Planet Earth

The account of the garden of Eden in Genesis is a very interesting story indeed.  We learn much about the experiences of our first parents and their interactions with God.  It was a very intimate relationship, one in which God walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the garden (Gen. 3:8).

When Adam was first placed in the garden of Eden, he was given a charge to take care of it:

And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. (Gen. 2:15)

The Hebrew word for “dress” is avad, which means to work, labor or serve.  Closely related is the word avodah, which means service.  Even at this early date man was given a stewardship over the earth, and to take good care of it, even while it was still paradisaical! When Adam and Eve transgressed the law of God and fell they were sent from the garden into the dreary world, but with the same charge of stewardship: 

Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. (Gen. 3:23)

The word used for “till” is again, avad.  Since this term also means “to serve,” one could easily misinterpret what man was being commanded to do in these instances.  Man was not being commanded to “serve the earth.” This was hardly the Gaia worship we see rampant in the world today (check out the link).  It was actually far from it, which can be clearly seen from the use of the same word, avad or avodah, throughout the rest of the scriptures.  Hamblin and Seely inform us:

The same word God used when he commanded Adam and Eve to “work” in the Garden--avodah--is used to describe the “service” of the Tabernacle performed by the priesthood.

The “work” of man on the earth was to be tied directly to his worship of God, not the earth. Donald W. Parry expounds further on the meaning of these words in his latest paper in the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies:

As we are aware, the Old Testament sets forth a strong connection between temples and service. The Hebrew words ʿavodah (service) and ʿavad (serve) frequently refer to the ancient Israelite temple system. In fact, some Hebrew scholars and lexicographers disclose that the verb ʿavad, often translated “to work” or “to serve,” also means “to worship” or “to perform a (cultic) rite,” referring specifically to temple worship.

In this connection, service and serve occur approximately sixty times in the Hebrew Bible with regard to the Levite task of dismantling, transporting, and reassembling the Mosaic tabernacle. Service and serve also occur with regard to other official duties connected to the tabernacle (and later the temple), including the guard duty of the structure and its courtyard, the system of sacrifices, and the upkeep and care of the sacred furniture, utensils, and instruments.

The expressions “service of the tabernacle” (Hebrew, ʿavodat hammishkan) and “to do the service of the tabernacle” (Hebrew, laʿavod ʾet ʿavodat hammishkan) are both formulaic or standard phrases (see Numbers 3:7-8; Numbers 7:5, 9; Numbers 8:22; Numbers 16:9; Numbers 18:4, 6, 21, 23, 31). After the tabernacle was permanently dismantled and Solomon’s temple was built, the formula “service of the tabernacle” was discontinued. It was replaced with the expression “service of the house of God” or “service of the house of the Lord,” referring to Solomon’s temple. These phrases also became formulaic, especially in Chronicles (see 1 Chronicles 9:13; 1 Chronicles 23:28, 32; 1 Chronicles 28:13).

The picture that we begin to see here is that avad and avodah have a much deeper and rich meaning than simple work or labor.  Such earthly work and labor were to be focused on serving and worshiping the God of heaven and earth. When Adam and Eve and their posterity went to “dress” the garden, or “till” the ground, they were to keep in mind Him who made it all for them, for it was the stewardship that He gave them to do it in the first place.

An interesting connection that also comes to mind is God’s statement to Adam and Eve:

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread [lehem], till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Gen. 3:19)

Was this sweat and labor to be completely detached from the worship of God?

Tabernacle Coverings

As one begins to study the history of the tabernacle of Moses and its construction, it becomes clear that those who ministered in this temple probably endured some intense heat.  First of all, the Israelites were wandering in a desert where the climate was likely arid and hot. Combine this with the coverings over the tabernacle proper:

The solid structure of the tabernacle was overspread by four separate and distinct coverings.  The innermost of these enclosures was a “tabernacle” (miskan) made of fine-twined linen followed by a “tent” (ohel) of black goat’s hair, a “covering” (mikseh) of ram skins that had been dyed red, and then a “covering” (mikseh) of dolphin skins (see Exodus 36:8-19).

The tabernacle was extremely well-insulated.  While this likely protected the sacred interiors from the elements of the desert outside, as well as being symbolic, it undoubtedly also produced sauna-like conditions inside the structure.

Table of Shewbread

One of the few objects placed inside the tabernacle was the table of shewbread.  There were twelve loaves of this unleavened bread stacked in two rows of equal numbers.  As Matthew Brown acutely writes, “In Hebrew, ’shewbread’ actually consists of two separate words--(paneh, face) and (lehem, bread)--hence a literal translation would be ‘bread of the face’ (the bread that sits before the face of Jehovah) or, as many translators prefer, ‘bread of the presence’ (the bread that sits in the presence of Jehovah)”.  Could this “bread of the face” have also had reference to the faces of the priests, who literally took upon themselves (and particularly their foreheads) the name of Yahweh in the Holy Place, and whose faces sweated to produce the bread and to partake of it weekly? Part of the priestly liturgy was to consume this bread, along with wine, while inside the sweltering tabernacle:

The priests were to gather inside the Holy Place every Sabbath day and consume the bread that lay upon the golden table (see Leviticus 24:8-9).

