I was teaching a lesson the 10 commandments today and I listened to the last few verses of Exodus 20:
24 ¶ An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.
25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
26 Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
I remembered something I had heard a long time ago by a professor of archealogy. He could tell the differene between a Caananite altar and an Israelitish altar and it was this. The altars of the heathen employed stone steps to get to the top of the platform. Because of verse 26, the Israelitish altars used ramps. This kept the Priests from having to raise their legs a foot at a time to ascend - and they could move up the incline smoothly and not open the slit on their robes and allow others to see their nakedness (private parts).
Folks that say that the Hopewells are not the Nephites seem to miss the fact that, not only did they have their temples built from uncut stone, but the approaches to the platforms were ramps and not stairwells.
Folks, it is all there..... This knowledge along with the two to three ratio indicts anyone who inspects the ramps of the mesoamericans and then contrasts that with the building practices of the Hopewells (Nephites).
This is fascinating Iraq. Thank you for sharing the insight. I never would have known this otherwise. Additionally, what is the two thirds ratio? Do you have a post about that?
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