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Your Tribe? - Page 4

Doesn't the Lord say, 'Out of the mouth of Babes'?

I think that leaders are getting younger and younger everyday as the Church expands, but you are right, I have rarely seen a young Patriarch, probably 55 has been the youngest I know of.

Tribe Your

Found it!! I can't believe this!!

In a very round about way, I stumbled across a reference to this. It is in the 1960 edition of "LDS Reference Encyclopedia" by Melvin R. Brooks (Mel Brooks?? wait a second....... anyway --)

Isn't that interesting?

I got this book, the LDS Reference Encyclopedia, because a friend of mine moved out of state, had arranged for what she left behind to be sold by a professional, who then backed out of the sale. I went last weekend and held a garage sale. After it was all over, I went through to inventory what was left. Amongst other items, here is this book... with THIS PAGE MARKED. Isn't *that* interesting?

Roz

Edited: FarSeer on 11th Dec, 2003 - 4:21pm

Your Tribe? Studies Doctrine Mormon

Farseer,

That was a very good quote to dispel the notion of an "urban legend". Along with that here are a few more that might not get the laughs of "Mel Brooks". -->

Joseph F. Smith, July 4th, 1892

RIGHTS AND ORDER OF THE PRIESTHOOD

DISCOURSE
Delivered by President Joseph F. Smith,
at the Conference of the four Stakes of Zion in Arizona,
held at Pinetop, Apache County, Arizona,
Monday, July 4th, 1892.

(excerpt)"¦
We are also told that the office of a Bishop belongs to the lesser or Aaronic priesthood; and that whenever there are found in the Church legitimate descendants of Aaron, then the Bishops will be chosen from his seed, because this office belongs to them by right. And when a literal descendant of is found to officiate in the office of , he will do so without . But he will be chosen and ordained and set apart to officiate in this office by those who hold the Melchizedek priesthood. He will not be able to seize the office by reason of his being a descendant of Aaron, any more than a person is entitled to any office in the priesthood because he is born in the Church. All persons have to be set apart and ordained to these offices and callings by those who hold the authority. So that if there was a descendant of Aaron here whom it was thought proper to choose to fill the office of Bishop in the Church, and to sit as a common judge in the midst of the people, he would have to be called and ordained to that office, and set apart to officiate in it, by the presiding officers of the Melchizedek priesthood.
(Brian H. Stuy, ed., Collected Discourses, 5 vols. [Burbank, Calif., and Woodland Hills, Ut.: B.H.S. Publishing, 1987-1992], 3: .)

Prerogative of Lineal Descendant of . A lineal descendant of may "act in the office of independently, without , except in a case where a President of the High Priesthood, after the order of Melchizedek, is tried, to sit as a Judge in Israel. (D&C 107:76.) But a High Priest, acting as Bishop, must have counselors.-D&C 107:72; 124:141; CG 160.
John A. Widtsoe, Priesthood and Church Government [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1939], 126.)

Wards: The Stakes are divided into ecclesiastical wards, presided over by a bishopric, consisting of a aided by two high priests as , unless the is a literal descendant of , in which event he has authority to act as without .
B. H. Roberts, Seventy's Course in Theology [Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1907-1912], 2: .)

Page 4 Tribe Your

My blessing states: "...you are of the seed of Abraham, of the house of Israel, of the tribe of Joseph and Ephraim. This is a royal priesthood lineage, the lineage of the prophets in these latter days. "

Tribe Your

My blessing says pretty much the same thing about Ephraim being a choice priesthood lineage of this dispensation.

As I studied the lineage of Ephraim I realized some interesting points.

One of the things I looked at was where they lived and what it was they did in their community. How they lived their lives.

Everyone knows the story of Joseph, the coat of many colors, his sale into slavery, sale into Egypt, Pottifer, Pottifer's wife, prison and eventually ending up as the chief Advisor to the Pharoah. I concentrated a little here on just what his duties might have been and how he carried them out.

Joseph was an overseer. What he oversaw was the Pharoah's store houses. This is why many of the scriptural passages regarding Joseph and his overseership of the store houses we now connect to Modern day Bishops and their duties in overseeing the storehouses and dispensing food and supplies to those in need.

Offtopic but, Bishop is translated from the Greek Episcape for Epi=outer or over as in epidural or the outer layer of skin, and scape from which we get scope as in telescope or microscope, scape meaning a visionary tool or seer. There for Episcape or Bishop literally means - Overseer

In the process of that duty he had two assistants. One was actually responsible for meting out the proper items and produce that was to be dispensed to each individual. In that dispensing process he would utilize a set of scales and weights and measures. The second assistant was responsible for the meticulous maintenance of the scales, weights and measures. The weights and measures being the standard against which the indivduals ration or portion was compared on the scale. Joseph would stand back and watch that all was performed properly and according to the law. If a dispute was made about the portion distributed to an individual then the first assistant could testify before the judge that he had fulfilled his stewardship as instructed using the specific standards given him to use. The second assistant could testify before the judge that the standard had been meticulously maintained and was exact. Joseph could testify before the judge that both had performed their jobs properly and the testimony of the three would seal the fate of the disputer standing before the judge. That is literal History. Also it is historically accurate that the two assistants he used in those capacities were his sons. Ephraim and Mannassah. Mannassah maintained the standard and Ephraim dispensed the product and compared it against the measures provided by Mannassah.


Now compare these real life actions to the restoration of the gospel. Joseph Smith the head of this dispensation, responsible for the bringing forth of the restored gospel and the eternal overseer of that stewardship. We know from Joseph of Egypts patriarchal blessing that eventually one would come forward from his lineage named after his own father to be the overseer of the dispensation of the fullness of times. We know from Joseph Smiths Patriarchal blessing that he is a direct descendant of Joseph and named after his own father as well as his father, Joseph in Egypt. The standard of that restoration, the Book of Mormon was hidden away, preserved and protected until need for it to be brought forth in this dispensation. To be used by whome, to dispense the knowledge and product of the restoration to the entire world? The descendants of Ephraim of course. And the descendants of Joseph, Ephraim and Mannassah will stand together at the end to testify that the correct message was diseminated throughout the world and their testimony will stand before the Judge of Judges.

Your Tribe?

What a great post! Thank you for that enlightening information. It makes perfect sense to me, especially with the parallels to the functions of the tribes of Ephraim and Manassah.

NightHawk

Your Tribe - Page 4

Do you know members that belong to unusual tribes? Mine say's "...through the loins of his first born son Manasseh, also his second born son Ephraim." My understanding which is limited is that our blessings that we receive from our Father in Heaven relates to the type of person we were before we came here to our mortal habitation. Of course we have our free agency to accomplish all that we were sent here to do or to waste our lives away at every whim. I always have longed that I could remember him and the type of relationship I had with him and was he engaged with me as I am with my kids? Just my opinion and a thought for the day.

Your Tribe Mormon Doctrine Studies - Page 4

I wrote a book six years ago which aimed, in part, to trace the blood of Israel through the ages. It focused on Ephraim though so I can tell you little about the other tribes, though Dan crops up a few times with connections to Scandinavia and Ireland.

Nighthawk is right about the British coat of arms, but I believe I'm right in saying that ALL the various major emblems of the UK have assocations with Israelite emblems - except the red dragon of Wales. Western European countries also have some similarities in their heraldic arms, though not as many as the UK.

The links tying the British Isles to various tribes and parts of the gospel (and biblical events and personages) are quite fascinating and numerous.

Just as a generalisation, it seems that a portion of the tribe of Ephraim gave rise to the Anglo-Saxon countries (English-speaking countries today, plus white Russia and Scandinavia/Germanic lands).

As has already been inferred, I think the bloodlines must have become quite mixed over time - in many places at least.

Dubhdara.