The Armor of God, Feet, and Preparation

I've been thinking a lot about feet lately.  In a recent series of posts (especially this one), I connected Zion and the idea of being carried away by the Spirit.  Part of that connection involves the concept of divine messengers (also known as angels) descending from on high to deliver the good news of the Gospel, preparing the earth for the Messiah. (Twice!)

In this post, I'll attempt to connect some of the dots surrounding the symbol of the foot and the preparatory work of salvation.

Several passages in scripture refer specifically to the feet of these divine messengers. Isaiah writes about it:

7 ¶ How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! (Isaiah 52)

Abinadi enhances this same language with a past/present/future rendition:

13 Yea, and are not the prophets, every one that has opened his mouth to prophesy, that has not fallen into transgression, I mean all the holy prophets ever since the world began? I say unto you that they are his seed.
14 And these are they who have published peace, who have brought good tidings of good, who have published salvation; and said unto Zion: Thy God reigneth!
15 And O how beautiful upon the mountains were their feet!
16 And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that are still publishing peace!
17 And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who shall hereafter publish peace, yea, from this time henceforth and forever!
18 And behold, I say unto you, this is not all. For O how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that is the founder of peace, yea, even the Lord, who has redeemed his people; yea, him who has granted salvation unto his people; (Mosiah 15)

Notice the language in Ephesians and the related verses in the Doctrine & Covenants discussing the armor of God:

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (Ephesians 6)

16 Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, which I have sent mine angels to commit unto you; (D&C 27)

Finally, intriguingly, notice these words of John the Baptist, found in several places in the scriptures:

7 And he spake also concerning a prophet who should come before the Messiah, to prepare the way of the Lord—
8 Yea, even he should go forth and cry in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight; for there standeth one among you whom ye know not; and he is mightier than I, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose. And much spake my father concerning this thing. (1 Nephi 10)

11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: (Matthew 3)

I'm convinced John makes a deliberate reference to Christ's footwear. I am not sure I understand this fully, but I find it very interesting.  This is of course coupled with a parallel image of Christ washing the feet of his disciples at the last supper.

All of this connects. What do we learn?

The symbol of feet connects to the Preparatory Gospel and the Aaronic Priesthood. God desires a righteous people to engage in the work of salvation. He brings this about by sending His angels down to mortals to commit to them this preparatory gospel -- faith, repentance, and baptism.

More on this to come.

Zion and Beautiful Feet

In yesterday's post, I attempted to make a connection between the high mountain to which Nephi was carried by the Spirit and Enoch's City of Holiness/Zion. For me, this connection has everything to do with living according to the covenants we make in the temple. As we do so, we progress from the telestial and draw closer to the celestial realm where God lives. It isn't hard to think of that celestial realm as a "high mountain." 

The work associated with this covenant is what we typically refer to as "missionary work," but it could just as easily be called the work of angels.  Divine messengers bring glad tidings of peace and the authority to create binding covenants between God and His children.  Once we make those covenants, we become the children of Christ in a specific sense -- He becomes the father of our salvation.

It is this context that helps us understand Abinadi's words to the priests of King Noah:

14 And these are they who have published peace, who have brought good tidings of good, who have published salvation; and said unto Zion: Thy God reigneth!

15 And O how beautiful upon the mountains were their feet!

16 And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that are still publishing peace!

17 And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who shall hereafter publish peace, yea, from this time henceforth and forever!

18 And behold, I say unto you, this is not all. For O how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that is the founder of peace, yea, even the Lord, who has redeemed his people; yea, him who has granted salvation unto his people;

19 For were it not for the redemption which he hath made for his people, which was prepared from the foundation of the world, I say unto you, were it not for this, all mankind must have perished. (Mosiah 15)

In these verses, we get a connection between a mountain, Zion, and the feet of those who "publish good tidings of good" and "salvation." (Notice the past/present/future symbolism as well.) This is a clear reference to the covenant path / Way of Eternal Life. In verse 18, Christ is mentioned as "the founder of peace." I love these verses. "Feet" is a symbol of their willingness to "come down" from their place of safety to share the message of redemption with a fallen world.

"Tears as rain upon the mountain"

Notice how the tears of "the God of heaven" are described in these verses, taken from the vision of Enoch (the initiated one):

25 And he saw angels descending out of heaven; and he heard a loud voice saying: Wo, wo be unto the inhabitants of the earth.
26 And he beheld Satan; and he had a great chain in his hand, and it veiled the whole face of the earth with darkness; and he looked up and laughed, and his angels rejoiced.
27 And Enoch beheld angels descending out of heaven, bearing testimony of the Father and Son; and the Holy Ghost fell on many, and they were caught up by the powers of heaven into Zion.
28 And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people, and he wept; and Enoch bore record of it, saying: How is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains? (Moses 7)

God's tears are compared to rain upon the mountains, perhaps a reminder to those who are dwelling in safety on the mountain to remember those who are still wandering in the mists of darkness along strange roads and forbidden paths.

