The small meal, the grand feast, Adam and Eve, and ancient temple worship -- Part 3: "Fulness"

In the first two posts in this series (here and here), we looked at the commandment given to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28 and five important aspects of that commandment:

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1)

We then connected the command to "replenish" the earth with the story of Noah and showed that in the process of keeping God's commandments, Noah went from offering God a measure of the creation to having "all things" delivered "into [his] hand" (Genesis 9:2-3).

"Replenish" is the KJV translation for the Hebrew word "male" as discussed in these previous posts.  There is a related word from the same root, "melo" which means "fulness" or "multitude."

The first time "melo" appears in the Old Testament, it shows up in a unique expression associated with Ephraim.

"mə·lō- hag·gō·w·yim" -- "Multitude of nations/fulness of the Gentiles"

18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this [Manasseh] is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he [Manasseh] also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother [Ephraim] shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. (Genesis 48)

"Multitude of nations" could also be translated "fulness of Gentiles" (see this post). That is an important detail because it connects this blessing with numerous other scriptures. 

As I've thought about the latter day gathering, it occurs to me that this blessing given by Israel to Ephraim is profoundly significant:

10 And then cometh the day when the arm of the Lord shall be revealed in power in convincing the nations, the heathen nations, the house of Joseph, of the gospel of their salvation.

11 For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them for the revelation of Jesus Christ. (Doctrine & Covenants 90)

The fulness of the Gospel is being preached to the fulness of the Gentiles, in fulfillment of Jacob's prophecy.

33 He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people.

...

41 He also quoted the second chapter of Joel, from the twenty-eighth verse to the last. He also said that this was not yet fulfilled, but was soon to be. And he further stated that the fulness of the Gentiles was soon to come in. He quoted many other passages of scripture, and offered many explanations which cannot be mentioned here. (Joseph Smith -- History 1)

In the next post in this series, we'll take a closer look at the detailed prophecies in the Book of Mormon which speak of the "fulness of the Gentiles" and the "fulness of the Gospel" in the latter days.

"...the way is prepared that whosoever will may walk therein and be saved." (Part 1)

8 Now, the decrees of God are unalterable; therefore, the way is prepared that whosoever will may walk therein and be saved. (Alma 41)

"Walk" as a covenant symbol.

I love identifying covenant symbols in the Book of Mormon.  The more I carefully study these words, the stronger I come to know how carefully prepared these words were. This two-part series of posts will cover the term "walk," which I believe most often refers to a people who are living according to the temple covenant.

To illustrate this, I'll give a few example of how this word is used in the other books of scripture in part 1, followed by a long list of examples of its use in the Book of Mormon in part 2.

Old Testament

• Enoch "walked with God." (See Genesis 5:22.)
• Noah "walked with God." (See Genesis 6:9.)
• Abraham walked "before God." (See Genesis 17:1, Genesis 48:15.)
• Leviticus 26 specifies the conditions of the covenant.  The Lord outlines conditions for what will happen in consequence of the people "walk[ing] in [His] statutes" and "walk[ing] contrary unto [Him]" (see verses 3 and 21, for example).  One of the blessings of obedience is to have the Lord's promise: "I will walk among you" (see verse 12). One of the consequences of disobedience is to have the Lord "walk contrary unto you" (see verse 24).
• 33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess. (Deuteronomy 5)
• 3 And the king (Josiah) stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. (2 Kings 23)
• 18 Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved... (Proverbs 28)

Of all of the references in the Old Testament, perhaps my favorite is found in Micah 4:

2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem...

5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.

In these verses we get a direct connection between the latter-day temple, Zion, walking in the Lord's ways, and "walk[ing] in the name of the Lord."  We also find some of these direct connections in Isaiah 2/2 Nephi 12:2-5.

New Testament

• 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6) This verse seems to clearly connect the baptismal covenant with the term "walk."
• 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2) This verse connects "good works," "walking," and the purpose of our creation in "Christ Jesus." This is a very interesting passage that I will dedicate an entire future post to.
• 6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him... (Colossians 2)
• 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1)
• 6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it. (2 John 1)
• 4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. (Revelation 3, NIV) We find some pretty striking temple imagery in these verses.

D&C

• 133 Art thou a brother or brethren? I salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in token or remembrance of the everlasting covenant, in which covenant I receive you to fellowship, in a determination that is fixed, immovable, and unchangeable, to be your friend and brother through the grace of God in the bonds of love, to walk in all the commandments of God blameless, in thanksgiving, forever and ever. Amen. (D&C 88)
• 24 Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another. (D&C 90)

In the next part, we'll look at how "walk" is used in the Book of Mormon in a covenant context.