Overcoming fear by developing a righteous fear of God

Saint Francis of Assisi writes, “It is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.” To this list of paradoxes, we could add, “It is in fearing God that we no longer need to be afraid.” It’s by respecting, revering, and even fearing a good God that we set things right. And when things are right with God, there’s nothing else to fear.

--Matthew Richard Schlimm, 70 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know

Fear appears in the scriptures with regularity, yet the meaning of the word has changed over time and culture.  I've spent some time studying and thinking about what it means to fear God and will attempt to summarize those thoughts in this post.

The Hebrew word most often translated to 'fear' in the Old Testament is:

yare' (יָרֵא): affright

We find it first in the creation account as Adam explains why he hid from the Lord:

9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. (Genesis 3)

Fear came to Adam as a result of his transgression and resulted in a futile attempt to hide from God.

The full meaning of the Hebrew word for 'fear' (yare') spans a range of English words.  Here is a more detailed entry from the NIDOTTE:

The aspects of fear encompassed by יָרֵא include terror, respect, and worship. Terror and worship are, in some sense, polar opposites; the former is characteristic of complete anxiety while the latter suggests trust. The aspect of respect, however, can be either a weakened sense of fear or worship. Therefore, the concept of terror can be weakened to express respect, which can once again be intensified to express worship. Only by context can the particular sense of each occurrence be determined. (Vol. 2, p. 528)

 

From terror to respect to worship

The work of angels is to teach the children of men how to replace their terror toward God with respect, and ultimately how to transform that respect toward God into a true worship of Him.

This is a pattern we see over and over again in the Book of Mormon. Perhaps one of the most notable examples is Alma-2.  When he first encounters God, "the very thought of coming into the presence of [his] God did rack [his] soul with inexpressible horror."

15 Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds. (Alma 36)

As he repents and hearkens to the words of the angel, his confidence before God transforms into worship. This son of a prophet who once went about in secret trying to tear down the church became a powerful disciple of Jesus Christ.  Read this fascinating exchange between Alma and his son Helaman which is one of the final accounts we have of Alma-2, paying attention to the confidence before displayed by Alma:

2 And it came to pass in the nineteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, that Alma came unto his son Helaman and said unto him: Believest thou the words which I spake unto thee concerning those records which have been kept?
3 And Helaman said unto him: Yea, I believe.
4 And Alma said again: Believest thou in Jesus Christ, who shall come?
5 And he said: Yea, I believe all the words which thou hast spoken.
6 And Alma said unto him again: Will ye keep my commandments?
7 And he said: Yea, I will keep thy commandments with all my heart.
8 Then Alma said unto him: Blessed art thou; and the Lord shall prosper thee in this land. (Alma 45)

Verse 6 has always stuck out to me -- the commandments of the Lord and the commandments of Alma have become one. Alma's word has become God's word. This same concept is taught poetically by Alma in the first and last phrases of Alma 36, described in this post.

The power of possessing a righteous fear of God

With this fear in place, we prioritize worshipping God over all other things, and our confidence in His promises grow. Notice how fear is juxtaposed with symbols of temple worship in this familiar Psalm:

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
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. (Pslam 23)

Paths of righteousness and wisdom

Having just finished Margaret Barker's "Temple Theology", I am still in ancient temple mode. One of the characteristics of this older first temple tradition (pre-deuteronomic reform) was the belief in a female deity called "wisdom". This seems to have been a tradition that Lehi and his family took with them to the promised land. We have touched upon it on this blog before, see here. Mosiah 8:20 is also a good example

how blind and impenetrable are the understandings of the children of men; for they will not seek wisdom, neither do they desire that she should rule over them!

Another backdrop for this post is the concept of walking on a path, which has also been posted about a lot before and has rarely to do with moving one's feet and usually something to do with entering into and keeping covenants. The ancient temple (and I would even argue the modern temple) respresents this path from a scattered state in the wilderness through covenants and a gradual ascent to the holy of holies in unity. 

With this in mind, I want to discuss the mention of paths in the Book of Mormon. Often, these paths are described as "his paths" and they are strait or made straight. On a few occasions, these paths are the paths of a virtue. In those cases they are either the paths of righteousness or wisdom. 

