JOSEPH, THE PROTOTYPE

In early Christian Syriac literature there are 56 comparisons of Joseph's life with Christ's.  They are incredibly explicit and clearly developed and formulated by historians determined to show Joseph as a Type of Christ.  Throughout centuries, Christians have mainly hailed Joseph for his sexual purity turning him into an icon of strength and example to us all.  There are many more lessons, however, that we can learn from his life but even more so from his character which makes him a perfect prototype of the Saviour. Besides his impeccable self control, what I admire most about Joseph is his regard for his fellowman , no doubt born out of Christ like compassion that was central to his character. Out of this compassion was born his willingness to serve his fellowman and his willingness to forgive.   Both of these traits are essential for us to develop in order to be saved in the kingdom of God.

Careful reading of Joseph's servitude in Egypt makes us come to the conclusion that Joseph did not rise to authority by deviousness or self serving tactics but by being mindful of his fellowman which endeared people to him.  I imagine it was not only the fact that the Lord was with him but also his disposition to care about people that made people trust him.  For this reason Potiphar was willing to put all his affairs into his hands (Gen 39:4); the keeper of the prison was willing to put all prisoners into his charge (Gen 39:22); and Pharoah was able to commit all of Egypt into his administration (Gen 41:41).  Even though Pharoah gave credit to God for making Joseph wise enough to interpret his dreams, he surely would have known of Joseph's character and reputation which would have come before him, otherwise he would not have trusted that Joseph's interpretation of his dreams came from God.

I am certain that Joseph's attitude was to be the best of whatever he had to be in whatever circumstances. When he was a slave in Potiphar's house he must have made up his mind to be the best slave he could possibly be.  For this reason he came to the attention of the master of the house and for this reason God made him prosper.  The same was probably true when he was flung into prison.  I imagine when he found himself there, he determined that he was going to be the best prisoner he could possibly be and do whatever he could to alleviate the suffering of his fellow prisoners, to help others bear their burdens, 'to succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees' (D&C 81:5).

When Joseph was in charge of the prisoners, one day he noticed that the butler and the baker were sad (Gen 40:5,6).  Think about this.  They are in prison.  Should they be leaping about being merry instead? Obviously Joseph being in charge, had tried his best to make the conditions as pleasant as they could possibly be for the inmates, to maximise their peace and joy as much as he could, under difficult conditions, so of course it matters to him that two of those inmates are sad.  He obviously cares about their well being. And this attitude of caring works for his highest good as the butler and the baker confide in him and reveal their dreams to him.  And dreams of course, are Joseph's specialty.  Do you think if Joseph was a tyrant prison keeper, looking out only for himself, he would have secured for himself a release from prison through the butler of the king of Egypt?  Instead of being a tyrant, Joseph was a loving man of God who inquired of his inmates: "Wherefore look ye so sadly today?" (Gen 40:7,8)  This one question speaks volumes about Joseph.  This one question was also his path to freedom.

Just as Joseph sought to rescue the physically captive from their emotional burdens, Jesus came to rescue the spiritually captive who languished in prisons of sin and pain, "...to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that were bound..." (D&C 138:42).  The scriptures are replete with accounts of Christ's compassion towards those he served, healed and even raised from the dead.  The man who proclaimed himself to be 'the resurrection and the life' (John 11:25) wept when brought to Lazarus' tomb, not because he sorrowed that Lazarus had died as witnesses supposed but because he had compassion for those whose hearts were breaking.  He knew where Lazarus was,  and was he not in a far better place than here?  It was out of his compassion for his broken-hearted sisters that he brought Lazarus back to life.  For was he not 'a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief'? (Isa 53:3)

"Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.
"And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still.  And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise."  (Luke 7:11-14)

Jesus' compassion was not only for this widows's tears but for the hardships she would live with on daily basis had she been left without a son to take care of her. In the day and age where women were totally dependent on men and where a woman without a husband looked towards her son to care for her, this widow whose son had been taken away from her too was facing a very bleak future.  The Saviour knew and he acted and he saved.

"While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master.
"But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.
"And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.
"And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth". (Luke 8:49-56)

Twice, before he raised Jairus' daughter, the Saviour addressed the parents first for he had concern for them and their sorrow.  The daughter was raised from the dead and Jesus was able to bind the broken-hearted.

