Aimee K
Golgotha
David killed Goliath in 1025 BC.
And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.
1 Samuel 17:54
The head of Goliath was buried just outside of Jerusalem and was a significant site because of the victory it represented. It became known as Golgotha, or place of the skull.
Golgotha doesn’t mean anything close to “skull” in Hebrew, Aramaic, or any other language. The significance of Golgotha would have been well known prior to the Babylonian invasion. Afterward, the name has kept remnants of Goliath of Gath, and even today is known as the place of the skull.
From 63 BC until the final expulsion in 135 AD, Rome occupied Jerusalem.
However in 30 AD the Roman’s had chosen this sacred place to execute their capital punishments as a show of power; a symbolic way to say, “We are more powerful than your God.”
Golden Age
God’s victory over Goliath through David was a foreshadowing. It wasn’t until David’s reign on Israel’s throne when a golden age in Jerusalem was finally ushered in.
The return of the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem took place after Saul’s death and was part of King David’s effort to establish Jerusalem as both a political and religious capital.
So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obededom with joy. And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bullocks and seven rams. And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bore the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with the singers. David also had upon him an ephod of linen. Thus, all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with sound of the horn, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps.
Prior to having a temple the ark had been maintained in the treasury of a man named Obededom, a Levite, but more specifically a Kohathite (son of Levi). Obededom was a son of Korah, who was given specific trust as temple musician, gatekeeper and to carry the holy furniture such as the ark, altar and menorah.
At that time, the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.
Deut 10:8
King David organized the Levites including temple musicians to bring the Ark properly to Jerusalem after an earlier attempt ended in disaster (1 Chron 13:9-10). To celebrate the truly momentous occasion David danced before the Lord in a linen ephod, a priestly garment (1 Chr. 15:27–29). He then blessed the people, offered sacrifices, and set up worship before the Ark.
Sons of the Giant
The land was purged of the remaining sons of the giant during David’s reign.
Goliath was first son of the giant killed by David when he was still only anointed to become king.
And Ishbibenob, who was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, intended to have slain David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succored him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him.
2 Sam. 21:15-17
Ishbibenob was the second son killed by Abishai.
Then Sibbecai the Hushathite slew Saph, who was of the sons of the giant.
1 Sam 21:18
Saph was third son killed by Sibbecai.
And there was war again with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi, the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver’s beam.
1 Chron. 20:4-8, see also 2 Sam. 21:18-22
Lahmi was fourth son killed by Elhanan.
And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature that had on every hand six fingers and on every foot six toes, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to the giant. And when he defied Israel, Jonathan, the son of Shimeah the brother of David, slew him.
2 Sam. 21:18-22
The unnamed six fingered son of the giant slain by Jonathan was the fifth.
I realize including these sorts of details make my posts incredibly lengthy. So I waffled on whether or not to include it. It’s an important detail, so just tuck it away for now.
Ark of the Covenant
In 960 BC David’s son, King Solomon, completed construction on the first temple and placed the Ark of the Covenant inside the Holy of Holies. 2 Chronicles 35:3
And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, into the Holy of Holies of the house, to the most holy place…”
This fist temple in Jerusalem was known as Solomon’s temple. There were specific ordinances designated for the Ark of the Covenant within the Holy of Holies, to be done once a year on the day of atonement.
And he shall take of the blood of the bullock and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward, and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.
Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat.
Leviticus 16:14-15
The ark is mentioned one last time during Josiah’s Reforms (626 – 586 BC) when the temple began renovations and all of the Messianic references were culled from the record. A more fulsome treatment on that apostasy here. Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon shortly after Lehi and his family were warned to flee the wrath that was to come.
Moreover, Josiah kept a Passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem. And they killed the passover on the fourteenth of the first month. And he set the priests in their charges and encouraged them to the service of the house of the Lord, and said unto the Levites that taught all Israel, who were holy unto the Lord, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, did build. It shall not be a burden upon your shoulders.
2 Chron. 35:1-3
That is the last time that the ark is mentioned in scripture, except for a forward looking prophecy in Jeremiah 3:16 pointing toward the last days gathering of Israel when the ark would no longer be central in worship.
We take for granted that when the ark is not in the Holy of Holies, where it belongs, it must be somewhere. But where? The people authorized to maintain the ark were the Levites, specifically the Kohathites.
