LeGrand L. Baker

Category: Old Testament

  • John 12:12-16 — The Ancient Israelite Temple Drama, precursor to the Savior’s Triumphal Procession — LeGrand Baker

    It is probable that the Savior’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem expressed a ethnic memory of the ancient Israelite Feast of Tabernacles temple drama. Those temple rites had not been practice by the Jews since before the destruction of Solomon’s Temple 600 years earlier, but the New Testament contains ample evidence that some of the rituals had not been forgotten.

    12 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
    13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.
    14 And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,
    15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt.
    16 These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him (John 12:12-16).

    Part 1 of Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord uses the Psalms to make is a partial reconstruction of that ancient Feast of Tabernacles temple services, including the re-coronation of the king that was the conclusion of the temple rites. The king’s re-coronation was preceded by his triumphal entry into the city and then into the temple.

    Before we discuss the Savor’s Triumphal Entry, it seems appropriate to review its ancient ceremonial precedent.

    The New Year Festival began on the first day of the new year and continued for 22 days. The last eight of those 22 days was the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama. The Jews lost their king (who was the main actor of the drama), their Temple, and the Melchizedek Priesthood when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and transported many of the Jews to Babylon as slaves. After 70 years some of the Jews were allowed to return and build a different temple, but they shifted their ceremonial focus from the Feast of Tabernacles to the Passover, and the temple rites were never performed again.

    The ceremonies began on New Year’s day (Rosh ha-Shanah) with sacrifices, feasting, and jubilation. That was followed by eight days of solemn preparations for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

    The Day of Atonement was the only fast day required by the Law of Moses. It was celebrated on the tenth day of the first month of the year, and was a time for repentance and cleansing. The Lord had instructed Moses that on that day Aaron was to take two young male goats, and by lot select one to be sacrificed as a sin offering. The High Priest laid his hands on the other and transferred to it all of the sins of the people of Israel. Then the goat was driven away. Tradition holds that it was driven over a cliff to make sure it could not return.

    The ceremonial cleansing of the nation was a necessary prerequisite to the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama that would follow. Now that the people had become clean, they could symbolically enter into God’s celestial temple to participate in the re-enactment of the premortal events portrayed during the first scenes of their temple drama.

    After Yom Kippur, the eleventh through fourteenth days were used for preparing for the Feast of Tabernacles. During those four days, the people constructed “tabernacles” or booths—actually temporary huts—made of wood, with tree branches and leaves as a covering. The tabernacles were built near the city, and were the homes for individual families during the remaining eight days of the celebration. The Feast of Tabernacles and its temple drama began on the 15th day of the festival, and continued through the 22nd day, when the festival concluded.

    At Jerusalem, large portions of the drama were probably staged outside, something like our modern-day pageants. Some parts of the performances took place within the city, and others outside of its walls. Some occurred in the Temple itself. All the nation participated in the drama, either on the stage, in the choirs, or as part of the audience. The subject of the play covered the full panoramic scope of cosmic history—from the Council in Heaven before the foundation of the world, through linear time, and concluding with Jehovah’s ultimate triumph over evil, and his reign on a glorified paradisiacal earth.

    The drama was performed (except when apostate kings prevented it) each year during the approximately 400 years between Solomon’s reign and the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in the time of Zedekiah, which was also about the time Lehi left Jerusalem.

    Following is a brief review of the pre-Exilic eight-day Feast of Tabernacles temple drama as it is reconstructed in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord (a PDF copy is in “published books” on this website).

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    The drama is in three acts, premortal, mortal, and postmortal. Days 1, 2, and 3 were devoted to the beginning events of the ancient Israelite temple drama.

    Act 1, The Council in Heaven in the ancient Israelite temple drama.

    Covenants made at the Council
    The creation
    The Garden, the creation of man

    Act 2, The Mortal World in the ancient Israelite temple drama.

    After Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden, events portrayed in the drama showed that the king (and symbolically all the men in the congregation) received all of ordinances of priesthood and kingship, including the king’s being anointed to become king. After those preparations, there was a ritual combat when the city is attacked by Israel’s enemies. Symbolically, Jerusalem and its Temple are destroyed; the king was killed and entered the world of the dead.

    During days 4, 5, and 6, while the king remained among 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. Jehovah himself went into the Underworld to rescue the king from death and hell.

    On the morning of day 7, Jehovah (represented by the Ark of the Covenant) and the rescued king, emerged from the Underworld. They are joined by all the people in a grand procession that was virtually a dance around the outer walls of the city. By their steps, they measured the city, recreating Jerusalem as sacred space. They stopped at a spring where the king (and symbolically, everyone present) is washed and made clean. The precession entered the city, the gates of the temple precinct and the doors of the Solomon’s Temple are opened. The king entered the Temple, where, in view of everyone outside, he was dressed in sacred robes, anointed, crowned, and given a new name. This coronation and the events that follow were the culminating events of the drama.

    It was Jehovah and the king’s triumph and procession that the people of Jerusalem were remembering when they celebrated Jesus’s entering the city riding a white colt.

    In the drama, after his coronation, the king entered the Holy of Holies through the Veil of Solomon’s Temple. Now, as an adopted son of God and legitimate heir to his kingdom, the king sat on the Temple throne and gave a lecture to the people. (There are no examples of that lecture in the Old Testament, but in the Book of Mormon there are probably three: Jacob’s temple sermon in 2 Nephi, King Benjamin’s sermon, and the Savior’s sermon at the temple.)

    Act 3, The Day of the Great Feast in the ancient Israelite temple drama.

    Day 8, the festival concluded with a day of sacrificing, feasting, rejoicing, and celebration, representing the fulfillment of Jehovah’s covenants and his millennial reign. This was a symbolic return to the Garden and to the presence of God, where one was again adorned in a garment of light. Now the man and his wife may eat freely of the fruit of the tree of life and drink the waters of live.

    It was probably during this last day of celebration that they sang the 23rd Psalm, which is a microcosm of the entire ancient Israelite temple drama in three acts.

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    The Twenty-third Psalm
    Act 1, The Premortal World
    The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
    He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
    He leadeth me beside the still waters.
    He restoreth my soul:
    He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
    For his name’s sake.

    Act 2, The Mortal World
    Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil:
    For thou art with me;
    Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
    Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
    Thou anointest my head with oil;
    My cup runneth over.
    Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:

    Act 3, The Eternal World
    And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever

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  • John 10:34-36 & Psalm 82 — ‘Ye are gods…children of the most High’ — LeGrand Baker

    34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
    35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
    36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? (John 10:34-36)

    Jesus was quoting Psalm 82 which was a scene in the ancient Israelite Feast of Tabernacles temple drama. It depicts Elohim standing among the members of the Council in Heaven and instructing them in what sounds very much like the law of consecration. Then, in the drama, he asks them to rise and accept those instructions by covenant. I suspect John had several reasons for calling our attention to that psalm by telling us about this incident in Jesus’s life,.

    One reason might have been that the Jewish leaders (about 600 years earlier) had re-invented their theology in the same way the Christians would later re-define theirs. The Christians took the Father, Son, and Holly Ghost and merged into one intangible, undefinable God that they called Jesus. The apostate Jews during or soon after the Babylonian captivity did essentially the same thing. They took Elohim, Jehovah, and the Council in Heaven and merged them into one God which they called Jehovah. Because this temple psalm takes place in the Council where Elohim presided, it emphasizes the importance of the original Godhead whom the Jewish leaders had rejected. It also shows Heavenly Father’s relationship with the members of that Council.

    Another reason was that it called attention to the law of consecration, and thereby to the responsibility the Jews and their leaders had to care for the poor. The book of Acts shows that principle became a major focus of early Christian belief and practice.

    Another reason is that it shows the validity of the Savior’s claim to be the Son of God.

    32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
    33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
    34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
    35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
    36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
    37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
    38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
    39 Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand (John 10:32-39).

    Psalm 82, which the Savior quoted, is a rather short, but very significant window into covenants we made in our premortal world. It reads,

    1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
    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 men, and fall like one of the princes.
    8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations (Psalms 82:1-8).

    The first verse says, “God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.” Both the words “God” and “gods” are translated from the Hebrew word elohim. Elohim is a plural word that means “the gods.” Elohim is also the name/title of the Father of the gods. So our psalm begins, “Elohim standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the elohim.”

    In a court of law, a judge sits as an evidence of his superior status. In this psalm God is standing. That is important because in ancient Israel one stood to make a covenant. An example is 2 Kings 23:3. “The king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord … And all the people stood to the covenant.”

    Sometimes in the scriptures, to “stand” is simply code for making a covenant, just as it is here our psalm. The first verse tells us that the Father [Elohim] is standing. In the last verse he says “Arise, O God [also elohim].” That final elohim is also translated as God, but that does not make much sense in this context because God is already standing. That leaves the correct translation to be, “Arise, O elohim” — gods, the members of the heavenly Council. They are asked to stand to make a covenant. Between the first and last verses of Psalm 82 we read the Father’s instructions about one of the most important covenants we made in the premortal world and also one of the most important we re-make here.

    The Book of Abraham provides us with a probable context where those covenants were made.

    In Abraham 3 the “spirits” whom God will make his “rulers” are the same as the intelligences who were called the noble and great ones in the previous verse. In the next chapter, when they organize the earth, they are called “the gods.”

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

    1 And then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth (Abraham 4:1).

    Psalm 82 and Abraham 3:22-23 appear to be two versions of the same story. In the psalm God is “judging,” in Abraham 3 he is choosing. To “judge” means the same thing in Hebrew as it does in English. When pronouncing judgment, a judge may condemn or exonerate, or in other situations he chooses and makes assignments (such as assigning ribbons in an apple pie contest). In this psalm he is not sitting as one a judge presiding at a court of law. Rather he is standing, as one would do when making a covenant. Thus, it might be more precise to say, “God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he chooses [makes assignments] among the gods.”

    In Psalm 82, the gods among whom Elohim was standing were the members of the Council in Heaven. “God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers.” Significantly, “he stood in the midst of them,” so they were standing around him, probably in a circle, where he made them priests and kings.

    The original scene depicted by Psalm 82 can more readily be understood by inserting it into the account recorded in Abraham 3, where it fits so perfectly that it does not even break the cadence of the story. Please note, by putting the two scriptures together in this way, I do not wish to imply that they were ever written as a single unit. However, combined this way they illustrate an interesting—perhaps insightful—picture of how things might have been in the Council in Heaven, and also how they might have been portrayed on the stage during the Israelite temple drama.

    Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods. [He asked,] How long will ye judge [rule] unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked?{1} Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked. They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course. I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O gods, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations. [After the covenant, God said,] These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born (Abraham 3:22-23 & Psalm 82).

    The idea that the law of consecration was among the first and most important covenants made by the members of the Council in Heaven, is perfectly consistent with other scriptures. In the Book of Mormon the celestial height to which we reach is charity. In the Doctrine and Covenants it is the law of consecration. They are two sides of the same coin when charity is what one is, the law of consecration is what one does. They are the two great commandments.

    36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
    37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
    38 This is the first and great commandment.
    39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
    40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:36-40, see D&C 59:6).

    Charity is love. There is no point in trying to separate loving God from loving his children. They are the same. The human soul cannot love God and harbor hatred or prejudice at the same time. John the Beloved taught that we cannot feign to compartmentalize our bigotry from our charity and pretend both are real.

    18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
    19 We love him, because he first loved us.
    20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
    21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also (1 John 4:18-21).

    To love God is Charity (hesed — unfailing love based on a prior covenant); to love one’s brother is also charity (hesed). To live the law of consecration is to serve others — “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me (Matthew 25:40).”

    It is probably true that the Father’s first instructions to his children at the Council was that when they come to this earth they must obey what James called the “royal law.” James describes that law the same way it is described in Psalm 82.

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

    Some of the above is taken from two chapters in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord: “Psalm 82, The Father’s Instructions to the Council,” and “Psalm 82: Instruction and Covenant,” first edition, 227-45; second edition (paperback), 162-74. The second edition is still in print and it is also available on this website in the section called “published books.”

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    FOOTNOTES

    {1}Lowell K. Handy’s translation is: “How long will you rule unjustly? And honor the wicked?” (“Sounds, Words and Meanings in Psalm 82,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 47 [1990]: 51-66.).
    The Tanakh, which is the official Jewish translation of the Old Testament, renders verse 2 as “How long will you judge perversely, showing favor to the wicked?” (Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures: The New JPS Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text [Philadelphia and Jerusalem: The Jewish Publication Society, 1985]), 1206.

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  • John 4:23-26 & Isaiah 42:5-16 — “I am he” — LeGrand Baker

    During the conversation between Jesus and the woman at the well,

    25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
    26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he (John 4:23-26).

    The Prophet’s Inspired version says it even more clearly.

    28 Jesus said unto her, I who speak unto thee am the Messias (John 4:26 is verse 28 in JST).

    The King James Version continues:

    28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
    29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
    ……
    40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.
    41 And many more believed because of his own word;
    42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

    Then follows something that seems strange in this place, but is found and explained in the other gospels.

    43 Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee.
    44 For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country (John 4:2 8-44).

    One would expect people who knew a prophet would accept him as such, but history affirms—and reaffirms—that Jesus’s lament is true.

    In Jerusalem the chief priests and Pharisees feared that if Jesus became too popular “the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation….[therefore] from that day they took counsel together for to put him to death (John 11:48,53). The Roman danger was perceived as real because Jesus was the legitimate heir to the throne of David just as John the Baptist had been the legitimate High Priest. Consequently the Pharisees and high priests feared that Jesus might have the power to topple their political control of the Temple and their very real control of its treasure.

    But in Galilee, where Jesus grew up and where his family still lived, Jesus was feared for different reasons. The people in the local synagogues objected to his teachings and to the fact that those teachings seemed to be validated by the mighty works he did. Matthew and Mark tell the same story. The one with more detail is in Mark.

    1 And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.
    2 And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?
    3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
    4 But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.
    5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
    6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching (Mark 6:1-6, a shorter version is in Matthew 13:54-58).

    Luke actually tells us what Jesus taught. If, as it is likely, Jesus taught the same things in the Samaritan village as he did in Nazareth, then we can understand why the Samaritans (who looked for a spiritual Messiah) where so willing to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, and why the Jews (who anticipated a military Messiah) were so resentful and feared that Jesus might be he.

    To understand this story, we must also understand how the people in Jesus’s time referenced the scriptures. They did not have printed copies of bound in books with chapters and verses as we have. They read from scrolls that had the text written in what was essentially one long sentence. There was no way to reference the specific parts of that scroll except to quote some of its words. So that is what they did. For example, the Beatitudes are very short snippets of quotes from Isaiah and the Psalms. When Jesus spoke to his audience it was sufficient for him to only quote those few words and leave it to the audience to know the full context.

    The first chapter of Hebrews is written the same way. It makes little sense unless one recognizes that it is a series of quotes from the Old Testament that are all about priesthood and kingship. The author of Hebrews is using those quotes to assert that Jesus was the legitimate heir to the ancient priesthood and kingship. When one knows the contexts of those quotes, then that first chapter carries a powerful message. Jesus does somewhat the same thing on the cross when he calls attention to Psalm 22 by quoting, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.”

