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Ascending the Mountain of the Lord: Temple, Praise, and Worship in the Old Testament
The Psalmist asks, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?” This year’s Sperry Symposium discusses ascending into the Lord’s mountain within the context of theophany, ancient temple worship, sacred space, sacrifice, offerings, and hymns and songs in the text of the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon. The scriptures contain a rich treasury of information of how ancient Israelites and the people in the Book of Mormon worshipped God and expressed themselves through ritual and devotions as found in the Psalms. These explorations of ancient temple worship help us to better understand and appreciate latter-day temple and worship traditions.
413 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 18, 2020
Quite a difficult read. The book is filled with historical research regarding the ancient temples. The vocabulary seemed to be chosen to impress the readers rather than to edify.
July 7, 2022
This is a helpful collection of talks and articles from the 42nd annual Sidney Sperry Symposium focused on the Old Testament and specifically what the Old Testament teaches us about the temple. There are some great insights here. Here are some of my favorites:
"The presence of God in their midst at the temple provided a focal point for Israelite worship and represented the link between heaven and earth (p. xi)."
"'The Menorah is probably what Moses is understood to have seen as the burning bush (p. 51).'"
"Movement inward toward the sacred center was symbolically equivalent to moving upward toward the top of the sacred mountain (p. 53)."
"Jewish and Christian teachings that the tree of knowledge symbolized the veil of the Garden of Eden sanctuary not only provide a coherent explanation for some puzzling aspects of the story of Adam and Eve, but are also consistent with an interpretive approach that attempts to comprehend how its story plot fits within larger metaplots throughout the Pentateuch (p. 59)."
"To the Israelites, the temple represented God's presence on the earth and so stood as a singular symbol of his relationship with them (p. 66)."
"The Lord does not create borders and guardians in order to merely keep people out--rather, the gatekeepers are there to mediate who may and may not enter into God's presence (p. 67)."
"As the separation of the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place makes clear, the temple was divided into areas with different levels of holiness (p. 69)."
"Just as the temple brings together the cosmic and the earthly realms, so too do the human gatekeepers have cosmic and ritual functions (p. 75)."
"Many of the Psalms have their foundation and basis within the ritual and liturgy of the Jerusalem temple (p. 76)."
"The temple, whether ancient or modern, is a physical and ritual expression of doctrine (p. 79)."
"At that final gate there will be neither human officer nor cherub to bar our way, but only God himself, for 'he employeth no servant there' (2 Nephi 9:41). In the end, only Jesus Christ is able to fully mediate for us and bring us finally into the presence of God (p. 80)."
"'When we put on Jesus Christ we accept him and his atonement, and we become like him (p. 86).'"
"'To the many two take a casual glance at the 'Jesus of Nazareth' and the 'Man of Galilee' they see an ordinary yet good man, but study that character, look into that life, note those works, and meditate upon His words. Here is no ordinary person, even though he is found in fashion as a man. There is a Divine pattern most intrinsically worked into the human frame which reveals Him to be the Son of God (p. 88).'"
"Christ's followers should not allow their lives to become corrupted (p. 89)."
"The fact that this girdle was used to bind up the loins suggests a likely origin of its symbolism. It potentially reminded the wearer of those virtues which must be tightly bound to the righteous individual--virtues present in the character of Israel's God and future Messiah... Tis hidden girdle can remind the Church of its need to be closely tied to the virtues of Christ and to ever be willing and ready to serve (p. 89)."
"The seamless design of the robe serves as a reminder that Christ's divinity has no beginning and no end (p. 91)."
"The people were free to reject Jesus' chosen and divine status, but their rejection could not change the fact that he was heavenly in his origin, authorization, and nature (p. 91)."
"All who donned the cap of the priest were really donning a commitment to live in holiness before the Lord because they had dedicated their lives to the Lord... 'it is the head that controls the whole body' (p. 97)."
"'Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with singing'... 'Bowing down' and 'serving' the Lord in the context of temple worship is a commandment, but it is also an expression of love and gratitude for our redemption (p. 129)."
