LeGrand L. Baker

Alma 13:14-19, LeGrand Baker, conclusion of the sermon

Alma now brings his instructions full circle. Earlier he had said, “Thus they become high priests forever (v.9).” He now gives the perfect example—not of one person—but of a whole society of people who succeeded in taking upon themselves “the high priesthood forever.” He said,

14   Yea, humble [same humility as above: acknowledging one’s own reality – that acknowledgment must of necessity require one’s having the tenacity to fulfill one’s assignment here.] yourselves even as the people in the days of Melchizedek, who was also a high priest after this same order which I have spoken [first at the Council, but later also in this world], who also took upon him the high priesthood forever [The first “forever” happened at (or again at) the Council, so this is apparently a reference to his taking upon him the high priesthood again in this world – that is, of his having fulfilled his assignment while he was in this world].

9   Thus [operative word, thereby or by this means] they become high priests forever [forever is a long way into the future if one begins at the Council], after the order of the Son [covenant king name], the Only Begotten [designation of heirship] of the Father, who [The Father] is without beginning of days or end of years, who is full of grace, equity, and truth. And thus it is. Amen.

15   And it was this same Melchizedek to whom Abraham paid tithes; yea, even our father Abraham paid tithes of one-tenth part of all he possessed.

16   Now these ordinances [He has just walked us through a whole series of ordinances as administered in a whole series of times] were given after this manner, that thereby the people [“man” in 93] might look forward on the Son of God, it being a type of his order, or it being his order, and this that they [“man”] might look forward to him for a remission of their sins, that they [“man”] might enter into the rest of the Lord. [One gets the same idea in Abraham: “We will go down…and we will prove them, to see it they will….” the Lord’s intent is to save everyone who will be saved, not, as Satan seems to have recommended, to create a system that only saves the members of the Council.]

17   Now this Melchizedek was a king over the land of Salem; and his people had waxed strong in iniquity and abomination; yea, they had all gone astray; they were full of all manner of wickedness;

18   But Melchizedek having exercised mighty faith [acting according to the covenants and in the tokens of the covenants], and received [on this earth] the office of the high priesthood according to the holy order of God, did preach repentance unto his people. And behold, they did repent; and Melchizedek did establish peace in the land in his days; therefore he was called the prince of peace [“peace” is the quality of love (Moroni 7). Melchizedek’s name/title was changed from “melchi-zeded” (king of temple things (Melchizedek priesthood is priesthood of sacral kingship and temple things) to a new name which is “prince of peace” – That same name is implied in the Beatitudes and in Moroni 7] for he was the king of Salem; and he did reign under his father [Melchizedek was Shem, who reigned under his father Noah; or, in the Beatitudes, he is a man of peace, and peacemakers are called the “children of God.”].

19   Now, there were many before him, and also there were many afterwards, but none were greater; therefore, of him they have more particularly made mention.

Alma 12: 28-34, LeGrand Baker, Alma’s review of Feast of Tabernacles drama

The thing that strikes me as most extraordinary about Alma’s ‘private’ conversation with Zeezrom is that this is a kind of debate setting, and not the sort of time where Alma would be introducing new concepts that Zeezrom had never heard before. The thing that is remarkable about that is that these chapters are among the ‘deepest doctrinal’ chapters in the Book of Mormon, which means tahat Zeezrom had an amazing understanding of the gospel. Which implies that he had been a student of the scriptures and had gotten off onto some pretty thin ice, or else that the ‘deep’ doctrines Alma was discussing were generally known among the Nephites. In Alma 12, Alma beats Zeezrom with the covenants he has made in this world, in chapter 13 he clobbers him with the covenants he made in the pre-mortal existence. Both chapters say a lot about the intellects of Alma and Zeezrom.

Chapter 12 has focused on the covenants associated with the temple drama of the Feast of Tabernacles. As I mentioned last week, that concluded with the invitation,

34  Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest.

But also with the warning:

5   And whosoever will harden his heart and will do iniquity, behold, I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest.

Before issuing that invitation and that warning, Alma reviewed the most relevant parts of the drama he was referring to. He said,

28   And after God had appointed that these things should come unto man, [that is, at the Council in Heaven] behold, then he saw that it was expedient that man should know concerning the things whereof he had appointed unto them;
29   Therefore he sent angels [don’t know how many. Two or three maybe, perhaps more] to converse with them, who caused men to behold of his glory. [the object of the angels’ teaching was to teach people how to enter God’s presence.]
30      And they [the people] began from that time forth to call on his name [so the angels taught them how to pray]; therefore God conversed with men [the Father himself spoke], and made known unto them the plan of redemption [‘redeem’ in the Book of Mormon, means to enter God’s presence (Ether 3:13; 2 Ne. 1:15, 2:1-3; Helaman 8:23)], which had been prepared from the foundation of the world; and this he made known unto them according to [that is, these were the methods he used for insturction] their faith [pistis, tokens of the covenants] and repentance [repentance is the very best teacher] and their holy works [‘Holy’ means holy, works are ordinances——the ordinances are also a source of instruction].

