The Book of Mormon contains several Zion accounts. The most obvious is found in Third Nephi. There we are introduced to people who initially were unprepared for the Lord’s presence and his Zion. Nevertheless, after a period of diligent preparation, these people managed to change their lives so that the Lord could come and establish Zion among them.

But there is another account that begs our attention: the account of the people of King Benjamin. These people were prepared for the establishment of Zion; they had been diligently keeping the commandments of the Lord,[ii] and they were ready to ascend to a higher level of spirituality. King Benjamin employed his priesthood to facilitate a spiritual experience that took his people to that higher level. This level is where the ideal of Zion becomes possible in a person’s life; it is this level where preparations are finally complete so that we can come into the presence of the Lord. This level is marked by fully taking upon us the name of Jesus Christ.

To fully take upon us the name of Christ requires at least three things: (1) intervention by the priesthood, (2) receiving all of the covenants and ordinances, including those administered in the temple, and (3) living worthily of all that we have received.

Intervention by the Priesthood

Elder David B. Haight taught us of the responsibility and the opportunity of a priesthood holder to bring those of his stewardship to a point where they can fully take upon them the name of Jesus Christ. Referring to “a sacred experience in which he viewed the Savior’s ministry and came to a greater understanding of the power of the priesthood,”[iii] he said, “During those days of unconsciousness [brought on by illness] I was given, by the gift of the Holy Ghost, a more perfect knowledge of His mission. I was also given a more complete understanding of what it means to exercise, in His name, the authority to unlock the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven for the salvation of all who are faithful.”[iv]

King Benjamin understood his priesthood role to act as an advocate for the people and “to unlock the mysteries of the kingdom for [their] salvation.” By the authority of the priesthood, he facilitated a spiritual experience whereby his people received a greater endowment of the Spirit in a temple setting. We must remember that the responsibility of the priesthood is to bring people to the Holy Ghost, whose responsibility is to bring people to Jesus Christ—whose responsibility is to bring people to the Father.

King Benjamin sanctified himself, thus changing his purpose from being king and protector to becoming a savior to his people. The priesthood is the power to facilitate a conversion opportunity for those of one’s stewardship, to bring people to Christ so that they might more fully take upon themselves his name, and to unlock the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven that can be learned only by revelation. This astounding idea links priesthood authority, the name of Christ, and unlocking blessings for those whom we serve.

Receiving the Covenants and Ordinances

The process of taking upon ourselves the name of Christ begins at baptism,[v] and it continues by our subsequently partaking of the sacrament, in which we indicate our willingness to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ.[vi] In both cases, however, our ability to fully take upon ourselves the name of Christ, which is sometimes termed as being born again or being born of God, is usually something that happens later. Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained:

Mere compliance with the formality of the ordinance of baptism does not mean that a person has been born again. No one can be born again without baptism, but the immersion in water and the laying on of hands to confer the Holy Ghost do not of themselves guarantee that a person has been or will be born again. The new birth takes place only for those who actually enjoy the gift or companionship of the Holy Ghost, only for those who are fully converted, who have given themselves without restraint to the Lord. Thus Alma addressed himself to his “brethren of the church,” and pointedly asked them if they had “spiritually been born of God,” received the Lord’s image in their countenances, and had the “mighty change” in their hearts which always attends the birth of the Spirit. (Alma 5:14, 31.)[vii]

Baptism and the sacrament point us toward making other covenants and receiving their associated ordinances. To the degree that we make and receive these covenants and ordinances, and live worthily of them, we take upon us the name of Jesus Christ.

Common Ways of Taking upon Ourselves the Name of Christ

There are several ways we commonly take upon ourselves the name of Christ.One way that we take upon ourselves his name is to accept him as the father or head of the earthly church to which we belong, the Church that bears his name: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[viii] Our acceptance of him in this role transcends this world, for it is in the next world that we, having taken upon ourselves his name, will more fully see and accept him as the “Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,”[ix] the eternal head of the heavenly church to which we will belong: The Church of the Firstborn.[x]

Another way that we take upon ourselves his name is by taking upon ourselves his priesthood. The Lord said to Abraham, “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.”[xi]

Moreover, we take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ when we bear testimony of him. Testimony bearing and taking upon ourselves Christ’s name are linked in the latter-day commandment: “Take upon you the name of Christ, and speak the truth in soberness.”[xii] Peter said, “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you.”[xiii] Bearing witness of the Lord is to commend him to others and to testify of his reality, his ability, and his works.[xiv] This recommendation and witness qualify as a form of taking upon us the name of Christ.

We also take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ by assuming his work. Significantly, the Twelve Apostles are “special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world.”[xv] By delegation, we take our part in the work of the Twelve, and thus we take upon us the work and name of Christ.

Born of God—the Mystery of Spiritual Rebirth

But there is another way of taking upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. This way speaks of a future event that is foreshadowed each time we partake of the sacrament and witness our willingness to take upon ourselves his name in this ultimate way. M. Catherine Thomas refers to this future event as “the mystery of spiritual rebirth.”[xvi]

The idea of spiritual rebirth was introduced to Nicodemus by Jesus: “Ye must be born again.”[xvii] The concept of birth invokes the image of parents or progenitors. When we are born again by baptism, we agree to accept Jesus as our spiritual father and give ourselves to being adopted into his family, which is his Church. Hence, forevermore, we are called by the name of our adopted father—Jesus Christ—which is also the name of our new family. We accept Jesus as our adopted father in the sense that he becomes the father or the progenitor of our salvation; that is, our salvation is born of him. King Benjamin said, “Because of the covenant ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons and daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you.”[xviii] Elder McConkie wrote:

Those who are born again not only live a new life, but they also have a new father. Their new life is one of righteousness, and their new father is God. They become the sons of God; or, more particularly, they become the sons and daughters of Jesus Christ. They bear, ever thereafter, the name of their new parent; that is, they take upon themselves the name of Christ and become Christians, not only in word but in very deed. They become by adoption the seed or offspring of Christ, the children in his family, the members of his household which is the perfect household of perfect faith.[xix]

That is not to say that we abandon our Heavenly Father, who is the Progenitor of our spirit bodies, in favor of Jesus Christ, who is our elder brother. Conversely, Heavenly Father initiates the mandate that we take upon us the name of his son, Jesus Christ, by our entering in the waters of baptism. Moreover, as we have said, each time we partake of the sacrament, we witness unto the Father our willingness to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ, that is, to prepare ourselves and look forward to the day when we fully take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ.

It should be clear by now that taking upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ is the central issue and objective of the gospel. Possibly nothing is more important to our salvation and eventual exaltation than taking upon ourselves this holy name.

Fully Taking upon Us the Name of Jesus Christ

This brings us to the account of King Benjamin and how he used his priesthood to facilitate a spiritual experience by which his people could fully take upon themselves the name of Jesus Christ—“the mystery of spiritual rebirth.”

We recall that the prophet-king sanctified himself and thus fully took upon himself the name of Christ. Now he was in a position to help others. Jesus set the example for this process. In his great intercessory prayer, he said to the Father, “And for their sakes [the apostles] I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified.”[xx] That is to say, he was about to magnify or increase his purpose through his atoning sacrifice so that he could fully become the Savior. He said that he was going to do this so that he could facilitate a sanctifying opportunity for his apostles, “that they also might be sanctified.” Likewise, King Benjamin sanctified himself, fully took upon himself the name of Christ, and then prayed earnestly for priesthood power to bring his people into the presence of the Lord. The process moved him from being a great king and protector to being a great prophet and priest, or more specifically, a savior to his people.

In response to King Benjamin’s prayer, an angel appeared, granting him permission to gather the people for the purpose of giving them an endowment that would cause them to “rejoice with exceedingly great joy”[xxi] and be “filled with joy.”[xxii] These terms are connected with being born again.[xxiii] The central message of the angel involved King Benjamin’s giving the people “a name, that thereby they may be distinguished above all the people which the Lord God hath brought out of the land of Jerusalem.” Without a doubt, these people were righteous and highly favored. But what had they done to deserve the honor of being granted this “name”? King Benjamin explained that it was because “they have been a diligent people in keeping the commandments of the Lord.” For that reason, they would be blessed with “a name that never shall be blotted out, except it be through transgression.”[xxiv]

From that point forward, the king’s entire effort—gathering them to the temple, administering to them a sermon that was structured like the temple endowment,[xxv] making references to their being “sealed” to Christ in order to receive eternal life[xxvi]—focused on helping his people fully take upon themselves the name of Jesus Christ.

It is worth emphasizing that these people were righteous people who had been diligent in keeping the commandments, which we may assume would mean that they had received baptism and so had already taken upon themselves the name of Christ. Now King Benjamin, through his priesthood, served as an advocate with God to provide these good people a new and fuller experience with the name of Christ. Obviously, they had never before taken upon themselves the name of Christ to this degree. What happened when they did so? Catherine Thomas said they attained to “a higher spiritual plain in their quest to return to God. . . . The people tasted of the glory of God and came to a personal knowledge of him; through the power of the Holy Spirit they experienced the mighty change of heart and the mystery of spiritual rebirth.”[xxvii]

This astonishing experience resulted in a “profound transformation from basic goodness to something that exceeded their ability to even describe. This much did they say, ‘The Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent . . . has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually’ (Mosiah 5:2).”[xxviii]

President Joseph F. Smith explained the result of taking upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ and experiencing the mighty change of heart:

If our hearts are fixed with proper intent upon serving God and keeping His commandments, what will be the fruits of it? What will be the result? . . . Men will be full of the spirit of forgiveness, of charity, of mercy, of love unfeigned. They will not seek occasion against each other; nor will they take advantage of the weak, the unwary, or the ignorant; but they will regard the rights of the ignorant, of the weak, of those who are dependent and at their mercy, as they do their very own; they will hold the liberties of their fellow-men as sacred as their own liberties; they will prize the virtue, honor and integrity of their neighbors and brothers just as they would appreciate and prize and hold sacred their own.[xxix]

Zion indeed!

The Temple and the Name of Christ

The key to understanding “the mystery of spiritual rebirth” lies in the fact that King Benjamin’s people fully took upon themselves the name of Christ in a temple setting. We cannot overstate the significance of this fact. The temple is a house dedicated to “the name” of the Lord.[xxx] The Lord’s “name shall be put upon this house.”[xxxi] When we partake of the sacrament, we implicitly indicate our willingness to go to the temple to fully take upon ourselves the name of Christ and receive the blessings of exaltation.[xxxii] Expounding on our receiving the fulness of the name of Christ, Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote, “God’s name is God. To have his name written on a person is to identify that person as a god. How can it be said more plainly? Those who gain eternal life become gods!”[xxxiii] Thus, it is in the temple that we fully receive the name of Jesus Christ through the covenants and ordinances of salvation.

In the temple we are purified, sanctified, and anointed to become kings and priests, queens and priestesses, in the similitude of Jesus Christ.[xxxiv] It is in the temple that we receive the keys of his knowledge and power. It is in the temple that we make successive covenants that define a Christlike lifestyle.[xxxv] It is in the temple that we are transformed into saviors on Mount Zion, with his “name written always in [our] hearts,”[xxxvi] and it is there that the price he paid for each of us becomes very real.

We recall that the Nephites had something like a temple experience when the Savior invited them, one by one, to step forward and touch his wounds and thus come in contact with the reality of the Atonement on an individual basis.[xxxvii] As they effectively received the marks of the Atonement, they were transformed into saviors in the similitude of the Savior; that is, their ability to perform a saving service in behalf of others greatly increased, as evidenced in the beginning verses of Fourth Nephi. In that encounter with the resurrected Savior, in a very literal way, they took upon themselves the name of Christ, whereas previously they had received his name symbolically.

It is in the temple that we are bound to Jesus with a seal that cannot be broken—except by our own sin. There we symbolically ascend to where he is, to become what he is, and to achieve oneness with him as he is one with the Father. It is in the temple that we receive by marriage a kingdom within his Kingdom. Everything about the temple experience points to fully taking upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ.

The Name of Christ and Coronation

Moreover, everything about the temple experience points to our coronation in God’s kingdom.[xxxviii] What we do in the temple symbolically, we will one day do literally.[xxxix] We recall that the kings of the Nephites typically received a new name when they ascended to the throne. At first, that name was Nephi.[xl] Just so, when we ascend to our throne we are given a new name—a coronation name. That royal name is Jesus Christ; we become joint heirs with him. Thus, to fully take upon us the name of Jesus Christ opens the door to be nominated a candidate for a throne and exaltation.

The prophet Jeremiah rejoiced when he read, understood, and internalized the import of the word of the Lord as it applied to taking upon himself the name of Jesus Christ: “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.”[xli] Elder McConkie taught,

We have the ability and the capacity and the power to attain unto that status [sons and daughters of God] after we accept the Lord with all our hearts (see D&C 39:1–6). Now the ordinances that are performed in the temples are the ordinances of exaltation; they open the door to us to an inheritance of sonship; they open the door to us so that we may become sons and daughters, members of the household of God in eternity . . . if we thereafter continue faithful, to receive eventually the fullness of the Father. The temple ordinances open the door to gaining all power and all wisdom and all knowledge. Temple ordinances open up the way to membership in the Church of the Firstborn. They open the door to becoming kings and priests and inheriting all things.[xlii]

Catherine Thomas concluded, “King Benjamin’s people received an endowment of spiritual knowledge and power which took them from being good people to Christlike people—all in a temple setting. What they experienced through the power of the priesthood was a revelation of Christ’s nature and the power to be assimilated to his image.”[xliii] Plainly, those who fully take upon themselves the name of Jesus Christ qualify to come into his presence, receive their exaltation, and become gods. This is “the mystery of spiritual rebirth.”[xliv]

And this, we would conclude, is the essence of Zion, which is made possible by fully taking upon us the name of Jesus Christ.

Author’s Note:

This article was adapted from my new book, The Three Pillars of Zion. Click here to receive a free sample.

[ii] Mosiah 1:11.

[iii] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 281.

[iv] Haight, “The Sacrament—and the Sacrifice,” 59; emphasis added.

[v] 2 Nephi 31:13.

[vi] Moroni 4:3; D&C 20:37.

[vii] McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 101.

[viii] D&C 115:4; 3 Nephi 27:7–8.

[ix] Isaiah 9:6; 2 Nephi 19:6.

[x] D&C 76:54, 71, 76, 94; 93:22; 107:19.

[xi] Abraham 1:18.

[xii] Oaks, “Taking Upon Us the Name of Jesus Christ,” 80; quoting D&C 18:21.

[xiii] 1 Peter 3:15.

[xiv] Ether 12:41.

[xv] D&C 107:23.

[xvi] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 277.

[xvii] John 3:7.

[xviii] Mosiah 5:7; see also Alma 5:14; 36:23–26.

[xix] McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, 284.

[xx] John 17:19.

[xxi] Mosiah 3:13.

[xxii] Mosiah 4:3.

[xxiii] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 285–86.

[xxiv] Mosiah 1:11–12.

[xxv] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 292.

[xxvi] Mosiah 5:15.

[xxvii] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 293.

[xxviii] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 290.

[xxix] Smith, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith, 425.

[xxx] 1 Kings 3:2; 5:5; 8:16–20, 29, 44, 48; 1 Chronicles 22:8–10, 19; 29:16; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 6:5–10, 20, 34, 38.

[xxxi] D&C 109:26.

[xxxii] Oaks, “Taking Upon Us the Name of Jesus Christ,” 80.

[xxxiii] McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3:459.

[xxxiv] Smith, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, 22.

[xxxv] Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 454–56.

[xxxvi] Mosiah 5:12.

[xxxvii] 3 Nephi 11:14–17.

[xxxviii] Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1464; McConkie, Conference Report, Oct. 1955, 13.

[xxxix] D&C 76:55–58.

[xl] Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 191.

[xli] Jeremiah 15:16.

[xlii] McConkie, Conference Report, Oct. 1955, 13.

[xliii] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 292.

[xliv] Thomas, “Benjamin and the Mysteries of God,” 277.

It is a well-known fact that the sacrament serves to align our lives with Jesus Christ like a compass aligns us to true north. When we are faced with a child who is off course, a most useful, redeeming tool for parents is to remain on course. According to numerous parents who have suffered long with a wayward child, the sacrament was the single gospel principle upon which they relied to weekly anchor them to their covenants and to infuse them with power to press forward in faith and hope.

The Purposes of the Sacrament

The ordinances of the sacrament and baptism are interconnected. Baptism is the covenant of salvation;[i] Jesus Christ is the agent of salvation. When we renew our baptismal covenants by partaking of the sacrament, we should recommit to the terms of baptism that ensure our salvation, and we should recommit our lives to Jesus Christ. The major purpose of our gathering in sacrament meeting is to partake of the sacrament. “When ye come together therefore into one place, is it not to eat the Lord’s supper?”[ii] The Apostle Paul suggests three great purposes for the sacrament.

