The small meal, the grand feast, Adam and Eve, and ancient temple worship -- Part 3: "Fulness"

In the first two posts in this series (here and here), we looked at the commandment given to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28 and five important aspects of that commandment:

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1)

We then connected the command to "replenish" the earth with the story of Noah and showed that in the process of keeping God's commandments, Noah went from offering God a measure of the creation to having "all things" delivered "into [his] hand" (Genesis 9:2-3).

"Replenish" is the KJV translation for the Hebrew word "male" as discussed in these previous posts.  There is a related word from the same root, "melo" which means "fulness" or "multitude."

The first time "melo" appears in the Old Testament, it shows up in a unique expression associated with Ephraim.

"mə·lō- hag·gō·w·yim" -- "Multitude of nations/fulness of the Gentiles"

18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this [Manasseh] is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he [Manasseh] also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother [Ephraim] shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. (Genesis 48)

"Multitude of nations" could also be translated "fulness of Gentiles" (see this post). That is an important detail because it connects this blessing with numerous other scriptures. 

As I've thought about the latter day gathering, it occurs to me that this blessing given by Israel to Ephraim is profoundly significant:

10 And then cometh the day when the arm of the Lord shall be revealed in power in convincing the nations, the heathen nations, the house of Joseph, of the gospel of their salvation.

11 For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them for the revelation of Jesus Christ. (Doctrine & Covenants 90)

The fulness of the Gospel is being preached to the fulness of the Gentiles, in fulfillment of Jacob's prophecy.

33 He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people.

...

41 He also quoted the second chapter of Joel, from the twenty-eighth verse to the last. He also said that this was not yet fulfilled, but was soon to be. And he further stated that the fulness of the Gentiles was soon to come in. He quoted many other passages of scripture, and offered many explanations which cannot be mentioned here. (Joseph Smith -- History 1)

In the next post in this series, we'll take a closer look at the detailed prophecies in the Book of Mormon which speak of the "fulness of the Gentiles" and the "fulness of the Gospel" in the latter days.

God as creator and subtle Book of Mormon evidence

Why do I enjoy learning about and finding evidence for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon? I am honestly not sure. My testimony is not based on it, but having an academic interest, I suppose I just like to see the book stand its ground when being attacked by disbelievers. Sometimes, the more subtle evidence is the strongest, just because you would not expect the young farmhand to be thinking of all those details that require special in-depth knowledge.

One thing I just learned that might fall in the subtle evidence category, has to do with the ancient Hebrew word for 'create'. The word is bara (בָּרָא). Translating it into 'create' in English is fine, except for one detail: In Hebrew, only God can create. Humans can 'make' (asah) and 'form' (yatsar) but never 'create' (bara). This is not the case in English, where people can create art, confusion, a business, a good atmosphere, etc. But in Hebrew, creation is reserved for God only.

So what does that have to do with the Book of Mormon? It was not written in Hebrew anyway and we only have an English translation of the original text. Well, my studies have led me to believe that the Nephites had brought and preserved a lot of the Hebrew culture, thinking and even language (see this and this post). For this reason, I thought it might be interesting to see how the Book of Mormon uses the word, 'create'. This is what I found:

• The word create/created/creating is used 42 times in the Book of Mormon.
• Every single time this verb is used, God is the subject. Just like 'bara' in the Hebrew Bible, only God creates in the English Book of Mormon.
• In the Book of Mormon, people make and form. Nephi makes a record (1 Nephi 1:1), wicked people make a great uproar (3 Nephi 1:7), Jaredites form a secret combination (Ether 8:18) and Nephites form laws (3 Nephi 6:4), but they never create anything

Perhaps this was just Joseph Smith's vocabulary and way of speaking? Definitely not! In the Joseph Smith History in the Pearl of Great Price (which is very short compared to the entire Book of Mormon), people create something three times. First a great stir in JSH 1:5, persecution in JSH 1:22 and "a spirit of the most bitter persecution and reviling" in verse 23.

I will obviously not include all 42 examples of creation in the Book of Mormon in this post, but just a small sample showing that the Book of Mormon makes it absolutely clear who is creating.

For it is I that taketh upon me the sins of the world; for it is I that hath created them; and it is I that granteth unto him that believeth unto the end a place at my right hand. (Mosiah 26:23)

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. (Mormon 9:11)

Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. (3 Nephi 9:15)