August 13 – LDS: Adam was First High Priest.Hebrews 10:19-21; “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God…”
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There is not one single verse in the whole of the Bible stating Adam was ever Michael the archangel, or that he was a high priest with Jesus Christ.
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“The Priesthood was first given to Adam…. He obtained it in the creation, before the world was formed…. He had dominion given him over every living creature. He is Michael the Archangel, spoken of in the scriptures…. The Priesthood is an everlasting principle, and existed with God from eternity, and will to eternity, without beginning of days or end of years. The keys have to be brought from heaven whenever the gospel is sent. When they are revealed from heaven, it is by Adam’s authority…. Christ is the Great High Priest, Adam next.” Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation 1:99.
[…] LDS: Adam was First High Priest […]
Regarding: LDS: Adam was First High Priest.
Ignorance of priesthood is perpetuated by repeating what Mormons have heard men say instead of searching the words of God to see what God has said.There are two points of clarification here. 1)There is a difference between the authority of God and a priesthood. And 2) The requirements of a high priest.
We have these words from the Psalm ‘For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.’ Psalm 33:9 And we have these words from Genesis. ‘And God said: and it was so.’ These words are repeated six times in the first chapter of Genesis in the creation.
All God need do is speak.
That is the authority he used when ‘he called unto him his disciples: of whom he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;’ Luke 6:13 ’He called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.’ And he said unto them,’ he sent them,’ he commissioned them, and ordained them to go forth by the power of his word.
We see this reflected in the ministry of Peter and John. Peter and John said to the lame man at the gate of the temple, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.’ Acts 3:6
They were asked by the Pharisees ‘by what power, or by what name have ye done this?’ Acts 4:7 What was their answer? ‘By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.’ Acts 4:10 Here was a perfect opportunity to say by the power of a priesthood, but they don’t do they? They used the name of Jesus just as they were told to do.
There was no priesthood given to the disciples. Do we know why? Because they were not Levites. How do we know this? Because after the children of Israel worshipped the molten calf, ‘Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’s side? Let him come unto me,’ Exodus 32:26 Who came? ‘And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.’ Exodus 32:26 And we know from scripture that ‘the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.’ Numbers 25:10-13 Levitical Priesthoo was the inheritance of the Levites.
In the New Testament, concerning Levitical Priesthood we read, ‘For there is verily a dis-annulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.’ It was the priesthood that was changed and that made of necessity a change also of the law. Hebrews 7:12 (We will see what this change meant.)
Not only that but because as the author of Hebrews tells us, ‘It is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.’ Hebrews 7:14 And also, ‘For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing there are priests that offer gifts according to the law.’ Hebrews 8:4 The priesthood was the heritage of the Levites by lineage, and Jesus and his disciples were of the tribe of Judah and Benjamin.
In regards to the second point: The first mention of a priest is found in Genesis 14. And it’s not Adam. ‘And Melchizedek king of Salem was the priest of the most high God.’ Genesis 14:18 We know from this verse that Melchizedek was both a priest and a king. His position being unique. We could say he was a priest upon a throne. And his is one of the only examples in biblical verse that we find resident in one person both offices of priest and king.
So David in the Psalm uses this obscure passage in Genesis to point to Christ. Melchizedek was used as a typology of Jesus Christ. Psalm 110:4 The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.’ The order of Melchizedek means after the pattern of, the similitude of, the type of, meaning Jesus is both priest and king or a King upon a throne.
And the author of Hebrews picks up on this verse in Psalm saying, ‘It is evident for that after the similitude of Melchzedek there ariseth another priest.’ Hebrews 7:15 ‘And that this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.’ The Geneva Bible states,‘But this man, because he endureth ever, hath a Priesthood, which cannot pass from one to another.’ And finally from Hebrews 7:28 ‘For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.’ Singular.
The author of Hebrews sums it up, ‘Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest who is set on the right and of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man.’ Hebrews 8:1
Now what happened is Joseph Smith changed the description of Melchizedek to a description of a Melchizedek Priesthood to substantiate his claim of restored priesthood in Hebrews 7:3 and thats all it took. He restored a dead priesthood because Hebrews 8:13 tells us that the old covenant and its priesthood ‘decayeth and waxeth old and is ready to vanish away.’
We can go through that verse and what the KJ reads and how he changed it. But of course none of the Bibles of the received text validate his change. Any discerning person can see from the verses surrounding it that Joseph Smith changed the verse to get the Bible to say something it never said.