Author: LeGrand Baker

Alma 12:34-37, LeGrand Baker, Alma’s invitation to enter into the rest of the Lord.

Alma 12:34-37
34 Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest.
35 And whosoever will harden his heart and will do iniquity, behold, I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest.
36 And now, my brethren, behold I say unto you, that if ye will harden your hearts ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord; therefore your iniquity provoketh him that he sendeth down his wrath upon you as in the first provocation, yea, according to his word in the last provocation as well as the first, to the everlasting destruction of your souls; therefore, according to his word, unto the last death, as well as the first.
37 And now, my brethren, seeing we know these things, and they are true, let us repent, and harden not our hearts, that we provoke not the Lord our God to pull down his wrath upon us in these his second commandments which he has given unto us; but let us enter into the rest of God, which is prepared according to his word.

Alma’s speech in chapter 12 reaches a powerful crescendo, which, in turn becomes a springboard to his discussion of the priesthood covenants in our premortal existence in chapter 13. But, for us, the crescendo often falls flat because his ideas are outside of our usual frame of reference. But, for his audience, his point was powerful and well aimed.

In verses 36-37 Alma called their attention to both the warning and the blessing promised in the 95th Psalm. The psalm reads,

1 O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. (Psalms 95:1-11)

Alma said the provocation would preclude their entering into the Lord’s rest. Many years before, Nephi’s brother Jacob had drawn a similar conclusion.

7 Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest, lest by any means he should swear in his wrath they should not enter in, as in the provocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the wilderness. (Jacob 1:7)

Paul understood the psalm’s message the same way.

7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)….
15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. (Hebrews 3:7-19)

Each used the ideas in the psalm to remind his audience of the time when the children of Israel were camped at Horeb, at the foot of Mt. Sinai, and though they had the opportunity, they refused to hear the voice of the Lord. The Lord stood on the mountain, concealed behind dark smoke (as a veil) and spoke to them, but they refused to hear him, or to regard his invitation.

This is the way Moses tells the story in Exodus:

3 And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;….
6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel…..
10 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,
11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai…..
16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
17 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.
18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
20 And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.

On the mountain, Moses received the Ten Commandments.

18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
22 And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. (Exodus 19 & 20)

Moses retold the story with a somewhat different emphases in Deuteronomy, which was his great last sermon to his people.

10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.
12 And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. (Deuteronomy 4:10-12)

4 The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,
5 (I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to shew you the work of the Lord: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,
6 I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. (Deuteronomy 5:4-6)

8 Also in Horeb ye provoked the Lord to wrath, so that the Lord was angry with you to have destroyed you.
9 When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water:
10 And the Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the Lord spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. (Deuteronomy 9:8-10)

The provocation was that the Lord had invited them to hear his own voice, and they refused. In the above accounts, there are four verses that tell the whole story:

18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. (Exodus 19 & 20)

4 The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,
5 (I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to shew you the work of the Lord: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) (Deuteronomy 5:4-6)

While Moses was on Sinai the people built and worshiped the golden calf, and their incontinence also provoked the Lord. But the provocation Alma was talking about was their refusal th accept the opportunity to speak to, and learn from the Lord.

The 78th Psalm says it most succinctly:

40 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness,
and grieve him in the desert!
41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God,
and limited the Holy One of Israel. (Psalms 78:40-41)

It was the limitation they placed on God that disabled his ability to bless them. Paul, Jacob, and Alma all used that story to urge the people to not hobble God’s ability to be kind.

The 95th Psalm had urged,

8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation,
and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness….
11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath
that they should not enter into my rest (Psalm 95:8, 11).

Paul quoted the psalm, “ So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest,” then he asked, “And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?” (Hebrews 3:7-19)

Jacob recorded, “

7  Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest, lest by any means he should swear in his wrath they should not enter in, (Jacob 1:7)

Alma warned,

34 Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest.
35 And whosoever will harden his heart and will do iniquity, behold, I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest.
36 … if ye will harden your hearts ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord;…
37 …but let us enter into the rest of God, which is prepared according to his word. (Alma 12:34-37)

Alma spoke of two “provocations.” The first was the time the people refused to hear the Lord at Sinai.

36 … if ye will harden your hearts ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord; therefore your iniquity provoketh him that he sendeth down his wrath upon you as in the first provocation,

The second would be the last provocation, on judgement day, when the wicked will turn away again because they cannot endure the glory of the Lord.

36 … yea, according to his word in the last provocation as well as the first, to the everlasting destruction of your souls; therefore, according to his word, unto the last death, as well as the first.

In the last verse of the chapter, Alma returned to his earlier statement that to harden one’s heart is to refuse to know the mysteries. Thus he wrapped this part of his discourse into a single package, with the “second commandments” he mentions apparently representing their present opportunity to enjoy the ordinances and covenants that will bring one into the presence of God, for he says,

37 And now, my brethren, seeing we know these things, and they are true, let us repent, and harden not our hearts, that we provoke not the Lord our God to pull down his wrath upon us in these his second commandments which he has given unto us; but let us enter into the rest of God, which is prepared according to his word. (Alma 12:34-37)

Alma 12:31 — LeGrand Baker — Atonement in linear time

Alma 12:31
31 Wherefore, he gave commandments unto men, they having first transgressed the first commandments as to things which were temporal [“temporal” is time related, so he is talking about the commandments associated with linear time.] and becoming as Gods, knowing good from evil [that is very different from “good and evil”], placing themselves in a state to act, or being placed in a state to act according to their wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good—

Some time ago when I was thinking about the atonement, I asked a question I had not asked before: “What physical—meaning, time and space, as well as world and body—what physical environment must have been provided for us in order that the atonement would work.”

The time-tested system proved effectual again: If one asks the right questions in the right order the questions themselves provide the magic key.

Once I knew the question, the answers came readily. The answers were not new in any particular, but they created a new panorama for me as I put them together into a single unit.

I realized something I had not thought of before: It is only by virtue of the Saviour’s atonement that we find ourselves in this kind of physical environment that enables us to accept the cleansing power of the atonement.

It seems to me that there are at least seven necessary conditions that must be met by our “physical” experience, in order for us to be free to take advantage of all the blessings of the atonement. By identifying those seven, I believe I came closer to understanding the magnitude of the atonement than I had come before. (Im sure there are more than 7, but this is a good start.)

They are these:

(1) In this world, we must forget. We must not be able to bring any memory of our previous existence with us to this world. If we were to do so, that memory would impose itself upon our purposes, motives, and actions, and we could not be free here to make independent decisions. So, in order for us to have free agency here in this world, we had to come innocent, and without memory of our previous life. (I suspect, if our pre-earth spirit world experience required the same kind of free agency, one also had to enter that world innocent, and having forgotten the experiences one had as an intelligence.)

(2) In this world, we have to be in linear time. In linear time one can experience only the moment of the present, and can neither return to that moment after it has passed, nor carry it into the future. Sacred time is very different from that. When one is in sacred time, one does not have the restraints of “before” and “after.” Sacred time is time through which one can move in somewhat the same way we move through space. There is a relationship between sacred and linear time. That is, those in sacred time can move through past, present, future, and back again in linear time. Therefore, when one is in sacred time, one can know both causes and consequences of events that occur in linear time. That is why God and the members of the Council in Heaven were able to plan so perfectly. They were in sacred time and could understand everything that would occur in linear time. Were that not so, that is if God could not see the beginning from the end, then foreordination would have been impossible or meaningless. God had to know all things that would occur throughout linear time in order to make assignments to us and arrange that we could be born in the time, and the place, and under the right circumstances so we could keep our eternal covenants.

The purposes of our present world would be defeated if we had remained in sacred time.

One reason that our experience here must be in linear time is the same as the reason we must lose our memory: that is, if one could move through time to go back and fix things, or go forward to know which problems to avoid, it would preclude independent thinking in this world and thus would prevent our having free agency.

(3) (I don’t know quite how to say this so it will make sense, so please be patient while I try to muddle through.) In this world, we are in a strange kind of reality, that isn’t quite real. It is not dream-like, because it is very real, but neither is it an absolute, straightforward reality. Let me try to explain.

If our situation were absolute reality, we would be fully punished whenever we sinned, and fully blessed whenever we did something good. That is not, and must not be the case. If we were fully punished when we sinned two things would happen. One is that our Self would diminish because of the punishment. For example, if one hurts another because of hatred or envy, there are two sins involved. The first is the motive, the second the action. I suspect that in many cases the motive is the greater sin than action. The punishment for hatred would be, I suppose, an exposure of one’s cankered soul to one’s Self, sealing it in reality. In the world we now live in one can avoid that through repentance, but if time for repentance were not given, the exposure would occur in the intensity of the hatred one’s soul would be diminished. So each time one sinned, one would get closer and closer to hell, with no possible way to get out. The second is that if we anticipated the immediate punishment we would avoid the sin, which would have the same effect as being forced to not do evil. As a result, we might be saved, but the salvation would be meaningless because it would have been without free agency.

On the other hand, if we were blessed each time we did something good, we would be bribed or forced into heaven, and again, without our free agency.

So one of the conditions we must find ourselves in is this kind of unreal suspension is that one may taste the consequence of sin, but not fully experience it. Also, one may taste the consequence of doing good, but not fully experience that either. Having tasted the partial effects of good and evil, then one is free, not to return to it, but to try to duplicate or enhance it next time. Let me give you a simple example: one of the first things a toddler learns is that there is advantage in cheating. If another toddler is looking away, he can take her toys without getting into a fight. The child is innocent so that is not a sin, but it is a learning experience. When the child matures, one of three things will come from his repetition of that experience. (1) The adult will embrace its advantage and base his whole political or economic career on that principle of cheating. (2) Or, the adult may resort to it only on occasion, when it seems especially advantageous or necessary. (3) Or, as an adult, one may have discovered that cheating is repugnant to one’s soul, and simply refuse to do it because it is bitter to one’s taste, and therefore, because one chooses not to cheat.

The same principle works for the kinds of actions and attitudes that the prophets have defined as evil. Example:

A toddler responds to another’s sorrow, pain, or misfortune with kindness, but as an adult that child may be kind only on occasion when it seems necessary or self-advantageous; or he may avoid feelings of empathy and kindness altogether, seeing them as evidence of weakness—as demeaning—violating one’s sense of strength and superiority, and therefore behave with contempt toward other people.

In each example, the persons began at the same place, but their choices ultimately defined their Selves to themselves and to God quite differently.

So it is with everything one does, and every decision one makes. Because we are in linear time, and in a state of suspension where we do not receive the full consequences of our actions, we are free to be ourselves. This is a perfect environment in which one may answer the question: When you were in the spirit world, why did you obey: was it because you recognized obedience would bring power and authority, or was it because you loved your Father and His children.

The reason this earth life is a perfect environment for one honestly answer those questions is because one cannot remember what pre-mortal advantages he sought after, so in this world one seeks after the things that brings the greatest gratification —whether that gratification comes from doing good, or doing evil.

