LDS Doctrine and Covenants Critique
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The Doctrine and Covenants
SECTION 86
Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at
Kirtland, Ohio, December 6, 1832. This revelation was received while
the Prophet was reviewing and editing the manuscript of the translation
of the Bible.
1–7, The Lord gives the meaning of the parable of the wheat and tares;
8–11, He explains priesthood blessings to those who are lawful heirs
according to the flesh.
1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servants, concerning the
parable of the wheat and of the tares: 2 Behold, verily I say, the
field was the world, and the apostles were the sowers of the seed;
Note: Joseph Smith was wrong.
Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His
disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares
of the field.” He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed
is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons
of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. Matthew
13:36-38
3 And after they have fallen asleep the great persecutor of the church,
the apostate, the whore, even Babylon, that maketh all nations to drink
of her cup, in whose hearts the enemy, even Satan, sitteth to
reign—behold he soweth the tares; wherefore, the tares choke the wheat
and drive the church into the wilderness. 4 But behold, in the last
days, even now while the Lord is beginning to bring forth the word, and
the blade is springing up and is yet tender—
Note: Joseph Smith was wrong.
The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Matthew 13:39
5 Behold, verily I say unto you, the angels are crying unto the Lord
day and night, who are ready and waiting to be sent forth to reap down
the fields; 6 But the Lord saith unto them, pluck not up the tares
while the blade is yet tender (for verily your faith is weak), lest you
destroy the wheat also. 7 Therefore, let the wheat and the tares grow
together until the harvest is fully ripe; then ye shall first gather
out the wheat from among the tares, and after the gathering of the
wheat, behold and lo, the tares are bound in bundles, and the field
remaineth to be burned.
Note: Joseph Smith was wrong.
Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will
be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and
they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those
who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire.
There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will
shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears
to hear, let him hear! Matthew 13:40-43
8 Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you, with whom the priesthood
hath continued through the lineage of your fathers— 9 For ye are lawful
heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with
Christ in God— 10 Therefore your life and the priesthood have remained,
and must needs remain through you and your lineage until the
restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets
since the world began. 11 Therefore, blessed are ye if ye continue in
my goodness, a light unto the Gentiles, and through this priesthood, a
savior unto my people Israel. The Lord hath said it. Amen.
Note: Yahweh eliminated the priesthood with Jesus Christ.
Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service
and the earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was prepared: the first
part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which
is called the sanctuary; and behind the second veil, the part of the
tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, which had the golden
censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in
which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded,
and the tablets of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of
glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak
in detail. Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests
always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the
services. But into the second part the high priest went alone once a
year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the
people’s sins committed in ignorance; the Holy Spirit indicating this,
that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while
the first tabernacle was still standing. It was symbolic for the
present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which
cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the
conscience— concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and
fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. But Christ
came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and
more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this
creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own
blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained
eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes
of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of
the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the
eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason
He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the
redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those
who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
Hebrews 9:1-15