Category: Book of Mormon Project

3 Nephi 3:1-10 — LeGrand Baker — Gadianton letter

One evidence that Mormon is a superb historian is that he tells us the political, and economic philosophies of the Nephite enemies.

Giddianhi, the governor of Gadianton robbers, wrote to Lachoneus with flattering words that were designed to mask his pernicious intent. Such people remind one of Hamlet’s lament: “O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!… That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain” (Hamlet act 1, scene 5). Giddianhi threat of aggression even expressed his concern for the safety of the Nephites. He wrote:

3 And it seemeth a pity unto me, most noble Lachoneus, that ye should be so foolish and vain as to suppose that ye can stand against so many brave men who are at my command, who do now at this time stand in their arms, and do await with great anxiety for the word—Go down upon the Nephites and destroy them.

He asserted the legitimacy of the Gadianton cause:

9 And behold, I am Giddianhi; and I am the governor of this the secret society of Gadianton; which society and the works thereof I know to be good; and they are of ancient date and they have been handed down unto us.

10 And I write this epistle unto you, Lachoneus, and I hope that ye will deliver up your lands and your possessions, without the shedding of blood, that this my people may recover their rights and government, who have dissented away from you because of your wickedness in retaining from them their rights of government, and except ye do this, I will avenge their wrongs. I am Giddianhi

Then he focused his arguments on the political and economic philosophies of the Gadianton robbers.

6 Therefore I write unto you, desiring that ye would yield up unto this my people, your cities, your lands, and your possessions, rather than that they should visit you with the sword and that destruction should come upon you.

7 Or in other words, yield yourselves up unto us, and unite with us and become acquainted with our secret works, and become our brethren that ye may be like unto us—not our slaves, but our brethren and partners of all our substance.

His words sounded nice, but they had a hollow ring, because for their part, the robbers had nothing to contribute. They had become a society of parasites. Mormon tells us:

3 And the robbers could not exist save it were in the wilderness, for the want of food; for the Nephites had left their lands desolate, and had gathered their flocks and their herds and all their substance, and they were in one body.

4 Therefore, there was no chance for the robbers to plunder and to obtain food, save it were to come up in open battle against the Nephites; and the Nephites being in one body, and having so great a number, and having reserved for themselves provisions, and horses and cattle, and flocks of every kind, that they might subsist for the sp ace of seven years, in the which time they did hope to destroy the robbers from off the face of the land; and thus the eighteenth year did pass away (3 Nephi 4:3-4).

Giddianhi’s proposition to the Nephites can be reduced to a single sentence: “What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is negotiable.”

Even if the robbers had defeated the Nephites, their success would have carried with it the seeds of their own destruction. For after they had consumed the crops and herds of the Nephites, they would have had no way to continue to survive as a society because they would have had noone else to steal from. When people accept the proposition that it is their right to live by the labors of others, they forfeit their own ability to sustain themselves and become slaves to the distribution system that feeds them.

3 Nephi 12:2-10 — LeGrand Baker — Beatitudes and King Benjamin

This was written as a discussion of Mosiah 3:19

19    For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

It is my habit, whenever I see a reference in the Book of Mormon to Adam or the fall, to ask myself, “Is this about the fall, or is this about the story in the temple drama of the Feast of Tabernacles which depicts Adam and Eve and the fall?” Often, as in this case, the answer is the latter rather than the former. Thus the answer to the question gives the key to understanding the scripture. Another good example is Alma 12:28-35. There Alma recalls the drama to his listeners by beginning in the Council then moving to the story of Adam and Eve. He tells how angels taught men to pray and God himself said he would teach people to “enter into my rest.” Whereas Alma went through most of the essentials of the drama in just eight verses, King Benjamin did an even more thorough job in only one verse. An interesting difference is that Alma concludes with “whosoever will harden his heart [which he has just defined (v. 9-11) as refusing to know the mysteries of Godliness] and will do iniquity, behold I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest.” King Benjamin, on the other hand, begins with that idea: “the natural man is an enemy to God…”

The remarkable thoroughness of King Benjamin’s short verse is so concise that it almost reads as though it were written in code. But it probably was not intended to be that, as we may assume his audience understood everything he was saying. For us the easiest way to expand his words so we may understand them, is to compare them with a similar, but more explicit, statement of the Saviour. I believe the Beatitudes contain everything there is to know about the entire plan of salvation. It does not contain it in a great deal of detail, but in macrocosm, everything there is to say is said there. King Benjamin follows precisely those same ideas in precisely the same sequence. So, to understand what King Benjamin has to say, the simplest way seems to be to look at what the Saviour said in the Beatitudes.

I have discussed the Beatitudes before. Some of you, like my dear friend Dan Belnap, will wonder why I am doing it again here. The answer is that it is necessary until we have a convenient way to refer back to comments one has already made in this Project. Beck is working on that. In the meantime, continuity sometimes requires repetition.

In the remainder of this comment I will:
Part 1- review how the Beatitudes relate to the temple drama of the ancient Israelite Feast of Tabernacles.
Part 2- relate those ideas in that sequence to this verse in King Benjamin’s address
Part 3- make some comments about the unique information one learns from King Benjamin about the meaning of the Beatitudes.

