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Text The Abrahamic Covenant (Abraham 2)
“All the sources attest that [Sarah] was a close relative—perhaps a half-sister (the daughter of his father through another wife) (Gen. 20:12), or perhaps a niece or a cousin. The close kinship with Abraham and the quality of her character suggest the possibility of mutual sympathy and support long before their marriage…. P. 59-61 “The name Sarai, which God would later alter to Sarah, means ‘princess’ or possibly ‘queen’ suggesting royal blood. Was this perhaps a reflection that her bloodline ran through the royal patriarchal line to which Abraham himself was heir? …
“[H]ername was a fitting title for a woman who possessed singular loveliness of both body and soul. Her unequaled physical beauty would turn the heads of the most powerful kings, while she was also ‘gifted with every excellence’ and ‘great wisdom.’ It is said that her spiritual attainments matched and in some cases exceeded those of her remarkable husband, she being gifted with profound ‘intuitive P. 59-61 Perception’ of spiritual realities. A number of sources assert yet another name for her—Iscah, meaning ‘prophetess’ or ‘seer.’ And with all her talents, she had a deep ‘love and compassion … for the needy.’ She was indeed ‘a Princess in name and in nature.’…
“Jewish tradition insists that she is the one described in the famous Proverbs passage extolling the ‘virtuous woman’ (31:10). Her worth is far above rubies, and her husband safely trusts in her; she is an industrious homemaker, a tireless worker, and generous to the poor; she speaks wisdom and kindness, is cheerful and hopeful about the future, and is clothed with strength and splendor; she is, in short, P. 59-61 the ideal wife, deserving of her husband’s highest praise. Sarah’s example was held up through the generations among her Jewish descendants, in whose homes the Proverbs passage was traditionally recited on the Sabbath eve.
“Sarah had her work, and Abraham had his, but it was all part of the same cause. From this point on in Abraham’s life, to speak of his mission and accomplishments is necessarily to include Sarah also…. Abraham and Sara were a part of something larger than either of them. They were a family, they were Zion, and they are to be remembered together, according to Isaiah: the P. 59-61 righteous are to look not only to their father Abraham but also to their mother Sarah (Isa. 51:1-2).”
The Abrahamic Covenant Abraham 2:6, 19 PromisedLand—Abraham and his posterity would inherit the land of Canaan.
The Abrahamic Covenant Abraham 2:9-10; D&C 132:30 Posterity—innumerable descendants—like the sand on the seashore & the stars in the heavens.
The Abrahamic Covenant Abraham 2:11 Priesthood/Gospel—his posterity would be heirs to all the blessings of the Gospel (ordinances & covenants) available through the priesthood and would in turn take those blessings to all the families of the earth.
How do we enter into the Abrahamic Covenant today?
“And so I go to the Salt Lake Temple and marry my wife for time and for all eternity, and so begins a new kingdom of God. And if we are faithful, that marriage exists here and it exists hereafter. And I have been given through that ordinance every promise that Abraham received. It is given on conditional basis. We must be true and faithful and keep the covenant that we make in the temple, but if we are faithful, we will receive the blessings.” Bruce R. McConkie Quorum of the Twelve ("The Promises Made To The Fathers," in Studies in Scripture: Vol. Three The Old Testament, p. 61)
The crowning blessings of the gospel are received in temples.... It is in these holy houses that faithful couples enter into the ordinance of celestial marriage through which they become parties to the Abrahamic covenant, the covenant of eternal increase, the covenant that in them and in their seed all generations shall be blessed. Bruce R. McConkie Quorum of the Twelve (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p.539)
D&C 132:19 Gather Israel Kingdoms, Thrones, Principalities (Promised Land) Powers, Dominions (Priesthood) Continuation of Seed “forever and ever” (Posterity)
Abrahamic Covenant Implications Promised Land: Freedom to Worship
Promised Land: a Modern Case Study 1955-1957. GDR Saints allowed to Go to Switzerland Temple. 1985. First temple to be built and dedicated in a communist country. 1990. The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was reunited with the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). The Freiberg Germany Temple
Let’s do it again! May 1996. Hong Kong China Temple was dedicated while Hong Kong was under British rule. July 1997. The sovereignty of Hong Kong is transferred to China. Hong Kong China Temple
Abrahamic Covenant Implications The Rights of Your Posterity to Gospel Blessings
“Now I would ask who knows the seal of the living God? Behold the ignorance of the World! A measure of this sealing is to confirm upon their head, in common with Elijah, the doctrine of election or the covenant with Abraham—which, when a Father & mother of a family have entered into, their children who have not transgressed are secured by the seal wherewith the Parents have been sealed. And this is the Oath of God unto our Father Abraham and this doctrine shall stand forever.” Joseph Smith President (The Words of Joseph Smith, p.241)
We read the statement by the Prophet Joseph and Orson F. Whitney and the elaborations by President Packer about the tentacles that will reach out to wayward children. Some parents, I believe, over interpret that to mean that if I’m faithful to my temple covenants, then my children will be okay. David A. Bednar Quorum of the Twelve (S&I Broadcast , 2 Aug. 2011)
Well, that can’t be right. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, not for Adam’s transgressions, and therefore you can’t be saved through the faithfulness of your parents. But the tentacles that reach out because of the faithfulness of parents in honoring temple covenants exert a spiritual pull and a tug on those wayward children. David A. Bednar Quorum of the Twelve (S&I Broadcast , 2 Aug. 2011)
