The First Temple Posted by Jeff

The First Temple could refer to King Solomon's Temple. Still, it could refer to the portable Temple called the Tabernacle which was set up under direction of Moses. Then again, you could take it to mean the Temple in the Heavens that was the model for these earthly structures. However, I would like to explore an idea somewhere in between.

To explore this idea, I'd like it if we could set uside preconceived notions of how things were in the early history of mankind and instead look at what those who went before us believed to be true.

It is pretty well established that our first parents, Adam and Eve, donned Aprons, and built an Altar at which to make offerings and pray to their God. This altar was made of unhewn stones.

The First Book of Adam and Eve, part of The Lost Book of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden, contains an interesting tale in which Adam, after having been cast out of the Garden, prays to his God to receive a token from the Garden. God responds by giving him three gifts, which He and Eve set up in the "Cave of Treasures" where they begin to dwell. The first gift consisted of seventy rods of Gold taken from a sea south of Eden, and was set up on the south side of the cave where it created light so that they could see in the darkness of the cave. The second gift was twelve pounds of sweet smelling incense, taken from the east end within the garden. It was set up on the east side of the cave. The third gift was three pounds of myrrh, which was taken from within the garden at the west end, and was set at the west end of the cave. This strongly appears to be a prototype for the Tabernacle of Moses. The Golden Candlestick or Menorah set at the South end of the Holy Place, had Seven lamps upon it and provided the light by which the Priests did their work. The Incense Altar was on the East side of the vail. Myrrh is a bit more symbolic. It was commonly used as an embalming agent, and if you compare the Sanctum Sanctorum or Holy of Holies with the inner chamber of the Pyramids for example, it is obviously set up in the order of a Tomb, making the Ark of the Covenant, on the West side of the vail, well represented by Myrrh, which was burnt in that place by the High Priest once each year for Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).

Gold, Incense and Myrrh are thus intimately linked with the Temple. Upon continued reading, we find that a charge was given to Seth just prior to Adam's death: to guard over these tokens, along with his Father's own body which would be buried in the cave.

They were to be passed down from generation to generation, until one day the Messiah would receive them. We are perhaps far more familiar with the story of the wise men, or Magi who visited Christ two or three years after his birth to deliver these same tokens and commune with him. Wait... Where did Adam's body go? Maybe Adam's body was symbolic of the Human Body in general, maybe Christ's Body served in its stead in this capacity.

Where did these gifts or tokens go after that point in history? And, were the Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh literal or figurative gifts?

I have a couple of strong theories that I might share at a later date. I believe many people today have received these same gifts, but they know it not.