Belief as the gate to "wisdom's path"

Moses 1:31-32 stood out to me recently:

31 And behold, the glory of the Lord was upon Moses, so that Moses stood in the presence of God, and talked with him face to face. And the Lord God said unto Moses: For mine own purpose have I made these things. Here is wisdom and it remaineth in me.

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

"These things" in verse 31 refers to the earth and its inhabitants (see verses 27 and 28).

Moses' vision shares some parallels in form to the grand vision received by Nephi.  Nephi also sees in vision a large portion of the Nephites and learns of their fate long before they existed.

Moses only receives his vision after overcoming Satan by calling upon God in the name of Jesus (see Moses 1:20-21).

Nephi must also declare his belief in God prior to his vision.

4 And the Spirit said unto me: Believest thou that thy father saw the tree of which he hath spoken?

5 And I said: Yea, thou knowest that I believe all the words of my father.

6 And when I had spoken these words, the Spirit cried with a loud voice, saying: Hosanna to the Lord, the most high God; for he is God over all the earth, yea, even above all. And blessed art thou, Nephi, because thou believest in the Son of the most high God; wherefore, thou shalt behold the things which thou hast desired. (1 Nephi 11)

Notice also that the final verse of Moses 1 restricts sharing this information that came through belief with those who do not believe. (See Moses 1:42.) Nephi is also restricted from sharing parts of his vision. (See 1 Nephi 14:28.)

All of that is interesting. It seems Nephi had access to this material, perhaps on the Brass Plates, and was intentionally writing the account of his vision to compare himself to Moses.  He did this in other places, too.

What is this wisdom?

That's the question I've been pondering for the past few weeks.

Notice God's wisdom referenced in Moses 1:31, quoted above. The context of this verse implies that God's wisdom is contained in the foundational purposes of the earth.  Covenant fidelity unfolds this wisdom.  

The opposite of wisdom, then, is covenant rebellion, which leads to utter destruction, being cut off and cast out, etc.

This wisdom pattern is reinforced many times in the scriptures. I'll give three examples below.

Doctrine & Covenants 38

In this revelation, the saints are told to "treasure up wisdom in [their] bosoms, lest the wickedness of men reveal these things unto you by their wickedness, in a manner which shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the earth..." (see verse 30).  This comes after we are told:

17 And I have made the earth rich, and behold it is my footstool, wherefore, again I will stand upon it.

18 And I hold forth and deign to give unto you greater riches, even a land of promise, a land flowing with milk and honey, upon which there shall be no curse when the Lord cometh;

19 And I will give it unto you for the land of your inheritance, if you seek it with all your hearts.

20 And this shall be my covenant with you, ye shall have it for the land of your inheritance, and for the inheritance of your children forever, while the earth shall stand, and ye shall possess it again in eternity, no more to pass away.

Helaman 12

This whole chapter is a narrative aside written by Mormon, lamenting the foolishness and instability of man. In verse 5, he mentions "wisdom's paths":

4 O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to hearken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their hearts upon the vain things of the world!

5 Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom’s paths!

6 Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide.

Wisdom's paths clearly start when we hearken unto God and consider his "great goodness and mercy."

Mosiah 8

My final example is a bit of a mystery by itself, but it fits the pattern we're talking about, so I'll share it.

In Mosiah 8, Ammon-1 (the explorer, not the son of Mosiah) learns of the discovery of a fallen civilzation.  Records have been found but no one can read the language.  They seek a man who can interpret languages. Ammon knows such a man.  

In that context (learning about a destroyed civilization), notice these words at the end of the chapter:

19 And now, when Ammon had made an end of speaking these words the king rejoiced exceedingly, and gave thanks to God, saying: Doubtless a great mystery is contained within these plates, and these interpreters were doubtless prepared for the purpose of unfolding all such mysteries to the children of men.

20 O how marvelous are the works of the Lord, and how long doth he suffer with his people; yea, and how blind and impenetrable are the understandings of the children of men; for they will not seek wisdom, neither do they desire that she should rule over them!