31   Wherefore, he gave commandments unto men, they having first transgressed the first commandments as to things which were temporal [‘temporal’ is time related, so he is talking about the commandments associated with linear time.] and becoming as Gods, knowing good from evil [that is very different from ‘good and evil’], placing themselves in a state to act, or being placed in a state to act according to their wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good——
32   Therefore God gave unto them commandments, after having made known unto them the plan of redemption [again, having taught them how to come into the presence of God], that they should not do evil, the penalty thereof being a second death, which was an everlasting death as to things pertaining unto righteousness [righteousness is zedek which is correctness in temple things, so the second death he is talking about is the state of being without zedek type blessings]; for on such the plan of redemption could have no power [without zedek , one cannot come into God’s presence], for the works of justice could not be destroyed, according to the supreme goodness of God.
33   But God did call on men, in the name of his Son, (this being the plan of redemption which was laid) saying: If ye will repent and harden not your hearts, then will I have mercy upon you, through mine Only Begotten Son;
34   Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest.

Alma 12:34-37, LeGrand Baker, Alma’s invitation to enter into the rest of the Lord.

Alma 12:34-37
34 Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest.
35 And whosoever will harden his heart and will do iniquity, behold, I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest.
36 And now, my brethren, behold I say unto you, that if ye will harden your hearts ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord; therefore your iniquity provoketh him that he sendeth down his wrath upon you as in the first provocation, yea, according to his word in the last provocation as well as the first, to the everlasting destruction of your souls; therefore, according to his word, unto the last death, as well as the first.
37 And now, my brethren, seeing we know these things, and they are true, let us repent, and harden not our hearts, that we provoke not the Lord our God to pull down his wrath upon us in these his second commandments which he has given unto us; but let us enter into the rest of God, which is prepared according to his word.

Alma’s speech in chapter 12 reaches a powerful crescendo, which, in turn becomes a springboard to his discussion of the priesthood covenants in our premortal existence in chapter 13. But, for us, the crescendo often falls flat because his ideas are outside of our usual frame of reference. But, for his audience, his point was powerful and well aimed.

In verses 36-37 Alma called their attention to both the warning and the blessing promised in the 95th Psalm. The psalm reads,

1 O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. (Psalms 95:1-11)

Alma said the provocation would preclude their entering into the Lord’s rest. Many years before, Nephi’s brother Jacob had drawn a similar conclusion.

7 Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest, lest by any means he should swear in his wrath they should not enter in, as in the provocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the wilderness. (Jacob 1:7)

Paul understood the psalm’s message the same way.

7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)….
15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. (Hebrews 3:7-19)

Each used the ideas in the psalm to remind his audience of the time when the children of Israel were camped at Horeb, at the foot of Mt. Sinai, and though they had the opportunity, they refused to hear the voice of the Lord. The Lord stood on the mountain, concealed behind dark smoke (as a veil) and spoke to them, but they refused to hear him, or to regard his invitation.

This is the way Moses tells the story in Exodus:

3 And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;….
6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel…..
10 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,
11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai…..
16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
17 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.
18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
20 And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.

On the mountain, Moses received the Ten Commandments.

18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
22 And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. (Exodus 19 & 20)

Moses retold the story with a somewhat different emphases in Deuteronomy, which was his great last sermon to his people.

10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.
12 And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. (Deuteronomy 4:10-12)

4 The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,
5 (I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to shew you the work of the Lord: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,
6 I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. (Deuteronomy 5:4-6)

8 Also in Horeb ye provoked the Lord to wrath, so that the Lord was angry with you to have destroyed you.
9 When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water:
10 And the Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the Lord spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. (Deuteronomy 9:8-10)

The provocation was that the Lord had invited them to hear his own voice, and they refused. In the above accounts, there are four verses that tell the whole story:

18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. (Exodus 19 & 20)

4 The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,
5 (I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to shew you the work of the Lord: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) (Deuteronomy 5:4-6)

While Moses was on Sinai the people built and worshiped the golden calf, and their incontinence also provoked the Lord. But the provocation Alma was talking about was their refusal th accept the opportunity to speak to, and learn from the Lord.

The 78th Psalm says it most succinctly:

40 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness,
and grieve him in the desert!
41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God,
and limited the Holy One of Israel. (Psalms 78:40-41)

It was the limitation they placed on God that disabled his ability to bless them. Paul, Jacob, and Alma all used that story to urge the people to not hobble God’s ability to be kind.

The 95th Psalm had urged,

8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation,
and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness….
11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath
that they should not enter into my rest (Psalm 95:8, 11).

Paul quoted the psalm, “ So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest,” then he asked, “And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?” (Hebrews 3:7-19)

Jacob recorded, “

7  Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest, lest by any means he should swear in his wrath they should not enter in, (Jacob 1:7)

Alma warned,

34 Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest.
35 And whosoever will harden his heart and will do iniquity, behold, I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest.
36 … if ye will harden your hearts ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord;…
37 …but let us enter into the rest of God, which is prepared according to his word. (Alma 12:34-37)

Alma spoke of two “provocations.” The first was the time the people refused to hear the Lord at Sinai.

36 … if ye will harden your hearts ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord; therefore your iniquity provoketh him that he sendeth down his wrath upon you as in the first provocation,

The second would be the last provocation, on judgement day, when the wicked will turn away again because they cannot endure the glory of the Lord.

36 … yea, according to his word in the last provocation as well as the first, to the everlasting destruction of your souls; therefore, according to his word, unto the last death, as well as the first.

