Choose ye this day

I came across a great talk by Elder Maxwell on Templestudy.com that I think has alot of relevence to today. It was given at a BYU devotional 30 years ago on October 10, 1978. Here are a few excerpts:

"Discipleship includes good citizenship; and in this connection, if you are careful students of the statements of the modern prophets, you will have noticed that with rare exceptions–especially when the First Presidency has spoken out–the concerns expressed have been over moral issues, not issues between political parties. The declarations are about principles, not people, and causes, not candidates. On occasions, at other levels in the Church, a few have not been so discreet, so wise, or so inspired.

"But make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters; in the months and years ahead, events will require of each member that he or she decide whether or not he or she will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions (see 1 Kings 18:21).

"President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had “never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional, or political life” (CR, April 1941, p. 123). This is a hard doctrine, but it is a particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ.

"We are now entering a period of incredible ironies. Let us cite but one of these ironies which is yet in its subtle stages: we shall see in our time a maximum if indirect effort made to establish irreligion as the state religion. It is actually a new form of paganism that uses the carefully preserved and cultivated freedoms of Western civilization to shrink freedom even as it rejects the value essence of our rich Judeo-Christian heritage. . . .

"Brothers and sisters, irreligion as the state religion would be the worst of all combinations. Its orthodoxy would be insistent and its inquisitors inevitable. Its paid ministry would be numerous beyond belief. Its Caesars would be insufferably condescending. Its majorities–when faced with clear alternatives–would make the Barabbas choice, as did a mob centuries ago when Pilate confronted them with the need to decide.

"Your discipleship may see the time come when religious convictions are heavily discounted. M. J. Sobran also observed, “A religious conviction is now a second-class conviction, expected to step deferentially to the back of the secular bus, and not to get uppity about it” (Human Life Review, Summer 1978, p. 58). This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain of people’s opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions. Resistance to abortion will soon be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened.

"In its mildest form, irreligion will merely be condescending toward those who hold to traditional Judeo-Christian values. In its more harsh forms, as is always the case with those whose dogmatism is blinding, the secular church will do what it can to reduce the influence of those who still worry over standards such as those in the Ten Commandments. It is always such an easy step from dogmatism to unfair play–especially so when the dogmatists believe themselves to be dealing with primitive people who do not know what is best for them. It is the secular bureaucrat’s burden, you see.

"Am I saying that the voting rights of the people of religion are in danger? Of course not! Am I saying, “It’s back to the catacombs?” No! But there is occurring a discounting of religiously-based opinions. There may even be a covert and subtle disqualification of some for certain offices in some situations, in an ironic “irreligious test” for office.

"However, if people are not permitted to advocate, to assert, and to bring to bear, in every legitimate way, the opinions and views they hold that grow out of their religious convictions, what manner of men and women would they be, anyway? Our founding fathers did not wish to have a state church established nor to have a particular religion favored by government. They wanted religion to be free to make its own way. But neither did they intend to have irreligion made into a favored state church. Notice the terrible irony if this trend were to continue. When the secular church goes after its heretics, where are the sanctuaries? To what landfalls and Plymouth Rocks can future pilgrims go? . . ."

Revelation of His Secret

Orson Pratt:
The day is at hand, the morning has broken, the sun of the Gospel has arisen in the eastern horizon, and is beginning to shine with a degree of splendour. The time is near—how near, no man knoweth: the day and the hour when the Son of Man shall come is a secret. In a revelation given to this Church, it is said that no man shall know until he comes; therefore we cannot expect to know the day nor the hour; but we know it is near at hand, and what a consolation it is. There may be men that will know within a year—that will have revelation to say within one or two years when the Lord shall appear. I do not know that there is anything against this.

(Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [London: Latter-day Saints' Book Depot, 1854-1886], 8: 49.)


Joseph Smith:
Christ says, "No man knoweth the day or the hour when the Son of Man cometh." . . . Did Christ speak this as a general principle throughout all generations? Oh no; he spoke in the present tense. No man that was then living upon the footstool of God knew the day or the hour. But he did not say that there was no man throughout all generations that should know the day or the hour. No, for this would be in flat contradiction with other scripture, for the prophet says that God will do nothing but what he will reveal unto his servants the prophets [ Amos 3:7]. Consequently, if it is not made known to the prophets it will not come to pass.

Kent P. Jackson, comp. and ed., Joseph Smith's Commentary on the Bible [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1994], 112.)

Sealed in their foreheads

At work I'm listening to the audiobook "Prophecies" by Matthew B. Brown. He talks about Revelation 7:3 which reads:

"Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads."

He quotes a statement by Joseph Smith which explains what it means for someone to be sealed in their forehead:

“SEALING OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD.—August 13, 1843. "Four destroying angels holding power over the four quarters of the earth until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads, which signifies sealing the blessing upon their heads, meaning the everlasting covenant, thereby making their calling and election sure. When a seal is put upon the father and mother, it secures their posterity, so that they cannot be lost, but will be saved by virtue of the covenant of their father and mother."

It means that those servants will have their calling and election made sure by the laying on of hands.

Chapter 7 then goes on to mention that there will be 144,000 of these servants who will have this privilege. The Israelites, to give a number a superlative quality, squared it, hence 12 tribes, 12x12=144. to exaggerate it further they multiplied it by 1000. John's audience would not have taken this number literally. They would have understood it to be describing a fullness of individuals taken from each of the twelve tribes who will enjoy the privilege of having their calling and election made sure and who will serve the Lord in the last days. Verse 9 describes these people as being: "a great multitude, which no man could number".

Update - 1/16/11 - This sealing in the forehead refers to the gold plate bearing the inscription כדש יהוה (Holy to Jehovah) which was attached to the mitre which the high priest wore. This plate was located just above the forehead.

Harold Bloom on Joseph Smith

Harold Bloom, a Sterling Professor of the Humanities at Yale University, once said this about Joseph Smith:

"I can only attribute to his genius or daemons his uncanny recovery of elements in ancient Jewish theurgy that had ceased to be available either to Judaism or to Christianity, and that had survived only in esoteric traditions unlikely to have touched Smith directly." (Harold Bloom, The American Religion. Page number?)

Courtesy of TempleStudy.com

Joseph's Coat of Certain Marks

This comes from Hugh Nibley:

The idea of a garment of many colors is an invention. If you look in your Bible every time it mentions many colors the word colors (even in the commentary) is in italics [the word in italics is actually many] because it is put in there by modern editors. It’s found in no ancient source. It’s not a garment of many colors at all. A garment of certain marks is the term that’s used here. We’ll see what it is in a second. “This garment had belonged to Abraham, and it already had a long history.” It’s history was lengthy because it went back to the Garden of Eden, you see. That’s the garment; it’s the only one. Just as we treat the story of Cain and Abel, we trivialize this. We say, “Joseph was the youngest kid, so his father favored him and gave him a pretty garment of many colors.” There is no mention in any ancient source of a garment of many colors. That’s an invention of modern editors trying to explain it. But here it was the garment he gave him. It was the garment of the priesthood. No wonder they were jealous of him, they being the elder brothers and he the younger in the patriarchal line coming down from Abraham. This garment had belonged to Abraham and had come down to Joseph instead of to the other brethren...

When Joseph’s brethren returned to give the coat back to Jacob, other ancient documents and literature as well as understanding the meaning of the source languages help us understand what happened next:

Here we have “I detect, I perceive, I note.” (He’s blind, you see.) “the odor, the spirit, the smell of Joseph, if you do not think me out of my head from old age and a bit barmy.” It talks about the spirit that is in it, the east wind that has brought it, etc. And this is a very important thing: “When they placed it upon the face of Jacob, he smelled also the smell of the Garden of Eden. For behold there is not in all the earth another garment that has that smell in it.” This is a unique thing; this is the garment. “For there is not in any other garment on earth of the winds of the garden of Eden, unless it is in this one garment.” So you can see why the brethren were so jealous; it was the garment of the priesthood. The commentator says he recognized that it was Joseph’s garment by feeling it first because it had three marks in it.

-Nibley Teachings of the Book of Mormon 3:51-52 from templestudy.com

The Baptism of Jesus

Why did Jesus Christ wait until the age of 30 to be baptized? The Lord explained in JST Gen. 17: 11 that children were circumcised at eight days old to remind us that children are not accountable until the age of eight. It is the common practice in the Church today to baptize at the age of eight and because of the scripture in Genesis it appears as though that was the custom anciently.

When Joseph Smith was translating the Book of Mormon, he and Oliver Cowdrey came across a scripture about baptism. They were inspired to seek some instruction regarding the matter and as a result John the Baptist appeared to them and confered the Aaronic Priesthood. Immediately after that Joseph and Oliver baptized each other. Follwing the organization of the Church Joseph and Oliver were once again baptized. A person is baptized for a few purposes, one of which is for a remission of their sins. When Joseph and Oliver were initially baptized it was probably done for this reason. Another purpose of baptism is for entrance into the Church of Jesus Christ. During their first baptism there was no church to be baptized into, therefore Joseph and Oliver were under the necessity of being re-baptized. HC 1:39-40

A similar situation is found in the Book of Mormon. Prior to the visit of the Savior to the Nephites baptism was practiced among the faithful. During his visit Jesus Christ instructed those he taught to be baptized. Joseph Fielding Smith explains why:

"There is nothing strange in the fact that when the Lord came to the Nephites, Nephi was baptized and so was everybody else although they had been baptized before.

"The Church among the Nephites before the coming of Christ was not in its fulness and was under the law of Moses. The Savior restored the fulness and gave to them all the ordinances and blessings of the gospel. Therefore, it actually became a new organization, and through baptism they came into it. (III Nephi 9:15-22; 11:10-40; 12:18-19; 15:4-10.)" AGQ 3:205

It is possible the Savior waited until the age of thirty to be baptized because he didn't need baptism prior to this time to receive a remission of his sins because of his sinlessness.

Another possibility is that he was baptized at the age of eight to fulfill the requirement and then was re-baptized at the age of thrity for entrance into his Church which he was in the process of organizing.

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God

I've always loved this quote from Joseph Smith:

"The Heavens declare the glory of a God and the firmament showeth his handiwork and a moment's reflection is sufficient to teach any man of common intelligence that all these are not the mere productions of chance"
-HC 2:13 - 14

President Hinckley

I view it as a great privilege that I've had the chance to live during the administration of Gordon B. Hinckley. As the tributes have been filling the airwaves in recent days I've thought a lot about the past twelve years and what has happened in the Church and in my life. I owe a lot to President Hinckley. He was the prophet during some of my most formative years. He became the prophet the year I graduated from high school. His signature graces my mission call and it was partially through his instrumentality that I was able to spend a semester in Israel studying at one of the most remarkable buildings in Jerusalem. Most importantly, he presided over the Church when I was promised, along with my wife, all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Someone once suggested to President Hinckley that he ought to slow down, enjoy life, take it easy. His reply was this:

"I would enjoy sitting in a rocker, swallowing prescriptions, and listening to soft music, and contemplating the universe, but that offers no challenge and makes no contribution,"

And what a great contribution he did make. I hope someday I might be able to look back on my life and say that I have, in some small measure, followed the example of President Hinckley and made the lives of those around me a little bit better.