LeGrand L. Baker

Author: LeGrand Baker

  • Mormon 3:14-20, Mormon 4:5 – LeGrand Baker — Vengeance is the Lord’s

    Mormon 3:14-20, Mormon 4:5

    14 And when they had sworn by all that had been forbidden them by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that they would go up unto their enemies to battle, and avenge themselves of the blood of their brethren, behold the voice of the Lord came unto me, saying:
    15 Vengeance is mine, and I will repay; and because this people repented not after I had delivered them, behold, they shall be cut off from the face of the earth.
    ……………………….
    20 And these things doth the Spirit manifest unto me; therefore I write unto you all. And for this cause I write unto you, that ye may know that ye must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, yea, every soul who belongs to the whole human family of Adam; and ye must stand to be judged of your works, whether they be good or evil;

    Mormon 4:5

    5 But, behold, the judgments of God will overtake the wicked; and it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished;

    These scriptures expresses an underlying principle that surfaces frequently in the scriptures. The principle is difficult to understand because it seems to be completely contrary to human nature. For example, a few years ago a candidate for the Vice Presidency of the United States thought she was showing her fearlessness, but was actually unveiling the essence of her personality when she said, “I don’t get mad, I get even.” A similar idea whose source I do not remember is, “Revenge tastes best when it is served cold.”

    Both of those ideas expose a lingering canker that corrodes the finer qualities of the human soul. The danger of seeking revenge is that it is fed by a festering anger that either sits and molders in one’s consciousness, or else actively dominates all or part of one’s Self. It cripples one’s ability to get on with the business of discovering and perfecting one’s Eternal Self.

    While Mormon applied this principle of not seeking revenge to a culture-wide situation, the Savior and the prophets have made it very personal.

    Paul tried to teach this principle by urging his audience to just let things go and not become vindictive. But even that teaching has a barb. He wrote:

    30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
    31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:30-31).

    The barb is that people can “leave judgement to God” but still be spiteful and wish God would just get on with exacting his revenge. Besides the assertion that the rights of vengeance belong only to the Lord, the other thing those passages have in common is the notion that God will exercise that prerogative and do dreadful things to the wicked. If read that way, our desire to get even is transferred to God because he has more power to do damage than we people have.

    Some people relish the satisfaction of watching that “fearful thing” and of seeing the bad guy wither under its oppression. There is self-destruction in that relish. Our desire for vendetta only increases when God does not administer his vengeance quickly enough to satisfy our pleasure.

    There are a number of Old Testament scriptures that support Paul’s statement “for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”

    35 To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste (Deuteronomy 32:35).

    1 O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.
    2 Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.
    3 Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? (Psalms 94:1-3).

    3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
    4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence (Isaiah 35:3-4).

    6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
    7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad (Jeremiah 51:6-7).

    The prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah were true enough. Nineveh and Babylon eventually became wasted deserts, but the prophecies were not fulfilled right away, and certainly not as quickly as their enemies hoped.

    It is important to note that not all the scriptures that speak of God’s judgment revel in the desire for vengeance. In another letter Paul wrote:

    19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
    20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
    21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:19-21).

    Alma taught the same principle:

    14 Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again (Alma 41:14).

    In Alma’s words, it is very easy to see “merciful” and “mercy” as hesed or a version of it. As in Psalm 18:

    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).

    A key to understanding how self-destructive the desire to do vengeance is, is the fact that only God has the right to do it, but even he does not exercise vengeance. Alma explained:

    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 inflicteth 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 (Alma 42:22-24).

    In the final analysis, the eternal principle is this: God does not, never has, and never will punish any of his children. He taught that the reason the prophets speak in harsh terms is so “that it might work upon the hearts of the children of men (D&C 19:7)” and encourage them to repent.

    Mormon explained that there are real this-world consequences to wickedness, but those consequences are not imposed by God. He wrote:

    5 But, behold, the judgments of God will overtake the wicked; and it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished ( Mormon 4:5).

    In my trying to sort out what all this means, this is what I have concluded: All people are placed on this earth to exercise their agency and thereby expose their true nature. God does not inflict punishment, and we must not seek revenge. An ancient truth is:

    17 The merciful [hesed] man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh (Proverbs 11:17).

    In the Savior’s teachings, peace and being a peacemaker are the grand prizes for righteousness. Peace is the power to transcend both sorrow and hurt. Peace and the need for revenge are mutually exclusive. Vendetta precludes peace. Therefore, we are advised to leave the judgements to God and get on with doing what we have covenanted to do. God has promised us that he will enable us to keep our eternal covenants so we need not interfere with his ability to do that.

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    FOOTNOTE

    {1}     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).

    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. {A} 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. {B}

    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. {C}

    ————————————
    Footnotes within the footnote

    {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.

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  • Mormon 8:12-22 & Title page — LeGrand Baker — ‘the mistakes of men’

    Mormon 8:12-22

    17 And if there be faults they be the faults of a man. But behold, we know no fault; nevertheless God knoweth all things; therefore, he that condemneth, let him be aware lest he shall be in danger of hell fire (Mormon 8:17).

    The title page of the Book of Mormon contains that same warning to those who would read the book with a prejudice or jaundice eye.

    And now, if there be 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.

    The question we might ask is “The mistakes of which men – the writers or the readers?” Moroni’s answer is “the readers!” But most of us read it as Moroni humbly admitting that there may be mistakes in his book. I readily admit it can be read that way. But if we do way we essentially say that we choose to make your own learning and wisdom the criteria for judging the “mistakes” made by the ancient prophets. Doing that is very convenient because if we find something we don’t understand or don’t agree with, we can just pass it off as the author’s mistake.

    I think it is important to try to discover how Moroni intended those passages to be understood.

    The warning on the title page was originally on the last page of the gold plates, so it may have been the very last thing Moroni wrote before placing the plates in the stone box where Joseph found them. Joseph explained:

    I wish to mention here, that the of the Book of is a literal translation, taken from the very last leaf, on the left hand side of the collection or book of plates, which contained the record which has been translated, the language of the whole running the same as all Hebrew writing in general; and that said is not by any means a modern composition, either of mine or of any other man who has lived or does live in this generation. Therefore, in order to correct an error which generally exists concerning it, I give belowfn that part of the of the English version of the Book of , which is a genuine and literal translation of the of the original Book of , as recorded on the plates. {1}

    Moroni writes, “…if there be faults” — he does not say “mistakes,” he says “faults” — then defines those faults as “the mistakes of men.” He then warns: “wherefore, condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-seat of Christ.”

    There is no place where Moroni suggests there are mistakes in the doctrines taught in the Book of Mormon. Earlier he had expressed his concern about “imperfections” in the written words. That is not the same thing as “faults.” It is unfortunate – unfortunate but very true – that the meaning of written words are the private property of the reader. When the words are written and released, the author loses all control over what the reader may find there. Moroni recognized that limitation when he wrote:

    12 And whoso receiveth this record, and shall not condemn it because of the imperfections which are in it, the same shall know of greater things than these. Behold, I am Moroni; and were it possible, I would make all things known unto you.
    …………………..
    17 And if there be faults they be the faults of a man. But behold, we know no fault; nevertheless God knoweth all things; therefore, he that condemneth, let him be aware lest he shall be in danger of hell fire.
    18 And he that saith: Show unto me, or ye shall be smitten—let him beware lest he commandeth that which is forbidden of the Lord.
    19 For behold, the same that judgeth rashly shall be judged rashly again; for according to his works shall his wages be; therefore, he that smiteth shall be smitten again, of the Lord.
    20 Behold what the scripture says—man shall not smite, neither shall he judge; for judgment is mine, saith the Lord, and vengeance is mine also, and I will repay.
    21 And he that shall breathe out wrath and strifes against the work of the Lord, and against the covenant people of the Lord who are the house of Israel, and shall say: We will destroy the work of the Lord, and the Lord will not remember his covenant which he hath made unto the house of Israel—the same is in danger to be hewn down and cast into the fire;
    22 For the eternal purposes of the Lord shall roll on, until all his promises shall be fulfilled.

    Moroni’s fears have been justified many times over. In the years since the Book of Mormon was published the “mistakes of men” have found many supposed faults in the Book of Mormon. From its onset, people have criticized the book because scholars did not have enough information to validate what it said. For example, everyone knew that cement was invented by the Romans, so the Book of Mormon’s claim that the Nephites had cement was an obvious fault. Then archaeologists discovered that the pre-Columbian Americans made a higher quality cement than the Romans ever did. There have been many such “mistakes” made in the ignorance of “learned” men, until scientists, archaeologists, and linguists have dispelled the ignorance.

