Doctrine and Covenants Commentary
Official Declaration 2

by Don R. Hender

Much has been said about the priesthood and the right there unto. The priesthood is the ordained right for man to act in and by the power of God. The priesthood is God's, it is his power and he will control it and designate unto whom he will. Man does not dictate such to God as how to manage God's priesthood. That being said, there are further matters that may be considered. But first the official declaration and then following will be presented an extended commentary discussion concerning priesthood.

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
Commentary & Explanation
Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
                                                                     OFFICIAL DECLARATION—2

A revelation from God to the prophet of God was received in June of 1978 that the time had come to extend the priesthood to every worthy male member of the Church of Jesus Christ. At the following General Conference of the Church the following official declaration was made and today is presented in the scriptures of the Church today in the Doctrine and Covenants of the Church.

2:1 To Whom It May Concerna:

2:2 On September 30, 1978, at the 148th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the following was presented by President N. Eldon Tanner, First Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church:

General Conference 
Simple arithmetic will confirm that the 148th Semiannual General Conference of The Church indicates that such General Conferences of the congregation of the Lord's Church have been regularly held every year since the organization of the Church in 1830 (1978 - 148 = 1830). This is the order in the Kingdom of God. At this General Assembly of the matters of the Kingdom are presented before the body of the Church for the vote of the members of the Kingdom of God. 		 1a To Whom It May Concern The declaration is not to the world but is only to those who are concerned. To non-members what should it matter to whom the priesthood of a church is given? Membership is most univerally considered as a primary qualifying factor for inclusion to a church's priesthood. In many churchs only the 'ordained' trained and paid priests of the church are given the church's priesthood. In such churches, men have to give up their own professions and interests in order to be schooled, trained and ordained as full time ministers of that church. In many churchs many of its male members never have or never will hold that church's priesthood and be a ministering priest of that church. Such rights to a particular church's priesthood has always been so uniquely controlled and administered by the rules of that church. Thus is a person is not a 'worthy' and 'qualifying' member of the church, it is not of their concern to begin with.
Worthy and Desirous 
Abraham was both worthy and desirous to obtain that which pertained unto the fathers concerning the covenant promises of God concerning the priesthood and the promised seed. After long and earnest pursuit, he obtained that high priesthood order and covenant from God.
2:3 In early June of this year, the First Presidency announced that a revelation had been received by President Spencer W. Kimball extending priesthood and temple blessings to all worthy male members of the Church. President Kimball has asked that I advise the conference that after he had received this revelation, which came to him after extended meditation and prayer in the sacred rooms of the holy temple, he presented it to his counselors, who accepted it and approved it. It was then presented to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who unanimously approved it, and was subsequently presented to all other General Authorities, who likewise approved it unanimously.

2:4 President Kimball has asked that I now read this letter:

2:5 June 8, 1978 To all general and local priesthood officers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout the world:

2:6 Dear Brethren: As we have witnessed the expansion of the work of the Lord over the earth, we have been grateful that people of many nations have responded to the message of the restored gospel, and have joined the Church in ever-increasing numbers. This, in turn, has inspired us with a desire to extend to every worthy member of the Church all of the privileges and blessings which the gospel affords.

2:7 Aware of the promises made by the prophets and presidents of the Church who have preceded us that at some time, in God's eternal plan, all of our brethren who are worthy may receive the priesthood, and witnessing the faithfulness of those from whom the priesthood has been withheld, we have pleaded long and earnestly in behalf of these, our faithful brethren, spending many hour in the Upper Room of the Temple supplicating the Lord for divine guidance.

2:8 He has heard our prayers, and by revelation has confirmed that the long-promised day has come when every faithful, worthy man in the Church may receive the holy priesthood, with power to exercise its divine authority, and enjoy with his loved ones every blessing that flows therefrom, including the blessings of the temple. Accordingly, all worthy members of the Church may be ordained to the priesthood without regard for race or color. Priesthood leaders are instructed to follow the policy of carefully interviewing all candidates for ordination to either the Aaronic or the Melchizedek Priesthood to insure that they meet the established standards for worthiness.

2:9 We declare with soberness that the Lord has now made known his will for the blessing of all his children throughout the earth who will hearken to the voice of his authorized servants, and prepare themselves to receive every blessing of the gospel.

2:10 Sincerely yours, SPENCER W. KIMBALL N. ELDON TANNER MARION G. ROMNEY The First Presidency

2:11 Recognizing Spencer W. Kimball as the prophet, seer, and revelator, and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it is proposed that we as a constituent assembly accept this revelation as the word and will of the Lord. All in favor please signify by raising your right hand. Any opposed by the same sign.

2:12 The vote to sustain the foregoing motion was unanimous in the affirmative.

