Thy Kingdom Come - Doctrinal Notes

**“It has been the design of Jehovah, from the commencement of the world, and is His purpose now, to regulate the affairs of the world in His own time, to stand as a head of the universe, and take the reins of government in His own hand. When that is done, judgment will be administered in righteousness; anarchy and confusion will be destroyed, and ‘nations will learn war no more.’ It is for want of this great governing principle, that all this confusion has existed. … The Lord has at various times commenced this kind of government, and tendered His services to the human family.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith [1974] 250-51; emphasis added)

1.       

      Adamic Theocracy

a.       Adam given dominion over all the earth Moses 2:26-28

                                                               i.      Joseph Smith: The Priesthood was first given to Adam; he obtained the First Presidency, and held the keys of it from generation to generation. He obtained it in the Creation, before the world was formed, as in Gen. 1:26, 27, 28. He had dominion given him over every living creature.  (Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007] 104)

b.      Theocratic Government (Patriarchal Order) under direction of God established Moses 6:1-22; D&C 107:40-52

                                                               i.      McConkie: A theocracy cannot operate except among righteous people who voluntarily submit to its authority. Under this system of government, which is the Lord's way of ruling on earth, there is and must be absolute freedom of worship. It is, in effect, a system of government in which the Church, which is the kingdom of God on earth, rules over the Lord's people. The Church, being true and being the Lord's, of necessity administers the gospel. The gospel is the plan of salvation presented by the Father in the Grand Council, the chief characteristic of which is agency. Thus, in a theocracy, "men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil." The theocracy of the Adamic age was patriarchal, and from Adam to Noah all the legitimate powers of government, both civil and religious, descended from father to son. That is to say, government in all its forms and with all its powers was centered in the family. (A New Witness for the Articles Faith [1985] 657-58; emphasis added)

2.       False and Imitation Theocracy

1. Cain established an imitation theocracy (Moses 5: 18-42)
2. McConkie: “And thus the pattern was set. Ever thereafter, when evil and carnal men set up governments of compulsion, governments in which the secular arm imposed a way of worship upon men, such governments were not of God and such ways of worship had no divine approval.” (A New Witness for the Articles Faith [1985] 658)

3.       Enoch's Theocracy Moses 7

1. McConkie: By the time of Enoch, the seventh generation from Adam, the population of the earth was great and the governments among men diverse. Adam and his faithful seed gloried in their divine system of government; Cain and his seed, and all who had fallen away, had nations and governments and religions—imposed religions—of their own. Up to this point in time, a separation of church and state had never entered the minds of men. All anyone knew about was a government that controlled both civically and religiously. When Enoch preached among the wicked, made converts, and built his City of Holiness, that original Zion operated so perfectly upon theocratic principles that the Lord of heaven himself came and dwelt with his people. So perfect was the system and so righteous were the people that they received instruction from the Lord in person as well as from his duly constituted servants on earth. What better system of government could there be? Providentially it is one that will differ only in size and complexity from the government that shall prevail over all the earth when the Lord reigns during the Millennial era. (A New Witness for the Articles Faith [1985] 659; emphasis added.)
2. McConkie: “After the immersion of the earth in the waters of Noah came a day of new beginning. As in Adam's day, the faithful lived under a theocratic system, and as in the days before the flood, those who chose to live after the manner of the world set up their own governments and their own ways of worship. The seed of Shem, Ham, and Japheth began to populate the earth, and it so continued for more than four hundred years, when Abraham, who received theocratic power from Melchizedek, went down into Egypt. There he found a descendant of Ham, reigning as Pharaoh, whose government was patterned after the patriarchal governments of old, but which was devoid of priesthood and revelation, and hence, as far as worship is concerned—a worship prescribed, mandated, and commanded by Pharaoh—had turned to ‘idolatry.’ (Abraham 1:20-27.) “That which prevailed in Egypt was symbolical of false worship among all peoples and races of the day. No one was free to worship as he chose; all people in all nations worshipped as their governments prescribed, and the head of their government was ordinarily the head of their religious system. This is a concept we must understand if we are to put the worship of all people in all ages in its proper perspective. The worship of the world was decreed and required by Satan, who proposed in preexistence to deny men their agency and save all mankind by forcing them to worship as he decreed.”  (A New Witness for the Articles Faith [1985] 660

