"the tongue of the learned"

Several posts ago, I detailed a pattern related to Noah. Noah transforms from one who is protected by resting in God's hand to one into whose hands the fulness of the earth in delivered. I connected this to Adam and Eve and the commandment given to them in Genesis 1:28. This concept of receiver becoming giver has been on my mind ever since. This post will outline another example of this divine pattern. Today we'll look at Jacob's sermon at the temple in 2 Nephi 6-10.

A division among the people -- a temple pattern

Covenants are offered following a division of the wicked and the righteous -- those who will kearken are offered further light and knowledge, and those who will not hearken are cursed/cast out/destroyed. It isn't difficult to see the division that took place in the story of Noah. The people were wicked. Noah preached the Gospel to them. They rejected that message. Then Noah and his family was saved by the ark and God covenanted with him.

This same basic pattern plays out in the story of Nephi. Jacob's sermon at the temple immediately follows a description of a great division among the Lehites. In 2 Nephi 5, Nephi describes how his brothers sought to destroy him. Nephi and those who would "hearken" unto his words fled with their "tents .. into the wilderness" (see 2 Nephi 5:5-7, and this series of posts by Stisa (part 1 | part 2 | part 3) to learn more about the significance of this detail). They "did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord in all things" (see 2 Nephi 5:10). Nephi brought three sacred objects associated with their previous journey.

In verses 12 and 14, Nephi mentions that they brought with them the sword of Laban, the plates of brass, and the "compass." Each of these objects bears a direct symbolic relationship to the formation and maintenance of a covenant people. I might expound more about that in a future post, but for now I think it is sufficient to keep in mind that these objects have covenant significance.

This new people prospered. They built a temple. (See vv. 11-16.) A cursing is placed on those who rejected the covenant paradigm. Then, Nephi tells us this:

26 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did consecrate Jacob and Joseph, that they should be priests and teachers over the land of my people.

27 And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness. (2 Nephi 5)

After Nephi gives us this description of the division of the Lehites, he instructs Jacob, his younger brother and one of the "priests and teachers over the land of [Nephi's] people" to teach the people. I don't think this is a coincidence. Rather, it constitutes part of a sacred pattern. Thus, the sermon at the temple is directed at a group of people who, like Noah, have hearkened to the word are are prepared to receive further light and knowledge.

In 2 Nephi 6:4, Jacob spells out exactly what Nephi has asked him to teach:

4 And now, behold, I would speak unto you concerning things which are, and which are to come; wherefore, I will read you the words of Isaiah. And they are the words which my brother has desired that I should speak unto you. And I speak unto you for your sakes, that ye may learn and glorify the name of your God.

The purpose of the sermon is cause the people to "learn and glorify" the name of their God. Again, this is not a coincidence, but rather part of a divine pattern. Those who hearken will "learn" the holy name of their God and then be filled, allowing them to "glorify" that name. 

Like so many pivotal texts in the Book of Mormon, Jacob is making reference to language used repeatedly in the Book of Moses about Adam (presumable found on the brass plates):

1 And Adam hearkened unto the voice of God, and called upon his sons to repent.

2 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bare a son, and he called his name Seth. And Adam glorified the name of God; (Moses 6)

We learn earlier in the Book of Moses that Adam learned to "call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore" (see Moses 5:8). See also Moses 5:10,12.

We also see that later in this same two-day sermon, Jacob teaches the people the name of the Messiah, information he received from an angel on the previous night (see 2 Nephi 10:3).

"The tongue of the learned" 

In the next chapter, as Jacob continues to quote Isaiah, he says this:

4 The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season unto thee, O house of Israel. When ye are weary he waketh morning by morning. He waketh mine ear to hear as the learned. (2 Nephi 7)

The NRSV translates the same verse (Isaiah 50:4) using slightly different wording:

The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens— wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.

I love the pattern on display in this verse: the "ear" of a learner connects to "the tongue of a teacher."

"learn and glorify" -- ears and tongues

I believe this is a holy pattern with significant temple implications -- a part of the "holy order" Jacob references in 2 Nephi 6:2. Those who are willing to hearken will eventually be taught how to speak with the tongue of angels.  In future posts, I'll continue to outline additional examples of this. In the next post, we'll look at an interesting version of this same pattern in Alma 12:29-30.