For a more complete discussion of the Beatitudes see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord.

PART 1 – HOW THE BEATITUDES RELATE TO THE TEMPLE DRAMA OF THE ANCIENT ISRAELITE NEW YEAR’S FESTIVAL.

This discussion of the Beatitudes is very brief. For a fuller explanation see the chapters that deal with the Beatitudes in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord.

FOLLOW THE BRETHREN

1    Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to minister unto you, and to be your servants; and unto them I have given power that they may baptize you with water; and after that ye are baptized with water, behold, I will baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost; therefore blessed are ye if ye shall believe in me and be baptized, after that ye have seen me and know that I am (3 Nephi 12:1).

FIRST PRINCIPLES AND ORDINANCES

2    And again, more blessed are they who shall believe in your words because that ye shall testify that ye have seen me, and that ye know that I am. Yea, blessed are they who shall believe in your words, and come down into the depths of humility and be baptized, for they shall be visited with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and shall receive a remission of their sins.

ENDOWMENT FOR THE LIVING

3    Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

VICARIOUS WORK FOR THE DEAD

4     “And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted (3 Nephi 12: 3).

Here the Saviour is paraphrasing Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61 is a prophecy of the Lord’s visit to the world of the spirits of the dead during the period between his own death and his resurrection. President Joseph F. Smith saw in vision the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy. In recording his own vision (which is D&C 138) President Smith used much of Isaiah’s language, and paraphrased the entire first verse when he wrote that Isaiah had “declared by prophecy that the Redeemer was anointed to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that were bound.” (D&C 138:42) In describing how the dead will be “comforted,” Isaiah wrote that “to comfort all that mourn; [means] “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion [to make them a part of Zion], to give unto them beauty [Hebrew: the beauty of a hat or crown] for ashes [there must be a ceremonial washing to remove the ashes], the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called [new king-name] trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. [implication of the meaning of the new name: a combination of tree of life and eternal increase] (Isaiah 61:2-3)

KEEPING THE ETERNAL COVENANTS ONE MADE AT THE COUNCIL IN HEAVEN

5    And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (3 Nephi 12:5).

Here the Saviour is referring to two Psalms. Psalm 37:7-11 says the meek “shall inherit the earth,” and 25:9-14. In the latter, the meek are defined within the terms of eternal covenant. Verse 11 reads “The secret [Hebrew: sode means the decisions of the Heavenly Council (see footnote 1) ] of the Lord is with them [the meek ] that fear [ respect, honor ] him; and he [the Lord] will show them [the meek ] his covenant [the covenant they made in the Council.].

I believe to show means to show as in Isaiah 6, or to show as in to instruct by the Spirit so one will know how one is to fulfil the assignments made and accepted at the Council – and also remind him of the covenant provisions which would guarantee that one would be able to fulfil those assignments. Thus, in the Psalms which the Saviour quotes and paraphrases, the “meek” are those who keep their eternal covenants.

One gets a broader picture of what all of the Beatitudes are about, when one examines the Greek word which is translated “blessed”in the New Testament Sermon on the Mount. In their Anchor Bible translation of Matthew 5, Albright and Mann have chosen to substitute it with the word “fortunate.” They explain that “blessed” has been given an ecclesiastical kind of connotation which the original Greek did not have. So they avoided that by using the word “fortunate.” Then in a footnote they explain that “fortunate” is not really correct, but the actual Greek word could not possibly be translated into what it really says, because that would make no sense to them — it will make perfect sense to you, however! They write that the classical Greek meaning of the word which Matthew uses, and which they translate “fortunate,” actually means “in the state of the gods.” (Anchor Bible, Matthew, p. 45, fn 3.)

Thus, what we hear the Saviour saying in this Beatitude is this: “In the state of the gods are those who keep their eternal covenants, for it is they and their children who shall inherit the celestial earth.”

PARTAKING OF THE FRUIT OF THE TREE OF LIFE

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

Hunger and thirst brings to mind the promises in Nephi’s vision of the tree of life and the waters of life. “Righteousness” is zadek – which we have defined elsewhere as meaning “temple things.”  To be “filled with the Holy Ghost” is different from being “visited” in verse 2.

LEARNING TO BE A RIGHTEOUS KING

7    And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (3 Nephi 12:7).

Kingship imputes two major functions and responsibilities: 1) to be commander-in-chief, and 2) to be judge. The need to be military leader is temporary, and passes when the enemy is defeated. But the function of judge is eternal. To judge sometimes implies to condemn, but more importantly, it means to justify, but not only to justify, but also to sustain the just by the strength and integrity of one’s power to judge. Thus, to be a righteous judge is the epitome of the powers of kingship. If one is to continue on this path which the Saviour is outlining in the Beatitudes and eventually become a sacral king or queen, then one’s learning to be a merciful king is the next – and the next necessary – step along that way.

BEING ABLE TO STAND AT THE VEIL

8    And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God (3 Nephi 12:8).

THE CORONATION – BECOMING A CHILD OF GOD – THE CRITERION IS LOVE

9     And blessed [in the state of the gods] are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God (3 Nephi 12:9).

We learn the definition of “peacemaker” in Moroni 7, where Mormon speaks to “the peaceable followers of Christ,” whom he can identify “because of your peaceable walk with the children of men.” Of these people, we are told that they “have obtained [past tense] a sufficient hope by which ye can enter into the rest of the Lord, from this time henceforth until ye shall rest with him in heaven.” That seems to me to say that these people have already passed the step which is “blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God,” and Mormon is now teaching these people how to go the next step and become “children of God.”

