The Order of Melchizedek in Valinor

The first story element I called out in my last post relative to thinking through Tirion being Jerusalem was just could 'Men' or mortals have ended up in Valinor?

I did mention Tuor who, from Tolkien's writings, is probably our best example of a 'Man' (at least in terms of his body) who travelled to and remained in Valinor.  He would be later joined by his son Earendil, but Earendil was at half-Elvish in body and so was slightly a different case anyway.

I suppose Tuor and Idril, his wife, could have had more children on Valinor (as Leo suggested in the comments section of the last post), but Idril was also full Eldar (the reason why Earendil was half), so it doesn't solve our issue, necessarily, although I suppose they could have been given the choice to live as Men or Elves in that state, similar to how Elros and Elrond (Earendil's children) were give the choice, with Elros choosing the way of Man, and Elrond as an Eldar/Elf.

We have covered Elrond a bit before with our adventures with Tom Petty (which, again, I have tabled for now and put back in the 'undetermined' bucket), but have also mentioned Elros in connection with Melchizedek.

And with all that said, it is with Elros-Melchizedek that I will build the story of how mortals came to be on Valinor.  This will actually get to this 'old/new' way, and even some of the LDS temple drama symbolism as to what this way represents, so it will be a good topic to get into, I think, and see where it goes.

I wrote a post back in July on my guess as to Elros as Melchizedek, and it might be worth a quick review:  "Melchizedek and Numenor: Elros, Son of Earendel, as Melchizedek"

In that post, I unknowingly set up the exact story element I am going to lay out briefly here.  In case you don't go back to that other post, here is how I framed the discussion:

. . . Something magical happened to these people that does not seem to have been fully recorded or captured in Tolkien's recounting of the Numenorean tale.   Rather than receiving instruction from Eonwe that had no redemptive power in the here and now, instead, as Alma also makes it clear, these people at the time of Elros-Melchizedek were "made pure, and entered into the rest of the Lord their God."  Alma puts the number down as not just a few, but an "exceedingly great many" souls.

So, if (big if) the connection of Elros with Melchizedek is correct, and we also trust Alma's account of what is going on with the Order at this time, something is going on with Numenor that extends beyond the full accounting that we find in the Silmarillion and other writings.  Meaning, Numenor, it seems, was set up as a means for the instruction and redemption of Men, or at least Beings now being born as Men upon this new island.  If God's work and glory is to bring about the eternal life and immortality of Men, it seems that Numenor was meant to have a hand in this.  Making its ultimate corruption and downfall at the hands of Sauron and of other evil forces all the more tragic.

Much - or all, in fact - of what we learn about Melchizedek in the Book of Mormon is from a single discourse from Alma, as found in Alma 13, and it frankly isn't the clearest of chapters.  Some of our understanding of this is then supplemented by some teachings found in the D&C relative to what the LDS church calls the "Melchizedek Priesthood".

Anyway, it seems that those who repented and called after this order received some significant blessings.  Here is what Alma says:

Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were sanctified, and their garments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb.

Now they, after being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, having their garments made white, being pure and spotless before God, could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence; and there were many, exceedingly great many, who were made pure and entered into the rest of the Lord their God.

 So, their garments were washed white, and they entered into the 'rest of the Lord'.

A couple things to also keep in mind here.  Remember that the name of my blog is "Coat of Skins", and that this comes from my view that the 'garments' that Men received following their Fall were actually new bodies that were given to them.  Thus, when we read of 'garments' being made white, I interpret this as meaning their actual bodies.  Furthermore, also remember that going to a 'rest' I have associated with going to Kor-Tirion, or at least one meaning of that phrase.  I would have highlighted that in this post:  Gordon Kor, a peaceful school bus, and Holy Places to Stand.

Of course that last post is where I also would have begun to realize I might have a co-author (Walter White - WW), so whatever I write is going to be at least partially confounded.  And that applies here, but may as well press on.

One other thing, and this will be important:  I think that we shouldn't interpret 'white' as a color when it applies to what happened to these garments, necessarily.  A quick search on Etymonline confirms that white is based on the the Old English 'hwit', which means 'bright, radiant, clear, fair' and also 'to shine'.  I propose that when we read 'white' to describe people in the Book of Mormon setting, in particular, that this is not a 'racial' thing at all, but that this merely describes the radiance, brightness, or fairness of those bodies.  For example, when Lamanites were said to be cursed with a 'skin' of blackness, I would consider this to be about the level of radiance (meaning, it has been lost) vs. anything having to do with skin pigmentation.

This, by the way, is also applicable to other things such as the white stone each person is to receive in the 'Celestial Kingdom' - it is less about it being white in color, and more about the stone being radiant or having something to do with light.

OK, so skin pigmentation is not being bleached here when these bodies are made white, but they are becoming radiant.  As these radiant Beings are now made pure (their bodies are healed), they are brought into the the Lord's rest, or ultimately to Valinor.

So, at the end of the first age, with Satan-Melkor cast out from the lands of the Earth, we have the "old way" set up to redeem and bring as many people as will come (who can come) ultimately to Valinor, and this redemption will happen through this Order of Melchizedek.  

In essence, Numenor becomes one step in a 'highway' or path for souls to go back 'home' during their lifetime - not waiting for either death or resurrection.  This 'way' is actually found in and discussed in Doug's first Words of the Faithful book, where the writer discusses Elves who were born again as Men on Numenor, and from there come to Eressea and on to Valinor as part of this Holy Order.  

In any case, and as confusing as it must sound if you are just reading these draft thoughts, what I am suggesting is that Numenor was set up with one of its express purposes of bringing many Beings to Valinor in the form of Men, and so we shouldn't find it surprising to find Men both took advantage of this, and that they would be then found on Valinor.

As I mentioned above, this definitely challenges some of what we think we know of Numenor and what was and was not allowed.  In the traditional telling, no Man from Numenor was allowed West, and this Ban was one of the major reasons for Pharazon's assault.  What might be inferred was that only certain Men were allowed (perhaps those among the Faithful), and others were not, and those that were not ultimately took matters into their own hands.  It is hard to say.  My guess is more things about Numenor will come out, and we will have a better idea of what happened.  

For our purposes here, however, I can at least visualize Men on Valinor from this line of thinking, and so can cross this off the list of major concerns about Jerusalem being Tirion.  There are other details that would need to be answered at some point (were these Men who arrived in Valinor still mortal then, or did that come later?  What allowed for bad Men to show up on the scene?), but at least I can place Men there.

In fact, since the Order that would have ultimately been brought there was the Order that was after Jesus himself, this might give added clarity to his words from 3 Nephi 9 when he told those who survived the calamities among the Lehites (and before he appeared to them at Bountiful):

I came unto my own, and my own received me not. And the scriptures concerning my coming are fulfilled.

And as many as have received me, to them have I given to become the sons of God;

Those that aren't familiar with Mormon theology might not recognize it, but that last sentence is language that is pretty much carbon copy of the concepts outlined in D&C 84 associated with the Holy Priesthood.  And given that those who belonged to the Holy Order take upon them the very name of Jesus, who best to be called 'my own' by Jesus?

In essence, what he may be saying (again, very speculatively) is that he had come among those who professed to be of his Order at Jerusalem-Tirion, and found that, in fact, they were not.  Meaning, even though those first Men (Men here means men and women, by the way) coming to Valinor were truly of his order, something must have happened in the intervening time after Valinor had been taken away to create the level of corruption that existed at the time of Lehi.  In other words, the Order at the time of Lehi would have existed in name only.  And that would be a story we don't have any insight to, if true.

Anyway, a few thoughts. I think I have been able to achieve the main objective (for myself) of being able to place Men on Valinor and in Tirion in a plausible way, even if that yields a few more questions that would need to be resolved at some point.

The whole thing still feels a little unwieldy, though, so we'll see how it goes.  The other way feels unwieldy, too, so no simple answers at this point of the game.