Land of our inheritance -- Part 2

In Part 1 we looked at the covenant connection of the Hebrew yeresh, meaning to inherit/possess. The promised land is an inheritance given by covenant. It is a blessing ("flowing with milk and honey") but also a great responsibility. 

9 And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fulness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity.

10 For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fulness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off. (Ether 2)

In Deuteronomy, Israel are repeatedly instructed to purge the evil out of their midst when they possess the promised land. The evil that should be purged comes from breaking God's statutes, judgments and commandments. Sin made unclean and defiled the whole land.

As we have often seen from Old Testament rhetoric, the blessings and cursings associated with the promised land were temporal and physical in nature. It was all about crop yields, weather, success or failure in warfare, children and posterity. There was little concern with the afterlife. But then the Book of Mormon comes along and adds a spiritual dimension to it all, indicating that the Old Testament instructions and events also functioned as "a type and a shadow" (Mosiah 13:10). For instance, in 1 Nephi 15, Nephi teaches his brothers about the Abrahamic covenant and the restoration of the Jews and ties it into his and his father's vision of the tree of life. His brothers seem confused about the temporal and spiritual aspects of this.

31 And they said unto me: Doth this thing mean the torment of the body in the days of probation, or doth it mean the final state of the soul after the death of the temporal body, or doth it speak of the things which are temporal?

32 And it came to pass that I said unto them that it was a representation of things both temporal and spiritual; for the day should come that they must be judged of their works, yea, even the works which were done by the temporal body in their days of probation.

33 Wherefore, if they should die in their wickedness they must be cast off also, as to the things which are spiritual, which are pertaining to righteousness; wherefore, they must be brought to stand before God, to be judged of their works; and if their works have been filthiness they must needs be filthy; and if they be filthy it must needs be that they cannot dwell in the kingdom of God; if so, the kingdom of God must be filthy also.

34 But behold, I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy, and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God; wherefore there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy. (1 Nephi 15)

The temporal promised land of inheritance for Israel should be kept clean, otherwise God could not dwell there among them. This is a type and a shadow of our eternal inheritance. No unclean thing can enter in there, because then "the kingdom of God must be filthy also". Another example from Alma 40:26

But behold, an awful death cometh upon the wicked; for they die as to things pertaining to things of righteousness; for they are unclean, and no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of God;

The bolded phrase is recurrent in the scriptures, especially the idea that the kingdom of God is an inheritance, like the promised land was to Israel. But Laman and Lemuel's confusion about the physical and spiritual dimension of this may be the reason for their statement in 1 Nephi 2:11

11 Now this he spake because of the stiffneckedness of Laman and Lemuel; for behold they did murmur in many things against their father, because he was a visionary man, and had led them out of the land of Jerusalem, to leave the land of their inheritance, and their gold, and their silver, and their precious things, to perish in the wilderness. And this they said he had done because of the foolish imaginations of his heart.

1 Nephi 17:21

Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance; yea, and we might have been happy.

Learning about the covenant context of yeresh (possess/inherit), I realize that Laman and Lemuel's lament here is also an appeal to the Abrahamic covenant. Their land of inheritance was according to their tribe, Manasseh, granted as a covenant promise from God. They had gold, silver and other possessions, indicating covenant blessings in the land. So why should they leave it? This seems like a fair argument but they are missing the bigger point that Nephi explains. He launches into a long speech in 1 Nephi 17 after their comment that I will not quote. But the point is that God establishes different lands of promise for the righteous. "he leadeth away the righteous into precious lands, and the wicked he destroyeth" (1 Nephi 17:38). 

