l should have waited another day for the "Morning Stars" post. The next day I was reading a fascinating book by Alan Rex Mitchell and Ernest Lehenbauer entitled, The Seal of Melchizedek. It's a short read, only 36 pages, and I'm half way through it. So warning: I may find more new material after reading the rest, which may apply to this Isaiah chapter.
Seal of Melchizedek, A Symbol of Christ
Seal of Melchizedek, A Symbol of Christ
The authors give the interesting story of the design of the San Diego Temple where there is a recurring symbol in the architecture. The symbol consist of two overlapping squares offset at 45-degree angles, often with a circle in the center. The overlapping squares create an 8-point star, and is called the Seal of Melchizedek. I have provided a link for more information. Click here for more information on this symbol, which now appears on the doors going into the Salt Lake Temple. I should have waited another week to go to the Salt Lake Temple to see this. I was totally oblivious when I went there with my wife, son, and daughter just last Saturday. Now I have to go back!
First, I was impressed with the authors' handling of this symbol as a symbol of Christ, having just referenced Job in my last post, where the "morning stars" and "all the sons of God shouted for joy" (Job 38: 7). If this 8-point star is a symbol of Christ, and the stars as members of the heavenly council are shouting for joy, then it provides insight as to the potential of the stars, or sons of God, to become like Christ, being reborn as sons and daughters in His image.
Then my mind took off in many directions as I noticed the verses in this chapter.
Veils, Circles, and Squares
Veils, Circles, and Squares
First, I noticed the Lord spoke to Job out of a whirlwind, almost as if He had spoken from behind a veil. Ezekiel also has a vision where he sees a whirlwind, and later has a theophany experience beholding the throne of God. The verses record,
"And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings.
"And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings."
Like Job, this is Divine Council imagery with the stars and the creatures as symbols for members (or gods) of the council. Notice the repetition of voice as a Leitwort (theme word) repeating three times. The voice comes from behind the whirlwind, or firmament, like the voice of the Lord from behind the veil. The voice is from the Almighty, or Most High God of the council. It is Elohim who presides over the council.
Ezekiel sees four creatures, similar to what John sees in Revelation, representing four classes of beings and Creation itself. The method of travel of these beings is interesting. It reads,
"The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
"When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went" (Ezekiel 1: 16-17, 24-25; Revelation 4: 6-7; D&C 77: 2-3).
The creatures have four sides and one likeness, like a square. The wheels are in the shape of a circle, representing eternity, or the heavens. The "wheels in the middle of wheels" represent concentric circles surrounding the throne of God in the sacred center. It is what Lehi describes as "numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God" (1 Nephi 1: 8). This also brings to mind the concept of ancient prayer circles surrounding a sacred center.
The design in many temples of circles within squares, like the Seal of Melchizedek, is a representation of the concept of temple itself--that sacred space where heaven meets earth. The circle represents eternity, which the authors of the book mention as coming from the King Follett Discourse when Joseph Smith compares eternity to the ring on his finger, having no beginning or end. The square, like the scriptural analogy of "the four corners of the earth," represents something finite. It can represent the earth, which will one day "wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner" (Isaiah 51: 6). The square can also represent mortality.
Melchizedek Priesthood
The concept of binding in heaven what is bound on earth is a function of priesthood keys, and in particular the Melchizedek Priesthood. The concept of piercing the veil and coming into the presence of God is also accomplished through the ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood. Modern revelation states,
"And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.
"Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.
"And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh;
"For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live" (D&C 84: 19-22).
Sacred Space and Degrees of Holiness
Now let's go back to Job. When the Lord speaks out of the whirlwind, He asks certain testing questions to see if Job is ready to pass on to higher levels of holiness:
"Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
"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" (Job 38: 3-6).
As the temple represents Creation, He could have asked, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the temple? Or when I measured it? Or when I set up the Cornerstone and fastened the tent of the tabernacle to the foundation with spikes, translated from Hebrew as nails.
The Round Dance of the Angels
The next verse asks another important question: "When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (Job 38: 7).
