A new lesson from Abraham’s near sacrifice of Isaac

This week I taught the 12-13 year-olds the Sunday school lesson about the atonement from the “Come Follow Me” manual, specifically the lesson “What can the scriptures teach me about the atonement of Jesus Christ?”

The manual suggested using the story of Abraham offering his son Isaac as a sacrifice in similitude of Christ’s sacrifice.  Now, you and I have probably been very familiar with the idea that in this story Abraham plays the part of Heavenly Father, and Isaac plays the part of Christ, symbolizing how Heavenly Father gave his Only Begotten Son as a sacrifice.

My question as I read this story was, “How does this story as a type help me have faith in Christ’s atonement?” 

In pondering it, it seems to me that Abraham’s willingness to offer his son and not withhold him teaches us about Heavenly Father’s willingness to sacrifice His Only Begotten Son for us.  Even with all the pain involved, He was willing.  And Isaac’s willingness to go along when Abraham asked him to be the sacrifice teaches us about Christ’s obedience and willingness to be sacrificed.

And knowing the sacrifice was not given grudgingly helps us know the love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ both have for us, and that gives us extra reason to trust the atonement and desire to make use of it. 

The breakdown of family in ancient Egypt

22 And it came to pass when I was come near to enter into Egypt, the Lord said unto me: Behold, Sarai, thy wife, is a very fair woman to look upon;

23 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see her, they will say—She is his wife; and they will kill you, but they will save her alive; therefore see that ye do on this wise:

24 Let her say unto the Egyptians, she is thy sister, and thy soul shall live.

25 And it came to pass that I, Abraham, told Sarai, my wife, all that the Lord had said unto me—Therefore say unto them, I pray thee, thou art my sister, that it may be well with me for thy sake, and my soul shall live because of thee. (Abraham 2:22-25)

I’ve written about this incident several times I think, but this last time when I came across it I was struck by how this danger to Abraham indicated a breakdown of family in Egyptian society.  It was a society in which those with power were not honoring others’ marriages, but breaking them up by killing one spouse to free the other to marry again, to marry the power player who wanted them.  (I have to wonder if this was a different kind of family breakdown, or the same family breakdown, just further along the path to destruction.)

It is interesting to me that Sarai’s beauty was notable, but Abraham’s looks are never mentioned.  It makes me think that perhaps Abraham was rather plain. And if so, that means Sarai married him because she was able to look below the surface to see his goodness, and she cared more about his good character than marrying someone with good looks.  And the fact that he (a righteous man) chose her too shows that he knew she was a good woman, not just a pretty face.

In contrast to Sarai and Abraham’s relationship that valued character, the Egyptians were really shallow, valuing Sarai only for her looks and for nothing else.  I have to wonder if they thought only good-looking men deserved beautiful women, or whether they thought only Egyptians with sufficient force were allowed to have beautiful women. 

Also, the Egyptians seem to have been hanging on to some semblance of marriage permanence; you can tell at bottom they believed it should last until death, but their society had been corrupted to the point that they were willing to hurry death up to free a beautiful woman from her inconvenient husband.  This is pretty barbaric, and I don’t think that started all at once, but with a gradual slide—obsession with the sensual, loss of emphasis on character, focusing too much on outer appearance, indulgence of desire, and law winking at those taking license.   

The fact that the Lord warned Abraham of the danger and told him how they could protect themselves is very reassuring.  It shows the Lord really does know how to protect marriages and families, and He gives instructions designed for the circumstances.  

 It also struck me recently that the instruction to say that Sarai was his sister may have just seemed like a ruse to protect from the physical danger, but it was actually a spiritual safeguard as well, an important principle for relationships that can actually help men and women keep from falling into the error of objectifying the opposite sex. 

Seeing and treating someone as a brother or sister takes you back to the most basic ways of relating, that of sibling relationships.  Everything about learning to be close and learning to love is there except for the sexual aspect.  (And I’m assuming that those reading have learned to love their siblings and know what I am talking about.)

Perhaps if we find ourselves getting pulled into an objectifying pattern of thinking, we need to practice the sibling frame of reference for a while.  Take a page from Abraham’s experience and say, “She is my sister.”  Or learn from Sarai’s patience with that difficult situation and say, “He is my brother.”  In the church, we do this naturally among those we are not related to; we call each other Sister Johnson or Sister Emily or Brother Clark or Brother Bruce.  We realize we are all brothers and sisters, children of God.  That awareness of the brotherhood and sisterhood of all of us can also help us in our relationships and marriages, though we don’t have to necessarily call each other brother and sister.