Joseph's love for his family activated his ability to forgive his brothers for selling him into a strange land to endure years of hardship and servitude.  The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha which comprises the ancient Jewish and Jewish-Christian documents, tells that Joseph had such high regard for his brothers despite what they had done, that he repeatedly affirmed to the Ishmaelites that he indeed was a slave because he didn't want to bring disgrace upon them:

"For my brothers know how much my father loved me, yet I was not puffed up in my thoughts.  Even while I was a child I had the fear of God in my heart, for I understood that all things pass away.  I did not arouse myself with evil design, but honoured my brothers, and out of regard for them even when they sold me I was silent rather than tell the Ishmaelites that I was the son of Jacob, a great and righteous man.
As I was going with the Ishmaelites, they kept asking me, "Are you a slave?" and I replied, "I am a slave out of a household", so as not to disgrace my brothers.  The greatest of them said to me, "You are not a slave, even your appearance discloses that." (James H. Charlesworth, Ed., The Old Testament Pseudephigrapha, Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, p. 822)

We should be able to relate to Joseph who was taken away from his family that he loved. Would he not want to be reunited with them? Would he let his lack of forgiveness stand in the way of that reunion?   Joseph wept and embraced his brothers and he forgave to the point that he tried to convince them that it was not their fault, but that the Lord brought him to Egypt to save them all  (Gen. 45:5).

Jesus, like Joseph is the 'birthright' son, the first born of the Father, the rightful heir of all that the Father has but Celestial Kingdom can be a lonely place without the ones you love, and He has loved us and wanted us there with him.  Just as Joseph's love for his family activated his ability to forgive his brothers,  Jesus' love for us activates his ability to forgive us of our sins.  We too have been 'taken'.  This telestial life is our Egypt and our slavery.

"In a sense we are all captive 'in Egypt".  Because of the idolatry of Egypt and because it was the place of Israel's captivity, the prophets of old used the land of Egypt as a symbol for the telestial world in which we now live.  The entire world today is a spiritual Egypt, 'the land of our affliction', in captivity to the 'god of this world' (2 Cor 4:4) who is Satan.  The Apostle John spoke of this world as 'spiritual Egypt' because here the Lord was crucified (Rev 11:8)."

The spiritual Egypt we are in has only one Saviour.  Jesus, like Joseph of old, offers forgiveness and the bread of life from which we never need to experience a famine.  When Joseph sent for his father and the rest of the family to join him in Egypt, the Lord told Israel that he need not fear to go to Egypt 'for I will there make of thee a great nation; I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again" (Gen 46:2-4).  The Saviour descended 'into Egypt' to bring us up again if we are faithful.  We miss the mark if we don't recognise the prototypes when we study the scriptures, who can turn our hearts to Him who can quench our thirst with living water and appease our hunger with the bread of life.  Joseph is one such prototype of the Saviour and his power to save.  We too can be prototypes to our children and their children as we walk in the footsteps of Him who knows the way out of 'Egypt' and into eternal life.

JOSEPH, THE PURE IN HEART

"My life is but a weaving, between my God and me,
I do not choose the colours,  He worketh steadily.
Oftimes He worketh sorrow and I, in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper, and I the underside.
Not till the loom is silent, and the shuttles cease to fly, 
Will God unroll the canvas, and explain the reasons why
The dark threads were as needful in the skillful weaver's hand, 
As threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned."
- Anonymous

"The scriptures give us the opportunity to watch some great people come out of broken homes.  Abraham was one whose life was threatened by family members.  Joseph was another.  We are told of his brothers that 'they conspired against him to slay him' (Genesis 37:18).  And yet few men rose higher in life than these two.  It may be hard for people who suffer from imperfect families to convince the Father on judgement day that their lack of devotion and obedience ought to be excused because of what happened in their homes."
(Ted L. Gibbons, OT Lesson #11, "How Can I Do This Great Wickedness?")

We see in Joseph of Egypt a perfect study in commitment, dedication, determination, persistence, endurance and faithfulness to God under any circumstance. Joseph is a perfect example of someone 'willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him' (Mosiah 3:19), willing to endure valiantly through trials with faith unshaken, not knowing the reason why.  Father Lehi lamented over his son Lemuel by saying: "O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord" (1 Nephi 2:10).  This is exactly what Joseph was like: firm, steadfast and immovable like a valley.  Jesus claimed if we had faith 'as a grain of mustard seed' we could move mountains (Matt 17:20). The brother of Jared did just that (Ether 12:30) and proved that even something as formidable as a mountain can be moved but the valley, however, is firm, steadfast and immovable.  This was Joseph of Egypt. Because he was steadfast and trusted God in all things, God made of him a mighty man, a prototype of the Saviour himself.