Mormon explains to them that after they have come this far, in order to inherit all that the Father has, one must have faith (“pistis” – the token of the covenant), hope (to live as though the blessings of the covenant were already fulfilled), and charity (love – love is the first and the last criterion of being like the Father, and therefore is the final necessary prerequisite to inheriting all that the Father has. – v. 48 )

While charity may be more understandable if it is experienced than if it is defined, the concept of being a “child” of God is very definable. It is a highly legalistic concept which deals with the right to inherit – “And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true. They are they who are the church of the Firstborn. They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things-They are they who are priests and kings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory;” (D&C 76:53-56)

The Beatitude, “And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God,” is about that, for these “peacemakers” are given a new name — a royal king-name, which is “the children of God.”

If the Saviour is referring to one of the Psalms of the temple rites, it is Psalm 2. The Second Psalm was one of the first to be identified as a Royal Psalm. “The usual interpretation of the psalm…suggests that it is an oracle on the day of the king’s ascension to his throne.” (Aage Bentzen, King and Messiah (London, Lutterworth Press, 1955), 16.) The lines most often quoted from that psalm are, “Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.”

That is very important, for if the king were not a “son,” his sitting to the throne would be an act of usurpation. Only if he is a legitimately adopted son of God may the king legitimately sit upon his Father’s throne in the temple’s Holy of Holies. Sigmund Mowinckel says that the anointing of the king at the time of his coronation was a dual ordinance. The anointing was an ordinance of adoption and an ordinance of coronation. He writes, that “the act adoption is identical with the anointing and installation.” The context of his statement is as follows:

“It is clear that the king is regarded as Yahweh’s son by adoption. When, in Ps. ii, 7, Yahweh says to the king on the day of his anointing and installation, ‘You are My son; I have begotten you today’, He is using the ordinary formula of adoption, indicating that the sonship rests on Yahweh’s adoption of the king. The act of adoption is identical with the anointing and installation.” (Sigmund Mowinckel, He that Cometh (New York: Abingdon Press, 1954), 78. )

Thus in the words, “And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God,” we have an implicit anointing which represents both an adoption with the covenant name “child of God,” and a final coronation. This dual

ordnance is the full culmination of all that precedes it. In verse 3 one was acknowledged as one who would become king, but here in verse 9 one is anointed king in fact. That kingship is acknowledged in the interesting context of the “persecution” which is in the next three verses.

PERSECUTION – THE CONSEQUENCE OF SACRAL KINGSHIP

10    And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11    And blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake;
12    For ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you (3 Nephi 12:10-12).

A RESPONSIBILITY OF A SACRAL KING OR QUEEN IS MISSIONARY WORK

13    Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men (3 Nephi 12:13).

In my article “What does it mean to be the ‘salt of the earth’?” (Ensign, April 1999, p. 53-34) I showed that to be the “salt of the earth” means to be the catalyst of the Lord’s sacrifice. That is, it is our responsibility to do missionary work to the people of the earth.

THE SECOND RESPONSIBILITY OF A SACRAL KING OR QUEEN – PERFECT THE SAINTS.

14    Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the light of this people. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
15    Behold, do men light a candle and put it under a bushel? Nay, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house;
16    Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven (3 Nephi 12:14-16).

Being a light has to do with one’s relationship with “this people” rather than with “the earth,” so it is the responsibility one has to help “perfect the Saints.”

PART 2 – HOW KING BENJAMIN’S ADDRESS RELATES TO THE BEATITUDES

Now, lets return to King Benjamin and look at what he said. “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”

In both the Beatitudes and King Benjamin’s address, the pinnacle of the whole concept is to become a legal heir — a child of God — a sacral king or queen.

It is consistent with the scriptures that King Benjamin’s definition of what it means to be a “child” is relevant in every stage of one’s spiritual development: the 8-year-old who is about to be baptized; the maturing teenager who is struggling to know himself; the new convert to the church (whether that “convert” is already a baptized member of the church, but is now comprehending its significance and power, or whether one is a mature person born outside the church, who is learning about the gospel for the first time, the same idea applies here); finally, the person who is trying to live temple covenants. For each of these, King Benjamin’s description of what it means to be a child is meaningful and relevant.

The Saviour used the word “child” in those same multiple ways.

37    And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child [King Benjamin’s definition works here.], and be baptized in my name baptism by water], or ye can in nowise receive these things. [The “these things” are the testimonies of the Holy Ghost which he has just been talking about.]
38    And again I say unto you, ye must repent [this repentance is what follows baptism by water], and be baptized in my name [He has, and will again, talk about another baptism, this one by fire and the Holy Ghost], and become as a little child [King Benjamin’s definition still works, only now we are talking about kingship, inheritance, and receiving the king-name “child of God.”], or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God [It all comes back to the same thing: One can not be a legitimate “king or queen” unless one is a legitimate “child”.]. (3 Nephi 11:37-38)

In the last instance, it appears that King Benjamin’s “becometh a child…even as a child doth submit to his father” maps directly to the Saviour’s Beatitude, “And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.”

