Dive Deeper w/ Andrea W. | Unveiling the Book of Revelation

Summary

Highlights

• Andrea introduces a new segment focusing on deep scripture study with familiar faces.🌟
• The Book of Revelation's mysteries are linked to temple covenants.🚪
• Exploring the symbolic nature of the Hebrew wedding traditions reveals new insights.💍
• The notion of living waters brings a fresh perspective on spiritual renewal.💧
• A heart-to-heart chat deepening understanding of one's relationship with Christ.🙏

Key Takeaways

• Understanding temple symbols can unlock the mysteries of the Book of Revelation.🔑
• The Book of Revelation is tied deeply to temple covenants and ancient traditions.⛪
• The Hebrew wedding traditions are a metaphor for Christ's relationship with believers.💒
• Living waters symbolize God's love and the promise of eternal life.🌊
• Covenants are more about relationships and loyalty than mere rule-following.❤️

Overview

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:30: Introduction to the Book of Revelation and the Temple The introduction to the Book of Revelation and the Temple emphasizes the idea that members of the church possess the key to understanding the mysteries of the Book of Revelation, and this key is found in the Temple. The chapter highlights the symbolism of white clothes as a representation of purity and righteousness, urging believers to strive for righteousness. It also connects the notion of 'unveiling' in the Book of Revelation to the unveiling of a bride at a wedding, suggesting a deeper symbolic meaning associated with revelation.
• 01:30 - 03:30: Andrea W. Joins the Stick of Joseph YouTube Channel The chapter introduces a discussion on symbolism, particularly focusing on ancient Egyptian symbols and hieroglyphics. Egypt becomes a key subject as the narrator expresses fascination with the hieroglyphics that depict the coronation ceremonies of pharaohs. It is mentioned that during these ceremonies, the pharaoh's heart is weighed on a scale, which could symbolize integrity, honesty, or righteousness. The narrator connects this idea to the reasons why some people may feel intimidated by the temple, suggesting that ancient symbols might have an intimidating effect. Additionally, the transcript introduces 'Andrea W.' joining the Stick of Joseph YouTube channel, promising that viewers will experience something new and different in their content.
• 03:30 - 05:30: Egyptian and European Influences on Temple Symbolism The video introduces a new segment called 'Diving Deeper with Andrea W' on the YouTube channel Stick of Joseph, featuring Andrea Woodmancy. Andrea was a previous guest on the channel who was well-received by viewers. The hosts express excitement about this new addition and encourage viewers to share Andrea's content with others who might be interested.
• 05:30 - 08:30: Understanding the Deeper Meanings of Temple Covenants The chapter titled 'Understanding the Deeper Meanings of Temple Covenants' introduces Andrea Woodmancy as a guest who is writing a book to be published by Plan and Precious Publishing. It sets the stage for a podcast episode where Andrea, along with her friends Pam Palmer and Brenn Dalton, explores deep themes related to temple covenants. The transcript hints at a focus on engaging discussions and insights into spiritual topics as part of the podcast's format.
• 08:30 - 12:30: The Book of Revelation and Its Connection to the Temple This chapter discusses the connection between the Book of Revelation and the concept of the temple. It begins with an introduction to a scripture study group focused on understanding and enhancing faith in the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. The author shares a personal experience of visiting Egypt, particularly the temple of Karnak, emphasizing its monumental significance. The chapter underscores the profound impact of such historical and spiritual sites on one's understanding and testimony.
• 12:30 - 15:30: The Role of Symbols in the Book of Revelation and the Temple The chapter discusses the role of symbols in the Book of Revelation and their significance in relation to the Temple. It describes a journey through a temple complex that is akin to walking across a moat and into a garden room with large, intricately carved columns that resemble trees covered in hieroglyphics. As the journey progresses into the Temple of Carnac, the ascent leads to the holy of holies, symbolizing a spiritual rise despite the ceiling seemingly coming down.
• 15:30 - 18:30: The Metaphor of Hebrew Wedding Traditions The chapter titled 'The Metaphor of Hebrew Wedding Traditions' describes a scene that evokes the convergence of heaven and earth, akin to entering a sacred space. It details a setting resembling the holy of holies, with a star-painted ceiling enhancing its beauty. Before entering this sacred space, there are two obelisks inscribed with ornate hieroglyphics, which translate to words familiar to members of the Church of Jesus Christ.
• 18:30 - 22:30: Rebecca from Genesis as a Symbolic Bride The chapter explores the symbolic significance of Rebecca from Genesis as a symbolic bride in a religious context.
• 22:30 - 28:30: Jesus' Ministry and the Symbolism of Living Water In this chapter, the focus is on the symbolism in religious spaces, particularly within a church setting. The discussion begins with a description of the layout of the church, noting how the congregation gathers in a specific area, while the choir is positioned towards the Nave, separated by a wooden partition.
• 28:30 - 35:30: The Last Supper and Sacramental Symbolism The chapter titled 'The Last Supper and Sacramental Symbolism' begins by discussing the pervasive nature of certain patterns and how they seem to converge towards a central theme or symbol, specifically the temple and its covenants. The speaker shares a personal anecdote about a Tik Tok video that had a significant impact on their understanding, suggesting a parallel between recognizing these symbolic patterns and the insights gained from the video. This revelation altered their perspective on the meaning and significance of temple covenants, illustrating the transformative power of patterns and symbolism in deepening one's spiritual comprehension.
• 35:30 - 39:00: The Marriage Supper of the Lamb in Revelation 19 **Chapter Title: The Marriage Supper of the Lamb in Revelation 19** - This chapter offers insights into common misconceptions about our solar system's structure, beginning with historical models such as the earth-centered model, moving to the now widely accepted sun-centered model, and describing how planets revolve around the sun. It also explains that the sun itself rotates and moves around the center of the galaxy, indicating a more complex movement of celestial bodies within the galaxy.
• 39:00 - 44:30: The Unveiling and the Bride in Revelation 21 The chapter discusses the dynamic motion of Earth as it rotates and moves through space, offering a fresh perspective on our place in the universe. It draws a parallel between this cosmic movement and the deeper understanding of ancient temple covenants, suggesting that such knowledge can also alter our perspective on our spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ.
• 44:30 - 57:30: The Personal Impact of Covenant Understanding The chapter delves into the personal impact one experiences through understanding covenants. It criticizes the common perception of religious practices, such as baptism, sacrament, and temple activities, as mere checklists of obligations to fulfill. It emphasizes that there is a deeper meaning and broader picture beyond just completing these ritualistic actions. The covenants are not simply tasks to accomplish but are integral to the spiritual journey and our connection with the divine.

Dive Deeper w/ Andrea W. | Unveiling the Book of Revelation Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 but sometimes as members of the church we miss the fact that we actually hold the key to unlocking the mysteries of the Book of Revelation and that key is found in the Temple and so sometimes we just think of the white clothes but what do those represent right that's representing Purity and righteousness so we try to put on our righteousness and it's interesting to note that the Book of Revelation which comes from the Greek word for unveiling and if you think of who is unveiled at a wedding at a wedding it's a bride yeah I think part of what makes Revelation feel a little
• 00:30 - 01:00 intimidating is the symbols and maybe that's what makes people feel a little intimidated about the temple as well going back to Egypt this is something that I really love there's some hieroglyphics that show coronation of the Pharaoh and he he comes up and he actually has his heart weighed in a scale welcome back to the sck of Joseph YouTube channel so today you're going to see something new something different okay are on the stick of Joseph even
• 01:00 - 01:30 though it doesn't look how it normally does and that's because we are adding a new segment to the Stick of Joseph that features Andrea woodmancy a guess who you guys loved and raved about when she came on so she is starting her own little show on our YouTube channel called diving deeper with Andrea W and we're super excited we hope that if you watch that first video that you share this around with everybody that you shared that video with and let them know that there is going to be more coming from Andrea woodmancy so these are the
• 01:30 - 02:00 first pilot episodes the format's going to change it's going to become its own thing we'll see how it goes but we are super excited and grateful to have Andrea woodmancy on the channel a couple things Andrea is writing a book and it's coming out if you want to make sure you get notified when that book comes out link is in the description it will be one of the books that plan and precious publishing publishes hello everyone welcome to the diving deeper podcast I am Andrea woodmancy and I'm joined today by my dear friends Pam Palmer and brenn Dalton and for several years they have
• 02:00 - 02:30 joined me in a scripture study group that I've hosted at my home and we have just been deep diving into the scriptures and learning so much and growing our testimonies of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and it has been such a blessing for us and we are excited today to share it with you so several years ago I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Egypt and I got to stand in the temple of carac and if you've ever been there you realize that this is just a Monumental place um you
• 02:30 - 03:00 walk across what would have been some some water like a moat almost as you walk into this Temple complex and then you walk into a garden room um with these huge columns carved beautifully they look almost like trees and they're just covered in these hieroglyphics and as you progress further into this Temple of Carnac you end up in the holy of holies and you realize that as you progress through you are rising up and the ceiling is coming down you're getting
• 03:00 - 03:30 it's almost like heaven and Earth are coming closer and closer until you find yourself in that holy of holies and the ceiling in this room is actually painted with the Stars and it's so beautiful and right before you go into that Temple or into the holy of holies there are these uh two obelisks standing on either side of that passageway and they're carved with these ornate hieroglyphics um that when translated are very familiar words to members of the Church of Jesus Christ
• 03:30 - 04:00 who have been through the temple and you start to wonder how did Joseph Smith come up with this thing that's carved on in these hieroglyphics that weren't really even deciphered until more recently and I had this a similar experience um standing in the Cathedral of notredam in Paris and just starting to notice the layout of this Cathedral people accept that it's a cross but there was more to it there was a division of spaces there was
• 04:00 - 04:30 the space where the congregation could gather there and then there was um the choir up towards the Nave of the church and and there was um a wooden partition between these areas and I started to recognize there's something familiar about this there's something ancient about this both in Carnac and in notron there's something familiar and it's ancient and that piqued my interest for studying more about the temple and what it means for us as members of the church of Jesus Christ of latterday saints um
• 04:30 - 05:00 because you start to see these patterns everywhere and they all point to something um for me that was the temple and as I noticed these patterns it started to change my perspective of what my temple covenants actually are and what they actually mean um it's a little bit like this video that I saw on Tik Tok I don't spend a lot of time on Tik Tok but I did see this one and I really liked it um because changed my
• 05:00 - 05:30 perspective of how our solar system works so we all know the elementary school version of the solar system you know um you got the sun in the center I guess even before that it was the earth in the center right but we figured that out and changed it so now it's the sun in the center and it's the planets revolving around the Sun and there we go um this video showed a little bit more accurately because we forget that the sun itself is rotating the sun is moving and it's rotating around the center of our galaxy and probably our galaxy is
• 05:30 - 06:00 rotating around something else so you have all this Mo motion going on when you see this video you start to see that the Earth isn't just rotating Around The Sun It's rotating around the sun while moving through space um and it just changes your perspective on our place in the universe and I think that when we discover the deeper more ancient meanings of the temple covenants we it changes our perspective on our place in Rel to Jesus Christ and in relation to
• 06:00 - 06:30 Our Father in heaven and in our relation to all of creation so often I think when we look at the temple or we look at the gospel we feel like it's this series of boxes we have to check off you know you get baptized you take the sacrament you go through the temple you do all the things and sometimes we feel like if we've checked all the boxes we've done everything right we're good to go um but I think we miss the greater picture of what our covenants are really about um
• 06:30 - 07:00 so today I I want to begin at the end and more specifically The Book of Revelation the end of the Bible uh chapter 22 which is the very last chapter because I think in this chapter we get a glimpse into what the temple is pointing us towards um and I know the Book of Revelation can be kind of scary both because it's hard to understand and because of its content um but sometimes as members of the church we miss the that we actually hold the key to
• 07:00 - 07:30 unlocking the mysteries of the Book of Revelation and that key is found in the temple I think what the more we understand the temple the more we understand the Book of Revelation because the Book of Revelation um we know this was written by John the Revelator um this Apostle of Jesus Christ and he was working in the context of Temple covenants we forget that Jesus came and restored Temple covenants as well um so John was writing writing the Book of
• 07:30 - 08:00 Revelation from that perspective and when we understand that perspective we can understand the Book of Revelation so let's dive into it yeah I think part of what makes Revelation feel a little intimidating is the symbols and maybe that's what makes people feel a little intimidated about the temple as well there's symbols and ordinances that are done in a manner that seem different to us and yet symbols are such a part of our daily life I my kids when they were even little and couldn't read they could see the golden arches and they knew it
• 08:00 - 08:30 was McDonald's or that arrow and they knew it was In-N-Out burger and they wanted to stop so I think that symbols are all around us sometimes we just don't expect them to be found in the scriptures but when we can have eyes to see I think it changes everything right and sometimes I think these symbols are not in our normal everyday context like McDonald's arches would be um but so because they're unfamiliar we think they're either difficult to understand
• 08:30 - 09:00 or they're strange but once they become familiar they become beautiful and they unfold so many truths for us I agree especially because they were not unfamiliar to the people in John's time so if we can look back at some of these Traditions they had at the time it really makes it easier for us to understand and enjoy the story and then you're excited about John because John's talking about our time and our day absolutely uh so let's go to chapter 22 um and this is where we'll discover
• 09:00 - 09:30 this what I like to call The Meta metaphor of the scriptures um Christ uses it throughout his ministry and it runs throughout the scriptures from beginning to end and it really ties together the purpose of life what our covenants are about what the temple is about and what our relationship is to Jesus Christ and that bigger metaphor is the metaphor of uh the Hebrew wedding traditions they are a metaphor for what Christ has done for us what our
• 09:30 - 10:00 covenants with him look like and um teach us so much about those covenants so and you see John drawing on this in in chapter 22 of the Book of Revelation so let's go to verses 16 and 17 and we'll see this just so blatantly if someone could do one of you I'll read it sounds great Pam I Jesus have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the churches I'm the root and The
• 10:00 - 10:30 Offspring of David and the bright and morning star and the spirit of the Bride say come and let him that heareth say come and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take the Water of Life freely okay did you catch it it says the spirit and the bride say so why is John bringing in a bride here that seems a little bit strange to just like throw out the spirit and and the
• 10:30 - 11:00 bride like right who's the bride why why is there a bride what's the symbol what's going on here um but clearly John is using this metaphor to teach us something and Christ often refers to himself as the bridegroom right right so and when we think in terms of a wedding a bridegroom and a bride are doing what yeah they're getting married but that marriage is a covenant they're making a covenant so the bride is someone who's made a covenant with the
• 11:00 - 11:30 bridegroom so and this brings up the question of well who is the bride right and we get a we we actually get this horrifying um look at it in Matthew 25 with the parable of the 10 virgins because 10 virgins go to the door and then that door is shut right and five are left outside can you even imagine no no it's it's a little bit horrifying and you I think it causes hopefully it
• 11:30 - 12:00 causes us to do some self-reflection and think am I prepared am I on that side of the door or or is it the door shut and he says I never knew you so I think it behooves us to figure out who the bride is what the bride does and there's a clue here that John gives us um so in this verse in verse 17 the bride says whosoever will let him take the Water of Life freely so the bride here is inviting people to take the Water of
• 12:00 - 12:30 Life so the bride is someone who invites people to The Living Waters um and I love the word come because we use that so much in our vernacular come and see uhhuh come and belong come and stay follow me yeah let us right and yeah that is something that we use so much in our vernacular and inviting come everyone can come and what are we coming to we're coming to the Water of Life The Living Waters which then beges a question what is the
• 12:30 - 13:00 Living Water so let's go to verse one of chapter 22 B would you mind and he showed me a pure River of Water of Life clear as Crystal proceeding out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb so that lets us know that the father and the son are there right we have the father and the Sun and this is the river of the Water of Life coming it comes from them right pure pure and then if you could read verse
• 13:00 - 13:30 two as well yeah I'd love to in the midst of the street of it on and on either side of the river was there the Tree of Life which bear 12 manner of fruits and yielded her fruit every month and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the Nations so something I love about that is the idea that the tree would yield fruit every month that feels so different than the world I live in now where I work so hard to tend my garden and maybe we yield once a year twice a year if it's if
• 13:30 - 14:00 you're super lucky right right right especially here in Arizona unless you're growing oranges right it's extra hard um but yeah it is amazing that so here we have this image of this tree with the Waters of life I mean this should right make us think of Lehi and Nephi's vision of the tree of life right um and yielding 12 types of fruit is there any in the scriptures that we have a group of
• 14:00 - 14:30 12 I think that indicates to us that the 12 tribes of Israel are all coming from the same tree from the same the same Covenant and have access to the same Living Waters remember the bride the bride in this right the bride is someone who is calling these fruit calling these 12 to come to the wa The Living Waters come come back to this tree where the Living Waters exist um that kind of sounds like what our
• 14:30 - 15:00 Prophet is asking us to do right now absolutely gather Israel Israel on both sides of the veil and Gathering them to The Living Waters right now I think we see this very literally in the baptismal fonts in the temple because what we have here is Living Waters on the back of how many 12 12 oxin right and so the Bride is a covenantal person who is inviting the 12 tribes of Israel to come
• 15:00 - 15:30 back to those those Living Waters absolutely and partake freely and that is what's going to heal the Nations right that's what heals nael message it's that that Covenant that Eternal Covenant that binds that family of Abraham back together it changes everything right and so if we think of ourselves as Jesus calls himself the bridegroom we know that yeah if we think of if we wonder who the bride is we think of someone that's doing the
• 15:30 - 16:00 Gathering in a covenantal way and that loves the bridegroom yes right absolutely I mean obviously because they're getting married that's what the mar relationship is about right and you know sometimes it might sound funny to to think of this in terms of a marriage because our society looks at marriage so differently but I think what it indicates to us is a level of knowledge of one another I mean Christ says in the the parable of the 10 virgins you never knew me or the jst I never knew you but
• 16:00 - 16:30 there has to be a friendship there some some level of intimacy right um and loyalty and commitment and so instead of I think we talk about you know keep the Commandments or keep your covenants and we think of it in this almost like white knuckled sense like oh I have to stay in the lines and I have to do everything right and cross all the teas and Dot all the eyes instead I think what can happen for us is we move move from that to a sense of I Love My
• 16:30 - 17:00 Savior and everything I do is motivated by that love for him and so it's not I'm just trying to stay in the lines or I'm trying to follow the rules it's I want to live the type or become the type of person that the Covenant bride would be if that makes sense it's really about becoming it is it's not about checking the boxes exactly and it's about a relationship of love absolutely I think
• 17:00 - 17:30 of it as what message am I sending to My Savior Jesus Christ you know so it's not about checking the boxes it's where is my heart how am I connecting with him yeah so no I love that um and so moving from that I think we get a really good picture of this of this bride who who brings Living Waters to the world in the ancient story of Rebecca the was Isaac's wife so if
• 17:30 - 18:00 you want to turn and look at that let's go to Rebecca uh Genesis 24 to most of us in this modern era this seems like another really strange wedding in the scriptures you know Jesus gave us a really strange wedding that took place in the middle of the night and the bride didn't know when the groom was going to come and that seems really odd to our ears this one is pretty odd as well we have Abraham needing a wife for his son Isaac and remember this had to be a covenantal wife couldn't be just anybody
• 18:00 - 18:30 from where they lived um because the Covenant was very important so he's looking for a covenantal wife and they he sends his his servant out to go find this wife goes to back to Abraham's cousin lean to to get a wife which an arranged marriage seems pretty strange to us does seem pretty strange to us I actually love how you were just talking about he's sending his servant his trusted servant I think about us sending
• 18:30 - 19:00 out our kids on missions as being trusted servants to try to find those that are willing to be the bride right to come into that Covenant yep absolutely so a lot of trust in this servant and a lot of trust we put in our young people absolutely when we're thinking about the story and then we'll go to the incredible trust Rebecca must have had right and it's interesting because eleazer as he's looking for Rebecca prays and asks for a sign cuz you
• 19:00 - 19:30 imagine what this responsibility would be like your your master tells you go find a wife for my son far away yeah um so he prays and says uh this is verse 12 oh lord of my master Abraham I pray thee send me good speed this day and show kindness unto my master Abraham behold I stand Here by The Well of water and the daughters of men of the City come out to draw water so here you already have women drawing water right powerful symbolism powerful
• 19:30 - 20:00 symbolism got that living water again and let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall say let down thy picture I pray thee that I may drink and she shall shall say drink and I will give thy camels to drink also let the same be she that thou Hast appointed for thy servant Isaac and thereby shall I know that thou H has showed kindness unto my master so he asks for this sign to recognize who the bride should be and he recognizes her because she's the one that draws the Living Water and not just for him right but for
• 20:00 - 20:30 everyone he's bringing with him and it's interesting to note that there are 10 camels and then there's eleazer and there's and it says she draws for herself as well so you have a total of 12 people drinking from her efforts so beautiful yeah so yeah the bride is someone who's in a covenantal relationship with the bridegroom so you've in made that covenantal commitment and have that loyalty in place and I might add it's hard to enter into a covenant
• 20:30 - 21:00 without Authority that seals that Covenant and makes it effective and so sometimes in the church we talk about having the priesthood Authority but it's like well authority to do what and I think it's to really seal these covenants right make them active and we see it in our world today can you just be can you declare yourself married no you have to have that legal Authority someone someone with that legal Authority has to yeah that docent right um so where else do we see Jesus
• 21:00 - 21:30 inviting people to come drink Living Water can you think of anything once you start to see these things they all these pieces they you realize they're all part of the same metaphor right right so the woman at the well woman at the well yeah that's a big one is the woman at the well um and there again you have this this woman and marriage is part of it in the story right it definitely is she has an interesting marriage story right she's a
• 21:30 - 22:00 little bit different here she has an interesting marriage story she is a covenant breaker she's not the Covenant keeper um but what's interesting is how Christ reaches out to her right does he condemn her what does he do like what's his response to her he he names her sin yeah and then he knows her he makes her the first person to go announce to be a certain witness yeah to be a certain witness of him because I think and and you see this beautifully in the book of Hosea too
• 22:00 - 22:30 seem so strange at first read um because you have this Prophet Hosea that marries or at least symbolically symbolically marries an impure woman um and then takes her back and but I think it's a beautiful parallel to what happens with us because even though you two I know are perfect cuz I do know you I know them well we're we don't we want to speak truth here okay um but can we
• 22:30 - 23:00 flip to josa really fast just just super quick I think it's in Chapter 2 that is the most powerful where I in verses 7 through about I think 13 you start to get the Covenant curses of what's going to happen because she has broken all of her covenants so if you know the story a little bit right she's a harl a prostitute she's gone away and left her covenants which sometimes we do as well
• 23:00 - 23:30 right and you would think this would be a story about Justice right but really that she's going to get stoned she's going to get what she deserves absolutely that was the law it was it wouldn't even be going beyond the law that's just the law that's the rule you see this with the woman taken in adultery with Christ they were ready to Stone her because that was the law right so I don't know if we have maybe we'll skip the the cursing verses but let's read what he says that he will do for do
• 23:30 - 24:00 for her let's just read verse 13 and you can see what she did what her problem was at the end and then let's just read a couple of those promises that he gives to her as she has left so it's hosiah 2 Hosea sorry HOSA 2 verse 13 and I will visit upon her the days of balim wherein she burned incense to them and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels and she went after her lovers and forget me said the Lord so that's the
• 24:00 - 24:30 crime right so then you expect to see the judgment and yet oh these are all so good but let's just read maybe 18 and 19 because it kind of feels like okay okay and in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts in the field and with the fowls of heaven and with the creeping things of the ground and I will break bow and The Sword and the B and the battle out of the earth and will make them to lie down safely and I will betro thee unto me forever yay I will
• 24:30 - 25:00 betro thee unto me in righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness and in mercies isn't that incredible it's beautiful so there we've got the the bridegroom pleading for the bride to come back CU she has made that Covenant relationship and he's not going to give up on his Covenant people even when we when we go astray yeah I think it's pretty powerful it's powerful and it's beautiful and I think it applies to us on an indiv ual level because we've
• 25:00 - 25:30 we've all broken the Covenant um to one degree or another yet Our Savior still stands there arms open ready to welcome us back in saying come come it's beautiful I love that you're pointing this out Andrea thank you it's just it's such beautiful symbolism and I that's one thing I love about symbols is as we if if we stop being afraid of them and we start to dig into them these beautiful messages unfold of our savior's love love and his desire to
• 25:30 - 26:00 bring us back into that covenantal relationship yeah so um we see this again and and this is this is actually kind of a fun one so uh let's go to John chapter 7 oh this is a fun one this is yeah time this is this is Jesus getting a little bit salty and and I I like this because well for a lot of reasons but sometimes we see Jesus get pretty serious and fired up about things
• 26:00 - 26:30 that are really important and really matter and that doesn't mean he's not loving and kind and all of that it just means that these things are serious and should be taken seriously and when it comes we saw him cleansing the temple and when it comes to this feast and what he's trying to teach here he wants us to take it seriously because it it it means everything and it's that important sometimes we need a wake up call Maybe yeah we all need a wakeup call so this
• 26:30 - 27:00 is a place where he he steps out in front of the crowd and he gives everybody a wake up call but if you don't know the background to what's happening in this scene it's easy to read right over it and and miss it so this what's happening in this scene is this is less than six months before the crucifixion this is towards the end of Jesus's Ministry he's already been a rabble Rouser in Judea people are already taking sides whether you know he has his followers that have seen the
• 27:00 - 27:30 Miracles but he also has the political class that's very upset with him and they're looking for ways to arrest him and followers didn't even want him to come to Jerusalem at this point they didn't feel like it was safe enough for him right so and the context of this is Christ and his followers are all going to go up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles this is one of three Jewish feasts that all Jewish men were expected to attend in Jerusalem right and so he
• 27:30 - 28:00 actually goes up there secretly not with a big entourage or anything um because it wasn't safe for him because there were so many people angry with him so the Feast of Tabernacles is takes place in the fall weddings took place in the fall Hebrew weddings um because it was after the Harvest and so people had time to have a wedding and they knew how to do weddings right they would have this wedding C celebration for seven days seven days of
• 28:00 - 28:30 feasting and it was a big party gather all your friends and all your family and we'd go for seven days um I can't imagine doing that I know I'm ready to be invited but I don't want to host right is that how you're feeling right now not want to plan yeah you've done I will be the guest I'm not really interested in being the host um which is probably why and it's well this is another side note but Christ's first miracle of his ministry was what right turn the water the water the water wi yep turning the water into
• 28:30 - 29:00 wine at a wedding and that's how he opens his ministry and beautiful symbolis mic drop yeah like because right let me show you hope you all like the wine but you can imagine why his mother would have been so frantic right right cuz they're feasting for seven days this isn't like oh we just need to run to the store and get a little bit more this exactly yeah um this is a real party so um yeah this is during this scene in Jerusalem is during the Feast of
• 29:00 - 29:30 Tabernacles it has this Feast has all these ties to wedding ancient Hebrew wedding symbolism this was symbolic of the great wedding feast and here you have the actual bridegroom coming in to this great wedding Feast um and help me remember Andrea I feel like there was some symbolism to with water throughout the week those seven days can you explain that again yeah so each of those seven days they would offer do a water offering at the temple and they'd pour
• 29:30 - 30:00 water onto the Altar and everyone see that people would come see that they would pour wine um yeah it was part of the festivals they would pour wine onto the Altar and in this case so go to uh John chapter 7 maybe we should start about oh it's interesting Jesus knows what's going to happen and and he tells them in verse 33 yet a little while I am with you and then I go unto him that sent me so he
• 30:00 - 30:30 knows that this is getting towards the end of his ministry um but they're all confused and they say where will he go that we shall not find him will he go into the dispersed among the Gentiles and teach the Gentiles they think he's just talking about going on vacation or something right but G to go take a nap how often are we confused when God's asking us to do something we don't quite see all the pieces of the puzzle right see a little bit but I don't quite understand so in answer to them they so
• 30:30 - 31:00 in 36 they say what manner of saying is this that he said ye shall seek me and shall not find me and where I am thither you cannot come and the last day that great day of the feast so this final day this is the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles also known as cot or the Feast of booths and interestingly it was the Feast of booths because and I know Brinn knows this very well because she does this with her children what do you guys do so
• 31:00 - 31:30 we set up a little kind of camping area in the backyard and we get some Palm FRS and put them out to pretend like we're in Israel and we camp out and feast usually it's not something I've prepared you know we pick up Cafe Rio or something like that but we sit out and feast and you're supposed to talk about uh stories of the past in the Bible so you would remember those that had come before so it's very covenantal and really remind you of the Covenant to promise the promises to cant Israel so
• 31:30 - 32:00 it's pretty powerful and pretty fun for kids so I would imagine that this would be a party for the families right at least for the kids again we're not sure about the moms yeah the moms might be might have been a little bit stressed but and it it's not in significant that it says in the last day that great day of the feast um this gets picked up in end times eschatology with the last and great day and we can talk about that another time but it is symbolic of that um so on the last day of this Feast of
• 32:00 - 32:30 Tabernacles you know all of Jerusalem has been a buzz for this 7-Day Feast it's a it's had been a big party and on the last day of the feast Jesus steps in and he makes his presence known um kind of like he did it that well that he will later do when he goes to cleanse the temple um so in 37 in that last day the great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried saying and this doesn't necessarily mean cry like he was crying he was he was yelling out he was saying hey everybody um I need your attention
• 32:30 - 33:00 If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink he that believeth on me as the scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of Living Water okay where did we already see that imagery of rivers of living water flowing out so we're going back to revelation 22 and we're talking about the rivers of Living Water and it also reminds me of Ezekiel and the waters running out from from the
• 33:00 - 33:30 temp temple right and I I love what he does here um so it says that he took of the Living Water so what's actually happening here is the on this last day of the Feast of Tabernacles they would the priest would go down to the pool of Siloam and you'll remember the pool of silam from when Jesus healed the blind man and mixed it with the the clay um he goes to the pool
• 33:30 - 34:00 of Siloam and they would actually go down there with two silver pitchers and they'd have one with wine and then they would scoop water and if you know the pool of Siloam it's fed by the gone spring so it's Living Water it's water that Springs up out of the earth and he would fill the pitcher with that and then they would pour the wine and the water on the altar um Christ does that and he says I'm I'm pouring out the living water and if you believe in me you'll have living
• 34:00 - 34:30 water coming from you it's the same thing he told the woman at the well right and it's the same image we get with Rebecca drawing living water from the well and it's the same image we get in Revelation with the bride drawing living water and and sharing living water with the 12 tribes so Christ here and you and so then this begs a question why living water and why the blood or I just gave it away we didn't hear that why the wine and why the Living Water
• 34:30 - 35:00 right why the wine where do we see the wine and the water together started at the wedding of Cana right he's turning water into wine here he is taking the water and the wine again pouring them out on the altar together and then 6 months later we see this again right he gets that spear wound in his side and it says the blood and the water came forth from him while he was on the
• 35:00 - 35:30 tree and so we see that all of that powerful imagery come together where he is he's that lifeblood but he's also the living water and there he is on that tree and because he did that we can have eternal life and the bride is the one who invites everyone to come partake of that and remember the promise was that it would be the healing to heal the Nations the yeah that's it's just so beautiful to think that the death of one could heal right right it feels super
• 35:30 - 36:00 symbolic to me I think of the sacrament and how that parallels you know every week when we come and we partake of the sacrament it's that renewing that that renewal effect that healing effect so and I love how it was quoted um I think it was Sister Dennis's talk in conference with where she quoted president Nelson that said yes we can
• 36:00 - 36:30 say it's renewing of our covenant but you're also making a new covenant each week you're choosing every week to put on the atonement it's been offered to you do you want to accept it and do you want to partake of it this week and I think this is another point where this whole meta metaphor of the wedding comes in because in these ancient Hebrew weddings the bride and groom once they were betrothed they were considered to be married but they would have to separate for roughly a year and make their
• 36:30 - 37:00 wedding preparations and you imagine what that would feel like to be separated from your fiance for a year and they must wonder is the other person still in this are they true are they faithful right and so I think when you think in terms of Christ being the bridegroom and all of us who've made those Covenants be metaphorically being the bride but we're in this period of
• 37:00 - 37:30 Separation we're not physically with Christ right now we're down here on Earth having this Earthly experience and so each Sunday we go partake of that Sacrament and those emblems of the Bride price he paid for us absolutely and what are we asked in those prayers what or what are we saying to remember we're still willing yeah we're still willing to take his name I'm still committed to this that I'm the promises I made in that betral that
• 37:30 - 38:00 I accepted at baptism I'm still committed I'm still willing to take his name upon me when that day comes I love that and also because of the sacrament we're actually still worthy to be the bride because if you go back to Hebrew covenants what is covenant and they always cut a covenant right so somebody had to be cut and then if you broke that Covenant you would I would be cut and so to think that I could I could be worthy to come back the next
• 38:00 - 38:30 Sabbath and say yes I am still willing well I need to be worthy right absolutely a worthy Bride for him and so to think that his blood covers me so I don't have to be cut because he was in our place is really beautiful it is really beautiful yeah that blood and then we see that here with Christ getting these two pictures of the wine and the water he's both right he's offering both the blood and the water and every Sunday when we take the
• 38:30 - 39:00 sacrament I hope we think of it in terms of I'm still willing I'm still that willing bride I'm still trying we may fail but then we come back each week and say yep I fell down I'm still trying and we recognize that he's paid that price and those promises to Covenant Israel are still intact right yeah just like they were for Goomer right and it's so beautiful it's so the loveing kindness and the mercy right and and I think there's a little bit of
• 39:00 - 39:30 you know someone might say well there's some danger there and thinking that you can just you can go screw up throughout the week and then come back on Sunday and take the sacrament and you're good to go right and I think that's also where some of the power of this metaphor comes in because if you think of it in terms of a bride and a groom this the bride May in their in their time of Separation she may do things wrong and the real question is is she still loyal to her bridegroom it's not is she perfect has
• 39:30 - 40:00 she you know did she learn to make all those perfect meals she's going to make when they're married and has she done all things it's it's a question of her heart and her loyalties and so I think we're all Fallen we've all fallen short of the glory of God we can still come in there if our loyalty is still with Christ our love is still with Christ he's still we're still oriented towards Christ and I think sometimes when we talk about having a relationship with Christ The Talk it's pretty casual I think when we think of relationship
• 40:00 - 40:30 with Christ it's our relation to our is our orientation towards Christ is that who we're facing um and if that's still where we are then we take that Sacrament and we say I'm still willing and his redeeming blood still covers me the difference I think is when there's rebellion and disloyalty and we say I reject Christ and I don't care what his Commandments are are remember he said if you love me keep my Commandments and if we say I don't care
• 40:30 - 41:00 what his Commandments are I'm just going to do it my way I think that's a different a different thing well unfortunately with Covenant commitment there's Covenant blessings but then we call them Covenant cursings and really they're more of the blessings are just revoked reverse yeah you don't have those blessings so you lose the promises of protection yeah and peace and land and when you're talking about keep the command ments really it's just an invitation to Joy right isn't that what
• 41:00 - 41:30 Commandments are just invitations to Joy how much joy do you want I'm interested in a lot of Joy actually I'll take all the joy and so which Commandments do I want to keep uh all of them I want all the joy right and the beautiful thing about the temple garment is that we have that reminder of that invitation to Joy every day right yep it's that symbol of that Covenant that we're still willing we're still willing yeah and it really
• 41:30 - 42:00 just matters the direction our heart is turned the intent are we still loyal are we still willing yeah okay so and so I love this that Christ is standing there in this scene with these pictures of the water and the wine and he's doing the pouring out he is the bridegroom he's the one that has the real authority to do this and you imagine that the people there standing at the pool of Siloam for for this at this great last day of this huge feast would be thinking oh it's
• 42:00 - 42:30 this Rabel Rouser Jesus that we've been hearing about and he's proclaiming himself as this bridegroom there was a lot of animosity it wasn't like everyone was celebrating about that were absolutely werey I think I think there were a lot of different and I think that's probably most of them were upset like who does he think he is right this is not how my celebration was supposed to end right this was not the plan although of course it was the plan right absolutely um and so we see this again
• 42:30 - 43:00 if you want to turn to Matthew 26 this is the last supper so as we're thinking about that the Sacrament in Matthew 2626 says and as they were eating Jesus Took bread and blessed it and break it and gave it to the disciples and said take eat this is my body and he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink ye all of it for this is my blood of the New Testament and the other word for Testament is Covenant right so
• 43:00 - 43:30 this would be the blood of the Covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins but I say unto you I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's Kingdom okay so it's interesting and I want to hear what you think about this um when the church was restored Joseph Smith instituted the sacrament and was using wine and then we've heard that story of he was told
• 43:30 - 44:00 that be careful with the wine some of your enemies might be trying to poison it so use water but I wonder if there's more here because Christ says he won't drink of the wine until he drinks it at the wedding feast in his father's kingdom is that potentially part of the reason why we use water for the sacrament I'm not opposed to that reason that doesn't I would I I feel like that
• 44:00 - 44:30 could be an option I love the symbolism of the wine being the blood and to think that it wouldn't be partaking of until the wedding Feast would be until the Savior returned right because we're in the phase of betral right we actually haven't we haven't had the wedding Feast yet made the wedding Feast yet right right um so that was a side question it's not that's not I don't have anyal answers for that I'm digesting it still
• 44:30 - 45:00 so but that points us towards the marriage Feast of the lamb and that's what the the Feast of Tabernacles was all all about and this takes us back to the Book of Revelation so go to Revelation 18 actually 19 just kidding and here we'll see this metaphor of the marriage Feast the bridegroom the bride all over again and this is something that's easy to read through and Revelation and think I have no idea
• 45:00 - 45:30 what they're talking about um but but once we get this key of Covenant relationship and wedding it starts the pieces start to fall into place so Pam would you mind reading Revelation 19 7-9 let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready and to her was Grant granted that
• 45:30 - 46:00 she should be arrayed in fine linen clean and white for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints and he saith unto me write blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the lamb and he saith unto me these are the true says of God so right there we have this image of this great marriage Feast of the bridegroom and it says the so it's the
• 46:00 - 46:30 marriage of the Lamb we know who the lamb is um and his wife ha made herself ready so we have this marriage context and symbolism again um describe the bride there for me I would say that she's righteous right because that's what the linen is it's what it represents the righteousness right and so sometimes we just think of the white clothes but what do those represent right that's representing Purity and righteousness so
• 46:30 - 47:00 we try to put on our righteousness right and it's interesting that another way to translate that word for righteousness is Right relationship that we're in a true so we've been loyal and true yeah yeah so it's not Perfection again it's not Perfection right it's not that there's this Cosmic balance of scales and okay your good works outweigh the bad it's not that and this is going back to Egypt this is
• 47:00 - 47:30 something that I really love there's some hieroglyphics that show the coronation of the Pharaoh and he he comes up and he actually has his heart weighed in a scale right I remember seeing that and there's some beautiful name symbolism with that too do you remember that did you guys learn that I like I've never heard in Egypt like interesting yeah oh microphone mishap that's okay but I think that really does come back to the heart so
• 47:30 - 48:00 they wanted their heart to be you know weighed and balance and made sure that it was sufficient enough but for us it's just literally is our heart soft right or hard are we teachable or are we closed off and is our heart turned towards the savior is that set on the savior is he is he our true love and do we do the things we do be out of love for for him or are we just trying to rack up Heavenly points
• 48:00 - 48:30 somewhere so and then we're back to the first two great Commandments invitations to Joy which are love God and love our neighbor right that's what it comes down to so simple it is so simple and so fun to study it and all these different metap right and so we see the marriage supper here let's go back almost to where we started in Revelation chap
• 48:30 - 49:00 21 and we'll this is fun now now we're talking about Millum and exaltation and all these yes because the Real Marriage Feast happens after his coming um but so here here we get more of more of this um Revelation 21 Bren would you mind reading verse two and I John saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of Heaven prepared as a bride adorned for
• 49:00 - 49:30 her husband okay so this is a bride in the white linen who's been adorned and is prepared to meet the bridegroom okay skip over to verse six and he said unto me it is done I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end I will give unto him that is a thirst of the Fountain of the Water of Life freely did you catch it like think about that for a minute it's amazing right here we have the bridegroom he's the beginning and the
• 49:30 - 50:00 end right and he's giving what water the Water of Life right back where we started it's the bridegroom and his Covenant relationship with the bride and they they bring the water and it it's just so beautiful that that Living Water the water that he got from the pool of Siloam the water that Rebecca Drew from the well all of it um comes together right here in the Book of Revelation um and then the promise that comes right on these heels in verse 7 he that overcometh shall inherit all things who
• 50:00 - 50:30 inherits it's the bride right the bride would receive an inheritance or also known as an endowment and so so that that's where this all really ties together um and then if you skip down to verse n uh and there came unto me one of the Seven Angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues and talked with me saying come hither I will show Thee the bride the Lamb's wife and he carried me away into the
• 50:30 - 51:00 spirit to a great and high mountain which if you've ever studied mountains and Temple theology mountains are often used as substitutes for temples you have Nephi going up into a high mountain a lot of prophets go up into high mountains that's for a separate episode um and he showed me that great City the holy Jerusalem descending Out of Heaven from God having the glory of God and her light was like unto a stone most precious even like unto Jas Stone clear as Crystal and had a wall great and high and had 12
• 51:00 - 51:30 gates and at the gates 12 angels and names were written thereon which are the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel so we have all of those symbols coming together again powerfully so can we turn Andrew really quick to first Nephi 11:25 I just let's do it in case people are wondering a little bit more about what is this what are these Living Waters right it just gives us a nice definition and I'm sure there's multiple definitions but
• 51:30 - 52:00 this is a nice one that is simple and I think goes along really well with what we've been talking about do you want me to read it or do you want to read it uh go for it okay and it came to pass that I beheld the rod of iron which my father had seen was the word of God which led to the Fountain of Living Waters or to the Tree of Life which waters are a representation of the love of God and I also beheld the tree of life was a represent ation of the love of God so this these beautiful Living
• 52:00 - 52:30 Waters all symbolize God's love it ties together in the context of this these ancient Hebrew wedding traditions and it's interesting to note that the Book of Revelation sometimes we call it Revelations it's the Book of Revelation which comes from the Greek word for unveiling and if you think of who is unveiled at a wedding at a wedding it's a bride so and why is she unveiled so she
• 52:30 - 53:00 can see the face of her bridegroom EXA right um so we can come face to face right with our savior so to wrap up here how how do you think reconceptualizing the covenants you've made in terms of the ancient Hebrew wedding tradition has changed how you how you see your covenants how you live a covenant walk daily so one of my
• 53:00 - 53:30 favorite things that we talked about we actually didn't mention it uh in this little discussion but I think it has really stuck with me was the idea that the bridegroom would come and the bride would knock on the door like the 10 virgins do and at night because in a Hebrew a small Hebrew town you would lock your doors at night the only way you would know if it's somebody if it's Andrea I know Andrea's voice so if Andrea came to my door she could yell from the outside it's Andrea and I'd be like oh come in I know you and so the idea that I need to have make sure that
• 53:30 - 54:00 the Savior knows my voice and I know his voice changes the way I look at things it really just is about a relationship of someone that knows each other well right like I know Andrea and then I would want to do something for her like come and speak on a podcast because I really love her um but it's the relationship and that changes the idea of rules and regulations and also just the terminology of keep I think of
• 54:00 - 54:30 things what how do you keep something you keep something close to Your Heart Right you keep your family safe you keep a garden by tending to it so keeping a keeping the Commandments doesn't have to feel like a strict thing it's it's a protection it's a love it's something that can be tender and then at the same time I have four boys you medieval culture a keep and a castle that's that's the stronghold that is where you're going to hold out at the endend and so that's a that's a beautiful
• 54:30 - 55:00 analogy too in our battles that we're facing right now our keep is somewhere that protects us right it's what's most precious yes I love that yeah what about you Pam my your learning from you the last three years and with you about the marriage covenant the Hebrew tradition has allowed me to broaden my ability to really identify those blocks
• 55:00 - 55:30 that I have that are keeping me from My Savior Jesus Christ from and so every day I'm working on okay how am I connecting with him like you said Bren Brinn like um am I taking the time necessary to develop that relationship with him so that when he does come and not get at the door or I come to knock at the door he
• 55:30 - 56:00 knows my voice and um and so I I'm just grateful that there's all of this stuff that we can learn from and that we don't have to do it alone like get people together and and learn together it's so important but making and keeping those covenants is vital to our ability to um stay on the Covenant path be close to our to our Savior Jesus Christ so that
• 56:00 - 56:30 when the time comes we will be called and and you know yeah be able to go to that wedding go to that wding goal wedding Feast maybe that stress that you were talking about the the Covenant path maybe we need to reconceptualize that like the solar system idea where it's really a spiral upward right it's this beautiful spiral with Christ caring us and we're drawn to
• 56:30 - 57:00 that power and what is that power that power is God's love right and that increases our capacity that increases our ability and that allows us to do things we could never do our own absolutely um well I want to thank both of you for being here today being willing to show up um and I hope that's been a blessing to all the viewers as well um that we can come together we can talk about these
• 57:00 - 57:30 things we can study these things and gain so much more understanding of our covenants of our covenant walk find joy in that find um Peace through those covenants um that can carry us through our personal challenges through the challenges that we face today and that will help us to be steadfast and firm in the gospel and I just leave you with my encouragement and I got this from Pam but fresh courage take thank you all