Shining faces

Occasionally, we encounter shining faces in the scriptures. I wrote in my previous post that the Hebrew word for face is synonymous with presence. "Paneh Yahweh" (face Yahweh) is often translated into "before the Lord". A shining face therefore signifies the glory of God or being illuminated by his presence. This is what several Old Testament authors seek.

Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes. (Psalm 119:135)

1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.
2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.
3 Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. (Psalm 80)

24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
25 The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. (Numbers 6)

The latter is the well-known blessing of Aaron. I have mentioned before that an event during Jesus' visit to the Nephites is a realization of that blessing.

And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto him; and his countenance did smile upon them, and the light of his countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof. (3 Nephi 19:25)

After Jesus' countenance shines upon the Nephite disciples, they start shining like him.

And when Jesus had spoken these words he came again unto his disciples; and behold they did pray steadfastly, without ceasing, unto him; and he did smile upon them again; and behold they were white, even as Jesus. (3 Nephi 19:30)

Apparently, those who are enwrapped in the glory of God can start shining too. We see the same with Nephi-3 and his brother Lehi in Helaman 5:

And it came to pass that he turned him about, and behold, he saw through the cloud of darkness the faces of Nephi and Lehi; and behold, they did shine exceedingly, even as the faces of angels. And he beheld that they did lift their eyes to heaven; and they were in the attitude as if talking or lifting their voices to some being whom they beheld. (Helaman 5:36)

Another well-known example is Moses after talking with God on Mount Sinai and receiving the commandments. He comes down and his face is shining (see Exodus 34:29-30), even though he is unaware of it himself. Surely, God's face shone on him as they talked face to face in the chapter before (Exodus 33:11). Now, Moses emulates God as his face shines before Israel. This is similar to the outstretched hand that Lord Wilmore recently wrote about, where a prophet emulates God to deliver His message. 

In an interesting parallel, Abinadi's face also shone when he quoted the 10 commandments.

Now it came to pass after Abinadi had spoken these words that the people of king Noah durst not lay their hands on him, for the Spirit of the Lord was upon him; and his face shone with exceeding luster, even as Moses’ did while in the mount of Sinai, while speaking with the Lord. (Mosiah 13:5)

Mormon emphasizes that parallel as he compares Abinadi with Moses. In both cases the 10 commandments were given. Perhaps the lesson is that God's glory is found in his commandments? At least it fits well with Psalm 119:135 quoted above ("make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes"). Another thing worth noting is that according to Jewish sages, the events in Exodus 34 happened on the Day of Atonement. According to the Zohar, it is the day "when all faces shine". This is the one day when the high priest could enter into the Holy of Holies, right into the presence and glory of God, to reconnect the people with God, to reconnect heaven and earth.

The prayer to the Lord to shine his face upon us, is a plea to be enwrapped in his glory, but can lead to us radiating that glory ourselves for others to see.

In the midst -- Part 1

This has been mentioned several times on the blog before, but for the benefit of new readers and because many do not know about this ancient Israelite tradition (I didn't until quite recently), I will repeat some things about covenant making. At a time and in a culture where literacy was rare, covenants were not signed at the bottom of a piece of paper. In the Hebrew language, you literally cut a covenant. That does not make sense in English and is therefore translated differently. But it is found frequently in the Old Testament. This reflects the (somewhat grotesque to the modern Westeners) practice of cutting animals in half and walking through the carcasses. This act is the signature and a declaration that the covenant is taken very seriously. ("Let me be cut in half like these animals if I break the covenant").

This happens in Genesis 15:10 when God makes a covenant with Abraham. But in this case, Abraham falls asleep after he has cut the animals and God himself, in the form of a burning lamp, walks through the carcasses (see Genesis 15:17-18). God is the active part in the Abrahamic covenant giving all the promises. Back to verse 10, we read

And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

"In the midst" in the Old Testament

I happened to look up the word, "midst", and how it is being used in the scriptures. This is the Hebrew word, תָּוֶךְ (tavek). It comes from an unused root meaning "to sever", which makes it hard for me not to see the covenant relations of this word. It is sometimes used in a literal sense in the scriptures, but quite frequently, it seems to be used in a more spiritual sense. For instance, 1 Kings 6:19 describes King Solomon preparing the "inner sanctuary inside the temple". But the "inside" in this case is translated from the Hebrew tavek, even though we know that the holy of holies was not physically in the middle of the temple. Rather, it was the focal point, the most holy place, the center of attention, the heart of the covenant, so to speak.

Similarly, we find this word constantly popping up in the Old Testament in relation to important covenant themes.