"One of the most sobering and consistent messages of the Old Testament is that there are other places we can choose to bestow our loyalty and service, but we are not to go down these paths. We are to serve the Lord. We are redeemed from the bondage of sin in order to serve the Lord, and we must be careful not to ignore or despise that obligation (p. 131)."
"We do not need to have a messianic or prophetic mission in life in order to worship the Lord as his servants. In fact, recognizing that we are all called to be servants but given different missions is a humbling and also equalizing vision that can free us from envy, resentment, pride, or any desire to boast or compare (p. 133)."
"Because of his love for them, God is disposed to bless all his children to some extent. However, in addition to God's graciously bestowed blessings on all people, many divine blessings are primarily relationship dependent; that is, existing in a particular relationship with God allows one to obtain certain blessings that are often greater than those bestowed upon someone outside such a relationship (p. 136)."
"In addition to passages in which the Old Testament depicts God blessing people, there are a number of passages in which people 'bless God,' or invoke a blessing upon him (p. 141)."
"Gratitude and praise seem to be the predominant Israelite responses to the greatness, the goodness, the mercy, and the holiness of the Lord (p. 146)."
"Scriptural tradition affirms that temple worship began in the days of Adam and Eve. Tradition mentions temple-related concepts such as Adam and Eve receiving Abrahamic covenant-like promises from God of 'all the earth' as their kingdom, priesthood powers of 'dominion,' and being 'fruitful' as they 'multiply, and replenish the earth' with their seed 'worshipping the Lord their God' via sacrificial offerings (p. 158)."
"In connection with his marriage to Sarah, Abraham received the temple covenant promises of a kingdom, priesthood power, and seed (p. 159)."
"The scriptures identify the Egyptians as another example of people practicing unauthorized early temple worship (p. 161)."
"'Real, personal sacrifice... never was placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and letting it be consumed!' (Neal A. Maxwell, p. 186)"
"Jeremiah prophesied of a 'law in their inward parts', and Ezekiel wrote of 'a new spirit... within' (p. 186)."
"No wonder young Samule grew to distinguish between such inner attributes as obedience and such outer actions as sacrifice. No wonder he bemoaned Israel's confidence in a visible king and their lack of faith in an invisible God. No wonder he was able to discern the heart by looking past 'the outward appearance (p. 191).'"
"To what degree is the what of worship affected by the absence of its requisite why and who?... Purposeless worship is not merely a neutral endeavor, but a negative one (p. 194)."
"Emphasizing outward expressions at the expense of inner commitments is a continual danger in any age (p. 198)."
"Ezekiel received one of the most spectacular and detailed visions in all scripture... centered on the temple (p. 203)."
"Latter-day Saints need not fear using scholarship from those of other faiths to better understand our own (p. 212)."
"Latter-day Saints should never feel complacent in the understanding of their temples or temple worship. It is only through the arduous process of both study and faith that such illuminating insight is available (p. 213)."
"Mount Sinai looms large in the theological landscape of the Old Testament. It is 'the mountain of the Lord' and the first Israelite sanctuary. It is where the law is revealed and where an incipient nation in set apart to God (p. 218)."
"Moses reacts to the appearance of God with the typical Old Testament response: fear. Too frightened to look upon God, he hides his face. While Moses cowers, God speaks; in doing so, God reveals himself (p. 219)."
"God does not minimize the difficulty of what he asks Moses to do. Rather, he swears that he will empower Moses and will give him what he needs to succeed (p. 220)."
"Since both the serpent and the Nile are deified in Egypt, these signs also testify that Israel's God is more powerful than the gods of the Egyptians (p. 222)."
"Having stood in the presence of God and having received sacred promises confirmed by tokens, names, and signs, Moses is ready to embark on his mission (p. 222)."
"God invites Israel to enter into a covenant relationship with him. This invitation sheds additional light on the nature of God, particularly revealing his desire for an intimate relationship with his people (p. 223)."
"We first read of someone being truly in the presence of God in Genesis 17... 'The Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect' (p. 233)."
"Abraham's grandson Jacob also saw the Lord (p. 234)."
"Beginning in the book of Exodus, divine manifestations fit a pattern that will be followed throughout the rest of the Old Testament... It is the presence of light that caused Moses to turn aside and come into God's presence (p. 234)."
"Moses' theophany was essentially luminous and that light was the element that indicated God's presence (p. 235)."
"As they left Egypt, the Israelites were led by the Lord (p. 235)."
"God's presence is something beyond man's capacity to withstand because, after 'all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.' They informed Moses that they felt God's presence was too glorious for them to encounter and survive. Instead, they asked him to communicate with God for them (p. 237)."
"'You are not able to see my face: for no many will see me and live (p. 239).'"
"After this encounter, it is Moses who is filled with light, which caused him to veil his face. It seems that some of the Lord's qualities have now been transferred to Moses and that Moses is now full of light that others could not fully behold him... The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, which was simultaneously covered by such a cloud that even Moses could not enter (p. 240)."
"After the priests deposited the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies, 'the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord (p. 241).'"
"By simply saying that the Lord is standing 'upon the altar,' Amos brings in imagery of the fire and coals present there, as well as the smoke which was naturally a part of the incense altar (p. 247)."
"Even if we were transfigured, God's nature would still be so much more glorious than ours that he could not fully reveal himself to us (p. 248)."
"Hannah sees this issue as being solely between her and the Lord... she silently pours out her soul to the Lord. She sees a covenant with the Lord as the antidote to her emotional distress (p. 256)."
"Hannah was true to her word and brought young Samuel to live and serve in the sanctuary. With this decision, she becomes a model of keeping covenants even under the most difficult of circumstances (p. 257)."
"Hannah, who has no formal role, chooses instead to give more to the temple each year than was required of her by choosing to outfit her son for his duties--as if the sacrifice of her son to the temple was not already enough (p. 261)."
"Hannah... shows prophetic insight and a deep understanding of the Lord's will in her song (p. 262)."
"'And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.'... Samuel is not at first able to recognize the voice of the Lord, but the Lord is patient with him and Samuel is eventually able to respond and learn (p. 263)."
"Where Hannah's song speaks of reversals and a future hope, David's song is full of praise for victories already achieved. In other words, Hannah's hopes are fulfilled in David's words (p. 264)."
"Mary's song of praise after finding out that she will be the mother of the Son of God is similar to Hannah's song (p. 265)."
"Just as Peter opened up a new time of increased spiritual witness, Hannah had done the dame thing by preparing her child to become a prophet (p. 265)."
"Hannah's story shows a rise in fortune that accompanies righteous choices... Hannah uses the temple as a refuge, with a focus on making and keeping covenants (p. 266)."
"Hannah is living in difficult political and personal circumstances. But she chooses to focus on the Lord and the sanctuary and, by so doing, is able to change not only her own life but also the course of her entire nation (p. 267)."
"The experiences of other witnesses attest to the real possibility of seeing God in mortality, especially in the temple (p. 272)."
"In certain passages we even see the Israelites being encouraged, if not commanded, to seek the Lord's face (p. 273)."
"The Lord expected his people to seek his face in the temple. It was his dwelling place, a place of effectual, fervent prayer, and the place from which God himself would answer his people and in which he would dwell among them (p. 274)."
"Before entering the temple, the pilgrim was further elevated in purity through priestly rituals, which provided a transition to the holy realm of the temple.' Inside the temple precinct, pilgrims would see architecture designed to enhance the feeling of holiness and closeness to God by symbolically replicating the Garden of Eden (p. 277)."
"Certain psalms indicate that not everyone was permitted to enter the temple. There were requirements governing who could worship in the temple and thus seek to enjoy God's presence (p. 278)."
"Temple worshippers were required to recite from memory, using their ten fingers as memory devices, the 'moral conditions prerequisite to participation in [temple] worship.' Psalm 15 seems to have recorded an ancient confession of faith and a pledge of worthiness that certified the uprightness of the temple participant or worshipper (p. 283)."
"The ancient Egyptians did not possess the priesthood, and their temples were not sacred precincts of the true and living God. But they understood very well the connection between the requirements of purity in thought and action and the ability to enjoy the presence of the gods (p. 284)."
