July 8 - Divine Assemblies / Councils (Council vs. Counsel)

The doctrine of "Divine Assemblies", or "Divine Councils" is an uncomfortable one for most Christians to address, yet it is laced throughout all scripture. Here are some that readily came to Brother Satterfield's mind:

1. Amos 3:7
2. 1 Nephi 1:8 (When Lehi was in vision and saw "numerous concourses of angels" in council with God.
3. Scattered all throughout Isaiah
4. 1st Kings 22:19-20; Jehosaphat and Ahab "saw Lord sitting on throne and all heavenly hosts..."
5. DC 121 - Joseph understands premortality and discovers his need to translate Abraham
6. Abraham 3,4,5 each deal very specifically with Divine Councils
7. D&C 121:32 - "According to that which was ordained in the midst of the council..."
8. Psalms 82
9. Moses 7:35 We are told many of the names of God; "Man of Holiness", "Man of Counsel"
1. Interestingly, the Joseph Smith Manuscripts #1 and #2 vary on their wording. #1 uses "Council", and #2 uses "Counsel", which seems to be a combination of both concepts but is incorrect in spelling. So, which sort of council(sel) was intended? Bro. Sat. would love to interview Joseph.
2. The Morning & Evening Star published these verses, as well as "The Times and Seasons" published this verse twice, and each are spelled in various ways. 

God uses councils, and does nothing without addressing His councils first (the real message of Amos 3:7). Check the Hebrew words for "Revealeth his secrets to his servants the prophets". Implies "Council", not "Counsel". 

God's councils are as follows:

1. Father and Mother
2. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
3. Council of Heaven (Involves other leaders)
4. Earthly councils
1. Adam's final council before his death. All gathered in council
2. Church Hierarchical councils

July 1, Three Types of Sin, and the Way to Overcome Them

We were translating 1 Samuel 7:6, and came to an interesting word חטא, which launched the following discussion:

1. There are three types of sin. Exodus outlines them like this: "Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty;" (see Exodus 34: 7). 
1. INIQUITY: עָוָה (Avah) means to crook, or twist. Often translated "Pervert". These are sins where truth and righteousness are twisted. NSC says "Iniquity, perverse, amiss, turn, crooked,bowed down, troubled, wicked, wrong". It continues, "The perversion or distortion of nature that is caused by evildoing is represented by this word..."
2. SIN: חטא (Chatah) means to "Miss the Mark". It is used in regard to hunting or spiritual failings. Denotes that the correct path is not followed. The first Commandment: "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me", was not followed by the Israelite's at this time, so they missed the mark of following the true and living God.
3. TRANSGRESSION: פשׁע (Peshah) denotes two ideas of rebellion or revolt:
1. A goal of independence
2. The state of rebellion in which there is no end of the rebellion in view; it is no longer goal-oriented. When committed against the Lord is usually translated "Transgress" and is an expression of an apostate way of life [NSC]
3. This was the sin committed by Adam and Eve, who crossed a known boundary.
2. The Law of Moses provided a way whereby cleansing of sins could occur through sacrifice. As a basic reminder, sacrifices didn't really clean the person, since sacrifice is only symbolic. Certain events rendered someone unclean, like touching blood, or touching a corpse, or eating certain types of meat, etc. The following cleansing process took place following sins, and was a Sweet Savor to the Lord. This process was followed in what we know as the "Tabernacle of the Congregation", but a better translation is "Tent of Feast"

	God's Feast	| Priest's Feast	| Offerer's Feast
JUSTICE Sin Offering (Chatat)	X	X	O
CONSECRATION Burnt Offering (Olah)	X	O	O
RECONCILLIATION Peace (sometimes "Thanks") Offering (Shilom)	X	X	X

1. The Book of Mormon records three ordinances (Sacrifices) performed by Lehi:
1. The first came when they arrived in the borders by the Red Sea. NOTE, No sin offering made here, just burnt sacrifice and a thanks offering. There was no uncleanness. (see
   1 Nephi 2: 5-7)
2. The second came when the sons returned from killing Laban, and retrieving the Brass Plates. NOTE: Nephi would have been considered very unclean having killed a man. All three sacrifices were made. (see 1 Nephi 5: 8-9)
3. The third time came when their sons returned with Ishmael and his family. NOTE: Laman and Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael beat Nephi (likely to the point of bleeding) and sought to murder him. His brothers felt sorry, repented, and sacrifices were performed when they returned (1 Nephi 7: 22).
2. All these Rites and Rituals of old times find symbolism in LDS chapels today.
1. The Chapel is the "Tabernacle of Congregation", or the "Tent of Feast". 
2. The feast is the sacrament, offered upon the holy altar
3. God is represented by the presiding officer, who oversees the ordinances
4. Aaronic Priesthood holding Priests represent the High Priest who interceded on behalf of the offerers (offenders). 
5. We, like ancient Israelites, bring our offering (an animal) to the altar, but we offer a broken heart and contrite spirit. I have learned that an unsatisfying sacrament meeting is evidence that I brought no sacrifice with me to the altar. Satisfaction comes when all three, God, the priest, the presiding officer, and ourselves are reconciled. 
3. When the Angel asked Nephi if he knew the condescension of God, and the meaning of the tree he saw, he was immediately shown a young virgin. He then saw the virgin but miraculously bearing a child - the Lamb of God. The tree is a symbol of Christ, the Lamb of God, the Condescension of God. 
1. Modern day definition of "Condescension": the attitude or behavior of people who believe they are more intelligent or better than other people
2. Webster's 1828 definition: Voluntary descent from rank, dignity or just claims; relinquishment of strict right; submission to inferiors in granting requests or performing acts which strict justice does not require. Hence, courtesy.
4. Instructor used the recent gay marriage events to signify the kind of sin we have made as a nation. We have missed the mark, which is the traditional family, as defined by the Family Proclamation. We have crossed known boundaries. We have twisted the truth. Like Israel, we have sinned against God. We have lowered his position and relevance in our lives. We must have a changed view.