Paths of righteousness (tsedeq)

The Hebrew word, tsedeq, is typically translated into 'righteousness' and is a masculine word (all Hebrew words have one of two genders). It is closely associated with God. He epitomizes or personifies righteousness. For instance, we can read in Jeremiah 23:6

In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

So in one sense, when we are asked to walk in the paths of righteousness, we are asked to walk in his paths. Like in Psalm 23:3

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

The path of righteousness is also found in the Book of Mormon

And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before the Lord; insomuch that I had joy and great hopes of them, that they would walk in the paths of righteousness. (1 Nephi 16:5)

For I perceive that ye are in the paths of righteousness; I perceive that ye are in the path which leads to the kingdom of God; yea, I perceive that ye are making his paths straight. (Alma 7:19)

From Alma's statement we can infer that the paths of righteousness are the path of God (His paths) and also the path that leads to God.

Wisdom's paths (chokmah)

The Hebrew word for wisdom is 'chokmah' and is a feminine noun. Much of the wisdom tradition is shown in the Book of Proverbs, although I suspect that it was more prevalent in other parts of the Old Testament writings too before it went "through the hands of the great and abominable church". Proverbs 8 is all about this. But we will consider an example from Proverbs 4, where there is also talk of paths.

7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.
11 I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.

Even though wisdom referred to as a female in these verses, one may argue that wisdom is introduced as a "thing" in verse 7, which is not in line with the image of a female deity. But looking into this further, it gets interesting. There is no Hebrew word equivalent of the English "thing" in this verse. It is just part of the translation of the Hebrew, "reshith", to make the text work in English. Interestingly, this also happens to be the very first word of the Bible or Torah. "In the beginning (reshith) God created the heavens and the earth". It's the Hebrew word for beginning, chief, first. I'm no Hebrew expert but can easily imagine that Proverbs 4:7 could as well be translated as "in the beginning was wisdom". This is also consistent with Proverbs 8:23-30, where Wisdom speaks and explains that she was there at the creation.

Compare that with the words of Gerald Schroeder, Israeli physicist and orthodox Jew, discussing Genesis 1:1

The opening word, usually translated as ‘in the beginning,’ is Be’reasheet. Be’reasheet can mean ‘in the beginning of,’ but not ‘in the beginning.’ The difficulty with the preposition ‘of’ is that its object is absent from the sentence; thus the King James translation merely drops it. But the 2100-year-old Jerusalem translation of Genesis into Aramaic takes a different approach, realizing that Be’reasheet is a compound word: the prefix Be’, ‘with,’ and reasheet, a ‘first wisdom.’ The Aramaic translation is thus ‘With wisdom God created the heavens and the earth.’ 

This wisdom that was with God in the beginning at the creation has her "way", the "way of wisdom" as we read in Proverbs 4:11. Again, this is something we find in the Book of Mormon too.

ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom’s paths that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved (Mosiah 2:36)

Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom’s paths! (Helaman 12:5)

Conclusion

When paths in the Book of Mormon are coupled with a virtue, it is either righteousness or wisdom. Based on the evidence presented in this post, they can be interpreted as the masculine and feminine part of God(head). Our heavenly parents are inviting us back to their presence. To get there we must walk on their path.

As mentioned in another recent post, the ancient temple was patterned after the six days of creation. Walking "the path" in the temple was a progression through the days of creation backwards until one reached the light created on the first day in the holy of holies in unity with "righteousness" and "wisdom", our heavenly parents. 

Psalms in the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi

I've been fascinated recently by the influence of the Psalms in the Book of Mormon.  This paper by John Hilton III is a useful resource.  In this post, I'll begin listing examples of intertextual connections. I will mostly follow the outline given by Hilton in the paper, sorted by order of appearance in the Book of Mormon, with a few comments in between.

I want to make it clear that I'm not really suggesting a "why" or "how" for these connections.  Some people see nothing but plagiarism when they notice similarities between one book of scripture and another.  I see it quite differently -- all of these words belong to God and the Book of Mormon claims to be a gathering of the word of God in one (see 2 Nephi 29:14). However you choose to view these connections, don't let them get in the way of appreciating the beauty of the language.

