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible suggest a meaning for the word.{21} D&C 76:5-7 reads,5 For thus saith the Lord—I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end.6 Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory.7 And to them will I reveal all mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom from days of old, and for ages to come, will I make known unto them the good pleasure of my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom.When the Prophet Joseph wrote that vision in poetic form, he rendered verses 6 and 7 as follows:That serve me in righteousness true to the end;Eternal’s their glory and great their reward.I’ll surely reveal all my myst’ries to them —The great hidden myst’ries in my kingdom stor’d;From the council in Kolob, to time on the earth,And for ages to come unto them I will showMy pleasure and will, what the kingdom will doEternity’s wonders they truly shall know.(The poem is called “A Vision” and was published in the Times and Seasons, February 1, 1843).For additional insights on the events in the premortal world see Abraham 3:22-4:1, Alma 13:1-9, and John Taylor’s editorial called “Origin, Object, and Destiny of Women” in The Mormon, New York, August 29, 1857.{22} “Them” is repeated twice in this verse, in sharp contrast to “it” in the Old Testament which is a reference to their pride in verse 4. Even though one could not discover the ordinances and covenants in the Old Testament wording, they were clearly shown on the brass plates.{23} See above, quotes from D&C 76:5-7 and Joseph Smith poem, “A Vision” for evidence that the Council was held in Kolob.{24} The “hidden things” in verses 6 and 7 are of the utmost importance to scholars who believe that this was written by “Second Isaiah.” In his Article on “Isaiah” in The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (2:738-39), C. R. North explains why these verses from Isaiah 48 are the key to the scholars’ belief that the chapter was written in the sixth century B.C, that is, during the Babylonian captivity. He reasons,A prophecy of sixteen consecutive chapters, giving a detailed account of what was to happen two centuries after it was written, would be unique in the prophetical writings, and it is difficult to see what purpose it could serve for Isaiah’s contemporaries. Scholars who conclude that it dates from the sixth century B.C. are as devout and conscientious as those who believe it was written in the eighth, and they are equally persuaded that it is the “word of God.” Their case rests finally upon 48:6-7:From this time forth I make you hear new things,hidden things which you have not known.They are created now, not long ago; before today you have never heard of them.If the passage was written by the eighth-century Isaiah, and if the “new things” relate to the time of Cyrus, it could not be said: “You have never heard of them,” unless, of course, chs. 40-55 were “hidden” in the sense that they were not put into circulation but went “underground” for nearly two centuries, to be brought to light during the Exile. But the conception of “hidden things” as “sealed apocrypha” (cf. Dan. 8:26; 12:4,9; Rev. 10:4; 22:10) is, so far as we have any evidence, considerably later than the time of the pre-exilic Isaiah (Isa. 8: 16 does not refer to a sealed “book” but to oral “teaching”).{25} For a discussion of the Savior’s anointing in Council in Heaven in Psalm 45:7-8, see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 291-93; Second edition, p. 207-08.{26} For a discussion of the king and queen’s foreordination at the Council: Psalm 45.3-5, 10-12 see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 259-305; Second edition, p. 185-217.{27} For a discussion of the covenant of the law of consecration at the Council in Psalm 82. see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 227-55; Second edition, p. 162-74.{29} The one in 2 Nephi clarifies the one in Isaiah. For a discussion of sode experiences see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 195-208; Second edition, p. 139-48.{29} For a discussion of the premortal priesthood in Alma 13 see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 815-25; Second edition, p. 573-82.{30} For a discussion of the meek as those who keep their premortal covenants in Psalm 25 see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 525-43; Second edition, p. 378-90.{31} For a discussion of premortal temple services in Psalm 23:3 see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 618-24; Second edition, p. 443-45.{32} That is, will you not acknowledge, confess, teach, proclaim them? (Strong # 5046){33} For a discussion of the nature of intelligences and their ability to choose right from wrong see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 801-64; Second edition, p. 564-607{34} Strong # 8416.{35} Examples are Psalms 66:1-4, Isaiah 63:7-9, Psalms 48:9-10, Isaiah 61:1-11.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 20:12-17 & Isaiah 48 -- LeGrand Baker -- Joseph Smith’s role in a Heavenly Council Author : lbaker1 Nephi 20:12-17?In this discussion I have divided First Nephi 20 and 21 into the following subsections: 1. The premortal apostasy, 1 Nephi 20:1-112. Joseph Smith’s role in a Heavenly Council.1 Nephi 20:12-173. Apostasy preceding the Restoration, 1 Nephi 20:18 to 21:1a4. Those who will help the Prophet Joseph, 1 Nephi 21:1-65. Joseph Smith restores the Temple services, 1 Nephi 21:7-116. The Gathering of Israel, 1 Nephi 21: 12-26———————————-12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called, for I am he; I am the first, and I am also the last.This verse is the same in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon.“Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called.” Isaiah is a name/title that denotes the covenants and covenant names found in the first verses of this chapter. However, he extends that by quoting the Lord in declaring his name/titles that denote the eternal validity of the covenant: “for I am he; I am the first, and I am also the last.”Jehovah is the first in birth, in rank, and in glory. His Father presided at the Council in Heaven, but he, Jehovah, conducted the affairs of the Council and made the assignments. {1} He was before the very beginning, as the Lord told Enoch:And I bowed down to the Lord, and the Lord spoke to me: Enoch, beloved, all that you see, all things that are standing finished I tell to you even before the very beginning, all that I created from non-being, and visible things from invisible. {2}Similarly, we read in Proverbs:22 The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old (Proverbs 8:22).The Lord is very explicit about his role before the foundation of the world and beyond. In the words, “I am the first, and I am also the last,” “last” does not mean until the conclusion of things, it means the uttermost. For example, he explained in the Doctrine and Covenants.1 Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I AM, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made;2 The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes;3 I am the same which spake, and the world was made, and all things came by me (D&C 38:1-3).13 Mine hand hath also laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens. I call unto them and they stand up together.The King James Version reads:13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together (Isaiah 48:1-22).The Book of Mormon’s “and” ties his calling to their standing together, and thus describes an event. We will soon discover that event was a meeting of the Council. The Bible’s “when” is imprecise and denotes no specific event. We will soon discover the meeting of the Council has been completely removed from the Bible’s version.In verses 12 and 13, with the words, “I am the first, and I am also the last. Mine hand hath also laid the foundation of the earth” the Lord identifies himself as the God of Creation. {3} In the New Year Festival drama it was necessary that he be defined that way because in the ancient Near East, the Creator God was also the God who controlled the weather. Thus, in the Elijah story, the ultimate test of strength between Jehovah and Baal is that Jehovah can stop the rain but Baal cannot start it again. So it is expected that Jehovah should begin this one verse self-definition by saying he is the God of Creation.{4}“Hand”{5} is used twice in these verses, and with two different meanings. The first is a symbol of the authority and power by which he created earth. Just as “word” is a name-description of the Savior in the Gospel of John, so “hand” is a similar name-description in the apocryphal The Book of the Secrets of Enoch. This book is the most detailed ancient description of a sode experience. It records that after Enoch had been dressed in sacred robes, the Lord said to him, “Enoch, beloved, all thou seest, all things that are standing finished I tell to thee even before the very beginning,” Enoch then saw the origin of all things. Then he showed him Adoil (translated “hand of God”) and the creation of all things.{6}The second use of “hand” in this verse is “and my right hand hath spanned the heavens.” It declares Jehovah’s role in the Council in Heaven. In the scriptures, the members of the Council are often called “stars” or “the heavens.”{7} An example is the Lord’s question to Job:4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the cornerstone thereof;7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:1-7).The phrase, “my right hand hath spanned the heavens” tells a remarkable story when each word is understood in the fulness of its context. The writer is Isaiah, but the speaker is Jehovah who presided at the Council and gave assignments there. After defining himself as the Creator God, Jehovah describes his relationship with members of the Council in Heaven when he says: “and my right hand hath spanned the heavens.”The right hand is symbolically and ceremonially significant. For example, when Joseph took his two sons to his father, Jacob, to receive their patriarchal blessings, Jacob crossed his hands and placed the right hand on Ephraim and the left hand on Manasseh. Joseph corrected him, saying that Manasseh was the oldest. Jacob said he knew that and continued to give the blessing. In that story, the right hand conveyed the birthright blessing to Ephraim (Genesis 48:13-19). That same idea is expressed in Psalm 48 where “righteousness” is zedek—absolute correctness in priesthood and temple things.9 We have thought of thy lovingkindness [hesed or chesed], O God, in the midst of thy temple.10 According to thy name [covenant], O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness [zedek] (Psalms 48:9-10).Barton writes, “This term “fill the hand” is the term employed in the Book of Judges for the consecration of a priest (Judges 17:5-12).”{8} Those ideas are also beautifully expressed in these two other passages from the Psalms:Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great (Psalms 18:35).Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth (Psalms 31:5, Luke 23:46).“Sacred space” is a place designated (either by men or by God) as being set apart from the rest of the world – a place where man can go to meet God. Eden, Sinai, Solomon’s Temple—it is any place where God is but where the “world” cannot come.The process of defining sacred space in this world begins when God gives the plan and the measurements to the prophet. The first step in creating sacred space (like a temple) is measuring where its foundations will be. To measure its limits is also to establish the limitations of the mundane space that surrounds it. When completed, its walls delineate what is sacred from that what is not.When prophets create sacred space, the first step is that God (through the prophet) defines what its measurements are to be. Thus, Jehovah gave Noah the measurements for his ark; gave Moses the measurements for the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant; gave Joseph Smith the measurements for the Kirtland Temple; and when President Hinkley first received the revelation about building many smaller temples, he sat in his car and wrote down the dimensions. The reason measurements are necessary is that they denote where the walls will be, since the space within the walls is sacred. Thus, identifying through measurement is the first step in designating “sacred space.{9}People are defined as sacred in the same way that temples are.{10}Similarly, in Isaiah chapter 40, in the context of discussing the foreordained responsibilities of John the Baptist, the Savior, and others, the Lord asks this question: “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span?” (Isaiah 40:12). This is not a rhetorical question, for a few verses later he reminds his readers, “Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?”(Isaiah 40:21).In our premortal existence, by at least one of those priesthood ordinances, we were measured and thereby designated as sacred space. “Span” is important in both Isaiah 40 and in 1 Nephi 20:13.In the statement, “My right hand hath spanned the heavens,” a span is the measurement. In the Oxford English Dictionary, a “span,” as a noun, is:1. a. The distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger, or sometimes to the tip of the forefinger, when the “hand is fully extended; the space equivalent to this taken as a “measure of length, averaging nine inches.2. “The “hand with the thumb and fingers extended esp. as a means of measuring.”As a verb it is:1. “To measure by means of the outstretched hand; to cover with the hand in this way.”{11}The right hand is the hand of covenant and blessing. The Lord “spanned” the members of the Council in Heaven—measuring them to define them as sacred space—with his right hand—the hand of blessings, ordinances, ordinations, or covenants, or more probably of all four.{12} By placing his hand upon their heads, God measured, and thereby defined each of his children as sacred space—as “temples.” In this world, we do the same kind of thing when we place our hands upon someone’s head to give the gift of the Holy Ghost, ordain him to the priesthood, or give a blessing.{13}In 1 Nephi 20:13, the “heavens” are measured and called to a great meeting (the meeting is described more fully in the next few verses) where they make covenants. The verse does not mention the covenants, except to say that “they stand up together,” but that phrase almost certainly has to do with covenant making. Congregations stood to make covenants, as when “the king stood by a pillar [of the temple], and made a covenant before the Lord…. And all the people stood to the covenant” (2 Kings 23: 1-3).{14}Initially, when we think of a meeting in the premortal spirit world, we think of the Council in Heaven recorded in Abraham chapter 3, but this clearly is not that. As we read this account, it becomes apparent that this was not a time when people were presented two possible plans and asked to vote, as Abraham 3 is often described. At this meeting, the Savior was not the main speaker, and the fall and Atonement were not questions under consideration. The Lord’s servant who delivered the message was one who had been chosen before, probably in the earlier Grand Council. He had, and would again have, great responsibility and power. All the internal evidence supports the idea that the speaker at this council was the Prophet Joseph Smith. The following is a review of that evidence. Following that review we will carefully examine the rest of the material Nephi quoted.Two things are necessary to understand 1 Nephi 20 and 21. The first is that the chapter break is artificial and not a part of the text on the brass plates. Nephi saw this material as a single unit and not as two separate chapters. The second is that footnote 21:8a is correct, and provides a key to understanding the entire block of material Nephi quoted. 1 Nephi21:8 reads: ..and I will preserve thee, and give thee [Footnote a.] my servant for a covenant of the people.” The first reference of the footnote is: 2 Nephi 3:11 (6-15) that reads, “Joseph truly testified, saying: A seer shall the Lord my God raise up..and his name shall be called after me.”All of that simply means that this entire block of material Nephi quoted—both chapters 20 and 21—is talking about the Prophet Joseph Smith and his assignment, and about those who either oppose or assist him in fulfilling that assignment. If that is true, then the following is one way the Isaiah chapters can be understood:The setting is established in the fore part of the chapter. It is “in the beginning.” Satan’s challenge has been met and bested (v.11), Israel has been “called” (v. 12), the earth has been created (v.13) A great meeting has been assembled (v. 13), and the speaker (whom “the Lord hath loved” v. 14) has testified that he will fulfill his mission to overcome “Babylon” and the “Chaldeans” (standard Biblical code names for the evils of this world. v. 14).The next verse begins the account of the meeting held in the premortal spirit world. The meeting—but more especially its speaker—is lost from the Old Testament. The brass plates version in the Book of Mormon reads:14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; who among them hath declared these things unto them? The Lord hath loved him; yea, and he will fulfil his word which he hath declared by them; and he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall come upon the Chaldeans.The King James Version reads:14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The Lord hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans (Isaiah 48:14).Assemble yourselves and hearIt is the account of this assembly, which has been removed from our Bible’s Cyrus version of Isaiah 48, that now becomes the focus of our attention.Because of the introduction that the Lord ordained (spanned) the “heavens,” it is reasonable to suppose that this was at the least a meeting of the members of the Council in Heaven. However, because the context is to thwart a general discontent and apostasy, it is more reasonable to suppose that this was a conference attended by all who are concerned.All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; who among them hath declared these things unto them?and hearThe command to hear is a directive to be cognizant of the words and to understand their meaning. Implicit also is a command to obey the instructions one hears.Who among them hath declared?who [the speaker].among them [The members of the Council].hath declared [Given the speech at the meeting].That question is not a rhetorical one: Who, among those who are assembled, has spoken? As if to say, When you consider who the messenger is, how can you doubt the truthfulness of the message? This speech was not a soft and fuzzy sermon. It was a solemn declaration.these thingsBecause the speaker was the premortal Prophet Joseph Smith, it is likely that we have the essence of the speech in the next two chapters where Isaiah describes the Prophet’s mission, the restoration of the temple, and the gathering of Israel. Since the credibility of the speaker is emphasized here, it is likely that the issue before the Council meeting was the ultimate success of the proposed plan. Paul described the full sweep of the plan when he explained:8 Wherein he [Heavenly Father] hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will (Ephesians 1:8-11).How “in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ” appears to have been the issue in the meeting described in 1 Nephi 20. The answer lay in the assignment given to the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Savior’s guarantee that through the integrity of the Prophet the Father’s will would be accomplished.About “these things” which were the subject of the Prophet’s discourse, Isaiah gives no details at this point, except by inference. But he soon will.unto them? [Those who are at the meeting.]The Lord hath loved him;It is clearly not Jehovah who is giving this speech. We learn in verse 17 that “the Lord” is “thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” As is clearly indicated in the next chapter, the person whom the Lord loves and who is giving the speech is the Prophet Joseph.The declaration, “the Lord hath loved him,” is the key to these two chapters. Not only does it describe the relationship between the Savior and this servant, it also teaches us about the reason for the message and the motive of both the Savior and his messenger. It says the same thing as Ephesians 1:4; The Father “hath chosen us in him [the Savior] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” Whose love? Both ours and his. This helps us understand why the Savior could give assurance that the honesty of the message was attested by the integrity of the messenger. It also gives us insight into the power of the word “friend” as it was used by the Savior in this mortal world when he spoke to Joseph Smith and some of the other young leaders of the church.{15}63 Ye are they whom my Father hath given me; ye are my friends (D&C 84:63 and 88:2-3).When we read that, we might reflect upon the depth of the feelings of John the Beloved when he refereed to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”yea, and he [The speaker.] will fulfill his wordHe will have both the power and the integrity to do what he says he will do. The verse might be paraphrased as follows:Be assured, when Joseph goes to the earth, he will have the power, authority and integrity to fulfill the promises he has made at this assembly. He will overcome, then supplant, the kingdoms of that future world, characterized as Babylon and the Chaldeans.which he hath declared by themBy them seems to appear out of nowhere, and with no apparent referent. If it had said, “declared to them,” then it would be easy to understand; but it does not say “to,” it says “by.” It is no good going to the Bible for help, because that phrase is one that was removed from the Bible’s Isaiah. So the question remains, who or what is the “them”? There seems to be two possible answers. We like them both, but favor the second.1) The “them” may be the ordinances and covenants mentioned in the beginning of the chapter. That would be consistent with Alma 12:30 which says people were instructed “according to their faith and repentance and their holy works.”2) The “them” may refer to helpers in the pre-earth life spirit world who assisted Joseph in proselyting this most important message. Because much of what follows in the next chapter can be read as a long and rather detailed discussion of “Israel” who were foreordained to assist Joseph in this mortal world, we are inclined to believe that this “them” and that “Israel” may represent the same people. In other words, what this is saying is that the people (which includes us) who accepted the assignment to assist in Joseph’s mission here also assisted him there.and he [the speaker] will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall come upon the Chaldeans.will do his pleasure: His pleasure is to convert, not to destroy.on Babylon:The Assyrians at Nineveh, not Babylon, were the threat to the world in the time of Isaiah and Hezekiah. In this chapter, even Babylon is not the place, but rather it is a symbol, as it has always been, of the evils of this world. For example, the Lord uses Isaiah to describe the evils of our time:5 Go ye out from Babylon. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.6 Call your solemn assemblies, and speak often one to another. And let every man call upon the name of the Lord.7 Yea, verily I say unto you again, the time has come when the voice of the Lord is unto you: Go ye out of Babylon; gather ye out from among the nations, from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other (D&C 133:5-7).and his arm shall come upon the Chaldeans. (Chaldea and Babylon were essentially the same place.)The arm that “comes upon the Chaldeans” is clearly a symbol of power. The purposes of that power were described by Daniel when he interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure (Daniel 2:44-45).As the hand can be symbolic of both majesty and love, so the arm is symbolic of both judgment and mercy. The promise that “he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall come upon the Chaldeans” assures the destruction of the kingdoms of this world, but his “pleasure” is to bring salvation, not vendetta; and his arm brings judgment so there may be mercy.The “arm” of the Lord connotes his integrity in keeping his covenants. Whether expressed as the power to destroy or as the power to save, it is the same. The Psalmist rejoicing, “Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm” (Psalms 89:10), acknowledges the Lord’s power to interced that he might do “according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.”Ultimately his purpose is to bless, however severe the intercession may appear at the time. The Lord explained that the severity of the language was so people would understand the seriousness of the sins. He said:6 Nevertheless, it is not written that there shall be no end to this torment, but it is written endless torment.7 Again, it is written eternal damnation; wherefore it is more express than other scriptures, that it might work upon the hearts of the children of men, altogether for my name’s glory (D&C 19:6-7, emphasis changed).I believe that it is true that our loving Heavenly Father has never punished anyone. If he had, then part of his personality would include a vendetta, and that cannot be. Rather, he warns us of the consequence of sin, teaches us to repent, and provides an Atonement to enable us to be forgiven. Nevertheless, as Alma explained, it is “the law” not God which inflicts the punishment when the law is broken (Alma 42:22-23).15 Also, saith the Lord; I the Lord, yea, I have spoken; yea, I have called him to declare, I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.The King James Version reads:15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. (Isaiah 48:1-22)Also, saith the Lord; I the Lord, yea, I have spoken; yea, I have called him to declare,Jehovah’s declaration, “Yea, I have spoken,” conveys the message that he is the beginning—the moving power of all creation. Even though the whole burden of his message is an invitation to us to come to him, the immutable law remains: he works through his servants, and those who will not follow his servants cannot come to where he is. The law in the premortal spirit world was the same as the law now:4 And the voice of warning shall be unto all people, by the mouths of my disciples, whom I have chosen in these last days.5 And they shall go forth and none shall stay them, for I the Lord have commanded them.6 Behold, this is mine authority, and the authority of my servants….38 What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.39 For behold, and lo, the Lord is God, and the Spirit beareth record, and the record is true, and the truth abideth forever and ever. Amen (D&C 1:1-6, 38-39).and he [Joseph] shall make his [own] way prosperous.Jehovah testifies of the Prophet Joseph’s integrity as well as of his power: the Savior called him, and with the Savior’s help Joseph cannot fail. This poses another question: Who is this Joseph Smith, that his integrity is so great that the Savior can promise, “and he shall make his way prosperous?” We know, at least, that he was “among the noble and great ones who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God” (D&C 138:53-56).The mission which Joseph would accomplish was eternal in its burden. Benjamin F. Johnson tells a story that shows how completely Joseph understood his own mission. About a year before Joseph was killed, he was in the Johnson home when, with a deep-drawn breath, Joseph said, “Oh! I am so tired—so tired that I often feel to long for my day of rest.” Johnson wrote:His words to me were ominous, and they brought a shadow as of death over my spirit, and I said, “Oh, Joseph! how could you think of leaving us? How as a people could we do without you?” He saw my feelings were sorrowful and said kindly, “Bennie, if I was on the other side of the veil I could do many times more for my friends than I can do while I am with them here.”{16}Orson Pratt testified:The Lord did not raise up this boy, Joseph, for nothing, or merely to reveal a few of the first principles of the Gospel of Christ; but he raised him up to reveal the hidden mysterious things, the wonders of the eternal worlds, the wonders of the dispensation of the fullness of times, those wonders that took place before the foundation of the world; and all things, so far as it was wisdom in God, were unfolded by this personage….{17}Wilford Woodruff assures us:The Prophet Joseph Smith held the keys of this dispensation on this side of the vail, and he will hold them throughout the countless ages of eternity.{18} The brass plates contain a reference to the commission to speak.16 Come ye near unto me; I have not spoken in secret; from the beginning, from the time that it was declared have I spoken; and the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me.The Old Testament is about something different from that.16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me (Isaiah 48:1-22)Come ye near unto me;This verse must be understood in the context of the previous one. The “Lord” in verse 15 is Jehovah, so the “Lord God” in verse 16 must be Elohim. If read that way, then verse 16 is the Savior testifying of Joseph’s calling.I have not spoken in secret; from the beginning, from the time that it was declared have I spoken;“The beginning” may be a reference to the Council in Heaven described in Abraham 3, but seems in this context to be to the time before that, in “the first place,” as described in Alma 13.There never was a time when we were not wholly dependent upon the Savior. His invitation, “come unto me,” was the first heard by us as cognizant intelligences.{19} It has been repeated in each step in our progression, as often as we have forgotten. Like a clarion call in the night, it leads the one first to the way then to the summit. And the way is always the same: Faith unto repentance and the remission of sins, and reception of the Holy Ghost; holding to the rod while moving to partake of the fruit of the Tree. He is and has always been the Way, the Rod, and the Fruit of the Tree at the summit of salvation.and the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me.That relationship has never changed. The Savior is the “me” and is is identified in the next verse as “the Lord, thy Redeemer.” So we must conclude that “the Lord God” is his Father, and “his Spirit” is the Holy Ghost. It has always been important that we understand that relationship. The events of Jesus’s baptism were an affirmation of their oneness. That oneness is the key to our own. If we are to be one with the Father, we must first be one with the Son, obeying the Father as he does. He instructed his American disciples:13 Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me. …18 And this is the word … no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom ….20 Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me…21… this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do (3 Nephi 27:13-21).Again, the brass plates emphasize the importance of the relationship between the Savior and the speaker, while the Old Testament version removes the speaker altogether:17 And thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I have sent him, the Lord thy God who teacheth thee to profit, who leadeth thee by the way thou shouldst go, hath done it.The King James Version reads:17 Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. (Isaiah 48:1-22)And thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel;Isaiah leaves no doubt about who is speaking these words about the one who is giving the lecture. It is Jehovah—the Lord, Redeemer, Holy One of Israel. The word “Redeemer” includes the idea of kinsman, and suggests that he will bring us from where we are to where he is.I [Jehovah] have sent him [Joseph Smith],The Prophet, having been “called” and “brought” (v. 15), now may be “sent.” We understand from church history and from these scriptures that it was/is Joseph Smith’s burden to overthrow the kingdoms of the world, both in this physical world and in the post-earth-life spirit world where people reside who have died without receiving the gospel. His assignment was/is to establish, in the place of those worldly kingdoms, the kingdom of God. To do that he must teach the way whereby every individual may come to Christ.But what were Joseph’s responsibilities in the world before this one? Was the purpose of that meeting only to promise things to come in our present world? Or is this world patterned like the last one in more than form and features? Are Joseph’s responsibilities here a continuation of his responsibilities there?Another way of asking that question is this: Joseph is the head of this last dispensation. That included both administrative and judicial (kingly and priestly) responsibilities to establish the Church and Kingdom of God and to oversee its progression even after he died and went into the post-earth-life spirit world. The Prophet Joseph taught,The head God called together the Gods and sat in grand council to bring forth the world. The grand councilors sat at the head in yonder heavens and contemplated the creation of the worlds which were created at the time.”{20}The question is: Did he, in the pre-earth-life spirit world, also have similar responsibilities during the planning and developing stages preparatory to the establishment of this last dispensation? President J. Reuben Clark explained,The priesthood is an everlasting endowment. Some, at least, who have come to the earth had it before they came here.”{21}On another occasion he elaborated more fully:I would like to read what the Prophet Joseph has said, some of the things he has said, about the Priesthood:“The Priesthood,” said the Prophet “is an everlasting principle, and existed with God from eternity and will to eternity, without beginning of days or end of years.” Adam (I am taking isolated sentences and passages) . . . Adam stands next to Christ, who is the great High Priest. Adam obtained his Priesthood “in the Creation, before the world was formed.”And the following statement of the Prophet is, to me, most significant:Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world”—note that—“Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was. I suppose (said the Prophet) that I was ordained to this very office in that Grand Council.{22}I like to think that not alone did such men as Adam and the Prophet Joseph receive the Priesthood before they came here. I like to think, I can give you no scripture for it, I like to think that those of us who are set apart, chosen and set apart, to come forth in this the last dispensation of time, which is to draw together all other dispensations, had a like conferring of Priesthood though not perhaps a like setting apart.?The Prophet continues,If a man gets a fullness of the priesthood of God, he has to get it in the same way that Jesus Christ obtained it, and that was by keeping all the commandments and obeying all the ordinances of the house of the Lord. ….It (the Priesthood) is the channel through which the Almighty commenced revealing His glory at the beginning of the creation of this earth, and through which He has continued to reveal Himself to the children of men to the present time, and through which He will make known His purposes to the end of time.”{23}President Wilford Woodruff was equally explicit:Here is a kingdom of Priests raised up by the power of God to take hold and build up the kingdom of God. The same Priesthood exists on the other side of the veil. Every man who is faithful in his quorum here will join his quorum there. When a man dies and his body is laid in the tomb, he does not lose his position. The Prophet Joseph Smith held the keys of this dispensation on this side of the veil, and he will hold them throughout the countless ages of eternity. He went into the spirit world to unlock the prison doors and to preach the Gospel to the millions of spirits who are in darkness, and every Apostle, every Seventy, every Elder, etc., who has died in the faith as soon as he passes to the other side of the veil, enters into the work of the ministry, and there is a thousand times more to preach there than there is here.{24}President John Taylor explained the same doctrine:Now then come the twelve and all the other authorities. We believe that they [Joseph, the Twelve, and others] are ordained of God, that they are part of his economy and government, all these various quorums as they exist on the earth, and that, by and by, when we get through in this world, we shall all assume our proper position and proper Priesthood, with Joseph Smith at the head of this dispensation, and that we shall be associated there with that Priesthood that we have been connected with here.{25}Erastus Snow gave it an even wider application:Paul tells us concerning the Melchizedek Priesthood, that it is after the order of an endless life, without beginning of days or end of years; or, in other words, that it is eternal; that it ministers in time and also in eternity. Peter, James and John and their fellow-laborers still minister in their Priesthood on the other side of the veil; and Joseph Smith and his fellow-brethren still minister in their office and calling under the counsel and direction of the same Peter, James and John who ministered on earth, and who conferred upon Joseph the keys of their Priesthood; and all the Elders of this dispensation who prove faithful and magnify their calling in the flesh will, when they pass hence, continue their labors in the spirit world, retaining the same holy character and high responsibility that they assume here.{26}Alma taught the same doctrine. He took us back to the earliest time. Rather than projecting priesthood callings from the present into the future, he projected them from the eternal past into the earthly present, then beyond..6 And thus being called by this holy calling, and ordained unto the high priesthood of the holy order of God, to teach his commandments unto the children of men, that they also might enter into his rest—7 This high priesthood being after the order of his Son, which order was from the foundation of the world; or in other words, being without beginning of days or end of years, being prepared from eternity to all eternity, according to his foreknowledge of all things—8 Now they were ordained after this manner—being called with a holy calling, and ordained with a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the high priesthood of the holy order, which calling, and ordinance, and high priesthood, is without beginning or end—9 Thus they become high priests forever, after the order of the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, who is without beginning of days or end of years, who is full of grace, equity, and truth. And thus it is. Amen (Alma 13:6-9).If Joseph was ordained to his mission in the Grand Council, did he also function in that calling and priesthood between the time of his ordination and the time he came to this world? Or did he actually begin before that, as B.H Roberts’s musings imply?Do these higher intelligences of the stellar universe and planetary systems have so developed in themselves the quality of love that makes it possible to think of them as being willing to sacrifice themselves–to empty themselves in sacrifice to bring to pass the welfare of others whom they may esteem to be the undeveloped intelligences of the universe and may they not be capable of giving the last full measure of sacrifice to bring to pass the higher development of the “lowly” when no other means of uplift can be serviceable? Is the great truth operative among these untold millions of intelligences that greater love hath no intelligence for another than this, that he would give his life in the service of kindred intelligences when no other means of helpfulness is possible?{27}the Lord thy God who teacheth thee to profit,How profit? For Isaiah, as for Nephi and others, the Lord’s promise of the riches of the earth is symbolic of the promise of eternal life. Three examples are:1)The Savior’s saying that the meek will inherit the earth, in the 3 Nephi 12:5, Psalm 25:9-14, Psalm 37:11, and Doctrine and Covenants 88:17-18.2) The symbolism in the Book of Mormon which equates being in the “promised land” with being in the presence of God. See 1 Nephi 2:19-22 for example.3) The symbolism which equates the fruit of the vine and the richness of the earth with the waters and the fruit of life, which he uses, in turn, to represent the saving ordinances of the temple.who leadeth thee by the way thou shouldst go, hath done it.“Way” and “path” often refer to the series of ordinances by which one ascends the “mountain.” It probably means that in this case also. The Savior is the Way and the Word.In the Savior’s declaration, “I have sent him,” he places Joseph’s mission squarely in the context of the temple. If one is ever to understand the Prophet Joseph Smith, one must understand him in the light of the temple.The phrase “leadeth thee by the way thou should go” suggests all the things Lehi’s vision teaches us that Christ is the word on which we may hold to lead us through the darkness, through the ordinances and the veil of Solomon’s Temple, until we reach the tree. It seems that he is saying no less about this world than he might say about that one.———————————–FOOTNOTES{1} For a discussion of the Council in Heaven see above, Lehi’s sode experience in 1 Nephi 1:8-15.{2} Secrets of Enoch 24:2.{3} God does things in a perfectly natural way. The things he tells us in the scriptures are who he is and how to return to him, and those are the most important things of all. Prophets live in real worlds with real academic and cultural environments, and they speak to the people of their own time. All of their accounts of the creation were written to audiences who had none of the scientific questions we have—and, for that matter, none of the scientific answers. The prophets taught what was important: that God is the God of Creation. That the heavens and the earth were made and are controlled by him, and that his purpose was to bring about the exaltation of his children. That is what mattered to them, and that is the way they told the story. If we read what they wrote in that light, then their message is absolutely true.If we try to superimpose modern scientific theory onto their stories, it doesn’t work. So our response is very simple: Accept each for what it is.{4} A mirror image of this verse is Isaiah 40:12. There the chronology is different so the creation comes second.{5} For a discussion of the ceremonial?significance of the hand see Lynn M. Hilton, The Hand as a Cup in Ancient Temple worship. A paper presented at the Thirtieth Annual Symposium on the Archaeology of the Scriptures, held at BYU on 26 September 1981.The power of the symbolism of the hand became evident to Baker soon after he came to BYU, he had the privilege of spending an afternoon alone in the study of the late Bible scholar and translator, Dr. George M. Lamsa. He sat at his desk, reading some of his unpublished manuscripts, taking some notes as he read. The following is from those notes:“On page 34 of his unpublished work, ‘Origin of the Alphabet,’ Dr. Lamsa wrote about the significance of the letter ‘Y,’ which, he said, was the stylized drawing of an outstretched hand–fingers on one side, thumb on the other. Dr. Lamsa says that to the Biblical people, except for the eye, the hand is the most important member of the body. It is the hand which is most often exposed to danger; when any other part of the body is threatened, especially the eye or head, the hand rushes to protect it, without having any thought of its own safety. The hand feeds and washes the body; and, when necessary, tries to comfort and heal it. Thus, symbolically, the hand represents sensitive protection and love, but it also represents militant protection, power and domination. In a man’s relationship with other people, it is the hand that usually serves as the connecting point. It signifies friendship, and is used to ‘transfer a blessing.’ In our relationships with others it symbolizes both authority and reverent submission.”{6} ?Secrets of Enoch 25:1-2.?For the quote in context see, R.H. Charles, The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, Vol. II, .443-445. See also John 1:1-4, Revelation 12:1-9, 1 Nephi 1:9-10, Moses 2:1-8, D&C 93:1-13.{7} Stars and heavens are frequently used to represent the members of Council in Heaven. In some scriptures the word “heavens” refers to the place where God and the Council reside. Examples are: Genesis 2:1, 22:17; Exodus 32:11-15; Job 38:1-14; Psalms 8:1-3, 19:1-4, 33:6-9, 50:1-8, 57:2-11, 89:1-6, 96:1-13, 103:2-22, 104:1-35, 115:1-7; Isaiah 1:1-2, 14:1-16 (compare Jude 1:12-13), 40:20-25, 44:21-25, 45:11-19, 48:11-15, 49:13; Mark 1:10-11; Acts 7:54-60; 2 Peter 3:1-18; Revelation 1:1-20, 12:1-14.1 Nephi 1:9-10, 20:13-17 (different from Bible’s Isaiah), 21:13 (not in Bible’s Isaiah); 2 Nephi 2:14, 24:12-17, 29:5-7; Alma 18:26-30; 3 Nephi 9:15; Ether 3:1-2, 4:7-9; Moroni 7:27-28, 9:25-26.D&C 14:9, 45:1, 49:5-7, 60:4, 67:2, 76:1, 84:42, 104:14, 107:17-19, 110:10-12,128:23; 132:29-33, 137:1-4.Moses 1:36-39, 6:41-45, 7:1-4; Abraham 3:21, 4:1-6, 5:1-4.{8} George A. Barton, The Religion of Ancient Israel (New York: 1961), 159. See Ezekiel 10:1-7.{9} Two other examples are Ezekiel, who carefully gives the measurements of the temple he saw in vision; and John, in the last chapters of Revelation, who gives the measurements of the city where celestial people will live.{10} See J. Lyman Redd, “Aaron’s Consecration: Its Nature, Purpose, and Meaning,” Thy People Shall Be My People and Thy God My God: The 22d Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1994), 120 – 121.{11} The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press), 1988, 2:2938.{12} For examples in both ancient and modern scripture of the significance of the Lord’s right hand, see: Psalms 20:6, 63:7-8, 73:23-24; -28; Isaiah 41:10-13 -29; Acts; Revelation 1:13-18; D&C 109:71. Donald W. Parry, ed., Temples of the Ancient World: Ritual and Symbolism (Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1994). The book contains several papers written by Parry that discuss sacred space. They are: “Introduction: The Meaning of the Temple,” xiii; “Garden of Eden: Prototype Sanctuary,” 126; “The Temple according to Judaism,” 414; “Temple Imagery in the Epistles of Peter,” 492.{13} The idea of delineating by covering is also important in the definition of sacred space. When the Lord gave the revelations telling the prophets the dimensions of the ark of the covenant, the tabernacle, or a temple, he did not just give the floor plan. He also instructed the prophets how sacred space was to be covered. Covering defines and protects sacred space just as the smoke covered and defined Mt. Sinai when the Lord was there, protecting it and keeping away the gaze of unsanctified eyes. When the Lord told Moses how to build the tabernacle, he instructed Moses to laterally clothe it in a garment of skins.{14} “Stand” is sometimes read as code for making a covenant, as in Psalm 8:1,8 and Abraham 3:23.{15} As in D&C 84:63 and 88:2-3, andin John the Beloved’s describing himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”{16} Benjamin F. Johnson, My Life’s Review (Independence, Mo.: Zion’s Printing & Publishing Co., 1947), 97-98.{17} Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. (London: Latter-day Saints’ Book Depot, 1854-1886), 17: 187.{18} Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses, 22: 334.{19} For a discussion of intelligences see?Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 801-64; Second edition, p. 564-86.{20} Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 348, King Follett discourse.{21} President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., Conference Report, October 1948, 178-79.{22} Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 305.{23} President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., Conference Report, April 1953, General Priesthood Meeting, 53-54.{24} Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses, 22: 334.{25} John Taylor, Journal of Discourses, 18: 81.{26} Erastus Snow, Journal of Discourses, 23:188.{27} B. H. Roberts, The Truth, The Way, The Life (Provo, Utah, BYU Studies, 1994), 98.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 20:18 to 21:1 & Isaiah 48 -- LeGrand Baker -- Apostasy preceding the Restoration Author : lbakerIn this discussion I have divided First Nephi 20 and 21 into the following subsections: 1. The premortal apostasy, 1 Nephi 20:1-11 ?2. Joseph Smith in the Council in Heaven, 1 Nephi 20:12-173. Apostasy preceding the Restoration, 1 Nephi 20:18 to 21:14. Those who will help the Prophet Joseph, 1 Nephi 21:1-65. Joseph Smith restores the Temple services, 1 Nephi 21:7-116. The Gathering of Israel, 1 Nephi 21: 12-26———————————-1 Nephi ?20:18 to 21:1 & Isaiah 48 — LeGrand Baker — Apostasy preceding the Restoration18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments—then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.Here we have an abrupt change of scenery. We have passed from a heavenly Council conducted by Jehovah to a lament, decrying an apostasy that denies the covenants made by Jehovah. McKenzie rightly calls this transition “a violent change of tone.” In the Anchor Bible translation and commentary on “Second Isaiah,” he writes,The poem [Isaiah 48] concludes with a violent change of tone. From rebuke and grief the prophet, speaking in his own name, turns to exultation. The hour of liberation has arrived, and he summons Israel to depart. The summons is couched in terms of a call to a new exodus and a passage through the desert, a theme used in the preceding poems. This is the glory of Yahweh which should be announced to the whole world. A similar call is repeated in 52:11-12; each call marks a division in the series of discourses. With less than complete assurance vs. 22 is judged to have wandered here by scribal work from lvii 21; it is not related to the context here, and seems rather to sound a discordant note at the end of an appeal which shows progressive emotional intensity.{1}The reason that McKenzie observed such a sudden change of time and voice is because the change is really there. The chapter break in the Book of Mormon is in the same place as in the Bible, but if we were to read it without that break (the way it was in the first edition of the Book of Mormon), we would see that this verse is not only a tone change but also a change in time and place. The verses before this one are about the war in heaven and more especially about the Prophet Joseph’s pivotal role in that struggle, including his address to the Council and the Savior’s testimony of its validity.One of the greatest advantages of having printed scriptures (as opposed to having them rolled up in a scroll) is that the printed ones are divided into chapters and verses that facilitate easy references. However, one of the greatest disadvantages of printed scriptures is that those divisions are actually editorial insertions that may change how we connect and understand the ideas we read. Sometimes a single sentence is divided into several verses, and sometimes the chapter divisions are in the wrong places. Here is just one example of a chapter break that may change the meaning:37 Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice (John 13:37-38).CHAPTER 141 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you (John 14:1-2).Now read it this way:Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.1 Nephi 20:18 is like that. The unaccountability of this sudden shift in mood becomes accountable when we read the explanation that was removed by the ancient Jewish editors. It is on the brass plates in the first verse of the next chapter: “Hearken, O ye house of Israel, all ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of my people” (1 Nephi 21:1).Isaiah has moved his readers from describing the situation that resulted in the Council meeting at which Joseph spoke—from that to the mortal world to describe the apostate conditions in which Joseph must come and keep his promises. It is this movement in time and place that accounts for the “violent change of tone” in verse 18. The last three verses in chapter 20 set the stage for the first verse in chapter 21 and so belong in that chapter rather than chapter 20.We now jump from the events of that premortal Council to Isaiah’s prophecies about the fulfillment of Joseph’s promises. The remainder of this chapter and all the next one appear to be either a synopsis of the Joseph’s speech and a report of how and when he will fulfill his covenants, or else it is Isaiah’s prophecy of Joseph’s mission. In the end, it really doesn’t matter which because the three options would look the same. The lament begins:O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments— then had thy peace been as a river,Scholars have long observed that the last half of Isaiah is heavily dependent on the psalms.{2} While we cannot be certain which of the psalms this refers to, we can be sure of the intended symbolism. It is the same as3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper (Psalms 1:3).In the arid agrarian world of the Old Testament a source of water is a virtual promise of stability and peace. Examples are the Jordan River and the constant flow of the Spring of Gihon that provided water for Jerusalem. Isaiah’s imagery is like the “still waters” in the 23rd Psalm. Its echo is found in the last chapter of Isaiah where the Lord establishes a new heavens and the new earth (Isaiah 66:22). The Lord’s promise to Jerusalem is, “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream” (Isaiah 66:12). It is echoed again in Lehi’s wish for Laman: “O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness!” (1 Nephi 2:9) In Ezekiel it is the waters of life that flow from beneath the throne of God. These waters sustain the trees of life and heal the Dead Sea.and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.Righteousness is zedek—correctness in priesthood and temple ordinances and covenants. Unlike the “still waters,” Isaiah chose the roaring “waves of the sea”—with their ceaseless, rhythmic, thundering power to represent the power of the ordinances. In another place, Isaiah also spoke of the waves’ thunderous power:1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: …15 But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The Lord of hosts is his name.16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people (Isaiah 51:1, 15-16, and 2 Nephi 8).Similarly, the Lord spoke to Joseph of “the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds” (D&C 88:89-90).Isaiah’s lament is that both are lost—both the peace and the power—because the people had not hearkened to the Lord’s commandments.19 Thy seed [descendants] also had been as the sand; the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.Thy seed also had been as the sand; the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof.Even though this statement is abbreviated it is, in fact, a full reference to the Abrahamic covenant and all of the promises of the ancient temple. The underpinning of every other covenant is that our Father’s children can return to him and be like him. Eternal family and friendship are the ultimate fulfillment of that covenant. The Lord tied the promise of family to the promise of invulnerability when he told Abraham:17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice (Genesis 22:17-18, see Abraham 3:14).There is a more complete account in Abraham 2 where the Lord equates eternal family with eternal priesthood:8 My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee.9 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations;10 And I will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father;11 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal (Abraham 2:8-11, emphasis added).Those blessings had been Abraham’s desire from his earliest time. He begins his autobiography with a chiastic poem in which the prophet tells of his faithfulness that qualified him to be a member of the Council in heaven. (It is written in the pattern of the cosmic myth and thus begins with the statement that it was necessary for him to leave home. It concludes with his receiving blessings at the Council: “It was conferred upon me… before the foundation of the earth.”)1 In the land of the Chaldeans, at the residence of my fathers, I, Abraham, saw that it was needful for me to obtain another place of residence;2 And, finding there was greater happiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same; having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a father of many nations, a prince of peace, and desiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers.3 It was conferred upon me from the fathers; it came down from the fathers, from the beginning of time, yea, even from the beginning, or before the foundation of the earth, down to the present time, even the right of the firstborn, or the first man, who is Adam, or first father, through the fathers unto me.4 I sought for mine appointment unto the Priesthood according to the appointment of God unto the fathers concerning the seed (Abraham 1:1-4).The Lord also renewed and extended that promise to the Prophet Joseph, and through him to all the Saints who keep their eternal covenants:30 Abraham received promises concerning his seed, and of the fruit of his loins—from whose loins ye are, namely, my servant Joseph—which were to continue so long as they were in the world; and as touching Abraham and his seed, out of the world they should continue; both in the world and out of the world should they continue as innumerable as the stars; or, if ye were to count the sand upon the seashore ye could not number them.31 This promise is yours also, because ye are of Abraham, and the promise was made unto Abraham; and by this law is the continuation of the works of my Father, wherein he glorifieth himself (D&C 132:30-31).19. Thy seed also had been as the sand; the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.This verse contains two separate ideas that focus on quite different covenants, but each identifies aspects of the same apostasy. The first was the loss of the birthright blessings of Abraham. The second was the loss of the memory of the covenant that a prophet named Joseph would restore the gospel.{3}When the ancient prophet Joseph took his father’s family into Egypt he had two concerns: (1) that his family would come out of Egypt and (2) that they would again have the birthright blessings of the priesthood. In response to those concerns, the Lord promised Joseph he would send two servants to accomplish those purposes. As a token of those covenants, the Lord gave Joseph the names of those two prophets. He promised a “Moses” who would bring his people out of Egypt and a “Joseph” who would restore their birthright blessings. Israel has, of course, remembered the name and the fulfillment of the covenant of Moses, but because of iniquity they lost the name of the prophet Joseph,{4} as they also lost the memory of the covenant which that name symbolized. Lehi explained:8 And I will give unto him [Joseph Smith] a commandment that he shall do none other work, save the work which I shall command him. And I will make him great in mine eyes; for he shall do my work.9 And he shall be great like unto Moses, whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel. …15 And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation.16 Yea, thus prophesied Joseph: I am sure of this thing, even as I am sure of the promise of Moses; for the Lord hath said unto me, I will preserve thy seed forever (2 Nephi 3:8-9, 15-16).Victor Ludlow shows other evidence that Isaiah was aware of Joseph Smith’s divine calling. He wrote:The eleventh chapter of Isaiah contains some marvelous prophecies of the last days. It enlightens modern Israelites about the roles of at least two great leaders who will prepare the way for the coming of Christ in power and glory. They may possibly be the two “saviors” or “messiahs” known in Jewish tradition as “Messiah ben David” (a redeemer descended from David) and “Messiah ben Joseph” (a redeemer descended from Joseph).{5}The Lord alluded to Joseph Smith’s covenant name when he reminded the Prophet’s friends:8 And now, marvel not that I have called him unto mine own purpose, which purpose is known in me; wherefore, if he shall be diligent in keeping my commandments he shall be blessed unto eternal life; and his name is Joseph (D&C 18:8).The next two verses in 1 Nephi 20 serve to re-enforce the idea that it was Joseph Smith’s name and covenant that were lost. Isaiah does this by drawing a comparison of the missions of the ancient Moses and the modern Joseph. While his prophecy sounds strikingly similar to the story of Moses in the wilderness, almost none of the details are the same. It is apparent that Isaiah is using the Moses story to remind us of something else. The fact that Isaiah actually had the Lord’s covenants with our Joseph in mind is suggested by the second of these verses where Isaiah draws a parallel between Moses’s striking a rock to bring out water to provide drink for his thirsty people and the mission of the prophet whom Isaiah describes as providing waters for a people who do not thirst. Here the Lord invites the people to flee the world—Babylon—as ancient Israel had once fled the land of Egypt.20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter to the end of the earth; say ye: The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.20. Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans,{6}The instructions here are not to go from Egypt as Moses did, but to go from Babylon. It is the same command as was given in a revelation to “the people of my church” through the Prophet Joseph about a year and a half after the Church was organized:14 Go ye out from among the nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon (D&C 133:14).The charge in both cases is to gather to Zion. The symbolism of the wickedness of Babylon rather than of Egypt from which Moses led the Children of Israel is emphasized by the attitude and the consequences of their travel.with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter to the end of the earth; say ye: The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.In temple settings, especially in the Book of Mormon, to redeem means to be brought into the presence of the Lord. So it is here. They sing in unison, as in 3 Nephi 20, which is also a paraphrase of Isaiah:31 And they shall believe in me, that I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and shall pray unto the Father in my name.32 Then shall their watchmen lift up their voice, and with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye.33 Then will the Father gather them together again, and give unto them Jerusalem for the land of their inheritance.34 Then shall they break forth into joy—Sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Father hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem (3 Nephi 20:31-34).21 And they thirsted not; he led them through the deserts; he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; he clave the rock also and the waters gushed out.The King James Version reads:21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. (Isaiah 48:21)This symbolism is more recognizable when one recalls that the Lord described Joseph Smith as “another like unto thee” when he told Moses about the mission of the future Prophet.And now, Moses, my son, I will speak unto thee concerning this earth upon which thou standest; and thou shalt write the things which I shall speak. And in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as naught and take many of them from the book which thou shalt write, behold, I will raise up another like unto thee; and they shall be had again among the children of men–among as many as shall believe (Moses 1:40-41).These people in the latter days “thirsted not,” but in Exodus 17:3-6 “the people thirsted.”The reason the people who follow the Prophet Joseph do not thirst is because the waters he provides for them are the waters of life, and the Savior himself is the source of it: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 unto everlasting life (John 4:13-14).22 And notwithstanding he hath done all this, and greater also, there is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.The King James Version simply reads:22 There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked (Isaiah 48:22)This is the same lament for peace as is in v. 18.The wicked are identified in the next verse, which is 1 Nephi 21:1 in the Book of Mormon?1 And again: Hearken, O ye house of Israel, all ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of my people; yea, all ye that are broken off, that are scattered abroad, who are of my people. (1 Nephi 21:1).For reasons that take no imagination to fathom, those words were deleted from the section that was edited by the apostate Jews when they took Joseph Smith out of the text and put Cyrus in his place.———————————–FOOTNOTES{1} John L. McKenzie, The Anchor Bible, Second Isaiah, Introduction, Translation, and Notes (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc.,1981), 99-100.{2} John Thompson gives a good background of the scholars’ work:“Isaiah 40-55, from which Jacob quotes his Isaiah passages, have often been analyzed with form-critical methods; but because many units or forms within the text have little or no comparative material (for instance, the Servant Songs), solid conclusions have been difficult to achieve. However, J. H. Eaton feels that there is enough evidence ‘to guide us to the decisive factors of tradition behind Isa. 40-55.’ J. Begrich points out as early as 1938 that many of the forms in this section resemble materials from earlier services in the temple, such as hymns, laments, and prophetic oracles of assurance. Mowinckel took this connection a step further, noting that there seems to be an association between the second division of Isaiah and the preexilic autumn festivals—namely the Feast of Tabernacles. However, Mowinckel, who does not understand how the Servant Songs fit into the picture, stopped short of completely relating chapters 40-55 to Sukkot. It was I. Engnell and Eaton who completed the correspondence between the second division of Isaiah, including the Servant Songs, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Engnell concluded that Isaiah 40-55 ‘is a prophetic collection of traditions’ that may be called ‘liturgy, …not a cult liturgy but a prophetic imitation thereof.’“The conclusions of these scholars are significant in light of the possible setting of Jacob’s sermon, for if the second division of Isaiah, from which Jacob obtained his quotes, is a prophetic imitation of Sukkot liturgy, then it is possible that Nephi instructed Jacob to use Isaiah not only for the prophetic teachings and elevated language, but because Isaiah’s words reflect the very festival in which they, the Nephites, were participating” (Thompson, “Isaiah 50-51, the Israelite Autumn Festivals, and the Covenant Speech of Jacob in 2 Nephi 6-10,” 137-38).{3} For a discussion of the prophecies about the Messiah ben Joseph, see Joseph F. McConkie, “Joseph Smith as Found in Ancient Manuscripts,” Isaiah and the Prophets: Inspired Voices from the Old Testament, ed. Monte S. Nyman, (Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1984), 11-32. For a non-LDS scholar’s attempt to make some sense out of the ancient traditions that there will be a “messiah” from the family of Joseph, see Israel Knohl, “The Messiah Son of Joseph,” Biblical Archaeological Review, 34, 9 (September/October): 58-64.{4} The name “Joseph” means “Let him add.” It is the future form of a verb which means to add or augment. It is a rich word which carries, among other connotations, the idea of to “gather together.” (Strong, Hebrew numbers 3130 and 3254.){5} Victor L. Ludlow, Isaiah: Prophet, Seer, and Poet (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1982), 177.{6} Skinner believes that 1 Nephi 20 is about Cyrus, but v. 20 has a double meaning that includes a prophecy about the restoration of the gospel. Andrew C. Skinner, “Isaiah 48-49 in 1 Nephi 19-22,” Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, Donald W. Parry and John W. Welch, eds., (Provo, Utah, FARMS, 1998), 95-122.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 21:1-6 & Isaiah 49 -- LeGrand Baker -- Those who will help the Prophet Joseph Author : lbaker?In this discussion I have divided First Nephi 20 and 21 into the following subsections: 1. The premortal apostasy, 1 Nephi 20:1-11?2. Joseph Smith in the Council in Heaven, 1 Nephi 20:12-173. Apostasy preceding the Restoration, 1 Nephi 20:18 to 21:1a4. Those who will help the Prophet Joseph, 1 Nephi 21:1-65. Joseph Smith restores the Temple services, 1 Nephi 21:7-116. The Gathering of Israel, 1 Nephi 21: 12-26———————————-First Nephi Chapter 21 can best be understood as a continuation of chapter 20 rather than as a subject separate from it. The outline of this two-chapter unit is as follows: . ?Events in the premortal spirit world1. 1 Nephi 20:1-11 — Isaiah shows the extent of the premortal apostasy.2. 1 Nephi 20:12-17 — He describes a Council meeting at which Jehovah presides and the Prophet Joseph speaks, by assignment, and describes how, under Joseph’s administration, the Lord’s purposes will ultimately triumph in this physical world.. ? Events in this world3. 1 Nephi 20:18 – 21:1a — There is an abrupt change in the scene as Isaiah describes the apostate state of this world when the restoration is about to begin. It demonstrates the need for Joseph to fulfill his assignment .4. 1 Nephi 21:1b – 6 — The missions of those who were assigned to help him are explained. Here no distinction is drawn between those who are to be his contemporaries and those, like Luther and Wycliffe , who come before him to set the stage for the restoration, or of those who follow Joseph in time but continue the work he began. Some read these verses as being about the Prophet Joseph. I read them differently because they describe a reluctance that is completely contrary to Joseph’s commitment and personality .5. 1 Nephi 21:7-8 – Isaiah then describes, in the necessarily correct sequence, Joseph’s mission, his death, and the fruits of his work. Joseph is positively identified in footnote 8-a which refers us to 1 Nephi 21:7-8.6. 1 Nephi 21:9-11 — The first fruit of Joseph’s mission is the restoration of the temple ordinances for both the living and the dead. All this is written in a beautiful code language that was preserved as faithfully as possible by the translators of the King James Bible. It is much the same code language that Isaiah uses in his description of the ordinances of salvation for the dead in Isaiah 61.7. 1 Nephi 21:12-26 – The ultimate fruits of Joseph’ work is the gathering of Israel. This is shown as following the restoration of the temple ordinances because there would be no point in gathering Israel if there were no temples to which they could be gathered. The Book of Mormon follows the King James translation rather closely but, because the brass plates from which Nephi copied is a pristine version of the original text, the Book of Mormon makes changes which speak with more clarity and accuracy.——————-1 Nephi 21:1-6 & Isaiah 49 — LeGrand Baker — Those who will help the Prophet Joseph1 And again: Hearken, O ye house of Israel, all ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of my people; yea, all ye that are broken off, that are scattered abroad, who are of my people, O house of Israel. Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken ye people from far; the Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name 1 Nephi 21:1).{1}1 And again: Hearken, O ye house of IsraelInasmuch as this follows immediately after Isaiah’s account of a conference attended by premortal “Israel” (1 Nephi 20:12-17), it is reasonable to suppose that he is now addressing some of those same people who have come to fulfill their assignments on earth. That is, the beginning of this chapter is addressed to that “Israel” who had covenanted to assist the Prophet Joseph in his mission. The rest of this verse and continuing through verse 6 is written as a conversation between God and “Israel.”It begins by describing the problem. The people are floundering because of the wickedness of their leaders.Whoever took it upon themselves to change Isaiah’s text so they could get Cyrus into Isaiah’s prophecy, not only took out the references to the meeting and the prophet Joseph, but they also took out the indictment against themselves. Isaiah had issued an invitation to:all ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of my people;Those words were edited out of the Hebrew Bible, and it is little wonder. Isaiah blames the people’s apostasy on “the wickedness of the pastors of the people.” Since the editors knew what they were doing, and what the probable consequences would be, it is understandable that they determined that part of the verse had to be omitted from the text.Jeremiah prophesied the same thing, but his prophecy did not get removed.1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.2 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord (Jeremiah 23:1-4).yea, all ye that are broken off, that are scattered abroad, who are of my people, O house of Israel. Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken ye people from far;It is reasonable to suppose that his reference to “isles” might be about the people of the Book of Mormon. Isaiah was fully aware of the significant role the Book of Mormon would play in the restoration of the gospel. Isaiah 29:9-14 is an explicit prophecy about it, and that prophecy was fulfilled to the letter by Martin Harris and Professor Charles Anthon (JS-hist 1:64-65).the Lord hath called me from the womb;This is not about the Prophet Joseph, but is addressed to the “house of Israel.” That is, to those who had covenanted to come to the earth in a time and place that would enable them to facilitate the work of the Prophet in the restoration of the gospel and the gathering of Israel. The next few verses identify that person, not as an individual, but as individuals within the group. These assignments, like the others, were based on premortal covenants. The fact of the covenant is reaffirmed in the next phrase. We can identify the group more closely as we review the conversation that ensues between them and the Lord.from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.As already observed, “name” is frequently code for “covenant” because there is always a new name associated with a new covenant. The names of these persons were given before they were born. That is, the covenants were made before we were born and we came to this world bearing the burden of those covenants. Because we do not remember what they were, a major function of the Holy Ghost is to teach us the covenants and how and when we are to fulfill them.{2}2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me (1 Nephi 21:2).And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword;The words one speaks by the authority of the priesthood and the power of the Holy Ghost are often compared to a sword. The idea that a tongue can cut more deeply than a knife is part of everyone’s experience, as the boy in Shakespeare’s King Henry V observed about one who had “a killing tongue and a quiet sword.”{3}Paul described God’s words in a phrase that is quoted several times in the Doctrine and Covenants. He wrote,12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).But in the context of Isaiah’s statement, there is another interpretation that is more likely. Priesthood power is always exercised by the authoritative spoken word.In the context of putting on “the whole armor of God,” Paul includes a weapon which is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:13-17). The story of creation is about the power of God’s word. The brother of Jared moved a mountain when he spoke, and all priesthood ordinances are accomplished by the spoken word. Nevertheless, for most Latter-day Saints the power of the word is in its ability to illuminate one’s own soul. Whether through the words of the missionaries or the prophets, words can condemn or exalt, just as a sword can attack or defend.in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me,Isaiah combined those ideas again when he wrote:16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people (Isaiah 51:16).Jacob quoted those words (2 Nephi 8:16), then explained that they were “spoken unto the Jews, by the mouth of his holy prophets, even from the beginning down, from generation to generation, until the time comes that they shall be restored to the true church and fold of God” (2 Nephi 9:2). The Savior quotes that same section of Isaiah in 3 Nephi 20. All of the contexts are the same. That is, they all talk about the restoration of Israel in the context of the restoration of the temple.It is reasonable, then, to read “in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me” as being about a priesthood ordination.and made me a polished shaft;The symbolic shaft in question is an arrow; that is apparent from the fact that he is hidden in a quiver. The arrow is the instrument by which the Lord accomplishes his purposes. But a thin, straight stick is subject to twisting and warping if it gets wet. A crooked arrow isn’t worth much. So the ancients protected the arrow by anointing it with either olive oil or animal fat. The polishing is to make it straight without bumps so that it will fly true, but the polishing process is only half finished until it has been properly anointed with oil. So the Israel who is speaking in first person has been given the words to speak, has been ordained and anointed, but now, rather than becoming an obvious mark to the world:in his quiver hath he hid me;That obscurity is just one reason to believe this is not about the Prophet Joseph. For the most part, individual Latter-day Saints are unknown in their communities. The bishop is the local shopkeeper and the Relief Society president is a housewife down the street. We do missionary work, but do not boast about who we are or who we think we are going to be. In the apocryphal Gospel of Philip, the Savior is reported to have taught, “The perfect man not only cannot be restrained, but also cannot be seen. For if he is seen he will be put under restraint.”{4} Personal anonymity gives us great, but quiet, power, and shields us within God’s promise that he will help us keep our covenants.3 And said unto me: Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.When we considers the priesthood authority given to his servants in the previous verse, and put that authority in context with the assignment they will receive in the next few verses, it becomes apparent that this “servant” included some of the people who were at the premortal meeting described in the previous chapter. As is true with all such universal assignments as the one described here, they are equally applicable to the entire group as they are to each member in the group. Therefore “Israel” might be the entire body of the Church who were assigned to come to the earth in the last days to assist the Prophet Joseph fulfill his promises, or “Israel” might also be each individual in that group whose assignment is similar to, but uniquely different from ,the responsibilities of the entire group. I understand this “servant” is both singular and personal, as well as multiple and universal in the way that the ancient temple drama was delivered to an entire audience. That is, the somewhat generic covenants were made with everyone present, but individual because each participant acted in his own behalf. So that the covenants made by each individual were applicable only to himself. In other words, Israel is us—you and I—individually and collectively it is those of us whose responsibility it is to preach the gospel, enlarge the Kingdom, and serve in our respective callings, and to just be good and productive people, wherever we are.In the short statement that Isaiah attributes to the Lord, “Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified,” we find the only antidote to the condemning tendency described by the prophets. Holders of the Priesthood have the responsibility to do good as God defines that good, but not “good” as people look to its uses for self aggrandizement. When priesthood holders follow the instructions of the Holy Ghost, then they are indeed one “in whom God will be glorified.”The servant’s reluctant response and God’s reply is what convinces me that this is more likely to be about you and I than it is to be about the Prophet Joseph Smith.4 Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught and in vain; surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.The wording of the servant’s response, and his reluctance to come into this world suggests that the conversation we are reading took place before we got here. In tone, it is not the same as the feeling of inadequacy expressed by Jeremiah and Enoch (Jeremiah 1:6, Moses 6:31), but is more like the way Isaiah describes his own sode experience when he returned to the Council and renewed his covenants there. After he volunteered to do the assignment, and the Lord gave him more details, Isaiah asked “Lord, how long?” and the Lord replied, “Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate” (Isaiah 6:11).Isaiah’s response, “Lord, how long?” suggests he understands the weight of his assignment, but not a reluctance to fulfill it. During his sode experience, Isaiah was told more than he reports to us here. He knew that the religious reforms that he and King Hezekiah had sponsored would be overturned by Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son and successor. In The Martyrdom of Isaiah he prophesies, “I shall depart mid the torture of my body…. and by his hands I shall be sawn asunder.” In fulfillment of that prophecy, the account concludes, “And when Isaiah was being sawn in sunder, he neither cried aloud nor wept, but his lips spake with the Holy Spirit until he was sawn in twain.”{5}There were others, great men and women whose names we know, and many others we do not know, who faced just as seemingly impossible task. Isaiah echoes their concern as they approached their assignments:Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught and in vain; surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God (1 Nephi 21).When and under what circumstances did this part of the conversation take place, we do not have enough information to know. But it is likely that Isaiah is recalling the premortal time when others like himself, were concerned about the enormity of the task before them. In the next verses Isaiah gives the Lord’s response.5 And now, saith the Lord—that formed me from the womb that I should be his servant,{6} to bring Jacob again to him—though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.6 And he said: It is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth.These verses are about as close as one can hope to get to an actual date in a prophecy to be fulfilled 2,700 years in the future. The time is when those foreordained to assist in the restoration of the gospel would be born in this world. Israel will gather Israel, but Israel is not yet gathered; and they will also be a light to the gentiles, “that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth.”It is about the restoration of the gospel and the power of missionary work. But it is also the Lord’s response to those of us who were concerned about the assignment and our ability to perform it successfully. The verses contain not only the essence of the assignment but also the absolute assurance that the Lord will assist his servants that each one may fulfill his mission.An ancient Israelite poem looks forward to this time. It reads:I took courage and became strong and captured the world,And it became mine for the glory of the Most Highand of God my Father.And the gentiles who had been scatteredwere gathered together,But I was not defiled by my love for them,Because they had praised me in high places.And the traces of light were set upon their hearts,And they walked according to my life and were saved,And they became my people for ever and ever.{7}———————————–FOOTNOTES{1} The following verses make little sense if they are not read as a conversation. To facilitate that, they are written here without the verse breaks.The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;And [the Lord ] said unto me:Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught and in vain; surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.And now, saith the Lord —that formed me from the womb that I should be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him—though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. And he said: It is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth.{2} See Jeremiah 1:5 as an example of such a premortal covenant.{3} William Shakespeare, King Henry V, Act 3, Scene 2.{4} Gospel of Philip in New Testament Apocrypha, ed. Wilhelm Schneemelcher, 2:201 # 106.{5} The Martyrdom of Isaiah, in R.H. Charles, ed., The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913), 159-62.{6} See Jeremiah 1:5 as an example of such a premortal covenant.{6} Odes of Solomon, Number 10, in James H. Charlesworth, ed, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, 2 vols., New York, 1985, 2: 744)<><><><><><><><><><1 Nephi 21:7-11 & Isaiah 49 -- LeGrand Baker -- Joseph Smith restores the Temple services Author : lbakerIn this discussion I have divided First Nephi 20 and 21 into the following subsections:1. The premortal apostasy, 1 Nephi 20:1-11?2. Joseph Smith in the Council in Heaven, 1 Nephi 20:12-173. Apostasy preceding the Restoration, 1 Nephi 20:18 to 21:1a4. Those who will help the Prophet Joseph, 1 Nephi 21:1-65. Joseph Smith restores the Temple services, 1 Nephi 21:7-116. The Gathering of Israel, 1 Nephi 21: 12-26———————————-1 Nephi 21:7-11?7 Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nations abhorreth, to servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful.Having discussed those who will assist the Prophet, Isaiah now turns to Joseph himself. In the first half of his introduction, he describes him in terms of all the tensions Joseph encountered in his own lifetime and the contrasts that still inform opinions today, “to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nations abhorreth.” During his first visit, Moroni warned the young prophet of those contradictions. Joseph recalled:33 He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people (Joseph Smith-History:33).As though to fulfill that prophecy, years later when a Boston newspaper reported that the Prophet had been murdered, the editor wrote:But notwithstanding this, he was a remarkable man, and has left the impress of his genius upon the age in which he lived; he has carved out for himself a title to a page in the history of his country, and his name will be remembered, for good and for evil, when the names of half the ephemeral statesmen of the age will be forgotten.{1}The second half of Isaiah introduction is equally appropriate:to servant of rulersIn the Beatitudes, when the Savior spoke of the Twelve, he emphasized their role as servants. He said, “Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to minister unto you, and to be your servants (3 Nephi 12:1) Being a servant is not a unique responsibility of the prophet and the apostles, because we are all required to serve and bless each other. We may know that these priesthood responsibilities are what Isaiah had in mind by the next phrases:Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful.These kings are the sacral kings who have eyes that see and ears that hear. They stand to make covenants. Princes are those who are anointed to become kings. They are enabled to worship correctly because the Lord has kept his part of the covenants with regards to their collective and individual missions.It is true with Isaiah, as it is with many other prophets, that in order to read with understanding anything the prophet wrote, one must first understand other things he wrote. As an example, this chapter is a prophecy of the life and work of the Prophet Joseph and is set in the context of his covenants in the premortal spirit world. However, it can best be understood in light of Isaiah 61 which is a prophecy of the redemption of the dead after the Savior’s resurrection. For that reason, it seems necessary that before we continue, we carefully examine that later chapter of Isaiah.Reading Isaiah 61 is not so much a tangent as it might appear, for key elements in Isaiah 49 (1 Nephi 21) are written with the same subtextual code as Isaiah 61where the context makes the code easier to unravel. So reading Isaiah 61 first will focus a bright shining light on the meaning of Isaiah’s description of the mission of the Prophet Joseph in 1 Nephi 21. It will also help us understand why the Savior defined his own mission by quoting from that chapter in the synagogue in Nazareth.16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,{2}19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears (Luke 4:16-21).The other chapter he quoted, promised that he would give sight to the blind, but it was also an affirmation that he would deliver the prisoners from their darkness.5 Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:6 I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.8 I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images (Isaiah 42:5-8).The key that unlocks the whole meaning of Isaiah 61 is D&C 138. Isaiah 61 is a prophecy of the Lord’s visit to the world of the spirits of the dead during the period between his own death and his resurrection. The first verse is quoted in D&C 138:42 as Isaiah’s prophecy that the Savior would visit the dead and liberate them from the spirit prison. With that key the entire chapter comes into focus, so not only is it intelligible but in its clarity it provides us the meaning of other code words in other parts of Isaiah, as well as in the Psalms and other scriptures.President Joseph F. Smith saw in vision the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy. He also clarifies that. It was the Savior who was anointed at the Council in Heaven, and lists some of the prophets who were present to greet the Savior in the spirit world. Among those he mentions Isaiah.42 Isaiah, who declared by prophecy that the Redeemer was anointed to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that were bound (D&C138:42).Throughout his own vision President Smith used much of Isaiah’s language. Not only does he quote its beginning in verse 42, but also in verse 31, he tells of the Savior’s sending missionaries to the dead who did not accept the Savior in their time of life on the earth. He describes their mission in the same terms that were used by Isaiah in chapter 61.Please go to the “Scriptures” section of this website, then to Old Testament, and then Isaiah. You will find a discussion of those terms in “Isaiah 61 – LeGrand Baker – An Endowment for the Dead”8 Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time have I heard thee, O isles of the sea, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and give thee my servant for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages (1 Nephi 21:8).In light of Isaiah 61, the symbolism of the next few verses of Nephi 21 that promises the restoration of the temple ordinances requires virtually no explanation. What little is necessary is provided by a footnote in the current edition of the Book of Mormon.In an acceptable timeAn acceptable time is a time when the ordinances and covenants are valid because they are done with correct authority and in the correct way (zedek). One of the Prophet’s most important missions is to restore that “acceptable time” with its promises of salvation for the dead.have I heard thee, O isles of the sea and in a day of salvation have I helped thee and I will preserve thee,As in verse one, the references to the people who are of the “isles of the sea” probably refers to the people of the Book of Mormon.and give thee my servantIn the Book of Mormon, at the words “my servant,” footnote 8a reads: “2 Nephi 3:11 (6-15); 3 Nephi 21:11 (8-11); Mormon 8:16 (16-25).”The first of those references reads:6 For Joseph truly testified, saying: A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins. …11 But a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins—and not to the bringing forth my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them. …15 And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation (2 Nephi 3:6-15).9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darknessThe prisoners who sit in darkness may well be the persons in the spirit world who are awaiting the ordinances that will enable them literally to “go forth.”They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.Again, we have a reference to the feast at the conclusion of the ancient Israelite temple drama—which has became the sacrament of the Last Supper.