Abraham's Cosmological Vision

I just realized at my most recent reading of Abraham 3 that the order in which Abraham was presented the celestial heavens was important.

Abraham 3: 1 - 4 Abraham sees that the stars surrounding the Throne of God are physically large, and that they are gravitationally connected to each other. Kolob is a star orbiting the Throne of God, and the rest of our universe is orbiting Kolob. Kolob itself is rotating 365,000 times slower than the Earth does, so that a single day on Kolob lasts 1,000 of our years. Here the Lord introduces the concept of "Times & Seasons", which I take to be 'Rotations' (spinning on its axis - gives the time of day) & 'Orbits' (circling around a gravitational attractor - gives us the seasons of the year). It was about 14 years ago that I finally realized that this whole chapter was about spinning objects orbiting other spinning objects. It was just recently that I realized that the first four verses illustrate the basic operating principles of the cosmos.

Abraham 3: 5 - 10 The Lord points out that our Moon is orbiting the Earth, and that the Earth can spin on its axis quicker than the Moon can make one complete orbit - and this pattern prevails throughout the universe. The gravitational attractor is always going to spin faster than the orbiting objects can march around it. And just as the moon orbits the earth - so the earth orbits the sun - and the sun & other stars orbit the center of the Milky Way Galaxy (Sagittarius A*) - and the Milky Way Galaxy & the other nearby galaxies orbit the 'Great Attractor' - and Clusters of Galaxies all orbit some 'Greater Attractor' - and all of those 'Ultra-Galactic Clusters' orbit Kolob - and our universe & other universes orbit the Throne of God (which spins infinitely slowly - it's stationary).

Facsimile 2: We get the Egyptian names for these Gravitational Attractors, as well as a couple of names of other 'hubs' that 'govern' other systems besides our own (like extra-solar planets that are part of our Galaxy, but not part of our own 'chain-of-command').

What we end up with is a universe that resembles a Tilt-a-Whirl, like we used to ride at parks when we were kids. There's a central hub that the whole round table circles - and then within that great round table there are other smaller round tables spinning about other hubs located outward from the central hub - and then there are even smaller tables located farther out from those secondary hubs - and so on. The circular tables surrounding the hubs that are farthest from the central hub will naturally spin the fastest, while the central hub is spinning slowest of all. The bottom line of all this is that our universe is all gravitationally interconnected, and that ultimately it's all one spinning Accretion Disk that very much resembles what Cosmologists think they're seeing.

Abraham 3: 18 - 26 The Lord explained to Abraham that the physical universe is a good metaphor for Man's Eternal Progression. He said that people are like Heavenly Father, only not so 'Intelligent' - which means a great deal more than 'educated'. His children are organized so that some of them will gain more light & knowledge than others (the Rulers) - and these Rulers will be 'added upon' as they follow other greater Rulers along the trail of 'estates' - and so on until we reach Heavenly Father Himself (who is infinitely intelligent - omniscient). It's obvious how the Human Family & Priesthood Organization both parallel this eternal principle.


ABRAHAM ONCE HIED TO KOLOB
Sung to the tune of "If You Could Hie to Kolob"
Four More Verses by Larry Lewis

Abraham once hied to Kolob, and was called by God: "My Son!
Thy seed have exaltation. The lives have scarce begun.
There is a law established: Men & Worlds forever grow.
We planned it all in the beginning, then created all below!

"The Moon your planet circles, and the Earth moves round the Sun,
And the Stars have revolutions, as they ‘round your Galaxy run.
Then there’s two more steps to Kolob, and each one moves more slow.
But the Throne of God is stationary, in God’s omniscient glow.

"The Egyptians named the moon Floesse. Jahoheh they called the earth.
Enishgoondosh they named the sunrise. Kaeevanrash gave it birth.
Kliflosises governs the motions, of each galaxy you can see.
But the universes orbit Kolob, and Kolob orbits Me!"

I’m so grateful for a Savior, that Redemption can be found.
I can have my sins remitted. I can have my joy abound.
I can have eternal increase. I can have forever kin.
And the more I resemble my Redeemer, my life will never end!

The Heavens Thereof

Well, I finished the Book of Mormon again yesterday, and I've started reading The Pearl of Great Price aloud in Spanish this morning.

Moses 1: 37 & 38 "And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine. And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words."

I've been looking at the nighttime sky ever since I can remember. For many years now, I've been especially aware that every single star I see is part of only one galaxy - the Milky Way galaxy. There are a couple of hundred billion stars in each galaxy, and there are a couple of hundred billion galaxies (that we know of yet).

I can't read scriptures like this one without hearing the word 'galaxy' every time I read 'heavens'. And the idea that this earth has it's own galaxy rings true to me. Other earths would have their own galaxy. There's at least 200,000,000,000 other galaxies, so that's enough earths to fill my imagination.

So, does that mean that earth is the only planet in the whole Milky Way galaxy with mortal people walking on it? I think that's the case. I rather suspect that 'head office' in our galaxy is another planet with angels walking on it - but head office is only there to service our planet.

So, in the words of the movie "Contact", why would there be such a "waste of space"?

Personally, I believe that when Jesus told Abraham that his seed (the exalted) would be of like numbers as the stars he could see, that he was actually telling Abraham that there's a star (planetary system) in our own 'heavens' with each of our names on it, if we'll only fulfill our covenants with the Lord. That's a pretty good incentive, I think.

By the way, I don't imagine our promised 'planetary systems' will look like much now. The story of creation found in various places all tell the same story: Just wait until Jesus's crew finishes the home improvements; you won't RECOGNIZE the place!

An Ancient American Setting

I'm glad Kendell & I were able to visit 'Mayan Country' a couple of years ago. As I'm now at the last couple of chapters in the Book of Mormon again, I realize that I'm picturing the story in that setting.

I realized, for example, that when Gideon was chasing King Noah up the tower, and that they were both 'upon' the tower that was 'beside the wall around the city', that I'm 'seeing' them both upon one of the pyramids we saw, and the wall around that ceremonial center did in fact run right up to the pyramid, so that the pyramid was really part of the wall.

Then I wondered why after Gideon had threatened to 'get him', that the King would run to the pyramid instead of running for his guards. And then I realized that Gideon had threatened a 'coup', and that the King couldn't count on his guards being on his side. Instead, he put himself somewhere where every person in town could see what was happening.

Then I began to think about the 'cities of refuge' named in the Law of Moses - and I wondered if this wasn't how it happened on both continents. Perhaps if someone is out to get you, you not only run to the county seat, but you also position yourself somewhere in that town that's fairly public - and, in effect, you demand your day in public court.

There were several parallels in the Bible, where guys who were 'dead meat' ran and grasped the horns of the alter in the temple. Sometimes they got their day in court, and sometimes they got a decent burial.

Then I realized that when King Noah saw the invading Lamanites - and I can easily picture how pyramids make a natural 'look-out' point - he did a despicable thing: He ordered the soldiers to flee the city, ultimately abandoning their families to slow down the pursuing army.

That's not how defensive wars were fought in those parts. You're supposed to put your families at the top of the pyramid, and then you put your soldiers around the lower steps (on the stepped side) to hold the fort until help arrives along the inevitable highway leading to other cities.

Why didn't Noah do this? Oh yea, because there were no roads from their Nephite colony leading to any other Nephite cities (they were surrounded by Lamanite cities in a semi-circle southward). Instead, he high-tailed it out of town, heading into the wilderness northward.

But even his own army didn't cotton much to this departure from normal procedures, and they returned to their families after disposing of King Noah.

Anyway, I think visiting the Yucatan has helped me 'see the movie'.

First Born / Last Born

I may have posted this same thought nearly a year ago, but it struck me afresh today: The Jaredite Kings had a different tradition from what we're all used to; most of them appointed their Last Born Son (or sometimes one of their youngest sons) to succeed them to the throne.

Ether 6: 27 The kingdom was offered to all Jared's sons; but only Orihah (youngest son?) accepted the throne.
Ether 7: 3 Kib is begotten in Orihah's old age, but he's the next king.
Ether 7: 4-5 Corihor, Kib's son, rebelled at age 32 - and seized the kingdom.
Ether 7: 7-9 Shule is begotten in Kib's old age; he gets the kingdom back for Kib.
Ether 7: 10 Shule is chosen to be next king after King Kib.
Ether 8:1 Omer (Shule's only son?) succeeds Shule to the throne.
Ether 9: 6-14 Omer's son Jared rebels; finally the youngest son, Emer, succeeds Omer.
Ether 9: 21 Emer's youngest son, Coriantum, succeeds Emer to the throne.
Ether 9: 24-25 Coriantum had sons in his old age, and his youngest son, Com, is king.
Ether 9: 25-27 Com's oldest son, Heth, slew his father & became king.
Ether 10: 1 Heth's only surviving son, Shez ("Oh Yea? Shez who?"), is king after Heth dies in the famine.
Ether 10: 2-4 Shez (his oldest son, Shez Jr, rebels) is succeeded by his youngest son, Riplakish.
Ether 10: 8-9 Riplakish died in revolt, but his descendant Morianton restored the kingdom.
Ether 10: 13 Morianton was followed by the son of his old age, Kim, who died in jail.
Ether 10: 14-15 Kim's brother took the kingdom; Kim's youngest son Levi regained it.
Ether 10: 16 Levi's youngest son, Corum, reigned after him.
Ether 10: 17-18 Then came King Kish & King Lib, but neither are listed as 'sons'.
Ether 10: 29-30 Lib's son, Hearthom, was the next king, but he died in captivity.
Ether 10: 31-32 Then came sons: Heth, Aaron, Amnigaddah ("Davidah-Baby"), Coriantum, & Com
Ether 11: 4 Com's younger son, Shiblom, became king; his brother took the kingdom.
Ether 11: 10 Ahah (Shiblom's son?) obtained the kingdom; and so did his descendant, Ethem.
Ether 11: 14-16 Ethem's son, King Moron, begot Coriantor(both lived in captivity).
Ether 11: 23 & 12: 2 It was Coriantor's son, Ether, who wrote the Book of Ether.
Ether 12: 1 Apparently, King Coriantumr was the one who overthrew King Moron.
Ether 13 - 15 There was no more succession of sons, but only hand-offs to brothers until the final war.