21 Yea, they are as a wild flock which fleeth from the shepherd, and scattereth, and are driven, and are devoured by the beasts of the forest. (Mosiah 8)

That strikes me as deeply significant to the wisdom pattern I'm trying to flesh out. The mystery is "A whole group of people slaughtered each other."  Heavenly gifts are cited as the path to understanding why this happened.  Wisdom is the answer revealed by that heavenly gift.

To put it simply, the doctrine of Christ is the path of wisdom. Every other course leads to death. Only this path leads to life eternal.  The "mysteries of God" are unfolded to those who will hearken to God's counsel. Everyone who will not hearken is left unprotected from the dangers that lurk as a result of the work of the destroyer. The scriptures are filled with cautionary tales, which can bring us as much wisdom as the examples of righteousness we also find therein.

This is partially a new idea to me.  I'm going to continue to look for examples to help tease more out of this pattern, but I believe I'm starting to see the concept of "God's wisdom" in a whole new light.

"Divided hither and thither" -- a sermon in a phrase, part 2

Please read part 1 of this series before reading on.

We left off with a brief discussion of several unique elements had in common among Nephi-2, Elijah, and Moses. These are the three prophets mentioned in connection with "divid[ing] hither and thither." Other details at least two of them share in common are these:

• Sealing power (Nephi-2 and Elijah)
• Power over the elements (All three)
• Dividing and crossing over water on dry ground (Moses and Elijah)
• Taken up to heaven rather than dying (All three)
• Important post-mortal responsibilities including bestowal of priesthood keys (Moses and Elijah)

Since posting the first part, I've thought more about what these three prophets have in common as well as what we're supposed to learn from all of this. The Venn diagram has expanded a little:

I'll probably dive deeper into these new additions in future posts, especially shining faces, but for now I'll just give a brief summary below.

Shining faces

A shining face is a symbol of God's favor and communion with heavenly beings. Nephi-2 is seen to have a shining face while communing with angels:

36 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.
37 And it came to pass that this man did cry unto the multitude, that they might turn and look. And behold, there was power given unto them that they did turn and look; and they did behold the faces of Nephi and Lehi.
38 And they said unto the man: Behold, what do all these things mean, and who is it with whom these men do converse?
39 Now the man’s name was Aminadab. And Aminadab said unto them: They do converse with the angels of God. (Helaman 5)

Of course Moses' face shone after he came down from speaking with Jehovah face to face.

This symbol also points our mind to Christ, whose face shone on the Mount of Transfiguration, at which time He also spake with Moses and Elias (Elijah).

1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. (Matthew 17)

Dividing the waters and Priesthood Keys

Dividing the waters is a creation reference.  At the creation, God set the bounds of the sea (a symbol of death and chaos). This comes up several times in the Old Testament.

• Job 38:10-11
• Proverbs 8:29
• Psalm 104:9
• Jeremiah 5:22

The power to divide the water and pass through on dry ground is an act of creation of sorts. 

In the case of Elijah and Nephi-2, a special sealing power is given to them by God which allows them to cause a famine in the land. This done by declaring there shall be no rain in the land. (See 1 Kings 17:1; Helaman 11:17.)  Stisa pointed out to me that this is a variation on separating water and land (and creating dry ground in a bad way).

Creation by division

Another facet of this creation symbolism embedded within dividing the waters is that in the ancient Hebrew understanding, creation happens as an act of "forming or fashioning by cutting" or "shaping." (source)  You could compare it to the process of transforming a stick into an arrow. 

Covenants are also "cut" in Hebrew. Symbolism involving cutting a covenant include circumcision, purity laws, and actual cutting of animals in half (see Genesis 15). This is completely foreign to our modern culture, but it is noteworthy that cutting plays a central role in the ancient understanding of both divine creation and covenant-making. This does not seem coincidental.

This symbol also points our minds to Christ.  Just as Nephi-2 was left alone standing in the midst of a people divided in their opinion of him, Christ's invitation to mankind creates a division between those who will humble themselves and repent/follow Him and those who will harden themselves against the word.

