Perhaps there was a genetic difference that was passed along. Why must Mormons follow a prophet and not God? In Mexico, he had met a patriarch that was doing them all alike but I cant remember if the Church intervened or not. And the punishment for not keeping them? 2:10). And then with the Jews to be gathered we will once again have the Kingdoms of Ephraim and Judah. Frankly, I believe Patriarchal Blessings are pointless. Teaching Children about Patriarchal Blessings, What a Patriarchal Blessing Can Do for You. She has 17 descendents (4 children, 8 grandchildren, 5 great-grandchildren), but only one heir to her throne, Prince Charles. In the last days, Ephraim's descendants have the privilege and responsibility to bear the message of the restoration of the gospel to the world and to gather scattered Israel (D&C 113:3-6). But I really like what was said in the OP about the tribes basically being all mixed in with the entire world population. Darius Grey was declared to be of all the tribes except one. Its one of those things that sounds like a cool piece of ancestral trivia, until you learn that everyones grandpa and their dog were the prophets bodyguards. I was told by a Patriarch that the lineage not a blood line issue but the area of governmental responsibility during the millennium? They are often among the most humble and faithful of our brethren. I thought it was interesting since he had been sealed to us in the temple as a baby. The 10 th President of the LDS Church, Joseph Fielding Smith, said, "A blessing given by a Patriarch is intended to point out the path which the recipient should travel. ", The Mormon pioneers trekking across America is re-enacted every year by faithful Mormons to honor the faith of their ancestors. Patriarchal blessings include a declaration of a person's lineage in the house of Israel and contain personal counsel from the Lord. To some it is referring to literal genealogical ancestry; to others, adoptive ancestry; to others, it is a metaphor or symbol of inclusion within the House of Israel, while still others see the different tribes as representing different responsibilities in building the Kingdom of God in the last days. On the main topic (what does lineage mean in a world where everyone is family), I do wonder about the social impact of promulgating the idea, for example, that technically were all Jewish. I image that concept would be meant with some objection in certain quarters, which begs the question, why, if were all Abrahams seed and (probablisticly) kids of Judah and some harlot (I want to say Tamar?)? The keys of gathering Israel were committed to the Prophet Joseph Smith by Moses on April 3, 1836, in the Kirtland Temple (D&C 110:11). 32, right (16 +16)? Evidences and Reconciliations, arr. Its nice to have that extra copy of the will around with some reassuring words that you havent been disinherented, I suppose. My daughter is hoping for Slytherin. Everyone baptized into the gospel belongs to one of these 12 tribes, but what does it mean if you don't belong to the same tribe as your family? See this page in the original 1992 publication. If one is worthy, all promises will be fulfilled in the Lords due time. But serving as a bodyguard to Joseph Smith is not one of them. It is a sacred, spiritual calling that usually will continue the remainder of the patriarchs life. Someday there will be a big family reunion for all the children of our Heavenly Father. Personally while I cant make sense o fit Im more than willing to continue it. As a person studies his or her patriarchal blessing and follows the counsel it contains, it will provide guidance, comfort, and protection. What does it mean to be from the lineage of Joseph? Charles, in turn, has four descendents but one heir, William. Ephraim (it was explained) is viewed as the missionary arm, the ones to restore the gospel. Still, I dont mind getting (literally) extra blessings. Multiple non-Ephraim blessings would be flagged. A patriarchal blessing is eternal, and its promises may extend into the eternities. 3:6). It makes no sense in the modern church, except to the extent that we choose to give it meaning. The Twelve Tribes according to their inheritance of land in Palestine were as follows: Reuben Simeon Judah Issachar Zebulun Dan Naphtali Gad Asher Benjamin Ephraim (son of Joseph) Manasseh (son of Joseph) Levi (no territorial allotment, except a number of cities located within the territories of the other tribes) Sure is ridiculous when you think about what LDS, Catholics, and JWs believe in and do. Now, the tribe of Judah has many revelations specifically tied to it. My daughter at age 14 received her pat. If he had no descendants, section 68 is meaningless. The majority of modern blessings have designated Ephraim or manasseh as the main link in this tracing, but others of every tribe of Israel have also been named. Good questionand I dont feel confident that I have a handle on an answer. I dont know how they do it. A patriarchal blessing is a unique and remarkable privilege that can come to the faithful members of the Church having sufficient maturity to understand the nature and the importance of such blessings. Many Latter- day Saints are of the tribe of Ephraim, the tribe given the primary responsibility to lead the latter-day work of the Lord. The answer is common ancestry. 10:14; Jacob 5; cf. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. 1:12, Would a true apostle say this? Ive been asked this question, and had a thought hit me that seemed correct at the time. Whom do I talk to about getting a patriarchal blessing? The patriarch has no blessing of his own to give; the blessing is the Lords to give. How can the names in the Book of Mormon be holy if they're ungodly in the Bible? It has been a testimony to me that God knows His children well and as individuals. 