The First Vision As A Divine Council Experience

[Ntrw]

In Amos 3:7, we read: "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." Here, the underlying Hebrew for for secret is actually counsel(סוֹד). The First Vision is nothing less than a divine council experience, where God reveals His divine council to a prophet, prior to a major work for mankind. However, when we combine all of his accounts, Joseph's experience has many features that keep it at home in the first temple tradition. In the Israelite Pantheon, we have three tiers: El and Asherah, the divine sons and the messengers(angels).

In Joseph's accounts of the First Vision, we have: God the Father, Jesus Christ and angels. One can see the parallel between El and Elohim, Jesus Christ ad Jehovah and angels, but what about Heavenly Mother and Asherah? Where is Heavenly Mother in the Sacred Grove? If Asherah is Heavenly Mother then she is present in the experience symbolically, even if unbeknownst to the Prophet; for the name of the goddess, Asherah, is often translated into English and "groves". The verdict of this counsel is that the Prophet's sins were forgiven and that all of the churches were wrong.

[ksfisher]

In Joseph's accounts of the First Vision, we have: God the Father, Jesus Christ and angels. One can see the parallel between El and Elohim, Jesus Christ ad Jehovah and angels, but what about Heavenly Mother and Asherah? Where is Heavenly Mother in the Sacred Grove? If Asherah is Heavenly Mother then she is present in the experience symbolically, even if unbeknownst to the Prophet; for the name of the goddess, Asherah, is often translated into English and "groves". The verdict of this counsel is that the Prophet's sins were forgiven and that all of the churches were wrong.

Off the top of my head I can't think of any divine council experiences in the scriptures where a mother figure is present. I think the fact that the vision took place in a grove and the connection between Asherah and groves is, in this case, coincidental.

Edited May 7, 2013 by ksfisher