Stewardship and prosperity

Joseph in Egypt is probably my favorite story in the Old Testament. Reading it again I started pondering the responsibility he gets and what he does with it. When he is sold to Potiphar, he is set over his whole household and "the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hands" (Genesis 39:3). After he was put into prison, the same thing happened again. The chief jailer committed everything in Joseph's hands and "whatever he did, the Lord made it to prosper" (Genesis 39:23). 

There is a play on his name, just like we see ever so often in the Old Testament. Joseph means to add or increase. Whatever is committed into Joseph's hands increases and prospers. It happens again when he interprets Pharao's dream. 

And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. (Genesis 41:41)

Joseph, as usual, is a good steward who uses his responsibility and position to save Egypt from famine as well as neighboring lands, including his own family. He does that by laying up and keeping (Hebr. shamar, see Genesis 41:35) food during the prosperous years.

Lord Wilmore has written about shamar, meaning to keep, watch or preserve. Adam and Eve were commanded to "shamar" the Garden of Eden. They were given a responsibility like Joseph. This is also the word used in Hebrew when talking about keeping the commandments. It is an unusual yet intriguing idea to view our relationship with the commandments as a form of stewardship similar to that of Joseph or Adam and Eve.

The Nephites are often reminded that they are a remnant of Joseph. Their forefather is an example to look up to and his story of prosperity despite being an outcast is very relevant for the outcasts from Jerusalem who were commanded to keep God's commandment with the attached blessing that they would prosper in the land if they did so. Joseph's example of stewardship and prosperity is certainly one with both temporal and spiritual applications.

42 And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time?

43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.

44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. (Luke 12)

Sounds like Joseph. In fact, "give them their portion" uses the same verb as in the Greek Septuagint in Genesis 47:12 when Joseph "nourished his father, his brethren, and all his father's household with bread".

There are surprisingly many scriptures on this topic in the Doctrine and Covenants. Here are a few, some of them with allusions to Luke 12:

3 I, the Lord, have appointed them, and ordained them to be stewards over the revelations and commandments which I have given unto them, and which I shall hereafter give unto them;
4 And an account of this stewardship will I require of them in the day of judgment. (D&C 70)

And verily in this thing ye have done wisely, for it is required of the Lord, at the hand of every steward, to render an account of his stewardship, both in time and in eternity. (D&C 72:3)

21 For ye are the church of the Firstborn, and he will take you up in a cloud, and appoint every man his portion.
22 And he that is a faithful and wise steward shall inherit all things. Amen. (D&C 78)

And whoso is found a faithful, a just, and a wise steward shall enter into the joy of his Lord, and shall inherit eternal life. (D&C 51:19)

Gold and the Two Ways -- part 3

This is part 3 in a series.  Part 1. Part 2.

In this section we'll look at references to gold and treasure in the New Testament. I'll end with the teachings of Jesus from the Gospels, so let's begin with the other books.  This is not comprehensive, it is only meant to be a sample of the type of messages about treasure which relate to the doctrine of the Two Ways. To summarize a theme I see repeated throughout scriptures: the way of life values God's hidden wisdom over any earthly treasure, whereas the way of death causes one to be willing to enter into secret combinations in order to gain earthly treasures.

James 5

1 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. 2 Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. 4 Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. (James 5, NRSV)

This passage contains a really important details which I'll develop in more detail as we look at Book of Mormon passages about gold and riches. Notice how James describes the consequence of laying up earthly treasures at the expense of the poor: not only will your treasure rust, it will also stand as evidence against you (that you did not freely give it to the cause of Zion) and it will "eat your flesh like fire." This intense visual metaphor is really important in understanding Book of Mormon references to hell and damnation. 

Acts 3

3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.
4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.
5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.
6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. (Acts 3)

Acts 17

29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. (Acts 17)

Acts 20

32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
33 I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel.

34 Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. (Acts 20)

2 Timothy 2

20 In a large house there are utensils not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for special use, some for ordinary. 21 All who cleanse themselves of the things I have mentioned will become special utensils, dedicated and useful to the owner of the house, ready for every good work. (2 Timothy 2, NRSV)

I have one additional reference to gold from the epistles of Paul which I'll save for the end of this post, because it builds on some ideas I'll develop in more detail in future parts of this series.

The Gospels

Jesus teaches about the potential perils of riches many times and in a variety of contexts:

In Matthew 2, the wise men give the Christ child a gift including gold.

Matthew 10: 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. 9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, 10 Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.

 

Matthew 23: 16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? (NRSV)

 

Mark 10: 21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. 22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. 23 ¶ And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! 24 And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! (See also Matthew 19:21-23.)

Luke 6: 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. (See also Matthew 12:35.)

Matthew 6: 19 ¶ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Luke 12: 21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Conclusion and final example

It really strikes me how often Jesus' words about treasure directly connect to the doctrine of the two ways. It is clear that James 5:4 (quoted above) is a direct reference to Genesis 4:10, in which Abel's blood cries from the ground to the Lord as a testament of Cain's evil.

This connection to such an ancient, foundational Old Testament passage has me pondering about riches and treasure.  I'm starting to see these ideas in new and interesting ways. For example, in the next part we'll look at the curse described in the Book of Mormon where treasure becomes slippery.

But I think it goes even deeper than that. Part of the test of mortality involves a choice between valuing gold above God and our fellow man, thereby becoming as dross. Alternatively, we can humble ourselves and seek the things of a better world, thereby becoming as dross (cast out by the wealthy of the world), which process refines us as gold in God's eyes.  This connects pretty directly to a variety of scriptural symbols: the gulf in Lehi's dream, the lake of fire and brimstone, and the smoke that "ascendeth up forever and ever." We also see some similar teachings in the apocryphal Books of Enoch.  

Let's conclude this post with one last passage from the New Testament:

1 Corinthians 3: 10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. 14 If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? (NRSV)

The day of judgment brings fire to test what kind of temple each of us has built on the foundation which has been laid. Will it be burned up or will it stand?

I'll develop this idea in the final two parts of this series.

Possible Hebrew roots regarding Satan's "chains"

Jeff Lindsay discusses possible Hebrew roots that might help us understand the nature of Satan's chains:

How does a chain veil the earth with darkness (or how might it help Satan in veiling the earth...? Chains are not especially opaque. A search for “veil” and “chain” in the Old Testament yielded these possibilities:

• Candidate for “chain”: rābiyd (רבִיד)57), a necklace, neck chain or collar, used in Genesis 41:42 (Pharaoh gives Joseph “a gold chain about his neck”) and Ezekiel 16:11 (“I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put … a chain on thy neck”). From rābad (רָבַד)58), meaning to spread or bedeck.

• Candidate for “veil”/“vail”: rādiyd (רדִיד)59), a “veil” in Song of Songs 5:7 and “vails” in Isaiah 3:23, a word which can mean a “thin outer garment” or a shawl, headcloth, or large veil.60

If these words were actually used in a Hebrew document (say, on the brass plates), then Satan’s chain, a rābiyd, wouldn’t necessarily be something that looks frightening but could be ornamental and attractive, the kind we might gladly receive and wear around our necks with pride, only to realize too late that, like the golden handcuffs we speak of in the business world, it limits our freedom. Satan’s pretty chains are chains of slavery. They connect us to his crushing yoke and lead us captive into bitter servitude. 

These two ideas (the chain as an adornment and the "veil of darkness") fit in very nicely with a few additional relevant Book of Mormon passages. First a connection to Nephi's discussion of the devil's "flaxen cord" at the end of 2 Nephi:

 22 And there are also secret combinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the devil, for he is the founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and works of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever. (2 Nephi 26)

Note here the reference to two separate cords: First the flaxen cords, then the strong cords.

This paper by Gregory Smith explores the context of the term "flaxen cord" in exquisite detail.  Among many other points, he finds very specific connections between 2 Nephi 26:20-21 (the two verses immediately preceding the verse quoted above) and major themes of 2 Nephi 28. Smith then (convincingly, in my opinion) connects verse 22 with 2 Nephi 28:21:

And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well — and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.

Imagine that--carnal security as the flaxen cord with which we willingly bind ourselves, only to end up bound by Satan's strong cords before we realize it. If the flaxen cord is an "adornment" that we put on ourselves, that fits very neatly into this context.

Second, a connection between the "veil of darkness" and Nephi's discussion of "the two churches" in 1 Nephi 14.  In this passage, Nephi makes extensive contrasts between the church of God and the "whore of all the earth."  Visually, I picture the contrast between Christ as the Bridegroom, leading the church of the Lamb of God down safe paths, as opposed to Satan leading the "whore of all the earth" as a captive, covered in a dark veil, against her will down to hell.  It fits in this context, too, and it is a stark image.

In light of all of this, what role does carnal security play in the Gospel?  I'm reminded of a few New Testament passages:

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6)

And this one:

16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12)