This is a common theme in the Book of Mormon. Lehi leaves the land of his inheritance in 1 Nephi 2 and arrives at the promised land, later described by Book of Mormon prophets as the land of their first inheritance. Then history repeats itself. The Nephites become wicked for the most part and Mosiah-I leads a small group out of that land that the Lamanites take over, as prophesied by Jacob

And the time speedily cometh, that except ye repent they shall possess the land of your inheritance, and the Lord God will lead away the righteous out from among you. (Jacob 3:4)

Later, the sons of Mosiah-II go back to "the place of their father's first inheritance" (Alma 22:28) to preach the gospel. They have great success, but their coverts are under serious threat by the wicked and must once again be led out of the land into a new land of inheritance. The Nephites come to the rescue and grant the Lamanite converts the land of Jershon, meaning "place of inheritance/possession" according to rules of Hebrew name formation. The 'Y' in yeresh becomes 'J' according to typical English transliteration of Hebrew, and the suffix, "on", indicates a place. The wordplay is evident

And it came to pass that the voice of the people came, saying: Behold, we will give up the land of Jershon, which is on the east by the sea, which joins the land Bountiful, which is on the south of the land Bountiful; and this land Jershon is the land which we will give unto our brethren for an inheritance...And now behold, this will we do unto our brethren, that they may inherit the land Jershon...And it came to pass that it did cause great joy among them. And they went down into the land of Jershon, and took possession of the land of Jershon (Alma 27:22, 24, 26)

According to Matthew Bowen, the land grants to the Lamanite converts therefore stand as a symbol of the restoration of the Abrahamic covenant and reintegration into the House of Israel. His most recent article in the Interpreter Journal touches upon several of the aspects in these two posts as well as some that I have not addressed.

The Book of Mormon is also full of promises about lands of inheritance in the latter days. For example

7 But behold, thus saith the Lord God: When the day cometh that they shall believe in me, that I am Christ, then have I covenanted with their fathers that they shall be restored in the flesh, upon the earth, unto the lands of their inheritance.

8 And it shall come to pass that they shall be gathered in from their long dispersion, from the isles of the sea, and from the four parts of the earth; and the nations of the Gentiles shall be great in the eyes of me, saith God, in carrying them forth to the lands of their inheritance.

9 Yea, the kings of the Gentiles shall be nursing fathers unto them, and their queens shall become nursing mothers; wherefore, the promises of the Lord are great unto the Gentiles, for he hath spoken it, and who can dispute?

10 But behold, this land, said God, shall be a land of thine inheritance, and the Gentiles shall be blessed upon the land. (2 Nephi 10)

As covenant children of Abraham, we are part of the restoration of the latter days where, according to the Book of Mormon, the righteous inherit their original promised lands, preparing for a time when we may inherit a place at the right hand of God (see Alma 5:58).

"Stretch forth thine hand" -- Part 4 (Enoch)

The other parts of this series can be found here:

Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: Old Testament

Part 3: The Book of Mormon

In this concluding post of the series, we'll look at the Book of Moses and what I consider to be the most important use of "stretching forth hands" imagery in all of the scriptures. The context is Enoch seeing a grand vision of the world.  In this vision, he sees Satan's great influence over the fallen world, and he sees the God of Heaven weeping. This impacts Enoch greatly, and he asks the Lord an important question:

29 And Enoch said unto the Lord: How is it that thou canst weep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity?

30 And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations; and thy curtains are stretched out still; and yet thou art there, and thy bosom is there; and also thou art just; thou art merciful and kind forever;

31 And thou hast taken Zion to thine own bosom, from all thy creations, from all eternity to all eternity; and naught but peace, justice, and truth is the habitation of thy throne; and mercy shall go before thy face and have no end; how is it thou canst weep? (Moses 7)

The Lord responds with a rather lengthy answer.  Here is the first part of His answer:

 

32 The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency;

33 And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood;

34 And the fire of mine indignation is kindled against them; and in my hot displeasure will I send in the floods upon them, for my fierce anger is kindled against them.

35 Behold, I am God; Man of Holiness is my name; Man of Counsel is my name; and Endless and Eternal is my name, also.

The Lord continues to answer Enoch. The next few verses are really interesting:

36 Wherefore, I can stretch forth mine hands and hold all the creations which I have made; and mine eye can pierce them also, and among all the workmanship of mine hands there has not been so great wickedness as among thy brethren.

37 But behold, their sins shall be upon the heads of their fathers; Satan shall be their father, and misery shall be their doom; and the whole heavens shall weep over them, even all the workmanship of mine hands; wherefore should not the heavens weep, seeing these shall suffer?   