• In the creation account, God made a firmament in the midst (tavek) of the waters to separate the waters of heaven and earth (Genesis 1:6)
• In the Garden of Eden, God planted the two trees in the midst (tevek) of the garden (Genesis 2:9 and 3:3).
• God talked to Moses out of the midst (tavek) of the burning bush (Exodus 3:2, 4) and again from the midst of the cloud on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:16). The covenant theme is especially evident when the events are recounted in Deuteronomy 4:12-13

12 And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst [Hebr. tavek] of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.

13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

• In an act similar to the creation in Genesis 1:6, Moses parts the Red Sea and the Israelites walk in the midst (tavek) of the sea followed by the Egyptians (repeated over and over in Exodus 14:16, 22, 23, 27, 29, 15:19)
• In Exodus 25:8, the Lord instructs Israel to build a tabernacle

And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among (Hebr. tavek) them. (A more literal translation would be "dwell in their midst")

• According to Psalm 116:19, Solomon's temple was also in the midst of Jerusalem. Again, whether it was physically in the middle of Jerusalem is probably not the main point here.

Ancient Israel had the tabernacle and temple in their midst. It was God's dwelling place and represented his presence. In other words, God, the author of the covenant, was in the midst of Israel, just like he walked in the midst of the carcasses that Abraham had prepared. This is also expressed repeatedly in the Old Testament. Here is one example:

Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the Lord dwell among (Hebr. tavek) the children of Israel. (Numbers 35:34)

"In the midst" in the Book of Mormon

Not surprisingly, we see a similar pattern in the Book of Mormon. I noticed in particular how Jesus is repeatedly described as being in the midst of the people in 3 Nephi. 3 Nephi is the heart of the covenant, the new covenant that Jesus brought to the Nephites. Consider these examples:

And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them. (3 Nephi 11:8)

12 So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him.
13 And it came to pass that when they had all been brought, and Jesus stood in the midst, he commanded the multitude that they should kneel down upon the ground. (3 Nephi 17)

And it came to pass that while the angels were ministering unto the disciples, behold, Jesus came and stood in the midst and ministered unto them. (3 Nephi 19:15)

And Jesus again showed himself unto them, for they were praying unto the Father in his name; and Jesus came and stood in the midst of them, and said unto them: What will ye that I shall give unto you? (3 Nephi 27:2)

Just like ancient Israel had God in their midst, a branch of Israel in the Americas now had the resurrected Jesus in their midst.

There are many other examples of God/Jesus being in the midst. So many, in fact, that I will save them for my next post. But I want to end with a different example related to Lord Wilmore's recent posts about Nephi-II, Moses and Elijah. He made a point of the division "hither and thither" in this verse, echoing the parting of the sea by Moses and Elijah.

And it came to pass that there arose a division among the people, insomuch that they divided hither and thither and went their ways, leaving Nephi alone, as he was standing in the midst of them. (3 Nephi 10:1)

See his comments here under the subheading, "creation by division". "The midst" shows up again, echoing the creation and Moses parting the Red Sea, among other things. When the two-edged sword divides, that sword, often symbolizing the word of God, is in the middle of whatever it divides. In this case, Nephi as the conveyor of the word, played that role. God/the Word/the covenant in the midst can have this divisive effect. But hopefully, like the Nephites in 3 Nephi, we can all let Jesus take the center stage of our lives without causing division.

In part 2 we will see how this symbol is used in the uniting of heaven and earth.

Parallels between 3 Nephi 19 and the Gospels -- Part 2

In part 1, we looked at several parallels between 3 Nephi 19 and the Gospels. The connections are undeniable, but this part will be more speculative as I will try to discuss what this all might mean. As mentioned, the learning points are perhaps found in the differences and the major difference is how the disciples respond to the Savior's invitation to watch and pray. 

In Gethsemane, the disciples ironically failed to follow Jesus' instructions while he literally paid the price for their sins. They did the exact opposite of what he commanded and fell asleep instead of staying awake. As a consequence, they were gently rebuked for not even being able to "watch one hour".

In America, the disciples not only prayed as Jesus instructed, but they prayed "without ceasing" and were "filled with desire" (3 Nephi 19:24). As a consequence they were blessed.

Fulfillment of the Priestly/Aaronic blessing

Speaking of parallels. By taking a closer look at the blessing that the disciples received in 3 Nephi 19, we notice similarities to a passage in Numbers in the Old Testament. In the Book of Numbers, there are lots of instructions concerning the tabernacle. Aaron and his sons had a special role as high priests in the tabernacle and later in the temple. In Numbers 6, they were instructed to give a special blessing to the people of Israel.