    Similarly, when Luke tells us what Jesus taught that enraged the people in Nazareth, he quotes only a few words— just enough that we can tell what parts of Isaiah Jesus read to them.

    14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
    15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
    16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
    17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias [Isaiah]. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
    18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
    19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
    20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
    21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
    22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?
    23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
    24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
    25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
    26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
    27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
    28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
    29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
    30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way,
    31 And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.
    32 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power (Luke 4:14-32).

    The Savior quoted two chapters of Isaiah. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives,” is from Isaiah 61. “And recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,” is from Isaiah 42. The phrase, “To preach the acceptable year of the Lord,” is in Isaiah 61, but it is also a declaration of authority that rings through chapter 42.

    Isaiah 61 is a deeply encoded description of the vicarious temple rites for the dead. An affirmation of that interpretation is that it is quoted twice in D&C 138 where President Joseph F. Smith tells that Jesus visited the dead and authorize missionary work to begin there.

    30 But behold, from among the righteous, he organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel preached to the dead.
    31 And the chosen messengers went forth to declare the acceptable day of the Lord and proclaim liberty to the captives who were bound, even unto all who would repent of their sins and receive the gospel.
    …..
    42 And Isaiah, who declared by prophecy that the Redeemer was anointed to bind up the broken–hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that were bound… (D&C 138: 30-31, 42).

    When Jesus said to the people in Nazareth, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears,” he was saying that it was he who would release those in spirit prison by authorizing the gospel to be taught to them. Jesus taught that same doctrine when he quoted Isaiah 61 in the Beatitudes, “And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted (3 Nephi 12:4 and Matthew 5:4).”

    I will not quote more of Isaiah 61 here because I have already done a pretty thorough analysis of that chapter. To find it, use the search engine to locate, 3 Nephi 12:4/Isaiah 61 — Salvation for the Dead.

    To his audiences, Jesus’s quoting Isaiah 61 may have been even less provocative than his next reading which was probably all of Isaiah 42:5-16. There, when he said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears,” he was declaring that he is Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament. The entire section of scripture is remarkable, but he apparently emphasized these words:

    6 I the LORD [Jehovah] have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
    7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
    8 I am the LORD [Jehovah]: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

    The whole quote is just as explicit.

    5 Thus saith God the LORD [Jehovah], he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
    6 I the LORD [Jehovah] have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
    7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
    8 I am the LORD [Jehovah]: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
    9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
    10 Sing unto the LORD [Jehovah] a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
    11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.
    12 Let them give glory unto the LORD [Jehovah], and declare his praise in the islands.
    13 The LORD [Jehovah] shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.
    14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.
    15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.
    16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them (Isaiah 42:5-16).

    There can be no doubt that the people actually understood what Jesus was teaching. One can always know that because when they did understand they tried to kill him, just as they did in this story.

    28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
    29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
    30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way (Luke 4:28-30).

    These scriptures might give us pause. I wonder how we would have responded if we had been in that synagogue that day.

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  • John 3:16-17 & Psalm 103 — For God so loved the world (Nicodemus part 7) — LeGrand Baker

    16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
    17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

    To understand the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, we must put each part in the context of the whole. I have already shown that Jesus has explained that he has the authority to perform the ancient ordinances; that he is a true prophet who had a sode experience, that he is Jehovah who presided at the Council in Heaven and is the Creator; that he is Messiah who is the Redeemer; and that he is the Only Begotten Son of God. Now he is explaining that he is the ultimate source of everlasting life.

    There are several psalms in the ancient Israelite canon that speak clearly about the saving role of Jehovah. One of the most explicit of those is Psalm 103. Whether that psalm was actually discussed during their conversation, we cannot know, but it is reasonable to suppose that its ideas served at least as the backdrop for what they did say. I would like to look closely at that psalm.

    Psalm 103 is an overview of the most important principles taught during the Israelite Feast of Tabernacles temple drama. Since Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord is a review of that drama, I will make frequent references to its pages. {1} Consequently, some of my friends will find part of this discussion to be a review.

    The message of Psalm 103 is carried by the relationship of two words, hesed and LORD.

    Hesed is a Hebrew word that means unfailing love based on a prior covenant.{2} As it is used in this and other psalms, hesed denotes premortal friendships with Jehovah that were sealed by covenant before we came to this life. In that context, the word also suggests that the friendship covenant persists during this life, and then continues on forever. The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament shows the power of that friendship/relationship:

    We may venture the conjecture that even in cases where the context does not suggest such mutuality it is nevertheless implicit, because we are dealing with the closest of human bonds.{3}

    One of the most beautiful discriptions of the power of that covenant of love was penned by John the Beloved.

    1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
    2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
    3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
    4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
    5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
    6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
    7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin (1 John 1:1-7).

    In the King James Version, whenever the Hebrew text reads “Jehovah” (Yahweh), it is translated as either LORD or GOD in full caps. An example is Psalm 117 which is a simple two verse hymn of praise. It focuses on the eternal and universal power of Jehovah, and on his hesed relationship with us. To emphasize the covenant of love, hesed is used twice, giving it a double impact.

    1 O praise the LORD [Jehovah], all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.
    2 For his merciful [hesed] kindness [hesed] is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD [Jehovah] endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD [Jehovah] (Psalm 117:1-2).

    Like Psalm 117, the 103rd Psalm is a celebration of our eternal hesed relationship with the LORD. The difference is that Psalm 103 is much more complete. I quote it here in full for your pleasure. Then I will go through it again to show how comprehensive it is.

    1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
    2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
    3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
    4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness [hesed] and tender mercies;
    5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
    6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
    7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
    8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy [hesed] .
    9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
    10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
    11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy [hesed] toward them that fear him.
    12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
    13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
    14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
    15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
    16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
    17 But the mercy [hesed] of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;
    18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
    19 The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
    20 Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
    21 Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
    22 Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul (Psalms 103:1-22).

    In a very real sense, this psalm is a review of the purpose and meaning of the ancient Israelite Feast of Tabernacles temple drama. It is also a review of the gospel as it was taught and understood by those who worshiped in Solomon’s Temple, and also by the people of Nephi. (“Part One” of Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord is a reconstruction of the Israelite temple drama. “Part Two” shows that each of the sermons in the Book of Mormon is based on their temple experience.)

    ====================
    PSALM 103

    1 Bless the LORD [Jehovah], O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

    The first several verses of this psalm are addressed to one’s own soul. The understanding of the eternal continuance of the soul is fundamental to many of the psalms. They were the liturgy of the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama. The drama began with our experiences in the Council in Haven, and concluded with our return to the presence of God.

    2 Bless the LORD [Jehovah], O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
    3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

    My working premise is that the Book of Mormon is the very best discussion we have of pre-exilic Biblical theology. So it is appropriate to observe that, also in the context of the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama, King Benjamin explains the “benefits” of the Savior’s Atonement.

    1 And again my brethren, I would call your attention, for I have somewhat more to speak unto you; for behold, I have things to tell you concerning that which is to come.
    2 And the things which I shall tell you are made known unto me by an angel from God. And he said unto me: Awake; and I awoke, and behold he stood before me.
    3 And he said unto me: Awake, and hear the words which I shall tell thee; for behold, I am come to declare unto you the glad tidings of great joy.
    4 For the Lord hath heard thy prayers, and hath judged of thy righteousness, and hath sent me to declare unto thee that thou mayest rejoice; and that thou mayest declare unto thy people, that they may also be filled with joy.
    5 For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases.
    6 And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in the hearts of the children of men.
    7 And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people (Mosiah 3:1-7).

    4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;

    There are three valid definitions of redeem. The one that is used in Job and most frequently in the Book of Mormon means to bring one into the presence of God. {4} That, and that alone, can save one’s “life from destruction.”

    4 … who crowneth

    It is important to remember that in the ancient temple drama, the king was the chief actor, and whatever ordinances he performed or covenants he made while he was on the stage, were symbolically also performed by each man in the congregation. {5} A crown is part of the priesthood/kingship clothing of the coronation rites that concluded the ancient temple drama.{6}The same language that describe his royal garments is also used to describe the clothing worn by God.{7} So it is reasonable to suppose that the royal robes and crown are designed to represent God’s priesthood and kingship authority. God’s crown is shown in facsimile No. 2 as a sun disk. The description reads:

    Fig. 3. Is made to represent God, sitting upon his throne, clothed with power and authority; with a crown of eternal light upon his head; representing also the grand Key-word s of the Holy Priesthood, as revealed to Adam in the Garden of Eden, as also to Seth, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, and all to whom the Priesthood was revealed.

    4 … who crowneth thee with lovingkindness [hesed] and tender mercies;

    The king’s coronation was a dual ordinance. It was an adoption ceremony by which he was made a legitimate heir of God, and it also designated him king and the representative of God on the earth. (King Benjamin is a good example.) The king’s being crowned with hesed (unfailing love based on prior covenants) and tender mercies denotes that the adoption was the fulfillment of an eternal loving covenant. The entire coronation ceremony is described in Isaiah 61:3 and explained in Who Shall Ascent into the Hill of the Lord. {8}

    5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things;

    In most contexts that might mean all sorts of things, but in the context of the Feast of Tabernacles temple drama it can mean only one thing. The conclusion of the eight day temple drama was a great feast. It represented the return to the Garden of Eden where one was in the presence of God and had free access to the fruit of the tree of life and to the waters of life.{9}

    5 … so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

    In the Garden where there is no death, one is perpetually young.

    As young eagles mature, their early feathers must be replaced with larger more powerful ones which can sustain the bird’s increasing weight. In the context of the ancient temple drama, priesthood maturation and growth comes as one’s burdens increase and his priesthood authority grows to meet those challenges.

    6 The LORD [Jehovah] executeth righteousness

    Righteousness is zedek, as in the name Melchizedek. Melchi means king, and zedek means priesthood and temple correctness. To be zedek, ordinances must be done correctly. That is: doing the right things; in the right time and place; with the right authority; using the right words; dressed the right way; holding one’s arm or hands the right way. {10} All that has to be correct or the ordinances and covenants are not valid. If Jehovah executes righteousness judgement then all of the ordinances and covenants associated with that judgement must be according to zedek.

    6 The LORD [Jehovah] executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
    7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
    8 The LORD [Jehovah] is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy [hesed].

    This world is not a very nice place. If niceness were enforced bad people would not have free agency. That means good people get hurt. In the end, there must be justice for the oppressed. The rectitude of the Savior’s Atonement heals those hurts, while the actions of bad people will inflict their own punishments. To exercise judgement in righteous is to judge with charity. The Savior emphasized that in the Beatitudes where he said,

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

    This Beatitude is a paraphrase of Psalm 18 which reads

    25 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright (Psalms 18:25).

    That verse uses the Hebrew word hesed twice, but in different forms: “With the merciful [hesed as an adjective] thou wilt shew thyself merciful [hesed as a verb].”

    So the Beatitude reads:

    And blessed are those who give hesed, for they shall obtain hesed (3 Nephi 12:7).

    There, hesed, like everything else in the gospel’s plan of salvation, calls us back to reflect upon our eternal covenants.

    9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

    God’s love is immutable. I am convinced that in his entire existence God has never punished anyone for anything. He instructs, warns, pleads, even threatens, but in the end it is not God but our Selves who inflict the punishments. The “punishments” we receive are an integral part of, and therefore cannot be separated from, our inappropriate and hurtful decisions, attitudes, and actions. As Alma explained to his son Corianton,

    15 And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.
    16 Now, repentance could not come unto men except there were a punishment, which also was eternal as the life of the soul should be, affixed opposite to the plan of happiness, which was as eternal also as the life of the soul.
    17 Now, how could a man repent except he should sin? How could he sin if there was no law? How could there be a law save there was a punishment?
    18 Now, there was a punishment affixed, and a just law given, which brought remorse of conscience unto man.
    19 Now, if there was no law given—if a man murdered he should die—would he be afraid he would die if he should murder?
    20 And also, if there was no law given against sin men would not be afraid to sin.
    21 And if there was no law given, if men sinned what could justice do, or mercy either, for they would have no claim upon the creature?
    22 But there is a law given, and a punishment affixed, and a repentance granted; which repentance, mercy claimeth; otherwise, justice claimeth the creature and executeth the law, and the law inflicteth the punishment; if not so, the works of justice would be destroyed, and God would cease to be God.
    23 But God ceaseth not to be God, and mercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy cometh because of the atonement; and the atonement bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead; and the resurrection of the dead bringeth back men into the presence of God; and thus they are restored into his presence, to be judged according to their works, according to the law and justice (Alma 42:15-23).

    The Lord explained the same principle to the Prophet Joseph.

    11 Eternal punishment is God’s punishment.
    12 Endless punishment is God’s punishment.
    13 Wherefore, I command you to repent, and keep the commandments which you have received by the hand of my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., in my name;
    14 And it is by my almighty power that you have received them;
    15 Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.
    16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
    17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;
    18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—
    19 Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.
    20 Wherefore, I command you again to repent, lest I humble you with my almighty power; and that you confess your sins, lest you suffer these punishments of which I have spoken, of which in the smallest, yea, even in the least degree you have tasted at the time I withdrew my Spirit (D&C 19:11-20).

    These are not new principles. They are clearly taught by Isaiah and in the Psalms.

    1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
    ………………………
    25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
    26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified (Isaiah 43:1, 25-28).

    Speaking of David the Lord said,

    28 My mercy [hesed] will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him ( Psalms 89:28).

    10 He [Jehovah] hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
    11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy [hesed] toward them that fear him.
    12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
    13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD [Jehovah] pitieth them that fear him.

    That promise is also in Ether 3, in King Benjamin’s address, Abinadi’s words to Alma, and the psalms repeatedly tell us of that parent-child covenant relationship. In the psalms that relationship is established during the coronation when the king is anointed. That anointing occurred when Psalm 2 was sung, when the king quotes Jehovah as saying, “Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee (Psalm 2:7).

    14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
    15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
    16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

    There are nothing more tentative than the power, glory, prestige, wealth, and fame that we accumulate in this world. They become zilch, just as a summer flower has no glory come a winter’s day. For example, no one is more dead than a dead king, as the medieval herald announced, “The king is dead–long live the king.” It was a single sentence, there was not even a transition between the old king’s demise and the new king’s taking his place. That sentiment in Psalm 103 is echoed by Isaiah when he wrote of the futility of those who would not hear the testimony of John the Baptist.

    3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
    4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
    5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
    6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
    7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
    8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever (Isaiah 40:3-8).

    The contrast is striking. The size of their realm may be different, but the qualities of temporal power are the same whether we are talking about medieval kings, contemporary politicians, corporate bosses, academic department chairs, or parents who belittle their children. It is not the size of the kingdom but the quality of their souls’s seeking dominance that are the same.

    In contrast, the qualities of priesthood kingship are the same as charity, whether their domain is the whole church, a Sunday school class, or just being caring parents. Such people will be comfortable in an environment of love, just as the Prophet Joseph wrote,

    34 Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen?
    35 Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson——
    36 That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.
    37 That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.
    38 Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God.
    39 We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.
    40 Hence many are called, but few are chosen.
    41 No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;
    42 By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile—
    43 Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;
    44 That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death.
    45 Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.
    46 The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever (D&C121:34-46).