In the last verse of the chapter, Alma returned to his earlier statement that to harden one’s heart is to refuse to know the mysteries. Thus he wrapped this part of his discourse into a single package, with the “second commandments” he mentions apparently representing their present opportunity to enjoy the ordinances and covenants that will bring one into the presence of God, for he says,

37 And now, my brethren, seeing we know these things, and they are true, let us repent, and harden not our hearts, that we provoke not the Lord our God to pull down his wrath upon us in these his second commandments which he has given unto us; but let us enter into the rest of God, which is prepared according to his word. (Alma 12:34-37)

Alma 12:31 — LeGrand Baker — Atonement in linear time

Alma 12:31
31 Wherefore, he gave commandments unto men, they having first transgressed the first commandments as to things which were temporal [“temporal” is time related, so he is talking about the commandments associated with linear time.] and becoming as Gods, knowing good from evil [that is very different from “good and evil”], placing themselves in a state to act, or being placed in a state to act according to their wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good—

Some time ago when I was thinking about the atonement, I asked a question I had not asked before: “What physical—meaning, time and space, as well as world and body—what physical environment must have been provided for us in order that the atonement would work.”

The time-tested system proved effectual again: If one asks the right questions in the right order the questions themselves provide the magic key.

Once I knew the question, the answers came readily. The answers were not new in any particular, but they created a new panorama for me as I put them together into a single unit.

I realized something I had not thought of before: It is only by virtue of the Saviour’s atonement that we find ourselves in this kind of physical environment that enables us to accept the cleansing power of the atonement.

It seems to me that there are at least seven necessary conditions that must be met by our “physical” experience, in order for us to be free to take advantage of all the blessings of the atonement. By identifying those seven, I believe I came closer to understanding the magnitude of the atonement than I had come before. (Im sure there are more than 7, but this is a good start.)

They are these:

(1) In this world, we must forget. We must not be able to bring any memory of our previous existence with us to this world. If we were to do so, that memory would impose itself upon our purposes, motives, and actions, and we could not be free here to make independent decisions. So, in order for us to have free agency here in this world, we had to come innocent, and without memory of our previous life. (I suspect, if our pre-earth spirit world experience required the same kind of free agency, one also had to enter that world innocent, and having forgotten the experiences one had as an intelligence.)

(2) In this world, we have to be in linear time. In linear time one can experience only the moment of the present, and can neither return to that moment after it has passed, nor carry it into the future. Sacred time is very different from that. When one is in sacred time, one does not have the restraints of “before” and “after.” Sacred time is time through which one can move in somewhat the same way we move through space. There is a relationship between sacred and linear time. That is, those in sacred time can move through past, present, future, and back again in linear time. Therefore, when one is in sacred time, one can know both causes and consequences of events that occur in linear time. That is why God and the members of the Council in Heaven were able to plan so perfectly. They were in sacred time and could understand everything that would occur in linear time. Were that not so, that is if God could not see the beginning from the end, then foreordination would have been impossible or meaningless. God had to know all things that would occur throughout linear time in order to make assignments to us and arrange that we could be born in the time, and the place, and under the right circumstances so we could keep our eternal covenants.

The purposes of our present world would be defeated if we had remained in sacred time.

One reason that our experience here must be in linear time is the same as the reason we must lose our memory: that is, if one could move through time to go back and fix things, or go forward to know which problems to avoid, it would preclude independent thinking in this world and thus would prevent our having free agency.

(3) (I don’t know quite how to say this so it will make sense, so please be patient while I try to muddle through.) In this world, we are in a strange kind of reality, that isn’t quite real. It is not dream-like, because it is very real, but neither is it an absolute, straightforward reality. Let me try to explain.

If our situation were absolute reality, we would be fully punished whenever we sinned, and fully blessed whenever we did something good. That is not, and must not be the case. If we were fully punished when we sinned two things would happen. One is that our Self would diminish because of the punishment. For example, if one hurts another because of hatred or envy, there are two sins involved. The first is the motive, the second the action. I suspect that in many cases the motive is the greater sin than action. The punishment for hatred would be, I suppose, an exposure of one’s cankered soul to one’s Self, sealing it in reality. In the world we now live in one can avoid that through repentance, but if time for repentance were not given, the exposure would occur in the intensity of the hatred one’s soul would be diminished. So each time one sinned, one would get closer and closer to hell, with no possible way to get out. The second is that if we anticipated the immediate punishment we would avoid the sin, which would have the same effect as being forced to not do evil. As a result, we might be saved, but the salvation would be meaningless because it would have been without free agency.

On the other hand, if we were blessed each time we did something good, we would be bribed or forced into heaven, and again, without our free agency.

So one of the conditions we must find ourselves in is this kind of unreal suspension is that one may taste the consequence of sin, but not fully experience it. Also, one may taste the consequence of doing good, but not fully experience that either. Having tasted the partial effects of good and evil, then one is free, not to return to it, but to try to duplicate or enhance it next time. Let me give you a simple example: one of the first things a toddler learns is that there is advantage in cheating. If another toddler is looking away, he can take her toys without getting into a fight. The child is innocent so that is not a sin, but it is a learning experience. When the child matures, one of three things will come from his repetition of that experience. (1) The adult will embrace its advantage and base his whole political or economic career on that principle of cheating. (2) Or, the adult may resort to it only on occasion, when it seems especially advantageous or necessary. (3) Or, as an adult, one may have discovered that cheating is repugnant to one’s soul, and simply refuse to do it because it is bitter to one’s taste, and therefore, because one chooses not to cheat.

