Climbing

[laronius]

Moses 7:53 And the Lord said: Blessed is he through whose seed Messiah shall come; for he saith—I am Messiah, the King of Zion, the Rock of Heaven, which is broad as eternity; whoso cometh in at the gate and climbeth up by me shall never fall; wherefore, blessed are they of whom I have spoken, for they shall come forth with songs of everlasting joy.

Does anyone know what the climbing refers to in this scripture? I don't mean the interpretation but the symbol. I get the gate as being the entrance but what exactly is being climbed and why?

[Emmanuel Goldstein]

1 hour ago, laronius said:

Moses 7:53 And the Lord said: Blessed is he through whose seed Messiah shall come; for he saith—I am Messiah, the King of Zion, the Rock of Heaven, which is broad as eternity; whoso cometh in at the gate and climbeth up by me shall never fall; wherefore, blessed are they of whom I have spoken, for they shall come forth with songs of everlasting joy.

Does anyone know what the climbing refers to in this scripture? I don't mean the interpretation but the symbol. I get the gate as being the entrance but what exactly is being climbed and why?

It may be a reference to Psalms 48:2 "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King." And other scriptures like it. There are many references to Mount Zion, which sounds like you would have to climb up to be there.

Also, in the Book of Enoch there are references to the Son's of God living on a mountain. 

Here is the footnote for Mount Zion in Psalms 48:2 "There was in various lands a concept that the dwelling place of Deity was in the “north.” Isa. 14:13."

[mikbone]

Jacob’s Ladder Genesis 28:12?

When you climb a ladder, you must begin at the bottom and go on until you learn the last principle; it will be a great while before you have learned the last. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it is a great thing to learn salvation beyong the grave.

Joseph Smith, 7 April 1844 General Conference, as Reported by Times and Seasons

 

[laronius]

6 hours ago, Emmanuel Goldstein said:

It may be a reference to Psalms 48:2 "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King." And other scriptures like it. There are many references to Mount Zion, which sounds like you would have to climb up to be there.

Also, in the Book of Enoch there are references to the Son's of God living on a mountain. 

Here is the footnote for Mount Zion in Psalms 48:2 "There was in various lands a concept that the dwelling place of Deity was in the “north.” Isa. 14:13."

I guess this would be similar to some of our temples where you actually progress upward as you go through with the end indeed being "up by" Him.

Edited June 21, 2022 by laronius

[laronius]

5 hours ago, mikbone said:

Jacob’s Ladder Genesis 28:12?

When you climb a ladder, you must begin at the bottom and go on until you learn the last principle; it will be a great while before you have learned the last. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it is a great thing to learn salvation beyong the grave.

Joseph Smith, 7 April 1844 General Conference, as Reported by Times and Seasons

 

Jacob's ladder did come to mind but this quote from Joseph Smith definitely does explain the purpose of climbing in a gospel perspective. 

[Traveler]

14 hours ago, laronius said:

Moses 7:53 And the Lord said: Blessed is he through whose seed Messiah shall come; for he saith—I am Messiah, the King of Zion, the Rock of Heaven, which is broad as eternity; whoso cometh in at the gate and climbeth up by me shall never fall; wherefore, blessed are they of whom I have spoken, for they shall come forth with songs of everlasting joy.

Does anyone know what the climbing refers to in this scripture? I don't mean the interpretation but the symbol. I get the gate as being the entrance but what exactly is being climbed and why?

I would think that the symbolism in climb is synonymous with "ascend".   See Psalm 24:3-4:

Quote

“Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place?

“He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.”

I believe that verse 4 is in direct reference to covenants - which currently are part of our temple worship.

 

The Traveler

[laronius]

7 hours ago, Traveler said:

I would think that the symbolism in climb is synonymous with "ascend".   See Psalm 24:3-4:

I believe that verse 4 is in direct reference to covenants - which currently are part of our temple worship.

 

The Traveler

I think you are right. Those verses would actually be a good footnote reference in the scriptures. 

If this is the case then Moses 7:53 is clearly tying together the covenants of salvation and exaltation.

[laronius]

I really do like that imagery of climbing/ascending up to be with the Lord, whether climbing a mountain or ladder. Perhaps it's because of my enjoyment of hiking but the mental image of leaving the world and all of it's sordidness behind and rising above it all really brings into focus what our goal in the gospel should be, a spiritual destination that we should be looking to. Perhaps this is the earthly version of entering into the rest of the Lord we are commanded to seek.

[Emmanuel Goldstein]

We are all in this climb together: