Belief as the gate to "wisdom's path"

Moses 1:31-32 stood out to me recently:

31 And behold, the glory of the Lord was upon Moses, so that Moses stood in the presence of God, and talked with him face to face. And the Lord God said unto Moses: For mine own purpose have I made these things. Here is wisdom and it remaineth in me.

32 And by the word of my power, have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth.

"These things" in verse 31 refers to the earth and its inhabitants (see verses 27 and 28).

Moses' vision shares some parallels in form to the grand vision received by Nephi.  Nephi also sees in vision a large portion of the Nephites and learns of their fate long before they existed.

Moses only receives his vision after overcoming Satan by calling upon God in the name of Jesus (see Moses 1:20-21).

Nephi must also declare his belief in God prior to his vision.

4 And the Spirit said unto me: Believest thou that thy father saw the tree of which he hath spoken?

5 And I said: Yea, thou knowest that I believe all the words of my father.

6 And when I had spoken these words, the Spirit cried with a loud voice, saying: Hosanna to the Lord, the most high God; for he is God over all the earth, yea, even above all. And blessed art thou, Nephi, because thou believest in the Son of the most high God; wherefore, thou shalt behold the things which thou hast desired. (1 Nephi 11)

Notice also that the final verse of Moses 1 restricts sharing this information that came through belief with those who do not believe. (See Moses 1:42.) Nephi is also restricted from sharing parts of his vision. (See 1 Nephi 14:28.)

All of that is interesting. It seems Nephi had access to this material, perhaps on the Brass Plates, and was intentionally writing the account of his vision to compare himself to Moses.  He did this in other places, too.

What is this wisdom?

That's the question I've been pondering for the past few weeks.

Notice God's wisdom referenced in Moses 1:31, quoted above. The context of this verse implies that God's wisdom is contained in the foundational purposes of the earth.  Covenant fidelity unfolds this wisdom.  

The opposite of wisdom, then, is covenant rebellion, which leads to utter destruction, being cut off and cast out, etc.

This wisdom pattern is reinforced many times in the scriptures. I'll give three examples below.

Doctrine & Covenants 38

In this revelation, the saints are told to "treasure up wisdom in [their] bosoms, lest the wickedness of men reveal these things unto you by their wickedness, in a manner which shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the earth..." (see verse 30).  This comes after we are told:

17 And I have made the earth rich, and behold it is my footstool, wherefore, again I will stand upon it.

18 And I hold forth and deign to give unto you greater riches, even a land of promise, a land flowing with milk and honey, upon which there shall be no curse when the Lord cometh;

19 And I will give it unto you for the land of your inheritance, if you seek it with all your hearts.

20 And this shall be my covenant with you, ye shall have it for the land of your inheritance, and for the inheritance of your children forever, while the earth shall stand, and ye shall possess it again in eternity, no more to pass away.

Helaman 12

This whole chapter is a narrative aside written by Mormon, lamenting the foolishness and instability of man. In verse 5, he mentions "wisdom's paths":

4 O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to hearken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their hearts upon the vain things of the world!

5 Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom’s paths!

6 Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide.

Wisdom's paths clearly start when we hearken unto God and consider his "great goodness and mercy."

Mosiah 8

My final example is a bit of a mystery by itself, but it fits the pattern we're talking about, so I'll share it.

In Mosiah 8, Ammon-1 (the explorer, not the son of Mosiah) learns of the discovery of a fallen civilzation.  Records have been found but no one can read the language.  They seek a man who can interpret languages. Ammon knows such a man.  

In that context (learning about a destroyed civilization), notice these words at the end of the chapter:

19 And now, when Ammon had made an end of speaking these words the king rejoiced exceedingly, and gave thanks to God, saying: Doubtless a great mystery is contained within these plates, and these interpreters were doubtless prepared for the purpose of unfolding all such mysteries to the children of men.

