Parts 1, 2, and 3 are found here: Part 1.Part 2.Part 3.We're looking at references to gold and riches and the like in the scriptures in the context of the doctrine of the two ways. In this post, we'll look at some of the references found in the Book of Mormon. This is a big topic, so I will break this into two parts. In this first part, we'll review scriptures from the Book of Mormon just as we've done for the Bible in the first three sections of this series. In the next part we'll take a slight detour and discuss the specific Book of Mormon theme related to treasures becoming slippery during ties of covenant rebellion.
Gold and treasure in the Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon gives us numerous references to gold (59), treasure (15), and riches (43). I'm sure there are additional terms with a meaning close enough to add to that tally. Since this is not meant to be a comprehensive review of all references, but just a cursory overview of some of the references which also make reference to the doctrine of the Two Ways, I'll focus on those references which best fit the theme.
For the following list, I'll forego quoting the verses to leave room for more total references in this post:
2 Nephi 9:42 -- God despises the prideful and rich unless "they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility."
Jacob 2:13, 18-19 -- Obtaining riches has led to pride, stiff necks, and high heads. Seek for the kingdom of God before seeking riches. Then seek riches for the intent to do good.
Mosiah 2:12 -- "I ... have not sought gold nor silver nor and manner of riches of you."
Mosiah 4:19 -- "Are we not all beggars?" We all depend on God for all the substance we have, including gold, silver, and riches.
Alma 1:16, 29-30 -- Priestcrafts are associated with a love of the vain things of the world, riches, honor. Meanwhile the righteous cared for the poor and "did not set their hearts upon riches" but were "liberal to all." The "steadiness of the church" brought about exceeding riches.
Alma 4:6, 8 -- The people wax proud because of their riches, gold, and silver. The church began to be lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and to "set their hearts upon riches" and "they began to be scornful, one towards another."
Alma 7:6 -- (Alma to the righteous people of Gideon) "I trust that ye are not lifted up in the pride of your hearts; yea, I trust that ye have not set your hearts upon riches and the vain things of the world."
Alma 15:16 -- Amulek forsook all his riches for the word of God and was rejected by his friends and kindred.
Alma 39:14 -- "Seek not after riches nor the vain things of this world."
Alma 45:24 -- Pride because of "exceedingly great riches" leads the people to not give heed to the word or walk uprightly before God.
Helaman 4:12 -- Pride of the heart and riches lead to "oppression to the poor"
Helaman 5:7-8 -- Do that which is good, not to boast, but to lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven (the "precious gift of eternal").
Helaman 6:17 -- Prosperity leads to setting their hearts upon riches, leading the people to commit secret murders to get gain, rob, and plunder. (Cain is directly mentioned in verse 27.)
Helaman 7:21, 26: Wo comes to the wicked unless they repent. They seek to "get gain, to be praised of men, yea, and [to] get gold and silver." Pride enters the heart and "has lifted you up beyond that which is good because of your exceedingly great riches!"
3 Nephi 6: 10, 12, 15 -- Riches lead to pride and classes, differing chances for learning. Satan had great power, tempting the people "to seek for power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the world."
3 Nephi 13:19-21 -- Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
4 Nephi 1:43 -- Riches lead to pride and vanity.
A few thoughts about these verses:
There is a direct connection between riches and having a heart set upon the things of the world. Compare this to the command given to Joseph Smith by Moroni to obtain the plates (which were hidden in the ground) only to further God's work on earth, not for worldly gain. We'll talk about that in the next part in more depth.
Notice the contrasting symbolism between Jacob 2:13 and Alma 45:24 -- riches lead to "stiff necks" and high heads" and also causes the people to refuse to "walk uprightly before God."
Notice also how Amulek is described in Alma 15:16. It's a perfect analog to the description Jacob gives in 2 Nephi 9:42.
It strikes me how clearly Jesus' words in 3 Nephi 13 fulfill the prophecy of slippery treasure from Helaman 13. This is a foreshadowing of the Nephites brought upon themselves by their covenant rebellion. Their record, also hidden in the ground, has come forth to us in order to gather God's people throughout the earth in the latter days. Will we be wiser than they and lay up treasure in heaven rather than setting our hearts upon riches?
Clothing and nakedness with its symbolism has been discussed extensively on this blog before. The robe of righteousness or "clothed with glory/purity" and similar terms have deep symbolic meaning. But when actual physical clothing is described in the Book of Mormon, there might be some underlying symbolism as well. I just noticed that when the Nephite society is described and their clothing is mentioned, there are usually two alternatives:
A wicked society wearing fine/precious clothes coupled with pride
A righteous society where clothing is solely used to "cover their nakedness"
The price of the clothes we wear is not usually considered an indicator of our righteousness or wickedness in church today. It must have had a much more significant cultural and symbolic meaning among ancient Nephites. I cannot even begin to link all relevant previous posts touching on these concepts, but the idea of covering our nakedness is closely linked to the atonement (the Hebrew word for atonement means covering). The recurring theme of lifting yourself in pride has also been discussed extensively, and sometimes appears together with costly apparel. Perhaps this can be seen as a symbol of trying to cover your own sins instead of letting the atonement do it, similar to lifting yourself in pride instead of letting Christ lift you.
There are several examples supporting the pattern outlined above.
For instance, in the Book of Mormon the wicked are often described as wearing costly apparel, and it is almost without exception coupled with pride.
because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel (Jacob 2:13)
And now my beloved brethren, I say unto you, can ye withstand these sayings; yea, can ye lay aside these things, and trample the Holy One under your feet; yea, can ye be puffed up in the pride of your hearts; yea, will ye still persist in the wearing of costly apparel and setting your hearts upon the vain things of the world, upon your riches? (Alma 5:53)
And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel (Mormon 8:36)
Conversely, we see another pattern when clothing of a righteous people is described.
And I did cause that the women should spin, and toil, and work, and work all manner of fine linen, yea, and cloth of every kind, that we might clothe our nakedness; and thus we did prosper in the land - thus we did have continual peace in the land for the space of twenty and two years. (Mosiah 10:5)
Notice how "prosper in the land", the promise of the Mosaic covenant, follows when their clothing was only used to cover their nakedness. A very similar statement is found in Helaman.
Behold their women did toil and spin, and did make all manner of cloth, of fine-twined linen and cloth of every kind, to clothe their nakedness. And thus the sixty and fourth year did pass away in peace. (Helaman 6:13)
...and in a rare period of righteousness and prosperity among the Jaredites
And they did have silks, and fine-twined linen; and they did work all manner of cloth, that they might clothe themselves from their nakedness. (Ether 10:24)
We see both of these patterns play out in Alma 1, where we are introduced to Nehor, who is described in verse 6
And he began to be lifted up in the pride of his heart, and to wear very costly apparel
Those who did not support him and belonged to the true church of God are described in verse 27
And they did impart of their substance, every man according to that which he had, to the poor, and the needy, and the sick, and the afflicted; and they did not wear costly apparel, yet they were neat and comely.
Interestingly, the next verses go on to relate that the members of the church became "far more wealthy than those who did not belong to their church" (Alma 1:31). Consequently, they could have afforded much more expensive clothes than those who did not belong to the church. Yet, those who did not belong to the church are described thus in verse 32:
For those who did not belong to their church did indulge themselves in sorceries, and in idolatry or idleness, and in babblings, and in envyings and strife; wearing costly apparel; being lifted up in the pride of their own eyes
While the prosperous, righteous people of the church were concerned with "not send[ing] away any who were naked" (Alma 1:30).
Another observation is the similarity between the righteous people of the church in Alma 1:29
And now, because of the steadiness of the church they began to be exceedingly rich, having abundance of all things whatsoever they stood in need—an abundance of flocks and herds, and fatlings of every kind, and also abundance of grain, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious things, and abundance of silk and fine-twined linen, and all manner of good homely cloth.
...and the great and abominable church in 1 Nephi 13:6-7
6 And it came to pass that I beheld this great and abominable church; and I saw the devil that he was the founder of it. 7 And I also saw gold, and silver, and silks, and scarlets, and fine-twined linen, and all manner of precious clothing; and I saw many harlots.
The phrases in bold are very similar but a noticeable difference is the description of the clothing. "all manner of good homely cloth" versus "all manner of precious clothing".
In part 1, I placed the term, righteousness, in a certain context; as the means to establish or restore the bonds and peace of all creation. Righteousness is one of God's primary attributes but he needs a righteous people to work with him and fulfill his purposes. Searching for the term, "righteous" or "righteousness" in the Book of Mormon gives more than a hundred results. I have not gone through all those verses, but I have seen a clear pattern: God is extremely concerned about establishing and preserving a righteous people. This can be divided into several categories:
Raising up a righteous branch
Separating the righteous from the wicked
Destroying the wicked and preserving the righteous
Blessing the land of the righteous
Saving the righteous
I find there is a logical link between these, perhaps even a sequence, and they also fit the context discussed in part 1. Just to repeat a small part of Margaret Barker's paper giving that context:
Righteousness describes both the action needed to restore the broken covenant, and also the result of that action. Righteous people had been restored to their intended place in the creation, and they then had to work to restore other parts of the covenant system. Righteousness meant the activity of making righteous, protecting and maintaining the covenant.
I will give a few examples for each category.
Raising up a righteous branch
Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day. And he obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a righteousbranch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to be broken off, nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of darkness unto light—yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom. (2 Nephi 3:5)
And behold how great the covenants of the Lord, and how great his condescensions unto the children of men; and because of his greatness, and his grace and mercy, he has promised unto us that our seed shall not utterly be destroyed, according to the flesh, but that he would preserve them; and in future generations they shall become a righteous branch unto the house of Israel. (2 Nephi 9:53)
Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph. (Jacob 2:25)
This reminds me of a couple of scriptures shared in part 1 where righteousness would "spring up" or God wanted to find righteousness in his vineyard. The Hebrew word for "spring up" used in that Isaiah verse is the same as the one in Genesis 2:9, where God made every tree grow (spring up) from the ground in the Garden of Eden. The righteous branch is perhaps also an allusion to Zenos' allegory and the branches that were grafted and produced good fruit.
Separating the righteous from the wicked
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)
And the time speedily cometh, that except ye repent they shall possess the land of your inheritance, and the Lord God will lead away the righteous out from among you. (Jacob 3:4)
This is similar to the wheat and the tares. In order to let righteous people restore the covenant system, they must be clearly distinguished, separated out and gathered.
Destroying the wicked and preserving the righteous
36 Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it. 37 And he raiseth up a righteous nation, and destroyeth the nations of the wicked. 38 And he leadeth away the righteous into precious lands, and the wicked he destroyeth, and curseth the land unto them for their sakes. (1 Nephi 17)
16 For the time soon cometh that the fulness of the wrath of God shall be poured out upon all the children of men; for he will not suffer that the wicked shall destroy the righteous. 17 Wherefore, he willpreservetherighteousby his power, even if it so be that the fulness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore, the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire. (1 Nephi 22)
This is a similar to the previous point, but it goes even further. It sounds brutal, but it seems necessary for God to achieve His purposes. The covenant bonds cannot be maintained by wickedness. Unless the wicked repent, they must eventually make way for the righteous to do the work that is ultimately for the benefit of the whole creation.
Blessing the land of the righteous
15 And now it came to pass that after Alma had said these things to Helaman, he blessed him, and also his other sons; and he also blessed the earth for the righteous’ sake. 16 And he said: Thus saith the Lord God—Cursed shall be the land, yea, this land, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, unto destruction, which do wickedly, when they are fully ripe; and as I have said so shall it be; for this is the cursing and the blessing of God upon the land, for the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. (Alma 45)
the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people. (Ether 2:7)
the foundation of liberty which God had granted unto them, or which blessing God had sent upon the face of the land for the righteous’ sake. (Alma 46:10)
A lot of the scriptures about righteousness or righteous people are connected with land/earth/creation. We saw that also in part 1 of this series. This makes sense given the creation-covenant context that Barker explains.
Exalting the righteous
he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb. (Alma 34:36)
and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day (1 Nephi 16:2)
When they righteous people have been established, they can restore the covenant system, the bonds of creation. Finally, the righteous people on earth are taken up to God in heaven, like the City of Enoch
17 The fear of the Lord was upon all nations, so great was the glory of the Lord, which was upon his people. And the Lord blessed the land, and they were blessed upon the mountains, and upon the high places, and did flourish.
18 And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.
19 And Enoch continued his preaching in righteousness unto the people of God. And it came to pass in his days, that he built a city that was called the City of Holiness, even Zion.
20 And it came to pass that Enoch talked with the Lord; and he said unto the Lord: Surely Zion shall dwell in safety forever. But the Lord said unto Enoch: Zion have I blessed, but the residue of the people have I cursed.