“Way” is code for one’s journey to the top of the mountain of the Lord. To feed there is to partake of the fruit of the tree of life. The symbolism of “pastures” reflects the 23rd Psalm where one, as a sheep who follows his Savior, eats the fruit of that tree and drinks freely of the waters of life. Then, later in the psalm, the feast is prepared “in the presence of mine enemies,” meaning that the enemies are irrelevant to both the sanctity and the efficacy of the feast.{22} Those ideas are encapsulated in the Savior’s Beatitude:6 And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness [zedek, correctness in priesthood and temple things], for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost (3 Nephi 12:6).10 They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.This beautiful imagery is a reference to the tree of life and the waters of life. The dead shall have access to the fruit of the tree and therefore shall not hunger. They will symbolically rest under its shade and therefore the sun will not smite them. There they may drink freely of the waters of life. That same imagery is found in the Twenty Third Psalm:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters (Psalms 23:1-2).In John’s Revelation, this represents the ultimate blessing: having eternal access to the tree of life and giving “unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely” (Revelation 21:6. See all of chapters 21 and 22).11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted (1 Nephi 21:11).“Mountains” may refer to the ancient Israelite temple. “Way” and “highways” may refer to for the ordinances and covenants one must follow to ascend to the pinnacle of the mountain.{23}Even though these references to temple work and kingship seem to be primarily about ordinances for the dead, they necessarily imply that the Prophet Joseph will also restore the sealing power and other ordinances for the living as well.This verse completes the part of the chapter that deals with the Prophet’s assignment to restore the ordinances and blessings of the temple. The rest of the chapter talks about the Prophet’s other major assignment: to gather Israel and to restore the government and culture of this earth to their proper order—to bring about Zion.The restoration of the temple with its ordinances and covenants had to come first in Isaiah’s prophecy because it does come first in time. There can be no gathering of Israel if there are not temples to which they can gather. So now, Isaiah has established that Joseph will restore the ancient temple rites, he can proceed with his prophecy to describe how Israel will be gathered.———————————–FOOTNOTES{1} Daily Evening Transcript, Boston, Mass., August 1, 1844.{2} When John the Baptist’s disciples came to Jesus to ask if he were the Messiah, he quoted this passage to them (Matthew 11:4-5).{3} Margaret Dee Bratcher,”Salvation Achieved, Isaiah 61:1-7; 62:1-7; 65:17 – 66:2,” Review and Expositor, v. 88, 1991, 178.{4} For anything to be acceptable to the Lord in the Old Testament, it had to be done correctly and with the right authority—in zedek. Here the dead are to be given assurance that the ordinance performed on the earth will be valid and acceptable. One finds a similar statement in D&C 93:51.{5} Anderson, Time to Mourn, 84. An important example of the way “comfort” is used in the Bible is this verse from Isaiah:3 For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody (Isaiah 51:3).{6} Anderson, Time to Mourn, 85.{7} For an excellent discussion of the coronation ceremony, see Ricks and Sroka, “King, Coronation, and Temple,” 236-71.{8} For a more detailed discussion of the Israelite coronation ceremony see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 461-516; Second edition, p. 336-360.{9} For a more detailed discussion of “beauty instead of ashes” in the ancient Israelite coronation ceremony see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 471-77; Second edition, p. 342-46.{10} For a more detailed discussion of the anointing in the ancient Israelite coronation ceremony see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 477-83; Second edition, p. 346-49.For discussions of the anointing of Israelite kings, see Donald W. Parry, “Ritual Anointing with Olive Oil in Ancient Israelite Religion,” Allegory of the Olive Tree, 266-71, 281-83. For a discussion of the olive tree as the Tree of Life and of the tree and its oil as symbols of kingship see Stephen D. Ricks, “Olive Culture in the Second Temple Era and Early Rabbinic Period,” Allegory of the Olive Tree, 460-76.{11} For a more detailed discussion of the two-part royal clothing in the ancient Israel see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 483-95; Second edition, p. 349-58.{12} For a more detailed discussion of this new name and of the Israelite royal new covenant name see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 495-516; Second edition, p. 358-73.{13} Ellis T. Rasmussen, A Latter-day Saint Commentary on the Old Testament (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1993), 536.{14} Borsch, Son of Man, 92-93.{15} Mowinckel, He that Cometh, 84. As examples, Mowinckel’s footnote gives Psalms 132:11ff; 72; cf. 20:8f; 21:10; and Isaiah 55:3. Besides Mowinckel, other scholars who have pointed out that this was a participatory drama were: Widengren, “King and Covenant,” 21-22. Borsch, Son of Man, 184; Johnson, Sacral Kingship, 7-8, 91; Grace I. Emmerson, “Women in Ancient Israel,” The World of Ancient Israel, Sociological, Anthropological and Political Perspectives, ed. R. E. Clements (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), 371-94; Robert Davidson, “Covenant Ideology in Ancient Israel,” World of Ancient Israel, 342-43; Geo Widengren, “Baptism and Enthronement in Some Jewish-Christian Gnostic Documents,” The Savior God, Comparative Studies in the Concept of Salvation Presented to Edwin Oliver James, ed. S. G. F. Brandon (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1963), 205-17; Johnson, “Hebrew Conceptions of Kingship,” 215-35.{16} For a discussion of the concept, “Be true to the Law of your own Being,” see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 537-39; Second edition, p. 387-88.{17} Margaret Dee Bratcher,”Salvation Achieved, Isaiah 61:1-7; 62:1-7; 65:17 – 66:2,” Review and Expositor, v. 88, 1991, 178.{18} ?Monte S. Nyman, Great are the Words of Isaiah (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1980),?236.{19} For a discussion of Psalm 82 see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 227-55; Second edition, p. 359-81.{20} For a discussion of the temple feast see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 605-41; Second edition, p. 431-57.{21} For a discussion of “a broken heart and contrite spirit” see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 886-89; Second edition, p. 622-23.{22} For a discussion of the feast in Psalm 23 see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 619-41; Second edition, p. 448-49.{23} For a comparison between the sacred mountain and Solomon’s Temple see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 365; Second edition, p. 263.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 21: 12-26 & Isaiah 49 -- LeGrand Baker -- The Gathering of Israel Author : lbakerIn this discussion I have divided First Nephi 20 and 21 into the following subsections:?1. The premortal apostasy, 1 Nephi 20:1-112. Joseph Smith in the Council in Heaven, 1 Nephi 20:12-173. Apostasy preceding the Restoration, 1 Nephi 20:18 to 21:1a4. Those who will help the Prophet Joseph, 1 Nephi 21:1-65. Joseph Smith restores the Temple services, 1 Nephi 21:7-116. The Gathering of Israel, 1 Nephi 21: 12-26———————————-12 And then, O house of Israel, behold, these shall come from far; and lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.{1}“Israel” is a covenant name and represents several different covenants, or perhaps more accurately, the same covenant, made on several different occasions. It is apparent from these chapters of Isaiah, as well as from the psalms, that “Israel” was the name given in the spirit world to those who covenanted to support the Savior then. It is also the name given to the man Jacob and to his children and their descendants in this world. It is also the name given to those who belong to the kingdom of God in this last dispensation.13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established; and break forth into singing, O mountains; for they shall be smitten no more; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.The Old Testament reads:13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted (Isaiah 49:13).The phrase “for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established” has been removed, but remained on the brass plates from which Nephi copied this passage. The phrase is a declaration of eternal priesthood and kingship.The east is the direction of the rising sun, the source of light, the holy place. The establishment of the feet of the people of the east is related to sacral kingship and the ancient temple coronation rites. The king of Israel was anointed king; then as a legitimate son and heir, he sat on the throne of God in the Holy of Holies of Solomon’s Temple. The footstool of that throne was the Ark of the Covenant that contained the regalia of kingship and priesthood: the tablets on that God had written the Ten Commandments, the rod of Aaron, the jar of manna (they were there at least in theory, if not in fact, for some of those things were lost rather early in Israelite history). Thus while sitting upon the throne, the king placed his feet on the sacred box that contained the tokens of the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants. The king had “established” his feet—both asserting and giving evidence that he was the personification of the covenants associated with that kingly and priesthood regalia. This idea is different from one’s walking along the way, that is, to perform the ordinances and otherwise become worthy to enter behind the great veil of Solomon’s Temple into the presence of God. The king is no longer moving along the path— he has reached his destination and his feet are established in the authority and legitimacy of kingship and priesthood.{2}The greatest tragedy of ancient Israel was the destruction of Solomon’s Temple and the loss of the ordinances performed therein. The next lines of our verse promise that the time will come when the temples will no longer be subject to destruction:and break forth into singing, O mountains; for they [the temples] shall be smitten no more; for the Lord hath comforted [empowered] his people“Comfort” is a code word defined in Isaiah 61:1-3 where it means to make one a part of Zion: to wash, to remove ashes, anoint, clothe, and give a new name that may be a promise an eternal family.{3}14 But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me—but he will show that he hath not.The words “but he will show that he hath not” are not in the Bible.15 For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel.The phrase “O house of Israel” is not in the Bible.16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my handsThat is a literal as well as a figurative description of the Savior’s part of the covenant.thy walls are continually before me.“Walls” are defenses. When one’s walls are before an enemy, they attack. When one’s walls are before a friend, he is on the inside, helping in the defense. This says that Jehovah will defend Zion.17 Thy children shall make haste against thy destroyers; and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.18 Lift up thine eyes round about and behold; all these gather themselves together, and they shall come to thee. And as I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on even as a bride.The sense of gathering is lost in the Old Testament but restored in the Book of Mormon. The phrase “and they shall come to thee” is simply “and come to thee” in the Bible.Gathering also has a covenant and priesthood connotation. The elements were gathered out of the chaotic waters to create cosmos, which, in the beginning of this world’s history, was the Garden of Eden. When the Nephites were threatened destruction from the robbers, they were gathered together for their protection. The gathering in this verse is the ultimate fulfillment of the Lord’s covenants with Abraham and Joseph.And as I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on even as a bride.The idea expressed here is marriage. It is explained more fully by Isaiah in the last two verses of chapter 61, where those who are dead prepare to be married for eternity and then to celebrate the resurrection.There is another sense of marriage that is taught here. It is an extenson of posterity.19 For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants; and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away20. The children whom thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the first, shall again in thine ears say: The place is too strait for me; give place to me that I may dwell.21. Then shalt thou say in thine heart: Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? And who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where have they been?We are of Israel, but we are also gentiles because our historical identity as the covenant people had been lost. The gathering of Israel has two parts, both dependent on the restoration of the gospel and the temple, and both have to do with sealing eternal families. Israel—the living in this world—had lost their identity over the years of dispersion and apostasy. Israel—those who had died before the restoration—had also lost their eternal connections with family and friends. Now all of Israel could be united again and both could marvel: “Behold, I was left alone; these, where have they been?”22 Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people; and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their face towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothersThere are two kinds of kings and queens: those who rule countries (and there are not many of those left any more) and sacral kings and queens who are such by virtue of their priesthood and ordinances. The Beatitudes twice say “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”they shall bow down to thee with their face towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet;That is probably not literal, but not altogether figurative either. The hallmark of Zion is the mutual respect and love sacral kings and priests have for sacral kings and priests.and thou shalt know [know means Know.] that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.There were two major functions of ancient Israelite kingship. One was temporary, the other was eternal. The temporary one was that of a military leader. The idea of military leader is expressed either in terms of actually fighting with the enemy (war in heaven, establishment of the modern state of Israel, and Jehovah’s name-title of Lord of Hosts ) or of missionary work. It remains important as long as there is evil to be subdued, but after that it will not be important. The other is to be a judge. The chief characteristic of a priesthood judge is mercy that is very akin to charity. That characteristic is permanent. This part of this chapter seems to be using it in both senses.24 For shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives delivered?25 But thus saith the Lord, even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; they shall be drunken with their own blood as with sweet wine; and all flesh shall know that I, the Lord, am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.This affirmation that Jesus is Jehovah is still in the Bible.?<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>1 Nephi 22 -- LeGrand Baker -- Nephi’s Conclusion Author : lbaker1 Nephi 22 —- Nephi’s ConclusionFirst Nephi is a chiasmus with chapters 20 and 21 mapping to Lehi’s sode experience, and chapter 22 mapping to Nephi’s testimony that he has “a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God.”Nephi was a literary genius. Richard Dilworth Rust’s analysis of the Book of Mormon is sufficient evidence of that.{4} Nephi had seen the plans of the Council in Heaven, which included the future of his own people, and the meaning and extent of the Atonement. For ten years, under the direction of the Lord and the tutelage of the Spirit, he had worked on an incredibly intricate and perfectly structured chiastic poem. He had interwoven the most important doctrines of the gospel, the cosmic epic that is found in the world’s best literature, the intricacies of the ancient temple drama, and the story of his own life into a magnificent epic poem.The masterful pattern of that chiastic poem begins in the first few verses of First Nephi. There he sketched out the whole outline of his work, telling also that many prophets had warned the people of the destruction of their city and of their own dispersal. Then, in verses 7-15, he tells of his father’s sode experience when Lehi saw God and received instructions from Jehovah.From there the chiasmus eventually focuses on the Tree of Life, then returns to where it began. In chapters 20-21, Nephi quotes Isaiah’s account of the Prophet Joseph’s assignment in the premortal spirit world, and of the promise that the Prophet would restore not only the gospel and the temple but also the scattered people Israel. Nephi then concludes as he began, with an overview of his entire work. A description of the pattern is this:. ? ? A. Introduction [temple] (chapter 1).? ??? ??B. Scattering of Israel foretold (1).? ??? ??? ??C. Lehi’s sode experience (1).? ??? ??? ??? ??D. Sons go and return safely (2-6).? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??E. Wives and family (7-8).? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??F. Two records – key to First Nephi (9).? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??G. Predictions about the future (10).? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??H. Tree of Life (11).g. Predictions about the future (12-15).? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??f. Liahona – key to successful journey (16).? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??e. Sons marry (16).? ??? ??? ??? ??d. Arrive safely at Bountiful (17-18).? ??? ??? ??c. Joseph Smith premortal assignment (20-21).? ??? ??b. Gathering of Israel foretold (21).? ??a. Conclusion [temple] (22)Even here at the conclusion of First Nephi, perhaps especially here, Nephi does not for a moment get out of character as the master story teller. After quoting Isaiah, he introduces enough conversation between himself and his brothers to maintain the tension he has developed in the personal story he is telling.1 And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had read these things which were engraven upon the plates of brass, my brethren came unto me and said unto me: What meaneth these things which ye have read? Behold, are they to be understood according to things which are spiritual, which shall come to pass according to the spirit and not the flesh?2 And I, Nephi, said unto them: Behold they were manifest unto the prophet by the voice of the Spirit; for by the Spirit are all things made known unto the prophets, which shall come upon the children of men according to the flesh.3 Wherefore, the things of which I have read are things pertaining to things both temporal and spiritual; for it appears that the house of Israel, sooner or later, will be scattered upon all the face of the earth, and also among all nations.4 And behold, there are many who are already lost from the knowledge of those who are at Jerusalem. Yea, the more part of all the tribes have been led away; and they are scattered to and fro upon the isles of the sea; and whither they are none of us knoweth, save that we know that they have been led away.5 And since they have been led away, these things have been prophesied concerning them, and also concerning all those who shall hereafter be scattered and be confounded, because of the Holy One of Israel; for against him will they harden their hearts; wherefore, they shall be scattered among all nations and shall be hated of all men.6 Nevertheless, after they shall be nursed by the Gentiles, and the Lord has lifted up his hand upon the Gentiles and set them up for a standard, and their children have been carried in their arms, and their daughters have been carried upon their shoulders, behold these things of which are spoken are temporal; for thus are the covenants of the Lord with our fathers; and it meaneth us in the days to come, and also all our brethren who are of the house of Israel (1 Nephi 22:1-6).Nephi has described the “temporal” gathering of Israel, but in doing so he has also called our attention to the conclusion of Isaiah 49 which he has just quoted. Thereby he has brought us to the restoration of the ancient temple drama where the sacral “kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers” (1 Nephi 21:23). Then, using that bit of conversation as a spiring board, he delivers his final address to his reading audience. He is, as ever, cautious not to say too much, but being certain that he says enough.7 And it meaneth that the time cometh that after all the house of Israel have been scattered and confounded, that the Lord God will raise up a mighty nation among the Gentiles, yea, even upon the face of this land; and by them shall our seed be scattered.8 And after our seed is scattered the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles, which shall be of great worth unto our seed; wherefore, it is likened unto their being nourished by the Gentiles and being carried in their arms and upon their shoulders.9 And it shall also be of worth unto the Gentiles; and not only unto the Gentiles but unto all the house of Israel, unto the making known of the covenants of the Father of heaven unto Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. 10 And I would, my brethren, that ye should know that all the kindreds of the earth cannot be blessed unless he shall make bare his arm in the eyes of the nations.11 Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to make bare his arm{5} in the eyes of all the nations, in bringing about his covenants and his gospel unto those who are of the house of Israel.12 Wherefore, he will bring them again out of captivity, and they shall be gathered together to the lands of their inheritance; and they shall be brought out of obscurity and out of darkness; and they shall know that the Lord is their Savior and their Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel (1 Nephi 22:7-12).{6}In verse 9, Nephi had used the Abrahamic Covenant as the springboard to launch his assurances that the fulness of the gospel and its temple would be restored in the last days. The covenant of Abraham includes a promise of invulnerability.{7} That does not mean an invulnerability against sorrow or pain but against whatever forces are poised to prevent one from fulfilling one’s eternal covenants. Just as with individuals who are promised that they will be able to fulfill the covenants they made at the Council in Heaven, so also the Lord has given the collective Zion a covenant of ultimate invulnerability. It is that the Lord and his children shall reign triumphantly at the end of this world, notwithstanding all attempts by men and devils to prevent their individual or collective success.Nephi describes their enemies as “all the proud and they who do wickedly” and they who “will harden their hearts against the Holy One of Israel.” There is an ominous ring about the individual responsibility in those words. The enemies are individuals who worship a fiction. Pride is a bubble without content. It is an illusion that one invents to sustain his own self-aggrandizement.One is reminded of Moroni’s warning, “…come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.” In its context (the next words are “awake and arise from the dust.” Moroni 10:30-31). one lays hold upon every good gift with one’s hands, just as one would have to restrain his hands if he were to “touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.”There is no need to speculate about the meaning of “will harden their hearts against the Holy One of Israel.” Alma defined that term for us as not knowing the mysteries (Alma 12:9-11).If Nephi had that same definition in mind when he wrote that they would “ harden their hearts against the Holy One of Israel,” then he was not referring to people who just did not know or did not care to know. Rather, he was describing individuals who had chosen to disregard—and had thereby ceased to know— “the mysteries of God.”Nephi had seen the same vision that was shown to John the Beloved, so it was appropriate that he should conclude his discussion of the gathering of Israel with a review of that visions’ report of the final destruction of the enemies of righteousness. As a kind of summary of the last part of John’s book of Revelation Nephi wrote:13 And the blood of that great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall turn upon their own heads; for they shall war among themselves, and the sword of their own hands shall fall upon their own heads, and they shall be drunken with their own blood.14 And every nation which shall war against thee, O house of Israel, shall be turned one against another, and they shall fall into the pit which they digged to ensnare the people of the Lord. And all that fight against Zion shall be destroyed, and that great whore, who hath perverted the right ways of the Lord, yea, that great and abominable church, shall tumble to the dust and great shall be the fall of it.15 For behold, saith the prophet, the time cometh speedily that Satan shall have no more power over the hearts of the children of men; for the day soon cometh that all the proud and they who do wickedly shall be as stubble; and the day cometh that they must be burned.16 For the time soon cometh that the fulness of the wrath of God shall be poured out upon all the children of men; for he will not suffer that the wicked shall destroy the righteous.17 Wherefore, he will preserve the righteous by his power, even if it so be that the fulness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore, the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire.18 Behold, my brethren, I say unto you, that these things must shortly come; yea, even blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke must come; and it must needs be upon the face of this earth; and it cometh unto men according to the flesh if it so be that they will harden their hearts against the Holy One of Israel.19 For behold, the righteous shall not perish; for the time surely must come that all they who fight against Zion shall be cut off.John concludes his account of the revelation with a testimony of the ultimate triumph of the Savior. That testimony begins, “(Revelation 21:1.)1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely (Revelation 21:1, 5-6).Nephi quoted Moses to establish the same principle:20 And the Lord will surely prepare a way for his people, unto the fulfilling of the words of Moses, which he spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that all those who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people.21 And now I, Nephi, declare unto you, that this prophet of whom Moses spake was the Holy One of Israel; wherefore, he shall execute judgment in righteousness (1 Nephi 22:20-21 ).Moses’s prophecy is found in his last great sermon to his people. He said,15 The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken (Deuteronomy 18:15).The Savior confirmed Nephi’s interpretation of Moses’s promise when he said:23 Behold, I am he of whom Moses spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people (3 Nephi 20:23).Nephi’s descriptions in verses 13 through 19 do not suggest a people who are living basically good lives, who are fighting against people who are typically “worldly.” Rather, his descriptions of those in each group suggest they are a covenant people—who have made covenants with God that are broken by those in one group but kept by those in the other group. In that context, Nephi’s promise is that during one’s intensely personal conflict between righteousness (zedek) and evil, there will be only one sure antidote against the evil of the last days: follow the Savior. “A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.”In his prophecy, Nephi has gone beyond the period of the restoration and is focusing on the conclusion of this world’s history. He first addresses the condition of the wicked:22 And the righteous need not fear, for they are those who shall not be confounded. But it is the kingdom of the devil, which shall be built up among the children of men, which kingdom is established among them which are in the flesh—23 For the time speedily shall come that all churches which are built up to get gain, and all those who are built up to get power over the flesh, and those who are built up to become popular in the eyes of the world, and those who seek the lusts of the flesh and the things of the world, and to do all manner of iniquity; yea, in fine, all those who belong to the kingdom of the devil are they who need fear, and tremble, and quake; they are those who must be brought low in the dust; they are those who must be consumed as stubble; and this is according to the words of the prophet.After this great destruction, then comes the peace that is the millenial reign of the Savior.24 And the time cometh speedily that the righteous must be led up as calves of the stall,{8} and the Holy One of Israel must reign in dominion, and might, and power, and great glory.25 And he gathereth his children from the four quarters of the earth; and he numbereth his sheep, and they know him; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd; and he shall feed his sheep, and in him they shall find pasture (1 Nephi 22:24-25).This is a summation of the concluding scenes of the ancient Israelite temple drama.{9} “And he [the Holy One of Israel] gathereth his children [Psalm 2] from the four quarters of the earth; and he numbereth his sheep, and they know him [Psalm 23]; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd; and he shall feed his sheep, and in him they shall find pasture.” That sounds like this prophecy by Isaiah:10 Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young (Isaiah 40:10-11).However, because the phrase is an exact quote used by the Savior, it leads one to believe that the phrase itself is older than Nephi, and that both he and the Savior are quoting a prophecy we no longer have in our canon. The Savior said:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd (John 10:14-16).{10}26 And because of the righteousness of his people, Satan has no power; wherefore, he cannot be loosed for the space of many years; for he hath no power over the hearts of the people, for they dwell in righteousness, and the Holy One of Israel reigneth (1 Nephi 22:26).14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.That is exactly the point: Satan has no power except the ability to make suggestions. When individual Saints take no heed of the suggestions, it is for them as though Satan has ceased to exist, for he has no way to impact their lives. However—and this is a big “however”—he can still suggest to others that they attack the integrity and the purpose of the faithful Saints. When Moroni returned the plates to the Prophet Joseph, the Lord explained that even though Joseph remained faithful, Satan would seek to get at him through other people who would seek to destroy him in order to prevent him from keeping his covenants and accomplishing his work (D&C 10).The point is this: God is not warning Joseph about any danger of Joseph’s falling into any further temptation. However, he is warning him that there are others whom Satan can use to attack Joseph. Similarly, in the Apocrypha, the Savior is reported to have warned the ancient apostles: “The perfect man not only cannot be restrained, but also cannot be seen. For if he is seen he will be put under restraint.”{11} Personal anonymity shields us within God’s promise of invulnerability and opens opportunities to for us achieve our purposes and keep our eternal covenants.27 And now behold, I, Nephi, say unto you that all these things must come according to the flesh.28 But, behold, all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people shall dwell safely in the Holy One of Israel if it so be that they will repent.29 And now I, Nephi, make an end; for I durst not speak further as yet concerning these things (1 Nephi 22:27-29).This was one of several times that Nephi was stopped by the Lord as he tried to teach us. His words are reminiscent of Job’s exclamation, “Therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.” Only Nephi spoke words that he did understand—ideas that could not be spoken more clearly— but that we must understand. There are things which we must learn, which we cannot be taught except by the Holy Ghost. In his brilliant subtextual sermon, Nephi has brought us to the very gate of these things. He did it again at the conclusion of Second Nephi, when he wrote,7 And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be (2 Nephi 32:7).In a sermon he delivered at the temple, Nephi’s brother Jacob identified the gate we must enter.41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.42 And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches—yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them (2 Nephi 9:41-42).Now, Nephi’s ?concluding words are an invitation to each of us to find the key and enter that gate.30 Wherefore, my brethren, I would that ye should consider that the things which have been written upon the plates of brass are true; and they testify that a man must be obedient to the commandments of God.31 Wherefore, ye need not suppose that I and my father are the only ones that have testified, and also taught them. Wherefore, if ye shall be obedient to the commandments, and endure to the end, ye shall be saved at the last day. And thus it is. Amen (1 Nephi 22:30-31).end———————————–FOOTNOTES{1} The LDS Bible Dictionary suggests that the “land of Sinim” is “possibly the land of China.”{2} For a discussion of establishing the king’s feet as part of his coronation see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 569-83; Second edition, p. 408-17.{3} For a discussion of establishing the sacred marriage as part of his coronation see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 495-97; Second edition, p. 358-59.{4} Richard Dilworth Rust, Feasting on the Word: The Literary Testimony of the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997), 196.{5} For a discussion of this topic, see Todd M. Compton, “The Handclasp and Embrace as Tokens of Recognition,” By Study and Also By Faith, 1:611-42.{6} Nephi is referencing to one or both of the following passages from Isaiah:29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the mighty One of Israel (Isaiah 30:29).24 Therefore?saith the Lord, the Lord?of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lordshall be consumed (Isaiah 1:24-28).{7} The promise is: “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee” (Abraham 2:11).{8} “Calves of the stall” was apparently a colloquialism that connoted peace and security. It may have been used in an ancient scripture we no longer have but which was on the brass plates. Malachi uses it (Malachi 4:2), and it was quoted by the Savior in Third Nephi: “But unto you that fear my name, shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves in the stall” (3 Nephi 25:2).{9} For a discussion of last day of the ancient Israelite temple drama seeWho Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 605-40; Second edition, p. 431-57.{10} See: 3 Nephi 15:14-24 Alma 5:38-41, Helaman 7:17-20, Psalms 80:1, Isaiah 63:10-13{11} Gospel of Philip in New Testament Apocrypha, ed. Wilhelm Schneemelcher, 2:201 # 106.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 26:13-16 -- LeGrand Baker -- the things which we must know, but which cannot be taught Author : lbaker3 Nephi 26:13-1613 Therefore, I would that ye should behold that the Lord truly did teach the people, for the space of three days; and after that he did show himself unto them oft, and did break bread oft, and bless it, and give it unto them.14 And it came to pass that he did teach and minister unto the children of the multitude of whom hath been spoken, and he did loose their tongues, and they did speak unto their fathers great and marvelous things, even greater than he had revealed unto the people; and he loosed their tongues that they could utter.15 And it came to pass that after he had ascended into heaven—the second time that he showed himself unto them, and had gone unto the Father, after having healed all their sick, and their lame, and opened the eyes of their blind and unstopped the ears of the deaf, and even had done all manner of cures among them, and raised a man from the dead, and had shown forth his power unto them, and had ascended unto the Father—16 Behold, it came to pass on the morrow that the multitude gathered themselves together, and they both saw and heard these children; yea, even babes did open their mouths and utter marvelous things; and the things which they did utter were forbidden that there should not any man write them.The scriptures are replete with the idea that there are things we must know, but which they (the scriptures) will not tell us. Even though they assure us that those things are hidden, they also clearly teach that we are responsible to know those hidden things. Consequently, much of certain parts of the scriptures are written in double-speech. Their surface text is wonderful and true, their subtext is written in code and is about those hidden things. {1}There is a wonderful story about J. Golden Kimball that may or may not be true— if it isn’t true it certainly should be. While he was speaking to a sleepy stake conference in southern Utah, he suddenly said, “Brothers and Sisters, The Lord has said he is going to give us the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon. How many of you will read it?” Everyone in the congregation raised their hand, some out of habit, and others with enthusiasm. When the hands went down, he chided, “Then why the hell don’t you read the part you now have, so he can give us the rest?”As usual, Elder J. Golden’s words were simple and profound. The truths of the gospel are to be taught in an intelligible sequence. (That is why the missionary lessons work so well.) If we try to jump ahead to learn the “mysteries” (using that word the way the world uses it) we will only be confused. Consequently, the Book of Mormon teaches us individually only what we each permit it to teach. {2}The authors of the gospels in the New Testament were keenly aware that the most important things could not be written. But repeatedly say that we must know them. It is ironic that we sometimes credit Jesus with being a great teacher because he taught in parables that everyone could understand. But he told his Apostles that the reason he taught in parables was so the people would NOT understand. He explains that in several places, for example:8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.9 And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.10 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them (Mark 4:8-12). {3}“Mystery” is the operative word in those verses. In the New Testament it is translated from the Greek word mysterion. There, it refers to the secrets disclosed during one’s initiation into sacred religious rites, {4} and usually refers to the early Christian temple rites. However in some places, like Ephesians 1, it is a reference to premortal temple rites. In the Book of Mormon it may mean either, or sometimes more probably means both, as in 1 Nephi and Alma 12.In the course of First and Second Nephi it becomes clear that Nephi is very conversant with the ancient Israelite temple rites and that he has had a sode experience that gave him a full understanding of his own premortal world. In First Nephi, which he wrote when he was about 45 or 50, he introduces himself by saying that he has a “great knowledge of the … mysteries of God.” (1 Nephi 1:1)Alma says that “the chains of hell” means one’s not knowing those mysteries:9 And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.10 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell (Alma 12:9-11).Paul understood this. His letter to the Ephesians is an excellent encoded example. He desired that those who had a right to know might understand, and described those people as “the fellowship of the mystery.” He wrote that it was his mission to bring people into that fellowship.7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:7-10). {5}The reason these things are not explicitly written in the scriptures is that are hidden from the world. They are hidden now; they have always been hidden, even from the foundation of the world; and they will always be hidden.The reason they are hidden is because they can only be revealed to those who are “authorized to believe.” That is an intriguing phrase. It comes from a statement published in a Melchizedek Priesthood manual and is attributed to the Prophet Joseph:George A. Smith, while serving in the First Presidency, re- ported: “Joseph Smith taught that every man and woman should seek the Lord for wisdom, that they might get knowledge from Him who is the fountain of knowledge; and the promises of the gospel, as revealed, were such as to authorize us to believe, that by taking this course we should gain the object of our pursuit.” {6}In Doctrine and Covenants 124 the Lord explained the nature of these mysteries and how and why they are revealed:38 For, for this cause I commanded Moses that he should build a tabernacle, that they should bear it with them in the wilderness, and to build a house in the land of promise, that those ordinances might be revealed which had been hid from before the world was.39 Therefore, verily I say unto you, that your anointings, and your washings, and your baptisms for the dead, and your solemn assemblies, and your memorials for your sacrifices by the sons of Levi, and for your oracles in your most holy places wherein you receive conversations, and your statutes and judgments, for the beginning of the revelations and foundation of Zion, and for the glory, honor, and endowment of all her municipals, are ordained by the ordinance of my holy house, which my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name.40 And verily I say unto you, let this house be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people;41 For I deign to reveal unto my church things which have been kept hid from before the foundation of the world, things that pertain to the dispensation of the fulness of times.42 And I will show unto my servant Joseph all things pertaining to this house, and the priesthood thereof, and the place whereon it shall be built (D&C 124:38-42).I am now told that much of the LDS endowment can be found on the internet. If one finds it there, he still cannot “know,” so it doesn’t matter. One can virtually memorize the words but unless their meaning is taught by the Holy Ghost, their truths remain hidden from the world in the same way they have always been hidden, and they always will hidden, except from those who are “authorized to believe.” For that reason, even though the words of the ancient and modern temple rites may be discoverable (as they are in the Psalms), knowing the words does not constitute knowing the mysteries.Like the New Testament writers, the authors of the Book of Mormon also understood that the most beautiful principles of the gospel are the things that cannot be taught. An evidence of that is that the prophets really did want their readers to know. Nephi and Mormon each say that they wish to tell us more, but they can not. In the last chapter of 1 Nephi, he uses the phrase “shall dwell safely in the Holy One of Israel,” but he cannot explain what that means. He writs:28 But, behold, all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people shall dwell safely in the Holy One of Israel if it so be that they will repent.29 And now I, Nephi, make an end; for I durst not speak further as yet concerning these things (1 Nephi 22:28-31).Again, at the conclusion of 2 Nephi, in the context of an encoded message, he begins to explain what he wishes us to understand, but can only go so far then writes:7 And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be (2 Nephi 32: 7). {7}Mormon also wanted to spell it all out for us, but then quotes the Lord as saying that was not permitted:11 Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people.12 Therefore I, Mormon, do write the things which have been commanded me of the Lord. And now I, Mormon, make an end of my sayings, and proceed to write the things which have been commanded me (3 Nephi 26:11-13).Even though there are strict restraints on what we can teach, there is also the command that we must teach those whom the Spirit instructs us to teach. (The Savior explained that in 3 Nephi 14:1-12.)Ammon and his brethren are a splendid example of those who were permitted to tell—but only permitted to tell a specific group of people. Ammon understood both his responsibility and he rejoiced in his opportunity. He said to his brothers:21 And now behold, my brethren, what natural man is there that knoweth these things? I say unto you, there is none that knoweth these things, save it be the penitent.22 Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance (Alma 26:21-22).How much of the mysteries one can know in this life? I suppose it depends on three things: His need to know; his worthiness to know; and his opportunity to know. Some of the greatest men who have lived in this world lived in a time and place where this information was simply not available. Nevertheless, in the end, we are assured that everyone who is worthy to know will know. For example, these two statements from the Doctrine and Covenants:26 The Spirit of truth is of God. I am the Spirit of truth, and John bore record of me, saying: He received a fulness of truth, yea, even of all truth;27 And no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments.28 He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things (D&C 93:26-28).5 For thus saith the Lord—I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end.6 Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory.7 And to them will I reveal all mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom from days of old, and for ages to come, will I make known unto them the good pleasure of my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom.8 Yea, even the wonders of eternity shall they know, and things to come will I show them, even the things of many generations.9 And their wisdom shall be great, and their understanding reach to heaven; and before them the wisdom of the wise shall perish, and the understanding of the prudent shall come to naught (D&C 76:5-9).That promise was reiterated again by the Prophet Joseph Smith. About the same time the Prophet was introducing the endowment to the Saints in Nauvoo he wrote and published a poem that follows the same pattern as D&C 76. (You can find the entire poem on this website under “Favorite Quotes.”) A portion of that poem reads:A Visionby The Prophet Joseph SmithFor thus saith the Lord, in the spirit of truth,I am merciful, gracious, and good unto thoseThat fear me, and live for the life that’s to come:My delight is to honour the Saints with repose,That serve me in righteousness true to the end;Eternal’s their glory and great their reward.I’’ll surely reveal all my myst’ries to them —The great hidden myst’ries in my kingdom stor’d;From the council in Kolob, to time on the earth,And for ages to come unto them I will showMy pleasure and will, what the kingdom will doEternity’s wonders they truly shall know {8}.——————————FOOTNOTES{1} In our book Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, Stephen and I have tried to point out the code words in the Psalms, but have carefully avoided saying what ought not to be said. I personally did a word search on the word “temple” to make sure that was so. Every sentence that uses “temple” says Israelite temple,” Solomon’s Temple,” Nephite temple,” or some other phrase to referent “ancient temples.” So no sentence can be taken out of context and be seen to be discussing LDS temples or their teachings.{2} I had my own wake-up call when I was a student at BYU. I was taking a class from Truman G. Madsen. One day I went to his office and brazenly told him I had studied and understood the “mysteries” and I asked him to teach me the things he wouldn’t teach in class. He responded, “Explain the Atonement to me.” I gave a half-cocked Sunday School answer and then he said. “After you understand the Atonement, then come back and talk to me.”{3} Other examples are Matthew 11:13-17, 13:7-17; Mark 7:15-18; Luke 8:7-11; and Revelation chapters 2and 3. John wrote those chapters of Revelation as a colophon to teach the initiated that he was a prophet, just as Nephi did in 1 Nephi chapter 1. If one reads the code in the first half of each of John’s letters he will teach the mysteries. If one reads uses that code to read the second half, he teaches what it means.{4} Strong 3466: “the idea of silence imposed by initiation into religious rites.” Raymond E. Brown, The Semitic Background of the Term “Mystery” in the New Testament (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1968), 2-6).{5} Other places where we are told the mysteries have been hidden “from the foundation of the world” are Ether 4:15; D&C 76:5-8, 128:18.{6} Joseph Smith [Melchizedek Priesthood manual], (Salt Lake City, Utah, published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2007), 266.{7} For Nephi, “great knowledge” is code. He uses it here the same way he does in 1 Nephi 1:1.{8} In February 1843, at the request of W.W. Phelps, the Prophet re-wrote the vision which is like the 76th section of the Doctrine and Covenants in poetry form. It was published in the Times and Seasons, February 1, 1843, and republished in the Millennial Star, August, 1843.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 26:6-12 – LeGrand Baker – “I will try the faith of my people” Author : lbaker3 Nephi 26:6-126 And now there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people;7 But behold the plates of Nephi do contain the more part of the things which he taught the people.8 And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken.9 And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them.10 And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.11 Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people.12 Therefore I, Mormon, do write the things which have been commanded me of the Lord. And now I, Mormon, make an end of my sayings, and proceed to write the things which have been commanded me.——————My experience, both personal and through watching other people, is that a testimony is like a three legged stool. That is, there are three kinds of testimonies and each is necessary in order to keep the other two upright and stable. (1) There is a spiritual testimony that is taught by the Holy Ghost, (2) an academic testimony that comes from a careful study non-doctrinal subjects presented by the scriptures, (3) and an academic testimony that comes from a careful study of the doctrines taught in the scriptures.The Book of Mormon provides examples of all three.(1) A spiritual testimony is rather simple but very real: the Holy Ghost testifies that the book contains pure truth. That I know, and there are millions of other people who know it as well.There is an interesting statement in Moroni’s introduction, published on the title page of the Book of Mormon. The concluding sentence reads:And now, if there are faults they are the mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-seat of Christ.He does not say whether the men in question are the authors or the readers. However, the way I read that statement is:And now, if there are faults they are the mistakes of men [that is, the failure of the readers to understand the intent of the authors]; wherefore, condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-seat of Christ.A simple example is the “absurd” statement in the Book of Mormon that the Nephites built with cement. Joseph Smith’s critics said that was impossible because, as everyone knew, cement was invented by the Romans. That argument seemed to work well until archaeologists found cement buildings in central America. Then that “mistake” by the author of the Book of Mormon was not a mistake any more. It is my belief that when we find a mistake in the Book of Mormon we should look to ourselves, not to the authors of the book as the source of the problem.(2) A study of the non-doctrinal content of the scriptures. The thousand year history in the Book of Mormon is a very complex weaving of geography, historical sequences, and language differences. A careful study of these elements in the book shows that the Book of Mormon is internally consistent throughout. And the more closely those details are examined, the more convincing is that evidence is.The language of the Book of Mormon is an excellent example. Stephen Ricks and some of his colleagues are doing a study of proper names in the Book of Mormon. This is important because our “original” text of the book is in English and the only access we have to the real original languages is in the names. Stephen and his friends can trace the roots of the Nephite personal and geographic names back to their Hebrew—or sometimes Egyptian or other Near Eastern language—origins. This shows that the Nephite language had both Hebrew and Egyptian elements, just as the book says it does. However, after Mosiah I goes to Zarahemla (but not before that) there is a new kind of name introduced that does not have recognizable ancient Near Eastern roots, but they do have similarities with each other. These are probably Jaredite names. (Stephen and I are working on a commentary of First Nephi and he will include an analysis of some of the names in that commentary.)(3) Doctrinal consistencies are even more remarkable. For example, the Book of Mormon seems to quote the Sermon on the Mount, but it makes many not-so-subtle changes that turns the Savior’s sermon into a temple text. That temple text is consistent with other temple texts in the Book of Mormon. The frequency and accuracy of temple texts in the book would have been an amazing accomplishment if Joseph had written it because when Joseph translated the Book of Mormon there was no scholar in the world who knew that there was any kind of ancient Israelite temple drama other than the system of sacrifices described in the Old Testament.There are so many of these internally consistent intricacies that are so perfect that I, for one, must conclude that the Book of Mormon is an ancient text that was translated by a master scholar who had access to many then unknown texts from the ancient Israelite world—or else translated by an 18 year old boy who had a great deal of supernatural help. Since the first is demonstrably impossible, that leaves the only option to be that the Book of Mormon was translated by Joseph Smith “by the gift and power of God.”The point is that not only the spiritual, but also both kinds academic testimonies are necessary and valid. However, neither is complete without the other two because each, on its own, invites potential problems.(1) A spiritual testimony without academic support can easily be counterfeited by enthusiasm or emotion. Then, when the emotion cools or the enthusiasm fades, the “testimony” cannot be sustained.(2) Similarly, an in-depth academic study of the historicity and geographical setting of the scriptures can be great fun but without the moderating influence of the Holy Ghost it can lead the scholar, or the scholar wannabe, to all sorts of strange and conflicting conclusions.(3) An academic testimony based on an in-depth study of the doctrines taught in the scriptures gives a very important kind of stability. However, it also brings potential difficulties. Without the Holy Ghost, an academic study of the “doctrines” can lead one into some really weird places.I believe that all three kinds of testimony are mutually important and that the stabilizing power that keeps all three alive and real within us is for one to know what he really knows, and to also know what he does not know.All right, that last bit sounds confusing so let me try again:It is vital for Latter-day Saints to be able to identify with clarity the things one actually knows to be true. However, it is no less vital that one be able to identify with equal clarity the things that one does not know to be true. That is because one’s belief that unsubstantiated “doctrines” are true can undermine one’s belief in true doctrine. And quite frankly, sometimes it takes a more careful study of the scriptures to identify the reasons why some of the “Sunday School answers” are not true than it takes to identify the ones that are true.In that same category is the ability to recognize the difference between gospel doctrine and church policy. Sometimes church policy is so well established that it is accepted as doctrine. Then when the policy is changed some get upset because they see it as a change in doctrine. A prime example was whether all worthy men should have the priesthood. Another more recent example is whether chaste “out” gay boys can belong to in LDS-sponsored scout troops.Church policy changes to fit the times. It is significant that Mormon tells us almost nothing about the Nephite church organization or its policies. Before 3 Nephi we are told Alma organized a church with priests and teachers. In 3 Nephi we learn that the Savior organized a church with twelve disciples. That’s it! Mormon does not impose upon us and our culture the church organization and policies that worked in his time and for his culture.The “church” never exists in a cultural vacuum and the “true church” must be true in its own time and place. For example, in LDS Church history, the organization, practices, and policies were different in Nauvoo, early Utah, and in the present. But it is always “true” within its situation.An amazing example is the Seventy. The organization that Joseph established by revelation included quorums of Seventy, but the Church did not know what to do with them until it grew so large that it needed “area general authorities” who could work under the direction of the Apostles. In other words, the organization of the Church described in the revelation to the Prophet Joseph could not be fully realized until it became a “world wide church.” However, the church was true back in the years when there was no First Quorum of Seventy, but only stake seventies quorums. It is still true today when there is a First Quorum of Seventy but no stake seventies quorums.My testimony is this: Jesus is the Christ, the gospel is truth, the priesthood is real, and the Church is as correct as its cultural environment will allow. Because that is so, I follow the prophet.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 26:4-5 – LeGrand Baker – The Atonement: Mercy, Justice, Resurrection, and Judgement Author : lbaker3 Nephi 26:4-54 And even unto the great and last day, when all people, and all kindreds, and all nations and tongues shall stand before God, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—5 If they be good, to the resurrection of everlasting life; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of damnation; being on a parallel, the one on the one hand and the other on the other hand, according to the mercy, and the justice, and the holiness which is in Christ, who was before the world began.Philosophers often argue about the origin of good and evil. My view about that may be a bit simplistic, but I think it works. It is based on my understanding of these verses.29 Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.30 All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.31 Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light (D&C 93:29-31).The point is this: agency is an integral part of what we are, “otherwise there is no existence.”To understand the origins of good and evil we have to take our minds back to our own origins, and seek to understand our progression through linear time from intelligences, to spirit children of our Heavenly Father, to time on this earth, to the post-earth-life spirit world, to our resurrection, to our final judgement, then to become the celestial persons we all hope to become.In each moment of our lives, we are perpetually confronted with the most primal and important decision of our existence. That decision is the answer to the great question: “What is in my best interest?”I believe that throughout our premortal world, way back to when we were intelligences at the very beginning of our cognizance, that same great question had to be asked and answered, just as frequently as it is now.I believe that neither good nor evil were ever imposed upon us, but both are the consequence of our own sense of Self — how we define our Self in terms of our most fundamental needs; and how we define other people’s relationship to that Self as we seek to satisfy those needs. The needs I am talking about are not the basic physical needs we have in this world, but rather the more fundamental needs that persist throughout our existence. They are all about our sense of Self, our relationships with other people and with our God.In our defining those relationships, there have always been two basic options, but they are spread along a very long continuum. At one end is pure good, at the other pure evil, with many gradations of good and evil in between.In the beginnings of our beginning there were the Savior and the Noble and Great Ones whose consistent response to that great question was that it was in their best interest to bless others, and to accept blessings from them, that all might be glorified. That kind of self gratification is love, and was the beginning and is the continuation of good.On the other extreme was Satan and his minions who believed that it was in their best interest to use and control others to satisfy their own selfish desires. That kind of self gratification was the beginning and is the continuation of evil.On a continuum between those two extremes were, and still are, the great masses of individuals. Most people make some decisions based on one kind of values, and other decisions based on the other kind of values. We see it in this world where most people vacillate between good and evil. But even here there are some people who adhere much more closely to good, while others seek to achieve self glory through evil means.Each time we ask and answer that great question we also pronounce a judgement upon ourselves. That judgment evokes a blessing or a punishment. I am convinced God does not now, has never, and never will punish any of his children. Alma explained the process to his son:22 But there is a law given, and a punishment affixed, and a repentance granted; which repentance, mercy claimeth; otherwise, justice claimeth the creature and executeth the law, and the law inflictet h the punishment; if not so, the works of justice would be destroyed, and God would cease to be God.23 But God ceaseth not to be God, and mercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy cometh because of the atonement; and the atonement bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead; and the resurrection of the dead bringeth back men into the presence of God; and thus they are restored into his presence, to be judged according to their works, according to the law and justice.24 For behold, justice exerciseth all his demands, and also mercy claimeth all which is her own; and thus, none but the truly penitent are saved.25 What, do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice? I say unto you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be God.26 And thus God bringeth about his great and eternal purposes, which were prepared from the foundation of the world. And thus cometh about the salvation and the redemption of men, and also their destruction and misery (Alma 42:22-26).Because we move through linear time from intelligences to the final judgment, we are bound by that time to living only in the moment. Each moment is unique. We cannot hurry into a future event, nor can we go back to revisit a past occurrence. We can remember and sometimes seek to replicate a past experiences that brought us pleasure, but each repetition is a new and separate event. For example if you eat a new kind of candy bar and really like it. You can never eat it again. You can get a similar bar and enjoy that one as much as the first, but the first will forever be a past pleasure. It can be remembered, and sometimes replicated, but not re-visited and re-experienced.That is equally true of things we regret. We can never not-have-done them, but we can refuse to replicate them again. That refusal is repentance. The Savior’s Atonement cannot remove the event from our past, but he can remove its hurt and even its memory from our present. We can be washed clean from our sins so the sins will leave no stain upon our souls.The Savior’s mercy accomplishes that cleansing. Through his Atonement he absorbs the full consequence of our sin and lets us feel only a taste of the hurt. That taste is sufficient to cause us to understand its pain and seek to not experience its likeness again. Therefore, we seek to not replicate the sin. Fortunately, sometimes we can vicariously experience a bit of the consequences of a sin by watching other people. Then we can altogether avoid doing the sin ourselves.Or, if we opt to not repent, mercy still withholds the full power of justice. If we choose to do so, we can use that taste to titillate our Self and to seek to duplicate the thrill or sense of power we had when we did the sin. In either case, the decision to repent or not is entirely our own. The Savior’s mercy only guarantees that the option is ours.Thus, because of mercy, we move through linear time, learn through experience, choose what we wish to replicate and keep as part of our being, or what we wish to discard so that it is no longer a part of our Self.The plan of salvation guaranteed that as we move through linear time — from intelligences, spirit persons, earth life, spirit world, resurrection, and the final judgment — we will be confronted with enough challenges to enable us to make enough choices so that we can perfectly define the attitudes and actions that gives us happiness. Therefore, when we stand before the Savior on judgement day we will have become precisely who and what we have chosen to become.Throughout this whole odyssey the powers of justice have been kept in abeyance. We have tasted its jurisdiction, but its full consequences have been absorbed by the Savior’s mercy. If we lived in a world where justice had its full sway, the consequences of our sins would have long since destroyed us, or the consequences of our righteousness would have bribed us to avoid sin. In either case we would have lost our agency and our Self would have become a Nothing. But because of the Savior’s Atonement the full powers of justice are held at bay until the resurrection when we are judged by our works and receive a body that is perfectly compatible with the person we have caused our Self to be.This introduces us to the critical question: By what works will we be judged? The answer is: those actions and attitudes by which we answered the great question, which is largely about our perceptions of our Self in relationship to the value of other people. The quality of our spirit will determine the quality of our resurrected body. The Lord explained that very simply:28 They who are [now – present tense] of a celestial spirit shall [future] receive the same body which was [past tense from the future, so back to the present] a natural body; even ye shall receive [future] your bodies, and your glory shall be [future] that glory by which your bodies are [present] quickened.29 Ye who are [now – in the present] quickened by a portion of the celestial glory shall then [future] receive of the same, even a fulness (D&C 88:28-29).To define “celestial spirit” we may go to the Doctrine and Covenants and elsewhere, where the high point to which we reach is to live the Law of Consecration, which means blessing the lives of others by our kindness and “good works.”However, in the Book of Mormon the high point to which we reach is to be a person of charity. Charity and the Law of Consecration are two sides of the same coin. Living the Law of Consecration is what we do when charity is what we are.Whether we have or have not charity defines the quality of our spirits and will ultimately define the quality of our resurrected body. Therefore, at the judgement that precedes our resurrection we are, as the Savior said, judged by our works. Mormon further explains:47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen (Moroni 7:47-48).The time of our resurrection will not be the first time we are judged by our works, neither will it be our last. After the resurrection we will stand before the Savior, clothed in our resurrected bodies, to be judged according to our works. Mormon explains that sequence very succinctly when he writes:6 And he bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead, whereby man must be raised to stand before his judgment-seat (Mormon 7:5-7).Mormon also explained it with more detail:13 And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the presence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless sleep, from which sleep all men shall be awakened by the power of God when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and loosed from this eternal band of death, which death is a temporal death.14 And then cometh the judgment of the Holy One upon them; and then cometh the time that he that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still (Mormon 9:13-14).In Alma’s conversation quoted above, he taught that same principle to his son, and shows us the relationship between mercy, justice, resurrection, and the final judgment:23 But God ceaseth not to be God, and mercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy cometh because of the atonement; and the atonement bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead; and the resurrection of the dead bringeth back men into the presence of God; and thus they are restored into his presence, to be judged according to their works, according to the law and justice (Alma 42:22-26).The Savior’s mercy gives us the option of defining our Self and guarantees that each of us would receive a resurrected body compatible with that Self.Now we have a different question: If we have already been judged by our works to receive a resurrected body, by what works are we judged after the resurrection at the final judgment? The scriptures answer that question as well.In that final judgment when we stand before the Savior, he will judge us by our “works.” But since we were judged by our works before, this judgement is either a kind of redundancy or else the word “works” refers to something different. The latter is true, and we can the new referent by reading Alma in the Book of Mormon and James in the New Testament.In a review of the Nephite temple rites, Alma says we are taught by our faith (pistis = covenants), repentance, and “holy works” (Alma 12:28-34). In that context I understand “holy works” to refer to the covenants we make and to the ordinances that validate them.James teaches us the same concept in his famous statement that “faith without works is dead.?The Greek word translated “faith” is pistis. Pistis was a legal commercial term that might better be translated as “covenant” or “contract.” Contracts require a validation, usually a signature, to make them legal. Covenants in the ancient temples required ordinances as that validation. The ordinances must be performed with exactness and with proper authority just as a signature on a contract must represent someone who has the right to make the contract binding. What James wrote was that without the binding ordinances the ancient priesthood and temple covenants had no value.The Prophet Joseph wrote the same thing, but he explained the gravity of the concept more fully.7 And verily I say unto you, that the conditions of this law are these: All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity, and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to hold this power (and I have appointed unto my servant Joseph to hold this power in the last days, and there is never but one on the earth at a time on whom this power and the keys of this priesthood are conferred), are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead (D&C 132:7).Ordinances are the works without which the covenants have no validity. God’s house is a house of order and there can be nothing capricious about his administration of the final judgment. We will stand before the Savior in the resurrected body that already defines the quality of our spirit. There, we will receive a final judgment based on our “holy works.” That judgment must be established by hard, unchallengeable fact. The final judgment will rest upon whether we have accepted and kept our eternal covenants, and whether those covenants have been validated by the appropriate ordinances. Since that question must be answered by fact and rather than by a subjective decision, that final judgment will be absolutely just and true.So, as Alma taught, through the power of the Savior’s Atonement mercy enables us to become what we choose to become, but it is justice that dictates our final destiny. Thus God is perfectly merciful and perfectly just.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>?3 Nephi 26:1-5 – LeGrand Baker – Jesus teaches the mysteries of eternity Author : lbaker3 Nephi 26:1-5?1 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had told these things he expounded them unto the multitude; and he did expound all things unto them, both great and small.It is significant that the children would be included in the remarkable conversation that was to follow. Those same children had been blessed “one by one” by the Savior. Then “angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.” (3 Nephi 17:19-25)There is no sure evidence that, at that time, each of those children had a sode experience in which they were taught their own eternal identity and their individual responsibilities while here in mortality. But then, “the angels did minister unto them.” To minister means to bless and/or to teach. So the children must have learned something, and the most important things they could have learned would have been about themselves, their relationship with each other and with the Savior, and their assignments while in this world.With the instructions those children had already received, it is quite reasonable that they should have been included in the conversation in which Jesus “expound all things unto them.”2 And he saith: These scriptures, which ye had not with you, the Father commanded that I should give unto you; for it was wisdom in him that they should be given unto future generations.One wonders what “future generations” tells us here. Clearly he wanted the Nephites to have them in their record for their own sakes. But why Mormon included them in what he was preparing for us is a different matter altogether. He knew us well, as he says:35 Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing (Mormon 8:35).From his distant perspective and seeing the full sweep of our history and culture, he probably understood our needs better than we understand them ourselves. He also probably knew that we already have those chapters of Isaiah and Malachi, and that they are buried deep in our Old Testament where few of us will dig to find them. That very likely explains why Mormon included them in the record he was writing for us. He wanted to call our attention to them and to emphasize their importance.3 And he did expound all things, even from the beginning until the time that he should come in his glory—yea, even all things which should come upon the face of the earth, even until the elements should melt with fervent heat, and the earth should be wrapt together as a scroll, and the heavens and the earth should pass away;4 And even unto the great and last day, when all people, and all kindreds, and all nations and tongues shall stand before God, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—5 If they be good, to the resurrection of everlasting life; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of damnation; being on a parallel, the one on the one hand and the other on the other hand, according to the mercy, and the justice, and the holiness which is in Christ, who was before the world began.“And he did expound all things, even from the beginning until …. the heavens and the earth should pass away;.” The phrase “from the beginning” in the scriptures has a great variety of meanings depending on its context. If the context is an historical narrative, then “the beginning” is whenever the story starts. So, for example, it might refer to the time of Adam, or Abraham, or the exodus from Egypt. However, when its context is within the temple rites, or about the plan of salvation, or, as in this instance, about the Savior’s mission and ultimate triumph, then the “beginning” almost always is a reference to the creation sequence that began at the Council in Heaven (Abraham 3:22-26). I believe that is what it means here. If that is correct, then the Savior had chronicled and explained to the Nephites almost our entire journey through linear time.However, Mormon wants us to understand that the full panorama of the Savior’s teachings did not start or end with linear time. He projects our thinking beyond the time when “the heavens and the earth should pass away” by describing the resurrection as an introduction to “everlasting life,” but he also wants our minds to try to reach to before the Council in Heaven.Just as Enoch., during his sode experience, was taught about the Savior’s mission from “even before the very beginning,” {1} so Mormon wants us to get that same sense of the Savior’s infinity. To do that, Mormon describes the resurrection in terms of a continuation of the power of the Savior’s Atonement “according to the mercy, and the justice, and the holiness which is in Christ, who was before the world began.”Like Enoch, Mormon testifies of the Savior’s dominion and authority “before” the events of the Council in Heaven — laterally “infinite and eternal.” Pushing our understanding of the Savior’s role “from eternity to all eternity.”—————————-FOOTNOTE{1} Book of the Secrets of Enoch, In The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English, 2 vols. Translated and edited by R. H. Charles. Oxford: Clarendon, 1976. vol 2: 431-69, ch. 24:2.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>????3 Nephi 23:1-14 -- LeGrand Baker -- those who were resurrected immediately after the Savior Author : lbaker3 Nephi 23:1-149 Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should arise from the dead, and should appear unto many, and should minister unto them. And he said unto them: Was it not so?10 And his disciples answered him and said: Yea, Lord, Samuel did prophesy according to thy words, and they were all fulfilled.11 And Jesus said unto them: How be it that ye have not written this thing, that many saints did arise and appear unto many and did minister unto them?12 And it came to pass that Nephi remembered that this thing had not been written.13 And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as he commanded.This exchange between Jesus and the Twelve asks some intriguing questions, but does not supply the answers. When did it happen? The answer to that is probably immediately after the Savior’s resurrection. That would be consistent with this account in Matthew:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. [ JST Matthew 27:56 reads: “And the graves were opened; and the bodies of the saints which slept, arose, who were many.”]54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God (Matthew 27:51-54).If the timing of the multiple resurrections on both continents happened at the same time, then the people in America were aware of the Savior’s resurrection a full year before he appeared at the Bountiful temple. {1}The account of these resurrections were were added to the Nephite history, but Mormon did not include it in his abridgement for us, nor did he tell us about them until he recorded this conversation. Why?I think I know the answer, but it is, of course, only my opinion:In Who shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, Stephen Ricks and I have shown that Mormon wrote his account of 3 Nephi in much the same sequence as the final scenes of the ancient Israelite temple drama. It concludes, as does the drama, with the coronation of the king (in this case it was the Savior) and the beginning of a new age as reported in 4 Nephi. The more nearly he approached the Savior’s enthronement ceremony, the more closely he adhered to the pattern of the temple rites. The reason he did this seems quite obvious: His intent was to show that the Savior was the legitimate Priest and King, and that in following the rites of the temple, he had fulfilled all of that important part of the Law.So the answer to why Mormon left it out of his abridgement is simple: If he had told about the resurrection before he told about the Savior’s coming to Bountiful, it would have messed up the sequence of the events of the story he wanted to tell. And it was important to him that we understand that the Savior’s coronation was performed with perfect correctness — righteousness — zedek.————————–FOOTNOTE{1} Mormon was very careful to let the record show that a year had passed he wrote:5 And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, on the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land (3 Nephi 8:5).18 And it came to pass that in the ending of the thirty and fourth year, ……. that soon after the ascension of Christ into heaven he did truly manifest himself unto them (3 Nephi 10:18).?????Isaiah 61 -- LeGrand Baker –An Endowment for the Dead Author : lbakerI have discussed parts of Isaiah 61 elsewhere, but this is an in-depth discussion of the entire chapter.{1}Isaiah 61 is a deeply encoded preview of the temple rites for the dead. The code is the ancient Feast of Tabernacles temple drama. If one knows the drama, one knows the code—and it is easy to decipher. In the following analysis of the chapter I will point out the code, but leave it to the reader to make the connections.Like other eternal principles of the gospel, it is apparent that the doctrine of salvation for the dead was known to Old Testament and Book of Mormon prophets. Notwithstanding they understood it, the actual performance of baptism and other temple ordinances for the dead did not begin until after the Savior’s death. Then he visited the spirit world and authorized priesthood holders to teach the gospel to those who had died without receiving those ordinances in this life.Perhaps the earliest written evidence we have of their understanding is Psalm 22. The first part of that psalm is a vivid prophecy of the Savior’s crucifixion. Portions are quoted in all four of the gospels. The second part of Psalm 22 is a prophecy that the Savior will preach the gospel to the dead. In the psalm, immediately after the Savior dies, he affirms:22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise the (Psalms 22:22)The final result of that declaration will be:27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee (Psalms 22:27).If one chooses, one can make that a prophecy of the gospel spreading to the whole earth in the last days, but sweep of the psalm is more inclusive than that. It says everybody—“all the kindreds of the nations”—if it means everybody, it would have to include people who died without the gospel. {2}The second half of the book of Isaiah is a commentary on the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama. Chapter 40 begins with the Council in Heaven, chapter 66 tells of the “new heavens and the new earth” where Jehovah himself will reign. As the psalms were the text of that drama, so Isaiah makes frequent references to them. In that context, Isaiah 61 appear to be a commentary on the second half of Psalm 22, for that chapter of Isaiah is a deeply encoded foreshadowing of the endowment for the dead.Clarification of the meaning of Isaiah 61 comes from President Joseph F. Smith’s revelation about redemption for the dead. He quotes portions of it in these verses:30 But behold, from among the righteous, he organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel preached to the dead.31 And the chosen messengers went forth to declare the acceptable day of the Lord and proclaim liberty to the captives who were bound, even unto all who would repent of their sins and receive the gospel.32 Thus was the gospel preached to those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets.33 These were taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands,34 And all other principles of the gospel that were necessary for them to know in order to qualify themselves that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit (D&C 138:30-34).There, verse 31 quotes and combines parts of Isaiah 61:1-2. Then in verse 42 he quotes verse one again, but this time almost in its entirety. In reporting his vision, President Smith mentions by name many of the prophets who attended the Savior when he visited the sprit world. Isaiah is one of those:42 And Isaiah, who declared by prophecy that the Redeemer was anointed to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that were bound, were also there (D&C 138:42).In revelation on the Redemption of the Dead, President Smith has taught us the meaning of the first two verses of Isaiah 61. Now with that key, we can understand the rest of the chapter.The Savior also paraphrased Isaiah 61in the Beatitudes where he says,4 And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted (3 Nephi 12:4 and Matthew 5:4). {3}The fact that the Savior made no explanation about why he paraphrased this chapter of Isaiah indicates that he knew that his audience understood what it said. In other words, we can be sure the Nephites still retained the ancient temple rites and, therefor, we may project that they also understood that the blessings of the temple ordinances and covenants would now be made available to those in the spirit world. Even though our understanding of Jesus’s audience in Matthew 5 is uncertain, for the same reason, it appears the Jews may have understood it also. When Jesus told the Jews in Nazareth the prophecy would be fulfilled soon, they took such offence that they tried to kill him. (Luke 4:16-30)———————————Isaiah 61 — LeGrand Baker –An Endowment for the Dead1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn (Isaiah 61:1-2).The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed meIn the Old Testament it reads as though it was Isaiah who was anointed. In D&C 138 it says “the Redeemer was anointed.” A reasonable question might be “Which is correct?” However, an equally reasonable answer is “both.” This is a wonderful example of a premortal ordinance. If the Savior was anointed before he was born into this world, then it occurred at the Council in Heaven. However, that may also be said of Isaiah.to preach good tidings unto the meek;The meek are defined very clearly in the psalms as those who keep the covenants they made in the Council in heaven.When the Savior taught, “And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (3 Nephi 12:5)” he was quoting the psalm that says, “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace (Psalms 37:11).” But he was also paraphrasing a different psalm that is about eternal families. It reads: “His [the meek person’s] soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth (Psalm 25:13).” That is consistent with a revelation of the Prophet Joseph’s where we are told:17 And the redemption of the soul is through him that quickeneth all things, in whose bosom it is decreed that the poor and the meek of the earth shall inherit it.18 Therefore, it [the earth] must needs be sanctified from all unrighteousness, that it may be prepared for the celestial glory (D&C 88:17-18).{4}Psalm 25 is a prayer like Nephi’s psalm in 2 Nephi 4. It is also a multi-faceted discussion of who are the meek. The psalm says:14 The secret [sode] of the Lord is with them that fear him;and he will shew them his covenant.The word “secret” is translated from the Hebrew word sode, so the verse reads, “The secret [sode] of the Lord is with them that fear him [“Fear” means love, respect, honor, revere].Sode is a Hebrew word that means the secret decisions of a council. In this context he is referring to a “sode experience” where one learns the assignments he received at the Council in Heaven. counci The verse says: Those who revere the Lord will know the secrets of the Council; and the Lord will show them [the meek] his [the Lord’s] covenant. That is, he will show them the covenants they made with him at the Council. Such information is an ultimate empowerment. One can not know where he is going unless he knows where he as been and what purpose he has in the journey.{5}Doctrine and Covenants 138 tells us who were there to meet him when the Savior visited the spirit world.36 Thus was it made known that our Redeemer spent his time during his sojourn in the world of spirits, instructing and preparing the faithful spirits of the prophets who had testified of him in the flesh;37 That they might carry the message of redemption unto all the dead, unto whom he could not go personally, because of their rebellion and transgression, that they through the ministration of his servants might also hear his words. (D&C 138:36-37).So Isaiah’s words are precisely correct. The Savior was anointed to give the meek the powers to teach others so they also would have access to the priesthood ordinances performed in their behalf in human temples.he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,In this instance, the word “bind” means “to wrap firmly” as with a compress. The connotation is to heal. The Tanakh translation is “to bind up the wounded of heart”{6}to proclaim liberty to the captives,Margaret Bratcher made an interesting comment about the meaning of the first verse. Her observation fits perfectly into Joseph F. Smith’s revelation that this is about the Savior’s establishing missionary work among the dead. She wrote, “‘To proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners’ … Some difficulty exists in the translation of the phrase “release to the prisoners.” The Hebrew word translated “release” appears everywhere else in the Old Testament with the meaning “the opening of blind eyes.” {7}and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;Here “bound” is a differenent word from “bind” in the first verse. “Bound” means “to yoke or hitch; to fasten in any sense, bind,…tie.” The connotation is to securely link two things together. The temple word is “to seal.”{8}Again, Isaiah’s language is perfectly correct. This first verse summarizes the rest of the chapter, and concludes, as it should with the promise of “binding” the participants together. That promise is fulfilled in verse 10 which describes a marriage. If understood that way, the verse would read:1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek [the “chosen messengers ”]; he hath sent me to bind up [to heal] the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound [have been sealed together].That is the correct sequence. After one has accepted the gospel and vicarious ordinances of the temple, then they no longer remain in the “spirit prison.”To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,For anything to be acceptable to the Lord in the Old Testament, it had to be done correctly and with the right authority—in zedek — righteous.The translation “righteous” is excellent because the word zedek means priesthood and temple correctness where the ordinances are performed by the right person, with the right authority, in the right place, using the right words, with the right hand movements or jestures gestures (as holding the arm to the square in baptism), and dressed the right way.To proclaim to the dead people that this is an acceptable time is to assure them the that the ordinances performed in their behalf by the living are now valid and acceptable.{9}and the day of vengeance of our God;The spirits in prison will have a full opportunity to accept the gospel, with its ordinances and covenants. When that opportunity is passed, the resurrection will follow. So this opportunity in the spirit world really will be a prelude to their final judgement. “Vengeance” may be the right connotation, but it is rather harsh. The Tanakh comes closer to conveying the intent of the prophecy. “To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, And a day of vindication by our God, To comfort all that mourn” (Isaiah 61:2). Compare (Luke 4:16-21).to comfort all that mourn (Isaiah 61:1-2).The Meaning of “Comfort”In the Isaiah passages, to comfort does not me an bringing about the cessation of sorrow because the source of the sorrow is forced to go away, rather it means to change one’s situation or condition in order to bring about an end to one’s vulnerability to sorrow. The translators of the King James Bible understood that connotation and used the word “comfort” to mean the bestowal of authority or power. Thus, to be comforted meant to receive the enabling power by which one may transcend pain, sorrow, and hurt, to bring about the cessation of mourning, and thereby achieve serenity and peace.