Heavenly and Earthly Manifestations of the Voice of God

File this post under “familiar verse suddenly takes on tremendous new meaning as a result of a gradual accumulation of insights.”

11 For thus spake the prophet: The Lord God surely shall visit all the house of Israel at that day, some with his voice, because of their righteousness, unto their great joy and salvation, and others with the thunderings and the lightnings of his power, by tempest, by fire, and by smoke, and vapor of darkness, and by the opening of the earth, and by mountains which shall be carried up.

1 Nephi 19

I recently came across this verse and saw it with new eyes.

My last post discussed the concept of curing “blindness of mind” by “rend[ing] the veil of unbelief” and finding the way back to our Creator by following His voice, resulting in a miraculous parting of the seemingly insurmountable obstacles blocking our way to Him. This blindness stems from an inability to see heavenly things.

They traded God’s truth for a lie, and they worshipped and served the creation instead of the creator,..

Romans 1:25, CEB

In this post, we’ll look at one consequence of this spiritual blindness, which is that the voice of God manifests in the form of natural forces. The creation remains obligated to follow the command of its Creator, even if we cut ourselves off from Him.

7 O how great is the nothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth.
8 For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God.
9 Yea, behold at his voice do the hills and the mountains tremble and quake.
10 And by the power of his voice they are broken up, and become smooth, yea, even like unto a valley.
11 Yea, by the power of his voice doth the whole earth shake;
12 Yea, by the power of his voice, do the foundations rock, even to the very center.

Helaman 12

All the house of Israel will be visited, but the visitation varies depending on righteousness, ranging from “[H]is voice” (which I take to mean heavenly messengers) to destructive forces of nature.

Covenant-keeping saints follow the voice of the prophet. They hearken. This ‘voice of heaven’ is a manifestation of God’s mercy. It is symbolized in our day by the temple.

6 Let the hearts of your brethren rejoice, and let the hearts of all my people rejoice, who have, with their might, built this house to my name.
7 For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house.
8 Yea, I will appear unto my servants, and speak unto them with mine own voice, if my people will keep my commandments, and do not pollute this holy house.

Doctrine & Covenants 110

By contrast, those who will not hearken are left with the other option, the voice of “thunderings and the lightnings of his power, by tempest, by fire, and by smoke, and vapor of darkness, and by the opening of the earth, and by mountains which shall be carried up.”

I’m still processing this and finding added depth in other passages, so this post is certainly only a provisional overview of insights I’ve gained thus far. I’m certain more will come over time as I continue to study with this in mind. Here are a few thoughts:

Moses 5

4 And Adam and Eve, his wife, called upon the name of the Lord, and they heard the voice of the Lord from the way toward the Garden of Eden, speaking unto them, and they saw him not; for they were shut out from his presence.
5 And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.

Moses 5

The ‘voice of heaven’ is hidden from the eyes of the uninitiated. There is great wisdom in this. Those who are shut out from God’s presence must first awaken to a awful sense of their fallen state and then choose to hearken unto God’s voice. Only then can the angelic messengers teach them about the true purpose of the creation and begin the process of curing their blindness of mind. This process leads to a new, spiritual creation, which allows them to see Christ in all things. Along the way, they become ‘covered’ by the covenant, veiling the wisdom they’ve gained in the process and resulting in their transformation into angelic messengers who proclaim the glad tidings to all.

10 And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.
11 And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.
12 And Adam and Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters.

Moses 5

Exodus 19

In this chapter, we find both the heavenly and the earthly manifestation of God’s voice. First, the quaking, smoking mountain and second, Moses as His voice with the “Ten Utterances (dibrot).” It’s interesting to note the invitation God commands Moses to deliver to the people prior to giving him the ten commandments:

4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.
5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.

Exodus 19

1 Nephi 22

Here is another example of the two manifestations of God’s voice in the writings of Nephi.

16 For the time soon cometh that the fulness of the wrath of God shall be poured out upon all the children of men; for he will not suffer that the wicked shall destroy the righteous.
17 Wherefore, he will preserve the righteous by his power, even if it so be that the fulness of his wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore, the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire.
18 Behold, my brethren, I say unto you, that these things must shortly come; yea, even blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke must come; and it must needs be upon the face of this earth; and it cometh unto men according to the flesh if it so be that they will harden their hearts against the Holy One of Israel.
19 For behold, the righteous shall not perish; for the time surely must come that all they who fight against Zion shall be cut off.
20 And the Lord will surely prepare a way for his people, unto the fulfilling of the words of Moses, which he spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that all those who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people.
21 And now I, Nephi, declare unto you, that this prophet of whom Moses spake was the Holy One of Israel; wherefore, he shall execute judgment in righteousness.

1 Nephi 22

Doctrine & Covenants 109

The interplay between mercy for the ‘veiled bride’ and judgement on the spiritually blind on the day when the heavens are ‘unveiled’ stands out in the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple:

73 That thy church may come forth out of the wilderness of darkness, and shine forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners;
74 And be adorned as a bride for that day when thou shalt unveil the heavens, and cause the mountains to flow down at thy presence, and the valleys to be exalted, the rough places made smooth; that thy glory may fill the earth;
…
76 That our garments may be pure, that we may be clothed upon with robes of righteousness, with palms in our hands, and crowns of glory upon our heads, and reap eternal joy for all our sufferings.

Doctrine & Covenants 109

Earlier in the same section we again see the voice of the Lord coupled with mercy.

53 But inasmuch as they will repent, thou art gracious and merciful, and wilt turn away thy wrath when thou lookest upon the face of thine Anointed.
54 Have mercy, O Lord, upon all the nations of the earth; have mercy upon the rulers of our land; …
56 That their hearts may be softened when thy servants shall go out from thy house, O Jehovah, to bear testimony of thy name; that their prejudices may give way before the truth, and thy people may obtain favor in the sight of all;
57 That all the ends of the earth may know that we, thy servants, have heard thy voice, and that thou hast sent us;

Doctrine & Covenants 109

Alma 29

Alma cleverly combines the same two symbols when he describes his well-known wish:

1 O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!
2 Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.

Alma 29

He then acknowledges that this wish is not proper and goes on to describe the voice of heaven:

8 For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true.
9 I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.

Alma 29

Connection to Genesis

God curses Satan at the time of the fall with a very specific curse:

20 And I, the Lord God, said unto the serpent: Because thou hast done this thou shalt be cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life;

Moses 4

I can’t help but think of Jacob’s description of death and hell

8 O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more.
9 And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness.
10 O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit.
11 And because of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave.
12 And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel.

2 Nephi 9

The monster who has power over the spiritually blind must deliver up his captives if they choose the way of mercy. If not, they remain spiritually dead, like dust, or Jonah in the belly of the whale — we are swallowed up by Satan and held until we choose to act according to God’s wisdom.

15 … and their flesh, and bones, and blood lay upon the face of the earth, being left by the hands of those who slew them to molder upon the land, and to crumble and to return to their mother earth.
16 And my soul was rent with anguish, because of the slain of my people, and I cried:
17 O ye fair ones, how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord! O ye fair ones, how could ye have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you!

Mormon 6

Conclusion

Once again we see a beautiful set of symbols which fit together as a pair of contrasting opposites. The voice of heaven is the merciful message of Jesus Christ carried by the angelic messengers to all who will hearken. The voice of the earth is the symbol of the awful monster who swallows up the dust, including those who ‘reject that Jesus’ and hold them captive unless they choose the way of mercy. In His infinite wisdom, God veils the fulness of this truth from our eyes until we covenant to hearken to His word in all things.