There is a problem: Frequently, in this world, one’s environment gets in the way of one’s having the freedom to be oneself. That also has been taken into account. If some environmental or cultural circumstances imposed unnatural attitudes upon one in this life, then in the post-life spirit world one can rethink and redefine one’s Self, rejecting the things that are not compatible with one’s true desires; or continue as one did here, moving in the same direction and defining one’s Self with even greater clarity.

(4) In this world, one must have a way to tell the difference between good and bad. We come equipped with that. It is one’s conscience. The problem with one’s conscience is that it is conditioned by one’s culture. For example, in some cultures telling a lie is the norm, in others it is a very bad thing to do. One’s conscience accepts what one’s culture dictates. So the value of its truthfulness is relative to the culture one grows up in. Another, more severe example: During the dark ages, when Augustine set out to standardize penances for sin, he created a catalog that rated the seriousness of different sins. In his catalog, premarital sex was not as bad, and required a less severe penance than self stimulation. So in the culture he influenced, premarital sex was considered the lesser evil, and therefore an acceptable behavior—and in that particular, individual consciences were stifled. The more frequently that sort of abrogation of correct principles occurs in a society, the easier it is for more to be added. Eventually, that which is good is called evil and that which is evil is called good. Then, not only does the culture fall in to decay, but individual consciences do not know how to respond.

Because one’s conscience is conditioned by one’s culture, all the problems associated with its inaccuracies in this life will have to be sorted out in our post-life spirit world. That’s why we do baptism and temple ordinances for the dead—so it can be sorted out with perfect fairness.

(5) In this world’s environment of linear time, each individual walks alone and in relative darkness. For one to have absolute free agency, there must be a way provided for one to penetrate that darkness and develop relationships with other people and with God. The Holy Ghost provides that way. It seals families and friendships, and creates a quality of love that cannot otherwise be known. The Holy Ghost works with people on two different principles.

In order to insure that every person has a full opertunity to fulfill the assignments given him in the Council in Heaven, every individual must have access to the blessings of the Holy Ghost—at least enough access to be taught on an as-needed basis, the things that he must do. One of the most striking examples of that is Nephi’s prophecy of Columbus: “…and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land.” (1 Ne. 13:12b)

However, in the end, that is not enough. For there must be a consistent and predictable way for one to have access to light and truth—there must be the Gift of the Holy Ghost to teach one how to know truth, and how to fulfil one’s pre-mortal covenants. In order for one to be saved in the Kingdom of God, one must learn to respond to the teachings and instructions from the Holy Ghost—if not in this world, then in the next.

6) Our being in this world must not be permanent—there must be a way to get out of here. For the overwhelming majority of us that way is death. Death is one of the greatest blessings of the atonement. It enables us to leave behind in this world everything that is not essential for our continued growth in the spirit world. Death is different from the transition stages we have experienced in the past. In those, innocence and loss of memory guaranteed that one’s free agency would not be infringed upon when we came into a new world. However, as far as I can tell, when we die here, our personalities and memories remain intact, and the circumstances that gave us agency in this world are continued in the next. Consequently, by the time one has passed through this world and also the next in the spirit world, one has had sufficient time and experience to thoroughly define one’s Self.

7) The final step is the completion of one’s creation process. It is when one receives a fully functional, resurrected body that is perfectly compatible with one’s spiritual Self. That is the key: we will receive a resurrected body whose glory is the same as the glory of our spirit in this life. Our resurrected body will not be a kind of a reward or a punishment, but it will just be what it is supposed to be—be a natural product of the kind of person we have chosen to become. The Lord explained to the Prophet Joseph:

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.
27  For notwithstanding they die, they also shall rise again, a spiritual [resurrected] body.
28  They who are [present tense] of a celestial spirit shall receive [future tense] the same body which was a natural body; even ye shall receive [future tense] your bodies, and your glory shall be [future tense] that glory by which your bodies are quickened [present tense].
29  Ye who are [present tense—now] quickened by a portion of the celestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
30  And they who are [present tense—now] quickened by a portion of the terrestrial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
31  And also they who are [present tense—now] 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 88:29-32)

And thus, with the resurrection, our the creation process will have become complete, and those who, through the blessings of the atonement, have become like God, will be with God forever and ever.

If that analysis is correct, it is also correct that the entire process–at every stage and in every environment–is a gift and blessing of the Saviour’s love.

Alma 12:16-18, LeGrand Baker, Alma’s predictions of Zeezrom’s fate.

Alma 12:16-18
16 And now behold, I say unto you then cometh a death, even a second death, which is a spiritual death; then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness.
17 Then is the time when their torments shall be as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever; and then is the time that they shall be chained down to an everlasting destruction, according to the power and captivity of Satan, he having subjected them according to his will.
18 Then, I say unto you, they shall be as though there had been no redemption made; for they cannot be redeemed according to God’s justice; and they cannot die, seeing there is no more corruption.

Everyone agrees that the cheapest way to prove something out of the scriptures is to take a phrase or a verse out of context, and pretend it says something its author did not intend it to say. But sometimes we do that unawares, because we just don’t know the context. Dealing with these verses presents one of those kinds of problems. So, I wish to try to lay some background, then try to deal with the contextual problem. I hope it is needless to say that I do not expect to solve the problem, only just describe it. Translated, that means that I readily admit that haven’t the foggiest idea what I am talking about !

There are some phrases that Alma uses that sound very much like others we have no problem understanding. For example:

And now behold, I say unto you then cometh a death, even a second death, which is a spiritual death;…Then is the time when their torments shall be as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever; and then is the time that they shall be chained down to an everlasting destruction, according to the power and captivity of Satan, he having subjected them according to his will … they shall be as though there had been no redemption made; for they cannot be redeemed according to God’s justice; and they cannot die, seeing there is no more corruption.

However, there are others that do not seem to square with what we think it is easy to understand. For example: (oops! Some are the same ones)

then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness…. they shall be as though there had been no redemption made; for they cannot be redeemed according to God’s justice; and they cannot die, seeing there is no more corruption.

Not long ago I pointed out that the Book of Mormon often uses the word “redeem” to mean to be brought into the presences of God. Some are brought back (redeemed) only long enough to be judged, and then they must leave again. Others are brought back to stay forever (redeemed), as in these examples. The first example talks about the judgement. The second tells that the wicked cannot stay in the Lord’s presence; and the third is the testimony of Lehi—one who is redeemed for ever.

16 Yea, behold, this death bringeth to pass the resurrection, and redeemeth all mankind from the first death—that spiritual death; for all mankind, by the fall of Adam being cut off from the presence of the Lord, are considered as dead, both as to things temporal and to things spiritual.
17 But behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord. (Helaman 14:16-17)

26 But behold, and fear, and tremble before God, for ye ought to tremble; for the Lord redeemeth none such that rebel against him and die in their sins; yea, even all those that have perished in their sins ever since the world began, that have wilfully rebelled against God, that have known the commandments of God, and would not keep them; these are they that have no part in the first resurrection. (Mosiah 15:26)

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 1:15)

The next set of scriptures deal with those classes of persons who will remain eternally outside the presence of God — that is, who do not enjoy redemption in the eternities. Both scriptures are from D&C 76:

109 But behold, and lo, we saw the glory and the inhabitants of the telestial world, that they were as innumerable as the stars in the firmament of heaven, or as the sand upon the seashore;
110 And heard the voice of the Lord saying: These all shall bow the knee, and every tongue shall confess to him who sits upon the throne forever and ever;
111 For they shall be judged according to their works, and every man shall receive according to his own works, his own dominion, in the mansions which are prepared;
112 And they shall be servants of the Most High; but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end. (D&C 76:109-112)

These people are not sons of perdition, but they have merited the telestial glory. The telling phrase here is “but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end.”

Part of the statement that describes the sons of perdition reads:

33 For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity;
34 Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come—
35 Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open shame.
36 These are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and his angels—
37 And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power (D&C 76:33-37)

The phrase we are concerned with is, “the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power.”

Now to return to Alma’s words to Zeezrom:

16 And now behold, I say unto you then cometh a death, even a second death

That seems to identify Zeezrom as a son of perdition – which would mean that he has seen and denied the Saviour

which is a spiritual death; then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness.

That implies that the spiritual death Alma is talking about is the preclusion of temple’s sealing blessings—a fate that awaits anyone who is not in the Celestial Kingdom.

17 Then is the time when their torments shall be as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever; and then is the time that they shall be chained down to an everlasting destruction, according to the power and captivity of Satan, he having subjected them according to his will.

That sounds like they are going to be with Satan forever.

18 Then, I say unto you, they shall be as though there had been no redemption made; for they cannot be redeemed according to God’s justice

That may mean, “ but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end.”

So my conclusion is that I don’t know what fate Alma was threatening Zeezrom with.

Actually it all comes down to an even more interesting question: Had Zeezrom been so righteous in the past that he was now qualified to become a son of perdition? Or was he one who would ultimately inherit only the Telestial kingdom because he fell into the category of “liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie. (D&C 76:103)

My answer is: “I do not known!” If the former, then Zeezrom’s repentance is one of the truly great stories in the scriptures. If the latter, its still a really good story.

Alma 12:16, LeGrand Baker, The Atonement as the Conclusion of the Creation

Alma 12:16
16 And now behold, I say unto you then cometh a death, even a second death, which is a spiritual death; then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness.

A persistent theme that runs throughout the 12th chapter of Alma is the contrast between life and death. It is easier to understand what Alma was talking about if we consider the two parallel ancient concepts of cosmos and chaos, for, in fact, it is chaos with which Alma is threatening Zeezrom. Alma described darkness in this world as one’s not knowing the mysteries, and then adds, “Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.” He then discusses both the “temporal death,” which is the death of the body; and “a second death, which was an everlasting death.” These, as Alma describes them, are three magnitudes of chaos,

In contrast, Alma offers Zeezrom the blessings of eternal life—which is ultimate cosmos.

In the attached short essay, “The Atonement as the Conclusion of the Creation” I have tried to show that the atonement was the final act of creation, performed by the same Saviour by whose powers the worlds were originally created. And that he did, as the prophets testified he would, defeat of the final vestiges of chaos—the twin monsters of death and hell—to complete the creation process that he had begun eons before in the Council in Heaven.

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ATTACHMENT:

Alma 12:16 — LeGrand Baker — The Atonement as the Conclusion of the Creation

The entire story of the “creation” covers the full sweep of human existence, from the time we were intelligences until our future grand “beginning” when we receive fully functional resurrected bodies. The story of that creation is primarily an account of the workings of the Saviour’s atonement—of his bringing chaos into cosmos.
Chaos is confusion and disorder. It is represent in ancient writings as the unpredictable movements of a raging sea. In Lehi’s vision it is the mist of darkness through which he must find his way to the tree of life. In the whole of First Nephi it is the raging storm that Nephi controls by faith, through which Nephi is identified as legitimate king and priest. In the entire Book of Mormon it is the three days of darkness that precedes the coming of the Saviour, then, at the end, it is the spiritual darkness into which the people sank, preparatory to the eventual coming forth of the Book of Mormon to the Prophet Joseph.