{10}The Coronation Ceremony in Isaiah 61(Much of the discussion of verse 3 is taken from Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord)The next verse, Isaiah 61:3, explains how the empowerment will happen by detailing the events of a rather standard coronation ceremony. The verse begins with the promise that the people will be made a part of Zion, then it describes the ceremony itself.{11} Verse 3 reads:To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion,A. ?to give unto them beauty for ashes,B. ?the oil of joy for mourning,C. ?the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;D. ?that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified (Isaiah 61:3).{12}In Isaiah’s description of the coronation rites the word “for” does not mean “in consequence of,” but “in exchange for,” or, as the Anchor Bible has it translated, “instead of.” For that reason I have used “instead of” in the headings below.to give unto them beauty instead of ashesThe denotation of the Hebrew word translated as “beauty” is the beauty of a hat or turban, rather than a direct reference to the hat itself. The connotation is the glory of a crown. Some translations accept the connotation and use a word for the hat, often “diadem” or “crown,” rather than the more literal “beauty” as is found in the King James Version. In either case, the meaning is that the ashes were removed and then replaced by a crown.{13} The removal of the ashes necessarily implies a ceremonial washing. The ashes would have been those of a red heifer, and the washing a ceremonial cleansing from sin.{14}In ancient Israel, putting a mixture of water and the ashes of a red heifer on one’s head was a formal purification ordinance. A red heifer was sacrificed once each year and its ashes were kept to be used in an ordinance that made a person ritually clean. In Isaiah 61 it was used in preparation for other ordinances that would follow. Instructions for the preparation and use of the ashes are given in Numbers 19.{15}Just as the sacred anointing oil was perfumed with a recipe that could not be legally duplicated, so there was also a sacred recipe for the ashes of the red heifer. The ashes contained “cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet” that were burned with the heifer. The instructions were:5 And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:6 And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer (Numbers 19:5-6).Cedar is a fragrant smelling wood. Hyssop is a small bush, a branch of which was used for daubing the lintels of the Israelite homes in the first Passover (Exodus 12:22). It was also used in the ritualistic cleansing of lepers (Leviticus 14). Scarlet was “a highly prized brilliant red color obtained from female bodies of certain insects and used for dying woven fabric, cloth, and leather.”{16}Psalm 51 was sung in conjunction with a cleansing ordinance—the most likely and most appropriate would have been the occasion of the king’s purification that was preliminary to his being clothed and anointed as king. There, the phrase, “purge me with hyssop” necessarily implies a cleansing with the ashes of the red heifer, for (except for leprosy) that was the only ordinance where hyssop was used as part of a ceremonial cleansing agent—that is, the ashes of the red heifer also contained hyssop.It is important to observe that the purging he requested was not a physical cleansing but a spiritual one. Then, in verses 16 and 17, we find the words that are echoed in the Book of Mormon just before the Savior arrived:16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise (Psalm 51:16-17).When the Savior came to America, he instructed the people that there would be no more blood sacrifices, but rather they should sacrifice a broken heart and a contrite spirit. This psalm foreshadows those instructions and shows that the pre-exilic Israelites also understood that the blood sacrifices of the Law would be fulfilled, and the sacrifices required in their place would be a broken heart and contrite spirit.the oil of joy instead of mourning {17}Inasmuch as the early scenes of the drama had already shown that the king had been foreordained at the Council in Heaven, this concluding anointing was a re-affirmation of that premortal ordinance. As Borsch believed,The ceremony is said to take place in the heavenly realms just as the royal ritual was often described as though it were taking place in heaven. Let us notice, too, that the anointing act here is not associated primarily with cleansing or healing, but rather with a rite like King David’s. It is said that the ceremony makes the pneumatic into a god as well, just like the one above. In other words he will be a royal god. {18}Widengren quoted Pseudo-Clement to show that the anointing oil was symbolically a product of the Tree of Life:This idea of an anointing with oil from the Tree of Life is found in a pregnant form in the Psalm Clementine writings, from which some quotations may be given. In the passage concerned, the author (or rather his original source) discusses the problem of the Primordial Man as Messiah. He is represented as stressing the fact that the Primordial Man is the Anointed One:But the reason of his being called the Messiah (the Anointed One) is that, being the Son of God, he was a man, and that, because he was the first beginning, his father in the beginning anointed him with oil which was from the Tree of Life.Primordial Man, who had received the anointing, thanks to which he had been installed in the threefold office of king, high priest, and prophet, is then paralleled with every man who has received such anointing:The same, however, is every man who has been anointed with the oil that has been prepared, so that he has been made a participant of that which is possessed of power, even being worth the royal office or the prophet’s office or the high priest’s office.{19}The apocryphal Gospel of Philip, teaches the same. It reads, “But the tree of life stands in the midst of paradise. And indeed (it is) the olive-tree. From it came the chrism [anointing oil]. Through it came the resurrection.”{20} On the nest page Philip added:The chrism [anointing oil] is superior to baptism. For from the chrism [anointing oil] we were called “Christians,” [that is, “anointed ones”] not from the baptism. Christ also was so called because of the anointing. For the Father anointed the Son. But the Son anointed the apostles. And the apostles anointed us. He who is anointed possesses all things. He has the resurrection, the light, the cross.{21}Borsch mentioned other facets of the coronation ceremony that are not explicitly mentioned in the Isaiah passage, but which were very important. In the following, he wrote that the king was “initiated into heavenly secrets and given wisdom.”{22} That initiation may have been part of what Johnson and Mowinckel understood to be an “endowment with the spirit.”{23} It is what Nibley described in his analysis of Moses chapter one, quoted above.{24} It was this spiritual empowerment—not just the physical ordinances—that qualified one to be king. Borsch writes,The king is anointed. The holy garment is put on him together with the crown and other royal regalia. He is said to be radiant, to shine like the sun just as does the king-god. He is initiated into heavenly secrets and given wisdom. He is permitted to sit upon the throne, often regarded as the very throne of the god. He rules and judges; all enemies are subservient. All do him obeisance.”{25}The New Year’s festival temple drama’s coronation ceremonies reached to both ends of linear time; beginning in the Council, then the Garden; and at the conclusion when the king became anew “a son of God.” Consequently, even though a king may have ruled for many years, at this point in the festival, after he had symbolically proven himself, and was escorted into the Temple—then he was again crowned and became again king in fact. The importance of anointing and its association with the king’s remarkable spiritual powers are described by Johnson:The fact that the king held office as Yahweh’s agent or vice-regent is shown quite clearly in the rite of anointing which marked him out as a sacral person endowed with such special responsibility for the well-being of his people as we have already described. Accordingly the king was not merely the Messiah or the ‘anointed’; he was the Messiah of Yahweh, i.e. the man who in thus being anointed was shown to be specially commissioned by Yahweh for this high office: and, in view of the language which is used elsewhere in the Old Testament with regard to the pouring out of Yahweh’s ‘Spirit’ and the symbolic action which figures so prominently in the work of the prophets, it seems likely that the rite in question was also held to be eloquent of the superhuman power with which this sacral individual was henceforth to be activated and by which his behavior might be governed. The thought of such a special endowment of the ‘Spirit’ is certainly implied by the statement that, when David was selected for this office, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.{26}the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness {27}Nibley translated this line a bit differently, and in doing so, he expanded its meaning by projecting its implications to the marriage ceremony that follows in verse 10. He writes:After you put off the old garments and put on those of spiritual white, you should keep them always thus spotless white. That is not to say that you must always go around in white clothes, but rather that you should be always clothed in what is really white and glorious, that you may say with the blessed Isaiah 61:10), “Let my soul exult in the Lord, for he hath clothed me in a robe of salvation and clothing of rejoicing.” (The word here used for “clothe” is endy, to place a garment on one, and is the ultimate source of our word “endowment,” derived in the Oxford English Dictionary from both induere, to invest with a garment, and inducere, to lead into or initiate.){28}The royal robes of the king are not described in detail in the Old Testament.{29} However, some scholars believe that the descriptions of the High Priestly garments were originally descriptions of the royal robes, and the miter hat was the crown used by the king in the coronation ceremony.{30} The implication is that the post-exilic editors who re-worked the books of Moses, allotted to the High Priest the royal garments that had once been worn by their kings. Widengren was among those who believed that all of the ceremonial clothing of the High Priest, including the breastplate which held the Urim and Thummim, was an adaptation of the earlier sacral clothing of the king.{31}The coronation clothing is almost always described as two separate garments (as partially discussed earlier in connection with Psalm 45). The sacred clothing attributed to the Aaronic priesthood High Priests consisted of white linen undergarments and outer royal robes.{32} The undergarments were a two part suit—a long sleeved white shirt and breeches “to cover their nakedness” (Exodus 28:42. see also Mosiah 10:5). Above that he wore a solid blue robe with a fringe of alternating golden bells and pomegranates. The pomegranates were made of blue, purple, and scarlet threads—the same colors as in the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Tabernacle (Exodus 28:4-42).{33} Around the waist was a sash,{34} also woven in the same colors as the fringe and the veil. His breastplate was a kind of pouch or pocket in which he placed the Urim and Thummim. It was supported by shoulder straps attached to an apron called the ephod. His crown was a miter, a flat hat made of fine linen, with a gold plate attached that was worn on his forehead. Engraved on the plate were the words “Holiness to the Lord.”{35}This same ritual clothing—or something very much like it—was worn by the early Christians. Paul described the sacral garments as the protective “armor of God.”{36}The scriptures often speak of the clothing in terms of their meaning rather than of their physical appearance. Thus, the outer one is usually called “majesty,” representing the powers of kingship, and the other “glory,” representing the authority of priesthood. For example, in Psalm 45, the king’s blessing from Elohim included the instructions to dress himself properly:3 Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.4 And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible thing (Psalm 45:3-4).We find the same imagery in Job, only here two double sets of clothing are mentioned. (We have wondered if the reason is because, even though no woman is ever mentioned in the narrative, the second set might belong to his wife.) The Lord asks Job:9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?10 Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty. …14 Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee (Job 40:9-14).Later, but in the same context, Job responds:4 Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee (Job 42:4-5).There is a fragment of an ancient text of the Book of Job that suggests the clothing is a replacement for something else that he must first “remove” (as in the Hymn of the Pearl). It reads:Or have you an arm like God?Or with voice like his can you thunder?Remove now pride and haughty spiritAnd with splendor, glory, and honor be clothed.{37}There is a similar description in Psalm 21, and it was apparently sung during a similar ceremony to the one described in Job 40:1-17. After the coronation ceremony, before the king entered God’s presence, he was dressed in clothing called “honour and majesty” (Psalm 21:5).The important thing is that there are always two, and they always seem to represent royal and priestly authority, and with rare exceptions, they are always worn together.{38} A similar idea is in the Doctrine and Covenants, where two ideas, “perfectness and peace,” are joined together as “charity:”125 And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace.126 Pray always, that ye may not faint, until I come. Behold, and lo, I will come quickly, and receive you unto myself. Amen (D&C 88:125-126).It is significant that these sacred royal garments were patterned after those worn by Jehovah himself, as is shown in two of the psalms. One of those is Psalm 93:1 The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting (Psalm 93:1-2).The other is Psalm 104 where Jehovah’s royal clothing is described as honor and majesty, only there Jehovah wears an additional garment of light:{39}1 Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.2 Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain (Psalm 104:1-2).The interpretation of Figure 3 in Facsimile No. 2 in the Book of Abraham shows that the clothing given to earthly holders of the Melchizedek Priesthood is symbolic of the clothing worn by God. It reads:Fig. 3. Is made to represent God, sitting upon his throne, clothed with power and authority; with a crown of eternal light upon his head; representing also the grand Key-words of the Holy Priesthood, as revealed to Adam in the Garden of Eden, as also to Seth, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, and all to whom the Priesthood was revealed.{40}that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that he might be glorifiedOne is “called” by one’s name. Similarly, here to be “called” is to be given a new name.{41} One finds the same usage in the Beatitudes: “And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God” (3 Nephi 12:9); and in Isaiah: “and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). A new name is a new covenantal identity.{42} In our verse, it denotes one’s new relationship with God, much as Nibley writes, “In Egyptian initiation rites one puts off his former nature by discarding his name, after which he receives a new name.”{43} Truman Madsen explains,In antiquity, several ideas about names recur, among which are the following:1. In names, especially divine names, is concentrated divine power.2. Through ritual processes one may gain access to these names and take them upon oneself.3. These ritual processes are often explicitly temple-related.{44}The regal new name given to the enthroned dead in Isaiah 61 is “trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified.” It is a promise of eternal lives. “Trees” suggests the tree of life. “Righteousness” is zedek—correctness and propriety in performing and receiving sacred ordinances. “The planting of the Lord” implies eternal increase (trees make fruit, fruit make seeds, seeds make trees, ad infinitum). And the words “that he [God] might be glorified” proclaim that the glory of God is inseparably connected with the continuation of the family.The new royal name that was given to the king during his coronation ceremony in the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama was different from the one cited in Isaiah 61. The ancient Israelite royal new name is found in Psalm 2, which was sung at the time of the king’s anointing near the conclusion of the temple drama,{45} In that psalm, the king’s new name is “son,”{46} denoting that he had been adopted as a son and heir of Jehovah. Like many other psalms, this one is intended to be performed on the stage. However, like the others there are no stage directions, so one has to deduce those from what is said. Here the king is speaking and is quoting God. He says,7 I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee (Psalm 2:7).“Son,” as it is spoken here, is the new king-name. It denotes the covenant of adoption and heirship between the king and Jehovah.{47} The next are God’s promise of invulnerability that is associated with the new name.{48} Here, as is often so, the promise is given in terms of military power:Psalm 2 marks a high point of the ancient Israelite temple drama. It is the conclusion of all that has come before and the beginning of all that comes after.{49} In that psalm, the king’s new name is “son,”{50} denoting that he had been adopted as a son and heir of God. Mowinckel believed that the words, “thou art my son” demonstrated the cosmic role with which the king of Israel was entrusted. The king’s adoption as a son of Jehovah made him a legal heir, both to his earthly throne and to his rightful place in the eternities. This annual re-enactment of the king’s adoption renewed and affirmed the original covenant relationships between Jehovah and the king; between Jehovah and the people; and also between Jehovah, the king, and the people in the recreation of the Kingdom of God.The ancient Israelites did not consider their kings to be gods, but they did consider them to be adopted sons of God, as Hoffimeier explains:More directly relevant are two passages in which a Hebrew king appears to have been regarded as a son of God. In 2 Samuel 7:14, Yahweh, the God of Israel, speaks to David regarding his heir: ‘I will be his father, and he shall be my son.’ And in Psalm 2:6-7 the psalmist quotes Yahweh: ‘I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill … You are my son, today I have begotten you.” Both passages have been used to support the adoptionist view of kingship, whereby the king becomes the son of the deity upon his assumption of the throne.{51}The festival drama had already shown that the king’s first covenants were made at the Council in Heaven. Now they were made anew, here in mortality. The phrase, “Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee,” emphasized the eternal relationship that covenant reaffirmed. The Apostle Paul quoted the words of Psalm 2 as a reference to the Savior (Hebrews 1:5). Whenever the Father introduces the Savior, he uses that regal name. It defines the Lord’s literal relationship with his Father as his Only Begotten, and also his status as heir{52} and Lord of Lords.{53} This same covenant name is given to many persons in the scriptures, but uniquely to the Savior. Israel’s special status before God was shown in their designation as his ‘sons,’ as Cook explained, “The people Israel knew themselves to be under the same charge by virtue of their relation to Yahweh in terms of sonship and of covenant righteousness and loyalty.”{54} In these relationships, Israel and the king’s connections with God were bound by temporal and spiritual covenants. Mowinckel explained the intent of the covenant words when he wrote:He is ‘Yahweh’s son,’ adopted by Yahweh ‘today.’ It is the election, the anointing and the installation which are viewed as an adoption. Thereby the king is, ideally speaking, world-ruler; and all other kings are his vassals, whose duty it is to pay him homage by ‘kissing his feet’—the usual sign of homage to the liege sovereign in the East.{55}Even though this new king-name was reaffirmed each year, conferring it upon the king was more than symbolic, as Porter and Ricks explain: “The name change or new name marks a turning point in the life of the initiate: he is ‘re-created,’ so to speak, and becomes a new man.”{56} It was typical of ancient Near Eastern practices that kings should receive a new covenant name in connection with their coronation ceremonies—often, more names than one, but, as Porter and Ricks observed, not all the new names were known to everyone.New names were frequently conferred upon individuals at the time of their enthronement. The giving or possessing of a second name, to be kept hidden from others, is widely attested in antiquity among both mortals and divinities.{57}The reason it was important to have many names was because each name represented the binding power of a different covenant. In the Israelite temple drama, the king’s personal history covered an enormous span of time, and during that time he played many roles with covenantal responsibilities. Nibley pointed out that, “When Re says to the gods, ‘I have many names and many forms; in me Atun and the youthful Horus are addressed,’ he signifies that he may be conjured either as the Ancient of Days or the Newly-born, depending on the name employed and the situation in which his presence is desired.{58}Not all new covenant names were secret, but they were all sacred. In his study of Hebrew royal names, A. M. Honeyman found that the religious practice of giving and receiving a new name “is based upon the belief that the name is or symbolizes the self or soul, and that an alteration of the name will effect or symbolize and perpetuate an alteration of the self; on this supposition a man whose name has been changed is no longer quite the same man, for he has been cut off from his own past, or from certain aspects of it, and the future belongs to a different being.”{59}A name was more than an identity, as Porter and Ricks explain, “In the cultures of the ancient Near East, existence was thought to be dependent upon an identifying word, that word being a ‘name.’ The name of someone (or something) was perceived not as a mere abstraction, but as a real entity, ‘the audible and spoken image of the person, which was taken to be his spiritual essence.’”{60}The new name was an evidence of the coronation. The one who was called by that name was a legitimate heir—a king and priest unto God.{61}Bratcher correctly observes that the next verses “provide a description of the salvation the prophet has been sent to proclaim in verses 1-3.”{62 }in D&C 138, the voice who speaks this chapter is the Lord. In the first three verses he tells about the blessings that will come to the dead who accept the gospel and the vicarious ordinances of the temple. Now, beginning with verse 4, he speaks directly to the dead and descries those ordinances. It is a bit difficult for us to read because when he says “you” he is speaking to the dead, and when he says “they” he is speaking about the living. The voice does not change, but the referent does. In verse 3 “them” are those “that mourn.” It is they who will receive the rites of coronation. However, in verse 4 “they” are the living who will bless the dead. This change must be recognized or the meaning of the entire chapter falls apart. The Lord was speaking to the dead, now he is speaking to the dead. So “you” are those who are dead, and “they” are the living. To read it that way requires a bit of a mind shift, because we think of ourselves, “you,” as the ones spoken to and the dead, “they,” as the ones spoken about. If we understand that shift then everything falls neatly into place.The symbolism in the next six verses of Isaiah chapter 61 describes the relationship between the dead and those who will do genealogical and temple work, sealing families together.4 And they [the living] shall build the old wastes, they [the living] shall raise up the former desolations, and they [the living] shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.A “city” can be the buildings, the people who live there, or both. Before Ford’s automobile made it necessary to build roads and give ordinary people the wherewithal to move about, only the rich traveled from place to place. Poor people often never left the environs of the villages where they and their great grandparents were born. So to “repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations” simply means to do the vicarious temple work that will seal those generations together.5 And strangers [the living] shall stand and feed your [the dead] flocks, and the sons of the alien [the living] shall be your [the dead] plowmen and your [the dead] vinedressers.The imagery of sheep, “flocks,” frequently represent families or followers. Here the living will “stand” to nourish the families. There is a reason that we have to stand. It is illustrated by this Old Testament story where the king had ordered that the Temple be refurbished. The workmen found a scroll which they gave to the priest, who, in turn, gave it to the king. Then this is what happened:1 And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.2 And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.3 And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant (2 Kings 23:1-3).Anciently, people stood when they made covenants. In some cases (like Psalm 82) to stand is code for making covenants. So we, the “strangers” are standing to give nourishment to the dead. We now learn that the source of their sustenance is the fruit and water of the tree of life.We the living, “the sons of the alien” become their “plowmen.” In ancient Israel the staple food produced in the field was wheat. Wheat makes bread. Bread of the sacrament represents the Savior’s blood which is symbolized by the fruit of the tree of life. “Vinedressers tend the vineyards that produce grapes. Grapes make the wine of the sacrament.It is only my opinion, but it seems to make sense that after we perform the ordinances for the dead, they probably have to do something to accept those ordinances. Their partaking the sacrament seems to be an appropriate ordinance to accomplish that. It is possible, for we know there are beautiful plants spirit world.{63}6 But ye [the dead] shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you [the dead] the Ministers of our God: ye [the dead] shall eat the riches of the Gentiles [the living], and in their [the living] glory shall ye [the dead] boast yourselves.So the dead are “named the Priests of the Lord.” They have the priesthood and become “the Ministers of our God.” Ministers teach and bless, these dead priesthood who have accepted the gospel and received the priesthood, are going on missions to help others.Now the dead will have the same blessings as the living, “the Gentiles” and the dead missionaries will have the same blessings as the living receive.7 For [in place of] your [the dead] shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they [the living] shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their [the living] land they [the living] shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them [the living] .“Double” here and elsewhere is code for the birthright blessings of Abraham, which were the crowning ordinances of the ancient temple rites.{64} The Law of Moses required that the birthright son receive a double portion as an inheritance. Even before Moses that was done. Consequently, there is no tribe of Joseph. Joseph received the birthright so he has two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh. So it reads:For [in place of] your shame ye [the dead] shall have double [the birthright blessings of Abraham]; and for confusion they [the living] shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their [the living’s] land they shall possess the double [those same birthright priesthood blessings]: everlasting joy shall be unto them [the living] .8 For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their [the living] work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them [the living] .For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering.When those dead people lived in our world they could just burn up a old sheep and call that their repentance. However, now they must sacrifice the same thing that the living have to sacrifice—a broken heart and contrite spirit.And I will direct their [the living’s] work in truth.The work we are doing is family history, and there are many people who can testify that is, in fact, directed in truth.and I will make an everlasting covenant with them?[the living]?.As the work is family history, so the “everlasting covenant” must have to do with the promise of “binding the hearts of the fathers and the hearts of the fathers to the children.”9 And their [the living] seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their [the living] offspring among the people: all that see them [the living] shall acknowledge them [the living], that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed.Now we learn who “they” really are. They are “the seed which the Lord hath blessed”—the covenant people of the House of Israel.Through the end of verse 9, the Lord has been speaking either about or directly to the dead people who accept the gospel and its ordinances in the spirit world. Now the voice changes and in the last two verses of the chapter we here the rejoicing of the dead.Verse 10 is a sacred marriage ceremony that is the culmination of all that has gone before. Now the bride and groom together sing a “hymn of thanksgiving.”{65}10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.In verse 3 the sacred clothing was an important part of the coronation ceremony. We find that same clothing again. This time it is a significant part of the wedding ceremony.The last part of their wedding hymn is their testimony of the promised resurrection.50 For the dead had looked upon the long absence of their spirits from their bodies as a bondage.51 These the Lord taught, and gave them power to come forth, after his resurrection from the dead, to enter into his Father’s kingdom, there to be crowned with immortality and eternal life (D&C 138:50-51).11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.The promise is that like a seemingly dead seed that has been buried in the earth, so their dead and buried bodies would live again “so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.”The Savior opened the world of the dead to missionary work with the promise that the ordinances performed by the living in this world would be valid for them also. It is good to know that even many generations before that happened, the people understood that temple work could eventually be done for their dead as well as for ours.————————–?FOOTNOTES?PLEASE ?NOTE: ?More complete bibliographic information can be found in the bibliography of Who Shall Ascend Into the Hill of the Lord that is found in the “published books” section of this website.{1} Some of this, especially the coronation ceremony in verse 3, is taken from Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord.{2} For a discussion of Psalm 22 see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, chapter “Act 2, Scene 7: Jehovah Conquers Death and Hell.” First edition, p. 415-442; second edition, p. 300-323.{3} For a discussion of that Beatitude see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, chapter “3 Nephi 12:4 – ‘all they that mourn’,” First edition, p. 940-45 ; second edition, p. 656-59.{4} The “poor,” like the “meek,” are those defined by the Beatitudes. They are those who keep their temple covenants. For a discussion of the meaning of “poor” see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord? First edition, p. 936-40; second edition, p. 653-55.{5} For a discussion of the meaning of Psalm 25 and the “meek” see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord? First edition, p. 535-43; second edition, p. 378-90.{6} Strong # 2280. The Tanakh is the official Jewish English translation of the Old Testament. Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures: The New JPS Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text. Philadelphia and Jerusalem: The Jewish Publication Society, 1985.{7} Margaret Dee Bratcher,”Salvation Achieved, Isaiah 61:1-7; 62:1-7; 65:17 – 66:2,” Review and Expositor, v. 88, 1991, 178.{8} Strong # 631,{9} For a discussion of the meaning of zedek and righteous” see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord? First edition, p. 279-84; second edition, p. 198-201.{10} See “meaning of ‘Comfort’,” in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord? First edition, p. 467-71; second edition, p. 340-42.Gary A. Anderson, A Time to Mourn, A Time to Dance: The Expression of Grief and Joy in Israelite Religion. University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1991), 84-85.{11} For an excellent discussion of the coronation ceremony, see Ricks and Sroka, “King, Coronation, and Temple,” 236-71.{12} The meaning of the new name is an echo of the Lord’s words to Moses, “For behold, this is my work and my glory——to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).{13} Ricks and Sroka, “King, Coronation, and Temple,” 241-43, 256-57.{14} For discussions of washing, see Nibley, “What Is a Temple?” 363-64; Nibley, “Sacred Vestments,” Temple and Cosmos, 91-138; Ricks and Sroka, “King, Coronation, and Temple,” 241- 43; Tvedtnes, “Baptism for the Dead,” 62-67 .{15} For a description of how it was understood in the Savior’s day, see Flavius Josephus, trans. William Whiston, The Complete Works: The History of the Jews, book 4, chapter 4 (London: London Printing and Publishing, 1876), 69.{16} Interpreter’s Dictionary: for “scarlet,” 4:233; for “hyssop,” 2:670.{17} For discussions of the anointing of Israelite kings, see Donald W. Parry, “Ritual Anointing with Olive Oil in Ancient Israelite Religion,” Allegory of the Olive Tree, 266-71, 281-83. For a discussion of the olive tree as the Tree of Life and of the tree and its oil as symbols of kingship see Stephen D. Ricks, “Olive Culture in the Second Temple Era and Early Rabbinic Period,” Allegory of the Olive Tree, 460-76.{18} Borsch, Son of Man, 184.{19} Widengren, “Baptism and Enthronement,” 213-14. The quotes he uses are from Ps. Clem. Recognitions syriace, ed. Frankenberg, I, 45, 4 and I, 46, 335.{20} Gospel of Philip, New Testament Apocrypha, Revised Edition, ed. Wilhelm Schneemelcher (Westminster: John Knox, 1991), 1: 199, 92.{21} Gospel of Philip, 200, 95.{22} For discussions of secrecy, see Lundquist, “Common Temple Ideology,” 59; Lundquist, “What Is a Temple?” 109-11; Hugh Nibley, “Myths and the Scriptures,” Old Testament and Related Studies, ed. John W. Welch, Gary P. Gillum, Don E. Norton (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1986), 37-47; Nibley, “On the Sacred and the Symbolic,” 569-72; Nibley, “Return to the Temple,” 61-66; Packer, Holy Temple, 25-36.{23} See: Johnson, Sacral Kingship, 14-16, and Mowinckel, He That Cometh, 374.{24} Nibley, Nibley on the Timely and the Timeless, 5-6.{25} Borsch, Son of Man, 95-96.{26} Johnson, “Hebrew Conceptions of Kingship,” 207-8, quotes 1 Samuel 16:13.{27} For a discussion of Adam’s garment of light, that garment and its significance, see Ricks, “Garment of Adam,” 705-39. For discussions of sacred clothing, see Draper and Parry, “Seven Promises,” 134-36; Hamblin, “Temple Motifs,” 453-54; Nibley, “Sacred Vestments,” 91-138; Parry, “Garden of Eden,” 145; Ricks and Sroka, “King, Coronation, and Temple,” 254-56; John A. Tvedtnes, “Priestly Clothing in Bible Times,” Temples of the Ancient World, 649-704. For a discussion of Egyptian Christian clothing. see C. Wilford Griggs, et al., “Evidences of Christian Population in the Egyptian Fayum and Genetic and Textile Studies of the Akhmim Noble Mummies,” BYU Studies 33, 2 (1993): 215-43.{28} Nibley, Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri, 280-81.{29} There is an interesting coronation scene described in Zechariah that shows the importance of sacred clothing in Zechariah 3:1-10.{30} See Ricks, “Garment of Adam,” 705-39; Borsch, Son of Man, 185, 194; Engnell, Studies in Divine Kingship, 62-63; Widengren, “King and Covenant,” 21; Ricks and Sroka, “King, Coronation, and Temple,” 254-57.{31} Widengren, Ascension of the Apostle, 25.{32} For an in-depth discussion of the temple clothing of ancient Israel see Tvedtnes, “Priestly Clothing,” 649-704.{33} Exodus 28:4. For excellent illustrations, see Moshe Levine, The Tabernacle, Its Structure and Utensils (Tel Aviv, Israel: Melechet Hamishkan, 1989), 127-33.Ricks and Sroka, “King, Coronation, and Temple,” 256-57.{34} Our Old Testament calls it a “girdle”; in the Tanakh it is called a “sash” (Exodus 28:8).{35} For a beautifully illustrated book that reconstructs this clothing see Moshe Levine, The Tabernacle: Its Structure and Utensils (Tel Aviv, Israel: Melechet Hamishkan, 1989).{36} Ephesians 6:10-18. It is also in D&C 27:15-18.Two of the more interesting are in verse 14, “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.”{37} Marvin H. Pope, The Anchor Bible, Job (Garden City, New York: 1965), 319-20.{38} Another example is the clothing described in the Hymn of the Pearl.{39} For discussions of the garment of light, see:?“The heavens were fashioned from the light of God’s garment.” (Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, 1:8).“And my likeness was covered with the light of my garment.” The Paraphrase of Shem (VII, 1), The Nag Hammadi Library in English [San Francisco, Harper & Row, 1988], 346, 11-12).Nibley suggests this garment is the Shechinah, which is “the cloud of brightness and glory that marked the presence of the Lord.” (LDS Bible dictionary) (Nibley, Abraham in Egypt, 373.){40} There is more discussion of sacred garments in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, “the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness,” First edition, 483 -495; Second edition, 349 – 373.{41} A. M. Honeyman, “The Evidence for Regnal Names Among the Hebrews,” in Journal of Biblical Literature 67 (1948): 13-25.Among the scholars who have discussed the evidence for the ancient Israelite use of sacred king-names are: Bruce H. Porter and Stephen D. Ricks, “Names in Antiquity: Old, New, and Hidden,” By Study and Also By Faith, 1:501-22.Mowinckel, Psalms in Israel’s Worship, 1: 63 and fn. 86.Hoffmeier, “Son of God: From Pharaoh to Israel’s Kings,” 48.{42} See J. E. Barnhart, “The Meaning of the Name Israel,” Harvard Theological Review 65, 1 (1972):137-46.Porter and Ricks, “Names in Antiquity,” 501-22.{43} Truman G. Madsen, “‘Putting on the Names’: A Jewish-Christian Legacy,” By Study and Also By Faith, 1: 459.{44} Madsen, “Putting on the Names,” 1:458.{45} Bentzen, King and Messiah, 16-20.{46} Cook summed up the work of many scholars regarding the meaning of “son” in this psalm. Cooke, “Israelite King as Son,” 202-25.{47} Johnson, Sacral Kingship, 128-30. See also Mowinckel, Psalms in Israel’s Worship, 1: 58, 63; Honeyman, “Evidence for Regnal Names, 23-24; Hoffmeier, “Son of God: From Pharaoh to Israel’s Kings,” 48. Borsch, Son of Man, 152. For discussions of new king names, see Nibley, “Return to the Temple,” 59-61; Ricks and Sroka, “King, Coronation, and Temple,” 244-46, 256-57; Draper and Parry, “Seven Promises,” 136-37.{48} For a discussion of the covenant of invulnerability, see the chapter called, “The Promise of Invulnerability.”{49} Bentzen, King and Messiah, 16-20.{50} Cooke summed up the work of many scholars regarding the meaning of “son” in this psalm.”Israelite King as Son,” 202-25.{51} Hoffmeier, “Son of God: From Pharaoh to Israel’s Kings,” 48.{52} Examples are: Christ’s baptism, the Mount of Transfiguration, his appearance to the Nephites, and Joseph Smith’s first vision.{53} For Margaret Barker’s discussion of the relationship between the ancient coronation ceremony and the Savior’s baptism, see “High Priest and the Worship,” 93-111.{54} Cooke, “Israelite King as Son,” 216-17.{55} Mowinckel, Psalms in Israel’s Worship, 1:65.{56} Porter and Ricks, “Names in Antiquity,” 507.{57} Porter and Ricks, “Names in Antiquity,” 507-8.{58} Nibley, Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri, 140-41.{59} Honeyman, “Evidence for Regnal,” 13.{60} Porter and Ricks, “Names in Antiquity,” 501.{61} There is more discussion of covenant names in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, “Psalm 2, The Ancient Israelite Royal King-name,” First edition, p. 499- 517; second edition, p. 360- 373.{62 } Margaret Dee Bratcher,”Salvation Achieved, Isaiah 61:1-7; 62:1-7; 65:17 – 66:2,” Review and Expositor, v. 88, 1991, 178.{63} See, for example, “Kimball, Heber C. – funeral of J. M. Grant” under “favorite quotes” in this website.{64} For example Isaiah 40:1-2.{65} Ellis T. Rasmussen, A Latter-day Saint Commentary on the Old Testament (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1993), 536.PLEASE ?NOTE: ?More complete bibliographic information can be found in the bibliography of Who Shall Ascend Into the Hill of the Lord that is found in the “published books” section of this website.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 20:30-46 -- LeGrand Baker -- The Savior’s prophecy about temples in the last days Author : lbaker3 Nephi 20:30-46In the first 29 verses of 3 Nephi 20, the Savior reviewed God’s covenants with Abraham, the house of Israel, and the descendants of Lehi. Form our perspective, all of those promises have been fulfilled in our past and we can point to specific or general events that show they have been fulfilled.Beginning at verse 30, the Savior continues the prophecy, but now the events are no longer in our past but are about what will happen in our future. They are introduced with the restoration of the gospel by the Prophet Joseph Smith and then they continue on, culminating with the Savior’s personal reign upon the earth. The fascinating thing about this prophecy is that it does not follow the chronology of wars or world political events. Rather it follows the growth of the Church and Kingdom of God as will be evinced through the spread of temples throughout the world. These prophecies were spoken as a paraphrase of Isaiah 52, but the order of the ideas is different from Isaiah’s because the message is also different.Isaiah 52 is quoted several times in the Book of Mormon. Among them are Mosiah 12:21-25, Mosiah 15:28-31; 3 Nephi 16:13-20; and Moroni 10:31, in addition to this one in 3 Nephi 20. Each of those quotes is in a covenant/temple context. In Moroni’s last testimony he uses it as the crowning of the ancient temple ordinances and covenants. He writes:31 And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled (Moroni 10:31). {1}Now let’s examine the prophecy:3 Nephi 20:30-46 — The Savior’s prophecy about temples in the last days.30 And it shall come to pass that the time cometh, when the fulness of my gospel shall be preached unto them; (3 Nephi 20:30)“Fulness” means “fullness.” Thus, the restoration of the priesthood and all of its ordinances and covenants are necessary to the restoration of “the fulness of my gospel.” The “them” he refers to are the people he has been talking about. They include both the Native Americans and the gentiles.In the Savior’s prophecy, we are now at the place in time where the Prophet Joseph restores the gospel. The Savior identifies that gospel in terms of the ancient temple rites, specifically the prayer circle:31 And they shall believe in me, that I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and shall pray unto the Father in my name.There is always a new name given in conjunction with a new covenant. Consequently, the word “name” in many contexts can be replaced with “covenant” without changing the meaning of the text. This is not an example of that, except it does imply that one must know the covenant to be authorized to use the name.The reason secret covenant ceremonial names were important was because they gave power. When one knew the names, one could invoke the terms of the covenant. Or, as Nibley observes, “To possess knowledge of another’s name is to hold some power over him, even if it be the high god himself.”{2}That is, of course, if one’s knowing the name is lawful because it represents a covenant contracted by both parties.The first word in the next verse is “then.” “Then” can mean “thereafter”, or it can mean “in accordance to.” Both definitions work here because the description of the prayer circle that follows presupposes knowing the name.32 Then shall their watchmen lift up their voice, and with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye.Isaiah’s code here is very simple. Watchmen are a peoples’ first defense, and are frequently shown to be such. For example:6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence (Isaiah 62:6),It is the watchmen’s duty to use their perceptive powers to make sure everything is secure and safe. In the ancient prayer circles they exercised that power. In Isaiah’s imagery they are singing or speaking in unison (there is really very little difference if it is done correctly). Nibley described the ancient prayer circles just like that. He wrote,The prayer circle is often called the chorus of the apostles and it is the meaning of chorus which can be a choir, but is originally a ring dance. {3}When they stand in a circle each participant can literally see “eye to eye” with every other person in the circle. Therefore, the form of the circle suggests both unity and power.In verses 30-32 we learned about those to whom the gospel was first restored— the children of Lehi and the “gentiles” — that is, to you and I. Now the prophecy moves on, using much the same code to show that there will be a temple among the Jews:33 Then will the Father gather them [the Jews] together again, and give unto them Jerusalem for the land of their inheritance.34 Then shall they break forth into joy—Sing together [same prayer circle], ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Father hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.To “comfort” is to empower. In Isaiah 61:2-3 that empowerment is accomplished by administering a coronation ceremony that makes the participants priests and kings: they are washed, anointed, clothed, crowned, and given a new name. {4}The prophecy is that the time will come when the Jews will participate in prayer circles and receive those coronation rites. The Savior also promises they will be “redeemed.” In Hebrew and Greek the word translated “redeem” means to purchase or to ransom. However, “Redeem” in Job and usually in the Book of Mormon, means to bring one into the presence of God. That was the ultimate promise of the ancient Israelite temple drama. {5} It is difficult to say which definition the Savior intends here. “Both” is probably the correct answer.The prophecy continues. We have seen temples established among the gentiles and the Jews. Now we go from the Jews to “all the nations.”35 The Father hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of the Father; and the Father and I are one.The code of the phrase “The Father hath made bare his holy arm” requires no explanation, but it is interesting to note that the idea is not unique here. Parallel imagery is found in two other ancient temple texts. One is the king’s foreordination in Psalm 45 where he is promised:4 And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible [awesome] things (Psalms 45:4). {6}The other is the veil ceremony in Job:14 Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee (Job 40:14). {7}In the Savior’s prophecy, after temples are found in “all the nations,” then comes the establishment of Zion.36 And then shall be brought to pass that which is written: Awake, awake again, and put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.The Jerusalem we are seeing now is not the one of verse 34. This is the New Jerusalem whose temple can never be desecrated again. {8}Again the symbolism in this verse is straightforward and simple. “Awake” implies becoming mentally alert and alive. It is frequently paired with “arise” in the scriptures. “Arise” is implied here, for one must stand to dress oneself. “Arise” means to become physically alert and alive. Examples are:19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead (Isaiah 26:19).14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light (Ephesians 5:14).and put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments,“Strength” is equated with “beautiful garments.” The clothing of a priest and a king has always been a symbol and an evidence of their power and authority. But this equation seems to mean more than that. Joseph Smith’s explanation of Facsimile No. 2, figure 3 suggests the extent of the power. He describes God’s sacred robes; shows they are similar to the ancient sacred clothing of the Old Testament; and also “to all whom the priesthood was revealed.”{9} The explanation reads:Fig. 3. Is made to represent God, sitting upon his throne, clothed with power and authority; with a crown of eternal light upon his head; representing also the grand Key-words of the Holy Priesthood, as revealed to Adam in the Garden of Eden, as also to Seth, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, and all to whom the Priesthood was revealed (Facsimile No. 2 from the Book of Abraham).The Savior’s prophecy continues:37 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.38 For thus saith the Lord: Ye have sold yourselves for naught, and ye shall be redeemed without money.39 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that my people shall know my name; yea, in that day they shall know that I am he that doth speak.Arise in the phrase “arise, sit down” has a slightly different connotation from “awake and arise.” Anciently, one stood to make a covenant. Therefore, to stand is sometimes code for the act of making a covenant. {10} The following story is an example. Its context is that the king had ordered a refurbishment of Solomon’s Temple; the workmen found a scroll and took it to the priests; the priest took it to the king; then this is what happened:1 And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.2 And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.3 And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant (2 Kings 23:1-3).We find a covenant in the verse that says:37 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.Given the context of the command, their captivity is not about a physical or military captivity. But the spiritual captivity imposed by the apostasy of their forefathers. Liberation from such captivity can only come through accepting priesthood ordinances and covenants.Still speaking of Jerusalem, the Savior’s prophecy continues:38 For thus saith the Lord: Ye have sold yourselves for naught, and ye shall be redeemed without money.“Redeemed” seems to have the same meaning here as it usually has in the Greek and Hebrew languages. That is, to ransom or to purchase. In New Testament times redeem was a commercial term, but it also described perfectly the power of the Savior’s Atonement. He purchases our sins and ransoms us from hell. So the early Christians used it as a religious term. It also had the same commercial meaning in the Old Testament and was also used to represent Jehovah’s power to save. {11}39 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that my people shall know my name; yea, in that day they shall know that I am he that doth speak.Knowing God’s name implies speaking it, and that also suggests a conversation just as it does in this ceremony described by Jacob in his sermon at the Nephite temple. {12}41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.42 And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches—yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them (2 Nephi 9:41-42).During the ancient Israelite coronation ceremony the king was adopted as a son of God so he could legitimately rule Israel in God’s stead. After he received the coronation rites, the king passed through the beautifully embroidered veil of Solomon’s Temple and took his place on the throne in the Holy of Holies. The Ark of the Covenant, which had represented God’s throne in Moses’s Tabernacle, was still a part of the throne in Solomon’s Temple. The Ark sat in front of the throne and served as its footstool. It was the ultimate definition of sacred space. {13}To the Israelites the outcropping of rock on which the Temple sat was the umbilical cord that connected the heavens, and the earth and was the earth’s most sacred place. Above the rock stood the Temple; within that was the Holy of Holies, in that was the Ark of the Covenant which represented the final connecting place of earth with heaven. When the king sat upon the throne in the Holy of Holies and rested his feet upon the Ark then his person became that connecting place. For that reason, when the priests of Noah wished to accuse Abinadi of treason they asked him, “What does it mean…” and then quoted the same verse in Isaiah 52 that the Savior quotes here:40 And then shall they say: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings unto them, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings unto them of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion: Thy God reigneth ! {14}In this context, the verse is quoted as an acknowledgment of the Savior’s legitimacy of priesthood and kingship. The Savior uses it as a testimony that the time will come when “Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory (Articles of Faith:10).”The next two verses in Isaiah’s time were a promise that the Lord will watch over his chosen Israel. However, in the context of 3 Nephi 20, they are a promise of paradisiacal peace, righteousness, and prosperity.41 And then shall a cry go forth: Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch not that which is unclean; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.42 For ye shall not go out with haste nor go by flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel shall be your rearward.After having established the promise of his kingship, the Savior continues to quote Isaiah by describing himself as that Eternal King.43 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently; he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.44 As many were astonished at thee—his visage was so marred, more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men—45 So shall he sprinkle many nations; {15} the kings shall shut their mouths at him, for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.The Savior concludes this review of the world’s history with this testimony:46 Verily, verily, I say unto you, all these things shall surely come, even as the Father hath commanded me. Then shall this covenant which the Father hath covenanted with his people be fulfilled; and then shall Jerusalem be inhabited again with my people, and it shall be the land of their inheritance.——————————–FOOTNOTES{1} With the words “strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever,” Moroni is paraphrasing Isaiah 54:2. There the stakes belong to a tent that is a private home. It reads, “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.” For a discussion of Moroni’s use of this verse as a promise of eternal family see the chapter, “Moroni’s Farewell” in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 1042-45; Second edition, p. 722-24.The second edition is available in the “published books” section of this website.{2} Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 513-14; Second edition, p. 370-71 quoting Hugh Nibley, Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri, 140.{3} Hugh Nibley, “The Early Christian Prayer Circle by Hugh Nibley,” BYU Studies, vol. 19 (1978-1979), Number 1 – Fall 1978, 48){4} for a discussion of Isaiah 61 in this website go to “scriptures” then “Old Testament” then Isaiah. You will find it there. A discussion of the coronation ceremony is in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 467-471; Second edition, p. 340-342.{5} For a discussion of the meaning of “redeem” see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p.725-739; Second edition, p. 510-520.{6} See Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 265-66; Second edition, p. 198-90. The Tanakh, uses the word “awesome” rather than “terrible.”{7} For a discussion of Job see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 467; Second edition, p.352.{8} There are several “New Jerusalems.” For an explanation see Ether 13: 2-12.{9} For a discussion of the sacred garments showing that those worn by God and his authorized children are similar see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 483-516; Second edition, p. 349-373.{10} In Psalm 82 to stand is used twice to represent making a covenant. See Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 227-54; Second edition, p. 162-81.{11} For a discussion of the history of the meanings of “redeem” see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p.725-739; Second edition, p. 510-520.{12} See the discussion of the new, royal king name in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 495-517; Second edition, p. 358-373.{13} For a discussion of the Ark as the throne’s footstool see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 82, 129-32; Second edition, p. 69, 102-04.{14} For a discussion of the meaning of those words see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 691-723; Second edition, p. 489-510.{15} “Sprinkle” is a reference to the cleansing power of the Savior’s atoning blood. In the Law of Moses the High Priest’s sprinkling the blood of a ram was a cleansing ordinance. See Exodus 29:15-21.<>><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi ch. 11 – 20 -- LeGrand Baker -- The Savior fulfilled the ancient Israelite temple rites and covenants Author : lbakerThe Savior’s visit to the Nephites was the fulfillment of the rites, covenants, and ordinances of the ancient Israelite Feast of Tabernacles temple drama. In Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord we show that the Psalms were the text of the temple drama as it was performed in the time of Solomon’s Temple.{1}The original order of the Psalms was changed after the Babylonian captivity so that one can no longer read them from beginning to end and discover the story they once told. However, when we rearranged their sequence so that it follows the configuration of the plan of salvation then the pattern of the ancient temple drama became immediately apparent. {2}The ordinances and covenants of the ancient Israelite temple drama had to do with establishing the legitimacy of priesthood and kingship, and with the object of bringing the people back to the presence of God.The Feast of Tabernacles temple drama may be visualized as an eight-day pageant. It began by enacting events in the Council in Heaven, then the creation and the Garden of Eden.In the Garden, according to ancient Jewish tradition, Adam and Eve were clothed with garments of light until they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge, then they lost their garments of light and became naked. But God made them coats of skins that represented— and temporarily replaced— their garments of light.Thus clothed, in the temple pageant, they leave the Garden and go into mortality where they gain experience, and sufficient power and instruction to enable them to return to the conditions of the Garden and once more be where God is. Through the psalms that were later quoted by the gospel writers in the New Testament, they were also taught about the promised Atonement.That much of the temple story was enacted during the first six days of Feast of Tabernacles drama. The drama lasted two more days after that. During the Savior’s two day visit to the Nephites he fulfilled the rites, ordinances, and covenants of the seventh and eighth days of the ancient Israelite temple worship services.————————The seventh day of the temple service.On the seventh day of the temple drama, the king and Jehovah who had triumphed over all their enemies, establish a new government where the king reigns as the earthly representative of Jehovah.They enter the Temple{3} where the king (who had been ceremonially washed before approaching) was dressed in sacred garments, anointed, crowned, given a new royal king-name, thereby adopted as a legitimate son and heir of God.The royal robes in which the king was dressed denoted both his priesthood and kingship, and also represented a restoration of the garment of light that Adam and Eve had lost in the Garden of Eden.After the coronation ceremonies, the king took his place on the throne in the Holy of Holies and addressed the congregation. (In the Book of Mormon, King Benjamin’s lecture is an excellent example of that enthronement sermon.)————————The first day of the Savior’s visit to the NephitesWhile Mormon does not give us all the details, he tells us enough that we can know that during the Savior’s visit to the Nephites, he performed— in reality— the enthronement rites that had always been performed symbolically during the last two days of the ancient temple drama.When the Savior came to the Nephite temple, he came dressed in only “a white robe” (singular) (3 Nephi 11:8).{4}After he arrived, Jesus established a new government with Nephi and the others of the Twelve, as presiding priests and sacral kings, and as his representatives on earth.Then the Savior delivered a coronation lecture (the Sermon on the Mount) which includes all the necessary instructions for one to follow in order to return to his eternal presence.After the lecture, the Savior asked the disciples to bring him bread and wine. When they brought it to him, he blessed it and gave it to the Twelve, and they in turn served it to the multitude. Like when the Savior fed the 5,000 in the New Testament, there was enough to satisfy the hunger of everyone in the entire congregation. (3 Nephi 18:1-5)————————The eighth day of the temple service.The ancient Israelite temple drama continued for one final day after the coronation rites in the temple. The eighth day was the day of the great feast when the king celebrated his reign as a return to the conditions of the Garden of Eden.During the previous seven days, the people had taken care of their own meals, but on the eighth day, the king provided everyone with food and drink, symbolizing a return to the Garden where the people could eat freely of the fruit of the tree of life and drink freely of the waters of life.————————The second day of the Savior’s visit to the NephitesThe second day of the Savior’s visit was like the eighth day in the temple drama. It was a day of celebration, ushering in a new age of peace and prosperity.That day the Savior came to the Nephites as Priest and King, and was dressed accordingly in white “garments” (plural) (3 Nephi 19:25).The sacrament service over which he presided was the fulfillment of the promises of the great feast. The Savior himself provided the food and drink, and it was important to Mormon that we understand that. He wrote:6 Now, there had been no bread, neither wine, brought by the disciples, neither by the multitude;7 But he truly gave unto them bread to eat, and also wine to drink (3 Nephi 20:6-7).This followed the pattern of the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama. On that day the king provided the food and drink, anticipating a paradisiacal time when men and women returned to the presence of God and could eat freely of the fruit of the tree of life and drink freely of the waters of life. It also foretold the conditions of the Beautiful City described by John the Beloved. There the Savior himself will reign, and the people who reside there will have the “right to the tree of life,” and may “take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:14, 17).The multifaceted symbolism of the sacrament teaches us all of that. The bread represents the fruit of the tree of life— which in turn represents Jesus body. And the wine represents the waters of life—which represents the Savior’s blood.The symbolism of the eighth day of the temple drama were made reality by the Savior in other ways as well.On Jesus’s second day with the Nephites, their garments of light seem to have been restored to the Twelve.25 And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto him; and his countenance did smile upon them, and the light of his countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof (3 Nephi 19:25).In the Garden Adam and Eve were free from sin. Similarly, the Savior promised the Nephites,30 And now, behold, my joy is great, even unto fulness, because of you, and also this generation; yea, and even the Father rejoiceth, and also all the holy angels, because of you and this generation; for none of them are lost.31 Behold, I would that ye should understand; for I mean them who are now alive of this generation; and none of them are lost; and in them I have fulness of joy (3 Nephi 27:30-31).————————In summary:The seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama was the time of coronation and enthronement just as was the first day of the Savior’s visit to the Nephite temple.The eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles represented a return to the conditions of Garden and/or the millennial reign of the Savior. When the Savior came to the Nephites, he established a new government and a millennial-like rule of peace that lasted for centuries.Their garments of light had been restored. They could eat freely of the fruit of the tree of life and drink freely of the waters of life, They were free from sin, and were in the presence of God.The symbolism of the Israelite temple rites were swallowed up and fulfilled by the reality of Jesus’s visit to the Nephites.——————-FOOTNOTES{1} An account of the Savior’s coronation and his fulfillment of the rites of seventh and eighth days of the Feast of Tabernacle’s temple drama is given in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord: hard back first edition pages 865-1005; paper back second edition pages 607-695.{2} Part One of Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord uses the psalms to reconstruct the ancient temple drama. We knew from the work of other scholars that the story line would be essentially the same as the “cosmic myth” or the “hero cycle.” Part Two of the book shows that every major sermon and sacred event described in the Book of Mormon is based on the rites and covenants of that temple drama.{3} The presence of Jehovah is represented by the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant into the Temple.{4} see 3 Nephi 11:8, 19:25-26 — LeGrand Baker — The Savior’s ‘white robe’ and ‘white garments’3 Nephi 11:8, 19:25-26 -- LeGrand Baker -- The Savior’s ‘white robe’ and ‘white garments’ Author : lbaker3 Nephi 11:8, 19:25-26 — LeGrand Baker — The Savior’s ‘white robe’ and ‘white garments’On each of the two days the Savior appeared to the Nephites, he was dressed differently:8 And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them (3 Nephi 11:8).25 And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto him; and his countenance did smile upon them, and the light of his countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof (3 Nephi 19:25-26).The first day the Savior came wearing “a white robe” (singular) (3 Nephi 11:8). Then, in the course of that day, he performed the coronation rites of the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama.{1}The second day the Savior came as Priest and King. He was dressed differently, probably in royal robes. Mormon describes Jesus’s “garments” (plural) as white: “there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof (3 Nephi 19:25).”The garments that represented priesthood and kingship were an essential part of the ancient Israelite temple drama coronation rites.Exodus 28 and 29 give a detailed description of the sacred clothing worn by the Jewish High Priest.{2} But the High Priest’s wearing them may have been a change introduced when the books of Moses were edited by post-Exilic priests. Some modern-day scholars believe that the clothing described there was originally the coronation garments worn by the king. Then, after the Babylonian captivity, when the Jews had lost their king, their Melchizedek priesthood, and their temple, the Aaronic priesthood High Priest assumed what was originally the king’s religious prerogatives as well as his royal clothing and regalia.{3}Still, no matter who wore it, our information about how it looked is probably correct. Paul tells us that similar sacred garments were worn by the early Christians. He calls them the “whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:10-18; D&C 27:15-18).The coronation clothing is almost always described as two separate garments. The sacred clothing attributed to the Aaronic priesthood High Priests consisted of white linen undergarments and outer royal robes. They are frequently mentioned in the scriptures, but usually they are referred to in terms of what they represent rather than how they are worn or what they look like. There are always two. The inner one represented the garment of skins (Genesis 3:21) that God gave Adam and Eve to replace their garments of light. It was a symbol of priesthood. The outer garment was a symbol of kingship.{4}In the scriptures, there is no consistency in what this combination of clothing is called, but there are always two. They are called “glory and honour”; “power and authority”; “honour and majesty”; “honour and glory. Usually, but not always, the one representing priesthood is mentioned first, followed by the one representing kingship. That is expectable because a person can be a priest without being a king, but cannot be a king without already being a priest.It is significant that these sacred royal garments were patterned after those worn by Jehovah himself, as is shown in two of the psalms. One is Psalm 93, which reads:1 The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty;the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting (Psalm 93:1-2).The other is Psalm 104. It reads:1 Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.2 Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain (Psalm 104:1-2).In Psalm 104, Jehovah’s royal clothing is described as honor and majesty, but he also covers himself “with light as with a garment.”Facsimile No. 2 in the Book of Abraham describes the light differently. There, his clothing is “power and authority” and the light is represented as “a crown of eternal light upon his head.” The interpretation of Figure 3 reads:Fig. 3. Is made to represent God, sitting upon his throne, clothed with power and authority; with a crown of eternal light upon his head; representing also the grand Key-words of the Holy Priesthood, as revealed to Adam in the Garden of Eden, as also to Seth, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, and all to whom the Priesthood was revealed.The crown shown in the figure appears to be a sun disk. It is drawn according to the way Egyptians used perspective, being more concerned with the representation than a depiction as the eye would see it. If it were laid flat, it would easily represent a round mitre (a mitre is flat hat like we wear at school graduations). It was worn on the head of the king (or High Priest) in conjunction with his royal garments. Even the golden color of the sun disk may be significant, for with the mitre the king wore “a plate of pure gold,” with the words “Holiness to the Lord” engraved upon it (Exodus 28:36). {5}One of the psalms represents the foreordinations of both the king and the queen at the Council in Heaven. {6} The first lines of Elohim’s blessing to the king acknowledges the validity and importance of the clothing he is wearing for this occasion. Elohim says:3 Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.4 And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible [awesome] things (Psalms 45:3-5).There is a psalm that reads very much like the account in Genesis 1:26-28. It fits with the themes of the early Genesis chapters; and sounds as though it were sung by a chorus of the Council in Heaven as they watched Adam and Eve descend to their new home in the Garden of Eden. It is sung as an exuberant celebration of the glory of human life, and of their own anticipated experiences in linear time. Psalm 8 exclaims:3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, {7} that thou visitest him?5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the gods, {8} and hast crowned him with glory and honour.6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the work of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: (Psalm 8:3-6) {9}In the Garden, according to ancient Jewish tradition, Adam and Eve were clothed with garments of light until they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Then they lost their garments of light and became naked. But God made coats of skins that represented and temporarily replaced their garments of light. {10}Nibley suggests the garment of light is the Shechinah, {11} which is the light that radiates from the presence of God, “Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed (D&C88:12-13).” When it is seen in vision, it is the “cloud of brightness and glory that marked the presence of the Lord.” {12} The shechinah is the veil which defines sacred space and now separates man from God. The garment of skins that was given to Adam by God represented that veil and distinguished its wearers from the rest of the world. When Adam was dressed in this new garment, he was sacred space, and therefore was, by definition, a temple.When Adam left the Garden of Eden he came as the world’s first priest and king, and became the prototype of all legitimate priesthood and kingship that followed. {13}In the book of Job (which is probably the most complete review of the ancient Israelite temple drama in the Old Testament), Job stands before the veil and God asks, “Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?” Then God instructs Job, “Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty … Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee” (Job 40:9-10, 14).There is a fragment of an ancient text of the Book of Job that suggests the clothing is a replacement for something else that he must first “remove” (as in the Hymn of the Pearl). It reads:Or have you an arm like God?Or with voice like his can you thunder?Remove now pride and haughty spiritAnd with splendor, glory, and honor be clothed. {14}This passage in Job is unique because it is the only place where two sets of clothing are mentioned (“majesty and excellency” and “glory and beauty”). Since the first set seems more masculine and the second more feminine, one wonders if it does not suggest that there was a woman present. There is no other evidence that it is so, but it is worth a wonder.To me, the most sublime of all these references to sacred coronation clothing is Peter’s recalling his experience with the Savior on the Mount of Transfiguration. He wrote:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount (2 Peter 1:16-18).————————————-FOOTNOTES (for full citations see the Bibliography in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord){1} For a discussion of the Savior’s coronation in 3 Nephi, see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, the chapters called “The Savior’s Coronation in America” and “The Savior’s Coronation Sermon, “ first edition pages 909-925; second edition pages 635-647.{2} For an in-depth discussion of the temple clothing of ancient Israel see Tvedtnes, “Priestly Clothing,” 649-704.For excellent illustrations, see Moshe Levine, The Tabernacle, Its Structure and Utensils (Tel Aviv, Israel: Melechet Hamishkan, 1989), 127-33.{3} Geo Widengren, Ascension of the Apostle, 25. See Ricks, “Garment of Adam,” 705-39; Borsch, Son of Man, 185, 194; Engnell, Studies in Divine Kingship, 62-63; Widengren, “King and Covenant,” 21; Ricks and Sroka, “King, Coronation, and Temple,” 254-57.{4} Stephen Ricks, “The Garment of Adam in Jewish, Muslim, and Christian Tradition.” In Temples of the Ancient World, edited by Donald W. Parry. 705-39.{5} It is unclear in the descriptions whether the mitre, or the engraved plat, or both were called the crown. See Exodus 28:36-39, 29:6, 39:28-31; Leviticus 8:9, 16:3-4; Zechariah 3:1-10.{6} The premortal blessings given to the king and queen are discussed at length in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord. First edition 255-304; second edition 181-215. In verse 4, the Tanakh, uses the word “awesome” rather than “terrible.”{7} In addition to the Savior, Enoch, Ezekiel, and others have had the title, “son of man.” For a discussion of the title “son of man,” see Emerton, “The Origin of the Son of Man Imagery,” 225-42.{8} The King James Version reads “a little lower than the angels.” However, the Hebrew word translated “angels” is elohim, the plural word for “gods,” designating the Council of the gods. Thus, “a little lower than the gods.”{9} For a brief discussion of the possible relationship between Genesis 1 and Psalm 8, see John van Seters, “The Creation of Man and the Creation of the King,” Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 101 (1989): 333-42.{10} For discussions of the garment of light, see: “The heavens were fashioned from the light of God’s garment.” (Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, 1:8).“And my likeness was covered with the light of my garment.” (The Paraphrase of Shem (VII, 1), The Nag Hammadi Library in English [San Francisco, Harper & Row, 1988], 346, 11-12).For a discussion of Adam’s garment of light and its significance, see Ricks, “Garment of Adam,” 705-39. For discussions of sacred clothing, see Draper and Parry, “Seven Promises,” 134-36; Hamblin, “Temple Motifs,” 453-54; Nibley, “Sacred Vestments,” 91-138; Parry, “Garden of Eden,” 145; Ricks and Sroka, “King, Coronation, and Temple,” 254-56; John A. Tvedtnes, “Priestly Clothing in Bible Times,” Temples of the Ancient World, 649-704. For a discussion of Egyptian Christian clothing. see C. Wilford Griggs, et al., “Evidences of Christian Population in the Egyptian Fayum and Genetic and Textile Studies of the Akhmim Noble Mummies,” BYU Studies 33, 2 (1993): 215-43.{11} Nibley, Abraham in Egypt, 373.){12} LDS Bible dictionary under “shechinah.”{13} Borsch, Son of Man, 185-194.{14} Marvin H. Pope, The Anchor Bible, Job (Garden City, New York: 1965), 319-20.3 Nephi 19:30-33 -- LeGrand Baker -- The Thoughts of the Heart Author : lbaker3 Nephi 19:30-3330 And when Jesus had spoken these words he came again unto his disciples; and behold they did pray steadfastly, without ceasing, unto him; and he did smile upon them again; and behold they were white, even as Jesus.31 And it came to pass that he went again a little way off and prayed unto the Father;32 And tongue cannot speak the words which he prayed, neither can be written by man the words which he prayed.33 And the multitude did hear and do bear record; and their hearts were open and they did understand in their hearts the words which he prayed.In this extraordinary account, we seem to be watching multiple conversations going on at the same time —but not with the confusion or noise that would be evident if human voices were part of those conversations. The Twelve were praying “steadfastly, without ceasing, unto him; and he did smile upon them again.” If that were performed on the stage there wouldn’t be much action shown, but Jesus’s part of the conversation, which is described here simply as a smile, caused each of the Twelve to glow—“they were white, even as Jesus.” This describes an interaction between Jesus and each member of the quorum individually.Without interrupting what was happening between him and his disciples, Jesus began to speak to his Father. The multitude heard and understood the words Jesus spoke, but the account suggests that what they heard was a stream of ideas rather than actual words. Mormon tells us:32 And tongue cannot speak the words which he prayed, neither can be written by man the words which he prayed.33 And the multitude did hear and do bear record; and their hearts were open and they did understand in their hearts the words which he prayed.This kind of communication can also be seen elsewhere in the scriptures. For example there was a conversation between Amulek, Alma and Zeezrom that noone else was privy to. Whatever was happening between the lawyer and the prophets, it convinced Zeezrom “that they knew the thoughts and intents of his heart; for power was given unto them that they might know of these things according to the spirit of prophecy (Alma 12:7).”Spoken words are cumbersome and often not explicit. They convey to the hearer his own understanding of their meaning rather than the understanding of the speaker. If the hearer and the speaker have the same or similar understandings, then there is useful communications. If not there can be hurt feelings where none was intended, promises to be broken when no promise was made, even encouragement when none was given. However, when words are spoken, and true communication happens because their meaning is transmitted to the listener by the power of the Holy Ghost, then there can be no such misunderstandings (D&C 50:22).Communicating misinformation is a major shortcoming of spoken words, but perhaps a grater disadvantage is that spoken words get in the way of thought because they take so much time to express. But communication with or through the medium of the Spirit can happen with the speed of thought. (Well, probably not. I suspect that most humans’ thought processes are mighty slow compared to the speed with which ideas were conveyed to the people as is described in our verses of 3 Nephi. But the phrase “speed of thought” suggests the right idea, anyway.)Consequently, descriptions of prophets’ visions sometimes suggest rich understanding without words. For example, Enoch begins the account of his vision by saying,Enoch a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, which the angels showed me, and from them I heard everything, and from them I understood as I saw…. (Enoch 1:1). {1}Nephi expresses the same concept of enlightened understanding associated with a vision when he tells us about his father’s sode experience. He says his father “thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God (1 Nephi 1:8).” Here is a good example of the problem with spoken and written language. We often read “he thought he saw” to suggest he wasn’t sure what he saw. But “thought” is the past tense of “to think” — which means to actively contemplate. To suggest that Lehi had a sode experience but did not know what was going on, makes no sense. But to suggest that, like Enoch, Lehi “thought” that is he “understood as he saw” teaches us a great deal about the nature of his vision and the powers of communication as he experienced it. Lehi not only understood his vision of God, he also understood the meaning of the praise expressed in the songs sung by the members of the Council in municating with thoughts rather than words is the prerogative of the Gods and the prophets. In a revelation to the Prophet Joseph we learn:16 Yea, I tell thee, that thou mayest know that there is none else save God that knowest thy thoughts and the intents of thy heart (D&C 6:16).This fact is encouraging because it guarantees that we will be judged righteously, as the Psalm says:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart:try me, and know my thoughts:24 And see if there be any wicked way in me,and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:1-24).But it is also a warning, as Paul says:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do (Hebrews 4:12-13).If it is only God who knows the thoughts of one’s heart, and only the power of God that enables people to communicate with the speed of thought, that presents another challenging proposition, as Zeezrom learned to his amazement and as the people of 3 Nephi learned to their delight. It is a gift that God gives the prophets to sometimes have the power to know the thoughts of others. Therefore, only a fool would try to lie to a prophet of God.—————————-FOOTNOTE{1} The Book of Enoch, In The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English, 2 vols. Translated and edited by R. H. Charles. 2: 188-277. Oxford: Clarendon, 1976.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 19:23-29 & John 17 -- LeGrand Baker -- Eternal Family and Eternal Friendships Author : lbaker3 Nephi 19:23-2923 And now Father, I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may believe in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one.……29 Father, I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me out of the world, because of their faith, that they may be purified in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one, that I may be glorified in them (3 Nephi 19:23, 29).That prayer is essencially the same as the Savior’s great intercessory prayer as is recorded in John 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.…………20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me (John 17:9-11, 20-23).The revelations to the Prophet Joseph both clarified the meaning of, and emphasized the importance of that oneness. In the first example the Savior equates becoming a son of God with that eternal oneness:2 I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was crucified for the sins of the world, even as many as will believe on my name, that they may become the sons of God, even one in me as I am one in the Father, as the Father is one in me, that we may be one (D&C 35:2).In the second example he makes it unequivocal:27 Behold, this I have given unto you as a parable, and it is even as I am. I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine (D&C 38:27).And in the third example he equates that oneness with eternal glory:13 For a trump shall sound both long and loud, even as upon Mount Sinai, and all the earth shall quake, and they shall come forth—yea, even the dead which died in me, to receive a crown of righteousness, and to be clothed upon, even as I am, to be with me, that we may be one (D&C 29:13).The oneness of the Gods with the oneness of God’s faithful children in that same family-friendship-relationship is the most beautiful doctrine I know. It is the ultimate product of the Savior’s Atonement, and the ultimate source of joy for Father, and for the Savior, as well as for ourselves.The minimal requirements for that is that we trust in God; repent; accept those requisite ordinances and covenants that make and keep us clean. and that authorize us to believe {1}; and that we do our part to validate the sealing ordinances by living those covenants and receiving the attendant blessings.Those are the minimum requirements. However there is one more overriding qualification that enables us to experience the joy of the celestial world. The scriptures repeatedly testify that the ultimate qualification is charity. The society of the celestial world is built upon multiple mutual relationships of unfailing love.May I tell you my personal feelings—and these are only my opinions—about the meanings of eternal family and of eternal friendships, and why I believe that they are exactly the same thing.As a boy, I remember hearing church talks about genealogy and how important it is that one be sealed to one’s parents, and they to theirs, etc., etc., in one continuous and beautiful chain until finely we get to Adam . (There was always some wiggle room stuck in those talks, saying that if some ancestor were bad, then his link would not be in the chain, but the chain would be intact anyway.) I think visually, so I visualized that concept this way:Here is Adam—who looks very funny indeed—from him comes zillions of chains of people, so he looks much like poor old Jacob Marley in Dickens’ Christmas Carol, with chains attached to him in every direction. Or maybe like a porcupine with all those quills coming out. That imagery didn’t make a lot of sense when I was a boy, but it was how I understood what I was taught, so I believed it must be right somehow.Then one morning, when I was on my mission in England, my companion and I came out of the house just as the sun was coming over the trees. There, in the bushes, was a magnificent spider web, still covered with dew. As the sun shone on it, its pattern sparkled like diamonds. That was my answer! I realized that the idea of chains was very misleading. The sealing relationships do not work that way. Rather, it is like the pattern of the spider web: I am sealed to my parents. My mother is sealed to her parents. Grandma is sealed to her sister, my mother’s Aunt Rinda, who is sealed to her son, who is sealed to his wife, who is sealed to her brother, who is sealed (through his wife) to her parents, ad infinitum. It wasn’t a chain at all. It was a beautiful pattern like that spider web with everyone ultimately sealed to everybody else. I really liked that idea, and I still like its implications. But they go further than just “family.”I believe that in that same way we are sealed to our “friends.” Let me give you an example:Jon and Rachel and their children are sealed together as an eternal unit. The children marry and now the original couple are sealed by that same priesthood authority to their children’s spouses and children, this multiplies for generation after generation.But it works the other way too. Both Jon and Rachel are sealed to their parents and siblings, who are sealed to theirs and to theirs, until a dozen generations back Jon is descended from Rev. John Lathrop who came to America in the 1770’s.Jon and Rachel have a son who goes on a mission to California where he meets and baptizes a young man who becomes his life-long friend. The new convert’s family also goes back a dozen generations to that same John Lathrop.The point is that missionary and his convert friend are each sealed to Rev. Lathrop and he is sealed to each of them. The two young friends are part of the same family and are sealed together by the same priesthood authority that seals them to their own parents and siblings.The practical application of that idea is that because everyone is ultimately related to everyone else, then everyone who is in the celestial kingdom is also sealed to everyone else who is in the celestial kingdom.I strongly believe that our friendship bonds have similar eternal roots to our family bonds, and that both have a much firmer base than just our short relationships in this life’s experiences. I believe that the love of both family and friends is founded on eternal covenants, originating a very, very long time ago. I believe that friendships that seem to originate here, and become projected into the future eternities, are strong here because they actually began in past eternities. That is, in this world we don’t make new friends, we only recognize old ones.I liked the spider web imagery of our sealing relationships for many years, but after a while it asked questions it could not answer. The most pressing of those questions was also the most simple: Why was it two dimensional like the spider web? What would happen if it were not two dimensional? That question was answered one day in a conversation with my dear friend Jim Cannon. Jim was explaining to me the mathematical distinctions between a “ball” and a “sphere.” A sphere is like a basketball. It has only outsides and is hollow in the middle. A ball is like the baseball: it is solid throughout. That was the answer to my question. It was not two dimensional, it was three dimensional like a ball. Then Jim tried to explain the mathematical concept of multiple dimensions. And it was like all my lights came on.It is now my opinion that the system of relationships in the Celestial World is like a multi-dimensional ball. This is why: If it were only a three dimensional ball with the Savior in the center, then that asks, “who is next to him and who is way out on the outside edge?” That question, in that form, does not admit to any answer because the answer to the first part has to be “everyone,” and the answer to the second part has to be “no one.”But a multi-dimensional ball does not ask that question. This ball is so complex that every individual is next to the Saviour, and every individual is also next to every other individual. It seems to me it has to be that way. Even though my mind does not know how to visualize such a ball, that doesn’t matter because what I have tried to do is use the imagery of physical proximity to describe one’s attitudes of love, and the meaning of the eternal sealing power. So even though the physical juxtapositions I have tried to imagine is not adequate, that analysis is still the only way I can understand how all of Adam’s children can be sealed to gather as one eternal family.For those who keep their covenants, and whose sealings are validated by the Holy Spirit of Promise, there is only one magnificent eternal family. While the ordinances and covenants are absolutely indispensable to make us a part of that family, in the final analysis it is not the ordinances but our love for each other—charity—our oneness—that is the final sealing power.The Saviour’s love for us is the eternal constant. Therefore, the only variable is our love for God and for his children. If that statement is correct, then the power to be saved in the Celestial kingdom is equivalent to one’s individual power to personify—to respond to and to be an expression of— to actually be charity — hesed.