Levitical Treasury of the Kohathites
Some of the sacred artifacts that would have been kept in the treasuries maintained by the Levites, in addition to the ark, would have included gold and silver from spoils of war (1 Kings 7:51; 2 Chronicles 5:1), tithes and contributions (Nehemiah 10:38-39), priestly garments and sacred vessels (2 Chronicles 36:18), incense and anointing oils used in ordinances, scrolls of the law and other more durable records, and the Urim and Thummim (Exodus 28:30).
The sword of Goliath along with his armor was retained by David and likely kept in the treasury; considered a sacred artifact. It was not only a spoil of war, but it was extraordinarily valuable in Israel’s religious history with deep spiritual significance.
However, Goliath’s sword was later unsheathed at Nob and turned from sacred trophy into King David’s personal sword when he was in need of one before battle.
And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine whom you slew in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that. Give it to me.
1 Sam. 21:9 KJV
Brass Plates
In his series, Against Wisdom, Adrian Larsen shared insights on the night that Nephi recovered the Brass Plates from Laban. It is widely assumed that Laban was a relative to Lehi and his family. Why else would he have the record containing Lehi’s genealogy? The Book of Mormon record does not explicitly state a reason. The unbelief that they were distantly related is so pervasive that even on the Wikipedia page it only adds “may be” as an near invisible qualifier. A familial relationship has been implied in lesson manuals and portrayed this way in children’s cartoons, however, I find it much more probable that Laban was in fact the Levite of the Kohathite branch who was entrusted with maintaining the sacred artifacts and records.
Something else that doesn’t add up to me is that Zoram thought that Nephi was Laban based on the fact that he disguised his voice.
…I went to Laban’s treasury. As I was going there, I saw Laban’s servant who had the treasury keys, and imitating Laban’s voice I ordered him to go with me into the treasury.
Laban may have had a distinct voice, kind of like RFK, Jr. Or a unique way of speaking like Jordan Peterson.
Nephi imitating Laban’s voice was a convincing enough disguise…for the readers.
HOWEVER
And he supposing me to be his master Laban, for he beheld the garments and also the sword girded about my loins…
Nephi was recognized as Laban for two things: The garments and the sword. Not his voice, despite the attempt, and certainly not his face.
After retrieving the plates Nephi left with Zoram to join his brothers wearing Laban’s clothes and carrying Laban’s sword.
Describing the sword:
And the hilt thereof was of pure gold, and the workmanship thereof was exceeding fine, and I saw that the blade thereof was of the most precious steel.
Something interesting about the sword of Laban is that according to Mormon lore through Brigham Young, who we know was just the best-est at giving us accurate information 🙄, there is an inscription on the blade which says:
This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ.
Take it with a grain of salt. But to me, if true, that suggests that the sword of Laban is more significant than we realize. I honestly thought this was in scripture because it kept coming to mind. But when I dug into it, I couldn’t find anything other than Brigham’s 1877 account.
So let me ask you something: Why was Zoram there at the treasury in the first place? It was Passover night. LATE at night. Laban was on his way home from the Passover dinner slobbering drunk from all the ceremonial glasses of wine that he had partaken of. A celebration that was likely a Who’s Who in Jerusalem.
Tell me if it makes sense to you that the treasury where the most precious records and artifacts were kept was treated like a 24-7 check out library. With the librarian always on duty even on high Holy Days.
NO. Zoram was there because he was waiting for the return of the SWORD and the GARMENT. That’s why they were mentioned explicitly.
What was so special about Laban’s sword?
Well, I don’t think it was his sword at all. I think the sword he took out of the treasury that Passover night was the sword David used to cut off the head of Goliath. The same one we know was in the treasury until King David was in need of a sword and none other were available. So he took it up as his own in battle. See again:
And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine whom you slew in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that. Give it to me.
1 Sam. 21:9 KJV
In fairy tales and Medieval lore there is a persistent idea of sacred swords. Perhaps that is for good reason.
So I’m going to make a bold statement: It wasn’t Laban’s sword. It was David’s. The very one he wrested from the hand of a dead son-of-a-giant.
The Garment
What about the garments Laban was wearing and Nephi put on? I noodled on this one for a while.
What would have been special about the garment that Laban wore? Clearly it was one of the artifacts that Zoram was waiting for and recognized.
If Laban was touting around the sword of King David for Passover, why not a garment that also belonged to him. I finally decided to search “David” and “robe” and guess what? I found a possible garment.
