Blog

Please note: In this discussion of the veil ceremony of the ancient Israelite temple drama, the conclusions I express here are only my opinions . That will become increasingly obvious as I make straightforward assertions in this little essay, and then leave it to you and the footnotes to examine the evidence for those assertions.

——————–

In the scriptures, there are five different but equally important discussions of the ancient Israelite temple drama veil ceremony. They are:

1. Psalm 21 which was sung by the congregation as the king approached the veil of Solomon’s temple. The words of the psalm begin by describing the ceremony, then conclude with Jehovah’s promise of invulnerability spoken from behind the veil. {1}

2. The second is Nephi 9:41-42, where Jacob warns the children of Lehi of the consequence of not keeping their covenants.{2}

3. Ether chapters 3 and 4 is one of the most explicit and beautiful examples in the scriptures. We discussed that a few weeks ago.

4. Ether 12:27-41 (our subject today) is a splendid explanation of why it is necessary.

5. Job is a detailed, but deeply encoded description.{3} ——————–

Ether 12:27 27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

When taken by itself, verse 27 is one of the most frequently quoted passages in the Book of Mormon. This is because it is one of the most encouraging to us ordinary mortals who sometimes struggle with a sense of our inability to change or to cope.

However, when taken as a part of its sub-textual contest, it is sublimely beautiful. The verse is part of a conversation between Moroni and the Savior. At the beginning of that conversation Moroni expresses his concern about his weakness in writing.

26 And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;

That verse is the key to understanding the rest of their conversation. The key words are “my grace is sufficient for the meek” If you believe as I do that words in the Book of Mormon have a consistent meaning, and that the meanings are the same as in the King James Bible, then pay careful attention to the Savior’s use of “grace” and “meek” to identify those who acknowledge their “weakness” and who “humble themselves before me.”

First, we must ask, “What is grace, and who are the meek?” Both words describe those who make and keep covenants. Here is a very quick discussion of their meanings.

GRACE

The Greek word is charis. It is an expression of kindness. {4} It is graciousness — “the divine influence on the heart.” {5} In the New Testament it is always the love that God gives to man.

Its nearest Hebrew equivalent is hesed. {6}

HESED

Hesed is “unfailing love, loyal love, devotion. kindness, often based on a prior relationship, especially a covenant relationship.” {7} It is “the closest of human bonds.” {8}

Unlike “grace” in the New Testament, hesed in the Old Testament is a reciprocal love that God gives to man and that man gives to God, or that people give to each other. The word hesed is usually used to describe the relationships between God and men, or between man and man, but it is not limited to that. In the devotion of Ruth and Naomi the word hesed is not found, but Ruth’s covenant is one of the most endearing passages in the Old Testament (Ruth 1:16-18). In that same story hesed is translated as “kindness” when Boaz accepts Ruth to be his wife (Ruth 3:10).

In the psalms hesed is often the covenant of love between God and the king. During the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama the king was the main actor, but whatever ordinances or covenants happens with the king symbolically also happens with each man in the congregation. For example, Psalm 25 is spoken by the king in this world, but the references are to his personal premortal covenants. Hesed is used four times in that short psalm. The first is translated as “lovingkindnesses.” The other three are translated as mercy. Psalm 25 is my favorite because it makes the covenants we made at the Council in Heaven an important part of the experiences we have in this life. We have discussed that at length in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord. {9}

PISTIS

In verse 27, Moroni writes, “for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” We will discus that verse below, but here it needs to be pointed out that the sense of eternal covenant in the words “grace” and hesed is also shared by the word “faith.” The Greek word translated faith is pistis. Its nearest modern English equivalent is contract or covenant. The New Testament and the Book of Mormon consistently use “faith” to represent covenants we made/make with God. {10}

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament ties a nice bow around the covenant meanings of “grace,” hesed, and pistis.

Stress is often laid on the fact that this [pistis] is a higher endowment than wealth. … Concretely pistis means the ‘guarantee’ which creates the possibility of trust, that which may be relied on, or the assurance of reliability, ‘assurance’. … pistis is the ‘oath of fidelity,’ ‘the pledge of faithfulness,’ ‘security.’ This leads on the one side to the sense of ‘certainty,’ ‘trustworthiness,’ on the other to that of ‘means of proof,’ ‘proof.’ In particular pistis denotes the reliability of persons, ‘faithfulness.’ It belongs especially to friendship. {11}

Primarily, then, pistis is an attitude of man to himself, not to others. As man’s faithfulness to himself, however, pistis makes possible the right relation to others, He who is “faithful to himself” can also be “faithful” to others; he alone is capable of genuine friendship. {12}

The conclusion is that “grace,” hesed, and pistis are all about covenants that sustain and validate friendship. It gets better!

PHILADELPHIA

Non-LDS scholars are at a great disadvantage when they try to define “the hesed of God.” Some insist it is an expression of God’s love, while others say that it is only about the legality of the covenants he made with Moses. {13} The scholars struggle with trying to make hesed mean the covenants God made with Israel, and the reciprocal covenants we make with each other. The reasons for these diverse opinions is that in their system of thought, God is mystical undefinable, and people have no premortal existence. Therefore, the scholars cannot understand that there were premortal friendship-covenants-relationships. However, for Book of Mormon prophets, God’s love is eternal and the covenants are an expression of his love. The most important covenant was between the Father and the Savior, and with us. The Savior’s Atonement is the token, validation, and fulfillment of that covenant (Moroni 10:32-33).

When you and I read the definition of hesed as “unfailing love based on a prior covenant,” our minds find no conflict in finding two sources for the love and the covenants.

The first is our premortal covenants and the second is the covenants we make in this world.

