Seal, Sealed, Sealing

 "Sealing" or the "sealing power," or "being sealed" is a central part of the Lord's doctrine. 

 

A  seal, most recently in history, was made by placing melted wax over the outside of an envelope where the envelope was shut, and then the king's or other royal dignitary's "seal" - a crest, an emblem, a letter, was placed on the wax until the wax cooled, thereby "sealing" it shut. 

Nobody but an appointed representative of the king or other such authority could break the seal or open it.  If the wax were broken before it reached its intended, designated recipient, the one responsible would be facing a visit with their maker arranged by the king's forces. 

However, part of the gold plates of the Book of Mormon were sealed shut with a metal band around it, which at least one account described as having been oxidized copper (green).  Copper is a very hard metal compared to gold, and it would have require some ingenuity to make a band that precisely matched the dimensions, was squared up, could hold the pages without damaging them, and as also secure and all done with whatever tools were available while on the run from an enemy that was hunting you to kill you because of the color of your skin. 

Of this sealing Moroni wrote: 4 "Therefore I do not write those things which transpired from the days of Adam until that time; but they are had upon the plates; and whoso findeth them, the same will have power that he may get the full account." (Ether 1) And whoever didn't, wouldn't and couldn't.

The plates lay since ~421AD, now it was 1827AD, and in all that time with 1,426 years of civilization all around, a simple rock lay undiscovered with golden plates in a cement box?  

They were sealed against man's discovery so that no one but one designated would never find the gold that was laying under their very feet. The work was sealed up by a prophet and the Lord with the earth itself. 

Now, this is either a completely fantastic story that happened, or it did not.  If it didn't, then where is the truth?  And if it did, well then this is yet another witness that this truly is the Lord's work, it's sacred and its protected. 

 

This is a seal to King Tutankhamun's tomb.  It was tied with rope binding it shut, but the seal on the right made of clay with a king's seal upon the clay, so you would know if the tomb had been broken open by whether or not the rope had been cut or the seal had been broken.  Again, this came with a penalty, it was more a fear of consequences from authority than it was a physical deterrent - a testament to the power of the king, and in the case of King Tut's tomb, after the kingdom head fallen, man was able to break through.  But with the Lord's holy scriptures, even the prophet himself was thrown back when he tried to access the records improperly. 

But what made the seal of force?  The angels, hosts of heaven, and the elements themselves all know who their Master was and they were bound in love and service to obey. 

However, seals come in many different types, not just the legal or the physical seals. 

Another type of "sealing" - meaning it cannot be opened without the key is language.  At the Tower of Babel, the people all spoke one language.  They had the ancient mysteries, the holy oracles, the eternal secrets and they all spoke the same language - some studies tell us that they did not speak the same language as Adam, but they did speak the same language, and could trace back through the centuries to the times of Adam according to the records preserved via Noah (I wonder what that record library on the ark looked like!).  Lehi took records, obviously Noah would have as well - it would have made no sense to preserve a family by the hands of God but leave their origins behind them.  Though we don't have record of this now.  But, once we have knowledge we are accountable for it.  And the people of the Tower of Babel, having spoken all the same language, having the mysteries, and having one mind were protected by the confounding of the languages so that they could not fulfill their purposes, but also the counfounding of the languages was its own type of scattering.  If they could not understand one another, they could not be unified, and would be unable to work together - the notion of translation being a completely foreign concept to them, yet one we work around readily today.  

And so with a confounded language, the mysteries of the Ancients were cut off from them, or they from it. It was sealed shut. 

So it is with the Book of Ether.  The Book of Ether was sealed not just with the bands that Moroni bound it with, but it was also sealed with the word of the Lord (see the First Prophet's words above), but it was also written in a language that nobody could understand except they had the gift of the interpreters which were provided for the translation of the book - only through a prophet of the Lord.  

Notice that even though he had the Urim and Thummim, that the Prophet himself even noted, it wasn't until after they had been baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost that they began to truly understand what they were reading/translating.  The Urim and Thummim or "Seers" did help them translate what had never been there before and make sure that the wording was correct in the translation.  However it was the Holy Ghost that unsealed the knowledge* - not just the language. 

We read of another type of sealing in the Book of Revelations, of a book that was sealed with seven seals, and that no one could open, none were worthy except the Lamb of God.  

A similar sealing takes place during a priesthood blessing, which is finished with the words of "I seal this blessing upon you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."  That blessing can only be broken by one of two ways, by the person's free agency, and by the Lord Himself.  But  "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise" (D&C 82:10). 

 

Similarly, so it is with the sealing of husband and wife, for time and all eternity.  They are bound together - sealed - and nobody can undo it except those involved, and the Lord Himself.  

