My last posting to this blog...

I started this blog in the summer of 2009 while teaching Doctrine & Covenants. I was then working in the hotel industry as a housekeeping manager with a decent schedule and (for the most part) weekends off. Later that fall, I lost my job and spent the next 10 months on the rolls of the unemployed. During all of that time I was blessed and most fortunate to be able to research gospel topics and to share with you my thoughts about LDS topics ranging from the calling and role of apostles in the modern church to the symbolism and importance of water in the Old Testament. Today is Tuesday, December 7th 2010. I am now working full time in the retail business as a manager for the largest volume discount store on the planet. Unfortunately, its abuse of my time has gradually progressed to the current trend of 60-75 hours per week. I'm lucky if I have 30 minutes a day to read the scriptures let alone participate in anything that remotely resembles study. It's been over 8 long weeks since I've had a Sunday off from work. For the first time in my life I regret that Christmas has become the gigantic, materialistic celebration that it is in our society today. How many TV sets and toys do we need -- really? My life has become a 24/7 slavery dedicated to providing those items to the general public. This blog is closed until further notice...

Elijah and the Water Polemic

Great to be back on the blog planet this week. Actually my post will be very brief: first an important announcement:

• We have another Gospel Doctrine teacher! David Hooper will be teaching this week's lesson: Lesson 29 - "He took up the mantle of Elijah..." Reading assignment: 2 Kings 2; 5-6. Expect great insight from this dedicated and faith-promoting gospel scholar! I know David well and am happy to have his presence as a partner going forward. David will also teach Lesson 30 on Sunday, August 15th.
  

One more important announcement:

• There will be no class in three weeks, Sunday, August 29th, due to Stake Conference.

Finally, I have received several requests for the text and link for Professor Fred Woods' paper: "Who Controls the Water? Yahweh vs. Baal." I have provided the full text of that article here below or you can click on the title to visit it at BYU's Maxwell Institute web site.

Who Controls the Water? Yahweh vs. Baal
Fred E. Woods
Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute
The views expressed in this article are the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of the Maxwell Institute, Brigham Young University, or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As the Israelites settled in the land of Canaan, clashes over religious beliefs and practices developed with other inhabitants of the land. Baalism, the belief in the Canaanite god of water and storm, became a threat to the true belief in Yahweh (Jehovah). This paper is an investigation of the implicit polemical usage of water and storm language in the Deuteronomic History (hereafter referred to as DH).¹ The DH consists of the book of Deuteronomy as well as what is referred to in the Hebrew Bible as the Former Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings).² Many passages in the Deuteronomic corpus instructed Israel that Yahweh, not Baal, held the power over water, storm, and prosperity in the land and were thereby launching a literary attack against Baalism. This paper will proceed by first examining Baalism; then I will give a brief overview of the role of the book of Deuteronomy in the DH. Finally, I will analyze and summarize various passages in the remaining Deuteronomic corpus of Joshua—2 Kings.

Baalism

Scholars generally agree that the key to understanding Baalism, or, in other words, Canaanite religion, is the Ugaritic Texts.³ These texts were discovered on Syria's northern coast in 1929 during the excavations of the tel Ras Shamra, which proved to be the ancient site of Ugarit.⁴ With the decipherment of the tablets in 1930, Ugaritic literature has become of critical importance to the study of Canaanite religion in the Old Testament.⁵ Before excavations of the Ugaritic texts, the Baalism that the Hebrew prophets adamantly battled was little understood. With the discovery of these tablets, a so-called Canaanite bible emerged. These writings not only revealed a complex Canaanite pantheon but also demonstrated that these people were immersed in a fertility cult of which Baal-Hadad was the god par excellence.⁶

The most active deity both at Ugarit and in the Canaanite pantheon of the Hebrew Bible is Baal, the god of water and storm. Although his proper name is Hadad, he is most often referred to by the title baal, a common Semitic noun meaning "owner, master, husband or lord."⁷ The name Hadad itself occurs only seventeen times in the Ugaritic texts—an interesting fact in that it seems to relate to the notion of calling a specific deity lord to avoid repeating the sacred name of a deity.⁸ This would be particularly true of Hadad, the supreme god at Ugarit, who is designated by the epithet Baal about 160 times.⁹ The name Hadad is also attested in Akkadian, where it may be translated as "thunderer."¹⁰ This title is most appropriate, because Baal is associated with water and storm and is portrayed with "his weapon, the lightning, and his voice, the thunder."¹¹

In the Hebrew Bible, Baal is referred to more than any other Canaanite deity: a total of seventy-six times—eighteen times in the plural and fifty-eight times in the singular, the latter always accompanied by the definite article.¹² M. J. Mulder observes, "the OT does not reveal whether another unknown divine name lies hidden behind the name Baal, e.g., Hadad. However, it does confirm the impression made by the Ugaritic texts that it has in mind Baal par excellence, the god of storm and fertility."¹³ The strong denunciation of Baal in the Old Testament lends itself to the notion that the Baal cult had deeply penetrated Israelite culture. Otherwise the issue would not have unleashed such a vehement literary attack against Baalism, best represented in the Deuteronomic History.

Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic History

The book of Deuteronomy forms an integral part of the Deuteronomic History and serves as a prologue to the remaining strata of the DH, as attested in Joshua—2 Kings. It is as though the book of Deuteronomy says, "Here is what God has prophesied concerning Israel," but Joshua— 2 Kings says, "This is how God's word has been exactly fulfilled in Israelite history from the settlement to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Exile."¹⁴ Thus the book of Deuteronomy serves not only as an introduction to the DH, but also as a standard to understand the remaining literature in the Deuteronomic corpus.

While the explicit biblical polemics against worshipping Baal have been apparent to scholars, the implicit polemical assault waged against Baal in the Deuteronomic corpus has gone virtually unnoticed, particularly as it relates to the usage of water and storm language—a steady device that launches a literary attack against the god of water and storm, Baal-Hadad.¹⁵ The conditional covenant that God made with Israel in relation to the promised land helps clarify this implicit polemic. The Lord told the Israelites that if they were obedient, they could possess the land of Israel (Deuteronomy 11:8). He also told them that if they kept his commandments, he would give rain in its proper season (Deuteronomy 11:14). However, he also warned, "Beware not to be lured away to serve other gods. . . . For the Lord's anger will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the skies so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its produce; and you will soon perish from the good land" (Deuteronomy 11:16—17). As the Israelites left the desert and entered Canaan, they entered a lavish agricultural territory unknown to them. When an unpredictable climate was encountered and their faith was tried, some may have asked their Canaanite neighbors something like, "What do you do to insure the fertility of the land?" This seems to have led many Israelites into false worship, which culminated in their embracing Baalism and eventually led them into exile.

The rest of this paper demonstrates through selected examples how the Deuteronomic editors¹⁶ (hereafter referred to as DTR) tried to resuscitate the covenant people by reminding them, through the Deuteronomic corpus of Joshua—2 Kings, that Yahweh¹⁷ and not Baal controlled all aspects of water and storm, and thus life.¹⁸

Water and Storm Polemics in Joshua—2 Kings

Joshua 2:9—11

In Joshua 2, Joshua sends two spies to Jericho to observe conditions before the Israelites invade Canaan (Joshua 2:1). The spies enter the inn of the Canaanite harlot Rahab, who explains to them the condition of her people:

And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord has given you the land and that your terror has come upon us, for all the inhabitants of the land are melting because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you . . . And when we had heard these things, our hearts melted, and there did not arise again spirit in any man, because of you; for Yahweh is your God, he is God in heaven and earth beneath. (Joshua 2:9—11)¹⁹

This text reflects the Canaanites' fear at the dawn of the Israelite conquest. On the surface, such theology implies that Yahweh is a divine warrior, yet beneath this explicit polemic lies implicit war language that warrants careful examination.