Tender Mercies

9 The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. (Psalm 145)

20 ...But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance. (1 Nephi 1)

16 Hear me, O Lord; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. (Psalm 69)

8 And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according to the multitude of his tender mercies. (1 Nephi 8)

See also Ether 6:12. There are about a dozen additional references to "tender mercies" in the Psalms.

My Rock and My Salvation

2 He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved. (Psalm 62)

36 And in them shall be written my gospel, saith the Lamb, and my rock and my salvation. (1 Nephi 13)

See also 1 Nephi 15:15 and 2 Nephi 4:30. In addition, see D&C 18:17 and Abraham 2:16.

In the Paths of Righteousness

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23)

5 And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before the Lord; insomuch that I had joy and great hopes of them, that they would walk in the paths of righteousness. (1 Nephi 16)

19 For I perceive that ye are in the paths of righteousness; I perceive that ye are in the path which leads to the kingdom of God; yea, I perceive that ye are making his paths straight. (Alma 7)

What is the word of God? -- Part 1

I've been thinking a lot about the "word of God" -- what it really is and what it means to "hold to the rod."

In these posts (post 1 and post 2) I presented an idea that the "iron rod" depicted in Lehi's dream might be something other than a handrail, as is commonly assumed.  There are beautiful lessons to be learned if we think of the "rod" as an invitation to participate in sacred covenants by a divinely-authorized messenger.

In this post, I'll summarize some of the results of my deep dive into the concept of the rod in scripture, and its connection to prophets, priesthood, covenants, judgment, and the atonement of Jesus Christ. We'll start with Moses and the symbolic meaning of the rod. Then we'll move to the Book of Mormon and end in the Book of Revelation.

The Symbol of the Rod

Moses' rod was a common-place tool he used to herd sheep.  This object became a powerful metaphor for his divinely-appointed role as the leader of the children of Israel. He performed miracles with it, including parting the Red Sea and providing water from the rock for the children of Israel. Moses' rod was a symbol of his prophetic power.

It seems that in Old Testament times, the rod is closely associated with the covenant:

36 I will judge you the same way I judged your ·ancestors [fathers] in the ·desert [wilderness] of the land of Egypt, says the Lord God. 37 I will ·count you like sheep [L make you pass under the rod/shepherd’s staff; Lev. 27:32] and will bring you into ·line with [L the bond of] my ·agreement [covenant; treaty]. 38 I will ·get rid of [purge out] those who ·refuse to obey me [revolt] and ·who turn [rebel] against me. I will bring them out of the land where they are now living, but they will never enter the land of Israel. (Ezekial 20, Expanded Bible)

From the Cambridge Bible, commentary on Ezekial 20:37:

37. to pass under the rod] According to the usage of the language (Leviticus 27:32, cf. Jeremiah 33:13) the rod or staff here is that of the shepherd, which he uses in counting his flock. “The shepherds carried a staff (Psalm 23:4; Micah 7:4; Zechariah 11:7) and used it in counting when they brought the beasts forth from the place where they were kept or made them go into it. It was customary to count the beasts every day (Jeremiah 33:23), usually at evening when they came home (Theocr. Ezekiel 8:16; Virg. Georg. iv. 436), sometimes twice, morning and evening (Virg. Ecl. iii. 34),” Dillm. on Leviticus 27:32. (source)

The same rod used by the shepherd to protect and number his flock could be used to strike an attacking beast.  Similarly, the word of God can guide us to salvation or cause us to stumble (see 1 Peter 2).

In light of this symbolism, I find deeper meaning in this psalm:

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. (Psalm 23)

The pastoral symbols here fit into the millennial prophecies of Isaiah, from this post.

A Connection to the Temple and the Covenant Path

The rod is a tool used by a shepherd to size up and sort his flock. Similarly, the word of God is a tool used to size up and divide the believers from the unbelievers. Notice the symbolism used by John:

1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. (Revelation 11)

John is commanded by the angel to measure the people with a rod.  It's a powerful symbol. The same rod that comforts His people can be used to smite the earth in judgment:

8 And it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall commence his work among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, to bring about the restoration of his people upon the earth.
9 And with righteousness shall the Lord God judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
10 For the time speedily cometh that the Lord God shall cause a great division among the people, and the wicked will he destroy; and he will spare his people, yea, even if it so be that he must destroy the wicked by fire. (2 Nephi 30)