    Nibley wrote a book, Sounding Brass and Tinkling Symbols, in which he showed that there are relatively few arguments against Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. He says that when ill-informed anti-Mormon pamphleteers can’t find new ones, they just dig up and re-word some of the old worn-out arguments that others have been using for many years.

    I suppose the greatest danger is not from those outside of the church who speak from ignorance. Rather, that Moroni’s intended audience is those within the church who choose to pit their education, or lack thereof, against the contents of the Book of Mormon. My best personal example is the BYU student who announced to me one day that he knew the Book of Mormon was not trustworthy because Mormon was not a credible historian. I asked how he thought he knew that. He told me that he was taking a historiography class in which he learned that good history presents both sides of a story in a balanced manner. The student said that Mormon does not present the Lamanite point of view, therefore he is not a credible historian. Having made his point, the boy walked off down the hall gloating as if he had scored a sound point.

    Had he stayed to listen, my response would have been “Hogwash.” Great historians are those who are intelligent enough, and are self secured enough, to not try to hide their intentions, but to take a stand and defend what they believe. Dishonest historians pretend to present a balanced argument, but do it in such a way that they try to lead the minds of gullible readers to come to the same conclusion that the historian pretends not have reached. (We see this kind of approach all the time when we watch “unbiased” TV news broadcasts.)

    Because of the twisted idea about historical honesty the boy learned in a history class, he thought his education had led him to expose a great “fault” in the Book of Mormon. The tragedy for the boy is that the “fault” was his own mistake. Had he been as wise as he thought he was intelligent he would have seen that his argument was in fact Mormon’s vindication.

    When we pit our own learning against the scriptures we are at a self-imposed disadvantage because in our own minds our reasoning or learning will win every time. They will not win because the scriptures are inferior to our intellect, but because our attitude presupposes the superiority of our own reasoning. With that presupposition, scriptural truths don’t have a chance, and our education cripples our ability to learn. Jacob lamented that situation in his own day:

    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.
    29 But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God (2 Nephi 9:28-29).

    One of the surest ways to “discover” the faults in the scriptures is to read the text without reading the words. That is, to read the scriptures like we would read a novel, getting the gist of the stories without paying close attention to such mundane things as the precise meaning of words (especially the code words), verb tense, and the way conjunctions create relationships between ideas, what the words actually say.

    In contrast, the surest way to discover what the authors are trying to teach is to actually read the words. That takes thought, and can be difficult because often the first step in learning a new idea is the willingness to unlearn an old one. But even doing that, does not guarantee that we will hear what the author has to say.

    No matter how precisely an author writes, the reader will almost always understand the words according to the prior understanding and attitude the reader brings to the text. Because written words can be understood differently by different readers, the author simply has no power to control what the reader thinks the author wrote. This is even more true with inspired writings where the author is dependent on the reader’s ability to be taught by the Holy Ghost. Moroni was keenly aware of this problem when he wrote:

    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;
    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.
    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.
    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 (Ether 12:23-28).

    The Lord lifted from Moroni the burden of the responsibility of what his readers would understand, because that burden remains squarely on the shoulders of the readers.

    Notwithstanding what I have just written, I am aware that there have been many editorial changes in the book since it was first published. The most numerous are punctuation changes to make it easier for us to read. But neither Mormon nor Moroni had anything to do with the need to make those changes. There was no punctuation in the manuscript Oliver Cowdery took to the printer. The printer added them. Punctuation marks are editorial comments, just as are the chapter breaks and headings and the breaks between verses —sometimes in mid-sentence. Another frequent change was the shortening of very long sentences whose ideas were tied together into a continuum by the conjunction “that.” Modern editors have shortened some sentences by replacing “that” with a semicolon, a comma, or a period. My favorite way to read the Book of Mormon is to download the text of the first edition, use a search and replace to take out all the punctuation, and read it with the long sentences. It is remarkable how smoothly the ideas flow together.

    I am quite sure that Moroni’s concern was not grammatical changes. Moroni’s warning expresses concern for the reader who innocently does not understand, just as it does for the reader who chooses to not understand. The difference is that the former faithfully waits for understanding, while the latter goes away thinking how very clever he is.
    ————————-
    FOOTNOTE

    {1} Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, selected and arranged by Joseph Fielding Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1976), 7.

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  • Mormon 1:1-4 — Who was Mormon? — LeGrand Baker

    Mormon 1:1-4 —  Who was Mormon?

    2 And about the time that Ammaron hid up the records unto the Lord, he came unto me, (I being about ten years of age, and I began to be learned somewhat after the manner of the learning of my people) and Ammaron said unto me: I perceive that thou art a sober child, and art quick to observe; [and then he placed the Nephite royal archives in the custody this little boy.] (Mormon 1:1-4).

    The question is: Who was this ten year old boy, and by what right could he claim possession of this priceless collection of the political and religious archives, and of the most sacred royal and priesthood regalia of the entire Nephite civilization?

    The first time Mormon identifies himself to us he writes, “I am Mormon, and a pure descendant of Lehi (3 Nephi 5:20).” Later, he tells us, “And I, Mormon, being a descendant of Nephi, (Mormon 1:5).”

    Nephi was the first king and founder of the royal Nephite dynasty.

    When Mormon’s son Moroni first identifies himself to us, he also defines himself by his relationship to the origin of the Nephite royal family. He writes: “Behold, I am Moroni; … I am the son of Mormon , and my father was a descendant of Nephi (Mormon 8:12-13).

    Mormon also tells us he is the heir to the royal line when he briefly gives us the history of the records he abridged.

    10 Wherefore, it came to pass that after Amaleki [the head of the house of Jacob] had delivered up these plates [small plates of Nephi] into the hands of king Benjamin, he took them and put them with the other plates, which contained records which had been handed down by the kings, from generation to generation until the days of king Benjamin.
    11 And they were handed down from king Benjamin, from generation to generation until they have fallen into my hands (Words of Mormon:10-11).

    It seems quite clear that both Mormon and Moroni are telling us that they are the hereditary Nephite kings, even though that title had not been used for many generations.

    If that is the way they choose to identify themselves, then we have the right to ask, “Does the Book of Mormon trace its kingship and priesthood authority in one family from Lehi to Moroni?” The answer is “Yes.” However, there seems to be three breaks in the family line with Mosiah I, Alma I, and even Mormon himself. Each of those has to be understood in its own context to see family continuity.

    The Lord promised Nephi that he would be a ruler and teacher (king and priest) over his people, and in writing his sacred memories on the small plates, Nephi carefully documents the origin of the new dynasty he founded. (I have discussed that in “1 Nephi 2:19-22 – Origin of Nephi’s Dynasty” in the “scriptures” section of this website.)

    Even though we have no record of the kings between the time of Nephi and Mosiah I, we can know that Mosiah I was a legitimate heir to the throne—probably a younger brother of the reigning monarch—because he had access to, and apparently absconded with, the royal genealogies on the brass plates and large plates of Nephi; and the royal regalia including the sword of Laban and the Liahona (Omni 1:11, Mosiah 1:16, Alma 37:38). These were the official symbols of kingship and priesthood, and would be passed down through the ruling family for the full thousand years of Nephite history.

    When Mosiah I left the land of Nephi, he was accompanied by the head of the House of Jacob who carried with him the family genealogy contained on the small plates of Nephi, and perhaps also other regalia and temple implements of the legitimate Nephite priesthood authority. The official Jacob line ended in Zarahemla when “Amaleki, the son of Abinadom” inherited the family records, but had no children, and his brother had gone with Zeniff to reclaim the land of Nephi. Because there was no legal heir of Jacob who could inherit the that family’s sacred genealogy and historical record, Amaleki gave the small plates to King Benjamin (Omni 1:25;Mosiah 7:9, 9:1).

    So now the archives of the king, who was both the political and spiritual leader of his people, contained not only the large plates of Nephi, and the brass plates, but the sacred writings of Nephi as well.

    The first apparent break in the Nephite royal family genealogy was the ascension of Mosiah I, but that one is easily dealt with because he has the royal records and is acknowledge as king, so that was really no break at all.

    The next apparent break in the royal succession is between Mosiah II and Alma I. King Mosiah gave Alma all of the royal histories, genealogies, and regalia of the Nephite kings. As is apparent from what we know of the Nephite culture, the king’s surrendering the implements of kingship and priesthood to one who was not a legal heir would have been absolutely out of the question. So now our challenge is to bridge the royal gap between Mosiah II and Alma I.