The same principle works for the kinds of actions and attitudes that the prophets have defined as evil. Example:

A toddler responds to another’s sorrow, pain, or misfortune with kindness, but as an adult that child may be kind only on occasion when it seems necessary or self-advantageous; or he may avoid feelings of empathy and kindness altogether, seeing them as evidence of weakness—as demeaning—violating one’s sense of strength and superiority, and therefore behave with contempt toward other people.

In each example, the persons began at the same place, but their choices ultimately defined their Selves to themselves and to God quite differently.

So it is with everything one does, and every decision one makes. Because we are in linear time, and in a state of suspension where we do not receive the full consequences of our actions, we are free to be ourselves. This is a perfect environment in which one may answer the question: When you were in the spirit world, why did you obey: was it because you recognized obedience would bring power and authority, or was it because you loved your Father and His children.

The reason this earth life is a perfect environment for one honestly answer those questions is because one cannot remember what pre-mortal advantages he sought after, so in this world one seeks after the things that brings the greatest gratification —whether that gratification comes from doing good, or doing evil.

There is a problem: Frequently, in this world, one’s environment gets in the way of one’s having the freedom to be oneself. That also has been taken into account. If some environmental or cultural circumstances imposed unnatural attitudes upon one in this life, then in the post-life spirit world one can rethink and redefine one’s Self, rejecting the things that are not compatible with one’s true desires; or continue as one did here, moving in the same direction and defining one’s Self with even greater clarity.

(4) In this world, one must have a way to tell the difference between good and bad. We come equipped with that. It is one’s conscience. The problem with one’s conscience is that it is conditioned by one’s culture. For example, in some cultures telling a lie is the norm, in others it is a very bad thing to do. One’s conscience accepts what one’s culture dictates. So the value of its truthfulness is relative to the culture one grows up in. Another, more severe example: During the dark ages, when Augustine set out to standardize penances for sin, he created a catalog that rated the seriousness of different sins. In his catalog, premarital sex was not as bad, and required a less severe penance than self stimulation. So in the culture he influenced, premarital sex was considered the lesser evil, and therefore an acceptable behavior—and in that particular, individual consciences were stifled. The more frequently that sort of abrogation of correct principles occurs in a society, the easier it is for more to be added. Eventually, that which is good is called evil and that which is evil is called good. Then, not only does the culture fall in to decay, but individual consciences do not know how to respond.

Because one’s conscience is conditioned by one’s culture, all the problems associated with its inaccuracies in this life will have to be sorted out in our post-life spirit world. That’s why we do baptism and temple ordinances for the dead—so it can be sorted out with perfect fairness.

(5) In this world’s environment of linear time, each individual walks alone and in relative darkness. For one to have absolute free agency, there must be a way provided for one to penetrate that darkness and develop relationships with other people and with God. The Holy Ghost provides that way. It seals families and friendships, and creates a quality of love that cannot otherwise be known. The Holy Ghost works with people on two different principles.

In order to insure that every person has a full opertunity to fulfill the assignments given him in the Council in Heaven, every individual must have access to the blessings of the Holy Ghost—at least enough access to be taught on an as-needed basis, the things that he must do. One of the most striking examples of that is Nephi’s prophecy of Columbus: “…and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land.” (1 Ne. 13:12b)

However, in the end, that is not enough. For there must be a consistent and predictable way for one to have access to light and truth—there must be the Gift of the Holy Ghost to teach one how to know truth, and how to fulfil one’s pre-mortal covenants. In order for one to be saved in the Kingdom of God, one must learn to respond to the teachings and instructions from the Holy Ghost—if not in this world, then in the next.

6) Our being in this world must not be permanent—there must be a way to get out of here. For the overwhelming majority of us that way is death. Death is one of the greatest blessings of the atonement. It enables us to leave behind in this world everything that is not essential for our continued growth in the spirit world. Death is different from the transition stages we have experienced in the past. In those, innocence and loss of memory guaranteed that one’s free agency would not be infringed upon when we came into a new world. However, as far as I can tell, when we die here, our personalities and memories remain intact, and the circumstances that gave us agency in this world are continued in the next. Consequently, by the time one has passed through this world and also the next in the spirit world, one has had sufficient time and experience to thoroughly define one’s Self.

7) The final step is the completion of one’s creation process. It is when one receives a fully functional, resurrected body that is perfectly compatible with one’s spiritual Self. That is the key: we will receive a resurrected body whose glory is the same as the glory of our spirit in this life. Our resurrected body will not be a kind of a reward or a punishment, but it will just be what it is supposed to be—be a natural product of the kind of person we have chosen to become. The Lord explained to the Prophet Joseph:

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—
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 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].
29  Ye who are [present tense—now] quickened by a portion of the celestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
30  And they who are [present tense—now] quickened by a portion of the terrestrial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
31  And also they who are [present tense—now] 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. (D&C 88:29-32)

And thus, with the resurrection, our the creation process will have become complete, and those who, through the blessings of the atonement, have become like God, will be with God forever and ever.

If that analysis is correct, it is also correct that the entire process–at every stage and in every environment–is a gift and blessing of the Saviour’s love.

Alma 12:16-18, LeGrand Baker, Alma’s predictions of Zeezrom’s fate.

Alma 12:16-18
16 And now behold, I say unto you then cometh a death, even a second death, which is a spiritual death; then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness.
17 Then is the time when their torments shall be as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever; and then is the time that they shall be chained down to an everlasting destruction, according to the power and captivity of Satan, he having subjected them according to his will.
18 Then, I say unto you, they shall be as though there had been no redemption made; for they cannot be redeemed according to God’s justice; and they cannot die, seeing there is no more corruption.

Everyone agrees that the cheapest way to prove something out of the scriptures is to take a phrase or a verse out of context, and pretend it says something its author did not intend it to say. But sometimes we do that unawares, because we just don’t know the context. Dealing with these verses presents one of those kinds of problems. So, I wish to try to lay some background, then try to deal with the contextual problem. I hope it is needless to say that I do not expect to solve the problem, only just describe it. Translated, that means that I readily admit that haven’t the foggiest idea what I am talking about !

There are some phrases that Alma uses that sound very much like others we have no problem understanding. For example:

And now behold, I say unto you then cometh a death, even a second death, which is a spiritual death;…Then is the time when their torments shall be as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever; and then is the time that they shall be chained down to an everlasting destruction, according to the power and captivity of Satan, he having subjected them according to his will … they shall be as though there had been no redemption made; for they cannot be redeemed according to God’s justice; and they cannot die, seeing there is no more corruption.

However, there are others that do not seem to square with what we think it is easy to understand. For example: (oops! Some are the same ones)

then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness…. they shall be as though there had been no redemption made; for they cannot be redeemed according to God’s justice; and they cannot die, seeing there is no more corruption.

Not long ago I pointed out that the Book of Mormon often uses the word “redeem” to mean to be brought into the presences of God. Some are brought back (redeemed) only long enough to be judged, and then they must leave again. Others are brought back to stay forever (redeemed), as in these examples. The first example talks about the judgement. The second tells that the wicked cannot stay in the Lord’s presence; and the third is the testimony of Lehi—one who is redeemed for ever.

16 Yea, behold, this death bringeth to pass the resurrection, and redeemeth all mankind from the first death—that spiritual death; for all mankind, by the fall of Adam being cut off from the presence of the Lord, are considered as dead, both as to things temporal and to things spiritual.
17 But behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord. (Helaman 14:16-17)

26 But behold, and fear, and tremble before God, for ye ought to tremble; for the Lord redeemeth none such that rebel against him and die in their sins; yea, even all those that have perished in their sins ever since the world began, that have wilfully rebelled against God, that have known the commandments of God, and would not keep them; these are they that have no part in the first resurrection. (Mosiah 15:26)

15 But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love. (2 Nephi 1:15)

The next set of scriptures deal with those classes of persons who will remain eternally outside the presence of God — that is, who do not enjoy redemption in the eternities. Both scriptures are from D&C 76:

109 But behold, and lo, we saw the glory and the inhabitants of the telestial world, that they were as innumerable as the stars in the firmament of heaven, or as the sand upon the seashore;
110 And heard the voice of the Lord saying: These all shall bow the knee, and every tongue shall confess to him who sits upon the throne forever and ever;
111 For they shall be judged according to their works, and every man shall receive according to his own works, his own dominion, in the mansions which are prepared;
112 And they shall be servants of the Most High; but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end. (D&C 76:109-112)

These people are not sons of perdition, but they have merited the telestial glory. The telling phrase here is “but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end.”

Part of the statement that describes the sons of perdition reads:

33 For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity;
34 Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come—
35 Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open shame.
36 These are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and his angels—
37 And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power (D&C 76:33-37)

The phrase we are concerned with is, “the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power.”

Now to return to Alma’s words to Zeezrom:

16 And now behold, I say unto you then cometh a death, even a second death

That seems to identify Zeezrom as a son of perdition – which would mean that he has seen and denied the Saviour

which is a spiritual death; then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness.

That implies that the spiritual death Alma is talking about is the preclusion of temple’s sealing blessings—a fate that awaits anyone who is not in the Celestial Kingdom.

17 Then is the time when their torments shall be as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever; and then is the time that they shall be chained down to an everlasting destruction, according to the power and captivity of Satan, he having subjected them according to his will.

That sounds like they are going to be with Satan forever.

18 Then, I say unto you, they shall be as though there had been no redemption made; for they cannot be redeemed according to God’s justice

That may mean, “ but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end.”

So my conclusion is that I don’t know what fate Alma was threatening Zeezrom with.

Actually it all comes down to an even more interesting question: Had Zeezrom been so righteous in the past that he was now qualified to become a son of perdition? Or was he one who would ultimately inherit only the Telestial kingdom because he fell into the category of “liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie. (D&C 76:103)

My answer is: “I do not known!” If the former, then Zeezrom’s repentance is one of the truly great stories in the scriptures. If the latter, its still a really good story.

Alma 12:16, LeGrand Baker, The Atonement as the Conclusion of the Creation

Alma 12:16
16 And now behold, I say unto you then cometh a death, even a second death, which is a spiritual death; then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness.

A persistent theme that runs throughout the 12th chapter of Alma is the contrast between life and death. It is easier to understand what Alma was talking about if we consider the two parallel ancient concepts of cosmos and chaos, for, in fact, it is chaos with which Alma is threatening Zeezrom. Alma described darkness in this world as one’s not knowing the mysteries, and then adds, “Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.” He then discusses both the “temporal death,” which is the death of the body; and “a second death, which was an everlasting death.” These, as Alma describes them, are three magnitudes of chaos,

In contrast, Alma offers Zeezrom the blessings of eternal life—which is ultimate cosmos.

