Repetitive resumption and Christ's power to save in 2 Nephi 25

Repetitive resumption is an ancient scribal technique explained in this post. The idea is to use a repeated phrase to bracket a side note, when brackets don't exist in your written language. An example of this is found in 2 Nephi 25:20

And now, my brethren, I have spoken plainly that ye cannot err. And as the Lord God liveth that brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt, and gave unto Moses power that he should heal the nations after they had been bitten by the poisonous serpents, if they would cast their eyes unto the serpent which he did raise up before them, and also gave him power that he should smite the rock and the water should come forth; yea, behold I say unto you, that as these things are true, and as the Lord God liveth, there is none other name given under heaven save it be this Jesus Christ, of which I have spoken, whereby man can be saved.

Such verses often look grammatically clumsy in English and may be hard to get. I believe that they read better in the original language. In any case, I find such verses easier to get when I break them down and structure them. The point that Nephi is getting to in the end of the verse is simple enough:

As the Lord God liveth, there is none other name under heaven save it be Jesus Christ, [...] whereby man can be saved. 

But there is a long side note about the Lord God. This can be split into three parts. The Lord God...

1. "Brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt"
2. "Healed the nations"
3. Provided water from out of the rock

I don't think this is a side note where Nephi just throws in some random stuff about the Lord God. This blog is full of examples to show that the Book of Mormon was carefully written. The "Lord God" (Adonai Yahweh) is the God of the Old Testament. This is the God of Israel (see 1 Kings 8:23) that Nephi grew up learning about. But Nephi had also learned from his father and his own revelations that he would come down as Jesus Christ to save mankind. In the verse before, we read

For according to the words of the prophets, the Messiah cometh in six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem; and according to the words of the prophets, and also the word of the angel of God, his name shall be Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (2 Nephi 25:19)

So this sacred name has been revealed by an angel and is the only name "under heaven [...] whereby man can be saved". Nephi's side note in verse 20 gives three examples of the Lord God's power to save, thereby showing that the very God of Israel who had power to save them temporarily has the power to save all mankind spiritually. A few verses later, Nephi states in no unclear terms

Christ is the Holy One of Israel (2 Nephi 25:29)

Let's have a closer look at the examples of the Lord God's power to save. These are all taken from the Exodus of Nephi's forefathers, something that he has referenced directly and indirectly several times already in his account.

Brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt

Leaving Egypt is symbolic of leaving sin. This post discusses some of the symbolism. The children of Israel came from the promised land that Abraham had obtained. They dwelt in Egypt for a while in slavery but they returned to the promised land led by Moses. In Hebrew, repent literally means to turn. We turn away from the bondage of sin and back to the path that leads to our promised land. We cannot do that on our own. The Lord God brought Israel up out of Egypt just as Christ brings us up out of sin through his redemptive power. Notice the "up" in Nephi's statement.

Healed the nations

The story of the poisonous serpents and subsequent healing by looking at the brass serpent is repeated several times in the Book of Mormon (See also 1 Nephi 17:41, Alma 33:19-20 and Helaman 8:14). Nephi seems to get ahead of himself a bit here. Why does he say healed the nations with plural 's' when it was only the children of Israel involved in this event? Again, Nephi is eager to make a connection to Christ, the savior of mankind (including all nations). 

Notice how Nephi is referring to "the nations" elsewhere in chapter 25. In verse 3, he comments on Isaiah and his prophesies that he has just read.

Wherefore, I write unto my people, unto all those that shall receive hereafter these things which I write, that they may know the judgments of God, that they come upon all nations, according to the word which he [Isaiah] hath spoken. (v.3)

Then about the fate of the Jews

Wherefore, the Jews shall be scattered among all nations; yea, and also Babylon shall be destroyed; wherefore, the Jews shall be scattered by other nations. (v.15)

Eventually the Jews will be gathered and believe in Christ, who has power to heal the nations (v.20). Then Nephi explains that what he writes about Christ must be kept and preserved so that "the nations" (who have now been offered healing and are left with no excuse) can be judged.

Wherefore, these things shall go from generation to generation as long as the earth shall stand; and they shall go according to the will and pleasure of God; and the nations who shall possess them shall be judged of them according to the words which are written. (v.22)

Provided water from out of the rock

Another story from the Exodus is when the people were thirsty, Moses smote the rock with his rod and water flowed out. In 1 Corinthians 10:4, Paul identifies that rock as Christ. He is the rock that we can build a solid foundation on and he can give us living waters. This is surely Nephi's point too. In all these examples, Nephi is demonstrating that the Lord God has power to save and that these miracles point towards Christ and the greatest miracle of all; salvation from sin and death.

Like physical water for our bodies, the living water is life-saving and life-sustaining for our spirits. Christ is the source, the fountain of all righteousness.

Christ, the only name under heaven whereby man can be saved, would

1. Bring us up out of sin
2. Heal us through the atonement
3. Provide us living water 

What the Lord God of the Old Testament did to his people of old was a type and a shadow of what he would do to all people who would take upon them the name of Christ.

