CFM this week : D&C 2

Doctrine and Covenants 2

1 Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 2 And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. 3 If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.

This scripture is in ALL of our standard works!

OT: Originally in Malachi 4:5-6 : Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

NT: The angel Gabriel quoted this in Luke 1:16-17 when speaking about the yet to be born John (the Baptist).  Luke 1:16-17 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias (GK for Elijah), to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

BoM: Jesus himself quoted Malachi in 3 Nephi 25:5-6 : 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

D&C : section 2; also quoted in

D&C 110:13-16 : After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burst upon us; for Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said: 14 Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—15 To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse

 and D&C 128:17-18 (baptism for the dead): 17 And again, in connection with this quotation I will give you a quotation from one of the prophets, who had his eye fixed on the restoration of the priesthood, the glories to be revealed in the last days, and in an especial manner this most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel, namely, the baptism for the dead; for Malachi says, last chapter, verses 5th and 6th: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

P0fGP: JS History 1:38-39: 38 And again, he [Moroni] quoted the fifth verse [of Malachi] thus: Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 39 He also quoted the next verse differently: And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.

 I got thinking about Elijah turning people’s hearts.: anything mentioned that often must be important.  So, if Elijah is going to return to earth [remember, Elijah was taken into heaven in a chariot of fire] to “turn hearts,” did he do that during his mortal life? When did he "turn hearts"?

Remember the contest between Elijah and the priests of Baal on Mt Carmel, testing to see if Baal or Jehovah was God?  Well, notice how the contest ends:

Elijah's Prayer : 1 Kings 18:36-39

36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD [Yahweh or Jehovah]God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.

37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.

38  Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

In Hebrew, to turn is often shuv: to turn, return, repent.  When fire consumed the altar and the offering and the stones, dust and water, the Israelite people REPENTED, returned to the worship of Jehovah.

When Elijah “turned hearts”, he was calling people to repentance.

As our hearts are turned to our ancestors in doing genealogy, we hope that they have been taught the gospel in the spirit word [D&C 138] , that they have “turned their hearts” in repentance, and that they will welcome the temple ordinances that we do in their behalf.

BTW, the word translated as ‘fathers’ [abot] would be better translated as ‘parents.’  AB is the Hebrew for ‘father,’ but –OT is the feminine plural ending. So it’s AB+OT, father+mother, = parents.

 

Interestingly, Satan also wants to ‘turn our hearts’!

D&C 78:10 Otherwise Satan seeketh to turn their hearts away from the truth, that they become blinded and understand not the things which are prepared for them.

How do we safeguard our hearts?  Repent and be baptized: bind ourselves to God in covenant.

11 Wherefore, a commandment I give unto you, to prepare and organize yourselves by a bond or everlasting covenant that cannot be broken.

Rebecca Holt Stay : 24 January 2025

My First Academic Paper Published

 My first published academic paper! The book arrived today. Special thanks to my son, David Stay, who created all the graphics for me!

Available from Eborn Books and The Interpreter Foundation bookstore.

https://interpreterfoundation.org/.../the-temple-plates.../

Watch the video at https:
//interpreterfoundation.org/.../2022.../videos/stay/

Margaret Barker’s Master Classes on the Hebrew Scriptures THIS WEEK November 9 & 16, 2024

 

Margaret Barker’s Master Classes on the Hebrew Scriptures

The Interpreter Foundation is pleased to offer two seminars from noted scholar Dr. Margaret Barker. Her presentations will be on two successive Saturdays, November 9 and November 16, both beginning at 11 AM Mountain Time. Each seminar will feature an illustrated lecture for approximately 50 minutes followed by 15 to 30 minutes for questions. The seminars are free but registration is required.

The Nov. 9 seminar will look at the changes and developments in the text of the Hebrew Scriptures and  the work of the scribes who transmitted them.

This will provide the context for the second seminar on Nov. 16. Dr. Barker will examine five examples from Qumran texts of Deuteronomy and Isaiah to explore how and why differences arose, and which of the versions was the more likely to have been used by the first Christians.

This class is for everyone interested in the story of the Hebrew Scriptures.  Knowledge of Hebrew is not required.

Kevin Christensen, who has done much to make Dr. Barker’s work known to Latter-day Saints, will introduce her in the seminars. Jeff Lindsay (jlindsay@interpreterfoundation.org) will serve as the host for the events and as the contact person for questions or comments.

Registration
To attend the seminars by Margaret Barker, please register in advance for the individual events. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. The link you will receive by email should be valid for both events. Registration can be completed on the Zoom website: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIscuitrDsjHtLGDPiichh9PMxKDPmvUjxn.

About Margaret Barker

Margaret Barker is a biblical scholar who developed the method of study known as Temple Theology. She is a former President of the Society for Old Testament Study, a retired Methodist preacher, and the author of 19 books. In July 2008,  the Archbishop of Canterbury awarded her a Doctor of Divinity degree.

In January 2023, she gave a lecture in Westminster Abbey in London for people involved with the coronation of King Charles III, showing how biblical symbols and themes shaped the coronation ceremony.

She has stirred much interest among Latter-day Saints with her findings relevant to the ancient temple and even on issues relevant to the Book of Mormon.

To learn more about the significance of her work in the eyes of some Latter-day Saint scholars, see Kevin Christensen, "Twenty Years After 'Paradigms Regained,' Part 1: The Ongoing, Plain, and Precious Significance of Margaret Barker’s Scholarship for Latter-day Saint Studies," Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, vol. 54 (2022), at https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/twenty-years-after-paradigms-regained-part-1-the-ongoing-plain-and-precious-significance-of-margaret-barkers-scholarship-for-latter-day-saint-studies/.

Margaret Barker’s website is at http://www.margaretbarker.com/.