The inhabitants of the land of Canaan worshipped Baal-Hadad. In the Ugaritic literature we learn of Baal's dominion over Yam (Sea). Kothar-wa-Hasis, the craftsman god, has made for Baal two weapons (named Driver and Chaser), which probably symbolize thunder and lightning.²⁰ In this text Driver is told by Kothar-wa-Hasis:

Drive Sea from his throne, River from the seat of his dominion. You shall swoop in the hands of Baal, like an eagle in his fingers. Strike the head of Prince Sea, between the eyes of Judge River. Let Sea sink and fall to the earth. And the stick swoops in Baal's hands like an eagle in his fingers. It strikes the head of Prince [Sea], between the eyes of Judge River. Sea sinks, falls to the earth, his joints fail, his frame collapses. Baal pounces and drinks Sea, he destroys Judge River. (KTU 1.2.IV:19—27)²¹

This document from Canaanite literature conveys the idea that Baal rules the sea (personified as Yam); by contrast, implicit in Joshua 2:9—11 is the message that Yahweh, not Baal-Hadad, has power over the sea and is the sole God of heaven and earth. The Canaanites apparently fear Yahweh, because when they hear the dreadful news of his parting the Red Sea, they realize that it is Yahweh who rules the sea and has power to rule them instead of their god Baal-Hadad.

The language of Joshua 2:9—11 typifies holy war language, suggested by the terror that falls on the Amorites (Canaanites)²² when they hear of Yahweh's act.²³ The implicit water polemic is strengthened by the fact that this same terror falls on the Canaanites when they "heard that Yahweh had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the sake of the Israelites" (Joshua 5:1). Further, Yahweh rules not only Prince Sea (the seas of the earth), but also Judge River (the rivers of the earth).²⁴ In other words, Yahweh, not the Canaanite storm god Baal, controls all earthly waters.

Joshua 10:10—11

The background of this narrative consists of the Israelites' engagement in battle with the Amorites at the valley of Ajalon:

Yahweh confused them (Amorites) before Israel, and smote them with a great smiting at Gibeon, and pursued them towards the ascent of Beth-horon, and the Lord smote them until Azekah and Makkedah. And it came to pass in their fleeing before Israel they were descending at Beth-horon, Yahweh threw upon them great stones from heaven until Azekah, and they died; there were more who died from the (hail) stones than who died because of the sword of the Israelites. (Joshua 10:10—11)

In Ugaritic literature this same power is attributed to Baal:

The word of a tree
The whisper of a stone
murmur of heaven with earth
the deep with the stars
stones of lightning which heaven does not know
a matter which people do not know
and the multitude of the earth do not understand
I will execute, and I will reveal it in the midst of my mountain, the godly Zephon. (KTU 1.3.III:22—29)

In this Ugaritic mythological text, Baal is portrayed with divine ability to send stones from heaven; therefore, he is recognized as the Lord of the storm, with the inherent ability to send hailstones.²⁵

Joshua 10:10—11 describes a terrible hailstorm, and the text apparently portrays Yahweh as a God who acts not as Baal in a mendacious mythology, but rather as a divine warrior who acts in history.²⁶ Yahweh demonstrates his power through a storm that includes great hailstones—the very instruments that Baal is said to control—in the destruction of Baal's followers. In this way, Yahweh asserts his claim that he is, as always, Lord of heaven and earth, superior to Baal.

Judges 5

The Song of Deborah also contains storm polemics against Baalism. The text ultimately attributes to Yahweh the Israelite victory over the Canaanites:

They fought from heaven,
the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
The torrent Kishon swept them away, that ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon. (Judges 5:20—21)

Verse 20 points out that the stars fought against Sisera, an interesting comment when it is understood that in the Ugaritic myth, the stars are the source of rain (KTU 1.3.II:41). This implies that Yahweh sent a rainstorm that flooded the Kishon. Furthermore, in verse 21 the torrent Kishon is mentioned twice, which advances the idea that this is indeed a mighty storm.²⁷

The prose account of this same victory indicates that Yahweh threw Sisera, his chariots, and all his army into a panic (Judges 4:15), suggesting that this is a divine conflict. Yairah Amit believes that "[t]hat type of war, which is uncharacterizable in human terms, is viewed as a sign of or convention for a divine war in which man's share in the determination of the outcome is secondary."²⁸ No doubt this story portrays a terrible storm that immobilized the Canaanite chariots, for the flooding water mired their wheels in the mud.²⁹ Josephus writes, "So the battle began; and when they were come to close fight, there came down from heaven a great storm with a vast quantity of rain and hail."³⁰ Judges 4:15—16 also indicates that Baraq fought the Canaanites with the edge of the sword and pursued them. Perhaps Baraq symbolized Yahweh's weapon of storm, since the Hebrew word baraq means "lightning" or "lightning flash."³¹ Just as Baraq pursued the Canaanites with the sword, so Yahweh figuratively pursued the Canaanite worshippers of Baal with his sword of lightning. In this way Baraq's battle against the Canaanites epitomizes Yahweh's divine war with the Canaanite storm god.

Judges 6:36—40

The background of this pericope consists of Gideon asking the Lord to give him a sign that He will be with him as he leads the Israelites in a battle against the Midianites:

And Gideon said to God, "If you really expect to deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said, Behold, I will set a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; and if dew falls only on the fleece and all the ground stays dry, I will know that you will deliver Israel through me, as you said you would." And it was so; for he rose up early the next day and he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me if I speak just once more. Please let me prove only this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew." And God did so that night; for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all of the ground. (Judges 6:36—40)

In verse 36, Gideon is described as the person designated to deliver Israel from the Midianites and their Canaanite allies (Judges 6:14, 16, 33). The Hebrew Bible indicates that before the period of the Israelite settlement in Canaan, the Midianites had led Israel into Baalistic practices when Israel joined to Baal-Peor while dwelling at Shittim (Numbers 25:1—7). Verses 37—40 reveal that Gideon has specifically requested a sign of Yahweh's ability to control the dews of heaven.

Gideon has just overthrown a hometown altar dedicated to Baal worship (Judges 6:25—32), and he wants to ensure that Yahweh will be with him and his people. The fact that the enemies he faces worship Baal makes the polemic even more clear. The best evidence for an implicit polemic, however, comes from an understanding that Baal supposedly controls the dew. A tablet excavated in 1961 describes Baal on the top of Mount Zephon encompassed by lightning, dew streaming from him.³² One of the Ugaritic texts says,

Seven years shall Baal fail,
Eight the rider of clouds
There shall be no dew, no rain
No surging of the deeps,
Neither the goodness of Baal's voice. (KTU 1.19.I:42—46)

The issue is heightened by the fact that Gideon has overthrown the altar of Baal, who reportedly controls dew. And the fact that Gideon requests the miraculous sign of Yahweh's dominion over dew suggests an implicit moisture polemic against the storm/water god Baal.

1 Samuel 7:3—12

This narrative begins with a plea from Samuel for Israel to forsake Baalism and return to Yahweh:

And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel saying, "If you intend to turn to Yahweh with all your heart, then you must put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth and prepare your hearts to the Lord and worship him alone, and he will deliver you out of the hands of the Philistines." Then the children of Israel removed the Baalim and the Ashtaroth³³ and worshipped only Yahweh. And Samuel said, "Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray in your behalf to the Lord." And they assembled at Mizpah, and they drew water and poured it out before Yahweh, and they fasted on that day and said there, "We have sinned against the Lord," and Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah. And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered to Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they feared the Philistines. And the children of Israel said to Samuel, "Don't be silent in crying to Yahweh our God for us, that he will save us from the hands of the Philistines." And Samuel took a sucking lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to Yahweh; and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel, and Yahweh answered him. For as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to fight against Israel, but Yahweh thundered with a great voice on that day upon the Philistines and discomfited them, and they were smitten before Israel. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and smote them until they came under Beth-car. Then Samuel took a stone and erected it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Eben-ezer, and said, "Until now, Yahweh has helped us." (1 Samuel 7:3—12)

In verses 3 and 4, Samuel teaches the Israelites that if they refrain from Baalism they will be delivered. In verse 6 we encounter what appears to be a ritualistic act of pouring water on the ground, a symbol of contrition of one's soul, as hearts are poured out like water before Yahweh (Lamentations 2:19). Although the suggestion of penitence may partially explain the practice, a polemic is also hinted by Philippe Reymond, who asks rhetorically, "Isn't the point of the recitation in the fact that the water is poured out before Yahweh and not before Baal?" Thus Israel would recognize Yahweh as the source of the rain and not Baal.³⁴

An implicit polemic is also strengthened by the fact that the Philistines were also involved with Baalistic worship. In the Ugaritic texts, Baal is related to Dagon, the chief Philistine deity; and he is called the son of Dagon eleven times.³⁵

When the Philistines drew near to attack the Israelites, the Lord sent his divine weapons: "Yahweh thundered with a great voice that day upon the Philistines and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel" (1 Samuel 7:10). This passage recalls the Song of Hannah: "The enemies of Yahweh shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven will he thunder upon them" (1 Samuel 2:10). In KTU 1.4.V:8—9, the relationship between storm imagery and the voice of Baal is also attested: "And he gives his voice in the clouds, for the flashing of lightning bolts to the earth." Such literature surely connotes that the lightning flashes are connected with Baal's voice, just as the thunder is related to Yahweh's utterance. The intent of general storm imagery is clear in both cases.

