Gold and the Two Ways -- part 5 (Conclusion)

This is the conclusion of a series of posts about Gold and treasure in the scriptures and how they are used in connection with the doctrine of the Two Ways. Here is an overview and summary of each part with links:

Part 1 -- We begin with an introduction to the concept and a few key examples demonstrating how multiple bible authors speak of God's hidden wisdom as more precious than gold or treasure. 

Part 2 -- In this part we cover examples from the Old Testament and the Book of Moses. The Tabernacle was to be built of gold and treasure given "willingly with [the] heart" (Exodus 25:2, NRSV). One great sin of Israel involves adorning themselves in gold and treasure and holding the necks high (and stubbornly) rather than caring for the poor. Ironically, the gold they begin to worship corrupts them and transforms God's precious chosen people into "earthen pots" (Lamentations 4:2, NRSV)

Part 3 -- This post covers references to gold/riches in the New Testament.  Particular attention is given to how often Jesus speaks of treasure as a potential barrier to spiritual progress. In addition, James 5:1-4 alludes directly to the story of Cain, indicating this is an ancient metaphor/teaching. This post concludes with 1 Corinthians 3:10-16, which discusses a "testing by fire" which will happen at the day of judgment to see what kind of temple each individual has built upon the foundation that is Jesus Christ.

Part 4a -- This post covers references to gold and treasures in the Book of Mormon. We see that wealth is mentioned quite frequently in the context of pride and wickedness.

Part 4b -- This post discusses a closely related covenant symbol of "slippery treasure" and lays out how this curse connects not only to the covenant people's righteousness (regarding how they handle and esteem their riches), but also to a much older doctrine regarding the corrupting "sins of the fallen angels" as taught in the Book of Enoch. The Book of Mormon makes direct reference to demons and angels of Satan in relation to the curse of slippery treasures.

Part 5 -- This post (see below) will attempt to tie this all together and connect several important and powerful metaphors about mortality and the day of judgment 

Dross versus gold at the Day of Judgment

As noted in the previous sections above, several scriptures refer to a test by fire at the day of judgment. This metaphor is referenced in many different ways. Ezekiel 22 offers one particularly stark example. As the Lord is condemning Israel for rebellion, we get this metaphor:

17 The word of the Lord came to me: 18 Mortal, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them, silver, bronze, tin, iron, and lead. In the smelter they have become dross. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As one gathers silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into a smelter, to blow the fire upon them in order to melt them; so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. 21 I will gather you and blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted within it. 22 As silver is melted in a smelter, so you shall be melted in it; and you shall know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath upon you. (Ezekiel 22, NRSV)

Book of Enoch references

I won't attempt to list every reference in the Book of Enoch on this topic. I may address these in more depth in a future post, but for now it seems sufficient to offer a few of the clearest examples from the Book of Enoch.

The sins of the fallen angels relating to metal working and treasure can be found in 1 Enoch 8. The bigger context is very interesting, but will have to wait for a different post to keep this one from being way too long.

[Chapter 8]

¹ And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments ... ² ... And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they ³ were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways. ... And as men perished, they cried, and their cry went up to heaven . . . (source)

Later in the book, as Enoch is seeing visions of the fate of the earth, his eyes "saw all the secret things of heaven that shall be, a mountain of iron, and a mountain of copper, and a mountain of silver, and a mountain of gold, and a mountain of soft metal, and a mountain of lead. " (1 Enoch 52:2)  Enoch asks his angelic escort what the meaning of this vision is, and eventually receives this answer:

6 And these mountains which thine eyes have seen, The mountain of iron, and the mountain of copper, and the mountain of silver, And the mountain of gold, and the mountain of soft metal, and the mountain of lead, All these shall be in the presence of the Elect One As wax: before the fire, And like the water which streams down from above [upon those mountains], And they shall become powerless before his feet. 7 And it shall come to pass in those days that none shall be saved, Either by gold or by silver, And none be able to escape. 8 And there shall be no iron for war, Nor shall one clothe oneself with a breastplate. Bronze shall be of no service, And tin [shall be of no service and] shall not be esteemed, And lead shall not be desired. 9 And all these things shall be [denied and] destroyed from the surface of the earth, When the Elect One shall appear before the face of the Lord of Spirits.' (1 Enoch 52)

Even a mountain of gold will be meaningless at the day of judgment.  It will flow away like water in a stream. The vision continues with more explanation about the fate of those kings and rulers who exploited the knowledge of the fallen angels, not to mention the fallen angels themselves:

[Chapter 54]

¹ And I looked and turned to another part of the earth, and saw there a deep valley with burning ² fire. And they brought the kings and the mighty, and began to cast them into this deep valley. ³ And there mine eyes saw how they made these their instruments, iron chains of immeasurable weight. ⁴ And I asked the angel of peace who went with me, saying: ' For whom are these chains being prepared ? ' And he said unto me: ' These are being prepared for the hosts of Azazel, so that they may take them and cast them into the abyss of complete condemnation, and they shall cover their jaws with rough stones as the Lord of Spirits commanded. ⁶ And Michael, and Gabriel, and Raphael, and Phanuel shall take hold of them on that great day, and cast them on that day into the burning furnace, that the Lord of Spirits may take vengeance on them for their unrighteousness in becoming subject to Satan and leading astray those who dwell on the earth.' (1 Enoch 54)

This imagery falls right in line with the symbols we've been discussing from the scriptures.

If mortality is a test of our mettle (pun intended), to see if we will serve God or seek treasure, then it stands to reason that the day of judgment metaphor will exalt those who have not set their hearts on riches in mortality (they become gold in this metaphor) and those who have set their heart on gold in mortality will find their riches slipping away from them in the day of judgment (they are dross in this metaphor).  It is a grand reversal -- the lofty and haughty shall be abased and the humble shall be exalted. A king who used a knowledge of metal working to oppress his people and wage war will be cast into a fiery pit as one might do with dross.

It occurs to me that the metaphor of this purity test by fire at the day of judgment described in multiple scriptures and in the Book of Enoch may be a direct reference to this ancient metaphor. See 2 Nephi 9:16, 19, 26; Jacob 3:11; Jacob 6:10; Mosiah 3:27; etc.

Conclusion

These deep and seemingly ancient purification metaphors/doctrines related to gold and other treasure offer us a wonderful and sweeping view of God's plan for His children.  To realize our divine destiny, we must be able to overcome the short-term temptations which stem from the sins of the fallen angels. We must see ourselves as gold, not dross, and seek for God's hidden wisdom by consecrating our worldly riches for God's purposes. When we do this, as we read in the scriptures and in the apocryphal Book of Enoch, the earth finds harmony with heaven and creation flourishes. This is the way of mercy, made possible by Jesus Christ, and is the only way we can withstand the day of judgment.

We can tie all of these symbols together by reading Joseph Smith's words to the saints from 1842, found in Doctrine & Covenants 128:

23 Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life; kingdoms, principalities, and powers!

24 Behold, the great day of the Lord is at hand; and who can abide the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap; and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Let us, therefore, as a church and a people, and as Latter-day Saints, offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness; and let us present in his holy temple, when it is finished, a book containing the records of our dead, which shall be worthy of all acceptation. (D&C 128)

"Touch not that which is unclean"

Often we read about a physical, concrete concept in the Old Testament that has an abstract or spiritual counterpart. This counterpart is typically more prevalent in other scripture. The Law of Moses is one example. It is easy to get hung up on the rituals and rules that are found in Numbers and Leviticus and miss the fact that it all points to the Savior. A couple of other examples are found here and here.

We see the same trend reading about the concept of uncleanliness. The Book of Leviticus is obsessed with it. In Leviticus 11-15, words related to (un)cleanliness and (im)purity show up almost once per verse on average. These are instructions to Moses and Aron, primarily to ensure that no one enters into the Tabernacle unclean.

Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile my tabernacle that is among them. (Leviticus 15:31)

The Priests of the tabernacle had a special duty to ensure that nothing unclean entered in and defiled it. There is much emphasis on separating the clean and holy from the unclean and unholy.

And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean (Leviticus 10:10)

God's word to Ezekiel just before the destruction of Jerusalem contains accusations of the priests not fulfilling this duty 

Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean (Ezekiel 22:26)

When they do not manage to separate between the clean and unclean and when the people do not manage to rid themselves of the unclean, God needs to do the separation instead and it is much less pleasant than a ritual bath. 

18 Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver.

19 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

20 As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you. (Ezekiel 22)

Our equivalent of the Jewish ritual bath, mikveh, is baptism by water. This is followed by baptism by fire, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. The fire symbolism has been discussed on this blog before (see here and here). The idea is that fire can purge us by removing the dross in us. This is the second step after being cleansed with water. But if we have indulged in the unclean without washing, we are the dross, and then the purging looks very different.

Why all this emphasis on separating the clean and unclean? Avoiding to defile the tabernacle/temple could perhaps be reason enough. Israelites believed that it was the House of God in a very real sense. But perhaps there also was a spiritual counterpart to this concept that the Israelites missed? Isaiah hints on that and the Book of Mormon expands on it. Let's have a look at Isaiah first. "Unclean" is brought up twice in chapter 52

Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. (Isaiah 52:1)

In this case, it is not only the temple where the unclean cannot enter, but the whole city of Jerusalem. This is describing a future state of Zion/Jerusalem, but still a place on earth (although perhaps in its millennial stage). Still speaking about this future time, Isaiah goes on to invite us to depart from Babylon in a second future exodus to Zion/the promised land.

Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.

Jesus also talks about the latter-day gathering of Israel to the Nephites and quotes this verse in 3 Nephi 20:41. It also seems to be alluded to in at least two other Book of Mormon verses.

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)

Hinting at the admonition by Isaiah, Alma adds "be ye separate" and goes on to explain that God wants to separate the names of the wicked and the names of his people. This idea is also rooted in ancient Jewish culture. The Law of Moses contained prohibitions to mingle certain types of grain or fabric, for example. Certain things had to be separated and kept separate. See Leviticus 19:19 and Deuteronomy 22:9-11. I am not sure if I understand the reason or symbolism behind the prohibition to plow with an ox and ass together or plant two different kinds of seeds in a field, but Alma applies this idea of separation on a more spiritual level. 

Moroni 10:30 is another Book of Mormon verse alluding to Isaiah 52:11

And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.

He connects it with coming unto Christ, which is the symbolic equivalent of temple entrance for ancient Israelites. 

But most Book of Mormon verses using the word "unclean", connect it with entering into the kingdom of God. The separation between the wicked and the righteous on that last day is the spiritual counterpart of all the separation issues and cleanliness before entering into the temple that we find in the Old Testament. Notice the temple reference in Alma 7:21, linking to us and our entrance into the kingdom of God 

And he doth not dwell in unholy temples; neither can filthiness or anything which is unclean be received into the kingdom of God; therefore I say unto you the time shall come, yea, and it shall be at the last day, that he who is filthy shall remain in his filthiness.

As a final example, Nephi lays it out very plainly: 

if their works have been filthiness they must needs be filthy; and if they be filthy it must needs be that they cannot dwell in the kingdom of God; if so, the kingdom of God must be filthy also. But behold, I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy, and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God; wherefore there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy. (1 Nephi 15:33-34)