Related Posts: The Mormon concept of Heaven(s)
It is believed by Mormons (like me) that Kolob is a planet or star which was the first of God’s temporal creations (Abr. 3:9; 3:16; 3:13; 2 Fac. 1). God measures time by the revolutions of Kolob which is the “grand governing creation near to the celestial or the place where God resides” (2 Fac.1:2). Of all celestial bodies Kolob is nearest to God’s throne, or, “nigh unto the throne of God” (Abr. 3:9). One thousand years on earth is equivalent to one revolution of Kolob (Abr. 3:4).
Mormons do not believe that God lives on Kolob.
There is an LDS Hymn, If You Could Hie to Kolob. It reads,
If you could hie to Kolob in the twinkling of an eye, And then continue onward with that same speed to fly, Do you think that you cold ever, Through all eternity, Find out the generation where Gods began to be? Or see the grand beginning, Where space did not extend? Or view that last creation, Where Gods and matter end? Methinks the Spirit whispers; “No man has found ‘pure space,’ Nor seen the outside curtains, Where nothing has a place.” The works of God continue, And worlds and live abound; Improvement and progression have on eternal round. There is not end to matter; There is no end to space; There is not end to spirit; There is no end to race. (Hymn 284)
That sums up everything known about Kolob.
Kolob Triva
The 1978-79 Battlestar Galactica series contains many striking parallels with Mormon theology. (Glen Larson, the creator of the original series, is a Mormon.) In the series the fleet is trying to reach their legendary home planet of Kobol, a spin off of Kolob. (See James, E. Ford, “Battlestar Galactica and Mormon Theology,” Journal of Popular Culture, Fall 1983, pp. 83-87.)
Visit Kolob Canyon in Zion National Park.
The music to the Hymn If You Could Hie to Kolob was adapted from the Hymn I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say arranged by Vaughan Williams. Listen to an excerpt from If You Could Hie to Kolob here. Listen to the original Vaughan Williams arrangement with original lyrics here.
The picture above is believed to be a representation of an Egyptian cosmology, with Kolob at the center. The Book of Abraham gives us the following information.
The central figure at the bottom (1) represents “Kolob, signifying the first creation, nearest to the celestial, or the residence of God. First in government, the last pertaining to the measurement of time. The measurement according to celestial time, which celestial time signifies one day to a cubit. One day in Kolob is equal to a thousand years according to the measurement of this earth, which is called by the Egyptians Jah-oh-eh.”
The central figure on the top (2) represents another star “called by the Egyptians Oliblish, which is the next grand governing creation near to the celestial or the place where God resides; holding the key of power also, pertaining to other planets; as revealed from God to Abraham, as he offered sacrifice upon an altar, which he had built unto the Lord.” (More here.)
Thank you! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard (mostly from anti-Mormons) that Kolob is where we think God lives.
See also “Battlestar Galactica and Mormonism,” by Ivan Wolfe at the Millennial Star.
“Thus, I Abraham , talked with the Lord…and he told me of the works which his hands had made…and I could not see the end thereof…he said…this is Shinehah, which is the Sun…and Kolob, which is Star…and Olea, which is the Moon…and Kokaubeam, which signifies Stars…Kolob is the greatest of all the Kokaubeam”. – Pearl of Great Price, The Book of Abraham, Translated from Papyrus by Joseph Smith, 1878 edition.
“And I Abraham…saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God…and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order of that upon which thou standest. And the Lord said unto me, by the Urim and Thummim, that Kolob was after the manner of the Lord.” The Book of Abraham, Translated from Papyrus by Joseph Smith, 1878 edition.
Bolok might be another planet where the mormon god is very busy in endless celecial sex starting another planet and not able to answer prayers due to his busy schedule. Of course Bolok is Kolob backwards which Mormonism is to God. He doesn’t need a wife to create man in his image. He never was a man that needed to be redeemed by another higher being. And He Himself says that He measures the heavens with the span of His hand. He does not reside in them … He created them and states over and over again that ther is NO OTHER GOD!
It’s surprising that anyone would use the Book of Abraham as a reference since the original papyri turned up in the 1960s and were translated by Egyptologists, revealing that they do not contain a written record of Abraham but rather common Egyptian funerary prayers known as the Book of Breathings. The church does not deny this. BoA = fiction.
http://www.lds-mormon.com/book_of_abraham.shtml