2 Samuel 22:10—18

Another pertinent text taken from the books of Samuel is 2 Samuel 22. Taken as a whole, this chapter is nearly identical to Psalm 18. The core of the storm imagery in the stratum of this chapter is found in verses 10—18:

He (Yahweh) bent the sky and descended,
and a heavy cloud was beneath his feet.
And he rode upon a cherub and flew;
and he was seen upon the wings of the wind.
And he made pavilions of darkness about him,
a mass of water and clouds of the skies.
In the brightness before him were burned coals of fire.
Yahweh thundered from heaven,
and the Most High sent forth his voice.
And he sent forth arrows and scattered them,
lightning and discomfited them.
And the channels of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the world were revealed,
by the rebuke of Yahweh, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.
He reached down from above,
he took me, he drew me out of the mighty waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
and from those who hated me,
for they were too bold for me.
(2 Samuel 22:10—18)

In verses 10—12, Yahweh is portrayed as riding the clouds, an idea first attested in the DH in Deuteronomy 33:26. Parallel to this, we must consider the epithet of Baal, rkb rpt (Rider of the Clouds).³⁶ In verses 13—14 the storm imagery continues and is reminiscent of 1 Samuel 7:10, in which thunder and storm are associated with the voice of Yahweh.

In verse 15, the words "arrows" and "lightning" parallel each other. Yahweh's weapon, depicted as lightning, is also portrayed as arrows. This lightning discomfited the enemy. The Hebrew verbal root hmm (translated "discomfited") is evidenced here. This Deuteronomic word is a prime piece of evidence that the hand of DTR may have been here, as well as in other places in the Deuteronomic corpus where this word is prominent.³⁷ Such evidence suggests that DTR gathered this psalm into the Deuteronomic corpus because it illustrated precisely the emphasized concept.

Verses 16—17 provide the literary imagery that while Yahweh uses water and storm to discomfit the enemies of Israel, at the same time he can deliver his covenant people from the "mighty waters" on the earth, which metaphorically are the enemy, as explained in verse 18. Thus, Yahweh's ability to rebuke the mighty waters is most interesting when compared with Baal's ability to rebuke Yam (Sea).

1 Kings 17—19

The book of Kings contains the climactic portion of the Deuteronomic History. The accounts of Elijah and Elisha are particularly relevant to this study because they contain the most abundant collection of polemics against Baalism in the DH. I will now analyze the material in 1 Kings 17—19. This stratum of the book of Kings contains the most obvious climax of water and storm polemics against Baalism, not only in the book of Kings and the DH, but also within the entire Hebrew Bible.

The prelude in 1 Kings 16:29—33 sets the tone for this narrative: Ahab marries a Sidonian named Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, a name meaning "with him is Baal, or man of Baal."³⁸ As the book of Kings unfolds, it becomes readily apparent that Jezebel practiced her father's religion and influenced her husband, who served Baal and reigned as the most wicked king in Israel's history. Robert L. Cohn notes that "the deuteronomic summary of Ahab's reign in I Kings 16:29—33 serves as a prologue to the Elijah narrative because it identifies the issue with which Elijah must deal: Ahab's patronage of Baal."³⁹

This polemical prologue is supported by the introductory verse of this narrative (1 Kings 17:1), in which Elijah swears, "As Yahweh lives, the God of Israel whom I serve, there will be no dew or rain these years, but according to my word." Just so, the Ugaritic text of KTU 1.19.I:42—46 manifests Baal's supposed control of dew and rain, thus suggesting that Elijah is making an implicit water polemic against Baal.

Seven years shall Baal fail,
Eight the rider of clouds
There shall be no dew, no rain
No surging of the deeps,
Neither the goodness of Baal's voice.

1 Kings 18:1 reveals that Elijah's sealing power created a sore famine in Samaria, which the New Testament indicates lasted three and a half years.⁴⁰ This resulted in a showdown to determine who really controlled the water: Baal or Yahweh? Elijah requested that all Israel and all the prophets of Baal and his consort be gathered for the contest to be performed at Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:19).

The showdown on Mount Carmel is interesting for several reasons. First, at the time of this confrontation, Mount Carmel was situated exactly on the border of Israel and Phoenicia. Jezebel, a zealous advocate of Baal, had patronized the spread of Baalism into Israel from her homeland in Phoenicia. Perhaps this location was selected because it was the most neutral position for an encounter between the god of each land. Second, the area of Carmel is used in the Hebrew Bible as an image of fertility.⁴¹ In fact, the Hebrew word karmel actually means "garden land."⁴² Finally, an Assyrian inscription dated to 841 BC evidences that Mount Carmel was called Mount Ba'li-ra'si Baal of the headland.⁴³ The fact that the inscription dates to the ninth century BC suggests that Mount Carmel was referred to as Baal's mountain or domain by the Canaanites during the time of the showdown.

When all Israel was gathered to this key location, Elijah inquired, "How long are you going to keep hopping between two branches? If Yahweh is God, follow him; and if Baal, follow him!" (1 Kings 18:20). The contest would determine which god would answer by sending fire to consume a sacrificial bull (1 Kings 18:23—24). The prophets of Baal tried in vain to get their god to respond, but to no avail (1 Kings 18:26—29). Elijah then had an abundance of water poured into the trench and upon the altar he had erected to Yahweh (1 Kings 18:33—35). Next, he called upon his God, and the fire of Yahweh fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice . . . and licked up the water that was in the trench (1 Kings 18:38). The people standing by cried, "Yahweh, he is the God" (1 Kings 18:39). Soon there also followed an abundance of rain (1 Kings 18:41—45). This suggests not only that the fire that devoured the altar was lightning, but also that this was a polemic par excellence against Baal-Hadad. For in the Ugaritic literature of KTU 1.4.V:6—9 we read,

The time for his rain Baal is appointing,
the time for moisture;
And he gives his voice in the clouds,
for the flashing of lightning-bolts to the earth.

Although this was a dramatic display of power, it did not convert Jezebel, but rather hardened her heart to the point that she sought Elijah's life (1 Kings 19:1—2). Elijah fled south and was instructed by the Lord to stand upon Mount Horeb, where Yahweh sent wind, an earthquake, and fire (lightning). But Yahweh was to be found only in the still small voice (1 Kings 19:11—12). Elijah was then reminded of "the voice of Yahweh which is beyond not within the elements of nature that Baal is believed to control." ⁴⁴

2 Kings 2:8—15

Although Elijah was clearly aware of the omnipotence of Yahweh, Israel still needed to be continually reminded of his power, especially relating to water, which brought fertility and life. This is readily apparent in the transition of prophetic authority from Elijah to Elisha. In the pericope of 2 Kings 2:8—15, Yahweh affirms his choice of Elisha to succeed Elijah by parting the Jordan River. The text points out that Elijah smote the river with his mantle and that the waters were divided such that Elijah and Elisha passed through the Jordan on dry ground (2 Kings 2:8). Elijah was then taken up into heaven in a chariot (2 Kings 2:11).

Elisha retrieved the only material object Elijah had left: his mantle, the external symbol of the internal prophetic power with which he was imbued. Elisha struck the River Jordan with the mantle, and the river again divided. Yahweh had not only invested Elijah with divine power but also demonstrated that his successor Elisha was also equipped with his authority to control nature and combat Baalism.

