Whosoever shall say, Thou fool

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But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. (Matt 5:22)

Preliminary note: The JST omits “without a cause” from the text.

This verse is interesting because it warns of judgments, councils, and hellfire may be the lot of those who are angry, deride, and verbally abuse others.

The council Jesus spoke up meant a religious council for the purpose of discipline and judgment. Thus, someone who said “Raca” (a term suggesting contempt) to someone else was dehumanizing and verbally abusing and would eventually do worse things that would ultimately lead to church discipline.

Now for the term “fool.”  This seems relatively mild to us, since we have a tradition of the word being used for people who were merely unwise or ignorant or jerks.  However, my perspective on this was changed when I read that the term “fool” in the scriptures actually meant something like “apostate.”  (Here’s an interesting paper on this verse that I also found enlightening.)

With that bit of knowledge, suddenly the verses in Proverbs about fools mean something completely different.  And here in Matt. 5:22, we are warned not to call someone apostate. We are warned this will put us in danger of hellfire.

Why might this be?  First, it is hostile, exclusionary behavior. It has the effect of driving away someone who is already probably somewhat alienated. So in effect, it does Satan’s work for him, and there are consequences for that. (Who wants to be agents of Satan? Not me! [raises hand])

We don’t know people’s hearts or their inner struggle. All we can see are their words and actions. We don’t know, but that our continued forbearance and kindness might be instrumental in helping those we consider faithless to begin believing again.

Jesus’s warning to those who don’t repent

In 3 Nephi there are repeated sections when Jesus warns the future Gentiles that they must repent or face calamity:

11 Therefore it shall come to pass that whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ, which the Father shall cause him to bring forth unto the Gentiles, and shall give unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the Gentiles, (it shall be done even as Moses said) they shall be cut off from among my people who are of the covenant.

12 And my people who are a remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, yea, in the midst of them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.

13 Their hand shall be lifted up upon their adversaries, and all their enemies shall be cut off.

14 Yea, wo be unto the Gentiles except they repent; for it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Father, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots;

15 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strongholds;

16 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy land, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers;

17 Thy graven images I will also cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee, and thou shalt no more worship the works of thy hands;

18 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee; so will I destroy thy cities.

19 And it shall come to pass that all lyings, and deceivings, and envyings, and strifes, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, shall be done away.

20 For it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that at that day whosoever will not repent and come unto my Beloved Son, them will I cut off from among my people, O house of Israel;

21 And I will execute vengeance and fury upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.

22 But if they will repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance; (3 Nephi 21:11-22)

This block of verses is peculiar because they seem so violent or seem to promise violence against those who do not repent and believe in Christ.  I’ve puzzled over these verses for years, and my opinion continues to evolve about what they mean.

Recently I was reading them and a key thing I noticed in them is the repeated phrase “cut off.”  (I have marked the repetitions of this phrase.)

Who will be cut off?

--whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ, which the Father shall cause him to bring forth unto the Gentiles, and shall give unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the Gentiles

--Adversaries and enemies

--Horses and chariots

--Cities and strongholds

--Witchcrafts and soothsayers

--graven images and standing images

--Those who will not repent and come unto Christ

It is also implied that the same cutting off will be done to “groves,” which were usually a term used to refer to places of immoral fertility rites.

What does it mean to be cut off?

When something is cut off, it is separated from a unified whole.  When people are cut off from the Lord’s people, it means they are excommunicated.

You can’t cut off someone who wasn’t a member in the first place, so this section is not directed to nonmember Gentiles, but to members of the Latter-day church of Christ.

The list of those who will be cut off is sometimes very clear and other times vague, so it makes sense to examine closer each of those characteristics or things that will be cut off to see what we can learn.

The Lord will cut off “whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ, which the Father shall cause him [Joseph Smith] to bring forth unto the Gentiles, and shall give unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the Gentiles” (v11) – This could be interpreted to mean those who do not believe the Book of Mormon or the Doctrine & Covenants.  But there is no specific hunt for these people. Rather, they betray themselves through their public unbelief and efforts to lead others not to believe either. Eventually their case comes to the attention of priesthood leaders and they have to be dealt with.

Adversaries and enemies shall be cut off (v13). This sounds like anti-Mormons inside the church and members who fight the church over specific issues.  Again, they betray themselves and have to be dealt with eventually.

Horses and chariots shall be cut off out of the midst of Israel (v14). Horses and chariots are implements of war, but as the saying goes, guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Objects don’t get excommunicated, but the people who use them do.  Here we have to tread carefully because there are faithful Saints in the military, so this can’t be a blanket condemnation of the military. But perhaps there are people whose default problem-solving method is force and violence, and it is so much a part of who they are that they refuse to change. These are abusive and oppressive types. They are certainly in danger of being cut off if they do not repent.

Cities and strongholds will be cut off (v15). Cities evoke the idea of a large group of people who are very closely associated with each other. I think this tells us that even those who are part of a large group inside the church that are fighting the church are not immune from the danger of apostasy and subsequent excommunication. Even if a whole ward or a stake was to apostatize and set themselves against the brethren, they can still be cut off.  I haven’t heard of a case where this happened, but this tells us it is certainly possible.

Witchcrafts and soothsayers will be cut off out of the land (v16). Here we have false prophets and those who seemingly bewitch others with counterfeit gospels and mysteries. Sooner or later they will be known by their fruits, which will not be good, and if they don’t repent, they will be removed.

Graven images will be cut off (v17).  This is another case where the thing is standing in for the person who made it and/or worships it. Modern idolatry is all about messed up priorities.  Whenever someone puts something at a higher priority than God, it will sooner or later lead them to sin, and if they don’t repent of it, they will remove themselves or be removed from the church.

Groves will be plucked up out of the cities (v18). I’ve already explained what groves mean.  Here the groves are another thing standing in for the person in question, someone who has committed immoral acts.  Those who don’t repent of their immorality and abominations will be cut off.

A list of other sins shall be done away – lying, deceiving, envying, strifes, priestcrafts, and whoredoms (v19).  Saying that the sins shall be done away I think emphasizes that the sins can be removed and the people purified, which is what we all hope for, rather than for the penalty of excommunication being imposed.

“whosoever will not repent and come unto my Beloved Son, them will I cut off from among my people, O house of Israel” (v20) – In the end, it doesn’t matter much what sin causes the problem. If someone isn’t willing to repent of it and come to Christ, that will lead to them being cut off.  The thing is, when one is faced with this, it will feel simultaneously as though the sin in question is no big deal and not worth the attention of a discipline hearing, but also it will feel like that sin is a major part of the person’s character, such that giving it up will feel like a betrayal of who one is.  (Interesting how such contrasting feelings combine to discourage from repentance. I’ll give you three guesses as to who would promote those feelings.)  The truth is the opposite – it is worth having leaders look into it, and giving it up is an affirmation of one’s identity as a child of God, and one is better without that sin.

So why is it important for us to know about this?

Again, we should tune into the fact that a person can’t be cut off from the covenant people of Israel unless they were once a part of them in the first place.  The warning isn’t to outsiders, but to church members.  It is a warning from Christ Himself that He will not suffer the members to go on indefinitely in their sin just because they belong to the church.  Complacent members are liable to think that the acceptance and welcoming tolerance of church leaders gives one a free pass to sin as one likes and still enjoy full fellowship. It is true that any person is always welcome, but membership and full fellowship in the church has its conditions, which Christ sets, which include repenting of one’s sins.

Christ’s words affirm this watch-care will be part of the Latter-day church of Christ.  I for one am grateful for it, since being called on the carpet at one point by a priesthood leader once saved me from dwindling towards apostasy.  I had to make a choice to humble myself, and the Spirit fought with me until I realized my errors and repented.

Observations on Alma 14 and the results of Alma and Amulek’s preaching in Ammonihah

Alma 14 shows the society of Ammonihah is ripe for destruction:
• They condemn holy people (Alma & Amulek) for their holiness.
• They consider good to be evil.
• They cast out the righteous men and stone them.
• They burn the innocent women and children to death.
• They destroy all the sacred records they can find.
• They mock, abuse, and imprison righteous church leaders (Alma & Amulek)

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The people of Ammonihah burn the women and children and then mock Alma and Amulek saying, “After what ye have seen, will ye preach again unto this people that they shall be cast into a lake of fire and brimstone?” The people of Ammonihah think that if they subject other people to the penalties they themselves have been warned of, it means the warnings are invalid. It is a twisted sort of reasoning brought on by the pattern of injustice of the judges, who have been working to invalidate righteous authority, and they don’t realize that it seals their doom upon them.

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The abuse Ammonihah leaders put Alma and Amulek through in prison is extreme. They try to break down their identities and destroy them spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Based upon this, it is amazing that Alma preaches so bravely and courageously afterward. It seems he overcomes it through faith in Christ.

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While they are imprisoned, they answer the chief judge nothing when he questions them. What more can they say than has already been said? The people had rejected it all, so there was no more to say. It wasn’t fear that kept them quiet.

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One the last day that Alma and Amulek are imprisoned, the chief judge and many teachers and lawyers mocked them and challenged them to prove Ammonihah would be destroyed by delivering themselves from the bands that tied them. Clearly the judge, the teachers, and lawyers never believed it would happen, but they had not reckoned upon the power and mercy that the Lord extends to His anointed. They sought a sign and they got it, but only to their condemnation. It didn’t cause them to want to repent; it only made them want to remove themselves from the city that they now knew would be destroyed. But it was too late for them. It is significant that it says that “they did not obtain the outer door to the prison.” They die in prison, both temporally and spiritually, while Alma and Amulek come out of this prison whose walls have been rent specifically for them.

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Alma cried to the Lord “O Lord, give us strength according to our faith in Christ, even unto deliverance.” The Lord answered Alma and gave them complete deliverance:
• They broke the bands that bound them.
• They were freed from their tormentors when the earthquake destroyed the prison and the walls fell so exclusively on the evil men.
• They were freed from the prison, as the earthquake rent the prison walls and no one lived to prevent them from leaving.
• They were freed from the city, as all the townspeople ran away from them, so they could leave.
• Finally, because of the healing power of Christ, they eventually recovered and were freed from the debilitating effects of the abuse that they suffered.
According to their faith in Christ, they were delivered from all these afflictions. This dramatic story of deliverance is meant to remind us that God really does have power to deliver us from anything and everything. He can save in so many ways. He can save us from going through afflictions. He can save us from afflictions as we are in them. He can save us from the negative effects of afflictions. He can save us at ANY STAGE. He can save us through death or He can save us with life. He can save us from committing sin. He can save us from our sins. He uses His power to save in ways that will result in the greatest good for us and others and in ways that preserve our agency. Through it all, we have the challenge of remembering that He can save us in all things.

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Mormon takes especial care to give us the specific date when Alma and Amulek are delivered from prison. Then in chapter 16, he gives the specific date when all the people of Ammonihah are attacked and slaughtered by the Lamanites.
Deliverance of Alma and Amulek – 10th year of judges, 10th month, 5th day
Destruction of Ammonihah – 11th year of judges, 2nd month, 5th day
We don’t know what was the last month of their Nephite year, but it could be as many as 6, or as few as 2 months later that Ammonihah was destroyed. Still, it seems Mormon wants to point out that destruction came swiftly when they were ripe, to underline that warnings from God should not be ignored.