    17 But the mercy [hesed] of the LORD [Jehovah] is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;
    18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

    “To such as keep his covenant” is a phrase found in only this psalm and one other. That other is Psalm 25 which focuses entirely on the hesed relationship of Jehovah and his covenant children. That is my favorite psalm because it is full of ancient temple code and is as personal as the Israelite temple drama. In Psalm 25, hesed brings our premortal covenants into sharp focus. Its message is central to the theme of Psalm 103. I only quote part of it here but there is a careful analysis in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord.{11}

    1 Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.
    2 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.
    3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.
    4 Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.
    5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
    6 Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses [hesed]; for they have been ever of old.
    7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy [hesed] remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O LORD.
    8 Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.
    9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.
    10 All the paths of the LORD are mercy [hesed] and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
    11 For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.
    12 What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.
    13 His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.
    14 The secret [sode] of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant. (Psalms 25:1-14).

    19 The LORD [Jehovah] hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
    20 Bless the LORD [Jehovah], ye his angels [members of the Council in Heaven], that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
    21 Bless ye the LORD [Jehovah], all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
    22 Bless the LORD [Jehovah], all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD [Jehovah], O my soul.

    —————————
    FOOTNOTES

    {1}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, 209 [first edition]); second edition (paperback) 2011. The second edition is in PDF in “published books” on this website

    {2}Hesed, unfailing love, loyal love, devotion. kindness, often based on a prior relationship, especially a covenant relationship. John R. Kohlenberger III and James A. Swanson, The Strongest Strong’s, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), Hebrew dictionary # 2617.
    Katherine Doob Sakenfeld of Princeton University Seminary wrote a dissertation on “hesed” in which she argued that it meant “to do what is expected of one.” With regard to the covenant, God does what is expected (keep his covenant promises); man should also maintain “hesed” (keep his covenant promises).
    Katherine Doob Sakenfeld, The Meaning of Hesed in the Hebrew Bible: A New Inquiry (Missoula, Montana; Scholars Press for the Harvard Semitic Museum, 1978).

    {3} G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, eds., trans. Davod E. Green, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, 15 vols. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1986), article about hesed, 5:45-48). Emphasis added.

    {4} Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, “A Meaning of Redeem —— to Come Unto Christ,” first edition, 725; second edition (paperback), 510-20.

    {5} Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, audience participation in the drama, first edition, 161-84 ; second edition (paperback), 120-27.

    {6} Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord,”the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness,” first edition, 349-58; second edition (paperback), 483-95.

    {7} Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, “The Royal Garments of Priesthood and Kingship,” first edition, 265 -67; second edition (paperback), 189-91.

    {8} Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, “Act 2, Scene 9: The Coronation Ceremony in Isaiah 61,” first edition, 461-517 ;second edition (paperback), 336-73.

    {9} Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, “Act 3 The Day of the Great Feast,” first edition, 605-41; second edition (paperback), 431-57.

    {10} Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, “Meaning of “Righteousness — zedek and Zadok –– Priesthood Correctness,” first edition, 279- 285; second edition (paperback), 198- 201.

    {11} Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, “The Meek in Psalm 25,” first edition, 525-43; second edition (paperback), 378-90.

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  • John 1:22-23 & Isaiah 40 — The premortal call of John the Baptist — LeGrand Baker

    When he was confronted by the Jewish priests and Levites demanding that he account for himself, John responded by quoting the prophecy of Isaiah.

    22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
    23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias (John 1:22-23).

    Isaiah’s testimony of John’s mission:

    Beginning with chapter 40, and continuing to the end of his writings, Isaiah quoted and paraphrased many of the psalms to give us a wonderful commentary on the ancient Israelite Feast of Tabernacles temple drama. Chapter 40 opens with a scene from the Council in Heaven.

    1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

    “Ye” is plural; “God” is Elohim, so the setting appears to be the Father speaking to the members of the Council.

    2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins (Isaiah 40:1-2).

    To “comfort” means to empower. In Isaiah 61 that is done by administering the rites of the coronation ceremony. Also in that chapter, “double” is a reference to the birthright blessings of Abraham. “Of the Lord’s hand” and phrases very like that are also frequently references to the ancient Israelite temple drama. {1}

    After that short summation of the activities of the Council, Isaiah immediately tells about the assignment John the Baptist received there.

    3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
    4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
    5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
    6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
    7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
    8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever (Isaiah 40:3-8).

    The focal point of the ancient Israelite temple drama was a foreshadowing of the Savior’s life, his Atonement, death, and resurrection. If, as is very likely, one of the psalms is about John and is echoed in Isaiah’s prophecy, then that is Psalm 103. It celebrates the goodness and mercy of Jehovah, and the healing power of his ultimate Atonement. The word “mercy” in verse 17 is hesed. Just as in Psalm 25, hesed denotes reciprocal love founded upon an eternal covenant. The key word that ties the psalm to Isaiah is verse 15’s reference to the simple truth that this life is as tentative as the flowering grass. The psalm reads in part,

    13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
    14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
    15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
    16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
    17 But the mercy [hesed] of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;
    18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
    19 The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
    20 Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
    21 Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
    22 Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul (Psalm 103:13-22).

    Following verse 8 of Isaiah 40 there is a review of John’s message about the Savior.

    9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!
    10 Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
    11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
    12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? (Isaiah 40:9-12).

    Verse 12 begins a series of questions without answers. Like in Job 38 and 39 the answers are not given because they are part of the ancient mysteries and are to remain unknown by all except the initiated who already know the answers. {2}

    Later, as is recorded in the Book of Mormon, Lehi’s vision gave him a firsthand knowledge of the future mission of John the Baptist. However, as is typical of other prophets, Lehi chose to couch his own prophecy in the words of another prophet. He told of John’s mission by using the words Isaiah. Thus, giving a second testimony that John’s earthly assignment was a premortal call he received at the Council in Heaven.

    7 And he spake also concerning a prophet who should come before the Messiah, to prepare the way of the Lord—
    8 Yea, even he should go forth and cry in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight; for there standeth one among you whom ye know not; and he is mightier than I, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose. And much spake my father concerning this thing.
    9 And my father said he should baptize in Bethabara, beyond Jordan; and he also said he should baptize with water; even that he should baptize the Messiah with water.
    10 And after he had baptized the Messiah with water, he should behold and bear record that he had baptized the Lamb of God, who should take away the sins of the world (1 Nephi 10:7-10)

    Having heard his father’s testimony, Nephi did what we have come to expect that Nephi would do.

    1 For it came to pass after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain, which I never had before seen, and upon which I never had before set my foot.
    2 And the Spirit said unto me: Behold, what desirest thou?
    3 And I said: I desire to behold the things which my father saw.
    4 And the Spirit said unto me: Believest thou that thy father saw the tree of which he hath spoken?
    5 And I said: Yea, thou knowest that I believe all the words of my father.
    6 And when I had spoken these words, the Spirit cried with a loud voice, saying: Hosanna to the Lord, the most high God; for he is God over all the earth, yea, even above all. And blessed art thou, Nephi, because thou believest in the Son of the most high God; wherefore, thou shalt behold the things which thou hast desired (1 Nephi 11:1-6).

    After explaining the meaning of the tree of life, the Spirit of the Lord showed him that the mission of John the Baptist was to prepare the way for, and then baptize the Lamb of God.

    27 And I looked and beheld the Redeemer of the world, of whom my father had spoken; and I also beheld the prophet who should prepare the way before him. And the Lamb of God went forth and was baptized of him; and after he was baptized, I beheld the heavens open, and the Holy Ghost come down out of heaven and abide upon him in the form of a dove (1 Nephi 11: 27).
    ———————

    FOOTNOTES

    {1}See the discussion of Isaiah 61, Moroni 10 and Job 40 in this website.

    {2} Mystery is translated from the Greek mysterion. It means a secret imposed by initiation into religious rites. In the New Testament it usually refers to the early Christian temple rites. It is used for the Nephite temple rites in the Book of Mormon. In the Old Testament, sode is often a reference to those premortal covenants. For references check the index in Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord.

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

    In this discussion I have divided First Nephi 20 and 21 into the following subsections: 

    1. The premortal apostasy, 1 Nephi 20:1-11

    2. Joseph Smith in the Council in Heaven, 1 Nephi 20:12-17

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

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

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

    6. The Gathering of Israel, 1 Nephi 21: 12-26

    ———————————-

    12 And then, O house of Israel, behold, these shall come from far; and lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.{1}

    “Israel” is a covenant name and represents several different covenants, or perhaps more accurately, the same covenant, made on several different occasions. It is apparent from these chapters of Isaiah, as well as from the psalms, that “Israel” was the name given in the spirit world to those who covenanted to support the Savior then. It is also the name given to the man Jacob and to his children and their descendants in this world. It is also the name given to those who belong to the kingdom of God in this last dispensation.

    13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established; and break forth into singing, O mountains; for they shall be smitten no more; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

    The Old Testament reads:

    13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted (Isaiah 49:13).

    The phrase “for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established” has been removed, but remained on the brass plates from which Nephi copied this passage. The phrase is a declaration of eternal priesthood and kingship.

    The east is the direction of the rising sun, the source of light, the holy place. The establishment of the feet of the people of the east is related to sacral kingship and the ancient temple coronation rites. The king of Israel was anointed king; then as a legitimate son and heir, he sat on the throne of God in the Holy of Holies of Solomon’s Temple. The footstool of that throne was the Ark of the Covenant that contained the regalia of kingship and priesthood: the tablets on that God had written the Ten Commandments, the rod of Aaron, the jar of manna (they were there at least in theory, if not in fact, for some of those things were lost rather early in Israelite history). Thus while sitting upon the throne, the king placed his feet on the sacred box that contained the tokens of the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants. The king had “established” his feet—both asserting and giving evidence that he was the personification of the covenants associated with that kingly and priesthood regalia. This idea is different from one’s walking along the way, that is, to perform the ordinances and otherwise become worthy to enter behind the great veil of Solomon’s Temple into the presence of God. The king is no longer moving along the path— he has reached his destination and his feet are established in the authority and legitimacy of kingship and priesthood.{2}

    The greatest tragedy of ancient Israel was the destruction of Solomon’s Temple and the loss of the ordinances performed therein. The next lines of our verse promise that the time will come when the temples will no longer be subject to destruction:

    and break forth into singing, O mountains; for they [the temples] shall be smitten no more; for the Lord hath comforted [empowered] his people

    “Comfort” is a code word defined in Isaiah 61:1-3 where it means to make one a part of Zion: to wash, to remove ashes, anoint, clothe, and give a new name that may be a promise an eternal family.{3}

    14 But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me—but he will show that he hath not.

    The words “but he will show that he hath not” are not in the Bible.

    15 For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel.

    The phrase “O house of Israel” is not in the Bible.

    16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

    Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands

    That is a literal as well as a figurative description of the Savior’s part of the covenant.

    thy walls are continually before me.

    “Walls” are defenses. When one’s walls are before an enemy, they attack. When one’s walls are before a friend, he is on the inside, helping in the defense. This says that Jehovah will defend Zion.

    17 Thy children shall make haste against thy destroyers; and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.

    18 Lift up thine eyes round about and behold; all these gather themselves together, and they shall come to thee. And as I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on even as a bride.

    The sense of gathering is lost in the Old Testament but restored in the Book of Mormon. The phrase “and they shall come to thee” is simply “and come to thee” in the Bible.

    Gathering also has a covenant and priesthood connotation. The elements were gathered out of the chaotic waters to create cosmos, which, in the beginning of this world’s history, was the Garden of Eden. When the Nephites were threatened destruction from the robbers, they were gathered together for their protection. The gathering in this verse is the ultimate fulfillment of the Lord’s covenants with Abraham and Joseph.

    And as I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on even as a bride.

    The idea expressed here is marriage. It is explained more fully by Isaiah in the last two verses of chapter 61, where those who are dead prepare to be married for eternity and then to celebrate the resurrection.

    There is another sense of marriage that is taught here. It is an extenson of posterity.

    19 For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants; and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away
    20. The children whom thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the first, shall again in thine ears say: The place is
    too strait for me; give place to me that I may dwell.
    21. Then shalt thou say in thine heart: Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? And who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where have they been?

    We are of Israel, but we are also gentiles because our historical identity as the covenant people had been lost. The gathering of Israel has two parts, both dependent on the restoration of the gospel and the temple, and both have to do with sealing eternal families. Israel—the living in this world—had lost their identity over the years of dispersion and apostasy. Israel—those who had died before the restoration—had also lost their eternal connections with family and friends. Now all of Israel could be united again and both could marvel: “Behold, I was left alone; these, where have they been?”

    22 Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people; and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
    23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their face towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

    And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers

    There are two kinds of kings and queens: those who rule countries (and there are not many of those left any more) and sacral kings and queens who are such by virtue of their priesthood and ordinances. The Beatitudes twice say “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

    they shall bow down to thee with their face towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet;

    That is probably not literal, but not altogether figurative either. The hallmark of Zion is the mutual respect and love sacral kings and priests have for sacral kings and priests.

    and thou shalt know [know means Know.] that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

    There were two major functions of ancient Israelite kingship. One was temporary, the other was eternal. The temporary one was that of a military leader. The idea of military leader is expressed either in terms of actually fighting with the enemy (war in heaven, establishment of the modern state of Israel, and Jehovah’s name-title of Lord of Hosts ) or of missionary work. It remains important as long as there is evil to be subdued, but after that it will not be important. The other is to be a judge. The chief characteristic of a priesthood judge is mercy that is very akin to charity. That characteristic is permanent. This part of this chapter seems to be using it in both senses.

    24 For shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives delivered?
    25 But thus saith the Lord, even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
    26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; they shall be drunken with their own blood as with sweet wine; and all flesh shall know that I, the Lord, am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

    This affirmation that Jesus is Jehovah is still in the Bible.

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

    In this discussion I have divided First Nephi 20 and 21 into the following subsections:

    1. The premortal apostasy, 1 Nephi 20:1-11 

    2. Joseph Smith in the Council in Heaven, 1 Nephi 20:12-17

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

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

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

    6. The Gathering of Israel, 1 Nephi 21: 12-26

    ———————————-

    1 Nephi 21:7-11 

    7 Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nations abhorreth, to servant of rulers: Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful.

    Having discussed those who will assist the Prophet, Isaiah now turns to Joseph himself. In the first half of his introduction, he describes him in terms of all the tensions Joseph encountered in his own lifetime and the contrasts that still inform opinions today, “to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nations abhorreth.” During his first visit, Moroni warned the young prophet of those contradictions. Joseph recalled:

    33 He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people (Joseph Smith-History:33).

    As though to fulfill that prophecy, years later when a Boston newspaper reported that the Prophet had been murdered, the editor wrote:

    But notwithstanding this, he was a remarkable man, and has left the impress of his genius upon the age in which he lived; he has carved out for himself a title to a page in the history of his country, and his name will be remembered, for good and for evil, when the names of half the ephemeral statesmen of the age will be forgotten.{1}

    The second half of Isaiah introduction is equally appropriate:

    to servant of rulers

    In the Beatitudes, when the Savior spoke of the Twelve, he emphasized their role as servants. He said, “Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to minister unto you, and to be your servants (3 Nephi 12:1) Being a servant is not a unique responsibility of the prophet and the apostles, because we are all required to serve and bless each other. We may know that these priesthood responsibilities are what Isaiah had in mind by the next phrases:

    Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful.