Aftermath

Elisha continued to perform water miracles in order to remind Israel who it was that controls the waters of heaven and earth, and thus life. Such miracles included healing a spring of bitter waters at Jericho (2 Kings 2:19—22); providing a dry valley with an abundance of water from beneath the earth (2 Kings 3:17—20); causing an ax head to float on the Jordan River (2 Kings 6:1—7); and sealing the waters of heaven so that there was a severe famine in Samaria, lasting seven years (2 Kings 6:24—8:1). The seven-year period perhaps symbolized that the destruction of Israel was iminent.⁴⁵

The concluding chapters of the book of Kings at the end of DH reveal that the water and storm polemics, which had reached their peak in the Elijah and Elisha narratives, thereafter subside. The fact that there are more water and storm polemics recorded in the Hebrew Bible during the time of Elijah and Elisha than at any other time is most interesting when we recognize that this occurred during the time when Ahab, and especially Jezebel, brought Baal-worship to its zenith in Israel. Furthermore, there seems to be a correlation between the fall of the house of Ahab and Jezebel (2 Kings 9—10) and the subsiding of the water and storm polemics. DTR then conveys the notion that the children of Israel have seen enough of Yahweh's superior power over Baal. In the culmination of the DH (2 Kings 9—25), DTR sums up the historical events that led to the disastrous consequences that befell the Israelites in the Northern and Southern Kingdoms as a direct result of their apostasy to Baalism.

Conclusion

The DTR selected historical stories to launch a literary attack against Baalism, which included the implicit polemical use of several aspects of water and storm. Select examples from each book of the Deuteronomic corpus reveal DTR's agenda: instructing Israel that Yahweh, not Baal, held the keys to a prosperous life in the land of Canaan. This agenda perhaps comes out most clearly at the time of Elijah and Elisha, when the water and storm polemics reached their peak just as Baal-worship reached its zenith in Israel. Israel was continually reminded of Yahweh's divine power and of his ability to provide and protect his covenant people on condition of their obedience to the stipulations of his divine laws.⁴⁶

Jeremiah asked this rhetorical question when severe droughts occurred in the land of Judah (Jeremiah 14:1) and the Babylonian exile drew nigh: "Can any of the false gods of the nations give rain? Can the skies of themselves give showers? Only you are He, O Yahweh our God! Therefore we will wait for you, for you made these things" (Jeremiah 14:22). Instead of heeding the warnings of the prophets to follow the true source of water and power, the covenant people ignored their God and essentially drowned in Baalism.

Footnotes:

1. This paper is a distillation of my dissertation, Water and Storm Polemics against Baalism in the Deuteronomic History, American University Studies; Series VII, Theology and Religion (New York: Peter Lange Publishing, 1994). "Polemic" or "polemical" is derived from the Greek word polemikos, meaning warlike. It is defined as "an aggressive attack on or refutation of the opinions or principles of another," Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1991), 910. It is used here in the sense of a literary attack against Baal, the Canaanite god of water and storm.
2. Biblical scholars refer to these books as the Deuteronomic History because there appears to be consistent editing throughout this stratum of the Hebrew Bible, which suggests a unified historical polemical work. Most of the editorial work seems to have occurred just prior to the exile during the era of Josiah's reformation, the final editing taking place soon after Judah's exile. See David Noel Freedman, "Deuteronomic History, The," in the supplementary volume of The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, ed. Keith Crim et al. (Nashville: Abingdon, 1982), 226—28. For a more complete discussion of the Deuteronomic History, see Martin Noth, The Deuteronomistic History (Sheffield: University of Sheffield, 1981); Frank Moore Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973), 274—89; Mark A. O'Brien, The Deuteronomistic History Hypothesis: A Reassessment (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1989); Steven L. McKenzie, The Trouble with Kings: The Composition of the Book of Kings in the Deuteronomistic History (Leiden: Brill, 1991); and Erik Eynikel, The Reform of King Josiah and the Composition of the Deuteronomistic History (Leiden: Brill, 1995).
3. Mitchell A. Dahood, "Ancient Semitic Deities in Syria and Palestine," in Le Antiche Divinita Semitche, Studi Semitici, ed. Sabatino Moscati, vol. 1 (Rome: Centro di Studi Semitici, 1958), 67; James B. Pritchard, Archaeology and the Old Testament (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1958), 107. See also G. del Olmo Lete, Canaanite Religion: According to the Liturgical Texts of Ugarit (Bethesda, Md.: CDL Press, 1999); M. S. Smith, ed., The Ugaritic Baal Cycle, Supplements to Vetus Testamentum, vol. 55 (Leiden: Brill, 1994); and articles entitled "Baal," "Canaanites," and "Ugarit" in David Noel Freedman, ed., Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2000).
4. For the complete account of these excavations, see Claude F. A. Schaeffer, The Cuneiform Texts of Ras Shamra-Ugarit (London: Oxford University Press, 1939).
5. Arvid S. Kapelrud, "Ugarit," in The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, ed. George A. Buttrick et al. (Nashville: Abingdon, 1982), 4:725. On the other hand, it may be argued that perhaps Ugarit does not reflect a typical Canaanite society and is located beyond the northern border of the land of Canaan. In spite of these apparent limitations, I support the view of William F. Albright, who argues that Ugarit plays a vital role in understanding Canaanite culture and religion. He maintains that the language and culture of Ugarit is in harmony with that of Canaan. Consequently, he refers to the Ugaritic material as North Canaanite. Furthermore, he points quite convincingly to the ample evidence that the Ugaritic deities were worshipped not only at Ugarit, but also in Syria, Canaan, and even Egypt. William F. Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1968), 116. I also concur with Frank Eakin, who maintains that while we should recognize the apparent dangers of equating Canaan with Ugarit, "nonetheless a cultural homogeneity existed along the Levant during the cultural zenith of Ugarit. To describe the character of Ugaritic worship, therefore, is to portray also the nature of Canaanite worship." Frank E. Eakin Jr., The Religion and Culture of Israel: An Introduction to Old Testament Thought (Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1971), 199. See also Niels Peter Lemche, "The Canaanites and Their Land: The Tradition of the Canaanites," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Supplement Series 110 (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1991).
6. See John Gray, "Baal," in The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, 1:328—29.
7. Ulf Oldenburg, The Conflict between El and Ba'al in Canaanite Religion (Leiden: Brill, 1969), 57—58.
8. J. C. De Moor, "Ba'al," in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, trans. John T. Willis (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1986), 2:183. See also D&C 107:2—4, where we find that modern-day revelation reveals that the Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God was changed to the Melchizedek Priesthood "to avoid the too frequent repetition of the name of deity."
9. Oldenburg, Conflict between El and Ba'al, 59.
10. Harvey H. Guthrie Jr., "Hadad," in The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, 2:507.
11. J. C. L. Gibson, "The Theology of the Ugaritic Baal Cycle," Orientalia 53 (1984): 202—19, facs. no. 2.
12. M. J. Mulder, "Baal in the Old Testament," in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, 2:197.
13. Ibid., 193—94. The name Hadad occurs by itself in the Hebrew Bible, most notably in the name of the Syrian king Ben-Hadad (see 1 Kings 15:20; 2 Kings 13; 2 Chronicles 16). The name also occurs in the genealogies of the Edomites (Genesis 36:35; 1 Chronicles 1:30, 46, 50; see also 1 Kings 11).
14. Robert Polzin, "Reporting Speech in the Book of Deuteronomy: Toward a Compositional Analysis of the Deuteronomic History," in Tradition in Transformation: Turning Points in Biblical Faith, ed. B. Halpern and Jon D. Levenson (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1981), 194—95.
15. Two major works dealing with explicit polemics against Baalism are Norman C. Habel, Yahweh versus Baal: A Conflict of Religious Cultures (New York: Bookman Associates, 1964), and Frank E. Eakin Jr., "The Relationship between Yahwism and Baalism during the Pre-Exilic Period" (Ph.D. diss., Duke University, 1964).
16. A parallel example of editing divine writings can be readily observed through the inspired work of Mormon and Moroni in the Book of Mormon.
17. Yahweh or Yahveh is the Hebrew proper name of the God of the Old Testament, transliterated as "Jehovah" in the KJV.
18. The examples given here are not exhaustive but are limited to a brief discussion. For an exhaustive treatise, see my Water and Storm Polemics.
19. Translations of biblical passages throughout this paper are mine.
20. For more information concerning Kothar-wa-Hasis, see Oldenburg, "Conflict between El and Ba'al," 95—100; Walter C. Kaiser Jr., "The Ugaritic Pantheon" (Ph.D. diss., Brandeis University, 1973), 122—25.
21. KTU is the abbreviation for M. Dietrich, O. Loretz, and J. Sanmartin, with H. W. Kisker, Die keilalphabetischen Texte aus Ugarit. Einschliesslich der keilalphabetischen Texte ausserhalb Ugarit. Teil 1 Transkription, Alter Orient und Altes Testament 24 (Kevelaer and Neukirchen-Vluyn: Verlag Butzon & Bercker, 1976). For English translations of the Ugaritic texts, see J. C. L. Gibson, Canaanite Myths and Legends (Edinburgh: Clark, 1978), and J. C. de Moor, An Anthology of Religious Texts from Ugarit (Leiden: Brill, 1987). Translations of KTU throughout this paper are mine.
22. Amorites are considered one of the seven nations of people inhabiting the land of Canaan at the time of the conquest (Deuteronomy 7:1). Thus they are considered Canaanites by citizenship rather than by descent.
23. For an excellent treatise on the holy war language used in Joshua 2:9—11, see Dennis J. McCarthy, "Some Holy War Vocabulary in Joshua 2," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 33 (April 1971): 228—30.
24. Prince Sea and Judge River are used in a parallel structure to represent two different aspects of the Canaanite god Yam (Sea).
25. For the complete argument as to why these stones should be viewed as hailstones rather than meteorites, see Water and Storm Polemics, 60—63.
26. Compare to Exodus 9:25—26. For a thorough discussion of Yahweh as a divine warrior, see Patrick D. Miller, The Divine Warrior in Early Israel (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973).
27. Millard C. Lind, Yahweh Is a Warrior: The Theology of Warfare in Ancient Israel (Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1980), 70.
28. Yairah Amit, "Judges 4: Its Contents and Forms," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 39 (1987): 95.
29. H. H. Rowley, "Israel, History of (Israelites)," in The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, 2:754.
30. Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 5.5.4. See The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, trans. William Whiston (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 1978), 115.
31. Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon, 1951), 140.
32. Andre Caquot and Maurice Sznycer, Ugaritic Religion (Leiden: Brill, 1980), 13.
33. Here we find the plural usage for the Canaanite deities Baal and his consort Ashtaroth. This seems to reflect several manifestations of these same Canaanite fertility deities. See Freedman, Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, 114.
34. Philippe Reymond, L'eau, sa vie, et signification dans l' Ancien Testament, in Supplements to Vetus Testamentum, vol. 6, ed. G. W. Anderson et al. (Leiden: Brill, 1958), 215.
35. Oldenburg, Conflict between El and Ba'al, 46. For more information about Dagon, see 47—57.
36. Kaiser, "The Ugaritic Pantheon," 268 n. 293, has an exhaustive list wherein this title is used.
37. See Deuteronomy 2:15, Judges 4:15, Joshua 10:10, 1 Samuel 7:10.
38. Richard W. Corney, "Ethbaal," in The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, 2:153. In this same volume, under the title "Jezebel," Dorothea Ward Harvey suggests that Jezebel is "probably the deliberate Hebrew distortion of a Phoenician name honoring Baal," 905.
39. Robert L. Cohn, "The Literary Logic of I Kings 17—19," Journal of Biblical Literature 101/3 (1982): 334.
40. Luke 4:25.
41. Isaiah 35:2, 33:9; Jeremiah 50:19.
42. Brown et al., Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, 502.
43. Yohanan Aharoni, The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography, trans. and ed. A. F. Rainey, rev. ed. (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1979), 341.
44. Cohn, "The Literary Logic of I Kings 17—19," 349—50.
45. As noted previously, KTU 1.19.I:42 indicates, "Seven years shall Baal fail," which may also be viewed here as an implicit polemic against Baalism.
46. God's power over the waters is also a theme in the Book of Mormon; see 1 Nephi 17:50; 18:21; 2 Nephi 15:6; 27:2; Helaman 11:13, 17; 12:16; Ether 2:25; 9:35. Also, for examples of prosperity being contingent on obeying God's laws, see 1 Nephi 4:14; 2 Nephi 1:9, 20; Mosiah 2:22; Alma 36:1, 30; and many others. Jesus' power over the waters and storm also became evident in several New Testament episodes; see Matthew 8:23—27 and 14:22—33.