2:13 Salt Lake City, Utah, September 30, 1978

A Discussion on the Priesthood

First it must be understood, there are two great and grand orders in heaven. The one is that of the Order of the Priesthood of God which in its fulness is a Patriarchal Order pertaining to the paternal and patriarchal order of the family and thus by its very nature it is the male gender who carries on in earth and in heaven in this great and grand order. The other great and grand order in heaven is that of the Matriarchal Order. This order carries forth its own particular set of rights in heaven and earth. This order pertains to the female gender and is confined and pertains only to the maternal and matriarchal order of the family. In God's righteous kingdom, whether in heaven or on earth, there is a distinction between that which pertains to the man and that which pertains to the woman. Now, in heaven and God's Kingdom neither is the man without the women nor the women without the man in the Lord. This is the highest order in heaven, that which combines the Patriarchal and Matriarchal Orders in one union of the eternal family.

Now with those two great orders in heaven and earth set out, we may proceed to further consider the matter of the priesthood and man upon the earth. God will control His priesthood and give it to whom he will, when and where he will. Man does not control the true order of the priesthood. There are false priesthoods which are not the priesthood of God. The priesthood of God will be known in that it pertains to the Patriarchal and parternal order of heaven and earth in the family. False priesthoods will not be so bound by that heavenly order of Patriarch and Matriarch as is God's priesthood.

In addition to being of the 'Patriarchal Order', God's priesthood is based upon the worthiness of the priesthood barer and is always entered into by a matter of covenant. Adam covenanted with God and thus held the rights of priesthood in his time. Not all of Adam's children held the priesthood. Only those who were worthy to bear it did. Cain lost any of his right to the priesthood as he murdered his brother Abel. And Cain established his own carnal order of secret combinations. Thus any associated with Cain and his secret order of wickedness were no longer entitled to even be considered for the priesthood of God. Further, in the Patriarchal order of priesthood there is the primary covenant barer. That order of the covenant's chief patriarch was intended to fall upon Abel because of Abel's election in heaven and his righteousness in the Lord upon earth. After Cain killed Abel, there was not another appoint of God and righteous enough to be the covenant bearer until Seth and thus it fell through to Seth's posterity down through and to Noah the last most righteous man in the Lord to be the primary covenant bearer of this Patriarchal order of the priesthood prior to the great destruction of the universal flood.

After Noah, the right of the primary bearer to the earth fell to Shem. Ham proved totally unworthy to even hold the priesthood, having been the source of carrying on the 'curse' of Cain which involved the dark order of secret combinations in the earth. Abraham was a descendant of Shem and although Abraham's immediate parantage was not worthy to carry forth the role of the primary covenant bearer of the Patriarchal Order, the last of the line of Noah to hold the honor from Noah of being that great high priest, Melchizedek did bestow it upon Abraham. And though there were various patriarchal family orders of the true priesthood (note: Moses obtained his initial priesthood ordinance from his father-in-law Jethro and there was priesthood in the America separate from and at the same time as there was priesthood in the old world.), it was Abraham who would bear the Covenant of God for the benefit of blessing the entire world.

Now that covenant blessing of Abraham for the benefit of the whole earth would not come forth until the last days. It is this particular right and order of the priesthood which was restored to the earth first to the rightful heirs of that order, who being of the 'heirship line' of Ephraim did have the right by God's administration to obtain and preside in that priesthood to the bring forth the kingdom of God to the world and there by the blessing of the earth through that particular promised seed of Abraham. All others did not have that primary right.

Why God particularly kept the black of Africa from the priesthood is a question for God concerning why it was not yet time to extend the priesthood to the black. Men may speculate as they may but it is only God who knows the answers to such. It is known that Israel, which was Ephraim was scattered into the north countries of the earth and thereby it may be presumed that those who would have had the blood of Ephraim mixed among them did have a prior right and responsibility to be called to carry the burden of the restoration of the gospel to the earth and thus the priesthood and to administer those blessings of the covenant held by Abraham to the world. It has been said that up to about 1970, the primary work of the restored gospel was to gather Israel. That is to gather out those of the blood of Ephraim to Zion from among the nations of the world. And the primary seed of Israel has been that of the sons of, Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, who have been gathered as evidenced by the overwhelming patricarchal blessings which have stated that the majority of the membership of the Church to have been of Ephraim. This has also been called the 'gathering of the gatherers'. Since the 1970s the gospel has been taken more universally to the world and rather than gathering to Zion, the converts of the Church have been encouraged to stay in their own countries and build up Zion, that is the pure of heart, in their own lands.

Now the restored gospel is being carried forth into all the world as never before. God has extented the priesthood to every worthy qualifying male member of the Church, even those of the south countries of Africa. Perhaps Africa was the only continent to which the blood of Ephraim had not reached. We do not know. God knows, and all is done according to God's word and God's time table and order. Because of the order of things, it has been Ephraim, the rightful heir of Joseph, Jacob, Isaac and Abraham who has brought forth and established Zion to the world. Thus it is through the seed of Abraham that the nations of the world are so blessed by the true gospel of Christ as prophesied and set out by the prophets of the ancient scripture of the Bible.

God has for his own purposes and reason limited access to His priesthood. In the days of Moses, only those of the tribe of Levi were given to be the priests of the temple. No other tribe in Israel had such a right to the priesthood. Why God works as he does is to bring about his work according to his design and plan. We can speculate as we may, but the bottomline is that God controls his priesthood and he will order it according to his own will, according to his own time table and according to his own design and plan. Who is there to question God?