The premortal covenants were reciprocal both between each other and between us and God. The friendships and sacred covenants we make in this world are probably affirmations of the ones we made before.

The idea that charis in the New Testament is the same as hesed in the Old Testament works well when discussing the covenants God makes with us. However, it does not work so well with the covenants friends make with each other. An example of hesed as brotherly love that many scholars like to use is the love that initiated the covenants between David and Jonathan.{14}

Hesed works fine as a description of such mutual friendships and covenants in the Old Testament, but the word philadelphia is probably a better New Testament Greek representation of brotherly love.

The Greek word philadelphia means what the city’s moto says it means: brotherly love, or “fraternal affection.” {15}

That opens up a slightly different but equally fruitful line of inquiry.

Even though the hesed relationship described in the psalms is often between the king who speaks the words, and Jehovah to whom he addresses them, it must be remembered that in the ancient Israelite temple drama the king represented every man in the congregation. Therefore, the hesed relationship described there 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 bond between each of God’s children and Jehovah, perhaps between the people and their prophet/king, and most certainly among each other. Consideration of the this-worldly continuation of those premortal hesed relationships brings us to Peter’s assurance that “brotherly kindness” (philadelphia) is prerequisite to making one’s calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:1-11). {16}

The first four verses of 2 Peter uses the word pistis (faith) to mean the entire ancient Christian temple service, concluding with: “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.” (2 Peter 1:4)

Then Peter lists in sequence eight things we must do in order to make our “calling and election sure.” (2 Peter 1:1-10)

The first four are qualities which have to do with only our Selves:

1 The first is faith – pistis, covenants we make and keep.

2 Then virtue – the literal meaning is “manliness,” strong, brave, intelligent, with integrity.

3 Then knowledge –I understand that in light of this statement: “Truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come” (D&C 93:24)

4 Then temperance – self control, not doing anything in excess.

The second four are about our relationships with other people:

5 Patience – we must be patient, not only with other people, but also with ourselves and God (as is expressed in Psalm 25).

6 Godliness – The LDS Bible footnote says “reverence.” It means accepting others for the beauty that is in them. We cannot be hurtful to anything or anyone we revere.

7 Brotherly kindness – The Greek word is philadelphia – one-on-one fraternal love.

8 Charity – Love for everyone.

8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:1-8).

The sequence is necessary. One cannot have charity (love for everyone) if one does not first have philadelphia (one-on-one love between individuals). In this sequence Peter has taken our triumvirate of pistis, hesed, and charity, and shown us how those attitudes must first be focused on individuals before they can become universal.

Mormon, in Moroni 7, gives us a similar sequence, only with a different emphasis . He said that in order to “become the sons of God” we must have faith (pistis), hope, and charity. Hope is “living the covenants as though they were already fulfilled.” {17} Mormon asks,

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).

In Peter’s sequence fraternal love is the prerequisite to charity. In Mormon’s sequence the prerequisite is hope. It is an easy logical step to equate “fraternal love” and “living as though the covenants [with God and man] were already fulfilled.” We cannot hope for eternal life if philadelphia is not a part of the fundamental definition of who and what we are. Then both the hope and the philadelphia bring us to charity.

The Prophet Joseph seems to have reached that same conclusion when he wrote: “Friendship is the grand fundamental principle of Mormonism.” {18}

As we consider these principles it becomes obvious that none of the relationships discussed here are limited to, or even focused on this life’s fleeting experiences. Rather, we are glimpsing the true nature of our eternal covenants with God and with each other. The infinite quality of those friendships is evinced in the Doctrine and Covenants where the Lord explains:

45 Verily, I say unto my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., or in other words, I will call you friends, for you are my friends, and ye shall have an inheritance with me— 46 I called you servants for the world’s sake, and ye are their servants for my sake (D&C 93:45-46).

MEEK

Those who are meek are clearly defined in Psalm 25and therefore in the Beatitudes as those who keep the covenants they made in the Council in Heaven (sode). We have discussed that at some length in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord. {19}

That brings us full circle back to the Savior’s assurance to Moroni that “my grace is sufficient for the meek.” Now that we have established the definitions of “grace” and “meek,” and their connotations of eternal covenants and eternal friendships, we can continue with an analysis of verse 27 as an explanation of the significance of the ancient Israelite temple drama veil ceremony.

The reason we had to define grace and meek before we could analyze verse 27 is that the “men” at the beginning of verse 27 are the meek who accept that grace in the preceding sentence. Read as a single idea, the verses say:

26-28 … my grace [love, hesed] is sufficient for the meek [who keep their eternal covenants], that they shall take no advantage of your weakness; And if men [the meek whom the Lord has just identified] come unto me [This may be a reference to either the temple veil or to the shechinah that separates us from God.] I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them [the covenant of invulnerability]. Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.

WEAKNESS

“Weakness” is singular in each of the five times it is used here (“weak things” is different). This suggests that there is only one weakness that men will overcome in this context of the ancient temple drama. The Lord explains what he means by “weakness” to Moroni a little later in their conversation.

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 thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.

In this verse, to be made strong is to be in the presence of God. And to recognize one’s weakness is to see the contrast between being away from him and being where he is. The whole purpose of the Nephite temple drama was to teach them how to achieve that end.

HUMBLE

Moroni now teaches us, by the Savior’s example, what it means to be humble.

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;

Now, if we are to understand “humble” in verse 27 we must define it in such a way that the definition also fits with the Savior’s “plain humility” in verse 39.

In the conversation as Moroni described it, we can hardly imagine the Savior’s humility as being self-deprecating as he explains the ramifications of his Atonement. Rather, what Moroni has presented to us is a conversation between to unassuming friends — without masks, or facades, or pretenses — just themselves as they really are.

Jacob described the masks some men wear before God when he taught the Nephites about how they must come to veil of the newly constructed Nephite temple. He said,

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).

Moroni concludes his account of his conversation with the Savior with this prayer:

41 And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace [covenant friendship] of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen.

It is apparent to me that each of the code words discussed here can be fully understood only in light of all the others. So all of the concepts in these words must be part of the definition of the whole. In other words, each of these words is a different facet of our relationship to Heavenly Father with whom we made the covenant, and to the Savior whose Atonement is the terms, the hope, and the fulfillment of that eternal covenant.{20}

The central force that holds all of these ideas together is the singular intimacy of true friendship sustained by the triumvirate of pistis, hesed, and charity – unbounded mutual love validated by covenant.

26 And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness; 27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. 28 Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me —the fountain of all righteousness. ————————

FOOTNOTES

{1} For a discussion of Psalm 21 see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, chapters, “The King at the Veil of Solomon’s Temple,” and “The Veil Ceremony in Psalm 21″ First edition, pages, 527-557; paperback edition (the one that is available on this website) pages 390-400.

{2} For two short essays, use the search engine in this website. Search “2 Nephi 9:41.”

{3} For a brief discussion of job, see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, chapter, “The Symbolism of the Book of Job.” First edition, pages, 155-57; paperback edition, pages 116-118.

{4} “Tthe state of kindness or favor toward someone.” Strong # 5485. Kohlenberger, John R. III and James A. Swanson. The Strongest Strong’s, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001.

{5} Strong # 5485. James Strong, ed. The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. (New York, Eaton & Mains, [first edition], 1890.

{6} “Indeed, if this fuller meaning [of grace] is to be represented at all by a Hebrew word, it is the word … (hesed)…. This word is, however, usually translated in the LXX by the Greek word … (‘mercy’).” Article on “grace” in The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1991), 2: 464.

{7} John R. Kohlenberger III and James A. Swanson, The Strongest Strong’s, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), Hebrew dictionary # 2617.

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).

{8} “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.”

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).

{9} For a discussion of Psalm 25 see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, chapters, “Meaning of ‘Meek’ in Psalm 25: Keeping One’s Eternal Covenants” and “The Meek in Psalm 25.” First edition, pages, 525-43; paperback edition, pages 378-90. However, for a discussion of the psalm, the paperback edition is better and it is available on this website.

{10} See “Ether 12:4-30 & Hebrews 11:1-27 – ‘faith’ as covenant – LeGrand Baker” in this website.

{11} Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 6: 177. In the text pistis is written in Greek letters. In these quote pistis is written in italics. In the last sentence emphasis is added.

{12} Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 6:182.

{13}In addition to Strong, I am using the following sources in my discussion of the meaning of Hesed:

Katherine Doob Sakenfeld, The Meaning of Hesed in the Hebrew Bible: A New Inquiry (Missoula, Montana: Scholars Press for the Harvard Semitic Museum, 1978).

R. Laird Harris, ed., Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago, Moody Press, 1980), 1: 305-7.

G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, eds., Translated by David E. Green, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (1986 Grand Rapids, Michigan, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1986), 5:44-64.

{14} 1 Samuel 20:8, 14, 15; 2 Samuel 1:26; 2 Samuel 9:1, 3, 7.

{15} (Strong: Greek 5360 [first edition, 1894] reads: “philadelphia; fraternal affection: brotherly love (kindness), love of the brethren.” [Emphasis is in original).

{16} In this verse, the King James Version uses the phrase “brotherly kindness,” but elsewhere in the New Testament that same Greek word is always translated as “brotherly love” which has a somewhat stronger connotation.

{17} For a discussion of hope in the context of “faith, hope, and charity” see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, the following chapters, “Moroni 7: Faith, Hope, and Charity”; and “Meaning of ‘Faith’ — Pistis”; and “A Meaning of ‘Hope’”; “A Meaning of ‘Charity’.” First edition, pages, 1005 1043 ; paperback edition, pages 696-722.

{18} Joseph Smith, The Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet Joseph, compiled and edited by Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook (Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1980), 234.

{19} For a discussion of the context of “meek” in Psalm 25 see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, chapters, “Meaning of ‘Meek’ in Psalm 25: Keeping One’s Eternal Covenants” and “The Meek in Psalm 25.” First edition, pages, 525-43; paperback edition, pages 378-90. However, for a discussion of the psalm, the paperback edition is better and it is available on this website.

{20} Moroni 10:32-33 teaches us the relationship between the Father’s covenant and the power of the Savior’s Atonement.

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.

 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

22 And it is by faith [pistis = covenants] that my fathers have obtained the promise that these things should come unto their brethren through the Gentiles; therefore the Lord hath commanded me, yea, even Jesus Christ (Ether 12:22).

What follows is a remarkable, and very enlightening conversation between the Savior and Moroni.

23 And I said unto him: Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things, because of our weakness in writing; for Lord thou hast made us mighty in word by faith, but thou hast not made us mighty in writing; for thou hast made all this people that they could speak much, because of the Holy Ghost which thou hast given them;

The problem Moroni expresses was confronted by all of the prophets before him. When two or three people speak of sacred things, they don’t have to “spell out” what they mean to each other. Sometimes half sentences and incomplete explanations work nicely. When one speaks of those things to a larger audience, a few carefully selected code words will suffice for the speaker and some, perhaps many in the audience to communicate. (The Brethren’s Conference talks are a good example.) However, when one writes, no matter how carefully he chooses his words, he must depend entirely on his readers to make the right connections.

I suppose it is for that reason that the Book of Mormon is written in two separate languages — and they are both English. There is a surface text that anyone who is literate can read. It is wonderful, as I and millions of other people can attest. The second language is in code, and the ancient temple is the code. If one knows the Nephite temple, one knows the code, otherwise the encoded text is simply not there. An example is between the dashes in 2 Nephi 1:10.

