I believe I have met my test with this one. There is one footnote and it is the word twelve...and it sends me to the topical guide on apostle.
"And he also saw twelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament."
So, if you read yesterday's post it is very interesting that it describes them with a different light word than they did Jesus. They have brightness, he has luster. It may not be anything like I am saying and a complete coincidence, but I think it is interesting to think about nonetheless. I thought it was interesting that it compares it to exceeding the stars in the firmament. This is where I start to think that the vision that Lehi saw was far less literal and more symbolic. If I saw something bright...bright at ALL, then I wouldn't compare it to the stars. The stars give off little to no light for us. They are beautiful, but a night without the moon is dark. The stars help a little but it is negligible. He does say that they exceeded that of the stars in the firmament. Maybe he is looking at a contrast. So in the same way that the stars stand out against the blackness of night, they stood out against people. I like that actually. Just thought of it now.
So, if I am looking at this verse symbolically, and at that time the only light sources that people really knew were fire, sun, moon, and stars, and Lehi sees all of these different levels of light I can where it would be really interesting to try and categorize. So God becomes the sun, capable of dispelling all darkness all across the world. Christ reflects that light really effectively, and we can stand out and have a small sphere of brightness, but in the end, we can't hold a candle to God or Christ. This may all be a HUGE stretch, but I think it is worth considering. I think it doesn't need to be pointed out that they are following him...that is kind of the definition of an apostle right?
On that note, I looked into the word apostle pretty extensively. Of course in the bible we have so many accounts of the twelve apostles and it is obvious that Joseph Smith also patterned things off of that (I mean, this is Christ's true church after all). I have wondered why the number twelve. Seems really odd to me. If I'm looking for reasons then I think the best that I can come up with is that 12 divides evenly into 4 with three individuals in each group. So we have 4 groups of 3 persons (kind of like every leadership structure in the church with a president and counselors) that will judge the world at the last day. The scriptures refer to the four corners of the earth which I think is fascinating because I could be wrong but I don't think they had really figured out compass' yet. So what would make them say the four corners of the earth? I don't know, like I said, it is a stretch. But I wouldn't be entirely surprised if the 12 Apostles are organized the way that they are so that they can either 1) judge, one for each tribe of israel, or 2) have presidencies of 3 to judge the four corners of the earth. Just a lot to think about today. Not much to back it. Sorry :/
"And he also saw twelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament."
So, if you read yesterday's post it is very interesting that it describes them with a different light word than they did Jesus. They have brightness, he has luster. It may not be anything like I am saying and a complete coincidence, but I think it is interesting to think about nonetheless. I thought it was interesting that it compares it to exceeding the stars in the firmament. This is where I start to think that the vision that Lehi saw was far less literal and more symbolic. If I saw something bright...bright at ALL, then I wouldn't compare it to the stars. The stars give off little to no light for us. They are beautiful, but a night without the moon is dark. The stars help a little but it is negligible. He does say that they exceeded that of the stars in the firmament. Maybe he is looking at a contrast. So in the same way that the stars stand out against the blackness of night, they stood out against people. I like that actually. Just thought of it now.
So, if I am looking at this verse symbolically, and at that time the only light sources that people really knew were fire, sun, moon, and stars, and Lehi sees all of these different levels of light I can where it would be really interesting to try and categorize. So God becomes the sun, capable of dispelling all darkness all across the world. Christ reflects that light really effectively, and we can stand out and have a small sphere of brightness, but in the end, we can't hold a candle to God or Christ. This may all be a HUGE stretch, but I think it is worth considering. I think it doesn't need to be pointed out that they are following him...that is kind of the definition of an apostle right?
On that note, I looked into the word apostle pretty extensively. Of course in the bible we have so many accounts of the twelve apostles and it is obvious that Joseph Smith also patterned things off of that (I mean, this is Christ's true church after all). I have wondered why the number twelve. Seems really odd to me. If I'm looking for reasons then I think the best that I can come up with is that 12 divides evenly into 4 with three individuals in each group. So we have 4 groups of 3 persons (kind of like every leadership structure in the church with a president and counselors) that will judge the world at the last day. The scriptures refer to the four corners of the earth which I think is fascinating because I could be wrong but I don't think they had really figured out compass' yet. So what would make them say the four corners of the earth? I don't know, like I said, it is a stretch. But I wouldn't be entirely surprised if the 12 Apostles are organized the way that they are so that they can either 1) judge, one for each tribe of israel, or 2) have presidencies of 3 to judge the four corners of the earth. Just a lot to think about today. Not much to back it. Sorry :/
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