23 Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,

24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:

25 The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.

In 3 Nephi 19, when Jesus had prayed to the Father, he returned to his disciples and found them still praying. Verse 25 describes what happened next

And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto him; and his countenance did smile upon them, and the light of his countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof.

It seems at this moment, that Jesus as the High Priest after the order of Melchizedek fulfilled the Aaronic blessing on his disciples. I have seen several Bible commentators suggest that the traditional Christian belief of the holy trinity is hidden in the threefold repetition of "the Lord" in Numbers 6. I think that is a stretch, but regardless we see the repetition of three again, as also manifest in the number of times Jesus prayed and interacted with his disciples both in 3 Nephi 19 and in Gethsemane.

The impact of the Holy Ghost

In part 1, I quoted the last two verses of 3 Nephi 19, which indicated that faith made the difference. We do observe in the Gospels that Jesus rebukes the Apostles several times for their lack of faith ("O, ye of little faith"). Still it may seem puzzling that the Apostles in the New World had so much more faith than the Apostles in the Old World. 1 Nephi 12:9 even teaches that the Apostles in the New World will be judged by the Apostles in the Old World. How to reconcile this apparent discrepancy?

We should realize that despite the parallel events, the circumstances were different. As the disciples in the Old World followed Jesus in his mortal ministry, the disciples in the New World saw him descend from heaven in his glory. The major difference, however, and perhaps the main takeaway from all this, is the difference made by the Holy Ghost. In John 16:7, before the intercessory prayer, Jesus told his disciples

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

This is a bold statement. It was expedient for the disciples that Jesus left, because then the Holy Ghost would come. This did not happen until about 50 days later at the feast of Pentecost. Consequently, as the disciples were asked to watch and pray in Gethsemane, they had not yet received the Holy Ghost. In 3 Nephi 19, however, the disciples in America experienced a Pentecostal event of sorts as they received the Holy Ghost right before the events discussed in this series.

9 And they did pray for that which they most desired; and they desired that the Holy Ghost should be given unto them...

13 And it came to pass when they were all baptized and had come up out of the water, the Holy Ghost did fall upon them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

14 And behold, they were encircled about as if it were by fire; and it came down from heaven, and the multitude did witness it, and did bear record; and angels did come down out of heaven and did minister unto them.

Realizing that the two sets of Apostles were at different stages in their conversion process, we should not judge Peter and the others too harshly. Rather, we should realize and learn about the importance of the Holy Ghost. The transformation of Peter and the other Apostles after the day of Pentecost is evident. They boldly testify of Christ under persecution and work great miracles. It is truly a gift to be "most desired". 

What 3 Nephi 19 is teaching us with its parallels to the Gospel, is that the Holy Ghost also helps and inspires us to watch and pray unceasingly. This, in turn, prepares us for marvellous blessings as promised to the people of Israel of old.

Parallels between 3 Nephi 19 and the Gospels -- Part 1

3 Nephi 19 is a fascinating chapter. I have previously posted about events in that chapter resembling the day of Pentecost in Acts in the New Testament. What I noticed this time was the striking resemblance between the latter half of the chapter and what happened right before and in the Garden of Gethsemane.

In the latter half of 3 Nephi 19, Jesus asks his disciples to pray. He goes "a little way off from them" and prays to the Father. Then he goes back to the disciples, has some interaction with them before he goes to pray to the Father again. This repeats three times. This exact sequence of events repeated three times happens in Gethsemane too. 

Before we get into the details of that, there is another prallell worth noting. In John 17, as the last thing that happens before Jesus and his disciples go to Gethsemane, Jesus offers his intercessory prayer. Part of that prayer is almost verbatim the same as his prayer(s) to the Father in 3 Nephi 19. With that backdrop, let's go into the details.

The admonition to pray

The passage in 3 Nephi 19 that we will have a closer look at, starts with verse 17

17 And it came to pass that when they had all knelt down upon the earth, he commanded his disciples that they should pray.

18 And behold, they began to pray; and they did pray unto Jesus, calling him their Lord and their God.

Praying directly to Jesus, as the disciples do here, is quite unusual. Later in the chapter, Jesus says that they do so because he is there with them (see verse 22). I will not comment further on that as it is besides the topic of this post. But we can compare this with what happens in the gospels. There are differences between the various accounts. For instance, not all start out with Jesus asking his disciples to pray in Gethsemane. But we read it in Luke 22:39-40

39 And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him.

40 And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.

In Matthew and Mark, the admonition to pray is only given after Jesus comes back.

