THE OPENING OF HEAVENS

 

In my 50 years of Church membership, I have never read the account of the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood by Oliver Cowdery. It was a text in small print at the end of Joseph Smith History that I didn’t bother with….until yesterday…when it created such a flutter in my heart I wanted the ends of the earth to read it…….

The date was May 15, 1829. Joseph and Oliver had just prayed to inquire of the Lord respecting baptism for the remission of sins that they found mentioned in the translation of the Book of Mormon. What unfolded had an impact on Oliver such as he had never had before:

“The Lord, who is rich in mercy, and ever willing to answer the consistent prayer of the humble, after we had called upon Him in fervent manner….condescended to manifest to us His will. On a sudden, as from the midst of eternity, the voice of the Redeemer spake peace to us, while the veil was parted and the angel of God came down clothed with glory, and delivered the anxiously looked for message, and the keys of the Gospel of repentance.

“What joy! What wonder! What amazement! While the world was racked and distracted….and while all men were resting upon uncertainty…our eyes beheld, our ears heard…. his voice, though mild, pierced to the center, and his words, ‘I am thy fellow-servant’, dispelled every fear. We listened, we gazed, we admired! ‘Twas the voice of an angel from glory, ‘twas a message from the Most High! And as we heard we rejoiced, while His love enkindled upon our souls, and we were wrapped in the vision of the Almighty!

“….what joy filled our hearts, and with what surprise we must have bowed….when we received under his hand the Holy Priesthood as he said, ‘Upon you my fellow-servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood and this authority, which shall remain upon earth, that the Sons of Levi may yet offer an offering unto the Lord in righteousness!

“The assurance that we were in the presence of an angel, the certainty that we heard the voice of Jesus, and the truth unsullied as it flowed from a pure personage, dictated by the will of God, is to me past description, and I shall ever look upon this expression of the Saviour’s goodness with wonder and thanksgiving while I am permitted to tarry; and in those mansions where perfection dwells and sin never comes, I hope to adore in that day which shall never cease.”

-          Oliver Cowdery, “Messenger and Advocate” vol 1 (October 1834), pp 14-16

 

How can I contain You

In the chambers of my overflowing heart?

Your greatness, Your mercy, Your love,

Are far too vast.

 

All that I am, I give to You:

My heart, my soul, my all,

I lay at Your feet forever more.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Knock and It Shall Be Opened by B. Laura Wilson)

GLORY OF THE PRIESTHOOD

 

Studying about the patriarchs this year has given me a greater understanding of the priesthood. I am developing a reverence for it I have never felt before.

I was reading the other day about the power of godliness through the priesthood ordinances without which no man can see the face of God, ‘even the Father, and live’ (D&C 84:19-22). Then something else caught my attention I hadn’t noticed before.

Verse 19 tell us that the greater priesthood administers the gospel and holds the key of the mysteries of the kingdom , “even the key of the knowledge of God”. I understood then that it was through the priesthood that all the revelations pertaining to the human family are given.  

I remembered Adam, the Ancient of Days, who bestowed his last blessing upon the patriarchs and his righteous posterity three years prior to his death at Adam-Ondi-Ahman at which time he ‘predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation’  (D&C 107:53-56) (see also “Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith” p 158). It was the priesthood keys he held that entitled him to the knowledge he received regarding his posterity.

I also remembered Abraham and the knowledge he was given of the universe, our pre-mortal life, the eternal nature of spirits, foreordination, the creation, the choosing of the Redeemer and the second estate of man, all of which we have at our disposal in the Pearl of Great Price. If it wasn’t for Abraham’s overwhelming desire to have the rights of the priesthood, he could never have been given this information relative to the covenant he made with God.

This is what confirmed to me that the priesthood is ‘the portal’ to the knowledge of God. Joseph records in his history the time that he and Oliver went into the woods to pray in May of 1829 to inquire about baptism for the remission of sins that they found mentioned in the translation of the plates. While they were praying John the Baptist appeared and conferred on them the Aaronic Priesthood.