In the attached short essay, “The Atonement as the Conclusion of the Creation” I have tried to show that the atonement was the final act of creation, performed by the same Saviour by whose powers the worlds were originally created. And that he did, as the prophets testified he would, defeat of the final vestiges of chaos—the twin monsters of death and hell—to complete the creation process that he had begun eons before in the Council in Heaven.

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ATTACHMENT:

Alma 12:16 — LeGrand Baker — The Atonement as the Conclusion of the Creation

The entire story of the “creation” covers the full sweep of human existence, from the time we were intelligences until our future grand “beginning” when we receive fully functional resurrected bodies. The story of that creation is primarily an account of the workings of the Saviour’s atonement—of his bringing chaos into cosmos.
Chaos is confusion and disorder. It is represent in ancient writings as the unpredictable movements of a raging sea. In Lehi’s vision it is the mist of darkness through which he must find his way to the tree of life. In the whole of First Nephi it is the raging storm that Nephi controls by faith, through which Nephi is identified as legitimate king and priest. In the entire Book of Mormon it is the three days of darkness that precedes the coming of the Saviour, then, at the end, it is the spiritual darkness into which the people sank, preparatory to the eventual coming forth of the Book of Mormon to the Prophet Joseph.

Cosmos is order that expresses beauty. It is the perfect structure of the stars in the heavens. It is the precise and predictable movement of the planets that foretell the seasons, show the time for planting, and demonstrate the unchanging power of God. It is the tree and the fruit in Lehi’s vision. It is the Zion of Fourth Nephi. It is the promise of Moroni, found on the last page of the Book of Mormon:

31 …put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled. (Moroni 10:31)

Creation is organization—arranging, classifying, separating, and restructuring until the result is cosmos—perfect symmetry, balanced proportion, and symphonic harmony. The object of the physical creation is to achieve that end. We usually think of “the creation” as the time when Jehovah and the Council brought this physical world into existence. However that was only one step in a series of events that would result in perfect harmony. The earth, and all other of God’s creations, needed to pass through a sequence of “creations” in order to attain perfection. The first was the spiritual creation, then the physical, and finally the resurrection. One can describe the whole of that sequence as “the creation.”

The sanctification and resurrection of the earth, and all else the Lord has created, is a gift given to all things, without price, by virtue of the Saviour’s resurrection. However the quality of one’s resurrection is conditional upon the quality of the spiritual truth, light, and love one has chosen to assimilate. The reason is that there must ultimately be an absolute compatibility between the quality of one’s spiritual Self and the quality of one’s physical Self.

The account we have of the physical creation begins in the Council in Heaven, where Jehovah instructed the gods, “We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.” (Abraham 3:24-25)

In those instructions, Jehovah identified two kinds of incompleteness—of chaos. The first was space (and matter) without structure. The second was a group of intelligences without perfection. The plan that was then discussed would answer the needs of both—it would bring them into perfection together, thus bringing universal cosmos out of universal chaos.

Both had to be accomplished together because each was dependent on the other. As the Lord explained,

33 For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy;
34 And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy.
35 The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple. (D&C 93:33-35)

All material element must be brought into a perfection that is consistent with the perfection of the intelligences who inhabit it. For celestial persons, not just their individual physical bodies, but the earth also—must be brought to a celestial perfection…

17 …that the poor and the meek of the earth shall inherit it.
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;
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….

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—
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. (D&C 88:17-26)

The issue of material (physical) cosmos is entirely taken care of by the power of the Saviour’s resurrection. Similarly, the matter of spiritual cosmos is entirely taken care of by the Saviour’s atonement.

The ultimate rectitude of the atonement’s powers enables intelligences to seek and achieve perfection according to their own sense of fulfillment, wholeness, cosmos. It can only come as the fruition of their own agencies—the product of their individual self-identification, and the ultimate maturation of the laws of their own beings.
Perfection is a state of wholeness. Moroni described celestial perfection as being “holy, without spot.” (Moroni 10:33) Paul described it as “holy and without blame before him in love.” (Ephesians 1:4) Mormon described it as being “…filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure.” (Moroni 7:48) The Lord explained, “They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace.” (D&C 76:94) In each of those descriptions there is no incongruity within one’s Self. There is only perfect harmony—“holy [wholly, complete, perfect] without spot.”

If perfection is a state of integral wholeness, but one’s self-definition is something different from celestial love, then there must be accommodation for a kind of perfection (internal unity—cosmos) that is different from celestial glory. And there is, as the Lord has explained.

28 They who are of a celestial spirit shall receive the same body which was a natural body; even ye shall receive your bodies, and your glory shall be that glory by which your bodies are quickened.
29 Ye who are quickened by a portion of the celestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness.
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. (D&C 88:28-32)

Perfection, as statement about a thing’s wholeness, need not necessary be a reference to its relative value. Thus there can be a perfect diamond setting for a ring, a perfect crystal goblet, and a perfect plate glass window. To say each is perfect only says there is an internal integrity with no flaws. The value is found in the object that is perfect, not in the perfection of just any object. For intelligences who define their sense of self in terms different from “the pure love of Christ,” there is a state of perfection and glory that is compatible with their self-definition. But for those who love as the Saviour loves, the perfection of that compatibility is equivalent to eternal life. For the intelligences who receive celestial resurrected bodies, cosmos is perfect symmetry and harmony—in their physical persons, their personal sense of Self, and also in their social environment.