As the earth turns on its axis, the stars make a circular pattern as they appear to move around the earth. The earth is in the sacred center as it would appear. Anciently, Jewish belief speaks of a Foundation Stone, as a sacred center. Click here for more information. You can Google "Foundation Stone" and get much information on this topic, but I like one paragraph of this link because it links the Temple Mount to the concept of new birth as it states, "The Almighty created the world in the same manner as a child is formed in its mother's womb. Just as a child begins to grow from its navel and then develops into its full form, so the world began from its central point and then developed in all direction."
I'll come back to this idea of new beginnings and rebirth with the symbolism of the Seal of Melchizedek.
But I first want to talk about the Foundation Stone as the sacred center. The Foundation Stone on Mount Moriah, where Solomon built the temple (2 Chronicles 3: 1) links the concept of temple with a sacred center. As one observes the stars rotating around the earth, the earth itself becomes a center. The land of Israel becomes the center of the earth. The city Jerusalem becomes the center of Israel. The Temple Mount becomes the center of Jerusalem, and the Foundation Stone becomes the center (or Holy of Holies) of the temple. Legend has this as a "more sacred and hallowed" spot than any other in the creation of the earth. It becomes the navel of the earth, and some Bible scholars speak of this Foundation Stone as the first spot to emerge from the chaotic waters of Creation.
The stars, as they circle the earth, create a round dance in a circular pattern encompassing the earth. If the stars are figurative for the "sons (and daughters) of God," then this pattern of Creation is in likeness to angels in a premortal council participating in a circle dance, or round dance around a sacred center.
Ancient Prayer Circles
What makes this round dance pattern more interesting is the phrase, "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Ancient prayer circles were round dances with the participants moving in a circle and singing as they danced. They would "sing together" in unison.
The Psalms are really hymns of prayer, and many were used for worship in the temple. Psalm 24 begins with the Creation and the lyrics mention the earth being founded upon the seas and established upon the floods (verse 2). The temple foundation becomes a symbol of Creation as "the foundation of the earth." This is a testing question the Lord asks Job in the above verses. The "flood" would represent the waters of chaos God conquered during Creation.
The temple is identified in verse 3 as "the hill of the Lord," and His "holy place."
Then in verse 6 it reads, "This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah." You can click here to see the Hebrew word for generation in this verse, and you will notice it means "to go round" or "to go around or make a circle." The chorus verses are then sung together with lines being repeated in unison. The remainder of the psalm repeats the chorus lines, asking those testing questions identifying Christ as "the God of salvation" in verse 5. The question and answer dialog is repeated in the ending verses:
"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
"Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
"Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah" (Psalm 24: 7-10).
A Symbol of Renewal and Rebirth
The authors of this enlightening book The Seal of Melchizedek develop the idea that this eight-point star represents a renewal period or a rebirth. They cite many excellent examples. In at least three ancient cultures--Babylonia, and the ancestors of the Lithuanian and Latvian people, the eight-point star represented the "Morning Star" or Venus. This is interesting for two reasons. First, the ancient prayer circle round dance served to represent the creation of the solar system with the planets moving around the sun in concentric circles like the round dance. And second, the eight-point star and the number 8 represent rebirth.
The Number 8
The authors cite baptism at age 8, the period after the seven days of Creation, or eighth day as a new beginning, the 8 years Lehi and his family traveled in the wilderness, the 8 barges of the Jaredites, and other examples connecting the concept of rebirth, or a new beginning, with the number 8.
They mention the required feasts in the Old Testament. One of those festivals, Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, began last night at sundown. The Bible Dictionary states, "To the seven days was added an eighth, “the last day, that great day of the feast” (Bible Dictionary, "Feasts").
This eight-point star, the Seal of Melchizedek, is a symbol of Christ, who kept the law of Moses perfectly (as He did all other laws and commandments), and He attended all the required feasts He commanded as Jehovah.
On "the eighth day of the feast" He gave an interesting sermon at the temple. The Gospel of John records,
"In the last day (the eighth day), that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
"He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7: 37-38).
But in this verse, whose belly is it? Is it the belly of the believer, or the belly of Jesus? And what is the belly He is referring to? In Greek, often a pronoun will refer to the noun or pronoun immediately preceding it. In this case "me" is the antecedent of "his," so likely this refers to the belly of Christ. And the Greek word translated into belly is koilia. It means belly or womb, and is the exact same word Nicodemus asked Jesus when he said, "How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?" (John 3: 4). Jesus is actually speaking of spiritual rebirth on this 8th day of the feast.
Now let's return again to Job 38. Let's consider verses 7-9.
"When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
"Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
"When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it" (Job 38: 7-9).
These verses contain two references to birth (the womb and swaddling bands), and these symbols are associated with the "morning star" or Venus, the planet-star that appears at the birth of a new day.
The Seal of Melchizedek, an eight-point star with a circle at its center, is associated with priesthood and Jesus Christ, whose course is one eternal round (see 1 Nephi 10: 19). The seal and symbol represent spiritual rebirth, as we become like God as His spiritually-begotten sons and daughters. This happens as we enter into covenants made available through that Priesthood bearing his name.
And thus, only in and through Jesus do we come full circle back into God's presence from whence we came.
Like Job, this is Divine Council imagery with the stars and the creatures as symbols for members (or gods) of the council. Notice the repetition of voice as a Leitwort (theme word) repeating three times. The voice comes from behind the whirlwind, or firmament, like the voice of the Lord from behind the veil. The voice is from the Almighty, or Most High God of the council. It is Elohim who presides over the council.
Ezekiel sees four creatures, similar to what John sees in Revelation, representing four classes of beings and Creation itself. The method of travel of these beings is interesting. It reads,
"The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
"When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went" (Ezekiel 1: 16-17, 24-25; Revelation 4: 6-7; D&C 77: 2-3).
The creatures have four sides and one likeness, like a square. The wheels are in the shape of a circle, representing eternity, or the heavens. The "wheels in the middle of wheels" represent concentric circles surrounding the throne of God in the sacred center. It is what Lehi describes as "numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God" (1 Nephi 1: 8). This also brings to mind the concept of ancient prayer circles surrounding a sacred center.
The design in many temples of circles within squares, like the Seal of Melchizedek, is a representation of the concept of temple itself--that sacred space where heaven meets earth. The circle represents eternity, which the authors of the book mention as coming from the King Follett Discourse when Joseph Smith compares eternity to the ring on his finger, having no beginning or end. The square, like the scriptural analogy of "the four corners of the earth," represents something finite. It can represent the earth, which will one day "wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner" (Isaiah 51: 6). The square can also represent mortality.
Melchizedek Priesthood
The concept of binding in heaven what is bound on earth is a function of priesthood keys, and in particular the Melchizedek Priesthood. The concept of piercing the veil and coming into the presence of God is also accomplished through the ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood. Modern revelation states,
"And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.
"Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.
"And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh;
"For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live" (D&C 84: 19-22).
Sacred Space and Degrees of Holiness
Now let's go back to Job. When the Lord speaks out of the whirlwind, He asks certain testing questions to see if Job is ready to pass on to higher levels of holiness:
"Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
"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" (Job 38: 3-6).
As the temple represents Creation, He could have asked, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the temple? Or when I measured it? Or when I set up the Cornerstone and fastened the tent of the tabernacle to the foundation with spikes, translated from Hebrew as nails.
The Round Dance of the Angels
The next verse asks another important question: "When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (Job 38: 7).
As the earth turns on its axis, the stars make a circular pattern as they appear to move around the earth. The earth is in the sacred center as it would appear. Anciently, Jewish belief speaks of a Foundation Stone, as a sacred center. Click here for more information. You can Google "Foundation Stone" and get much information on this topic, but I like one paragraph of this link because it links the Temple Mount to the concept of new birth as it states, "The Almighty created the world in the same manner as a child is formed in its mother's womb. Just as a child begins to grow from its navel and then develops into its full form, so the world began from its central point and then developed in all direction."
I'll come back to this idea of new beginnings and rebirth with the symbolism of the Seal of Melchizedek.
But I first want to talk about the Foundation Stone as the sacred center. The Foundation Stone on Mount Moriah, where Solomon built the temple (2 Chronicles 3: 1) links the concept of temple with a sacred center. As one observes the stars rotating around the earth, the earth itself becomes a center. The land of Israel becomes the center of the earth. The city Jerusalem becomes the center of Israel. The Temple Mount becomes the center of Jerusalem, and the Foundation Stone becomes the center (or Holy of Holies) of the temple. Legend has this as a "more sacred and hallowed" spot than any other in the creation of the earth. It becomes the navel of the earth, and some Bible scholars speak of this Foundation Stone as the first spot to emerge from the chaotic waters of Creation.
