The Beatitudes and The Way

After his baptism and towards the beginning of his ministry, Jesus gave one of his greatest discourses that happened to be recorded. This discourse is known as the Sermon on the Mount. He repeated that discourse to the Nephites when he visited them at their temple in Bountiful after his resurrection. Both discourses begin with what are known as the Beatitudes. Here they are in the Book of Mormon of version:

3) Yea, blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4) And again, blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5) And blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6) And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.

7) And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

8) And blessed are all the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9) And blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

10) And blessed are all they who are persecuted for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11) And blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake;

12) For ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.

The Beatitudes describe one perspective of the entire Way from beginning to end. The Beatitudes fit with the tabernacle of Moses like this:

By looking at the Beatitudes this way – as a representation of The Way to eternal life – we can gain some insights. ‘Poor in spirit’ is a good description of someone who has lived a worldly lifestyle and has made the decision to live a Christian lifestyle and has begun to make some major lifestyle changes. Such a person makes very obvious sacrifices to live the gospel, which corresponds to the altar of sacrifice in the tabernacle of Moses. Those who mourn view “themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth” and ask God to “have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified” (Mosiah 4:2). They are comforted when “the Spirit of the Lord [comes] upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience” (Mosiah 4:3). “And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart” (Moroni 8:26), and so they are then known as the meek. By this point in the spiritual journey, a person has likely been baptized by water and also by fire and the Holy Ghost. In order to progress further from this point, you need to hunger and thirst after righteousness, which is a phase of life represented by the showbread in the tabernacle of Moses and also represented by our modern ordinance of the sacrament. Nephi says that those who are at this phase should “feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:3). The promise to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness is that they will be filled with the Holy Ghost. This is represented in the tabernacle of Moses by the sacred lampstand (which was a giant menorah). It is also the promise that we will always have the spirit of Jesus Christ to be with us when we take the sacrament.

The spiritual phase after hungering and thirsting after righteousness is being merciful. Those who are merciful do things to help others heal and progress. They also offer mighty prayers for themselves, but more especially on behalf of others, both friends and “for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). The altar of incense in the tabernacle of Moses represents prayer, as described in this scene from the book of Revelation:

3) And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

4) And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.

The prayer that is offered at this phase can be a prayer for the welfare of your own soul, such as that offered by the father of King Lamoni – “the king did bow down before the Lord, upon his knees; yea, even he did prostrate himself upon the earth, and cried mightily, saying: O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day.” (Alma 22:17-18). Enos offered a similar prayer – “And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.” (Enos 1:4). However, to be considered truly ‘merciful’, offering an intercessory prayer for the welfare of the souls of other people is appropriate. King Lamoni’s intercessory prayer was simple – “O Lord, have mercy; according to thy abundant mercy which thou hast had upon the people of Nephi, have upon me, and my people.” (Alma 18:41). The first act described in The Book of Mormon is Lehi’s intercessory prayer that he offered after hearing prophets preach about Jerusalem being destroyed if the people didn’t repent – “Wherefore it came to pass that my father, Lehi, as he went forth prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart, in behalf of his people.” (1 Nephi 1:5). After receiving a forgiveness of his own sins and having his guilt swept away, Enos turned his attention to “the welfare of my brethren, the Nephites; wherefore, I did pour out my whole soul unto God for them.” (Enos 1:9). Later, he “prayed unto [God] with many long strugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites.” (Enos 1:11).

The merciful are given mercy. This corresponds to a ceremony that would have taken place at the veil in the tabernacle of Moses. After his crucifixion, Christ referred to this type of experience when he told the Nephites “Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.” (3 Nephi 9:14). After hiking to the top of a high mountain, the brother of Jared, who had apparently reached a spiritual state that could be called ‘merciful’, said a prayer on behalf of his people asking for stones to be lit up so that they would have lights in their boats while they crossed the ocean. After saying this prayer, “the Lord stretched forth his hand and touched the stones one by one with his finger. And the veil was taken from off the eyes of the brother of Jared, and he saw the finger of the Lord; and it was as the finger of a man” (Ether 3:6). The brother of Jared was at the real veil and he saw the Lord’s finger (which is a part of his arm) extending through the veil. After Lehi prayed for mercy on behalf of his people, “there came a pillar of fire and dwelt upon a rock before him; and he saw and heard much; and because of the things which he saw and heard he did quake and tremble exceedingly.” (1 Nephi 1:6). That pillar of fire was a spiritual veil. After King Lamoni said his prayer asking for mercy for himself and for his people, he came “under the power of God; he knew that the dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that this had overcome his natural frame, and he was carried away in God—“ (Alma 19:6).

After encountering the veil of God, the next phase of spiritual progression is to see God. At this phase, your heart is pure. This is state that the brother of Jared arrived at after praying for mercy and seeing the Lord’s finger extending through the veil – “the Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.” (Ether 3:13). Lehi had a similar experience after asking the God to extend mercy to his people and then after encountering the veil of God as a pillar of fire – “he saw the heavens open, and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God.” (1 Nephi 1:8). After praying for mercy for himself and for his people, and after having the dark veil of unbelief removed from his mind, King Lamoni said, “I have seen my Redeemer; and he shall come forth, and be born of a woman, and he shall redeem all mankind who believe on his name” (Alma 19:13).

Seeing God is not the end of the journey of spiritual progression. The next phase is being a peacemaker. Those who are peacemakers have received their own peace from God. In Hebrew, the word for ‘peace’ is ‘shalom’. Not only does ‘shalom’ mean peace, it also means completeness. Receiving ultimate peace from God means that you have fully completed all your trials and you are “sealed up unto eternal life” (D&C 131:5). After receiving this peace, a peacemaker will turn around work to help others obtain their peace. They publish peace, meaning that they teach others the way to obtain peace.

Publishing peace invariably gets you into some trouble. Not everyone you talk to is open to making the sacrifices necessary to walk in the way of righteousness. Some people get offended and will persecute you for trying to help them convert to the Lord. However, the reward for meekly enduring this persecution is entrance into the kingdom of heaven.