The one David was wearing when the ark was carried back into Jerusalem. Of course!!
So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obededom with joy. And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bullocks and seven rams. And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bore the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with the singers. David also had upon him an ephod of linen. Thus, all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with sound of the horn, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps.
Rebellion in the Wilderness
Continuing with Nephi’s story, he and his brothers went back to Jerusalem a second time to get Ishmael’s family. This time without the grumbling and complaining of the first mission.
Why was Ishmael’s family the obvious choice? I’ll get into that later. For now let’s just focus on the fact that after they agreed to go with Nephi and his brothers on their way back there was a rebellion and half of the party wanted to go back.
What changed between leaving and halfway to Lehi and Sariah?
I’m going to insert a fanciful story; plausible fan-fiction, if you will indulge me.
6.As we traveled in the wilderness, Laman, Lemuel, two of Ishmael’s daughters, and two of his sons and their families rebelled against me, Sam, their father Ishmael and his wife, and his three other daughters.
7. They rebelled because they wanted to return to Jerusalem.
8. Now I was troubled because of the hardness of their hearts, so I spoke to them, to Laman and Lemuel, saying:
You are my older brothers. Why are you so hard in your hearts and blind in your minds that you need me, your younger brother, to speak to you and set an example for you?
9. Why haven’t you listened to the Lord’s word?
10.How can you forget you’ve seen an angel of the Lord?
11. How have you forgotten the great things the Lord has done for us, in rescuing us from Laban and letting us obtain the record?
<AK>But before I said this to them, there was great sorrow among the daughters of Ishmael. They lifted up their voices and wept, saying, “How shall we teach our children in the wilderness without the record of our fathers? What will they know of the Lord, or of His law and His covenants?”
And I, Nephi, desiring to comfort them, said, “You will not be left without a guide. The Lord has provided. I have taken the brass plates from the treasury of Laban, and with them you will teach your children to walk in the ways of the Lord.”
But when they heard this, their mourning turned to dread. One of the daughters cried aloud, “Oh God. Oh my God. Oh God, why?”
And the women wept bitterly, covering their faces with their garments and falling to the ground, for word had come even into the wilderness: on the very night I had taken the plates, the Ark of the Covenant had also vanished from the treasury. No one knew where it had gone. All Jerusalem had been in chaos. The priests cast lots and sought signs from the Lord, but the heavens were silent.
Then one of the sons of Ishmael turned to me and said, “Nephi, did you set the lock of the treasury door?”
And I remembered how Zoram followed me without question, and how we departed without looking back—and I was silent, for I had not.
Then the daughters looked upon me with sorrow and fear and said, “They will surely blame you. They will say you have not only taken the plates, but the Ark of the Covenant. Priests will search for you. Your name will be upon their lips, and they will pursue you to the ends of the earth seeking your death.”
And Laman and Lemuel, hearing this, said among themselves, “It is better that we return. We will explain what happened. Perhaps the Ark can be recovered, and we can plead for our lives.”
But I knew that if they returned, they would deliver me up, and I would be judged and condemned for a crime I did not commit. And surely I would be slain. Therefore I spoke to them, saying:
</AK>
12.And how have you forgotten the Lord can do everything for mankind according to His will, if they exercise faith in Him? So let’s be faithful to Him.
13 And if we’re faithful to Him, we’ll reach the promised land.
At some time in the future, you’ll know the Lord’s word concerning Jerusalem’s destruction will be fulfilled, since everything the Lord has said about Jerusalem’s destruction is certain to happen.
14 The Spirit of the Lord will soon stop struggling with them, because they’ve rejected the prophets, thrown Jeremiah in prison, and tried to kill our father, driving him away.
15 Because of this, I tell you that if you choose to return to Jerusalem, you’ll die with them as well. Now, if you want to make that choice, go back up there. But remember the words I tell you, that if you go, you’re sure to lose your lives too. This is what the Spirit of the Lord compels me to say to you.
16 When I said this to my brothers, they got angry with me.
And they took me by force because they were extremely angry.
They tied me up with ropes in order to leave me in the wilderness to be eaten by wild animals as their plan to kill me.
17 But I prayed to the Lord, saying: O Lord, according to my faith in You, please free me from my brothers! Give me strength so I can break these ropes that have me tied.
18 When I said this, the ropes around my hands and feet came undone, and I stood in front of my brothers and spoke to them again.
