"Blot out"

Here's my 2022 prediction: readers of this blog will see quite a bit of Old Testament-related material. :)

The thing is, understanding the Old Testament better has greatly deepened my understanding and appreciation of the Book of Mormon. Stisa and I have both taken a great interest in continuing this trend, and so the 2022 Come Follow Me curriculum sets up a perfect opportunity to dig in and feast on this wonderful material.

I'm definitely an amateur scriptorian. I've got exactly zero degrees in ancient languages, but we live in an amazing time when resources abound through the internet and other sources.  Even if you aren't interested in spending a dime, sites such as Biblehub.com and Biblegateway.com offer wonderful material to help understand the meaning of the scriptures in Hebrew and Greek. Recently I've purchased digital access to the NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible. It's been a great help and many interesting ideas have sprung out of my study of this book.  I highly recommend it.

This post will detail a discovery I made this evening related to the term "blot out" (which Stisa has previously covered in this post) as found in Genesis 6:7 (NRSV):

6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 

7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 

8 But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord.

I am more familiar with other translations, so this use of blot out really stood out to me.  The KJV uses "destroy" in place of "blot out" and the NIV says: "wipe from the face of the earth."

The Hebrew root is:

machah: abolish (מָחָה) -- abolish, blot out, destroy, full of marrow, put out, reach unto, utterly, wipe away

The use of this term in the story of Noah is particularly meaningful. Humankind was to be "wiped out" by means of a flood.  This mirrors a basic meaning of the word:

Erasing writing from a scroll was normally effected by washing, and this action appears to be a basic meaning of מָחָה. Since wiping off or out implies the complete removal of whatever is in view, מָחָה is often used with great effect for both Yahweh’s judgment and salvation. (NIDOTTE Vol. 2, p. 913, emphasis added by me.)

"Blot out"

I've already made some important connections by learning that "destroy" and "blot out" are connected in Hebrew. Let's take a look at a few scriptures. First, in the context of a cursing related to adultery:

23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water: (Numbers 5)

The adulterer is then made to drink the bitter water. Very interesting symbolism.

Here is another example in the context of the idolatry of the children of Israel at Mount Sinai which provoked the wrath of God:

14 Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they. (Deuteronomy 9)

This same root is also used in a positive context, such as in this verse from Isaiah:

8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. (Isaiah 25)

Or this one:

25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. (Isaiah 43)

It seems that there will be a "blotting out" for each of us at the day of judgment -- either our sins will be blotted out through the atonement of Christ or our names will be blotted out from the book of life if we reject Christ.  The covenant mediates all of this:

5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. (Revelation 3)

And once again we see that this preservation is associated with symbolic clothing and a name. This preservation probably ties back in to the miraculous preservation of a remnant of the garment of Joseph of Egypt.  I'll discuss this in more detail in my next post. 

On the subject of names and 'blotting out,' King Benjamin makes a similar statement in connection with the name he gives to his people:

11 And moreover, I shall give this people a name, that thereby they may be distinguished above all the people which the Lord God hath brought out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I do because they have been a diligent people in keeping the commandments of the Lord.

12 And I give unto them a name that never shall be blotted out, except it be through transgression. (Mosiah 1)

Recall Alma-1, when faced with transgression on the part of members of the church, was given this revelation regarding how to deal with the situation:

29 Therefore I say unto you, Go; and whosoever transgresseth against me, him shall ye judge according to the sins which he has committed; and if he confess his sins before thee and me, and repenteth in the sincerity of his heart, him shall ye forgive, and I will forgive him also.

30 Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me. ...

32 Now I say unto you, Go; and whosoever will not repent of his sins the same shall not be numbered among my people; and this shall be observed from this time forward. ...

34 And it came to pass that Alma went and judged those that had been taken in iniquity, according to the word of the Lord.

35 And whosoever repented of their sins and did confess them, them he did number among the people of the church;

36 And those that would not confess their sins and repent of their iniquity, the same were not numbered among the people of the church, and their names were blotted out. (Mosiah 26)

The covenant between God and man allows all who will hearken and repent to have their names preserved. God's wrath is kindled against those who will not confess their sins and will not repent after hearing His voice. Whether it be called 'blotting out' or 'destroying,' the consequence of sin is separation from God, also known as spiritual death.

On the contrary, for all those who repent and hearken, their transgressions will be blotted out, wiped away, and remembered no more.  That bitter water associated with the adulterer in Numbers 5 sounds a lot like the 'bitter cup' spoken of by Christ in Doctrine & Covenants 19:

15 Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.

16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;

18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—

19 Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men. (Doctrine & Covenants 19)

"See, I am doing a new thing!"

Building off of my recent post of covenant symbols in Mosiah 18 and connections to themes from Isaiah, here is a different passage from Isaiah which makes use of the same symbols: crossing the sea, water in the wilderness, the creation of a covenant people, the people praise their God.

These themes are beautiful, unmistakable, and somehow made it into the Book of Mormon over and over in subtle ways.

15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
    Israel’s Creator, your King.”

16 This is what the Lord says—
    he who made a way through the sea,
    a path through the mighty waters,
17 who drew out the chariots and horses,
    the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
    extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
18 “Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.

19 See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness    and streams in the wasteland.
20 The wild animals honor me,
    the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
21     the people I formed for myself
    that they may proclaim my praise. (Isaiah 43, NIV)

A path in the sea

Having focused on the exodus/gathering of Israel topic a lot lately, these words in 2 Nephi 10:20 caught my attention

we have been led to a better land, for the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea.

The idea of the sea as a path seems a bit strange. Jacob is of course referring to their travel across the sea to the promised land. But by using this expression, he also seems to be referring to Isaiah 43:16-17

16 Thus saith the Lord, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;

17 Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.

In this verse, the way in the sea is of course the way through the Red Sea and the extinct army is the army of Pharaoh. But the context of this Isaiah passage is the latter-day gathering of Israel. It is yet another example of Isaiah referring to the original Exodus that symbolizes the latter-day spiritual exodus.  By using that reference, Jacob is making a connection between their own travels to the promised land and both the original exodus of Israel and the latter-days exodus of the remnant of Israel. Both very fitting.

By comparing their travel to the promised land with the Exodus of Moses, Jacob follows the same pattern as Nephi, who makes multiple references to it in the account of their journey. When they are about to get the brass plates, Nephi exhorts his brothers to be "strong like unto Moses" (1 Nephi 4:2). When he is about to build a ship, he recounts the Exodus story (1 Nephi 17:23-43). He also makes textual connections like much talk about the 'wilderness', the 'murmuring' of his brothers, etc.

By referring to that Isaiah passage, Jacob also makes a connection to the latter-day spiritual exodus/gathering of Israel, because this is what Isaiah really is talking about. This is also made clear in the rest of chapter 10. See for instance in verse 8:

And it shall come to pass that they shall be gathered in from their long dispersion, from the isles of the sea, and from the four parts of the earth

This sermon is a continuation of the one Jacob started the previous day, where he read Isaiah to the people of Nephi. One of the verses he read was Isaiah 51:5/2 Nephi 8:5

My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.

Do you see all the connections Jacob is making? They are so subtle that I need to read the Book of Mormon a few dozen times before I see them. Yet they are unmistakeable once they are identified, and they bring added depth to the text. To summarize:

1. Jacob and Nephi consider their journey to the promised land an exodus similar to that of Moses and the children of Israel
2. To accomplish the exodus, the Lord made a "highway in the desert" but also in the sea. 
3. In the latter days, there will be a spiritual exodus. It is related to both the exodus of Moses and Lehi. The Lord has shown before that he is able to make a way in the sea and can thus lead and gather Israel a second time, even from "the isles", where there are branches of Israel, like the descendents of Lehi/Joseph.