Alan C. Miner
330 E. 400 S., Ste. #4
Springville, UT 84663
801-489-4540
December 8, 2000
Step by Step
through
the
Book of Mormon
A Collection of Cultural Commentary
Volume 6
Covenant Obedience Brings Peace -
Disobedience Brings Destruction
3 Nephi 11 -- Mormon 7
Alan C. Miner
Copyright @ 1996 by Alan C. Miner
All Rights Reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever, whether by graphic, visual, electronic, filming, microfilming, tape recording, or any other means, without prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief passages embodied in critical reviews and articles.
This book is not an official publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All opinions expressed herein are the author's and are not necessarily those of the publisher's or of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
ISBN: 1-55517-220-2
PREFACE
As one begins to discover the covenants in the Book of Mormon, in both their literal historic setting and in their prophetic spiritual patterns, he will also begin to discover the real story contained in the pages of the book. And as readers come to know the truth of the story contained therein, they will also come to know the truth of the Christ-centered covenants.
Nearly 2600 years ago, the prophet Nephi quoted to his brothers the prophecies of Isaiah concerning the covenant relationship of the Lord with the House of Israel. Afterward, they asked him an intriguing question: "What meaneth these things which ye have read? Behold, are they to be understood according to things which are spiritual, which shall come to pass according to the spirit and not the flesh?" (1 Nephi 22:1)
Nephi answered them with the following: "Wherefore, the things of which I have read are things pertaining to things both temporal and spiritual." (1 Nephi 22:3)
One might wonder, Why did Nephi give such a response? Is there truly a reason why Isaiah's prophecies would need to be acted out both in the temporal history of mankind and also in the spiritual life of man? Nephi, himself, provides a clue: "Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ; for . . . all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him." (2 Nephi 11:4)
While the Book of Mormon is a history, full of geographical, cultural, and chronological statements, and although Mormon said that he was "commanded" by the Lord to write what he did (3 Nephi 26:12), did the Lord have a purpose in such temporal details being recorded in the text? The Lord has said: "And again, I will give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may not be deceived; for Satan is abroad in the land, and he goeth forth deceiving the nations." (D&C 52:14) "And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual . . . : all things bear record of me." (Moses 6:63)
If, according to the title page of the Book of Mormon, we are promised that the verses contained therein will eventually help lead to the "convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ," and if Nephi did not "write anything upon plates save it be that [he thought] it be sacred" (1 Nephi 19:6), then perhaps the historical and cultural references within the text might provide a fascinating, even divine perspective to the intended message of the book.
With the help of a prophetic blessing of the prophet Ezra Taft Benson to those who would read the Book of Mormon, and with an ever increasing flow of articles and books dealing not only with gospel perspectives, but cultural and historical perpsectives as well, the things of the Book of Mormon can now be appreciated and studied as Nephi intimated to his brothers that scriptures should be, in both a "temporal" and a "spiritual" covenant setting. Towards that end, my work has led me to the development of Step by Step through the Book of Mormon, which consists of three companion study texts:
1. The Covenant Story, which highlights pertinent historical, cultural, and covenant verses in the Book of Mormon text such that (a) the reader becomes aware of the multiple historical and cultural phrases that give substance to the truthfulness of the book; and (b) the reader is helped in understanding the book's covenant setting and the Lord's covenant way.
2. A Collection of Cultural Commentary, which correlates the text with pertinent cultural comments, and indexes current comments, maps, and illustrations from available published books and articles.
3. A Collection of Cultural Illustrations, which contains an ongoing and updated collection of current maps, charts, and illustrations that give understanding to the commentary and provide an invaluable resource for teaching those concepts.
Using this system, a student or teacher of the Book of Mormon can have ready access to those cultural ideas that will lead them towards a deeper understanding of the book's divinely planned and divinely recorded covenant setting.
By giving this study system to the readers of the Book of Mormon, I hope to convey to them a world of understanding that has greatly enhanced my testimony of that book, and has deepened my wonder and appreciation for the Lord's "new covenant" (D&C 84:57).
Alan C. Miner
CONTENTS
Volume 1: The Lord Leads His Children Through the Wilderness to the Promised Land
First Nephi......
Volume 2: The Lord Provides A Covenant Plan of Salvation
Second Nephi......
Jacob......
Enos......
Volume 3: The Lord Delivers His Children Out of Bondage through Covenants
Jarom......
Omni......
Words of Mormon......
Mosiah......
Volume 4: The Lord Redeems His Covenant Children
Alma......
Volume 5: The Lord Confirms the Covenant Way
Alma......
Helaman......
Third Nephi......
Volume 6: Covenant Obedience Brings Peace / Disobedience Brings Destruction
Third Nephi......
Fourth Nephi......
