Isaiah 6--Called From the Divine Council

Isaiah chapter 6 opens with a theophany. The Lord is "sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple" (v. 1). Above the throne are the seraphim. This would match the pattern in the ancient tabernacle and temple. The wings of the cherubim would cover the mercy seat, which is on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant, and the mercy seat represents the throne of God in ancient Israel (see Exodus 25:20). The seraphim would represent members of the divine council.

Voice of the Divine Council

The leitwort (theme word) voice is used twice in this chapter to emphasize the voice of God. The voice is so powerful it causes the door posts to move. Later Isaiah hears the voice of the Lord asking, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Isaiah answers, "Here am I; send me" (v. 8). This is the formula for a messenger of the divine council, similar to the council where the Savior is chosen. In another council setting the Most High God asked, "Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me" (Abraham 3:27).


Sanctification By Fire

Isaiah exclaims in fearful tones, "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts" (v. 5). He knows he is not ready to stand in the presence of the Lord in his natural state. 

"Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar" (v. 6). The live coal would come from the Altar of Burnt Offerings connecting this sanctification process with the law of sacrifice. The seraph then proclaims, "Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged" (v. 7). The live coal represents the baptism of fire, or baptism of the Holy Ghost. Two verses in Third Nephi in the Book of Mormon expound on this idea of sanctification and baptism of the Holy Ghost.

"And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not" (3 Nephi 9:20).

"Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day" (3 Nephi 27:20).

Notice the connection between sacrifice and sanctification in the first verse, and notice how the concept of sanctification by the Holy Ghost prepares us to stand in God's presence like Isaiah.

Isaiah's Mission Call

Isaiah receives his mission call to the land of fat hearts, heavy ears, and closed eyes. Apparently it is the same mission where our Savior served. In Matthew 13 our Lord laments that the gross hearts, dull ears, and shuteye have prevented the healing and conversion of His people (see Matthew 13:15).

The Lord prophesies concerning the Great Apostasy and calls it a "great forsaking in the midst of the land" (v. 12)

Israel Ain't Dead Yet

In spite of the apostasy, a remnant shall return in the latter days. Isaiah compares Israel to a teil tree, which is a linden tree. My parents have two of these in front of their house. The "holy seed" of the Abrahamic Covenant is the substance (or sap) of this tree. In the early spring these trees look dead, but if you park a car under one of these, you will get a layer of sap on your windshield. The "substance of the holy seed" is the restored gospel. The gospel is the new lifeblood of the house of Israel.

Isaiah 5--The Owner's Manual For An Addict

My life history as a recovering alcoholic and addict is contained in Isaiah 5, the handbook for us addicts. Let's look at a few key verses.

Wild Grapes

Verses 1-2: "My wellbeloved (Christ) hath a vineyard (Israel) in a very fruitful hill: And he fenced it (gave commandments), and gathered out the stones (triggers) thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine (Savior; see John 15), and built a tower (prophets) in the midst of it, and also made a winepress (the Atonement) therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes" (me).

The Pattern of Addiction

Verse 5: "I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof (protection), and it shall be eaten up (consumed by addiction); and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down" (beaten up).

Verse 6: "And I will lay it waste: (i.e. a wasted life) it shall not be pruned (disciplined), nor digged; (spiritually nourished) but there shall come up briers and thorns: (trouble and adversity) I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it" (we get thirsty and crave the next drink).

Verse 7: "He (the Lord) looked for judgment (fairness), but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry" (a riot). We say in AA: "Alcoholics don't have relationships; they just take hostages."

Verse 8: "Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field (control freaks who manipulate), till there be no place, that they may be placed alone (looking out for number one) in the midst (center of the universe) of the earth!" There is nothing more selfish than the practicing addict.

Verse 10: "Yea, ten acres of vineyard (10 acres of grapes) shall yield one bath (8 gallons of wine), and the seed of an homer (six bushels) shall yield an ephah" (half bushel). My life becomes unproductive in every way.