• The sacrament is a memorial. “This do ye . . . in remembrance of me.”[iii]
• The sacrament is a testimonial. When we partake, we “shew the Lord’s death till he come.”[iv] (Note that the word shew means to “proclaim or announce.”)
• The sacrament is an examination. “But let a man examine himself.”[v]

When we partake of the sacrament, do we fulfill these three main purposes? Do we rejoice in our recollection of the wonder and majesty of the Atonement? Does our partaking of the sacrament testify of our faith in the Redeemer? Do we look closely at our lives to see if we are worthy and if we are conducting ourselves as disciples ought? Again, many parents of wayward children have testified that the sacrament, because it focuses on our relationship with Jesus Christ, brought them comfort, purpose, hope, and the power to face their challenges and to obtain divine assistance for their children.

The Sacrament and the Promise of the Holy Ghost

Nothing in the process of redeeming a wayward child is as essential as having the guidance of the Holy Ghost. Significantly, the sacrament’s sanctifying promise is the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost: “Those who partake of the sacrament place themselves under covenant with the Lord to take upon them the name of Christ, to always remember him, and to keep his commandments. The Lord in turn covenants that they may always have his Spirit to be with them.”[vi]

This implication is often missed. When we are baptized and confirmed, we are commanded to “receive the Holy Ghost.” Elder Bruce R. McConkie points out that this commandment is also a gift—a right, not a guarantee, “based on faithfulness, to the constant companionship of the member of the Godhead. It is the right to receive revelation, guidance, light, and truth.”[vii] Our ability to retain the companionship of the Holy Ghost is apparently dependent upon our honoring our baptismal covenants by means of the sacrament. In plain terms, the sacrament is the ordinance that makes retention of the Holy Ghost possible.

The Holy Ghost and Sanctification

Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, “When we worthily partake of the sacrament, we are promised that we will ‘always have his Spirit to be with [us].’ To qualify for that promise we covenant that we will ‘always remember him’ (D&C 20:77).”[viii] Because we enjoy the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, we enjoy the constant sanctifying power of that gift, which sanctification, in addition to all other considerations, enables us to seek redeeming blessings for those whom we love.

The Holy Ghost is the Sanctifier. Receipt of the Holy Ghost is called the baptism of fire, which follows the baptism by water. We are immersed both in water and in the Spirit. Remission of sins is not possible without the baptism of fire. Of the necessity of these two baptisms, the Prophet Joseph Smith said, “You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half—that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost.”[ix] Because “no unclean thing can dwell in a divine presence,” and because “people are saved to the extent that they are sanctified,”[x] we cherish and rely on the Holy Ghost, who burns out of us all impurities and creates of us a “new creature.”[xi]

As its name implies, baptism by fire is hot. Malachi described the work of the Lord and his agent, the Holy Ghost, as a refiner’s fire.[xii] Both the Savior and the Holy Ghost are engaged in the work of refining souls. This knowledge is important to parents of wayward children and speaks to the theme of my book: The redeemed become the redeemers.

Our ability to rescue and redeem a wayward soul is directly linked to our level of sanctification. Therefore, we are told that before we attempt to pluck out the mote in another’s eye we must first excise the beam from our own.[xiii] That process requires the Holy Ghost. As we pray for the Lord’s help to rescue our children, we might be surprised that He focuses His attention on us first. The Lord might use the child’s situation to sanctify us. If we will submit to the refiner’s fire, once we emerge from it, we will be in a much better position to help our children when they experience it.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote of the sacramental covenant and the Holy Ghost as paths to redemption:

Those who partake of the sacrament worthily thereby put themselves under covenant with the Lord: 1. To always remember the broken body and spilled blood of Him who was crucified for the sins of the world; 2. To take upon themselves the name of Christ and always remember him; and 3. To keep the commandments of God, that is, to “live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God.” (D&C 84:44.)

As his part of the contract, the Lord covenants: 1. That such worthy saints shall have his Spirit to be with them; and 2. That in due course they shall inherit eternal life. (D&C 20:75–79; Moro. 4; 5.) “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:54.) In the light of these covenants, promises, and blessings, is it any wonder that the Lord commanded: “It is expedient that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in the remembrance of the Lord Jesus.” (D&C 20:75; Doctrines of Salvation, Volume 2, 338–350.)”[xiv]

Clearly, none of these blessings are possible without the sacrament.

Coming to the Altar of Sacrifice

Each Sunday our attention should be focused on the sacramental table—the altar of sacrifice—where the priests of God prepare emblems of bread and water that remind us of the Lord’s sacrifice. Jesus said that He is the Bread of Life[xv] and the Living Water.[xvi]

In the sacramental covenant, both parties make promises to and agree to sacrifice for each other. The Lord’s promises are the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost and eternal life; our promises are those that we made at baptism, specifically, to take upon us the name of Christ, to always remember Him, and to keep His commandments. Jesus’ sacrifice is His body and His blood; our sacrifice is a “broken heart and a contrite spirit.”[xvii] The altar is where all of this takes place.

At the altar of sacrifice, the priests of God prepare and consecrate the sacrifice and set forth the terms of the covenant. The sacrament, like the Passover, is the memorial of our salvation and deliverance. That single hope should sink deeply within our souls as we consider the Atonement’s saving and liberating implications for our children.

The Supernal Blessing of the Holy Ghost

By living in a way that we always honor our baptismal covenants, we “retain a remission of our sins,”[xviii] “and the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.”[xix] The promise of the Holy Ghost is unequalled: “The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.”[xx]

Therefore—and in no other way—by the simple, sanctifying act of worthily partaking of the sacrament, we renew our baptismal covenant and secure the promise that we received in our confirmation: the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. And we know that it is the Holy Ghost who sanctifies us, which sanctification fills us with power to rescue our wayward children.

Author’s Note

Note: This article is adapted from Rescuing Wayward Children. Follow this link to learn more.

Also, to receive a sample of my new 5-book series, The Three Pillars of Zion, Click here.

[ii] JST 1 Corinthians 11:20.

[iii] 1 Corinthians 11:25.

[iv] 1 Corinthians 11:26.

[v] 1 Corinthians 11:28.

[vi] Encyclopedia of Mormonism, “Sacrament,” 1243–1244.

[vii] Bruce R. McConkie, “Gift of the Holy Ghost,” Mormon Doctrine, 312.

[viii] Dallin H. Oaks, “Pornography,” Ensign, May 2005, 88.

[ix] Robert, B.H., History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 5, 499.

[x] Encyclopedia of Mormonism, “Holy Ghost,” 649–650.

[xi] 2 Corinthians 5:17.

[xii] See Malachi 3:2.

[xiii] See Matthew 7:3–4.

[xiv] Bruce R. McConkie, “Sacrament,” Mormon Doctrine, 660.

[xv] See John 6:35.

[xvi] See John 4:10.

[xvii] D&C 59:8.

[xviii] Mosiah 4:12.

[xix] Moroni 8:26, emphasis added.

[xx] D&C 121:46.

For single parents and those wishing to be sealed in the temple, this can be a painful reminder. However, though this article deals specifically with the power given to married couples who are sealed in the temple, many principles apply to singles, single parents, those working for eternal union with less-active spouses, and to children who are praying for their wayward parents. Faith and grace allow us to act as if we were in possession of that which we lack and to do all that we can do with the assurance that the Lord will make up the difference.  Attesting to the truth of this comforting fact, President Spencer W. Kimball said all faithful members would “not be deprived of any blessings which they might have received if they had lived up to all of the commandments with which they could comply.”

The Power of the Marriage Sealing

Love between a husband and a wife can be welded into an unbreakable link by the temple marriage covenant. If a couple lives true to that covenant, they can become one in word, purpose, and deed. That quality of oneness is the ultimate unity necessary to obtain redemptive blessings in behalf of our children. While the temple experience teaches us that the sealing of parents is initially provisional and based on subsequent obedience, we also are aware that no such qualifying language is used when a child is born in the covenant or when a child is later sealed to his parents. This fact suggests that the Lord intends for the child to belong to the parents forever.

President Joseph Fielding Smith said,

Those born under the covenant, throughout all eternity, are the children of their parents. Nothing except the unpardonable sin, or sin unto death, can break this tie. If children do not sin as John said, ‘unto death,’ the parents may still feel after them and eventually bring them back near to them again.

The prophets have stated repeatedly that the calling of parent is one from which we are never released. Such is the incredible power of the sealing ordinance. The covenant entered into and the sealing pronounced on a couple married in the temple create a patriarchal hold that secures children to their parents forever. The sealing of children to parents gives children the inalienable right to be offered all the blessings of the new and everlasting covenant. Moreover, the sealing has the power to draw children toward those blessings.

Sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise

The ultimate goals of love should be to enter into the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, then persist in that covenant until the marriage is sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise. The Holy Spirit of Promise is a “name-title used in connection with the sealing and ratifying power of the Holy Ghost.” Great power devolves upon a husband and wife who have married in the temple and lived worthily so that the Holy Spirit of Promise can validate their marriage. Elder Bruce C. Hafen wrote,

A covenant marriage in the highest sense will begin as a temple marriage. When the partners are then sufficiently righteous, the marriage will be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise (D&C 132:7), “which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true” (D&C 76:53). Such a marriage will then be not only eternal in duration but also celestial in quality, for it will be a marriage that partakes of God’s quality of life.

President James E. Faust made one of the clearest statements on the subject: “When the covenant of marriage for time and eternity, the culminating gospel ordinance, is sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, it can literally open the windows of heaven for great blessings to flow to a married couple who seek for those blessings.”

The sealing of the Holy Spirit of Promise is contingent upon our faithfulness to our covenants. Although marriage is an important step toward exaltation, it is not the ultimate step. Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote, “It should be clearly understood that these high blessings are not part of celestial marriage. ‘Blessings pronounced upon couples in connection with celestial marriage are conditioned upon the subsequent faithfulness of the participating parties.’” In the final analysis, for marriage (or any saving ordinance) to have the greatest power, it must be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise.

Great Powers Unleashed

If a man and a woman marry in the temple, thereby entering into the patriarchal order of the priesthood, and then remain worthy so that their marriage is sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise, they are given greater power from on high to ask for and receive the highest blessings. These blessings include power to gather or call back their family to Christ (keys restored by Moses), power to organize their family into an eternal, celestial unit, including power to ensure that each family member receives all the blessings of the new and everlasting covenant (keys restored by Elias), and power to have all those blessings sealed so that these blessings might endure forever (keys restored by Elijah).

Speaking of the great blessings that flow to the children by the power of their parents’ marriage sealing, Joseph Fielding Smith wrote:

These keys hold the power to seal husbands and wives for eternity as well as for time. They hold the power to seal children to parents, the key of adoption, by which the family organization is made intact forever. This is the power which will save the obedient from the curse in the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Through these keys the hearts of the children have turned to their fathers.

So the key to rescuing our wayward children lies not only in our striving to be unified, but to be unified with respect to our covenants. Elder Russell M. Nelson wrote: “As you obey each of God’s commandments, your holiness will fortify the foundation of your fathers’ faith. When the two of you are together spiritually, one plus one is clearly greater than two.”

An Example

Following is a story of a Nevada couple who followed this advice.

When “James” was a teenager, he set about to self-destruct in record time. “Thomas and Alyssa,” his parents, were helpless to halt or alter his determination. A bad group of friends introduced him to alcohol and later, tobacco. When he began to fail badly in school, Thomas and Alyssa tried to help him with a tutor, but James soon lost all interest. Later, he dropped out of school, and later still, when Thomas and Alyssa had laid out a simple set of rules that James would not abide, they asked him to live elsewhere. By that time, he was using and selling drugs, stealing from his parents, and having frequent run-ins with the law. At one point, James was incarcerated for a year, but when he was released he continued with his destructive behavior.

To deal with the problem, Thomas and Alyssa did something remarkable: they pulled together as a couple. They renewed their marriage by frequent dating and trips. They increased their temple attendance, and they put more energy into their couple prayers. In the midst of one of the worst trials of their lives, they reacted by loving each other and God more.

Throughout these years of intense stress and heartbreak, Thomas and Alyssa kept in contact with James and assured him of their love for him. Thomas said, “Alyssa and I didn’t know what else to do. In the beginning, we prayed because that was all we could think to do. But over time, we discovered that parental prayer is a sort of right God gives fathers and mothers. We didn’t even know that we had such a right until we noticed our prayers being answered in miraculous ways.”

At one critical moment, James had moved to a new city and had no place to room. His parents knew that his decision would make or break him. His history had been to live with the low-lifes of society-jobless and hard partying, alcoholics and drug users. Now he was faced with a similar decision, and Thomas and Alyssa went to their knees. They pled with Heavenly Father to help James find an LDS person to live with. Within the week, James called and said that he had made a friend of a returned missionary who had invited him to be his roommate. James stayed with this young man until his next crisis.

Later, James called his father and announced that he and a woman with whom he had been having an affair, were going to buy a condo so they could live together. Despite Thomas’s stern counsel discouraging this, James had stubbornly made up his mind and once again announced that he was going to do things his way. Thomas and Alyssa went to their knees and prayed that something would happen to give James another choice.

Within the week, James called to tell his parents that the woman had broken up with him. He was hurt, but he had begun to date an LDS girl. Within a short period of time, James and the girl fell in love and wanted to get married. She had set her sites on a temple marriage, and that made James reconsider his life. He asked his father to give him a blessing. James went to his bishop, confessed, and gave up all his bad habits. The young woman was willing to wait for James as he completed the repentance process, and after a year, they were married in the temple. Of this miracle, Thomas and Alyssa said, “Couples may not know the power that God puts into their hands. A couple that has truly become one can sincerely pray for their children, and miracles will happen. That oneness calls forth a power we had never thought possible.

Without the Sealing, All would be “Wasted”

Thus, although love may motivate a man and woman to enter into marriage, only God has the power to truly make them one. Moroni revealed to Joseph Smith the sobering fact why this welding link-a temple sealing and subsequent sanctification-must be in place to make a couple (and their progenitors and children) one: so that “the whole earth [would not] be utterly wasted at [the Lord's] coming.” Robert L. Millet gives us further insight into this idea of the earth’s being wasted:

Why would the earth be wasted at his coming? Because the earth would not have accomplished its foreordained purpose of establishing on its face a family system patterned after the order of heaven. If there were no sealing powers whereby families could be bound together, then the earth would never “answer the end of its creation” (D&C 49:16). It would be wasted and cursed, for all men and women would be forever without root or branch, without ancestry or posterity.

With the merciful gift and commandment of having our marriages start at temple altars, righteous parents are made one by God and sealed together with His unbreakable welding link. Then, as we faithfully persevere in our covenants, the Holy Spirit of Promise seals our marriages more surely so that the welding link that was set in place at the altar will never fail.

The children who issue forth from this union-or who are sealed into it-are surely secured to us by virtue of that same, sure weld. Despite their rebellion, they cannot break free. The power of their parents’ oneness, which was set in place by God and made sure by the Holy Spirit of Promise, has the power to hold onto the children and eventually reel them back.

Author’s Note

Note: This article is adapted from Rescuing Wayward Children. Follow this link to learn more.

Also, to receive a sample of my new 5-book series, The Three Pillars of Zion, Click here.

See Bruce R. McConkie, “Celestial Marriage,” Mormon Doctrine, 117-18.

Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, volume 2, 90.

See M. Russell Ballard, “Let Our Voices be Heard,” Ensign, November 2003.

D&C 131:2.

Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, “Holy Spirit of Promise,” 361.

Bruce C. Hafen, Covenant Hearts, 77.

James E. Faust, “The Gift of the Holy Ghost-A Sure Compass,” Ensign, April 1996, emphasis added.

Joseph Fielding Smith, quoted in Bruce R. McConkie’s Mormon Doctrine, “Calling and Election Sure,” 110.

D&C 131:1-4; 132:28-30.

D&C 132:7, 19, 26; See also D&C 76:53.

See D&C 110.

Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Volume 2, 119, emphasis added.

Russell M. Nelson, The Power within Us, 113.

D&C 2:3, comments added.

Robert L. Millet, When a Child Wanders, 100-101.

In preparing Helaman to succeed him, Alma bade his son to remember that the gospel was designed to unleash grand heavenly powers by small and simple means. A case in point, he said, was the Liahona: “And it did work for [Lehi's family] according to their faith in God….because those miracles were worked by small means it did show unto them marvelous works.” Then Alma stated the principle:

For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land….O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.

The final mandate that Alma gave to Helaman before he sent him forth to minister to the people was this: “See that ye look to God and live.” It is easy!

The Simpleness of the Way

Alma was not alone in stating that the powers of heaven swing open on simple hinges. Centuries earlier, Nephi chastised his hard-hearted brothers for behaving like the faithless Israelites who complained to God and opposed Moses. Even when they were perishing from snake bites, they would not accept the Lord’s simple solution for life and salvation.

And he did straiten them in the wilderness with his rod; for they hardened their hearts, even as ye have; and the Lord straitened them because of their iniquity. He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.

Sometimes we think it would be so much easier to believe that life could return to a dying situation if we only had an option that equaled our concern. Thus, we seek answers from everyone and every place except from the Savior. It just seems too Sunday School, too simple, too easy.

No, we want a Savior, who dishes out deep doctrines that can only be understood by the spiritually mature – the only ones who can tap into the powers of heaven and call down blessings. But that isn’t how the plan of salvation works. The gospel is so simple and easy that little children are capable of summoning blessings that would astound older generations. Every missionary can attest that investigators often receive unbelievable outpourings of the Spirit from the moment of their first awkward prayer. Moreover, wayward children frequently feel the immediate embrace of a loving Heavenly Father, who, at the instant of their turn homeward, rushes to his prodigal children and escorts them home. It is all so easy!

The Sacrament-An Easy, Powerful Ordinance of Reclamation

Partaking of the sacrament with more purpose is one of those “easy” ways to rescue a wayward child. Worthily partaken of and understood, the sacrament sanctifies us. The sacrament serves to align our lives with Jesus Christ like a compass aligns us to true north and like the Liahona aligned the lives of the Lehites so that they could follow the line leading to the promised land. When we are faced with a child who is off course, a most useful, redeeming tool for parents is to partake of the sacrament so as to remain on course. Dan and Rita, parents of a wayward child, wrote that they could point to the sacrament as the single gospel principle that anchored them weekly to their covenants and infused them with power to press forward in faith and hope.

The ordinances of the sacrament and baptism are interconnected. Baptism is the covenant of salvation; Jesus Christ is the agent of salvation. When we renew our baptismal covenants by partaking of the sacrament, we recommit to the terms of baptism that ensure our salvation, and we recommit our lives to Jesus Christ, who is our Savior. The Apostle Paul suggests three great purposes for the sacrament:

1. The sacrament is a memorial. “This do ye . . . in remembrance of me.”
2. The sacrament is a testimonial. When we partake, we “shew the Lord’s death till he come.” (Note that the word shew means to “proclaim or announce.”)
3. The sacrament is an examination. “But let a man examine himself.”

When we partake of the sacrament, do we fulfill these three main purposes? Do we rejoice in our recollection of the wonder and majesty of the Atonement? Does our partaking of the sacrament testify of our faith in the Redeemer? Do we look closely at our lives to see if we are worthy and if we are conducting ourselves as disciples ought? Many parents who have shared their stories with me have testified that the sacrament, because it focuses on our relationship with Jesus Christ, brought them comfort, purpose, hope, and the power to face their challenges and to obtain divine assistance for their wayward children.

The Sacrament and the Holy Ghost

Nothing in the process of redeeming a wayward child is as essential as having the guidance of the Holy Ghost. The sacrament’s sanctifying promise is the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost: “Those who partake of the sacrament place themselves under covenant with the Lord to take upon them the name of Christ, to always remember him, and to keep his commandments. The Lord in turn covenants that they may always have his Spirit to be with them.”

The sacrament’s unique promise of the ongoing companionship Holy Ghost is often missed or we associate it with baptism or living a good life. Not so. The sacrament is the designated ordinance that provides for the retention of this supernal gift.

When we are baptized and confirmed, we are commanded to “receive the Holy Ghost.” Elder Bruce R. McConkie points out that this commandment is also a right, but not a guarantee. Our ability to retain the companionship of the Holy Ghost is dependent upon our honoring our baptismal covenants and renewing them by means of the sacrament. Again, the sacrament is the ordinance that makes retention of the Holy Ghost possible.

The Sacrament and Sanctification

Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, “When we worthily partake of the sacrament, we are promised that we will ‘always have his Spirit to be with [us].’ To qualify for that promise we covenant that we will ‘always remember him’ (D&C 20:77).” Because we enjoy the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, we enjoy the constant sanctifying power of that gift, which sanctification, in addition to all other considerations, enables us to seek redeeming blessings for those whom we love.

The Holy Ghost is the Sanctifier. Receipt of the Holy Ghost is called the baptism of fire, which follows the baptism by water. We are immersed both in water and in the Spirit. Remission of sins is not possible without the baptism of fire. Of the necessity of these two baptisms, the Prophet Joseph Smith said, “You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half-that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost.” Because “no unclean thing can dwell in a divine presence,” and because “people are saved to the extent that they are sanctified,” we cherish and rely on the Holy Ghost, who burns out of us all impurities and creates of us a “new creature.”

As its name implies, baptism by fire is hot. Malachi described the work of the Lord and his agent, the Holy Ghost, as a refiner’s fire. Both the Savior and the Holy Ghost are engaged in the work of refining souls. This knowledge is important to parents of wayward children and speaks to the theme of my writings on this subject: The redeemed become the redeemers.

Our ability to rescue and redeem a wayward soul is directly linked to our level of sanctification. Therefore, we are told that before we attempt to pluck out the mote in another’s eye we must first excise the beam from our own. That process requires the Holy Ghost. As we pray for the Lord’s help to rescue our children, we might be surprised that He will focus His attention on us first. The Lord might use the child’s situation to first sanctify us. If we will submit to the refiner’s fire, once we emerge from it, we will be in a much better position to help our children when they experience it.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote of the sacramental covenant and the Holy Ghost as paths to redemption:

Those who partake of the sacrament worthily thereby put themselves under covenant with the Lord: 1. To always remember the broken body and spilled blood of Him who was crucified for the sins of the world; 2. To take upon themselves the name of Christ and always remember him; and 3. To keep the commandments of God, that is, to “live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God.” (D&C 84:44.)

As his part of the contract, the Lord covenants: 1. That such worthy saints shall have his Spirit to be with them; and 2. That in due course they shall inherit eternal life. (D&C 20:75-79; Moro. 4; 5.) “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:54.) In the light of these covenants, promises, and blessings, is it any wonder that the Lord commanded: “It is expedient that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in the remembrance of the Lord Jesus.” (D&C 20:75; Doctrines of Salvation, Volume 2, 338-350.)

Coming to the Altar of Sacrifice

Each Sunday our attention should be focused on the sacramental table-the altar of sacrifice-where the priests of God prepare emblems of bread and water that remind us of the Lord’s sacrifice. Jesus said that He is the Bread of Life and the Living Water. In the sacramental covenant, both parties sacrifice for and make promises to each other. The Lord’s promise is the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost; our promises are those that we made at baptism, specifically, to take upon us the name of Christ, to always remember Him, and to keep His commandments. His sacrifice is His body and His blood; our sacrifice is a “broken heart and a contrite spirit.” The altar is where all of this takes place.

The priests of God prepare and consecrate the sacrifice and state the terms of the covenant. (Interestingly, in the Old Testament times, the sacrificing of a lamb, which foreshadowed the sacrifice of the Lamb, involved a person coming to the altar, laying his sacrifice upon it, symbolically transferring his sins to the sacrificial lamb by the laying on of hands, and then-after offering a prayer of atonement-the priests would slay the lamb and the person’s sins would die with it.)

Today, the sacrament, like the Passover, is the memorial of our salvation and deliverance. That single hope should sink deeply within our souls as we consider the Atonement’s saving and liberating implications for our children. By living in a way that we always honor our baptismal covenants, we “retain a remission of our sins,” “and the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.”

The Supernal Gift of the Holy Ghost

The promise of the Holy Ghost is unequalled: “The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.”

Therefore-and in no other way than this easy way-by the simple, sanctifying act of worthily partaking of the sacrament, we renew our baptismal covenant and secure the promise that we received in our confirmation of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost sanctifies us, which sanctification fills us with power to rescue our wayward children. It is easy to look to God and live!

Author’s Note

This article was adapted from my book, Rescuing Wayward Children. Follow this link to learn more.

Also, get a sample of my new 5-book series on Zion: The Three Pillars of Zion. Click here.

1 Nephi 17:41, emphasis added.

See Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, “Abrahamic Covenant,” 13.

1 Corinthians 11:25.

1 Corinthians 11:26.

1 Corinthians 11:28.

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, “Sacrament,” 1243-1244.

Bruce R. McConkie, “Gift of the Holy Ghost,” Mormon Doctrine, 312.

Dallin H. Oaks, “Pornography,” Ensign, May 2005, 88.

Robert, B.H., History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 5, 499.

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, “Holy Ghost,” 649-650.

2 Corinthians 5:17.

See Malachi 3:2.

See Matthew 7:3-4.

Bruce R. McConkie, “Sacrament,” Mormon Doctrine, 660.

See John 6:35.

See John 4:10.

D&C 59:8.

See Old Testament Student Manual 301, 164.

Mosiah 4:12.

Moroni 8:26, emphasis added.

D&C 121:46.

The ultimate definition of happiness is to be like God; the more we approach the stature of God in attributes, knowledge, power, and dominion, the happier we are. Conversely, the definition of misery is to be like Satan. Misery is always associated with Babylon.

To become like God and experience his level of happiness rests on two criteria: (1) Justice–the system of celestial laws that make God who he is and provide him what he has; that is, God’s power and quality of life derive from his obedience to celestial laws. (2) Mercy-the Lord’s love, grace, forbearance, clemency, and pity on us lesser beings, as he patiently works with us to help us to become like him. To a great extent our happiness depends upon God’s merciful interaction with us and our extending mercy to others.

The Covenant of the Gods

In a premortal council of the Gods (which preceded the Council in Heaven that we attended), the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost entered into a covenant to work together for the happiness, salvation, and exaltation of the Father’s children. Joseph Smith taught that an “everlasting covenant was made between three personages before the organization of this earth, and relates to their dispensation of things to men on the earth; these personages, according to Abraham’s record, are called God the first, the Creator; God the second, the Redeemer; and God the third, the witness or Testator.” Our interaction with these three Gods began before the world was created, continues here, and will endure into eternity. Every aspect of our interaction with them has to do with our present redemption and our eternal happiness.

Too often we miss the fact that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost define their dealings with us in terms of relationship. Each one of us is dearer to them than we can comprehend. Motivated solely by their relationship with us, they initiated the plan of happiness.

In the premortal world, when the Father announced the plan of happiness, we shouted for joy, perhaps because the plan’s far-reaching benefits were so extraordinary. In that supreme act of love, Heavenly Father offered us the opportunity to become what he is. He held nothing back. His package included indivisible access to and inheritance of the totality of his kingdom, the fulness of his power, the keys to the library of everything he knows, and the ability to become like him in perfections, characteristic, and attributes.

His offer included the quintessential gift of a physical body, and a tabernacle of flesh and bones for our immortal spirits to eternally “act upon.” He also offered us the invaluable gift of divine education: the opportunity to experience good and evil and the unrestricted gift of agency to choose between them. Finally, he offered us the opportunity to enjoy his lifestyle–eternal marriage and family–with the promise of eternal posterity.

Happiness Encompasses All That Is Good

Clearly, the plan of happiness offered us all that was good, which is called righteousness. Righteousness, according to Chauncey Riddle, is “that necessary order of social relationships in which beings of knowledge and power must bind themselves in order to live together in accomplishment and happiness for eternity.”

Happiness is wholly dependent upon righteousness, and it is in righteousness that Zion people weld themselves together by solemn covenants so that they become “predictable, dependable, and united so that they can be trusted. They bind themselves to be honest, true, chaste, and benevolent so that they can do good for all other beings, which good they do by personal sacrifice to fulfill all righteousness.” Thus, being and doing good and being and doing righteousness are synonymous terms; goodness and righteousness are unifying, perfecting, selfless principles that produce happiness.

On the other hand, evil, the opposite of goodness and righteousness, is without discipline, a law unto itself, a corrupting and self-serving principle that produces misery. Evil defines Babylon.

Heavenly Father structured the plan of happiness so as to mercifully wrest us from Babylon, from our complacency, from our evil tendencies, and from the effects of the Fall. Heavenly Father built into the plan of happiness his promise that he would endow us with the Light of Christ, which is an agent employed by the Holy Ghost to “feel after” us and draw us out of Babylon and into Zion. By means of that light, the Holy Ghost would continually offer us opportunities to view ourselves in our “awful state,” for the purpose of shaking us loose from Babylon.

Moreover, the Father promised that he would offer each of us an unmistakable witness of the truth by the power of the Holy Ghost, so that we might reconsider our destructive path, repent of evil, and embrace “the godly order of good.” Clearly, the Father makes every effort to offer us happiness.

Balancing Justice and Mercy

To make the plan of happiness operational, the Father first instigated the covenant of justice, that system of laws that he obeyed in order to become who he is and enjoy what he has. That is, by obedience to celestial he was justified to enjoy the blessings associated with those laws. By living those laws, we, God’s children, can progress and become like him in every way. That is the process that leads to true happiness.

Knowing that his children would break the celestial laws while they struggled to assimilate them in their lives, and knowing that those broken laws would consign his children “forever to be cut off from his presence,” the Father decreed a second law, which would have the power to override the consequences of broken celestial laws and to thereby save his children. That new law is called the covenant of mercy. We know this law by another name: the new and everlasting covenant.

The covenant of mercy called for the Father to provide an atoning Savior to balance the demands of justice against the purposes of mercy: “And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself [Jesus Christ] atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.” Mercy would also allow the children of God to receive physical bodies like their Father’s, with the assurance that these eternal gifts would not be cancelled out by death. The Savior’s merciful universal resurrection would make that possible.

Accessing the benefits of mercy through the Atonement was decreed to be a matter of individual choice. To facilitate that choice, the Father instigated a covenant that we could choose to embrace if we desired to access the Atonement, draw upon its mercy, receive shelter from the demands of justice, and be placed beyond the reach of our enemies. This covenant is called the new and everlasting covenant, and we enter it by our individual agency.

Placed Beyond Our Enemies

The Atonement makes goodness, righteousness, happiness, and salvation possible. According to Joseph Smith, salvation is the power to be placed beyond the reach of one’s enemies. The specific enemy he spoke of was death, but, as Brother Riddle says, “The great enemy of each human being is himself, for in our weakness and selfishness we are and do evil.” We, alone, can neither save ourselves nor fully overcome our weakness or selfishness.

Overcoming our natural selves and our enemies is made possible “only if we fully cooperate with Jesus Christ.” He has the ability to cleanse us completely of the stains of our evildoing and to transform us into righteous individuals who have no more desires to do evil. This process leads to progressively higher levels of happiness. By entering into the new and everlasting covenant for the purpose of accepting the Atonement of Jesus Christ, a repentant person can be “rescued from being and doing evil” through the “merits and mercy of the Son of God.”

How Mercy Appeases Justice

That mercy is a covenant is an essential truth. Every covenant or law of God is obeyed or disobeyed by individual choice. Specific blessings and consequences are associated with that choice, and either misery or happiness results. If we desire mercy, we must live the covenant associated with mercy. As we have learned, that covenant is the new and everlasting covenant, which we are required to receive in order to accept Jesus Christ and his Atonement. It is a truth that this Covenant springs from the Atonement and is the instrument by which we are justified to receive the Lord’s mercy and by which the plan of happiness is realized.

Clearly, the new and everlasting covenant activates the plan of redemption. By means of this Covenant, the Father’s children can receive celestial laws and experiment with them without being destroyed by them. By means of the Covenant, the children of God can lay hold on the blessings of the Atonement by choosing to repent, progress, obtain salvation, become like God, and inherit all that he has. This is the ultimate condition of Zion people.

The new and everlasting covenant also sets us on the defined path that leads to eternal life, gives us the authority of God, places in our hands the keys (not priesthood administrative keys) to God’s knowledge and power, and sets us up in our individual eternal kingdoms. Only the Atonement itself exceeds in glory the magnificence of the new and everlasting covenant. The two are inseparable, and both answer the end-purpose of the Father’s plan of mercy: our happiness.

Experiencing Contrasts Leads to Happiness

To lay hold on the plan of happiness, we must be presented with two contrasting revelations: (1) God and his goodness, and (2) our fallen situation. Because is crucial, the Lord uses contrast to motivate us to choose between these opposites.

As we have noted, there are good and bad consequences attached to God’s laws. Breaking his commandments always results in being “cut off both temporally and spiritually from the presence of the Lord.” This is misery, which Alma described as “the gall of bitterness,” and being “encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.” On the other hand, happiness always results from being brought, through our obedience, into “the marvelous light of God.”

For instance, after Alma had been “racked with eternal torment” for his sins and “harrowed to the greatest degree,” he appealed to the Savior and suddenly swung from misery to happiness. He moved from “inexpressible horror” to “exquisite and sweet” joy, from the “pains of a damned soul” to experiencing redemption and seeing “God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels,” with his soul longing to be there. He exulted, “Oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold.” Then describing the contrast, “My soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain.”

Clearly, seeing the contrast between good and evil motivates us toward happiness. After the Lord appeared to Moses, he left him to himself and he was tempted by Satan. That contrast allowed Moses to experience the distinct difference between having the Lord and not having the Lord with him: “Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.” Moses also perceived the contrasting differences in glory between the Lord and Satan: “Moses looked upon Satan and said: . . . where is thy glory that I should worship thee?” Now that Moses had experienced these contrasting visions, he was empowered to choose between misery and happiness. He said, “Depart from me, Satan, for this one God only will I worship, which is the God of glory.”

Similarly, but in reverse order, King Benjamin’s people literally collapsed when they “viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth.” Then, after they cried out to the Lord for mercy, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience.” Happiness came only after they experienced the contrast.

Similarly, and in a unique way, the Lord will offer us happiness by helping us understand who he is and showing us who and where we are. Then we, like King Benjamin’s people, might be so astonished that we cry out for mercy and deliverance. Hopefully, when we are offered deliverance, we will choose to embrace it with all our hearts. The account of King Benjamin and his people teach us the truth that mercy, deliverance, and eternal happiness are available to us only through the Atonement. We note that King Benjamin’s people were willing “to enter into a covenant with [their] God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he [would] command [them], all the remainder of [their] days.”

Covenant-making leads to deliverance, which leads to happiness. After we have made a covenant and experienced deliverance and happiness, we will never want to return to our miserable past. Our desire now centers on the Lord sending the Holy Ghost to transform us into new creatures with new hearts. Because that process is beyond our ability, we look to Christ. To achieve a change of heart, we must first accept Jesus Christ and his Atonement, enter into a covenant of salvation with him, and cooperate with him to the fullest extent. Moreover, we must fully submit to his incomparable power and trust him as he remakes us into new creatures by planting the seeds of salvation and happiness into our souls. “Thus human beings may become good and may become gods.”

Summary

To summarize, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost entered into a premortal covenant to save and exalt the Father’s children. A primary purpose of that covenant was that the children achieve ultimate happiness. Therefore, the Gods initiated the plan of happiness, which called for the Father to reveal the system of celestial laws that made him who he is and gave him what he has. The Gods knew that in the process of our learning those laws, we, God’s children, would inevitably break the laws and become liable to pay severe penalties. Therefore, to mitigate the adverse effects of broken laws, the Gods initiated the Plan of Redemption, or the Plan of Mercy.

That plan called for the Father to provide a Savior to rescue us from death and to atone for the consequences of broken celestial laws. The blessings of mercy through this plan could be accessed only by law and by choice; therefore, the Father established the new and everlasting covenant. Now his children could agree to obey this new law that would provide mercy, and God in turn would agree to set aside “the demands of justice.” Thus, justice could be satisfied, mercy could rescue and claim her own, and the children of God could progress in the Covenant until they achieved salvation, exaltation, and ultimate happiness, as the Gods had planned in the beginning.

Thus, Zion people experience unequalled happiness because they choose to embrace the Atonement by entering into and fully living the new and everlasting covenant.

Author’s Note

This article was adapted from my new book, The Three Pillars of Zion. Click here to receive a free sample.

2 Nephi 2:25.

See Alma 42:15.

Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 349.

Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 190.

Alma 42:1-26.

Job 38:7.

2 Nephi 2:13-14.

D&C 132:24, 55.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 225.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 225.

D&C 88:21-35.

D&C 112:13.

Ether 4:15.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 225.

Alma 42:13-15.

Alma 42:14.

See Alma 42:13-15.

Alma 42:15.

See Alma 11:44.

Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 305.

Acts 4:12.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 225-26.

Alma 19:33.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 225.

Alma 42:7.

Alma 36:18.

Mosiah 27:29.

Alma 36:12.

Alma 36:14, 21.

Alma 36:16, 19-22.

Alma 36:20.

Moses 1:10, 13.

Moses 1:20.

Mosiah 4:12-13.

Mosiah 5:5.

2 Nephi 25:28.

2 Corinthians 5:17.

Riddle, “The New and Everlasting Covenant,” 226.

Alma 42:15.

In Part 1 of this two-part series, we that a foundational principle of the law of stewardship is “all things ultimately belong to the Lord, whether property, time, talents, families, or capacity for service within the Church organization.

Stewards act in their lives or in a Church calling as a trustee for the Lord, not out of personal ownership or privilege. While we no longer are required to deed over our property, we are required to figuratively deed over our hearts. We recognize that ultimately our time, talents, and property belong to the Lord, and we are stewards assigned to manage his resources under his direction. Then a remarkable thing happens: God helps us to depart from Babylon, and he becomes our Paymaster in Zion. Once the Lord has separated us from Babylon and has placed within our care a stewardship in his kingdom, we must discharge our duty faithfully and never turn back.

The law of stewardship is the law upon which Zion’s equality is achieved. Zion people come unto Christ and hearken to his voice by seeking to purify their hearts; by seeking to equalize the condition of the Lord’s children through the giving of their means; by striving to heal the Lord’s children, bolster their faith, and love them. The pure in heart view themselves as stewards rather than owners, and they seek to bless the Lord’s children with their stewardships, which is the sum of everything that they have and are.

Stewardships in the Scriptures

As we study the standard works, we discover the concept of stewardship throughout. Stewardships are also referred to as callings, trusts, charges, responsibilities, and inheritances or portions. Some stewardships are classified as spiritual while others are temporal. For example, a Church calling is a spiritual stewardship, while an individual’s business and holdings are a temporal stewardship. Of course, even temporal things are spiritual unto the Lord.

In the early days of the Church, stewardships were also called inheritances or “portions.” BYU professor Clark V. Johnson explained that the Lord “required the bishop of the Church to give every man an inheritance. [The Lord] explained that Church members were equal according to their family, circumstances, wants, and needs (D&C 51:4).” Here we see the principles of stewardship and accountability as they apply to an inheritance. We note that it is the bishop who assigns inheritances in Zion, and he is also the one who, in behalf of the Lord, receives an account of their management.

Receiving and reporting on Church callings and tithing settlement are manifestations of these principles. With regard to the management of their stewardships, “the Lord reminded members of the Church that when they had enough to satisfy their needs, they were to give the surplus to the storehouse. D&C 70:7-D&C 82:18 Excess gained in the operation of the stewardship was to be used to administer to those who were in need (D&C 42:33-34). The bishop kept all surplus donated from the stewardships in a storehouse he organized (D&C 51:13).”

Even today we might expect to render accountings of our various stewardships to the bishop. For example, we make such an accounting to him when he interviews us for a temple recommend, and from time to time, when we counsel with him, we also make an accounting of our lives. Because the law of consecration requires that we consecrate our time, talents, and all that we have and are to the kingdom of God, the bulk of our stewardships usually lie outside the Church organization. Nevertheless, we are accountable for them to the Lord and to his servant, the bishop. Perhaps more blessings would flow to us if we lived the law of stewardship more faithfully and felt more accountability on each point of the law.

We would expect that our actual inheritances in priesthood society of Zion would follow the pattern described in Doctrine and Covenants 58: “This is a law unto every man that cometh unto this land to receive an inheritance; and he shall do with his moneys according as the law [of consecration] directs.” Although we privately own our inheritances, we must consider them as consecrated stewardships, and thus we are accountable to the Lord for them according to the law of accountability. If we live the law of stewardship, we are promised safety, for our consecrated effort is “to prepare [us] against the day of vengeance and burning.” If we do not live this law, we run the risk of suffering the consequences: “If any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment.”

Understanding the Order of the Law of Stewardship

In section 104 of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord revealed the order by which inheritances (stewardships) are apportioned from the Lord’s resources to us, the stewards. We are reminded that “the sacred things” which are “delivered into the treasury” are the Lord’s, “and no man among you shall call it his own, or any part of it, for it shall belong to you all with one accord.” The surplus derived from the management of the stewardship rightly belongs to Lord and must be placed in his sacred repository for the common good: “And thus shall ye preserve the avails of the sacred things in the treasury, for sacred and holy purposes. And this shall be called the sacred treasury of the Lord; and a seal shall be kept upon it that it may be holy and consecrated unto the Lord.” The Lord’s servant, the bishop, manages the treasury and the Lord’s resources. This is the order of the law of stewardship.

In our day, we would call this sacred treasury the bishop’s storehouse. Of course, the Church maintains other treasuries-for instance, monetary funds, warehouses of supplies, and service departments. We also read of sacred treasuries in heaven. For example, “Lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven, yea, which is eternal, and which fadeth not away; yea, that ye may have that precious gift of eternal life.” To access that heavenly treasury, we must sacrifice our personal treasures in this world: “Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto [the rich young man], Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.”

One definition of “treasure” is anything that is good. Under this definition, even our testimonies could be considered stewardships. We know that the law of consecration requires that every good thing that we receive from the Lord must be returned to him with increase. Interestingly, when we bear sincere testimony, our testimony grows, and that allows us to fulfill the law and return our testimony to the Lord with increase. Our bearing witness of the truth is much like casting our testimony into the treasury of heaven; in return, great blessings are unleashed: “Nevertheless, ye are blessed, for the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you, and your sins are forgiven you.” “Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God.” Again, these blessings flow from the order of the law of stewardships.

Upon what principle do consecrated properties flow into the sacred treasuries? “Joseph Smith taught that the consecration of properties must be done by mutual consent. The bishop could not dictate in matters of consecration or he would have ‘more power than a king.’ The Prophet further explained that there must be a balance of power between the bishop and the people in order to preserve ‘harmony and good-will.’” Therefore, the bishop, who is the Lord’s steward, is authorized to extend stewardships to his people; the people accept the stewardship and manage and account for it by their free-will choice; the people sustain the bishop in his calling. That sustaining is done by mutual covenant: the people agree to accept the bishop as the voice of the Lord, and he agrees to receive their accountings and judge them righteously in the Lord’s name. In his office, the bishop is entrusted to receive free-will offerings from the surpluses of the stewards’ stewardships, and he places those offerings in the common treasury. Then the stewards, who have common access to the treasury, may draw upon it, with the bishop’s permission, for their needs and wants.

Clearly, the interaction between the stewards and the bishop is one of common consent. The bishop manages the treasury, assigns stewardships, and takes accountings, and the people sustain his actions, and through his ministry gain access to the Lord’s treasury. Such transactions are to be done “only by the voice of the order, or by commandment. . . . And there shall not any part of it [the treasury's resource] be used, or taken out of the treasury, only by the voice and common consent of the order.”

We see this law in action in every ward in the Church today. One of the highest manifestations of this law is that the steward receives access to the Lord’s resources for the purpose of growing and managing his stewardship: “And this shall be the voice and common consent of the order-that any man among you say to the treasurer: I have need of this to help me in my stewardship.” In whatever form the law of consecration and the law of stewardship exist, the order that governs those laws will always apply. By common consent, the bishop, who is sustained by the voice of the people, will always apportion, aid in, judge, and take accounting of all stewardships pertaining to the kingdom of God. This is the order of the law of consecration.

Spiritual Gifts Are Stewardships to Bless Others

The stewardships that the Lord places in our trust are our time, talents and abilities, and everything else that we are or possess. Some of these stewardships are listed in Doctrine and Covenants 46 and are called spiritual gifts. These gifts include:

• The gift of knowing-”that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world.”
• The gift of believing-”on their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful.”
• The gift of administration-”the differences of administration.”
• The gift of “the diversities of operations, whether they be of God, that the manifestations of the Spirit may be given to every man to profit withal.”
• The gift of “the word of wisdom.”
• The gift of “the word of knowledge, that all may be taught to be wise and to have knowledge.”
• The gift to have “faith to be healed.”
• The gift to have “faith to heal.”
• The gift of “the working of miracles.”
• The gift of the ability “to prophesy.”
• The gift of “discerning of spirits.”
• The gift of speaking “with tongues.”
• The gift of “the interpretation of tongues.”

Why does the Lord give us these gifts as stewardships? The answer echoes the language in the priesthood covenant. We receive gifts from the Lord “for [our] sakes, and not for [our] sakes only, but for the sake of the world.” The Lord said, “All these gifts come from God, for the benefit of the children of God.” When we consider the Lord’s answer, we recall other scriptural injunctions to consecrate our resources for the purpose of blessing other people: “For of him unto whom much is given much is required.” “Freely ye have received, freely give.” Clearly, we cannot achieve celestial glory without blessing others.

Significantly, Doctrine and Covenants 46 mirrors many of the principles stated in the parable of the talents, signaling to us the parable’s latter-day relevance. Talents are gifts and therefore stewardships, and thus are to be used to bless the Lord’s children. Because every person receives a gift or gifts from God, we are treated equally-a characteristic of Zion. Thus, the Lord says, “And you are to be equal, or in other words, you are to have equal claims on the properties, for the benefit of managing the concerns of your stewardships, every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just-and all this for the benefit of the church of the living God, that every man may improve upon his talent, that every man may gain other talents, yea, even an hundred fold, to be cast into the Lord’s storehouse, to become the common property of the whole church-every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God.”

These gifts, or talents, prepare us for the Lord’s return; they “are suited to the gifts and needs of the individual to give him or her the maximum opportunity for growth in the Kingdom of God.” How we manage our talents determines our eventual inheritance in the celestial kingdom. Joseph Smith taught: “Many of our brethren are wise in . . . their labors, and have rid their garments of the blood of this generation and are approved before the Lord.”

Profitable and Unprofitable Servants

Jesus first introduced the idea of profitable and unprofitable servants in the parable of the talents. Over a century earlier, King Benjamin discussed the concept of serving profitably. Although our present mortal circumstances greatly hamper us from being profitable to the Lord, nevertheless, we must make the attempt, because profitability is central to our eternal progression and thus to the ever-expanding kingdom of God. When the Lord gives us a trust, we are to magnify it on our watch. Otherwise, as the parable of the talents states, the unprofitable servant is cast into outer darkness, where “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

At least two criteria lead to profitability: (1) our being “anxiously engaged in a good cause, do[ing] many things of [our] own free will, and bring[ing] to pass much righteousness,” and (2) yielding our hearts and wills to God. Because we are agents with agency, we are endowed with the power of choice and the capability to magnify our stewardships. The goal of our creative effort is to “bring to pass much righteousness.”

We also learn that the greater the profitability of the stewardship, the greater the trusts that God will eventually place in our care. Commenting on the teachings of Joseph Smith, Orson Hyde wrote:

The most eminent and distinguished prophets who have laid down their lives for their testimony (Jesus among the rest), will be crowned at the head of the largest kingdoms under the Father, and will be one with Christ as Christ is one with his Father; for their kingdoms are all joined together, and such as do the will of the Father, the same are his mothers, sisters, and brothers. He that has been faithful over a few things, will be made ruler over many things; he that has been faithful over ten talents, shall have dominion over ten cities, and he that has been faithful over five talents, shall have dominion over five cities, and to every man will be given a kingdom and a dominion, according to his merit, powers, and abilities to govern and control. . . . There are kingdoms of all sizes, an infinite variety to suit . The chosen vessels unto God are the kings and priests that are placed at the head of these kingdoms. These have received their washings and anointings in the  temple of God on this earth; they have been chosen, ordained, and anointed kings and priests, to reign as such in the resurrection of the just.

For the present, our maximum effort will not generate the maximum profits that our stewardship is capable of producing. For that to happen, we must draw upon the principle of grace; we must humbly yield our wills to God, submit to his counsel, and allow him to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Only by such a partnership can the stewardship reach the summit of its potential. We are greatly benefitted by such a relationship. Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught that we enhance our individuality by yielding our wills to God; that is, as we are stretched and molded by him, we become more capable of receiving “all that the Father hath.” He concluded by saying we simply could not be entrusted with God’s “all” until our wills more closely corresponded to God’s will.

Profitable servants improve upon that with which they have been entrusted; they employ sound management principles by reducing waste and insisting that invested resources generate an appropriate return; they are tireless workers and represent well the person to whom they are accountable: “O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength.” Then, when profits are produced over and above that which the servant needs to care for his family and himself, the servant releases that surplus to the Lord, to whom the surplus rightly belongs: “Nevertheless, inasmuch as they receive more than is needful for their necessities and their wants, it shall be given into my storehouse; and the benefits shall be consecrated unto the inhabitants of Zion, and unto their generations, inasmuch as they become heirs according to the laws of the kingdom. Behold, this is what the Lord requires of every man in his stewardship, even as I, the Lord, have appointed or shall hereafter appoint unto any man. And behold, none are exempt from this law who belong to the church of the living God.”

How happy are the profitable servants who can report to God that they have accomplished everything that they were charged to do.  They will hear: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things.”

Stewardships Prepare Us for Eternal Life

Because the law of consecration is the law of the celestial kingdom, we might expect to receive, develop, and account for stewardships there. This assumption is evidenced in the Lord’s promise to righteous couples who are sealed in the temple and keep their marriage covenant. He promises that they “shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths.” The fact that this list contains diverse stations stated in the plural suggests that our celestial assignments and inheritances might shift and expand throughout the eternities, as we progress in our Father’s kingdom.