 During the time that Abraham and Sarai treated each other as brother and sister, they were an example to the Egyptians. There came a time when it was safe to reveal they were married, and if the Egyptians thought back over how Abraham and Sarai had interacted, they would see how a good marriage is about more than looks and sex. Maybe Abraham and Sarai became instruments in helping improve Egyptian marriage culture through their good example, since examples are the best way to catch the vision of what improvement is possible.

Maybe our good examples of marriage can help today too.

Abraham cuts a covenant with the Lord and resists Satan

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7 And he [God] said unto him [Abram], I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

8 And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. (Genesis 15:7-17)

In order to certify that His promises to Abram would be fulfilled, the Lord told Abram to take a heifer, a nanny goat, a ram, turtle dove, and a pigeon to cut a covenant with him.  The covenant of this sort was made by cutting the animals in half, and both parties to covenant walked between the two pieces.  It was to demonstrate the kind of death that would happen if either party broke the covenant.  It is interesting that the Lord doesn’t have Abram cut up just one animal, but three.  I suppose this is to make a point about how serious the Lord is about keeping this promise.

So Abram prepares the animals, but the Lord doesn’t show up right away, so Abram has to drive away the vultures from the animal parts.

In v12, something happens that is puzzling.  When the sun goes down a deep sleep falls on Abram along with a horror of great darkness.  What was this?

I suspect that was Satan trying to prevent Abram from going through with this covenant with the Lord.  Satan does not like people to make covenants with God, and tries to disrupt impending spiritual experiences in any way he can.   (This fits very well with the opposition Satan hit Joseph Smith with before the first vision, as well as the opposition Moses faced when having his vision.)  Satan could have attacked Abram with thoughts that the delay of waiting for the Lord meant that the Lord had changed His mind.  He could have also tried to scare Abram away by suggesting that once he made this covenant he’d be stuck and any little deviation would put him in Satan’s power. 

Even though we do not have the details recorded, Abram would have had to call on the Lord for strength to resist.  And in the process, he was filled with the Holy Ghost, which seems to have filled him with the spirit of prophecy and he was inspired to know what would happen to his posterity up to four hundred years in the future.

And finally the Lord came, like a smoking furnace and a burning lamp, and passed through the pieces to confirm the covenant.

Once I read between the lines, this story reinforces the principle that there is opposition in all things.  Satan was at work trying to disrupt Abram’s faith just as much as he is at work today.  The solution is to pray always.

All the ways the Lord saved Abraham from being sacrificed

15 And as they lifted up their hands upon me [Abraham], that they might offer me up and take away my life, behold, I lifted up my voice unto the Lord my God, and the Lord hearkened and heard, and he filled me with the vision of the Almighty, and the angel of his presence stood by me, and immediately unloosed my bands;

16 And his voice was unto me: Abraham, Abraham, behold, my name is Jehovah, and I have heard thee, and have come down to deliver thee, and to take thee away from thy father’s house, and from all thy kinsfolk, into a strange land which thou knowest not of;

17 And this because they have turned their hearts away from me, to worship the god of Elkenah, and the god of Libnah, and the god of Mahmackrah, and the god of Korash, and the god of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; therefore I have come down to visit them, and to destroy him who hath lifted up his hand against thee, Abraham, my son, to take away thy life.

18 Behold, I will lead thee by my hand, and I will take thee, to put upon thee my name, even the Priesthood of thy father, and my power shall be over thee.

19 As it was with Noah so shall it be with thee; but through thy ministry my name shall be known in the earth forever, for I am thy God.

20 Behold, Potiphar’s Hill was in the land of Ur, of Chaldea. And the Lord broke down the altar of Elkenah, and of the gods of the land, and utterly destroyed them, and smote the priest that he died; and there was great mourning in Chaldea, and also in the court of Pharaoh; which Pharaoh signifies king by royal blood.  (Abraham 1:15-20)

In these verses we can see about six different ways the Lord saved Abraham when he was about to be sacrificed.  Some of them were related to his precarious position and others were of a type that continued longer.

1) His bands were loosed so he could move freely.

2) He was told the Lord would destroy “him who hath lifted up his hand against thee.”    The Lord smote the murderous priest who was trying to kill Abraham, to confirm the wrongness of human sacrifice and His protection of Abraham.  This saved him from being the subject of a continued manhunt once he was saved from that particular prospect of becoming a human sacrifice.

