Friday, April 7, 2017

A Woman’s Part in the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood


33 For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies.
34 They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God.
35 And also all they who receive this priesthood receive me, saith the Lord;
36 For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me;
37 And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father;
38 And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him.
39 And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood. (D&C 84:33-39)

When I have read these verses, I have usually only read it with reference to men. However, recently I saw this block of verses in a different context that showed me where I and other faithful women fit in it. (Hint: It's not terribly controversial..)

The context was in a flyer our stake leaders handed out at ward conference to highlight the stake theme for the year about ordinances. All the ordinances were listed with a scripture about them. For the Melchizedek priesthood ordinances, v35-38 were given from the block above.  Read just those verses and see how it changes your perspective.

I particularly noticed verse 35 & 36. They who receive the priesthood, receive Jesus. And they that receive Jesus’s servants, receive Jesus. As a woman, I read that and I thought, I can’t receive the priesthood. Ah! But I can receive Jesus’s servants who have the priesthood, and that is still receiving Jesus.  I don’t care if the verse says “he” there; I can apply that to myself.

So, I think faithful women have part in the oath and covenant of the priesthood by receiving God’s servants, receiving the ordinances and blessings they can give, and by supporting and sustaining them in that work. Thereby, women can receive Jesus, receive the Father, receive the Father’s kingdom, and be given all the Father hath.  I also see no reason why women can’t then also magnify their callings and claim the blessing of being sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies. 

If I were to apply the above verses to women, I would probably read it this way:

33 For whoso is faithful unto the receiving of those who hold these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies.
34 They become the daughters of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God.
35 And also all they who receive these priesthood holders receive me, saith the Lord;
36 For she that receiveth my servants receiveth me;
37 And she that receiveth me receiveth my Father;
38 And she that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto her.
39 And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

For what it's worth, I've heard it said from an Apostle that the verse applies to women as well as men. They read "he or she, as this equally applies to women" into the verse.

Substituting "They" is just poor grammar, but I guess that's where the English language is headed because we can't tolerate masculine or feminine words.

Michaela Stephens said...

That's nice to know. Any idea which apostle?