The stars, as they circle the earth, create a round dance in a circular pattern encompassing the earth. If the stars are figurative for the "sons (and daughters) of God," then this pattern of Creation is in likeness to angels in a premortal council participating in a circle dance, or round dance around a sacred center.
Ancient Prayer Circles
What makes this round dance pattern more interesting is the phrase, "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Ancient prayer circles were round dances with the participants moving in a circle and singing as they danced. They would "sing together" in unison.
The Psalms are really hymns of prayer, and many were used for worship in the temple. Psalm 24 begins with the Creation and the lyrics mention the earth being founded upon the seas and established upon the floods (verse 2). The temple foundation becomes a symbol of Creation as "the foundation of the earth." This is a testing question the Lord asks Job in the above verses. The "flood" would represent the waters of chaos God conquered during Creation.
The temple is identified in verse 3 as "the hill of the Lord," and His "holy place."
Then in verse 6 it reads, "This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah." You can click here to see the Hebrew word for generation in this verse, and you will notice it means "to go round" or "to go around or make a circle." The chorus verses are then sung together with lines being repeated in unison. The remainder of the psalm repeats the chorus lines, asking those testing questions identifying Christ as "the God of salvation" in verse 5. The question and answer dialog is repeated in the ending verses:
"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
"Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
"Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah" (Psalm 24: 7-10).
A Symbol of Renewal and Rebirth
The authors of this enlightening book The Seal of Melchizedek develop the idea that this eight-point star represents a renewal period or a rebirth. They cite many excellent examples. In at least three ancient cultures--Babylonia, and the ancestors of the Lithuanian and Latvian people, the eight-point star represented the "Morning Star" or Venus. This is interesting for two reasons. First, the ancient prayer circle round dance served to represent the creation of the solar system with the planets moving around the sun in concentric circles like the round dance. And second, the eight-point star and the number 8 represent rebirth.
The Number 8
The authors cite baptism at age 8, the period after the seven days of Creation, or eighth day as a new beginning, the 8 years Lehi and his family traveled in the wilderness, the 8 barges of the Jaredites, and other examples connecting the concept of rebirth, or a new beginning, with the number 8.
They mention the required feasts in the Old Testament. One of those festivals, Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot, began last night at sundown. The Bible Dictionary states, "To the seven days was added an eighth, “the last day, that great day of the feast” (Bible Dictionary, "Feasts").
This eight-point star, the Seal of Melchizedek, is a symbol of Christ, who kept the law of Moses perfectly (as He did all other laws and commandments), and He attended all the required feasts He commanded as Jehovah.
On "the eighth day of the feast" He gave an interesting sermon at the temple. The Gospel of John records,
"In the last day (the eighth day), that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
"He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7: 37-38).
But in this verse, whose belly is it? Is it the belly of the believer, or the belly of Jesus? And what is the belly He is referring to? In Greek, often a pronoun will refer to the noun or pronoun immediately preceding it. In this case "me" is the antecedent of "his," so likely this refers to the belly of Christ. And the Greek word translated into belly is koilia. It means belly or womb, and is the exact same word Nicodemus asked Jesus when he said, "How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?" (John 3: 4). Jesus is actually speaking of spiritual rebirth on this 8th day of the feast.
Now let's return again to Job 38. Let's consider verses 7-9.
"When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
"Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
"When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it" (Job 38: 7-9).
These verses contain two references to birth (the womb and swaddling bands), and these symbols are associated with the "morning star" or Venus, the planet-star that appears at the birth of a new day.
The Seal of Melchizedek, an eight-point star with a circle at its center, is associated with priesthood and Jesus Christ, whose course is one eternal round (see 1 Nephi 10: 19). The seal and symbol represent spiritual rebirth, as we become like God as His spiritually-begotten sons and daughters. This happens as we enter into covenants made available through that Priesthood bearing his name.
And thus, only in and through Jesus do we come full circle back into God's presence from whence we came.
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