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Matthew 26:41)

Interestingly, in 3 Nephi 18, the day before the events recorded in 3 Nephi 19, Jesus tells his disciples

Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation (3 Nephi 18:18)

Jesus withdrawing from the disciples to pray

After asking the disciples to pray, Jesus withdraws himself to pray unto the Father. In 3 Nephi, we continue with verse 19 where we left off

And it came to pass that Jesus departed out of the midst of them, and went a little way off from them and bowed himself to the earth, and he said:

In Gethsemane, we find something similar. In Matthew 26:39 

he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed

In Mark 14:35

he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed

In Luke 22:41

And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed

Jesus' intercessory prayer in 3 Nephi 

Then Jesus starts praying. But the prayers in 3 Nephi 19 and in Gethsemane are very different. Obviously it would make no sense for the resurrected Jesus to ask his Father to remove this cup from him in 3 Nephi. Instead, part of his prayer sounds very similar to the intercessory prayer in John 17 that he said right before they went to Gethsemane. Starting off in 3 Nephi 19, Jesus thanks the Father for giving his disciples the Holy Ghost (the pentecostal event mentioned earlier). This is not found in John 17. But then Jesus says

And now Father, I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may believe in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one. (3 Nephi 19:23)

Compare with John 17:20-21

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us

Another shared phrase is found the second time Jesus prays in 3 Nephi 19

Father, I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me out of the world, because of their faith

Compare with John 17:9

I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

The different responses from the disciples

As mentioned in other previous posts, when we find parallels like these in the scriptures, the learning points are often found in the differences. In this case the response from the disciples are vastly different between these two accounts. In both accounts, Jesus asks his disciples to (watch and) pray. When Jesus has finished praying the first time in 3 Nephi 19, he goes back to his disciples.

24 And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus prayed unto the Father, he came unto his disciples, and behold, they did still continue, without ceasing, to pray unto him; and they did not multiply many words, for it was given unto them what they should pray, and they were filled with desire.

25 And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto him; and his countenance did smile upon them, and the light of his countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof.

26 And Jesus said unto them: Pray on; nevertheless they did not cease to pray.

Contrast that with Matthew 26:40

And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?

Jesus had specifically asked them to "watch". The Greek word is gregoreo and literally means to stay awake. The disciples in the Old World failed to follow his admonition. The disciples in the New World prayed, as he instructed, "without ceasing" and were immediately blessed as a consequence. 

There is much more to say about this, so I will split this post and save the rest for part 2. This post only presents an overview of the parallels. The next post will discuss what we can learn after having identified them. As a final indicator, however, that these parallels between 3 Nephi 19 and the New Testament are not just coincidental, I quote the last two verses of 3 Nephi 19 with an explicit reference to the Jews.

35 And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying he came again to the disciples, and said unto them: So great faith have I never seen among all the Jews; wherefore I could not show unto them so great miracles, because of their unbelief.
36 Verily I say unto you, there are none of them that have seen so great things as ye have seen; neither have they heard so great things as ye have heard.

These verses indicates that faith made the difference discussed in this last section, but we will get more into that in part 2. 

 

 

Jesus' clothing and the temple

Learning about ancient temple practice and theology, I tend to view things through that lens these days. I wrote previously about the veil and its symbolism. The veil in the first temple was woven from four different colors representing the four elements, which the visible world was thought to consist of. It concealed the glory of God and represented matter, the visible creation. The vestment of the high priest was made of the exact same fabric and represented incarnation. Even though they look differently today, some may notice the similarities that exist between the veil and sacred clothing.

Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered through the veil into the holy of holies. Before he did that, he took off his vestment and changed to a special white linen garment that was only to be worn in the holy of holies. This was the clothing of angels. He did not wear the colored vestment anymore representing incarnation, because he passed into the eternal realms. In the first temple period, the high priest who did all this was also king, representing the Messiah.

Considering all this, I find striking parallels to Jesus' transition through the veil on his "Day of Atonement". The letter to the Hebrews argues that Jesus was a true high priest after the order of Melchizedek, the first priest-king in the ancient temple tradition. In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 27, we see evidence of that.

35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
36 And sitting down they watched him there;
37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Jesus, the king and high priest was about to complete the atonement. He was stripped of his garment, just like the high priest in the temple took off the vestment. The greek word used here in Matthew is 'himation' meaning an outer garment. Jesus had a name or title written over his head. Similarly, the high priest in the temple wore a golden seal on his forehead with the sacred name written on it.

