"...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).

(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.

More Book of Mormon language in Doctrine & Covenants 10

Stisa's latest post outlines numerous examples of Book of Mormon language in Section 10.  As he notes, this is particularly interesting since this revelation predates the translation of the Book of Mormon text we currently have.

As I studied the examples he listed, I recognized some additional connections, which happen to center on topics I've been studying for the past several weeks in my most recent posts.  In this post, I'll focus on similarities between D&C 10:55-56 and 1 Nephi 22:22-23.

 

55 Therefore, whosoever belongeth to my church need not fear, for such shall inherit the kingdom of heaven.
56 But it is they who do not fear me, neither keep my commandments but build up churches unto themselves to get gain, yea, and all those that do wickedly and build up the kingdom of the devil—yea, verily, verily, I say unto you, that it is they that I will disturb, and cause to tremble and shake to the center. (D&C 10)

 

22 And the righteous need not fear, for they are those who shall not be confounded. But it is the kingdom of the devil, which shall be built up among the children of men, which kingdom is established among them which are in the flesh

23 For the time speedily shall come that all churches which are built up to get gain, and all those who are built up to get power over the flesh, and those who are built up to become popular in the eyes of the world, and those who seek the lusts of the flesh and the things of the world, and to do all manner of iniquity; yea, in fine, all those who belong to the kingdom of the devil are they who need fear, and tremble, and quake; they are those who must be brought low in the dust; they are those who must be consumed as stubble; and this is according to the words of the prophet. (1 Nephi 22)

In these two relatively short passages we find five similar phrases in the same order. Yet, the passages are different enough for this common language to hide in plain sight.  I'm certain there are many more connections between Section 10 and the Book of Mormon.

What does this mean?

I'm not sure I have a great answer to this important question. It seems Christ is highlighting some key teachings from the Book of Mormon. This makes section 10 incredibly important as a key to understanding the purposes and themes of the Book of Mormon. This of course also has implications for any naturalistic claim on Book of Mormon authorship -- these themes must have been worked out long before the first draft was produced.

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).

 

Righteousness -- Part 2

In part 1, I placed the term, righteousness, in a certain context; as the means to establish or restore the bonds and peace of all creation. Righteousness is one of God's primary attributes but he needs a righteous people to work with him and fulfill his purposes. Searching for the term, "righteous" or "righteousness" in the Book of Mormon gives more than a hundred results. I have not gone through all those verses, but I have seen a clear pattern: God is extremely concerned about establishing and preserving a righteous people. This can be divided into several categories:

• Raising up a righteous branch
• Separating the righteous from the wicked
• Destroying the wicked and preserving the righteous
• Blessing the land of the righteous
• Saving the righteous

I find there is a logical link between these, perhaps even a sequence, and they also fit the context discussed in part 1. Just to repeat a small part of Margaret Barker's paper giving that context:

Righteousness describes both the action needed to restore the broken covenant, and also the result of that action. Righteous people had been restored to their intended place in the creation, and they then had to work to restore other parts of the covenant system. Righteousness meant the activity of making righteous, protecting and maintaining the covenant.

I will give a few examples for each category.

Raising up a righteous branch

Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day. And he obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to be broken off, nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of darkness unto light—yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom. (2 Nephi 3:5)

And behold how great the covenants of the Lord, and how great his condescensions unto the children of men; and because of his greatness, and his grace and mercy, he has promised unto us that our seed shall not utterly be destroyed, according to the flesh, but that he would preserve them; and in future generations they shall become a righteous branch unto the house of Israel. (2 Nephi 9:53)

Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph. (Jacob 2:25)

This reminds me of a couple of scriptures shared in part 1 where righteousness would "spring up" or God wanted to find righteousness in his vineyard. The Hebrew word for "spring up" used in that Isaiah verse is the same as the one in Genesis 2:9, where God made every tree grow (spring up) from the ground in the Garden of Eden. The righteous branch is perhaps also an allusion to Zenos' allegory and the branches that were grafted and produced good fruit.

Separating the righteous from the wicked

And now I say unto you, all you that are desirous to follow the voice of the good shepherd, come ye out from the wicked, and be ye separate, and touch not their unclean things; and behold, their names shall be blotted out, that the names of the wicked shall not be numbered among the names of the righteous, that the word of God may be fulfilled, which saith: The names of the wicked shall not be mingled with the names of my people (Alma 5:57)

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)

This is similar to the wheat and the tares. In order to let righteous people restore the covenant system, they must be clearly distinguished, separated out and gathered.

Destroying the wicked and preserving the righteous

36 Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it.
37 And he raiseth up a righteous nation, and destroyeth the nations of the wicked.
38 And he leadeth away the righteous into precious lands, and the wicked he destroyeth, and curseth the land unto them for their sakes. (1 Nephi 17)

16 For the time soon cometh that the fulness of the wrath of God shall be poured out upon all the children of men; for he will not suffer that the wicked shall destroy the righteous.
17 Wherefore, he will preserve the righteous by his power, even if it so be that the fulness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore, the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire. (1 Nephi 22)

This is a similar to the previous point, but it goes even further. It sounds brutal, but it seems necessary for God to achieve His purposes. The covenant bonds cannot be maintained by wickedness. Unless the wicked repent, they must eventually make way for the righteous to do the work that is ultimately for the benefit of the whole creation. 

Blessing the land of the righteous

15 And now it came to pass that after Alma had said these things to Helaman, he blessed him, and also his other sons; and he also blessed the earth for the righteous’ sake.
16 And he said: Thus saith the Lord God—Cursed shall be the land, yea, this land, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, unto destruction, which do wickedly, when they are fully ripe; and as I have said so shall it be; for this is the cursing and the blessing of God upon the land, for the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. (Alma 45)

the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people. (Ether 2:7)

the foundation of liberty which God had granted unto them, or which blessing God had sent upon the face of the land for the righteous’ sake. (Alma 46:10)

A lot of the scriptures about righteousness or righteous people are connected with land/earth/creation. We saw that also in part 1 of this series. This makes sense given the creation-covenant context that Barker explains.

Exalting the righteous

he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb. (Alma 34:36)

and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day (1 Nephi 16:2)

When they righteous people have been established, they can restore the covenant system, the bonds of creation. Finally, the righteous people on earth are taken up to God in heaven, like the City of Enoch

17 The fear of the Lord was upon all nations, so great was the glory of the Lord, which was upon his people. And the Lord blessed the land, and they were blessed upon the mountains, and upon the high places, and did flourish.

18 And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.

19 And Enoch continued his preaching in righteousness unto the people of God. And it came to pass in his days, that he built a city that was called the City of Holiness, even Zion.

20 And it came to pass that Enoch talked with the Lord; and he said unto the Lord: Surely Zion shall dwell in safety forever. But the Lord said unto Enoch: Zion have I blessed, but the residue of the people have I cursed.

21 And it came to pass that the Lord showed unto Enoch all the inhabitants of the earth; and he beheld, and lo, Zion, in process of time, was taken up into heaven. And the Lord said unto Enoch: Behold mine abode forever. (Moses 7)

Sorry but not sorry for overloading this post with scriptures. But there are many more fitting examples that I didn't include. The Book of Mormon also talks about God's righteousness, which I haven't addressed, but what really stood out for me was how desperately God wants to establish, protect, preserve and bless a righteous people.

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).