The Aaronic & Melchizedek Priesthoods

work in progress…. finish this some time.
Rename this to order of the priesthood or something.

In the LDS Church the Priesthood is divided in two primary divisions, the Aaronic and Melchezidek Priesthood. LDS Scripture teaches us that the Aaronic Priesthood is a “Lower” and “Temporal” Priesthood set to preside over temporal matters; whereas the Melkezidek Priesthood is a “higher” “spiritual” priesthood designed to preside over spiritual matters. I believe that these two priesthoods were meant to be profound symbols pointing us to two distinct aspects of religion; namely that there is a “temporal”, earthly or humanistic aspect of religion, and a “spiritual”, heavenly or divine aspect of religion. The biblical record makes the existence of these two aspects of religion fairly clear.

-lower priesthood is a school master to bring us to christ. (the catholic reformation were trying to make many of the same points that Stephen and early apostolic reformers were)

-god of old testament commands israel to build him a house/temple (made with human hands), but then tries to teach israel that He does not dwell in temples made with human hands.

-god tells israel they should not have a King, because he wants to personally be their King. But they insist and so he helps them coronate a king and the result is just as the prophets foretold; oppression, repression, taxes, war, imperialism and politically influenced religion.

-god wants israel to come worship “the true god” on the mount at sinai, but they are afraid and need a god made with hands—so they have Aaron fashion a golden calf. As a punishment, god makes Aaron and his posterity priests (like the egyptians), gives them a temple (made with hands), and a “lower” religion which was a also a human construct.

-The purpose of the human aspects of religion (things like the temple, the altar, the outward ordinances) are designed to point us to the higer inward spiritual aspects of religion.

OUTLINE:
-define and explain the two aspects of the priesthood
-both these priesthood functions are related to family lines because abilities of the adept are often passed genetically. (but not necessarily!). give examples of when they were and weren’t! lehi/nephi/lanuel, david, samuel, Jesus is best example of both, had a kingly line NOT a priestly one and defied the jewish concepts of traditional priestly lines!
cover the two aspects one at a time…
-both of these functions were given to MANY different dispensational heads in early history and continue in thier seed, so mormons dont need to pridefully think we are the only ones with priesthood!
-in regards to priesthood ‘power’, the ordinances are symbolic. You do not need to be ordained to exercise god’s power. you do not need to be lds, or jewish.
-quote extensively from law of one. quote oahspe about those capable of “hearing the voice” or clairvoyance. genetic manipulation and off planet implanting might be associated with this.
-talk about it in regards to women, non-Israel, and blacks in priesthood.
-in regards to priesthood ‘authority’, it is the lower priesthood which governs this. talk about two paths.
-women hold the priesthood in many ways.
-god is like a computer network or internet which we can tap into to access power. power gives authority. the most powerful are selfless because it is a superior system.
-need to talk about the ideal masculine and feminine and how true power is achieved though balancing these. quote pearl on story of martyr couple, and androgynous adepts. also oahspe on principles of androgyny.

There is a misunderstanding in the Church, that members of the LDS Church are the only ones with any “priesthood”… This is simply not supported by restored scripture.

Firstly, it is important to realize there are different aspects of the priesthood. In Mormonism, the priesthood is “the power and authority of God given to man”. One aspect of this power or authority is the right to govern. In this case priesthood is essentially political. The second aspect of priesthood is the “power of God” in the sense of one obtaining God’s supernatural abilities. Although closely related to governance, this aspect of God’s power is done by the “gifts of the spirit”, more than by virtue of the priesthood, per se. For more information on how the gifts of the Spirit tap into priesthood power and allow any worthy individual to do healings, prophesies, miracles or other supernatural phenomenon see ‘The Difference Between Priesthood and Prophets‘.

Both of these powers are given to man in assorted ways and have many examples in scripture. This article will show that in both cases God’s priesthood is not limited to the LDS Church. Although God often restores and reconfirms priesthood power as an addendum to reconfirming his covenant with subsets of humanity, aspects of his priesthood continues within the bloodlines of those to whom it is given and serves its needed purposes outside of organized religion. Many of these rights and powers of the temporal priesthood are passed hereditarily from father to son/daughter with no need for an ordinance.

(Abraham 2:11)
11 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal.

(D&C 84:17–18)
17 Which priesthood continueth in the church of God in all generations, and is without beginning of days or end of years.
18 And the Lord confirmed a priesthood also upon Aaron and his seed, throughout all their generations, which priesthood also continueth and abideth forever with the priesthood which is after the holiest order of God.

(D&C 86:8–11)
8 Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you, with whom the priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers—
9 For ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with Christ in God—
10 Therefore your life and the priesthood have remained, and must needs remain through you and your lineage until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began.
11 Therefore, blessed are ye if ye continue in my goodness, a light unto the Gentiles, and through this priesthood, a savior unto my people Israel. The Lord hath said it. Amen.

Show that the priesthood comes through the new and everlasting covenant. And that covenant was made with MULTIPLE parties from the beginning.

Abraham received it from Melchizedek.
BUT Moses received it through Jethro’s line which began with Esaias, of whom we learn “And Esaias received it under the hand of God. Esaias also lived in the days of Abraham, and was blessed by him…” (D&C 84:12–13)

This of course was not a singular occurrence, the Brother of Jared also lived just before Abraham and we can only guess that he also received his priesthood “under the hand of God”. After all, we learn from D&C 88:22 that “without this [the authority of the priesthood] no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live” (D&C 88:22). Which brings us back to our previous point, with the question; “how then did Joseph Smith see the face of God and live, when he had not yet been ordained to the priesthood at the time of the first vision?” The answer… this scripture is deeply symbolic. But additionally Joseph was a blood descendant of a high priesthood line (Ephraim), which even through the apostasy “must needs remain through… your lineage until the restoration of all things” (D&C 86:10)

Why then was the priesthood even restored? The answer, the entire process of the restoring of the priesthood and keys through the holy ordinances is a necessary part of confirming and renewing the new and everlasting covenant. Even though the covenant was made of old, and remained through the seed of the original testators, God renews it at the beginning of each dispensation for the sake of the faith of those involved and the whole world at large. For “without the ordinances thereof… the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh” (D&C 84:21). As the Lord says…

(D&C 84:48)
48 And the Father teacheth him [the priesthood holder] of the covenant which he has renewed and confirmed upon you, which is confirmed upon you for your sakes, and not for your sakes only, but for the sake of the whole world.

Explain a bit more how he gave it to multiple dispensations heads. Abraham, Brother of Jared, Esaias, (and others we dont know about). Then he confirmed it with multiple people. Moses, Jaredites and others we dont know about). Today he has renewed it with Joseph Smith and the LDS church, but to think that he has not re-confirmed it with the other divisions of the earth is a bit narrow minded. Was not John the Revelator himself “preparing the lost tribes” (D&C 77:14, ref). Do we not think God renewed the covenant with them as well? And what of the Jews? Doesn’t the Lord say concerning both the Jews and the 10 tribes,

26 And they who are in the north countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord; and their prophets shall hear his voice, and shall no longer stay themselves…
35 And they also of the tribe of Judah, after their pain, shall be sanctified in holiness before the Lord, to dwell in his presence day and night, forever and ever.

-explain how the Church, 10 tribes and Judah are all to be restored separately. The Jews do not need the priesthood restored to them; they will rebuild the temple and offer an acceptable sacrifice (Mal. 3:3–4, D&C 13:1) using the Levitical priesthood which has been maintained through their generations. The prophets of the 10 tribes also may have intact priesthood lines.

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Finish the article. Hit the points
-anyone can access intelligent infinity, or the ability to alter reality by our wills. it is a “gift of the spirit” and is free to any diligent seeker. However, use of this ability is guarded by higher beings on many different levels.