40 For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own; justice continueth its course and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth all things.
41 He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by him, and of him, even God, forever and ever. (D&C 88:40-41)

Since the success of the entire plan of salvation has always rested upon the Saviour’s providing an opportunity for people to come to this earth where they could define themselves in an environment away from the overriding influence of the presence of our Father in Heaven, a path had to be provided so that people could leave his presence and then return again. But to leave the presence of God was to enter chaos.

To enable the intelligences to achieve a final perfection of self-identification and cosmos, they were given bodies and introduced into new conditions of chaos that followed the same sequence as the earth and other material creation. The first was that they received a spirit body in a world where they could learn and choose to obey. From there, the intelligences (now spirits), are introduced into physical bodies, and into our present chaotic environment where the quality of our love can be challenged by avarice, advantage, and the desire to acquire authority. Chaos in this world is our confrontation with never-ending choices and seemingly equivocal consequences, and it is living among people whose choices and consequences cover the full range of the possibilities of good and evil.

It is in the tensions and contrasts of this world that we are enabled to define who and what we are. We do that by identifying and seeking to replicate—and ultimately to perpetuate—the experiences and relationships in which we find fulfillment and happiness. We are here to discover for our Selves whether that fulfillment is consistent with telestial, terrestrial, or celestial glory. For us to be able to do that, this world’s environment must be full of difficult choices with inexplicable tensions and contradictions. For us, coming here introduced us to a new kind of chaos, in a darkness we have not known before. Its experience is invaluable, but to remain here would be an eternal damnation.

Our coming into this chaos would have accomplished nothing if a way had not been provided for us to get out, and return home in the full bloom of our cognizance. Therefore a way had to be provided so we could escape. But that way appears from human perspective to be an even greater chaos—the natural consequence of mortal sin—to be entombed by the twin monsters of death and hell.

The escape rout through death was explained to Adam when the earth was created—when he was in the Garden, but before Eve had come to join him.

12 And the Gods commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat,
13 But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the time that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. (Abraham 5:12-13)

The promise of death is the guarantee that this earth-life experience is a part of the journey, and not its conclusion. Death is the way out of this world. It is a foreshadowing of something beyond—of continued eternal progression. Thus, death, and the world into which it introduces us, is (like birth and the experience we now share) among the greatest blessings of the atonement. But from a human perspective it is as dark and foreboding as a closing grave. Without the final acts of the Saviour’s atonement, the odyssey of the intelligences who are traversing linear time and space to find perfection, would have ended in the eternal darkness of death and hell.

I visualize it this way. The Lord tied a rope around our waist and lowered us into this present life where we can learn to distinguish between good and evil. He will then lower us again, this time into death, where we can re-reevaluate our experiences here, and make a final decision about who and what we are. We agreed to come here, and to die, because the Lord covenanted with us that he would never let go of his end of the rope. Alma explained,

1 And now, my son, I perceive there is somewhat more which doth worry your mind, which ye cannot understand—which is concerning the justice of God in the punishment of the sinner; for ye do try to suppose that it is injustice that the sinner should be consigned to a state of misery.
2 Now behold, my son, I will explain this thing unto thee. For behold, after the Lord God sent our first parents forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground, from whence they were taken—yea, he drew out the man, and he placed at the east end of the garden of Eden, cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the tree of life—
3 Now, we see that the man had become as God, knowing good and evil; and lest he should put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever, the Lord God placed cherubim and the flaming sword, that he should not partake of the fruit—
4 And thus we see, that there was a time granted unto man to repent, yea, a probationary time, a time to repent and serve God.
5 For behold, if Adam had put forth his hand immediately, and partaken of the tree of life, he would have lived forever, according to the word of God, having no space for repentance; yea, and also the word of God would have been void, and the great plan of salvation would have been frustrated.
6 But behold, it was appointed unto man to die—therefore, as they were cut off from the tree of life they should be cut off from the face of the earth—and man became lost forever, yea, they became fallen man.
7 And now, ye see by this that our first parents were cut off both temporally and spiritually from the presence of the Lord; and thus we see they became subjects to follow after their own will.
8 Now behold, it was not expedient that man should be reclaimed from this temporal death, for that would destroy the great plan of happiness.
9 Therefore, as the soul could never die, and the fall had brought upon all mankind a spiritual death as well as a temporal, that is, they were cut off from the presence of the Lord, it was expedient that mankind should be reclaimed from this spiritual death.
10 Therefore, as they had become carnal, sensual, and devilish, by nature, this probationary state became a state for them to prepare; it became a preparatory state. (Alma 42:1-10)

The fullness of the creation that began with the work of Jehovah in the members of the Council in Heaven could not be accomplished until death and hell are defeated by the Saviour’s atonement. When the atonement was accomplished, cosmos, light, and life arose from all the benighted domains of hatred and chaos.

Thus, the Saviour’s triumphs at Gethsemane, on the cross, in the congregation of the dead, and in the tomb of the resurrection—all of those triumphs together constituted the culminating act of creation—of defying infinite chaos and establishing eternal cosmos.

The prophets of all ages have testified of the atonement, and the ancient Israelite Feast of Tabernacles temple drama brought its reality into sharp and tangible focus. Near its conclusion, it portrayed the death of the king (and symbolically of all mankind), and showed that Jehovah himself would descend into death and hell, and he would rescue the entombed king. Psalm 18 recounts that event from the king’s perspective.