3) The Lord threw down the altars of all the false gods to show His displeasure with their human sacrifices and discourage them from such usage in the future.

4) He was told he would be taken by the Lord away from his father’s house, since they were obviously wicked and consenting to his death.  This would take him from their evil influence.

5) He was told the Lord would lead him by the hand, which would be really reassuring when Abraham didn’t know what would happen.  (Think of a blind person led by the hand or elbow, following gentle tugs.)

6) He was told the Lord would take him and put upon him “my name, even the Priesthood,” which would increase his spiritual safety, since he would have to be worthy and spiritually prepared for that.

So many different ways of saving!  Some of them were immediate, some were more long-term and ongoing.  This makes me wonder if we can see in our lives all the different ways the Lord is saving us.

Today let’s try to discern those different ways the Lord’s salvation is in our lives.

All the Blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

There is a certain phrase we hear in a certain place—“all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” that I decided I wanted to look through Genesis and see if I could pick out all the blessings so I can know what we can expect to receive.

The usual ones we know about are the following, which are reiterated multiple times throughout Genesis to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:

·      “this land,” meaning the land of Canaan

·      posterity as the stars in the sky

·      “In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed” (which implies the coming of the Messiah and temple work for families)

Here are the other ones I found:

To Abraham

“I will make of thee a great nation” (Gen. 12:2)

“I will make thy name great” (Gen. 12:2)

“thou shalt be a blessing” (Gen. 12:2)

“I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee” (Gen. 12:3)

“and the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abrams wife” (Gen 12:17)

“…the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand” (Gen. 14:20)

“I am thy shield, and thy exceedingly great reward” (Gen 15:1)

“he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir” (Gen. 15:4)

“thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age” (Gen. 15:15)

“I will make my covenant between me and thee” (Gen. 17:2)

“[I] will multiply thee exceedingly” (Gen. 17:2)

“thou shalt be a father of many nations” (Gen. 17:4)

“I will make thee exceedingly fruitful” (Gen. 17:6)

“kings shall come out of thee” (Gen. 17:6)

“I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.” (Gen. 17:7)

“I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life” (Gen 18:10)

“At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son” (Gen. 18:14)

“Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do[? No.]” (Gen. 18:17)

“he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.” (Gen. 18:19)

“Also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed” (Gen. 21:12-13)

“thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies” (Gen. 22:17)

“he shall send his angel before thee” (Gen. 24:7)

To Isaac

“I will be with thee and will bless thee” (Gen. 26:3)

“I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father” (Gen. 26:3)

“I am with thee” (Gen. 26:24)

To Jacob

“the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed” (Gen. 27:27)

“God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine” (Gen. 27:28)

“Let people serve thee, and nations bow down before thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be everyone that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee” (Gen. 27:29)  (Note: This sounds like Messianic prophecy as well)

“thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south” (Gen. 28:14)

“I am with thee and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest; and will bring thee again into this land” (Gen. 28:15)

“I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of” (Gen. 28:15)

“I have seen all [the evil or injustice] that Laban doeth unto thee” (Gen. 31:12)

“I will surely do thee good” (Gen. 32:12)

“as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed” (Gen. 32:28) (Note: Also a Messianic prophecy)

“I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes” (Gen. 46:4)

When I read these blessings as ones promised to me, I get a greater sense of what I can look forward to and ways that I can trust the Lord.  I also see that some can be read as Messianic prophecy.  The one from Gen. 46:4 sounds like a typological reference to the condescension of God, the redemption of man, and the restoration of the gospel through descendants of Joseph.  And this doesn't even touch on what latter-day revelation has to add to what Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were promised.

What are your thoughts?

God is the reward

After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying,

Fear not, Abram:

I am thy shield,

and thy exceeding great reward.

(Genesis 15:1)

 I was looking at “reward” in the Topical Guide and I saw the above verse cited.  I saw it differently than I had before.  Previously, I thought “I am thy…exceeding great reward” just meant that it was Abram’s reward and privilege to have God in his life.

Today I realized Abram already had God in his life. He was promised more--the prospect of becoming like God.  The Lord meant, “I [or what I am] is thy exceeding great reward, what you can expect to become.” 

I love that the promise of becoming like God is recorded this early in the Bible.