19 And they got angry with me again and started to attack me. But one of Ishmael’s daughters and her mother and one of Ishmael’s sons pled with my brothers, and it softened their hearts and they gave up their determined efforts to kill me.
20 They regretted their wickedness, so they bowed down in front of me and begged me to forgive them for how they had treated me.
21 And I freely forgave them all they had done and urged them to pray to the Lord their God for forgiveness.
And they did so. After they had finished praying to the Lord, we traveled back to our father’s tent.
Nephi would have asked his father about the Ark, legitimately concerned about it’s fate. I’m sure Lehi would have responded something along the lines of, “The Lord has preserved it unto Himself for a wise purpose. He is not come to destroy, but to fulfill; for truly I say unto you, heaven and earth must pass away, but one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the law till all shall be fulfilled.”
If this extrapolation goes outside of your comfort zone, that’s OK. Just set it aside. I am making no claims other than admitting to being obnoxiously curious in the logistical details of scripture. I am open to and welcome correction.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The fact remains that there is no general knowledge of what became of the Ark of the Covenant beyond Josiah’s lifetime. And I can guarantee you with the certainty of a thousand suns that God did not let it get carried away into Babylon to get melted down making the crowns of tyrants.
Some time in 1981 there emerged a worldwide fascination with the Ark of the Covenant with the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. There is actual power in human attention. And finding the ark would have needed it.
In 1982 a man named Ron Wyatt claims to have found the Ark of the Covenant. Where?
In a cave below Golgotha.
And wouldn’t that make the most sense? If the ark was spirited away by righteous Levitical priests directed by God on that same Passover night. Where would they have put the Ark where it would not be lost over millennia of time?
They put it in the one place that had already lasted four centuries in renown. The place symbolizing God’s triumph over the impossible. The place where David had buried Goliath’s head. Golgotha. The place of the skull.
Great and Last Sacrifice
As Israel was restored to Jerusalem again the temple was rebuilt, but without the Ark of the Covenant taking up residence in the Holy of Holies. Jerusalem’s residents did not know what had become of the sacred artifact.
Golgotha’s prominent view from the city made it a good location to send a message to potential Roman dissidents. During the Roman occupation Golgotha became instead the site for crucifixions. A vivid and public deterrent for anyone considering going against the rule of Cesar.
“And they came to the place that is called Golgotha, which is the place of skull.” (Matthew 27:33)
As it turned out the cross Jesus hung on was set immediately above the Ark of the Covenant.
Once a year, after the Passover sacrifice was killed, blood from the altar was taken into the Holy of Holies by the high priest and sprinkled on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. On this significant Passover, and with His great and last sacrifice, how should His blood be sprinkled on the mercy seat, unless God had made arrangements well in advance of this moment.
Upon his death, both the veil of the temple rent in twain and an earthquake split the ground (Matt 27:51-52). The high priest wanted His legs broken so He couldn’t possibly fit the description of the Pascal Lamb.
But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, they broke not his legs, but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and immediately came there out blood and water.
John 19:33-34
Because of the demand from the High Priest, Christ’s blood was spilled. Down through the split earth and onto the Ark. This is one of those details I consider to be a jot and tittle. Every i dotted, every t crossed. His blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat.
Exodus 25:12–15 instructs that the Ark was to have gold rings and poles, so it could be carried without touching it directly. Also the poles were never removed from the rings—this shows the importance of constant readiness and respect.
When not in transport, the Ark was placed in the Holy of Holies, atop the foundation stone (according to Jewish tradition), or on gold-covered supports or pedestals (not the ground).
In the wilderness tabernacle and later the temple, it was never described as resting on bare earth.
How could the Levitical priests place the Ark of the Covenant safely in the cave under Golgotha without it touching earth? As I was contemplating this, an image kept coming to mind: that they put it on top of Goliath’s skull. But it was so precarious and unbalanced, I didn’t know how that could make sense.
EXCEPT. Goliath had four brothers. All of whom were killed in like manner. Following the example of King David, the remaining sons of the giant were likely decapitated and the heads carried back to Jerusalem. All five, representing the end of this bloodline controlled by Lucifer, were buried at Golgotha.
Imagining this arrangement, now the ark is steady in the cave. One skull under each corner and one in the middle. Why?
I will place enmity between thee and the seed of the woman. Thou mayest have power to bruise his heal, but he shall have power to crush thy head.