Some verses later, we read

50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent

Here is the transition. Jesus leaves the mortal world and the veil rends to let him through into the holy of holies. Even though his body is lifeless at this point, it will soon come to life again in the first case of a glorious resurrection beyond the veil. To prepare his body for that, Joseph from Arimathæa takes his body and wraps it in fine linen.

59 And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth

The greek word here is 'sindoni'. This is fine bleached linen, comparable to the garment that the high priest in the temple wore inside the holy of holies on the Day of Atonement. The clothing-temple symbolism doesn't end there. In her book, "Temple Theology", Margaret Barker explains

Most remarkable of all is the description found in 2 Enoch, where Enoch the high priest figure has ascended through the heavens to stand before the throne. The Lord summons Michael to remove Enoch's earthly clothing - the symbol of his mortal body - and to dress him in the garments of glory - the symbol of the resurrection body.

When Jesus appears to the Nephites after his resurrection and ascension into heaven, we read

And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them. (3 Nephi 11:8)

This white robe reminds us of the garment of glory that Enoch received that represented the resurrection, especially a few chapters later when his garments are described as shiny white.

And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto him; and his countenance did smile upon them, and the light of his countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof. (3 Nephi 19:25)

"There could be nothing upon the earth so white" indicates a heavenly condition beyond the veil. Both the countenance and garments of Jesus had this whiteness and it infected the disciples that he "smiled upon". I just learned from this blog that this verse in fact was the fulfillment of the so-called priestly blessing ("birkat kohanim") that we read in Numbers 6:23-27

23 Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
25 The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
27 And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.

This was to be done by the sons of Aaron, the priests in the tabernacle/temple. In 3 Nephi, Jesus was now the priest-king who had passed through the veil, resurrected and dressed in the white garment of glory. He came to his people to give them this blessing and His name, the name that high priests in the temple traditionally had worn. Figuratively, his disciples became temple priests too and were allowed to enter with Jesus into the holy of holies.

What the Book of Mormon teaches about the relationship between the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ (and each of us), part 1

10 And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one; (3 Nephi 28)

This is a big topic, hard to cover in a single post. This will likely become a series of two posts. Even so, I won't be able to fully describe everything I've learned in the process  Rather, I'll plan to summarize what I consider to be the most important findings I made while studying this topic. I've included a list of passages I studied so you can see what material I am drawing on to base my conclusions.

One somewhat unexpected pattern I found while studying about the relationship between the Father and the Son was the central importance of unity. Although I set out to learn more about two perfected Beings, I also ended up learning about their desires for me (and everyone).  Here is a pattern I discovered:

1. The Father and the Son are perfectly united.
2. They desire each of us to be perfectly united with them.
3. They have established a perfect plan to produce that unity with them. This includes faith, repentance, ordinances, miracles, spiritual gifts, and the confirming/purifying influence of the Holy Ghost.
4. The only aspect of their plan that is in question is our willingness to follow it.

Here is a list of passages I studied:

• 1 Nephi 1
• Mosiah 15:1-9
• 3 Nephi 9:14-17
• 3 Nephi 11:11-41
• 3 Nephi 12:17-20, 48
• 3 Nephi 15:1
• 3 Nephi 16 
• 3 Nephi 17:14-25
• 3 Nephi 18:1-11
• 3 Nephi 19 (esp. v. 23)
• 3 Nephi 20 (esp. vv. 19-25)
• 3 Nephi 21 (esp. v. 27)
• 3 Nephi 27:13-30
• 3 Nephi 28:10-11
• Moroni 7:2-3, 48

Unity

As you read through these passages, notice how often it is mentioned that the Father and the Son are "one."  Often, this unity is also extended to righteous disciples, or at least an invitation is given to us to become one with them. Here are a few examples:

14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.
15 Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name. (3 Nephi 9)

27 And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name; for behold, verily I say unto you, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one. ...36 And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one. 37 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things. (3 Nephi 11)

23 And now Father, I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may believe in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one. (3 Nephi 19)

10 ...and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one; (3 Nephi 28)

Another common statement is that the will of Christ was united, or "swallowed up," with the will of the Father.

7 Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father. (Mosiah 15)

11 And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning. (3 Nephi 11)

We'll end this part on that note. It is abundantly clear to me that mortality is all about surrendering our own will to that of God's will.  When we are baptized, we lay down the old creature, and arise anew as a spiritual being, willing to follow Christ in all things.  When we partake of the sacrament, we promise to always remember Him.

In the next post in this series, we'll look in more detail at what it means to be united, and how covenants fit into this picture.