– It is important to understand the two paths of the Law of One; service to self and service to others. These are essentially the two ends of the spectrum concerning governance systems in our world and the galaxy in general. The service to self system is a top-down autocratic system of rule in which the few govern the many. This political/religious system exists to bring prestige, power, glory, energy, money and sustenance from the many to the god leader and his elite supporters. On the opposite side is the service to others system where there no inequality and all are entirely ONE. In this system no-one lifts themselves above another and all share power equally and serve eachother unfailingly. There is no need for a king (Samuel 8:4–22, D&C 38:21, Mosiah 29:10–32). If there is a leader appointed, they serve the people without requiring the people to serve or worshiping them. This system is only possible with a righteous selfless people, and historically when people are too selfish to establish this type of democratic system, the higher gods hand governance to the the lower gods who establish monarchies and dictatorships.

Service to the self is always inferior to service to others. It is impossible for the one to consistently defeat the many. The entropy in an inward/upward flowing political configuration is too high. Earthly and galactic history consistently shows that an outward/downward flowing political configuration is more powerful. Service to others IS the superior configuration. Show the densities; by 6th density all selfish groups switch to selflessness because there ceases to be possibility for progression otherwise.
-survival of the fittest governs the universe; even among gods. As taught to Abraham (Abr 3:16–19), the most intelligent/powerful always gains the right to govern. The “gods” who govern this world do so because they have used “intelligent infinity” or God’s power to become powerful enough to subjugate others to their wills. Man, Lucifer and lower gods do this through selfish force and violence. Higher gods have grown wise enough to see the detrimental entropy caused by the force and violence of tyranny; they instead use powers of “selfless” mental coercion and selfless service (D&C 130:36–46).
-there is a higher and a lower priesthood. An earthly and heavenly priesthood. One is essentiall selfish, the other selfless. One visible, the other invisible.
-because the selfless gods are more powerful than the self-made gods, they control our galaxy. but they allow gods of a lower order (of both paths) to rule earth and give them priesthood keys in accord with mans agency.
-priesthood power of both paths is passed through bloodlines and remains in one’s seed.
-Lucifer has priesthood and powers. As a god of this world he rules the lower priesthood and is permitted to instill and regulate the thrones, dominions, powers and principalities of this world until Christ puts this system under his feet at his coming.

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Four Fold Ministry of the Twelve.

Talk about the four-fold from gospel of the holy twelve… It is a symbol of the four divisions of the earth, and the four divisions of Israel, or God’s elect on earth and in heaven… all working independently of each-other, often without each others knowledge, to accomplish God’s purposes…

12. And from these there were called twelve to be Prophets with the Apostles, and twelve to be Evangelists and twelve to be Pastors, and their Helps were added unto them, and Deacons of the Church Universal, and they numbered one hundred and twenty. And thus was the Tabernacle of David set up, with living men filled with goodness, even as the Master had shewn unto them. [look for a type in soloman’s temple…] 13. And to the Church in Jerusalem was given James the Lord’s brother for its president and Angel, and under him four and twenty priests in a fourfold ministry, and helpers and deacons also. And after six days many came together, and there were added six thousand men and women who received the holy Law of Love, and they received the word with gladness

6. And to the Apostles were given staves to guide their steps in the ways of truth, and crowns of glory withal; and to the Prophets burning lamps to shew light on the path and censers with fire; and to the Evangelists the book of the holy law to recall the people to the first principles; and to the Pastors were given the cup and platter to feed and nourish the flock.
7. But to none was given aught that was not given to all, for all were one priesthood under the Christ as their Master Great High Priest in the Temple of God; and to the Deacons were given baskets that they might carry therein the things needful for the holy worship. And the number was about one hundred and twenty, Peter presiding over them.

I believe there are deep esoteric principles taught in this symbology which is reiterated with the symbolic use of the four and twenty elders described in Revelation 4:4,10; Rev 5:8,14; Rev 11:16; Rev 19:4) and reiterated in D&C 77:5.

The four divisions are also symbolized by Brahman man Nebuchadnezzar statue. Also four divisions in D&C 77:3, as well as 4 divisions of the earth & Noah, Japheth, Shem, Ham.

