Righteousness -- Part 1

After I posted on the paths of righteousness and wisdom, I got stuck in the concept of righteousness. Looking into the ancient Hebrew understanding of certain concepts or words sometimes opens up a new world. This is definitely the case with righteousness and I find it fascinating. This paper by Margaret Barker introduces this concept and its background. Here is the essence:

The Bible is full of words that describe the creation as a web of life, the role of human beings in guarding and preserving it, and why things went wrong[...] the Bible writers said that God had bound all creation into one system. This was how people talked about it, and thought about it, and so this was how they lived. Human society and all the natural world belonged together. Everything had its place and its boundary[...] These bonds of creation formed the great covenant - the word means binding together - and as long as the bonds of the covenant remained in place, people could live in peace and prosperity. The bonds were called the covenant of peace, or the covenant of life and peace (Numbers 25.12; Malachi 2.5). Peace did not mean simply ‘absence of conflict’. The Hebrew word shalom implies far more: rest, balance, harmony and completion - we might nowadays say ‘a sustainable state.’ The story of the creation in the Bible says this was achieved when everything was very good and at rest. There is no mention of maximum production. Resting was an essential part of the system; enough was enough. The bonds and boundaries maintained everything as the Creator intended it to be, and human beings had to live in such a way that the covenant was not broken. The storyteller said that Adam was put in the Garden of Eden to serve it and to preserve it (Genesis 2.15). The English versions say something like ‘to till it and to keep it’ but this does not make clear what Adam had to do: he had to be the Servant and Guardian of the creation, not just a gardener. The Servants of the LORD had to maintain the covenant of peace. When it was threatened or damaged, they had to do whatever was necessary to restore it. And here we come to the word that forms the title of this talk; righteousness, tsedaqah. Righteousness describes both the action needed to restore the broken covenant, and also the result of that action. Righteous people had been restored to their intended place in the creation, and they then had to work to restore other parts of the covenant system. Righteousness meant the activity of making righteous, protecting and maintaining the covenant.

In other words, the term "righteousness" ties neatly into the creation-covenant connection. Righteousness is what preserves or restores the bonds of creation. This adds context to the "paths of righteousness". In that post, I showed some examples where God himself was described as righteousness. He is the originator of the covenant and the creator of this harmonic system. His paths lead to this peace and "rest" that Barker mentions. (See previous posts on "enter into His rest"). But He also wants Adam ("man" or "mankind" in Hebrew) to be righteous as He is - a servant and guardian of creation.

I don't really know Hebrew, but I have seen that some nouns have both a masculine and a feminine version. This is the case with righteousness. Tsedeq is the masculine form and tsedaqah is the feminine form. They carry the same meaning but there is disagreement among scholars if these words can be used interchangeably or if there in fact are differences. Some claim that tsedeq signifies the right order of things (think God as the creator and preserver of the creation-covenant connection) and tsedaqah is the human behavior (think the servant who guards the "garden" or creation).

I studied some scriptures that give deeper meaning with this background knowledge. In Moses 7 we read about the establishment of Zion. This is where righteousness has overcome the unrest, the broken covenant, and brought back the initial "shalom" and bonds of creation. "Righteous" and "righteousness" are mentioned 11 times in this chapter. For example:

And it came to pass that Enoch looked upon the earth; and he heard a voice from the bowels thereof, saying: Wo, wo is me, the mother of men; I am pained, I am weary, because of the wickedness of my children. When shall I rest, and be cleansed from the filthiness which is gone forth out of me? When will my Creator sanctify me, that I may rest, and righteousness for a season abide upon my face? (Moses 7:48)

The earth, the creation, is pained because of wickedness (which is the common word used as the opposite of righteousness). The creation mourns and longs for rest; the harmony that only the covenant bonds can give through righteousness. I also highlighted "my face" since Lord Wilmore previously speculated that "face of the earth/land" is another covenant symbol, which I agree with. 