20 O how marvelous are the works of the Lord, and how long doth he suffer with his people; yea, and how blind and impenetrable are the understandings of the children of men; for they will not seek wisdom, neither do they desire that she should rule over them!

21 Yea, they are as a wild flock which fleeth from the shepherd, and scattereth, and are driven, and are devoured by the beasts of the forest. (Mosiah 8)

That strikes me as deeply significant to the wisdom pattern I'm trying to flesh out. The mystery is "A whole group of people slaughtered each other."  Heavenly gifts are cited as the path to understanding why this happened.  Wisdom is the answer revealed by that heavenly gift.

To put it simply, the doctrine of Christ is the path of wisdom. Every other course leads to death. Only this path leads to life eternal.  The "mysteries of God" are unfolded to those who will hearken to God's counsel. Everyone who will not hearken is left unprotected from the dangers that lurk as a result of the work of the destroyer. The scriptures are filled with cautionary tales, which can bring us as much wisdom as the examples of righteousness we also find therein.

This is partially a new idea to me.  I'm going to continue to look for examples to help tease more out of this pattern, but I believe I'm starting to see the concept of "God's wisdom" in a whole new light.

"...in time to come, you will return to the LORD your God and heed him."

26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.

27 And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you.

28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;

31 (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them. (Deuteronomy 4)

It's exciting to find prophecies about the "latter days" in the Old Testament like the one above.  In a speech to the Israelites near the end of his life, Moses prophesies of the scattering of Israel followed by a period of serving false gods, and finally culminating in a gathering in through obedience. The title of the post comes from the NRSV translation of verse 30.

It strikes me how similar this voice of prophecy and warning is compared to the vision given to Nephi about the fate of his seed, which was given to him after his family left Jerusalem. I'll have more to say about that below.

Notice the promise underpinning the entire arc of Israelite history: God will not forget the covenant made to their fathers.

This is also a major theme of the Book of Mormon. For example, we see similar themes in 1 Nephi 22:

3 Wherefore, the things of which I have read are things pertaining to things both temporal and spiritual; for it appears that the house of Israel, sooner or later, will be scattered upon all the face of the earth, and also among all nations. ...

8 And after our seed is scattered the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles, which shall be of great worth unto our seed; wherefore, it is likened unto their being nourished by the Gentiles and being carried in their arms and upon their shoulders.

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.

10 And I would, my brethren, that ye should know that all the kindreds of the earth cannot be blessed unless he shall make bare his arm in the eyes of the nations.

11 Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to make bare his arm in the eyes of all the nations, in bringing about his covenants and his gospel unto those who are of the house of Israel.

12 Wherefore, he will bring them again out of captivity, and they shall be gathered together to the lands of their inheritance; and they shall be brought out of obscurity and out of darkness; and they shall know that the Lord is their Savior and their Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel. (1 Nephi 22)

Comparison to Nephi

I can't help but see a parallel between Moses and Nephi.  It strikes me as odd that Moses would predict a scattering during this momentous occasion shortly before Israel occupies the promised land, but that's exactly what he does. Similarly, just after his family departs from Jerusalem, Nephi sees in vision that his seed will eventually be overcome by wickedness and will be overtaken by the seed of his brethren (see 1 Nephi 12:14-23).

In another parallel to Moses, Nephi also sees that in the latter days, this mighty work would bring about a grand gathering of Israel and would bring redemption to the house of Israel:

2 And harden not their hearts against the Lamb of God, they shall be numbered among the seed of thy father; yea, they shall be numbered among the house of Israel; and they shall be a blessed people upon the promised land forever; they shall be no more brought down into captivity; and the house of Israel shall no more be confounded. (1 Nephi 14).

Power from on high

In his recent General Conference talk (October 2021), Elder David A. Bednar gave a great talk titled "With the power of God in great glory". This is based on 1 Nephi 14:14

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.

