The small meal, the grand feast, Adam and Eve, and ancient temple worship -- Part 1

In this post, I mentioned a very interesting presentation on ancient Egyptian priestly rituals. The overall pattern of the rituals share much in common with ancient Israelite temple rituals, and we can also see some fascinating parallels with our modern worship in the church.

This post will discuss one set of rituals in the Egyptian practice that has a clear parallel to Israelite temple worship: the small meal and the grand feast.

Dr. John Thompson explains the connections between the small meal, the sacrament, and grand feast, and the harvest/gathering here (~2.5 minute clip):

The parallels are certainly fascinating.  It seems the essence of the small meal/sacrament is demonstrating a willingness to receive from Christ. In contrast, the essence of the grand feast is demonstrating a willingness to bring forth an offering. First we receive, then we give. This implies transformation. We become a new creation.

I have questions to ponder as I consider these symbols.  Here are some of my initial questions:

• What is the connection between the small meal and the grand feast?
• The connection between the small meal and the sacrament seems obvious, but what part of our worship represents the grand feast?
• How does this symbolism relate to Christ and His doctrine?
• Is this another connection to Noah, the covenant symbolism of the ark, and his obedience to God to bring animals of every kind into the ark with him?

This post will set off a series in which I'll explore these and other questions. I hope to connect some of these ideas in a meaningful way, but I apologize in advance if they seem a bit disjointed. At present I don't see a clear sequence to present these ideas, so I'll simply present them one at a time as best I can.

Connection to Adam and Eve

In pondering about what this grand meal might represent in our modern temple worship, it seems to me that we're talking about consecration. Just as the ancients gave of their possessions (animals, grain, etc.) we are asked to offer all that we have to God:

The law of consecration is that we consecrate our time, our talents, and our money and property to the cause of the Church: such are to be available to the extent they are needed to further the Lord’s interests on earth. (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, source here)

It occurs to me that this grand offering might be a symbolic reflection of obedience to the commandment given to Adam and Eve:

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1)

Each of the colored words above directly connects to the doctrine of Christ and will be the discussed in future posts in this series. What better way to demonstrate dominion over the creatures of the creation than to bring them as an offering to God? And of course the devotion does not stop with the bringing of animals as offerings. Ultimately, we make ourselves -- our "bodies" (see Romans 12:1) according to Paul and our "whole souls" (see Omni 1:26) according to Amaleki -- an offering to God. 

This offering is part of the process of spiritual creation and results in at least two things:

1. We fulfill the first commandment God gave to Adam and Eve just after their creation, prior to their transgression. 
2. We transform from hearers of the word into speakers of the word also -- from receivers to givers. 

Perhaps the small meal -- a reminder of the gate by which we entered (see 2 Nephi 31:17) onto the path -- is like manna. It is daily bread -- enough to nourish us as we walk the covenant path, but not enough to "fill" us.  When we are made clean and prepared to participate in the grand feast, we "feast" and are "filled," thereby learning to "speak with the tongue of angels" (see 2 Nephi 31:20; 2 Nephi 32:2-3)

All of this meal/feast symbolism involves the mouth.  Feasting happens through the mouth, as does speaking. That's probably an important part of the symbolism.

I've posted before on Noel Reynolds' observation that one fundamental lesson we can take from Alma 36, with its beautiful chiastic structure, is that Alma's word has become God's word (by the process of conversion). That is a message that fits into this feast/speak symbolism as well.  The process which begins with our willingness to hearken to the word of God ends up teaching us to speak with the tongue of angels. The nose is the symbol of the consecrated offering we must bring to fulfill the commandment God gave Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. That final act of consecration prepares them to be "filled" (see Alma 32:42).

Might this be what James had in mind when he wrote:

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1)

In the next post, we'll start to look in more depth at Genesis 1:28.