Cosmos is order that expresses beauty. It is the perfect structure of the stars in the heavens. It is the precise and predictable movement of the planets that foretell the seasons, show the time for planting, and demonstrate the unchanging power of God. It is the tree and the fruit in Lehi’s vision. It is the Zion of Fourth Nephi. It is the promise of Moroni, found on the last page of the Book of Mormon:

31 …put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled. (Moroni 10:31)

Creation is organization—arranging, classifying, separating, and restructuring until the result is cosmos—perfect symmetry, balanced proportion, and symphonic harmony. The object of the physical creation is to achieve that end. We usually think of “the creation” as the time when Jehovah and the Council brought this physical world into existence. However that was only one step in a series of events that would result in perfect harmony. The earth, and all other of God’s creations, needed to pass through a sequence of “creations” in order to attain perfection. The first was the spiritual creation, then the physical, and finally the resurrection. One can describe the whole of that sequence as “the creation.”

The sanctification and resurrection of the earth, and all else the Lord has created, is a gift given to all things, without price, by virtue of the Saviour’s resurrection. However the quality of one’s resurrection is conditional upon the quality of the spiritual truth, light, and love one has chosen to assimilate. The reason is that there must ultimately be an absolute compatibility between the quality of one’s spiritual Self and the quality of one’s physical Self.

The account we have of the physical creation begins in the Council in Heaven, where Jehovah instructed the gods, “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; And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.” (Abraham 3:24-25)

In those instructions, Jehovah identified two kinds of incompleteness—of chaos. The first was space (and matter) without structure. The second was a group of intelligences without perfection. The plan that was then discussed would answer the needs of both—it would bring them into perfection together, thus bringing universal cosmos out of universal chaos.

Both had to be accomplished together because each was dependent on the other. As the Lord explained,

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.
35 The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple. (D&C 93:33-35)

All material element must be brought into a perfection that is consistent with the perfection of the intelligences who inhabit it. For celestial persons, not just their individual physical bodies, but the earth also—must be brought to a celestial perfection…

17 …that the poor and the meek of the earth shall inherit it.
18 Therefore, it [the earth] must needs be sanctified from all unrighteousness, that it may be prepared for the celestial glory;
19 For after it hath filled the measure of its creation, it shall be crowned with glory, even with the presence of God the Father;
20 That bodies who are of the celestial kingdom may possess it forever and ever; for, for this intent was it made and created, and for this intent are they sanctified….

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 88:17-26)

The issue of material (physical) cosmos is entirely taken care of by the power of the Saviour’s resurrection. Similarly, the matter of spiritual cosmos is entirely taken care of by the Saviour’s atonement.

The ultimate rectitude of the atonement’s powers enables intelligences to seek and achieve perfection according to their own sense of fulfillment, wholeness, cosmos. It can only come as the fruition of their own agencies—the product of their individual self-identification, and the ultimate maturation of the laws of their own beings.
Perfection is a state of wholeness. Moroni described celestial perfection as being “holy, without spot.” (Moroni 10:33) Paul described it as “holy and without blame before him in love.” (Ephesians 1:4) Mormon described it as being “…filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure.” (Moroni 7:48) The Lord explained, “They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace.” (D&C 76:94) In each of those descriptions there is no incongruity within one’s Self. There is only perfect harmony—“holy [wholly, complete, perfect] without spot.”

If perfection is a state of integral wholeness, but one’s self-definition is something different from celestial love, then there must be accommodation for a kind of perfection (internal unity—cosmos) that is different from celestial glory. And there is, as the Lord has explained.

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 88:28-32)

Perfection, as statement about a thing’s wholeness, need not necessary be a reference to its relative value. Thus there can be a perfect diamond setting for a ring, a perfect crystal goblet, and a perfect plate glass window. To say each is perfect only says there is an internal integrity with no flaws. The value is found in the object that is perfect, not in the perfection of just any object. For intelligences who define their sense of self in terms different from “the pure love of Christ,” there is a state of perfection and glory that is compatible with their self-definition. But for those who love as the Saviour loves, the perfection of that compatibility is equivalent to eternal life. For the intelligences who receive celestial resurrected bodies, cosmos is perfect symmetry and harmony—in their physical persons, their personal sense of Self, and also in their social environment.

40 For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own; justice continueth its course and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth all things.
41 He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by him, and of him, even God, forever and ever. (D&C 88:40-41)

Since the success of the entire plan of salvation has always rested upon the Saviour’s providing an opportunity for people to come to this earth where they could define themselves in an environment away from the overriding influence of the presence of our Father in Heaven, a path had to be provided so that people could leave his presence and then return again. But to leave the presence of God was to enter chaos.

To enable the intelligences to achieve a final perfection of self-identification and cosmos, they were given bodies and introduced into new conditions of chaos that followed the same sequence as the earth and other material creation. The first was that they received a spirit body in a world where they could learn and choose to obey. From there, the intelligences (now spirits), are introduced into physical bodies, and into our present chaotic environment where the quality of our love can be challenged by avarice, advantage, and the desire to acquire authority. Chaos in this world is our confrontation with never-ending choices and seemingly equivocal consequences, and it is living among people whose choices and consequences cover the full range of the possibilities of good and evil.

It is in the tensions and contrasts of this world that we are enabled to define who and what we are. We do that by identifying and seeking to replicate—and ultimately to perpetuate—the experiences and relationships in which we find fulfillment and happiness. We are here to discover for our Selves whether that fulfillment is consistent with telestial, terrestrial, or celestial glory. For us to be able to do that, this world’s environment must be full of difficult choices with inexplicable tensions and contradictions. For us, coming here introduced us to a new kind of chaos, in a darkness we have not known before. Its experience is invaluable, but to remain here would be an eternal damnation.

Our coming into this chaos would have accomplished nothing if a way had not been provided for us to get out, and return home in the full bloom of our cognizance. Therefore a way had to be provided so we could escape. But that way appears from human perspective to be an even greater chaos—the natural consequence of mortal sin—to be entombed by the twin monsters of death and hell.

The escape rout through death was explained to Adam when the earth was created—when he was in the Garden, but before Eve had come to join him.

12 And the Gods commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat,
13 But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the time that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. (Abraham 5:12-13)

The promise of death is the guarantee that this earth-life experience is a part of the journey, and not its conclusion. Death is the way out of this world. It is a foreshadowing of something beyond—of continued eternal progression. Thus, death, and the world into which it introduces us, is (like birth and the experience we now share) among the greatest blessings of the atonement. But from a human perspective it is as dark and foreboding as a closing grave. Without the final acts of the Saviour’s atonement, the odyssey of the intelligences who are traversing linear time and space to find perfection, would have ended in the eternal darkness of death and hell.

I visualize it this way. The Lord tied a rope around our waist and lowered us into this present life where we can learn to distinguish between good and evil. He will then lower us again, this time into death, where we can re-reevaluate our experiences here, and make a final decision about who and what we are. We agreed to come here, and to die, because the Lord covenanted with us that he would never let go of his end of the rope. Alma explained,

1 And now, my son, I perceive there is somewhat more which doth worry your mind, which ye cannot understand—which is concerning the justice of God in the punishment of the sinner; for ye do try to suppose that it is injustice that the sinner should be consigned to a state of misery.
2 Now behold, my son, I will explain this thing unto thee. For behold, after the Lord God sent our first parents forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground, from whence they were taken—yea, he drew out the man, and he placed at the east end of the garden of Eden, cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the tree of life—
3 Now, we see that the man had become as God, knowing good and evil; and lest he should put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever, the Lord God placed cherubim and the flaming sword, that he should not partake of the fruit—
4 And thus we see, that there was a time granted unto man to repent, yea, a probationary time, a time to repent and serve God.
5 For behold, if Adam had put forth his hand immediately, and partaken of the tree of life, he would have lived forever, according to the word of God, having no space for repentance; yea, and also the word of God would have been void, and the great plan of salvation would have been frustrated.
6 But behold, it was appointed unto man to die—therefore, as they were cut off from the tree of life they should be cut off from the face of the earth—and man became lost forever, yea, they became fallen man.
7 And now, ye see by this that our first parents were cut off both temporally and spiritually from the presence of the Lord; and thus we see they became subjects to follow after their own will.
8 Now behold, it was not expedient that man should be reclaimed from this temporal death, for that would destroy the great plan of happiness.
9 Therefore, as the soul could never die, and the fall had brought upon all mankind a spiritual death as well as a temporal, that is, they were cut off from the presence of the Lord, it was expedient that mankind should be reclaimed from this spiritual death.
10 Therefore, as they had become carnal, sensual, and devilish, by nature, this probationary state became a state for them to prepare; it became a preparatory state. (Alma 42:1-10)

The fullness of the creation that began with the work of Jehovah in the members of the Council in Heaven could not be accomplished until death and hell are defeated by the Saviour’s atonement. When the atonement was accomplished, cosmos, light, and life arose from all the benighted domains of hatred and chaos.

Thus, the Saviour’s triumphs at Gethsemane, on the cross, in the congregation of the dead, and in the tomb of the resurrection—all of those triumphs together constituted the culminating act of creation—of defying infinite chaos and establishing eternal cosmos.

The prophets of all ages have testified of the atonement, and the ancient Israelite Feast of Tabernacles temple drama brought its reality into sharp and tangible focus. Near its conclusion, it portrayed the death of the king (and symbolically of all mankind), and showed that Jehovah himself would descend into death and hell, and he would rescue the entombed king. Psalm 18 recounts that event from the king’s perspective.

1. I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.
8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.
10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
12 At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.
13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
14 Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
15 Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
16 He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. [chaos]
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.
18 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay.
19 He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.(Psalms 18:1-19)

In that same psalm, the king tells why Jehovah had condescended to do this. Later, in the Beatitudes, Jesus will cite this psalm as a reciprocal promise to those who are merciful to others.

20 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.
23 I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.
24 Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
25 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
26 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure…(Psalms 18:20-26)

The Beatitude are short quotes or paraphrases from Isaiah or the psalms. If the one that reads, “Blessed are all the merciful for they shall obtain mercy” was intended to remind the Saviour’s audience of Psalm 18, then the statement in the Beatitude is apparently a promise of one’s ultimate triumph over death and hell.

In another psalm, the king recalls the Lord’s salvation, and again expresses his wonder and his gratitude.

1 I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.
2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.
3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
4 Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.
6 The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.
7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.
8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
9 I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. (Psalms 116:1-9)

We hear of the same triumphal events described from a different perspective in President Joseph F. Smith’s vision of the redemption of the dead.

23 And the saints [those in the spirit world] rejoiced in their redemption, and bowed the knee and acknowledged the Son of God as their Redeemer and Deliverer from death and the chains of hell.
24 Their countenances shone, and the radiance from the presence of the Lord rested upon them, and they sang praises unto his holy name. (D&C 138:23-24)

The Book of Mormon prophets had a perfect understanding of this principle of salvation, and spoke of it often. {1} Jacob was the most explicit.

