A couple of years ago I read a fascinating paper written by John Hilton III presented at the 42nd Annual Sydney B Sperry Symposium held at BYU. In this paper the author compares various psalms with Book of Mormon texts.
He presents the idea that Jacob (in the Book of Mormon) quotes from Psalm 95, splits the verses, and uses this temple psalm as bookends for his book. The psalm reads,
"To day if ye will hear his voice,
"Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness" (Psalms 95: 7-8).
A Temple Psalm
Psalm 95 is a worship hymn likely used in temple worship, and particularly in the ancient round dance prayer circle. Participants would dance in a circle singing the psalm, or hymn, while making "a joyful noise" in the process (see verse 1). The psalm describes a Divine Council setting, where the Most High God would be in the sacred center, or midst, with the council roundabout. Thus, the phrases, "Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving," and "For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods" (vv. 2-3). Similar verses would be "And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good" (Abraham 3: 23). Also, in the opening chapter of the Book of Mormon is the verse, "He (Lehi) saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God" (1 Nephi 1:8).
Note that the members of the council are all gods, but a great King presides over the council, suggesting that the members can attain kingship like the Most High God.
In the psalm the Creation story is recalled with the verse, "The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land" (Psalm 95: 5). The concepts of God being equated to a king and God being the Great Creator are both common temple themes as well as themes of the Psalms.
Seidel's Law
Jacob uses the verses above as bookends for the first and the last chapter of his teachings. I am omitting Jacob 7 as the final chapter since that appears to be a later story involving an anti-Christ, and is written almost as an afterthought. Jacob has already "bid farewell" to his audience until he will meet them again at "the pleasing bar of God" (Jacob 6: 13).
Interestingly, Jacob reverses the order of the verses above, according to Hebrew writing patterns discovered by M. Seidel, who termed this "Seidel's Law." This occurs when one writer is quoting an earlier writer, so the phrases are inverted to emphasize that this is a quote. Some examples are the following verses:
"Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit" (Leviticus 26: 4).
"And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase" (Ezekiel 34: 27).
"Cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee" (Genesis 27: 29).
"Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee" (Numbers 24: 9).
Notice how the phrases are reversed as quoted by the later writers. Jacob uses this Hebrew form, and examples of Seidel's Law occur in several places in the Book of Mormon. I will give you one other example, just for fun:
"He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart . . . " (Psalms 24: 4).
"I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands?" (Alma 5: 19).
Detractors accused Joseph Smith of copying from the Bible, but if that were the case why are the phrases reversed? And how would Joseph know to do this? Seidel discovered this in 1955.
Jacob's First Bookend
Jacob's first bookend is the later phrase given in Psalms 95: "Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness."
Jacob uses the example of the children of Israel provoking the Lord in the day of temptation as an invitation to "come unto Christ."
"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).
In earlier posts we have examined this theme of "coming unto Christ," as a central theme of the book of Jacob. Jacob chapter 4 is loaded with doctrine concerning the coming of Christ and how the Law of Moses was supposed to "point our souls" to Him (v. 5). The Creation process is summarized as in Psalms 95, and the wisdom, justice, and mercy of God are expounded (vv. 9-10).
Then the priestly idea is developed in verse 11 of how we can be presented before God as the "firstfruits" to represent the best of God's harvest. This can happen only through the Atonement of Christ, as we are reconciled to the Father. This is the culmination of temple ordinances, to bring us back into the presence of God, overcoming the Fall.
Chapter 4 is a precursor to chapter 5 as the fruits of the vineyard are gathered into one and presented to the Father, just like in modern revelation "When he shall deliver up the kingdom, and present it unto the Father, spotless, saying: I have overcome and have trodden the wine-press alone, even the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God" (D&C 76: 107). This is great priestly imagery!
Jacob's Ending Bookend
Jacob's ending bookend incorporates the same central theme of coming unto Christ and echoes Psalm 95:
"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts.
"Yea, today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts; for why will ye die?" (Jacob 6: 5-6).
Sandwiched between these bookends is great doctrine. Jacob warns against those things that harden the heart, like pride, lust for material wealth, and sexual immorality. At one point hearts were so hardened that "many hearts died" (Jacob 2: 35).
His tender plea to "cleave unto God as He cleaveth unto you" has special meaning for me. Last year in one of my readings of the Book of Mormon I chose this verse to "ponderize" during the week as Elder Durrant admonished in General Conference. As I read this verse, a beautiful sunrise came over the eastern mountains illuminating the clouds until they looked like red flames of fire. The Spirit whispered to me that He really does cleave to me and to each of us.
Last Thursday while I was at work I received an email from my daughter's mission. She had arrived safely in Canada. I stared at the photo of her, the mission president, his wife, and the familiar face of her first companion and missionary trainer--a dear sister from our own ward. Yes, the Lord is aware of each of us and this is another evidence of His many tender mercies.
As long as His arm of mercy is extended, and as long as you have breath, it's not too late to come unto Him.
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