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.

The Earth’s Future Celestialization

17 And the redemption of the soul is through him that quickeneth all things, in whose bosom it is decreed that the poor and the meek of the earth shall inherit it.

18 Therefore, it must needs be sanctified from all unrighteousness, that it may be prepared for the celestial glory;

19 For after it hath filled the measure of its creation, it shall be crowned with glory, even with the presence of God the Father;

20 That bodies who are of the celestial kingdom may possess it forever and ever; for, for this intent was it made and created, and for this intent are they sanctified. (D&C 88:17-20)

To me, the neat thing these verses do is explode the notion that exalted man’s final place in the eternities will be out in space somewhere in an undefinable heaven after they have been raptured away.  Instead, the earth itself will be exalted and sanctified and celestialized.  Then, all those who are celestialized themselves will inherit it as their eternal place of abode. It is those who can’t live up to the celestial law who will have to be placed elsewhere. (No doubt a place is prepared, and we have to remember that even a telestial place will be more glorious than this earth is now.)

When I look out my window at the brightness of the day and see how beautiful the earth is, I have a hard time imagining how a celestial earth could be better than this. But that is only the fault of my imagination. Likely everything will be lots brighter and luminous. I so look forward to that day.

Further, these verses give an even broader view of redemption than just the redemption of man. It is also the redemption and sanctification of the whole of creation! That’s huge. And the earth will be redeemed for sure because it fills its measure of creation and faithfully obeys the celestial law. It is we mortal humans whose exaltation remains in question. The implied question in these verses to me is, “Will you obey like the earth and be sanctified with it, or will you remain in your sins and have to be sent elsewhere?”

Umm, I’d like to stay here, thanks. I’m working on that.

Joseph Smith’s revelation on Revelation 8

Q. What are we to understand by the sounding of the trumpets, mentioned in the 8th chapter of Revelation?

A. We are to understand that as God made the world in six days, and on the seventh day he finished his work, and sanctified it, and also formed man out of the dust of the earth, even so, in the beginning of the seventh thousand years will the Lord God sanctify the earth, and complete the salvation of man, and judge all things, and shall redeem all things, except that which he hath not put into his power, when he shall have sealed all things, unto the end of all things; and the sounding of the trumpets of the seven angels are the preparing and finishing of his work, in the beginning of the seventh thousand years—the preparing of the way before the time of his coming. (D&C 77:12)

Upon running into this verse, I noticed it said that on the seventh day God finished his work and formed men from the dust, and I said to myself, “Wait!  That’s not what Genesis says; Genesis says God formed man in the sixth day and rested on the seventh!”

And I thought, “Did Joseph Smith get his creation days mixed up when he was writing this revelation down?” It certainly seemed like it.  And I was embarrassed by this.

But then, I realized something else.  In this verse, the bit about creation is being used as an analogy to explain the bit from Revelation 8 that Joseph Smith was interested in learning about.  So I began to wonder if maybe the “mistake” was actually meant to teach something.  What was really being compared?

Our idea of the seventh day of creation is that God rested and refrained from creation.  But the “mistake” of Joseph Smith tells us that on the seventh day God was finishing his work and sanctifying it and forming man out of the dust.  So maybe this is supposed to hint to us that during the beginning of the seventh thousand years (as described in Revelation 8) it will seem like God is resting, but that He is really finishing His work, sanctifying and refining and forming man—those who have faith in Him—into the kind of perfected beings He meant them to be.  This is supported by the imagery in Revelation 8—the silence in heaven for half an hour as though heaven were at rest, and then the angels sounding trumpets, which bring great tribulations on the earth (and which would certainly refine those who remain faithful throughout).