As I read his last two posts (here and here) on being "caught up in the Spirit," I was studying Zion. To my surprise, it seems these two concepts are intimately connected.
Consider these words from Nephi:
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. (1 Nephi 11)
Is it possible this verse is connected to this passage from the Book of Moses?
27 And Enoch beheld angels descending out of heaven, bearing testimony of the Father and Son; and the Holy Ghost fell on many, and they were caught up by the powers of heaven into Zion. (Moses 7)
That's what I will attempt to demonstrate in this series of posts, but it'll take some time to get there. I have come to believe that "being caught up in the Spirit" has to do with the covenant path (also known as the Way of Eternal Life). To make this connection as clear as possible, we need to start with Enoch and "the City of Holiness, even Zion."
Enoch means "Initiated One"
The name Enoch comes from the Hebrew root: חָנַךְ "chanak"
According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance:
A primitive root; properly, to narrow (compare chanaq); figuratively, to initiate or discipline -- dedicate, train up.
I love the proper meaning "to narrow," which seems to literally point us to one particular way to go (see 1 Nephi 8:20). Figuratively, the name refers to dedication to a purpose or initiation. In 2 Chronicles 7:5, when the people dedicate the House of God, the verb "dedicate" comes from this same root.
There couldn't be a more perfect name for the man who established Zion. This is not a coincidence.
How did he establish Zion?
We learn quite a bit about Enoch in the Book of Moses. Here is a detail that intrigues me:
18 And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.
19 And Enoch continued his preaching in righteousness unto the people of God. And it came to pass in his days, that he built a city that was called the City of Holiness, even Zion. (Moses 7)
The city is established on the principles of unity, righteousness, and charity. They are taken up into heaven to dwell in safety, but the work wasn't finished yet:
27 And Enoch beheld angels descending out of heaven, bearing testimony of the Father and Son; and the Holy Ghost fell on many, and they were caught up by the powers of heaven into Zion. (Moses 7)This is important -- even after Zion was taken up to heaven, the work continued and others were brought to Zion by the work of the angels.
In this context, consider Nephi's words:
2 Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?
3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do. (2 Nephi 32)
This surprised me when I connected it to Nephi's mountain, because I am pretty familiar with both of these chapters and yet I hadn't ever made the connection between the Holy Ghost, the work of angels, and Zion.
Consider Alma-2's borderline obsession with angels and the work of salvation:
22 Yea, and the voice of the Lord, by the mouth of angels, doth declare it unto all nations; yea, doth declare it, that they may have glad tidings of great joy; yea, and he doth sound these glad tidings among all his people, yea, even to them that are scattered abroad upon the face of the earth; wherefore they have come unto us.
23 And they are made known unto us in plain terms, that we may understand, that we cannot err; and this because of our being wanderers in a strange land; therefore, we are thus highly favored, for we have these glad tidings declared unto us in all parts of our vineyard.
24 For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory.
25 And now we only wait to hear the joyful news declared unto us by the mouth of angels, of his coming; for the time cometh, we know not how soon. (Alma 13)
Glad tidings, mouth/tongue of angels, power of the Holy Ghost. These are all connected. I can't say I'm surprised, but I don't think I've ever considered these concepts connect to Zion.
I hope that is enough information to pique your interest. In the coming posts, we'll dive deeper into these ideas and look at Zion as the opposite of the great and spacious building. We'll also look at what the Dead Sea Scrolls might say about these ideas, and how some of this related to mysteries of heaven, the Two Ways, etc.