Hearing him quote that verse, my thoughts went to the purpose of the Book of Mormon as described in the title page and that I have previously posted about and summarized as follows: Christ and covenants. Elder Bednar said:

The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and the great tool of conversion in the latter days. Our purpose in sharing the gospel is to invite all to come unto Jesus Christ, receive the blessings of the restored gospel, and endure to the end through faith in the Savior. Helping individuals to experience the mighty change of heart and bind themselves to the Lord through sacred covenants and ordinances are the fundamental objectives of preaching the gospel.

Elder Bednar repeatedly states in his talk that we bind ourselves to the Savior through covenants. This is what arms us with power. Nephi saw this power descending upon the Lord's covenant people. Elder Bednar gives several examples in his talk where this power is manifest. It can happen in different ways, but my understanding is that it happens in the temple in particular. As stated in the Doctrine and Covenants.

Yea, verily I say unto you, I gave unto you a commandment that you should build a house, in the which house I design to endow those whom I have chosen with power from on high (D&C 95:8)

This is the power that Nephi saw descending on the covenant people. It comes from on high and descends on the covenant people in the house of the Lord. This is exactly what President Russell M. Nelson was saying in another great talk at the Sunday morning session of the same conference.

The temple lies at the center of strengthening our faith and spiritual fortitude because the Savior and His doctrine are the very heart of the temple. Everything taught in the temple, through instruction and through the Spirit, increases our understanding of Jesus Christ. His essential ordinances bind us to Him through sacred priesthood covenants. Then, as we keep our covenants, He endows us with His healing, strengthening power. And oh, how we will need His power in the days ahead.

As far as I understand, the General Authorities do not compare notes or base their talks on given assignments, but we can easily see how much they are in sync anyway. Again, in the same talk by President Nelson:

Please believe me when I say that when your spiritual foundation is built solidly upon Jesus Christ, you have no need to fear. As you are true to your covenants made in the temple, you will be strengthened by His power.

I think there is beautiful imagery in Christ's power descending from heaven on us, while we bind ourselves to Him in covenants and are thereby lifted upwards. This is a marriage of heaven and earth and the temple is the link between the two.

(No more be) confounded

In a previous post I touched upon the topic that I will address, without knowing some aspects I recently learned providing even more depth. The tower of Babel and the New Jerusalem are presented as antithetic parallels in the Book of Ether.

Which Jared came forth with his brother and their families, with some others and their families, from the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people, and swore in his wrath that they should be scattered upon all the face of the earth; and according to the word of the Lord the people were scattered. (Ether 1:33)

8 Wherefore, the remnant of the house of Joseph shall be built upon this land; and it shall be a land of their inheritance; and they shall build up a holy city unto the Lord, like unto the Jerusalem of old; and they shall no more be confounded, until the end come when the earth shall pass away.
9 And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth; and they shall be like unto the old save the old have passed away, and all things have become new.
10 And then cometh the New Jerusalem; and blessed are they who dwell therein, for it is they whose garments are white through the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who are numbered among the remnant of the seed of Joseph, who were of the house of Israel.
11 And then also cometh the Jerusalem of old; and the inhabitants thereof, blessed are they, for they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who were scattered and gathered in from the four quarters of the earth, and from the north countries, and are partakers of the fulfilling of the covenant which God made with their father, Abraham (Ether 13)

Two things that I want to add to this:

1. Babel is very similar to the Hebrew word, "balal", meaning confounding/confusing.
2. "Babel" in the Hebrew Old Testament text is the same as "Babylon". They have just been translated differently

The wordplay in Genesis 11:9 is evident

Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound (Hebr. "balal") the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

Ether and Genesis 11 follow the same pattern. But there is more. Considering the fact that Babel and Babylon are the same, we also recognize this theme in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. In the words of Biblical scholar, Jonathan Grossman

