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Robert Kay: Unsealing the Knowledge of the Fathers

By
Robert Kay
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My name is Robert Kay and today I’m going to be speaking to you on the Book of Mormon.  Specifically unsealing the knowledge of the fathers in the Book of Mormon.

The manner in which I’ll approach this particular subject comes from my background in Judaism. Having been raised in an observant home and then later of course, really converted to Mormonism. My birth father, being raised in an observant home. My mother being of a Sephardic lineage, we were able to get the best of both worlds. So, when I came into contact with Mormonism, it opened up a whole new world. It wasn’t the church that I first actually came in contact with as much as it was the Book of Mormon.

 Ancient Paths and the Knowledge of the Fathers

When we talk about the knowledge of the fathers, what we’re talking about are the ancient paths. So just as Jeremiah said: stand by the roads and look, and ask for the ancient paths where the good way is and walk in it and find rest for your souls. The things we’re going to talk about today have to do with those ancient paths.  When we refer to the knowledge of the fathers, we’re not talking about the knowledge that has been perpetrated by many, that we are evolved from a subspecies. In fact, in many ways, what we’ve seen today is an about face or an almost an upside-down view of our actual origins.

When we talk about the knowledge of the fathers we’re talking about the knowledge of Adam and the first civilization. The knowledge of the fathers and Adam himself is distinctly important to the house of Israel, because everything that the house of Israel is about is preserving and restoring those things that existed in that first civilization of Adam. It has to do with a worldwide civilization that was much more ancient than anything that we have seen today and less primitive than many of the things that we suspect. So, for example, when we talk about the ancient paths, Jeremiah is telling us to embrace these ancient paths, because in these ancient paths we find a key; a key to ourselves, to our history, to our origins and our future.

While many people attempt to demonstrate and portray mankind as evolving from an ape, the reality is we thought we evolved, or if you say perhaps we had de-evolved from a very advanced culture and world. And the goal of what Israel is, is to bring us back to those conditions in that ancient civilization before it fell. So, what are some of those conditions? In our world, we see ancient structures and monuments that even today our engineers find it very difficult or almost impossible to replicate. Done with almost laser point technology and yet laid out in a fashion to mirror both the Heavens and the Earth.

When we talk about the knowledge of the fathers, we’re talking about an ancient science from a first civilization. These things are encapsulated in Israel and what some have called Metatron’s cube or Unix cube, because that’s usually who it is attributed to. Sometimes we see things such as the flower of life which leads to the understanding of the Tree of Life. But Israel has been encapsulated in is what we call the Star of David – a very ancient symbol that predates Israel. It’s attributed to King David, but its symbolism is much more in depth than anything we’ve ever thought. It talks about the knowledge of a science, a knowledge of creation contained in that very first chapter of Genesis, written so a child could understand, but yet layered so that it contains ancient knowledge to help us to understand the foundation of all creation.

This contains the science of life; whether it be the cells or the development of a child, all the way to the creation of a planet and the organization of our source system, our galaxies and our universe. It contains a knowledge of us, of a Tree of Life and human beings as part of that tree. It contains an understanding of how we progress from one state of existence to another. How we become more refined, more purified, how we grow closer and bond and connect with God.

And so, in the beginning, we see some of these symbols such as Metatron’s cube, to just the Star of David. And then we see some of these ancient symbols of creation contained in the book of Genesis. Again, encapsulated layered form and of course the language of creation. Sacred geometry, some of the most original language itself, mathematics, yet all encapsulated in the Torah. The first five books of Moses. So, what does this mean? It means that we’re talking about a science, symbolized by an ancient tree and for Mormons, the Tree of Life should have very special significance because Lehi in his dream as well as Nephi in his vision, saw these particular symbols given to them to teach man a pathway of progression.

So, what are we talking about? We’re talking about the signs of the fathers. In Judaism and in an Israelite mind, the fathers are often referred to as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But when it comes to understand the science of the fathers in Abraham’s mind, the fathers were those patriarchs of Adam, Seth, Enoch and Noah and the environment, the civilization, the language, the science that they enjoyed and preserved, as well as their closer proximity to God.

As Abraham says: and finally there was greater happiness and peace and rest for me. I saw it for the blessings of the father, and the right where I should be ordained to administer the same. Having myself been a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness and to possess a greater knowledge. To be a father of many nations, a prince of peace. Desiring to receive instructions and to keep the commandments of God. I became a rightful heir, a high priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers. It was conferred upon me from the fathers. It came down from the fathers, from the beginning of time, yet even from the beginning, or from before the foundation of the Earth, the creation of the Earth, down to the present time, even the right of the first born or the first man who is Adam, or the first father, the fathers unto me.

So, what we’re talking about is a path, an ancient path. And with that ancient path, there’s actually an English one. It has to do with everything regarding Israel and in this ancient path that we’re trying to walk. The first thing it has to do with is a revelation of God and his name. In this case, as often referred to the name among Jews, we often refer to as HaShem or Adonai. However, most of those are traditional. The pronunciation of which, although very disputed usually will vary from some things such as Yahuwah, Yahweh, Yahoah. I tend to lean toward Jehovah, but however I’ll often refer to it as Adenah Rashan out of respect and reverence for the name.

We’re also talking about the calling of a deliverer or a prophet. Someone to restore those things which were lost. To Israel, Moses was served as that original restorer. This is where we get the foundation of the Torah from. It’s also the story of a people who come out of one world, a world that had been fallen, in Egypt and are ascending back into the presence of God. It talks about them coming up to a living embodiment, a tree if you will, an everlasting tree, and coming back into that society once enjoyed by the first civilization.

Unlocking the Book of Mormon

The first thing we need to understand when it comes to the Book of Mormon and comes to unlocking this book is that this is a distinctly Jewish book, and that sounds strange to a lot of Mormons because when I say the term Jewish, they may think specifically only the tribe of Judah. However, by the time of Lehi, the ten tribes of the North had already been carried off, and there were many remnants of those bodies, of those tribes who had fled to the southern kingdom, so that anybody, whether it be a descendant of Judah, Manasseh, Ephraim, Levy, would be all considered Jews because they were residents of the southern Kingdom of Judah or the Yehuda or Yahodim. But if we understand that these people were Jews, and they also lived and enjoyed the society of Jews and Judaism. And while many things have changed over time, the manner and learning of the Jews has been preserved in great extent throughout many centuries.

When we talk about it then, we’re talking about Jacob and the sons of Israel. We’re talking about the twelve tribes of Israel. And we’re talking about a land. As you can see it, by the time of Lehi, the northern kingdom had been taken away. And Lehi was a member of the southern kingdom, therefore he was a Jew by where he lived. So, the question being is if a Jew can be a descendant of Judah or they may also be a member of the house of Israel who settled in the southern kingdom.

For example, the Apostle Paul was of the tribe of Benjamin; Romans 11:1. And Matthew was a Levite, but they were both considered Jews as they were from the southern kingdom. And this same statement can also be demonstrated by Nephi’s comment in 2, Nephi, 33, verse 8, “I have charity for the Jew. I say Jew because I mean them, from whence I came.” So, the Book of Mormon is the story of a man or a Jew named Lehi, ‘Leggi’ and his family who were part of the southern Kingdom of Judah. While he was of the tribe of Manasseh, by lineage he would still be considered a Jew as he was a member of the southern kingdom.

Lehi and his family being Jews, would have been fully versed in Hebrew language, custom and the scriptures of the Jews. This is why the Book of Mormon and the plates that Nephi obtained were so important. The plates of Laban that Nephi was sent back for, contained the Torah – the first five books of Moses. The Torah, to an Israelite mind, gives us everything foundational to our culture. It gives us our language; it is our dictionary and our thesaurus. It is our history, it is our covenant document, it contains our laws. Everything which lends itself to a Godly society comes from those first five books. And that was the basis upon which Israel, as a nation was established. And ironically, it was also the foundation upon which this nation – the United States of America, was also established.

So, let’s think about what those brass plates contain. First, the first five books of Moses or the Torah, second, the record of the Jews in the southern kingdom. It also contained the writings of the prophets and the genealogy of Lehi. So, what is the Torah and why is it important?

To understand the Book of Mormon, we must understand that everything in the Book of Mormon has its foundation in the Torah. It is the source document upon which Nephi and Lehi and all the prophets of the Book of Mormon drew. They did not have the Book of Mormon. They had the books of the Torah as well as the prophets and the writings, what we would call our old testament. These consists of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. That right there shows you at least the first five books that make up the Torah.

The scripture is often referred to by an acronym called the Tanakh, the Torah, the Nevi’im, and the Ketuvim, consists of the first five books of Moses, the Prophets, the Nevi’im, or the Ketuvim, the writing such as Psalms or Proverbs. These are more historical writings. That is what Nephi was sent back for. That is why it was so imperative for him to get these things, because it was the foundation upon which a covenant society was established. So, to understand the Book of Mormon, means we have to understand the manner of the Jews. Nephi, while he did not necessarily teach his children after the works of the Jews or some of the talk of note of the Jews. What he did teach them, is their manner of prophecy.

Revelations of God are Layered

To understand the Israelite manner of prophecy, we need to understand that the revelations of God are layered. They’re layered to teach us the pattern of ascent, from this world, here below to the world where God exists. Although God exists in all worlds, the ideas are coming into his direct presence. So, the ascent through the four worlds or dimensions of revelation is taught to this day in Israel, through a system of interpretation called, Pardes.

Pardes is an acronym and it’s formed from the initials of the four levels or approaches to understanding the Revelations of God. The first; the P, ‘Pshat’, it’s the literal meaning, if you read the story where Nephi builds a ship or Lehi has a pillar of fire coming down before him, the literal reading is that those things literally occurred. So, you read it just as it says. The second; ‘Remez’, has to do with more of the metaphorical meaning of drawing upon one statement that draws upon another, in other words, the symbol here that may refer to a symbol someplace else. It’s the idea of something that has been will also be again, types and shadows.

The third; ‘Derush’, has to do with those teachings in Israel which are unique to Israel which many gentile nations do not have access to. They would be like writing such as, referring to a Prophet, one Prophet referring to another Prophet’s writings in particular. If I were to draw upon Isaiah, and I draw upon a specific teaching or a teaching from the sages of Israel, it would be called the Derush. I’m drawing upon a much more ancient understanding. The Book of Mormon also draws upon this, where Jacob uses the allegory of Zenos and the Olive Tree.  In that parable he’s using that manner. He engages all layers of interpretation, but when he draws upon that ancient parable, he’s drawing upon Derush to communicate an ancient teaching to help us understand something that’s going on in the here and now.

Then the highest level is what we call the ‘Sod’ level. The Sod has to do with those things which refer to the Heavenly council, the things of the Heavens coming into the presence of God, the things that are unspeakable or great and marvelous. And why?  Because we are pursuing a path of ascension – Aliya. Now, ascension in the world of that we hear today has been kind of taken over by a new age philosophy. But in reality, true ascension has to do with becoming one or in a state of that onement, or bondedness with God.

So, as we talked about the Pshat, the simple, literal meaning, Remez, the allegorical, metaphoric or symbolic meaning, Derush, a comparative meaning such as similar cycles or occurrences that will occur again, and Sod, those things which are esoteric, the mystical meaning, having to do with the Heavens. And the Book of Mormon contains these same layers.

It’s been said in theology, in our Doctrine and Covenants and your mind’s have been darkened because of unbelief and because you are treated lightly the things you have received, which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation rests upon the children of Zion, even all, and they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new Covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written. That say and do, hear and do, say and do. It refers back to the Shammah of Israel, Hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Shammah, not just hear, hear and do, or even to speak and do. That they may bring forth fruit and meat for their father’s kingdom, otherwise, there remains a scourge and a judgment to be poured out upon the Children of Zion.

So, the Torah is our dictionary. It is the source document for the Book of Mormon. We are at, because of our culture, to draw upon definitions that are relevant to us in our modern western American culture which has been primarily based in Protestant Christianity, and that culture. But the Book of Mormon, while it is a translated document, it’s drawing upon a source document that is much older and a very different culture. So, when we talk about the Torah being a source document or the first five books of Moses being a source document, if you want to understand the Book of Mormon or a word used in the Book of Mormon, it is important to go to the Torah as your dictionary and your Thesaurus, to make sure that you understand the meaning that an Israelite Prophet would use. Because all Israelite prophets are heavily schooled and disciplined in the manner and techniques of the Torah.

So, for example, covenant, covenant is the foundation of faith, but in the Hebraic concept, faith comes from the word and Aminah: faithfulness, the idea being not one of just a matter of mental ascent, but it has to do with the idea of the relationship of a husband to a wife. If I were to say, is my wife faithful to me, obviously saying that she’s obviously not having relations with another man that’s beside her husband. Well, it’s the same thing with God. When I talk about faith, I’m not talking about trying to hypnotize myself to make myself believe something. The idea for from an Israelite mindset is how am I more trusting and loyal to God. In other words, how can I be more trusting and loyal to him? I don’t know what to believe more means. How much more can I convince myself unless I hypnotize myself to believe something, or perhaps what they’re meaning is, is what the Israelites mean is, how can I have more faith or trusting loyalty to God? How do I become more loyal?

“Hope.” We think about hope, simple words that we think it’s almost like wishful thinking in our culture, but in the Hebrew culture, hope has to do with an expected outcome. It’s the expectation that is based upon a promise, for there to be hope to an Israelite mind, we need to know the promise that God gives, that we base our expectation upon.

And then of course, if we go to charity, ‘Tzedakah’. And we think of charity is pure love and it is,  but that’s why even in the Book of Mormon, you don’t get an actual definition of charity. You get a description. Charity suffers long, and why, seek is not her own, it’s describing an action of love, in other words, it’s righteous doing and giving. This is why if you look in Moroni chapter 7, you’ll get a very Israelite definition of Tzedakah or charity, true love. And charity suffers long, and is kind and envies not, is not puffed up seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil, rejoices not in lawlessness, but rejoices in truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Wherefore my beloved brethren, if you have not Tzedakah or charity, you have nothing. You are nothing, for Tzedakah, charity never fails. Wherefore cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all. For all things must fail, but charity or Tzedakah is the pure love of Christ, and endureth forever and who so is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

So, notice it doesn’t say that charity is necessarily just love, it’s describing for you what true Tzedakah is, which is how we love. And that’s why Christ said unto to our fathers if you have faith you can do all things which are expedient or necessary unto me. If you have trusting loyalty to God, you can do all things which are expedient or necessary unto him. And now I speak unto all the ends of the earth – I guess that includes everybody here. That if the day comes that the power and the gifts of God shall be done away among you, it shall be because of unbelief and woe be unto the children of men, if this be the case, for there shall be none that do good among you, no not one, for if there be one among you that does good, he shall work by the power and gifts of God. And unto them that shall do these things away and die, for they die in their sins and they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God. And I speak it according to the words of Christ, and I lie not. We read these words over and over again, but simple words have a lot of power. When we talk about that which is good, in a Hebrew mind, good is that which leads you to fulfill God’s commandments and evil or unbelief is that which leads you away from fulfilling God’s Commandments.

This is where we get the next concept of the veil of unbelief. Over the years we’ve heard many different lectures regarding what they believe, the idea of what is the veil of unbelief that is talked about in the book of Ether. But there’s actually an ancient understanding still preserved by some of the houses of Israel to this day. When Moses came down from the presence of God, his countenance was shining so bright, that the very people of Israel…not only could they not enter the presence of God, they could also not even stand in Moses presence. And so, to do that, he had to veil his face and it became a phrase that was used by Israelites when someone was walking in disobedience to the commandments of God, that they were walking in the veil of unbelief, or under the veil of unbelief. So, when it talks about wearing that awful veil of unbelief, it’s talking about returning to God and fulfilling his commandments, establishing them as our standard, establishing them as the basis of our culture. So, in many ways the veil of unbelief is a state of rebellion, and the Book of Mormon goes on to talk about that to us as well.

All these things are a foundation. Whether it be the Torah, or the scriptures, or the Prophets and their writings and the teachings of Israel, they come together to form a covenant relationship.  In our culture, in our American culture, we often refer to a covenant relationship as it were a contract, but in a Hebrew culture, it’s a much more intimate relationship and it’s actually likened to that of marriage. If you imagine for a moment, could you imagine yourself married to God in that type of spiritually intimate relationship, because that is the expressed or desired understanding of what intimacy is with God in a covenant relationship. And you wonder in our society that the adversary has gone to such great lengths to destroy the family and the place of the mother and father in the home as a married unit. Because if he could destroy that unit and our perception of it, then he can destroy our understanding and ability to enter and keep a covenant relationship with God.

So, what is a real covenant? It’s an intimate relationship like marriage. And strangely enough, both cultures, whether it be Jewish culture or even Mormon culture, share this one thing in common. Whether it be under a hoopa, which is a canopy that you see there, and you see this bride and groom under them, and that canopy represents the Tabernacle in the wilderness or temple, and what do we have is temple marriage. Two things, so closely aligned, we may use different things, different words to describe them but the principle is basically the same. God is teaching us, through our home, our marriages, our children, the foundation of what it means to have a covenant relationship with Him. And the Book of Mormon serves as what we call a Ketubah, a marriage contract or covenant document, and it teaches us those things which are our responsibility and also, they communicate those things which God promises as part of that spiritually or spiritual marriage relationship. And all Hebrew covenants are based upon five basic pillars.

