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.