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The Patriarchal Order


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Been thinking about it and we don't talk about it in so many words. I understand it's connected with the sealing together of families. But other than that I really don't know much myself.

As I understand it, the Patriarchal Order of the priesthood is the order we enter into when we are sealed in the temple. John Tvedtnes wrote an article about it at Meridian Magazine a few years back. You can read it at this link (you must click on the "print article" button to read it).

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It's dang hard to explain to twelve year old's in sunday school, that's what it is.

:rofl:

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Been thinking about it and we don't talk about it in so many words. I understand it's connected with the sealing together of families. But other than that I really don't know much myself.

There's a good deal to found about it the OT Institute Manual 2.

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You might also want to read the sections of the D&C which refer to "The Church of the Firstborn"

Here's a search I typed in.

It is essentially the same as the Patriarchal Order- all those who are exalted in the Celestial Kingdom and sealed together in the Patriarchal Order as one huge family.

I believe that the Godhead is essentially a "family" and through exaltation we are potentially permitted to "sit in God's throne" with him as it says in John 17. We become one with them, as they are one with each other- their purpose becomes our purpose perfectly, and we are one with them in love. THAT is the meaning of the scripture "God is Love". God is our family. Jesus is the Father of our salvation- and we are in his "Church"- the Church of the Firstborn, all sealed as one from Adam to the last human (who qualifies) on earth.

John 17

1These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

2As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

3And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

4I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

5And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

6I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

7Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.

8For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

9I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

10And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.

11And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

12While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

13And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

14I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

15I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

17Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

18As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

20Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

21That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

22And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

23I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

24Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

25O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.

26And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

Rev 3:

20Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

21To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

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It's dang hard to explain to twelve year old's in sunday school, that's what it is.

Every time I pass that post I just crack up! You deserve another ROFL for that one!

:rofl:

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Been thinking about it and we don’t talk about it in so many words. I understand it’s connected with the sealing together of families. But other than that I really don’t know much myself.

The expression “patriarchal order of the priesthood” does not occur in the scriptures at all. There is one verse in which the three words: “patriarchal,” “Priesthood,” and “order” occur simultaneously, and that is in Abraham 1:26; in which it is not so much the “priesthood” that appears to be “patriarchal,” but rather the “government”. Here it is, quoted in context:

Abraham 1
:

25 Now the first government of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal.

26 Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood.

* * *

31 But the records of the fathers, even the patriarchs, concerning the right of Priesthood, the Lord my God preserved in mine own hands; therefore a knowledge of the beginning of the creation, and also of the planets, and of the stars, as they were made known unto the fathers, have I kept even unto this day, and I shall endeavor to write some of these things upon this record, for the benefit of my posterity that shall come after me.

The only other place where the words “patriarch” and “priesthood” occur together is in D&C 124, in conjunction with the priesthood that was conferred on Hyrum smith, the Prophets’s older brother:

D&C 124
:

91 And again, verily I say unto you, let my servant William be appointed, ordained, and anointed, as counselor unto my servant Joseph, in the room of my servant Hyrum, that my servant Hyrum may take the office of Priesthood and Patriarch, which was appointed unto him by his father, by blessing and also by right;

That is all the information that is available in the scriptures about how the words “patriarchal,” “order,” and “priesthood” may be related to each other; and it does not seem to me to warrant the extensive speculations that have been indulged in by the LDS scholarly community on this subject. I would say the most that can be gleaned from the above verses is that the “patriarchal order of the priesthood” (if that is a legitimate theological expression) was a branch of, or appendage to the Melchizedek Priesthood that was hereditary, and was conferred from father to son, and held the right of government in ancient times; and also held the right to confer “patriarchal blessings” on one’s posterity. Bear in mind that at the very beginning of creation, where people lived to nearly 1,000 years, governments were truly “patriarchal,” meaning that the top progenitors ruled over their own descendent, which could have become very numerous after they had lived a few hundred years; and they would have been ordained to this priesthood (if found worthy) to exercise the right of patriarchal rule over their own posterity (including the right to confer patriarchal blessings). In the Church today it seems that that order of priesthood is conferred on “ordained patriarchs,” not in order to exercise patriarchal reign, but just in order to confer patriarchal blessings on Church members. It seems to be an “appendage” to the Melchizedek priesthood, rather like the Aaronic priesthood; and does not confer the fullness of the keys, power, and authority of the Melchizedek priesthood on those so ordained. The speculations appear wild and unwarranted.

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The expression “patriarchal order of the priesthood” does not occur in the scriptures at all. There is one verse in which the three words: “patriarchal,” “Priesthood,” and “order” occur simultaneously, and that is in Abraham 1:26; in which it is not so much the “priesthood” that appears to be “patriarchal,” but rather the “government”. Here it is, quoted in context:

Abraham 1
:

25 Now the first government of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal.

26 Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood.

* * *

31 But the records of the fathers, even the patriarchs, concerning the right of Priesthood, the Lord my God preserved in mine own hands; therefore a knowledge of the beginning of the creation, and also of the planets, and of the stars, as they were made known unto the fathers, have I kept even unto this day, and I shall endeavor to write some of these things upon this record, for the benefit of my posterity that shall come after me.

The only other place where the words “patriarch” and “priesthood” occur together is in D&C 124, in conjunction with the priesthood that was conferred on Hyrum smith, the Prophets’s older brother:

D&C 124
:

91 And again, verily I say unto you, let my servant William be appointed, ordained, and anointed, as counselor unto my servant Joseph, in the room of my servant Hyrum, that my servant Hyrum may take the office of Priesthood and Patriarch, which was appointed unto him by his father, by blessing and also by right;

That is all the information that is available in the scriptures about how the words “patriarchal,” “order,” and “priesthood” may be related to each other; and it does not seem to me to warrant the extensive speculations that have been indulged in by the LDS scholarly community on this subject. I would say the most that can be gleaned from the above verses is that the “patriarchal order of the priesthood” (if that that is a legitimate theological expression) was a branch of, or appendage to the Melchizedek Priesthood that was hereditary, and was conferred from father to son, and held the right of government in ancient times; and also held the right to confer “patriarchal blessings” on one’s posterity. Bear in mind that at the very beginning of creation, where people lived to nearly 1,000 years, governments were truly “patriarchal,” meaning that the top progenitors ruled over their own descendent, which could have become very numerous after they had lived a few hundred years; and they would have been ordained to this priesthood (if found worthy) to exercise the right of patriarchal rule over their own posterity (including the right to confer patriarchal blessings). In the Church today it seems that that order of priesthood is conferred on “ordained patriarchs,” not in order to exercise patriarchal reign, but just in order to confer patriarchal blessings on Church members. It seems to be an “appendage” to the Melchizedek priesthood, rather like the Aaronic priesthood; and does not confer the fullness of the keys, power, and authority of the Melchizedek priesthood on those so ordained. The speculations appear wild and unwarranted.

Here we go again.

You are ignoring what is said and implied in the Endowment as being "non-scriptural" again. There is much more revelation to be had than is in the published scriptures.

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Here we go again.

You are ignoring what is said and implied in the Endowment as being "non-scriptural" again. There is much more revelation to be had than is in the published scriptures.

Enlighten me; how does the "endowment" alter the scriptural reasoning given above?

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Enlighten me; how does the "endowment" alter the scriptural reasoning given above?

Right.

I am going to repeat that here. Good idea. Go to the temple and figure it out. If you don't know the answer, I don't have much more I can say. Literally.

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