When the Words of Isaiah Should be Fulfilled

Christ now preaches a sermon.  Did the Worship of the Shalems include a sermon, following the bread and wine?  Christ, having just come from behind the veil as high priest / Melchizedek / Lord and delivered the bread of his body and the wine of his blood, takes as his text Isaiah.  Apparently, all of Isaiah.  "When the words of Isaiah should be fulfilled" begins his sermon, which presumably means that he and the multitude both saw his administering the shalem feast to them as a fulfillment of Isaiah.

We should read Isaiah with that in mind.

They Did Cry Out with One Voice

After they have eaten the shalem feast, the multitude sings.  "With one voice" means that they knew in advance what they were to sing, either because they were conducted by someone or because they were participating in an ordinance they already knew, which included this song.

This should not surprise us.  Isaiah tells us of singing in the temple, and Job, and Luke, and Nephi.

There Had Been No Bread

Jesus commands the multitude to arise and he again administers the feast of bread and wine.  This time we are given the curious note that the bread and wine were miraculously provided, so Jesus brought them down with him from heaven.  If this was seen as the fulfillment of the ritual prophecy that was the Worship of the Shalems, it suggests that when the high priest joined the shalems in the hekal as Melchizedek / the Lord and gave them bread and wine, he brought the bread and wine with him... from behind the veil.

Nothing on Earth So White

Jesus shines, and his disciples are similarly white.  This is no surprise: both Alma and Matthew tell us that the righteous shine in the kingdom of God, and Matthew even identifies this fact as an initiatory secret.

And how is it that there can be "nothing on earth" so white?  Because they're not on earth.  They're in heaven.

On the Morrow

The next day, a bigger multitude comes.  There is a curious baptism scene, beginning with Nephi's self-baptism, and then again we have images of the Worship of the Shalems: encircling, ministering angels descending from heaven and group prayer.

The Multitude Did Disperse

The people, having been through the covenant ordinance, return to their homes.  This echoes our account of the other great temple gathering of the Book of Mormon, King Benjamin's speech.

Whoso Eateth and Drinketh

As part of his exhortation to the participants, the Lord urges them to admit even "unworthy" people to their churches and synagogues, and to minister unto them.  They are not, however, to drink the Lord's blood and eat his flesh, for fear of damnation.

I don't think this means that someone who wandered in off the street during an LDS sacrament meeting and ate the bread would be damned.  I think this is an instruction to the same point as what is described in Alma 6: everyone was allowed into the general assembly, but the "children of God" met privately.  The feast of bread and wine was a temple feast, and not everyone could participate.