Verse 11: "Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!" 

My alcoholism retrogresses to morning drinking and harder liquor and becomes like a fire burning out of control. I think President Monson once spoke about playing with matches.

Verse 12: "And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands."

Modern translation: There is a table with bread and water and a white cloth, and the people are singing a nice hymn. It looks like the sacrament, but no one is thinking about Jesus. Reverence for sacred things has dropped out of my life.

Verse 13: "Therefore my people are gone into captivity (no translation necessary), because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished (in the grip of compulsion), and their multitude dried up with thirst (unsatisfied). We suffer the effects of the "God hole." We try to fill up that empty place in our souls with alcohol, drugs, sex, food, etc., but we are left empty and craving.

Verse 14: "Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it."

I love it when Isaiah gets graphic like this! I am going to descend into the jaws of hell and fall til I hit rock bottom!

Verse 15: "And the mean man (common or average man) shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled" (brought to shame). God is no respecter of persons (see Acts 10:34), and neither is addiction. The disease of addiction doesn't care if you're rich or poor, black or white, or even whether or not you go to church.

Verse 18: "Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope."

We are tied to our drug of choice like a horse to a cart. Do I drag my bottle around, or does it drag me?

Verse 19: "That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!"

I know this sounds like a great motto for modern missionary work, with the Lord "hastening His work" (see D&C 88:73), but Isaiah is actually talking about non-believers in this passage. It's the mentality of the addict: Let me see it right now, and give me instant gratification.

Verse 20: "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"

Oh the language of the 21st century! Everything is couched in political correctness, regardless of the moral message.

Verse 21: "Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!" As an addict, I had to have my way. It's my way or the highway. When I got to AA and heard Step Three for the first time ("Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood Him), it was a radical about-face.

Verse 22: "Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink." Isaiah warns again about the dangers of alcoholism and addiction.

Verse 24: "Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble (fragments of a broken life), and the flame consumeth the chaff (the shell of denial), so their root shall be as rottenness (rotten little character defects), and their blossom (divine potential) shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel."

I think President Monson warned about playing with matches.

Verse 25: "And their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets." 

For some addicts, death is the final result. I have seen my friends die from this disease.

There Is A Solution

Verse 25: "For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still."

The Lord always gives us a second chance (and a third, fourth, til "seventy times seven"). His hand is "stretched out still."

Verse 26: "And he will lift up an ensign (restored gospel) to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: (far away places like Utah) and, behold, they (modern missionaries) shall come with speed swiftly."

Verse 27: "None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; (overnight) neither shall the girdle of their loins (belts) be loosed, nor the latchet (laces) of their shoes be broken." Modern missionaries will travel to their destinations and arrive the same day without taking off belts or shoes.

Verse 28: "Whose arrows (fuselage and tail surfaces of an airplane) are sharp, and all their bows bent (wings of the plane are shaped like a bent bow), their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels (of the plane) like a whirlwind."

I am waiting for the day when President Uchtdorf confirms this aviation analogy.

Verse 29: "Their roaring shall be like a lion (Christ; see Genesis 49:9; Rev. 5:5), they shall roar (as airplane engines) like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it." 

This giant machine (airplane) will gobble up all the passengers and carry them away safe.

Testimony

I am grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the grace it affords to overcome addiction of all kinds. I am grateful that Jesus experienced my personal addictions in Gethsemane and successfully overcame all of them, so He can succor me "according to the flesh" (see Alma 7:12). I am grateful to missionaries of all kinds, including AA friends who testified of the power of grace and of a Higher Power to whom I could turn. I am grateful to my Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, who personally appeared to the boy Prophet Joseph Smith and lifted up an ensign to the nations. This restored gospel has saved my life! I am grateful for parents and family members who forgave me in their hearts for all the awful things I did (and sometimes continue to do) while practicing my addictions. I am grateful for a loving wife who puts up with me while I stay up too late writing blogs.

Isaiah 2--Mountain of the Lord's House

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it" (Isaiah 2:2).

We often connect this prophecy with the pioneer trek to the West and the latter-day temple, and rightly so. But how does a temple in the West connect to Judah and Jerusalem in the Middle East, as stated in the previous verse? The Book of Mormon gives insight by changing one word. The corresponding verse in Second Nephi reads:

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, when the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it" (2 Nephi 12:2).

The word that is changed to when. The emphasis is now changed from a geographic or cultural issue to a timing issue. Jerusalem and Salt Lake City are separated by a great distance, but some wonderful event will have a great impact on the region of Judah and Jerusalem.

And that major event did not occur in Salt Lake. It happened at the dedication of the Kirtland Ohio Temple. This event signaled the gathering of Israel, including Judah. One part of the dedicatory prayer emphasizes the beginning of a new era.

"But thou knowest that thou hast a great love for the children of Jacob, who have been scattered upon the mountains for a long time, in a cloudy and dark day.

"We therefore ask thee to have mercy upon the children of Jacob, that Jerusalem, from this hour, may begin to be redeemed . . .

"And the children of Judah may begin to return to the lands which thou didst give to Abraham, their father" (D&C 109:61-62,64).

That very hour marked the beginning of the gathering of Israel in general, and Judah in particular. 

"Established in the Top of the Mountains"

This prophecy pinpoints the latter-day Church headquarters to be in Utah. The name Utah can be traced to two Indian languages. In the Ute language it means "people of the mountains." A similar Apache word (yuttahih) means "those that are higher up." Here is a link where you can read more:

http://www.utah.gov/about/quickfacts.html

The "people of the mountains" who are "higher up" are those living in Utah. But even though this phrase, "top of the mountains" can refer to Utah or Salt Lake, the more important concept is the establishment of temples as "mountains of the Lord's house." The prophets Moses, Nephi, the brother of Jared, and others went up into the mountain to commune with the Lord.

"Out of Zion Shall Go Forth the Law"  

In a general context, Zion can mean North and South America. The first temple in the latter days was established in Kirtland Ohio. But the "word of the Lord" originates largely from Jerusalem (see Isaiah 2:3). We can receive various gospel laws in the temple. These laws are received as we make sacred covenants with the Lord, and many of these covenants can only be received in the temple. The "word" of the Lord is contained in the scriptures. The Bible, Book of Mormon, and much of the Pearl of Great Price deal with people who either lived in the region of Jerusalem or left that area to come to the Americas.

"Replenished From the East"

As Isaiah is privileged to see into our day, he makes some interesting observations about our society.

"Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east" (Isaiah 2:6).

The East was the source of worldly knowledge and philosophy. In today's re-dedication of the Ogden Temple, Elder Bednar spoke of today's world seeking learning from science and philosophy, and yet "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7). Where do we turn for "knowledge of the truth?" Do we go to the Internet? Do we seek the philosophies of the world? The knowledge of eternal truths are to be had in the holy temple and in the scriptures.

A Materialistic Society

Isaiah observes, "Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots" (Isaiah 2:7). We live in a materialistic society in search of silver and gold. Horses and chariots are symbols for war. There are wars and rumors of war throughout the world, as military conflict marks our day.

"Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made" (v. 8). In our day you don't see many falling down to golden calves, but idol worshiping is in abundance. For some, those things made by the fingers of men become paramount. Having stuff is okay, except when it becomes our number one priority, displacing the things of God. Isaiah helps us keep things in relative perspective. In the millennial day, when we are allowed to see things clearly, we will cast our idols to the moles and bats (see v. 20). Compared to the things of God, our material possessions won't be worth a second glance. Hence, they will be cast to the moles and the bats--animals that don't see.

Restoration Scripture

Through the Prophet Joseph Smith, many truths, as well as lost scripture, were restored. Verse 16 is noteworthy. The King James Version reads, "And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures." The Book of Mormon has the brass plates as its source for Isaiah. This verse recorded in Second Nephi reads, "And upon all the ships of the sea, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures" (2 Nephi 12:16). The footnote for this verse says, "The Greek (Septuagint) has 'ships of the sea.' The Hebrew has 'ships of Tarshish.' The Book of Mormon has both, showing that the brass plates had lost neither phrase."

It is very unlikely that Joseph Smith would have known about the Septuagint translation. We can be grateful for precious truth restored.

Isaiah 1--Divine Council Imagery

The divine council can be recognized in scripture as heaven and earth are called together in a council setting. The whole book of Isaiah fits a divine council format. The pattern is a council of the gods where the participants are both seen and heard. The test for authorized messengers in Jeremiah is set forth:

"For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?" (Jeremiah 23:18). 

The Hebrew word for "counsel" is cowd, so it should be rendered "council." Those council members were both seen (marked) and heard.

The first verse in Isaiah describes the whole book, covering the reigns of four kings, as a vision. Then the next verse reads, "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me." Heaven and earth are being called together in a council setting which is both seen and heard.

Then the Lord presents His case against Israel and the charges are: " I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me." The Lord presents the evidence. "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider" (v. 3). This verse is a foreshadowing of the Savior's birthplace--a manger or feeding trough for animals. Christmas nativity scenes usually have animals present, and I can't imagine any such animals feeling frightened or intimidated by the presence of baby Jesus, whom the animals instinctively seem to recognize, but Israel hasn't got a clue. And the pathos is intensified. Israel not only doesn't know, but it doesn't care (consider) either.

Six more charges are filed as Israel is labeled as "laden with iniquity," a "seed of evildoers," meaning the problem is growing, "children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward" (v. 4). "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores" (vv. 5-6). The word sole is the Hebrew word kaph, meaning palm of the hand, sole of the foot, or hollow of the thigh. It's the same word as palm in a later Isaiah reference, where the Lord says, "I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands." It implies a covenant relationship, and Israel has departed from the covenant. Israel is left as insecure as a watchman's hut in a "garden of cucumbers" (v. 8). If the wind doesn't blow it down, the workers will tear it down in preparation of next year's harvest.

A Multiplicity of Questions

As Israel is called to the witness stand, a multiplicity of questions are fired at him:

"Why should ye be stricken any more?" (v. 5).

"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me?" (v. 11). 

"When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?" (v. 12).

This is typical divine council imagery, as witnesses are being cross-examined.

Bloody Hands Condemn Israel

Then the prosecution presents the evidence that puts the nail in the coffin.

"And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood" (v. 15).

The gesture of "spreading forth the hands" is described in the temple dedication in First Kings. We see this happening in three verses:

"And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven" (1 Kings 8:22).

"What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house" (1 Kings 8:38).

"And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven" (1 Kings 8:54).

This is a gesture of approach representing the manner in which we approach God. It was called the "Hallel Gesture" in ancient Israel, and has at least three symbolic purposes. First, you can see in this context that it's a prayer gesture.

Second, the open hands presented before God show peaceful intent. No weapons can be carried in the open hand. And thus, we surrender to Him, giving up our own will in favor of God's will.

Third, and most importantly here, the uplifted hands, leaving the chest exposed, show God that our hands are clean and our hearts pure. 

But Israel fails the "clean hands" test. Notice in the Isaiah verse that this is still a prayer gesture, as Israel "makes many prayers," but the Lord has to hide His eyes to avoid seeing the bloody hands representing sin and uncleanness. 

"Thy Wine Mixed With Water"

The Lord says, "Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water" (v. 22). Israel has polluted their inheritance and exchanged the pure silver for the dross. The wine represents blood, and it is the blood of Christ being "watered down." This can happen if Christ is not at the center of our lives and we lose the full effect of the Atonement. The effect of the Atonement is watered down and we are left with something less powerful.

