The small meal, the grand feast, Adam and Eve, and ancient temple worship -- Part 2: "Delivered into your hand"

In my last post, I noted this verse from Genesis outlining the commandment God gives to Adam and Eve right after their creation. 

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1)

I've color-coded 5 components to this commandment.  Overall, I've always taken this to mean that Adam and Eve were supposed to have children, fill the earth with humans, and exercise righteous dominion over God's creation. This still seems perfectly valid, but I'm beginning to see a deeper layer of meaning in these commands.

"Replenish/fill"

Here's one example, I recently pointed out how an important Hebrew expression for "consecration" literally means "filled hand." "Replenish" in the verse above comes from that same root: "male/mala."

Bible scholars describe the numerous connections between Adam and Noah.  The story of Noah is steeped in references to the earlier chapters about Adam and Eve. (For example, compare Genesis 9:1-3 with Genesis 1:28.)

I read these dual commands as a charge to consecrate ourselves to God's purposes -- to live in complete harmony with God's intentions for the creation: the physical creation is intended to give mankind space and time to bring about spiritual creation.  Man is to become holy by this process, and as a result, the wilderness blossoms as a rose.

I believe this explains why Noah is commanded to gather all forms of life into the ark. I've described in many other posts how the ark is an obvious symbol of covenants (see here, for example). Noah kept God's commandment and delivered all creation into God's hand (yet another layer of meaning to Moses 7:43).

I've been reading these two accounts and looking for additional connections.  I've found a sequence related to "fulness/filling" and hands in the story of Noah:

1) Before the flood, the earth is filled with violence.

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence." (Genesis 6:11)

2) Noah obeys God's command to build the ark and fill it with "every living thing of all flesh." (See Genesis 6:14-22.)

3) Amid the chaos and destruction, Noah and the inhabitants of the ark find rest in the hand of the Lord. (Moses 7:43)

Up to this point, Noah is obeying commandments, acting in the role of obedient servant of God. Watch how this begins to change as the sequence progresses.

4) Noah sends out a dove but it finds "no rest for the sole of her foot," so he "put[s] forth his hand" and "pull[s] her unto him into the ark." (Genesis 8:9)

Did you notice the shift? After finding rest in the ark, Noah is now able to extend his own hand and offer rest.

5) After the waters abate, Noah comes forth out of the ark and God covenants with Noah, delivering "all that moveth upon the earth" into his hand. (Genesis 9:2)

This sequence begins with Noah delivering all things into God's hand, and ends with God delivering all things into Noah's hand. That's pretty powerful! The purpose of the creation is fulfilled. 

Conclusion

In the latter days, God has the same purpose in mind for each of us. Notice the same sequence in this description of the Church of the Firstborn (those who inherit the Celestial glory). These righteous souls "overcome [all things] by faith" (see D&C 76:53, 60) and as a consequence:

55 They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things—

56 They are they who are priests and kings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory;  (Doctrine & Covenants 76)

What a beautiful pattern! This is the power of living a consecrated life.

We talk often about consecration in the church, but connecting this concept directly to Adam and Eve links it even more powerfully to the temple, where we are instructed to consider ourselves as if we were Adam and Eve.  In the next post, I'll apply this same concept to the restoration of the Gospel, the Priesthood, and the latter-day work of gathering. 

Five witnesses who were liberated

I will start off by giving credit where credit is due. This post is largely based on another blog post where an interesting observation has been made. The blogger's name is Robert Kay and apparently he is both a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and a Jew.

In Helaman 8, Nephi, the son of Helaman, talks to a crowd of Nephites. He testifies of their wickedness and warns them about the judgments that shall come upon them unless they repent. 

And now behold, if God gave unto this man such power, then why should ye dispute among yourselves, and say that he hath given unto me no power whereby I may know concerning the judgments that shall come upon you except ye repent? (Helaman 8:12)

Ironically, Nephi's most outspoken critics were judges by occupation (see Helaman 8:1). Many of the secular judges in Nephite society are members of the Gadianton band of robbers and reject Nephi's message about the judgments of God. "We are the judges around here, no one else". At the end of the chapter, Nephi prophetically informs the people that their chief judge has just been murdered.

