D&C 85 - 87 (2020 repost)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:15] Speaker B: Welcome to the weekly Deep Dive podcast on the Add on Education Network. The podcast where we explore the weekly come follow me discussion and try to add a little insight and unique perspective. I am your host, Jason Lloyd. Here with me in the studio, Nate Pifer. How are you doing, buddy? [00:00:35] Speaker A: I'm doing so good. [00:00:36] Speaker B: Good. [00:00:37] Speaker A: Eating a little Kit Kat. [00:00:39] Speaker B: Oh, yummy nummy. [00:00:40] Speaker A: You want me to break you off a piece? [00:00:42] Speaker B: No, don't break me off a piece. [00:00:44] Speaker A: No, because you gotta talk, dude. I just gotta stare at you awkwardly without breaking eye contact. [00:00:49] Speaker B: I don't know if it's just me. I think one day I'm going to die from either eating chocolate or. Or Smarties. Smarties, yes. Yeah. Six Smarties. [00:01:03] Speaker A: The Canadian ones. [00:01:04] Speaker B: I don't eat them that often, but when I do, I choke on the powder and I swear I have this, like. [00:01:11] Speaker A: That's a good point. [00:01:12] Speaker B: I'm seeing the end of my life flash before my eyes. Like, I don't know if I'm going to survive this encounter as I'm trying to suck wind in just to. Just to get to the next breath. For some reason, smarty powder and chocolate juice does it to me. [00:01:27] Speaker A: Chocolate juice? [00:01:28] Speaker B: Yeah, when I'm eating chocolate and what about chocolate milk? Nope, nope. Chocolate milk doesn't do it. [00:01:33] Speaker A: Yeah, because it's a liquid on purpose. [00:01:36] Speaker B: It's when the chocolate turns to a liquid on accident. I struggle. [00:01:40] Speaker A: I think that chocolate is going to kill me because it's going to give me diabetes. [00:01:48] Speaker B: I mean, that could be the case too. I'm more worried about. [00:01:51] Speaker A: I'm not worried about the juice. Yeah, I can handle the juice, dude. In smarty powder. I mean, dude, smarty powers. Power. That's. It's true, too. Smarty power. [00:02:01] Speaker B: Nah. [00:02:02] Speaker A: I mean, I don't really eat smarties anymore either. But, dude, the powder is maybe the coolest part of that. Crush them up, dude. [00:02:08] Speaker B: I don't know. I don't know when I eat. And maybe it's because I can't just eat one Smartie at a time. I gotta. I gotta open that package and slide the whole thing in. [00:02:17] Speaker A: Slide them in right off of the wrapper. [00:02:18] Speaker B: And then as I'm chewing on it. [00:02:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:02:20] Speaker B: It just. It just gets caught in my throat and I'm like, I'm done, dude. [00:02:24] Speaker A: I'm gonna go to. I'm gonna go to the grocery store before we go home tonight and get some smarties. I'm gonna just eat all of them at once. [00:02:30] Speaker B: I. I feel like I'm gonna end up on an episode of, like, most embarrassing ways of dying. And they're like, there's this guy that died. [00:02:37] Speaker A: Darwin Awards. [00:02:38] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's gonna be me. That's. That's it. You know it. [00:02:41] Speaker A: Make sure to catch it on camera so that your kids can all, like, retire off of the money they'll make from it. I'll have to anyway. [00:02:48] Speaker B: All right, so last episode, we talked about the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 84, Oath and Covenant of the priesthood. I like what we talked about. I like where we covered. I like where we went. But there's one thing, looking back on that section, I wish maybe we could have slid in somehow, somewhere, even though the episode was kind of full. So if you don't mind, let me just take a few minutes. It talks about in Doctrine and covenants, Section 84, that the Aaronic Priesthood holds the keys to the ministering of angels. And that right there, what does it mean to hold the keys to the ministering of angels? Is something I've thought about and something that seems to make a lot more sense to me now than it ever has before. And in the ward, the bishop is the one that holds the keys to the Aaronic Priesthood. Therefore, in my mind as I read this, he is the one that holds the keys to the ministering of angels. And the word for angels in Hebrew, malek, in Greek, Ankylos, or the Latin. In either case, it comes back to meaning one who is sent. So Malek, someone who is sent, commissioned, or ordained, maybe. And so I go back to this bishop and the idea that he holds the keys to the ministering of angels or the ministering of those who are sent, ordained, or set apart. That makes sense to me because he is the one that extends the callings, whether it is through his counselors. It all ultimately comes under his direction, right? So the bishop is the one that calls and makes sure that you are set apart and ordained and sent to minister in whatever calling or sphere you are sent to minister to. He is the one that presides over the sacrament meetings, that makes sure people are called to give a talk, called to work in the nursery, called to work wherever it is. And even now, more so, when you look at the ministering assignments that we get, whether the Relief Society or the Elders Quorum, it flows under the direction of the bishop because he holds those keys to ministering. And so when I read that the ministering of angels or the ministering of those that are sent, that is how I see it. That is what the Aaronic Priesthood does, and I see it Work every day in our ward. Okay, let's dive into Doctrine and Covenants, sections 85, 87. In here. 85 is a letter that Joseph Smith wrote. 86 is going to be a revelation regarding the wheat and the tares. And 87 is Joseph Smith's prophecy concerning the Civil War. And I feel like we've talked a lot this year in Doctrine and Covenants about harvesting wheat and tares and even took a couple dives going into the Civil War. In our episode, I believe it is doctrine and covenants 29. So I am not going to spend as much time on the back end talking about this harvesting and the Civil War. We will mention a few key points, but we are going to spend most of our time looking at Doctrine and covenants, section 85, this letter that Joseph Smith wrote. So this letter is another example of revelation coming from scripture study. Joseph Smith was obviously heavily influenced by Ezra Chapter two as he's writing this. He even quotes Ezra, Chapter two. And so I wanted to. Give me a second, let me open my Scriptures, just read some of this to kind of give us the background and context. So far away. I don't have that long. [00:06:30] Speaker A: Why did you put it so far away, dude? [00:06:33] Speaker B: I guess I wanted to practice my Go Go Gadget arms. I don't know. All right, 84. Ezra going the wrong direction. Old Testament. It's after Chronicles if you're looking for it. Chapter two. [00:06:47] Speaker A: You're the only one looking for it. I got to be totally honest with you. [00:06:51] Speaker B: It's probably true. Okay, here we go. [00:06:53] Speaker A: I always forget that Ezra is even a book in the. In the Bible. [00:06:56] Speaker B: Well, the context of Ezra, they are coming back after captivity, right? The Babylonian, the great return, if you will. So verse one. Now, these are the children of the province that went up out of captivity of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, had carried away unto Babylon and came again into Jerusalem and Judah, every one into his city. And now it's not begadding, but it is close. The Children of Asgad, 1222. The children of Adonikam, 666. The children of Bigvi, 2056. Big Vai. Good old Big Vai. He had 2,056 kids there coming back from his line. Children of Aden, 454. That makes Big Vai look even bigger, you know, 2,000 children of Adar, of Hezekiah, 90 and 8 Hezekiah. What's going on, man? [00:07:53] Speaker A: Come on, Hezekiah, get it together. [00:07:55] Speaker B: Yeah, 90 and 8. Not a lot, but it's going through this. 98. Yeah. [00:08:00] Speaker A: That's still a lot, man. [00:08:01] Speaker B: Yeah. And I guess it's not Hezekiah, but I mean, it was. Where did it go? Atter of Hezekiah? It seems like a lot, like, right. 98. But when you were looking at Big Vai 2056, 90. 98 is like a drop in the bank. And it's not like they had. Obviously, it's not like they had 2,000 kids. It's that. [00:08:27] Speaker A: Are you saying that the Bible's lying to us? [00:08:29] Speaker B: It's that their kids refers to their kids, their grandkids. Their grandkids, this line, whatever it comes down to. Right. [00:08:38] Speaker A: So you're saying that some things in the Bible maybe shouldn't be taking. Shouldn't be taken literally? [00:08:46] Speaker B: No. [00:08:50] Speaker A: You got to step up your game today, Jason. [00:08:52] Speaker B: Just, just, just the language, how it works. The children. The children refers to multiple generations. [00:08:57] Speaker A: All right, all right, all right. I'm just asking if every single thing in the Old Testament should be taken literally. That's all I'm asking. [00:09:04] Speaker B: It's a good question. [00:09:06] Speaker A: Should it be? [00:09:07] Speaker B: I'm going to hold off until you find an example that we shouldn't take literally, and then I'll answer, a dude. [00:09:12] Speaker A: Got swallowed by a whale. [00:09:15] Speaker B: That's a good question. [00:09:16] Speaker A: All right, I want you to think about that. [00:09:19] Speaker B: We'll dive into Jonah. [00:09:21] Speaker A: I can't wait to get to the Old Testament, if I'm being totally honest with you. I'm having a good time with the Doctrine and Covenants, but I just can't wait to see you unleashed on the Old Testament. [00:09:33] Speaker B: Old Testament is going to be fun. And Joseph Smith did make a statement about taking things literally. He was all in favor for it. [00:09:40] Speaker A: Oh, really? [00:09:41] Speaker B: He was absolutely. [00:09:43] Speaker A: He was just like, for sure. Take all of these stories like Noah and the ark, like, that's 100% literal. Two of every animal that ever lived fit onto a boat. Pooping all over the place, needing all kinds of food, hung out there for a month, playing nice with each other. [00:10:01] Speaker B: Leaves a lot of questions. [00:10:03] Speaker A: Definitely leaves a lot of questions. Unless, of course, they were alien ships that came down, and the two of every animal was just their DNA inside of a test tube inside of the alien vessel, because then you could have probably fit all of them in there. [00:10:21] Speaker B: I don't even know if you necessarily need to throw aliens in there, but, I mean, why not? Why not? It brings up a good point, though. A lot of times where we struggle with some of these stories. Is not so much the literal as much as our perception of the literal. If we see it a certain way, do we see it as a literal, the whole entire Earth? Because oftentimes the land referred to everywhere that they lived, where they were familiar with. Was it a localized flood? Was it a global flood? Was it every animal? Was it every animal in an area? [00:10:55] Speaker A: I mean, taking this literally doesn't. If the Earth is going to be baptized, doesn't the entire thing need to be fully submerged underwater? [00:11:05] Speaker B: Well, maybe. What do you mean, maybe? Or is it just the land that they live needed to be submerged because it was the Promised Land, the Holy. [00:11:11] Speaker A: Land, but the Earth? Doesn't the Earth need to be baptized by water and fire? I'm just. I don't know. I'm just asking. [00:11:18] Speaker B: That's a good question. [00:11:20] Speaker A: All right, well, this is just to whet everybody's appetites for next year when we get into the Old Testament. If. If you're still listening to us by then, hopefully. [00:11:30] Speaker B: Hopefully. Hopefully you're still with us. [00:11:32] Speaker A: Hopefully. I haven't just derailed all of these to the point where at the end of this, you're just like. You get that guy from not asking questions about dinosaurs, sharks and aliens. [00:11:43] Speaker B: Hopefully we actually pick up a few before Old Testament. [00:11:47] Speaker A: That's true, too. Yeah, that's true, too. All right, I'm sorry. [00:11:50] Speaker B: I'm sorry, but speaking of Old Testament, that's where Joseph Smith's getting a lot of his inspiration from. And he's reading from Ezra and to kind of take this, he's talking about these people that are returning. And I think it is cool. You are not just mentioning my dad and his five sons. You are going back to a time before they were going into captivity, and they are going back several generations and quoting these people that were definitely Israel and say, this is where I claim my heritage. And you have a whole chapter of this. And it gets interesting. Towards the end of the chapter, as we look at verse 59, it says, and these were they which went up from Tell Melah Tel Harsa, Cherub, Adan and Emir, but they could not show their father's house and their seed whether they were of Israel. So now you have some people that, yeah, we are from this house or we are from that house. Okay, good. How do you descend from that house? Well, we can't say for sure. Our genealogy got lost somewhere along the line, and that becomes an issue for these people. And it becomes even more of an issue when you're claiming that you're coming from the Tribe of Levi, because now that's dealing with the priesthood. So in verse 62, these thought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found. Therefore, they. Therefore were they as polluted, put from the priesthood. So even though they claimed the lineage through a priest or a Levite that had the priesthood way back when, because they couldn't prove it, they were no longer allowed to hold the priesthood. [00:13:39] Speaker A: Keep good records. [00:13:40] Speaker B: Keep good. That's exactly the message that Joseph Smith took away from this. So when he writes this letter, he's saying, okay, the duty of the clerk is to keep records. Keep good records. And at the same time, Joseph Smith not only took this message to talk to the clerk, to talk to the bishop and talk about the importance of keeping records, but personally in his own life. This is the same time where he bought his first journal and started keeping his journal. And he said, it's very important. It's critical that we keep a good history of the Church. And it's good that we do. We have. We have a lot of good historical documents from these time periods about the history of the Church. And they are fascinating, they are fun to read. But this came from inspiration as he was reading the Old Testament and how particular they were about being able to declare your genealogy. And we understand, we know, we see now today the importance of that. And as Joseph Smith had said, neither are our dead without us or us without our dead. We need to save them, redeem them, find them, and create this link, this chain that goes all the way back. It's been a huge push from the Church even through today, as we see. And that's where a lot of this inspiration is coming from. And as we go a little bit further into this section, I love the way he phrased the whisperings of the Spirit. And he says, I believe it's here in verse 6. He says, Yea, thus saith the still small voice which whispereth through and pierceth all things. And oftentimes it maketh my bones to quake while it maketh manifest. And it reminded me of Lehi as he's going forth, praying unto the Lord with all of his heart on behalf of his people. There came a pillar of fire dwelt upon a rock before him, and he saw and heard much insomuch that his bones did quake and tremble. You've got kind of the similar language going on. And for me, when I feel a spirit like that, almost makes me kind of shiver. I don't know, kind of a little bit of a shiver, but it Is kind of a cool feeling to feel the spirit speaking to you and to feel that connection, to feel that power. So I like the way he phrases that. It is a good experience. Verse seven, he describes somebody powerful coming with a scepter in his hands, clothed with light. And that's where I wanted to focus a lot of this podcast episode, on this notion of being clothed with light and also the significance of holding a scepter and clothed with light. We talked about light a little bit, I believe in last episode, how amazing light was. We talked about the dual slit experiment and the nature of light. But we are going to kind of take this a different direction. Some people believe that in the beginning, Adam and Eve were clothed with light. Ephraim the Syrian died in 373 A.D. so he was an early Christian. He says it is because of the glory with which they were clothed that they were not ashamed when it was taken away from them after they had violated the commandment. They were indeed ashamed because they were now naked. And he is talking about this glory that clothed them or this light that clothed them was what made it feel like they were not naked. So even if they were naked, they didn't feel naked because of the light that they had on. And after they lost that, then they realized that they had lost that and now they had become naked. Some of the rabbinic tradition states that God made garments of light to clothe Adam and Eve before the fall. And even some scholars have argued that when God says he made man in his image, that the word image there is referring to glory, that he made man in his own glory. Or the idea that man was equally luminescent and had the same light brilliance and glory that God did in the very beginning. And the word for light, by the way, in Hebrew is or. And the word for skin in Hebrew is or. They're spelled slightly different. So what do you call that when two words have the same sound but different spellings? [00:18:14] Speaker A: Hold on, I know the answer to this. [00:18:16] Speaker B: Is it homonym? [00:18:18] Speaker A: No, it's a. Dang it. My 9 year old daughter taught me this one time. [00:18:28] Speaker B: I keep thinking homonym. What's homonym? [00:18:30] Speaker A: I'm looking it up right now. [00:18:32] Speaker B: All right, you look it up. But where they say that early on Genesis and a lot of these stories were oral tradition, that they would say it, not necessarily write it, that maybe there was some confusion there, that they were saying or referring to light rather than or referring to skin, so that God made coats of light light for them before they fell and then Afterwards, it's kind of this play on words with this idea of skin being replaced with light or vice versa. So going into some of these traditions. [00:19:06] Speaker A: Homophone. [00:19:07] Speaker B: Homophone. [00:19:08] Speaker A: Yeah, that's right. Homophone are words that sound the same but are different in meaning or spelling. [00:19:17] Speaker B: There you go. [00:19:18] Speaker A: Or homography. [00:19:19] Speaker B: What's a homonym? [00:19:21] Speaker A: Homonyms can be either or even both. [00:19:26] Speaker B: So homophones are homonyms. Homonyms are homophones. [00:19:30] Speaker A: Homophones are homonyms. It looks like. [00:19:35] Speaker B: Yes. All right, good. Sorry. [00:19:38] Speaker A: Yeah, you got it. I remember it was homophones and homographs are spelled the same, but different meaning or pronunciation. Homonyms can be either or even both. [00:19:50] Speaker B: Yeah, this one's. This one would be hominin then, because it's. It's spelled differently but sounds the same. [00:19:59] Speaker A: So would that be a homophone or a homonym? It could be either. [00:20:03] Speaker B: Yes. [00:20:05] Speaker A: Yes, 100%. Ruby honestly did teach me that. [00:20:09] Speaker B: Good job, Ruby. [00:20:10] Speaker A: And I was just like, are you even kidding me right now? But she's just like, no, we learned about that today. I'm just like, man, I was just picking my nose in elementary school. [00:20:19] Speaker B: Well, I'm glad Ruby's paying attention. [00:20:21] Speaker A: Yes. Makes me proud. She cares. [00:20:23] Speaker B: Good job, Ruby. [00:20:24] Speaker A: Good job, Ruby. I didn't care. [00:20:26] Speaker B: All right, going on the apocalypse of Moses. There's kind of a story there 22. It says, and I, referring to Adam, wept and said, why have you done this to me? That I have been estranged from my glory with which I was clothed. So Adam, in response to falling, says that he lost the clothing that he was wearing, this clothing of glory. And Then also in 3 Baruch 4:16, just as Adam, through his tree, this tree, referring to the tree of knowledge, was condemned and was stripped of the glory of God. So it kind of answers the question, wait, if Adam and Eve were naked in the garden and unashamed, and then they eat the fruit and they are still naked, now why are they shamed where before they weren't? This idea that maybe they weren't wearing clothes, but they were clothed with light or glory, and that they had lost that light or that glory, and now they were naked and ashamed. In that sense, it's at least an interpretation, comes from some of the rabbinical literature, some of the ancient beliefs back then, and it has this kind of play on words with skin versus light. [00:21:42] Speaker A: And it kind of makes. I think it gives a little bit more nuance to that whole story, too, because again, the only way that we've been able to explain it in the past Is like, well, now they just knew that they were naked. It's like, well, I mean, I can't. I can't imagine that they were just stupid, you know? Like, I know that. I know that they were innocent. Right? [00:22:02] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:03] Speaker A: And that. But I just don't. I just have always had the hardest time trying to make sense of all of the. Well, I know they were innocent, but it also doesn't just say that they didn't know anything. Clearly they were able to have coherent conversations. [00:22:18] Speaker B: Yeah, they knew they were naked, but they didn't necessarily understand what naked meant. Well, maybe, but at the same time, who else was there? Right. If it's just Adam and Eve, are they ashamed? Because other people are staring at him and pointing at him. So maybe there is something to this idea of light. But we do know in the Bible they like wordplay. They like wordplay a lot. And you have this wordplay with skin versus light, clothing versus not clothing. And you see this. Come again with the word naked. If I were to go to Genesis chapter 2, verse 25, and they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Now the very next verse. Now, the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field. And you're like, wait a second. It's like you switched gears. You're talking about them being naked, and now you're talking about the serpent being subtle. And not just subtle, more subtle. [00:23:13] Speaker A: More subtle. Yeah. Interesting. [00:23:15] Speaker B: The word for naked in Hebrew is arum. The word for subtle is arum. It's another homophone. So you've got this homophone play with light and skin. And now you have it with naked versus subtle. So Adam and Eve were naked and were not ashamed, but the serpent was more naked than any beast of the field. And in a sense, if we're saying that naked is a loss of light, a loss of light or glory, when they lose that light or glory, they become naked and ashamed. Well, the serpent was even more naked or more. Had even less glory, had even less light than what Adam and Eve did. [00:23:53] Speaker A: That's really great perspective. [00:23:59] Speaker B: The Samaritans had some texts in the Bible. A guy from Marca wrote a few things in the three hundreds A.D. he says that Moses ascended. So there is kind of a connection between Adam and Moses. Moses ascends Mount Sinai. He receives the image of God, which Adam cast off in the Garden of Eden. And so in Mama Marca 5:4, says he, referring to Moses, was vested with the form which Adam cast off in the Garden of Eden. And his face shone up to the day of his death. And then in some of the rabbinical traditions, Deuteronomy, Rabba 11, 3 says, Adam said to Moses, I am greater than you because I have been created in the image of God, whence this for it is said. And God created man in his own image. Moses responded. Moses replied to him, I am far superior to you, for the honor which was given to you has been taken away from you, as it is said, but man and man is the same Hebrew word as Adam. So when you say man, you could say Adam or Adam, you could say man. But man or Adam abideth not in honor, quoting Psalms 159:13. But Moses continues, But as for me, the radiant countenance which God gave me still remains with me, whence for it is said? And then Deuteronomy 34:7, his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. I don't know if you remember that part in Deuteronomy. It's kind of interesting when he mentions it because they talk about Moses living 40 years before he's kind of an outcast and goes and lives with Jethro, and then he lives for 40 years with Jethro before he goes back and pulls Egypt, the Israelites out of Egypt. And then he lives 40 years in the wilderness with them before he does not get to go in to enter into the promised land. So going back to your question, do we take it literal or symbolic? Is it many years or 40 years? If we take this literally, he is 120 years old. And I tend to take this a little bit literal because they say as you start to get older, you lose that energy, you lose that vigor. But they have that verse, his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated. So he is almost like saying he still had this vibrance to him, even though he was older. But here the rabbi is interpreting this even differently. He's saying, there's the story when Moses enters the presence of God, that his face shines super bright. And it is almost like saying that he has been clothed upon again with light. That same light that Adam lost. Moses is gaining or regaining by entering back into God's presence. And that light never left Moses. He always shined. That is how the rabbis are interpreting the scripture, that his eyes didn't dim, his countenance, his natural force didn't abate. He maintained that shiny face image all the way up till he wasn't with them anymore. [00:27:12] Speaker A: Would you say that he received his image in his countenance? Yes, yes, that Seems like that's pretty apropos or you know what I mean, like, pretty spot on explanation of what that actually might mean. [00:27:26] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. [00:27:28] Speaker A: Did I take. I didn't read through the notes. Is that. Am I taking your thunder? [00:27:31] Speaker B: No, you're not. I'm glad you're adding. [00:27:34] Speaker A: Okay. Just making sure. [00:27:36] Speaker B: No, it's a good addition. [00:27:37] Speaker A: I'm not cheating. I didn't, I didn't scroll down ahead of you in the notes. I'm just making sure that I'm not. [00:27:42] Speaker B: No, you pulled it. You pulled an excellent New Testament reference that if you take it in context of this, it almost means something different. [00:27:52] Speaker A: Yeah, I think it actually explains what that means pretty well. That is a scripture that we've always. That I've always been like, I think I kind of know what that means. But this actually helps put much more of a fine point on that too. [00:28:05] Speaker B: Yes. And another place in Leviticus, one of the rabbis commenting 102 resh lakish, in the name of R. Simeon, the son of Manasseh, said the apple of Adam's hill outshone the globe of the sun. How much more so the brightness of his face. Trying to talk of how they looked, this brightness before they fell. But then going back to this idea, Moses is a restoration of all things. And I think that is why it is significant that Joseph Smith is bringing this image of a powerful person who was clothed in light as a restorer, someone who is bringing that light back to earth that man once had. And you look at Moses when we talked last week in Doctrine and Covenants, Section 84 about the oath and covenant of the priesthood. And the whole purpose of the priesthood was to prepare us Aaronic priesthood, preparatory for what? The Melchizedek priesthood, which is the ordinances where godliness is made manifest. Enter into the presence of God. The whole purpose, the whole thing of the whole priesthood, the whole point is to come to Christ, to come into his presence. And if you look at Adam and Eve, God walked in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve in the garden. After they were cast out, they lost the presence of God. Also in Genesis it says that water flowed out of the Garden of Eden into the four corners of the earth. And water only flows one direction, and that is down, it doesn't flow up. So if the Garden of Eden watered the whole earth, then the Garden of Eden is this elevated place, this mountain, the mountain of the Lord. Think about Greek mythology, think about any mythology, Mount Olympus, this idea that God resides on this holy mountain. Man was up in a Mountain in the presence of God, enjoying his presence in the garden. And then he was cast out, cast down. Now take Moses and he is passing them over through the waters, the Dead Sea, taking them back into a promised land. And Moses is ascending into a mountain, into the presence of God. So he is regaining God's presence, and his face shines. He is regaining the old glory that man used to have. The whole story of Moses is a story of restoration. Just as he is restoring a nation which used to be their own independent nation that now fell into slavery, and he is pulling them back out and restoring them. He is also talking about the restoration of mankind. We used to be free. We learned things, tree of knowledge. And we have sinned with our knowledge. And we have fallen in decadence, decay. And we need something to restore us. And that's the whole. The whole gospel, everything wrapped up into this point. And the Hebrew word for atonement, which I wonder, is that where we get the word cover from, literally means to cover, kaffar, to cover. And so covering, recovering. When you've lost something, to recover, to cover it back up, to make it right, this is a whole restoration process. And so when you're talking about Joseph Smith now, and he's talking about someone clothed in light in this restoration, think about Moroni when he came and how Joseph Smith describes Moroni, the light shining out where he's not clothed. He was clothed with light, naturally. And he describes these visitations and these angels. I just. I don't know. I think it's cool. [00:32:05] Speaker A: Yeah, it's awesome. It's cool. [00:32:09] Speaker B: Okay. And then he talks about a scepter in his hands. And scepter has been associated with authority, with kingship. We went through staffs in our episode. We did Doctrine Covenants. Section nine, I believe, is where we covered these staffs in church history. So I won't dive quite so deep into this, but I will mention, looking at scepters in the past also have a lot of significance when we talk about the scepter in his hands. You got the staff of Moses that he did all of his miracles with later on, when they were trying to determine who could have the priesthood and who couldn't. Each tribe had their staff and the rod of Aaron, the staff of Aaron is the one that sprouted, saying the Lord chose him. You have this image of a tree that we partook of is what brought death into the world. Yet Christ hanging on the cross, the cross becomes a new tree, almost like the tree of death, because it is what kills Christ. But Then in inverse or in converse, it becomes the tree of life. Because Christ is hanging from this, this post, this staff, if you will. This tree, as a fruit would hang from a tree. And those who partake of his blood and body now have life eternal, the opportunity to live forever, where he is taking that tree of death and turning it into a tree of life for us. And this imagery there, and the staff has played a very significant role throughout the Bible. When the poor guy was chopping in the woods with an axe, and the handle separated from the head of the axe, and the axe flew into the lake and it sunk to the bottom. And the guy says, I'm toast. Because in the law of Moses, if you lost something that you borrowed, you had to not only repay it, you had to repay it seven times. And this guy doesn't have the means to repay it seven times. He didn't even have enough to buy it a first time, or he wouldn't have borrowed it to begin with. And he cries, I'm done. What do I do? And the prophet sees the situation and he grabs a branch and throws it into the water, and it makes the axe float. This whole idea again, of the staff representing Christ, he is the rod, the stem of Jesse. He is this staff. How does it say in Isaiah 53 as this. This dry branch that sprouts from the ground, he is this rod, and you put it in there, and he pays the price that we couldn't pay to restore, to recover, to bring back, and to put things right. And when Christ rides triumphantly into Jerusalem, they greet him by holding palm branches. He is the branch that they have been waiting for. And even going up into the constellations, the constellation Virgo, which means virgin, is holding in her hand what? The branch. The virgin is the one who is bringing the branch to the world to save us all. So this scepter, again, has a very significant role in authority, authorization, but also in restoration and salvation. The atonement, Christ, this idea of a restoration, it's the whole thing that Christ has come to do. Restore Israel, restore us from sin, restore Adam's seed, restore us back to our Father. It's all. I don't know, it's powerful imagery to me. Okay, but also with this, you've got this one player, the strong man, coming in with restoration on one side. But then it's contrasted with the story of the guy that steadied the ark. And I think most of us are familiar with the story in the Old Testament. Again, Joseph Smith leaned real heavy on the Old Testament I enjoy that he did. It gives us some opportunity to talk about the Old Testament as we're doing this. The story of the ark. As Israel was transporting the ark, the ark kind of wobbled or they lost their footing, and it was tipping, and he reached out his hand to steady it. Yeah. And God struck him dead. [00:36:31] Speaker A: Come on, man. [00:36:33] Speaker B: Yeah. That seems like the most unfair story ever. [00:36:36] Speaker A: Seems like. Was it, wasn't it. Was it David that was trying to get it back or something? Like? [00:36:41] Speaker B: It was. It was David. [00:36:43] Speaker A: And. And after that, they all, like, flipped out for a minute, right? They're like, we should probably just put this operation on hold for a minute. [00:36:49] Speaker B: David flipped out. [00:36:50] Speaker A: That's what I'm saying. David was like. [00:36:52] Speaker B: David was upset. He. He. He was. He. He named the play. Okay. Uzzah was the guy that was. That died. [00:37:00] Speaker A: Rest in peace, Uzzah. [00:37:02] Speaker B: And David was kind of shocked by what the Lord did, and he called the place the breach of Uzzah is what he called it. And. And. And he didn't want to take the ark anymore. He said, yeah, you know what? Let's put the ark somewhere else. I don't want it at my house because I don't want to end up dying from it. Totally. [00:37:22] Speaker A: Why would you? [00:37:23] Speaker B: And. And the guy's house, where he sends the ark, becomes extremely prosperous and he's blessed. And then David says, wait, maybe I do want it. And so he says, okay, let's bring it back again. So it is a weird story. It's an interesting story. It doesn't seem fair. Even David didn't think it seemed fair because Dave was like, what in the world just happened, dude? [00:37:47] Speaker A: He was just a dude that was trying to keep this nice thing from falling over out of the cart. [00:37:53] Speaker B: Right. So does the Lord punish us for trying to go the extra mile when in the New Testament, he says, if somebody asks you for your cloak, give him your coat. Also, if he says, go with you one mile, go with him, too. If the ark starts to tip, steady the thing, man. So there's got to be more to the story. [00:38:09] Speaker A: I'm hoping that you're going to give us the rest of the story, because I've always wondered about this story. I was like, man, this seems kind of unfair, dude. [00:38:15] Speaker B: Yeah, well, first off, who was Uzzah? Was. What was his role? Was he just a normal person? Just some schmo that was walking along and he touched the ark? [00:38:24] Speaker A: No, I thought that isn't David. Didn't David basically, like, assign these two dudes to go and get the thing. [00:38:31] Speaker B: Yes. [00:38:32] Speaker A: To move this thing. So they were like, these aren't just two dudes off the street. [00:38:36] Speaker B: No. Uzzah was a Levite. [00:38:38] Speaker A: Okay, that's even better. [00:38:40] Speaker B: And Levites were authorized to transport the Ark. [00:38:45] Speaker A: This is not getting any better. [00:38:47] Speaker B: So here's the context. Here's the story. Let's see if we can make some sense of it. [00:38:50] Speaker A: All right. [00:38:51] Speaker B: Amminadab is. Abinadab is the guy whose house has housed the Ark for 70 years now. And what's it doing at his house? So I guess let's back up a little bit. The Philistines sacked Israel, and they took the Ark. And they took the Ark. [00:39:10] Speaker A: But didn't it just curse them the entire time that they had it? [00:39:13] Speaker B: Yeah. So what happens when you conquer another place is you want to send a clear message to them that the reason I won is because my God. [00:39:23] Speaker A: Oh, that's right. [00:39:24] Speaker B: Made me win. My God is better than your God. [00:39:28] Speaker A: Wait a minute. I think I know this story, too. I don't mean to kill your thunder. I'm always just excited when I know anything. [00:39:33] Speaker B: Do it. [00:39:34] Speaker A: They went and put it up against, like, the statue of their God, and they came back the next morning. Right. And their statue was, like, bowed down to it or something. [00:39:42] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:39:43] Speaker A: And then everybody was like, oh, this got to be a mistake. And then they did it again. And didn't. Didn't it, like, wasn't their statue, like, the head was missing or something like that? [00:39:53] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:39:53] Speaker A: Like, first it was trying to be like, look, your God's bowing to this God. And then it was like, now? No, now our God destroyed your God. [00:40:02] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah, that's exactly it. So the Philistines, on their campaign, they conquer these areas, they take the gods from all of these areas, including the Ark of the Covenant, they bring it back into their temple. [00:40:14] Speaker A: That's right. [00:40:14] Speaker B: And they put them subservient to their God. [00:40:17] Speaker A: That's right. [00:40:17] Speaker B: But when their God bows to the Ark, they're like, whoa, maybe it just tipped over. Something set it back up. And then you're right. Yeah. It breaks it and makes it kneel, like, subservient to the Ark again. And they're like, we don't want this. [00:40:29] Speaker A: But they kept it, though. [00:40:31] Speaker B: They took it back. [00:40:32] Speaker A: Well, but before they took it back. And I could be wrong about this. I know they eventually took it back, but. But again, like, I should probably actually read up on this before I just say this, but I think that they still were like. It was kind of like. It was Very similar to the whole Moses and Pharaoh situation, where there was a stubborn pride in that. Where, like, well, we don't want to give back. So they would send. They sent it to, like, a village. And then that village, everybody got, like, sick. Like, everybody got, like, some skin disease or pox or something like that. And then they were like, well, we don't want it anymore. And so then they were like, okay, well, we don't want to give it back, so send it somewhere else. They sent it somewhere else. I think they sent it a couple places, and everywhere they sent it, it would curse wherever they sent it to, where then when they're like, we should send it somewhere else, everybody's like, we don't want this. So the Philistines sent it back. [00:41:24] Speaker B: So they send it back to Israel, and that's where this story picks up. They send it to Abinadab's house. Well, Abinadab is the one that takes it and houses it. He is a priest. He's a Levite. His responsibility is to keep this thing. Well, to maintain it. [00:41:44] Speaker A: We're assuming he's not touching it either, though, right? Because wasn't there something very clear rules on? Like, you don't look inside of this thing. You don't touch it. [00:41:52] Speaker B: Absolutely. That's it. That's it. So he's a Levite. It's at his house. It sits there for 70 years. This is during the reign of Saul and crosses over to the reign of David. [00:42:04] Speaker A: So had the temple been built yet? [00:42:06] Speaker B: Not yet. [00:42:07] Speaker A: Okay. [00:42:07] Speaker B: And that's where David comes in. Because when David becomes the king, he changes the capital city. And now he's going to make. Jerusalem is now going to become Zion, the fort, the stronghold. He's moving things. So he's building a tabernacle to house the Ark of the Covenant until he can build a temple, a permanent building. And he builds a huge palace for himself. And he's going to. Yeah. Yes. So now he's moving the Ark of the Covenant to his tabernacle in Jerusalem. So he goes that Uzzah is a son of Abinadab and he's got two sons. And again, sons. We can use it loosely here. 70 years. It could be sons, could also be grandsons, just descendants of. Because he's going to rely on the priests to move this thing, but they're not high priests, they're Levites. And the Book of Leviticus has some very clear rules about how to move the Ark of the Covenant. The Levites cannot touch it. And in fact, it Says in Leviticus, do not touch it, lest you die. So go back again. This is the same language that we see in the Garden of Eden. Do not partake of the fruit unless you die. The priests are told, do not touch it unless you die. And you can transport it? Absolutely. Because this is a tabernacle that went with Israel wherever they went. [00:43:38] Speaker A: But they would carry it on, like, wooden staffs, though. [00:43:40] Speaker B: Exactly. [00:43:40] Speaker A: Still wouldn't touch it. [00:43:41] Speaker B: So the high priest would cover the ark, and then they would put the staves through the rings on the side of it, so that you could have Levites come and carry it touching the poles, but they wouldn't touch the ark itself. [00:43:57] Speaker A: Have you ever seen Spinal Tap? [00:44:00] Speaker B: No. Okay. [00:44:01] Speaker A: There's just a great part in it when, like, the person doesn't get how great the guitar is, and he says, don't. He's like, don't touch it. Don't even think about it. When I hear this story, I'm like, don't touch it. Don't even think about it. [00:44:14] Speaker B: Don't even think about it. [00:44:15] Speaker A: It's a little. It's a little. Anybody that's seen Spinal Tap, hopefully will get a small chuckle out of that. All right, continue. [00:44:20] Speaker B: Okay, so these priests and I should make the. Make sure. I should make the clarification. They are Levites, right? Their job is to. To transport it, to take care of it, but they're not supposed to be looking at it. They're not supposed to be touching it. And how are they supposed to carry it? We just went through this. They're supposed to carry it by hand. [00:44:42] Speaker A: Oh, so not on a cart. [00:44:44] Speaker B: Not on a cart. [00:44:45] Speaker A: All right, all right. Okay, we're getting somewhere. [00:44:48] Speaker B: They're not even supposed to be carrying this thing on a cart. It's supposed to be carried by hand. And what do they do? They get a new cart. They load up the ark on the cart, and they have the ox pull it rather than them transporting it. Who transported the ark like that? The Philistines. So what are they doing? They are doing what the Philistines did in transporting this ark and not taking care of it, not treating it, not giving it its due, whatever. Right. And just as you went through the history, it was a curse to the Philistines. And so here they are transporting it by cart with an ox pulling it. And I don't think there is coincidence here. It sounds kind of ironic, but this happens at the threshing floor. As they get to the threshing floor, where wheat gets thrown down and threshed it's probably a smooth, polished stone. And maybe the ox slips on the stone, stumbles, and it causes the cart to wobble, and he reaches out to steady the ark. But his responsibility was to be carrying the ark, and he's not supposed to touch it, lest he die. And he reaches out and touches it, and just as the Lord said, he dies. [00:46:09] Speaker A: He was doomed, though, because. Let's just follow through with the thought of this. Say he doesn't reach out and touch it. What do you think happens? [00:46:18] Speaker B: And then the ark falls to the ground. [00:46:20] Speaker A: And then probably what happens? He looks inside of it and dies. He sees inside of it and dies. He was just done. [00:46:30] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't know if it's Indiana Jones. [00:46:33] Speaker A: Type art, still like that, but there was a rule that only one person. [00:46:38] Speaker B: Yes, you're right. [00:46:39] Speaker A: I'm just saying, like, I know that there had to be something with that. [00:46:42] Speaker B: He put himself in a situation. [00:46:43] Speaker A: Don't even look inside of it. Don't even think about it. [00:46:46] Speaker B: And I guess that's the lesson, right? If you think you know better than the Lord, and you start doing things in some way that you think is better, hey, we don't need to carry this anymore. We've got oxes for this. Why don't we just do this? My way is better. And then you end up in a situation that you just. You're put in a situation where you're going to fail. So it's not like it was just some guy walking around trying to do a good thing. I mean, there's some very specific commandments, there's very specific instructions, and he thought he knew better. [00:47:20] Speaker A: He did. Rest in peace, dude. [00:47:23] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's something that. It's something that I think we can see a little bit clearer in other people, but it's something that's hard to see in ourselves. And maybe to point this example out, I had a bishop in Mexico on my mission. There's a family that recently converts, and we were bringing them. The bishop wasn't in my ward. He was in the neighboring ward, but he had known the girl before. And he came to our new convert, and he told her, if you want to progress in the church, if you want to make it to the celestial kingdom, if you want to whatever, then you should be going to my ward, not your ward. And so in my mind, it's like steadying the ark. And you're saying, this is going to be better for you. I'm smarter. I'm going to do things my way, and it's going to work out better than the Lord's way, because these people aren't as smart or this isn't as good, or this isn't going to work for any number of reasons. And it's significant that it's someone who's called to the work, someone who should know better, who should understand, who is a priest, who's been given specific instructions, and yet you think your way is better. It's easy to see that from the outside, but maybe harder to see it from the inside when you're the one doing those things. In my case, in the example there, I mean, it kind of bothered me. I talked to the stake president and I think the bishop ended up getting in trouble. He later got excommunicated. I think he had a couple issues, but. Sorry, I don't know why. [00:49:22] Speaker A: C' est la vie. [00:49:23] Speaker B: C' est la vie. The bishop, as many problems or whatever issues he ran into, he wasn't struck dead. And I think there's an important clarification here. I don't think you go into the bishop's handbook and it tells you, if you start telling people to do this or to go to your ward versus any other ward, I am going to kill you. [00:49:45] Speaker A: Yeah, that would be weird. [00:49:46] Speaker B: Yeah. It is different. Even though it is similar and even though we can learn from it, there is a difference. God's not going to kill you for these examples of steadying the ark, if you will, in our day. Unless he explicitly says, don't do that or I will kill you. [00:50:11] Speaker A: I mean, he's good to his word. [00:50:13] Speaker B: There's not a lot of. I don't think there's. There might not be any examples today where he explicitly says, I mean, wasn't. [00:50:19] Speaker A: It a big thing if you curse God, you're gonna die or something? Curse God and die. Isn't that. Isn't that still a thing? [00:50:24] Speaker B: That's what they were telling Job to do. Right. Your life so miserable it's not worth living anymore. [00:50:29] Speaker A: Curse God, let him kill you. [00:50:32] Speaker B: Yeah, I guess that would be the easy way out. Right. [00:50:34] Speaker A: Okay. Thank goodness there's no commandments right now that are like, if you don't do this, I'm going to kill you. [00:50:41] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, this is where it gets chilling to me, is in the letter that Joseph Smith writes and what we have, doctrine covenant, section 85 is an excerpt, if you will, from the letter. It's not the full letter itself. So if you go into the Come follow me discussion and you click on the historical context right on the LDS tools in the Gospel Library it allows you to read the full letter. And not only that, but when the scribe was writing it, he stopped. And then Joseph Smith took over, and Joseph Smith accidentally transcribed in the wrong spot and wrote a whole section of it. And they crossed all of that out because it was supposed to be at the bottom of the letter. And then the scribe took back over and fixed it and wrote it. So, like, all of that's preserved if you go and want to read the full letter. But in the full letter, Joseph Smith says, brother William, if what I have said is true, how careful then had men ought to be what they do in the last days, lest they are cut short of their expectations. And they that think they should stand or they that think they stand should fall because they kept not the commandments or they kept not the Lord's commandments. That's what scares me. Those that think they should stand, should fall. They are cut short of their expectations. Because a lot of times we talk about this and we say, aren't we our own judges? We know where we should be. We know where we should end up. But then again, look at the people that intentionally took the 116 pages and changed it so that they could trip up the prophet, thinking that they were on the Lord's errand, trying to expose someone who was going to destroy people. Those that cut short of their expectations and they think they stand, but they should fall. How do you know if you are actually falling when you think that you are standing? If it is not just our expectations or not just what we think is what we are doing? How do we know if we are one of those people caught in that trap where we are acting and steadying the ark and acting outside of our office? Good luck. It's scary. It's scary. I think maybe the key to that is because they keep not the Lord's commandments. And that's. I mean, you go back to the guy that steadied the ark, ultimately, what did it come down to? The Lord said, this is how it needs to be transported. You cannot look at it, you cannot touch it. And yet this is how it was done, contrary to the Lord's commandments. If what we are doing, we are doing is outside of the Lord's commandments, and we are breaking them. That is something that we can use to kind of keep us in check. Yeah, maybe it is for the better good. But are you breaking commandments to get there? Are you viewing yourself as an exception? It is kind of interesting. Sorry to bring in missionary stories on this, but down in My last area in the mission before I went home. Last, shoot, I don't know, Last six months or so. I got into this area, brand new there, and my new companion. And in this area, they hadn't had a baptism for six months. And in our mission in Mexico, it was a goal that you had a baptism a week. So not having a baptism for six months is kind of substantial, kind of a big deal. And a lot of people. I mean, the idea was this area is just a really bad area. And so I met with my new companion. I was the zone leader. He was the district leader. We were excited to kind of work together and figure things out. And I asked for the. What do you call it? The area folder, the carpeta de aria, the notebook that had the people you're teaching in it. Blank. There was nothing in there. It was empty. And I am like, okay, we got a blank slate here. So as I got with my companion, we discussed and said, what would be a good goal for our first month down here? Do we want to have the goal to do one baptism a week? So there are four weeks, four baptisms, or is that kind of a stretch where we are in an area that hasn't baptized in six months, and we are brand new here, trying to figure things out with no one in a teaching pool. Maybe we should. Maybe we should work our way up to that goal. So we talked it over, we thought about it, we prayed about it, and we set our goal at four baptisms for that month now in the mission. And maybe this is worldwide now. I don't know. We had a lot of problems with people just baptizing anybody in Mexico. And they said, all right, we need baptisms, yes, but we need converts. We need people that are staying with the church, not just getting baptized and disappearing. So you have to have somebody come to church twice before they are able to get baptized. Two sacrament meetings before you can baptize them. So we set our goal for baptisms. And the first Sunday, we were really excited because we had like six or seven people tell us that they would come to church with us that Sunday. And we went to all six or seven houses, and everybody had an excuse for why they couldn't make it anymore. And we were like, oh, shoot. And so we were lucky. We had the first meeting. There was two blocks in the building, right? So right after sacrament meeting, we said, okay, we will come back and grab you, see if we can get you to. The afternoon we went back out. And same thing. We failed. I am like, okay, that's all right, we still got three weeks left in the month. Let's see what we can do. Let's try to set our sights a little bit higher. So this next week we had 13 people rather than the six or seven we doubled. How many people said they would come to church with us. We had some of the same old ones, but we had a lot more new ones that were that said, yeah, we'll be there. And we were making sure that they were like, yes, we're going to be there. But again, we go out there and nothing. And we go out there again for the second block and again nothing. And we're getting a little bit discouraged. But you know, we still have two Sundays left before the end of the month. We could still get two. You know, we still had one more shot at this. The next week, same thing. We get even more people. We are going out. We have the ward mission leader driving us around in his truck, which is kind of a rare thing in Mexico, having transportation. But we are going around. Not only did everyone say no, but at this point we are asking everyone off the street that we see, like, hey, just come to church with us, whatever we could do. Just desperate mad attempt. And not a single person came to church with us. And I was so upset. And I remember after. After church was over, we went home and I laid on the floor. I don't know, I must have read it somewhere in the Old Testament, this idea that praying. You just got as low and humble as you could. I just laid on my face on the floor with my arms stretched out and just prayed, crying, like what? We've done everything you've asked. We've gone out, we've taught as many discussions as we can. We've tried to get as many people into church. We set this goal because we felt this is what you wanted us to do. This was the mission goal. And we felt like you were going to be there for us. We got up on time, we did our scripture study. We have done everything that you have asked for. How come we haven't had any success? What happened? And I don't know, it was like an hour long prayer. It was a pretty devastating moment for me. And as I was laying there, all of a sudden a voice came to me and said, you didn't work with the members. And that was a big focus in our mission at that time. We were asked to work with the members, not just go tracting and finding as many people can try to do this all of ourselves, our own way. But I guess one of the Commandments, if you will, for us was to work with the members. So I got up excited, I grabbed my companion, I said, I think I've got it. Here's what we need to do. We devised a plan to start reaching out to all of the members, contacting them, asking them who they know that we can teach, setting up appointments for every. I don't know if it was Monday nights or what it was. To come in and have a discussion with members and their friends that they would invite changed everything that we did. And that week, as we were at a park member's home, they had family visiting from Arizona. And the family said, look, we've had the missionary discussions for, I don't know, the past three months they've been attending church in Arizona. And they had put off baptism just so they could come down and be baptized with their family that lived in our area. So they had already been to church more than two weeks. And so the last Sunday, when we thought that everything was impossible, that we had failed, that everything had fallen, fallen out, we had six baptisms, two more than our goal of four. And the Lord delivered. And the whole thing was I thought we were being obedient, and I felt like we were going to get cut short of our expectations and that I thought we should be standing, and yet here we were at the point of falling. And it was all because we were not keeping the commandments. And so I think commandments, it's more than just thou shalt not kill. It's more than just wait till you are 16 or whatever the case may be for all of these different things. But what is the Lord specifically asking us to do? And how is the Lord asking us to do it? Are we seeking revelation? Are we seeking inspiration? And are we following through on those things? And is that what is keeping us safe and helping to deliver us and making a stand when we should stand and keeping us from falling when we are about to fall. So for what it is worth, it kind of scares me to think that we could fall short and that I could be caught in a trap where I'm steadying the ark or I think I'm doing things better. And maybe it's just a little bit of self evaluation or self assessment or maybe before we blame the Lord or the church or whatever is around us, we need to take a deep look at ourselves and, and find out what is the cause, what is hitting us, what is it? And this was specifically directed. Joseph Smith was asked about this revelation, specifically directed at Edward Partridge, who was a great bishop he receives a lot of praise and a lot of recognition in the early days of the church. But for whatever reason, early on, he disagreed a lot with the prophet Joseph Smith from time to time. And he thought he could do things better than the prophet who's getting these revelations and revealing these things and whatnot. So it worked out really well for Edward Partridge. He wasn't struck dead. But at times the Lord counsels us and helps us so that we don't end up in that situation. There's a lot of other cool things about the steadying the ark, and maybe we'll hold off on that until we hit the New Testament. Excuse me, the Old Testament, for sake of time, but David running around in an ephod in front of the ark. Ephod was worn by the high priest. What's David doing with an ephod? And he gets criticized by one of his wives, who was Saul's before him. It says, you are out there dancing in front of everybody and making yourself look like a fool. What is going on there? Samuel was also wearing an ephod. Samuel was an Ephraimite. What is he doing with an ephod? With the priesthood. And David, he offers sacrifices, he blesses the people, he does all of these priestly offices, yet he is from the tribe of Judah. So how do you have an Ephraim and a Judah performing priesthood responsibilities and priesthood ordinances when none of them are from the tribe of Levi? So there are some interesting questions we will get to dive into. Honestly, I think as a king, he's taking on a role of a higher priesthood, the Melchizedek priesthood. Almost kind of like a stake president versus your bishop, your high priest being a bishop and your stake president presiding over the nation. [01:03:14] Speaker A: Can't wait to get into that in the Old Testament. [01:03:16] Speaker B: Yeah, there's actually a lot of really cool things we can talk about with that story. Let's dive into 86, though. Doctrine and Covenants. Section 86 is a revelation about the wheat and the tares. Joseph Smith had translated the New Testament and he left the story the wheat and the tares, exactly as written. But in this revelation, things change. In the New Testament, it says, first gather the tares, bundle them together and throw them in the fire. Joseph Smith translation matches that. But in this revelation, it says, no, grab the wheat first and bundle the wheat, and then they are going to burn the tares that are left in the field. So which is it? Is it the wheat gets gathered first or the tares gets gathered first? And the way I See this, you are looking at the New Testament version. It is referring to the people at that time, as the gospel is coming to them. This restoration period, if you will, this dispensation and the gathering of the tares versus the wheat. And now this is a new dispensation. And the same parable is being used, but to apply to a new time. And just as you have, the first shall be last and the last shall be first. And the Gospel goes to the Jews and then the Gentiles, and then it shall go to the Gentiles and then the Jews. It creates this wonderful chiastic structure. First, last, last, first, Jews, Gentiles, Gentiles, Jews. Well, now you have wheat, tares, tares. Excuse me, I got that backwards. Tares, wheat, wheat, tares. So it's kind of cool how that order gets switched around and matches for our dispensation. So I don't see that as a problem difference with the Scripture. I look at that as being applied to a new dispensation in a way that. That fits the structure in a beautiful poetic form. But it is interesting. The last three verses here, 8 through 11, says, Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you with whom the priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers. Who's he talking about? Thus saith the Lord unto you with whom the priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers. And if this is the restoration of the Gospel, the priesthood has not continued through your fathers to Joseph Smith or to any of the people that he has ordained. The only people that have a claim through their fathers to the priesthood are Levites. Go Back to Ezra 2 61. Anyone that can declare their lineage all the way back without any holes or missing anything, to Levi, or to Aaron, to Moses, to this tribe, this line. They are entitled to the priesthood. Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you with whom the priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers. For you are lawful heirs according to the flesh. Just the simple fact that you've been born into that entitles you to that priesthood. You don't have to qualify for it necessarily through your righteousness, through the ordination, the deacons, the priests, what we do in this church. This is more, you're born because this is yours forever. This is your family's, your birthright, and have been hid from the world with Christ and 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 mouth of all the holy prophets. Since the world began, there is Still a role to play for Levites today. We are waiting for that time. Therefore, blessed are ye if you continue in my goodness. A light unto the Gentiles and through this priesthood, a savior unto my people Israel. The Lord hath said it. Amen. I don't know that I fully understand it, but it's cool that the Lord puts these references in here and they are almost like little hints or breadcrumbs or trails or side quests, if you will, of there's something here, but I'm not going to say anything more about it. And it kind of piques our curiosity. And maybe these are the things that we should be asking and finding out, like, follow that trail, follow that breadcrumb, ask that question. How many times in the Scriptures does the Lord say, ask and you shall receive? He doesn't say that for nothing. He says that and then he throws things like this out there just to confuse us. And he's like, I'm trying to give you opportunities to ask. If you can't think of anything to ask here, let me give you a few things. Let me drop something in your lap. [01:08:19] Speaker A: So I like it. [01:08:20] Speaker B: I think it's cool how that ends. Last one, section 87. [01:08:24] Speaker A: Let's just do a quick, quick one of this, okay? We've already kind of talked about this a little bit, so let's just. Maybe just hit a couple of the high points. [01:08:31] Speaker B: Okay? Will do. Civil war James M. McPherson, popular historian. He says if the same percentage of Americans were to be killed in a war fought today, the number of American war dead would exceed 6 million. The number of casualties suffered in a single day at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862 was four times the number of Americans killed and wounded at Normandy beaches on D Day. That's a lot more Americans were killed in action that September day near Sharpsburg, Maryland, than died in combat in all the other wars fought by the United states in the 19th century combined. [01:09:09] Speaker A: Crazy. [01:09:10] Speaker B: Just to give you an idea of how bad this was, and in this revelation, Joseph Smith is seeing this war play out. But he says the war's plural. He mentions it with an S. He's not just prophesying the Civil War, but he says this is something that's going to embroil all of the nation's multiple wars to follow. And in cause of all the nations in international history of the American Civil War, there's a story. It says, so it seems your republic is going to pieces. An unnamed Hyatt officer in the French imperial government Snidely remarked to the American guests attending a conc at the Emperor Napoleon III's residence in the Tulares Palace. It was early March 1861, and the news coming over by the steamship that winter all pointed toward the rupture of La Grande Republique. Oh no, I hope not yet. The flustered American answered, yes, but it will. The French official replied, no republic ever stood so long and never will. Self government is a utopia, sir. You must have a strong government as the only condition of a long existence. All the European nations, if I could just read Walt Whitman, he said there is certainly not one government in Europe, but is now watching the war in this country with the ardent prayer that the United States may be effectually split, crippled and dismembered by it. There is not one, but would help towards the dismemberment if it dared. Everyone was looking at this experiment, hoping that the Republic, the self government would fail. And when it didn't fail, the reason why they hoped it would fail is because it would mean the end of all of this imperialism and monarchies. And that's what drove World War II, World War I is this imperialism these old style which is replaced with the idea of democracy. So this prophecy is not just about the Civil War, but the wars to follow to change to a self governed world where it could be liberty. And I think the parallels here, you look at the martyrdom of Joseph Smith and the persecution that the early church went through and then compare that to the fire that the American people went through and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. And yet it survived everything they thought would crush it and destroy it survived as a light to the rest of the world, to change, to become free, to liberate the captive. And I think that's the great message of the America to the world, is to liberate, to be free. Well, that's the message of the Gospel, to liberate. And it's cool that they coincide so tightly with each other at the start here. And I think Joseph Smith had kind of a vision or a grasp for it. [01:11:57] Speaker A: That's awesome. Good work, Jason. [01:12:01] Speaker B: Thank you. [01:12:02] Speaker A: What are we talking about next week? [01:12:03] Speaker B: Next week we're diving into Doctrine Covenants 88 again. This is one of my favorite sections. I pulled from here the scriptures for my missionary plaque before I went on my mission. So I love this section. Awesome. [01:12:16] Speaker A: Until next week. [01:12:16] Speaker B: See ya. [01:12:24] Speaker A: Sam.