10 But behold, when the time cometh that they shall dwindle in unbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord—having a knowledge of the creation of the earth, and all men, knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the world; having power given them to do all things by faith; having all the commandments from the beginning, and having been brought by his infinite goodness into this precious land of promise—behold, I say, if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgments of him that is just shall rest upon them (2 Nephi 1:10).

Moroni gives another reason why it is difficult for him to write the ideas he wishes to convey.

24 And thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the awkwardness of our hands.

Part of the difficulty was their method of writing sacred texts on metal plates. Joseph’s description of the plates tells us a great deal about that. He wrote:

These records were engraven on plates which had the appearance of gold. Each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long and not quite so thick as common tin. They were filled with engravings in Egyptian characters and bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches in thickness, a part of which was sealed. The characters on the unsealed part were small, and beautifully engraved. The whole book exhibited many marks of antiquity in its construction and much skill in the art of engraving.{1}

From the text itself we learn that the writing on the brass plates was also engraved, just as were Nephite records throughout their history. {2}

It is apparent that the writing on the plates was not simply scratched onto their surfaces, and that the fine art of engraving on the very thin gold plates had been passed down from generation to generation. That makes it very easy to understand why Moroni would bemoan “the awkwardness of our hands.”

24 And thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the awkwardness of our hands. Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of man to read them.

I suppose that there were two reasons the brother of Jared wrote with such power. One was that he wrote in the language that Adam, Enoch, and Noah spoke before human languages was confounded. Second, and this is only a subset of the first, he did not need to use any code words, but spelled it all out with exactness that could not be misunderstood. On one hand, such exactness would be mocked by anyone whose experiences had not already validated the meanings. On the other, such straightforwardness would condemn anyone who refused to understand.

Moroni did not have the luxury to do that because the surface text of the Book of Mormon is a magnificent missionary tool, and, therefore, must teach without giving offence.

25 Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write them; wherefore, when we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words.

The “placing of our words” can be a problem in any language. Let me give you a simple example. When I was a young man people said I was “good looking.” Now I am an old man people say I am “looking good.” Same words, opposite meanings !

It is apparent to me as I read the Book of Mormon, that prophets wrote with great precision and that the translation — accomplished “by the gift and power of God” — was equally precise. That leaves the burden of understanding entirely on intent of the reader.

26 And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;

When the Savior spoke the Beatitudes, he quoted or paraphrased parts of Isaiah and the Psalms. One reads, “Blessed are all the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” The Savior is quoting Psalm 37, “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace (Psalms 37:11). There it implied, and in D&C 88:17-18 clearly says, the meek will inherit the celestial earth. In Psalm 25 it says that the meek are those who keep the covenants they made at the Council in Heaven (“secret” = sode), and that their children will inherit the earth (eternal family).

The Lord assures Moroni that “my grace [probably hesed] is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness.” {3}

In the next sentence, the Savior moves the subject from Moroni’s perceived weakness to the real weakness of those who are meek. The surface text on that sentence is one of the most quoted in the Book of Mormon. The subtext is one of the most sublime.
——————-
FOOTNOTES

{1} Joseph Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. B.H. Roberts (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1946): 4:537.

{2} A few examples that give us that information are 1 Nephi 3:3, 1 Nephi 9:3-4, 2 Nephi 5:32, 3 Nephi 5:10, and the testimonies of both the three and the eight witnesses.

{3} Search “Psalm 25” in this website to find the meaning of sode and hesed as they are used there.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Ether 3:6, 13-16

6 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. …

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.
15 And never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image.
16 Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh (Ether 3:6, 13-16).

The story of the brother of Jared is wonderful, not only because it answers some very important questions, but also because it asks questions that are equally important. Sometimes questions are more stimulating than answers. That is because answers often invite us to stop wondering, but questions encourage us to think, and thus to expand the wonderment.

The very important answer we get from this account is that the Savior’s spirit body looked just like his physical body, and by extension, like his resurrected body also. That information is vital to us because it is the underlying premise upon which we build our entire concept of the premortal spirit world. The creation accounts say that we were created in the image of God, {1} but none are as explicit as what Jehovah said to the brother of Jared:

16 Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh.

With the clarity of that answer about what spirit bodies look like, comes other questions about one’s ultimate origin — about the origin of our individuality — our intelligence that gave the spirit body its personality, and its power to think and to make meaningful choices.

The most authoritative statement about the relationship of our intelligence with our premortal and mortal bodies was written by Elder B. H. Roberts in 1907. I used the word “authoritative” because when it was first published in the Improvement Era it included this editorial note:

Elder Roberts submitted the following paper to the First Presidency and a number of the Twelve Apostles, none of whom found anything objectionable in it, or contrary to the revealed word of God, and therefore favor its publication.—EDITORS. (Improvement Era, April, 1907)

The next year, Elder Roberts wrote the second in a series of priesthood lesson manuals for the Seventies quorums to use during their weekly meetings.{2} The first lesson of that manual was adapted from the Improvement Era article and included the same editorial note that said this was approved by “the First Presidency and a number of the Twelve Apostles.”

I am quoting it here because I believe the information it contains is necessary for one to understand the nature on one’s own eternal Self.