At the tender age of 17 Joseph was torn away from his family by the brothers who were supposed to love him and protect him and spent 13 years as a slave or a prisoner. You could say he had every reason to believe that the Lord had dealt with him unjustly despite his devotion to the God of his fathers.  Joseph, however, knew he had an important destiny which was revealed to him through his dreams, and he chose to continue to believe in God by recognising opportunities that could turn his tragedies into blessings.  He trusted the Lord at every turn throughout all his tribulations.  The scriptures are replete with the Lord's promises that He will prosper those who keep His commandments (1 Nephi 2:20, 1 Nephi  4:14, 2 Nephi 1:9, 2 Nephi 1:20, 2 Nephi 4:4, Jarom 1:9, Omni 1:6, Mosiah 1:7 etc)  As Joseph sat in prison, stripped of his position and livelihood and unjustly accused because he chose to resist evil,  he could have been excused for believing that this promise did not apply to him.  Joseph, however, proved that God keeps his promises under any circumstance.  Where ever Joseph was, he endeared people to him because 'the Lord was with him'.  We read in Genesis chapter 39:

"And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man, and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.  And his master saw the the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.  And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.  And it came to pass from the time he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.  And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat.  And Joseph was a goodly person and well favored." (Genesis 39:22-6)

Imagine having earned such respect and trust of someone that they put all their financial affairs in your hands, to the point that they don't even know how much money they have but trust that you would provide their next meal.  This is the kind of man that Joseph was.  This kind of trustworthy and good character can only come through obedience to God and his commandments.  Consider this:

"This blessing comes only by obedience, and in this case it came to a young man who had every excuse to be disobedient.  His faith in God had not seemed to help him avoid troubles.  His obedience to the commandments had not prevented tragedy.  He cannot ask the bishop for an interview nor seek a blessing from his father.  No thoughtful members of his priests' quorum will be by to offer support in his troubles. He is alone and utterly on his own.  He has no reason to keep the commandments unless he wants to. If he does not, other than God, who will ever know?"  (Ted L. Gibbons, OT Lesson #11)

Joseph's ultimate test of faith came in the form of a woman.  This test of faith became the crowning glory of proof that he would never stray from his faith and commitment to live God's laws.  Joseph referred to Potiphar's wife's invitation as 'great wickedness' (Genesis 39:9).  The following insight into Joseph's character helps us have appreciation of Joseph's tenacity and his ability to overcome what could have been an overwhelming sense of hopelessness as his life took a turn for the worse:

"Young man, a thousand miles away from home, can you keep the standards of your mother and father?  One man changed the history of the world by taking into a foreign country these standards: He was good looking, he had personality; he was young.  Because of his physique and general carriage, he carried prestige.  She was a woman of importance - yes, I presume she was attractive. She tempted him once - she tempted him twice - yes, and many more times.  Each time he remembered the teachings of his folk at home.  He looked sin in the face and stood like a rock.  Yes, as the saying goes, he took it on the chin.  For just a moment what a price he paid to keep straight - and don't forget he was praying all the time. When she found herself unvictorious, she caught his garment as he fled.  The sample of the clothing was shown to her husband and if we can use our imagination, a remark from her treacherous lips went to her husband about as follows: "Well, here's the evidence. You thought he was lily-white, didn't you?"  Into a dark dungeon he went for two years.  And he was still praying.  And when he was sold into Egypt by his brothers for a few pieces of silver, he was praying.  Does the Lord really answer prayers? But let's shift to the last act of our play. The curtain goes up with an entirely different scene. "And they came from all nations to buy corn". Who was head of this great commissary department? Who was it that was next to the king of the land? Joseph, who was sold into Egypt, the boy who could say "no" - the lad who took the standards of his parents into a foreign land!  It was that boy who stood at the crossroads all alone". (Bisop Marvin O. Ashton, Improvement Era, Vol. XIviii, December, 1945, No. 12)