Valuing holy alliances

There’s a story in Genesis of when there is a battle between a bunch of Canaanite kings. It was the king of Shinar, the king of Ellasar, the king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations versus king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela. (Genesis 14:1-2) (We’ll call it team Shinar versus team Sodom, shall we?)

Team Sodom didn’t make out very well. In fact, they lost badly and team Shinar took all of team Sodom’s stuff. But they also took Lot and his family captive with their stuff.

Well, Abraham heard about Lot’s capture, and so he took his men servants to rescue Lot. He attacked the camp at night with divided groups of 318 people total and won. (Sounds like a Gideon tactic or a Captain Moroni tactic, doesn’t it?) Then he brought everything back. And when he comes back, there is this interesting scene:

17 ¶And the king of Sodom went out to meet him [Abraham] after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.
18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
21 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.
22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,
23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
24 Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion. (Genesis 14:17-24)

It struck me how interesting it was that both these kings are present—the wicked king of Sodom and the righteous King Melchizedek of Salem. This suggested to me that a contrast was being set up between these two kings.

King Melchizedek blesses Abraham and Abraham pays tithes to him. The king of Sodom tries to bless Abraham too, but with the wealth of Sodom, and Abraham refuses to accept it. It seemed to me that Abraham didn’t want to be under any obligation to the king of Sodom. Or maybe, he would rather keep the king of Sodom under obligation to him rather than be paid like a mercenary.

Either way, it is clear that Abraham would rather pay tithing to Melchizedek than be made rich by the king of Sodom. (Even Abraham chose his friends carefully.) Holy alliance and the quality of his affiliations meant more to him than any tangible reward. What a great example!

What did Abraham believe that the Lord counted him righteous for?

Of the following verses, verse 6 is quoted several times in the New Testament by Paul to show how faith justified Abraham.

5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (Genesis 15:5-6)

The JST of this adds much more to our understanding of what Abraham believed the Lord about and what about his belief was counted righteous. Without the JST, we would think Abraham just believed the Lord would give him seed as the stars, since that is the context of the verse, and Paul’s assertion that Abraham’s belief was connected to Christ would seem out in left field.

9 And Abram said, Lord God, how wilt thou give me this land for an everlasting inheritance?
10 And the Lord said, Though thou wast dead, yet am I not able to give it thee?
11 And if thou shalt die, yet thou shalt possess it, for the day cometh, that the Son of Man shall live; but how can he live if he be not dead? he must first be quickened.
12 And it came to pass, that Abram looked forth and saw the days of the Son of Man, and was glad, and his soul found rest, and he believed in the Lord; and the Lord counted it unto him for righteousness. (JST Genesis 15:9-12)

The Lord uses deferred promises to help Abraham look forward to the resurrection and the coming of Christ. Abraham can inherit the land when he is resurrected, and he will be resurrected because Christ will eventually come, die, and resurrect first. (Note that just the mention of the Son of Man shows Abraham already knew about Christ, since there was no big in-depth explanation. It is actually the most direct mention we have for Abraham.)

I love how this line that expresses the awesome power of God—“though thou wast dead, yet am I not able to give it thee?” It is like God can skip blithely across the bounds of mortality as if it were a chalk line on the ground. For all of us who have been promised blessings that seem deferred past mortality, this is a comfort (or can be) that God still keeps promises into eternity. It also seems that God may deliberately promise us blessings that aren’t delivered in mortality because He wants us to look beyond the veil with hope. After all, if all the promises are fulfilled in mortal life, what do we have to look forward to in eternity?

So, we learn from the JST that Abraham believed the Lord about the Atonement and resurrection of Christ and how it would make it possible for the promise to Abraham to be fulfilled. We also learn that because the promise’s fulfillment was deferred beyond Abraham’s mortal life, he had to make a choice whether to believe that Christ could and would make the fulfillment possible or to decide whether it was all some kind of nasty cheat and be embittered. Abraham chose to believe Christ could make it happen even though Abraham knew he’d never see it in his own lifetime. His choosing faith was what the Lord counted righteous.

This is a comfort to me, since God seems to be deferring one particular blessing I have been promised.. It don’t know if it will be deferred beyond mortality, but like Abraham, it is my choice to believe God or not. It is another way for me to learn to walk by faith and not by sight. It is an opportunity for me to be counted righteous like Abraham was.