{2}If that is true—and I am convinced it is—then the whole matter boils down to the simplest of all possible formulas: Said one way it is this: “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Said another way it is the conclusion of Moroni 7, “But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.”I truly believe that love is not only the ultimate sealing power, but that, as such, it is also the final qualification for Celestial glory.Essentially all I have written says only this: All one has to do in order to be saved in the Celestial kingdom is to be the sort of person who is comfortable being sealed to everyone else who is also a part of that multi-dimensional celestial family relationship.———————————FOOTNOTES{1} “George A. Smith, while serving in the First Presidency, re- ported: ‘Joseph Smith taught that every man and woman should seek the Lord for wisdom, that they might get knowledge from Him who is the fountain of knowledge; and the promises of the gospel, as revealed, were such as to authorize us to believe, that by taking this course we should gain the object of our pursuit.’” [emphasis added](Teachings of Presidents of the Church, Joseph Smith [Published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Salt Lake City, Utah, 2007], 266{The original source in footnote 18: George A. Smith, Deseret News: Semi- Weekly, Nov; 29, 1870, p. 2.}{2} Hesed is a Hebrew word that means unfailing love based on a prior covenant.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 19:9-22 -- LeGrand Baker -- Holy Ghost & the “Second Comforter” Author : lbaker3 Nephi 19:9-22?9 And they did pray for that which they most desired; and they desired that the Holy Ghost should be given unto them.10 And when they had thus prayed they went down unto the water’s edge, and the multitude followed them.11 And it came to pass that Nephi went down into the water and was baptized.12 And he came up out of the water and began to baptize. And he baptized all those whom Jesus had chosen.13 And it came to pass when they were all baptized and had come up out of the water, the Holy Ghost did fall upon them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and with fire (3 Nephi 19:9-13).——————-19 And it came to pass that Jesus departed out of the midst of them, and went a little way off from them and bowed himself to the earth, and he said:20 Father, I thank thee that thou hast given the Holy Ghost unto these whom I have chosen; and it is because of their belief in me that I have chosen them out of the world.21 Father, I pray thee that thou wilt give the Holy Ghost unto all them that shall believe in their words.22 Father, thou hast given them the Holy Ghost because they believe in me; and thou seest that they believe in me because thou hearest them, and they pray unto me; and they pray unto me because I am with them (3 Nephi 19:9-22).For me, a careful discussion of the Holy Ghost must begin with the Beatitudes. (There is an analysis of each in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord. A click on the search engine of this website will take you there. Use “Savior’s Coronation Sermon” as the search words.)Briefly, the Beatitudes in the Book of Mormon walk us through the following sequence: (v. 1) Follow the Brethren; (v. 2) first principles and ordinances (visited by the Holy Ghost); (v. 3) endowment for the living; (v. 4) endowment for the dead; (v. 5) keep eternal covenants; (v. 6) hunger for priesthood and temple things and filled with the Holy Ghost; (v. 7) how to be a king and a priest; (v. 8) Zion shall see God; (v. 9) peacemakers called (new name) “children of God”; (v. 10-12) righteous will be persecuted; (v. 13) missionary responsibilities; (v. 14-16) be a light to the Saints. (If you haven’t seen that sequence in them before, please check the documentation in the book—thanks.)The Beatitudes are important to our discussion of the Holy Ghost because near their beginning one is “visited with the Holy Ghost,” but it is not until after temple work, keeping eternal covenants, and hungering for temple and priesthood things, that one is “filled with the Holy Ghost.” There is a carefully outlined progression between being “visited” and being “filled.”Some time before the Savior came to the Nephites, Nephi had already established a priesthood organization so that all who repented could “be baptized with water (3 Nephi 7:25).” So it is easy to recognize this baptism in 3 Nephi 19 as a re-baptism. or more correctly as a baptism into the new church and kingdom established by the Savior.There are also many references to the Holy Ghost throughout the Book of Mormon, just as there are prior references to baptism, so there can be no question that by the time we enter the scene described in 3 Nephi 19, the people who participated in these ceremonies had long since already been baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, their desire “that the Holy Ghost should be given unto them,” and the Savior’s response, make it apparent that their request was to receive something in addition to what they already had. When that request is fulfilled, the language describing the event is the same as is in verse 6 of the Beatitudes:13 And it came to pass when they [the Twelve Disciples] were all baptized and had come up out of the water, the Holy Ghost did fall upon them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and with fire (3 Nephi 19:13).In our own time, after we are baptized, priesthood holders lay their hands upon our heads and give us the command—and therefore the authorization—to receive the Holy Ghost. Thereby, we begin the journey to ultimately become “filled.” Parley P. Pratt penned the most beautiful description of the blessings that come in consequence of our accepting that command and moving toward its fulfillment. He wrote:. ? ? ? The gift of the Holy Spirit adapts itself to all these organs or attributes, It quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, expands and purifies all the natural passions and affections, and adapts them, by the gift of wisdom, to their lawful use. It inspires, develops, cultivates and matures all the fine toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings and affections of our nature. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness and charity. It develops beauty of person, form and features. It tends to health, vigor, animation and social feeling. It develops and invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual man. It strengthens, invigorates and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being.. ? ? ? In the presence of such persons one feels to enjoy the light of their countenances, as the genial rays of a sunbeam. Their very atmosphere diffuses a thrill, a warm glow of pure gladness and sympathy, to the heart and nerves of others who have kindred feelings, or sympathy of spirit. No matter if the parties are strangers, entirely unknown to each other in person or character; no matter if they have never spoken to each other, each will be apt to remark in his own mind, and perhaps exclaim, when referring to the interview, “O what an atmosphere encircles that stranger! How my heart thrilled with pure and holy feelings in his presence! What confidence and sympathy he inspired! His countenance and spirit gave me more assurance than a thousand written recommendations or introductory letters.” Such is the gift of the Holy Spirit, and such are its operations when received through the lawful channel, the divine, eternal Priesthood.{1}Mormon’s description is much more succinct, yet even more complete:25 And the first fruits of repentance is baptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins;26 And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God (Moroni 8:25-26).Mormon’s reference to the Holy Ghost as the “Comforter” is not only important in this context, but it also helps us understand what that means in other scriptures as well. Mormon says this Comforter “filleth with hope and perfect love.” In his great sermon on faith, hope, and charity (Moroni 7), Mormon uses hope to mean one’s living at thought the covenants were already fulfilled. And that, Mormon says both here and in the sermon, leads to perfect love which is charity.{2} Charity is, as Peter teaches us, the ultimate step toward making one’s “calling and election sure” and receiving entrance “into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:1-11).”It is evident from Mormon’s explanation that to “comfort” means much more than just to give encouragement or good advise. His understanding of “comfort” is perfectly consistent with the way the word in is used in both the Old and New Testaments and by the Savior in the Beatitudes in the Book of Mormon.There, to give “comfort” means to bestow on another the power to transcend sorrow. A “Comforter” then, is one who gives another that abiding and overriding power. For example, in the Beatitude that reads, “And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted” the Savior was paraphrasing Isaiah 61. There, the initiate is comforted or empowered by receiving an enthronement ceremony. During that coronation the recipient is washed, anointed, clothed, crowned, and given a new royal king-name. Thus, in Isaiah, to empower means to make one a priest or priestess and a king or queen.{3}A wonderful example in the Book of Mormon of the meaning of “comfort” as empowerment is this brief account of the beginning of the mission of the sons of Mosiah:10 And it came to pass that the Lord did visit them with his Spirit, and said unto them: Be comforted. And they were comforted (Alma 17:10). (I take it that “his Spirit” means the same thing here as it does in Ether 3.)A similar one is this testimony by Alma:27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success (Alma 26:27).If I read them correctly, in both of those accounts it is not the Holy Ghost, but the Savior who administered the comfort or empowerment. The Prophet Joseph explained how that is so by quoting John to show that there are two Comforters. He said:The Two Comforters. ? ? ???There are two Comforters spoken of. One is the Holy Ghost, the same as given on the day of Pentecost, and that all Saints receive after faith, repentance, and baptism. This first Comforter or Holy Ghost has no other effect than pure intelligence. It is more powerful in expanding the mind, enlightening the understanding, and storing the intellect with present knowledge, of a man who is of the literal seed of Abraham, than one that is a Gentile, though it may not have half as much visible effect upon the body; for as the Holy Ghost falls upon one of the literal seed of Abraham, it is calm and serene; and his whole soul and body are only exercised by the pure spirit of intelligence; while the effect of the Holy Ghost upon a Gentile, is to purge out the old blood, and make him actually of the seed of Abraham. That man that has none of the blood of Abraham (naturally) must have a new creation by the Holy Ghost. In such a case, there may be more of a powerful effect upon the body, and visible to the eye, than upon an Israelite, while the Israelite at first might be far before the Gentile in pure intelligence.The Second Comforter. ? ? ??The other Comforter spoken of is a subject of great interest, and perhaps understood by few of this generation. After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, (by the laying on of hands), which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son, thou shalt be exalted.. ? ? ??When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and his election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other Comforter, which the Lord hath promised the Saints, as is recorded in the testimony of St. John, in the 14th chapter, from the 12th to the 27th verses.. ? ? ??Note the 16, 17, 18, 21, 23 verses:. ? ? ??“16. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;. ? ? ??“17. Even the Spirit of Truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.. ? ? ??“18. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. * * *. ? ? ??“21. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.. ? ? ??“23. If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”. ? ? ??Now what is this other Comforter? It is no more nor less than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; and this is the sum and substance of the whole matter; that when any man obtains this last Comforter, he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him, or appear unto him from time to time, and even He will manifest the Father unto him, and they will take up their abode with him, and the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him, and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; and this is the state and place the ancient Saints arrived at when they had such glorious visions—Isaiah, Ezekiel, John upon the Isle of Patmos, St. Paul in the three heavens, and all the Saints who held communion with the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn.{4}An Old Testament example where “comforted” is used in this way—and in a context that relates to the ancient Israelite temple drama, and which associates “comfort” with the power of redemption—is this frequently quoted passage from Isaiah. In this passage, “redeem” has the same meaning as it does in the Brother of Jared story in Ether 3:10-13.{5}7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, {6} that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.9 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.10 The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God (Isaiah 52:7-10).{7}There is a very important discussion of the Holy Ghost in the Lectures on Faith, Lecture 5. If you do not have convenient access to the book, that lecture can also be found on this website under the “Favorite Quotes” section at the top of the home page. From there go to “Smith, Joseph, Lectures on Faith, lecture 5.”—————————-FOOTNOTES{1}Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology (Liverpool, F. D. Richards, 1855), 98-99.{2} For a discussion of faith, hope, and charity in Moroni 7 see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord , the four chapters called: Moroni 7: Faith, Hope, and Charity; Meaning of “Faith” — pistis; A Meaning of “Hope”; and A Meaning of “Charity”. In the paper back edition (the one that is on this website) those chapters are on pages 696-721.{3} The word “comfort” as used in that coronation ceremony is discussed in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord in two chapters. In the paperback version that is avaliable in this website, they are: The Meaning of “Comfort,” on pages 340-43; and the discussion of the Beatitude on pages 656-59.{4} Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, selected and arranged by Joseph Fielding Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1976), 149.{5} In Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, see the chapter called: A Meaning of “Redeem”— to “Come Unto Christ” on pages 510-19.{6} Isaiah”s words “How are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings” can be understood in three different ways. See Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, pages 498-99.{7} This passage from Isaiah is quoted four times in the Book of Mormon: Mosiah 12:21-25, 15:28-31; 3 Nephi 16:16-20, 20:30-35.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 19:4 -- LeGrand Baker -- Greek names among Nephite Twelve Disciples Author : lbaker3 Nephi 19:44 And it came to pass that on the morrow, when the multitude was gathered together, behold, Nephi and his brother whom he had raised from the dead, whose name was Timothy, and also his son, w hose name was Jonas, and also Mathoni, and Mathonihah, his brother, and Kumen, and Kumenonhi, and Jeremiah, and Shemnon, and Jonas, and Zedekiah, and Isaiah—now these were the names of the disciples whom Jesus had chosen.This list of names shows an unexpected Greek influence among the Nephites.Apart from the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the pseudepigrapha, there are almost no written Israelite records that predate the Babylonian captivity. However, it is becoming increasing apparent to scholars that the ancient cultures of the eastern Mediterranean were not isolated from each other. Recent archaeological evidence suggests a Greek influence in ancient Israel that goes back at least 3,500 years.{1}Among the twelve disciples whom Jesus chose, there may be five with Hebrew names (Nephi, Jeremiah, Zedekiah, and Isaiah, and probably Shemnon), three with Greek names (Timothy, Jonas, Jonas), and the remaining four probably have Jaredite origins. They are all easy to account for except the three Greek names. For those, there seem to be two possible explanations: (1) There were Greeks who came to America and settled among the Nephites after Lehi’s family arrived. (2) There was a strong Greek influence in Lehi’s family, either found on the brass plates or in their education. The latter seems to be the more likely because Lehi’s reasoning in 2 Nephi 2:5-16 is carefully structured like a Greek logical argument.It is interesting, and probably relevant to note that two of the men with Greek names were in Nephi’s own immediate family. Timothy was Nephi’s brother and Jonas was that brother’s son. The fact that Jonas, the Greek form of Jonah, was common enough that there were two who shared that name may suggest a stronger Greek influence than we might otherwise have thought.There is another bit of information about these Twelve that could open up a whole new understanding about our very eternal nature.Six hundred years before, when Nephi saw them in vision, he described them as “they are righteous forever.” What he tells us has some fascinating implications about the eternal consistency of our use of agency, our personalities and our integrity. “Forever” in both directions is a very long time. Nephi wrote:7 And I also saw and bear record that the Holy Ghost fell upon twelve others; and they were ordained of God, and chosen.8 And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the twelve disciples of the Lamb, who are chosen to minister unto thy seed.9 And he said unto me: Thou rememberest the twelve apostles of the Lamb? Behold they are they who shall judge the twelve tribes of Israel; wherefore, the twelve ministers of thy seed shall be judged of them; for ye are of the house of Israel.10 And these twelve ministers whom thou beholdest shall judge thy seed. And, behold, they are righteous forever; for because of their faith in the Lamb of God their garments are made white in his blood (1 Nephi 12:7-10).When one ponders these verses in conjunction with what Paul says about foreordination in Ephesians 1, and with the discussion of priesthood in Alma 13 (highlight the word “order” throughout that chapter), then what Nephi wrote takes on wonderful possibilities.——————–FOOTNOTE{1}See Eric H Cline and Assaf Yasur-Landau, “Aegeans in Israel, Minoan Frescoes at Tel Kabri,” Biblical Archaeology Review, July/August 2013, Vol 39, No 4, 37-44.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 18:22-35 -- LeGrand Baker -- how to judge other people’s sins Author : lbaker3 Nephi 18:22-35?22 And behold, ye shall meet together oft; and ye shall not forbid any man from coming unto you when ye shall meet together, but suffer them that they may come unto you and forbid them not;23 But ye shall pray for them, and shall not cast them out; and if it so be that they come unto you oft ye shall pray for them unto the Father, in my name.24 Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed.25 And ye see that I have commanded that none of you should go away, but rather have commanded that ye should come unto me, that ye might feel and see; even so shall ye do unto the world; and whosoever breaketh this commandment suffereth himself to be led into temptation.26 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words, he turned his eyes again upon the disciples whom he had chosen, and said unto them:27 Behold verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you another commandment, and then I must go unto my Father that I may fulfil other commandments which he hath given me.28 And now behold, this is the commandment which I give unto you, that ye shall not suffer any one knowingly to partake of my flesh and blood unworthily, when ye shall minister it;29 For whoso eateth and drinketh my flesh and blood unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to his soul; therefore if ye know that a man is unworthy to eat and drink of my flesh and blood ye shall forbid him.30 Nevertheless, ye shall not cast him out from among you, but ye shall minister unto him and shall pray for him unto the Father, in my name; and if it so be that he repenteth and is baptized in my name, then shall ye receive him, and shall minister unto him of my flesh and blood.31 But if he repent not he shall not be numbered among my people, that he may not destroy my people, for behold I know my sheep, and they are numbered.32 Nevertheless, ye shall not cast him out of your synagogues, or your places of worship, for unto such shall ye continue to minister; for ye know not but what they will return and repent, and come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I shall heal them; and ye shall be the means of bringing salvation unto them.33 Therefore, keep these sayings which I have commanded you that ye come not under condemnation; for wo unto him whom the Father condemneth.34 And I give you these commandments because of the disputations which have been among you. And blessed are ye if ye have no disputations among you.35 And now I go unto the Father, because it is expedient that I should go unto the Father for your sakes.The message here is about discriminating against people whom we perceive to be sinners and therefore we justify ourselves for shunning them because they are “unsaveable.” The key to the problem is in its conclusion:34 And I give you these commandments because of the disputations which have been among you. And blessed are ye if ye have no disputations among you.The disputations seem to have been about whether people who consider themselves to be especially good should have to tolerate the association of sinners— the unworthy “lower sorts.”Shakespeare focuses on this same issue in a conversation where Hamlet tells Polonius to treat the traveling players with dignity. Polonius replies:. ? ? ? ? ? My lord, I will use them according to their desert.. ? ? To which Hamlet exclaimed:. ? ? ? ? ? God’s bodykins, man, much better: use every man after his desert,. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? and who should escape whipping?. ? ? ? ? ? Use them after your own honour and dignity: the less they deserve,. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? the more merit is in your bounty (Hamlet. Act 2, Scene 2).There are two kinds of sins: The most important are those that damage a person’s eternal Self. They are the sins that God defines. But those are often the most difficult for other people to see and judge.The other kind of sins are those that are defined, established, and enforced by culture. They have nothing to do with the soul but everything to do with the social perceptions of “sinfulness. Those are the easiest for others to see and they are also the one’s that divide people between “us” and “others.” It’s like Minnie Pearl once observed,In spite of everything I’ve just told you, it seems that folks in the Switch are no more perfect than anyone else, they just have a clearer understanding of how other people sin. {1}Because we don’t know their circumstances, we do not understand and our standard for judging someone else’s sinfulness or their excellence is an illusion at best. For some people the standards they impose upon others may best be described by the long-since worn out: “do as I say, not as I do.” Thus we somehow think it reasonable to put a burden on others that we are not willing or able to carry ourselves.Perhaps even more frequently the person we fancy we see in our own mirror is the standard of excellence by which one can rightly judge the actions and motives of others. We judge our enemies (real or imagined) according to their response to our needs (whether our needs real or imagined). When we do that, compassion tends not to be a very high priority in the criteria upon which we base our judgments.In the Church there are minimal standards of worthiness. They are minimal because they are necessarily limited to things that are observable and measurable. Sometimes the rules get in the way of compassion. That presents a dichotomy that is described beautifully by this story. It is told by a dear friend of mine. It is a true story whose punch line illustrates the problem very well. I have heard my friend tell it several times, and always with the same poignant message. I asked him to write it so I could share it with you. He wrote:A family story handed down to me by my father:Ninety years ago a bishop could approach the president of the church directly with his concerns.The bishop approached the president with the intent to resign since he didn’t want to sit in judgment on two of his ward members.Bishop:“I know, President, that what they have done really requires that a church court be held. But I really don’t want to sit in judgment on them. They have been so faithful in the past and such a support to me as their bishop. Could someone else handle this affair?”President:“Bishop, you don’t need to handle this. There are always plenty of people willing to sit in judgment on others.”In today’s scripture, the Savior said there had been “disputations” among the people—probably not just about how to enforce the standards, but also about which standards to enforce.That tends to be true in the Church we belong to as well. For example, when I was a boy caffeine was taught by many to be against the Word of Wisdom. They judged other people accordingly. They were a bit disgruntled that the Church was not explicit about that, because without explicit directions local leaders could not enforce what they believed was “that part of the Word of Wisdom”. (The Church is explicit now; the Handbook of Instructions clearly says caffeine is not against the Word of Wisdom.). Then as now, hot drinks (tea and coffee) were forbidden and that was enforceable because they were easily defined. However, cold soft drinks that contained caffeine was a different matter altogether. There are more things in tea and coffee than just caffeine, but the caffeine was the easiest to talk about so that was what they focused on. It gave credence to this joke that made the rounds: “If you are in Utah, how can you tell a Mormon from a non-Mormon —- By the temperature of their caffeine!”The point is, it was the people who didn’t drink Coke who defined Coke as a sin. In the small town where I grew up, it was convenient to judge others accordingly because one could easily discover who did and who didn’t buy Coke. Those who watched also judged, but their definition of sin was based only on their personal opinion of what a sin ought to be.The church is like an egg. It has two distinct parts within its shell. It is not complete without both parts but they function differently. The center is the priesthood whose function is to perform and validate covenants and ordinances. Around that core is an organization whose purpose is to uplift each individual person, and provide both organized and casual opportunities for friends to associate and work together. If the notion of “church” can be discussed separately from priesthood powers and responsibilities, then one could argue that the “church” is—and is intended to be—the core of our personal and community sociality. For those who enjoy that association, church membership satisfies many of their most basic needs. However, personalities also come into play. I suspect that a lot more people leave the church because their social needs are not met than leave because they don’t like the doctrine.If that is true, then the salvation of both the wayward and active members of the Church is largely contingent upon one’s open willingness to accept other people as friends, and to “judge not that ye be not judged.” To the degree that is true, then the Savior’s instructions in these verses are simply an elaboration on the first two “great commandments”: to love the Lord and to love his children.——————————-FOOTNOTE{1} Kevin Kenworthy, The Best Jokes Minnie Pearl Ever Told, p. 63.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 18:15-21 & Enos -- LeGrand Baker -- prayer and ‘mighty prayer’ Author : lbaker3 Nephi 18:15-2115 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye be led away captive by him.16 And as I have prayed among you even so shall ye pray in my church, among my people who do repent and are baptized in my name. Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you.17 And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words unto his disciples, he turned again unto the multitude and said unto them:18 Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.19 Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name;20 And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.21 Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed.In the scriptures, prayer is a very serious matter, and the habitual reciting of a “shopping list” is probably not what the they mean when they admonish us to pray always. There are several important scriptural instructions about how we should pray and what we should pray for, some are explicit and some are only implicit. I have discussed some already. One is:“3 Nephi 13:9-13, Matthew 6:9-18 — LeGrand Baker — The five versions of the Lord’s Prayer”You can easily find this by going to the search engine and typing “3 Nephi 13:9-13” You can also find it by entering “Lord’s Prayer,” but that will bring up more citations than just the one you are looking for. Another is:“Mosiah 26:39 — LeGrand Baker — prayer without ceasing”which can also be found by entering either the reference or the title in the search engine.I tried to put my own feeling about prayer in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord. This is the very best I could do:Prayer is like walking in the mountain with a friend. There are times when you see a sunrise so expansive and glorious that it must be shared with your friend to be fully appreciated. There are times you walk with the other in silence, then you stop and your eyes look—alone—as you ponder the perfect beauty of a columbine. Sometimes you talk together—your friend and you—but only briefly – because a smile can say so much more. Sometimes the words flow like the confluence of two great rivers and the ideas reach out to embrace a world as big as the open sea. Sometimes you walk together quietly and say nothing, and the unspoken words are more profound than speech. There is no aloneness in the quiet, just as there was no aloneness when all your conscious world was only the beauty of a single columbine. Friendship is like that. So is prayer. {1}A classic discussion of what prayer should be is this famous one spoken by Amulek:17 Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you;18 Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save.19 Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him.20 Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks.21 Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.22 Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.23 Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.24 Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.25 Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.26 But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.27 Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you (Alma 34:1-41).There is another kind of prayer that is sometimes mentioned but never described in the scriptures. It is also a very profound prayer. In the Book of Mormon its intensity is described with the words “mighty prayer.” We first encounter the phrase in Nephi’s psalm where he writes that his prayer was spoken with boldness24 And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me (2 Nephi 4:24).It becomes increasingly apparent, as we examine the scriptures, that this is the kind of “mighty prayer” that is prayed by prophets— and not in ordinary circumstances or with ordinary results.For example, Enos’s characterizes it as a “wrestle,” perhaps suggesting the same kind of boldness Nephi described. He wrote:2 And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins. …4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens (Enos 1:2, 4).Mormon also describes Alma’s “mighty prayer” as a “wrestling with God.”10 Nevertheless Alma labored much in the spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer, that he would pour out his Spirit upon the people who were in the city; that he would also grant that he might baptize them unto repentance (Alma 8:10).These choices of the word “wrestle” are probably reminiscent of Jacob’s wrestling with “a man” when he was given the new covenant name of Israel, and he saw the vision of the angels on the ladder that reached to heaven. At the top of the ladder he saw God and received the fullness of the blessings of Abraham. That sounds very much like a sode experience (Genesis 28:13 32:24).In another place Mormon described mighty prayer as a group prayer. He wrote:6 Nevertheless the children of God were commanded that they should gather themselves together oft, and join in fasting and mighty prayer in behalf of the welfare of the souls of those who knew not God (Alma 6:6).This idea of a “mighty prayer” being a communal prayer is consistent with the Savior’s instructions to the Twelve as they are reported by Moroni:1 The words of Christ, which he spake unto his disciples, the twelve whom he had chosen, as he laid his hands upon them—2 And he called them by name, saying: Ye shall call on the Father in my name, in mighty prayer; and after ye have done this ye shall have power that to him upon whom ye shall lay your hands, ye shall give the Holy Ghost; and in my name shall ye give it, for thus do mine apostles.3 Now Christ spake these words unto them at the time of his first appearing; and the multitude heard it not, but the disciples heard it; and on as many as they laid their hands, fell the Holy Ghost (Moroni 2:1-3).Near the end of 3 Nephi, we find the disciples praying in the way they were instructed by the Savior.1 And it came to pass that as the disciples of Jesus were journeying and were preaching the things which they had both heard and seen, and were baptizing in the name of Jesus, it came to pass that the disciples were gathered together and were united in mighty prayer and fasting.2 And Jesus again showed himself unto them, for they were praying unto the Father in his name; and Jesus came and stood in the midst of them, and said unto them: What will ye that I shall give unto you? (3 Nephi 27:1-2).—————————-FOOTNOTE{1} Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition, p. 1026; second edition p.710-11 .<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 18:7-11 -- LeGrand Baker -- the sacrament as covenant Author : lbaker3 Nephi 18:7-11?In 3 Nephi 18 the resurrected Savior administers the sacrament to the Nephites, and in conjunction with thats he also instituted a formal covenant with them. There are two correspond scriptures in the Book of Mormon that discuss this. One is Mosiah 5 where King Benjamin officiates as the people make a similar covenant. The other is Moroni 4 and 5 where the sacrament prayers are given verbatim. The covenants made by the people of King Benjamin and the ones in 3 Nephi are incorporated as an integral part of those prayers.The Lord’s instructions to the Nephites includes the terms and objectives of the covenant. He said:7 And this shall ye do in remembrance of my body, which I have shown unto you. And it shall be a testimony unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you.8 And it came to pass that when he said these words, he commanded his disciples that they should take of the wine of the cup and drink of it, and that they should also give unto the multitude that they might drink of it.9 And it came to pass that they did so, and did drink of it and were filled; and they gave unto the multitude, and they did drink, and they were filled.10 And when the disciples had done this, Jesus said unto them: Blessed are ye for this thing which ye have done, for this is fulfilling my commandments, and this doth witness unto the Father that ye are willing to do that which I have commanded you.11 And this shall ye always do to those who repent and are baptized in my name; and ye shall do it in remembrance of my blood, which I have shed for you, that ye may witness unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you (3 Nephi 18:7-11).In Mosiah 5 the people spoke in unison and said:5 And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days, that we may not bring upon ourselves a never-ending torment, as has been spoken by the angel, that we may not drink out of the cup of the wrath of God.To which the king responded:6 And now, these are the words which king Benjamin desired of them; and therefore he said unto them: Ye have spoken the words that I desired; and the covenant which ye have made is a righteous covenant.7 And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.8 And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives.9 And it shall come to pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand of God, for he shall know the name by which he is called; for he shall be called by the name of Christ.10 And now it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall not take upon him the name of Christ must be called by some other name; therefore, he findeth himself on the left hand of God.11 And I would that ye should remember also, that this is the name that I said I should give unto you that never should be blotted out, except it be through transgression; therefore, take heed that ye do not transgress, that the name be not blotted out of your hearts.12 I say unto you, I would that ye should remember to retain the name written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the left hand of God, but that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, and also, the name by which he shall call you (Mosiah 5:5-12).As King Benjamin explains, to take upon oneself the name of Christ is to “become his sons and his daughters.” When we are adopted into a new family we take the family name as our own. But the terms of the adoption covenant mean more than that. An adopted child has the full rights of inheritance. So to take upon us the name of Christ is to lay claim to all the blessings implied by the family relationship.The blessing on the bread is a reiteration of that covenant. Like all covenants it has two parts: the promises of the first party and the promises of the second.For our part, we—witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing [that is the operative word] to take upon them the name of thy Son, and [that they are willing to] always remember him, and [that they are willing to] keep his commandments which he hath given them,For God’s part, his promise isthat they may always have his Spirit to be with them (Moroni 4:3).The blessing on the water is different from that. It is an assertion and an evidence that we are actually keeping the covenants we just made:that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness … that they do [“do” is the operative word here] always remember him,Through that assertion we lay claim to the fulfillment of the Father’s part of the covenant:that they may have his Spirit to be with them (Moroni 5:2).Notwithstanding the fact that we take the sacrament weekly, and that many, especially the children, do not understand what the words say, there is noting trivial suggested in its frequent repetition. When the words of the covenants in the blessing on the bread are understood to represent a renewing of all of the covenants we have made, including the temple covenants; and the words of the blessing on the water asserts that we are keeping all of those covenants, then we begin to understand power represented in those ordinances.It is little wonder the Savior warned:28 And now behold, this is the commandment which I give unto you, that ye shall not suffer any one knowingly to partake of my flesh and blood unworthily, when ye shall minister it;29 For whoso eateth and drinketh my flesh and blood unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to his soul….(3 Nephi 18:28-29).?<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 17:18-22 – LeGrand Baker -- Blessed are ye because of your faith. Author : lbaker3 Nephi 17:18-2218 And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying unto the Father, he arose; but so great was the joy of the multitude that they were overcome.19 And it came to pass that Jesus spake unto them, and bade them arise.20 And they arose from the earth, and he said unto them: Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full.21 And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.22 And when he had done this he wept again;Language is everything; but language is much more than words. Words say only what the listener can hear. Sometimes words are intended to convey meaning, sometimes they are used deliberately to obscure meaning. Sometimes words tell facts but entirely distort truth. Sometimes words tell truth, but obscure it by speaking only facts.Words! Mere words! How terrible they were! How clear, and vivid, and cruel! One could not escape from them. And yet what a subtle magic there was in them! They seemed to be able to give a plastic form to formless things, and to have a music of their own as sweet as that of viol or of lute. Mere words! Was there anything so real as words? (Oscar Wilde, Picture of Dorian Gray, chapter 2)In Hamlet, King Claudius answers Oscar Wilde’s question. The king mocks his own prayer by lamenting:My words fly up, my thoughts remain below:Words without thoughts never to heaven go (Hamlet Act 3 Scene 3).Sometimes words tell truth only to those who know how to hear them. I have mentioned before that the Book of Mormon is written in two different languages, but both are English. The surface text is truly wonderful and can be read and appreciated by anyone who is literate. The subtext is in code. The code is the temple and anyone who knows the temple knows the code if they will pay attention. But for those who do not know, the encoded text does not exist. {1}Some words were not originally intended to be code words. They have become code only because our contemporary English does not carry the same meaning as the words did when the author wrote them. In this short essay I wish to explain why the Savior’s words in 3 Nephi 17:20 might be understood as:Blessed [enjoying the state of the gods] are ye because of your faith [because of the eternal and present covenants we have made together, and because you have kept those covenants]. And now behold, my joy is full. And when he had said these words, he wept.While the scene portrayed in that verse is very moving, the words that express the Savior’s feelings do not convey to the modern reader what the writer apparently intended them to say. “Blessed” conveys very little meaning to most readers. If we stop to think about it, it asks rather than teaches us what the blessings might be.When W. F. Albright, and C. S. Mann were translating Matthew for that volume of The Anchor Bible, and were trying to find a suitable synonym for blessed in the Beatitudes, “fortunate” was the best that they could settle upon. So in the Anchor Bible the Beatitudes read:3 Fortunate are the humble in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Fortunate are those who mourn, for they shall be consoled. 5 Fortunate are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Fortunate are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall he satisfied. 7 Fortunate are the merciful, [and so on].Their use of “fortunate” is even more perplexing because they knew what the original Greek word meant, but they did not believe that meaning would be appropriate in their translation. In a footnote, they explain why they chose the word fortunate:3. Fortunate. The word in Greek was used in classical times [to mean] of the state of the gods in contrast to men. The usual English “blessed” has more and more come to have liturgical or ecclesiastical overtones, and we have chosen “fortunate” as being the best translation available to us. ( W. F. Albright and C. S. Mann, The Anchor Bible, Matthew ]Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1971], 45.)When Stephen Ricks and I were writing Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, we cited the footnote when we were discussing the Beatitudes in 3 Nephi. However, Stephen, who is a Greek scholar in his own right, enlarged the phrase to read “enjoying the state of the gods.”If the Savior used the same Nephite word in 3 Nephi 17:20 where it is translated “blessed,”as he used in the Beatitudes where that is translated “blessed,” then our verse might read, “Enjoying the state of the gods are ye because of your faith.”—————————–In modern English “faith” is as ambiguous as is “blessed.”The distinguished Biblical scholar David Noel Freedman, in his article on “faith” in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, points out that the Christian concept of faith “distinguishes faith from fidelity.” He wrote:Faith is a peculiarly Christian concept. While other religious traditions have aspects of what the churches have come to name “faith,” none has the specific quality of intellectual assent that distinguishes faith from fidelity. The problem of faith and the central discussion of it arises in the context of the medieval attempts to codify and integrate the Christian experience into the emerging philosophical language of the scholastics. (“Faith,” article by David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Bible Dictionary [New York, Doubleday, 1992], 2: 744-745.)Some Mormons have sought to solve the problem of the lack of fidelity by attaching the necessity of “works” to the meaning of faith in order to give the word a more concrete substance. This avoids the typical Christian dilemma of “faith” meaning “belief without evidence” but it still leaves faith as essentially undefined. In New Testament times that was not a problem. There, as in the Book of Mormon, the Savior’s word “faith” stands alone, having substance in itself.Once again, the understanding of the scriptures hangs on the meaning of “faith.” So once again, let me quickly say that it was not until the Christian apostasy of about 100 or 150 A.D. that “faith” came to mean unsubstantiated belief— believing without sure evidence. During New Testament times the word translated as faith meant exactly the opposite of that. It meant trust based on adherence to the terms of a contract or covenant The Greek word in the New Testament is pistis and its nearest synonym in modern day English is probably “contract.” It means making and keeping the terms and conditions of the “covenant.”{2}Code words in the scriptures are intended to instruct the learner and enlighten the initiated. Faith is a code word that was not intended to be such, but because the meaning has changed over time, it now acts like other code words. That is, in the surface text it has one meaning but in the subtext it has the same meaning it had when the New Testament was written.“Faith” in the Book of Mormon now has the same double meaning as “faith” has in the New Testament.The congregation that surrounded Jesus described in 1 Nephi 12:10 was extraordinary. The people—even the children and the teenagers— somehow had qualified in the previous life and in this one to be where the Savior was. For example, 600 years before they were born Nephi was told,10 And these twelve ministers whom thou beholdest shall judge thy seed. And, behold, they are [present tense] righteous forever [very future]; for because of their faith in the Lamb of God their garments are [present tense] made white in his blood (1 Nephi 12:10).Nephi understood those men as the Savior did in sacred time. There is no question about whether those twelve had their agency, but this clearly says that they had always and would always exercise that agency in righteousness (zedek) —that they had done so before they came to this world, they would while they were here, and would always hereafter— which is the attribute that qualifies one to be in the presence of God. God knew them in sacred time, and gave them earthly assignments accordingly. That may have been true of the others who were present as well.When our verse is read that way:Blessed [enjoying the state of the gods] are ye because of your faith [because of the eternal and present covenants we have made together, and because you have kept your part]. And n ow behold, my joy is full. And when he had said these words, he wept.The testimony of the Savior’s words is that Jesus recognized these people as his friends who had kept their premortal covenants, are keeping their present day covenants, and will always do so. In other words he sees them as his friends in sacred time—knowing them as they were and as they are, and knowing that they will always be true to that friendship—hesed. In that light, it is little wonder that the beauty of the moment evoked his tears of joy————-FOOTNOTE{1} See “code words” in the index of Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord.{2} In Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, see the chapter called “Meaning of ‘Faith’ — pistis” (p. 1007 first edition, or p. 697 second edition) The second edition has larger and therefore fewer pages than the first.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 17:23-25 -- LeGrand Baker -- ‘Behold your little ones’ Author : lbaker3 Nephi 17:23-25?23 And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones.24 And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.It is only two verses, yet, for many of us it presents our most vivid and moving image in the entire Book of Mormon. What the parents saw was the light with the angels who surrounded their children. What the child saw was whatever or whomever was within that light—that is, they saw the person or persons who were behind the veil. Many of those children would live and continue to bear testimony to their own children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren—and those testimonies would sustain the Nephite culture of consecration until the end of the forth generation.For me, that image became even more realistic and consequently took on even greater significance when I was able to identify the source and meaning of the light or fire that surrounded the children. It is the shechinah—the veil of light that separates man from God, and through which man must pass in order to come into the presence of God.The word is found in the dictionary of the LDS edition of the Bible, with this definition:Shechinah. The Presence. A word used by the later Jews and borrowed from them by the Christians to denote the cloud of brightness and glory that marked the presence of the Lord, as spoken of in Ex. 3:1-6; 24:16; 1 Kgs. 8:10; lsa. 6:1-3; Matt. 17:5; Acts 7:55. The Prophet Joseph Smith described this phenomenon in connection with his first vision, as a “light.. .above the brightness of the sun,” and said that he saw two Personages whose “brightness and glory defy all description,” standing “in the light” JS-H 1:16-18.The Shechinah is the first thing one sees, and sometimes the only thing the prophets mention, when they are brought into the presence of God. It is described many ways—sometimes as a fire, but more frequently as a cloud. Examples are Lehi’s report that “there came a pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before him” (1 Nephi 1:6); Moses’s experience when “the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.”(Exodus 3:2). In the book of Moses God explains:2 And he saw God face to face, and he talked with him, and the glory of God was upon Moses; therefore Moses could endure his presence (Moses 1:2).Moses explains further:11 But now mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have beheld; for I should have withered and died in his presence; but his glory was upon me; and I beheld his face, for I was transfigured before him (Moses 1:11).There appears to be an equivalency relationship between that transfiguration, entering behind the veil, and seeing God. That may have to do with the Lord’s statement that19 And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.20 Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.21 And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh;22 For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live (D&C 84:19-22).The shechinah is usually believed to have been represented in Moses’s Tabernacle and in Solomon’s Temple by the beautifully embroidered veil that stood before of the Holy of Holies. But perhaps more likely, it was represented by the second veil that Paul mentions but is not described in the Old Testament.{1} Paul wrote:1 Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly (Hebrews 9:1-5).The psalms say God covers himself “with light as with a garment”(Psalms 104:1-2). In the Book of Abraham, Facsimile No. 2 shows us that Figure 3:Is made to represent God, sitting upon his throne, clothed with power and authority; with a crown of eternal light upon his head; representing also the grand Key-words of the Holy Priesthood, as revealed to Adam in the Garden of Eden, as also to Seth, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, and all to whom the Priesthood was revealed (Facsimile No. 2, Fig. 3, from the Book of Abraham).An ancient Jewish tradition holds that Adam and Eve were clothed in a garment of light before that ate the forbidden fruit, and which Nibley suggests that clothing was the Shechinah. {2}———————–FOOTNOTES{1} ?For a discussion of the shechinah as the veil of the temple see, Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, the chapter called “Act 2, Scene 10: The King at the Veil.”In Alfred Edersheim’s monumental work, he tells us, “The Rabbis speak of two veils, and say that the high-priest went in by the southern edge of the first veil, then walked along till he reached the northern corner of the second veil, by which he entered the Most Holy Place.” (Edersheim, Temple at the Time of Christ Chapter 2, FN 29. Matt. xxvii. 51).{2} ? Hugh Nibley, Abraham in Egypt (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1981, 2000), 373.—————————————————It is fascinating to me to see the various ways that theSHECHINAH IS REPRESENTED IN THE SCRIPTURES. Below are two groups of scriptures. The first are the ones cited in the bible dictionary. The second group are others that probably also represent the veil of light that separates us from god.Exodus 3:1-62 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire [shechinah], and the bush was not consumed…..6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.Exodus 24:15-1815 And Moses went up into the mount, and a cloud [shechinah] covered the mount.16 And the glory of the Lord abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.17 And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire [shechinah] on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud [shechinah], and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.1 Kings 8:10-1510 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud [shechinah] filled the house of the Lord,11 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud [shechinah]: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.Isaiah 6:1-41 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke [shechinah].Matthew 17:1-61 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, ….5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud [shechinah] overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.Acts 7:54-56.)55 But he [Stephen], being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory [shechinah] of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.OTHERS THAT ARE NOT MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE DICTIONARY ARTICLE:2 Kings 2:9-1111 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire [shechinah], and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.Acts 2:1-51 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire [shechinah], and it sat upon each of them.4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.Genesis 3:22-2422 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword [shechinah] which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.Acts 1:9-119 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud [shechinah] received him out of their sight.10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.Mark 9:6-86 For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid.7 And there was a cloud [shechinah] that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.Luke 9:33-3634 While he thus spake, there came a cloud [shechinah], and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud [shechinah].35 And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.Mosiah 27:10-1210 And now it came to pass that while he was going about to destroy the church of God, for he did go about secretly with the sons of Mosiah seeking to destroy the church, and to lead astray the people of the Lord, contrary to the commandments of God, or even the king—11 And as I said unto you, as they were going about rebelling against God, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto them; and he descended as it were in a cloud [shechinah]; and he spake as it were with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which they stood;12 And so great was their astonishment, that they fell to the earth, and understood not the words which he spake unto them.3 Nephi 18:37-3938 And it came to pass that when Jesus had touched them all, there came a cloud [shechinah] and overshadowed the multitude that they could not see Jesus.39 And while they were overshadowed he departed from them, and ascended into heaven. And the disciples saw and did bear record that he ascended again into heaven.Ether 2:4-64 And it came to pass that when they had come down into the valley of Nimrod the Lord came down and talked with the brother of Jared; and he was in a cloud [shechinah], and the brother of Jared saw him not.5 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded them that they should go forth into the wilderness, yea, into that quarter where there never had man been. And it came to pass that the Lord did go before them, and did talk with them as he stood in a cloud [shechinah], and gave directions whither they should travel.Ether 2:1414 And it came to pass at the end of four years that the Lord came again unto the brother of Jared, and stood in a cloud [shechinah] and talked with him. And for the space of three hours did the Lord talk with the brother of Jared, and chastened him because he remembered not to call upon the name of the Lord.Ether 3:6-206 And it came to pass that when the brother of Jared had said these words, behold, the Lord stretched forth his hand and touched the stones one by one with his finger. And the veil was taken from off the eyes of the brother of Jared, and he saw the finger of the Lord; and it was as the finger of a man, like unto flesh and blood; and the brother of Jared fell down before the Lord, for he was struck with fear…..19 And because of the knowledge of this man he could not be kept from beholding within the veil [shechinah]; and he saw the finger of Jesus, which, when he saw, he fell with fear; for he knew that it was the finger of the Lord; and he had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting.20 Wherefore, having this perfect knowledge of God, he could not be kept from within the veil [shechinah]; therefore he saw Jesus; and he did minister unto him.Doctrine and Covenants 34:7-87 For behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, the time is soon at hand that I shall come in a cloud [shechinah] with power and great glory.8 And it shall be a great day at the time of my coming, for all nations shall tremble.Doctrine and Covenants 45:44-4544 And then they shall look for me, and, behold, I will come; and they shall see me in the clouds [shechinah] of heaven, clothed [shechinah: Psalm 104:1-2] with power and great glory; with all the holy angels; and he that watches not for me shall be cut off.45 But before the arm of the Lord shall fall, an angel shall sound his trump, and the saints that have slept shall come forth to meet me in the cloud [shechinah].Doctrine and Covenants 84:4-54 Verily this is the word of the Lord, that the city New Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of the saints, beginning at this place, even the place of the temple, which temple shall be reared in this generation.5 For verily this generation shall not all pass away until an house shall be built unto the Lord, and a cloud [shechinah] shall rest upon it, which cloud [shechinah] shall be even the glory of the Lord, which shall fill the house.Exodus 13:20-2221 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire [shechinah], to give them light; to go by day and night:22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud [shechinah] by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.1 Nephi 1:5-65 Wherefore it came to pass that my father, Lehi, as he went forth prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart, in behalf of his people.6 And it came to pass as he prayed unto the Lord, there came a pillar of fire [shechinah] and dwelt upon a rock before him; and he saw and heard much; and because of the things which he saw and heard he did quake and tremble exceedingly.Helaman 5:22-4722 And after they had been cast into prison many days without food, behold, they went forth into the prison to take them that they might slay them.23 And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi were encircled about as if by fire [shechinah], even insomuch that they durst not lay their hands upon them for fear lest they should be burned. Nevertheless, Nephi and Lehi were not burned; and they were as standing in the midst of fire and were not burned.24 And when they saw that they were encircled about with a pillar of fire [shechinah], and that it burned them not, their hearts did take courage.3 Nephi 9:2020 And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire [shechinah] and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.?<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 17:1-3 -- LeGrand Baker -- Mormon as historian and author, and as our mentor Author : lbaker3 Nephi 17:1-31 Behold, now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked round about again on the multitude, and he said unto them: Behold, my time is at hand.2 I perceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot understand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time.3 Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds for the morrow, and I come unto you again.In the book of Alma, Mormon quotes extensively from what appears to be Alma’s journal. Mormon is following that same pattern here. It was Mormon who gave this portion the title of “Third Nephi,” and he identifies its author as the legitimate heir to the Nephite throne:The book of Nephi the son of Nephi, who was the son of Helaman. And Helaman was the son of Helaman, who was the son of Alma, who was the son of Alma, being a descendant of Nephi who was the son of Lehi, who came out of Jerusalem in the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, the king of Judah.{1}Mormon gives Nephi the appropriate credit for his writing:9 But behold there are records which do contain all the proceedings of this people; and a shorter but true account was given by Nephi.10 Therefore I have made my record of these things according to the record of Nephi, which was engraven on the plates which were called the plates of Nephi (3 Nephi 5:9-11).But all of 3 Nephi was not written by Nephi. Mormon carefully leaves his own editorial signature on some very important passages. For example:18 And I know the record which I make to be a just and a true record; nevertheless there are many things which, according to our language, we are not able to write.19 And now I make an end of my saying, which is of myself, and proceed to give my account of the things which have been before me.20 I am Mormon, and a pure descendant of Lehi. I have reason to bless my God and my Savior Jesus Christ, that he brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem, (and no one knew it save it were himself and those whom he brought out of that land) and that he hath given me and my people so much knowledge unto the salvation of our souls (3 Nephi 5:18-20).Mormon is a truly great historian and editor. He does not pretend to be “unbiased” as many modern historians do by presenting “both sides” of the story—but with one just a bit more positive than the other. Mormon has a purpose and he states it clearly and honestly: His intent is to report Nephite history, and to do it in such a way that he teaches the gospel and illuminates the ancient Nephite temple rites.{2} But his primary purpose is to testify that Jesus is the Christ the Eternal God. He tells us:6 And now there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people;7 But behold the plates of Nephi do contain the more part of the things which he taught the people.8 And these things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken.9 And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them.10 And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation.11 Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people.12 Therefore I, Mormon, do write the things which have been commanded me of the Lord. And now I, Mormon, make an end of my sayings, and proceed to write the things which have been commanded me (3 Nephi 26:6-12).Mormon continually reminds us that his role is to be our teacher and mentor. (It is indicative of Mormon’s foresight that he taught his son Moroni to both keep the record and to continue the role of our teacher and mentor.) Mormon’s style was to combine the doctrinal sermons he quoted with stories that supported those same principles. Sometimes he makes very sure we know what he is doing by adding, “and thus we see” to the story and then reiterating his point.He does something very like that at the beginning of 3 Nephi 17 by quoting the Savior’s instructions to the congregation about preparing for the nest day’s events. By our following the other examples of the way Mormon writes, we can see that he quotes these instructions both to tell us what the Savior said and also to warn us that we must prepare ourselves to appreciate what many believe to be the most endearing story in the entire Book of Mormon. Significantly, the beauty of this story is in what it suggests rather than what it actually says. That is why we must read it properly. Because, as Mormon tells us, the words of human language can never carry the real meaning of what he is about to describe:15 And when he had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him.16 And after this manner do they bear record: The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father;17 And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father (3 Nephi 17: 15-17).So it is, with great care, that Mormon bids us to “prepare our minds” so that we may feel—even if we cannot fully understand—the glory of the experience he is about to describe.1 Behold, now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked round about again on the multitude, and he said unto them: Behold, my time is at hand.2 I perceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot understand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time.3 Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds for the morrow, and I come unto you again (3 Nephi 17:1-3).————————-FOOTNOTES{1} There are two apparent breaks in the Nephite royal line. The first is Alma, but Mormon clarifies that by writing “…Alma, he also being a descendant of Nephi. And he was a young man.(Mosiah 17:2)” Later Alma is given the rule of the Nephites as though it were his by right—as it probably was.The second apparent break was Mormon himself. But again he clarifies that by tracing his genealogy to the first Nephite king: “I am Mormon, and a pure descendant of Lehi (3 Nephi 5:20).” “I am the son of Mormon, and my father was a descendant of Nephi (Mormon 8:13).” “And I, Mormon, being a descendant of Nephi, (and my father’s name was Mormon)(Mormon 1:5)”Given the importance of the patriarchal system to the ancients, those statements are sufficient to convince me that Mormon was both prophet and king by right of birth.{2} The second half of Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord carefully illustrates that the Nephites practiced the same temple rites as were practiced in Solomon’s Temple, and that the subtext of the Book of Mormon is a temple text.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 16 -- LeGrand Baker -- the testimony of prophecy Author : lbakerIn 3 Nephi chapter 16 the Savior gave the Nephites an encapsulated view of what would follow in the next 2000+ years. Like most prophecies of such a wide scope, this one is best understood from hindsight. As we read it, the Christian apostasy that followed the Savior’s death is not difficult to recognize. We can also see references to the European conquest and colonization of the Americas and then the restoration of the gospel. We recognize those events because they are in our past but the events he mentioned that are still in our future are much more difficult.The outline the Savior gave is kind of a catalog that creates a chronological pattern. The pattern is more easily seen from a distance than up close. That is, one can get a better notion of the Savior’s message if it is read as an entire picture rather than in its individual units. That is also true of most prophecies that describe a whole series of events. For example, Nephi’s tree of life vision covers those same 2000+ years, but he includes enough detail that it is relatively easy for us to understand—again from hindsight where we can attach known events to his predictions. The first few verses of Isaiah 2 seem easy enough but after that it doesn’t fit our hindsight so we have to take its story out of chronological order so it will fit our preconceived pattern. Isaiah 49 paints a beautiful picture of the restoration of the gospel and the temple, and then the gathering of Israel. Jacob 5 and Revelation cover those same 2000 years. They paint interesting pictures but it is difficult to attach events to most of their individual parts.For those who were contemporary with the prophets who made the prophecies, who did not have the advantage of hindsight, interpreting them would have been more difficult than it is for us. For that reason it seems apparent that the prophecies were not intended to be so much descriptions of future chronological events as they were testimonies that everything was already fore-known by God and that nothing will frustrate his designs. Therefore in the end everything will turn out just right.3 Nephi 16 is very much like that. Its purpose seems to be to paint a beautiful and encouraging picture to demonstrate that there is a God in Heaven who is in charge. And in the end he will make sure that those who are faithful to their covenants will come off triumphantly. But in the meantime, he will also permit all people (both the good and the bad) to be in an environment that gives them the opportunity to choose how they will define their own eternal nature by whether they disdain, appreciate, or love other people. (I think those attitudes pretty much map to the three degrees of glory.)<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 15:11-18 – LeGrand Baker – the right questions in the right order Author : lbaker3 Nephi 15:11-1811 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words, he said unto those twelve whom he had chosen:12 Ye are my disciples; and ye are a light unto this people, who are a remnant of the house of Joseph.13 And behold, this is the land of your inheritance; and the Father hath given it unto you.14 And not at any time hath the Father given me commandment that I should tell it unto your brethren at Jerusalem.15 Neither at any time hath the Father given me commandment that I should tell unto them concerning the other tribes of the house of Israel, whom the Father hath led away out of the land.16 This much did the Father command me, that I should tell unto them:17 That other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.18 And now, because of stiffneckedness and unbelief they understood not my word; therefore I was commanded to say no more of the Father concerning this thing unto them (3 Nephi 15:11-18).This is a strange statement. Knowing what we do about the apostles of the New Testament, it is difficult to understand how they could be described with the words “stiffneckedness and unbelief.” I do not question the validity of the Savior’s statement, so that leaves me only to question the validity of how I interpret that statement. After carefully re-thinking that interpretation and this is what I came up with:To suggest that the New Testament Apostle’s was a lack of faith (pistis = trust in and keeping the covenants) makes no sense to me, but to suggest that they did not know about, and therefore could not trust in the covenants the Lord made with other people is not only reasonable, but probably correct.If the Apostles’ problem was not lack of belief, but a lack of information about the covenants, then there is no problem squaring what the Savior said and what we know about the Apostles in Jerusalem.Intelligent questions must be based on prior understanding, otherwise even correct answers are unintelligible. If a child hears someone mention “neutron,” and asks “What is a neutron?” A careful explanation would not make any sense if the child does not know even basic science.In the development of our thought patterns, knowing how to ask the right questions is almost the same as knowing how to get correct answers. The importance of intelligent questions is illustrated by the conversation between young Jesus and the doctors at the temple. The story makes more sense if we use both the King James Bible and the Prophet’s Inspired Version together.44 But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.45 And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.JST Luke 2:46 And … they were hearing him, and asking him questions.47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? (Luke 2:44-49).Both versions tell the same story, they just tell it from different perspectives. Luke writes that Jesus was “sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.” The JST says “they were hearing him, and asking him questions.” That sounds to me like a very stimulating conversation. My point, though, is that he was seriously asking questions. “And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.”When I was a student at BYU, Chauncey C. Riddle, my favorite teacher at that time and subsequently my dear friend, taught me that we must not only ask the right questions, but that we must ask them in the right order, or even the correct answers may make no sense. For example, there is no point in someone asking to be taught how to do long division if he does not know, and will not learn the times tables. “How do I do multiplication?” must come before “How do I do long division?”Before that we have to learn to add and subtract. And all that doesn’t even begin to introduce us to calculus. Neither would it equip us to intelligently ask a question that could only be answered in terms of higher mathematics.I think understanding the gospel is like understanding math. The more questions we ask the more we can know—but only if we ask them in the right sequence so we can understand the answers when we find them.In a similar way, the people of Jerusalem could not even conceive of an intelligent question about the Nephites, never mind appreciated the correct answer.It would never have occurred to the people in Jerusalem to ask about people in the Americas. They did not know the American continents even existed. For the Savior to have told them about the Nephites, he would have had to first change their entire mindset about the geography of the whole world.Another thing that would have stood in their way of knowing is that they probably thought they already knew. The ten tribes are lost to us, but at least some were not lost to them. It had only been a few hundred years since the Assyrian and Babylonian wars had dispersed the tribes. James seems to know where they are. His letter begins:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting (James 1:1).Jesus says that they thought he was talking about the gentiles. If so, then perhaps they also thought that they could dismiss the question for now because it didn’t really matter.The Jerusalem Saints clearly knew something about the location of some of the “lost” tribes. But it probably didn’t occur to them that they did not know about others that were scattered all over the world.In short, the Christians at Jerusalem did not and could not know about the Nephites because they did not and could not know what questions to ask or even know that there were questions that could be asked. Therefore, they could not know about the covenants the Lord had made with those distant people.There is a short scene in Hamlet that illustrates this beautifully. Hamlet is in his mother’s rooms when his father’s ghost enters. Hamlet and the ghost speak to each other and his mother asks, “To whom do you speak this?” Hamlet responds, “Do you see nothing there?” Then the queen makes the ultimate academic response, “Nothing at all; yet all that is I see” (Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 4).Like the queen, there is a tendency among all humans to assert that there is nothing there if they cannot see it and that there is no truth if they perspnally cannot comprehend it.That is what prevented the Jerusalem apostles from knowing about the Nephites. The sinfulness that the Savior called “stiffneckedness and unbelief” was probably simply their not knowing and not wishing to know, even though they were given the opportunity. The Savior said,14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father (John 10:14-18).That might have been enough to stimulate their interest to cause them to ask “Who and were are those other sheep?” but they did not pursue the question. Consequently, the Savior let it drop and told them nothing more.From this we have another example of a very basic principle: the Savior did not teach things his followers did not seek to know. Similarly, the Holy Ghost will not teach us things we do not diligently seek for. However, in some cases we must first ask for instructions so we will know what to ask. Then we must ask the right questions in the right order. If we assume we already have enough information to ask and understand complex questions, that causes us to ask the wrong questions or in the wrong order.Then we, like the queen of Denmark, may comfort ourselves with: “I see nothing at all; yet all that is I see.”<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 14:24-27 - 3 Nephi 15:1-10 -- LeGrand Baker -- culture vs. doctrine Author : lbaker3 Nephi 14:24-27 – 3 Nephi 15:1-10?24 Therefore, whoso heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock—25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand—27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it.My dear friend Beverly Campbell has been involved in Church affairs on the highest level for most of her life. Her devotion to the church and its leaders is absolute and unquestioned. She has said to me several times, and I have repeated it even more: “I know a thousand reasons to leave the Church, but only one reason to stay—It’s True! ”That is the situation, plain and simple: It’s True!I have been studying church history all my life and if I were to judge the truthfulness of the gospel or the validity of the Church by stories about some of the people who have been its members or among its leaders, I could probably come up with an easy thousand reasons without even going beyond 19th century church history. And then the reasons would multiply as we got closer to the present. (For example, I remember, when I was a boy, the mummers of amazement that rippled through the chapel when it was announced from the pulpit that a letter from the First Presidency contained instructions that women could now be called on to say the opening and closing prayers in sacrament meetings. That change in church policy really rattled some people’s lingering Victorian notions of cultural and priesthood propriety!)The point is this: there is no legitimate rationale that can outweigh these facts: The gospel IS truth; the priesthood and its ordinances ARE real; and the church tends to be as correct as contemporary human culture will permit. There are excuses, of course: unanswered questions, hurt feelings, and sometimes sin on our own part. But even then, when one “leaves the church” he somehow insists “the church left him.” Occasionally that seems true because the differences appear to be irreconcilable, when one’s sense of right and wrong—or one’s prejudice—comes in conflict with church practices or doctrine. But in time and with patience those wrinkles will be ironed out. I know people who left the church because black men were not given the priesthood, and then after that, others who left the church because they were.Just as the Law of Moses had to work within the larger ancient Near Eastern culture, so Mormonism has to work within the many cultures where our members live. Within those diverse cultures, Mormonism is a mostly coherent subculture with its own established practices and policies. Sometimes some members dogmatically represent those policies as doctrine. There is a danger there. As the larger culture changes some church policies can be changed also. The spiritually mature among us can distinguish between cultural norms, and Mormon sub-cultural policies, and true doctrine, but not everyone can make those distinctions. For people who have defined church policies as doctrine, their testimonies may be shaken when the policies are changed.In every era of church history, there have been major issues that call people’s fundamental beliefs into question—the beliefs they grew up with and still tenaciously hold dear. In our past it was polygamy. More recently it was whether every worthy man could hold the priesthood. {1} Now it’s about gay rights. There will always be something to test our spiritual resilience.In 3 Nephi, to some Nephites, when they were told the Law of Moses was fulfilled, the issue may have been even bigger than any of those our church has faced, and that is what the Savior addressed next.1 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had ended these sayings he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and said unto them: Behold, ye have heard the things which I taught before I ascended to my Father; therefore, whoso remembereth these sayings of mine and doeth them, him will I raise up at the last day.2 And it came to pass that when Jesus had said these words he perceived that there were some among them who marveled, and wondered what he would concerning the law of Moses; for they understood not the saying that old things had passed away, and that all things had become new.3 And he said unto them: Marvel not that I said unto you that old things had passed away, and that all things had become new.4 Behold, I say unto you that the law is fulfilled that was given unto Moses.5 Behold, I am he that gave the law, and I am he who covenanted with my people Israel; therefore, the law in me is fulfilled, for I have come to fulfil the law; therefore it hath an end.6 Behold, I do not destroy the prophets, for as many as have not been fulfilled in me, verily I say unto you, shall all be fulfilled.7 And because I said unto you that old things have passed away, I do not destroy that which hath been spoken concerning things which are to come.8 For behold, the covenant which I have made with my people is not all fulfilled; but the law which was given unto Moses hath an end in me.9 Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life.10 Behold, I have given unto you the commandments; therefore keep my commandments. And this is the law and the prophets, for they truly testified of me (3 Nephi 15:1-10).While the specific issue the Savior addressed here is not one that concerns us now, the principle is very timely and exceedingly important.The unqualified relevance to us is in the Savior’s words, “Behold, I am he that gave the law, and I am he who covenanted with my people Israel…. Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life.” He gives no well-thought-out rational argument. He simply says, “I am the law.” There is no other argument needed to justify the changes he has made.That was the whole issue and there was not any other. The Savior gave the Law of Moses to enable the people to individually be brought to salvation while they were WITHIN the restraints of their ancient Near Eastern cultural. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, but it also has to function within cultural restraints. As we have seen, when the restraints change, the policies can also be changed. However, salvation is always an individual matter. The Church provides us with the scriptures, the priesthood and its ordinances, and with many systems of support, but in the end each of us must learn to recognize and live the truth of the gospel notwithstanding the larger cultural conditions that impose themselves upon us. Because it is still true that “the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house,” and it is also still true that only if we have an individually secure foundation will we be able to survive.—————FOOTNOTEFrom a sociological point of view, polygamy had an underlying importance that was not just about multiple wives and children. During the 1870’s and 80’s polygamy was a rallying cry—a kind of “tribal” identity that had to be sustained so that the “tribe” could remain a cohesive, definable, and a self-identifiable unit. That self-identity was necessary for the church’s survival while the federal government was trying to dismantle it. Congress disincorporated the church; took away its property (including temples) and put it in receivership to be disposed of. Federal officials jailed all the leaders they could capture; and Congress was discussing a federal disenfranchisement law like the one in Idaho. Polygamy became the symbol of Mormon resistence. Then, in 1888, Wilford Woodruff and the chairman of the National Republican Party met and struck a deal that would undo those congressional actions and make things normal again for the Church. In exchange, the national government got the Manifesto which was the Mormon bargaining chip. The church agreed to discontinue making NEW polygamous marriages. That was all the church gave up. Existing polygamous marriages were left in tact, the church was reincorporated, and Mormons were now defined again as legitimate Americans. In fact, the Church lost nothing. The doctrine of eternal marriage was not changed, but the practice of polygamy had run the course of its usefulness because after 1888 the focus of church policy turned to expansion rather than survival.The other issue was similar. The Jim Crow laws were still enforced in the 1940’s and 50’s, and not challenged until the 60’s and 70’s. If the church had given black men the priesthood before it did, segregation laws would have required that we have black wards and black stakes, and white wards and white stakes—just like there were white and “colored” Baptist, Methodist congregations. That kind of segregation would have violated everything that is Zion. So the Mormons had to wait until American culture would permit a black man to be the bishop of a white ward before the Lord could instruct the prophet: “Now is the time.”The necessity of these and other changes, and correctness of their timing are easy for us to see in hindsight, but at the time they gave real consternation to some members of the Church. The situation now is the same as it was in 3 Nephi: The Savior made the law and only he has the ultimate authority to change it.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 14:13-23 -- LeGrand Baker -- ‘You never knew me’ & ‘I never knew you’ Author : lbakerThe Savior, having taught the congregation how to teach the gospel, next turns to the question, “From whom should we learn?”3 Nephi 14:13-2313 Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, which leadeth to destruction, and many there be who go in thereat;14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.This is not a redundancy. In the New Testament, the Greek word translated as “strait”means “narrow” (Strong # 2428). However, “narrow” as it is used in the scripture means something altogether different. The Greek word is means to put under pressure. It is the word one would use to mean to press grapes. In this context it means “a compressed way, narrow straitened contracted” (Strong # 5147). In my unsophisticated language the word that is translated “narrow” means rally, really narrow, or perhaps, becoming increasingly narrower until there is no wiggle room left at all.Matthew 7 reads like 3 Nephi, but Luke says it differently:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able (Luke 13:24).To Luke’s version the Prophet Joseph adds:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for I say unto you Many shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able; for the Lord shall not always strive with man (JST Luke 13:24 ).What the Savior says next in his instructions to the Nephites is about how to avoid getting off that very carefully defined path. He says:15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.20 Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them.21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven (3 Nephi 14:15-23) .I believe the Savior did not intend to invent a new metaphor here, and that the fruit he refers to is the same fruit that is described in many places. Alma issued the same warning:40 And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the tree of life (Alma 32:40).If that is the fruit the Savior was talking about, then the way to identify false prophets is that they cannot produce, nor do they have access to the fruit of the tree of life. To his audiences, the Savior was probably referring to false or self appointed religious leaders. In our day that original definition of “false prophets” still works, but we have other kinds as well. When issuing that same warning to us on the last page of the Book of Mormon, Moroni wrote:30 And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing (Moroni 10:30).It seems to me that if one is righteous enough to get through the gate (baptism) and gets on the path (temple ordinances {1}), and he feels the joy of the fruits of that journey, then it is likely that of his own volition he would stay on the path. Like the rules of inertia: moving things continue to move in the same direction unless they encounter some external force to change their direction. In the case of a righteous person the diversion is often the decision that “this time won’t matter,” or “the rule doesn’t apply to this situation,” or “I know better than the Brethren.” In each case, the cause of his detouring—thinking that he can get to the tree of life another way—is that he listens to those false prophets—whoever they are, whatever they are teaching, whatever they are selling, or however enticing their advertisements. Lehi and Nephi describe them as being in a mist of darkness or in a great and spacious building.27 And it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and their manner of dress was exceedingly fine; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit (1 Nephi 8:27).In our day, something as seemingly innocent as just spending an evening watching the sitcoms will introduce us to many who wish to teach us how to enter the enticements of that spacious building.As is the pattern elsewhere in the scriptures, in his great sermon the Savior issued his most severe warning to those who flaunt the truth as they wear it on their outsides, but ignore it within. In the New Testament he was very blunt.25-26 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess….. for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness (Matthew 23:25-26).In the Doctrine and Covenants the Savior brings that same condemnation to people who use their priesthood authority to control, intimidate, or abuse others:34 Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen?35 Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson—36 That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.37 That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man (D&C 121:34-37).The version in Luke sounds more like Nephi’s vision:23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able (Luke 13:22-24).The Prophet Joseph clarified that:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for I say unto you Many shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able; for the Lord shall not always strive with man (JST Luke 13:24).In his sermon to the Nephites, the Savior taught the same thing, only he established it as the criterion for eternal life:22 Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works?23 And then will I profess unto them: I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity (3 Nephi 14:22-23).Matthew 7:22-23 has the same wording, but the Prophet’s Inspired Version adds an insight that brings the whole discussion into sharp focus: .32 And many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name; and in thy name cast out devils; and in thy name done many wonderful works?33 And then will I say, Ye never knew me; depart from me ye that work iniquity (JST Matthew 7:32-33).The word “knew” does not connote a casual acquaintance, rather it explicitly denotes an intimate relationship—to know and also to become known—to understand (Strong # 1097). At first thought the statements in 3 Nephi and Matthew seem to be strange. Because the Savior does know us and he does understand. The Inspired Version clarifies that by saying “Ye never knew me.” To know in this context is to have an intimate, mutual appreciation and understanding. If the Savior does not “know” someone then the reason must be that the someone is unwilling to “know” the Savior. Such a person chooses not to reciprocate the Savior’s love, and asserts an unwillingness to accept that love. Like the wayward sheep who will not recognize the shepherd’s voice (John 10:11-15).Ultimately, such a person denies himself the blessings of eternal life. For one of the characteristics of those in the Celestial Kingdom is a kind of transparency where noone has anything to hide, where being known and knowing is the cohesive power that binds the society. As the Prophet wrote in Doctrine and Covenants 76:92 And thus we saw the glory of the celestial, which excels in all things—where God, even the Father, reigns upon his throne forever and ever;93 Before whose throne all things bow in humble reverence, and give him glory forever and ever.94 They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace;95 And he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion.96 And the glory of the celestial is one, even as the glory of the sun is one (D&C 76:92-96).