This would have to be a really long article to explain this all, but in summary. Every major religion on earth has come about through the priesthood. Hinduism and its restorationist sect of Buddhism came through Shem’s priesthood. Judaism and its two restorationist sects of Christianity and Islam came through Abraham’s priesthood (also Shem’s decedents). Japheth also has/had the priesthood and he uses it to rule China and southeast Asia (passed into Taoism and other Chinese religions). To add a higher degree of complexity the brother of Jared’s priesthood was spread to South America, Tibet and Anatolia by Heth’s great empire (not a lot revealed on this yet, see Law of One). It is very important to understand the distinctions between the lower and higher priesthoods. Organized religion has the lower “temporal” priesthood, and it is never long until this right to governance is hijacked by the selfish or self-righteous. Historically it has predominately been used by service-to-self individuals who are well-meaning but full of ego, self-righteousness and self-deception. These well-meaning individuals gravitate toward positions of power and quickly fill the ranks of most governments and churches. They are usually good people and should not be demonized but the populace should be aware that we give them power out of love so they can obtain their desires and progress. This lower priesthood is all about visible power, visible right to governance, power and prestige. It is the schoolmaster.

The higher priesthood administers in “spiritual” things and is held by those who rule in heaven. True prophets, adepts and mystics of every religion access this priesthood and by it do miracles, obtain revelation, and start systems which alter the coarse of human history. Most of this activity occurs in secret. That which is not done in secret becomes the stuff of legend and scripture. It is without “beginning of years” or “father and mother” and is not passed down hereditary like the lower priesthood. Nor does it need a visible ordinance to be conferred. The evidence of this priesthood is in the works of those who possess it.

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In this light, I believe every lover of equality, freedom and “righteousness” should be encouraged to study the breadth of the world’s political and religious systems. The political systems and empires of Communism and Democracy which grew out of the ideas revealed by these higher beings during Joseph Smith’s time are examples of the heavenly forces vying for control of our world right now.  I believe political systems (religions) in heaven and the galaxy follow similar patterns to those on earth. And just as they have in the past, these heavenly and spiritual forces constantly work to win over the decision makers of all earth’s powerful organizations. As I have learned more about these heavenly organizations and forces, I am sad to see the inroads they have made in overcoming organizations which I love such as the United States government and the LDS Church.

Mormonism should be the epitome of service to others governance, where the leaders serve their people without expectation of reward.

Wishful and childish thinking will almost always try and get you to believe that the Church is either led entirely by the benevolent God of the Universe, or falsely led entirely by a devil or a bunch of old normal Joes.  Through a lot of prayer and meditation, I have come to see that all earthly people and organizations are led by many voices of differing polarity.  The more my understanding of the unseen higher planes grows, the more I see how phenomenally amazing the visions in the Book of Mormon are, and also how sadly poor the basic LDS understanding of our own scripture and revelation is.  The LDS people (myself included for most my life so far) are blinded by our own unbelief and self-righteousness to the point that we don’t realize we are in nearly all cases associated as much with the “Gentiles” mentioned in LDS scripture as with “God’s people” (D&C 109:60, 113:10).  The “marvelous work” and restoration of Israel has not yet fully come forth.  The LDS Church is only a small part of a much larger work which is taking place predominately in the world’s political arena. But we are still in a probationary period at the end or fulness of the times of the Gentiles where the work of restoration and harvest has only begun.  And the LDS Church, just like the “Gentile” organizations of the world will soon have to choose whether they will “repent” or change their world-views and traditions which are still largely based on distorted views of morality and negative ideologies of control and inequality.

The great and abominable Church mentioned in LDS scripture is a highly controlling organization which exists in heaven and works on all earthly organizations for the express purpose of bringing the world into bondage. The “illuminati”, an oversimplified cliche from the new age movement, are well known or secretive groups (secret combinations in the Book of Mormon) which work under varying degrees of inspiration from these heavenly forces. It is my testimony that just like much of the world’s current political and religious organizations, the LDS church has espoused many principles and ideologies of these negative forces.  Much as Jesus (for good reasons) chose a spectrum of highly positive (John) to highly negative (Judas) apostles in the beginning of the Christian era, so too does our current LDS church contain a wide spectrum of positive and negative hierarchy and proponents.  The primary philosophies of these positive and negative paths are fairly intuitive …

spectrum of organizational polarities from self serving to serving others. where does the LDS Church fit? Where do we fit in our families or personal responsibilities?

