Joseph Describes Spiritual Sight How could Joseph have had this vision of Moroni as he was in a room with his siblings at the time? Perhaps we are looking at this from a Western mindset and need to ask a different question. What kind of vision was this? What doContinue Reading

Mormon 7-9 Show Notes Mormon 7 Mormon 7.1 – Mormon speaks to a “remnant” of “this people”… reminiscent of Isaiah’s words that “a remnant shall return…” (Isaiah 10.21) Know that ye are of the House of Israel (2) Lay down your weapons of war (4)… it is literally as ifContinue Reading

Show notes for 3 Nephi 17-19 – 3 days of Jesus’ visits (although he periodically returns to them – see 3 Ne. 26.13) 3 Nephi 17 – Jesus heals the sick and the children are brought to him (1-2) You are weak… go home (3) Jesus is going back toContinue Reading

The Book of Mormon is written in code.1 It has many layers. On the surface we read the stories, wars, sermons, and the situations the heroes in the text find themselves in. Underneath the text there is the message about the mysteries of God, the temple, and character of theContinue 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

The Tree of Life vision is a lens through which Nephi’s visions are seen in the chapters of 1 Nephi 11-14. Once Nephi sees the tree, he realizes that this is the only thing that will make us happy. Every thing else is just an imitation. Some important things toContinue Reading

The following is an excerpt from The Message of the Joseph Smith an Egyptian Endowment by Hugh Nibley. Commentary: The Garden of Abundance It would seem that the standard procedure in the mysteries is to enter a new life or a new world through a garden, where one rests forContinue 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

The apostle John describes a massive perfect cube coming out of heaven, joining earth. There is only one cube I know of from the Bible, and that is the Holy of Holies (Vulgate, “Sanctum Sanctorum”; Hebrew “Ḳodesh ha-Ḳodashim,” or, more fully, “Bet Ḳodesh ha-Ḳodashim”) as described in the Old Testament.Continue Reading