Isaiah : Part 3 - The Root of Jesse and the Spirit of Elijah
- scottrode
- Aug 19
- 30 min read
The “root of Jesse” is a descendant of Jesse and Joseph who receives his priesthood by right and holds “keys” of the “kingdom” to accomplish two objectives. The first is raising an “ensign” to which Gentiles [Joseph] gather and the second is gathering Israel [Judah]. They are separate but related steps.[1]
In Part 2, a quote from Denver Snuffer explained how the second half of a divine chiasm unfolds leading to the restoration of the Priesthood as it existed in Eden. It reverses a descending pattern characterized by “Spirits.” It began with the Spirit of Messiah and Adam, then the Spirit of Elijah and Enoch, and completed the descent with the Spirit of Elias and Noah.
The right arm of the ascending side of the chiasm began with the Spirit of Elias and Joseph Smith. The next step in the ascent is the Spirit of Elijah and the “root of Jesse.” The final step is the Spirit of Messiah and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
The identities of two of three individuals is certain. By his own admission Joseph Smith associated his work with Elias following his ordination by John the Baptist.[2] The third individual is the Savior or “Stem of Jesse.” The identity of the “root of Jesse” remains in question.[3] His association with the Spirit of Elijah is certain because his key to raise an ensign to which the Gentiles seek is a pillar connecting Heaven and Earth.[4]
Defining the nature of the ensign explains why it is associated with the Spirit of Elijah and affirms the role the “root of Jesse” plays in completing this step of the chiasm. It is critical in fulfilling other prophecies in the Old and New Testaments referred to by Nephi in his appearance to Joseph Smith.
“ . . . Instead of quoting the first verse as reads in our books, he quoted it thus: For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea and all that do wickedly, shall burn as stubble; for they that cometh shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. And again he quoted the fifth verse thus: Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood by the hand of Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. He also quoted the next verse differently: And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers; if it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming” (RE T&C 1 Joseph Smith History 3:4, emphasis added).
The Priesthood of Elijah must come before the Savior’s return. The posterity of the Patriarchal Father’s must have the Lord’s promises to their Fathers in their hearts and the hearts of the children turn to their Fathers. Failure to return this Priesthood prior to the Savior’s return leaves the world in ashes. The Priesthood of Elijah is the power that preserves the righteous of the world. The wasting of the earth occurs when the Lord arrives with His entourage of Patriarchal Fathers and cleanses the earth of wickedness for the righteous to inherit it.
Why the Priesthood of Elijah Must be Restored Prior to the Savior’s Return
Joseph Smith taught:
“Some shall rise to the everlasting burnings of God; for God dwells in everlasting burnings, and some shall rise to the damnation of their own filthiness, which is as exquisite a torment as the lake of fire and brimstone” (Smith Jr., Joseph. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (p. 410, emphasis added). Deseret Book Company. Kindle Edition.
God dwells in everlasting burnings. At first one may envision His surroundings as ash and stubble. Dwelling in “everlasting burnings” is a means by which His kingdom is in a constant state of purging. Nephi said:
“ . . . And if they’re filthy, it’s impossible for them to live in God’s kingdom; if they did, God’s kingdom would have to be filthy as well. But I tell you God’s kingdom isn’t filthy, and no unclean thing can enter God’s kingdom . . . ” (CofC 1 Nephi 4:6, emphasis added).
Everlasting burnings are not reserved solely for God but include those who qualify to reside in His presence.
“. . . All men who are immortal dwell in everlasting burnings . . .” (Smith Jr., Joseph. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (p. 417, emphasis added). Deseret Book Company. Kindle Edition).
If all men who become immortal dwell in everlasting burnings with God, one may correctly deduce if God and His entourage come to earth in their glory, the same conditions in Heaven must be preserved on earth. For the righteous on earth, the same Priesthood preserving their Patriarchal Fathers in “everlasting burnings” in immortality must be given to their posterity so they may greet the Fathers when they arrive on earth.
It is for this purpose the Patriarchal Fathers are surrounded by a pillar of fire when they return to earth and those to whom they minister to are able to “quench the violence of fire.”
“Now Melchizedek was a man of faith who wrought righteousness. And when a child, he feared God, and stopped the mouths of lions, and quenched the violence of fire. And thus, having been approved of God, he was ordained a high priest after the Order of the covenant which God made with Enoch, it being after the Order of the Son of God, which Order came not by man, nor the will of men, neither by father nor mother, neither by beginning of days nor end of years, but of God. And it was delivered unto men by the calling of his own voice, according to his own will, unto as many as believed on his name” (RE Genesis 7:18, emphasis added).
When Melchizedek was a child, he was endowed with power because of his faith. Among those gifts granted Melchizedek was the ability to quench the violence of fire. When this gift is manifest in scripture, by inference it signals the presence of the Spirit of Elijah and the presence of this Priesthood.
In a type for the last days, we see this power manifest to preserve three faithful Jewish servants of Nebuchadnezzar[5], king of Babylon. The king constructed an idol God of gold and commanded everyone to “fall down and worship the golden image” whenever music of any type was played. Worshipping idol Gods was an affront to the God of Israel and forbidden. Three faithful Jews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego refused king Nebuchadnezzar’s command. The penalty for disobeying the king was to be cast into a fiery furnace.
When the king became aware of their refusal he commanded they be summoned to him. In his anger the king rebuked the three men.
“Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not you serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if you are ready, that when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the image which I have made, well. But if you worship not, you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not anxious to answer you in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.
Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven [symbol of completion, perfection] times more than it was accustomed to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king’s commandment was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste and spoke, and said unto his counselors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Look, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the son of god. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spoke, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God, come forth and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth of the midst of the fire. And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counselors, being gathered together, saw these men upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar spoke, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word and yielded their bodies that they might not serve nor worship any god except their own God. Therefore, I make a decree that every people, nation, and language which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill, because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon” (RE Daniel 3:3-5, emphasis added).
This account is a type for the Lord’s people dwelling in Babylon in the last days.[6] Following the departure of some [like Lehi and Mulek] in Israel led out prior to the Babylonian captivity. Many were carried captive into Babylon and scattered throughout the kingdom.[7] The objective in spreading Israel throughout the Babylonian kingdom is to dilute religious and secular traditions by blending societies into one “melting pot” of Babylonian culture.
When Nebuchadnezzar was given a dream of an image, he sent to all wise men of the kingdom to tell him the dream and interpretation. When the Chaldeans were unable to accommodate the kings command he set out to kill all “wise men” in the kingdom. When Daniel was aware of the kings order he inquired as to why the king was so hasty in his actions. Daniel requested an audience with the king and asked for more time to appeal to the Lord for the meaning of the dream. In response to Daniel and the appeals of his fellows the Lord answered Daniels prayer. When the “secret” was revealed to Daniel he recorded the following reaction to the Lord’s revelation:
“Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of Heaven. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever, for wisdom and might are his. And he changes the times and the seasons, he removes kings and sets up kings, he gives wisdom unto the wise and knowledge to them that know understanding. He reveals the deep and secret things, he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. I thank you and praise you, O you God of my fathers, who have given me wisdom and might, and have made known unto me now what we desired of you; for you have now made known unto us the king’s matter” (RE Daniel 2:3, emphasis added).
The ability of Daniel to inquire of the Lord and obtain answers demonstrates the Lord gave him “keys,”[8] because he was given an answer when he inquired of the Lord.
“ . . . A seer can know about the past and the future; the Interpreters can reveal everything — hidden secrets can be revealed, and unknown things can be uncovered. A seer can discover the unknown and reveal things that would otherwise remain unknown to us. This is how God has established a way for mankind to perform great miracles through faith; therefore seers are a benefit to their fellow men.” (CofC Mosiah 5:13, emphasis added).
Daniel expounded on the dream the king had and provided the inspired interpretation. For the purpose of this paper, only the first part of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is pertinent.