5 Yea, I know that ye know that in the body he shall show himself unto those at Jerusalem, from whence we came; for it is expedient that it should be among them; for it behooveth the great Creator that he suffereth himself to become subject unto man in the flesh, and die for all men, that all men might become subject unto him.
6 For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord.
7 Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.
8 O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more.
9 And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness.
10 O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit.
11 And because of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave.
12 And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel.
13 O how great the plan of our God! For on the other hand, the paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh, save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect. ….

19 O the greatness of the mercy of our God, the Holy One of Israel! For he delivereth his saints from that awful monster the devil, and death, and hell, and that lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.
20 O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it.
21 And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam.
22 And he suffereth this that the resurrection might pass upon all men, that all might stand before him at the great and judgment day….
26 For the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those who have not the law given to them, that they are delivered from that awful monster, death and hell, and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment; and they are restored to that God who gave them breath, which is the Holy One of Israel. (2 Nephi 9:5-26)

Thus, it was planned from the beginning that we should live, and die, and live again. In several revelations to the Prophet Joseph, the Lord explained something about how it was done. In one of those revelations, the beginning of creation is described this way.

6 And John saw and bore record of the fulness of my glory, and the fulness of John’s record is hereafter to be revealed.
7 And he bore record, saying: I saw his glory, that he was in the beginning, before the world was;
8 Therefore, in the beginning the Word was, for he was the Word, even the messenger of salvation—
9 The light and the Redeemer of the world; the Spirit of truth, who came into the world, because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men.
10 The worlds were made by him; men were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him, and of him. (D&C 93:6-10 – italics added)

The powers exercised by the Saviour in the beginning were the same powers by which he defeated death and hell. Those powers are his perfection of character, and his loving kindness. He said,

1 Hearken, O ye people of my church, to whom the kingdom has been given; hearken ye and give ear to him who laid the foundation of the earth, who made the heavens and all the hosts thereof, and by whom all things were made which live, and move, and have a being.
2 And again I say, hearken unto my voice, lest death shall overtake you; in an hour when ye think not the summer shall be past, and the harvest ended, and your souls not saved.
3 Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—
4 Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;
5 Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life. (D&C 45:1-6)

Finally, we have this testimony from the Prophet Joseph Smith. It is part of A Vision, his poetic version of the revelation that is now section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants.

And while I did meditate what it all meant,
The Lord touch’d the eyes of my own intellect.

Hosanna, for ever! They open’d anon,
And the glory of God shone around where I was;
And there was the Son at the Father’s right hand,
In a fulness of glory and holy applause.

I beheld round the throne holy angels and hosts,
And sanctified beings from worlds that have been,
In holiness worshipping God and the Lamb,
For ever and ever. Amen and amen.

And now after all of the proofs made of him,
By witnesses truly, by whom he was known,
This is mine, last of all, that he lives; yea, he lives!
And sits at the right hand of God on his throne.

And I heard a great voice bearing record from heav’n,
He’s the Saviour and only begotten of God;
By him, of him, and through him, the worlds were all made,
Even all that careen in the heavens so broad.

Whose inhabitants, too, from the first to the last,
Are sav’d by the very same Saviour of ours;
And, of course, are begotten God’s daughters and sons
By the very same truths and the very same powers. {2}

Thus, through the Saviour’s atonement, all the covenants made at the Council in Heaven are fulfilled. Perfect order is accomplished in material things through the resurrection, and perfect order is given the intelligences according to the limitations or expansiveness with which they choose to define themselves. Perfect Love brings Perfect Love. All else is perfected in its own right. The only chaos remaining is for those who choose “to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received.”

ENDNOTES
1 See also: the remainder of 2 Nephi 9; 2 Nephi 28:19-27; Jacob 3:10-14; Alma 5:6-11, 13:27-31.

2 At the request of W. W. Phelps, the Prophet re-wrote the vision that is now the 76th section of the Doctrine and Covenants in poetry form. It was published in the Times and Seasons, February 1, 1843, and republished in the Millennial Star, August, 1843.

Alma 12:12-14 code words:  (part one) “The Negative Confession”¹

12  And Amulek hath spoken plainly concerning death, and being raised from this mortality to a state of immortality, and being brought before the bar of God, to be judged according to our works.

13  Then if our hearts have been hardened, yea, if we have hardened our hearts against the word, insomuch that it has not been found in us, then will our state be awful, for then we shall be condemned.

14  For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence (Alma 12:12-14 ).

The power of Alma’s words came from his and Zeezrom’s understanding of some of the most sobering truths that they had been taught during their Nephite temple drama.²  That connection becomes even more clear to us when we remember that only a short time later, in the same speech, Alma reviewed the entire drama using some of this same language he used here. He said,

30 …God conversed with men, and made known unto them the plan of redemption…and this he made known unto them according to their faith and repentance and their holy works (Alma 12:12-14 ).³

As elsewhere in the Book of Mormon, “faith” is covenant (pistis) just as it is in the New Testament and, in this context, “holy works” are the validating ordinances, just as in many places of the New Testament.⁴  If in verse 14 “works” means the same as it does in verse 30, then Alma’s words “all our works will condemn us” are about Zeezrom’s violation of the sanctity of his sacred ordinances. If that is so, then a hardened heart is about those qualities of one’s inner Self which initiates evil deeds, rather than being just about the deeds themselves.

In Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord we demonstrated that the psalms were the liturgy of the Nephite temple drama just as they had been the text of the temple service used while Solomon’s Temple was in operation.⁵ That being so, if one is to know the ancient temple drama as Alma and Zeezrom understood it, one must know the psalms.

Psalm 26 shows the criterion for the final judgment and may have been the one to which Alma was referring when he confronted Zeezrom. It is the one that most vividly expresses the tensions of the juxtaposition between our thoughts and our actions and their impact on our final judgment.

During the temple drama the king was symbolically killed by his enemies. He remained in the underworld for three days while the Savior’s body was in its tomb. Then, in the temple drama, Jehovah himself went down into the underworld and rescued the king from the clutches of death and hell. This was surely one of the most dramatic and one of the most pivotal junctures of the Nephite temple experience.⁶  Psalm 26 expresses the tensions of that moment.

The psalms contain much of the liturgy of the Israelite temple drama. However, their present arrangement gives us no context for knowing how they fit into the story and they have no stage directions to show how they were performed.⁷ That being so, it is reasonable that we look to some of the main events of other ancient rites to help understand the intent and use of some of the Israelite psalms. We can do that because the pre-exilic Israelite drama was a version of an even older temple service. Apostate variations of that original can be found all over the ancient world.⁸ Latter-day Saints understand that in the scriptures we have sufficient evidence that priesthood powers and the temple rites and covenants predated the flood and reached back to the “the reign of Adam.”

26  Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood (Abraham 1:26).

Hugh Nibley has firmly established that “the Egyptian endowment” and the pre-exilic Israelite temple rites were near enough alike that we may assert that they came from the same original source. Therefore, the Egyptian version can help us discover some of the lost contexts, stage directions, and the uses of the psalms in the Israelite drama.

The Egyptians believed that their brief life on this earth was only one phase of their progress through eternity: for the soul lives forever and cannot die.

For that reason, their temple rites showed that an Egyptian’s next juncture in his eternal journey, the final judgment after his mortal death, was one of his most critical crossroads. It would determine his status during in the rest of his eternal existence. At that judgment he must perform all the rites correctly and answer the questions with precision.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead was a funerary text used to provide instruction to one’s soul in the afterlife. It was a guide book that contained reminders of the things one must do and say as he approached his final judgment. After that judgment there were only two options: life with the gods or misery in the underworld. Therefore, his soul needed this crib sheet because if he did not get it right he could not pass through the gate that led to the home of the gods.

Among the instructions given in the Book of the Dead were the words he should say to insure a positive final judgment. They included his Negative Confessions, which were not confessions at all but declarations of his innocence.

Hugh Nibley describes the importance of the Negative Confessions in his The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment.

            The Candidate Is Challenged. This is a form of the famous “Negative Confession” of the Book of the Dead.}a{ The  Challenge at the Gate is a familiar  form and aspect of initiation rites the world over.}b{ Here the candidate  is challenged at seven gates, matching “the seven gates through which the solar bark passes” in the Book of the Dead.}c{⁹

Drioton holds that the “Negative Confession” bears  the marks of an initiation rite so strongly that it would  seem to be the production of a religious cult ]temple service[ that  flourished along with the Essenes, having “only a brief  and late existence in Egyptian religion.”}d{ Nagel finds that the declarations of the  Negative Confession as found in his “Breathing” text,  Louvre}e{ are “strictly moral,”}f{ and F. de Cenival comes still closer to home in calling attention to the resemblance of the Negative Confession situation  to certain examinations of members conducted by  Egyptian temple associations, which in turn remind him  of the initiation process in the “Manual of Discipline” of  the Dead Sea Scrolls.}g{¹⁰

The object of the  dead is here the double one of getting out of the place where he is and passing into a better one; hence the gate  to heaven when it is open is the gate of hell when it is  shut, or, as Hornung notes, the gate marks the transition  between “spheres on this side and on the other side,” and  so corresponds to the horizon between the upper and  lower worlds.}h{ The word for “gate” in our  text denotes not just a barrier but rather a passageway  )Torweg(, “a section of the Underworld, the centerpoint  of which is formed by the gate )sba( of the horizon.”}i{  The gate is the natural place to stop and challenge  anyone. The designation of the official barriers as “the  Gate of the Place of Truth”}j{ indicates the gate as a place of testing, of trial: “I  will not open to you says the door, unless you tell me my  name!”}k{ ¹¹

The common symbolism is brought out in the Zohar: “The Gate of Psalm 24:2 refers to the supernatural grades  )lit. steps( by and through which alone a knowledge of the Almighty is possible to man, and without which a man could not communicate with God.” }l{¹²

Those concepts were also understood by the Nephites. Jacob reminded his audience about the importance of that gate when, in his sermon at the temple, he reviewed parts of the Nephite drama and urged the people to keep the covenants they made.

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. ¹³

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).

Psalm 26 is an excellent example of a Negative Confession, however, Alma did not treat it as a Negative Confession but rather he turned it on its head and used its ideas as an accusation. The psalm is not about what one had done so much as it is about one’s thoughts and attitudes. It is filled with ancient temple connotations and code words. For example: Walk— to “walk in the ways of the Lord” is to keep one’s covenants and honor one’s ordinances. Trust— like pistis (faith) in the New Testament, trust can only be sure when there is a contract or covenant already in place.¹⁴

Another is: I shall not slide…My foot standeth in an even place. Having one’s feet firmly established is also about priesthood worthiness, as in this exaltation from Isaiah:

13  Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established;¹⁵  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 (1 Nephi 21:13).

It is similarly expressed in this prayer:

5  Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.

