The great "I Am" is the "Light." Every bit of light is a reflection of Him. That light is all around us. The teachings and traditions of light may be ways of better recognizing Him.

"Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made. As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made; As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made; And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand. And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings; Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space . . ." (Doctrine & Covenants 88:7-12)

A biblical holiday connected with lights is Sukkoth. Along with Passover, it is one of the holy (and happy) times that the Children of Israel were given to remind them of being delivered from bondage. Remembering that one of the names of the "Deliverer" is "Light," it becomes apparent that most often the term "light" is a repetitive symbol of the Lord. Sukkoth with its lights is also the time to remember Solomon’s dedication of the Temple, the Lord’s house. The Temple became the symbol that set the people apart from others. They and their Temple were to be an "Ensign" to the nations. That Ensign was a "light" to the world in its day and would be so again in latter-days.

"The same Prophets who have contemplated and described the . . . reunion of the tribes of Israel . . . have also predicted that, in connection with all these preparations, a new dispensation should be manifested, a new covenant established, "A standard" for the nations, "An Ensign" for the people. In short, "Swift Messengers," "Teachers," Prophets would be commissioned, revelations be manifested, and a new organization be developed, fitted to the times, and with the principles and laws adapted to the reorganization, order, and government of a renovated world." (Parley P. Pratt, Key to Theology, Ch.9, Pg.76 - Pg.77)

It was the practice to light fires on mountain tops at every Sukkoth holiday. Once seen by a distant village, they would light fires on their mountain tops and in that way the lights spread throughout the diaspora of Jewish communities, mountain to mountain. Later, in 164 B.C.E. when the success of Judas the Maccabee in taking the Temple out of the grasp of the Selucid occupiers was celebrated, the practice of lighting candles (eight days of Hanukkah) expanded to lighting fires on mountain tops again.

"It is further related that this eight-day dedication ceremony [Hanukkah] was actually celebrated as a "belated" Sukkot holiday. (Sukkot had not been held that year due to the fighting against the Greeks.) Thus, during the rededication of the Temple, the people came to the Temple in joy and thanksgiving, observed the precept of taking the lulav (palm branch) and rejoiced with lights and illuminations in the Temple. After this, Hanukkah came to be called the "Festival of Lights." Interestingly, the rededication of the Temple and the re-celebration of Sukkot paralleled the consecration of Solomon's Temple, which was also an eight-day dedication ceremony held on the festival of Sukkot."

"In the days of the Temple, each day during the last six hol ha-mo'ed days of the festival [of Sukkoth] (though not on the Sabbath), the priests used to fill a golden flagon with water drawn from the beautiful spring of Siloam in the valley to the south of the Temple Mount, and carry it up the hill for a ceremony at the altar. This ceremony was called Simhat Bet ha-Sho'evah (the joy of the water- drawing). According to the Mishnah, whoever failed to witness this ceremony in his lifetime "never witnessed real joy." Golden candlesticks, 50 cubits high, were lit with wicks made out of worn-out garments of the priests, and the light emitted was so bright that "there was not a courtyard in Jerusalem that did not reflect the light of the Bet ha-Sho'evah." Men of piety and good deeds used to dance before the candlesticks with burning torches in their hands, singing songs and praises. And countless Levites played on harps, lyres, cymbals, trumpets and other musical instruments, on the 15 steps leading from the Court of the Israelites to the Court of the Women." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

Another interesting fact about lights is the ancient practice of announcing the New Moon by lighting bonfires on mountain tops. This is significant because the biblical calendar and seasonal holidays that had eternal and religious symbolism had to be accurately calculated by the rotation of the moon and the sun.

"Originally the New Moon was proclaimed by the Sanhedrin, the High Court assembled in Jerusalem, after testimony by reliable witnesses that they had actually seen the new crescent; they then "sanctified" the moon. Bonfires were lit on the Mount of Olives to inform the whole nation. As soon as these beacons were seen, others were lit on hilltops by waiting scouts, and so the word was spread over the entire land and in parts of the Diaspora. Later, the Samaritans began to light misleading beacons and word had to be sent by messenger. In the fourth century C.E. the sages established a uniform permanent calendar, based on astronomical calculation, in force to this day." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

When the Temple was destroyed, a mourning holiday, Tish’ah Be-av, was instituted and on that holiday lights are diminished.

Tish’a Be-av, (the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av, usually falling within the first week of August) is the traditional day of mourning for the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem. It is the culmination of the three weeks of mourning that start on the 17th of Tammuz. On Tish'ah be-Av in the year 586 B.C.E., the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar stormed the great Temple built by Solomon, turned its marbled columns and gilded rooms into a useless pile of rubble and exiled Jerusalem's inhabitants."

"This tragic day has therefore been set aside as a time of sadness for all Jews, who are required to fast the whole day and observe most of the mourning rites which apply in the case of a death in the family, such as not wearing shoes or sandals made of leather. At the evening service in the synagogue, all decorations are removed from the ark, the lights are dimmed, a few candles are lit, and the whole congregation sits on low benches or on the floor listening in hushed silence to the mournful notes of Eikhah, the Book of Lamentations written by the prophet Jeremiah, an eyewitness to the destruction of the first Temple." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

Desecrating the Temple was a capital crime with the penalty of death. Capital crimes included adultery, murder, blasphemy and rebelliousness of children against their parents.

"Children may not abuse their parents. According to the Bible, if a son is extremely rebellious and incorrigible and refuses to mend his ways (ben sorer u-moreh), his parents may agree to bring him to the town elders for judgment and punishment, which could be death by stoning. However, there is no record of such punishment ever having been carried out." (Encyclopedia Judaica Jr.)

One of the methods of execution was stoning. A truer understanding of the process of stoning would give added insight to the New Testament account of a woman brought to Jesus. The procedure included causing death by precipitating the convicted over a cliff (like an abandoned stone quarry). That part included the participation of one of the witnesses. The second witness threw or placed the "first stone" on the body in a process of burying the convicted. The stoning was more a disrespectful burying, (depriving the convicted of a mourning chamber and a burial chamber).

"Our Rabbis taught: Whence do we know that it [the execution] was accomplished by hurling down? Scripture states, And he shall be cast down. And whence the necessity of stoning? Scripture states, He shall be stoned. And whence do we know that both stoning and hurling down [were employed]? From the verse, he shall surely be stoned or thrown down. And whence do we know that if he died through being hurled down, it is enough? Scripture states, or cast down. Whence do we know the same procedure is to be followed for [all subsequent] generations? (Talmud - Mas. Sanhedrin 45a)

It should be noted that the Hebrew rendition of stoning including "hurling" or "laying on hands" to "cast" or "throw" down is not as recognizable in the English King James Translation of Exodus 19:13 and Leviticus 24:14.

Now, consider the story of the woman brought to Jesus. Wisely and compassionately, the "Judge" of Israel, our "Advocate" with the Father, the "Atoner" of our sins reminded the Pharisees that they had a legal system. In effect, was He saying, "Where are your witnesses?" "What would cause you to come to me when you have a procedure for the witnesses to do their legal duty?" Yet, at the same time, he has them examine their own lives (and lusts?). "Where is the witness - without sin, let him cast the first stone?" When they all left, Jesus, the ultimate Judge and Advocate, said, "Neither to I accuse thee, go thy way and sin no more." Hopelessness darkness was turned to lighted hope. She was saved.

"And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:9-12)

Jehovah is his name. Salvation is what he provides. Jehovah means "I Am" - and since "I Am" is so sacred that it is not repeated, even modern Hebrew does not have a first person conjugation of I am. The shortened version of Jehovah is "Jeho" and connected to the abbreviation of "salvation" it is said Jeho-Shua. By the time Jeho-shua was transliterated into Greek and then into Latin it became pronounced "Je-sus," and in English, Jesus, the "I AM" who "Saves."