Joseph never failed to recognise that something good always comes out of something bad.  He believed that even his unjust imprisonment was a blessing.  The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs quotes Joseph as saying "I gave thanks to the Lord and sang praise in the house of darkness, and how I rejoiced with cheerful voice, glorifying my God, because through her trumped-up charge I was set free from this Egyptian woman".
(James H. Charlesworth, The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments)

It is staggering to think of what lay on the line when Joseph was tempted by his master's wife.  Had Joseph succumbed,  his destiny, the destiny of his family and the destiny of his descendants would have all been in peril. Had he chosen the life of sin, he would never have become the man that he became.  Joseph became the temporal saviour of his father's house by saving them from famine.  According to the dream he had where his brother's sheaves of grain bowed to his, Joseph was elevated to his position, not to be worshipped by his brothers, like they had supposed, but to serve them.  Their bowing 'was an act of receiving their brother's help, not meant to establish some kind of family pecking order'. (Phillip Allred, OT Lesson 11, Meridian Magazine)

Just as Joseph saved his family temporally, his progeny is to become spiritual saviours to their brethren of Israel and the rest of the Father's children.  The JST records the responsibility of Joseph's seed in our day:

"Wherefore thy brethren (the other tribes of Israel) shall bow down unto thee, from generation to generation, unto the fruit of thy loins (Ephraim and Manasseh) for ever; For thou shalt be a light unto my people, to deliver them in the days of their captivity, from bondage; and to bring salvation unto them, when they are altogether bowed down under sin". (JST Gen. 48:10-11)

"During this last dispensation, Joseph's descendants are charged with providing the covenants, ordinances, and saving truths of the gospel for the rest of the family.  With this in mind, it is exciting to see our modern temples as veritable spiritual granaries or storehouses where souls are literally delivered and saved while all around a famine seeks to lay waste precious mortal opportunities". (Phillip Allred, OT Lesson 11, Meridian Magazine)

"It is Ephraim who is building temples and performing the ordinances in them for both the living and for the dead. When the 'lost tribes' come, and it will be a most wonderful sight and a marvelous thing when they do come to Zion, in fulfillment of the promises made through Isaiah and Jeremiah, they will have to receive the crowning blessings from their brother Ephraim, the 'firstborn' in Israel".  (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3:252)

What a glorious destiny Joseph stood to lose!  When his father Jacob gave Reuben, his first born, his final blessing he began the blessing with some powerful words, "Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power....".(Gen. 49:3)  What amazing words those are.  Reuben was the birthright son who stood to receive the priesthood blessings of the fathers and through whom the patriarchal line should have continued but Reuben did not abstain from temptation like Joseph did.  Reuben committed a terrible sin by committing adultery with one of his father's wives, Bilhah.  Because of this he lost everything.  What should have been an amazing blessing ended with:
"Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it..." (Gen. 49:3)

Because he was 'unstable as water' Reuben's birthright was inherited by Joseph who received a double portion for his sons.  If you poured water into different shape glasses, the water would take the shape of the glass that it is in.  If however, you tried to put a brick into three different containers, the brick would not change its' shape.  The containers would have to change their shape instead.  While water is changeable, variable, mutable, unsteady, uncertain, transitory and unstable; a brick is entirely opposite. While Reuben was 'weak as water',  Joseph was as strong as a brick and because of it, he in the end had it all.

WISDOM OR FOLLY

When Adam and Eve came to be in the Garden of Eden they were commanded to eat the fruit of every tree of the garden freely except of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  They lived in the garden as one with the animals because there was no enmity between them.  Adam and Eve's ideal diet consisted of 'the fruit of the vine', meaning whatever came from the ground. There was no killing in the Garden of Eden, therefore, Adam and Eve ate no animal flesh. When Jesus comes again the enmity between man and animals that came into the world with the fall will be taken away and we will once again live in a paradisiacal state, this time for a thousand years.  In Isaiah chapter 65 we read:

"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat.  They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord." (Isaiah 65:25)
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them." (Isaiah 11:6)

The Millenium will be a time of peace, no crime and no killing.  The carnivorous animals will cease to be carnivorous and will become herbivorous. The lion who now kills his prey, will no longer kill and will eat 'straw like the bullock'.  This also means there will be no meat for us to eat because humans will not kill animals either.  We will return to our original plant based diet for which we were biologically created.