1. I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.
8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.
10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
12 At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.
13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
14 Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
15 Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
16 He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. [chaos]
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.
18 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay.
19 He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.(Psalms 18:1-19)

In that same psalm, the king tells why Jehovah had condescended to do this. Later, in the Beatitudes, Jesus will cite this psalm as a reciprocal promise to those who are merciful to others.

20 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.
23 I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.
24 Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
25 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
26 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure…(Psalms 18:20-26)

The Beatitude are short quotes or paraphrases from Isaiah or the psalms. If the one that reads, “Blessed are all the merciful for they shall obtain mercy” was intended to remind the Saviour’s audience of Psalm 18, then the statement in the Beatitude is apparently a promise of one’s ultimate triumph over death and hell.

In another psalm, the king recalls the Lord’s salvation, and again expresses his wonder and his gratitude.

1 I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.
2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.
3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
4 Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.
6 The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.
7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.
8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
9 I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. (Psalms 116:1-9)

We hear of the same triumphal events described from a different perspective in President Joseph F. Smith’s vision of the redemption of the dead.

23 And the saints [those in the spirit world] rejoiced in their redemption, and bowed the knee and acknowledged the Son of God as their Redeemer and Deliverer from death and the chains of hell.
24 Their countenances shone, and the radiance from the presence of the Lord rested upon them, and they sang praises unto his holy name. (D&C 138:23-24)

The Book of Mormon prophets had a perfect understanding of this principle of salvation, and spoke of it often. {1} Jacob was the most explicit.

5 Yea, I know that ye know that in the body he shall show himself unto those at Jerusalem, from whence we came; for it is expedient that it should be among them; for it behooveth the great Creator that he suffereth himself to become subject unto man in the flesh, and die for all men, that all men might become subject unto him.
6 For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord.
7 Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.
8 O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more.
9 And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness.
10 O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit.
11 And because of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave.
12 And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel.
13 O how great the plan of our God! For on the other hand, the paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh, save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect. ….

19 O the greatness of the mercy of our God, the Holy One of Israel! For he delivereth his saints from that awful monster the devil, and death, and hell, and that lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.
20 O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it.
21 And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam.
22 And he suffereth this that the resurrection might pass upon all men, that all might stand before him at the great and judgment day….
26 For the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those who have not the law given to them, that they are delivered from that awful monster, death and hell, and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment; and they are restored to that God who gave them breath, which is the Holy One of Israel. (2 Nephi 9:5-26)

Thus, it was planned from the beginning that we should live, and die, and live again. In several revelations to the Prophet Joseph, the Lord explained something about how it was done. In one of those revelations, the beginning of creation is described this way.

6 And John saw and bore record of the fulness of my glory, and the fulness of John’s record is hereafter to be revealed.
7 And he bore record, saying: I saw his glory, that he was in the beginning, before the world was;
8 Therefore, in the beginning the Word was, for he was the Word, even the messenger of salvation—
9 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.
10 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 93:6-10 – italics added)

The powers exercised by the Saviour in the beginning were the same powers by which he defeated death and hell. Those powers are his perfection of character, and his loving kindness. He said,

1 Hearken, O ye people of my church, to whom the kingdom has been given; hearken ye and give ear to him who laid the foundation of the earth, who made the heavens and all the hosts thereof, and by whom all things were made which live, and move, and have a being.
2 And again I say, hearken unto my voice, lest death shall overtake you; in an hour when ye think not the summer shall be past, and the harvest ended, and your souls not saved.
3 Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—
4 Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;
5 Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life. (D&C 45:1-6)

Finally, we have this testimony from the Prophet Joseph Smith. It is part of A Vision, his poetic version of the revelation that is now section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants.

And while I did meditate what it all meant,
The Lord touch’d the eyes of my own intellect.

Hosanna, for ever! They open’d anon,
And the glory of God shone around where I was;
And there was the Son at the Father’s right hand,
In a fulness of glory and holy applause.

I beheld round the throne holy angels and hosts,
And sanctified beings from worlds that have been,
In holiness worshipping God and the Lamb,
For ever and ever. Amen and amen.

And now after all of the proofs made of him,
By witnesses truly, by whom he was known,
This is mine, last of all, that he lives; yea, he lives!
And sits at the right hand of God on his throne.

And I heard a great voice bearing record from heav’n,
He’s the Saviour and only begotten of God;
By him, of him, and through him, the worlds were all made,
Even all that careen in the heavens so broad.

Whose inhabitants, too, from the first to the last,
Are sav’d by the very same Saviour of ours;
And, of course, are begotten God’s daughters and sons
By the very same truths and the very same powers. {2}

Thus, through the Saviour’s atonement, all the covenants made at the Council in Heaven are fulfilled. Perfect order is accomplished in material things through the resurrection, and perfect order is given the intelligences according to the limitations or expansiveness with which they choose to define themselves. Perfect Love brings Perfect Love. All else is perfected in its own right. The only chaos remaining is for those who choose “to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received.”

ENDNOTES
1 See also: the remainder of 2 Nephi 9; 2 Nephi 28:19-27; Jacob 3:10-14; Alma 5:6-11, 13:27-31.

2 At the request of W. W. Phelps, the Prophet re-wrote the vision that is now the 76th section of the Doctrine and Covenants in poetry form. It was published in the Times and Seasons, February 1, 1843, and republished in the Millennial Star, August, 1843.