38 But behold, these which thine eyes are upon shall perish in the floods; and behold, I will shut them up; a prison have I prepared for them.

39 And that which I have chosen hath pled before my face. Wherefore, he suffereth for their sins; inasmuch as they will repent in the day that my Chosen shall return unto me, and until that day they shall be in torment;

40 Wherefore, for this shall the heavens weep, yea, and all the workmanship of mine hands.

In these two verses we have three references to hands.  First the Lord reminds Enoch that none of His creations are beyond His power -- He can stretch forth His hands and hold all of them.  We'll come back to this a little later. Next, He laments the wickedness of the residue of the people (those who were not taken up to heaven with Zion) at the time of Noah. Finally, He indicates to Enoch that all heavenly beings (presumably including the righteous in Zion) will weep over the wicked who will suffer. No righteous individual takes any delight in the suffering of anyone, even the wicked.  

This statement seems to have a powerful effect on Enoch:

41 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Enoch, and told Enoch all the doings of the children of men; wherefore Enoch knew, and looked upon their wickedness, and their misery, and wept and stretched forth his arms, and his heart swelled wide as eternity; and his bowels yearned; and all eternity shook. 

This is such an important verse! Enoch receives sacred information about God, mankind, the creation, and his own role in the plan of salvation.  Let's take a closer look at the list of things that happen as a result of God revealing to Enoch this information:

...wherefore Enoch: 

1. knew, and 
2. looked upon their wickedness, and their misery, and 
3. wept and 
4. stretched forth his arms, and 
5. his heart swelled wide as eternity; and 
6. his bowels yearned; and 
7. all eternity shook. 

Notice that the items on this list directly imitate the attributes and actions of God. With items #3 and #4, Enoch performs the same actions noted in verses 28 and 36, respectively. #4 is an important symbol. Enoch has fully committed himself to fulfilling God's righteous purposes. Items #5-7 remind me of key passages from the Book of Mormon. This will be the subject of future posts, because in some cases the references are numerous and deserve some discussion. Below I'll give a single corresponding Book of Mormon reference for each item.

#5 - His heart swelled: "Now this great iniquity had come upon the Nephites, in the space of not many years; and when Nephi saw it, his heart was swollen with sorrow within his breast; and he did exclaim in the agony of his soul:" (Helaman 7:6)

#6 - His bowels yearned: "And he said unto them: Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you. Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy." (3 Nephi 17:6-7)

#7 - all eternity shook: "Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder." (1 Nephi 17:45)

Hands and Noah's Ark

Before finishing up, let's revisit the phrase from verse 36, "I can stretch forth mine hands and hold all the creations which I have made." I believe the clue to understanding what God means by this verse is found in verse 43:

43 Wherefore Enoch saw that Noah built an ark; and that the Lord smiled upon it, and held it in his own hand; but upon the residue of the wicked the floods came and swallowed them up.

God is certainly mighty to save all of His creations.  He stretches forth His hand to offer refuge from death and hell -- the "prison" referred to in verse 38. Those who enter in do so by covenant.  This is perfectly symbolized by Noah's ark, which was held in God's own hand.  (I previously posted about this verse here.) It is no surprise then that when prophets come to preach repentance, they often gesture by stretching forth their hands.  It's a powerful symbol.

Conclusion

The name Enoch means 'initiated one.' These verses demonstrate how Enoch's visionary experiences result in him becoming an instrument in God's hands, with an eye single to His glory. When prophets stretch forth their hands and declare repentance, they are helping God bring about God's purposes for His creation.

Stretching forth one's hand is a subtle scriptural reference to this initiatory experience had by Enoch. This series has helped me see God's love more clearly. We'll close this series with the poignant words of Jacob:

4 And how merciful is our God unto us, for he remembereth the house of Israel, both roots and branches; and he stretches forth his hands unto them all the day long; and they are a stiffnecked and a gainsaying people; but as many as will not harden their hearts shall be saved in the kingdom of God.