It seems this is the message that Mormon is uncertain we'll get, so just after the account of Nephi-2 causing and then ending the famine, Mormon inserts a long aside about human wickedness, found in Helaman 12. In this passage, Mormon directly connects covenant and creation as he compares man to dust:

6 Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide.
7 O how great is the nothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth.
8 For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God. (Helaman 12)

In the verses that follow, Mormon repeatedly states that various elements of the creation will obey the word of God (unlike man). It's a powerful connection between creation and covenant.

Conclusion -- The Deeper Message

I included "a sermon in a phrase" in the title of this series for a reason.  Identifying the connecting phrase "divided hither and thither" has opened my mind to a deeper understanding of priesthood authority and the purpose of mortality. I've also gained a deeper appreciation of Jesus Christ's role as the Creator of heaven and earth as well as the Father of our salvation.

In only four words, a connection is made between Nephi-2, Moses, and Elijah.  Connections can then be made between these three and Christ, with additional connections to shining faces, communicating directly with heavenly Beings, and priesthood power offering power over the chaos just as these prophets had power to divide the waters.

I'm grateful for so much beautiful doctrine tucked away in just a passing phrase.

"Divided hither and thither" -- a sermon in a phrase, part 1

My most recent post (re-)introduced a concept I recently learned about from Stisa which gives a name to a phenomenon I've noticed and blogged about in the past -- metalepsis.  In short, it's a technique used by ancient scribes to reference an older account by using key wording from that account as they tell a different story. I gave the example from Mormon 8:8, from which I unpacked four sermons last October. I ended the post by quoting Helaman 10:1 and hinting that a sermon is packed into words "divided hither and thither" in that verse.

Here is the whole verse:

1 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. (Helaman 10)

This all began as a hunch on my part.  The initial thought was: "What a weird way to end a story!" The mental image of the people dividing into two groups and going their own way conjured an image of Moses parting the Red Sea.

Of course, Nephi had just finished teaching the people about the role of prophets, including a reference to Moses, so I went back and reviewed that passage:

11 Therefore he was constrained to speak more unto them saying: Behold, my brethren, have ye not read that God gave power unto one man, even Moses, to smite upon the waters of the Red Sea, and they parted hither and thither, insomuch that the Israelites, who were our fathers, came through upon dry ground, and the waters closed upon the armies of the Egyptians and swallowed them up?
12 And now behold, if God gave unto this man such power, then why should ye dispute among yourselves, and say that he hath given unto me no power whereby I may know concerning the judgments that shall come upon you except ye repent?
13 But, behold, ye not only deny my words, but ye also deny all the words which have been spoken by our fathers, and also the words which were spoken by this man, Moses, who had such great power given unto him, yea, the words which he hath spoken concerning the coming of the Messiah. (Helaman 8)

Notice the common elements between this passage and the verse above: division/parting, "one man"/"Nephi alone," two groups of people (one preserved and one destroyed)

And just before that, Mormon described how Nephi was causing two distinct reactions among the people, a group of believers and group that was hostile:

5 Therefore [the corrupt judges] did cry unto the people, saying: Why do you suffer this man to revile against us? For behold he doth condemn all this people, even unto destruction; yea, and also that these our great cities shall be taken from us, that we shall have no place in them.
6 And now we know that this is impossible, for behold, we are powerful, and our cities great, therefore our enemies can have no power over us.
7 And it came to pass that thus they did stir up the people to anger against Nephi, and raised contentions among them; for there were some who did cry out: Let this man alone, for he is a good man, and those things which he saith will surely come to pass except we repent;
8 Yea, behold, all the judgments will come upon us which he has testified unto us; for we know that he has testified aright unto us concerning our iniquities. And behold they are many, and he knoweth as well all things which shall befall us as he knoweth of our iniquities;
9 Yea, and behold, if he had not been a prophet he could not have testified concerning those things. (Helaman 8)

As I read and re-read the passage, the words "divided hither and thither" really stood out as a key connecting phrase. I looked up every instance I could find in all of the scriptures where "hither and thither" is used in connection with "divide" or something like it. Aside from the verse above (Helaman 10:1), I found four references in the Book of Mormon and two in the Old Testament. That's it. Here they are:

Old Testament

8 And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. (2 Kings 2)


14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over. (2 Kings 2)

Book of Mormon

2 Therefore let us go up; let us be strong like unto Moses; for he truly spake unto the waters of the Red Sea and they divided hither and thither, and our fathers came through, out of captivity, on dry ground, and the armies of Pharaoh did follow and were drowned in the waters of the Red Sea. (1 Nephi 4)


26 Now ye know that Moses was commanded of the Lord to do that great work; and ye know that by his word the waters of the Red Sea were divided hither and thither, and they passed through on dry ground. (1 Nephi 17)


11 Therefore he was constrained to speak more unto them saying: Behold, my brethren, have ye not read that God gave power unto one man, even Moses, to smite upon the waters of the Red Sea, and they parted hither and thither, insomuch that the Israelites, who were our fathers, came through upon dry ground, and the waters closed upon the armies of the Egyptians and swallowed them up? (Helaman 8)


8 For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God. (Helaman 12)

Aside from Mormon's more generic use of the phrase in Helaman 12 (which relates to the story it follows, for reasons I'll flesh out in a future post), the rest of these passages make reference to Nephi-2, Moses, or Elijah. Very interesting. As I read through these, I marveled at the connections between the three prophets being mentioned. Here's a rough draft of what was starting to take shape in my head:

All three had power over the elements. All three are associated with the sealing power.  Moses and Elijah were present at the Kirtland Temple dedication when important priesthood keys were restored.  All three had mysterious non-deaths (only according to latter-day scripture in the case of Moses).

What's the deeper message from all of this? Well, it seems to have a lot to do with priesthood authority and the purpose of mortality. "One man" is given power to cause a division by preaching the word of God. This results in the formation of a covenant people -- creation by division. We'll get into this in more depth in the next post.

"Chaneph" (חָנֵף) -- idolatry and worldview (part 3 of 3)

28 O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish. (2 Nephi 9)

This is the third and final post in a series on the Old Testament concept of "chaneph." See part 1 here and part 2 here. We'll begin with Moroni's description of "great pollutions" in our day, summarized eloquently in two verses:

31 Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when there shall be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not, for the Lord will uphold such at the last day. But wo unto such, for they are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity.
...
38 O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world? (Mormon 8)

As a reminder, as discussed in parts 1 and 2, "chaneph" has the following meaning:

"Chaneph" (חָנֵף) -- corrupt, defile, pollute, profane

Moroni is condemning "chaneph" in several ways. Let's break this down into a short list.  Here are the items in red above describing the pollution of our day:

1. "There will be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not."  Sadly, this is a perfect description of the dominant modern mindset.
2. They "sell [them]selves for that which will canker." What an apt description of the materialism of our day. Modern conveniences and luxuries are a nice thing to experience and have easy access to, but the pursuit of them can easily become a pernicious form of idolatry. 
3. They "are ashamed to take upon [them] the name of Christ ... because of the praise of the world." There is significant social pressure to avoid publicly sharing one's deep convictions about Jesus Christ, the real purposes of life, and why it is good to humbly and regularly participate in the sacred ordinances of the priesthood.

In green above, I highlighted one of the key distinguishing features that defines and sustains faith in the heavenly order: Valuing the worth of an endless happiness over the vices which lead to misery which never dies. When we see the destination of wither path and realize one takes us back to the presence of the Father through the atonement of Jesus Christ, and the other leads to permanent separation from Him, there is simple no comparison. It reduces other worldviews to mere idolatry -- "worship[ping] the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made" (Isaiah 2:8).

The Modern Worldview as Idolatry

This essay by Christian theologian and ecclesiastical historian Carl Trueman offers an overview of how much of our modern world came to reject the ideal of a sacred, heavenly order in favor of the pursuit of personal happiness, which is now the central focus of modern life. Here are two quotes from that article.

If there is nothing beyond this world for which to strive, or by which we are held accountable, the gravitational pull toward personal happiness as the purpose of life becomes irresistibly strong, and the rationales for repression become increasingly weak.

Negotiating personal desire, and not objective moral judgments, has become the ethical order of the day.