This is my take on the health code we have in the Church called the Word of Wisdom.  I fear we have become so proficient at killing in this fallen world that we have saturated this planet with suffering of innocent animals and in the process we have endangered our health with over-consumption of animal products.  I think most of the Church membership pays very little heed to the dietary guidelines of the Word of Wisdom and consider themselves obedient to this law just because they abstain from coffee, tea, alcohol and cigarettes.  Yes, the onus in the Church is on coffee, tea, alcohol and cigarettes, however, the observance of the total Word of Wisdom indicates the level of one's commitment to living the Gospel fully and taking advantage of all the counsel the Lord has given us.

The health advice in Section 89 is prefaced with a warning 'of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of the conspiring men in the last days'. The last days are the days that we live in. What are these evils and designs that comprise conspiracy which we should be aware of?  One well known that has been discovered in recent times has to do with cigarettes which was revealed do not only contain tobacco but many chemicals which make cigarettes so very addictive.  Why would anyone want to make them addictive? To generate sales which fill the pockets of the conspiring men.  It is plausible that the conspiracy might well and truly run beyond the cigarette manufacturers to pharmaceutical companies which produce drugs to supposedly 'cure' cancer and other ailments that smoking produces.

Lucky for us who have been commanded not to smoke and have taken that commandment to heart, we have not fallen prey to the cigarette conspiracy.  But what of the dietary guidelines we have been given in the Word of Wisdom which are not enforced as a commandment to the body of the saints?  Here is what the Lord has to say regarding that:

"For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward." (D&C 58:26)

My daughter is a vegan.  She has received many health benefits from not eating animal products.  She is very passionate about it and wants others to know that this lifestyle could bring them happiness. She also loves animals and routinely posts information on social networks about inhumane treatment of farmed animals and the horror of slaughter houses.  She seeks to inspire others to seek better health and not to be supporters of cruelty through ignorance.  For this she is constantly attacked by her meat eating friends who feel it their duty to defend their eating habits.  They accuse her of being narrow minded yet they refuse to think 'outside the box' to entertain the idea that there might be a better way.  People are jumping down her throat regarding this issue unceasingly.

The scriptures tell us that we have dominion over all the creatures on this earth (Genesis 1:28).  It does not, however, tell us outright that we should not abuse the animals in our stewardship but, honestly, does it need to?  Any man who is born with the light of Christ, which means all of us, would know that this would be wrong.  The Mosaic law included treatment of animals and decreed that animals were to be spared labour on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:10).   A proverb observed that 'a righteous man regardeth the life of his beast....' (Prov. 12:10)

In March 1831, it was revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith that even though we are not commanded to eat only a plant based diet, men are still responsible for their killing of animals.  I am afraid we have overlooked this responsibility and taken liberty with the fact that we are not 'commanded' to abstain from eating meat. We have allowed the meat and dairy industries to brainwash us to believe that we would die without the 'essential protein' we derive from animal products.

"For behold, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which cometh of the earth, is ordained for the use of man for food and for raiment, and that he might have in abundance.
And wo be unto man that sheddeth blood or that wasteth flesh and hath no need." (D&C 49:18-19,21)

Many people reading this scripture would focus on the first verse and conveniently disregard the second. They would argue that we humans have a need for animal protein, every day, sometimes each meal of the day.  This is total nonsense.  The Lord himself proclaimed what this need is:

"Yea, flesh also of the beasts of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly.
And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine."
(D&C 89:12, 13)

It is very obvious that animals are to be used as the last resort to sustain human life.  For this reason the Lord has also decreed that 'whoso forbiddeth to abstain from meats, that man should not eat the same, is not ordained of God' (D&C 49:18).  We know full well that there are religious groups in the world who would not eat the flesh of animals even at the point of death.  In other words, when there is a need to save human life and there is no other food to do so, we are commanded to consider human life before the life of an animal.  This is in accordance with the plan of salvation and the order of this telestial world we live in.

Most of us do not live in such cold climates that necessitate eating meat on regular basis.  None of us in the western world where animals are raised for mass consumption have ever seen or experienced a famine. Our stores are laden with colourful, fresh produce and many nutritious alternatives.  There is no lack of food that would necessitate such high consumption of meat.  We have gone from the directive of 'eating meat sparingly' to eating it on most days,  three times a day.

