The everlasting covenant and gospel dispensations -- Part 3 (Noah)

Part 1 introduces the everlasting covenant in the context of gospel dispensations. At every new dispensation, there is a righteous priesthood holder who seeks to re-establish the everlasting covenant. We saw how Enoch did this in part 2. He managed to gather the righteous, becoming a new creation in a city that was taken up to heaven. The wicked were left behind and therefore a new gospel dispensation or re-establishment of the everlasting covenant was needed. This dispensation was headed by Noah and it was quite dramatic. Lord Wilmore has written extensively on Noah and related symbolism of "rest" (the Hebrew meaning of his name), which stands in stark contrast to the unrest that the wicked experienced at the flood.

What is the nature of "the everlasting covenant"? In part 1, we defined it as "the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, including all ordinances and covenants necessary for the salvation of mankind". This may seem confusing because the covenants with Enoch and Noah that are sometimes referred to as "the everlasting covenant" are quite specific for them and may differ from the ordinances and covenants we have today. But I believe that the core of the covenant always is to offer the ordinances, conditions and promises necessary for salvation. The practical details of that may vary from one dispensation to another but on an overall level it is about restoring man, and by extension the whole creation, back to God's presence.

In the JST of Genesis 9:15, we read

And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I will establish my covenant with you, which I made unto your father Enoch, concerning your seed after you.

This marks a new dispensation and a new establishment of the covenant. God specifically refers to the covenant he made with Enoch. Later, in JST 9:21-25, we get more details

21 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant, which I made unto thy father Enoch; that, when men should keep all my commandments, Zion should again come on the earth, the city of Enoch which I have caught up unto myself.

22 And this is mine everlasting covenant, that when thy posterity shall embrace the truth, and look upward, then shall Zion look downward, and all the heavens shall shake with gladness, and the earth shall tremble with joy;

23 And the general assembly of the church of the firstborn shall come down out of heaven, and possess the earth, and shall have place until the end come. And this is mine everlasting covenant, which I made with thy father Enoch.

24 And the bow shall be in the cloud, and I will establish my covenant unto thee, which I have made between me and thee, for every living creature of all flesh that shall be upon the earth.

25 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and thee; for all flesh that shall be upon the earth.

In Enoch's time, the covenant was about gathering the righteous in a city and lifting them up to heaven. In Noah's time, it was about having posterity that could "embrace the truth" and long for the same city but not attain it until the onset of the millennium when heaven and earth would reunite. This covenant, as all covenants at the time, was to be taken very seriously. This is indicated by the token of the covenant. In Hebrew, there is no word for rainbow, there is only the "bow". This is pointing upward towards heaven as if God is saying: "May I be shot if I break this covenant".

With the re-establishment of the covenant with Noah, we see the recurring elements listed before:

• References to the creation
• References to eternity or "before the foundation of the world"
• Hearkening to the word of God and receiving instruction
• Being called after His order
• Preaching and exemplifying redemption, becoming a new creation

Especially the creation is alluded to repeatedly. The whole story of Noah is both an anti-creation account and a re-creation account. Both before the flood, describing the destruction, and after the flood, describing the new beginning, we find multiple allusions to the creation account, as Lord Wilmore also has mentioned previously.

And the Lord said: I will destroy man whom I have created, from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping things, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth Noah that I have created them (Moses 8:26)

Beast, creeping things and fowls of the air are all creation language from Genesis 1. So is "breath of life", which is only found in the creation account in addition to the story about Noah:

And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. (Genesis 6:17)

Then God brings the earth to a pre-creation state of watery chaos by flooding the earth. When the flood recedes, the narrative describes a re-creation with continued references to the first creation account.

• In Genesis 5:29, there is a wordplay on the name, Noah (Hebr. "rest"), who will "comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed". The cursed ground alludes to Genesis 3:17 after Adam had eaten the forbidden fruit. In Genesis 8:21 God promises not to curse the ground again.
• In Genesis 9:1, Noah and his sons are commanded to "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth", just like Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28
• In Genesis 9:2-3, Noah is commanded to rule over the creatures, just like Adam in Genesis 1:28-29
• Genesis 9:6 repeats that God made man in his image

This is all part of a re-creation and beautifully symbolizes the two creations necessary for salvation. The dual destruction/anti-creation and re-creation narratives also remind us that we need to destroy the parts of our lives that are not in line with our covenants and preserve or re-create the parts that are. 

These references to the creation and Adam also follow the pattern of referring one head of a dispensation to other dispensations. In addition to Adam, Noah connects to Enoch in Genesis 6:9. "Noah walked with God" just like "Enoch walked with God" (Genesis 5:24).

Moses 8 displays further typical characteristics of a gospel dispensation.

13 And Noah and his sons hearkened unto the Lord, and gave heed, and they were called the sons of God...

16 And it came to pass that Noah prophesied, and taught the things of God, even as it was in the beginning...

19 And the Lord ordained Noah after his own order, and commanded him that he should go forth and declare his Gospel unto the children of men, even as it was given unto Enoch.

I didn't think that I would spend the entire post on Noah, but it turned out to be even more than I thought once I started digging deep. The next post will continue with the gospel dispensation of Abraham and its relation to the everlasting covenant. 

 

 

Melchizedek -- Part 2 ("when thy posterity shall...look upward, then shall Zion look downward")

This post is a continuation of part 1, where we discussed the nature of the everlasting covenant and the order of the Son of God. 

The creation-covenant connection

We have frequently written about the creation-covenant connection on this blog. A linguistic Hebrew relation between the two indicates a conceptual relation. All creation was initially bound through covenant. Wickedness and iniquity disrupts this harmony whereas righteousness restores and preserves it. This righteousness is the essence of the order of the Son of God or the priesthood of Melchizedek, the king of righteousness. It ultimately leads back to the Garden of Eden or Zion where harmony and peace of the whole creation abound. 

How? The priesthood and its ordinances manifest the power of godliness and cause us to "look upward". To repeat JST Genesis 9:22

And this is mine everlasting covenant, that when thy posterity shall embrace the truth, and look upward, then shall Zion look downward, and all the heavens shall shake with gladness, and the earth shall tremble with joy

This is such a beautiful verse. The poetic parallelism at the end is certainly typical for ancient Hebrew and not 19th century upstate New York language, by the way. Do you see the creation-covenant theme? In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. When we live in this mortal state on earth and embrace the everlasting covenant, we look upward and heaven and earth are reunited and rejoicing.

Enoch and his posterity

Another aspect of this verse is God speaking to Noah about his posterity. There is an interesting dynamic here that I have pondered. In the last post we saw that the covenant was closely linked to Zion. Enoch and his city were taken and JST Genesis 14:32 states

And men having this faith, coming up unto this order of God, were translated and taken up into heaven.

This implies that anyone with faith coming unto this order of God (the Melchizedek Priesthood) are translated and taken up to heaven like Enoch. This may seem strange, since Enoch and his city are quite unique in history. But reading on, this is explained

33 And now, Melchizedek was a priest of this order; therefore he obtained peace in Salem, and was called the Prince of peace.

34 And his people wrought righteousness, and obtained heaven, and sought for the city of Enoch which God had before taken, separating it from the earth, having reserved it unto the latter days, or the end of the world

So Melchizedek was after this order and should therefore be translated and taken up to heaven like Enoch. We learn from these verses that Melchizedek "obtained heaven", but not the same way as Enoch. Instead, he established the heavenly order, peace, on earth in Salem (from the Hebrew word, Shalom, meaning peace) and then waited for a day when he would come to the city of Enoch that has been reserved for the latter days. 

And this Melchizedek, having thus established righteousness, was called the king of heaven by his people, or, in other words, the King of peace. (JST Genesis 14:36)

This idea is expressed in Moses 8:2 as well

And it came to pass that Methuselah, the son of Enoch, was not taken, that the covenants of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he made to Enoch; for he truly covenanted with Enoch that Noah should be of the fruit of his loins.

Enoch and his city were taken to heaven. They sought heaven and obtained it through righteousness by the holy order and everlasting covenant. But part of the covenant was to leave a posterity that would have access to the same order and the same blessings. Except they would have to try to establish this order on earth "looking upward" and have to wait for the latter days for the full realization of Zion, where heaven and earth would meet. One day, Enoch and his city in heaven will meet Zion on earth, consisting of his righteous posterity.

Enoch, Noah and Abraham

Promises concerning posterity is an important ingredient in the Abrahamic covenant. In fact, I think the covenant with Abraham is just a reiteration of the everlasting covenant that God made with Enoch and Noah but with some additional specific promises to him. Interestingly, Melchizedek in the JST is described as "ordained an high priest after the order of the covenant which God made with Enoch" before he blesses Abraham

And it came to pass, that God blessed Abram, and gave unto him riches, and honor, and lands for an everlasting possession; according to the covenant which he had made, and according to the blessing wherewith Melchizedek had blessed him. (JST Genesis 14:40)

I would not be surprised if the order of the covenant with Enoch had a lot to do with the blessing that Melchizedek gave to Abraham. Melchizedek is also described as a man of faith

26 Now Melchizedek was a man of faith, who wrought righteousness...

30 For God having sworn unto Enoch and unto his seed with an oath by himself; that every one being ordained after this order and calling should have power, by faith, to break mountains, to divide the seas, to dry up waters, to turn them out of their course;

31 To put at defiance the armies of nations, to divide the earth, to break every band, to stand in the presence of God; to do all things according to his will, according to his command, subdue principalities and powers; and this by the will of the Son of God which was from before the foundation of the world.