Saul and David: A Tale of Two Kings...

This week we will talk about:

1. The Lord's Method for Choosing Leaders: Samuel identifies David as a new king to replace Saul
   
2. Overcoming Obstacles in Life: David subdues Goliath
3. BFF's: David and Jonathan a story of covenant friendship
4. Respect for Authority: David spares Saul's life out of respect for his office (despite Saul's repeated attempts to take his life)

What can be learned about the short reign of Saul the Benjaminite?
The story of Jonathan and David reminds us that true friendship and love bring us closer to our friends and to God. The story of Saul reminds us that jealousy and hatred can consume us and lead us away from our friends and from God. Be true to your friends so you can say to them, “The Lord be between thee and me for ever” (1 Samuel 20:23).

Reading Assignment: 1 Samuel 18-20; 23-24. Suggested Supplemental Reading: 1 Samuel 14-17; 2 Samuel 1; Alma 17.

I was contacted by a good friend this week who I have not seen for many years. We served together in the mission field many years ago in Arequipa, Peru. His letter to me was as follows:
"Long time since Peru. Always great to have an Alma 17 moment with my friends. What are you up to and how are you doing? I live in...etc."

As I thought back on my friendship with this missionary comrade from my youth his obvious reference to Alma the younger caused me to see the parallels in our lives: "1 And now it came to pass that as Alma was journeying from the land of Gideon southward, away to the land of ^aManti, behold, to his astonishment, he ^bmet with the ^csons of Mosiah journeying towards the land of Zarahemla.

2 Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel ^afirst appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had ^bsearched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.

3 But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and ^afasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with ^bpower and authority of God."
Like Jonathan and the sons of Mosiah, our true friends are those who keep their covenants with us and more importantly with the Lord. When the Lord blesses us with such relationships we have cause to rejoice together in the cause of truth as we seek after the righteousness and saving grace of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Have a great week brothers and sisters and remember who you are!

The stories of Eli, Saul and David this week...

This week we will combine Lessons 21 and 22 due to the lost week last week because of Stake Conference. The modified reading assignment is: 1 Samuel 2-3; 8-11; 13; 15-17.

Among other things, we will discuss the High Priest Eli and the consequences of wickedness in his family, the calling of the prophet Samuel and why the Israelites chose monarchy over theocracy, Samuel's role in the selection of the kings Saul and David, and finally, the story of David and Goliath.

David and Goliath:

The Philistine army had gathered for war against Israel. The two armies faced each other, camped for battle on opposite sides of a steep valley. A Philistine giant measuring over nine feet tall and wearing full armor came out each day for forty days, mocking and challenging the Israelites to fight. His name was Goliath. Saul, the King of Israel, and the whole army were terrified of Goliath.

One day David, the youngest son of Jesse, was sent to the battle lines by his father to bring back news of his brothers. David was probably just a young teenager at the time. While there, David heard Goliath shouting his daily defiance and he saw the great fear stirred within the men of Israel. David responded, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of God?"

So David volunteered to fight Goliath. It took some persuasion, but King Saul finally agreed to let David fight against the giant. Dressed in his simple tunic, carrying his shepherd's staff, slingshot and a pouch full of stones, David approached Goliath. The giant cursed at him, hurling threats and insults.

David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied ... today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air ... and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel ... it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give all of you into our hands."

As Goliath moved in for the kill, David reached into his bag and slung one of his stones at Goliath's head. Finding a hole in the armor, the stone sank into the giant's forehead and he fell face down on the ground. David then took Goliath's sword, killed him and then cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. So the Israelites pursued, chasing and killing them and plundering their camp.

Points of Interest from the Story:

• Why did they wait forty days to begin the battle? Probably for several reasons. Everyone was afraid of Goliath. He seemed invincible. Not even King Saul, the tallest man in Israel, had stepped out to fight. Also, the sides of the valley were very steep. Whoever made the first move would have a strong disadvantage and probably suffer great loss. Both sides were waiting for the other to attack first.

• David chose not to wear the King's armor because it felt cumbersome and unfamiliar. David was comfortable with his simple slingshot, a weapon he was skilled at using. God will use the unique skills he's already placed in your hands, so don't worry about "wearing the King's armor." Just be yourself and use the familiar gifts and talents God has given you. He will work miracles through you.