But the Sealing Power is closely guarded, only certain men - priesthood holders - can seal a husband and wife together, and that is not at his will, but the will of those involved.  A priesthood holder can seal a blessing, a Patriarch can seal a patriarchal blessing. A Sealer can Seal a marriage, but only a prophet, seer and revelatory can break the seal who is not the Lord or the persons involved. 

And perhaps the last sealing that comes to mind is that of knowledge.  Without knowledge of the Lord, you cannot comprehend the things of God, they are sealed away from you, and sealed up, hidden up, never to be understood - the darkness comprehendeth it not.

And so, there are many different ways to break a sealing or seal of any type, but with some there is only a right way to break the seal and a right person to do it. Other sealings aren't to be broken at all without serious, and in many cases, eternal consequences. 

And so it is with the world of the Lord, whose powers and workings are small to the understanding of man. And yet, it is by his word - whether it be by my voice or the voice of my servants, it is the same - that great things are brought up, bad things put down, and all time put in order - or sealed - in their place for however long the Lord decrees.  

A Terrestrial Home for a Celestial Destination

Paris, France Temple Sealing Room.

 

Critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints often point to the temples as a wasteful extravagance, of neglecting the poor, or some other such assertion of frivolity.

In the New Testament we read a similar assertion played out a long time ago from one who was similarly minded, same thinking, same thing:

3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him,

5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?

6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

7 Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.

8 For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always. (John 12)

It is not as if we are on the very verge of solving the issues with the poor but the money spent on temples is the one thing that is keeping there from being the elimination of issues. As Jesus said, the poor you always have with you, but me you have not with you always.  This was a special occasion, and so special dedication, effort and cost were devoted to his anointing.  So it is with temples.

The Church receives nothing and makes zero money off the temples.  Financially, the people gaining are the contractors and laborers who work to build it, the residents whose property values that most often go up with the temple construction, the taxes that are gained on a number of fronts (and someone out there will think themselves so smart as to go find some example somewhere where this is not the case as if the exception is the rule all the while missing the point).  The apostles and prophets don't reside there, and all members are invited to go there - indeed the whole world is invited to prepare themselves to go in.  Like the oil that was used to anoint the Lord, the temple construction is an act of holy devotion. 

If the temples are what they say they are - the House of the Lord - and our pathways back to him, then by very practice, they have to be built to the best quality they can be.  They are a terrestrial building, they have to conform to terrestrial law in a step towards the celestial.  They cannot be built of common materials to lower craftsmanship in a common mentality of a telestial abode and yet fulfill their celestial-purpose.  

Payson, Utah Temple Celestial Room

Now, we needn't make the mistake of thinking that extravagance sanctifies, or that ostentatiousness equals holiness - this is another fallacy, part of which we see in the example from the Book of Mormon:

5 And it came to pass that Riplakish did not do that which was right in the sight of the Lord, for he did have many wives and concubines, and did lay that upon men’s shoulders which was grievous to be borne; yea, he did tax them with heavy taxes; and with the taxes he did build many spacious buildings.

6 And he did erect him an exceedingly beautiful throne; and he did build many prisons, and whoso would not be subject unto taxes he did cast into prison; and whoso was not able to pay taxes he did cast into prison; and he did cause that they should labor continually for their support; and whoso refused to labor he did cause to be put to death.

7 Wherefore he did obtain all his fine work, yea, even his fine gold he did cause to be refined in prison; and all manner of fine workmanship he did cause to be wrought in prison. (Ether 10)

Riplakish built himself a very fine palace but he afflicted everyone with his building and adorning it, he wasn't interested in glorifying anyone but himself at everyone's else's expense.

The temples of the Lord, on the other hand are built with consecrated voluntarily sacrificed funds, and they have but one purpose: to allow people to draw nearer to the Lord's spirit, and to prepare to return home to their Heavenly Father. 

In ancient times the temples were the center of civilization, they were the center of life!  And indeed, they are!  Literally, spiritually, as well as figuratively.  Ancient civilizations built wonderful temples and can trace their origins back at some point to the Lord's temples - including the ancient Egyptians beginning with Ham for righteous purposes: 

 

26 Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood. (Abraham 1). 

(The priesthood lineage was determined through the mother, not the father, and Ham's mother, Egyptus was not of the lineage pertaining to the priesthood.  So though Ham held the priesthood, under the patriarchal law, Pharaoh could not, because his father married outside the lineage covenant).  

 

However, the Egyptian temples were built to elevate man's mind above the common, above the coarse, to lift them up above the mundane - with the finest craftsmanship that could be obtained (before they deviated from the original teachings).  

