Doctrine & Covenants 20 (Part II)

D&C 20:38-45 An Apostle is an Elder, and it is his calling to baptize; and to ordain other elders, priests, teachers, and deacons; and to administer bread and wine...and to confirm thos who are baptized into the church...and to teach, expound, exhort, baptize and watch over the church...and to take the lead in all meetings. The Elders are to conduct the meetings as they are led by the Holy Ghost, according to the commandments and revelations of God. Fairly straightforward, except that it gives a lot of the responsibilities that I associate with the Priests to the Elders. Specifically, baptizing, ordaining other priests, teachers, and deacons, and blessing the sacrament all belongs to priests. When it lists the duties of the priests in verses 46-52, he gets those, but they are moderated with the line, but when there is an elder present, he is only to preach, teach, expound, exhort, and baptize. And visit the house of each member...[and]...assist the elder if occasion requires.

20:53 The teacher's duty is to watch over the church always, and be with and strengthen them. (Emphasis added). so the teacher's duty is to actually be with the church, as though the others will not be, either because of duty, or by virtue of his calling, he will not feel as close to the balance of the members. In some ways, I am like this at work, that is, the team might feel more comfortable approaching one of the managers who report to me than to me, considering them more of a peer than I am.

20:61 The several elders composing this church of Christ are to meet in conference once in three months. I assume that general conference counts as half of this and Stake Conference is the other half.

20:68 The elders or priests are to have a sufficient time to expound all things concerning the church of Christ to their understanding, previous to their partaking of the sacrament and being confirmed by the laying on of the hands of the elders so that all things may be done in order. Last week, the Elders' Quorum President read an excerpt from the Church Handbook of Instructions, Although the sacrament is for Church members, the bishopric should not announce that it will be passed to members only, and nothing should be done to prevent nonmembers from partaking of it. Is the second in conflict with the first? I went to Mass a couple of times as a teenager with a girl I was dating. Her parents were quite helpful to me as they talked about what to expect and made it clear that I would not be alone in abstaining from participation in the Eucharist, even among a congregation of Catholics, and were able to suggest (without being offensive) that I probably ought not participate in that portion of the service. I think that is what our own members (and missionaries) may need to do. Prepare anyone who comes to church with them for the experience and have the conversation about what the sacrament means to them and to the church as a whole prior to shoving a tray full of bread or water in their face 15 minutes into the meeting.

Doctrine & Covenants 20

Elder Uchtdorf told us to read several sections in the Doctrine and Covenants on the priesthood so we'll be taking a brief hiatus from our normal exploration of the Book of Mormon while we do as he asked.

D&C 20:1 The rise of the church of Christ in these last days, being one thousand eight hundred and thirty years since the comin gof our lord an dsavior Jesus Christ in the flesh. James E. Talmage says in Jesus the Christ that "We believe that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea, April 6, BC 1" and he explains his reasoning by citing the fact that there is not general consensus among biblical scholars about a date, and quoting this verse in D&C 20, "In which the day is made without qualification the completion of the one thousand eight hundred and thirtieth year." There is no concensus among biblical scholars (concensus is lacking among both LDS and non-LDS scholars). Talmage references Dr. Charles F. Deems' book, The Light of Nations and quotes, "the birth of our Lord is placed in BC 1 by Pearson and Hug; BC 2 by Scalinger; BC 3 by Baronius and Paulus; BC 4 by Bengel, Wieseler, and Greswell; BC 5 by Usher and Petavius; BC 6 by Strong, Luvin, and Clark; BC 7 by Ideler and Sanclemente."

This one is interesting because according to Josephus, a non-christian Jewish historian who wrote at this time, King Herod (the one who killed all the babies because he was afraid of Jesus's impact on his dynasty) died in BC 4, making it difficult for him to have killed anybody after that. (Josephus records an eclipse of the moon shortly before Herod's death, which astronomers date to March 12 or 13 of 4 BC) Our current calendar is based on the research of a fellow named Dionysius Exiguus who worked it out in 532 AD based on the date of the founding of Rome.

