Ryan Reeder
Old Testament 302H
March 30, 1999
There are common elements to the theophoric experiences recorded in the scriptures. One essential component of these experiences is explained by Paul in Hebrews 11 and by Moroni in Ether 12. This is faith. "And neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until after their faith; wherefore they first believed on the Son of God." "Wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." "But without faith it is impossible to please him [God]" (Ether 12:18,6; Hebrews 11:6). After passing through this trial of faith, further light and knowledge are bestowed upon the seeker. It is after this manner that the Lord allows his children to "grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created [them], or in the knowledge of that which is just and true" (Mosiah 4:12), becoming more and more at-one with the Lord Jesus Christ, "precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little" (Isaiah 28:10). This process of gaining further knowledge and taking part in the atonement of Christ follows a temple pattern, a pattern which all must follow in order to return to the presence of the Lord and receive eternal life, even as the brother of Jared learned when Christ told him, "Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you" (Ether 3:13).
M. Catherine Thomas, in her article "The Brother of Jared at the Veil" writes "One can see that these. . .elements follow a temple pattern: a false religion is offered; a period of probation or trial of faith is provided; and upon obedience, light and knowledge are granted" (Temples of the Ancient World, p. 389). This pattern is evident in the lives of many of the prophets recorded in the scriptures. Adam and Eve, after having been cast out of the Garden of Eden, "were shut out from his presence" (Moses 5:4). They received commandments from the Lord, and were obedient unto them; yet it was "after many days" that the gospel was revealed to them through angelic ministration, and "the Holy Ghost fell upon" them (Moses 5:5-12). Here, Adam was given a trial of faith. After enduring through obedience, he was given additional knowledge.
Later, many of Adam's descendants apostatized. "In those days Satan had great dominion among men, and raged in their hearts; and from thenceforth came wars and bloodshed; and a man's hand was against his own brother, in administering death. . .and for these many generations, ever since the day that I created them, have they gone astray, and have denied me, and have sought their own counsels in the dark; and in their own abominations have they devised murder, and have not kept the commandments, which I gave unto their father, Adam" (Moses 6:15, 28). But Enoch rejected the practices of his people, and was, with his fathers, a "preacher of righteousness" (Moses 6:23). He "built a city that was called the City of Holiness, even Zion," which "in process of time, was taken up into heaven" (Moses 7:19,21). "And the Lord showed Enoch all things, even unto the end of the world; . . .and [he] received a fulness of joy" (Moses 7:67).
A third example is Noah. He also rejected the practices of his people, and was commanded to build an ark. For "an hundred and twenty years" "Noah called upon the children of men that they should repent" "while the ark was a preparing," "but they hearkened not unto his words" (Moses 8:17,20; 1 Peter 3:20). After this time of being mocked as he built the ark, the floods came, and Noah became the father of "all the kingdoms of the earth" (Moses 8:3).
This pattern was repeated at the Tower of Babel. The people desired to build the tower so that its top would reach heaven (Gen.11:4), apparently a sort of counterfeit temple. Jared, his brother, and their families rejected this religion, and were spared the ensuing confounding of tongues. They gathered provisions for a journey, went into the wilderness, built barges, and crossed waters "being directed continually by the hand of the Lord," (Ether 2:6). After having dwelt at Moriancumr for four years, the brother of Jared was chastised for his failure to call upon the Lord, and was commanded to "go to work" (Ether 2:13,16). After these trials of faith, the brother of Jared was led to his encounter with the Lord at the top of Mount Shelem, where after one more trial of faith, "the Lord showed himself," and "all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also that would be," and "all things" to the brother of Jared (Ether 3:13,25-26). This provides one of the greatest examples in the scriptures of one who, having turned from false religions and experiencing a trial of faith, was given enormous light and knowledge.
Another excellent example of one who went through this process was the prophet Abraham. The false religion of his fathers went so far as to even attempt to take his life (Abraham 1:5-7). Then, after "the angel of his presence. . . unloosed [his] bands," there was "a famine in the land," which caused his father, "sorely tormented because of it, [to repent of having attempted] to take away my life." The famine "wax[ed] sore" and caused the death of Haran, his brother. Then the Lord commanded Abraham to leave his homeland, and, finally, on the journey, Abraham's father relapsed back into his idolatrous ways (Abraham 1:15,29-30; 2:1-5). After having passed through all of these trials, the Lord appeared to him, and gave him promises concerning the priesthood, whereupon Abraham exclaimed "Thy servant has sought thee earnestly; now I have found thee" (Abraham 2:6-12). This is not to say that Abraham's trials had come to an end, as many more followed him during his life. But through them all, Abraham grew in the knowledge of his God, to the point that Abraham "entered into his exaltation and sitteth upon his throne" (D&C 132:29).
