(Palos Verdes Stake of Zion)
We thank Dr. Robert B. Sklaroff for filling in what we don't know and are learning of Israel.
His updates are marked in green and yellow.
Everyone is pleased to be back from a
summer break in July. We move into
studying the Pearl of Great Price and related subjects to do with Moses and
Israel at the time of Abraham.
{PGP abbreviates Pearl of Great Price.}
CURRENT
POLITICS TO DO WITH USA/ISRAEL/GOSPEL
Israel has
sovereignty over Temple Mount even though Jordanians have their police force
there also. The Muslims from Jordan are there as peacekeepers. For
13 days, Muslims imposed a ban on themselves to not go to Temple Mount. www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Mount
{The backstory as to how the current situation developed is summarized in
an essay that notes the Jordanians were provided immediate control DURING the
Six Day War in 1967.
Now, they have
metal detectors and cameras and the Islam/Muslims freaked out, “Get those out!”
Then they rioted. Their Muslim leaders told them to stay off Temple
Mount in protest. The violence has become awful because of cameras and
metal detectors on the Muslim side.
The whole
Temple Mount has been closed, with Netanyahu saying it will open, but ‘we will
leave the cameras and cameras up.’ Later, he says he responds to public
feeling (and the threat of talks ending) and removes the metal detectors and
cameras on July 27th. There is new technology that can detect
weapons with advanced cameras (to be installed in six
months).
Jewish leaders
see it as prophesy, as they all go up to Temple Mount to pray. They have
prepared and expect to see the building the third temple on this
location.
{Jews aren't permitted to pray on the Temple Mount and only a few
envision [re]building a new Temple on that site.}
The ninth day of August is the
last day of the Jewish holiday, commemorating the destruction of ancient
temples of Solomon and Herod.
{The First Temple was built by Solomon, but destroyed by the Babylonians;
the Second Temple was built under the Babylonians (Cyrus/Darius) and
reconstructed by the Romans (Herod), but destroyed by the Romans (Titus).
Tisha B’Av is celebrated with
fasting and prayer.
The religious
Jewish people feel that Netanyahu let them down by yielding to public pressure.
They are willing to wait six months to see if security measures return. For the
first time in 2,000 years Jewish and Christian people can go up to Temple Mount
and pray freely. This is their holiest site in the world. The
enlightenment of time comes though the darkest of times.
{I would posit that Bethlehem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
are the holiest sites in Christendom; this (and the Western Wall) is
most-definitely the holiest in Judaism.}
UNESCO renamed the Western
Wall, giving it a Muslim name, ‘maral morocco’. It gives the Islam/Muslim
state a religious monopoly with the Jewish people having no claim. This
is sad because the Temple Mount is for the entire world. It will only get
worse.
Jewish people
feel they were given a ‘window of time’ to fulfill prophesy. Only the Conon
priests (descendants of Aaron, tribe of Leviticus) are being trained.
According to Jewish Law only the priests should be allowed to remove the dead
and cleanse the holy ground at Temple Mount. The murdered were removed,
but Temple Mount will now be cleansed by Jewish ritual.
{The Kohanim (priests) were Levites, with much of their ritual detailed
in the book of Leviticus; myriad ways of spelling this word (including
"Cohn" which was my mother's maiden name) depict descendants of these
descendants of Aaron.}
In the
latter days, before the coming of Messiah, this ritual was predicted to be
restored. Here it is: one more prophesy being fulfilled. The robes, incense, procedures are complicated, now in place.
Artifacts are ready to go into the new temple.
{It is highly unlikely that this will soon transpire, noting interim
events....}
There
are two buildings up there: the Dome of the Rock, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The reason they go to
the Western Wall to pray is because that wall was the closest to the Holy of
Holies, and that wall was the only wall to the temple that was left.
{Only 10% of the Wall is exposed (on the southern end), with the other
90% being underground; it has been excavated so that visitors (including
myself, a decade ago) can walk its entire length (and emerge in the Arab
Quarter, to be escorted back to the Kotel by armed-guards).}
God tested
Abraham, telling him to sacrifice Isaac on that mount, and so Christians and
Jewish faithful look to Temple Mount as a holy place. Mohammad ascended
to heaven from there.
{The Akedah on Mount Moriah was interrupted, but not before Judaism was
born; Mohammed ascended from the Al-Aksa Mosque in the southern end, but it's
not mentioned in the Qur'an.}
THEOLOGY
STUDY
For the first time in 100 years, Bible
study has returned to the White House cabinet.
Attribute Mike Pence who really loves the Lord. Cabinet sessions begin with prayer.
This hour begins our study of the 60
pages of the Pearl of Great Price.
