Heaven and earth -- Part 1

A footnote in Quentin L. Cook's last General Conference talk led me down the rabbit hole. He refers to another conference talk by Ezra Taft Benson in October 1986. They both quote Moses 7:62

And righteousness will I send down out of heaven; 

and truth will I send forth out of the earth

This poetic parallelism involving both heaven and earth has pretty clear traces of ancient Israelite religion. Compare with another poetic parallelism in Deuteronomy 32:1

Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak! 

And let the earth hear the words of my mouth!

(The bold parts are just highlighting the parallelistic pairing, in addition to heaven/earth). A similar statement is found in Isaiah 1:2 and there are many other examples of scriptures involving heaven and earth. Most well-know, perhaps, is the very first verse in the Old Testament. We can also read the verse before the first quote, Moses 7:61

but before that day the heavens shall be darkened, and a veil of darkness shall cover the earth; and the heavens shall shake, and also the earth

Those who have followed this blog for a while can probably guess what comes next. Not surprisingly, we see many examples of this heaven and earth pairing in the Book of Mormon too. There are way more examples than I can include here, so let me just share a few.

in this ye have sinned, for ye have rejected all these things, notwithstanding so many evidences which ye have received; yea, even ye have received all things, both things in heaven, and all things which are in the earth, as a witness that they are true. (Helaman 8:24)

Repent ye, and prepare the way of the Lord, and walk in his paths, which are straight; for behold, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and the Son of God cometh upon the face of the earth. (Alma 7:9)

Nevertheless, not my will be done; but if God shall smite thee, let that be a sign unto thee that he has power, both in heaven and in earth; and also, that Christ shall come. (Jacob 7:14) 

In trying to better understand where this is coming from, I found the following quote on this website

The purpose of the Jewish people—the objective of all Jewish history—is the marriage of heaven and earth. While many spiritual seekers and virtually all religions seek to escape the confines of the flesh and climb heavenward, the Jew is charged with a far more profound calling: first create peace, then build a bridge, and finally marry heaven and earth.

This "marriage" of heaven and earth is not foreign to those familiar with LDS theology. Joseph Smith said

This earth will be rolled back into the presence of God, and crowned with celestial glory (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.181)

The earth itself becoming celestial is one manifestation of this "marriage". But let's go back to the first quote from Moses 7. Ezra Taft Benson commented on what Enoch saw: To summarize his interpretation:

• "righteousness will I send down out of heaven": The Father and the Son appearing to the boy Joseph and further revelations and manifestations, many of which are recorded in the D&C
• "truth will I send forth out of the earth": The Book of Mormon plates buried in the earth, coming forth and being translated

So the D&C/modern revelation and the Book of Mormon coming from heaven and earth, respectively, unite as tools in the beginning of the latter-day gathering of Israel. The next phrase in Moses 7:62 explains the purpose: "To bear testimony of mine Only Begotten."

This is consistent with another verse in the Book of Moses

And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me. (Moses 6:63)

Going back again to Moses 7:62: So President Benson taught us that heaven and earth united at the commencement of the dispensation of the fullness of times. Interestingly, when we read the next few verses we realize that the latter-day gathering not only begins with but also culminates in a heaven-earth "marriage". The New Jerusalem will be built on earth and the City of Enoch, which was taken to heaven, will meet them. Then, as written in Revelation 21 and Ether 13, there will be a "new heaven and a new earth". We also read about the city of Enoch

And it came to pass that the Lord showed unto Enoch all the inhabitants of the earth; and he beheld, and lo, Zion, in process of time, was taken up into heaven. And the Lord said unto Enoch: Behold mine abode forever. (Moses 7:21, edited in, hat-tip to Lord Wilmore)

Based on the many scriptures I have shared so far, I have come to realize that the heaven-earth pairing is often done in conjunction with major events in God's plan for his children. For instance

• The creation (1 Moses 1:1)
• The first coming of Christ (Alma 7:9 as quoted. See also e.g. Mosiah 3:8)
• The restoration (Enoch 7:62 as quoted and discussed)
• The millennium (Ether 13:9)

Perhaps inspired by Lord Wilmore's (the other blogger) mission to find covenant related themes in the Book of Mormon, I see how this definitely fits in such a line of thought. More on that in part 2.