The Promised Seed of the Patriarchs
The MESSIAH
As the Promised Messiah was to be the Son of God of Heaven, it seems appropriate that the
first earthly mention of His mortal birth in the scriptural record is as Him being the seed of a woman (Genesis 3:15; Moses 4:21).
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The next mentioning of the Blessed Messiah to come occurs when an angel explains to Adams why
it is that he has been commanded to offer sacrifices unto the Lord (Moses 5:6-8).
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At that time the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam witnessing of the Son, saying:
"I am the Only
Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast fallen thou
mayest be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many as will." (Moses 5:9)
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Later it was revealed to Adam, whether by the very voice of God, or by the voice of Jehovah
speaking in, for and in the stead of the Father as the Father, saying, "if thou wilt turn unto me,
and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even
in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ,
the only name which shall be give under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men,
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking all things in his name [Jesus Christ], and
whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you."(Moses 6:52) And After further instructions, Adam was
caught away by the Spirit of the Lord, and was carried down into the water and baptized (Moses 6:64).
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I was in the days of Enoch that Enoch saw in vision the coming of the Son of Man in the flesh.
He also was the flood and the days of Noah. And Enoch cried and was comforted by the Lord who said:
"Blessed is he through whose seed Messiah shall come; for he saith—I am Messiah,
the King of Zion, the Rock of Heaven, which is broad as eternity; whoso cometh in at the gate and
climbeth up by me shall never fall; wherefore, blessed are they of whom I have spoken, for they shall
come forth with song of everlasting joy." ~ Old Testament | Moses 7:53
And thus it was promised and revealed to Enoch that the
Blessed Messiah would descend from the lineage of the patriarchs, from Adam to Enoch and from Enoch
through Noah. And as Noah, his sons, and their wives were the only flesh of man that was left upon
the earth after the Lord had cleansed the wickedness therefrom, it was with Noah that the Lord did
again establish his covenant again. And the rainbow of in the sky was established by the Lord to
be the token and reminder to man that the everlasting covenant was then again set upon the earth unto
Noah and his sons.
"And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the
everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
"And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and
all flesh that is upon the earth."
~ Old Testament | Genesis 9:16-17
[God's Token of Promise - NOT a symbol of man's pride in their sins.]
That everlasting covenant again included the ancestry to the promised Messiah unto the salvation and
eternal life of man. And it included those covenant blessings of the priesthood unto man and those
things of righteousness which would be sought after by the righteous. And thence from Noah's son Shem,
who some set to be Melchizedek, does the Messianic lineage continue. From since Adam there
were some twenty generations before it descends to Abraham.
And Abraham is called by God.
Abraham lived in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley, the cradle of civilization in the land of Ur.
There he lived at the residence of his father, but as Terah was in a state of apostasy, Abraham
found it needful for him to obtain another place of residence. Abraham was a follower of righteousness
of the priesthood lineage that descends from the patraiarchs, from Adam to Noah and from Noah to
Abraham.
"And, finding there was greater happiness and peace and rest for me, I sought the
blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I sould be ordained to administer the same, ... I
sought for mine appointment unto the Priesthood according to the appointment of God unto the fathers
concerning the seed." ~ Pearl of Great Price | Abraham 1:1-4
"Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of
many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ."
~ New Testament | Galatians 3:16
Abraham made appeals to his father that he turn again unto God. And it was during that time
that those of the priest of Pharaoh lifted their hands upon Abraham to slay him upon the altar to the
Gods of Epypt and Pharaoh. But Abraham prayed unto the Lord, and the Lord did answer. A "vision of
the Almighty, the angel of his presence stood by me, and immediately unloosed my bands; And his voice
was unto me: Abraham, Abraham, behold, my name is Jehovah, And I have heard thee, and have come down
to deliver thee, and take thee away from thy father's house, and from all thy kinsfolk, into a strange
land which thou knowest not of; And this because thye have turned their hearts away from me, to worship
the god of Elkenah, and the god of Libnah, and the god of Mahmackrah, and the god of Korash, and the
god of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; therefore I have come down to visit them, and to destroy him who hath
lifted up his hand against thee, Abraham, my son, to take away thy life. Behold, I will lead thee by
my hand, and I will take thee, to put upon thee my name, even the Priesthood of thy father, and my
power shall be over thee." (Abraham 1:12-18)
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So Abraham was told to
leave that land, his people and his father's household; and go to a land that the Lord would show him.
He was told that the Lord would make him into a great nation, that he would bless him and make his
name great. He told Abraham that he would bless those who would bless him and curse those who would
curse him and that through him and his seed all the people of the earth would be blessed.