The Nature of Intelligencies: There is in that complex thing we call man, an intelligent entity, uncreated, self existent, indestructible, He—for that entity is a person; because, as we shall see, he is possessed of powers that go with personality only, hence that entity is “he,” not “it,”—he is eternal as God is; co-existent, in fact, with God; of the same kind of substance or essence with deity, though confessedly inferior in degree of intelligence and power to God. One must needs think that the name of this eternal entity—what God calls him—conveys to the mind some idea of his nature. He is called an “intelligence;” and this I believe is descriptive of him. That is, intelligence is the entity’s chief characteristic. If this be a true deduction, then the entity must be self-conscious, and “others—conscious,” that is, he must have the power to distinguish himself from other things—the “me” from the “not me.” He must have the power of deliberation, by which he sets over one thing against another; with power also to form a judgment that this or that is a better thing or state than this or that. Also there goes with this idea of intelligence a power of choosing one thing instead of another, one state rather than another. These powers are inseparably connected with any idea that may be formed of an intelligence. One cannot conceive of intelligence existing without these qualities any more than he can conceive of an object existing in space without dimensions. The phrase “the light of truth” [Doc. & Cov., Sec. xciii.] is given in one of the revelations as the equivalent for an “intelligence” here discussed; by which is meant to be understood, as I think, that intelligent entities perceive the truth, are conscious of the truth, they know that which is, hence “the light of truth,” “intelligence.” Let it be observed that I say nothing as to the mode of the existence of these intelligences, beyond the fact of their eternity. But of their form, or the manner of their subsistence nothing, so far as I know, has been revealed, and hence we are without means of knowing anything about the modes of their existence beyond the fact of it, and the essential qualities they possess, which already have been pointed out.

The intelligent entity inhabiting a spirit-body make up the spiritual personage. It is this spirit life we have so often thought about, and sang about. In this state of existence occurred the spirit’s “primeval childhood;” here spirits were “nurtured” near the side of the heavenly Father, in his “high and glorious place;” thence spirits were sent to earth to unite spirit-elements with earth-elements—in some way essential to a fulness of glory and happiness (Doc. & Cov. Sec. xciii: 32-35)—and to learn the lessons earth-life had to teach. The half awakened recollections of the human mind may be chiefly engaged with scenes, incidents and impressions of that spirit life; but that does not argue the non-existence of the uncreated intelligences who preceded the begotten spiritual personage as so plainly set forth in the revelations of God.

The difference, then, between “spirits” and “intelligencies,” as here used, is this: Spirits are uncreated intelligencies inhabiting spiritual bodies; while “intelligencies,” pure and simple, are intelligent entities, but unembodied in either spirit bodies or bodies of flesh and bone. They are uncreated, self-existent entities, possessed of “self-consciousness,” and “other-consciousness”— they are conscious of the “me” and the “not me”; they possess powers of discrimination, (without which the term “intelligence” would be a solecism) they discern between the evil and the good; between the “good” and “the better.” They possess “will” or “freedom,”— within certain limits at least— the power to determine upon a given course of conduct, as against any other course of conduct. This intelligence “can think his own thoughts, act wisely or foolishly, do right or wrong.” To accredit an “intelligence” with fewer or less important powers than these, would be to discredit him as an “intelligence” altogether. {3}

Later, Elder Roberts clarified further the characteristics of those intelligences that are called “noble and great” in Abraham 3:22. He wrote:

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? {4}

—————————–

FOOTNOTES

{1} Even the creation accounts vary in how they say it: Genesis 1:27; Genesis 1:27; Hebrews 1:1-3; Alma 22:12; Ether 3:15; D&C 20:18; Moses 2:27; Moses 6:8-9; Abraham 4:27.

{2} In those days each stake had a quorum of Seventies, and the Seventies in each ward met together as a group to have a lesson, just as each stake now has a quorum of High Priests who meet in their individual ward groups.

It is another testimony to me, that Joseph was a true prophet, that the organization he described in D&C 107 was for the Church in our time when the quorums of Seventy actually have the responsibilities the Prophet said they should have. Before the church was big enough to need Seventies who were General Authorities, it had local Seventies quorums in each stake. These Seventy had the responsibility to help with missionary work. For example, my father was ordained a Seventy when he left to go on his mission in 1930, and I was ordained a Seventy while I was in grad school when I was called to be a stake missionary. It took more than a hundred years after the Church was first organized before its worldwide population grew so large that it needed General Authorities who were permanently stationed in many places. When the Church grew large enough to have that need, all the local stake Seventies were ordained High Priests, and the General Authority Seventies were organized to become what the Prophet had envisioned they should be way back in 1835.

{3} B. H. Roberts, Seventy’s Course in Theology, Second Year [Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1907-1912], part 1, lesson 1, p, 8-11.
These manuals were originally printed in five different volumes, but have since been reprinted . This reference is to a reprint.

{4} B. H. Roberts, The Truth, The Way, The Life, ed. John W. Welch (Provo, Utah: BYU Studies, 1994), 98.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

25 And when the Lord had said these words, he showed unto the brother of Jared all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be; and he withheld them not from his sight, even unto the ends of the earth (Ether 3:25).

Moroni is very careful to tell us just enough about the vision, but not too much. He writes:

7 And now, as I, Moroni, said I could not make a full account of these things which are written, therefore it sufficeth me to say that Jesus showed himself unto this man in the spirit, even after the manner and in the likeness of the same body even as he showed himself unto the Nephites.
18 And he ministered unto him even as he ministered unto the Nephites; and all this, that this man might know that he was God, because of the many great works which the Lord had showed unto him (Ether 3:17-18).

In Ether chapter 4, Moroni gives us a short history of what happened to the written account of that vision. He reports:

The Lord commended the brother of Jared to write the things which he had seen, but he was to show it to no one “until after Christ should show himself unto his people (v.1).”

When the Savior came to the Nephites, “he commanded that they [the writings] should be made manifest.” After that, during the peaceful time of 4 Nephi, they were apparently part of the Nephite scriptural canon (v.2).

When the Nephites apostatized again, Moroni was “commanded that I should hide them [the original plates on which they were written] up again in the earth (v.3).”

