hebrew

The Lord Speaks Again: Ancient Temple Patterns in D&C 124

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William Weeks Nauvoo Temple architectural plan. (Click for larger view)

William Weeks Nauvoo Temple architectural plan. (Click for larger view)

It is my honor and pleasure to introduce a new guest blogger to TempleStudy.com, Matthew B. Brown.  Many of you may already be familiar with the great work of this historian, scholar, and author.  If you are not, I heartily recommend his work to you. One of my favorite books on the temple is by Br. Brown, The Gate of Heaven: Insights on the Doctrines and Symbols of the Temple.  A big thanks to Br. Brown for sharing his insights with us here on TempleStudy.com.  -Bryce

Guest Blogger: Matthew B. Brown holds a degree in history from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He is the author of ten books and has published articles with the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at BYU (aka FARMS). Matthew serves as a volunteer researcher, editor, and respondent for The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR) and has spoken at several of their annual conferences. He has also been featured on TV and radio programs as well as at a number of seminars and symposiums.

On 19 January 1841 the Lord issued an important revelation through the Prophet Joseph Smith which is now known as Doctrine and Covenants section 124.1 There are many verses within this revelation where the Lord describes concepts associated with the Nauvoo temple. These concepts can be placed under five general categories so that they can be more easily evaluated: The Lord’s People, The Lord’s Commands, The Lord’s House, The Priesthood, and The Ordinances. This article is calculated to help students of the past more accurately understand what (and how much) the Lord revealed about the temple in Nauvoo, Illinois by the first month of the year in 1841. It is also designed to show intriguing connections between the Mormons who lived in the first half of the nineteenth century and what took place among the covenant people of the biblical period.  [Read more…]

Mosaic Tabernacle as an Aaronic Temple

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The Tabernacle at Sunset - by Pat Marvenko Smith

The Tabernacle at Sunset - by Pat Marvenko Smith (click for larger view)

Note: I taught our Elders Quorum class today, and was assigned the topic of the Mosaic Tabernacle as a Temple.  Below are the notes and illustrations I used for my lesson.

Review of prior lesson on the exodus:

  • Children of Israel escape Egyptian bondage (Ex. 14)
  • Moses leads them out
  • Parting of the Red Sea, Pharoah’s armies are drowned
  • Lord begins to organize his people
  • Manna rains down from heaven, sends Quail for meat (Ex. 16)
  • Moses strikes the rock, and water comes out
  • Lord covenants to Israel a peculiar treasure, a kingdom of priests, an holy nation (Ex. 19:5-6)
  • 10 commandments and Mount Sinai (Ex. 20)
  • The people start to refuse to become what the Lord had offered them – “Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” (Ex. 20:19).  Foreshadowing…
  • Many instructions, laws, covenants, etc. are delivered to Moses, which he delivers to the people, who all answer with one voice, “Yes, we will be obedient (Ex. 24:3, 7)

Moses goes up Mount Sinai again to receive instructions for 40 days and nights (Ex. 24:18).  Matthew Brown – “As part of his ascension experience, Moses is said to have been washed, anointed, clothed in heavenly garments, called with names of honor, enthroned, and initiated into heavenly secrets” ((Brown, Matthew B. The Gate of Heaven: Insights on the Doctrines and Symbols of the Temple. American Fork, Utah: Covenant Communication, 1999. 58)).  Joseph Smith noted that Moses received the “keys of the Kingdom,” and “certain signs and words” ((ibid.)).  [Read more…]

Who’s on the Lord’s Side? Who?

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Isaiah's Lips Anointed with Fire - Benjamin West (1738-1820)

Isaiah's Lips Anointed with Fire - Benjamin West (1738-1820)

I spoke in my ward’s sacrament meeting yesterday.  Here is a copy of my talk:

I’m grateful for this opportunity to speak to you today about a subject that is very important to me, and hopefully to you.  I pray that the Spirit might be with us so that we may both be edified by these things, and that we can apply what we learn (D&C 50:22).

The topic I’ve been given is twofold – first, the hymn “Who’s on the Lord’s Side?” and second, “following the prophet.”  While these two topics don’t seem to relate to each other on the surface, I think the point is that those who follow the teachings of the prophets are truly on the Lord’s side.

First a short story.  [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…]

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…]