—————–FOOTNOTE{1} As “mountain” is sometimes code for temple, so path, way, walk, and run are code words that represent the ordinances and covenants that take us to the top of that mountain. See Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, pages 380-85, 529-30.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 14:1-12 -- LeGrand Baker -- Jesus teaches us how to teach the gospel Author : lbaker3 Nephi 14:1-12One of the greatest advantages of having printed scriptures (as opposed to having them rolled up in a scroll) is that the printed ones are divided into chapters and verses that facilitate easy references. However, one of the greatest disadvantages of printed scriptures is that those divisions are actually editorial insertions that may change how we connect and understand the ideas we read. Sometimes a single sentence is divided into several verses, and sometimes the chapter divisions are in the wrong places. Here is just one example of a chapter break that may change the meaning:37 Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice (John 13:37-38).CHAPTER 141 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you (John 14:1-2).Now read it this way:? ? ? Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.. ? ? Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.Third Nephi chapter 14 is a bit like that. As a stand-alone chapter, it seems to contain many short statements that can be—and often are— read as individual “sayings.” We can’t blame Orson Pratt for that. When he divided the Book of Mormon into chapters and verses, if its wording was like the Bible he used the Bible’s numbering system. Consequently, the chapter and verse divisions in 3 Nephi’s Sermon at the Temple is essentially the same as is in the Sermon on the Mount in the New Testament.However, in the Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 14 is different from Matthew 7 because the Book of Mormon gives us a context that is not apparent in Matthew. That context is that chapter 14 follows immediately upon the instructions to the Twelve and is about how they are to depend on the Lord as they travel and perform their other duties. If the chapter break were not there we could more readily recognize that, after giving an assignment to the Twelve, the Savior turned to the congregation and included them in the rest of his instructions, for all those present would also be responsible for teaching and bearing testimony that he had come. His new instructions are about how they should teach the gospel. His instructions, as we have them, are succinct but inclusive.If read that way, 3 Nephi 14 is not a series of unrelated “sayings,” but a concise, coherent and very instructive statement about how to teach the gospel and to whom one should teach it. In the following, I have taken the text out of its verse structure, believing that it will be easier to read afresh if we break the patterns of “short sayings” that we are so familiar with.3 Nephi 14:1-121 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he turned again to the multitude, and did open his mouth unto them again, saying:1-2 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.In teaching the gospel, this is the beginning of all wisdom. As soon as we take it upon ourselves to judge who should and who should not hear the gospel, we also leave ourselves open to the verdict, “with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged.” Successful missionaries soon learn this lesson. Just like the prophet Samuel when he saw one of David’s brothers and thought this young man should probably be king.7 But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).Just as the prophet Samuel had to listen to the Spirit in order to know whom to select as Israel’s next king, so we also have to listen to the Spirit in order to know whom we should teach and what and how we should teach them. The Savior’s next instructions are a caution about what not to teach.3-5 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother: Let me pull the mote out of thine eye—and behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother’s eye.A mote is a speck of dust, a beam is larger, but a beam is different from a log. A log is large peace of wood that may still lay in the forest just about the way nature created it, but a beam is in use as an important part of the building’s structural support system. I think the Savior deliberately used “beam” rather than “log.” And I suspect the reason was that his concern was not the size of the object but its use. In his analogy, the beam is holding up a superstructure in our mind or in our heart—a mental or “doctrinal” structure that is so important to only ourselves that it precludes our recognizing really important truths.It is at this point in a similar sermon in Luke this is where the Jesus asks, “Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? (Luke 6:39). Here is an example:I remember, as a boy, the first time I ever heard of temple recommends. I lived in a little one-ward town where almost everyone attended church and everyone knew everyone else’s business. The buzz about the ward was that the stake president was denying active Mormons their “rightful” temple recommends. The background of the stake president’s actions was this: John A. Widtsoe and his wife had just published his book called The Word of Wisdom. In it they spelled out in great detail what it meant to “keep the word of wisdom.” I recall a few examples that everyone was talking about. One was that chocolate was a caffeine-like substance and therefore chocolate was against the word of wisdom. Another was that the D&C specified that wheat was for man, so eating whole wheat bread was keeping the word of wisdom. However (according to the book), white flour was not wheat, but was only an unhealthy byproduct of wheat, therefore, eating white bread was breaking the word of wisdom. The stake president read the book and took it to heart. When he interviewed people for a temple recommend he asked if they ate white bread. If they said “yes,” he would not give them a recommend because he said they were not living the word of wisdom.Reports of that soon got to Salt Lake and the situation was corrected. But it is still a good example. The stake president had read a book written by an apostle, and he took its contents to be doctrine. He restructured his own definition of the word of wisdom and sought to impose that definition on the members of his stake. I believe his redefinition was a“beam.” The support of a “doctrinal” superstructure that he let blind him to the temple worthiness of the members of his stake.If that is correct, then the Savior’s instruction about not having a beam in one’s own eye is a perfect description of the importance of teaching only the truths of the gospel and not going off into funny places or condemning other people for sins we may be all to eager to attach to them—even though they are really not sins at all.The Savior’s next instructions are the other side of that same coin. He had warned us to teach anyone the Spirit identified as being worthy, and not to teach our favorite funny “doctrines.” Now he tells us who not to teach:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.When people will not want to hear we do not have the right to try to make them listen. One does not impose truths on other people just because we think we know what’s good for them. There are two factors to consider here. The first is the obvious: are they ready or worthy to understand the truths we wish to teach. But the second is just as important: are we ready and worthy to teach sacred truths. That is the next issue the Savior addresses:7-8 Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.The sequence of ask, seek, knock, “and it shall be opened unto you” is familiar to Latter-day Saints. The implication here seems to be a reminder that the sequence is not only a perfect example of how we learned, but it is also the pattern we should follow in teaching others. To ask implies an interest and a desire to learn. Desire is an individual thing and we cannot impose it upon other people no matter how much we wish we could. So, now in their wisdom, the brethren tell us to just be good neighbors and good friends, and then, when we perceive their desire to know, then we should facilitate their efforts as they seek to know. The way to teach the gospel is just that simple.The Savior concludes his instruction with a warning that brings us back full circle to his beginning: “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” It is the same principle he expressed earlier in the Beatitudes: “And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (3 Nephi 12:7).” He said:9-12 Or what man is there of you, who, if his son ask bread, will give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets (3 Nephi 14:1-12).I wrote some time ago that I believe that everything we have to know and everything we have to do in this life is summarized on page 431 of the Book of Mormon. It begins with “Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen.” Then, in the Beatitudes, it walks through all of the ordinances and covenants. Then it concludes with the charge that we must be “the salt of the earth (missionaries to the world),” and “to be a light (menorah) to this people” that is to teach and be a blessing other Latter-day Saints.{1}What we have just read in chapter 14 are detailed instructions about how to be that salt and that light. The application for Latter-day Saints is universal in terms of being a missionary or sharing the beauties of the gospel with one another.Only a few minutes before, while teaching about the importance of love, the Savior had said, “I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect (3 Nephi 12:48).” His instructions to the Twelve and then to all the congregation about how to share the blessings of the gospel are given in the context of that admonition. The Father and his Son are the very personifications of that ability to share, to bless, and to save. That quality equates to charity— “the pure love of Christ.” For each of us, perfection in that one thing may be almost possible, even in this world.———————————————FOOTNOTE{1} For an explanation that “the salt of the earth” is about missionary work, and “the light of this people” is about teaching and blessing other Latter-day Saints, see the chapters on the Beatitudes in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 13:25-34 -- LeGrand Baker -- “Consider the lilies of the field” Author : lbaker3 Nephi 13:25-34?25 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked upon the twelve whom he had chosen, and said unto them: Remember the words which I have spoken. For behold, ye are they whom I have chosen to minister unto this people. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?26 Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin;29 And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these.30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, even so will he clothe you, if ye are not of little faith.31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?32 For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof.In 3 Nephi those words are shown to have been spoken directly to the Twelve Disciples. In Matthew, however, even though a similar instruction is given in the same sequence in the Sermon on the Mount, there is no indication that it was not given to the entire congregation (Matthew 6:31-34). That has caused some interesting, and sometimes disturbing questions for Bible readers.The language is very beautiful and the concept that God will look after us is very reassuring. However, the implications of “take no thought,” if it were carried too far and taken as a universal instruction to all members of the Church, would make it appear that the Savior was recommending a general slothfulness in one’s personal conduct and an irresponsibility in a man’s caring for his wife, children, and property.Modern revelation solves that problem by teaching us that those words in the New Testament were also directed specifically to the Apostles.The word “apostle” means “delegate or messenger” (Strong, 652) —which is appropriate to the Twelve Apostles whose responsibilities are to travel, teach, and keep the Church in order. The first Apostles of this dispensation were not ordained until somewhat later, February 15, 1835, but Doctrine and Covenants 84, which contains similar instructions, was given much earlier in September 22 and 23, 1832. Therefore, when Section 84 was given, the Lord used the word “apostle” in its generic sense to mean a traveling missionary. The revelation contains a wonderful commentary on the Savior’s instructions to missionaries as well as to the Twelve. He prefaced those instructions with these words:62 Therefore, go ye into all the world; and unto whatsoever place ye cannot go ye shall send, that the testimony may go from you into all the world unto every creature.63 And as I said unto mine apostles, even so I say unto you, for you are mine apostles, even God’s high priests; ye are they whom my Father hath given me; ye are my friends;64 Therefore, as I said unto mine apostles I say unto you again, that every soul who believeth on your words, and is baptized by water for the remission of sins, shall receive the Holy Ghost (D&C 84:62-64).Later on in that revelation, the Lord explained why it is not only acceptable but appropriate that one “take no thought of what he will eat or drink.” He said:78 For I suffered them not to have purse or scrip, neither two coats.79 Behold, I send you out to prove the world, and the laborer is worthy of his hire.80 And any man that shall go and preach this gospel of the kingdom, and fail not to continue faithful in all things, shall not be weary in mind, neither darkened, neither in body, limb, nor joint; and a hair of his head shall not fall to the ground unnoticed. And they shall not go hungry, neither athirst.81 Therefore, take ye no thought for the morrow, for what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, or wherewithal ye shall be clothed.82 For, consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin; and the kingdoms of the world, in all their glory, are not arrayed like one of these.83 For your Father, who is in heaven, knoweth that you have need of all these things.84 Therefore, let the morrow take thought for the things of itself.85 Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man.……………………………..107 Therefore, take with you those who are ordained unto the lesser priesthood, and send them before you to make appointments, and to prepare the way, and to fill appointments that you yourselves are not able to fill.108 Behold, this is the way that mine apostles, in ancient days, built up my church unto me.109 Therefore, let every man stand in his own office, and labor in his own calling; and let not the head say unto the feet it hath no need of the feet; for without the feet how shall the body be able to stand? (D&C 84:78-85, 107-109).Notwithstanding that in 3 Nephi the promises are specific to the Twelve, and in the D&C they are specific to missionaries, the overriding principle that validates the promises is equally applicable to all of God’s children. Whether we read it in the scriptures or sing it in a hymn, the promise resinates with our souls as a reminder of covenants our Father in Heaven made with each of us a very, very long time ago:28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin;29 And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these.30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, even so will he clothe you, if ye are not of little faith.In their general application the promises made here are as comforting as they are beautiful, for God is aware of our individual needs and blesses us according to our faith.The last verse of 3 Nephi 13 has a sentence that is a perfect conclusion to the Savior’s instructions to the Twelve, but if the words are taken out of that context, they are also very wise advise to all of us. That last sentence reads:Sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof.In that same context, D&C 84 says the same thing, but says it just a little differently:83 For your Father, who is in heaven, knoweth that you have need of all these things.84 Therefore, let the morrow take thought for the things of itself (D&C 84:84-85).Each day is sufficient to take care of the problems of that day! While it would be absurd to read that to say we should not plan ahead for important things, it is equally absurd to suggest we should be so concerned with the weight of the future that it cripples us in our attempts to deal with the present. For example, in nothing is that more true than in the process of repentance. If we repent each day, then the weeks, months, and years will take care of themselves, and in time those problems will no longer exist—and then, but now from a position of strength, we will just have to focus on some other problem and repent of that one also !!<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 13:9-13 -- LeGrand Baker -- The five versions of the Lord's Prayer Author : lbakerThere are two versions of the Lord’s Prayer in the New Testament, two more in the Prophet Joseph’s Inspired Version of the New Testament, and still a different version in 3 Nephi. The variations in wording in the New Testament and Inspired Version are easy to see and understand. The version in 3 Nephi is most like the one in Matthew 6, however, between those two the differences are not in the wording but in actual content. What the 3 Nephi version does not say makes it the most interesting of the five.Below is a short comparison showing the differences between Matthew 6:9-13; JST Matthew 6:10-15; Luke 11:2-4; JST Luke 11:2-4; 3 Nephi 13:9-13.The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-16 is the version we were taught as children. So lets use it as the base for the comparison.Matthew 6: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.. JST Matthew 6: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.. Luke 11: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.. JST Luke 11: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.. 3 Nephi 13: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.Matthew 6: Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.. JST Matthew 6: Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is done in heaven.. Luke 11: Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.. JST Luke 11: Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done as in heaven, so in earth.. 3 Nephi 13: ………………………… Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.Matthew 6:Give us this day our daily bread.. JST Matthew 6: Give us this day, our daily bread.. Luke 11: Give us day by day our daily bread.. JST Luke 11: Give us day by day our daily bread.. 3 Nephi 13: …………………………………………………Matthew 6:And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.. JST Matthew 6: And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.. Luke 11: And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.. JST Luke 11: And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one who is indebted to us.. 3 Nephi 13: And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.Matthew 6:And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:. JST Matthew 6: And suffer us not to be led into temptation, but deliver us from evil.. Luke 11: And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.. JST Luke 11: And let us not be led unto temptation; but deliver us from evil;. 3 Nephi 13: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.Matthew 6: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.. JST Matthew 6: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever, Amen.. Luke 11: ………………………………………………………………….. JST Luke 11: for thine is the kingdom and power. Amen.. 3 Nephi 13: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.The version the Savior taught the Nephites reads:9 Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.10 Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.11 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.12 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.13 For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen (3 Nephi 13:14-34).The omission of the phrase “Thy kingdom come” is easy to account for: The Savior was there with the Nephites; he had just established a new theocracy; so the kingdom had in fact already come.It is the omission of the other phrase, “Give us this day our daily bread,” that is most intriguing. Because of that omission the focus of the prayer changes from one’s Self to one’s relationship to other people: That is made evident because the ideas that follow the prayer are tied back to it by a series of conjunctions (v.14 “For,” 15 “But,” 16 “Moreover,” 17 “But,” 18 “That”). The conjunctions create a string of ideas that suggest the Savior intended the prayer to be a covenant reiterating or reinforcing the principles of our other individual covenants. That is going to be difficult to explain, but let me try.The only way we can be “delivered from evil” is if we willingly sacrifice a broken heart and contrite sprit as the Savior instructed the Nephites in 3 Nephi 9:20. Similarly, the only way we can ultimately be a part of his kingdom is if we live the highest laws of that kingdom.The central theme of the prayer, and the one the Savior immediately focuses on, is the same principle he taught directly following the Beatitudes: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” When I discussed that principle in its earlier context I remembered hearing Nibley say that the law of the gospel is “to forgive and repent.” Now, in this context, it was the first of the prayer’s ideas the Savior explained:14 For, if ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you;15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.16 Moreover, when ye fast be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face;18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.As Latter-day Saints we can easily see the need for personal consecration in the phrase “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever,” but other than that, it is difficult to tie the importance of forgiveness with the next statement which begins “moreover, when ye fast.” In our LDS culture, unless there is a personal and present need to seek help to forgive, fasting and forgiveness seem not that obviously connected. However, the Savior was not talking to Latter-day Saints. He was speaking to a people who were just coming out of the religion and culture of the Law of Moses. So if we are to understand the connection between forgiveness and fasting, we must look there. Isaiah has shown us a clear window into that cultural connection:1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? (Isaiah 58:1-7).The principle Isaiah is supporting is the same one that has been formalized by the Latter-day Saints’s “fast Sunday.” It combines a reminder that one must fast with the opportunity to bless other people, and in doing so it also helps one keep one’s own personal covenants.What the Savior says next to the Nephites continues to suggest the importance of keeping that personal covenant:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal;20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.Having so said, reiterating the importance and power of personal covenants, the Savior issued a severe warning to the entire congregation:22 The light of the body is the eye; if, therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If, therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!24 No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.A careful reading of the Lord’s Prayer in the context in which the Savior taught it to the Nephites shows that it is not about the physical, or even the emotional needs of the one who recites the prayer. Rather, it reads almost like a covenant—an affirmation that one will keep all his other covenants—and it is also a petition to God that he will give one the strength to do so.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 13:5-13 -- LeGrand Baker -- prayers that are always answered Author : lbaker3 Nephi 13:5-135 And when thou prayest thou shalt not do as the hypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.8 Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him.9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.10 Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.11 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.12 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.13 For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.Those instructions were given by the Savior to the entire congregation. Later when Jesus was speaking only to his twelve disciples he told them:19 Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name;20 And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you (3 Nephi 18:18-21).The conditional “which is right” is explained by the words of King Benjamin. Even though the Savior’s promise was directed specifically to the Twelve, King Benjamin’s words were addressed to the entire congregation:21 And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another (Mosiah 4:21).The operative phrase here is “in faith.” But the word “faith” in our everyday language has a different meaning from the word “faith” in the scriptures. At the beginning of the Christian apostasy “faith” lost its scriptural meaning and came to mean simply “belief” or “belief without evidence.” As the distinguished Bible scholar David Noel Freedman explained:Faith is a peculiarly Christian concept. While other religious traditions have aspects of what the churches have come to name “faith,” none has the specific quality of intellectual assent that distinguishes faith from fidelity. The problem of faith and the central discussion of it arises in the context of the medieval attempts to codify and integrate the Christian experience into the emerging philosophical language of the scholastics. {1}In the New Testament, the word translated as faith is pistis. Pistis is not about wishing hard or unconditional belief. On the contrary, every time “faith” appears in the New Testament, translated from the Greek word pistis, it denotes an arrangement where both parties to a covenant are bound by a legal contract.{2} It was not until some time around the end of the first century A.D., when the Christians had lost the terms of the covenants (and also the authority to perform the ordinances associated with them) that “faith” came to mean belief without evidence, or sometimes na?vely wishing really, really hard.The problem is this, as Freedman observed, many Christians (including some preachers behind Mormon pulpits) assume that believing is independently sufficient to get one’s prayers answered exactly the way one wants them to be answered – and thus his phrase, “distinguishes faith from fidelity.” But in the scriptures faith (pistis) and “covenantal fidelity” mean precisely the same thing, and that kind of fidelity evinces pure power.When we understand “faith” as a contract between God and man, then it is easier to understand how King Benjamin’s words might be actualized. If there is a prior covenant between God and men, and the person offers a prayer in which he feels and then repeats what the Spirit has confirmed to be the terms of the contract, then the words, “God…doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive,” become absolutely true, and the prayer will most assuredly answered in the affirmative.The Savior’s statement (quoted above) “your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him” affirms that the Father has a full understanding of our needs, but it may also express the covenant relationship that makes the prayers valid. That is the same idea we find in Nephi’s instructions to his “beloved brethren” when he wrote:9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul (2 Nephi 32:7-9).Nephi further expresses the covenantal (pistis) understanding of “faith” when he writes:3 But I, Nephi, have written what I have written, and I esteem it as of great worth, and especially unto my people. For I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry (2 Nephi 33:3).In the following brief story about the brother of Jared we see two uses of “faith” meaning the uses of “covenant.” In the second instance “faith” is making the covenant. The words, “wherefore thou workest after men have faith” say that nothing is in place until a covenant with God has been affirmed.In the first instance of the use of the word “faith” we see the brother of Jared either listening to the directions of the Spirit and repeating what he is told to say, or else he is simply reciting the terms of the covenant as he had already received it. The difference would depend on whether the original covenant included all the specific instructions, or was only the promise that the mountain would be removed and there would be a passable road in its place. Moroni writes30 For the brother of Jared said unto the mountain Zerin, Remove—and it was removed. And if he had not had faith [evoked the tokens and terms of the covenant] it would not have moved; wherefore thou [God] workest after men have faith [have received the covenant] (Ether 12:30).The Savior’s instructions to the Apostles included that same promise. While the word pistis is not found in these two passages, the instructions that they must follow the Savior’s directions are very explicit:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever (John 14:12-16).15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you (John 15:15-19).When Mormon spoke to his “beloved brethren” in Moroni 7, he reiterated the promise the Savior had given while he was with the Nephites. Mormon said:26 And after that he came men also were saved by faith [pistis] in his name; and by faith [pistis], they become the sons of God. And as surely as Christ liveth he spake these words unto our fathers, saying: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is good, in faith [pistis] believing that ye shall receive, behold, it shall be done unto you (Moroni 7:26).The seriousness of this charge was made clear by Mormon elsewhere in that same sermon:9 And likewise also is it counted evil unto a man, if he shall pray and not with real intent of heart; yea, and it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none such48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen (Moroni 7:48, 9).Its seriousness was emphasized again by the Lord in a revelation to the Prophet Joseph where he said:62 And again, verily I say unto you, my friends, I leave these sayings with you to ponder in your hearts, with this commandment which I give unto you, that ye shall call upon me while I am near—63 Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.64 Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name it shall be given unto you, that is expedient for you;65 And if ye ask anything that is not expedient for you, it shall turn unto your condemnation.66 Behold, that which you hear is as the voice of one crying in the wilderness—in the wilderness, because you cannot see him—my voice, because my voice is Spirit; my Spirit is truth; truth abideth and hath no end; and if it be in you it shall abound (D&C 88:62-66).As I read that warning in v. 65, my mind turns to the woeful lament spoken by King Claudius when he tried, but then found he was not able to pray:My words fly up, my thoughts remain below:Words without thoughts never to heaven go (Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 3).The admonition, so often expressed by both the Savior and his prophets, that we must “pray always” takes on a somewhat different meaning when pistis becomes a part of the meaning of prayer and we recall that true prayer as simply repeating what the Spirit instructs us to pray for. It gives a new understanding to the Savior’s command:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man (Luke 21:35-38).That sentiment, that one must “pray always,” is echoed throughout the scriptures. The majority of the commands to “pray always” are associated with the promise that such constant prayer is a hedge against temptation (3 Nephi 18:15, 18; D&C 10:5, 20:33, 31:12, 61:39). However, the admonition to “pray always” is also accompanied with the promises of other blessings such as the strength to endure (D&C 88:126, 90:24, 93:49-50); and to understand gospel principles (D&C 32:3-5); and this one:38 Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing—yea, even more than if you should obtain treasures of earth and corruptibleness to the extent thereof (D&C 19:38).Some time ago I was thinking about Enos words where he wrote,4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens (Enos 1:1-27).When it occurred to me that Enos did not say he stayed on his knees all the time he was praying, I wondered how such a prayer might be. I do not pretend to know the answer, but during my pondering I wrote the following:Prayer is like walking in the mountain with a friend. There are times when you see a sunrise so expansive and glorious that it must be shared with your friend to be fully appreciated. There are times you walk with the other in silence, then you stop and your eyes look—alone—as you ponder the perfect beauty of a columbine. Sometimes you talk together—your friend and you—but only briefly—because a smile can say so much more. Sometimes the words flow like the confluence of two great rivers and the ideas reach out to embrace a world as big as the open sea. Sometimes you walk together quietly and say nothing, and the unspoken words are more profound than speech. There is no aloneness in the quiet, just as there was no aloneness when all your conscious world was only the beauty of a single columbine. Friendship is like that. So is prayer.{3}The understanding that “covenant” and “faith” are virtually synonymous, teaches us a great deal about the meaning and power of the Atonement. This eternal covenant is already in place between the Father and his children, while the Savior’s person and the acts of his Atonement constitute the object, terms, hope, evidence, and fulfillment of that covenant. Moroni explained:33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot (Moroni 10:33).————————————-ENDNOTES{1} ?Article by David Noel Freedman, “Faith,”The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Doubleday, New York, 1992, vol. 2 p. 744-745.{2} ?For a discussion of pistis in Moroni 7 ?see the following chapters of Who Ascend into the Hill of the Lord.. ? ? ? ? Moroni 7: Faith, Hope, and Charity, 696. ? ? ? ? Meaning of “Faith”– pistis, 697. ? ? ? ? A Meaning of “Hope,” 710. ? ? ? ? A Meaning of “Charity,” 714You can download, free, all or any portion of the book from this website. It is located under “Published Books.”{3} ?I later included it in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, 710-11.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>Ephesians 6:11-18 -- LeGrand Baker -- The Whole Armor of God Author : lbakerEphesians 6:11-18Paul’s statement “that ye are the temple of God” has many implications including one that makes the early Saints “sacred space” because they wore priesthood clothing which he describes as “the whole armor of God.”The sacred clothing worn by the High Priests of Moses’s Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple consisted of white linen undergarments, and a richly decorated outer garment. The undergarments were a two part white linen suit consisting of a long sleeved shirt and breeches “to cover their nakedness.” (Exodus 28:42. see also Mosiah 10:5) Above that he wore a solid blue robe with a fringe of alternating golden bells and pomegranates that were made of blue, purple, and scarlet threads. His breastplate was a kind of pouch which held the Urim and Thummim. It was supported by shoulder straps attached to an apron called the ephod. The crown was a miter, a flat hat made of fine linen with a gold plate attached. Engraved on the plate were the words “Holiness to the Lord.” Around the waist was a sash {1} woven from the same kind of thread and in the same colors as the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Tabernacle. (Exodus 28:4 – 42) {2}This same ritual clothing – or something very much like it – was apparently worn by the early Christians. Paul described the sacral garments as protective armor.v. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.v. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.That is why one needs protection. The person is the temple, and Paul uses the idea of being protected by sacred clothing the way one might think of the wall around other sacred space.v. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.v. 14 Stand therefore, [One stands to make a covenant. (2 Kings 23:1-3)] having your loins girt about with truth,This is probably a reference to the sash which was woven from the same colors as the veil – perhaps representing the veil. The idea that the sash represented truth comes easily when one remembers that when one approaches the veil behind which God is enthroned one must speak only the truth.and having on the breastplate of righteousness;The High Priest wore a breastplate in which he kept the Urim and Thummim – the source of revelation. It worked only on the principles of righteousness – zedek – temple correctness: doing the right things, saying the right words, dressed the right way, etc.v. 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;“Preparation of the gospel of peace” is a key idea. One’s feet walk the “way” or “path” up the “mountain” to reach its heights. The gospel of peace is one’s crowning achievement – the place where “peacemaker” is found in the beatitudes, and “peaceable” is found in Moroni 7.v. 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.The shield of “faith” is the shield of pistis – the evidences, tokens and fulfillment of the covenants.v. 17 And take the helmet of salvation,The flat hat worn by the High Priest was his crown representing his priesthood. A similar hat was probably worn by the king as a symbol of his kingship.and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:v. 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.The sword is often symbolic of the words of ones mouth when those words are spoken in the power of the priesthood: “I shall make your mouth like a sharp sword,” (Isaiah in 1 Ne. 20:1-2) and the Lord’s word is sharper than a two-edged sword (D&C 6:2 et al.)That would probably read more effectively without the verse break:and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.That implies that the word of God is as a sharp sword when one prays “in the Spirit.” I suspect that kind of prayer is the same as is described as “mighty prayer” in the scriptures:…it came to pass that the disciples were gathered together and were united in mighty prayer and fasting. And Jesus again showed himself unto them, for they were praying unto the Father in his name (3 Nephi 27:1b-2a).————————————————-ENDNOTES(This will be more meaningful, if one also reads “Act 2, Scene 9: The Coronation Ceremony in Isaiah 61″ and “Act 2, Scene 10: The King at the Veil,” in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, 340-373{1} Our Old Testament calls it a “girdle,” but in the Tanakh it is called a “sash.” Exodus 28:8{2} Exodus 28:4. For excellent illustrations of the clothing, see Moshe Levine, The Tabernacle, Its Structure and Utensils (Published for the Soncino Press Limited, London, Jerusalem, New York by “Melechet Hamishkan” Tel Aviv, Israel, 1989), 127 and 133.Ricks Stephen D., and John J. Sroka, “King, Coronation, and Temple: Enthronement Ceremonies in History” in Donald W. Parry, ed., Temples of the Ancient World, Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1994, p. 256-257.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 13:1-4 -- LeGrand Baker -- Law of Consecration Author : lbaker3 Nephi 13:1-41 Verily, verily, I say that I would that ye should do alms unto the poor; but take heed that ye do not your alms before men to be seen of them; otherwise ye have no reward of your Father who is in heaven.2 Therefore, when ye shall do your alms do not sound a trumpet before you, as will hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.3 But when thou doest alms let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth;4 That thine alms may be in secret; and thy Father who seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly.When the Lord introduced the law of consecration to the Church in Missouri, its object was to enable needy Saints to become part of a prosperous community. Two main factors caused the experiment to fail. The first was that the “old citizens” (the ones that were there before the Mormons arrived) wanted to get possession of the improved lands without paying for the improvements. The second was that there were contentions among the Mormons. Even some of the leaders (like Oliver Cowdery and the Whitmers) were unwilling to share the advantages of property. The combined result was the tragic forced expulsion of the Saints from Missouri.One of the things the experiment forcefully demonstrated was that we cannot make a Zion community by declaring it to be such, then opening it up to non-Zion type people and expecting them to live the law of consecration. Rather, Zion is a community must be made up of people who are already living the law of consecration.As I understand it, the Church is now (and probably has always been) made up of three basic types of people: (1) Non-Zion people who are primarily concerned about what they perceive to be their own needs. (2) Those who are seeking to become a Zion people, who recognize what is really important and are personally trying to learn how to live the law of consecration. (3) People who are Zion, who quietly go about doing good because they recognize others’ needs. People in this last group are often the most difficult to identify because they would just as soon no one noticed the good they do.The Beatitude that brings us to Zion{1} reads, “And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy,” and that is the way it must be. Everyone has needs and everyone has the ability to help someone.A good way to understand the law of consecration is to liken it to the ancient temple blessings of priesthood and sacral kingship. Neither are primarily about giving or receiving. In their simplest forms, both are only a functional acknowledgment of truth—of reality. In each, there is nothing about either giving or receiving that implies subservience, superiority, or indebtedness. They are only about acknowledging and filling honest needs. The need may cost the giver his substance, his time, or a simple act of kindness, but what its cost is only partly determined by the generosity of the giver: it is always— sometimes only— determined by the needs of the recipient. Here are some examples:(1) A family with the means learns that a single mom’s car just died a permanent death. The family conclude in council that they can afford to give her a workable car. The father goes to the bishop, tells him how much he can afford, and asks him to get with a mechanic and the single mom and buy her another car— nothing too expensive, but adequate for her needs.(2) That mom has a next door neighbor who can’t do yard work any more. The single mom and her teenage children take it upon themselves to mow the widow’s lawn and help her keep down the weeds.(3) The widow likes to sit in the park and watch the children play. If a child is hurt, or is picked on, she invites the child to come and sit on the bench beside her. Then she listens. A hug may be appropriate, and she always just happens to have some cookies that she can share.As I understand it, that is what the law of consecration is. It is giving when there is a need and when one has the means to satisfy the need. In the three examples, there is no difference between the car, the lawn mowing, and the hug with cookies. Each answers the legitimate need of the recipient, and each is within the resources of the giver.There are at least two psalms, that were enacted during the ancient Israelite Feast of Tabernacles temple drama, that represented events that took place in the Council in Heaven. One of those is Psalm 82. Its first verse reads: “God [Elohim] standeth in the congregation of the mighty [Council in Heaven]; he judgeth among the gods.” The rest of the psalm are the words spoken by the Father to the members of the Council. It appears to be instructions about how they are to perform their assignments when they come to this earth and fits perfectly within the text of Abraham 3:23 where God makes assignments to the members of the Council. The instructions he gives in Psalm 82 can easily be recognized as the law of consecration. {2}If that is correct, then our covenants to keep the law of consecration predates our being born into this world by a very, very long time.————————————————–ENDNOTES{1} The Beatitudes read:. 7 And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.. 8 And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God (3 Nephi 12:7-8).And the definition is:. 21 Therefore, verily, thus saith the Lord, let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion—THE PURE IN HEART; therefore, let Zion rejoice, while all the wicked shall mourn (D&C 97:21).{2} For a discussion of Psalm 82 and its connection with the Council in Heaven see Who Ascend into the Hill of the Lord. “Act 1, Scene 1: The Council in Heaven,” p. 159. ? ? ? “Pssalm 82, The Father’s Instructions to the Council,” p. 162. ? ? ? ?“Psalm 82: Instruction and Covenant,” p. 165- 74You can download, free, all or any portion of the book from this website. It is located under “Published Books.”<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 12:46-48 -- LeGrand Baker -- the way to perfection Author : lbaker3 Nephi 12:46-4846 Therefore those things which were of old time, which were under the law, in me are all fulfilled.47 Old things are done away, and all things have become new.48 Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.The old law that the Savior fulfilled was based on obedience in performances. That is, the Law was a catalog of things one must do and things one must not do. The new law eliminated almost all of the regulations and focused on personal integrity. Under the new law, is not conforming to cultural norms. Rather, obedience is a natural byproduct of knowing the doctrine.A quick review of what the Savior had taught, beginning with what he said when he first spoke to the Nephites when they were enshrouded in darkness and continuing to this point in his sermon, leaves us amazed at the simplicity, forthrightness, and clarity of the new law. The Savior had given step by step instructions about how the could begin to fulfill his command that they become perfect: (If the following quick review of the of the principles taught by the Savior seems to ask more questions than it answers, you will find a careful discussion of each verse in my posts of the past weeks.)The Savior’s words in 3 Nephi began with a lament for the destruction that had come upon those whose had not obeyed (3 Nephi 9:1-13), and he commends those who have obeyed (3 Nephi 9:14-18).He instructed them about changes in the law of sacrifice (3 Nephi 9:19-22).He fulfilled the promise that he would come to the earth, fulfill the law of Moses and bring the fullness of the gospel (3 Nephi 11:7-12).They touched his side, his hands, and his feet as a testimony of the power of his love and the reality of the Atonement (3 Nephi 11:13-18).He established his church, and gave Twelve authority over it (3 Nephi 11:18-41).In the Beatitudes, he reviewed all of the principles and ordinances that are requisite to eternal life.3 Nephi 12:1 — “Give heed to the words of the Twelve”3 Nephi 12:2 — First principles (be visited by the Holy Ghost)3 Nephi 12:3 — Endowment for the living3 Nephi 12:4 — Endowment for the dead3 Nephi 12:5 — Keep the covenants you made at the Council in Heaven3 Nephi 12:6 — Hunger and thirst after priesthood and temple things and be filled with the Holy Ghost3 Nephi 12:7 — How to be a priest and sacral king – merciful shall receive mercy3 Nephi 12:8 — Zion (pure in heart) shall see God3 Nephi 12:9 — Peacemakers called “children of God”3 Nephi 12:10-12 — Persecution follows3 Nephi 12:13 — Missionary work3 Nephi 12:14-16 — A light — menorah among the people in the templeThe law of the gospel ?(3 Nephi 12:21-24)Chastity ?(3 Nephi 12:27-32)Truth in keeping covenants ?(3 Nephi 12:33-37)All that is preliminary to the Savior’s next instruction which was how to live the law of consecration.The perfection the Savior was asking the Nephites to achieve was not about meeting a universal standard of obedience, but rather it was about each individual’s being absolutely true to the eternal law of his own being.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 12:33-37 -- LeGrand Baker -- Truth and covenants Author : lbaker3 Nephi 12:33-3733 And again it is written, thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths;34 But verily, verily, I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne;35 Nor by the earth, for it is his footstool;36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair black or white;37 But let your communication be Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever cometh of more than these is evil.As humans, we do not live in a world of absolute truthfulness, and that is not what the Savior was expecting of us. For example, when one’s options are between speaking kindness and frankness, kindness almost always needs the greater weight. When a lady asks if you like her new hairdo, there is only one appropriate answer, and, whatever you might think, that answer should never sound like: “Ouch! It makes you look like an unkept sheep dog!”But that is not what the Savior was talking about. He is talking about lies whose intent is to deceive, to hurt, or to manipulate. His meaning is made clear in other places in other scriptures. For instance, when speaking of those who belong in the telestial glory, the Prophet Joseph wrote: “These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie (D&C 76:103).” Nephi’s brother Jacob said it more succinctly: “Wo unto the liar, for he shall be thrust down to hell (2 Nephi 9:34).” (There is no problem in the meaning of “hell” there. In the Book of Mormon the prophets see only two eternal options: either that one will be where God is, or one will be where God is not.)To “forswear” means to swear falsely or to perjure oneself. In some cultures it is the norm for a person to give oneself credibility by evoking the credibility of some greater power. For example, Nephi tells us:32 And it came to pass that I spake with him [Zoram], that if he would hearken unto my words, as the Lord liveth, and as I live, even so that if he would hearken unto our words, we would spare his life.33 And I spake unto him, even with an oath, that he need not fear; that he should be a free man like unto us if he would go down in the wilderness with us (1 Nephi 4:32-33).In our legal system, truthfulness in court is made by an oath. Even the American Constitution acknowledges the validity of this practice. It says of the President of the United States:Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States (Article 2, Section 1).”There was a reason the phrase “or affirm” is included: Quakers took the New Testament admonition very seriously and would not swear a oath, even in court, even though their refusal might be used against them. So in order to not preclude a Quaker from becoming president, the option of not swearing an oath was included in the Constitution.The Savior’s injunction, “But let your communication be Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever cometh of more than these is evil,” probably has little to do with legal forms, but rather is about casual, flippant or perverse oath taking. Shakespeare echoed the Savior’s sentiment in one of his most beautiful loving scenes:Romeo: ? ? ? ?Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops—Juliet: ? ? ? ? ?O, swear not by the moon , the inconstant moon,. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?That monthly changes in her circled orb,. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.Romeo: ? ? ??What shall I swear by?Juliet: ? ? ? ? ?Do not swear at all;. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?Or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?Which is the god of my idolatry,. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? And I’ll believe thee. (Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2)A person of integrity does not need to decorate one’s words with meaningless assertions of honesty. The question, always, is not “What does he say?” but rather, “Why does he say it?” That is, “Is there is no gap between what he says, what he does, and the motive for which he does it.” And there’s the rub: unfortunately even the truth may be a lie.Macbeth, who had believed the deceiving witches, learns too late the meaning of their doublespeak. As he finally confronts his own reality, he laments:And be these juggling fiends no more believed,That palter with us in a double sense;That keep the word of promise to our ear,And break it to our hope.?(Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 8).We are caught in this world of deceptions. We must not only pay attention to who tells the truth, but we must also be able to discern what kind of truth they tell.There is a theme that runs as an undercurrent throughout the Savior’s entire sermon. It is that one must be true to the law of one’s eternal self. That theme comes very near the surface in these verses that conclude, “But let your communication be Yea, yea; Nay, nay.” As the revelation says about Hyrum Smith: “for I, the Lord, love him because of the integrity of his heart, and because he loveth that which is right before me (D&C 124:15).Probably the most quoted lines in any of Shakespeare’s plays are these spoken by Polonius to his son Laertes.This above all: to thine ownself be true,And it must follow, as the night the day,Thou canst not then be false to any man (Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3).Hidden within the depth of those words is, for each of us, the greatest mystery of the universe. The mystery is the answer to the question: “Who/what am I?” That mystery will ever be enshrouded in darkness until one can be honest enough with oneself to answer the question: “Who am I just now?” To answer that question we return to the Savior’s command: “But let your communication [with your Self] be Yea, yea; Nay, nay. ” It sounds easy, but in a world that imposes its own identities upon us, sometimes it is the most difficult thing of all. However, until we can do that, the answer to the great mystery will remain enshrouded in the darkness of self-indulgence, self-denial, or self-disdain.An equally acceptable way of understanding our verses is that the Savior was talking about making and keeping covenants. Covenants are the face of integrity, and are not to be taken lightly. Virtually every facet of the gospel is founded on covenants—on the covenants the Savior and his Father have made with us—and the covenants we make with them and each other.In the conversation between Jehovah and the brother of Jared, the latter “answered: Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie (Ether 3:12). That is an extraordinary concept. In this world we deal with no one but little children about whom we can say “he cannot lie.” Yet, whether in this world or the spirit world to follow, until we can follow the Savior’s admonition to just speak only the truth, it is doubtful that we could be comfortable in the presence of a God who “cannot lie.”<><><><><><><><><><><><><>><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 12:27-32 – LeGrand Baker – the law of chastity Author : lbaker3 Nephi 12:27-3227 Behold, it is written by them of old time, that thou shalt not commit adultery;28 But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman, to lust after her, hath committed adultery already in his heart.29 Behold, I give unto you a commandment, that ye suffer none of these things to enter into your heart;30 For it is better that ye should deny yourselves of these things, wherein ye will take up your cross, than that ye should be cast into hell.31 It hath been written, that whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement.32 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery; and whoso shall marry her who is divorced committeth adultery.To say the commandment against adultery is not about sex, is like saying that taking someone to dinner is not about food. Each statement is both true and false. Taking someone to dinner is about being with the someone, it is not primarily about eating to avert starvation. Yet, eating the food is what one does, so taking someone to dinner is about food. Similarly, the probation against adultery was not so much about sex as it was about preserving the legal and sacral relationship of the wife and the husband. The covenant of fidelity is fundamental to the covenant of marriage. (For a discussion of Psalm 45 and the eternal nature of the marriage covenant, look in the “scriptures” section and then go to “Mosiah 13:22 — LeGrand Baker – Thou shalt not commit adultery.”)Leviticus 20 is a catalogue of sexual sins. It lists almost every possible combination of partners except a man and his lawful wife. For each combination the punishment is the same: “they shall surely be put to death.” Apparently the law was not taken any more seriously in ancient Israel or among the ancient Nephites than it is in own culture. In the Bible and the Book of Mormon there many evidences that adultery was almost common place, but there are no accounts of mass executions on account of it.The definition Leviticus gives of adultery is:10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death (Leviticus 20:10).Adultery is defined as infidelity in marriage. It is violating the marriage covenant. Premarital sex is different from adultery because there has been no covenant to violate. However, casual premarital sex can inhibit or even negate one’s ability to later experience real emotional intimacy, and therefore might cripple a later marriage relationship.When the Savior condemned adultery, he did not limit himself to condemning the act, rather he condemned the attitude that precipitated the act. Without the attitude coming first, the act would never happen.Marriage is both a legal contract and a religious covenant. The legal contract can be broken by the act, but the religious covenant can be broken by the attitude. Just as the act can negate the contract, so can the attitude negate the covenant.The last page of the Book of Mormon contains a review of the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama. The last verse of that review is a promise of eternal marriage and eternal increase. That verse reads:31 And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled (Moroni 10:28-31).This is a paraphrase of Isaiah, so it comes from his culture rather than from Moroni’s. In the Near Eastern desert, when a man married, he gave his wife a tent, just large enough for the two of them. It was then hers, and she was responsible for it. As her family grew, she made additional flaps for the tent, and added more stakes to secure it. Thus, Moroni’s statement may be a reference to family homes—eternal families— “forever” —rather than being about future church units of wards and stakes. The Isaiah passage that Moroni paraphrased is also about God’s promise of eternal families. It reads:2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes (Isaiah 54:2).“Thine habitations” are homes. The tents are the places where families dwell. Moroni continues with the promise that the tent will be expanded “forever”:and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled (Moroni 10:31b).As those words are about the ancient Nephite temple experience, so Moroni’s last words are about what one did after one left the ancient temple:32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot (Moroni 10:32-33).This is a portion of the discussion of Moroni’s review of the Nephite temple drama in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, 722-24.The prophet Jeremiah used the word “adultery” in another way also. He represented the people of Israel as God’s covenant “bride.” and condemned them for “committed adultery with stones and with stocks,” referring to their worshiping pagan gods made of stone and wood. While the Savior does not make specific reference to that kind of adultery, it would certainly apply to anyone who breaks their sacred covenants (Jeremiah 3:6-11, Jeremiah 5:7-9).<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 12:21-24 & 2 Nephi 9:41-42 -- LeGrand Baker -- The Law of the Gospel Author : lbaker3 Nephi 12:21-24 & 2 Nephi 9:41-4221 Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, and it is also written before you, that thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment of God;22 But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of his judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.23 Therefore, if ye shall come unto me, or shall desire to come unto me, and rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee—24 Go thy way unto thy brother, and first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I will receive you.At least three times, perhaps more, I have heard Hugh Nibley say that the Law of the Gospel is “to forgive and repent.” But I never heard him gave a source for that definition. Then one day when I read these verses spoken by the Savior, I understood. I cannot be sure that these verses where what Nibley was referring to, but I believe Nibley’s words are an adequate summation of what the Savior said.The rules of behavior with which Moses governed the Israelites whom he led out of Egypt were just that—rules about how one should act. Neither his government nor ours has the power to legislate goodness. But inappropriate behavior is only half the sin, and not always the worst half. There is no sin committed by our hands that is not first committed by our minds. If I hurt you accidently it may be the result of something very foolish, but that is very different from a hurt that I first contrived in my mind then executed with my hand, or by my unbridled tongue. Premeditated bad behavior—no matter how vile—is a secondary sin. The primary sin happened in the mind.Hamlet’s words (though quoted out of context) make the point very nicely: “there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” (Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2) .Anger, hatred, the need for revenge, and the inability to forgive are corrosive forces that eat at the soul and form a callous that first rejects then excludes real love. As charity is the healing, sealing, and purifying power that prepares us to be with God, so anger and its attendant feelings disables us from being persons who can enjoy the eternal togetherness which is eternal life. Hatred precludes charity. Hatred destroys.On the surface it looks to be very ironic. People who hate or feel contempt for others consider that attitude to be their strength. They are like a black hole that seeks to satisfy itself by sucking everything to itself, while in fact it lets nothing out, including its own light. Such a person is his own prison. He cannot reach out to love others because the only “love” he can experience is self-indulgence and self-aggrandizement.In contrast, one who loves is like the sun who exudes light and warms those around him. When we love as the Savior loves, we become vulnerable. For such a one hides behind no masks, no facades, and has no hidden agenda.After the Nephites built a temple like the one Solomon had built in Jerusalem (2 Nephi 5:16), Nephi’s brother Jacob delivered his sermon there. He reminded his hearers about who and what they must be as they were to approach the great veil of the temple that led to the Holy of Holies. He said:41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.42 And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches—yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them (2 Nephi 9:41-42).It seems to me that what the Savior said to the Nephites is that if they wish to “come unto him” then they must approach other people in the same way they approach him.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>?3 Nephi 12:17-20 -- LeGrand Baker – The Savior fulfilled the Law Author : lbaker3 Nephi 12:17-2017 Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfil;18 For verily I say unto you, one jot nor one tittle hath not passed away from the law, but in me it hath all been fulfilled.19 And behold, I have given you the law and the commandments of my Father, that ye shall believe in me, and that ye shall repent of your sins, and come unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Behold, ye have the commandments before you, and the law is fulfilled.20 Therefore come unto me and be ye saved; for verily I say unto you, that except ye shall keep my commandments, which I have commanded you at this time, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.Three times the Savior said he had fulfilled the Law of Moses. To fulfil means to complete, to satisfy, to bring to fruition, to finalize. He later explained:5 Behold, I am he that gave the law, and I am he who covenanted with my people Israel; therefore, the law in me is fulfilled, for I have come to fulfil the law; therefore it hath an end (3 Nephi 15:5).The words, “therefore it hath an end” was very explicit. So the Law was no longer operative or relevant in the Nephite religion or in their personal lives.This may sound strange: but while we can be assured that the Law was fulfilled, we really don’t know what the Nephites or the Savior understood by “the Law of Moses.” In Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, Stephen and I explained:A point that must not be lost is that the people of the Book of Mormon come out of the religious culture of the pre-exilic Old Testament—the period when Solomon’s Temple was standing and in use. So the religion of Lehi, Nephi, and their descendants was the religion of the Jews before the changes were made in our texts of the Old Testament. What we have in our Old Testament is a severely edited version of the Law of Moses. But the text on the brass plates was written before those editorial changes were made. That means that our most reliable contemporary text that date to pre-exilic times is found in the Book of Mormon (Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, 460-61).The fact is, we cannot know just what the Nephites understood by “the Law of Moses” because of the way they described it. They wrote repeatedly that the purpose of the Law was to help people understand the Savior and his Atonement. They considered the Law to be a type of the Savior’s coming. As Jacob said,4 Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ; for, for this end hath the Law of Moses been given; and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him (2 Nephi 11:4. See also 2 Nephi 25:24-28, 2 Nephi 26:1, Jacob 4:5, Alma 25:15-16.)If we look hard in Leviticus, we can find only a few parts of the Law that teach about the atonement, but Jacob’s description of the Law does not fit what is in our Old Testament. It is impossible for us to know what the Nephites understood by “the Law of Moses,” because the only thing we can be sure of is that it was different from the version of the Law that is found in our Bible.After the Babylonian captivity the Jews had no more king, and the temple was destroyed. By the time they returned from Babylon they had lost the Melchizedek Priesthood also. Sometime during or after the Babylonian captivity the Jewish editors rewrote the Law to conform to their new political and ecclesiastical circumstances. Consequently, our Old Testament version of the Law reflects the post-exilic Jewish religion that was substantially different from the one that had been believed and practiced while Solomon’s Temple was standing and in proper use. These editors left so many fingerprints on their work that most scholars now believe the books of Moses were not written any earlier than 400 BC.(For a discussion of the Jewish apostasy and its impact on the editorial changes in the Law see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, pages 47-67, the chapters called “The Ancient Jewish Apostasy that Rearranged the Order of the Psalms and Changed the Festival Drama,” and “Evidences of Ancient Jewish Apostasy.” For an example showing that the purposes of those editors was to remove from the record evidences of the gospel of the Messiah, the priesthood, and the temple, see the comparison between the stories of Noah and the ark as told in Genesis and in the book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price, shown on the chart on pages 60-61.)We also know almost nothing about the structure of the early Nephite church or how the Law of Moses was administered. What we do know is there is no evidence of an Aaronic Priesthood in the Book of Mormon, and that Lehi and the prophets had the Melchizedek Priesthood (otherwise he, Jacob, Alma, and others could not have seen God — D&C 84:19-22), and we also know that Lehi and others offered sacrifices and burnt offerings that we normally associate with the duties of the ancient Old Testament Aaronic Priesthood (1 Nephi 5:9, 1 Nephi 7:22, Mosiah 2:3.) Therefore, we cannot rely on the Old Testament to teach us how the Law of Moses would have been administered by Nephites who held the Melchizedek Priesthood.There is enough discussion of consistent Melchizedek Priesthood temple rites from the beginning to the end of the Book of Mormon to let us know that those rites remained essentially unchanged throughout the full thousand years of Nephite history — both before and after the Savior fulfilled the Law of Moses (encoded examples are in 1 Nephi 1, 2 Nephi 1, Alma 12, and Moroni 10).In the Sermon at the Temple in 3 Nephi 9 through 14, the Savior gave examples about how far-reaching the effect of his fulfilling the Law would be. There we learn that when put into practice, the new law would not only change the outward form of their religious practices, but would also change some of their most fundamental cultural and legal practices as well. Thereafter, an appeal to Leviticus to establish rules of personal conduct, family relations, moral code, or dietary practices was no longer a valid evidence to support an argument about what was right or wrong (just as it is not for us).We needn’t wonder if the Nephites then did, as we sometimes tend to do, pick and choose from among the parts of the Law of Moses we wished to use to justify our beliefs and practices. They clearly did not. The description of the righteousness of the society of the next three generations teaches us that the Nephites took the Saviors instructions very seriously. Mormon does not tell us very much about the Fourth Nephi society, but what he does tell us is enough that we may know that the rigidity and bigotry that was justifiable under the Law had given way to acceptance of personal integrity rather than perfect conformity as the standard of individual excellence. I take it that in that society there could not have been found a picked-on teenager who felt the need to pray, “Dear God, make the bad people good and the good people nice.”<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>?3 Nephi 12:15-16 -- LeGrand Baker -- a light of this people Author : lbaker3 Nephi 12:15-1614 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the light of this people. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.15 Behold, do men light a candle and put it under a bushel? Nay, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house;16 Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven (3 Nephi 12:15-16).The light that shins from our beings originated and continues in sacred space and sacred time. Its source is the true love and eternal friendships that have always animated our lives. In this world our love for our family and friends literally makes us more than we can otherwise become. It enlarges the very essence of our immortal being. As President McKay explains in the quote at the end of this little essay, we each have two identities. One is the physical person others can see. The other is the light [or darkness] that emanates from our person that others can feel. Our physical persons always remain separate from others, no matter how intimate with them we may be. But the light that shines from each of us merges with the light of others to create a oneness that is greater than our individual selves — a sublime intimacy whose very nature seeks to perpetuate itself into the eternities. This is reality, and there is no other. Everything in this world that we perceive as “real”— the things that we can touch, and see, and hear — all these things will pass away. Our bodies will die, but our spirit will live, and our intelligence — the source of the light with which we shine — will remain alive forever, and its ultimate definition will be the quality of love/light with which it shines. In our future spirit world and ultimately in our resurrection, the quality of our love/light will define us. Each of us will gravitate to those whose light is like our own. If that quality is celestial, then the relationships we enjoy in this life will perpetuate themselves into the eternities, and those who radiate pure celestial light will be one, just as the Savior prayed we might be (John 17).Two scriptures that explain that eternal oneness are:1 When the Savior shall appear we shall see him as he is. We shall see that he is a man like ourselves.2 And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy (D&C 130:1-2).40 For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own; justice continueth its course and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth all things.41 He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by him, and of him, even God, forever and ever. …67 And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.68 Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will (D&C 88:40-41, 67-68).In Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, Stephen and I wrote:The mandate in the Beatitudes begins with the words, “I give unto you to be. …” They are not a suggestion, but a commission that is part of the definition of one who has been anointed to be a priest and sacral king. The previous commission “to be the salt of the earth” began with the same words. That was a charge to teach those who were not yet a part of the kingdom. The present one, “to be the light of this people,” is a charge to fulfill one’s covenants with regard to our relationship with the Saints of the Kingdom. It is about individual and communal friendships with each other and with God. “A city [Zion] that is set on a hill” was to be a place of sanctuary and peace. And while it is also a beacon toward which others might look, it is primarily the home of the pure in heart. Within Zion is a Temple, and within the Temple is the menorah, a “candlestick.”Christ is the light and the life of the world, often represented as the Tree of Life—a tree of light. In the Holy Place in Solomon’s Temple there was a great menorah, the “candlestick” that was not a candlestick at all, but a lamp stand. It was shaped like a tree, which represented the tree of life whose three sets of branches lift toward heaven as in prayer, uttered three times. The cups at the ends of its upraised branches were filled with olive oil—the same kind of oil that was used to anoint priests and kings. The fires from these lamps lit the interior of the Temple, and symbolically the light reached out to light the rest of the world as well. Thus it became a burning bush that lights the way—the tree of life that invites one to come to the great multi-colored veil of Solomon’s Temple. It is a tree of anointing light.The Savior asked, “Behold, do men light a candle and put it under a bushel?” Then he responded to his own question. “ Nay, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house.” His reference to a candlestick invites one’s mind into the Temple where the great Menorah stood just outside the veil. Thus the “house” would be the Temple, where the Saints may come at will. He adds, “Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Who Shall Ascend into the House of the Lord, 689-90)The Savior was speaking — not just to the Twelve — but to the entire congregation. The light of each was to enlighten and enhance the light of the others. This was a charge to bless and be blessed, to enlighten the enlightened, and to love and be loved by those who exuded charity.In a message called “Radiation of the Individual” President David O. McKay explained:Every man and every person who lives in this world wields an influence, whether for good or for evil. It is not what he says alone; it is not alone what he does. It is what he is. Every man, every person radiates what he or she really is. Every person is a recipient of radiation. The Saviour was conscious of that. Whenever He came into the presence of an individual, He sensed that radiation — whether it was the woman of Samaria with her past life: whether it was the woman who was to be stoned, or the men who were to stone her; whether it was the statesman, Nicodemus, or one of the lepers. He was conscious of the radiation from the individual. And to a degree so are you. and so am I. It is what we are and what we radiate that affects the people around us.As individuals, we must think nobler thoughts. We must not encourage vile thoughts or low aspirations. We shall radiate them if we do. If we think noble thoughts; if we encourage and cherish noble aspirations, there will be that radiation when we meet people, especially when we associate with them.As it is true of the individual. so it is true of the home. Our homes radiate what we are, and that radiation comes from what we say and how we act in the home. No member of this Church — husband, father — has the right to utter an oath in his home, or ever to express a cross word to his wife or to his children. You cannot do it as a man who holds the priesthood and be true to the spirit within you by your ordination and your responsibility. You should contribute to an ideal home by your character, controlling your passion, your temper, guarding your speech, because those things will make your home what it is and what it will radiate to the neighborhood. ….Church Members Should Radiate Love and HarmonyAs men of the priesthood, as women of the Church, we have greater responsibilities than ever before to make our homes such as will radiate to our neighbors harmony, love, community duties, loyalty. Let our neighbors see it and hear it. Never must there be expressed in a Latter-day Saint home an oath, a condemnatory term, an expression of anger or jealousy or hatred. Control it! Do not express it! You do what you can to produce peace and harmony, no matter what you may suffer.The Saviour set us the example. He was always calm, always controlled, radiating something which people could feel as they passed. When the woman touched His garment, He felt something go from Him — that radiation which is divine.Each individual soul has it. That is you! The body is only the house in which you live.The Church is reaching out, radiating not only by its prayers, its houses of worship and meetings, but now through television and radio it is radiating throughout the whole world.God help us as members of the priesthood, as members of the Church. to radiate Faith. Love of humanity, Charity, Control, Consideration. and Service! (The Instructor, October, 1964, p. 373-374).?<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 12:13 -- LeGrand Baker -- The Salt of the Earth Author : lbakerThis is a paper I wrote that was published in the Ensign, April 1999, p. 53-54.‘What does it mean to be the ‘Salt of the Earth’?’ by LeGrand L. BakerResponse by LeGrand L. Baker, curator Wells Freedom Archives, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, and a member of the Cherry Hill Ninth Ward, Orem Utah Cherry Hill Stake.The scriptural phrase “salt of the earth” has come to mean many things. In likening the scriptures unto ourselves (see 1 Ne. 19:23), we may sometimes overlook the author’s primary intent and the key points of comparison in his use of metaphor. A full understanding and appreciation of a given passage of scripture may thus elude us. [I was especially pleased that sentence got in unchanged.]That sometimes appears to be the case with the metaphor of salt. Perhaps we have observed that just as salt enhances the taste of certain foods, so we must be as salt, living our lives to bless and enhance the lives of others and make the gospel palatable to them. We may have also noted that salt is a preservative not unlike the preserving influence of righteous Saints who uphold gospel ideals in a world of shifting values.While such applications are relevant and meaningful to Latter-day Saints worldwide, to the ancients the central figurative meaning of salt had to do not with taste but with smell.When sacrifices were offered upon the altars of ancient Israel, the Israelites did not give the Lord the flesh of the animal, the fruit of the ground, or the ashes or smoke of such sacrifices. The acceptable part of the offering presented to the Lord was the smell, “a sweet savour unto the Lord” (Lev. 1 17).In the Bible, the word savour most often refers to the pleasant smell of burning sacrifice in the temple. To ensure that the smell would be sweet, the Mosaic law required that the offering be liberally sprinkled with salt.The scent of an unsalted burnt offering would be the stench of scorched flesh. But if the meat were generously salted, the odor would be quite different, due to the reaction of the salt upon the cells that compose animal flesh. Under high-salt conditions, cellular fluid rapidly escapes the cells to dilute the salts outside cell membranes. When accentuated by heat, these fluids cause a sweet savor to emanate.The Lord’s requirements concerning their offerings was clear. Referring to “the salt of the covenant,” the Lord instructed ancient Israel, “With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt” (Lev. 2:13). Flavius Josephus, the ancient Jewish historian, explained how that was done. He wrote that the priests “cleanse the bodies [of the sacrificial animals], and divide them into parts, and salt them with salt, and lay them upon the altar, while the pieces of wood are piled one upon another, and the fire is burning…. This is was the way of offering a burnt offering” (Antiquities of the Jews, trans. William Whiston [1875], 3:9:1).The purpose of the law of performances and ordinances given to the children of Israel through Moses was to point their souls to Christ and to bear witness of His gospel. The atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the law of Moses and ended blood sacrifice. The resurrected Lord explained the new law of sacrifice to His followers on the American continent: “Ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away….And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost (3 Ne. 9:19-20).In this context the charge to be the “salt of the earth” takes on marvelous significance. The Lord said, “I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted?” (3 Ne. 12:13). The Savior’s audience no doubt understood the law of Moses and the close connection between salt and acceptable sacrifice.It is clear that under the new covenant the followers of Christ, as “salt,” are responsible for extending gospel blessings to the whole earth. “When men are called unto mine everlasting gospel, and covenant with an everlasting covenant,” the Lord explains, “they are accounted as the salt of the earth and the savor of men” (D&C 101:39). It is our privilege and blessing to lovingly lead our brothers and sisters to Christ, helping them receive their covenant blessings. As we do so, we become the figurative salt that makes it possible for them to offer the acceptable sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. In addition, our own covenant sacrifice of time, talents, and means is pleasing to the Lord.This tremendous responsibility of helping bring salvation to others is coupled with caution: “But if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men” (3 Ne. 12:13). Salt used anciently for sacrifice could easily lose its savor, and always for the same reason – impurity. If such impure salt was heated, the combination of impurities and salt can result in an unpleasant odor. It was therefore discarded, lest its use desecrate the sacrifice and offend the Lord.Likewise, we are displeasing to the Lord to the degree that we are impure and ineffective “not the saviors of men,” but instead “as salt that has lost its savor”(D&C 103:10).So how do we become the salt of the earth? The Apostle Paul points out that charity is a key to this process: “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;“And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (Eph. 5:1-2). We must seek to love others purely, as the Savior loves us. It is through this love that we can help bring souls to Him, that they and we might be found acceptable – “unto God a sweet savour of Christ” (2 Cor. 2:15).3 Nephi 12:10-12 -- LeGrand Baker -- persecution and persecuted Author : lbaker3 Nephi 12:10-12 — LeGrand Baker — persecution and persecuted10 And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.11 And blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake;12 For ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you (3 Nephi 12:10-12).The previous Beatitude read: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” The very antithesis of that are people who persecute others. The only reason for persecuting other people is to assert one’s own assumed moral or other superiority by taking pleasure in seeing someone else uncomfortable or worse.The form of persecution is usually dictated by culture. For example, in the dark ages a woman was burned to the stake for hiding a few pages of the Bible under her floorboards. We don’t do stake burnings any more, so we have to use other more socially accepted ways of persecution. Bullying is common at schools. Adults do the same sorts of thing. We just don’t call it bullying if its done by an adult. Children, teenagers and adults dehumanize before they attack. Dehumanize is too strong a word, but I don’t know the right one. They define someone as an “other” which means he is “not like us.” Because they see themselves as the standard of goodness, wisdom, and virtue, then by defining someone else as different, as an “other,” they classify him as unworthy, inferior, or even evil. They do this because they cannot tolerate his differences. After they have defined him as an “other,” they can emotionally justify the conclusion that he does not deserve to be treated as an “us” (i.e. he is unnatural, something less than a real human) then their conscience is clear as they ostracize him from their society or deny him job opportunities, or do him social, mental, or physical harm. Persecution is inflicted on most everyone who is different—because being an “other” is a punishable cultural sin.Intolerance for cultural sins is the most usual rational for persecution of “others.” Real sins rarely are. Real sins disqualify one from being in the presence of God; cultural sins usually only disqualify one from being comfortable in the presence of those whose sins are real.Real sins are those that canker the human spirit. They begin in one’s mind. Some always stay there: sins like hate, covetousness, jealousy, contempt, bigotry. The Savior added adultery to that list. These sins infect our soul and will condemn us on judgement day if we do not repent. Sometimes these sins of the mind mature into actions that are contemptuous, dishonest, hurtful, or even brutal. There are laws that protect people from other’s illegal actions, but governments cannot legislate against the sins of the mind. Consequently, except for physical violence and theft, most of the real sins are tolerated by our culture.The “sins” that evoke persecution are usually not the real sins. The “sins” that culture does not tolerate are the visible differences that define someone else as an “other.” Having the wrong colored skin is a simple example. Whether a black man in a white culture or a white man in a black culture, the “other” is not culturally correct, therefore not trustworthy, therefore, by definition the personification of sin. Another example from our not so distant past is the woman who’s dress exposed her ankles. She was a bad woman. However, at the same time a proper lady could have a neck line just as low as nature would permit and she was only “fashionable.” Examples among children and teenagers are the small or studious boys who do not play sports and are mercilessly bullied for just being who they are. Cultural sins are not sins for which one has to repent. Most are not sins for which it is possible to repent. But the punishment for such sins may cause immense emotional and sometimes physical pain. In the past, and in some places still in the present, by just being a Mormon we define oneself as an “other,” and therefore, manifestly as a cultural “sin.”In religious cultures, it is usually their god who is given the credit for canonizing cultural sins. Self-defined righteous people know instinctively that their god would never make any good person different from themselves. Therefore, their god justifies the persecution of anyone who is “not like us” and can easily be identified as an “other.”We Mormons also do that sometimes — but never to our credit. I suppose the correct response to cultural sins is summed up by the bumper sticker President Uchtdorf quoted in April Conference, 2012, “Don’t judge me because I sin differently than you.”In our Beatitude, the Savior is talking about a specific group of “others.” It is those who are persecuted “for my name’s sake” As there is always a new name associated with a new covenant, “name” is often a code word for “covenant.” As, for example, when Isaiah quotes the Lord as saying, “for I will not suffer my name to be polluted, and I will not give my glory unto another (1 Nephi 20:11).” That can be understood as “ I will not suffer my covenant to be polluted.” Similarly the Beatitude might be understood as saying “blessed are all they who are persecuted for the sake of my covenant.”The Savior has already described such people as “peacemakers,” so we can be assured that they are not boastful or obnoxious in presenting the gospel to others. They do not “deserve” to be treated with contempt except that their very being calls attention to the crudeness of their persecutors and makes the persecutors uncomfortable. That is the problem: The wicked are made uncomfortable by the very existence of the righteous, so the wicked persecute them to prove they are inferior and do not have the power to defend themselves. Thus the wicked find a perverse kind of self-importance and self-validation in the very act of persecuting the righteous.The righteous, the peacemakers, are wise enough to leave it to God to execute judgement in his own time and his own way. Because the righteous have the hope that gives peace, they know everything will ultimately turn out just fine. But for the others, the people who do the persecuting, their actions are real sins, but the attitudes that produce the actions may be even more damning. For Latter-day Saints (as long as they feel no need to repent), such attitudes and actions virtually preclude even the possibility of the celestial resurrection which they anticipate for themselves, but which they would so vigorously deny to those who are burdened with the cultural sins that identify them as “others.”