Moroni was also commanded to make a copy of them on the gold plates which would eventually come into the hands of the Prophet Joseph (v.4).

Having explained that, Moroni writes a personal letter to the Prophet Joseph (who will read it about 1,400 years later) explaining that he has sealed that part of the plates, along with the “interpreters” so that they can eventually be translated when people are worthy to read a full account of the vision.

6 For the Lord said unto me: They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord (Ether 4:6).

1 And now I, Moroni, have written the words which were commanded me, according to my memory; and I have told you the things which I have sealed up; therefore touch them not in order that ye may translate; for that thing is forbidden you, except by and by it shall be wisdom in God (Ether 5:1.)

The rest of chapter 4 is the promise, spoken by the Savior, that when the saints are truly a Zion people, they will have that record again.

Moroni also tells us that the Lord had shown this same, or a similar vision to many prophets. He wrote:

19 And there were many whose faith was so exceedingly strong, even before Christ came, who could not be kept from within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad.
20 And behold, we have seen in this record that one of these was the brother of Jared; for so great was his faith in God, that when God put forth his finger he could not hide it from the sight of the brother of Jared, because of his word which he had spoken unto him, which word he had obtained by faith (Ether 12:19-20).

“Which word he had obtained by faith.” Faith, here, clearly has the same meaning as faith in the New Testament. There, it is translated from the Greek word pistis. The nearest English equivalents are either contract or covenant. We learn about that covenant in a previous chapter where Moroni tells us:

26 For he [Jehovah] had said unto him [brother of Jared] in times before, that if he would believe in him that he could show unto him all things—it should be shown unto him; therefore the Lord could not withhold anything from him, for he knew that the Lord could show him all things (Ether 3:26).

Even though “many … whose faith was so exceedingly strong [they] could not be kept from within the veil,” there is relatively little in our scriptures about what they saw. In fact, the only full account we have is the highly encoded Revelation of John the Beloved.

Six hundred years before John’s time, Nephi wrote that would be John’s assignment:

27 And I, Nephi, heard and bear record, that the name of the apostle of the Lamb was John, according to the word of the angel (1 Nephi 14:27).

And 400 years after John wrote, the Savior confirmed John’s assignment to Moroni, and promised that the time would come when we would actually be able to understand John’s code.

16 And then shall my revelations which I have caused to be written by my servant John be unfolded in the eyes of all the people. Remember, when ye see these things, ye shall know that the time is at hand that they shall be made manifest in very deed (Ether 4:16).

Of the “many” who have seen this or a similar vision, we know of several. They are: Adam, Enoch, the brother of Jared, Abraham, Isaiah, Lehi, Nephi, John the Baptist, John the Beloved, Mormon, Moroni, and the Prophet Joseph Smith

All of these men have had the same thing in common. Each one had a far-reaching responsibility. In order to fulfill that assignment, each had to understand his place in the grand scheme of things. Therefore, each had to be shown who they were and what they had covenanted to do. The following is an example of some of their reports about what they saw and understood:
———————-

ADAM

Adam prophesied about “all the families of the earth,”

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.
10 And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: 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 5:9-10).
—————

ENOCH

Enoch’s vision is reported in Moses chapters 6 and 7 and in the apocryphal Book of Enoch and the Book of the Secrets of Enoch.

67 And the Lord showed Enoch all things, even unto the end of the world; and he saw the day of the righteous, the hour of their redemption, and received a fulness of joy (Moses 7:67).

1 And the Lord summoned me, and said to me: Enoch, sit down on my left with Gabriel.
2 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. {1}
—————

ABRAHAM

Abraham, like Enoch, saw not only the fulness of human history, but also his own place in the universe (Abraham ch. 3-5)

11 Thus I, Abraham, talked with the Lord, face to face, as one man talketh with another; and he told me of the works which his hands had made;
12 And he said unto me: My son, my son (and his hand was stretched out), behold I will show you all these. And he put his hand upon mine eyes, and I saw those things which his hands had made, which were many; and they multiplied before mine eyes, and I could not see the end thereof (Abraham 3:11-12).

22 Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;
23 And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born (Abraham 3:22-23).

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).
—————

ISAIAH

Isaiah chapter 6 is the most complete example of a sode experience in the Old Testament. {2} He tells us he returned to the Council in Heaven and re-committed to fulfill the covenants he had made before the world was.

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said: Here am I; send me.
9 And he said: Go and tell this people—Hear ye indeed, but they understood not; and see ye indeed, but they perceived not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes—lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and be healed.
11 Then said I: Lord, how long? And he said: Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate;
12 And the Lord have removed men far away, for there shall be a great forsaking in the midst of the land (2 Nephi 16:8-12. The Book of Mormon version is better than the one in the Old Testament).

Much of what Isaiah saw about his contemporary world is in the first 35 chapters of the Book of Isaiah. Chapters 36-39 are about king Hezekiah. Some of that appears to be taken from the king’s own writings.

Chapters 40 through 66 are Isaiah’s poetic review of the ancient Israelite temple drama. This is apparent because he begins in the Council in Heaven, quotes many of the psalms, and concludes with the Savior’s millennial reign, just as the drama did. Or else, those chapters are a poetic rendition of the vision he saw of all of human history. I suppose it doesn’t matter which it is because they are both essentially the same story. (This is true except for Isaiah 44:28 through chapter 48. That part has all the fingerprints of an ancient forgery.{3}
—————

LEHI

Lehi’s sode experience is the most simple and also the most complete. In it, Lehi returns to the Council, sees its members (angels) who are singing; sees God who is presiding, sitting on his throne; receives an assignment from Jehovah, and reads a book in which he learns of the destruction and apparently the ultimate redemption of Jerusalem (1 Nephi 1:8-15).