• David's faith in God caused him to look at the giant from a different perspective. Goliath was merely a mortal man defying an all-powerful God. David looked at the battle from God's point of view. If we look at giant problems and impossible situations from God's perspective, we realize that God will fight for us and with us. When we put things in proper perspective, we see more clearly and we can fight more effectively.

• When the giant criticized, insulted and threatened, David didn't stop or even waver. Everyone else cowered in fear, but David ran to the battle. He knew that action needed to be taken. David did the right thing in spite of discouraging insults and fearful threats. Only God's opinion mattered to David.

Questions for Reflection:

Are you facing a giant problem or impossible situation? Stop for a minute and refocus. Can you see the situation more clearly from God's vantage point?

Do you need to take courageous action in the face of insults and fearful circumstances? Do you trust that God will fight for you and with you? Remember, God's opinion is the only one that matters.

Lesson 18: Joshua the "devout warrior" prophet

Our next class turns our attention to Joshua. Joshua of course was Moses's successor and thus had big shoes to fill. For this reason, many scholars compare Peter and even Brigham Young to Joshua because their task was two-fold:

1. To convince followers of an important and charismatic leader that the mantle of leadership had indeed been passed down to them by God's will and by the authority of His priesthood.
2. To keep the people of God united while confronting hostilities and false teachings of gentiles.

The Bible Dictionary calls him "the highest type of the devout warrior" and indicates that his name means "God is help" [see Bible Dictionary, "Joshua"].

THE DATE OF THE CONQUEST

A. The beginning of the conquest of the land was in 1406 B.C. forty years after the Exodus (1446).

B. The Actual Conquest lasted for 7 years or until 1399 B.C.

1. Caleb stated that he was 40 years old when he went to spy out the land in Joshua 14: 7.

2. The wilderness wanderings lasted 38 years (from that point) which brings Caleb’s age to 78 at the beginning of the conquest (40+38=78).

3. Caleb then stated that he was 85 years old at the end of the conquest [Joshua 14: 10]. This is confirmed by Caleb’s statement that the Lord provided for grace to the people for 45 years since Kadesh Barnea (38 years of wandering plus 7 years of conquest).

4. Therefore, If the conquest was begun in 1406 B.C. after the wanderings, and it was completed seven years later, then the book could have been written any time after 1399 B.C.

ABOUT JOSHUA:

A. He was the son of Nun, an Ephraimite of the tribe of Joseph born in Egypt, who was a young man at the time of the Exodus [Exodus 33: 11].

B. His name was Hosea or "salvation," but Moses called him Jehoshua or Joshua = "Jehovah saves."

C. He was Chosen by Moses to be his assistant or personal attendant [Exodus 24: 13; 32: 17; 33: 11].

1. He was present on the mountain when Moses received the Law [Exodus 24: 13].

2. He was guardian of the tent at the meeting when Moses met with Jehovah [Exodus 33: 11].

D. He was given charge of a detachment of Israelites to repel an Amalekite attack at Rephidim [Exodus 17: 9].

E. He was one of the twelve spies sent into the land who trusted in the Lord to give the land to the people [Numbers 13: 8; 14: 30].

F. He was commissioned by Jehovah to become leader when Moses died [Deuteronomy 31: 14].

G. He courageously served as a "devout warrior" servant before the Lord to bring the people into the promised land [Bible Dictionary].

"BE OF A GOOD COURAGE":

In addition to this week's readings in the Book of Joshua (1-7, 14, 23-24), I am also asking everyone to read the General Young Women Meeting talk by Ann M. Dibb, "Be of a Good Courage" [see: Dibb]. Sister Dibb identifies four "sure guides" in Chapter 1 of Joshua that will "help us overcome our obstacles, complete our journey [back to our Heavenly Father], and enjoy the blessings of the Lord in our 'land of promise'":

1. prayer,
2. obedience to God's commandments,
3. daily scripture study,
4. and a commitment to follow the living prophet.

We will use Sister Dibb's talk this Sunday to discuss the ways that we can apply the teachings of the prophet Joshua in our lives today.

Lessons from the JST (Joseph Smith Translation) in Genesis and Exodus

Before we transition from the books of Genesis and Exodus to Numbers this week, let's take a few minutes to highlight what we learn from the JST. The JST was started by the Prophet Joseph Smith in June 1830 and completed by July 1833, although he continued to edit it until his death in 1844, and it is possible that he intended to make more changes had he lived to publish the final version. As the entry in the Bible Dictionary states: "The JST to some extent assists in restoring the plain and precious things that have been lost from the Bible" [see 1 Nephi 13 and 14].

GENESIS:

1. We sometimes forget that Moses is an extract from the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. Therefore, we should always refer to this book (located at the beginning of the Pearl of Great Price) whenever we study the first five books especially of the Old Testament. Among other things, the Book of Moses teaches us about the war in Heaven and the Creation and gives important details about the Plan of Salvation: "For this is my work and my glory -- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" [Moses 1: 39]. Moses not only learned that he was chosen by God to deliver the Israelites from bondage, but he saw the world "and there was not a particle of it which he did not behold ... and also the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a soul which he beheld not" [Moses 1: 27-28]. Like the prophet Nephi, Moses truly witnessed our day. Though Moses was specifically commanded to write about the history of the world from Adam to his day, he also witnessed our day: "And in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as naught and take many of them from the book which thou shalt write, behold, I will raise up another like unto thee; and they shall be had again..." [Moses 1: 41]. Moses witnessed the latter-day restoration of the Lord's Church and holy scripture by Joseph Smith. He also beheld so many worlds and heavenly increase without number [see Moses 1: 37-38] that (and this is my personal favorite of all the verses in Moses) he was blown away by it: "Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed" [Moses 1: 10].
2. The Book of Moses also shows that Adam was a very obedient man. Soon after Adam left the Garden of Eden he built an alter and offered sacrifices to the Lord. When an angel appeared to him and asked him why he performed sacrifices, Adam's response was innocently to the point: "I know not, save the Lord commanded me" [Moses 5: 6-8]. The angel revealed to Adam that the ordinance of sacrifice was a similitude of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
3. In Moses Chapter 6 it is learned that Adam kept a record of his family history in his language [verses 7-9]. Adam received the priesthood and was baptized. Moses 6: 7 reveals that "this same Priesthood, which was in the beginning, shall be in the end of the world also."
   
4. Moses, Chapters 6 & 7 devote much of their content to describing the prophet Enoch and his close relationship to God: "And the Lord showed Enoch all things, even unto the end of the world; and he saw the day of the righteous, the hour of their redemption, and received a fulness of joy" [Moses 7: 67]. Enoch saw the Flood and knew that Noah and his family would be spared [Moses 7: 42], and that the rest of humanity would suffer utter destruction. Whereas the Old Testament story of the Flood might be interpreted that a harsh and vengeful God carried out this extreme punishment, Moses shows a Heavenly Father with compassion and emotion. There is a dual context given in Moses that juxtaposes the destruction of the Flood with the redemption of the City of Enoch. If God ultimately rewards wickedness with destruction, He rewards righteousness with salvation. After the "City of Holiness, even Zion" is taken into Heaven, Enoch witnessed the Lord weep tears of compassion and is caused to ask: "How is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains?" [Moses 7: 28], to which the Lord responds: "they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them ... I said ... that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; nut behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood" [Moses 7: 32-33].
   
5. Enoch was a very successful missionary. Though "but a lad" and "slow of speech," Enoch put his faith in the Lord instructing the righteous (many years before Joshua) to: "Choose ye this day, to serve the Lord God who made you" [Moses 6: 33]. Enoch was a tireless minister of truth and the only prophet referred to by scripture as "a wild man" [Moses 6: 38]. Enoch was also the first missionary to quote from scripture... using Adam's Book of Remembrance" to preach to the people [see Moses 6: 46-68]. In these important lines of scripture Adam teaches about the Fall, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and the doctrine of redemption from sin and death through faith, repentance and baptism.
6. Moses Chapter 8 reiterates the righteousness of Noah, and extends the same praise to his sons who we learn were just as righteous as their father [see Moses 8: 27]. Noah was told to preach the Gospel just as Enoch had done before him [see Moses 8: 19]. However, with all of the righteous people of the City of Enoch now gone, it doesn't surprise us to learn that "they hearkened not unto the words of Noah" [Moses 8: 21].
7. The JST modifies Genesis Chapter 7: 18 by adding the words "even as I have sworn unto thy father, Enoch, that of thy posterity shall come all nations." Enoch, who was Noah's great grandfather, had received the same promise [see Moses 41-53].
   
8. The JST modifies Genesis Chapter 9 in several important ways. It establishes that the Lord gave instructions to Noah as to how to administer sacrifices and burnt offerings after the Flood. Noah is instructed regarding the sanctity of life: "blood shall not be shed, only for meat, to save your lives; and the blood of every beast will I require at your hands" [see JST Genesis 9: 11]. God extends the same commandment to Noah that was originally given to Adam that he should be fruitful and multiply [see JST Genesis 9: 14]. The JST footnote to Genesis 9: 9 states that the covenant God made with Noah was an extension of the same covenant He had made with Enoch. The JST footnote to Genesis 9: 15 states that the covenant was between God and Noah, not between God and every living creature. Finally, the sign of the rainbow is further explained as a remembering of the "everlasting covenant" that the Lord made with Enoch that when "men should keep all my commandments, Zion should again come on the earth, the City of Enoch which I have caught up unto myself" [JST Genesis 9: 21]. This was the first time the phrase "everlasting covenant" had been used in the Old Testament. The JST clearly establishes the "everlasting covenant" as the same covenant given to Enoch... as given to Noah... as would be given to Abraham [see comment #9 below].
   
9. As Abraham entered the land of Hebron (after he had come up out of Egypt and parted ways with Lot), he cast his eyes round about and the Lord promised him "all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy see for every" [Genesis 13: 15]. From the JST, we learn that the Abrahamic Covenant will also encompass the prior covenants He had made to Enoch and to Noah, and it was again an "everlasting covenant" [see JST Genesis 13: 14 footnote].
10. The JST modifies Genesis Chapter 14 in several important ways. It establishes that Melchizedek was a High Priest in the Lord's Priesthood and blessed and passed an early version of the sacrament bread and wine [see verse 18 footnote]. The JST adds 15 additional verses to chapter 14 from which we learn many important details about the life and mission of Melchizedek: he was called the "Prince of peace" [verse 33], also "king of heaven" and "King of peace" by his people [verse 36], and he was "keeper of the storehouse of God" having been appointed "to receive tithes for the poor" [verses 37-38]. The passage also explains that Abraham visited Melchizedek to pay his tithes and offerings and became indeed more prosperous as a result of his generosity and obedience to this law, and was blessed by Melchizedek [see verses 39-40]. See also Hebrews Chapter 7 and JST for verses 3, 19-21, and 25-26, which further explains the significance of the Melchizedek Priesthood as the "order of the Son of God."
11. In Genesis Chapter 15, the JST teaches that Abraham "saw the days of the Son of Man, and was glad, and his soul found rest" [see JST Genesis 15: 9-12].
    
12. While the King James Version of the Bible Genesis 17: 17 says that Abraham "laughed" when he heard that Sarah would bear a son, an alternate translation of the Hebrew word is "rejoiced." The JST says that Abraham "rejoiced" at the news. The JST further clarifies verses 3-7 by teaching that the ordinance of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins had become corrupted by those who would attribute sins to small children. The covenant of circumcision was instituted "that thou mayest know for ever that children are not accountable before me until they are eight years old" [see verses 11-12].
    
13. In the JST, Genesis 19:11–13 states that Lot did not offer his daughters to the men of Sodom; rather, he tried to protect his daughters from the men. Finally, in verses 31-36 the JST shows that Lot's daughters "did wickedly" when they conspired to conceive children by their father.
14. At the end of Chapter 21: 33-34, the JST clarifies that Abraham did not plant a grove of idols in Beer-sheba, but this was done by other men. Abraham was true and faithful to his priesthood covenants: "And Abraham worshiped the everlasting God" [JST Genesis 21: 32].
15. Genesis 24: 9 is rewritten in the JST as "And the servant put his hand under the hand of Abraham his master, and sware to him..."
16. Genesis 39: 8 is rewritten in the JST as "But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold my master knoweth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand." Also Genesis 39: 22 as "And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisioners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the overseer of it."
17. The JST of Genesis 48: 5-11 contains Jacob's blessings given to Joseph's sons Ephraim and Manasseh whereby they are given equal shares as full tribes of Israel. Jacob elevated Manasseh and Ephraim to the status of his own sons and removed the birthright of Reuben and Simeon thereby giving it to Joseph's sons. Joseph had delivered Israel from famine and certain destruction, "wherefore the God of thy fathers shall bless thee, and the fruit of thy loins, that they shall be blessed above thy brethren, and above thy father's house" [verses 8-9]. This was in further fulfillment of Jacob's earlier prophecy at Luz, in the land of Canaan that Joseph's brothers would bow down to him.
    
18. The JST of Genesis 50:24–38 contains prophecies that Joseph made about one of his descendants who would become a "choice seer." The Book of Mormon prophet Lehi restated these prophecies in 2 Nephi 3: 5-15. The descendant referred to in these prophecies is the Prophet Joseph Smith. It also prophecies that one day a branch of the house of Joseph would "be carried into a far country; nevertheless they shall be remembered in the covenants of the Lord, when the Messiah cometh; for he shall be made manifest unto them..." [verse 25]. This passage of the JST is similar to Ezekiel 37 because it speaks of two writings "and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together unto the confounding of false doctrines, and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to a knowledge of their fathers in the latter days..." [verse 31]. Finally, Joseph sees the Exodus and the role that Moses will have in delivering captive Israel from Egypt.
    

EXODUS:

1. In the JST, the phrase "the angel of the Lord" in Exodus 3: 2 is changed to "the presence of the Lord" in the telling of the appearance of the Lord to Moses at the burning bush.
2. Beginning with Exodus 4: 21 the JST changes the passage to "Pharaoh will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go." In all subsequent places in Exodus which read "and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart" are changed in the JST to "and Pharaoh hardened his heart." This happens several times.
   
3. The JST clarifies the incident involving Moses, and his wife Zipporah in the circumcision of their son at the inn. When Moses set out from Egypt he was faced by a dilemma. Should he perform the circumcision and then take the child with him? -- but the infant would be in danger of infection, etc. Should he delay leaving Egypt and perform the circumcision? -- but God had commanded him to go! He decided to travel immediately. Nevertheless, he was held responsible by the Lord because, when they arrived at the inn, he failed to immediately perform the circumcision. Moses was "ashamed" because he had committed "sin" the JST says, but was spared a deeper penalty because of the faithfulness of his wife Zipporah in performing the operation.
4. In the JST, the statement "but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them" in Exodus 6: 3 is changed to a question "I am the Lord God Almighty; the Lord JEHOVAH. And was not my name known unto them?" This important clarification is in keeping with earlier instances that the Lord was revealed as Jehovah to his prophets [see Abraham 2: 8, for example].
5. The JST clarifies the expression "I am of uncircumcised lips" of Exodus 6: 30 as "of stammering lips, and slow of speech."
6. Moses is a "prophet" unto Pharaoh and not a "god" as stated in the King James Version of Exodus 7: 1. The JST clarifies this confusion and names Aaron his "spokesman," and not a "prophet."
7. The JST clarifies the nature of the cloud that accompanied the Israelites in the wilderness in Exodus 14: 20, "and it was a cloud and darkness to the Egyptians, but it gave light by night to the Israelites..."
8. Exodus 18: 1 reveals that Moses's father-in-law, Jethro, was a "high priest" in the Melchizedek Priesthood, important to understand Moses's own priesthood authority.
9. The JST changes the law "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," to "Thou shalt not suffer a murderer to live" [Exodus 22: 18]. This particular verse was cited during the Puritan Salem witch trials in the 17th century to back their miscarriage of justice against dissident colonials of the period.
10. "Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause," in Exodus 23: 3, was changed to "wicked man in his cause," by the JST.
11. The language used by Moses in pleading to the Lord to have mercy on the offending makers of the golden calf is clarified by the JST as "Turn from they fierce wrath. Thy people will repent of this evil; therefore come thou not out against them" [Exodus 32: 12]. Then in verse 14 of the same chapter the Lord agrees to spare all those who might repent (this scripture in the JST is meant to replace the one used in the King James Version completely).
12. Moses receives stone tablets containing instructions from the Lord but breaks the tablets when he returns from Sinai and sees the people worshiping a golden calf. The JST for Exodus 32-34 illustrates the extreme displeasure of the Lord against the wicked idol worshipers in Moses's camp [see Exodus 33: 20], and explains what was lost when Moses broke the stone tablets. The Lord took away the ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood from Israel and gave them a lesser law, the law of Moses [see Exodus 34: 1-2]. Moses made new tablets of stone to replace those that he had broken, but the new tablets did not include "the words of the everlasting covenant of the holy priesthood."
13. The JST replaces the expression "For the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God" in Exodus 34: 14 with "whose name is Jehovah..."
    

