Study notes on approaching the “Stick of Joseph” (Book of Mormon) as being intended to understand the Bible and vice versa. See Note 0 for the rationale of this approach.
This post contains ideas that occur to me as I go along. The ideas are not fleshed out, and I have not examined them thoroughly enough to be sure I agree with them. These will be numbered, with the newest ones on top:
Note 6: The covenant of the Land
The Old Testament Covenant was the Law of Moses, which gave commandments the Israelites were to follow. Some of these were religious rites, others were a legal code, more benevolent than most in the area, but not too unusual. In return, they would be protected, and they would prosper in the land, because rain would fall at the right time, enemies would fail, etc. If they didn’t keep it, they would die or be brought into captivity.
They didn’t keep it, and after a fairly short run as nations go, were brought into captivity, with only a brief interlude of freedom under the Maccabees. Contrary to common belief it is possible to keep the Law of Moses. We have examples of individuals in the New Testament doing so: the rich young man, Paul before he ran into Christ which made him break the law (I assume he was thinking of the commandment to love God with all his might, mind, and strength), and also heavily implied is John the Baptist, Jesus, and Mary. Rare but doable (see Deuteronomy 30:11).
The Book of Mormon Covenant was similar, but the penalty for breach was being swept off the land (i.e. death as a nation), not captivity. They did follow it sometimes and got the promised prosperity, so great that it even astonished the teachers who had been emphasizing this blessing. I gather it was modified slightly by the founder-king of the second Nephite Nation who referred to it as the Law of Mosiah.
In both cases the covenant promises national life and victory, and does not promise salvation or eternal life. Except as Nephi points out that it points to Jesus through whom these things would come. (2 Nephi 24-25) They both did promise the presence of God for being faithful, but in the here and now, not as part of living forever.
The Book of Mormon as Bible commentary of this shows how the Law of Moses would’ve worked (but never did in the Old World). The people did prosper when they followed it. It prepared a people to receive Jesus, and not just a few scattered individuals here and there, who were too few to create Zion.
A thought occurs to me - the law failed in the Old world and succeeded as much as it could in the New. Perhaps the first will be last and the last will be first in this as well.
Note 5: The pattern of the tree of life.
Lehi’s dream forms a pattern of symbols that provide a frame for the historical episodes in n Nephi’s vision of the 1st advent, future Lehite history, Gentiles in the land of promise. Nephi says his vision is the same as the one recorded in the Book of Revelation, so I will apply that pattern to Revelation, and also to the story of the Fall to see what results.
The Tree of Life beautiful, white, fruit is joy: Is the love of God.
In Revelation this tree is promised to them who overcome the world and is present in New Jerusalem bearing fruit for all the months. References to the 7 candlesticks with lamps of fire may be about tree (and seven spirits?). Those who overcome the world are dressed in white, as they are not spotted by the world and are righteous.
Genesis: Tree of life whose fruit makes man live forever.
Fountain of Living Water: Lamb leads people to the water, as part of caring for them when his kingdom is established. There is a fountain in the New Jerusalem.
Genesis: The rivers come out of the garden of eden after the fall, symbolizing giving life to otherwise barren lands.
The Iron Rod which is the w(W)ord of God. 3v12 writes a new name in their hearts. 7v3 seals on their forehead.Ch.10 John is called back into the ministry again. Ch.19 The Word leads the armies of angels against the wicked. The ‘rod of iron’ smashes the wicked and is also associated with a two-edged sword.
Genesis: The conversation w/ God in the garden where God talks about their actions. Attempts to reason with Cain, which are rejected. Basically attempts to bring back those who have gone astray. Possibly creation of the world by the word.
The Great and Spacious building. This is the great whore upon the waters who delights in fine clothes, riches, and who kills the saints. I find this often seems associated with multitudes and wars.
Fountain of Filthy Water: In Ch. 12 the dragon spews filthy water to sweep away the woman. It is a flood of popular opinion, people who have been decieved acting against God. As part of this we see the beast kingdom destroying the harlot, presumably under the impression they are doing God’s work and the anti-Christ is Christ, and like her they persecute and kill the saints. I assume because they did not get on board with this movement.
The gulf, divide, or justice of God: Christ is pronounced worthy to rule, and the previous rules worhty fo death becuase they killed saints and prophets. Ch6v5-6, and the filthy will remain filthy still Ch22v11. Keys that have the power of life and death, opening and closing, binding together or cutting apart.
Genesis: Being cast out of the garden and out of God’s presence
The angel with the flaming sword blocking re-entry into the presence of God : the wicked being destroyed by fire and cast into a gulf (I assume spiritually speaking), so they will not be in Gods presence when he returns to Earth to dwell. The divide is maintained between God and Man except for those who have become white through the blood of the lamb.
Note 4: Lehi’s Jerusalem Ministry
1 Nephi 1 - many links to the Book of Revelation, which in turn links back to OT (mostly Exodus)
Angels singing and praising God v.8 Revelation 5 (Psalms 148)
One Descending from Heaven with a Book v. 9 & 11 Revelation 10 (Ezekiel 3)
This Book is probably the Book of Jeremiah as the BoM summary of it has a phrase only used in Jeremiah - the point is that God continues to Give Books of scripture to his children in 600 BC as well as in the end times. Why not now?
Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord. v.14 Revelation 15:3 (Exodus 15)
This phrase is linked with justice in Revelations, and with mercy in the BoM. They are both a reaction to prophesied destruction - of the world and Jerusalem (586 BC) respectively. Justice is easy to see but mercy?
I see two explanations: the beast kingdom is oppressing and killing the saints, and the same thing was happening in Jerusalem. Bringing justice to those murderers is mercy to them they are oppressing. Second, we can see only mortality. In the larger picture this life is but a moment, and one’s eternal state is far more important than losses in this life. Perhaps this judgement is the means to free them from the deception they are under - the life of a junior devil is to be oppressed and gaslit the hardest, the most firmly under the control of the one who means no good thing for his victims. Or perhaps just before God reveals himself, those who are not prepared to see his face are mercifully sent to another realm where they can remain in their preferred darkness.
Lehi receives his calling through a pillar of fire dwelling on a rock. In the book of Exodus, God appears to the Israelites as a pillar of fire by night. In the book of Revelation, that phrase describes the feet/legs of Christ. It denotes the rapidity and energy of his movements, and sureness of his judgments. It also describes the transformation of things placed on the Mercy Seat.
Linking to Exodus makes sense because Lehi and company are about to undergo an Exodus of their own, leaving spiritual Egypt to found a new nation in a land promised to their forefather, Joseph. Revelations because of the similarity of the judgement on Jerusalem, but on a larger level, because the Book of Mormon says that it is God’s opening move to bring about his revealing himself to the whole earth, and the judgement that inevitably comes with it.
Note 3: Eve and the Fall
Besides Isaiah, the obvious, straightforward bible commentary is the story of Adam and Eve mentioned in 2 Nephi 2:14-27, Mosiah 3, Alma 12:21-33, and Alma 42:1-7. I’ll leave alone the theory that our Genesis was a reconstruction either during Josiah’s reign or during the Babylonian captivity, and the BoM authors had access to a noticeably different version dating from the times of Exodus, if not to Joseph of Egypt’s time.
In the traditional interpretation of the Bible, the Fall was an unmitigated disaster whose consequences were fixed by Christ, and we still suffer those consequences today. In the BoM, the fall was necessary and intended. Without having fallen, we would not know good and evil and thus would not be able to choose for ourselves and would not be able to be either happy or miserable, but rather an object which is acted upon. To paraphrase a famous passage: Adam fell that man might be free to act for themselves, and men are in a state to act according to their wills and pleasure that they might have joy. (2 Nephi 2:27). We could not have this freedom (free agency in our lingo), without being separated from God’s presence (Alma 42:7), or without living in a world with real opposites - good and evil, pleasure and pain, bitter and sweet, light and dark, sky and surface, water and dry ground, living and non-living &c. (2 Nephi 2:11). If the fire did not actually burn, our freedom to touch it would be meaningless. The BoM goes on to explain that Christ first coming provided a way back from choosing evil or just being part of an evil and fallen world, that is he provided the other side of the choice between good and evil.
Note 2: The Parable of the Olive Tree and Orchard husbandry imagery used throughout the New Testament.
This was the subject of last week’s post, The Branches of Christianity. In short, that parable reflects a lot of New Testament imagery: unfruitful branches being burned, Israel being plucked off the tree to be grafted back in, being connected to the true vine in order to stay alive, &c.
A parallel that I didn’t talk about last week is the servant asking the Lord not to burn the unfruitful branches, which parallels Moses asking the Lord not to destroy idolatrous Israel at Mt. Horeb (Jacob 5:49-51::Exodus 32:11). In both cases one gets the feeling this was how the Lord always intended it to play out and it’s theater to get people’s attention. This is like D&C 19 about endless punishment meaning the punishment for various crimes is always the same, not that any particular punishment lasts forever, with the explanation in v. 7-8 that he lets the ambiguity stand to motivate men a little.
Note 1: The Parable of the Sower and Planting the Word of God in your heart
In both the word of God is compared to a seed to different effect. This parallel was used in my post on prayer.
Alma likens the word of God to a seed and how we can nourish it, and we can tell it is a good seed because it grows in us from a tiny, barely perceptible thing to something strong and fruitful in our lives. The Parable of the Sower talks about how such seeds are overcome through cares and concerns of the world (distractions), fears, &c, without discussing a remedy. Alma tells us that the way to nourish the seed and keep it growing is by incessant prayer.
Note 0: The sacred records of Judah and Joseph
We interpret Ezekiel 37:16-17 to mean that the stick of Judah (Bible) and the stick of Joseph (The Book of Mormon) are intended to work together. 2 Nephi 3:12 Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written … shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and … of my covenants, saith the Lord.
This interpretation of Ezekiel relies on understanding ‘stick’ to mean a scroll wrapped around a stick, i.e. writings. Another name for the Book of Mormon is the Stick of Joseph because the Book of Mormon peoples who wrote it were descendants of Joseph through Manasseh and also Ephraim . The Bible would be the stick of Judah as it is the scriptures compiled by and kept by that tribe.
*Note: The general interpretation of Ezekiel 37:16-17 (Take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah...’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) ...’ And join them one to another into one stick) is that the Northern Kingdom, (the lost ten tribes) will join with the kingdom of Judah and become one people again. I believe this interpretation to also be correct. The means by which this long-promised gathering will occur involves the Book of Mormon being joined to the Bible. There are many parallels between the Book of Mormon and the Bible - similar passages, language, symbols, &c. We sometimes shy away from noting these parallels because it obscures the Book of Mormon (hereafter abbrev. BoM) as something new and distinct from the Bible, essential in its own right. Perhaps we also fear that highlighting the similarities between the BoM and the Bible will open up criticism that Joseph Smith was merely plagiarizing the Bible or writing a biblical fan fic. Mentioning some of these in BoM forums, such as Alma 58:40, saying Christ freed people for liberty is similar to Galatians 5:1, was met with unusual quiet. The problem is Alma (really Helaman, don’t ask) “should not” have Paul’s writings and vice versa. I explained this to my own satisfaction as a Hebraism - ‘Freed for Freedom’ is an obvious Hebraic turn of phrase similar to “dreamed a dream”, “seen a vision” (seen a seeing), or “dwelt in a tent” (tabernacled in tabernacle).
Both of these concerns are addressed in the Nephi passage I quoted above: its distinct identity is meant to be lost as it “grows together into one” with the bible, and this happening and achieving all the things claimed for it will prove its divine origin.
Here I’m investigating the idea that these parallels are intended to point us to how to join the two texts of the Bible and the BoM together. Alternate causes include:
They are drawing from the same source texts - see here for Zenos being quoted and paraphrased in the BoM, and by Paul, and by some Old Testament authors. Another example is the Ezekiel quote above appears to be referencing a longer blessing given to Joseph of Egypt (by his Father Israel) than is recorded in our Bible, and the BoM quotes more of it.
That working in the prophetic tradition under the influence of the Holy Spirit leads to similar conclusions and phrases among separate peoples.
Joseph Smith’s translation process is unclear; perhaps his subconscious was influencing it to sound ‘biblical’. This idea does not exclude the hypothesis that parallels are intentional - that may have been the reason for using Joseph Smith as a medium of translation, to create more parallels and draw them together with an American viewpoint. This would explain some of the seemingly random and meaningless similarities.
The writings of the early Christian church were available to Mormon, the compiler-editor of the BoM. This could have happened via the three Nephites, men ascended to immortal Gandalf-like status. See here for a thorough treatment. Some of the BoM - New Testament parallels could not be explained this way because Mormon tells us he is using the pre-Christ Sources own words, for example Nephi and sometimes Alma.