Principles of positivity (service to others, democratic principles)

-To forsake self and labor to serve others. To put the needs of others and the group before your own. To not put yourself above others. To expend more energy helping others than the energy others expend to serve or praise you.  To give more than you receive.  To be meek and humble. To seek equality for all.  To warn others of danger in order to prevent suffering. To love and serve the “wicked” or those who seek to hurt you.  To not label and judge others as wicked, but look for the best in others while advocating propriety. To pass praise and worship on up the chain. To break up class systems or systems of inequality.  To promote freedom to all.  To value common sense and each individuals right to personal inspiration over religious fanaticism or rigid legal systems of control or manipulation.  To offer people positive/constructive counsel but not negative proscriptions. To rule by loving brotherhoods instead of rigid laws determined by an elite and enforced by punishment.

Principles of negativity (service to self, autocratic principles)

-To set up an elite where the few enslave and rule over the many, politically and religiously (kings & priests). To create a populace (not part of the ruling class) who is selfless and thus meek and easy to manipulate into being willingly enslaved. To create systems where the energy and resources of the many benefit and enrich you, the elite few (righteous kings & priests are rewarded). To crave or demand praise and worship. To utterly destroy the” wicked” (in other words, your enemies) and use fear and manipulation to rule and enslave your “servants”.  To put yourself above others as much as possible (as a benevolent God or King or Priest), while manipulating your subjects into a belief that they are unworthy, unequal to you, subservient to you and in need of your benevolence and forgiveness. To build up class systems and psychologically, spiritually, physically and economically subjugate as many people as possible (by their own free will) in order to serve the elite.  To promote religious & political fanaticism and keep people from thinking for themselves or thinking out of the box.  To enforce rigid laws by manipulation, armies, imprisonment and violence.

Principles common to both.

-To work toward unity, in order to increase the groups power. To seek wisdom and knowledge in order to raise in power.

Extreme Examples of these Groups

In our day, North Korea in particular is a good example of how an almost purely negative governmental system works. Even before Genghis Khan, this region of the world has been a major proponent of the negative path. Much like the governments of Lenin, Stalin and Mao, North Korea one of the most closed, controlled, autocratic totalitarian governments in the world.  To someone accustomed to the freedom of the west, it seems obvious that there is something inherently “evil” about their political systems. If you love control and power, then its a great place for you to be born as an elite because all control is in the hands of a small ruling class, and much of the countries resources go to supporting that elite (many capitalistic organizations use the same principles).  The people have very little freedom, and are manipulated by fear and propaganda into thinking their leaders are God-like.  And yet by creating a closed-minded mentality,  good intelligent people in these cultures are fine with the status quo because they are almost entirely ignorant of the fact that most the world operates much differently. It’s important for members of any nation, religion or political organization to be able to look outside their little boxes, and compare the spectrum of governmental systems so they can best chose between the pluses and minuses of each.

North Korea fanfare and tribute to their “beloved leader”, Kim Jong-un. A classic example of self serving governance, where the many serve the elite few.

I’m no neophyte to Mormon doctrine or controversy. I’ve read a lot of religious material from LDS sources and most of the earth’s religious systems;  and it seems the more material I read, the more I find myself having to pray and meditate for a while in order to integrate everything and figure out exactly where I think the LDS Church is right now.  It is obvious to me as I’ve studied history that no earthly religion is perfect or even close to perfect. They all contain mixed and distorted material and teachings, and often when I delve into the controlling, compulsive, manipulative and occasionally deceptive aspects of LDS church doctrine and history… I worry that they are far too ingrained in the negative or service-to-self path. (see distinctions below)  However, on the flip side I am hopeful as I listen to conference, see the open dialog occurring about troubling aspects of church history and feel out the general attitude of members in Utah that the Church and its hierarchy are predominantly seeking service to others by relaxing their power grip, opening their dialog, letting go of their pride and moving more and more toward the positive polarity.