Alma-2 and the temple -- part 1

Every so often I hear members of the church and critics confidently claim that the Book of Mormon contains nothing about the temple.  This is not true at all, and the more I study the Book of Mormon, the more examples I find. 

Given the highly symbolic nature of the temple, these examples are easiest to find when we look at the deeper meaning of the symbols involved.  One of the best places to find this in the Book of Mormon comes from the sermons of Alma-2.  I'll get to him later in this post.

First, let's look at some fascinating and insightful comments and diagrams from Orthodox Christian writer Matthieu Pageau, from his book The Language of Creation (hereafter LoC). He lays out the principles of an ancient symbolic worldview in order to help the reader find deeper meaning in the Bible.  In order to discover this worldview, he states:

...we must pretend that our eyes are not geared with thousands of telescopes and microscopes and that we care little for quasars and quarks. Moreover, we will need to reposition ourselves within space and time by looking past the heliocentric and geocentric viewpoints towards an ancient cosmology. This archaic worldview may be described as tree-centric or “dentrocentric”  for lack of a better word. (Pageau, Matthieu. The Language of Creation: Cosmic Symbolism in Genesis (p. 15). Kindle Edition, my emphasis added.)

I find it very interesting that he likens the purest essence of the symbolic worldview (and the key to understanding scripture and the purpose of life) to a tree. And not just any tree, but the tree of life!  We'll get to that, too, but we have to build up to it.

Heaven and Earth in the symbolic worldview

If this topic interests you, I highly recommend reading his book for a more detailed dive into the concepts.  I'll offer only a cursory overview in this series of posts.

Pageau begins with new definitions for 'heaven' and 'earth' which he says are necessary to properly understand the symbolic worldview. From a modern materialist worldview, earth is the planet we live and heaven is roughly everything else, including the atmosphere and beyond. By contrast, Pageau defines 'heaven' as spiritual meaning without corporeal existence and 'earth' as matter without meaning (LoC p. 22). Thus, the 'earth' contains all of the physical matter in the universe, and 'heaven' consists of the higher truths by which 'earth' is organized. The world in which we live represents a joining of these two essences, represented in this figure:

(LoC, p. 25)

In this model, God organizes the 'earth' according to His 'word' in order to establish space and time wherein mankind may dwell and gain knowledge.  Furthermore, knowledge is found wherever heavenly truth is established on the earth. Once organized according to spiritual truth, the creation praises its Creator.

Interestingly, Catholic scholar Bishop Bob Barron summarizes what he considers to be the "master theme" of the Bible (a theme he discovered through his study of the writings of the early church fathers) in this way (~1 minute clip):

 

What he says at the end of the clip is so important I'll type it out:

So now we know what human beings are for, they're for right praise. And not just for themselves, but on behalf of all creation. And there, as you say, Eden itself is a temple, an elevated place -- because the rivers run out from it so it's an elevated place -- and human beings are meant there to be priests, kings as well and all that, but priests leading creation in a chorus of praise.

Take a moment to let that sink in.  That is the "master theme" of the Bible according to a Catholic priest who has spent a lot of time studying the writings of some of the earliest Christians. Notice how central the Garden of Eden is in this theme -- not to mention other major temple themes. Everything is focused on a return to the garden-like state of innocence wherein all creation exists in harmony -- rest -- with God, forever. 

It is this state that the first commandment given by God to Adam and Eve is fulfilled (see Genesis 1:28), discussed here.

