"And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.
And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust." (Mormon 9:19-20)
The Book of Mormon contains a great and marvelous spiritual technology by which the miracles of God are unleashed, the light of heaven is unveiled, and the natural man is transformed into the spiritual child of God. For thousands of years this science has been hidden from the masses but was prophesied by many wise men of the House of Israel to come forth in preparation for the Messianic Age.
According to tradition and lore, the source of this technology was given by the voice of God to Adam. After being cast out of the Garden of Eden, it was taught that Adam and Eve long to return to the presence of God in their former condition. After the fall, however, their bodies had changed and they could no longer endure the direct presence of God.
To make a long story short, upon seeing the despair of
Adam and Eve and their longing to return God sent the Angel Raziel (who is
often referred to as the angel of mysteries and the keeper of secrets) with the
book containing the mysteries of the universe wherein was recorded the great
knowledge that was meant to return Adam and Eve from their fallen condition and
to transform the world back into its Edenic condition. The book was said to
contain important knowledge on the nature of man, his spirit, the spirit of
God, and the physical world. It contained the laws of nature, great knowledge
of astronomy, the workings of the universe, and the power of the names of God.
Whether this particular account is true or not, what
is important to note is that by both tradition in the House of Israel and
modern revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, we understand that a book
existed that was preserved by Adam and his descendents that contained great
knowledge as revealed by God to man. This great science was passed down by
prophets such as Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob even until Moses. From
the prophet Moses, this technology was transmitted to holy men who sought the
voice and presence of God.
Because of the sacred nature of this technology, much
of this knowledge was recorded in an encoded manner. To unseal the Book of
Mormon and to unlock the code it contains requires usage of an understanding of the name of God and the methods of scriptural interpretation preserved by the
House of Israel. The knowledge was then encoded into the Hebrew text of the
Torah for the time when future generations would unlock it and use it to
prepare themselves for the world to come, and the revelation of the Holy One of
Israel, and what Mormons call the Millennium.
The prophets of Israel encoded this spiritual
technology in the account of the Exodus where Moses parted the Red Sea and the
Israelites walked across on dry ground. The Scriptures tell us that after the
children of Israel left Egypt they arrived at the shores of the Red Sea.
Pharaoh and his armies were in hot pursuit of the Israelites. Coming up from
behind, the recently delivered House of Israel was trapped at the waters of the
Red Sea with nowhere to go. It was then that Moses spoke the word of God and
the waters divided allowing Israel path of escape on dry ground.
But what was this word that Moses spoke? What caused
the waters to divide? It was passed down by the sages of Israel that there was
a secret science of miracles passed down from The Fathers. This science was
encoded in three verses of the Torah that details this miraculous event.This
technology came to be known as the 72 names of God or Shem HaMe'foresh. The 72
names of God are encoded in the book of Exodus 14:19-21. Each verse in this
portion of scripture contains exactly 72 letters. The names are constructed by
combining the 1st letter (yod) from the 1st box with the
1st letter of the 2nd box (hey) with the 1st
letter from the 3rd box (yod) as shown below:
“And the angel of God, which went before the camp of
Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from
before their face, and stood behind them:” (v. 19)
“And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the
camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by
night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.” (v.20)
And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the
LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made
the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.” (v.21)
The
72 Names of God
References to this technology have been recorded in many ancient texts such as The Sepher Yetzirah, The Bahir, The Zohar with many Jewish scholars in agreement that the oral tradition comes from a much older set of teachings the records of which have been long lost. While the 72 names of God are not names like Tom, Dick, or Harry, they are a conduit through which the light of God is manifest in this world. It was taught that by these names Moses parted the Red Sea, Enoch spoke and the giant stood afar off, and men set at defiance armies, quenched the violence of fire, great mountains were lifted up leaving great valleys, great healing took place, and the knowledge of the all things both past, present, and future were revealed. It was a technology by which spirit interacted with spirit and mater was organized.
In Israelite thought holy names were used in connection with prayer and meditation whereby a person combined the sounds of the names or letters which comprised the names repeated in a certain fashion. Mixed with focus, concentration, and real intent in prayer and meditation, the holy names were the energetic and spiritual mechanism whereby people received the Record of Heaven or the Holy Ghost (Ruach Elohiym), manifested the powers of Heaven to produce real miracles, and obtained the spirit of prophecy whereby knowledge of all things past, present, and future were made known.
If one wished to walk in “The Way” or the prophetic paths, then they undertook the discipline of the holy names. In doing so they were strengthened. They took upon The Name, walked in The Name, and worked in The Name. In doing so, their consciousness connected with heaven and men and women became men and women of God-disciples of the Holy Order.
NEPHI REVEALS THE 72 NAMES OF GOD
The Prophet Nephi encodes his record with instructions regarding the knowledge of the Fathers that he received from both his father and through revelation from God. Hidden in plain sight his first encoded teaching is encoded in his account of obtaining the Record of the Jews. As discussed in an earlier article, rather than the account being just a story about Nephi and his brothers obtaining the record of the Jews on a much deeper interpretive level the story contains a hidden teaching on obtaining The Record of Heaven, The Ruach Elohiym, or The Holy Ghost. After being cast out by Laban and hiding in the cavity of a rock (which represents a place of correction) the prophet Nephi employs the use of an Israelite literary device called remez to teach his reader the technology by which he, Nephi, was corrected and ascended into the treasury of Heaven past a Mighty One (Laban) and the Angel of the treasury of Heaven (represented by Zoram) to obtain The Record of heaven. While in the cave Nephi admonishes his brother using the account of Moses and the parting of the Red Sea:
"And it came to pass that I spake unto my brethren, saying: Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands?
Therefore let us go up; let us be strong like unto Moses; for he truly spake unto the waters of the Red Sea and they divided hither and thither, and our fathers came through, out of captivity, on dry ground, and the armies of Pharaoh did follow and were drowned in the waters of the Red Sea." (1 Nephi 4: 1-2)
Here Nephi refers the reader to the account of Exodus 14: 19-21 which contains the 72 names of God. In doing so he records the manner by which he transformed himself to subdue the carnal man and to emerge as the spiritual child of God who in submission to the transformative spirit of God becomes a mighty one to obtain the Record of Heaven.
NEPHI, THE 72 Names of God, and The Lightning Strike of Heaven:
“Behold, my soul is rent with anguish because of you, and my heart is pained; I fear lest ye shall be cast off forever. Behold, I am full of the Spirit of God, insomuch that my frame has no strength. And now it came to pass that when I had spoken these words they were angry with me, and were desirous to throw me into the depths of the sea; and as they came forth to lay their hands upon me I spake unto them, saying: In the name of the Almighty God, I command you that ye touch me not, for I am filled with the power of God, even unto the consuming of my flesh; and whoso shall lay his hands upon me shall wither even as a dried reed; and he shall be as naught before the power of God, for God shall smite him.” (1 Nephi 17:47-48)
Throughout the scriptures trees are used as symbols for men and women. Trees can serve as natural lightning rods and the same goes for both men and women. Lightning or electricity can be both creative or destructive. By plugging a lamp into an electrical socket and vessel produces light. A man, woman, or child who sticks their finger in a plug however may get a hair raising and destructive effect. The same force can be both creative or destructive depending on the conduit. The flow of the spirit of God or lightning comes from the Throne of Heaven to earth as shown below. It flows from Kether (The Crown) to Chokmah (Wisdom), to Binah (Understanding), to Chesed (Mercy), to Gevurah (Power), through Tipharet (Beauty) to Netzach (Long Suffering) to Hod (Glory), to Yesod (Foundation), to Malkchut (Earth or Kingdom). Just as we see lighting descend from Heaven to the Earth during a thunderstorm, the spirit of God flows and is manifest here on the earth. The spirit of God through Nephi represents a corrected conduit through which the spirit of God can flow to either bless or curse. Should the lightning of the spirit of God go through Laman and Lemuel (the natural man) who are not prepared it would cause them to wither and be destroyed.