6  I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech (Psalms 17:5-6).¹⁶

We find that idea expressed twice in Psalm 26: “I have walked in mine integrity… therefore I shall not slide,” and “My foot standeth in an even place.”

The psalm begins with the acknowledgment that the candidate is now anticipating he final judgment.

1  Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.

2  Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins [mind] and my heart.

3  For thy lovingkindness [hesed] is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth.

Those assertions of his worthiness are followed by his Negative Confession:

4  I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.

5  I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.

Further assertions of his worthiness:

6  I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass¹⁷ thine altar, O Lord:

7  That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.

8  Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.

The anticipated response to his Negative Confession and his expectation of redemption:

9  Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men:

10  In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.

11  But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.

12  My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the Lord (Psalms 26:1-12).

We return now to the pre-exilic Israelite drama while Jehovah was in the spirit world before his resurrection. It is similar to the event when the Egyptian rites portray a time, after one is dead, when he must stand at “the  Gate of the Place of Truth.”

During days 4, 5, and 6 of the 8-day Israelite temple drama, while the king remained in the world of the dead, the drama focused on the life and Atonement of the Savior, then on his mission among the dead, and finally on his resurrection.

During those days, while the king waited in the Underworld for Jehovah to rescue him, the people who were outside among the living prayed for the king’s restoration to life. Psalm 20 was a plea that the Lord would save “his anointed [the king]” and an expression of assurance that Jehovah “will hear him [the king] from his [Jehovah’s] holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.” The people understood that the king was not yet permanently dead. For, as they prayed for his deliverance, they also prayed that he would find encouragement through their faith. Psalm 20 concludes, “Save, Lord: let the king hear us when we call.” In Psalm 13, from the Underworld, the young king joined the plea:

1 How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,

having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

3 Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

4 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

5 But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.

6 I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me (Psalm 13:1-6).

Jehovah did act in the king’s behalf. He asserted his royal prerogatives and descended into the Underworld to save the earthly king. It would have been at this place and time in the Israelite drama that the king approached “the gate of truth, testing, and of trial.” Therefore, this would be when he would have recited his Negative Confession.

By reversing the concepts of the Negative Confession and reminding Zeezrom that he had failed to keep his covenants, Alma focused his argument on the assurance of Zeezrom’s current prospect of an eternal doom. Or, in other words, Alma assures him of damnation because of his arrogance.

It was to reinforce the truth that Zeezrom was bound by his own covenants to keep the assertions of that Negative Confession that Alma reminded him that on the day of our final judgment, “our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us.” Then, almost immediately thereafter in the same speech, Alma gave him a recap of the entire drama:

28  And after God had appointed that these things should come unto man, behold, then he saw that it was expedient that man should know concerning the things whereof he had appointed unto them;

29  Therefore he sent angels to converse with them, who caused men to behold of his glory.

30  And they began from that time forth to call on his name; therefore God conversed with men, and made known unto them the plan of redemption, which had been prepared from the foundation of the world; and this he made known unto them according to their faith and repentance and their holy works.

31  Wherefore, he gave commandments unto men, they having first transgressed the first commandments as to things which were temporal, and becoming as Gods, knowing good from evil, placing themselves in a state to act, or being placed in a state to act according to their wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good—

32  Therefore God gave unto them commandments, after having made known unto them the plan of redemption, that they should not do evil, the penalty thereof being a second death, which was an everlasting death as to things pertaining unto righteousness; for on such the plan of redemption could have no power, for the works of justice could not be destroyed, according to the supreme goodness of God.

33  But God did call on men, in the name of his Son, (this being the plan of redemption which was laid) saying: If ye will repent and harden not your hearts, then will I have mercy upon you, through mine Only Begotten Son;

34  Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest (Alma 12:28-34).

FOOTNOTES  FOR PART ONE,  NEGATIVE CONFESSION

     ¹  I owe a special thanks to my friend and editor Alex Criddle for his assistance with this chapter.

     ²  We can be quite sure that Zeezrom was completely conversant with the covenants and rites of the Nephite temple drama. There are two reasons. First, if that were that not so there would have been no point in Alma’s using them as the basis of his arguments. The second is the intensity of Zeezrom’s repentance (Alma 14:6, 15:3-11).

     ³A similar idea with the same kind of priesthood connotation is in the beginning of Mormon’s letter to his son Moroni,

2  My beloved son, Moroni, I rejoice exceedingly that your Lord Jesus Christ hath been mindful of you, and hath called you to his ministry, and to his holy work (Moroni 8:2).

     ⁴ James says “faith (pistis) without works is dead.” The ordinances are the validation of the covenant just as a signature is the validation of a contract. A covenant is dead because without the validating ordinances it is not binding on anybody (James 2:17, 20, and 26).

     ⁵ LeGrand L. Baker and Stephen D. Ricks, Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord? The Psalms in Israel’s Temple Worship In the Old Testament and In the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: Eborn Books), first edition, 2009, second (paperback) edition, 2011.

The first half of our book uses the psalms to reconstruct much of the ancient Israelite temple drama. The second half shows that every major sermon in the Book of Mormon cites their temple experience. My reference to “the Nephite temple drama” is based on the conclusions of our book.

     ⁶   For a discussion of psalm 22 and Jehovah’s rescuing the king from death see Baker and Ricks, “Act 2, Scene 7: Jehovah Conquers Death and Hell,” Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition, 415-44; second (paperback) edition, 300-23.

     ⁷  Reading them is like reading Hamlet without stage directions, having only the dialog to discover who is speaking and to whom. That is what we did in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord to reconstruct the scenes of the drama. While some are questionable, some impossible, others are surprisingly easy

     ⁸   Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend. Hamlet’s Mill: An Essay on Myth and the Frame of Time (Boston, Gambit, 1969).

     ⁹   Hugh Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment (Salt Lake City, Deseret Book, 1975), 217.

NOTE:  Nibley often puts citations in parentheses within his text. This works fine for the book but tends to clutter our short quotes. I have included them in alphabetical rather than numerical order in brackets in the footnotes to lessen that clutter.

{a}  B.D., Ch. 125.

{b} See the  vivid passage in Zohar, Vayera 1036.

{c} B.D., Ch. 144,  and Section II of the Two Ways (Lesko, Two Ways, p. 45).

     ¹⁰  Hugh Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri, 219.

{d} Neg. Conf., pp.  559, 563-64.

{e} # 3292.5

{f}  BIFAO, 29:87f.,5

{g} F. de Cenival, REHR, pp. 17f.

     ¹¹   Hugh Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri, 211-12.

{h}  Amduat, II, 4.

{i} Ibid.,  p. 5; cf. Gardiner, JEA, 4:147; K. Sethe, ZA, 67:115-17.

{j} A. Piankoff, An. Serc.,  49:137.

{k} B.D. Ch. 125, in De Buck, Reading Book, p. 121.

     ¹²   Hugh Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri, 211-12.

{l} Zohar, I; Vayera, 103b.

     ¹³

This reminds one of Nibley’s quote where the god declares, “I  will not open to you says the door, unless you tell me my  name!”  (Bold added, Fn. # k)

     ¹⁴   Baker and Ricks, “Meaning of ‘Faith’—Pistis,” Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, first edition,  1007-25; second (paperback) edition. 697-710.

Also in my Alma, vol. 2, the chapter called “Alma 32:17-43—The Multiple Meanings of Faith.”

     ¹⁵  The words in bold have been removed by ancient editors from our Isaiah 49.

     ¹⁶ Other places are: Psalms 18:32-33 with Habakkuk 3:19; Isaiah 52:7-8; Psalms 17:5-6, 37:31, 56:13, and 66:8-10.

     ¹⁷  Strong # 5437: “to revolve, surround, or border; used in various applications, literally and figuratively:… be about on every side.”

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Alma 12:12-15, LeGrand Baker, Some code words in Alma 12

Alma 12:12-15
12 And Amulek hath spoken plainly concerning death, and being raised from this mortality to a state of immortality, and being brought before the bar of God, to be judged according to our works.
13 Then if our hearts have been hardened, yea, if we have hardened our hearts against the word, insomuch that it has not been found in us, then will our state be awful, for then we shall be condemned.
14 For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence.
15 But this cannot be; we must come forth and stand before him in his glory, and in his power, and in his might, majesty, and dominion, and acknowledge to our everlasting shame that all his judgments are just; that he is just in all his works, and that he is merciful unto the children of men, and that he has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance.

By this time the exchange we are reading has become a very private—and a very personal—conversation between Zeezrom and Alma. Everyone who is standing about can hear the words, but not not everyone can hear their intent.

Alma has just explained to Zeezrom that the “mysteries” are sacred, and must be discussed with great care, and then only when it is appropriate to do so. That caution also teaches us that what we are about to read is sacred. Alma continued:

12  And Amulek hath spoken plainly concerning death, and being raised from this mortality to a state of immortality, [Amulek had just explained that everyone will be resurrected] and being brought before the bar of God, to be judged

That judgement, we have learned, will occur after the resurrection. Which suggests that the final judgement is more of a conformation of a self-established reality, than it is something like passing out the final test scores and grades.

according to our works.

“Works” is an important word in this context. It is used here the same way James uses it in the New Testament when he says “faith without works is dead.” Faith is pistis (the visible evidences or tokens of the covenants, just as Paul said it is). “Works,” for James, meant the ordinances. (That is why Luther wanted to remove James from the New Testament. The Catholics had a monopoly on the ordinances, and Luther didn’t like the idea that they were necessary.) Latter on in our chapter, Alma will clarify his meaning by calling them “holy works,” and pointing out that they are an important teaching tool that God uses to instruct us about how to come into his presence.

13  Then if our hearts have been hardened,

The heart is the cosmic center of a human being. It is the seat of one’s emotions and one’s intellect. In the verses immediately preceding these, Alma has defined a hardened heart as one that chooses not to know and understand the “mysteries.”

13b  yea, if we have hardened our hearts against the word, insomuch that it has not been found in us, then will our state be awful, for then we shall be condemned.

Alma has also just defined “the chains of hell” as the condition of one who has chosen to not know the mysteries.

14   For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us;

While it is possible that this is simply a generic observation, it is more likely, given the context of what Alma is talking about, that the words, works, and thoughts are specific, and relate to one’s willingness or unwillingness to understand and fully participate in the “mysteries.”

and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence.

This entire discussion, from Alma’s point of view, has been and will continue to be is about preparing oneself to come into the presence of God (see my note on the meaning of redeem of a couple weeks ago). Alma assures/warns Zeezrom that ultimately he will be brought into the presence of the Saviour to be judged—that is not the issue. The issue is whether that redemption will be a joyful or a fearful experience. Alma has just said it might be really scary.