4.       Theocracy reestablished through Moses

1. Joseph Smith: When the children of Israel were chosen with Moses at their head, they were to be a peculiar people, among whom God should place His name; their motto was: "The Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our Judge; the Lord is our King; and He shall reign over us." While in this state they might truly say, "Happy is that people, whose God is the Lord." Their government was a theocracy; they had God to make their laws, and men chosen by Him to administer them; He was their God, and they were His people.  Moses received the word of the Lord from God Himself; he was the mouth of God to Aaron, and Aaron taught the people, in both civil and ecclesiastical affairs; they were both one, there was no distinction; so will it be when the purposes of God shall be accomplished: when "the Lord shall be King over the whole earth" and "Jerusalem His throne." "The law shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith [1974] 252)
2. McConkie: Israel inherited the patriarchal system from the Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and, with the exodus from Egypt, it was renewed by revelation given to Moses.  Ancient Israel was a theocracy.  God governed.  He revealed his religion; he called his prophets; he designated the Levites as the priests; he appointed judges and kings; and he defined their foreign policy and directed when they should go to war.                                                 (A New Witness for the Articles Faith [1985] 660)

5.       Israelite Government

a.       Government with God at the Head

b.      The law was administered according to "The Law of Moses"

c.       Administered by three categories of people:

                                                               i.      Religious Officers

1.       High Priest (Urim & Thummim) 1 Samuel 28:6

2.       Priests & Levites:

a.       Residence: Num. 25:1-8; Num 35:2-8

                                                                                                                                       i.      Levitical Cities - Only tribe who did not receive land of an inheritance. About 40 cities were interspersed among all other tribes, where they carried out the following:

b.      Responsibilities:

                                                                                                                                       i.      Teaching Law Lev. 10:11, Deut 33:10

                                                                                                                                     ii.      Ceremonies & Ordinances

                                                             ii.      Civic Offices (Joshua 24:1)

1.       General Level:

a.       Chief Judge Deut. 17:8-13

2.       Local Level:

a.       Elders Deut. 19:12

b.      Judges & Officers Deut 16:18

                                                            iii.      Prophetic Offices (Instructors, Warners) Deut. 18:9-22

1.       Prophets, Men of God (and Angels)

2.       Scriptural Examples:

a.       Jonah

b.      Lehi

c.       Samuel the Lamanite

d.      Abinidai

3.       Duties

a.       Seers & Revelators (1 Sam 28:6)                                  

b.      Preaching (2 Chron. 15:1-13)

c.       Warning (1 Sam. 2:27-36)

                                                           iv.      Kings introduced into Law of Moses (Works as long as King acknowledges higher power of God)

1.       What happened in the days of wicked and rebellious kings? They simply instituted their own ways of worship, appointed their own priests, and, when it pleased them so to do, commanded the worship of Baal, or Ashtoreth, or Molech, or whatever deity pleased their fancy. The religions of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and all the nations that inhabited the land before Israel, were state religions. The worship in Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, and all the nations of the Gentiles was by government edict. People were not free to choose their own gods and to worship according to the dictates of their own conscience. In the minds of the credulous and superstitious Gentiles, the issues of war and peace, life and death, national survival or defeat were all tied in to the proposition of whose god was the greatest – Baal or Jehovah; the god of the Assyrians or the God of Jacob; the gods of the Canaanites or the Lord of Hosts who camped with Joshua; the god of whatever nation or the God of Israel. (A New Witness for the Articles Faith [1985] 661)

6.       The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

1. BIBLE DICTIONARY: (Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven) The kingdom of God on earth is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (D&C 65). The purpose of the Church is to prepare its members to live forever in the celestial kingdom or kingdom of heaven. However, the scriptures sometimes call the Church the kingdom of heaven, meaning that the Church is the kingdom of heaven on earth. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the kingdom of God on the earth, but it is at present limited to an ecclesiastical kingdom. During the Millennium, the kingdom of God will be both political and ecclesiastical.

b.      Elder Oaks talk on Priesthood roles in the church and priesthood roles in the family. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/10/priesthood-authority-in-the-family-and-the-church?lang=eng&query=dallin+h+oaks+priesthood,+family,+patriarchal

c.       Said Brigham Young: “I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by Him. … Let every man and woman know, by the whisperings of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not.” (JD, vol. 9, p. 150.) https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1972/04/civic-standards-for-the-faithful-saints?lang=eng

** The first portion of these notes on government largely come from the work of Bruce Satterfield

THREE ISRAELITE GOVERNING OFFICES
This list is not complete, and is a work in progress