21 And it came to pass that the Lord showed unto Enoch all the inhabitants of the earth; and he beheld, and lo, Zion, in process of time, was taken up into heaven. And the Lord said unto Enoch: Behold mine abode forever. (Moses 7)
Sorry but not sorry for overloading this post with scriptures. But there are many more fitting examples that I didn't include. The Book of Mormon also talks about God's righteousness, which I haven't addressed, but what really stood out for me was how desperately God wants to establish, protect, preserve and bless a righteous people.
I got carried away (pun intended) in a recent post and stumbled upon a really interesting covenant term with a double meaning --"carried away." That post was already far too long, so this post will fill in the details.
Stisa has already created a two-part series of posts (here and here) with some overlap to what I'll be covering here. I also attempted to connect this term to Zion in a series of posts around the same time (here, here and here).
This post will focus on two usages of the term "carried away," one positive and one negative.
Opening example
To begin, let's take a look at the first example I found that clearly shows the double meaning, from the very first chapter of the Book of Mormon:
7 And it came to pass that he returned to his own house at Jerusalem; and he cast himself upon his bed, being overcome with the Spirit and the things which he had seen.
8 And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a vision, even that he saw the heavens open, and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God.
9 And it came to pass that he saw One descending out of the midst of heaven, and he beheld that his luster was above that of the sun at noon-day.
10 And he also saw twelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament.
11 And they came down and went forth upon the face of the earth; and the first came and stood before my father, and gave unto him a book, and bade him that he should read.
12 And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord.
13 And he read, saying: Wo, wo, unto Jerusalem, for I have seen thine abominations! Yea, and many things did my father read concerning Jerusalem—that it should be destroyed, and the inhabitants thereof; many should perish by the sword, and many should be carried awaycaptive into Babylon. (1 Nephi 1)
There is quite a bit packed into this passage, but it begins with the positive version of "carried away" and ends with the negative version.
Positive examples
19 And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she had been carried away in the Spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me, saying: Look!
20 And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms. (1 Nephi 11)
29 And I also beheld twelve others following him. And it came to pass that they were carried away in the Spirit from before my face, and I saw them not.
30 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the heavens open again, and I saw angels descending upon the children of men; and they did minister unto them. (1 Nephi 11)
I'll have more to say about this in a future post. I believe these verses subtly explain a really important truth about what an angel really is.
25 And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not write them. (2 Nephi 4)
See also 1 Nephi 14:30 and 1 Nephi 15:1.
6 Now, this was what Ammon desired, for he knew that king Lamoni was under the power of God; he knew that the dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that this had overcome his natural frame, and he was carried away in God (Alma 19)
16 Now, when I think of the success of these my brethren my soul is carried away, even to the separation of it from the body, as it were, so great is my joy.
17 And now may God grant unto these, my brethren, that they may sit down in the kingdom of God; yea, and also all those who are the fruit of their labors that they may go no more out, but that they may praise him forever. And may God grant that it may be done according to my words, even as I have spoken. (Alma 29)
Negative examples
5 And they that kill the prophets, and the saints, the depths of the earth shall swallow them up, saith the Lord of Hosts; and mountains shall cover them, and whirlwinds shall carry them away, and buildings shall fall upon them and crush them to pieces and grind them to powder. (2 Nephi 26)
16 And there were some who were carried away in the whirlwind; and whither they went no man knoweth, save they know that they were carried away. (3 Nephi 8)
13 O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe. (2 Nephi 1)
See also 2 Nephi 6:8, 2 Nephi 25:10-11.
Conclusion -- The Two Ways
Thus we see that "carried away" is yet another covenant-related term with a clear double usage pattern.
Each of us will be "carried away," one way or another. It's inevitable. The good news is that we can choose the way of eternal life, by which we bind ourselves to God through covenant and are carried away by the wings of the Spirit upon exceedingly high mountains (Zion), where we can sing praises and dwell in safety and righteousness forever. (See 2 Nephi 10:23-24, 2 Nephi 4:25, Mormon 7:7, Moses 7:20)
The alternative would be to allow Satan to bind us and allow ourselves to be carried away captive down to hell through unrighteous use of our agency, where our guilt will ascend like smoke to heaven and we would fain command the rocks and the mountains cover us to conceal us from the piercing eye of of the Almighty God at the great day of judgment. (See 2 Nephi 28:21-22, Mosiah 3:25-27, Alma 12:14, Jacob 2:10)
In the next post, I'll outline what I learned as I looked into the Hebrew roots of "carried away."