5/13 - The doctrinal significance of "East"

I love the doctrines of the gospel, and I love Geography. How awesome it is when they both come together!!

1. Brother Satterfield began our discussion by advising us to always begin our studies with prayer, and on the knees if possible. I felt something special when he said this.
2. When translating, before tackling individual words, take a look at the grammatical whole of the verse. This is taking a 'macro' before 'micro' approach.
3. GEOGRAPHIC DIRECTIONS - Ancient people didn't have the concept of magnetic north, which is a relatively new way of thinking about geography. Ancient people oriented themselves using "East" in the way we think of "North" today. 

1. In Hebrew, compass directions have meaning rather than a geographic direction and are shown as follows: East = "Front" / West = "Behind" / South = "Right hand" / North = "Left hand". 
2. Old Testament had negative views of things "East". Babylon was East. The desert was East. Adam and Eve were driven out "Eastward". In new times East is positive. Some face east when praying. Temples often face east. Christ will come from the east.
3. Temple structure is spiritually symbolic. In the Israelite Tabernacle, the Holy of Holies (Kodesh - Kodesheem) was on the west side of the temple. The outer court (the world) was to the east (remember, east was negative). Therefore, God was to the west. Migrating through the temple happened in a westward fashion toward God. Temple worship takes us to God.
4. The Atonement occurred with directional significance: In ancient times there was only one sacrifice that did not occur in the temple, because it was so dirty, so messy, it wasn't fit for temple worship (read about the red heifer sacrifice here). In this sacrifice the entire animal was burned, intrals, feces, and all. This sacrifice was performed east of the temple (remember east is bad, dirty, etc). Gethsemane, where the Savior suffered for the dirty, filthy, iniquities of the world was east of the temple. Christ progressed westward to Golgotha where he sealed the atonement and was reunited with God.
5. Last Days. Christ will come from the east to the west. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west as a daily reminder of the coming of the son of God the second time.

5/11 - The mistranslation of the word "Tree" in Genesis 12:6

1. When I translate from Hebrew to English, I have to admit, I always double check my version against the King James version, just to see if I'm close. The translations usually agree, especially with Nouns. But not today...
2. Genesis 12: 6 refers to 'the plain of Moreh', a special land that eventually became basically the Hill where Jerusalem is, where Abraham offered Isaac, and not far from where the Savior was crucified. The King James translated אֵלוֹן (ehl-own) as "plain", but is clearly "tree". "Moreh" means "Teaching", so the translation might have been better as "To the tree of teaching", or at least "To the Tree of Moreh", but NOT the Plain. Interestingly, the "El" prefix has the divine derivative of "Elohim", or God, so the tree can also be rendered "Tree of God".
3. For a tree to have a name like this, and for the narrator to point this out means this was a special tree; a holy tree; a tree held in high regard and was famous. It was a sacred place to Israelites. Many covenants were made there, including by Abraham, Jacob, and possibly by Joshua many years later.
4. Oh yeah, one more thing. William Tyndale translated this word correctly, but the King James translators changed it to "Plain". A Greek professor was with us in class and said he has often found the King James version of the Bible has a Latin twist on many words, though primarily written in Hebrew. Translators were much more familiar with Latin than Hebrew, so when a word got difficult, they relied on their Latin expertise, which in this case could have been either Tree or Plain. But there is no question that in Hebrew, it's "Tree". 

5/6 - 5/8 - Spiritual Hardware Store / Slaves / Crossing Over

5/6

1. The Geography of Israel. An 80 mile strip of land strategically placed at the intersection of three continents. This is the promised land for Israelite's for a reason.
2. Abraham was led there by the Urim and Thummim. His story is very similar to Lehi's story (Book of Mormon), who was also led to a promised land by a curious instrument, the Liahona. The Jaredites also were lead through the wilderness by urim and thummim to a promised land. Bro. Satterfield joked that he would like access to that 'spiritual store' of such curious devices.
3. He suggested our current technological devices are similar to Urim and Thummim's, and are in a way, actually preparing us for the day when we will learn through these curious instruments.
4. The Abrahamic Covenant is to prepare the world for the Millenium (Something that has coincidentally been on my mind a great deal. See blog post). The Lord has been preparing us for the 'knowledge of all things', line upon line, precept upon precept.
5. The Lord work's through societal culture to bring about his purposes: Evidence of this is found in the Savior's words: Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts gave this law (that a bill of divorce must be given. See Matthew 19:8)
6. New Testament Apostles referred to themselves as "Slaves" (Greek). Old Testament prophets
   
   referred to their children, 'handmaids', concubines, etc. as "Slaves" (Hebrew). The English word has negative overtones but did not exist in old times. Mary (Jesus' mother), when she spoke to the Angel Gabriel said "Behold thy Slave"... NOT "Behold thy handmaid". 
7. We were born into this world as 'slaves' to the devil. Christ came to deliver us from the devil's captivity ("Ye are bought with a price", see 1 Corinthians 7:23; 1 Corinthians 6:20). Which means we then become Christ's slaves, but are then made co-heirs with Christ see Romans 8:17). "I would be a slave to Christ any day. He takes care of his slaves".
8. Slaves in old days were tatoo'd on their foreheads, and would often say essentially "This is so and so, who belongs to so and so... please return him". Later this was considered a desecration to the body which was considered a temple and tatooing became outlawed. Slaves could ultimately buy their freedom in those days. Interesting that the book of Revelation and D&C refers to those in the last days who have Christ written in their forheads (see Revelation 14:1; D&C 133:18), because they are his slaves.
9. At the LDS Sacrament table, we take our master's name upon us (When done properly, we fully submit to his will, as a slave submits to his master). Through Him we buy our freedom. 