Time Period	Religious Office	Civic Office	Prophets / Warners / Teachers
?	Melchizedek	Melchizedek	Melchizedek?
	Aaron / Eleazar	Moses	Moses?
	Eli / Samuel	Samuel (Judge)	Samuel
1020-1000		Saul	Samuel?
1000-961	Abiathar / Zadok	David	Samuel / Nathan / Gad?
1015-975		Solomon
975-957		Rehoboam	Ahijah / Shemaiah
954		Nadab	Oded / Azariah
953		Baasha	Hanani / Jehu
914		Jehoshaphat	Elijah / Micaiah
898		Ahaziah	Jahaziel / Eliezer
897		Jehoram	Elisha / Obadiah
856		Jehoahaz	Joel
826		Jeroboam II	Hosea / Jonah
811		Azariah or Uzziah	Amos
742-735		Jotham	Isaiah
735-715		Ahaz	Isaiah
715-687		Hezekiah	Isaiah / Micah
687-642		Manasseh
642-640		Amon	Nahum
640-609	Hilkiah (Daniel in Babylon)	Josiah	Huldah (woman), Jeremiah, Zephaniah (woman), Hananiah
609		Jehoahaz	Obadiah
609-598		Jehoikim
598-597		Jehoiachin	Habakkuk
597-590	Jeremiah - High Priest	Mattaniah - Zedekiah King	Ezekiel / Lehi
536	Joshua
520	Joshua	Zerubbabel - Governor of Judah	Haggai / Zechariah
453	Eliashib
444		Nehemiah - Gov. of Judea
432			Malachi
413	Joiada	Nehemiah - Gov. of Judea
373	Johanan
341	Jaddua
321	Onias I
300	Simon the Just
292	Eleazar
277	Manasseh
250	Onias II
217	Simon II
195	Onias III
175	Jason
172	Menelaus
163	Alcimus
156		Jonathan - Ruler of Judea
153	Jonathan
143	Simon
142		Simon - Prince of the Jews
135	John Hyrcanus
105		Alexander Jannaeus
78	Hyrcanus II	Alexandra
41		Herod / Phasael - Tetrarchs
0-33	Ananus / Caiaphas	Herod	John the Baptist: Jesus Christ
BOOK OF MORMON
Time Period	Religious Office	Civic Office	Prophets / Warners / Teachers
600 BC	Jeremiah	King Zedekiah	Lehi
	Lehi	Lehi	Lehi
544	Jacob?	King Nephi	Jacob/Joseph have 'spirit of much prophecy', "Consecrated preists and teachers…"	Jacob 1:6, 18; Jacob 2:2-3; 2 Ne. 5:26
544	Jacob / Joseph ("errand from the lord" - Jacob 1:17)	King Nephi II (Jacob 1:9, 15)	Jacob/Joseph
		Enos?		"Exceedingly many prophets"
		"Mighty men in the faith of the Lord" (Jarom 1:7)	Jarom	"Many among us who have many revelations", "Prophets of the Lord", "Prophets, priests, and teachers…"
	Mosiah I (seer - interpreted writings)	King Mosiah I (Omni 1:19)
		King Benjamin (WOM 17)		"the holy prophets", "Many holy men", "the prophets", "Just men appointed"
	Alma I (Mosiah 6:3; 23:16; 26:7-8)	King Mosiah II (Mosiah 1:15)
	False Priests	King Noah - False Government	Abinidai (Mosiah 26:15)
91 BC	Alma II (Mosiah 29:42); Giddonah (Alma 30:23); Ammon "…over that people…" (Alma 30:20)	Alma II - 1st of General Chief Judges (younger); Mosiah 29:42; Alma 4:4; Local Chief Judge mentioned in Alma 30:21,29	Alma II (Alma 16:5 - has "spirit of prophecy"), "Fellow laborers -over the church" Mosiah 26:38
83 BC		Nephihah (Alma 4:17,20)
73 BC	Helaman I (Alma 37:1; 45:20-23)	Chief Judges (Alma 46:34); Captain Moroni	"Priests and Teachers" Helaman 3:25
68/67		Pahoran I (Alma 50:39-40)
52		Pahoran II (Hel 1:1,5)
52		Pacumeni (Hel 1:13)
50		Helaman II (Hel 2:1-2)
39		Nephi II (Hel 3:37)	Samuel the Lamanite
30		Cezoram (Hel 4:18;5:1)
26		Cezoram's son (Hel 6:15
		Seezoram (Hel 6:39; 9:23
1		Lachoneus I (3 Ne 1:1)
30		Lachoneus II (3 Ne 6:19)
	Nephi III
AD 110	Amos I
AD 194	Amos II
AD 305	Ammaron
AD 321-335	Mormon
AD 385	Moroni