Fear and Darkness -- A pattern in the Book of Mormon

As I was preparing this recent post, I came across many references to fear and darkness.  In some cases, the fear immediately precedes a marvelous conversion/revelation and coming to Christ.  In other cases, the fear stems from a desire to hide from divine judgement.

One point from the post is that Satan's main tool to use against us and blind us from God's light is the creation itself.  This is a really important principle. Satan's darkness is described as a veil and a chain in the same verse (see Moses 7:26). It simultaneously blinds us and takes us captive.

Those experiencing this fear draw closer to the creation -- in some cases they fall to the earth. In other cases they attempt to hide in the earth (or wish they could).

Below, I'll list the many examples I found of fear and darkness.

Fear of Judgement

10 O ye wicked ones, enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for the fear of the Lord and the glory of his majesty shall smite thee. ...19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them and the glory of his majesty shall smite them, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. ...21 To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for the fear of the Lord shall come upon them and the majesty of his glory shall smite them, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. (2 Nephi 12/Isaiah 2)

11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell. ...

14 For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence. (Alma 12)

Fear prior to a marvelous conversion/revelation

6 And it came to pass that when the brother of Jared had said these words, behold, the Lord stretched forth his hand and touched the stones one by one with his finger. And the veil was taken from off the eyes of the brother of Jared, and he saw the finger of the Lord; and it was as the finger of a man, like unto flesh and blood; and the brother of Jared fell down before the Lord, for he was struck with fear.
7 And the Lord saw that the brother of Jared had fallen to the earth; and the Lord said unto him: Arise, why hast thou fallen?
8 And he saith unto the Lord: I saw the finger of the Lord, and I feared lest he should smite me; for I knew not that the Lord had flesh and blood. (Ether 3)

5 ...Lamoni began to fear exceedingly, with fear lest he had done wrong in slaying his servants;41 And he began to cry unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, have mercy; according to thy abundant mercy which thou hast had upon the people of Nephi, have upon me, and my people.
42 And now, when he had said this, he fell unto the earth, as if he were dead.
6 ...Ammon...knew that the dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind... (Alma 18:5, 41-42; 19:6)

28 And it came to pass that they were overshadowed with a cloud of darkness, and an awful solemn fear came upon them. ...
34 And it came to pass that the Lamanites could not flee because of the cloud of darkness which did overshadow them; yea, and also they were immovable because of the fear which did come upon them. (Helaman 5)

20 And it came to pass that there was thick darkness upon all the face of the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof who had not fallen could feel the vapor of darkness; ...22 And there was not any light seen, neither fire, nor glimmer, neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars, for so great were the mists of darkness which were upon the face of the land.23 And it came to pass that it did last for the space of three days that there was no light seen; and there was great mourning and howling and weeping among all the people continually; yea, great were the groanings of the people, because of the darkness and the great destruction which had come upon them. (3 Nephi 8)

11 And as I said unto you, as they were going about rebelling against God, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto them; and he descended as it were in a cloud; and he spake as it were with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which they stood;
12 And so great was their astonishment, that they fell to the earth, and understood not the words which he spake unto them. ...
18 And now Alma and those that were with him fell again to the earth, for great was their astonishment; ...
19 And now the astonishment of Alma was so great that he became dumb, that he could not open his mouth; yea, and he became weak, even that he could not move his hands; therefore he was taken by those that were with him, and carried helpless, even until he was laid before his father. ...
29 My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more. (Mosiah 27)

The joy of the saints

Enos 1:3

the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.

Jacob spoke of eternal life (Jacob 6:11) as did many other Book of Mormon prophets. But as far as I could see, Jacob is the only Book of Mormon prophet speaking of the joy of the saints. 2 Nephi 9 contains his words.

2 Nephi 9:18

But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be full forever.

2 Nephi 9:43

But the things of the wise and the prudent shall be hid from them forever—yea, that happiness which is prepared for the saints.

Of course, all Book of Mormon prophets said a lot of things that were never recorded on the plates. A fuller account might show others talking specifically about the joy of the saints. I still find it interesting, though, that Enos mentioned this particular topic that he had heard from his father and the only source for that in the Book of Mormon in fact is his father.

The Creation-Covenant Connection in more detail, part 4

These days I'm spending a lot of time thinking about the connection between Creation and Covenant.  Margaret Barker proposes that both words derive from a primitive Hebrew root associated with "organizing" and "bringing together." The covenant was first introduced in the Garden of Eden. Transgression led to the Fall, which drove Adam and Eve out into a cursed, thorny, dusty wilderness (see Genesis 3:17-19).

The Fall brought us to a wilderness and a world of trouble.  The Everlasting Covenant shows us the way to return to the garden. This theme has been discussed many times in other posts, which you can find here.

In this series of posts, we'll walk through this concept in more detail and hopefully find new meaning in a few scriptural passages along the way.

Part 1 -- "The Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ"
Part 2 -- A Divinely-Appointed Curse "for [our] sakes"
Part 3 -- "Rending the Veil of Unbelief" and "Dispersing the Cloud/Mists of Darkness"
Part 4 -- Creation, Covenant, and "Life"

Part 4

I started my journey to better understand the connection between creation and covenant because of these verses:

13 Come unto me, O ye Gentiles, and I will show unto you the greater things, the knowledge which is hid up because of unbelief.
14 Come unto me, O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation of the world; and it hath not come unto you, because of unbelief.
15 Behold, when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world from you—yea, when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel. (Ether 4)

We, as Gentiles, come unto Christ through baptism and the preparatory Gospel, at which point we become part of the House of Israel.  Then, it is our privilege to learn greater knowledge -- the "great things the Father hath laid up for [us], from the foundation of the world." Our unbelief is the veil which hides these things from us.  Once we rend that veil and learn to call upon the Father in the name of Christ, we receive these things and come to know that the Father "hath remembered the covenant which he made unto [our] fathers."

If that isn't a succinct summary of the purpose of the ordinances of the Gospel, including the temple, I don't know what is.

I now see how clearly covenant and creation are intertwined.

What is the central purpose of the Creation?

Perhaps somewhat paradoxically, the creation created diversity of all kinds, to beautify and give variety to the earth.  But diversity was not the purpose of the creation.  Every single person who comes to earth gets to experience a unique journey through life, complete with unique gifts and blessings, as well as unique struggles and weaknesses. Yet the purpose of creation is the same as the purpose of the Everlasting Covenant.  It is designed to bring about unity with the divine. In all this diversity, are to find unity. More about that below.

As we draw closer to God, and become more like Him, and gain an eye single to His glory, we strip away the layers of material creation and identify our true selves -- sons and daughters of God. This spiritual rebirth is like the physical creation in reverse.

Consider the following points as you study the scriptures, and hopefully you will find deeper meaning in many passages:

1) Jesus Christ, the Firstborn of the Father, is the light of the world. He was with the Father from the beginning, before the foundation of the world. The entire creation is filled with His light.

2) The main obstacle we have obscuring the divine light from our view is the physical creation itself.  This allows room for our agency to be tested. (See Alma 42:3-5.)

3) "Rending the veil of unbelief" is a process whereby our faith in God allows His divine light to fill our soul, offering us joy, hope in Christ, and an assurance of eternal life.


Notice how these verses fit into this context:

4 This Comforter is the promise which I give unto you of eternal life, even the glory of the celestial kingdom;
5 Which glory is that of the church of the Firstborn, even of God, the holiest of all, through Jesus Christ his Son—
6 He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth;
7 Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made.
8 As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made;
9 As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made;
10 And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand.
11 And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;
12 Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—
13 The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things. (D&C 88)

The entire creation is filled with the light of Jesus Christ, "which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space."

67 And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.
68 Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will. (D&C 88)

When we sanctify ourselves (through making and keeping temple covenants), our eye becomes single to the glory of God and our whole body becomes filled with light, allowing us to have His face "unveiled" to us, and then we comprehend "all things."

28 He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things.
29 Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.
30 All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.
31 Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light.
32 And every man whose spirit receiveth not the light is under condemnation. (D&C 93)

In these verses we learn a key truth -- not only was Christ with the Father in the beginning...so were we! The purpose of creation and covenant is the same -- to restore us to His presence. The creation provides us time and space to act.  The covenant prepares the way for us to receive knowedge by obedience to that portion of the word we have been given, in order to receive more.

24 That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day. (D&C 50)

A review of each use of the word "light" in the scriptures would take a long time, but I encourage you to spend some time studying how this word is used and see if you can find additional instances where the principles above aid in your understanding of what it means that Christ is "the light of the world."

7 For verily I say unto you that I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the light and the life of the world—a light that shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not.
8 I came unto mine own, and mine own received me not; but unto as many as received me gave I power to do many miracles, and to become the sons of God; and even unto them that believed on my name gave I power to obtain eternal life.
9 And even so I have sent mine everlasting covenant into the world, to be a light to the world, and to be a standard for my people, and for the Gentiles to seek to it, and to be a messenger before my face to prepare the way before me. (D&C 45)

That's about as clear as it can be: the everlasting covenant was sent into the world to be a light to the world and "prepare the way."

Unity with the Divine -- also known as Eternal Life

Obedience to the everlasting covenant brings about unity among mortals:

18 And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them. (Moses 7)

Obedience to the covenant also brings us into harmony with the Father through the Atonement of Christ, and qualifies us to enter into His presence and dwell with Him.

56 They are they who are priests and kings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory;
57 And are priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of Enoch, which was after the order of the Only Begotten Son.
58 Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God—
...
60 And they shall overcome all things.
...
62 These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever. (D&C 76)

Conclusion

1. It is amazing to me that a concept introduced by Margaret Barker (who is not of our faith, and yet who seeks to reconstruct the religion of the first temple period) fits so neatly into the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ as taught in scriptures received through Joseph Smith. This is truly remarkable.
2. If you have ever wondered why the creation story is so essential to the temple endowment, this concept should help establish the connection.
3. The purpose of mortality (the creation) is identical to the purpose of the everlasting covenant -- to bring us into unity with God. This is a key to understanding many symbols in the scriptures.