It is relatively easy to map the rest of King Benjamin’s sequence of concepts to the sequence of concepts in the Saviour’s Beatitudes

“Yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit” = 3 Ne. 12:1-2 – follow the brethren and believe, repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Ghost.

“Putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord,” = the temple ordinances and covenants represented in 3 Ne. 12: 3-4.

In Isaiah 61 (as everywhere else, for that matter) one of the fundamental parts of the kingship coronation rites is to be clothed in priesthood/kingly garments. For example, before Job approached the veil where he saw God (Job 42:5), the Lord instructed him, “Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.” (Job 40:10). In Isaiah 61 we have two references to the royal garment. One is in the coronation scene: “the garment of praise…” ; and the other is in the wedding hymn at the end of the chapter: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of  salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61:10)

The pre-condition of being royally clothed is always the same (as in Isaiah 61 again): to be prepared by a ceremonial washing and anointing. That requires one’s taking off his “street clothes” and becoming naked so that one can later be clothed in “robes of righteousness.”

In this Mosiah 3 context, I presume that to “put off the natural man” means to strip onself naked of the things of this world, so that God may clothe one with his own glory, just as one had to be similarly prepared to receive

the kingly-priestly garments of the ancient temple coronation rites. If that is correct, then “putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord,” has the same fundamental meaning as v. 3 and 4 in the Beatitudes.

— “submissive, meek” = Blessed are the meek – keeping the covenants one
make at the Council. Two of the best examples I can find of that are Abinadi standing before King Noah, and Joseph Smith leaving Nauvoo for Carthage jail. Neither Abinadi nor Joseph bowed to or shrank from the earthly powers which were about to destroy them, but both submitted themselves to the Lord by keeping their eternal covenants in order to fulfil their earthly missions.

“Humble” = Blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness.

“Patient” = Blessed are the merciful

“Full of love” = pure in heart – peacemakers – to see God and become children of God

“Willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him” = Blessed are all they who are persecuted…

“Even as a child doth submit to his father” = For they shall be called the children of God.

PART 3 — THE UNIQUE INFORMATION ABOUT THE BEATITUDES ONE LEARNS FROM KING BENJAMIN’S SYNOPSIS.

If, as it appears, King Benjamin’s statement is a synopsis of the Saviour’s Beatitudes, which are, in turn, a synopsis of everything that is fundamental in the plan of salvation and the temple drama of the ancient Israelite New Year festival, then, from that fact, we learn several important things:

1) Since King Benjamin’s address was given about 124 years before the Saviour’s, Benjamin cannot be said to have copied something he read the Saviour had said. Instead King Benjamin was giving his own summary of long established principles and ordinances which his congregation understood very well. Similarly, the Saviour’s Beatitudes were not new ideas, but a magnificent expression of gospel principles which had been understood ever since the origin of the ancient Israelite temple rites. That origin, according to Abraham, Alma, Paul, and others, dates at least as  far back as the Heavenly Council.

2) To me, one of the most interesting new insights I gained from writing this was in the mapping of “humble” to ” blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness.” One watches that hungering and thirsting in the story of Nephi’s desire to experience the tree of life and the waters of life, and in Alma 32 where Alma talks about wishing to taste the light of the fruit of the tree of life. But reducing all of that to the simple concept of “humble” is both instructive and meaningful to me.

3) It helps me to understand the phrase, “For the natural man is an enemy to God…” One of the central themes of the drama of the ancient New Year festival was the defeat of chaos by the powers of creation. It appears first in the war in heaven, where the chaotic forces of evil are driven from the heavens; again in the story of the creation of the world when the sacred hill where the Garden was planted rises from the chaotic waters; again when the forces of evil on this earth are defeated by the power of Jehovah; and finally when Jehovah himself descends into the underworld to defeat both death and hell, and restore the king back to Zion where he crowned king and priest forever.

In each of these instances the “enemy” is one who is, or who supports and sustains the disorganizing energies of chaos, while the object of God is to create order and harmony — the cosmos which is Zion. Thus, “the natural man” who will not “put off the natural man”- and become a saint through the ordinances and covenants which give him access to the full royal blessings of the atonement, must stay outside of Zion. And therefore remains by his own volition, and by definition, an “enemy to God.” His being an enemy is not a status assigned to him by God, but by himself. And he will cease to be an enemy when he accepts the invitation becomes a “child.”

———————————-

Footnote 1:
Brown shows how the Hebrew word sode and the greek word mysterion (mystery) often mean the same thing. He wrote:

One cannot begin this investigation simply by studying mysterion in the LXX and the corresponding Hebrew words it translates. Actually, mysterion appears only in the LXX translation of the post-exilic books….Rather, we must trace the idea of “mystery” in its historical development and through a variety of terms. We may begin with the Hebrew word “sod” a word which is never translated in the LXX by mysterion….the word has a wide semantic area: confidential talk, a circle of people in council, secrets….When we approach the early biblical uses of “sod” with the idea of “council” or “assembly” in mind, we find that this meaning particularly fits the passages dealing with the heavenly “sod” occur in biblical references to the heavenly council of God and his angels…. Amos (3:7) announces almost as a proverb that God will surely not do anything `until he has revealed his “sod” to his servants the prophets.’…In the Hebrew represented by Proverbs, Sirach, and Qumran, “sod” is used simply for secrets or mysteries.(Brown, Raymond E., The Semitic Background of the Term “Mystery” in the New Testament, Fortress Press, Philadelphia, 1968, p. 2-6).

3 Nephi 12 3, 5 — LeGrand Baker– Poor and Meek

This was written as a comment about 2 Nephi 30:7-18, but it is equally relevant to those two verses in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor is spirit,” and “Blessed are the meek.”

2 Nephi 30:7-18
7   And it shall come to pass that the Jews which are scattered also shall begin to believe in Christ; and they shall begin to gather in upon the face of the land; and as many as shall believe in Christ shall also become a delightsome people.
8   And it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall commence his work among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, to bring about the restoration of his people upon the earth.
9   And with righteousness shall the Lord God judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
10   For the time speedily cometh that the Lord God shall cause a great division among the people, and the wicked will he destroy; and he will spare his people, yea, even if it so be that he must destroy the wicked by fire.
11   And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
12   And then shall the wolf dwell with the lamb; and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling, together; and a little child shall lead them.
13   And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
14   And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall
put his hand on the cockatrice’s den.
15   They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
16   Wherefore, the things of all nations shall be made known; yea, all things shall be made known unto the children of men.
17   There is nothing which is secret save it shall be revealed; there is no work of darkness save it shall be made manifest in the light; and there is nothing which is sealed upon the earth save it shall be loosed.
18   Wherefore, all things which have been revealed unto the children of men shall at that day be revealed; and Satan shall have power over the hearts of the children of men no more, for a long time. And now, my beloved brethren, I make an end of my sayings.

In these few short verses Nephi carries us from the time of the gathering of the Jews to the beginning of the millennium. He goes so quickly that it almost causes one to try to catch him and ask, “You have just skipped through the events of my lifetime, but where am I in your story.”

I suppose, if we could do that, he would respond, “I have told you already, that’s why we have read so much of Isaiah together.” At least, I think that’s what he might say, because as I read the parts of these verses which speak specifically of the members of Christ’s church, my mind moves back to Nephi’s emphasis on Isaiah, then, almost with transition, forward to the Beatitudes (for it’s all the same story). Now, as I sit here, my mind replaying some of the things Nephi has taught, I just go “WOW,” and wonder what to write to make that “WOW” intelligible to my friends.

It seems to me that in these passages Nephi does not write about our times as much as he writes about us – individually. The verse I have in mind is the one which he quoted from Isaiah before (Isaiah 11:4 quoted in 2 Nephi 21:4), and which he now pulls from its original context to paraphrase again here. In Isaiah’s code words (as I read the words) Nephi sums up our lives and our missions. He paraphrases Isaiah, “And with righteousness shall the Lord God judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth.”(2 Ne. 30: 9a )

I think what I would like to write today, is a review of the meaning of the code words, especially “poor,” “meek,” and “judge.” In looking at the meaning of “meek” we will have to look at other code words, like “way,” “path,” “secrets (sode),” and a few others. For some of you who have been a part of our Book of Mormon Project for about as long as I have, what I am going to write may contain nothing new. Some of you will recognize parts of this as being lifted almost verbatim from other things I have written. To you, I apologize for the redundancy, and suggest you may want to stop reading now. But for others of you, some of these ideas may be new, and may even have some value. I believe it is important in order to understand our verses, to observe that the two major code words which are used here are the same ones which are used in D&C 88:17. “And the redemption of the soul is through him that quickeneth all things, in whose bosom it is decreed that the poor and the meek of the earth shall inherit it.” The earth, as I understand that passage in its full context, was created, and will be celestialized, for the express purpose of being inhabited by the “poor” and the “meek.” Those are the same words which describe the people in our Book of Mormon verse. So our quest to understand either verse needs to begin with our discussing the answers to the questions: “Who are the ‘poor?’ and Who are the ‘meek’?”

First, Who are the poor?

The place to begin to look is in the Beatitudes (I will quote the ones in 3 Nephi 12 rather than in Matthew 5.), where verse three reads, “Yea, blesed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Non-LDS scholars don’t know (and most are honest enough that they say they really don’t know) what “poor” means in the Beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (3 Nephi version rather than the one in Matthew) However these scholars do insist that “poor” has nothing to do with poverty, or a lack of spirituality. The Anchor Bible translation uses ‘pious’ or God-fearing as a substitute for poor. That substitution makes sense in the first part of the verse, but it does not account for why the Saviour used “poor” as the requisite condition of those who will ultimately own the Kingdom of Heaven (It says, “theirs is the kingdom” – It does not say, “they shall be citizens of the kingdom”) People to whom kingdoms belong are called “kings” and “queens,” or, if it is an ecclesiastical kingdom, “priests,” and “priestesses.”