We also might expect that we will receive these stewardships by consecration, and that we will be held accountable for them. To develop our celestial stewardships, we might expect that we would draw upon the Father’s vast resources to improve and manage our stewardships, and, in turn, we would consecrate the resources thereof back to his higher kingdom to which we belong. If that is the case, if we intend to achieve that exalted state and live in that priesthood society, we must first learn to live the laws of consecration and stewardship here and now.

The Lord said, “And whoso is found a faithful, a just, and a wise steward shall enter into the joy of his Lord, and shall inherit eternal life.” And Elder McConkie added, “It is by the wise use of one’s stewardship that eternal life is won.”

Conclusion

These articles are adapted from The Three Pillars of Zion. You can download a free sample of this new Zion series at www.PillarsOfZion.com.

D&C 42:33, “D&C 42:7171.

D&C 29:34-35.

Johnson, “The Law of Consecration,” 100.

D&C 58:36.

D&C 42:32.

D&C 85:3.

D&C 104:18.

D&C 104:64-66.

Helaman 5:8.

Luke 18:22.

Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, 335.

D&C 62:3.

Luke 12:8.

Johnson, “The Law of Consecration,” 100, quoting Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 23.

D&C 104:64, 71.

D&C 104:72-73.

D&C 46:13-25.

D&C 84:48.

D&C 46:13-25.

D&C 82:3.

Matthew 10:8.

Matthew 25:14-30.

D&C 82:17-19; emphasis added.

Johnson, “The Law of Consecration,” 100.

Smith, Evening and Morning Star, July 1833.

Matthew 25:14-30.

Mosiah 2:20-21.

Matthew 25:30.

D&C 58:27.

Helaman 3:35.

Smith, The Words of Joseph Smith, 299.

D&C 84:38.

D&C 4:2.

D&C 70:8-10.

Matthew 25:21.

D&C 105:4-5.

D&C 88:107.

D&C 132:19.

D&C 51:19.

McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 767.

NOTE: This article is the last of four articles adapted from Chapter 8 of The Three Pillars of Zion. You can download a free Sampler of this new Zion series at www.PillarsOfZion.com.)

In Parts 1-3 of this four-part series, we learned how the Jewish marriage symbolizes the New and Everlasting Covenant, the first pillar of Zion. Something extraordinary begins to happen when we see the scriptures through the lens of the marriage covenant. Suddenly, we understand that the New and Everlasting Covenant is much more than a system of covenants, ordinances, and commandments; the Covenant describes an intimate, loving and fruitful relationship. This is the covenantal relationship that is offered to us by the Bridegroom, who invites us to take his name upon us and to share his life.

Perhaps to better teach us that our covenantal relationship with him is very much like a marriage, the Lord describes the New and Everlasting Covenant in tender and caring language that is charged with symbolism and importance. Founded on the New and Everlasting Covenant, Zion is established, and the vocabulary that illustrates this first pillar of Zion is at once beautiful and endearing.

Review

In Part 1 of this series, we learned that the Jewish marriage describes the beauty and loving nature of the New and Everlasting Covenant. In Part 2 of this series, we examined the betrothal ceremony. In Part 3, we examined the events that occur during the waiting period-the time between the betrothal and the wedding.

• After the betrothal ceremony, the bridegroom’s father made the first of two announcements of the marriage of his son. The first announcement, or calling, was proffered to close friends, family, and others who were invited to the wedding. We are likewise called to the wedding of the Son. Sadly, we also understand that of the many who are called, few will actually be chosen to attend.
• Once the bride was betrothed, she wore a veil in public to show that she had entered into the marriage covenant. The bride wore the veil as an indication that she belonged only to her husband and that no one else had the right to appreciate her beauty except him. This custom is reminiscent of present-day temple worship. Once we have accepted the Lord in the Covenant, we, like the Jewish bride, are considered set apart, consecrated and holy.
• The friend of the bridegroom was a witness of the couple’s covenant. During the betrothal period, the friend conveyed messages between the bride and groom, and he helped the bride prepare for the coming of her husband. Just so, the Holy Ghost, witnesses our covenant-making process. While we wait and prepare for the Lord, he conveys messages between the Bridegroom and us (the bride). Additionally, he prepares us for the coming of the Bridegroom. He encourages us to remain faithful, and ultimately, when we are finally brought together, he bears testimony of our having remained worthy.
• During the long betrothal period, both the bride and the bridegroom were to prepare for each other. She would make herself beautiful and learn essential skills for her new life. He would prepare a place for his beloved in the mansions of his father. Because the bride did not know the day or hour that her bridegroom would come for her, she had to live her life in constant anticipation and readiness. To endure the wait, the bride retained reminders of his promise to return-”I go away and come again unto you.” These reminders, which she held close to her heart, were the bride price, the marriage contract, and the token. She also had his pledge, which was reminiscent of the Lord’s words to us: “Let not your hearts be troubled; for in my Father’s house are many mansions, and I have prepared a place for you; and where my Father and I am, there ye shall be also.” And at another time, “I go to prepare a place for you.”

In this final article, we will examine the events leading up to the actual wedding. These events begin with the father’s giving his son permission to go and claim his bride. At that point, the father issued his second and final call to the wedding. Then the wedding processional began. The bridegroom came as a thief in the night and whisked away his beloved and conveyed her as a queen to the place that he had prepared for her. Then the wedding took place; the bridegroom and his bride were finally together, never again to be parted.

Invitation to the Wedding

When the bridegroom completed the “little mansion or bridal chamber” for his bride, and when the groom’s father finally declared that the construction and preparations met with his approval, the father finally gave his son permission to go and claim his bride. Immediately, the bridegroom began to organize a wedding procession by calling and gathering his close associates. In this we remember the reference to the Lord’s coming with “all the holy angels with him.”

While the bridegroom was thus engaged, the father sent his servants to make the second announcement or in other words “for the last time.” We recall that the first announcement or calling happened at the time of betrothal. At that time, the invited guests covenanted to come to the wedding whenever the father announced that the wedding, feast and festivities are about to commence. We must keep in mind that the chosen ones had promised that they would remain in readiness and attend the marriage of the son. To reject the invitation now would be nothing short of a monumental insult and a serious offense. Jesus spoke about the second announcement and the seriousness of following through on our initial covenant:

A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.

And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.

And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

Notice that the chosen guests who did not attend the wedding used as excuses property, possessions and family concerns. It is sad but true that many of the chosen ones will step aside from their covenant: “Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men.”

For an invited guest to place anything above his commitment to attend the wedding or for an invited guest to be unprepared, as were five of the ten virgins, are insults that will summon the Father’s indignation. To not respond to the Bridegroom’s advent will most certainly result in such individuals’ being shut out from the wedding and the Bridegroom’s denying knowing them.

The Wedding Processional

The bridegroom led a procession to the bride’s home to claim her. He was decked out in regal attire, often wearing a crown, dressed in garments “scented with frankincense and myrrh,” and appearing in every way like a king. This joyous occasion was one of “singing, dancing and merriment.” Now the bridegroom’s long-awaited purpose and the object of his sacrifice were about to be rewarded. The clamorous late-night procession wound through the streets with their torches beaming and their trumpets blaring, awakening everyone along the way. The scriptures inform us that “the Son of Man shall come, and he shall send his angels before him with the great sound of a trumpet.” Those in the procession beckoned others to join them: “…and they shall gather together the remainder of his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

When the procession neared the bride’s home, “a messenger was sent ahead to give the shout, ‘The bridegroom cometh!’” At that point, the bride had about half an hour “to make final preparations” before the shout was given again and the bridegroom claimed her. “And he [the angelic messenger] shall sound his trump both long and loud, and all nations shall hear it. And there shall be silence in heaven for the space of half an hour; and immediately after shall the curtain of heaven be unfolded, as a scroll is unfolded after it is rolled up, and the face of the Lord shall be unveiled.”

Claiming the Bride

The Jewish marriage is filled with the imagery of the New and Everlasting Covenant. When we entered into the Covenant with the Bridegroom through baptism, we recognized the fact that he had paid a price for us. In the covenantal agreement, he promised to provide for us, redeem us, and to live with us in a loving relationship. Then he presented us with tokens (his wounds) representing his love and devotion. He did all of this in the presence of witnesses. He vowed to prepare a place for us in the mansions of his father, and he promised to one day return for us: “I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” When at last he would finally come for us, we together would make the marriage complete and he would seal us his. This is an interesting phrase, given our understanding of the temple. Conversely, if we neglect or reject our covenant with the Lord, “the devil doth seal [us] his.”

The hour had finally come for the loyal and long-suffering bride. Having made all preparations, having waited faithfully and patiently for the bridegroom’s return, having heard the trumpet and the shout, having gathered all together during the last half hour, and having heard the final shout, the bride now gave herself willingly to the bridegroom as he burst through the door of her home to claim her. By this action, the bridegroom suddenly elevated his bride to the stature of a queen.

The New and Everlasting Covenant provides for such regal unity: “[The Bridegroom] hast made us unto our God kings and priests [and queens and priestesses]: and we shall reign on the earth.” Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote:

This unity among all the saints and between them and the Father and the Son, is reserved for those who gain exaltation and inherit the fulness of the Father’s kingdom. Those who attain it will all know the same things; think the same thoughts; exercise the same powers; do the same acts; respond in the same way to the same circumstances; beget the same kind of offspring; rejoice in the same continuation of the seeds forever; create the same type of worlds; enjoy the same eternal fulness; and glory in the same exaltation.

Immediately, the bride was lifted up into a special chair-a throne-”and carried to her new home. The four strong men,” who conveyed the bride, were “given the honorary title, Giborei Yisrael, or heroes of Israel.” In this regal setting, the bride appeared stunningly beautiful without spot or blemish. Moreover, she was beautiful within, having prepared during and faithfully endured the wait. Similarly, the apostle John saw latter-day Zion “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” The psalmist wrote, “The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king’s palace.”

Now the bridegroom brought her to the place he had prepared for her. Donna Nielsen explained:

The most important period of the marriage festivities was when the bride entered her new home. The bride and groom were sometimes crowned with real crowns or with garlands or roses, myrtle, or olive leaves…. The couple was treated like royalty during this time. The new husband was literally considered a king and priest in his own home, with his wife as queen.

How glorious is the Covenant that exalts us and makes us equal with the King of Heaven!

The Wedding

A number of symbolic events occurred when the guests entered into the father’s home. These events hearken to blessings that attend the New and Everlasting Covenant. For example, each guest had his feet and hands washed, then he was anointed, embraced and kissed. These gestures were evidences of reconciliation; no hard feelings would be allowed in the father’s house on such a joyous occasion. We might expect to be thus treated when we regain the Father presence.

“Another Jewish custom was to wear a ‘wedding garment.’” These garments were supplied to the guests by the bridegroom’s father. They were white, “a color associated with royalty.” Moreover, the white garments represented light. If someone were found not wearing a garment, such as the guest mentioned in Matthew 22:11, he would be cast out. His action would be interpreted as disdain for the father’s generosity.

While the guests were dressing, greeting and conversing, the bridegroom and the bride dressed in their white wedding clothing, which was symbolic of “purity, forgiveness of sins, and solemn joy.” Isaiah exulted, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.”

At this point, the bride would be anointed with sweet olive oil. We remember that this sanctifying act signified her joy and her willingness to transform her life from a single woman to a queen to her husband. This change of status was shared by both the bride and the bridegroom. “Each groom at the time of his wedding and later in his own home was to be considered as a king and a priest.” The act of clothing the couple in royal wedding robes signified among other things that they were now consecrated to become fruitful and bear children. Similarly, the Covenant clothes us “with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace.” Our purpose changes from profane to holy, and joined with the Lord we become fruitful.

Now the time of the wedding was at hand. The place of making the covenant was under a canopy, a square piece of cloth held up by four poles. The canopy was open on all sides, reminiscent of the hospitality Abraham and Sarah showed guests in their open tent. The canopy was usually positioned outside so as to be under the stars. Symbolically and among other things, it represented “God’s sheltering love” and also the covenant that God made with Abraham, promising that his children would be as numerous as the stars of the heavens. Likewise, when we marry in the temple, we are sealed together in the presence of the luminaries of heaven and blessed with all the blessings of Abraham, including “a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.”

After the bridegroom had been escorted to the canopy by his parents, the bride was brought to the canopy by hers. At that point, the “officiator faced the couple and read the Psalm of Thanksgiving (Psalm 100). A goblet of wine was raised, and a blessing was said over the wine. This was called the ‘Cup of Joy.’ Both the bride and the bridegroom drank from the same cup, indicating they would share the joys of life together.” Likewise, we are yoked to Jesus in the New and Everlasting Covenant. Our Bridegroom covenants to share with us all the joys and sorrows of life; by covenant, we will never be left alone.

Then the bridegroom places a ring, which represents eternity, on the bride’s right index finger. It was the right hand that was used for making covenants. At that point, the bridegroom “lifted the bride’s veil and placed the corner of it on his shoulder. This was a proclamation to everyone present that the government of his bride now rested on his shoulder,” an image that Isaiah used to describe the Savior’s relationship to us. Then the marriage contract was read aloud for all to witness, which reading was followed by the officiator’s reciting blessings. Similarly, the Lord pronounces blessings upon those whom he seals together:

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 shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths…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.

Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.

Next, the officiator offers a second cup of wine to the couple. “This cup was called the ‘Cup of Sacrifice’ and the ‘Cup of Salvation.’ They would have to share sacrifices in life, but eventually those sacrifices would be a source of salvation for both of them.” Again, in the Covenant, the Bridegroom vows to walk the path of life by our side. Against all odds, he is determined to drink of the Cup of Sacrifice for our salvation: “…the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” Our life together is one of mutual sacrifice that most assuredly will lead to mutual salvation. In the Covenant, we counsel and make decisions together; we love together; we hurt together. What he wants, we want. We share in our hopes, desires and dreams, and we also share in our sorrows. We are one.

Drinking from the Cup of Sacrifice or the Cup of Salvation is vividly described in the Savior’s own words: “For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; but if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit–and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink–Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.”

The Bridegroom’s Plea

No doctrine is more glorious than the New and Everlasting Covenant. Significantly, the Bridegroom initiates the invitation to join with him in a covenantal relationship that is as holy, loving, intimate, fruitful, trusting and enduring as an eternal marriage. Equally significant is the fact that in inviting us to enter into a covenant relationship, the Lord essentially pleads with us that we will have mercy on him that we might agree to join with him. Hosea 6:6 states, “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice….” This is an interesting twist considering the fact that we are ever pleading for his mercy.

We begin to understand this gospel irony when we note that the Hebrew word for mercy is hesed, which “refers to the deep spiritual and emotional bond that exists between two very close people such as husband and wife. Immediately, one perceives that God wants us to be as emotionally and spiritually close to him in thought and action as a devoted husband and wife would be…. It is a humbling moment when we realize that such a powerful, loving, and kind God wants this type of a relationship. Such knowledge inspires one to ‘grow up’ spiritually and to think more about the impact his life has on God.”

That the Lord would literally beg us to enter into a covenantal relationship with him evokes tender images. At the end of his earthly ministry, we recall that Jesus lamented over proud Jerusalem, the bride whom he had courted for so long, the bride whom he would have gathered to him so many times in protective and loving care, and yet she would not give him her love. That image evokes the vision of a prospective groom, who has loved a woman for a very long time, and finally has managed to gather enough to pay a substantial bride price by sacrificing his all. Now he hands her a document written on fine parchment which contains his covenantal promises: He will provide for her, redeem her, love her and give her his name. Then he offers her a token or a gift of value, a representation of his promises, and in the presence of witnesses he recites a pledge to irrevocably bind and consecrate himself to her forever. Now he places a cup of wine before her…and waits. Will she drink of the cup or will she refuse him?

How we respond to the Bridegroom’s invitation will determine our eternal future. A great and divisive decision lies before us. Those who neglect or reject the Lord’s proposal to enter into the New and Everlasting Covenant will find themselves on his left hand, symbolically the hand of disdain to the Jewish mind. Conversely, those who accept the Lord’s proposal and thereafter live faithfully in the Covenant will find themselves on his right hand, the hand of covenant making, the hand on which the bride accepts her husband’s ring.

Jesus commented on this reality in words of stark imagery: “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [his] sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”

May we respond to the Lord’s plea and accept his invitation to join him in the New and Everlasting Covenant. Then may we, like the bride, stand forever on the Bridegroom’s right hand and there exult as did Jeremiah, “This is the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.”

Publisher’s Note

The Three Pillars of Zion is an extensive 5-volume set of books that explores the covenants, attributes and characteristics that define a Zion person. This Zion series is heavily documented with over 3,800 references, making it one of the most extensive research projects ever written about Zion. New York Times best-selling author, Ron McMillan, says, “Larry Barkdull has written one of the most definitive works on the subject of Zion.” This ground-breaking series contains one of the most critical messages for our day. We invite you to learn more and receive a complimentary copy of the Pillars of Zion Sampler at www.PillarsOfZion.com.

John 14:28

D&C 98:18

John 14:2

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.33

Matthew  25:31

See Jacob 5:62-64; D&C 24:19; 39:17; 43:28; 88:84; 95:4; 112:30

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.40

Luke 14:16-24

D&C 121:34-35

See Matthew 25:1-13

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.41

JS-Matthew 1:37

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.42

D&C 88:94-95, emphasis added

John 14:2-3

See Mosiah 5:15

See Alma 34:35

Revelation 5:10

Bruce R. McConkie, “Unity,” Mormon Doctrine, p.814

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.43

Revelation 21:2

Psalms 45:13-15

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.44

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.51-54

Isaiah 61:10

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.52, 54-55

D&C 88:125

See John 15:5-8

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.55-56

D&C 132:19

See Matthew 11:29-30

See Isaiah 9:6

D&C  132:19-20

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.57-60

John  18:11

D&C 19:16-19

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p. iv

See Matthew 23:37

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.57

Matthew  25:31-34, 41

Jeremiah 15:16

(NOTE: This article is the third part of four articles adapted from Chapter 8 of The Three Pillars of Zion. You can download a free Sampler of this new Zion series at www.PillarsOfZion.com.)

In Parts 1 and 2 of this four-part series, we discussed how the Jewish marriage mirrors the New and Everlasting Covenant with amazing similarity. A Zion life, marriage, family and priesthood society are built upon three foundational covenants-pillars. The first of these covenants is the New and Everlasting Covenant, which the Lord chooses to describe in terms of marriage, the most beautiful, intimate and fruitful of all relationships. Clearly, the ancient Jews clearly structured the rituals surrounding the marriage covenant to symbolize the New and Everlasting Covenant.

Review

In Part 1 of this series, we learned that the Jewish marriage describes the beauty and loving nature of the New and Everlasting Covenant. In Part 2 of this series, we examined the betrothal ceremony.

• The bridegroom was to pay a bride price for his beloved. Likewise, the Savior “buys” us with his blood; we are “bought with a price.” We are his peculiar treasure. When we enter into the New and Everlasting Covenant with the Savior, we leave behind all other loyalties and affections and shift our devotion exclusively to him.

• The bridegroom offered his intended bride a marriage contract, which stipulated among other things that he would provide for her security, redeem her if she were taken captive, and live with her in love forever. Likewise, we cling to the Covenant because it offers us the Bridegroom’s guarantees of continually providing for us, keeping us safe, redeeming us from our enemies, and living with us in loving and fruitful companionship. The Covenant promises us the Bridegroom’s name, and it reminds us of the great price that he paid for us. The Covenant guarantees that he will endow us with all that he is and has.
• The bridegroom’s offered his beloved “a token,” or “a gift of value.” Similarly, we receive tokens of the Lord’s sacrifice, which are represented by the emblems of the sacrament.
• The bridegroom made a pledge of devotion to his bride. By this, he irrevocably consecrated himself to her with a promise that could not be broken. Similarly, the Lord covenants with us, saying, “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled.”
• Then the bridegroom offered a cup of wine to the bride. The wine represented blood, which always accompanied covenant making. If she chose to enter into the covenant of marriage, she would drink of the cup and thus take upon her the bridegroom’s name. We express our willingness to take upon us the name of Christ by partaking of the cup that represents his blood, and thus we make and renew our Covenant with him.
• The betrothal ceremony ended with a feast, which included the “breaking of bread.” To commemorate the day we entered into the New and Everlasting Covenant, we eat a covenantal meal containing broken bread.

In this third segment of this four-part series, we will examine the events that occur during the waiting period-the time between the betrothal and the wedding. We will examine the calling, symbolic clothing, the responsibility of the friend of the bridegroom, and the importance of the bridegroom and the bride’s preparing for each other.

The Father’s Announcement

Immediately after the betrothal ceremony, the bridegroom’s father made the first of two announcements of the marriage of his son. This announcement, or calling, is proffered to close friends, family, and others who were invited to the wedding. The scriptures inform us that “many are called” to the wedding because of their relationship with the father and the son.

By covenant, if the invited people accepted the father’s invitation, they were duty-bound to honor their commitment; that is, they must agree to come to the wedding when it was eventually announced, regardless of the inconvenience of the hour. Donna Nielsen explained, “The initial acceptance obliged the guest to respond to the summons at the ‘hour of the banquet.’ Only those who accepted the first invitation would receive the final invitation when the feast was ready.”

The Bride’s Veil

Maidens, who were not yet spoken for, could be seen in public with unveiled faces. But once they had entered the betrothal or engagement period-that is, when they had entered the Covenant-they veiled their faces in public. This custom, of course, is reminiscent of temple worship. Once the young woman had accepted her beloved proposal of marriage, she was considered set apart, consecrated and holy. Therefore, she wore the veil as an indication that she belonged only to her husband and that no one else had the right to appreciate her beauty except him.

As a symbol of consecration, the bride would forevermore “wear a veil over her hair whenever she was in public. This would indicate her status as a betrothed woman and signal that she was not available to anyone else. She would wear a veil over her hair for the remainder of her life as a symbol of her devotion and faithfulness to her husband. Properly understood, her veil hid only that which was too precious for the common, careless gaze.” This was not a sign of inferiority, but rather of glory. Her beauty was to be “enjoyed exclusively by her groom. In fact, only those things which were treasured and glorious were veiled.”

Sometimes in scripture Christ becomes the Bride, who beckons us to receive him. As the Bride, he also symbolically becomes the “veil,” as indicated by the author of Hebrews. This term, veil, seems to signify that we go through him to return to the Father. In this light, other scriptures connecting Christ and the veil begin to take on added meaning. For example, “Sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you will see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.”

Only the bridegroom was allowed to look upon the bride’s beauty that remained hidden behind the veil. Just so, it is our unique honor to part the veil and gaze upon the glory of the Lord: “And again, verily I say unto you that it is your privilege, and a promise I give unto you that have been ordained unto this ministry, that inasmuch as you strip yourselves from jealousies and fears, and humble yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall be rent and you shall see me and know that I am.”

Clearly, that which is most holy is hidden behind the veil. We recall that Moses veiled his face after he returned from speaking with the Lord. His face was filled with so much glory that the people could not endure his presence. That same idea of veiling that which is most holy was represented in the tabernacle and later in the temple of Solomon: a first veil concealed the inside of the temple and a second veil concealed the Holy of Holies.

As we have mentioned, the bride became a temple to her husband; therefore, in symbolism, she wore the veil to indicate that by covenant her beauty and her loyalties belonged exclusively to her husband. Likewise by covenant, we “veil ourselves” from the things of the world and allow no unhallowed hand or glance to remove us from the Bridegroom to whom we give exclusively the beauty of the temple of our souls. By covenant, we “come unto Christ (the Bridegroom)…and deny [ourselves] of all ungodliness,” and we love him with all our “might, mind and strength.” Symbolically, we hold sacred those things about ourselves that only the Bridegroom might cherish. “Like a temple,” wrote Donna Nielsen, “the woman was now ‘set apart’ for holiness-the greatest holiness of all.”

The Friend of the Bridegroom

After the bridegroom had paid the bride price, offered his beloved the marriage covenant, given her a token or emblem, consecrated himself to her and pledged his enduring devotion, then after the bride had indicated her agreement to enter into the marriage covenant by drinking the cup of wine in the presence of witnesses from a cup, and finally, after the two had shared a covenantal meal together, the bridegroom left to prepare a place for her in his father’s house. The bridegroom and the bride would not see each other again for about a year. Then on an unspecified night, he would come suddenly for her and whisk her away.

Until then, the friend of the bridegroom, who had been a witness of the couple’s covenant, would act “as liaison between the bride-to-be and the groom during the betrothal period…[he would become] the guarantor of the bride’s virgin chastity until the consummation took place…[later he acted as the] governor at the marriage feast, and finally, his last obligation was announcing to the assembled guests that the full marriage was successfully ‘completed.’”

In this tradition, we see the obvious role of the Holy Ghost, who witnesses the initial covenant-making process. Thereafter, as we wait and prepare for the Lord, the Holy Ghost conveys messages between the Bridegroom and us (the bride). Additionally, he prepares us for the Bridegroom, encourages us to remain faithful, and ultimately, when we are finally brought to the wedding, the Holy Ghost justifies us to the Bridegroom and bears testimony of our worthiness. Thus, he oversees the entire proceedings from start to completion, and in the end he declares the covenantal process is finished. Then the Bridegroom’s friend hands us over to the Bridegroom and the friend’s job is completed.

Preparing for Each Other

During the preparation period, which might approach one year, the bridegroom and the bride busied themselves with the primary thing on their minds: their coming wedding. As we have mentioned, the young woman was now considered a bride, so she wore a veil over her hair in public as a token of her new status. Whereas she had belonged to her mother and father, she now belonged to her husband; therefore, she set aside all former relationships in favor of the relationship with her husband, which would define her forevermore: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

For the bride to be separated from her beloved for a year was an exercise in long-suffering and patience. As she prepared for her wedding, she wondered when her bridegroom would come for her. Her not knowing the day or hour is a theme of the Second Coming that is widely rehearsed in scripture. For example, “…the hour and the day no man knoweth, neither the angels in heaven, nor shall they know until he comes.” Because the bride did not know the time, she had to live her life in constant anticipation and readiness. Her faithfulness is reminiscent of the five virgins whose lamps were trimmed and filled with oil when the bridegroom came. Her example also hearkens to the chosen few, those handful of faithful saints among the many who were called to the marriage of the king’s son. Only those people were actually allowed to attend the wedding.

The apostle Paul applied the imagery to a woman who was now about to give birth: “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”

Commenting, Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote:

Paul’s illustration here is perfect. The Second Coming is compared to a woman about to give birth to a child. She does not know the hour or the minute of the child’s arrival, but she does know the approximate time. There are signs which precede and presage the promised arrival. And so it is with our Lord’s coming. He shall come as a thief in the night, unexpectedly and without warning, to the world, to those who are in spiritual darkness, to those who are not enlightened by the power of the Spirit. But his coming shall not overtake the saints as a thief, for they know and understand the signs of the times.

On difficult days, the bride might have even despaired, wondering if her bridegroom would ever come. Likewise, we might become discouraged when the Lord delays his coming to our aid. Nevertheless, we are counseled to watch, pray and not faint while waiting. We are to “seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life.” In every difficulty, the Lord will eventually come for us. Even if the time is protracted, he will come. The Lord told Isaiah, “Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come…he will come and save you.” We are assured that “he remembereth every creature of his creating, he will make himself manifest unto all.” “Ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.” Most certainly, the Bridegroom will come; it is not a matter of if but when.

To comfort and help the bride endure his absence, the bridegroom left in her possession reminders of his promise to return-”I go away and come again unto you”–which symbolize his enduring love for her. These reminders, which she holds close to her heart, are the bride price, the marriage contract, and the token. When he left her, he knew her wait would be difficult. His pledge was reminiscent of his words to us: “Let not your hearts be troubled; for in my Father’s house are many mansions, and I have prepared a place for you; and where my Father and I am, there ye shall be also.” And at another time, “I go to prepare a place for you.”

It is important here to realize that during the separation period the bridegroom was preparing for his bride; she was not preparing alone. Additionally, although he would be physically absent, he had arranged to provide for her safety and her comfort. He assigned his trusted “friend” or “comforter” to watch over her until he returned. We recall that when Jesus announced his imminent departure, he said to the apostles, “I will not leave you comfortless.” As we have mentioned, the Lord’s “friend” is the Holy Ghost.

During the protracted betrothal period, the bridegroom spent his time building his beloved a bridal chamber within the confines of his father’s house or estate. After the wedding, the chamber would become their home. Donna Nielsen explained:

The new home was built under the direct personal supervision of the groom’s father. In that culture, a son is considered to be a representative of his father, and everything that the son does reflects either favorably or unfavorably on the father…. With such close identification between a father and his son, the father wanted everything regarding the bride’s new home to be as beautiful and perfect as it could be…. The father of the groom was the sole judge of when the preparations were complete….When the father determined everything was ready, he gave permission for the son to claim his bride. No one knew when that permission was forthcoming…only the father knew.

The bride would not see her bridegroom until the night he came for her, which time was hidden from her view. Thus, the bride spent the betrothal period preparing for the time that her bridegroom, who was also preparing, would finally receive his father’s commission, suddenly appear with little warning then whisk her away to the “mansion” that he had prepared for her.

The Serious Nature of Preparing

The subjects of preparing for the Bridegroom’s return and receiving an inheritance in his Father’s kingdom occupy chapter 25 of Matthew. This chapter describes who and what we are preparing for, how we must prepare, and how the principle of stewardship assists us to prepare. Here the Lord gives three parables-The Ten Virgins, The Parable of the Talents, and The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats. Kent P. Jackson wrote:

These allegories seem to form a progression, teaching different aspects of readiness that Jesus encouraged of His listeners and readers. The Joseph Smith translation of verse 1 places the story of the ten virgins clearly in the context of the Second Coming…. (Matthew 25:1-13) Preparation is a necessary precaution because “ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.” This parable…ends with the admonition, “Watch!”

In the parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), the master, traveling to “a far country,” leaves different quantities of his goods in the hands of three servants, to each “according to his several ability.” Two of the servants doubled their master’s resources that had been entrusted to them. The third, however, hid his allotment for safekeeping. To the two who magnified their investment, the master said upon his return, “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” The final servant returned the master’s talent to him, yet he did not receive his lord’s praise but rather his condemnation: “Thou wicked and slothful servant.” This is not a parable about the uncertain timing of Christ’s return but about what we are to do with the gifts He has entrusted to us while we were waiting. As Joseph Smith taught, we should “improve upon all things committed to [our] charge.” This parable…ends with the unprofitable servant’s intense sorrow, “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The final parable, that of the Sheep and the Goats (see Matthew 25:31-46), again addresses what people do with the blessings entrusted to them-but in a different way. The setting…is a judgment scene: “When the Son of Man shall come in his glory…and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.” Those placed on his right hand will receive an inheritance in His kingdom, whereas those on his left hand will be sent off to “everlasting fire.” Jesus explained in some detail the criteria for the King’s just judgment. Those worthy of an inheritance of glory will be those who fed Him when he was hungry, gave Him drink when he was thirsty, took Him in when He was a stranger, clothed Him when He was naked, visited Him when He was sick, and came to Him when He was in prison. Those who will be condemned will be the ones who had the same opportunities but did none of those worthy things.

The burden of stewardship is intrinsically linked to our preparation for the Lord’s Second Coming. In this context, we are both the bride and the steward. First, as the bride, we must anticipate the Bridegroom’s arrival in an attitude of constant readiness, as would a betrothed bride prepare and watch as she waited for the promised return of her beloved. She would “always remember him.” Just so, during our wait, we are to remain absolutely loyal to the Bridegroom. We are not to divide our affections with another. Our entire attention is to prepare for the coming wedding when we will be more surely joined with the Bridegroom and live with him forevermore. The one who helps us to prepare and who comforts us so that we can endure the wait is the Bridegroom’s “friend,” the Holy Ghost. We are also comforted by holding in our possession the price that the Bridegroom paid for us, the Covenant he made with us, and the token (his wounds) that he gave to us.

In our dual roles of bride and steward, we receive from the Lord both gifts and stewardships to help us endure the wait and prepare: 1) as the “bride,” we receive from the Lord gifts to help us remember him and his promise to return; 2) as the “steward,” we receive from the Lord stewardships as sacred trusts to manage his property and resources until he returns. As both the bride and the steward, we are to anticipate the Lord’s return and actively prepare for it. As the steward, we are to magnify our stewardships during the wait. We do so by using the resources and surpluses of the stewardship to bless the Lord’s children. As the steward and the bride, we have covenanted to take upon us his name, and therefore we belong to him. As his bride, his children become our children, and we share in his efforts to take care of them.

Both the loyal bride and the faithful steward are “accounted worthy to inherit the mansions prepared for him of my Father.” But, as both the bride and the steward, if we do not prepare for the Bridegroom, if we do not remain loyal to him, if we do not listen to his friend, if we are ashamed of the gifts he has given us or hide or misuse our stewardships or do not use them as he instructed (to bless the lives of others)-if we do any of these things, he will say to us when he comes that he does not know us: “Depart from me.” Then sadly we will have forfeited the marriage. In that miserable state, we will be cast away to where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” We will find ourselves on the Lord’s left hand, the place that is called “cursed,” and described as “everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Clearly, the Bridegroom expects his bride to hold his name in high regard, always remember him, and remain loyal to their marriage covenant. To the extent that the bride remains faithful, she will have the Bridegroom’s friend to attend, comfort, instruct and prepare her for the Bridegroom’s coming and the wedding.

The Bride’s Final Preparations

As we have mentioned, the bride did not know the exact day and hour of the bridegroom’s coming, but her relationship with the bridegroom’s friend would have provided her signs of the bridegroom’s coming. As the approximate time approached, she intensified her preparations. She kept herself adorned. She practiced applying wedding make-up, and she paid special attention to her fingernails, hair, and skin so that she would appear as attractive as possible for her new husband. Also from the time of the bridegroom’s departure, she had kept a lamp burning in her window; she would keep it burning bright until he came for her.

As the time of the wedding drew closer, the young girl anxiously awaited her groom’s arrival. By custom, it would be sudden, with an element of surprise, and often late at night. She invited her sisters, cousins, and friends to join her vigil and be supportive at this time of joyous anticipation…. Night after night, they would strain to hear the shouts of the bridegroom and his friends.

This custom is reminiscent, of course, of Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins. We recall that the vigil had gone on a long time, and the bridegroom had “tarried.” Then late in the night, “at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” Intrinsic in the New and Everlasting Covenant is the stipulation that we, the bride, “watch.” That is, we must live in a state of happy anticipation and preparation, “for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”

In the last days before her wedding, the bride would submit to a ritual washing and anointing, because she was about to become royalty. At her wedding, she become a queen and presented to a king. In a special pool called a mikvah, the bride immersed herself completely in “living waters.”

Her life and her body were to be the gift of a living sacrifice to her husband, and to be pure without spot or blemish was a condition required of sacrifices (Ephesians 5:27; Romans 12:1)…. The Jewish bride did not immerse herself because of uncleanness, but in preparation for holiness, to fulfill God’s commandment to be fruitful and multiply…. After her immersion in the mikvah, the bride’s friends would help her anoint herself as part of the preparation for marriage.” This ceremonial immersion in living water symbolized, among other things, “a preparation for holiness.” Additionally, “it also represented a separation from an old life to a new life-from life as a single woman to life as a married woman.

As part of the New and Everlasting Covenant, we are also to go into a holy place (the temple) “to prepare…for the ordinances and endowments, washings and anointing.” The visual image of washing hearkens to the process of purification, which is to eliminate impurities, contaminants and pollutants. We are washed or purified in preparation to be anointed and thus sanctified. The idea of anointing speaks to the process of changing the purpose of something or someone. By ceremonially washing and anointing her body, the bride avowed that she was clean and ready for her life’s purpose to change; she was now ready to be endowed with the fulness of the marriage covenant and thus become a queen in Israel. By the rituals of washing (purification) and anointing (sanctification), the bride demonstrated her willingness to become totally consecrated to her husband and yield to the transformation of her life’s purpose. Now, all was in order to that she could join with her husband, who would be her king.

Of interest, the bridegroom, although not required, usually submitted to washing in the mikvah to purify himself in preparation for the wedding. This voluntary washing reminds us the Savior’s submitting to baptism, although he was sinless. His purpose was to enter the New and Everlasting Covenant by fulfilling all righteousness. Later, at the end of his life, he also submitted to voluntarily sanctify himself so that he might better help others to become sanctified so that they could become one with him: “And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth…. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.”

Thus we see Jesus submitting to the processes of purification and sanctification to prepare himself to become one with those whom he loved. It is said that Jesus Christ is our Mikvah-Israel, which means “hope of Israel.”

Next Time

In the next segment of this series, we will examine the events leading up to the actual wedding: the father’s giving his son permission to go and claim his bride; the father’s issuing his second and final call to the wedding; the wedding processional; the bridegroom’s coming as a thief in the night, whisking away his beloved, and conveying her as a queen to the place he has prepared for her. Then the wedding takes place; the bridegroom and his bride are finally together, never again to be parted.

Publisher’s Note

The Three Pillars of Zion is an extensive 5-volume set of books that explores the covenants, attributes and characteristics that define a Zion person. This Zion series is heavily documented with over 3,800 references, making it one of the most extensive research projects ever written about Zion. New York Times best-selling author, Ron McMillan, says, “Larry Barkdull has written one of the most definitive works on the subject of Zion.” This ground-breaking series contains one of the most critical messages for our day. We invite you to learn more and receive a complimentary copy of the Pillars of Zion Sampler at www.PillarsOfZion.com.

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.40

See D&C 121:40; Matthew 22:14

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.41

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.16, 31

See Hebrews 10:20

D&C 88:68, emphasis added

D&C 67:10, emphasis added

See Exodus 34:29-35

See Hebrews 9:1-7

Moroni10:32

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.31

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.19

Genesis 2:24

D&C  49:7

See Matthew 25:1-13; D&C 45:56-59

See Matthew 22:1-14

1 Thessalonians 5:2-4

Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, vol.3, p.54

See Matthew 26:41; Luke 1:18

D&C 101:38

Isaiah  35:4

Mosiah  27:30

Mosiah  24:14

John 14:28

D&C 98:18

John 14:2

John 14:18

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.34-35

Kent P. Jackson, “The Olivet Discourse,” The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ: From the Transfiguration through the Triumphant Entry, Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Thomas A. Wayment, eds, p.342-43

D&C 20:77

D&C  72:3-4

See Matthew 25:12, 30, 41

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.36, 38

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.39

Matthew  25:5-6

Matthew 25:13

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.38

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.37-38

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.125

Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.308

See Isaiah 4:4; Psalm 51:2

See Leviticus 8:10-12

See D&C 20:77

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.44

See Matthew 3:15

John 17:19, 21

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p. 125, quoting a rabbi from the first century

(NOTE: This article is the second part of four articles adapted from Chapter 8 of The Three Pillars of Zion. You can download a free Sampler of this new Zion series at www.PillarsOfZion.com.)

The Jewish marriage parallels the New and Everlasting Covenant with astonishing similarity. Because the New and Everlasting Covenant is the first “pillar of Zion,” and because it is upon this foundational Covenant that a Zion life or a Zion marriage are established, we would be well served to become familiar with these ancient customs.

Review

In Part 1 of this series, we learned that the Jewish marriage describes the beauty and loving nature of the New and Everlasting Covenant.

• Marriage was considered the primary and most glorious purpose of life. Just so, the New and Everlasting Covenant provides the glorious end-purpose of our lives.
• Jewish children were “born to marry” just as we are born to enter into the Covenant.
• Parents shouldered the responsibility to help choose their child’s mate, although the child retained the freedom of choice. Likewise, parents have the obligation to introduce their children into the New and Everlasting Covenant, but the children do so by choice.
• To legalize the marriage covenant, the bridegroom had to 1) pay a bride price, 2) offer his bride a marriage contract, and 3) the couple had to consummate the marriage, meaning to know each other. Similarly, in the New and Everlasting Covenant, we (the bride) are:
  • “Bought with a price.”
  • United by covenant according to the Law of Consecration, which is “the law of the celestial kingdom.”
  • Known, or “made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood.”
• The bridegroom initiated the offer of marriage to the bride. Just so, the Savior extends his hand to us and lovingly invites us to join with him in the New and Everlasting Covenant.

In this second segment of the four-part series, we will examine some of the rites associated with the Jewish betrothal that initiated the marriage and preceded the wedding.

Bought with a Price

When the marriage delegation, which included the groom, his father, friend(s) and witness(es), arrived at the bride’s home, the proposal ceremony began. First, the young man paid the girl’s father a “bride price.” There are several important symbolic parallels to our covenant with the Savior that are portrayed in the price that the bridegroom paid for the bride.

It meant a pledge of money given by the man to seal his offer to marry. This was not like buying a slave but was perceived as compensating the father for the great loss of his daughter and her contribution to the household. It recognized the care and diligence required to raise her to be a suitable wife. In addition, it also sealed a bond of alliance between the two families.

This relationship of ownership is described in the word segulah, “which means ‘peculiar treasure’ or ‘treasured relationship’…. Truly, the worth of a bride was great in the eyes of her husband.”

Importantly, the bride price “signified the transfer of authority from father to husband.” That is, when the bride gave her consent and entered into the marriage covenant, she agreed to fully belong to her husband, not as if she were a slave or property, but exclusive as would be a beloved eternal companion. She was “bought with a price.” Now she was expected to shift her loyalty from her father to her husband and follow him in righteousness. Likewise, when we enter into the New and Everlasting Covenant with the Savior, we leave behind all other loyalties and affections and shift our devotion exclusively to him.

Of great significance was the amount of the bride price. A small amount suggested that her husband held her in low esteem and of little value. But if he paid a great deal for her in money or service, the implication was that he was acquiring something extremely valuable that required cherishing. Thus a bridegroom’s consecrating his all to “purchase” his bride would signify both immense sacrifice and unbounded love. In his eyes, she would be of infinite worth. We recall that Jacob “served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.” When we consider the bride price, we cannot avoid the reference to the Savior who paid for us with his life and offers us all that he is and has. He bought us with “his own blood.”

Although the bride’s father received the bride price, he returned most of it to his daughter. This became her dowry, which her husband could never access. It was her security, in case her husband died. Effectively, her father endowed her so that she might enter her new life and have adequate security to face with the uncertainties of that life. Thus, her security originated from the sacrifice of her husband and culminated in the generosity of her father.

Similarly, our Heavenly Father endows us with gifts of great value that ensure our future safety and security, and these gifts flow to us from the sacrifice of our beloved Bridegroom.

The Marriage Contract

In Jewish thought, all covenantal relationships were extremely serious. Often, only when they were sealed in blood did they became final and legally binding. The actual terms of the marriage covenant “were spelled out in a formal document called a ketubah…which stated the bride price…the promises and obligations of the groom and listed the rights of the bride. It signified a permanent covenant and an exclusive agreement.” The wording of an ancient ketubah might be representative:

1. I will provide you with food, clothing and necessities.
2. I will redeem you if you are ever taken captive.
3. I will live with you as a husband according to the universal custom.

Notice that the marriage contract was weighted in the bride’s favor. The groom listed “what he would do for her, what he would give her, and how he would care and provide for her.” While it is true that we agree “to take upon us the name of [the] Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments,” it is also true that we sometimes forget how much the New and Everlasting Covenanted is weighted in our favor. If we “receive” Jesus, we also receive all that Jesus inherits from his Father: “[the] Father’s kingdom…therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him.” “They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things.”

The marriage covenant was one of love, security and comforting assurance. The bridegroom listed promises to always take care of his wife with food, clothing, necessities, redemption and affectionate attention. We would expect the same treatment by our relationship with the Lord in the Covenant. The text of Psalms 37 in the Jewish Tanakh reads: “The Lord is concerned for the needs of the blameless [the bride]; their portion lasts forever; they shall not come to grief in bad times; in famine, they shall eat their fill…. I have never seen a righteous man abandoned, or his children seeking bread. [The Lord] is always generous.”

By taking some license, we might personalize the promise of continuous caring that Jesus gave to his apostles on both continents:

And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, even so will he clothe you, if ye are not of little faith. Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Another stipulation of the marriage contract was the bridegroom’s vow to redeem his wife should were she ever taken captive. Lehi assured his son Jacob of the surety of the Lord’s redemption: “Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth. Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice.”

All of us have sinned and to one extent or another have been taken captive by the enemy. Each of us is in need of the Bridegroom’s promise of redemption: “and he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people.” We are reminded of Abraham, a type of the Savior, who assembled an army to rescue Lot and his household from their enemies when they had been taken captive. “And [Abraham] brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.” Thus by covenant, the Bridegroom places all that he has and is, including his own life, on the altar of sacrifice to redeem us from our enemies and to clear every obstacle that stands between us and exaltation.

Finally, the bridegroom promised to live with his wife with love and affection. Donna Nielsen wrote,

The third and last promise in the [marriage contract] was the groom’s promise to live as a husband with the bride and to give her an opportunity to bear children. In Hebrew ‘to bear children’ was synonymous with the term ‘to bear fruit.’ Children were called the ‘fruit of the womb (Luke 1:42).

To first be married (oneness) and to then bear fruit (fruitfulness) was considered by the ancients to be the measure of one’s creation. The oneness and fruitfulness shared by a husband and wife is described by the Savior (the True Vine) in the following verse: “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” As long as we abide in the Covenant with him, he promises to abide in us, and together our union will be one of abundant fruitfulness.

Moreover, he promises his continuous affection. Nephi called these acts of affection “tender mercies,” gentle reminders of his love and awareness, love notes from the one who knows and adores us most. “Behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen.” These evidences of love flow to us quietly but continually; they are a “multitude of his tender mercies.” When the bride recognizes her husband’s constant goodness, she is brought to tears for her good fortune: “And when they had set their feet upon the shores of the promised land they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them.”

The marriage contract was often elaborately decorated, a piece of art and thus as a thing of beauty. It contained the words of a binding and holy agreement, and the bride cherished it. The marriage contract was tangible proof of her future husband’s devotion and her immutable rights. Again, we hear overtones of the New and Everlasting Covenant. No doctrine is more glorious. We cling to the Covenant because it offers us the Bridegroom’s guarantees of continually providing for us, keeping us safe, redeeming us from our enemies, and living with us in loving and fruitful companionship. The Covenant promises us the Bridegroom’s name, and it reminds us of the great price that he paid for us. The Covenant guarantees that he will endow us with all that he is and has. It states that we, his bride, are his “great treasure,” and the Covenant reminds us that he has given his own blood to seal the covenant. What bride would not cherish such a document, especially if it was backed up by years of verifiable devotion?

The Gift of Value

The presentation of the marriage contract was followed by the bridegroom’s offering his beloved “a token,” that is, “a gift of value.” This gift was different from the bride price, which the bridegroom had paid to the young woman’s father. In this case, the groom offered the token directly to his intended bride. “The groom’s gift was considered to be an extension of himself….It also symbolized his willingness to sacrifice and served as a reminder of his love. A gold ring was frequently used as this token or gift because it represented eternity. Anciently, the ring used was often a link from a gold chain. The chain represented past and future family associations and was seen as symbolically linking the girl to her new family.”

Sometimes the “gift of value” was silver or gold coins. A devoted bride would often make a chain of the coins and attach them “to her veil as an important part of her headdress.” In private and in public, she was spoken for, beloved, and ever abiding in the covenant. If she lost something this valuable, she would take it as a tragedy. Jesus’ parable of the lost coin makes more sense in this light; the loss of something so precious could indicate that she had been careless with the token that her betrothed husband had given her. Clearly, our treatment of the Lord’s gifts is an indication of our respect for him and the Covenant that we have entered into. The tokens he gives us are the emblems of his sacrifice represented by the emblems of the sacrament.

The Pledge

After the bridegroom had paid the bride price, offered his beloved the covenantal marriage contract, and given her the token or gift of value, he “recited a ritual statement to consecrate himself to his bride.” For example, the Biblical prophet, Hosea, speaking for the Lord, pledged, “And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.”

Donna Nielsen explained that the word “consecrate, wherein the groom consecrated himself to the bride, is used to mean, ‘to devote irrevocably.’ The groom has no options here-no escape clauses-there is no question ever that he would rescind his invitation to the woman to marry. He cannot break this [covenant] if the woman remains faithful, for he is bound if she fulfills her part of the covenant.”

Just so, Christ consecrates and devotes himself to us irrevocably when he offers us the Covenant. He will absolutely live up to every promise made in the Covenant. The scriptures are replete with such language. For example, “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled.” “Ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.” “Who am I, saith the Lord, that have promised and have not fulfilled?”

The Cup to Seal the Covenant

Now the bride had before her the marriage covenant, which stated the bride price, and the token or gift of value. She had heard the bridegroom make an irrevocable pledge stating his eternal devotion and indivisible consecration to her. At this point, he placed before her a cup of wine, which represented blood. Donna Nielsen wrote, “The idea was that the blood of the covenant superseded all other loyalties.” The wine also signified sacrifice and joy. “These three elements [blood, sacrifice and joy] were intrinsic to the marriage relationship….Now came the suspenseful part. At this point, the woman had about thirty seconds to make up her mind….If the woman was willing to receive the man and his proposed condition, she would accept his gift [token] and also drink the cup of wine, which sealed the covenant. This showed that she was willing to take his name upon her.”

When the Savior offers us the New and Everlasting Covenant, we must not vacillate but rather make a firm decision. Our being “lukewarm” only summons the Savior’s rebuke. Elijah became indignant with such indecision: “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.” However, in the act of acceptance, we see glimpses of our saying yes to baptism, receiving the sacrament, and consenting to taking our temple covenants and ordinances. Drinking of the cup is implied in every covenant-making instance: “But Jesus answered and said…Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with.”

The bride’s drinking of the cup of wine had to be witnessed by two observers. If and when the bride drank of the cup, the couple was considered betrothed for marriage. “Following the woman’s acceptance, the groom and sometimes the girl’s father recited additional formal statements….To the bride, the groom would speak the words, ‘Thou art set apart (or consecrated) for me according to the law of Moses and Israel.’ Interestingly, the same word for ‘set apart,’ in the New Testament Greek, ‘hagiazo’ was also used to describe the state of a temple once it was dedicated.”

The bride’s body was now considered a temple for her husband. Likewise, when we enter the Covenant our bodies become temples for the spirit of the Lord. That idea was suggested by Paul: “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” And in another place, “The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”

All of this suggests, of course, that the marriage covenant represented more than mere ritual or the rehearsing of words. To become valid and eternal, those outward ritualistic actions had to become an inward condition of two hearts bound together by love:

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel [the bride]; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people [my bride]. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord.” Most intimately and most completely, we will know the Bridegroom, and our love would not permit us to violate our Covenant with him. “This is eternal lives–to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. I am he. Receive ye, therefore, my law.

The Covenantal Feast

The betrothal ceremony often ended with a feast at the home of the bride. Included in the feast would be the “breaking of bread.” By partaking of the “same loaf at the same table,” the participants became bound together as companions. Significantly, the sharing of a meal together followed the couple’s entering into a covenant.

We cast our thoughts immediately upon the sacrament table and the Lord’s supper, which among other things reminds us of our previously having entered into the New and Everlasting Covenant with the Lord through baptism. Additionally, the sacrament reminds us that we are “in waiting,” anticipating the time when the Bridegroom will come for us and take us into the place that he has prepared for us in the mansions of his Father. We are always in a state of remembrance, obediently preparing and patiently anticipating the Bridegroom.

The sacrament also helps us to hearken back to the day when we accepted the Lord’s proposal and made mutual vows to each other in the presence of two witnesses. That was the day when we formalized our covenant with Lord by being immersed in the living waters or in other words drinking fully from the cup of his love. To commemorate the day we entered into the New and Everlasting Covenant, we eat a covenantal meal containing broken bread from the same loaf.

Therefore, by the bread and the cup of wine, we keep forefront in our minds our love for and hope in our loving Bridegroom; we hold in sacred remembrance our immutable vows to each other; we know that he will someday come at an unannounced hour to carry us away to the place that he has prepared for us, our eternal inheritance-”our mansion”-where we will live with him forever in the house of his Father.

Next Time

In the next segment of this four-part series, we will examine the events that occur during the waiting period-the time between the betrothal and the wedding. We will examine the father’s calling, some symbolic clothing, the responsibility of the friend of the bridegroom, and the importance of the bridegroom and the bride’s preparing for each other.

Publisher’s Note

The Three Pillars of Zion is an extensive 5-volume set of books that explores the covenants, attributes and characteristics that define a Zion person. This Zion series is heavily documented with over 3,800 references, making it one of the most extensive research projects ever written about Zion. New York Times best-selling author, Ron McMillan, says, “Larry Barkdull has written one of the most definitive works on the subject of Zion.” This ground-breaking series contains one of the most critical messages for our day. We invite you to learn more and receive a complimentary copy of the Pillars of Zion Sampler at www.PillarsOfZion.com.

D&C 105:4

D&C 76:69

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.21

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.25-26

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.21, referencing John J. Collins, “Marriage, Divorce, and Family in Second Temple Judaism,” Browning, p.104-162

1 Corinthians 7:23

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.22

Genesis 29:20

Acts 20:28

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.23

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.111

D&C 20:77

D&C 84:38

D&C 76:55

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.111

Psalms 37:18-19, 25-26, Tanakh

3 Nephi 13:28-33

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.112

2 Nephi 2:6-7

Alma 7:12

Genesis 14:16

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.114

See Joseph Fielding Smith, The Restoration of All Things, p.244

John 15:5

1 Nephi 1:20

1 Nephi 8:8

Ether  6:12

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.28

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.28

See D&C 98:14; 132:19

See Verse 7, “A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief,” Hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, #153

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.29

Hosea  2:19-20

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.31

D&C 1:38

Joshua 23:14

D&C 58:31

See Revelation 3:15-16

1 Kings18:21

Matthew 20:22-23

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.30-31

1 Corinthians  6:19

1 Corinthians 3:17

Jeremiah 31:33-34

D&C 132:24

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.20-21, 32

See 1 Corinthians 11:20

See Enos 1:27; Ether 12:32, 34, 37; D&C 98:18

See Matthew 20:22-23; 3 Nephi 18:8-9

(NOTE: This article is the first part of four articles adapted from Chapter 8 of The Three Pillars of Zion. You can download a free Sampler of this new Zion series at www.PillarsOfZion.com.)

According to D&C 42:67, a Zion life is built upon three “pillars.” These pillars are:

1. The New and Everlasting Covenant
2. The Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood
3. The Law of Consecration

The New and Everlasting Covenant Compared to Jewish Marriage

Throughout the scriptures, the marriage metaphor is used to describe our covenantal relationship with the Lord. He is the Bridegroom and the Church is the bride. By extension, we, individually, are his bride: “For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.” We are to prepare ourselves for the time the Bridegroom comes to receive us: “Wherefore, be faithful, praying always, having your lamps trimmed and burning, and oil with you, that you may be ready at the coming of the Bridegroom–For behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, that I come quickly.” We are to become prepared and beautiful for him: “adorned as a bride.”

That the Lord chose marriage to describe the New and Everlasting Covenant should summon our solemn contemplation. Marriage is the summit of gospel covenants, the relationship that is the most intimate, most enduring and the most loving of unions. Marriage is the relationship in which the power of God to create is manifest; children spring from this union; multiplication, replenishment and fruitfulness become possible. The metaphor of marriage suggests the abandonment of selfish interests, profound loyalty and complete sacrifice.

Marriage requires the entire consecration of one’s time, talents and resources to his or her companion, the totality of all that one is and all that one has. Marriage is a covenantal lifestyle that results in oneness, a relationship wherein the partners are no longer “twain, but one flesh,” joined together by God, and intended to endure beyond man’s attempts to put asunder. If marriage is to be successful, it requires losing one’s life in selfless service to and the loving of one’s spouse; then, in return, marriage leads to finding one’s life in a more exalted purpose.

Marriage urges the best of behavior in the partners: “and they shall mention the loving kindness of their Lord, and all that he has bestowed upon them according to his goodness, and according to his loving kindness, forever and ever.” Marriage is yoking together to ease one another’s burdens, and the mutual sharing of each other’s challenges: “In all their afflictions he was afflicted…and in his love, and in his pity, he redeemed them, and bore them, and carried them all the days.” By purpose and by design marriage is eternal, the highest order of celestial living, the ultimate source of happiness, and significantly the highest order of the Priesthood.

Conversely, disloyalty to the marriage covenant is a grievous sin, “most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost.” Clearly, the Lord takes seriously the New and Everlasting Covenant and expects us to do the same.

In the foreword of Donna B. Nielsen’s excellent work, The Beloved Bridegroom, Dr. Robert J. Norman wrote, “The wedding ceremony was a metaphor often used by Christ and the Old Testament authors. A study of the Jewish marriage customs yields a wealth of spiritual understanding and deeper insight into the teachings of Jesus and the Biblical prophets.” Donna Nielsen explained, “A knowledge of Biblical marriage imagery can greatly enrich our understanding of how God relates to us through covenants.

Biblical covenant marriage imagery encompasses principles as diverse as Sabbath observance, the Atonement, temple worship, and missionary work. It literally begins with Adam and ends with Zion.” Let us, therefore, examine the New and Everlasting Covenant by contrasting it with the Jewish marriage tradition. In advance, we thank Donna B. Nielsen for her generous support in providing access to her research.

Born to Marry

Elder John A. Widstoe stated that marriage is “the most important event between birth and death,” and certainly the Jewish people agreed. We cannot overstate the importance of marriage in Jewish society. Marriage was clearly linked to the covenant God made with Israel; in fact, we might say that children were born with the purpose of marrying.

Donna Nielsen stated that an infant male “was often affectionately called ‘the little bridegroom.’ This reflected one of three great hopes that parents had for their children, namely that their children would: study Torah (study the scriptures), be under the wedding canopy (marry in the covenant), and do good deeds (live righteous lives).” Immediately, we see the connection between marriage and the New and Everlasting Covenant. From the moment of birth, our life’s purpose should be to learn about and prepare for the Bridegroom, enter into a Covenant with the Bridegroom, and do the works of the Bridegroom. As much as Jewish children were born to marry, we are born to enter into the Covenant.

Because marriage was the goal of life, husbands and wives married at an early age. No later than eighteen was the norm, and most often they married years before that. A boy became a Son of the Law by age thirteen, and technically one month later he was considered of marriageable age. Girls were eligible at twelve years and one month.

In today’s culture, we might have difficulty imagining Joseph and Mary, two teenagers, taking on the heavy responsibility of marriage and caring for the Savior of the world. Also, we might struggle with the concept that Jesus could have been married for 12-15 years and had children before he began his ministry at age thirty. But according to Jewish custom, these facts probably hold true. Marriage was the focal point of Jewish life, and we might imagine that Joseph and Mary, and later Jesus, followed the prevailing tradition by marrying in their teens.

The Parents’ Responsibility and the Bride’s Choice

Marriages were thought to be too important to be left to chance. Fathers and mothers made these decisions for their children. Who else loved the child more? Who else had the child’s best interests in mind? Who else wanted the child’s happiness more than the parents? Today, we might cringe at this ancient custom, but Jewish children expected their parents to advocate for their happiness. Despite the fact that the parents were expected to prayerfully deliberate then introduce their children to their intended spouse, the children owned the ultimate choice. Their agency was never violated.

Today, of course, parents do not formally choose their children’s mates, but the similarity to the ancient custom is clear: Parents have the responsibility to introduce their children to Christ. Fathers, by virtue of their holding the priesthood, have the responsibility to take their children into the waters of baptism and help them to enter into the New and Everlasting Covenant with Jesus. Now the children are given over or married to Christ by Covenant, and taking upon them his name, they begin a relationship with him that will end up in the mansions of his Father.

Love for each other was expected to be cultivated after the marriage, not necessarily before. We note that after Isaac married Rebekah he grew in his love for her. This reversal of order might seem strange to us, but the implication is intriguing: Covenant people grow together in love as they remain true to each other. When we enter into the New and Everlasting Covenant, we do so without a full appreciation for or love of the Lord. These things take time. But as we live together in the Covenant and as we have experience with the Lord, we grow to love him more and more. “The Semetic root word for ‘love’ is haw or hav. It means ‘to warm’ or ‘to kindle,’ ‘to set on fire.’” Over time, our love for the Bridegroom grows from an ember to a blazing fire until love becomes as perfect as the God of love, who “dwells in everlasting burnings.”

Requirements to Legalize the Covenant

The marriage covenant “had serious implications. There were three parts that were vital to a completed marriage contract in Biblical times. These were money, writ, and intercourse. All three of these conditions had to be met for a marriage to be recognized as legal.” The groom was expected to pay a bride price for his beloved. Then he was to offer her a marriage contract, a writ or ketuba, whereby he consecrated himself to his bride. Finally, the marriage had to be consummated; that is, he must know his wife through intercourse. This last condition fulfilled the requirement that blood be shed to complete the covenant.

Thus, in both marriage and in the New and Everlasting Covenant, we (the bride) are:

1. “Bought with a price.”
2. United by covenant according to the Law of Consecration, which is “the law of the celestial kingdom.”
3. Known, or “made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood.”

When we consider these conditions, we begin to understand the price that Jesus was willing to pay to draw us to him, redeem us and secure our eternal affections. Marvin Wilson wrote:

…the joining of a man and a woman is a reenactment or replica of God’s eternal covenant relation to his chosen. To understand Biblical marriage is to understand the Biblical concept of covenant. In Hebrew ‘to make a covenant’ is literally ‘to cut a covenant’….The shedding of blood dramatically ratified and sealed the covenant (Genesis 15:9-18; Jeremiah 34:18-20). If one attempted to break the covenant, the blood served as a powerful visual lesson that one’s own blood would be shed. In brief, it was a solemn oath to be kept on pain of death. It was thus inviolable and irrevocable.”

Initiating the Marriage Proposal

The bridegroom initiated the process of offering the covenant of marriage to the bride. When we consider this action in light of the New and Everlasting Covenant, we see something tender and loving about the character of the Savior. We are immediately impressed by the fact that he, not us, invites us into the New and Everlasting Covenant. Clearly, “we love Him because he loved us first.”

When we are baptized, we often miss the fact that Jesus was the one who reached out to us and bade us enter into an eternal covenantal relationship with him. We sometimes mistakenly think that we were the ones who instigated the process, but according to the Jewish marriage tradition, that is not true. In advance of every baptism is Jesus’ implied invitation. This fact speaks to his adoring love for us. He is the Bridegroom and we are his potential bride. He is the one who begins the covenant-making process. He does this through the Holy Ghost and through his authorized representatives: fathers, Home Teachers, bishops or missionaries.

The occasion of the marriage proposal often happened at the harvest season, suggesting a bounteous relationship and a fruitful future. Likewise, when we join with the Lord in the Covenant, we glorify both him and his Father and we “bear much fruit” together. The proposal procedure began by the bridegroom’s going to the house of the bride. He was accompanied by his father or a close friend(s). We immediately envision a small entourage, a companionship, two or more witnesses like missionary companions, on an important mission to convey an invitation of infinite worth to the intended bride.

In her presence, the bridegroom would make the covenantal offer while his friend(s) would support him and bear witness of the event. This was the beginning of holiness, for truly, upon her acceptance of the marriage covenant, the bride would effectively ascribe holiness unto the Lord, her new husband. Donna Nielsen wrote: “The collective term for all that broadly comprises a Jewish marriage is Kiddushin, which literally means ‘sanctities.’ This concept includes the ideas of being devoted irrevocably, being sanctified and set apart, and being consecrated.” Clearly, the Jewish marriage is the perfect metaphor for the New and Everlasting Covenant.

Entering into the Covenant

The Bridegroom’s proposal to us includes sacred rituals that consecrate him to us (the bride), and our accepting his proposal consecrates us to him. We hear overtures of the Law of Consecration in this. Other symbolisms of the New and Everlasting Covenant become evident as the betrothal ceremony unfolds. In the Jewish marriage, the groom offered the bride’s father a bride price-she was “bought with a price.”

Then the bridegroom presented his potential bride a written covenant of marriage that he had prepared. Then he offered her a “gift of value,” which represented a “token” of his promise and an “emblem” of his love. With the token he recited a pledge to irrevocably bind and consecrate himself to her forever. Then, in the presence of two witnesses, he placed before his beloved a cup of wine. If she drank of the cup, the contract of marriage was ratified or sealed, and the betrothal period began. Moreover, by drinking of the cup, she indicated her willingness to take upon herself her husband’s name. At that point, the couple, along with their guests, shared a covenantal meal.

Thus, by these rituals that were rich in imagery, the bridegroom and bride entered into the eternal covenant of marriage. When the ceremony was complete, the only question that remained was would the rituals that represented the marriage covenant translate into life-long acts of devotion and consecration? That is, would the couple’s covenant become royal by their subsequent loyalty, patience, sacrifice and love? Or would the Covenant remain a set of symbols and a piece of paper upon which promises had been made but never enacted?

Next Time

In the next segment of this four-part series, we will examine the beautiful rites that were associated with the Jewish custom of betrothal that initiated the marriage and preceded the wedding

Publisher’s Note

The Three Pillars of Zion is an extensive 5-volume set of books that explores the covenants, attributes and characteristics that define a Zion person. This Zion series is heavily documented with over 3,800 references, making it one of the most extensive research projects ever written about Zion. New York Times best-selling author, Ron McMillan, says, “Larry Barkdull has written one of the most definitive works on the subject of Zion.” This ground-breaking series contains one of the most critical messages for our day. We invite you to learn more and receive a complimentary copy of the Pillars of Zion Sampler at www.PillarsOfZion.com.

See Revelation 21:2, 9-10; 22:17

Isaiah  62:5

D&C 33:17; see also D&C 88:92; 133:10, 19

D&C 109:74

Matthew 19:6

See Matthew 10:39

D&C 133:52

Matthew 11:30

D&C 133:53

See D&C 132:19

See D&C 131:2

See David O. McKay, Man May Know for Himself: Teachings of President David O. McKay, compiled by Clare Middlemiss, p.235

See Bruce R. McConkie, “Patriarchal Order,” Mormon Doctrine, p.559

Alma 39:5

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p. iii

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p. 2

John A. Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations, p.297

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p. 4

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p. 2

See Enos 1:27; Ether 12:32-37; D&C 59:2; 98:18

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.13

See Genesis 24:67

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.13

See 1 John 4:8

Isaiah 33:14-15

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p. 18

See 1 Corinthians 6:20

D&C 105:4

D&C 76:69

Marvin Wilson, Our Father Abraham, p.205. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1989

1 John 4:19

See Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.14

See John 15:8

See Exodus 39:30

Donna B. Nielsen, Beloved Bridegroom, p.18

See 1 Corinthians 6:20