Alma-2 and the "experiment upon [the word]"

With that backdrop in place, let's now take a look at the the famous sermon of Alma-2 to the poor Zoramites on the Hill Onidah. He invites them to "awake" and "experiment upon [his] words" (see Alma 32:27). He likens the word to a seed and proceeds to lay out a very familiar analogy.  I hear this seed analogy quoted frequently, and it has long been one of my favorite passages in all of the scriptures. Only recently, I have began to appreciate a deeper layer of meaning found in this agricultural language.  He's laying out a pattern that clearly evokes temple symbolism: 

• "give place for a portion of my words" in verse 27 will be discussed in more depth in the next post in this series. A similar concept is repeated multiple times in Alma 12 and is framed as an opening step in the series of spiritual rebirth. Making room within the portion of the creation which we occupy for the word of God is the opening step in gaining knowledge.
• The process which begins as a "swell[ing]" and "enlarg[ing]" and [enlighten[ing]" culminates in a "fill[ing]" as the fruit of the tree of life is finally plucked (see verse 42). This is as if the portion of the creation over which we have the ability to act grows as a result of our acceptance of the word.  We become like Adam and Eve and help fulfill the commandment in Genesis 1:28.
• The process of gaining knowledge is gradual (see verse 29, 34-36). It does not happen all at once. This virtuous cycle of progressive bestowal of light and knowledge coupled with deeper commitment is a central temple theme. It can be seen as the gradual subduing of the microcosmic portion of the creation found in each of us.
• The result of the process is "everlasting life" (see verse 41). 

It's clear to me that Alma-2 understood the purpose of mortality along the same lines as the master theme of the Bible gleaned by Bishop Barron from the early Christian writers. That's fascinating.

This symbolism is certainly ancient and poorly understood by us in modern times. I find very satisfying to study it and expand my worldview in the process.

And we're not done.  We've only touched Alma 32 so far! We haven't even gotten in to Alma 12-13 yet.  That'll be the starting point of my next post. 

"Stretch forth thine hand" -- Part 3 (Book of Mormon)

This post will take us back to continue a series of posts from a few weeks ago on the phrase "stretch forth thy hand."

Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: Old Testament

In today's post, we'll look at how this phrase is used in the Book of Mormon. 

So far, we've seen (in part one) that Nephi subtly compares himself to Moses using this phrase in 1 Nephi 17. In part two, we noted that the underlying Hebrew term 'shalach' is used in Genesis 3 both to describe God send Adam and Eve out of the Garden and to describe why He expelled them -- to prevent them from stretching forth their hand and partaking of the tree of life. 

As is often the case, the Book of Mormon sheds a lot of light on how this phrase relates to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We find this phrase many time in the Book of Mormon, often in the context of calling a people to repentance.  

I've already cited two examples from the Book of Mormon back in part 1.  See Helaman 13:4 and 1 Nephi 17:53.)

Here are a few more examples:

In Jacob 5, the Lord of the vineyard weeps and laments the corruption of his fruit (see verse 41):

47 But what could I have done more in my vineyard? Have I slackened mine hand, that I have not nourished it? Nay, I have nourished it, and I have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and I have dunged it; and I have stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long, and the end draweth nigh. And it grieveth me that I should hew down all the trees of my vineyard, and cast them into the fire that they should be burned. Who is it that has corrupted my vineyard?

As he calls King Noah and his wicked priests to repentance, Abinadi says this:

2 Yea, wo be unto this generation! And the Lord said unto me: Stretch forth thy hand and prophesy, saying: Thus saith the Lord, it shall come to pass that this generation, because of their iniquities, shall be brought into bondage, and shall be smitten on the cheek; yea, and shall be driven by men, and shall be slain; and the vultures of the air, and the dogs, yea, and the wild beasts, shall devour their flesh. (Mosiah 12)

And again:

1 And now, it came to pass that after Abinadi had spoken these words he stretched forth his hand and said: The time shall come when all shall see the salvation of the Lord; when every nation, kindred, tongue, and people shall see eye to eye and shall confess before God that his judgments are just. (Mosiah 16)

Alma-2 and Amulek stretch forth their hands on multiple occasions as they preach repentance:

25 But Amulek stretched forth his hand, and cried the mightier unto them, saying: O ye wicked and perverse generation, why hath Satan got such great hold upon your hearts? Why will ye yield yourselves unto him that he may have power over you, to blind your eyes, that ye will not understand the words which are spoken, according to their truth? (Alma 10)

21 And now it came to pass that when Alma had said these words unto them, he stretched forth his hand unto them and cried with a mighty voice, saying: Now is the time to repent, for the day of salvation draweth nigh; (Alma 13)

7 Therefore he did say no more to the other multitude; but he stretched forth his hand, and cried unto those whom he beheld, who were truly penitent, and said unto them: (Alma 32)

The soldier who smote off the scalp of Nephite dissenter Zerahemnah uses this gesture as he invites the enemy soldiers to lay down their weapons and enter into a covenant (I discussed covenant imagery contained in this chapter in this post):

13 And it came to pass that the soldier who stood by, who smote off the scalp of Zerahemnah, took up the scalp from off the ground by the hair, and laid it upon the point of his sword, and stretched it forth unto them, saying unto them with a loud voice: (Alma 44)

Finally, we see Christ stretching forth His hand twice before "crying" unto the people:

9 And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:

10 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. (3 Nephi 11)

1 And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words unto Nephi, and to those who had been called, (now the number of them who had been called, and received power and authority to baptize, was twelve) and behold, he stretched forth his hand unto the multitude, and cried unto them, saying: Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to minister unto you, and to be your servants; and unto them I have given power that they may baptize you with water; and after that ye are baptized with water, behold, I will baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost; therefore blessed are ye if ye shall believe in me and be baptized, after that ye have seen me and know that I am. (3 Nephi 12)

There is a definite theme here.  Prophets are an extension of God, sent to fallen man to proclaim repentance. It is also interesting to note that Alma-2 explains the reason why God sent Adam and Eve out of the Garden before they had a chance to partake of the fruit of the tree of life. It was to grant them time and space to repent prior to partaking of the fruit of the tree of life:

2 Now behold, my son, I will explain this thing unto thee. For behold, after the Lord God sent our first parents forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground, from whence they were taken—yea, he drew out the man, and he placed at the east end of the garden of Eden, cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the tree of life—

3 Now, we see that the man had become as God, knowing good and evil; and lest he should put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever, the Lord God placed cherubim and the flaming sword, that he should not partake of the fruit—

4 And thus we see, that there was a time granted unto man to repent, yea, a probationary time, a time to repent and serve God.

5 For behold, if Adam had put forth his hand immediately, and partaken of the tree of life, he would have lived forever, according to the word of God, having no space for repentance; yea, and also the word of God would have been void, and the great plan of salvation would have been frustrated. (Alma 42; see also Alma 12:23-24)

What I've learn from these verses is that God always warns His children of the danger of turning away from Him. This is accomplished by messengers, descending from Mount Zion, stretching forth their hand, and calling the covenant people to repentance. 

I believe Jacob summarizes it best when he says:

4 And how merciful is our God unto us, for he remembereth the house of Israel, both roots and branches; and he stretches forth his hands unto them all the day long; and they are a stiffnecked and a gainsaying people; but as many as will not harden their hearts shall be saved in the kingdom of God. (Jacob 6)

We read several times in Isaiah chapters quoted in 2 Nephi the the hand of the Lord is "stretched out still" (see 2 Nephi 19:12, 17, 21; 20:4). I typically see this referenced in a positive sense -- and it surely is a positive thing that we have time and space granted to us to repent and prepare to meet God.  Scholars note that the imagery referred to by Isaiah is actually harsh and threatening. (See this paper by Ann Madsen for a more detailed discussion.) I enjoy the dual nature of this phrase: at the same time a loving invitation to the penitent and a stern reminder to the rebellious. This is yet another manifestation of "the two ways."


In the final installment in this series, we'll look at the Book of Moses. We find there are remarkable and unique example of "stretching forth" of hands during a visionary experience Enoch had with God.

Endowment Narratives in the Book of Mormon, Part 3a -- Finding Meaning in the Symbols

The more I study the scriptures and ponder their meaning, the more I realize how much we underappreciate the significance of the archetypal story of Adam and Eve as presented in the books of Genesis, Moses, and Abraham. I believe the ancient prophets saw themselves as Adam and created intentional parallels in their accounts.

As we continue this series on "endowment patterns" in the Book of Mormon, I hope I'll be able to draw out meaning from our list of twelve recurring details that connect back to Adam and Eve.

For reference, here is the list of details:

1. Commanded/warned (often in a dream or vision) to depart
2. The group they leave are involved in secret combinations or intend to kill them.
3. They seek to bring all who will hearken/listen
4. The new covenant people passes through a wilderness on their journey
5. "Many days"
6. Tents (a symbol of the presence of the Lord)
7. A list of animals (sometimes "of every kind")
8. They inherit a land
9. New names are given (see Genesis 2:20)
10. They obey the commandments of the Lord
11. Abundance/Prosper
12. They are usually led by a righteous patriarch/king/royal family member

I'm planning to take my time going through each of these symbols, so this part will be broken up into multiple sections.

Commanded/warned (often in a dream or vision) to depart

We read about a "deep sleep" that God caused to come upon Adam (see Moses 3:21 and Abraham 5:15). Waking up from that deep sleep is a powerful covenant symbol. Read the following verses from the Book of Mormon with this context in mind (for the sake of not making this post too long, I am only including the key phrases from these passages, but I encourage you to read the full context of each of the following passages to really get the message). I've highlighted references to "awake" in yellow, descriptions of what we are to awake from in aqua, and I've put in bold italics other key terms and phrases.

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.

14 Awake! and arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling parent... (2 Nephi 1)

 

28 Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. (2 Nephi 4)

 

9 Awake, awake! Put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake as in the ancient days. (2 Nephi 8 quoting Isaiah 51; see also verses 17 & 24, 3 Nephi 20:36, and Moroni 10:31)

 

11 O my brethren, hearken unto my words; arouse the faculties of your souls; shake yourselves that ye may awake from the slumber of death; and loose yourselves from the pains of hell that ye may not become angels to the devil, to be cast into that lake of fire and brimstone which is the second death. (Jacob 3)

 

40 ... I pray that ye should awake to a remembrance of the awful situation of those that have fallen into transgression. (Mosiah 2)

 

2 And the things which I shall tell you are made known unto me by an angel from God. And he said unto me: Awake; and I awoke, and behold he stood before me.

3 And he said unto me: Awake, and hear the words which I shall tell thee; for behold, I am come to declare unto you the glad tidings of great joy. (Mosiah 3)

 

7 Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word; yea, they were encircled about by the bands of death, and the chains of hell, and an everlasting destruction did await them. (Alma 5)

 

27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words ... (Alma 32)

I love this "awake from a deep sleep" symbolism. Jeff Lindsay has explored the connection between dust and chains in a series of Interpreter articles which center on the hypothesis that the Book of Moses contains source text known to authors of the Book of Mormon (part 1 here). If this topic interests you, I encourage you to read more about it. It isn't hard to find this same symbolism in our modern temple worship. The endowment is a literal gift from God, and one of the first steps in truly appreciating how sacred and important this gift is involves a spiritual awakening.

The group they leave are involved in secret combinations or intend to kill them.

My appreciation for this symbol increased as I came to understand the connection between secret combinations and the story of Cain. (See here for a detailed explanation.) Once I understood that secret combinations are Satan's mimic of the sacred covenant between God and Adam, a whole lot of seemingly random details suddenly fell into a beautiful pattern.

God's everlasting covenant offers us power and eternal "gain" as long as we are willing to follow God's way and rely upon Jesus Christ as our source of strength.  Satan offers a counterfeit to this, but it's a trap which leads to bondage and spiritual death.