15   But this cannot be; we must come forth and stand before him in his glory, and in his power, and in his might, majesty, and dominion, and acknowledge to our everlasting shame that all his judgments are just; that he is just in all his works, and that he is merciful unto the children of men,

While the Saviour’s atonement and his mercy enables us to repent and become clean

(holy and without spot), in the final judgement, it is not mercy that will save us. We are saved by the laws of justice. Mercy —here and now— enables us to repent and become clean, and if we become clean, then justice enables us to enter— and remain—in the presence of God. But if we do not avail ourselves of the blessings of mercy in this life, and do not become clean, then justice insists we must ultimately reside someplace where God is not. Mercy cannot bring the unclean into the Celestial Kingdom, because mercy cannot rob justice. The last part of the sentence tells it all:

and that he has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet [appropriate] for repentance.

Even the Saviour’s power to save is qualified. Alma does not say “and that he has all power to save every man”—and stop there. Rather he adds two qualifications that one must have in order to enable the saving powers of the atonement: “[1] that believeth on his name and [2] bringeth forth fruit meet [appropriate] for repentance.

Alma’s message is one that is repeated so often in the scriptures: God’s purpose is to save his children, but he will not insist they be saved, and he will not bring them kicking and screaming into heaven.

Alma 12:9-11, LeGrand Baker – knowing when to tell

Alma 12:9-11
9 And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.
10 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.
11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.

There is an eternal principle in these verses that is so important that it constitutes one of the corner stones upon which every individual must anchor the temple of his own salvation. The principle is this: When a conversation is about sacred things, it is not the understanding of the teacher, but rather it is the understanding of the learner that controls the conversation. The teacher is “under a strict command” to say nothing that the learner cannot comprehend as truth. The teacher can only know that if the Holy Ghost gives insights into the what and how the learner understands. If the teacher were to control the conversation based only on what he thinks the other ought to learn, he would violate a sacred trust and abdicate his own right to know. But if he listens as the Spirit enables him to commune with the soul of the learner, then he lets the background —but more especially the aptitude and desires— of the learner dictate the breath and depth of the conversation. When that happens, both the learner and the teacher are blessed.

One of the marks of the written words of a true prophet, is that they that may be read and understood by anyone who reads them, but —like a sacred code— they also carry a special meaning to those who know or seek to know. Thus, the secrets are revealed to only those who have a right to know, and the those same secrets that are hidden from the foundation of the world” remain hidden still. Alma explained,

10 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; (v.10)

As I have commented elsewhere, in the ancient world the “heart” was the cosmic center of the human body. It was considered to be the seat of both one’s intellect and one’s emotions. A hardened heart is one that is inflexible: it can not expand to embrace new emotional or academic truths. Consequently both its unbending opinions and its emotional prejudices are rooted in the same rigid rationale. A person who cultivates such a heart renders himself incapable of accepting, assimilating —even of understanding— sacred truth, as Alma explained,

11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this [not knowing the mysteries] is what is meant by the chains of hell. (v. 11)

Alma contrasted that debilitation with the freedom of one who “will not harden his heart”— a characteristic which Ezekiel describes most eloquently with this promise from the Lord:

19And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. (Ezekiel 11:19-20)

Alma’s characterization is like Ezekiel’s, but even more explicit:

and, to him [who “will not harden his heart”] 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.

I suppose “in full” really means “in full.” The Prophet Joseph explained the same principle. He said,

The reason we do not have the secrets of the Lord revealed unto us, is because we do not keep them but reveal them; we do not keep our own secrets, but reveal our difficulties to the world, even to our enemies, then how would we keep the secrets of the Lord? (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 194.)

Then Joseph added a sentence that carries no presumption, but that is the very key to his power as a prophet, and to his unbounded knowledge of the mysteries of God. He said simply, “I can keep a secret till Doomsday.”

There is a reason why one must not speak out of turn. It is the same reason why it is possible “to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.” And it is the same reason why the “mysteries of godliness” are and “have been hid from the foundation of the world.” The reason is that the mysteries of God can only be taught by the Spirit of God. If one tries to teach or to learn them any other way, their simple and profound truths become lost in the entanglement of speculation and falsehood.

There is only one who can teach ordinary people eternal truth, and that teacher is the Holy Ghost. However, there are often important agents that facilitate his teaching. The first of these agents is the words of the prophets, whether spoken or written—whether ancient or contemporary. The words stimulate one’s mind, so that the Spirit may teach their true meanings—and this is important: Those meanings are always and only about one’s Self and one’s relationship with the Saviour. Let me explain: The Spirit may testify that Joseph Smith was and is a true prophet, but the impact of that testimony is only incidentally about the Prophet Joseph. One’s testimony of the Prophet is always an enhancement of one’s understanding of the gospel—of the Saviour—of one’s Self—of one’s eternal relationships with others. That is equally true of one’s testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, or of any principle that it teaches. The object of those principles—and of all of the mysteries of godliness— is to help one define one’s Self in terms of the Saviour and his atonement. As that happens, one’s soul expands to embrace all of God’s children—charity becomes the driving force of one’s being, and living the law of consecration becomes its quiet, spontaneous, powerful manifestation. When the thoughts and actions of one’s heart is charity, then, as truth was the stimulus behind the charity, so ever increasing access to truth is the most important personal product of that same charity— and so it goes in a grand and never-ending spiral— until one knows, and loves, all things..

Some of the other agents that facilitate our understand by opening our minds to new insights that the Spirit can teach and confirm, are the ordinances and covenants of the priesthood; our own experiences and our ability to repent, to experience empathy, and also to rejoice; and the dear family members and friends who open the scriptures to our understanding, and who are wise and kind enough to patiently let us taste their meanings as we will, and digest them in our own time.

The reason the mysteries are hidden and remain hidden, is that (notwithstanding the persistence—even the love—of those who would wish us to learn)— is that the whole burden of the ability to know, and of the responsibility of knowing, rests upon one’s Self. There is only one course that leads to a knowledge of the mysteries of God. The Saviour explained:

6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
7 Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
8 For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened….
11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? (3 Nephi 14:6-8, 11)

If one asks, seeks, knocks, listens, and speaks only as one is instructed by the Spirit to speak, then the only limit placed on one’s knowing is one’s ability and willingness to assimilate what one is given to know.

Alma 12:7-8, LeGrand Baker, Zeezrom’s response

Alma 12:7-8
7 Now when Alma had spoken these words, Zeezrom began to tremble more exceedingly, for he was convinced more and more of the power of God; and he was also convinced that Alma and Amulek had a knowledge of him, for he was convinced that they knew the thoughts and intents of his heart; for power was given unto them that they might know of these things according to the spirit of prophecy.
8 And Zeezrom began to inquire of them diligently, that he might know more concerning the kingdom of God. And he said unto Alma: What does this mean which Amulek hath spoken concerning the resurrection of the dead, that all shall rise from the dead, both the just and the unjust, and are brought to stand before God to be judged according to their works? (Alma 12:7-8)

Ordinary people cannot know what another person is thinking. However, the Spirit can make one privy to other people’s thoughts. Since Mormon was not there, it is very unlikely that he, as the historian, knew such intimate details of the story unless he had access to a more full account of Zeezrom’s testimony than what he has given us. That is very likely. It is also possible that Mormon is reminding us of the message in a psalm that was sung during the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama:

11 The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity. {1}
12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law; (Psalms 94:11-12)

That is a two edged statement, for it not only tells us what God knows, but it also tells us what God does with what he knows. As in the case of Zeezrom, he teaches, initiates experiences, and helps us to understand. He does this in accordancee with covenants we and He made together before the foundation of the world.

Whenever our pre-mortal covenants are mentioned in the scriptures, there is also the promise that the Lord will insure that we have sufficient ability and opportunity to fulfill those covenants. That promise is always given to the prophets during a sode experience. As, for example, in the case of Jeremiah, the Lord said,

5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
6 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
7 But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
9 Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. (Jeremiah 1:5-10)

But not only do the prophets have this promise of unfettered opportunity for success, but each of us has a similar promise. Isaiah wrote of that promise when he addressed, in prophecy, those of us who were to come in the last days to assist in the gathering of Israel. Speaking in first person, representing those who were assigned to participate in the gathering of Israel, he wrote,

1 And again: Hearken, O ye house of Israel, … the Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. [covenant]
2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword [the word of God is priesthood power {2}]; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me [ordination], and made me a polished shaft [anointing {3}]; in his quiver hath he hid me;
3 And said unto me [the assignment]: Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified….
5 And now, saith the Lord—that formed me from the womb that I should be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him—though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.
6 And he said: It is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth. (1 Nephi 21:1-6)

One of the phrases that is most relevant to our purpose here is, “in his quiver hath he hid me.” The prophets are not hidden. They make their pronouncements for all to hear. It is the ordinary people who go about the business of living and keeping their covenants who are hidden from the world. Isaiah may well have been referring to a similar promise in the 31st Psalm.

19 Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!
20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. (Psalms 31:18-20)

One of the best examples of this promise is in the first chapter of Ephesians, where Paul says

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings [pre-mortal blessings] in heavenly places in Christ:
4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love…
11 In whom [the Father] also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory [the Father], who first trusted in Christ.
13 In whom [the Saviour] ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. (See Ephesians 1:1-23)

Paul goes on to explain that our having been “sealed by the holy Spirit of promise” was a guarantee that we will have the power to fulfill our covenants, unless we choose not to do so.

Another Old Testament example is the 45th Psalm which was enacted as a part of the drama’s depiction of events in the Council in Heaven.

The blessing given to the king and queen in Psalm 45 was extended by implication to all the people who participated in the Feast of Tabernacles drama:

The blessing was given to the person designated to become king of Israel. He was promised wonderful things, concluding with a promise of invulnerability that is couched in military phrases.

3 Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.
4 And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.
5 Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.
The blessing to the queen, his wife, is essentially the same without the military connotations.
10 Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;
11 So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.
12 And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift [shows obeisance]; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour. [the queen will be a judge among her people]

Neither of those blessings include anything about their future family. That blessing was reserved until the couple join each other in the last two verses of the psalm.

16 Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.
17 I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.[eternal marriage] (Psalms 45:1-17)

Psalm 82 is another psalm that represented events that took place during the Council in Heaven.

The first verse is a narrator explaining what is happening on the stage.

1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
Then the Father gives instructions to the members of the Council in Heaven:
2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked?
3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
7 But ye shall die like [other] men, and fall [in battle] like one of the princes.

The members of the Council respond: {4}

8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations. (Psalms 82:1-8)

In each of those scriptural discussions of our pre-mortal covenants and fore-ordinations, there is the promise that the Lord will divert anything that would prevent us from doing what we came to this earth to do. For the enormous majority of us, that means our quietly expending our resources and our energies to support the growth of the Kingdom. What God will not do is force us to obey.

In our story, the two men who face each other in this debate are excellent examples of that principle. Alma had been told by an angel that he must either repent or suffer the pains of hell—that is, the angel gave Alma the option, but it was Alma who made the choice. Now Zeezrom is having a similar experience—but it is Alma, rather than an angel, who is delivering the ultimatum.