When I posted about the concept of "heaven and earth" previously, it was triggered by a verse in this same chapter, in Moses 7. 

And righteousness will I send down out of heaven; and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten; his resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem. (Moses 7:62)

I believe that heaven and earth is an allusion to the very first verse of the Bible and the creation, including the "web of life"/bonds/covenant that comes with it. When righteousness comes from heaven and truth from the earth, they meet and are united. This is the setting for the establishment of Zion. This same idea is found in Psalms.

11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

12 Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.

13 Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps. (Psalm 85)

In this case, righteousness looks down from heaven and gives another example of the personification that I wrote about in "paths of righteousness and wisdom" post I linked. In verse 13, the path of righteousness is established when righteousness goes in front and creates a way for us to follow. Another example:

Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it. (Isaiah 45:8)

As in Moses 7, righteousness is sent from heaven. Avraham Gileadi comments on this verse:

Jehovah’s sending down righteousness out of heaven alludes to blessings flowing as a consequence of covenant keeping by his elect.

In this case, righteousness also springs up from the earth. Whereas the righteousness from heaven in both the quoted verses from Psalms and Isaiah is the masculine, tsedeq, the rightousness from earth in the same Isaiah verse, is the feminine tsedaqah. I interpret this as an allusion to the covenant concept of a symbolic marriage between heaven and earth, between Jehovah and his bride, Israel. This is the establishment of Zion.

Righteousness springing up is also reminiscent of the righteous branch that the Book of Mormon mentions. This aspect and a few others found in the Book of Mormon related to "righteousness" will be the topic for part 2.

But there is also one more verse in Isaiah related to this that I'd like to include:

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. (Isaiah 5:7)

This is Isaiah's song of the vineyard that tells of wickedness, covenant-breaking and scattering, the very opposite of the establishment of Zion through righteousness. God expected to find righteousness in the vineyard (creation) and the plant springing up, but found "a cry" instead. The Hebrew word means an outcry, a cry of distress. Consistent with the other quoted verses, "righteousness" in this case is the feminine, tsedaqah. Isaiah is engaging in a word-play here by applying similar words with opposite meaning.

and he looked for judgment (Hebr. mispat), but behold oppression (Hebr. mispah)

for righteousness (Hebr. tsedaqah), but behold a cry (Hebr. tseaqah)

Brilliant poetry! My take from all this: The initial bond that keeps all creation in balance and harmony is established by the Creator, the righteous one. Man has been assigned to serve and guard it, but has broken the covenant and caused disruption through wickedness. In order to establish Zion and restore the covenant of peace, God sends righteousness (tsedeq) from heaven and calls on righteous people from all the face of the earth/land to walk on His paths and gather. The righteousness from heaven was sent in the form of his Son a couple of millennia ago. In the latter days it has been in the form of a glorious restoration, including priesthood power from heavenly messengers and revelations. At the same time, the Book of Mormon has been coming forth from the earth and righteous (tsedaqah) people are participating in the gathering of Israel.

In the next part we will see how the Book of Mormon is particularly concerned with the establishment and preservation of a righteous people.

Righteousness -- Part 3

In the previous two parts (here and here), I have written about the term, righteousness, in a particular context that Margaret Barker provides in this paper. It is fascinating to me how such a common word in the scriptures can have so much meaning when new context is provided. It has both changed and added depth to my understanding of certain verses. I know I am repeating myself, but this part from Barker's paper is important for the topic of this post.

the Bible writers said that God had bound all creation into one system[...] The bonds were called the covenant of peace, or the covenant of life and peace (Numbers 25.12; Malachi 2.5). Peace did not mean simply ‘absence of conflict’. The Hebrew word shalom implies far more: rest, balance, harmony and completion - we might nowadays say ‘a sustainable state.’ The story of the creation in the Bible says this was achieved when everything was very good and at rest[...] The Servants of the LORD had to maintain the covenant of peace. When it was threatened or damaged, they had to do whatever was necessary to restore it. And here we come to the word that forms the title of this talk; righteousness, tsedaqah. Righteousness describes both the action needed to restore the broken covenant, and also the result of that action. Righteous people had been restored to their intended place in the creation, and they then had to work to restore other parts of the covenant system. Righteousness meant the activity of making righteous, protecting and maintaining the covenant. Those who had been healed had to become healers.