 

Scattering/gathering taught through shepherd symbolism

In my recent posts, I have shown examples of tree and shepherd symbolism used together. In these symbols we find Christ, the gathering of Israel and temple covenants. I have studied and written much about tree symbolism before but not really shepherd/sheep/flock symbolism. It is well-known that Christ is the good shepherd and those who hearken to his voice are his sheep. But for some reason I have not really thought much about this as a symbol for the scattering/gathering of Israel before. Now that I study with this in mind, I see it everywhere.

The symbolism is very fitting. A shepherd cares for his flock, calls on his sheep who recognize his voice and provides them with safety and good pasture. The gathering of Israel is all about coming to Christ and entering into covenants with him. In return we get spiritual protection, rest and nourishment. One example to illustrate this is Ezekiel 34.

Ezekiel 34:11-13

11 For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.

12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.

14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.

Another interesting one from the Book of Mormon is found in Helaman 7:18-19

18 It is because you have hardened your hearts; yea, ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd; yea, ye have provoked him to anger against you.

19 And behold, instead of gathering you, except ye will repent, behold, he shall scatter you forth that ye shall become meat for dogs and wild beasts.

Notice that verse 18 is a reference to Psalm 95.

7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,

8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.

10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:

11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

Psalm 95 uses the "enter into his rest" term that was discussed in a series of posts a while back. I didn't really notice the sheep symbolism in Psalm 95 at the time, but it is interesting to note that Nephi-2 hints to this Psalm when talking about scattering and gathering. The gathering in a shepherd/sheep setting is coming to the pasture. This is synonymous with the "rest" or promised land that the Israelites would come to after wandering around in the wilderness, and the "mountains of Israel" in the Ezekiel quote.

The temple connection of "enter into his rest" is discussed in this post. And thus we see (to borrow from Mormon) the recurring theme of the gathering of Israel as we come unto Christ through covenants, often taught through symbolism.

Redemption through ascension

I just liked the sound of that title, but I'm going to preface this by saying my ideas are highly speculative. I just found Mosiah 18:1-2 interesting

1 And now, it came to pass that Alma, who had fled from the servants of king Noah, repented of his sins and iniquities, and went about privately among the people, and began to teach the words of Abinadi—

2 Yea, concerning that which was to come, and also concerning the resurrection of the dead, and the redemption of the people, which was to be brought to pass through the power, and sufferings, and death of Christ, and his resurrection and ascension into heaven.

Even though it's not what I had in mind with this post, this is another example of internal consistency. Alma sums up the teachings of Abinadi. Verse 2 is a repetition of Abinadi's main themes. One could argue that these are pretty common all throughout the Book of Mormon. But "redemption of the people" is an Abinadi trademark. Another interesting one is "ascension into heaven". This is a more peculiar point to bring up but it is indeed a reference to Abinadi's teachings.

8 And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men—

9 Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice. (Mosiah 15)

When I read the first quote in Mosiah 18:1-2 recently, I read it as follows: "began to teach the words of Abinadi- yea, concerning:

• that which was to come
• the resurrection of the dead
• the redemption of the people, which was to be brought to pass through:
• the power
• sufferings and
• death of Christ,
• his resurrection and
• ascension into heaven"

Does it really say that redemption comes through his ascension into heaven? At least, that is one way of reading it. Is there any redemptive power in the ascension? It's not standard Church teaching, so I'm a bit hesitant to make the claim, even though it does appear to be there in Mosiah 18:2 and perhaps also in the verse it is referring to, Mosiah 15:9.

The alternative reading is "began to teach the words of Abinadi-, yea, concerning:

• that which was to come
• the resurrection of the dead
• the redemption of the people, which was to be brought to pass through the power, and sufferings, and death of Christ
• his resurrection and ascension into heaven"

Then we avoid the weird notion of Christ redeeming us through his ascension. But to be honest, I think the first reading makes more sense linguistically. In any case, I find the possibility intriguing. Even if we read it the other way, why did Alma teach the people of Christ's ascension? My speculative thoughts are related to the observation that the atonement of Christ is frequently described as preparing the way. Christ broke the bands of death by resurrecting. This "way" was unavailable to man, but has become available because Christ walked it and thereby prepared it for us. Similarly, perhaps ascending to the Celestial Kingdom after the resurrection is also a "way" that had to be prepared and was prepared by Christ through His ascension? Or perhaps it was a necessary completory step of the mission of He who had "descended below all things"(D&C 88:6)? 

A summary of Hebrews in Alma

Reading the letter to the Hebrews as part of "Come, follow me", I found that a few verses in Alma sums up the whole thing really well. The letter to the Hebrews is explaining how the priestly sacrifices under the Law of Moses and the Aaronic priesthood were insufficient and only a means to point toward the ultimate sacrifice of Christ. This is why we must have faith in Him, which is discussed at length in Hebrews 11. Amulek is expressing it this way in Alma 34:13-15

13 Therefore, it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice, and then shall there be, or it is expedient there should be, a stop to the shedding of blood; then shall the law of Moses be fulfilled; yea, it shall be all fulfilled, every jot and tittle, and none shall have passed away.

14 And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal.

15 And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance.