Priests as Angels: Alma 29:1 and Malachi 2:7

After the great wars with the Lamanites that followed the conversion of the people of Ammon, Alma laments the destruction caused by evil:

Alma 29:1-2
1 O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance to every people!
2 Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.

This mirrors the concept in ancient Israel that the priests were the teachers of the law (see Lev 10:10-11; Deut 33:10; Jer 18:18; Ezekiel 44:23). What is intriguing is that there are a few texts that also link this priestly function of teaching the law and judging to an angelic/priestly assignment.

The book of Malachi is a message or oracle from God to his people through his priest/angel. It begins with “the word of Jehovah to Israel through Malachi" ('my messenger' or 'my angel'). In chapter two, the messenger accuses the other priests of not performing their duties adequately in, among other things, teaching the law:

Malachi 2:7
7 For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger (Heb malak, can also mean angel) of the LORD of hosts.

In the context of corrupt priests and broken covenants, Malachi is told that the priest (כֹהֵן) should be an angel (מַלְאַ֥ךְ -malak, 'messenger') in the context of imparting knowledge of the LORD. The priests were to teach the law, to instruct the difference between clean and unclean. They were rebuked because they were not giving instruction like they should and were told that the priests in this function were angels of the Lord.

This incident becomes the starting point for a whole priestly/angelic teaching theme developed among the Qumran community. In 4Q400 fr I i (Songs for the Holocaust of the Sabbath), the priests (as angels) impart divine knowledge of judgment and mercy for those who repent. Crispin H. T. Fletcher-Louis makes a fairly good case for direct points of contact between the language here and Malachi 2:7 (All the Glory of Adam: Liturgical Anthropology in the Dead Sea Scrolls [Leiden: Brill, 2002], p. 284). In 4Q511 fr 35 (Songs of the Sage), God, angry at the wickedness of man, appoints a community of priests as angels to terrify and subdue the wicked. This theme is picked up in the New Testament in the book of Revelation, where the priestly leaders of each church in Asia called to repentance were named angels (e.g., 2:1, 3:1, etc.). Later, seven angels would come out of the temple dressed in the clothing of priests (15:6) to receive vials full of the wrath of God against the wicked (15:7).

In Zechariah 3, Joshua the High Priest is taken into the Holy of Holies before the angel of the Lord and commissioned to judge Israel. In return, the angel promises: “and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by” (Zech 3:7), referring to the angels that ministered in the temple. The word 'walk' here (mahlek) is the same used by Ezekiel describing a walkway near priestly chambers in the temple (Eze 42:4; “And before the chambers was a walk of ten cubits breadth”). Joshua, the priest, is given the divine command to judge Israel at the same time he is given his priestly clothing and told he will walk with angels in the temple.

In this context, Alma is in good company. As a High Priest, Alma sorrows at the wickedness of his people and desires to preach repentance and judgment as an angel.

Trumpets, Repentance, and Harvest: Isa 58 and Alma 29

"We know that a trumpet is usually not so much heard as dreaded; it is not so much accustomed to bring pleasure as to inspire fear. A trumpet is necessary for sinners; it not only penetrates their ears but should strike their heart as well; it should not delight with its melody but chastise when it has been heard; it should encourage the bravehearted to righteousness, while it should turn the cowardly from their crimes" - Maximus of Turin

(Sermon 93.1, Ancient Christian Writers: The Works of the Fathers in Translation, Mawah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1946, 50:215.)

Isaiah 58 starts with a comparison of crying repentance to a blast from a trumpet ( shofar)

Isaiah 58:1
1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew thy people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

It then moves into a detailed explanation of sins with the backdrop of the annual day of fasting, which is the Day of Atonement (Lev 16), a release from the bondage of sins at the time of the autumnal harvest, or ingathering (the Jubilee and Sabbatical years that prescribed a release from servitude and debt were aligned to start with the Day of Atonement). Isa 58:6 talks of loosing bands, undoing burdens, breaking yokes and letting the oppressed go free. It is often associated with Israel's failure to release their servants as required by law (e.g., Exodus 21:2). The harvest feasts such as the Day of Atonement and the Feats of Trumpets (as with most ritual acts and celebratory gatherings in ancient Israel) start with the blowing of the shofar:

Leviticus 23:24
24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.

Interestingly, the Hebrew for this verse does not even contain the word 'trumpet.' The Hebrew word teruah (translated in the KJV as “blowing of trumpets”) means literally to "raise a noise" and can be used for the sound of a voice that shouts or for the sound that issues from a trumpet. Not only is teruah the word behind the “trumpet blasts” here in Leviticus, it's also the word used when congregated Israel “shouts” on the arrival of the Ark (1 Sam 4:5) and when the sons of God “shout” for joy (Job 38:7). Because of this, when Isaiah juxtaposes the concept of crying aloud with lifting one's voice as a trumpet, the imagery is particularly effective. And the theme of lifting one's voice as a trumpet against sin in the context of deliverance from bondage is picked up elsewhere:

Hosea 8:1
1 Set the trumpet to thy mouth . . . because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.

You can see the same principles in action in Jer 4:5 and Ezek 33:6. And the theme is resurrected in the New Testament in the book of Revelation, where John is told to cry repentance to the seven churches in Asia. Set against a panoply of imagery associated with the autumnal harvest festival, John hears behind him "a great voice, as of a trumpet" (1:10; see also 4:1). The message is clear: "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent" (2:5). It's another example of the prophetic voice crying out like a trumpet to issue a call to repentance during a time associated with release from bondage and sin.

Enter Alma, who uses the exact metaphor in the same context:

Alma 29:1
1 . . . that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with
a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!

And this call to repentance is set within the context of deliverance from bondage:

Alma 29:11
11 Yea, and I also remember the captivity of my fathers; for I
surely do know that the Lord did deliver them from bondage . . .

Alma 29:12
12 Yea, I have always remembered the captivity of my fathers; and that same God who delivered them out of the hands of the Egyptians did deliver them out of bondage.

He finishes up with harvest/ingathering imagery:

Alma 29:15
15 Behold, they have labored exceedingly, and have brought forth much fruit.

Alma 29:17
17 And now may God grant unto these, my brethren, that they may sit down in the kingdom of God; yea, and also all those who are the fruit of their labors that they may go no more out . . .

I think I just might have to buy a trumpet and start our Family Home Evenings with a blast to repentance!

Liberating the Captive: Jacob 2 and Isaiah 58

I was reading Jacob's great sermon in Jacob 2-3 the other morning and was struck by a few thematic similarities with Isaiah 58. Both of these are strong social commentaries set against the annual autumnal harvest/ingathering festival (Atonement/Tabernacles). Within this context, Jacob instructs his people to do the following:

1. Clothe the naked (Jac 2:19)
2. Feed the hungry (Jac 2:19)
3. Liberate the captive (Jac 2:19)
4. Administer relief to the sick and afflicted (Jac 2:19)

Contrast this to what Isaiah tells us:

1. Loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the
oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke (Isa 58:6)
2. Deal thy bread to the hungry (Isa 58:7)
3. Bring the poor that are cast out to thy house (Isa 58:7)
4. When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him (Isa 58:7)
5. Hide not thyself from thine own flesh (Isa 58:7)

Granted, the wording is not exact enough to show a direct dependancy (not to mention perceived Deutero- or Trito-Isaiah timeline issues), but the lists are fairly similar. There are other texts that also stress the social requirements, and many of these have a similar locus. King Benjamin's speech touches on some of the same themes (but not with as compact a list) and also shares an autumnal festival (Tabernacles) setting. And the Day of Atonement did have a strong link to the Sabbatical/Jubilee requirement to release servants from bondage.

Just a few thoughts from the comfort of my couch this morning . . .