"Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering: It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it. • • •
And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out. • • •
And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour, even the memorial of it, unto the LORD"(Leviticus 6:9, 12-13, 15). "The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out" symbolized 1.our prayers came unto God, and 2.we should pray always.
This oracle drawing with a mouth shown as "cry unto God in mighty prayer".
"A man humble himself kneeling down to say a prayer" is another oracle word about "prayer", and "elder brother" is also the meaning of this drawing, because, most of time, it was supposed to be one of the duties of the eldest brother in the whole family.
Combined "Altar" with "elder brother", it was the word used in the ancient Chinese book shown as "say a prayer", but now "wish, hope" is the modern meaning of this word.
The modern prophets encourage us several things, 1. pray always, 2. read the scriptures and keep Lord's commandments, 3. attend the sacrament meeting and renew our covenants.
On this map of the way to the tree of life, it shew us clearly that prayer came before the tree of life.
"Hand holding the iron rod" shew us, 1.holding the Priesthood from God, 2.searching the words of God (of the scriptures and living prophets), 3.keeping the commandments.
The following drawings shew us, 1.attending the sacrament always, 2.renew our covenants with God.
Then the promise of our Lord will be fulfilled, it said, "And if it so be that they shall keep his commandments they shall be blessed upon the face of this land, and there shall be none to molest them, nor to take away the land of their inheritance; and they shall dwell safely forever"(2 Nephi 1:9).
Following drawing means "enrichment, fertility, and prosperity".
From the Chapter 5, the second book of Nephi, it told us that the Nephites were blessed:
"10 And we did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord in all things, according to the law of Moses.
11 And the Lord was with us; and we did prosper exceedingly; for we did sow seed, and we did reap again in abundance. And we began to raise flocks, and herds, and animals of every kind.....
15 And I did teach my people to build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores, which were in great abundance.
16 And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things; for they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon’s temple. But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine.
17 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cause my people to be industrious, and to labor with their hands.....
27 And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness."
In old testament, the Lord asked Moses for the Sacrifices offered to reconcile Israel to God, and Scapegoat carries away sins of the people.
“5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
6 And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.
7 And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.
9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’s lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
10 But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.” (Leviticus 16:5-10)
In Ancient Chinese Oracle drawings, which were shown that there were sacrifices offered as burnt offerings on the altar, and also shown that there were sacrifices thrown and sunken into the water. Following are the positons which the sacrifices are supposed to be located of the map of Lehi's dream. The water or the river, according to the Book of Nephi, "And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the fountain of filthy water which thy father saw; yea, even the river of which he spake; and the depths thereof are the depths of hell"(1 Nephi 12:16), are the depths of hell. Sacrifices thrown and sunken into the water are similar to the goat gone for a scapegoat into the wilderness, they all make atonements for the people.
The next oracle painted the settlements outside the Temple is smiliar to the tabernacle of Moses,“Set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation” (Exodus 40:6) and “set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar” (Exodus 40:7).
Sacrifice was burned on the altar of as a burnt offering for the people’s sin.
Two words came from this drawing of "an altar of burnt offering with sacrifice burning on it", and they were often used at the end of the sentences in the ancient Chinese book. They were known as expletives at the sentences' ends since no one could tell what they meant.
At first, the priests offered their animal sacrifices on the altar of stones; when the House Of Lord was among God's people, the priests offered their sacrifices on the altar of the burnt offering before God. But 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ came and offered up himself as a burnt offering before God, and was accepted. "Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself"(Hebrews 7:27) , and "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? "(Hebrews 9:11-14) Today, the words of "an altar of burnt offering with sacrifice burning on it" should be no more known as meaningless expletives in Chinese Christians' hearts, who should know what they offer on their sacraments, prayers, and blessings must be in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ at the ends of all the ceremonies, and that was the same as the ancient Chinese people often used at the lines of sentences .
Partake the living water(blood) and flesh - the altar of stonesFollowing drawing in oracle database, shown as a unidentified word no.0602 of the copy No.008032, the left part of drawing is a boat symbolized a shipping vessel. The biggest event about a shipping vessel before 3500 years ago and worthy to be written down on the bones and shells would only be Noah's Ark. About the right part of the drawing, it looks like an altar compared with the later Chinese drawings.
After going forth of the Ark, "Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar"(Genesis 8:20). If so, what are the circles on drawing of the right part? In the Book Of Deuteronomy, it said, " And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them. Thou shalt build the altar of the LORD thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD thy God:"(Deuteronomy 27:5-6). Those should be stones.
This drawing derived the modern character, and means "wait....until...". Because of the Lamb of God's sacrifice on the altar, the justice is pending to wait a period of time, until the people truly repent, then "justice exerciseth all his demands, and also mercy claimeth all which is her own; and thus, none but the truly penitent are saved"(Alma 42:24).
The offerings on the altar were blessed from Heaven, and these were the meat which the ancient Chinese were supposed to partake.
Following ordinance was the people of the Jou Dynasty (1027BC??-256BC) performing; one symbolized as the meat, and the other is for "living water".
Partake the fruit - the living waterThe Saints gather together to share each other with the fruit of the tree of life.
The following oracle drawing tell us some special meanings, if we explain with the modern revelation from God.
Above oracle drawing plus the drawing of heavenly blessing become the word of "eat, food".
In ancient China, a kind of holly vessel for water and wine in special ceremony is also derived from this oracle drawing.
Nowaday, the mode of administering the sacramental wine is set forth like this: "The manner of administering the wine — Behold, they took the cup, and said: O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee, in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine(water) to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen"(Moroni5:1-2).
These drawings also derived the same word as above.
The following ancient drawing means "mount, exalt".
Holding the holly vessel with both hands and then drinking the living water, the soul is being exalted, which is symbolized by two feet stepped upon the vessel.
"47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
48 I am that bread of life.
49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever."(John 6:47-58)
High PriestThe tree of life's fruit is "White", and the drawing of partaking the tree of life's fruit also means an office of the Holy Priesthood - High Priest.
Following map of Lehi's dream, shown the positions of where the Chinese Priesthood holders of ancient days supposed to be.
In the Book of Abraham, it said:
" 1 In the land of the Chaldeans, at the residence of my fathers, I, Abraham, saw that it was needful for me to obtain another place of residence;
2 And, finding there was greater happiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same; having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a father of many nations, a prince of peace, and desiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers.
3 It was conferred upon me from the fathers; it came down from the fathers, from the beginning of time, yea, even from the beginning, or before the foundation of the earth, down to the present time, even the right of the firstborn, or the first man, who is Adam, or first father, through the fathers unto me. 4 I sought for mine appointment unto the Priesthood according to the appointment of God unto the fathers concerning the seed"(Abraham 1:1-4).
After the Flood and the tower of Babel, the descendants of Noah were scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth "after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations"(Genesis 10&11). Abraham sought for his appointment "unto the Priesthood according to the appointment of God unto the fathers", and this is "a High Priest...even the right of the firstborn", and so Abraham could preside his families at his residences.
If this was the tradition in those ancient days, it give us a clue why they called the "firstborn" of their sons the same word of "High Priest" among the people who emigrated from the tower of Babel to the oriental land. Following were the words used to be the order of the sons from the firstborn to the fourth son 3000 years ago, and it showed that both "firstborn" and "High Priest" were the same words.
A pure, clean, and innocient soul died for us(5)- the love of GodBecause of the Lamb of God, His sacrifice and atonement, now the gate is open, and by the gate we can enter in.
In the section Choosing to Follow(1), we quoted "In Book of Mormon, a ruler questioned Alma the Younger on the possibilities of partaking the fruit of the tree,
'But there was one Antionah, who was a chief ruler among them, came forth and said unto him: What is this that thou hast said, that man should rise from the dead and be changed from this mortal to an immortal state, that the soul can never die? What does the scripture mean, which saith that God placed cherubim and a flaming sword on the east of the garden of Eden, lest our first parents should enter and partake of the fruit of the tree of life, and live forever? And thus we see that there was no possible chance that they should live forever'(Alma 12:20-21)."
On the top of the following oracle drawing is the tree of life, and since the gate is open, there is no doubt that anyone who repent can get close to the tree of life and taste the fruit from the tree.
The people who get close to the tree of life should enter in by the gate, so they were baptised by water, blood, fire, and Holy Spirit, and their soul were washed clean like their Lord Jesus Christ. That is also why the ancient oracle drawing used the clean squares to encircled the tree of life. "Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect"(3 Nephi 12:48).
In Lehi's dream, he saw "...other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree"(1 Nephi 8:30). They humbled themselves, fell down, and partook of the fruit of the tree.
Following oracle drawing shown a man kneeling down and offered up his vow in righteousness to eat the fruit.
This word means "immediately".
More than one man kneeling down offered up their vows in rightness and shared the fruit from the tree of life, and it is pronounced as "shiang", or "xiang", close to the sound of "Zion", and now means "a unit of community". It is possible that this drawing is the word of "Zion" in the ancient China.
Lehi's dream also told us, "And he also saw other multitudes feeling their way towards that great and spacious building. And it came to pass that many were drowned in the depths of the fountain; and many were lost from his view, wandering in strange roads. And great was the multitude that did enter into that strange building. And after they did enter into that building they did point the finger of scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also; but we heeded them not. These are the words of my father: For as many as heeded them, had fallen away"(1 Nephi 8:31-34).
The following drawing also tried to tell us the same story.
"...but we heeded them not"(1 Nephi 8:33)
A pure, clean, and innocient soul died for us(4)- gate Jesus Christ died for us, and a gate He opened for us! The following ancient Chinese oracle drawings also foretold us about these things.
About this gate, Nephi said, "Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost. And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive"(2 Nephi 31:17-18).
This drawing "A hand opening a door" is the original word of "open".
The most glorious description about the gate from the Prophet Joseph Smith is the verses of Doctrine and Covenants 137:1-2, "The heavens were opened upon us, and I beheld the celestial kingdom of God, and the glory thereof, whether in the body or out I cannot tell. I saw the transcendent beauty of the gate through which the heirs of that kingdom will enter, which was like unto circling flames of fire;"
And the following drawings show what the Prophet Joseph Smith said.
