Temple Themes

Abraham knows his covenant with the Lord will be fulfilled through his offspring, but he has no children. The Lord reassured him saying, “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and […]

Abraham learns that his nephew, Lot, has been captured in battle and the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah were taken. He and his servants rescue Lot and bring back the goods of the city.  The king of Sodom urges Abraham to take the spoils of the battle, to which he replies,   “I have lift

It seems that after Abraham enters into a covenant with the Lord he is blessed both temporally and spiritually. Abraham and Sarah travel to Egypt due to a famine in the land. Abraham fears for his life, as he believes the Egyptians would kill him to take Sarah. He tells her, “Say, I pray thee,

The word father (or fathers) appears 17 times in Abraham 1. This would certainly qualify as a Leitwort or theme word in these early chapters in the Book of Abraham. Abraham’s name means “father of a multitude,” so we shouldn’t be surprised at the recurrence of this word. Abraham 1:2 states:   “And, finding there

Like many of the crossroads of life, there’s a right way and a wrong way. The Tower of Babel story provides a stark contrast to a Book of Mormon event. The Babel (or Babylon) story centers around an attempt to bypass the covenant path. It’s an attempt at re-creation without the aid of the Creator.

We have this odd story in Genesis 9:20-24 about Noah planting a vineyard, getting drunk, and being “naked” inside his tent. But did it really happen that way? Joseph Smith taught that Noah stands next in authority to Adam in the priesthood. He is identified by latter-day revelation as Gabriel. As Gabriel he appeared to

The Ark gets finished and the eight souls get aboard—Noah, his three sons, and their wives. This number eight is associated with baptism in 1 Peter 3:20 since “eight souls were saved by water.” The number eight symbolizes renewal or a new beginning. There are many examples of this—eight years for Lehi and his family

We have a lot to unpack with the temple and Come Follow Me this week, so let’s get started with Noah, who is the perfect transition from Enoch. Enoch and his people “walked with God” and so did Noah (Moses 7:69; Genesis 6:9). This introduces a popular temple theme of walking with God. Looking at

In Moses chapter 7, Enoch has had his eyes washed and anointed (Moses 6:35), and now he is “clothed upon with glory” (Moses 7:3). In a temple-like experience on Mount Simeon, he has the heavens opened unto him and is able to have a dialogue with the Lord “face to face.” The name Simeon means

I’m so excited to do this post about one of my top ten favorite scriptures! The verses are Moses 6:59-60:   “That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so