The Five Basic Pillars

Now you will see many different covenant models and they all have application, but almost all covenant models in Israel fall back upon five basic pillars. These five pillars are exhibited by the books of the Torah, but they also exist in the Book of Mormon as well. And what are these five pillars? The first is the declaration of God, His sovereignty, the parties involved in His promises. So like in the Book of Genesis, when God says “let there be light and to establish his creation,” he’s telling you he is sovereign over all, these things all exist because of his word. He also describes the parties that he makes his covenant with: Adam, Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all the way down through Joseph. The 2nd column, has to do with hierarchy or the kingdom order. It has to do with mediation and atonement.  The 3rd and most important, it’s that particular pillar which is pivotal for the covenant relationship to work, is the law. What law? It is the heart of the covenant. The 4th pillar has to do with sanctions, in other words, covenant blessings and cursing’s, and also how they affect us, whether it be for good or evil, our posterity. And of course, the 5th pillar, being continuity of the covenant, in other words, that pillar of information which helps us to maintain that covenant over generations.

So, what would these parts of the covenant be to us? Well, our genesis of the Book of Mormon is 1st Nephi through Omni. If we look at 1st Nephi, through Omni, it serves the same purpose of Genesis, God says, let there be light and then a pillar of fire comes down in the book of Nephi and presents itself to Lehi. There in the Book of Mormon, for Nephi, are recorded, the promises made to the Fathers or the Patriarchs of the Book of Mormon.  From our exodus, our second pillar, would be from Mosiah to Helaman. In this, we see where our kingdom order is given, under King Benjamin speech at a feast of Tabernacles, we see him reiterating what God’s kingdom order should look like. Is it one of authoritarian or tyrannical kings and wicked priests like King Noah or is it one where we’re seeing a righteous king teaching his people God’s commandments and then teaching them how to live as brothers and sisters one to another.  

Our Leviticus, which is strangely enough, considered the harder covenant, and I know there are many people who, when they hear that, they’re going, are you kidding, Leviticus, the harder the covenant and that’s also called the book of love? Well, yes, it’s our holiness code and 3 Nephi, serves as the heart of our Book of Mormon. In it, it contains not only the holiness code that the Messiah gives, but also the ability and the instructions to create sacred space both here and in the world around us.  

Our book of numbers or the fourth pillar, which has to do with blessings and cursing’s, we find in 4th Nephi, Ether and Mormon.  In 4th Nephi, we see people who have obtained the blessings of heaven and they live in unity and oneness and peace. In Ether, we see a people destroyed by the hand of Jehovah and in Mormon, you see a people destroyed also by the hand of Yahuwah, because of their wickedness. And what is also interesting is that it takes two covenant witnesses to bind a covenant lawsuit.

And in the Book of Ether, we have God’s covenant lawsuit against the Jaredites who are considered gentiles, or non-Israelites. They’re still a covenant people, but at the same time, while they were a covenant people, they were considered non-Israelites because the brother of Jarrod in the Jaredites predated Israel and Mormon, who was an Israelite. And if you think about the two people that exist on this land, whether it be those of the nations or those of the House of Israel, it brings us all under blessing or condemnation, depending upon which path we choose to follow. If we choose to follow a path of light and the blessings of the gospel follow, and the blessings of the brother Jared, are also produced and peace and oneness. But if we choose to follow the path of darkness and non-covenantal obedience, then those covenant curses come about, which ended up in the destruction of both peoples, whether it be Jaredites or the Nephites.  

Then, of course, we have the book of Deuteronomy and in the book of Deuteronomy, that is our fifth pillar. And that fifth pillar is represented also to us in the Book of Mormon by Moroni.  In it we find how priests and teachers are called, those ordinances by which sacrament is performed, those outward works which help us to maintain our covenant over generations. Those things that did not change, they help us to maintain continuity.  And so, all these things have to do with declaring God’s transcendence and sovereignty, and obtaining his covenant promises.

These are things that have to do with declaring God’s transcendence. He is the creator. He is the boss. In other words, as one person said, there is a God and I know I’m not him, and that’s the case in point. God is God. We’re not. He makes the rules. We have a choice to either follow them or walk away in disobedience. That pillar though also contains the promises of God, it contains kingdom hierarchy, and strangely enough, as I said, we see these things given over and over again in a Hebrew fashion throughout the Book of Mormon.

But in all these things, this should give us the ability to really sit down and begin to approach the Book of Mormon as truly an Israelite document, in its design, in its manner in which it expresses itself. If follows the covenant pattern of the Torah. It also draws upon those things from the Torah which open up layered and even sealed mysteries. Things that we read every day in front of our very eyes and yet, because we do not have the keys of knowledge to unlock them, we read right over them.

This is very similar to a child who reads the rhyme “Mary Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow.” Now as a child, when you read that, or hear that, it’s a nice little rhyme, and there’s a popular woman named Mary who has a nice garden, but for those of us who are a little older and have a key of knowledge of what that rhyme comes from, it has to do with Mary, Queen of Scots and the things that occurred there. It’s no different with Israelites scriptures.  A plain story, written so easily that a child can understand and yet layered in such a fashion to communicate the most important and optimal information that a mortal mind can understand and embrace.

For example, if we were to talk about Nephi building, working timbers of curious workmanship, what does that mean? Of course, in our literal lines it will obviously mean that he built the ship of very fine timbers, but if we go back to the Torah and we look at the concept of curious, we find that its first used in context with the Ephod and the Tabernacle. Is it possible there’s a relationship between the Nephi’s ship and going to the promised land and the Tabernacle and its function and entering into the presence of God. Is it possible that in what we read over as simple instructions of Nephi obtaining the plates from Laban is Nephi as a mighty one, obtaining the record of heaven, and his instructions on teaching us how to obtain that record of heaven. Many layered meanings, starting off with a simple child story, yet with the understanding and learning of the Jews, these simple stories begin to unlock and to teach us eternal lessons on how to have a relationship with God, how to attain the Ruach Elohim, the Holy Spirit of the Holy Ghost.

All of these things are important, and it takes time, but once we begin to embrace and understand these particular keys, we find that the Book of Mormon is much more than a story of Jesus coming to native Americans and wigwams. In fact, it’s just the opposite. It’s the Messiah of Israel coming to a restored branch of Israel. It should be a preserved branch of the house of Israel and bringing them into his presence and giving them or helping them develop a society of what we seek, which is also called Zion.

Isaiah at April 2019 General Conference

By
Darryl Alder
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During General Conferences, among the books of the Old Testament, Isaiah is the most often quoted. In this conference eight General Authorities or Auxilary leaders quoted Isaiah fourteen times. In every case, it was to help center on their messages on Christ, which is most appropriate since Isaiah is “the messianic prophet of the Old Testament and as such is the most penetrating prophetic voice in that record.”1

How Can I Understand?

2 Nephi 6 - Jesus Christ being crucified
Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was anydeceit in his mouth.

Elder Ulisses Soares, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, opened his address with the story from the book of Acts, when “Philip the evangelist taught the gospel to a certain Ethiopian who was a eunuch in charge of all the treasures belonging to the queen of Ethiopia.2 ” The eunuch he said, was returning from worship in Jerusalem and was reading from the book of Isaiah. “Compelled by the Spirit, Philip came closer to him and said, ‘Understandest thou what thou readest?’

“And [the eunuch] said, ‘How can I, except some man should guide me? …’

“Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.”3

The passage of scripture that the eunuch was reading was Isaiah 53: “Like a sheep to the slaughter he was led, and like a lamb before the shear­er is silent, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation, justice was denied him. Who can describe his posterity? For his life is taken from the earth. …Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture he declared to him the good news about Jesus.”4

Preparing for the Lord’s Return

Isaiah 11: 6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in his message about preparing the world for the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Used these words from Isaiah to share the promise that, “When He comes, oppression and injustice will not only diminish; they will cease:

“’The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. …

“’They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.’”3

The Atonement of Jesus Christ

Isaiah 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

Brother Tad R. Callister, Sunday School General President referenced Isaiah twice in his address on the atonement of the Savior. He said, “The Savior overcame sin and guilt for all those who repent. So deep and expansive is His cleansing power that Isaiah promised, ‘Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow’” (Isaiah 1:18). Then in his summary he promised,”the Savior’s Atonement gives us life for death, “beauty for ashes” (Isaiah 61:3), healing for hurt, and perfection for weakness. It is heaven’s antidote to the obstacles and struggles of this world.

Missionary Work: Sharing What Is in Your Heart

Isaiah 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, referenced Isaiah in this statement: “Walking the path of discipleship takes practice—each day, little by little, ‘grace for grace,’ ‘line upon line.’

“Sometimes two steps forward and one step back.”




Christ: The Light That Shines in Darkness

Isaiah 1:18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord:
though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool.

Sister Sharon L. Eubank, First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, in her message used the words of Isaiah three times. “The scarlet dye of the Old Testament was not only colorful but also colorfast, meaning that its vivid color stuck to the wool and would not fade no matter how many times it was washed. Satan wields this reasoning like a club: white wool stained scarlet can never go back to being white. But Jesus Christ declares, “My ways [are] higher than your ways” (Isaiah 55:9), and the miracle of His grace is that when we repent of our sins, His scarlet blood returns us to purity. It isn’t logical, but it is nevertheless true.

“‘Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool’ (Isaiah 1:18). The Lord says emphatically: he or she ‘who has repented of … sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.’ In essence: ‘Come, let us reason together’ (Isaiah 1:18). You made mistakes; all come short. Come unto me and repent. I will remember the sin no more. You can be whole again. I have a work for you to do. Christ makes wool white.”

Cleansed by Repentance

President, Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency, offered his thoughts on repentance. Using Isaiah he stated: “When we repent, we have the Lord’s assurance that our sins, including our acts and desires, will be cleansed and our merciful final judge will ‘remember them no more’ (Isaiah 1:18). Then addressing His arms of mercy, he promised, “The prophet Isaiah assured even the wicked that when they ‘return unto the Lord, … he will have mercy … [and] abundantly pardon’ (Isaiah 55:7).”

Good Shepherd, Lamb of God

He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.' (Isaiah 40:11)
He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.’ (Isaiah 40:11)

Elder Gerrit W. Gong, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, pointed to Isaiah  Isaiah 56:11 when he said, “Our Good Shepherd cautions that shepherds in Israel must not slumber, nor scatter or cause the sheep to go astray, nor look our own way for our own gain.” And again as Abinadi testified of Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice: “All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the [iniquity] of us all. ( Isaiah 53:6) ” Finally he reminds, “Our Savior assures us, whatever our circumstances, whoever we are, in the words of Isaiah: ‘He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.’ (Isaiah 40:11)”





The Immediate Goodness of God

As Kyle S. McKay, a General Authority Seventy, spoke. he said, “God also gives immediate hope for eventual deliverance. No matter what, no matter where, in Christ and through Christ there is always hope smiling brightly before us. Immediately before us.

“Moreover, He has promised, ‘My kindness shall not depart from thee.’ (Isaiah 54:10; emphasis added.)”8



Footnotes

1 Jeffery R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon (1997), 75.
2 See Acts 8:27
3 Acts 8:30–31, 35
4 Wayment, Thomas A., The New Testament: A New Translation for Latter-day Saints, Acts 8:32-33, BYU Religious Studies Center, Kindle Edition

Here am I, send me: Covenants we made in the pre-existence

By
Gregorio Billikopf
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When we hear the words, “Here am I, send me” we think of our Redeemer, as He volunteered to be our expiator (Abraham 3:27). How sublime. How tender. How terrible the price He would have to pay. Yet He was willing. In Holy Writ there is another instance of volunteering. The Prophet Isaiah used precisely the same expression when he agreed to undertake his earthly assignment (Isaiah 6:8). Jewish tradition has it that Isaiah died a martyr, as have so many of the prophets.

Who else volunteered for specific earthly assignments? Is it possible that you were among those who offered to fulfill a difficult obligation in mortality? Is it conceivable that many of us covenanted to play various roles as saviors on Mount Zion? If you knew that you had so agreed in the preexistence, would it give you some comfort today as you suffer through some of your trials?

Adversity

Did you covenant before you were born to be a rescuer? This is one of the most wonderful traits we can develop. Many women seem to have an overabundance of this pure love of Christ. I wonder how many spouses covenanted, before they were born, to help an eternal companion overcome the fiery darts of the adversary? To live a life of discipleship despite physical or spiritual challenges?

Or how many agreed to be an example of righteous living to siblings or parents? Or to raise a special child who would need additional love? Is it possible that you volunteered for such an assignment in the preexistence?

Mordecai says to his niece, Esther, when she had to face potentially devastating adversity, “… and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14b). If you knew that some of the hardships you are encountering in your life are related to promises and covenants you made in the pre-existence, would that change the way you looked at your life’s challenges? That this may be a vital part of what your earthly life is all about?

Adversity plays an important role in all of our lives. It helps us gain needed empathy.

President Henry B. Eyring

President Henry B. Eyring taught: “With all the differences in our lives, we have at least one challenge in common. We all must deal with adversity.” He explained how we can often forget our own challenges by succoring others and testified: “I know from my own experience that He can and will give us strength to rise through every trial” (“Adversity,” April 2009 General Conference).

Elder Carlos H. Amado

Elder Carlos H. Amado likewise shared: “Those who suffer great adversity and sorrow and go on to serve their fellowmen develop a great capacity to understand others” (“Overcoming Adversity,” October 1989 General Conference).

Once again, we are to develop the pure love of Christ as disciples of Jesus Christ, here, during our mortal probation.

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin testified: “In spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result…  I do believe that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life” (“Come What May, and Love It,” October 2008).

Premortality

Elder Bruce R. McKonkie

Elder Bruce R. McConkie said: “To carry forward his own purposes among men and nations, the Lord foreordained chosen spirit children in preexistence and assigned them to come to earth at particular times and places so that they might aid in furthering the divine will. These preexistence appointments, made ‘according to the foreknowledge of God the Father’ (1 Peter 1:2), simply designated certain individuals to perform missions which the Lord in his wisdom knew they had the talents and capacities to do… The mightiest and greatest spirits were foreordained to stand as prophets and spiritual leaders … In all this there is not the slightest hint of compulsion; persons foreordained to fill special missions in mortality are as abundantly endowed with free agency as are any other persons” (Mormon Doctrine, p. 209, emphasis added).

Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Elder Neal A. Maxwell explained: “Premortality is not a relaxing doctrine. For each of us, there are choices to be made, incessant and difficult chores to be done, ironies and adversities to be experienced, time to be well spent, talents and gifts to be well employed… Whether foreordination for men, or foredesignation for women, those called and prepared must also prove ‘chosen, and faithful’ (see Revelation 17:14; D&C 121:34–36)… This doctrine brings unarguable identity but also severe accountability to our lives… It also reminds us that we do not have all of the data. There are many times when we must withhold judgment and trust God, even in the midst of ‘all these things.’ … We agreed to come here and to undergo certain experiences under certain conditions” (“Premortality, a Glorious Reality,” October 1985 General Conference).

President Spencer W. Kimball

President Spencer W. Kimball explained: “We made vows, solemn vows, in the heavens before we came to this mortal life. … We committed ourselves to our Heavenly Father, that if He would send us to the earth and give us bodies and give to us the priceless opportunities that earth life afforded, we would keep our lives clean and would marry in the holy temple and would rear a family and teach them righteousness. This was a solemn oath, a solemn promise” (Spencer W. Kimball, devotional address at the Salt Lake Institute of Religion, 10 January 1975).

Another thought from Elder Dallin H. Oaks: “Many of us also made covenants with the Father concerning what we would do in mortality. In ways that have not been revealed, our actions in the spirit world influence us in mortality (“The Great Plan of Happiness,” October 1993 General Conference).

Elder Neal A. Maxwell also shared, “Brothers and sisters, the degree of detail involved in the covenants and promises we participated in at that time may be a much more highly customized thing than many of us surmise… A full understanding [of preordination] is impossible … [and we must] realize that we are not dealing with guarantees from God but extra opportunities—and heavier responsibilities. If those responsibilities are in some ways linked to past performance or to past capabilities, it should not surprise us” (BYU Devotional, 10 October 1978).

Elder Dallin H. Oaks has: “Many of us also made covenants with the Father concerning what we would do in mortality. In ways that have not been revealed, our actions in the spirit world influence us in mortality” (Ensign, Nov 1993, 72).

Elder Orson Hyde considered: “The vail is thick between us and the country whence we came [speaking of the spirit world—GB]. We cannot see clearly−we cannot clearly comprehend−we have forgotten! …  What did we agree to before we came here? … Then, if it be true that we entered into a covenant with the powers celestial, before we left our former homes, that we would come here and obey the voice of the Lord, through whomsoever He might speak, these powers are witnesses of the covenant into which we entered; and it is not impossible that we signed the articles thereof with our own hands−which articles may be retained in the archives above, to be presented to us when we rise from the dead, and be judged out of our own mouths, according to that which is written in the books” (JD 7:316, Orson Hyde, October 6, 1859).

Regarding the other side of the veil

President Wilford Woodruff taught: “The prophet Joseph Smith held the keys of this dispensation on this side of the veil, and he will hold them throughout the countless ages of eternity. He went into the spirit world to unlock the prison doors and to preach the gospel to the millions of spirits who are in darkness, and every apostle, every seventy, every elder, etc., who has died in the faith, as soon as he passes to the other side of the veil, enters into the work of the ministry, and there is a thousand times more to preach there than there is here. (Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, p. 77.)”

“One of the most commonly expressed sentiments of those who have glimpsed beyond the veil during a near-death experience is that each of us has a purpose for our lives here on earth. Many of these people were told that they could not stay in the spirit world because they had not yet completed their mission in mortality. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we know that there is indeed a purpose to our existence. We believe strongly that before we ever came here we were foreordained for specific purposes, assignments, and opportunities to grow personally and to serve and strengthen others. While we may not always know the specific nature or duration of every purpose for which we were sent to this earth, we will fulfill those foreordained missions if we live worthily” (What’s On the Other Side: What the Gospel Teaches Us About the Spirit World by Brent L. Top).

“And after many days shall they be visited” (Isaiah 24:22)

The principle of deliverance of the dead from their bonds of spiritual prison is among the most glorious to be found in the Holy Scriptures but has only come to be understood after the restoration of the Gospel in these latter days. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that just as the antediluvians had their day of deliverance and visitation from the bonds of spiritual prison, so would those who lived after them:

“The situation of the Christian nations after death, is a subject that has called forth all the wisdom and talent of the philosopher and the divine, and it is an opinion which is generally received, that the destiny of man is irretrievably fixed at his death, and that he is made either eternally happy, or eternally miserable; that if a man dies without a knowledge of God, he must be eternally damned, without any mitigation of his punishment, alleviation of his pain, or the most latent hope of a deliverance while endless ages shall roll along. However orthodox this principle may be, we shall find that it is at variance with the testimony of Holy Writ” (emphasis added).

Brother Joseph explained that those in spirit prison would not only be visited and have the gospel preached to them, but that the way was opened for them to be delivered from bondage (TPJS, p. 219). Infinitesimally few people have lived upon the earth at a time when the ordinances of salvation were available to them. It is hard to fathom the large number of people in the spirit world who have been preached to, who have accepted the glad tidings, and who are now waiting desperately for deliverance through vicarious ordinances. It is not surprising, then, the feeling of urgency expressed by President Russell M. Nelson for the gathering of Israel on both sides of the veil. Which brings us back to possible covenants that we made before we were born.   

Special Temple Accounts

I have read of several touching temple accounts where the departed spirits of the just have made their presence known. These have taken place where it was clear these individuals were being left out of the ordinances in the House of the Lord.

On one occasion, the person who was conducting the sealings stopped three times to ask an individual if she was not leaving anyone out of the list of sealings. On the third time, she shared that indeed there had been a child who died in infancy. This child wanted to be sealed and not be left out. My wife and I were invited to speak at a family history devotional where I shared this example. The next speaker, a temple sealer (and former Area Seventy and Temple President) spoke and testified that this is common occurrence at temples all over the world.   

My wife and I were working to prepare names for the temple one day. As I was rewinding a microfilm my hand stopped suddenly. There, before my eyes, was the name of an additional daughter of one of the families we were preparing to take to the temple and do the work for them. I can also testify, then, that these departed spirits are very aware of our progress in their work.    

President Russell M. Nelson admonished: “There is nothing happening on this earth right now that is more important than that [i.e., the gathering of Israel on both sides of the veil]. … This is the mission for which you were sent to earth.”

Patriarchal Blessings

For a time, I repeatedly asked myself why it was that I had such a need to testify of the divinity of our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. After some time, the Spirit whispered, “Re-read your patriarchal blessing.” And there it was in black and white. Being a follower of Christ is something I do not take for granted. My father and paternal family are Jewish. My grandfather was a Lithuanian Jew; my grandmother, a German Jew. I cherish my testimony that the Holy One of Israel is Jesus Christ and that He has restored His Church upon the earth. My patriarchal blessing has given me much needed direction. We can turn to these blessings in order to better understand some of the covenants and solemn agreements we made before we were born.

Elder LeGrand Richards taught: “The patriarch, through the spirit of revelation to which he is entitled through his ordination, should be able to reveal in his blessing some of the special qualifications and purposes for which the individual member has come into the world at this particular time … to perform the mission for which we were foreordained” (see “The Patriarchal Calling” in LeGrand Richard Speaks, p. 247, and for similar quotes from Elder Richards about our possible pre-ordained missions, see “Understanding Who We Are and What We Can Achieve,” in Understanding Patriarchal Blessings by R. Clayton Brough and Thomas W. Grassley).

We must always have a spiritual ear open to receive inspiration regarding our life mission. On several occasions the Spirit has whispered to my heart, “Do this, it is part of your patriarchal blessing,” or, “this thing that has just happened in your life is a fulfillment of your patriarchal blessing.”

We can request other blessings to fill in specific gaps. I asked a beloved and righteous priesthood leader for such a blessing last year. I desired to know what I was supposed to do with my extra time, when I was not working on my temple and family history calling. This issue had become a worry to me as I had to choose from among many possible areas to focus on. My leader was mouth for a powerful blessing from the Lord in which I was admonished to kneel in powerful prayer. To my surprise, I was promised that the Lord would answer my question that very day. And that is what happened. This blessing, along with my patriarchal blessing, has been a great comfort to me.

Sometimes the Spirit will just outright tell us something about our earthly mission and covenants from the pre-existence. I will share two examples. My interest in the Hebrew Scriptures grew after I joined the Church. In my personal journal I talk about studying the great Prophet Isaiah as early as 1983. While the writings of Isaiah and the Prophets have always held a special appeal for me, it was in 1996, while reading the Book of Mormon, that the words of our Savior sank deep into my heart: “And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yeah, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah” (3 Nephi 23:1). This study has also helped me fulfill an important portion of my patriarchal blessing and continues to provide vital understanding as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

I had for years wondered how it was that I was the only member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in my family. I have two brothers and two sisters who are considerably better people than I am. How is it that I was so blessed to be a member, then, when no one else in my family was a member? I was pondering this question in Sunday School while I was a member of the San Javier Branch, in 2002. To my surprise, the Spirit whispered the answer: “Your ancestors chose you before you were born to make sure that their temple work would be carried out.” It is clear that I made covenants with these ancestors.  

Conclusion

Knowing that I made commitments, covenants, and solemn agreements before I was born is very important to me. I have heard it said many times that an important part of our earthly test has to do with facing our challenges with a positive outlook. Perhaps we agreed to face some of these very challenges before we were born. In addition, many individuals made agreements or covenanted with the Lord and with their ancestors to do some specific things here on earth. What a splendid and awesome responsibility. I have a great desire to fulfill these covenants here in mortality. Who knows but that when certain earthly assignments were mentioned in the pre-existence, where no doubt the principle of moral agency also existed, that we also stood up to say, “Here am I, send me.”

Footnote

I am indebted to the volunteers at Clay Gorton’s website (Ask Gramps) for collecting a few of the quotes from General Authorities on this topic. (President Gorton served as mission president in Argentina as well as president of the Missionary Training Center in Santiago, Chile. He passed away in 2008 and volunteers have taken over the job to write for the blog. No doubt he is among those missionary spirits working on the other side of the veil.) A few quotes also came from the Scott Woodward page, for which I am also very grateful.

Victor Ludlow: Why Hebrew Poetry Doesn’t Rhyme Discover with Darryl

By
Sarah Holmes
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Darryl: Hi, I’m Darryl Alder. Welcome to SearchIsaiah.org. Today we’re here with Victor Ludlow and Victor wrote a book many years ago, called ‘Isaiah, Prophet, Seer and Poet.1‘ But the question that I have is prophet, seer, and poet? So, Jewish poetry doesn’t rhyme Victor.  Can you give us an idea a little bit more, I know you recently did an interview with us where you talked about synonymous parallelism, antithetic parallelism and emblematic parallels? But there’s seven kinds, right?

Victor: Right. Those are the three easy ones.

Darryl: Oh, we only covered the easy ones before. Well, then let’s get into all of them today and help us see in. I’ll put up some slides as you do, to help us understand the verses you chose to illustrate okay.

Oral Traditions in Hebrew Worship

Victor: Okay. Well, first of all, there are a few terms we ought to make sure we’re clear about before we get into these seven types. First, oral.  Oral was the primary means of transmission of the prophet’s words to the people.

Darryl: So, let’s just talk about that for a minute. So, you go to church on Sunday and there isn’t like everyone’s got a copy of the scriptures. So, what does that mean by oral? Help us understand how that might work in a synagogue?

Victor: Well, there would be maybe one scroll up on the front and one would read from it, a person wouldn’t have their own individually out in the congregation, but they would hear the words and they would probably, if that was a familiar passage, just follow along in their mind.

Darryl: You suggested something, and I tried it on Sunday. You said, well, think about a hymn, and you might not have the hymnbook with you. See if you can follow along and sing, and I was surprised. I’ve been hearing the hymns obviously for a long time because I’m 68. The words I didn’t think I knew them, but I was able to sing. So, it kind of works like that for the congregation.        

Victor: Exactly. So, they would receive them orally, they would share them with each other orally, maybe even while they’re out working in their fields, or walking to and from their fields, from their home. They could go over these in their mind and they wouldn’t have an earbud listening to it, but they would review it, and that leads to a second key term and that is repetition. We tend to be rather weak in what we hear and remembering it, because we’re not really trained. I told my students in my Isaiah class one of the first times, what if for the rest of the semester, and this would be after the drop deadline, you could not bring any written or recording material with you at all, nothing to take notes with, nothing to record with, nothing written in your hand, but from what we talked about in class, your entire grade would depend upon it and it would also depend upon whether you would ever graduate from BYU or not. And maybe even whether you could ever renew your temple recommend or not. Would you pay a little more attention? I think they would.

Darryl: I think they would too. I think that gives us some clear insight into what their worship services were like.

Victor: And repetition as President Hinckley often said in his leadership training sessions, repetition is a key to learning. And so, they would teach us the same things, little different perspective, a different speaker maybe with their highlights or examples, but we were getting the same basic principles and practices emphasized repeatedly. Then the third term that we need to remember, and this is the primary means by which the Hebrews did their poetry. It wasn’t a rhyme scheme…

Hebrew Poetry

Darryl: But why do we call it poetry then?

Victor: Because it’s an idea scheme, it is a pattern. It’s a structured pattern.

Darryl:  So, poetry can just be a pattern?

Victor:  Free verse can be nothing with a rhyme to it, but it is a pattern of ideas, not of sounds. Now when you’re translating from another language, even an ancient Semitic one and into a modern English one, the translator is not trying to get the sounds, or the number of syllables, and which ones are stressed and their patterns, what we usually think of as poetry, he’s trying to get the messages, the ideas, the meaning of the passages. So, maybe in the Hebrew, it is 20 words, but maybe in English, it’s 30 and has completely different sounds. But if the message is getting across, he’s done a good translation process. So, this pattern of Hebrew poetry comes through in the English tongue because it’s a pattern of ideas.

Darryl: So, let me ask you an example here. I don’t know if you’ll be able to finish it because I can’t right now, but the ox knoweth its master and then he kind of says it again, another way? 

Isaiah 1:3
The ox knows his owner
the ass his master’s crib
but Israel doth not know,
my people doth not consider.		 Darryl: His master’s crib.  So that’s two ways of saying the same thing.
Victor:  Right, which is what?
Darryl:  Repetition, but it’s also something parallelistic right?
Victor: Right.

Semantic parallelism is the particular style of Hebrew poetry. Semantic deals with the meaning of something. What’s the semantics of that or what’s the meaning of that? And so, this meaning comes through.


Victor: Now, let’s say we take two objects, stand them up side by side in front of us with our eyes closed, and we open our eyes and here are these two objects in front of us. What do you see? Say it’s two people, you naturally will probably look at one of two relationships between these two parallel items. Parallel means to stand side by side.  Think of two columns. Now if there are two people there, we first notice similarities and/or contrast. Well, they’re both people, they’re both wearing blue, but he is wearing that, and she is wearing this, and he’s much taller than she, but they both have a BYU Cougars’ shirt on and maybe they’re going to the football game tonight. So, we start processing these two things we see standing side by side, but the first natural comparisons are similarities and then differences or contrasts, and those are the two most common types of parallelism. Synonymous like a synonym, car – automobile. Two different words, one short, one long, but they’ve brought the same mental image to mind. Antithetic, good – evil, happy – sad.

Darryl: So, in this case, male and female? Is that antithetic?

Victor: Well, Venus and Mars, they come from different planets.

Darryl: Ok, that’s very true. You nailed that one.

Victor: But there can be some other subtleties in these other types of parallelisms.

Synonymous Parallelism

Darryl: So, when we’re talking antithetic. When you are describing this as thinking of a woman with long blonde hair and a guy that was sort of short, butch, brown. Is that antithetic or is that something else

Victor: Well, it’s probably a little bit something else. Let’s go back to your first example, an ox knows his owner, an ass his master’s crib. Then here’s another example of a synonymous parallelism. This is the Lord speaking, Israel does not know. My people take no thought.

Darryl: Israel and my people are the same things.

Victor: No, not, thought, talk. They’re all parallel. But what’s interesting in this verse in the first chapter of Isaiah, those two synonymous parallelisms follow each other. So, let me repeat the whole thing.

An ox knows its owner,
an ass his master’s crib,
but Israel does not know,
my people take no thought.

Darryl: So, now we’re looking at people being an ox that doesn’t know its master and an ass, which is also my people that don’t know where they’re being fed. The crib is its trough, right?

Victor: Yes, you could take that as a put-down. But, take the literal meaning of each of the verses. Domesticated animals know the voice of their master and they know he will feed them. In fact, this master and this domestic animal, it’s not a wild animal, neither of them, they’re domesticated ones, and they have a symbiotic relationship with each other. Human is dependent upon the animal to help, and the animal is dependent on the human to feed it and to protect it from predators. So, what should the relationship to us and our master be? We should hear his voice. We should appreciate what he provides us and how he protects us. So, a dumb ox and a stubborn ass, in some ways they’re smarter than we who are of the house of Israel.

Darryl: So, there are some simple insights when you stop to really ponder and look at that set of parallelism. I appreciate that.

Antithetical Parallelism

Victor: Yes, now, Psalms has all kinds of synonymous parallelisms. Proverbs, if you want to find some quick examples, has all kinds of antithetical parallelism. A wiseman does this, the foolish does that, the righteous behave this way, the wicked behave that way. So, those are easy to pick up. Now let’s move on to some others that are a little richer in the potential meaning.

Emblematic Parallelism

Victor: Look for the word ‘like’ or ‘as’.

Darryl: So, this is like that or this is as that.

Victor: So, they’re comparing two things. And so, these two things aren’t exactly the same, but they’re going to be used analogously to each other. For example, here, like clouds and wind without rain. We get this here in the summer all the time.

Darryl: We get all these clouds and we wished they’d rain, and they don’t give us anything.

Victor: Is the man who boasts of a gift, he does not give.

Darryl: So, someone who has the talent and he never uses it or shares it, is like a cloud going over that gives no shade and never rains.

Victor:  Right.

Darryl:  Oh, I like that.

Victor: That’s from Proverbs. Now here’s one back from chapter 1 of Isaiah again:

Though your sins be red as scarlet,
they can become as white as snow.
Though they’d be red as died wool,
they can become as white as fleece.

So, for emblematic phrases or couplets, this is like that, this is like that, this is like that, this is like that. But they are in two sets, though they’d be red as, they can become white as. So that’s antithetic. And then another set that says the same thing over in this snonymous pattern, though they’d be red as this, they can become as white as that. So, in one verse in Isaiah, we have all three of these parallelisms. Four emblematic parallelisms in two, if I can get my fingers separated, two antithetic sets, but each set is saying the same thing over again. That’s a classic passage of scripture. Those four lines and they help you remember, and you carry them around with you, and you’re getting a message at the same time about forgiveness and repentance.

Darryl: It’s interesting you said that, so I’m preparing a Gospel Doctrine lesson that I’m going to give tomorrow and I have a white fleece and I’ve been trying to find the courage to dip half of it into red dye, but then what will I do with it forever because I don’t think I could ever get it white again. Which is really powerful because I don’t know if we talked about this last time, I think we might have. I have been so tutored by Isaiah’s call. So, I received a significant church call I wasn’t worthy of some many years ago, and I told that to the person interviewing me and they said, just repent. I was like, just repent, that’s what you do. Well, so Isaiah is there in the temple when he saw God in Isaiah 6 and the Seraphim flew and put a hot coal on his lips and his sins were purged. That’s the atonement. It seems like this is a message for him a lot, and now hearing how this emblematic parallelism helps us see that red was a new kind of a new dye color, wasn’t it for Isaiah’s time or had it been around a while.

Victor: It had been around for quite a while, and a very persistent kind of color.

Darryl: So, when you’d say that, if you took it to a fuller and used some kind of bleaching agent to get it clean, it would probably still be pink. Isaiah’s saying, no it would be white. I think that’s a good emblem, thank you for sharing that one. So, another kind of parallelism.  Now they’re going to get complicated right?

Victor: Well, a little more, but first of all, let’s review these three: synonymous, antithetic, and emblematic. And some of us are more visual oriented and so I’d like to give you a symbol on each one of them that you can represent. Synonymous parallelism is saying the same thing twice but in similar but slightly different phraseology. So, they’re like two rails of a train track that are parallel to each other, stretching off to the far horizon on the landscape.

Darryl: So, but in that far horizon way up there at the end it looks like they come together.

Victor: It looks like they come to a point. If they hadn’t been, the train’s going to have a hard time getting through that part.

Darryl: But these run parallel to infinity as far we know.

Victor: And point us to the same message.

Darryl: I like that. They point us at the same message at the end.

Victor: Antithetic are opposite contrasts. Probably seeing children put their shadow up on a piece of white paper and they’ll outline it and cut it out and then put it against the big black piece of poster paper or maybe reverse the others, where you get this sharp contrast between black and white, that’s antithetic parallelism. Like an antonym.

Darryl: And both those help me. They may not help everyone but synonym and antonym, when you use those, help me understand both of those much better.

Victor: Then, emblematic is like a shadow. If you’re coming up in the morning on a mountain peak and the sun’s behind you, you can see the shadow out there. You don’t really see the sunlight in the valley, but you can see the shadow of what the sun outlines. Sometimes from behind the building, you can see the shadow of something behind the building if the sun’s coming from the side. You still can’t see that object, a tree, a car, a person, or whatever behind the building, but you see their shadow extending out there. And sometimes shadows are quite sharp and focused. Sometimes they’re fuzzy depending on the time of day and the pollution in the air.

Darryl: We don’t have a scene here with mountains, but lately because it’s been so smoky here, the mountains up close are a whole different color than the very next row and the very next row. And sometimes to me it almost looks fake, like someone was trying to make an odd painting. But that kind of contrast then?

Victor: Right. And so, these emblematic parallelisms, that you can recognize the object, but whether it’s sharp or fuzzy and how it fits in with its landscape, well, that’s what emblematic parallelisms are. You kind of have to wrestle with them and mentally kind of refigure them and try to see what the message might be of an emblematic parallelism. So those are the three easiest ones. Now the next one is going to be a little bit harder. I’m going to quote a line from the famous 24th Psalm of David and pretend like you do not know what is coming up. But this is David speaking. And when I stop, just ask yourself a question and tell me what that question is. This is David speaking, a little, skinny teenage guy out in the wilderness tending his father’s flocks and he says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil.”

Darryl: Why don’t I fear any evil? That’s my question, isn’t it?

Victor: Well, if the first line of a parallelism grabs you, pulls you to the edge of your seat, leaves you wondering, you want the answer?

Darryl: Ok, I like that. That helps me understand that.

Synthetic Parallelism

Victor: “Yea, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.” He’s going to give us the answer, but he wants to grab our attention first by making this bold statement, or maybe it might be a question, or maybe he’ll make a statement and then need to support it. This is called synthetic parallelism.

It’s a merging kind of a question and an answer, a statement and an explanation, a problem and a resolution. Where the first part leaves us hanging, the symbol I use for is a belt with a buckle. The leather strap and the buckle individually, alone can’t hold up their pants. You may have to get a pair of suspenders. A big, beautiful $300 silver buckle isn’t going to do it by itself. A handcrafted nice leather strap isn’t going to…you have to have both of them together. So synthetic parallelism is a statement.

Darryl: That helps me because I did not understand the synthetic form. I think that the idea of blending, answering the question gave me some insights.

Victor: Here’s some from the second verse of chapter 1 of Isaiah. The Lord’s speaking, “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.” You’re talking about my neighbors.

Darryl: No, he’s talking about us. It’s sad, but true.

Victor: This is right here, really the way he introduces this grand poem here at the beginning of chapter 1. The Lord’s speaking, I have raised up children, but then he makes this statement and then he goes on to describe it. That’s a synthetic parallelism.

Darryl:  Ok, that helps.

Victor:  Now, the next two types have similar names and similar compositions.

Darryl: I’m trying to follow along here for a minute, because I know this is going to get very complex now.

Victor: Hopefully not. But they’re going to be composite and climactic, two ‘C’ words.

Composite Parallelism

Think of a picture, like a landscape of a country meadow or a city of Jerusalem or any big beach at sunset and there are different elements that will compose, make the composition of this painting in our mind. Water, clouds, sand, logs, maybe people, all kinds of elements that put this picture together. Composite parallelism is not just a couplet, but it’s three or more elements that together start to put this picture together in our mind. For example, nation of sin, people laden with iniquity, a brood of evil doers, children that are corruptors. So, he’s describing a whole variety of society. The whole nation, people, groups, children. And so, we’re getting this picture of wickedness and that’s a composite parallelism.

Darryl: So, I’m looking at this…go ahead.

Victor: Well, another example, my favorite one is the introduction to the book of Psalms. It starts off like a synthetic parallelism. The psalmist says, “Blessed is the man who, well, come on, tell me…

Darryl: Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.  I had to look, sorry I don’t know…

Victor: I just wanted to get your attention. You could put any number of answers…

Darryl: Right, so we want to know how we’re going to be blessed.

Victor: Yes, and if we were on an open stage where we could walk around a little bit, I would do that while I would read the next few lines. So, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.” Did you see what I said?

Darryl: I did. I saw you walk and stand, and I saw you sit.

Victor: And you’re a rare one to do that. Well, now of course in the classroom they see me walking and standing and sitting all the time.

Darryl: Sure, but I think I was primed for this because I have it in front of me.

Victor: But any rate, that’s such a natural sequence, to walk, but before you sit, because you can’t sit from a walking action, you have to stop and stand, maybe pivot and then sit down. Now think of repetition and learning, that’s a natural sequence. Walking, standing, sitting. Now, I could expand this from three elements to five or six. Blessed is the man who races not with the wild crowd, who runs not with the gangs, walks not with the ungodly, stands not with the sinners, sits not with a scornful, lies not with the harlots. You can stretch this out and it’s very natural, logical, easy to remember. And that’s a composite parallelism – three or more elements. And so, I compare it again to like a composition of paintings, something like this where we get these different elements in the picture that show us the whole picture as it develops, and we put it into our mind, that’s a composite parallelism. And there are examples of that throughout the poetic books and the prophetic books of the Old Testament.

Darryl: And Isaiah isn’t afraid to be a poetic book while he’s being a prophet, is he?

Victor:  No.

Darryl: Sometimes it’s like he won’t do it, he won’t put it down if it isn’t both prophetic and poetic.

Climactic Parallelism

Victor: That’s right. The next type is called climactic. Again, this is three or more elements, but here we do get some literal repetition. A word or a phrase that’s repeated, and it’s not only in the Old Testament. There was a classic example at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount by the Savior.

Darryl:  The beatitudes?

Victor:  How many of them are there?

Darryl: Eight.

Victor:  Eight. How do you know? Blessed, blessed, blessed. Eight steps. And that’s the symbol I use for, is like steps. And climactic parallelism as its name implies, it leads up to a climax.

Darryl: So, in the beatitudes, I can’t think of what the last one is. Is that the climax?

Victor: Well, each one of them has a little mini climax, but it’s blessed is the man who has this characteristic for he will receive this and he will receive this, and he will receive this. And so, each one of them is kind of its own little landing and gives us a blessing. A promise that’s there.  But I liked this one too, from Psalms 29, the beginning of Psalms 29,

Ascribe to the Lord heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord, glory and strength,
ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name.

So, this, ascribe to the Lord, or recognize the Lord for, or appreciate the Lord for, or however you want to translate ascribe. Heavenly beings in the Hebrew, it’s actually children of God—of Elohim. Recognize that he has given his children life, his spirit children. Recognize the Lord for his glory and strength and his intelligence and goodness, and all of these things. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name. The name by which we are saved, who’s plan we are following. But then the climax, “Worship the Lord in holy array.”

Darryl:  And that word, array, is just so rich.  

Victor:  What is it? It’s clothing.

Darryl:  Yeah.

Victor:  What kind of holy clothing do we put on to worship the Lord?

Darryl: Our temple clothing.

Victor: Yeah, so, recognize God for what He’s done for us in the primordial realms, creating this world, His strength, His power, His glory, His plan, His son. Where do we you worship Him, we put on our holy clothing and go to the temple.

Darryl: So, that one is so positive. Look how sad Isaiah in 1:7.

Victor: Sometimes it seems like we’re tumbling down the steps, instead of walking up it.

Your country is desolate,
your cities are burned down,
your land is devoured.

It is desolate as overthrown by strangers or the other descriptive, which almost seems to be like a composite anticlimactic.

8 And daughter Zion is left
like a booth in a vineyard,
like a shelter in a cucumber field,
like a besieged city.

And just think of this empty old shack out in a field where they used to come in the summer to live and work there, but now it’s just an empty desolate shack and the vineyard has probably gone to weed.

Darryl: The minute I read that, I thought about the Kleinegarten in Germany. Remember how people outside of town would have a little garden and every garden had a little shack and I suddenly pictured that shack falling apart and no one gardening any other gardens.

Victor: Right, they’re all just a patch of weeds and wildlife.

Darryl: And visually, that just jumped at me.

Victor: Yeah, but it’s fair Zion, that is left like this. The potential is there, the land is fertile. We know it’s had productivity, but why have they become so empty and desolate? Now that poetry helps get that message impress. He’s not just saying, you’re going to be punished because you’re wicked. But he paints this picture, it’s a lot stronger, and it’s easier to carry around, that picture in your mind.

Darryl: In the last episode we talked about breaking Isaiah maybe into paragraphs. It seems like now that would make sense, if we’re just looking at the paragraph, this might come together better. I struggle when I just read Isaiah and try to connect it, I get lost sometimes. So, I think this is helpful. Thank you.

Introverted Parallelism

Victor: Alright. Our last example here, is really using a combination of one or two or more of the earlier ones into a form called introverted parallelism. Sometimes scholars use a more silly term, inside out parallelism. Kind of like if you’ve got a t-shirt that’s got a bold print on it and you turn it inside out, you can still see it, but you have to learn how to read it backwards and inside out.

Darryl:  So, I had graduated, and you were in the early days of your teaching and this firestorm swept the church about chiasm. Is this the same thing?

Victor: It’s exactly the same thing. It’s a Greek word from a letter chai of the Hebrew alphabet. It’s like our letter X.

Darryl: So, I always laugh at this because it’s only part of the letter x. There’re four legs to an x, so we’re going down one leg and then coming back the other.

Victor: No, think of both of them coming down to a point.

Darryl:  Oh, to a point.  Now that makes sense. I see it as a funnel suddenly. That’s the first time I’ve understood that. 

Victor: It’s a funnel and then it spreads out, like an hourglass.

Darryl:  Yes, that makes very good sense.

Victor:  And the hourglass is where the action is. So, if you take an hour glass behind your back, reverse it and bring it out and put it in front of the person in front of you, their eyes are going to automatically go to that center point, because that’s where the action is.

Darryl:  Right, it’s where everything is moving.  

Victor:  And then you ask them, is this a three-minute egg timer, or a twenty-minute muffin timer? Well they’re soon calculating how much sand, how fast… This is going to be gone in three minutes. Well, the pivot point is where the action is, that’s the main message. We’re used to hearing public speaking where the main idea is sometimes presented upfront.

Darryl: So, tell them what we’re going to tell them, tell them and tell them what we told them. That was from my speech class.

Victor: Yeah. So, it’s the beginning and the end. But here they’ll lead into it. Hit it, sometimes twice and then come back out of it.

Darryl: So, it might be more gradual to come down a little more slowly, depending on what they’re trying to drive home. So, are these very long or some of them multiple lines – ten, fifteen lines.

Victor: Multiple lines, a whole chapter.

Darryl:  Could multiple chapters be?

Victor:  Even the Saviors third sermon in 3rd Nephi is 3 chapters long and it’s one big chiastic pattern.

Darryl:  Really?

Victor:  It is. And so, it can be very short, like in Isaiah 11:13

Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
Judah shall not vex Ephraim.

So, it’s AB, BA, that’s just one verse. But again, it can be verses, chapter, chapters, long.

Darryl: So, the classic one is this heart, ears and eyes one. Do you want to outline that for us?

Victor: Okay, this is as part of this instruction that Isaiah received in his calling in Isaiah 6.  

Darryl: When he’s called to be a prophet, what I talked about earlier. The coal has been pressed to his lips and God asks something like, who can I call? And Isaiah says me.

Victor: And so, the Lord gives him some instructions. This is the Lord speaking to Isaiah, the young prophet,

Make the heart of this people fat,
make their ears heavy,
shut their eyes,
lest seen with her eyes
and hearing with their ears
they understand with their heart
and convert or return and heal themselves.

Sometimes when we see, hear, and seem to understand things, we think we know them, but if we’re not really sensitive to the promptings, we cannot heal ourselves. We cannot correct ourselves. We need help. So, he’s told here, not just to be difficult, so they can see and hear, but not really, so they’d be open to the promptings of the spirit. So, Isaiah had to be a difficult prophet, deliberately difficult. Not impossible, but he speaks at this higher spiritual plain and challenges us to come up to that plain. The Savior faced a similar, very complex audience, among both Isaiah’s audience and Jesus, were devout apostles. Now, if you’re teaching Gospel Doctrine before you get to Isaiah, you spend about three weeks with Hosea and Micah and Amos.

Darryl:  That’s where we are right now, with the lessor prophets.

Victor: These are all contemporary with Isaiah. They overlap with him. And so here he’s teaching them as well, but there are some people, at least one of whom will eventually take his life. So, this whole range of righteousness and wickedness, how do you talk to them once and speak to them all at the same time? That’s a challenge. Isaiah speaks at this level and challenges us to come up to his level of understanding. If you don’t, you’re just not going to be held as accountable.

Darryl: But something that’s interesting as you’re talking about this, I can remember the first time I learned about chiasm in the Book of Mormon and I tried outlining something. And I did okay, it wasn’t great. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but any of these poetic styles, if you find the first one, it’s like I’m reading Isaiah, and this is like being on a treasure hunt. You get to find these little things. I think that would excite me in my study. So, I hadn’t been particularly interested in the concept of poetry, but what you’re sharing here is making me think, oh I could go back and try this just to look for these cool things.

Victor: And as you do so, they’ll jump out at you. Now the Savior, he started on a very simple parable level and we talk about the moral of the story and then what’s the spiritual level. But sometimes people fall short of really getting the full insight of the parable because of, I’ve heard this parable, I’ve heard it so many times, here’s the story, there’s the story line, there’s a message, I’ve got it. Do you really? Have you stopped to look at it from this perspective, or maybe you might see something there that you didn’t see two years ago the last time you read this parable.

Darryl: So, the parable that’s always struck me that was more rich that I had missed in multiple readings, is the parable of the lost coin. Ok, she dropped her coin, she looks around the house and she find her coin. No, she didn’t look around, she cleaned her whole house, then she found the coin and she was happy. So now she has a clean house. She got this whole side benefit that had nothing to do in that first reading of, oh the coin was lost, it was found, big deal. So, that was a simple lesson I learned, so you’re right.

Victor: Yeah, well, with these parallelisms, in just the first chapter of Isaiah, you can find at least five or six of them fairly easily.

Darryl: You’ve pulled so many examples out in the first chapter and because it’s not included in the Book of Mormon, I sometimes just think it’s just sort of extra, it’s the preamble. It doesn’t look like it’s one you should skip.

Victor: No. Plus, as we mentioned in the beginning of our discussion, the four basic principles and ordinances are there, and different phraseologies. So, he’s not just calling into repentance, he’s also going through the basic plan, the foundation of the plan of salvation.

Darryl: Well, we really appreciate the time you’ve taken with us today. Victor, I hope it will benefit all of our readers in Sunday school in the coming weeks. Thank you again for your participation.

Victor:  Glad to.

Darryl:  Thanks.

FOOTNOTES

1 Ludlow, Isaiah, Prophet, Seer, and Poet, Deseret Book

2018’s Top 20 Articles Looking Back on SearchIsaiah's First Year

By
Jacob Krogue
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Top 20 Articles

With 2018 quickly coming to a close, let’s take a look back at the top 20 articles from 2018

  1. Is Stylometry the Ultimate Proof that Joseph Smith Did Not Write the Book of Mormon?

  2. Are we among the Swift Messengers of Isaiah 18?

  3. Why You Shouldn’t Have a List of Dos and Don’ts for the Sabbath

  4. Russell M. Nelson—a Living Prophet Visits Jerusalem

  5. Amazing Find in Jerusalem That Archaeologists World-wide Are Talking About

  6. Book of Mormon Evidence vs Book of Mormon Central

  7. Take the 1 Minute Isaiah Challenge

  8. Was Child Trafficking Prophesied in Isaiah 2:6? You Decide

  9. The Gathering of Israel: Nothing of greater consequence!

  10. BYU’s 3D Jerusalem Tour

  11. Isaiah’s 8 Reasons to Fast

  12. Did the Utah Pioneers Fulfill Isaiah’s Prophecies?

  13. Never Suffer From Confusing Isaiah Symbolism Again

  14. Fasting—Spiritual Effects of Extended Fasting—Isaiah 58

  15. The Gathering of Israel: YOU are of Israel

  16. Has Isaiah’s Signature Been Found?

  17. 15 Prophecies about Joseph Smith

  18. Where are the Lost Verses of Isaiah?

  19. President Nelson’s 5 Ways to Change You and the World

  20. Is Isaiah’s 2800-Year-Old Prophecy Being Fulfilled?

All of us here at SearchIsaiah want to thank you for your support throughout this first year, and we cannot wait for the years to come.

Our mission is still simple: Give people the resources they need, to start from where they’re at, and obey the Savior’s command in 3 Nephi to “search Isaiah”. In so doing we hope more and more people will find true and lasting joy as they come closer to Christ.

We echo Christ’s words:

“great are the words of Isaiah”

Why is do you think Isaiah is Great? Tell us in the comments to potentially be featured in a new article.

The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones

By
Gregorio Billikopf
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Because I wrote Isaiah Testifies of Christ over a twenty-year period, I began to incorporate my personal journal into the exegetical explanations. One such example had to do with the September 11, 2001, attack against the World Trade Center. During lunchtime, when I worked for the University of California, I would close the door to my office and work on Isaiah, and that is why my journal below says, “as I was getting ready to come to work.”

The words beginning with Isaiah 9:10, spoken by the inhabitants of Samaria and Ephraim (both of whom had combined against Judah) are those of great conceit and arrogance. “And all the people shall know, [even] Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart: The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones; the sycomores are cut down, but we will change [them into] cedars” (Isaiah 9:9–10).   

Isaiah 9:10 seems to refer to the pride of the people of Ephraim, and particularly those in Samaria, in terms of the construction of their edifices. “Tear our buildings down,” they bragged, “and we will build them again of even stronger materials.”

And from my journal, “Just coincidentally, I have been working on this chapter of Isaiah for the last couple of months, and it was yesterday, 11 September 2001, that the horrible events surrounding the attack on the World Trade Center twin towers, the Pentagon, and so on took place. Today is the 12th of September, and as I was getting ready to come to work, a member of Congress stood up to make a declaration, which I heard on television. He quoted this verse of Isaiah with no further explanation. I do not know if he quoted in ignorance, for left alone, it is a self-accusation of the pride and arrogance of a nation that did not fear God.”

Alexander explains, “The oriental bricks are unburnt, so that most of their brick structures are as little durable as mud walls. [Sounds a little like our adobe homes in Chile.] The sycamore is durable, but too light and spongy to be used in solid building.”

Hewn refers to that which is “cut with blows of a heavy cutting instrument … to give form or shape to with or as if with heavy cutting blows” (Webster). These, perhaps, were quarried stones (see writings of Esarhaddon, in my notes to Isaiah 10:34).

The exegetes are not in agreement as to which tree is intended here by שָׁקָם, translated as sycamores. It seemed to have been a common tree of little value, in contrast to the rare, yet lofty, cedar אֶרֶז.

Rawlinson points out such a contrast in 2 Chronicles 1:15: “And the king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the vale for abundance.”

We find a similar scripture about the futility of re-building, unless one builds upon the Rock of Jesus Christ, in Malachi 1:4a, “Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down.” The pride and arrogance of the people is made clearly manifest.

Rawlinson points out such a contrast in 2 Chronicles 1:15: “And the king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the vale for abundance.” We find a similar scripture about the futility of re-building, unless one builds upon the Rock of Jesus Christ, in Malachi 1:4a, “Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down.” The pride and arrogance of the people is made clearly manifest.

Likening the Scriptures to ourselves

This week was Valentine’s Day. A few years ago I was riding a bus here in Chile around Valentine’s Day and the young people around me where speaking about long-term relationships. I spoke up and said that I had been married for about forty years.

“What is the secret of your success?” a young man asked. I smiled thinking it was a rhetorical question. But he insisted, “What is the secret of your success?” he asked earnestly.

I had to think about it for a bit and uttered the one thing that came to my mind: “The is no room for pride in a successful marriage.”

Finding Hope in Christ’s Atonement Justification, Sanctification & Grace

By
Gregorio Billikopf
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Elder David A. Bednar once told me that “the ‘R’ for Redeemer in the Repentance process … is the most important of all the ‘Rs’!”[1] Indeed, when we hold on to love of the Redeemer of Israel, we can obtain divine help in becoming better disciples. Christ stands with His arms stretched out to us in a love so sublime that we cannot comprehend. We are never alone. I hope to explain how Christ’s expiatory and redeeming sacrifice can help us begin to make positive changes today. I will do so by explaining the role of justification, sanctification and grace in this process.

It took me over forty years after I was baptized to begin to get a grip on the topics of justification, sanctification and grace. Forty is a very significant number in Hebrew [אַרְבָּעִים], much like the number fifty, or cincuenta in Spanish (from sin cuenta, without count). In addition, it has been aptly suggested that the Biblical number forty is frequently associated with a period of “testing, probation or [trial followed by a blessing]” (Amazing Bible Timeline).

Justification and sanctification were difficult concepts for me to get a grip on, intellectually. Grace, on the other hand, was even harder to comprehend. I rejected the idea of “cheap grace” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer) or the simplistic idea that I could remain the way I was and still be exalted. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is to “make bad men good and good men better” (President David O. McKay, quoted by Elder Franklin D. Richards, October 1965 General Conference). That, of course, does not happen without effort on our part (“The Inconvenient Messiah,” BYU President Jeffrey R. Holland, 2 February 1982).

I was under the mistaken assumption that grace only came into play after we died. This article shows how I came to a more correct understanding of grace, as a power that can help us make the changes we need to make presently, while we are still alive—which of course does not negate the grace we will need after we cross the veil. While I felt pangs of hopelessness before, I am now full of joy. My journey of understanding has been one of “precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:13b).

Elder Gerald L. Lund wrote: “The terms sanctification and justification and their cognate words are used hundreds of times in the four standard works. However, as important as they are, nowhere does any scriptural writer attempt to formally define either concept. Thus, we are left to derive their meaning from how the terms are used in various contexts or from the effects which result from their application.”[2]

It is hard to know where to begin since justification, sanctification and grace are so intimately related. Elder D. Todd Christofferson taught: “While justification and sanctification may be viewed as distinct topics, in reality I believe they are elements of a single divine process that qualifies us to live in the presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ.”[3]

This “single divine process” mentioned by Elder Christofferson is the atonement, with justification, sanctification and grace forming essential parts of the same. Elder Lund explains: “Both [justification and sanctification] are made possible because of the atoning sacrifice … of Christ, but the actual medium or means for both sanctification and justification is the Holy Ghost. His very influence burns out the effects of sin and purges out the unholiness that comes upon us when we sin. However, we can only do so because Jesus Christ met the demands of justice and made it possible for mercy and grace to operate in our behalf.”

Justification, sanctification and grace are ongoing processes rather than a single event—although there appears to be a time when these will be imparted to a fuller extent upon the faithful who have endured to the end. I will focus on that portion of justification wherein the Holy Ghost puts a stamp of approval on our behaviors; sanctification as the positive transformation of who we are; and grace as the invitation to follow Christ—along with the needed faith,[4] strength, and tender mercies we need so we can become increasingly faithful disciples of our Redeemer. 

I get quite emotional as I think of the Lord’s tender mercies [חֶסֶד] towards me. I particularly like Swanson’s definition of tender mercies: “loyal love, unfailing kindness, devotion, i.e., a love or affection that is steadfast based on a prior relationship.”[5] What is this prior relationship? The one we had with our Father and His Beloved Son before we were born. Surely, “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

I had done nothing to deserve the testimony I received of the Godhead (when I was about thirteen) or of the Book of Mormon (shortly before my sixteenth birthday). These were gifts of grace received when I had not asked. I was given the moral agency to reject or to accept. Although they were offered freely, it would take a few years before I would embrace this truth. In time, they led to my baptism and confirmation (at nineteen, in 1974)—and thereafter beginning the process of partaking of the ordinances of salvation. Joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the most important choice of my life, one which has brought me joy untold.

Justification

Justification [from the word צדק][6] is often used by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints[7] and by other Christians,[8] [9] [10] to declare that a person is made right with God—and involves a remission of sins.[11]  In Scripture, the word justification is also used in relation to specific events—in which a person is either vindicated [צַדִּיק] or not found guilty before God.

As an example, we see D&C 132:1b, “I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also Moses, David and Solomon, my servants …” (emphasis added). Because David and Solomon are also included here, we can see that a specific behavior was justified. The Lord tells us that they did not act unrighteously in this matter.

Since we are in a constant need to be made right before God (and have our sins continually remitted) may I suggest yet another meaning for justification? The focus of my remaining observations on justification is in regard to the role of the Holy Ghost as the Holy Spirit of Promise. Justification, in this context, is the stamp of approval of the Holy Spirit. An approval that also is often accompanied with the remission of sins.

Elder McConkie taught: “What then is the law of justification? It is simply this: ‘All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations’ (D&C 132:7), in which men must abide to be saved and exalted, must be entered into and performed in righteousness so that the Holy Spirit can justify the candidate for salvation in what has been done (1 Nephi 16:2; Jacob 2:13-14; Alma 41:15; D&C 98; 132:1, 62.) An act that is justified by the Spirit is one that is sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise, or in other words, ratified and approved by the Holy Ghost.”[12]

I am so grateful for my two daughters-in-law, both of whom love the Lord and His Word and often share their observations with me. Heather wrote: “We are justified through humility and reliance in Christ. To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable [and then quoted Luke 18:9–14]: “And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”[13] The publican’s prayer was justified before God.  

Justification, in this context [צַדִּיק], then, seems to be related to specific human acts revolving around what we do, say and think. When we put forth our best effort—or often with a righteous desire which falls short of righteousness (through God’s tender mercies and loving kindness)—we may be justified by the Holy Ghost. This is, once again, a stamp of approval put on by the Holy Spirit of Promise. Nothing I have said should be interpreted as diminishing the role of grace in our life. At the contrary, it is when we permit grace to act in us that we do that which is good and right in the sight of God. “Where is boasting then?” (Romans 3:27).

Any action we take, such as offering a heartfelt prayer, giving a talk at Church, bearing a testimony, partaking of the Sacrament worthily, forgiving someone who has hurt us, speaking a word in kindness, feeding the poor, listening to others with empathy, or showing mercy may receive such approval. Longer efforts may, in the same way, be justified or accepted by the Lord, such as serving a mission, magnifying a Church calling, being faithful in our employment, or having a temple sealing ratified by the Holy Spirit of Promise. Of course, we are not aware of all the positive effects of our actions in this life. Once again, this is not about boasting, but rather, it requires we continually accept grace in our life. It is not a one-time gift. Grace is offered liberally, but we have the moral agency to receive it—or discard it.

Zechariah 7:11 paints an accurate word picture of what we do in those instances when we discard the invitation to turn to Christ: “But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.” Gladly, the Holy Spirit is ever ready to invite us again and again.   

When we do right, we feel the stamp of approval from the Holy Ghost and sense the strong presence of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22). We no longer feel it is us who are praying, testifying, teaching or giving service, but rather that we are one with God.

In Christ’s intercessory prayer to the Father He emphasized this oneness. “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:20–22).

When we share a testimony humbly and teach by the Spirit “the Holy Ghost shall be shed forth in bearing record unto all things whatsoever ye shall say” (D&C 100:8b). I would suggest that we will often receive a confirmation by that same Spirit, “Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together” (D&C 50:22).

Forgiveness of sins. As we mentioned, justification is often accompanied by a remission of sins. In James 5:14–15 we read: “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” And in James 5:19–20 we further read: “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”

Elder Carlos E. Asay shared a particularly touching story: “I’ll never forget an experience I had at a mission conference in Australia a few years ago. One young man had such a special glow upon his face that my wife said to me, ‘I’ve never seen anyone sparkle with the truth as he does.’” After the conference was over, Elder Asay had the opportunity to speak to that young elder. This young man had been sent home from the mission field because of serious unconfessed transgression. But now he was back and had served honorably. Elder Asay had not recognized the missionary. [I suspect that it was because “the image of God [was] engraven upon [his] countenance” Alma 5:19—GB.]

But returning to Elder Asay’s account, “Well, after he had recalled all of that to my memory, he said, ‘Elder Asay, it thrilled me to know that you were coming. You see, next week I go home, and I just wanted to tell you that for two years now I haven’t stretched or bent or broken a single rule or commandment.’ Then he added, ‘I may not be the best missionary in this mission, but I’m awfully close.’ I loved that. I embraced him and thanked him, and then after a tear or two, he turned to leave. As he stood there, he looked at me again and said, ‘Elder Asay, for the first time in many, many years I feel perfectly clean.’ ‘You are,’ I said. ‘You have been sanctified by your service.’”[14] And I would add, not only sanctified or changed but also justified wherein his sins were forgiven.

To summarize, then, it is what we do, say or think as we yield our will to the promptings of the Spirit (these instigations are given to us through grace)—together with the eternal effects of the atonement of Christ wherein the imperfection of our offering is coupled with the perfection in His Holy offering—that brings about the seal of approval of the Holy Ghost, which is often accompanied with a remission of our sins.   

Before reading on, can you remember a time when you felt such approval? When you sensed that it was not you who was teaching or bearing testimony, but the Holy Ghost through you? These are instances of justification.

Sanctification

Sanctification comes from the word קָדַשׁ, to be made holy, “to be set apart”[15] (e.g., from the world) or to be holy. See, for instance, Isaiah 6:3b, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts [קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ יהוה צְבָאוֹת].”

While justification [צַדִּיק] has to do with the process of being made right before the Lord—or the acceptance of our offering before the Lord—sanctification appears to be the long process wherein we are transformed into different, holier beings. We begin to become like the person we hope to someday be—as we pattern our lives after Christ. Just like justification, we can never do this on our own merits. Rather, it is also through the grace of Christ, as the result of His holy expiatory sacrifice.

One of many reasons for receiving baptism and confirmation in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, under the hands of an authorized priesthood holder, is to begin the process of sanctification through the Spirit—this is especially so as we accept the gift of the Holy Ghost and retain His constant companionship.  

One of my favorite Scriptures comes from Mosiah 18:5–6; 8–11; 16b (emphasis added): “Now, there was in Mormon a fountain of pure water, and Alma resorted thither … And it came to pass that as many as believed him went thither to hear his words… And it came to pass that [Alma] said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people,[16] and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;[17] Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?” I love the enthusiastic response of the converts: “And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts.” Then we read: “… and they were baptized in the waters of Mormon, and were filled with the grace of God.” 

With discipleship, we are slowly changed or sanctified so we may, in time, enter into the presence of the Father. Satan (שָׂטָן, meaning, the accuser in Hebrew) attempts to discourage us by pointing to our weaknesses. President Brigham Young taught: “Serve God according to the best knowledge you have, and lay down and sleep quietly; and when the Devil comes along and says, ‘You are not a very good Saint, you might enjoy greater blessings and more of the power of God, and have the vision of your mind opened, if you would live up to your privileges,’ tell him to leave; that you have long ago forsaken his ranks and enlisted in the army of Jesus, who is your captain, and that you want no more of the Devil (JD 4:270).”[18]

While Satan tries to discourage us, the Holy One of Israel is continually inviting us to return [שובו] unto Him, put our trust in Him, and follow Him. As with justification, we also have manifestations of the spirit—such as a great joy and feelings of gratitude—that help us understand that indeed this transformation is beginning to take place. Because of the difficulty and length of the way, we do not always see these transformations.

The Spirit reminded me of one such change in my life. When I was a teenager and even a young adult, I had the ugly habit of breaking those things that I most cared about when I was upset. I particularly remember breaking a ceramic statue of a horse that I had carefully crafted. Now the Spirit reminded me that for decades I had given up that unattractive habit. What is more, through the grace of God I no longer had the desire to destroy what I loved. At least in this thing, I am a different person today than fifty years ago. We are, then, in the process of becoming better people with God’s help.

Before reading on can you think of ways you have changed in your life, either large or small? Ask the Father, in the name of His Beloved Son, for help in seeing your transformation as a disciple of Jesus Christ. 

Grace

What Elder Lund said about the difficulty of defining justification and sanctification according to usage also applies to grace [χάρις].[19] In attempting to understand the atonement, one of the most challenging tasks is comprehending the role of grace in our lives. This has been a tough journey for me. There were some vital lessons I had to learn. I trust you will see in them a message of hope. I begin with some difficult quotes that seem to require perfection of us; and then move on to propose how we can begin our transformation by accepting Spirit-given invitations to make small changes now—or when we are ready. Our moral agency will never be violated.  

I would suggest that the emphasis on the word after in the following quotes most probably refers to the final judgment: “… for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23, emphasis added). And furthermore: “… grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts” (Grace, Bible Dictionary, emphasis added).  

Grace invites us to repentance now. The scriptures teach us that true repentance means forsaking our sins (Mosiah 4:10; Alma 39:9; Ether 11:1; D&C 93:48) and from Doctrine and Covenants: “By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them” (D&C 58:43).

Although the Savior has already suffered for all our iniquities, if we do not turn to Him we will have to suffer also: “Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not. For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men. Wherefore, I command you again to repent, lest I humble you with my almighty power; and that you confess your sins, lest you suffer these punishments of which I have spoken, of which in the smallest, yea, even in the least degree you have tasted at the time I withdrew my Spirit” (D&C 19:15-20).

I freely admit that I am in the process of forsaking. I have not forsaken. Gladly, the Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel—you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave.”[20]

Sometime around 1991, I was feeling quite despondent because of all my weaknesses. Then I read a newspaper report about someone who had been dishonest. “At least,” I reasoned, “this is one good quality I have, I am honest!” No sooner had I thought this, I had an open vision, or life review, in which I viewed the many times in my life when I had been dishonest—from both before and after my baptism. One of these scenes particularly lingers in my mind.

As a young lad I was near the outside gate of our home in Santiago when a needy old woman asked to see my mother. My mother is a very generous person who always gives to the poor—although a few times complained about this duty. (One time, we were walking and passed a beggar. We had not gone far when my mother sent me back with money for the man. She could not stand the idea of not giving.) I thought I would be doing my mother a favor by telling the destitute old woman that my mother was not home. The beggar’s words still ring in my ears, “¡mentiroso! (liar!).” I could see this and many other disturbing scenes pass by me.

I was quite ill after the “bright recollection of all [my] guilt” (Alma 11:43). Not long after this vision, I recall finding a walnut in our back yard and despairing because I felt I had to go around the neighborhood and determine who was the owner of the walnut tree, so I could return the nut! Glady, I realized how silly this was. I share this to show just how little I had understood the purpose of my life review. I now know that God was trying to teach me something about grace. Even in the areas where I thought I was “doing well” I would need the grace offered to us through Christ’s atonement. Note that the Spirit only showed me the one area I felt I was having success in. I shudder to think of all that I might have to see in my areas of known imperfection. The point of the vision was to teach me of my dependence on the atonement of Jesus Christ—and of His grace. We will never be good enough on our own merits.    

A little over a decade later I experienced a revelation of a completely different nature. One that for a long time I did not understand any better than the first. I was blessed with being able to spend each of my sabbatical leaves from the University of California in Chile, working on various work projects. During my second sabbatical I translated one of my books into Spanish. Once a week I also went out with the missionaries. As the six-month period came to a close, the Spirit of God unexpectedly, through an act of grace, manifested that my sins had been forgiven. I did not understand at the time that this was the Holy Ghost putting a mark of approval, of justification, on what I had done by faithfully going out with the Elders. The Spirit had accepted my offering.

What should have been a moment of great joy was not. Sadly, instead of dropping to my knees in gratitude, all I could think about was the uselessness of it all. “What good does it do me to be cleansed of my sin,” I murmured, “when I sin every day?” The Lord was instead trying to tell me, “Yes, I know your weaknesses, but I also can see the desire of your heart and your effort to follow the promptings of the Spirit.”

I can now hear the Lord saying: “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them” (Ether 12:27). We also have: “Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things” (Jacob 4:7, emphasis added).

So perhaps we can speak of a repentant attitude along with repentance. We may also focus on the fruits of repentance, such as joy and peace and the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. These also are part of the gift of grace. If we have a great desire to study the word, share the gospel with others, do temple work for our deceased ancestors, improve, do good, choose the right, serve in our callings and answer affirmatively the question that Alma poses: “And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?” (Alma 5:26), perhaps these are indicators that the grace of God is working within us now despite our imperfections. We have no reason to believe that the grace required for exaltation is something different than the grace we receive in this mortal existence to help us here and now in our efforts to become men and women of God and true disciples of Jesus Christ.

In 2017 I came across a podcast, a devotional and a book[21]  by President Brad Wilcox, a former Mission President in Chile. Wilcox says he is often asked by Christian friends from other faiths, “Have you been saved by grace?” After answering in the affirmative, Brad asks them a question of his own, “Have you been changed by grace?” This question made all the difference in my life; it was the beginning of my spiritual comprehension of grace. This was truly an inspired one-liner.  

I understood that some commandments which are hard for others may be easy for me to keep and vice versa. I also recognized that there are some things that we will not conquer in this lifetime, such as pride, impatience, selfishness and fully putting our trust in God at all times. And it is these matters which we cannot fully overcome that had led me to feelings of despair—despite the great joy I felt as a disciple of Jesus Christ.  

I have come to the realization that I was making it an all of nothing proposition with my weaknesses. I was not trying as hard as I could and thus was blocking grace because of the impossibility of fully conquering now. “So why try?” I thought. Yet I had now come to the realization that grace had been playing a role in my life all along without my comprehending it. Now that I was finally on the right track, the Spirit taught me some specific additional lessons.

Early in 2018, I felt that I need to get up after Sacrament meeting and greet everyone. I just did not have the energy to do it. Something interesting happened as the meeting concluded. I felt an immense sense of vigor come over me and a desire to follow the promptings of the Spirit. When I was finished greeting everyone, I felt an abundance of joy. Of this experience, the Spirit whispered to my heart, “that is grace.”

Not long ago I was studying the Scriptures and the Spirit prompted me, “Go out and minister!” I often study the Scriptures for hours and was making some very interesting progress on the book of Zechariah. Although I love to minister, my reaction at the time was that I did not want to interrupt my study time. But I soon humbled myself and was grateful for the prompting of the Spirit which I followed. I was able to make the appointments and was soon out of the house. The hearts of those I visited were touched. They needed the visit and the attendant Spirit. That was grace in action.

About thirty years ago I said my nightly kneeling prayers but not my morning ones. I asked the Father for help with that. I have since gotten into the habit and there has not been a day go by that the Spirit has not reminded me. That is grace.

But returning to those areas of my life that have been so trying for me, and in line with the idea of not making it an all or nothing proposition, I have found strength and joy in following a single prompting to avoid temptation—in the here and now, without having to worry about tomorrow, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil [רַע, i.e., difficulties and challenges] thereof” (Matthew 6:34). In other words, I am beginning to find peace in realizing that I will struggle in these matters on a continual basis and that any small triumph is a good thing. As I follow the whisperings of the Spirit in matters that are challenging, I receive additional strength, resolve or grace to withstand temptation. Sometimes these efforts on our part are rewarded with greater strength than we ever thought possible. Truly, our weaknesses may be turned into strengths.  

Gladly, in His loving kindness, God does not give us just one chance to heed His Spirit. Once again, we must turn to Him daily to be succored by His grace—and refuse to give up because we cannot be made perfect now.

Paul taught: “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:8–9a). May I suggest that Paul understood that he had to struggle with these things on a regular basis, for the Lord did not completely remove the weaknesses as he had at first hoped. Paul then glories in his weaknesses because they keep him humble—and thus not fall into the pride trap. Paul comes to understand that he must be succored by the Lord continually. As must we all.     

President Brigham Young explained: “Do not suppose that we shall ever in the flesh be free from temptations to sin. Some [incorrectly] suppose that they can in the flesh be sanctified, body and spirit, and become so pure that they will never again feel the effects of the power of the adversary of truth (JD 10:173).”[22]

My wife is a role model of generosity and selflessness. In a tour many had misunderstood the instructions and failed to fetch their own suitcases before boarding a bus. When Linda found out she alerted the other passengers even though we did not know them. I was impressed and wanted to be more like her. A month later we were at the airport when the gate for our flight was changed. I had my chance to be helpful as most of the passengers had not noticed. I got the strength to overcome the feelings of silliness about shouting it out in the terminal. That was grace. Half the people were taking our same flight and got up and moved with us to the correct terminal. A teenager approached me afterwards and thanked me. Not that I need the thanks, but this helped me realize how important it was that I did not stay quiet. I felt good. That was justification. I think that next time I will be less hesitant to alert others in similar circumstances. If I can incorporate this new behavior into my life so it seems more natural, that will be sanctification.

Conclusion

Elder D. Todd Christofferson taught: “Justification and sanctification are accomplished by the grace of Christ, which grace is a gift to man based on faith. But our moral agency is also a necessary element in this divine process… But, as Nephi implies, there is something we can do, something that all who are accountable must do. To have effect, the gift must be accepted: ‘For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift’ (D&C 88:33).” [23]

Elder Gerald N. Lund explained: “Perfection is not, as some suppose, a prerequisite for justification and sanctification. It is just the opposite … [they] are the prerequisites for perfection. We only become perfect ‘in Christ’ (see Moroni 10:32).”[24]

Nor should perfectionism be an excuse not to improve. Instead, every act of humility, patience, selflessness is our indication to the Spirit that we wish to take advantage of the great gift of the atonement through the grace that is offered to us.

“Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles once expressed our obligation this way: ‘Everyone in the Church who is on the straight and narrow path, who is striving and struggling and desiring to do what is right, though far from perfect in this life; if he passes out of this life while he’s on the straight and narrow, he’s going to go on to eternal reward in his Father’s kingdom. We don’t need to get a complex or get a feeling that you have to be perfect to be saved. … The way it operates is this: you get on the path that’s named the ‘straight and narrow.’ You do it by entering the gate of repentance and baptism. The straight and narrow path leads from the gate of repentance and baptism, a very great distance, to a reward that’s called eternal life. … Now is the time and the day of your salvation, so if you’re working zealously in this life—though you haven’t fully overcome the world and you haven’t done all you hoped you might do—you’re still going to be saved’ (“The Probationary Test of Mortality,” Salt Lake Institute of Religion devotional, 10 Jan. 1982, 12).”[25]

Every time we avoid impure thoughts, competitive feelings, criticism of others, envy or any sort of negative behavior now, even though we are not perfect in these things, we are strengthened by the Spirit and our desire to partake of that great gift of grace increases—and thus we rely on, and are filled with gratitude for, the Savior’s atonement. Sometimes we make incorrect assumptions as to what our greatest weaknesses are. Some spiritual infirmities obscure other, perhaps more vital weaknesses. We can enlist the Spirit in asking for direction as to where we need to make our most urgent changes.

This is how we begin to climb that ladder that the Prophet Joseph Smith spoke about. The Spirit will be there to hold out His hand to us all along the way, through the principles of grace, justification and sanctification. The Lord reassures us: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness … For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee” (Isaiah 41:10; 13). As we heed these promptings, our journey will then truly be one of “precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:13b). Can you contemplate ways that grace has already been working on your life? What commitments will you make today to be a better disciple of Jesus Christ?

[1] Personal correspondence. 9 September 2005.  

[2] Gerald N. Lund, “Sanctification and Justification Are Just and True,” in Sperry Symposium Classics: The New Testament, ed. Frank F. Judd Jr. and Gaye Strathearn (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006), 46–58. Emphasis added.

[3] Elder D. Todd Christofferson Justification and Sanctification, June 2001 Ensign.

[4] Faith is a principle of action, not just belief.

[5] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[6] Latter-day Saints are particularly familiar with the righteous Melchizedek, King of Salem: וּמַלְכִּי־צֶ֨דֶק֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ שָׁלֵ֔ם

[7] Elder D. Todd Christofferson Justification and Sanctification, June 2001 Ensign.

[8] Simon, D. W. (1911–1912). JUSTIFICATION. In J. Hastings, J. A. Selbie, A. B. Davidson, S. R. Driver, & H. B. Swete (Eds.), A Dictionary of the Bible: Dealing with Its Language, Literature, and Contents Including the Biblical Theology (Vol. 2, p. 826). New York; Edinburgh: Charles Scribner’s Sons; T. & T. Clark.

[9] M’Clintock, J., & Strong, J. (1891). Justification. In Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (Vol. 4, p. 1102). New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers.

[10] Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

[11] Lest there be any misunderstanding, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we believe that we must confess certain grievous sins to a judge in Israel, such as our Branch President or Bishop.    

[12] Elder Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine (2nd Edition), 1966, Bookcraft, p. 292.

[13] Heather Billikopf, personal correspondence.

[14] Elder Carlos E. Asay. “The Blessings of Sharing the Gospel.” October 1985 Ensign.

[15] The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament.

[16] This is an allusion to the great promises in Rain in Due Season, wherein we are taught that if Israel will be obedient to the Abrahamic Covenant, the Lord promises: “And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people” (Leviticus 26:12). See Isaiah Testifies of Christ (3rd Edition), Gregorio Billikopf. 

[17] I testify that as we forget ourselves and help lift other’s burdens so they will be light, the Holy Ghost lifts ours.

[18] Discourses of Brigham Young by John A. Widtsoe, Brigham Young. Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, Utah.

[19] For instance, see the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia under Grace.

[20] Joseph Smith, The King Follett Sermon.

[21] Brad Wilcox: LDS Perspectives Podcast, Episode 2; “His Grace is Sufficient,” BYU Devotional, 12 July 2011; and Changed through His grace, Deseret Book 2017.  

[22]  Discourses of Brigham Young by John A. Widtsoe, Brigham Young. Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, Utah.

[23] Elder D. Todd Christofferson Justification and Sanctification, June 2001 Ensign.

[24] Gerald N. Lund, “Sanctification and Justification Are Just and True,” in Sperry Symposium Classics: The New Testament, ed. Frank F. Judd Jr. and Gaye Strathearn (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006), 46–58. Emphasis added. Furthermore, Elder Lund explains: “Both of these [justification and sanctification] are made possible because of the atoning sacrifice … of Christ, but the actual medium or means for both sanctification and justification is the Holy Ghost. His very influence burns out the effects of sin and purges out the unholiness that comes upon us when we sin. However, we can only do so because Jesus Christ met the demands of justice and made it possible for mercy and grace to operate in our behalf.”

[25] Elder D. Todd Christofferson Justification and Sanctification, June 2001 Ensign.

King James Version: Not Obsolete Searching the Scriptures Series

By
Gregorio Billikopf
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In 1992 the First Presidency released this statement in support of the King James Version: “Since the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has used the King James Version of the Bible for English-speaking members… Many versions of the Bible are available today. Unfortunately, no original manuscripts of any portion of the Bible are available for comparison to determine the most accurate version. However, the Lord has revealed clearly the doctrines of the gospel in these latter-days. The most reliable way to measure the accuracy of any biblical passage is not by comparing different texts, but by comparison with the Book of Mormon and modern-day revelations. While other Bible versions may be easier to read than the King James Version, in doctrinal matters latter-day revelation supports the King James Version in preference to other English translations. All of the Presidents of the Church, beginning with the Prophet Joseph Smith, have supported the King James Version by encouraging its continued use in the Church. In light of all the above, it is the English language Bible used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

I have, since joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1974, been a fan and defender of the King James Version (KJV), also known as the Authorized Version (AV). I particularly love our Latter-day Saint version with the JST or Joseph Smith Translation notes, and multiple other helps.

Over the last decades, it has become fashionable to put down the KJV and replace it with other, supposedly superior, English translations. The most common arguments against the AV include its archaic language and difficult linguistic approach. To me, these simply make the text more interesting. As members of the restored Church we have many reasons to rejoice over the AV.

The Hebrew Bible

The Hebrew Bible (often called the Old Testament) has been translated from the Masoretic text (MT or 𝕸) into multiple English versions over time—and the same is true of translations into other languages.

I worked on my commentary, Isaiah Testifies of Christ (3rd edition, 2017), over a twenty-year period. During this study, I gave particular attention to what the Brethren had said about every verse of Isaiah. However, there were a great many verses wherein the Brethren were silent. So, my study also included an extensive review of Biblical translations, ancient manuscripts, Jewish commentaries, as well as commentaries from fellow Christians of other religious backgrounds and those of Latter-day Saints.

When confronted with particularly difficult verses, I would compare the KJV translation with other renditions that might shed additional light on the text. This collection of translations has continued to grow over time to about four dozen. I also utilize various interlinears that have proven to be quite useful, along with the lexicons. These tools form an indispensable part of my study. When I find content discrepancies, these encourage me to turn to the Hebrew text. Sometimes verses in one translation say exactly the opposite than in another. As the Brethren noted in the opening verse, textual criticism (at any level) is not a perfect solution. We do not have the original signatures of any Scriptures, but rather, copies of copies.

Even so, we can make some observations as to how English translations of the Bible compare to the Masoretic text (𝕸).

What have I found? That indeed there are numerous verses where other translations render a more correct rendition to the extant Hebrew texts. However, please note, I have not found a second best or a third best translation. Each one of them contributes a verse here and a verse there that is a more faithful translation of the Hebrew. It is impossible for me to predict, however, which version will provide such illumination.

Please note this is not an all or nothing proposition. The Prophet Brigham Young said: “Take the Bible just as it reads; and if it be translated incorrectly and there is a scholar on the earth who professes to be a Christian, and he can translate it any better than King James’s translators did it, he is under obligation to do so. If I understood Greek and Hebrew as some may profess to do, and I knew the Bible was not correctly translated, I should feel myself bound by the law of justice to the inhabitants of the earth to translate that which is incorrect and give it just as it was spoken anciently. Is that proper? Yes, I would be under obligation to do it. But I think it is translated just as correctly as the scholars could get it, although it is not correct in a great many instances” (JD 14:226, in Discourses of Brigham Young by John A. Widtsoe).

Elder Bruce R. McConkie observed, speaking of the special aids found within our Latter-day Saint edition of the Scriptures: “They include the Joseph Smith Translation items, the chapter headings, the topical guide, the Bible dictionary, the footnotes, the gazetteer, and the maps. None of these are perfect; they do not of themselves determine doctrine; there have been and undoubtedly now are mistakes in them. Cross-references, for instance, do not establish and never were intended to prove that parallel passages so much as pertain to the same subject. They are aids and helps only” (“The Bible, a Sealed Book,” Teaching Seminary: Preservice Readings (2004), 123–32).

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we do not claim that every word in the KJV is correct. After all, we have the 8th Article of Faith that states: “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly …”

In my opinion, nevertheless, the KJV is the most beautiful and the most correct (i.e., accurate translation) of any into English (or Spanish for that matter), especially as it contains the JST notes. The Prophet Joseph Smith professed, nevertheless, in speaking of the German Martin Luther’s edition: “I have an old edition of the New Testament in the Latin, Hebrew, German and Greek languages. I have been reading the German, and find it to be the most [nearly] correct translation, and to correspond nearest to the revelations which God has given to me for the last fourteen years” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 349). But returning to the AV, it more carefully preserves the Christ-centered scriptures in the Hebrew Bible.

Translations of the Hebrew Bible may be classified into either literal-tending renderings (word-for-word) or dynamic equivalent versions (thought-for-thought). A third group goes beyond the dynamic equivalence towards the paraphrase. I have always been a strong adherent of the literal approach, for myself. I would rather be the interpreter of the meaning.

Examples of the literal-tending translations include the KJV, NASB, LITV, ASV, HCSB, Rotherham, Alter, Fox and Leeser. Most, but not all, English translations of the Hebrew Bible are based on the Masoretic text (𝕸). Some are instead based on the Chaldee, Septuagint, and Vulgate, to mention a few. These also have a place of usefulness, of course.

I subscribe to the mantra that “all translation is interpretation.” Furthermore, all exegesis involves eisegesis. That is, “the interpretation of a text (especially of the Bible) that shows the partiality and prejudices of the interpreter and not the real meaning of the text being exegeted” (Spanish Dictionary, but also see Webster). It is not possible to read something without interpreting it. May I remind us of the obvious, as we read anything, we tend to look for materials that confirm our worldview and discard those that point the other direction.

But returning to Bible translations, there is a lot more interpretation in dynamic equivalence and paraphrases than there is in the more literal versions. As I noted above, I prefer to do the work of connecting ideas and elliptical thoughts rather than have someone do this for me based on their understanding. This is why I prefer the literal-leaning translations.

Some words and ideas are very difficult to interpret. I would suggest that the translators of the KJV were mostly inspired men who loved the Lord. One of the most vital lessons that I learned from studying Isaiah is that the Prophets often hid verses, and made them difficult to understand so that they would not be corrupted by copyists and translators. These verses were often left undisturbed because they were not understood!

Zechariah 13:6

One such verse is found in Zechariah 13:6. This is a vital verse because it is Christological and because it is a wonderful example of what the Brethren said in the opening quote, namely, “The most reliable way to measure the accuracy of any biblical passage is not by comparing different texts, but by comparison with the Book of Mormon and modern-day revelations.”

The KJV preserves the verse in question in its majesty and beauty. One can feel the testimony pouring out with force from Zechariah, who testified of Messiah just as Isaiah and all of the prophets prophesied of Him: “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.” (KJV, Zechariah 13:6).

The AV retained the inspired translation from the 1568 Bishop’s Bible: “And if it be saide vnto him, How came these woundes then in thyne handes? He shal aunswere: Thus was I wounded in the house of myne owne friendes” and the 1599 Geneva Bible: “And one shall say vnto him, What are these woundes in thine hands? Then he shall answere, Thus was I wounded in the house of my friendes.”

Modern translations have corrupted this verse beyond recognition. Instead of thine hands we may read, ‘back’ (RSV, AAT, JPS Tanakh), ‘chest’ (HCSB, Alter), ‘body’ (NIV), “between the hands,” “between the shoulders,” or “between your arms” (RV 1885, HNV, World English Bible). And instead of ‘friends’ we may even read ‘lovers’ (AAT, Alter), or “harlot’s house” (Moffatt). These yield increasingly corrupt texts that read something like: “What are these sores on your chest? Those I received at my lover’s home.”

When one wishes to destroy the Messianic or Christological meaning of the original, there is nothing easier to do. All one needs to do is find other acceptations of the same word in order to twist the original meaning.

The starting point is the translation of the expression, “בֵּין יָדֶיךָ.” The correct translation is found in the KJV, “in thine hands.” It is true that in Hebrew the word בֵּין (Beyin) most frequently means between. So that one may refer to the nose as that which is between the eyes, and so on. However, even Gesenius, the great Jewish Hebraist, admits that בֵּין has other meanings, including intra, within, as in Job 24:11, Proverbs 26:13 and yes, Zechariah 13:6!

Gesenius also uses the word amongst, such that, בֵּין הָרְחֹבוֹת  means “within the streets,” or rather “in the streets” (Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, 1870, p. 114). So, returning to our verse in Zechariah 13:6, we must translate בֵּין יָדֶיךָ as “in your hands.”

Gladly, we have more than the witness of the KJV to hold on to the correct translation. These are the words that the Prophet Joseph Smith received in a revelation dated 7 March 1831, “Then shall they know that I am the Lord; for I will say unto them: These wounds are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. I am he who was lifted up. I am Jesus that was crucified. I am the Son of God” (D&C 45:52).

My own father is Jewish, as are my grandparents, great grandparents and so on in an unbroken chain. I found Christ through the reading of the Book of Mormon and rejoice in the knowledge that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the very Christ, the Holy One of Israel.

The New Testament

If there is corruption in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, the corruption in the New Testament is even more grotesque. Indeed “plain and precious things [have] been taken away” (1 Nephi 13:40). In the New Testament, the problem is more than doubled because the translations do not even come from the same text. The KJV uses the Received Text while others use texts which have removed much of the divinity of Christ. I particularly recommend Elder J. Reuben Clarke’s book, Why the King James Version.

Numerous papers suggest that more recent translations, those that are not based on the Received Text, are more reliable. The reason for this claim is that modern Bible translations are based on more recent manuscripts. Please be careful before you believe the claims that the age of a manuscript is sufficient on its own, to declare a text more correct. Once again, I recommend the paper by Elder J. Reuben Clark, which is very readable and well written on this debatable subject.

One of the foremost experts on Textual Criticism, Emanuel Tov, warned about that common fallacy regarding the age of manuscripts: “Older witnesses are often presented as being preferable to more recent ones.” Because we do not have the original text (i.e., the autograph) it is not possible to know which of the manuscripts is the more correct one. Tov continues, “Reliance on the age of documents is seemingly desirable, because the closer the document is to the time of the original text (the autograph), the more likely it is to have preserved the wording of that text. However, some copyists preserved their source better than others” (Tov, E., 2012. Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 3rd Edition, also see p. 301 in the 2nd edition). The fact is, that scientifically we simply do not know which manuscript is the most accurate to the original, and age of the manuscript provides no clear answer to the quandary.

Throughout my life I have seen a transition or trend between putting a footnote to point out a more progressive worldview; to having that view replace the more traditional one, with a footnote on the traditional perspective; to just substituting the progressive view without including a footnote. This is also the trend in translations that have removed much of the Christology and divinity of Christ in the New Testament. Or, the modern view that Isaiah was written by multiple authors. When these views are stated as facts without even a footnote, I find it disconcerting.

Indeed, we can better gauge the correctness of a Biblical text by how it compares to the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the teachings of the Brethren, when these helps exist. Please do not misunderstand me, if another Bible translation has something to add, I find it wonderful if the speaker or author introduces such a translation. I certainly do that or provide my own translation from the Hebrew.

And it came to pass

One reason why I am interested in using other translations for my studies of Scripture, besides an occasional more correct translation, is that these sometimes support the JST or the Book of Mormon. While I have a long list of articles that I wish to write, this one on the beauty and correctness of the KJV got sent to the top of the list after reading the introduction to one of my latest acquisitions, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary, 3 volumes. The author is a Jewish scholar and former UC Berkeley professor of Hebrew and Literature. Dr. Robert Alter’s recently completed translation (it also took him twenty years to complete his project) of the Hebrew Bible has become a bestseller.

In the introduction Alter writes: “One might have expected that this recent flurry of translation activity, informed by the newly focused awareness of the meanings of biblical Hebrew, would have produced at least some English versions that would be both vividly precise and closer to the feel of the original than any of the older translations. Instead, the modern English versions—especially in their treatment of Hebrew narrative prose—have placed readers at a grotesque distance from the distinctive literary experience of the Bible in its original language. As a consequence, the King James Version, as Gerald Hammond, an eminent British authority on Bible translations, has convincingly argued, remains the closest approach for English readers to the original—despite its frequent and at times embarrassing inaccuracies, despite its archaisms, and despite its insistent substitution of Renaissance English tonalities and rhythms for biblical ones.”

Alter explains how readers have been put at a disadvantage by these modern translations: “The unacknowledged heresy underlying most modern English versions of the Bible is the use of translation as a vehicle for explaining the Bible instead of representing it in another language, and in the most egregious instances this amounts to explaining away the Bible” (emphasis added). While Robert Alter does a brilliant job with some verses, in others he falls for the same errors than modern translators, however.

What may be of particular interest to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, however, is what he has to say about the particle “and” (ו). Here is just one brief quote: “The assumption of most modern translators has been that this sort of syntax [i.e., including the and, and by extraction, one might say the very same about the “and it came to pass” in the Book of Mormon—GB] will be either unintelligible or at least alienating to modern readers, and so should be entirely rearranged as modern English. There are two basic problems with this procedure. First, it ignores the fact that parataxis is the essential literary vehicle of biblical narrative: it is the way the ancient Hebrew writers saw the world, linked events in it, artfully ordered it, and narrated it, and one gets a very different world if their syntax is jettisoned. Second, rejection of biblical parataxis presupposes a very simplistic notion of what constitutes modern literary English. The implicit model seems to be, as I have suggested, the popular press, as well as perhaps high-school textbooks, bureaucratic directives, and ordinary conversation. But serious writers almost never accept such leveling limitation to a bland norm of popular usage.” Robert Alter then goes on to give an example of how these ands give the Biblical narrative life and movement (Genesis 24:16). I wonder if Robert has ever had the chance to read the Book of Mormon, which truly preserves the ancient way of writing.

Members of the Restored Church

I am grateful to participants in a conversation in the Latter-day Saint Scripture and the Ancient Near East Facebook group, on 4 August 2019. A list of General Conference talks where the Brethren quote from a source other than the KJV is included. This was a great starting point for me to do a search through the LDS Scripture Citation Index, where I was able to find only a couple of additional instances.

These FB participants were particularly concerned that there are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who feel that the use of other versions by members is illicit. If we do not count Elder J. Reuben Clark’s talk (who speaks against other versions) and President David O. McKay’s talk (mildly negative about the elimination of one word), there are a total of 19 Scriptures quoted from 11 talks, three-quarters of these coming from 6 talks given by Elder Uchtdorf. The other quarter is divided among five other speakers, giving single talks. These 19 citations come from talks delivered between 1991 and 2019, a 28-year period. The versions used are the NIV, NET, RSV, NEB, ESV, and NKJV.

These 19 citations are negligible when contrasted to the total number of Scriptures quoted by General Conference speakers during this same 28-year period. But that is not the point. For those who worry that it is somehow wrong to even open a different edition of the Scriptures besides the KJV, there is much relief to be found. Four of the speakers are Apostles (Elders Uchtdorf, Hales, Maxwell and Holland) and two are other General Authorities (Elders Uceda and Maynes). While it had not crossed my mind that consulting other versions might be frowned upon, with this list of General Authorities I believe it is clearly acceptable to not only consult other versions, but as others have suggested, to quote from them as well.

That is not to say that we should not be careful. My hypothesis was that the Brethren would (1) use only some Scriptural references from other translations; (2) that there would be no fanfare in terms of telling the audience that a different translation was being used (but rather, that they would find a quiet place in the footnotes); or (3) that if the General Conference speakers mentioned a different edition, that they would explain why in this instance such a rendition was interesting to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As it turns out, I could not find a single instance of a speaker in General Conference announcing that a particular Scripture being quoted came from another translation. And yes, the only way we know they were used is because the appropriate citation is included in the footnotes. Also, indeed, only 18% of the citations in these talks came from translations other than the KJV. The highest percentage of alternate translations was 50% for Elder Maynes who only quoted two Scriptures from the Bible in his General Conference talk.

Archaic language 

I was born and raised in Chile, and while I was exposed to English as a child, I did not have a copy of the King James Version until I was nineteen. I fell in love with this translation and to this day it is my favorite. The archaic language even has an advantage in terms of accuracy.

It has to do with the use of the terms thee, thou, you, and the like. For the most part, the KJV provides a faithful translation of these terms from the Hebrew. While in modern English we do not differentiate between thou (second person singular) and you (second person plural), the King James Version has preserved these.

The King James Version also, at times, preserves what some might find difficult to understand expressions because of the literal fashion of the translation. Some of these provide an excellent opportunity to be transported to the Biblical times, and perhaps come close enough to smell the camels and the sheep, so to speak. For those who are interested there are lists of words and books published that point out some of these archaic terms, such as the Bible Wordbook (2nd Edition) by William Aldis Wright.

Conclusion

I love the KJV. It is a breath of fresh air to have it defended by others, especially those not of our faith. I am so grateful to the Brethren for their directive regarding the AV. I will continue to use the KJV as my go-to-Bible-of-choice in English while still rejoicing in new understandings brought to the text by philology and discoveries of less understood Hebrew meanings and cultural nuances. I continually find verses which seem to be better translated by this or that version other than the KJV, and I rejoice as I do. It helps me get into the Hebrew text. As the Prophet Brigham Young often underscored, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we look for truth wherever it may be found. Let the Spirit guide you in your quest for understanding of the Scriptures.

Last revision: 17 November 2019

Parting the Veil Part III: Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer—Isaiah 58:9a

By
Gregorio Billikopf
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Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer—Isaiah 58:9a

Several members have shared how difficult it has been for them to receive inspiration or revelation. In this third article in this series, we will first share a word of comfort and hope; and then address the importance of never giving up when it comes to increasing revelatory experiences—these may become an anchor to our souls in times of uncertainty.

At the time I withdrew my Spirit (D&C 19:20b)

There are times when I have felt the Spirit intensely. But most of the time it is through the “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12). There have been occasions when I have been walking and praying and felt the need to stop and be still (“be still and know that I am God,” D&C 101:16b) in order to discern the delicate manifestations of the Spirit.

Despite the fact that I had received a confirmation of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon (see “I was gathered by the Book of Mormon”), I had the impression that I was supposed to pray about its veracity upon every completion of the book. When I concluded one such prayer after a decade of being a member, I felt the withdrawal of the Spirit. I was now alone. I like to compare it to what happens when one accidentally shuts off a warm shower.

I had experienced profound loneliness before I joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That is precisely the solitude I felt again since the Spirit departed. All I had left was an intellectual testimony of the truth. Indeed, I could recall having known the veracity of the Gospel, but I no longer felt that warmth in my bosom. Instead, fear entered my heart.

I did not share my angst with my wife, nor with anyone. Through the spiritual vacuum of the next three days I experienced “in the smallest, yea, even in the least degree [what if felt to] have tasted [the withdrawal of the Lord’s Spirit]” (D&C 19:20b, for additional context, see D&C 19:16–20).

On the third day, the Holy Ghost was restored upon me, after supplication to the Father. Once again, I was enveloped by comfort, joy, and peace. How do I explain what happened to me?

I had delighted in the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit for years. When one gets into a jacuzzi, at first one really feels the contrast of the hot water compared with the cold outside air. But when one remains immersed for a while, the body begins to acclimatize to the new temperature. So, what did I learn?

First. It makes sense that I would feel an immense contrast when the Holy Spirit made its presence before I was a member of the Church—before I received the gift of the Holy Ghost to be my constant companion, friend and guide. May I suggest that those who are born in the Church are often the ones who have the greatest difficulty, at first, in discerning the companionship of the Holy Ghost—precisely because they grew up surrounded by the Spirit. I repeat those who are most familiar with the Spirit may at first have trouble recognizing His presence.

Second. Perhaps the Spirit was telling me that I knew the Book of Mormon was true, and that I need not constantly ask about its genuineness. People have very varied and individualized responses from the Spirit regarding this matter. One sister who had planned to read the Book of Mormon and check it off her to-do list received an impression from the Spirit: “You already know it is true. Now, read it again.”

Lest you get the wrong impression from what I have said about the second lesson, President Henry B. Eyring shared these beautiful words: “The answer may not come in a single and powerful spiritual experience. For me it came quietly at first. But it comes ever more forcefully each time I have read and prayed over the Book of Mormon. I do not depend on what has happened in the past. To keep my living testimony of the Book of Mormon secure, I receive the promise of Moroni often. I don’t take that blessing of a testimony for granted as a perpetual entitlement. Testimony requires the nurturing by the prayer of faith, the hungering for the word of God in the scriptures, and the obedience to the truth we have received. There is danger in neglecting prayer. There is danger to our testimony in only casual study and reading of the scriptures. They are necessary nutrients for our testimony” (“A Living Testimony,” April 2011 General Conference).

Before concluding this section, I feel the need to acknowledge that it was not always easy for me to pray and discern the answers from the Spirit. It took years before I gained the confidence to utter prayers that would part the veil on a regular basis.  I will share with you a particularly embarrassing story.

When I had been a member of the Church for over a year, I fasted for three days when faced with an important decision in my life. No answer came. This type of prolonged fasting is not wise and certainly not recommended in the Church (that is what I am embarrassed about). In my desperation to receive an answer, I exposed myself to obtaining a response from the adversary.

When I told my bishop about my fasting, he wisely sent me to eat first, and then continued his conversation with me. I guess one positive outcome from this fast was empathy with the Savior’s fast (which was of course much longer). I was so hungry that my mouth dripped with desire at the very stones in my path. I could better comprehend Satan’s attempt to tempt our Redeemer to turn stones into bread (Matthew 4:3).

As I mentioned earlier in this series on prayer and revelation, one of the reasons individuals do not receive answers to prayer is because they want specific answers with a desired outcome—instead of rejoicing in the knowledge that God has heard their prayer.  Now I wish to share how prayer can become an anchor to our souls.

Do not Pray for Rain

We had a prolonged drought in Central Chile in 1988, which was particularly devastating to agriculture. I was teaching a labor productivity course at the Sociedad Nacional de Agricultura (similar to the American Farm Bureau), invited by the University of Chile, during one of my Sabbatical leaves from the University of California.

At the time I recalled a similar drought we had experienced in 1976, when I worked at an equestrian center in Napa, California. I had been hired in part because their head trainer was a renown Chilean rider, Camilo O’Kuinghttons.

It was a thorough interview process that lasted most of the day and included my giving a riding demonstration. It looked as if they were going to offer me the job.  I felt the need to tell them that I did not work on the Sabbath day. The owners were disappointed and explained that Sunday was their prime business day. They asked if I was willing to make an exception for emergencies, to which I answered in the negative. This was a terrific job opportunity for me, as a dressage rider, to be able to work along two master riders. I was blessed that they still hired me.

At the time Church leaders encouraged the Saints to fast and pray for rain each fast Sunday. Each of these was followed by rain. The owners of the equestrian center semi-jokingly told us to stop fasting for rain as it had a negative repercussion on their business.

The Lord has taught that if we follow in his ways and statutes and keep His commandments we will have “rain in due season” (Leviticus 26:4). Keeping the Sabbath day holy is specifically mentioned among the decrees listed (Leviticus 26:2). In addition, we are told that our testimony of the Lord will increase if we keep the Sabbath day (Exodus 31:13; Ezekiel 20:20).

In Isaiah 58 we are promised that proper fasting and Sabbath day observance will result in many blessings: “And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not” (Isaiah 58:11)”; and that our prayers will be answered: “Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am” (Isaiah 58:9a).

Nephi was an example of one who offered mighty prayers: “O Lord, wilt thou hearken unto me, and cause that it may be done according to my words, and send forth rain upon the face of the earth, that she may bring forth her fruit, and her grain in the season of grain” (Helaman 11:13).

Through time, I had learned that Father hears our prayers and I was filled with confidence that now, in Chile, He could bring the needed precipitation. I prayed for rain. But the answer surprised me.

The Spirit responded: “Do not pray that it will rain now because it will not rain. Instead, pray to know when you should ask for rain.” It was March of 1988, the beginning of fall in the southern hemisphere.

Month after month went by without rain. Winter was coming to an end. One Saturday I wanted to take my wife and children to a soccer game. I asked my father, an amateur meteorologist if it might possibly rain and if we needed to take umbrellas. My father must have looked at his barometer for he answered that it was impossible for it to rain.

After we came back from the soccer match, later that evening, I was sitting with my parents in the dining room and the topic of the weather came up. My father wanted to visit us in California so he asked, “What sort of weather do you have in California?”

“Father,” I responded. “What type of weather would you like?”

At my affirmative retort he said, “Ah, you have connections?” We all laughed.

“I could not care at all about the weather in California,” he continued. “If you have connections you must pray for rain here in Chile.” So it was, that the time for prayer had arrived. As I knelt by my bed that night I earnestly intreated God the Eternal Father for rain.

The Spirit reproved me. “You have prayed that it will rain soon. If it rains in a week, in a month or who knows when, you will say, ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord for it has rained!’” These words surprised me.

The Spirit continued, “Instead, you must pray that it will rain this very night, that before the night is over it will rain.” I could feel large drops of cold sweat run down my face. I was scared. Was this really the Holy Spirit urging me to so boldly pray for rain when my father had just as boldly announced that it was impossible that it could rain?

I girded up all the courage I could muster through the Lord’s grace and finished praying as I had been instructed. My wife woke me up two hours later. It was pouring. The type of loud rain one hears beating against the roof. It rained in this fashion for ten hours.

An anchor

I am constantly learning new things about prayer and perceiving the whisperings of the Spirit. And there is so much more I need to learn. In a world were disciples of Jesus Christ are increasingly looked at as a strange people, it is wonderful to have the confidence to accept our calling as a peculiar people (combining the Hebrew and the Greek definitions of this word, President Russell M. Nelson explained that a peculiar people means a “valued treasure selected by God,” April 1995 General Conference, “Children of the Covenant”).

I will always treasure the great witnesses I have received of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of His restored Church. Among these anchors to my soul, I have a special place for that night when it rained when it was impossible for it to rain.   I solemnly testify that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and our Redeemer. Few things will help us feel the Spirit like daily pondering of the Book of Mormon and earnest prayer. I have felt the Spirit testify with great power regarding these things.

Revelations that Part the Veil Part II: Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer—Isaiah 58:9a

By
Gregorio Billikopf
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Revelations that Part the Veil

Although we have been promised that we may come to “know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5), much of this knowledge will be given after we cross the veil. Now, we must live by faith. We all have unanswered questions whose replies will just have to wait.

One day, after returning home from ministering to a sister who was questioning her testimony, I received a phone call from one of my sons. I had been teaching this sister that we must live by faith in regard to some questions whose answers will come in the Lord’s due time. Interestingly, my son called to ask about one of those yet unanswered, but never uttered, questions in my own life.

The sweet answer from the Spirit came at that very moment that my son made his concern known. So it was that the Holy Ghost answered both of our questions. Upon hearing the response, my son confided that this was precisely the same reply he had received from his BYU professor.

Living by faith does not mean that we live alone. God is near us.

In the first article, “Prayers that Part the Veil,” we saw how every single prayer may be answered. That is, if we do not insist that the definition of an answered prayer means having God grant us what we think we want—but rather, we ask God to confirm through the Spirit that He has heard our prayer. There we dwelt on the foundational bricks of the most powerful prayers, those that help us receive “yes” or “no” responses from the Holy Ghost.

Remember what the prophet Joseph Smith taught, that “we all have the same privilege” when it comes to receiving personal revelation and direction for our lives. I am a normal individual, of “the weak things of the world” (D&C 35:13), with the failings of any person. Perhaps what I do possess, is the gift of gratefully seeing the hand of the Lord in my life. That divine hand that is in all of our lives, even when we do not recognize it.

Hearing the Voice of the Spirit

President Russell M. Nelson intreated: “My beloved brothers and sisters, I plead with you to increase your spiritual capacity to receive revelation. Let this … be a defining moment in your life. Choose to do the spiritual work required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost and hear the voice of the Spirit more frequently and more clearly.” (in April 2018 Conference)

The Prophet Brigham Young taught: “I do not believe for one moment that there has been a man or woman upon the face of the earth, from the days of Adam to this day, who has not been enlightened, instructed, and taught by the revelations of Jesus Christ.”

Furthermore, the Prophet Brigham Young urged that it is our duty to receive revelation: “Were I to draw a distinction in all the duties that are required of the children of men, from first to last, I would place first and foremost the duty of seeking unto the Lord our God until we open the path of communication from heaven to earth—from God to our own souls” (JD 8:339).

The Prophet Joseph Smith declared: “It is the privilege of the children of God to come to God and get revelation…” He also stated: “It is a great thing to inquire at the hands of God, or to come into His presence” [HC 1:338–339; also see, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Joseph Fielding Smith (1976)].

The context of this last quote is that we must learn how to receive our own revelations directly from the source. Sometimes we reach out to a priesthood leader for direction. That leader will listen to us with empathy and this will help us to better understand our options; and in the process of being heard, begin to comprehend that which we truly desire. Most often, priesthood leaders will direct us to find answers to our questions through prayer.

Last year I asked for a blessing of wisdom from one of my beloved priesthood leaders. (Ever since I had finished my book on Isaiah months before, I was anxious to know how the Father wished for me to spend my free time, not related to my Church calling.) In the blessing, this inspired leader told me that I would find the answer to my query as I kneeled before the Father in profound prayer. I was surprised when he added that I would receive the answer within the day—all of which was fulfilled.

His good example led me to do something similar for a person who recently approached me about a life-changing decision. I listened with empathy but suggested that she pray for an answer. She did precisely that and received from the Spirit the comfort which she was seeking. When we instead take that privilege away from others—that opportunity of receiving their own revelation—we may be engaging in a form of priestcraft.

Light and Truth

In Doctrine and Covenants we read: “The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth” (D&C 93:36). The Prophet Joseph Smith instructed: “A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; (i.e.) those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus” (HC 3:381).

This is why we generally receive—and there are important exceptions—inspiration through light and truth and we are then left to translate that inspiration into words.

Two Waves

While I was engaged in writing Isaiah Testifies of Christ, I collected numerous books and ancient translations of the writings of the Prophet, like the Targum, Aramaic, Syriac, Greek and Latin. I was missing a reference that was frequently quoted by the scholars: the Chaldee.

I prayed to the Father that I might find a translation of this ancient manuscript. A year later, I was in a used bookstore when I felt the spirit of revelation. The Lord explained, “The Chaldee that you are looking for, is the same as the Targum.” While I was reflecting on what I had just perceived, the Spirit gave me a second message: “Do you see that multi-volume Biblical dictionary on the other side of the room? Look up the word ‘Chaldee.’” It was the Hastings dictionary which I was acquainted with (A Dictionary of the Bible). I picked up the corresponding volume and opened it to the entry, “Chaldee versions,” where I found this note: “See Targums.”

I have attempted to analyze this beautiful experience. The Father is interested in that which we are interested in, as insignificant as it may appear. While the answer to my request took a long time, one can easily comprehend the reason. I was in a bookstore that had a book which contained the answer that I was searching for, and a book which I was familiar with, to act as a second witness to the inspiration I had received.

It is notable that there is a pause in the whisperings of the spirit in some personal revelations. It is as if these breathings of the Spirit come in waves—as separate witnesses. The Spirit reveals something and after a pause returns, as if to say, “So you know it is I who speaks, consider this also.”

Not all inspiration comes this way. But I will share another illustration of this double wave (for more on my conversion story, see “I was gathered by the Book of Mormon”). When I was around thirteen, our religion teacher—in the Catholic school that I attended in Chile—spoke to us about the Trinity. She explained that it would be easier to empty the Pacific Ocean by dumping the water in the beach than to comprehend the great mystery of the Trinity.

On my way home from school I received a priceless revelation on the nature of the Godhead. The Spirit was saying something like: “Your teacher is just a little confused.” The tone was one of tenderness and love toward my teacher. “But it is very simple. There is God the Father; God the Son, or Jesus Christ; and God the Holy Ghost. They are three distinct beings but one in purpose.”

As I was trying to comprehend what I had perceived, after a pause came the second revelation. This came in the way of a vision. I saw myself at home knocking on my father’s study. When he opened the door, I saw myself asking him permission to travel to the farm, as was my custom to go there when we had a long weekend. My father said, “Not this weekend, for this, this and this reason… but if you wish—he saw the sadness in my face—you can go and ask your mother.”

Grateful for the second chance to get what I wanted, I turned around to go and find my mother. Then I remembered that I had just come from speaking to her. My mother had essentially said the same thing, “This weekend, no, for this, this, and this reason (the same reasons offered by my father) … but you can ask your father if you wish.”

I understood the lesson from the Spirit perfectly well: “Just as your parents are two different beings—in fact, one of them is a man; the other a woman—yet they are one in purpose.” I came to understand that the Godhead is composed of three distinct beings who are one in purpose and love. This knowledge would lead me to the Lord’s restored Church.

Revelatory Dreams

Some dreams are revelatory or prophetic in the sense that they are messages from the Lord. They have a specific motive that will come clear in time.

A sister had a dream in which she saw herself involved in a car accident during a Church camping activity. Its fulfillment was precise but gladly without major negative consequences.

May I suggest that the Lord wanted to teach something to this faithful sister. If something of the sort happened again, she could pray and ask if the Lord would remove such a setback—if it was His will to do so. While the Lord will not always eliminate the obstacles from our path, when He does consent to do so, we can then proceed without fear.

Visions

In contrast to dreams, we perceive visions with our spiritual eyes—while we are awake. Such as in the revelation about the Godhead which I recounted above.

One day I was feeling particularly despondent because of my weaknesses. And then I read an article about someone who had been dishonest. “At least,” I thought to myself in a false sense of relief, “this is one good quality I have, I am honest.”

After undergoing these thoughts, I had an open vision in which I saw the many times in my life when I had been less than honest—from both before and after my baptism. It was by no means a short list of scenes. For years, I did not understand the purpose of what I had seen. Now I know that God was trying to teach me something about grace. Even in those areas where I thought I may have been “doing well” I would need the grace offered to us through Christ’s atonement. (I will write more about this life review in a future article, “Justification, Sanctification, and Grace.”)

Angelic visitations

The angels or messengers that God sends may come from either side of the veil. They could be members of our family, neighbors, ministering servants of the Lord, or leaders who felt inspired to call us or visit just when we needed them.

At several points in my life, I have felt that the Lord was sending me a message through others. On one such occasion, I was with my boys at an Aaronic Priesthood Commemoration camping activity.  I was about to cross a fence into a beautiful pasture and take my boys on a hike when a man warned me that there were dangerous bulls there. I am grateful to the Lord for that warning.

Tender Mercies

On occasion, we may receive revelation purely for our own edification. I had one such experience in 1998. I feel that since the event has transpired, I may share it here. Elder Travis Tuttle and Elder Andrew Propst were taken hostage for a ransom, when they were serving as missionaries for the Church in Samara, Russia, in March 1998. I wrote in my journal:

“Two Elders were abducted in Russia last Wednesday. It came out in the local paper Friday morning. When I read the information to Linda [my wife] she was quite shaken and filled with empathy for the missionaries and for their families. There was much prayer on their behalf around the world. Saturday night, as I was ready to go to bed, after having said my prayers, I discerned the whisperings of the Spirit: ‘The missionaries will be released tomorrow.’ Sunday morning, Linda came in all excited to tell me the Elders had been freed. Later that day, Linda came in crying as she saw an interview of the parents of one of the missionaries. The mother, according to Linda, kept asking her son if he was Okay. ‘I don’t have to wait ‘till Mother’s Day to talk to you?’ the mother had asked in grateful disbelief.”

President Nelson is particularly keen on having our youth live close to the Spirit. One innocent thirteen-year-old girl refused to heed the insistent invitations from an older boy who was inviting her to enter his home—apparently when his parents were not there. She explained that she strongly felt the warning from the Spirit and refused to enter his house.

My most cherished tender mercies are those associated with the Spirit leading me, through several important revelations, to recognize The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the Lord’s true Church upon the earth.

Testimony

I want to again testify that God is near, that He loves His children, and that His hands are ever stretched towards us to bless and comfort us. We are not alone. When we are willing to accept President Nelson’s invitation to “do the spiritual work required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost” we will indeed “hear the voice of the Spirit more frequently and more clearly.” Truly, “Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer“—Isaiah 58:9a.

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