While having my ritual of studying for the upcoming Board Exam for Metallurgical Engineering graduates, I came across one slide which contained some words from the Old Testament that include some MetE terms that are very familiar to me. I cross-checked the passage in my King James version edition of the sacred book. It says:
“SURELY there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it. Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass* is molten out of the stone.” Job 28:1-2
*Of course brass can’t be “molten out of the stone” or taken out of the earth as it is. Coz as we know, and MetE’s must surely know, it is an alloy (or a mixture) of Copper and Zinc.
Well, that made me realize that truly, the scriptures mention a lot about metals, ores, precious gems and other MetE related stuff. So my curiosity again overpowered me and instead of studying for tomorrow’s review, I scanned the scriptures and looked for verses which contain the said MetE stuff. And here are some of what I’ve found:
Genesis 1:11-12
The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold ; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium* and the onyx* stone.
*bdellium - Aromatic gum resin; similar to myrrh (aromatic resin that is burned as incense and used in perfume)
*An onyx is a really beautiful variety of chalcedony (a quartz) that has black and white bands. During your spare time (just like NOW), you can quickly browse the net and search for pictures of precious stones/gems. They really are so eye-captivating!
Genesis 13:2
And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
Genesis 24:22, 35, 53
And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel* weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold;
And the LORD hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses.
And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.
*shekel - The basic unit of money in Israel
Genesis 41:42
And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;
Genesis 44:8
Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold?
Exodus 3:22
But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment : and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters ; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.
Exodus 11:2
Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.
Exodus 12:35
And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses ; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold and raiment :
Exodus 20:23
Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.
^_^ What I’ve learned from my Sunday school teacher is that “god” with a small “g” refers to idols or anything that’s worshipped aside from the Supreme Being who created us all. So be careful to what/whom you are referring to by using the proper letter.
The following series of verses from the 25th chapter of Exodus mentioned a lot about gold, as well as silver and brass. Here, the Lord commanded the children of Israel to offer the Lord the said metals to be used to build a tabernacle, the ark of testimony, a table, and candlestick (as shown to Moses in the mount). We can also see here how the Lord gives commandments: very clear and exact (measurements, position, etc).
Exodus 25:3, 11-13, 17-18, 25, 24-26, 28, 31, 36, 38-39
And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass,
And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.
And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.
And thou shalt make staves of shittim* wood, and overlay them with gold.
And thou shalt make a mercy* seat of pure gold: two cubits* and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about. And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about. And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof.
And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them.
And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal : of pure gold shalt thou make them.
And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made : his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.
Their knops and their branches shall be of the same : all it shall be one
beaten work of pure gold.
And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure
gold. Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.
*shittim - Shrubby thorny deciduous tree of southeastern United States with white flowers and small black drupaceous fruit
*cubit - An ancient unit of length based on the length of the forearm
*mercy refers to the Hebrew atonement-cover. Note that it was a golden slab of the same dimension as the top of the ark. A winged cherub was placed one arch end.
*snuff - of a greyish to yellowish brown
**More scripture hunting next time.=) Ang dami pala talaga masyado.hahaha Hope you are not yet bored, please continue reading my additional notes below. Arigatou/agyamanak/daghang salamat/thank you very much!=)
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
It is sad to know that other people misinterpret us that we do not rely on/read the Bible, only the Book of Mormon. But I do not blame them of course, it is a challenge actually for me to help them know who we really are, what we do, as well as our beliefs.=)
So to clarify things up, we use the Book of Mormon, NOT as a substitute to the Bible, but as another book that testifies of Jesus Christ.
“The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting gospel.” (Introduction, Book of Mormon)
As a matter of fact, we study the Old and New Testament in our Seminary and Institute classes, Sunday School (this year’s curriculum is focused on the New Testament and last year was the Old Testament), as a reference to lessons in every Auxiliary organization, and a lot more.=)
There. =) I hope I’ve helped you increase your understanding and knowledge. Thanks!
***You want to have a copy of the Book of Mormon? I would be very grateful to GIVE you one. Just tell/text/call/e-mail me.=) It’s for FREE of course, just promise me that you’ll read it.=) Have a nice day!^_^
REFERENCES:
The Holy Bible. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. 1979.
Wordweb. 2006.
No comments:
Post a Comment