Mosiah 2:37 — LeGrand Baker — ‘ye are temples’

Mosiah 2:37 — LeGrand Baker — ‘ye are temples’

Mosiah 2:37
37    I say unto you, that the man that doeth this, the same cometh out in open rebellion against God; therefore he listeth to obey the evil spirit, and becometh an enemy to all righteousness; therefore, the Lord has no place in him, for he dwelleth not in unholy temples.” (Mosiah 2:37)

The idea that righteous people are holy temples is a very ancient and often affirmed doctrine of the gospel. But, as the case here, when it is mentioned, it is usually assumed that the audience understands its significance, so it is rarely explained. In this regard, Paul’s question is probably most frequently quoted, but gives us no clarification because Paul gives no explanation about what he means.

16    Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are (1 Corinthians3:16-17).

The remarkable thing is that the idea that people are temples seems to have been so universally accepted in the ancient world that no one bothers to explain it. So what one gets now, are statements like “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19).”

Later on, when Paul was writing again to the Corinthians, he used that idea as an argument against marrying non-Christians.

16    And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people (2 Corinthians 6:16).

When the idea comes up in the gospel of John, it is in the context that the Jews did not understand what the Saviour was saying.

19    Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
20    Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
21    But he spake of the temple of his body.” (John 2:19-21)

We get a somewhat similar argument in the Book of Mormon when Alma is trying to bring wayward church members back into the fold. Only in this instance Alma’s statement is full of code words which we have come to associate with ideas which are most sacred, such as “walk” and “path.” There are other references to sacred things which are not so obscure, such as “his course is one eternal round.” “Filthiness” and “unclean” are words which suggest ritual washings and the ordinances which follow or are associated with them. The idea of “awake” suggests giving life and making covenants, { footnote # 1 } and the phrase, “walk after the holy order of God” suggests ordinances, covenants and priesthood power. – And in the midst of all that, Alma says, “he doth not dwell in unholy temples.” Like Paul, he gives no explanation for that statement, but simply assumes his listeners understand the importance of what he is saying. The full statement reads:

20    I perceive that it has been made known unto you, by the testimony of his word, that he cannot walk in crooked paths; neither doth he vary from that which he hath said; neither hath he a shadow of turning from the right to the left, or from that which is right to that which is wrong; therefore, his course is one eternal round.
21    And he doth not dwell in unholy temples; neither can filthiness or anything which is unclean be received into the kingdom of God; therefore I say unto you the time shall come, yea, and it shall be at the last day, that he who is filthy shall remain in his filthiness. 22 And now my beloved brethren, I have said these things unto you that I might awaken you to a sense of your duty to God, that ye may walk blameless before him, that ye may walk after the holy order of God, after which ye have been received. (Alma 7:20-22).

Amulek uses the same argument, again, with the understanding that his audience accepted the idea as a fundamental truth, so he gives only the slightest explanation about what it means.

35    For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.
36    And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb (Alma 34:35-36).

Mormon uses the idea the same way—as an argument, but not as an idea requiring an explanation:

4     And they saw that they had become weak, like unto their brethren, the Lamanites, and that the Spirit of the Lord did no more preserve them; yea, it had withdrawn from them because the Spirit of the Lord doth not dwell in unholy temples– (Helaman 4:24)

The same thing occurs in the Doctrine and Covenants, where God simply states, “The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple (D&C 93:35).”

In LDS sermons the idea that we are temples is frequently used to support the Word of Wisdom. Milton R. Hunter’ speech is a classic example:

Thus, as Paul proclaimed, our bodies are temples of God, given to us that we might keep them clean, pure, and uncontaminated in all respects, that some day we might come back with our bodies into the presence of our eternal Maker and have them purified and exalted. So the things that we do that will contaminate our bodies certainly work against the saving of our souls. (Conference Report, October 1953, p.48)

All this suggests that the idea that people are temples is, or ought to be, so obvious that there is no need to explain what that means or how we come to be temples. But not all the scriptures are silent about an explanation. In fact, they give three explanations, and I believe all of them are worthy of serious consideration. Theyare:

1) The suggestion implied by many of the above quotes that we are temples because the Holy Ghost dwells in us; the Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead, and the place where he would dwell is a temple. In the quotes above, both Paul and Brigham Young have explained that, but there are others who have also considered that meaning.

2) The explanation that focus on our relationship with the Saviour: We are temples because we are built upon his sacred “Rock”—the hill in Jerusalem where the Temple was located.

3) An idea, which so far as I know is found exclusively in Isaiah’s discussions of our pre-mortal existence: We are temples because God has measured us and has set us apart as sacred space. That idea, being sacred space, is expanded (or perhaps only exemplified) in our this-world existence, by the ancient scriptural notion that sacred clothing delineated the wearer as being sacred space. I would like to explore each of those three ideas.

1) WE ARE TEMPLES BECAUSE THE HOLY GHOST DWELLS IN US.

When the Saviour organized his church, he said, “thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18) The Saviour instructed to the Prophet Joseph, “Build upon my rock, which is my gospel;” { fn # 2 } and later explained to the Prophet, as he had to Peter, that the “rock” upon which the church is built, included the priesthood sealing powers. (D&C 128:10.) In a sermon, Joseph explained to the Saints the meaning of the “rock” in a single word, when he said, “What rock? Revelation.” {fn # 3 }John

Taylor expanded that comment by saying, “The foundation upon which The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is built is the rock of revelation-upon the rock that Jesus said He would build His church, and the gates of hell should not prevail against it.” { fn # 4}

President McKay brought that idea home to each of us when he said, “Inspiration, revelation to the individual soul, is the rock upon which a testimony should be built, and there is not one living who cannot get it if he will conform to those laws and live a clean life which will permit the holy Spirit to place that testimony in him.” { fn # 5 }

2) WE ARE TEMPLES BECAUSE WE ARE BUILT UPON HIS SACRED “ROCK.” The Saviour’s use of this imagery is well known:

24    Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his hous upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24) { fn # 6 }

Alma explained the meaning of the Rock in these words:

12    And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall (Helaman 5:12)

President Benson often referred to that scripture and used it to emphasize the importance of our relationship with the Saviour. { fn # 7 }

How, building oneself upon the Rock of Christ makes one a temple, is easy to understand. It is tied to the idea that the Rock upon which the church is built is revelation, and it includes the idea of priesthood sealing powers.

Throughout the history of Israel, in all the world there is only one sacred rock. It is the solid outcropping at Jerusalem on which Melchizedek first built his temple { fn # 8 }; where Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac; where Solomon, Zerubbabel, and Herod, all built temples to the Lord. { fn # 9 } All one has to do is recognize there is a necessary symbolic connection between the “Rock” which represents the Saviour and the sacred Rock at Jerusalem on which the temple is built, to understand why people who build their covenants, ordinances, and their lives, on the Rock which is the Saviour, are temples, just as the temple at Jerusalem is the acknowledge first or central temple because it is built upon the sacred rock. Similarly, one cannot be a temple if one is built upon some non-sanctified foundation. It seems to me that what the Saviour is explaining that just as one builds one’s life upon Christ, and becomes a temple; and just as the most sacred part of that temple is the Holy of Holies, in which sits the Ark of the Covenant (which symbolizes the ordinances and covenants, and, when he is not there, the presence of God), and the throne of Jehovah on which he sits when he is present; so, if one builds one’s life upon that most sacred Rock, and if there is a Holy of Holies where Christ can come to be acknowledged King, then one is in fact, a temple. {fn # 10 }

3) WE ARE TEMPLES WHEN WE ARE SACRED SPACE.

I am aware of two basic scriptures where this idea is expressed. Both are in Isaiah, and both are in the context of the pre-mortal existence.

One is in Isaiah 48. As I have mentioned before, that chapter in the Bible is the end of the Cyrus series, but in 1 Ne 20 (which does not have the biblical additions which suggest it was written by “Second Isaiah”) the chapter sounds like it is a description of the War in Heaven.