31:9; cf. Its symbolic with occasional nods to obvious ethnicities. Further, a "choice seer" would arise from Joseph's descendants who would "do a work for the fruit of [Joseph's] loins, his brethren, which shall be of great worth unto them, even to the bringing of them to the knowledge of the covenants which I [the Lord] have made with thy fathers" (2 Ne. When moved upon by the Holy Spirit, the patriarch makes an inspired declaration of the lineage of the recipient together with such blessings, spiritual gifts, promises, advice, admonition, and warnings as the patriarch feels inspired to give. If they would only restrict themselves to reading only the Bible (KJV) they could be made free in Christ. 47 The Highest shall stay the springs of the stream again, that they may go through: therefore sawest thou the multitude with peace. over a 20-year period several thousand Israelites were taken captive to Assyria and resettled there. Only one of those descendents was willing and desirous to carry on what hed begun removing the muggleborns from the school. S. Michael Wilcox covered this topic in detail in the January 1998 Ensign in his article The Abrahamic Covenant. Theyre all sons of Abraham / Jacob. The blessings do follow our bloodlines, but we each have many different bloodlines running within us. They are then entitled to all the rights and privileges of heirs (TPJS, pp. King Benjamin refers to the faithful as the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters thus being able to be spiritually begotten through faith (Mosiah 5:7), and thus coming into the family of Christ through a spiritual birth. Imagine if we had the knowledge to complete a massive pedigree chart going back to the time of the biblical patriarchs. Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy fathers children shall bow down before thee. Patriarchal blessings are sacred and personal. How to Witness to a Mormon/Help for your Mormon friends & loved ones, Church leaders have said that without the vision of Joseph Smith, they'd have nothing so let's take a look at some of the things of Joseph. It really makes no difference if the blessings of the house of Israel come through the lineage or through the spirit of adoption. Very interesting, thank you. Similarly, does it matter what my callings are (if tribes and patriarchal blessings are more like assignments?) 3:12; D&C 27:5). The golden rule takes on much greater meaning when you realize everyone you meet is related to you. My most famous Mormon ancestor was Thomas Grover, who was my great, great, great grandfather (on my mothers side). Am I Less Worthy Not Being From the Tribe of Ephraim? If Im in the kingdom of Israel, does it matter where? Find out why they're not the same! If he had 1+ descendant(s) then every firstborn male member of the church is entitled to be a bishop. An essential part of a patriarchal blessing is a declaration of lineage. I feel to this day the Patriarch who did my blessing was not inspired..rote blessings to all. While a patriarchal blessing contains inspired counsel and promises, it should not be expected to answer all of the recipients questions or to detail all that will happen in his or her life. And a reader recently asked us if we could do a post on what patriarchal blessing lineage assignments are supposed to mean. The lembda carry confirmed cmh so can they serve as a bishop by right of lineage with no counselors required? I appreciate some of the hypothesis in the posts, but it seems rather anti-climatic and metaphorical/symbolic as opposed to literal. Id say the other ordinances (baptism and sealing) are sufficient for establishing heirship, perhaps thats why they are essential ordinances and PBs arent. No one need assume that he or she will be denied any blessing by reason of not being of the blood lineage of Israel. The number of genes is finite, as is the number of chromosomes and the way they combine. Patriarchal blessings may contain promises, admonitions, and warnings. Sorry, hit wrong button and comment sent before conclusion. We and our blessings are in the hands of the Lord, but there is a general testimony that when the gospel law has been obeyed, the promised blessings have been realized.1. On Judah and some harlot- https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/story-judah-and-tamar. Your an idiot is a deliciously ironic phrase. 9: 1) At the division of the kingdom Benjamin joined the northern tribes ( 1 Kgs. Arguing about whether Native Americans are literal descendants of Lehi doesnt make much sense either. A prophetic promise fulfilled but one which with modern knowledge seems rather unimportant. I mean, thats a pretty convenient view for sure given that nearly everyone has been assigned to Ephraim. I always assumed as a kid that I would end up in one of the obscure tribes like Asher or Dan because I was, frankly, an obscure kid. [2] James Russell Uhl. Yet, the Church considers themselves to be a Christian church. I thought there was something unique to that until I worked as a temple worker for a few years and understood how the names really work. As always, Mark E. Petersen is the definitive resource: http://www.ldslastdays.com/default.aspx?page=talk_patriarchs.htm. 3:7). Historically other assignments were relatively rare, but in recent years they have been becoming more common; I believe that assignments to every one of the Twelve Tribes have been made by patriarchs. Good choice