covenant

Living the Law of Consecration – Part 1: The Mythic “Folk Memory”

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“Some day we will live the law of consecration again, but until then we must be ‘willing’ to live it.”

“It is Church doctrine that the full Law of Consecration was suspended by the Lord through the Prophet in 1834.”

“My belief is that things will get progressively worse until the actual Second Coming when Christ will institute the law of consecration.”

Have you ever heard these types of statements before?  Each one comes from active, church-going, temple-attending, members of the Church.  Each of them was said to me in conversation over the past two weeks.  Each one is also, unfortunately, untrue.  [Read more…]

Preview: “The Sermon on the Mount in the Light of the Temple,” by John Welch

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Detail from Sacrament, by Minerva Teichert (ca. 1935). On display in the JSB at BYU.

Detail from Sacrament, by Minerva Teichert (ca. 1935). On display in the JSB at BYU.

Last night at the Third Nephi conference held at BYU, Professor John W. Welch gave the keynote address.  His topic was “New Insights Into the Temple Setting of the Sermon on the Mount in Reference to the Sermon at the Temple.”  It was an excellent address, after which Paul Y. Hoskisson, the director of the Laura F. Willes Center for Book of Mormon Studies, remarked that he was overwhelmed by what he just heard.  You can read my notes on the conference last night here.

One of the things Professor Welch did was give a free handout to all those who were in attendance to outline some of the things he was going to cover, and topics he has written about in an upcoming book.  I have included this handout embedded at the end of this post.  Professor Welch has been studying this topic since about 1988 when he first wrote a FARMS Update article entitled “The Sermon at the Temple,” in which he wrote of 3 Nephi 11-18 as a text which “offers clues to connect the [Sermon on the Mount] with the making of covenants at the temple” ((FARMS Update, March 1988.)).  [Read more…]

The Rainbow – A Token of the Covenant

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Noah's Thanksoffering (c.1803) by Joseph Anton Koch. Noah builds an altar to the Lord after being delivered from the Flood; God sends the rainbow as a sign of his covenant (Genesis 8-9). (click for larger view)

Noah's Thanksoffering (c.1803) by Joseph Anton Koch. (click image for larger view)

This morning I was listening to the ABC News report on the incoming hurricane Ike, which is heading straight towards the Galveston/Houston area of Texas, and the forecast of widespread destruction that it is provoking.  The news anchor was reporting from Galveston Island, Texas, where the brunt of the storm is said to be bearing down quickly.  The reporter ended his news clip by saying that there was a rainbow directly over Galveston Island.

It is destructive times like these that cause us to reflect on God, and His place in our world.  It seems like cruel irony that the rainbow was placed as a sign of the covenant that God made with man that He would not flood the earth again.  But then again, that was surely a deliberate decision, that each time we witness these horrific natural events like hurricanes we remember God is still there, and that He knows our trials and tribulations (cf. Hel. 12:3).  Yes, even “if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good” (D&C 122:7).  Events like these turn us back to God, and remind us to worship Him who is the Creator of heaven and earth.  It is only by obeying God’s commandments and enduring trying times such as these that we can “triumph over all [our] foes” (D&C 121:7-8):  [Read more…]

Seven Parts of Every Covenant – Victor Ludlow

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Dr. Victor Ludlow, Professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU

Dr. Victor Ludlow, Professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU

Yesterday Dr. Victor Ludlow presented an address about covenants at BYU Education Week.  It was reported on by Sean Walker at BYU NewsNet, from which I reference the elements below.

In his presentation Dr. Ludlow explained what a covenant is and how it has been used throughout history in making promises between man and God, and also between man and man; in addition to religious covenants, these types of agreements are also used to seal secular and political deals.

Dr. Ludlow listed seven elements that are part of every covenant-making process (not necessarily in chronological order):

  1. Begins with a preface to explain the covenant and those involved.
  2. Historical context of covenant is explained.
  3. Stipulations are given, or what each party agrees to do.
  4. Ritual act, or some symbolic occurrence that shows that each party has entered into the covenant.
  5. Rewards and punishments, or blessings and cursings, for obeying or breaking the covenant.
  6. Witnesses must be present.
  7. The covenant continues for a determined length of time. Covenants with God that can be for “even eternity.”

When studying any covenant, whether secular or spiritual, it would be good to break it down into these seven elements in order to better understand it, particularly if you are the one entering into the promises.

Job’s Covenant: Hebrew Tav and “Behold my sign!” in Job 31

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A few days ago I wrote about a post I read over at Lehi’s Library which quoted a paper by Kevin Christensen in which he referenced Margaret Barker.  The subject was the use of the Hebrew word/letter tau or tav, translated as “mark” in Ezekiel 9:4-6, and what it meant in Ezekiel’s day, and what it may have meant to the Nephites who also referenced it (Jacob 4:14).  The conclusion was that it may have referred to an anointing that the high priests received on their foreheads, having literally taken upon themselves the name of God.  I was curious to investigate the Hebrew word/letter tav more, which I did, and I want to share some of the intriguing things I discovered.

A small disclaimer.  I am most definitely an amateur when it comes to Hebrew, so any insights I might gather should be taken with a grain of salt.  Perhaps someone with greater expertise can make a greater inquiry into this particular subject.  These are just some of my observations as I’m learning. [Read more…]