The Mysteries of Solomon’s Temple

Overview

❖ What does the Bible say, and not say of the Temple ritual?

❖ What are the temple mysteries?

Overview

❖ Mystery 1- celestial temple and throne❖ Mystery 2- Before the Beginning❖ Mystery 3- Council of God in the celestial temple❖ Mystery 4- Human participation in Council of God❖ Mystery 5- Entering the Holy of Holies

What does the Bible say (and not say) about the Israelite temple?

What is found in biblical temple narratives?

❖ description of physical layout, furniture and utensils (Ex. 25-27, 35-40; 1 Kgs. 6-7; 2 Chr. 3-4)

❖ description of priestly vestments (Ex. 28, 39)❖ description of physical acts of sacrificial rituals

performed in outer courtyard (Lev. 1-7, 16)❖ description of sacred calendar of holy days (Lev.

23-25; Deut. 15-16)

What is absent from biblical temple narratives?

❖ no description of what is said✦ ritual speech, prayers, blessings, psalms, readings,

teachings, revelations, prophecies❖ no detailed description of meaning✦mythos, symbolism, significance, purpose, origin

❖ Form without Meaning

Moses 5:6-7 (Form vs. Meaning)

❖  5 And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.

❖  6 And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.

❖  7 And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.

Ancient temple mysteries

❖ Ancient Greek categorization of temple mysteries!✦ 1- “things done” (dromena), ritual acts or drama✦ 2- “things revealed/shown” (deiknumena), either

objects that were unveiled and shown, or esoteric knowledge revealed

✦ 3- “things said” (legomena) ritual speech, commentary and explanation

Biblical explanations of temple mysteries

❖ 1- “things done” (dromena)✦ found in the Bible

❖ 2- “things revealed/shown” (deiknumena)✦not found in the Bible

❖ 3- “things said” (legomena)✦not found in the Bible✦ some allusions in Psalms and other texts

Temple mysteries

❖ One of the peculiar things about trying to understand what happened in the Israelite temple is that the Bible doesn’t actually tell us. The lengthy descriptions of the layout, priestly robes, sacrificial ritual, and calendar is accompanied by neither a description of what should be said by the priests (prayers, hymns, ritual sayings, etc.), nor an explanation of the meaning of those rituals.

What is missing?

❖ Unless one assumes that nothing was said in the Israelite temple, there must have been an unrecorded oral tradition that taught these things

❖ The content of the temple mysteries can sometimes be inferred from other biblical texts.

What are the temple “mysteries”?

What are the mysteries?

❖ in OT = word sôd or rāz ✦ KVJ doesn’t translate “mystery”

•= uses “council or secret”✦ term mystery is found in all other scriptures

❖ Greek “mystery” = mustērion (musth/rion)✦ literally “mouth shut” = things not publicly revealed or

discussed✦ “secret, secret rite, secret teaching” of God (BDAG 662)

❖ Exoteric vs. Esoteric

❖ esōteros (esw¿teroß) and esōterikos (esw¿terikoß)

❖ Greek ! Latin ! English❖ exoteric ! = exterior ! = outer, outside❖ esoteric ! = interior ! = inner, inside (enter)

❖ Exoteric vs. Esoteric

❖ exoteric (“outer”) beliefs and practices that are publicly taught and widely know✦discussed in the Bible

❖ esoteric (“inner”) ideas and practices, teachings that are restricted to the prepared, enlightened, initiated, educated, or spiritually advanced✦ esoterica = esoteric teachings and things

❖ Are there esoteric teachings related to the biblical Temple?

Esoterica in the Bible

❖ esōteros = rare term in Bible with technical meaning in the Septuagint (= Greek translation of Bible)

❖ inner chamber = the Holy of Holies (Ex. 26:33, 1 Kgs. 6:27, 29, 7:50; 1 Chr. 28:11; 2 Chr. 4:22; Ezek. 41:3, 17),

❖ inner court of the temple (Ezek. 8:3, 16, 10:3, 40:23-28, 44, 42:3, 5, 44:17, 44:19, 46:1)

❖ Esoteric = Inside the temple

Esoteric in the Bible

❖ esōteron tou katapetasmatos = Holy of Holies✦ Lev. 16:2, 12, 15; Heb. 6:19

❖ KJV: “ entereth into that within the veil”❖ ESV: “enters into the inner place behind the curtain.”❖ NRSV: “enters the inner shrine behind the curtain”❖ NIV: “It enters the inner sanctuary behind the

curtain.”

Esoteric in the Bible

❖ exoteric rites and teachings performed in the outer court of the Temple in view of all the people, including gentiles = blood sacrifices on altar

❖ esoteric rites and teachings performed within the temple building and restricted to the priests or even the High Priest alone = bread, wine, incense

❖ LDS Temple is purely esoteric; it has nothing to do with the ancient Israelite exoteric rites.

❖ Mysteries of Solomon’s Temple

❖ Mysteries of Solomon’s Temple are the esoterica: the things done, seen and said inside the Temple.

❖ Is there any way to discover the esoteric temple mysteries of Solomon’s temple?

Mystery 1: Celestial Temple and Throne

The Celestial Temple

❖ Most explicit in the New Testament❖ Hebrews 8:1-5, 9:11, 23-4❖ Revelation 1:12-13, 4:1-11, 11:1-4, 21:1-22:5❖ Found throughout the non-biblical texts

LORD/Jehovah/Yahweh/YHWH/hwhy

❖ Hebrew: proper name of God is hwhy = YHWH

❖ In KJV translated LORD in small capital letters❖ Exod 3:15 The LORD God of your fathers, ... hath sent me

unto you: this is my name for ever, ❖ Hebrew = hDwh ◊y = Yĕhwāh or Yahweh

✦ Transliterated as YeHoWaH✦ written in Latin as Jehovah

•Old Latin J = Y and V = W

❖ Celestial Temple and Throne in OT (Isaiah 6)

❖ 1 “I saw also the Lord (ʾǎdōnāy) sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his [robe] filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims [“blazing ones” = cherubim? = angels]: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one [seraph] cried unto another, and said, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD (Yahweh) of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.’”

The Celestial Temple and Throne

❖ Celestial: Ps. 11:4 “The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven”(c. Ps. 33:13-14)✦Rev. 11:19, 14:17, 15:5, 16:17

❖ Preexistent: Jer. 17:12 “A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.”

❖ Eternal: Ps. 45:6 “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever”(cf. 1 Kings 22:19; Ezekiel 1, 10; and Daniel 7:9-10)

❖ Jerusalem temple is God’s earthly throne

❖ “the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth/sitteth between the cherubims [of the ark of the covenant]” (1 Sam. 4:4; 2 Sam. 6:2; 2 Kings 19:15; 1 Chr. 13:6; Ps. 99:1)

❖ Jer. 3:16-17 “they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD”

Terrestrial Temple

❖ The terrestrial temple is a copy of the pattern of the celestial temple✦Moses sees “pattern” (tabnīt) of the tabernacle on

Sinai (Ex 25:9,40, 26:30)✦God writes the “pattern” (tabnīt) of the temple for

David (1 Chr 28:19)

Celestial Temple

❖ God dwells enthroned in his celestial temple❖ The celestial temple is the real temple❖ The terrestrial temple is an earthly imitation of the

celestial temple❖ God dwells in his terrestrial when he visits mankind on

earth ❖ Implication: Whatever is done in the terrestrial temple

is in imitation of what is done in the celestial temple

Mystery 2: Celestial Beings

before “the beginning”?

Before the Beginning?

❖ The Genesis creation account does not describe anything “before the beginning”✦does not describe the creation of the angels or any

other celestial beings❖ But Genesis 1:26, implies the presence of other beings:✦ “God said, Let us make (naʿǎšeh) man in our image

(ṣalmēnû), after our likeness (damûtēnû).”

Sons of God before creation

❖ Job 38:4, 7 likewise implies the presence of other beings with God at before creation

❖ 4 “Where wast thou (Job) when I laid the foundations (yāṣěd) of the earth? … 7 When the morning stars (kôkbê bōker) sang together, and all the sons of God (benê ʾělōhîm) shouted for joy?”

“shouted for joy” = Hebrew yārîʿû (verb)

❖ terūʿāh (hDo…wr;Vt)= festal shout (noun) during pilgrimage to the temple

❖ Ps 89:15   Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound (terūʿāh): they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance (face/presence).

✦ = they know the proper words to say at the proper time at the temple

❖ Ps. 118:25, “save us” hôšîʿāh nāʾ (aD…n hDoyIvwøh)❖ Call and response psalms (e.g. 24:3, “Who shall ascend?”)

Proverbs 8:22-31 (Wisdom)

❖ 22 The LORD possessed/begot (qānāh) me [Wisdom] in the beginning of his Way, ...

❖ 23 ... from the beginning, before the earth was. ❖ 27 When he prepared the heavens, I was there: ... ❖ 29 when he appointed the foundations (môsād) of the

earth: ❖ 30 Then I was beside him, as [his] Faithful One [ʾāmôn]

and I was his Beloved [šaʿǎšuʿîm], always rejoicing with him each day [yôm yôm] [of creation];

Christ as the pre-existent Wisdom

❖ Wisdom/hākmāh (H)/sophia (G)❖ Word/Logos of God in John 1✦ “In the beginning the Word was with God”

❖ Wisdom of God in Paul (1 Cor. 1:24)✦ “Christ is the power of God, and the wisdom

(sophia) of God.”

Mystery 3: Council of the Gods

in the Celestial Temple

The Council of the Gods

❖ These celestial beings were collectively known as “gods,” the “sons of God,” “host [army] of heaven,” and “Council of the Gods”✦ they are essentially divine courtiers: guards,

servants, priests, musicians, officers, heralds

God’s council (sôd or ʿǎdat)

❖ Hebrew term sôd (dwøs) means a confidential discussion, a secret or plan, an inner circle of confidants, or council✦ it is both the confidential group which discussions

the plan, and the resulting plan❖ ʿǎdat (tådSo) means a group, congregation, or council

The Council of the Gods

❖ Angel means “messenger” in Hebrew (malʾak) and Greek (angelos)✦ Is not a class of beings, but an assignment to a

member of the divine council✦By the New Testament, angel has become a term

used for any member of the divine council

•See Revelation

Psalm 82:1-6

❖ 1 God (MyIhøl∫a ělōhîm) has taken his place [on his throne] in the council (tådSo ʿǎdat) of God (lEa ʾel); in the midst of the gods (MyIhølTa ělōhîm) he holds judgment. ... 6 I [God] said, ‘You [of the divine council/ʿǎdat] are gods (MyIhølTa

ělōhîm), sons of the Most High (NwøyVlRo yEnVb benê ʿelyôn), all of you.’

Amos 3:7

❖ “For my Lord YHWH doesn’t do any thing/word (rDb ∂;d dābār) without revealing his sôd to his servants the prophets.”

Job 15:8

❖ “Hast thou [Job] heard the sôd of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?”

❖ God’s sôd is composed of the “sons of God,” meeting in council (Job 1:6, 2:1)

Psalm 25:14

❖ sôd and covenant

❖ “The sôd of YHWH is for those who honor him; he makes known his covenant (berît) to them.”

❖ That is: the sôd includes the covenant

Mystery 4: Humans can participate

in the Council of the Gods

Michaiah (Kings 22:19-23)

❖ I [Michaiah] saw YHWH sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; ... 23 YHWH has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; YHWH has declared disaster for you [Jehoshaphat, king of Jerusalem].

❖ Jeremiah (Jeremiah 23:21-22)

❖ “21 I did not send the [false] prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my sôd, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.”✦ cf. Jeremiah 23:16–18

❖ Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-11)

❖ “I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his [robe] filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims [“blazing ones” = cherubim? = angels]: each one had six wings ... 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I [Isaiah], Here am I; send me. 9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

Worshipping with Angels

❖ We'll sing [psalms] and we'll shout [the terūʿāh] with the armies [hosts] of heaven [of the divine council]:

❖ “Hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb!”❖ Let glory to them in the highest [temple] be given,❖ Henceforth and forever: amen and amen!

Book of Revelation

❖ John the Beloved ascends to the temple in heaven to witness the council/sôd of God for the last days.

❖ Revelation can only be understood as a temple mystery text

❖ The ancient temple mysteries included God, angels, and human witnesses and participants

Endowment

❖ Isaiah, Jeremiah and John stood in God’s sôd thereby becoming participants in the council of God, and learning God’s plan.

❖ The ancient context for the LDS endowment is that the temple worshipper is permitted to ritually participate in the council/sôd of God, and learn God’s covenantal plan/sôd, and thereby become participants in fulfilling God’s sôd/plan.

Mystery 5: Entering Holy of Holies

❖ Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-11)

❖ I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his [robe] filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims [“blazing ones” = cherubim? = angels]: each one had six wings ... the house was filled with [incense] smoke. ...5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, ... for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the [incense] altar

High Priest represents all Israel (Ex. 28)❖ 11 shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the

children of Israel: ... 12 And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel

❖ 16 And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment ...17 And thou shalt set in it settings of [twelve] stones, even four rows of stones:

❖ 21 And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet

❖ 29 And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before YHWH continually.

❖ The High Priest enters the Holy of Holies of the temple representing all Israel.

❖ The fundamental purpose of the Israelite Temple was not to offer sacrifice; it was to bring Israel back into the presence of God.

❖ Hebrews 6-10

Jesus as Great High Priest (Hebrews)❖ 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul,

both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil [of the temple]; 20 Whither the forerunner [prodromos] is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

❖ 8:1 ... We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 2 A minister (leitourgos) of the sanctuary (hagion),

Jesus as Great High Priest (Hebrews)

❖ 10:19   Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest (hagion/holy place/temple) by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

The Mysteries of Solomon’s Temple

❖ Mystery 1- celestial temple and throne❖ Mystery 2- Before the Beginning❖ Mystery 3- Council of the gods meets in the celestial

temple❖ Mystery 4- Humans can participate in the Council of

God❖ Mystery 5- We enter the Holy of Holies

What mysteries does God reveal?

❖ God’s secret purpose (sôd) for creation ❖ God’s covenant with humans who participant in the

divine council (sôd)❖ God’s secret plan (sôd) for the future❖ particular assignments for individual human

participants