Rocks and Stones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P2KU4zo0R4&list=PLD9o3pQYhVMF2TXItDBjF2-WOro3i93Af&index=15&t=26s Here is the text of the handouts from this class. First, a study of the name Peter.
Below is the second handout on Eben Shetiyah, the Foundation Stone.
____________________________________________________________
I was
teaching John 1 this week : where John and James and Andrew and Simon meet
Jesus, and where Simon is renamed Peter. Here are my thoughts.
Isaiah 51:1 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. 2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
to me, ye
that follow (see John 1:37,38,40)
after
righteousness (a name for Jesus/Melchizedek priesthood),
ye that seek
(see John 1:38)
the LORD
(read: Jehovah/Jesus):
Look to the
rock (John 1:42) whence ye are hewn
and to the hole
of the pit (a stone quarry) whence ye are digged.
So, this is synonymous parallelism over and over: for an example of how seeking and following the LORD brings blessings.
Look to the
rock, which is Abraham,
and to the
stone quarry, which is Sarah and see how they got ebenim/banim=stones/children. Of course you see the sexual imagery: of
Jacob’s rock, standing upright and anointed with oil (the Hebrew for oil is
semen, as in Geth semen e ) and the quarry as the womb.
We, the seed of Abraham, are living stones (ebenim/ sons/children) “chips off the old block”: the ‘lively stones” of 1 Peter 2:5 (isn’t that cool? The whole first half of 1 Peter chapter 2 is good, talking about Christ as a living stone – tie that in to eben shetiyah, the foundation stone – over which the Jews stumble –Jacob 4) out of which God builds (I in Hebrew: the verb root from which the words eben/stone, ben/son, and beth/house/daughter are all constructed) HIS house, the temple, Bethel, and HIS family.
Before Abraham and before Peter, God was the Rock :
In well-known Jewish Midrash, the very first creation of God (we Mormons know that was Jesus) was the foundation stone, eben shetiyah [ אֶבֶן שְׁתִיָּה ] . Shet means foundation, to place, to appoint, to mark, to be stayed. It is the name for Adam and Eve’s son Seth: he was appointed by God in place of Abel.
This
rock, of course, is the rock outcropping on Mt. Moriah (later the temple mount)
on which Abraham offered his son Isaac.
It is the threshing floor of Arunah the Jebusite, the highest ridge of
Mount Zion, purchased by King David after he conquered Jerusalem for his
kingdom’s capital. It was the location
of the Jewish Holy of Holies in the temple built by Solomon (think of Christ as
the chief corner stone and as a stumbling stone to the Jews), and where the
Dome of the Rock stands today.
Simon
was renamed “Peter” the rock, PTR (‘Peter’) in Greek is Petros = Stone. In Isaiah, this was a name for Abraham. In Matt 17, Peter is given the sealing power
to seal the faithful into the Abrahamic covenant, to promise them the blessings
of Abraham and Sarah: seed, posterity, sons = banim = living stones.
BUT,
what if Peter / PTR had another meaning in another language that Jesus spoke,
creating double play on words.
PTR
(‘Peter’) in HEBREW is Peter = firstborn [פֶּטֶר ] .
This is the Levitical technical term for the first animal or child born
to a given female, that which “openeth the womb.” See Exodus 13:12. The firstborn belongs to God and in Genesis,
one of the rights of the firstborn is to be the priest for the family. פֶּטֶר also means “to set free”.
See Isaiah 22:22 : “he shall open and non shall shut.” The PTR is to
open the earth and set the prisoners of death go free
So,
naming Simon “Peter” may be Jesus’s way of appointing HIS firstborn : his first
convert (see Matt 16:16), his ‘oldest son’.
(See Philemon v. 10,16 for usage of ‘son’ for your converts)
As
the firstborn, Peter REPLACES the Levites in holding the priesthood in the new
Church established by Jesus Christ in mortality, effectively reversing or
returning priesthood rights to all families. (see Numbers 6 for where the
Levites were chosen to replace the firstborn as the priests). In Matt 17, Peter
receives all the priesthood keys to be the new high priest after Jesus.
As
the firstborn, Peter becomes the birthright son who is responsible to care for
the whole family, especially the widows, orphans and strangers (read:
Gentiles). He becomes the president of the High Priesthood (responsible for
spiritual / temple blessings) and the
presiding bishop of the church (responsible for temporal blessing, especially
for the poor, widows [single women], orphans [fatherless children], and
strangers in the land [those not yet members of the covenant people, whether in
this life or the next!].
As
the firstborn, Peter will also die as a sacrifice: so he is martyred in Rome.
I also think that the Akedah ( Abraham offering Isaac on Moriah) is actually Isaac’s endowment ceremony: when Isaac choses God to be his God by allowing himself to be bound (which is what Akedah means) and is taught all about the atonement.
More stuff: just a note to go along with "Peter" yesterday: none of this midrash was meant to replace any current interpretations of the text. Just to supplement them.
The rock is personal revelation : Matt 16:18 : we will see Peter continuing to receive revelation in the book of Acts, and as “lively stones” which comprise the House of the LORD, we are encouraged by President Nelson, our current “Peter, “ to seek revelation in our lives.
One Jewish understanding of keys and “binding and loosing” (Matt 16:19) is this:
Having a key
to something implies authority to USE the key.
In Talmudic times (after the temple was destroyed by the Romans), a
Rabbi who was considered exceptionally astute and faithful was ordained by the
Sanhedrin with authority - HB smichah
- to make judgment calls about how to interpret the law of Moses in
everyday applications. To this day,
Orthodox Jews still have rabbinical courts (din)
who make those decisions today. The rulings that a rabbi with smichah makes are
considered binding on earth and in heaven (meaning God himself accepts that
rabbi’s legal interpretation).
What is
cool is that that is exactly what Jesus (think Sermon on the mount) did: He reinterpreted
scripture and how to apply it. When the
Jews asked,"by what authority? who gave YOU smichah?" His
answer was, "My Father." Then, He gave that authority to Simon
Peter to reinterpret the laws through receiving continuing personal revelation
(think of the dream of the sheet full of unclean animals). Peter then made the judgment calls necessary
for the law to be applied fairly in his day: ie. baptized Gentiles were to be
accepted into the Kingdom without circumcision.
FOUNDATION STONE – UPON THIS ROCK
I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH
STONE: EBEN אֶבֶן Definition:
a stone [ from the root banah בָּנָה to build (begin
to) build (-er), obtain children, make, repair]
Gen. 28:18, 22
And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that
he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and
poured oil upon the top of it; this stone was to be God’s House. Jacob
repeated it in Gen. 35:14
Gen. 49:24 – Joseph’s blessing “the stone of
Israel” prophecies of Jesus Christ; see also D&C 50:44
Ex. 20:25 – Altar of stone erected after 10
Commandments given by Jehovah, as well as at Ebal & Gerizim (Deut.27:4)
Ex. 24:12 – Commandments written on tables of
stone, by the finger of God (Ex.31:18)
Ex. 28:9-10 The ephod was held on the High Priest’s
shoulders by two stones engraven with the names of all 12 tribes as a memorial
to Israel that the HP bore their names on his shoulders into the presence of
the Lord. (28:21) This is also true of the 12 stones in the breastplate. Cf
Ex.39:1-31
Deut. 27: 4,5,6; 28 Commandments to be written on stones
after crossing over the Jordan. Joshua did this at Shechem, between Mt Ebal and
Mt Gerazim, where he also built a stone altar (see Joshua 8:31-2).
Joshua 4:2-3, 5, 9. 20 Joshua was to choose 1 man from each
of the 12 tribes to pick up a stone out of the Jordan to be set up as a
memorial of God’s power to dry up the river. The 12 standing stones were set up
in a circle at Gilgal (gilgal means circle). This is also where all the
Israelite men were circumcised :made a circular cut on their own ‘standing
stones.”
1Sa 17:50 David prevailed over the Goliath with a sling
and with a stone
Job 38:6
Whereupon are the foundations of the earth fastened? or who laid the
corner stone thereof
Psa 118:22
The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the
corner.
Isa. 8:14 – [Christ] “shall be for a sanctuary;
but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of
Israel, for a gin and a snare to Jerusalem.
Isa.
28:16- Therefore
thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a
tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that
believeth shall not make haste.
17
Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the
hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the
hiding place.
Isa
54:11-12 I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and
lay thy foundations with sapphires. 12 And I will make thy windows of agates,
and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. (To be
fulfilled when the New Jerusalem is built with a foundation made of the 12
precious stones of the HP breastplate Rev 21.)
Dan. 2:34-35 – stone cut out of the mountain
without hands, becoming a great mountain and filling the whole earth
ROCK: צוּר tsoor – cliff (or sharp rock) or
Boulder; fig. a refuge; also an Edge
(as precipitous) , edge, God (one), rock, sharp, stone, strength,
strong.
Ex 17:6; Deut. 8:15
Thou shalt smite the
rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.
Ex.
33:21-22;
34:4-7 – Where the LORD reveals His name on Mt.Sinai to Moses
Deut. 32:4 – Jehovah is the ROCK [ Deut. 32:15]
which Israel forsook [Deut. 32:18]
the ROCK that begat Israel! [ Deut. 32:31,
37] But their rocks are not our ROCK!
1 Sam. 2:2 – No ROCK like our God, Jehovah.
Ps. 18:2 – The LORD is my ROCK, fortress,
deliverer, high tower [ Ps. 18:31]
Ps. 19:14 – ROCK here is “STRENGTH” and
salvation (62:2)
Ps. 27:5 –HIDE me in time of trouble in thy
pavilion, in the secret of the Tabernacle, hide me “upon a ROCK”
Ps. 31:2- House of defense, ROCK, fortress.
Ps. 61:2-3 ROCK =
Tabernacle/tent
See also Ps.
89:26, Ps. 89:43, Ps. 92:15, Ps. 94:22, Ps. 95:1, Ps. 105:41, Ps. 114:8, Ps. 144:1, Prov. 30:19, Isa. 2:10, Isa. 2:19, Isa. 2:21, Isa. 8:14, Isa. 10:26, Isa. 17:10, Isa. 26:4, Isa. 30:29, Isa. 44:8,
Isa. 48:21,
Isa. 48:21,
Isa. 51:1,
Jer. 18:14,
Jer. 21:13,
Nahum 1:6,
Hab. 1:12,
Matt. 5:21,
27,
Luke 9:8,
19,
Acts 15:7,
21,
21:16,
2 Cor. 5:17,
2 Pet. 2:5,
Rev. 12:9,
20:2
Foundation Stone
This is a prophecy of Jesus
Christ, in which he is called a stone, a tried stone (or a stone tested for
strength), and a precious corner stone. A cornerstone adds permanence and
strength to the foundation of a building. Here the building is the latter-day
Zion, and "he that believeth" may have a "sure foundation"
on which to build (1 Pet. 2:6-8).
He that believeth shall not
make haste. Peter's quotation of
Isaiah here reads, "He that believeth on him shall not be confounded"
(1 Pet. 2:6), and Paul's quotation reads, "shall not be ashamed"
(Rom. 9:33; 10:11). The meaning of this phrase, then, is: "Whosoever believes on him [Christ, the
stone] shall not be [confounded or] ashamed." Understanding Isaiah –
p. 254, Parry
1 Peter 2:4-10. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, 5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house,
an holy priesthood, to offer
up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture,
Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect,
precious: and he that
believeth on him shall not be
confounded. 7 Unto
you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which
the builders disallowed, the
same is made the head of the corner, 8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of
offence, even to them which
stumble at the word, being
disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
9 But ye are a
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye
should that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of
darkness into his marvellous light: 10
Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God:
which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
“From the Psalmist, Peter
quoted the inspired prophecy, "The stone which the builders refused is
become the head stone of the corner" (Psalm 118:22), having reference to
the rejection by the Jews of their Messiah and his subsequent acceptance by
them as the foundation or cornerstone upon which they should build.
“It is to the Book of Mormon
that we turn to see how the Jews would both reject their Messiah and yet have
him as "the head of their corner." Jacob, son of Lehi, foretelling
our Lord's mortal ministry said: "I perceive by the workings of the Spirit
which is in me, that by the stumbling of the Jews they will reject the stone
upon which they might build and have safe foundation. But behold, according to
the scriptures, this stone shall become the great, and the last, and the only
sure foundation, upon which the Jews can build. And now, my beloved, how is it
possible that these, after having rejected the sure foundation, can ever build
upon it, that it may become the head of their corner? Behold, my beloved
brethren, I will unfold this mystery unto you." (Jacob 4:15-18.)
“By way of explanation, Jacob
then quotes from the Prophet Zenos, the allegory of the tame and wild olive
tree, and shows how in the latter-days, after a long night of apostasy and
darkness and following the restoration of the gospel, the Jews will be led to
believe and gain sanctuary with Christ through faith in his name. (Jacob 5 and
6.) Bruce R. McConkie, NTDC
Vol.1
Ideas
and connections to consider:
·
Wise man builds his house upon a rock - Matt.7:25; 3 Nephi 14:24
·
Upon this rock, I will build my church – Matt.16:18
·
Gold plates were molten out of rock – 1 Nephi 17:16
·
He that is built upon the rock of Christ, receives the
word of truth of God with gladness – 2 Nephi 28
·
Christ’s doctrine builds upon His Rock – 3 Nephi11:39
·
The 16 stones of Brother of Jared were molten out of rock
to give light to those in darkness – Ether 3:1
·
If ye are built on the rock of Christ, your enemies
cannot prevail – D&C 6:34
·
Christ’s word is His Rock, His Church, His Gospel –
D&C11:16, 24
·
Christ is the cornerstone of the the Temple Eph.2:20; Mark 12:10; Matt 21:42-44
IT IS UPON THE ROCK OF OUR
REDEEMER, WHO IS CHRIST THE SON OF GOD, THAT YE MUST BUILD YOUR FOUNDATION…A
SURE FOUNDATION WHERE ON IF MEN BUILD, THEY CANNOT FALL. Hel.3:12
At one time, this area on top
of Mt. Moriah had been a threshing floor, and was made of rock. Today, the Dome of the Rock is built surrounding this rock.
Some scholars believe that
the rock where Isaac was offered became the great rock foundation of the Holy
of Holies in Solomon’s Temple.
During the celebration of
Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles), the Talmud tells us that the Jews
circumambulated the temple, and later their synagogues carrying willow and palm
branches and reciting the “Hoshanot” (‘Hosannas’). One of those shouts is “Hosanna, Eben Shetiyah, Hosanna!” They would pile up their branches at the end
of Sukkot and burn them. This may be the
source of why Catholics burn their Palm Sunday branches after Easter and save
the ashes to use the next year to mark the foreheads of worshippers on Ash
Wednesday.
Ps.29:10; Job 38:8 – can be
seen as alluding to the stone or rock as God’s throne, the foundation for the Ark
of the Covenant. This stone was set to
control the bounds of the waters of chaos and flood under the earth. Thus He is
“enthroned” over the flood. When God wanted to flood the earth in the days of
Noah, He removed the ‘foundation stone’ and chaos flooded the earth.
This rock is seen by many
rabbis as the top of the cosmic mountain, the first piece of earth that came up
during creation, where the separation of the waters on earth began. It was
viewed as the “highest point” the Mountain of the Lord, or the Holy Mountain.
Mishnah describes 10 degrees
of holiness in concentric rings surrounding the Holy of Holies. The stone is
the center point of those rings and thus, the holiest of all things.
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