Moroni, writing directly to his latter-day Gentile readers, offer us this warning, where he gives us explicit warnings about leaving these evil ways behind. I'll put in bold the descriptions of the secret combinations, and also highlight one use of "awake" as well in this passage.  References to Cain will be in orange (with verses inserted for your convenience):

23 Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be.

24 Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you; or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it (Genesis 4:10), and also upon those who built it up.

25 For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies; even that same liar who beguiled our first parents, yea, even that same liar who hath caused man to commit murder from the beginning; who hath hardened the hearts of men that they have murdered the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from the beginning.

26 Wherefore, I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all righteousness and be saved. (Ether 8)

One major early hurdle we must clear as we seek to fully accept the endowment God desires to give us is to leave Satan and his evil, destructive ways behind.  We must cast him out the same way Jesus cast out unclean spirits. This is accomplished by seeing Satan's tactics for what they are and replacing his ways with God's ways (the Gospel of Jesus Christ).

In the stories I outlined in parts 1 and 2 of this series, the new covenant people must leave behind a fallen situation in which some evil people seek their death (or captivity). There is deep symbolic power in striving to identify and leave behind the elements of our current situation which keeps us bound down and subjected to Satan's power.  

They seek to bring all who will hearken/listen

The Book of Moses makes it clear that Adam and Eve taught what they had learned from God to their children.

12 And Adam and Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters. (Moses 5)

1 And Adam hearkened unto the voice of God, and called upon his sons to repent. (Moses 6) 

This was done in order to keep a commandment from God:

58 And thus the Gospel began to be preached, from the beginning, being declared by holy angels sent forth from the presence of God, and by his own voice, and by the gift of the Holy Ghost.

59 And thus all things were confirmed unto Adam, by an holy ordinance, and the Gospel preached, and a decree sent forth, that it should be in the world, until the end thereof; and thus it was. Amen. (Moses 5)

As I noted in the examples in parts 1 and 2, bringing everyone who will "hearken" is an important component of the formation of a new covenant people.

That's it for this post.  In the next post (part 3b), we'll continue to find connections between the details in the endowment pattern and the story of Adam and Eve.

"...that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified."

 3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. (Isaiah 61)

In my last post, I hinted that the words "glory" and "glorify" were on my mind and would be the subject of additional posts.  This post will introduce an important Hebrew word often translated to "glory" or glorify":

paar: to beautify, glorify (פָאַר)

The terms in yellow above are both derived from 'paar.' In other translations, "beauty" is translated as "crown" -- referring to the headdress of temple priests. In other words, God offers Zion glory "that he might be glorified."

Although He is already perfect, each time one of His children fully embraces the gift He offers them, God is glorified.

Christ is the gift offered by the Father to His children, to prepare the way and show the way:

5 ¶ In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people (Isaiah 28)

Examples from scripture

Here is a sampling of scriptures which use the term "glorify" in this context.

1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.

8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

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

10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. (John 17)

7 Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him. ...

10 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.

11 And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning. (3 Nephi 11)

8 But because of the faith of men he has shown himself unto the world, and glorified the name of the Father, and prepared a way that thereby others might be partakers of the heavenly gift, that they might hope for those things which they have not seen. (Ether 12)

3 Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—

4 Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;

5 Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life. (Doctrine & Covenants 45)

"Trees of Righteousness"

This is a very unique phrase ("ele hassedeq") that reminds me of a speculative post written by Stisa in which he discussed the linguistic similarity between the word for tree ("elah") and the name of God the Father ("El"). In this verse we find the same symbolism with profound doctrinal implications.

"The planting of the Lord"

The title of this post quotes the end of Isaiah 61:3, which I find very interesting. I'm reminded of Alma-2's famous sermon in Alma 32, in which he teaches the people the process of growing a tree of life within their hearts. Notice that the culmination of the process includes partaking of the fruit of the tree of life and being "filled":

42 And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst. (Alma 32)