"Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
"For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
"When Christ, who is our ife, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." ~ Colossians 3:2-4

I will try to make this as clear and straight forward as possible. Beginning with Joseph Smith and other leaders of the restoration, in order to have and share a right by lineage to the priesthood of God as set forth as requesite ing the scriptures, there needed to be a shared ancestry with Jesus Christ. That is being descendants of Jesse as well as Joseph/Ephraim. That is the weight of the fulfilling of the Covenant of Abraham in bring the blessings of Abraham to all the people of the earth, every nation, kindred, tongue and people was and is upon the head of the bearer of the birthright of that Eternal and Everlasting Covenant, namely Joseph of Egypt and more particularly upon those heirs of the Covenant, the tribe of Ephraim. And so it was that the initial restoration of the gospel fell upon a select group headed by Joseph Smith and his companions who were of the tribe of Ephraim in a most particular manner and way. And the membership of that restored gospel church would mark a very particular people, that is the scripturally designated group of whom where Ephraim, Israel and his companions. Even those who may not have been of the blood of Israel are taught in the church that they become though the adoption of Christ's true baptism 'literal' sons and daughters of Ephraim and of the House of Israel by virtue of that baptism and the change which it does effect upon the body and soul of that person.

Here after, I will effect a study of three sets scriptures in parallel which will set forth the truth of this matter, that the early brethern of the restored church held a shared ancesty with Christ in God, having by right the rights to the priesthood of God by their ancestral lineage. I will also reference other supporting scriptural references and quotes. But before doing that I would like to here begin with the lineage and ancestry of Joseph Smith as so taught by the Prophet Brigham Young and also as so promised by the Lord to Joseph of Egypt as give in the JST Genesis 50 and also so quoted and paraphrased by the prophet Lehi in 2 Nephi 3.

President Brigham Young (1801-1877), the second Prophet of the restoration, bore his witness of the 'choice seer' Joseph Smith, who was known not only in the days of Joseph in Egypt, but even before the foundation creation of the earth:

"It was decreed in the counsels of eternity, long before the foundations of the earth were laid, that he, Joseph Smith, should be the man, in the last dispensation of this world, to bring forth the word of God to the people, and receive the fulness of the keys and power of the Priesthood of the Son of God. The Lord had his eyes upon him, and upon his father, and upon his father's father, and upon their progenitors clear back to Abraham, and from Abraham to the flood, and from the flood to Enoch, and from Enoch to Adam. He [the Lord] has watched that family and that blood as it has circulated from its fountain to the birth of that man. He [the Prophet Joseph Smith] was fore-ordained in the eternity to preside over this last dispensation." ~ Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 108

Now it is generally commonly accepted Christian doctrine that Jesus Christ is the 'annointed Son of God the Father', though many Christians fail to grasp the full meaning and extent of knowledge and understanding which that inference does represent. Again in the LDS Church we are given to understand that in those same councels in heaven, before the foundation of the earth, God the Father presented the Gospel Plan, the Plan of Exaltation, the Plan of Salvation and/or the Plan of Happiness. This plan required that a savior, a redeemer were to be provided. And in that connected God the Father asked, 'Whom shall I send?' To that question Jesus Christ/Jehovah responded, 'Here I am, send me.' This honor and burden was rightfully his to request, he, Jehovah, being the firstborn son of the Father in the Spirit. And it was Jehovah/Jesus Christ, who was selected by the Father and the Father anointed and ordained and empowered Jehovah with the Power of God to be this temporal estate's Ministering God, Creator, Savior and Redeemer of the world, acting for, by, in behalf of, in the stead of and in the name of God the Father in all things. (PoGP Abraham 3:27-28, PoGP Moses 4:1-4, Ecclesiastical History, Book I, Chapter 2, Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, etc.)

