Be the Last in Your Neighborhood to Know
Because I am a gape-jawed lackwit, I just now realized that all the fancy clothes in the Book of Mormon are priestly clothes.
Exodus 30-40: Fine-twined linen, scarlet, jewels, gold, and silver.
1 Nephi 13:
Behold the gold, and the silver, and the silks, and the scarlets, and the fine-twined linen, and the precious clothing, and the harlots, are the desires of this great and abominable church.
A lot of the stuff I have been reading in the Book of Mormon as a simple critique of the rich is more precisely a critique of the priestly castes, or of false priestly castes. It’s pretty blatant.
The great and spacious building isn’t simply high status, its specifically high-status in a priestly, temple way. We should think of the GSB as a coterie of folks offering a gnosis, a body of knowledge that you have to go through their programs to acquire, that is then supposed to fit you for wealth and prestige. Read your Nibley, I guess.
The one aspect of the tabernacle that is presented positively in the Book of Mormon is the curious workmanship.
Notice also that Nephi says the clothes and ornaments of priestliness are what they desire. These are people who exchange the reality of power and authority for playing power and authority dress-up. They will be ok being powerless functionaries if they get a corner office and a car with a driver.
P.S. The notable differences between the tabernacle and the GSB are (1) silks and (2) harlots. The harlots I get. The silks, dunno. Secular historians will say that silk didn’t hit the Middle East until after the Nephite Exodus, so I am not clear on what ‘silk’ even means in the Book of Mormon. Curiously, if you search for ‘silk’ on the church website, it returns you a pile of hits for ‘linen’.
P.P.S. –sotto voce– doesn’t the tabernacle in Exodus seem kinda . . . garish –sotto voce–
The Lord speaking to each people in their own tongue has *way* more implications than we think it does.
Rozy
May 6, 2022
You’re not the last to know. I’m older than you and never made the connection. Thank you for pointing it out!
Silk could simply be something luxurious, rare and expensive.
Robert S.
May 7, 2022
Well, I only made the connection while reading this Interpreter article, probably about a year ago.
https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/first-visions-and-last-sermons-affirming-divine-sociality-rejecting-the-greater-apostasy/
Regarding the appearance of power without its reality: that seems to be a running theme of the infernal powers, right from the Council in Heaven–
“Behold, here am I, send me (…) I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.” (Moses 4:1)
God’s honor, being His glory, cannot be given except by the process which Satan was then trying to circumvent. Heavenly Father is perfectly willing to give us His honor; we must, however, qualify for it in the same way that He and His Son did, through mortal experience, resurrection, and sanctification.
Zen
May 8, 2022
This is surprising, yet it makes a lot of sense. This is also interesting because this is exactly the topic of the next Isaiah chapters.
Morm. 8:26-41 – this makes far more sense as a critique of the Whore of Babylon/Church if the Devil. The criticisms are exactly the same. This is also interesting because it links secret combinations.
2 Ne 28 – similar
Alma 5:53 – less convinced on this one
Jacob 2:13-16 like the previous one, this is about pride and money, perhaps an emerging elite.
Bookslinger
May 8, 2022
I did a search in the BoM for “linen”, then narrowed that to “fine-twined linen” and “fine linen.”
In 1 Ne 13: 7-8, the FtL is worn by priests in the G&A church.
2 Ne 13:23, is quoting Isaiah.
In Mosiah 10:5, Zeniff promotes FtL among his people, and that eventually led to pride and captivity of his people… Noah, etc.
In Alma 1:29, 1st year of the Judges, the church members become prosperous, have FtL, but are still humble enough to take care of poor. But in v 32, it says people out of the church who wear FtL are wicked.
By the 8th year of the Judges, Alma 4:6, church members who wear FtL are now proud enough that it afflicts Alma. So FtL+humilty only lasted 7 years.
In Helaman 6:13, 64th year of the judges, the good members of the church had FtL, and they had peace; but in v 16, 67th year of the judges, FtL-wearing members were wicked again. FtL+goodness only lasted 3 years this time.
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Observation: It’s hard to stay humble and good for any period of time when you wear fine-twined linen. Maybe the Amish are on to something.
G.
May 9, 2022
Perhaps the L I’ve had was not exceedingly FT, but trying to keep it from turning into an instant mass of deep wrinkles kept me more than humble