5/8

1. Genesis 12:6 - עֲבֹר (Aber) means to "pass through" or "cross over". It is the same word used for sin/transgression.
2. Two types of crossing over: Exodus 34 refers to the forgiveness of iniquities of the Israelite's (who had 'crossed over', or sinned). 
3. There is also the sin against the moral law of the world, or the Light of Christ within all of us. One is SIN, the other is TRANSGRESSION. (I missed which was which)

May 1 - May 4 - Covenants, and family relationships

• The word ברך (bah-rach) means "Bless", and also has reference to the word "Kneel". 
• Abraham's name is known by 3 major religions (Christian, Islam, Judaism) 4,000 years later. That is significant!! Who else is so well known after that much time? Why? Because of his faithfulness. Because he was great.
• Genesis 12: 3 says those who Bless and make Abraham's name great will become great! Those who curse Abraham will be cursed. DO WE BLESS ABRAHAM? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints blesses Abraham, but it's members may or may not bless Abraham. Those who do are blessed!

• Marriage covenants in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have very specific reference to Abraham. Do members know what that significance is? Are they trying to understand? Do they find Abraham significant? Do they bless his name? Do they think he is great? Do they kneel to him (respect, honor, etc. NOT Worship)? If they do, the blessings of Abraham are theirs.

May 4

• Scriptures often introduce the main characters at the beginning of the narrative. Abraham chapters 12-22+ are a story of two outcomes for two different people, both of which are immediately introduced in Genesis 12 - Abraham, and Lot. The author clearly intended to highlight these two outcomes for the readers sake.
• FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS in Hebrew culture: There are no words for most family relationships we have today, such as Cousin, Nephew (Brother's son), Grandfather (Father's father). I Find this fascinating. At first I thought this was a limitation of Hebrew compared to English, but I see differently now. Imagine the intimate closeness of calling your grandpa "Father", and him calling you "My Son" (or "My Daughter"). 
• The head of a household often had many wives and concubines. There would be a house (tent) for each wife (And her servants, even if her servants bore children to the head of household). All combined would be considered a "Clan", but each wife's family would be considered a 'house". The picture above shows a Clan consisting of two wives, and therefore, two houses.

April 29 - Righteous Cities

What started as a boring Hebrew Grammar conversation got really interesting and ended in an amazing doctrinal discussion of righteous cities. Here's how it went:

1. The Hebrew word גָּדוֹל (Gah-dohl) means "Great". But what kind of Great? The kind related to size. Abram was told in Genesis 12: 2 that his posterity would be that kind of great. 
2. Abraham wanted a City. He had heard about Enoch's city, and Melchizedek's city of Salem. He knew how Melchizedek through some hardship was able to persuade a wicked city, like Sodom, to repent and become righteous. But the Lord was able to do better than a city, as he promised Abraham would be a father of many 'nations'. 
3. The sad thing for Abraham was, he would live near where his city would be established, but would never actually acquire it (Hebrews 11: 8-10, 13 describes this further, and shows the exceptional faith he and his family had). Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob's covenant wives were all barren, yet each miraculously bore children who became the covenant lines. They did it all by faith.
4. The first shot at a righteous nation through Abraham was when Moses established Israel. David and Solomon did a pretty good job at it but then blew it through sin. Jerusalem was a geographically strategic place for spreading the gospel, for standing out and converting the world, but instead, they let the world persuade them. 
5. The second shot at it came in the 1830's when Joseph Smith tried to establish a righteous nation, but they blew it again, or the timing wasn't right.
6. We live in the third attempt at a righteous nation. The elect are gathering in all the time. We know at the time of the Lord's second coming, Israel will be gathered as a righteous nation (actually, many righteous nations) - even a global city of righteousness, and the Abrahamic Covenant will be complete. At this time, the earth will be translated from a temporal state, and will remain translated for 1,000 years until it is resurrected and becomes the celestial city. 
7. We go into the Celestial Kingdom as Cities, not as individuals.

April 3 - Tying the Law of Moses to the LDS Sacrament Table

1. *There were three kinds of sacrifice under the Law of Moses, and an order by which they were carried out. These are outlined as follows with regard to sin. When one committed a sin, they would follow the steps outlined below. But first, it is important to understand that food and the eating of it represents a feeling of being satisfied. The consuming of sacrifices whether by eating or burning representing the satisfying of the demands of justice.
1. The Chatat חטאת. An animal was killed upon the altar and divided two ways. The first half was for the priest and his family and represented becoming reconciled with the church, and with the Savior (represented by the priest). The second half was consumed on the altar, and went up in smoke, symbolically going up to God. Scriptures often refer to the sweet savor, or smell, etc, that a burnt offering was to God. 
2. The Olah עֹלָה. (The one God asked Abraham to perform with Isaac) The animal is slaughtered, divided, washed, annointed, and burned completely. This sacrifice belonged entirely to God. The entire aspect of this sacrifice represents the total consecration necessary to satisfy God, and fully repent.
3. The Shalom. An animal is slaughtered and divided 3 ways; The first was eaten by the offender; the 2nd by the priest, and the 3rd was consumed by God. This three way participation represents oneness and unity that follows true repentance among the offender, the priest (the church/Christ), and God.
2. *Genesis 22:16 - Grammatical mistranslations: Extra emphasis on the me/I pronoun. Should be translated more like "I am swearing to myself...". Then there were many words and Direct Object Markers that created repetition and emphasis. The message in Hebrew that was lost in English was "This Covenant is a DONE DEAL, absolutely, completely, wholly."
3. *Once again, the covenant with Abraham involved the following: 1) A city (the worldwide Zion that is yet to be built) 2) Become a God and have endless posterity, and so will his children 3) Priesthood/ordinances/covenant marriage ordinance of exaltation.

April 1 - Intelligence, Visions, and Intergalactic time travel

1. Genesis 22:12 - The Lord says "Now I know that...", wait a minute! Doesn't God already know all things? Yes, but He speaks to us according to our understanding, and according to our time reckoning. God can SEE the timeline, he does not MAKE the timeline. The Hebrew name, יְהוָה (Jehovah) has the imperfect verb form meaning it has never had a beginning or and end. Like as in "I AM", rather than "I WAS". Yes, God always knew Abraham would make the choices he did, but NOW he is seeing it. A slightly missed translation here points out that Abraham did not only prove that he learned to fear God, but God recognized that Abraham actually IS the Fear of God. 
2. Big discussion on Fear, and what that means in English vs. what that means in Hebrew. In short, they really are very much the same. There really is a bit of the English "FEAR" in the real Hebrew word, meaning, if you are afraid of a certain consequence, then you don't do that thing. Elder Christofferson has a talk on Fear "A sense of the Sacred" (Part 5 entitled "Godly fear". When you fear God, you depart from evil. We don't' naturally want bad consequences in our lives.
3. There are many scriptural synonyms terms for light: Glory, Intelligence, Power, Light, Truth, Power, Life, The Light of Christ.Gods learn to control this perfectly and completely, and have FULL CONTROL over it. (As a side note, I recently read a talk by Cleon Skousen who taught that these particles of intelligence respect God, and God respects them). The Lord is ALL POWERFUL within parameters/natural laws. D&C 88 - Light is in everything, priesthood, ordinances, etc.
4. We have had a lot of light infused into this world, especially since the 1700's. This light will continue to grow until we make this world the Terrestrial Kingdom, and Christ's light will be added through the Millennium until this world becomes the Celestial Kingdom. The purpose of this dispensation is to PREPARE FOR THE MILLENNIUM!! 
5. The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest galaxy to our Milky Way galaxy, at 2.5 Million Light years away. This means, as we look and behold the galaxy with our naked eyes, we are literally beholding it as it was 2.5 M years ago, in the present. Energy/Light/Intelligence/Power/Truth/Etc left that sphere all that time ago, and we are now seeing what was recorded on those energy particles with our mortal eyes in the present. This is how God can use light to show things past, present, and future. If he wants to give someone a vision of the Savior's atonement, he controls the light/energy/etc, etc which directly witnessed that event and calls it to the attention of the person beholding the vision. 
6. Abraham was faithful to all the tests presented to him. If WE want to be as Abraham, and be promised all that was promised to him, then WE must be tried as Abraham!
7. The Holy Ghost Administers the Light of Christ
8. Marion Romney spoke of light coming to us in three phases. The first is the light that comes to us at birth; the second is the Gift of the Holy Ghost; the last phase is The more sure word of prophecy, and is directly administered by Christ. (The Light of Christ - Marion G Romney, April 1977)

March 30 - The Many Names of God

1. The English words for Deity, God, Gods, gods, Jehova, Lord, LORD, etc, come from three basic Hebrew words (Elohim, Jehova, Adonai). The English word choice depends upon the context of the sentence. In many cases it simply is not known which specific God is being dealt with. 
2. Deuteronomy 10:9 is a good example of the frequent repetition of various names for Deity. What is the point of this repetition? Anytime a word is repeated is for emphasis (Verily, Verily / Wo,wo / Lord of Lords, etc). The point of the repetition in this verse is simply to say "The True God"... Which true God? It doesn't matter, because as we learned from the word Ma'lak, anyone who is a messenger of God will deliver the same message.
3. Genesis 22:12 - There are two words used before verbs that NEGATE the verb : אַל־ and לֹו. The first use means "Not right now", and the second means "Not EVER". The "Not Ever" form is the one used with regard to the Ten Commandments. In this verse, the messenger of the Lord told Abraham not to lift his hand (to slay) using the "Not right now" form, because a ram was about to become the sacrifice. 
4. Sometimes literary license is needed in translation, due to idiomic expressions, or cases where there are no similar words in English. This license can introduce doctrinal/theological bias. The ram is significant to Christians because it becomes a symbol of the Savior's sacrifice in saving Isaac. To the Jews, who don't believe in Jesus as the Messiah, this command to not slay Issac is interpreted as the divine direction not to perform human sacrifice. Bruce Satterfield's argument then is "Why did they use the 'don't kill right now' form of the negation word?", surely the Lord would use the "Not Ever" form if that were the case.
5. The sacrificed ram following the test of Abraham sealed the Abrahamic Covenant.

March 27 - Ministering Angels / Messengers

1. We had a really interesting discussion on the Hebrew word, מַלְאַךְ (Maw-lach), which means "Messenger". But this word often gets translated as "Angel" in the scriptures. Hebrew doesn't have the word for the English word "Angel". Messengers in Hebrew can be mortal or immortal, or can even be God Himself. The same word in Greek is translated "Angelos", and also does not have the divine overtones we have in English. 
2. Some rules about the word מַלְאַךְ: (click here for more rules)
1. Messengers represent the one who sent them (And often speak in first person) 
2. Messengers do not usually provide details concerning their commission (who sent them) 
3. Bro. Satterfield said The Lord can send whoever He wants as a messenger (whether living, dead, or whatever) 
3. Judges 2, references an 'angel' who was actually a mortal prophet from the nearby community of Gilgal, who was sent by the Lord to deliver a message. It is interesting to note the 1st person aspect of his communication. Messengers represent the one who sends them. 
4. We should translate this word as "Messenger", rather than "Angel". It is more accurate. 
5. The same organization that exists in the LDS church, namely the priesthood lines of authority through prophets, apostles, stake and ward leaders, and ultimately quorum leaders, must surely exist on the other side of the veil. 
6. The Holy Ghost has an important responsibility as a messenger (מַלְאַךְ) , testifying of the Father and the Son. We learned that the Holy Ghost is an orchestrator for providing our spiritual experiences, and is the one responsible for assigning messengers to us. Many doctrinal examples support this idea, including the story of Nephi, Laman, Lemuel, who were continually followed by their מַלְאַךְ, and who often heard his voice, literally beheld him, and felt his promptings at times. These מַלְאַךְ act under the directing influence of the spirit, and convey the feelings, thoughts, peace, guidance, etc. we associate with the Holy Ghost. This doctrine is further discussed by Elder Dallin H. Oaks, of the quorum of the 12 apostles in his talk, "The Aaronic Priesthood and the Sacrament". This doctrine does not in any way take away from the divine role of the Holy Ghost. Understanding that he is the one orchestrating each spiritual manifestation in my life, whether it is Him directly, or one He sends to me (Likely an ancestor) it doesn't matter, the message is the same. This doctrine is strongly supported in D&C 1:38, whether it is the Lord's voice, or the voice of his servants, it is the same. Frankly, I LOVE the concept of my ancestors having direct dealings with me, and having my own 'assigned' מַלְאַךְ. I think most people love this doctrine and want to believe it is true. 
7. Lastly, he spoke of the need for the Nephites who were having a difficult time understanding the Savior's words, to go home, pray for the spirit, and return the next day. They did so, gathered others, fasted, prayed, and had the literal ministration of מַלְאַךְ (Angels), and the Savior immediately appeared. The point is that The Holy Ghost can not always strive with us when we sin. But our מַלְאַךְ can minister to us, get us to repent, and bring the Holy Ghost back in our lives, and allow the Savior to administer to us.

________________________________

see also: Bruce Satterfield's collection of sources on this topic
Rules for the understanding of the Hebrew word Mal'ak - http://emp.byui.edu/SATTERFIELDB/Rel302/MalakMessengerAngel.html

March 25, 2015 - Voices in the wilderness, and Stuff

1. *The definition of truth is: Things as they WERE, things as the ARE, and things as they WILL BE. Hebrew words and letter order often have symbolic meaning. The three letter word for Truth in Hebrew is ---, or in English is A-M-T, or "Amet". These are the first, middle, and last letters in the Hebrew alphabet. A is symbolic of things past, M is symbolic of things present, and T is symbol of things future. 
2. *מדבר (Mah-deh-bar) is a Hebrew word meaning Wilderness, but also has a connotation of the words that come from the Lord in the wilderness, or the importance of relying on the word, and not bread alone (Luke 4:4; Matthew 4:4; Israel Genesis??)

March 23, 2015 - Covenants, Land, and Sacrifice

1. The King Follet Discourse was compiled from many people's notes, and was reported to have lasted 2 1/2 hours long. The amalgamated version of the talk would be no longer than 45 minutes long. Lesson: There is missing material! This is likewise true of our scriptures, and many of the prophetic experiences prophets have held. Though we certainly have what we need, we can definitely ascertain that there is missing material.
2. Verbless sentences (See NOTE 49B in Workbook)
3. When translating, stick as close to the word order as possible
4. *COVENANTS: Always include two things; 1) Cutting 2) Blood. In Genesis 15:12, Lucifer attempts to stop the covenant Abraham was about to enter into, which would establish this very critical covenant that would bind the Lord to the House of Israel. NOTE: This is similar to Joseph Smith's experience with the adversary just before offering his prayer in the Hill Cumorah. 
5. *Abraham and his posterity (at different times) both lived in Egypt to gain posessions/substance before passing into the promised land of Canaan, which is essentially a desolate place (no resources). 
6. *Abraham's covenant included receiving a promised land. Lehi also made a covenant similar to Abraham's. We don't have an account of the experience, but we have Lehi's testimony: "But behold, I have obtained a land of promise" (see 1 Ne 5:5). His confidence in the Lord was sure, many years before (and on a different continent) he even received it! He knew God does not break his promises.
7. *ALTARS - Altars are commonly understood in Hebrew as "Places of slaughtering" - a connotation that totally doesn't exist in English. But understanding this when we visit modern day temples can deepen the experience if we bring a part of ourselves to slaughter there upon the altar.  Furthermore, in ancient times the animal was cut up, washed, annointed, and then offered up to God. This pattern still exists in temples today, but not with regard to animal slaughtering. Therefore, what do we slaughter on our altars?