And thus like Joseph Smith, only more so, was the ancestry of the coming Redeemer and Savior of the world also so watch and prescribed from generation to generation from Adam to Mary and her husband Joseph, who so related to Mary would perform the duty of adoptive father of Jesus on earth. And it ought to be understood that many others were so called and fore-ordained to act and carry the obligation of performance as prophets, leaders and those elect members of God's family which he would call upon to perform over the course of this earth's known history unto the mind and direction of God the Father.

It ought not come as a large surprise that God's House is a House of Order. All is pre-ordered and planed out from the beginning to the end thereof. As such, God's Plan for man has been ordained and set out from the very beginning. And while God has given to men the right of personal agency, God has also set out and established the course of events of the world to ensure the final success of His very Eternal Plan. And thus it ought not come as any big surprise that certain events and righteous spirits of God are placed at various junctures of time to so act in behalf of that plan's successful fulfillment. So has been the course of history with such great leaders as Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Joseph of Egypt, Jesus Christ himself, and all the prophets and people of critical performace such as Mary the mother of Jesus and Joseph her husband. Even such as King David were most likely chosen and set out. Now such selection alone does not guarantee one's personal righteousness but certain events are, will be and assured. Even Jesus' chosen twelve had at least one failure among them. But certainly an item as important as preparing the way before the Lord's Second Coming of establishing his restored gospel would be of such magnitude and consequence as to needs be set out and those leaders so chosen and fore-ordained from before the foundation of the earth.

The openning scriptural reference of this 'item' is taken from the writings of the Apostle Paul as he speaks of the legal and rightful heirs and followers of Jesus Christ. That once having been cut off from the presence of God by coming to earth and thus 'dead' as to the spirit, how that through Jesus Christ they may become alive in him, by being born again of the water and the spirit, that is authorized baptism and receiving of the Holy Ghost by those authorized bearers of God's priesthood power. And once becoming the true and rightful followers and sons and daughters of God through Christ, they would qualify to come with Christ in glory, having been so 'hid with Christ in God'.

And now to that openning scripture, I would like to view three other scriptures in parallel which have various other elements of this over all Plan of God from the Celestial Councels of Heaven to Christ's coming in the meridian of time and then to the latter day restoraton and preparation for that glorious coming of Christ accopanied by his rightful heirs and followers.

The first column to be now given is from Zechariah chapter 3 which is a vision of God given to the prophet Zechariah. It was applied by the Jews of Zechariah's day personally to themselves though in reality it was a vision of one of the pre-councel events of the determination between Jehovah and Lucifer which seemed to make the end of the first part of Satan's war in heaven just prior to his being cast out of heaven for his rebellion against God and God's chosen Redeemer.

The second two columns are two latter day scriptures which will be used to itentify Christ's followers of the restoration and how they do qualify as 'hid from the world with Christ in God' as lawful heirs to the priesthood and power of God which has returned God's Church to the earth. And the second of those two columns will further look into the actual lineage which Christ and these qualified restorers have come from to so bless all the inhavitants of the earth with the blessings of the covenants of God if the people will so comply unto the word of god.

A fourth column will contain a connection commentary concerning the three presented scriptural texts.