One of my daughter's missionary friends was outraged by her veganism.  He felt it his duty to point out to her that he cooks for one of the restaurants in Salt Lake City where President Monson eats regularly and that his favourite meal is meatloaf.  For this reason, the young man declared, we should not even question our consumption of animal products.  This is a perfect theory of following like sheep.

The natural resources of this planet are being depleted at dangerous levels because of the high rate at which we raise cattle for human consumption.  The gasses emitted into the atmosphere by this cattle cause more damage to the ozone layer than any carbon dioxide produced by humans.  If that isn't enough, the cruelty which is inflicted on these animals is staggering.  From cows that are artificially and constantly impregnated and milked just as constantly to animals that spend their entire lives in incredibly confined spaces and the atrocious ways they are killed in slaughterhouses makes this a horrific and shameful facet of our civilized society.  We are the only species on earth that drink the milk of another species beyond the time of our weaning.  We insist that we must have protein from the flesh of animals that eat grass for their protein. Well, we think they eat grass.  I once saw an American farmer on a TV programme who was feeding his cattle a mixture of cement and sawdust.  So much for high quality protein on our plates, not to mention the abuse of a vegetarian cow that is forced to eat cement.  And we pride ourselves on thinking with reason.  Do we know what goes on in the food industry?  If we don't, we should find out and we should live according to the dictates of our conscience.

Animals are God's creatures too and as such they should be given respect and human kindness that they deserve. Prophet Joseph Smith explained that John the Revelator "probably saw beings in heaven of a 'thousand forms' that were 'strange beasts of which we have no conception', and that all animals 'might be seen in heaven'.  He also stated: 'John learned that God glorified Himself by saving all that His hands had made, whether beasts, fowls, fishes or men...." (DHC, vol. 5, p. 343)
"John heard the words of the beasts giving glory to God, and understood them.  God who made the beasts could understand every language spoken by them.  The beasts were four of the most noble animals that filled the measure of their creation, and had been saved from other worlds, because they were perfect.  They were like angels in their sphere.  We are not told where they came from, and I do not know, but they were seen and heard by John praising and glorifying God." (DHC, vol. 5. pp 343-44)
(Gerald E. Jones, The Gospel and Animals, Ensign Aug. 1972)

Why am I jumping on this bandwagon?  For one, I recognise my need to change and; two, I firmly believe that the state of our bodies affects our spirituality.  Our connection to God should matter to us the most. Everything is energy, even food.  We absorb the energy from the food we eat.  Consuming animal flesh means consuming all the vibrational energy from the animal that was once alive.  In Roman times, soldiers were fed stressed out chickens before battle to increase the adrenalin and make them more aggressive. Could it be that our consumption of animal products is responsible for many mental disorders our society suffers from?  Matt Monarch, a raw foodist who has subsisted on raw fruits, vegetables and nuts for 15 years, claims his spiritual energy is beyond what he ever dared imagine.  Could we improve our spiritual channels if our bodies were purer and cleaner and not so burdened with dead and unhealthy food that affects us mentally, emotionally and physically? President Packer seems to think so:

"Our physical body is the instrument of our spirit.  In that marvelous revelation the Word of Wisdom we are told how to keep our bodies free from impurities which might dull, even destroy, those delicate physical senses which have to do with spiritual communication."  (Boyd K. Packer, Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled, p. 211)

Information about bad effects of animal consumption on health are plentiful for anyone who wishes to research a healthier way of eating.  We are all responsible to seek things out for ourselves that will improve the quality of our lives.  We do not need to be commanded in this.  We will, however, be held accountable for stewardship of our bodies because our bodies are not our own. Paul taught this principle to the Corinthians:

"Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
"For ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."
(1Cor 6:19-20)

And again in Corinthians chapter 3:

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
"If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."  (1 Cor 3:16-17)

Clearly our bodies belong to God and are conduits for the Holy Ghost who administers the truth of all things and delivers personal revelation.

The children of Israel told Moses they would have been better off staying in servitude with their 'flesh pots of Egypt' than risk death being free in the wilderness.  Such is the nature of mortal appetite.  When the Saviour comes and we find ourselves vegan, will we reflect longingly on our 'flesh pots of Egypt' or will we live in gratitude for a society that will make us free from effects of crime, sin and wickedness? Preparation is everything.