Both men responded the same way. They chose to suffer the pains of repentance rather than the pains of hell—but they could have chosen not to repent, gone about life as before, and refused to believe what the consequence would be. We do not have much information about Zeezrom immediately after this experience, except that it nearly killed him. Alma blessed him to recover his health, and he was baptized. (Alma 15) Later he was a missionary companion to Alma and Amulek. (Alma 31:6, 30)

Not all of us will have as dramatic a conversion experience as these two men, but many latter-day converts have had as complete a change in the direction their lives were going. For each of us, throughout our life’s experience, we remain free to do and believe what we will. In our egotism we tend to equate “truth” with whatever we choose to believe, and “falsehood” with whatever we do not choose to believe. But truth is truth, and is independent of our belief. Whether we believe a true thing or not does not impact its validity, but our believing or not believing sets the course of our lives. Embracing truth brings freedom—absolute freedom—for it unites our power with the blessings God has given us that we can succeed in our earthly mission. Embracing and defending a falsehood restricts our ability to know, uses up our energy to become, and leaves our covenant responsibilities, and their attendant blessing unfulfilled.

In the end, each one of us will have to say, as Alma and Zeezrom were able to testify, that the Lord gave us all the opportunities requisite for our knowing and keeping our eternal covenants.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

ENDNOTES

{1} Paul’s paraphrase of this psalm might almost be read as a commentary on Zeezrom’s thinking.

18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. (1 Corinthians 3:18-21)

{2} In Paul’s description of the whole armor of God, we find “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17)

{3} An arrow is polished with olive oil to keep it from warping.

{4} The phrase, “arise, O God” as translated in the King James Version reads, in the Hebrew, “arise O elohim (plural, gods).” (One stands to make a covenant, as in 2 Kings 23:1-3) The word “elohim” is the proper name for the Father of the Gods, and it is also the plural form for “ordinary” gods. An example is in the first verse of our psalm, which reads, “God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.” Both “God” and “gods” are translated from the same Hebrew word, “elohim.” The last verse of Psalm 82 would be more internally consistent if its translation showed that it was spoken by the Father to the members of the Council, so that it reads, “Arise, O gods, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.” When read that way, that last verse becomes the covenant that comes at the conclusion of the instructions the Father gives to the members of the Council—and a covenant with the promise of success.

Alma 12:5-6, LeGrand Baker, the power of an embrace

Alma 12:5-6
5  Now this was a plan of thine adversary, and he hath exercised his power in thee. Now I would that ye should remember that what I say unto thee I say unto all.
6  And behold I say unto you all that this was a snare of the adversary, which he has laid to catch this people, that he might bring you into subjection unto him, that he might encircle you about with his chains, that he might chain you down to everlasting destruction, according to the power of his captivity.

I was only seven years old when my Grandpa Baker died, and I have only one short memory of him. There is some other recollection of the circumstances surrounding the incident, but they are memories of the context of the event, and not really of my Grandpa himself. The year was 1945 He and Grandma lived on their ranch in Boulder, Utah, far from any good doctors. Grandpa was very ill, and had come to stay with us while he saw a doctor here. The doctor put him in the hospital, and he died there. The circumstances surrounding my memory of him are these: He was sitting on a chair in our living room, and he motioned for me to come to him. When I did, he lifted me up and sat me on his lap. I remember those things, but they do not really count as memory of him. The single thing I remember about him is how I felt when I sat on his lap. He wrapped his arms around me and held me up tight against his chest—and I was encompassed in his love. I felt his love for me, and I knew that I was truly, truly loved. That hug—and the warm feeling that went all the way through my young body as I sat there enwrapped in his arms— is my only memory of the reality of my Grandpa. The memory does not fade. Whenever I think of him, or see his picture, I re-experience the overwhelming warmth of that embrace.

That seems so right to me. If I could have chosen to retain only one memory of my Grandpa, the one I would have chosen would have been the beauty of his embrace. Similarly, if I could choose to leave only one memory to my family and to my friends, that memory would be a hug.

An honest, heartfelt hug is much more than just a symbol of love. It is the way we take other people into ourselves—the way we may offer ourselves to them—an invitation to make each a part of the other’s being. The greatest of all human powers may be found in a tender, meaningful embrace. The scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, frequently celebrate the magnitude of a similar, but eternal, embrace.

One of the most beautiful testimony of the Saviour recorded anywhere in the scriptures is this reflection spoken by Lehi: “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 1:15)

The Lord promised a similar blessing to Oliver Cowdery,

20 Behold, thou art Oliver, and I have spoken unto thee because of thy desires; therefore treasure up these words in thy heart. Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love.
21 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (D&C 6:20-21)

The people we hug become a part of us. That is most true of the Saviour, just as Lehi said, for it projects its loving kindness into the eternities. It is an encounter with pure love, and it is above all things, the most powerful, most liberating, and most precious.

I called attention to my Grandpa’s hug and to the scriptural testimonies of the Saviour’s embrace in order to show the sharp contrast between an embrace of love and the chains of hell that Alma described to Zeezrom. Alma did not speak of loving, tender, outstretched, beckoning arms, but rather of “a snare of the adversary, which he has laid to catch this people, that he might bring you into subjection unto him, that he might encircle you about with his chains, that he might chain you down to everlasting destruction, according to the power of his captivity.”

The prospects of the confining, restricting, damning encirclement with which Alma forewarned Zeezrom are as real a possibility as is an embrace of love. That was Alma’s message to his antagonists.

In the remainder of chapter 12, Alma drives home that contrast by describing the eternal implications of our keeping— or our not keeping— the covenants we make with God. He says that if we keep our covenants, then the expanse of eternity will open to our view and present us with limitless possibilities. But, on the other hand, if we choose not to keep our covenants, then that view of eternity will implode upon us, and its power will turn from a freedom to act according to our own wills, to the impotency of our having surrendered our wills to the devil, and letting him use the power of our personalities to accomplish his purposes.

What Alma will tell us, in this and the following chapter, is that we cannot avoid an eternal embrace, but we can choose whom we will embrace, and whose power we will assimilate into ourselves when we do.

Alma 13:3-5, LeGrand Baker, the origins of our personalities

Alma 13:3-5
3 And this is the manner after which they were ordained——being called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works; in the first place being left to choose good or evil; therefore they having chosen good, and exercising exceedingly great faith, are called with a holy calling, yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such.
4 And thus they have been called to this holy calling on account of their faith, while others would reject the Spirit of God on account of the hardness of their hearts and blindness of their minds, while, if it had not been for this they might have had as great privilege as their brethren.
5 Or in fine, in the first place they were on the same standing with their brethren; thus this holy calling being prepared from the foundation of the world for such as would not harden their hearts, being in and through the atonement of the Only Begotten Son, who was prepared –

Perhaps more than any other passages of scripture, Alma chapters 12 and 13 give us a clear window through we can discover our eternal natures. We have spent all summer on Alma 12, and that should not be a surprise. Hugh Nibley said, “This is the hardest chapter in the Book of Mormon. It’s the one that separates us farthest from the world. It’s the [twelfth] chapter of Alma, where the gospel plan is given.” (Hugh Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon–Semester 1: Transcripts of Lectures Presented to an Honors Book of Mormon Class at Brigham Young University, 1988–1990 [Provo: FARMS], p. 330.)

Chapter 13 is not much simpler. It is about the origin of our personalities.

To show how I read that to be so, let me go through verse 3 again, with a slightly different emphisis from last week, then try to tie the ideas in that verse into the ideas in the two verses that follow it.

Abraham 3-5 tells about the Father’s spirit children (called the “noble and great ones” in ch.3, and “the gods” in chapters 4 and 5) who created the earth, while Alma 12-13 tells about the Father’s spirit children (called “his children in chapter 13) who were ordained to teach the unorganized intelligences about the atonement. Of those members of the Council, Abraham wrote, “God saw these souls that they were good.” Alma was much more explicit:

And this is the manner after which they were ordained – being called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God,

Alma then says that “foreknowledge” was God’s ability to project what he knew about their past into what he knew about their future—that is God’s knowledge of them in sacred time. God knew their works in the past; he knew their integrity, and he knew their future. Therefore, these “children,” —

“being called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works;”

That says that because of their faith (pistis – making and keeping covenants) – and good works (in James, Paul, throughout the Book of Mormon and many other places in the scriptures, “works” refer to ordinances.), that they were called and prepared. That should come as no surprise, because that is always the criteria God uses. The surprise may come in the next phrase which answers the question, When?

“in the first place being left to choose good or evil;”

The phrase “in the first place” has one of two meanings: either it is a colloquial expression that is just stuck in there and simply means “early on,” or it means precisely what it says: “in the first place.” If it is only a colloquialism one can make the chapter mean almost anything one wishes. However if it does mean “in the first place,” then these statements describe the attributes of noble and great ones when they were still intelligences. It tells why and how they qualified to be among the earliest spirit children born to our heavenly parents. In this chapter, the phrase, “in the first place” is used twice. I take them to mean exactly what they say: in the first place – as intelligences. Meaning that from “before the beginning” (the Lord’s words to Enoch) they were free to choose good or evil –

“therefore they [as intelligences] having chosen good, and exercising exceedingly great faith [in Christ and his atonement],”

In this verse these “children” are described as having “exceeding faith and good works” and “exercising exceedingly great faith.” If “faith” simply means belief, then that speaks highly of their conviction. However, if “faith” means the same as pistis – tokens of covenants – that helps us understand how truly great these luminaries must have been. Alma says that they –

“are called with a holy calling, yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such.”

“Preparatory redemption” is another key phrase which helps us determine the time this was happening. “Redemption” is coming into the presence of God. In terms of this life, to be redeemed is to be brought back into his presence. (Ether 3:13-14, Helaman 14:17, 2 Nephi 2:2-4, 2 Nephi 1:15). The final redemption is being brought into the Celestial Kingdom where one may reside with God.

“Preparatory redemption” does not mean “preparing for a redemption,” it means a redemption which prepares one for something else – a redemption that is “preparatory.” In this case it would be that redemption that brought those intelligences into God’s presence the first time—being born as spirit children to our heavenly Parents. It is preparatory because it is not permanent.

We had to leave their presence again when we come into this world. Later, when we return to stay, that will be a permanent redemption. What we do in this world to prepare for that is what Alma called, in chapter 12, “the plan of redemption.”

So the first redemption, when we became spirit children was “preparatory” because there we were taught to come here and instructed about what we must do here to obtain the blessings of an eternal redemption.

4 And thus they [the “children” – members of the Council] have been called to this holy calling on account of their faith [in Christ], while others [intelligences who were not members of the Council] would reject the Spirit of God on account of the hardness of their hearts

That phrase, “the hardness of their hearts,” had just been very carefully defined by Alma, so there could be no question in Zeezrom’s mind what it meant. In chapter 12 Alma said,

9 …It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God [“Mysteries” is the same is sode, and may refer to a real sode experience the prophets receive when they return, in vision, to the Council, or it may to the this-world version of a sode experience that the ancient Israelites received during the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama]; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.
10 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.
11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this [choosing to not know the mysteries] is what is meant by the chains of hell. (Alma 12:9-11)

Alma said,

4 And thus they have been called to this holy calling on account of their faith, while others would reject the Spirit of God on account of the hardness of their heartsand blindness of their minds, while, if it had not been for this [their refusal to know] they [the “people”— those who were not yet “children”] might have had as great privilege as their brethren [those who are the “children”].

Understanding that verse, in the full context of the atonement, may be the most important concept in the scriptures—certainly the most relevant for each of us to understand one’s Self. For, as the next verse makes it clear, the noble and great ones were not noble and great because they had some special advantages, but “on account of their exceeding faith and good works” – because of the way they exercised their free agency, their advancement as intelligences was an entirely individual matter. (Abraham 3:18-21 teaches that same thing.)

5a. Or in fine, in the first place [“In the first place” – when they were intelligences] they [the “people”] were on the same standing with their brethren [the “children”];

That is, at some point in time—in the first place—before the very beginning—in our very distant past—the intelligences whom Alma identifies as the “people” were on the same standing as the intelligences whom he identifies as “the children.” In the first place, there was nothing arbitrary about the selection of who would be the noble and great ones. They were not noble and great because they were the among the first to be born to our Heavenly Parents, but they were among the first to be born to our Heavenly Parents because as intelligences they had become noble and great.

5b thus this holy calling [the ordination mentioned in verse one] being prepared from the foundation of the world [that phrase always means at or before the Council in Heaven] for such as would not harden their hearts [when they were intelligences], [This priesthood calling] being in and through the atonement of the Only Begotten Son, who was prepared –

If I read that correctly it says that in the very beginnings of our beginning we were free to choose. Those who chose to have faith in Christ and follow him did so; those who chose to do it to the degree that it seemed convenient, did so; those who chose not to, did not do so. To accept that notion, one must also accept the idea that the atonement reaches back forever—is infinite and eternal. For if intelligences were free to make decisions, there must have also been a way provided that would enable them to correct bad decisions, thus the need for repentance, thus the need for the atonement. I accept that as truth. But in my imagination, I cannot conceive of our origin being so two dimensional as to simply assert that one only accepted Christ or not accept him. My notion is that by the time one had matured sufficiently as an “intelligence” to be ready to be born a child in the world of the spirits, one had not only developed one’s inclination to love the Lord and his children; but one had also fully, or very nearly fully, developed the whole complex system of preferences and non-preferences that we call personality. I suppose also, that all the other attributes of personality were subsets of the most important one, which was (still is) charity – one’s love for our Father and his children.

The first commandment is to Love the Lord. The second is to love your neighbor. If our this-physical-life experience was designed to see if we will love in an environment that is not conducive to love, then it was designed very well indeed. The farmer who beats his dogs and horses, and is cruel to his wife and children, is, at his core, not substantially different from the tyrant who over-taxes his people and oppresses them with unjust laws. Similarly the impoverished housewife who feeds the hungry neighbor child is not substantially different from the middle class Latter-day Saint Relief Society sister who looks after her ill neighbor because she chooses to rather than because she feels it is her duty. It seems to me that earth’s experience was designed, not just to show if we will obey, but to show why we obeyed before we came here. That is, to give us sufficient opportunity in this dark and lonely world to confirm to ourselves and all creation whether we obeyed in the spirit world because we knew which side our bread was buttered on, or whether we obeyed because we truly love the Lord and love his children.

In the Gospel of John, the beloved disciple, quotes the Saviour as saying,

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)

This does not imply that the command to love one another was never given before that time. In his letters John explains that the commandment is eternal, but is “new” because it is renewed in this world, but it was first given in the pre-mortal existence. He used the phrase, “from the beginning” four times in these few verses. (In D&C 132, the phrase “new and everlasting covenant” has the same connotation.)

4 He that saith, I know him [God], and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
7 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. (1 John 2: 4-10)

and

1 The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;
2 For the truth’s sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.
3 Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
4 I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.
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: 1-6)

If the object of our earth life experience was designed to that end, then human and individual history takes on a whole new meaning. Whether in the extreme of poverty and in utter obscurity, or in great wealth and reputation—or somewhere in between – the purpose of life is the same for everyone – only the specific assignments are different – in this life and, I suppose, in the spirit world which follows. Since “where much is given, much is required” is a true principle, for the rich and the poor, the well educated and the ill-educated, the opportunities for doing good in this life (and/or in the next), are ultimately worked out on a level playing field.

An example is one of the most moving autobiographies I have ever read. Martha Cox’s parents were among the first settlers in St. George, Utah. All of her life she was very poor. Near the end of her autobiography she wrote something like this: “I have always been grateful to the Lord that I had no money. I have noticed that rich people cannot give to poor people without the poor people being reluctant to accept, because they think the rich people are being condescending. But I have always been so poor that I could help whomever I wished, and they were always able to accept whatever I had to give.” (Im sorry I don’t have the exact quote. A typescript of her autobiography is at BYU library: Martha Cragun Cox, 1852-1932. MSS SC 319.)

I believe that one’s love for God and his children—one’s charity (in combination with other personality attributes), and one’s priesthood authority as they are described as a single unit in Abraham 1:2-4, and whose history is described in Alma 13, constitute the ‘law of one’s own being.’ (As I consider it, I think that the phrase “priesthood authority” is the right concept, but as we use the words, probably not the right phrase – though I have no idea what a better one would be. Considering the grand sweep and eternal scope of Abraham’s statements, I think the concept is far too big for our gender oriented phrase “priesthood authority” to say all that is necessary to say. But as I observed, I haven’t the foggiest idea what a better phrase would be.)

Alma 12:3, LeGrand Baker, “but thou hast lied unto God.”

Now Zeezrom, seeing that thou hast been taken in thy lying and craftiness, for thou hast not lied unto men only but thou hast lied unto God; for behold, he knows all thy thoughts, and thou seest that thy thoughts are made known unto us by his Spirit; (Alma 12:3)

I remember, as a boy reading the account of this interchange between Alma and Zeezrom, that I was rather ill-impressed by the logic of it. The reason was that in my naivety, it seemed to me that Alma was simply stating the obvious, so I could not understand why Zeezrom was so deeply moved by such a simple argument. However, now that I am old, I see things I did not see then. I understand that the impact did not come from the simplicity of the argument, but rather from the power of the simplicity. The indictment in those words, “for thou hast not lied unto men only but thou hast lied unto God,” are an invitation to walk through the gates of hell. It was the reality of the invitation that struck Zeezrom to the core of his being.

As a boy, I believed God knows and understands everything. So I saw Alma’s statement, “for behold, he knows all thy thoughts,” as simply an expression of the obvious. But as a boy, I had no concept of a covenantal relationship with God that requires the undeviating rectitude of our actions— but an even greater integrity of our attitudes.

The alternative to keeping one’s covenants is a spiritual disintegration —a profoundly withering, devastating effect on the soul’s capacity to know truth and do good. (Beginning with verse 9 in this chapter, Alma explains how and why that is so.)

The reason that one’s not keeping one’s covenants is so spiritually, emotionally, and mentally debilitating is easy to discover. One cannot lie to God without first lying about one’s Self to one’s Self—squeezing one’s Self in a vice of contradictions. In order for one to accept the lie, one must create an artificial Self to replace the one that is consistent with the eternal law of one’s own being. That is easily accomplished, because the lie distorts one’s memory of one’s Self, and redirects one’s attention from seeking the happiness offered by integrity and love for others, to seeking happiness by building the self-image that can sustain—and be sustained by—perpetuating and justifying a mask that has become the face of the lie. As the person behind the facade assumes the characteristics of the veneer he tries to project as his reality, the result is a kind of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde relationship, where the inner self becomes first subservient, then completely dominated, and ultimately supplanted by the shell that pretends to be the Self.

The dominant personality has become like a meaningless facade—like a termite infested building with a new brick face to present only the pretense of stability— and like the proverbial tree that looks strong on the outside, but is rotten on the inside. Eventually the tree collapses upon itself because the outer shell can no longer hold up the height, weight, and “surpassing beauty” of the tree’s rich green foliage. So the shell implodes, and foliage turns brown and dies.

When one chooses to cease keeping the covenants he has made with God, there are two ways that open to him as alternatives. They appear on the outside to be different, but to the inner consequence they are the same.

One may try to demonstrate the correctness of his choice by seeking to show that the covenants were never valid. Such people often try to justify their actions by asserting that the covenants themselves were a fraud. The idea seems to be that their own part of the covenant is void because when the covenants were made God was off somewhere else. Elder Maxwell once discussed this phenomena:

     The Prophet Joseph spoke of how apostates often bring severe persecutions upon their former friends and associates. “When once that light which was in them is taken from them they become as much darkened as they were previously enlightened, and then, no marvel, if all their power should be enlisted against the truth, and they, Judas like, seek the destruction of those who were their greatest benefactors. (HC 2:23.)
     Strange, how often defectors leave the Church, but they cannot leave it alone!”   (Neal A. Maxwell, All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1979], 108.) (Italics in original.)

Jeremiah described these sorts of apostates, and intertwined his description of their actions with his own understanding of the waters of life.

11   Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
12  Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord.
13  For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:11-13)

The Lord used that same kind of analogy when he said to the Prophet Joseph,

22  And now, verily I say unto you, that as I said that I would make known my will unto you, behold I will make it known unto you, not by the way of commandment, for there are many who observe not to keep my commandments.
23  But unto him that keepeth my commandments I will give the mysteries of my kingdom, and the same shall be in him a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life. (D&C 63:20-26)

The other way to lie to God is to remain “active” in the Church, while selectively keeping the convenient covenants and covertly disregarding the others. As time passes, the disregarded will grow in strength and numbers, and the poor ill-defined self will be swallowed up in a morass of duplicity. The Saviour described that kind of apostasy.

27  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
28  Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. (Matthew 23:25-31)

The result is not different for those who openly rebel and those whose rebellion is a quiet subversion.

Each of us tend to look upon our Self with a prejudiced eye, having a too-intimate relation with our own imperfections. Those who do not wish to project a counterfeit of themselves, seek to uncover the sterling nature of their own reality. “But how?” one asks. “How can I judge myself when I have no one to compare the real me to? The only criterion of judgement I have is the way others appear to me to be. How can I use their public persona as a measure by which to judge the private me?”

There is a way, but it requires some honesty. Yet, if applied, its return will be greater honesty. One of the surest ways to self-judge whether one is being true to the law of one’s own being is to observe one’s Self, and ask: “How much wiggle room do I need in order to be content with the notion that I am keeping all of the necessary covenants?” The answer will reveal that the wiggle room may be a problem, but if some of the covenants are thought of as unnecessary, that is a problem indeed!

If the question is asked often enough, and with real intent, the question’s own relevance will shrink until it has no pretense to hide, and therefore no more meaning. The answer will become, “Oh, I mostly just go about being myself— I keep my covenants with an unassuming rectitude that is as unconscious as breath, and as clean as charity, and as free as happiness?” When that is the answer, one has become free of self-disparagement, because one’s Self has come to be in perfect accord with the eternal law of one’s own being.