Mormon......
Appendix A--Chronology......
Bibliography......
Author Index......
Subject Index......
Additional Commentary......
Volume 7: Two or More Bear A Confirming Covenant Witness
Mormon......
Ether......
Moroni......
3 NEPHI(Continued)
3 Nephi 10:18 In the Ending of the Thirty and Fourth Year, Behold, I Will Show unto You . . . Great Blessings . . . Insomuch That Soon after the Ascension of Christ into Heaven He Did Truly Manifest Himself unto Them:
According to John Welch, the exact day or time of the year when Christ "did manifest himself" (3 Nephi 10:18) unto the Nephites in the New World is an interesting question, and we simply don't have a clear answer as to how long it was after Jesus' resurrection in the Old World that this New World manifestation occurred. Nevertheless, the question has two parts which might lead to some insight.
The first part of the question is, How do you read the phrase, "in the ending of the thirty and fourth year"? If that phrase describes the time when Christ appeared, then it was a year-end festival of some kind. On the other hand, if that phrase is simply some kind of an editorial marker that says, I am now going to tell you what happened sometime between the beginning and "ending" of the thirty and fourth year, then we have no idea in what month or on what day it occurred.
The second part of the question deals with the phrase, "soon after his ascension into heaven" (3 Nephi 10:18). The question is, Which ascension? Is it the first ascension,--"touch me not for I have not yet ascended" (John 20:17)--on the morning of Christ's resurrection? Or is it the ascension 40 days later (Acts 1:3) just 10 days before the day of Pentecost--"he was taken up; and a cloud received him" (Acts 1:9)? We don't know, so that becomes again an interesting question, a puzzle. . . .
The following theories have been put forward on the "manifestation" of Christ in the Americas:
1. According to Hugh W. Nibley, just before the crucifixion the Lord went up to Jerusalem and he manifested himself in the temple for what he really was. How did he manifest himself to the people? Did they accept him as the Messiah, finally? What about Palm Sunday, as it is called, when they laid the palms before him and hailed him as the Messiah? He was recognized by the multitude. . . . the point is that we have the three days before, the three days after, and then the three days following them. How long does the Lord give his main sermons to the Nephites? It tells very explicity; you could even guess it--three days!
. . . Thus Christ appears to the Nephites and Lamanties three days after the resurrection and to the Jews three days before. But what about the three days in between? That's very important for our doctrine, isn't it? What are these days called? They go by a special name. They are called the descensus (Latin: "descent") because Peter tells us that during the three days the Savior went and "preached to the spirits in prison" (1 Peter 3:18-20), who were disobedient at the time of Noah.
2. John Tvedtnes also prefers an early date, "possibly as early as the same day or the next" after Jesus' resurrection in Jerusalem." Tvedtnes argues that "the ending of the thirty and fourth year" simply is an editorial introduction to all the remaining events in 3 Nephi, all of which transpired in the 34th year. . . . In other words, Tvedtnes proposes that Mormon is telling his readers that he is about to record the events that occurred "through the end of the thirty-fourth year" rather than those that occurred solely at the end of the thirty-fourth year. He believes that this interpretation is in keeping with the likely Hebrew idiom behind the passage, which he proposes should be understood to mean "by the end of" or "before the end of." [John A. Tvedtnes, "The Timing of Christ's Appearance to the Nephites," S.E.H.A., pp. 4,5,13]
It is worthy of note that the only other verses in the Book of Mormon using the phrase "in the ending of the . . . year" (Alma 52:14 and Helaman 3:1) tend to corroborate the interpretation of Tvedtnes. [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes] [See the commentary on 3 Nephi 23:11]
3. Elder James Talmage writes that Christ came to the Americas "about six and a half weeks or more" after his resurrection. Thus, he would have spent the full forty days until his ascension (Acts 1:9) in Jerusalem and would not have come to the Americas until after that." [James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 1983, p. 673]
4. In a similar manner as Talmage, John Welch thinks it was a meeting on the day of Pentecost. The reason is that in ancient Israel the day on which the giving of the law on Mount Sinai was celebrated was the Feast of Shavuoth or the Feast of Pentecost. That was the day that God came down on Mount Sinai to give the law. [John W. Welch, "The Sermon at the Temple, Law and Covenant," in Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 4, p. 125]
The Nephites observed the law of Moses (3 Nephi 1:24-25); however, just after the time of Jesus' death, He spoke out of the darkness to the Nephites and proclaimed its fulfillment (3 Nephi 9:17). By examining future references (3 Nephi 15:2-3) we can see that even when this fact was reiterated, they were still confused. Thus, sooner or later, sometime after the terrible destruction (the death of Jesus), when the surviving Nephites were assembled at the temple on one of their traditional Mosaic Law holy days, they probably would have wondered what they should do next. This might suggest that Christ's appearance to the Nephites at the temple (3 Nephi 11:1) was not too long after his crucifixion and ascension. . . .