    To establish Alma’s lineage we must first address the question of Zeniff’s right to lead the Nephite colony back to reclaim the land Nephi.

    There is evidence that Zeniff was a younger son of Mosiah I and King Benjamin’s younger brother. The evidence is first circumstantial, then circular, but it is probably valid, nonetheless.

    The circumstantial evidence is, first of all, that Mosiah would never send a commoner to reclaim and then to reign in the land of Nephi. When they got to the land of Nephi, Zeniff was acknowledged as king. He was accompanied by a younger heir to the house of Jacob, and they rebuilt and used the temple. Either Zeniff was a usurper of the first order or he was a legitimate heir to the kingship. And Mormon never suggests a problem with his legitimacy.

    There is a roughly contemporary and similar situation in the Old Testament. When Cyrus sent Jews back to reclaim the land of Jerusalem he sent a prince named Zerubbabel to lead the colony and rebuild the temple (1 Chronicles 3:15-19, Ezra 5:1-2). That is the way it was done. If Zeniff were not a legitimate heir to the throne, he could not go to the land of Nephi and claim to be its rightful king.

    The other evidence that Zeniff was a prince is that he had a royal education. The quality of one’s education has always (except to a lesser degree in our own time) been sure evidence of political, economic and religious rank. The Nephite culture was no different from that.

    When Mormon introduces us to King Benjamin, he tells us that the king had three sons, “And he caused that they should be taught in all the language of his fathers, that thereby they might become men of understanding; and that they might know concerning the prophecies which had been spoken by the mouths of their fathers, which were delivered them by the hand of the Lord (Mosiah 1:1-2).” The “language of his fathers” would have included at least Hebrew and Egyptian, otherwise his sons could not have read the brass plates or the small plates of Nephi. Princes must know how, not just to read but also to understand, the secrets of the state and the mysteries that only kings had a right to know. Therefore, the princely education was always the dominion and the evidence of royalty.

    When Zeniff begins his short autobiography, the very first thing he says is that he has a royal education. “I, Zeniff, having been taught in all the language of the Nephites, and having had a knowledge of the land of Nephi, or of the land of our fathers’ first inheritance…. (Mosiah 9:1)” So the second circumstantial evidence is that Alma’s grandfather had a royal education (OK, so that bit about their relationship was a leap of logic that needs to be dealt with. Just hang on and we’ll get there.)

    The circular evidence that Zeniff was a prince is based on that logical leap, but it is still the strongest evidence of all: Mosiah II could not have given the rule of the Nephite nation to just anyone. Mosiah could never have acknowledged Alma as a legitimate claimant to the Nephite throne if Alma’s grandfather had not also been a legitimate heir to the kingdom.

    Now our next problem is to establish that Alma was, in fact, a young Nephite prince. The first evidence is that Mormon tells us so. When Mormon introduces us to Alma, he describes Alma’s heritage with the same words as he describes his own. He writes, “But there was one among them whose name was Alma, he also being a descendant of Nephi. And he was a young man, and he believed the words which Abinadi had spoken (Mosiah 17:2).”

    In a footnote in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, Stephen and I examined the evidence that Alma was a prince — a younger brother of King Noah.

    There are several indications that Alma was a young prince. Evidence of his age is found when his son Alma II spoke to the people of Zarahemla, saying:

    5 And behold, after that, they were brought into bondage by the hands of the Lamanites in the wilderness; yea, I say unto you, they were in captivity, and again the Lord did deliver them out of bondage by the power of his word; and we were brought into this land, and here we began to establish the church of God throughout this land also (Alma 5:5).

    So “they” were brought into bondage, and “we” came out. When Luke wrote “we” and “they” in Acts, it is taken as a key to knowing when he was and was not with Paul’s party. If that same principle can be applied here, it says that when they were brought into bondage Alma II was not with them, but he was when they came out—indicating that he had been born while they were there.

    It was customary that a boy be married by the age of 18 to 20, but if one were not a “young man,” he could not sit in the councils of the Israelites, until he was 32, married, and had a child. If Alma II were his father’s oldest child, or at least his oldest son, and born when his father was in his early twenties, then Alma I may have been only in his late teens when he heard Abinadi. That was too young to sit in the king’s Council unless one was a prince.

    Another indication of Alma’s high rank (and probably of his popularity among the people) is that Noah did not arrest him, as he would have done a commoner, but rather sent someone to assassinate him.

    Probably the strongest evidence is that after he got to Zarahemla and the king’s sons refused to accept the throne, Alma was next in line for the throne. That could only be true if Zeniff, the king of the Nephites in the land of Nephi, were also a Nephite prince, and if Alma were his son and Noah’s younger brother, and, therefore, a legal heir to both Nephite thrones. {1}

    After Alma and his people came to Zarahemla and he was made Chief Judge he did not have the title of king, but he did have all of the authority of the royal office, including his status as High Priest of the Church.

    In pre-exilic Israel the king was both head of government and the head of the state religion. That is evident by the facts that Solomon dedicated the Temple and offered sacrifices. Later the temple appears to have been the “royal chapel” during the reign of Isaiah’s friend King Hezekiah. We see the same relationship of church and state in the reign of King Benjamin who presided at the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles.

    Alma’s innovation was that he organized the religion into a more structured “church.” We know they worshiped the Savior, but we know almost nothing about how the church organization worked except that it served to keep Alma and his friends together even when they were under bondage in the wilderness. The church had priests and teachers to whom Alma had given authority. They performed baptisms, and held meetings. We also know they lived the Law of Moses. (However, we do not know what they meant by “the Law of Moses.” The version of the Law that we have in our Bible was severely edited by post-exilic Jews who changed the Law to fit their new circumstances as part of the Persian empire.)

    King Mosiah acknowledged the value of Alma’s church organization and gave him royal authority to continue it after he came to Zarahemla. So latter, when Alma was Chief Judge, he, like the kings before him, had all the powers of both the kingship and the High Priesthood.

    Alma II again divided the royal authority between the political and ecclesiastical. Alma retained his High Priest responsibilities in the Church, and those powers were passed down through the heirs of his family until Nephi III. When the Savior came to the Nephites he established a new Church that no longer adhered to the Law of Moses, and he also established a political theocracy. He made Nephi III head of both church and state. That authority remained intact and with the family for four generations until the time of Ammaron who gave all of the archives and regalia to the boy Mormon. Now we are confronted with our original question: How did Mormon fit into the ruling family and by what right did Ammaron turn the entire royal archives over to the keeping of a ten year old boy?

    Again, the evidence that Mormon was legitimate heir to the kingship and priesthood of the royal family is very firm even though the evidence we are given might be considered as only circumstantial.

    The history of the sacred records and regalia is the key to understanding who Mormon was. He tells us they had remained in the custody of Nephi’s heirs, from father to son for the full thousand years of Nephite history. Mormon tells us he is heir of the Nephite kings when he gives us the history of the royal archives and says, “they were handed down from king Benjamin, from generation to generation until they have fallen into my hands (Words of Mormon:10-11).”

    The details of their more recent history was that from Nephi III they were passed to his son Nephi, then to his son Amos. Amos died and put them in the custody of his brother Ammaron. By that time, the Nephite apostasy had become so widespread that the records were no longer safe where they had been kept. Then, as Mormon tells us,

    48 And it came to pass that when three hundred and twenty years had passed away, Ammaron, being constrained by the Holy Ghost, did hide up the records which were sacred—yea, even all the sacred records which had been handed down from generation to generation, which were sacred—even until the three hundred and twentieth year from the coming of Christ.
    49 And he did hide them up unto the Lord, that they might come again unto the remnant of the house of Jacob, according to the prophecies and the promises of the Lord. And thus is the end of the record of Ammaron (4 Nephi 1:48-49).

    The sacred records which Ammaron hid were the dynastic archives of Nephi’s royal family. But, if we can judge by the stories and quotes from original documents which are found in our Book of Mormon (like 1 Nephi, Alma’s journal, and the official history kept by Nephi III), we can know that Ammaron’s archives also included official state and church records as well. These records were preserved in a massive collection of metal plates that were eventually re-hidden by Mormon and preserved in secret cave.