(Genesis 12:1-3)
The Everlasting Covenant of God with
man. The calling Abraham sought was that of the Patriarchal Order and
the Priesthood of the Patriarchal Fathers containing the blessings of the
Everlasting Covenant including that concerning the SEED or ancestry to the promised
Messiah. The Birthright Covenant of the Order of the Firstborn can be enumberated
into 6 items that the covenant of the Patriarchs consisted of. The First
was the Covenant of Salvation or the Gospel of Christ and Baptism both by water and
of the Spirit. Second there was the Covenant and Oath of the Priesthood,
that being of the Priesthood of Melchizedek. Third there was the Covenant
of Exaltation consisting of Eternal Marriage and that of Eternal Increase. Fourth
was the Covenant that all these blessing would be offered to all of the Patriarchal Fathers'
mortal posterity in and through the priesthood posterity of the covenant, here with
Abraham being the father of nations. This included the Fifth
promised blessing of the Ancestry of Christ, the Messiah. And the Sixth
promised covenant was that of a eternal land inheritence, which was unto Abraham the
land of Canaan.
According to lost understandings of man, this has often been reduced to about 3 covenant promises:
(1) The physical promise to a promised the land of Israel - the land of Canaan.
(2) That Abraham would be the progenitor of a great nation numbering as the stars.
(3) There was the spiritual promise that the Messiah would descend from the Patriarchal
Chief Leaders of whom
Abraham
was made one since Adam, Enoch, Noah and others.
Many do attempt to add and clarify matters regarding the spiritual promise of the
Messiah, as God says in or through Abraham's posterity all the nations of the earth shall be
blessed.'In thy
seed [singular] shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.' And thus it is maintain by
some that the word for seed contained in this passage refers to the one descendant, the Messiah,
who would descend from Abraham and who would bless the nations though his atoning sacrifice.
This singular seed however only defines the major fulfillment of the atonement by the
Messiah, but it leaves out the further responsiblities of men themselves beginning with the very
descentants of the birthrith to come and that is which that makes it a mutual dual covenant. 1)
The Patriarchal priesthood responsiblity further would be to carrying the true coveannt Gospel of
Jesus Christ to every nation, kindred, tongue and people; so that they would have that opportunity
to accept the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and all of its blessings that it did contain.
Then 2) there is the very personal responsibility of personal agency, that when the message is
heard and understood, as to whether or not that fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ would or
would not be accepted by each person.
As Jesus taught, except a man be born of the water of baptism and of the baptism of fire, which is
the receiving of the Holy Ghost; they cannot enter into the Kingdom of God (John 3). And thus whatever extent
to which the salvation of the atonement is a free gift, it does not include entry into the Kingdom
of God except by the effort of the works of faith unto eternal life of living the commandments of God.
That is all men will live and be immortal through Jesus Christ the Lord, but merely being resurrected
is one thing and being enabled to then enter into the Kingdom of God is quite another. Those who
are not baptised and/or do not accept the gospel of Jesus Christ, though they will be immortal, they
will remain spiritually dead, that is they will not have the benefit of living in the presence of
God and all the added blessings that that does entail.
Back to the Partriarchal Covenant and the Messiah
Now This Patriarchal Everlasting Covenant has further been identified as the Covenant
Birthright of the Firstborn. This Abrahamic set of promises was transferred to Isaac when God said,
For in Isaac shall thy seed be called.(Genesis 21:12)
Isaac was the result of a miracle.
Sarah had previously barren, yet she conceived when she was 90 years old, well past
the age of bearing children. Abraham was 100 years old. Although Abraham's eldest son by Hagar was
Ishmael, Sarah was Abraham's first covenant wife and the Lord had honored and selected the son of
Sarah over the son of Sarah's hand maid. Thus God chose Isaac as through whom the Messianic
lineage would continue as part of the Patriarchal Covenant Birthright. And through Isaac did all
the covenant promises remain.
The sealing selection of Isaac as the heir of the promised blessings were confirmed
when Abraham and Isaac showed their joint willingness to sacrifice that God had commanded of
Abraham of his only covenant son. This commandment was God's way of testing both Abraham's
and Isaac's faithfulness and is referred to as The Binding. God did not intend to let Isaac
die. After the binding of Abraham and Isaac, God said:
"And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
because thou hast obeyed my voice."(Genesis 22:18)
Jacob would be the next heir of the covenant birthright promises, even though he was the
younger of Isaac's twin sons. This selection would be made based on God's foreknowledge of which
son would prove to be the worthy son of the birthright entitlement. While the children were
still in Rebecca's womb, the Lord told her, The elder shall serve the
younger.(Genesis 25:23)
Jacob respected and desired the covenant birthright while his brother Esau had little
care and only distain for it in his younger years. Further Esau would marry outside of the covenant
family. And for the price of a bowl of food did Esau sell his birthright of the firstborn unto Jacob.
