Lehi's First Vision - Symbols of the Mazzoroth.

 "And it came to pass that he returned to his own house at Jerusalem; and he cast himself upon his bed, being overcome with the Spirit and the things which he had seen. And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a vision, even that he saw the heavens open, and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God." (1 Nephi 1:7-8)

From its very first chapter, The Book of Mormon carries its readers into the world of the Israelite prophetic traditions. The skill and artistry in which the record is constructed are amazing to behold. With each turning of its pages, the author of this ancient record has encoded ancient wisdom and understanding meant to transform the hearts and minds of its readers by bringing them to the knowledge and covenants God made with the Fathers. The knowledge of the Mazzorth or the Israelite Zodiac is part of this body of ancient wisdom. Mazzoroth is the Hebrew term for the Zodiac or the Constellations:

"Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?

Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?

Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?" 

(Job 38:31-33)

Lehi's First Vision:

After the Prophet Lehi encounters the pillar of fire that comes down and dwells upon the rock. He returns to his home enraptured by the Spirit of God and visions of glory. As he fell to his bed, he was carried away in a vision. He beheld God sitting upon his throne encircled by angels in the attitude of singing and praising God.  Because of our deeply influenced Greek-Western culture, this account often evokes images of a large man with a white beard sitting upon his throne surrounded by white, blond-haired, blue-eyed people in white robes (and sometimes with actual wings) surrounding him while singing and playing musical instruments. 

From the Israelite perspective, the heaven he is beholding is the night sky above.  

The throne of God is the Galactic center, and the stars are the concourses of angels surrounding the throne.

In the Israelite mind, the imagery of God and angels were connected with these astronomical bodies. We find similar knowledge and understanding among its sister cultures of the time where the Egyptians equated the Galactic Center with the eye of Horus:

THE TABERNACLE: THE DESIGN AND SYMBOL OF THE HEAVENS

The tabernacle in the wilderness in ancient Israel was a microcosm of the Heavens above. Whatever its actual design, the tabernacle was a pattern of the cosmos:

As the heavens are opened to Lehi, he sees the visible galactic center with the numberless stars surrounding the Galactic Center (The Throne of Heaven).

Lehi then goes on to record:

"And it came to pass that he saw One descending out of the midst of heaven, and he beheld that his luster was above that of the sun at noon-day. And he also saw twelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament." (1 Nephi 1:9-10)

The "One" being referred to here is one of the stars (or stellar bodies) descending from heaven and falling toward the horizon.  The twelve others following him are the constellations of the Zodiac as the stars of the Zodiac are the brightest stars compared to the others that shine in the sky. 

Lehi then continues:

"And they came down and went forth upon the face of the earth; and the first came and stood before my father, and gave unto him a book, and bade him that he should read. And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord."

Here the constellations of the Zodiac begin to fall or "go forth upon the face of the earth" before him. Lehi then is given to understand by revelation that the first constellation that goes down carries a message of judgment upon the earthly city of Jerusalem. 

So what constellation did Lehi See?

As the "One" being referred to in verse 11 is a celestial body, the question we may then ask is which celestial body is "The One." Lehi communicates that this particular celestial body came down before him and gave him a book (revelation). He goes on to declare the words of the book which this particular "One" had given him:

"And he read, saying: Wo, wo, unto Jerusalem, for I have seen thine abominations! 

Yea, and many things did my father read concerning Jerusalem—that it should be destroyed, and the inhabitants thereof; many should perish by the sword, and many should be carried away captive into Babylon.

And it came to pass that when my father had read and seen many great and marvelous things, he did exclaim many things unto the Lord; such as: Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty! Thy throne is high in the heavens, and thy power, and goodness, and mercy are over all the inhabitants of the earth; and, because thou art merciful, thou wilt not suffer those who come unto thee that they shall perish!

And after this manner was the language of my father in the praising of his God; for his soul did rejoice, and his whole heart was filled, because of the things which he had seen, yea, which the Lord had shown unto him." (1 Nephi 1: 13-15)

The message being delivered by this One constellation is a message of judgment. If we look to the ancient Israelite Mazzoroth, we can identify two possibilities of the constellations Lehi may have observed:

One possibility is the constellation Libra near the Galactic Center, which was equated with judgment. The celestial bodies surrounding it were identified with the throne of glory, the throne of mercy, and the Throne of Judgment. In the picture above, we see Ophiuchus (identified with the angel Michael-whose name means One Like God or Who is Like God-standing near the galactic center and near Scorpio and Libra.)

Another possibility is the Constellation Orion (Nephil-in Hebrew). If we hold to the Passover themes exhibited in Lehi's Exodus, this "One" constellation could be Orion descending to earth with the constellation Eridanus at his feet (In Ancient Israel, Eridanus is also called The River of the Judge). That Orion's luster was above that of the noonday sun, describing Orion's position to the sun and its heavenly path (the ecliptic). I personally tend toward the latter or an Orion Connection.

Whatever the case may be, we see from the very first chapter of The Book of Mormon much of the ancient astronomical knowledge possessed by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in this very Israelite record.  The record of the Book of Mormon is full of this knowledge that is just waiting to be revealed to our eyes-for those who have eyes to see.

Copyright Robert Kay November 7, 2021

Horses in The Book of Mormon: A Different View

 "And it came to pass that after we had sailed for the space of many days we did arrive at the promised land; and we went forth upon the land, and did pitch our tents; and we did call it the promised land.  

And it came to pass that we did begin to till the earth, and we began to plant seeds; yea, we did put all our seeds into the earth, which we had brought from the land of Jerusalem. 

And it came to pass that they did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance.  

And it came to pass that we did find upon the land of promise, as we journeyed in the Wilderness, that there were beasts in the forests of every kind, both the cow and the ox, and the ass and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat, and all manner of wild animals, which were for the use of men. And we did find all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper." ( 1 Nephi 18:23-25)

The mention of horses in The Book of Mormon has been quite controversial. Over the years many critics of The Book of Mormon have disputed the presence of horses and other animals in the Americas. While some declare the presence of many of these animals in the new world before European incursions, others claim that many of these animals (specifically horses) were not to be found. However, an ancient Israelite approach to this scripture actually reveals something entirely different.

Pitching Our Tents

"And it came to pass that after we had sailed for the space of many days we did arrive at the promised land; and we went forth upon the land, and did pitch our tents; and we did call it the promised land.  "

The phrase "pitch our tents" is an Israelite prophetic marker that is meant to communicate to the reader of the text that the account they are about to read has a connection with Moses Tabernacle in the Wilderness.  The Tabernacle in the Wilderness is the pre-cursor of the physical temple constructed by King Solomon.  The Tabernacle or tent in the Wilderness is a pattern of the astronomical heaven above containing the planets, the constellations, and other celestial signs and markers.  In other words, when we "pitch our tents," the reader is meant to view the text from the context of Temple and the heavens above.

So the question is then asked, "What do the Tent in the Wilderness and Astronomical bodies have to do with horses?"

SeedTime and Harvest:

Nephi's account then goes on to state:

"And it came to pass that we did begin to till the earth, and we began to plant seeds; yea, we did put all our seeds into the earth, which we had brought from the land of Jerusalem.  And it came to pass that they did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance. " 

In ancient Israel, the cycles of the constellations and various stars determined the seasons for seed time, planting, and harvesting.  There are also ancient traditions that planting certain crops under the light of various stars and celestial bodies caused the crops to produce in greater abundance in conjunction with nourishment and influences provided by the sun, moon, moisture, and the soil. 

Again what does this have to do with Horses?

"And it came to pass that we did find upon the land of promise, as we journeyed in the Wilderness, that there were beasts in the forests of every kind, both the cow and the ox, and the ass and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat, and all manner of wild animals, which were for the use of men. And we did find all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper." 

Nephi then goes on to describe the beasts of the forests found upon the land of promise as they journeyed in the Wilderness.  While the peshat or literal level of interpretation tells of the story of the animals they found upon the land of promise, the verse is also meant to communicate an astronomical principle.  In the ancient Israelite astronomical view, the land of promise is our viewpoint from the earth as we look into the sky, with the Wilderness being the night sky above with the varying stars and constellations. Thus, the animals that Nephi describes are the symbols of the stellar bodies that they used to determine seedtime and harvest and symbols meant to convey higher teachings.  

the cow= Aldebaran (in some traditions, this gets switched with Taurus as well)

the ox =  Taurus

and the ass  = Issachar- What we call the Constellation Cancer

the horse- asher-  three horse-related constellations were found. Bootes rose in the East, while Scheat and Pegasus, the flying horse, were setting, and Sagittarius, the centaur.

the goat - Naphtali - Capricorn

the wild goat-Aries

But what about the mention of Gold, Silver, and Copper?

"And we did find all manner of ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper." 

In addition, Nephi also communicates the types of knowledge that they obtained from the signs in the heavens using the following symbols:

Gold:    Knowledge of The Throne of Heaven, The Galactic Center, or Celestial.

Silver: Knowledge of the Creation and the Stars of Creation.

Copper: Knowledge of the Angels and the Earth here below.

We find a second witness of this prophetic pattern regarding the connection between seedtime and harvest and the constellations in Enos:

"And I bear record that the people of Nephi did seek diligently to restore the Lamanites unto the true faith in God. But our labors were vain; their hatred was fixed, and they were led by their evil nature that they became wild, and ferocious, and a blood-thirsty people, full of idolatry and filthiness; feeding upon beasts of prey; dwelling in tents, and wandering about in the Wilderness with a short skin girdle about their loins and their heads shaven; and their skill was in the bow, and in the cimeter, and the ax. And many of them did eat nothing save it was raw meat; and they were continually seeking to destroy us.

And it came to pass that the people of Nephi did till the land, and raise all manner of grain, and of fruit, and flocks of herds, and flocks of all manner of cattle of every kind, and goats, and wild goats, and also many horses." (Enos 1:20-21)

We also find a third witness of this prophetic pattern in Ether:

"And the Lord warned Omer in a dream that he should depart out of the land; wherefore Omer departed out of the land with his family, and traveled many days, and came over and passed by the hill of Shim, and came over by the place where the Nephites were destroyed, and from thence eastward, and came to a place which was called Ablom, by the seashore, and there he pitched his tent, and also his sons and his daughters, and all his household, save it were Jared and his family... And the Lord began again to take the curse from off the land, and the house of Emer did prosper exceedingly under the reign of Emer; and in the space of sixty and two years they had become exceedingly strong, insomuch that they became exceedingly rich--   Having all manner of fruit, and of grain, and of silks, and of fine linen, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious things;  And also all manner of cattle, of oxen, and cows, and of sheep, and of swine, and of goats, and also many other kinds of animals which were useful for the food of man.  And they also had horses, and asses, and there were elephants and cureloms and cumoms; all of which were useful unto man, and more especially the elephants and cureloms and cumoms." (Ether 9:3, 16-19)

While there are those who want to argue the zoology of The Book of Mormon.  It may also be prudent to consider these descriptions in light of their cosmological significance. While the mention of cureloms and cumoms gets a laugh from a gentile audience, it might be wise to consider these were also ancient astronomical symbols. Much of the knowledge of the fathers like Abraham has been lost through the millennia, but The Book of Mormon preserves much of this ancient knowledge of the heavens encoded into the text.

Copyright Robert Kay November 5, 2021