The weight of the blood of the Son of God being sprinkled on the lid of the mercy seat. His heel was bruised. But dripping from his heel was HIS HOLY blood, with weight enough to crush the skulls of the giant’s posterity.
Again, these are my own musings, that just sort of make sense. I am open to correction. Correction is not, “Well the Bible doesn’t say…
{ah-hem} I know.
So when the Ark of the Covenant finally comes forth, I will not be one bit surprised to learn
- It’s been under Golgotha all this time
- It is siting atop remnants of crushed skulls and not touching the earth
Sin, Death, and Principalities
Christ’s first victory was in Gethsemane over sin through his Atonement.
Satan has no jurisdiction despite his accusations. Accusations, no matter how valid, are now MOOT.
Christ has won the victory over SIN.
Christ’s second victory was over DEATH.
And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death, that the grave should have no victory and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection.
Mos. 8:14 RE
There is a third victory that I don’t know that people are necessarily aware of. It involves Christ coming a second time. First was a lamb. This time as a Lion. First in humility, this time in Glory.
There is a legalistic claim still in play in this world. And for those of you who are aware that there is a fascination with bloodlines by certain elite persons, we might want to have a little bit of curiosity as to WHY. Yeshua of Nazareth had children. He was married and His bloodline was preserved and protected by Knights Templar. He was the King of Israel, which throne was passed down through his bloodline.
For example, I don’t know this for sure, but I strongly suspect that Joan of Arc was a direct descendant of Christ. We know that Mary His Mother and Mary Magdalene His wife were safely carried away into France.
Lucifer tried to thwart God’s purposes early on in corrupting Adam’s heir, Cain. Now he has access to a mortal bloodline again with divine remnants, all of whom are subject to the weaknesses and temptations of this world.
Given the way in which genealogical lines run, if you kill Charles and William and George (and I think there’s another one—the royal line of England), then it’s all the way back to Andrew, okay? So you can have a line that goes on a long distance, but if you have the Thirty Years War, and you have World War I, and you have World War II, and you have the Black Plague, and you’re following genealogical lines, there’s no way to track who God thinks holds the birthright. Then you have the added complication that Esau was older than Jacob, but Jacob was more righteous, and so Jacob got the birthright. Seth—he had older brothers who were grandfathers by the time he was born, but the birthright went to Seth because he was true and faithful.
Holy Order
I’m certain that Lucifer doesn’t know who the heir is at this point. I doubt the heir knows it themselves.
However, the person in whom heaven recognizes this authority over kingdoms through Christ’s royal bloodline, HE is the one to whom the Sword of David belongs. And it is this (yet unrecognized) King who will return the authority of principalities to Jesus Christ at Adam Ondi Ahmen.
The Holy Order will all be present. From Adam down to the last and they will all of them turn over their rights, rule, dispensations, dominions and authority to the King of Kings.
Why is This Relevant?
It is prophesied that there will be two Witnesses who will testify in Jerusalem in the last days. I believe one will be a member of the Holy Order who already knows who he is, the other the rightful heir to David’s throne, who does not.
This has been a series with a theme and I am going to bring it back right now.
The Man in Question believes that he is one of those two witnesses.
He believes that he has been called to serve God in such an epic capacity that HE has been prophesied about through millennia of scripture, in the 10 Parables and in modern revelation. However I say to that Man:
Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen, and why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson — that the rights of the Priesthood are inseparably connected with the Powers of Heaven and that the Powers of Heaven cannot be controlled nor handled, only upon the principles of righteousness. That they may be conferred upon us, it is true, but when we undertake to cover our sins or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control, or dominion, or compulsion, upon the souls of the children of men in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the Heavens withdraw themselves, the spirit of the Lord is grieved, and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man. Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God.
T&C 139:5
The trial against the 28 April 2024 council of 14 women to be held on April 12th has the outcome already decided. The organizers have stacked the deck to exclude interested women from participation. They have made it as difficult as possible for women to attend for all eight hours. Didn’t arrive on time? Can’t vote. Had to leave to go to the bathroom outside of the designated hours? Can’t vote. Your blood-sugar was crashing and death was imminent so you left to eat. Can’t vote.
White Horse and Flaming Sword
I don’t know why the Man in Question wants this calling so badly. It’s a literal death sentence. But within three days of their deaths Christ will return. That will be the only countdown the world will get.
