Building upon my most prior post, The 4 kingdoms of Ezekiel, I will here discuss the waters flowing from the Tree of Life in Nephi’s vision of the Tree of Life.
It has long puzzled Book of Mormon readers how first the river running from the Tree of Life is pure, then later in Nephi’s vision these waters are recognized as the “filthiness” of the world. [1 Nephi 15:26-27]
How could this be? Were there two rivers? Nope! Just one.
Why are these living waters later, or farther down the river filthy? In short, because they run through lower worlds.
The symbolism of the Tree of Life spans the three degrees of glory, and so the blessings that emanate from the celestial kingdom, they flow like water through the terrestrial kingdom, and on into the telestial kingdom. This is the stepping down of the powers of God, to the inhabitants of each kingdom of glory. In each descending kingdom the manifestation of the blessings are coarser and weakened. Clearly the waters become less pure as they travel through this telestial world. As man defiles the world with sin, he pollutes the very blessing (waters) God pours out to him. The blessings of God become the “depths of hell.”
The Tree of Life has ten sephiroth or emanations/powers of God, and that among these is justice (Din or Gevurah - resulting from law). Nephi describes how the filthy water works as an “awful gulf” between the wicked and the righteous, he tells us that the “ justice of God did also divide the wicked from the righteous.” [1 Nephi 15:28-30]
This would be all very apparent to an ancient Israelite, but is a little harder for us to see.
A little more on the Living Waters can be found here.
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Along these same lines:
“I don’t know much about the Gospel other than what I’ve learned from the Standard Works. When I drink from a spring I like to get the water where it comes out of the ground, not down the stream after the cattle have waded in it.” Elder M.G. Romney, quoted by J. Richard Clarke, Conference Address 1982.
In this life, the Truth and the Devil will chase you everywhere and so will I.
I hope to speak the truth,But will be viewed as the Devil!!!
I see a Problem with the Living waters in the BOM
A river has its orgins at its Fountians,wells and springs.
A Fountian is not the river.and a spring is not a river.both are considered the source.
Lets look and see and compare
1st Nephi 12:16
16 And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the fountain of filthy water which thy father saw; yea, even the river of which he spake; and the depths thereof are the depths of hell.
1st Nephi 16:26-29
What meaneth the river of water which our father saw?
27 And I said unto them that the water which my father saw was filthiness; and so much was his mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld not the filthiness of the water.
28 And I said unto them that it was an awful agulf, which separated the wicked from the tree of life, and also from the saints of God.
29 And I said unto them that it was a representation of that awful hell, which the angel said unto me was prepared for the wicked.
1st Nephi 8:21,32.
"And I also beheld a astrait and narrow path, which came along by the rod of iron, even to the tree by which I stood; and it also led by the head of the fountain, unto a large and spacious field, as if it had been a bworld."
"And it came to pass that many were drowned in the adepths of the bfountain; and many were lost from his view, wandering in strange roads."
NOW COMPARE TO THE BELOW
1st Nephi 11:25
25 "And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God."
A fountain is the head or from where it comes and the river is the tail.
James 3: 11-12
11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
Could you also please show reference to the more than Heaven and Hell in the BOM
I was not sure where to post this but I Liked your First Quote
“I don’t know much about the Gospel other than what I’ve learned from the Standard Works".............
I have noticed through out quotes from other "Standard Works"
"I recently read The Bahir, also know as the Sefer Ha-Bahir (Sefer = book, Ha = the, Bahir = brightness). I had neglected reading this pillar of Cabala for sometime"
"No study of mysticism is complete without a study of these lectures.(Cyril of Jerusalem, on the mysteries)"
"This “returning” is part of a whole theological understanding of things. The CABALLISTIC thinking is that God set into motion the Sefirot" "Kircher's Image"
" The Book of Creation"
.” Manley P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages."
"The Zohar clearly teaches"
"If the very source of Kabbalah tells us"
"In Cabalistic terms these ten dimensions are called Sephiroth. Abraham told us in the Book of Creation"
"In the language of the Cabbalist we have"
"In Jewish Mysticism and LDS thinking"
"By understanding this great body of Jewish thought"
"I was expecting a cabalistic delight, but I was disappointed."
Well I think you have made me a Convert to the Fact that LDS
"THINKING" and Jewish Mysticism are almost the same and That Manly P. Hall is the Cheif Apostle of Mysticism.
"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." Colossians 2:8-9
"Kabbalah -- which can be spelled with a K, C or Q -- is an ancient form of Jewish mysticism, which was formalized at the end of the 12th Century. Having turned Biblical truth and history into occult myths and suggestions, it has evolved through the centuries -- blending with gnosticism, theosophy and other occult mysteries -- usually behind closed doors and in secret societies."
"According to Kabbalah, a person must metaphorically and spiritually ascend the 10 points of the Tree of Life to reunite with the Divine."
"Kabbalah teaches that the Torah is encoded with hidden meanings. In contrast, historic Christian interpretation assumes that God communicated the Torah to Moses in a normal fashion, and that the text says what it appears to say; there is no concealed meaning. ... Seeking hidden meanings is a hallmark of gnosticism and occultism. Such a method can lead to imposing any foreign meaning on a text that one wishes"....
"I would submit that a most valuable tool that a modern day Mormon can have in understanding the “learning of the Jews” is the Zohar."
"Still seeking the best books? I highly recommend The Sepher Yetzirah."
"The Kabbalah is essentially gnostic; that is, one must learn the spiritual secrets of the Torah through the cryptic and intricate Zohar, and then advance through knowledge and actions".
"Happy Climbing!"
"By understanding this correspondence we can better understand the great body of Jewish thought on kingdoms of glory and the ascent of man."
"I had read this before, but stumbled upon it again. The well-respected LDS scholar William Hamblin Phd. wrote “Temple Motifs in Jewish Mysticism.” Which I think is the best, short introduction to the topic of this site."
" The Cabala: The secret of the Cabala is that of Gnosticism [4]
"The "Zohar" attributes the primary cause of evil to the act of separation. The act of separation is refered to as the "cutting of the shoots". What was united becomes divided, and the boundary between one thing and another can be regarded as a shell. The primary separation was the division between the Tree of Life (Pillar of Mercy) from the Tree of Knowledge (Pillar of Severity).
"The Cabala, essentially of Jewish origin but sometimes assimilated into Christianity & Mormonism, is first and foremost a 'quest for the secrets of the faith,’ according to the Zohar, its most famous book. It relates to every domain of creation: from the secrets of the faith to the secret of the universe... [T]here is a hidden meaning in the sacred texts, and we must discover it in order to approach the mysteries of the Creation"....
http://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/
occult/kabbalah.htm
"drink from a spring I like to get the water where it comes out of the ground, not down the stream after the cattle have waded in it.” Elder M.G. Romney, quoted by J. Richard Clarke, Conference Address 1982.
okay here is your Alter call
Repent!!!!!!!!!!!
To some it is given to understand, and to some it is not. What more can I say?
-David
"To some it is given"
http://usminc.org/gnostics.html
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