I got carried away (pun intended) in a recent post and stumbled upon a really interesting covenant term with a double meaning --"carried away." That post was already far too long, so this post will fill in the details.
Stisa has already created a two-part series of posts (here and here) with some overlap to what I'll be covering here. I also attempted to connect this term to Zion in a series of posts around the same time (here, here and here).
This post will focus on two usages of the term "carried away," one positive and one negative.
Opening example
To begin, let's take a look at the first example I found that clearly shows the double meaning, from the very first chapter of the Book of Mormon:
7 And it came to pass that he returned to his own house at Jerusalem; and he cast himself upon his bed, being with the Spirit and the things which he had seen.
8 And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a , even that he saw the open, and he thought he God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God.
9 And it came to pass that he saw One descending out of the midst of heaven, and he beheld that his was above that of the sun at noon-day.
10 And he also saw others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament.
11 And they came down and went forth upon the face of the earth; and the first came and before my father, and gave unto him a , and bade him that he should read.
12 And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the of the Lord.
13 And he read, saying: Wo, wo, unto Jerusalem, for I have seen thine ! Yea, and many things did my father read concerning —that it should be destroyed, and the inhabitants thereof; many should perish by the sword, and many should be captive into Babylon. (1 Nephi 1)
There is quite a bit packed into this passage, but it begins with the positive version of "carried away" and ends with the negative version.
Positive examples
19 And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she had been carried away in the for the space of a time the angel spake unto me, saying: Look!
20 And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a in her arms. (1 Nephi 11)
I'll have more to say about this in a future post. I believe these verses subtly explain a really important truth about what an angel really is.29 And I also beheld others following him. And it came to pass that they were in the Spirit from before my face, and I saw them not.
30 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the heavens open again, and I saw descending upon the children of men; and they did minister unto them. (1 Nephi 11)
25 And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not write them. (2 Nephi 4)
See also 1 Nephi 14:30 and 1 Nephi 15:1.
6 Now, this was what Ammon desired, for he knew that king Lamoni was under the power of God; he knew that the dark of was being cast away from his mind, and the which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that this had his natural frame, and he was carried away in God (Alma 19)
16 Now, when I think of the success of these my brethren my soul is carried away, even to the separation of it from the body, as it were, so great is my .
17 And now may God grant unto these, my brethren, that they may sit down in the kingdom of God; yea, and also all those who are the fruit of their labors that they may go no more out, but that they may praise him forever. And may God grant that it may be done according to my words, even as I have spoken. (Alma 29)
Negative examples
5 And they that kill the , and the saints, the depths of the earth shall them up, saith the Lord of Hosts; and shall cover them, and whirlwinds shall carry them away, and buildings shall fall upon them and crush them to pieces and grind them to powder. (2 Nephi 26)
16 And there were some who were carried away in the ; and whither they went no man knoweth, save they know that they were carried away. (3 Nephi 8)
13 O that ye would awake; awake from a deep , yea, even from the sleep of , and shake off the awful by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal of misery and woe. (2 Nephi 1)
See also 2 Nephi 6:8, 2 Nephi 25:10-11.
Conclusion -- The Two Ways
Thus we see that "carried away" is yet another covenant-related term with a clear double usage pattern.
Each of us will be "carried away," one way or another. It's inevitable. The good news is that we can choose the way of eternal life, by which we bind ourselves to God through covenant and are carried away by the wings of the Spirit upon exceedingly high mountains (Zion), where we can sing praises and dwell in safety and righteousness forever. (See 2 Nephi 10:23-24, 2 Nephi 4:25, Mormon 7:7, Moses 7:20)
The alternative would be to allow Satan to bind us and allow ourselves to be carried away captive down to hell through unrighteous use of our agency, where our guilt will ascend like smoke to heaven and we would fain command the rocks and the mountains cover us to conceal us from the piercing eye of of the Almighty God at the great day of judgment. (See 2 Nephi 28:21-22, Mosiah 3:25-27, Alma 12:14, Jacob 2:10)
In the next post, I'll outline what I learned as I looked into the Hebrew roots of "carried away."