Chapter 19—Modern Gentiles' Provocation 3
Provocation Three—Rejecting Priesthood Authority and Power
The patriarchal order was “established by the fathers in the first generation, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam and also of Noah” (Abraham 1:26).
As Fathers of all living, Adam and Noah held keys on earth and in heaven. Instituted in the beginning, this order “came down by lineage” after Adam obtained “the promise of God . . . that his [righteous] posterity should be the chosen of the Lord and that they should be preserved unto the end of the earth” (D&C 107:41–42).
Rights of Patriarchal Lineage
True and faithful descendants were “ordained by the hand of Adam” to the holy priesthood order. “God revealed himself unto Seth, and he rebelled not but offered an acceptable sacrifice” (Moses 6:3).
Like Noah and his sons, Seth was “a perfect man” who “walked with God.” Enoch too “saw the Lord, and he walked with him and was before his face continually” (D&C 107:43, 49). Abraham knew that God’s promises to his ancestors offered opportunity but no guarantee, so he “himself obtained promises at the hand of the Lord and walked in that perfection that he was called the friend of God” and received the holy priesthood.
In 1835 the Restored church was “to ordain evangelical ministers [‘patriarchs’] as they shall be designated unto them by revelation—the order of this priesthood was confirmed to be handed down from father to son, and rightly belongs to the literal descendants of the chosen seed to whom the promises were made” (D&C 107:40). Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph of Egypt, Seth, Noah, Lehi, and Joseph Smith Sr. received such promises.
Having proved faithful in his desire for truth, Joseph Smith Sr. (father of Hyrum and Joseph Jr.) was called to be the first Patriarch of this dispensation in 1833. Several decades before, Joseph Sr.’s mind “became much excited upon the subject of religion; yet he would not subscribe to any particular system of faith, but contended for the ancient order as established by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His apostles.” At the time, organized religion could not offer the ancient order he sought. Joseph Sr. was given several visions to guide and comfort him in knowing that the light and knowledge he sought would be forthcoming. His second dream, given in 1811 (many years before the Restoration began), bore remarkable parallels to Lehi’s dream.
Like Lehi and Seth, Joseph Sr. received a Patriarch’s blessing that his posterity was chosen by God. “Joseph Smith Sr. was the central figure for whom the office was created, and his was the family that had a hereditary right to the office of Patriarch.” He “shall be numbered among those who hold the right of Patriarchal Priesthood, even the keys of that ministry, for he shall assemble together his [righteous] posterity like unto Adam.”
Three years previous to the death of Adam, he called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch and Methuselah, who were High Priests, with the residue of his posterity who were righteous, into the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and there bestowed upon them his last blessing. And the Lord appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam, and called him Michael, the Prince, the Archangel.
And the Lord administered comfort unto Adam and said unto him, I have set thee to be at the head: a multitude of nations shall come of thee, and thou art a Prince over them forever. (D&C 107:53, 55)Joseph Jr. quoted these verses then said, “So shall it be with my father: he shall be called a prince over his posterity, holding the keys of the patriarchal Priesthood over the kingdom of God on earth, even the Church of the Latter-day Saints, and he shall sit in the general assembly of Patriarchs, even in council with the Ancient of Days when he shall sit and all the Patriarchs with him, and shall enjoy his right and authority under the direction of the Ancient of Days.”
Patriarchs bestow blessings on their righteous posterity. “Wherever the Church of Christ is established in the earth, there should be a Patriarch for the benefit of the posterity of the Saints, as it was with Jacob in giving his patriarchal blessing unto his sons.” That ‘patriarch’ is singular “suggests that this requirement is not met by the many local patriarchs now serving” who are typically selected by age, not lineage, and do not pass the calling or rights to their posterity. When Joseph Sr. received “the full ordination of patriarch for the church, in this revelation the Lord instructed him to have a record kept in which should be written all the blessings of the patriarch of the church and from these circumstances were ordained a few, but only a very few, patriarchs.”
D&C 107, above, was revealed in 1835 in response to a faithful request by some who, “united, asked God our Heavenly Father to grant unto us, through His Seer, a revelation of His mind and will concerning our duty that coming season, even a great revelation that will enlarge our hearts, comfort us in adversity, and brighten our hopes amidst the powers of darkness.” God spoke of the patriarchal order then ended with a warning: “Now let every man learn his duty” because he who “learns not his duty and shows himself not approved shall not be counted worthy to stand” (D&C 107:99–100).
Blessings of the patriarchal order are available to all. Joseph Sr.’s wife Lucy was “a mother in Israel” and “a partaker” with her husband “in all his patriarchal blessings.” She too received “the blessings of Joseph” of Egypt from whom they descended. Joseph Sr. “wanted Lucy to be with him at blessing meetings and they actually shared in the giving of blessings.” One account tells, “Mother Smith . . . added her blessing or confirmed what we have already received.”
According to his biography, Joseph Sr. was “ordained Patriarch and President of the High Priesthood.” He held this sacred “office and Priesthood of Patriarch of the Church” until his death in 1840. His son Hyrum was to “succeed him as Patriarch of the Church, according to his last directions and benedictions.” Hyrum, whom the Lord approved, held the “office of Priesthood and Patriarch” (D&C 124:91) until his martyrdom in 1844. Years before, it was prophesied that Hyrum “shall stand in the tracks of his father and be numbered among those who hold the right of Patriarchal Priesthood, even the Evangelical Priesthood and power shall be upon him.”
Hyrum’s “calling is to exhortation and to strengthen the church continually. Wherefore thy duty is unto the church forever, and this because of thy family” (D&C 23:3). Given the office “by blessing and also by right,” Hyrum was to “be a prophet, and a seer, and a revelator unto my church” and to “act in concert” alongside Joseph, “who shall show unto him the keys whereby he may ask and receive and be crowned with the same blessing, and glory, and honor, and priesthood, and gifts of the priesthood” (D&C 124:91, 94–95).
Thus saith the Lord unto you, with whom the priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers—for ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with Christ in God—therefore your life and the priesthood have remained and must needs remain through you and your lineage until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began. (D&C 86:8–10)Two years before Joseph and Hyrum’s martyrdom, the Lord said He was “about to restore many things to the earth, pertaining to the priesthood” (D&C 127:8), but the restoration of all things was still future. This sacred work would be performed by an “Elias, to whom I have committed the keys of bringing to pass the restoration of all things” (D&C 27:6). Joseph laid the foundation but a future Elias would “gather the tribes of Israel” and “restore all things” (D&C 77:14). Accomplished through “the keys and power of the priesthood,” this work will restore “all things had under the Authority of the Priesthood at any former period.”
The restoration of all things has yet to be fulfilled, but the patriarchal authority Joseph was told “must needs remain through you and your lineage,” as lawful heirs, has not remained. Today, no Smith descendant (or anyone for that matter) functions in this office, which had legal and lineal rights by divine decree. Such rebellion brings serious consequences.
Patriarch means patri, father, and arch, chief. The Patriarchal office was created second in the restored church, established a year before any apostles were called. Although the office is required in the kingdom of God, with each passing generation the appreciation for, and understanding of, this office diminished. By 1900, it was observed,
If there is any man in this Church who has a special calling for life it is a Patriarch. I have sometimes thought, however, from remarks which I have heard from men bearing the holy Priesthood, that the ignorance regarding the Patriarchal order is extremely dense among the Latter-day Saints.Since the Restoration only eight men held the office of Patriarch, the only hereditary office in the church, before it was ultimately eliminated without explanation during the tenure of Eldred G. Smith, eldest son of Patriarch Hyrum G. Smith and direct descendant of Hyrum. When Hyrum G. suddenly fell ill in 1932, he wanted to ordain Eldred to the office but Hyrum’s wife discouraged it, believing her husband would recover. Hyrum died a few days later at age 52 without ordaining his chosen successor. After his father’s death, Eldred was denied the Patriarch position in spite of the Twelve unanimously approving him in 1933. Eldred recalled, “They said I had no birthright.”
President “Grant told the apostles in 1932 that he wanted to change the patrilineal descent to the Joseph F. Smith family and specifically to Grant’s own son-in-law Willard R. Smith,” but when the Twelve unanimously recommended Eldred, Grant said the Twelve “made a mistake” and he did not approve. Between 1932–1942, the office was not held by a Smith, which had a lasting and irreversible impact.
During this time, the office remained officially unfilled although Frank Woodbury and Nicholas Smith (unrelated to Joseph or Hyrum) carried out some of its functions. In 1937, apostle George F. Richards, also of non-Smith lineage, was officially called, set apart, and sustained as Acting Presiding Patriarch. Eldred’s second cousin Joseph Fielding Smith (who had the same name as his uncle, the future church president) eventually received the lifetime calling in 1942 but was released only four years later amidst serious scandal.
Only after this debacle (and with some resistance) did Eldred receive the Patriarchal office in 1947, but hierarchal sentiments had not changed. Acting patriarch Richards, who aggressively changed ordinances and considered it a “most splendid accomplishment,” boldly rebuked Eldred:
You had no birthright, nor does anybody else have a birthright to the office of Patriarch to this Church except that he is a descendant of the Patriarch Hyrum Smith [Eldred was!] . . . The Lord did say that this order should descend from father to son, but he did not say from the father to the oldest son. The apostles . . . made that decision that this office might rightly be given to any one of the male descendants of Hyrum Smith . . . You are to be the Patriarch to the Church because you have been chosen by the President of the Church . . . not because of any rights that you have, or any other man who is a descendant of Hyrum Smith.Richards was proud of his stinging reprove. His journal records, “I gave a talk on Patriarchal order and set right the Patriarch, showing his attitude had been wrong in thinking that the office was his birthright . . . My talk was characterized by a member of the Presidency as a masterful stroke.” Although Richards claimed “the Patriarch wept and thanked me” for the rebuke, Patriarch Smith firmly denied it. Clearly, Richards and his supporters did not understand the Patriarch’s essential role.