of image. That one is important but Im not convinced there is any deeper meaning. I think thats a nice evolution of and conclusion to the tribalism of the distant past. Scriptures that show Mormons can fully trust God's word! Many of Ephraim's descendants are being gathered first, for they have the responsibility of preparing the way for the gathering of the other tribes (D&C 113). A patriarchal blessing has two main purposes. Mormon Salvation vs. Biblical Salvation. From that short blessing I learned something about my responsibilities and my labors in establishing the kingdom. Paul makes repeated references to adoption into the house of Israel through faith: But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Id rather have her blessing (!) I recall him saying that the tribe of Dan is overwhelmingly from Ireland. The bit about Joseph is hard to make sense of. Kevin, a natural extension of this principle would seem to apply to literal descendants of Aaron, which D/C 68 tells us are entitled to be bishops (at least male firstborn desecendants). Why arent prophets giving us specific signs to watch for? Just my take. The only name that counts in the temple is the name of Jesus Christ. A patriarchal blessing includes a declaration of lineage, stating that the person is of the house of Israela descendant of Abraham, belonging to a specific tribe of Jacob. Does God speak to prophets with glowing stones in a hat? This last summer when we had a family reunion, I saw my fathers granddaughters moving about tending to the food and ministering to the young children and the elderly, and the realization came to me that Fathers blessing had been literally fulfilled; he has, indeed, many beautiful daughters. The patriarchal blessings of most Latter-day Saints indicate that they are literal, blood descendants of Abraham and of Israel. Patriarchs are privileged to impart blessings directly rather than just solicit blessings to the individual, for the patriarchs are entitled to speak authoritatively for the Lord. (Not the modern white-supremacist kind, but the 19th Century, Englishmen-are-Ephraimites strain.). 46 Then dwelt they there until the latter time; and now when they shall begin to come. The one youre supposed to know. The other Comforter spoken of is a subject of great interest, and perhaps understood by few of this generation. Maybe his last name had something to do with it ( very prominent church last name). The 10th Mormon president/prophet of the LDS Church called the cross 'repugnant'! It also stands as a sign that God will keep His covenants with the remnants of the house of Israel (see 3 Ne. At some level much of it might not matter, in other ways, there may be meaningful differences. Ill try raising this point next time I need to wreak havoc in HP group. The views expressed by individual users are the responsibility of those users and do not necessarily represent the position of the Church. (I tried posting this once and it didnt take; apologies if this becomes a duplicate). These chosen men live lives that entitle them to the inspiration of heaven. Kevin sneaks in a Patriarchal Lineages, Ranked without Scott or Steve noticing. Listen, Im the first one to honor and praise our pioneer ancestors, but we have to realize that being a bodyguard to Joseph Smith, is not all that unique. This was well illustrated in my fathers patriarchal blessing. According to the Bible, when Joseph brought his two sons to his father, Jacob, for a blessing, Ephraim received the birthright blessing in place of Manasseh (Gen. 48:13-20), one of the departures noted in the Bible from the custom of bestowing on the firstborn son the special privileges that belonged to him by right of primogeniture. Most of those people are dead now. no official affiliation to, Blessings and Responsibilities of the Tribe of Ephraim, Continue reading at the original source . Our blessings can encourage us when we are discouraged, strengthen us when we are fearful, comfort us when we sorrow, give us courage when we are filled with anxiety, lift us up when we are weak in spirit. While there is some common language that might creep into a Patriarchs blessings if theyre not careful, the lineage is one of those items that only comes through inspiration. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his (Rom. Book of Mormon: broken promises, false prophecies, historically inncorrect, poor grammarhow can you trust this? Historical evidence proves Lehi & Nephi didn't exist! It definitely used to be viewed as a literally descent from a specific ancestor. Gramps I have a grandson and it stated in his blessing he was of the Tribe of Juda. Will the United States be on the side of Israel in the last war? So, with that framing, what do patriarchal blessing lineage assignments mean to you? Evidently, the Church thinks enough of this tradition that they continue to insist that declaration of lineage is the most essential part of the blessing. . The LDS Church doesn't ascribe to the orthodox belief in original sin; why is that? Our patriarchs give total devotion to their callings and do all they can to live in faith and worthiness so that each blessing is inspired. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, ed. Yes, know that there have been and probably are patriarchs who are on automatic. My hometeacher was a patriarch, mission president and a bishop. One child may be of Ephraim, another in the same family of Manasseh, Judah, or one of the other tribes. None from our family has ever been from that tribe? EG- you most definitely should have the opportunity to receive another blessing, as do others in this situation.