Particularly important for the law of Moses and for the covenant of Israel with the Lord was a feast called Shavuot in Hebrew (Pentecost in Greek), which came in June fifty days after Passover. . . . We do not know how the Nephite ritual calendar in Bountiful related to the Israelite calendar in Jerusalem, for there had been no contact between the two for over six hundred years. It is impossible to determine which of the traditional festivals would have been observed in Zarahemla in the months following Jesus' crucifixion. . . . If one can assume, however, that the two ritual calendars had not grown too far apart, the feast of Shavuot would have been celebrated in Bountiful a few months after the Passover crucifixion and shortly after the best known ascension of Jesus from Jerusalem, reported in Acts 1. Such a scenario would thus make good sense of the reference in 3 Nephi 10:18 to Christ's appearing in Bountiful "soon after" his ascension. [John W. Welch, The Sermon at the Temple and the Sermon on the Mount, F.A.R.M.S., pp. 29-31]
John Welch notes that most of the Israelite ceremonies were three-day observances. Here, too we have Jesus speaking three days to the Nephites. [John W. Welch, "Christ at the Nephite Temple," in Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 4, p. 130]
5. Kent Brown presents evidence that Christ's appearance in Bountiful occurred almost a full year after the crucifixion: His coming was "only after a substantial period of time. That period must have assuredly extended into the latter half of the year" [S. Kent Brown, "Jesus Among the Nephites: When Did It Happen?", F.A.R.M.S., p. 76-77]
Geographical Theory Map: 3 Nephi 11-28 Jesus Christ Ministers to the Nephites at Bountiful (34 A.S.)
3 Nephi 11:1 There Were a Great Multitude Gathered Together, of the People of Nephi, Round about the Temple:
According to John Welch, the stated purpose of the Sermon at the Temple is to show the disciple how to be exalted at the final judgment. Jesus said, "Whoso remembereth these sayings of mine and doeth them, him will I raise up at the last day" (3 Nephi 15:1). The Sermon contains, therefore, not just broad moral platitudes, but a concise presentation of conditions that must be satisfied in order to be admitted into God's presence (see 3 Nephi 14:21-23).
Interestingly, a few New Testament scholars have begun hinting that the Sermon on the Mount had cultic or ritual significance in the earliest Christian community. Betz, for example, sees the Sermon on the Mount as revealing the principles that "will be applied at the last judgment," and thinks that the Sermon on the Mount reminded the earliest Church members of "the most important things the initiate comes to 'know' through initiation," containing things that "originally belonged in the context of liturgical initiation." Indeed, the word "perfect" (teleios, Matthew 5:48) has long been associated with becoming initiated into the great religious mysteries. [John W. Welch, "The Sermon at the Temple," in Reexploring the Book of Mormon, p. 254-255; for extensive information see also The Sermon at the Temple and the Sermon on the Mount]
According to John Welch, Jesus could have picked a lot of places to appear, but he chose to appear at the temple. Thus, this is a profound temple-related text. . . . Some New Testament scholars, W. D. Davies in particular, have toyed with the idea that when the New Testament refers to the Sermon on the Mount, no normal mountain is meant. In ancient Israel there was one mount, and that, of course, was the Temple Mount. "Let us go up unto the mountain of the Lord" (Isaiah 2:2-3; Micah 4:2) refers to the temple in Jerusalem. Thus, some New Testament scholars who have sought Jewish backgrounds for the Sermon on the Mount have toyed with the idea that what Jesus is delivering is a new temple-related sermon in the Sermon on the Mount. [John W. Welch, "The Sermon at the Temple, Law and Covenant," in Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 4, p. 126] [See the commentary on 3 Nephi 12,13,14]
3 Nephi 11:1 The Temple:
An interesting passage from Isaiah reads:
And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow into it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob . . . (Isaiah 2:2-3; see also 2 Nephi 12:2-3 and Micah 4:2)
When Abraham built his altar called Bethel, it was on top of a mountain (Genesis 12:8). Throughout southern Mexico and Guatemala, the remains of ancient altars and shrines appear on mountain tops. . . . The Maya word for their temple towers is Ku, the same word for God. Hunab Ku designated the Maya father-God of the universe. Thus the concept of the temple as an artificial mountain made holy by the presence of God was also well-known in the New World. [Bruce W. Warren and Thomas Stuart Ferguson, The Messiah in Ancient America, pp. 163-166] [See the commentary on 2 Nephi 12:2-3]
3 Nephi 11:1 A Great Multitude Gathered . . . Round about the Temple Which Was in the Land Bountiful: