These are words spoken by Jacob, Nephi’s younger brother. Jacob had been consecrated a priest by Nephi to teach his people. His sermon, included by Nephi, in Chapters 6 through 10 of 2 Nephi, quotes from Isaiah, chapters 50 through 52, verse 2. This verse is separated from Jacob’s lengthy quote from Isaiah, but is also a quote from Isaiah.
The genius of Jacob was not in writing a new statement, but in the wisdom and insight to weave it seamlessly into his teachings. Great prophets do not necessarily write new words to teach their own insights. Rather their testimonies oftentimes use language borrowed from the writings of earlier prophets. If they teach the same things as were taught in the past, then they do not need to compose new words to express what has already been said by others.
In this verse borrowed from Isaiah, Jacob reminds us of a basic need: “thirst.” We all thirst, and we must either quench that thirst or die. This is true not only physically, but spiritually, as well. If we do not satisfy our spiritual longings for higher things, our spirits perish.
Christ used “thirst” to denote the search for more light and truth. In the beatitudes, Christ said: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” (Matt: 5: 6.) Christ’s use of “thirst” addresses the longing “after righteousness,” or having a passion to learn greater truths. Jacob’s use of the word should be viewed similarly. He is talking to an audience of believers, and Nephi transcribed it to his record, which also addresses believers. Therefore, the thirst here speaks about actively searching for righteousness, or greater light and truth after one has come to know the truth.
Jacob mentions three different sources to slake the thirst: water, wine and milk. These three are arranged in a significant order, to teach a significant lesson about three degrees of satisfying your thirst for truth.
Jacob is teaching there are three possible levels of “drinking” from the Gospel. It calls to mind the Lord’s three-level division in the parable of the sower, as well as the revelation in D&C, Section 76 on the three degrees of glory. Jacob knows there are three levels or divisions, and he selects this verse to confirm and testify of this great truth.
Three Results from the Sower:
Christ taught a parable about a sower who planted seeds. The seeds of the Gospel failed in many places (i.e., would be rejected by many who were offered the fullness of the Gospel). But there were places with good ground (i.e., some people received the Gospel) and the seeds grew to maturity, but bore varying amounts of fruit.
The parable reminds us that simply receiving the Gospel is not enough. Among those who have the Gospel in their lives, fruit is borne in three quantities (degrees). Christ taught: “And others fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.” (Mark 4: 8.)
When asked for the meaning, Christ explained: “And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: …The sower soweth the word. …And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.” (Id., vs. 11, 14, 20.)
Before “fruit” can be produced, there must be “good ground.” Meaning, those who will bear fruit must receive the “word” (or teachings about Christ) and become His followers. They must accept the Gospel. They must follow the Lord as His believing Latter-day Saints.
Three different qualitative quantities result from having good ground. All are “good ground,” meaning they received the Gospel. However, they are not all equally fruitful. Some bear “thirtyfold,” and others bear “sixty,” and some “an hundred.”
The point of this parable is we do not just “receive” the Gospel and then automatically bear “an hundred-fold” in fruit (or truth). We must cultivate ourselves. We must search for light and truth, then reconcile our lives to the truths we receive in order to receive more. “Thirsting” for more, and a willingness to receive “water, wine and milk” are the hallmarks of those who will bear “an hundred” and enter into the rest of the Lord.
Three Degrees of Glory:
Similarly, there is a three-fold division of resurrected mankind in Doctrine & Covenants Section 76. These are likened to the Sun, Moon and Stars in varying glory. This comparison is like Paul’s. Paul wrote: “There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.” (1 Cor. 15: 40–42.) The Christian world has had these words for nearly two millennia, but has no idea what Paul was referring to by this astronomical comparison to the afterlife. Traditional Christianity retains the doctrine of a single “heaven” and a single “hell” into which all people are divided. Paul’s brief analogy holds no meaning for them.
Section 76 was not based upon Paul’s analogy, however, but was instead based upon Joseph’s inquiry about the meaning of John’s Gospel, Chapter 5, verse 29. Joseph was translating the New Testament, and encountered John’s reference weeks before getting to Paul’s analogy in Corinthians. It was not the Corinthian writing which produced Josephs’ inquiry. Instead, Joseph found John’s reference to different resurrections a matter of curiosity which led him to inquire and receive the vision of the three degrees of post-mortal glory. He prayed about it and received Section 76, which revealed the three degrees of glory, it would take weeks before Joseph reached Paul’s analogy in the New Testament translation process. The vision of the three degrees of glory was not related to Paul’s statement, and therefore Latter-day Saints should not suggest Paul’s words directly apply in doctrinal debates over the three degrees of glory. Nor should they claim Christians ought to realize this is the case. The most logical conclusion is Paul knew what Latter-day Saints know as a result of a new revelation giving us a fuller comprehension of the afterlife. However, none of us, even Latter-day Saints, were able to independently determine the separation into three different degrees of glory in the resurrected afterlife, Paul’s words notwithstanding, until Section 76 restored that knowledge.
Of monumental significance is that all three degrees of glory will have people who, while mortal, believed in the Gospel of Christ and were Saints. From Celestial to Telestial, all will have people who claimed belief in Christ’s Gospel. Therefore, all three degrees of future glory include those who now claim to be “good ground.” These three categories of believers can be divided, as Jacob’s verse suggests, into those who were nourished by “water,” or who went on to also receive “wine,” or who accepted all tenets, including “milk.”
The lowest state of glory, the Telestial Kingdom, will include those who say they followed God’s properly ordained, authentic messengers of the Gospel. Though the messengers they claimed to follow were authentic, the faith of these followers was not. This is one of the great reasons why true messengers do not focus attention on themselves. They do not make themselves idols. They do not seek fans, nor welcome personal adulation and vainglory. As Christ rebuked the religious
“And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. …But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” (Matt. 23: 6–8, 11–12.)
Christ even rebuked one who called Him “good” with the response: “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God.” (Mark 10: 18.) He did not seek flattery or praise, honor or glory. Indeed, He would not even tolerate it. Rather, He bore testimony of the Father, and died to reconcile mankind to the Father. Religious leaders and teachers who want the adulation of their followers are leading them to a Telestial state. Those who encourage others to adore men are furthering a false religion which can only damn its followers.
In another event which illustrates this point, an angel comes to John the Revelator on the Isle of Patmos to deliver an authentic message. John, out of reverence for the encounter, begins to reverence the messenger. He is rebuked in Rev. 19: 10:
“And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
The Lord’s true messengers would never want reverence or demand honor to be bestowed upon them. They do not want people to be awed by them, rise when they enter a room, or claim their salvation is derived from any mere man. Instead they want Saints to be awed by the Lord, show reverence to Him, and look to Him alone for their salvation. It is one of the reasons we have the cautionary words in Section 121:
“…the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handied only upon the principles of righteousness. That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man. Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God. We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.” (D&C 121:36–39, emphasis added.)
These words of caution and rebuke make it hazardous for any leader, teacher, writer or Saint to set himself (or herself) up as a “guru” to be idolized by followers. Becoming a “church personality” is a dangerous thing. However, it seems there is no decrease in the number of those eager to volunteer.
All who succumb to the temptation to follow a personality, rather than the Lord, will suffer damnation, and then be resurrected to the Telestial glory. For anyone who invites people to “follow them,” it “were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matt. 18: 6.) The Book of Mormon calls such acts “priestcraft.” We call such folks scholars, professors, inspirational speakers, great performers, inspiring speakers, heroes, etc. We should make no mistake about it; these forms of “hero” worship are currently going on among the Saints. And we seem to be blind to it. Some folks magnify their egos rather than their callings. That is one of the problems with this second estate. We can clearly see the mistakes of past generations, but our own lives are so blighted by the chaos of culture, tradition, and group-think, we cannot properly see our own failings.
In the Church, there are many men whose devotion to Church leaders goes beyond hero-worship. They make themselves “ladies in waiting” hoping to secure for themselves favorable attention from Church leaders who can “call” them to positions which they covet. Their slavish focus on Church leaders, and desire to get noticed, makes them fit decidedly within the Telestial description given here. It is no wonder such people are only capable of handling Telestial glory, for they have failed to face the fearsome responsibility of acting before God as an agent for themselves. Agency has done them little good, since they have surrendered it in favor of following men to their damnation.
There is a distinction between “authority” and “power.” “When men get a littleauthority, as they suppose…” refers to the one; however, “the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness;” refers to the other. Administrative “authority” and the keys to act within the Church organization have been conferred upon men. But “the powers of heaven” is quite another thing and comes through the Holy Ghost. The right to appoint someone, subject to sustaining votes by the members, is clearly vested in the authority given in priestly offices of the Church. However, calling down revelation, healing the sick, obtaining the ministering of angels and having the heavens open is another thing. For that, office is irrelevant.Women and men are equal in these powers.
Oddly, by designating men only for Priesthood office, women have at least ostensibly been spared one part of this peculiar deviation from the way to properly follow Christ. Women cannot aspire to higher callings within the Church to the extent men can. (Though, to be sure, there are some who envy that, too.) For the most part, however, women tend to be less afflicted with this Telestial tendency of aspiring to have authority over others. President Harold B. Lee taught a short lesson on following men, as opposed to following Christ. He taught: “If you don’t follow that light which lights every person that comes into the world, you will be led into temptation. I had this last admonition brought forcibly home to me a short while ago when a man in high station in the Church had fallen from his place and was excommunicated. The father of some children in the school where I was the principal implored, ‘Brother Lee, you won’t fail, will you? You won’t fall like that.’ And I asked, ‘Why?’ ‘Because if you do you might take some of my children out of the Church because of the respect they have for you.’ Many men fail, and because they fail others have fallen because their ideal fell, but because men fail you must set your ideal higher than men: ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect’ (Matthew 5: 48). (73–02, pp. 226–27).” (Lee, Harold B. The Teachings of Harold B. Lee. Edited by Clyde J. Williams. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1996, p. 506, emphasis added.)
Even if women are spared from the temptation to try and attract a following by claiming priestly office, women may nonetheless decide to wrongly follow men, instead of God. So not holding priestly office is of limited benefit. Anyone can still err by following men, rather than the Son of Man.
As to the Terrestrial, they, too, include those who will have the Gospel. They are also Latter-day Saints. But they refuse to do enough with the Gospel they have received. They thought themselves justified by acting part of a broad mainstream with no need to distinguish themselves by individual variance. “Wherefore, they are bodies terrestrial, and not bodies celestial, and differ in glory as the moon differs from the sun. These are they who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus; wherefore, they obtain not the crownover the kingdom of our God.” (D&C 76: 78–79, emphasis added.) They had a testimony in mortality; but they were not valiant in living in conformity to its teachings. They stopped short of perverse hero-worship of men, and therefore obtained a Terrestrial Glory. This is upward movement in development of character. Accordingly, it is rewarded by greater light and glory in the afterlife.
These are like those who have gone from water to wine in quenching their thirst. They have accepted more, drunk deeper, and obtained greater character from their effort. Yet, they have failed to accept milk which could have nourished them for eternal life.
As to the Celestial glory, we read this about them: “They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given—That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power; And who overcome by faith, and aresealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true. They are they who are the church of the Firstborn.” (D&C 76: 51–54, emphasis added.) If any group has elected to satisfy their thirst by taking water, wine and milk, it is this last group.
Gideon’s Army
As is so often the case, the Lord not only reveals these doctrines to us, but He also scripts history to illustrate His points. Gideon’s army illustrates wonderfully the three-fold division. All of them are Israelites, and all are seeking to follow the Lord. Yet only a few finish the course.
Gideon was commissioned to defeat the Midianites. He raises an army whose original number was 32,000 volunteers. However, the number of volunteers was excessive. “The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands; lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.” (Judges 7: 2.) Gideon was told to send home any who “are fearful and afraid.” (Id., v. 3.) This initial cut resulted in 22,000 going home.
This initial culling of Israel by Gideon is directly analogous to those who forsake following the Lord because of the cares and temptations of this life. They “fear” to do good, when tempted to do otherwise. They turn away from wine and milk, and are only willing to receive water.
Gideon’s army now numbered ten thousand. But the Lord said to Gideon: “The people are yet too many.” (Id., v. 4.) And so another, more narrow test was to be applied to these remaining Israelite volunteers.
For the next culling, the army was taken to water to quench their thirst. Gideon was to watch them, and divide them into two groups: Those who drank by “lapping” were to be in one group, and those who knelt to drink in another. So Gideon watched:
Some of these Israelites came to the water and squatted down to drink. Putting one hand forward with the palm down to balance them, the other hand forward in a cupped shape, they drank using their cupped hand to lap the water. Others knelt down and put their face into the water. The first group remained vigilant even as they drank. Watching for their enemy, and showing by the way they drank the sign that they were truly valiant. They numbered only three hundred. The second ignored the horizon, knelt before their fleshly appetites and momentarily forgot the danger of their mission. They numbered 9,700; all of whom were sent home.
“And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lappeth will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thy hand.” (Id., v. 7.) The way is narrow and strait. There will only be few who find it. All of these men were Israelites. All answered the call to serve. All set out to do battle under the Lord’s command. But, in the end, only 300, (fewer than 1 out of the 100 who began), would be the instrument of the Lord’s deliverance.
The Lord’s Warning:
We have been given repeated warnings by Christ. We read them without regard to how alarming they are. Membership in His family, His Church, Israel or the Gospel is presumed. However, He is addressing us. And He says to us: few will find the strait and narrow way.
Religious leaders in His own day received this warning: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.” (Matt. 23: 29–32.) In other words: Woe unto those who claim to be Saints, who build monuments to show their faith, honor the pioneers, and show the world their financial successes; but who would also have shed the blood of Joseph Smith if he were here teaching today, because he would require too much.
Our Own Day
Many critics have complained about Joseph Smith’s statement: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” (DHC 4: 461.) They claim the Book of Mormon does not mention a graded afterlife, and therefore cannot be the “most correct book” because of this claimed omission. A typical example is Grant Palmer’s remark: “There is nothing in the Book of Mormon about …a graded hereafter.” (Palmer, Grant H. An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2002, p. 124.) In Jacob’s teachings there is certainly a three-fold division of how men accept truth in this verse from Second Nephi. This verse is incompatible with a single, ungraded afterlife. And, as we shall see elsewhere in this book, there are additional teachings of the varying conditions of afterlife in the Book of Mormon. Brother Palmer’s (and the other critics who have influenced him) errors stem from two problems: First, he mimics the faithless critics, thinking their approach more persuasive than the Restored Gospel. It is not possible to both promote faith and to undermine it at the same time. His effort seeks to realign Latter-day Saints with Historic Christianity. Yet, if Historic Christianity is a solution, there is no real need for either a Restoration or for the continued existence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Second, he has not paid sufficient attention to the text he presumes to criticize.
We must not presume just because we have a vocabulary allowing us to discuss a subject, we necessarily understand the subject and are qualified for the benefits of higher glory as a result. Latter-day Saints know about the “three degrees of glory” through Section 76. However, this does not mean we have the right to any particular degree merely because we have knowledge of a vocabulary with which to discuss them. The Gospel does not reward theologians or scholars. It rewards the obedient. Paul put it best when he dismissed knowledge of all mysteries as “nothing,” when compared with the more difficult obedience required of us to become like Christ in our character: “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.” (1Cor. 13: 2, emphasis added.) Paul is saying, in effect: “If you know mysteries, I know more. It is meaningless without true service, sacrifice and love for Heavenly Father’s children.” Without charitable intercession for our fellowman, you cannot be Christ-like. Without doing as He taught, He cannot change you.
When we read or hear discussions about Gospel subjects by those who exult in their increasingly esoteric knowledge, we are only being distracted. Knowledge unanchored in obedience and love for our fellow man is worthless. As we have seen, all three degrees of the afterlife will include those who had possession of Gospel knowledge in this life. Those who will inherit Telestial glory may have known most, and become expert in their discipleship of various prophetic figures. They may have known enough about Gospel prophets and apostles to associate themselves with a school or discipline for these true messengers. They could, for example, include those who study enough to have written their doctoral theses on one of these past prophets. They may have seemed to be theological experts, perhaps in our vernacular, PhDs. That will not be enough, for they will be damned. They have taken in “water” but have nothing to sustain life. They will die in short order, for their faith is weak, their knowledge insufficient to save, and their boasting in their discipleship misplaced.
For those who take in a little more by their actual discipleship (i.e., “water and wine”), there is a better afterlife. For them, they will exceed in all glory that of the Telestial world. However, they will fail to be valiant for their faith. When critics complain, or opposition mounts, or the Spirit whispers to them, they will not respond in a Godly way. They cower from their calling, fear man, or do not listen to the prompting of the Spirit.
It is only those who will allow the Lord to inform them with “water, wine and milk” who will receive of His glory. These are people who will not set up stakes, and prevent the Lord from pouring out knowledge upon them. Such knowledge comes from revelation. And revelation comes from obedience to the commandments. The Plan of Salvation is an integrated whole. It works equally for all, without regard to family, calling, station, or position in this life. However, it requires of all a willingness to accept truth and follow it. We determine the outcome. We decide if we are willing to accept only “water” into our lives; or if we will accept both “water and wine;” or if we will accept “water, wine and milk” and receive eternal lives. It is offered to all equally. It is accepted unequally by each. Some will accept only the “water,” which is a known symbol of baptism (3 Ne. 11: 26), and go no further. Others receive not only baptism, but wine, a symbol of being connected to the true vine (John 15: 1–6), and of the sacrament (D&C 20: 75). A few will accept not only these, but also “milk,” a symbol of a promised land (D&C 38: 18), and the sacred feminine (for milk only comes from the female). Milk suggests the sealing covenant (D&C 132:19), motherhood and fatherhood (Gen. 17: 2–4). It ties us to the family, which comes from the highest ordinances of the Gospel.
There is another important point raised in this verse. We learn all who receive any portion of Gospel benefit, from water to milk, are all part of the Gospel community. Every variety exists within the Church, and they all are (or should be) welcomed in the Church. None are to be cast out. It is not up to the Church to throw anyone away or cut them off. That role is reserved exclusively for the Lord and His angels at the time of His judgment. Although Christ taught many parables teaching the same message, we will look at one: Matt: 13: 47–50 speaks of the latter-day Church and who will belong to it at the time of His return. He said: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” The “kingdom of heaven” that is gathering, is the latter-day restored Church of Jesus Christ. The “end of the world” will be when the Lord returns to cleanse the earth. Within the “kingdom,” however, are both good and bad. Even some who are called “wicked” are among the citizens of the latter-day “kingdom” described here. Casting the bad away, however, is reserved for the “angels” assigned this task. Neither the “net” nor the fishermen are to cast them away. Nor is the net to be restricted to prevent gathering all kinds into the kingdom. From this we learn the varying levels of Gospel participation (water, wine or milk) are expected and even welcomed. Christ welcomes all.
We are not called upon to judge or exclude “tares” or the unworthy. Indeed, we should not even notice their unworthiness, but only take into account their arguments and challenges to the truth. Judging, excluding, and shunning the unworthy misses the mission entrusted to His Church. It is a gathering place for all seeking refuge from the buffeting of the latter-days. His Church offers refreshment to the weary. It is of no matter that some will only accept the “water” offered them, while others will accept “wine,” and still others “milk.” We are offered all, yet each chooses for themselves, without judgment or rebuke, what is freely offered. Saints are perfected by patiently offering to all, the fullness of Christ’s Gospel. They are not perfected by excluding, judging and shunning anyone. From among the clearly “unworthy” came some of the Lord’s greatest Prophets. From their ranks we have gained the Apostle Paul and Alma the Younger, to name only two. Who knows what others will be given as a gift and light to us from among the ranks of those who are found preliminarily among the “tares.” If you consider that for a moment, you will realize the notion of “unworthiness” is very temporary. They can and do change their views once we love them enough to show them the errors of their views. That comes through love, and not through argument.
We also gain much from the skeptics among us. They raise questions which we might not have noticed without them. Questions are vital if you want to grow in faith. Without a good question, there is no search for an answer. Without a search for the answers, we never seek, ask, knock and in turn learn to have a dialogue with God. Questions led to the First Vision, to Moses’ encounter on Sinai, and the Brother of Jared’s meeting with Christ, among others. Questions take you through the veil or bring messengers to you from the other side. Unless you come to gain further light and knowledge by conversing with the Lord, you will not be able to have an audience through the veil with Him.
Without Price
The concluding phrase, “without money and without price” helps us to understand how the Gospel redeems us. Although our acceptance is required, it is the Lord’s work to bring about our salvation and exaltation. We cooperate with Him. But it is He who is “the author and finisher” of the great work. We are allowed to go forward positively, leaving behind our past sins and failings. Forgiveness for those past sins and failings comes freely, as we repent. The commandments, like the Atonement itself, are gifts to us. Therefore, all of what we are and hope to become are gifts, given us without price. Though our individual will must conform to His, even when it does we are still receiving without paying the price which He paid on our behalf. His payment made all this possible. We should have no doubts about that.
Secondly, we should have no illusions about our obedience being so delightful in and of itself that it earns God’s indebtedness to us. As King Benjamin has explained, we are never able to incur a debt from God to us. He points out God “created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another.” (Mosiah 2: 21.) He goes on to make the simple equation of our eternal indebtedness plain: “And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him. And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?” (Id., vs. 23–24.) As Hugh Nibley quipped, “Work we must, but the lunch is free.” (Nibley, Hugh. Approaching Zion. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1989, p. 203.) The quip is the title of a talk he gave, running from pp. 203 through 251. The following chapter is a follow-up talk, also relating to the same theme, titled: “But What Kind of Work?”)
Without money or price is a description of our indebtedness, and not an excuse for inactivity in following God. As we have seen, some considerable effort is involved. But, alas, that effort is on our own account, and does not obligate God to be grateful to us for having made it. He has provided all these things to benefit and bless us. When we secure those blessings from Him, we remain still obligated in gratitude to Him for what He has given. The real price is found in the Atonement, which allows us to escape from our wickedness and retain the blessings we secure by obedience. In that sense, then, we obtain blessings without having paid the real price. Christ did the heavy lifting. We must only be grateful and receive what is offered.
We pay no “price” but instead gain belief, then faith, then knowledge from Him. We accept what He freely offers. We follow Him. These things, too, are gifts. All we need to do is accept them. All of these (belief, faith and knowledge) are akin to water, wine and milk. We are powerless to create water. Water is a substance in nature, provided by God, and is free for all to enjoy. It is a gift. Wine, or any juice, comes from plant life, which is also a gift from God. We are powerless to create these plant life forms bearing fruit, but have them provided to us as a gift from a kind and loving God. So, too, comes milk.
As wine comes from the plant life given us by God, milk comes from animal life, another gift from God. All three of these bear testimony of the Creation and of God’s central role in the existence of this world. Water covered the face of the deep on the first day of creation. Plant life came about after the dry land appeared, reminding us not only of the Creation, but also of the Garden of Eden where man was given every form of fruit and vegetable to eat freely, excepting only one. Animal life was created later, still, and is another symbol of God’s creative powers. All three of these were created before man. We are dependent upon the prior days’ creations to sustain our physical lives. This Chapter’s verse is another reminder of God’s greatness, creative power and kindness to us. Just as we should be grateful for His creation, upon which we are dependent, so too we are dependent upon Him for the light and truth we will accept from Him in our spiritual lives. If we will accept it, He offers us all three.
Just as water, wine and milk tie us to the Creation and God’s great generosity, so too, do belief, faith and knowledge come about as we accept what He freely offers. It is all one. It all bears testimony of Him.
This great verse about water, wine and milk was included by an inspired Book of Mormon teacher (Jacob) and his scribe (Nephi) who wanted to preserve this teaching for us. By preserving it, they emphasize it. It teaches a doctrine worthy of emphasis. What a wonder the Book of Mormon is. A marvelous work and a wonder!