Matthew 13:45-46 says the Kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl found in a
field. When one found it, he sold all that he had to obtain the pearl of great
price. Franklin D. Richards was a
mission president in England and needed material to teach the new Saints.
In 1851, Franklin D. Richards was mission
president in England when they were seeing great growth. He collected material and named the
compilation, “The Pearl of Great Price”.
Have you considered why Moses needed
Aaron? ‘Slow of speech’ in Hebrew means
that he could not speak ‘properly’, not that he had a speech impediment. Moses
was raised in the language of the Egyptian, not Hebrew. In the Jewish Talmud …[we learn more, later.]
We read the Prelude. … These items were divinely received,
translated and produced by the Prophet Joseph Smith, and most were published in
the Church periodicals of his day. It was an effort to reach people, including the
new members in England, 2,000 people at a time.
Current contents of the Pearl of Great
Price, now accepted as scripture, have been reduced from 20 items to the
following five items. Some of the
original 20 were moved into the Doctrine and Covenants, also in the LDS cannon
of scriptures: (Bible, Book of Mormon,
Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price.)
1.
Selections from the Book of Moses
2.
The Book of
Abraham
3.
Testimony of
Matthew, Inspired Translation by Joseph Smith
4.
Excerpts from
Joseph Smith’s official testimony and history
5.
The Articles of
Faith of the LDS Church, (written to
owner/editor of Chicago newspaper)
There are amazing reasons to study the
Pearl of Great Price. We find out
inspiration and revelation not found anywhere else, not in the Bible and not in
the Book of Mormon. We find out more
about premortal life. Christ volunteered
to fulfill Father’s need for a Savior. The
Book of Enoch is also included in the Pearl of Great Price, and ‘Man of
Holiness’ is Heavenly Father, and ‘Son of Man of Holiness’’ is not fully written
or spoken because it is so sacred.
A favorite scripture of all time is Moses
1:39 “This is my work and my glory, to
bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” That would be us. Everything on this Earth
is for His work and His glory. He is in
charge. That is the reason this earth
and entire universe was created.
He loves us so much. All mankind can be saved in the Kingdom of
God by accepting/obeying.
The Book of Moses consists of two
things: (1) A direct revelation to
Joseph Smith. God told him to rewrite
the Book of Genesis because precious words were lost. As he begins the task, he has a revelation
and vision had by Moses. (2) We have the translation in addition. They are two
different things.
There is an apocryphal book that has
Moses information but was not available at the time: Jubilees-1.
Focus on this: Moses had a
vision, given to Joseph Smith also. From
Jubilees we learn about the burning bush, God speaking to Moses, “Remove thy
shoes from thy feet because thou are on holy ground.” The mountain was their temple for their time.
Between the burning bush and the Exodus,
there was another meeting and vision.
This vision was about the inhabitants of all the earth. That makes sense, before the exodus. This is
what we will be studying: God gave Moses
knowledge and power before leading a nation out of Egypt.
All the great prophets, even Jesus
Christ, ascended to a mountain to receive a greater law. Peter, James, and John also ascended. Moses received the higher law, then waited 40
years before returning to confront the ruling pharaoh. You don’t do that if you don’t have heavenly
power.
After the resurrection there were 40 days
before Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven.
We’ve studied how Christ taught the Apostles and they then traveled and
preached with power.
God taught Moses many things as in a
temple experience. It was like his
orientation. We know that God empowers
his leaders in holy places, temples or mountains. Think of Solomon’s Temple, other temples,
temples today. Why? Because that is where He comes—that is where
He instructs his prophets and leaders.
That is why the Dome of the Rock (at Temple Mount) is important. That stone is the first rise of land out of
water in the Creation.
Abraham anointed that rock as an altar
unto God, dedicating it to God. It is
Temple Beth El, the holy temple mount.
David conquered Jerusalem and went to Mt Mariah.
The Book of Moses is all about the
creation of the world. Dr. Hugh Nibley
writes about a temple to interpret the signs in the heavens. It is where you
get your bearings in the universe.
Amazing that all the world focuses on
that little rock. Joseph Smith
prophesied that the temple will be rebuilt there. Jesus went to that little area. Think about all of this.
The sacred things were not all at Mt
Moriah, like the vision of Jacob sleeping on a sacred rock.
There are doctrinal reasons why Christ
atoned for the entire universe there.
Buddhists and Hindus have their sacred, but different, places. They all believe that Messiah will come and
reveal himself as the God of the whole universe. I.e., Jesus the Christ will be
in the third temple.
NOTE: Please review these student
notes.
Lynnette and Charles.Edwin.Shipp@gMail.com
[Any errors are ours, not Teacher-Rynna's]
Thanks to Dr. Robert B. Sklaroff for ADDITIONS