After Eldred’s sustaining, tensions between apostles and the office of Patriarch increased. The First Presidency and Twelve gave Eldred a copy of his great-grandfather’s ordination but altered it first, removing the line, “We confirm thee to be the first in the church of Jesus Christ among the Patriarchs, to set apart, ordain, and confirm other Patriarchs.” The words “and we bless thee with all the keys belonging unto you from your Father” were also removed. They failed to realize Eldred had a copy of the original and knew they had tampered with it.
As Patriarch, Eldred was often ignored or treated with condescension. He was prohibited from attending meetings with the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve, a right that belonged to the office since its inception. When it came to ordaining officers and patriarchs, Eldred was not invited to participate. “After 1947 the apostles usually had to be reminded that the church patriarch could even have a role in church administration. Without consulting Smith, the Twelve scheduled meetings for local patriarchs at general conference but told him the meetings were not under his direction, and eventually added the church patriarch as speaker only at his request . . . At times the apostles scrutinized the blessings Smith gave for anticipated errors, only to report that the blessings were ‘quite satisfactory.’ At other times, they asked him to prove to them that he was keeping busy” while they continued reducing his duties. “They even questioned how the patriarch could be considered a prophet, seer, and revelator like the apostles.”
Eldred’s little remaining authority continued to be reduced until he was released because presiding authorities felt he, and the office, were no longer needed. It “was a complete surprise to Eldred when President Kimball called him into his office in 1979 and said Eldred would be designated an emeritus general authority . . . Although the announcement suggests that Patriarch Smith was being retired, in fact it was the office that was actually being retired.” Humiliated, rejected, and confused by the unexpected and unexplained events, Eldred dutifully continued going to his church office weekly thereafter. When he died in 2013 at age 106, the LDS church called no attention to their decision to permanently discontinue the Patriarchal office.
There has been no real justification for rejecting the heir apparent to the office . . . The official explanation would be that there were now sufficient local patriarchs to carry on the work. Closer historical scrutiny, however, reveals other reasons for the institutional change.The Patriarch and his office were thorns in the struggle for power after Joseph and Hyrum’s deaths. Originally recognized as a type of spiritual father to the church, early saints knew that the Patriarch was fundamental to the kingdom of God—for good reason. “It was necessary to keep up a full organization of the Church through all time as far as could be. At least the three first Presidency, quorum of the Twelve, Seventies, and Patriarch over the whole Church so that the devil could take no advantage of us.” Today the Patriarchal office, designed to hold keys and administer spiritual blessings of the church and Kingdom of God on earth, has been eliminated by the will of men. Remember, “wherever the Church of Christ is established in the earth, there should be a Patriarch for the benefit of the posterity of the Saints.” So “woe to those who reject the foundation and everlasting inheritance of their fathers,” Enoch boldly warned. “A spirit of error pursues you. You will have no rest” (1 Enoch 99:14).
King Josiah’s progressive reforms removed the religion of the patriarchs from Solomon’s temple in 640–609 b.c., just before Lehi was commanded to leave Jerusalem. Because their temple worship continued (though corrupt), many religious devotees were surprised when, not many years later, Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed. Josiah’s reforms of temple and worship “became the harlot . . . holding a cup of abominations.” Enoch tells us that temple scribes are apostate by reforming what God had revealed.
The LDS provoked God by eliminating Patriarchal keys from their hierarchy, diminishing knowledge of this authority, and wilfully cutting ties to the divine Patriarchal order. Not only did they sever God’s chosen lineage from the church and reject the office of Patriarch with its keys and sealing powers, they also lost knowledge of its imperative role. These decisions leave many who expect eternal life in an awful predicament.
Having honored laws of obedience, sacrifice, chastity, and consecration—and possessing keys of knowledge required to approach God, be recognized, and answered—a faithful initiate receives promises of the Abrahamic covenant and patriarchal authority. Unfortunately today’s teachings do not recognize this critical order of salvation. Not fully understanding the process (and need for) ascension permits many to prematurely believe they are heirs of Abraham’s promises and celestial glory merely by participating in the ritual ordinances of baptism or marriage. The LDS claim “when we are baptized into the Church, the Abrahamic covenant’s promise of salvation is renewed with us. When we are sealed in the temple, the Abrahamic covenant’s promise of exaltation is renewed with us.” But the promises are given by the Lord through the veil—the very veil leaders discourage us from seeking in mortality!
Exaltation is not as simple as just participating in a ritual like baptism or marriage. Current LDS doctrine claims those who marry in a temple “become inheritors of all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” and “thereby enter into the patriarchal order,” but a divinely-recognized marriage must be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise after each person in that union has been tried and proven individually. Temple sealings were originally performed only after a civil marriage ceremony. Merging marriage and sealing rites into a single ordinance hinders our understanding of the process required to obtain such magnificent blessings.
Similarly, to be ‘born in the covenant,’ a status many LDS claim if their parents were married in the temple prior to their birth, requires that both father and mother personally ascend to obtain the patriarchal authority’s promises. Only if we “do what I say” with exactness will we receive it. Otherwise “ye have no promise.”
Many believe that descendants of Abraham, including Ephraim, have a right to these promises, but Jesus refuted the belief that lineage alone guarantees it. “I know that ye are Abraham’s seed,” He said to the Jews, but “my word hath no place in you. If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” The insulted Jews claimed to worship the true God and be chosen because of their genealogy, but Jesus said, “If God were your Father ye would love me . . . [but] ye do the deeds of your father. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do” (John 8:37–44). “They have dealt corruptly . . . They are no longer his children because they are blemished. They are a crooked and twisted generation” (Deuteronomy 32:9, ESV). Having “cast thy law behind their backs” (Nehemiah 9:26) and being “subjected to the spirit of the devil, he doth seal you his” (Alma 34:35). Satan’s seed refuses or rebels against God’s revealed way. “Satan shall be their father and misery shall be their doom” (Moses 7:37).
Modern scripture also encourages us to “do the works of Abraham” (D&C 132:32). Abraham discerned well, separated from erring traditions, called on the Lord in all things, forsook the world, rejected idolatry, faithfully did all that God commanded, and received His covenant and priesthood. Abraham obtained patriarchal authority with its promises of priesthood power, prosperity, a land of promise, and eternal posterity then sought further light and knowledge through the veil.
The purpose of the Church in any dispensation is to prepare the Saints through priesthood ordinances to acquire the divine nature and stand in God’s presence.The LDS admit that heirs of Abraham’s covenant are responsible “to help all of God’s children, living and dead, receive the full blessings of the gospel” and “obey God’s commandments.” Current curriculum suggests that missionary work and temple attendance fulfill this responsibility, but we cannot help others receive the full blessings of the gospel until we know the sure way to God and have His promises for ourselves.
The Abrahamic covenant is ratified only after we are repeatedly tried, tested, and proven faithful and do the works required, as Abraham did, to pierce the veil. Our duty is to seek His face, be gathered by truth, and become sanctified in Christ. When we are “made perfect,” we “become heirs of the covenant of the Lord” (Barnabas 6:19). Only in these conditions are we legitimate heirs of Abraham’s covenant.
The LDS admit, “We have been blessed with the fulness of the gospel, the greatest feast the world has ever known,” but do they live the life of Abraham, seek higher things, sacrifice all they have, reject the profane, and are ministered to by God Himself? Jesus chastised those who professed righteousness but had not “come to the great supper” He offered. While many had excuses for not coming, none were justified.
Succession Crises
The Patriarch. The hereditary nature of the Patriarchal office created a dilemma when Joseph and Hyrum Smith were murdered on the same day. A succession crisis resulted for both Joseph’s Presidential and Hyrum’s Patriarchal offices. With their brother Samuel dying unexpectedly (and suspiciously) a month later and Hyrum’s son not of age, only their younger brother William, an apostle, was left to fill the lineal Patriarch role. William’s appointment to the Patriarchal office was accompanied by serious drama and continual controversy. Because of his brothers’ untimely deaths, William was never ordained by the Patriarch Hyrum so “in 1845, the Presiding Patriarch ceased to be an office of patrilineal ordination, even though it remained an office of patrilineal succession.”
During William’s tenure, any prestige once associated with the Patriarch office was reduced. “Not only were the sealing powers thereafter dissociated with the office, there was also a perception of diminished importance, authority, and dignity” that set in motion a chain of events that ultimately ended in the demise of the office.
William was bold and courageous, but also independent, stubborn, and abrasive at times. He asserted his rights to the office which, according to precedent, “would have placed him above the Twelve, something the other eleven apostles would not accept.” William
held the position of his late brother Hyrum, a man who would have succeeded Joseph as president had he lived. Hyrum had never been below or subject to the Quorum of the Twelve in either his capacity as the Patriarch or his position as associate president. William stood before the membership as one of the Twelve apostles and at the same time held authority previously seen as superior to that of the Quorum of the Twelve. The hereditary nature of the office and its official designation as ‘prophet, seer, and revelator’ allowed, at least in principle, for a degree of independence that proved troublesome [to those in office].William’s appointment was clearly a threat to those who wanted the Twelve to lead the church. Joseph Sr., Hyrum, and Joseph Jr. exercised their right to choose their successor, not leaving the decision to others. However, decades later a council decided that Joseph choosing his successor was an exception, not the rule. As much as we hope seniority or position matters when it comes to choosing a successor, “God will not acknowledge that which He has not called, ordained, and chosen.”
Accounts contain lively details of this dramatic vying for power.1Brigham Young, who immediately and aggressively stepped in to lead during the transition of power, acknowledged the hereditary right of the Patriarch’s office but not the office of church President—at least until he was able to secure the office himself.
This familial and hereditary aspect of leadership (both for the presidency and the Patriarchy) was immediately seen as a potential threat to the ‘institutional charisma’ of chosen officeholders, who were believed to be divinely appointed.Apostle and later president John Taylor worked to reduce the perceived superior authority many knew the Patriarchal office held. Taylor contradicted earlier teachings when he said, “Does not the Patriarch stand in the same relationship to the church as Adam did to his family, and as Abraham and Jacob did to theirs? No. This is another mistake . . . Adam was the natural father of his posterity, who were his family and over whom he presided as patriarch, prophet, priest, and king. Both Abraham and Jacob stood in the same relationship to their families. But not so with Father Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, or William Smith. They were not the natural fathers of the church and could not stand in the same capacity as Adam, Abraham, or Jacob.”