In Babylonian eyes, Babylon is invincible and eternal because it was founded by the gods, for their own purposes. In contrast, the biblical story quashes this notion and presents the city’s construction as the result of human action, with no divine corroboration; and many have interpreted the builders’ words, to ‘make a name for ourselves,’ as a kind of rebellion against God. . . . “Babylon is famously characterized as a political monolith: they oppress and dominate their subjects—their ‘language’ is enforced upon everyone. This portrait of Babylon is undermined by the biblical portrait of Babylon’s founding: rather than unite humanity under its own language and beliefs, Babylon is the source of universal dispersion and divergence.” (The Double Etymology of Babel in Genesis 11, ZAW 129 (2017): 366,374)

The Book of Mormon is essentially the story of two groups of people escaping Babel. The Book of Ether is about Jared, his brother and their families and friends escaping the tower of Babel and the confounding of their language. The rest of the Book of Mormon is concerned with Lehi, Ishmael and their families escaping the Babylonian captivity. Both groups are led to a promised land far from Babel, everything is set up for them to avoid being confounded. They prosper in the land for a while but they struggle to live up to the favor they have been shown and end up being "confounded" and scattered or destroyed. Instead of succeeding to establish a lasting righteous society, the righteous among these people looked forward to a future day when they would be "no more confounded".

This is Ether's perspective when he talks about a future New Jerusalem in the quote I shared at the beginning of this post. Nephi shares this same perspective. 

And harden not their hearts against the Lamb of God, they shall be numbered among the seed of thy father; yea, they shall be numbered among the house of Israel; and they shall be a blessed people upon the promised land forever; they shall be no more brought down into captivity; and the house of Israel shall no more be confounded. (1 Nephi 14:2)

And I did rehearse unto them the words of Isaiah, who spake concerning the restoration of the Jews, or of the house of Israel; and after they were restored they should no more be confounded, neither should they be scattered again. And it came to pass that I did speak many words unto my brethren, that they were pacified and did humble themselves before the Lord. (1 Nephi 15:20)

7 And it meaneth that the time cometh that after all the house of Israel have been scattered and confounded, that the Lord God will raise up a mighty nation among the Gentiles, yea, even upon the face of this land; and by them shall our seed be scattered.
8 And after our seed is scattered the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles, which shall be of great worth unto our seed; wherefore, it is likened unto their being nourished by the Gentiles and being carried in their arms and upon their shoulders.
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... 
22 And the righteous need not fear, for they are those who shall not be confounded. (1 Nephi 22)

Confounded can have a variety of meanings in English and different Bible translations also use other words in the Tower of Babel story, like God "confused" the language rather than "confounded". However, confused is not found in the Book of Mormon at all. So in the sense that Nephi is using the word here, it seems likely to me that this is based on the Hebrew, balal. When we know where Nephi is coming from, it is also not hard to imagine that he uses this term as an allusion to the Babylonian captivity. 

Nephi lived in Jerusalem as a child/youth and probably knew the threat that Babylon/Babel presented at the time. Because of his prophetic gifts and those of his father (see 1 Nephi 17:43 and 2 Nephi 1:4), he also knew that Jerusalem in fact had been destroyed. This destruction was another story of confounding/balal and scattering, just like the Tower of Babel. He also knew that this would eventually happen to his own seed (see for instance 1 Nephi 22:8 quoted above). 

Nephi clearly identifies a repeating cycle of a covenant people followed by wickedness, confounding and scattering. Specifically, we have

• God covenanting with Noah and his seed after the flood (Genesis 9:9). But his seed built the Tower of Babel to "make a name for themselves", were confounded and scattered.
• God covenanting with Abraham and later with the people of Israel led by Moses. As Abraham's seed they would be a covenant people led to the promised land. But after many centuries in the promised land they had become "ripe in iniquity" (1 Nephi 17:35) and were scattered and destroyed by the Babylonians
• Nephi belonged to a group that was rescued from the Babylonian destruction and received another promised land as part of a covenant (2 Nephi 1:5). But he saw a vision where he learned that it would not last forever. His people would eventually suffer destruction and scattering as well. 

This must surely be frustrating to Nephi. But just as surely, he must have found comfort in the fact that there would be an end to this cycle. In a future time, a remnant of the House of Israel would be established as a new covenant people to "no more be confounded". This choice of words is likely a reference to the Babel/Babylon factor that led to the previous failures. It is an expression of great hope for a future time when the cycle is broken and there will be no more Babel/balal. We live in this time. The new and everlasting covenant has been established, this time to stay. The gathering of Israel has started and there will be no more scattering and confounding on a global level. It is up to us to stay on the covenant path and learn from the past so it doesn't happen to us on a personal level either.

A temple pattern in the Book of Mormon, Overview

The purpose of this series of posts is to connect Nephi's concept of "the two churches" with shaking/falling [to the dust]/and arising -- a major theme I've encountered in scripture (especially the Book of Mormon). Stisa has already extensively discussed one of the topics I'll be covering, here and here.

First, a little overview of an important temple pattern.

An important pattern from the temple

Modern temple worship in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches us an important pattern:

1. The Purpose -- In the beginning, before the foundation of the world, we lived with God and desired to live with Him and like Him.
2. The Fall -- In order to be "prove[n]" we chose to leave God's presence and come down to a lower realm in which Satan could tempt us.
3. The Angels -- We would not be left helpless, though, as God would send messengers to teach us His ways and administer covenants. 
4. The Fruit (of heeding the voice of angels) -- These messengers would have power over the devil and the knowledge we need to overcome the fallen realm and progress back to God. When we use our agency to choose to bind ourselves to God (through covenanting to obey His commandments), we receive power to bind Satan and can no longer be enticed by his deceitful snares.
5. The Eternal Reward -- "Heed[ing] the word" leads us to knowledge of the mysteries of God and eternal bliss. 

That "lower realm" can be referred to as the telestial kingdom, or the world in which we now live. It is a world of opposites, filled with contrasting elements of good and evil.

Obligatory reference to "dust"

One subtle but vital scriptural symbol related to this lower kingdom is "dust." We've written extensively on this blog about dust. Stisa connects dust to the telestial kingdom in this post. A broad overview of many scriptural lessons about dust can be found here. There is a beautiful gardening double-metaphor in God's seed (His spirit children) being placed in a world of dust and then being offered the word of God (another type of seed) and invited to test that seed (the invitation itself is a test). The result of the test, if we succeed, is twofold:

1. We are gathered back into God's presence (symbolized by the tree of life).
2. We also grow a tree of life inside our heart as we walk the covenant path. (See Alma 32:41-43.)

A double metaphor that begins with two seeds in a context of dust results (when successful) in a new generation of trees, so to speak. (As an aside, in this context, John 10:27-38 takes on added depth.)

A note about "the two churches"

The tree of life is everlasting (see Alma 32:41), just like the work of those divine messengers who engage in the struggle for souls that is happening in the telestial realm.

7 For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men; a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other—either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds unto their being brought down into captivity, and also into destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil, of which I have spoken. (1 Nephi 14)

The work is binding and eternal in consequence.  We end up "convinc[ed] ... unto peace and life eternal" -- at one again with God, or "deliver[ed] ... into captivity and destruction."

This is not just about good versus evil, either.  The key feature of the church of the Lamb of God is that they are covered by the everlasting covenant.

Nephi does not equivocate on this point as he writes the words of the angel and what he saw in vision:

8 And it came to pass that when the angel had spoken these words, he said unto me: Rememberest thou the covenants of the Father unto the house of Israel? I said unto him, Yea.
9 And it came to pass that he said unto me: Look, and behold that great and abominable church, which is the mother of abominations, whose founder is the devil.
10 And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth. (1 Nephi 14)

In short, the purpose of mortality is to sift, to sort, and to determine which spirit we each "list to obey." (See Alma 3:26-27.)

Covenants define the church of the Lamb of God

In this passage, Nephi makes it abundantly clear that anyone who does not belong to the church of the Lamb of God belongs by default to the other church.  In a later verse, he gives us some important distinguishing features of the members of the church of the Lamb of God:

14 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.