Moses, also, raised as "the son of Pharaoh's daughter" was given the opportunity to enjoy "the treasures of Egypt" and "the pleasures of sin for a season," but instead "forsook Egypt," "choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God," "esteeming the reproach of Christ [as] greater riches (Hebrews 11:24-27). He departed into the wilderness, and many years later was called out of the burning bush by the Lord, and was given several trials of faith (Exodus 2:1-3:17). (Perhaps) on another occasion upon "an exceedingly high mountain" (Moses 1:1), his faith was tried severely when Satan himself appeared to him. But after rejecting Satan's claim to be the Only Begotten, and receiving strength through calling upon God, he beheld again the glory of God, as well as all of the earth and its inhabitants and other worlds (Moses 1:12-29). Again, the pattern of rejecting false teachings, receiving a trial of faith, and being blessed with great knowledge is evident, at least twice in Moses' case.
Later, we find Samuel, the boy-prophet, during a time of relative apostasy, when "the word of the Lord was precious, [and] there was no open vision" (1 Samuel 3:1), being called upon by the Lord. When he finally understood who it was that was speaking to him, the Lord decreed the destruction of Eli, Samuel's caretaker, and his house. Samuel learned not to hide anything that the Lord said, and "was established to be a prophet of the Lord" (1 Samuel 3:20). Then "the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh" (1 Samuel 3:21).
There is indication that in Isaiah's calling, he also had to turn from the wickedness of the people which was offered. During his great vision of the Lord in the temple, he cries "Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts" (Isaiah 6:5). After having his sin purged, Isaiah willingly turned to the Lord, and became one of the greatest prophets in Israel, such that Christ himself often quoted from him, declaring that "great are the words of Isaiah" (3 Nephi 23:1).
Following Isaiah, we turn to Father Lehi, to whom was revealed the imminent destruction of Jerusalem. When his people sought his life because of his words, he left the land of his inheritance, with his house and his riches, and lived in a tent in the wilderness. After enduring many more trials in the wilderness, including the rebellion of his two eldest sons, the lack of food, being chastened because of his murmuring, and being brought down upon his sickbed during the voyage across the waters, he was able to declare, near the end of his life that "the Lord hath redeemed my soul. . . I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love" (1 Nephi, 2 Nephi 1:15). Thus, Lehi received great blessings through his faithfulness.
Lehi's son, Nephi, is another great example of one who chose the path leading to the Father. Early on, when his family left Jerusalem, he prayed to the Lord and his heart was softened so that he didn't rebel as his brothers did. Nephi then received many trials of faith, not the least of which was obeying the Lord's commandment to slay Laban. After the Lord had proved him, Nephi was privileged to "behold the things which [he had] desired" (1 Nephi 11:6).
Jesus Christ himself, having shown the example in all other ways, also showed the example in this. As John tells us, "he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness;" (D&C 93:13). Indeed, after Christ was baptized of John, he was "led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be with God" (JST Matthew 4:1). After a forty day fast, he was "left to be tempted of the devil" (JST Matthew 4:2). As Paul records, he "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin"(Hebrews 4:15). Following this experience, "angels ministered unto him," and he "returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee," where he began his ministry, culminating in his atonement for all mankind (Mark 1:13, Luke 4:14).
This pattern can be followed into our own day, when Joseph Smith, in confusion during the apostasy, debated which of the many Christian sects of the time was Christ's true church, yet "kept [himself] aloof from all these parties, though [he] attended their several meetings as often as occasion would permit" (JS-H 1:8). Then, upon determining to pray for the answer, he was "seized upon by some power which entirely overcame [him]" and as he was about to "sink into despair and abandon [himself] to destruction" he received a vision of the Father and the Son, inaugurating the dispensation of the fulness of times (JS-H 1:15-17).
This pattern, as has been shown, has existed from the time of Adam into our own day, and is the pattern whereby Christ reveals himself unto man. It does not happen all at once; it takes time, "for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith" (Ether 12:6). Growth in the knowledge of the truth is accompanied by the acquisition of greater knowledge "until [a person] is glorified in truth and knoweth all things" (D&C 93:28). We are told that "he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full" (Alma 12:10). This same principle is expressed in another place as follows: "That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day" (D&C 50:24). This pattern of rejecting evil, followed by a trial of faith, followed by the endowment of great knowledge, is the theophoric temple pattern revealed in the scriptures by which man can partake of the atonement, come to know Christ, and receive eternal life.
Work Cited
Parry, Donald W., ed. Temples of the Ancient World. Deseret Book Company: Salt Lake City, Utah, 1994.
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