Of course, there is a heavenly order and a specific covenantal purpose of the creation, which makes this rejection of God's word a form of idolatry of the highest order. The Book of Mormon speaks very harshly against abandoning these revealed principles, and even gives us several examples of what happens when a covenant people reject this worldview and replace it with one of their own making. The record is clear -- this is not a stable position and it does not end well.

What are the keys to sustaining the worldview which leads to eternal life?

This is a question I've been pondering for the past few weeks as I've thought about the concepts presented in this series.  I have a few suggestions:

1. We must be humble and maintain an overarching desire to learn truth directly from God. If God wants us to seek Him, and if He allows us to exercise our faith and agency in mortality, then we should place seeking Him at the very top of our "to do" list. This involves kneeling in prayer, asking to be taught. This involves searching the scriptures (not just reading) and regularly putting into action the ideas and impression that come to us as a result of our study.
2. Though we are all sinners, we should never seek to justify our sins. I would suggest that attempting to justify sin might be a more serious sin than whatever sin we seek to justify, simply because of where that thinking leads us.  If we commit a sin but maintain a humble, repentant attitude about it, it will not pose a serious threat to our continued walk along the covenant path. If, however, we commit a sin and seek to justify our choice, insisting that we 
3. Emulate the Savior. In all things, He marked the path. We should strive to follow Him. He sought to do His Father's will ore His own in all things, and we should strive for the same.

Hugh Nibley and others have written extensively about two fundamentally different worldviews, the "mantic" or prophetic worldview, and the "sophic" or intellectual worldview.  Here is a brief summary of each:

The fundamental ambivalence of western civilization consists of a permanent conflict of spiritualities derived from the human condition itself. The assumptions underlying this conflict have created the mantic world view of vertical supernaturalism, a dualistic metaphysic that includes not only the natural order but also another world order which transcends it, and the sophic world view of horizontal naturalism, a monistic metaphysic that confines all realities to the natural order. (source)

Of course there is a wide spectrum within each of these broader classes, but this is a useful distinction to make -- between those who embrace the idea of a higher, sacred, heavenly order by which messages are communicated to our minds and hearts and for which we should strive, and those who believe the material world around us is all there is.

The scriptures very clearly indicate that we must strive for and maintain a mantic worldview. Substituting our own judgment is perilous even if our judgment is in accord with the best of worldly wisdom. I'm beginning to see this concept quite clearly throughout the scriptures, and I'll touch on this set of concepts in multiple future posts.

For now, I'll end with Mormon's description of the frailty of man:

4 O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to hearken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their hearts upon the vain things of the world!

5 Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom’s paths!

6 Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide. (Helaman 12)

Covenant as messenger -- "[God's] strong reasoning" (Part 2 of 4)

This post is a continuation of this post, in which I looked at the description of the covenant as the messenger before God's face as noted in Doctrine & Covenants 45. In part 2, we'll look at the first of three phrases from Section 45 which describes how the covenant helps prepare a Zion people: the "strong reasoning" of God.

"[God's] strong reasoning"

How does God reason with man? This is a question I've been pondering for some time. My first thought went to a famous verse in Isaiah containing the word "reason":

18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. (Isaiah 1)

In light of the "two ways" reference in those verses, here's my summary of what God's strong reasoning looks like:

1) Without the covenant, mortality ends in death -- not just a return to the dust, either. We are talking about permanent separation from God. "...an awful death cometh upon the wicked; for they die as to things pertaining to things of righteousness; for they are unclean, and no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of God; but they are cast out, and consigned to partake of the fruits of their labors or their works, which have been evil; and they drink the dregs of a bitter cup." (Alma 40:26)

2) The covenant prepares the way whereby man may inherit all that the Lord has.  In light of all the He stands ready to give us, it is disheartening how easy it is for us to lose sight of that and choose some other path instead! (See Helaman 12:4-6.)

I can't think of stronger reasoning than this. God's "strong reasoning" is to convince us of our infinite worth and persuade us to follow His Son in order to experience a fulness of joy in this life and an eternal reward (exaltation) in the next life. (See D&C 76:59.)

