In the revelation received on the plates of brass, the Lord said:
“And now behold, here in the last days I have sent mine angel, Moroni, to sound the trump and to bring forth the everlasting gospel, that it may be preached unto all that dwell upon the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people: for the whole earth, she is mine. And what is this good news? Behold, it is the very same Gospel that thou, my Israel, did speak and say, with one voice: All that YHVH hath spoken we will do.”
The gospel as described here is not that Jesus died for our sins or that we will be resurrected. I think this is half of the Gospel, our side of the covenant. God will give us salvation from sin and death and we will do all the God asks us to do. “Thou,” as I understand it, is “you” as second-person singular pronoun while “ye” is second-person plural pronoun. (I don’t know how correct that is, but that is what I have been told, so I read it as such.) So I take this to mean that “thou Israel” means all of Israel as one body, one people.
But what does this mean? Back to the revelation..
“I say unto thee: That I am thy witness, and that those that I have called, those that have read the Book of Mormon and know it to be true by the power of the Holy Ghost, and by the spirit of prophecy and revelation shall know, even as my Israel did know to answer together as one, saying: All that YHVH hath spoken we will do; so too will these be thy witnesses, for they shall testify of me, and that the work that I have given thee is mine: Yea, they shall read it and filled with my Spirit and rest in my Presence, they too shall say: All that YHVH hath spoken we will do.”
I don’t think this is you or me or anyone else reading the book and literally making this statement. I would like to think that this statement is the baptismal covenant, and the true temple covenant not to give everything we have, time, talents, etc to a church, but to take upon ourselves the name of Christ, and as we grow in His grace, to deepen our relationship and what that means so that we are not taking His name in vain but doing all God asks to the best of our understanding. But I think that is obvious, and not really what this is about. I think this means that we are to be a people of mass revelation.
I keep thinking of our call to be a prophetic people like islands where “I’m a prophet, and you are a prophet, and everyone gets to be a prophet,” but that’s not what this says. It says “my Israel, did speak and say, with one voice.” This is “thou.” I think that is the real key: can we receive group revelations? Mass revelations? Moses and Zipphorah may have been the only two to go to the top of the mountain, but everyone heard God’s voice, saw His power and were moved as one to make this covenant, to receive the Gospel. And they were all on different parts of the mountain. We don’t have to be in the same place spiritually or theologically to get there.
We just have to be in the same Holy Spirit. I think this is what Doctrines of the Saints 5b (Doctrine and Covenants 104 RLDS/CofC, 107 CJCLdS) means when the 12, the 70, etc are to vote as one:
“And every decision made by this quorum must be by the unanimous voice of the same” –Doctrines of the Saints 5b:18 (Doctrine and Covenants 104:11f RLDS/CofC, 107:27 CJCLdS)
I think this is the gospel of Jesus Christ, a three parts:
- Us (the earth): We will do as you say (works)
- God (the heavens): I will give you salvation from sin and death (grace)
- Us and God (the space between the heavens and the earth): we will make every decision in your name by unanimous voice (revelation)
With this understanding, our religion becomes less of a book club setup to argue over dogma and more of a relationship where we grow in Christ and as one in His name.