    These kings are the sacral kings who have eyes that see and ears that hear. They stand to make covenants. Princes are those who are anointed to become kings. They are enabled to worship correctly because the Lord has kept his part of the covenants with regards to their collective and individual missions.

    It is true with Isaiah, as it is with many other prophets, that in order to read with understanding anything the prophet wrote, one must first understand other things he wrote. As an example, this chapter is a prophecy of the life and work of the Prophet Joseph and is set in the context of his covenants in the premortal spirit world. However, it can best be understood in light of Isaiah 61 which is a prophecy of the redemption of the dead after the Savior’s resurrection. For that reason, it seems necessary that before we continue, we carefully examine that later chapter of Isaiah.

    Reading Isaiah 61 is not so much a tangent as it might appear, for key elements in Isaiah 49 (1 Nephi 21) are written with the same subtextual code as Isaiah 61where the context makes the code easier to unravel. So reading Isaiah 61 first will focus a bright shining light on the meaning of Isaiah’s description of the mission of the Prophet Joseph in 1 Nephi 21. It will also help us understand why the Savior defined his own mission by quoting from that chapter in the synagogue in Nazareth.

    16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
    17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
    18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,{2}
    19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
    20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
    21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears (Luke 4:16-21).

    The other chapter he quoted, promised that he would give sight to the blind, but it was also an affirmation that he would deliver the prisoners from their darkness.

    5 Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
    6 I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
    7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
    8 I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images (Isaiah 42:5-8).

    The key that unlocks the whole meaning of Isaiah 61 is D&C 138. Isaiah 61 is a prophecy of the Lord’s visit to the world of the spirits of the dead during the period between his own death and his resurrection. The first verse is quoted in D&C 138:42 as Isaiah’s prophecy that the Savior would visit the dead and liberate them from the spirit prison. With that key the entire chapter comes into focus, so not only is it intelligible but in its clarity it provides us the meaning of other code words in other parts of Isaiah, as well as in the Psalms and other scriptures.

    President Joseph F. Smith saw in vision the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy. He also clarifies that. It was the Savior who was anointed at the Council in Heaven, and lists some of the prophets who were present to greet the Savior in the spirit world. Among those he mentions Isaiah.

    42 Isaiah, who declared by prophecy that the Redeemer was anointed to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that were bound (D&C138:42).

    Throughout his own vision President Smith used much of Isaiah’s language. Not only does he quote its beginning in verse 42, but also in verse 31, he tells of the Savior’s sending missionaries to the dead who did not accept the Savior in their time of life on the earth. He describes their mission in the same terms that were used by Isaiah in chapter 61.

    Please go to the “Scriptures” section of this website, then to Old Testament, and then Isaiah. You will find a discussion of those terms in “Isaiah 61 – LeGrand Baker – An Endowment for the Dead”

    8 Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time have I heard thee, O isles of the sea, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and give thee my servant for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages (1 Nephi 21:8).

    In light of Isaiah 61, the symbolism of the next few verses of Nephi 21 that promises the restoration of the temple ordinances requires virtually no explanation. What little is necessary is provided by a footnote in the current edition of the Book of Mormon.

    In an acceptable time

    An acceptable time is a time when the ordinances and covenants are valid because they are done with correct authority and in the correct way (zedek). One of the Prophet’s most important missions is to restore that “acceptable time” with its promises of salvation for the dead.

    have I heard thee, O isles of the sea and in a day of salvation have I helped thee and I will preserve thee,

    As in verse one, the references to the people who are of the “isles of the sea” probably refers to the people of the Book of Mormon.

    and give thee my servant

    In the Book of Mormon, at the words “my servant,” footnote 8a reads: “2 Nephi 3:11 (6-15); 3 Nephi 21:11 (8-11); Mormon 8:16 (16-25).”

    The first of those references reads:

    6 For Joseph truly testified, saying: A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins. …
    11 But a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins—and not to the bringing forth my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them. …
    15 And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation (2 Nephi 3:6-15).

    9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

    That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness

    The prisoners who sit in darkness may well be the persons in the spirit world who are awaiting the ordinances that will enable them literally to “go forth.”

    They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

    Again, we have a reference to the feast at the conclusion of the ancient Israelite temple drama—which has became the sacrament of the Last Supper.

    “Way” is code for one’s journey to the top of the mountain of the Lord. To feed there is to partake of the fruit of the tree of life. The symbolism of “pastures” reflects the 23rd Psalm where one, as a sheep who follows his Savior, eats the fruit of that tree and drinks freely of the waters of life. Then, later in the psalm, the feast is prepared “in the presence of mine enemies,” meaning that the enemies are irrelevant to both the sanctity and the efficacy of the feast.{22} Those ideas are encapsulated in the Savior’s Beatitude:

    6 And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness [zedek, correctness in priesthood and temple things], for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost (3 Nephi 12:6).

    10 They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

    This beautiful imagery is a reference to the tree of life and the waters of life. The dead shall have access to the fruit of the tree and therefore shall not hunger. They will symbolically rest under its shade and therefore the sun will not smite them. There they may drink freely of the waters of life. That same imagery is found in the Twenty Third Psalm:

    1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
    2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters (Psalms 23:1-2).

    In John’s Revelation, this represents the ultimate blessing: having eternal access to the tree of life and giving “unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely” (Revelation 21:6. See all of chapters 21 and 22).

    11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted (1 Nephi 21:11).

    “Mountains” may refer to the ancient Israelite temple. “Way” and “highways” may refer to for the ordinances and covenants one must follow to ascend to the pinnacle of the mountain.{23}

    Even though these references to temple work and kingship seem to be primarily about ordinances for the dead, they necessarily imply that the Prophet Joseph will also restore the sealing power and other ordinances for the living as well.

    This verse completes the part of the chapter that deals with the Prophet’s assignment to restore the ordinances and blessings of the temple. The rest of the chapter talks about the Prophet’s other major assignment: to gather Israel and to restore the government and culture of this earth to their proper order—to bring about Zion.

    The restoration of the temple with its ordinances and covenants had to come first in Isaiah’s prophecy because it does come first in time. There can be no gathering of Israel if there are not temples to which they can gather. So now, Isaiah has established that Joseph will restore the ancient temple rites, he can proceed with his prophecy to describe how Israel will be gathered.

    ———————————–
    FOOTNOTES

    {1} Daily Evening Transcript, Boston, Mass., August 1, 1844.

    {2} When John the Baptist’s disciples came to Jesus to ask if he were the Messiah, he quoted this passage to them (Matthew 11:4-5).

    {3} Margaret Dee Bratcher,”Salvation Achieved, Isaiah 61:1-7; 62:1-7; 65:17 – 66:2,” Review and Expositor, v. 88, 1991, 178.

    {4} For anything to be acceptable to the Lord in the Old Testament, it had to be done correctly and with the right authority—in zedek. Here the dead are to be given assurance that the ordinance performed on the earth will be valid and acceptable. One finds a similar statement in D&C 93:51.

    {5} Anderson, Time to Mourn, 84. An important example of the way “comfort” is used in the Bible is this verse from Isaiah:
    3 For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody (Isaiah 51:3).

    {6} Anderson, Time to Mourn, 85.

    {7} For an excellent discussion of the coronation ceremony, see Ricks and Sroka, “King, Coronation, and Temple,” 236-71.

    {8} For a more detailed discussion of the Israelite coronation ceremony see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 461-516; Second edition, p. 336-360.

    {9} For a more detailed discussion of “beauty instead of ashes” in the ancient Israelite coronation ceremony see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 471-77; Second edition, p. 342-46.

    {10} For a more detailed discussion of the anointing in the ancient Israelite coronation ceremony see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 477-83; Second edition, p. 346-49.

    For discussions of the anointing of Israelite kings, see Donald W. Parry, “Ritual Anointing with Olive Oil in Ancient Israelite Religion,” Allegory of the Olive Tree, 266-71, 281-83. For a discussion of the olive tree as the Tree of Life and of the tree and its oil as symbols of kingship see Stephen D. Ricks, “Olive Culture in the Second Temple Era and Early Rabbinic Period,” Allegory of the Olive Tree, 460-76.

    {11} For a more detailed discussion of the two-part royal clothing in the ancient Israel see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 483-95; Second edition, p. 349-58.

    {12} For a more detailed discussion of this new name and of the Israelite royal new covenant name see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 495-516; Second edition, p. 358-73.

    {13} Ellis T. Rasmussen, A Latter-day Saint Commentary on the Old Testament (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1993), 536.

    {14} Borsch, Son of Man, 92-93.

    {15} Mowinckel, He that Cometh, 84. As examples, Mowinckel’s footnote gives Psalms 132:11ff; 72; cf. 20:8f; 21:10; and Isaiah 55:3. Besides Mowinckel, other scholars who have pointed out that this was a participatory drama were: Widengren, “King and Covenant,” 21-22. Borsch, Son of Man, 184; Johnson, Sacral Kingship, 7-8, 91; Grace I. Emmerson, “Women in Ancient Israel,” The World of Ancient Israel, Sociological, Anthropological and Political Perspectives, ed. R. E. Clements (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), 371-94; Robert Davidson, “Covenant Ideology in Ancient Israel,” World of Ancient Israel, 342-43; Geo Widengren, “Baptism and Enthronement in Some Jewish-Christian Gnostic Documents,” The Savior God, Comparative Studies in the Concept of Salvation Presented to Edwin Oliver James, ed. S. G. F. Brandon (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1963), 205-17; Johnson, “Hebrew Conceptions of Kingship,” 215-35.

    {16} For a discussion of the concept, “Be true to the Law of your own Being,” see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 537-39; Second edition, p. 387-88.

    {17} Margaret Dee Bratcher,”Salvation Achieved, Isaiah 61:1-7; 62:1-7; 65:17 – 66:2,” Review and Expositor, v. 88, 1991, 178.

    {18}  Monte S. Nyman, Great are the Words of Isaiah (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1980), 236.

    {19} For a discussion of Psalm 82 see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 227-55; Second edition, p. 359-81.

    {20} For a discussion of the temple feast see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 605-41; Second edition, p. 431-57.

    {21} For a discussion of “a broken heart and contrite spirit” see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 886-89; Second edition, p. 622-23.

    {22} For a discussion of the feast in Psalm 23 see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 619-41; Second edition, p. 448-49.

    {23} For a comparison between the sacred mountain and Solomon’s Temple see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 365; Second edition, p. 263.

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  • 1 Nephi 21:1-6 & Isaiah 49 — LeGrand Baker — Those who will help the Prophet Joseph

    In this discussion I have divided First Nephi 20 and 21 into the following subsections:

    1. The premortal apostasy, 1 Nephi 20:1-11 

    2. Joseph Smith in the Council in Heaven, 1 Nephi 20:12-17

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

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

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

    6. The Gathering of Israel, 1 Nephi 21: 12-26

    ———————————-

    First Nephi Chapter 21 can best be understood as a continuation of chapter 20 rather than as a subject separate from it. The outline of this two-chapter unit is as follows:

    .  Events in the premortal spirit world

    1. 1 Nephi 20:1-11 — Isaiah shows the extent of the premortal apostasy.

    2. 1 Nephi 20:12-17 — He describes a Council meeting at which Jehovah presides and the Prophet Joseph speaks, by assignment, and describes how, under Joseph’s administration, the Lord’s purposes will ultimately triumph in this physical world.

    .   Events in this world

    3. 1 Nephi 20:18 – 21:1a — There is an abrupt change in the scene as Isaiah describes the apostate state of this world when the restoration is about to begin. It demonstrates the need for Joseph to fulfill his assignment .

    4. 1 Nephi 21:1b – 6 — The missions of those who were assigned to help him are explained. Here no distinction is drawn between those who are to be his contemporaries and those, like Luther and Wycliffe , who come before him to set the stage for the restoration, or of those who follow Joseph in time but continue the work he began. Some read these verses as being about the Prophet Joseph. I read them differently because they describe a reluctance that is completely contrary to Joseph’s commitment and personality .

    5. 1 Nephi 21:7-8 – Isaiah then describes, in the necessarily correct sequence, Joseph’s mission, his death, and the fruits of his work. Joseph is positively identified in footnote 8-a which refers us to 1 Nephi 21:7-8.

    6. 1 Nephi 21:9-11 — The first fruit of Joseph’s mission is the restoration of the temple ordinances for both the living and the dead. All this is written in a beautiful code language that was preserved as faithfully as possible by the translators of the King James Bible. It is much the same code language that Isaiah uses in his description of the ordinances of salvation for the dead in Isaiah 61.

    7. 1 Nephi 21:12-26 – The ultimate fruits of Joseph’ work is the gathering of Israel. This is shown as following the restoration of the temple ordinances because there would be no point in gathering Israel if there were no temples to which they could be gathered. The Book of Mormon follows the King James translation rather closely but, because the brass plates from which Nephi copied is a pristine version of the original text, the Book of Mormon makes changes which speak with more clarity and accuracy.

    ——————-

    1 Nephi 21:1-6 & Isaiah 49 — LeGrand Baker — Those who will help the Prophet Joseph

    1 And again: Hearken, O ye house of Israel, all ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of my people; yea, all ye that are broken off, that are scattered abroad, who are of my people, O house of Israel. Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken ye people from far; the Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name 1 Nephi 21:1).{1}

    1 And again: Hearken, O ye house of Israel

    Inasmuch as this follows immediately after Isaiah’s account of a conference attended by premortal “Israel” (1 Nephi 20:12-17), it is reasonable to suppose that he is now addressing some of those same people who have come to fulfill their assignments on earth. That is, the beginning of this chapter is addressed to that “Israel” who had covenanted to assist the Prophet Joseph in his mission. The rest of this verse and continuing through verse 6 is written as a conversation between God and “Israel.”

    It begins by describing the problem. The people are floundering because of the wickedness of their leaders.

    Whoever took it upon themselves to change Isaiah’s text so they could get Cyrus into Isaiah’s prophecy, not only took out the references to the meeting and the prophet Joseph, but they also took out the indictment against themselves. Isaiah had issued an invitation to:

    all ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of my people;

    Those words were edited out of the Hebrew Bible, and it is little wonder. Isaiah blames the people’s apostasy on “the wickedness of the pastors of the people.” Since the editors knew what they were doing, and what the probable consequences would be, it is understandable that they determined that part of the verse had to be omitted from the text.

    Jeremiah prophesied the same thing, but his prophecy did not get removed.