Yet we know that without faith in God, it is easy to discount the value of covenant blessings. Perhaps for this reason, Paul speaks of the wisdom of God as "hidden wisdom" --

4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2)

The wisdom of the world, taught openly, comes to an end, just as the rewards of this world. God's wisdom is hidden and teaches us (through the power of the Spirit) of a reward of incomparable worth, "which God ordained before the world unto our glory."

9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Corinthians 2)

To obtain this reward, we must embrace the reality of a day of judgment and the need to repent prior to that great day. The only way to be found clean is through the grace of Jesus Christ, offered freely to all as a wrapped gift (the covenant) and put into effect by those willing to unwrap the gift and make it effective in their life. (See Ether 4:13-15.)

The day of judgment is described in detail in Section 133. Just after describing those who will stand on His right hand at that day, we are told this about the everlasting covenant:

57 And for this cause, that men might be made partakers of the glories which were to be revealed, the Lord sent forth the fulness of his gospel, his everlasting covenant, reasoning in plainness and simplicity—
58 To prepare the weak for those things which are coming on the earth, and for the Lord’s errand in the day when the weak shall confound the wise, and the little one become a strong nation, and two shall put their tens of thousands to flight. (Doctrine & Covenants 133)

There you have it. God's strong reasoning. He does not want us to be deceived, yet He will not force us to accept the gift He has laid up for us. He invites us to "consider the end of [our] salvation" (D&C 46:7) as we seek Him and do those things which the Spirit testifies unto us.

In the next post, I'll move on to the next topic in the chain (D&C 45:8-13) -- "hearken ye together."  When it comes to becoming a Zion people, personal righteousness is necessary but not sufficient. We must also learn to be one.

A temple pattern in the Book of Mormon, continued -- overcoming the devil (part 1)

I'll continue with my series on the temple pattern in the Book of Mormon.  Se these two prior posts for background and references to shaking:

Overview

Shaking

We left with Mormon's words from Helaman 12 about the power of God's voice to save us if we will hearken. In that passage, he also laments: "how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom’s paths!" (Helaman 12:5)

In the fallen world in which we now live, we are enticed by two voices. (See 2 Nephi 2:16.) Once we have identified the power of the voice of God, the next important step is to learn to overcome the power of the devil.

The next few posts will review some important passages in the Book of Mormon which teach us how to overcome the devil. We'll begin with a man who set such a good example, presumably Mormon named his own son after him.

The example of "Captain" Moroni

Mormon writes very lofty words about that Moroni who led the armies of the Nephites:

17 Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men. (Alma 48)

Notice the use of past/present/future at the start of the verse as well as the word "forever." I believe both of these are designed to point our minds to things of eternal significance. Moroni wasn't just a dedicated public servant or military leader, his example includes a range of commendable attributes.

Notice also the description of the "powers of hell" shaking and the devil "never hav[ing] power over the hearts of the children of men." This echoes themes from the temple pattern described in the overview. 

In the preceding verses, we find a list of powerful attributes which allowed Mormon to make such a claim:

And Moroni was:

1. a strong and a mighty man
2. a man of a perfect understanding
3. a man that did not delight in bloodshed
4. a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery;
5. a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people
6. a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people.
7. a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood. 
8. his heart did glory --
• in [the promise that if they were faithful in keeping the commandments of God that he would prosper them in the land] 
• in preserving his people, 
• in keeping the commandments of God
• and resisting iniquity.

This is a great list.  I see elements of obedience, willingness to sacrifice, dedication to resisting evil, centering one's life on covenant promises, gratitude, and commitment to the "welfare and safety" of God's covenant people.

These are the attributes which bind Satan and cause his kingdom and powers to shake.

A note about "perfect understanding"

This phrase shows up only once in the Book of Mormon.  We find it in Luke 1:3 as well, but that instance doesn't add much. The only other closely-related instance comes from D&C 97:14 in a revelation about the building of the temple:

13 For a place of thanksgiving for all saints, and for a place of instruction for all those who are called to the work of the ministry in all their several callings and offices;
14 That they may be perfected in the understanding of their ministry, in theory, in principle, and in doctrine, in all things pertaining to the kingdom of God on the earth, the keys of which kingdom have been conferred upon you.
15 And inasmuch as my people build a house unto me in the name of the Lord, and do not suffer any unclean thing to come into it, that it be not defiled, my glory shall rest upon it;
16 Yea, and my presence shall be there, for I will come into it, and all the pure in heart that shall come into it shall see God. (D&C 97)

Take that for what it is worth.