The Lord reveals when we think He might conceal

11 Thus I, Abraham, talked with the Lord, face to face, as one man talketh with another; and he told me of the works which his hands had made;
12 And he said unto me: My son, my son (and his hand was stretched out), behold I will show you all these. And he put his hand upon mine eyes, and I saw those things which his hands had made, which were many; and they multiplied before mine eyes, and I could not see the end thereof. (Abraham 3:11-12)

I was thinking about that simple gesture of the Lord’s when He puts His hands upon Abraham’s eyes. It is fascinating that when a mortal puts their hand on your eyes, you can’t see, but when the Lord puts His hand over your eyes, you can see. But not only can you see, but you can see so much more, and not just “more,” but everything those hands made. God Himself becomes the lens by which to see the universe.

Sometimes I feel like I have that lens, but at the same time I still wish I could see what Abraham saw.

These days I’ve been praying that the Lord will open my eyes to better understand the scriptures. I sense that there is so much more there that I am just not getting because my mind can only hold so much and can only make so many associations. All I'm doing is analyzing phrases and words and trying to fit them into this big picture of gospel principles.

But maybe it is this line upon line learning that is gradually preparing me for the greater things that I’ll only be able to notice after having seen the smaller units. So maybe this is another sense in which it seems like the Lord is concealing, but He is actually revealing.

The doctrinal problem solved by Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac

I’ve often wondered about the story of Abraham being commanded to sacrifice Isaac. I felt like there had to be more to it. Recently it occurred to me that some of these scripture stories may have been meant to solve problems that we don’t face today. Since one of the problems of Abraham’s time was the worship of false gods and child sacrifice (such as passing children through the fire to Molech), it may be that the story of Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac was meant to show believers that the true God was a god of mercy that did not require child sacrifice. This almost made my head explode, it was so different. But it quickly began to make sense. What better way could God have demonstrated that He did not require child sacrifice than to ask one of His faithful to sacrifice his son…and then STOP IT FROM OCCURRING… and provide A SUBSTITUTE? This would demolish the argument for child sacrifice and testify of vicarious sacrifice by a Savior. It fulfills two purposes in one. Future generations could point to that as an argument for Jehovah’s mercy and love.

I hesitated to post this, since it seemed like a totally different way of looking at that story, but when I looked on the internet I found that it wasn’t so strange after all. On Wikipedia’s entry “binding of Isaac,” I ran across a whole plethora of views on it, one of which was this:

…according to Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz (Chief Rabbi of the British Empire), child sacrifice was actually "rife among the Semitic peoples," and suggests that "in that age, it was astounding that Abraham's God should have interposed to prevent the sacrifice, not that He should have asked for it." Hertz interprets the Akedah as demonstrating to the Jews that human sacrifice is abhorrent. "Unlike the cruel heathen deities, it was the spiritual surrender alone that God required." In Jeremiah 32:35, God states that the later Israelite practice of child sacrifice to the deity Molech "had [never] entered My mind that they should do this abomination." (accessed 7/14/11)

There’s more to covenants than meets the eye

I’ve had some interesting experiences lately that have drawn my interest to studying gospel covenants. I'll tell you about them after a bit.

The Old Testament has lots of mentions of covenants that people make with the Lord and also mentions the covenants that the Lord makes with His people.

7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.
8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words. (Exodus 24:7-8)

People’s covenant: All the Lord says we will do.
Lord’s covenant: To redeem through the blood of sacrifices (foreshadowing Christ).

12 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:
13 And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel. (Numbers 25:12-13)

Lord’s covenant: Peace to him and his children (and bestowal of priesthood?) as a reward for zeal and making atonement for others

And Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people, that they should be the Lord’s people; between the king also and the people. (2 Kings 11:17)

People’s covenant: to be the Lord’s people
Lord’s covenant: to have the people as His own

And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. (2 Kings 23:3, see also 2 Chronicles 34:31)

People’s covenant: Keep the Lord’s commandments, testimonies, statutes with all heart and soul, to do as written in the scriptures

Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. (Psalms 50:5)

Lord’s covenant: To gather His saints
People’s covenant: To sacrifice

2 Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
3 And say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant,
4 Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God:
5 That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day… (Jeremiah 11:2-5)

Lord’s covenant: The people will be His people and He would be their God. He will give them a land flowing with milk and honey.
People’s covenant: To obey the Lord’s voice in all He commands.

