The everlasting covenant and gospel dispensations -- Part 6 (Jesus Christ)

The previous parts of this series are found here:

• Part 1: Introduction and Adam
• Part 2: Enoch
• Part 3: Noah
• Part 4: Abraham
• Part 5: Moses

This post will focus on the gospel dispensation of Jesus Christ himself. There is plenty of material to take from since the scriptures testify of him. Some of that describes Christ as a restorer of the everlasting covenant. It is interesting to note that from Enoch and on, there is an increasing amount of available information on the gospel dispensations. We know next to nothing about Enoch from the Bible but the Pearl of Great Price gives us a chapter and a half. We have several chapters in Genesis about Noah. We have even more chapters about Abraham in Genesis plus the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price. We have entire books about Moses (Exodus-Deuteronomy). The same can be said about Jesus. In addition to the four gospels, we have the account of his visit among the Nephites in 3 Nephi, but numerous prophecies and sermons in addition. From Joseph Smith we have almost the entire Doctrine and Covenants plus much more detailed accounts of his life than any of the other heads of previous dispensations.

But back to Jesus Christ. The peculiar thing about this dispensation is that he, as the God of the Old Testament, established the everlasting covenant in the first place. He covenanted with Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Moses. He is "the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning" (Mosiah 3:8). The author of the everlasting covenant came to earth himself to restore it. He who created all things longs to re-unite all creation and paid the price of it with his own blood.

In the previous post we discussed the dispensation of Moses. How the Lord wanted to give them the fullness and they could only handle a part. But Moses prophesied:

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers (Deuteronomy 18:15)

Christ identified himself as that prophet when he visited the Nephites.

Behold, I am he of whom Moses spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me (3 Nephi 20:23)

More on this in a previous post about Moses and Christ, explained beautifully by Abinadi. There is a Jewish tradition of the Messiah as the second Moses and there are numerous parallels in addition to the simple fact that Jesus identified as the prophet that Moses told about and said he had come to fulfill the Law of Moses. For instance:

• Jesus was born without shelter and laid in a manger. Moses was also born without shelter and laid in a basket, interestingly called an ark.
• Pharaoh and Herod both order all male infants killed and thereby threaten the lives of Moses and Jesus
• Jesus and Moses both spent their childhood in Egypt
• Both Jesus and Moses fasted 40 days in the wilderness

These historical events establish a parallel such that we can find meaning in the following:

• Moses led Israel out of physical bondage. Jesus leads out out of spiritual bondage
• The people that Moses led were fed manna from heaven. Jesus referred to this event as he identified as the bread of life
• Moses smote the rock so the water gushed out. Jesus is the rock who offers the water of life
• The 10 commandments were given through Moses. Jesus discussed and re-interpreted these in the Sermon of the Mount
• Moses erected a tabernacle to house God. Jesus came down in an earthly tabernacle to house his spirit
• Moses initiated the passover lamb. Jesus is the Lamb of God offering himself as a sacrifice.
• Moses led the people to the promised land. Jesus leads us to the promised land of the celestial kingdom

Jesus came as the second Moses to fulfill the law. The law came with a covenant. The old covenant/testament was replaced by a new. The animal sacrifice pointing forward to Christ's sacrifice was replaced by the sacrament held in remembrance of Christ's sacrifice.

27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Matthew 26)

Both the sermon of Abinadi and the Letter to the Hebrews explain that salvation could not come by the Law of Moses alone but only through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The Law of Moses was administered with the Aaronic Priesthood, also called the lesser or preparatory priesthood. The gospel of Christ and the everlasting covenant are administered with the Melchizedek Priesthood.

11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?

12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. (Hebrews 7)

6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.

8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: (Hebrews 8)

Since Christ's mission was to fulfill the Law of Moses, there are numerous parallels to that dispensation in particular. But the life and ministry of Christ also refers to the other gospel dispensations

• Adam plucked the fruit from the tree. Jesus reversed the fall as the firstfruits of God hanged on the tree at the crucifixion. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:22)
• Enoch established Zion that was taken up to heaven. When Jesus comes again from heaven, he will establish the millennial Zion and the two will meet.
• Noah survived the baptism of the earth and sent forth a dove when the water receded. When Jesus was baptized and came out of the water, the Spirit descended on him in the form of a dove.
• Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son. This is a "similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son" (Jacob 4:5)

As in previous dispensations, the everlasting covenant was brought to earth when Christ came. But where previous dispensations only had looked forward to the sacrifice that was required to effectuate it, Jesus, the creator, came to sacrifice himself for the creation.

Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life; kingdoms, principalities, and powers! (D&C 128:23)

I think this verse is a fitting way to end the year on a positive note. We also wish our readers a Happy New Year! 

The covenant meal

I was not sure if this should be another part of the Melchizedek series or not. But I will leave it a general note that will provide context for the next part of the series but also for other topics we have discussed on this blog. In ancient Israel, covenants were often associated with a meal. This was a way to seal the deal, so to speak, or the means for reconciliation between two parties. There are no formal instructions of a covenant meal in the Old Testament, it was simply a part of the culture that went without saying. But there are numerous examples describing such events.

The covenant meal in the Bible

Two persons or groups of people could covenant (for instance a peace treaty or other promises) and would share a meal together as a sign of unity and commitment. In the Old Testament, God is frequently one of the two parties. How can you share a meal with God? It turns out that there are ways to do that. What I will get to in the next post on the Melchizedek series is the meeting with Abraham where Melchizedek brings bread and wine in Genesis 14. This is of course shared between two men, but Melchizedek as the "priest of the most high God", can also be seen as a representative for God in this case.

Later in Genesis 18, Abraham is visited by three messengers. They share a meal together as the men deliver the message that Sarah will bear a son as part of the covenant promise that Abraham will become a great nation (see Genesis 18:8-18).

Exodus 24 is another interesting example.

7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.

8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.

9 ¶ Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:

10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.

11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.

In this case, they actually eat and drink in the presence of God. This is the establishment of the Mosaic covenant. Moses reads the covenant terms and the people promise to follow it after which the elders of Israel see God and have a meal in his presence. It is of course quite rare to physically eat with the Lord. But just like the Mosaic covenant (old covenant/testament) was instituted with a meal in Exodus 24, so was the new covenant/testament. As Jesus and his disciples ate the Passover lamb (another covenant meal by the way), he took bread and wine, gave it to his disciples and said.

For this is my blood of the new testament [or covenant, depending on the translation], which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Matthew 26:28)

This is another example of the Lord himself sharing a covenant meal with his people. Both the old (Mosaic) covenant and the new covenant were associated with a meal shared between the physically present Lord himself and his elders/apostles.

Another more common way to share a meal with the Lord is through sacrifice. See for instance this instruction in Leviticus.

14 And this is the law of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord, before the altar.

15 And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour, even the memorial of it, unto the Lord.

16 And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it. (Leviticus 6)

Here, the sons of Aaron are instructed to burn the offering "before the Lord" and then "eat the remainder thereof". Offerings would usually consist of a part that was burnt and a part that the priests, who made the sacrifice, ate. This can be viewed as a meal with the Lord where they give him his share in the form of "a sweet savour" ascending to heaven. Sacrifices were done in temples (or tabernacles) and Lord Wilmore has recently written about the meals in the temple. 

There are several other examples of such covenant meals in the Old Testament, like Moses and Jethro in Exodus 18:12, Jacob and Laban in Genesis 31, etc. but I will not get into all of those. But I will bring up a well-known verse in Psalm 23 that I think is worth re-reading in this context.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

This is not just the Lord assuring the psalmist that he will have enough to eat and drink. It is the concept of reconciliation and covenant associated with a meal. ("in the presence of mine enemies" and "dwell in the house of the Lord"). There is a Middle Eastern concept of "sulha" (coming from the Hebrew word, "shulchan" – meaning table) where two rival groups come together in discussion over a big meal and at the end of the meal are fully reconciled. This is described in more detail here.

I will include the Book of Revelation as a final example from the Bible. In Revelation 3:20, we read

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

This leads our thoughts to the last supper and a meal with the mediator of the new covenant. "I...with him, and he with me" indicates a two-way covenant, where each party makes promises. But it may also hint at the future supper at the great wedding feast described in Revelation 19. Or at least that chapter describes another covenant meal. In the grand feast of tabernacles described in this post, the Lord reunites with his covenant people. 

The covenant meal in the Book of Mormon?

There are not many descriptions of meals in the Book of Mormon at all. The only one I could think of (except for the sacrament in 3 Nephi) was Amulek sharing a meal with Alma. But this example does fit the context as discussed. Alma had been cast out of Ammonihah by a people hostile to him. Eating with one of its inhabitants later would signify reconciliation and unity with at least one of its inhabitants, even though many others would still reject him. After the meal, Alma the high priest also pronounced a special high priestly blessing on Amulek and his household. 

7 As I was journeying to see a very near kindred, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto me and said: Amulek, return to thine own house, for thou shalt feed a prophet of the Lord; yea, a holy man, who is a chosen man of God; for he has fasted many days because of the sins of this people, and he is an hungered, and thou shalt receive him into thy house and feed him, and he shall bless thee and thy house; and the blessing of the Lord shall rest upon thee and thy house...

11 For behold, he hath blessed mine house, he hath blessed me, and my women, and my children, and my father and my kinsfolk; yea, even all my kindred hath he blessed, and the blessing of the Lord hath rested upon us according to the words which he spake. (Alma 10)

Notice that after they have eaten together, "a chosen man of God" and the high priest, Alma, gave a blessing that became the blessing of the Lord. This is exactly what we see when the high priest, Melchizedek, blesses Abraham, but we will look into that in detail in the next post.

Parallels between 3 Nephi 19 and the Gospels -- Part 1

3 Nephi 19 is a fascinating chapter. I have previously posted about events in that chapter resembling the day of Pentecost in Acts in the New Testament. What I noticed this time was the striking resemblance between the latter half of the chapter and what happened right before and in the Garden of Gethsemane.

In the latter half of 3 Nephi 19, Jesus asks his disciples to pray. He goes "a little way off from them" and prays to the Father. Then he goes back to the disciples, has some interaction with them before he goes to pray to the Father again. This repeats three times. This exact sequence of events repeated three times happens in Gethsemane too. 

Before we get into the details of that, there is another prallell worth noting. In John 17, as the last thing that happens before Jesus and his disciples go to Gethsemane, Jesus offers his intercessory prayer. Part of that prayer is almost verbatim the same as his prayer(s) to the Father in 3 Nephi 19. With that backdrop, let's go into the details.

The admonition to pray

The passage in 3 Nephi 19 that we will have a closer look at, starts with verse 17

17 And it came to pass that when they had all knelt down upon the earth, he commanded his disciples that they should pray.

18 And behold, they began to pray; and they did pray unto Jesus, calling him their Lord and their God.

Praying directly to Jesus, as the disciples do here, is quite unusual. Later in the chapter, Jesus says that they do so because he is there with them (see verse 22). I will not comment further on that as it is besides the topic of this post. But we can compare this with what happens in the gospels. There are differences between the various accounts. For instance, not all start out with Jesus asking his disciples to pray in Gethsemane. But we read it in Luke 22:39-40

39 And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him.

40 And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.

In Matthew and Mark, the admonition to pray is only given after Jesus comes back.

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Matthew 26:41)

Interestingly, in 3 Nephi 18, the day before the events recorded in 3 Nephi 19, Jesus tells his disciples

Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation (3 Nephi 18:18)

Jesus withdrawing from the disciples to pray

After asking the disciples to pray, Jesus withdraws himself to pray unto the Father. In 3 Nephi, we continue with verse 19 where we left off

And it came to pass that Jesus departed out of the midst of them, and went a little way off from them and bowed himself to the earth, and he said:

In Gethsemane, we find something similar. In Matthew 26:39 

he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed

In Mark 14:35

he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed

In Luke 22:41

And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed

Jesus' intercessory prayer in 3 Nephi 

Then Jesus starts praying. But the prayers in 3 Nephi 19 and in Gethsemane are very different. Obviously it would make no sense for the resurrected Jesus to ask his Father to remove this cup from him in 3 Nephi. Instead, part of his prayer sounds very similar to the intercessory prayer in John 17 that he said right before they went to Gethsemane. Starting off in 3 Nephi 19, Jesus thanks the Father for giving his disciples the Holy Ghost (the pentecostal event mentioned earlier). This is not found in John 17. But then Jesus says

And now Father, I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may believe in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one. (3 Nephi 19:23)

Compare with John 17:20-21

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us

Another shared phrase is found the second time Jesus prays in 3 Nephi 19

Father, I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me out of the world, because of their faith

Compare with John 17:9

I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

The different responses from the disciples

As mentioned in other previous posts, when we find parallels like these in the scriptures, the learning points are often found in the differences. In this case the response from the disciples are vastly different between these two accounts. In both accounts, Jesus asks his disciples to (watch and) pray. When Jesus has finished praying the first time in 3 Nephi 19, he goes back to his disciples.

24 And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus prayed unto the Father, he came unto his disciples, and behold, they did still continue, without ceasing, to pray unto him; and they did not multiply many words, for it was given unto them what they should pray, and they were filled with desire.

25 And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto him; and his countenance did smile upon them, and the light of his countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof.

26 And Jesus said unto them: Pray on; nevertheless they did not cease to pray.

Contrast that with Matthew 26:40

And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?

Jesus had specifically asked them to "watch". The Greek word is gregoreo and literally means to stay awake. The disciples in the Old World failed to follow his admonition. The disciples in the New World prayed, as he instructed, "without ceasing" and were immediately blessed as a consequence. 

There is much more to say about this, so I will split this post and save the rest for part 2. This post only presents an overview of the parallels. The next post will discuss what we can learn after having identified them. As a final indicator, however, that these parallels between 3 Nephi 19 and the New Testament are not just coincidental, I quote the last two verses of 3 Nephi 19 with an explicit reference to the Jews.

35 And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying he came again to the disciples, and said unto them: So great faith have I never seen among all the Jews; wherefore I could not show unto them so great miracles, because of their unbelief.
36 Verily I say unto you, there are none of them that have seen so great things as ye have seen; neither have they heard so great things as ye have heard.

These verses indicates that faith made the difference discussed in this last section, but we will get more into that in part 2. 

 

 

Linking events through numbers

This might be more of a Bible note than a Book of Mormon note, even though there might be relevant examples from the Book of Mormon too that I have not thought about yet. We have seen in many of the previous posts on this blog that key words and phrases are often used in the scriptures to tie together different passages that help expand on a principle and enhance meaning. In some cases, I think numbers also can be used as such keys. For instance, in this post, the number seven links the creation with the history of the earth and helps us understand the millennium as a sabbath day of rest for the earth. 

But there was another event in the scriptures that made me realize this. Perhaps I'm slow and many readers have thought of this before: We all know the story of Peter's denial of Jesus. Jesus already foretold it only hours before. It is easy to criticize Peter for his poor short-term memory or weakness, but perhaps also hard to imagine the real fear and stress he would have in such a situation. After all, he was the only one that followed Jesus from a distance, while all the other apostles "forsook him and fled" (Matthew 26:56).

In any case, I happened to think about the event in John 21, when the resurrected Jesus appears to the apostles at the sea of Tiberias. Jesus asks Peter three times: "Do you love me" and invites him to feed his sheep. Why does Jesus ask three times? To stress the importance of his admonition? In that case, there are probably a lot of other things he said during his earthly ministry that he could have repeated three times. But I think by doing so, he refers to Peter's denial from some days earlier. Without this repetition, nobody would make a connection between these two events. But with this link established, there are lessons to be learned.

• Peter's denial was a sign of him fearing men more than God. At Tiberias, Jesus asked if he loved him more than "these" (men). The lesson is that "love casteth out all fear" (Moroni 8:16)
• No matter how much we think we have messed up and how bitter our tears (Peter wept bitterly), Jesus gives us the chance to rectify
• 1 Peter 4:8 relates to the above point: "And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins." "Do you love me" and "feed my sheep" is the chance Jesus gives Peter to show charity and "cover" the denial
• Jesus teaches us all a lesson on unselfishness. Peter had betrayed Jesus, but Jesus did not ask him to make it up to him. He was not concerned with his pride being hurt over the denial. As the good shepherd, he is only concerned with his sheep.

These are just my thoughts, and there may be other lessons here. But I want to mention another example where, at least in my mind, a number is used to connect two events: The 10 plagues in Egypt before the Exodus and the 10 commandments given during the Exodus. The plagues may seem somewhat arbitrary, but they actually relate specifically to the Egyptian gods and show how the God of Israel is greater than them all.

When God has sent 10 plagues over Egypt to help his people escape slavery, I don't think it is coincidence that he later gives 10 commandments. The 10 commandments are found in Exodus chapter 20. The first three verses read:

1 And God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

It starts out with a reminder; that he is their God, who brought them out of Egypt. He demonstrated through the plagues that he is mightier than the Egyptian gods and the first commandment is therefore an apt admonition: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 

Again, there are lessons to be learned. Considering the 10 commandments to a covenant people as a contrast to the 10 plagues over an idol-worshipping people, inevitably poses the question: Should the commandments be viewed as a blessing, the opposite of a curse? I think so. We might tend to think of commandments as a burden. But I don't think God sees it that way at all, and does not want us to see it that way either. By contrasting them with the curse upon the Egyptians, he teaches us that they are a blessing, a chance for us to "obey his voice". In the preface to the 10 commandments, God says:

Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine (Exodus 19:5)

There might be other examples in the scriptures of numbers connecting events to teach a greater lesson, but these are the two in particular that I have been reflecting on.