"A major part of Joseph Smith's ministry seems to have been devoted to helping latter-day Israel understand that the promise of seeing the Lord face-to-face in the temple was literal and real, just as ancient Israel's leaders and writers believed (p. 284)."
"'And inasmuch as my people build a house unto me in the name of the Lord, and do not suffer any unclean thing to come into it, that it be not defiled, my glory shall rest upon it (p. 285).'"
"Joseph Smith's emphasis on seeing God in the temple was not just a radical departure from Christianity of his day--it was revolutionary (p. 285)."
"In the minds of many Biblical writers, especially the Psalmist, seeking the face of the Lord was the quest of morality and... it was against the backdrop of this belief that the Psalmist encouraged every true follower of God to 'seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore' (Psalm 105:4, p. 287)."
"Psalm 95 is an important psalm of worship. It is a hymn of praise focused on one of the three major Mosaic festivals, preparing worshippers to enter into God's presence (p. 301)."
"40 percent of the words in 2 Nephi 4:29-32 also appear in Old Testament psalms. I believe these allusions stem from Nephi's mediation on the Psalms and that the high concentration of psalmic references in this pericope indicates that Nephi had access to them (p. 306)."
"While there are questions about the age and authorship of some of the later psalms, the earliest psalms are widely attributed to King David and are generally believed to have been composed in the eleventh century BC, almost half a millennium before Lehi left Jerusalem (p. 315)."
"The psalm of Nephi was carefully and meticulously crafted (p. 315)."
"While many psalms may have affected and influenced Nephi, he appears to be most directly influenced by Psalms 25-31... 'my heart'... 'my soul'... 'great goodness of the Lord'... 'hath heard my cry'... 'my God, and the rock of my salvation'... 'I know in whom I have trusted' (p. 317)."
"Psalms were set to music in order to enhance worship (p. 330)."
"The Psalms can be divided into seven groups... lament or prayer... praise... thanksgiving...royal... songs of Zion... liturgies... wisdom and Torah (p. 333)."
"The Christian churches appear to have begun their use of the psalms in their worship services soon after the establishment of Christianity (p. 338)."
"Considerations combine to give us an approximate date for the translation of Psalms of January and February 1833. Understanding the timing of this work helps position these inspired changes in the context of Joseph Smith's life and tie them to events in Church history, and this context helps us understand the meaning of the changes to Joseph Smith, the young Church, and us today (p. 351)."
"The great Jerusalem temple prophecy, found in Isaiah 2:1-3, is one of the most remarkable passages in the Hebrew Bible, or indeed, in all of ancient scripture (p. 367)."
"Temple worship is not unique to the present dispensation. The Lord directed his people in Old Testament times to construct these holy structures and even from the beginning of this earth's history, mortals have felt the need of establishing sacred sanctuaries where they can get away from worldly concerns and receive instruction pertaining to the eternities (p. 384)."
"The temple itself consisted of two main rooms, as had the tabernacle--the main hall and the inner sanctuary. Surrounding the temple on three sides was a series of small 'chambers' on three levels (p. 386)."
"Speaking at the opening of the St. George Temple, Brigham Young declared that Solomon had built his temple 'for the purposes of giving endowments,' but President Young then acknowledged that 'few if any' of these ordinances were actually received at that time. Additionally, a revelation given through Joseph Smith indicates that the ancient patriarchs and prophets held the sealing power. He taught that Elijah was the last to hold these keys before the coming of the Savior (p. 395)."
"The presence of God in their midst at the temple provided a focal point for Israelite worship and represented the link between heaven and earth (p. xi)."
"'The Menorah is probably what Moses is understood to have seen as the burning bush (p. 51).'"
"Movement inward toward the sacred center was symbolically equivalent to moving upward toward the top of the sacred mountain (p. 53)."
"Jewish and Christian teachings that the tree of knowledge symbolized the veil of the Garden of Eden sanctuary not only provide a coherent explanation for some puzzling aspects of the story of Adam and Eve, but are also consistent with an interpretive approach that attempts to comprehend how its story plot fits within larger metaplots throughout the Pentateuch (p. 59)."