This occurred when Esau, hungry after an unsuccessful hunt, begged Jacob for some of the potage that
Jacob had prepared. Jacob agreed to give it to Esau if he would trade his birthright in return.
Jacob was assured by the Lord of the Messianic promise in a dream, when God spoke to him
saying, And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the
west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all
families of the earth be blessed.(Genesis 28:14) Here the Lord did foreshadow the scattering of
the seed Israel to the four corners of the earth and thus precluding the right to seek to gather
all of Israel from every nation, kindred, tongue and people by the rights of gathering Israel.
Hence Jacob did know that he would inherit the covenant birthright blessings of the fathers, from
Isaac to Abraham, and Abraham to Adam. Even after Isaac blessed Jacob with the birthright blessing,
God continued to confirm to Jacob that he indeed held the covenant birthritht of the firstborn by
giving him the new name of Israel and affirming the Lord's support above Esau when Jacob did return
from the house of Laban to the covenant lands of Canaan that had been promised.
The references and statements found in the LDS Bible Dictionary under Abraham, Covenant
of and under the topic of Jacob confirm that, "These promises taken together [the six cited previously
above] are called the Abrahamic Covenat. It was renewed with Isaac (Gen. 26:1-4, 24) and again with
Jacob (Gen. 28: 35:9-13; 48:3-4)." AND "It was through Jacob that the covenant of Abraham continued
(Gen. 28:1-4, 12-22); it was then passed to Joseph and Ephraim." The passing of the blessings to
Joseph and Ephraim is contained in Gen. 48 & JST Gen. 48; Gen. 49:22-26; Deut. 33:13-17; and in
2 Nephi 3, see also Messiah ben David ~ Messiah ben Joseph and
Joseph and The Last Great Patriarch.
The Covenant Birthright Blessings from the Patriarchs continues through the Last Known Great
Patriarch of Israel, Joseph and his son Ephraim. In the text entitled
Messiah ben David ~ Messiah ben Joseph it is explored how it is the Joseph is the legal and
rightful ancestory to the promised Messiah through his son Ephraim. As the Doctrine and Covenants
states that the blessings of the fathers of the birthright covenants did remain through the
Patriarchs:
"And also with Joseph and Jacob, and Isaac, and Abraham, your fathers, by whom the
promises remain;"
~ Doctrine and Covenants | Section 27:10
All six of the promised blessing of the Covenant Birthright of the Firstborn did remain in and
through Joseph of Egypt. In fact according to Joseph's blessing Joseph's land inheritance was
greater than that previously given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob:
"The blessings of thy father have prevailed above
the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be
on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren."
~ Old Testament | Genesis 49:26
¶ "And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for
the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath,
"And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the
moon,
"And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the
precious things of the lasting hills,
"And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt
in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that
was separated from his brethren."
~ Old Testament | Deuteronomy 33:13-16
Just as Joseph was separated from his brothers, so also is the covenant promised land of Joseph
separate and also greater than that of his brothers. That inheritance promised unto Joseph is both
North and South America to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills, the ancient mountains that run
down out of Alaska to the southern tip of Sount America. This inheritence to Joseph is further
confirmed in the Book of Mormon where the Lord commits to Lehi, the remnant of the seed of Joseph,
that his seed are to be a part of those heirs of Joseph to that land of Joseph which included both
north and south American of the western hemisphere.
The ending verse 17 of Moses' blessing upon Joseph speaks to Josephs' sons calling of responsibility
in the latter day gather of Israel as the gospel is taken to every nation, kindred, tongue and people
per the promised blessing of the covenant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There it speaks of Ephraim
and Manasseh pushing or gathering the people together from the ends of the earth, even the thousands
of Manasseh and the ten thousands of Ephraim. This latter day gathering of Israel in unto The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It will eventually be unto the New Jerusalem in the land of
Zion, America; and to the Old Jerusalem rebuilt in the land of Canaan.
Through the preliminary stages of this latter day coming forth of the Kindom of God on earth, it
did commence with a membership of 6 in 1830 to a membership of over 15 million in 2016. And as the
vision of Daniel precluded, the little stone or rock cut out of the mountain would/will roll forth
and fell the whole earth in the great Millennial Day of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
It has been and is through the Patriarchs of God that the blessins of the fathers have remained in
the earth to come forth unto the preparation of a people to receive Jesus Christ at the time of his
Second Coming. When that coming will be is in the hands of God. And the powers of man will not stop
its coming. And all men are invited to come and help prepare the way of the Lord. All are accepted
who come with a honest and pure heart to turn unto Christ and live his law and commandments and to
look to his coming again upon the earth.
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