During their visitation from four heavenly messengers Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received important keys for the building up of the Church in this dispensation. Christ first came and accepted the Kirtland temple. Following the Savior’s visit Moses appeared and gave them the “keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north.” In his talk “The Gathering of Scattered Israel” Elder Nelson points out that missionary work is a vital to accomplishing the gathering of Israel. In this way I think that the keys restored by Moses are related to the keys used to dedicate new countries for missionary work today. By spreading the gospel people from the lost tribes are being brought back into the house of Israel. It is interesting to me that Moses was the one to restore those keys instead of Jacob. Perhaps it is because he was the one who led the children of Israel to the last place they were all gathered together.
After Moses, Elias came to commit the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham. The Bible Dictionary says that this Elias was a man who lived at the same time as Abraham. Because Abraham lived so long ago it does not surprise me that a record of Elias’s existence has not remained to this day. The Bible Dictionary also tells us that a dispensation is a “period of time in which the Lord has at least one authorized servant on the earth who bears the holy priesthood and the keys.” From this definition and the footnotes from D&C 110:12 I think that Elias gave Joseph Smith the power to access the keys that were given to Abraham by the Abrahamic Covenant. The Abrahamic Covenant blesses us even today to receive eternal inheritances. Thus, I think that the keys Elias had in a sense opened the door for the keys that Elijah brought.
D&C 110 tells us that Elijah brought “the keys of this dispensation.” As later use of these keys show, these are the sealing keys. Elijah held these keys in his mortal life and later gave them to Peter, James, and John. This is somewhat confusing to me—why would keys that had existed previously be called the keys of this dispensation? Perhaps these keys are the crowning restoration of this dispensation because they have the power to give exaltation. Additionally these keys allow us to link back through generations, and thus provide the opportunity for the whole human family to be exalted, which is part of the mission of this last dispensation.
One new thing I learned while studying these keys is that it seems to me that each needed the others to be complete. The Abrahamic Covenant brings blessings to all who are members of the Church, and in order for more and more people to receive these blessings Israel must be gathered. Also, I think that in order for the Abrahamic Covenant to be in full effect and receive eternal inheritances we must be sealed by the sealing power brought by Elijah. This is the first time that I have noticed these connections and I feel like I better understand why these messengers came on one day in one grand spiritual experience. By studying these different keys I have also reflected on how all things had to be restored one at a time, or precept up on precept, in the grand restoration of the Gospel. Truly all of the keys restored in the Kirtland temple bless our lives today.
I like that idea that things had to be restored precept upon precept. In a sense, the Earth's journey to exhalation (becoming the celestial kingdom) is so similar to Christ's journey or even our own. Christ learned during his mortal life grace by grace. Similarly, the Earth must have keys restored dispensation by dispensation. I just really love the metaphor of the Earth being sacred and becoming a celestial body just as we are.
ReplyDeleteI have never given any thought to the fact that Moses restored the keys of the gathering. You are right though, that is interesting that they were restored by Moses. I agree with your assumption that its probably because he led them through the wilderness. I also agree with what Emily said above, about the Earth having a journey similar to ours. It was "baptized" and has slowly progressed, now the gospel is restored and will never leave. I wonder if that could be somehow symbolic of repentance? Interesting to think about what other parallels there could be there.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed your point about it being restored precept upon precept. I feel that God works in this similar manner in many ways. For example when we are praying for something, we don't usually get our answer all at once right after asking. We get our answers in little pieces over a period of time. It is interesting how the church was restored this way and to see the similarities in how God works when dealing with the church as a whole, and when working with individuals. I believe there is a purpose behind this method: perhaps to strengthen our faith.
ReplyDeleteIn order to achieve something that is spectacular, you need to take baby steps to get there. Each step is a journey that provides us a great learning experience. This is why I think the Lord works in this fashion as well. I’ve never thought about it being restored precept to precept, but it makes sense that the Lord would restore it this way. It helps us have faith in His plan, and it helps us to learn patience. A lot of times we don’t have all the answers we want to have, but we just have to trust that we know everything the Lord wants us to know.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the keys restored to Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple are probably some of the most relevant and most used aspects of the restoration, a crowning event. Every day these are blessing the lives of individuals, from missionaries knocking thousands of doors daily, to the 140+ temples open in daily operation, to the special keys that are enacted therein. There are so many excellent examples of faith and instruction, but these keys are the most tangible things that we have from Joseph Smith, that have been able to survive and never will again be taken from the earth.
ReplyDeleteI liked the connection with the keys of the gathering of Israel to Moses because he was the last person to gather Israel in one place. It's interesting that today we are gathering Israel into one place in the sense that there is a church headquarters in Salt Lake City. At the same time, however, the church is being gathered into many different places: gathered to temples, gathered to stakes and districts, wards and branches, gathered to missions, gathered to homes. Still, there is a central church government with one president of the church on the earth today. Twice a year we "gather" together for General Conference to listen to the leaders of the church. Even at the time of Peter, there was no such "gathering" of the whole church to hear the words of the general authorities. The best they had was epistles. In this day when we are part of a global church with many individual gathering places, we still have the opportunity to gather the church together as one thanks to the technology the Lord has blessed us with.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your comment about the keys of this dispensation where you said, "Additionally these keys allow us to link back through generations, and thus provide the opportunity for the whole human family to be exalted, which is part of the mission of this last dispensation." I had never thought of this dispensation's keys existing in different dispensations. However, now that I think about it, I guess they would have had to exist. I'm sure Adam and Eve and their children didn't have to wait until after they had passed on from this life to be sealed to each other by proxy ordinance. This would mean that the sealing power was on the Earth in their time. It does make sense, how you mentioned that they are possibly called the keys of our dispensation because they help fulfill the mission of our dispensation. They may also be called the keys of our dispensation because they might be used more in our dispensation than they have been in any other. There might possibly be more people with the authority to perform sealings on the Earth right now than have ever been at one time.
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