The covenant of salt and "none righteous"

Salt is mentioned in reference to covenants twice in the Old Testament, first here:

13 And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt. (Leviticus 2)

Then again here:

19 All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee. (Numbers 18)

Like so many other covenant symbols, salt has both positive and negative connotations.  On the one hand, salt is an important preservative. On the other, in excess it can bring agricultural barrenness and desolation. Leviticus 2 contains some interesting concepts which will be the subject of this post:

Because salt was employed as a preservative, its use in a covenantal context also emphasized the expectation that the covenant would last for a long time... Because salt inhibits the leavening action of yeast, which represented rebellion, salt could additionally stand for that which prevented rebellion. An additional explanation for the appropriateness of salt in connection with the covenant is found in its association with agricultural infertility: In a Hittite treaty, the testator pronounces a curse: if the treaty is broken, “may he and his family and his lands, like salt that has no seed, likewise have no progeny.” (Zondervan,. NRSV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, p. 832).

This adds context to Christ's famous saying:

13 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men. (3 Nephi 12; see also Matthew 5)

Let's take this just a little bit deeper. In what way do the covenant people of the Lord preserve the broader population? We actually have examples of this.  A classic example is found in the story of Abraham:

23 ¶ And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?

25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

26 And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.

27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:

28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.

29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake.

30 And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.

31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake.

32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake. (Genesis 18)

Ten righteous people can save an entire city from destruction.  The principle here is that the righteous can serve as salt -- a preservative.

This also serves to highlight the significance of covenant rebellion. When none are found to be righteous, the people are in a truly terrible position. Paul gives us a somber summary of this state by pulling together verses from Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Isaiah:

10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:

16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:

17 And the way of peace have they not known:

18 There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3)

The highlighted passage above paraphrases Ecclesiastes 7:20.

The Book of Mormon makes use of this phrase twice to underscore the degree of wickedness preceding eras of destruction among the Nephites.  The first example is here:

11 And because they did cast them all out, that there were none righteous among them, I did send down fire and destroy them, that their wickedness and abominations might be hid from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints whom I sent among them might not cry unto me from the ground against them. (3 Nephi 9)

The other example is found at the end of the period of righteousness following the visitation of Christ:

46 And it came to pass that the robbers of Gadianton did spread over all the face of the land; and there were none that were righteous save it were the disciples of Jesus. And gold and silver did they lay up in store in abundance, and did traffic in all manner of traffic. (4 Nephi 1)

(Side note: "no, not one" from Romans 3:10 is also found twice in the Book of Mormon, both times in an interesting but unrelated context to the purpose of this post.  See Moroni 7:17 and Moroni 10:25.)

The fancy word for this dual meaning is "bivalence" -- the covenant of salt highlights the fact that the same covenant which can bring about everlasting life also leads to severe consequences if rebellion sets in.

The covenant meal

I was not sure if this should be another part of the Melchizedek series or not. But I will leave it a general note that will provide context for the next part of the series but also for other topics we have discussed on this blog. In ancient Israel, covenants were often associated with a meal. This was a way to seal the deal, so to speak, or the means for reconciliation between two parties. There are no formal instructions of a covenant meal in the Old Testament, it was simply a part of the culture that went without saying. But there are numerous examples describing such events.

The covenant meal in the Bible

Two persons or groups of people could covenant (for instance a peace treaty or other promises) and would share a meal together as a sign of unity and commitment. In the Old Testament, God is frequently one of the two parties. How can you share a meal with God? It turns out that there are ways to do that. What I will get to in the next post on the Melchizedek series is the meeting with Abraham where Melchizedek brings bread and wine in Genesis 14. This is of course shared between two men, but Melchizedek as the "priest of the most high God", can also be seen as a representative for God in this case.

Later in Genesis 18, Abraham is visited by three messengers. They share a meal together as the men deliver the message that Sarah will bear a son as part of the covenant promise that Abraham will become a great nation (see Genesis 18:8-18).

Exodus 24 is another interesting example.

7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.

8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.

9 ¶ Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:

10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.

11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.

In this case, they actually eat and drink in the presence of God. This is the establishment of the Mosaic covenant. Moses reads the covenant terms and the people promise to follow it after which the elders of Israel see God and have a meal in his presence. It is of course quite rare to physically eat with the Lord. But just like the Mosaic covenant (old covenant/testament) was instituted with a meal in Exodus 24, so was the new covenant/testament. As Jesus and his disciples ate the Passover lamb (another covenant meal by the way), he took bread and wine, gave it to his disciples and said.

For this is my blood of the new testament [or covenant, depending on the translation], which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Matthew 26:28)

This is another example of the Lord himself sharing a covenant meal with his people. Both the old (Mosaic) covenant and the new covenant were associated with a meal shared between the physically present Lord himself and his elders/apostles.

Another more common way to share a meal with the Lord is through sacrifice. See for instance this instruction in Leviticus.

14 And this is the law of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord, before the altar.

15 And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour, even the memorial of it, unto the Lord.

16 And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it. (Leviticus 6)

Here, the sons of Aaron are instructed to burn the offering "before the Lord" and then "eat the remainder thereof". Offerings would usually consist of a part that was burnt and a part that the priests, who made the sacrifice, ate. This can be viewed as a meal with the Lord where they give him his share in the form of "a sweet savour" ascending to heaven. Sacrifices were done in temples (or tabernacles) and Lord Wilmore has recently written about the meals in the temple. 