Explaining the dream to the king, Daniel begins describing an image. He begins with a head of Gold:
“This is the dream, and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. You, O king, are a king of kings, for the God of Heaven has given you a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven has he given into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold . . .” (RE Daniel 2:7, emphasis added).
In the secular world, the magnitude of a kingdom is measured materially through the acquisition of land, wealth, and power. All of that is present in Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.
His mortal kingdom is vast, but the most enduring aspect of his kingdom is the psychology of ancient Babylon. We find in Daniel’s interpretation of the image the eventual fall of Babylon. The chronology of this world’s history is linear as it moves down the image. Moving down from the head of gold note the composition of the image becomes less valuable and sustainable. By the time the feet and toes are reached, Babylon no longer stands on a strong foundation.
“And whereas you saw the feet and toes [foundation upon which Babylon currently stands], part of potters’ clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken [strength is measured materially and spiritually]. And whereas you saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave one to another [an obvious example are diverse political views, state to state, country to country], even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter. And the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure” (RE Daniel 2:7, emphasis added).
Nephi was shown these events by an Angel. He witnessed loosely assembled remains of Babylon and the cause of their eventual fall.
“When the Angel had said this, He asked me: Do you remember the Father’s covenants to the house of Israel? I replied: Yes. Then He told me: Look and observe that utterly wicked church, which is the mother of abominations, whose foundation is the accuser. Then He told me: There are only two churches: one is the congregation of the Lamb of God and the other is the church of the accuser. Therefore anyone who doesn’t belong to the congregation of the Lamb of God belongs to the other wealthy and corrupt church that is the mother of abominations, and she is the whore of the whole earth” (CofC 1 Nephi 3:27, emphasis added).
In the economy of God, all organizations of this earth fall into one or two categories. The first category are those belonging to the congregation of the Lamb of God and the second are those in the congregation of the “accuser,” Satan.
What determines the congregation affiliation is the heart.
“. . . for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (RE Matthew 3:32, emphasis added).
Another measure of our heart is where we devote our time and resources. God will not segregate us, we segregate ourselves by our priorities and choices.
In Nephi’s dream he sees the growing confrontation between two congregations. The congregation of the “accuser” provokes the Lord when his congregation declares war against the Lamb of God.
“Then I looked and saw the whore of the whole earth. She was spread everywhere across the seas, ruling over the whole earth, among all people of every nation, tribe, and language. And I saw the congregation of the Lamb of God; its numbers were few because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who was spread everywhere across the seas. Nevertheless, I saw that the congregation of the Lamb, who were God’s holy ones, were also there throughout the earth; but their presence was small because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw. And I saw the great mother of abominations assembled in large numbers all over the earth among all Gentile nations to fight against the Lamb of God. Then I saw the power of the Lamb of God descend upon the holy ones of the Lamb’s congregation and upon the Lord’s covenant people, who were scattered across the earth. They were armed with righteousness and God’s power in great glory” (CofC 1 Nephi 3:28, emphasis added).
The details of this verse are worthy of serious consideration. The congregation of the “accuser” is referred to as a “whore of the whole earth.” The primary characteristic of a whore is her willingness to allow the most sacred parts of herself, her mind and body, to be surrendered to someone for money. When the love of money becomes so desirable one offers what is most sacred and holy to obtain it, they prostitute themselves.
“But they that will be rich fall into temptation, and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (RE 1 Timothy 1:16, emphasis added).
The “whore of the whole earth” is a metaphor for those who abandon God and surrender their agency to Satan. Money is only one enticement the “accuser” uses to persuade people to act against their interest and more specifically, their freedom. Those engaging in these behaviors seek fame, power, prestige, as well as other desires leading a soul to hell. The “accuser’s” congregation span the seas and rule the majority of the earth and are found among all nations, tribes and languages. They are among all Gentile nations.
The congregation of the Lamb of God is few in numbers and are God’s holy ones. They are dispersed throughout the earth and separated into two groups. The first are the “holy ones of the Lamb’s congregation,” a small group of righteous gentiles who refuse to sell themselves for the treasures of this earth and remain faithful and devoted to their God. The second group are the scattered of Israel who are restored to the promises of their Fathers and their God who made those promises.
The “whore” marshal’s her vast numbers to wage war against the Lamb of God. This is a “David vs. Goliath” confrontation arranged by God to demonstrate the His immeasurable power manifesting it through a small number of righteous people. Like Hezekiah’s confrontation with the Assyrian army of 185,000 men[9], Helaman and his 2,000 stripling warriors against the Lamanites[10], and particularly Joshua taking Jericho. Joshua embodies being endowed with power and great glory from Heaven. This endowment is the Spirit of Elijah as evidenced in experiences leading to Joshua conquering Jericho.
“And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. And you shall command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When you have come to the brink of the water of Jordan, you shall stand still in Jordan. And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God. And Joshua said, Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites: Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into Jordan. Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man. And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord — the Lord of all the earth — shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon a heap.
And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as they that bore the ark had come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bore the ark were dipped in the brim of the water — for Jordan overflows all his banks all the time of harvest — that the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up upon a heap very far, from the city Adam that is beside Zarethan, and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed and were cut off; and the people passed over right against Jericho. And the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground until all the people were passed clean over Jordan” (RE Joshua 1:9, emphasis added).
It is evident the Spirit of Elijah was given to Joshua and Israel because of the parting of the waters of Jordan. The Spirit of Elijah includes power to part the waters of Jordan by Joshua and Elijah[11], and the Red Sea parting by Moses.[12]
Another example of the Spirit of Elijah being present before the “battle of Jericho is the appearance of the captain of the Lord’s hosts to Joshua outside of Jericho.
“And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man before him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went unto him and said unto him, Are you for us or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship, and said unto him, What does my lord say unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, Remove your shoe from off your foot, for the place on which you stand is holy. And Joshua did so” (RE Joshua 1:17, emphasis added).
The presence of the captain of the Lord’s hosts is an angel from God. He is one of the “powers of Heaven” or a Patriarchal Father sent by God to minister to Joshua, an “heir of salvation” and “chosen vessel” to guide and assure the Lord’s servant in the mission to fulfill the Lord’s will.
The Lord’s message to Joshua is that He has delivered Jericho into his hands and directs him in how this is to be accomplished.
“Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the children of Israel. None went out, and none came in. And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into your hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor. And you shall circle the city, all you men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shall you do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns. And the seventh day, you shall circle the city seven times and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout. And the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up, every man straight before him” (RE Joshua 2:1, emphasis added).
Blasts from a ram’s horn, blowing trumpets, and a loud shout and the walls of Jericho fall flat. The number of Israel’s hosts was not a factor in the destruction of Jericho and her walls. The Lord’s power and the captain of His heavenly hosts were all that was required for the Lord to deliver victory to His people.
In Nephi’s dream, he sees the “holy ones” of the Lord’s congregation and the scattered of Israel endowed with “power and great glory” from Heaven because of their righteousness. Like Joshua when the captain of the Lord’s Heavenly hosts appear with a drawn sword in support of Israel, Joshua knows the battle is all but won before it begins. The power and great glory given to the “holy ones” and Israel their drawing upon those Heavenly powers because they can only be controlled and handled upon the principles of righteousness.
“Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen, and why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson — that the rights of the Priesthood [Spirit of Elijah, Melchizedek] are inseparably connected with the Powers of Heaven and that the Powers of Heaven cannot be controlled nor handled, only upon the principles of righteousness . . . ” (RE T&C 139:5, emphasis added).
The “Powers of Heaven” are Patriarchal Fathers who become accessible when someone repents of their sins, obeys divine ordinances and receives the baptism by fire and the Holy Ghost. Thereafter they are righteous and receive an endowment of power from on high. They are trusted with powers by God to execute His will when directed by the “Patriarchal Fathers.” They are “holy ones.”
The Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis explains more of this Priesthood held by Patriarchal Fathers.
