1 Nephi 18 – Baptism
Mosiah 18:10 “Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?”
Nephite Timeline
The time has come for our righteous band of Joseph’s seed to leave the old world in pursuit of the new. This is the moment of the fulfillment of ancient Israel’s prophecy. Ephraim through Ishmael and his brother Manasseh through Lehi, both branches of Joseph here represented, about to “run over the wall” to become “a fruitful bough by a well” (Genesis 49:22). The word of the Lord comes to Lehi “that [they] should arise and go down into the ship” (1 Ne 18:5). They gather their provisions, all that they had, and in faith all enter into the ship with their families. Nephi recounts that they “did put forth into the sea and were driven forth before the wind towards the promised land” (1 Ne 18:8), never again to return to the land of their fathers.
They are driven before the wind for the space of many days, following the direction of both the divinely sent wind and Liahona, towards the American continent. We all know the story of what happens next, Laman and Lemuel revert back to their old ways. Nephi recounts, “my brethren and the sons of Ishmael and also their wives began to make themselves merry, insomuch that they began to dance, and to sing, and to speak with much rudeness, yea, even that they did forget by what power they had been brought thither; yea, they were lifted up unto exceeding rudeness.” (1 Ne 18:9) Nephi, fearing for the lives of everyone onboard, speaks to them with “much soberness”, to which comes the expected response, rebellion.
After tying Nephi up and declaring their pretended command of the ship, a great tempest arises, the Liahona stops working, and they are driven back for the space of 4 days. Not until they are faced with impending destruction do they repent (again) and loose Nephi. Nothing else could break their increasingly hardened hearts; not the impending death of parents or the tears of women and children, “nothing save it were the power of God, which threatened them with destruction, could soften their hearts” (1 Ne 18:20). Nephi, having stayed spiritually centered throughout the whole ordeal, is able to take the Liahona, calm the storm, and steer his family safely to the Promised Land.
Individual Timeline
Crossing the Sea/Baptism
The act of setting into the sea and committing themselves to the path ahead in faith is symbolic in our individual timeline with the baptismal ordinance. Having learned and employed the first principles of the gospel, namely faith and repentance, we are ready to embark on the covenantal path with this sacred act. How beautiful I find the symbolic imagery of leaving the land of their fathers, passing through the great waters, and entering into their covenantal land of promise to begin life anew. Just as we are fully immersed in likeness of the grave, laying down our old lives and coming out of the water reborn, do these Israelites leave their old lives behind, and are reborn into the Promised Land through their watery passage.
This is the only way to the land of promise, and it’s meant to be a one-way ticket. Whether we’re leaving neutral ground at the age of 8 or 80, we have set our backs to the Land of Bountiful forever and can never return. Said the Prophet Joseph “Before you joined this Church you stood on neutral ground. When the gospel was preached, good and evil were set before you. You could choose either or neither. There were two opposite masters inviting you to serve them. When you joined this Church you enlisted to serve God. When you did that you left the neutral ground, and you never can get back on to it. Should you forsake the Master you enlisted to serve, it will be by the instigation of the evil one, and you will follow his dictation and be his servant.” (Daniel Tyler, in “Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” Juvenile Instructor, Aug. 15, 1892, pp. 491–92)
This is exactly what happens to Laman and Lemuel at this point in the story as it has in times past. Forgetting yet again to acknowledge the hand that has brought them this far, they begin to rebel and wholly give in to the dictations of the evil one and become his servants. How quickly they forget their prior shaking experience, their repentance, and in an instant are back to their murderous inclinations. More hardened than ever, nothing can get them to turn back to the light in humility until they and their families are faced with impending destruction.
I believe this story is highlighted during the baptismal section of the allegory as a warning to us as a people. For those of us that have received so much light and have been given so much we are warned “he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation” (D&C 82:3). With baptism the stakes are higher yes, but the blessings are also greater. We will find that this is the case all along the covenantal path, basically the higher we climb the further we are able to fall, but the views are also more breathtaking and expansive. As in the upward triangle of the star of David, the further we progress toward the pinnacle the more we become refined; more of an exacting obedience is expected of us, as we tread a straighter and more narrow path. But likewise, in the downward pointing triangle, our faith, power, and eternal blessings are expanding at an exponential rate as we progress along that covenantal path of discipleship.
Nephi highlights this well. Having been a seasoned traveler of the path himself, his ability to handle the intense trial he is put through is exemplary to us all; not only for himself being tied to a mast for 4 days during gale force winds and giant waves, but for his wife and children as they sobbed and begged for the preservation of his life as well as their own. “Nevertheless,” he records, “I did look unto my God, and I did praise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions” (1 Ne 18:16). His trust in the Lord stays absolute and when the trial is over he is able to pick up his compass, calm the sea, and get right back on track.
Nephi’s affliction also highlights for us that this covenantal path we are embarking on with baptism, will not be an easy one, in fact it will be lined with some of the most intense trials imaginable; but as discussed, this same path carries the greatest blessings in eternity as well. The further we follow the path the more contrasted these episodes of hills and valleys become. We will have our lowest lows, but they will be bearable because we know from experience that our highest highs follow. This is the refining process of our Father, the “purifier of silver” (Malachi 3:3).
Baptismal Covenants
We know that baptism is the first covenantal ordinance required along the path back to God. Baptism is such an essential step that even our Savior, Jesus Christ Himself, had to submit to this eternal law and be “born of water and of the Spirit” before he would be able to “enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). “And now,” Nephi asks, “if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!” (2 Ne 31:5). Having established the necessity of baptism, what exactly are we covenanting to do when we are baptised, and what is the Lord promising in return?
