LeGrand L. Baker

It not only rejects the notion that the power of religion might be used to control and dominate, it guarantees that no capricious whim of nature, or accident of birth, nationality, race, culture, or physical infirmity will prevent the blessings of the atonement. It does not bother to say that God is the God of all nations, but it declares that as fact, by defining the universal reality of individual worth and freedom in terms of one’s relationship with Christ.

And there’s the rub! With individual worth and individual freedom comes responsibility far greater than could ever be imposed by the cultural, political, economic demands of an apostate god.

27   But wo unto him that has the law given, yea, that has all the commandments of God, like unto us, and that transgresseth them, and that wasteth the days of his probation, for awful is his state! (2 Nephi 9:27).

The purpose of the gods of apostate religions is to control mankind for the benefit of their earthly “betters.” The purpose of the atonement is to empower each individual that he may be a benefactor to all things. The object of the relationship between man and God is to teach man the laws by which individual people may be fully free, and thus be fully empowered. The communal unity resulting from such individual empowerment creates perfect freedom in a perfect Zion.

But there is nothing willy nilly about such freedom. The people thus “free” are controlled by two separate and immutable laws: The first is the “law of one’s own being” which defines each as a unique individual with a unique personality. The second is, I believe, “the law of the gospel” which provides ultimate opportunity for the fruition of the “law of one’s own being.” I believe the “law of the gospel” was defined when the Saviour said these words: “Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you–that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me (3 Nephi 27:13).” The gospel is that the Saviour came to this world to do the will of his Father because his Father sent him. As I understand it, the law of the gospel, as it applies to me, is that I came to do the will of my Father because my Father sent me (3 Nephi 27:21).

If the Gospel of Christ is that he came to do the will of his Father because his Father sent him, I suppose the relevance of that law to me is that I also came to do the will of my Father because my Father sent me, and by virtue of the atonement I am empowered to be able to fulfill my assignment. If that conclusion is true, it is built upon two premises which must also be true. 1) That what I am asked to do is consistent with “the law of my own being,” that is, my assignment is consistent with both my eternal abilities and my eternal desires—that the assignment itself is an expression of the Law of My Own Being. 2) That there was actually an assignment given, and a way guaranteed that I would be able to fulfil that assignment. If that is true, as I believe it is, then there is a dreadful foreboding in Jacob’s warning, “wo unto him that has the law given, yea, that has all the commandments of God, like unto us, and that transgresseth them, and that wasteth the days of his probation, for awful is his state!”

33   Wo unto the uncircumcised of heart, for a knowledge of their iniquities shall smite them at the last day.
34   Wo unto the liar, for he shall be thrust down to hell.
35   Wo unto the murderer who deliberately killeth, for he shall die.
36   Wo unto them who commit whoredoms, for they shall be thrust down to hell.
37   Yea, wo unto those that worship idols, for the devil of all devils delighteth in them.
38   And, in fine, wo unto all those who die in their sins; for they shall return to God, and behold his face, and remain in their sins (2 Nephi 9:25-38).

It is like the awesome blade of the Sword of Laban, about which Nephi wrote, “…and I saw that the blade thereof was of the most precious steel.” The “most precious steel” of the days of Nephi, was not made from smelted iron ore. It fell from heaven in the form of a meteorite. The heavenly stone was heated, beaten, shaped, and heated again, then it was dropped into cold water which set its temper. If, during this process, the steel has not become perfectly pure, if it containes particles of rock which responds differently to the heat of the furnace and the cold of the water, then, when it is dropped into the cold water, its surface will pit or crack, rendering the heaven-sent blade virtually worthless.

Every individual who leaves his heavenly home to come to this world is guaranteed, by virtue of the atonement, that he will return again to be judged in the presence of his God. If one has wasted this experience, if, because he has insulated himself by the self-defined luxury of his education or wealth, so that in his refining process he has not been purified, shaped, tempered, and then used as he was intended to be used; if that is so, then, still clothed in the meaninglessness of his luxury, he shall return to God, behold his face, and remain clothed in his sins.