In his speech leading up to the culmination of the murdered chief judge, Nephi specifically mentions five prophets after the time of Abraham who testified of the Son of God, our Chief Judge.

19 And now I would that ye should know, that even since the days of Abraham there have been many prophets that have testified these things; yea, behold, the prophet Zenos did testify boldly; for the which he was slain.

20 And behold, also Zenock, and also Ezias, and also Isaiah, and Jeremiah, (Jeremiah being that same prophet who testified of the destruction of Jerusalem) and now we know that Jerusalem was destroyed according to the words of Jeremiah. O then why not the Son of God come, according to his prophecy?

So we have

1. Zenos (who was slain for his bold testimony according to verse 19)
2. Zenock (who was stoned to death according to Alma 33:17)
3. Ezias (probably a prophet from the brass plates that was familiar to the Nephites but unfamiliar to us)
4. Isaiah (whose death is not recorded in the Bible but who was sawn in two under the orders of King Manasseh, according to Jewish tradition)
5. Jeremiah (who was stoned to death according to extrabiblical sources)

Based on what we know about the other four, perhaps it is fair to assume that Ezias was a martyr too, and that Nephi mentions five witnesses of Christ who died for their testimonies?

Here is the interesting observation by Kay: When Nephi announces the death of their chief judge, there are five men who run to the judgement seat to see if Nephi has spoken the truth. When they arrive there and find that the chief judge dead, just as Nephi had prophecied, they fall to the earth in astonishment. They are accused for the murder and imprisoned. However, on the day of the chief judge's burial, they are set free.

And it came to pass that the five were liberated on the day of the burial. Nevertheless, they did rebuke the judges in the words which they had spoken against Nephi, and did contend with them one by one, insomuch that they did confound them. (Helaman 9:18)

There are striking parallels between the five prophets of old and the five men who find the chief judge dead. Perhaps the Nephite record keepers are trying to teach us a deeper lesson. Just like the five men became eye-witnesses of the death of the chief judge and fell to the ground, the five prophets mentioned were witnesses of Christ, our Chief Judge, testified boldly of him and were killed. However, on the day of Christ's burial, they were liberated, just like the other five men:

16 They were assembled awaiting the advent of the Son of God into the spirit world, to declare their redemption from the bands of death.

17 Their sleeping dust was to be restored unto its perfect frame, bone to his bone, and the sinews and the flesh upon them, the spirit and the body to be united never again to be divided, that they might receive a fulness of joy.

18 While this vast multitude waited and conversed, rejoicing in the hour of their deliverance from the chains of death, the Son of God appeared, declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful (D&C 138)

Jesus Christ is our liberator and also our chief judge. Those who are converted to Him will be set free, like the five prophets of old and also the five men who ran to the judgement seat.

And there were some of the Nephites who believed on the words of Nephi; and there were some also, who believed because of the testimony of the five, for they had been converted while they were in prison. (Helaman 9:39)

Those who have not converted and have blood on their garments, like the brother of the Nephite chief judge (thanks for pointing that out, Lord Wilmore), will be found guilty. Nephi told the people about the real murderer. He asked them to pay the brother of the chief judge a visit and instructed them specifically:

31 But behold, ye shall examine him, and ye shall find blood upon the skirts of his cloak.

32 And when ye have seen this, ye shall say: From whence cometh this blood? Do we not know that it is the blood of your brother?

33 And then shall he tremble, and shall look pale, even as if death had come upon him.

This all happened just as Nephi had instructed. Similarly, spiritual death shall come upon us if our clothes are stained with blood and have not been washed clean through the atonement of our older brother, Jesus Christ.

22 And now I ask of you, my brethren, how will any of you feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained with blood and all manner of filthiness? Behold, what will these things testify against you?

23 Behold will they not testify that ye are murderers, yea, and also that ye are guilty of all manner of wickedness?

24 Behold, my brethren, do ye suppose that such an one can have a place to sit down in the kingdom of God, with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, and also all the holy prophets, whose garments are cleansed and are spotless, pure and white? (Alma 5) 

 This story teaches us who is the true Judge and also who is the true Liberator. 

The small meal, the grand feast, Adam and Eve, and ancient temple worship -- Part 1

In this post, I mentioned a very interesting presentation on ancient Egyptian priestly rituals. The overall pattern of the rituals share much in common with ancient Israelite temple rituals, and we can also see some fascinating parallels with our modern worship in the church.

This post will discuss one set of rituals in the Egyptian practice that has a clear parallel to Israelite temple worship: the small meal and the grand feast.

Dr. John Thompson explains the connections between the small meal, the sacrament, and grand feast, and the harvest/gathering here (~2.5 minute clip):

The parallels are certainly fascinating.  It seems the essence of the small meal/sacrament is demonstrating a willingness to receive from Christ. In contrast, the essence of the grand feast is demonstrating a willingness to bring forth an offering. First we receive, then we give. This implies transformation. We become a new creation.

I have questions to ponder as I consider these symbols.  Here are some of my initial questions:

• What is the connection between the small meal and the grand feast?
• The connection between the small meal and the sacrament seems obvious, but what part of our worship represents the grand feast?
• How does this symbolism relate to Christ and His doctrine?
• Is this another connection to Noah, the covenant symbolism of the ark, and his obedience to God to bring animals of every kind into the ark with him?

This post will set off a series in which I'll explore these and other questions. I hope to connect some of these ideas in a meaningful way, but I apologize in advance if they seem a bit disjointed. At present I don't see a clear sequence to present these ideas, so I'll simply present them one at a time as best I can.

Connection to Adam and Eve

In pondering about what this grand meal might represent in our modern temple worship, it seems to me that we're talking about consecration. Just as the ancients gave of their possessions (animals, grain, etc.) we are asked to offer all that we have to God:

The law of consecration is that we consecrate our time, our talents, and our money and property to the cause of the Church: such are to be available to the extent they are needed to further the Lord’s interests on earth. (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, source here)

It occurs to me that this grand offering might be a symbolic reflection of obedience to the commandment given to Adam and Eve:

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1)

Each of the colored words above directly connects to the doctrine of Christ and will be the discussed in future posts in this series. What better way to demonstrate dominion over the creatures of the creation than to bring them as an offering to God? And of course the devotion does not stop with the bringing of animals as offerings. Ultimately, we make ourselves -- our "bodies" (see Romans 12:1) according to Paul and our "whole souls" (see Omni 1:26) according to Amaleki -- an offering to God. 

This offering is part of the process of spiritual creation and results in at least two things:

1. We fulfill the first commandment God gave to Adam and Eve just after their creation, prior to their transgression. 
2. We transform from hearers of the word into speakers of the word also -- from receivers to givers. 

Perhaps the small meal -- a reminder of the gate by which we entered (see 2 Nephi 31:17) onto the path -- is like manna. It is daily bread -- enough to nourish us as we walk the covenant path, but not enough to "fill" us.  When we are made clean and prepared to participate in the grand feast, we "feast" and are "filled," thereby learning to "speak with the tongue of angels" (see 2 Nephi 31:20; 2 Nephi 32:2-3)

All of this meal/feast symbolism involves the mouth.  Feasting happens through the mouth, as does speaking. That's probably an important part of the symbolism.

I've posted before on Noel Reynolds' observation that one fundamental lesson we can take from Alma 36, with its beautiful chiastic structure, is that Alma's word has become God's word (by the process of conversion). That is a message that fits into this feast/speak symbolism as well.  The process which begins with our willingness to hearken to the word of God ends up teaching us to speak with the tongue of angels. The nose is the symbol of the consecrated offering we must bring to fulfill the commandment God gave Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. That final act of consecration prepares them to be "filled" (see Alma 32:42).

Might this be what James had in mind when he wrote:

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1)

In the next post, we'll start to look in more depth at Genesis 1:28.

Power from on high

In his recent General Conference talk (October 2021), Elder David A. Bednar gave a great talk titled "With the power of God in great glory". This is based on 1 Nephi 14:14

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.

Hearing him quote that verse, my thoughts went to the purpose of the Book of Mormon as described in the title page and that I have previously posted about and summarized as follows: Christ and covenants. Elder Bednar said:

The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and the great tool of conversion in the latter days. Our purpose in sharing the gospel is to invite all to come unto Jesus Christ, receive the blessings of the restored gospel, and endure to the end through faith in the Savior. Helping individuals to experience the mighty change of heart and bind themselves to the Lord through sacred covenants and ordinances are the fundamental objectives of preaching the gospel.

Elder Bednar repeatedly states in his talk that we bind ourselves to the Savior through covenants. This is what arms us with power. Nephi saw this power descending upon the Lord's covenant people. Elder Bednar gives several examples in his talk where this power is manifest. It can happen in different ways, but my understanding is that it happens in the temple in particular. As stated in the Doctrine and Covenants.

Yea, verily I say unto you, I gave unto you a commandment that you should build a house, in the which house I design to endow those whom I have chosen with power from on high (D&C 95:8)

This is the power that Nephi saw descending on the covenant people. It comes from on high and descends on the covenant people in the house of the Lord. This is exactly what President Russell M. Nelson was saying in another great talk at the Sunday morning session of the same conference.

The temple lies at the center of strengthening our faith and spiritual fortitude because the Savior and His doctrine are the very heart of the temple. Everything taught in the temple, through instruction and through the Spirit, increases our understanding of Jesus Christ. His essential ordinances bind us to Him through sacred priesthood covenants. Then, as we keep our covenants, He endows us with His healing, strengthening power. And oh, how we will need His power in the days ahead.

As far as I understand, the General Authorities do not compare notes or base their talks on given assignments, but we can easily see how much they are in sync anyway. Again, in the same talk by President Nelson:

Please believe me when I say that when your spiritual foundation is built solidly upon Jesus Christ, you have no need to fear. As you are true to your covenants made in the temple, you will be strengthened by His power.

I think there is beautiful imagery in Christ's power descending from heaven on us, while we bind ourselves to Him in covenants and are thereby lifted upwards. This is a marriage of heaven and earth and the temple is the link between the two.

Consecration, Temple Incense, and Noah's Ark

My recent posts have dealt with symbols involving incense, noses and smells. We've connected these symbols to the concept of consecration. The symbolism surrounding incense is an aspect of temple worship (both ancient and modern) that is so foreign to our way of thinking that it really takes some effort on our part to draw meaning from the symbols.

In one of my recent posts I mentioned a fascinating presentation recently given by Dr. John Thompson. In it, he compares ancient Egyptian priestly rituals with later Israelite temple rituals. Incense plays an important role at multiple stages in both. My interest was sparked when he showed these images of priests carrying incense in cup-shaped objects held in their outstretched hands:

The paper I referenced near the end of that post details the connection between incense and the "hand as a cup" -- ancient priests carried temple incense in special object shaped like cupped hands:

From this paper

As the caption of the figure above mentions, Hebrew has these symbols embedded in its structure. Hugh Nibley points out that the Hebrew letter kaph means palm:

Incense was often burned in special holders made in the form of a cupped hand, the “golden spoons” of Exodus 25:29 . . . the “filled hand” (the Hebrew letter kaph כ means “palm”) is the widespread sign of offering sacrifice. (Hugh Nibley, “Sacred Vestments,” Temple and Cosmos, 106.)

The ancient pictograph for this letter resembles a cupped hand:

 (source)

Kaph is connected to the word "kaphaph" meaning bow down, bent, or bowed. 

This leads us to the second connection to the Hebrew language itself: male' yad.  This is an important term for consecration. It literally means "filled hand" and is used in connection with the temple many times in the Old Testament (see page 7 of the linked paper for a complete set of Biblical references).

Getting back to Noah's Ark

Here's where it gets really interesting. In the past several posts I've connected this concept of "sweet savour" to Noah, entering into the ark/covenants, and making sacrifice to God as a sign of consecration to Him. The "savor of rest" is the sign of a consecrated life that pleases God. With the idea of 'filled hand' in mind, notice this verse from Moses 7:

43 Wherefore Enoch saw that Noah built an ark; and that the Lord smiled upon it, and held it in his own hand; but upon the residue of the wicked the floods came and swallowed them up.

Noah's ark filled the hand of the Lord (playing the role of incense) while those who would not hearken to God's word were consumed by the floods. That's deep! (Pun intended.) And it really makes you wonder how this subtle symbol of consecration/hand-filling from biblical Hebrew made its way into the Book of Moses in 1830.

Think of God holding the ark in His hand and then look back at the Egyptian pictures up above of the priests holding incense. Beautiful symbolism.

Abinadi and the name of Christ

In this post, Lord Wilmore identifies angels as the source of the name of Christ in the Book of Mormon. The name, Jesus Christ, is special sacred knowledge revealed by angels and recorded in holy writ. The post mentions Abinadi as an example. In Mosiah 15:21, Abinadi says:

And there cometh a resurrection, even a first resurrection; yea, even a resurrection of those that have been, and who are, and who shall be, even until the resurrection of Christ—for so shall he be called.

At this point, Abinadi reveals the name of Christ to king Noah and his priests as if they don't know. Really? The Book of Mormon has mentioned Jesus Christ numerous times before this point. But what we need to keep in mind (and what makes the Book of Mormon so complex) is that it was put together long after these events from different sources, some of them being abbreviated. There are several subtle details that are easily missed, but demonstrate another case of both complexity and internal consistency of the Book of Mormon.

Abinadi's use of the name, Christ

Abinadi enters the scene in Mosiah 11 and in Mosiah 12 he starts his sermon. Not once is Christ mentioned by name until Mosiah 15:21. "Christ - for so shall he be called" signifies an introduction. After this, Abinadi mentions Christ by name 7 times in the remaining 25 verses of his sermon. We have seen some posts before demonstrating how many details Joseph Smith would need to keep in his mind and get straight, had he made this up. Making sure to mention Christ by name only after an introduction in the middle of the sermon (actually more towards the end), is another one of those. These details are sometimes so subtle that nobody even thinks about it. I didn't until very recently.

Zeniff's people's knowledge of Christ

Not only does Abinadi not mention Christ by name until Mosiah 15:21. He is not mentioned at all among the people of Zeniff. Abinadi started preaching during the reigh of King Noah, Zeniff's son. Unlike Noah, Zeniff seemed a righteous king. But even though Mormon quotes directly from Zeniff's writings in Mosiah 10 and 11, Christ is not mentioned at all. It is obvious that his name was not common knowledge among the people of Zeniff and Noah. How can that be? Surely, Christ is mentioned multiple times just a few chapters earlier in Mosiah. King Benjamin gave the people a new name. The name was Christ. They entered into a covenant and were born by Him becoming his sons and daughters.

But this is all just another demonstration of the complex, yet consistent narrative of the Book of Mormon, including subtle details. Zeniff and his group had already left Zarahemla when King Benjamin addressed the people. The reason is the Book of Mormon not always being chronological and Mosiah 9 starting with a flashback. In fact, Abinadi revealed the name of Christ to King Noah and his people in the land of Nephi a few decades before king Benjamin revealed the name of Christ to his people in Zarahemla. The reception could not have been more different. Here is the result from King Benjamin's speech

And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters. (Mosiah 5:7)

King Noah on the other hand, says

7 And he said unto him: Abinadi, we have found an accusation against thee, and thou art worthy of death.
8 For thou hast said that God himself should come down among the children of men; and now, for this cause thou shalt be put to death (Mosiah 17)

The "new name" that King Benjamin would give his people indicates that the name of Christ was not common knowledge among the people of Zarahemla at the time. In that case, it is reasonable to conclude that it was not common knowledge decades earlier either, as Zeniff and his group went up to the Land of Nephi. That explains why Zeniff never mentioned Christ and Abinadi had to introduce him by name. 

Access to the small plates of Nephi

Is it really reasonable to think that the people of Zarahemla, led by a righteous king, did not know Christ by name? Then why is "Christ" found multiple times in the Book of Mormon prior to these events in Mosiah? We need to keep in mind that everything prior to Mosiah in the Book of Mormon is taken from the small plates of Nephi. They were considered sacred and contained sacred knowledge revealed by angels. Nephi has this to say about them:

And an account of my making these plates shall be given hereafter; and then, behold, I proceed according to that which I have spoken; and this I do that the more sacred things may be kept for the knowledge of my people. (1 Nephi 19:5)

Since Nephi has just mentioned the large plates, I assume "more sacred" is in comparison with them. Perhaps the small plates, for this reason, were not copied and distributed among the people and the name of Christ was not taught and generally known in Zarahemla until King Benjamin gave his speech. Similarly, the people of Zeniff and Noah had no access to the small plates of Nephi that were in King Benjamin's possession, and had to learn the name of Christ from Abinadi (who might have learned it from an angel?).