<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>?3 Nephi 12:9 -- LeGrand Baker -- Blessed are all the peacemakers Author : lbaker3 Nephi 12:9?And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God (3 Nephi 12:9).25 With the merciful [hesed – adj.] thou wilt shew thyself merciful [hesed – verb]; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright (Psalms 18:25). {1}The Savior was apparently paraphrasing that psalm when he said:7 Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy (3 Nephi 12:7).The Savior was probably paraphrasing Psalm 18 when he spoke those words. The Psalm reads:25 With the merciful [hesed – adj.] thou wilt shew thyself merciful [hesed – verb]; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright (Psalms 18:25). {A}As observed elsewhere, Psalm 25 is set in the context of our premortal covenants. In it, words translated “lovingkindnesses” and “mercy” are from the Hebrew word hesed. {B} The psalm uses the Hebrew word hesed four times, and by so doing, it brings those covenants into a deeply personal friendship/relationship. The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament shows the power of that friendship/relationship:We may venture the conjecture that even in cases where the context does not suggest such mutuality it is nevertheless implicit, because we are dealing with the closest of human bonds. {C}An explanation and clarification of their phrase, “dealing with the closest of human bonds,” is found in a new edition of Strong’s Concordance:hesed, unfailing love, loyal love, devotion. kindness, often based on a prior relationship, especially a covenant relationship. {D}There is a quality of personal power that transcends sorrow, pain, uncertainty, fear, and disappointment. The scriptures express it in two different ways. The first is “Hope” which means living as though the covenant is already fulfilled. Hope in the fulfillment of God’s covenants is the ultimate inner fortress against “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.”{1}The other way is expressed by such words as peace, peacemaker and peaceable. Peace is a gift one may give or receive. When the peace is from God it gives us hope. For ourselves, while hope is the power one carries within one’s Self, peace is an outward expression of that inner hope, and is therefore the power one shares with others. Peacemaker and peaceable are words that describe those who have hope and give peace as a gift to other people. That is all explained very well in the first few verses of Moroni 7. Mormon’s sermon is an elaboration on our Beatitude. Like the Beatitude, it begins by addressing those who have hope and can give peace, and, like the Beatitude, it concludes, “… that ye may become the sons of God.”{2}Mormon identifies his audience in terms of their having hope and their ability to give peace. He says:3 Wherefore, I would speak unto you that are of the church, that are the peaceable followers of Christ, and that have obtained a sufficient hope by which ye can enter into the rest of the Lord, from this time henceforth until ye shall rest with him in heaven.4 And now my brethren, I judge these things of you because of your peaceable walk with the children of men (Moroni 7:3-4).Here the phrase “sufficient hope” is the key to understanding these verses. It is also the key to understanding the entire sermon. A peacemaker is one who has “sufficient hope” to sustain his own peacefulness and thereby to sustain his “peaceable walk with the children of men.”In that same sermon Mormon asks and then answers:41 And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise (Moroni 7:41).The Book of Mormon itself ends with a kind of crescendo of faith, hope and charity, repeated three times in Ether 12, Moroni 7, and Moroni 10.Ether 12 teaches us about faith, hope, and charity, then in verse 39 it concludes with a personal visit between Moroni the SaviorMoroni 7 concludes by teaching us how we “may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen (Moroni 7:48).And in Moroni 10, Moroni teaches us that “Wherefore, there must be faith; and if there must be faith there must also be hope; and if there must be hope there must also be charity. And except ye have charity ye can in nowise be saved in the kingdom of God; neither can ye be saved in the kingdom of God if ye have not faith; neither can ye if ye have no hope (Moroni 10:20-21). Then Moroni concludes: “if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot (Moroni 10:33).”If what I have suggested is true, then the trilogy of faith, hope, and charity are also parts of pairings showing what one IS as related to what one DOES:Faith (pistis) is made effectual by being faithful (pistos);{3} that is by keeping one’s covenants. Faith and being faithful are essentially the same. That is, they are two sides of the same coin, for when the covenants one makes with God dominate our sense of self, then our always remembering and keeping those covenants is the honest expression of our Self.Hope is living as though God’s part of the covenants are already fulfilled. It is the power of our hope that enables us to help others experience peace. Hope is the power within one’s Self. Peace is our expression of that hope and is a gift to others. They are also the same, two sides of the same coin, for when hope defines what one is, then being peaceful and giving peace is what one does.Charity is love that brings one to salvation. Charity is a power within one’s Self. It is manifested by living the law of consecration. In the Book of Mormon charity is the ultimate goal to which we reach. In the Doctrine and Covenants the law of consecration is that goal. They are also the same, two sides of the same coin, for when charity is what one IS, then consecration is what one DOES.The threesome faith/faithful, hope/peace, and charity/consecration represent a sequence of progression. In the Beatitudes there are a lot of steps and much time between the first faith (actually “believe” {4} ) in verse 2 and peacemakers in verses 9-12, and it goes on to charity in verses 13-16. All those steps and the time it takes for us to achieve them is described in the phrase “endure to the end.”The Beatitude says, “And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” The word “called” can be read “named.” It identifies a royal king name. The new name associated with “peacemakers” in verse 9 is “children of God.” It is similar to the king name in Psalm 2 {5}and denotes sonship, priesthood, and kingship, just as does the phrase “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” in the next verse of the Beatitudes.These references to priesthood and kingship brings to our memory another use of “peace” in one of the most frequently quoted scriptures in the scriptures.{6} In Isaiah that scripture is the acknowledgment of the kingship of Jehovah. But for Abinadi it is also a promise of inheritance as a child of God. The Isaiah passage reads:6 Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! (Isaiah 52:6-7).But for Abinadi it is also a promise of inheritance as a child of God.14 And these are they who have published peace, who have brought good tidings of good, who have published salvation; and said unto Zion: Thy God reigneth!15 And O how beautiful upon the mountains were their feet!16 And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that are still publishing peace!17 And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who shall hereafter publish peace, yea, from this time henceforth and forever!18 And behold, I say unto you, this is not all. For O how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that is the founder of peace, yea, even the Lord, who has redeemed his people; yea, him who has granted salvation unto his people;19 For were it not for the redemption which he hath made for his people, which was prepared from the foundation of the world, I say unto you, were it not for this, all mankind must have perished.20 But behold, the bands of death shall be broken, and the Son reigneth, and hath power over the dead; therefore, he bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead (Mosiah 15:14-20).——————ENDNOTES———————————-Footnotes within the footnote{A} 25 With the merciful [hesed – adj, Strong # 2623 ] thou wilt shew thyself merciful [hesed – verb, Strong # 2616]; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright (Psalms 18:25). {A}{A} Katherine Doob Sakenfeld of Princeton University Seminary wrote a dissertation on “hesed” in which she argued that it meant “to do what is expected of one.” With regard to the covenant, God does what is expected (keep his covenant promises); man should also maintain “hesed” (keep his covenant promises).Katherine Doob Sakenfeld, The Meaning of Hesed in the Hebrew Bible: A New Inquiry (Missoula, Montana; Scholars Press for the Harvard Semitic Museum, 1978).{B} G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, eds., trans. Davod E. Green, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, 15 vols. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1986), article about hesed, 5:45-48). The Greek equivalent is Philadelphia, fraternal love, as explained in fn 905, p. 680.{C} John R. Kohlenberger III and James A. Swanson, The Strongest Strong’s, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), Hebrew dictionary # 2617.{1} Shakespeare, Hamlet: Act 3, Scene 1.For a discussion of the meanings of faith, hope, and charity see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition 1005-1043 , second edition 696-722.{2} Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition 1005-1043 , second edition 696-722 is a discussion of Moroni 7, including “faith” as pistis.{3} You know I don’t read either Greek or Hebrew so there isn’t much point in my trying to impress you by writing Greed words. But there is a point. “Faith” in our everyday language means something believing without evidence, or just wishing hard. Pistis, the Greek word that is translated “faith” in the New Testament, is about making a firm contract or covenant. Pistos is about keeping the terms of that contract or covenant. The words are so different from what our culture understands by “faith” that I put in the Greek words just to remind you I’m not talking about wishing hard or believing without any evidence to substantiate that belief.{4} Actually “believe” is correct rather than “faith.” That was before Baptism, so no covenant had been made yet. Therefore, “believe” rather than pistis.{5} See Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition 499-517, second edition 360-73.{6} Other places where Isaiah 52:5-10 is either quoted or paraphrased are: Nahum 1:15, Romans 10:15, Mosiah 12:21-24, 3 Nephi 20:39-41, D&C 128:19.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 12:8 -- LeGrand Baker -- the pure in heart shall see God Author : lbaker8 And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God (3 Nephi 12:8).The Lord defined the phrase, “pure in heart” in a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith: “Therefore, verily, thus saith the Lord, let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion—THE PURE IN HEART (D&C 97:21).” (That’s the only place in the Doctrine and Covenants where the words are written out in full capitol letters.) Zion is a community of Saints who live the law of consecration. In Missouri it did not work because the people were not “pure in heart,” but there are successful examples in history: Enoch, Melchizedek, 4 Nephi. The world we live in is the very antithesis of that. Nevertheless, there are now among us people who truly do live the law of consecration. These faithful Latter-day Saints, collectively and individually, are modern-day Zion.There is another use of the phrase “pure in heart” in the scriptures. It is similar, but not precisely the same as the definition in the Doctrine and Covenants. It was used by Jacob during a meeting attended by men, women and children. He lamented the assignment and said:10 But, notwithstanding the greatness of the task, I must do according to the strict commands of God, and tell you concerning your wickedness and abominations, in the presence of the pure in heart, and the broken heart, and under the glance of the piercing eye of the Almighty God (Jacob 2:10).Here and in the following chapter (Jacob 3:1-4), it is clear that by “pure in heart” Jacob is referring to abused women and children whose husbands are not keeping their covenants. In that usage, “pure in heart” seems to mean those who are innocent of — and therefore offended by — the sins committed by other people. In a Zion society like the City of Enoch, Jacob’s use of the phrase would not apply, because the only persons present would be those who are keeping all of God’s commandments and are living the law of consecration.The object of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to educate and perfect its members, and to give them an opportunity to live the law of consecration, and thereby to establish Zion. Ultimately the center of that anticipated community will be the New Jerusalem where the Savior will reign as King. A characteristic of the inhabitants of Zion — whether the Zion of Enoch’s time or the Zion of the Millennial Reign — is that its inhabitants will be comfortable in the presence of God. Unfortunately, it will be a long time before the inhabitants of our present world will be qualified to feel that.Fortunately, even though that is a great inconvenience, in reality of the condition of the world (unless it forcibly imposes itself upon us) it is of only marginal importance. This world/worldly condition need not be a deterrent to faithful Latter-day Saints because in our present society, living the law of consecration is an individual choice: a single person, a family, or many individuals scattered about in our non-Zion community may still constitute Zion. Being pure in heart, keeping all of one’s covenants, living the law of consecration, being a person of charity — all of that is entirely up to the individual. The society of Zion is made up of those individuals. In our world, each such individual constitutes a part of Zion and therefore each is the very personification of Zion.With only a few exceptions, such people in our time are essentially invisible in their non-Zion environment. Isaiah described these latter-day individuals who are Zion in a prophecy about the restoration of Israel. He describes true Latter-day Saints this way:2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me (1 Nephi 21:2).Let me help you decode it:And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword[The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17)];in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me[The hand above the head depicts an ordination to the priesthood],and made me a polished shaft[The shaft is an arrow kept in a quiver. In ancient times arrows were polished and then sealed against warping by anointing them with oil. This person who has the priesthood is described as having the power, speed and accuracy of an arrow.];in his quiver hath he hid me[The person is hidden in plain sight. That is, he is overlooked by the world that does not recognize his goodness or his priesthood power].”Because such a person does not advertize his generosity, or flaunt his calling in the Church or his priesthood authority, the world does not recognize him for who he is. Yet, he is pure in heart. He lives the law of consecration because he is a person of charity. He is, even though only an individual, the very embodiment of “Zion.”Why the Saints are hidden is explained in the Gospel of Philip where the Savior is quoted as saying,The perfect man not only cannot be restrained, but also cannot be seen. For if he is seen he will be put under restraint.{1}Hugh Nibley devoted his classic work, Approaching Zion, to the understanding what Zion is. He wrote:I have presently covenanted and promised to observe most strictly certain instructions set forth with great clarity and simplicity in the Doctrine and Covenants. These are designated as the law of consecration, which are absolutely essential for the building up of the kingdom on earth and the ultimate establishment of Zion. {2}Nibley later added:This law, the consummation of the laws of obedience and sacrifice, is the threshold of the celestial kingdom, the last and hardest requirement made of men in this life.{3}As Nibley observes, the pure in heart, living the law of consecration, being charity, being Zion, is “the threshold of the celestial kingdom.” Therefore, the second part of the Beatitude, “for they shall see God,” is the necessary conclusion to its beginning: “blessed are the pure in heart.”Before the Savior’s death, he promised his Twelve Apostles:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him (John 14:15-21).The Prophet Joseph explained that passage this way:Now what is this other Comforter? It is no more nor less that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; and this is the sum and substance of the whole matter; that when any man obtains this last Comforter, he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him, or appear unto him from time to time, and even He will manifest the Father unto him, and they will take up their abode with him, and the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him, and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; and this is the state and place the ancient Saints arrived at when they had such glorious visions—Isaiah, Ezekiel, John upon the Isle of Patmos, St. Paul in the three heavens, and all the Saints who held communion with the general assembly and Church of the First Born.{4}The pure in heart who will see the Savior will not just see him from a distance. The relationships that are established between him and those who love him are described by him as being that of an eternal family. When he spoke to the brother of Jared he said:14 Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters (Ether 3:14).——————-ENDNOTES{1}?Gospel of Philip in Wilhelm Schneemelcher, ed., New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. 1, Gospels and Related Writings (Louisville, Kentucky, Westminster, 1991). p. 201, #106.{2} Hugh Nibley, Approaching Zion, edited by Don E. Norton (Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1989), 164.{3} Hugh Nibley, Approaching Zion, 168.{4} Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, selected and arranged by Joseph Fielding Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1976),150-51.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>3 Nephi 12:7 & Alma 38:1-15 -- LeGrand Baker -- duties of priesthood and kingship. Author : lbaker3 Nephi 12:7 & Alma 38:1-157 And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (3 Nephi 12:7).Many of the Beatitudes are quotes or paraphrases from other scriptures, so to understand them we must place them in their original context. It is likely that this Beatitude is a paraphrase of Psalm 18 which reads:25 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright (Psalms 18:25).That verse uses the Hebrew word hesed twice, but in different forms: “With the merciful [hesed as an adjective] thou wilt shew thyself merciful [hesed as a verb].”Hesed is one of the most beautiful words I know. In Psalm 25, which is set in the context of our premortal covenants, hesed brings those covenants into a deeply personal friendship/relationship. The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament shows the power of that friendship/relationship:We may venture the conjecture that even in cases where the context does not suggest such mutuality it is nevertheless implicit, because we are dealing with the closest of human bonds.An explanation and clarification of their phrase, “dealing with the closest of human bonds,” is found in a new edition of Strong’s Concordance:hesed, unfailing love, loyal love, devotion. kindness, often based on a prior relationship, especially a covenant relationship.Verse 7 might read, “And blessed are those who give hesed, for they shall obtain hesed.”Even if that is not correct, verse 7 is so succinct and powerful that rather than leading to a specific referent, it leads us to an overarching idea. Its place in the Beatitudes teaches us that it is about how to be a priest and priestess — a king and queen in the Kingdom of God. That “how” is the key to all that follows: the Law of Consecration is what one DOES when Charity is what one IS. If one is charity, then the remaining promises of the Beatitudes will come in the course of time. If one is not charity, those blessings remain inaccessible.The sequence of the blessings and responsibilities outlined in the Beatitudes is this:(v. 1) follow the brethren,(v. 2) first principles of the gospel,(v. 3) endowment for the living,(v. 4) endowment for the dead,(v. 5) keeping eternal covenants,(v. 6) living for righteousness [priesthood and temple correctness] and to be filled with the Holy Ghost,(v. 7) How to be a king and a priest — Law of Consecration and Charity,(v. 8) the pure in heart [Zion] shall see God,(v. 9) peacemakers receive the new name of “children of God,”(v. 10-12) invulnerability, and ultimate kingship(v. 13) our responsibilities as missionaries,(v. 14-16) our responsibilities to other members of the Church.In that sequence, “blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” is the bridge that leads to eternal life or the detour sign that leads to another place.In his letter from Liberty jail, the Prophet Joseph described both the bridge and the detour. He urged the Saints:45 Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.46 The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever (D&C 121:45-46).But in that same letter he warned:36 That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.37 That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man (D&C 121:36-37).—-The focal point of Moses’s Tabernacle was the Mercy Seat, the throne of God that sat upon the lid of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies. It is significant that the word that is translated “mercyseat” in the New Testament is the same word which is translated “atone” elsewhere, so the name of the Lord’s throne might also be the “seat of Atonement.” That is consistent with Enoch exclamation, “naught but peace, justice, and truth is the habitation of thy throne” (Moses 7:31). To be merciful is a primary characteristic of one who exercises in righteousness the judgment responsibilities of priesthood and sacral kingship. As the pattern for that, Psalm 98 is a celebration of God’s judgment in righteousness:1 O sing unto the Lord a new song;for he hath done marvellous things:his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.2 The Lord hath made known his salvation:his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.3 He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel:all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.4 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth:make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.5 Sing unto the Lord with the harp;with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.6 With trumpets and sound of cornetmake a joyful noise before the Lord, the King.7 Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof;the world, and they that dwell therein.8 Let the floods clap their hands:let the hills be joyful together9 Before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth:with righteousness shall he judge the world,and the people with equity10 Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth:the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved:he shall judge the people righteously.11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein:then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice13 Before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth:?he shall judge the world with righteousness,and the people with his truth (Psalm 98:1-13).The responsibility and power that are implicit in the titles of priest and sacral king are to judge righteously. As in English, the Hebrew word for judge means one is empowered to condemn, absolve, or to choose. It can also mean to establish a standard of excellence by which one may conduct one’s Self and to help one adhere to that standard. Thus, in anticipation of learning how to do that, the psalmist sang:7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart,when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments(Psalm 119:7).In his letter from Liberty jail, the Prophet Joseph echoed that sentiment. He urged the Saints:45 Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.46 The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever (D&C 121:45-46).And in section 88, the Lord explained why that must be so:40 For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own; justice continueth its course and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth all things (D&C 88:40).Mercy is a necessary attribute of both priests and sacral kings. In the Beatitudes, the Savior has brought his audience to the place in the festival temple drama where the king has also shown that he—in the depths of this world’s experiences, the worst environment and the closest to hell that his eternal odyssey has brought him—here he has again shown himself to be worthy of his crown.It is apparent that the Beatitudes are not just a list of desirable attributes and blessings. They are tied together as a chain with the conjunction “and,” making them a sequence of ideas that build upon each other. In that sequence, learning to judge with mercy is the crowning characteristic of the meek, just as it is prerequisite to what follows.In the festival drama, this is where the people sing the 24th Psalm. Jehovah has conquered death and hell, but in a less powerful way, the king has also. They come in triumph together to the new kingdom where there is a new Jerusalem, a new temple, and the people are Zion. In the 3 Nephi chronology, it is when the Savior comes to his temple, commends Nephi for his steadfastness, and gives him the authority of priest and king. To all the others who had gathered at the temple, it is the time when the Savior celebrates their integrity, and acknowledges them as priests and sacral kings.————————-Alma 38:1-15 — LeGrand Baker — duties of priesthood and kingship.A few days ago, my friend Thomas Hardin suggested we read Alma 38 together. As we read, we realized that the Savior’s words “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy” are a magnificent synopsis of the principles taught by Alma to his son Shiblon. This is not the place to do a careful analysis of that chapter, but I would like to go through it with you and just point out some of the code words and phrases Alma uses.1 My son, give ear to my words, for I say unto you, even as I said unto Helaman, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land; and inasmuch as ye will not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence.Here, as elsewhere in the Book of Mormon, the phrase “prosper in the land” is code for something that is much more important than a good potato crop. Its antithesis is to be cut off from the presence of the Lord. In that context, the code meaning of “to prosper in the land” is to be in, or to be invited to come into his presence.2 And now, my son, I trust that I shall have great joy in you, because of your steadiness and your faithfulness unto God; for as you have commenced in your youth to look to the Lord your God, even so I hope that you will continue in keeping his commandments; for blessed is he that endureth to the end.All of the ideas in this verse are focused on the same theme: “Trust.” In the Old Testament trust is equated to “faith” in the New. “Faith” is translated from the Greek word pistis, which denotes making and fulfilling the terms of a contract. We can wish something will happen without there first being a covenant or contract, but without one there is no rational basis for trust or pistis. Similarly, “faithfulness” means keeping one’s covenants — like integrity where there is no gap between what one says and what one does, and “enduring to the end” is a Job-like lifelong integrity.3 I say unto you, my son, that I have had great joy in thee already, because of thy faithfulness and thy diligence, and thy patience and thy long-suffering among the people of the Zoramites.Whether deliberate on Alma’s part or not, this verse is an echo of the principles in Psalm 25 which is referenced by the Savior in verse 5 of the Beatitudes. There the meek are defined as those who keep the covenants they made at the Council in Heaven, and all of those attributes (faithfulness, diligence, patience, and long-suffering) are referenced in that psalm.4 For I know that thou wast in bonds; yea, and I also know that thou wast stoned for the word’s sake; and thou didst bear all these things with patience because the Lord was with thee; and now thou knowest that the Lord did deliver thee.5 And now my son, Shiblon, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day.These two verse are an acknowledgment of the validity of the Covenant of Invulnerability. It is the covenant that God made with us that he will enable us to keep the covenants we made at the Council in Heaven. Stephen and I have discussed that in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition pages 285-290, second edition pages 201-206. The second edition is available on this website under “published books.”6 Now, my son, I would not that ye should think that I know these things of myself, but it is the Spirit of God which is in me which maketh these things known unto me; for if I had not been born of God I should not have known these things.When Alma says “it is the Spirit of God which is in me which maketh these things known unto me,” he is talking about the words of the (patriarchal) blessing he has just pronounced. That is, his statements about the quality of his son’s soul, the promise of invulnerability that assures him that if he endures to the end he will receive all the blessings that were promised to him at the Council. Alma will now use his own experiences as the criteria for understanding the blessing he has given his son.7 But behold, the Lord in his great mercy [mercy is probably hesed, just as it appears to be in the Beatitude] sent his angel to declare unto me that I must stop the work of destruction among his people; yea, and I have seen an angel face to face, and he spake with me, and his voice was as thunder, and it shook the whole earth.8 And it came to pass that I was three days and three nights in the most bitter pain and anguish of soul; and never, until I did cry out unto the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy, did I receive a remission of my sins. But behold, I did cry unto him and I did find peace to my soul.Alma equates receiving a remission of his sins with “peace to my soul.” Like most temple-code words, “peace” is a word that is very common in our everyday language, so the word is not something that catches our attention when we casually read it in the scriptures. However, this “peace” is the ultimate power to transcend sorrow and uncertainty. As the Savior promised his apostles,27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).Peace is the highpoint of the Beatitudes where the Savior says in verse 9, “And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called (that is, they will receive a new covenant name) ‘the children of God’ (3 Nephi 12:8-9).” I will discuss that in more detail when we get to that verse in the Beatitudes.9 And now, my son, I have told you this that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness.There is an insightful essay on the qualities of wisdom in the first four chapters of Proverbs. It credits one who has wisdom as being one who understands truth in the way that God understands truth. Here Alma uses that same definition by equating learning “wisdom” with learning “that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness.” In short, wisdom, as it is used here and elsewhere in the scriptures, means knowing the ways of God and the powers and the person of the Savior. Similarly, when Abinadi tells the priests of Noah, “Ye have not applied your hearts to understanding; therefore, ye have not been wise (Mosiah 12:27),” he is telling them that they neither know the truth of the scriptures nor of the gospel.When Alma identified that the Savior as “the life and the light of the world…the word of truth and righteousness,” he has given his son a comprehensive definition of who and what the Savior is.10 And now, as ye have begun to teach the word even so I would that ye should continue to teach; and I would that ye would be diligent and temperate in all things.“Diligent and temperate” sounds like an oxymoron. Yet, when they are brought together as a single personal attribute, they describe an awesome personality. “Diligence” is the matrix in which all of the sequence of Peter’s qualities of perfection fit into a beautiful whole. (2 Peter 1:5-10.) Alma describes that personality trait in the next four verses:11 See that ye are not lifted up unto pride; yea, see that ye do not boast in your own wisdom, nor of your much strength.That statement presupposes the reality of Shiblon’s wisdom and “much strength,” and it does not suggest that Shiblon try to denigrate those virtues. However, his father continues,12 Use boldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love; see that ye refrain from idleness.The most profound of all Alma’s statements in this blessing may be this one: “bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love.” Love — pure love transcends all other passions. It is charity — the sealing power that characterizes celestial people. Lesser passions, if not bridled, erode that sealing quality with a need to indulge and satisfy One’s Self. Alma’s words are a promise that is a key all the other parts of the blessing he has given his son: “bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love.”13 Do not pray as the Zoramites do, for ye have seen that they pray to be heard of men, and to be praised for their wisdomHere is another definition of “wisdom.” In their self-righteousness, the Zoramites could not recognize that the wisdom they displayed was only an illusion. As they strutted themselves in its glory they were naked, just as in the story of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” Nephi described them perfectly:28 O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish (2 Nephi 9:28).Alma continues:14 Do not say: O God, I thank thee that we are better than our brethren; but rather say: O Lord, forgive my unworthiness, and remember my brethren in mercy—yea, acknowledge your unworthiness before God at all times.Alma concludes his blessing with a prayer. The prayer and the blessing are both encapsulated in a single word. The word is peace.15 And may the Lord bless your soul, and receive you at the last day into his kingdom, to sit down in peace. Now go, my son, and teach the word unto this people. Be sober. My son, farewell.The other day, when Thomas suggested we read Alma 38 together, he told me that when he was a young teenager, his father sat with him and read this chapter, recommending it to him as the standard by which he should conduct his life. Thomas has a very wise father.( For a discussion of the foreordained responsibilities of the king and queen, see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, the chapters beginning, “Act 1, Scene 2: The Royal Wedding in Psalm 45.”)<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>?3 Nephi 12:6 -- LeGrand Baker -- ‘Filled with the Holy Ghost’ Author : lbaker3 Nephi 12:6 — LeGrand Baker — ‘Filled with the Holy Ghost’6 And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy GhostRighteousness is the Hebrew zedek, and means priesthood and temple correctness: doing the right thing in the right way in the right place, dressed the right way, saying the right words, holding one’s hand the right way, and with the right authority. For a fuller discussion of zedek see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition, 279-286; second edition (the one in this website under “published books), pages 189-201. This discussion of 3 Nephi 12:6 is also from that book.To “hunger and thirst after righteousness [zedek]” is the chief characteristic of the meek—those who remember (or are re-taught by the Spirit) to keep the covenants they made at the Council in Heaven, as we discussed with 3 Nephi 12:5.In Hebrew tradition, as Adam and Eve left their Garden home, Satan and his henchmen began to bring their plan into play. They planned to “cast men into great distractions and pains in life, so that their men should be preoccupied with life, and not have time to attend on the Holy Spirit.” {1} But the Lord sent angels to teach Adam about sacrifice and the Savior’s Atonement so that Adam and Eve would know how to come home again. Thereafter, the great desire of the righteous was to find the way to “return to the Garden” where they could regain their garments of light, again enjoy the company of God, and where they could eat freely of the fruit of the tree of life and drink of the waters of life.That also became the ultimate promise to the faithful Saints in New Testament times. John the Beloved concludes his Revelation with this vision of the celestial world:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. …6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. …1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. …13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. …16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely (Revelation 21:1-2, 6-7; 22:1-4, 13-14, 16-17).Alma understood that the fruit of the tree of life and the waters of life were both the blessing to the righteous and the product of their own righteousness. He said:40 And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the tree of life.41 But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life.42 And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.43 Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you (Alma 32:40-43).The Savior explained how that is so. He first taught it to the people in Jerusalem:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever (John 6:53-58). {2}And he taught it more fully to the Saints in America:3 And it came to pass that he brake bread again and blessed it, and gave to the disciples to eat.4 And when they had eaten he commanded them that they should break bread, and give unto the multitude.5 And when they had given unto the multitude he also gave them wine to drink, and commanded them that they should give unto the multitude.6 Now, there had been no bread, neither wine, brought by the disciples, neither by the multitude;7 But he truly gave unto them bread to eat, and also wine to drink.8 And he said unto them: He that eateth this bread eateth of my body to his soul; and he that drinketh of this wine drinketh of my blood to his soul; and his soul shall never hunger nor thirst, but shall be filled (3 Nephi 20:3-8). {3}This doctrine was not unknown to ancient Israel. It is not expressed that explicitly in the psalms we now have, but the understanding is there. Psalm 143 is a prayer. Ancient Israelites prayed with their hands lifted toward heaven (“I stretch forth my hands unto thee”). Recalling the peace of the Council in Heaven (“I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works”), its author longs to be there again:1 Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.4 Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works;I muse on the work of thy hands.6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land.7 Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.9 Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.11 Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.12 And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant (Psalm 143:1-12).The 63rd Psalm is also a prayer—one that is simply running over with ancient temple imagery:1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.7 Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.8 My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.9 But those th at seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.10 They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.11 But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped (Psalm 63:1-11).The blessing promised in the Beatitudes to “all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness” is that “they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.”The classic—and probably the best known—LDS statement about the gift of the Holy Ghost was written by one of the Church’s foremost early poets, Parley P. Pratt:The gift of the Holy Spirit adapts itself to all these organs or attributes. It quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, expands and purifies all the natural passions and affections; and adapts them, by the gift of wisdom, to their lawful use. It inspires, develops, cultivates and matures all the fine-toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings and affections of our nature. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness and charity. It develops beauty of person, form and features. It tends to health, vigor, animation and social feeling. It develops and invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual man. It strengthens, invigorates, and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being.In the presence of such persons, one feels to enjoy the light of their countenances, as the genial rays of a sunbeam. Their very atmosphere diffuses a thrill, a warm glow of pure gladness and sympathy, to the heart and nerves of others who have kindred feelings, or sympathy of spirit. No matter if the parties are strangers, entirely unknown to each other in person or character; no matter if they have never spoken to each other, each will be apt to remark in his own mind, and perhaps exclaim, when referring to the interview—“O what an atmosphere encircles that stranger! How my heart thrilled with pure and holy feelings in his presence! What confidence and sympathy he inspired! His countenance and spirit gave me more assurance, than a thousand written recommendations, or introductory letters.” Such is the gift of the Holy Spirit, and such are its operations, when received through the lawful channel – the divine, eternal Priesthood. {4}In the ancient Temple, hungering and thirsting after zedek ultimately focused on the coronation ordinances of sonship.As the Holy Ghost comforts, {5} teaches, cleanses (Moroni 6:4), sanctifies (3 Nephi 27:20), and empowers us to transcend the sorrows of this world, its empowerment may imply a restoration and maturation of the garment of light. That seems consistent with the Lord’s words to the Prophet Joseph.33 For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies.34 They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God.35 And also all they who receive this priesthood receive me, saith the Lord;36 For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me;37 And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father;38 And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him.39 And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood.40 Therefore, all those who receive the priesthood, receive this oath and covenant of my Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved (D&C 84:33-40).To “be filled with the Holy Ghost” is ultimately to fulfill the command to “receive the Holy Ghost.” It is the necessary prerequisite to accomplishing the next step in the Savior’s outline in the Beatitudes.—————————————ENDNOTES{1} Hypostasis of the Archons, trans. Bullard, 29, lines 7-11.{2} See Matthew 26:26-28. Mark 14:22-24, 1 Corinthians 11:24-25, Moroni 4-5, 3 Nephi 18:1-11. It is interesting that Mormon does not mention that Jesus also ate and drank with his disciples. His apparently not doing so may reflect what he told his apostles in Jerusalem: “Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God” (Mark 14:25).{3} According to a number of sources, some early Christians thought of the cross as a tree of life, and that the Savior’s body was the fruit of that tree, and his blood was the waters of life. See Griggs, “Tree of Life,” 29. The Gospel of Philip says the cross was made of olive wood, in The Nag Hammadi Library in English, ed. James M. Robinson,153.{4} Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology (Liverpool, F.D. Richards & London, L.D.S. Book Depot,1855), 98-99.{5} For a discussion of two Comforters, see Smith, Teachings of the Prophet, 149.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>?3 Nephi 12:5 & Psalm 25 -- LeGrand Baker -- Covenants made at the Council in Heaven Author : lbaker3 Nephi 12:5 & Psalm 25 — LeGrand Baker — Covenants made at the Council in Heaven5 And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (3 Nephi 12:5).The Savior’s words “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” are lifted almost verbatim from the psalms. He is quoting Psalm 37:11, “The meek shall inherit the earth: and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Psalm 25 greatly amplifies the meaning of “meek.” The psalm expands the blessings of meekness — and therefore the meaning of the Savior’s Beatitude — to the promise of an eternal family. It promises that not just the meek, but also the children of the meek, will inherit the earth. It is also in this psalm that we learn that the meek are those who keep their eternal covenants they made at the Council in Heaven (it actually says that) and are therefore meek before God.In the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord explained that the earth was created so “the poor and the meek of the earth shall inherit it” in its glorified, celestial state:17 And the redemption of the soul is through him that quickeneth all things, in whose bosom it is decreed that the poor and the meek of the earth shall inherit it.18 Therefore, it must needs be sanctified from all unrighteousness, that it may be prepared for the celestial glory.19 For after it hath filled the measure of its creation, it shall be crowned with glory, even with the presence of God the Father;20 That bodies who are of the celestial kingdom may possess it forever and ever; for, for this intent was it made and created, and for this intent are they sanctified (D&C 88:17-20).Thus, the words “meek” and “poor” identify those who will inherit the celestial glory. That use of “poor” is consistent with the Savior’s words, “Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” That use of “meek” is also consistent with the way the word is used elsewhere in the scriptures, as in Isaiah 61 where the prophet wrote that the Lord was anointed “to preach good tidings to the meek.” Joseph F. Smith quoted that verse, and added that among those to whom the Lord preached were “the noble and great ones who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God” (D&C 138:42, 55).Meekness is not timidity; it is power. It is the power to do or say what the Lord tells one to do or say, without fear, boastfulness, belligerence, or contention but with humility, kindness, charity, and resolve. One of the best examples of meekness in the Book of Mormon is Abinadi, standing defiantly before King Noah while delivering the Lord’s message to him and his priests. In this case “meekness” is descriptive of the prophet’s attitude toward God (and probably toward Alma), but not of his attitude toward King Noah and his priests when he defies them to touch him until he has delivered his message.The following is a slightly edited version of the discussions of “meek” found in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, second edition.My dear friend Jim Cannon describes meekness as the ability to accept offence without being offended. That is a wise perspective, and it works well in many scriptures. However there is another meaning of “meek” that makes it one of the most significant words in the subtextual language of the scriptures. It is one of those “code words” that was never intended to be a code word, because that meaning of “meekness” is clearly explained in the Psalms.Psalm 25 is an intensely personal statement. The speaker may have been a single individual, or the psalm may have been sung by everyone in the congregation. The individual who sings it in the ancient temple drama is so very human that whether the psalm were sung by one person or the entire congregation would not change the personal nature of the hymn. The Lord’s statement, “For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads” (D&C 25:12), can be true whether one is singing alone, with a congregation, or just listening.Most other scriptures that tell about the Council in Heaven make it seem very distant and detached because the accounts are about supermen like Abraham, Isaiah, or Lehi. Psalm 25 is not just about the king, but it is about Everyman. It seems to bring the Council home to the fireside where its covenants are a central part of ordinary daily lives. It is a prayer in which one lifts one’s soul (not just one’s hands) as an evidence of one’s worthiness. In the prayer, the person unabashedly exposes his inner Self, making himself vulnerable to all those who can know the meaning of his words. He is one who has unbounded faith in the Lord—one who knows he had made some very serious covenants in the Council—and one who is trying to keep those covenants while muddling through the dreariness that is life in this lonely, dark world. In the Book of Mormon, Nephi’s psalm in 2 Nephi 4 is so much like Psalm 25 that one wonders if Nephi may have been reflection on its meaning when he wrote his own.The Meek in Psalm 251 Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.2 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamedOne would be ashamed if one had borne testimony of God’s covenant, but God didn’t keep them. The next lines suggest that the covenant he was asking God to keep is the promise that God would make a way for the psalmist to keep his own covenants:let not mine enemies triumph over me“Triumph,” in the context of this psalm, suggests that they would be able to prevent him from keeping those covenants:3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without causeThe word “wait” appears three times in this psalm. Each is translated from the same Hebrew word that means to anticipate, “to look for eagerly.” {1} The shame mentioned would only come if the Lord did not appear and the person who waits is disappointed. The blessings of waiting on the Lord is taught by Isaiah, where he writes:31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).That the psalmist had that same idea in mind is clearly demonstrated by his next phrase, where his words “ways” and “paths” have the same encoded connotation.4 Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me?for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.Psalm 25 is set in the context of our premortal covenants, and the next verse contains a word that brings those covenants into a deeply personal friendship/relationship. The word is translated “lovingkindnesses” and is from the Hebrew word hesed. {2} The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament shows the power of that friendship/relationship:We may venture the conjecture that even in cases where the context does not suggest such mutuality it is nevertheless implicit, because we are dealing with the closest of human bonds. {3}An explanation and clarification of their phrase, “dealing with the closest of human bonds,” is found in a new edition of Strong’s Concordance:hesed, unfailing love, loyal love, devotion. kindness, often based on a prior relationship, especially a covenant relationship. {4}Even though the hesed relationship described in this psalm is between the king who speaks the words, and Jehovah to whom he addresses them, it must be remembered that in the Israelite temple drama the king represented every man in the congregation. Therefore, the hesed relationship described here also evokes the terms of the covenant between Jehovah and each worthy man. That being so, it follows that this same hesed relationship also exists as an eternal, fraternal bond of each man with Jehovah, perhaps with their prophet/king, and most certainly each other. Consideration of the this-worldly continuation of those fraternal relationships brings us back to Peter’s assurance that “brotherly kindness” (philadelphia) is prerequisite to making one’s calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:1-11).6 Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses [hesed, plural]; for they have been ever of old.Here is another example of where the phrase “of old” is a reference to the Council. {5} The prayer bears testimony that he knows that his and Jehovah’s hesed relationship is now even as it was in the beginning, at the Council in Heaven, and remains forever—unchanged:7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy [hesed] remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.It is apparent that the author of this psalm had an almost boundless knowledge of the whole plan of salvation, yet is burdened by his own human frailties as he asks the Lord to remember their former hesed relationship. Nephi’s psalm echoes a similar lament:17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.18 I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me.19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted (2 Nephi 4:17-19).The 25th Psalm continues:8 Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the wayHere again, “the way” is the frequently used code in the psalms that refers to the sequence of the ordinances and covenants, and connotes the “way” or “path” by which one climbs the “mountain” that is symbolic of the Jerusalem Temple Mount, and/or the “way” one conducts his life after leaving the Temple. The generic “in the way” implies the introductory ideas taught to the initiate there. There is a subtle, but very real difference between teaching “sinners in the way,” and teaching the meek “his way,” as appears in the next verse. “Sinners,” apparently, are people who have yet to be taught to understand—adults who were repenting, or young adults who typically had been so absorbed in growing up in this world that their premortal covenants were not only lost from memory but also from seeming importance. As they mature such “sinners” must be taught “in the way”—the generic principles that have universal application. Then in “his way, as the focus of the prayer moves forward and the singer recounts his own spiritual maturation:9 The meek will he guide in judgment:In these words, we begin to understand the meaning of “meek.” That he will led them in judgment evinces that the singer has learned, and is still learning, to judge righteously. That represents the essence of the powers of both priesthood and kingship. The qualities of that judgment are described in the next verse and are enshrined in the Savior’s words, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.”and the meek will he teach his wayThe person who sings this prayer is no longer taught in the generic “the way,” but is taught God’s way. He has learned how to judge with “mercy and truth,” and therefore can be taught what he otherwise could not know:10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy [hesed] and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimoniesIn the phrase, “the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,” “mercy” is hesed and emphasize that covenant friendship relationship; “truth” is that criteria upon which the judgment is made.“Covenant,” is another reference to the covenants made at the Council, see?sode in v. 14.Scholars are not quite sure what “testimonies” mean. But it seems to be a physical testimony (a pistis {6}) of God’s covenants with man. In the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant is frequently called the Ark of the Testimony, {7} and Johnson suggested that our verse is a reference to an embroidered copy of the Ten Commandments the king wore on his person. {8} So verse ten might read, “All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his commandments.”If that is correct, it appears the meek are those who keep the covenants they made at the Council (and that they re-made here), and also keep the commandments they receive in this world. One gets the same idea from psalms where the “testimony” is related to the experience on Sinai: “He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them” (Psalm 99:7). Keeping the commandments associated with the testimony seems to be a kind of authorization or ratification on the part of men and women, so that God can bless them according to those covenants:11 For thy name’s sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.“For thy name’s sake” is another instance of the covenant-name’s being used to represent the covenant itself. The meaning of that phrase would remain almost the same if the word were changed so it read: “For thy covenant’s sake.”It is significant that at this point in this psalm that celebrates man’s eternal success, there is an expression of one’s total dependence upon the principle of repentance and the Savior’s Atonement:12 What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall chooseThat reads: “What man is he that feareth [honor, respect, love, ‘humility’ as that word is understood in Ether 12] the Lord? him [the man] shall he [the Lord] teach in the way [same temple codeword as path] that he [the Lord] shall choose.”That is different from “in the way.” This is no longer the generic teachings, ordinances, and covenants taught to “sinners.” Rather, it is the “way” the Lord “shall choose”—it is individually a teaching from the Spirit, designed to enable one to fulfill the covenantal assignments made at the Council:13 His [the person’s] soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earthThis is the promise of eternal family. Here is the covenant that the children of the meek, rather than just the meek themselves, shall inherit the earth. As discussed above, the new name given to the dead in the coronation passage of Isaiah 61 is another example of the Old Testament teachings of eternal increase.14 The secret [sode] of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.This verse is the key to understanding the entire psalm because it transports all of the hesed relationships mentioned earlier back to their origins in the Council in Heaven. The word “secret” is translated from the Hebrew word sode, so the verse reads, “The secret [sode] of the Lord is with them that fear him [“Fear” means respect, honor, revere, but there is also a very strong connotation of love and admiration associated with love]. The verse says: Those who honor the Lord will know the secrets of the Council; and the Lord will show them [the meek] his [the Lord’s] covenant. That is, he will show them the covenants they made with him at the Council. Such information is an ultimate empowerment. One can not know where he is going unless he knows where he as been and what purpose he has in the journey.As we have already observed, a sode experience is when an individual has a vision in which he is returned to the Council in Heaven to be re-taught about the assignment he received, and to re-affirm the covenants he made there. But, as the scriptures make clear, the Lord need not take Everyman back to the Council in order to teach each his premortal covenants—that was what the New Year festival temple drama was for; and of course, among other things, that is what the Holy Ghost is for.The whole meaning of the 25th psalm is focused on that single verse. Indeed, the whole meaning of the New Year festival drama may also do so. Those words define the “meek” and put everything else in the 25th Psalm into its proper context. Verse 14 fits well with the ideas in verse 10 where one learned, “All the paths [codeword] of the Lord are mercy [being a righteous judge] and truth [knowledge things as they were, are, and will be] unto such as keep his covenant [the covenant made at the Council].”The meek, then, are those who keep the covenants they made at the Council in Heaven. In that definition, the ordinary meaning of the word “meek” is not lost, but in these contexts, “meekness” has only to do with one’s being meek before the Lord, and has nothing whatever to do with being meek before men. Thus it was written of the prophet who defied Pharaoh and defeated all the armies of Egypt, “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). What that meant was explained by the Lord to Miriam and Aaron, in the next few verses. The King James Version gives a somewhat muddled translation of that explanation, but the Tanakh makes that explanation very clear:The Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, stopped at the entrance of the Tent, and called out, “Aaron and Miriam!” The two of them came forward; and He said, “Hear these My words: When a prophet of the Lord arises among you, I make Myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; he is trusted throughout My household. With him I speak mouth to mouth, plainly and not in riddles, and he beholds the likeness of the Lord. How then did you not shrink from speaking against My servant Moses!” {9}The important statement is that Moses “is trusted throughout My household.” The “household” of God would be the same as the “household” of a king. That is, it would consist of not only his immediate family but also his official entourage—the inner circle of his counselors and court leaders. In the case of God, his “household” would be the members of the Council in Heaven. So the Lord’s statement that Moses “is trusted throughout My household” is a reference to the fact that Moses was originally called—and is presently sustained—by the other members of the Council. The statement that “Moses was very meek, above all the men,” simply means he kept with care and rectitude the covenants he made with God.One of the best examples in the Book of Mormon of a prophet who was truly meek is Abinadi standing before King Noah, defiantly asserting that Noah cannot have the power to kill him until after the prophet has delivered the message the Lord has sent him to deliver! {10}To return to Psalm 25; the verse we are discussing reads:14 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and will shew them his covenant.That verse posits that the sode—the secret decisions of the Heavenly Council, made, sanctioned, and sealed by covenant in the presence of the Lord—is made known to those who honor him because the Lord would show them what that covenant was. That was done in generic form during the festival temple drama. Thereafter, by the power of the Holy Ghost each individual could be led to understand the intent of the specific covenant he had made. Then he might know what to do and how to live to fulfill that covenant.An excellent illustration is the story of Jean Wunderlich. {11} At the end of World War II, he was called to be the first post-war mission president in West Germany. His assignment would be to find the remnants of the Saints there and help them come together and make the church a viable organization again. After receiving the call, he and his wife traveled to Salt Lake City where he was to be set apart by President David O. McKay. When they entered the prophet’s office, President McKay stood, came from behind his desk, welcomed his guests, and invited them to sit down. Jean’s wife sat in a chair by the door. Jean sat in a chair that the prophet had moved to the center of the room.President McKay placed his hands on Jean’s head and began to give him a blessing. Here, Jean stopped his narrative, his eyes lit up, and he said, “When the prophet has his hands on your head, you listen—and I was listening!” However, Jean said that President McKay had spoken only a few sentences when he gave a command that introduced Jean into the most powerful spiritual experience of his life. He saw a beautiful light, and other things which he did not describe. Jean said he again became aware of the prophet and the room, only when the blessing was finished, and he felt President McKay’s hands lift from his head. Baker recalls, “Jean said that was the most significant experience of his whole life, and his telling me became one of the most significant conversations of mine. He said he was not telling me a story, he was giving me a gift. The gift he gave me was the words of the command which the prophet spoke, which initiated Jean’s profound experience. Those words were these: ‘Be true to the Law of your own Being.’”Jean commented that in LDS theology “law” has an eternal connotation, and the command to be true to that law suggests that one might also apostatize from it—that one may be at variance with who and what one really is. As Jean understood it, “the law of one’s own being” is simply what one IS—the individual personalities we each have developed and nurtured from the beginnings of our premortal cognizance.He suggested that sin is simply one’s being in violation of the eternal law that is one’s Self—defying the law of one’s own being. He said that there are some things which none of us can do without doing violence to our Selves, such as stealing, blaspheming, and hurting other people. These generic sins are all covered by the basic commandments. But there are also things that are specific sins to only one individual, and are not sins to everyone else. He said he believed that a chief function of the Holy Ghost is to help one bring one’s earthly life into perfect accord with that law.The phrase “law of one’s own being” is not found in the scriptures, but the concept is there, and the word “law” is used in connection with that concept. to understand its origin, objective, and primary consequences—its relationship to the preliminaries of one’s foreordination; its relationship to one’s keeping the laws and commandments of the Lord while we were intelligences, then spirits, now in this life, and again in the next. It appears that is what the psalmist meant when he wrote:14 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and will shew them his covenant.During the presentation of the festival temple drama, for each individual the basic covenants were the same, but for each the individual meaning was specific, and the expanse of those covenants was among the biggest ideas one’s mind could reach around. It was probably in response to the bigness of the idea, that the next line recalls the Lord’s covenants of invulnerability, and expresses thanks for the fulfillment of those covenants:15 Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.The “net” would be the people or other obstacles that seek to entangle one’s feet to prevent one from “walking” in the “way” and from keeping one’s covenants. Those impediments are very real, and once again, in this psalm which is a celebration of the blessings of eternal life, one is brought face to face with the difficulty of just muddling through this lonely, dark world.We have wandered so far in our discussion of the 25th Psalm, that it seems a good idea to read it again without all the interruptions, and also to add the concluding verses which evoke the promises of the covenant of invulnerability. The Psalm reads in full:1 Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.2 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.4 Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.6 Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses [hesed]; for they have been ever of old.7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy [hesed] remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.8 Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy [hesed] and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.11 For thy name’s sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.12 What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.13 His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.14 The secret [sode]of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.15 Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.16 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses.18 Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.19 Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.20 O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles (Psalm 25:1-22).The final three verses return the audience to the place where the psalm began. It is a prayer for strength to retain one’s integrity, so that the Lord can keep his part of the covenant.————————————-ENDNOTES{1} Strong 6960.{2} Katherine Doob Sakenfeld of Princeton University Seminary wrote a dissertation on “hesed” in which she argued that it meant “to do what is expected of one.” With regard to the covenant, God does what is expected (keep his covenant promises); man should also maintain “hesed” (keep his covenant promises).Katherine Doob Sakenfeld, The Meaning of Hesed in the Hebrew Bible: A New Inquiry (Missoula, Montana; Scholars Press for the Harvard Semitic Museum, 1978).{3} G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, eds., trans. Davod E. Green, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, 15 vols. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1986), article about hesed, 5:45-48). The Greek equivalent is Philadelphia, fraternal love, as explained in fn 905, p. 680.{4} John R. Kohlenberger III and James A. Swanson, The Strongest Strong’s, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), Hebrew dictionary # 2617.{5} Examples of scriptures that use the phrase “of old” as reference to events in the Council in Heaven are: Deuteronomy 32:7-8; Psalms 25:6-7, 68:32-33, 93:1-2, 102:24-25, Micah 5:2 is another example. The most convincing modern example is this statement in the 76th section of the Doctrine and Covenants: “And to them will I reveal all mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom from days of old.” (D&C 76:6) When the Prophet Joseph wrote a poetic version of his vision, he made its meaning even more clear.I’ll surely reveal all my myst’ries to them—The great hidden myst’ries in my kingdom stor’d;From the council in Kolob, to time on the earth, (Joseph Smith, “A Vision,” in Times and Seasons, February 1, 1843.){6} See the chapter called, “Meaning of Faith—pistis.”{7} Examples are: Exodus 25:16, Numbers 7:89, and Joshua 4:16.{8} Johnson, Sacral Kingship, 23-24.{9} Tanakh, Numbers 12:5-8.{10}“Touch me not, for God shall smite you if ye lay your hands upon me, for I have not delivered the message which the Lord sent me to deliver; neither have I told you that which ye requested that I should tell; therefore, God will not suffer that I shall be destroyed at this time” (Mosiah 13:3).{11} The story is as LeGrand Baker remembers Jean told it to him. Jean died several years ago so we cannot ask him to check the details.{12} Many of these scriptures also emphasize free agency: D&C 88:28-33, 93:29-38; 2 Nephi 2:11-30, 9:14-16, 26:10; Alma 13:3, 40:24-26, Alma 42:7; Moses 4:3-4; Moroni 7:15-17; Ether 12:27-35; Moroni 10:32-33; 2 Ne. 10:23-24 Abraham 3:22-28. At the funeral of Jedediah M. Grant, Heber C. Kimball reported: “He said that after he came back [from the spirit world] he could look upon his family and see the spirit that was in them, and the darkness that was in them; and that he conversed with them about the Gospel, and what they should do, and they replied, ‘Well, brother Grant, perhaps it is so, and perhaps it is not,’ and said that was the state of this people, to a great extent, for many are full of darkness and will not believe me.” (Journal of Discourses 4:136).<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>?3 Nephi 12:4 & Isaiah 61:1-11 – LeGrand Baker – Temple rites for the dead Author : lbaker3 Nephi 12:4 & Isaiah 61:1-11 – LeGrand Baker – Temple rites for the deadThis Beatitude is a paraphrase from Isaiah 61. ?This post is in three parts. They are:3 Nephi 12:4 & Isaiah 61:4-11 – LeGrand Baker – Sealing rites for the dead3 Nephi 12:4 & Isaiah 61:3 – LeGrand Baker – washing, anointing, and clothing in ancient Israel3 Nephi 12:4 – And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.——————————3 Nephi 12:4 (& Isaiah 61:1-2) – And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.Isaiah 61 is deeply encoded, and, as is true elsewhere in the scriptures, the code is the ancient Israelite temple rites. If one knows the temple, then one knows the code. If not, the encoded message simply is not there. I would like to point out some of the key phrases so that it can more easily be read as a temple text by those who know how to read it that way. When one can read its code, this chapter of Isaiah becomes one of the most interesting and complete temple texts in the scriptures.This chapter in Isaiah was very important to the Savior. He also quoted it on another occasion.17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, [Isaiah says “to the captives”]19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. [those phrases come from Isaiah 61:1-2]20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears (Luke 4:17-21).In his vision of the redemption of the dead, President Joseph F. Smith also quotes from that chapter. D&C 138 is the testimony that everyone will have a full opportunity to receive the gospel before the final judgement. his report of his vision of the redemption of the dead, President Joseph F. Smith twice quoted from Isaiah 61.30 But behold, from among the righteous, he organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel preached to the dead.31 And the chosen messengers went forth to declare the acceptable day of the Lord and proclaim liberty to the captives who were bound, even unto all who would repent of their sins and receive the gospel (D&C 138:30-31).When he identified those who were there to welcome the Savior to paradise, he introduced the prophet Isaiah by quoting from the first verse of Isaiah 61:42 And Isaiah, who declared by prophecy that the Redeemer was anointed to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that were bound, were also there (D&C 138:42).From these contexts, we may safely infer that the “prisoners” here are those in the “spirit prison” who did not receive the gospel while they lived in mortality. That also sets the stage for understanding that chapter of Isaiah as being about the salvation of the dead. This does not imply that vicarious ordinances for the dead were performed in Solomon’s temple, but only that Isaiah knew that they would be valid after the Savior’s resurrection.There is another place in the Old Testament that discuss salvation for the dead. It is in the the last third of Psalm 22. A discussion of that psalm is found in?Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord,?the chapter called “Act 2, Scene 7: Jehovah Conquers Death and Hell. ”There is a careful discussion of the first three verses of Isaiah 61:1-3 ?in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, the chapter called “The Coronation Ceremony in Isaiah 61.” The full text of the book is available on this website under “published works.” In the following paragraphs, I shall summarize the information about those verses, then give a more complete analysis of the rest of the Isaiah chapter.– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –Isaiah 61:11 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –Isaiah begins by recalling the Savior’s anointing at the Council in Heaven:The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed meThe “me” here is identified in D&C 138:42 as “the Redeemer.” I am aware of four accounts of the Savior’s being anointed. This one and the quote in D&C 138. Another is Peter’s testimony that when Jesus was baptized “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power” (Acts 10:37-38). The other is Psalm 45 which takes place in the council in heaven. (For a discussion thoses verses in Psalm 45 see?Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord,?“The prince does obeisance to Jehovah,” page 201 in the hardback edition and page 207 in the paperback. The full text of the paperback can be found on this website under “Published Books.”)Since Isaiah’s statement is already in past tense, I believe he is talking about the anointing in Psalms that takes place in the council in heaven.– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –to preach good tidings unto the meekThe meek are defined in Psalm 25 as those who keep their premortal covenants. In D&C 138 we learn that those to whom Jesus personally visited in the spirit world were those who made covenants in the council in heaven and kept them in this world.36 Thus was it made known that our Redeemer spent his time during his sojourn in the world of spirits, instructing and preparing the faithful spirits of the prophets who had testified of him in the flesh;38 Among the great and mighty ones who were assembled in this vast congregation of the righteous were Father Adam, the Ancient of Days and father of all,39 And our glorious Mother Eve, with many of her faithful daughters who had lived through the ages and worshiped the true and living God. [lists many others by name, then adds:]55 I observed that they were also among the noble and great ones who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God.– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,“Bind” means the same thing in Hebrew as it does in English — to tie up. The temple word that means to tie people together is “seal.” Given the context of this verse and the entire chapter, “to seal up” is an appropriate way to understand “bind” and “bound” in this verse. D&C 138 says they already felt they were in bondage because they did not have a physical body. Now, after they are sealed to each other, that lack can be rectified.50 For the dead had looked upon the long absence of their spirits from their bodies as a bondage.51 These the Lord taught, and gave them power to come forth, after his resurrection from the dead, to enter into his Father’s kingdom, there to be crowned with immortality and eternal life (D&C 138:50-51)The Savior told the Nephites that their sacrifice must be a broken heart and contrite spirit. So the “brokenhearted” would be those who have performed that sacrifice. (For a discussion of a “broken heart” as a sacrifice see “3 Nephi 12:3 — LeGrand Baker — poor in spirit” on this section of the website.)The word “sacrifice” means “to make holy.” To make one’s Self holy gives it another meaning as well. Gary A. Anderson has observed:When the lamenter has received an assurance of divine assistance or has experienced divine deliverance, he must offer either praise or a selamim sacrifice. Just as the sacrifice is identified as means of demonstrating joy before the Lord (so Deut 12:11-12 and passim), so also for praise. ? [Gary A. Anderson, A Time to Mourn, A Time to Dance, The Expression of Grief and Joy in Israelite Religion (University Park, Pennsylvania, The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1991), 42]– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;When we read this, we read “prison” as the “spirit prison,” the place where the dead wait until they have heard and accepted the gospel and its vicarious ordinances. Margaret Dee Bratcher read the Hebrew differently, and added an interesting insight to the translation. She wrote:To proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners” … Some difficulty exists in the translation of the phrase “release to the prisoners.” The Hebrew word translated “release” appears everywhere else in the Old Testament with the meaning “the opening of blind eyes. ? ?(Bratcher, ?“Salvation Achieved: Isaiah 61:1-7; 62:1-7; 65: 17-66:2.” Review & Expositor, 88, 2 [1991]: 177-87. 178.)If this is the meaning of “comfort” as the Savior understood it, then the idea so teaching the spirits in prison and doing vicarious ordinances in their behalf is precisely consistent with the that meaning of the word.==========================================3 Nephi 12:4 & Isaiah 61:3 – LeGrand Baker – washing, anointing, and clothing in ancient IsraelIt is important to remember that these ancient temple rites were participatory ordinances. In the drama the king represented every man and the queen every woman in the congregation. So when the king is washed, symbolically the people are washed. Also when he is anointed, clothed, crowned, and given a new name. Even though this chapter is a prophecy about a temple drama that would be performed for the dead, it is the only place in the scriptures where one finds all of the rites of the entire royal enthronement ceremony. The consecration of Aaron is almost complete, except it lacks a new name (Exodus 28-29).(Isaiah 61:3 is more fully analyzed in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord (1st edition, pages 469-515 and 2nd edition, pages 341-372. Except for direct quotes, the present short version has almost no footnotes to identify the sources of the ideas. However, there are lots of footnotes as well as much more text in the book. It is in this website in the section called “Published Books.” It is downloadable without cost.)Isaiah 61:3?3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.“to give unto them beauty instead of ashes”The denotation of the Hebrew word translated as “beauty” is the beauty of a hat or turban, rather than a direct reference to the hat itself. The connotation is the glory of a crown. Some translations accept the connotation and use a words “diadem” or “crown,” rather than the more literal “beauty” as is found in the King James Version. In either case, the meaning is that the ashes were removed and then replaced by a crown. The removal of the ashes necessarily implies a ceremonial washing. The ashes would have been those of a red heifer, and the washing a ceremonial cleansing from sin.In ancient Israel, putting a mixture of water and the ashes of a red heifer on one’s head was a formal purification rite. A red heifer was sacrificed once each year and its ashes were kept to be used in an ordinance that made a person ritually clean. In Isaiah 61 it was used in preparation for other ordinances that would follow. Instructions for the preparation and use of the ashes are given in Numbers 19:5-6.Just as the sacred anointing oil was perfumed with a recipe that could not be legally duplicated, so there was also a sacred recipe for the ashes of the red heifer. The ashes contained “cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet” that were burned with the heifer.Cedar is a fragrant smelling wood. Hyssop is a small bush, a branch of which was used for daubing the lintels of the Israelite homes in the first Passover (Exodus 12:22). It was also used in the ritualistic cleansing of lepers (Leviticus 14). Scarlet was “a highly prized brilliant red color obtained from female bodies of certain insects and used for dying woven fabric, cloth, and leather.”The ashes were removed by a ceremonial washing. So, while the word “wash” does not appear here, it is a necessary part of the cleansing rites.“the oil of joy instead of mourning”Inasmuch as the early scenes of the drama had already shown that the king had been foreordained at the Council in Heaven, this concluding anointing was a re-affirmation of that premortal ordinance. As Borsch believed,The ceremony is said to take place in the heavenly realms just as the royal ritual was often described as though it were taking place in heaven. Let us notice, too, that the anointing act here is not associated primarily with cleansing or healing, but rather with a rite like King David’s. It is said that the ceremony makes the pneumatic into a god as well, just like the one above. In other words he will be a royal god (Borsch, Son of Man, 184) .Widengren added another meaning to the anointing.The same, however, is every man who has been anointed with the oil that has been prepared, so that he has been made a participant of that which is possessed of power, even being worth the royal office or the prophet’s office or the high priest’s office. ( Widengren, “Baptism and Enthronement,” 213-14.)The anointing has a double purpose. It is an adoption ceremony, making the king the son and therefore the legitimate earthly heir of Jehovah. That is, he could rule Israel as a representative of Jehovah. If he were not adopted as son, then he would sit on the throne as a usurper. In the same anointing the king or high priest is consecrated to that high office. (There is more about the adoption below in the discussion about the new king-name.)“the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness”The royal robes of the king are not described in detail in the Old Testament. However, some scholars believe that the descriptions of the High Priestly garments (Exodus 28-29) were originally descriptions of the royal robes, and the miter hat was the crown used by the king in the coronation ceremony. The implication is that the post-exilic editors who re-worked the books of Moses, allotted to the High Priest the royal garments that had once been worn by their kings. Widengren was among those who believed that all of the ceremonial clothing of the High Priest, including the breastplate which held the Urim and Thummim, was an adaptation of the earlier sacral clothing of the king.{1}One of the best evidences that these were the garments of the king is this interesting coronation scene described in Zechariah. Joshua was not a priest but was Moses’s successor as ruler of Israel. It reads:3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with clean change of raiment.5 And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord stood by.6 And the angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying:7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by (Zechariah 3:1-10).The coronation clothing is always described as two separate garments. The sacred clothing attributed to the Aaronic priesthood High Priests consisted of white linen undergarments and outer royal robes. The undergarments were a two part suit—a long sleeved white shirt and breeches “to cover their nakedness” (Exodus 28:42. see also Mosiah 10:5). Above that he wore a solid blue robe with a fringe of alternating golden bells and pomegranates. The pomegranates were made of blue, purple, and scarlet threads—the same colors as in the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Tabernacle (Exodus 28:4-42). Around the waist was a sash, also woven in the same colors as the fringe and the veil. His breastplate was a kind of pouch or pocket in which he placed the Urim and Thummim. It was supported by shoulder straps attached ?to an apron called the ephod. His crown was a miter, a flat hat made of fine linen, with a gold plate attached that was worn on his forehead. Engraved on the plate were the words “Holiness to the Lord.”This same ritual clothing—or something very much like it—was worn by the early Christians. Paul described the sacral garments as the protective “armor of ?God.” (Ephesians 6:10-18. It is also in D&C 27:15-18.)The scriptures often speak of the clothing in terms of their meaning rather than of their physical appearance. Thus, the outer one is usually called “majesty,” representing the powers of kingship, and the other “glory,” representing the authority of priesthood (Psalm 45:3-4, Psalm 8:4-6, Job 40:9-14). God’s clothing is similar, except he also has a garment of light. (Psalm 93:1-2, ?Psalm 104:1-2).The interpretation of Figure 3 in Facsimile No. 2 in the Book of Abraham shows that the clothing given to earthly holders of the Melchizedek Priesthood is symbolic of the clothing worn by God. It reads:Fig. 3. Is made to represent God, sitting upon his throne, clothed with power and authority; with a crown of eternal light upon his head; representing also the grand Key-words of the Holy Priesthood, as revealed to Adam in the Garden of Eden, as also to Seth, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, and all to whom the Priesthood was revealed.Here, the crown is shown as a sun disk, but if it were laid flat, rather than being shown upright, it would be a miter.Nibley’s description of the High Priest’s garments—which, if the above quoted scholars are correct, were originally the king’s royal garments—shows their sacred nature:The combination of the items that make up the full clothing comes from the description of the high priestly garments at the beginning of Exodus 28. Very recently in Jerusalem, a magnificent book was published based on an attempt to reconstruct the kel?m, the supellectila, the implements and equipment of the temple, and the priestly garments (fig. 17). A section at the end of the book describes them in detail. In this particular passage there is general assemblage, a listing, and then a description of what the articles are.“Thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother,” the Lord tells Moses (cf. Exodus 28:2), lokabod ultip’eret, “both for glory and for magnificence”—to give an impression, to fill one with awe. And the Lord instructed Moses to say to all the people of “thoughtful-mindedness” and intelligence “that they shall do so, and make such garments for Aaron, for holiness, and for his priesthood, to represent his priesthood to me” (cf. Exodus 28:3). “And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ‘epod [the much disputed ephod!], and the mo’il,” a “cloak, a covering, a long garment”; “a kotonet,” the “shirt”; “a tashbe,” a thing elaborately woven in a checkerboard pattern, or something similar; “a mitre,” mi .z ne -p e -t, “a turban,” “a round cap”; “and a girdle” or “sash”; “and these garments they shall make holy for Aaron, thy brother, and for his sons, to serve me in the priesthood” (Exodus 28:4). {2}“that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified”One is “called” by one’s name. Similarly, here to be “called” is to be given a new name. One finds the same usage in the Beatitudes: “And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God” (3 Nephi 12:9); and in Isaiah: “and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). A new name is a new covenantal identity. In our verse, it denotes one’s new relationship with God, much as Nibley writes, “In Egyptian initiation rites one puts off his former nature by discarding his name, after which he receives a new name.” Truman Madsen explains,In antiquity, several ideas about names recur, among which are the following:1. In names, especially divine names, is concentrated divine power.2. Through ritual processes one may gain access to these names and take them upon oneself.3. These ritual processes are often explicitly temple-related. {3}The regal new name given to the enthroned dead in Isaiah 61 is “trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified.” The meaning of this new name is an echo of the Lord’s words to Moses, “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).This new name — new identity — is a promise of eternal lives. “Trees” suggests the tree of life. “Righteousness” is zedek—correctness and propriety in performing and receiving sacred ordinances. “The planting of the Lord” implies eternal increase (trees make fruit, fruit make seeds, seeds make trees, ad infinitum). And the words “that he [God] might be glorified” proclaim that the glory of God is inseparably connected with the continuation of the family (as in Moses 1:39). The importance of the family is again emphasized at the end of chapter 61 where we find “a song of rejoicing” in celebration of the sacred marriage. It is a hymn sung by the bride and groom:10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels (Isaiah 61:10).Psalm 2, The Ancient Israelite Royal King-name?