Two Rivers in Lehi's dream -- what do they have in common?

The fountain of living water from Lehi's dream is a representation of "the love of God" (see 1 Nephi 11:25), whereas the fountain/river of filthy water is described as "the depths of hell" (1 Nephi 12:16).  What is the common link?  In the context of "the two ways," I see a clear connection between these two sources of water.  One leads to eternal life, the other leads to certain destruction.  The one is found by following the word of God up the mountain (see 1 Nephi 8:19), the other is encountered as one crosses the gulf that divides the wicked from the righteous in an effort to reach the great and spacious building.

Interestingly, it is from the depths of hell that some converts are grasped and brought to feel the love of God.  Notice how this imagery colors the conversion story of Alma-2:

12 But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.
13 Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments.
14 Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my 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.
16 And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul.
17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.
18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.
19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.
20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! (Alma 36)

The stark contrast here is part of what makes Alma-2's conversion so remarkable. In a smaller way, each of us experiences the same pattern as we become aware of our sins, feel the anguish that comes from realizing we are guilty before God, and then come to feel the Love of God through Jesus Christ's atonement.

A pure mountain spring becomes filthy when it is trodden under foot by man or animal, or when it is mixed with impurities, representative of the ideas of men.  The purity of the fountain of living water--God's love for us--is found by leaving the large and spacious field and the mists of darkness and rising above. This path naturally leads us to love Him, and then feel that same love for others.  The "love of God" can thus have multiple meanings and can flow in more than one direction.

What does this have to do with Zion or being carried away by the Spirit?

The goal of this series is to connect the concept of Zion with the concept of being carried away by the Spirit.  How does this relate? In short, the answer (for me) is consecration.  When we are living according to the covenant we make with God, we dedicate our lives to the building up of Zion. The work of angels coming down from the mountain to declare good tidings becomes our work. See an angel, be an angel. "Let us go down."

I'll end this section with a passage referenced by Stisa in his two-part series of being carried away in the Spirit.  This has to do the with change that took place in the Three Nephites when they were "caught up into heaven." We see very clearly that they were given knowledge of the mysteries of God and were thenceforth engaged in the work of salvation:

13 And behold, the heavens were opened, and they were caught up into heaven, and saw and heard unspeakable things.
14 And it was forbidden them that they should utter; neither was it given unto them power that they could utter the things which they saw and heard;
15 And whether they were in the body or out of the body, they could not tell; for it did seem unto them like a transfiguration of them, that they were changed from this body of flesh into an immortal state, that they could behold the things of God.
16 But it came to pass that they did again minister upon the face of the earth; nevertheless they did not minister of the things which they had heard and seen, because of the commandment which was given them in heaven.
17 And now, whether they were mortal or immortal, from the day of their transfiguration, I know not;
18 But this much I know, according to the record which hath been given—they did go forth upon the face of the land, and did minister unto all the people, uniting as many to the church as would believe in their preaching; baptizing them, and as many as were baptized did receive the Holy Ghost. (3 Nephi 28)

In the next part, we'll take a side road down to the Dead Sea to compare the concepts we've discussed so far with what can be found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Holy Ghost - truth - eternity

There have been several posts on the past/present/future topic recently. For those who have not followed that from the beginning, here is Lord Wilmore's introduction to the topic. Reading his posts helped me pay more attention to this concept in the Book of Mormon. I noticed another one reading 1 Nephi 12:18

And a great and a terrible gulf divideth them; yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God, and the Messiah who is the Lamb of God, of whom the Holy Ghost beareth record, from the beginning of the world until this time, and from this time henceforth and forever.

Several things came to my mind reading this. First of all, the verse in in D&C 130:8 that "past, present, and future, [...] are continually before the Lord" or in Alma's words: "all is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men" (Alma 40:8). Eternity is a concept that is difficult to grasp for the mortal man, but it is different for the "Eternal God" who has past, present and future continually before Him. This language expresses his nature. He is "Alfa and Omega, the beginning and the end" (3 Nephi 9:18). He is also the great Jehovah, i.e. the great I AM. Of Him, the Holy Ghost bears record, as the cited scripture states. 

That leads me to another thing that came to mind. The past/present/future topic seems to always involve the idea of truth in some form. It is often about the everlasting gospel/plan of salvation or the Holy Ghost, who testifies of truth. As I mentioned in a previous post, the past/present/future idea is even embedded in the Hebrew word for truth. The example in that post also involved the Holy Ghost, just like the scripture in 1 Nephi 12:18. Here are some other examples of the past/present/future topic involving truth/the Holy Ghost:

Jacob 4:13

for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls. But behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them unto prophets of old.

D&C 93:24

And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come

Again in 1 Nephi 10:19

For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round.

Moses 6:66-67

And he heard a voice out of heaven, saying: Thou art baptized with fire, and with the Holy Ghost. This is the record of the Father, and the Son, from henceforth and forever; And thou art after the order of him who was without beginning of days or end of years, from all eternity to all eternity.

The pattern is quite clear. God is a "God of truth" (Ether 3:12) and is "from all eternity to all eternity". Hence, truth is also eternal. He invites us to learn these truths and sends messengers to teach us and the Holy Ghost to testify of it. In that way we may eventually take part in His eternal glory.

Past/present/future in Moroni 10

When Lord Wilmore introduced the past/present/future topic, I read arguably the most well-known Book of Mormon verses from a new perspective

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

I like the idea of pondering how merciful the Lord has been in the past, praying in the present and receiving the promise of an answer to demonstrate the mercy of the Lord also in the future.

Even though Moroni wrote in reformed Egyptian, there might still have been much of the "learning of the Jews" (1 Nephi 1:2) in the language. In Hebrew, truth - אֶמֶת (ehmeht) – begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, א, continues with one of the two middle letters, מ, and ends with the last letter, ת. This is a reminder that truth is eternal and unchangeable. Consequently, the use of this word in this passage gives additional past/present/future references.

Alma-2 and Past/Present/Future Symbolism

As mentioned in my post yesterday, many Book of Mormon prophets testify that the words of the scriptures will endure, retain their brightness, go forth to all the earth, and stand as a testament at the day of judgment.  How we approach the scriptures is no small matter.

As is often the case with Book of Mormon passages, taking the time to evaluate the structure of the text often adds layers of depth to the meaning of the text.  Consider this passage, in which Alma-2 describes the value of the brass plates to his son Helaman, who is receiving them from him:

7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.
8 And now, it has hitherto been wisdom in God that these things should be preserved; for behold, they have enlarged the memory of this people, yea, and convinced many of the error of their ways, and brought them to the knowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls.
9 Yea, I say unto you, were it not for these things that these records do contain, which are on these plates, Ammon and his brethren could not have convinced so many thousands of the Lamanites of the incorrect tradition of their fathers; yea, these records and their words brought them unto repentance; that is, they brought them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and to rejoice in Jesus Christ their Redeemer.
10 And who knoweth but what they will be the means of bringing many thousands of them, yea, and also many thousands of our stiffnecked brethren, the Nephites, who are now hardening their hearts in sin and iniquities, to the knowledge of their Redeemer?
11 Now these mysteries are not yet fully made known unto me; therefore I shall forbear.
12 And it may suffice if I only say they are preserved for a wise purpose, which purpose is known unto God; for he doth counsel in wisdom over all his works, and his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round.
13 O remember, remember, my son Helaman, how strict are the commandments of God. And he said: If ye will keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land—but if ye keep not his commandments ye shall be cut off from his presence.
14 And now remember, my son, that God has entrusted you with these things, which are sacred, which he has kept sacred, and also which he will keep and preserve for a wise purpose in him, that he may show forth his power unto future generations. (Alma 37)

A few things stand out.

1) Did you notice the past/present/future symbolism in the passage, along with a double mention of the eternal nature of God's course and purposes?

2) According to a theory put forth by Grant Hardy, this chapter is intentionally connected to Alma-2's words to the people of Zarahemla, as recorded in Alma 5.  Is it any coincidence that in Alma 5 we have a similar subtle display of past/present/future symbolism? Notice how Alma-2 subtly changes the wording of his questions to address the past, present and future:

14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?
15 Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?
16 I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?
17 Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say—Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth—and that he will save you? (Alma 5)

The Brightness of the Scriptures

Not only are the scriptures of great worth, they are enduring.  The metal upon which they were recorded is a symbol of the timelessness of their message.  As demonstrated in this post, a fundamental aspect of the 'way of life' is that it is unchanging -- it transcends time. This creates a variant of the past/present/future symbolism we find in many places in the scriptures.  A reminder that pursuing the way of life leads us to a state of never-ending happiness in God's presence.