"To the Israelites, the temple represented God's presence on the earth and so stood as a singular symbol of his relationship with them (p. 66)."
"The Lord does not create borders and guardians in order to merely keep people out--rather, the gatekeepers are there to mediate who may and may not enter into God's presence (p. 67)."
"As the separation of the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place makes clear, the temple was divided into areas with different levels of holiness (p. 69)."
"Just as the temple brings together the cosmic and the earthly realms, so too do the human gatekeepers have cosmic and ritual functions (p. 75)."
"Many of the Psalms have their foundation and basis within the ritual and liturgy of the Jerusalem temple (p. 76)."
"The temple, whether ancient or modern, is a physical and ritual expression of doctrine (p. 79)."
"At that final gate there will be neither human officer nor cherub to bar our way, but only God himself, for 'he employeth no servant there' (2 Nephi 9:41). In the end, only Jesus Christ is able to fully mediate for us and bring us finally into the presence of God (p. 80)."
"'When we put on Jesus Christ we accept him and his atonement, and we become like him (p. 86).'"
"'To the many two take a casual glance at the 'Jesus of Nazareth' and the 'Man of Galilee' they see an ordinary yet good man, but study that character, look into that life, note those works, and meditate upon His words. Here is no ordinary person, even though he is found in fashion as a man. There is a Divine pattern most intrinsically worked into the human frame which reveals Him to be the Son of God (p. 88).'"
"Christ's followers should not allow their lives to become corrupted (p. 89)."
"The fact that this girdle was used to bind up the loins suggests a likely origin of its symbolism. It potentially reminded the wearer of those virtues which must be tightly bound to the righteous individual--virtues present in the character of Israel's God and future Messiah... Tis hidden girdle can remind the Church of its need to be closely tied to the virtues of Christ and to ever be willing and ready to serve (p. 89)."
"The seamless design of the robe serves as a reminder that Christ's divinity has no beginning and no end (p. 91)."
"The people were free to reject Jesus' chosen and divine status, but their rejection could not change the fact that he was heavenly in his origin, authorization, and nature (p. 91)."
"All who donned the cap of the priest were really donning a commitment to live in holiness before the Lord because they had dedicated their lives to the Lord... 'it is the head that controls the whole body' (p. 97)."
"'Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with singing'... 'Bowing down' and 'serving' the Lord in the context of temple worship is a commandment, but it is also an expression of love and gratitude for our redemption (p. 129)."
"One of the most sobering and consistent messages of the Old Testament is that there are other places we can choose to bestow our loyalty and service, but we are not to go down these paths. We are to serve the Lord. We are redeemed from the bondage of sin in order to serve the Lord, and we must be careful not to ignore or despise that obligation (p. 131)."
"We do not need to have a messianic or prophetic mission in life in order to worship the Lord as his servants. In fact, recognizing that we are all called to be servants but given different missions is a humbling and also equalizing vision that can free us from envy, resentment, pride, or any desire to boast or compare (p. 133)."
"Because of his love for them, God is disposed to bless all his children to some extent. However, in addition to God's graciously bestowed blessings on all people, many divine blessings are primarily relationship dependent; that is, existing in a particular relationship with God allows one to obtain certain blessings that are often greater than those bestowed upon someone outside such a relationship (p. 136)."
"In addition to passages in which the Old Testament depicts God blessing people, there are a number of passages in which people 'bless God,' or invoke a blessing upon him (p. 141)."
"Gratitude and praise seem to be the predominant Israelite responses to the greatness, the goodness, the mercy, and the holiness of the Lord (p. 146)."
"Scriptural tradition affirms that temple worship began in the days of Adam and Eve. Tradition mentions temple-related concepts such as Adam and Eve receiving Abrahamic covenant-like promises from God of 'all the earth' as their kingdom, priesthood powers of 'dominion,' and being 'fruitful' as they 'multiply, and replenish the earth' with their seed 'worshipping the Lord their God' via sacrificial offerings (p. 158)."