Here's a list:

• the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb
• the covenant people of the Lord
• scattered upon all the face of the earth
• they were armed with righteousness
• [they were armed] with the power of God in great glory.

The covenant people of the Lord comprise the church of the Lamb of God. They are defined by their unique commitment to heed the voice of God through covenant-making and covenant-keeping and to ignore all of the other voices of the world.

Summary

In the coming weeks, I'll provide examples of each of the points above from the Book of Mormon.  This temple pattern is undeniably reflected in the worldview of its authors, although I can't come up with a naturalistic explanation for how 23 year-old Joseph Smith could have had this temple/covenant worldview so clearly defined so early in the process of the restoration.

Amulek and "the foundations of the devil"

Stisa and I have both written about Amulek's words in Ammonihah. Here is a list of what we've already found in his words: 

• Amulek paraphrases King Mosiah (see item #31 here). 
• There is tremendous irony in the fate of the leaders of Ammonihah (see here).
• Mormon adds elements we know from the Book of Moses about Enoch as he compares the righteous people of God to lions (see here).

There is already so much going on here, and yet I've found another thread: Amulek is also referencing the writings of Nephi.

Compare Amulek's words ... :

17 Now they knew not that Amulek could know of their designs. But it came to pass as they began to question him, he perceived their thoughts, and he said unto them: O ye wicked and perverse generation, ye lawyers and hypocrites, for ye are laying the foundations of the devil; for ye are laying traps and snares to catch the holy ones of God.

18 Ye are laying plans to pervert the ways of the righteous, and to bring down the wrath of God upon your heads, even to the utter destruction of this people. (Alma 10)

... with the words of Nephi:

3 And that great pit, which hath been digged for them by that great and abominable church, which was founded by the devil and his children, that he might lead away the souls of men down to hell—yea, that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who digged it, unto their utter destruction, saith the Lamb of God; not the destruction of the soul, save it be the casting of it into that hell which hath no end. (1 Nephi 14)

13 And the blood of that great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall turn upon their own heads; for they shall war among themselves, and the sword of their own hands shall fall upon their own heads, and they shall be drunken with their own blood.

14 And every nation which shall war against thee, O house of Israel, shall be turned one against another, and they shall fall into the pit which they digged to ensnare the people of the Lord. And all that fight against Zion shall be destroyed, and that great whore, who hath perverted the right ways of the Lord, yea, that great and abominable church, shall tumble to the dust and great shall be the fall of it. (1 Nephi 22)

The foundation of the great and spacious building is a literal void -- the absence of the "sure foundation" (see Jacob 4:16-17, Helaman 5:12) -- and so its fate is determined by those who seek to build it up in the first place. Its fall is great for the same reason: it has no foundation.

The story has a poignant ending -- many of the righteous are slain and later the wicked leaders experience what it feels like to "bring down the wrath of God upon your heads" (see Alma 14:27).

 

"Carried away" -- part 1

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 overcome with the Spirit and the things which he had seen.

8 And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a vision, even that he saw the heavens open, and he thought he saw 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 luster was above that of the sun at noon-day.

10 And he also saw twelve 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 stood before my father, and gave unto him a book, and bade him that he should read.

12 And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord.

13 And he read, saying: Wo, wo, unto Jerusalem, for I have seen thine abominations! Yea, and many things did my father read concerning Jerusalem—that it should be destroyed, and the inhabitants thereof; many should perish by the sword, and many should be carried away 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 Spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me, saying: Look!

20 And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms. (1 Nephi 11)

29 And I also beheld twelve others following him. And it came to pass that they were carried away 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 angels descending upon the children of men; and they did minister unto them. (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.

25 And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away 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 veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light 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 overcome 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 joy.

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 prophets, and the saints, the depths of the earth shall swallow them up, saith the Lord of Hosts; and mountains 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 whirlwind; 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 sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains 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 gulf 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."