Israel chooses the wrong gardens. The footnote in verse 29 tells us these gardens are used in idol worshiping. "For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen." They didn't pick the Garden of Eden, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Garden Tomb, all necessary for their salvation.

"Bring Forth Your Strong Reasons"

An element of divine council imagery is the debate language used. The Lord invites Israel to "produce your cause . . . bring forth your strong reasons" (Isaiah 41:21; see also D&C 71:8). In Job He says, "Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me" (Job 38:3).

The Lord invites a rebuttal, and then states, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18).

The Savior steps forward in this divine council and in effect says, "Israel, though thou art guilty as sin, yet you will be forgiven." The Savior is our Advocate with the Father, pleading our case. Scarlet, in those days, was a colorfast dye and was used to mark clothing, because the markings would never fade away, but even though our sins look like they can never be washed away, the Savior's precious blood cleanses our garments, making them white as snow.

The Taunting Tale of Job

I think we are having our lesson on Job tomorrow in Gospel Doctrine. This book of pitiful punishment used to be a drudgery for me to read every four years. But this time through has been much more enjoyable since I went to BYU's Education Week and learned some fascinating principles from my good friend, David Bokovoy.

Now I may get kicked out of class tomorrow for my opinions on Job, but with some help from Hebrew scholars, I present my case for Job in the context of a jury trial in a divine council setting.

The Divine Council

There are many examples of the divine council of the gods in scripture. I have to warn about the unpopularity of this concept among many Christian denominations, but we should have a handle on this as Latter-day Saints. Let's look at some divine council imagery.

"God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods . . . I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High" (Psalms 82:1,6).

This is a council of the gods, where Elohim presides as the "most High" God. When we see this imagery we can be certain someone, somewhere is in trouble, needs heaven's assistance, and a verdict (or judgment) will be issued by the divine council. In the psalm above the calamity is clearly stated, "But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes" (v. 7).

As Latter-day Saints we are good at linking up these verses with premortal councils, but such divine councils are ongoing throughout scripture and even Church history. There is an interesting story about Heber J. Grant and the assurance of his calling as an apostle, in which President Grant saw and heard from a council where his father, Jedediah Grant, Joseph Smith, and the Savior were present. He said Joseph Smith and his father recommended him for one of two vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve. I have inserted the link if you're interested: https://www.lds.org/manual/presidents-of-the-church-student-manual/heber-j-grant-seventh-president-of-the-church?lang=eng

The council's verdict was that a mistake had been made in not filling these vacancies earlier.

Another example occurs when Jeremiah describes the test for determining true prophets. He describes how to detect true messengers from the divine council.

"For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked (observed) his word, and heard it?" (Jeremiah 23:18).

It should be noted here that the word counsel is the Hebrew word cowd and means a "council or an assembly," so it should be translated as "council of the Lord." The seeing and hearing (see above verse) becomes important as witnesses for the divine council. Heber J. Grant said it was as if he was actually seeing and hearing the council.

Is Satan Present at the Divine Council?

Now comes the part where I may get thrown out of Sunday School. In the first chapter of Job we read, "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them" (Job 1:6). What? Satan present at the divine council? I don't think so! In the next chapter "Satan" obtains leave to afflict Job, and it almost seems like the Lord and "Satan" have a wager on Job's integrity. I will go out on a limb here and say this is not Satan, as in Lucifer, the devil, etc.

I believe in the eighth Article of Faith and believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. But I have firm beliefs in some basic premises:

          1. Satan was cast out of heaven a long time ago (D&C 29:37;  76:25).
          2. He (Satan) is probably not being invited back to the council.
          3. God doesn't need to make bets with Satan to prove His superior intelligence.
          4. Satan, a non-glorious being, cannot stand in God's presence (see Moses 1:14).
          5. God doesn't make wagers when souls are at stake.

