Doctrine and Covenants 110:12 and keys

[JohnsonJones]

Each Dispensation head holds the keys for their dispensation.  These are special keys that only they hold as they preside over their dispensation.  The Savior thus, is only the Dispensation head of his period of time, rather than all periods of time.  He holds the authority and it is through the Savior that all our authority comes, but others hold the keys at various times and dispensations.

I suppose a way to look at it is to imagine that I own a company.  However, I have janitors and managers that I hand keys out.  The janitors come at different times, and are over the building maintenance and cleaning at their work hours, and the managers are also over the company business during their time at the building.  Now all those keys COME from me...I OWN all those keys, not those janitors or Managers.  However, I have given them those keys so they can do the work that I need them to do.  When they leave, or if I desire, I will have them return those keys to me.  Not a perfect example, but perhaps it is somewhat illustrative.

Edited June 22, 2017 by JohnsonJones

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, JohnsonJones said:

Each Dispensation head holds the keys for their dispensation.  These are special keys that only they hold as they preside over their dispensation.  The Savior thus, is only the Dispensation head of his period of time, rather than all periods of time.  He holds the authority and it is through the Savior that all our authority comes, but others hold the keys at various times and dispensations.

I suppose a way to look at it is to imagine that I own a company.  However, I have janitors and managers that I hand keys out.  The janitors come at different times, and are over the building maintenance and cleaning at their work hours, and the managers are also over the company business during their time at the building.  Now all those keys COME from me...I OWN all those keys, not those janitors or Managers.  However, I have given them those keys so they can do the work that I need them to do.  When they leave, or if I desire, I will have them return those keys to me.  Not a perfect example, but perhaps it is somewhat illustrative.

What this sounds like is that the "returning the keys to the Savior" essentially means they are being released from their callings.  I'll have to think about that one.

If my understanding is correct, then that means that Adam is like the stake president who is releasing all others from their dispensational callings.  Then Joseph is like the General Authority who is releasing Adam from his calling.  Then the Savior can release Joseph from his calling.

That would make sense.  And I guess it's not violating any principle I'm aware of.

[CV75]

2 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said:

Then again, within LDS thought there's a strong (but not foolproof) current suggesting that Melchizedek is one and the same individual as Shem, son of Noah.  

Maybe I need to reverse-engineer the way I think about "dispensations".  I've traditionally viewed "dispensations" as periods where the Gospel was restored after a period where it was completely gone from the earth.  I've further been taught that there are seven major "dispensations":  those of Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Joseph Smith.  (The Bible Dictionary hints at the possibility of there being nearly a dozen more.)

But, here's my first question:  if Moses got the priesthood from Jethro, and Abraham from Melchizedek/Shem, then why do we consider those two individuals as heads of "new" Gospel dispensations?  

Connecting the dots as we've done, it seems D&C 110 may be suggesting that it is actually Elias/Noah who stands at the head of the "dispensation of Abraham".  And, that notion of all future inhabitants of the earth being blessed through one individual ancestor certainly fits with both of them.  But then, why do we colloquially speak of the dispensations of Noah and Abraham as though they were two different things?

Every dispensation head receives the priesthood from someone. In Moses' time, the keys to gather Israel were very specific to his dispensation. He may have gotten the priesthood from Jethro, but got the keys for the dispensation from Enoch (or someone else). Gathering Israel in the world to prepare for the coming of the Son of God -- whether first or second coming -- is not the same as, and may be a subset of, the keys to gather the saints into Zion for the purpose of translating them, which Enoch and Melchizedek did. Likewise, Abraham received the priesthood from Melchizedek and the keys for the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, which is also a subset of Enoch's dispensation. And Enoch's dispensation, as is the attendant covenant described in Moses 7, and which we call the Abrahamic covenant, is but a subset of the dispensation of Adam, who was the first to receive this promise in the fullest sense and share it with his posterity: “I have set thee to be at the head; a multitude of nations shall come of thee, and thou art a prince over them forever. And Adam stood up in the midst of the congregation; and, notwithstanding he was bowed down with age, being full of the Holy Ghost, predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation. These things were all written in the book of Enoch, and are to be testified of in due time.” (D&C 107:55-57).

Now Noah (Gabriel) could have been the head of the gospel of Abraham, but Enoch was the head of his dispensation, which was active both before the Flood (Zion) and after the Flood (Salem, taken to Zion). So it seems that Noah may have brought the keys of the earthly kingdom of the same dispensation through the Flood under Enoch's head (he received the priesthood from Methuselah the son of Enoch who remained on the earth).

The specifics of the various dispensations are brought together in their restoration in the dispensation of the fulness of times. I think this is evident in the joining of the heavenly Zion with the New Jerusalem to be built in this world.

Edited June 22, 2017 by CV75