There's one other monkey wrench to throw in there: the Census of Quirinius was taken in 6 AD, and is the only one close to this time. If that census was taken in 6, and Herod died in 4, I like 6 but I'm certainly nothing like a scholar, and I'm sure there are whole books dedicated to this that talk about way more than I'm finding.

In counterpoint to James E. Talmage (as they usually seem to find themselves), Bruce R. McConkie wrote "We do not believe it is possible with the present state of our knowledge-including that which is known both in and out of the Church-to state with finality when the natal day fo the Lord Jesus actually occurred." (McConkie, 1:394, n.2)

The significance of the implication that the ,day is April 6 is meaningful for LDS church history. On April 6, the prophet Joseph Smith restored the church (1830), The cornerstone of the Salt Lake Temple was dedicated (1853), the St. George temple was dedicated (1877), The Salt Lake Temple wa dedicated (1893). But, I'd bet you could find three or four meaningful events on pretty much any date you picked if you're looking that granularly.

2 Nephi 21

2 Nephi 21:6-8 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord. Isaiah is using animals here as an allegory for people, indicated by the preceding verses about judging the poor and the meek. The animals represented are of two classes, the one, by nature, defenseless and the other, predatory and seemingly designed to prey on the first. The theme of judging righteously, in a way that does not inappropriately punish the poor is common throughout the Old Testament, indicating that it was as great a problem 3,000 years ago as it is today, where people who can afford to are not punished by the law to the same degree as those who can not afford to buy their way out.
Can we also understand from these verses that in the millennial day, these types of animals will also literally change their nature and cease to prey on one another? Sickness, death, corruption all entered the world by virtue of the fall, and the world started to bring forth thistles, thorns, briars and noxious weeds instead of fruits and flowers, but how much of that was already there, just not in the Garden of Eden? And if you take away a leopard's deadly grace, what is its purpose? If it doesn't need to run to eat, why would it do so? Would God make a creature so marvelously suited to pursuit and then change it in its paradisiacal state to be mild-mannered? Although, to that point, mankind seems uniquely adapted to violence and we are certainly hoping that will go away when Christ comes.

2 Nephi 20

2 Nephi 20:5-6 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger...I will send him against a hypocritical nation.  We already know that the Lord has a history of using what might be considered wicked nations to punish what are supposed to be his righteous/covenant nations.  So which nations does he use today and does the United States qualify as one of his covenant nations?  This land is supposed to be choice above all other lands, free from kings, and a place of freedom as long as the inhabitants of the land worship Jesus Christ, but does that mean that we are also eligible for being scourged by wicked nations when we forget Christ?  And what is the danger inherent in winning against those wicked nations on our own terms and by our own might rather than looking to the Lord and repenting?  King Noah's people drove back the Lamanites and celebrated their own might only to be brought into bondage a couple of years later.

20:12 Wherefore it shall come to pass that when the Lord hat performed his whole work upon Mount Zion and upon Jerusalem (that is, after the Lord will have allowed Assyria to destroy Jerusalem), I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks for he saith: By the strength of my hand and by my wisdom I have done these things. Wow.  poor guy.  He gets used and then punished for not recognizing that he is being used.  Still, he was a wicked fellow, but oddly, it's not saying that he will be punished for being wicked, but that he is being punished for thinking that by his own strength he had been able to overcome the Lord's covenant people.  But what non-believer anywhere would think, "A god I don't believe in is going to help me whup up on the people who do believe in him"? It seems like that may be a somewhat unreasonable expectation.

2 Nephi 19 (Isaiah 9)

2 Nephi 9:2,4 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light;...For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor. I often think that it's no wonder the Jews didn't accept Christ's assertion that this was him. He gave them the freedom that comes from knowing that earthly things pass away, rather than the freedom that comes from destroying their earthly oppressors, i.e. Rome.

9:11-12 Therefore the Lord shall...join his enemies together...and they shall devour israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. The imagery of the Lord, full of righteous anger, allowing the consequences of sin to punish his covenant people, but standing there, with his hand stretched out to rescue them if they will just reach out to him is rampant throughout the Old Testament and it is some of my favorite sources of understanding the nature of God. I think about my own self and my kids--when they are being bad and I'm punishing them, am I able to stand there with my hand out, ready for their sincere contrition? Through the rest of the chapter, this message is repeated several times, each time after he explains what they are doing wrong and what consequences of that they will be forced to endure, but he wants to make it clear that he is ready to forgive as soon as they are ready to repent.

2 Nephi 9 (Part V)

Some references to being poor/rich:

2 Nephi 9:30 Wo unto the rich, who are rich as to things of the world. For because they are rich, they despise the poor, and they persecute the meek, and their hearts are upon their treasures; wherefore, their treasure shall perish with them also.

Genesis 13:2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

Exodus 23:3 Neither shalt thou favor a poor man in his cause.

Exodus 30:15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord.

1 Samuel 2:6 The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.

Psalms 10:2 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

Proverbs 10:4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

Proverbs 13:7,11 There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath n othing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches...Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.

Proverbs 13:18 Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall behonoured.

Proverbs 14:23-24 In all labour there is profit: but the talk of their lips tendeth only to penury. The crown of the wise is their riches: but eh foolishness of fools is folly.

Proverbs 28:6 Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich.

Proverbs 28:20 A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent...He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.

Proverbs 30:8-9 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

There really are too many to list. I've blown through my time today reading references that all seem to imply that hard work is required by the Lord and results in prosperity, which is acceptable. Treating the poor badly is never acceptable. Being poor is only acceptable if you are not lazy, don't steal, and don't blame God for it. The rich often despise the poor, which is not ok. If the poor are wise, they are still treated badly, and we should all shut our mouths until we're sure it's the right time to talk. To summarize, I would say, God made us all, being rich caries its own special challenges, which it seems are more likely to prevent you from getting into heaven than the challenges associated with being poor, but there is clearly an obligation to work diligently to get yourself out of poverty if you are poor. When you do so, you can't treat the other poor (whether they are there because of laziness or not) badly, but must remember to treat them generously.

2 Nephi 9 (Part IV)

2 Nephi 9:21 For behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam. Jacob says, every living creature and then goes on casually enumerating who/what that includes. His list comprises only humans. For Jacob, every creature means every human. I bring this up because I have not quite come to a solid understanding in my own mind about what was happening with all the plants and animals during the 6 days of creation and the time subsequent to creation before the fall. Lehi told Jacon in 2 Nephi 2:22 if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end. Was Lehi also speaking specifically of Humans? Bruce R. McKonkie said that there was no growth, offspring, or death in anything, plant, animal, or human prior to the fall of Adam, and that he brought death upon those things by his choice as well. I'm pretty sure he uses the 2 Nephi 2 reference as his justification. Given the context of 2 Nephi 9:21, did Lehi mean only humans? It's reasonable to assume that Jacob would learn to speak of things in the way he did from listening to his father speak of them. We do read in scripture that the plants grew and the animals were commanded to reproduce, but Adam and Eve were also commanded to reproduce and didn't do so until they were mortal. In a book by Skousen called The First Thousand Years, he asserts that Adam was unique from the plants and animals on this earth in that Adam was created of the substance of the earth while the plants and animals were brought here from another source.
The reference in Moses 3, where it says, man became a living soul, the first flesh upon the earth, the first man also is a little more enigmatic, but the chapter goes on to a completely different chronology of creation than the one we get in Genesis, Abraham, and the temple, i.e. Adam is created first, then the Garden of Eden with its two trees, then the animals are created, (out of the ground, I might add) and then Eve comes. Moses covers it up by saying, the Lord God created all things...spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth. But he goes on to say that the reason he did that was because he had not caused it to rain upon the face of the earth, which I find to be an extremely odd justification for not creating things in the same order as the rest of scripture says.