Endowment Narratives in the Book of Mormon, Part 3b -- Finding Meaning in the Symbols

This post will continue a detailed discussion of the symbols I've listed in the endowment pattern we find throughout the Book of Mormon. Today I'll be discussing three more elements:

• The new covenant people passes through a wilderness on their journey
• A list of animals (sometimes "of every kind")\
• "Many days"

The connection between 'wilderness,' 'the word,' and 'flocks and herds'

As I studied the concept of wilderness in preparation, for this post, I made an important and very satisfying connection between 'wilderness,' 'flocks and herds,' and 'the word.' Keep in mind that when I set out to document and flesh out the "endowment pattern" in the Book of Mormon, I did so by first identifying repeating details between many different accounts.  I didn't pick and choose the details based on their connection to Adam and Eve. So it is inspiring to see that these details have deep and meaningful connections back to Adam and Eve. As I've previously demonstrated in Parts 1 and 2, "wilderness" and "flocks and herds" are two of the repeating details. 

What I didn't know when I added them to the list is that there is a profound connection between these two elements built into the Hebrew language, and it centers around hearkening to the word.

In the Old Testament, "wilderness/desert" is most often translated from the Hebrew word 'midbar' --

midbar: desert (מִדְבָּר) -- desert (11), deserts (1), wilderness (257)

This word comes from the root 'dabar' which means 'to speak.' At first, this made no sense to me. What does a wilderness have to do with speaking? Biblehub helped me out:

From dabar in the sense of driving; a pasture (i.e. Open field, whither cattle are driven); by implication, a desert; also speech (including its organs) -- desert, south, speech, wilderness.

So the name of the place where a shepherd leads his flocks to graze comes from the root word 'to speak.' 

This adds a whole new layer of depth to an already fascinating word.  See this previous post by Stisa on the connection between 'dabar' and other Hebrew words, including the order of the priesthood. The "place of speaking" in the Holy of Holies (Hebrew: 'debir') also derives from this root. In other words, the covenant path begins in a wilderness (Hebrew 'midbar') and ends at a place of speaking (Hebrew: 'debir').

In light of this, look at Lehi's dream of the Tree of Life as recorded in 1 Nephi 8.  After explaining that he is fearful for Laman and Lenuel, he uses these words to begin describing his dream:

4 ... for behold, methought I saw in my dream, a dark and dreary wilderness.

After partaking of the fruit, he says this:

12 And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit. ...

14 And ... I beheld your mother Sariah, and Sam, and Nephi; and they stood as if they knew not whither they should go.
15 And it came to pass that I beckoned unto them; and I also did say unto them with a loud voice that they should come unto me, and partake of the fruit, which was desirable above all other fruit.

The dream begins in a wilderness and ends with Lehi calling out to his loved ones "with a loud voice" to come and partake. Receiver becomes giver by passing through a wilderness.

In this context, read this description of the symbolic meaning of the wilderness:   

... a wilderness symbolizes any place in which the people are tested, tried, proven, refined by trials, taught grace, and prepared to meet the Lord (see Alma 17:9; see also Christ’s preparations in the wilderness in Matthew 4:1–2). Scriptural journeys often symbolize man’s earthly walk from birth through the spiritual wildernesses of a fallen world (see Ether 6:4–7 for the ocean allegory of man’s journey; see also 1 Nephi 8 for the path leading to the tree of life). God seeks to teach that His children cannot be self-prospering and thereby fulfill the purposes of their earthly lives. They must learn to seek and accept His grace to reach their destinations, which are promised lands or places of deliverance and spiritual peace where Zion can be established. The Lord speaks to modern Israel: “Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself. And my people must needs be chastened until they learn obedience, if it must needs be, by the things which they suffer” (D&C 105:5–6). Therefore, the Lord provides in our lives wildernesses and waterlessness and overwhelming challenges to entice His children to involve Him as they struggle through life. (Source)

The wilderness is the place where natural man gives way to God's will and learns to be obedient to Him.  The domesticated animal is perhaps the perfect metaphor.

'Flocks and Herds'

In the endowment pattern detailed in parts 1 and 2, those who hearken are not only called to enter a wilderness, and they also take their flocks with them. These flocks and herds consist of domesticated animals -- those animals that are useful to man and follow his voice. So in this pattern we see that man acts both as hearer and speaker of the word -- being led by God and leading flocks and herds along into the wilderness.

The wilderness is the place where natural man gives way to God's will and learns to be obedient to Him.  The domesticated animal is perhaps the perfect metaphor.

This also ties in to the creation itself, and the commandment given to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28-30 --

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 ¶ And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

Domesticating animals is an act of subduing and having dominion over part of God's creation, just as they were commanded to do. In a subtle, powerful way covenant people taking the flocks and herds into the wilderness shows their desire to fulfill God's commandments and act as Adam and Eve.

Before the Fall, animals in general appear to be in an intimate relationship with humans. This is shown, among other things, by the fact that they are given names by humans, which indicates not just the human control of animals but intimacy as well (cf. Gen 2:23, where the man names his helper). At least, it is assumed that humans were in perfect harmony with the animals. Apparently this situation has changed after the Fall. Note the following circumstances: the sin of humans affected the animal world; animals are divided into two classes, clean and not clean (Gen 7:2; NIV unclean; cf. Lev 11); there is a distance between animals and humans (Gen 9:2); animals may be eaten by humans for food (9:3); carnivorous animals may attack human beings (9:5); and finally, as is discussed below, Isa 11:6–8 presents an image of the animal world in which carnivorous animals undergo a metamorphosis in their nature, returning to their primordial situation (see below). (VanGemeren, W. (Ed.). (1997). New international dictionary of Old Testament theology & exegesis (Vol. 1, p. 612). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)

This symbolism is deep and far-reaching. Think of all of the pastoral metaphors in the Gospel. I'll circle back to it in future posts as we talk about how often the wilderness theme appears in scripture.

"Many days"

I'll end this post with a few words about "many days." For me, the surprising thing about this seemingly mundane phrase is that it actually shows up so often in this endowment pattern context and not very often otherwise.  It appears 7 times in 1 Nephi 16-18, always as Nephi describes the journey in the wilderness (and on the sea). See 1 Nephi 16:15, 17, 33; 17:7, 52; 18:9, 23.

Perhaps the most notable use of the phrase 'many days' comes from the Book of Moses in the context of Adam and Eve's actions after being expelled from the Garden of Eden (actions which involve the firstlings of their flocks!):

6 And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me. (Moses 5)

Conclusion

At the end of part three, I'll start to pull these various symbols together and demonstrate how they help us find numerous links between temple worship and scripture.  The details we've looked at in more depth offer great examples.  Of course much more could be written about these topics, and I will certainly revisit these topics, but I hope you can see how the creation of animals and the commandments given to Adam in the Garden of Eden to subdue the creation play into the symbolism of God calling those who will hearken to His voice to leave the fallen world behind and depart into the wilderness (and why they would bring their flocks and herds with them).  This ties into Noah bringing animals of all kinds on the ark. This ties into the concept of the grand feast in the ancient Egyptian temple rites. 

In the next post, we'll continue to look at additional details from the endowment pattern.