    1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.
    2 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.
    3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
    4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord (Jeremiah 23:1-4).

    yea, all ye that are broken off, that are scattered abroad, who are of my people, O house of Israel. Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken ye people from far;

    It is reasonable to suppose that his reference to “isles” might be about the people of the Book of Mormon. Isaiah was fully aware of the significant role the Book of Mormon would play in the restoration of the gospel. Isaiah 29:9-14 is an explicit prophecy about it, and that prophecy was fulfilled to the letter by Martin Harris and Professor Charles Anthon (JS-hist 1:64-65).

    the Lord hath called me from the womb;

    This is not about the Prophet Joseph, but is addressed to the “house of Israel.” That is, to those who had covenanted to come to the earth in a time and place that would enable them to facilitate the work of the Prophet in the restoration of the gospel and the gathering of Israel. The next few verses identify that person, not as an individual, but as individuals within the group. These assignments, like the others, were based on premortal covenants. The fact of the covenant is reaffirmed in the next phrase. We can identify the group more closely as we review the conversation that ensues between them and the Lord.

    from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.

    As already observed, “name” is frequently code for “covenant” because there is always a new name associated with a new covenant. The names of these persons were given before they were born. That is, the covenants were made before we were born and we came to this world bearing the burden of those covenants. Because we do not remember what they were, a major function of the Holy Ghost is to teach us the covenants and how and when we are to fulfill them.{2}

    2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me (1 Nephi 21:2).

    And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword;

    The words one speaks by the authority of the priesthood and the power of the Holy Ghost are often compared to a sword. The idea that a tongue can cut more deeply than a knife is part of everyone’s experience, as the boy in Shakespeare’s King Henry V observed about one who had “a killing tongue and a quiet sword.”{3}

    Paul described God’s words in a phrase that is quoted several times in the Doctrine and Covenants. He wrote,

    12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

    But in the context of Isaiah’s statement, there is another interpretation that is more likely. Priesthood power is always exercised by the authoritative spoken word.

    In the context of putting on “the whole armor of God,” Paul includes a weapon which is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:13-17). The story of creation is about the power of God’s word. The brother of Jared moved a mountain when he spoke, and all priesthood ordinances are accomplished by the spoken word. Nevertheless, for most Latter-day Saints the power of the word is in its ability to illuminate one’s own soul. Whether through the words of the missionaries or the prophets, words can condemn or exalt, just as a sword can attack or defend.

    in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me,

    Isaiah combined those ideas again when he wrote:

    16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people (Isaiah 51:16).

    Jacob quoted those words (2 Nephi 8:16), then explained that they were “spoken unto the Jews, by the mouth of his holy prophets, even from the beginning down, from generation to generation, until the time comes that they shall be restored to the true church and fold of God” (2 Nephi 9:2). The Savior quotes that same section of Isaiah in 3 Nephi 20. All of the contexts are the same. That is, they all talk about the restoration of Israel in the context of the restoration of the temple.

    It is reasonable, then, to read “in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me” as being about a priesthood ordination.

    and made me a polished shaft;

    The symbolic shaft in question is an arrow; that is apparent from the fact that he is hidden in a quiver. The arrow is the instrument by which the Lord accomplishes his purposes. But a thin, straight stick is subject to twisting and warping if it gets wet. A crooked arrow isn’t worth much. So the ancients protected the arrow by anointing it with either olive oil or animal fat. The polishing is to make it straight without bumps so that it will fly true, but the polishing process is only half finished until it has been properly anointed with oil. So the Israel who is speaking in first person has been given the words to speak, has been ordained and anointed, but now, rather than becoming an obvious mark to the world:

    in his quiver hath he hid me;

    That obscurity is just one reason to believe this is not about the Prophet Joseph. For the most part, individual Latter-day Saints are unknown in their communities. The bishop is the local shopkeeper and the Relief Society president is a housewife down the street. We do missionary work, but do not boast about who we are or who we think we are going to be. In the apocryphal Gospel of Philip, the Savior is reported to have taught, “The perfect man not only cannot be restrained, but also cannot be seen. For if he is seen he will be put under restraint.”{4} Personal anonymity gives us great, but quiet, power, and shields us within God’s promise that he will help us keep our covenants.

    3 And said unto me: Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

    When we considers the priesthood authority given to his servants in the previous verse, and put that authority in context with the assignment they will receive in the next few verses, it becomes apparent that this “servant” included some of the people who were at the premortal meeting described in the previous chapter. As is true with all such universal assignments as the one described here, they are equally applicable to the entire group as they are to each member in the group. Therefore “Israel” might be the entire body of the Church who were assigned to come to the earth in the last days to assist the Prophet Joseph fulfill his promises, or “Israel” might also be each individual in that group whose assignment is similar to, but uniquely different from ,the responsibilities of the entire group. I understand this “servant” is both singular and personal, as well as multiple and universal in the way that the ancient temple drama was delivered to an entire audience. That is, the somewhat generic covenants were made with everyone present, but individual because each participant acted in his own behalf. So that the covenants made by each individual were applicable only to himself. In other words, Israel is us—you and I—individually and collectively it is those of us whose responsibility it is to preach the gospel, enlarge the Kingdom, and serve in our respective callings, and to just be good and productive people, wherever we are.

    In the short statement that Isaiah attributes to the Lord, “Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified,” we find the only antidote to the condemning tendency described by the prophets. Holders of the Priesthood have the responsibility to do good as God defines that good, but not “good” as people look to its uses for self aggrandizement. When priesthood holders follow the instructions of the Holy Ghost, then they are indeed one “in whom God will be glorified.”

    The servant’s reluctant response and God’s reply is what convinces me that this is more likely to be about you and I than it is to be about the Prophet Joseph Smith.

    4 Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught and in vain; surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.

    The wording of the servant’s response, and his reluctance to come into this world suggests that the conversation we are reading took place before we got here. In tone, it is not the same as the feeling of inadequacy expressed by Jeremiah and Enoch (Jeremiah 1:6, Moses 6:31), but is more like the way Isaiah describes his own sode experience when he returned to the Council and renewed his covenants there. After he volunteered to do the assignment, and the Lord gave him more details, Isaiah asked “Lord, how long?” and the Lord replied, “Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate” (Isaiah 6:11).

    Isaiah’s response, “Lord, how long?” suggests he understands the weight of his assignment, but not a reluctance to fulfill it. During his sode experience, Isaiah was told more than he reports to us here. He knew that the religious reforms that he and King Hezekiah had sponsored would be overturned by Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son and successor. In The Martyrdom of Isaiah he prophesies, “I shall depart mid the torture of my body…. and by his hands I shall be sawn asunder.” In fulfillment of that prophecy, the account concludes, “And when Isaiah was being sawn in sunder, he neither cried aloud nor wept, but his lips spake with the Holy Spirit until he was sawn in twain.”{5}

    There were others, great men and women whose names we know, and many others we do not know, who faced just as seemingly impossible task. Isaiah echoes their concern as they approached their assignments:

    Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught and in vain; surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God (1 Nephi 21).

    When and under what circumstances did this part of the conversation take place, we do not have enough information to know. But it is likely that Isaiah is recalling the premortal time when others like himself, were concerned about the enormity of the task before them. In the next verses Isaiah gives the Lord’s response.

    5 And now, saith the Lord—that formed me from the womb that I should be his servant,{6}
    to bring Jacob again to him—though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.

    6 And he said: It is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth.

    These verses are about as close as one can hope to get to an actual date in a prophecy to be fulfilled 2,700 years in the future. The time is when those foreordained to assist in the restoration of the gospel would be born in this world. Israel will gather Israel, but Israel is not yet gathered; and they will also be a light to the gentiles, “that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth.”

    It is about the restoration of the gospel and the power of missionary work. But it is also the Lord’s response to those of us who were concerned about the assignment and our ability to perform it successfully. The verses contain not only the essence of the assignment but also the absolute assurance that the Lord will assist his servants that each one may fulfill his mission.

    An ancient Israelite poem looks forward to this time. It reads:

    I took courage and became strong and captured the world,
    And it became mine for the glory of the Most High
    and of God my Father.
    And the gentiles who had been scattered
    were gathered together,
    But I was not defiled by my love for them,
    Because they had praised me in high places.
    And the traces of light were set upon their hearts,
    And they walked according to my life and were saved,
    And they became my people for ever and ever.{7}

    ———————————–
    FOOTNOTES

    {1} The following verses make little sense if they are not read as a conversation. To facilitate that, they are written here without the verse breaks.
    The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;
    And [the Lord ] said unto me:
    Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
    Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for naught and in vain; surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God.
    And now, saith the Lord —that formed me from the womb that I should be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him—though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. And he said: It is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth.

    {2} See Jeremiah 1:5 as an example of such a premortal covenant.

    {3} William Shakespeare, King Henry V, Act 3, Scene 2.

    {4} Gospel of Philip in New Testament Apocrypha, ed. Wilhelm Schneemelcher, 2:201 # 106.

    {5} The Martyrdom of Isaiah, in R.H. Charles, ed., The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913), 159-62.

    {6} See Jeremiah 1:5 as an example of such a premortal covenant.

    {6} Odes of Solomon, Number 10, in James H. Charlesworth, ed, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, 2 vols., New York, 1985, 2: 744)

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  • 1 Nephi 20:18 to 21:1 & Isaiah 48 — LeGrand Baker — Apostasy preceding the Restoration

    In this discussion I have divided First Nephi 20 and 21 into the following subsections:

    1. The premortal apostasy, 1 Nephi 20:1-11  

    2. Joseph Smith in the Council in Heaven, 1 Nephi 20:12-17

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

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

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

    6. The Gathering of Israel, 1 Nephi 21: 12-26

    ———————————-

    1 Nephi  20:18 to 21:1 & Isaiah 48 — LeGrand Baker — Apostasy preceding the Restoration

    18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments—then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.

    Here we have an abrupt change of scenery. We have passed from a heavenly Council conducted by Jehovah to a lament, decrying an apostasy that denies the covenants made by Jehovah. McKenzie rightly calls this transition “a violent change of tone.” In the Anchor Bible translation and commentary on “Second Isaiah,” he writes,

    The poem [Isaiah 48] concludes with a violent change of tone. From rebuke and grief the prophet, speaking in his own name, turns to exultation. The hour of liberation has arrived, and he summons Israel to depart. The summons is couched in terms of a call to a new exodus and a passage through the desert, a theme used in the preceding poems. This is the glory of Yahweh which should be announced to the whole world. A similar call is repeated in 52:11-12; each call marks a division in the series of discourses. With less than complete assurance vs. 22 is judged to have wandered here by scribal work from lvii 21; it is not related to the context here, and seems rather to sound a discordant note at the end of an appeal which shows progressive emotional intensity.{1}

    The reason that McKenzie observed such a sudden change of time and voice is because the change is really there. The chapter break in the Book of Mormon is in the same place as in the Bible, but if we were to read it without that break (the way it was in the first edition of the Book of Mormon), we would see that this verse is not only a tone change but also a change in time and place. The verses before this one are about the war in heaven and more especially about the Prophet Joseph’s pivotal role in that struggle, including his address to the Council and the Savior’s testimony of its validity.

    One of the greatest advantages of having printed scriptures (as opposed to having them rolled up in a scroll) is that the printed ones are divided into chapters and verses that facilitate easy references. However, one of the greatest disadvantages of printed scriptures is that those divisions are actually editorial insertions that may change how we connect and understand the ideas we read. Sometimes a single sentence is divided into several verses, and sometimes the chapter divisions are in the wrong places. Here is just one example of a chapter break that may change the meaning:

    37 Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.
    38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice (John 13:37-38).

    CHAPTER 14
    1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
    2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you (John 14:1-2).

    Now read it this way:

    Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.
    Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

    1 Nephi 20:18 is like that. The unaccountability of this sudden shift in mood becomes accountable when we read the explanation that was removed by the ancient Jewish editors. It is on the brass plates in the first verse of the next chapter: “Hearken, O ye house of Israel, all ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of my people” (1 Nephi 21:1).

    Isaiah has moved his readers from describing the situation that resulted in the Council meeting at which Joseph spoke—from that to the mortal world to describe the apostate conditions in which Joseph must come and keep his promises. It is this movement in time and place that accounts for the “violent change of tone” in verse 18. The last three verses in chapter 20 set the stage for the first verse in chapter 21 and so belong in that chapter rather than chapter 20.

    We now jump from the events of that premortal Council to Isaiah’s prophecies about the fulfillment of Joseph’s promises. The remainder of this chapter and all the next one appear to be either a synopsis of the Joseph’s speech and a report of how and when he will fulfill his covenants, or else it is Isaiah’s prophecy of Joseph’s mission. In the end, it really doesn’t matter which because the three options would look the same. The lament begins:

    O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments— then had thy peace been as a river,

    Scholars have long observed that the last half of Isaiah is heavily dependent on the psalms.{2} While we cannot be certain which of the psalms this refers to, we can be sure of the intended symbolism. It is the same as

    3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper (Psalms 1:3).

    In the arid agrarian world of the Old Testament a source of water is a virtual promise of stability and peace. Examples are the Jordan River and the constant flow of the Spring of Gihon that provided water for Jerusalem. Isaiah’s imagery is like the “still waters” in the 23rd Psalm. Its echo is found in the last chapter of Isaiah where the Lord establishes a new heavens and the new earth (Isaiah 66:22). The Lord’s promise to Jerusalem is, “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream” (Isaiah 66:12). It is echoed again in Lehi’s wish for Laman: “O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness!” (1 Nephi 2:9) In Ezekiel it is the waters of life that flow from beneath the throne of God. These waters sustain the trees of life and heal the Dead Sea.

    and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.

    Righteousness is zedek—correctness in priesthood and temple ordinances and covenants. Unlike the “still waters,” Isaiah chose the roaring “waves of the sea”—with their ceaseless, rhythmic, thundering power to represent the power of the ordinances. In another place, Isaiah also spoke of the waves’ thunderous power:

    1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: …
    15 But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The Lord of hosts is his name.
    16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people (Isaiah 51:1, 15-16, and 2 Nephi 8).

    Similarly, the Lord spoke to Joseph of “the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds” (D&C 88:89-90).

    Isaiah’s lament is that both are lost—both the peace and the power—because the people had not hearkened to the Lord’s commandments.

    19 Thy seed [descendants] also had been as the sand; the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.

    Thy seed also had been as the sand; the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof.

    Even though this statement is abbreviated it is, in fact, a full reference to the Abrahamic covenant and all of the promises of the ancient temple. The underpinning of every other covenant is that our Father’s children can return to him and be like him. Eternal family and friendship are the ultimate fulfillment of that covenant. The Lord tied the promise of family to the promise of invulnerability when he told Abraham:

    17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
    18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice (Genesis 22:17-18, see Abraham 3:14).

    There is a more complete account in Abraham 2 where the Lord equates eternal family with eternal priesthood:

    8 My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee.
    9 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations;
    10 And I will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father;
    11 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal (Abraham 2:8-11, emphasis added).

    Those blessings had been Abraham’s desire from his earliest time. He begins his autobiography with a chiastic poem in which the prophet tells of his faithfulness that qualified him to be a member of the Council in heaven. (It is written in the pattern of the cosmic myth and thus begins with the statement that it was necessary for him to leave home. It concludes with his receiving blessings at the Council: “It was conferred upon me… before the foundation of the earth.”)