Some scholars have noted that the first three Beatitudes seem to be something of a paraphrase of Isaiah 61:1-3, which speaks of a coronation ceremony, of comforting those who mourn, and of the “meek.” In fact, Isaiah 1:3 is a review of the ancient royal and priestly coronation ceremonies. It mentions a washing (symbolized by exchanging ashes for a crown), anointing, clothing, and giving of a new name (“called”). (See: Margaret Dee Bratcher, “Salvation Achieved, Isaiah 61:1-7, 65: 17-66:2,” in Review and Expositor, Spring, 1991, Vol. 88, No. 2, p. 177-187; Paul D. Hanson, Isaiah 40 – 66, Interpretation, A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville, John Knox Press, 1995), p. 223-226; George A. Knight, The New Israel, A Commentary on the Book of Isaiah 56–66 (Grand Rapids, Mich., Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1985) p. 50-57; Claus Westermann, Isaiah 40 – 66 (Philadelphia, Westminster Press, 1969), p. 364-367.)

That coronation setting reenforces the idea that the “poor” to whom the kingdom of heaven belong, are its kings and queens rather than just its citizens, but it still doesn’t answer the question of why this adoptive royalty should be described by the word “poor.”

I believe the Book of Mormon gives us the answer to that question by telling us the sequence of the Saviour’s teachings. Third Nephi reports that one of the first things he did was to instruct the people about a fundamental change in the law of sacrifice. He told them the only appropriate sacrifice would be their own broken hearts and contrite spirits. That was not a new teaching, it was also found in the Psalms. The thing which was new in the instruction was that the outward sacrifices were to be discontinued, where major importance would be placed on the inward sacrifices instead. Soon after giving these instructions he said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit….”

(Other scriptures which suggest the same conclusion are: Psalms 34:18, Psalms 51:17, Isaiah 29:19, Isaiah 57:15, Isaiah 66:2, 2 Nephi 9:30, 2 Nephi 2:7, 2 Nephi 4:32, 2 Nephi 27:30, 2 Nephi 28:13, Helaman 8:15, 3 Nephi 9:20, 3 Nephi 12:19, Ether 4:15, Moroni 6:2, D&C 20:37, D&C 52:15, D&C 56:17-18, D&C 59:8, D&C 109:72 )

It seems to me that one who has sacrificed a broken heart and contrite spirit can legitimately be called “poor” in the only sense which is perfectly consistent with the meaning of the first Beatitude. For that reason, I often read that Beatitude this way: Blessed are those who have sacrificed a broken heart and a contrite spirit, who come unto Christ, for they are the kings and queens, priests and priestesses in the Kingdom of God. At least, I think that is what it means.

If I am correct, it squares well with the statement, “And with righteousness shall the Lord God judge the poor,” because ‘righteousness’ denotes the propriety of temple ordinances and covenants. Let me explain.

The word “righteousness” is the English rendition of Zadok if it is a proper name, or zedek if it is an adjective as it is in words like Melchizedek (“king of righteousness” or “my king is righteous”). The man Zadok was the High Priest who anointed Solomon to be king, and who later presided at Solomon’s Temple. After his death, according to tradition, all the legitimate High Priests who presided at the Temple (until sometime after the Babylonian captivity when the office of High Priest became a political appointment) were descendants of Zadok. Thus, to do something “in zedek-ness” or “with zedek-ness” means to do it correctly, in the manner of the High Priest. That is, to do it with the right authority, dressed the right way, in the correct manner, in the right place, and at the right time. Thus the words, ‘righteous’ and ‘righteousness’ have to do with the correctness of the rites of the ancient Israelite temples.

“Judge” is also an important word which has both kingship and temple connotations. To judge can mean to condemn, but it can also mean to justify. It can mean to choose or select (as judging the best cake in a baking contest at a county fair) It can also mean to establish a standard of excellence by which one may conduct oneself, and to help one adhere to that standard.

It seems to me that what Nephi’s “And with righteousness shall the Lord God judge the poor,” is saying this: the criteria with which the Lord will judge (justify, select, give directions to) those who have sacrificed a broken hart and contrite spirit, will be ‘Zadok-ness’ — that criteria which is established by the covenants and ordinances of the temple.

Now let’s look at the next phrase, “and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth.” This statement seems to be similar in meaning the other one. Again we must go back to where we began before, with the understanding that the earth was prepared so the ‘poor’ and the ‘meek’ may inherit it. And, once again one must go to the Beatitudes to discover the meaning of the word “meek.”

The Beatitude in question is “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” It says the same thing as D&C 88 and is lifted almost verbatim from the Psalms. In the scriptures, when those scriptures speak in a temple setting, the word “meek” seems always to mean the same thing – and that meaning is not “humble,” and it is not “timid.” Some people choose to interpret this Beatitude is if it said, “Only non-self- assertive people will inherit the earth,” with the implied, sometimes stated quip, “and they will have to inherit it, because that’s the only way they can get it.” Those folks miss the point. The scriptures suggest that the word “meek” is the very opposite of a lack of assertiveness, and that the meek do not inherit the earth by default, but it is theirs as a legal heritage – it belongs to them by right. (Again I refer you to D&C 88 where the words “poor” and “meek” are words which describe the people in this world who will ultimately become celestial persons.) – and for whom the celestial earth will be created.