32 And men having this faith, coming up unto this order of God, were translated and taken up into heaven.

I know that I am repeating some of these verses over and over, but there is so much in here and I want to highlight the different aspects. In this case, my focus on faith and posterity leads directly to Paul's letter to the Hebrews. Chapters 5-7 discuss Melchizedek and his order and chapter 11 is a lecture on faith. I don't think it's a coincidence that Enoch, Noah and Abraham are mentioned as examples of faith in that order

5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

It's a long passage but I have to include all these verse since it fits remarkably well with the scriptures quoted already in the context of the everlasting covenant. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob dwelling in tabernacles actually also fits the series on tabernacles/shekinah that I recently wrote, especially this part and this part, even though I only reluctantly introduce yet another aspect to an already complex topic.

So let me try to sum this up: From the foundation of the world, there is an everlasting covenant binding all creation together in peace. The fall and the iniquity of man as a result of the fall, disrupts the covenant. But Enoch, being called after the order of the Son of God, managed to restore the covenant of peace and establish Zion. His city was taken to heaven with a promise that one day, the seed after him who similarly enter into this order and covenant, will meet them in a grand reunion of heaven and earth. Consequently, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham and other 'Tsadiks' (Righteous Ones) were not immediately taken up to heaven like Enoch. Rather, they were preserved, received promises concerning their posterity and tried to establish peace in their circumstances while longing for a future "city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God". 

As Abraham's seed, we too can "look upward" aided by the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood in which "the power of godliness" is manifest. "Then shall Zion look downward" and we will also one day become its citizens, no longer being "strangers and pilgrims". 

 

"Striving," Part 2

In part 1, we looked at the use of the word "striving" in the Book of Mormon and noted that the most common context relates to the final ripening of a wicked people rejecting the covenant and inviting destruction.

In this post, we'll take a look at how "striving" is used in other books of scripture.

Old Testament

Out of the 23 occurrences in the King James Old Testament, "strive/striving" usually occurs in the context of contention between people. The most notable exception is the first instance:

2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. (Genesis 6)

Other exceptions:

1 Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. (Psalm 35)

10 ¶ Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.

12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.

13 For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. (Isaiah 41)

9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? (Isaiah 45)

New Testament

In the New Testament, we have 13 occurrences, usually related to "endeavoring," but sometimes meaning "fighting against." Here is one example of each context:

24 ¶ Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:

26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.

27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. (Luke 13)

24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,

25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; (2 Timothy 2)

Doctrine and Covenants

The two examples from the D&C are listed below:

33 And he that repents not, from him shall be taken even the light which he has received; for my Spirit shall not always strive with man, saith the Lord of Hosts.

34 And again, verily I say unto you, O inhabitants of the earth: I the Lord am willing to make these things known unto all flesh;

35 For I am no respecter of persons, and will that all men shall know that the day speedily cometh; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion. (D&C 1)

68 O Lord, remember thy servant, Joseph Smith, Jun., and all his afflictions and persecutions—how he has covenanted with Jehovah, and vowed to thee, O Mighty God of Jacob—and the commandments which thou hast given unto him, and that he hath sincerely striven to do thy will. (D&C 109)

Pearl of Great Price

We have one occurrence in the Book of Moses. It is this context I'd like to focus the next post on.  Notice the connection to Enoch in these verses.

17 And the Lord said unto Noah: My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for he shall know that all flesh shall die; yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years; and if men do not repent, I will send in the floods upon them.

18 And in those days there were giants on the earth, and they sought Noah to take away his life; but the Lord was with Noah, and the power of the Lord was upon him.

19 And the Lord ordained Noah after his own order, and commanded him that he should go forth and declare his Gospel unto the children of men, even as it was given unto Enoch. (Moses 8)

In the next post, I'd like to pick up with the story of Enoch and the City of Zion, which is found in Moses 7, and connect the concept of the Spirit/divine messengers working to bring about Zion with the concept of the Spirit "striving with man."