    1 In the land of the Chaldeans, at the residence of my fathers, I, Abraham, saw that it was needful for me to obtain another place of residence;
    2 And, finding there was greater happiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same; having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a father of many nations, a prince of peace, and desiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers.
    3 It was conferred upon me from the fathers; it came down from the fathers, from the beginning of time, yea, even from the beginning, or before the foundation of the earth, down to the present time, even the right of the firstborn, or the first man, who is Adam, or first father, through the fathers unto me.
    4 I sought for mine appointment unto the Priesthood according to the appointment of God unto the fathers concerning the seed (Abraham 1:1-4).

    The Lord also renewed and extended that promise to the Prophet Joseph, and through him to all the Saints who keep their eternal covenants:

    30 Abraham received promises concerning his seed, and of the fruit of his loins—from whose loins ye are, namely, my servant Joseph—which were to continue so long as they were in the world; and as touching Abraham and his seed, out of the world they should continue; both in the world and out of the world should they continue as innumerable as the stars; or, if ye were to count the sand upon the seashore ye could not number them.
    31 This promise is yours also, because ye are of Abraham, and the promise was made unto Abraham; and by this law is the continuation of the works of my Father, wherein he glorifieth himself (D&C 132:30-31).

    19. Thy seed also had been as the sand; the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.

    This verse contains two separate ideas that focus on quite different covenants, but each identifies aspects of the same apostasy. The first was the loss of the birthright blessings of Abraham. The second was the loss of the memory of the covenant that a prophet named Joseph would restore the gospel.{3}

    When the ancient prophet Joseph took his father’s family into Egypt he had two concerns: (1) that his family would come out of Egypt and (2) that they would again have the birthright blessings of the priesthood. In response to those concerns, the Lord promised Joseph he would send two servants to accomplish those purposes. As a token of those covenants, the Lord gave Joseph the names of those two prophets. He promised a “Moses” who would bring his people out of Egypt and a “Joseph” who would restore their birthright blessings. Israel has, of course, remembered the name and the fulfillment of the covenant of Moses, but because of iniquity they lost the name of the prophet Joseph,{4} as they also lost the memory of the covenant which that name symbolized. Lehi explained:

    8 And I will give unto him [Joseph Smith] a commandment that he shall do none other work, save the work which I shall command him. And I will make him great in mine eyes; for he shall do my work.
    9 And he shall be great like unto Moses, whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel. …
    15 And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation.
    16 Yea, thus prophesied Joseph: I am sure of this thing, even as I am sure of the promise of Moses; for the Lord hath said unto me, I will preserve thy seed forever (2 Nephi 3:8-9, 15-16).

    Victor Ludlow shows other evidence that Isaiah was aware of Joseph Smith’s divine calling. He wrote:

    The eleventh chapter of Isaiah contains some marvelous prophecies of the last days. It enlightens modern Israelites about the roles of at least two great leaders who will prepare the way for the coming of Christ in power and glory. They may possibly be the two “saviors” or “messiahs” known in Jewish tradition as “Messiah ben David” (a redeemer descended from David) and “Messiah ben Joseph” (a redeemer descended from Joseph).{5}

    The Lord alluded to Joseph Smith’s covenant name when he reminded the Prophet’s friends:

    8 And now, marvel not that I have called him unto mine own purpose, which purpose is known in me; wherefore, if he shall be diligent in keeping my commandments he shall be blessed unto eternal life; and his name is Joseph (D&C 18:8).

    The next two verses in 1 Nephi 20 serve to re-enforce the idea that it was Joseph Smith’s name and covenant that were lost. Isaiah does this by drawing a comparison of the missions of the ancient Moses and the modern Joseph. While his prophecy sounds strikingly similar to the story of Moses in the wilderness, almost none of the details are the same. It is apparent that Isaiah is using the Moses story to remind us of something else. The fact that Isaiah actually had the Lord’s covenants with our Joseph in mind is suggested by the second of these verses where Isaiah draws a parallel between Moses’s striking a rock to bring out water to provide drink for his thirsty people and the mission of the prophet whom Isaiah describes as providing waters for a people who do not thirst. Here the Lord invites the people to flee the world—Babylon—as ancient Israel had once fled the land of Egypt.

    20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter to the end of the earth; say ye: The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.

    20. Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans,{6}

    The instructions here are not to go from Egypt as Moses did, but to go from Babylon. It is the same command as was given in a revelation to “the people of my church” through the Prophet Joseph about a year and a half after the Church was organized:

    14 Go ye out from among the nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon (D&C 133:14).

    The charge in both cases is to gather to Zion. The symbolism of the wickedness of Babylon rather than of Egypt from which Moses led the Children of Israel is emphasized by the attitude and the consequences of their travel.

    with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter to the end of the earth; say ye: The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.

    In temple settings, especially in the Book of Mormon, to redeem means to be brought into the presence of the Lord. So it is here. They sing in unison, as in 3 Nephi 20, which is also a paraphrase of Isaiah:

    31 And they shall believe in me, that I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and shall pray unto the Father in my name.
    32 Then shall their watchmen lift up their voice, and with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye.
    33 Then will the Father gather them together again, and give unto them Jerusalem for the land of their inheritance.
    34 Then shall they break forth into joy—Sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Father hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem (3 Nephi 20:31-34).

    21 And they thirsted not; he led them through the deserts; he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them; he clave the rock also and the waters gushed out.

    The King James Version reads:

    21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. (Isaiah 48:21)

    This symbolism is more recognizable when one recalls that the Lord described Joseph Smith as “another like unto thee” when he told Moses about the mission of the future Prophet.

    And now, Moses, my son, I will speak unto thee concerning this earth upon which thou standest; and thou shalt write the things which I shall speak. And in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as naught and take many of them from the book which thou shalt write, behold, I will raise up another like unto thee; and they shall be had again among the children of men–among as many as shall believe (Moses 1:40-41).

    These people in the latter days “thirsted not,” but in Exodus 17:3-6 “the people thirsted.”

    The reason the people who follow the Prophet Joseph do not thirst is because the waters he provides for them are the waters of life, and the Savior himself is the source of it:

    Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life (John 4:13-14).

    22 And notwithstanding he hath done all this, and greater also, there is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.

    The King James Version simply reads:

    22 There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked (Isaiah 48:22)

    This is the same lament for peace as is in v. 18.

    The wicked are identified in the next verse, which is 1 Nephi 21:1 in the Book of Mormon

     1 And again: Hearken, O ye house of Israel, all ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of my people; yea, all ye that are broken off, that are scattered abroad, who are of my people. (1 Nephi 21:1).

    For reasons that take no imagination to fathom, those words were deleted from the section that was edited by the apostate Jews when they took Joseph Smith out of the text and put Cyrus in his place.

    ———————————–
    FOOTNOTES

    {1} John L. McKenzie, The Anchor Bible, Second Isaiah, Introduction, Translation, and Notes (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc.,1981), 99-100.

    {2} John Thompson gives a good background of the scholars’ work:
    “Isaiah 40-55, from which Jacob quotes his Isaiah passages, have often been analyzed with form-critical methods; but because many units or forms within the text have little or no comparative material (for instance, the Servant Songs), solid conclusions have been difficult to achieve. However, J. H. Eaton feels that there is enough evidence ‘to guide us to the decisive factors of tradition behind Isa. 40-55.’ J. Begrich points out as early as 1938 that many of the forms in this section resemble materials from earlier services in the temple, such as hymns, laments, and prophetic oracles of assurance. Mowinckel took this connection a step further, noting that there seems to be an association between the second division of Isaiah and the preexilic autumn festivals—namely the Feast of Tabernacles. However, Mowinckel, who does not understand how the Servant Songs fit into the picture, stopped short of completely relating chapters 40-55 to Sukkot. It was I. Engnell and Eaton who completed the correspondence between the second division of Isaiah, including the Servant Songs, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Engnell concluded that Isaiah 40-55 ‘is a prophetic collection of traditions’ that may be called ‘liturgy, …not a cult liturgy but a prophetic imitation thereof.’

    “The conclusions of these scholars are significant in light of the possible setting of Jacob’s sermon, for if the second division of Isaiah, from which Jacob obtained his quotes, is a prophetic imitation of Sukkot liturgy, then it is possible that Nephi instructed Jacob to use Isaiah not only for the prophetic teachings and elevated language, but because Isaiah’s words reflect the very festival in which they, the Nephites, were participating” (Thompson, “Isaiah 50-51, the Israelite Autumn Festivals, and the Covenant Speech of Jacob in 2 Nephi 6-10,” 137-38).

    {3} For a discussion of the prophecies about the Messiah ben Joseph, see Joseph F. McConkie, “Joseph Smith as Found in Ancient Manuscripts,” Isaiah and the Prophets: Inspired Voices from the Old Testament, ed. Monte S. Nyman, (Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1984), 11-32. For a non-LDS scholar’s attempt to make some sense out of the ancient traditions that there will be a “messiah” from the family of Joseph, see Israel Knohl, “The Messiah Son of Joseph,” Biblical Archaeological Review, 34, 9 (September/October): 58-64.

    {4} The name “Joseph” means “Let him add.” It is the future form of a verb which means to add or augment. It is a rich word which carries, among other connotations, the idea of to “gather together.” (Strong, Hebrew numbers 3130 and 3254.)

    {5} Victor L. Ludlow, Isaiah: Prophet, Seer, and Poet (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1982), 177.

    {6} Skinner believes that 1 Nephi 20 is about Cyrus, but v. 20 has a double meaning that includes a prophecy about the restoration of the gospel. Andrew C. Skinner, “Isaiah 48-49 in 1 Nephi 19-22,” Isaiah in the Book of Mormon, Donald W. Parry and John W. Welch, eds., (Provo, Utah, FARMS, 1998), 95-122.

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  • 1 Nephi 20:12-17 & Isaiah 48 — LeGrand Baker — Joseph Smith’s role in a Heavenly Council

    1 Nephi 20:12-17 

    In this discussion I have divided First Nephi 20 and 21 into the following subsections:

    1. The premortal apostasy, 1 Nephi 20:1-11

    2. Joseph Smith’s role in a Heavenly Council.1 Nephi 20:12-17

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

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

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

    6. The Gathering of Israel, 1 Nephi 21: 12-26

    ———————————-

    12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called, for I am he; I am the first, and I am also the last.

    This verse is the same in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon.

    “Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called.” Isaiah is a name/title that denotes the covenants and covenant names found in the first verses of this chapter. However, he extends that by quoting the Lord in declaring his name/titles that denote the eternal validity of the covenant: “for I am he; I am the first, and I am also the last.”

    Jehovah is the first in birth, in rank, and in glory. His Father presided at the Council in Heaven, but he, Jehovah, conducted the affairs of the Council and made the assignments. {1} He was before the very beginning, as the Lord told Enoch:

    And I bowed down to the Lord, and the Lord spoke to me: Enoch, beloved, all that you see, all things that are standing finished I tell to you even before the very beginning, all that I created from non-being, and visible things from invisible. {2}

    Similarly, we read in Proverbs:

    22 The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old (Proverbs 8:22).

    The Lord is very explicit about his role before the foundation of the world and beyond. In the words, “I am the first, and I am also the last,” “last” does not mean until the conclusion of things, it means the uttermost. For example, he explained in the Doctrine and Covenants.

    1 Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I AM, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made;
    2 The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes;
    3 I am the same which spake, and the world was made, and all things came by me (D&C 38:1-3).

    13 Mine hand hath also laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens. I call unto them and they stand up together.

    The King James Version reads:

    13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together (Isaiah 48:1-22).

    The Book of Mormon’s “and” ties his calling to their standing together, and thus describes an event. We will soon discover that event was a meeting of the Council. The Bible’s “when” is imprecise and denotes no specific event. We will soon discover the meeting of the Council has been completely removed from the Bible’s version.

    In verses 12 and 13, with the words, “I am the first, and I am also the last. Mine hand hath also laid the foundation of the earth” the Lord identifies himself as the God of Creation. {3} In the New Year Festival drama it was necessary that he be defined that way because in the ancient Near East, the Creator God was also the God who controlled the weather. Thus, in the Elijah story, the ultimate test of strength between Jehovah and Baal is that Jehovah can stop the rain but Baal cannot start it again. So it is expected that Jehovah should begin this one verse self-definition by saying he is the God of Creation.{4}

    “Hand”{5} is used twice in these verses, and with two different meanings. The first is a symbol of the authority and power by which he created earth. Just as “word” is a name-description of the Savior in the Gospel of John, so “hand” is a similar name-description in the apocryphal The Book of the Secrets of Enoch. This book is the most detailed ancient description of a sode experience. It records that after Enoch had been dressed in sacred robes, the Lord said to him, “Enoch, beloved, all thou seest, all things that are standing finished I tell to thee even before the very beginning,” Enoch then saw the origin of all things. Then he showed him Adoil (translated “hand of God”) and the creation of all things.{6}

    The second use of “hand” in this verse is “and my right hand hath spanned the heavens.” It declares Jehovah’s role in the Council in Heaven. In the scriptures, the members of the Council are often called “stars” or “the heavens.”{7} An example is the Lord’s question to Job:

    4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
    5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
    6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the cornerstone thereof;
    7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:1-7).

    The phrase, “my right hand hath spanned the heavens” tells a remarkable story when each word is understood in the fulness of its context. The writer is Isaiah, but the speaker is Jehovah who presided at the Council and gave assignments there. After defining himself as the Creator God, Jehovah describes his relationship with members of the Council in Heaven when he says: “and my right hand hath spanned the heavens.”

    The right hand is symbolically and ceremonially significant. For example, when Joseph took his two sons to his father, Jacob, to receive their patriarchal blessings, Jacob crossed his hands and placed the right hand on Ephraim and the left hand on Manasseh. Joseph corrected him, saying that Manasseh was the oldest. Jacob said he knew that and continued to give the blessing. In that story, the right hand conveyed the birthright blessing to Ephraim (Genesis 48:13-19). That same idea is expressed in Psalm 48 where “righteousness” is zedek—absolute correctness in priesthood and temple things.

    9 We have thought of thy lovingkindness [hesed or chesed], O God, in the midst of thy temple.
    10 According to thy name [covenant], O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness [zedek] (Psalms 48:9-10).

    Barton writes, “This term “fill the hand” is the term employed in the Book of Judges for the consecration of a priest (Judges 17:5-12).”{8} Those ideas are also beautifully expressed in these two other passages from the Psalms:

    Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great (Psalms 18:35).

    Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth (Psalms 31:5, Luke 23:46).

    “Sacred space” is a place designated (either by men or by God) as being set apart from the rest of the world – a place where man can go to meet God. Eden, Sinai, Solomon’s Temple—it is any place where God is but where the “world” cannot come.

    The process of defining sacred space in this world begins when God gives the plan and the measurements to the prophet. The first step in creating sacred space (like a temple) is measuring where its foundations will be. To measure its limits is also to establish the limitations of the mundane space that surrounds it. When completed, its walls delineate what is sacred from that what is not.