Later, the information he learned there was augmented by his vision of the tree of life.
—————

NEPHI

When Nephi asked to see what his father saw, he was shown everything John the Beloved would later see and record (1 Nephi 14:27). That tells us that both Lehi and Nephi saw the entire vision.
—————

JOHN THE BAPTIST

John the Baptist’s testimony is found in the Gospel of John, but more fully in Doctrine and Covenants 93:1-18.

6 And John saw and bore record of the fulness of my glory, and the fulness of John’s record is hereafter to be revealed.
7 And he bore record, saying: I saw his glory, that he was in the beginning, before the world was….
10 The worlds were made by him; men were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him, and of him.
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.
—————

JOHN THE BELOVED’S BOOK OF REVELATION

Several years ago, after I returned to BYU, I audited a New Testament class from my friend Professor C. Wilfred Griggs. The following outline of John’s Revelation is from my notes in that class:

Chapter 1 – Introduction – when, where, how the revelation was received {4}
Chapters 2-3 – Cover letters
Chapters 4-22 – The revelation
Chapters 4-11 – The theodicy – God’s justification – we will do it my way. This continues until the second coming
Chapters 12 -15 – Now we go back to the Council in Heaven and fight premortal war. It tells how evil came to be in heaven and how it was kicked down to earth
Chapters 16-20 – Continuation of war on earth (following chapter 11) and the defeat of evil
Chapters 21-22 – The new heaven and new earth
—————

MORMON and MORONI

Since Moroni is so thoroughly conversant with the Brother of Jared’s vision, and since both he and his father Mormon wrote the Book of Mormon to us, for our benefit in our time, because they had seen us and knew our needs, it seems reasonable to believe that both of those great prophets had seen the same, or a similar vision as the brother of Jared.
—————

JOSEPH SMITH

The Prophet Joseph’s testimony is found in what appears to be a poetic version of Doctrine and Covenants 76. However, Section 76 describes a single vision that he shared with Sidney Rigdon and always says “we saw.” The poem is different. It always says “I saw.” Besides being written in first person singular, it is also more explicit and contains insights that are not in Section 76. (I have wondered if it also includes some account of what he saw in his First Vision.)

A VISION
BY
THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH

I will go, I will go, to the home of the Saints,
. Where the virtue’s the value, and life the reward;
But before I return to my former estate,
. I must fulfil the mission I had from the Lord.

Wherefore, hear 0 ye heavens, and give ear 0 ye earth,
. And rejoice, ye inhabitants, truly again;
For the Lord he is God, and his life never ends,
. Aud besides him there ne’er was a Saviour of men.

His ways are a wonder, his wisdom is great;
. The extent of his doings there’s none can unveil;
His purposes fail not; from age unto age
. He still is the same, and his years never fail.

His throne is the heavens — his life-time is all
. Of eternity now, and eternity then;
His union is power, and none stays his hand,
. The Alpha, Omega, for ever. Amen.

For thus saith the Lord, in the spirit of truth,
. I am merciful, gracious, and good unto those
That 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 show
My pleasure and will, what the kingdom will do
. Eternity’s wonders they truly shall know. …..

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 sons
. By the very same truths and the very same powers. {5}

—————
FOOTNOTES

{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. V.2: 431-69, [Oxford: Clarendon, 1976], ch. 24:1-2.)

{2}An interesting discussion of Isaiah’s sode experience is Christopher R. Seitz, “The Divine Council: Temporal Transition and New Prophecy in the Book of Isaiah, Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 109, no. 2 (1990), p. 229-247.

{3} This forgery is apparent for two reasons: (1) It purports to break Gods “everlasting covenant” with the House of David and give the kingship of Judah to Cyrus, a non Israelite. (2) Isaiah 48 in the Old Testament and 1 Nephi 20, are significantly different. The former is about Cyrus, but the latter (which is the brass plates’ version) is about Joseph Smith’s part in the premortal councils. For an historical background on the forgery in this website, search “1 Nephi 20.” When you do that, you will also find the commentary of verses 12-17 and 18-21:1, but this search engine puts some out of order so you will have to scroll down a bit to find the commentary on verses 1-11.

{4} There are three colophons at the beginning of Revelation.
The first two are what Wilfred called the Introduction.
(1) John says he is on the Isle of Patmos, where he is instructed two write.
(2) The second he sees the Lord and is instructed to write his vision.
(3) The third colophon is a sure evidence that we are reading someone who really is who he claims to be, and is almost as deeply encoded as his account of the revelation. It is written as seven letters to seven churches. The colophon is in the encoded message. If one reads just the first half of each of the letters, one can follow the outline of the ancient Israelite temple drama. If one reads only the second half of each of the letters, one finds an explanation of the drama’s symbolism.

{5} It was published in the Times and Seasons, February 1, 1843, and republished in the Millennial Star, August, 1843. You can find the full poem on this website under “Favorite Quotes,” then go to “Smith, Joseph – D&C 76, poetic version.”

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>>

The story of the brother of Jared is wonderful, not only because it answers some pivotal questions, but also because it asks others. Sometimes questions are more important than answers. Answers often satisfy us, and thereby invite us to stop wondering. But questions encourage us to think, and thus to expand the wonder. The story Moroni tells us is this:

6 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.
7 And the Lord saw that the brother of Jared had fallen to the earth; and the Lord said unto him: Arise, why hast thou fallen?
8 And he saith unto the Lord: I saw the finger of the Lord, and I feared lest he should smite me; for I knew not that the Lord had flesh and blood.
9 And the Lord said unto him: Because of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast; for were it not so ye could not have seen my finger. Sawest thou more than this?
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.
15 And never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image.
16 Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh (Ether 3:6-16).

