The Patriarchal Priesthood

I noticed that in the Temple initiatory the workers “anoint you preparatory to your becoming a king and a priest unto the most high God, hereafter to rule and reign in the house of Israel forever.

In the endowment thy remind you specifically, “You have been anointed to become hereafter kings and priests unto the most high God, to rule and reign in the house of Israel forever.”  To receive this ordinances as a male you have to have received the Melchizedek priesthood. Even for a young man to enter the temple he must first have received of the Aaronic Priesthood.  Yet, even then you are not counted as a Priest unto God. The Office of Priest is as an office of the Aaronic Priesthood and High Priest is ia an office of the Melchizedek Priesthood. The King part I understand, but why not a Priest. The true name of the Melchizedek priesthood is I think key:

D&C 107 

2 Why the first is called the Melchizedek Priesthood is because Melchizedek was such a great high priest.
3 Before his day it was called the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God.

4 But out of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being, to avoid the too frequent repetition of his name, they, the church, in ancient days, called that priesthood after Melchizedek, or the Melchizedek Priesthood.

This is the Priesthood after the order of the Son, Not after the order of the Father.

It is interesting that In the Endowment you put on Aaronic Priesthood robs in the Telestial world and then change into Melchizedek Priesthood robes in preparation to enter the Terrestrial world, and yet you don’t change them again to go into the Celestial world; or do you.

The new garment that you receive in the temple is called the Garment of the Holy Priesthood. Holy is another name for God the Eternal Father, or Man of Holiness. Even in the initiatory for deceased brethren the Melchizedek Priesthood is bestowed upon them in the washing stage in preparation for the anointing which is in preparation for receiving the garment of the holy priesthood. Note the levels of progression and the roles of the members of the God Head. Let it not be confused the anointing is performed with the Melchizedek Priesthood only it is in many ways a fore-ordination into the the Order of God.

Joseph Smith taught that the true nature of the Patriarchal priesthood would be learned inside the Nauvoo Temple and urged the saints to complete it.

Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Section Six 1843B 44, p.323

The 2nd Priesthood is Patriarchal authority. Go to and finish the temple, and God will fill it with power, and you will then receive more knowledge concerning this priesthood.

We learn that even in Moroni’s visits to Joseph that it would be Elijah that would reveal this priesthood

D&C 2

 1 Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

 2 And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.

 3 If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.

We know that it was in the Kirtland Temple that Elijah came to Joseph Smith Jr.

Again in the August of 1830 we have the lord talking about the three Priesthoods, yet he talks of the first, the last and then the second in this verse. Yet at this point only the first two priesthoods had been restored.

D&C 27

 7 And also John the son of Zacharias, which Zacharias he (Elias) visited and gave promise that he should have a son, and his name should be John, and he should be filled with the spirit of Elias;

 8 Which John I have sent unto you, my servants, Joseph Smith, Jun., and Oliver Cowdery, to ordain you unto the first priesthood which you have received, that you might be called and ordained even as Aaron;
 9 And also Elijah, unto whom I have committed the keys of the power of turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers, that the whole earth may not be smitten with a curse;
 10 And also with Joseph and Jacob, and Isaac, and Abraham, your fathers, by whom the promises remain;

 11 And also with Michael, or Adam, the father of all, the prince of all, the ancient of days;

 12 And also with Peter, and James, and John, whom I have sent unto you, by whom I have ordained you and confirmed you to be apostles, and especial witnesses of my name, and bear the keys of your ministry and of the same things which I revealed unto them;

 13 Unto whom I have committed the keys of my kingdom, and a dispensation of the gospel for the last times; and for the fullness of times, in the which I will gather together in one all things, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth;

D&C 110 (1836)

 13 After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burst upon us; for Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said:

14 Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—

 15 To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse—

16 Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors.

The Sealing Ordinance is the ordination into the Patriarchal Priesthood. It is the same priesthood given to Adam and passed down through the ages.

It would be right to say one with the Patriarchal Priesthood has the Melchizedek just as all who have the Melchizedek have the Aaronic also. To say they are three or one or even to say two Priesthoods would be correct also. Also, since we are taught that it was passed down from Adam, Melchizedek would have been the rightful heir to the Patriarchal Priesthood in the days of Abraham.

D&C 107:39-41

39 It is the duty of the Twelve, in all large branches of the church, to ordain evangelical ministers, as they shall be designated unto them by revelation--

40 The order of this priesthood was confirmed to be handed down from father to son, and rightly belongs to the literal descendants of the chosen seed, to whom the promises were made.