There are several other examples of such covenant meals in the Old Testament, like Moses and Jethro in Exodus 18:12, Jacob and Laban in Genesis 31, etc. but I will not get into all of those. But I will bring up a well-known verse in Psalm 23 that I think is worth re-reading in this context.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

This is not just the Lord assuring the psalmist that he will have enough to eat and drink. It is the concept of reconciliation and covenant associated with a meal. ("in the presence of mine enemies" and "dwell in the house of the Lord"). There is a Middle Eastern concept of "sulha" (coming from the Hebrew word, "shulchan" – meaning table) where two rival groups come together in discussion over a big meal and at the end of the meal are fully reconciled. This is described in more detail here.

I will include the Book of Revelation as a final example from the Bible. In Revelation 3:20, we read

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

This leads our thoughts to the last supper and a meal with the mediator of the new covenant. "I...with him, and he with me" indicates a two-way covenant, where each party makes promises. But it may also hint at the future supper at the great wedding feast described in Revelation 19. Or at least that chapter describes another covenant meal. In the grand feast of tabernacles described in this post, the Lord reunites with his covenant people. 

The covenant meal in the Book of Mormon?

There are not many descriptions of meals in the Book of Mormon at all. The only one I could think of (except for the sacrament in 3 Nephi) was Amulek sharing a meal with Alma. But this example does fit the context as discussed. Alma had been cast out of Ammonihah by a people hostile to him. Eating with one of its inhabitants later would signify reconciliation and unity with at least one of its inhabitants, even though many others would still reject him. After the meal, Alma the high priest also pronounced a special high priestly blessing on Amulek and his household. 

7 As I was journeying to see a very near kindred, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto me and said: Amulek, return to thine own house, for thou shalt feed a prophet of the Lord; yea, a holy man, who is a chosen man of God; for he has fasted many days because of the sins of this people, and he is an hungered, and thou shalt receive him into thy house and feed him, and he shall bless thee and thy house; and the blessing of the Lord shall rest upon thee and thy house...

11 For behold, he hath blessed mine house, he hath blessed me, and my women, and my children, and my father and my kinsfolk; yea, even all my kindred hath he blessed, and the blessing of the Lord hath rested upon us according to the words which he spake. (Alma 10)

Notice that after they have eaten together, "a chosen man of God" and the high priest, Alma, gave a blessing that became the blessing of the Lord. This is exactly what we see when the high priest, Melchizedek, blesses Abraham, but we will look into that in detail in the next post.

"Word", "thing" and Christ -- Part 1: The word materializes

I'm going to split this into a three part series, all based on a Hebrew root, 'dbr'. It is related to speaking and can both be a verb (to talk, speak) or a noun (a word or a speech). When used as a noun, it can also be translated into "thing" or "matter". I find this dual meaning word/thing interesting.

For instance, the well-known statement,

Is any thing too hard for the LORD? (Genesis 18:14),

challenging Sarah's skepticism when Abraham gets the news that she will bear a son, is using this root. ("Is any word/promise too hard for the Lord"). In Moses 4:30, we learn something important about God's words.

For as I, the Lord God, liveth, even so my words cannot return void, for as they go forth out of my mouth they must be fulfilled.

God's words must turn into a "thing"/fulfillment, like the promise to Abraham. They cannot return void, it's simply not possible. 

There have been several posts recently on Moroni 7 and "every good thing" and I proposed that this is a reference to the creation account among other things. Lord Wilmore provides several other examples here. A closer look at the creation account in the Book of Moses, illustrates this word/thing duality. There is a lot of focus on speaking and "the word" in the creation account. To the frustration of those who would really like to know the scientific details related to the creation, it is apparently sufficient for God to inform us that he simply spoke and the world was created. His word turned into things/matter, even the whole world.

Each day of creation starts with "And I, God, said". In between we get a lot of emphasis on "the word" and "speak". For instance:

And I, God, called the light Day; and the darkness, I called Night; and this I did by the word of my power, and it was done as I spake; and the evening and the morning were the first day (Moses 2:5)

"The word of my power" is a curious phrase. But reading the preface to the creation account in Moses 1, makes the reference clear.

And by the word of my power, have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth. (Moses 1:32)

This is not the only place in the scriptures where Christ is equated with "the word". See for instance John 1:14 where "the Word was made flesh" or Alma 38:9.

The word-thing transition is a transition from the invisible to the visible. In LDS theology, there is a spiritual and a physical creation. When God creates by his Only Begotten, the spiritual/invisible word  turns into things, the physical, material world. This is clearly expressed in D&C 38:3

I am the same which spake, and the world was made, and all things came by me.

We see the same pattern when Christ comes to earth and "the Word was made flesh". King Benjamin expresses it this way:

For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men... (Mosiah 3:5)

Here we also have the term, "power", showing up again. Through Christ, the power to bring the invisible (to the natural eye) into the visible is manifest. It is beautifully illustrated in this verse. There is a blue part involving the invisible eternities and heaven. Then there is a transition into the green part, the "come down...among the children of men" and the visible and earthly "tabernacle of clay". In part 3 of this series, we shall also see that the opposite is true: Through Christ, the power to transform the visible and temporal into the invisible and eternal is also manifest!

I love the concept of God speaking and his word materializing. His words cannot return void. This means that the same God who spoke and the world came into existence, is a God that will always fulfill his promises and has the power to do so. No word/thing is too hard for the Lord, he already demonstrated that in the creation. Just as he fulfilled his covenant promises to Abraham, we can have absolute confidence that He will fulfill His promises to us.

Edit: I just read these verses in Mormon 9 a few days after posting this, and realized that it perfectly summarizes the last paragraph.

11 But behold, I will show unto you a God of miracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same God who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are...

17 Who shall say that it was not a miracle that by his word the heaven and the earth should be

By his word, God created the heavens and the earth. This is the same God as the God of the Abrahamic covenant, i.e. the God who always keeps his word and has the power to do so.