Him That Repenteth and Sanctifieth Himself

The past two days I have explored the Biblical connections and quotations in Doctrine and Covenants 133. Continuing that theme, we see more parallels in the final verses of the section. The Lord declared, “And the graves of the saints shall be opened; and they shall come forth and stand on the right hand of the Lamb, when he shall stand upon Mount Zion, and upon the holy city, the New Jerusalem; and they shall sing the song of the Lamb, day and night forever and ever” (v56). This is reminiscent of how “the graves were opened” after the Savior’s resurrection in the Jerusalem, and it also draws from John’s revelation in which he “saw the holy city, new Jerusalem” and also described how exalted Saints “sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb” (Matt. 27:52, Revelation 15:3, 21:2). The Lord continued, “And for this cause, that men might be made partakers of the glories which were to be revealed, the Lord sent forth the fulness of his gospel” (v57). This language is similar to that of Peter’s when he described himself as “a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed” (1 Peter 5:1). Describing the events of these last days the Lord said “the weak shall confound the wise…. And by the weak things of the earth the Lord shall thresh the nations by the power of his Spirit” (v58-59). This is language that is similar to Paul’s: “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” (1 Corinthians 1:27). In both ancient and modern times God will do His work in the latter days using the weak.

                In the final dozen verse of this section the Savior continued to allude to other passages of the Bible. He declared, “And upon them that hearken not to the voice of the Lord shall be fulfilled that which was written by the prophet Moses, that they should be cut off from among the people” (v63). This of course refers to the words of Moses about the coming of the Savior: “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken…. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him” (Deuteronomy 18:15, 19). The Lord continued by explicitly quoting the last Old Testament prophet: “And also that which was written by the prophet Malachi: For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch” (v64, Malachi 4:1). To the wicked He will say, “In that day when I came unto mine own, no man among you received me” (v66). This is just as John described, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11). The Savior further described Himself using familiar language: “When I called again there was none of you to answer; yet my arm was not shortened at all that I could not redeem, neither my power to deliver. Behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea. I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish stink, and die for thirst. I clothe the heavens with blackness, and make sackcloth their covering. And this shall ye have of my hand—ye shall lie down in sorrow” (v67-70). This is clearly a reference to Isaiah 50 (see verses 2-3 & 11). The Lord finished the revelation with these words: “Wherefore, they sealed up the testimony and bound up the law, and ye were delivered over unto darkness. These shall go away into outer darkness, where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Behold the Lord your God hath spoken it” (v72-74). This depiction of the fate of the wicked hearkens back to Isaiah again: “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples” (Isaiah 8:16). The language is also very similar to the Savior’s words about the wicked in the house of Israel: “The children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12).

                I love the way that all of these Biblical passages are woven so beautifully throughout the Savior’s message to us in these latter days. I’m sure I did not capture them all here, but I found quotations from or allusions to 8 books in the Old Testament (Genesis, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Joel, Zechariah, Malachi) and 6 books in the New Testament (Matthew, John, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Peter, 1 Corinthians, Revelation). Isaiah is by far the most common quotation with passages paralleling at least 8 different chapters (Isaiah 8,35,40,50,52,54,63,64). All of these scriptures help the Lord portray His message urging us to repent and prepare for the coming of His great day. Despite the coming calamities and judgments, we can turn to Him for refuge and ultimately salvation, as summed up in this promise to us all: “And unto him that repenteth and sanctifieth himself before the Lord shall be given eternal life” (v62).