So great was the power of God like a lightning bolt that it caused Nephi’s body to quake. As he reached forth his hand according to the command of God his brother’s received the shock of their life:
“And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: Stretch forth thine hand again unto thy brethren, and they shall not wither before thee, but I will shock them, saith the Lord, and this will I do, that they may know that I am the Lord their God.
In the course of this account Nephi again draws upon Exodus 14:19-21:
"Now ye know that Moses was commanded of the Lord to do that great work; and ye know that by his word the waters of the Red Sea were divided hither and thither, and they passed through on dry ground. But ye know that the Egyptians were adrowned in the Red Sea, who were the armies of Pharaoh." (Nephi 17:26-27)
In doing so he is directing his readers to the ancient technology of spiritual transformation that came down from the Fathers and was encoded in this passage of Scripture. In doing so, he reveals the ancient technology of redemption and transformation by which he was able to make manifest the lightning strike of God.
Nephi in Helaman and the 72 Names of God:
In Helaman 7 a descendant of Nephi son of Lehi prophecies to the people in the land northward and foretells the impending destruction of their cities should they fail to repent:
"And for this cause wo shall come unto you except ye shall repent. For if ye will not repent, behold, this great city, and also all those great cities which are round about, which are in the land of our possession, shall be taken away that ye shall have no place in them; for behold, the Lord will not grant unto you strength, as he has hitherto done, to withstand against your enemies." (Helaman 7:22)
The prophetic power granted to Nephi astonished the people and enraged the Gadianton Robbers. They could not believe that anyone could know of such things. Nephi responds to their doubts and accusations:
"And it came to pass that those people who sought to destroy Nephi were compelled because of their fear, that they did not lay their hands on him; therefore he began again to speak unto them, seeing that he had gained favor in the eyes of some, insomuch that the remainder of them did fear.
Therefore he was constrained to speak more unto them saying: Behold, my brethren, have ye not read that God gave power unto one man, even Moses, to smite upon the waters of the Red Sea, and they parted hither and thither, insomuch that the Israelites, who were our fathers, came through upon dry ground, and the waters closed upon the armies of the Egyptians and swallowed them up?
And now behold, if God gave unto this man such power, then why should ye dispute among yourselves, and say that he hath given unto me no power whereby I may know concerning the judgments that shall come upon you except ye repent?" (Helaman 8:10-12)
Here the Prophet Nephi in the Book of Helaman also uses the literary device known as remez to draw his readers to Exodus 14:19-21:
"Therefore he was constrained to speak more unto them saying: Behold, my brethren, have ye not read that God gave power unto one man, even Moses, to smite upon the waters of the Red Sea, and they parted hither and thither, insomuch that the Israelites, who were our fathers, came through upon dry ground, and the waters closed upon the armies of the Egyptians and swallowed them up?"
In doing so he is instructing his readers in the same spiritual technology of redemption and transformation that he received from his Fathers Nephi and Lehi that was passed down in the House of Israel whereby Hearts were changed, the Spirit of Prophecy was obtained, and miracles were manifest. It is no accident that these scriptures were carefully chosen and placed within the text of the Book of Mormon. As a sealed book, The Book of Mormon still waits for its readers to desire to reach the inner soul and teachings the book contains.
The inner soul of the Book of Mormon can change and transform the hearts and souls of both Jews and Gentiles. Through the soul of the Book of Mormon a radiance is provided to restore the light of Sinai. Through it an umbilical cord of light was created by which the light of Heaven could once again connect with earth. But rather than unleashing the full power of the soul of this Heavenly Gift the book itself remains sealed with access to this radiance being obscured by a veil of unbelief.
"Come unto me, O ye Gentiles, and I will show unto you the greater things, the knowledge which is hid up because of unbelief.
Come unto me, O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation of the world; and it hath not come unto you, because of unbelief.
Behold, when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world from you—yea, when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel." (Ether 4:13-15)
Copyright December 22, 2019 Robert Kay
(To be continued)