That use of “meek” is consistent with the way the word is used elsewhere in the scriptures. An example is in the coronation passages of Isaiah 61 we have already referred to. Isaiah wrote that the Lord was anointed “to preach good tidings to the meek.” Joseph F. Smith quotes that passage and also says that among those to whom the Lord preached were “the noble and great ones who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God.” (D&C 138: 42, 55) So, for those people at least, the quality of “noble and greatness” and the quality of “meekness” are apparently represented as being the same quality. This is also shown in the Bible where we learn, “the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth. (Numbers 12:3) Those who are “meek” are meek before the Lord. For example, in my view, Abinadi, standing defiantly before king Noah while delivering the Lord’s message to him and his fellows, is a splendid example of true meekness. Abinadi’s “meekness” is descriptive of his attitude toward God, but not of his attitude toward men.

One is meek before the Lord, when he keeps the covenants he has made with the Lord, that is, when one obeys the instructions he receives from the Holy Ghost about what to do in order to keep those covenants. This idea is clearly taught in the scriptures.

The Beatitude “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth,” seems to be a composite of two Psalms, which, together, speak with amazing power. The Psalm from which the Saviour is actually quoting in the Beatitude is 37:11. It context in reads:

7   Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his [his own, rather than the Lord’s ] way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass .
8   Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
9   For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
10   For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
11   But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace (Psalm 37:7-11) .

To “wait” means to be to wait, liking siting at a bus stop and waiting for the bus to come. The implications of that are clarified in Psalm 25. I’ll show you when we get there. For the present let’s just observe that it is apparent from that scripture that to “wait on the Lord” means to be alert to keep the covenants which one made with him at the Council in Heaven and patiently wait for him to fulfill his part.

Here in our present Psalm (37:11) the important relationship of the Psalms with the Beatitudes is shown in more than in the fact that the Lord quoted the Psalm almost verbatim. Verse 11 reads, “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”

In the Beatitudes, the Saviour not only quotes the first part of that verse, but he quotes it in its own sequential context. Notice the sequence in the Beatitudes:

5   And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. ….
8   And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God
9   And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

The key to the meaning of “peacemakers,” is Mormon’s introductory statements on the first page of Moroni 7.

In that sequence, verse 8 brings one into the presence of God, and verse 9 sits one on the royal throne of God as his legitimate heir. Please let me explain. The coronation setting of the Beatitudes was established in the first three verses, as we have already mentioned. In verse 9 the subject is given a new name or king name, which is “child of God” (“…for they shall be called ‘the children of God’.”). A “child” is a legitimate heir. If such a new-name, or king-name, is found, as this one is, in a coronation context, one can guess that the name “child” probably suggests that the person is being recognized as a legitimate heir to the throne. It appears that in the Beatitudes the king-name “child of God” occurs just as it does in the final anointing rites in the kingship sequence of the ancient New Year’s festival, as suggested in Psalm 2:7. Some scholars believe that in the ancient Israelite New Year’s festival, the final anointing of the king was apparently a dual ordinance, both of adoption and coronation. It had to be, they assert, because anyone who was anointed king, and who sat upon the throne, but who was not a legitimate child, would be a usurper. It is a question of legitimacy. Before one can sit upon the throne, one must be adopted as a legitimate heir. In the ancient coronation ceremony, the king-apparent had first to be acknowledged as a child of God, before he could set upon the throne of God. Thus the anointing ordinance answered both needs. The other Psalm which the Saviour’s Beatitude about meekness refers to is 25:9-14. Even though the direct quote is not there, in many ways this psalm is even more explicit than the other. Let me quote it all to you, then look at it more closely.

9   The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.
10   All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
11   For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.
12   What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.
13   His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.
14   The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant (Psalm 25:9-14).

Lets begin by looking closely at the concluding verse, 14, then go back and examine the other verses in light of that conclusion. It reads, “The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.”

The word “secret” is the same Hebrew word as in Amos 3:7, which reads “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” The word translated ‘secret’ is the Hebrew word SOD (“sode” in Strong). It means the secrets or the decisions of a council. In these and similar contexts, it refers to the decisions of the Council in Heaven. [Raymond E. Brown, The Semitic Background of the Term “Mystery” in the New Testament (Philadelphia, Fortress Press,  1968),  2-6.]

What Amos says, then, is that the Lord will not do anything until after he recalls to the prophet the covenants and decisions made in Council. What our Psalm says is that the Lord will teach the decisions of the Council to those who fear (respect) him, and “will shew them his covenant.” I understand that to mean that God, by the power of the Spirit, will teach each individual the covenant he made in the pre-mortal existence, relative to that person’s expectations of the mission he would do while on the earth. The psalm introduces that idea by associating the word “meek” with those who remember and keep that covenant. The remembering comes as a gift from God; the keeping is a matter of one’s faith and integrity.

Now lets re-read the portion of Psalm 25 which is quoted above. I’ll put the words of the Psalm in caps and my comments in lower case letters.