Taylor attempted “to demonstrate the absence of unique priesthood authority in the office of patriarch” by insisting the Patriarch was only ordained “to the church, not over the church,” another contradiction. Remember, Joseph Sr. was told “he shall be called a prince over his posterity, holding the keys of the patriarchal Priesthood over the kingdom of God on earth, even the Church of the Latter-day Saints.”
Although senior apostle Brigham Young admitted that Hyrum would have been heir to the Presidency, his opinion changed once the powerful position was up for grabs. Young added new criteria: “The president of the church presides over all patriarchs, presidents, and councils of the church; and this presidency does not depend so much upon genealogy as upon calling, order, and seniority.” Young also challenged Joseph’s teachings by declaring the Patriarch held no additional “power and authority” beyond that of local patriarchs. This contradicted the priesthood’s position after the martyrdom when “apostles reminded William Smith that they could give him no authority or keys higher than those they held as apostles.” Believing a Patriarch is subordinate to apostles is a significant change in the Restored church. During Joseph’s administration “the apostles acknowledged that the church patriarch ranked ahead of them.” “Neither Joseph Sr. nor Hyrum Smith, as the presiding patriarch, had been ordained by or was subject to the Quorum of the Twelve,” but after the martyrdom “for the first time [the Patriarch was made] subject to the Twelve.”
In 1845, exactly a year after her sons Joseph and Hyrum were murdered, Lucy Smith had a vision wherein she was
‘much troubled and felt . . . there was something wrong. I called upon the Lord to show me what was wrong, and if it was me. I called upon him until I slept. I then heard a voice calling on me, saying, Awake, awake, awake, for thy only son that thou hast living, they for his life have laid a snare . . . The Presidency of the Church belongs to William, he being the last of the heads of the Church, according to the lineage, he having inherited it from the family from before the foundation of the world . . . Tell the Church to be faithful.’ A second vision followed, wherein Joseph Jr. said, ‘The day is coming when I shall wave the sceptre of power over my enemies. Be patient.’ In a third vision that night, Joseph Sr. came to Lucy and admonished her to ‘see that [her children] have their rights and standing where they ought to have it.’The controversy over the role of Patriarch had a tremendous impact on the church. “Significant substantive changes within the church after its origin put the office of Patriarch on a collision course with the expanding church organization.” The Twelve saw the two positions as inherently incompatible. In a telestial world, one would eventually dominate. “Either the office had to become subject to the Twelve for the first time, with far less stature, or it must expand its former authority and become the most important single position in the church, outside the authority of the Twelve.”2 William Smith’s suggestion that both offices coexist as equals (as they had in Joseph’s organization) was rejected.
Not only was the office of Patriarch a threat to the Twelve, they also questioned its keys and sealing powers. When William asked how to respond when asked to seal men to their wives or offer blessings to proxies for the dead, Young boldly diminished his Patriarch authority saying,
Of what use for sealing when everything of the kind must be done over again in the temple to make it valid? . . . The Twelve . . . recollect that Joseph said that the sealing power is always invested in one man, and that there never was, nor never would be, but one man on the earth at a time to hold the keys of the sealing power in the church, that all sealings must be performed by the man holding the keys, or by his dictation, and that man is the president of the Church. Hyrum held the patriarchal office legitimately, so do you. Hyrum was a counsellor, so are you, but the sealing power was not in Hyrum legitimately, neither did he act on the sealing principle only as he was dictated by Joseph.“In effect, Brigham was saying that William as patriarch no longer needed the sealing power because the temple superseded former arrangements. And even if that weren’t true, William would still have to seek permission to seal from the president of the Twelve, case by case.”
Brigham and subsequent generations did not understand that “one on the earth at a time” who held keys of “this priesthood” referred to the fulness of priesthood. “I have appointed unto my servant Joseph to hold this power in the last days.” Joseph held “the keys of this priesthood” that brings “a fulness of my glory” (D&C 132:7, 6). “The keys of this kingdom shall never be taken from you while thou art in the world, neither in the world to come,” Joseph was promised, and through him “shall the oracles be given to another.” But God never said this honor was automatically bestowed on future church presidents. In fact, when God spoke of keys given to the church, He warned that if they are “accounted as a light thing,” church and people are “brought under condemnation” and will “stumble and fall” (D&C 90:3, 5).
In 1843 Joseph “proposed Hyrum to hold the office of prophet to the Church, as it was his birthright. I am going to have a reformation, and the Saints must regard Hyrum, for he has the authority, that I might be a Priest of the Most High God.” He hoped they understood, but they did not. When some asked Joseph to resign over this, he said,
It is strange, brethren, that you have been in the Church so long and [do] not yet understand the Melchizedek priesthood.As leadership’s names and positions were presented at general conference for sustaining, as was the norm, in October 1845 apostle Parley P. Pratt objected to William’s sustaining. Following his lead, attendees then unanimously voted for his removal as an apostle and patriarch. William not only lost both offices, he was disfellowshipped too. The temperament of Patriarch John Smith, who succeeded William in 1847, differed greatly. “Whereas William Smith had expected too much of the office, John Smith expected too little.” A few years later, the dying Patriarch John laid hands on his son George A. to ordain him to the office: “I also seal upon you all the Keys of the Patriarchal Priesthood that ever was sealed upon any man on Earth.” John then told President Young, “I wish George A. to carry the Blessing which I gave him, ordaining him Patriarch, and read it at the Conference.” After John’s death, Young ignored Smith’s chosen, ordained successor since “allowing a patriarch to name and ordain his successor would make him independent of the First Presidency and Quorum of Twelve Apostles.” Instead Young appointed Hyrum’s oldest son John to the office but restricted his authority, excluded him from certain privileges, and moved the Patriarch’s sustaining after the Twelve, not before as previously done. Wording changed to sustain the office as ‘Presiding Patriarch’ instead of ‘Patriarch to the Church.’
The hierarchy justified their actions and eventually refused temple privileges to Patriarch Smith in 1887 because he refused to participate in polygamy and smoked. Using the Word of Wisdom to strip his ability to attend the temple was a direct insult to the Patriarch, since it was not until decades later, in 1909, that the church decided “to make abstinence from such things mandatory for ‘all who entered the temple’,” and even then, leniency for old people was given.
In 1843 Joseph said, “The patriarchal office is the highest office in the Church.” But not long after his martyrdom Brigham Young changed doctrine again as he proclaimed, “I want this Church to understand from this day henceforth & forever that an apostle is the highest office and authority that there is in the Church & kingdom of God on earth.” The effects of this change were tremendous.
The few Smith descendants who held hierarchal positions thereafter did so by consent of the Twelve, not lineal right. LDS president Joseph F. Smith, a descendant of Hyrum who received his office through apostolic succession, attempted to return the Patriarchal office to its rightful status during his 1901–1918 tenure. “We have not always carried out strictly the order of the priesthood; we have varied it to some extent,” he admitted. While the Twelve opposed, and at times stopped, his efforts, Smith hoped, in vain, for exactness in fulfilling the Lord’s word as he reiterated that the Patriarch’s role was above the Twelve and First Presidency.
The President. Filling Joseph’s office also presented challenges, particularly since his son Joseph III, whom he had ordained to the calling in 1844, was only eleven years old at the time of Joseph’s death. When Joseph “chose a successor, he made the appointment without seeking prior approval of other quorums.” It was a matter of revelation, not deliberation, consensus, or seniority. “On the other hand, the apostles assumed the presidency by default—through absence of Smith’s qualified successor,” even though “the Quorum promised the church in 1844 it would never presume to fill Joseph’s place.” It took a few years for Brigham Young, president of the Twelve, to gain the support needed to formally succeed Joseph as President.
It was no secret that tensions ran high between Brigham Young and the Smith family. Neither Joseph’s mother Lucy nor his widow Emma moved westward with Young’s pioneers after the martyrdom. Lucy even “declined to receive from Brigham Young’s hands the proxy sealing to her husband in the temple.” In 1853, Lucy wrote History of the Prophet Joseph Smith by His Mother, which emphasized the whole Smith family’s role in the Restoration. Brigham condemned the book, called for its complete destruction, and distanced the memory of Joseph in the Salt Lake Valley. In 1858, Young denounced Joseph as a fallen prophet in a sermon he later published as a pamphlet. While many schools, monuments, parks, or places in the Salt Lake Valley bore the names of Brigham Young and other prominent members, none were named after Joseph. Only a century and a half later, in 1993 was Joseph’s name finally found when Hotel Utah was renamed the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.
Following Young’s death in 1877, another Presidential succession crisis occurred. Thirty years earlier Young had said, “I am entitled to the Keys of the Priesthood according to lineage and blood.” Many thought he was grooming his son as successor. This was ironic, given that Brigham denied the Smith’s lineal rights to the Presidency when he had sought the office. Remember, Lucy’s visions confirmed that “the Presidency of the Church” belonged to the Smith lineage. Yet now, having power in his hands, Young declared the office to be rightfully and lineally his. Although Brigham may have hoped his son would be heir to his office, it did not happen.
Senior ranking apostle John Taylor had a bitter, strained relationship with Young for decades. It was “beyond question that Young did not want John Taylor to become president through automatic succession as senior-ranked apostle . . . [Apostle] Wells repeatedly urged the Quorum of Twelve to appoint Joseph F. Smith, one of the most junior apostles, as the new church president. Wells claimed that a deceased Young appeared to him to confirm Smith as his successor.” Orson Pratt also wanted “a young man” to lead the church, a notion others seconded. Woodruff supported automatic right to Presidency based on seniority, but Heber J. Grant opposed it, saying, “I do not think it is absolutely necessary that in case of the death of the President of the Church . . . that the President of the Twelve Apostles should be made the President of the Church . . . Point me to any revelation that states that this must be the case.”
