Thought: Some
Temple trivia:
1. The Salt Lake Temple took 40 years to build. It was dedicated
46 years after its announcement, the same length of time taken to erect the
ancient Jerusalem Temple (John 2:20). 2. Brigham Young disliked the original
"squatty" tower of the St. George Temple. Shortly after his death, it
was struck by lightning& burned to its base. The tower was rebuilt taller
with a more elegant shape. 3. Seven temples do not have an angel Moroni: St. George Utah; Manti Utah; Laie Hawaii; Cardston Alberta Canada; Mesa Arizona; Hamilton New Zealand; Oakland California. 4. There are currently
143 operating temples in 47 countries. Three are under renovation, 13 more temples are
under construction and 14 have been announced. 5. There are four temples in
Texas: Dallas
(1984), Houston
(2000), Lubbock
(2002) and San
Antonio (2005) 6. The first smaller temple (a concept introduced by
then-president of the Church Gordon B. Hinkley) to be completed was the Monticello
Utah (1998) and it originally had the first and only white angel
Moroni. This was too hard to see, so it was replaced with a gold Moroni. The
white angel Moroni was glazed with gold and now sits atop the Columbus
Ohio temple. 7. The largest LDS temple in the world is the Salt Lake
City temple. The Los
Angeles California temple was briefly the largest until the SLC temple underwent an
expansion and reclaimed the title. 8. The Washington D.C. temple has the largest grounds, coming
in at 52 acres. 9. The Jordan
River Utah temple has the most sealing rooms, with 17. Portland
Oregon and Seattle
Washington tie for second with 13 sealing rooms apiece.
10. The Draper Utah temple has the largest sealing room and
can accommodate over 100 people. 11. There were 34 temple dedications in 2000,
the most in a single year. 12. The Mexico
City Mexico temple is the largest temple outside the U.S. 13.
The Nauvoo temple was the 1st to have angel
Moroni on top. It was also a weather vane. The angel has been redesigned for
other temples several times since and, whenever possible, is placed facing east.
14. The Bountiful
Utah temple had 28 dedicatory sessions and had over 201,000 members in
attendance. Over 870,000 visitors toured the temple during its 6-week open
house. 15. The Phoenix Arizona temple open house is scheduled through
Nov. 1 & will be dedicated on Nov. 16.
Book of the
Week: "The New International Commentary on the Old Testament -The Book of
Jeremiah", J.A. Thompson.
JEREMIAH - 627-586 BC- was much like Mormon or Moroni. He was very
different from his contemporaries; Lehi, Daniel and Ezekiel.
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BOOK
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PAGES
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CHAPTERS
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Alma
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160
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63
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Psalms
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97
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150
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Isaiah
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80
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66
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Jeremiah
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78
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52
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Jeremiah is the 24th book in the
Bible - The 2nd of the Major Prophets - Contemporary with Nahum, Lehi,
Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Obadiah, Ezekiel and Daniel.
ONE OF LONGEST BOOKS OF SCRIPTURE -
Jeremiah lived in a time of great
political turmoil - Major struggles for world dominance between Assyria (whose
power began to wane after the death of Ashurbanipal in 627, the year Jeremiah
began his career as a prophet) Egypt (When Josiah, in 609, goes out to stop
Necho, it may have been because Josiah didn't want Egypt to help Assyria-Judah's
overlords), & Babylon. He was from Anathoth-a few miles north of Jerusalem
- it was one of the cities given to the priests at the time of Joshua and was
within the boundaries of Benjamin. We know more about Jeremiah than any other
of the prophets. He served during the reign of the last 5 kings of Judah:
Josiah-(640-608)
- Jehoahaz-(608-reigned 3 months - deported to Egypt) Jehoiakim-(608-605-
under Necho) 605-598- under Babylon-rebelled vs. Babylon- burial of ass - Jehoiachin-598-son-Jehoiakim-18
yrs. old- 3 months. taken captive-Babylon w/ queen mother Zedekiah -
597 -587 - son of Josiah - uncle to Jehoiachin - 21 yrs old. Asked but wouldn't
listen to Jeremiah. King when Lehi left Jerusalem. Blinded in Damascus and
taken captive into Babylon.
Jeremiah may
have served as a prophet for a total of 50 years or more - Told never to marry
(again)- (16:2-4) - Rejected by his own family (12:6) -Not a happy camper
(20:7,14) -The kings under whom he served were all wicked except Josiah -People
of his home town tried to kill him (11:18-23) - Placed in stocks by the temple
leaders (20:1-6) - Pleaded with Zedekiah to be true to Babylonian ties.