In the next post, we'll look at other scriptures that teach how we can overcome the devil.

Paths of righteousness and wisdom

Having just finished Margaret Barker's "Temple Theology", I am still in ancient temple mode. One of the characteristics of this older first temple tradition (pre-deuteronomic reform) was the belief in a female deity called "wisdom". This seems to have been a tradition that Lehi and his family took with them to the promised land. We have touched upon it on this blog before, see here. Mosiah 8:20 is also a good example

how blind and impenetrable are the understandings of the children of men; for they will not seek wisdom, neither do they desire that she should rule over them!

Another backdrop for this post is the concept of walking on a path, which has also been posted about a lot before and has rarely to do with moving one's feet and usually something to do with entering into and keeping covenants. The ancient temple (and I would even argue the modern temple) respresents this path from a scattered state in the wilderness through covenants and a gradual ascent to the holy of holies in unity. 

With this in mind, I want to discuss the mention of paths in the Book of Mormon. Often, these paths are described as "his paths" and they are strait or made straight. On a few occasions, these paths are the paths of a virtue. In those cases they are either the paths of righteousness or wisdom. 

Paths of righteousness (tsedeq)

The Hebrew word, tsedeq, is typically translated into 'righteousness' and is a masculine word (all Hebrew words have one of two genders). It is closely associated with God. He epitomizes or personifies righteousness. For instance, we can read in Jeremiah 23:6

In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

So in one sense, when we are asked to walk in the paths of righteousness, we are asked to walk in his paths. Like in Psalm 23:3

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

The path of righteousness is also found in the Book of Mormon

And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before the Lord; insomuch that I had joy and great hopes of them, that they would walk in the paths of righteousness. (1 Nephi 16:5)

For I perceive that ye are in the paths of righteousness; I perceive that ye are in the path which leads to the kingdom of God; yea, I perceive that ye are making his paths straight. (Alma 7:19)

From Alma's statement we can infer that the paths of righteousness are the path of God (His paths) and also the path that leads to God.

Wisdom's paths (chokmah)

The Hebrew word for wisdom is 'chokmah' and is a feminine noun. Much of the wisdom tradition is shown in the Book of Proverbs, although I suspect that it was more prevalent in other parts of the Old Testament writings too before it went "through the hands of the great and abominable church". Proverbs 8 is all about this. But we will consider an example from Proverbs 4, where there is also talk of paths.

7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.
11 I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.

Even though wisdom referred to as a female in these verses, one may argue that wisdom is introduced as a "thing" in verse 7, which is not in line with the image of a female deity. But looking into this further, it gets interesting. There is no Hebrew word equivalent of the English "thing" in this verse. It is just part of the translation of the Hebrew, "reshith", to make the text work in English. Interestingly, this also happens to be the very first word of the Bible or Torah. "In the beginning (reshith) God created the heavens and the earth". It's the Hebrew word for beginning, chief, first. I'm no Hebrew expert but can easily imagine that Proverbs 4:7 could as well be translated as "in the beginning was wisdom". This is also consistent with Proverbs 8:23-30, where Wisdom speaks and explains that she was there at the creation.

Compare that with the words of Gerald Schroeder, Israeli physicist and orthodox Jew, discussing Genesis 1:1

The opening word, usually translated as ‘in the beginning,’ is Be’reasheet. Be’reasheet can mean ‘in the beginning of,’ but not ‘in the beginning.’ The difficulty with the preposition ‘of’ is that its object is absent from the sentence; thus the King James translation merely drops it. But the 2100-year-old Jerusalem translation of Genesis into Aramaic takes a different approach, realizing that Be’reasheet is a compound word: the prefix Be’, ‘with,’ and reasheet, a ‘first wisdom.’ The Aramaic translation is thus ‘With wisdom God created the heavens and the earth.’ 