Lessons 13 and 14: Moses and the Exodus -- Type of the Atonement

Last week we discussed the essential type of the Atonement that is so well demonstrated by the Exodus. Exodus is a word of Greek origin, and means a departure; the story of the escape of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage can be likened to the atonement in our lives in three principal areas:

1. Fleeing wickedness/departure from out of bondage
   
2. Repentance for past sins/correction and journey into righteousness
3. Restoration of lost blessings/establishment of Zion with priesthood and temple ordinances

Not only is this type repeatedly taught in the book of Genesis...it is repeated throughout scripture. But before we examine the wider range of these examples let's pause and reexamine the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant as viewed in Genesis 15.

As we will see repeatedly throughout scripture on into the modern day, Abram, at the moment of his deliverance from the land of Ur is fearful, but the Lord calms these fears. He says: "Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward" [Genesis 15:1]. Latter-day Saints would do well to remember this promise when they too face times of peril and adversity. So too the scripture is revealing. Even though Abraham was chosen before he was born and, therefore, one of the "noble and great ones" and an elect man of God [see Abraham 3: 22-23], he was also just a man, susceptible to the weaknesses and foibles of life. Abraham's greatness, as these scriptures teach, relied on the fact that he trusted in the Lord and was obedient to the commandments. The rewards promised to Abraham and through him to his seed were:

1. His seed would be innumerable [see Genesis 4-5];
2. His seed would be given the land between the "river of Egypt" or the Nile River and "the great river, the river Euphrates" [see Genesis 15: 28] ;
3. Christ would come through his lineage [see Bible Dictionary, p. 602];
   
4. The ministry of the gospel would carried out through his lineage [see Abraham 2: 9-10];
5. The priesthood would be handed down through his lineage to bless all the families of the earth [see Abraham 2: 11];
   
6. His seed would be "a stranger in a land that is not theirs" and they would be delivered after being afflicted for four hundred years; when they came out of that land it would be "with great substance" [see Genesis 15: 13-14];
7. He would go "down" to his "fathers in peace," and would be "buried in a good old age" [see Genesis 15: 15].

These promises became the birthright of Issac, Jacob, and Joseph. The stories of Abraham, Jacob and Joseph were each types of the Exodus (as were those of Noah and the Jaredites too). Abraham was led by God from the land of Ur to the lands west as far as Egypt. Jacob's trials were so numerous as to constitute several mini Exoduses (first his troubles with Essau, then his bondage and escape from Laban, the troubles with Rachel, Dinah, and Joseph and then his removal down to Egypt too). Joseph was literally sold into Egypt as a bondsman and when it looked like he might regain his freedom from Potiphar, was unjustly imprisoned in the Pharaoh's dungeons. Still, he managed to remain obedient to God and was an instrument for salvation for his extended family and the Egyptians too.

For his obedience in times of tribulation Joseph was blessed temporally, becoming a type of Viceroy to the Pharaoh, but the greater blessing given him was the birthright as heir to the Abrahamic Covenant. When Jacob became ill, feeling that his death was drawing near, he sent for Joseph -- the only one of his sons who held power -- and asked him to swear that he would be buried in Hebron with his fathers. Joseph recognizing it was time, brought his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim for Jacob's blessing. According to rabbinical teachings [see Ramban 47: 29], "the blessing included a major change in the composition of the Jewish people, in that Jacob elevated Manasseh and Ephraim to the status of his own sons -- in effect adopting them as his own -- thereby removing the firstborn status from the tribe of Reuben and giving it to Joseph's offspring." So too Jacob's final blessing to Joseph [see Genesis 49: 22-26] reflects this double bestowal of the Abrahamic promise in the words: "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall" [verse 22]. This part of Jacob's blessing to Joseph saw literal fulfillment not only with his seed's migration to Egypt, but their migration too to the New World as one recalls that Lehi was a descendant of Manasseh [see Alma 10: 3] and Ishmael was an Ephraimite [see Jesus the Christ, James E. Talmage, ch. 5, note 3, p. 52].

Joseph's last act of obedience was to fulfill his father's wishes that his bones be brought back to Canaan. As Joseph passed from this mortal life, he too exacted an oath from his sons that his bones would not be left behind in Egypt when the Exodus finally happened [see Genesis 50: 25]. His blessing on the Israelites in Goshen was to prophecy their redemption: "and God will visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob" [Genesis 50: 24]. When Moses first revealed himself as the redeemer of Israel he repeated these words [see Exodus 3: 16] to the Israelites who knew that he was truly speaking in God's Name. As the Israelites journeyed on their way to the promised land they carried with them the mummified remains of Joseph and these were to be buried by Joshua at the Cave of Machpelah, in Hebron with his fathers [Stone Edition Tanach, page 123, footnote 47: 28-31].

We are now ready for the historical and spiritual setting of the Exodus, but before we move forward, it will perhaps be insightful to recognize that the Exodus is repeated later too in at least four other significant instances in history:

1. Lehi's journey to America. The New World is continually referred to as a "land of promise." Nephi and his descendants are promised that if they "keep the commandments," they "will prosper" in "a land which is choice above all other lands" [see 1 Nephi 2: 20]. Very early on in the Book of Mormon, a pattern of pride followed by wickedness, followed by humility and repentance, and finally by redemption and prosperity, is recognized by all who read it.
2. Isrealites who remain in Jerusalem at the time of Lehi and Jeremiah are carried away captives unto Babylon. The prophet Haggai prophecies of the return of Israel to their native lands and the rebuilding of Solomon's Temple by Zerubbabel. When Cyrus, king in Babylon, gave permission to the Jews to return to Palestine, Zerubbabel was appointed leader of the Jews. He set up an altar in Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple [see Ezra 3-5; Haggai 1-2].
3. The people of Limhi in the Book of Mosiah are freed from bondage to the Lamanites by Ammon. When Limhi learned that his people were to be delivered from bondage he rejoiced and called his people together saying: "lift up your heads, and rejoice, and put your faith in God, in that God who was the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; and also, that God who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, and caused that they should walk through the Red Sea on dry ground, and fed them with manna that they might not perish in the wilderness" [see Mosiah 7: 19].
4. The latter day migration of the LDS Church as it moved from Missouri to Illinois to Utah has many close parallels to the ancient Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt. As Joseph Smith is a modern-day Joseph of Egypt, so Brigham Young has been compared by many to the prophet Moses for his leadership and deliverance of the Mormon people first from Missouri in the winter of 1838-39 and again just seven years later in 1846 [see Leonard Arrington's Brigham Young: American Moses].

We concluded class last week by pointing to the the Exodus as a type for the pattern of Atonement in our everyday lives. We may not participate in a Church-wide struggle to migrate out of harm's way, but our trials are no less real. The challenge to turn away from wickedness threatens to make a Lot's wife out of many of us. Will we look back at the wickedness we flee in longful lust? Or will we do as Joseph of old and say "how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" as we flee the Potiphar's wives in our lives?

I offer my testimony of the saving hand of God in our lives. As we keep our covenants with Him, the Lord will also keep his promises to us. We need to increase our participation in the Savior's atoning sacrifice by being willing to offer Him a soul that has a "broken heart and a contrite spirit" as He has asked of us in these latter days [see Doctrine & Covenants 59: 8].

Our class discussion this Sunday will continue in Exodus when we will discuss the significance of the Passover and Last Supper [Exodus 11-13], the crossing of the Red Sea and destruction of the Egyptian royal army [Exodus 14], manna and quail in the wilderness [Exodus 15-17], the victory of the Israelites over the Amalekites [Exodus 17-18], the Ten Commandments [Exodus 19-20], and the Law of Moses [Exodus 32-34]. I look forward to seeing you in class. Have a great week and remember who you are! You are sons and daughters of Abraham and heirs to countless blessings that many good people have done much to preserve and to hand down to you.