Mosiah 1-6 mentions several features of the Feast of Tabernacles: the pilgrimage of entire families to the temple, the dwelling of the people in booths or tents, as well as the offering of sacrifices. According to Stephen Ricks, the correlation of King Benjamin’s speech to the elements in the FeastContinue Reading

The text of 1 Nephi 16-21 covers many of the struggles that Nephi faced in trying to get his family to the promised land. We read of his trials and how he and his brothers respond to them. One of the lessons of 1 Nephi is that how you respondContinue Reading

The Feast of Tabernacles Overview of the Ancient Temple Drama The ancient temple drama was an experience that helped groups of Israelites to experience what it was like for prophets to be called of God to do his work. The presentation of the prophet before the heavenly council was somethingContinue Reading

I always like to go through the narrative of David’s call to kingship as found in 1 Samuel. Right off the bat, we see three different narratives: He is chosen and anointed king by Samuel (1 Samuel 16.1-13). David is chosen due to his musical skill in healing King Saul’sContinue Reading

1 Nephi 8-11 Coming into the presence of God in his temple There are multiple ways to read the story of the Tree of Life. Certainly this story is first and foremost about God’s love and invitation for all men to come into his presence through the Atonement of hisContinue Reading

Nephite Temple Worship Compared to Israelite Texts The following is a portion of an article by Don Bradley entitled “Piercing the Veil: Temple Worship in the Lost 116 Pages.” This was a presentation given at the FairMormon Conference in 2012. Don’s position is that the Nephites worked to replicate theContinue Reading

The Psalms were originally the text of the ancient Israelite temple services. Their poetry was woven into a magnificent eight day pageant-like temple drama that depicted the full eternal sweep of the Savior’s mission and his Atonement. The principles taught in that drama were accurately preserved on the brass platesContinue Reading

Articles Othmar Keel, “The Enthronement,” section 2, of Chapter V: The King in The Symbolism of the Biblical World: Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Book of Psalms [1997] pages 256-268. See: Symbolism of the Biblical World Stephen D. Ricks and John J. Sroka, “King, Coronation, and Temple: Enthronement Ceremonies inContinue Reading