The most important answer we learn from that conversation is that the Savior’s spirit body looked like his physical body, and therefore, also like his future resurrected body. There are other places that infer it, such as the creation story:

27 So the Gods went down to organize man in their own image, in the image of the Gods to form they him, male and female to form they them. (Genesis 1:26-28; Abraham 4:26-28; Moses 6:8-12, 2:26-28.)

But there is no other place that tells us unequivocally that our spirit bodies and our physical bodies are patterned the same way. That information is vital to us because it is the premise upon which we build our entire concept of the premortal spirit world.

One of the questions the story asks is, How did the brother of Jared come up with the idea of lighting his boats with rocks that shine. Hugh Nibley answers that one for us. He shows that Noah’s Ark could not have had a window as the Bible translation says, but that it had a “light giver” (translated “window”). Nibley suggests that the brother of Jared just followed Noah’s example and asked the Lord to provide him with the same light that Noah had. {1} That answers the “how” part of the question, but then it asks another question, Why was the brother of Jared so comfortable in telling the Lord how to fix the problem?

Another question is, Why was the brother of Jared so surprised that he could see Jehovah’s finger? But that is the wrong question. Wrong questions, like erroneous premises, lead to incorrect conclusions. He was not surprised that Jehovah had a finger. What he said was, “I knew not that the Lord had flesh and blood.” No doubt, he understood that Jehovah was a spirit. Therefore, what he saw seemed to call into question everything he knew about God. Therefore, the Lord responded to his concern:

9 And the Lord said unto him: Because of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast; for were it not so ye could not have seen my finger.

Another question is, Why did the Lord interview him before touching the stones? The Lord asked two questions, and received two appropriate responses:

9 … Sawest thou more than this?
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.

The first question, “Sawest thou more than this?” seems strange because we would suppose that the Lord already knew what he saw. However, the question left it to the brother of Jared to make the next request, “Nay; Lord, show thyself unto me.”

That request required another interview question: “Believest thou the words which I shall speak?” And again the brother of Jared gave the correct answer, “Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie.”

This is not strange. The question and answer sequence before one sees the Lord within the shechinah is consistent with other accounts. This one in First Nephi is an example:

1 For it came to pass after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain, which I never had before seen, and upon which I never had before set my foot.
2 And the Spirit said unto me: Behold, what desirest thou?
3 And I said: I desire to behold the things which my father saw.
4 And the Spirit said unto me: Believest thou that thy father saw the tree of which he hath spoken?
5 And I said: Yea, thou knowest that I believe all the words of my father (1 Nephi 11:1-5).

The questions and answers are not the same in both interviews, but they are strikingly similar.

One of the brother of Jared’s answers expresses a truly amazing concept.

12 And he answered: Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie.

We live in a world where telling the absolute truth is something we rarely if ever do, and almost never expect. Most of the things we say are only approximations of reality. For example, much of what our teachers tell us in school will not be “true” a generation from now, and we accept that without concern. Another example is that we say we will be somewhere and a given time, but five, or even ten minutes before or after is usually acceptable and even expected. (When my wife tells me that she is going shopping and will be back in an hour, I understand that to mean she does not expect to be gone all day.) For the most part we consider these near-truths as perfectly acceptable. In our cultural context, the notion that there is a God who “canst not lie” requires that we deal with him differently than with any human being we know. That, in turn, requires us to approach God with an entirely different mind-set than the one we are accustomed to. That, in turn, requires that we must know our Selves with honest clarity.

Another intriguing question is, Why did the Lord say, “And never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed in me as thou hast.”

To discover the answer, we must limit our search of examples to events that preceded the time of the Brother of Jared, but we can also look to events after that to discover patterns and principles.

Because we do not know a date for the brother of Jared, the only prophets we can be sure lived earlier than he were those patriarchs who were before the flood. Of those, God conversed with Adam (Moses 6:22); “And the Lord ordained Noah after his own order (Moses 8:19).” And in the Pearl of Great Price, Moses chapters 5 & 6 describe an extended conversation between God and Enoch, during which:

27 And Enoch beheld angels descending out of heaven, bearing testimony of the Father and Son; and the Holy Ghost fell on many, and they were caught up by the powers of heaven into Zion.
28 And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept; and Enoch bore record of it, saying: How is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains?
29 And Enoch said unto the Lord: How is it that thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity? (Moses 7:27-29)

All we have to find is one instance of a prophet who saw God before the time of the brother of Jared to cause us to wonder why the Lord said, “And never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed in me as thou hast.”

There is one very likely answer which would make the Lord’s statement a simple truth, and teach us a great deal about his relationship with the brother of Jared.

Most of the examples we have of prophets seeing the Lord are in conjunction with their sode experiences. In those cases the prophets are brought into God’s presence as in 1 Nephi 1:8-14 and Isaiah 6:1-13 (2 Nephi 16 is a better version). In all of those instances the prophet is brought to where God is. Or, as in Joseph’s First Vision, God chooses to come to where the prophet is. But there is no other place is the scriptures where a prophet summons God to come to him, which is what the brother of Jared did. That is unique! And would certainly account for the Lord’s saying “for never has man believed in me as thou hast.”

The questions and answers I have pointed out are the obvious ones. They are only subsets to the real questions: What was the personal relationship between the premortal Jehovah and the now-mortal brother of Jared? That in turn asks, What was their premortal friendship/covenant relationship (hesed), and how/why did it remain intact after the brother of Jared entered the mortal world? And that opens a whole bouquet of other questions!
——————-
FOOTNOTE

{1} (Hugh Nibley, An Approach to the Book of Mormon, 3rd ed. [Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1988], 348.)

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>