He recounts this: “No sooner had I baptized Oliver Cowdery, than the Holy Ghost fell upon him, and he stood up and prophesied many things which should shortly come to pass. And again, as soon as I had been baptised by him, I also had the spirit of prophecy, when standing up, I prophesied concerning the rise of this Church, and many other things connected with the Church, and this generation of the children of men.” (JSH vs 72,73)

And then this: “Our minds being now enlightened, we began to have the scriptures laid open to our understandings, and the true meaning and intention of their more mysterious passages revealed unto us in a manner which we never could attain to previously, nor ever before had thought of.” (v 74). It is important to note that at this time they did not have the gift of the Holy Ghost. John the Baptist promised that was yet to come (v 70).

I think of all of Joseph’s revelations that are contained in the Doctrine and Covenants which give us pure knowledge about the Gospel and the mysteries of God’s kingdom. I also think of revelations of the living prophets since Joseph, the greatest of all being the revelation of 1978 making the priesthood available to all the males in the Church. What other Church has what we have? No other.

At last my mind was taken to the One who possesses all the keys of the priesthood and all knowledge of the mysteries of God, the Saviour of all mankind who is our High Priest forever (Hebrews 3:1; 4:14). When He returns He shall reveal all knowledge:

“Things which have passed, and hidden things which no man knew, things of the earth, by which it was made, the purpose and the end thereof – things most precious, things that are above, and things that are beneath, things that are in the earth, and upon the earth, and in heaven.” (D&C 101:32-34)

Last thought….Application of the priesthood pertaining to our lives is worth the personal pursuit….

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Joseph and Oliver Pray by Del Parson)

A TRAGEDY

 

I don’t know of anyone in the Old Testament whose life was as interesting, eventful and difficult as that of Jacob.

Destined from birth to carry forth the patriarchal line and obtain the rights of the priesthood, no doubt he was groomed to be the next patriarch by his visionary mother through whom this revelation came (see Genesis 25:22-23). The way the birthright fell into his hands marks the beginning of his extraordinary life.

In reality, Jacob did not cheat his brother of his birthright. Esau gave it away and Jacob took it, and only for one reason….he did not value it. In fact, he despised it (Genesis 25:34). This he confirmed by marrying the daughters of Canaanites who were descendants of Cain hence their children could not have the rights to the priesthood (Genesis 26:34,35). Thus Esau broke the covenant line and was not entitled to his birthright.

Esau started marrying the Canaanite women at 40 years of age, before the birthright blessing was given (Genesis 26:34). Forty years gave him plenty of time to prove himself worthy. Isaac could see this, I am sure, because he would not revoke the blessing once he realised it was given to Jacob, which he could have done as priesthood holders are given the keys to bind and loose on earth and have that action validated in heaven (see Matthew 16:19).

Esau felt bitterly sorry for losing his birthright and begged his father to correct the deception perpetrated on his father (Genesis 27:38). But not sorry enough….when he realised that the damage was irreversible his rebellious character showed itself even more. He made his way to his uncle Ishmael and married his daughter Mahalath to spite his father (Genesis 28:8,9). And so the priesthood covenant was in the right hands with Jacob.

From this point on Jacob’s life takes an interesting turn. He is sent by his parents to Rachel’s brother in Haran to seek a wife from the right lineage. There he not only gains one wife but four and consequently 13 children in total, 12 sons and 1 daughter. And so began the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

I can see Esau in many men who have rejected their rights to the priesthood and have left the Church. I have wondered how they will feel when one day they realise what they have lost. What bitter tears will be shed when they are told that there is no forgiveness of sins in this world nor in the world to come if they have turned away from the covenant of the priesthood once they have received it (D&C 84:41).

On the positive side, the oath and covenant of the priesthood entitles those who honour it, to all that the Father has. This oath and covenant the Father cannot break, ‘neither can it be moved’ (v 40). Is there a greater blessing and a greater promise than this??? I think not….

The Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God was restored through Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery that the power of godliness might be manifest to men of this dispensation (D&C 110:11-16). The promise everlasting, the blessings assured. I bow my knee before such power…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood by Walter Rane)

A FAMILY COVENANT

 

The scriptures often refer to Jehovah as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Exodus 3:6; 4:5; 1 Nephi 6:4; Acts 3:13; 7:32). The Saviour referred to these men  separately and with a reason.

To be an inheritor of something is one thing but to be an inheritor with the responsibility of that inheritance is another. For this reason, the Lord renewed the Abrahamic covenant with both Isaac and Jacob and personalized to them not only the covenant but also himself as their God. That renewal came at a difficult crossroads for each of these men.

When Isaac was facing a famine in Canaan, the Lord appeared to him and told him not to go to Egypt but to remain in the land which He has sworn by oath to give to Abraham (Genesis 26:2-4). Isaac moved around the land digging wells until he came to Beersheeba where the Lord appeared to him again, introduced himself as the God of Abraham, his father, and repeated the promises of the covenant (Genesis 26:23-25).

When Jacob was fleeing to his mother’s family to escape the wrath of his brother Esau, he met Jehovah in a dream one night who introduced himself as the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and recited the promises and then he reiterated the responsibility of the covenant, that in his seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed (Genesis 28:12-14).

The Saviour’s appearance to both men went beyond the renewal of the covenant.  He gave them both tender assurances such as: I am with thee….I will not leave thee….I will be with thee, and will bless thee….(Genesis 26:3; 28:15). In other words, I am not just Abraham’s God, I am your God too.

In both instances God affirmed that they had Abraham to thank for the blessings of the covenant, because “Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes and my laws…..and I will multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake (Genesis 26:5,24).

And here is a clear picture of family loyalty. Both Isaac and Jacob understood the need to honour Abraham’s covenant with God and that the fulfilment of such would come through them. Neither of them backed down and said, “no, this is not my responsibility, I didn’t enter into any covenant”. I imagine that neither of these men would ever even think of dishonouring their father and grandfather.

This kind of commitment is a family tie that cannot be broken. This is family unity at its finest.

I know some families in the Church who are sealed together and claim how essential temple attendance is to them yet they are not on speaking terms with each other.  I don’t know how valid those sealings will be in the absence of some needed forgiveness that never happened or absence of honour some children needed to pay to their parents or missing amends that some parents needed to make to their children for damaging mistreatment.

The signs of the times are upon us. Friends have come to be cherished more than family units. The adversary is creating division in many families to the point of devastating detriment. Joseph Smith saw a horrifying vision of the last days involving families: “I saw men hunting the lives of their own sons, and brother murdering brother, women killing their own daughters, and daughters seeking the lives of their mother…..” (History of the Church, 3:391). This is happening in our day. We can see it on our televisions.

The Saviour gave us His Gospel to unite us as families. Is there a greater example than He who has honoured His Father through the life of obedience and submission? Each Sunday, as we sit in our family pews, we partake of the emblems that remind us to be like Him and to remind us of the covenant ties that bind us. Let us remember we are ‘a family Church’…..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

SCRIPTURE CHALLENGE

I mentioned my history professor in my post yesterday who told us to be careful how we judge history because the times past are not within our realm of experience. As an Admin for an LDS Facebook Group I have to approve or decline submitted posts by the Group members. I had to decline a post today which I could scripturally prove was doctrinally incorrect . It was about the story of Sarah and Hagar.

The post I declined was incredibly subjective and viewed totally through the lense of the 21^st century. It’s only normal I guess, because this is the century we live in and what we know here and now is all that is within our frame of reference.

These are the three challenges I see when studying the scriptures: 1. Written history is not subjective; 1. Written history is incomplete;  3. Written history is at the mercy of translators.

Firstly, history only deals with facts. It does not delve into people’s emotions, their reactions to the times they lived in or their mental and emotional capacities when dealing with life. History only reports what can be seen by the naked eye. It is written by men from men’s perspective.