5 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts. (Jacob 6)

Footstool

I've got multiple series of posts going on at the same time, but I haven't forgotten about them.  This post will open up another topic -- footstool. After this I'll get back to the "stretch forth thine hand" series and finish that, then, I'll return to Moses 7 from my most recent post.

Footstool

This word caught my attention as I studied the Book of Moses this week. Let's look at a few verses in restoration scripture which use this term:

Moses 6:9, 44

9 In the image of his own body, male and female, created he them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created and became living souls in the land upon the footstool of God. ...

44 The heavens he made; the earth is his footstool; and the foundation thereof is his. Behold, he laid it, an host of men hath he brought in upon the face thereof.

1 Nephi 17:38-40

38 And he leadeth away the righteous into precious lands, and the wicked he destroyeth, and curseth the land unto them for their sakes.

39 He ruleth high in the heavens, for it is his throne, and this earth is his footstool.

40 And he loveth those who will have him to be their God. Behold, he loved our fathers, and he covenanted with them, yea, even Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and he remembered the covenants which he had made; wherefore, he did bring them out of the land of Egypt.

Abraham 2:6-8

6 But I, Abraham, and Lot, my brother’s son, prayed unto the Lord, and the Lord appeared unto me, and said unto me: Arise, and take Lot with thee; for I have purposed to take thee away out of Haran, and to make of thee a minister to bear my name in a strange land which I will give unto thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession, when they hearken to my voice.

7 For I am the Lord thy God; I dwell in heaven; the earth is my footstool; I stretch my hand over the sea, and it obeys my voice; I cause the wind and the fire to be my chariot; I say to the mountains—Depart hence—and behold, they are taken away by a whirlwind, in an instant, suddenly.

8 My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee.

(We also see "footstool" used in Doctrine & Covenants 38:17 and 3 Nephi 12:35, but those instances don't add much to the context I'm specifically studying.)

What do we learn from these verses about the earth?

Do you notice the reference to Genesis 3:17 in 1 Nephi 17:38 above? The ground is cursed because Adam hearkened to Eve rather than God. Yet the experience in the wilderness would allow Adam and Eve to fulfill the first commandment He gave them (found in Genesis 1:28) -- to "be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it and have dominion over ... every living thing that moveth upon [it]."

A footstool symbolizes that which has been subdued. Putting an enemy under your feet indicates you've prevailed. One essential function of the priesthood is to bring order to the "waste places" and thereby gain victory over chaos and death. This is taught rather plainly in Doctrine & Covenants 103:7-11 --

7 And by hearkening to observe all the words which I, the Lord their God, shall speak unto them, they shall never cease to prevail until the kingdoms of the world are subdued under my feet, and the earth is given unto the saints, to possess it forever and ever.

8 But inasmuch as they keep not my commandments, and hearken not to observe all my words, the kingdoms of the world shall prevail against them.

9 For they were set to be a light unto the world, and to be the saviors of men;

10 And inasmuch as they are not the saviors of men, they are as salt that has lost its savor, and is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men.

11 But verily I say unto you, I have decreed that your brethren which have been scattered shall return to the lands of their inheritances, and shall build up the waste places of Zion.

Covenant brings about this "build[ing] up" of "the waste places of Zion." Notice the contrasting fates of those who enter into the covenant -- they will either stay faithful and prevail, and possess the earth forever and ever, or they will reject the covenant and be defeated by the kingdoms of the world, leading them to be cast out and "trodden under foot of men."

I've got a little more to say on this topic, but I'll save it until after the two open series are concluded. Interestingly, the redemption of Zion (subduing the kingdoms of the earth) ties right back into the concept of the out-stretched hand:

15 Behold, I say unto you, the redemption of Zion must needs come by power;

16 Therefore, I will raise up unto my people a man, who shall lead them like as Moses led the children of Israel.

17 For ye are the children of Israel, and of the seed of Abraham, and ye must needs be led out of bondage by power, and with a stretched-out arm.

18 And as your fathers were led at the first, even so shall the redemption of Zion be. (Doctrine & Covenants 103)

The redemption of Zion happens through God's power, also known as the Priesthood.