{4}There is always a new name with a new covenant, whether in civil or ecclesiastical affairs. Some covenants in civil affairs are in the form of an oath. After an oath one becomes “sheriff,” “judge,” “senator,” or “Mr. President.” Some covenants are explicit, some are implied. When a bishop or scoutmaster accepts the call to serve, the covenant is implicit, based on an earlier, overriding covenant. He may still be Jake at work, but it is “bishop” at church. In that same way a missionary becomes “elder,” and a stake president becomes “president.”The new name is a new identity. The person is different from the person before he received the name-title. Similarly, the long list of titles (names) of the queen of England identify her differently in different legal and ecclesiastical roles.No coronation ceremony can be complete with the bestowal of a new name. In ancient Israel, even though the royal new-name that was given to the king during his coronation ceremony in the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama was different from the one given to the dead as is prophesied in Isaiah 61, its promises were no less far-reaching. The ancient Israelite royal new name is found in Psalm 2, which was sung at the time of the king’s anointing near the conclusion of the temple drama, In that psalm, the king’s new name is “son,” denoting that he had been adopted as a son and heir of Jehovah. {5} Psalm 2 reads:7 I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me,Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.The covenant name-title of the king of ancient Israel was “son” — the one formally bestowed on him at the time of his anointing as king. It was the epitome of his name-titles because it represented his having been adopted as a son of God. The implication was that just as the covenant between the house of David and Jehovah was eternal, so the sonship would not terminate with the king’s death. It was that name that established the eternal covenant relationships between the king and God, and by extension, between the people, the king, and God.In all of the ceremonies and ordinances of the festival drama, the king was the main actor and represented each person in the audience, as though the play were only about that one person. That would also be true here. Because Psalm 2 represents an ordinance where each person in the audience had just been made a sacral king — not the reigning king, but a son and king in his relationship with Jehovah. Thus, inasmuch as the king had just been adopted as a “son” of God, the same was also true of all of the men in the congregation. What we find in the story of King Benjamin is applicable here. There we read:7 And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters (Mosiah 5:7).——————————ENDNOTES{1} Geo Widengren, Geo.?The Ascension of the Apostle and the Heavenly Book?(Leipzig: Otto Harrassowltz, 1950), 25.see also:Frederick H. Borsch,?The Son of Man in Myth and History, (London: SCM, 1967), 185, 194.Ivan Engnell, Studies in?Divine Kingship in the Ancient Near East?( Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1967), 62-63.Stephen D. Ricks, “The Garment of Adam in Jewish, Muslim, and Christian Tradition.” InTemples of the Ancient World,?edited by Donald W. Parry (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1994), 705-39.Stephrn D. Ricks and John J. Sroka. “King, Coronation, and Temple: Enthronement Ceremonies in History.” In?Temples of the Ancient World,?edited by Donald W. Parry. 236-71 (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1994), 254-57.Geo Widengren, “King and Covenant.”?Journal of Semitic Studies?(2: 1, Jan. 1957), 1-32), 21.{2} Nibley, “Sacred Vestments,”?In Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present,edited by Don E. Norton (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1992), 97-98.The book Nibley refers to is: Moshe Levine,?The Tabernacle: Its Structure and Utensils?(Tel Aviv, Israel: Melechet Hamishkan), 1989.{3} Madsen, “Putting on the Names,” in?By Study and Also by Faith, 1:458.{4} For an extended discussion of Psalm 2 and the royal new name see?Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, pages 499- 516, second edition, pages 360-72.{5} Gerald Cook summed up the work of many scholars regarding the meaning of “son” in this psalm.. “The Israelite King as Son of God.”?Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft?73 (1961): 202-25.=======================================3 Nephi 12:4 & Isaiah 61:4-11 – LeGrand Baker – Sealing rites for the deadThe first two verses of Isaiah 61 are a promise to the dead that the ordinances and covenants performed in their behalf by the living will be valid. Verse 3 is an enthronement ceremony where the ordinances of washing, clothing, anointing, crowning, and giving a new name are all mentioned. The remainder of the chapter walks us through the ancient Israelite temple rites. It is deeply encoded, and I suppose that is the reason it appears to have been preserved completely intact. The code is the ancient temple rites, and if approached from that point of view, the obscurity of the code melts into a beautiful harmony.The voice we hear at the beginning of Isaiah 61 is that of Jehovah. We know that because when Joseph F. Smith paraphrased the first verse in D&C 138:42, he wrote that “the Redeemer was anointed to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,” and the Isaiah original tells us the same thing, but in the first person, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek (Isaiah 61:1).” Therefore, it is apparent that Isaiah was speaking the words of the Savior, just as the Prophet Joseph did in many of the revelations recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants.After verse 3, the voice does not change, but the audience does. In verses 1-3, Jehovah is talking about a promised enthronement of sacral kings and priests among the dead. But beginning with verse 4, he is talking to the dead. So when he addresses “you” he is speaking to the dead who will hear the gospel; and when he mentions “they,” “strangers,” “sons of the alien,” “Gentiles,” and “their seed” all these are designations for the living who will act in behalf of the dead. That is made clear in verse 9 where we are told that “they” are Israel, that is, “they” are you and I.9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed.“The seed which the Lord hath blessed” is the family of Israel who have the gospel and who will do the temple work for the dead. Now, returning to verse 4.4 And they [the living] shall build the old wastes, they [the living] shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations [of the dead].A “city” can be the buildings, the inhabitants, or both. There is little point in repairing the buildings “of many generations,” but if it is a reference to the people who lived in those cities, then it is an intelligible reference to family history and ordinance work for the dead. Isaiah uses the same kind of language in his prophecy about Joseph Smith and the restoration. It reads:8 Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time have I heard thee, O isles of the sea, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and give thee my servant for a covenant of the people [the footnote takes us to 2 Nephi 3:11, which is a reference to the Prophet Joseph Smith], to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners [same “prisoners” as in Isaiah 61]: Go forth; to them that sit in darkness: Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places [sacred spaces].10 They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water [waters of life] shall he guide them.11 And I will make all my mountains [temples] a way, and my highways shall be exalted (1 Nephi 21:8-11)Similarly, in Isaiah 61, that great prophet uses the same imagery to identify those who will to temple work for the dead. Isaiah now tells how that will be accomplished:5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.This is a beautiful verse but deeply encoded.5 And strangers [the living] shall standOne stands to make a covenant. If “stand” is a code word, then the reason the “strangers” are standing is to make a covenant in behalf of the dead. An example of standing to make covenants is this story in the Old Testament.3 And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant (2 Kings 23:1-3) .and feed your [the dead’s] flocks“Flocks” can refer to a congregation of people as well as to sheep, just as in the 23rd Psalm.and the sons of the alien [the living] shall be your [the dead’s] plowmen and your vinedressers.In ancient Israel the staple crop was wheat, which is the main product of the plowmen; wheat makes bread. Vinedressers care for the vineyard; grapes make wine. So apparently the “flocks” will receive bread and wine.6 But ye [the dead] shall be named the Priests of the Lord:That’s reasonable. After they accept the gospel they should be given the priesthood.men shall call you [the dead] the ministers of our God:To minister is to bless and to teach. So after the dead receive the priesthood they are sent on missions to do just that.ye [the dead] shall eat the riches of the Gentiles [the living], and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.If one understands “riches” and “glory” to mean the blessings of the gospel, then the meaning of this verse fits perfectly into the next one:7 For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.For your shame …. and for confusionRead “for” the same way we read it in verse 3: “in place of” or “in exchange for.”ye shall have double … they shall possess the doubleThe Law of Moses required that the firstborn son be given the birthright, and in acknowledgment of that birthright “by giving him a double portion of all that [his father] hath” (Deuteronomy 21:15-17).Therefore, a “double portion” means the same as the “birthright blessings.” In a priesthood and temple settings such as Isaiah 61 and Isaiah 40:1-2 “double” represents the birthright blessings of Abraham. (Perhaps the story of Elisha’s asking Elijah that “a double portion of thy spirit be upon me,” and then his receiving Elijah’s garment of authority is another example [2 Kings 2:8-13]).In Isaiah 61:7 Jehovah promises: [In exchange] for your shame, ye [the dead] shall have double [the crowning birthright blessings of Abraham]; and [in place of] confusion they [the living] shall rejoice in their [double] portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double [birthright]: everlasting [eternal] joy shall be unto them (Isaiah 61:7).The Birthright Blessings of Abraham are the covenants the Lord made with Abraham and his family. We find them in Genesis 12 and 13, and they are more fully discussed in the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price. They are the covenant blessings of family, land, priesthood, gospel, and invulnerability.FAMILY“I will make of thee a great nation….and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed (Abraham 2:9-11).”“And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered (Genesis 13:16).”LAND“land which I will give unto thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession (Abraham 2:6).”“For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever (Genesis 13:15).”PRIESTHOOD“shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations (Abraham 2:9).”GOSPEL“in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal (Abraham 2:11).”INVULNERABILITY“I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee (Abraham 2:11, Genesis 12:3).”The prophet Isaiah used the codeword “double” in the same way in Isaiah 40:1-2. The verses report an event at the Council in Heaven where God (Elohim) speaks to the Council (the word ye is plural). If one reads “comfort” the same as in Isaiah 61:2-3, that is, to mean the power to transcend sorrow through the administration of the coronation ceremony, then the first two verses in Isaiah 40 take on enormous meaning. The verses read:1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins (Isaiah 40:1-2).The key is in the last bit: The reason why her iniquity is pardoned is because she has received from the Lord’s hand, the birthright blessings of Abraham in exchange for all her sins.8 For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their [the living] work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them [the living].For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offeringThe key to this intriguing sentence is the “burnt offering.” The Savior’s Atonement brought an end to burnt offerings. Besides that, the dead could hardly make such offerings any more—the animals where they are, are also already dead. So that eliminates a good part of what the verse might mean. For the living, there is one offering that is acceptable before the Lord. It is a broken heart and contrite spirit (3 Nephi 9:19-20). Any counterfeit of that is like robbing the Lord. The dead people are now instructed that they must make the same sacrifice as the living. (For a discussion of “a broken heart and contrite spirit” as a sacrifice see Baker and Ricks, Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord (2011 edition), 620-25.)and I will direct their [the living’s] work in truthThis work that the Lord will direct is family history. There are innumerable individuals who have dedicated their time and resources to doing genealogical research. They can and do testify that the Lord does “direct their word in truth.”and I will make an everlasting covenant with them [the living].In the context of the next verse, the covenant God will make with the living is the Abrahamic Covenant summed up in a single phrase: the sealing power. It is the overarching umbrella under whose definition all of the other ordinances and covenants can comfortably fit. It is the everlasting covenant that seals together all those who inherit the celestial glory and thereby validates all over covenants.Up to this point in the chapter Jehovah has been speaking. But now the voice changes and we hear a hymn of praise sung by the dead man who, with his bride, has been dressed and prepared for a wedding.10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.The final verse is the conclusion, not only of the chapter but also of the Lord’s promise to the dead. It is a promise of the resurrection. For just as a seemingly dead seed is placed in the ground to become a living plant, so the dead body is placed in the ground to rise again an eternally living being.11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.———————————————————-Now, let me show you how precise this description of the ancient Israelite temple drama is: Read the entire chapter and you will almost be able to see it performed on a stage.1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.7 For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.8 For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed.10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations (Isaiah 61:1-11).<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><?3 Nephi 12:3 -- LeGrand Baker -- The ancient endowment in a single verse Author : lbaker3 Nephi 12:3 — LeGrand Baker — The ancient endowment in a single verse3 Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (3 Nephi 12:3).We are making two changes in the Book of Mormon Project. First, I will no longer be sending weekly emails, but will post the comments directly on the web. Second, We will no longer keep to the Sunday even schedule. If you wish to be notified when I post a new comment, please “subscribe” using the lower box on the right hand side of the homepage. ?In chapter that introduces the Beatitudes in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, we point out that the word “blessed” would better be translated as “enjoying the state of the gods.”This Beatitude is easier to understand if one reads it backwards to discover first its object and then its method. The object is: “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” That does not say they shall be citizens of the kingdom, it says it is “theirs”—they shall own it. People who own kingdoms are called priests and kings. So, implicitly, the beatitude says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for they are the priests and sacral kings of the kingdom of heaven.”{1}To “come unto me” means precisely what the words say. It is not about just doing good things, it means one must go to the place where he is. The entire purpose of the drama of the New Year festival was to bring one behind the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the world. Understood symbolically, the phrase “come unto me” happened when one had passed beyond the veil and entered the Holy of Holies of Solomon’s Temple—God’s earthly throne room—to be in the presence of Jehovah. Taken quite literally it meant one must come to the place where Christ is.{2}Implicitly then, the Beatitude says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit who came through the veil of the ancient temple to the place where they may meet God, for they are the priests and kings of the kingdom of heaven.”The question now is “Who are the ‘poor in spirit’?”Commentators on Matthew’s text insist the phrase has nothing to do with being impoverished. “Poor” does not mean lacking either spirit, spirituality, or worldly goods. There is nothing about poverty that precludes one’s coming to Christ. Similarly, there is nothing about emotional, spiritual, or worldly poverty that qualifies one to come to the place where the Savior is, or to be anointed to become a king or queen, unless that “poverty” is acquired in righteousness and according to eternal law. The “poor in spirit” are not spiritually impoverished, but “those living in uprightness, or ‘perfection.’”{3}The only kind of poverty that fits those criterion is acquired through sacrifice. “Sacrifice” does not mean to lose something or to give it up; rather, it means to make it sacred—to set it apart. Throughout the scriptures—even while animal sacrifices were still performed under the Law of Moses—the sacrifice the Lord declared to be most acceptable was that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. The Savior explained the meaning of this Beatitude a few moments later when he said:19 And behold, I have given you the law and the commandments of my Father, that ye shall believe in me, and that ye shall repent of your sins, and come unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Behold, ye have the commandments before you, and the law is fulfilled.20 Therefore come unto me and be ye saved; for verily I say unto you, that except ye shall keep my commandments, which I have commanded you at this time, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven (3 Nephi 12:19-20).Earlier, when the Lord spoke to the Nephites out of the darkness, he explained that a broken heart and a contrite spirit is the acceptable sacrifice:18 I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.19 And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings.20 And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost (3 Nephi 9:18-20a).The Psalmist had promised:34 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit (Psalm 34:18).16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise (Psalm 51:16-17).The Lord reiterated the same principle to the Prophet Joseph:{4}59 Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness [zedek], even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit (D&C 59:8).It is apparent that the phrase “poor in spirit” is a reference to those who have made the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit in the context of the ordinances of the ancient temple, and in preparation to entering the Lord’s presence there, and becoming priests and kings of the kingdom of heaven. Thus, one way of reading this Beatitude might be, “Blessed are those who make the sacrifice, who come to where I am, for they are the sacral kings of the kingdom of heaven.”In the Beatitudes, the Savior will repeat the phrase “theirs is the kingdom of heaven” again. That repetition leads one to believe that the use of the phrase here in verse three represents the ancient tradition of first anointing one to become king, then later actually anointing him as king, which apparently is represented as occurring later on in verse 10.{5}———————————–ENDNOTES{1} While many of the Beatitudes are clearly quotes or paraphrases from specific Old Testament sources, others cannot be identified as such—probably because our scriptures are not complete. Verse 3 is an example of that. The phrase “kingdom of heaven” does not appear in our Old Testament. Yet we know it was familiar to the Nephites because it is often found in the Old Testament portion of the Book of Mormon. An example is:37 And I say unto you again that he cannot save them in their sins; for I cannot deny his word, and he hath said that no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore, how can ye be saved, except ye inherit the kingdom of heaven? Therefore, ye cannot be saved in your sins. (Alma 11:37){2} David A. Bednar, “Clean Hands and a Pure Heart.” Ensign 37, 11 (November 2007), 80-83.{3} Albright and Mann did with “poor in spirit” the same sort of thing they did with “fortunate.” They translated it as “humble in spirit,” then in the footnote they suggested an altogether different and more powerful meaning: they wrote that it meant “Those living in uprightness, or ‘perfection.’” That idea is remarkably close to enjoying “the state of the gods.” ( Albright and Mann, Anchor Bible, Matthew, 45-46.){4} See also D&C 35:15; 56:17-20; 88:17-19. Twice Isaiah equates the poor and the meek with those who will embrace the gospel (Isaiah 11:1-7, 12; 29:18-19).{5} For a discussion of the practice of anointing one to become king, then later as king, see the section in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, called, “The Mortal World,” the chapter called, “Act 2, Scene 2: Anointed to Become King.”<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><3 Nephi 12:2 -- LeGrand Baker -- The Beatitudes and the Temple Author : lbaker3 Nephi 12:2 — LeGrand Baker — The Beatitudes and the TempleThe Beatitudes—as written in 3 Nephi—are among the most complete and succinct statements of the ideas—not the events, but the ideas—of the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama that one can find anywhere in the scriptures. Most of the Beatitudes are very short quotes or paraphrases from the Psalms or from Isaiah. It is apparent that the Savior quoted these passages in order to evoke his listeners’ memories of the entire passage to which he was referring. His speaking the Beatitudes would have only taken about three minutes. For his audience it must have been an overwhelming experience to hear the Savior run through that sequence of ideas so quickly—while their minds were filled to overflowing with the full intent of those passages of scripture. As the Spirit conveyed the message to his listeners, their minds would have been flooded with a quick succession of infinitely powerful ideas.In Who Shall Ascend into the hill of the Lord, Stephen and I discussed each of theBeatitudes. I shall use that as we go through them in the next several weeks, but I also want to add things that are not written there. Here is a brief overview of what they say. I will make no attempt to justify the conclusions here, but will simply say that on page 431 of the Book of Mormon one finds everything one needs to know in this lifetime to gain eternal life. One can say the same thing about the temple endowment. However in both cases, one has to know and do a lot of living and learning in order to know what is there. (I’m still working on it! ) The overview is as follows:Follow the Brethren:2 And again, more blessed are they who shall believe in your words because that ye shall testify that ye have seen me, and that ye know that I am.First principles and ordinances:2 Yea, blessed are they who shall believe in your words, and come down into the depths of humility and be baptized, for they shall be visited with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and shall receive a remission of their sins.Endowment for the living:3 Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.Endowment for the dead:4 And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.Keep eternal covenants:5 And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.Priesthood and temple correctness:6 And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness,“Filled” with the Holy Ghost:for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.How to be a sacral king and a priest:7 And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.Zion will see God:8 And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God.Peacemakers:9 And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called [new name-title] the children of God.Persecution and second coronation:10 And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.11 And blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake;12 For ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.Responsibility: Missionary work:13 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men.Responsibility: Menorah in the temple:14 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the light of this people. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.15 Behold, do men light a candle and put it under a bushel? Nay, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house;16 Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven (3 Nephi 12:1-16).Each of those assertions will require a good deal of explaining, but I think that as I deal with them one at a time, you will conclude, as I have, that the Beatitudes really do encapsulate all that we must do in this life and the next of obtain eternal life.One cannot readily find those idea in Matthew 5. One of the reasons is that each of the verses in Matthew begin with a new idea introduced by the word “blessed.” Consequently many scholars believe that they are simply an editor’s gathering of some of Jesus’s sayings. However, in the Book of Mormon, they begin with the conjunction “and,” creating one long sentence that can easily be seen as a sequence. The word “blessed” is itself an assertion of the importance of the sequence and the power of its conclusion.One of the most interesting examples of Joseph Smith’s statement, “We believe the Bible to be the word of God so far as it is translated correctly,” is found in the Anchor Bible’s very scholarly where a whole volume or more is devoted to each biblical book. The book of Matthew, which contains many quotes from the Old Testament, has two author/translators, W. F. Albright, a distinguished Old Testament scholar, and C. S. Mann, an equally distinguished New Testament scholar. This is the way they translated the Beatitudes:3 Fortunate are the humble in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. 4 Fortunate are those who mourn, for they shall be consoled. 5 Fortunate are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Fortunate are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall he satisfied. 7 Fortunate are the merciful, [and so on].In a footnote, they explain why they chose the word fortunate:3.Fortunate. The word in Greek was used in classical times [to mean] of the state of the gods in contrast to men. The usual English “blessed” has more and more come to have liturgical or ecclesiastical overtones, and we have chosen “fortunate” as being the best translation available to us. {W. F. Albright and C. S. Mann, The Anchor Bible, Matthew (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1971), 45.}Third Nephi uses the same language as the King James Version: “Blessed are all the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” It does not jar its first-time readers with language that stretches their understanding too far. It is important that Joseph used the same word in the Book of Mormon that is in the King James Matthew, because it lets us compare the Bible and the Book of Mormon with confidence and know that the Book of Mormon carries the same understanding as the Bible. It is also important that these two scholars have clarified what the Bible actually says—and therefore what the Savior said to the people at Bountiful. The thing that is so interesting about the clarification in their footnote is that these world-class scholars knew what the Greek word means—“in the state of the gods”—but they did not believe Jesus could have meant that, so they came up with a watered-down word—“fortunate” —because that made more sense to them. Then, consistent with their training as scholars, they put the real meaning in a footnote, leaving LDS readers of the Book of Mormon free to pursue the limits of the meaning if they wish to, but without imposing it on them:The Beatitudes—as written in 3 Nephi—are among the most complete and succinct statements of the ideas—not the events, but the ideas—of the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama that one can find anywhere in the scriptures. Most of the Beatitudes are very short quotes or paraphrases from the Psalms or from Isaiah. It is apparent that the Savior quoted these passages in order to evoke his listeners’ memories of the entire passage to which he was referring. His speaking the Beatitudes would have only taken about three minutes. For his audience it must have been an overwhelming experience to hear the Savior run through that sequence of ideas so quickly—while their minds were filled to overflowing with the full intent of those passages of scripture. As the Spirit conveyed the message to his listeners, their minds would have been flooded with a quick succession of infinitely powerful ideas.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><3 Nephi 12:1 - LeGrand Baker - Beatitudes, an Introduction Author : lbaker?3 Nephi 12:1 – LeGrand Baker – Beatitudes, an IntroductionThere are few passages in the Bible that can be applied to more diverse human experiences than the Beatitudes, and consequently there are few scriptures more universally appreciated, or more often quoted. Everyone loves the Beatitudes because every one can interpret them in their own way, and can find solace in that interpretation. Strangely enough, one of the reasons that is true is because the biblical Beatitudes have been edited at some point in their history to make their meanings more ambiguous than they were when Christ originally spoke them. We can say that with certainty because a more accurate version is found in the Book of Mormon.On first reading, the Beatitudes in Third Nephi seem to be substantially the same as those in the Bible. But on closer examination, one finds nuances of meaning which the Matthew version does not give. Even though the Book of Mormon adds considerably to the original meaning of the Beatitudes, the multi-faceted truths they contain also remain, and their beauty as individual statements of consolation is not diminished.It is occasionally true that seemingly casual remarks by Mormon are not only very important to understand what is happening – providing a context in which one can place the teachings of the prophets – and of subtext of the Book of Mormon. Mormon’s introduction to the Beatitudes is one of those.And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words unto Nephi, and to those who had been called, (now the number of them who had been called, and received power and authority to baptize, was twelve), and he stretched forth his hand unto the multitude, and cried unto them, saying: (3 Nephi 12:1)It is very significant that Jesus had been speaking to the Twelve about their relationships with himself and his Father, but now he speaks to the entire “multitude.” In only those few words, Mormon has given us the same message that the blessings of sacral kingship and priesthood are not reserved exclusively to the leaders, but are available to all the Saints.The point here is that even though Jesus had been giving specific instructions to the Twelve, when he reviewed the entire enthronement/endowment coronation ceremonies, he now addressed the entire multitude.As Stephen Ricks and I discussed in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, the Beatitudes are a complete summary of the covenants and ordinances connected with the ancient Israelite temple drama and coronation rites. Because I believe the Beatitudes in the Book of Mormon focus of the powers and responsibilities of kingship, sonship, and priesthood. The following explanation of the nature of kingship in pre-exilic Old Testament and in the Book of Mormon is a necessary introduction to understanding the Beatitudes in that way.KINGSHIP AND PRIESTHOOD IN ANCIENT ISRAELIt is significant in light of Mormon’s introduction in Third Nephi, that some Old Testament scholars have observed that the king’s coronation ceremony was probably much more than just the enthronement of the king. Some scholars believe that while the people were watching the ceremonies in which the king participated, symbolically each of them was participating in those same ceremonies as well. So the covenants between Jehovah and the king were also covenants between Jehovah and his people.What is more, it is clear from the outset that the king is both dependent upon and responsible to Yahweh for the right exercise of his power; for his subjects, whatever their status in society, are one and all Yahweh’s people. {Aubrey R. Johnson, Sacral Kingship in Ancient Israel, Cardiff, University of Wales Press, 1967, p. 8.}Several scholars who have written most extensively about the nature of Israelite kingship, have suggested that the coronation of the earthly king was both real and symbolic. It was real in that the king really was enthroned. It was symbolic because all the people who watched the drama were also initiated into the mysteries of kingship and priesthood, and, vicariously as they watched, where also made sons and daughters of God. The implications stemming from the notion that ordinary men and women who watched the ceremonies were also participating in the ordinances and covenants, goes far beyond the notion of a vague universal royalty, for the king of Israel was the adopted son and heir of Jehovah. So if the people were being engaged in participatory rites, in which they also were made sacral kings and queens – then they also were also made covenant sons and daughters – children and heirs – of God.The Book of Mormon substantiates their findings about the nature of the pre-exilic Israelite religion – not only in the stories of King Benjamin and of Abinadi, who expressly addresses the question of how one may become a child of God – but throughout the entire book, especially in the teachings of the Saviour in Third Nephi.The distinguished biblical scholar Sigmund Mowinckel was the first to point out that the king’s anointing was an “endowment of the Spirit.” His use of the word “endowment” was appropriate. An endowment is a gift which grows in value with time. For example, when BYU receives an endowment of money, it invests the principle and spends only the accrued interest. Thus the original gift remains permanently intact while the interest provides a perpetual source of income to support university programs or scholarships. Mowinckel is using the word “endowment” in that same way – a perpetual and ever increasing gift. He wrote:[The king’s] anointing was related to his endowment with the spirit. The later tradition says explicitly that when David was anointed, ‘the spirit of Yahweh leaped upon him’.In virtue of his endowment with the divine spirit, the king is filled with superhuman power. He receives ‘a new heart’; he is changed into a new man (1 Sam. x, 6, 9)….He receives a new disposition expressed, according to oriental custom, in giving to him a new name which indicates his new, intimate relationship with the god who has chosen him, and whom he represents.Through his anointing and endowment with the divine spirit, the king also receives superhuman wisdom. {Sigmund Mowinckel, He that Cometh (New York: Abingdon Press, 1954), 66. For a related discussion on the power of new covenant names see, Hermann Gunkel, (Michael D. Rutter, trans.) The Folktale in the Old Testament (Sheffield, England, Almond Press, 1987), 87.}Other scholars have gone further, and have recognized this Old Testament concept that during the kingship endowment/coronation rites, the men and women in the audience may well have made the same covenants and symbolically performed all the ordinances as the king, queen, and others who participated on the stage or in the throne-room in the ceremonies. Again, there is actually more concrete evidence of that in the Book of Mormon than there is in the Old Testament, but even so, several biblical scholars have affirmed that this was the Israelite practice during the period when Solomon’s Temple was in use. The most obvious expression of that principle is the underlying theme of the entire Old Testament – not just the king, but the entire nation of Israel were “chosen,” and the choosing was an was by covenant. The power of the covenant was ultimately made visible in both the royal authority of the king and the covenant relationship between the king, the people, and Jehovah.Even though there is little remaining evidence of this egalitarianism of the kingship, priesthood, and salvation rites remaining in the Old Testament, one may have a glimpse at what appears to be part of those ceremonies in pre-exilic times in the 23rd chapter of Second Kings. The people had come to the temple where king Josiah read from what was purported to be a newly discovered manuscript of the Law. At the conclusion of his reading:3 And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant (2 Kings 23:3).This is not evidence that the people also made all of the other covenants that the king may have made during the ceremonies, but it is evidence that on that occasion they made at least one – that evidence not only precludes the argument that they made none, but it also opens the likelihood that they made others as well.It is apparent to some scholars that the ancient Israelites temple drama and coronation rites of the king were enacted because it was important that the people be able to participate. They were an indispensable part of the ceremonies. And their covenants were as important as the king’s because the covenant between the king and Jehovah was sustained by a similar covenant between the people, the king and Jehovah. The kingship represented as much a blessing as a power, for the people of Israel were an “elect” and “chosen” people. Mowinckel explains:But election is bound up with the making of the covenant, which is maybe the most important innovation on the basis of the historical orientation of Yahwesm [worship of Jehovah]. The idea in itself is not new….To Israel after the time of Moses, ‘covenant’ means the historical covenant which Yahweh in his goodness ‘granted’ to his elected people. {Sigmund Mowinckel, translated by A.P. Thomas, The Psalms in Israel’s Worship, 2 Vols.(Nashville, Abingdon, 1962), vol. 1: 155.}The King’s authority was not only political and ecclesiastical, it was apparently a legitimate priesthood power as well. Mowinckel and others have suggested that the king’s Melchizedek priesthood came through the religious leaders of the Jebusites in Jerusalem after David took that city from them and made it his own. Writing of David and Solomon as the nation’s religious leaders, Mowinckel observed,This transition becomes still more easily comprehensible if, as certain things indicate, David’s new priest in Jerusalem, Zadok, was descended from the ancient race of priest kings, of whom Melchizedek was a representative. David and his successors were professedly ‘priests’ after the order of Melchizedek (‘for the sake of Melchizedek’), as we hear in Ps. 110. {Sigmund Mowinckel, translated by A.P. Thomas, The Psalms in Israel’s Worship, 2 Vols.(Nashville, Abingdon, 1962), vol. 1:133.}Thus the coronation rites re-affirmed the king as the personification and upholder of the Law, the epitome of justice and mercy, and the ultimate earthly priesthood authority. In one or all of those roles, throughout the coronation ceremonies, the king was the focal point of all of the temple activities. That does not imply that he was exclusively the focal point, but rather that his person represented the connecting place between the events on earth and the events in heaven, as Gordon C. Thomasson, observes:Every people required connection with the divine, and that connection was embodied in the king….It was in his presence or on his person that the most sacred rituals and the highest mysteries had to be performed, and the divine king became the gnostic par excellence, holding the knowledge, power, and authority upon which the welfare and salvation of his subjects depended.” {Gordon C. Thomasson, “Togetherness Is Sharing an Umbrella: Divine Kingship, the Gnosis, and Religious Syncretism,” in John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks, eds., By Study and Also By Faith, 2 vols. Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1990, vol. 1. p. 533-534.}KINGSHIP AND PRIESTHOOD IN THE BOOK OF MORMONNot long after Lehi’s colony arrived in America, the Nephites built a temple which was as nearly like Solomon’s as they could make it. Nephi, Jacob had seen God, and that requires one’s having the Melchizedek priesthood. Therefore, we cannot doubt that they had the necessary Melchizedek priesthood authority to conduct proper temple services, and there is no reason to suppose that the rites and ordinances they conducted were different from those of the Temple in Jerusalem (see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord for a discussion of those kingship rites). The Israelite temple rites centered around the person of the king. So the Nephites needed a king as much for religious as for temporal purposes. Therefore, it was necessary that at about the same time the Nephites built their temple they also insisted that Nephi become their king.In 3 Nephi, the Savior establishes a new government with himself as King. We have described his coronation in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord. As a part of the coronation ceremony he gage a lecture. (3 Nephi 12-14) The beginning of that sermon (the Beatitudes) is a temple text that summarizes the steps to exaltation. The remainder of the sermon is also a temple text. It addresses many of the same principles as the Beatitudes, except it gives practical instruction about how to do what the Beatitudes say must be done.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><3 Nephi 11:28-41 – LeGrand Baker – doctrines of the Kingdom Author : lbaker3 Nephi 11:28-41 – LeGrand Baker – doctrines of the KingdomThese verses are the only place in 3 Nephi where the Savior actually says “this is my doctrine,” and then spells out what his doctrines are.Elsewhere (3 Nephi 27:13-21), the Savior defines the “gospel” as being about the Atonement, faith, repentance, baptism, keeping our covenants, and enduring to the end. but this has a somewhat different flavor from that.It is significant that the “doctrine,” as he defines it here, was for the ears of the Twelve and was not spoken to the entire congregation. At the beginning on the next chapter, he teaches all the people the Beatitudes and the sermon at the temple, but this definition of “doctrine” is only for the Twelve. That being so, it is reasonable to see this statement of doctrine as the principles that undergird all the others. Then, what he taught to the congregation as an elaboration on those principles.It is also significant that Mormon entrusted us with the instruction the Savior gave to the twelve disciples. That fact alone suggests we ought to take these “doctrines” seriously as the foundation of our own understanding as well.Before the Savior expounded the particulars of the doctrine, he made two important points. First, he introduces his discussion with the injunction (v. 25), “there shall be no disputations among you … concerning the points of my doctrine.” I suppose that is another way of saying it is as it is and there is no room for changes or compromises.The second point, after making it clear that his “doctrine” is not to be tampered with, he expanded that principle even further by saying the first doctrine he defines is that “anger… should be done away (v. 30).” Later on, when he addresses the entire congregation he explains that angry and contentious people cannot be where he is (12:21-26).After those preliminaries (immutability of the doctrine and unacceptability of anger) he says: “Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will declare unto you my doctrine And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me” (v. 31-32).and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me (v. 32).For the men to whom Jesus was speaking, this reference is to an event of earlier that very day, when they heard the voice of the father declare, “Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him” (3 Nephi 11:7)As for us, we have the testimony of all those witnesses who heard the testimony of the Father as recorded in 3 Nephi and in the New Testament (Matthew 17:5, Mark 9:7, Luke 9:35, John 1:32). In addition, we have John’s testimony that the Savior versified his Father’s testimony (John 5:36-38, John 8:17-19). We also have the more immediate testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith (JS -History 1:17).Whether you and I have actually heard that voice is beside the point. For, as the Savior said, “the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me” (v. 32). The testimonies of multiple witnesses leaves us without excuse. As we contemplate the gravity of that, we remember Moroni’s warning:27 And I exhort you to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that I lie not, for ye shall see me at the bar of God; and the Lord God will say unto you: Did I not declare my words unto you, which were written by this man, like as one crying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of the dust? (Moroni 10:27).As we consider what the Savior next said to the twelve Nephite disciples, we should also remember the covenantal relationship between the Savior, his Father, and ourselves as it was explained to us by Moroni:32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God [the Father] with all your might, mind and strength, then is his [the Father’s] grace sufficient for you, that by his [the Father’s] grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God [the Father] ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God [the Father].33 And again, if ye by the grace of God [the Father] are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God [the Father], through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot (Moroni 10:32-33).That phrase, “which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins,” teaches us that the Savior is the personification, the evidence, and the fulfillment of the Father’s covenant that we may “become holy, without spot.” With that understanding, we can more clearly understand the Savior’s words:32 …and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me.33 And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.34 And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.35 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and I bear record of it from the Father; and whoso believeth in me believeth in the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for he [the Father] will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost.[Later, when the Savior speaks to the entire congregation, he will elaborate on that principle.]36 And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one (3 Nephi 11:32-36).The Savior’s charge to the Twelve that they must repent pushes the concept to its furthest limit. He said,37 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, [that baptism would occur on the following day (3 Nephi 19:11-12)] or ye can in nowise receive these things [“these things” are the testimonies he has just promised them].In this verse the sequence is: (1) repent, (2) become as a little child, and (3) be baptized (4) in order to “receive these things.” The next verse is quite different:38 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.That sequence is: (1) repent, (2) be baptized in my name, and (3) become as a little child, (4) in order to “inherit the kingdom of God.” After giving these instructions to the Twelve, the Savior explained both baptisms to the entire congregation. He said:1 …Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to minister unto you, and to be your servants; and unto them I have given power that they may baptize you with water; and after that ye are baptized with water, behold, I will baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost…(3 Nephi 12:1).His instruction that one must “become as a little child” precedes the first baptism but follows the second one. The classic scriptural definition of what that means is from King Benjamin when he said:19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father (Mosiah 3:19).I believe there is an additional (not a different) way to understand it as well. I have told this story before, but for me, the subject matter virtually requires that I tell it again.One day, more than 20 years ago, I dropped in on my daughter Dawn and her family. Little two-year-old Chelsea was in the tub having a bath. She heard my voice and came running into the living room to meet me. “Grandpa,” she shouted, all dripping wet, holding out her arms, wanting to be picked up and hugged. As I held her, wetness and all, I understood what it means to be like a little child in the Kingdom of God. The little girl in my arms was completely, simply, Chelsea. She needed no clothing to define who she was. At that moment she was only herself; trusting, but not noticing she trusted; vulnerable, but unaware of her vulnerability because it did not concern her; loving and finding fulfillment and identity in the moment of her giving her love. In her unabashed dripping-wetness Chelsea was wholly free to be herself–to express her love–to BE the expression of her love.I suppose we are all like that. When we are stripped of all the masks and facades of the artificial needs and fears by which we define our Selves, then we may kneel naked, vulnerable, and unashamed before our loving Heavenly Father. When one is childlike in that nakedness, he is free. He knows and loves the voice of Him by whom he walks. Nothing can bribe him because in his Saviour all of his needs are satisfied. Nothing can threaten him because in the arms of his Saviour he can find no fear. He may not have all the information he needs all the time, but his Friend has, and one can always ask when one does not know. When one is naked in that way, one may begin to know as he is known and see as he is seen. Only when one is comfortable with that kind of nakedness may he be clothed in a “robe of righteousness” and become one who may “inherit the kingdom of God.”I suspect when that happens, the question of one’s obedience will become moot because the question of his motive will have no practical meaning. Obedience will simply be one of the fruits of love, and his absolute obedience the simple expression of his absolute freedom.The Savior concluded his instructions to the Twelve with these words:39 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.40 And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock; but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them(3 Nephi 11:39-40).The Savior himself is that Rock, as Helaman explained to his sons:12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall (Helaman 5:12).Having enumerated these doctrines to the Twelve, the Savior then gave them this charge:41 Therefore, go forth unto this people, and declare the words which I have spoken, unto the ends of the earth (3 Nephi 11:41).<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><3 Nephi 11:13-15 -- LeGrand Baker -- His hands and his feet Author : lbaker?3 Nephi 11:13-15 — LeGrand Baker — His hands and his feet13 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying:14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.16 And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying:17 Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.18 And it came to pass that he spake unto Nephi (for Nephi was among the multitude) and he commanded him that he should come forth.19 And Nephi arose and went forth, and bowed himself before the Lord and did kiss his feet.20 And the Lord commanded him that he should arise. And he arose and stood before him.An intriguing question is: What is the meaning behind the importance of touching the prints of the nails on the Savior’s hands and feet? The authors of the gospels did not mention the nails when they told us of his crucifixion, rather, they only say “they crucified him” (Matthew 27:35, Mark 15:24-25, Luke 23:33, John 19:18).The most vivid description of his agony on the cross is found in the prophecy that is the 25th Psalm. He quoted it before he died. The psalm begins, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” and includes the words, “they pierced my hands and my feet (Psalms 22:1, 16). Even though the gospels do not describe the way the Savior was crucified, both Luke and John cite the nail prints as confirming evidence of the resurrection.There are several accounts that show that those who truly knew that Jesus is the resurrected Christ not only saw with their eyes, felt his love in the depths of their souls, but also touched the identifying marks on his feet and/or his hands. The first to do so were “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary” who had come to the sepulcher early.9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him (Matthew 28:1-9).Luke’s account of the Apostles seeing Jesus contains the same elements.38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet (Luke 24:32-44).From a brilliant paper by Stephen D. Ricks, and RoseAnn Benson, {1} we learn that those experiences were an integral part of a covenant-defining relationship between the Savior and the persons who saw, felt, and knew. In the paper, they report that Herbert Huffmon “demonstrated that the Hebrew word yada, ‘to know,’ bore an additional meaning—‘to enter into a binding agreement’—a meaning that has parallels in Old Testament covenant language and ancient Near Eastern treaty terminology.”{2}Their paper shows that an intimate knowledge of God presupposes a covenant. An example is when the Lord reminded Jeremiah of their premortal covenant:4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.(Jeremiah 1:4-5).The story of the brother of Jared is another example. Note the covenantal relationship established through questions and answers and then it is confirmed when the brother of Jared sees Jehovah. Then the Savior extends an invitation to the covenants to others as well:10 And he answered: Nay; Lord, show thyself unto me.11 And the Lord said unto him: Believest thou the words which I shall speak?12 And he answered: Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie.13 And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.14 Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters (Ether 3:10-14).Just as “to know” the Savior presupposes a saving covenant, so to-not-know precludes the blessings of that covenant. It was true even in Jesus’s lifetime that one could know about Jesus and not know him in the sense of covenant. John explained that if someone was simply curious about the miracles Jesus performed but did not seek to know that Jesus is divine, then they got their curiosity satisfied but nothing more. He wrote:23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man (John 2:23-25).The LDS Bible footnote at “commit” says, Jesus did not “entrust” himself to them. That is, he did not let them know who he really was. There is not even an implied covenant associated with their simply being curios. Neither can there be an assumed covenant by those who only claim to know. One cannot presume the rights and powers of the covenant without having met its requirements. The Savior is very explicit about that. He said,22 Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works?23 And then will I profess unto them: I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity (3 Nephi 14:22-23).Ricks and Benson point out that covenant requires that both parties know each other. They write:Mutual recognition of an exclusive relationship. The Book of Mormon emphasizes the importance of mutual knowing, clearly linking eternal blessings or cursings to recognizing God as one’s exclusive Lord.{3}For the apostles in Jerusalem, mutual recognition meant seeing, and feeling. John’s accounts of the Apostles’ first seeing the resurrected Christ emphasizes the importance of that tangible testimony. He reports that in the first instance only ten of the apostles were present.19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord (John 20:19-20).The marks of the Savior’s crucifixion were the ultimate testimony that he is the resurrected Christ. The importance of that is found in the story of Thomas that follows in the next verses—but not in the story as it is usually told. The fact is, “Doubting Thomas” never doubted and John never intended to say that he did. Earlier, John reported that when Jesus said he was going to return to Jerusalem, and the others urged him not to go, it was Thomas who said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him (John 11:16).” Because such devotion calls into question the very notion that Thomas was so faithless that he refused to believe the testimony of his fellow apostles, it requires a new look at the story of “Doubting Thomas.”That Thomas’s experience was a necessary part of his covenant with the Savior is shown by the words spoken by the resurrected Christ. The story as told in the King James Bible is this:26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God (John 20:26-28).It is my opinion that this is one of the most ill-understood stories in the scriptures. History is written and interpreted by people who have access to only the evidence that happened to survive. In the case of this story of Thomas, John the Beloved was present, and was an eye witness to the events, so his testimony is valid. However, what has not survived for the general reader is the meaning of the words that the Savior used. Let me explain:As Stephen Ricks and I discussed in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, the Greek word pistis, which is translated as “faith,” was not a religious term in New Testament times, but was a commercial and diplomatic term that denoted making and keeping contracts, covenants, and treaties. In about the second century, apostate Christians lost the covenants along with their terms and the ordinances by which they were administered. Thereafter, pistis or “faith” came to mean belief without the validation of a covenant, or put more simply, the word “faith” came to mean a belief without any substantiating evidence, just as it does in most of Christianity today.In the story of Thomas, the Savior uses two words that are derived from pistis:Apistos, translated “faithless” in John 20:27, does not mean one who does not believe, but it means one who has not entered into the covenant.Pistos is translated as “believing” in John 20:27 and as “faithful” in Ephesians 1:1. It means one who keeps the terms of his covenants. So in both John and Ephesians it refers to covenant keepers, rather than simply believers.Given those definitions, we might loosely translate John 20:27 like this:27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not without the covenant of knowing, but being faithful to the covenant.(I am very grateful to Stephen Ricks for helping me understand that.)If that is what the Savior really said, the next question has to be “What did he mean?”For Latter-day Saints, that answer is not hard to find. An apostle is one who bears a special witness of the Savior. When Christ appeared to the other Apostles, Thomas was not present. Therefore, Thomas did not have the evidence, and could not keep the apostolic covenant to bear that special and sure witness. This conversation that John records between the Savior and Thomas is simply correcting that problem.When the Savior came to the Nephite in Bountiful, there were 2,500 people present at the temple that day—men, women, and children (3 Nephi 17:25). That is important for the perpetuation of the witnesses of the covenant. The mature men and women who were present would grow old and die. Eventually, so would the young men and the teenagers. And finally the little children would grow old. Their lifetimes would span three or four generations of people who had seen with their eyes, felt with their hands, rejoiced with their souls, and bore testimony that they knew and had experienced the reality of the resurrected Savior. Their first-hand testimonies helped sustain a righteous Nephite culture for many, many years. Of those people, the Savior himself testified:30 And now, behold, my joy is great, even unto fulness, because of you, and also this generation; yea, and even the Father rejoiceth, and also all the holy angels, because of you and this generation; for none of them are lost.31 Behold, I would that ye should understand; for I mean them who are now alive of this generation; and none of them are lost; and in them I have fulness of joy (3 Nephi 27:30-31).For those who were at the temple, their knowing Christ as he knew them set them apart in something like same unique way (but not with the same authority) as the eleven apostles at Jerusalem who also saw, and felt, and knew, and testified. {4}On his first day at the Bountiful Temple, the Savior established a new government and his experience there can be recognized as the ancient Israelite coronation ceremony. This seems to be the conclusion of their covenant of mutual recognition when the Savior is enthroned as king and the people “did cry out with one accord, saying: Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him (3 Nephi 11:16-15).”What follows next is an even more intimate covenant of mutual recognition between just the Savior and one of the Twelve. The Savior commanded Nephi to come to him.19 And Nephi arose and went forth, and bowed himself before the Lord and did kiss his feet.20 And the Lord commanded him that he should arise. And he arose and stood before him.The Savior, who had just been enthroned as king, then gave Nephi priesthood authority to act in his behalf. The record does not say so, but in the context of subsequent events it is apparent that this authority was equivalent to making Nephi president of the church and of the theocratic government that the Savior was in process of establishing.In Doctrine and Covenants section 76 there are two separate passages that describe the Celestial glory. The first (v.50-70) tells about the quality of the persons who inherit the Celestial kingdon. The second (v. 92-97) describes “the glory of the celestial, which excels in all things—where God, even the Father, reigns upon his throne forever and ever.” There we find the ultimate expression of the covenant of knowing — of “mutual recognition.” It says:94 They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace;95 And he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion.That phrase, “they see as they are seen, and know as they are known,” describes a more intimate relationship than anything we can experience in this life.—————————————-The Savior’s Nephite coronation ceremony is described in our book, Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord: {5}The scene that followed might most easily be visualized as it would have occurred at the conclusion of the drama’s coronation ceremony: as follows during the festival ceremony, the great doors of the temple were swung open, the veil before the Holy of Holies was pulled back, and the king was brought into the sacred chamber. The king—the adopted son and legal heir of Jehovah—sat upon the golden throne with his feet “established” in the Ark as his footstool. {5a} While sitting there, he gave a lecture in which he taught his people the meaning of the Law.The Savior’s real coronation was probably like that. The Nephite Temples were built after the pattern of Solomon’s Temple, {5b} so, as in Jerusalem, its Holy of Holies contained Jehovah’s throne, for “the throne in the sanctuary is considered as the image of the divine throne.” {5c}In Mormon’s account, this was not the dress rehearsal as it had been during the festival temple drama. The King was really Jehovah, the Eternal Priest and King of Israel. He had come to his temple. The Holy of Holies was his throne room. In it was his own throne. It is likely that the people who were present would have understood that what they were witnessing was the true enthronement—the reality for which the conclusion of the New Year’s festival drama was only a preparatory enactment.When the Savior came to the Temple at Bountiful, we may suppose that he would have done precisely what the people would have expected him to do, that is, the veil before the Holy of Holies would have been pulled back, and their King—Jehovah-Messiah-the resurrected Savior—would have gone into the Holy of Holies and sat upon his own throne. If the room were arranged like the one in Solomon’s Temple, the throne would have been elevated above the floor, and there would have been a footstool there, a sacred box akin to the Ark of the Covenant, containing emblems of priesthood and kingship—perhaps the sword of Laban, the Liahona, the small plates, and other sacred symbols of divine authority. When the Savior sat upon his throne, his feet would have been “established” upon that footstool and his priesthood and kingship would have been acknowledged.It was probably perfectly silent in the temple, but running through the minds of some may have been the words appropriate to this time during the temple drama:6 Sing praises to God, sing praises:sing praises unto our King, sing praises.7 For God is the King of all the earth:sing ye praises with understanding.8 God reigneth over the heathen:God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.9 The princes of the people are gathered together, eventhe people of the God of Abraham:for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he isgreatly exalted (Psalm 47:6-9).There the people came. One by one they came before the Savior, knelt before him, embraced by the overwhelming power of his love; they would have looked up through the brilliant light that is an expression of his love and that defines him as God—and into his smiling eyes. Each one touching his hands and his side.Looking upon him, they saw a man—real and tangible as themselves—yet his person was wholly different from their own. He was white beyond anything they could imagine or describe. The whiteness was not a quality of his exterior, but of himself. He was pure light, there was no darkness in him, therefore, he was not full of light, but he was light. He was not full of truth, but rather the personification of truth. He was not the expression of love; he was the fulfillment of love, which is truth and light. For that reason, darkness could not be where he was but by definition must have fled from his presence. Therefore all that were within his presence must have become pure as he was pure.They were clean—not because they were innately clean—but because he had forgiven them of all their past sins and had accepted only their present repentant, humble Selves into his presence. Therefore, they understood that they were clean. In that came the greater understanding that if they were to remain clean they must forgive as they had been forgiven. They must acknowledge that which was good in others and permit them to leave behind their sins, as each one of them had been permitted to leave behind his own sins when he came into the presence of the Savior.As they knelt before him and held his hands in theirs, they realized that they could not comprehend such unbounded magnificence. They looked down at his hands and sought to comprehend him; they realized that he is the pure embodiment of truth and light and love. They were filled to overflowing with his love, and they were not afraid.As they knelt before him, perhaps each one, like Nephi, “bowed himself before the Lord and did kiss his feet.” As they held his feet in their hands—washing them with their tears, then caressing his feet with their fingers—their fingertips would have reached back to the place where the nail had been driven through his heels and into the wood of the cross. {5d} As each individual knelt there, within the unspeakable power of his love, their joy and their tears bore testimony to their souls that he is real—their fingers which touched the wounds testified that he is the resurrected God. Before leaving, some might tenderly wipe his feet with their own hair—feeling that to use anything else would be inappropriate.Later, the memory of it would fill their souls with wonderment, for their finite minds could comprehend neither his glory nor the joy they felt in his presence. And their greatest desire was to be forever where he is.Isaiah’s words, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” (Isaiah 52:7) call to mind that scene.—————————————-ENDNOTES{1} Stephen D. Ricks, and RoseAnn Benson — “Treaties and Covenants: Ancient Near Eastern Legal Terminology in the Book of Mormon,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, 2005), Volume – 14, Issue – 1, Pages: 48-61, 128–29.( To find the article, Google: “ricks benson covenant book of mormon” ){2} They cite Herbert B. Huffmon, “The Treaty Background of Hebrew YADA,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 181 (February 1966): 31.{3} Sorry I can’t give you a page number. I took the article off of the internet and it doesn’t give hard copy publication page numbers.{4} Ricks and Benson show that mutual recognition is an essential part of “knowing” as it relates to covenant and treaty making the ancient Near East and the Book of Mormon.{5} Baker and Ricks, Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, 2nd edition, 635-38.{5a} For a discussion of the Ark of the Covenant as a footstool, see Sarna, Exploring Exodus, 210-11.{5b} 2 Nephi 5:16, Alma 16:13.{5c} Wensinck, Ideas of the Western, 55.{5d} “In 1968, the bones of a crucified man were found at Giv’at ha-Mivtar just north of Jerusalem. These belonged to a man about 26 years old and 167 cm (5′ 5 ?”) tall. The heel bones (calcanea) were still fixed together by a nail. An examination showed that the nail had first been hammered through a piece of Pistacia or Acacia wood and then through both heel bones before entering the cross made of olive wood. The lower leg bones were broken. There was the mark of a nail on one of the lower right arm bones (radius.)“The nails were probably put through a plaque of wood to stop them tearing through the flesh. The weight of the body would have pulled the arm nails up the forearm to the wrist. The legs were broken against the side of the cross. All the weight of the victim’s body would be on the arms causing death by suffocation.” Peter Connolly, A History of the Jewish People in the Times of Jesus from Herod the Great to Masada (New York: Peter Bedrick, 1983), 51.See also illustration on page 48 of: Jodi Magness, “What did Jesus’ Tomb Look Like?” Biblical Archaeology Review 32, 1 (January/February, 2006): 38-49, 70.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><?3 Nephi 11:11 – LeGrand Baker – relationship of the Father and the Son Author : lbaker3 Nephi 11:11 – LeGrand Baker – relationship of the Father and the Son3 Nephi 11:10-1110 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.11 And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.Here the Savior places the atonement in the context of his being the ‘light and life of the world.’Last week we read scriptures that showed that the Savior is the personification of light, life, truth, and love. In these verses, it is in that context that he places his atonement. Sometimes we oversimplify the Savior’s greatness by saying that he was kind enough that he volenteered to perform the Atonement. What I believe he is saying here is that because he created all things and gave life to all things, only he could recreate (resurrect) and give new life (redeem) to all things.In describing the Atonement, the resurrected Christ also teaches us about he relationship with his Heavenly Father. He says:11 And behold, I am the light and the life of the world;and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me,and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world,in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all thingsfrom the beginning.In his conclusion of the Book of Mormon, Moroni emphasizes the role of the Father in the Saviors Atonement. He writes:32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot (Moroni 10:32-33).The Savior is the substance, the evidence, the validity, and the fulfillment of the Father’s covenant, and, according to the Savior’s own words, has been such “in all things from the beginning.”Paul reached back to the beginning when he reminded us:11 In whom [the Father] also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated [foreordained] according to the purpose of him [the Father] who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:12 That we should be to the praise of his [the Father’s] glory, who [the Father] first trusted in Christ.13 In whom [the Savior] ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom [the Savior] also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his [the Father’s] glory (Ephesians 1:11-14).If we can use modern technology to discover the meaning of the scriptures, then powerful telescopes are only beginning to teach us the meaning of this one:31 And behold, the glory of the Lord was upon Moses, so that Moses stood in the presence of God, and talked with him face to face. And the Lord God said unto Moses: For mine own purpose have I made these things. Here is wisdom and it remaineth in me.32 And by the word of my power, have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth.33 And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten (Moses 1:31-33).Of all the worlds in the universe, this little earth on which we live was chosen to be the altar on which the sacrifice of the Savior’s Atonement was performed. But the Father’s trust in his Only Begotten Son extended far beyond the limits of this earth and its population. The power of the Savior’s Atonement was not limited to the inhabitants of this world. Just as it could reach back in time to save Adam and Abraham in our world, so did it reach back in the eons of time to save the inhabitants of other worlds. The Prophet Joseph taught that in poem called The Vision:Hosanna, for ever! They open’d anon,And the glory of God shone around where I was;And there was the Son at the Father’s right hand,In a fulness of glory and holy applause.I beheld round the throne holy angels and hosts,And sanctified beings from worlds that have been,In holiness worshipping God and the Lamb,For ever and ever. Amen and amen.And now after all of the proofs made of him,By witnesses truly, by whom he was known,This is mine, last of all, that he lives; yea, he lives!And sits at the right hand of God on his throne.And I heard a great voice bearing record from heav’n,He’s the Saviour and only begotten of God;By him, of him, and through him, the worlds were all made,Even all that careen in the heavens so broad.Whose inhabitants, too, from the first to the last,Are sav’d by the very same Saviour of ours;And, of course, are begotten God’s daughters and sonsBy the very same truths and the very same powers.The Prophet Joseph Smith, “A Vision,”Times and Seasons, February 1, 1843. Italics added.)Apostle John Taylor was then in New York assisting immigrant Mormons get off the ships and on to trains that would take them part way to Utah. While there, he published a newspaper, called The Mormon. This is one of his last editorials in the newspaper.Lady-whence comest thou? Thine origin? What art thou doing here? Whither art thou going, and what is thy destiny? Declare unto me if thou hast understanding? Knowest thou not, that thou art a spark of Deity, struck from the fire of his eternal blaze, and brought forth in the midst of eternal burning?Knowest thou not that eternities ago, thy spirit, pure and holy, dwelt in thy Heavenly Father’s bosom, and in his presence, and with thy mother, one of the Queens of heaven, surrounded by thy brother and sister spirts in the spirit world, among the Gods. That as thy spirit beheld the scenes transpiring there, and thou growing in intelligence, thou sawest worlds upon worlds organized and peopled with thy kindred spirits, took upon them tabernacles, died, were resurrected, and received their exaltation on the redeemed worlds they once dwelt upon. (John Taylor, “Origin, Object, and Destiny of Women,” an editorial published in The Mormon, New York, New York, August 29, 1857. The full editorial can be found on my website under “favorite quotes.”)Alma explained that the Savior’s Atonement is “infinite and eternal”(Alma 34:10). The Savior’s Atonement that was performed on this little earth reached back through the eons of time to exalt other peoples on other worlds. This gives a whole new meaning to other statements in the Doctrine and Covenants:1 Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, and rejoice ye inhabitants thereof, for the Lord is God, and beside him there is no Savior.2 Great is his wisdom, marvelous are his ways, and the extent of his doings none can find out.3 His purposes fail not, neither are there any who can stay his hand.4 From eternity to eternity he is the same, and his years never fail.5 For thus saith the Lord—I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the en (D&C 76:1-5) d.17 By these things we know that there is a God in heaven, who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting the same unchangeable God, the framer of heaven and earth, and all things which are in them (D&C 20:17).The relationship between the Savior and his Father is a theme that runs throughout the scriptures. The conversation between the Savior, his Father, and Nephi is a splendid example. Here is just a bit of that conversation:10 And he [Jesus] said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?11 And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.12 And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do (2 Nephi 31:10-12).During Jesus life on earth he repeatedly gave credit to his Father. He taught what his Father told him to teach (John 15:14-17).He gave credit for the success of the Atonement to his Father’s support. He said: \18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—19 Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men (D&C 19:18-19).We learn more details about from Luke. In the Garden Jesus prayed,42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground (Luke 22:42-44).If the Atonement were for this earth only, then I suppose that angel might have been Adam or one of the Prophets. But, given the infinite and eternal reach of what the Savior was suffering, it is my considered opinion that the “angel” could have been none other than his Father to whom he was praying for sustenance.The Savior’s prayer in our behalf also focuses on the final authority of his Father. He says:3 Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—4 Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;5 Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life (D&C 45:3-5).The relationship of the Savior and his Father is so intimate that he frequently said he and his Father are One. That oneness is complicated in our minds because one of the name-titles of Jehovah is “the Father (as in Mosiah 15:1-7. see analysis in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition, 708-09; second edition, 500-01.)In D&C 93:2-5 there is a clear differentiation between “the Father” (Jehovah) and “my Father” (Elohim), but after that the distinction has to be understood by the context.1 Verily, thus saith the Lord:…3 And that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one—4 The Father because he gave me of his fulness, and the Son because I was in the world and made flesh my tabernacle, and dwelt among the sons of men.5 I was in the world and received of my Father, and the works of him were plainly manifest. …11 And I, John, bear record that I beheld his glory, as the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, even the Spirit of truth, which came and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us. …16 And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the glory of the Father;17 And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him.18 And it shall come to pass, that if you are faithful you shall receive the fulness of the record of John.19 I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness.20 For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace.21 And now, verily I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn (D&C 93:1-21).That oneness might best be understood as hased (unfailing love based on a prior covenant). The reason I suggest that is because the Savior invites us to join them in that same covenant based love/friendship. He said:2 I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was crucified for the sins of the world, even as many as will believe on my name, that they may become the sons of God, even one in me as I am one in the Father, as the Father is one in me, that we may be one (D&C 35:2).He says it more explicitly in the magnificent prayer in John 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. …10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. …20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one (John 17:1-22).<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><3 Nephi 11:11-- LeGrand Baker -- Light and Life Author : lbaker3 Nephi 11:11– LeGrand Baker — Light and Life3 Nephi 11:1110 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.11 And behold, I am the light and the life of the world;Sometimes I wonder, when I hear someone describe the Savior as “our Elder Brother” if they think of Christ as simply “like us only better.” It may be significant that the Savior never describes himself that way.Sometimes we overlook some of the most profound and significant ideas in the scriptures because they are presented to us so frequently that they don’t seem unique, and other times because the words seem simple and we don’t stop to ask what they mean. Human language can be an intangible prison. It is a prison if we let it confine our thinking to what we already know. The phrase, “I am the light and the life of the world” may be overlooked because we have read it so many times or because our definition of those words restricts their meanings and we never ask what the Savior intended when he used those two words together.That is the phrase with which the Savior most frequently introduces himself, so it would probably be a good for us to try to get some sense of what he meant. Examples are: 3 Nephi 9:15-21; Ether 4:8-19; D&C 10:64-70, 11:28-30, 12:7-9,34:1-4, 39:1-4, 45:7-9.The more closely one reads the scriptures, the more it is apparent that “light” and “life” are not metaphors. Rather, they are nouns that name absolute reality.It appears that love, light, and truth are equivalents—they come from God and are expressions of his glory. The conclusion that they are actually the same thing is easy to come by. Truth is knowledge of eternal reality—“of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come.” That is, truth is knowledge of all reality in sacred time and space. The Savior is the Spirit of Truth, and “he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth; Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ …which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space” (D&C 88:7-12, 93:24-26). Thus, both truth and light permeate and sustain everything in the universe. The fact that God’s love is also everywhere is a given that needs no proof. Since his light, truth, and love are everywhere and in every individual, they either occupy the same space at the same time, or else they are the same thing. If the latter is correct, then the differences we perceive are simply ways we have of describing the multiple effects of the power of his godliness. Joy is the product of truth/light/love. It is most meaningful when it is shared. The more we recognize and assimilate the truth/light/love of others, the greater the joy we and they experience (Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, 2nd edition, 565).When we recognize that light, love, and truth are equivalents, then other scriptures take on much greater meaning.In section 88 the Savior defines his light. That definition includes, but is not limited to, the photons our eyes can detect, the spectrums of light our eyes cannot detect, the heat and life giving energy that comes from the sun, and much more. Speaking of the Savior the revelation says:D&C 88:1-176 He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth;7 Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made.8 As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made;9 As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made;10 And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand.In addition to being both the light and power of our visible world, the revelation also says it is the light that gives us the capacity to learn and understand what we learn:11 And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;Now we are told that the Savior’s light is both the source of life and “the law by which all things are governed.”12 Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God [shechinah] to fill the immensity of space—13 The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.There we have three concepts coming together to create a unity that we can sort of understand. However, no mere human can wrap his mind around its infinite enormity. The concepts are:“to fill the immensity of space,” “all things,” and “in the bosom of eternity.”That definition of light is the introduction to the next part of the revelation which begins:14 Now, verily I say unto you, that through the redemption which is made for you is brought to pass the resurrection from the dead (D&C 88:14)That same relationship (light, life, resurrection) was taught to Alma by Abinadi, who explained:7 And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection.8 But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.9 He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.10 Even this mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruption shall put on incorruption, and shall be brought to stand before the bar of God, to be judged of him according to their works whether they be good or whether they be evil—11 If they be good, to the resurrection of endless life and happiness; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of endless damnation, being delivered up to the devil, who hath subjected them, which is damnation (Mosiah 16:7-11).John literally uses light and life interchangeably. In one place he equates life with light. He writes, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men [John 1:4]; and in another place he reverses that when he quotes the Savior as saying that the light is life:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12).In the Book of Mormon, Mormon explains to us what Ammon was teaching the Lamanite king. In doing so he ties those ideas nicely together showing that their product is joy.6 Now, this was what Ammon desired, for he knew that king Lamoni was under the power of God; he knew that the dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that this had overcome his natural frame, and he was carried away in God (Alma 19:6).A few chapters later Mormon again shows the relationship of the light, life, and joy, when he writes:14 And thus we see the great call of diligence of men to labor in the vineyards of the Lord; and thus we see the great reason of sorrow, and also of rejoicing—sorrow because of death and destruction among men, and joy because of the light of Christ unto life (Alma 28:14).Now the formula becomes more complicated as Alma equates light and life, with “the word of truth.”9 And now, my son, I have told you this that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness (Alma 38:9) .The Savior said the same thing, only more explicitly. He described himself as the law (which can be understood as an fusion of priesthood power, truth and gospel) and the source of eternal life:9 Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life (3 Nephi 15:9).The Lord defines truth as the “knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come.” That is, truth is knowledge of reality in sacred time. He then tells that he is the very personification of truth, that he has “all truth.” The revelation reads26 The Spirit of truth is of God. I am the Spirit of truth, and John bore record of me, saying: He received a fulness of truth, yea, even of all truth (D&C 93:24-26).That he received “a fullness of truth” is expressed in the New Testament as he is “full of grace and truth (John 1:14).”Truth can either be described as what God knows or what God speaks. The implications of that are described in Moses where the Father is quoted as saying:32 And by the word of my power, have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth.33 And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten (Moses 1:31-33).There, the word of God’s power is personified as the “Only Begotten Son.” Doctrine and Covenants 84 gathers these ideas into equivalents, so that it is impossible to understand one outside the context of the others.45 For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ.46 And the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit.(D&C 84:1-60.)If we are to even begin to understand what the Savior means when he identifies himself as “the light and the life of the world,” we must take literally John’s testimony as it is given us in the Prophet Joseph’s inspired version of the Bible:1 In the beginning was the gospel [word of truth = light = life = love] preached through the Son. And the gospel was the word, and the word was with the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was of God.2 The same was in the beginning with God.3 All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made which was made.4 In him was the gospel [truth], and the gospel was the life, and the life was the light of men;5 And the light shineth in the world, and the world perceiveth it not (JST John 1:1-5).From our perspective, there are some beautiful words in the psalms that seem to says it all:9 For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.10 O continue thy lovingkindness [hesed] unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart (Psalms 36:9-10).The Savior is the universal, and for us, the eternal source of truth, light, life, and love. His gospel (including the ordinances and covenants associated with its teachings) is the way we may fully appreciate and participate in the blessings of truth, light, and eternal life and love. But, as Alma points out, because he is the source of life, if we seek to find it any other place we find only death and darkness.25 And then shall the righteous shine forth in the kingdom of God.26 But behold, an awful death cometh upon the wicked; for they die as to things pertaining to things of righteousness; for they are unclean, and no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of God; but they are cast out, 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 40:25-26).?<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><3 Nephi 11:8-10 -- The Savior introduces himself to the Nephites Author : lbaker3 Nephi 11:8-10 — The Savior introduces himself to the Nephites8 And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.9 And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:10 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.Before Jesus’s birth, when the angel spoke to Mary, he instructed her, “thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus (Luke 1:32).”“Jesus” is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew “Joshua,” which means “Jehovah is salvation” or “Jehovah saves.” Our LDS Bible dictionary adds “Savior” to the meanings. The name was carefully chosen. It was both a given name and a name-title. This was made clear by the angel who spoke to Joseph. He said, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).When Jesus introduced himself to the Nephites gathered at the temple, they probably did not register the name Jesus as a given name, but rather heard it as a title: “I am the Joshua Messiah — I am the Savior Anointed.” That is who they were looking for, and that is what they would have understood him to say.