There are 21 thoughts on “The Sôd of YHWH and the Endowment”.

  1. Pingback: KnoWhy OTL26A — Why Does "Holiness To the Lord" Appear on LDS Temples? | The Interpreter Foundation

  2. Boker Tov (Good morning),

    Todah for this article, I will use this reference to my friends. This is my hope Mormon guys will bring His name, YHWH, among the nations (Mal. 1:11, no “LORD”). My wife and I are in Utah for a week for convention. Rejoice in Yahweh and His Son, Yahushua.

    Shalom, Gregoryahu

  3. The reason I find Br’er Hamblin’s articles important is because they remind us of the way to go, and are extremely plainly stated. The point of the endowments is that they are an invitation to arise and enter into the true divine council in heaven through our faithfulness in all things.

    The Celestial Kingdom is reserved for them who have received the testimony of Jesus (D&C 76:51), or, in other words, the spirit of prophecy (Revelation 19:10) – meaning if we intend to be exalted, we must do what Joseph instructed us to do: call upon God in faith to receive this blessing, obeying every commandment and every prompting of the Spirit, and not cease praying to enter into His presence until we receive (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith p. 298-299 [see also p.150-151], Luke 18:1-6). Then shall we be true prophets, have power in the priesthood, inherit the covenants of the fathers, and be fit candidates for our Father’s kingdom.

    That other men may have had this experience does not save us, for the covenants and experiences of Joseph Smith and every other true prophet are not our covenants and experiences; sitting through a dramatization of the council is most decidedly not the same as sitting in the real divine council in the heavens above. Without being presented at the divine council, we cannot be true prophets, and our exaltation is in jeopardy.

  4. Using the kabbalistic gematria, we have the following result:
    s + o + d = 60 + 6 + 4 = 70
    y + h + v + h = 10 + 5 + 6 + 5 = 26
    Psalm 25:14 “The sôd of Yhwh is for those who honor him; he reveals his covenant (berît) to them”.
    Genesis 17:2 What happens to those with whom Yhvh makes His berit?
    “… I… will multiply thee exceedingly”.
    What would happen if we multiply “sod” by “Yhvh”, that is, 70 x 26 = 1820.
    What took place in the year 1820? The sod of Yhvh was newly revealed to a man (Amos 3:7) by covenant.

  5. I agree that the LDS temple endowment is part of YHWH’s sôd. LDS temple worship and covenant making are done in the presence of “God, angels, and witnesses”. Likewise, when Jesus Christ visited the Nephites at the temple, there eventually came angels and administered unto the children present.

    ” 24 And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.

    25 And the multitude did see and hear and bear record; and they know that their record is true for they all of them did see and hear, every man for himself; and they were in number about two thousand and five hundred souls; and they did consist of men, women, and children.”

    3 Nephi

    Looking at the cited verses above, we can determine the presence of YHWH (Jesus Christ) who is God (“the God of Israel and of the whole earth”); angels; and witnesses. Was this not also YHW’s sôd?

    This brings me to wonder, while I do not recall any one moment Joseph Smith stood in the theophonic presence of God and angels, he was indeed instructed by YHWH (Jesus Christ) and angels. Would this not also count as YHWH’s sôd? If so, than entering into YHWH’s sôd would not require one singular event but may also include events over time.

    Interesting stuff. Hamblin’s article definitely has me thinking.

    • D&C 76:20-21 indicates that Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon saw “glory of the Son, on the right hand of the Father… And saw the holy angels, and them who are sanctified before his throne, worshiping God, and the Lamb, who worship him forever and ever.”

      So yes, Joseph Smith was presented before the sod. In fact, in an 1835 account of the First Vision, in addition to seeing “two personages” Joseph reported he also “saw many angels in this vision,” so even his First Vision might have been a divine council scene.

  6. It is true that the heavenly court motif is recognized by modern scholarship as being the Assembly of the Gods (Isa 40:25-26, Ps 82), and it is interchangeable with the “banquet of salvation on the World Mountain.” In Hebrew it is termed ʻAdat ʼEl עדת-אל (Ps 82:1), or Sod סוד (Jer 23:18,22), “Heavenly Council; Decision of Council; counsel, secret, mystery” (= Essene/Qumran raz = Iranian/Persian raza = Pauline mysterion), and is the direct corollary of Ugaritic ʿdt.ilm, Pḫr.ilm, Pḫr.mʿd, “The Divine Parliament; The Group of the Assembly (of Gods)” (Akkadian Puḫrum = Sumerian UKKIN). The late Mitchell Dahood and others claimed that that divine assembly included pre-existent or pre-mortal man, along with Seraphim, Cherubim, and other angelic creatures which are to be taken as symbolic of divine power (D&C 77:2-4, Deut 32:43, LXX Hab 3:2, Rev 4:6-8). The importance of a ritual communal meal in connection with such heavenly and earthly assemblies and with covenant-making cannot be overstated, and these include the Jewish Passover Seder and the LDS Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, to name just a couple.

    Yehuda Radday demonstrated long ago that many important biblical books (especially those of the Primary History) center on or have their peak on a special mountain: Genesis on Mt Moriah, Exodus on Mt Sinai, Judges on Mt Gerizim, I Samuel & II Samuel on Mt Gilboa, I Kings & II Kings “a triptych with a centerpiece and two lateral panels” – centering on theophanies on Mts Carmel & Horeb. Jack Welch has shown that the Sermon at the Temple in III Nephi (at the center of the book), and the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew are both highly liturgical temple texts.

    It is worth observing that the World-Mountain (like Moriah, Olympus, or Ṣafon) is the Cosmic Mountain, and the archetypal location for the temple and world tree — the location of the Divine Council and Messianic Banquet of Salvation at the end time.

  7. Br’er Hamblin,

    This article and one other of yours pertaining to a similar topic (the name of the essay escapes me) strike me as being very important. This article also makes me wish we had a more clear translation of the Bible.

  8. Bill;

    Thank you so much for this simple and insightful article on the sôd of God / YHWH. I recall reading something about this from you several months ago and have waited more to be written on this topic. I immediately linked here via Dan Peterson’s facebook post and link.

    I am particularly glad you spoke about 1 Kings 22:19-23. I was recently shared the part which God authorizing “a spirit” to go out and le among man. My immediate apprehension to accept this passage on its superciafial meaning based upon the paradox that God does not offer lies but truth and also the explicit LDS doctrine in the Book of Mormon which God does not lie:

    ” 4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

    5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.

    6 And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.

    7 And I said: Lord, how is it done?

    8 And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole.”

    (Enos 1)

    Your insight that the prophets who would deceive or be deceived are those which did not stand in YHWH’s sôd makes a lot of sense. I have to say that I still do not get YHWH authorizing “a spirit” to go forth and lie but I do find your insight helpful and applicable. Could Enos mean that since he was hearing God’s [the Father’s] voice and thus entered into a sort of personal sôd with God that God could not lie as opposed to God not lying at all, even if one chooses to leave God’s sôd after God invited him in?

    It’s also interesting that, as you pointed out, Lehi entered into God’s sôd and received divine secrets from God. Nephi, for his part, believed in Lehi’s words and through his faith and taking his desire to learn to God, Nephi too received miraculous visions. In other words, the same power which taught Lehi also taught Nephi. Laman and Lemuel, on the other had, mocked and ridiculed Lehi and accused him of being a “visionary man”. Laman and Lemuel’s main concern over Nephi was that Nephi would take their power of governance. It’s interesting that Nephi placed his faith in God’s sôd and was therefore taught divine truth while Laman and Lemuel’s heart and desired focused on worldy power, lied and deceived, even if they personally were convinced that they were correct.

    Again, this is a good piece and I look forward to reading more if more comes down the line.

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