“Now Melchizedek was a man of faith who wrought righteousness. And when a child, he feared God, and stopped the mouths of lions, and quenched the violence of fire. And thus, having been approved of God, he was ordained a high priest after the Order of the covenant which God made with Enoch, it being after the Order of the Son of God, which Order came not by man, nor the will of men, neither by father nor mother, neither by beginning of days nor end of years, but of God. And it was delivered unto men by the calling of his own voice, according to his own will, unto as many as believed on his name.
For God, having sworn unto Enoch and unto his seed with an oath by himself that everyone being ordained after this Order and calling should have power, by faith, to break mountains, to divide the seas, to dry up waters, to turn them out of their course, to put at defiance the armies of nations, to divide the earth, to break every band, to stand in the presence of God, to do all things according to his will, according to his command subdue principalities and powers; and this by the will of the Son of God which was from before the foundation of the world. And men having this faith, coming up unto this Order of God, were translated and taken up into Heaven.
And now Melchizedek was a priest of this Order, therefore he obtained peace in Salem and was called the Prince of Peace. And his people wrought righteousness, and obtained Heaven, and sought for the city of Enoch which God had before taken, separating it from the earth, having reserved it unto the latter days, or the end of the world, and has said and sworn with an oath that the heavens and the earth should come together, and the sons of God should be tried so as by fire. And this Melchizedek, having thus established righteousness, was called the King of Heaven by his people — or in other words, the King of Peace.
And he lifted up his voice and he blessed Abram, being the high priest and the keeper of the storehouse of God, him whom God had appointed to receive tithes for the poor. Wherefore, Abram paid unto him tithes of all that he had, of all the riches which he possessed, which God had given him, more than that which he had need. And it came to pass that God blessed Abram, and gave unto him riches, and honor, and lands for an everlasting possession, according to the covenant which he had made and according to the blessing with which Melchizedek had blessed him” (RE Genesis 7:17-21, emphasis added).
Nephi saw “holy ones” of the congregation of the Lamb of God and Israel are armed with righteousness in the last days. This how God fulfills His promise in Malachi that He will send Elijah before the coming of Christ to turn the hearts of the children to their Patriarchal Fathers and God’s promises to them and their posterity.
“ . . . he quoted also the fourth or last chapter of the same prophecy [Mal. 1:9–11], though with a little variation from the way it reads in our Bibles. Instead of quoting the first verse as reads in our books, he quoted it thus: For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea and all that do wickedly, shall burn as stubble; for they that cometh [people of Enoch and Melchizedek] shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root [ancestors] nor branch [posterity]. And again he quoted the fifth verse thus: Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood by the hand of Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. He also quoted the next verse differently: And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the [Patriarchal] fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their [seek the blessings and promises made to the Patriarchal] fathers; if it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming” (RE T&C 1, Joseph Smith History Part 3:4, emphasis added).
The Priesthood blessings and promises from the Lord to the posterity of the Patriarchal Fathers will be necessary to endure the presence of those who dwell in everlasting burnings. They do so by quenching the violence of fire. This is how the “sons of God” will be tried by fire and survive the Second Coming of the Savior. It is the power through which Babylon will be overthrown and the second half prophecies of Isaiah fulfilled. The “root of Jesse” acquires this Priesthood and delivers the righteous from modern Babylon’s wickedness and bondage. Cyrus, the king of Persia is the Gentile [Joseph] type for this in Isaiah.
[1] “Question: What is the Root of Jesse spoken of in the 10th verse of the 11th chapter [Isa. 5:4]?Answer: Behold, thus says the Lord: It is a descendant of Jesse as well as of Joseph, unto whom rightly belongs the Priesthood and the keys of the Kingdom, for an ensign and for the gathering of my people in the last day” (RE T&C 129:3, emphasis added).
[2] “. . . I saw an angel, and he laid his hands upon my head, and ordained me to a Priest after the order of Aaron, and to hold the keys of this Priesthood, which office was to preach repentance and baptism for the remission of sins, and also to baptize. But I was informed that this office did not extend to the laying on of hands for the giving of the Holy Ghost; that that office was a greater work, and was to be given afterward; but that my ordination was a preparatory work, or a going before, which was the spirit of Elias; for the spirit of Elias was a going before to prepare the way for the greater, which was the case with John the Baptist” (Smith Jr., Joseph. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (p. 384, emphasis added). Deseret Book Company. Kindle Edition.
