Jesus Christ as High Priest

The High Priest

"As a result of the failure of the Israelites to observe the gospel law administered by Moses under the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood, the Lord gave an additional law of performances and ordinances and 'confirmed a priesthood also upon Aaron and his seed, throughout all their generations' (D&C 84: 18) to administer it. This priesthood was of lesser power and authority than the priesthood of Melchizedek, and was used to administer the outward ordinances, particularly as characterized by the ceremonies of the law of Moses. The terms Aaronic and Levitical are sometimes used synonymously (D&C 107: 1, 6, 10), although there are some specific differences in the offices existing within the Levitical Priesthood. For example, the lesser priesthood was conferred only upon men of the tribe of Levi. However, within the tribe, only Aaron and his sons could hold the office of priest. And, still further, from the firstborn of Aaron’s sons (after Aaron) was selected the high priest (or president of the priests). Thus Aaron and his sons after him had greater offices in the Levitical Priesthood than did the other Levites."
-"Aaronic Priesthood" LDS Bible Dictionary, LDS edition of the Holy Bible p.599

This afternoon I read an interesting blog post on http://ancient-wisdom-lds-temple.blogspot.com/ that talks about how the Christians around the time of the Savior viewed Jesus Christ as the temple High Priest (see Hebrews 4:14-15). Here are the highlights:

"The earliest Christians viewed Jesus Christ in the role of the High Priest of the temple (Hebrews 3:1; Hebrews 5:10). He is even described as wearing a seamless robe similar to the one worn by the high priest (John 19:23; compare Exodus 28:31-32). He pronounced a blessing on his disciples after the manner of the high priest with uplifted hands (Luke 24:50; compare Leviticus 9:22-23; Numbers 6:23-27. He was baptized at age 30, which was the age when temple priest began to serve (Luke 3:21-23; compare Numbers 4:1-4). The prayer that Christ utters in the seventeenth chapter of the book of John is regarded by many biblical scholars to be a high priestly prayer. Christ is also depicted in Revelation 1:12-13 standing in the heavenly temple wearing 'the royal and high-priestly garb.' (see The Gate of Heaven, Matthew B. Brown, pg. 168-169)"

Tokens

Acts 1:1-3
1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

Verse 3 talks about the appearance of Jesus Christ to his apostles following his resurrection. Luke, the writer of the book of Acts, says that the Lord showed himself "by many infallible proofs". What were these infallible proofs?

The original language of the New Testament is Greek. The Greek word which was translated into "infallible truths" is τεκμήριον (tekmērion) which can also be translated as "token". This brings to mind the words of verse 7 of the hymn "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief":

Then in a moment to my view
The stranger started from disguise
The tokens in his hands I knew;
The Savior stood before my eyes.
He spake and my poor name he named,
"Of me thou hast not been ashamed.
These deeds shall thy memorial be;
Fear not thou didst them unto me"

In the case of Acts 1:3 the tokens were most likely the nail prints in the hands and feet of the Savior and the wound in his side. It is interesting however to look at the definition of the word "token" to find out other possible meanings.

Here is the definition of token as given in the 1828 edition of Webster's dictionary:

TOKEN, n. to'kn. [L. signum, dialetically varied, or from the same radix.]

1. A sign; something intended to represent or indicate another thing or an event. Thus the rainbow is a token of God's covenant established with Noah. The blood of the paschal lamb, sprinkled on the doors of the Hebrews, was a token to the destroying angel of God's will that he should pass by those houses. Gen 9. Exo 12.

Show me a token for good. Psa 86.

2. A mark. In pestilential diseases, tokens are livid spots upon the body, which indicate the approach of death.

3. A memorial of friendship; something by which the friendship of another person is to be kept in mind.

4. In coinage, tokens were coins struck in the reign of Elizabeth in the cities of Bristol, Oxford and Worcester, and also by private persons, which were put into circulation, and upon being returned,the issuer gave the value of them in current money.

5. In printing, ten quires of paper; an extra quire is usually added to every other token, when counted out for the press.

Additionally, it is interesting to consider these verses in a temple context. Brigham Young made this statement:

"Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the House of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the Holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell." -JD 2:31

Facsimile 2, Figure 2

For the past week or two I've been reading the new Hugh Nibley book "One Eternal Round". There is a paragraph or two that talks about figure 2 in facsimile number 2 (the hypocephalus) on pages 109 - 110 that I thought was really interesting. Here it is:

"Any point on the rim of a speeding wheel is going either up or down, and no matter how fast the vehicle is moving, that point must stand dead still when it touches the earth - or else the wheel would be skidding. One might call it a singularity, moving up and down at the same time. Yet it is clearly displayed in the important 17th chapter of the Book of the Dead. There we see the sun on the horizon, but it is neither yesterday nor tomorrow...

"The same idea is expressed in Facsimile 2, Figure 2, the two faced god that represents the sun at the zenith and symbolizes the joining together of Re and Osiris... The two come together at, and only at, the indefinable instant of time when the sun reverses its course from a southerly to northerly direction. The Egyptian text explains that this is indeed the combined oneness of Re (who looks forward to the day) with Osiris (who is looking back on it). At that moment his two faces are in both worlds at once, and on some hypocephali the figure is drawn with a double body as well. But it is only for an unthinkable instant, the passing of time from past to future, the fatal paradox or the moment in which we are all living."

I also thought I would add Joseph Smith's commentary on this figure:

"Fig. 2. Stands next to Kolob, called by the Egyptians Oliblish, which is the next grand governing creation near to the celestial or the place where God resides; holding the key of power also, pertaining to other planets; as revealed from God to Abraham, as he offered sacrifice upon an altar, which he had built unto the Lord."

In BYU Studies, vol. 17 (1976-1977) p. 268 Michael Rhodes gave a translation of facsimile 2 and this is what he had to say about figure 2:

"A two-headed deity wearing the double-plumed crown of Amen, with Ram's horns mounted on it. On his shoulders are jackalheads, and he is holding the jackal standard of Wepwawet. To his right is an altar with offerings on and around it. In most hypocephali, he is holding the ankh, or symbol of life, in his right hand. Also to his right a line of hieroglyphics reading: "The name of this Mighty God.

"P.J. de Horrack considers this to be Amen-Re; the two heads illustrating the hidden and mysterious power of Amen combined with the visible and luminous power of Re. fn William Petrie agrees that it is Amen-Re, but sees the two heads as representing the rising and setting sun. fn That the deity is a form of Amen is clear from the fact that he is wearing the double plume crown mentioned in chapter 162 of the Book of the Dead, but why he has jackals' heads on his shoulders and is holding a jackal standard is not so evident. The jackal is generally is used as a symbol of Anubis and Wepwawet, both funerary gods. Anubis being specifically the god assigned to guide the dead through the afterworld to the throne of Osiris. Perhaps due to the funerary character of the hypocephalus, it was thought that Amen should also carry emblems indicative of his power over that realm as well.

"Again, we can compare here the significance ascribed to these characters by Joseph Smith. Where the hypocephalus depicts the two-headed deity holding the symbol of life or power over death, Joseph mentions "holding the key of power." Where an altar is shown, Joseph identifies the principle of "sacrifice upon an altar" as revealed by God to Abraham. A hidden power seems to be associated with the name of the two-headed God, who probably serves as a guide for the dead bring them into the presence of God. This might concur with Joseph's explanation that this figure "stands next to Kolob," as a guide surely must do if the is going to be able to lead the dead to God."

Tel Dan High Place

This video by BYU professor Bill Hamblin is about the high place at Tel Dan in northern Israel. The structure was made by Jeroboam who was the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel following the death of Solomon. He had the structure built to prevent his people from traveling to Jerusalem to visit the temple there. Jerusalem was the capital of the southern kingdom of Judah and the two kingdoms were bitter rivals at times.