NT Week 9 : Revelation 6-16 : Seals. Beasts, Dragons, Marks

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CTvS4UOp7E&list=PLD9o3pQYhVMF2TXItDBjF2-WOro3i93Af&index=21

Mosaic floor of Beth Alpha Synagogue in Israel

Ishtar Gate: walls of Babylon rebuilt in Berlin, Pergammon Museum

Dragon and bull representing the King of Babylon

Revelations by Reed Durham; Ensign May 1973

Gustave Dore' Four Horsemen/Chariots

  These are overhead projector images from LDS Seminaries and Institutes in @1980.  Note the inaccuracies and anachronisms

NT Week 8 : Revelation 5 : Throne, Veil, Time

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erHSSzMnCRs&list=PLD9o3pQYhVMF2TXItDBjF2-WOro3i93Af&index=20

Three papers I recommend this week: 

Margaret Barker: Beyond the Veil of the Temple: The High Priestly Origin of the Apocalypses 

https://www.marquette.edu/maqom/veil.html

 Margaret Barker :  The Temple Roots of the Liturgy 

https://www.marquette.edu/maqom/Roots.pdf

and  Elliot Wolfson :   Seven Mysteries of Knowledge: Qumran E/sotericism Reconsidered

 https://www.academia.edu/3335498/Seven_Mysteries_of_Knowledge_Qumran_E_sotericism_Reconsidered

Neal A Maxwell Quotes on Time and Space

"The Lord Himself said that He `knoweth all things, for all things are present' before Him. (D&C 38:2.) We read, too, that `all things are present with me, for I know them all.' (Moses 1:6.) Therefore, God's omniscience is not solely a function of prolonged and discerning familiarity with us-but of the stunning reality that the past and present and future are part of an `eternal now' with God! (Joseph Smith, History of the Church 4:597.)" (Neal A. Maxwell, All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience, pp. 7,8.)

"Since-unlike for us enclosed by the veil-things are, for God, one "eternal now," it is to be remembered that for God to foresee is not to cause or even to desire a particular occurrence-but it is to take that occurrence into account beforehand, so that divine reckoning folds it into the unfolding purposes of God." (Neal A. Maxwell, All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience, p. 12.)

"Our agency is preserved, however, by the fact that as we approach a given moment we do not know what our response will be. Meanwhile, God has foreseen what we will do and has taken our decision into account (in composite with all others), so that His purposes are not frustrated.  It is unfortunate that our concerns do not center more upon the correctness of what we do in a given moment-and less upon whether or not God's having foreseen what we would do then somehow compromises our agency. It is equally regrettable that our souls should be troubled at all because we cannot figure out `how' God does it, when it has been made so abundantly clear and on so many occasions that He does do it." (Neal A. Maxwell, All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience, p. 12.)

"Quite understandably, the manner in which things unfold seems to us mortals to be so natural. Our not knowing what is to come (in the perfect way that God knows it) thus preserves our free agency completely." (Neal A. Maxwell, "A More Determined Discipleship," Ensign, February 1979, p. 71.)

`And all things are present with me, for I know them all' (Moses 1:6). God does not live in the dimension of time as do we. Moreover, since `all things are present with' God, his is not simply a predicting based solely upon the past. In ways which are not clear to us, he actually sees, rather than foresees, the future-because all things are, at once, present, before him!" (Neal A. Maxwell, "A More Determined Discipleship," Ensign, February 1979, p. 72.)

"When we understand that all things are present before His eyes and that He knows all things past, present, and future, then we can trust ourselves to Him as we clearly could not to a less than omniscient god who is off somewhere in the firmament doing further research." (Neal A. Maxwell, All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience, pp. 36-37.)

He sees the beginning from the end because all things are, in a way which we do not understand, present before Him simultaneously in an `eternal now.' Further, the arithmetic of anguish is something we mortals cannot comprehend. We cannot do the sums because we do not have all the numbers. We are locked in the dimension of time and are contained within the tight perspectives of this second estate." (Neal A. Maxwell, All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience, pp. 37.)

For example, the philosopher Boethius described in the fifth century how `God is  outside of time and does not foresee the future; rather, he sees it in an "eternal now" that is equally present to all parts of time. . . .`In the presence of God . . . all things for their glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord.' (D&C 130:7. See also 88:41.) These verses confirm what has been referred to as `the eternal now'-within which God exists, so that He sees rather than foresees." (Neal A. Maxwell, Plain and Precious Things, p. 57.)

"Of course, the Father knew beforehand of all human wickedness. He knew beforehand of mankind's need of a Savior. He knows the past, present, and future, since all their dimensions are continually before Him, said the Prophet Joseph Smith, constituting `one eternal "now"'." (Neal A. Maxwell, One More Strain of Praise, p.47.)

Actually, God has the past, present, and future ever before Him, constituting an 'eternal "now"' (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 220; see also D&C 130:7)." (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, November 1999, p. 7.)

Amid the mortal and fragmentary communiques and the breaking news of the day concerning various human conflicts, God lives in an eternal now where the past, present, and future are constantly before Him (see D&C 130:7)."  (Neal A. Maxwell, "Care for the Life of the Soul", Ensign, May 2003, p. 70.)

NT Week 7: Revelation 4-5 Worship and Song

 

There are NO good pictures/Google images of worship in heaven.  Good luck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1H_Oa4bnKg&list=PLD9o3pQYhVMF2TXItDBjF2-WOro3i93Af&index=19&t=1142s

Reading Assignment for Salem Institute class Nov 8

We will be studying Rev 4-5 and it would be very helpful to read Ezekiel chapters 1, 9, and 10 before class.

I am assuming people will either be traveling or cooking or visiting relatives on Wednesday, Nov 22 so we will NOT have Institute that day.

Enjoy this beautiful fall weather!