Secondly, history is at best just a summary of events. For instance, “the Gospels are not biographies of Jesus; they are a collection of faith-promoting accounts from the Saviour’s ministry that, if believed, will induce receptive souls to come unto Christ and partake of His goodness.” (Bruce R., “Mortal Messiah Book 1”, p 371). Apostle John himself attested to this when he wrote that the world itself could not contain all the books that could be written about the Saviour’s life (John 21:25).

We just have to look at the length of the scriptures we hold in our hands. The 28 short chapters of Genesis we just finished studying covers the history of 2,000 years.

Thirdly, Joseph has said that certain errors had crept into the Bible through ‘ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests’ (“Teachings of Joseph Smith” p 327). Some verses in the Bible actually don’t make sense. Sometimes it is just a matter of a word that was dropped out or one word has changed meaning over the centuries of time. I am sometimes amazed at this when I consult the Joseph Smith Inspired Version.

Consider the magnitude of this correction. In 2 Timothy 3:16 we are told “all scripture is given by inspiration of God” but the JST reads: “And all scripture given by inspiration of God is profitable..” Just the misplacement of the word “IS” totally altars the meaning.

So what then is the answer to the challenge of understanding what we read? This very question is the very answer. We are not to read the scriptures but we are to study and search them. This is the direction of the Church we should take seriously:

“The Prophet Joseph Smith (1805-44) encouraged the Saints to search the scriptures in order to receive an independent witness of the truth and to obtain direct instructions from God: “Search the scriptures….and ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ to manifest the truth unto you…You will not then be dependent on man for the knowledge of God; nor will there be any room for speculation. No, for when men receive their instruction from Him that made them, they know how He will save them.” (“History of the Church”, 1:282).

And one last tip: “FEAST upon the words of Christ, for behold the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:3).

 - CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: And He Opened His Mouth and Taught Them by Michael Malm)

THE PLAN OF OUR GOD

 

The death of Abraham basically rounded off the first 2,000 years of this earth. I reflected on how clearly the Plan of Salvation came into full swing during those years. This is obvious to me through the preservation of the patriarchal line that guaranteed the rights of the priesthood through which all the humanity stands to be blessed and another very crucial thing I didn’t understand fully before, the emphasis on propagation.

When Rebekah left her family to marry Isaac, she left with their blessing which would have been prized above all in her day: “And they blessed Rebekah and said unto her, O thou our sister, be thou blessed of thousands – of millions; and let thy seed possess the gate of those who hate them.” (JST Genesis 24:65)

When Isaac sent Jacob to Rebekah’s family in Padan-aram to secure for himself a wife, his parting blessing was this: “And God Almighty bless thee and make thee fruitful and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people.” (Genesis 28:3)

Because posterity was part of the Abrahamic covenant, such blessings given to these two people were clearly birthright blessings.

Jacob’s marital unions with Leah and Rachel and subsequent unions with their handmaids always bothered me. I felt sorry for Jacob dealing with two highly competitive wives and two handmaids given to him for the purpose of bearing children suggested to me denial of their rights. It seemed to be no way for people of the covenant to behave.

I came to understand this a little better some years ago when I was doing my degree. One of my history professors said to us: “Be careful how you judge history. Even though it is based on facts, it is written by human beings and it is written from their perspective. More so, you have no idea what it was like to live 100 years, 500 years or even 1,000 years ago. You don’t know the customs, traditions, the mentality of the people, or their struggle for survival. You know nothing because you have not experienced it. You only know what you read.”

This broadened my vision of history and helped me understand two things:

1.      “Although the early patriarchs and their wives were great and righteous men and women who eventually were exalted and perfected (see D&C 132:37), this fact does not mean that they were perfect in every respect while in mortality….their shortcomings do not lessen their later greatness and their eventual perfection.” (Old Testament Student Manual Genesis – 2 Samual” p 85)

2.      Being able to bear a male child for their husband was a great honour for women anciently because it meant the continuation of the family line. So important was this in the context of propagation that God instituted ‘levirate marriage’ in Israelite families (see Deuteronomy 25:5-10). This law protected women who were left destitute without a husband and at the same time secured continuation of his family line. It’s a fascinating subject worth the study.

Imagine this life without the blessings of the priesthood and without propagation. How could the Plan of Salvation ever survive? We are so distracted in our day and age by our ‘human rights’ that we have largely rejected God in many nations. The birth rate is down and we glory in our privileges. We know nothing about survival and our dependence on God.

I saw a young adult male in a reel the other day who claimed he did not ask to be born and therefore he does not see that it is his responsibility to provide for himself, that apparently is his parents’ duty so he refuses to work. He has rights, he says…..he knows nothing…..I fear for him and the lesson that awaits him.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Bride and Groom of the New Testament by Lyle Geddes - lds.org)

A MOTHER OF NATIONS

 

No union of two people had a more romantic beginning. It was the union of Isaac and Rebekah.

Isaac was forty years old and Rebekah was a damsel most likely in her teens (Genesis 25:20). There was a whole generation between them. Isaac’s mother Sarah was the sister of Rebekah’s grandmother Milcah. This would make Rebekah half of Isaac’s age, if not younger.

He was well-established and rich, a man of God and the heir of the priesthood and the covenant which would make him the progenitor of all the faithful. She was a righteous, young beautiful virgin and everything Abraham desired for his son’s wife (Genesis 24:16)…like Sarah….and she was destined to become ‘a mother of nations’…..like Sarah.

The marriage of Isaac and Rebekah was born out of the covenant between Abraham and his eldest servant whom he commissioned to travel back to his family in Mesopotamia to procure a wife of his family’s lineage for his beloved son. The servant had to covenant that he would not allow Isaac to marry a Canaanite. It was a matter of preserving the rights to the priesthood,  something the Canaanites were not privileged to because they were of Cain’s lineage.

I will not recount here how successful the servant was in meeting Rebekah and her family through the obvious spiritually engineered process. The amazing thing is that Rebekah agreed to leave the security of her family and travel to a land she has never been to, to marry a man she has never seen.

Picture a man out in the field at the eventide spotting a caravan of camels approaching. A young girl he has never before seen, wearing a vail across her face, alights and is introduced as his wife. All Genesis records is that Isaac ‘brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, made her his wife and loved her’ (Genesis 24:67). You can just feel the cupid’s bow, can’t you???

I am amazed how men used to master the frontiers of this earth and women carved dynasties by the children they bore.

The heathen land of Canaan that Isaac and Rebekah lived in was not a paradise but it was the promised land for their posterity and they embraced it with trust and faith. Abraham passed on an estate of great wealth to Isaac which gave him a position of influence and prestige in the land but here is the sting… Life is not smooth sailing even for the most noble and chosen……

Like Sarah who waited 38 years for Isaac, Rebekah waited 20 years to become a mother. Genesis records that Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah and 60 years old when she had Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25:20,26). What went through their minds for those 20 years, no doubt knowing the promises, would have tested them to the limit….

We are told that Isaac ‘intreated’ the Lord so that Rebekah could conceive (Genesis 25:21). The dictionary defines this word as: ask earnestly, beseech, implore, BEG….

The faith and trust paid of. Through one of the children Rebekah had were all the promises realized. Jacob’s 12 sons became the Tribes of Israel which roam this earth to this day….through which all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

And the God of Israel? He ALWAYS fulfils His promises. Mormon testified of this throughout the Book of Mormon with phrases such as ‘all this was done that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled’ and ‘God is powerful to the fulfilling of all his words’ (Mosiah 21:4; Alma 37:16; 50:19; Mormon 1:19; Helaman 4:21; Ether 15:3; Words of Mormon 1:4; 3 Nephi 1:13,20).

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Rebekah at the Well by Michael Deas)