41 This order was instituted in the days of Adam, and came down by lineage in the following manner:

We are told that the Patriarchal order is the order of heaven. Heaven is not ordered by wards and stakes as is the church is here on the earth, but by family units. In this world the Melchizedek priesthood is the Highest priesthood because it is only through Christ that we can obtain eternal life, which is the whole point of this estate, but it is through the Patriarchal priesthood that we can receive Exaltation we practice living in family units here in preparation for eternal increase and abiding in that order of the priesthood for the eternities.

We also learn that the Patriarchal priesthood can only be entered into through the sealing ordinance which requires both a Man and a Woman, because likewise women are promised similar blessings as men in the temple albeit as Queens and Priestesses. This is even hinted at in the token that is used in this ordinance. 

D&C 131

 1 In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees;

 2 And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage];

 3 And if he does not, he cannot obtain it.

 4 He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase.

Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.257

How did Adam bring his descendants into the presence of the Lord? The answer: Adam and his descendants entered into the priesthood order of God. Today we would say they went to the house of the Lord and received their blessings. The order of priesthood spoken of in the scriptures is sometimes referred to as the patriarchal order because it came down from father to son. But this order is otherwise described in modern revelation as an order of family government wherein a man and woman enter into a covenant with God just as did Adam and Eve to be sealed for eternity, to have posterity, and to do the will and work of God throughout their mortality.

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol.1, CHURCH OF THE FIRSTBORN

Revelations to the Prophet Joseph Smith supplement those of the New Testament to indicate that the Church of the Firstborn consists of those who have the inheritance of the Firstborn and become joint-heirs with Christ in receiving all that the Father has (Rom. 8:14-17; D&C 84:33-38; see Heirs of God). The Lord said, "If you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fullness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; I am the Firstborn; And all those who are begotten through me are partakers of the glory of the same, and are the Church of the Firstborn" (D&C 93:20-22). The Church of the Firstborn is the divine patriarchal order in its eternal form. Building the priesthood family order on this earth by receiving sealings in the temple is a preparation and foundation for this blessing in eternity (see Gospel of Abraham).

The patriarchal order is, in the words of Elder James E. Talmage, a condition where "woman shares with man the blessings of the Priesthood," where husband and wife minister, "seeing and understanding alike, and cooperating to the full in the government of their family kingdom" (Young Woman's Journal 25 [Oct. 1914]:602-603). A man cannot hold this priesthood without a wife, and a woman cannot share the blessings of this priesthood without a husband, sealed in the temple.

I think that this modern Day Parable illustrates this well.

For Time and All Eternity

Boyd K. Packer

Once a man received as his inheritance two keys. The first key, he was told, would open a vault which he must protect at all cost. The second key was to a safe within the vault which contained a priceless treasure. He was to open this safe and freely use the precious things which were stored therein. He was warned that many would seek to rob him of his inheritance. He was promised that if he used the treasure worthily, it would be replenished and never be diminished, not in all eternity. He would be tested. If he used it to benefit others, his own blessings and joy would increase.

The man went alone to the vault. His first key opened the door. He tried to unlock the treasure with the other key, but he could not, for there were two locks on the safe. His key alone would not open it. No matter how he tried, he could not open it. He was puzzled. He had been given the keys. He knew the treasure was rightfully his. He had obeyed instructions, but he could not open the safe.

In due time, there came a woman into the vault. She, too, held a key. It was noticeably different from the key he held. Her key fit the other lock. It humbled him to learn that he could not obtain his rightful inheritance without her.

They made a covenant that together they would open the treasure and, as instructed, he would watch over the vault and protect it; she would watch over the treasure. She was not concerned that, as guardian of the vault, he held two keys, for his full purpose was to see that she was safe as she watched over that which was most precious to them both. Together they opened the safe and partook of their inheritance. They rejoiced for, as promised, it replenished itself.

With great joy they found that they could pass the treasure on to their children; each could receive a full measure, undiminished to the last generation.

Perhaps some few of their posterity would not find a companion who possessed the complementary key, or one worthy and willing to keep the covenants relating to the treasure. Nevertheless, if they kept the commandments, they would not be denied even the smallest blessing.

Because some tempted them to misuse their treasure, they were careful to teach their children about keys and covenants.

There came, in due time, among their posterity some few who were deceived or jealous or selfish because one was given two keys and another only one. “Why,” the selfish ones reasoned, “cannot the treasure be mine alone to use as I desire?”

Some tried to reshape the key they had been given to resemble the other key. Perhaps, they thought, it would then fit both locks. And so it was that the safe was closed to them. Their reshaped keys were useless, and their inheritance was lost.

Those who received the treasure with gratitude and obeyed the laws concerning it knew joy without bounds through time and all eternity.