So the moral of the story appears to be that you're putting the throne in good hands if you give it to your youngest son, but beware rebellions from your oldest son. It works pretty well if your oldest son resigns himself to having a career that isn't being king, but it's a formula for disaster if your oldest son decides to take over before younger sons are old enough to be chosen king.

It's likely that this was the design of the post-deluvian world (Nimrod, etc), and I find it interesting that you don't hear much of this experiment in later ages of the world; perhaps they learned it just didn't work.

Ether 3

Ether 3: 15-16 "And never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created ...Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh."

As I re-read Ether 3 this morning, I asked myself again how Mahonri Moriancumr's experience was so different from the experiences of Adam, Enoch, or Noah? I understood that Mahonri's great faith made it possible for him to return to the Lord's presence - redeeming him from the Fall - but hadn't Adam had the same experience?

I realized today that the difference was that Mahonri actually discerned the Lord's facial features! Jesus told Mahonri that His physical appearance would be exactly how He would look when He was born into mortality, and exactly how He would look when he appeared to the Nephites.

I realized that everyone else who's had this marvelous experience saw only the Lord's exterior glory, so they couldn't have told you the color of His eyes, the shape of His mouth, or the size of His nose. But Mahonri could have.

This is the only scripture that tells us that our spirits 'look like' our bodies. I think that was why it was so important that the Lord would give Mahonri such a shot of Faith - so that he could witness this marvelous principle.

You know, I'm counting on that 'exterior glory' when I'm resurrected - so I don't have to worry about whether I'm good looking enough. What's now my facial features will be my innards, and - clothed in glory (added upon) - my outward appearance will assume the shape of my 'inner goodness'.

Of course, I'm going to have to work a little more in that department as well!

Why did the Nephites gather?

Mormon 6: 2 "And I, Mormon, wrote an epistle unto the king of the Lamanites, and desired of him that he would grant unto us that we might gather together our people unto the land of Cumorah, by a hill which was called Cumorah, and there we could give them battle."

When you know you're facing a much larger army than your own, why would you put every last soldier into a position where you'd be surrounded with no possible chance of escape? I can't think of a military reason to do so.

The only idea that comes to me is that the Nephites had traditionally formed their line of defense at the base of pyramids (with everything of value to them, including their families, behind their lines at the top of the pyramid), and this was virtually the same tactic. The idea had always been that an attacking force might possibly think twice before challenging an army with nowhere to retreat to.

It was a similar course of action that the Nephites had taken when they gathered into a besieged position, surrounded by the Gaddianton Robbers about 400 years earlier. I guess it was simply the only thing they could think of.

But of course it didn't work. The Lamanites swept over them, killing 230,000 soldiers in a single day, and no telling how many other family members.

Mormon knew their days were numbered when they sought retaliation without first obtaining their errand from the Lord:

Mormon 3: 9 - 11 "And now, because of this great thing which my people, the Nephites, had done, they began to boast in their own strength, and began to swear before the heavens that they would avenge themselves of the blood of their brethren who had been slain by their enemies. And they did swear by the heavens, and also by the throne of God, that they would go up to battle against their enemies, and would cut them off from the face of the land. And it came to pass that I, Mormon, did utterly refuse from this time forth to be a commander and a leader of this people, because of their wickedness and abomination."

I think we should always be wary whenever we think we can wipe out our competitors altogether. It's the very last step before utter disaster.

Inherit the Promised Land

One chapter in the Book of Mormon has always intrigued me: III Nephi 21.

The Savior told the Nephites that we’ll know when He’s about to come again because the Book of Mormon itself will be received among Gentile Nations, and that the gentiles will then bring the Book of Mormon back to the Nephites.

He describes the remnant of Jacob in the latter-days as a lion in the midst of beasts of the field, and then He says that He’ll destroy all the horses, chariots, cities, & strongholds, and at the same time He’ll also end witchcrafts, soothsayers, graven images, standing images, & groves. That sounds like the 2nd Coming to me.

But then he says that the relatively few repentant Gentiles will join the relatively greater number of repentant Nephites to build the New Jerusalem in the western hemisphere. I imagine the same principle will follow throughout the world, and it boils down to ‘Inheriting the Earth’.

I used to think that this was a prophecy that Mexico would supplant European-stock people in the American Southwest, but I don’t think so now. I think it just meant that the descendants of the Book of Mormon people would join the Church in such numbers that they'll outnumber the rest of us before the 2nd Coming.

One other thing: Why do we call them Lamanites, when there were ‘turncoat Nephites’ among the survivors of the last war? Throughout the Book of Mormon, the term ‘Nephites’ meant ‘Believers in Christ’, while the term ‘Lamanites’ meant ‘Apostates’. We should be calling our Latin American & Native American brethren Nephites, no?