The following verses are from Psalm 25:

9    “THE MEEK [those who keep their eternal covenants ] WILL HE [the Lord ] GUIDE IN JUDGEMENT,” [To judge righteously, that is to be a righteous judge, is the first and most important function of a king. It is represented in verse 7 of the Beatitudes, immediately before one sees God, as “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” If the meek are to be the kings and priests of a celestial world, they must learn how to judge righteously. To not learn to judge righteously, is to disqualify oneself. Those who keep their covenants can learn that requisite lesson, because the Lord will be their “guide in judgment.” ]

9-b    “AND THE MEEK WILL HE TEACH IN HIS WAY.” [In a temple context, “way” is a code word which usually means the sequence of the ordinances and covenants. (The Beatitudes, especially as they are reported in the Book of Mormon, may thus be seen as a quick map of the “way.”) ]

10    “ALL THE PATHS [same code meaning as “way” ] OF THE LORD ARE MERCY [Another reference to the primary responsibility of kingship ] AND TRUTH [ Truth is knowledge of reality – things as they were, are, and will be (D&C 93). So, the “path” of kingship includes learning judgement which is based on an understanding of reality.]

10-b    UNTO SUCH AS KEEP HIS COVENANTS [ The covenants, in this context, would be the ones which one made at the Council and which one re-makes in this world. ] AND HIS TESTIMONIES. [Scholars aren’t sure what “testimonies” mean in this and similar contexts. Some believe it was something which was worn on the body, and that the wearing of it was a testimony of the covenants which one had made.]

11    “FOR THY NAME’S SAKE, O LORD” [God has many names, just as covenant people have. New Names are always associated with covenants (For example, one takes upon oneself the name of Christ when one is baptized and takes the sacrament.) Therefore, in a temple context, one can almost always replace the word “name” with the word “covenant” in a scripture without changing the meaning of the scripture. In this instance that is true. The name is question is “LORD,” i.e. “Jehovah,” which the scriptures and our own Bible’s dictionary suggest is the Saviour’s king-name or covenant-name. In which case “Jehovah” is probably the new name given him when he was anointed King of Israel at the Council. (Our Bible Dictionary reads, “Jehovah. The covenant or proper name of the God of Israel.” p. 710). The phrase, “for thy name’s sake” would mean, “for the sake of the mutual covenant which we made at the Council, and which is represented by your king-name, Jehovah.”]

11-b    “PARDON MINE INIQUITY; FOR IT IS GREAT.” [This is an obvious reference to the powers of the atonement. At the New Year’s festival, before one could be anointed king, the king- designate had to be ceremonially cleansed (washed and pardoned) before he could continue in the sequence of ordinances and covenants. In our case, the Saviour’s atonement must be applied for the same reason.]

The next three verses of our Psalm are a reiteration of the blessings of those who receive the ordinances and covenants already referred to. These verses begin with the question,

12    “WHAT MAN IS HE THAT FEARETH [love, respects, as being in “awe” of, gives honor to] THE LORD?” Then it answers its own question:

12-b    “HIM [the man] SHALL HE [God] TEACH IN THE WAY [ I presume “in the way” means in the way. In other words, as one moves through the sequence called the “way,” God will teach him, not only the sequence, but also the meaning and significance of the steps.]

12-c    HE SHALL CHOOSE.” [As I read it, these words mean God will teach the man “in” the “way” so the man may know which options he should choose in order for him to have both the means and the opportunity to keep the covenants he made in Council.]

13   “HIS SOUL SHALL DWELL AT EASE; AND HIS SEED SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH.” [This is an enlargement of the promise we read in Psalm 37. Here the blessing that one’s soul will “dwell at ease” is tied to a further declaration that “his children shall inherit the earth.” Thus, the Beatitude, “Blessed are the meek,” carries with it all the promises of exaltation in the eternal bonds of family.

14    “THE SECRET [ sode — decisions of the Council ]OF THE LORD IS WITH THEM [the meek ]THAT FEAR [ respect, honor ] HIM; AND HE [the Lord] WILL SHOW THEM [the meek ]HIS COVENANT.” [which, I presume, means: The Lord will show him the covenant assignments made at the Council – and also remind him of the covenant provisions made at the Council which would guarantee that one would be able to fulfil those assignments]

As a review, let me get out of the way so you can read the scriptures as they are written, without all the stuff I put in between. They simply say,

7   Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
8   Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
9   For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
10   For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace (Psalm 37:7-11) .

9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.
10 All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
11 For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.
12 What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.
13 His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.
14 The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant ( Psalm 25:9-14).

Jesus summed all that up by saying simply, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth..”

If one adds to that, Albright and Mann’s statement that the classic Greek word translated “blessed” literally means “in the state of the gods,.” (Anchor Bible, Matthew, p. 45, fn 3.), what we hear the Saviour saying is this:

“In the state of the gods are those who keep their eternal covenants, for it is they and their children who shall inherit the celestial earth.”

Now let us return to our original Book of Mormon scripture where this discussion began, “And with righteousness shall the Lord God judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth.”

The direct object of ‘judge’ is ‘the poor’, but the direct object of ‘reprove’ is not given. Presumably it is also the poor. In which case the words might be read, “And with righteousness shall the Lord God judge the poor, and reprove [the poor] with equity for [the sake of] the meek of the earth.”

I think what that says is that the Lord will judge the poor by the covenants they have made and that he will direct the affairs of the meek so they may fulfill those covenants, in order that the Lords purposes on this earth may be fulfilled. That, you will recall, is what Ephesians chapter one is all about.