Gospel Doctrine Podcast 26- 1 Kings 3-11 (updated)

Temples, revelation, and uniqueness

Moses makes the tabernacle based on the plan and details shown to him on Sinai. [Exo 25:40], and David is given the whole plan of the temple in writing, from God [1Chr 28:19].

There are many sources on the Egyptian parallels, but I’m thinking particularly of John A. Tvedtnes, “Egyptian Etymologies for Biblical Religious Paraphernalia,” in Egyptological Studies, ed. Sarah I. Groll, Scripta Hierosolymitana (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1982), and
Michael Mathias Homan’s Ph.D. Dissertation “To Your Tent O Israel! The Terminology, Function, Form, and Symbolism of Tents in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient near East” (UCSD, 2000).

From Homans- “In sum, the military tent and camp of Rameses II at Qedesh constitute the best parallel to the [Israelite] Tabernacle known to date. The significance of the parallel is great. Here exists a tent shrine for the living Egyptian god from the same time and area in which the events in P purport to take place.” p. 176. “Thus a late Bronze II/Iron I Israelite tent sanctuary, heavily influenced by Egyptian techniques, would not be an anomaly. It might even be expected.” p. 198.

D&C 1:24- “Behold, I am God and have spoken it; these commandments… were given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding. ”

Peter Enns, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament

“God adopts the current cultural conventions and uses them for his purposes.”[I&I, 18] “When God reveals himself, he always does so to people, which means that he must speak and act in ways that they will understand. People are time bound, and so God adopts that characteristic if he wishes to reveal himself. We can put this even a bit more strongly: It is essential to the very nature of revelation that the Bible is not unique to its environment.” [I&I, 20] “When God speaks and acts, he does so within the human drama as it is expressed at a certain time and place and with all the cultural trappings that go along with it. This makes revelation somewhat messy, but it does not seem to work any other way. In fact, it would seem that God would not have it any other way.” [I&I, 160-161]

Prayer with Upraised Hands
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