It all makes sense and remains consistent, but we need to study deep and pay attention to the details to realize it. 

A reasonable question to ask about all this is what "Christ" is doing in the Book of Mormon at all, being a Greek translation of the Hebrew, "Messiah". Obviously, Christ is just the English translation (because that is considered his name in English) of an unknown word/name in the Nephite language. We don't know what that was. We only know that it was considered sacred, it was only revealed on certain occasions and it had special transforming power.

Nichoach (נִיחוֹחַ) -- "A Savor of Rest"

As I studied about incense and some of the related symbolism (see this recent post), I came across an alternative translation for Genesis 8:21, which describes God's response to Noah's sacrifice after the flood. The KJV translates this "a sweet savour" but the 1599 Geneva Bible translates the same words this way:

And the Lord smelled a savor of rest... (source)

Here is the accompanying footnote: "That is, thereby he showeth himself appeased and his anger to rest." What is so sweet that it can appease God and put His anger to rest? The Hebrew word is:

nichoach (נִיחוֹחַ): a quieting, soothing, tranquilizing (source)

Biblehub goes on to say this word derives from "nuach" (to rest), from which the name Noah is derived. So the "sweet savor" of the sacrifice is part of the deeper wordplay on the name of the central character in the story. Noah's sacrifice, a symbol of his consecrated life, pleases God and allows Noah to enter into His rest.

The NIDOTTE connects this willing sacrifice to the consecrated life of a Christian:

Perhaps the most theologically significant of all the occasions of the word is the last one (Ezekiel 20:41), where God says that the people themselves will be the “fragrant incense” to the Lord when he brings them home from the nations. As all the prophets had said again and again, it was not the people’s sacrifices that God wanted, but it was themselves, as symbolized in their sacrifices. (New international dictionary of Old Testament theology & exegesis, Vol. 3, p. 59, emphasis added by me)

What a beautiful symbol of the temple!  In the temple, we willingly "enter in" to covenants with God, wherein we promise to consecrate our lives to Him. The "sweet savor" isn't about merely burning a precious substance.  It is a symbol of a consecrated life.

In the next post, we'll carry this symbolism a little bit further by looking at the deeper meaning of an important Hebrew term for consecrate: male’ yad

Collectivism in the Book of Mormon

I am currently reading a book called "Misreading scripture with western eyes". It shows how we often misunderstand scripture because we read it through the lens of our culture which is very different from the culture of those who wrote it. The authors are Christian but not LDS so I am interested to see how this also might apply to the Book of Mormon. One chapter discusses the modern western individualist culture versus the eastern collectivist culture.

Here are a few examples from the Bible that I have never considered: The Christmas story has been Westernized. We imagine (and illustrate in paintings and school plays) Joseph and Mary and possibly a donkey trudging alone up to Jerusalem in the quiet of the night. This is very unlikely. A passage from the book explains:

Since we know from prophecy that Jesus needed to be born in Bethlehem, we don’t ask the obvious question: why in the world would a guy drag his pregnant wife across the country? We assume the Romans must have required it (within the will of God, of course). Sure, the Romans required a census, but they allowed a large window of time for people to register. It wasn’t in Rome’s best interest to suddenly require everyone in the empire to travel to their ancestral homeland during one weekend. It seems clear in the text that Mary and Joseph were traveling during festival time—that’s why all the inns were full. Bethlehem was what we might call a bedroom community, or suburb, for Jerusalem. Joseph, unlike many Galileans, was apparently a regular attender of Judean festivals. This might explain why Joseph wanted to visit Jerusalem when he did. But why take Mary when she was “great with child”? It wasn’t ignorance; ancients knew how to count to nine. The reason is simple: if Joseph was of the lineage of David, then so were all his relatives. So were all of Mary’s relatives. Moreover, in antiquity one’s relatives were the birthing crew. Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem when they did because everybody else was going.

This goes without saying for the gospel writers. In the modern West, we emphasize each individual being of equal importance. It is not obvious to us that a lot of people who are not mentioned in the story are also there. Another example is Paul's letter-writing. A passage from the book states:

Ancient letter-writing was different in just about every way. Ancients had no writing desks. Authors commonly stood and dictated while a scribe sat with a sheet of parchment balanced on his knee or in his lap. Paul would not have locked himself away in some private room to write. (It would have been too dark anyway.) He more likely would have sat in a public place: the breezy, well-lit atrium of a prosperous home like Lydia’s, or in an upstairs balconied apartment. Family and friends walking by would have stopped to listen (ancients read out loud) and to offer advice (it shows you care).

These are interesting perspectives that make sense only when I better understand the cultural differences. I have been thinking of similar examples in the Book of Mormon where people are not as alone as we think they are when we (mis)read it through modern western eyes. Take the sons of Mosiah who went to preach to the Lamanites. Were there four people making the journey to the Lamanites, preaching the gospel there for 14 years? We know it wasn't. It is not emphasized much in the text but there were definitely more:

And thus they departed into the wilderness with their numbers which they had selected, to go up to the land of Nephi, to preach the word of God unto the Lamanites. (Alma 17:8)

We even get two of their names in Alma 20:2, Ammah and Muloki. So this is not a very obscure fact, on a close reading we understand that there probably was a sizeable group going up to the Lamanites. But it is mentioned only in passing, focusing on certain characters, just like the Christmas story for obvious reasons focuses on Mary and Joseph and not all their relatives. So we should not be surprised if people who are not central to the story sometimes are not mentioned at all. I think this might be the case with the Lehite exodus. Once Nephi mentions in passing that he has sisters (See 2 Nephi 5:6). It is not obvious that he made a conscious effort to inform the reader about that detail, probably because he did not really think it was too important. Informing about family matters was not the point of his writings unless it served the purpose of teaching the reader about God's ways, which is illustrated in the conflicts with his brothers.

Learning about a typical Jewish household in Lehi's time, it is reasonable to assume that there were many more people journeying to the promised land than the ones we know by name from the Book of Mormon. These households would usually consist of three generations. We know from 1 Nephi 7 when they get Ishmael and his houshold that he had two sons who also had families. They were all part of the same household. (See 1 Nephi 7:5-6). In addition, an ancient Jewish household would include debt servants, slaves, concubines, resident aliens, sojourners, day laborers and orphans. Even though I think we may safely assume that Lehi had no concubines, I find it likely that he had servants and maids. This was not frowned upon in ancient Israel like it is in the modern West, as even the Bible clearly shows. Besides, Lehi was definitely rich, something that would increase the size of his household.

When the Lord spoke to Lehi in a dream and told him to flee Jerusalem and travel into the wilderness to a promised land, I find it likely that he brought everyone along. This was probably something that went without saying for Nephi, but it is not obvious to us before we learn more about ancient Israelite culture.

There is no spiritual lesson or gospel principles hidden in this, just an interesting tidbit. But it might be part of the explanation for how the Nephites seem to have become so many so fast (like having wars with the Lamanites while Nephi was still alive).

 

A follow up note on "sweet savor"

In my last post, I attempted to describe/define what it might mean to "smell" the word of God. The essence of the symbol is this:

Hearing the word of God and seeing the heavenly light creates a strong desire to worship God and offer Him praise for His mercy and love. 

I stand by that definition.  In searching the scriptures to learn more, I came across a few gems in the Bible:

1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. (Ephesians 5)

15 ·Our offering to God is this: [or For God’s sake; or To God] We are the ·sweet smell [aroma; fragrance] of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are ·being lost [perishing; headed for destruction].  (2 Corinthians 2, EXB)

41 I will accept you as fragrant incense when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will be proved holy through you in the sight of the nations. (Ezekiel 20, NIV)

It pleases the Lord when His children earnestly and humbly seek to make an offering to Him that is acceptable.  This must be done in the context of purity and humilty:

3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. (Psalm 24)