2 Nephi 9:20 — LeGrand Baker — ‘He knoweth all things’

2 Nephi 9:20
20   O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it.

The question of whether God really does know everything has a fun history in LDS theology. Orson Pratt, who apart from the Prophet Joseph was my first hero in the church, wrote an essay in which he said God is perfect and that his perfection included a total knowledge of all things from eternity to eternity. His argument was that if God were still learning he wouldn’t really be God.

Brigham Young didn’t like the essay or its reasoning. He wrote an open letter, which was published in the Millennial Star which said the principle of eternal progression is an eternal principle. His God, he said, was and would always be progressing. If that were not true, if God ever became static in his progression his existence would become meaningless. (In those days the scripture which now reads, “This is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” then read, “This is my work to my glory to the immortality and eternal life of man.” There are some interesting differences between them. The later version can be incorporated in the earlier, but it doesn’t work quite as easily the other way around.)

Brigham Young’s open letter said Orson Pratt was wrong, and that if anyone else made such statements as that he would loose his priesthood. There is only one way I know by which one can loose his priesthood. That is by excommunication. President Young’s threat was polite, but only very thinly veiled. Elder Pratt’s response was also polite. In an open letter, also published in the Star, he said he was very sorry President Young had been offended. He did not recant or say he was wrong, only that he was sorry for the offence.

Some years later Elder McConkie gave a speech at BYU in which he identified the most dangerous heresies in the church. One which he mentioned was the idea which Brigham Young had defended so vigorously.

One cannot help but wonder what Brigham Young would have thought about Elder McConkie’s speech. I suspect he might have approved, given the environment in which Elder McConkie spoke. Let me try to explain the environmental contexts in which each of those ideas were expressed.

Orson Pratt was a self taught logician and mathematician, historian and theologian. His was certainly one of the most brilliant minds in the church. His statement that God knows everything was simply a reasonable deduction based on scriptural premises and reinforced by Greek logic. In Elder Pratt’s mind, either God knew everything or he did not. In Orson’s world of perfect logic and order there was no room for a supreme God who was fumbling about still trying to learn stuff. Orson could find no academic tolerance for the notion that God might encounter a situation where he could make a mistake. Such an idea was simply outside the limits of the possible.

Brigham Young’s world was equally pragmatic. In his day, the most advanced scientific theory about the nature of man and society was “social Darwinism.” Its major tenant was that all living things progress nearer and nearer toward both physical and mental perfection. The theory simply held that the most capable people rose to the top of their economic and cultural ladders. In that system of logic, there was no place for progression to stop unless one assumed the conclusion was a static perfection. The idea that God and his creations would become static and without progression seemed both irrational and wrong.

Elder McConkie’s world was different from either of those. At the time he gave his speech the social and religious worlds of America and Europe were all astir. ERA and women’s rights challenged every facet of our culture. One of the arguments introduced by this challenge was the idea that the Saviour was that because the Saviour was only a man, he could not understand women things like female emotion, pain or love. The logic end of that argument was that women ought to pray to a mother god. It was in the environment of that debate that Elder McConkie stated that the idea that God does not know everything is one of the most dangerous heresies in the church. Given the connotations of the argument, Brigham Young would probably not have carried out his threat and excommunicated Elder McConkie for giving that speech.

It seems to me that all three of these brethren are correct in their reasoning, but that ultimately the understanding of that correctness is to be had outside the realms of contemporary doctrinal feuds, and of logical, and sociological theory. I would love to be able to do that, but don’t know how. I suspect, though, that the place where one must go to discover the answerer will probably be within the context of an understanding of Christ’s role as Creator and Saviour, and consequently, of his relationship with space and time.

I believe the scriptures are true which describes the Saviour as “The light and the Redeemer of the world; the Spirit of truth, who came into the world, because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men. The worlds were made by him; men were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him, and of him. (D&C 93:9-10)” “That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God. (D&C 76:24)” I believe that in those scriptures the words “by,” “through,” and “of,” denote all which the full power of their meanings can express.