"In connection with his marriage to Sarah, Abraham received the temple covenant promises of a kingdom, priesthood power, and seed (p. 159)."
"The scriptures identify the Egyptians as another example of people practicing unauthorized early temple worship (p. 161)."
"'Real, personal sacrifice... never was placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and letting it be consumed!' (Neal A. Maxwell, p. 186)"
"Jeremiah prophesied of a 'law in their inward parts', and Ezekiel wrote of 'a new spirit... within' (p. 186)."
"No wonder young Samule grew to distinguish between such inner attributes as obedience and such outer actions as sacrifice. No wonder he bemoaned Israel's confidence in a visible king and their lack of faith in an invisible God. No wonder he was able to discern the heart by looking past 'the outward appearance (p. 191).'"
"To what degree is the what of worship affected by the absence of its requisite why and who?... Purposeless worship is not merely a neutral endeavor, but a negative one (p. 194)."
"Emphasizing outward expressions at the expense of inner commitments is a continual danger in any age (p. 198)."
"Ezekiel received one of the most spectacular and detailed visions in all scripture... centered on the temple (p. 203)."
"Latter-day Saints need not fear using scholarship from those of other faiths to better understand our own (p. 212)."
"Latter-day Saints should never feel complacent in the understanding of their temples or temple worship. It is only through the arduous process of both study and faith that such illuminating insight is available (p. 213)."
"Mount Sinai looms large in the theological landscape of the Old Testament. It is 'the mountain of the Lord' and the first Israelite sanctuary. It is where the law is revealed and where an incipient nation in set apart to God (p. 218)."
"Moses reacts to the appearance of God with the typical Old Testament response: fear. Too frightened to look upon God, he hides his face. While Moses cowers, God speaks; in doing so, God reveals himself (p. 219)."
"God does not minimize the difficulty of what he asks Moses to do. Rather, he swears that he will empower Moses and will give him what he needs to succeed (p. 220)."
"Since both the serpent and the Nile are deified in Egypt, these signs also testify that Israel's God is more powerful than the gods of the Egyptians (p. 222)."
"Having stood in the presence of God and having received sacred promises confirmed by tokens, names, and signs, Moses is ready to embark on his mission (p. 222)."
"God invites Israel to enter into a covenant relationship with him. This invitation sheds additional light on the nature of God, particularly revealing his desire for an intimate relationship with his people (p. 223)."
"We first read of someone being truly in the presence of God in Genesis 17... 'The Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect' (p. 233)."
"Abraham's grandson Jacob also saw the Lord (p. 234)."
"Beginning in the book of Exodus, divine manifestations fit a pattern that will be followed throughout the rest of the Old Testament... It is the presence of light that caused Moses to turn aside and come into God's presence (p. 234)."
"Moses' theophany was essentially luminous and that light was the element that indicated God's presence (p. 235)."
"As they left Egypt, the Israelites were led by the Lord (p. 235)."
"God's presence is something beyond man's capacity to withstand because, after 'all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.' They informed Moses that they felt God's presence was too glorious for them to encounter and survive. Instead, they asked him to communicate with God for them (p. 237)."
"'You are not able to see my face: for no many will see me and live (p. 239).'"
"After this encounter, it is Moses who is filled with light, which caused him to veil his face. It seems that some of the Lord's qualities have now been transferred to Moses and that Moses is now full of light that others could not fully behold him... The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, which was simultaneously covered by such a cloud that even Moses could not enter (p. 240)."
"After the priests deposited the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies, 'the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord (p. 241).'"
"By simply saying that the Lord is standing 'upon the altar,' Amos brings in imagery of the fire and coals present there, as well as the smoke which was naturally a part of the incense altar (p. 247)."
"Even if we were transfigured, God's nature would still be so much more glorious than ours that he could not fully reveal himself to us (p. 248)."
"Hannah sees this issue as being solely between her and the Lord... she silently pours out her soul to the Lord. She sees a covenant with the Lord as the antidote to her emotional distress (p. 256)."
"Hannah was true to her word and brought young Samuel to live and serve in the sanctuary. With this decision, she becomes a model of keeping covenants even under the most difficult of circumstances (p. 257)."
"Hannah, who has no formal role, chooses instead to give more to the temple each year than was required of her by choosing to outfit her son for his duties--as if the sacrifice of her son to the temple was not already enough (p. 261)."
"Hannah... shows prophetic insight and a deep understanding of the Lord's will in her song (p. 262)."
"'And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.'... Samuel is not at first able to recognize the voice of the Lord, but the Lord is patient with him and Samuel is eventually able to respond and learn (p. 263)."
"Where Hannah's song speaks of reversals and a future hope, David's song is full of praise for victories already achieved. In other words, Hannah's hopes are fulfilled in David's words (p. 264)."
"Mary's song of praise after finding out that she will be the mother of the Son of God is similar to Hannah's song (p. 265)."
"Just as Peter opened up a new time of increased spiritual witness, Hannah had done the dame thing by preparing her child to become a prophet (p. 265)."
"Hannah's story shows a rise in fortune that accompanies righteous choices... Hannah uses the temple as a refuge, with a focus on making and keeping covenants (p. 266)."
"Hannah is living in difficult political and personal circumstances. But she chooses to focus on the Lord and the sanctuary and, by so doing, is able to change not only her own life but also the course of her entire nation (p. 267)."
"The experiences of other witnesses attest to the real possibility of seeing God in mortality, especially in the temple (p. 272)."
"In certain passages we even see the Israelites being encouraged, if not commanded, to seek the Lord's face (p. 273)."
"The Lord expected his people to seek his face in the temple. It was his dwelling place, a place of effectual, fervent prayer, and the place from which God himself would answer his people and in which he would dwell among them (p. 274)."
"Before entering the temple, the pilgrim was further elevated in purity through priestly rituals, which provided a transition to the holy realm of the temple.' Inside the temple precinct, pilgrims would see architecture designed to enhance the feeling of holiness and closeness to God by symbolically replicating the Garden of Eden (p. 277)."
"Certain psalms indicate that not everyone was permitted to enter the temple. There were requirements governing who could worship in the temple and thus seek to enjoy God's presence (p. 278)."
"Temple worshippers were required to recite from memory, using their ten fingers as memory devices, the 'moral conditions prerequisite to participation in [temple] worship.' Psalm 15 seems to have recorded an ancient confession of faith and a pledge of worthiness that certified the uprightness of the temple participant or worshipper (p. 283)."
"The ancient Egyptians did not possess the priesthood, and their temples were not sacred precincts of the true and living God. But they understood very well the connection between the requirements of purity in thought and action and the ability to enjoy the presence of the gods (p. 284)."
"A major part of Joseph Smith's ministry seems to have been devoted to helping latter-day Israel understand that the promise of seeing the Lord face-to-face in the temple was literal and real, just as ancient Israel's leaders and writers believed (p. 284)."
"'And inasmuch as my people build a house unto me in the name of the Lord, and do not suffer any unclean thing to come into it, that it be not defiled, my glory shall rest upon it (p. 285).'"
"Joseph Smith's emphasis on seeing God in the temple was not just a radical departure from Christianity of his day--it was revolutionary (p. 285)."
"In the minds of many Biblical writers, especially the Psalmist, seeking the face of the Lord was the quest of morality and... it was against the backdrop of this belief that the Psalmist encouraged every true follower of God to 'seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore' (Psalm 105:4, p. 287)."
"Psalm 95 is an important psalm of worship. It is a hymn of praise focused on one of the three major Mosaic festivals, preparing worshippers to enter into God's presence (p. 301)."
"40 percent of the words in 2 Nephi 4:29-32 also appear in Old Testament psalms. I believe these allusions stem from Nephi's mediation on the Psalms and that the high concentration of psalmic references in this pericope indicates that Nephi had access to them (p. 306)."
"While there are questions about the age and authorship of some of the later psalms, the earliest psalms are widely attributed to King David and are generally believed to have been composed in the eleventh century BC, almost half a millennium before Lehi left Jerusalem (p. 315)."
"The psalm of Nephi was carefully and meticulously crafted (p. 315)."
"While many psalms may have affected and influenced Nephi, he appears to be most directly influenced by Psalms 25-31... 'my heart'... 'my soul'... 'great goodness of the Lord'... 'hath heard my cry'... 'my God, and the rock of my salvation'... 'I know in whom I have trusted' (p. 317)."
"Psalms were set to music in order to enhance worship (p. 330)."
"The Psalms can be divided into seven groups... lament or prayer... praise... thanksgiving...royal... songs of Zion... liturgies... wisdom and Torah (p. 333)."
"The Christian churches appear to have begun their use of the psalms in their worship services soon after the establishment of Christianity (p. 338)."
"Considerations combine to give us an approximate date for the translation of Psalms of January and February 1833. Understanding the timing of this work helps position these inspired changes in the context of Joseph Smith's life and tie them to events in Church history, and this context helps us understand the meaning of the changes to Joseph Smith, the young Church, and us today (p. 351)."
"The great Jerusalem temple prophecy, found in Isaiah 2:1-3, is one of the most remarkable passages in the Hebrew Bible, or indeed, in all of ancient scripture (p. 367)."
"Temple worship is not unique to the present dispensation. The Lord directed his people in Old Testament times to construct these holy structures and even from the beginning of this earth's history, mortals have felt the need of establishing sacred sanctuaries where they can get away from worldly concerns and receive instruction pertaining to the eternities (p. 384)."
"The temple itself consisted of two main rooms, as had the tabernacle--the main hall and the inner sanctuary. Surrounding the temple on three sides was a series of small 'chambers' on three levels (p. 386)."
"Speaking at the opening of the St. George Temple, Brigham Young declared that Solomon had built his temple 'for the purposes of giving endowments,' but President Young then acknowledged that 'few if any' of these ordinances were actually received at that time. Additionally, a revelation given through Joseph Smith indicates that the ancient patriarchs and prophets held the sealing power. He taught that Elijah was the last to hold these keys before the coming of the Savior (p. 395)."
July 25, 2022
I found this to be quite good. I am partial to the Sperry Symposium books to begin with and I thought that this matched quite well with this year's topics in "Come, Follow Me", the Church curriculum for the year. And it did! I think that, given that I bought it as an ebook, I was caught by surprise by how long it was - 22 essays in total. Of course, like any sort of compilation work, there are some essays that really hit and others that do not. Some that I particularly found inspiring were "The Rejection and Rehabilitation of Worship in the Old Testament", "The Tree of Knowledge as the Veil of the Sanctuary", "Approaching Holiness: Sacred Space in Ezekiel's Temple Vision", and "Seeing God in His Temple: A Significant Theme in Israel's Psalms".
The notes sections are quite extensive and make up, I'd guess, at least 1/10 of the book. I think there's a lot of merit in NOT reading this through all at once, but rather attacking whichever part parallels your own study. In such a case, the notes would definitely be worth going through as well.
I'm very grateful this was available as an ebook since the hardcover was ~90$. These compilations of BYU symposiums are always worth reading and tend to point me towards new authors and scholars who spoke to me.
The notes sections are quite extensive and make up, I'd guess, at least 1/10 of the book. I think there's a lot of merit in NOT reading this through all at once, but rather attacking whichever part parallels your own study. In such a case, the notes would definitely be worth going through as well.
I'm very grateful this was available as an ebook since the hardcover was ~90$. These compilations of BYU symposiums are always worth reading and tend to point me towards new authors and scholars who spoke to me.
March 6, 2018
Excellent essays from the 2013 Sperry Symposium. It helps me to understand the continuity of message that exists across the books of scripture and also modern revelation. I'm glad I took the time to read it.
July 5, 2023
It has taken me quite a while to read through this collection of entries on the temple in the Old Testament. The articles are not as engrossing as some in the Sperry Symposium books, but there are many insightful treasures and much interesting historical information scattered throughout the book.
May 17, 2014
This collection of papers presented at last year's Sperry Symposium are insightful and worth reading by those who worship in modern LDS temples.
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