The Hebrew word satan means simply "an adversary." Now I don't profess to be fluent in Hebrew, but I have heard others who are say that there is an article in front of the word "satan" here in Job, so it should be translated as "the satan," meaning it's not a person's name, but rather an adversary, or someone who opposes. In other verses, the same Hebrew word is translated as "adversary."

When Balaam was bent on pursuing his own will, contrary to God, "the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him" (Numbers 22:22). The word adversary is translated from the Hebrew word satan. Nor do I believe that Jesus was calling Peter a devil when he was merely trying to defend his Lord, and Jesus says, "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me" (Matthew 16:23). Jesus was prophesying His crucifixion, and Peter says, in effect, "Don't worry. We won't let this happen to you." But Peter unintentionally acts in an adversarial role here, as he tries to defend Jesus, but in reality his plan would block the Atonement. Thus, he is acting as an adversary to Jesus' mission.

Creation, Fall, and Atonement

So who is this adversary who steps forward to confront Job? Perhaps, like in the case of Balaam, it could be a messenger from the divine council whose mission is to help Job come to a certain realization. In another divine council reference, the council of the gods determined to "make an earth whereon these may dwell; And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them" (Abraham 3:24-25). "And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth" (Abraham 4:1).

So Job is on trial here, awaiting verdict from the divine council. And you and I are on trial too.

Because it is based on the themes of Creation, Fall, and Atonement, the Book of Job is filled with temple imagery. The Lord asks Job creation questions like, "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof . . . Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?" (Job 38:4-6,8).

Like Adam and Eve, Job begins to see his fallen state and realizes, "Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither" (Job 1:21). Like Adam and Eve, Job sees his eventual return to the dust, and states, "Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?" (Job 10:9). Like Moses, who said, "Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed" (Moses 1:10), Job replies, "My soul is weary of my life" (Job 10:1). Like Adam and Eve, Moses, and the brother of Jared, Job has a confrontation with darkness as he exclaims, "Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death." And "He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths (Job 10:21; 19:8).

Then Job asks questions of the Atonement, such as, "If a man die, shall he live again?" (Job 14:14). And he asserts, "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God" (Job 19:25-26). This becomes dual prophecy for Job, for he later says, "Now mine eye seeth thee" (Job 42:5). Like Moses, he sees man's nothingness, but has hope in his glorified state, as he exclaims, "Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:6).

Before Job can come into God's presence, he has a dialog session with the Lord through the veil of a whirlwind. "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind" (Job 38:1). The funnel cloud of a tornado would hide the presence of the Lord just as the thunder and lightning and thick cloud upon the mount protected the people of Moses from the radiant glory of God's presence at Mount Sinai (see Exodus 19:16).

An Abundance of Stars

Bible scholars have seen a connection with the stars in the heavens and divine council imagery. Lucifer (the real one) vowed, "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High" (Isaiah 14:13-14). Notice that the terms congregation, heights of the clouds, and most High all denote a divine council setting.

The stars represent members of the divine council--"children of the most High."

The Book of Mormon opens with a theophany as Lehi "saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses (an assembly or council) of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God" (1 Nephi 1:8). Then he goes on to describe members of the divine council by saying, "And he also saw twelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament" (v. 10).

The divine council in Abraham chapter 3 begins with a description of stars and their relative "greatness." Then a comparison is made:

"Howbeit that he made the greater star; as, also, if there be two spirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other, have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end (like gods), they shall exist after, for they are gnolaum, or eternal" (Abraham 3:18).

Then the Lord says, 

"These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all" (Abraham 3:19)

The word stars appears five times in Job, including these two significant passages:

"Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!" (Job 22:12).

Notice the height of stars being compared with the highness of God.

Then, in a rather famous verse dealing with premortal councils:

"When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (Job 38:7).

The morning stars of the heavenly council are the sons (and daughters) of God.


We'll tackle more of this with Isaiah, the whole book being constructed in a divine council judgment.

I will let you know if I get kicked out of Sunday School.