As I understand the atonement, it is the fulfilling and final expression of power which culminates the process which began with the creation. That is, the resurrection, exaltation, and eternal life of all things, are the conclusion of the sequence of events which began with their creation. I believe that throughout that sequence of events, the role of the Saviour has been the eternal and infinitely constant.

To me it seems a bit silly to suggest that the creator and finisher of all things does not know all truth about all those things. Whether that truth is to be actualized in different times or in a different space, seems to me to be beside the point. The scripture addresses that question in the simplest possible way. It defines truth as a knowledge of reality, and says that Christ has all truth. It reads, “And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; … The Spirit of truth is of God. I am the Spirit of truth, and John bore record of me, saying: He received a fulness of truth, yea, even of all truth; (D&C 93:24-26)”

2 Nephi 9:15-16 — LeGrand Baker — resurrection and judgment

15   And it shall come to pass that when all men shall have passed from this first death unto life, insomuch as they have become immortal, they must appear before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel; and then cometh the judgment, and then must they be judged according to the holy judgment of God.
16   And assuredly, as the Lord liveth, for the Lord God hath spoken it, and it is his eternal word, which cannot pass away, that they who are righteous shall be righteous still, and they who are filthy shall be filthy still;

The sequence here is quite explicit: the final judgement really is at the conclusion of all things fo this “age” — first come the clarification by experience and choice, then the resurrection, after that, comes “the holy judgement of God.” So when one stands before God to be judged, one is judged according to the degree of glory of the resurrected body which one brings to that judgment bar.

That asks an extremely important question: If the final judgement is not to assign us to a degree of glory, then how is that assignment made and who makes it? The answer is, of course, each of us judges ourselves. But that seems a bit simplistic, and doesn’t tell when or how. A more accurate, less simplistic, and much less conventional answer may be: the earth is our judge in that it surrenders to us the appropriate elements with which our eternal bodies will be made. Well now, that was unconventional! and will need a good deal of explanation before it makes any sense at all. So before you abandon me as a combined heretic and mad man, let me try to explain my idea about that.

The Saviour’s body, like ours, was made from the elements of this earth. His resurrected body was his natural body made perfect. That is, his resurrected body was also made from the elements of this earth. So it will be with all resurrected bodies: telestial, terrestrial, and celestial bodies are all made up of the elements of this earth. When the earth itself is resurrected, it will be wholly celestial in its own make up.

For a further explanation, we must go to D&C 88.

14   Now, verily I say unto you, that through the redemption which is made for you is brought to pass the resurrection from the dead (D&C 88:14).

After that introduction, the lord begins to explain, not how the resurrection is accomplished, but the criteria upon which each person’s resurrection is determined.

15   And the spirit and the body are the soul of man.
16   And the resurrection from the dead is the redemption of the soul (D&C 88:15-16).

There are three categories of meanings of “redemption.” (1) The Greek meanings are to purchase or to ransom. (2) The Hebrew meanings are the same except that it is done by a near relative. (3)

The meaning most frequently used in the Book of Mormon is that to redeem is to be brought into the presence of God (Ether 3:13; 2 Nephi 1:15, 2:2-4; Helaman 14:17-18).

17   And the redemption of the soul is through him that quickeneth all things, in whose bosom it is decreed that the poor and the meek of the earth shall inherit it (D&C 88:17).

Many biblical scholars agree that the “poor” in the Beatitudes are those who fulfill their religious commitments. These poor will own the kingdom of heaven (Note: It does not say “they shall be citizens in the kingdom,” but rather, “theirs is the kingdom of heaven”). That is about priesthood and kingship. The statement that the meek shall inherit the earth is lifted almost verbatim from the Beatitudes. That in turn, comes from Psalms 25 and 37. This should give us a clue that the Beatitudes are a key to understanding all this. The Lord now goes on to explain that the earth itself will be a sanctified celestial world.

18   Therefore, it [the earth] must needs be sanctified from all unrighteousness, that it may be prepared for the celestial glory;
19   For after it hath filled the measure of its creation, it shall be crowned with glory, even with the presence of God the Father (D&C 88:18-19).

20   That bodies who are of the celestial kingdom may possess it forever and ever; for, for this intent was it made and created, and for this intent are they sanctified (D&C 88:20).

The idea that the earth was made for the people is only half the idea. The other half is that the people were created to inhabit the celestial earth. It is apparent that neither without the other is complete. The earth will be a great urim and thummim to those celestial persons who possess it. (D&C 130:9)

21   And they who are not sanctified through the law which I have given unto you, even the law of Christ, must inherit another kingdom, even that of a terrestrial kingdom, or that of a telestial kingdom.
22    For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory.
23   And he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial glory.
24   And he who cannot abide the law of a telestial kingdom cannot abide a telestial glory; therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of glory. Therefore he must abide a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory.
25   And again, verily I say unto you, the earth abideth the law of a celestial kingdom, for it filleth the measure of its creation, and transgresseth not the law– (D&C 88:21-24).

I suspect that the same criterion applies to people as well: that is, those who inherit the celestial earth are those who “filleth the measure of (their) creation, and transgresseth not the law.”

26   Wherefore, it shall be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding it shall die, it shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is quickened, and the righteous shall inherit it.
27   For notwithstanding they die, they also shall rise again, a spiritual [resurrected] body.
28 They who are [present tense] of a celestial spirit shall receive [future tense] the same body which was [past tense] a natural body; even ye shall receive [future tense] your bodies, and your glory shall be [future tense] that glory by which your bodies are quickened [present tense] (D&C 88:26-28).

Thus, the Lord equates the full glory of the body one receives when it one is quickened (resurrected), with the partial glory one has while living on this earth. The Lord now reiterates that in terms so straightforward that he cannot be misunderstood.

29   Ye who are quickened [present tense] by a portion of the celestial glory shall then receive [future tense] of the same, even a fulness (D&C 88:30).

That is, the glory which partially quickens ones body now, will be the glory which quickens it in the resurrection. To show that the law is universal, the Lord repeats himself as he describes the resurrection of those in the terrestrial and telestial glories.

30   And they who are quickened by a portion of the terrestrial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
31   And also they who are quickened by a portion of the telestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
32   And they who remain shall also be quickened; nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received.
33   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 88:30-33).

The Lord’s next statement comes as close to describing the ‘how’ of the resurrection as one can find in the scriptures:

34   And again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same.
35   That which breaketh a law, and abideth not by law, but seeketh to become a law unto itself, and willeth to abide in sin, and altogether abideth in sin, cannot be sanctified by law, neither by mercy, justice, nor judgment. Therefore, they must remain filthy still (D&C: 88:13-35).

As I read that scripture, it says there are people walking about in this world who are essentially celestial people. Yet, all one has to do is look at them to know they are not entirely celestial. They look old and tired just like everyone else. I think that is a major reason for the blessing of death. It lets the spirit leave the body which is not entirely compatible with its own spiritual nature. Then, at the resurrection, it picks those portions of its body which are entirely compatible. I think that is what Brigham Young meant when he said,

In the resurrection everything that is necessary will be brought from the elements to clothe and to beautify the resurrected Saints who will receive their reward (Journal of Discourses 9:192).

I suppose, then, that there are not only celestial type people walking about, but also terrestrial and telestial types of people among us. We will all die, then at the resurrection, when “everything that is necessary will be brought from the elements,” we will each pick up those elements of our body which are compatible with our spirit.

Thus clothed in our resurrected body, we will be presented to the Lord. Those whose glory is compatible with his, will remain with him. Those who have some lesser glory, will go where they are most comfortable. At least, that’s how I understand it.

Both physics theories suggest that energy, which is light, or something very akin to it, is the stuff of which matter is made. D&C 88 suggests the same thing. But neither say that precisely — the stuff part, I mean. Einstein talks of “energy” which is sometimes expressed by light, while the D&C talks of “power” which is the same thing as light. Each suggest that matter is a form or function of that energy or power. I suppose it would not be too wrong to simplify all that by suggesting that the elementary particle of matter of which our bodies, this earth, and the universe, are made is light, but not necessarily something akin to or the same sort of thing as photons. I presume, then, it would be correct, if over-simplistic, to say that our bodies are made of light. I also presume it would be equally correct to say that our spirit bodies are made of light also.

This substantiates Abinadi’s testimony that Christ “is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death (Mosiah 16:9). The Saviour himself reiterates this point through the frequently repeated statements that he is “the light and the life of the world.” (D&C 34:1-2; 39:1-2; 45:7) Thus, the statement that Christ is the creator of all things, when “all things” refers to the basic element from which everything is organized, places us in a time context which can best be described as the very beginning before the beginning (as it does in the Secrets of Enoch). That seems to be equally true of the beginning of life. For life, cognizance, is also an expression of the light of Christ.

The essence of our being and personality is called in the scriptures, “intelligence.” Of that we learn,

29   Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.
30   All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence (D&C 93:29-30).

The phrase “light of truth” seems to be a literal, rather than a figurative description. We have already read section 88 as it relates to light and matter, but now lets look at it again as it relates to light and life. The first thing we note is that truth shines, and thus is the source of light.

24   And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come;
25   and whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of the wicked one who was a liar from the beginning. (93:24-25)

All things called “fact” need not be “true.” One can “know” things which have no basis in reality. These range from scientific, religious, or historical theories which are simply false, or moral theories (“eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die and that is the end of the matter”) which are vicious. Such non-truths get in the way of knowing real truths. They can destroy, rather than build. Believing, teaching, or incorporating non-truths leads to a lessening of life, to chaos or entropy. That is explained by Alma this way:

9   It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.
10   And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.
11   And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell. (Alma 12:9-11)

Lies, believed or taught as truths, are, by definition, evil because they lead to chaos. Rejection of truth — not knowing the mysteries — is called “the chains of hell” because they lead to entropy.

Truth and light, on the other hand, are powers which bind things together. Believing, teaching, incorporating truths leads to unity—that is to love. Apparently, as one learns and incorporates truth, darkness is removed from his being, he grows in both life and light to become “holy, without spot.” (Moroni 10:33)

Thus, insofar as I understand it, the power of Creation—bringing organization or cosmos from chaos—is the power of Christ’s Atonement— evoking purifying and sealing powers in place of entropy—thus preventing a return to chaos.

For us in this world, the application of the Atonement begins with repentance and ultimately concludes with resurrection. The Atonement completes the creation process by sealing that which is organized into a permanent condition of its greatest possible glory. A greatly oversimplified review of the Atonement/creation sequence will show you what I mean.

The point of all that was this. It seems to me that the power of Christ to create and the power of Christ to atone, are not separate powers, but each a part of the same whole. That is, that the Atonement is the necessary beginning and the necessary conclusion to the creation process. That the powers of the Atonement were first expressed by the creation of all things, then by the organization of all things, then by the purging of all things from evil, then the eternal resurrection and sealing of all things. That in every aspect of this creation sequence, the

If these scholars are correct, and the evidence seems to indicate they are, then we have only small windows through which to see the religion of David, Solomon and the pre-exilic prophets. Let me give an analogy of the problem that poses. Having only those sources and trying to discover a complete theology is analogous to the challenge one might have if he tried to discover the theology of Latter-day Saints by reading only the Documentary History of the Church (which is the story of our beginnings as the books of Moses is the story of theirs), a collection of Conference addresses by Wilford Woodruff (which we might put in place of one of the ancient prophets), a single General Conference address by about half a dozen different general authorities (the minor prophets), and some of the words of the temple ceremony without any indication at all of what those segment were about or in what sequence or context they were spoken (the Psalms). Those sources would be important, of course, but they would also be inadequate. The list does not even include the standard works, just as our Bible does not include their ancient scriptures, such as the unedited books of Moses and the books of Enoch, Abraham, Joseph, Zenos etc.

Except for the book of Job, everything in our Bible was written by or after the time of Moses. But there can be little question but that the people who lived while our Bible was being written had ancient scriptures of their own. The complete Book of Enoch is just one probable example. The Book of Enoch was considered scripture by both Jews and early Christian. For example, 1 Enoch 1:9 is quoted as scripture in Jude 1:14. Our problem in trying to discover the ancient Israelite theology is about as difficult as trying to discover Latter-day Saint theology using only the sources I mentioned above.

