Peace, It Is Well

The ultimate step of Christ’s ministry described in the Aaronic blessing is to “give thee peace.” The word ‘peace’ comes from the Hebrew word ‘shalom’. The word ‘shalom’ also means ‘welfare’. When The Book of Mormon talks about the welfare of the soul (as in 2 Nephi 32:9, Enos 1:9, 2 Nephi 6:3, Alma 6:6, Moroni 6:5, and Mosiah 25:30, among others), it is very likely coming from the Hebrew word ‘shalom’ and refers to the ultimate step in Christ’s ministry to fully sanctify us. In 2 Kings 4:26, the word ‘shalom’ was translated as ‘it is well’. If you think about the presentation of LDS temple endowment ceremony, then you may recall hearing the phrase ‘it is well’, who said it, and why. This is one of the most important declarations that God can make about a person’s life. For example, when a group of Lamanite prison guards repented and cried to God, they heard the voice of God declare  to them “Peace, peace be unto you, because of your faith in my Well Beloved” (Helaman 5:47). If we had the record in Hebrew, it is very likely that God would have declared “Shalom, shalom, etc.”. So God essentially declared to them, “It is well”. The welfare of the soul is that God declares “Shalom”, “Peace”, or “It is well” to you or about you. He declares “Shalom” after hearing the report about your faith, “For by [faith] the elders obtained a good report.” (Hebrews 11:2).

Jesus started the Sermon on the Mount with the beatitudes (blessed are the …). The beatitudes describe progressive states of spiritual development. The state after being pure in heart and seeing God (Matthew 5:8), which is quite an advanced state in itself, is to be a peacemaker and to be “called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9). A peacemaker is someone who has received peace, or to whom God has declared “It is well”, and then ministers to others so that they may also reach the same state of spiritual development. Melchizedek apparently was quite adept at mentoring others through the process to be given peace – “And now, Melchizedek was a priest of [the order of the Son of God]; therefore he obtained peace in Salem, and was called the Prince of peace.” (JST Genesis 14:33). Abraham desired “also to be . . . a prince of peace” (Abraham 1:2) to bring others to such a spiritual standing. Isaiah prophesied about priesthood ministers “that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace” (Isaiah 52:7) and that Christ would be “The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Abinadi gave his testimony of the Peace of Christ – “For O how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that is the founder of peace, yea, even the Lord, who has redeemed his people; yea, him who has granted salvation unto his people” (Mosiah 15:18). This is the ministry of the priesthood, to bring others to peace.

In his epistle to the Colossians, Paul said, “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts” (Colossians 3:14-15). Paul implies that you first receive charity and then you receive “the peace of God”. Charity is a prerequisite for peace.