Later, from the New Testament we learn that Christ was the “true bread” and the “true vine,” which became memorialized in the Christian sacrament or Eucharist.

So was the Lord’s injunction that “in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread” solely a command to go to work on the earth to provide for oneself and forget one’s relationship with God in the garden, or did it also have reference to worship in the temple, tending to the earth to keep it in a temple-like state, service to God, remembering the atoning sacrifice of the Savior, and that all the things of the earth ultimately come from God, even our daily bread? (D&C 104:13-18; Matt. 6:11).

We should keep all of this in mind as we go to work each day and are good stewards of the earth, that God is our ultimate authority and sovereign, and that all labor and environmental obligations are subservient to Him and none else, and that all our passions are to be kept bridled within the limits prescribed by the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Service on Earth & Worship of God

An exhibition back in 2000 at The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, which was curated by Yael Israeli and David Mevorah, shows artifacts from the early years of the Christian church. The exhibition was entitled “The Cradle of Christianity“:

The exhibition attempts to synthesize the literary sources with finds that have been excavated in this country, particularly over the past fifty years: architectural remains, liturgical objects from churches, personal belongings of the Christian inhabitants of this land, and souvenirs made for pilgrims.

They have made an effort to separate the artifacts from the religious doctrines, trying to present the artifacts as they are, objectively.

I found several things interesting as I browsed the website of the exhibition:

1. “His disciples – the Apostles – were twelve in number – a symbolic figure, evoking the Twelve Tribes of Israel.”
2. “This inscribed stone fragment belonged to one of a series of stone slabs that stood in the court of the Temple in Jerusalem and served as a divider between the area permitted to both Jews and Gentiles and the area permitted only to Jews. . . . The existence of such a divider in the Temple court is attested by Josephus: “in this (balustrade) at regular intervals stood slabs giving warning, some in Greek, others in Latin characters, of the law of purification, to wit that no foreigner was permitted to enter the holy place…” (Jewish War, V, 193-198). The actual inscription read thus: “No foreigner shall enter within the balustrade of the Temple, or within the precint, and whosoever shall be caught shall be responsible for (his) death that will follow in consequence (of his trespassing).”
   

   Prohibition of Entry to the Temple

3. Regarding early church buildings, “The structure of the church edifice made it possible to maintain a separation between the members of the congregation and the catechumens, who had not yet been baptized and were therefore only permitted to take part in some of the rites.”
4. “The functionaries of the church included the bishop, the priest, and the deacon, as well as various assistants. One could become a priest from the age of thirty and a deacon from the age of twenty-five. Women could also serve the church, as deaconesses. The large churches were headed by a bishop (episkopos), accompanied by a council of elders (presbyters). The deacons assisted the bishop with the collection of donations and the distribution of charity, and helped him perform the various rites. In the East, married men were not prevented from joining the clergy.”
5. “The apse and the raised platform in front of it – the bema – were surrounded by a low stone partition – the chancel screen – which separated the congregation from the sacred area, where the liturgical rites were performed. The officiating clergy sat on benches built along the walls of the apse, with the bishop in the center. Toward the front of the bema stood the altar, beneath which, in a depression in the floor, a reliquary was hidden. Additional tables, on which the Scriptures and various liturgical objects were placed, also stood on the bema.”
   

   An Early Christian Church

6. “The rite of baptism – symbolizing the purification of sins and rebirth – marks an individual’s acceptance into the Church. In the Byzantine period, this rite was only performed after the candidate for conversion (catechumen) had completed a rigorous course of study. During this lengthy ceremony, the catechumen was immersed in water, anointed with oil, and dressed in a pure white garment. Only then was he or she permitted to enter the church and participate in the Eucharist by partaking of the holy bread and wine.”
   

   Baptismal Font

7. “The most important part of the Christian liturgy was the Eucharist, in which the participants partook of the holy bread and wine – symbols of the body and blood of Jesus serving as a reminder of his sacrifice. The liturgical vessels that were set upon the altar during the ceremony included ewers of wine and water, a strainer, chalices, and patens (plates) for the holy bread.”
8. “The painting depicts three figures wearing halos – apparently representing saints -their arms outstretched in an attitude of prayer. Their manner of dress is characteristic of that of Christian clergymen in the Byzantine period.”
9. “In the rooms adjoining the church, the liturgical items were stored: the vessels used in the Eucharist, the holy books, processional objects, and the liturgical vestments. In addition to these precious objects, funds and gifts acquired by the church through donations, through the leasing of property that had been bequeathed to the church, and through the fulfillment of vows was also stored in the treasury, just as they had been stored in the temples in previous periods. It was forbidden to sell this property, unless this were necessary in order to pay for the release of prisoners or the redemption of captives. The donations of the faithful – both congregants and pilgrims – were the main source of the church’s wealth and were used for its maintenance and renovation.”

There are many more fascinating early Christian artifacts on the website of this exhibition. We thank thee, O God, for a prophet, who has restored these things in the latter-days.

An Early Christian Church Exhibit