WATCHERS OF HOLINESS
(Daniel 4: 13-17)
I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and,
behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven; He cried aloud,
and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his
leaves, and scatter his fruit; let the beasts get away from under it,
and the fowls from his branches; Nevertheless, leave the stump of his
roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of
the field,. and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be
with the beasts in the grass of the earth,. Let his heart be changed
from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times
pass over him. This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand
by thy word of the holy ones; to the intent that the living may know that
the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he
will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.
In the above verse from Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar
summoned Daniel to interpret his dream. In the dream, Nebuchadnezzar sees
something he calls "a watcher” or "a holy one" descend
"down from heaven". At first glance we would think this an
"angel" or "messenger" of God in the form of a man.
However, these terms are not used to describe what the king sees.
"Watchers of holiness" are the elements God has created. They are
His holy angels. Except for a reference to gender, there is no evidence that
what King Nebuchadnezzar saw was in a human form. One might suggest that
"a watcher and a holy one" are two separate individual beings,
because the word "and" is used to isolate the two identifications.
However, a few line later, "watcher" and "holy one" are
used again in a Hebrew parallelism showing that both of these terms are
describing the same thing. By putting this in poetic form, a
"listing" of the lines, it can clearly be seen that
"watchers" and "holy ones" are describing the same thing.
this
matter is by the decree of the watchers
and
the demand by the word of the holy ones
Also, in the dream, the tree is talked about by
giving it a masculine gender: "his branches", "his
leaves", etc. Other elements too, in the scriptures, are sometimes
referred to in terms of their gender. The moon in various places is called
"her".
(Isaiah 13:10)
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their
light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall
not cause her light to shine.
(Ezekiel 32:7)
And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars
thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not
give her light.
(Mark 13: 36-38)
And immediately after the tribulation of those days,
the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her
light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be
shaken.
In the Book of Mormon the sun, moon and the earth
are referred to in gender terms.
(2 Nephi 10: 10-13)
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their
light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon
shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for evil,
and the wicked for their iniquity; I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to
cease, and will lay down the haughtiness of the terrible;
I will make a man more precious than
fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge Ophir. Therefore, I will shake the
heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of
the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
Zion, in 2nd Nephi, in the Book of Mormon, is given
a gender and comforted. Jerusalem is challenged to "awake" and
"stand up" as if alive, and referred to in the terms of her and she.
(2 Nephi 5:72-73)
For the Lord shall comfort Zion:
he will comfort all her waste places; And he will make her
wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord
(2 Nephi 5: 100-103)
Awake, awake, stand up, 0 Jerusalem,
which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury; Thou hast
drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling wrung out; And none to guide her
among all the sons she hath brought forth; Neither that taketh her
by the hand, of all the sons she hath brought up.
In the following scriptures from the Bible, angels ("Watchers of Holiness" or "Holy Watchers") are associated with a specific element. None of these scripture references describe an angel as a man in human form. In this first scripture from Exodus, "the angel of the Lord" is "Dabariel" or fire.
FIRE
(Exodus 3: 1-3) Also see Acts 7:30-33
Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian:
and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain
of God, even to
Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire
out of the midst of a bush: and he looked; and, behold, the bush burned
with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn
aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord
saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of
the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
"Dabariel" means "the word of God" and fire teaches prayer and meditation. How appropriate for the Lord to use this Holy Watcher in bringing His message to Moses. It would be interesting to find out what kind of bush was involved and what "she" teaches,
When the first two lines of this next scripture are
put into a Hebrew parallelism, it becomes clear that the angel is the
cloud.
and
the angel of God which went before the camp of Israel removed
and went behind them
and
the pillar of the cloud went from before their face
and stood behind them
CLOUD
(Exodus 14: 19-20)
And the angel of God,
which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the
pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:
And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and
it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these:
so that the one came not near the other all the night.
The name for clouds is "Abariel" which
means "the passing of God"~ "God made clouds to be the body of
the presence of God. They teach mankind to prepare for and look to the time of
judgment as they feel His presence. They carry God around and He looks out
from them and surveys all the earth and the workmanship of His hands. Abariel
carries the knowledge she requires to establish righteousness and
purifications and is thus their elder. They carry with them the constant
feeling of the reality of His presence. That is why Christ will come again in
the clouds of heaven. And it is also why they receive Him when He ascends into
heaven. (Appendix to the Sealed Portion)
The next scripture from Psalms is already listed in
a Hebrew poetry form. The wind is the angel or Holy Watcher,
WIND
(Psalms 35:5-6)
Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord chase
them. Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the Lord
persecute them.
The name of wind is "Rahaviel" which
means "Sight of God". "The wind is the flesh of His spirit and
it is a living soul. Because of this, nothing can be hidden from the wind. . .
man and creation have no secrets from the wind." (Appendix to the
Sealed Portion)
WATER
(John 5: 1-4)
After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now
there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the
Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of
impotent folk, of blind; halt, withered; waiting for the moving of the
water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled
the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped
in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
It is not clear if this "pool" was
lustral water (moving or going somewhere) like a fountain, or stagnate like a
pond. In general water feels "the ability to know God and be happy in
this life." The name of fountains is "Kayal", which means
"Life of God". "She is the living water. The lustral water of
life. She is the watcher through which Christ is able to give life to all
things, that life is an oasis in the desert of our sin. She teaches that God
is personal and deeply involved in every minute detail of each person's life.
She teaches man and all the watchers that man is the object of creation."
(Appendix to the Sealed Portion)
THUNDER
(John 12:29)
The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered:
others said, An angel spake to him..
The name for thunder is "Yatsal" which
means "the coming of God". "Yatsal teaches man the surety of
eternity and knowledge that God will see that it happens His way. She hastens
us all to oneness. Yatsal is the personal herald of Messiah, and is His voice
of warning and decree. She reassures creation in the agony of their
pollutions. She awakens the wicked from deep sleep and puts a thorn under the
lazy. He is the watcher of hope and teaches understanding." (Appendix
to the Sealed Portion)
ALL THE ELEMENTS
(Hebrews 12:22)
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. .
.
The Appendix to the Sealed Portion states that the watchers on this earth number about six hundred, but they are in groups "in broad ways" like trees, mountains, rocks. "Innumerable" angels in Zion might make it crowded there if angels were men. "Innumerable" elements or watchers would be like living somewhere in "country" by beautiful mountains and hills, with trees, flowers, lakes and rivers. . .
The Book of Mormon also does not
describe an angel as being in the form of a man. The angel is associated with
the elements.
CLOUD AND VOICE OF THUNDER
(Mosiah 11:162-177)
And now it came to pass that while he was going about to destroy the church of
God: for he did go about secretly with the sons of Mosiah, seeking to destroy
the church, and to lead astray the people of the Lord; contrary to the
commandments of God; or even the king; And as I said unto you, as they were
going about rebelling against God; behold; the angel of the Lord appeared
unto them; and he descended as it were in a cloud,' and he spake as it were
with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which they
stood,' And so great was their astonishment, that they fell to the earth, and
understood not the words which he spake unto them. Nevertheless he cried
again, saying, Alma, arise, and stand forth, for why persecuteth thou the
church of God? For the Lord hath said; This is my church, and I will establish
it; and nothing shall overthrow it, save it is the transgression of my people.
And again, the angel said; Behold; the Lord hath heard the prayers of his
people, and also the prayers of his servant Alma, who is thy father: For he
has prayed with much faith concerning thee, that thou mightest be brought to
the knowledge of the truth,' Therefore for this purpose have I come to
convince thee of the power and authority of God; that the prayers of his
servants might be answered according to their faith. And now behold; can ye
dispute the power of God? For behold, doth not my voice shake the earth?
And can ye not also behold me before you? And I am sent from God Now I say
unto thee, Go, and remember the captivity of thy fathers in the land of Helam,
and in the land of Nephi; and remember how great things he has done for them:
for they were in bondage, and he has delivered them. And now I say unto thee,
Alma, go thy way, and seek to destroy the church no more, that their prayers
may be answered; and this even if thou wilt of thyself be cast off And now it
came to pass that these were the last words which the angel spake unto Alma,
and he departed. And now Alma, and those that were with him, fell again to the
earth, for great was their astonishment; for with their own eyes they had
beheld an angel of the Lord; and his voice was as thunder, which shook the
earth;
VOICE OF THUNDER
(Alma 17:5-9)
Now behold I say unto you, If I had not been born of God; I should not have
known these things; but God has by the mouth of his holy angel, made
these things known unto me, not of any worthiness of myself, for I went about
with the sons of Mosiah, seeking to destroy the church of God; but behold; God
sent his holy angel to stop us by the way. And behold, he spake unto
us, as it were the voice of thunder, and the whole earth did tremble beneath
our feet, and we all fell to the earth, for the fear of the Lord came upon
us. But behold, the voice said unto me, Arise. And I arose and stood
up, and beheld the angel. And he said unto me, If thou wilt not of
thyself be destroyed; seek no more to destroy the church of God And it came to
pass that I fell to the earth; and it was for the space of three days and
three nights, that I could not open my mouth; neither had I the use of my
limbs. And the angel spake more things unto me, which were heard by my
brethren, but I did not hear them; for when I heard the words, If thou
wilt not be destroyed of thyself, seek no more to destroy the church of God; I
was struck with such great fear and amazement, lest perhaps I should be
destroyed; that I fell to the earth, and I did hear no more;
VOICE WAS AS THUNDER
(Alma 18:6-8)
Now my son, I would not that ye should think that I know these things of
myself, but it is the Spirit of God which is in me, which maketh these things
known unto me: for if I had not been born of God; I should not have known
these things. But behold; the Lord in his great mercy sent his angel to
declare unto me, that I must stop the work of destruction among his people;
Yea, and I have seen an angel face to face,' and he spake with me, and his
voice was as thunder, and it shook the whole earth.
The following scripture from Christ's first visit to the Nephites, is a
very good example of how we assume that whenever an angel is talked about, the
word, in our minds eye, takes on a "human" definition. In this next
scripture we picture the fire as having these "human" angels
"in the midst" or dancing around in it. I would think that the
children would be frightened to see people "in the midst of fire".
There is no mention, however, of the children or anyone else, being afraid of
the fire. I suggest that the fire itself was the angel or "angels"
that ministered to the children of the Nephites.
FIRE
(3
Nephi 8: 25-26)
And as they looked to behold; they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they
saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were,
in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones
about; And they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister
unto them, and the multitude did see and hear, and bear record,' and they
know that their record is true, for they all of them did see and hear, every
man for himself .
WHAT IS "THE FORM OF AN ANGEL
"?
Again, in this scripture, there is no definition
for the word "form". Korihor states that the devil appeared to him
"in the form of an angel", but he fails to describe what that
"form" is. We could assume, however, that it was a physical form of
some element. There still is no evidence that Korihor is talking about the
form of a man.
(Alma 16:66-69)
And Korihor put forth his hand; and wrote, saying: I know that I am dumb, for
I can not speak; and I know that nothing, save it were the power of God,
could bring this upon me; yea, and I
WHAT DO "THE FACES OF AN
ANGELS" LOOK LIKE?
In the next scripture from Helaman, one's first
reaction or assumption is that "the faces of angels" means
"human" faces, like Nephi and Lehi have. The scripture still does
not define "faces" to be "human". Could it be that the
shining of the faces of Nephi and Lehi might be a parallelism of Hebrew poetry
referring to the shining of any of the "holy watchers" like clouds
(faces of angels).
(Helaman 2: 100)
And it came to pass that he turned him about, and behold; he saw through
the cloud of darkness the faces of Nephi and Lehi; and behold; they did shine
exceedingly, even as the faces of angels.