I noticed this from Nephi's summary of the words of his father Lehi after receiving the brass plates:

19 Wherefore, he said that these plates of brass should never perish; neither should they be dimmed any more by time. (1 Nephi 5)

This parallels similar statements from other Book of Mormon prophets.

Nephi makes this comment:

11 And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness. (2 Nephi 33)

He knows his words will be around all the way until the last day.

Jacob puts it this way:

1 Now behold, it came to pass that I, Jacob, having ministered much unto my people in word, (and I cannot write but a little of my words, because of the difficulty of engraving our words upon plates) and we know that the things which we write upon plates must remain;
2 But whatsoever things we write upon anything save it be upon plates must perish and vanish away; but we can write a few words upon plates, which will give our children, and also our beloved brethren, a small degree of knowledge concerning us... (Jacob 4)

King Benjamin says this:

23 And now I have spoken the words which the Lord God hath commanded me.
24 And thus saith the Lord: They shall stand as a bright testimony against this people, at the judgment day; whereof they shall be judged, every man according to his works, whether they be good, or whether they be evil. (Mosiah 3)

Alma-2 tells his son Helaman this about the records as he puts him in charge of their safekeeping:

4 Behold, it has been prophesied by our fathers, that they should be kept and handed down from one generation to another, and be kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord until they should go forth unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, that they shall know of the mysteries contained thereon.
5 And now behold, if they are kept they must retain their brightness; yea, and they will retain their brightness; yea, and also shall all the plates which do contain that which is holy writ. (Alma 37)

The prophecy Alma mentions is probably the one Lehi makes in 1 Nephi 5. Alma does a few other really interesting things with his words to Helaman, which I'll detail in my next post.

Past, Present, Future -- Subtle (and some not-so-subtle) examples

As discussed in my previous post on the topic, one important aspect of the plan of salvation is that it was established before the foundation of the world. One of the many ways this is touched on in the scriptures is through the use of the past/present/future wording.  Many such examples can be found in the Book of Mormon.  Some of these are quite subtle, such as in Alma-2's questioning to the people of Zarahemla:

14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?
15 Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body? (Alma 5)

Others are more overt:

7 I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world. (Mosiah 4)

It is interesting to note that these phrasing often occur in the context of a discourse on the plan of redemption.

Incidentally, this can be found in scriptures outside of the Book of Mormon, too.

6 The angels do not reside on a planet like this earth;
7 But they reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a sea of glass and fire, where all things for their glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord. (D&C 130)

Past, Present, and Future as a Temple symbol

I'm studying Margaret Barker's theory that the best way to understand the worldview of the early Christians is to understand the first Temple's High Priestly tradition.

One key feature of this tradition is the idea of hidden knowledge or wisdom.  This is a major component of Barker's Temple Theology.  Sometimes this is referred to as 'gnosis' which is a Greek term for knowledge of spiritual mysteries. Barker goes into great detail as to what these early Christians considered this vital knowledge to be.  Consider this quote from Clement:

If we then assert that Christ himself is Wisdom, and that it was His working that showed itself in the prophets, ... then it follows that the gnosis which is the knowledge and apprehension of this present, future and past which is sure and reliable, as being imparted and revealed by the Son of God, is Wisdom.

Barker points out a few key features of Clement's definition of this 'gnosis.'  First, it is revealed by Jesus Christ, not the result of intellectual reasoning. This knowledge is divinely imparted, not deduced. Second, it is knowledge of things past, present, and future, which is sure and reliable.

Both aspects are fascinating and I can think of several relevant passages in the Book of Mormon.  I'll feature the "revealed" nature of this knowledge in later posts.  In this post, I'd like to point out that the Book of Mormon contains several curious past/present/future references.  I've noticed these for many years and haven't been able to fully understand why there are there.  Here is one such example:

14 And these are they who have published peace, who have brought good tidings of good, who have published salvation; and said unto Zion: Thy God reigneth!
15 And O how beautiful upon the mountains were their feet!
16 And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that are still publishing peace!
17 And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who shall hereafter publish peace, yea, from this time henceforth and forever!
18 And behold, I say unto you, this is not all. For O how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that is the founder of peace, yea, even the Lord, who has redeemed his people; yea, him who has granted salvation unto his people;
19 For were it not for the redemption which he hath made for his people, which was prepared from the foundation of the world, I say unto you, were it not for this, all mankind must have perished. (Mosiah 15)

Notice the pattern here, in a discussion of "good tidings" -- past, present, future, CHRIST, plan of salvation "prepared from the foundation of the world."

I'll outline more examples in a future post, too. 

This has clear temple relevance.