The House of the Lord: A Study of Holy Sanctuaries Ancient and Modern. James E. Talmage

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СКАЧАТЬ and the Holy Priesthood, and devoted to the highest and most sacred ordinances characteristic of the age or dispensation to which the particular Temple belongs. Moreover, to be indeed a holy Temple—accepted of God, and by Him acknowledged as His House—the offering must have been called for, and both gift and giver must be worthy.

      The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims that it is the possessor of the Holy Priesthood again restored to earth, and that it is invested with Divine commission to erect and maintain Temples dedicated to the name and service of the true and living God, and to administer within those sacred structures the ordinances of the Priesthood, the effect of which shall be binding both on earth and beyond the grave.

      FOOTNOTES

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      1. In this connection it is interesting and instructive to consider the significance of the name Bethel, a contraction of Beth Elohim, as applied by Jacob to the place where the presence of the Lord was manifest unto him. Said he, "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Beth-el." (Genesis 28:16–19; read verses 10–22.)

      2. Exodus 36:7.

      3. Hebrews 9:1–7; Leviticus chap. 16.

      4. Exodus 25:22.

      5. Exodus 40:34–38.

      6. Joshua 18:1; see also 19:51; 21:2; Judges 18:31; I Samuel 1:3, 24; 4:3, 4.

      7. I Chron. 21:29; II Chron. 1:3.

      8. II Samuel 6:12; II Chron. 5:2.

      9. II Samuel 7:2.

      10. I Chron. 28:2, 3; compare II Samuel 7:1–13.

      11. II Chron. 5:14; see also 7:1, 2, and compare Exodus 40:35.

      12. I Kings 14:25, 26.

      13. II Chron. 24:7.

      14. II Kings 16:7–9, 17 and 18; see also II Chron. 28:24, 25.

      15. II Chron. 36:18, 19; see also II Kings 24:13; 25:9.

      16. Jeremiah 25:11, 12; 29:10.

      17. Ezra, chaps. 1 and 2.

      18. Ezra, chap. 6.

      19. Ezra 3:12, 13.

      20. Ezra 4:4–24.

      21. Ezra 6:15–22.

      22. Matt. 24:2; Mark 13:2; Luke 21:6.

      23. See Book of Mormon, II Nephi 5:16.

      24. See Book of Mormon, III Nephi 11:1.

      25. See the author's "The Great Apostasy," chap. IX.

      26. See the author's "The Great Apostasy," chap. X.

      27. See the author's "The Articles of Faith," Lecture I, and references thereto.

      28. See the author's "The Articles of Faith," specifically Lecture I, and notes thereon.

      29. See Doctrine and Covenants 36:8; 42:36; 133:2.

      30. See Doctrine and Covenants 115:7–16.

      31. See Doctrine and Covenants, Section 95.

      32. See Doctrine and Covenants, Section 109.

      33. See Doctrine and Covenants, 110:1–10.

CHAPTER II

       SANCTUARIES IN EARLIER DISPENSATIONS

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       As understood and applied herein, the designation "temple" is restricted to mean an actual structure, reared by man, hallowed and sanctified for the special service of Deity, such service including the authoritative administration of ordinances pertaining to the Holy Priesthood, and not merely a place, however sacred the spot may have become. If sacred places were to be classed with sacred buildings as essentially temples, the category would include many a holy Bethel rarely considered as such. In the more extended application of the term, the Garden in Eden was the first sanctuary of earth, for therein did the Lord first speak unto man and make known the Divine law. So too, Sinai became a sanctuary, for the mount was consecrated as the special abode of the Lord while He communed with the prophet, and issued His decrees. The sanctity of such places was as that of Horeb, where God spake unto Moses from the midst of the flame; and where, as the man approached he was halted by the command: "Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground."^[1] A temple, however, is characterized not alone as the place where God reveals Himself to man, but also as the House wherein prescribed ordinances of the Priesthood are solemnized.

THE "TESTIMONY"

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       Prior to the construction of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and indeed during the early stages of the memorable journey from Egypt, the people of Israel had a certain depository for sacred things, known as the Testimony. This is definitely mentioned in connection with the following incident. Under Divine direction a vessel of manna was to be preserved, lest the people forget the power and goodness of God, by which they had been fed:

      "And Moses said. This is the thing which the Lord commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.

      "And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.

      "As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept."^[2]

      There appears little room for doubt that the Testimony here referred to was a material structure, and that its name is suggestive of Divine witness as to its sacred character. Inasmuch as the account of the exodus contains no mention of the making of such a structure, and moreover as its existence and use were definitely affirmed before the people had had time or opportunity to shape it in the wilderness, it would seem that they must have brought the sacred Testimony with them from Egypt. This incident is of interest and importance as indicating the existence of a holy sanctuary during the formative stages of Israel's growth as a nation, and while the people were in subjection to idolatrous rulers. This application of the term Testimony must not be confused with later usage by which the tables of stone bearing the divinely inscribed Decalogue are so designated.^[3] It is to be noted further that the Tabernacle, wherein was housed the Ark of the Covenant containing the sacred СКАЧАТЬ