Exodus 17-20 and the Temple

 Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have a modern temple worship that hearkens back to the temples of the Old Testament.  The events of this section of Exodus are forerunners of Israelite temple worship.  There were two main ideas that struck me related to temples from these chapters.

1. The intention when Moses brought the House of Israel to Sanai was so they could become "a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." (Exodus 19:6). More than that, the Lord wanted to show himself to the people "for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sanai." (Exodus 19:11).  The people washed their clothes and purified themselves, and then came to the base of the mountain, but when they saw the lightning and thunders and fire on the mountain, they were afraid, "and they stood at the nether part of the mount."  That is not the best translation.  What it really says is they stood a ways off, or in other words, they weren't willing to go forward. It was too scary.  The LORD told Moses to set bounds, and no one was thereafter allowed to go up and speak with the LORD except Moses.  This practice was continued when the Israelites set up their tabernacle, and later the temple.  The general population could come to the outer court, but only the high priest could come into the Holy of Holies, and only on the Day of Atonement. The goal of making a kingdom os priests was set aside, and a limited priesthood was set up lead by Aaron and the Levites.

When Joseph Smith established temple worship once again, he fulfilled the Lord's original purpose at Sanai.  In modern LDS temples, people are washed and purified symbolically, and then led, step by step back into the presence of God.  On the way they are ordained to become priests and priestesses.  The LORD, at last, has his "kingdom of priests" who can all enter his presence. 

2. This temple symbolism made one other thing I found during my reading even more impactful.  The chapter I decided to read in Hebrew this week was Exodus 20, the chapter with the ten commandments.  (It was pretty much easier to read than the Song of the Sea last week.) A lot of the podcasts I listened to talked about the commandments and how they could be divided up into behavior toward God and behavior toward man.  But the verses that stood out to me were 5 and 6.  The LORD is expounding on the not worshiping idols commandment.  He says, "for I the LORD am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."  Anyway, that is what is says in the KJV, but that is not what I read in Hebrew.  The NIV translation better reflects the Hebrew.  It says "but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments."  The LORD will punish those that hate him for 3-4 generations, but bless those that love him and keep his commandments for a thousand generations.  That sounds like a hyperbole, but, as I thought about it,  I realized it really isn't.  Yes, if someone turns away from God, it will affect their children and grandchildren, and maybe their great-grandchildren who miss the chance to be raised in the gospel.  But after that, it is their own responsibility to find the truth and aren't being affected by their ancestor's choices as much.  On the other hand, we are the still being blessed because the children of Israel, at least at some point, decided to love God and keep his commandments.  If they hadn't, we wouldn't have the Bible which is the foundation of most of Western culture.  Even if we are not direct descendants of the Hebrews, (though, we are all, probably, at some point descended from the house of Israel), members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believe they are adopted into the House of Israel when they make and keep temple covenants.