Heaven and earth -- Part 2

In part 1 we considered how the pairing of heaven and earth in scripture comes from an ancient Israelite tradition and signifies God's power and major events in his dealings with his children. An important part of that is his desire that we enter into covenants with Him. In Alma 7:9 that I quoted in part 1, the covenant term, "walk in his path", (that Lord Wilmore has recently written about, see here and here) is coupled with the heaven-earth dualism. There are many other examples of covenant terms appearing together with heaven-earth, like Mormon 9:11

But behold, I will show unto you a God of miracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same God who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. 

or Helaman 10:7

Behold, I give unto you power, that whatsoever ye shall seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven

or 1 Nephi 22:9

And it shall also be of worth unto the Gentiles; and not only unto the Gentiles but unto all the house of Israel, unto the making known of the covenants of the Father of heaven unto Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

There are several aspects of this heaven-earth pairing and covenant relation.

• When a covenant is entered into or renewed, both heaven and earth serve as witnesses. This was the backdrop for Deuteronomy 32:1, for example, quoted in part 1. See also D&C 128:2-7, where Joseph Smith explains the book-keeping both on earth and in heaven when ordinances are performed.
• A covenant is between a person on earth and a God in heaven. Covenant making unites the two. See for instance the verse just quoted from 1 Nephi 22. The Father of heaven blesses the people on earth by enabling them to ascend to His heavenly home through covenants.
• The major events listed in part 1, are all part of God's plan for his children and the covenant established "before the foundation of the world". The creation, the atonement, the restoration, etc. are all part of this and involve both heaven and earth. 

This realization made me think of the story of King Lamoni and see his dialogue with Ammon in a new light. I will try to explain as I go through some of those verses.

And Ammon said unto him again: Believest thou that this Great Spirit, who is God, created all things which are in heaven and in the earth? (Alma 18:28)

The heaven-earth coupling in the scriptures is often related to creation. This supports the idea of heaven-earth as a covenant symbol, because creation and covenant seem to originate from the same root, as Lord Wilmore has previously explained. See this post for an introduction and several other posts for more detail.

So in a sense, Ammon is asking King Lamoni if he is familiar with the covenants of God. Lamoni answers that he is not

And he said: Yea, I believe that he created all things which are in the earth; but I do not know the heavens. (Alma 18:29)

King Lamoni only knows about the earth/man/physical things. But since he is unfamiliar with heaven/God/spiritual things, he cannot make the connection between the two. The purpose of a covenant is to unite the two and bring them together. King Lamoni is not yet ready to do that. He needs to know about the heavens first. So Ammon explains.

And Ammon said unto him: The heavens is a place where God dwells and all his holy angels. (Alma 18:30)

Ammon is familiar with the heavens. He has even been visited by one of those "holy angels" as recounted in Mosiah 27. That chapter focuses on Alma but we know that Ammon was in the group. It is also interesting to see how Mormon describes the consequence of the angelic visit at the end Mosiah 27.

36 And thus they were instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer.

37 And how blessed are they! For they did publish peace; they did publish good tidings of good; and they did declare unto the people that the Lord reigneth.

In verse 37, Mormon quotes Isaiah 52 coupled with the term "blessed". This happens several times in the Book of Mormon and "blessed" seems to be referring to the Abrahamic covenant ("in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed"). See this post for details.

After having been visited by an angel, Ammon became "blessed" by entering into a covenant. After that he also became an angel/messenger (those two words have the same Hebrew root), a publisher of peace whose feet are on a mountain, according to Isaiah 52. The mountain is where heaven and earth meet. It is also often used as symbol of the temple where covenants are made. Lord Wilmore has written several posts about angels and used the phrase "see an angel, be an angel", as several stories in addition to Ammon show this pattern. Here is one example (see point 4). As for Ammon, Mormon includes this detail:

Now when Ammon and his brethren saw this work of destruction among those whom they so dearly beloved, and among those who had so dearly beloved them—for they were treated as though they were angels sent from God to save them from everlasting destruction—therefore, when Ammon and his brethren saw this great work of destruction, they were moved with compassion (Alma 27:4)

Notice how Ammon and his brethren were considered "angels sent from God" to the Lamanite converts. The exact same phrase that is used about the angel who once appeared to Ammon and his brethren.

And now behold, can ye dispute the power of God? For behold, doth not my voice shake the earth? And can ye not also behold me before you? And I am sent from God. (Mosiah 27:15)

So Ammon sees an angel, enters into a covenant as a result and becomes an angel to help others entering into the covenant, signified by the unification of heaven and earth. As Ammon goes on to teach Lamoni and his servants, he explains about those major events that I listed in part 1: The creation, the fall, the atonement and the whole plan of redemption. Lamoni and his servants believe and are converted. Mormon relates:

34 And behold, many did declare unto the people that they had seen angels and had conversed with them; and thus they had told them things of God, and of his righteousness.

35 And it came to pass that there were many that did believe in their words; and as many as did believe were baptized; and they became a righteous people, and they did establish a church among them.

See what happened to the Lamanite converts? They too learned about "the heavens" as they saw angels who told them "things of God". Now they were ready for the heaven-earth connection, the first covenant of baptism. Later, we learn that they also made a covenant pertaining to their use of weapons (see Alma 24:18).