Tents and Hebrewisms

Never shying away from speculation, I have some observations that I would like to attempt here to tie together.


I have observed that there is a practice found among some older Hebrew writings where a person, but more specifically a prophet, equates a physical journey to his spiritual journey, and more specifically his ascension teaching and initiation. I am not sure that some of the stories as we receive them may not have even been adapted and adjusted to better demonstrate the points of the stories. This practice could be called a "Hebrewism."


In a prior post (click here) I described how Abraham considered going down to Egypt as going into a "deep [spiritual] pit." I described how he made that trip by holding to his "knot of faith" or a line going into the pit with knots that represented his covenants. He was not afraid to go into the pit because he was confident he could escape by pulling himself up grasping the knots. For Abraham this trip was a spiritual journey.


Jacob in his physical journeys stopped by a place called Beth-el and as he slept he dreamed a dream where he saw a ladder ascending up to God (see Gen. 28:12). Among LDS and Jewish thinkers it is understood that the rungs on the ladder represent the covenants, ordinances, or levels of ascension, that can also be applied to each of our lives (or the lack of such covenants). This is a temple/ascension motif (Gen 28:16-19) where Jacob called the place the "house of God" and poured oil upon a stone that created an altar. All true altars have a mystical connection to one of the three altars of the temple. 


Moses meet God on the Mountain. Mountains anciently represented and physically presented ascension. Going back to Abraham we read in the Zohar:

"He [Abram] moved on from there (ha-harah),  to the mountain. There he discovered (har he), Mountain of He. and all those rungs planted there." (The Zohar, Matt vol . II, pg 18 - Lekh Lekha)

Abraham climbed the physical mountain and built an altar, and the Lord added a "he" to Abrams name. The "he" represents the "Shekhinah" or divine presence resulting from covenants - it is a a sign of covenant. See THIS and THIS. Continuing on:


"He [Abraham] spread (ololoh), his tent, spelled with a (he) -spreading a spread, accepting the Kingdom of Heaven with all its linked rungs."(The Zohar, Matt vol . II, pg 18 - Lekh Lekha)

We see a couple concepts intertwined. When Abraham had the sign of the covenant (he) added to his name, he spread his tent. But the "tent" was spelled with a "he" instead of the normal "vav," indicating a tent of covenant or "the tent of Shekhinah."

From the above we see an association with covenants, temples, altars, and tents. A tent can be thought of as a "Tallit Gadol" reminiscent of the temple, with "tzitzit" tied at all four corners. The Zohar continues with Abraham:


"...Abram journeyed, continually journeying towards the Negev ... Continually journeying, rung upon rung until ascending to the South, where he was fittingly bound, ascending to his rung..." (The Zohar, Matt vol . II, pg 18 & 19 - Lekh Lekha)

It is a Hebrewism to connect like this the journey, the tent, the altar, the covenants, the ascension, and the temple. 


My point has to do with 1 Nephi chapter 2. In a prior post I pointed out a few of my observations about 1 Nephi 2:6-9. See my post HERE. The points I tried to make there was that there was a Hebrewism pattern in the text. In 1 Nephi 2:6-9 here is what I see:


- Lehi and his family are on a journey. It is a real journey, but also a journey of ascension.


- They camp by the river. This is an association with other ascension - living water imageries.


- Lehi builds an altar - associating this with covenants, ordinances, and the temple, and the tree of life.


- Also of interest, but not of our present concern is the valley, the sea, and the fountain of all righteousness. 


My point, in 1 Nephi 2:15 which reads:


"And my father dwelt in a tent" 


Which critics have cited as being out of place in the text, and useless. I submit that it is very much in place with the preceding Hebrewisms.


I would bet a dollar that the Reformed Egyptian that conveyed the word "tent" contained a modifier that gave a meaning somewhere close to  "a tent of covenant" or "a tent of Shekhinah."  At the very least, the way in which "tent" was used would convey the idea to any readers of Lehi's day, but is not right on the surface in our translation.


That's the way I see it. What think ye? 

The Holy Spirit of Promise

I was teaching a class the other day in High Priests Group on the Plan of Happiness. I had proffered my contention that each ordinance we receive must be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise (Holy Ghost) to be of force. It is my view that when a person receives an ordinance the Holy Spirit of Promise “seals” that the ordinance was performed correctly regarding form and authority, and the associated law was received and has been kept (assuming that person is living that law - or it is later sealed when the person does live the law).

I used a paragraph in the "Guide to the Scripture" under “Holy Spirit of Promise” which reads in part:

“He [the Holy Ghost] confirms as acceptable to God the righteous acts, ordinances, and covenants of men. The Holy Spirit of Promise witnesses to the Father that the saving ordinances have been performed properly and that the covenants associated with them have been kept.”


This notion was challenged by one of the good brethren, because of the following paragraph that reads: 


“They who are sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise receive all that the Father has, D&C 76:51–60 (Eph. 1:13–14).”

The distinction being where I contend that each law and ordinance must be sealed upon a person, he read the reference to mean that at some point, all at once they are all, including exaltation sealed upon a righteous person.

I would argue that the next line also needs to be considered to understand this concept:



“All covenants and performances must be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise to have force after this life, D&C 132:7, 18–19, 26”

I believe that baptism is a critical ordinance, even for a person who never has “all that the Father has” or exaltation sealed upon him. But, that each ordinance and its corresponding law, including baptism, must be sealed upon each of us. If not, we are son’s of perdition (in the case of baptism).

The same would hold true for each ordinance and law. 

I would further contend that what ordinance and corresponding law we receive (we receive law by ordinances) dictates the resurrection we will receive. This is clear in the Doctrine and Covenants. Regarding the Holy Spirit of Promise we read:

“...All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise ...are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead.” (Doctrine and Covenants 132:7)

And then to the point of the law we keep or abide determines our resurrection:



“22For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory.

