"Nakedness before God" as opposed to "the glory of God"

In yesterday's post, we started to look at how the concept of "whiteness" is used in the Book of Mormon as a symbol of covenant keeping. Specifically, a covenant-keeper is clothed in a garment that has been washed white through the blood of the Lamb of God.

Here is a related example, from Mormon 9:

4 Behold, I say unto you that ye would be more miserable to dwell with a holy and just God, under a consciousness of your filthiness before him, than ye would to dwell with the damned souls in hell.
5 For behold, when ye shall be brought to see your nakedness before God, and also the glory of God, and the holiness of Jesus Christ, it will kindle a flame of unquenchable fire upon you.

Reading these verses, the word "nakedness" stands out.  At the time of the Fall, Adam and Eve realized their nakedness and God clothed them with coats of skins (see Genesis 3:21).

Suppose rejecting the covenant entails taking off the coat of skins given by God and breaking His commandments.  (In a sunny climate, this could certainly impact skin tones, but I consider that to be of secondary importance relative to the rejection of the covenant.)

Nakedness also happens to be a commonly used descriptor of the Lamanites who have abandoned the covenant. A good example of this is found in Alma 3:

5 Now the heads of the Lamanites were shorn; and they were naked, save it were skin which was girded about their loins, and also their armor, which was girded about them, and their bows, and their arrows, and their stones, and their slings, and so forth.
6 And the skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark which was set upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their transgression and their rebellion against their brethren, who consisted of Nephi, Jacob, and Joseph, and Sam, who were just and holy men.

So in Mormon 9, Moroni is overtly telling those who do not believe in Christ that they see their nakedness before God and also behold His glory. "Nakedness" in contrast to the "glory of God" makes a lot of sense in the context of the Hebrew root 'addereth' meaning "garment, glory, goodly, mantle, robe". It's a Hebrew pun, perhaps?

The case for all of this symbolizing covenant-keeping gets stronger the more we look into it, in my opinion.

In future posts on this subject, I'll demonstrate numerous examples in the Book of Mormon where the terms "curse" and "darkness"  are associated with sin and rebellion. It is helpful for me to think of this as a symbolic rejection of the covenant. (I don't find it very helpful to think of it strictly as skin tone, which is perhaps where our modern sensibilities might jump if we take it out of context.)

Alma-2 references the teachings of Nephi

In Alma 5, Alma the Younger talk to the people of Zarahemla and teaches them what they need to do in order to receive salvation.

21 I say unto you, ye will know at that day that ye cannot be saved; for there can no man be saved except his garments are washed white; yea, his garments must be purified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem his people from their sins.

Sure enough, this same teaching was revealed to Nephi, which we find in 1 Nephi 12:

10 And these twelve ministers whom thou beholdest shall judge thy seed. And, behold, they are righteous forever; for because of their faith in the Lamb of God their garments are made white in his blood.
11 And the angel said unto me: Look! And I looked, and beheld three generations pass away in righteousness; and their garments were white even like unto the Lamb of God. And the angel said unto me: These are made white in the blood of the Lamb, because of their faith in him.

This same concept is referenced again by Moroni, writing to those who do not believe in Christ.  From Mormon 9:

6 O then ye unbelieving, turn ye unto the Lord; cry mightily unto the Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless, pure, fair, and white, having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, at that great and last day.

Much has been written about the extensive description of the righteous peoples of the Book of Mormon being "fair" and "white," but I believe these descriptors refer to the spiritual effects of keeping covenants. For the most part, the Nephites were the covenant-keepers, whereas the Lamanites were those who had rejected the covenant.

Over a series of posts, I'm going to review how the Book of Mormon uses terms like light/white/fair/delightsome to refer to making and keeping covenants.

Light versus Darkness in Alma 37

I’m beginning to build a long list of examples of what I believe to be a major theme in the Book of Mormon--light and darkness.  I believe this was closely associated with faithfulness to God. You can expect to read a lot more about this over the coming weeks as I gather more and more examples, but to give a glimpse of what I mean, let’s take a look at one chapter, Alma 37.

I love this chapter for a lot of reasons.  It gives us an “insider’s view” into the type of instructions that came with the sacred records.

References to “light” or "brightness" in Alma 37:

5	The records will “retain their brightness”
23	“I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light, that I may discover unto my people who serve me”
25	"I will bring forth out of darkness unto light all their secret works and their abominations; and except they repent I will destroy them from off the face of the earth; and I will bring to light all their secrets and abominations, unto every nation that shall hereafter possess the land."

In each of these examples, “light/brightness” is associated with God’s plans for His children.

References to “dark” in Alma 37:

21	“Works of darkness...secret works” led to destruction
22	“His people began to work in darkness”
23	“...that I may discover unto them the works of their brethren, yea, their secret works, their works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations.”
25	"I will bring forth out of darkness unto light all their secret works and their abominations; and except they repent I will destroy them from off the face of the earth; and I will bring to light all their secrets and abominations, unto every nation that shall hereafter possess the land."
26	"...their secret abominations have been brought out of darkness and made known unto us."
27	"...all their signs and their wonders ye shall keep from this people, that they know them not, lest peradventure they should fall into darkness also and be destroyed."
28	"...For behold, there is a curse upon all this land, that destruction shall come upon all those workers of darkness..."
30	"...thus the judgments of God did come upon these workers of darkness and secret combinations."
31	"Yea, and cursed be the land forever and ever unto those workers of darkness and secret combinations, even unto destruction, except they repent before they are fully ripe."

In all of these examples, “darkness” is associated with elements such as sin, a curse, secret abominations, and destruction.

More and more of these examples will pop out as you study. Think about the “mists of darkness” and the “white” fruit of the tree of life, for example. For me, this theme is a far more thorough and compelling explanation for the difference in the appearance of the Nephites and Lamanites, rather than the skin color theory.  More about that in the near future.