 

Their foundations were laid at night by Pharoah himself with his astronomers so that the temple could line up with the stars, often pointing towards the North Star, orienting the temple towards the center of the earth's revolutions, symbolizing that all the kingdom and religious life would similarly rotate around the temple which was lined up with God's center of the world.  And so were most civilizations temples designed to signify the connection between civilization with the divine.

 

Modern temples are also built to the best quality available in conjunction with the consecration of the place with the Holy Spirit by suffering no unclean thing to enter therein so that the whole experience is one that raises man up to a higher world. Indeed, the Lord's temples are a first step up towards that world.  Not only do we build with our best, we also prepare and enter with our best selves, and there receive His best.

 

And so it should be that for the temples to do this, and the values and virtues that are taught therein by covenant, that they should all be of the finest quality and be the pinnacle of man's capability that God has blessed him with as an act of devotion to Him, and in an effort to draw closer to Him, so that all things therein remind man of his creator, and point man back to Him. 

Where the saints have been poor, they still built to the best of their ability, including in their wanderings in the desert where they made the Ark of the Covenant and then the portable Tabernacle and even the Breastplate with the twelve stones for the twelve tribes of Israel - twelve sons, twelve covenants, all were precious stones of the day in one fashion or another (and some were not to be found anywhere near where the ancient Israelites were when this was made, so the stones either had been traded there by commerce or an expedition had to be sent to find them), and all were unique: sardius (ruby), topaz, carbuncle (garnet), emerald, sapphire, diamond, jacinth, agate, amethyst, beryl, onyx and jasper.    

 And so the criticism  that too much is spent on the temples when the money could be spent on the poor is an empty argument. Indeed, money should be devoted to the poor, and much is - by last account nearly one billion dollars in one year from the church, not even counting all the free hours and devotion and service to the communities that are unpaid through volunteer efforts.   

 

But, there are things that the poor can't receive from donations but which are necessary for their eternal progression and that make them rich in eternity, and that can only be conferred through a consecrated, and holy, properly built and dedicated temple: the covenants of eternity.  And the temples are a forerunner of an enlightened world where the Lord provides us His best, and so as we strive towards them, we need to build and dedicate our best in a reminder of Him.  

 

All the rest of the world can also donate money to the poor, but only the Lord's church and priesthood can build a temple, and the Lord has specified how the temples are to be built and has taught why. And the entire world, rich and poor, are invited to come therein to partake of His spirit which isn't found anywhere else like it is in His dedicated house.  

 

Indeed, I was a tour guide for the Meridian, Idaho Temple before its dedication.  It was very strange to lead tours of people while yelling so the back of the group could hear me while we walked through the temple - but without the Holy Spirit that accompanied its dedication, it was (intended purpose aside) just another building. It was very odd just how used to the spirit I was in the temples, but now it was not (yet) there. 

We need to give the Lord our best, not just in money, but in energy, effort, focus, devotion, sacrifice, and he in return has promised us His.  The temple is just another of the very special symbols of Heavenly Father where this can take place - between Heaven and Earth. If we point to the cost or size of the building alone as an indicator of its value or lack thereof, we will truly miss the Lord's temples.

A New Perspective on the Word of Wisdom

 Amazing how things look different a few decades later, and so much time has passed, yet it seems but an instant. 

I used to hate* the word of wisdom because of how people reacted and responded to it and the (to me) mindless debates that ensued in any class that covered it.  Instantly the endless discussions and breaking down of food into measurements, anything can be an addiction, comparing Tylenol to hard drugs, and even over-drinking water, yadda yadda yadda, always seemed to miss the point to me. It wasn't the word of wisdom that bothered me.  It was how we regarded it.

I hated the topic.  

Similarly, having gone to college and graduate school in the then-health-conscious Portland Area (now I think they do a lot more meth and fentanyl than they used to), it seemed that going into a health-food store was another extreme where people would compete to see who could out-healthy-each other.

But some time has given me a new perspective as I...mature.

First, our mortal bodies aren't forever.  These temples?  We have to take care of them.  And that means that we need to spend time in connection with our bodies - our temples. 

Not just not drinking alcohol, and not doing drugs.  

Nor is it just eating healthy - you can't eat your way to heaven, nor can you abstain your way to heaven.

It's also about rest.  

Relaxation.  

Stretching.  

Sleep.  

Meditation.  

Developing talents.  

Brushing your teeth.  

Getting fresh air.

Taking care of your hearing.

It's about living life.

Getting an education and developing your mind.

Developing a skill and improving your talents. 

Living life!

We live in a country with more processed food-products than anywhere in the world or than ever in history.  But we need to be making the choices that bring true happiness, spiritually, temporally, eternally - rather than living a life solely focused on "comfort and consumption."  

Taking care of our temples is truly the "word of wisdom."