23And he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial glory.

24And he who cannot abide the law of a telestial kingdom cannot abide a telestial glory; therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of glory. Therefore he must abide a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory.” (Doctrine and Covenants 88)

I suspect that for most of us we receive the ordinances and the laws, and we grow into the law some time in the future. When we do, we have some spiritual experience and don’t even know that it was the Holy Spirit of promise sealing those ordinances upon us. And like those who receive “all the Father has” or have their calling and election made sure in this life, we may spiritually digress and return many times. But, we have proven that we can live the law, and only a full rebellion will separate us from that kingdom sealed upon us.


What think ye?

Ezekiel 47 and Lehi's Vision of the Tree of Life

In my most recent book on the Tree of Life I attempted to tie a number of biblical images to the hugely significant image of the Tree of Life. 

One of the biblical images I covered was the vision of Ezekiel 47. The importance of this chapter, to me, is staggering. Yet it seem largely ignored by LDS scholars and laymen (and completely undecipherable by the non LDS world). In my view, it is the very same vision that Lehi and Nephi saw of the Tree of Life. It is not usually seen as such because certain components of the imagery are swopped for other theologically equivalent images. For example, in Lehi’s vision there is a Tree, and in Ezekiel’s vision there is a temple at the head of the vision - but if you understand the vision you will see they both represent the same underlying principles. They are theological equivalences.

They both have a river. We are told by Nephi that the tree of the river both represent the same thing (1 Nephi 11:25). They both represent the “love of God” which is meant in the wide sense, the creation, the Plan of Happiness, the atonement, and the redemption.

We see the Plan of Salvation portion in Ezekiel with a little more detail. The river is the emanations of God flowing from Heavenly realms, that as Ezekiel walks in them they first rise to his ankles, representing the Celestial Kingdom. Then they rise to his knees, representing the Terrestrial Kingdom. Next, they rise to the level of his loins, representing the Telestial Kingdom. As the waters flow into the sea and salted marshes they represent Outer Darkness.

Both of these visions are of the same genre, and if they are laid one upon the other they bring tons of understand to each other. We see the Lehi’s vision right at home with the imagery of Ezekiel’s vision, in fact they can elegantly intertwine to bring us a picture that is greater that the sum of it’s parts.

Genesis 50 - The Cords That Bind Us.

One of the things we can learn from ancient Hebrew mysticism is that if we pay attention to the text we can learn more than the casual reader. And if we can free our minds from the cords that bind us to our puny views, truths are in front of us. For example:

I have always enjoyed and believed the text of the Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis chapter 50. It describes what some would consider convenient doctrine about the restoration, the prophet Joseph, and the tribes of Israel.

However, I always felt a little uncomfortable with the notion that it was ever on the end of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible.

 So when I read Genesis I had a conflict reconciling the existence of chapter 50 with the fact that Genesis is the undefiled base of religion. I always considered Genesis to be the standard to judge all other texts with. Now, if I had explored that uneasiness earlier on, I would have come to my current view by a much shorter route.

 I would have come to the conclusion that many bible scholars are coming to, that what we have in Genesis is a rewrite of one or more earlier records. And, that this rewrite may not be completely free of bias.

David Larsen and Margaret Barker have expressed views that what they term the “Deuteronomist” may have had a political bias in rewriting some of the biblical books.

I am of the opinion that Genesis 50 never was in the Hebrew bible, but should have been included, that it existed as a part of an earlier text, and was excluded. But a proper render of the Genesis story should have included it, and so the Prophet Joseph tacked it on.

If my hypothesis is correct, I have to ask the question, what else could I understand today if I only opened my eyes? My spiritual journey could really pick up speed if I could loose these bands a bit faster. What bands are holding you back from the truth?

My Best Posts

As the year comes to an end, I thought I would make a post of some of my favorite posts.

I know that we get new visitors to this site all the time, and I would like them to see some of the best we have to offer, that may be buried back aways.

The Purpose of Mysticism
What Science Should Have Known
Salvation is Free
Holiness
The Word, Twenty-Two Letters of Creation
Oil of Gladness

The Seed of Faith
Are Mormons Christians?

HOUSEKEEPING II

This post is meant as an extension of Housekeeping.

I see Yosef has been trying to post, I see the emails, but they are not sticking for some reason. And it may be because of the amount of comments.

Anyways, this should be easier to navigate.

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I FOUND THE POSTING PROBLEM - BLOGGER HAS ENABLED A NON-OPTIONAL COMMENT SPAM FILTER. I CAN'T TURN IT OFF - BUT I CAN MANAGE IT - AND I WILL (AT LEAST TILL I GET ANOTHER BLOG FORMAT IN-PLACE). SO IF YOUR COMMENT DISAPPEARS, JUST GIVE IT TIME, I WILL MANUALLY FLAG IT AS NOT BEING SPAM, AND IT WILL RE-APPEAR. SORRY, AND THANKS! -DAVE
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Some of Yosef's comments below may be out of order.

Amazing Grace (my new book)

Announcing the first release candidate of my new book, Amazing Grace, One Mormon's View of the Atonement.

It's a short 117 pages.

This is my view of the Plan of Salvation. Your comments, constructive or otherwise are welcome.

To download it in PDF format CLICK HERE.

To see "Amazing Grace" in HTML, click HERE But for some reason the graphics are not working.

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Of Course I recommend my other books as well: Mormon Mysticism and Kingdoms That Clash.

As soon as I get the finishing touches on this book, I will begin my next researching the Tree of Life. So Stay Tuned!