March 18, 2015 - Another slight mistranslation with huge significance

1. "Paul used the septuagint, but knew his Hebrew". The New testament verse Hebrews 11:19 gives a strong indication that Paul knew something about Abraham's faith that we don't quite have in the KJV translation. "Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." The Old Testament says nothing of this belief held by Abraham. 
2. There are intensive verb forms in Hebrew, that are relatively uncommon, and Gen 22:6 has three of them, each of which failed to make the KJV translation. The first is on the word "Nelcah", or "we will go". Intensify that phrase and you have "We will indeed go". It doesn't sound like a significant difference but it is. Abraham was eager to obey the Lord's command, and possessed a sense of confidence.
3. *The second intensive verb that was lost was on the word for "worship". This opened an awesome discussion on the word in English. In the USA, we don't really use the word, or practice the word like it was used in practically every other culture, and age. We are all equal, so we do not show respect as in the form of bowing to our superiors, like the President. This is common in even present day cultures elsewhere to bow to a superior. "The higher the rank, the deeper the bow in other societies", bro. Satterfield said. He then demonstrated a short quick bow, a deeper longer bow, and then got on his knees in front of the class and got VERY low. Then he said, "This is still not the form of the word for worship used here." He then laid completely prostrate, as low as he could possibly go, and said "This is the kind of worship this verse is talking about". It's an intensive form of worship. Abraham knew what kind of intensive slaughtering and consuming that was about to occur on the altar. Intense sacrifice equals intense worship.
4. *This led to a discussion on the "olah sacrifice", the most intense sacrifice of Hebrew times spoken of in previous class notes. In this type of sacrifice you divide the body by the head, fat, inwards, arms, legs, and skin. You wash certain parts. Then you burn them in their entirety This is the most intense sacrifice. 
5. *He then spoke about the symbolism of each part of the sacrifice, and listed three rules for interpreting symbols:
1. Look beyond the symbol itself
2. Examine the nature, characteristics, and attributes of the symbol which reveals meaning
3. Look to the Lord for the interpretation
6. *The head has the brain, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and represents our senses, and thinking, and intellect. (Tangent, the nose is the only organ that produces an actual direct connection with the brain). Fat cells store energy, and thus represents all of the strength. The inwards come from the part of the body that feels emotion in all its varieties and thus represents feeling, emotion, heart, etc. Consuming these things upon the altar and sending them up in smoke represents giving our all to him. This is an intense sacrifice and form of worship.
7. *The third intensive verb form is in the expression "and return unto you". Intensify this expression and you have "We will indeed return unto you". Notice the inclusion of Isaac in this expression that missed the KJV translation. Abraham had the confidence and faith that he would go worship, perform the complete sacrifice of his son, and yet would return (in a very intensive form) with his son.

March 16, 2015 - Slaves; Abrahamic Tests

1. * indicates doctrinal significance
2. *Gen. 22:4 - It is difficult to translate the word "Na'ari", into English. The same word is used for Abraham's servants and his son, Isaac. It has the context of belonging to Abraham, servants, slaves, etc. 
3. *Slaves - This word has negative context in English. I think of task masters with whips. However, ancient apostles referred to themselves as 'slaves' to the Lord's work, and used expressions like "We are bought with a price". Brother Satterfield said "I would be God's slave any day - He treats his slaves really well". Unlike Lucifer. In short, we should not judge scriptures and the people for using phrases like this using our cultural norms... as if to say our cultural norms have gotten it right??!?! We should seek to be "Na'arim"(slaves) of Abraham, or Christ, or the Father.
4. How old was Abraham/Isaac at the time of the test? No one is certain, but the Hebrew account of Josephus (Apocryphal ancient writings?) said Abraham was 125 years old (100 years old when he and Sarai bore Isaac), so Isaac would have been about 25 years old. The Old Testament study manual puts Isaac at 33, but this is probably speculation based on the strong comparisons that exist between Isaac as a Type of the Savior.
5. **Gen 22:4 - "And he lifted up his eyes"... this is a possible indication of the state of depression, remorse, or whatever the right word for the deep feelings Abraham must have experienced the previous three days of his journey, knowing what he was about to do to his son.

March 15, 2015 - Abrahamic Covenant

Best day of class yet. Brother Satterfield jumps into the doctrine of Abraham. The discussion was so involved I couldn't take notes, so here are some highlights:

1. *As discussed previously, Abraham's offering of Isaac was more than just a commandment to kill his most loved son. Abraham knew full well that the Lord intended for him to take his son and literally butcher him, divide his body parts and fat, and then consume him on the altar. The word in Hebrew is Olah, which means to cause to go up. There would have been nothing left of Isaac since he would have gone up in smoke and ash to God. Abraham knew all this is what God was asking of him.
2. *Abraham got up early the next day to commence the three day journey. He was eager to serve the Lord, but must have walked in absolute disgust (not the best word... remorse, melancholy, terror, horror, depression??)
3. *Genesis 22:2-4 says "go to the land I will show you and 'olah an olah'". That means "go up and cause to go up". This is common Hebrew talk, to take a verb and turn it into a noun. Other examples include for example Lehi who said "I have dreamed a dream" (I have verbed a noun, same word), "or in other words, I have seen a vision (or I have seen a seen... same word). 
4. *The best part of the lesson for me was when the class was over, I went up and asked him a follow up question. I have loved the scripture Abraham 1:2-3 for a long time and wanted him to connect the two scriptures together. He did... He explained it something like this: Abraham was living in a land of heathon's and had attained the lower gospel from someone, somehow - meaning he was baptized and may have attained the lesser priesthood. Then he sensed there was something greater to be had and longed for it, the Lord led him to a strange land and ultimately to Melchizedek, where he attained the higher priesthood and higher laws and ordinances he so desperately sought.
5. *He then explained the power of Abraham's covenant with God, how diligent he was to the Lord, and how his righteous faithfulness had placed God in a position to honor His part of the covenant to feel after Abraham's posterity, and reclaim them. God is bound to do this because of Abraham's faithfulness. This concept is prominently declared on the Title Page of the Book of Mormon, where it says "Which is to show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever". I loved hearing this! It made me rejoice in Abraham's faithfulness, and made me want to do my part to fulfill this covenant. 
6. *Lastly, he spoke of the return of Elijah in this dispensation and the important event that was in fulfilling the Abrahamic covenant, I suppose in part to turn our hearts to the Abrahamic Covenant, but also in providing ordinances of exaltation.
7. This discussion really moved me today. As I write this two days later, I'm exploring everything I can get my hands on related to Abraham and am really overwhelmed by what an amazing person he was and what a special role he plays in the Plan of Salvation. I may need to make a blog post on this stuff soon!

March 4, 2015 - No Original Bible

I haven't made a post for awhile because we have been focusing on Hebrew grammar, which is important to be able to translate. But today had some doctrinal significance worth writing about...

1. Brother Satterfield begins the discussion by saying "I'm not here to teach you grammar - I'm here to teach you doctrine!" (LOVE IT!!)
2. *There is NO Original Hebrew version of the bible! Consequently, there really is no original bible. Moses received revelations and wrote them down, and these revelations may have been changed slightly until we received the Masoritic Hebrew bible we have today.
1. This is important. Best translations come from original texts. 
2. *Even the Doctrine & Covenants written in the early 1800's doesn't have the same meaning we infer today due to changes in language over the years. Therefore, it is wise to consult Webster's Dictionary of 1828, a dictionary written precisely at Joseph Smith's time, and which he is known to have owned. Looking up such words as "Chastise" can reveal a different meaning than we might use today
3. The ongoing translation of Genesis 22 1-3 deals with Abraham's test. This test is more significant than I realize!

February 23, 2015 - Significance of name David; Verb Paradigms

1. *Interesting discussion on the inherent numeric aspect of Hebrew Names. Hebrews do not have numbers so they use the letters in their alphabet to represent numbers. Therefore, every word is also a number. Because of this, Hebrews were inclined to play word games with numbers, but they were also used for more than entertainment - some words/numbers had doctrinal significance.
1. דוד means "David" The letter for D is the 4th letter in the alphabet, and the letter for V is the 6th letter of the alphabet, creating the equation 4+6+4=14. 
2. David was the first king to fully unite Israel. He declared that future kings would come from his own house, the house of Judah. 
3. Mathew Chapter 1 presents the ancestry of Jesus Christ, which includes David, but does a bit more than that. In verse 17 he was careful to show that Jesus was a literal descendant of David, and used the number 14 to distinguish three significant events. Readers and followers of prophecy would have recognized Matthew's announcement of Jesus' ancestry as a fulfillment of prophecy.
2. My name (Eric) would be spelled אֶרִך and is 1+20+11 = 32
3. VERB PARADIGMS

FORM - COL ASPECT - ROW	Qal simple active	Nifal passive or reflexive	Piel active intensive	Pual passive intensive	Hifil Causative Active	Hofal Causative Passive	Hitpael Causative intensive
Perfect - Complete (past, present, and future)	He Killed	He was Killed	He Slaughtered	He was Slaughtered	He caused to be killed	He was caused to be killed	He was caused to be slaughtered
Imperfect - Incomplete (past present, and future)	He will kill	He will be killed	He will slaughter	He will be slaughtered	He will cause to kill	He will cause to be killed	He will cause to be slaughtered
Imperative - Command (2nd person)	You will kill	You will be killed	You will slaughter	You will be slaughtered	You will cause to kill	You will cause to be killed	You will cause to be slaughtered
Cohortative - Command (1st person or to oneself)	I must Kill	I must be killed	I must slaughter	I must be slaughtered	I must cause to kill	I must cause to be killed	I must cause to be slaughtered
Jussive - Command (3rd person)	They must kill	They must be killed	They must slaughter	They must be slaughtered	They must cause to kill	They must cause to be killed	They must cause to be slaughtered

February 18, 2015 - Amen; Hebrew Verbs; Church/State

1. * Every language has at least one Hebrew word... "Amen" אַמּן. It is most often translated "Verily", and means "Of a truth". We do not use the word "Amen" in English the way the Savior used it, in fact, it is usually used as a meaningless word to us. He often used it in the middle of sentences, and even twice to place emphasis on particular doctrines, many of which uses had reference to covenants.
2. The Hebrew bible has 23,000 verses, and contains 72,000 verbs, averaging 3 verbs per verse. This means Hebrew loves the verb! This is convenient to English which also loves the verb, unlike Latin which favors the noun. Therefore Hebrew to English translations flow better. All nouns are derived from verbs, such as "Walk" to "Walker".
3. * The sense of the horrific nature of the Lord's commandment to Abraham to offer his son Isaac is lost in the English translation. The King James version renders the command "sacrifice", but due to some grammatical conditions in the original text a more accurate translation might be "Slaughter". The point is that it would have been a difficult command to heed. 
4. *When you explore the bible it is important to understand it in all of its contexts, such as:
1. Language, 
2. Culture (Religion and State)
1. * Our culture has a strong divide between church and state, and that divide grows day by day. This divide was not present in Hebrew culture, as church and state were one. Our divide was necessary to bring about the restoration of the gospel, but secularism continues to grow as the religion of the state
3. History
4. Geography
5. Climateology, etc
5. Hebrew verbs fall in one of two categories:
1. Actions
2. Can describe the state of being (to be).

_____________1st Person_________2nd Person____________3rd Person

• PAST           I was                      You were                         He/she was, They were
• PRESENT   I am                        You are                            He/she is, they are
• FUTURE     I will                       You will                          He/she will, they will

6. Verbs turn into nouns through the participle aspect

February 13, 2015 - Offering; Trees/Living Water; Moriah

1. All Hebrew nouns are derived from verbs
2. * The word for "Offering" is the same as the word for "to go up". עֹלָה  "Olah"
3. *I was SO glad brother Satterfield provided a handout with many of the scriptural references to his discussion on the theme of the tree from the Hebrew Bible. Here is a followup to that conversation. 

• *The reader of the Hebrew bible immediately picks up on an interwoven theme of trees and living water, and their strong association with covenant making, and ultimate reunion with God. This is perhaps the greatest of the "plain and precious truths" that have been lost in the bible translation, mentioned by Nephi. The authors of the bible intended the reader to understand the basic lesson of the tree, which in essence is this: The world as we know it came about by Adam and Eve partaking of the fruit of a certain tree. Prior to this event they lived in the presence of God. The fundamental lesson for all of God's children on this earth is that we must strive to go back to that original tree state of existence when Adam and Eve lived with God. That's it! It's true, we get that message in a round about way in the scriptures, but in the Hebrew text it is apparently in the forefront of the readers attention. Here are a number of scriptures that describe this theme, a number of which have been mistranslated, or left out altogether (NOTE: Not an exhaustive list), (NOTE2: Watch for words like Tree, Water, Moriah, Moreh, etc. Trees are often a symbol of the Lord's covenant people, Israel. Also, the Ladder is a symbol of a tree. Lastly, the land of Moriah is a sacred hill where many ancient prophets made covenants. This is where Abraham offered Isaac, and ultimately where Jesus Christ was crucified)

• Gen. 2:8-17
• Gen. 3:1-24
• Gen. 12:6 - Mistranslation, we don't see Abraham and the tree
• Gen. 13:18
• Gen. 21:33 - Abraham plants grove of trees
• Gen. 28:11-22 - Isaac has a dream in the area of Moriah. The Ladder is a symbol of the tree AND Christ and thus, the way to get to heaven.
• Gen. 35:1-15
• Ex. 15:23-26
• Deut. 21:22-23 - Law of Moses requires grievous sinners to be hung on a tree (reference to Christ)
• Joshua 24:1-28
• Psalms 1
• Jer. 17:1-8
• Ezek. 47:1-12
• John 1:43-51 - Verse 51 is the key... Jesus Christ is the ladder from the tree to heaven
• Gal. 3:13
• 1 Pet. 2:24
• Rev. 2:7
• Rev. 22:1-5
• 1 Nephi 8:9-12
• 1 Nephi 11:1-23
• 1 Nephi 15:22
• 2 Nephi 2:14-25
• Alma 5:34
• Alma 12:20-37
• Alma 32-33
• Alma 42:1-28
• Helaman 3:27-30
• D&C 101:44-56

Conclusion: 

1. Jesus Christ is the way for men to return to the heaven-like prefallen garden state before Adam and Eve took of the fruit of the tree.
2. The Land of Moriah (Moreh, etc) is a sacred and specific land consecrated by God and many holy prophets, and is strongly associated with covenants necessary for exaltation

February 11, 2015 - Idioms, Scriptures have lost Tree significance

Today I tried to drink from the firehouse of Brother Satterfield's exceptional lesson but I'm afraid I couldn't keep up. I do however have enough clues that I might be able to reconstruct many of his thoughts using the scriptures and some Hebrew insights to share it properly in another blog. But for now, here are some interesting highlights:

1. *IDIOMS. Common in English and Hebrew (And most languages). They exist as a way of respectfully discussing special topics such as using the bathroom (an idiom in itself), sexual topics, and I would add the topic of death to the list. As languages and cultures devolve, they become more literal, crude, as they move further from respect.
2. Translators must figure out these idioms and find some way to translate them - doing so literally would not make any sense in English. For example, Hebrews used the expression "to cover ones feet" with regard to 'going to the bathroom'. This expression has been incorrectly translated a number of times in the King James Bible. When King Saul was with his men, he told them he needed to go cover his feet, but it was rendered go to sleep in a cave. This translation of going to sleep has been repeated, probably because covering ones feet provides the imagery of pulling a blanket over the person.
3. *CONSTRUCT STATES. This phrase is a familiar concept to anyone who has read the scriptures and is familiar with what we think of as strange word orders. There is no word for "of" in Hebrew, so they simply put two nouns together. Anytime we see two nouns together, we simply stick an "of" between them in English. Examples include "Altar of Stone" (Eng. Stone Altar); Plates of Brass (Eng. Brass Plates); Sword of Laban (Eng. Laban's Sword).
4. *TREES have enormous significance in the Bible that has been lost in English. Beginning with Adam and Eve's Tree of life, and tree of knowledge (death); Then a bunch of trees in the old testament (I couldn't write fast enough); The familiar biblical reference to "The plains of Moriah" is actually "The Tree of Moriah" in Hebrew. Aparently Abraham always lived near/under trees. Lehi's dream is centered around a tree. He and his family camped near trees, gathered seeds of every kind, etc. Psalms has strong tree imagery. The tree of Shechem, where covenants were made. Joshua put a rock under a tree as a token to Israel's righteous covenant. This same tree was on the plains of Moriah, and was later purchased by King David. Jerusalem was built on this location. And finally, Jesus Christ was lifted up on a tree at this same location. This truly was/is sacred ground.