Tag: creation

3 Nephi 12: 13

3 Nephi 12: 13:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men.”

Salt is a preservative, but in this case it is for the culinary benefit. It produces “savor.” That is, the taste of the whole is affected by the presence of a little.

You don’t need much to preserve the whole. Abraham’s negotiation to preserve Sodom demonstrated that only a little of the “salt” is required for an entire population to receive the Lord’s blessings. (Genesis 18: 17-33.) Progress is enough in our day. (Luke 13: 30.) As long as the wheat is still growing, it is enough.

How can salt “lose its savor” except through contamination or impurities? When that is lost, the salt cannot preserve. There is no remaining savor. Then the salt is nothing more than common dirt, to be cast aside and trodden under foot.

This is the gentile predicament in the last days. They will, of course, lose their savor. They will reject the fullness offered to them. (3 Nephi 16: 10.) When they do, they will be torn apart and trodden under foot. (3 Nephi 20: 16; 3 Nephi 21: 12.)

Notice it is the Lord who “gives unto you to be the salt of the earth.” This condition is a gift from God. Through repentance, or turning to Him, you can receive this. Without repentance you cannot become the salt.

There are no private lives. Every life counts. Your private devotions are more important than your public notice. The salt which preserves may be unknown, likely is unknown, to most people. But if you are the salt, then your private life of devotion to the Lord is saving the lives of many others. The angels want to begin the harvest. They are impatient to begin reaping and cutting down the wicked now. (D&C 86: 5.) There is only time given because of a few who deserve more time to grow in faith before the harvest begins. (D&C 86: 6-7.) Your growth is all that is keeping the harvest from beginning now. Therefore, how you proceed has consequences far beyond your own life.

When wheat is ripe it will be protected. When tares are ripe they will be burned. But the tender plants worthy of preservation are the only ones allowed more time. (D&C 86: 4.) I advocate for them and realize how tenuous a position humanity itself is in at present. But you are the ones in the balance and for whom time is granted. How much longer no one knows, but your sins are not private. Your repentance is critical to all of creation. Do not think your life is your own. All of us have a share in your good works.

Do not think the Savior’s words are without cosmic significance. I define “cosmic” to include the cosmos or organized creation here. Even the earth itself longs to be freed from the burden of sin upon her face. (Moses 7: 48.) It is the Lord alone who has granted you time to repent. This current state of the creation we live is affected by the promise held in those who are repenting. As soon as that hope ends, and no further repentance is to occur, then the harvest will begin. Therefore, becoming salt has never been so important as it now is.

Creation Accounts

All ancient accounts of the creation of life here came through a presentation intended either as an initiation or an ordinance. The various accounts we have are also from such settings. Genesis is the ritual account given through Moses. The words “God said” should better be rendered “the Gods shall say” (meaning that this is telling the players what to do). Similarly, the Abraham account saying that one “like unto the Son” or “like unto God” is describing the player’s role. It is a dramatic presentation.

There is no need to read into any of the various texts something which isn’t there. Hence the earlier post dealing with the creation accounts and how Eve was left out of the original statement of the commandment regarding the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The account sets it out with the commandment coming before Eve’s creation in all but the current Endowment presentation. Our version has been changed from time to time to accomplish various efficiencies as we have adopted filming, and other innovations to make the Endowment fit within new formats and time constraints.

Creation Ceremonies

I was asked about the creation account being tied to ritual initiation ceremonies. All the ancient accounts of creation were given in connection with initiations or ceremonial rites. That is true of the Egyptians, Babylonians, Israelites, Babylonians, Hopis, etc. The ritualized explanation of the origin of human life is tied together with the meaning of life, and obligations about how life was to be lived, and what the afterlife will hold. The restored Temple rights are consistent with the most ancient of traditions.

Interestingly, the rites of the Masons do not have this basic orientation, and are therefore not part of the tradition from which the endowment ceremony springs.

Various Creation Accounts

There are different versions of the creation. The Moses, Abraham and Genesis accouts are similar in putting Adam alone at the point when the commandment was given to not partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The Temple account does not preserve this.

All the accounts are intended as initiation ceremonies. In the Abraham account, for example, there are directions given to the players who perform the ceremony. They are all “endowment” documents.

Each ceremony can be viewed as a separate revelation. The fact that there are differences means nothing. All of them are intended to highlight or emphasize different teachings. It is foolish to ask “which one is right” because they are all right.

The creation (or transplant of man onto this world) is not really the reason for the various ceremonial accounts of the event. They are intended to orient us to how we got here (by a deliberate, planned act of God), why were are here (to find our way back to God) and why conditions here are difficult (to gain knowledge of good and evil). The accounts are really about us. Each of us was born innocent in the beginning, gradually become accountable, feel ourselves outside the presence of God, and must work to return.