Thy Kingdom Come – Doctrinal Notes

1.       

a.       Adam given dominion over all the earthMoses 2:26-28

                                                               i.      Joseph Smith: The Priesthood was first given to Adam; he obtained the First Presidency, and held the keys of it from generation to generation. He obtained it in the Creation, before the world was formed, as in Gen. 1:26, 27, 28. He had dominion given him over every living creature.  (Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007] 104)

b.      Theocratic Government (Patriarchal Order) under direction of God established Moses 6:1-22; D&C 107:40-52

                                                               i.      McConkie: A theocracy cannot operate except among righteous people who voluntarily submit to its authority. Under this system of government, which is the Lord’s way of ruling on earth, there is and must be absolute freedom of worship. It is, in effect, a system of government in which the Church, which is the kingdom of God on earth, rules over the Lord’s people. The Church, being true and being the Lord’s, of necessity administers the gospel. The gospel is the plan of salvation presented by the Father in the Grand Council, the chief characteristic of which is agency. Thus, in a theocracy, “men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil.” The theocracy of the Adamic age was patriarchal, and from Adam to Noah all the legitimate powers of government, both civil and religious, descended from father to son. That is to say, government in all its forms and with all its powers was centered in the family. (A New Witness for the Articles Faith [1985] 657-58; emphasis added)

2.       False and Imitation Theocracy

3.       Enoch’s Theocracy Moses 7

4.       Theocracy reestablished through Moses

5.       Israelite Government

a.       Government with God at the Head

b.      The law was administered according to “The Law of Moses”

c.       Administered by three categories of people:

                                                               i.      Religious Officers

1.       High Priest (Urim & Thummim) 1 Samuel 28:6

2.       Priests & Levites:

a.       Residence: Num. 25:1-8; Num 35:2-8

                                                                                                                                       i.      Levitical Cities – Only tribe who did not receive land of an inheritance. About 40 cities were interspersed among all other tribes, where they carried out the following:

b.      Responsibilities:

                                                                                                                                       i.      Teaching Law Lev. 10:11, Deut 33:10

                                                                                                                                     ii.      Ceremonies & Ordinances

                                                             ii.      Civic Offices (Joshua 24:1)

1.       General Level:

a.       Chief Judge Deut. 17:8-13

2.       Local Level:

a.       Elders Deut. 19:12

b.      Judges & Officers Deut 16:18

                                                            iii.      Prophetic Offices (Instructors, Warners) Deut. 18:9-22

1.       Prophets, Men of God (and Angels)

2.       Scriptural Examples:

a.       Jonah

b.      Lehi

c.       Samuel the Lamanite

d.      Abinidai

3.       Duties

a.       Seers & Revelators (1 Sam 28:6)                                  

b.      Preaching (2 Chron. 15:1-13)

c.       Warning (1 Sam. 2:27-36)

                                                           iv.      Kings introduced into Law of Moses (Works as long as King acknowledges higher power of God)

1.       What happened in the days of wicked and rebellious kings? They simply instituted their own ways of worship, appointed their own priests, and, when it pleased them so to do, commanded the worship of Baal, or Ashtoreth, or Molech, or whatever deity pleased their fancy. The religions of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and all the nations that inhabited the land before Israel, were state religions. The worship in Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, and all the nations of the Gentiles was by government edict. People were not free to choose their own gods and to worship according to the dictates of their own conscience. In the minds of the credulous and superstitious Gentiles, the issues of war and peace, life and death, national survival or defeat were all tied in to the proposition of whose god was the greatest – Baal or Jehovah; the god of the Assyrians or the God of Jacob; the gods of the Canaanites or the Lord of Hosts who camped with Joshua; the god of whatever nation or the God of Israel. (A New Witness for the Articles Faith [1985] 661)

6.       The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

b.      Elder Oaks talk on Priesthood roles in the church and priesthood roles in the family. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/10/priesthood-authority-in-the-family-and-the-church?lang=eng&query=dallin+h+oaks+priesthood,+family,+patriarchal

c.       Said Brigham Young: “I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by Him. … Let every man and woman know, by the whisperings of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not.” (JD, vol. 9, p. 150.) https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1972/04/civic-standards-for-the-faithful-saints?lang=eng