THE WATERS OF MOROMON - COVENANTS

      

The word COVENANT means promise. When I talk about covenants in this blog, I am referring to covenants between man and God, promises with provisions on both sides.  In legal terms, we can equate the word covenant with the word contract.  Covenants are legally binding contracts between individuals, in this case God and man.  When we make a written contract with someone, in order for the contract to be legal and binding, both parties to the contract must sign the document. Their are responsibilities listed in the contract; there are blessings and positive outcomes given when the contract is kept; and there are consequences stated if one of the parties breaks the contract.

When we make a covenant with God, we signify our acceptance of the terms of the contract through an ordinance.  The tokens of that ordinance are like the signature on the contract.  Through my choosing to participate in the ordinance I am signifying (signing) that I am now a legal party to said covenant.

When Alma repented of his sins, he wrote down as many of Abinadi's words as he could remember.  He also kept notes of the things he felt while hearing them.  He began to teach some of his close friends, neighbors, and family members so that they, too, could experience the joy he felt in repentance and forgiveness. When he had to flee for his life, he found a place in the wilderness with a body of water he called the Waters of Mormon.*  It was a forested area with a thicket of trees where Alma could hide from the king, who sought his life.

As many gathered on one occasion, Alma challenged them to make their commitment to Jesus Christ a concrete commitment.  He had noticed in their repentance that they had begun to live the teachings of Jesus Christ, so Alma asked if they were living those things and desired to identify with Christ, they should be willing to be baptized in His name.  

What follows  is one of the best descriptions in scripture of the covenant we take upon ourselves at baptism:

• Stand as a witness of God in all times and all things and all places
• Bear one another's burdens, comfort those needing comfort, and mourn with those who are stricken with grief
• Be numbered among the followers of Christ, taking upon yourself His name.

Alma said: . . . if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as witness before him  that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he might pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you? (Mosiah 18:10)

The people agreed and went down into the water one at a time, beginning with a man named Helam.  You can read about Helam's baptism and the others that followed in Mosiah 18: 11-17.  It is interesting to me that when Alma baptized Helam, he immersed both Helam and himself in water.  I believe in so doing that Alma as also covenanting with God that he had repented of his sins, too, and was making the same commitment as the others. Following this, he baptized the remainder of the people. He did not immerse himself a second time as it was not necessary.  He had already "signed the contract."

Today, most of us are baptized individually or in much smaller groups. Such was not the case when the Church was first organized in Africa.  Whole communities had been studying the gospel and preparing for baptism such that, when it became available, they were all ready to make that commitment just as Alma's people before them.

When we have entered into that covenant, it is vital that we remain Covenant Keepers.

© May 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson

* Some scholars believe that the word Mormon is taken from two Egyptian words: mor meaning love and mon meaning endure.  If that is the case then the word Mormon  means love endures, a fitting name for worshippers of Christ, Whose love endures forever.