“The spirit of Elias is first, Elijah second, and Messiah last. Elias is a forerunner to prepare the way, and the spirit and power of Elijah is to come after, holding the keys of power, building the Temple to the capstone, placing the seals of the Melchizedek Priesthood upon the house of Israel, and making all things ready; then Messiah comes to His Temple, which is last of all” (Smith Jr., Joseph. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (p. 390, emphasis added). Deseret Book Company. Kindle Edition.
[3] “Well, look. Until you succeed, you’ve failed. I don't care who comes along, claiming whatever they want to claim. Until the work is done, you can’t take credit for it—period. There’s all kinds of nonsense that circulates about who has the keys. “Button, button who's got the button?” Look, someone's going to do a work. When the work is done, you will know. Until the work is done, no one can be identified with the role—period. It is arrogance; it is pretentiousness; it is foolishness for anyone to step forward and say: “I, I, I am that man!” Do the work. Finish the course. Fulfill the covenant. You do that, you can take the name. Until you do the work, it's just noise . . . Well, this shall shortly come to pass. Not then, not that day, but by and by.” (Be of Good Cheer, Denver Snuffer Jr., pp.25-26, emphasis added).
[4] “I know that... well... the fact is that a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of smoke by day is an allusion, an attempt to refer to things we are familiar with to describe things that we are not familiar with. A conduit that reaches up into heaven as the temporary appearance of the Lord to Joseph in the First Vision is intended to be a permanent connection at some place. It will be one of the reasons why people say, let’s not go up against the people of Zion because Zion is too terrible. The presence of God is dreadful to the wicked, it’s frightening to them. They get near it and it convicts them of their unworthiness. They dare not go up. But the pure and the humble and the noble are drawn to it. They will want to be there. And so that conduit, that fiery pillar, that stairway to heaven, Jacob’s ladder, the chariot of fire, all of those things are an attempt to describe that heavenly connection, that heavenly presence. To the unworthy and the ungodly looking at it, they may or may not be able to see anything about it but they will sense extraordinary dread. It will frighten them. To the worthy there will be something enlightened about the very presence of the place. It will not seem to them to just be another place. It will seem as though the God of heaven has some base established there. That’s when you know that an ensign has been established in the tops of the mountains to which nations will flow saying, come, let us go up and learn from the god of Jacob, because that ensign is actually something godly, holy, edifying, instructive, revelatory, filled with light, and redemptive, and the god who dwells there is going to be the Lord” (Cursed-Denied the Priesthood, Denver Snuffer Jr., p.25, emphasis added).
[5] In Alexander Cruden’s Concordance, the name “Nebuchadnezzar” means “tears and groans of judgment; or trouble, or sorrow of judgment.” P.583.
[6] “Hearken, O you people of my church, says the Lord your God, and hear the word of the Lord concerning you, the Lord who shall suddenly come to his temple, the Lord who shall come down upon the world with a curse to judgment, yea, upon all the nations that forget God and upon all the ungodly among you, for he shall make bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of their God. Wherefore, prepare yourselves, prepare yourselves, O you my people, sanctify yourselves, gather yourselves together, O you people of my church upon the land of Zion, all you that have not been commanded to tarry. Go out from Babylon, be clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. Call your solemn assemblies and speak often one to another, and let every man call upon the name of the Lord. Yea, truly I say unto you again, the time has come when the voice of the Lord is unto you: Go out of Babylon, gather yourselves out from among the nations, from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to the other. Send forth the elders of my church unto the nations which are afar off, unto the islands of the sea. Send forth unto foreign lands, call upon all nations, firstly upon the gentiles and then upon the Jews. And behold and lo, this shall be their cry, and the voice of the Lord unto all people: Go forth unto the land of Zion, that the borders of my people may be enlarged, and that her stakes may be strengthened, and that Zion may go forth unto the regions round about. Yea, let the cry go forth among all people: Awake and arise and go forth to meet the Bridegroom. Behold and lo, the Bridegroom comes, go out to meet him; prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord. Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Let them therefore which are among the gentiles flee unto Zion, and let them who be of Judah flee unto Jerusalem, unto the mountains of the Lord’s house. Go out from among the nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon . . . (RE T&C 58:1-2, emphasis added).
