All the prophets who have ever walked the earth were foreordained to be prophets. Jeremiah, for example was told that he was called before he was formed in the belly. Many of the great prophets through the ages were called to serve when they were still in their youth. Probably because their minds had not been polluted by the philosophies of men and the negative influences associated with the natural man. Some of these young prophets were Samuel, David, Daniel and, yes, Joseph Smith. I had an Institute Professor, years ago, try to describe for his class how the Lord prepares his prophets. He stated that the pure light from God is introduced into the mind of the prophet to enlighten and teach him about the Plan of Salvation. The Plan may be completely new to the young prophet. The Lord can only give him a little at a time, or rather, the prophet can only comprehend a little at a time. The Professor explained that the prophet’s mind may be compared to a prism where the pure white light is introduced, and the prism breaks the pure light up into various colors, as is the nature of prisms (the prism representing previous learning). Only a small portion of the pure light may be reflected through the prism and absorbed at any one time. Joseph Smith, for example, learned precept upon precept and became more enlightened month after month and year after year as more and more light was introduced to his mind.
Joseph Smith was born in December of 1805 and received his first vision in 1820; in his fifteenth year, the Father and the Son appeared to the young Joseph, as the introduction to the world of the last dispensation of time. His next visitation was three years later in 1823 when Moroni, an ancient prophet who had lived on this, the American Continent, appeared to him. Moroni quoted verses from the Bible including verses from Malachi in regards to remembering the promises that were made to our fathers and the turning of our hearts to them (D&C 2). Moroni also showed Joseph a record written on golden plates representing a history of his people. Joseph was then only eighteen, and Moroni returned every year for four years, instructing him before he finally allowed him to take the record to translate in 1827. He was still just a young man of twenty-two years of age when he began the work of translating the record, later referred to as the Book of Mormon. The Lord had been preparing him for that singular project because of its significance and importance to this latter-day work. It was three years later, in 1830, when the church was finally organized, and Joseph was still only twenty five years of age. I am always amazed at everything Joseph was able to accomplish in his short life. That alone is testimony to me that he was directed by the Father of us all.
There were many aspects of the restored Gospel that were transitional in nature, and one of them was the doctrine of Temple work for our deceased ancestors. Joseph wasn’t instructed regarding the particulars of Temple work and baptism for the dead until he received a revelation in 1841. This occurred eleven years after the church was organized and just three years before Joseph was martyred. He was at that time given the keys and power to bind on earth, “…that whatsoever he shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever he shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (D&C 124:93). This was his introduction to the real purpose of temples and the work that must be done in them for the dead. The work that, according to Malachi, must be done lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse or be utterly wasted at His coming. It is unlikely that Joseph even had a clue as to what Moroni was making reference to at the time he first appeared to him in 1823 and quoted to him a version of Malachi’s declaration. It was probably near the end of his life before his mind was ready to really understand the extent of the work that was being laid on the shoulders of the Latter-day Saints. The Lord knew when Joseph was ready and when the saints were ready for a revelation of that magnitude.
At that time, in the history of the church, there was actually very little the saints could have done for their dead, except for those few records they may have had in their possession. They had been prepared for this charge only to the extent that they had been taught about the spirit world, about the eternal and progressive nature of man and the justice and mercy of God. The Prophet had now been given the sealing power and knowledge necessary for the Father’s children to return to Him through a series of temple performances. Lehi, a prophet from the Book of Mormon times who lived 600 BC, must have received a vision showing him our day, the latter day, when we would have the wherewithal to do this important work. Lehi apparently understood the importance of ancestral records, and so Nephi reiterated what his father said: “Wherefore, our father hath not spoken of our seed alone, but also of all the house of Israel, pointing to the covenant which should be fulfilled in the latter days; which covenant the Lord made to our father Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.” (1 Nephi 15:18) We are living in the latter days, the time spoken of by Lehi. Even though Joseph and succeeding prophets have emphasized the importance of this work and have encouraged saints to research their ancestors, the work has been exceedingly slow. It had been estimated that approximately four percent of church members were involved in family history work. Because of recent temple building and the explosive advances in technology, family history work has been given a tremendous boost. The Lord is hastening the work. This has got to be the time that Lehi saw and referred to as quoted above. In just the last few years, church members involved in the work have increased to approximately nine percent. Duplicated temple ordinances have also dropped dramatically as well.
We now have the tools that have only recently been made available, and we must now roll up our sleeves and perform this great work. Not just 4 percent, not just 9 percent, but all of the Latter-day Saints.
Joseph had received revelation regarding the priesthood line of authority, and he had prepared the Quorum of the Twelve to succeed him so that the keys and power would continue in them in case something happened to him. It seems obvious that Joseph had anticipated his death and had made careful preparation to make sure the work would continue on without him. More appropriately, it should be said that the Lord made sure that everything would continue on after the Prophet’s death.
Semantics, or the meaning of words, has sometimes changed the course of an organization’s history. There are many sacred terms that are defined differently by different religious organiza- tions. For example, baptism is defined as sprinkling by one and by immersion by another. There are many such semantic differences between churches. The meaning of words may have an important part to play even among members of the restored church. The sealing power of the Priesthood is one of the most important and significant doctrines of the restored gospel, and yet emphasis has been primarily on the one part, the binding authority. That is the authority to seal couples and living families together for time and eternity. Members are also aware that the ordinances performed in the temples for the dead are also binding based on deceased persons accepting the gospel and the proxy ordinances completed for them.
The part of the sealing power that seems misunderstood or at least is given less attention is the last part: “…whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Brother Sam Lower, a member of the Ogden Family History Center staff, came to me the other day and said he had attended a lecture where a brother referred to that reference, and it caused him to reflect on it differently than he had before. As he explained it to me, I, too, saw it differently, I believe, in a much more enlightened way. Ordinarily the term “to loose” has generally been interpreted by members to mean “to release” or take away the priesthood covenant performed in a temple because of an infraction and/or a loss of testimony on the part of the member who had been sealed. A broader and, I believe, a better understanding of that phrase is that to free a spirit from prison in the spirit world is to loose them. The Psalmist said: “The Lord looseth the prisoners” (Psalms 146:7) To loose is also to free. When we perform temple ordinances in order to free persons on the other side the veil who were unable to do those ordinances for themselves, we loose them. When we loose them in the temple, they are then loosed from the spirit prison if they have accepted the Gospel as taught to them while there. There are at least eleven scriptures, the first being found in the New Testament, that refer to the sealing powers of the priesthood, the keys of which have been given to the president or leading prophet of the church during various dispensations of the world. The following scriptures speak of this priesthood power: Matthew 6:19, Matthew 18:8, D&C 124:93, D&C 127:7, D&C 128:8, D&C 128:10, D&C 132:46, Helaman 10:7.
Seven of the above verses use the term “loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” One refers to whatever the prophet remits on earth, meaning whatever he cancels or refrains from exacting or inflicting (a debt or punishment) will be remitted in heaven. The 128th section of the Doctrine & Covenants, verses 8 and 9, probably come closer to defining this power than anywhere else.
The hope is that by viewing the term “loose” in this new way, members of the church will see family history work in a more positive light. Not from the threatening approach that: “The whole earth will be wasted or cursed” and/or “Those Saints who neglect [genealogy work] in behalf of their deceased relatives, do it at the peril of their own salvation.”
The question, I suppose, is that if members generally had the understanding that of loosing here we are loosing there, would it be a more positive and motivating concept? Maybe instead of, “I am going to the temple to do an ordinance today,” it might rather be said that “I am going to loose (free) my great uncle today.”