In these verses Alma
the younger explains the priesthood or the need for the priesthood to the
people of Ammonihah, who have denied he (as high priest) has authority over
them, on the grounds they are not of his faith.
1 And
again, my brethren, I would cite your minds forward to the time when the Lord
God gave these commandments unto his children; and I would that ye should
remember that the Lord God ordained priests, after his holy order, which was
after the order of his Son, to teach these things unto the people.
2 And
those priests were ordained after the order of his Son, in a manner that
thereby the people might know in what manner to look forward to his Son for
redemption. (Alma 13:1-2)
That bit about ordination as way for the people to know how
to look forward to the Son for redemption has always made me wonder. How is ordination to the priesthood
supposed to help build my faith in Christ? It must be that there is a type of Christ in it that we haven’t
recognized, but Alma did.
The only think I can think of is this—ordination takes one
of the men among us in the church and gives him a holy office by which he is to
serve the people, teach them, and bestow ordinances. That process must be similar to how Christ was to be raised
up among Israel. The grace of God
that attends the ordinances done by the priests we know is to help people
believe that Christ could save them, once He was raised up.
What do you think?
Do you think that’s it, or do you have additional ideas?
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