I've found great joy as I search for these symbols, come to understand their context, then find additional examples of the same symbol in other passages of scripture. In fact, it was over one year ago that I decided to follow a prompting to study the Book of Mormon with a specific goal of understanding my covenants better. At the time, I'm a bit embarrassed to say, I was under the false assumption that the temple covenant was rarely, if ever, mentioned in the Book of Mormon. Many hours of study have demonstrated to me how incorrect this assumption was. The temple covenant can be found all over the Book of Mormon, but only if one knows what symbols to look for.
Over time, one by one, many of these symbols have become familiar to me, and these days it is rare for me to study the Book of Mormon without recognizing numerous instances where covenants are discussed, just a little bit hidden from plain view, which seems entirely appropriate.
This post will discuss a connection between two negative covenant symbols: "cast off" and "hard heart." My main goal here is to illustrate how a passage that doesn't necessarily seem to be discussing covenants at first glance can actually be filled with symbolic covenant language (positive and negative). Here are verses 1-8 of Jacob 6, in which Jacob discusses Zenos' allegory. I'll highlight positive covenant symbols in green and negative symbols in red. "Cast" and "hard heart" will be placed in bright red with white text to help them stand out.
1 And now, behold, my brethren, as I said unto you that I would prophesy, behold, this is my prophecy—that the things which this prophet spake, concerning the house of Israel, in the which he likened them unto a tame , must surely come to pass."Hard hearts" and "cast" are two symbols that center on the subject of unbelief. Unbelief is toxic to spirituality. Connecting these two symbols to the covenant help we appreciate deeper meaning in some passages where either or both of these terms are used:
2 And the day that he shall set his hand again the second time to his people, is the day, yea, even the last time, that the of the Lord shall go forth in his , to and prune his ; and after that the soon cometh.
3 And how are they who have labored in his vineyard; and how are they who shall be cast out into their own place! And the shall be with fire.
4 And how merciful is our God unto us, for he remembereth the house of , both roots and branches; and he stretches forth his unto them all the day long; and they are a and a gainsaying people; but as many as will not harden their hearts shall be saved in the kingdom of God.
5 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts.
6 Yea, today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts; for why will ye ?
7 For behold, after ye have been nourished by the good of God all the day long, will ye bring forth evil fruit, that ye must be down and cast into the fire?
8 Behold, will ye reject these words? Will ye reject the words of the ; and will ye reject all the words which have been spoken concerning Christ, after so many have spoken concerning him; and the good word of Christ, and the power of God, and the of the Holy Ghost, and quench the Holy Spirit, and make a of the great plan of redemption, which hath been laid for you? (Jacob 6)
- In Alma 33:20-21, Alma teaches why the people at the time of Moses would not "cast their eyes" and be healed. "Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would heal them." He asks, "would ye rather harden your hearts in unbelief, and be slothful, that ye would not cast about your eyes, that ye might perish?"
- In Alma 20:29-30, Ammon and Lamoni (a recent convert) go to the rescue of Ammon's brethren. They find them naked, bound with strong cords, hungry, and thirsty. This happened because "it was their lot to have fallen into the hands of a more hardened and a more stiffnecked people; therefore they would not hearken unto their words, and they had cast them out, and had smitten them, and had driven them from house to house, and from place to place, even until they had arrived in the land of Middoni;"
- "And it came to pass that when Nephi had declared unto them the word, behold, they did still harden their hearts and would not hearken unto his words; therefore they did revile against him, and did seek to lay their hands upon him that they might cast him into prison." (Helaman 10:15)
- Nephi laments his weakness in writing in 2 Nephi 33:1-2: "And now I, Nephi, cannot write all the things which were taught among my people; neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking; for when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men. But behold, there are many that harden their hearts against the Holy Spirit, that it hath no place in them; wherefore, they cast many things away which are written and esteem them as things of naught."
These symbols help us see that unbelief causes us to underestimate, disregard, and discard sacred and precious truths and cast them away. A hard heart causes us to cast out prophets from among us (or cast their words out of our lives and routines). In doing so, we reject the covenant and we will end up cast out from the presence of the Father at the day of judgment.