“Christ” is the Greek form of the Hebrew “Messiah.” It means “The Anointed One.” Israelite kings and priests were anointed, and the Savior’s name-title “Messiah” is at least an acknowledgment of Jehovah’s kingship and priesthood as ruler of the Israelite people. But it is much more than that.The word “Messiah” is only found twice in the Old Testament (Daniel 9:25-26), but the Hebrew word that is translated “Messiah” is found many times. Except in all the other instances it is translated as “anointed” and almost all of those references are about “the Lord’s anointed,” that is the king of Israel (as in Psalm 18:50).There are two places in the Old Testament that speak of Jehovah’s premortal anointing.One is Isaiah 61which reads:1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound?2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn (Isaiah 61:1-2).The Savior cited those verses in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:4, 3 Nephi 12:4), and again at Nazareth, where he said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:17-21).President Joseph F. Smith, in D&C 138, by quoting the passage differently, makes it clear that the Isaiah reference is to Jehovah and not to Isaiah.42 And Isaiah, who declared by prophecy that the Redeemer was anointed to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that were bound…(D&C 138:42).In the gospel of John, Jesus identifies himself to the woman at the well as the promised Messiah (John 4:25). The frequent references to “Jesus Christ” in the Book of Mormon also assert that the Nephites understood that he is the “Anointed One” (Mosiah 3:8, 12 are examples).The Lord also identified himself as the “Anointed One” (Messiah) to Enoch. He said,53 And the Lord said: Blessed is he through whose seed Messiah shall come; for he saith—I am Messiah, the King of Zion, the Rock of Heaven, which is broad as eternity; whoso cometh in at the gate and climbeth up by me shall never fall; wherefore, blessed are they of whom I have spoken, for they shall come forth with songs of everlasting joy (Moses 7:53).It is likely that Jehovah’s anointing was portrayed in the ancient Israelite Feast of Tabernacles temple drama. But the psalm that depicted his anointing is no longer in the collection, or if it is, I cannot identify it. However, there is a psalm that takes place in the Council in Heaven immediately after Jehovah was anointed. I say immediately after because the perfumed anointing oil with which he was anointed is described in that psalm. The following is our discussion of that aromatic anointing oil: Paul quoted verse 7 as a testimony of the Savior’s kingship (Hebrews 1:9).Then, in the [temple drama], the prince does exactly what protocol would require him to do next. He turns to Jehovah, his most immediate superior, and does obeisance to him.The prince does obeisance to Jehovah:7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness:therefore God, thy God, hath anointed theewith the oil of gladness above thy fellows.8 All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia,out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad(Psalm 45:7-8).The chain of command was Elohim at the top, then Jehovah, then the king. So our prince (who on the earth will be king) first paid homage to Elohim, then to Jehovah. It is apparent from the words that in an earlier part of this scene, the Father had already anointed Jehovah to be the Eternal King and Protector of Israel. Even though the psalm that tells that story is no longer in the canon (or if it is, it cannot be identified), we can know that Jehovah had just been anointed because his garments were still fragrant with sacred scented anointing oil. We know the king was addressing Jehovah in these verses because of the words, “thy God [Elohim], hath anointed thee [Jehovah].”The reference to his fragrant smell is very important. Even though the Old Testament editors and writers do not describe the oil with which the kings of Israel were anointed, the record does show an explicit recipe for perfuming the oil with which the High Priests were anointed. The formula is given along with the command that this sacred oil may be used for no other purpose (Exodus ch. 30 & 40).We see a similar situation in verse 8 of Psalm 45, for the prince acknowledges that Jehovah’s garments still smell of the fragrant perfumes of the anointing oil. In doing so, he also gives us the formula by which the sacred oil was perfumed: “All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia.” This was a very meaningful formula. The oil was, of course, olive oil, the product of the fruit of the olive tree, which in ancient Israel represented the Tree of Life. Myrrh is a perfume made from the sap of a bush or small tree. Aloes is a perfume made from the heartwood of another tree, and cassia is a perfume made from the bark of still a different tree. So on the stage, one representing Jehovah had just been anointed with a sacred oil whose fragrance were a composite of all the parts of a tree—either an acknowledgment or a declaration that Jehovah is the Tree of Life (Baker and Ricks, Who shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, 2nd edition, 207-208).We are taught that ordinances that pertain to this world must be performed in this world. Peter tells us that Jesus was also anointed while he was in a mortal body. His testimony is:37 That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.39 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree (Acts 10:37-39).We also have the testimony in Doctrine and Covenants 132:7 And verily I say unto you, that the conditions of this law are these: All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity, and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to hold this power (and I have appointed unto my servant Joseph to hold this power in the last days, and there is never but one on the earth at a time on whom this power and the keys of this priesthood are conferred), are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead (D&C 132:7).<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><3 Nephi 11:1-7 -- LeGrand Baker -- The Father introduces His Son Author : lbaker3 Nephi 11:1-7 — LeGrand Baker — The Father introduces His Son3 And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.4 And it came to pass that again they heard the voice, and they understood it not.5 And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did open their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came.6 And behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it said unto them:7 Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him.It was probably important that they did not understand the words the first and second time. The first time they were surprised by it. What they needed — and what they received was the sure witness of the Holy Ghost that the sound they heard was of God, that it was truth, and that it had great value.The second time they were not surprised but listened in anticipation. Then, the third time, they were ready to understand the words.The scriptures rarely quote the words of the Father except when he testifies that Jesus in his Beloved Son. Examples are:Jesus’s baptism: Matthew 3:16-17, Mark 1:10-12, Luke 3:21-22, D&C 93:14-16.The accounts differ slightly. Matthew quotes the Father as saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Mark and Luke read that the Father’s words were addressed to Jesus personally: “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”On the Mount of Transfiguration, the Father’s voice was heard “out of the cloud” (veil, shechinah) saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” (Matthew 17:5, Mark 9:6-8, Luke 9:34-36)The apostle Peter, who was present, gives a personal account. It contains interesting elements of priesthood, kingship, and coronation.16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount (2 Peter 1:16-18).And Joseph Smith’s First Vision is the most recent example:17 … When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him! (JS-History: 17)The one in 3 Nephi is unique because it introduces the resurrected Christ as having already achieved the Father’s purposes:7 Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him (3 Nephi 11:6-8).However, there are some notable examples where the Father himself speaks to the prophets. One is when God explained to Moses:2 But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me—Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.3 Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down (Moses 4:2-3) .Another is this where Nephi quotes both Jehovah and his Father in what appears to be a three-way conversation.11 And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.12 And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do….14 But, behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me, saying: After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with a new tongue, yea, even with the tongue of angels, and after this should deny me, it would have been better for you that ye had not known me.15 And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. …20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen (2 Nephi 31:11-21).In the name-title “My Beloved Son,” “beloved” may be read as an adjective, but it is probably not meant to be. Rather the phrase “Beloved Son” is probably a name-title that denotes nobility and birthright. If that is correct, “Beloved” distinguishes him from others and defines him as the Father’s heir.Psalm 2 is widely acknowledged as the psalm sung by the congregation at the time the king of Israel was anointed as king. There the lines “Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee” are seen as a conformation of the adoption of the king by Jehovah, and the name title “son” as the royal king-name. If that is correct then we may surmise that “Beloved Son” is also a king-name; but denoting true legitimacy rather than sonship by adoption. (See Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, the chapter called “Psalm 2, The Ancient Israelite Royal King-name.”Ephesians 1:1-23, Premortal Covenants Author : fchaneygmail-comEphesians 1:1-23, LeGrand Baker, Premortal CovenantsThe Apostle Paul devoted the first chapter of Ephesians to a review that covenant in terms of the covenants we made with our Father in Heaven while in the Council in Heaven. He brings the chapter to a crescendo where he focus all of those premortal experiences on the assurance that God has sufficient power to enable us to keep our covenants. Paul wrote:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:Paul begins by calling our attention to his own foreordination, when he was chosen by God to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. “Christ” means the Anointed One. “Jesus” is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew “Joshua,” which means “Jehovah saves.”Jesus Christ means “Jesus the Anointed One.” That anointing occurred at the Council in Heaven. So the first thing Paul does, is call our attention to his own foreordination, after which he calls our attention to the Saviour’s. The rest of the chapter is about our own.2 Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.The word “grace” often suggests the power of the truth, light, love which emanate from the presence of God. “Lovingkindness” is the word used in the Old Testament. “Loving” is what God is; “kindness” is what he does. Similarly, we are expected to be charity, and do the law of consecration.“Peace” in the Beatitudes (3 Nephi 12:9), is the quality of those who are called by the covenant name of “the children of God.” Its significance is taught at the beginning of Moroni 7.3 Blessed be the God [Elohim] and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:Verse 20 of this same chapter identifies the “Heavenly places” as the throne room where God presides, and where Christ sits on the right hand of his Father. In Solomon’s Temple, the throne room is the Holy of Holies. If that is Paul’s meaning, the heavenly places are the Holy of Holies of the temple in heaven—probably Kolob. In the poetic version of Section 76, the Prophet Joseph identified the place where the Father presides over the Council in Heaven as Kolob. Joseph quoted the Savior:My delight is to honour the Saints with repose,That serve me in righteousness true to the end;Eternal’s their glory and great their reward.I’ll surely reveal all my myst’ries to them —The great hidden myst’ries in my kingdom stor’d;From the council in Kolob, to time on the earth,And for ages to come unto them I will showMy pleasure and will, what the kingdom will doEternity’s wonders they truly shall know.1If those connections are correct, then the “all spiritual blessings” we received “in heavenly places,” were the covenants and ordinances received in the temple of Kolob where the Father presided over the ceremonies.4 According as he [the Father] hath chosen us in him [the Savior] before the foundation of the world [That is, before the Council in Heaven described in Abraham 3:22-4:1], that we should be holy and without blame before him [the Father] in love.Charity is the great commandment here, and was there, even before the foundation of the world.Here Paul is saying the same thing Moroni said at the conclusion of the Book of Mormon: “that you become holy, without spot.”32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot (Moroni 10:32-33).To be holy is to be perfect. This is not an arbitrary perfection, but a perfection of Self, with our personality and integrity fully intact—true to the law of our own beings—sealed in that truth by the power of our own and of the Savior’s love.5 Having predestinated [foreordained] us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself [the Father], according to the good pleasure of his [the Father’s] will.We are already Heavenly Father’s children, but to be birthright children who can inherit all that the Father has, we must be adopted to the Father through the atonement of the Saviour. In the ancient temple drama, Psalm 2 represented that adoption.6 To the praise of the glory of his [the Father’s] grace [Moroni 10:32-33, just quoted, is probably the clearest description of the Father’s grace.], wherein he [the Father] hath made us accepted in the beloved [Son].7 In whom [the Son] we have redemption through his [the Son’s] blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his [the Father’s] grace;8 Wherein he [the Father] hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;“Abounded” is the verb form of abundance, It means to give abundantly—but the abundance we receive will be according to his wisdom and his prudence. That is, the Father will not place on us all at once the full weight of our mission in this world, but will teach us only the things we need to know, when they are immediately relevant to that part of our mission we need to fulfill it just now..9 [The Father,] Having made known unto us the mystery of his [the Father’s] will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:The word “mystery” is translated from the Greek mysterion. As is explained on page 464, mysterion refers to the ancient temple covenants and ordinances, and may be the same as the Hebrew sode, which refers to our experience and the assignments we received in the Council in Heaven. Here Paul is reminding us that our assignments for this earth-life were made by the Father and understood by ourselves while we were at that Council.10 That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he [the Father] might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him [the Father]:Paul understood that what those early Saints did 2000 years ago would ultimately effect the restoration of the gospel in our time. Similarly, even though we may not live to know how, what we do as we fulfill our assignments, will help bring about the Savior’s second coming.11 In whom [the Father] also, we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated [foreordained] according to the purpose of him [the Father] who worketh all things after the counsel of his own willThe words, “we have obtained an inheritance,” are in past tense: they are a reference to the blessings we received “in heavenly places.” before the world was.12 [The inheritance includes:] That we should be to the praise of his [the Father’s] glory, who first trusted in Christ.To say that the Father “first trusted in Christ” takes us back to the very beginnings of our beginnings. The next phrases teach us that we also trusted in the Savior before the foundation of the world. It was that trust that brought us to receive “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”13 In whom [the Savior] ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth [“in the first place” Alma 13], the gospel of your salvation: in whom [the Savior] also, after that ye believed, ye were [past tense, again a reference to the experience in the Heavenly Places] sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,We are taught in Section 132 that no ordinance or covenant is valid in the eternities unless it is sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise. That is an eternal principle, and those blessings and covenants we received in the “heavenly places” were sealed upon us before we came to this world—however, the sealing was conditional upon our keeping our covenants while we are here. Paul explains that in the next verse.14 Which [sealing] is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his [the Father’s] glory.“Earnest” is a commercial term. It is the name of a contract that precedes the sell of property. If one were to purchase a house, he would give the seller “earnest money,”in exchange for which the seller would sign a contract guaranteeing that he will not sell the home to anyone else during the next stated time, and that during that time he will sell the home to the other person who signs the contract for the agreed price. In that contract, the?seller guarantees that he will sell the house to the buyer, but the buyer is free to not buy that house if he changes his mind. Paul uses the word “earnest” to describe the premortal covenant we made with the Father that he will bless us if we choose to be blessed. The covenant is an earnest, binding the Father to bless us if we accept the blessings, but giving us all the wiggle room we want in this world, leaving it entirely up to each of us whether we choose to claim the blessings he has covenanted to give us if we obey.At this point in Paul’s letter, he concludes his introduction which talks about our pre-earth-life relationship with the Father and the Son. Paul now explains why our pre-mortal covenants are so important to us in this life.15 Wherefore I [Paul] also, after I heard of your faith [pistis, object, evidence, and hope of the covenants] in the Lord Jesus, and love [charity, the same law still applies] unto all the saints,16 [Wherefore I] Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know [the following three things:]The three principles that follow are among the most important things we can know, as we seek to fulfill our eternal covenants. They are:[First:] what is the hope of his [the Father’s] calling [to us]The Greek word that is translated “calling” is a gerund, from the verb “to call.” It implies the act of speaking, or issuing an invitation or an assignment. Thus, it is the Father’s call to us to serve. It is that assignment to which we were foreordained. “The hope of his calling” is its intended conclusion or objective.[Second:] and what the riches of the glory of his [the Father’s] inheritance in the saints,?“The riches of the glory” are those blessings promised to those who keep their eternal?covenants. Twice the Lord admonished the Latter-day Saints, “ Seek not for riches but for wisdom; and, behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich. Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich (D&C 6:7 and 11:7).” The riches of his glory” are those blessing that were, and will be again, sealed upon us by the Holy Spirit of Promise.[Third:] 19 And [that you may know] what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??This is the crescendo of the entire chapter: it is the ultimate promise of invulnerability. Paul says that he prays that we may know that Heavenly Father will exercise the same power in our behalf, so that we may fulfill our eternal covenants, just as he did for the Savior.20 [according to the working of his mighty power,] Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is?named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:22 And [the Father] hath put all things under his [the Son’s] feet, and gave him [the Son] to be the head over all things to the church,23 Which is his [the Son’s] body, the fullness of him [the Father] that filleth all in all.In that chapter, the apostle reviews the covenants we made with our Father in Heaven in the premortal world. This review is an introduction to a more complete discussion of those covenants which follows in the remainder of his letter. But before proceeding to that, he tells the Saints of his prayer for them, that they may:know the covenants we made at the Council in Heavenknow the blessings awaiting us as we keep those covenantsknow that God has the power to remove any external obstacle that might prevent our?fulfilling those covenants. In other words, God promises that we cannot fail, unless we choose to fail. He does not promise we won’t have difficulties, but only that the difficulties will not preclude our keeping our covenants.In each of those scriptural discussions of our premortal covenants and foreordinations. With each comes the covenant of invulnerability—the promise that the Lord will divert anything that would prevent us from doing what we came to this earth to do. For the enormous majority of us, that means quietly expending our resources and our energies to support the growth of the Kingdom. What God will not do is force us to obey.In our story of Alma and Zeezrom, the two men who face each other in this debate are excellent examples of that principle. Alma had been told by an angel that he must either repent or suffer the pains of hell—that is, the angel gave Alma the option, but it was Alma who made the choice. Now Zeezrom was having a similar experience—but it was Alma the prophet, rather than an angel, who was delivering the ultimatum.Both men responded the same way. They chose to suffer the pains of repentance rather than the pains of hell—but they could have chosen not to repent, gone about life as before, and refused to believe what the consequence would be. We do not have much information about Zeezrom immediately after this experience, except that the sorrow nearly killed him. Alma blessed him to recover his health, and he was baptized (Alma 15). Later he was a missionary companion to Alma and Amulek (Alma 31:6, 30).For each of us, throughout our life’s experience, we remain free to do and believe what we will. In our egotism we tend to equate “truth” with whatever we choose to believe and “falsehood” with whatever we do not choose to believe. But truth is truth and it is independent of our belief. Whether we believe a true thing or not does not affect its validity, but our believing or not sets the course of our lives. Embracing truth brings freedom—ultimate, absolute freedom—for it authorizes us to believe.2 It unites our individual power with the blessing God?has given us that we can succeed in our earthly mission, and peacefully reconciles our souls with the problems that beset us. Embracing and defending a falsehood restricts our ability to know, uses up our energy to become, and leaves our covenant responsibilities and their attendant blessings unfulfilled.In the end, each one of us will have to say, as Alma and Zeezrom were able to testify, that the Lord gave us all the opportunities requisite for our knowing and keeping our eternal covenants.1?“A Vision by The Prophet Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons, February 1, 1843.2“GeorgeA.Smith,whileservingintheFirstPresidency,reported:‘JosephSmithtaughtthatevery man and woman should seek the Lord for wisdom, that they might get knowledge from Him who is the fountain of knowledge; and the promises of the gospel, as revealed, were such as to authorize us to believe, that by taking this course we should gain the object of our pursuit.’” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, A Course of Study for the Melchizedek Priesthood Quorums of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, [Melchizedek Priesthood manual] [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2007], 266.3 Nephi 9:15-18 -- LeGrand Baker -- The Savior’s eternal biography Author : lbaker3 Nephi 9:15-18 — LeGrand Baker — The Savior’s eternal biographyI spoke in Sacrament Meeting today. The assigned subject was the Savior’s life, teachings, Atonement, and resurrection. And I had 15 minutes to do it. I chose to quote scriptures that focused on the Savior’s eternal priesthood and his eternal kingship. Several people asked me for a copy, so I thought some of you might like one too.——————————–(3 Nephi 9:15-18)The Savior introduced himself to Nephi by saying:15 Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name.16 I came unto my own, and my own received me not. And the scriptures concerning my coming are fulfilled.17 And as many as have received me, to them have I given to become the sons of God; and even so will I to as many as shall believe on my name, for behold, by me redemption cometh, and in me is the law of Moses fulfilled.18 I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.In those few verses the Savior gives us a snapshot view of his entire eternal autobiography. I would like to review that biography with you. The Prophet Joseph Smith, in the Inspired Version of the Bible, wrote:1 In the beginning was the gospel preached through the Son. And the gospel was the word, and the word was with the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was of God.2 The same was in the beginning with God.3 All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made which was made.4 In him was the gospel, and the gospel was the life, and the life was the light of men (JST John 1:1-4).We learn that at the Council in Heaven, in the beginning,24… there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell.25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them. (Abraham 3:24-25);1 And then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth (Abraham 4:1).Speaking about the creation, the psalmist sang:1 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! ….3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the gods, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! (Psalms 8:1-9)Thus Adam and Eve were placed upon the earth and the first thing they were taught after they left the Garden was to understand the Savior’s Atonement. In the book of Moses we read that:6 …after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.7 And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.8 Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore (Moses 5:4-8).That scripture is familiar to most of us, but in a somewhat different context. Thereafter, Adam and Eve taught the gospel to their children, and Jehovah himself taught his prophets. He showed himself to the brother of Jared and said:14 Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters (Ether 3:11-14).Many hundreds of years later the Lord comforted Nephi with these words:13 Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets (3 Nephi 1:13).30 [several months before that] the angel [came to Mary and ] said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:26-39).51 And …his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man (Luke 2:51-52).Later, John the Baptist testified,11 …. I, John, bear record that I beheld his glory, as the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, even the Spirit of truth, which came and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us (D&C 93:11).15 And I, John, bear record, and lo, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying: This is my beloved Son.16 And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the glory of the Father;17 And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, (D&C 93:15-17).After Jesus organized his church and called the 12 apostles,1 Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light…5 … a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him (Matthew 17:1-5).Peter who was present with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration, bore this testimony of the event:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount (2 Peter 1:16-18).Nevertheless, as Isaiah testified:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.4 Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed…9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no evil, neither was any deceit in his mouth (Mosiah 14:1-12) .32 [At the conclusion of his ministry, the Savior and the Twelve] came to a place which was named Gethsemane:(Mark 14:22-46).41 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground (Luke 22:28-49).Of that agony, Jesus himself testified: that the18 … suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—19 Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men (D&C 19:16-19).The prayer he spoke at that time is found in section 145 of the D&C:3 Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—4 Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;5 Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life (D&C 45:1-5).After his death on the cross, he visited the spirit world of the dead:18 While this vast multitude waited and conversed, rejoicing in the hour of their deliverance from the chains of death, the Son of God appeared, declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful;19 And there he preached to them the everlasting gospel, the doctrine of the resurrection and the redemption of mankind from the fall, and from individual sins on conditions of repentance (D&C 138:18-19).After 3 days,11 …Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: —-she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master (John 20:1-17) .He spent 40 days teaching the apostles and others. Then, “while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:9-11).Paul testified that after that the Savior was crowned king and priest over everything. Paul wrote,20 [The Father] raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all (Ephesians 1:20-23.).The Prophet Joseph Smith testified:And now after all of the proofs made of him,By witnesses truly, by whom he was known,This is mine, last of all, that he lives; yea, he lives!And sits at the right hand of God on his throne.And I heard a great voice bearing record from heav’n,He’s the Saviour and only begotten of God;By him, of him, and through him, the worlds were all made,Even all that careen in the heavens so broad.Whose inhabitants, too, from the first to the last,Are sav’d by the very same Saviour of ours;And, of course, are begotten God’s daughters and sonsBy the very same truths and the very same powers.(“The Vision,” Times and Seasons, Feb. 1, 1843)That is my testimony also.3 Nephi 11:1-- LeGrand Baker -- ‘changes’ at the temple Author : lbaker?3 Nephi 11:1– LeGrand Baker — ‘changes’ at the temple1 And now it came to pass that there were a great multitude gathered together, of the people of Nephi, round about the temple which was in the land Bountiful; and they were marveling and wondering one with another, and were showing one to another the great and marvelous change which had taken place.Earlier, when the Savior spoke out of the darkness of the storm, he gave this command to the Nephites:19 And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings.20 And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost (3 Nephi 9:19-20).Sacrifice does not mean to give something up, it means to make something sacred. Lundquist observed that, “the purpose of the sacrifice is to seal and to sanctify the covenant. ( Lundquist, “Temple, Covenant, and Law,” 300) The Savior’s atoning sacrifice had sealed and sanctified the covenant of his Father (Moroni 10:32-33).What remained–indeed, what always remains–were the sealing and sanctifying of the covenant on the part of the people. The sacrificing of animals had symbolized the Savior’s act of ratification. Now that act was accomplished, no such symbolism was required. However, the act of ratification on the part of the people remained. That ratification, too, had to be sealed and sanctified by sacrifice–in a manner similar to the way the Savior’s was–with a broken heart and a contrite spirit.For the Saints in the New World, if sacrifices and burnt offerings were to be done away, then that would require that they make significant changes in their temple and the temple grounds. The great sacrificial altar that no doubt dominated the courtyard of the temple had to be dismantled and removed. The temple would have to be cleaned because blood would no longer be sprinkled in the temple and the Holy of Holies, and incense would no longer be burned since those practices were a part of the sacrificial ceremonies. The barns to hold the sacrificial animals would have to be removed, and many of the tools and implements that had been used in the services would have to be put away. If those Saints were like modern-day Saints, they would not have just torn down the old structures, and left the empty places. Rather, they might plant flowers in their place, refurbish the temple, and beautify its grounds.The second instruction the Savior gave when he spoke in the darkness had to do with making changes in the temple drama. The Feast of Tabernacles temple drama took eight days to complete. Those days were filled with ceremonies and sacrifices. With the animal sacrifices eliminated, it would have required revelation from the Lord for the people to know what changes were to be made and how the ceremonies were to be performed. Then, like now, the temple would have been closed while these changes were made.In all, it took a full year to make the preparations to open the temple again. Mormon is careful to tell us that. He reports, “in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, on the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land” (3 Nephi 8:5). Later, Mormon is just as specific when he tells us that the people gathered at the temple “in the ending of the thirty and fourth year”(3 Nephi 10:18). H writes:1 And now it came to pass that there were a great multitude gathered together, of the people of Nephi, round about the temple which was in the land Bountiful; and they were marveling and wondering one with another, and were showing one to another the great and marvelous change which had taken place” (3 Nephi 10:18, 11:1).The remodeling of the temple and temple grounds in Bountiful would have required a rededication. If such were to occur it should have happened at the juncture of the end of one year and the beginning of the next, because that is when temples were dedicated. It would have been during the next New Year’s festival because that was the occasion of the dedication of Solomon’s temple. (2 Chronicles 7:8-10) About that, Snaith claims that “Solomon would have no choice as to the date when the Temple should be dedicated. He was bound to wait until the next annual feast after the completion of the building operations. It was in the proper month and at the proper full moon that the people would appear with their gifts.” (Norman H. Snaith, The Jewish New Year Festival, 53). An important part of the temple drama of the new year festival was to reestablish the legitimacy of the reign of the king, so that would also have been the appropriate time for the Savior to establish the theocracy of 4 Nephi.When Mormon reports the gathering of the people at the temple, he does not tell us whether the “changes” had to do with the adaptations in the temple drama, or the refurbishing of the building and grounds. Dil Rust wrote an excellent essay a few weeks ago saying he believes it was the former. I think Dil is correct, but I also think that it would probably be safe to believe that both kinds of changes were made.(Much of the above was quoted or paraphrased from Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord)3 Nephi 10:3-6 -- LeGrand Baker -- under the cherubim wings Author : lbaker?3 Nephi 10:3-6 — LeGrand Baker — under the cherubim wings3 And it came to pass that there came a voice again unto the people, and all the people did hear, and did witness of it, saying:4 O ye people of these great cities which have fallen, who are descendants of Jacob, yea, who are of the house of Israel, how oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have nourished you.5 And again, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, who have fallen; yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, ye that dwell at Jerusalem, as ye that have fallen; yea, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not.6 O ye house of Israel whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart.I grew up on a farm where we had chickens and all sorts of other animals. The hens had an interesting relationship with their little ones. When the chicks were old enough to learn to scratch, he would take them to likely place, cluck and then start to scratch the dirt. They would come and pick in the freshly overturned dirt for what bugs and worms they could find there. Those who got behind her at the wrong angle were scooped off the ground by her fast moving feet and tossed head over heels like a little fuzzy ball. It didn’t hurt them and they were soon up and at it again, but they had learned something important about those feet.One day I heard her squawk loudly, this was not a loving clucking sound. She squatted down, lifted her wings. The chicks, almost as one, fled to the cover of her wings. She settled down protectively over their little bodies and raised all her feathers giving her the appearance of being twice as big as she really was. She was looking toward the sky and my eyes followed hers. There was a hawk making a wide circle around the farm yard. We both watched, the hen and I, until the hawk flew away. Then she made a gentle cluck and the little ones came out from under her wings, scattering themselves about to find whatever bugs looked good to eat.I was out in the yard one cloudy day when I heard her squawk again. This one was different. It seemed to lack the sense of panic but it was severe and not to be misunderstood. Again the chicks ran to their squatting mother and tucked themselves under her outstretched wings. This time when she settled herself over them, she folded here feathers down flat against her body like a shield and ducked her head under a wing. I was surprised when the hail began to fall all around me. Some hit the chicken and bounced off of her tightened wings. I wasn’t so interested that I wanted to wait and see what happened next, but made a dash to the house to get out of the storm. I did not know that the hail was coming, but that wise mother hen knew just what to expect.For many years after that, when I read what the Savior said about being invited under the wings, I remembered those scenes and thought that was what he was referring to. Perhaps he was, but now I think that was not the only thing he was trying to say, and it probably was not even the thing the Nephits were thinking about when they heard his words.In the Holy of Holies of Solomon’s Temple — and since the Nephite temples were patterned after Solomon’s, this would have been true of Nephite temples also — the throne representing the throne of God sat against the back wall. It was overshadowed by the wings of two large cherubim. I think that when he spoke to the Nephites, the Savior was inviting them, as sacral kings and priests, to sit upon that throne under the security of those wings. Stephen and I discussed that in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord. This is what we wrote:—————————-At the conclusion of the coronation ceremony of the ancient Israelite Feast of Tabernacles temple drama, the veil of the temple was parted the king entered the Holy of Holies, the most sacred of all earthly sacred space. It, like its predecessor in the Tabernacle, was a perfect cube. It contained no furniture except a throne on the back wall.In the Tabernacle, Moses had built a small prototype of God’s throne on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant, with two Cherubim whose wings stretched over the invisible throne, called the Mercy Seat. Below the lid, in the Ark itself, he placed the stone tablets on which the Lord had written the Ten Commandments, the staff of Aaron which was a symbol of his priesthood, and a jar of manna which represented the bread of life—the law (kingship), the staff (priesthood), and the bread of life (power of salvation).Solomon’s Temple throne was like that, but much larger. In the Temple’s Holy of Holies, on either side of the throne were two great golden cherubim. Their wings touched the sides of the walls and made a kind of canopy that stretched over the throne; over whoever sat upon that throne; and over the Ark of the Covenant which now sat in front of the throne as its footstool (1 Kings 6:24, 8:6-7). The phrases that God “dwellest between the cherubims (Psalm 80:1 and Isaiah 37:16), and “sitteth between the cherubims” (Psalm 99:1), are references to God sitting on his throne, either in his heavenly or in his earthly temple.The throne was patterned after a chariot (1 Chronicles 28:1-21), representing God’s ability to move among the clouds, and the symbolism of cherubim’s overshadowing wings represented the powerful wings of the celestial cherubim, upon whose majesty God himself is also said to have ridden. For, “he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind” (Psalm 18:10 and 2 Samuel 22:11). And upon whose wings he invites his children to ride also. “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).Josephus’s description of the interior of the Temple is the most complete. He writes:“Now when the king had divided the temple into two parts, he made the inner house of twenty cubits every way, to be the most secret chamber, but he appointed that of forty cubits to be the sanctuary; and when he had cut a door-place out of the wall, he put therein doors of Cedar, and overlaid them with a great deal of gold, that had sculptures upon it. He also had veils of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and the brightest and softest linen, with the most curious flowers wrought upon them, which were to be drawn before those doors. He also dedicated for the most secret place, whose breadth was twenty cubits, and length the same, two cherubim of solid gold; the height of each of them was five cubits they had each of them two wings stretched out as far as five cubits; wherefore Solomon set them up not far from each other, that with one wing they might touch the southern wall of the secret place [the Holy of Holies], and with another the northern: their other wings, which joined to each other, were a covering to the ark, which was set between them; but nobody can tell, or even conjecture, what was the shape of these cherubim. He also laid the floor of the temple with plates of gold; and he added doors to the gate of the temple, agreeable to the measure of the height of the wall, but in breadth twenty cubits, and on them he glued gold plates. And, to say all in one word, he left no part of the temple, neither internal nor external, but what was covered with gold. He also had curtains drawn over these doors in like manner as they were drawn over the inner doors of the most holy place; but the porch of the temple had nothing of that sort” (History of the Jews 8:3).It was there, in the Holy of Holies, at the throne of God, that the final scenes of the festive drama were conducted.The cherubim who surround the celestial throne of God are represented as having wings, by Isaiah (6:2), Ezekiel (1:6-11), Daniel (7:4-6), and John (Revelation 4). But we were told by the Prophet Joseph that “wings are a representation of power, to move, to act, etc.” (D&C 77:4). That is also probably a way of describing their priesthood power.Because the throne and its overshadowing wings were symbolic of the reality and power of priesthood and kingship, they were also symbolic of the invitation to receive the gift of eternal life. The Savior used that symbolism repeatedly, as a lament addressed to those who would not accept the invitation. He said:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!(Matthew 23:37, see Luke 13:34, 3 Nephi 10:4-6, D&C 43:24).And also as a promise to those who would:2 [The Savior] will gather his people even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, even as many as will hearken to my voice and humble themselves before me, and call upon me in mighty prayer (D&C 29:2, see 10:65).Nephi’s statement, resounding as it does with the clarity of the ancient enthronement ordinances, is a testimony of the validity of those ordinances, and an example of their fulfilment:25 And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not write them (2 Nephi 4:25).The wings have a further and expected symbolism. It is the association of the ideas of enthronement with the promise of security and peace, as Nephi prophesiedBehold, they will crucify him; and after he is laid in a sepulchre for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings; and all those who shall believe on his name shall be saved in the kingdom of God. Wherefore, my soul delighteth to prophesy concerning him, for I have seen his day, and my heart doth magnify his holy name (2 Nephi 25:13).After his ordination and anointing, the king was a living messiah—not the “Messiah,” but rather a “messiah,” meaning an anointed one, a king of righteousness, and the legitimate “son” and heir of God. He had been crowned with a “crown of pure gold” and accepted God’s invitation to sit upon his own throne in the earthly Temple. Mowinckel observes,We know that Solomon had furnished the Temple with an (empty) cherub’s throne, which was certainly understood to be the throne of Yahweh. In the very old Psalm 110 Yahweh is the king, sitting on his throne and offering to his ‘son’, the earthly king, the seat of honor at his right side. In the likewise very old Psalm 68 the worshiper calls Yahweh ‘his king and his god.’ ( Psalms in Israel’s Worship, 1:125)3 Nephi 9:21-22 -- LeGrand Baker-- ‘as a little child’ Author : lbaker?3 Nephi 9:21-22 — LeGrand Baker– ‘as a little child,’ and also Ether 12:26-39 — meaning of humility3 Nephi 9:21-2221 Behold, I have come unto the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world from sin.22 Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God. Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved.The Savior’s words in these two sentences has much to teach us: “to bring redemption unto the world,” is his primary purpose and “to save the world from sin” is the way the Savior accomplishes that redemption.The word “therefore” creates the relationship between the Savior’s purposes and our responsibilities described in the second sentence.“Therefore, whoso repenteth”is the method we must use to enable the redemption: “and cometh unto me as a little child” is the ultimate consequence of true repentance. Those two parallel structures create a one-to-one relationship between redemption and being as a little child.“Redeem”has different meanings in the Old Testament and the New Testament, and often a still different one in the Book of Mormon. Elsewhere I have shown that, in the Book of Mormon, to be redeemed frequently means to be brought into the presence of the Savior (see Ether 3:10-13, 2 Nephi 2:3-4, 2 Nephi 1:15, Alma 58:41).It is my observation that the most frequent quoted scripture used to define what it means to “become as a little child is this one:19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father (Mosiah 3:19-20).The interesting to me is that King Benjamin’s list of the characteristics of “a little child” map remarkably well to the sequence of the Savior’s Beatitudes (see the chapters in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord). and contain the same ideas as Peter’s sequence of how to make one’s calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:1-11).In the Mosiah scripture, the emphasis is usually focused on “willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” The thing that bothers me is that emphasis also suggests the helplessness of the child to do anything except submit. That problem would be solved if we shifted our thinking from a child who had no other choice to the spiritually mature person described in the Beatitude: “And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”(3 Nephi 12:10).Another evidence that Benjamin was describing a quality of spiritual maturity is this from the Savior to the brother of Jared:14 Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters (Ether 3:14).That asks a question: If we shift the meaning of “childlike” from the helplessly immature to the spiritual mature, then how do we define “as a little child”? The Savior was again talking about the quality of person when he uses a child as an example. He says, “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein” (Mark 10:15 & Luke 18:17, see 3 Nephi 11:37-38).Matthew reads differently and adds an important criterion: “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4).Humble is one of the characteristics mentioned by King Benjamin, and here, in the Savior’s statement, “humble himself as this little child” becomes the key to our understand. The best discussion of humillity that I know is in the Book of Mormon. But before we discuss that, may I tell you a short story.One day I stopped to visit my daughter and her family. Little two-year-old Chelsea was in the tub having a bath. She heard my voice and came running into the living room to meet me. “Grandpa,” she shouted, all dripping wet, holding out her arms, wanting to be picked up and hugged. As I held her in my arms, wetness and all, I understood what it means to be like a little child in the Kingdom of God. The little girl in my arms was completely, simply, Chelsea. She needed no clothing to define who she was. At that moment she was only herself; trusting, but not noticing she trusted; vulnerable, but unaware of her vulnerability because it did not concern her; loving, and finding fulfillment and identity in the moment of her giving her love. In her unabashed dripping-wetness Chelsea was wholly free to be herself–to express her love–to BE the expression of her love.I suppose we are all like that. When we are stripped of all the masks and facades of the artificial needs and fears by which we define our Selves, then we may kneel naked, vulnerable, and unashamed before our loving Heavenly Father. When one is childlike in that nakedness, he is free. He knows and loves the voice of Him by whom he walks. Nothing can bribe him because in his Saviour all of his needs are satisfied. Nothing can threaten him because in the arms of his Saviour he can find no fear. He may not have all the information he needs all the time, but his Friend has, and one can always ask when one does not know. When one is naked in that way, one may begin to know as he is known and see as he is seen. Only when one is comfortable with that kind of nakedness may he be clothed in a “robe of righteousness” and become one who may “inherit the kingdom of God.”The quality of one’s soul that permits him to be humble enough that he can be simply himself matures into the power of celestial glory. In describing his vision, the Prophet Joseph mentioned first humility and then the attribute of knowing and being oneself:92 And thus we saw the glory of the celestial, which excels in all things—where God, even the Father, reigns upon his throne forever and ever;93 Before whose throne all things bow in humble reverence, and give him glory forever and ever.94 They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace (D&C 76:92-94).I suspect when one know one’s Self in term of the Savior’s love, then the question of one’s obedience will become moot because the question of his motive will have no practical meaning. Obedience will simply be one of the fruits of love, and his absolute obedience the simple expression of his absolute freedom to BE.Now lets read those verses in the in the Book of Mormon that teach us what humility means there. In these passages, Moroni has expressed his concern because of his weakness in writing, and says he fears the Gentiles will mock.26 And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace [probably hesed] is sufficient for the meek [those who keep the covenants they made at the Council in Heaven (Psalm 25)], that they [the meek] shall take no advantage of your weakness;27 And if men come unto me [veil—same meaning as elsewhere in the Book of Mormon] I will show unto them their weakness [singular]. I give unto men weakness [singular] that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me [veil]; for if they humble themselves before me [veil], and have faith [pistis] in me, then will I make weak things [plural] become strong unto them [the covenant of invulnerability]. (Ether 12:26-27)We get a key to understand what the weakness is in the next verse:28 Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness [still singular], and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.Here, “bringeth unto me” appears to be the source of strength to replace the weakness. That is confirmed a little later on.37 And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore, thy garments shall be made clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness [singular] thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.If being “made strong” is “sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father”— that is if strength is being in God’s presence as it says here and implies in verse 28— then our weakness [singular] is being outside of God’s presence.Moroni continues:38 And now I, Moroni, bid farewell unto the Gentiles, yea, and also unto my brethren whom I love, until we shall meet before the judgment-seat of Christ, where all men shall know that my garments are not spotted with your blood.?39 And then shall ye know that I have seen Jesus, and that he hath talked with me face to face, and that he told me in plain humility, even as a man telleth another in mine own language, concerning these things (Ether 12:25-41)Now we have the key to understanding what humility means to this prophet. It has to be defined in such a way that it satisfies both his usage in verse 27 (“for all men that humble themselves before me ”), and also his usage in verse 39 where he writes that the Savior spoke to him in “plain humility.”One cannot imagine the Savior’s talking to Moroni in a subservient way like a child would talk to his father. So if the New Testament and the Book of Mormon are using humility the same way, then being humble as a little child must mean something different from being submissive as we think of a child as submissive.The key to the meaning is in Moroni’s explanation: “even as a man telleth another in mine own language.” When I envision that conversation, I see two people talking as friends (hesed)— no airs, no facade, no masks— just two friends, with no more pretenses then a naked child, souls exposed as they discuss the most sacred of all things.If that’s what humility means, then we might read verse 27 this way:27 And if men come unto me [veil—same meaning as elsewhere in the Book of Mormon] I will show unto them their weakness [the contrast between being in and being outside my presence]. I give unto men weakness [take them out of my presence] that they may be humble [come to know themselves as they really are]; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me [same as Moroni didl]; for if they humble themselves [have no masks] before me [veil], and have faith [pistis] in me, then will I make weak things [plural — all the things that get in the way of our being ourselves] become strong unto them [the covenant of invulnerability]. (Ether 12:27)It seems to me that is what it means to become as a little child: to just be oneself — to become again as pure as we were before we came here, our soul as naked as a little child.?Ether 12:26-39 -- LeGrand Baker -- meaning of humility Author : lbaker3 Nephi 9:21-22 — LeGrand Baker– ‘as a little child,’ and also Ether 12:26-39 — meaning of humility3 Nephi 9:21-2221 Behold, I have come unto the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world from sin.22 Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God. Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved.The Savior’s words in these two sentences has much to teach us: “to bring redemption unto the world,” is his primary purpose and “to save the world from sin” is the way the Savior accomplishes that redemption.The word “therefore” creates the relationship between the Savior’s purposes and our responsibilities described in the second sentence.“Therefore, whoso repenteth”is the method we must use to enable the redemption: “and cometh unto me as a little child” is the ultimate consequence of true repentance. Those two parallel structures create a one-to-one relationship between redemption and being as a little child.“Redeem”has different meanings in the Old Testament and the New Testament, and often a still different one in the Book of Mormon. Elsewhere I have shown that, in the Book of Mormon, to be redeemed frequently means to be brought into the presence of the Savior (see Ether 3:10-13, 2 Nephi 2:3-4, 2 Nephi 1:15, Alma 58:41).?It is my observation that the most frequent quoted scripture used to define what it means to “become as a little child is this one:19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father (Mosiah 3:19-20).The interesting to me is that King Benjamin’s list of the characteristics of “a little child” map remarkably well to the sequence of the Savior’s Beatitudes (see the chapters in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord). and contain the same ideas as Peter’s sequence of how to make one’s calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:1-11).In the Mosiah scripture, the emphasis is usually focused on “willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” The thing that bothers me is that emphasis also suggests the helplessness of the child to do anything except submit. That problem would be solved if we shifted our thinking from a child who had no other choice to the spiritually mature person described in the Beatitude: “And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”(3 Nephi 12:10).Another evidence that Benjamin was describing a quality of spiritual maturity is this from the Savior to the brother of Jared:14 Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters (Ether 3:14).That asks a question: If we shift the meaning of “childlike” from the helplessly immature to the spiritual mature, then how do we define “as a little child”? The Savior was again talking about the quality of person when he uses a child as an example. He says, “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein” (Mark 10:15 & Luke 18:17, see 3 Nephi 11:37-38).Matthew reads differently and adds an important criterion: “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4).Humble is one of the characteristics mentioned by King Benjamin, and here, in the Savior’s statement, “humble himself as this little child” becomes the key to our understand. The best discussion of humillity that I know is in the Book of Mormon. But before we discuss that, may I tell you a short story.One day I stopped to visit my daughter and her family. Little two-year-old Chelsea was in the tub having a bath. She heard my voice and came running into the living room to meet me. “Grandpa,” she shouted, all dripping wet, holding out her arms, wanting to be picked up and hugged. As I held her in my arms, wetness and all, I understood what it means to be like a little child in the Kingdom of God. The little girl in my arms was completely, simply, Chelsea. She needed no clothing to define who she was. At that moment she was only herself; trusting, but not noticing she trusted; vulnerable, but unaware of her vulnerability because it did not concern her; loving, and finding fulfillment and identity in the moment of her giving her love. In her unabashed dripping-wetness Chelsea was wholly free to be herself–to express her love–to BE the expression of her love.I suppose we are all like that. When we are stripped of all the masks and facades of the artificial needs and fears by which we define our Selves, then we may kneel naked, vulnerable, and unashamed before our loving Heavenly Father. When one is childlike in that nakedness, he is free. He knows and loves the voice of Him by whom he walks. Nothing can bribe him because in his Saviour all of his needs are satisfied. Nothing can threaten him because in the arms of his Saviour he can find no fear. He may not have all the information he needs all the time, but his Friend has, and one can always ask when one does not know. When one is naked in that way, one may begin to know as he is known and see as he is seen. Only when one is comfortable with that kind of nakedness may he be clothed in a “robe of righteousness” and become one who may “inherit the kingdom of God.”The quality of one’s soul that permits him to be humble enough that he can be simply himself matures into the power of celestial glory. In describing his vision, the Prophet Joseph mentioned first humility and then the attribute of knowing and being oneself:92 And thus we saw the glory of the celestial, which excels in all things—where God, even the Father, reigns upon his throne forever and ever;93 Before whose throne all things bow in humble reverence, and give him glory forever and ever.94 They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace (D&C 76:92-94).I suspect when one know one’s Self in term of the Savior’s love, then the question of one’s obedience will become moot because the question of his motive will have no practical meaning. Obedience will simply be one of the fruits of love, and his absolute obedience the simple expression of his absolute freedom to BE.Now lets read those verses in the in the Book of Mormon that teach us what humility means there. In these passages, Moroni has expressed his concern because of his weakness in writing, and says he fears the Gentiles will mock.26 And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace [probably hesed] is sufficient for the meek [those who keep the covenants they made at the Council in Heaven (Psalm 25)], that they [the meek] shall take no advantage of your weakness;27 And if men come unto me [veil—same meaning as elsewhere in the Book of Mormon] I will show unto them their weakness [singular]. I give unto men weakness [singular] that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me [veil]; for if they humble themselves before me [veil], and have faith [pistis] in me, then will I make weak things [plural] become strong unto them [the covenant of invulnerability]. (Ether 12:26-27)We get a key to understand what the weakness is in the next verse:28 Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness [still singular], and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.Here, “bringeth unto me” appears to be the source of strength to replace the weakness. That is confirmed a little later on.37 And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore, thy garments shall be made clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness [singular] thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.If being “made strong” is “sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father”— that is if strength is being in God’s presence as it says here and implies in verse 28— then our weakness [singular] is being outside of God’s presence.Moroni continues:38 And now I, Moroni, bid farewell unto the Gentiles, yea, and also unto my brethren whom I love, until we shall meet before the judgment-seat of Christ, where all men shall know that my garments are not spotted with your blood.39 And then shall ye know that I have seen Jesus, and that he hath talked with me face to face, and that he told me in plain humility, even as a man telleth another in mine own language, concerning these things (Ether 12:25-41)Now we have the key to understanding what humility means to this prophet. It has to be defined in such a way that it satisfies both his usage in verse 27 (“for all men that humble themselves before me ”), and also his usage in verse 39 where he writes that the Savior spoke to him in “plain humility.”One cannot imagine the Savior’s talking to Moroni in a subservient way like a child would talk to his father. So if the New Testament and the Book of Mormon are using humility the same way, then being humble as a little child must mean something different from being submissive as we think of a child as submissive.The key to the meaning is in Moroni’s explanation: “even as a man telleth another in mine own language.” When I envision that conversation, I see two people talking as friends (hesed)— no airs, no facade, no masks— just two friends, with no more pretenses then a naked child, souls exposed as they discuss the most sacred of all things.If that’s what humility means, then we might read verse 27 this way:27 And if men come unto me [veil—same meaning as elsewhere in the Book of Mormon] I will show unto them their weakness [the contrast between being in and being outside my presence]. I give unto men weakness [take them out of my presence] that they may be humble [come to know themselves as they really are]; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me [same as Moroni didl]; for if they humble themselves [have no masks] before me [veil], and have faith [pistis] in me, then will I make weak things [plural — all the things that get in the way of our being ourselves] become strong unto them [the covenant of invulnerability]. (Ether 12:27)It seems to me that is what it means to become as a little child: to just be oneself — to become again as pure as we were before we came here, our soul as naked as a little child.3 Nephi 9:19-20 -- LeGrand Baker -- ‘with fire and the Holy Ghost’ Author : lbaker?3 Nephi 9:19-20 — LeGrand Baker — ‘with fire and the Holy Ghost’3 Nephi 9:19-2019 And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings.20 And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.In this passage the Savior was referring to is one of the most remarkable events recorded in the Book of Mormon. It is when Nephi and Lehi were in the Lamanite prison. The account reads:43 And it came to pass that when they cast their eyes about, and saw that the cloud of darkness was dispersed from overshadowing them, behold, they saw that they were encircled about, yea every soul, by a pillar of fire.44 And Nephi and Lehi were in the midst of them; yea, they were encircled about; yea, they were as if in the midst of a flaming fire, yet it did harm them not, neither did it take hold upon the walls of the prison; and they were filled with that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory.45 And behold, the Holy Spirit of God did come down from heaven, and did enter into their hearts, and they were filled as if with fire, and they could speak forth marvelous words.46 And it came to pass that there came a voice unto them, yea, a pleasant voice, as if it were a whisper, saying:47 Peace, peace be unto you, because of your faith in my Well Beloved, who was from the foundation of the world.48 And now, when they heard this they cast up their eyes as if to behold from whence the voice came; and behold, they saw the heavens open; and angels came down out of heaven and ministered unto them.49 And there were about three hundred souls who saw and heard these things; and they were bidden to go forth and marvel not, neither should they doubt (Helaman 5:43-49).That story asks a number of questions. They are interesting to explore even if we don’t really know the answers. For example:When the Savior referred to this event, why did he say, “and they knew it not.” The answer cannot be because they did not know the experience was real, but they probably did not know what it was. There was nothing in their religion that taught them to anticipate such an event. Therefore their language would have contained no word to describe it as a magnificent spiritual experience. It would have to have been after the fact, when they were taught both the gospel and the powers associated with it, that they could understand the full meaning of their own conversion experience.Another question is “Why them?” After all, they were a wicked lot and had done nothing to merit such a powerful ordinance. The only answer I am satisfied with is the same as the answers to: Why Alma? and Why Paul?I believe that the most reasonable answer is that at the Council in Heaven they made some very serious covenants, but (like the rest of us) those covenants had to be fulfilled when they were in their second estate, when they had no memory of the covenants, and no knowledge of how to fulfill them. So they lived their lives unaware of who they really were. Then, when the time was right, they were told in a way they could not fail to understand that the time for fulfilling the covenants had come.The light the Lamanites saw had been seen by other. A similar story is in Acts 2:1-4: On the day of Pentecost “there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.”The Lord promised a Pentecost-like experience when the Kirtland Temple was dedicated.. “For verily this generation shall not all pass away until an house shall be built unto the Lord, and a cloud shall rest upon it, which cloud shall be even the glory of the Lord, which shall fill the house (D&C 84:5). Many witnesses testify that the covenant was fulfilled.The premortal covenants are very real. Therefore, to a much less dramatic degree, the church just now is full of people who have had life changing experiences as they have met missionaries and the Spirit has taught them that their premortal covenants included listening to those young men or young women.It is a matter of some interest to note that the phrase used by the Savior, “baptized by fire and the Holy Ghost,” is only rarely used in the scriptures.We find it in Matthew 3:11 and Luke 3:16 where John the Baptist promises that the Savior will baptize the people with fire and the Holy Ghost. In Mark 1:8 and John 1:33 it simply says “with the Holy Ghost.” However, in both of those instances, in the Inspired Version of the Bible, the Prophet Joseph changed them to read “with fire, and the Holy Ghost.”Reiterating the John’s promise in the New Testament, the Savior promised the Nephites: “…after that ye are baptized with water, behold, I will baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost; therefore blessed are ye if ye shall believe in me and be baptized, after that ye have seen me and know that I am (3 Nephi 12:1).”It is likely that the fire mentioned by the Savior is what scholars call the shechinah (pronounced sha-ke-na). Shechinah means “the presence.” It is “a word used by the later Jews and borrowed from by the Christians to denote the cloud of brightness and glory that marked the presence of the Lord” (Quote is from the dictionary at the back of the LDS Bible).The Shechinah is the veil that separates man from the presence of God. It was represented in Solomon’s Temple by the great veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. It is the first thing the prophets see, and sometimes the only thing they mention, when they are brought into the presence of God. It is described many ways, but always as a bright light—sometimes a fire, sometimes a cloud.In the story of the exodus it was both: “In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire (Psalms 78:14).”For Ezekiel, it was like a tornado: “I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire” (Ezekiel 1:4).Another example is Lehi’s report that “there came a pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before him” (1 Nephi 1:6). Another is Moses’s experience when “the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.” (Exodus 3:2).Another example is the story in Ether where “Lord came down and talked with the brother of Jared; and he was in a cloud, and the brother of Jared saw him not….and did talk with them as he stood in a cloud, and gave directions whither they should travel”[a third time] “the Lord came again unto the brother of Jared, and stood in a cloud and talked with him” (Ether 2:4-5, 14)The forth time, the cloud is not mentioned. When the brother of Jared carried the stones to the top of the mountain and presented them to the Lord, “behold, the Lord stretched forth his hand and touched the stones one by one with his finger. And the veil was taken from off the eyes of the brother of Jared, and he saw the finger of the Lord (Ether 3:6).A much more recent example is the Prophet Joseph’s “I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me” (Joseph Smith-History:16). Joseph’s making a point of describing the Shechinah in connection with his account of the First Vision is another evidence that he was telling the truth.Joseph also mentioned it in conjunction with the appearance o the Angel Moroni:30 While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor (Joseph Smith-History 1:30).Similarly, when the angel appeared to Alma and his friends, Mormon mentions the shechinah as a cloud.11 And as I said unto you, as they were going about rebelling against God, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto them; and he descended as it were in a cloud; and he spake as it were with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which they stood (Mosiah 27:11).Joseph mentioned it again in connection with his ordination to the Aaronic Priesthood:68 … While we were thus employed, praying and calling upon the Lord, a messenger from heaven descended in a cloud of light, and having laid his hands upon us, he ordained us, saying (Joseph Smith-History:1:68).In the New Testament it is an important part of the account of the Mount of Transfiguration:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him (Matthew 17:5).7 And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him (Mark 9:7).34 While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud.35 And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him (Luke 9:33-36).The shechinah was there again when the Savior ascended up to heaven:9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven (Acts 1:8-13).Have you ever driven in a snow storm with the brights on? The brightness of the shining snow is so intense that you cannot see beyond what appears to be its surface. I suspect the shechinah cloud is something like that. That might account for why the people in 3 Nephi could not see the Savior when he left them.37 And the multitude heard not the words which he spake, therefore they did not bear record; but the disciples bare record that he gave them power to give the Holy Ghost. And I will show unto you hereafter that this record is true.38 And it came to pass that when Jesus had touched them all, there came a cloud and overshadowed the multitude that they could not see Jesus.39 And while they were overshadowed he departed from them, and ascended into heaven. And the disciples saw and did bear record that he ascended again into heaven (3 Nephi 18:37-39).Just as the Savior left this world in a cloud in these verses and in Acts 1:9, so shall he return again “in a cloud with power and great glory (Luke 21:27 and D&C 34:7). The Prophet Joseph’s revelation expresses it even more clearly:1 For I say unto you, that ye shall not see me henceforth and know that I am he of whom it is written by the prophets, until ye shall say: Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord, in the clouds of heaven, and all the holy angels with him. Then understood his disciples that he should come again on the earth, after that he was glorified and crowned on the right hand of God….26 For as the light of the morning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, and covereth the whole earth, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be….36 And, as I said before, after the tribulation of those days, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn; and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory (Joseph Smith-Matthew:1, 26, 36).The shechinah is a prominent part of the Savior’s second coming. He will come in a cloud of light.44 And then they shall look for me, and, behold, I will come; and they shall see me in the clouds of heaven, clothed with power and great glory; with all the holy angels; and he that watches not for me shall be cut off.45 But before the arm of the Lord shall fall, an angel shall sound his trump, and the saints that have slept shall come forth to meet me in the cloud (D&C 45:44-46).Both the dead and the living Saints will rise to meet him, will join him in within that veil of light: “That when the trump shall sound for the dead, we shall be caught up in the cloud to meet thee, that we may ever be with the Lord (D&C 109:75).” “For ye are the church of the Firstborn, and he will take you up in a cloud, and appoint every man his portion (D&C 78:1-22).3 Nephi 9:21-22 -- LeGrand Baker -- ‘redeem’ – to ‘come unto Christ’ Author : lbaker?How about this! This body of mine finally got “old.” Its been trying to tell me that for quite a few years but the part of me that matters has a hard time taking it seriously. Collage students are still among my best friends and I still think of myself as their contemporary. But my body turned 75 last week, and people tell me that’s “old.”——————————Scott Oberg have been friends since he was a student at BYU. He sent me this beautiful testimony this week, and I asked him if I could share it with you.LeGrand, Hello my friend. I just wanted to drop you a quick note to say that this week’s comments on a Broken Heart and Contrite Spirit resonated with me. I know we have talked about it before and referenced it before, but the last several discussions of 3 Nephi 9 has just helped make the entire experience and the meaning of of the message all come to life. The words are indeed poetic and descriptive, but as I think of the Savior speaking these words with all the energy of his heart hoping that we understand the love that this whole message is communicated in leaves these words so understated on the page. I have felt many times that as Mormon was compiling the book how many tears he must have shed as he too wished he could communicate the power of the words and the love that all of this is communicated to us in. I don’t know what to say other than I continue to be amazed at how wonderful this book really is.—————————-3 Nephi 9:21-22 — LeGrand Baker — ‘redeem’ – to ‘come unto Christ’21 Behold, I have come unto the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world from sin.22 Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me………..A Meaning of “Redeem”— to “Come Unto Christ”The entire message of the Book of Mormon revolves around a single concept. It is the same as the pivotal doctrine of the festival temple drama—the basic human need to return to the Garden and to the presence of God. All other discussions in those chapters are subsets of that most important doctrine. It is what Alma called “the plan of redemption” (Alma 12). In the Book of Mormon, the word “redeem” has a specific meaning rarely found in the Old Testament. The meaning is the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama which follows the pattern of the universal “cosmic myth— returning home triumphant.”For each person who participated, the entire ancient dramatic temple presentation was a review of one’s own eternal odyssey. Its purpose was, as Amulek assures us:32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors (Alma 34:32)The operative word here is “prepare.” For some this life is the time to meet God, but even for such, there are necessary preparations to be made. For the rest of us, that meeting will come later, and this life truly is the time to prepare. Speaking of our time, Nephi wrote,32….wherefore, they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be saved (1 Nephi 15:14).That was the entire point of the ancient temple drama: to teach one how to come. As we approach the great mountain, those familiar with it’s heights can tell us that there is only one way to get to the top. We must walk that path, and that path only, or we will never reach the Holy of Holies at the summit. The path is described in brief this way:1 Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am (D&C 93:1).The way is described in much greater detail elsewhere. The following are examples:26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved (Omni 1:26).The “power of his redemption” is the power to bring us back to him. In much of the Book of Mormon the realization of the drama’s crescendo—to become a son and heir of God, and return to his presence—is encapsulated in the single word “redeem.” For that reason, an analysis of the way the Book of Mormon often uses the word seems very much in order.“Redeem” has a number of different meanings in the scriptures, and its context determines what its meaning is. In both the New and the Old Testaments the words translated “redeem” or “redeemed” mean to purchase (as one would purchase something in the market place) or to ransom (as to pay to get another out of prison or out of bondage). The connotation is that through his Atonement, the Lord has ransomed or purchased us from the consequences and the bondage of sin and death.The primary difference between the meanings in the New and Old Testaments has to do with one’s relationship with the person who does the redeeming. In Hebrew thought, the debt is paid by a brother or other relative, and the family relationship is a necessary part of the word’s meaning. For example, when a man dies and leaves behind his widow and family, a “redeemer” might be a near kin who is obligated by law to care for the them. In the story of Ruth, Boaz married Ruth according to his family rights to redeem her in her widowhood because, as Naomi pointed out, he was their “kinsman.” It is significant that “kinsman” in that story, and “redeemer” in Job’s statement, “I know that my redeemer liveth” are translated from the same Hebrew word.In the New Testament, the Greek meanings of the words that are translated “redeem” carry no connotation of family responsibility. Consequently, the word “Redeemer” is not found in the New Testament. Even though the Greek words do not convey the idea of a family relationship, almost all of the ways the words “redeem” and “redeemed” are used in the New Testament focus on the ideas of one’s being a child and an heir of God.The most important meaning of the word in the Old Testament, and the one used by most writers of the Book of Mormon, is in the Book of Job:23 Oh that my words were now written!oh that they were printed in a book!24 That they were gravenwith an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!25 For I know that my Redeemer liveth,and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body,yet in my flesh shall I see God:27 Whom I shall see for myself,and mine eyes shall behold, and not another;though my reins be consumed within me (Job 19:23-27).Job’s testimony is that because his Redeemer lives, Job shall see God. That same meaning is also found in the psalms. For example, in the 49th Psalm where to be redeemed is to be brought from the grave and into the presence of God:14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave;death shall feed on them; and the upright shall havedominion over them in the morning;and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave:for he shall receive me.(Psalm 49:14-15).Psalm 69 speaks of redemption before death comes. It reads:16 Hear me, O Lord; for thy lovingkindness is good:turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.17 And hide not thy face from thy servant;for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.18 Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it:deliver me because of mine enemies (Psalm 69:16-18).That meaning is found throughout the Book of Mormon, where the words “redeem,” “redeemed,” and “Redeemer” usually mean the same thing as in Job: “yet in my flesh shall I see God.” It is the opposite of “second death,” which is to be excluded from the presence of God.In the Book of Mormon, the “Redeemer” is the One who makes that return possible, because he is the God to whom one first returns.The definition of “redeem” is given by Samuel the Lamanite when he said, “the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord.” The context in which he said that is as follows:14 And behold, again, another sign I give unto you, yea, a sign of his death.15 For behold, he surely must die that salvation may come; yea, it behooveth him and becometh expedient that he dieth, to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the presence of the Lord.16 Yea, behold, this death bringeth to pass the resurrection, and redeemeth all mankind from the first death—that spiritual death; for all mankind, by the fall of Adam being cut off from the presence of the Lord, are considered as dead, both as to things temporal and to things spiritual.17 But behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord.18 Yea, and it bringeth to pass the condition of repentance, that whosoever repenteth the same is not hewn down and cast into the fire; but whosoever repenteth not is hewn down and cast into the fire; and there cometh upon them again a spiritual death, yea, a second death, for they are cut off again as to things pertaining to righteousness [zedek] (Helaman 14:14-18).If to be redeemed means to be brought into the presence of God, then the phrase “plan of redemption” means the plan whereby one can be brought back into God’s presence and has the same connotation as the frequently repeated invitation to “come unto Christ.”Nowhere is that more clearly explained than by the Savior when he introduced himself to the brother of Jared:13 And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.14 Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters (Ether 3:13-14).A beautiful example of the fruition of that invitation is the one spoken by Lehi:15 But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell [past tense]; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love (2 Nephi 1:15).That is one of the most important verses in the Book of Mormon because it identifies a facet of the single most important doctrine of the gospel: by using the symbolism of an embrace it describes the Savior’s personal relationship with the righteous and incorporates into that same verse a number of other key words in addition to “redeemed.” The entire concept of this redemption is suspended on the past tense quality of the word “hath.” For Lehi, his redemption had occurred in his own past, but through the embrace it also continues as the vitality of his present and is the projected hope of his future.The final phrase in our verse, “and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love,” is a reference to a physical embrace, a present and eternal token of friendship—a “hope” that brings the future fulfillment of the covenant into the reality of the present until it changes the very nature of one’s eternal being. (That, by the way, is how the meaning of the word “hope” in Moroni 7may be understood.)The concept and the realization of “redemption” are together the most important doctrine of the gospel. It encompasses the power and meaning of the Atonement and of all our eternal relationships with the Savior—as a flower encompasses all of the promises of the seed that was planted, is the product of the stem and the hope of the nourishment from the roots and the leaves that grew from that seed – and that same flower is the promise of fruit which will produce other seeds, and thus the flower is both the glory of the past and the prefiguration of eternal lives in perpetuity. Redemption is the epitome of friendship, and the timeless light of all that is life. Another Book of Mormon example is Lehi’s blessing to his son Jacob:2 Nevertheless, Jacob, my first-born in the wilderness, thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.3 Wherefore, thy soul shall be blessed, and thou shalt dwell safely with thy brother, Nephi; and thy days shall be spent in the service of thy God. Wherefore, I know that thou art redeemed, because of the righteousness of thy Redeemer; for thou hast beheld that in the fulness of time he cometh to bring salvation unto men.4 And thou hast beheld in thy youth his glory (2 Nephi 2:2-4a).Here again, the power of the concept is in the verb: “I know that thou art [present tense] redeemed,” for “thou hast [past tense] beheld” God. Another example is Nephi, writing about himself, his brother Jacob, and Isaiah:2 And now I, Nephi, write more of the words of Isaiah, for my soul delighteth in his words. For I will liken his words unto my people, and I will send them forth unto all my children, for he verily saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him.3 And my brother, Jacob, also has seen him as I have seen him; wherefore, I will send their words forth unto my children to prove unto them that my words are true. Wherefore, by the words of three, God hath said, I will establish my word. Nevertheless, God sendeth more witnesses, and he proveth all his words (2 Nephi 11:2-3).In another place Nephi wrote:6 I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell [past tense].7 I have charity for my people, and great faith in Christ that I shall meet many souls spotless at his judgment-seat (2 Nephi 33:6-7).Alma left us with this testimony of being with God and thus being redeemed:23 And it came to pass after they had fasted and prayed for the space of two days and two nights, the limbs of Alma received their strength, and he stood up and began to speak unto them, bidding them to be of good comfort:24 For, said he, I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord [past tense]; behold I am born of the Spirit.25 And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters;26 And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.27 I say unto you, unless this be the case, they must be cast off; and this I know, because I was like to be cast off.28 Nevertheless, after wading through much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an everlasting burning, and I am born of God (Mosiah 27:23-28).A favorite example is the conclusion of Helaman’s letter to Moroni. It gives us a subtle insight into the foundation and fruition of the very intimate friendship shared by these two great prophets:41 And now, my beloved brother, Moroni, may the Lord our God, who has redeemed us and made us free [both past tense], keep you continually in his presence; yea, and may he favor this people, even that ye may have success in obtaining the possession of all that which the Lamanites have taken from us, which was for our support. And now, behold, I close mine epistle. I am Helaman, the son of Alma (Alma 58:41).Abinadi’s entire instructions to Alma rest upon the importance of one’s becoming a child of God. In that context, one may assume that in his statement, “For behold, did not Moses prophesy unto them concerning the coming of the Messiah, and that God should redeem his people?” Abinadi was using the word “redeem” to mean to be brought into the presence of God and also to teach Alma that one must become a child of Christ.If the whole plan of salvation were reduced to a single sentence, the first part of that sentence would be about the Savior’s Atonement, and the last part might read: “that one might return and remain in the presence of God.” That was the promise from the beginning. After Adam and Eve left the Garden, they were taught the meaning of sacrifice:9 And in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the Father and the Son, saying: I am the Only Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast fallen thou mayest be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many as will (Moses 5:9).Adam understood the full impact of “thou mayest be redeemed” and he said:10 Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God (Moses 5:10).It is significant that the Savior emphasized that same relationship in the Beatitudes:Blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God.And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God (3 Nephi 12:8-9).The prophet Abinadi’s testimony to the young prince Alma uses different words, but carries the same message:23 They are raised to dwell with God who has redeemed them; thus they have eternal life through Christ, who has broken the bands of death (Mosiah 15:23).In the 2007 October general conference, Elder David A. Bednar explained the importance of the phrase to “come unto Christ.”The risen Lord next explained the importance of coming unto Him. The multitude gathered together at the temple was invited literally to come forth unto the Savior “one by one” (3 Nephi 11:15) to feel the prints of the nails in the Master’s hands and feet and to thrust their hands into His side. Each individual who had this experience “did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he” (v. 15), even Jesus Christ, who had come.The Savior also taught the people to come unto Him through sacred covenants, and He reminded them that they were “the children of the covenant” (3 Nephi 20:26).Repenting and coming unto Christ through the covenants and ordinances of salvation are prerequisite to and a preparation for being sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost and standing spotless before God at the last day.(This is taken from Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord) ................
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