    We know that because two months before his death in 1877, Brigham Young described the contents of that cave. He explained that he wanted Latter-day Saints to know and remember what had happened to the plates of the Book of Mormon. The following paragraph is the account of Joseph’s returning the plates to Moroni as Brigham Young reported that Oliver Cowdery told it to him:

    This is an incident in the life of Oliver Cowdery, but he did not take the liberty of telling such things in meeting as I take. I tell these things to you, and I have a motive for doing so. I want to carry them to the ears of my brethren and sisters, and to the children also, that they may grow to an understanding of some things that seem to be entirely hidden from the human family. Oliver Cowdery went with the Prophet Joseph when he deposited these plates. Joseph did not translate all of the plates; there was a portion of them sealed, which you can learn from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. When Joseph got the plates, the angel instructed him to carry them back to the hill Cumorah, which he did. Oliver says that when Joseph and Oliver went there, the hill opened, and they walked into a cave, in which there was a large and spacious room. He says he did not think, at the time, whether they had the light of the sun or artificial light; but that it was just as light as day. They laid the plates on a table; it was a large table that stood in the room. Under this table there was a pile of plates as much as two feet high, and there were altogether in this room more plates than probably many wagon loads; they were piled up in the corners and along the walls. The first time they went there the sword of Laban hung upon the wall; but when they went again it had been taken down and laid upon the table across the gold plates; it was unsheathed, and on it was written these words: “This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ.” I tell you this as coming not only from Oliver Cowdery, but others who were familiar with it, and who understood it…. {2}

    Now we return to Mormon’s story. We have learned that he has custody of that entire royal archives, but we still have not addressed the original question is: Who was this boy and by what right did Ammaron entrust the safety and preservation this priceless collection of the most sacred royal and religious archives and regalia of the entire Nephite civilization into the hands of a mere child? The answer is obvious—he was a prince— but now we need the evidence to substantiate that.

    At the beginning of his own autobiography he tells us:

    1 And now I, Mormon, make a record of the things which I have both seen and heard, and call it the Book of Mormon.
    2 And about the time that Ammaron hid up the records unto the Lord, he came unto me, (I being about ten years of age, and I began to be learned somewhat after the manner of the learning of my people) and Ammaron said unto me: I perceive that thou art a sober child, and art quick to observe;
    3 Therefore, when ye are about twenty and four years old I would that ye should remember the things that ye have observed concerning this people; and when ye are of that age go to the land Antum, unto a hill which shall be called Shim; and there have I deposited unto the Lord all the sacred engravings concerning this people.
    4 And behold, ye shall take the plates of Nephi unto yourself, and the remainder shall ye leave in the place where they are; and ye shall engrave on the plates of Nephi all the things that ye have observed concerning this people (Mormon 1:1-4).

    The hill Shim was the strategic location chosen by the Jaredites to fight their final battle. {3} It is likely that the Nephites recognized its military value and also had a fortification there and that Ammaron thought that would a safe place to keep the royal archives. Later on, Mormon moved the archives to a the cave in the hill Comorah where they still are. Mormon explained,

    22 And it came to pass that the Nephites did again flee from before them, taking all the inhabitants with them, both in towns and villages.
    23 And now I, Mormon, seeing that the Lamanites were about to overthrow the land, therefore I did go to the hill Shim, and did take up all the records which Ammaron had hid up unto the Lord (Mormon 4:22-23).

    Later, he tells us,

    6 And it came to pass that when we had gathered in all our people in one to the land of Cumorah, behold I, Mormon, began to be old; and knowing it to be the last struggle of my people, and having been commanded of the Lord that I should not suffer the records which had been handed down by our fathers, which were sacred, to fall into the hands of the Lamanites, (for the Lamanites would destroy them) therefore I made this record out of the plates of Nephi, and hid up in the hill Cumorah all the records which had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, save it were these few plates which I gave unto my son Moroni (Mormon 6:6).

    Even though Mormon does not use the word, we know from what he does tell us that he was a prince who, in his maturity, had all of the powers of the ancient kings.

    We know that he had a royal education and could read the Egyptian on small plates as well as the full range of the dialects of the evolution of the Nephite language from its original Hebrew to the Reformed Egyptian of his own time. Even in translation, we can detect that linguistic evolution by the changes in literary styles from Nephi to Alma, to 3 Nephi, and to Mormon in Moroni 7. In considering the extent of those changes, it is a useful comparison to see the thousand-year evolution in the English language from Chaucer to Shakespeare and the King James Bible, to Victorian literature, to modern television-standard American English. There is no reason to believe that the Nephite language did not change in just as dramatic a way, especially when one recognizes the infusion of not just Egyptian, but also Mulekite, Jaredite, and even Greek names interwoven into the Book of Mormon history. If there were non-Hebrew names then there must have also been non-Hebrew words in the language, perhaps much like modern English that is a conglomerate of Anglo-Saxon, Latin, French and German, and even African.

    So we know without being told that Mormon could read Hebrew and Egyptian as well as the variations and dialects that evolved in the language during the thousand years of Nephite history. He must have had a brilliant mind as well as an amazing education.

    The apparent break in the Book of Mormon’s genealogical record between Amos, Ammaron, and Mormon is probably accounted for in one of two ways: Either because Amos’s son, Mormon (young Mormon’s father) was away in the back country when Amos died so Amos placed the archives in his brother’s custody until Mormon could return. Or (and this may be the more likely), Amos had no sons so his brother inherited the royal prerogatives, and young Mormon was Ammaron’s grandson.

    We know almost nothing about Mormon’s father, or why Ammaron gave the royal archives into the boy’s custody, rather than into his father’s. Mormon tells us only this:

    5 And I, Mormon, being a descendant of Nephi, (and my father’s name was Mormon) I remembered the things which Ammaron commanded me.
    6 And it came to pass that I, being eleven years old, was carried by my father into the land southward, even to the land of Zarahemla (Mormon 1:5-6).

    After that, we are left to assume that his father either died of natural causes or was assassinated, because when war broke out five years later, Mormon’s father (who by his brithright should have commanded the Nephite armies) is not even mentioned.

    Young Mormon was about the same age as Joseph Smith when Joseph received the First Vision, when Mormon also received a similar calling from the Savior himself. However, he does not give us the details Joseph does; Mormon reports only:

    15 And I, being fifteen years of age and being somewhat of a sober mind, therefore I was visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus (Mormon 1:15).

    I think Mormon has just described his own sode experience. Even though we have no way of knowing how similar those two experience were, I am quite content in believing that those same words might also serve as an accurate, albeit very abbreviated, remembrance of Joseph’s First Vision.

    Mormon continues his narrative:

    1 And it came to pass in that same year there began to be a war again between the Nephites and the Lamanites. And notwithstanding I being young, was large in stature; therefore the people of Nephi appointed me that I should be their leader, or the leader of their armies.
    2 Therefore it came to pass that in my sixteenth year I did go forth at the head of an army of the Nephites, against the Lamanites; therefore three hundred and twenty and six years had passed away (Mormon 2:1-2).

    His language is very explicit. He does not say that at age sixteen he was given actual command of the armies. What he says is that he was appointed “their leader” and that he went “at the head of an army.” This sounds very much like the situations in medieval Europe when armies fought hand to hand. The young king or the heir-apparent went before the armies as the token commander (kind of like a mascot to encourage the army, but that’s probably not a very good word to describe his official capacity.)

    I read Mormon’s words to say that same thing, because, in contrast to that language, when he had grown older he reported he “had led them many times to battle (Mormon 3:12).” And then, for second time, he actually command of all of the Nephite armies. He wrote:

    1 And it came to pass that I did go forth among the Nephites, and did repent of the oath which I had made that I would no more assist them; and they gave me command again of their armies, for they looked upon me as though I could deliver them from their afflictions (Mormon 5:1).

    Mormon was also the prophet and head of the Christian Church. We know that by the introduction to his address recorded by his son in Moroni 7. He began by saying:

    2 And now I, Mormon, speak unto you, my beloved brethren; and it is by the grace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and his holy will, because of the gift of his calling unto me, that I am permitted to speak unto you at this time.
    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 (Moroni 7:2-3).

    Who was Mormon? He was by right of heritage the king and religious leader of the Nephite nation. And by right of his faithfulness to that heritage, he was prophet and president of the Church that the Savior established when he came to America.

    Mormon was a magnificent historian who wrote with dedication, clarity, and purpose, and who instilled both that purpose and dedication into his son Moroni.

    And he and his son are my heroes !

    ——————–

    FOOTNOTES

    {1} Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition, p. 692 footnote 741; second edition, p. 489-90 footnote 752.

    {2} Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 19:38-39.