"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."

Scattering as a necessary prerequisite for gathering -- Part 1 of 2

Something in one of Stisa's latest posts caught my attention. In speaking about Zenos' allegory, he said:

He is now planning on how to be able to obtain good fruit again, by grafting the natural branches back into the "mother tree" among other things (the gathering of Israel in these latter days). (link to post)

As I read this, an idea struck me. The scattering is a necessary prerequisite before the gathering can take place. The foreknowledge of God allows for a grand plan to come into reality.  Knowing that his covenant people would fall away repeatedly, God prepared a way for this rebellion to help accomplish His purposes. Just as Isaiah said that the conquering foreign kings would be nothing more than tools in the hand of God (see 2 Nephi 20:15), the long foretold rebellion of the Lamanites and Nephites set the stage for the grand final gathering in the latter days.

In this two-part post, we'll first look at references in the Book of Mormon to the scattering of Israel.

The Scattering

What follows below is a sampling of the many references to the scattering of Israel in the Book of Mormon.  This is not a tangential side-story -- it is a major theme.

Lehi taught about the scattering:

12 Yea, even my father spake much concerning the Gentiles, and also concerning the house of Israel, that they should be compared like unto an olive tree, whose branches should be broken off and should be scattered upon all the face of the earth. (1 Nephi 10) 

11 Yea, he will bring other nations unto them, and he will give unto them power, and he will take away from them the lands of their possessions, and he will cause them to be scattered and smitten. (2 Nephi 1)

As did Nephi:

14 And it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise; and I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my brethren; and they were scattered before the Gentiles and were smitten. (1 Nephi 13)

17 And this is what our father meaneth; and he meaneth that it will not come to pass until after they are scattered by the Gentiles; and he meaneth that it shall come by way of the Gentiles, that the Lord may show his power unto the Gentiles, for the very cause that he shall be rejected of the Jews, or of the house of Israel. (1 Nephi 15)

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. (1 Nephi 22)

15 Wherefore, the Jews shall be scattered among all nations; yea, and also Babylon shall be destroyed; wherefore, the Jews shall be scattered by other nations.  (2 Nephi 25)

Nephi quotes Isaiah on the subject:

1 And again: Hearken, O ye house of Israel, all ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of my people; yea, all ye that are broken off, that are scattered abroad, who are of my people, O house of Israel. Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken ye people from far; the Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (1 Nephi 21)

Jacob teaches the same doctrine:

10 And after they have hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks against the Holy One of Israel, behold, the judgments of the Holy One of Israel shall come upon them. And the day cometh that they shall be smitten and afflicted.
11 Wherefore, after they are driven to and fro, for thus saith the angel, many shall be afflicted in the flesh, and shall not be suffered to perish, because of the prayers of the faithful; they shall be scattered, and smitten, and hated... (2 Nephi 6)

Samuel the Lamanite preached it:

11 Yea, even if they should dwindle in unbelief the Lord shall prolong their days, until the time shall come which hath been spoken of by our fathers, and also by the prophet Zenos, and many other prophets, concerning the restoration of our brethren, the Lamanites, again to the knowledge of the truth—
12 Yea, I say unto you, that in the latter times the promises of the Lord have been extended to our brethren, the Lamanites; and notwithstanding the many afflictions which they shall have, and notwithstanding they shall be driven to and fro upon the face of the earth, and be hunted, and shall be smitten and scattered abroad, having no place for refuge, the Lord shall be merciful unto them. (Helaman 15)

When Christ ministered to the Nephites, he taught the same doctrine several times:

13 And then shall the remnants, which shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth, be gathered in from the east and from the west, and from the south and from the north; and they shall be brought to the knowledge of the Lord their God, who hath redeemed them. (3 Nephi 20)

 29 And it shall come to pass, when the Lord seeth fit in his wisdom that they shall minister unto all the scattered tribes of Israel, and unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, and shall bring out of them unto Jesus many souls, that their desire may be fulfilled, and also because of the convincing power of God which is in them. (3 Nephi 28)

Finally, Mormon also taught this doctrine:

15 And also that the seed of this people may more fully believe his gospel, which shall go forth unto them from the Gentiles; for this people shall be scattered... (Mormon 5)

In part 2 of this series, we'll look at the many prophecies of the gathering of Israel.