In the Book of Mormon version we are reminded of Moses 4 when we read:

10   For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
11    For mine own sake, yea, for mine own sake will I do this, for I will not suffer my name to be polluted, and I will not give my glory unto another.
12    Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called, for I am he; I am the first, and I am also the last.
13    Mine hand hath also laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens. I call unto them and they stand up together.
14    All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; who among them hath declared these things unto them?  The Lord hath loved him [the person who gives the speech]; yea, and he [the speaker, which turns out to be the Prophet Joseph (1 Ne 21:8 fn.a)] will fulfil his word which he hath declared by them….” (1 Nephi 20:12-14)

Here we see several things going on. The one we are most concerned with is that Jehovah’s “right hand hath spanned the heavens.”

That he used the right hand seems important. Remember, in the story of Joseph when he took his sons to his father, Israel, who wished to give them a blessing. Here it is the right hand which conveys the birthright blessing of Abraham.

13    Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him.
14    And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn
….
17    And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.
18    And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
19    And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. (Genesis 48:13-19)

The right hand has other significance, also, as is visually suggested in the Psalms.

9    We have thought of thy lovingkindness [hesed], O God, in the midst of thy temple.
10    According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness. (Psalm 48:8-9)

The word “span,” in the Isaiah passage(“my right hand hath spanned the heavens”), means to measure. Of several definitions in the Oxford English Dictionary, two are especially interesting in this context: “To measure by means of the outstretched hand; to cover with the hand in this way.” “To stretch out (the thumb) as in spanning.” [The parenthesis are a part of the quote.]

The “heavens,” in the Isaiah passage, means the same thing as “stars” in Revelation, where it is said of Satan, “his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven” (Revelation 12:3); and in Job, where the Lord asks, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? … When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:4-7) In the scriptures, the words “heavens” and “stars” frequently refer to the members of the Council in Heaven. { fn # 11 }

In the 1 Ne. 20 reading of Isaiah 48, God calls the Heavens to assemble, and they stand up (again the idea of covenant), and hear a speech by one whom the Lord loves.  All this reinforces the idea that the “heavens” whom God has measured with his right hand are members of the heavenly Council.

The principle of measuring is central to our discussion. Sacred space must first be measured before it can be defined and walled off from the profane world. In our world, the measurements of the sacred space are given by revelation. Thus, God gives Moses the measurements for the Ark of the Covenant and consequently for its cover, and for the Tabernacle and the portable wall which divides it from the rest of the camp of Israel. The Lord gave Solomon the measurements of his temple. Ezekiel carefully gives us the measurements of the future temple he sees in a vision, and John, at the end of Revelation, gives us the measurements of the holy city he sees. When the Prophet was instructed to build the Kirtland Temple, the Lord gave him the measurements, and it is said that when President Hinckley first conceived the idea of Small Temples, he sketched them out with their measurements. { fn # 12 }

So t if people are going to become sacred space, they will have to be defined as such by measuring. Isaiah’s description of God’s stretching his right hand over the members of the Heavenly Council to measure them, is certainly evidence that he designated them as sacred space—as temples.

Priesthood holders in this world do the same sort of thing when we stretch our hands over someone’s head to ordain and to bless (“set apart” and “make sacred space” are virtually the same concept). Patriarchs not only place their hands on one’s head, but literally define the perimeters of one’s calling when they give Patriarchal Blessings.

Isaiah chapter 40 is the other place where we find God measuring the “heavens.” The context is the Council in Heaven, where we learn of the callings of John the Baptist { fn # 13 } and of the Saviour. Then, as in Job, the author asks a series of questions. As in Job, the questions seem almost to be an attack on the reader, until one realizes that Job or the reader is supposed to know and give the answers. Question: “[Where wast thou] when I laid the foundations of the earth? … When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:7).” Implied answer: “I was there, at the Council.” So it goes, question after question, first dealing with the Council, then with the creation, until finally the reader, with Job, is brought to the veil where he may see God (Job 42:5).

Isaiah 40 does the same thing. After the reader is introduced to the workings of the Council, he is asked questions about the creation. Only the questions are given, it is assumed the reader will supply the answers. If he does not, he is challenged, “Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?” (Isaiah 40: 21) { fn # 14 } The first of those questions whose answer one has known from the foundations of the earth is this:

1    Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.
2    Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain.” (Psalms 104:1-2)

It is not surprising then, that accounts of one’s seeing either God or his angels often include a statement about the brightness of their clothes { fn # 18 }.

That same idea is found in Isaiah, “Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. (Isaiah 52:1) { fn # 19 } Alma explains that the garments are beautiful because they are purified through the atonement of the Saviour.

21    I say unto you, ye will know at that day that ye cannot be saved; for there can no man be saved except his garments are washed white; yea, his garments must be purified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem his people from their sins (Alma 5:21).

The Saviour further explained,

19    And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end. (3 Nephi 27:19)

This applies as much to those whose temple work is done after their death, as it applies to the sanctified who are living. In Isaiah 61, being clothed in the “garment of praise,” the “garments of salvation,” and “the robe of righteousness” are important parts of both the coronation scene and the resurrection hymn. { fn # 20 }

In his Revelation, John reports,

9    After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
….
14    And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9, 14)

There is, in this connection, a suggestion in Proverbs that to clothe is reminiscent of the creation acts of the Heavenly Council. Again, as in Job and Isaiah, were asked questions to which the initiated are expected to respond correctly, just as in Proverbs:

4    Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell? (Proverbs 30:4).

Thus, the third way one may become a temple is by one’s virtually becoming sacred space. This was first done at the Council when God himself measured his children with his own hand. It is reaffirmed here when we do things which are strikingly similar. And people are defined as sacred space by wearing clothing which serves the same function as a veil, separating the sacred within from the profane without.

And there is one more way which the ancient Israelites were so closely connected with the temple rites and drama that it virtually became a mirror by which they could know themselves. The drama itself was their own personal autobiography, orienting themselves to all creation; through its story they could identify themselves with the gods at the Council, with the creation, with their place in this world and in the world to come. The drama said to them, this is where, in the great eternal scheme of things, you are just now. This is where you came from, where you are going, and how you are to get there.

—— —————— FOOTNOTES

{ 1 } Holman suggests that when the word “awake” is used alone it carries the connotation of one’s having secured, or having received a covenant securing, one’s own resurrection. He also says that when “awake” is used with “arise” in the Old Testament, the “awake” becomes a kind of command with the connotation of creating something, and the “arise” suggests standing in the attitude of defense. So, he says, “awake and arise” suggests creating and defending. Jan Holman, “Analysis of the Text of Ps 139 [part 2]”, Biblische Zeitschnft, vol. 14, 1970, p. 199-227. “Arise” also implies covenant making, as in 2 Kings 23:1-3, so the phrase might suggest creation or being created, and covenant making in connection with that.

{ 2 } D&C 11:24. See also: D&C 18:5, D&C 33:12-13.

{3} Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 273.

{ 4 } Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p.50-51, 6 October 1879; JD, 20:332.

{ 5 } David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, p.428. Deseret News Church Section, September 12, 1951, p. 4.

{ 6 } The Saviour frequently repeated that idea. For examples see: Luke 6:48; 2 Nephi 28:28; 3 Nephi 11:40; 3 Nephi 14:24; 3 Nephi 18:12; 3 Nephi 18:13; D&C 6:34.

{ 7 } For examples see: Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.6 and 11.

{ 8 } “[Jerusalem’s] original founder was a prince of Canaan called Melchizedek, or “Righteous King,” for such, indeed, he was. He was the first priest of God, and the first to build the temple; he named the city Jerusalem, which was previously called Solyma.” Josephus, The Essential Writings, translated and edited by Paul L. Mayer (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Kregel Publications, 1988) p. 367.