With this as backdrop, I see the following verses in Alma 13 in a new light:

10 Now, as I said concerning the holy order, or this high priesthood, there were many who were ordained and became high priests of God; and it was on account of their exceeding faith and repentance, and their righteousness before God, they choosing to repent and work righteousness rather than to perish...
13 And now, my brethren, I would that ye should humble yourselves before God, and bring forth fruit meet for repentance, that ye may also enter into that rest.
14 Yea, humble yourselves even as the people in the days of Melchizedek, who was also a high priest after this same order which I have spoken, who also took upon him the high priesthood forever...
17 Now this Melchizedek was a king over the land of Salem; and his people had waxed strong in iniquity and abomination; yea, they had all gone astray; they were full of all manner of wickedness;
18 But Melchizedek having exercised mighty faith, and received the office of the high priesthood according to the holy order of God, did preach repentance unto his people. And behold, they did repent; and Melchizedek did establish peace in the land in his days; therefore he was called the prince of peace, for he was the king of Salem; and he did reign under his father.

I'm highlighting a lot of words here that have direct connection to the quote I gave and the previous posts on this topic. Why do I highlight the name, "Melchizedek"? Because it means "king of righteousness" in Hebrew. "zedek" is just a different spelling of "tsedeq" that I wrote about in part 1 of this series. Do you see how well it fits the context? Alma talks about those who were high priests in the first temple period (obviously, because that is when Lehi left Jerusalem). They were examples of righteousness, restorers of the covenant of peace. Alma exhorts his listeners to follow their lead so they can enter into his rest, which is an indicator of the covenant of peace being intact. Melchizedek, the king of righteousness, is a great example of such a high priest. He established this peace in his society after the people had repented from "all manner of wickedness" (remember from part 2 that wickedness is the opposite of righteousness). With the Hebrew meaning translated, "Melchizedek was a king over the land of Salem" becomes "The king of righteousness was a king over the land of peace".

Even though we know very little about Melchizedek, the description of him and his name matches perfectly with the idea of "righteous people [who] had been restored to their intended place in the creation, and [...] then had to work to restore other parts of the covenant system". Keeping in mind that angels can be heavenly or earthly ("angel" and "messenger" is the same word in Hebrew), this is a description of the "see an angel, be an angel" concept and the ministry of angels that Lord Wilmore has written about in previous blog posts. 

This is also the essence of temple worship and atonement. The high priest would represent the Messiah and enter into the holy of holies on the day of atonement to sprinkle blood on behalf of the people. This would symbolically restore the broken covenant and reestablish peace and harmony of the creation. Melchizedek as a high priest would do this and apparently managed to establish peace. We know little details, but we know that he is a type of Christ, the other king of righteousness ("after the order of Melchizedek" Hebrews 7:17). To quote the article from Barker again

When the prophets spoke of the earth staggering under the weight of human sin (Isaiah 24.20), of mountains shaking (Jeremiah 4.24), of stars falling from the sky like fruit from a fig tree (Revelation 6.13), they were seeing how the creation would be when it was no longer restrained and protected by the covenant[...] In crises such as this, they looked for the Righteous One to appear and restore the covenant (Isaiah 24.16). Isaiah described the Servant, the Righteous One who would make many righteous and bear away their iniquities (Isaiah 53.11). Making righteous meant removing the effects of distortion, enabling more people to become restorers. St Peter described Jesus as the Righteous One, the Author of Life (Acts 3.14-15)

This also helps me see the priesthood in a new light. The "order of the Son of God", that it was initially called, is what is described in the quote above. It was later called "the order of Melchizedek" or the Melchizedek priesthood, but as Alma 13 shows, it is exactly the same: It is the restoration of the covenant through righteousness. In his great lecture on the priesthood in D&C 121, Joseph Smith said:

...the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness (L&P 121:36)

The priesthood exercised in righteousness by people like Melchizedek restores the covenant of peace and enables more people to become restorers. Christ, the "high priest" in the letter to the Hebrews, is the ultimate example of that. It would of course be impossible without his atonement that Melchizedek and the temple rites merely foreshadowed.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. (1 Peter 3:18)

We have high priests after the order of Melchizedek in the church today too. It is structured a bit differently and they have a different role than 3000 years ago, but I think the same principles apply. As leaders in Christ's restored church, they exercise the priesthood in righteousness. They invite people to enter into covenants and administer the ordinances connected to those covenants. In line with ancient Israelite thought, this restores the old covenant of peace and harmony among God's creations. It leads people on the paths of righteousness to the fountain of righteousness. They are restored to their intended place in the creation and can help others achieve the same.

Paths of righteousness and wisdom

Having just finished Margaret Barker's "Temple Theology", I am still in ancient temple mode. One of the characteristics of this older first temple tradition (pre-deuteronomic reform) was the belief in a female deity called "wisdom". This seems to have been a tradition that Lehi and his family took with them to the promised land. We have touched upon it on this blog before, see here. Mosiah 8:20 is also a good example

how blind and impenetrable are the understandings of the children of men; for they will not seek wisdom, neither do they desire that she should rule over them!

Another backdrop for this post is the concept of walking on a path, which has also been posted about a lot before and has rarely to do with moving one's feet and usually something to do with entering into and keeping covenants. The ancient temple (and I would even argue the modern temple) respresents this path from a scattered state in the wilderness through covenants and a gradual ascent to the holy of holies in unity. 

With this in mind, I want to discuss the mention of paths in the Book of Mormon. Often, these paths are described as "his paths" and they are strait or made straight. On a few occasions, these paths are the paths of a virtue. In those cases they are either the paths of righteousness or wisdom. 

Paths of righteousness (tsedeq)

The Hebrew word, tsedeq, is typically translated into 'righteousness' and is a masculine word (all Hebrew words have one of two genders). It is closely associated with God. He epitomizes or personifies righteousness. For instance, we can read in Jeremiah 23:6

In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

So in one sense, when we are asked to walk in the paths of righteousness, we are asked to walk in his paths. Like in Psalm 23:3

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

The path of righteousness is also found in the Book of Mormon

And it came to pass that they did humble themselves before the Lord; insomuch that I had joy and great hopes of them, that they would walk in the paths of righteousness. (1 Nephi 16:5)

For I perceive that ye are in the paths of righteousness; I perceive that ye are in the path which leads to the kingdom of God; yea, I perceive that ye are making his paths straight. (Alma 7:19)

From Alma's statement we can infer that the paths of righteousness are the path of God (His paths) and also the path that leads to God.

Wisdom's paths (chokmah)

The Hebrew word for wisdom is 'chokmah' and is a feminine noun. Much of the wisdom tradition is shown in the Book of Proverbs, although I suspect that it was more prevalent in other parts of the Old Testament writings too before it went "through the hands of the great and abominable church". Proverbs 8 is all about this. But we will consider an example from Proverbs 4, where there is also talk of paths.

7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.
11 I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.

Even though wisdom referred to as a female in these verses, one may argue that wisdom is introduced as a "thing" in verse 7, which is not in line with the image of a female deity. But looking into this further, it gets interesting. There is no Hebrew word equivalent of the English "thing" in this verse. It is just part of the translation of the Hebrew, "reshith", to make the text work in English. Interestingly, this also happens to be the very first word of the Bible or Torah. "In the beginning (reshith) God created the heavens and the earth". It's the Hebrew word for beginning, chief, first. I'm no Hebrew expert but can easily imagine that Proverbs 4:7 could as well be translated as "in the beginning was wisdom". This is also consistent with Proverbs 8:23-30, where Wisdom speaks and explains that she was there at the creation.

Compare that with the words of Gerald Schroeder, Israeli physicist and orthodox Jew, discussing Genesis 1:1

The opening word, usually translated as ‘in the beginning,’ is Be’reasheet. Be’reasheet can mean ‘in the beginning of,’ but not ‘in the beginning.’ The difficulty with the preposition ‘of’ is that its object is absent from the sentence; thus the King James translation merely drops it. But the 2100-year-old Jerusalem translation of Genesis into Aramaic takes a different approach, realizing that Be’reasheet is a compound word: the prefix Be’, ‘with,’ and reasheet, a ‘first wisdom.’ The Aramaic translation is thus ‘With wisdom God created the heavens and the earth.’ 

This wisdom that was with God in the beginning at the creation has her "way", the "way of wisdom" as we read in Proverbs 4:11. Again, this is something we find in the Book of Mormon too.

ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom’s paths that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved (Mosiah 2:36)

Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom’s paths! (Helaman 12:5)

Conclusion

When paths in the Book of Mormon are coupled with a virtue, it is either righteousness or wisdom. Based on the evidence presented in this post, they can be interpreted as the masculine and feminine part of God(head). Our heavenly parents are inviting us back to their presence. To get there we must walk on their path.

As mentioned in another recent post, the ancient temple was patterned after the six days of creation. Walking "the path" in the temple was a progression through the days of creation backwards until one reached the light created on the first day in the holy of holies in unity with "righteousness" and "wisdom", our heavenly parents. 

Righteousness -- Part 2

In part 1, I placed the term, righteousness, in a certain context; as the means to establish or restore the bonds and peace of all creation. Righteousness is one of God's primary attributes but he needs a righteous people to work with him and fulfill his purposes. Searching for the term, "righteous" or "righteousness" in the Book of Mormon gives more than a hundred results. I have not gone through all those verses, but I have seen a clear pattern: God is extremely concerned about establishing and preserving a righteous people. This can be divided into several categories:

• Raising up a righteous branch
• Separating the righteous from the wicked
• Destroying the wicked and preserving the righteous
• Blessing the land of the righteous
• Saving the righteous

I find there is a logical link between these, perhaps even a sequence, and they also fit the context discussed in part 1. Just to repeat a small part of Margaret Barker's paper giving that context:

Righteousness describes both the action needed to restore the broken covenant, and also the result of that action. Righteous people had been restored to their intended place in the creation, and they then had to work to restore other parts of the covenant system. Righteousness meant the activity of making righteous, protecting and maintaining the covenant.

I will give a few examples for each category.

Raising up a righteous branch

Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day. And he obtained a promise of the Lord, that out of the fruit of his loins the Lord God would raise up a righteous branch unto the house of Israel; not the Messiah, but a branch which was to be broken off, nevertheless, to be remembered in the covenants of the Lord that the Messiah should be made manifest unto them in the latter days, in the spirit of power, unto the bringing of them out of darkness unto light—yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom. (2 Nephi 3:5)

And behold how great the covenants of the Lord, and how great his condescensions unto the children of men; and because of his greatness, and his grace and mercy, he has promised unto us that our seed shall not utterly be destroyed, according to the flesh, but that he would preserve them; and in future generations they shall become a righteous branch unto the house of Israel. (2 Nephi 9:53)

Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph. (Jacob 2:25)

This reminds me of a couple of scriptures shared in part 1 where righteousness would "spring up" or God wanted to find righteousness in his vineyard. The Hebrew word for "spring up" used in that Isaiah verse is the same as the one in Genesis 2:9, where God made every tree grow (spring up) from the ground in the Garden of Eden. The righteous branch is perhaps also an allusion to Zenos' allegory and the branches that were grafted and produced good fruit.

Separating the righteous from the wicked

And now I say unto you, all you that are desirous to follow the voice of the good shepherd, come ye out from the wicked, and be ye separate, and touch not their unclean things; and behold, their names shall be blotted out, that the names of the wicked shall not be numbered among the names of the righteous, that the word of God may be fulfilled, which saith: The names of the wicked shall not be mingled with the names of my people (Alma 5:57)

And the time speedily cometh, that except ye repent they shall possess the land of your inheritance, and the Lord God will lead away the righteous out from among you. (Jacob 3:4)

This is similar to the wheat and the tares. In order to let righteous people restore the covenant system, they must be clearly distinguished, separated out and gathered.

Destroying the wicked and preserving the righteous

36 Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it.
37 And he raiseth up a righteous nation, and destroyeth the nations of the wicked.
38 And he leadeth away the righteous into precious lands, and the wicked he destroyeth, and curseth the land unto them for their sakes. (1 Nephi 17)

16 For the time soon cometh that the fulness of the wrath of God shall be poured out upon all the children of men; for he will not suffer that the wicked shall destroy the righteous.
17 Wherefore, he will preserve the righteous by his power, even if it so be that the fulness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore, the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire. (1 Nephi 22)

This is a similar to the previous point, but it goes even further. It sounds brutal, but it seems necessary for God to achieve His purposes. The covenant bonds cannot be maintained by wickedness. Unless the wicked repent, they must eventually make way for the righteous to do the work that is ultimately for the benefit of the whole creation. 

Blessing the land of the righteous

15 And now it came to pass that after Alma had said these things to Helaman, he blessed him, and also his other sons; and he also blessed the earth for the righteous’ sake.
16 And he said: Thus saith the Lord God—Cursed shall be the land, yea, this land, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, unto destruction, which do wickedly, when they are fully ripe; and as I have said so shall it be; for this is the cursing and the blessing of God upon the land, for the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. (Alma 45)

the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people. (Ether 2:7)

the foundation of liberty which God had granted unto them, or which blessing God had sent upon the face of the land for the righteous’ sake. (Alma 46:10)

A lot of the scriptures about righteousness or righteous people are connected with land/earth/creation. We saw that also in part 1 of this series. This makes sense given the creation-covenant context that Barker explains.

Exalting the righteous

he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb. (Alma 34:36)

and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day (1 Nephi 16:2)

When they righteous people have been established, they can restore the covenant system, the bonds of creation. Finally, the righteous people on earth are taken up to God in heaven, like the City of Enoch

17 The fear of the Lord was upon all nations, so great was the glory of the Lord, which was upon his people. And the Lord blessed the land, and they were blessed upon the mountains, and upon the high places, and did flourish.

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.

19 And Enoch continued his preaching in righteousness unto the people of God. And it came to pass in his days, that he built a city that was called the City of Holiness, even Zion.

20 And it came to pass that Enoch talked with the Lord; and he said unto the Lord: Surely Zion shall dwell in safety forever. But the Lord said unto Enoch: Zion have I blessed, but the residue of the people have I cursed.

21 And it came to pass that the Lord showed unto Enoch all the inhabitants of the earth; and he beheld, and lo, Zion, in process of time, was taken up into heaven. And the Lord said unto Enoch: Behold mine abode forever. (Moses 7)

Sorry but not sorry for overloading this post with scriptures. But there are many more fitting examples that I didn't include. The Book of Mormon also talks about God's righteousness, which I haven't addressed, but what really stood out for me was how desperately God wants to establish, protect, preserve and bless a righteous people.

"Sanctified unto us for righteousness"

Given the fact that Lehi's group left Jerusalem around 600 BC, you would think that their religious writings would read much like the Old Testament. That is only partly the case. Critics have argued that it reads too much like the New Testament. There are numerous examples on this blog showing how the Book of Mormon fits an ancient Israelite worldview. Still, it is true that the Book of Mormon "talk[s] of Christ, [...] rejoice[s] in Christ, [...] preach[es] of Christ [and] prophes[ies] of Christ" (2 Nephi 25:26), something that we don't see much of in the Old Testament in such a straight-forward manner.

There are theories postulated that our current Old Testament has been highly influenced by King Josiah and the so-called Deuteronomic reforms. Before these reforms, the ancient Israelites had a richer temple worship including a Heavenly Mother and the Son of God, among other things. King Josiah was primarily concerned with the Law (of Moses). Margaret Barker and other scholars argue that the former theology was not completely forgotten and is one of the reasons why Christianity could be accepted and spread like it did. This Deuteronomist thinking and theology is still prevalent today among orthodox Jews. They interpret the tree of life as the Torah (the Law). 

Interestingly, the Nephites actually explain why the Book of Mormon reads like an Old/New Testament hybrid themselves. Their explanation fits very well into the paradigm briefly laid out in the previous section and explained in more detail in the link I gave.

24 And, notwithstanding we believe in Christ, we keep the law (Torah) of Moses, and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law (Torah) shall be fulfilled.
25 For, for this end was the law given; wherefore the law (Torah) hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith; yet we keep the law (Torah) because of the commandments. (2 Nephi 25)

For Deuteronomists as well as believing Jews today, the Torah seems to be considered an end goal in itself. Lehi and Nephi's views came from an older tradition, where the Torah was just the means to an end. The end was the Son of God, the Messiah, Christ who should redeem them and who the law was pointing to. They brought this tradition with them to the promised land and taught their children about it. There is a similar sentiment in Jacob 4

4 For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us.
5 Behold, they believed in Christ and worshiped the Father in his name, and also we worship the Father in his name. And for this intent we keep the law of Moses, it pointing our souls to him; and for this cause it is sanctified unto us for righteousness, even as it was accounted unto Abraham in the wilderness to be obedient unto the commands of God in offering up his son Isaac, which is a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son.

Jacob talks about the holy prophets that lived before and their hope in Christ. This is an ancient tradition and goes all the way back to Adam as we read in the Pearl of Great Price, even though it was corrupted and lost several times throughout history. Jacob clearly also views the law of Moses as a means to a higher end. That does not mean he does not keep it. It was important for the Nephites to keep the law but the reason for doing so was completely different from the Deuteronomists. When the Nephites kept the law of Moses with the intent to have their souls pointed to Christ, the law was sanctified unto them for righteousness.

I find that phrase intriguing. The law in itself is dead according to Nephi, but it is sanctified for them when they use it as a vehicle to come unto Christ. We do not live the law of Moses anymore. It was replaced by a higher law. Does that mean we got better commandments now? Commandments that can actually bring salvation unlike the "dead" law of Moses? No. If we let any commandment be an end in and of itself, we make the same mistake as the Jews. 

8 For behold, the covenant which I have made with my people is not all fulfilled; but the law which was given unto Moses hath an end in me.

9 Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life.

10 Behold, I have given unto you the commandments; therefore keep my commandments. And this is the law and the prophets, for they truly testified of me. (3 Nephi 15)

These are the words of the Savior. My conclusion from these verses is that even though we don't follow those weird rules in Leviticus and Numbers, nothing else has changed much. We are still asked to keep the commandments in verse 10, but the reason for that is clear: They testify of Him. They bring us to Him. He is the law. If we let the commandments point our souls to the Savior, they are "sanctified unto us for righteousness". It is not only the law of Moses that point our souls to Him. 

Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ; for, for this end hath the law of Moses been given; and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him. (2 Nephi 11:4)

All things given by God point to him. Anything that we treat as an end goal instead of a gateway to Christ becomes "dead". As Nephi stated, we are made alive in Christ.

This is expressing New Testament views in Old Testament times. Testament means covenant and Christ is the mediator of the new covenant (Hebrews 9:15). Lehi and Nephi coming from an Israelite culture in 600 BC Jerusalem, having a pre-Deuteronomist belief that they passed on to their children in the Americas, explains perfectly well why the Book of Mormon is written the way it is.