    {3} Shim was the Jaredite name for the hill where their last battle was held as is shown in this passage from the book of Ether:

    3 And the Lord warned Omer in a dream that he should depart out of the land; wherefore Omer departed out of the land with his family, and traveled many days, and came over and passed by the hill of Shim, and came over by the place where the Nephites were destroyed, and from thence eastward, and came to a place which was called Ablom, by the seashore, and there he pitched his tent, and also his sons and his daughters, and all his household, save it were Jared and his family (Ether 9:3).

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  • 3 Nephi 27:28-31 & 3 Nephi 28:10-11 – LeGrand Baker – ‘The Fulness of Joy’

    3 Nephi 27:28-31 & 3 Nephi 28:10-11 

    28 And now I go unto the Father. And verily I say unto you, whatsoever things ye shall ask the Father in my name shall be given unto you.
    29 Therefore, ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for he that asketh, receiveth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened.
    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 27:28-31).

    ——————–

    10 And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one;
    11 And the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and the Father giveth the Holy Ghost unto the children of men, because of me (3 Nephi 28:10-11).

    ——————–

    18 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 (3 Nephi 17:18-21).

    ——————–

    The term “fulness of joy” expresses several facets of the same condition. The condition is a truth/light/love/joy continuum, just as our existence is a progression, beginning in our premortal world and continuing in this life until we finding fulfillment in the presence of God.

    In every stage the relationship expressed by the Hebrew word hesed (unfailing love based on a prior covenant) is an essential part of that joy. The continuum leads through fraternal love (Philadelphia, translated as “brotherly kindness”) and charity (in 2 Peter 1:7); to redemption (which in the Book of Mormon usually means to come into the presence of the Savior), to celestial glory which is being with both the Father and the Son, and also with all the other people we love.

    From these scriptures it is reasonable to conclude that the “fulness of joy” is a product of eternal, loving relationship with the Savior. However, the scriptural uses of that and similar phrases teaches us that there is more to it than that. And the “more” has to do with qualifying to be a participant in such a relationship. The Savior explained that qualification (singular) while teaching his Apostles:

    9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
    10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
    11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
    12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you (John 15:9-12).

    That, of course, is the major theme that runs through all of the scriptures, just as every commandment is a subset of that great commandment. Both the love and the joy spoken of here are gifts of the Holy Ghost (Moroni 8:25-26, Acts 13:52), and, like any other gift, must be cultivated until perfected. James calls it the “royal law,” but warns that even a selective prejudice erodes our ability to love. He wrote:

    8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
    9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors (James 2:8-9).

    As God is no respecter of persons, so we have no right to be. There is no legitimate place in the human soul that can house prejudice or intolerance. They, like a cancer, grow to discolor and distort one’s sense of Self because they cripple our ability to see the worth of the people around us. They cause us to divide God’s children into the categories of “us” and “others.” Thereby, they inhibit our ability to love and diminish our capacity to experience joy.

    While love and joy may be different at first, they grow in a near-parallel continuum until they meet and become only different expressions of the same thing.

    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).

    This principle is made graphic in the Savior’s intercessory prayer in John 17. The initial focus of the prayer is his desire to perpetuate the relationships he has with the Apostles, that thereby “they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.” (V. 13). The relationship is emphised by the words “my joy fulfilled in themselves.”Then he expands that prayer and concludes with:

    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.
    24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
    25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
    26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:20-26).

    The Savior’s prayer among the Nephites echoes the same promise:

    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 19:29).

    As do these words to Moses:

    39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man (Moses 1:39).

    The ancient psalms also testify that for man, the “fulness of joy” is being where God is.

    11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Psalms 16:11).

    As love and joy are the final product of eternal salvation, so also are they the products of the intermediate steps that bring us to exaltation. The scriptures frequently speak of the fulness of joy in the same contexts as they speak of brotherly love and charity. Once again, a proper analysis of these principles would require a book length discussion, so the best I can do here is to suggest some scriptures that provide the keys. I have broken the subject of the “fulness of joy” into the following parts and quoted some relevant scriptures under each heading. They are:

    1. Premortal love and joy
    2. Remission of sins
    3. Knowledge of Truth
    4. Family and Friends
    5. Redeem (to come into the presence of God)
    6. Endure to the end
    7. Resurrection
    8. The destiny of celestial persons
    9. Conclusion

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    PREMORTAL LOVE AND JOY

    5 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
    6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it (2 John 1:5-6).

    ——————–

    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 corner stone thereof;
    7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:1-7)

    ——————–

    1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
    2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
    3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
    4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full (1 John 1:1-7).

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    REMISSION OF SINS

    3 And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them (Mosiah 4:3).

    ——————–

    11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel (Mosiah 4:11).

    ——————–

    20 And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy (Mosiah 4:20).

    ——————–

    13 Now this was a great cause for lamentations among the people, while others were abasing themselves, succoring those who stood in need of their succor, such as imparting their substance to the poor and the needy, feeding the hungry, and suffering all manner of afflictions, for Christ’s sake, who should come according to the spirit of prophecy;
    14 Looking forward to that day, thus retaining a remission of their sins; being filled with great joy because of the resurrection of the dead, according to the will and power and deliverance of Jesus Christ from the bands of death (Alma 4:13-14).

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    KNOWLEDGE of TRUTH

    There are three components of joy. The first is love—relationships with the Gods, as well as with family and friends. The second is light—the pure light of Christ that fills the immensity of space and gives life to all things (D&C 88 & 93). The third is truth which is the source of both the light and the love. “It appears that love, light, and truth are equivalents—they come from God and are expressions of his glory…. Joy is the product of truth/light/love.” (Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition, p. 565; second edition, p. 802-3. The second edition is on this website.)

    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).

    ——————–

    12 And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit.
    13 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy;
    14 And then shall ye know, or by this shall you know, all things whatsoever you desire of me, which are pertaining unto things of righteousness, in faith believing in me that you shall receive (D&C 11:12-14).

    ——————–

    61 If thou shalt ask, thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal (D&C 42:61).

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    FAMILY and FRIENDS

    34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
    35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another (John 13:34-35).

    ——————–

    30 And even if they do unto you even as they have done unto me, blessed are ye, for you shall dwell with me in glory.
    31 But if they reject not my words, which shall be established by the testimony which shall be given, blessed are they, and then shall ye have joy in the fruit of your labors.
    32 Verily, verily, I say unto you, as I said unto my disciples, where two or three are gathered together in my name, as touching one thing, behold, there will I be in the midst of them—even so am I in the midst of you (D&C 6:30-32).

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    REDEEM (to come into the presence of God)

    See “A Meaning of ‘Redeem’— to ‘Come Unto Christ’,” in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition, p. 510-20; second edition, p. 725-39.

    51 Behold, I will liken these kingdoms unto a man having a field, and he sent forth his servants into the field to dig in the field.
    52 And he said unto the first: Go ye and labor in the field, and in the first hour I will come unto you, and ye shall behold the joy of my countenance.
    53 And he said unto the second: Go ye also into the field, and in the second hour I will visit you with the joy of my countenance.
    54 And also unto the third, saying: I will visit you;
    55 And unto the fourth, and so on unto the twelfth.
    56 And the lord of the field went unto the first in the first hour, and tarried with him all that hour, and he was made glad with the light of the countenance of his lord (D&C 88:51-56).

    ——————–

    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.
    11 And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.
    12 And Adam and Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters (Moses 5:10-12).

    ——————–

    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;
    68 And all the days of Zion, in the days of Enoch, were three hundred and sixty-five years.
    69 And Enoch and all his people walked with God, and he dwelt in the midst of Zion; and it came to pass that Zion was not, for God received it up into his own bosom; and from thence went forth the saying, ZION IS FLED (Moses 7:67-69).

    ——————–

    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—
    7 Therefore, what the queen desired of him was his only desire. Therefore, he went in to see the king according as the queen had desired him; and he saw the king, and he knew that he was not dead (Alma 19:6-7).

    ——————–

    51 Behold, I will liken these kingdoms unto a man having a field, and he sent forth his servants into the field to dig in the field.
    52 And he said unto the first: Go ye and labor in the field, and in the first hour I will come unto you, and ye shall behold the joy of my countenance.
    53 And he said unto the second: Go ye also into the field, and in the second hour I will visit you with the joy of my countenance.
    54 And also unto the third, saying: I will visit you;
    55 And unto the fourth, and so on unto the twelfth.
    56 And the lord of the field went unto the first in the first hour, and tarried with him all that hour, and he was made glad with the light of the countenance of his lord (D&C 88:51-56).

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    ENDURE TO THE END

    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 (Alma 38:2).

    ——————–

    36 Wherefore, fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full.
    37 Therefore, care not for the body, neither the life of the body; but care for the soul, and for the life of the soul.
    38 And seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life (D&C 101:36-38).

