William Hamblin On the Esoteric

Last week the Deseret News published a column by Bill Hamblin and Dan Peterson on the esoteric in religion. It is very interesting and well worth reading. You can read the column by clicking here.

The Mysteries of Solomon's Temple

This past weekend Professor Bill Hamblin gave a fireside presentation entitled "The Mysteries of Solomon's Temple". Here is a link to a copy of the slides from his presentation.

Yom Kippur - The Day of Atonement

On Tuesday and Wednesday this week Jews around the world will be celebrating the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar - Yom Kippur (יום כפור) or the Day of Atonement. Yesterday at the Temple on Mount Zion Conference Bill Hamblin gave a presentation entitled "Jacob and the Israelite Day of Atonement" which can be viewed here. It was a fascinating lecture wherein he argued that the sermon given by Jacob in 2 Nephi 6-10 was given at the temple on the Day of Atonement. Professor Hamblin made his point by showing that there are a number of themes contained in Jacob's sermon that are common with the Day of Atonement.

The following is a summary of the themes that Dr. Hamblin presented:

• New Year
• The Temple
• The High Priest
• Pilgrimage
• Creation narrative
• Prophecy
• Israel blessed by the High Priest
• Covenant
• God judges Israel
• Atonement
• Expulsion of Satan/Azazel
• Water cleansing
• Robes/investiture
• Mercy
• Reading law
• Memorial
• Way, gate, gatekeeper
• Revelation of ineffable name
• Removal of robes
• Confession
• Fast/feast
• Drink offering
• Holy of Holies
• Hymn

It is interesting to note that most, if not all, of these themes can also be found in our modern endowment ceremony. I believe that the endowment ceremony can be understood to be a Day of Atonement experience with the participant acting in the capacity of the High Priest.

Ancient Temples and Sacred Symbols by Bill Hamblin

Lachish Temple

I just found this fantastic video made by Professor Bill Hamblin of BYU who is currently teaching at the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. It is about an Israelite temple found in Lachish.