I want to look specifically at the role of the angels in the endowment ceremony. This study is based on the current version of the endowment, after the 1990 changes removed significant portions which also included interactions with these angels. I may edit this post later with those portions added into it.
In the temple, three messengers of God make two separate trips down to Adam.
The purpose of the first trip is described thusly:
“Peter, James, and John, go down and visit the man Adam in the Telestial world, without disclosing your identity. Observe conditions generally. See if Satan is there, and learn whether Adam has been true to the token and sign given to him in the garden of Eden. Then return and bring us word.”
So they are first sent from the presence of God on a recon mission, with four responsibilities in the Telestial world:
1. Don’t disclose their identities.
2. Observe general conditions.
3. See if Satan is present.
4. Learn whether Adam is true to what he’s already been given.
They are then to return and report on what they observe.
Considering each point of their mission, there are some interesting things to ponder.
1. Don't disclose their identities
- Should we expect that in our initial interactions with angels, we are not to know that they are angels? If so, it would seem this requires they disguise themselves. How might they do it? Perhaps in a manner that is related top ‘D’? That allows them to test Adam concerning ‘D’? Could they approach Adam in a manner that will test whether he will hold true to the “light and knowledge” God has given to him, up to that point? What might that look like?
- An apparent junkie asking for spare change? One who “surely” must be seeking money for drugs or booze or other unsavory purposes? To test whether we will remain true and faithful to the Lord’s injunction to us through King Benjamin?
“…ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish. 17 Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just— 18 But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.” — Mosiah 4:16-18
- Someone who tests our willingness to keep any given commandment, to abide by any given truth we’ve received?
- Someone who wrongs us, to test our willingness to forgive as we seek to be forgiven?
- Could this type of testing by angels be what Paul is referring to?
“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” — Hebrews 13:2
2. Observe general conditions.
- What are the angels observing the general conditions for? Are they watching for opportunities to interact with man? Are they watching for mankind to meet certain conditions, whether pertaining to salvation or destruction? All of the above? Why does God need them to scout things out and then return and report? Is it for Him? Is it for man? Is it for the angels?
3. See if Satan is present.
- Why do they need to check and see if Satan is present? Shouldn’t it be assumed he is, as this is the place where he was cast? He was present among Adam and Eve, but Adam also showed himself to be true and faithful to what he’d been given. Is it important that Adam proved he could do that in the presence of Satan? What if Satan were not present?
4. Learn whether Adam is true to what he’s already been given.
- The angels tested Adam, and he passed the test. What did it look like?
- The angel presumed Adam had received the token and sign from his Father. He asks Adam first, but before Adam responds, the angel turns the question into a presumption. Why?
- He then asks whether Adam sold what Father had given him for money.
- What could this refer to? Could this refer to selling out? Giving up what God offered, trading it away for what man and the world offered in its place? Did Adam turn away from what God had given him and instead sought after money? Or power? Or pleasures?
- Adam answered that he did not sell them, but held them sacred and was looking for further light and truth Father promised him.
- Could this be putting into words what should be communicated in actions? Could Adam have been asked through actions and situations, rather than direct words? Could Adam have answered by showing that he indeed kept what he’d been given by God, through displaying actions that reflected holding to what he had received? Would living what Adam had been given (the gospel) be understood as communicating to the angels that he indeed held the gospel sacred, rather than selling it out for money?
- Adam communicates that he is looking for more light and truth.
- How does one communicate to the angels that they are looking for more? Direct requests to God would certainly do it, for one. Would holding true to what we’d been given also fit into displaying a desire to receive more?
- Adam also hadn’t forgotten that Father promised him further light and truth. He remembered God, remembered what God had told him, and held onto it with expectation, reflecting a belief that God would be true to His word.
- Could Adam have displayed this not only in speech, but in action? By keeping a record of God’s words to him, to which he and his family referred afterward? (Moses 6:5-6)
- The angel confirms Adam is right, commends him, and tells Adam they will probably visit him again.
- What is meant by the angel saying “that is right?” Understanding it as “correct” seems odd, as Adam wasn’t answering a correct/incorrect type of question. Perhaps it is meant more along the lines of “that is [the] right [thing to do],” or “right [with God].” How might angels communicate to us that we are right, especially if they are keeping their identity hidden?
- How might they commend us for it? Their commendation is in addition to acknowledging that something is right or proper, it is complimentary. How might an angel commend us for being “right” with God? Does the commendation have to come directly from the angel?
- How might a disguised angel tip you off that they will “probably” visit you again? What would that look like? Could it be that a relationship of sorts is begun with someone who is in fact an angel in disguise? And they will later reveal their true nature? Or how else could it look?
The angels then leave Adam to return and report.
Adam spends a time going about his business while the angels are away, a time while Lucifer believes he is gaining the upper hand over Adam.
Once the Lord acknowledges he is pleased with Adam, he sends the angels back to Adam in their revealed form. When they approach, Satan rears his head and tries to exert his power. But the angels handle him, then engage Adam.
- It is not enough for Satan to try to impede your learning through you, he will also seek to impede those who God sends to teach you. He rears his head at any threat to his kingdom, and must be summarily dismissed.
When the messengers now engage Adam, they make no bones about it. This is who we are, this is who sent us, this is why we are here. Adam has already been tested and he passed the first test. But now Adam must do the testing, weighing the messengers to discover whether they are true to their claims (D&C 129).
Adam’s first question doesn’t volunteer any information, it doesn’t reveal what he is looking for in terms of signs to recognize the messengers as true or false. It instead places the burden of knowing what is expected on the angels, asking “how shall I know that you are true messengers?” It is then left to the messengers to not only prove themselves, but to also know how they are to prove themselves.
Being true messengers, the angels know how to prove themselves and proceed with the token and sign Adam received in the Garden.
- If Adam represents us, and the token and sign were received in our Garden of Eden, when would that be and what would those look like? How would one remember and recognize them? How would angels “give” them to you, that you might recognize their calling?
- It is not enough for the angel to simply offer Adam the token. When the angel gives Adam the token, Adam quizzes him on it. The angel knows what it is, he is able to identify the token without naming it. Why? What purpose does that serve? How does that help Adam?
- Why is the name kept hidden, unshared between two like-minded, similarly-initiated and believing souls? The name is the new name, and is given to a person by the Lord. Some new names are not kept secret, for example Abram’s new name of Abraham.
- As a second witness to the giving of the token itself, the angel gives Adam an identifying sign, in lieu of the name of the token. What might the sign be? How does it testify of the token? How is it universally recognizable among those who have received the first token?
- Why and how would one display a sign related to a secret name received from the Lord? It seems the signs must be the same for everyone, or else one person would not recognize another person’s display of them.
Having successfully proven himself, the angel and his companions have now earned Adam’s trust. They have shown themselves to be true messengers from the Father. Adam can now agree to take his learning from them, as they will deliver messages from their King. In doing this, Adam is showing his fealty to the King, not to the messengers. Any new messengers who may come afterward must also prove to Adam that they also are true messengers, and not impostors claiming to represent the King.