The book of
Jeremiah, like other prophetic books, is not a book in the modern senses but
rather a collection of prophetic oracles and other materials which have passed
through a long and complex history of transmission. It may have originally been
shorter books with unifying features about them. It seems clear that the book
is the result of a long and complex process.
Chapters
1-25 - Divine Judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem. Mostly written before
605 BC.
Chapters 30-33 - The Book of Consolation - the hopes of
restoration for Jerusalem.
Chapters 37-45 - Jeremiah's life and ministry from the siege and
fall of Jerusalem in 587-the last recorded episode is his ministry in Egypt.
Chapters 46-51 - Oracles against the Nations
One - Vs.
5 - Foreordained as was Jesus (1 Peter 1:20; Rev. 13:8; Ether 3:14) The Hebrew
word yada, translated knew, connotes
a very personal, intimate relationship. (See Abraham 3:23)
Vs.
6-10 - see call of Enoch (Moses 6:31) Moses (Exodus 4:10) Gideon (Judges 6:15) Isaiah (Is. 6)
Vs.
11-16 - Jeremiah was master of the object lesson. See chs. 13, 18, 19, 24, 27,
28, 32, 43, 51.
Vs.
17-19 - It looks like Jeremiah has a hard mission ahead of him.
Two
- Vs. 10-11 -
People are less likely to change false gods than a true one.
Vs.
13 - " In summarizing this statement, we note first that most of the
earth's inhabitants have forsaken the Lord. Second, all people thirst, even if
they are unaware of such needs. Finally, most people pursue their quest for the
living water inappropriately-they choose alternate paths, often irresponsible
and usually unproductive and empty strategies, in that quest. The world may
have its agenda; the Savior usually has another approach entirely. There is
safety and security only in discovering and implementing the Lord's way."
(Life In Christ" Millet p. 36) We are punished with and not just for our
transgressions.
Vs.
27 - A great summary of how dumb it is to worship something we made.
Three - Vs. 1-11- Marriage symbolism -
"again" Vs. 14 - How the
work of gathering happens.
Four - Chapter
heading
Five - Vs. 1 - Gen. 18:23-33- Sodom and
Gomorrah Vs. 19- You have served false
gods here and you will serve strange people in a strange land.
Six - Vs. 15 - Wickedness reaches a new level
when people parade it as opposed to being ashamed. "Speaking of
Jeremiah’s time, one scholar said: “The prophets and priests of the day dressed
the nation’s wounds, but skin-deep only. Nor did they have any sense of shame
for the loathsome deeds they perpetrated. They neither felt shame nor did they
know how to blush. They had become completely insensitive to the evils in which
they and their nation were immersed. But continued active involvement in evil
has a way of dulling the conscience until a point is reached when all awareness
of evil is lost. Thereafter leaders fall with the rest of those who fall. In
the day of divine reckoning they too would go down, for it would be the day of
their own doom.” (Thompson, Book of Jeremiah,
p. 258.)
Seven - Vs.
9-11 - Entering the temple worthily.
Eight - Vs.
9 - Is there any such thing as a wise man who rejects the word of God? Vs. 22-
No balm will heal you. Only Jesus can and you have rejected Him.
Nine - Vs. 1 - Wickedness of people we love makes
righteous people sad. (2 Sam. 18:33 David for Absalom; Matt. 23:27-Jesus for
Jerusalem; Mormon 6:19-22-Mormon for Nephites)
Ten - Vs. 2-6 - The foolishness of idol worship
explained.
Eleven - Vs.
14- Don't pray for them. Vs. 19 -
Because Jeremiah had no children, the Jews thought by killing him, though he
was as innocent as a lamb, his name would die with him.
Twelve - Vs. 1 - Remind you of Habbakuk?
Thirteen -
Chapter heading
Fourteen -
Vs. 11- Pray not for this people. Vs. 14 - The Lord's comment on false
prophets.
Fifteen - Vs. 6- The Lord reminds us that his
outstretched hand can save or destroy. Vs. 19-21- A promise to those who
repent.
Sixteen
- Vs. 2- Don't bring children into this
world. Vs. 14-16 - Great
verses on the gathering of
Israel.
Seventeen - Vs.
19-27- Blessing for keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. Not seen as a problem in our
day?
Eighteen -
The Lord uses another object lesson. This time Israel is as a potters clay.
Nineteen - Vs.
1-6-In the Hebrew Bible
Tophet or Topheth was a location in Jerusalem, in the Valley of Hinnom, where
worshipers influenced by the Canaanite Pantheon sacrificed children to the gods
Moloch and Baal by burning them alive. Vs. 14 & 15 result in 20:1-3.
Twenty - Vs. 9 - Jeremiah's testimony. Vs. 14-
Jeremiah's lament- He curses the day he was born.
Twenty-one
- Zedekiah asks Jeremiah what the future will hold for him and his people. He
shouldn't have asked. See chapter heading.
Twenty-two - Vs. 28-30- This Coniah is
Jehoiachin. the son of Jehoiakim. Jehoiachin will have no offspring on the
throne of David. Incredible! Think of it! God had chosen among
the sons of David and had said that the
right to the throne would be vested in Solomon and his line - now, Coniah was the
inheritor
of that line –- and we read, “no
descendant of his could ever prosper on the throne.“
”Write ye this man childless” (from Jeremiah 22:29) -- meant that in God’s sight he would
be
considered childless. God would not accept any offspring of his –- even though
he
already
had children. Joseph of Nazareth was the direct descendant of Coniah (See
Matthew 1:6, 11 &
16);
he was under the curse should he ever try to be king. His sons James, Judah,
Joseph (Jr.) and Simon (Matthew 13:55) were also inheritors of that curse But,
Mary was descended from David through his son Nathan. Nathan’s line had no
right to the throne, but they had the blood of David as truly as Solomon’s
line. In Mary, the Lord Jesus inherited the blood line of David; in Joseph, by
legal adoption, He inherited the legal right to the throne without the curse,
because He is not of the “seed” of Joseph –- or Coniah. The
Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ is the only means whereby there could ever again
be a king in Israel. God put a lock on the throne that only He
could open. There is only one Jew alive who can claim David’s throne; He sits,
today, at God’s right hand.
Twenty-three - Vs. 7-8-
The latter-day gathering will be greater than the Mosaic exodus from Egypt.
Twenty-four - Two
baskets of figs are used as an object lesson to show that some of those taken
into Babylonian captivity will return and the bad will not.
Twenty-five - See
chapter heading and vs. 11.
Twenty-six -
Look for comparisons with Jesus. See Verse by Verse p. 345-347.
Twenty-seven - Vs.
12 - Jeremiah tells Zedekiah to serve Babylon faithfully and his nation will
live.
Twenty-eight
-True prophet vs. false prophet. Dt. 18:22
Twenty-nine - Chapter
heading
Thirty -
Latter-day gathering. Note vs. 3 and JST 11 & 12.
Thirty-one - Vs.
10- He who scattered will gather. Vs. 31-33- A new covenant with the latter-day
gathered Israel.
Thirty-two - Vs.
27 & 42-
Thirty-three -
Vs. 7 - The promise of the return of Judah and Israel from captivity.
Thirty-four - Vs.
3-5 - Jeremiah details for Zedekiah some details of his capture and captivity.
Thirty-five -
The Rechabites (a biblical clan, the
descendants of Rechab through Jonadab or Jehonadab. They belonged to the
Kenites, who accompanied the children of Israel into the holy land, and dwelt
among them. Moses married a Kenite wife, and Jael was the wife of "Heber
the Kenite.)"are
commended for being obedient in contrast to Judah.
Thirty-six - Baruch was personal scribe who recorded
Jeremiah's messages. Chapter heading.
Thirty-seven -
Vs. 7-8 - Jeremiah tells Zedekiah that Egypt will not be able to help Judah vs.
Egypt. Jeremiah in prison.
Thirty-eight
- Chapter heading
Thirty-nine
- An important historical chapter- Read
it all
Forty -
Chapter heading
Forty-one- Forty-five - Read chapter headings.
Forty-six
-Fifty one - The Lord's words to Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Amon, Edom, Kedar,
Hazor, Elam & Babylon.
Fifty-two - An
Historical appendix.
The
Lamentations of Jeremiah
A book in the Old Testament, written by Jeremiah. It is a collection
of poems or songs of grief because of the fall of Jerusalem and the Israelite
nation. The book was written after the fall of the city about 586 B.C. (gUIDE TO THE
SCRIPTURES)