Our covenants are probably best illustrated in the beautiful teaching of Alma at the Waters of Mormon:
8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;
9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—
10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you? (Mosiah 18:8-10)
Breaking it down, Alma highlights 5 specific things we covenant, and 5 blessings in return:
We promise:
1. To be willing to bear one another’s burdens
2. To be willing to mourn with those that mourn
3. To comfort those that stand in need of comfort
4. To stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places
5. To serve Him and keep His commandments
God Promises:
1. We will come into the fold of God, and be called His people
2. Be redeemed of God
3. Be numbered with those of the first resurrection
4. Have eternal life
5. He will pour out His Spirit more abundantly upon us
In short, at this juncture, we covenant to live the Law of the Gospel which deals almost exclusively with our relationships with others. This is primarily shown in our acts of service and love, testifying of Christ, and keeping His commandments. In the Sacramental prayers, where we renew our baptismal covenants, we also learn we covenant to always remember Him; this can be interpreted in many ways but I like to think of it as always striving to follow Christ’s example and trying to act as he would act.
In addition, we covenant that we are “willing” to take His name upon us; “willing” because the act of taking His name isn’t something that we are able to do ourselves. His name must be given to us as the Lord fulfills His end of the covenant. This is done on a multiplicity of levels ranging from being called to missionary work, receiving the gift of charity (Moroni 7:48), receiving the priesthood (Abraham 1:18), and as an endowment in the Lord’s holy house (D&C 109:26), but in regards to baptism this is most literally fulfilled when the baptismal ordinance is completed during the baptism by fire and the Holy Ghost, becoming new creatures in Christ (2 Cor 5:17, Mosiah 27:26). In return for keeping our covenants, God conditionally promises us the blessing of eternal life, the earnest of which is given when we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Eph 1:13-14). With this our baptism is completed as we receive the baptism of fire, where we are given the name of Christ, being reborn as “the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters” (Mosiah 5:7), on account of our willingness to keep our part of the baptismal covenant, and offer up our broken hearts and contrite spirits. More on this to come.
Global Timeline
For the sake of simplicity, we will focus our attention now to England under the newly formed Church of England as our symbolic, modern-day land of Bountiful, where respite from the Roman Catholic religion is to be found. A respite, that ironically, was not to be found from itself, as any nonconformity was met with similar repressive methods. This small taste of the fruit and honey of religious reform and freedom was not meant to be the final chapter in God’s restoration, but the beginning. First however, He must get them to His land of promise, where true religious freedom can one day thrive. The God given call is heard by many seeking further religious freedom, to put forth into the sea in search of such a promising land, and the newly discovered Americas seem to be the divinely consecrated spot.
The most well known of these truth-seeking pilgrims are the Separatists under the leadership of William Bradford, who obtained permission to leave England on the famous Mayflower in the fall of 1620. They too endured their storms and trials along the way; their refining process that all travelers to the Promised Land must endure. Many others would follow, most notably the Puritans, who left England under Governor John Winthrop with some 1000 religious refugees. These were brought by the hand of God to the same promised land that Lehi and his family were brought to; “yea, even a land which [He had] prepared for [them]; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands” (1 Ne 2:20). The land had been prepared for the chosen people of the Lord, who would follow the Lord’s pattern and vex and destroy the remnant of fallen people that previously had been chosen, an account of which we are currently studying. Thus does history repeat itself, and the course of the Lord “is one eternal round.” (1 Ne 10:19)
Personal Timeline
I was 8 years old, like many born into the church, when I was baptized. I don’t remember too much, just that I never questioned wanting to join and being happy that I was a member afterward. What’s somewhat comical and sad at the same time, is that I didn’t really realize and know what I had covenanted to do until about 13 years later as a missionary finishing up my service in Croatia. I know, it almost pains me to share this story!
I was with my last companion, the Zone Leader. We were so dedicated and pumped, ready to go out with a bang, only we didn’t, at least not initially. We tracted and contacted harder and longer than I ever had, we were painstakingly obedient, we got up earlier and earlier, read and studied all we could, and were completely and utterly useless failures. After about 2 weeks of this we were totally spent, there was no fire in the work, and no Spirit to testify to our words.
Finally we sat down and tried to figure out what was wrong.
“Ok, we don’t have the Spirit, that’s obvious. So where does the Spirit come from?”
“From the Sacramental prayer! ‘That they may always have His spirit to be with them.’”
“Ok, what do we do when we take the Sacrament?”
“We renew our baptismal covenants.”
“Ok, well what are our baptismal covenants?”…
We sat there in silence, fumbled around a bit with half answers, then realized sadly we didn’t really know exactly what we had promised years ago, and ironically what we had been trying to get new converts to promise to do for the past two years. Finally, we decided to turn to Alma’s teaching in Mosiah 18. Coupled with what we promise in the Sacramental prayer we narrowed it down to 5 main things. Testify of Christ; check, we were doing that like crazy. Obey the Commandments; check, we were almost pharisaically obedient. Always remember Him and willing take His name upon us; check, check, we felt like we were trying our best to do this, with our limited knowledge of what this entailed at the time. But the last one, the one Alma eloquently teaches in mourning with those that mourn and comforting those that stand in need of comfort, had us a little stumped. Basically, we interpreted this in one word, love. Loving the people we were serving, were we doing that? Honestly, we had become so focused on the work that we forgot, in part, who we were working for. There was probably a little pride in there too, thinking we could see the results based off our own efforts, without the help of the Lord. As we corrected these two things the spirit came back into our companionship, we had amazing experiences together, and finished the mission a little more humbled and prepared for the future.
The Way 