The God of Jacob

The Israelites, including in the time of Jesus and also including the Nephite branch, often identify themselves as connected with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  So who is the God of Jacob?

The blessing of Ephram and Manasseh identifies him interestingly.  Jacob's God is one:

• In whose presence a person can walk
• Who is a shepherd (the KJV phrase "which fed me" is better translated "who shepherds me"); compare with Psalm 23; and
• Who is a redeeming angel.

Before the Flood

I'm doing my OT reading this year out of the Hebrew and Greek versions of the OT, side by side.  This is a large undertaking for me, which involves getting up early and committing real time, but so far I'm on track.  The immediate fruit has been to see that the vocabulary in the first seven chapters of the OT is heavy in terms that have priestly and temple significance, even if that doesn't always come through in translation.  There's way too much to capture in this blog, but let me throw just out a few points:

1. The ritual actions in Genesis 3 are unmistakable, but maybe we haven't thought all the way through them.  For one thing, the garment of 'skin' in Genesis 3:21 is a garment of 'or in Hebrew, spelled 'ayin-vav-resh (the names of the three Hebrew letters in the word).  Well, 'or, spelled aleph-vav-resh, means 'light.'  These two words are pronounced identically in modern Hebrew, and have always been pronounced very similarly.  God clothes Eve and Adam in garments of light.  In verse 22, "Yahweh of the Gods" pronounces that "Man has become like one of us."
2. In the same segment, Adam is cursed that he will eat his bread by the sweat of his brow.  Eating bread and being dressed by God are both temple ritual actions, and connected in the Sermon on the Mount (more about this in the next class, for those of you who don't already know what I'm talking about).  This suggests that the curse is the sweat, not the bread part.  Similarly, it suggests that childbirth is not a curse -- the curse is the sorrow.  If anything, the implication is that childbirth, at least in some circumstances, is a sacred act.
3. Adam is commanded to 'work' ('avad in Hebrew) and 'keep' (shamar) the Garden.  These are temple-priestly verbs -- 'avad means to perform ordinances, and shamar means to keep covenants.  It is very striking, then, that the same words reappear in the story of Cain.  Cain, first of all, is given to Eve by the Lord (like Samuel and Jesus), punning on the sound of the name 'Cain' in Hebrew (Hebrew prophets, including Nephi, thrive on puns and wordplay).  In Hebrew, Cain is an 'oved of the earth -- not a 'tiller,' but a 'worker,' using the same word that means 'perform ordinances.'  Interestingly, his brother Abel is a shepherd, a common image for priests and kings.  In terms of vocabulary, the story we're told here is about a rivalry between two priests.  After Cain kills Abel, he justifies himself by asking 'am I my brother's keeper?', where 'keeper' is shomer.  Cain is an 'oved, a temple priest, but he does not shamar, keep his covenants. 
4. After this incident, God marks Cain with a 'sign' ('ot in Hebrew).  Elsewhere, the heavenly bodies are said to be or provide an 'ot.  So are the Virgin and her sons.  Here's another piece of vocabulary for understanding the Visionary Men: stars = angels = priests.  Nephi knows this vocabulary.  Cain is a priest who falls from his station, but who still should not be killed, because of his priestly status.

Keep up the study!

The Gods Had Not Appointed Unto Adam

The fact that Adam is to have a reckoning of time is corroboration that Kolob, with its reckoning, is not a planet as we understand it but a star-angel-priest.

Nearest Unto the Throne of God

Abraham has a vision of stars.  The lexicon of the visionary men suggests that these are angel-priests.  The use of the words "governing ones" and "order" tend to confirm that view.  Also, the final phrase of verse 3, "I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest," says that Abraham is standing on a star... which tells us that we're not being told facts about physical space, but about something else.

They Were Caught Up Into Heaven

Jesus returns to the Father, as he'd promised.

The disciples, who have been standing at the veil, then have a clear holy of holies experience.  The "heavens" open (the veil parts), they are caught up into heaven (the debir), where they have revelations they can't share.  They become angels ("immortal"), which is a "transfiguration" (and should make us see, if we haven't already, that the Mount of Transfiguration is a temple text).

Christ gives the Nephites a passage from Malachi.  "Malachi" is "my angel," and the word "messenger" that appears twice in verse 1 is also "malach," "angel."  The Father promises to send his angel, to prepare the way.  Then the Lord will appear, who is the angel of the covenant.

A couple of observations and a question.  Angels are priests, and this is obviously a text of the visionary men about priestly leaders.  The Lord is the "angel of the covenant" and the high priest, when dressed and acting in his priestly office, was the Lord.  Question: might the Nephites have seen the first angel in Malachi 3:1 as their own Nephi?

They Did Cry Out with One Voice

After they have eaten the shalem feast, the multitude sings.  "With one voice" means that they knew in advance what they were to sing, either because they were conducted by someone or because they were participating in an ordinance they already knew, which included this song.

This should not surprise us.  Isaiah tells us of singing in the temple, and Job, and Luke, and Nephi.

He Is the Messenger of the Lord of Hosts

Still in Malachi.  Take a look at this terrific bit about the covenant of Levi.  A couple of comments:

First, look at what first seven says: the "priest" is "the messenger of the Lord."  "Messenger of course, is mal'ak, "angel."  Malachi ("my angel") tells us here directly what Alma shows us by repeated implication: that priests are angels, warriors in the heavenly host.

Second, the word "peace" appears twice.  Levi's covenant was one of "life and peace," and he walked with the Lord "in peace and equity."  "Peace" is the Worship of the Shalems, the peaceable followers, and "life" and "equity" are both references to the Day of Atonement / Judgment Day, on which the Lord brings judgment and resurrection.  So we have here two synonymous pairs, or really one pair, which is also synonymous with "my rock and my salvation," and a subtle reference to the two core rites of the visionary men.