Patriarchal Blessing - Your Lineage Declared

Who's Family Do You Belong To?

SCRIPTURE: “Wherefore, for this cause hath the Lord God promised unto me that these things which I write shall be kept and preserved, and handed down unto my seed, from generation to generation, that the promise may be fulfilled unto Joseph, that his seed should never perish as long as the earth should stand.”

            “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ and to be reconciled to God.”

-- 2 Nephi 25:21,23

“Remember to Start this Session with a Prayer”

 MY QUESTION FOR YOU: If lineages are declared in the Old Testament, and blessings are given by the patriarchs of old to their children, must not our own lineage as declared in our patriarchal blessing give us insight as to who we really are? Surely, we could liken those ancient lineages and blessings unto ourselves and profit from it.

            What does it mean to be an Israelite? In my early twenties when I received my blessing I simply assumed I was being adopted into this lineage. However as I read more closely, my blessing actually says, “You are a natural Israelite.” This struck me with great force at the time. As a family historian, I now say that I could trace my lineage back to Joseph through Ephraim. These men were my grandfathers. What did I know about them?

            The study of the Old Testament took on a new meaning to me. The story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was MY family’s story. I wanted to know what blessings were pronounced on Joseph’s head and upon Ephraim’s head by Jacob and I found that I was mentioned there!!!! Can you find yourself?

MY SUGGESTION: With the Holy Ghost as your guide, do some scripture chasing as I did back in 1979, to discover the actual promises that God gave to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. These blessings are interspersed throughout the scriptures both Old Testament as well as the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. Two especially powerful translations of Jacob’s blessing on Joseph and his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, are found on page 798 of our bible (after Bible Dictionary section) under Joseph Smith Translation for Genesis 48:5-11 and Genesis 50: 24-38.

 Do We Get Bogged Down in the Begats and Miss the Importance of Our Lineage?

I suppose that an important question is why are lineages so important to the Lord. Most bible readers bog down under the ‘begats.’ Today, many members’ eyes glass over when genealogy is mentioned. But to Abraham this was of monumental importance. In the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price, Chapter 1: 2-4 we read, “And, finding there was greater happiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers.” He wanted to “possess greater knowledge, and to be a father of many nations,” and desired “to receive instructions and to keep the commandments of God.”

The Priesthood is the Key to Happiness and Peace 

            It in this Pearl of Great Price that we discover it is the Priesthood of God that is the key to happiness and peace. It is the clue to why our lineage is so important. He said, “I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers. It was conferred upon me from the fathers; it came down from the fathers, from the beginning of time.”

            In our day Hyrum Smith was called as Patriarch (D & C 124:91-96) and the Lord said to him, “my servant Hyrum may take the office of Priesthood and Patriarch, which was appointed unto him by his father, by blessing and also by right; that from henceforth he shall hold the keys of the patriarchal blessings upon the heads of all my people, that whoever he blesses shall be blessed, and whoever he curses shall be cursed; that whatsoever he shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever he shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

            “And from this time forth I appoint unto him that he may be a prophet, and a seer, and a revelator unto my church,”

            When Elijah returned to restore the Priesthood upon the earth on April 3, 1836 he said the time was fully come spoken of Malachi  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.” We have been told that this welding together of generations is what will prevent that curse and prepare the way for the Lord’s second coming.

            For much of my life I envisioned this as a chain going back through the generations to Abraham who was promised that his seed would be as the sands of the ocean. Then I focused on the patriarchal part where through birthright Joseph was blessed by Jacob and given the right to preside. He replaced Ruben in this order of things, yet right away, Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh and gave that birthright to Ephraim.

            The right of the firstborn to  lead and preside now resides on the tribe of Ephraim.