The New Testament has comparatively fewer mentions of covenants, and when they are mentioned they generally focus on the covenant that the Lord makes with His people and there is very little mention of the nature of the covenant that people make with the Lord. This makes it seem like the Lord makes promises to us and we don’t have to do anything to receive them. But a covenant isn’t a one-way promise. It’s a two-way promise.

The Book of Mormon has lots of mentions of covenants. I realized this when some Jehovah’s Witnesses asked me what the Book of Mormon had that the Bible didn’t that was necessary for them. At the time I was stumped, but when I looked on the title page, I immediately found the answer:

...Which is to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever (emphasis added)

This was when I realized how wonderful it is that the Book of Mormon tells what both sides of the covenants are. If we don’t know what our side of the covenant is, we can’t do our part. If we don’t do our part, the Lord isn’t bound to do His. And even worse, if we don’t even know that we have a part to keep, we may delude ourselves into thinking we have a covenant when we don’t, then into thinking that the Lord has to keep His part when He isn’t bound (because we don’t know and haven’t done ours), then into thinking that the Lord doesn’t keep His promises, when no covenant was made in the first place.

9 Or, in other words, I give unto you directions how you may act before me, that it may turn to you for your salvation.
10 I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise. (D&C 82:9-10)

So what covenants are in the Book of Mormon? There’s the covenant of baptism:

10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?....
13 And when he had said these words, the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he said: Helam, I baptize thee, having authority from the Almighty God, as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead as to the mortal body; and may the Spirit of the Lord be poured out upon you; and may he grant unto you eternal life, through the redemption of Christ, whom he has prepared from the foundation of the world. (Mosiah 18:10-13)

People’s covenant: To serve the Lord and keep His commandments until the end of mortality
Lord’s covenant: To pour out His Spirit more abundantly, to grant eternal life through Christ’s redemption.

King Benjamin’s people made a similar covenant:

5 And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days, that we may not bring upon ourselves a never-ending torment, as has been spoken by the angel, that we may not drink out of the cup of the wrath of God.
6 And now, these are the words which king Benjamin desired of them; and therefore he said unto them: Ye have spoken the words that I desired; and the covenant which ye have made is a righteous covenant.
7 And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.
8 And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives. (Mosiah 5:5-8)

People’s covenant: To do God’s will, be obedient in all things to His commandments for the rest of mortality, to take the name of Christ upon themselves
Lord’s covenant: To not bring never-ending torment, to not cause the people to drink of the cup of the wrath of God, to spiritually beget the people so that they become His sons and daughters so that their hearts are changed through faith, to make them free, to give them salvation.

Moroni tells how the Lord fulfills his end of the covenant:

31 And the office of their ministry is to call men unto repentance, and to fulfil and to do the work of the covenants of the Father, which he hath made unto the children of men, to prepare the way among the children of men, by declaring the word of Christ unto the chosen vessels of the Lord, that they may bear testimony of him.
32 And by so doing, the Lord God prepareth the way that the residue of men may have faith in Christ, that the Holy Ghost may have place in their hearts, according to the power thereof; and after this manner bringeth to pass the Father, the covenants which he hath made unto the children of men. (Moroni 7:31-32)

Now, once I started noticing covenants in the Book of Mormon, I started noticing that they are all over the place.

Captain Moroni thought covenants were really important.

20 Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.
21 And it came to pass that when Moroni had proclaimed these words, behold, the people came running together with their armor girded about their loins, rending their garments in token, or as a covenant, that they would not forsake the Lord their God; or, in other words, if they should transgress the commandments of God, or fall into transgression, and be ashamed to take upon them the name of Christ, the Lord should rend them even as they had rent their garments.
22 Now this was the covenant which they made, and they cast their garments at the feet of Moroni, saying: We covenant with our God, that we shall be destroyed, even as our brethren in the land northward, if we shall fall into transgression; yea, he may cast us at the feet of our enemies, even as we have cast our garments at thy feet to be trodden under foot, if we shall fall into transgression. (Alma 46:20-22, emphasis added)

Therefore Moroni thought it was expedient that he should take his armies, who had gathered themselves together, and armed themselves, and entered into a covenant to keep the peace—and it came to pass that he took his army and marched out with his tents into the wilderness, to cut off the course of Amalickiah in the wilderness. (Alma 46:31, emphasis added)

And it came to pass that whomsoever of the Amalickiahites that would not enter into a covenant to support the cause of freedom, that they might maintain a free government, he caused to be put to death; and there were but few who denied the covenant of freedom. (Alma 46:35, emphasis added)

(How sad that some people had to be threatened with death before they would make a covenant to support freedom! Yet it is significant that once they made the covenant, they tried very hard to keep it and very few broke that covenant later.)