Zechariah 3	D&C 86	D&C 113	Commentary
1 AND he shewed me Joshua [JEHOSHUA] the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan [Lucifer] standing at his right hand to resist him. 2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? 3 Now Joshua [JEHOSHUA] was clothed with filthy garments [the sins of the world], and stood before the angel. 4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. 5 And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by. 6 And the angel of the LORD protested [proclaimed] unto Joshua [JEHOSHUA], saying, 7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by. 8 Hear now, O Joshua [JEHOSHUA] the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH [Jesus Christ]. 9 For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua [JEHOSHUA]; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. 10 In that day [Millennial Day], saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree. [Zechariah 3:1-10] [JESUS' name in the Old Testament]	1 VERILY, thus saith the Lord unto you my servants, concerning the parable of the wheat and of the tares: 2 Behold, verily I say, the field was the world, and the apostles were the sowers of the seed; 3 And after they have fallen asleep the great persecutor of the church, the apostate, the whore, even Babylon, that maketh all nations to drink of her cup, in whose hearts the enemy, even Satan, sitteth to reign—behold he soweth the tares; wherefore, the tares choke the wheat and drive the church into the wilderness. 4 But behold, in the last days, even now while the Lord is beginning to bring forth the word, and the blade is springing up and is yet tender— 5 Behold, verily I say unto you, the angels are crying unto the Lord day and night, who are ready and waiting to be sent forth to reap down the fields; 6 But the Lord saith unto them, pluck not up the tares while the blade is yet tender (for verily your faith is weak), lest you destroy the wheat also. 7 Therefore, let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest is fully ripe; then ye shall first gather out the wheat from among the tares, and after the gathering of the wheat, behold and lo, the tares are bound in bundles, and the field remaineth to be burned. 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. [Doctrine and Covenants 86:1-11]	1 WHO is the Stem of Jesse spoken of in the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, and 5th verses of the 11th chapter of Isaiah? 2 Verily thus saith the Lord: It is Christ. 3 What is the rod spoken of in the first verse of the 11th chapter of Isaiah, that should come of the Stem of Jesse? 4 Behold, thus saith the Lord: It is a servant in the hands of Christ, who is partly a descendant of Jesse as well as of Ephraim, or of the house of Joseph, on whom there is laid much power. 5 What is the root of Jesse spoken of in the 10th verse of the 11th chapter? 6 Behold, thus saith the Lord, it is a descendant of Jesse, as well as of Joseph, unto whom rightly belongs the priesthood, and the keys of the kingdom, for an ensign, and for the gathering of my people in the last days. 7 Questions by Elias Higbee: What is meant by the command in Isaiah, 52d chapter, 1st verse, which saith: Put on thy strength, O Zion—and what people had Isaiah reference to? 8 He had reference to those whom God should call in the last days, who should hold the power of priesthood to bring again Zion, and the redemption of Israel; and to put on her strength is to put on the authority of the priesthood, which she, Zion, has a right to by lineage; also to return to that power which she had lost. 9 What are we to understand by Zion loosing herself from the bands of her neck; 2d verse? 10 We are to understand that the scattered remnants are exhorted to return to the Lord from whence they have fallen; which if they do, the promise of the Lord is that he will speak to them, or give them revelation. See the 6th, 7th, and 8th verses. The bands of her neck are the curses of God upon her, or the remnants of Israel in their scattered condition among the Gentiles. [Doctrine and Covenants 113:1-10]	JEHOSHUA is the formalized Hebrew form of the name Joshua that was the new name given Oshea the son of Nun by Moses. It means literally JEHOVAH DELIVER and is said by Bishop Eusebius to be that name of Jehovah/Jesus Christ given to the son of Nun as an honor of the Son of God (Ecclesiastical History, Book I, Chapter 3). JESUS is the Greek form of JEHOSHUA. Lucifer is the more proper name of Satan or the Devil (Isaiah 14:12, D&C 76:26). Jeruslem is that 'City of Peace' which denotes the 'Peacable Followers of Christ'. They are the 'Wheat', Zion, 'the holy city' (Rev. 22:19), Israel or Remnant of Israel, the Lord's Peculiar People, the men wondered at, the Salt of the Earth, even the very select and elect of God, and those of the priesthood of God, the servants of God and/or even the 'rightful' Children of Abraham. The Story Line The Everlasting Covenant of God rested in a lineage from Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Issac, Jacob and Joseph with whom that birthright remained. And the blessings of the fathers were to come to earth, every nation, kindred, tongue and people (D&C 27:10). It is upon Ephraim, Joseph's son, that the greater blessing and responsibility of the fulfilling of the covenant falls. It fell upon the posterity of Joseph/Ephraim and is upon their descendants that the priesthood rightful belongs. Even Jesus was of that line, a descendant of Jesse as well as of Joseph, Jesse being that Ephrathite/Ephraimite by whom David was born, and thus having the covenant right of being ancestor to the true Messiah, Messiah ben Joseph/Ephraim/Jesse/David. It all being of the same lineage line of priesthood right. Many share that lineage line of right as even the 'kings' of England and Europe state their traditional lines from it. Even Joseph Smith was of it, 'a pure Ephraimite', and descendant of Jesse, as many of the early restored church members were.

There is no question concerning the matter of the Lord's Covenant People, that they have been hid with the Lord in God from the foundation of the world and hid with Christ in God throughout the ages of time. From Adam on down to and including this latter day and the work which is not being done in the name of Jesus Christ, this covenant people have been and our set forth by God from the foundation of the world to be and bring about the salvation of mankind from the enabling atonement of Jesus Christ to the work of covenant Ephraim in the fulfilling of that Everlasting Covenant sought after and held by Abraham and his descendants by the right of the birthright and on down through Joseph of Egypt by and through whom those blessings of the fathers have remained (D&C 27:10). That those covenant blessing included the ancestry of the Messiah is established by the evidence of this text and by that fact supported as to the covenant ancestry from Jesse as well as from Joseph. That that ancestry is one of paternal descent is now to be established and not of two separate lineages, one being a maternal jump to a separate ancestral line. And this by the power of God unto the God given principle of righteous adoption both in the case of Obed the rightful heir, the legal heir of Mahlon and the covenant by the surrogate performing Boaz. And also in the case of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, by that adoptive function of Joseph the carpenter, he and Mary his wife being of the same ancestral descent though in truth the Divine Father of Jesus was none other than God the Father, Jesus being the very Son and Only Begotten of God the Father in the flesh by and through that power of intervining force between God and man of the Holy Ghost.

And is by the power of this people of God known as Israel, Israel also being that name given to Ephraim by Jacob and further applied to that Kingdom of Israel as opposed to the Kingdom of Judah; that the blessing of the Covenant of God with the fathers, even with Abraham are now being taken and bestowed to those of the world by way of that latter day restoration even given by that promised seed. And now in proper order to every nation, kindred, tongue and people through that preserved priesthood through Jesse as well as through Joseph and Ephraim. And as that is accept by those of the world, they also become as the People of the Lord, even Israel, by the rebirth and covenant of being born again of water and of the Holy Ghost. Thus is Ephraim, Israel and his companions so established to the blessing of the earth according to that Everlasting Covenant of God, even that very Covenant of Abraham, who had sought that right and priesthood and blessing of the fathers unto he and his posterity forever.

And there are other scriptures which so teach of the mystery of the hidding of this the Lord's covenant people with Jesus in God which I will further give here as a part of this item without further commentary, but that which the Spirit may so bestow upon the reader of them in view of this enlightenment already herein given.

9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
(New Testament | 1 Peter 2:9 - 10)

Now all of these and more, do weave that tapesty of the work and glory of the plan of God in and through his people Israel, who in this latter day are they of the covenant resposibility of Ephraim the son of Joseph as so set out in the particular item as those so 'hid with Christ in God'. And in and through the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ will this covenant be fulfilled, even the very Covenant and Promise of God made in those pre-counsels of heaven from before the foundation of the earth. Now is the time, now is the day and they who are of Jesse as well as of Joseph are those upon whom this calling have been made and carried forth, from Jesus Christ to Joseph Smith thence via all the empowered servant of God, prophets and ministering priesthood and members alike, even Ephraim, all of Israel and his companions. The latter be joined in by the adoption of the covenant birth of the water and the spirit, which all the true followers of Christ do take upon themselves even as Jesus himself so did in order to 'fulfill all righteousness' in tha the Plan of God does and may be applied unto all men living, past, present and future.

And this is how and why we all may be and become heirs with Christ in God. Those by right of lineage with Christ, even of that same lineage of Israel coupled with and in righteousness and those who are not by this means can and are potential heirs in and with Christ by the ordinances of adoption according the power of the Holy Priesthood of God. And this that we may all be blessed as being a part of Ephraim, and all of Israel and his companions in the Lord.