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Presented here is the second half of a talk by Denver Snuffer that was delivered at a general conference held in Grand Junction, Colorado, at the Avalon Theater on 12 July 2026.
There are a few reasonable historical and theological conclusions we can reach from the tattered history of adoption. First, in the earliest generations of mankind, there was a clear genealogical line of faithful patriarchs who transmitted a tradition of faith from father to son, son to grandson, grandson to great-grandson, and so on, for eleven generations. Those first faithful fathers began with Adam and continued through the fathers until Shem, who was called Melchizedek—or “king and priest,” as explained in the Glossary of Gospel Terms:
Melchizedek is not a name but a title. It is a compound of two words. The first is Malki (מַלְכִּי), meaning “king,” and Zadok (צֶדֶֿק), meaning “righteous;” Malki Tzedek or Malki Zedek (מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶֿק) [means] “righteous king” or “king of righteousness.” As a comparison, the Dead Sea Scrolls portray their “Teacher of Righteousness” as Moreh Zedek.
If not for apostasy, the pattern established at the beginning would have continued in an unbroken line until the final generation. However, the pattern was not followed, the line was broken, and something new was required in order to restore the original pattern. That new thing enabling the restoration of the original pattern happened with Abraham. He became the new “Adam” and the “father of the righteous” to rescue a fallen world. The new thing enabling this was adoption. The unfaithful generations between Melchizedek and Abraham were dropped from the order, and Abraham assumed the next position as the father following Melchizedek.
Second, because of the extraordinary plan to rescue mankind from apostasy established through Abraham, it became possible in subsequent generations to mend the breaches in the line of patriarchs by following the precedent set with Abraham. Joseph Smith made this issue clear enough that, whatever else Brigham Young and the Twelve did not understand, they were clear on the basic concept that a line connecting any person to be saved back to Adam needed to be established for salvation in the Kingdom of God. That connecting line was to be provided in some way through adoption. As he put it, “I will extend the chain of the priesthood back through apostolic dispensation to Father Adam just as soon as I can get a Temple built” (CDBY, 1:180). Through adoption, it is possible for all believers who live after Father Abraham’s day to repair the breach and be reconnected to the family of Father Adam.
Third, it is clear that this required an ordinance or rite to be performed. Abraham was reconnected through the decree of Heaven, given to him in a revelation in which God promised him directly that “as many as receive this gospel shall be called after your name and shall be accounted your seed, and shall rise up and bless you, as unto their Father.” But this promise alone did not complete the task. To complete the link, Abraham had to go to Melchizedek and receive the necessary initiation. Because Melchizedek was an authorized officiator and Abraham had to go to him to receive the rites, the initiation or ordination of Abraham came from Melchizedek. The Scriptures state: Abraham received the Priesthood from Melchizedek, who received it through the lineage of [the] fathers, even till Noah, and from Noah till Enoch, through the lineage of their fathers (T&C 82:10). It would have been contrary to the conduct of the Holy Order for Abraham to receive it from anyone other than a legal officiator. When there was (or is) a living member, it must come through him and not even from Heaven. God established the Holy Order at the beginning, and therefore, invariably respects the Order He established.
When God established the Holy Order after the Order of the Son of God at the beginning with Adam, it was an eternal appointment. That appointment has continued with Adam through the present. As our Scriptures explain:
Commencing with Adam, who was the first man, who is spoken of in Daniel as being the Ancient of Days, or in other words, the first and oldest of all, the great grand progenitor, of whom it is said in another place, He is Michael, because he was the first and father of all, not only by progeny, but he was the first to hold the spiritual blessings, to whom was made known the plan of ordinances for the salvation of his posterity unto the end, and to whom Christ was first revealed, and through whom Christ has been revealed from Heaven and will continue to be revealed from now on. Adam holds the keys of the dispensation of the fullness of times; i.e., the dispensation of all the times [that] have been and will be revealed through him, from the beginning to Christ, and from Christ to the end…all the dispensations that are to be revealed. (T&C 140:3)
There was an unbroken line from Adam to Melchizedek. As long as Melchizedek remained on the Earth, he was the only one who could perform the required ordinance. Therefore, although the promises given to Abraham by God designated him as the one all mankind would look to as their father, if Abraham had not gone to Melchizedek and been initiated, Abraham could not have fulfilled that role. It is therefore clear that no matter what promises God makes to a man, without the required ordinance performed by a legal officiator, the promises remain unfulfilled.
One clarification is needed: Abraham received a promise from the Lord. Melchizedek was not required to act on Abraham’s word. As the head of the Holy Order, Melchizedek would also have needed to be told by the Lord to administer the rites to Abraham. An initiation required revelation from God, and the “Timeline of the Fathers and the Holy Order” shows that initiations were not based on birth order but on when God revealed the candidate to the head and authorized the induction. For example, Enoch was made a member of the Holy Order before his grandfather Mahalalel was added. Abraham added Isaac to the Order, although he had made hundreds of converts. Isaac added only one (Jacob), and Jacob in turn added only Joseph, to whom he also provided the records and garment going back to Adam. It is not permitted for anyone to decide that God has chosen them for the Holy Order and then impose their ambition upon the head of the Order.
Those who inherit the obligations, promises, and initiation through the necessary ordinance are described in the Teachings and Commandments 69 (which in the LDS Scriptures is Doctrine and Covenants 76). They are described as those:
- …who overcome by faith and are sealed by that Holy Spirit of Promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true.
- …who are the church of the Firstborn.
- …they into whose hands the Father has given all things.
- …who are priests and kings, who, having received of his fullness and of his glory, are priests of the Most High after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of Enoch, which was after the Order of the Only Begotten… Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God. Wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. And they shall overcome all things. Wherefore, let no man glory in man, but rather let them glory in God who shall subdue all enemies under his feet.
- The[y] shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ for ever and ever.
- …they whom he shall bring with him when he shall come in the clouds of Heaven to reign on…earth over his people.
- …who…have part in the first resurrection.
- …who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just.
- …who are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the Heavenly place, the holiest of all.
- …who have come to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of Enoch, and of the Firstborn.
- …they whose names are written in Heaven, where God and Christ are the judge of all.
- …who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood. (T&C 69:10-21)
This list of qualifications requires the recipient to have a much deeper understanding than the publicly discussed principles and ordinances of the Gospel. It follows that they, like the Lord’s mother Mary, will keep these things from public. It is written: Mary kept all those things and pondered them in her heart (Luke 2:3 RE). Many great truths can become a double-edged sword, cutting the one wielding it. Those who qualify are those whom God and Christ have judged. The Son of God has accepted them, forgiven their sins, and, as a result, they have become clean before God. Of course, that can only happen when the Lord has faith in and trust in them. The person must be tried and proven beforehand. As Joseph Smith put it:
After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins and is baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, which is the first comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son, thou shalt be exalted. When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other comforter, which the Lord has promised the Saints. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.150)
While this has and does happen, it is not a common experience because mankind is so easily distracted and so often tempted by pride, vanity, and foolishness that they miss the mark. This is why adoption as a rite is so often lost through apostasy. Mankind generally wants far more than they are willing to endure. We want Christmas morning: the opportunity to unwrap gifts we have not paid to acquire.
This adoption discussion began by referring to the prophecy of Malachi. Throughout the history of practicing some form of adoption, the reason consistently used to justify its need was the sealing or turning of hearts of children to fathers. It is also apparent from the study of adoption that it is directly and intimately connected with the Scriptures telling us that the hearts of the children must be sealed to the fathers, and that is to be reciprocated by the fathers likewise having their hearts sealed to the children.
The first father was Adam. His role as the father of the faithful was later fulfilled or restored by Abraham. It should not be overlooked that the difficulties and disappointments experienced by Adam were repeated in the difficulties and disappointments suffered by Abraham.
The overwhelming majority of Adam’s children rejected his religion and followed Satan. The Scriptures explain: And Satan came among them, saying, I [also am] a Son of God. And he commanded them, saying, Believe not. And they believed not, and loved Satan more than God. And men began from that time forth to be carnal, sensual, and devilish (Genesis 3:5 RE). Adam and Eve were grandparents before they received their first candidate who would follow their parents’ religion. When Cain was born, his mother reacted with joy: And Adam knew [his wife, Eve], and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord, wherefore he may not reject his words (❡6). In time, Cain proved to be an equally disappointing child: But behold, also Cain listened not, saying, Who is the Lord that I should know him? (❡6).
After generations of rebellious children, Eve was at last rewarded with a faithful son. We read: And she again conceived, and bore his brother Abel. And Abel listened unto the voice of the Lord (❡6). But the joy of having two faithful children was cut short by the first murder. And Cain went into the field and Cain talked with Abel his brother. And it came to pass that while they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. And Cain gloried in that which he had done, saying, I am free; surely the flocks of my brother fall into my hands (❡9). This left Adam and Eve without a faithful heir. Their house had become desolate, and the first father had no consolation, experiencing only the bitterness of rejection.
We do not know how long the first parents waited before finally receiving a believing heir. But some length of time later, we are told:
And Adam listened unto the voice of God and called upon his sons to repent. And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son, and [s]he called his name Seth. And Adam glorified the name of God, [and] said, God has appointed me another seed instead of Abel whom Cain slew. (❡14)
These tragic events shaped our first parents. Adam and Eve were acquainted with grief, tempered by failure and disappointment, and suffered heartache over their children. For them, parenthood implicitly involved repeated disappointment, long-suffering, humility, and patience. They were tried in the furnace of affliction and made to mourn for their offspring.
Father Abraham and mother Sarah restored the broken line to the first fathers. They replaced Adam and Eve as parents. Abraham explained what he understood beforehand that it would entail:
I sought for the blessings of the Fathers and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same. Having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a Father of many nations, a prince of peace, and desiring to receive instructions and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a high priest, holding the right belonging to the Fathers. It was conferred upon me from the Fathers: it came down from the Fathers, from the beginning of time, yea, even from the beginning (or before the foundations of the earth) to the present time, even the right of the firstborn (or the first man —who is Adam— or [the] first Father) through the Fathers unto me. (Abraham 1:1 RE)
While Abraham did obtain his desire, it came at a parental price not unlike that paid by Adam and Eve in the beginning. Adam was a grandfather before a likely heir was born, whereas the elderly Abraham had no heir, despite God’s promise. Abraham and Sarah were old, having waited nearly a lifetime before a son was born. But that first son, Ishmael, like Cain, was driven away. Adam’s son Cain said: I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth (Genesis 3:10 RE). In a parallel event, Ishmael and his mother were sent away: …he sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness …And he grew, and dwelled in the wilderness, and became an archer. And he dwelled in the wilderness… (Genesis 8:3 RE).
Adam lost his faithful son, Abel, when his brother murdered him. Abraham would also lose a son, Isaac, as a burnt sacrifice commanded by God as an offering to Him. Our Scriptures, in their present form, tell us in Genesis that Isaac’s sacrificial death was averted when a ram caught in the thicket replaced Isaac on the altar. There is an older story that remains in the account in the Book of Mormon and in the New Testament Book of Hebrews. The older account from the Book of Mormon tells it this way: …it is sanctified unto us for righteousness, even as it was accounted unto Abraham in the wilderness to be obedient unto the commands of God in offering up his son Isaac, which was a similitude of God and his only begotten Son (Jacob 3:2 RE).
In the New Testament, we get this account from the Book of Hebrews: By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said…in Isaac [that your seed shall] be called, accounting that God was able to raise him up — even from the dead — from where he also received him in a figure (Hebrews 1:43 RE).
If we accept the older account at face value, Abraham lost his heir when he killed his remaining faithful son. But unlike Adam’s loss, Abraham’s was all the more terrible because Abraham had been tied to an altar by the priest of Pharaoh who lifted a knife to kill him as a human sacrifice: And as they lifted up their hands upon me that they might offer me up and take away my life, behold, I lifted up my voice unto the Lord, my God (Abraham 1:5 RE). Abraham’s life was spared by the intervention of an angel of the Lord. It’s almost incomprehensible to consider the horror, trauma, and conflict Abraham experienced in the account told in the older version. In it, Abraham was asked by God to re-enact the earlier human sacrifice practiced by idolatrous priests that God had both condemned and interrupted to spare Abraham. Now the same God was asking for the opposite.
Adam was an innocent bystander who lost his son through fratricide. Abraham, however, was placed in the very position of God the Father, offering His Only Begotten Son. The founding and restoring patriarchs of the Holy Order both shed tears, experienced terrible grief, and suffered horrible disappointment over their immediate children while they lived.
It makes us wonder whether Abraham had any idea of the cost he would pay to become one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a Father of many nations, a prince of peace, and desiring to receive instructions and to keep the commandments of God… (Abraham 1:1 RE). Both Adam and Abraham were tried by tragic, heart-wrenching experiences with their immediate offspring before they were trusted with the stewardship of the family of the faithful as their inheritance. Had Abraham known beforehand what God would require of him, would he have proceeded? When the hearts of the children are sealed or adopted to both Adam and Eve and Abraham and Sarah, will they understand the price paid by these earlier parents? Although the Scriptures tell us that hearts are to turn, there is something poignant and humbling about adoption to such ancestors as these. Then, too, the idea imposes an obligation to act more soberly, solemnly, and carefully if given such a heritage. As the Psalm states: You have given me the heritage of those that fear your name (Psalms 61:1 RE). That heritage is a gift that began with patriarchs and matriarchs who suffered over their posterity, including us. They paid a price while they were mortal for the posterity they would be called to watch over through the end of time. Their role is rarely understood and, therefore, hardly appreciated. When the children turn their hearts to them, it should include grateful remembrance of their earlier earthly sacrifices.
The idea of Abraham participating in human sacrifice of his son, Isaac, after his earlier experience may seem curious, but there is a backstory that helps explain it. At the beginning, Adam prophesied about all his posterity: And Adam stood up in the midst of the congregation, and, notwithstanding he was bowed down with age, being full of the holy ghost, predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation (T&C 154:20). This would have included the promise of a savior who would be the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Enoch added to this book, as it states: These things were all written in the Book of Enoch, and are to be testified of in due time (ibid.)
Enoch learned from this prophecy of Adam’s and inquired about the future event:
When shall the day of the Lord come? When shall the blood of The Righteous be shed, that all they that mourn may be sanctified and have eternal life? And the Lord said, It shall be in the meridian of time, in the days of wickedness and vengeance. And behold, Enoch saw the day of the coming of the Son of Man, even in the flesh, and his soul rejoiced, saying, The Righteous is lifted up and the Lamb is slain from the foundation of the world. And through faith I am in the bosom of the Father, and behold, Zion is with me. (Genesis 4:19 RE)
Prophecies from Adam and Enoch foretold of a future sacrificial Redeemer who would repair the Fall and restore life from the grave. Other Patriarchal Fathers also contributed to the record. We read: And a book of remembrance was kept, in [the] which was recorded in the language of Adam, for it was given unto as many as called upon God to write by the spirit of inspiration (Genesis 3:14 RE).
These records that foretold of a man dying to redeem mankind came into Abraham’s possession. Abraham wrote: But I shall endeavor hereafter to delineate the chronology running back from myself to the beginning of the creation, for the records have come into my hands, which I hold unto this present time (Abraham 2:3 RE). He added: …the records of the Fathers, even the Patriarchs, concerning the right of Priesthood, the Lord, my God, preserved in my own hands (❡4).
All mankind initially learned about the existence and role of God in the creation of this world from Adam. Therefore, all of mankind would have likewise learned of the coming sacrifice of a man whose death would free us from the grave and undo the Fall of Adam. Apostasy from the faith taught by Adam led to many ancient religions practicing human sacrifices. This was the state of the Chaldean false religion that attempted to slay Abraham on an altar.
Isaac was a promised son whose birth fulfilled prophecy and the promise from God: And God said, Sarah, your wife, shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant with him also, for an everlasting covenant with his seed after him (Genesis 7:33 RE). Therefore, Isaac was a gift from God, provided to vindicate a promise, and his birth was miraculous given the age of Abraham and Sarah at the time of his birth.
This background reveals a conflict: On the one hand, human sacrifice was repugnant to Abraham and evidence of a false religion. On the other hand, God gave Abraham a promised son and commanded his sacrifice. Did that suggest Isaac was to be the promised lamb slain from the foundation of the world? Did Abraham believe this would vindicate Adam’s and Enoch’s prophecies? Underlying this terrible command to sacrifice Isaac was the uncertain question of how God intended to fulfill His commitment to redeem mankind. If it were to be Isaac, then despite his death, Abraham knew from the records of the Fathers that Isaac was to rise again. Our Scriptures do not let us decide the question but do contain two versions of Isaac’s sacrifice: In the one, he is spared by the ram caught in the thicket; in the other, he was slain and brought back to life. This would not have been a “resurrection” comparable to Jesus Christ. It would have raised him from the dead like the son of the widow of Zarephath brought back to life by Elijah, or Lazarus called back from the grave. Both of them died. Christ broke the bonds of death.
This brings us back to the discussion of separating sealing into two types; when the sealing ordinance of adoption is separated from marriage, the term “sealing” should not be used without clarifying whether a marriage is involved or whether it instead connects parties in a parent-child relationship. When a lawsuit raised the question of whether the LDS or RLDS Church was the legitimate successor to Joseph Smith’s original church, the LDS leadership needed to prove that their practice of polygamy began with Joseph Smith. LDS apostle Joseph F. Smith was assigned the responsibility of gathering affidavits to prove Joseph Smith started the practice. Whether it was artful and deliberate or simply confusion and sloppiness, the affidavits do not resolve Joseph Smith’s involvement with plural wives. They may, instead, be evidence of adoption.
Here are two examples of how the affidavits were worded. This one was signed over two-and-a-half decades after Joseph Smith’s death:
Be it remembered that on this twenty-sixth day of June…1869 personally appeared before me James Jack, a notary-Public in and for said county, Joseph Bates Noble, who was by me sworn in due form…, and upon his oath saith, that, on the fifth day of April…1841, At the City of Nauvoo, [and the] County of Hancock, State of Illinois, he married or sealed…
He “married or sealed…”
…Louisa Beaman, to Joseph Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday [sic] Saints… (Taken from Affidavits on Celestial Marriage, 1869-1870, p.3, emphasis added)
The second one is another one signed more than two-and-a-half decades after Joseph Smith’s death, and like the first one, was prepared by Joseph F. Smith and used to support the claim that Joseph Smith began the practice:
Be it remembered that on th[e] first day of May…eighteen sixty nine before me Elias Smith Probate Judge…appeared [before me], Zina Diantha Huntington ^Young^ who was by me Sworn in due form of law, and upon her oath Saith, that on the twenty-Seventh day of October…1841, …City of Nauvoo, County of Hancock…, She was married or Sealed to Joseph Smith, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints… (Ibid., p.5, emphasis added)
Both of these, like almost all of the other affidavits gathered in the late 1800s, decades after Joseph Smith’s death, use the ambiguous phrase “married or sealed” as if the two had identical meaning. This does not mean what most people assume it means. Sealing through adoption would serve to tie the one adopted to Joseph, so as to belong to his family in the afterlife. That relationship was intended to secure for the adoptee a position with Joseph in the Celestial Kingdom of God. “When a seal is put upon the father and mother it secures their posterity so…they cannot be lost but will be saved by virtue of the covenant of their father” (WJS, pp.241-242).
This is directly related to what Helen Mar Kimball would later recall Joseph Smith explaining: “If you will take this step, it will ensure your eternal salvation and exaltation and that of your father’s household and all of your kindred” (Helen Mar Kimball Whitney, Autobiography, 30 March 1881). That statement would be a correct description of an adoption sealing to Joseph Smith, based on his qualification to stand as a father to those adopted as his children/heirs. One passing remark by Joseph Smith is pregnant with meaning: There are many teachers, but perhaps not many fathers (T&C 139:12). If Helen Mar Kimball’s memory from 1881 (nearly four decades following the event) concerned “adoption” sealing rather than “marriage” sealing, the promise would make more sense and would very well fit Joseph Smith’s salvific theology better. Keep in mind, Joseph may not have clarified he intended adoption when first performing sealings.
Of all the rites and teachings restored through Joseph Smith, adoption is potentially the most dangerous if corrupted. At the dawn of history, the secret oaths introduced by Cain so corrupted mankind that the Earth was cursed, and mankind was ultimately destroyed in a flood. The secret oaths were based on a corruption of the adoption sealing rites, which were meant to bind individuals together. One produces a family clan; the other produces a criminal cabal. Satan does not invent, but corrupts. Heaven is creative; hell is not. Hell’s purpose is to damage and destroy.
Adam was to be a “husbandman” to serve and develop everything on Earth. He was to guide, not compel. He was to persuade, not force. But his status as the father/grandfather/ great-grandfather, and so on, made him the repository of central and original authority. He had respect. His word mattered. Accordingly, inheriting the same position as father Adam would likewise place the descendant in a similar position of guiding, persuading, and exercising authority. It was because Cain aspired to replace Adam and become venerated and respected that he killed his rival, Abel. Cain was nothing like Adam, and his ambition was self-serving, without regard to the damage he could and would inflict on others. Cain corrupted and abused the idea of gaining regard from others. He was never able to occupy the role of husbandman, because he intended to exert compulsion and control over others. He would subjugate, dwarf, and injure his subordinates, making them unfit for God’s kingdom. Adoption was intended to unite mankind through belonging into a loving family. Cain’s (and Lucifer’s) secret oaths bound together through fear and punishment.
Joseph Smith restored life to the Christian Gospel. He returned long-lost principles, teachings, rites, and ordinances. Although poorly preserved by the LDS Church, that institution has nevertheless been able to create a multi-billion-dollar enterprise and attract millions of followers using only the original energy invested by Joseph Smith. If they had preserved yet more of Joseph’s original work, their dominion and control would have been (and still be) even greater. It’s always unwise to trust something potentially dangerous to anyone who would abuse that trust. Children, you know, are fond of tools, while they are not yet able to use them (ibid.). It is clear to me that the Lord never intended for the LDS Church to inherit the rites of adoption. Had that happened, the control, compulsion, and gratification of pride apparent in that organization’s history would have expanded further. The authority to accomplish this necessary work must never fall into the hands of the proud and ambitious. It should belong only to the meek, obedient, and humble. Anyone boasting of having that authority is unfit to possess it. It should be entrusted only to a servant, never to a ruler. In this perilous world, it should be used quietly, humbly, reverently, not loudly, and not publicly. Whenever the Holy Order is restored, it must never become the means to gain and become popular.
If there were a single word to describe this part of the Lord’s plan for the saving of souls of mankind, it would be “dangerous.” It invites the ambitious and aspiring to pursue their interests in the eternal afterlife. Foolish and evil men consider this subject as a means to acquire power and influence. Almost without exception, the language used to describe adoption by Brigham Young and other members of the Twelve after Joseph and Hyrum were killed involved self-interest and power. They were establishing their own “kingdom” over which they would rule and reign. They wanted to be able to dictate to subordinates in their vision of the afterlife. It was ugly, self-serving, greedy, and very un-Christlike. Their language was the opposite of Christ’s:
Neither be called masters, for one is your Master, even he whom your Heavenly Father sent, who is Christ; for he has sent him among you that you might have life. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant, and whoever shall exalt himself shall be abased of him, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted of him. (Matthew 10:26 RE)
It is almost always the case that as soon as men understand God’s plan, they immediately begin to reinterpret it in pursuit of self-interest. We are not worthy of any blessing, benefit, or gift given to us by God. That is why it is always a “gift”—we are receiving unmerited blessings from the Lord. As it is written: And in nothing does man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments (T&C 46:5). It is indeed God’s hand that blesses us. We are all unprofitable servants.
When I was told to teach about adoption, I recoiled at the thought of the vanity, ambition, and aspiring spirit unleashed in the LDS community in Nauvoo. The things of God cannot be maintained except in obedience to Heaven. Nothing can or should be expected to be under our selfish control when the souls of mankind and the eternities are involved. I worried that this talk would probably unleash the same foul spirit that infected Nauvoo. Our salvation comes only through fear and trembling before God.
From all that the Scriptures tell us, it is safe to conclude that the Holy Order after the Order of the Son of God had few members even during the era of the Patriarchs. But salvation through faith was secured for all the faithful, even if they were not directly included in the Holy Order. The Lord explains it this way: He who receives you, receives me. …he who receives me, receives him who sent me. He that receives a prophet, in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he that receives a righteous man, in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man’s reward (Matthew 5:8 RE). Also in the Testimony of St. John, Jesus Christ explained: In the name of Father Ahman I declare to you, He that accepts my word spoken by whomever I send with my word receives me, and he that receives me receives him that sent me, even my Father (TSJ 10:4, emphasis added).
Or to restate the matter and clarify the benefit of having the Holy Order after the Order of the Son of God among us: When there are any believing, faithful men and women on the Earth, so long as they are willing to accept the teachings provided through the Holy Order, they are recognized by God as beneficiaries and recognized in the same way as if they were part of that Order. The Scriptures identified such faithful people as a “residue of the righteous,” as in this passage:
Three years previous to the death of Adam, he called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah, who were all high priests, with the residue of his posterity who were righteous, into the valley of Adam-Ondi-Ahman, and there bestowed upon them his last blessing. And the Lord appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam, and called him Michael, the Prince, the Archangel. (T&C 154:19)
The term “residue” is also used in the Book of Mormon, referring to believing and benefited followers of the Lord:
…neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men. For behold, they are subject unto him, to minister according to the word of his command, shewing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness. And the office of their ministry is to call men unto repentance, and to fulfill and to do the work of the covenants of the Father which he hath made unto the children of men, to prepare the way among the children of men by declaring the word of Christ unto the chosen vessels of the Lord, that they may bear testimony of him; and by so doing, the Lord…prepareth the way that the residue of men may have faith in Christ, that the holy ghost may have place in their hearts, according to the power thereof; and after this manner bringeth to pass the Father the covenants which he hath made unto the children of men. (Moroni 7:6 RE)
This explanation is restated in the Covenant of Christ using the word “remainder” to identify them:
…neither have angels stopped ministering to mankind. They are obedient to Him, to minister according to His commands, revealing themselves to those of strong faith and…a firm mind in every form of godliness. The responsibility of their ministry is to call people to repentance, and to fulfill and do the work of the Father’s covenants that He’s made to mankind, to prepare the way among people by declaring Christ’s word to the Lord’s chosen vessels, so they can bear testimony of Him. And by doing this, the Lord…prepares the way for the remainder of mankind to have faith in Christ, so the Holy Ghost can have a place in their hearts according to the power of the Holy Ghost. This is how the Father vindicates the covenants He’s made to mankind. (Moroni 7:6 CE)
The necessary step to avoid being “utterly wasted” at the Lord’s return does not require every person to be initiated into the Holy Order after the Order of the Son of God. What is needed to preserve people from the destruction at the Lord’s return is for the Holy Order to return and for some holder, even a single couple, to preach repentance. That needs to be done before the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth (T&C 54:4) happens, and then for some people to hear the message of repentance taught through the Holy Order and to repent. For all those who receive that message and respond, they will be spared at the Lord’s return.
At the great and dreadful day of the Lord’s return, there will be two categories of people: those who have responded to the invitation to repent, described by Malachi as those who seal the heart of the Fathers to the children and the heart of the children to [the] Fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse (Malachi 1:12 RE). And for those who do not respond and repent, the day comes that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble. And the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of Hosts, …it shall leave them neither root nor branch (❡10).
When we build a House of God, a Holy Temple, and the Lord receives it/visits it, rites of adoption will be performed there. That will be one of its many restored rites. But because it will return, guarding the Temple against corruption and compromise will be essential. As what was here at the beginning returns before the end, we must learn from the example of Cain and Abel. We must guard against another terrible repetition of ungodly apostasy. That first ruinous apostasy led to generations of such depravity and violence that the Lord destroyed mankind in a flood. Not only will that same Holy Order which was in the beginning return before the end, but the world will also descend into wickedness akin to the days of Noah. If guarding the Holy Order cannot prevent the coming judgment, it can at least make it possible for some to be spared from utter destruction. If we are wise, we will give heed to what God is doing today, and what is offered to us, and work out our salvation with fear and trembling before God.
Bear in mind also this clarification: Joseph Smith explained that, “All priesthood is Melchizedek, but there are different portions or degrees of it. That portion which brought Moses to speak with God face to face was taken away, but that which brought the ministry of angels remained. All the prophets had the Melchizedek priesthood and were ordained by God himself” (TPJS, pp.180-181).
I’ve explained that since “all priesthood is Melchizedek” and the original name for the Melchizedek Priesthood was the Holy Order after the Order of the Son of God, it follows that all priesthood is part of the Holy Order, but there are different portions or degrees of it. When Keith Henderson was set apart to hold authority to provide Patriarchal Blessings just prior to the last conference, he was set apart and given authority necessary to accomplish that specific task. Do not read more into that than what has been explained here and at the prior conference.
I’ve discussed the two prior fathers who formed the root from which the Holy Order family grew into a family tree. But the “fathers in heaven” are not only those two but also a host of other fathers who have both preserved and spread the family line. Restoring the Holy Order after the Order of the Son of God is not merely an authorization to accomplish work for the Lord. It also involves reconnecting prior dispensations through ordinances and initiations. The first patriarch who held the right was Adam, who still retains that position in the Holy Order. Before his death, he established a pattern that would be followed in later dispensations. He delivered, in one setting, the entire burden of prophecy that would be followed by all subsequent prophets:
Three years previous to the death of Adam, he called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, …who were all high priests, …into the valley of Adam-Ondi-Ahman, and…bestowed upon them his last blessing. …the Lord [ministered to him]…
And Adam stood up in the midst of the congregation, and, notwithstanding he was bowed down with age, being full of the holy ghost, predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation. (T&C 154:19-20)
Seven prophet-patriarchs were present when this happened. They possessed foreknowledge provided by Adam’s great outpouring of revelation as he was full of the holy ghost. Later, the holy ghost would inspire others to reiterate portions of that original message. The same light animated those subsequent prophets, delivering the same intelligence as Father Adam. In a literal sense, these others were also turning the hearts of children back to the earlier fathers.
When a new dispensation begins, the process of reconnecting includes the restoration of the earlier body of information. Rights, honors, truths, and intelligence from earlier dispensations have been handed down from one dispensation to the next. As I’ve taught before, Moses and John the Baptist appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration because Moses began and John ended the prior dispensation. But like Adam’s earlier prophecy about all that would befall his posterity through the last generation, the initiation on the Mount of Transfiguration included a similar view of the future for the Earth. Joseph Smith likewise was a dispensation head who was visited by the prophet who was at the beginning (Nephi) and the end (Moroni) of the prior dispensation. This is a continual pattern and an established requirement for every dispensation of the Gospel. They are welded together to accomplish the required continuity. This requires Adam to supervise the process, as he acquired the keys to accomplish this work when he first foretold everything that would befall his posterity until the final generation:
Therefore, he set the ordinances to be the same for ever and ever, and set Adam to watch over them, to reveal them from Heaven to man or to send angels to reveal them. …Are they not all ministering [angels], sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation? These angels are under the direction of Michael, or Adam, who acts under the direction of Christ. (T&C 140:6)
There must be a reliable, consistent continuation for the Holy Order to accomplish the mission of saving the souls of men. This is why, for Joseph Smith, it was necessary for prior dispensation holders to visit and provide the required information to ensure the continuity of dispensations. Joseph wrote about it:
What do we hear? …The voice of Michael the archangel, the voice of Gabriel, and of Raphael, and of diverse angels from Michael, or Adam, down to the present time, all declaring each one:
Their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their Priesthood.
Going line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, giving us consolation by holding forth that which is to come and confirming our hope. (T&C 151:15-17)
Whenever a dispensation of the Gospel includes a return of the Holy Order after the Order of the Son of God, there is an accompanying link between the holder and the fathers in Heaven. That link requires the holder to be adopted into the line of those who went before. This, in turn, equips the holder to bring others with him, just as Joseph Smith described it to those who he sealed to himself:
“[It would] ensure your eternal salvation & exaltation and that of your father’s household. & all your kindred.” A father who gave his daughter to the Prophet as a [sealed daughter] was assured…the [sealing] “shall be crowned upon your heads with honor and immortality and eternal life to all your house both old and young.” (Bushman, Rough Stone Rolling, p.439)
In Joseph Smith’s practice, he went through a formal adoption ceremony for each individual he intended to adopt. However, if you examine the explanation he provided, it allowed others to be brought along with the adopted son or daughter. All of their household, “both old and young,” would be crowned with honor, immortality, and eternal life.
As I previously explained, it is one thing to receive a revelation, another thing to take it in and comprehend it, and an altogether greater challenge to teach it. Joseph was working out the system, rite, ordinance, and method to establish adoption on a firm footing so it could continue indefinitely. He was killed before it was established. It could not be perpetuated once Joseph, Hyrum, and their associated authority they held were extinguished.
Mankind cannot adopt ordinances nor establish covenants. Mankind either receives them from God, or they are unavailable. God will not acknowledge that which he has not called, ordained, and chosen (T&C 140:7). As the Lord establishes a new dispensation, and Adam commissions and qualifies the agent to do the work, the Holy Order returns, along with the rights, duties, and privileges to ordain a formal ordinance to accomplish God’s purpose. But the ordinances must be kept in the very way God has appointed, otherwise their Priesthood will prove a cursing instead of a blessing (❡12). Isaiah explained that changing the ordinance will break the covenant: The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance[s], broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore has the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate; therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left (Isaiah 7:1 RE). This obligation to preserve, protect, and defend what comes from God has been one of the constant themes of prophecy.
From the book of Deuteronomy: You shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish anything from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you (Deuteronomy 2:1 RE).
And from the book of Revelation: For I testify unto every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book; …if any man shall take away from the words of the book…, God shall take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the holy city, and [out of] the things which are written in this book. (Revelation 9:4 RE)
The Lord stated His doctrine and then warned: And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establisheth it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil and is not built upon my rock, but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the gates of hell standeth open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them. (3 Nephi 5:9 RE)
There are others, but this is sufficient to make the point. The Holy Order after the Order of the Son of God can and does restore covenants and ordinances. But when they are set, they are not to be trifled with, changed, nor can they be improved by meddling men. We lost the authority God conferred on Joseph and Hyrum when they were killed. We lost any chance of perpetuating temple ordinances, including adoption, when they died without the ordinances having been set in final form. We know the temple rites had not been put into a final form because Brigham Young admitted it. In a talk he gave in 1877, he said:
Joseph divided up the room … we marked it [he] Gave us…instructions …
…after we had got through [he] said “Bro. Brigham this is not arranged right but we have done the best we could under the circumstances in which we are placed, and I wish you to take this matter in hand and organize and systematize [it].” I did so, …each time I got something more, …when we went through the temple at Nauvoo I understood [pretty well] knew how to place them there. We had our ceremonies pretty correct. (CDBY, 5:3104)
Brigham Young was not a dispensation head, did not possess the Holy Order, lacked the authority to establish a binding ordinance. Therefore, this explanation clarifies that the LDS Church, like the ancient pharaohs, were merely seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by Joseph Smith (see Abraham 2:3 RE).
Joseph Smith was all that he claimed to be, and much more. Only fools have and do hold him in derision. He presented the world an opportunity that was squandered. Yet without the foundation he laid to commence the Restoration, it would be impossible for us to complete it now. The closer you examine Joseph’s work, the clearer God’s hand becomes. The fathers who received the Holy Order, from Adam to Moroni, taught him so he could accomplish his assignment. But finishing that will be left to us if we prove faithful—or to a future generation if we do not. As it returns, there are ten things to keep in mind:
- Before it can be firmly established, we will need a temple.
- Once established in a formal ordinance, it must not be changed.
- Although it is likely to be conferred by the adoption of only a few, that will be enough to save not only them but also all their kin.
- Beyond the members and their kin, when it is here, anyone who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And all who receive a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.
- Therefore, there is no difference in God’s eyes between a member of the Holy Order and the residue of the righteous. All will be preserved at the Lord’s return.
- The purpose of re-establishing the Holy Order is to prevent the total destruction of mankind at the Lord’s return.
- Aspiring to advantages over your fellow man is not only unbecoming and offensive to God, it is the reason mankind has lost the Holy Order in prior generations.
- We must begin to fear God and soberly acknowledge the peril we face at the Lord’s return if we reject these things, as the former saints did during the time of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.
- Just as God has taken down in an orderly manner the establishment of the Restoration began through Joseph, He has also begun in an orderly manner to recommence the Restoration by sending messengers, authority, revelation, and light to guide His continuing work.
- Like everything that benefits and sustains mankind, the Holy Order belongs to God and is entrusted to us only to further God’s purposes, not to gratify any person’s vanity, ambition, or desires.
This third talk concludes the requirement to address the Holy Order after the Order of the Son of God. Anything further will necessarily be confined to the temple, when we are commanded and permitted to build it. We have no right to begin building a temple until commanded to do so. And the fact that we have not yet been commanded, even though the Lord has told us we will be required to do so, is perhaps an indication that we are not yet worthy and prepared to have it with us. If that is so, we are still not taking God seriously enough.
May we learn to be humble and penitent, and set aside our pride, ambition, and self-will.
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Now, I am not going to read either of the two Appendices to this talk, but I’m gonna put the talk up, including both Appendix 1 and Appendix 2, on my website, and the Restoration Archives will no doubt make it available as well. And I have not read any of the 241 footnotes that went into this talk as part of this, but you’ll have all those available to you too, as long as you’re willing to read the smaller print on the bottom of the page.
It really is a dangerous subject, and when I look carefully at the history that occurred while Joseph and Hyrum were still here, and the excitement… I mean, there’s nothing more appealing, delicious, enticing, wonderful, exciting, mind-expanding, heart-expanding… There’s nothing more powerful than the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness. It is beyond any of the flights of fancy that we have in science fiction; it’s beyond anything Tolkien composed in The Lord of the Rings; it’s better than any of the fiction that has been composed, any of the Star Wars movies that have been made.
Because it is truth, and because of the content of it—and the fact that it involves YOU and an antiquity that is separated from you by a veil—whenever that curtain lifts just a little and we’re given a peek, you begin to understand that you are infinite; you come from a holy place; you are destined to go TO a holy place, a place of glory. But you can’t realize the greatness of what God intends to give to you if you are disobedient to the things He ASKS of you. He is asking of you to be like Him so that you can ultimately join Him in exactly the same position as what He occupies.
And I’m using “He” throughout in the same way as the Hebraic sense: When there is a male present, it was “he,” even if there were other women present. Adam and Eve were called “Adam.” When I refer to Adam, I’m referring to the couple.
I very much liked what Whitney said earlier today.
God’s commands are intended to make you better, to separate you from the world, to spare you from injuries that this world will inflict upon you if you choose to disregard His commands. They’re meant to improve you. They’re meant to inform you. When you take upon yourself obedience to God, Christ promised, “If any man will do the will, he will know the doctrine.” You are spared from having the light shine brighter when you choose darkness by disobedience. When you change that, and you choose obedience and following Him, you will have impressions; the light will shine brighter; things that you haven’t noticed before now become comprehensible—not because you’re so much smarter; it’s only because the light has shone in the darkness, and now what you could not perceive before, you are able to perceive. That’s what obedience allows and permits you to do.
We’re dealing with the culmination; we’re getting right up against some of the most fearful, terrible, risky things. It excited people so much in Joseph’s day that they just couldn’t stand letting it unfold without their interference, without their ambition, without their vanity, without their jealousies, without their personal gratification consuming them. And so we lost both Joseph and Hyrum. And the people that supplanted them were so far inferior in understanding that they were groping in the dark, even as they attempted to imitate what they thought Joseph was doing. There was a discontinuity.
God has set His hand again. We have a chance. It’s a serious opportunity; it’s legitimately offered. The question is: Can we do any better than they did then? Because I’m telling you, we do not fear God (meaning, “respect God”) sufficiently to really allow Him to complete His work based upon everything that has gone on to this point. I’m shocked at how much He continues to push things down the field further when we receive it so foolishly and so unworthily. And we fight, and we fuss, and we quarrel among one another, and we behave wretchedly.
While Whitney Horning was speaking… She didn’t say this, but it’s going in my journal: “Wisdom is as difficult and elusive in women as knowledge is in men.”
We’ve not conducted ourselves heroically. We can, and we should do better. I can only behave for myself. I can be embarrassed for other people, but I can’t make them change. But YOU control YOU. You can decide how you conduct your life. You decide whether you choose to gossip and whether you choose to berate and whether you choose to judge narrowly; or whether you choose, instead, generosity, greatness of heart, forgiving nature, willingness to live in peace, willingness to let the bad news end with you and not be spread further, willingness to bite your tongue when a sharp remark or a quick retort that insults and opens a wound would serve your ego better.
We don’t need to run around correcting one another. We need to go around loving, appreciating, helping, supporting, and enjoying one another. At the end of the day, this ought (and can be) FUN! And I’m hoping that we figure out how to do that. One of the things that happened here was that dance…
I’m gonna go ahead and say this: I’ve been trying for awhile to get something done without talking about it, but when I got together with the kids last month, I went ahead and said, “Okay, I can’t get the adults to do what I’ve been asking for three years, so why don’t you kids take it on yourselves to do a roadshow.” And then I explained what used to happen in the LDS community with roadshows, where you did a parody of something, and you used, you know, popular music, but you rewrote the lyrics, and you invented a funny story to make fun of something that’s contemporary. Roadshows used to be a real unifying thing within the community.
When we get together and we do conferences, I think it would be wonderful if, independently, on a Friday evening before the main conference, some groups decided they were gonna put together roadshows, and we spent an evening watching parodies with music. I think it would be great if we had poetry competition. I think it would be great if we had short-story competition. I think it would be great if we had art competition. And as part of any conference, everyone is invited to come and to bring their poetry, come and bring your artwork.
Let the creativity that God has endowed us with, that urging to connect with something bigger than yourself, concepts of love and light and truth and wonder, things that create music and create poetry and create artwork, General Conferences ought to include this kind of a contribution so that instead of bitching and moaning about something the women did to some guy somewhere who did something to some other guy somewhere that offends the crap out of me, and “Don’tcha know, I can name you names and tell you dates and…!!!” Why don’t we focus on poetry and art? And roadshows? Why don’t you create something on your own, something… And bring it, and suggest it.
Whoever organizes the next conference, if you get contact from someone saying, “Hey, we wanna put on a roadshow,” make time for that on a Friday evening. If someone says, “I brought some art,” figure out how we can put it on display as part of the conference get-together. Display them in the lobby. It might even be fun to have an evening, maybe on Saturday, where we listen to poetry that people have written.
There are some wonderfully talented people. I mean, we’re gonna have to disqualify Vern Horning from art; we can make him write music or something he can’t do. And then, the cowboy poetry guy… Oh, that’s Alan VanLeer. Alan probably can’t participate in the poetry thing if we’re competing, but he could certainly participate as someone who would amuse the crap out of anyone willing to listen to his cowboy poetry.
I think…
You can take the Gospel and God seriously without taking yourself seriously. All of the pomposity that we tend to assume for ourselves is nonsense. God is worthy of worship; we are little more than amusement
That struts and frets [its] hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It’s a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
(“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” by William Shakespeare)
You know, Shakespeare nailed us pretty well. I mean… But here’s the deal: We ought to find our group to be a refuge, our group to be fun and relieving. We shouldn’t come together and feel the heavy weight of “Oh, my gosh, SHE’S here…”
“Okay, did he notice me?? ‘Cuz I… Let’s go sit in the back!”
Those kinds of things… We should look at one another as a gift from God and enjoy the Gospel and enjoy our time together. The serious things that are underway are just gonna take care of themselves. In the meantime, we oughta joyfully go along, helping where we can, doing what we can, lifting one another’s burdens where we can, and making this whole process fun!
Those kids—when I met with them in July (and I met with them last month too)—those kids like to have fun! But, I mean, it’s like this foreboding. Hey, we love one another as kids, we’re having fun as kids, this is all great. And we look at the adults, and we realize that one day we’re gonna have to become somber and colorless and dull and…
What the hell kind of example are you setting for the kids? If I was a kid growing up and watching some of/most of/almost all of what I see going on among the adults, I’d get a garlic necklace and a big crucifix.
This process should be joyful. So next time we get together, let’s see if at least we can have the beginnings of a little bit of joy on the fringe. And I liked the dancing, and I liked the music. And I liked everything that I heard from any of the speakers that had been given.
I thought… We’ve accomplished absolutely remarkable things. That talk that was given by Adrian about the work that has gone on and the discoveries that have been made in the Hebrew translation and the effort—there were times, literally there were times… We met every week on a Zoom conference; there were times when the entire meeting was spent explaining theological matters (to the translators) that come from the Restoration through Joseph Smith so that they could choose the appropriate Hebrew word to be able to capture the underlying theology that needed to be embedded into the material. It was a wonderful process, and I enjoyed every minute of my participation in it.
We’ve accomplished remarkable things. They’ve been done with a lot of hard work by a lot of hard people, and these are seriously wonderful achievements. But we shouldn’t allow the seriousness of the work that we’re accomplishing detract one iota from the fun that we can have along the way.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.