This wisdom that was with God in the beginning at the creation has her "way", the "way of wisdom" as we read in Proverbs 4:11. Again, this is something we find in the Book of Mormon too.

ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom’s paths that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved (Mosiah 2:36)

Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom’s paths! (Helaman 12:5)

Conclusion

When paths in the Book of Mormon are coupled with a virtue, it is either righteousness or wisdom. Based on the evidence presented in this post, they can be interpreted as the masculine and feminine part of God(head). Our heavenly parents are inviting us back to their presence. To get there we must walk on their path.

As mentioned in another recent post, the ancient temple was patterned after the six days of creation. Walking "the path" in the temple was a progression through the days of creation backwards until one reached the light created on the first day in the holy of holies in unity with "righteousness" and "wisdom", our heavenly parents. 

August 24–30. Helaman 7–12: “Remember the Lord” -- Additional resources

This week's lesson is found here.

Helaman 7 -- Heart and soul poetry, Nephi's lament, Shepherd symbolism

Helaman 8 -- Fear and secret works, Heaven and earth (part 1), References to Jesus Christ

Helaman 9 -- Fasting (part 1)

Helaman 10 -- Secret works, Heaven and earth (part 2), cast/hard heart, powerful words

Helaman 11 -- Fasting (part 2), two types of turning

Helaman 12 -- Subtle Isaiah references, Good works and faith/repentance, good works as a covenant symbol, Psalms in the Book of Mormon

Subtle Isaiah references

I have studied and posted previously on the intricate way the Book of Mormon writers occasionally quote the brass plates. Some examples are here, here, here and here. I learned about a few Isaiah references that are not quotations but rather references or allusions used in passing by Book of Mormon authors. Isaiah was obviously held in high esteem and the Nephite prophets seemed very familiar with his writings. I will share these as, like I said, they are not direct quotes and just weaved into the text without any kind of announcement so they may easily go unnoticed. But once you compare with the actual verse in Isaiah it is quite clear nonetheless that the author has this reference in mind.

Book of Mormon		Isaiah
Helaman 12:16	And behold, also, if he say unto the waters of the great deep—Be thou dried up—it is done.	51:10	Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?
1 Nephi 17:36	Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it.	45:18	For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited
Alma 5:57	come ye out from the wicked, and be ye separate, and touch not their unclean things	52:11	Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing
2 Nephi 26:25	Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price.	55:1	Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price

The last one is also quoted by Jacob in 2 Nephi 9:50 but there as a more direct quote (e.g. "wine and milk" instead of "milk and honey"). There are probably several other examples. Obviously, Book of Mormon authors were very familiar with the Hebrew scriptures and often weaved them into their text, sometimes with their own twist as in these examples. Isaiah stands out but it also makes me wonder how much a prophet like Zenos is referenced without announcement in this way. We wouldn't be able to tell.

"Good works" in association with "faith" and "repentance"

I noticed something interesting as I studied references to "good works" and connected the concept to covenants (part 1 and part 2). In many cases, the mention of "good works" happens in connection with faith and repentance.  The table below demonstrates how these references relate to adjacent mentions of "faith" and "repentance" (or very similar phrases, as indicated below in parentheses)

Ch	“Faith”	“Repentance”	“Good works”
Mos. 5	4,7	7 (“hearts are changed”)	15
Alma 5	12,13,15	12,13,14 (“change in heart”); 31,32,33,49,50,51,54,56,62 (“repent”)	41,42
Alma 7	6,14,17,24,27	9,14,15	24,27
Alma 13	3,4,10,18,29	12:33,34,37; 13:10,13,18,21,27,30	3
Alma 26	22	22 (x3),35,	22
Alma 37	33,40,41	9,22,25,26,31,33	34
Hel. 12	N/A	22,23,24	24
3 Ne. 12	1,2,19 (“believe")	19	16
Eth. 12	3,4,6-23,27-31	3	4

For me, this reinforces the idea that "good works" have to do with the covenant-making ordinances of the gospel (See Articles of Faith 1:4).