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Thank you for clearly summarizing “Nephi foresaw that “the covenant people of the Lord” would be “armed” or “clothed” with the power and authority of the Melchizedek priesthood, having the name of the Lord put on them in the latter-day temple.”
I am grateful you bring out the peaceful connotations with which we should read “armed with righteousness.” I assume there is no linguistic connection but I feel a connection with Isaiah 32:8; The righteous do good deeds and it is by good deeds they stand.
“Great glory” seems pretty tricky. It is almost exclusively used by Nephi in the Book of Mormon. One must consider the many things Nephi saw. What would HE classify as “great glory”? Telling us the Saints are clothed with the priesthood is not initially helpful. That is similar to narrowing a tool down to a “Swiss-army knife.” There are infinite functions and applications of the priesthood. Although, it is wonderful to know we have (or will have) it to the degree Nephi describes. Also, I appreciate how your connection with robes and wearing the priesthood power reinforces how the Temple teachings should be in our everyday lives. Thank you again.
Nephi associates “great glory” with destruction of Israel’s enemies, the gathering of Israel, and truth at the last day. As far as I can tell this seems to be when the Lord makes bare His arm. If He follows the pattern He has established I believe that points to a Red-Sea- crossing-level-event (so that all the Gentiles know and are redeemed). I believe that is the plan after all.
Nephi also describes Christ’s acts in Jerusalem as “great glory” (1 Nephi 11:28). To me this suggests that Nephi saw Jesus do much more than the miracles we read of in the Synoptic Gospels. Assuming Christ did thousands of things (John 21:25), the fact that we happen to have three similar accounts suggests we received samples that were similarly made/filtered and they are not a random sample of Christ’s actions. Therefore, they are not necessarily representative of his most common actions. I suspect He did a lot more that we realize. I also get the feeling we are not supposed to do what many churches might consider as stereotypical miracles or priesthood acts (D and 24:13-14).
Therefore, as you portray at the end this power is to support us in trials and burdens; and in sharing the gospel (D and C 24:12). Thank you for showing us this is a wonderful weight to think about.
Thank you, Martin! I love your thoughts and insights, especially on the meaning of “great glory.” You might consider writing something on that.
Magnificent Matthew, Magisterial even. Do not come down from the wall (Nehemiah/Uchtdorf). I feel very uplifted after reading.
Thank you, Keith! That makes me very happy.