Another case—in Alma 44, Moroni required the Zoramite-Lamanite army to make a covenant of everlasting peace in return for sparing their lives. It took some ..ahem.. convincing, but eventually the message got through.

19 Now Zerahemnah, when he saw that they were all about to be destroyed, cried mightily unto Moroni, promising that he would covenant and also his people with them, if they would spare the remainder of their lives, that they never would come to war again against them.
20 And it came to pass that Moroni caused that the work of death should cease again among the people. And he took the weapons of war from the Lamanites; and after they had entered into a covenant with him of peace they were suffered to depart into the wilderness. (Alma 44:19-20)

In another case, when the city of Morianton started a turf war with the city of Lehi and then took off north, Captain Moroni sent Teancum to head them, subdue them, and bring them back. This also involved a covenant.

And thus were the people of Morianton brought back. And upon their covenanting to keep the peace they were restored to the land of Morianton, and a union took place between them and the people of Lehi; and they were also restored to their lands. (Alma 50:36, emphasis added)

Captain Moroni himself had a covenant to keep in addition to his baptismal covenants.

Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood. (Alma 48:13, emphasis added)

This covenant was what caused him to write such a stiff letter to the chief judge Pahoran about the government’s neglect of the armies in perilous times.

And now behold, I, Moroni, am constrained, according to the covenant which I have made to keep the commandments of my God; therefore I would that ye should adhere to the word of God, and send speedily unto me of your provisions and of your men, and also to Helaman. (Alma 60:34, emphasis added)

The stiff part of the letter is not here obviously, but we see his covenant induced him to act.

The parents of the 2,000 stripling warriors had their own covenant that they had made in order to escape their previous war-mongering bloodthirsty ways before their conversion to the gospel.

6 And now ye also know concerning the covenant which their fathers made, that they would not take up their weapons of war against their brethren to shed blood.
7 But in the twenty and sixth year, when they saw our afflictions and our tribulations for them, they were about to break the covenant which they had made and take up their weapons of war in our defence.
8 But I would not suffer them that they should break this covenant which they had made, supposing that God would strengthen us, insomuch that we should not suffer more because of the fulfilling the oath which they had taken. (Alma 56:6-8)

Earlier it describes this as well and it gives a more serious reason why Helaman didn’t want them to break their covenant.

And Helaman feared lest by so doing they should lose their souls… (Alma 53:15)

We see here that Helaman certainly thought that deliberately breaking a promise to God was a very serious thing, a thing to be avoided at all costs. This predicament led to their sons making their own special covenant.

And they entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of the Nephites, yea, to protect the land unto the laying down of their lives; yea, even they covenanted that they never would give up their liberty, but they would fight in all cases to protect the Nephites and themselves from bondage. (Alma 53:17)

This tells us why those 2,000 were so fearless, so courageous, so strong. They were bound to keep their covenant.

Why did I get so interested in all of this? Here’s my story.

For the longest time I had a terrible habit of going to bed late. This habit has extended over years, over more than a decade. I’d fight against it for a while and then it would return worse than ever. It was a major thorn in my flesh. I would go to bed so late, thinking “Oh, it won’t be so bad next morning” and then I’d wake up and feel like death warmed over and think, “Ooohhhh, why did I do that to myself?” Then I’d tell myself that I was going to go to bed early this time and by the time bedtime came around, I had forgotten how tired I was and do it to myself again. (Repeat ad nauseum) I think it was Tuesday morning of last week that I woke up and I was feeling terrible again, and I prayed (probably for the umpteenth time) that Heavenly Father would help me overcome this bad habit.

When I was reading scriptures as I usually do, I was reading in Alma 46, and those three different cases of covenant-making suddenly popped out at me. I thought it was interesting that the people thought it was necessary to make an extra covenant to keep the peace, to follow the Lord, to support freedom.

That’s when I got the impression that Heavenly Father wanted me to make a covenant with Him to go to bed early. To be honest, I was freaked out by this.