Jeremiah and Ezekiel were both written at the time of the captivity and are about what was happening then, and prophecies about what would happen in the future. There are theological statements in them of course, but hardly enough to reconstruct even the basic assumptions of their theology on subjects other than those immediately addressed.

So that leaves basically foun places to look. The books of Moses, Job, Psalms, and Isaiah. Job is a review of the temple sequence with great emphasis on this lonely, dreary world. It also contains relatively little theology.

So our two most valuable sources in the pursuit of the ancient Israelite religion are the books of Psalms and Isaiah. The Psalms are quoted in the Old Testament and the New Testament, as well as in the Book of Mormon. Many scholars believe that the Psalms are the very words which were spoken an sung of their endowment/enthronement temple ceremony.All we have to do is discover the context in which those words were spoken (probably sung) and we can know a great deal about the theology of ancient Israel, as well as their enthronement/ endowment ceremonies. But that is exceedingly difficult because they were re-arranged in the post-exilic period so their arrangement is no longer in the sequence which gives them a story line. In Who Shall Ascend into the Hill of the Lord, Stephen Ricks and I have put many of them back in the order of the temple drama.

That leaves Isaiah as one of the best source in the Old Testament by which one might discover the ancient religion of Israel. Scholars agree that Isaiah is heavily dependent upon the Psalms for its ideas and some of its words. So the key to unlocking Isaiah is the Psalms. Knowing what the Psalms are makes it possible to restate that by saying the key to unlocking Isaiah is the temple.

I suppose that the Brass plates contained many of the Old Testament scriptures which are lost to us. So Nephi, Jacob, Abinadi, the Saviour and others might have quoted Enoch or Abraham just as well as Isaiah. But they didn’t. They quoted the one major source which we could turn to in our Bible to learn the fulness of the ancient gospel. Those long quotes in the Book of Mormon let us compare the Isaiah of the Bible with the Isaiah of the brass plates. The upshot of that comparison is that the Bible’s Isaiah is remarkably accurate (except for the Cyrus part stuck in during the Exile). So in the Book of Mormon we not only have confirmation that the Bible’s Isaiah is mostly dependable, but we have the repeated admonition to read it and discover the ancient religion for ourselves. We also have a good deal of help in doing that as the Saviour and the greatest of the Book of Mormon prophets read it to us and explain what it means.

6   Lift up your eyes [code word] to the heavens, and look [code word] upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment; and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner. But my salvation [code word] shall be forever,[code word] and my righteousness [code words: God’ s ] shall not be abolished.

7   Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, [code words] the people in whose heart [code word] I have written my law, fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.

8   For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool. But my righteousness [code word] shall be forever [code word] , and my salvation [code word] from generation to generation. [code words]

9   Awake, awake! [code words] Put on strength, [code word having reference to clothing] O arm of the Lord; [code words, They are usually thought to have to do with a show of strength, but maybe they are about something else.] awake [code word] as in the ancient days. [code words, sometimes refers to time of the patriarchs, sometimes all the way back to the Council ] Art thou not he that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? [war in heaven — we are back at the Council now]

10   Art thou not he who hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way [code word] for the ransomed [code word] to pass over? [God of Moses? could be, but the story of Moses seems not to fit just here. Instead this may refer to the creation of the Garden, and bringing that temple out of the waters of chaos.]

11   Therefore,[code word — the tie between what he just said and what he is about to say] the redeemed [major code word. The “therefore, seems to give it the same meaning as “ransomed”] of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion;[code word] and everlasting [code word] joy [code word] and holiness [code word] shall be upon their heads; [code word] and they shall obtain [code word] gladness [a noun — code word] and joy [a noun — code word]; sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

The wonderful thing about code words is that they can have either a specific referent, or can be symbolic like an action, clothing, or a picture, or a performance on a stage. So neither their power nor their meaning is restricted to an explanation of mere words.