When a member of His Holy Order and the legal living King of Israel are murdered on the streets of Jerusalem, The KING OF KINGS will return. And in His hand the Sword of David. The same one that cut down the bloodline of the giant. The same one that vouched for Nephi and allowed the Brass plates, the Record of the Fathers, to be spirited away to the new world and preserved against destruction.
This is such an important detail that not only do we have it recorded in our canon, there is prophecy among other nations of the world. Below is depicted Christ returning in glory on a white horse with a flaming sword. Next to it is Kalki, the final incarnation of Vishnu the Hindu God. Or rather the SAME GOD. Same white horse. Same flaming sword. His story is everywhere. And if you aren’t familiar with the premise of this website beyond my blog here, that is it. All truth may be circumscribed into one great whole.
Cast Out
There are two places in scripture where “cast out” means the rebellious are removed from the presence of the righteous. The first is when Satan and his angels were cast out. The second was disobedient man being cast out of the garden. In both cases it occurred in a higher kingdom than the one we now occupy.
In a telestial kingdom, or the world in which we presently reside, it seems that casting out occurs instead by the righteous removing themselves from the presence of the wicked.
The insistence of Laman and Lemuel that they should lead the family finally came to a head and the Nephites parted ways.
Then the Lord warned me and any who wanted to go with me, to leave them and escape into the wilderness. Therefore I took my family, Zoram and his family, my older brother Sam and his family, my younger brothers Jacob and Joseph, my sisters, and anyone willing to go with me. Those willing to go with me were the people who believed in God’s warnings and revelations; as a result, they listened to what I said.
THIS WAS NOT DONE LIGHTLY.
Nephi’s sisters left their husbands in this process.
How could you possibly know that?!?
The two youngest sons of Lehi, Jacob and Joseph, were twins (they nursed at the same time) born in the wilderness to Sariah. They were the youngest. Are girls so inconsequential that they wouldn’t have been mentioned? Not when they left Jerusalem? Not when they were born? Yet Sariah was mentioned often. The sisters were mentioned eventually. However when accounting for family units, women and children are counted with the husband/father as the head. Nephi’s sisters were accounted for separately in their departure because they left their husbands in the process.
Lehi’s daughters were already married to the sons of Ishmael when his family left Jerusalem the first time.
The state of the sons of Ishmael was explained later in Alma.
Ammon went to the land of Ishmael, the land named for Ishmael’s sons, who also became Lamanites.
When Nephi went back to get the family of Ishmael so the boys would have wives, there wasn’t much convincing needed. It was because their older sisters had already married the eldest sons of Ishmael.
Other examples
The unrepentant people of King Noah remained in the land of Nephi when Alma and those he baptized escaped into the wilderness.
Now the king accused Alma of inciting the people to rebellion against him. So he sent his army to kill them. But Alma and the Lord’s people learned the king’s army was coming. Therefore they took their tents and families and fled into the wilderness, about 450 people in number.
Heaven itself withdraws from unrighteousness.
[T]he rights of the Priesthood are inseparably connected with the Powers of Heaven and that the Powers of Heaven cannot be controlled nor handled, only upon the principles of righteousness. That they may be conferred upon us, it is true, but when we undertake to cover our sins or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control, or dominion, or compulsion, upon the souls of the children of men in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the Heavens withdraw themselves, the spirit of the Lord is grieved, and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man. Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God.
The Spirit of the Lord withdraws from the wicked.
They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God, for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord. And the pride of Israel does testify to his face; therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity. Judah also shall fall with them. They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord, but they shall not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them.
And probably the most timely of all the examples is Passover, which will be remembered in perpetuity for generations to come. The one story that must surely be God’s favorite because we are commanded to remember it every year.
ISRAEL LEFT EGYPT
Esther is Coming
On the periphery of this conference God has been quietly calling women to do specific work. Only weeks before, one was asked to organize a conference the same day as the April 12th women’s conference. When the real intentions of the Conference organizers were disclosed she understood better why God had directed her to do this. And serendipitously the room she booked is immediately next door to the Women’s Conference Council Trial. It is a safe landing spot for the men to be our prayer warriors while we labor for eight hours. Pack a lunch. Take snacks. Bring water to stay hydrated. I doubt they will be feeding you anything other than accusations against our sisters. If you leave outside of the designated bathroom breaks you will not be allowed to vote. We’ve got to muscle through. You’ve packed hospital bags before this for labor and delivery. Be prepared.
Another woman was impressed that she should organize Zoom meetings to prepare our community on how to recognize predatory/narcissistic behavior and what to do about it.
Another woman has been rallying the troops and getting the word out. If you’ve been forwarded documents, links, emails, blogs or the like you already know who she is.
And I have been given words to write. Between specific hours of the night I would wake up and stay in this space between dreams and awake, in conference with inspiration. Waking up just enough to take notes on what to write here. Normally I take a month or more to write a blogpost. This publishing rate is not normal for me. So that part earlier in this blogpost where I mentioned that I didn’t think I wanted to include the specifics on Goliath’s brothers, I was rebuked with the following:
…seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand;
Obviously I understood where that was going later on. But I just needed to trust the process.
There is an Esther, upon whom God has laid a work to do. Likewise there is a Ruth who is willing to stand by her side. They remain in the hollow of His hand.
They know who they are.
And God has given Esther exactly what to say. Be prepared. It will be obvious. Please support her when she stands.
Women Hereunto Unknown
Now let me explain a little more about who you are.
There seem to be so few stories of heroines in scripture. We have a handful of stories, but nothing to compare with that of Noah and his ark, David and Goliath, Moses leading Israel out of Egypt, Elijah and his chariot of fire, Nephi building the boat. So little girls are left to sit quietly in primary with hands folded reverently and wonder who it is they ought to look up to.
I’m going to steal a section I previously wrote in my post called Prophet & Prophetess, Temple Series Part 3.
Until a child has the ability to rise up and become a prophet themselves, they must be taught. What better place to receive your education than in the temple?
I have found evidence in the record that supports this idea. We tend to skip over long lists in scripture because they’re boring. But if you dig into these lists, I think a great deal of information can be garnered. For example there is a list of temple servants found in both Nehimiah and Ezra.
The temple servants: the children of Ziha, the children of Hasupha, the children of Tabbaoth, the children of Keros, the children of Siaha, the children of Padon, the children of Lebanah, the children of Hagabah, the children of Shalmai, the children of Hanan, the children of Giddel, the children of Gahar, the children of Reaiah, the children of Rezin, the children of Nekoda, the children of Gazzam, the children of Uzza, the children of Paseah, the children of Besai, the children of Meunim, the children of Nephishesim, the children of Bakbuk, the children of Hakupha, the children of Harhur, the children of Bazluth, the children of Mehida, the children of Harsha, the children of Barkos, the children of Sisera, the children of Thamah, the children of Neziah, the children of Hatipha.
The children of Solomon’s servants: the children of Sotai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Perida, the children of Jaala, the children of Darkon, the children of Giddel, the children of Shephatiah, the children of Hattil, the children of Pochereth of Zebaim, the children of Amon. All the temple servants and the children of Solomon’s servants were three hundred ninety-two.
Nehemiah 2:26-27. Same list in Ezra 1:9
Who were these temple servants? They were the CHILDREN of Israel’s mothers.
Or maybe it ought to be more correctly stated, the temple served the children as their first school.
There are thirty-two (32) mothers listed and eleven (11) servant mothers, all of which average about nine children per family, given a total of 392 children.
Only one woman with them isn’t mentioned as having children: Gishpa, who was likely a grandmotherly matriarch assisting the other mothers.
But the temple servants dwelled in Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa over the temple servants.
The mention of women by name is so rare in scripture that I doubted my initial hunch that these were the names of mothers. So, I went through and looked up every single name listed. Most were confirmed to be female names. Some were gender neutral. Only one of them was exclusively a male name (Amon), but has a female variation (Amonet).
Ziha (f) = “brightness, whiteness, drought”
Hasupha (f/m) =”stripped; uncovered”
Tabbaoth (f)= “good, goodness”
Keros (f) = “crooked, crookedness”
Sia(ha) (f) = “victory” , “council”
Padon (m/f) = “his redemption”
Lebanah = “white” a poetic name for the moon
Hagabah (f) = “grasshopper”, according to Vedic astrology, the moon sign associated with the name is Cancer.
Shalmai (f) = “my garment”
Hanan (f) – “Mercy”
Giddel (f) = “to become strong great”
Gahar (f) = “deepness”, (m) =”hiding place”
Reaiah (f) = “vision of the Lord”
Rezin (f) = “delightful”, (m) = “goodwill; messenger”
Nekoda (f) = “painted”, (m) = “marked”
Gazzam (f) = “the fleece of them”
Uzza (f) = “strong”
Paseah (f) = “crippled/lame”, (m) = “passing over, halting”
Besai (f) = “a despising, dirty”
Meunim (f) = “Dwelling-places afflicted”
Nephishesim (f) = “diminished, torn in pieces”
Bakbuk (f) = “a flask emptied”
Hakupha (f) = “a commandment of the mouth”
Harhur (f) = “made warm”
Bazluth = (v) “stripping” (n) “onion”
Mehida (f) = “a riddle; sharpness of wit”
Harsha (f/m) = “happiness”
Barkos (f) = “resemble the father “, (m) = “painter”
Sisera (f/m) = “one that sees a horse or swallow” , “meditation”
Thamah (f) = “that blots out, that suppresses”
Neziah (f) = “conqueror, strong”
Hatipha (f/m) = “captured”
Solomon’s Servants
Sotai (f) = “conclusion in pleading, binding”
Sophereth (f) = “scribe”
Perida (f) = “separation, division”
Jaala (f)= “little goat, mountain goat” , “be of practical use”
Darkon (m/f) = “of generation of possession”
Giddel (f) = “great”
Shephatiah (m/f) = “The Lord that judges”
Hattil (m/f) = “Howling for sin”
Pochereth (f) = “Cutting of the mouth of warfare”
Zebaim (location) = gazelles
Amon (m) = “secret, the hidden one; faithful, true; roaring stream”, (F) Amonet
Gishpa (m/f) = “caress”
The familiarity of the names has been lost, but it’s equivalent today would be a list including names such as Jennifer, Megan, Ashley, Brittany, Melissa, Jessica, Kimberly, Michelle, Lisa, and Amanda.
YOU COVENANT WOMEN ARE ISRAEL’S MOTHERS. The foundations of Zion cannot be laid without children and families to carry on the work of everlasting generations. A damned civilization is one in which the role of Mother is scorned and children are not treasured as an heritage of the Lord.
This vote on Women’s Councils has the potential to make or break our hope in Zion. So I’m calling each and every one of you to lean upon your husbands to carry the burden of hearth and home while we labor together.
Your body is a temple first. Then through your marriage, your home is also a temple based on the work you do therein. Babies are conceived, sacrament bread is baked, feasts are prepared, garments are washed, children are taught and the table is set. Our temples are rich with the symbolism of a living gospel.
So, before the sun goes down on April 12th, which begins THIS Passover, I’m calling you out from your temples wherein you sacrifice and serve your families. Calling you out to rise up and protect this promise that we have wrestled from the LORD by keeping His covenant. You must stand and be counted, for their sakes.
Cry peace. Proclaim my words. Invite those who will repent to be baptized and forgiven, and they shall obtain my spirit to guide them. The time is short and I come quickly, therefore open your mouths and warn others to flee the wrath which is to come as men in anger destroy one another. The wicked shall destroy the wicked, and I will hold the peacemakers in the palm of my hand and none can take them from me.
A World on Fire
I was coming home from grocery shopping many months ago and just internally talking to the Lord. I lamented to Him that I felt like a squishy marshmallow in a world on fire. He responded, quick as a thought in my mind, “You’re My squishy marshmallow”
It wouldn’t be the first time God stood with His people in the flames.
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished […] and said, Look, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the son of god.
Dan. 3:24-30
I do feel like a squishy marshmallow in a world on fire. And the Lord acknowledged that. Without Him I am small, vulnerable, and weak in every sense.
But if He gives me the sword of His Spirit, knowing I am capable of wielding it in my pen…it is HIS sword and not my own. Without Him I am still small, weak and vulnerable.
This concludes my series on “Sons of giants, Sons of men and Son of God”.
With all the drama and interest surrounding this women’s “conference” on April 12th, my readership has jumped from 3 subscribers, one of whom was my husband, to well over 50.
I’ve been working on a temple series that I started back in May of 2023. There is a final post on “King and Queen” that I have been trying to finish for literally months and months, but apparently the timing was not right. I never could seem to make very much progress whenever I worked on it. But I’ve been getting insights on that now as well.
The post on “King and Queen” will be coming shortly. If you’d like to catch up on the series in the meantime, I’d recommend starting here: History in Context; Temple Series Part 1.
Shameless plug: If you’ve been enjoying my blog, please consider subscribing below (free 99, of course!).
Series: Sons of Giants, Sons of Men, Son of God