I knew myself. I knew all the times I had tried and failed to go to bed early. I didn’t have any confidence that I could keep a covenant like that. I felt like Zerahemnah:

And now it came to pass that when Zerahemnah had heard these sayings he came forth and delivered up his sword and his cimeter, and his bow into the hands of Moroni, and said unto him: Behold, here are our weapons of war; we will deliver them up unto you, but we will not suffer ourselves to take an oath unto you, which we know that we shall break, and also our children; but take our weapons of war, and suffer that we may depart into the wilderness; otherwise we will retain our swords, and we will perish or conquer. (Alma 44:8)

I didn’t want to make a covenant that I knew I would break.

Something that gave me hope was remembering a Relief Society lesson given a few years ago by a previous Relief Society president, Heather Pettingale, who told of how she had made a covenant with the Lord to try to overcome a bad habit and she had made it for a period of time and renewed it until it became a good habit.

I thought I could do that. I also realized that deep down, part of my reluctance to make a covenant came because part of me wanted to be free to go to bed whenever I wanted to and felt that a covenant would be restrictive. However, I then remembered that the reason for making this kind of covenant was tofree me from the bad habit that was enslaving me. So I decided to take the plunge; I made a covenant to be in bed by 11pm for a week, trusting that the Lord would help me keep this covenant.

You’d think that the story would be over, but it’s not. After I made this covenant I became more curious about what the scriptures said about covenants and promises, so I started searching.

I found what I’ll call “The Analogy of the Marriage Covenant”. It features Sarah and Hagar, wives of Abraham.

21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. (Galatians 4:21-31)

This is a very puzzling scripture and makes what seems like an unfair and bizarre comparison: Abraham’s wife Sarah is compared to the heavenly Jerusalem (which represents the new and everlasting covenant) and Abraham’s bondwoman wife Hagar is compared to Mount Sinai (which represents the Law of Moses). I had always taken it for granted that Abraham married both these woman in the everlasting covenant. You’d think he would, right? So it seems odd that Hagar’s marriage is given second-class status here in the comparison. I decided to make a list of what terms were identified with Hagar in order to pin down why her status wasn’t accorded the same privilege.

Bondmaid,
flesh,
Mount Sinai,
gendereth to bondage,
Jerusalem with now is (in bondage with her children),
cast out,
bondwoman’s son not an heir.

I thought it was interesting that Hagar was being compared to Mount Sinai, and to me Mount Sinai evoked establishment of the Law of Moses. And then I remembered that the Law of Moses was established as a temporary schoolmaster because the Israelites were not willing to enter into the everlasting covenant and could not abide the Lord’s presence.

Then I remembered the doctrine that a person had to enter the everlasting covenant of marriage sealed by proper priesthood authority for it to still be in force out of the world.

And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto them—Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths—then shall it be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever. (D&C 132:19)

So I looked again at this scripture:

Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. (Galatians 4:30)

Could it be that Hagar had not been willing to enter the everlasting covenant of marriage and instead settled for a temporary form, and so Paul was prophesying of her forfeiture of eternal blessings? I have no idea. But that’s the only way it makes sense. Could it be that Hagar was afraid of the eternal-ness of the covenant, afraid she would break it, and so declined to enter it? Is this why Paul used her as a parallel for the temporary Law of Moses given to the children of Israel who couldn’t abide the everlasting covenant?

It seems then that Paul was trying to make the point that making an eternal covenant makes you eternally free at the same time that it binds you to eternal blessings that go on past the grave.

After I came to this conclusion I decided I’d change my little going-to-bed-early covenant into one that is much longer term—until the end of my life. I’m going to rely on the Lord to help me, and I know that taking the sacrament worthily renews all my covenants.

So far I have been very blessed. I've been going to bed when I should.

Today I was reading the conference issue of the Ensign and I ran across Elder D. Todd Christofferson’s talk “The Power of Covenants”, and this resonated with me much much more now after my study than it did when I first heard it. At the end he says:

I testify that in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is found the priesthood authority to administer the ordinances by which we can enter into binding covenants with our Heavenly Father in the name of His Holy Son. I testify that God will keep His promises to you as you honor your covenants with Him. He will bless you in "good measure, pressed down, . . . shaken together, and running over" (Luke 6:38). He will strengthen and finish your faith. He will, by His Holy Spirit, fill you with godly power. I pray that you will always have His Spirit to be with you to guide you and deliver you from want, anxiety, and distress. I pray that through your covenants, you may become a powerful instrument for good in the hands of Him who is our Lord and Redeemer, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Covenants give us power. Covenants increase our faith in God. Covenants make us free.