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    RESURRECTION
    The condition of the Celestial glory is truth/light/love/joy, and only those who are physically capable of enduring that glory will be able to be there. The Prophet Joseph explained:

    1 The heavens were opened upon us, and I beheld the celestial kingdom of God, and the glory thereof, whether in the body or out I cannot tell.
    2 I saw the transcendent beauty of the gate through which the heirs of that kingdom will enter, which was like unto circling flames of fire;
    3 Also the blazing throne of God, whereon was seated the Father and the Son (D&C 137:1-3).

    Therefore, a necessary prerequisite to the fulness of joy is to have a body that can be in the presence of that throne that is like “circling flames of fire.” If our resurrected bodies are not made of that same pure light, then in the presence of God we would sizzle.

    ——————–

    26 Wherefore, it [the earth] shall be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding it shall die, it shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is quickened, and the righteous shall inherit it.
    27 For notwithstanding they die, they also shall rise again, a spiritual body.
    28 They who are of a celestial spirit shall receive the same body which was a natural body; even ye shall receive your bodies, and your glory shall be that glory by which your bodies are quickened.
    29 Ye who are quickened by a portion of the celestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness (D&C 88:26-29).

    ——————–

    33 For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy;
    34 And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy (D&C 93:33-34).

    ——————–

    14 All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection, through the grace of God the Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
    15 I beheld that they were filled with joy and gladness, and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand.
    16 They were assembled awaiting the advent of the Son of God into the spirit world, to declare their redemption from the bands of death.
    17 Their sleeping dust was to be restored unto its perfect frame, bone to his bone, and the sinews and the flesh upon them, the spirit and the body to be united never again to be divided, that they might receive a fulness of joy.
    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 138:14-19).

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    DESTINY OF CELESTIAL PERSONS

    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).

    ——————–

    6 The angels do not reside on a planet like this earth;
    7 But they reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a sea of glass and fire, where all things for their glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord.
    8 The place where God resides is a great Urim and Thummim.
    9 This earth, in its sanctified and immortal state, will be made like unto crystal and will be a Urim and Thummim to the inhabitants who dwell thereon, whereby all things pertaining to an inferior kingdom, or all kingdoms of a lower order, will be manifest to those who dwell on it; and this earth will be Christ’s.
    10 Then the white stone mentioned in Revelation 2:17, will become a Urim and Thummim to each individual who receives one, whereby things pertaining to a higher order of kingdoms will be made known;
    11 And a white stone is given to each of those who come into the celestial kingdom, whereon is a new name written, which no man knoweth save he that receiveth it. The new name is the key word (D&C 130:6-11).

    If the white stone mentioned here teaches persons in the Celestial world about “a higher order of kingdoms” then it must follow that such kingdoms are not only within the understanding but also within the reach of persons with celestial bodies. That presupposes that if one has a resurrected body that is capable of withstanding unlimited glory, then the eternities promise an amazing adventure !

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    CONCLUSION

    If there is a conclusion that sums up the relationship of love and joy, then Lehi’s words to his sons are probably as comprehensive as we will find:

    24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.
    25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.
    26 And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given (2 Nephi 2:24-26).

    ——————–

    14 Awake! and arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling parent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveler can return; a few more days and I go the way of all the earth.
    15 But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love (2 Nephi 1:14-15).

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  • 3 Nephi 27:13-22 – ‘because my Father sent me’ – LeGrand Baker

    3 Nephi 27:13-22  

    These verses seem to explain five different principles, but they must be discussed as a single unit.

    I have placed them in sections numbered 1 through 5 to make it easier to see their relationships.

    (1) 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.

    (2) 14 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—
    15 And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.
    16 And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.
    17 And he that endureth not unto the end, the same is he that is also hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence they can no more return, because of the justice of the Father.

    (3) 18 And this is the word which he hath given unto the children of men. And for this cause he fulfilleth the words which he hath given, and he lieth not, but fulfilleth all his words.
    19 And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.

    (4) 20 Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.

    (5) 21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, 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;
    22 Therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

    We have just read what is probably the most succinct and comprehensive definitions of the gospel in the scriptures. The consummate gospel is simply this: “I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.” However, there are many subsets, and each one describe or define a facet of the whole. In the next verses the Savior explains those subsets and teaches us that they are absolutely necessary to our salvation.

    If we discussed just verse 13 even superficially, it would require a book length examination of what we know about the Savior’s premortal history from before the beginning, intelligence, Council in Heaven, war in heaven, creation, spirit world, as well as the powers and implications of his infinite and eternal Atonement.

    I think I am  supposed to be writing a commentary on what the Savior said, but I cannot be so presumptuous as to even suggest I could undertake such a task. It is like trying to polish a silver goblet that already shines to perfection. Anything I might do would only scratch it. Yet, the Savior’s statement insists we try to approach an understanding of what he is saying. After some consideration I have decided to approach it this way: Rather than muddle the explanation with my commentary, I wish to just quote scriptures in an order that will that will tell the story. I offer them as a celebration rather than as a commentary.

    ————————–

    (1) 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 (3 Nephi 27:13).

    ————————– – –

    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 (D&C 93:26)

    ————————– – –

    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)

    ————————– – –

    12 By the power of the Spirit our eyes were opened and our understandings were enlightened, so as to see and understand the things of God——
    13 Even 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 76:2-13).

    ————————– – –

    8 Wherefore, I will that all men shall repent, for all are under sin, except those which I have reserved unto myself, holy men that ye know not of.
    9 Wherefore, I say unto you that I have sent unto you mine everlasting covenant, even that which was from the beginning (D&C 49:8-9).

    ————————– – –

    47 And behold, Enoch saw the day of the coming of the Son of Man, even in the flesh; and his soul rejoiced, saying: The Righteous is lifted up, and the Lamb is slain from the foundation of the world; and through faith I am in the bosom of the Father, and behold, Zion is with me (Moses 7:47).

    ————————– – –

    21 And now, verily I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn (D&C 93:76:21).

    ————————– – –

    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.
    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 (3 Nephi 11:9-11).

    ————————– – –

    24 And 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;
    26 And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever (Abraham 3:24-26).

    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).

    ————————– – –

    16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

    ————————– – –

    (2) 14 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—
    15 And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.
    16 And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.
    17 And he that endureth not unto the end, the same is he that is also hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence they can no more return, because of the justice of the Father (3 Nephi 27:14-17).

    ————————– –

    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 (D&C 45:3-4).

    ————————– – –

    15 Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.
    16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
    17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;
    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 19:15-19).

    ————————– – –

    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).

    ————————– – –

    19 And there he preached to them [the dead in the spirit world] 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 138:19).

    ————————– – –

    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.

    [“The Vision” by the Prophet Joseph Smith. Times and Seasons, February 1, 1843. Compare D&C 76:22-41.]

    ————————– – –

    (3) 18 And this is the word which he hath given unto the children of men. And for this cause he fulfilleth the words which he hath given, and he lieth not, but fulfilleth all his words.

    19 And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.

    ————————-

    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).

    ————————– – –

    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).

    ————————– – –

    33 Wherefore, if they should die in their wickedness they must be cast off also, as to the things which are spiritual, which are pertaining to righteousness; wherefore, they must be brought to stand before God, to be judged of their works; and if their works have been filthiness they must needs be filthy; and if they be filthy it must needs be that they cannot dwell in the kingdom of God; if so, the kingdom of God must be filthy also.
    34 But behold, I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy, and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God; wherefore there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy.
    35 And there is a place prepared, yea, even that awful hell of which I have spoken, and the devil is the preparator of it; wherefore the final state of the souls of men is to dwell in the kingdom of God, or to be cast out because of that justice of which I have spoken.
    36 Wherefore, the wicked are rejected from the righteous, and also from that tree of life, whose fruit is most precious and most desirable above all other fruits; yea, and it is the greatest of all the gifts of God. And thus I spake unto my brethren. Amen (1 Nephi 15:33-36).

    ————————– – –

    27 For notwithstanding they [“the righteous”] die, they also shall rise again, a spiritual body.
    28 They who are of a celestial spirit shall receive the same body which was a natural body; even ye shall receive your bodies, and your glory shall be that glory by which your bodies are quickened.
    29 Ye who are quickened by a portion of the celestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
    30 And they who are quickened by a portion of the terrestrial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
    31 And also they who are quickened by a portion of the telestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
    32 And they who remain shall also be quickened; nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received (D&C 88:26-32).

    ————————– – –

    (4) 20 Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day (3 Nephi 27:20).

    ————————– – –

    40 And this is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us—
    41 That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness;
    42 That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him
    43 Who glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of his hands, except those sons of perdition who deny the Son after the Father has revealed him (D&C 76:40-43).

    ————————– – –

    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. 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 (3 Nephi 12:2).

    6 And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost (3 Nephi 12:6).

    ————————– – –

    50 But God hath made known unto our fathers that all men must repent.
    51 And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God; I made the world, and men before they were in the flesh.
    52 And he also said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you.
    53 And our father Adam spake unto the Lord, and said: Why is it that men must repent and be baptized in water? And the Lord said unto Adam: Behold I have forgiven thee thy transgression in the Garden of Eden.
    54 Hence came the saying abroad among the people, that the Son of God hath atoned for original guilt, wherein the sins of the parents cannot be answered upon the heads of the children, for they are whole from the foundation of the world.
    55 And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying: Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin, even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good.
    56 And it is given unto them to know good from evil; wherefore they are agents unto themselves, and I have given unto you another law and commandment.
    57 Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent, or they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence; for, in the language of Adam, Man of Holiness is his name, and the name of his Only Begotten is the Son of Man, even Jesus Christ, a righteous Judge, who shall come in the meridian of time.
    58 Therefore I give unto you a commandment, to teach these things freely unto your children, saying:
    59 That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory;
    60 For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified;
    61 Therefore it is given to abide in you; the record of heaven; the Comforter; the peaceable things of immortal glory; the truth of all things; that which quickeneth all things, which maketh alive all things; that which knoweth all things, and hath all power according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and judgment.
    62 And now, behold, I say unto you: This is the plan of salvation unto all men, through the blood of mine Only Begotten, who shall come in the meridian of time.
    63 And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me (Moses 6:50-63).

    ————————– – –

    18 Therefore, it [the earth] must needs be sanctified from all unrighteousness, that it may be prepared for the celestial glory;
    19 For after it [the earth] 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.
    21 And they who are not sanctified through the law which I have given unto you, even the law of Christ, must inherit another kingdom, even that of a terrestrial kingdom, or that of a telestial kingdom.
    22 For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory.
    23 And he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial glory.
    24 And he who cannot abide the law of a telestial kingdom cannot abide a telestial glory; therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of glory. Therefore he must abide a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory.
    25 And again, verily I say unto you, the earth abideth the law of a celestial kingdom, for it filleth the measure of its creation, and transgresseth not the law—
    26 Wherefore, it shall be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding it shall die, it shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is quickened, and the righteous shall inherit it (D&C 88:18-26).

    ————————– – –

    What we have read so far looks simple but is both profound and very complete:

    (1) this is the gospel: that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.

    (2) my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me

    (3) this is the word: no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom

    (4) this is the commandment: Repent, be baptized, be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless

    Now we are given a new definition of the gospel: “for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do. … Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.”
    As the first definition of the gospel is about the Savior’s mission: “I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me,” so the second definition is about our mission, it must also read: “I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.”

    (5) 21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, 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;
    22 Therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day (3 Nephi 27:21-22).

    27 And know ye that ye shall be judges of this people, according to the judgment which I shall give unto you, which shall be just. Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.
    28 And now I go unto the Father. And verily I say unto you, whatsoever things ye shall ask the Father in my name shall be given unto you.
    29 Therefore, ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for he that asketh, receiveth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened (3 Nephi 27:27-29).

    ————————– – –

    Even though these words were spoken directly to the Twelve, they still apply (at least to some degree) to all of us. If that is so, then the next question is: What other scriptures that describe premortal covenants might apply to each of us? There are many. The following is just a sampling.

    ————————– – –

    57 And for this cause, that men might be made partakers of the glories which were to be revealed, the Lord sent forth the fulness of his gospel, his everlasting covenant, reasoning in plainness and simplicity (D&C 133:57).

    ————————– – –

    28 I am the Lord thy God, and will give unto thee the law of my Holy Priesthood, as was ordained by me and my Father before the world was (D&C 132:28).

    ————————– – –

    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 13:7-9).

    ————————– – –

    9 Will I accept of an offering, saith the Lord, that is not made in my name?
    10 Or will I receive at your hands that which I have not appointed?
    11 And will I appoint unto you, saith the Lord, except it be by law, even as I and my Father ordained unto you, before the world was? (D&C 132:9-11)

    ————————– – –

    7 Whereof I [Paul] 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,
    11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
    12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him (Ephesians 3:7-12).

    ————————– – –

    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 (Alma 12:10).

    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).

    ————————– – –

    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.
    7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
    8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
    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.
    12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
    13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
    14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
    15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
    16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
    17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
    18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
    19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
    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.
    24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
    25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
    26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:1-26).

    ————————– – –

    28 Father, I thank thee that thou hast purified those whom I have chosen, because of their faith, and I pray for them, and also for them who shall believe on their words, that they may be purified in me, through faith on their words, even as they are purified in me.
    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.
    30 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 (3 Nephi 19:28-30).

    ————————– – –
    34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
    35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another (John 13:34-35).

    ————————– – –

    5 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
    6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it (2 John 1:5-6).

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    1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
    2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
    3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
    4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
    5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
    6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
    7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
    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 (2 Peter 1:1-10).

    ————————– – –

    50 And again we bear record——for we saw and heard, and this is the testimony of the gospel of Christ concerning them who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just——
    51 They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given——
    52 That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power;
    53 And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true.
    54 They are they who are the church of the Firstborn.
    55 They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things——
    56 They are they who are priests and kings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory;
    57 And are priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of Enoch, which was after the order of the Only Begotten Son.
    58 Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God——
    59 Wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
    60 And they shall overcome all things.
    61 Wherefore, let no man glory in man, but rather let him glory in God, who shall subdue all enemies under his feet.
    62 These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever.
    63 These are they whom he shall bring with him, when he shall come in the clouds of heaven to reign on the earth over his people.
    64 These are they who shall have part in the first resurrection.
    65 These are they who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just.
    66 These are they who are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly place, the holiest of all.
    67 These are they who have come to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of Enoch, and of the Firstborn.
    68 These are they whose names are written in heaven, where God and Christ are the judge of all.
    69 These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood.
    70 These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all, whose glory the sun of the firmament is written of as being typical (D&C 76:50-70).

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    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.
    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.
    [He lists several more by name and 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.
    56 Even before they were born, they, with many others, received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men.
    57 I beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God, among those who are in darkness and under the bondage of sin in the great world of the spirits of the dead. (D&C 138:36-39, 55-57).

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  • 3 Nephi 27:1-10 – LeGrand Baker – Covenant New Names must be validated by Ordinances

    3 Nephi 27:5-6
    5…ye must take upon you the name of Christ, which is my name? For by this name shall ye be called at the last day.
    6 And whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day.

    The context is the Savior’s explaining that the name of his church must be “the Church of Christ.” He asks:

    8 And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses’ name then it be Moses’ church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel.

    I think we sometimes read this passage with a shrug of the shoulders and a “Well, we aren’t called Lutherans or Baptists or some other name, so we are alright!” If that is our response, then we have missed the point entirely. The Savior is not just talking about a church’s corporate name, he is talking about a covenant name that is necessary to salvation. There is always a new name with each new covenant. So much so, that the words “name” and “covenant” can often be interchangeable in the scriptures without changing the meaning.

    A new name is a new covenantal identity. In our verses, it denotes one’s relationship with the Savior. King Benjamin, Alma, and the Savior all affirm the necessity of this covenant relationship.

    King Benjamin taught:

    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).

    Alma told his father:

    24 … I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; 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 (Mosiah 27:24-26).

    And, when the Savior showed himself 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).

    In Psalm 2, which was sung at the time of the king’s anointing during his coronation ceremony, he is given the new covenant name of “son,” and he quotes Jehovah as saying “this day have I begotten thee.” Thus the anointing of the king serves two purposes, one is the legal covenant of adoption, the other is giving him a new name as a part of his enthronement ceremony. He is now a “son” and therefore a legitimate heir of Jehovah.

    The relevant principle to us is that we are promised that if we are righteous we will inherit “all things.” The systems of heaven are perfectly just and therefore must be perfectly consistent — “legal” in every respect. (D&C 132:7-14) Nothing is “acceptable” except it is done by a covenant that is ratified by an appropriate ordinance.

    If we are to inherit “all things” we must be legally qualified to inherit — that is, we must be adopted sons and daughters of Christ just as the scriptures teach. That adoption can only be made acceptable by covenant and ordinance.

    All valid new covenants must also include a new name. We must take upon ourselves the name of Christ, just as, in our society, an adopted child takes the name of his adoptive parents. That new name is a new identity. A simple example of new identities that come with covenant names is when a man becomes a “bishop.” He now has a new name/title and a new identity. But that new name and identity is only valid at church. He is still “Richard” among his friends and his associates at work. Similarly, all sacred new names are only valid in relation to the covenant they represent. Some covenants are formal, some informal, but they are all necessary. “President” is the name/title of a Relief Society president, just as “Sister” and “Elder” are name/titles of missionaries.

    In those examples, accepting the call is the covenant, but that is meaningless without the appropriate ordination or setting apart blessing. In the New Testament, James said that very succinctly, “faith without works is dead.” In that passage “faith” is pistis, the Greek word for covenant or contract. “works” is a reference to the ordinances. That is, the covenants without the ordinances are dead.” Alma used James’s words the same way when he explained that the plan of redemption was “made known unto them according to their faith and repentance and their holy works (Alma 12:30).”

    Therefore the name, “Church of Jesus Christ,” is more than just a corporate identity. It is an acknowledgment that its members are adopted children and heirs of the Savior. In our case, that covenant of adoption is renewed each Sunday when we take the Sacrament. But there is more, as the Prophet Joseph testified:

    23 For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—
    24 That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.

    (The importance of new covenant names is discussed at length in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition, 495-517; second edition, 358-72.)

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  • 3 Nephi 26:17-21 – LeGrand Baker – How to create a Zion Society

    3 Nephi 26:17-21
    17 And it came to pass that the disciples whom Jesus had chosen began from that time forth to baptize and to teach as many as did come unto them; and as many as were baptized in the name of Jesus were filled with the Holy Ghost.
    18 And many of them saw and heard unspeakable things, which are not lawful to be written.
    19 And they taught, and did minister one to another; and they had all things common among them, every man dealing justly, one with another.
    20 And it came to pass that they did do all things even as Jesus had commanded them.
    21 And they who were baptized in the name of Jesus were called the church of Christ.

    In these short verses, Mormon has laid out the conditions that are the foundation of a Zion society, and summarizes its necessary components.

    1. “The disciples whom Jesus had chosen began from that time forth to baptize and to teach as many as did come unto them.” Moroni tells us the qualifications of those who were baptized:

    2 Neither did they receive any unto baptism save they came forth with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and witnessed unto the church that they truly repented of all their sins.
    3 And none were received unto baptism save they took upon them the name of Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end (Moroni 6:2-3).

    2. Their government was a theocracy. That is what the Savior established on the first day he came to the Nephites, and there is no reference to any other form of government until their apostasy. Then those who called themselves Lamanites had a king (Mormon 2:9), but there is no mention of any political leader among Nephites. Mormon was their religious leader, and he calls himself “a commander and a leader of this people” (Mormon 3:11), but that seems to be a military designation rather a political one.

    3. “They who were baptized in the name of Jesus were called the church of Christ.” We know very little about how that church operated or how it was organized, but Moroni suggests it worked very much like our own:

    5 And the church did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls.
    6 And they did meet together oft to partake of bread and wine, in remembrance of the Lord Jesus (Moroni 6:5-6).

    4. “As many as were baptized in the name of Jesus were filled with the Holy Ghost.” The phrase “filled with the Holy Ghost” has a powerful meaning in the Book of Mormon. In my discussion of the Beatitudes in 3 Nephi 12, I pointed out the steps between being “visited by the Holy Ghost” in verse 2 and being “filled” in verse 6. Two of those steps are making and keeping temple covenants.

    5. A Zion people follow the Brethren — “the disciples whom Jesus had chosen began from that time forth to baptize and to teach as many as did come unto them.”

    6. They also received individual revelation: “many of them saw and heard unspeakable things, which are not lawful to be written.”

    Not only did they see and hear wonder things through personal revelation, but their scriptures taught them things we do not know. Moroni reports that their scriptures included the full account of the revelations to the brother of Jared.

    1 And the Lord commanded the brother of Jared to go down out of the mount from the presence of the Lord, and write the things which he had seen; and they were forbidden to come unto the children of men until after that he should be lifted up upon the cross; and for this cause did king Mosiah keep them, that they should not come unto the world until after Christ should show himself unto his people.
    2 And after Christ truly had showed himself unto his people he commanded that they should be made manifest.
    3 And now, after that, they have all dwindled in unbelief; and there is none save it be the Lamanites, and they have rejected the gospel of Christ; therefore I am commanded that I should hide them up again in the earth (Ether 4:1-3).

    7. They were concerned about each other: “they taught, and did minister one to another.” That was, no doubt, expressed by personal friendships, but also by care that was organized by the Church. Moroni reports:

    4 And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ; and their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith (Moroni 6:4).

    8. They lived the Law of Consecration: “they had all things common among them.”

    9. They did all this of their own accord and seem to have been under no external or legal restraint, with “every man dealing justly, one with another.”

    10. “And it came to pass that they did do all things even as Jesus had commanded them.”

    This Nephite system survived intact for four generations. However, similar attempts by other believers did not last at all. An important question is, “Why did this one work while the others failed?”

    After the Savior’s resurrection, the New Testament church appears to have been like the one described in 3 Nephi. Luke reports:

    42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
    43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
    44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
    45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
    46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
    47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved (Acts 2:42-47).

    31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
    32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
    33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
    34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
    35 And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need (Acts 4:32-35).

    However, in the very next chapter, he also tells us that there were those who tried to cheat the system.

    1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
    2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
    3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
    4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
    5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things [Then his wife also lied and also died.] (Acts 5:1-11).

    This incident of cheating was probably not the only one. There are other examples of discontent among the members of the church. It is likely that the failure of the New Testament Zion society was caused from avarice and bickering within as well as pressure from outside the church.

    The same thing happened in Missouri when the LDS Church attempted to create a Zion society there. Greed on the part of some of the people, including some of the Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, destroyed the system from within.

    The same thing eventually caused the Nephite system to collapse. We are told at the beginning of 4 Nephi:

    3 And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift (4 Nephi 1:3).

    And then:

    24 And now, in this two hundred and first year there began to be among them those who were lifted up in pride, such as the wearing of costly apparel, and all manner of fine pearls, and of the fine things of the world.
    25 And from that time forth they did have their goods and their substance no more common among them.
    26 And they began to be divided into classes; and they began to build up churches unto themselves to get gain, and began to deny the true church of Christ (4 Nephi 1:24-26).

    It appears that the Law of Consecration — or rather the violation of it — is the Achilles heel of a Zion society. In the New Testament and in Missouri, a Zion community was attempted among people who were not Zion individuals. Some took advantage of the generosity of others. Covetousness blossomed and the system died from internal rot.

    “And thus we see” that a Zion society only survives when each individual is himself a “Zion.” Then the culture can prosper as an association of such individuals.

    Today, there is an untold number of persons in the Church who each live the Law of Consecration as individuals. But they do it quietly and privately. They give according to their ability and according to the needs of those who receive. All of the members of the Church are not that way, but many are, and others are becoming that kind of persons. So there is, within the world wide Church, a Zion community made up of people who may or may not be recognized as all that different from anyone else, but whose honesty and constancy sustain the Kingdom of God.

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  • 1 Nephi 22 — LeGrand Baker — Nephi’s Conclusion

    1 Nephi 22 —- Nephi’s Conclusion

    First 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 Lord
    shall 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 see
    Who 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.

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  • 1 Nephi 21: 12-26 & Isaiah 49 — LeGrand Baker — The Gathering of Israel

    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 20:12-17

    3. Apostasy preceding the Restoration, 1 Nephi 20:18 to 21:1a

    4. Those who will help the Prophet Joseph, 1 Nephi 21:1-6

    5. Joseph Smith restores the Temple services, 1 Nephi 21:7-11

    6. 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 hands

    That 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 away
    20. 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 mothers

    There 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.

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  • 1 Nephi 21:7-11 & Isaiah 49 — LeGrand Baker — Joseph Smith restores the Temple services

    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 20:12-17

    3. Apostasy preceding the Restoration, 1 Nephi 20:18 to 21:1a

    4. Those who will help the Prophet Joseph, 1 Nephi 21:1-6

    5. Joseph Smith restores the Temple services, 1 Nephi 21:7-11

    6. 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 rulers

    In 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 time

    An 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 servant

    In 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 darkness

    The 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.

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