Of course, there was no such revelation. Still, over time John Taylor received the office as third president of the LDS church. Even after his appointment, some remained rightfully concerned about an ‘automatic’ path of succession. In 1880 First Counselor George Cannon said Taylor’s appointment was a coincidence, but not a rule. “It so happened in that instance that the president of the Twelve Apostles was appointed president but it did not follow that that principle would be carried out hereafter.” In 1896, Lorenzo Snow reaffirmed the right to select a president “either in or outside of the Council of the Twelve,” but by 1970 candidates were only considered from among the Twelve. President Harold Lee said apostles “could choose any member of the Twelve if so directed by the Lord to preside” but the pattern of automatic succession continued thereafter as the office of President of the LDS church consistently has been given to the most senior apostle.
Far from the original method to appoint one’s own successor according to revelation, apostles today assume seniority rules as they vote on a new President. When asked in 1998, “How do you get to be president?” LDS president Hinckley admitted, “You’re appointed a member of the counsel of Twelve and you outlive everyone else.” “The apostles choose a new president of the church from within the quorum based on what has become a legal/rational rule of seniority, to which the apostles themselves are subordinate. The new president is not chosen from the greater church membership by revelation,” which puts trust in the arm of flesh, a sin we must avoid. Nephi prophesied that in the last days people would claim that the Lord “hath done his work and he hath given his power unto men” (2 Nephi 28:5) to decide such things.
Since Joseph, the church president has always been the senior ranking apostle within the Quorum of the Twelve, a seniority that is based on length of service. LDS historian Arrington was greatly concerned about the consequences of automatic succession for apostles.
The insistence on choosing a new president from the senior member of the Twelve . . . means we’ll always have a president far beyond his energetic, creative period of life.Such concerns are not unique to this dispensation. To avoid this, Qumran’s community had a rule that “the priest who holds office over the masses is to be from thirty to sixty years old” and must possess correct knowledge of His gospel and laws. As for high priests acting as “judges of the congregation . . . none shall be appointed after he be from sixty years old and above . . . For through the unfaithfulness of man his days diminished, and when the wrath of God was kindled against the inhabitants of the earth, he said to remove their minds before they shall complete their days.” Alternately “their understanding,” “knowledge, or ability to judge properly” is taken in later years.
The problem continues today. Some LDS presidents or apostles have been incapable of performing duties due to advanced years or declining health, but no policy exists to release them from duty. In 1941 apostle Richard Lyman suggested an option for apostles to ‘retire,’ a proposal revisited by Hugh B. Brown in the 1970s. The First Presidency later “released [some] general authorities from active service and assigned them to ‘emeritus status’,” in spite of good health, but refused requests of ailing apostles who asked to be released.
In 1966, authorities reluctantly admitted that President David O. McKay was senile and confused. He “was so impaired by injury, stroke, and medication that five counselors were needed in the First Presidency.” Counselor Joseph Fielding Smith, in his 90th year, could not help. His own decline “made it impossible for Elder Smith to carry much of the administrative load” required. Although some felt “there needed to be a way to enable a younger, more vigorous person to become president of the church,” when President McKay passed away four years later Smith was still appointed church president at age 93. Presidents Benson and Monson were also incapable of fully performing their duties.
The human lifespan has decreased dramatically since Adam, when men lived over 900 years. According to scripture, reduced lifespan is inversely related to increasing wickedness. A shorter lifespan is a consequence of sin, and a “greater part of his time will be characterized by difficulties, toils, and distress” (Jubilees 23:12). Cognitive decline is a curse on humanity because of “the wickedness of their ways . . . All the generations that will come into being from now until the great day of judgment will grow old quickly—before they complete two jubilees. It will be their knowledge that will leave them because of their old age” (Jubilees 23:9, 11).
One might suppose that this loss of knowledge is simply a natural accompaniment of the aging process; yet that hardly seems to be the point of view of this passage. On the contrary, this passage seeks to claim that there is nothing ‘natural’ at all about the loss of knowledge in old age, that this phenomenon came about . . . as a result of their further sinfulness. In the good old days, presumably, humans not only lived longer, but remained alert and full of knowledge until their last hour. Thus ‘loss of knowledge’ is a distinct punishment.
Enoch prophesied that “one generation shall be worse than another” until eventually “there shall arise a generation of righteousness, and wickedness will perish, and sin shall depart from the earth, and blessings shall come to them upon the earth.” This glorious moment comes only after “children shall begin to study the laws, and to seek the commandments, and to return to the path of righteousness.” By realizing the error of their fathers’ ways, longevity will again approach “one thousand years” (Jubilees 23:26–27). But until then, knowledge will depart.
Transforming Priesthood. Joseph’s successors also modified priesthood offices, roles, and requirements. Originally adults, not youth, held the deacon, teacher, and priest offices. Mature men “skilled in the work of God, faithful in his ministry, full of the Holy Ghost” were “to take the watch-care over them and preside agreeably to the covenants” but the reforms turned the Aaronic into a priesthood for boys. Young’s major priesthood reorganization in 1877 laid groundwork that eventually gave young men claim to priesthood before they even made covenants. In the 1940s President Grant “chose to exceed the provisions of the Doctrine & Covenants. This began a series of redefinitions which have continued to the present.” “General Authorities directed the transformation but none cited publicly (and available records do not record) any specific revelation or divine inspiration that prompted or confirmed the changes. Rather, the policy evolved gradually, punctuated by sudden spurts, in response to practical needs.”
Another significant change was the development of priesthood correlation, a project President McKay originally undertook to standardize church curriculum. But apostle and committee chair Harold B. Lee took additional liberties and, without full support of higher ups, implemented an expansive Priesthood Correlation Program in 1964. While the committee had admirable goals to “produce individuals who understand and live the gospel,” correlate “all activities and instruction,” and place the family as “the integral unit of the Church,” it expanded to control not only what was being taught, but how it was taught and how leadership was trained. It focused on measurable statistics, not inner conversion.
‘Correlation’ became a broad word that encompassed almost anything related to the Church. The program expanded to oversee welfare, home teaching, genealogy, and missionary work. It was, “in reality, a tragic power grab that infiltrated not only curriculum and priesthood organization, but reached into the homes itself,” making them “a unit of the Church.” Home teaching “was designed to allow the Priesthood access to the home in order ‘to familiarize themselves with the spiritual status of each member in every family assigned to them’.”
Although President McKay and counselors were rightfully concerned about this dramatic shift of power, Lee still restructured auxiliary and local organizations to be under a General Priesthood Committee then promoted it as revelation. Apostle and later President Thomas Monson promised that correlation “will bring us the victory.” Initially hesitant BYU students supported this radical reform only after being told it would establish Zion and bring exaltation. Members had little choice but to buy into the program with its grand promises and smooth words:
We talk about the City of Enoch . . . but do you know the reason why the City of Enoch was translated? It was because they had the correlation program of the Priesthood. [Correlation] will do exactly the same for you with the coming of Jesus Christ and will take you out of this world and the wicked will be destroyed . . . . That’s exactly what the correlation program is designed to do.They forget “a full organization” is required to be victorious as the LDS keep provoking God by redefining and reforming revealed truths. “The [Patriarch] office that Hyrum Smith held was more than the office which subsequent patriarchs have held . . . It is not an administrative office, it is not an executive office, it is a spiritual office,” Patriarch Joseph F. Smith declared in 1944. God’s chosen Patriarch held “the sealing blessings of my church, even the Holy Spirit of Promise” and “keys of spiritual blessings ‘over the kingdom of God’ and the church” (D&C 124:124).
God will only come to the rescue of this generation if ordinances are sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise. So ridding ourselves of that which holds its keys is problematic, to say the least. “Keys of the kingdom of heaven” (D&C 128:10) require Patriarchal authority and priesthood. Patriarch Hyrum never bestowed these keys to his successor, the Twelve, or the First Presidency before his martyrdom.
Where then are the keys that seal promises and blessings on the church once they have wilfully severed themselves from the office and lineage of those who held them? Without “these keys” and “powers of the Holy Priesthood” (D&C 128:11), God’s kingdom is not among us and “nothing but [the] Kingdom being restored can save the world.”
“Three Grand Orders of Priesthood”
There are “three grand orders of priesthood”—Aaronic or Levitical priesthood, patriarchal authority, and the priesthood of Melchizedek.
Knowing that patriarchal authority is Abrahamic priesthood, Joseph said that in Hebrews 7 Paul is “treating three different priesthoods, namely the priesthoods of Aaron, Abraham, and Melchizedek. Abraham’s [patriarchal] priesthood was of greater power than Levi’s [but] Melchizedek’s was of greater power than that of Abraham.” The latter is “a more exalted power or priesthood” because “he could talk and walk with God.”
Patriarchal authority is not the highest priesthood. This essential distinction has been lost to (and contradicted by) later generations. A Patriarch can become a King but the distinction between kingship and patriarchal authority has become lost. Many also misunderstand the office of Patriarch over the whole church, with its keys and sealing power.
Melchizedek Priesthood comprehends the Aaronic or Levitical Priesthood and is the grand head and holds the highest authority which pertains to the priesthood, the keys of the kingdom of God in all ages of the world . . . [It] is the channel through which all knowledge, doctrine, the plan of salvation, and every important matter is revealed from heaven.Aaronic is a preparatory “appendage to the Melchizedek priesthood, [which is] the whole law of God.” Moses received higher “words of the everlasting covenant of the holy priesthood” on Sinai (JST Deuteronomy 10:2) but God rescinded it when people were idolatrous. They “hardened their hearts and could not endure his presence” (D&C 84:24) so He gave them a lesser, rigorous law of “offerings, sacrifices, and carnal commandments” that were added in “consequence of transgression.” Because it is not the whole law and could not “admit a man into the presence of God,” Aaronic priesthood “was never able to administer a blessing” but “consisted of cursings and carnal commandments and not of blessings.”
The Aaronic prepares us to receive patriarchal authority, which prepares us for the highest Melchizedek priesthood. Aaronic priesthood is also called Levitical because Levi was Aaron’s grandfather. To “be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations” (Exodus 40:15), it “is forever hereditary—fixed on the head of Aaron and his sons forever.” For this reason, “literal descendants of Aaron . . . have a legal right to the bishopric if they are the firstborn among the sons of Aaron, for the firstborn holds the right of the presidency over this priesthood, and the keys or authority of the same” (D&C 68:15–18).
Having Aaronic priesthood from being a follower of righteousness, and possessing some knowledge and happiness, Abraham knew that more was available. He diligently sought patriarchal “authority of the priesthood,” which brings the “power of godliness” sufficient to “see the face of God, even the Father” and live (D&C 84:21–22). Once proven true and faithful, God gave Abraham these “blessings of the fathers,” promises of eternal posterity, a choice land, and legitimate priesthood power. God offers the same to all.
I have purposed to take thee away out of Haran, and to (1) make of thee a minister to bear my name in a strange (2) land which I will give unto thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession when they hearken to my voice . . . My hand shall be over thee. And I will (3) make of thee a great nation, and I will (4) bless thee above measure and (5) make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a (6) blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations; and I will bless them through thy name.
For as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father; and I will (7) bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that (8) this right shall continue in thee and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal. (Abraham 2:6, 8–11, numerals added)By obtaining this authority, Abraham and Sarah received rights and promises for their righteous posterity, as did Joseph Smith. Abraham sought to be “a rightful heir, a High Priest . . . a father of many nations,” even “for the right of the fathers and the authority . . . to administer the same.” But Gentiles today refuse to obtain it. Joseph was told,
The power of this priesthood [is] given for the last days and for the last time, in the which is the dispensation of the fulness of times. Which power you hold, in connection with all those who have received a dispensation at any time from the beginning of the creation. For verily I say unto you, the keys of the dispensation, which ye have received, have come down from the fathers, and last of all, being sent down from heaven unto you. Verily I say unto you, behold how great is your calling. (D&C 112:30–33)Blessings for their righteous posterity “were to continue so long as they were in the world; and as touching Abraham and his seed, out of the world they should continue, both in the world and out of the world” (D&C 132:30). “To them belonged the adoption and the covenants,” through time and throughout all eternity. Joseph Smith Sr. also received these grand blessings: “He shall be called a prince over his posterity, holding the keys of the patriarchal Priesthood over the kingdom of God on earth . . . and shall enjoy his right and authority under the direction of the Ancient of Days.” His son Joseph also obtained for his posterity rights of this priesthood, which is “inseparably connected with the powers of heaven” (D&C 121:36).
Patriarchs like Adam, Lehi, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph Smith Sr. gathered their faithful descendants to bestow great spiritual blessings. Having received the promises made to the Fathers, they were authorized to do so. Attended by the spirit of prophesy and a fulness of the Holy Ghost, those with patriarchal authority have experienced the right way to enter the Lord’s presence so they can preach His gospel in power.
This is why Adam blessed his posterity: he wanted to bring them into the presence of God. They looked for a city, etc., ‘whose builder and maker is God.’ Moses sought to bring the children of Israel into the presence of God, through the power of the Priesthood, but he could not.Beyond blessing his own family, as “a father to the church,” the Patriarch could confer blessings on the worthy who “have not a father living to do it.” Ideally one’s own father would obtain these priesthood blessings and pass them onto his lineage, but not all fathers are living or worthy of such blessings. Patriarch William Smith declared this in an 1845 blessing: “Thy posterity after thee shall receive in their turn Priesthood and Patriarchal blessings handed down from father to son according to the established order in the Church of Christ.”
Today, any LDS member who ‘passes’ an ecclesiastical interview can receive a patriarchal blessing from a local patriarch, not their own father or church Patriarch as originally done. Blessings offered by patriarchal authority—entering the Lord’s presence to receive His promises, power, and everlasting gospel—are rarely proclaimed today, as most believe authority comes from organizational conferral, not spiritual ascension. It is risky to assume blessings from local patriarchs must be eternally binding or are the same as receiving patriarchal authority at the veil.
Patriarchal blessings confirm one’s lineage because it matters. Abraham knew that “a genealogy was kept of the children of God” (Moses 6:8). “The records of the fathers, even the patriarchs, concerning the right of Priesthood, the Lord my God preserved in mine own hands” (Abraham 1:31). John the Baptist’s authority came “by the holy anointing and decree of heaven” and also “by lineage . . . Had the Church of God been in existence with the Jews in that day, instead of the Jews being in a dreadful state of apostasy, then John the Baptist would have taken his proper place as the presiding priest of the Aaronic order.” By not believing that they were in apostasy, the Jews rejected he who held this authority.
So too did the LDS forsake patriarchal authority and power. Due to intense social and political pressure, they also prematurely offered priesthood to some whom the Lord had not yet approved.
When Cain murdered his righteous brother, Abel was not only robbed of goods and life, he was deprived of a patriarchal kingdom and lineage to whom the promises could be given. For such evil, Cain was “driven out from the face of the Lord” and Adam’s land (Moses 5:39). Because he severed a chosen patriarchal line, Cain’s posterity must be last to receive priesthood.
The first Pharaoh, who had political power but greatly desired priesthood power also, could not have it because of lineage. He was “seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations” but he could not obtain all of these blessings because he was “of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood.” Although he was “a righteous man,” many Pharaohs after him were not so valiant. “Notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain claim it from Noah, through Ham, therefore my father was led away by their idolatry” (Abraham 1:26–27). In other words, Abraham’s father believed that those whom the Lord forbid priesthood still held it.
The first Pharaoh desired priesthood power but he could not have it because of lineage. He was “seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations” but he could not obtain all of these blessings because he was “of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood.” Although he was “a righteous man,” many Pharaohs after him were not so valiant. “Notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain claim it from Noah, through Ham, therefore my father was led away by their idolatry” (Abraham 1:26–27). In other words, Abraham’s father believed that those whom the Lord forbid priesthood still held it.
Subsequent generations continued to depart from the wisdom and ways of God until Egypt was severely plagued after a later Pharaoh declared, “Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice . . . I know not the Lord” (Exodus 5:2). The ten plagues, which correspond to the idolatrous gods that Egypt trusted, proved that Egypt’s false gods had no power to save them. Representing a fulness of iniquity, ten plagues are again “prepared for the godless nations” in the last days.
Only after “all the other children of Adam have had the privilege of receiving the Priesthood, and of coming into the kingdom of God, and of being redeemed from the four quarters of the earth, and have received their resurrection from the dead, then it will be time enough to remove the curse from Cain and his posterity. He deprived his brother of the privilege of pursuing his journey through life, and of extending his kingdom by multiplying upon the earth; and because he did this, he is the last to share the joys of the kingdom of God.”
Only after “all the other children of Adam have had the privilege of receiving the Priesthood, and of coming into the kingdom of God, and of being redeemed from the four quarters of the earth, and have received their resurrection from the dead, then it will be time enough to remove the curse from Cain and his posterity. He deprived his brother of the privilege of pursuing his journey through life, and of extending his kingdom by multiplying upon the earth; and because he did this, he is the last to share the joys of the kingdom of God.” Priesthood is divinely bestowed at a time of God’s choosing, not ours.
“Go To and Finish the Temple”
Joseph said patriarchal authority would be restored when a temple worthy of God’s presence is built. “Go to and finish the temple and God will fill it with power, and you will then receive more knowledge concerning [patriarchal] priesthood.” A week after Kirtland’s temple dedication in 1836, God appeared to Joseph to accept His house (D&C 110:7). This same year Elias committed to Joseph “the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham” with its keys and rights for his lineage. Joseph knew that “in us and our seed all generations after us should be blessed” (D&C 110:12).
Keys to establish the ancient order were given through Joseph but later leaders provoke God by refusing to obtain them. Without patriarchal authority, a fulness of Melchizedek priesthood is out of reach.
As literal witnesses of the resurrected Lord, true apostles “hold the keys to open up the authority of my kingdom upon the four corners of the earth and after that to send my word to every creature” (D&C 124:128). That the LDS redefined apostolic obligations and severed ties to a chosen lineage, patriarchal office, and its keys has serious consequence—His everlasting gospel is not taken to the world, although their imitative version is preached. In 2018, the LDS eliminated mention of evangelists, pastors, and prophets in their revised online Articles of Faith, but claimed “Christ’s church today is organized as it was when He first established it.” We must understand that “an evangelist is a patriarch” with authority. Patriarchal authority, evangelical priesthood, and being a minister of God are inseparably tied.
By definition, real evangelists preach “the gospel of Jesus Christ” and are “sound in the doctrines of the gospel.” They know “concerning the true points of doctrine, having many revelations daily” (Helaman 11:23). With divine knowledge and authority, they preach in power to the world: “to exhort in the sound doctrine and to convict the gainsayers” (Titus 1:9, ASV). Do not “suppose that you are called to preach until you are called . . . [and] know of a surety my doctrine” (D&C 11:15–16). Paul warned, “The time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but . . . will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:3–5, Berean). We cannot do this work if we do not understand a patriarch-evangelist’s role or authority, or eliminate that which holds “the right of Patriarchal Priesthood, even the Evangelical Priesthood and power.”
God’s kingdom requires patriarchal authority. His work and glory—bestowing exaltation and eternal life to the faithful—depend on Aaronic preparations and Abrahamic promises. Without it, we cannot take His gospel to the world, proclaim peace, or “do the works of Abraham” needed for exaltation (D&C 132:32). Abraham’s work is not plural marriage since he received these blessings decades before taking Hagar to wife. His works require revelation, strict obedience, complete sacrifice, and priesthood power to abide in His presence. All who do these works “unto my name . . . with all their might and with all they have” are exalted (D&C 124:49).
The preparatory Aaronic priesthood, while an important and necessary first step to ascension, is not capable of bringing us into the Lord’s presence to receive the blessings of Abraham. It is tragic that President Nelson eliminated priesthood robes during the Aaronic portion of the LDS endowment in 2019. Keys, placed on the shoulder anciently, are lost when we fail to understand them and obtain their power.
“The divine patriarchal order is to be re-established upon the earth before the Lord comes in His glory. To this end the Gospel must be preached and the branches of Israel gathered and given their promised rights within the divine system. Zion must be built up according to the ancient pattern” with patriarchs, evangelists, and ministers.
“Still Greater Power”
To obtain the highest, we must receive all the Aaronic offers, then obtain patriarchal authority with its “keys of power and knowledge.”
On the same day that women began attending the endowment, Joseph introduced the second anointing ordinance to a small group, calling it the fulness of the priesthood. Leaders define it differently now. In 1883, President John Taylor expressed his concern that many receiving this higher ordinance were not worthy:
Bishops once recommended people for this sacred ordinance but in 1901, this privilege was limited to stake presidents or higher. By 1926, the right to recommend was exclusively given to the Quorum of the Twelve and First Presidency. Shortly thereafter, the ordinance had “gone practically into disuse,” with “only eight such blessings having been administered” in 1930–1942 (but thousands were performed prior). Apostle Richards, who knew that neglecting this ordinance would bring condemnation, explained: “Discontinuing the administration of these blessings in the Church” was the result of one recipient encouraging members to seek highest blessings. Although “second endowments were spoken of rather frequently” at the turn of the century, “today most Mormons do not know of the ordinance at all.” In fact, there is not even an entry for ‘second anointing’ in the comprehensive Encyclopedia of Mormonism set.
It was not until the 1940s that apostle Richards, concerned by the “neglect on our part in not administering second blessings as formerly,” revitalized this ordinance by presenting it as Christmas gifts to General Authorities. Originally performed in the holy of holies, this anointing is now performed in “any room in the temple set apart for the purpose.”
Once understood to be a necessary and crowning ordinance for exaltation, “official policy initiated by [Pres.] Heber J. Grant suggests that Church authorities now feel that the second anointing is not required for exaltation.” When asked about “ordinances without which we cannot obtain Celestial thrones,” in 1961 President Harold B. Lee replied the second anointing “is a special blessing given by the President of the Church to men who have been called. It is not necessary to receive it, however. You have all the endowment you need to be exalted.” How this view differs from early saints who knew this ordinance “gave birth to the greatest blessings and a higher exaltation in the Priesthood than ever had been anticipated.”
Without men and women receiving an endowment of power from on high through the veil, there is no valid second anointing, no kings and queens to the Most High. Unfortunately, knowledge of this sacred ordinance has been lost to general membership. When performed under God’s command and with His approval, a second anointing seals worthy recipients to exaltation. There is no guarantee that the ritual is the reality. The eternal sealing power requires patriarchal authority and keys, which the LDS and modern Gentiles have refused. “Enter ye into my law and ye shall be saved.” Without it, “ye cannot receive the promise of my Father, which He made unto Abraham” (D&C 132:32–33).
Not content without the fulness, Abraham continued seeking it and said, “I believe all that thou hast taught me concerning the priesthood and the coming of the Son of Man; so Melchizedek ordained Abraham and sent him away. Abraham rejoiced, saying, Now I have a priesthood.”
Jesus was “made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:20). It is named such “because Melchizedek was such a great high priest. Before his day it was called the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God. But out of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being, to avoid the too frequent repetition of his name, they, the church in ancient days, called that priesthood after Melchizedek” (D&C 107:2–4), who “took upon him the high priesthood forever . . . Melchizedek did establish peace in the land in his days; therefore he was called the prince of peace” (Alma 13:14, 18).
It was no easier to attain high priesthood in the days of Enoch, Lehi, Abraham, or Melchizedek than it is today. All lived during periods of widespread apostasy, gross and prevalent wickedness, thick darkness, evil, and confusion. Melchizedek’s people “waxed strong in iniquity and abomination; yea, they had all gone astray. They were full of all manner of wickedness. But Melchizedek, having exercised mighty faith and received the office of the high priesthood according to the holy order of God, did preach repentance” to establish peace (Alma 13:17–18). Like Enoch, he “wrought righteousness and obtained heaven” (JST Genesis 14:34).
Some think Melchizedek, which means ‘King of Righteousness’ (Hebrews 7:2), was a literal “king of some country or nation on the earth, but it was not so. In the original it reads king of Shaloam, which signifies king of peace or righteousness, and not any kingdom or nation.” Joseph said, “Consider how great this man was when even this patriarch Abraham gave a tenth part of all his spoils and then received a blessing under the hands of Melchizedek, even the last law or a fulness of the law or priesthood which constituted him a king and priest after the order of Melchizedek or an endless life. Now if Abraham had been like the sectarian world and would not have received any more revelation, what would have been the consequence? It would have damned him.” Remember, “God cursed the children of Israel because they would not receive the last law” that offered this fulness. Rejecting patriarchal authority and power curses us.
“The patriarchal office is the highest office in the church and Father Smith conferred this office on Hyrum Smith on his deathbed.” Shortly after, Joseph “would not prophesy anymore, and proposed Hyrum to hold the office of prophet to the Church, as it was his birthright” then added, “The Saints must regard Hyrum, for he has the authority, that I might be a Priest of the Most High God.
Joseph sought to establish the highest order, power to make kings and queens, priests and priestesses “of the Most High.” With Hyrum holding the keys of spiritual blessings of the Church, Joseph organized the Council of Fifty to administer God’s legal law. A theocratic government was a necessity of Zion. But the saints did not regard Hyrum nor the office, so Joseph could “not reveal a fulness of these things.”
Joseph and Hyrum knew that Patriarchal authority and Melchizedek power were indispensable to the kingdom of God. “The order of the High Priesthood is that they have power given them to seal up the Saints unto eternal life.” One with this power held “the keys of the patriarchal blessings upon the heads of all my people. That whoever he blesses shall be blessed, and whoever he curses shall be cursed; that whatsoever he shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (D&C 124:92–93). Peter was given “the keys of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 16:19) as was Nephi: “What I seal on earth shall be brought against you at the judgment bar” (2 Nephi 33:15). Centuries later, this power “that whatsoever ye shall seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven” (Helaman 10:7), along with power over the elements, was also given to Nephi, son of Helaman.
Joseph was promised “the priesthood shall remain with thee” (D&C 122:9) but there is no guarantee for his successors or anyone who has not personally obtained these promises from God. These powers do not come with office, but from God Himself. Abraham, Lehi, Nephi, and Enoch were rejected by the established priesthood of their day. It takes “a righteous man unto whom God” speaks to establish His kingdom and it is never based on hierarchal position. God’s kingdom exists among those who ascend to obtain the “powers and endowments of the fulness of the Melchizedek priesthood” for “the kingdom of God on earth.”
Without patriarchal authority, God cannot dwell among men and Zion is not possible. Power in the priesthood is the only protection against unfavorable judgment but supposing we have priesthood is not enough. God warns this dispensation that “almost all men” will “suppose” they have priesthood—but they don’t (D&C 121:34–40). The reality is, latter-day Gentiles have severed themselves from higher priesthood.
If patriarchal keys and blessings are refused, sealing power and high priesthood are not with us. Dismissing the path to kingship hinders us, provokes God, and removes His authority from us, while we are unaware.
Jesus warned, “When they shall have received the fulness of my gospel, then if they shall harden their hearts against me I will return their iniquities upon their own heads, saith the Father” (3 Nephi 20:28).
The same fate awaits us today. In 1831 God said, “The voice of warning shall be unto all people . . . They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way . . . and shall perish in Babylon . . . The day speedily cometh; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth and the devil shall have power over his own dominion” (D&C 1:4, 16, 35).
Peace, which is the blessing of Melchizedek priesthood, is taken when we refuse to receive it. In 1833, seekers of Zion were forgiven “once” for their sins but the Lord cannot tolerate continued wickedness without repercussion. Zion fled and the saints were “afflicted and persecuted and cast out from the land of their inheritance . . . in consequence of their transgressions” (D&C 101:1–2).
The first Pharaoh, who had political power but greatly desired priesthood power also, could not have it because of lineage. He was “seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations” but he could not obtain all of these blessings because he was “of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood.” Although he was “a righteous man,” many Pharaohs after him were not so valiant. “Notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain claim it from Noah, through Ham, therefore my father was led away by their idolatry” (Abraham 1:26–27). In other words, Abraham’s father believed that those whom the Lord forbid priesthood still held it.
The first Pharaoh desired priesthood power but he could not have it because of lineage. He was “seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations” but he could not obtain all of these blessings because he was “of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood.” Although he was “a righteous man,” many Pharaohs after him were not so valiant. “Notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain claim it from Noah, through Ham, therefore my father was led away by their idolatry” (Abraham 1:26–27). In other words, Abraham’s father believed that those whom the Lord forbid priesthood still held it.
Subsequent generations continued to depart from the wisdom and ways of God until Egypt was severely plagued after a later Pharaoh declared, “Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice . . . I know not the Lord” (Exodus 5:2). The ten plagues, which correspond to the idolatrous gods that Egypt trusted, proved that Egypt’s false gods had no power to save them. Representing a fulness of iniquity, ten plagues are again “prepared for the godless nations” in the last days.
Only after “all the other children of Adam have had the privilege of receiving the Priesthood, and of coming into the kingdom of God, and of being redeemed from the four quarters of the earth, and have received their resurrection from the dead, then it will be time enough to remove the curse from Cain and his posterity. He deprived his brother of the privilege of pursuing his journey through life, and of extending his kingdom by multiplying upon the earth; and because he did this, he is the last to share the joys of the kingdom of God.”
Only after “all the other children of Adam have had the privilege of receiving the Priesthood, and of coming into the kingdom of God, and of being redeemed from the four quarters of the earth, and have received their resurrection from the dead, then it will be time enough to remove the curse from Cain and his posterity. He deprived his brother of the privilege of pursuing his journey through life, and of extending his kingdom by multiplying upon the earth; and because he did this, he is the last to share the joys of the kingdom of God.” Priesthood is divinely bestowed at a time of God’s choosing, not ours.
“Go To and Finish the Temple”
Joseph said patriarchal authority would be restored when a temple worthy of God’s presence is built. “Go to and finish the temple and God will fill it with power, and you will then receive more knowledge concerning [patriarchal] priesthood.” A week after Kirtland’s temple dedication in 1836, God appeared to Joseph to accept His house (D&C 110:7). This same year Elias committed to Joseph “the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham” with its keys and rights for his lineage. Joseph knew that “in us and our seed all generations after us should be blessed” (D&C 110:12).
Keys to establish the ancient order were given through Joseph but later leaders provoke God by refusing to obtain them. Without patriarchal authority, a fulness of Melchizedek priesthood is out of reach.
For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken [Aaronic and Melchizedek] and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies. They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God. And also all they who receive this priesthood receive me, saith the Lord. (D&C 84:33–35)The faithful who press forward are “made kings and priests unto the Most High God, having nothing to do with temporal things, but their whole time will be taken up with things pertaining to the house of God. There must, however, be a place built expressly for that purpose.” Joseph explained,
What I want to impress upon your minds is the difference of power in the different parts of the Priesthood, so that when any man comes among you, saying, ‘I have the spirit of Elias,’ you can know whether he be true or false. For any man that comes, having the spirit and power of Elias, he will not transcend his bounds.
John did not transcend his bounds, but faithfully performed that part belonging to his office; and every portion of the great building should be prepared right and assigned to its proper place; and it is necessary to know who holds the keys of power and who does not, or we may be likely to be deceived.The “great building” of God’s house has room for all offices, including Patriarch. The Patriarchal office and keys, like those of an apostle, were given “for the work of the ministry and the perfecting of my saints” (D&C 124:143), but refusing this leaves us without keys and authority.
As literal witnesses of the resurrected Lord, true apostles “hold the keys to open up the authority of my kingdom upon the four corners of the earth and after that to send my word to every creature” (D&C 124:128). That the LDS redefined apostolic obligations and severed ties to a chosen lineage, patriarchal office, and its keys has serious consequence—His everlasting gospel is not taken to the world, although their imitative version is preached. In 2018, the LDS eliminated mention of evangelists, pastors, and prophets in their revised online Articles of Faith, but claimed “Christ’s church today is organized as it was when He first established it.” We must understand that “an evangelist is a patriarch” with authority. Patriarchal authority, evangelical priesthood, and being a minister of God are inseparably tied.
By definition, real evangelists preach “the gospel of Jesus Christ” and are “sound in the doctrines of the gospel.” They know “concerning the true points of doctrine, having many revelations daily” (Helaman 11:23). With divine knowledge and authority, they preach in power to the world: “to exhort in the sound doctrine and to convict the gainsayers” (Titus 1:9, ASV). Do not “suppose that you are called to preach until you are called . . . [and] know of a surety my doctrine” (D&C 11:15–16). Paul warned, “The time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but . . . will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:3–5, Berean). We cannot do this work if we do not understand a patriarch-evangelist’s role or authority, or eliminate that which holds “the right of Patriarchal Priesthood, even the Evangelical Priesthood and power.”
Now this same Priesthood, which was in the beginning, shall be in the end of the world also. (Moses 6:7)Priesthood authority with promise, given to all who part the veil, comes not from ritual but from God. Those anointed “to the patriarchal power receive the keys of knowledge and power, by revelation to himself.” God’s power and authority is always attended by revelation. “The kingdom of God was set up on the earth from the days of Adam to the present time whenever there has been a righteous man on earth unto whom God revealed His word and gave power and authority to administer in His name. And where there is a priest of God—a minister who has power and authority from God to administer in the ordinances of the gospel and officiate in the priesthood of God—there is the kingdom of God.”
God’s kingdom requires patriarchal authority. His work and glory—bestowing exaltation and eternal life to the faithful—depend on Aaronic preparations and Abrahamic promises. Without it, we cannot take His gospel to the world, proclaim peace, or “do the works of Abraham” needed for exaltation (D&C 132:32). Abraham’s work is not plural marriage since he received these blessings decades before taking Hagar to wife. His works require revelation, strict obedience, complete sacrifice, and priesthood power to abide in His presence. All who do these works “unto my name . . . with all their might and with all they have” are exalted (D&C 124:49).
Abraham received all things, whatsoever he received, by revelation and commandment, by my word, saith the Lord, and hath entered into his exaltation and sitteth upon his throne . . . Isaac also and Jacob did none other things than that which they were commanded; and because they did none other things than that which they were commanded, they have entered into their exaltation, according to the promises, and sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are gods. (D&C 132:29, 37)Those with patriarchal authority are Abraham’s: “For as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee as their father” (Abraham 2:10). They are ministers of God, righteous proclaimers of His path. God only decrees promises to the posterity of those who obtain this knowledge, for promises cannot come to those who perpetuate error. “To Abraham and his seed were the promises made,” but the Lord is no respecter of persons. All who are willing can receive them. “The blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14).
[Christ came] so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. (Romans 15:8–9, NIV)“The promise is unto . . . as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:39). All who seek “thee earnestly have found thee” (Abraham 2:12). “The promises of the Lord are great unto the Gentiles” if they come to Him (2 Nephi 10:9), but few do. Paul felt “great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart” when his people rejected glorious opportunities of “the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship, and the . . . promises which are made unto the Fathers” (Romans 9:2, 4–5, NIV, JST).
The preparatory Aaronic priesthood, while an important and necessary first step to ascension, is not capable of bringing us into the Lord’s presence to receive the blessings of Abraham. It is tragic that President Nelson eliminated priesthood robes during the Aaronic portion of the LDS endowment in 2019. Keys, placed on the shoulder anciently, are lost when we fail to understand them and obtain their power.
[God] raised from Aaron men of discernment and from Israel men of wisdom, and He caused them to hear.Refusing to enter His presence prevents us from accessing higher covenants and power. It forces church and people to function at an Aaronic level at best. Not progressing beyond the first laws lets church and people continue functioning administratively and performing ritual ordinances, but it cannot bring Zion or fulfill the covenant. “The law was given under Aaron for the purpose of pouring out judgments and destructions” if they refuse higher things.
And if the priesthood of this generation has no more power than that of Levi or Aaronic, or of a bishopric, it administers no blessings but cursings . . . Was there any sealing power attending this [Aaronic] priesthood that would admit a man into the presence of God? Oh no.Patriarchal authority and power is eternal, continuing “in the church of God in all generations” (D&C 84:17). A church that denies it cannot be His church. Without patriarchal authority, we cannot access the High Priesthood which forfeits exaltation and provokes God.
“The divine patriarchal order is to be re-established upon the earth before the Lord comes in His glory. To this end the Gospel must be preached and the branches of Israel gathered and given their promised rights within the divine system. Zion must be built up according to the ancient pattern” with patriarchs, evangelists, and ministers.
“Still Greater Power”
To obtain the highest, we must receive all the Aaronic offers, then obtain patriarchal authority with its “keys of power and knowledge.”
This greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God. Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest. And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; for without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live. (D&C 84:19–22)Patriarchal authority is a precursor to receiving “still greater power” from the fulness of Melchizedek priesthood. “What was the power of Melchizedek? ’Twas not the Priesthood of Aaron which administers in outward ordinances and the offering of sacrifices. Those holding the fulness of the Melchizedek Priesthood are kings and priests of the Most High God, holding the keys of power and blessings. In fact that Priesthood is a perfect law of theocracy and stands as God to give laws to the people, administering endless lives to the sons and daughters of Adam . . . The power of the Melchizedek Priesthood is to have the power of ‘endless lives’; for the everlasting covenant cannot be broken.”
On the same day that women began attending the endowment, Joseph introduced the second anointing ordinance to a small group, calling it the fulness of the priesthood. Leaders define it differently now. In 1883, President John Taylor expressed his concern that many receiving this higher ordinance were not worthy:
There should be more care taken in the administration of the ordinances to the Saints in order that those who had not proven themselves worthy might not partake of the fulness of the anointings until they had proven themselves worthy thereof, upon being faithful to the initiatory principles; as great carelessness and a lack of appreciation had been manifested by many who had partaken of those sacred ordinances.Criteria to receive this second anointing varied among Joseph’s successors. Young limited it to one, then later two, couples per day. At the turn of the century, President Snow said, “Only those who had gathered to Utah were worthy to receive the highest ordinance” as long as they “will never apostatize.” Other presidencies developed different criteria for worthiness.
Bishops once recommended people for this sacred ordinance but in 1901, this privilege was limited to stake presidents or higher. By 1926, the right to recommend was exclusively given to the Quorum of the Twelve and First Presidency. Shortly thereafter, the ordinance had “gone practically into disuse,” with “only eight such blessings having been administered” in 1930–1942 (but thousands were performed prior). Apostle Richards, who knew that neglecting this ordinance would bring condemnation, explained: “Discontinuing the administration of these blessings in the Church” was the result of one recipient encouraging members to seek highest blessings. Although “second endowments were spoken of rather frequently” at the turn of the century, “today most Mormons do not know of the ordinance at all.” In fact, there is not even an entry for ‘second anointing’ in the comprehensive Encyclopedia of Mormonism set.
It was not until the 1940s that apostle Richards, concerned by the “neglect on our part in not administering second blessings as formerly,” revitalized this ordinance by presenting it as Christmas gifts to General Authorities. Originally performed in the holy of holies, this anointing is now performed in “any room in the temple set apart for the purpose.”
Once understood to be a necessary and crowning ordinance for exaltation, “official policy initiated by [Pres.] Heber J. Grant suggests that Church authorities now feel that the second anointing is not required for exaltation.” When asked about “ordinances without which we cannot obtain Celestial thrones,” in 1961 President Harold B. Lee replied the second anointing “is a special blessing given by the President of the Church to men who have been called. It is not necessary to receive it, however. You have all the endowment you need to be exalted.” How this view differs from early saints who knew this ordinance “gave birth to the greatest blessings and a higher exaltation in the Priesthood than ever had been anticipated.”
Without men and women receiving an endowment of power from on high through the veil, there is no valid second anointing, no kings and queens to the Most High. Unfortunately, knowledge of this sacred ordinance has been lost to general membership. When performed under God’s command and with His approval, a second anointing seals worthy recipients to exaltation. There is no guarantee that the ritual is the reality. The eternal sealing power requires patriarchal authority and keys, which the LDS and modern Gentiles have refused. “Enter ye into my law and ye shall be saved.” Without it, “ye cannot receive the promise of my Father, which He made unto Abraham” (D&C 132:32–33).
Not content without the fulness, Abraham continued seeking it and said, “I believe all that thou hast taught me concerning the priesthood and the coming of the Son of Man; so Melchizedek ordained Abraham and sent him away. Abraham rejoiced, saying, Now I have a priesthood.”
Abraham received the priesthood from Melchizedek, who received it through the lineage of his fathers, even till Noah, and from Noah till Enoch, through the lineage of their fathers; and from Enoch to Abel . . . which priesthood continueth in the church of God in all generations, and the Lord confirmed a priesthood also upon Aaron and his seed, throughout all their generations, which priesthood also continueth and abideth forever with the priesthood which is after the holiest order of God. (D&C 84:14–18)Having patriarchal authority, Abraham then sought the highest. He received the holiest and highest order “by the offering of his son Isaac, which was not the power of a prophet nor apostle nor patriarch only, but of King and Priest to God to open the windows of heaven and pour out the peace and law of endless life to man.” Melchizedek priesthood power is only earned through great sacrifice and trial. To them “the Lord makes this promise on oath and will not revoke it: You are an eternal priest after the pattern of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4, Net Bible).
Jesus was “made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:20). It is named such “because Melchizedek was such a great high priest. Before his day it was called the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God. But out of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being, to avoid the too frequent repetition of his name, they, the church in ancient days, called that priesthood after Melchizedek” (D&C 107:2–4), who “took upon him the high priesthood forever . . . Melchizedek did establish peace in the land in his days; therefore he was called the prince of peace” (Alma 13:14, 18).
It was no easier to attain high priesthood in the days of Enoch, Lehi, Abraham, or Melchizedek than it is today. All lived during periods of widespread apostasy, gross and prevalent wickedness, thick darkness, evil, and confusion. Melchizedek’s people “waxed strong in iniquity and abomination; yea, they had all gone astray. They were full of all manner of wickedness. But Melchizedek, having exercised mighty faith and received the office of the high priesthood according to the holy order of God, did preach repentance” to establish peace (Alma 13:17–18). Like Enoch, he “wrought righteousness and obtained heaven” (JST Genesis 14:34).
Some think Melchizedek, which means ‘King of Righteousness’ (Hebrews 7:2), was a literal “king of some country or nation on the earth, but it was not so. In the original it reads king of Shaloam, which signifies king of peace or righteousness, and not any kingdom or nation.” Joseph said, “Consider how great this man was when even this patriarch Abraham gave a tenth part of all his spoils and then received a blessing under the hands of Melchizedek, even the last law or a fulness of the law or priesthood which constituted him a king and priest after the order of Melchizedek or an endless life. Now if Abraham had been like the sectarian world and would not have received any more revelation, what would have been the consequence? It would have damned him.” Remember, “God cursed the children of Israel because they would not receive the last law” that offered this fulness. Rejecting patriarchal authority and power curses us.
This power and the keys of this priesthood [are required for] exaltation and glory . . . which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever. Then shall they be gods because they have no end . . . because all things are subject unto them . . . because they have all power. Except ye abide my law ye cannot attain to this glory . . . and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned. For no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory. (D&C 132:19–21)God warns that if we “do not do the things that I say, I will not perform the oath which I make unto you, neither fulfill the promises which ye expect at my hands” (D&C 124:47). “When God offers a blessing or knowledge to a man and he refuses to receive it, he will be damned.” Neglecting our covenant obligations or distancing ourself from the doctrine of Christ damns us.
For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth my Father; and he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him . . . and wo unto all those who come not unto this priesthood. (D&C 84:36–38, 42)Not receiving the last law forfeits our eternal inheritance as priests and priestesses, kings and queens of the Most High. One who attains Holy Priesthood is “made like unto the Son of God [and] abideth a priest continually” (Hebrews 7:3). God’s work and glory depends on our receiving this authority and power. “Abraham’s patriarchal power is the greatest yet experienced in this church.” Shortly before his death Joseph bore “testimony that I never have found the man who claimed the Priesthood of Melchizedek,” received from God, not by lineage.
“The patriarchal office is the highest office in the church and Father Smith conferred this office on Hyrum Smith on his deathbed.” Shortly after, Joseph “would not prophesy anymore, and proposed Hyrum to hold the office of prophet to the Church, as it was his birthright” then added, “The Saints must regard Hyrum, for he has the authority, that I might be a Priest of the Most High God.
Joseph sought to establish the highest order, power to make kings and queens, priests and priestesses “of the Most High.” With Hyrum holding the keys of spiritual blessings of the Church, Joseph organized the Council of Fifty to administer God’s legal law. A theocratic government was a necessity of Zion. But the saints did not regard Hyrum nor the office, so Joseph could “not reveal a fulness of these things.”
Joseph and Hyrum knew that Patriarchal authority and Melchizedek power were indispensable to the kingdom of God. “The order of the High Priesthood is that they have power given them to seal up the Saints unto eternal life.” One with this power held “the keys of the patriarchal blessings upon the heads of all my people. That whoever he blesses shall be blessed, and whoever he curses shall be cursed; that whatsoever he shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (D&C 124:92–93). Peter was given “the keys of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 16:19) as was Nephi: “What I seal on earth shall be brought against you at the judgment bar” (2 Nephi 33:15). Centuries later, this power “that whatsoever ye shall seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven” (Helaman 10:7), along with power over the elements, was also given to Nephi, son of Helaman.
Joseph was promised “the priesthood shall remain with thee” (D&C 122:9) but there is no guarantee for his successors or anyone who has not personally obtained these promises from God. These powers do not come with office, but from God Himself. Abraham, Lehi, Nephi, and Enoch were rejected by the established priesthood of their day. It takes “a righteous man unto whom God” speaks to establish His kingdom and it is never based on hierarchal position. God’s kingdom exists among those who ascend to obtain the “powers and endowments of the fulness of the Melchizedek priesthood” for “the kingdom of God on earth.”
Without patriarchal authority, God cannot dwell among men and Zion is not possible. Power in the priesthood is the only protection against unfavorable judgment but supposing we have priesthood is not enough. God warns this dispensation that “almost all men” will “suppose” they have priesthood—but they don’t (D&C 121:34–40). The reality is, latter-day Gentiles have severed themselves from higher priesthood.
If patriarchal keys and blessings are refused, sealing power and high priesthood are not with us. Dismissing the path to kingship hinders us, provokes God, and removes His authority from us, while we are unaware.
I will take away the priesthood out of their midst; therefore my holy order and the ordinances thereof shall not go before them, for my presence shall not go up in their midst, lest I destroy them. (JST Exodus 34:1)Without patriarchal authority, a church is not the kingdom of God. God’s kingdom is built on truth and faith, but their kingdom is built on wealth and “upon falsehood. Behold, it is not from the Lord . . . [They] lead many astray . . . and raise a congregation on deceit, causing many thereby to perform a service of vanity for the sake of its glory, and to be pregnant with works of deceit.” Because they do not want what He offers, “you have forfeited your own soul.” So “woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves” (Isaiah 3:9).
Jesus warned, “When they shall have received the fulness of my gospel, then if they shall harden their hearts against me I will return their iniquities upon their own heads, saith the Father” (3 Nephi 20:28).
If ye will not hearken unto me and will not do all these commandments, and if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant, I also will do this unto you: I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning . . . I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies. They that hate you shall reign over you. (Leviticus 26:14–17)The Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants both begin with a threat of destruction awaiting a covenant people. Lehi took his family into the wilderness because he knew the “great city Jerusalem,” the city of peace, was about to “be destroyed” (1 Nephi 1:4). “There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked” (Isaiah 48:22).
The same fate awaits us today. In 1831 God said, “The voice of warning shall be unto all people . . . They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way . . . and shall perish in Babylon . . . The day speedily cometh; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth and the devil shall have power over his own dominion” (D&C 1:4, 16, 35).
Peace, which is the blessing of Melchizedek priesthood, is taken when we refuse to receive it. In 1833, seekers of Zion were forgiven “once” for their sins but the Lord cannot tolerate continued wickedness without repercussion. Zion fled and the saints were “afflicted and persecuted and cast out from the land of their inheritance . . . in consequence of their transgressions” (D&C 101:1–2).
They were slow to hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God. Therefore, the Lord their God is slow to hearken unto their prayers and to answer them in the day of their trouble. In the day of their peace they esteemed lightly my counsel; but, in the day of their trouble, of necessity they feel after me. (D&C 101:7–8)“He that persists in his own carnal nature and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God remaineth in his fallen state and the devil hath all power over him. Therefore he is . . . an enemy to God” (Mosiah 16:5). The warning was clear:
After ye have known and have been taught all these things, if ye should transgress and go contrary to that which has been spoken, that ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom’s paths that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved—I say unto you, that the man that doeth this, the same cometh out in open rebellion against God; therefore he listeth to obey the evil spirit, and becometh an enemy to all righteousness. (Mosiah 2:36–37)Compromise with the world may alleviate persecution, but it comes at a devastating price. Once we are
in full fellowship with the world and receive no more persecution from them because they are one with them, in such an event we might bid farewell to the Holy Priesthood with all its blessings, privileges, and aids to exaltations.
When ‘Mormonism’ finds favor with the wicked in this land, it will have gone into the shade; but until the power of the Priesthood is gone, ‘Mormonism’ will never become popular with the wicked. When we see the time that we can willingly strike hands and have full fellowship with those who despise the kingdom of God, know ye then that the Priesthood of the Son of God is out of your possession. Let us be careful how we make friends with and fellowship unrighteousness, lest the curse of God descends heavily upon us.“Obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions” (Exodus 23:21). All who frustrate His work, including priests or leaders, must bear their iniquities. For “the iniquity and transgression of my holy laws and commandments I will visit upon the heads of those who hindered my work unto the third and fourth generation, so long as they repent not and hate me, saith the Lord God . . . I will answer judgment, wrath, and indignation, wailing, and anguish, and gnashing of teeth upon their heads” (D&C 124:50, 52). Only if “they acknowledge their offense and seek my face” (Hosea 5:15) will His wrath be stayed.
Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark. (2 Nephi 32:4)
For footnotes and references, click HERE.