    When prophets create sacred space, the first step is that God (through the prophet) defines what its measurements are to be. Thus, Jehovah gave Noah the measurements for his ark; gave Moses the measurements for the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant; gave Joseph Smith the measurements for the Kirtland Temple; and when President Hinkley first received the revelation about building many smaller temples, he sat in his car and wrote down the dimensions. The reason measurements are necessary is that they denote where the walls will be, since the space within the walls is sacred. Thus, identifying through measurement is the first step in designating “sacred space.{9}

    People are defined as sacred in the same way that temples are.{10}

    Similarly, in Isaiah chapter 40, in the context of discussing the foreordained responsibilities of John the Baptist, the Savior, and others, the Lord asks this question: “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span?” (Isaiah 40:12). This is not a rhetorical question, for a few verses later he reminds his readers, “Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?”(Isaiah 40:21).

    In our premortal existence, by at least one of those priesthood ordinances, we were measured and thereby designated as sacred space. “Span” is important in both Isaiah 40 and in 1 Nephi 20:13.

    In the statement, “My right hand hath spanned the heavens,” a span is the measurement. In the Oxford English Dictionary, a “span,” as a noun, is:

    1. a. The distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger, or sometimes to the tip of the forefinger, when the “hand is fully extended; the space equivalent to this taken as a “measure of length, averaging nine inches.
    2. “The “hand with the thumb and fingers extended esp. as a means of measuring.”

    As a verb it is:

    1. “To measure by means of the outstretched hand; to cover with the hand in this way.”{11}

    The right hand is the hand of covenant and blessing. The Lord “spanned” the members of the Council in Heaven—measuring them to define them as sacred space—with his right hand—the hand of blessings, ordinances, ordinations, or covenants, or more probably of all four.{12} By placing his hand upon their heads, God measured, and thereby defined each of his children as sacred space—as “temples.” In this world, we do the same kind of thing when we place our hands upon someone’s head to give the gift of the Holy Ghost, ordain him to the priesthood, or give a blessing.{13}

    In 1 Nephi 20:13, the “heavens” are measured and called to a great meeting (the meeting is described more fully in the next few verses) where they make covenants. The verse does not mention the covenants, except to say that “they stand up together,” but that phrase almost certainly has to do with covenant making. Congregations stood to make covenants, as when “the king stood by a pillar [of the temple], and made a covenant before the Lord…. And all the people stood to the covenant” (2 Kings 23: 1-3).{14}

    Initially, when we think of a meeting in the premortal spirit world, we think of the Council in Heaven recorded in Abraham chapter 3, but this clearly is not that. As we read this account, it becomes apparent that this was not a time when people were presented two possible plans and asked to vote, as Abraham 3 is often described. At this meeting, the Savior was not the main speaker, and the fall and Atonement were not questions under consideration. The Lord’s servant who delivered the message was one who had been chosen before, probably in the earlier Grand Council. He had, and would again have, great responsibility and power. All the internal evidence supports the idea that the speaker at this council was the Prophet Joseph Smith. The following is a review of that evidence. Following that review we will carefully examine the rest of the material Nephi quoted.

    Two things are necessary to understand 1 Nephi 20 and 21. The first is that the chapter break is artificial and not a part of the text on the brass plates. Nephi saw this material as a single unit and not as two separate chapters. The second is that footnote 21:8a is correct, and provides a key to understanding the entire block of material Nephi quoted. 1 Nephi21:8 reads: ..and I will preserve thee, and give thee [Footnote a.] my servant for a covenant of the people.” The first reference of the footnote is: 2 Nephi 3:11 (6-15) that reads, “Joseph truly testified, saying: A seer shall the Lord my God raise up..and his name shall be called after me.”

    All of that simply means that this entire block of material Nephi quoted—both chapters 20 and 21—is talking about the Prophet Joseph Smith and his assignment, and about those who either oppose or assist him in fulfilling that assignment. If that is true, then the following is one way the Isaiah chapters can be understood:

    The setting is established in the fore part of the chapter. It is “in the beginning.” Satan’s challenge has been met and bested (v.11), Israel has been “called” (v. 12), the earth has been created (v.13) A great meeting has been assembled (v. 13), and the speaker (whom “the Lord hath loved” v. 14) has testified that he will fulfill his mission to overcome “Babylon” and the “Chaldeans” (standard Biblical code names for the evils of this world. v. 14).

    The next verse begins the account of the meeting held in the premortal spirit world. The meeting—but more especially its speaker—is lost from the Old Testament. The brass plates version in the Book of Mormon reads:

    14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; who among them hath declared these things unto them? The Lord hath loved him; yea, and he will fulfil his word which he hath declared by them; and he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall come upon the Chaldeans.

    The King James Version reads:

    14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The Lord hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans (Isaiah 48:14).

    Assemble yourselves and hear

    It is the account of this assembly, which has been removed from our Bible’s Cyrus version of Isaiah 48, that now becomes the focus of our attention.

    Because of the introduction that the Lord ordained (spanned) the “heavens,” it is reasonable to suppose that this was at the least a meeting of the members of the Council in Heaven. However, because the context is to thwart a general discontent and apostasy, it is more reasonable to suppose that this was a conference attended by all who are concerned.

    All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; who among them hath declared these things unto them?

    and hear

    The command to hear is a directive to be cognizant of the words and to understand their meaning. Implicit also is a command to obey the instructions one hears.

    Who among them hath declared?

    who [the speaker].

    among them [The members of the Council].

    hath declared [Given the speech at the meeting].

    That question is not a rhetorical one: Who, among those who are assembled, has spoken? As if to say, When you consider who the messenger is, how can you doubt the truthfulness of the message? This speech was not a soft and fuzzy sermon. It was a solemn declaration.

    these things

    Because the speaker was the premortal Prophet Joseph Smith, it is likely that we have the essence of the speech in the next two chapters where Isaiah describes the Prophet’s mission, the restoration of the temple, and the gathering of Israel. Since the credibility of the speaker is emphasized here, it is likely that the issue before the Council meeting was the ultimate success of the proposed plan. Paul described the full sweep of the plan when he explained:

    8 Wherein he [Heavenly Father] hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
    9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
    10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
    11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will (Ephesians 1:8-11).

    How “in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ” appears to have been the issue in the meeting described in 1 Nephi 20. The answer lay in the assignment given to the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Savior’s guarantee that through the integrity of the Prophet the Father’s will would be accomplished.

    About “these things” which were the subject of the Prophet’s discourse, Isaiah gives no details at this point, except by inference. But he soon will.

    unto them? [Those who are at the meeting.]

    The Lord hath loved him;

    It is clearly not Jehovah who is giving this speech. We learn in verse 17 that “the Lord” is “thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” As is clearly indicated in the next chapter, the person whom the Lord loves and who is giving the speech is the Prophet Joseph.

    The declaration, “the Lord hath loved him,” is the key to these two chapters. Not only does it describe the relationship between the Savior and this servant, it also teaches us about the reason for the message and the motive of both the Savior and his messenger. It says the same thing as Ephesians 1:4; The Father “hath chosen us in him [the Savior] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” Whose love? Both ours and his. This helps us understand why the Savior could give assurance that the honesty of the message was attested by the integrity of the messenger. It also gives us insight into the power of the word “friend” as it was used by the Savior in this mortal world when he spoke to Joseph Smith and some of the other young leaders of the church.{15}

    63 Ye are they whom my Father hath given me; ye are my friends (D&C 84:63 and 88:2-3).

    When we read that, we might reflect upon the depth of the feelings of John the Beloved when he refereed to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”

    yea, and he [The speaker.] will fulfill his word

    He will have both the power and the integrity to do what he says he will do. The verse might be paraphrased as follows:

    Be assured, when Joseph goes to the earth, he will have the power, authority and integrity to fulfill the promises he has made at this assembly. He will overcome, then supplant, the kingdoms of that future world, characterized as Babylon and the Chaldeans.

    which he hath declared by them

    By them seems to appear out of nowhere, and with no apparent referent. If it had said, “declared to them,” then it would be easy to understand; but it does not say “to,” it says “by.” It is no good going to the Bible for help, because that phrase is one that was removed from the Bible’s Isaiah. So the question remains, who or what is the “them”? There seems to be two possible answers. We like them both, but favor the second.

    1) The “them” may be the ordinances and covenants mentioned in the beginning of the chapter. That would be consistent with Alma 12:30 which says people were instructed “according to their faith and repentance and their holy works.”

    2) The “them” may refer to helpers in the pre-earth life spirit world who assisted Joseph in proselyting this most important message. Because much of what follows in the next chapter can be read as a long and rather detailed discussion of “Israel” who were foreordained to assist Joseph in this mortal world, we are inclined to believe that this “them” and that “Israel” may represent the same people. In other words, what this is saying is that the people (which includes us) who accepted the assignment to assist in Joseph’s mission here also assisted him there.

    and he [the speaker] will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall come upon the Chaldeans.

    will do his pleasure: His pleasure is to convert, not to destroy.

    on Babylon:

    The Assyrians at Nineveh, not Babylon, were the threat to the world in the time of Isaiah and Hezekiah. In this chapter, even Babylon is not the place, but rather it is a symbol, as it has always been, of the evils of this world. For example, the Lord uses Isaiah to describe the evils of our time:

    5 Go ye out from Babylon. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.
    6 Call your solemn assemblies, and speak often one to another. And let every man call upon the name of the Lord.
    7 Yea, verily I say unto you again, the time has come when the voice of the Lord is unto you: Go ye out of Babylon; gather ye out from among the nations, from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other (D&C 133:5-7).

    and his arm shall come upon the Chaldeans. (Chaldea and Babylon were essentially the same place.)

    The arm that “comes upon the Chaldeans” is clearly a symbol of power. The purposes of that power were described by Daniel when he interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream:

    44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
    45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure (Daniel 2:44-45).

    As the hand can be symbolic of both majesty and love, so the arm is symbolic of both judgment and mercy. The promise that “he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall come upon the Chaldeans” assures the destruction of the kingdoms of this world, but his “pleasure” is to bring salvation, not vendetta; and his arm brings judgment so there may be mercy.

    The “arm” of the Lord connotes his integrity in keeping his covenants. Whether expressed as the power to destroy or as the power to save, it is the same. The Psalmist rejoicing, “Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm” (Psalms 89:10), acknowledges the Lord’s power to interced that he might do “according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.”

    Ultimately his purpose is to bless, however severe the intercession may appear at the time. The Lord explained that the severity of the language was so people would understand the seriousness of the sins. He said:

    6 Nevertheless, it is not written that there shall be no end to this torment, but it is written endless torment.
    7 Again, it is written eternal damnation; wherefore it is more express than other scriptures, that it might work upon the hearts of the children of men, altogether for my name’s glory (D&C 19:6-7, emphasis changed).

    I believe that it is true that our loving Heavenly Father has never punished anyone. If he had, then part of his personality would include a vendetta, and that cannot be. Rather, he warns us of the consequence of sin, teaches us to repent, and provides an Atonement to enable us to be forgiven. Nevertheless, as Alma explained, it is “the law” not God which inflicts the punishment when the law is broken (Alma 42:22-23).

    15 Also, saith the Lord; I the Lord, yea, I have spoken; yea, I have called him to declare, I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.

    The King James Version reads:

    15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. (Isaiah 48:1-22)

    Also, saith the Lord; I the Lord, yea, I have spoken; yea, I have called him to declare,

    Jehovah’s declaration, “Yea, I have spoken,” conveys the message that he is the beginning—the moving power of all creation. Even though the whole burden of his message is an invitation to us to come to him, the immutable law remains: he works through his servants, and those who will not follow his servants cannot come to where he is. The law in the premortal spirit world was the same as the law now:

    4 And the voice of warning shall be unto all people, by the mouths of my disciples, whom I have chosen in these last days.
    5 And they shall go forth and none shall stay them, for I the Lord have commanded them.
    6 Behold, this is mine authority, and the authority of my servants….

    38 What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.
    39 For behold, and lo, the Lord is God, and the Spirit beareth record, and the record is true, and the truth abideth forever and ever. Amen (D&C 1:1-6, 38-39).

    and he [Joseph] shall make his [own] way prosperous.

    Jehovah testifies of the Prophet Joseph’s integrity as well as of his power: the Savior called him, and with the Savior’s help Joseph cannot fail. This poses another question: Who is this Joseph Smith, that his integrity is so great that the Savior can promise, “and he shall make his way prosperous?” We know, at least, that he was “among the noble and great ones who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God” (D&C 138:53-56).

    The mission which Joseph would accomplish was eternal in its burden. Benjamin F. Johnson tells a story that shows how completely Joseph understood his own mission. About a year before Joseph was killed, he was in the Johnson home when, with a deep-drawn breath, Joseph said, “Oh! I am so tired—so tired that I often feel to long for my day of rest.” Johnson wrote:

    His words to me were ominous, and they brought a shadow as of death over my spirit, and I said, “Oh, Joseph! how could you think of leaving us? How as a people could we do without you?” He saw my feelings were sorrowful and said kindly, “Bennie, if I was on the other side of the veil I could do many times more for my friends than I can do while I am with them here.”{16}

    Orson Pratt testified:

    The Lord did not raise up this boy, Joseph, for nothing, or merely to reveal a few of the first principles of the Gospel of Christ; but he raised him up to reveal the hidden mysterious things, the wonders of the eternal worlds, the wonders of the dispensation of the fullness of times, those wonders that took place before the foundation of the world; and all things, so far as it was wisdom in God, were unfolded by this personage….{17}

    Wilford Woodruff assures us:

    The Prophet Joseph Smith held the keys of this dispensation on this side of the vail, and he will hold them throughout the countless ages of eternity.{18} The brass plates contain a reference to the commission to speak.

    16 Come ye near unto me; I have not spoken in secret; from the beginning, from the time that it was declared have I spoken; and the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me.

    The Old Testament is about something different from that.

    16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me (Isaiah 48:1-22)

    Come ye near unto me;

    This verse must be understood in the context of the previous one. The “Lord” in verse 15 is Jehovah, so the “Lord God” in verse 16 must be Elohim. If read that way, then verse 16 is the Savior testifying of Joseph’s calling.

    I have not spoken in secret; from the beginning, from the time that it was declared have I spoken;

    “The beginning” may be a reference to the Council in Heaven described in Abraham 3, but seems in this context to be to the time before that, in “the first place,” as described in Alma 13.

    There never was a time when we were not wholly dependent upon the Savior. His invitation, “come unto me,” was the first heard by us as cognizant intelligences.{19} It has been repeated in each step in our progression, as often as we have forgotten. Like a clarion call in the night, it leads the one first to the way then to the summit. And the way is always the same: Faith unto repentance and the remission of sins, and reception of the Holy Ghost; holding to the rod while moving to partake of the fruit of the Tree. He is and has always been the Way, the Rod, and the Fruit of the Tree at the summit of salvation.

    and the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me.

    That relationship has never changed. The Savior is the “me” and is is identified in the next verse as “the Lord, thy Redeemer.” So we must conclude that “the Lord God” is his Father, and “his Spirit” is the Holy Ghost. It has always been important that we understand that relationship. The events of Jesus’s baptism were an affirmation of their oneness. That oneness is the key to our own. If we are to be one with the Father, we must first be one with the Son, obeying the Father as he does. He instructed his American disciples:

    13 Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me. …
    18 And this is the word … no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom ….
    20 Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me…
    21… this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do (3 Nephi 27:13-21).

    Again, the brass plates emphasize the importance of the relationship between the Savior and the speaker, while the Old Testament version removes the speaker altogether:

    17 And thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I have sent him, the Lord thy God who teacheth thee to profit, who leadeth thee by the way thou shouldst go, hath done it.

    The King James Version reads:

    17 Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. (Isaiah 48:1-22)

    And thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel;

    Isaiah leaves no doubt about who is speaking these words about the one who is giving the lecture. It is Jehovah—the Lord, Redeemer, Holy One of Israel. The word “Redeemer” includes the idea of kinsman, and suggests that he will bring us from where we are to where he is.

    I [Jehovah] have sent him [Joseph Smith],

    The Prophet, having been “called” and “brought” (v. 15), now may be “sent.” We understand from church history and from these scriptures that it was/is Joseph Smith’s burden to overthrow the kingdoms of the world, both in this physical world and in the post-earth-life spirit world where people reside who have died without receiving the gospel. His assignment was/is to establish, in the place of those worldly kingdoms, the kingdom of God. To do that he must teach the way whereby every individual may come to Christ.

    But what were Joseph’s responsibilities in the world before this one? Was the purpose of that meeting only to promise things to come in our present world? Or is this world patterned like the last one in more than form and features? Are Joseph’s responsibilities here a continuation of his responsibilities there?

    Another way of asking that question is this: Joseph is the head of this last dispensation. That included both administrative and judicial (kingly and priestly) responsibilities to establish the Church and Kingdom of God and to oversee its progression even after he died and went into the post-earth-life spirit world. The Prophet Joseph taught,

    The head God called together the Gods and sat in grand council to bring forth the world. The grand councilors sat at the head in yonder heavens and contemplated the creation of the worlds which were created at the time.”{20}

    The question is: Did he, in the pre-earth-life spirit world, also have similar responsibilities during the planning and developing stages preparatory to the establishment of this last dispensation? President J. Reuben Clark explained,

    The priesthood is an everlasting endowment. Some, at least, who have come to the earth had it before they came here.”{21}

    On another occasion he elaborated more fully:

    I would like to read what the Prophet Joseph has said, some of the things he has said, about the Priesthood:

    “The Priesthood,” said the Prophet “is an everlasting principle, and existed with God from eternity and will to eternity, without beginning of days or end of years.” Adam (I am taking isolated sentences and passages) . . . Adam stands next to Christ, who is the great High Priest. Adam obtained his Priesthood “in the Creation, before the world was formed.”

    And the following statement of the Prophet is, to me, most significant:

    Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world”—note that—“Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was. I suppose (said the Prophet) that I was ordained to this very office in that Grand Council.{22}

    I like to think that not alone did such men as Adam and the Prophet Joseph receive the Priesthood before they came here. I like to think, I can give you no scripture for it, I like to think that those of us who are set apart, chosen and set apart, to come forth in this the last dispensation of time, which is to draw together all other dispensations, had a like conferring of Priesthood though not perhaps a like setting apart. The Prophet continues,

    If a man gets a fullness of the priesthood of God, he has to get it in the same way that Jesus Christ obtained it, and that was by keeping all the commandments and obeying all the ordinances of the house of the Lord. ….

    It (the Priesthood) is the channel through which the Almighty commenced revealing His glory at the beginning of the creation of this earth, and through which He has continued to reveal Himself to the children of men to the present time, and through which He will make known His purposes to the end of time.”{23}

    President Wilford Woodruff was equally explicit:

    Here is a kingdom of Priests raised up by the power of God to take hold and build up the kingdom of God. The same Priesthood exists on the other side of the veil. Every man who is faithful in his quorum here will join his quorum there. When a man dies and his body is laid in the tomb, he does not lose his position. The Prophet Joseph Smith held the keys of this dispensation on this side of the veil, and he will hold them throughout the countless ages of eternity. He went into the spirit world to unlock the prison doors and to preach the Gospel to the millions of spirits who are in darkness, and every Apostle, every Seventy, every Elder, etc., who has died in the faith as soon as he passes to the other side of the veil, enters into the work of the ministry, and there is a thousand times more to preach there than there is here.{24}

    President John Taylor explained the same doctrine:

    Now then come the twelve and all the other authorities. We believe that they [Joseph, the Twelve, and others] are ordained of God, that they are part of his economy and government, all these various quorums as they exist on the earth, and that, by and by, when we get through in this world, we shall all assume our proper position and proper Priesthood, with Joseph Smith at the head of this dispensation, and that we shall be associated there with that Priesthood that we have been connected with here.{25}

    Erastus Snow gave it an even wider application:

    Paul tells us concerning the Melchizedek Priesthood, that it is after the order of an endless life, without beginning of days or end of years; or, in other words, that it is eternal; that it ministers in time and also in eternity. Peter, James and John and their fellow-laborers still minister in their Priesthood on the other side of the veil; and Joseph Smith and his fellow-brethren still minister in their office and calling under the counsel and direction of the same Peter, James and John who ministered on earth, and who conferred upon Joseph the keys of their Priesthood; and all the Elders of this dispensation who prove faithful and magnify their calling in the flesh will, when they pass hence, continue their labors in the spirit world, retaining the same holy character and high responsibility that they assume here.{26}

    Alma taught the same doctrine. He took us back to the earliest time. Rather than projecting priesthood callings from the present into the future, he projected them from the eternal past into the earthly present, then beyond..

    6 And thus being called by this holy calling, and ordained unto the high priesthood of the holy order of God, to teach his commandments unto the children of men, that they also might enter into his rest—
    7 This high priesthood being after the order of his Son, which order was from the foundation of the world; or in other words, being without beginning of days or end of years, being prepared from eternity to all eternity, according to his foreknowledge of all things—
    8 Now they were ordained after this manner—being called with a holy calling, and ordained with a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the high priesthood of the holy order, which calling, and ordinance, and high priesthood, is without beginning or end—
    9 Thus they become high priests forever, after the order of the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, who is without beginning of days or end of years, who is full of grace, equity, and truth. And thus it is. Amen (Alma 13:6-9).

    If Joseph was ordained to his mission in the Grand Council, did he also function in that calling and priesthood between the time of his ordination and the time he came to this world? Or did he actually begin before that, as B.H Roberts’s musings imply?

    Do these higher intelligences of the stellar universe and planetary systems have so developed in themselves the quality of love that makes it possible to think of them as being willing to sacrifice themselves–to empty themselves in sacrifice to bring to pass the welfare of others whom they may esteem to be the undeveloped intelligences of the universe and may they not be capable of giving the last full measure of sacrifice to bring to pass the higher development of the “lowly” when no other means of uplift can be serviceable? Is the great truth operative among these untold millions of intelligences that greater love hath no intelligence for another than this, that he would give his life in the service of kindred intelligences when no other means of helpfulness is possible?{27}

    the Lord thy God who teacheth thee to profit,

    How profit? For Isaiah, as for Nephi and others, the Lord’s promise of the riches of the earth is symbolic of the promise of eternal life. Three examples are:

    1)The Savior’s saying that the meek will inherit the earth, in the 3 Nephi 12:5, Psalm 25:9-14, Psalm 37:11, and Doctrine and Covenants 88:17-18.

    2) The symbolism in the Book of Mormon which equates being in the “promised land” with being in the presence of God. See 1 Nephi 2:19-22 for example.

    3) The symbolism which equates the fruit of the vine and the richness of the earth with the waters and the fruit of life, which he uses, in turn, to represent the saving ordinances of the temple.

    who leadeth thee by the way thou shouldst go, hath done it.

    “Way” and “path” often refer to the series of ordinances by which one ascends the “mountain.” It probably means that in this case also. The Savior is the Way and the Word.

    In the Savior’s declaration, “I have sent him,” he places Joseph’s mission squarely in the context of the temple. If one is ever to understand the Prophet Joseph Smith, one must understand him in the light of the temple.

    The phrase “leadeth thee by the way thou should go” suggests all the things Lehi’s vision teaches us that Christ is the word on which we may hold to lead us through the darkness, through the ordinances and the veil of Solomon’s Temple, until we reach the tree. It seems that he is saying no less about this world than he might say about that one.

    ———————————–
    FOOTNOTES

    {1} For a discussion of the Council in Heaven see above, Lehi’s sode experience in 1 Nephi 1:8-15.

    {2} Secrets of Enoch 24:2.

    {3} God does things in a perfectly natural way. The things he tells us in the scriptures are who he is and how to return to him, and those are the most important things of all. Prophets live in real worlds with real academic and cultural environments, and they speak to the people of their own time. All of their accounts of the creation were written to audiences who had none of the scientific questions we have—and, for that matter, none of the scientific answers. The prophets taught what was important: that God is the God of Creation. That the heavens and the earth were made and are controlled by him, and that his purpose was to bring about the exaltation of his children. That is what mattered to them, and that is the way they told the story. If we read what they wrote in that light, then their message is absolutely true.
    If we try to superimpose modern scientific theory onto their stories, it doesn’t work. So our response is very simple: Accept each for what it is.

    {4} A mirror image of this verse is Isaiah 40:12. There the chronology is different so the creation comes second.

    {5} For a discussion of the ceremonial significance of the hand see Lynn M. Hilton, The Hand as a Cup in Ancient Temple worship. A paper presented at the Thirtieth Annual Symposium on the Archaeology of the Scriptures, held at BYU on 26 September 1981.

    The power of the symbolism of the hand became evident to Baker soon after he came to BYU, he had the privilege of spending an afternoon alone in the study of the late Bible scholar and translator, Dr. George M. Lamsa. He sat at his desk, reading some of his unpublished manuscripts, taking some notes as he read. The following is from those notes:
    “On page 34 of his unpublished work, ‘Origin of the Alphabet,’ Dr. Lamsa wrote about the significance of the letter ‘Y,’ which, he said, was the stylized drawing of an outstretched hand–fingers on one side, thumb on the other. Dr. Lamsa says that to the Biblical people, except for the eye, the hand is the most important member of the body. It is the hand which is most often exposed to danger; when any other part of the body is threatened, especially the eye or head, the hand rushes to protect it, without having any thought of its own safety. The hand feeds and washes the body; and, when necessary, tries to comfort and heal it. Thus, symbolically, the hand represents sensitive protection and love, but it also represents militant protection, power and domination. In a man’s relationship with other people, it is the hand that usually serves as the connecting point. It signifies friendship, and is used to ‘transfer a blessing.’ In our relationships with others it symbolizes both authority and reverent submission.”

    {6}  Secrets of Enoch 25:1-2. For the quote in context see, R.H. Charles, The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, Vol. II, .443-445. See also John 1:1-4, Revelation 12:1-9, 1 Nephi 1:9-10, Moses 2:1-8, D&C 93:1-13.

    {7} Stars and heavens are frequently used to represent the members of Council in Heaven. In some scriptures the word “heavens” refers to the place where God and the Council reside. Examples are: Genesis 2:1, 22:17; Exodus 32:11-15; Job 38:1-14; Psalms 8:1-3, 19:1-4, 33:6-9, 50:1-8, 57:2-11, 89:1-6, 96:1-13, 103:2-22, 104:1-35, 115:1-7; Isaiah 1:1-2, 14:1-16 (compare Jude 1:12-13), 40:20-25, 44:21-25, 45:11-19, 48:11-15, 49:13; Mark 1:10-11; Acts 7:54-60; 2 Peter 3:1-18; Revelation 1:1-20, 12:1-14.
    1 Nephi 1:9-10, 20:13-17 (different from Bible’s Isaiah), 21:13 (not in Bible’s Isaiah); 2 Nephi 2:14, 24:12-17, 29:5-7; Alma 18:26-30; 3 Nephi 9:15; Ether 3:1-2, 4:7-9; Moroni 7:27-28, 9:25-26.
    D&C 14:9, 45:1, 49:5-7, 60:4, 67:2, 76:1, 84:42, 104:14, 107:17-19, 110:10-12,128:23; 132:29-33, 137:1-4.
    Moses 1:36-39, 6:41-45, 7:1-4; Abraham 3:21, 4:1-6, 5:1-4.

    {8} George A. Barton, The Religion of Ancient Israel (New York: 1961), 159. See Ezekiel 10:1-7.

    {9} Two other examples are Ezekiel, who carefully gives the measurements of the temple he saw in vision; and John, in the last chapters of Revelation, who gives the measurements of the city where celestial people will live.

    {10} See J. Lyman Redd, “Aaron’s Consecration: Its Nature, Purpose, and Meaning,” Thy People Shall Be My People and Thy God My God: The 22d Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1994), 120 – 121.

    {11} The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press), 1988, 2:2938.

    {12} For examples in both ancient and modern scripture of the significance of the Lord’s right hand, see: Psalms 20:6, 63:7-8, 73:23-24; -28; Isaiah 41:10-13 -29; Acts; Revelation 1:13-18; D&C 109:71. Donald W. Parry, ed., Temples of the Ancient World: Ritual and Symbolism (Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1994). The book contains several papers written by Parry that discuss sacred space. They are: “Introduction: The Meaning of the Temple,” xiii; “Garden of Eden: Prototype Sanctuary,” 126; “The Temple according to Judaism,” 414; “Temple Imagery in the Epistles of Peter,” 492.

    {13} The idea of delineating by covering is also important in the definition of sacred space. When the Lord gave the revelations telling the prophets the dimensions of the ark of the covenant, the tabernacle, or a temple, he did not just give the floor plan. He also instructed the prophets how sacred space was to be covered. Covering defines and protects sacred space just as the smoke covered and defined Mt. Sinai when the Lord was there, protecting it and keeping away the gaze of unsanctified eyes. When the Lord told Moses how to build the tabernacle, he instructed Moses to laterally clothe it in a garment of skins.

    {14} “Stand” is sometimes read as code for making a covenant, as in Psalm 8:1,8 and Abraham 3:23.

    {15} As in D&C 84:63 and 88:2-3, and
    in John the Beloved’s describing himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”

    {16} Benjamin F. Johnson, My Life’s Review (Independence, Mo.: Zion’s Printing & Publishing Co., 1947), 97-98.

    {17} Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. (London: Latter-day Saints’ Book Depot, 1854-1886), 17: 187.

    {18} Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses, 22: 334.

    {19} For a discussion of intelligences see Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, First edition, p. 801-64; Second edition, p. 564-86.

    {20} Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 348, King Follett discourse.

    {21} President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., Conference Report, October 1948, 178-79.

    {22} Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 305.

    {23} President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., Conference Report, April 1953, General Priesthood Meeting, 53-54.

    {24} Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses, 22: 334.

    {25} John Taylor, Journal of Discourses, 18: 81.

    {26} Erastus Snow, Journal of Discourses, 23:188.

    {27} B. H. Roberts, The Truth, The Way, The Life (Provo, Utah, BYU Studies, 1994), 98.

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