[7] “So my father, when he was alone, prayed to the Lord with his whole heart for his people. 6As he prayed to the Lord, a pillar of fire descended and rested on a rock in front of him, and he saw and heard many things. What he saw and heard made him shake and tremble. 7Afterward, he returned to his house in Jerusalem and collapsed on his bed, overwhelmed by the Spirit and what he had seen. While overwhelmed by the Spirit, he was carried away in a vision. He saw the heavens open, and he thought he saw God sitting on His throne, surrounded by numberless rings of angels engaged in singing and praising Him. He also saw a person descending from heaven who was brighter than the midday sun. He then saw twelve others following Him, and they were brighter than the stars in the sky. They came down to the earth. The first one came and stood in front of my father and gave him a book and told him to read. As he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord. He read: Woe, woe to Jerusalem, because I’ve seen your abominations! My father continued to read about Jerusalem; that it would be destroyed along with its inhabitants, many would be killed by the sword and many would be captured and taken to Babylon. After my father read and saw many great and surprising things, he cried out to the Lord: O Lord God Almighty, You’ve done such great and awe-inspiring things! Your throne is high in the heavens, and Your power, goodness, and mercy are over everyone living on earth. And because You are merciful, You won’t let those who come to You be lost. This is an example of how my father praised God. He rejoiced and his heart was full because of what the Lord showed him” (CofC 1 Nephi 1:3, emphasis added).
[8] “The Melchizedek Priesthood…is the grand head, and holds the highest authority which pertains to [the Holy Order] and the keys of the Kingdom of God in all ages of the world, to the latest posterity on the earth; and is the channel through which all knowledge, doctrine, the plan of salvation, and every important matter is revealed from Heaven.” “In knowledge there is power. God has more power than all other beings because He has greater knowledge; and hence He knows how to subject all other beings to Him. He has power over all.”7 Joseph Smith also used the term keys to mean understanding, the greatest key being the ability to ask God and receive an answer (see T&C 147:7; 141:32,33” (A Glossary of Gospel Terms, Keys, pp.180-182, emphasis added).
[9] “Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus says the Lord God of Israel: That which you have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him: The virgin, the daughter of Zion has despised you and laughed you to scorn, the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you. Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? And against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Even against the Holy One of Israel. By your messengers, you have reproached the Lord and have said, With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof. And I will enter into the lodgings of his borders and into the forest of his Carmel. I have dug and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places. Have you not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? Now have I brought it to pass, that you should be, to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps. Therefore, their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded, they were as the grass of the field and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops and as grain blasted before it is grown up. But I know your abode, and your going out, and your coming in, and your rage against me. Because your rage against me and your tumult has come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in your nose and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came. And this shall be a sign unto you: you shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year, that which springs of the same, and in the third year, sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts shall do this. Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return and shall not come into this city, says the Lord. For I will defend this city, to save it for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.
And it came to pass that night that the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred eighty-five thousand, and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses” (RE 2 Kings 6:10-11).
[10] “When they had surrendered to us, I counted those young men who had fought with me, fearing many of them had been killed. 56But to my great joy, not one soul had died. They had fought as if with the strength of God; indeed, men were never known to have fought with such miraculous strength. And they attacked the Lamanites with such fury that they intimidated them; and because of this the Lamanites surrendered as prisoners of war” (CofC Alma 26:12).
[11] “And Elijah said unto him, Wait, I pray you, here, for the Lord has sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. And they two went on. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood to view afar off, and they two stood by Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided here and there so that they two went over on dry ground” (RE 2 Kings 1:9, emphasis added).
[12] “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the middle of the sea upon the dry ground, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left (RE Exodus 9:4, emphasis added).
Scott Roderick
8/6/25